Hello, friend! You can call me Angel or Angelite. I'm 27 and use she/her pronouns. (This is an SFW fluffy tickling blog!) I'm always open to questions and ideas!
Welcome to my blog! Here I post a mix of fanfics I write and miscellaneous things I enjoy from media I write for (at current Wind Breaker has me by the throat) and from the the chaos of the internet.
I don't typically write for requests, but I do draw inspiration from head-cannons, ideas and musings! If you have any please do not hesitate to send them, I enjoy hearing what others think!
My only rules are that I won't post spoilers, only post SFW content, and don't participate in role-play (discussing banter between characters is fine).
📝 Master List 🪽 / Visit My Ao3!
(Last Updated 10/31/2025)
Friends' Original Stories
Giggles of Evidence (Tickleween 2025) / lee!Ali, ler!Riley
Smiling with Rage (Tickleween 2025) / lee!Olreai, ler!Voika
for the event, could I request a redraw of this scene with lee!reki, ler!langa from sk8? thank you so much 💖 (ignore the little play button in the middle, I couldn't figure out how to remove that when taking the screenshot)
Ohhh Dessieeeeee!! Taking attendance for the second year in a row hehe!
Happy holidays, my friend!
I took your request and kinda spun it into a very not your request??? In a good way, of course! Instead of just Sakura and Umemiya, the babiest boy gets got by just about everyone.
Feat evil Ler Suo.
And thank you to @squealing-santa for the opportunity to participate in such a fun event!
Cheat Codes
Warning! This is a tickle fic!
Ships: None
Warnings: tickles. Foot tickles. Multiple Lers. Intense(ish) toward the end!
Prompt: Sakura’s never played Smash Bros in his life. How did he get so damn good in an hour?!
“Aaaaaand this is going to help us bond… how?” Sakura mumbled, leaning against his empty kitchen counter.
“Everyone can use company, Sakura!” Nirei cooed, placing down a bag of groceries onto the countertop. “Besides, we all figured that you were super lonely when you were sick, so we’re here to un-lonely you!” He pulled his blonde strands into a teeny-tiny little ponytail at the top of his head.
“Some things just aren’t able to be helped, Little Sakura,” Suo hummed, putting a soft hand on his head.
The half-and-half boy, in turn, growled, shaking the redhead’s hand off. “I’m not little! We’re the same age!”
Hiragi and Umemiya were the next to arrive to Sakura’s… quaint apartment. Hiragi was awkwardly carrying a television through the door? Umemiya held up a Switch, and suddenly things made sense.
They were going to play video games… wicked.
“Heyyyyyy, kiddos!” Umemiya chirped, placing the gaming console on the ground next to the TV. One by one, with a very dad-like grunt, he would pick up the boys in a tight hug.
Nirei was mid-slice of carrots when he was hugged from behind and hoisted. He giggled like a child. “Umemiya! Careful!”
“What’cha cookin’, kid?” the older male inquired, setting the boy down and draping himself across his shoulders.
“Making yakisoba for all of us.”
“Ooooh. Sounds yummy,” he hummed. “And look at you with your hair up! The ladies would just be all over you!” Umemiya made cooing sounds as he pinched at Nirei’s ears, resulting in flustered giggles from the blonde.
Suo was next. As he helped Hiragi set up the gaming system, he was suddenly scooped like a bride. He subconsciously kicked his feet with a tiny gasp. “Hello, Umemiya.”
“Suoooooooo. You’ve been taking care of yourself, right, kid? Not just worried about everyone else, yeah?”
The redhead sighed dismissively. “I’ve got to get this hooked up if we want to play games.”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
“I—“ he exhaled with that polite smile of his. “Of course I have; it’s just that sometimes, others need my help more than I need rest.”
“Oh! My dear pupil! You wound me so!” The oldest cried out. He cradled Suo to his chest like a baby, gently humming the lullaby song to him.
Sakura scowled. What a dork
That scowl was replaced by a rather manly yelp when he was swept off of his feet and thrown over Umemiya’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Put me down!” he cried. When the white-haired male began to spin him, he pounded his fists against his back. “Umemiya!”
Hiragi huffed with a grin. “Alright, Umemiya, put the kid down.”
“Awwww! But why?!”
“First, he looks nauseous as shit. Second, we got the console set up.”
With a groan from the older male, Sakura was back on his feet. He sat down next to Suo with a huff and crossed his arms. When Suo patted his head, he shot him a glare.
“Hey, Sakura,” Hiragi hummed, “Y’ever play Smash Bros?”
“Heard of it,” he replied. “Never actually played it.” The boys turned to look at him as if he were a space alien. Even Nirei looked up from his vegetable chopping to gape at him. “What?” he asked, confused by their incredulous looks. His patience shortly wore thin. “Okay, what?! Is it like some rite-of-passage game? I bet you’ll shit yourselves when I tell you that I can’t play chess either!”
Suo turned to him with a Cheshire grin. “Now, young Sakura, we are going to teach you the ways of the gamer.”
The boy snorted. “Oh yeah, sure. Like I need to know how to wear the same hoodie for five days straight and shower once every two months.”
Hiragi snorted at that, clapping a heavy hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “Nah, kid. This is just like the party game ever.”
“Wrong,” Nirei called from the kitchen; he hadn’t even turned to look at them, as he was caramelizing onions on the stove. “The party game ever is Mario Party.”
“Wrong again,” Umemiya chimed. “Wii Sports is the way to go.”
“Absolutely not,” argued Suo. “The best one is totally Carnival Games.”
There was a collective groan from all of the boys except Sakura. Hiragi scoffed. “Do you want someone to throw a book at you?”
“Barker is SUCH a bitch, dude!” Nirei cried. There was a subsequent, loud sizzle from the pan in the kitchen.
“Careful now, don’t singe your eyebrows off,” Suo hummed.
Sakura felt like he was missing something again…
A small controller was put into his hand. It was blue, and it had four buttons and a joystick. How simple…
“So, first, you pick who you want to be,” Umemiya hummed, taking a seat next to the boy. “My favorite to play is Kirby. He’s a little hard to get used to because of the timing.”
“Teach him to play Pikachu. He’s like the easiest,” Hiragi mused.
“No way! Teach him to be Lucas! That’s my main!” Nirei chirped. Sakura couldn’t help but grin when the blonde sneezed. At least the food was getting seasoned.
“Of course you play Lucas,” Suo grumbled.
“And who do you two main?” Nirei huffed, stirring the contents of the pan.
“Palutena, duh,” Hiragi reported proudly.
Suo sat next to Umemiya, putting the oldest male in the middle. “Sora main here.”
“Booooo DLC player!” the silver-haired male chided, wrapping his arm around the boy’s neck. “Pay-to-win, Pay-to-win!” he cooed.
