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[mikanotes]

lost in translation ft. eunhyuk x gn!reader 4.4k words

genre: angst comfort, ‘enemies’ to possibly lovers warnings: deaths, injuries, blood, mentions of kissing and also suicide (?), smoking, cursing, canon divergence idr half of s1, guns, slightly suggestive at the end author’s note: this was requested! i kinda strayed off the original request sorry TT it got a bit angstier than it should’ve but oh well! have this i missed him

summary: The development of your feelings for Lee Eunhyuk in the middle of an apocalypse, and struggles of leadership.

Green Home Apartment is not a place you would ever allow to crumble.

From the very first hours of the outbreak, people saw a leading figure in you. A seemingly natural instinct to guide people and keep them as safe as possible. Someone strict, just firm enough to keep panicking residents in line and gentle enough to reassure other equally terrified people.

The perfect leader, really. It wasn’t exactly the role you would have wanted had you imagined yourself in this situation prior, but you felt you didn’t really have a say in the matter. You were just a college student, and within a few hours, at least ten people in your apartment building had voiced out their agreement on you being the perfect captain for a broken and sinking ship.

So when this guy with a blue flannel gave off the same impression as you apparently did— enough to convince people he would be a good leader, too— you were mildly relieved. Part of you felt like it was a good thing someone else would take the reins for this whole thing. It was too much pressure for you. But another part didn’t feel at ease. After all, you didn’t know this guy. People trusted him for a reason— He did seem mature, headstrong, and determined. Good with instructions and quick-witted. But you didn’t know if that would be enough to let the people here, or you, at least, survive this.

If you were to survive this in a group, you would need to have some kind of authority when it came to making decisions. Surviving alone was fine, but being stuck with so many people meant certain chaos, attempts at democracy leading to stupid decisions, and your life being stacked between at least twenty others with barely a word to say when they would all eventually be led to sure death. You’d damn near experienced it already, and that was more than enough for you.

So you didn’t step away when Lee Eunhyuk, as you eventually learned his name to be, took the place of a leader. And thankfully, it seemed the residents hadn’t expected you to. So weeks ago, you and Eunhyuk were appointed as leaders of Green Home during the monster apocalypse.

“Going there would be suicide.”

“So you suggest we stay here and wait to die? Do you genuinely think the people in the next room over will be fine with that?”

Leaders who get along perfectly.

“I suggest you use your head a little. There’s resources in much more accessible spaces than this. The store at the side, for example?”

“I’m not sending anyone there.” Eunhyuk states blankly, in his usual emotionless fashion. You narrow your eyes and bite back a scoff.

“Right, I almost forgot it’s about sending out people with you. You’re a coward, you know that?” you say, and he glances at you from the side.

“And you’re just as selfish.” he says, turning to face you properly, “Let’s not pretend you’re any better than I am because you act courageous. You’re terrified.”

“And you’re mistaken. Why don’t you go out there and get to the storage room yourself?”

Eunhyuk’s tongue presses into his cheek and his fingers tightens into a fist. He presses his hand to the table and tilts his head a little, nodding slightly. “We both know without a leading figure this group is done for.” he says, tone much calmer than you’d anticipated. The restraint he has over his anger only serves as fuel to your own. You bite the flesh of your lip.

“Am I not a leading figure?”

“You are, but are you a good one?” he asks. There. There it is, the hint of anger. That cutting edge to his tone. It’s nearly imperceptible but it makes you want to bring out all of it.

“Do you believe I’m not?”

You step closer. He looks down to your feet then back up to meet your gaze. “You’re dodging the question.”

“It’s a weird question to ask.”

You’re close enough to punch him, now, if need be. You won’t. But it’s a good thing to note.

“I don’t think it is, all things considered.”

“Uh,” a meek voice comes from behind you. You turn towards the door to see a man from the group stand with a bottle in hand, moving around uncomfortably, “The others are arguing about rations… You should come.”

You take this as the perfect opportunity to clear your head and not to let your irritation get the better of you. You hum absentmindedly and walk past him to get to the store where you expect everyone to be, leaving the man and a scowling Eunhyuk behind.

“Is- Is something wr—”

“Everything’s fine.”

Everything is wrong.

It’s been less than a day since your argument with Eunhyuk when a new problem enters your life. A guy that looks about your age, that you remember walking past when he moved in, who fell from nine floors high in the stairway. He’s lying on the floor with blood all over and around him. Everyone is scrambling to take a look and Seo Yikyung has to be the one to hold them back, because you and Eunhyuk are too busy checking the supposedly dead man’s pulse for the third time.

“He’s breathing.” you sigh, pulling away your trembling hand from his face again. This is insanity.

“It’s impossible…”

“Get a grip.” you shove Eunhyuk’s shoulder, “Impossible isn’t in our vocabulary right now. Weird as this may be, we can’t just leave him here, so start thinking or I’ll make the decisions.”

He’s shaken out of his thoughts, alright, but now he seems another kind of confused that you can’t bring yourself to try deciphering. He calls your name but you don’t respond.

You don’t exactly look down, but you start to kneel to reach towards the body on the floor. You need to carry him somewhere else, where no one will see how bad it is. There’s kids here and the adults aren’t reliable. You can’t let this cause more trouble.

Your gaze is looking anywhere else but at the corpse— Person. Alive. You almost grab him when Eunhyuk stops you with a hand on your shoulder, effectively causing you to flinch.

“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

He hoists the limp body up on his back with some effort and holds him tightly so he doesn’t fall. “Tell them to go elsewhere. It’ll only cause issues for them to see more than needed.” he tells you, nodding towards the hallway. The blood that gets on his clothes and the state of the one he carries unsettles you a little, but you nod and hurry outside.

“Go to the daycare.” you say, voice hoarse. Everyone’s chattering does nothing to help you calm down. You’re not sure if they didn’t hear you or if they simply don’t care. “I said go! Right now!” you exclaim, much louder. 

The talking silences and everyone reluctantly heads to that place, though clearly still trying to get a glimpse of the situation. You breathe out sharply and stare down at the floor. Your reflection meets you halfway on the tiles, showing you just how little control you currently have on the emotions you usually hide so well. You’ve seen people get killed too many times since this all started but this is was one too many. 

You can’t even tell if the stranger’s fall was accidental, if it was suicide, if… You can’t think.

Eunhyuk passes by you and you barely notice. Or rather, you force yourself not to notice.

So much blood.

The sun sets and rises again. Tension does as well.

“We can’t keep on using him.” you say upon stepping into the security office. Eunhyuk is leaning against the desk, eyes trained on the several CCTV screens when you come in, and he seems like he’s about to leave the moment you start talking. You close the door and he gives up. He seems to know there’s no point in trying to leave, now.

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb. We both know you’re not.”

“High compliments coming from you.”

You sigh and step further into the room. “I’m not in the mood to argue, Lee Eunhyuk. Cha Hyunsu, he… He doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. You know it, too.”

Eunhyuk is silent. You see his thumb tapping against the desk rhythmically, like he’s thinking hard about something.

“Lee Eunhyuk.”

“I heard you.”

“Then say something!” you scream.

Eunhyuk turns to look at you. You take a breath. It’s unlike you to let your anger turn to yelling but you feel hopeless. Cha Hyunsu is just a boy your age trapped in circumstances he never asked for, and forced to do the worst part of the work around Green House. Eunhyuk never wanted to send anyone upstairs, yet he decided to send Hyunsu there. Because he’s a monster? Because he survived a several floors high fall? Because he was doomed to live in-between two kinds of evil, neither of which truly accepts him?

It just feels like it hits you harder today that this world will continue to be this cruel. And you two are not making it any better.

“This is the best way.” Eunhyuk says, unfazed. “The group needs to survive. You said it yourself. Cha Hyunsu’s the best bet we have at getting this result.”

“We saw him die, Eunhyuk.”

“He’s alive. You know that.”

“This is unfair.”

“The world is unfair.”

You look elsewhere, annoyed. Eunhyuk calls your name in the same tone he always does. “Your sympathy is useless.”

“What kind of leaders are we if rid of any compassion?”

“… The kind needed to survive.” he says quietly, gaze cast downwards. “Jisu asked for band-aids. Could you bring them to her for me?”

Anything’s a good enough distraction from whatever spiral you feel yourself falling into.

“Sure.”

Days pass. Your anger subsides.

“But didn’t you say it was okay to go there?”

“No, I didn’t.” Eunhyuk crosses his arms, “Who told you that?”

A name is mentioned in reply.

You sneeze.

“Aye, did you catch a cold?” Eunyu scoffs, laughing smoke at the face you seem to be making. “That’s bad. Catching a cold during an apocalypse? Seriously.”

You and the girl are sitting on the fire escape stairs, on the floor closest to the main hall. She has a habit of disappearing to go smoke, or whatever else she does, and you don’t want her getting killed. She didn’t seem to mind you coming to check up on her the first time, and now you have a habit of disappearing to hang out with her.

“I’m fine.” you click your tongue, “Anyways, you shouldn’t be smoking out there. If your brother was here he’d be pissed.”

“Who cares? Let’s not act like he ever shows it.”

You roll your eyes a little and chuckle. “Sure.” you hum, “Still. What’s the point in smoking? During an apocalypse, too? That’s bad.”

She flips you off and you return the gesture, earning a laugh in return. You don’t talk to many people in this place. Your age differs from nearly everyone. Eunyu’s a bit younger, so you’re mostly watching over her. Then there’s Hyunsu, but there’s a nearly visible wall between him and everyone. You can’t blame him for putting distance between you two especially. As far as he’s concerned, you’re also responsible for the errand-running he’s been told to do.

There’s Yikyung, but you’ve struggled to get close since you told her to shove off when she had Eunhyuk pinned to a wall. You’re not sure why you did that, even now. She’d be better company than him, maybe. And you understand her reasons.

Then there’s Eunhyuk.

“Serious talk, listen up.” Eunhyu huffs, “What relationship do you entertain with my brother?” she mimics a serious sounding voice that’s so unlike her. It makes you scoff in amusement.

“He’s a…” You trail off. What is he? A friend? An acquaintance? Whatever could be considered a coworker, at the moment? A fellow leader? “Uh, a person.”

Eunyu gives you this look that is so clearly judgemental that you consider jumping off the railing promptly.

“Yeah, no shit. Good to know he’s not turning.” she scoffs, “I know you hate him. Spit it out.”

“I don’t recall ever feeling that way.” you lie with an obviously fake smile. Eunyu threatens to throw her lighter at you. “He’s fine, alright? We just work together, I guess.”

“He likes you.”

“Hm?”

“He doesn’t hate you, I mean. You’re not stupid, so you noticed, right?” she says before bringing the cigarette to her lips again. You’re confused and it must show because she sighs in annoyance. “Clearly, I’d say the real leader is you out of you two. Aren’t most decisions yours?”

“They’re ours. Mostly his. Trust me, my opinion isn’t as valued as you might believe.”

Her expression suddenly sours and she curses under her breath. “And I think you’re wrong. Anyways, I’ll leave you with the jerk.” she coughs, pushing herself off of the stairs, “Bye.”

You hum curiously as you watch her leave before turning around. Lee Eunhyuk. Of course.

The first thing he does is shove your shoulder.

“What the hell?” you scoff, scrambling up to your feet before you can lose your balance. It’s such an unexpected move from him that you can’t help the words that slip past your lips. “What’s your deal?”

“Returning the gesture. What’s yours?”

“Huh?”

“The gate to the store alley. I said it should stay closed.” he says, “So why are three people on their way back from there telling me I allowed it?”

“Because I allowed it.” you say casually. “It had medicine, water, and some canned foods. Besides, we needed fresh air.”

He stays silent for at least half a minute before he steps closer to you. Close enough for your hands to touch if your arms were to move an inch. “It’s not safe. I said so enough, didn’t I?”

“Have you ever cared about safety?”

“I have—”

“About the people’s, about the half-monsters’s, about yours?”

Your name sounds tense when he says it.

“About mine?”

“Do you ever stop talking?” he grits his teeth. His eye twitches. You wouldn’t have noticed it had you been further away. No, you… you would have. You know his every feature and emotions too well by now. You would realize the most unnoticeable of changes from him. Any of them.

He’s angry.

There.

“Does that piss you off? That I talk so much?” you say, “Is it a problem because you never do? Does hearing someone so much get on your nerves? Should I leave the leading you? Are your decisions supreme? Am I too talkative? Is that it? Is that it?”

He kisses— He almost kisses you. He stops short of pressing his lips against yours, short of holding your collar and bringing it up to meet his chest, short of everything you only now realized would’ve been so good to have.

For fuck’s sake. “You’re holding back.”

“There’s no point in causing unnecessary fights.”

“You’re a coward.”

“You—”

You tilt your head, like you want him to finish his sentence. You do. He’s realized this much.

He takes a breath to calm down and steps back, much to your dismay.

“I know why you used to be so self-centered.”

“That’s…” you trail off, before laughing in disbelief. “What?”

“You almost got killed at the alley to the store, the one you just allowed to be opened. First day of the apocalypse. I remember it. You looked terrified. Then you put your survival above anyone else’s.” he says, “And yet now, you keep on trying to go. That’s something I don’t understand.”

You swallow, images of that monster nearly killing you with its claws, and dragging away a bloodied, dismembered corpse when it failed to find you. The feeling of someone pulling you back into the shadow so you wouldn’t get noticed, and the chaos that ensued in the main hall so quickly that you never got to see who it was.

… Wait?

“That was you.”

“It doesn’t matter who it was. You changed.” he cuts off any questions you might have, “You used to be selfish. People falsely believed you were a good leader just because you seemed strong. But you didn’t care about anyone’s lives except yours.”

“… So what? What changed?” you ask quietly, “Did you fall for it, too? Because I’m still the same, as far as I’m concerned.”

“You don’t get it.”

“I do—“

“The you I first talked to in the security room would’ve never went out of their way to make sure some high-schooler is doing fine. They wouldn’t have been this upset over a random half-monster running errands. You would have been unbothered. And that store you seem so obsessed with would’ve been emptied of the basics before anyone could get them. But it was full, wasn’t it? The store was untouched.”

You’re not sure what to say. Where is he going with this?

“Fine.” you settle with that. “Let’s say that, somehow, you’re right. Then should we talk about you? That you changed, too?”

“This isn’t about me.”

“You never talk this much. Why are you so obsessed with this?”

“… I just wanted you to know.” he says, but it sounds like he’s withholding another response. “It didn’t feel right for me not to tell you I knew about what happened after all this time. Also I need you to come back now. People are gonna crowd the store too much for it to be left without any rules.”

You look away. Decide. Look back at him. “Fine.”

Lives come and go. The obvious is ignored.

A lot of guns were pointed at a lot of people’s heads today. You’re unsure why the image of Eunhyuk stuck to the floor with a gun pointed to his forehead is stuck in your mind so much. It keeps rewinding— Reminding you that you were both helpless there, that you got lucky he even survived it all.

There’s so much blood everywhere.

Someone says your full name, with a tone much too casual to match what seemed to be politeness and with such ease that it can only be one person. He grabs your arms and tries to catch your gaze. “Are you okay?”

“Are you crazy?” you whisper, looking at him. He looks like a mess. “You almost got killed, Eunhyuk.”

“So did you. Don’t downplay it.” he argues. You expect his grip to loosen now that he’s seen you’re alright enough to talk but it only seems to tighten, “We have a few minutes to get it together before we have to go back to the usual. So be honest for once.”

Being honest…

You look at him, and your eyes are burning. “Fuck, Eunhyuk, I don’t know why I’m this scared.” you cough out, hands tensing at your sides.

He carries something gentler in his gaze, something you’re unfamiliar with. His hand drops to your wrist and he squeezes it. “Breathe.” he says, and you try, but it’s like you’re struggling to get the air in and out of your lungs. It’s burning, too. Why?… You’re panicking. That’s why. Your breaths come out short and that uneasiness who loves to get in the way of your thoughts is back. You can’t do anything, right now— you wouldn’t be able to get anyone to survive, let alone yourself.

Eunhyuk’s hand grabs your hastily and he brings it to his chest. “Slow down. Just breathe. That’s all that matters, right now.”

“Are you breathing?”

“I am. I need both of us to be. So listen to me.”

“Yeah.”

And just like a doctor would, he guides you to something calmer. Your gazes are locked the whole time. He insisted. Don’t look anywhere else, he said, just me. He helps you remember how to breathe again, helps you remember how to think, and helps you remember you have a lot to do immediately.