Suo’s visible eye rolled, and he snorted. “Paying only gets me the character. It’s the skill that sells it.”
“I wanna be this guy!” Sakura interrupted. “He looks cool.” Hovering his “P2” icon over the character, the boy looked at the rest of the group.
Hiragi gaped at him. “You wanna be…”
“Mister Game and Watch…?” Suo asked.
“What’s wrong with him?!” The half-and-half boy barked, a blush creeping onto his face. “He’s so cool! He’s old-fashioned gaming!”
Umemiya grinned at him. “You’re right. He’s based off of the first ever Nintendo console, the Game and Watch. He was the first video game character to ever exist.”
Sakura’s eyes lit up. “I wanna play him!”
“Game and Watch it is,” Umemiya hummed.
The boys showed Sakura the ropes, and as expected, the young man greatly enjoyed himself. What they were not expecting was how fast he excelled.
“How the hell did you take two stock already?!” Hiragi yelped, fiddling with his joystick in a panic.
“His down smash demolishes. And I can edgeguard with neutral B,” the boy chimed.
“You talk like you’ve been playing this game for years,” Nirei noted.
“Your noodles are boiling over,” Hiragi grumbled at the sound of the bubbling pot.
Game after game, Sakura continued to absolutely destroy his friends in the game. Not a single one of them could defeat him. Even after changing characters, the half-and-half male still managed to steal stock after stock from them.
Now, it was him against Suo for a final deathmatch. Infinite stocks, 10 minutes time, total chaos.
Umemiya watched the screen with a delighted, soft smile. His baby brothers were really getting along, and it warmed his heart to see Sakura enjoying himself.
Delighted and frantic war cries filled the room. They were neck and neck. When one person would take a stock, the other would match it. Each boy was giving it his all, and both were at a stalemate within the first minute.
Soon, Sakura had the up on Suo, and Umemiya was truthfully getting tired of the same narrative over and over again.
Experimentally, he poked a single finger against Sakura’s foot. The boy merely twitched, curling his toes up. When they un-scrunched, he waited for Sakura to charge up a strong attack before he skittered his fingers over it.
“What are you— ngh! D-Doing?!” he yelped, jerking his foot away.
“Nothin’!” chirped the older boy.
“Don’t screw with me. I’m about to beat Suo’s ass!”
“Hardly! We’re one stock apart from each other!” the redhead argued.
“Boys! Don’t argue,” the white-haired male chided. “You’re both the winners in my heart!”
Sakura made a gagging noise, and Suo’s visible eye rolled. Umemiya glared at the two before sneaking a pinch to Suo’s side and a squeeze to Sakura’s kneecap.
For Suo, his response was a small jolt and a death glare.
Sakura on the other hand…
“DON’T!” he exploded, yanking his knee away. His features softened when he realized everyone stopped to stare at him. “S’just a sensitive part of me… Don’t touch it; that’s all.”
Sensitive, hm? He’s sensitive there… Now, Umemiya was not born last night. What Sakura needed to say, but was unable to, is that he was ticklish there. His knees are not sensitive; they’re ticklish.
“Ah, I see,” Umemiya hummed. “You’re ticklish,” he informed bluntly.
Sakura let out a strangled squeak when he was pinched again. “I— I am not!”
“Are.”
“Not!”
“Aaaaare!”
“Nohohohohot!”
Suo grinned evilly when the oldest’s fingers continuously prodded around the half-and-half boy’s right knee.
“Dohohohon’t tihihihickle mehehehehe!”
“Don’t tickle you? But Sakura, you just said you weren’t ticklish! Why would you mind?”
Despite the handicap of his knee being squeezed, Sakura still managed to keep his lead through giggles and jolts of his body. He couldn’t help but blush deeper when he noticed Hiragi watching him with a sweet grin. He was down to the final minute; he could do this!
“Stay on it, kid! It would be a cryin’ shame if you were to… lose focus.” Umemiya’s hands traveled up to squeeze at Sakura’s thighs, his touch unrelenting. “Don’t lose it!”
“Gngh— bahahahastahahahard! Nohohohoho!” he squealed, squirming.
“Hmmm… I thought you weren’t ticklish, Sakura?” the oldest cooed. “This is such an oddity. I wonder what’s happening.”
“Dohohohohon’t! Stahahahahap!”
“Don’t stop? Oh, so you want to lose? Is this like a… giving up control thing? Y’know, my therapist says—“
“Nohohohoho!” Sakura’s character splatted against the screen, and a pillar of lightning followed. He had lost a stock, damn it! “Stohohohop dihihihistrahahahactihihihing mehehehe! Bahahahastard!”
“Sounds like a skill issue, Little Sakura,” Suo cooed, poking the boy in the side.
“Ughhhhh! Stahahahap ihihihit! Yohohohou two suhuhuhuck!” Sakura whined. His laughter grew in pitch when he felt skittering fingers on his foot
Hiragi was grinning evilly, his free hand around the half-and-half boy’s ankle, his other hand tickling his foot with precision. Now within the final seconds of the match, the boys were tied. Suo had the upper hand because of this cheating! But Sakura was determined to keep his streak alive. He focused his attention into a down smash slam… followed by a side B—
“NAHAHAHAHA! DOHOHOHOHON’T!” he cried. Umemiya’s squeezing hands traveled up to his ribs and prodded around. “NONONONONOHOHOHOHOHO!”
The oldest smiled beamingly. “Don’t lose, kid! Keep it going!”
“That little shit.” Suo grumbled. He tossed his controller to the side and tackled the giggling Sakura to the floor—though, there wasn’t very far for him to travel. Umemiya and Hiragi let go with surprised chuckles. “So, Little Sakura, how’d you manage to cheat?”
“Cheat?! It was you three cheating! I could’ve easily whooped your ass into next Sunday if you weren’t t-tick… t-tickl—distracting me!”
“Ohhhh, distracting you, hm?” the redhead teased. “Don’t you mean tickling you?”
“I see; I see,” Hiragi hummed. “He was mad that we tickled him.”
“Oohoohoo!” Umemiya cooed. “Little Sakura can’t handle the word tickle!”
“I guess so. Look at how red he gets when we say the world tickle around him,” Suo observed.
The white-haired male couldn’t help but giggle at Sakura’s increasing blush. “Mhm. Mhm. How curious… I’m just tickled by this information.
“Shut up; shut up; shut up!” The boy whined. “You three are terrible! Nirei’s my only friend now!”
The blonde let out a little cheer from the kitchen.
“What I think is that you need to tell us how you managed to get so good in only an hour,” Hiragi said with a death glare.
Suo’s hold on him got a bit tighter. “We have our ways.”
Hold on… Were they gonna hurt him…?! They were just having fun and being—
“Relax,” the redhead whispered as he held Sakura’s arms over his head. He shifted to sit on his hands. “We would never hurt ya’, Little Sakura.”
Before he could relax, Suo dug into his underarms without mercy. “WAITWAITWAIT NAHAHAHAHAO! NOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHERERE!” he squealed, kicking his legs.
Umemiya grabbed onto his knees and squeezed both of them, cooing at him. “Ooooh tickle tickle tickle, kiddo! You’re so precious!”
As if he couldn’t have been more embarrassed! A blush formed at his neck as he screamed in laughter.
“GUHUHUHUYS!”
Suo smiled sweetly at him: a rare, genuine sight. “Hmm?”
“IHIHIHIT TIHIHIHICKLEHEHEHES!”
“I’m sure it does,” the redhead chimed. “Why, I’d be down for the count if I was being tickled riiiiight here!” Giving the half-and-half boy a break by moving his fingers to his neck.
In turn, Sakura’s laughter died to gentle giggling once more, as Umemiya had picked up on the signal and moved down to run his fingers up and down the boy’s calf. He wriggled slightly, his body merely twitching in response.
“You’ve been carrying so much on your shoulders… Why don’t you just lay back and laugh for a while?” Suo’s whispered voice in his ear caused a warm vibration to spread from his head to his toes. His blush spread to his ears and face now.
He nodded.
The redhead shot Hiragi a knowing look, and soon enough, there were skittering fingers on Sakura’s feet again.
The half-and-half boy lay there giggling like a child. His eyes were squeezed shut in mirth, and his body jittered from the tickly feeling. Daresay, he was… enjoying it. The gentle treatment went on for minutes, and his giggling was rather cheerful.
At least, until Umemiya decided that he had had enough of a break.
Sakura felt Suo getting off of his wrists, the other murmuring something about “not wanting to trap him.” As he went to sit up, to curse out his friends, he was pushed back to the floor with a heavy weight on his hips.
“So… you gonna tell us how you did it?” asked the eldest, a terrifying calmness on his face.
Giggles started flooding out of him like routine. His hands, now free—albeit trembling—shot up to grip his senior’s wrists.
The two held intense eye contact until Umemiya’s lips curled into a sweet smile. “Oh, kid. You’re just too cute.”
And then, Sakura felt two hands on his sides and tummy like lightning. He didn’t even get a chance to react! His hips bucked upward as a strangled yelp left his lips, all before he dissolved into sweet laughter. “Nohohohoho!”
“Oh, yes. See, when the head of Bofurin asks you a question, Sakura, it’d be wise of you to answer,” Suo chirped, sitting cross-legged with that patient, polite smile of his.
The half-and-half boy couldn’t even keep his grip on Umemiya’s wrists, especially not when they traveled up to his ribs. Sakura’s laughter grew in volume, his tummy quivering in the cold air as his shirt rode up.
Innocently, Suo’s two fingers crept up his side like walking limbs. They strolled along his sides and traced torturous circles along the bare skin before pinching around his belly button. The boy tossed his head back and cackled loudly when a finger dipped inside.
“Such stamina,” Hiragi praised. “I wonder what’ll make you crack.”
“I know,” Umemiya chirped, “but our little friend here is enjoying himself; I can tell; best not to tucker him out so fast!”
And all good things, as beautiful and sweet; as torturous and breath-stealing; as giddy and exciting as they may be, must come to an end. Despite his enjoyment, it would be Haruka Sakura who would end his own merriment.
“Ihihihi cahahahan tahahahake ihihihit!”
Tsk tsk tsk… poor baby.
So confident…
All of that confidence melted away when Umemiya’s hands shot up under Sakura’s arms without warning. His back arched off the ground and thrashed madly, trying to escape. The white-haired male’s fingers followed wherever he would attempt, leaving no opportunity for escape.
Suo continued his soft treatment of the boy’s stomach, utilizing gentle prods and tracing over anything else. As the tummy beneath his fingers would jolt and twitch, he’d only smile, resting his cheek on Sakura’s lower ribs. One finger turned to two hands raking around the sensitive skin.
“Uuuup, and dooooown, and aaaaalll arooooound. Only the softest touch for my Little Sakura.~” he cooed.
Meanwhile, Sakura could barely think. The back of his head was glued to the floor while his back arched up. Umemiya’s weight on his hips rendered him immobile, with his arms free but just shy of stopping Suo’s torturous caresses. He could form no thoughts in his mind; he could move no limb to protest. He could scream his head off as his blush swallowed his whole face.
“Hmm… That redness looks quite serious, Suo, my friend. What are your thoughts?” inquired Umemiya, not ceasing his tickling for a second.
“Mhm, I agree… he’s far too flushed to continue for long,” mused the redhead. “Say, Umemiya, would you arch your back upward for me? Make a little room, please.” When his senior obliged, Suo smiled that calm, patient grin. “Now, Sakura, I know you can’t hear me right now, as you’re being far too noisy—for reasons I’m totally unsure of—but I think it’s time for myself to show our upperclassmen how to solve a problem. Don’t you?”
Belly laughter was the answer he received.
“Now… what to do…” he drummed his fingers along the warm, bare skin of the boy’s tummy. “Ah! Yes, naturally. Here we go!” With a deep breath, Suo ducked his head down and blew a raspberry onto Sakura’s skin.
“OHOHOHOHO SHIHIHIHIHIHIT! NOHOHOHOHOHO!”
“Ah! Umemiya, he seemed to enjoy it. Please arch upward once again!” Another breath, another raspberry.
“SHITSHITSHITSHIT! SHIHIHIHIT! FUHUHUHUCK!”
“Such a rotten mouth!” Umemiya cried out, honing in on Sakura’s underarms with a bit more fervor. He looked down evilly at the boy—a side which Sakura had seen only once before. A simple command was given to him; one that he would be able to ignore for a few good minutes. “Crack.”
And yet, nothing. Sakura’s screams of laughter were merely background noise for the tiny apartment.
“OHOHOHOHO MY GOHOHOHOHOD! SHIHIHIHIT!” Accompanied Hiragi’s attempt to study the controllers better.
“NOHOHOHOHO! BAHAHAHASTARDS! HYEAHAHAHAHAHA!” Was a sweet symphony to join Nirei’s plating of their meal.
The two continued their ruthless attack on the younger boy. Despite his hot blush, the intensity of their tickling, and the duration, Sakura still was going on strong. Umemiya ought to be the one to put his baby brother to bed after as an apology.
Raspberry after raspberry, Suo continued without mercy. His repetition led him to an experiment of sorts: berries toward the sides and hips were less ticklish, while berries toward the ribs and atop of the belly button were the most. He breathed in heavy for another one until he heard a frantic plea.