“We need to go.” you say, back to the closest thing to normal you could manage. “Hyunsu’s gone. Did anyone get shot? You should—”

“You should go grab the medkits. The ones in the nursery. Bring them here. I’ll take care of it.”

You don’t argue. “Okay.

Ah!” — But you nearly lose your footing. You hear Eunhyuk breathe out something that almost sounds like a laugh and turn around to glare.

“You’ll be lightheaded for a bit. Be careful.”

“Oh, yeah, okay.” you scoff. You hear Eunyu yell something along the lines of ‘It’ll be fine, so stop looking and get to work—‘ but you’re too far away to catch all of it.

The skies darken before the light comes back again. Things are eerily quiet.

When leadership becomes worthless, it’s hard to keep a proper sense of identity. Everyone has seen you and Eunhyuk as their leaders for a long while now. But since Jung Uimyeong’s arrival and the clear impact he’s had on the group’s dearest Cha Hyunsu, the atmosphere has suffered a drastic change. It feels tense for everyone but the newfound duo. It’s suffocating.

But instincts remain the same. Survival is key, and that means gathering information is, as well. You need to get what Uimyeong’s plan is before it escalates, but you know he would have no interest in talking to you.

So Hyunsu, it is.

“You don’t trust me.”

“But I do! I’ve always trusted you, Hyunsu.”

The latter keeps on walking and you have to jog to catch up. This is ridiculous, how could he allow a stranger to change him so much? Did he convince him the people here were the real enemy? You wouldn’t be surprised. Still…

“Just stop and have an actual conversation with me.” you scoff.

He does just that, stops in his tracks, and you nearly run into him. He turns around slowly to look at you. Hyunsu’s expression is usually devoid of emotion but now it’s just cold. “I don’t want to talk to you. Everything you say’s a lie. You don’t trust anyone here. I’ll say good luck to the people who still think you’re a good leader.”

“Isn’t that too much?” Eunhyuk. “Especially since you know it’s not true. Or were you influenced by that guy so easily?”

Hyunsu glances at him, then back at you, before directing his glare to Eunhyuk again. “Find someone else to run your errands. I’m tired of it.”

“That’s not—”

“Leave him be.” Eunhyuk says as Hyunsu walks away. You sigh and rub your temples. This isn’t good. “There’s no point in trying to reason with him now.”

“So what, we don’t do anything? Leave things as they are?”

“We do.”

You sigh and turn around to let your head drop on his shoulder. Eunhyuk brings his hand to the back of your head and leaves it there. You’re not sure how or why this change happened between the two of you after the shootout, but neither of you mention it. It might be for the best.

“I’m tired.” you mumble.

“You should get some rest.” he says quietly, “There isn’t much to take care of, right now. You should be able to sleep for a bit.”

“How long is a bit?”

“Until I wake you, approximately.”

“… Fine by me.”

The sun sets—

“Wake up.”

“Hmm…?” you force yourself to open your eyes and look up. God, the world’s blurry. “What?”

“Switch. I need to rest for a bit.”

You nod lazily and sit up on the bed, making space for him to sit. He settles at your side and turns to look at you. “Look here.” he says (demands) with a hand on your jaw. You turn and feel like he’s scrutinizing your face. “Any injuries?”

“Not anything new, no.” you say, “You?”

“The same.” he sighs, dropping his hand. It’s your turn to touch his face. You hold the side of it in your hand and let your thumb graze the skin under his eye. His glasses are good to hide his eyes, you think. But you’re always close enough to see them. After the shooting, you remember something, despite the state you were in.

“You cried.” you say. He hums inquisitively at that. “When those guys barged in and stuff. When you came back after going with them, you looked like you’d been crying.”

“Not really. I was just upset.”

“Because?”

“Is there not enough reasons to be upset in this place?” he deadpans, and scoffs silently when you give him a look. “I couldn’t save Ms. An. I watched her get shot.”

You have half a mind to hold back from squeezing his head to death. “And you didn’t think it worth mentioning? That’s bad, Eunhyuk.”

“I’ve… Seen worse.”

“That’s stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

You look at him with wide eyes. “Take it back.”

“Or else?” he asks. Oh. Oh. He’s teasing you. What the hell? This is new. Your hand drops to grab his collar. You get deja-vu. Something similar happened before. He looks down at your hand then back up at you.

“You really want to find out, do you?”

There’s something in the air. Something you would’ve usually described as tension, but it almost feels comfortable. You know Eunhyuk well yet you can’t tell what’ll happen next. You could guess, though. Each word and touch means more now than it used to.

(Maybe they always meant something, maybe you just chose to ignore it.) 

He stares at you for a few seconds then tilts his head to the side, expression unreadable. “I do.”

Your fingers tighten around his collar and he smiles. His hand comes up to wrap around your wrist, slowly pulling it away from him. “Hey…?”

“But I don’t think I’ll find out about anything. You’re a liar, after all. And a coward, just like me.” he says, all whilst gently pushing you to lay on the mattress. He does it so naturally it takes you a moment to realize. He hovers over you with your wrist still in hand. “Is that fine with you?”

“You insulting me or you pinning me down?”

“You decide.” he sighs, pressing your wrist down gently next to your head, “Would I be wrong to assume you don’t really mind either of those?”

You decide to shut him up instead. He takes it well.

“You taste a bit bloody.”

“Deal with it.”

[mikanotes]

happy birthday xiao i love uuuu here’s a really bad fic i wrote while very tired. sorry i couldn’t make anything better but TT oh well! /late spring ft. xiao x gn!reader warnings: none really? they’re dating except neither of them know idk. some existential talk. possibly ooc xiao i’m so sorry & i think that’s it!

A soft, soft breeze drifts through the curtains of Xiao’s room. There’s the gentle pitter patter of a rain calming down and the scent of nearby Silk Flowers. It’s all so gentle that Xiao feels this might be what mortals describe as feeling like one is floating on a cloud.

He stares at the horizon and heaves a quiet sigh, before letting his gaze dart towards a piece of paper on the desk by the window. Again. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t looked at it a hundred times since seeing it appear in his room following his daily patrol and fights against monsters.

Surprise was what he first felt, then something he doesn’t know how to name that made his heart tighten painfully, then something else that made it difficult for him to both look at the letter and look away from it all at once. He still feels that ache in his heart when he thinks about it, somehow, but it’s not really painful. It’s not the kind of pain that causes worry. He figures it’s closer to excitement than anxiety. He’s not sure.

In any case, he’s sure whatever he feels is way too much in comparison to the contents of that paper sheet.

“Hi Xiao! It’s me. I’m sure you know, right?

Is it alright if we meet up at Qiaoying Village?

When the moon is highest, maybe? No worries if you can’t come. If you only have a little time, no worries, it won’t be long. See you there, I hope.”

There it is again… He nearly curses under his breath, fingers coming up to tighten at the fabric of his top, right above his heart, twisting again.

He takes a deep breath and easily dispels the feeling, though he begins to worry about the ease with which something so simple makes his chest react so strongly. He looks up at the moon and decides his incessant checking has lasted enough, before taking a step back and disappearing from his room.

Qiaoying Village is like the Harbor in a sense. It’s full of life, full of people, and the exact kind of place Xiao usually avoids. But a village is always easier. It’s arguably much less crowded and the people tend to have unspoken rules about not being too noisy around a certain time of the night. So when it’s this late, and up from a nearby hill, it’s not half as bad as it would usually be.

“You came.”

He shifts his gaze your way and has to pretend he isn’t surprised. He isn’t, but it took him a second too long to notice you. His heart picks up in speed again and he clears his throat quietly.

Shush.

“You called. What is it?” he asks casually, taking a step closer to you. You’re sitting at the edge of the cliff, your bag settled on the grass with some sheets of paper and flowers peeking out. Is that Qingxin? You hum quietly, eyes trained on the horizon, then sigh. You seem to be pondering over how to answer. “Should I give you more time?”

“Give me a break, is what you should.” you retort, scoffing jokingly. He chuckles silently at that and decides to come sit at your side.

“Is this about my day of birth?” he asks, looking ahead as well, “I told you you don’t need to make a big deal out of it. It’s just another day.”

“It is.” you agree, tone sounding somewhat melancholic. Then you turn to look at him, gaze a bit persistent on getting him to do the same. He swallows thickly and glances at you.

“… It is.” he repeats quietly, blinking. “So?”

“You’ve lived really long. When did you stop celebrating your birthday? Did it become meaningless?”

Big talk. He’s not too surprised. There’s no point in not being honest.

“What if I never started?” he asks blankly. It’s not really meant to be rhetorical, either. “I don’t know what’s meaningful about this. It’s not as if I remember the day, either.”

You laugh softly at that. “No one does. That’s not what’s meaningful about it.” you say, gaze moving elsewhere. He doesn’t look away.

“Then?”

There’s a moment of silence, and he hears you hum faintly. It’s a long enough moment to let his mind wander to the clouds again, to that peaceful and heart-ache-inducing place where he thinks about you. He thinks about you the whole day, then thinks about you when you’re right in front of him. It isn’t the first time it happens, but it does feel stronger when it’s his birthday.

Then to him, this day…

“It’s meaningful in different ways for everyone, I think.”

“Really?”

You turn to look at him and frown. “You look elsewhere.”

He waits. He doesn’t know what for. (For his daydream to end. It doesn’t. You’re the dream in front of him. He’s cursed to ‘look elsewhere’ as long as you’re on his mind, he thinks, but there are worse things to be cursed with.) Then he shakes his head a little bit. “I’m here.” he states, “Why is your birthday meaningful?”

You make a face like you’re not buying his previous statement, for some reason, then huff.

“I don’t know. I can’t tell.”

He’s surprised. He tilts his head a little. “You… Can’t?”

You nod. “It feels like it lost meaning over the years. Maybe because I’m growing older? In any case, maybe it doesn’t actually need meaning…”

“You sound like you’re backtracking because I called you out.”

“You don’t need to point it out. Isn’t cake enough, anyways?!”

He scoffs softly. “Then what are we doing here?”

You look at him for a long few seconds, and this time his mind isn’t allowed to go anywhere. Your gaze anchors him where he sits and he can’t go anywhere else. He has no escape. He can only look at you. “Because I think it’s meaningful. I’m glad you were born, and that you exist, and that I get to exist with you.” you say, and he’s almost in awe at how easily all of this came out of your mouth.

“I…” I don’t understand, is what he wanted to say. But he thinks he feels blessed to be allowed to live a life where he got to meet you. So that just wouldn’t be true. He does understand. “I see.”

It’s been a few years since you’ve known each other. Around four birthdays, he recalls. You’ve been celebrating his birth on this day each year since you two met. It should make sense, then, that you cherish him. It should go without saying that you want to celebrate this day with him. But some part of him still can’t believe you really care this much. Before, he would have never dreamed of anyone caring so much about him they would even remember the day he was born. He thinks he would’ve probably forgotten it if it wasn’t for you.

Birthdays are meaningless for a Yaksha. For someone who lives so long and so alone. However he’s not alone, anymore.

So then to him, this day is now meaningful because you’re there. Because you invited him. Because you continue to remind him it matters to you. Because you want to celebrate that he was born, and that he exists. It’s meaningful because you care about him.

“Should I say it more clearly?”

“More clearly?”

“I hope I can remind you I’m happy you’re here for every year you and life itself allow me to.”

If Xiao’s heart hurt before, then he doesn’t know how to describe the way it feels now. It’s at least ten times worse. You’re really willing to waste this day each year, aren’t you? He wants to sound annoyed but he feels anything but.

“I don’t think…” he takes a deep breath, but it’s shaky. “I don't think it needed to be clarified. I got it.”

You unfortunately seem to catch on to how flustered he is and lean closer. His gaze hesitates between looking at you and elsewhere several times before settling on elsewhere.

“Your embarrassment is making mine disappear. Thank you, really.”

“So you were embarrassed…” Xiao scoffs under his breath, “Didn’t sound like it. Maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention.”

He feels your fingertips touch his face, silently asking to hold him. He lets you.

“Then pay attention.” you say, guiding his face towards yours. Your eyes are close enough to see the moon reflected in them. Pretty.

“I am.”

“Great.” you smile, “Happy birthday.”

Your palm is cold against the skin of his cheek. He swears your skin is usually the warmer one. Is his face warmer than usual?

He looks away. He can’t help it. “…Thank you.”

Your hand is even colder. No, his face is warmer. 

Then you pull away and he misses how cool it felt, so he grabs your hand before it’s too far away, and holds onto the feeling of it in his. You hum in question and he just intertwines his fingers with yours before looking back up. It would seem nonchalant if his face wasn’t still so warm, but he doesn’t care too much. If the sky is on his side the moonlight will only be bright enough to see you and nothing else.

You’re the only one he’ll always be willing to celebrate something so meaningless with. You’ve been known (to him) to have a way of making things meaningful by simply being there, anyways. Maybe he should be the one to get you a gift for that. Flowers? He thinks about your bag again and wonders if you didn’t one-up him, already.

“Did you call me all the way here to talk about the meaning of our existence?” he asks, trying to lighten the air. You laugh and get your bag, not letting go of his hand.

“Nah. I got you something.”

He sighs, and smiles. “Of course you did.”

“It’s simple, okay? Don’t worry!”

[mikanotes]

don’t even bother ft. aventurine x gn!reader — just something short bcs his va is too good at his job and him voicing that post made me go oh wow! warnings cursing, clingy aven and reader in denial about their feelings, one suggestive joke, badly written Sorry! this is very much dedicated to nour enjoy ur bf

The light of the sun indicates that the day has started much longer ago than you had originally thought. You cling onto sleep, nevertheless, not at all fond of the idea of facing the day properly.

“Alright. I understand.”

There isn’t need for any context for you to get that the second disruption of your attempts at going back to dreamland is a call concerning work, of all things. The clear exhaustion and barely concealed frustration in Aventurine’s voice as he speaks to the person on the other end of that call indicates he probably feels the same as you.

Irritated enough to go back to sleep immediately after hanging up.

“Let’s schedule the interview for today.” he says, sounding like he’s stretching. Oh, great. He’s decided to be professional and get up. You hear him heave a long sigh, probably after hanging up, and blindly try to reach for him.

“No.” you mumble, frowning slightly. Aventurine hums, seemingly surprised, then chuckles.

“Hm? No?” he repeats, and leans down. You open your eyes enough to see him cover the painful rays of sunlight streaming through the curtains. He looks at you and tilts his head with a smile, “Not even a hello, huh? You’re so polite.” his voice drips with sarcasm.

You try to press your palm to his face but he grabs your wrist before you can, laughing. He presses closer to you and leans his forehead to your shoulder. “No what?” he asks, whispering. You don’t appreciate the chill that runs down your spine. He’s so close.

“No to leaving before me. I heard that call.”

He smiles against your neck before pulling back to look at you. “Who says I’m leaving?” he huffs softly, “I was just trying to sound awake, okay? And since when were you this clingy?”

“I’m the same as usual,” you complain, turning to lay on your back, “I just don’t want to be kicked out become the actual room’s owner isn’t here, is all. It’s a pain to deal with.”

He’s right. You’re not a clingy person. In fact, you don’t usually find yourself sleeping in the same bed as anyone, no matter how close you are to them. This is just… A rare occurence.

You and Aventurine getting one too many drinks at a nearby bar, you realizing you didn’t get yourself a hotel room prior to the whole ordeal, and crashing in his luxury bedsheets before he could protest.

And the worst part of it? You slept well.

In any case, the problem was that the warmth of someone by your side as you slept felt much more comforting than you’d expected it to be. Maybe it was just the previous night’s drinks residue blurring your thoughts. Maybe that’s what made you say no to him potentially leaving before you could actually process it.

Maybe it’s just because it’s him, and you never really mind him being so close to you.

He sighs and moves over your figure, planting his arm at the side of your head to hover over you. “You’re an awful liar. You wouldn’t last at poker.”

“Enlighten me. What the hell am I lying about?”

“This.”

He smiles, and it somehow makes you all the more aware of the distance between the two of you. It’s not nerve-wracking but it’s not uncomfortable. And it’s not comfortable, either, but it’s somewhere there in the middle. It’s on that line that makes your head struggle to keep up and that’s more than enough to tell you how badly you’re handling what should be a routine, by now. This is nothing new, come on.

“Who am I lying to…?” you continue.

He scoffs. “Yourself. I can practically see the gears turning inside your head. It’s almost cute.”