“OHOHOHOHO FUHUHUHUCK! NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHORE!”
He sighed, sitting up. However, Sakura was still hoarse with merriment. “Umemiya.”
When Umemiya’s fingers came to a halt, and Sakura’s upper body fell backwards, Suo was there to catch him. He gently pat the boy’s back as he caught his breath, subsequently snaking his hand under Sakura’s white top to rub the warm skin of his back.
“Just breathe, Sakura. Don’t speak; just breathe,” Suo soothed in a whisper.”
Umemiya’s fingers started to gently brush through his hair. “Shit, kid— Haruka, I’m so sorry.”
“S’okay… had… lots’a… fun…” rasped the boy.
A delicious smell of meat and veggies entered their noses, and a huge bowl of Yakisoba was soon prepared on the counter.
“Eat up,” Nirei hummed. “Get his strength back up.”
The half-and-half boy was gently shook, but he only groaned, clinging onto Suo’s free arm. Hiragi huffed with a fond grin, bringing back an extra plate for Suo, while Umemiya did the same for Sakura.
The five boys shared their meal in total delight. Sakura stayed glued to Suo for a good five minutes, eyes shut—at least until he realized that he was snuggled up to the redhead, then he promptly shot up like a spring, his blush creeping back. It was at this point where he would begin his meal.
After food was shared, Hiragi offered to clean up, while Umemiya offered to wash the dishes. While the two older men completed their cleaning, the Switch was booted back up. Nirei quickly loaded into the game and selected his main fighter. He took his hair out of the ring ponytail… Business…
And finally, throughout a day full of losses and revenge, Haruka Sakura was at last defeated.
Game and Watch: Many
Lucas: 1
Nirei’s laughter would bounce off of the walls of the flat soon after, Sakura’s following in hot pursuit. Suo’s soft giggles would follow along his tickling fingers. A smile of true joy at Nirei’s adorable snorts would form on his lips.
Umemiya couldn’t help but smile at the sight and sound of his baby brothers’ delight.
I love that four different people on my feed scheduled this joyous person to reblog by 8am on June 1. I look forward to seeing this a dozen more times today.
most difficult problem of writing fanfiction is when you need a character to express the particular surprised/dismayed/disappointed sentiment of going "jesus christ" but this isn't a lore friendly thing to say and there's nothing lore friendly that conveys quite the same emotion
So I don't know if anyone has ever talked about it at all (I didn't find anything but I might not have been looking in the right places), but I noticed that Suo and Sakura share a blood type and I thought it would be interesting to do a kind of quick breakdown and comparison on everyone else and their shared types.
For those that aren't really aware, blood types get brought up in animanga a lot because it's kind of used as an indicator for personalities and character archetypes, kind of similar to assigning a character a zodiac sign etc. It's based on a pseudoscience developed in the 1930s but I digress. Whether I or the creator really believe it means anything, it's still a really telling way of what the creator thinks/wants out of their character's personality.
I got all of the characters together initially and then kind of dropped some of the side classmates that aren't really as important to me personally. Or given enough screen time to really commentate on their personalities. Sorry. Let's begin!
Type A.
Positive: Creative. Clever. Cooperative/Good Team Players.
Negative: Stubborn. Uptight. Anxious.
✩ Most common blood type in Japan. (40%). I find this type seems usually assigned to characters that seem more outgoing and social, however Sako Kota and Mizuki Saku are here as well so that's not always the case. Those two do seem capable of working in a team setting however so it also tracks.
✩ It's worth noting for later that ALL the Four Kings are this type.
Characters with this Type:
Tsugeura Taiga
Kiryu Mitsuki
Anzai Masaki
Hiragi Toma
Tsubakino Tasuku
Momose Takumi
Mizuki Saku
Tachibana Kotoha
Wanijima Yūgo
Sako Kota
Kanuma Minoru
Shuhei Suzuri (also intrigued by his presence here as well, but I think his personality shines a lot more after he gets brought into the "light" so to say)
✩ I find this type usually assigned to characters that like "keep to themselves" by nature like Sugi and Kaji. Type Bs are reportedly viewed as misfits because they "go at their own pace and behave oddly" (see Kaji and Endo cough)
✩ Type Bs supposedly clash with Type As. None of the Type B characters on this list have any specific issues with any Type A characters other than Sugi's indirect clash with Kanuma but that's the closest connection. However, I find it really interesting that Kaji (and Enomoto) are Type Bs to Hiragi's Type A with this thought in mind. I will say it does seem that several of the Type Bs here seem to clash with EVERYONE in some case (Kaji, Sugi and Endo specifically)
✩ AB is the rarest blood type in Japan, which I find interesting considering our MC AND one of his trio are both in this type together.
✩ It's also considered to be a "joining" of multiple pieces of Type A and B types together, which is interesting considering the two Types are considered to clash with each other. So...I feel it presents Type ABs as being kind of at war internally with themselves which REALLY sells it in several of these characters below.
✩ I think it's really interesting that Sakura and Suo share this type, and it makes sense. Especially with their rational natures (tho Sakura's is a different brand imo that usually gets overlooked by his rashness).
✩ I'm also very intrigued that Choji also falls in this group as he seems to have a very different personality from everyone else when he gets back on the right path but I think he also falls into having a strange version of rationality too. Even if it's not correct, it was still a very realistic and rational view of approaching something.
✩ Also worth mentioning that Chika and Sakura sharing a blood type is very very interesting considering Endo's interest in the two. Makes you wonder how he'd feel about Suo if Suo was part of the fight lmao
✩ This type is usually seen in "natural born leaders" apparently.
✩ They're said to appear as selfish sometimes, specifically in the eyes of Type As. I find that very intriguing because ALL Four Kings are Type As. But especially Hiragi Toma, who initially hated Umemiya and his plans, but was brought in because Ume knew Hiragi would make sure he didn't stray from the right path.
✩ I also thing it's interesting that several of the characters with this type DO have established "selfish" dreams and desires that while not inherently bad or negative, are still technically selfish.
✩ Nirei - wants to become stronger & wants to help Sakura to the top. While this is a very interactive desire that includes Sakura, I think it's stuck in a kind of selfish basis too of wanting to be needed etc. And I feel like if Sakura said he DIDN'T want to be the top anymore, that he wouldn't know what to do.
✩ Umemiya himself says (to Hiragi actually iirc) about wanting to bring together Furin and protect the town that his dream and desires are selfish. These are not bad things, as it benefits a LOT of people but its still something that not a lot of people actually want at that point in time? And he's about to enact that will upon everyone whether they like it or not.