It’s your turn to scoff. “Almost.”

He smiles to himself but doesn’t add more, moving away from you. He breathes out tiredly as he leans back against his pillows, a hand moving to cover his eyes. “You should get the higher-ups to call for a room for you. No one’ll bother you then.”

“You’re the higher-ups, do it yourself, you have the funds.” you imitate a robotic-sounding voice, then sigh, “That’s what they’ll tell me.”

“Mm, will they, now?”

You look at him. Only then do you notice the sun on his skin, his slightly messed up bangs, and the one button holding that cursed hotel pajamas top. You press your eyes shut with half a mind to hold back an annoyed groan. Don’t look at him like that, you repeat in your head.

You and Aventurine are friends. He likes to tease and flirt but that’s just how he is, so there’s really nothing more to it. You work as a negotiator for a group who frequently deals with the IPC’s offers and request for help to convince people of their grandiose plans. And Aventurine is arguably very high-up in the ranks of the IPC. It’s a wonder you even became friends, but it has been a long while now. A long while of bantering, clinging into each other just a bit too much, and listening to the other’s stories the very few times either of you actually opened up.

— Most of those times being after drinks. Nevertheless, it counts for something.

But you’ve never seen him in this kind of light. In sunlight! You’re not seeing him in any kind of new light at all. It’s just a different atmosphere than what you’re used to around him. You’ve spent time talking for hours at quiet bars or helping each other out in the most chaotic situations, but it’s never been this.

It’s so… calm.

But your phone rings. You sigh heavily before you grab it and answer the call. “Hello?” You barely get to properly register who called you before the voice of your senior at work starts complaining in your ear. You grimace.

Aventurine stares at you curiously.

“… This is really last-minute. Seriously?” you say, then wait for an answer. Seems like you’re needed somewhere again. But calling you saying to get to a location one system hour later is just… “Fine, I’ll— I said fine. I’ll be there. Yeah. Yes, sir.”

You hang up. Quiet daydream’s over.

“Turns out I’m gonna need to leave, anyways.” you mutter, sitting up. You suddenly become very aware of how comfortable it was simply laying there talking with Aventurine. Now that you’re faced eith your usual duties and loud coworkers, you’re forced to realize just how soothing the man’s presence is in comparison.

You feel a hand on your arm. It’s warm on your skin, holding some remains from the sun’s touch. You turn your head to see Aventurine’s fingers trailing down slightly, seemingly in thought. “How about…” he trails off, brows furrowing.

“How about?”

He looks up at you and grins before pulling you back into him, wrapping his free arm around your waist swiftly. You end up much closer to his face than either of you had anticipated but you don’t move away, and neither does he.

“How about we take a day off?” he whispers.

You try to say something but no word comes to mind. Aventurine stares at you for a while and you notice his gaze flitting down your face for a flicker of a second before he grabs your arm more firmly and pulls you closer, leaving you no room to even attempt thinking. “Hm?”

“I, you… Fuck you.” is the only response you manage to get out of your throat, and even that sounds half-hearted. It almost sounds like a question, even. You have to blame it on the exhaustion. You brain’s not cooperating, right now.

“Are you offering?”

Now he’s done it. You manage to grab his pillow from underneath his head to swat it at him, making him exclaim in surprise and soon yell for mercy. “Okay, hold on, hear me out, I’m sorry!”

You lower the pillow, looking down at him. You’ve been close before but straddling him’s a new one. Outside of fighting, that is. Maybe this counts as fighting.

“Good Heavens.” he huffs, hair at least ten times messier than it was before, “Okay. That was unnecessary.”

“False. Deserved.”

“…Perhaps.” he clicks his tongue, and carefully picks his pillow from your hands, like it’s a gun threatening to fire at him. “But that was no answer to my offer. Shall we take a vacation?”

“You get to decide when your vacation is?”

His sigh sounds nothing short of exasperated. “Just play along, will you? If you do, I’ll find a way to cover for both of us.” he says, fingers touching your face for who-knows-why. His eyes focus back on yours and he raises his eyebrows questioningly.

You’re not going to immediately say yes.

“Fine. Full blame’s on you if my boss kills me.”

He laughs, seemingly pleased with your answer.

“Then rest.” he says quietly, pulling you against his chest. You tense for a while, then relax. Now the sun is on your skin, too, and its warmth almost seems to beckon you back into sleep. Or is it his arms wrapped around you? You can’t tell.

Maybe the world feels a bit less harsh and cold when Aventurine is with you, and maybe you just shouldn’t bother questioning it.

[mikanotes]

goodbyes are sour

connor x gn!reader — 2.1k words

genre: angst sorta! mutual pining in denial

warnings: mentions of guns and killing, kabedon for the sake of science, connor unreliable narrator LOL u have feelings android man… maybe ooc idk. (wrote this w the idea of connor being deviant since the beginning bcs Yeah!)

synopsis: You meet Connor again. Turns out things are much more complicated when you aren’t working together.

author’s note: hi dbh fic?! i Love connor nd i’ve been writing this for a while (crazy since it’s rly short) but i don’t like it much… anyways whoevers alive in the dbh fandom have this!

“Detective.”

There’s just something about the way Connor speaks. The cadence, the pitch, the enunciation of each word. It’s painfully evident that he isn’t human. Everything about him is so machine-like that even his perfect, human-like exterior could not fool anyone. However it is something you got used to. Hearing the android speak your name and call you ‘Detective’ back a while ago felt somewhat unsettling. Now it’s so easy to recognize that it almost makes you feel at ease.

“Do you seriously think I’m an android? I don’t wanna deal with those fucking machines, either. I’d be glad if you put a bullet through them rather than me.”

Turns out hearing him fake being a human is ten times more terrifying than his android speech patterns could ever hope to be.

This was not part of the plan.

You were sent with a unit to patrol around the streets for any android who still hadn’t been brought back or destroyed. You weren’t a fan of this whole assignment, but felt better than the rookies who were sent out to shoot humanoid robots as their first field mission probably did.

It would be fine, is what you told yourself, because you didn’t feel anything towards Cyberlife’s creations enough to be completely uncomfortable with the idea of their blue blood on your hands, though it wasn’t ideal. You could manage. Until the first person you came across happened to be the one android you genuinely cared about.

“I don’t think he’s one of them…” one of your fellow officers murmurs next to you. You suddenly become very aware of the gun he, too, is holding and pointing towards the target. Fuck. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough.

At least this idiot’s performance seems to be fooling them.

You wait one second, then sigh on the second, and finally lower your gun on the third. “You shouldn’t be here.” you say casually, prompting your colleagues to relax and the atmosphere to lighten a little. Your heart is in your throat, however. “We’ve got orders to round up every android we see around here. You should go home. This isn’t exactly safe.”

“I know, I know.” he sighs, rolling his eyes a little, “I was gonna leave anyways, thanks.”

Your coworkers mumble to themselves about how disagreeable this guy’s attitude is and it’s enough for them to miss the wink the latter sends your way as he leaves. You almost regret not shooting a bullet through his head.

Still, you sigh in relief, setting your gun back at your side and running a hand over your face. You don’t think you can continue patrolling in peace. There’s one too many questions in your mind and the key to answering them is escaping from your grasp.

You take the phone in your pocket and pretend to get a call, moving it to your ear and looking at the members of your team. “I’ll join up with you later.” you say, gesturing towards your phone. They nod and walk away, and you do the same, feeling more relieved than ever that these people see you as a leader of sorts. They won’t question you on anything. You hurry towards the direction your so-called partner left to the moment they’re out of sight.

A rooftop door, stairs, and more stairs. You’re jogging down like you’re chasing a criminal on the run. You’re down to the fifth floor out of eight when someone grabs your arm and pulls you out a door.

“Wha—” you try to yell, but a cold hand settle over your mouth. Your body relaxes but your expression tenses. Connor. “Let me go,” you mumble incoherently, surprisingly succeeding in getting him to let you step away.

You sigh and shake your head, turning around abruptly. His ‘human costume’ (which really just was a grey suit jacket thrown over what should’ve been his Cyberlife uniform, glasses, and a cap to hide his LED) is already gone, replaced by his usual attire, just missing his jacket.

“What the hell was that about?” you ask, annoyed, pointing towards the staircase (back there, on the roof) and the android simply shrugs. “Connor.”

“I was undercover, Detective. I thought someone as smart as you would recognize that much.” he says, his tone back to normal. You’d feel relieved if he wasn’t being so irritating. “Was I wrong?”

Your face drops. “No. I figured as much. But what for?” you sigh, crossing your arms.

“Same mission as always.”

“Who are you chasing? Did you find the place?”

“I have no reason to tell you.”

It only clicks then that while you know about Connor continuing his mission after being laid off the case, you’re not part of it anymore. He had to be sent back to Cyberlife, and you should’ve been forgetting about him entirely. You’re still DPD, and you have orders to shoot Androids on sight— Which you clearly aren’t following. He’s right. He has no reason to tell you.

Still.

You grab his arm when he threatens to walk away. You’re not sure what you want to say, but you’re not done talking. He lets you. “Connor.”

“Detective.” he says. You straighten your back and sigh, not breaking eye contact. He tilts his head to the side and his LED flashes yellow for an instant. “You’re angry.”

Of course you’re angry. He’s infuriating. There’s something about how logical and dead-set on following every single rule he is that makes Connor the most annoying individual you’ve ever talked to. Everything he does has to be for his mission. Every single thing.

“Do threats work with you?” you ask blankly, “If you don’t tell me where it is, I’ll get Cyberlife to bring you back, and all that?”

When he takes a step closer to you again, forcing your back to press against the wall, and his LED does not even threaten to change hues, you’re taken aback. Just a bit. It’s the same kind of frustrated attitude you would’ve expected from a human after saying what you just did. But not Connor.

He doesn’t seem frustrated, though. And you know he can look annoyed. He just doesn’t. So he must not be. And you want to find what it is he’s doing exactly, stepping closer to you without even saying a word, but your brain feels like it’s short-circuiting at the distance between you two. You know he does everything for his work. Does he think you have new information on deviants? Does he really believe you would call Cyberlife on him? Is he using his stupid interrogation module on you? Whatever it is makes you even more annoyed.

The silence feels heavy. It makes things worse. It gives your brain time to process how this is making you feel and it’s no good at all. “What?” you break the silence, tone somewhat irritated.

“I’m trying to understand the reason why you’re so angry at me.” he explains simply, like it makes sense. His eyes narrow a bit and the LED at the side of his head flickers yellow for a moment. “And no, Detective. Threats don’t work on me. Not when I can tell you’re lying so easily.” he adds, quieter.

“Shut up.” you scoff.

“I dont think I will.”

“Connor.”

“— However,” he interrupts, “I can step away from you at any moment if you tell me to.”

“No.”

“No?”

What— No?! You register the word after saying it and sigh, face contorting into a somewhat pained expression. You panicked and said it, your mind processing his offer as him leaving you again— With no information and nothing to ease your stupid worries. Now it just sounds odd.

Is that embarrassment?

“You didn’t finish what you were trying to do, did you? You haven’t told me why I’m angry yet. Since you apparently care so much.” you say, tone sounding much softer than before. Your apparent discomposure took away all the bitterness from your voice. Interesting.

Truth be told, Connor knows why you’re angry. He’s not letting you in on the details of what he’s doing despite the time you spent working as partners a very short while ago. He’s spent enough time with people, and you especially, to know that after forming some kind of bond with a work partner, it would be frustrating not to receive information about their mission the way you used to from them—

Especially considering he was still chasing after something you both knew about. Jericho. But he cannot tell you about that. Not… Right now.

What he really was trying to do was evaluate how much of a threat you really could be to his investigation. He didn’t sense any hostility before and he doesn’t now, and you could’ve shot him but you didn’t. But it’s not enough. He needs more time— More evidence that it’s fine. That’s why he pulled you here in the first place. That’s why he pressured you to talk.

He needs to make sure killing you isn’t necessary.

“Because I posed a threat to the stability of your current mission earlier. You wouldn’t have been able to shoot me had I been discovered, and your reaction to your colleagues shooting me would’ve jeopardized your job itself.” he answers.

This reasoning would make sense.

“That’s not it.” you sigh.

Your heartbeat is slowing down. No good. Connor leans his arm on the wall next to you and moves closer. Your heartbeat picks up in speed. It’s almost alarming. He can tell all the details about your physical condition and deduce what you’re thinking or feeling based off of them, sure. But he’s no human. The way he views and comprehends emotions is registered in his system in a much more clear and logic-based way than it is in humans’ brains.

So maybe he won’t ever know why your heart beats so heavily against your ribcage. So he just has to pressure the right places and demand answers. He unfortunately can’t allow you to relax. He won’t get anything out of you if you’re calm. You’re much too turbulent for that.

Or maybe he’ll just have to ask. In a normal way.

“Detective, what’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” you scoff, eyes widening. Wrong question.

You seem like you want to be angry but something is holding you back from displaying just how much he gets on your nerves. You sigh deeply and look at him, “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting so weird. More than usual. Why’d you pull me here if you didn’t want to tell me anything? And I’m worried. What if you really did get shot? Wasn’t Cyberlife supposed to deactivate you? They wouldn’t have brought in another Connor this time. You’re off the case, you— You would’ve died!”

“Maybe.”

There’s circles under your eyes. There always are, but they’re more defined now than they were the last time he saw you. Now that you’re actually being honest, your whole voice and mannerisms betray any of your usual annoyed and dismissive facade. He didn’t think you cared this much, though he understands that some humans are quick to empathize. To a fault.

Now it’s clear he doesn’t need to eliminate you at all. Part of him seems to have grown fond of your company. He couldn’t risk that getting in the way of his better judgment.

“I only pulled you here so you wouldn’t pointlessly chase down the streets searching for me, since I made sure no one would follow.” he says, stepping back and giving you more space, “You’re a police officer. It doesn’t matter what you say you’ll keep to yourself or not. I can’t compromise. This is too important.”

You’re hurt, it’s visible. He’s saying he can’t risk trusting you. He figures that must not feel nice.

The sound of the radio attached to your side breaks this prolonged silence with the promise of separation. You take it, eyes not leaving Connor’s, and listen to your colleague speak. You tell them you’ll be right there. You’re not one to be late. He knows you’ll really leave this time— Too far away for him to hope to talk to you again, if anything goes awry.

You turn the radio off and put it back where it was. “Hope you succeed, then.” you say, bitter, and push yourself up to start walking away.

“Take care of yourself, Detective.” Connor says. Asks. The words come out before he can really think. Something about your voice and this whole atmosphere made him… Feel uneasy. Like he needed to say something. If this is how your partnership ends, he doesn’t believe it should be on such a sour note. He cares doesn’t dislike you at all, so why should it?

You stagger a little, seemingly stopping in your tracks, but moving again no more than a second later. “You too, Connor.”

Somehow, goodbyes had never seemed so sad.