✩ Togame - Selfishly wanted Choji to remain the sun in his and their gang's eyes, even at the cost of all of their happiness for a bit. Even when maybe stepping down as leader or confronting Choji would've saved them all that pain.
✩ Also he's not brought up or shown very often but he's one of my faves so I have to bring him up - Kusumi Yuto being the Type O to Kaji and Enomoto's Type B is something I really vibe with, because I think it def gives this indication of Kusumi being a guiding light for the two of them as vice cpt. Same with how Nirei being the Type O for Sakura and Suo's Type AB is also kind of falling into the same design. Nirei and Kusumi are not the actual leaders here, but their personalities allow their assigned leaders - who are NOT naturals - to shine brighter with their support.
Characters with this Type:
Nirei Akihiko
Umemiya Hajime
Kusumi Yuto
Togame Jo
Kanji Nakamura
So uh yeah...a lot of yap tbh and maybe stretching some based on what I know about the archetypes and just what I've seen over time. But I hope you enjoyed this!
References include the Wind Breaker wiki and character pages circulating and for the Blood Type information: [1] [2], along with just copious amount of animanga intake over the years lmao
Hope yall got nothin’ to do for a little while LMAOOOOO. this has been written, rewritten, revised, and damn near abandoned like,, 5 times so honestly I’m just happy it’s finished.
I’m glad you guys like BloodyMary content, bc BOY can o churn it out. Let’s get after it, gang.
Lee!Simon (Iron Lung) Ler!Grace (PHM)
🚨 TW: heated shouting, swearing. Please be aware!
Grace has been withholding a personal science project from Simon, knowing that if he were to find out about it, he would not be happy. Simon finds out about it, and is not happy…
6K words
I look in the mirror, turning my head from side to side.
“Hm..”
“What wrong, question?”
“Nothing’s wrong- my hair’s just getting a little long. I haven’t cut it in a while.”
“Hair not look different to me.”
I shrug.
“Yeah it’s not all that much longer. I just get annoyed when the back touches my neck. It’s itchy.”
“Itchy, question?”
“Yeah. Human hair can have different textures - soft and smooth, coarse and stiff, thick, thin… I happen to have pretty thick hair, which can be scratchy.”
“Hm, Grace have bad hair.”
“Wow- okay.”
I huff, taking the shears out of the cabinet and flicking them on. Rocky flinches at the sound.
“What that?! Weapon?!”
“No! No, not a weapon! They’re just clippers! They wouldn’t put a weapon on the spaceship, Rock. This is used to cut hair, see?”
I turn to the side, eyeballing a rough cut of the shaggy hair at my neck.
It wasn’t a perfect cut by any means- even worse with my eyesight, but the end goal was comfort, not style.
A few tufts of brownish blonde hair tumble down my back and onto the floor. Rocky seems horrified by the sight.
“Hurt?! Grace hurt?! Losing body part!!”
“Nooooo, Rocky, hair doesn’t feel pain when you cut it off. People cut their hair all the time! Especially when it gets long and unruly.”
“‘Scuse me.” Simon appears, bargimg into the small bathroom, startling Roxy and me both. He reaches past me, grabbing a shirt he had hung to dry on the zero-G stabilizer bars near the ceiling.
“Yeah, see? Long and unruly, like this.” I tease, picking up and gently tugging a lock of Simon’s dark, long, unkempt hair.
“Get offa me, Astroboy.” He hisses, elbowing me in the chest, knocking me a step back. I snort, shoving him in the back, pushing him out of the bathroom. “Careful! I’ve got clippers! And you got in my way, Iron Man!” I chuckle.
“That one isn’t even clever.”
“Yeah it is! Blood’s made of iron!”
“Whatever.”
“60-170 micrograms per deciliter, baby.”
Rocky chirps with quiet laughter.
“See?! He thinks it’s funny.
Simon groans from outside in the dorm.
“Hey, your first nicknames for me were ‘Savior’ and ‘Angel’, and you didn’t drop either for days, so I don’t wanna hear it.”
“I thought I was dead, and you were the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes on a bright white foreign ship. OF COURSE I thought you were an angel! had just woken up from a coma!” Simon shouts, standing in the doorway, shirt held tight in his hand.
“Ohhhh welcome to the Confused Coma Club, Iron Man. Nice to have a third member! At least you didn’t wake up to a robot claw in your face. Would you put your shirt on please?” I snicker.
“Your shirt.”
“Well you’ve stretched the heck outta the thing, so it’s yours now.” I snicker.
“Asshole.”
“Language, Moon Fish.Hey, when are you gonna let me fix your hair up? Lord knows you haven’t done much with it since you got here.”
“I don’t want a haircut.”
“At least let me brush out. Pull it out of your face a little?” I suggest.
“No.” Simon grumbles as he turns to leave. “And for the record, you definitely got a kick out of ‘Angel’.”
“…Get out of my sight.” I click the clippers on and off at him a couple times as he walks off.
I roll my eyes, crouching down to collect the tufts, putting them in the waste bin.
“Why Simon no have to cut hair, question?”
“Because he doesn’t really care about it. It’s not mandatory, some people like their hair long, some like it short.” I run a hand through my hair, pushing the fringe back off my face. “I don’t like hair touching my face or my neck, so I keep it short. Simon couldn’t care less if he tried, so he lets it grow. Simple as that.” I shrug.
“Tedious. Tedious. Humans too tedious about appearance. Inefficient, statement.”
“Yeah well.” I mutter.
“’m headed up to the lab. Join me if you want to.” I say, placing the clippers back where I found them.
“What Grace working on, question?”
I shrug. “Got some samples I’ve been looking at the last couple weeks that I wanna check on.”
“Ohhh Simon Rocket samples!! Blood and metal!” Rocky chirps.
I grimace, shaking my head.
“Shhh! Rocky! …Ok, yes, those samples, but don’t say it so loud!”
“Why question?!”
“I don’t…” I peek my head out of the bathroom to make sure the coast is clear. “I don’t want Simon to know that I harvested samples from the planet and vessel that almost killed him!” I hiss.
“But… alive now! And okay! Should not matter.”
“In a perfect universe it wouldn’t matter. But trauma can make things that can no longer hurt you feel just as painful. And besides- he doesn’t react well to blood… he said it agitates him. I don’t wanna trigger him.”
“Why Grace get samples then?!”
“I got them before he told me all this! Look. I only work with the samples when he’s asleep, to minimize risk of exposure. I already feel bad enough keeping the stuff on board.”
“Then eject samples. Statement.”
“Through the airlock that’s as loud as a star exploding? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Bad bad idea.”
“Yeah, well I don’t know what else to do, Rock. I’m doing the best I can.”
-
It’s late.