[almondtofus]

AKIHIKO SANADA DATING HCS

akihiko sanada x gn!sees!reader

genre: fluff, headcanons

warnings: not a warning but reader is heavily implied to be depressed and anxious. there's also a minor mention of throwing up (by a different character)!

author's note!  ✶    first post for my comeback! ofc it had to be dedicated for one of my faves :3 i'm still playing persona 3 portable as we speak so i'm really scared i haven't done his character accurately. might change some stuff later if i figure out that it's ooc! reader is not mc btw (^_−)☆

akihiko is all about business. for him to be infatuated with you first, it must truly mean something.

it's the melancholy in your eyes that he notices first. the strings of his heart is strung when you two share a glance. he doesn't initiate any single interaction but rather gazes from afar so when you join s.e.e.s., that's his sign to finally talk to you.

when you prove everyone your potential as a s.e.e.s. member, and with the little members there are at first, it's easy to connect with each other. slowly but surely, when you get to know more about others and others get to know more about you──and when you all live in the dorms together, as well as fight shadows every other night, it should be easy for akihiko to talk to you, right?

no! when he fails to make you smile with his small dry jokes, and you just blink at him in return, and he tries to explain his jokes awkwardly while your gloomy eyes stare at him, he feels like he's a failure. (at the end of the day, he goes to room and punches out his frustrations because of how embarrassed he felt.)

he doesn't know why he's flustered around you. he moves and brushes it off so quickly when girls at school try to get his attention by flirting or even getting asked out, but something about you gets akihiko feeling all sweaty even though he wasn't even doing any jogs or warm ups.

the first time he witnesses your smile is when he tripped on something in your run in tartarus. seeing someone athletic like him all sprawled out on the floor, you can't help but let out a small laugh once you make sure that he's okay.

that's the breaking point for akihiko. that's when he realizes he's hooked. he finds his face super warm when he lies on the cold floor.

after months of being a part of s.e.e.s., you find yourself more confident in opening up to others in the squad. when more people are starting to join, you find yourself in a small social circle of akihiko, mitsuru and shinjiro (who leaves later on).

he loves it when you tug on his sleeve for his attention. he loves your method of asking for his attention. he thinks it's the cutest thing in the world.

it's almost like akihiko never really leaves your side──especially when you're the type of person who gets socially anxious to every single social interaction known to man. because you'd rather overwork yourself than go through the hassle of bothering asking someone else to help you out, akihiko dedicates himself to watch over you.

he also makes sure you eat properly because eating properly and healthy is good! he doesn't get mad but rather stressed out when he finds out you skipped meals from working. he would peel oranges for you for sure.

akihiko loves being around you. he loves doing things with you, but not the type of activities you would originally prefer. he's an early bird, so he goes out for jogs early in the morning and wakes you up to get you being active as well. unfortunately for you, you're a night owl so the two... doesn't really go well.

comparing to his social life in school (with fangirls following around) and him brushing it off, he actually enjoys attention. but only yours. he loves your attention and always wants it. when you don't give him the attention that he requires at this point, or if you're too busy, akihiko will have that expression that you think of it as a sad wet dog who was abandoned by its owner.

once you two starting dating──surprisingly not earlier──the physical touches get more common. you two would rather keep it private──not from the s.e.e.s. members, you two feel comfortable of sharing your feelings to others in common places. akihiko always has his hands or arm on you, whether it'd be him wrapping his arm around your shoulders, or a hug from your back (with his head resting on your hand) or him laying his head on your legs. he's a pretty active person but when he finds out how comforting it is to lie his head on your lap, he finds every single opportunity to do so.

he'd love non-lips kisses so much. cheeks, neck, forehead, temple, he loves to pecker you with his small kisses everywhere. you're not really a kisser but when you do give him a kiss on the cheek, akihiko swears his heart almost flew out of chest.

while mitsuru doesn't mind it that you two have a safe space to share your relationship, she'd rather have you guys focus on the missions as well. yukari finds you two adoringly cute. she has two reactions for you two; "they're so cute, aren't they makoto/kotone?" versus "i might actually just throw up right now."

akihiko is seriously overprotective over you. not the overbearing kind, he doesn't want to have control over you but when he witnesses you crying because of someone else, it's like his brain chemistry is altered. he will not be afraid to stand up and even throw fists for you if that's what it means. he's the reliable boyfriend who's always there for you so when you're in trouble, so you know akihiko will be there for you. he will do his best to always be there for you.

[mikanotes]

(no need for) liquid courage

arisu x gn!reader — 2.3k words

genre: fluff

warnings: alcohol usage, swearing, arisu and the never ending struggles of social interactions, love at first sight (not really but what the hell!) honestly badly written, barely proofread

synopsis: Arisu will never, ever like parties. He knows that. He has known that since forever. But then he sees you, and he has to consider changing his entire view on that.

author’s note: welcome back arisu i missed writing for u… also everyone thank my best friend for telling me not to write the ending i originally planned or i’m being very serious when i say the tags would’ve included major character death LMFAO

It only takes a total of thirty seconds at a party hosted by friends of Karube’s for Arisu to decide: this is definitely not his thing. Not at all. The colored, flashing lights. The uncomfortably loud music blasting through speakers and hitting each wall of the place until it reaches Arisu’s ears with the promise of an impending headache. The deadly amount of people— There’s just no way I could stay here and hope to actually survive the night, he thinks.

Someone jogs up to him and slaps him on the back and Arisu sighs. “No.” he says, before Karube can get a single word out. The latter groans and shakes the glass of alcohol in his hand. Alcohol. For a moment, that seems like a good idea. Karube chugs it down before shaking his head.

“Yes.” he counters, and shushes Arisu’s complaints immediately, holding up a finger, “Only time I’m acting like an asshole friend, alright? Only time. And even then, I’m trying to help you out.”

Arisu furrows his eyebrows and looks at him weirdly. Karube is not wrong, because he never pushes him out of his comfort zone much and Arisu appreciates it. However, he really can’t see this whole thing as an act of help in any way.

“Help?” he repeats, almost sounding baffled, “How? By just fucking, s-suffocating me in a crowd? What?”

“You know what? Yes.”

“Karube!”

Karube shrugs and lets go of him to gesture towards the ever-so-threatening crowd of drunken, dancing college students. “Arisu!” he mimics his tone lightheartedly, before walking away from him and disappearing between all the people.

Great. He thinks then that he’s glad he isn’t in college because he could not live a life surrounded by people who enjoy partying so damn much— And clearly, college students do.

He won’t try. He’s not gonna leave, not immediately, because he feels like he’s getting judged enough as is by the few people glancing his way, and he doesn’t want to worsen it by leaving a minute after walking in. Not that he cares, because he doesn’t know a single person here besides Karube, (and Chota, except he has no idea where he even went) so he doesn’t have to worry about seeing any of them ever again. 

But he does care enough to lean against a wall and grab his phone from his pocket instead of leaving, because that’s just Arisu Ryohei. Besides, the prospect of hearing anything irritating come out of the mouths of either his father or brother if he was to come back home right now was much too unpleasant, and he couldn’t just hang outside without his two friends (who are here, in this stupid party.) So playing on a game until the two idiots decide they’ve gotten drunk enough to leave, it is.

Except his phone is knocked out of his hand not even a few seconds after he opens a game. 

Fuck.

“Fuck.” an unfamiliar voice sighs, the sound of footsteps moving to a stop syncing with the one of his phone clattering against the floor. “Sorry.”

He glances up at the cause of his deepening despair and back down to grab his phone, only to find the one who knocked it out of his hand reaching for the fallen device as well.

It ends up with quiet apologies on both ends and awkward fumbling with the phone before everyone is back up straight and Arisu can check if his screen isn’t shattered enough to make him consider jumping out the nearest window.

Except the flashing party lights brighten your face before they do his phone, and he forgets how to function for a good three seconds.

So it takes one minute and thirty-three seconds into a party for Arisu to feel like he might be experiencing love at first sight. “Oh.” he says, stupidly, then clears his throat. Thinks about what to say. Cannot think of what to say. 

Your face doesn’t let any emotions pass through, which is a bit comforting in a way because if he’s embarrassing himself, which he knows he is, you’re not looking at him like it’s the case.

Then you laugh a little. “I’m sorry. Can’t see shit in here.” you say lightly, glancing around for a bit, then back at him, “Are you okay, though?”

“I’m okay.” he says, pressing on a tight smile. Then he takes a deep breath and looks down out of habit, only to be met with a crack on his screen. “Nevermind that, actually.”

You lean a bit closer and sigh again. “Shit. I’m so sorry.” you say, leaning away. You cross your arms and Arisu looks up at your face. You look annoyed for a bit, but it seems like you’re thinking. “I’ll pay…” you trail off. You stay silent for a beat more before suddenly listing things off with your fingers, muttering about things Arisu cannot catch at all with the sound of the music. Curse the music. He wants to listen to you.

Snap out of it, idiot.

You clap your hands together lightly and nod to yourself before looking up at him with a small smile, “I’ll pay for the repairs. My fault.” you say, before laughing sheepishly. You clear your throat and nod your chin towards his phone, “It’s like, uh, working, right? Only the screen’s broken?”

Arisu blinks and shakes his head to focus and presses the button at the side of his phone. It lights up, and he checks the touchscreen before nodding. “Yeah, barely broken.” he says, looking back up at you. The light of his phone before it dims makes your features clearer for a moment again and Arisu swears something is wrong with him. Why is his heart beating so fast? Anxiety?

Anxiety. That has to be it.

“But you really don’t have to—”

“Please,” you shake your head, “I’d feel like I owe you, otherwise. Let me.”

An idea pops into his mind. “Uh, alright.” he says, then prepares himself mentally so the words come out right, “Then can I get your number? In case you, like, run away before paying and I need to find you.”

You chuckle and he breathes out in relief.

“Yeah. I’ll give you my number.” you say, “But you might want to type it in yourself. Clearly it won’t end up any better in my hands.” you gesture towards the phone. Arisu laughs at that and shakes his head, but goes to his contacts app himself nevertheless.

So he gets your phone number, and you’re getting whisked away by two of your friends before he can ask for your name. Part of him feels disappointed you’re gone but he’s also relieved he gets time to breathe and process the whole interaction.

So he… Stays. He tells himself it’s for the same reasons as earlier, but the way his gaze moves towards your direction every other minute tells a different story. Suddenly, a party seems great. He wants to get to that bar and order a good drink that’s definitely alcoholic so he gets enough courage to go back up to you. Anything. Any-fucking-thing.

“Hey, Karube!” he hears someone exclaim, though it’s muffled by just about every other sound at the party. He sees Karube turn towards someone and follows his gaze to you, who’s hand is gesturing for him to come over. You know Karube?! That could be good. Or the absolute opposite. Karube has had ‘flings’ with a few people. The sudden image of his best friend with his apparent new crush makes him uneasy enough to genuinely consider trying to brainwash himself into thinking he never met you.

Either you’re acquaintances, either you two had something at some point. Arisu doesn’t even pretend his game is of any interest to him anymore, focusing only on what you could be saying once his friend walks up to you. You’re gesturing towards the two friends you’d been hanging out with and saying a few words, before Karube takes out a pack of cigarettes and hands you two. His mannerisms seem to be saying ‘that’s all they get’ and you laugh as you hand the two cigarettes to your friends. Karube walks away, seemingly towards Arisu’s direction. Yes! Arisu thinks, perfect.

“Man.” Karube seemingly deflates the instant he walks in his vicinity, a disappointed look that seems to be much more exaggerated than it should be due to the alcohol, “You’re still here?”

“Would I be anywhere else?” Arisu scoffs.

The other man waves his hand back dismissively and sighs, “Alright. Get off your phone for a second.”

“I’m literally not on my phone.”

Karube ignores that and pulls him to his side by his sleeve, “So now, look around. Is there anyone that catches your eye?” he asks, slurring his words just a bit. “There has to be. I know the type of people you’re into. And, well, I’m saying this as your friend so don’t take it badly, but I know you have the typical shut-in look. But trust me, lots of people are into that! Surprisingly enough. Anyways, so don’t…”

Arisu would be lying if he said he was listening to his friend at all. The only thing he can focus on is you, talking and laughing with your friends near the dancefloor. The flashing colored lights only seem to compliment you. Long gone is the idea of them being the worst thing ever and a direct attack to his eyes. No, now everything feels pretty. Everything feels slow, perfectly-paced. The music is background noise and the partygoers are all in the shadows.

Fuck, what the hell?

“— So that’s why I’m trying to help you out.” Karube seems to finish what was a very-long monologue, then pauses for a beat. He shoves Arisu’s shoulder and the latter looks at him with wide eyes. “You weren’t listening at all.”

“No.” Arisu says blankly, only to break out into a laugh and back away when his friend pretends to try and strangle him. His eyes turn back towards your direction without even noticing.

“Huh. Oh! That’s why.” Karube barks out a laugh, grinning, “You got a crush on them?”

Arisu’s gaze moves wildly between the dancefloor and his friend as his lips part and open to speak, only to stretch into a nervous smile when he tries to laugh. “No? What? Who?” he nearly stammers.

Karube turns and yells a name which Arisu figures is yours and he fears he might hear it at least a thousand more times in his thoughts alone. Then he notes that the honorifics he used when calling you felt much too formal, so maybe you’re not as close as Arisu’s nightmarish thoughts imagined. You seemingly notice him and he beckons you over with his hand. He loses sight of you for half a second when you disappear into the crowd, and the rest of the time because he turns his gaze literally anywhere else.

“Yeah?” you ask, a bit breathless, “Oh, phone guy!”

Karube elbows Arisu (less than discreetly) and nods with a tight smile. “Meet Arisu Ryohei.”

“Oh, that’s Arisu?” you say, and the latter looks at you, chuckling nervously. He bites his tongue out of habit and decides he doesn’t need to participate in this conversation yet (Bless the heavens.) “Damn, I just saw Chota earlier, too. Who would’ve thought I’d meet all your friends tonight?”

“It’s more surprising you never ran into each other before. All of you seem to think the bar’s your free lounging space.” Karube scoffs, crossing his arms. “Anyways, you two met?” he looks at Arisu, who forces himself not to gulp.

“Yeah. Briefly.” he says, running a hand up and down the back of his neck, “My phone dropped ‘cuz of them.”

“Sorry.”

Arisu chuckles and shakes his head lightly. “It’s fine.”

“It’s fine, huh?” Karube echoes, squinting at him. He looks at him and tilts his head, prompting the other to laugh and look away, “I see how it is. Anyways, you said you saw Chota, right? I’ll look for him before he drinks too much.” he turns to you again.

“Sure. He’s talking with that girl from my history class. You know the one?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

He slaps Arisu on the shoulder before he leaves.

And then there were two, huh? Arisu sighs and looks around the same way you do. He really wants to curse out Karube for fucking him over for the second time tonight (bringing him to the party, then leaving him alone with you) but he’ll save that for later. For now, his mind is too busy trying to find a way to make sure this silence doesn’t last long enough to become awkward, so it’s really difficult to think about anything else. You beat him to it.

“Didn’t— Huh. Wasn’t Karube calling me over to ask me something? Or was he just looking for Chota?” you ask, brows knitted in confusion. Arisu hums for a while.

“Uh… Honestly?” he laughs lightly, “No idea.”

You scoff and look at him. Properly. “Arisu Ryohei, huh?”

He finds himself biting back a smile, finally properly hearing you say his name. He nods slowly, then says your name for the first time, tasting the sound of it on his tongue. It’s nice. It’s better than the discomfort he would’ve faced had he decided to actually drink alcohol. Your name would’ve felt uncertain, mixed with the taste of beer. Slurred. And he might not have remembered it as well. Now it just feels… Clear.

“Well, nice to properly meet you.”

“Tell me that when we’re out of this club and the sun is up.” you say, “I mean let’s go out on… Like, let’s, I don’t know, hang out. Karube’s bar. If you're fine with it. When we’re all recovered from the party and stuff. Yeah?”

Something in the way your words come out sounds much more nervous than all the times he heard you talk before, and part of him feels relieved he wasn’t alone in this. Then he actually processes what you said and it’s his turn to struggle to get a coherent response out. Sound cool. Sound cool.

“Yeah!” What the hell, Ryohei?

You laugh, head tilting down for a bit. When you look back up at him, you’re smiling. “It’s a date.”

[senjutxt-deactivated20220917]

*taps microphone* hi hello is this working? ahem ok. can i please request an aki hayakawa fluff fic——you can literally do whatever and have fun with it as long as it is tooth rotting fluff (ok not that much but u get the idea!!!!) with my best manz Alright thank you *leaves*

🎟 super true love! friends to lovers, slight angst, fluff

aboard the train: aki x gn!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of death, kissing

author’s note: thank u for Actually Requesting u dumbass hope u like it!!! (so i re-edited this a lot so it’s not entirely proofread hope it’s okay and sorry for any mistakes/typos! hope it’s good still!)

synopsis: aki spends a while at the local playground to reminisce about old days with you before he starts working as a public devil hunter full time.

The swings of the playground barely creaked when Aki swung on them, surprisingly. He remembered they’d never do when he was a kid, too. But he thought they would once he would grow older. They didn’t.

“Hayakawa. In the flesh.”

He looked up and raised his eyebrows. You smiled and did a salute before walking his way. You sat on the swing next to his and sighed. He looked down and kicked his feet a little.

“How are you?” he asked.

All he got as a response was a bag of jellies tossed onto his legs. He looked down and grabbed it, scanning his gaze over the colorful font and stylization of the bag. He smiled unconsciously. “They still sell this?”

“Of course they do! We were the top buyers, they couldn’t just stop selling it!” you scoffed with a lighthearted laugh. Aki found himself laughing as well, shaking his head. He tore the bag open easily and threw a red colored candy in his mouth, before handing you the bag. You took several in your hand and he brought the bag back towards him. He tossed a glance your way to see you only had blue jellies in hand.

“And you still have favorites. Fucker.” he clicked his tongue, scowling. You stuck out your tongue at him, already dyed blue-ish. He stifled a laugh, “Why always the blue ones?”

“They remind me of you. Same color as your eyes.” you said casually. His eyes widened, and there was silence. Then you laughed. “What? Did you really think I’d say that? You’re so predictable.”

“Quiet down, idiot.” he scoffed, looking away as a pitiful attempt to hide the blush on his face. You laughed quietly to yourself and tossed more candy in your mouth.

“Why the red?”

“Looks like roses, your favorite flowers.” he deadpanned in annoyance, making you laugh. “Because they’re good, you dumb fuck. Why else?”

“Aw. And here I thought it had some meaning.”

He looked down at the old-fashioned candy bag and bit the inside of his lip. He remembered you buying them for the both of you to share, and always ending the red and blue ones super fast. He remembered swinging on the swings you currently sat on when you were younger, and you mocking him for being too scared to swing high when you yourself couldn’t do it without panicking a bit. He remembered the time spent at this playground and the stores surrounding it. The laughs. The joy. The happiness you brought him for so many years.

From sharing candy and gossiping about classmates on the swings when you were kids to having deep talks about life during your high school days— And now, keeping him company before he’d officially start working the job he’d always said he’d take on eventually. You knew he needed support, despite the facade he always kept up. You weren’t his best friend of several years for nothing.

“It has meaning.” he said. Best friend. Best friend. Best friend. He took a deep breath, “Just you being here.”

Aki was not ready to leave this place. To leave you.

“Aw, don’t get sentimental on me, Hayakawa! It’s out-of-character.” you joked, before taking on a more serious expression once seeing his. He looked nervous. And actually emotional, as surprising as it seemed. “Hey. What’s wrong? You’re just getting a job, no need to be like this.” you joked to try and lighten up the atmosphere.

“It’s not just… Not just any job.”

You looked away, sucking on your teeth and forcing the upset you’d been trying to keep at bay away. You knew it wasn’t just any job. You were fucking terrified. Aki was practically the only one you had. And being a Devil Hunter? You didn’t need to know the details to know how dangerous it sounded.

You weren’t ready for Aki to leave this place. To leave you.

“Listen.” you cleared your throat, “I’ll say it now, and then we stop being emotional, okay?” you said, smiling a bit shakily. He looked at you with a slightly sad frown. You gulped and sighed. “Don’t go dying trying to kill a devil, or something like that. Protect yourself. Take care of yourself. Call me anytime you need anything. And don’t complain about me complaining to you once you leave for the job because it’s your fault you decided to take on such a stupidly dangerous job.”

He nodded slightly. You breathed out deeply.

“And don’t fall in love with anyone other than me!”

Before he could answer with anything, you stood up and grabbed his hand to pull him up with you. You hugged him tightly, hiding your face in his shoulder. He froze for a moment, not used to you acting this affectionate, before wrapping his arms around you. He smiled. It was happy. It was melancholic. It was almost bittersweet— The taste of the candy on his tongue.

Aki didn’t cry. He tried not to. As so did you.

He was warm, in contrast to his seemingly cold exterior. You’d always wondered how it would feel hugging him.

Hayakawa Aki.

You would miss him.

And so, many months passed.

College was harder than you thought. It was lonely, too. And it was exhausting. Moving cities was a nice change, though. You walked over to your home, feet kicking the ground a little. You sighed and hummed a song to yourself for the rest of your walk home.

You opened the door to your apartment and sighed, taking off your shoes and coat. The winter was seriously cold. You walked inside, “I’m homeee.” you called, leaning down to pet your cat that had just come to greet you. “Hi there.” you said quietly, smiling.

You walked further in and squinted at the couch in the middle of your apartment. You smirked to yourself and tiptoed to behind it.

“WAKE UP!”

“AHHH!”

Aki turned to look at you with wide eyes, his gaze changing from absolutely terrified to near-murderous. His hair was down, bangs nearly covering his eyes from how long they’d gotten, and he was still wearing pajamas. You ruffled the top of his head and jumped over the couch to sit beside him with a satisfied sigh. “Hiya.”

“First of all, fuck you.” he said, “And welcome home.”

You turned with a smile and he scoffed.

“Not my fault you were napping. You practically gave me the opportunity to scare you yourself.” you said before yawning. The boy clicked his tongue and got up.

“Tired?”

“Very. Classes are a pain.” you sighed, allowing yourself to complain for a bit, “But I guess it’s nothing compared to having to kill devils, huh?”

He waved you off dismissively and walked over to the kitchen. “It’s not comparable. How did your presentation go?”

“It went fine. I was so sad, though.”

He looked up from whatever he was doing on the counter to look at you with slightly wide eyes. “Huh? Why? What’s up?”

“I couldn’t spend my boyfriend’s day off with him.” you said dramatically, pouting, before erupting into fake, theatrical sobs, “That’s depressing! How could I! How could they! I should’ve skipped class! This is awful, terrible! Wahhhh!”

“Pipe down.” he said monotonously, stifling back the slight laugh that threatened to leave his throat, “Himeno is chill. She’ll let me have another day off if I need one. Stop acting like I never get any.”

“But you never get any day offs.”

“… Okay, but still.” he scoffed, “Let’s not talk about it. I don’t wanna think about work. My superior’s been acting odd lately.”

“Himeno? I thought she was cool?” you said, brows furrowed and tone a bit worried. Aki came back from the kitchen with two cups of tea, settling them down on the table and sitting back down next to you. He shook his head, his hair shaking along with the movement. You hummed, “Then who?”

“Her name is Makima. She’s… I don’t know. It feels like she’s too focused on me, for some reason. She gives me lots of tasks and then says it’s because I’m the most trustworthy person she knows, and stuff.” he says, brows furrowing as he spoke. Your face contorted into slight confusion as well.

Aki continued, “And when she says that, I get a weird feeling. Like she’s telling the truth but in my heart I know she’s actually lying.” he mumbled, mindlessly spinning his spoon in his cup of tea. Then he shook his head and sighed, “It’s whatever. I just get bad vibes from her but everyone else likes her. It’s probably just me.”

“Sounds weird to me.” you said, leaning forward a bit abruptly to get closer to your cup. You put your hands around it, the warmth it emanated warming your body up a bit, “Thanks for the tea, by the way.”

“Sure.”

This was the life you’d dreamed of. The life you had in your dreams even when you pretended you’d be fine with anything else. Living with Aki.

After that one evening at the playground, you parted ways for several weeks— months. And somehow, you two ended up renting an apartment together because now you were older and money was a pain and it was easier this way and you two knew each other really well already so it wouldn’t be a problem and it was easier this way and not because you both liked the idea of living together at all, no.

And somehow, somewhere along the way, you started dating. You’re not sure if any of you really said anything about making it official, it just happened like that.

You two were fine with it.

You got a cat. You took care of the house together. You greeted each other every morning and welcomed each other every evening. Your separate room became more abandoned as time passed and you went to join him in his bed to sleep. You lived a nice life. Like a couple. A real one. You didn’t need to say it to know. It was perfect this way.

He took the cup in one hand and extended his free arm over the couch headrest. You grabbed your tea and leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around you, hand rubbing your arm comfortingly. You tilted your head on his shoulder and hummed. “What if she’s some manipulating devil or something like that.”

“Who? Makima?” Aki asked, turning to look at you with furrowed eyebrows. You nodded, holding up a thumb up. He snorted a little, shaking his head and looking away. “No way. She couldn’t be that high up if she was… Or maybe…Nah.”

You chuckled. “Just saying. Anyways, ask Himeno for more days off. I’m on holidays soon. I was planning to go back to our hometown.” you said, smiling. He hummed in thought.

“Maybe I could come too. I’ll ask her.”

Aki sighed tiredly and let his head fall on top of yours. There was comfortable silence for a while, and unbeknownst to one another, you were both thinking about what he said.

“Actually, I just remembered something Makima said.”

“Ah? What is it?”

“One time, she said something like “you must already have found your one true love” after I told her I couldn’t take on a particular mission.” he said, tone confused, “I brushed it off, but it was really random and confusing.”

You sighed, thinking. You were no Devil Hunter, but you had enough knowledge to try and draw fair conclusions, here. “Maybe I’m right, then.” you concluded, “Maybe she controls people by making them like her and she couldn’t do it on you.”

“Even if that were true, it doesn’t make sense. Why would I be an exception to that?”

You smiled and tilted your chin up at him. “Because I’m your super, one true love.” you said with a grin, amusement lilted in your voice. “After all, you never did fall in love with anyone else!” you added on. Aki looked down at you and scoffed with a slight smile. Then he raised his eyebrows and nodded unconvincingly.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s the case.” he said sarcastically, voice quieter as he got closer to you. You closed your eyes and chuckled and he kissed you, soft and not very long, but sweet. He pulled away and looked at you, smiling with a look you rarely managed to catch on his face. Pure endearment. The look of someone in love. His eyes were half-lidded and his smile was so soft but so genuinely content. He tilted his head, “Maybe it is.”

You chuckled and pushed him teasingly, earning yourself a string of complaints about him nearly spilling his tea over. You two ended the night talking about your classes and the TV-show that you’d put in the background on your TV. It was nice. It was relaxing. It was a routine that you grew fond of.

(Spoiler alert: Makima’s abilities, as great as they were, seemingly couldn’t overcome genuine, true love. Therefore, in a way, you were even stronger. And! Even better yet: You were right.)

[senjutxt-deactivated20220917]

🎟 lame. fluff, mutual pining

aboard the train: yoshida x gn!reader

warnings: …teasing? that’s it😭

author’s note: sloane gave me the idea to write this because of her stupid ass msg saying yoshida wld be That type of guy . /lh

synopsis: yoshida hirofumi is the most annoying person you know, and coincidentally, your crush.

“Andddd, there goes your book.” Hirofumi’s irritatingly familiar voice said, just as his hand grabbed the book you had in your hands. You closed your fists and sighed deeply, barely turning to look at him as he sat on the library table. “Let’s see. “Goodbye Eri”. You’re actually reading a manga. For some reason I thought you always read classics and textbooks. Maybe because that’s what you always do.”

“Yes, I’m reading a manga, and it’s really good, and I’m not done with it. Mind giving it back?” you exhaled, looking up. The boy hummed dully, eyes scanning the pages of the book. You frowned and tilted your head, staring at him harder when he ignored you. “Yoshida.”

“Call me Hirofumi.”

“We’re not close.”

He turned and moved so close that all you could see was him; in less than a second. Your eyes widened but you stilled in place. He smiled casually.

“We are, now. y/n.”

You scowled and glared at him as he tilted his head, his eyes seeming much more interested now that he was looking at you instead of the book. You saw an opportunity. You grabbed the manga. He moved his hand above his head.

“Fuck off.” you mumbled as he stood up. He chuckled lightly and walked over to behind your chair. He leaned over your shoulder, both arms hovering you as he put the book down in front of you, page back to where you previously were. “Tsk. How bored are you to keep bothering me every time, like this?”

“A lot.” he said, crossing his arms on the back of the chair, still awfully close to you, “It’s dreadful, really. Boredom.”

“Seems like it. Really not my problem.” you mumbled, putting the book in your bag. You tilted your head backwards just as Yoshida moved his forward. Your faces met and you froze. He smiled at the proximity.

“Shy?”

“I’ve got no reason to be.”

His bangs touched your face now.

“You don’t?”

You swallowed thickly.

“No.”

He pouted, moving back and finally letting you breathe. You moved back forward and internally punched yourself because you probably looked as embarrassed as you truthfully were. Hirofumi was awfully good at making you feel this way because you liked him. (And truth be told, nearly anyone would feel this way whether they had feelings for him or not. He was just attractive. Annoying as that might be.) And you were pretty sure he knew you liked him. And you didn’t you how he felt. And that annoyed you. Because the flirting and teasing was irritating, but even more so when you didn’t know if he only did it for the fun of it or because he actually liked you back.

“Wow. You wound me, y/n.” he exaggerated, despite the monotone sound of his voice. He pulled the chair beside you and sat down on it, “And here I thought we had something.”

“Something.” you repeated mockingly, in a sigh. “In your dreams.”

He smiled and looked your way, “Every night.”

“Shut up. Fuck’s sake.” you looked away.

Hirofumi was annoying. Extremely annoying.

[senjutxt-deactivated20220917]

🎟 remains. hurt & comfort

aboard the train: denji x gn!reader

warnings: mentions of killing, suicidal ideation and swearing, grief, depression, fear of abandonment, and talks of marriage. not proofread sorry for typos or mistakes/grammatical errors lol

author’s note: i miss chainsaw man!!!

synopsis: the aftermaths of denji’s time as a public safety devil hunter, and the pain that comes with.

Denji stepped out of his apartment, sighing and shaking his backpack on his back a little. He sighed and huffed and did all sorts of disgruntled expressions as he walked down the stairs. “Nayuta, hurry up already.” he yelled, jogging down. The girl sighed as she closed the door to their apartment.

You laughed as you watched them, bickering as they walked down. Once they reached the street, Denji’s face lit up.

“y/n!” he exclaimed, smiling widely. He ran up to you with an exaggerated crying expression and opened arms, before engulfing you into a suffocating hug. “I missed you!”

“It’s been two days.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

He pulled away and smiled still. You chuckled and shook your head, before turning to his little sister. “Hi, Nayuta.”

“School.” she says, before walking away. You stare at her with furrowed eyebrows before turning to Denji.

“Uh?”

“Kobeni takes her to school now.” he says, blankly, “She needed a job. She’s still broke.”

“And you’re not?”

Denji makes an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders and begins walking away in direction of the path to your high school. You shake your head to ignore the hundred questions you have to ask him and run up to catch up to him.

For over five months now, Denji has been silent.

Sometimes, he’s overbearingly loud and present— Makes a show out of reminding everyone around him that he exists. He’s joyful, and acts like his stupid, idiot teenager boy self. It’s Denji. It’s him. But it’s different. He’s craving attention; he’s craving comfort, company. He was alone before and he was used to it, but then he got a family, love and company, and it was all ripped away from him— his life— so fast and easily, like it meant nothing. He needed someone. Something. To hold onto.

And sometimes he’s dreadfully quiet. He doesn’t say a word and practically only replies to questions with nods, shakes of his head or hums. He mumbles his way through his sentences and walks to school like heavy chains are on his feet. He’s visibly unwell. He doesn’t really sleep. It shows on his face and Nayuta told you.

He misses Aki and Power. Makima, almost. In spite of everything.

He misses the daydream that his reality had become, for a while.

And he’s quiet when you walk to school. You know he’s glad to have you because you were part of the Public Safety Devil Hunters, but you attended high-school at the same time. That meant once he finally enrolled, he wasn’t alone. Hirofumi was there, too, but he was older and he was also deemed “creepy” by Denji, which earned him a lighthearted hit to the back of his head. The point is that Denji is glad he isn’t alone and someone from what one could call his previous life is still there. Alive. Standing. Well. Someone who knows about everything, and who won’t ask about anything. Someone who understands him without needing him to talk. You.

“You’re crying.” you say after a good fifteen minutes of silence and walking to school. Denji is looking ahead and only wipes his tears with the back of his hand.

“Not.”

“Sure are.”

“Shut up.”

You don’t mention it again. Not even when you hear him try to stifle his sobs during your fifth class of the day. Not when he spaces out and doesn’t eat his lunch to stare out the window without moving. You figure he needs time, still.

When the school day ends, he walks slow.

“I’m staying over at your apartment today.” you stated, walking ahead of him and skipping through your steps. You heard a familiar scoff and then him running up tocatch up to you.

“No, you’re not.” he scoffs, walking next to you with his arms crossed. You look at him with raised eyebrows and he side-eyes you. “… Will you help me cook? Nayuta keeps complaining.”

You chuckle and hold up your fist. He bumps his into it.

“Deal.” “Deal.”

So you stay there the whole night.

You cook some instant ramen Denji has because you’re actually not much of a better cook than him, but it seems Nayuta prefers it when you make it. He sits on a chair next to you and dully watches you make it. You turn to look at him, “What’s up?” you ask, and he shrugs.

“Can we, like, get married, or something?“

“The fuck?”

He shrugs again and closes his eyes, sinking down on his chair. “I dunno. I’m like, alone, y’know. I don’t know, I just think it’d be nice having you over more often. And the annoying one likes you. I just thought about it.”