And you’ll just have to take my word for it, since it always looks like night in space, but according to the clocks in the lab, it was well after midnight.
Simon had gone to sleep early, around 9:45, as opposed to his normal 11:00, so I spent that extra time in the lab this evening doing some work on the hull and ocean samples that I had - selfishly - retrieved from Simon’s ship during the rescue mission.
It was truthfully meant to be somethingto keep me busy during the rest of the flight to Erid. I wanted to learn about the blood ocean, the ship itself, what perhaps critical design flaws went overlooked, leading to the wrek, and maybe even figure out how Simon’s body was able to mutate in such a short time.
I could ask Simon all these things too, of course. But there was no use jostling trauma that was still trying to heal.
By the end of my session, the lab station was a wreck covered in specks of rust, drops and splatters of blood at varying dilutions that had escaped the pipettes I had been using to transport it from vials to dish to slide.
It looked like a bit of a crime scene. I chuckle, lifting my goggles over my head, setting them to the side.
In the last few weeks, I had come up with some pretty interesting results from the experiments and tests I had spent so long in secret running. I did wish I could share them with Simon, but the time didn’t feel right.
Who knows if he’d even want to know some of this stuff. Why did I want to know?
There was a bin in the lab specifically for biowaste, which is where I discarded my stained gloves. Although the blood from the ocean wasn’t technically from a human, it still counted as human blood. Finally, I wipe down the station, and begin packing up all my samples.
“What could you possibly be working on this late.”
“AAAH-! Cheez-itz! Where did you come from?! Why are you up?!”
I jolted, scrambling to shove the rusted metal, vials, and microscope into the nearby cubby at the back of the lab station.
“Nightmare. What’re you doing?” He remained unflinching, standing with my cardigan lazily draped over his shoulders.
“Nothing! Nothing important I- I was just… working on something for Rocky… that he uh… asked me to do.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm!”
“Something for Rocky.”
“Yes.”
Simon looked me up and down.
“How many times I gotta tell you you’re an obvious liar. Simon rolls his eyes, pushing past me with ease.
“Simon-‘ wait, hold on-“
“Rusty metal? The hell does Rocky need with rusty metal when he has xenonite?” He mutters, peering into the cubby, dragging the lab set back out.
I groan as he leans down, looking at thw small vials of red liquid, all in a row on their stand, each one a slightly diluted color than the last. The stacked Petri dishes, and wrapped microscope slides.
Simon scanned the table, then looked back at me.
“Is this blood-? Are these samples from my ship?!” He looked… very irritated.
I freeze, unsure of how to respond.
He caught on quick….
“I- uhm, yeah…?”
He gave me a searching look, taking a step back.
“How the fuck did you get these?”
“I- I salvaged them during the rescue operation-!”
“Why do you have pieces of my ship?” His voice dropped. Ice cold.
“I- I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would be that… big of a deal..?”
“Not that big of a deal.”
“Yeah! I just- I just wanted to do some research on y-your ship! And the composition of-“
“You could just ask me that yourself, Ryland.”
“I mean, I could, but that would just be unnecessary trauma exposure…”
“AND THIS ISN’T?!” He shouted, slamming his prosthetic fist into the table. I clambered backward into a neighboring table, slamming my back into the corner of it.
“I told you specifically, in trust and confidence, that I NEVER wanted to see that god forsaken moon, the ship that was almost my CASKET, OR THE BLOOD THAT TURNED ME INTO A FUCKING MONSTER. EVER. AGAIN.” Simon shouted, bearing his teeth at me.
I cowered away, shifting away from the table, only to misstep, and fall backward onto the floor.
“I- I know, I know I’m sorry.”
“AND AT NO POINT, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE WISE TO TELL ME YOU KEPT SOUVENIRS OF MY DEATH SENTENCE?”
“I- I thought I could do a better job! At keeping it hidden!”
“That’s what you’re taking from this.”
Simon stood over me, the dim, pale light of the lab backlighting his hulking silhouette.
“NO! I- I didn’t mean it like that!” My heart was pounding in my chest.
“I’m not sure I believe you. Seems spot on to me” I could hear every inhale and exhale from his lungs. 
“Please-! Please, you- just listen! I already had the samples before I knew a-anything you told me. I wanted to bring it up but I didn’t know how ithout upsetting you, I’m sorry-!”
Simon says nothing. I swear I could see his red eye flicker in the low light as he stood over me like a devil in the dark.
“I- I can get rid of it! I can put it all in the airlock and I can shoot it aaaall out into space.”
…
“Simon..?” I was paralyzed, firmly against the wall like I was trying to phase right through it.
Simon makes some kind of move towards me that I could only see a split second of before I flinched, shutting my eyes.
“No- NO-! ROCKYYY!” I shout on a broken cry, balling up on the ground and bracing for… something.
Nothing ever came.
I heave, still rigid in fear.
Enough time passes for me to be confident I was no longer in danger. I open my eyes.
He’s… gone.
-
I’m in trouble… boy don’t I know it…
know I’ve made a mistake. A ridiculous, moronic, dangerous mistake. And honestly, if he would have torn me into microscopic pieces for going behind his back like I did, I wouldn’t hold it against him.
So stupid! All of that, just to do some reaserch on a moon I’m never going back to, and a vessel that’s been pulverized.
I feel like a horrible friend.
It’s been three hours. Simon is probably in bed by the window, and I’ve sequestered myself in the dorm, frankly too scared to go up.
He wouldn’t have actually hurt me…
Even if something did happen, that’d be 100% on me.
Rocky didn’t hear me calling for him. He was asleep, here in the dorm.
I set Simon off, AND left Rocky to sleep alone. Great.
I sit up slowly, standing up off the bed, pacing around in a circle around Rocky, asleep in his ball.
At the very least, I can gather up all my samples of Simon’s ship, and toss it all in the airlock. I won’t cycle it, since it’s late, and the airlock is deafeningly loud, but hopefully it’ll put Simon a bit more at ease if I prove that I’m willing to get rid of everything.
I think to myself.
Yeah, that’s a good plan.
I make my way up the ladder, out of the dorm and into the main, long hallway. It’s pretty easy to sneak around the ship, since nothing really creaks or squeaks under foot.
There’s no light aside from the dim emergency lab bulbs a few yards down the hall, the light spilling up from the dormitory hatch behind me, and the hazy starlight at the end of the corridor.
I feel like I’m walking through a haunted house. It’s dark, I can hardly see as is, and I don’t have any idea where Simon is.
I don’t know if he’s asleep, awake, still mad, and stalking me…
One step at a time… my only objective is to collect the samples, and put them in the airlock. Easy!
I come upon the enterance to the lab. Staying close to the wall, I lean over, peeking in.
Simon’s in the lab…. Simon’s in the lab?! What’s he doing..?!