You laugh because marriage is so far-fetched when he could just ask you to be roommates. You know marriage’s an oath— You’re supposed to be together forever, or something. Denji probably thinks it’s a security. To stay with you. To not be alone ever again, even if it wouldn’t change much and you both know that. You know that what he’s trying to say is that it’s harder than he pretends it is to live alone, again. Nayuta isn’t enough to complete the hole that Aki and Power’s death left in his chest. And as innocent as she is, she reminds him of the nightmare that destroyed all of it. Makima. Sometimes, he purposefully takes too long to come back home after class so Kobeni takes care of her longer and he can spend longer without seeing those damned eyes, even if it means paying Kobeni double. You know because when he isn’t staying alone in some street, he’s with you in a park or at your place.

“We’re not getting married, you fucking idiot.” you mumbled, chuckling still as you poured the ramen into three bowls. You exhaled and focused your gaze on the food, “I’ll just come over more often.”

“I don’t want you coming over more oftennnnn.” he damn-near whines, “You piss me off.”

“You said you wanna get married.”

“Yeah but still.”

You scoff and bring the food on the counter.

“Nayu. The food’s ready.” you say, and the girl looks from her spot on the floor, where she laid down on her stomach while reading a manga magazine. The dogs seem to all wake up at the same time as she gets up and you huff. There’s sliced bread on the side of her bowl and she takes it with her teeth before walking off with the bowl in hands. The dogs follow her.

Denji turns on his chair and leans his arms on the counter and puts his head on them. He stares at the side of his bowl and you lean against the counter, taking your own. You mix the ramen with your chopsticks a bit and sigh.

“You should eat.” you say.

“I will.” he says.

“Before it gets cold. Or else you’ll complain.” you add. He sighs and gets up enough to spin his chair so it faces the counter and sits back down, before eating. He finishes the bowl pretty fast and then he’s back to leaning on the surface of the counter. You tilt your head. “The…” you hesitate, “The dogs should probably go out for a bit, right? Wanna go walk them together?”

He nods a bit.

Nayuta falls asleep. You head out with the dogs. Denji holds half of then, you the other. The night is cold. Denji doesn’t seem to mind, or to realize. You’re not sure.

You walk to a small bench next to a vending machine. You sit down and Denji buys drinks. He hands you your favorite and keeps his own in hand. The dogs are seemingly enjoying the night breeze much more than you are. You’re cold.

“You know.” Denji begins, “I came here after Aki died. This exact fuckin’ place. I ate ice cream. And Makima found me, somehow. And she brought me to her place. That’s where I met those dogs for the first time, too.”

You hum.

“Then she killed Power.” he says.

You nod slowly.

There’s silence and it isn’t uncomfortable but it’s heavy. If you couldn’t feel Denji’s grief before it was all you could feel now. Like it hung in the air, suffocatingly so. You knew Aki well, and you were acquainted with Power. You didn’t know either of them half as much as Denji did.

You hurt when they died, but not half as much as Denji did.

You could feel his hurt now. It made you wonder how he kept living. It was grief so terrible painful and deafening that anyone would rather kill themselves than keep enduring it. But Denji was… Denji. You figured he was just different. Nothing really new.

“I thought to myself, I killed Aki.” he says, then sighs like it was hard to breathe properly, “So it was easy for me to think the same for Power, y’know? It’s my fault. I killed them.”

“I understand.”

“Mhm.”

He uncapped his can of soda and drank probably half of it in one go.

You went back home.

The dogs went to sleep fast, Nayuta was still asleep, and Denji was worn out. So you cleaned up the place, put his coat on the coat hanger for him, put his shoes properly at the entrance where he’d took them off messily. You put a blanket on him and readjusted the one on Nayuta. Then you laid down next to Denji. He opened his eyes a bit and just looked at you. There was silence. He hugged you and hid his face in the crook of your neck.

“We should really get married.”

“No.”

“Man. Fuck you.”

He held you, still, and you held him. He fell asleep before you did. You spent a while carding your fingers through his hair and rubbing his back, making sure he was really asleep. Making sure he wouldn’t suddenly jump because of a nightmare (it had happened before). And then you allowed yourself to fall asleep.

When the sun was up and you were all awake, Denji was back to being loud. You figured he was okay. It was enough for now. He was alright.

[almondtofus]

FIRE ESCAPE

diluc ragnvindr x gn!reader | genre: mystery, detective, crime fiction

SYNOPSIS!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀you’re just an ordinary maid in a count’s mansion in the outfields of mondstadt, doing chores all day to satisfy your lord and his mysterious guests. no questions asked. but when there is a specific guest, and this was no ordinary guest but the wealthiest man in mondstadt━━diluc ragnvindr pays a visit, the atmosphere of the mansion changes. the other maids ditch you as you were the only one who knew proficient etiquette and knew how to care and speak to guests from higher class. but when lord ragnvindr requests you to spy on your own lord, speculating your lord with suspicious fatui activity, you gladly helped him.

TAGS+WARNINGS!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ fluff & angst. strangers to friends to lovers. possible deaths, blood & gore, explicit language & phrases, use of alcohol, mentions of abuse, mentions of murder,  possibly misinformation or tweaked lore for convenience (sorry hoyoverse this is my world now)

CHAPTERS!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀one. (coming soon + more as well!)

AUTHOR’S NOTE!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀hiiii mika is bullying me to post something on tumblr for months now. haha <3 there we go finally i posted something!! this is actually a fic i have on wtp (and i’m more active on there with more diverse fics) and the reader is actually an oc but i will definitely make some changes here and write it as a Reader and it will be gender neutral! i really enjoy this story and the plans i have for it so i hope you will enjoy reading it! <3

if you would like to be on a tag list and be tagged on every chapter update, send an ask to be on the tag list! ^_^

wtp link

[mikanotes]

chapter six. whatever you know.

teyvat academy killings.

2.5k words. masterlist — previous chapter / next chapter.

warnings: swearing, mentions of murder, and the usual.

author's note: there's another chapter!!! hope you guys like it! i wonder if you've figured out who the killer is yet... hehe. also there's things that might be confusing in here, but as usual, it'll be explained later on! thank u for the support as always <3

The questioning went smoothly. On your end, at least.

“You should thank me.” you yawned as you stepped out of what they called the “interrogation room” (which, really, looked like one, but was a random room in the restricted floors upstairs of the school). You turned to Kunikuzushi, who only huffed as he tried to comb his fingers through his hair. “Without my great acting, they would’ve questioned why you were trying to run away for at least one more hour.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

They weren’t as thorough as you thought they would’ve been. They only asked you why you’d taken pictures, which you’d answered by saying students had their doubts on whether the Director was telling the truth and wanted to show them the scene yourself, as the student council president. They asked Kunikuzushi why he seemingly tried to run away at the sound of the Director, detectives and lawyer’s footsteps, which made Kunikuzushi stagger slightly but you helped him, saying he was flustered and panicked and thought maybe the killer was coming for him since he’d reported the murder. They bought it. You didn’t think they would. All pictures were inspected then deleted from your phone entirely and you were both sent out of the interrogation room. Quick and simple, really.

“We need to talk about what we were talking about, before.” the boy said in an uncharacteristically serious manner, walking faster. You furrowed your eyebrows and jogged up to him to follow his rhythm. He really seemed to know his way around school, for a new student. Huh.

You both walked over to one of the old classrooms on floor five. It was barely dusty, despite the fact that it hadn’t been used in over a year at least. The cleaning crew took care of the old classrooms and rooms at least once a month, and sometimes twice if the Director asked them to.

You huffed upon closing the door and watched as Kunikuzushi paced around the room.

“So?” you said casually. “I have work to do. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“You know about the Fatui.” he spoke quietly, “It’s a fucking secret society. I know it’s right under the school, but how the fuck do you know about it?”

You chuckled. “Well, a good friend of mine has business with them he doesn’t even know about. I did some digging, and quite frankly, it wasn’t too hard to piece it all together.”

Kunikuzushi frowned and you sighed, walking over to the blackboard. You grabbed a chalk and started writing on the board.

“The Fatui. A secret society founded at least five years ago. Their goal is to take down Celestia, the highest of higher-ups of our world. The ones who control everything from money to people’s lives and much more.” you said as you drew arrows and other symbols to explain, “Members are all part of Teyvat Academy and their other schools, and are recognizable from the chess-piece-shaped piece of jewelry they all wear.”

“... How’d you even notice that?”

“Director Kamisato has clear rules for the school, as you know.” you sighed, the sound of your writing filling in the blanks, “One of them was not to wear anything unnecessary apart from the basic school uniform. Around a year and a half ago, this rule was changed, and jewelry was accepted as allowed accessories. Just before the announcement was made public, a few students I came across were already wearing some. Signora and Ajax, to be precise.”

You pointed an arrow to their names. “They both wore chess piece accessories. Signora’s was a dangling, ocean-blue Queen earring, while Ajax’s was a yellow-ish Rook-shaped pin on his jacket. If you pay close enough attention, you’ll see Dottore wore a black Pawn earring, as well.”

“You’re pretty damn perceptive.” he laughed bitterly, “What else? Those are just random accessories. Could be a simple club thing, for all we know.”

“I know everything about every club, first of all. Don’t underestimate me.” you said, scoffing. “Director Ayato has always been a person who gets on my nerves. At first, I couldn’t pinpoint why. In my first year, he was nice, and he gave me the student council president place when he saw my potential. But I felt like he’d been trying to get on my good side, for some unknown reason. That ticked me off.” you mumbled a bit fast, “The point is that he wears a checkered bracelet around his wrist at all times. It looks just like a chessboard. And it looks weird, and out of place with the rest of his outfit. Yet he’s always wearing it.”

Kunikuzushi yawned. “And? Could be a personal good-luck charm, or something.”

You hit the chalk on the edge of the board, startling Kunikuzushi as you turned around.

“And you.” you said, staring at him blankly, “Kunikuzushi, who wore the purple King ring back at Teyvat Middle School. Am I right?”

Kunikuzushi looked away. “...Yes.”

“I found pictures of you from Ajax’s little research, and with the way you said Dottore was killed… It confirmed my suspicions. The Fatui, secret society founded under the famous, renowned Teyvat School, with members only from that school, had you as a member. And you got kicked out.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

He scoffed. “With all you seem to know, I thought you’d know that, too.”

“I don’t. Enlighten me?” you said, smiling casually as you crossed your arms.

Kunikuzushi looked at the board behind you, pensive. “I stole the Gnosis.”

“Gnosis?” you repeated, “Fuck’s that?”

“Those pieces of jewelry you rambled about– They’re like badges earned from achievements of sorts. Everyone who wears them can go higher in rank. I was greedy and I wanted more power. So I… Stole someone’s Gnosis, and pretended to have achieved what they had.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, looking down as if the pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together under your gaze. “How? I doubt something like that would be easy to get away with.”

“I killed her.”

“Huh?” you looked up with wide eyes. He blinked, expressionless.

“I killed the one who got the Gnosis and took her place.”

Your lips were parted but you couldn’t get a single word out of them. Kunikuzushi, 17 years old student, had killed someone. Killed someone and stole what they’d rightfully earned. Stole what could’ve been hard work for something they’d longed for for a long time. You couldn’t say a thing. This was ruthless.

“What is it? Didn’t think the members of a secret society were capable of killing someone? I was kicked out when they found out, anyway.”

You scoffed, smirking. “I know Ajax. So obviously, I’m aware. I even experienced it first-hand.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last night, before Dottore’s murder…”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“It’s Childe. Open up, will ya?”

You leaned against the edge of your open window, staring at the door across from you blankly. More knocks resonated around the room, and you heard the boy ask if you were asleep or just pretending. “The CCTV doesn’t record sound, so they won’t know if I say I’m here to kill you. So, to be honest, I’m here to kill you. And your locked door won’t help you much.”

You didn’t move.

You heard the door click. Once, twice, and three times. Then it unlocked, opening slowly as Ajax’s familiar figure stepped inside. He grinned widely. “Hey there, prez’.”

…

“Prez’? Where are… What the hell? Hey, [name]!” you heard him say, frantically moving around your room. There was shuffling and groans of annoyance and furniture being moved around. He sighed in frustration for the nth time since he stepped in and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. You pushed yourself up from the edge of your window (which you had, indeed, been hanging from for the past few minutes) and climbed back into your room. It wasn’t too much of a mess but Ajax’s movement around the room had messed things up. How annoying.

You chuckled to yourself. How predictable.

“You hung at your window’s– What the hell?!” Kunikuzushi exclaimed, “How’d you know he was coming to kill you, anyway? And how did they know you knew about the Fatui?”

“I made it obvious.” you said, “I mentioned the words “Fatui” and “secret organization” in a random sentence while looking straight at Ajax. I knew he’d been targeting me since then, and when we learned about Kaeya, it just confirmed my suspicions. I just wasn’t sure when he would strike. But the day of his “release” seemed like a likely occasion. So I assumed, and I was right. After five months… I’m glad that’s out of the way, for now.”

“Five months? Are you serious? They probably tried killing you so many times in that timespan– Fuck. You’re awfully smart. It pisses me off.” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Then Kaeya knew too, and that’s why Ajax tried to kill him. That I kind of knew about already.”

“Right, you were still part of them at the time.” you sighed. “So, see, there’s a pattern to the killings, so far.”

“It seems.”

“But we can’t tell the others.” you sighed, “So it’ll be our secret. Yeah?”

He looked at you and right at that moment the sun was against your back. His eyes looked so dark, yet so full of life. You weren’t sure what had happened during the time he spent with that organization, but you knew he was willing to help you in your investigation.

And perhaps, he’d even help you with more.

He nodded, closing his eyes briefly. “Yeah. Let’s do that. I’ll go to the investigation room and you should go do the “work” you claimed you have to do.”

You laughed. “Sure. See you later, Kuni.”

“Yeah– And quit calling me that!”

Your chuckles were heard as you erased the blackboard.

You weren’t lying when you said you had work. The usual stu-co stuff, obviously, but there was more to it. You walked up the stairs and over to your room’s floor.

“Kid, you’re not allowed here. It’s a crime scene.”

“[name].” you said, “That’s what you should call me. Not just “kid”. Goodness.”

The police officer squinted and then huffed. ‘“Oh, you’re that stubborn one from the last murder… Still bugging us to see the crime scene, huh? It’s still a no.”

“That stubborn one…” you scoffed, shaking your head. You looked up coldly. “It’s Teyvat Academy student council president, class 2-5, [name]. Can I ask some questions?”

“... Teyvat Academy stu-co-prez’ [name] from class 2-5, no. You shall not. This is a restricted area, go back downstairs.” the officer insisted. You clicked your tongue and sighed, mumbling a “whatever” as you turned back around and left.

You abruptly turned back. “One question?”

“... Fine.”

“Let me see the security camera footage.” you said, slamming your hands on the table. A girl with long, straight dark purple pigtails looked up at you with a bored look as she chewed on a chewing-gum.

“They took the footage already.” Mona said, raising her eyebrows. “Sorry, prez’.”

Mona Megistus. Part time AV-Club president, full time journalism club president. You sighed and hung your head low, before slowly pulling out your phone. You set it on the table and Mona peered at it curiously. It read “information on Dottore’s murder from a police officer”. She looked up at you and squinted slightly.

“Fine. I’ll give you the copy.”

You smiled as she pushed her rolling chair backwards to grab a USB-driver from one of her many drawers. She came back to her laptop and plugged it in, before clicking on a few files and opening some stuff. “Pay up.”

You pressed play on your recording.

“...Can I ask a few questions?”

“... Teyvat Academy stu-co-prez’ [name] from class 2-5, no. You shall not. This is a restricted area, go back downstairs.”

“One question?”

“... Fine. What is it?”

“Is the door’s lock here broken?”

“Yes, it is. Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering.”

The recording ended. Mona’s eyes widened and she moved back, as if taking in the information. “So the whole talk about no signs of intrusions in the room was false?!”

“It was.” you affirmed, “Now, you pay up.”

Just as she was about to press play, the door burst open. You turned around.

“Fischl. Right on time.” you said. She smiled widely and ran up to you after closing the door.

“Fischl! Did you know Director Kamisato was–” – “Yup! That’s why I’m here! We can put it in the school journal, right?! What should the headline be…”

Mona hummed in thought, but Fischl gasped like a lightbulb lit up next to her head. She grinned and held up her hand.

“Oh, I know! We should go to the Director and ask him to film an interview on what happened, he’ll probably be fine with it! Then we’ll ask about the intrusion thing, and he’ll lie again, and I’ll say “no, that’s wrong!” and you’ll say, “ALLOW ME TO CUT THROUGH THOSE WORDS!” and then he’ll–” Fischl cut herself off when Mona stared at her with pure confusion in her eyes. Her shoulders deflated. “What? Don’t get the reference?”

“Reference?”

“Have you never played Danganronpa before?” you laughed, shaking your head, “Let’s talk about that later, Fischl. We have CCTV footage to watch.”

“Oh, right.”

There was an expectant atmosphere in the small, dark room. You three were hunched over the laptop screen, that displayed the camera footage of the corridor of Dottore’s room. It was empty, nothing at all moved. Then around 2AM, the lock of his door slightly fell off. The handle was kind of hanging in the air, like it had been pushed and broken from the inside of the room. Mona scoffed. “The killer was already inside? The broken lock was a false lead?”

You nodded slowly. “Seems like it.”

So you showed the footage to the investigation team.

Diluc and Kunikuzushi sighed in annoyance.

“So the window was the right lead.” Diluc stated, raising his eyebrows as he turned away from the screen. “I’ll make us coffee. Seems like we have a lot of work to do.”

“Thanks, Diluc.” Fischl sighed. Your eyes widened.

“Reminds me. How’d it go with Ajax? He’s not here tonight.” you asked. Diluc only sighed, pouring milk into a cup and water into another.

“He wouldn’t say a thing. Just that Kaeya betrayed his trust, and things like that. He wouldn’t tell me why he didn’t end up in a juvenile center for what he did, or who covered the money he paid for the fine, either. I don’t know a thing, and Kaeya won’t tell me anything either.”

“What a pain.” you exhaled, going to sit at your desk.

“Wait.” Kunikuzushi said, effectively pausing your movements. You looked at him. He was silent, and the look he had on his face seemed like he’d just realized something. Your gaze sharpened as you watched him, drowning out everything around the two of you as you stared at the gears turning inside his head. He blinked, then looked at you with furrowed eyebrows. There was an instant, a very short and brief moment, where your lips curved into a barely-there smile, and Kunikuzushi’s eyes widened in understanding.

He cleared his throat and shook his head. Gone as fast as it came. He sighed. “Nothing, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” you said casually, sitting down at your desk. Things were getting interesting, now, it seemed. You chuckled to yourself at the thought of that.

[mikanotes]

— bleed

corrupted!hyunsu x gn!reader | 3.8k words

genre: exes reunited in the weirdest circumstances ever

warnings: swearing, blood, fake blood in the gif, canon-divergence, killing, mentions of hallucinations, suicidal ideation, death, bullying and self-harm scars. when i say “corrupted hyunsu” i mean uimyeong got what he wanted basically lol

synopsis: there’s a lot of blood on your face. and apparently, according to a boy you've never met before in your life, it must mean you're above everyone else.

author's note: i love this gif so MUCH it's so pretty He's so pretty... and uimyeong in the back like hello there... love them

You didn’t get nosebleeds often. Actually, you couldn’t recall if you’d ever gotten a nosebleed at all, before.

So the sight of your own reflection in the mirror, blood flowing down the bottom half of your face in inhumane amounts was a bit terrifying, at first. Your hand had come up to stop the bleeding but it simply wouldn’t. It kept on flowing like it was some sort of unending bloodfall, and you honestly thought you were going to die.

And then it stopped. And you looked up. And everything was normal. You breathed heavily, eyes a bit wide as you stared at yourself. The red was painting your skin like a drop of watercolor flowing down a canvas. It was smudged, from your attempts at stopping it, and movie-like. You’d never seen this much blood at once in real life, before. You took a moment to calm down, swallowing thickly and taking a deep breath.

Well, you knew what this meant. You’d been confining yourself to your apartment since the news were announced, but never expected it would happen to you. The virus… Thing. The world was in shambles outside the comfort of your room and you’d been fine with it until now. You were just playing a game on your console when your nose started bleeding. Why did it do it at this moment precisely?

The lights of your bathroom flickered and you stepped back, looking up. There was a inaudible, clicking noise, and then all the lights turned off. The sound of powering down was so loud you wondered if it was only your apartment, or if the whole building’s electricity had shut off.

You gulped. Being in the dark was never really reassuring, much less when it was night and you’d just got the first symptoms of monsterization. You slowly moved towards your living room, dimly illuminated by the light of your — thankfully — open laptop. You followed the light while tip-toeing for no reason, really, and then settled down on your bed. You found your phone and turned it off sleep-mode, only to realize your hands were literally bloodstained. The realization came a bit too late and now your phone and bedsheets had blood on them. Great.

You sighed and tried to find the number of the building manager to ask him if the whole building was down. Your fingers scrolled through your contact list a bit frantically, as you struggled to find his name in it.

And then there were footsteps. You heard them, quite loud and clear and terribly frightening. You lived alone and they most definitely came from inside your apartment. You looked around, to no avail due to the blackout, and only took a deep shaky breath as you backed away towards your wall.

You decided your mind had been playing tricks, or that the noise was simply coming from the outside hallway and felt closer due to the lack of sound caused by the electricity cutting off. And, the sound had stopped, anyway. There was no reason to make yourself more scared than you already were. Yet, you couldn’t stop the shaking of your fingers as you continued to search for this damned contact name.

“Nervous?”

You jumped and screamed on instinct, dropping your phone and jumping off your bed. Someone had just spoken into your ear. Directly next to it. Like they were sitting behind you. Had someone been sitting behind you this whole time? No way. The light of your laptop would’ve showed it. Then had someone snuck up behind you to sit there withhout you even noticing? You couldn’t tell which was more terrifying, and in this moment you frankly didn’t care. You held a hand up towards your bed, now seeing the traces of a black coat on someone’s figure.

“Who are you?!” you managed to exclaim.

No response. The silence felt deafening. Suffocating, even. Your breaths were coming out short due to the overwhelming anxiety you felt. Your fingers were trembling and your head was spinning. Was this part of the virus? Hallucinations? Was none of this whole thing real? Your head was whirling with an inordinate amount of scenarios as you waited for whoever was there to speak up.

Then you saw them move, and instinctively took a step backwards. Except your back hit something. And before you could register that there was supposed to be nothing for your back to hit at this area of your apartment, a hand covered your mouth and you started screaming. The grasp wasn’t harsh but it was firm, effectively keeping your head from moving and thrashing in all directions as an attempt to get away. You heard an amused chuckle come from your previous spot on the bed and the stranger moved forward until they sat at its edge. Their face was completely covered by a black hood.

And then the lights turned on.

The stranger pulled his hood off and a face you didn’t recognize came into view. A young man, probably around your age, smiled in an overly-friendly manner and waved his hand so casually one would believe you weren’t being… Held captive in your own home? You unconsciously calmed down for a little bit, before you started thrashing around again. The stranger’s smile fell into a disappointed pout.

“Aw. Don’t tell me my instincts were wrong and you’re not actually a special case? It’d be a pain if you actually turned completely.” he mused, eyes searching your face like he was analyzing you. You yelled incoherently onto the hand on your mouth snd the latter finally let go. But the other hand still held your arm, strongly enough to refrain you from moving much.

“Who the fuck are you and how did you get in there?!” you yelled, this time angry. You were still scared, but once you could put a face and aura on what was at first just a frighteningly mysterious voice in a pitch-black apartment, you felt less terrified. You furrowed your eyebrows at the lack of reply and finally turned your head around. Your eyes widened and your arms fell limp. “… Hyunsu?”

“Two special cases who know each other. How delightful.” the stranger spoke from your bed, still. You paid him no mind, eyes focused on the boy holding you. This was Cha Hyunsu. Cha Hyunsu. Your ex from high-school, before he broke up with you during the mess that happened there and distanced himself as much as he possibly could. He had the same haircut as he used to, the same face but… Not the same look in his eye. There was something darker there, now. And you couldn’t tell what it was.

“What… What’s all this? Why are you here? How’d you get in, how… Who…” you paused to try and even out your breathing, before frowning. “What are you doing?”

“We came to take you.”

His voice was rough in the way it sounded, like he barely spoke and the results of that could be heard. It was dry and devoid of any emotion, as far as you could tell. You shook off his grip on your arm and stepped aside to take turns at looking between the two boys.

“Take me?” you scoffed, “Might I know what the fuck you mean by that? And who are you?” you said the last word with a pointed look towards the boy sitting on your bed. He offered a gentle smile.

“Name’s Uimyeong. I’m a monster. Just like your boyfriend here.” he said. You furrowed your eyebrows. You’d encountered monsters during your only trip down to the nearest grocery store to take everything you could before indefinitely confining yourself in your home. And they did not look so… Human. Was it a play on words, of sorts? It didn’t feel like one. Did that have to do with him talking about a “special case”?

Your eyes widened in realization. The flyers that dropped around your neighborhood, one hitting your window with the wind. It was red and hard not to notice. It talked about the military and calling them if we knew of a special monsterization case, or something of the sort. Now you pieced the few pieces you had together, and came to the conclusion that Hyunsoo and that boy Uimyeong were like the aforementioned special cases. But then…

“What did you mean by take me? And instincts? Can you just… explain yourselves?” you sighed, leaning against the wall.

“Hyunsu-ya told me about you. He said you lived nearby and that knowing you, you’d probably avoided contact with anyone entirely.” he paused to look around your apartment with a satisfied nod, “He seemed to be right on that. He told me about you when I asked if he knew if there was anyone who could’ve turned and could be like us.”

“Be like you?”

“Monsters.” he said casually, and then his eyes turned completely black, as if to further insist on his point. Then they turned back to their former state and he smiled. “That can control it.”

You gulped. So that was… What the military meant by special cases. You took a deep breath and glanced at Hyunsu, who was blankly staring down at the floor. “Why do you think I could be like you? What makes you think I even got a single symptom?”

“Well, I’d say I can’t argue with that, but the…” he grimaced a bit, vaguely moving his hand in front of his mouth, “… Blood on your face is an obvious tell.”

You instinctively looked away and tried to rub it off. It was dry, by now. You looked back at Uimyeong who only smiled casually. “We came here because I trust Hyunsu and I have this… This gut feeling. That you might be one of us. So what do you say? Come with us? Stay in your apartment?”

You knew that whether you completely turned or truly was a special case like he claimed you could be, you’d be alone in your apartment. At least with them… Well, you’d have company. Who understood you, instead of fearing you.

You looked down. “Whatever. I’ll come.”

You saw Hyunsu perk up at the words and he walked towards you. His hand slowly came up to your face and settled on your cheek. He rubbed the skin softly with a starstruck look on his face. His eyes were turning black. “Really? [name], it'll be perfect. We can wipe off every pathetic human that bothers us with this power, now. Just like we wanted to back in the day, remember?” he said with a frighteningly cheerful tone. Then his expression dropped and he blinked the darkness off, like he was confused.

“… We’ll find more people like us.” he said, and this time his voice was blank, hand dropping back to his side. You furrowed your eyebrows at the change in demeanor and glanced at Uimyeong, who only shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner. You looked back at Hyunsu and sighed. There was something odd going on.

“… Hyunsu. I’m glad to see you again.” you said. He nodded slowly, expression unchanging but feeling reciprocated.

Then you were out of the building. To be frank, it was terrifying. You hadn’t left your apartment in ages and the world outside was in shambles. You knew it from the news and the view you had from your window, but seeing it up-close was definitely worse. There was something extremely interesting, though, and it was how easily Hyunsu and Uimyeong made their way through the swarm of monsters that would try and attack each of you. Uimyeong was on a league of his own, for sure, his arm capable of turning into a literal blade to slice any monster’s head off their shoulders. Hyunsu was different. He looked unfazed at times while sending monsters flying, and sometimes you could see the hints of a manic grin overtaking his features. And well, during thw whold ordeal, you felt awfully useless. You didn’t have any super-strength or powers so all you could do was use your best dodging skills to prevent yourself from getting killed.

Not that Hyunsu would let you.

You found yourself in a black, military van. Uimyeong sat at the front and started driving off like it was nothing, and then began to answer every question you had but hadn’t even voiced out. Special cases, monsters, the martial-law, the military’s plans, and at last, Hyunsu’s whereabouts during the entirety of this mess. He was staying in an apartment complex of the name of Green Home Mansion Apartment, that Uimyeong described as “a place with weirdly resilient people with a fear of the unknown. You know, like every other human.” and you quickly understood the boy bad developed a worrying superiority complex over the duration of the experiments the government had done on him.

Well, it made sense. But he was still terrifying in his own calm, smiley and friendly way. Even more so with the amount of blood on him. But you supposed that considering your face was still drenched in some, you didn’t have much to say about that.

You looked at Hyunsu who’d been asleep during the whole time Uimyeong was speaking.

“How did you two meet each other?”

“How did you two meet each other?”

You laughed at the synchronization of yours and Uimyeong’s question and he glanced your way with a grin. “Alright. I’ll go first.”

He talked about the group of thugs he joined, mostly out of boredom. He talked about how they eventually came to the place Hyunsu lived at, and the chaos that happened there. He talked about the fact that Hyunsu grew out of his, as he called it, “human-liking phase” and finally understood and acknowledged his true power… Or something like that. That basically, Hyunsu left the people of Green Home and left with Uimyeong before one of them called the military to report a special case, as the flyers you’d seen asked people to.

“I think part of him is trying to understand that change.” Uimyeong mused, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “You know, when his eyes turn black and he goes manic? I think that’s the monster part trying to fully take over. And then you have our introverted, anxious Hyunsu.. The one you seem to know best.”

“Ah. We’re not dating anymore.” you suddenly said, reminded of Uimyeong calling him your “boyfriend” earlier. “And contrary to what you seem to think, I’m actually more familiar with the other part. On certain aspects, at least.”

In front of you, Hyunsu was asleep. You sighed.

“Then. Your turn, answer my question.” Uimyeong said cheerfully. You hummed.

“Well, we dated in high-school. He was extroverted and friendly, and very joyful. He wasn’t the number one popular boy in the school, but he did have popularity.” you reminisced out loud, “Then things changed and he somehow got bullied. This new guy transferred and started treating him really badly. The higher-ups at the school didn’t give a fuck, and his family were… Practically blaming him. The point is, I stayed with him, but after things finally calmed down, he broke up with me. He said he wasn’t good for me and I’d spent too much time on him already, or something of the likes…”

Then you sighed, scratching your neck.

“What you call the “monster part of him” looks, to me, like what he’s been bottling up. It’s like a version of Hyunsu that didn’t completely close off emotionally after the bullying. One that went batshit and started beating up people. That’s how it feels to me. It’s strange.”

Uimyeong hummed. “Well, the monster isn’t something separate from him, anyway. That further proves my point... The monster is part of him. I guess it would make sense. He’s just battling his own self, isn’t he?”

Hyunsu woke up with a gasp and looked at you with wide eyes. There was a moment where things seemed to slow, and then he moved towards you so fast you barely registered it. He held your face in both hands and looked at you with a worried look. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah?” you said, confused. “Did you have a nightmare?”

His eyes turned black momentarily, then he looked away, moving back into his seat. “Yeah.” He looked down at his lap, where he fiddled with his fingers. Uimyeong stared at him from the rear-view mirror with a squinted eyes and pointed interest. There was something in the way he looked at him that screamed obsession. You were practically certain Hyunsu himself hadn’t realized.

“Hyunsu-yah.” you said. He looked up. You beckoned him over to sit next to you. Slowly, he got up from his seat to move beside you. Then he went back to looking down and fiddling with his fingers. That was just like the last time you’d seen him, but worse. When he broke up with you he was starting to lose life— Starting to lose the will to live. It was visible and it was worrying but he put great effort in pushing you away whenever you tried reaching out to help him. You hesitantly reached a hand up to his hair, and when he didnt move, started brushing through it. You brushed off the dust and all, and them you moved his face towards you. You tried to rub off the blood on him but it was dry. Then you inspected his features, and his hands, his arms, his neck. Then you hummed in content. There weren’t any new scars since the last time you’d seen each other. You were glad.

You covered his forearms back up with the long sleeves of his sweater and held both his hands. During the whole ordeal, Hyunsu had been staring at you with barely a single blink. He had this adoring look in his wide, innocent eyes. It was different from the way he used to look at you. Hyunsu had lost part of him during his last years of high-school, so of course he’d changed. But it was still Hyunsu. And you still loved him. You looked up at him with a smile.