He’s at the station I left all the hull samples at. Craptastic. What does he want with them?! I thought he didn’t want to see them!
Maybe he’s getting rid of them himself. Thats okay too, I guess. He isn’t obligated to tell me. Those were pieces of his ship, after all-
~Creeeeeak~
I jolt- I had put too much of my weight on the open lab door, making the heavy metal creak as it slid forward.
I ducked away, my back to the wall I had been so desperately hugging. I closed my eyes tight, biting my lip, hoping, praying that Simon didn’t hear.
…
A moment passed. Nothing. Clear.
I open my eyes, turning back around the corner.
“Ryland.”
“AGH-! Simon! I’m so- SO sorry, I- I wasn’t spying on you! I was-“
He raises both his hand.
“Stop talking.”
“Okay.”
“What are you doing? Why are you creeping around the ship like it isn’t your ship?”
“…”
“You can speak now.”
I sigh. “I… I thought you’d be asleep by now… I was coming back to get rid of all the samples…”
“Right.”
“I’m serious!”
“You weren’t gonna just move them someplace else.”
“Simon.”
“You understand my hesitation to trust you right now, right? It was easy enough for you to lie to me before, why wouldn’t it be now?”
“I didn’t lie to you!”
“Lying by omission is still lying, Ryland.”
“Fine, yes, that’s… that’s fair, and I’m sorry! I don’t know how else to prove to you that I’m sorry!”
“…”
“…”
“Did you learn anything?”
“W-what-? I I mean yes, I’ve learned a lot from this- n-not to just go and do things behind-“
“From the samples.”
My face goes a little red. Oops. “Oh. Y-yes, I did, yeah.” I mutter.
Simon stares at me for a moment, piercing eyes scanning my face like a laser.
He grabs me by the wrist, turns, and drags me behind him into the lab.
“W-wait woah-! Woah woah, what’re we doing?!”
We reach the lab station, and Simon shoves me down onto the lab stool.
“Show me.”
“…Show you…”
“Show me what you’ve gleaned from your samples.”
“Are you sure? We don’t have to-“
“Show me.” Simon hisses.
“Alright! Alright… okay. Um…” I tap my fingers anxiously on my thigh as o think of what to show him.
“Okay, well for starters, I know why your hill breached.” I say, reaching down to a metal filing drawer, pulling out a thick notebook, edges worn, with various corners of stray parts and sticky notes poking out in all directions.
I set it on the table, flipping it open, scanning the page with my finger.
“You keep physical notes?”
“Well I didn’t wanna risk you stumbling across the notes on the ship’s cloud drive, so I opted for physical.”
Simon groans.
“I l ow… I’m just being honest. Here.” I point to a paragraph on the center of the page. Keeping my finger on the paper to hold my place, I reach into the cubby at the back of the desk, pulling out a sealed, clear container that I’m sure Simon missed.
I hand it to him.
“That’s a chunk of the outside layer of your hull.”
“I can see that.” Simon groans,poking at the chunk of metal inside. It was a good sized piec- maybe about theee or four inches, square.
“Turn it over.” Simon flips the container.
“See the caked on blood there? Under earth.”
“Everything was caked in blood, what’s this supposed to prove.”
I stand up, looking down at the sample, and tapping the plastic of the container.
“Yes, but look. The entire bottom side of the piece is covered in dried blood. The bottom shouldn’t look like that if it were functioning properly. The outer layer wasn’t secured to the body of the vessel, and it was allowing ocean blood in between the hull and the body of the ship.” I explain.
“In space, a breach like that would kill you in minutes.”
Simon stares at the sample intensely.
“Rush job.”
“Rush Job. They just needed it done and built to send you down. It was a design error.”
I sit back down.
Simon is quiet for a while.
“What else.” His tone has softened quite a bit. He sounds curious now, as opposed to angry, and holding himself back.
I swivel back around on my stool to my notebook, flipping through the pages.
“Right, uh… nothing, nothing, nothing… a lot of obvious observations… oh! Oh…” I land on a page titled ‘Mutation’, and I sigh.
“What?”
“I uhm… I think I found what may have mutated your body, Simon.” I say cautiously. He stares at me, and I can’t read his expression at all.
“Okay, come here, look at this.” I slide everything on the desk aside, and pull the microscope forward.
I switch it on, and reach for a pair of gloves.
I spend the next few minutes setting up a slide with a drop of diluted ocean blood, and a very small sample of the only other living cell I could safely work with. A drop of taomoeba.
I close, and load the slide onto the microscope, and move out of the way for Simon to take a look.
“There’s something in the ocean blood. A microbe of some kind, and it’s aggressive.” I say.
“What’s it doing?”
“You see it? The little red cells?”
“Yeah… those aren’t blood cells..?”
“Yes, and no. They’re similar. They have almost the same composition and shape, but they’re poonty.”
Simon adjusts the magnification on the slide, zooming in.
“Has it found a tapmoeba yet?”
“Yeah, it… it attacked it. It killed it.”
“Keep watching.” I fold my hands in my lap, turning to watch Simon.”
“It’s moving again. The taomoeba. But it’s moving around kinda frantic.”
“Yeah, I observed the same.” I say. “The ocean blood cell attacked it, killed it, and replaced what was lost withsome e of itself. It mutated the taomoeba.”
Simon Stands up straight.
“That’s what happened to you. The microbe got into your system through a wound, probably, killed off parts of your body, and managed to change your genetic code just enough to convince your body to self edit.” I sigh.
Simon nods slowly, his eyes fixed on the floor.
“I mean… it’s not all terrible, though. If you really think about it, if you weren’t mutated into something that could withstand the ocean… you may not have made it out. I may not have ever found you.”
I stand up, shoving my hands in my pockets.
“The mutation doesn’t seem to be spreading anymore, since you got here. Which is also a plus. You had enough healthy human cells to fight off the infection, with Armando’s help, so it’s not gonna get any worse. The ocean blood cells can’t survive without th right atmospheric conditions. Thats why I keep them in the vials- oh!”
Simon cuts me off, wrapping me in a tight hug. I stand there, frozen like a fool, unsure of what I’m supposed to do or say.
“Thank you.”
“For… what, exactly-?” I mutter.
He doesn’t reply for a while.
“Proving with your sneaky, annoying science that I’m not a monster.”
The words are quiet, muttered into my shoulder like something he was assuring himself of, and not telling me as a fact.
“What?! Of course you aren’t. You never were. You’re a survivor.” I finally bring my arms up, hugging him back for a long while.
With a deep breath, I take him by the shoulders, prying him off me, and holding him at arms length so I could look him in the eye.