“Are you okay?” you asked, but he only frowned and reached out to your face. You furrowed your eyebrows when his thumb swiped over your upper lip, but then realized it came back with fresh blood. Your eyes widened and you covered the lower half of your face entirely in anticipation for the nosebleed you now knew was coming. Hyunsu grabbed your hands and slightly shook his head as he brought them away from your face.

“There’s no use in trying to stop the bleeding.” he said monotonously, “Since it’s the second time, we might see how you hold up to the monster. It might be hard.”

“Huh?” was all you could get out before your head started aching really badly. You held the sides of your head with your arms and closed your eyes tightly, eventually falling over onto the floor of the car as you winced in pain. You felt like you'd never felt such excruciating pain before. When your eyes were open there was blood, and you’d blink then there’d be nothing at all, and at some point, the pain stopped. You opened your eyes and sat up.

This was not the car.

A dark, dark space with a mirror. You slowly sat up and looked around. There seemed to be nothing other than the wide mirror in front of you. So you got up and walked over to it. The more you stared at your reflection, the more distorted it became. Slowly, your eyes turned black and your smile widened. Yet you were certain you were not smiling at all. You took a frightened step backwards and the reflection did not move.

“The weaker me. I've been waiting for you.” the reflection said, “Waiting for you to accept me. You’ve lost so much hope lately it became so easy to awaken. You see, the more hopeless you became, the more easy it was to trigger a physical reaction in you. The nosebleeds and headaches and all… Mhm. That was me. Or rather, you. After all we’re the same, aren’t we?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” you scoffed, then pinched the bridge of your nose, “Will you stop monologuing like a fucking idiot and let me place a damn word in? Thanks. As it happens I’m far from being hopeless or whatever bullshit it is you were spewing out. I’m fine, and I want to live. And I will live. As a human.”

Your reflection hummed curiously. “As a human?”

“I’ve done so for all of my life. I'm pretty certain I can keep doing it.”

Your reflection smiled, then laughed. “Oh, my. Maybe you might actually manage to overpower me… That would mean getting my monster powers and keeping a human form. How lovely that is. Please, keep trying your best. I’m looking forward to it.”

"Please," Despite the confusion you felt, you knew one thing for sure. This so called reflection of yours was pissing you off. You punched the mirror and the glass shattered around your fist. “go die”

“Gladly.”

You yelled in fear and jumped awake. You looked around you with anxiousness, and slowly came to the realization you were still in the military van. It had stopped, and Uimyeong and Hyunsu were looking at you expectantly. Uimyeong smiled and held up Hyunsu’s hand by the wrist, shaking it in the air. “I had to keep him from trying to wake you up.”

Ah.

“Anyways. Seems you’ve met the monster?” Uimyeong said, sighing as he let go of Hyunsu’s wrist. He leaned back in his seat and smiled to himself. “I’m satisfied. If this was a game in trials I’d say you passed the first one. Congrats, [name]. You might just really be a special case.”

You looked up at him, then at Hyunsu, who kneeled in front of you and wrapped his arms around you. His hold was tight and he didn’t say a word. You could feel he was scared. Anxious. Or at least, that he had been. He felt relieved now, you could feel it. You figured he was hoping for Uimyeong to say that. After all, considering you already had symptoms, it seemed like being a special-case was the best thing that could happen. So you exhaled in relief and let your head fall onto the boy’s shoulder, rubbing his back comfortingly. “It’s okay, Hyunsu.”

He nodded, but didn’t let go.

“Hyunsu.”

He finally pulled away and he was kind of pouting. He looked like a kid and it made you laugh. “Come on, now. It’s fine. I’m sure you went through worse, too.”

“It’s not comparable. This isn’t about me.” he mumbled blankly, pulling you to sit next to him on the seats. You heard Uimyeong sigh and mumble something about love in the midst of an apocalypse as he went back to the driver’s seat and started up the car. You leaned against Hyunsu’s shoulder and he let his head rest on top of yours. Well, this was as fine as things could get, it seemed.

[mikanotes]

chapter five. secret society.

teyvat academy killings.

2k words. masterlist — previous chapter / next chapter.

warnings: swearing, murder, mentions of killing/getting killed, implied unjust punishment by the law, fighting, betrayal, blood, and knives. the usual.

author's note: sorry for the wait! i hope it's alright and thanks to all those of you who waited!!! this chapter was written pretty quickly, i got a lot of inspiration suddenly so there you go! i hope it's good and not too confusing! things will be explained later on, obviously, but still! enjoy! <3

You panted as you stared at the crime scene. It felt like a whirlwind, a tornado, almost, to see it with your own eyes. It wasn’t just information relayed from higher-ups to you. You could see it from the point of view of someone at the scene, as opposite to the morning Signora’s death was announced and police officers crowded the scenes and all students were gathered far away.

Dottore, 17 years old, top of the history class, excels at chemistry, not very social or friendly. Dead on the floor of his room, stabbed in the abdomen with blood pouring onto the rug.

You pulled out your phone and took a picture. Kunikuzushi swatted your arm harshly. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Getting stuff for our investigation, obviously.” you scoffed. “Director and his three little idiots are gonna come over soon, might as well get what we can before they do. Who knows what information they might hide from us.”

Kunikuzushi looked at both sides of the corridors. They were emptied entirely. He sighed. “Taking pictures of a crime scene without… Argh, the police officers are probably not even near the school yet. Is this even legal?”

You leaned in further into the room, careful not to actually step inside. “According to the law, it is allowed to take pictures of a crime scene if the police didn’t close it off yet. It’s just considered as evidence, and if we let the police know, the most they’ll do is probably take our phones to check the photos. And reprimand us, maybe.” you squinted, lowering your phone to look around better and not through your screen. You pursed your lips and nodded. “The window is slightly open. The room, otherwise, seems to be in perfect shape. He was stabbed. I don’t think he had the time to struggle against the killer. Also, the weapon isn’t there.”

Kunikuzushi typed it all out on his phone and sighed, looking up. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“Who reported the murder?”

“I did.”

Your eyebrows raised and you turned to him. “You did?”

He nodded. Before you could ask him any further questions, Kunikuzushi held up a hand and furrowed his eyebrows, looking up at you. “How do you know he was stabbed?”

You blinked. “Well? On the theory that it’s a serial killer behind this, and therefore, the culprit for Signora’s murder, I’d say the method of killing is the same. And from what we can see from here, the wound clearly looks like a stabbing mark.”

Kunikuzushi stared into the room, expression unsure as he bit the side of his bottom lip, then he nodded with an exhale and added some stuff to his phone’s notes. You took a few more pictures and hummed to yourself.

“There was no gunshot, right?”

“No? Why would there be?”

“Just asking. Maybe it really wasn’t a stab. But if it had been a gun, everyone would’ve heard…” you trailed off, zoning out slightly. Kunikuzushi scoffed.

“Yeah, so would you. Why are you acting like you weren’t in the school? If there was a gunshot, the whole fucking building would’ve heard. Sounds like those echo easily.” he almost snapped, and you wondered if he was really that suspicious of you. You looked over your shoulder to look at him.

“Well, I’m not a light sleeper.” you said casually, “And I was trying to make you understand that my theory is probably right.”

He tongued the inside of his cheek before heaving a sigh. “... Figures.”

Before any of you could add anything else, you heard a set of calm but loud footsteps echo around the corridors. Kunikuzushi quickly grabbed your wrist to run in the opposite direction, but you resisted. He looked at you with wide eyes as if to ask what you were doing, and you simply furrowed your eyebrows, putting your phone in your pocket casually. “You’re the one who found him. Why are you fleeing?”

He stopped to give you a deadpan look. “Don’t say fleeing. Fuck, fine, you’re right. But you go hide and record.”

“Record?” you asked as the boy started walking back towards the room. He looked over his shoulder and grinned.

“Who knows what information they might hide from us?”

You laughed and shook your head, walking over to the nearest corridor and taking a turn. You pulled out your phone and opened the recording app, pressing “record” as you leaned against the wall. Several footsteps came closer and you had to take a deep breathe and hope to fuck they wouldn’t come over here, or else you’d actually be questioned, this time.

“Kunikuzushi.” you recognized Director Kamisato Ayato’s voice, “Are you alright?”

“Director, I– Oh, God.” Kunikuzushi paused and made a noise like he was about to throw up, before taking in a shaky breath, “Detectives, Mrs. Yanfei, Director, I… I was so… I was supposed to ask him about our chemistry homework.”

“At this late hour?” Hu-tao asked.

“Yes.” he exhaled out, before puffing out a breath, “We were supposed to study at 8pm, but Dottore seems to be on the late side of things. He doesn’t care… About punctuality… And, sorry but I didn’t really care about the chemistry homework enough to… To press him further.”

“Understandable enough.” Yanfei chimed in.

“Why’d you bother coming over to his room, then? Yours is on the floor above, if I recall.” Director Kamisato said. Kunikuzushi made a noise of affirmation.

“I got worried. I felt like it was weird he hadn’t even read a single of messages or responded to my calls after all that time. From what I heard, he barely sleeps. So it felt weird. That’s why… Argh… That’s why I checked on him.”

“Alright. You must be pretty shaken up. You should go down to the nurse’s office. It might be a bit crowded but there’s several rooms, there.”

“Thank you, Director Kamisato.” Kunikuzushi sighed, trembling, before exclaiming as if just remembered something. “Also, the door was open… I mean, it was unlocked for some reason.”

“Oh, really? Yet, from what I’ve heard this boy had a tendency to shut himself in and lock his door at all times. Am I wrong?” Heizou asked. Hu-tao tutted.

“That’s true. Thank you, Kunikuzushi. You may tell us more later during questioning.”

“And that’s what they said.” you said with a sigh, pressing the stop button on the recording. You leaned back on your seat and let the silence sink in, as everyone tried to piece everything together.

“So…” Fischl paused, breathing out, “This was when you two were close to his room, right?”

“Yeah, it is. [name] was in the closest corridor and I joined to leave when the Director told me to.” Kunikuzushi replied, tilting his head. Diluc heaved a sigh.

“Then what was all that talk about, back at the assembly?” Fischl asked, and you looked away bitterly.

“Hello, everyone. I’m certain you’ve all heard the news.” Director Kamisato sighed, “I’m sorry to announce the unfortunate passing of one of our students, Dottore. He was found dead in his room, stabbed. There were no traces of intrusion in the room, as opposed to Signora’s case, but it is almost certain it was a murder. We’ll do our utmost best to get to the end of this. There shall be no more killings at our school. I ask for your cooperation in the investigation. Thank you all.”

“No signs of intrusion? Are they implying this is the work of another killer? Why is he lying?”

“Are we surprised, at this point?” Ajax chimed in. You closed your eyes and bit your lip to refrain from saying something unecessary, and instead nodded your head.

“Director Kamisato hides way too much behind that smile of his. That’s nothing new.” you sighed, before getting up. “Anyways. We have a copy of the pictures I took in here before the cops see the footage of me taking them in the security camera and come to take my phone. Kunikuzushi noted everything I said and that he saw. So now, we can actually investigate properly.”

“Meaning we weren’t investigating properly before?” Ajax scoffed. You looked at him silently before chuckling.

“No. We were not.” you stated a bit coldly, before walking over to the whiteboard. You gave it a gentle push and it turned over, revealing your investigation board once again. “I don’t know if you forgot from the three days you spent locked up in your little bedroom, but all we had as a lead was Kunikuzushi, here. And now he’s with us. I don’t think you could call that investigating.”

“Speaking of that.” Diluc stated, turning to look at Ajax from his seat, “Now tat you’re back, you have some explaining to do.”

“... Explaining?”

“Middle school. Second year. Kaeya Alberich. Xiao. Signora. Lisa Minci. Albedo. A fight between friends. An middle-school drop-out and a simple fine to pay for several broken bones and a near-death experience.” Fischl stated all in what felt like a single breath. Then she looked up at him innocently. “You know? That.”

Ajax gulped. “Kaeya and I were close, and he betrayed my trust on something. We fought and I lost my temper. That’s all there is to it.”

Diluc stared at him like he could cause him physical harm simply by looking at him. And with how cold and sharp his stare was, you wondered if he could. You raised your eyebrows. “I’d question how you got away with a fine of a mere hundred-thousands mora after being charged for physical assault and near-attempted murder, but I guess that’s a question Diluc here will have the pleasure to ask you himself.” you said as you walked out of the room, “Kuni. With me. We need to talk.”

There was the sound of incoherent words and people talking over each other before you closed the door behind Kunikuzushi. You leaned on the wall of the old sports-supply room and sighed.

“You were a good actor, when those three came to ask you questions.” you said with a slight grin. Kunikuzushi raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “You were a good actor when you pretended to be here for homework, too. Mind telling me the real reason?”

“... The real reason?”

“The act won’t work with me, drop it.” you sighed, looking away. “What links you between Childe, Signora and Dottore. The reason you even joined our school in the first place. The reason why you came to Dottore’s room so late at night. Tell me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Why do you ask? You already know, don’t you?”

“Do I?”

“Either way, you wouldn’t know there’s a tie between me and those fuckers.”

You raised your eyebrows and your lips curved into a wide, satisfied smile. “Then, I guess we are on the same page, after all. Just as I’d guessed.”

Kunikuzushi sighed. “What page?”

“The Fatui." you stated, and Kunikuzushi seemed to freeze a bit. "The secret society. You were part of it, weren’t you? Before they kicked you out.” you said, “I wonder how you even managed to come back into the school.”

“Quiet down.” he scoffed, “I don’t know how you’re aware of all this, but since you are, you know damn well we can’t be speaking about this so freely around in public.”

You looked around the empty room and shrugged. “We’re in private, aren’t we?”

Kunikuzushi tilted his head sideways towards the investigation room and your lips formed an “o” shape as you nodded in understanding. “Ahhh. Ajax. He knows I know, already.”

“And he hasn’t killed you?!”

“I didn’t give him the opportunity to.” you said with a smile. The door to the outside opened abruptly, cutting your conversation off as Detective Hu-tao and a few police officers barged in.

“[name]. Kunikuzushi. Would you two please follow me for questioning?” the detective asked calmly. You turned around and pulled out your phone, handing it to one of the officers’ awaiting hand.

“Sure.”

You heard Kunikuzushi scoff and sigh behind you as you both walked out. There was much more for you two to talk about, but that would have to wait a little more.

[almondtofus]

denji as your best friend hcs

denji x best friend!gn!reader

genre: platonic

warnings: denji being denji

author’s note: this is my first come back post and i’m here back for mikaand mika only and they were the one who requested this  ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و i don’t really like this THAT much to be honest but i love denji so much *claps hand* homie

synopsis: just headcanons of you being his best friend

- it’s definitely the most chaotic friendship you ever had

- he is a very tactile person aka clingy although he never likes to acknowledge that he his one

- he definitely has sweaty hands my god

- would randomly appear in front of your door at any time of the day or night and ask you to buy food for him because aki is not buying him

- and you’re always the one paying food

- and whenever you eat with him you always eat fast food

- he also probably drags you everywhere or it’s always you dragging him everywhere

- but whenever you guys hangout it’s always fun. walking around in the city, getting ice cream, eating food, going to the amusement park, it’s really just a day full of fun.

- but it’s probably either gross or amusing watching him eat, he just shove things in his mouth and finishes his food in a minute

- you can sometimes see him bringing power with him either as a discount or as a two-in-one.

- whenever he sleeps at your house, he covers the entire couch or bed you made on the floor. he’ll collapse immediately due to the exhaustion of a hard day at work (aka turning into a chainsaw man and literally metal saws coming out of his body) and then he just hung out with you and now he’s gone ZZZZZZZ

- he is such a deep sleeper and it is very hard waking him up for work so good luck

- but when he does finds breakfast in front of him he wakes up immediately

- he always leave with a line where he tries to be cool or a peace sign

- whenever you see each other randomly throughout the day he just runs towards you with his hands in the air and waving his arms frantically

- best friend hugs/pats or handshakes that you two created. definitely. he always wanted one

- he never said this to you before but he’s thankful to have you as his best friend. the coolest best friend.

[almondtofus]

come back mf i miss ur writing

- leo who has a plastic hammer to hit u with

maybe tomorrow, maybe sooner than tomorrow ^_^

[almondtofus]

i want to come back here and write again i really do </3 edit: also i cleaned my account as i want to use a pen name here but i accidentally deleted my bff!denji hcs.......... rip

edit 2: mika just found the post that was reblogged on their account i can recover it :D thank u mika.