“And look, I’ll still get rid of the samples if you want me to. I never should have hidden them from you, and if you want them gone, they’re gone.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, it’s better if you keep them.”
“Are you certain that’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll even let you cycle the airlock yourself.” I chuckle.
“Angel, I’m positive.” He smiles softly.
“Angel? Why am I Angel again Not Gracie, or Astroboy?”
“Would you prefer something else?”
“No, just wondering.” I shrug, letting go of Simon’s shoulders, and turning back to the lab table. I grab a small cup, and a small squeeze bottle that I had lying off to the side, filling the cup about a quarter inch.
“What’re you doing now?”
“Killing the mutated taomoeba. I don’t want these little guys running around the ship. Already had one leak, and that was plenty.” I remove the slide carefully from the microscope, and dunk it into the cup.
Simon leans down over the cup, his hair falling over his shoulder, into his face, dangling over the cup.
I gasp, quickly reaching over, gathering his hair and holding it back. The solution wasn’t volatile, just some lab grade isopropyl alcohol, but a rule o always had in my classroom was to keep hair, clothes, skin, and jewelry away from chemicals at all times.
“Careful-! Careful- my god! How many times do I need to tell you to watch your hair around the lab!” I scold, holding a bit too tight, as evidenced by whether grimace on Simon’s face.
“Sorry, my bad- here let me…” I step behind Simon, twirling his hair around two of my fingers, and fastening it onto a tight bun. He didn’t seemed thrilled, but he didn’t fight me.
“There. Perfect. It wouldn’t hurt to wear some goggles… too…” I trail off a bit, walking back around to the side, as Simon looks at me.
“What?”
“N-nothing! I’ve just never seen you without your hair in your face. Looks good!”
He rolls his eyes. He did honestly look a lot different. The usual shadow cast over his eyes was gone. They were a lot kinder in the light - and maybe a bit tired.
“It feels ridiculous.”
“It isn’t, you’re just not used to it.”
Simon groans walking to the other side of me, helping me clean up the lab station.
“Oh- no don’t worry about it, I got it.”
I shake my head, looking up at Simon. I catch a glimpse of something I hadn’t seen before just as he picks up some equipment, and pivots to go put it back in a cabinet a few paces away.
“Wait- hold up. Back up. Come here a second.”
Simon sighs. He knows exactly what I saw.
“No, you make too big of a deal out of everything.”
“Correct! Now come here! You’ve got another mutation you weren’t telling me about?”
“So you can keep secrets, but GOD FORBID I do…”
I jog over to him, ignoring his jab. “Hold on, let me see!”
Simon rolls his head back in annoyance, before relenting. “Oh my god, it’s not that interesting!”
“You’ve got a fin for an ear! That’s incredibly interesting!”
It’s true. On the same side as the rest of his mutation, Simon’s ear had become something like a multi-pointed fin around the shell. The points were sharp, three of them, jutting out about two inches from where the top curve of his ear used to be. A r rib of cartilage held each point up, like the bones of a duck’s webbed feet.
The extension of the ear faded in an even ombré from the paling tan of Simon’s slin, to a bright ruby red at the ends of each spoke.
“That’s incredible! This is what you were hiding under your hair this whole time?!”
Simon takes a seat on the low lab table, letting me do my thing.
“Yeah, it looks dumb.”
“No it doesn’t you look like a dragon! You’re so tough on yourself, Si, jeez.” I say, still glued to Simon’s fin.
“What could this mutation possibly have been useful for…?” I mutter to myself, running a finger along the back of the fin.
Simon’s head lulls to the side, into my hand just slightly. It seemed to happen against his will.
“Yeah?” I give Simon a sideways smile, repeating the motion again, scritching with a bit more pressure this time. He tilts his head again, looking at me like I’ve put some kind of spell on him.
“No way-!” I laugh.
“I’m not doing anything! I can’t contr-ol i-it!” I scratch behind Simon’s ear with purpose, and he drops his head completely into my hand. And his leg starts to bounce against the ground.
I smile wide, laughing more out of surprise than anything else.
“Oh my goodness! You’re like a puppy! A sea puppy!” Simon tries to scowl at me, but a smile fights his way onto his face.
“C-cuhut that out, Grace.”
“You’re laughing! Does that tickle? Ha!” I experimentally run a nail up one of the points, earning a snort from Simon. He shrugs his shoulder up in defense.
“Haha! How silly is that?!” I lift my other hand to his opposite ear, scratching behind it the same way. He laughs just as much as he did with the fin, but without any additional movement.
“Ohhh okay, so you’ve just got ticklish ears anyway. But this one-“ I give the back of his fin a sort of rough scratch.
He lets out a high piched cackle, dropping his head to the side again, his knee bouncing in place.
“This one’s the ticket right here!” I snicker.
“A-ahahAHAhaAHA-! G-GRAHAHACE!”
“Yeah? Whats up, bud?” I lower my hand on Simon’s undamagwd side to scritch along the curve of his jaw. He laughs through gritted teeth.
“S-stoHOHOP! I- I’m gonna kihihill you!”
“Noooo, you won’t. Earlier if you told me that I woulda believed you- but you wouldn’t be calling me ‘Grace’ if you were really upset. It’d be ‘Ryland’.” I say my own name with a deep, gravelly imitation of Simon’s voice.
Simon shakes his head back and forth, slowly sliding down off the table. I follow him down to the floor, a hand on the back of his head to make sure he didn’t smash it into the table on his descent.
“Ok, floor it is. Comfortable?” I sit on my knees towering over his slumped down form.
“Stay- a-away from me.”
“Why would I do that, Siren?”
“Siren-?”
“Yeah, the dish fin thing gives you a kinda mermais, siren kinda look. And it rhymes with Simon, so-“
“Laaaame.”
I scoff. “Askin’ for it!” I say, bringing my hands back to either side of Simon’s head, skittering randomly all over, behind his ear, behind his fin, along his jaw, under his chin, and down his neck, all while making the most annoying ’tchktchktchk’ sound through my teeth, just to tease him, really.
“A-AHAHAHA-HAHA!! GOHOHOHODDAMNIT-!!”
“I would have never known your face could turn so red with all that hair you kept in your face, man!”
“S-shuUHUT UP-!” Simon puts his arm across his face.
“Absolutely not, c’mon.” I tutted, shooting a hand down underneath the arm, pinching and prodding at his armpit. His arm comes crashing back down to his side, and he howls.
“You can’t butter me up with a nice nickname, that doesn’t work as well as you think it does.” I drag my hands down, gently running my nails over Simon’s gills. I know it can be a bit much for him, so I take it easy.
“AGH!! YOHOHOU BASTARD-!”
“See? That’s why nice nicknames don’t work. And I’m not even being aggressive about it! I’m going nice and easy.” I say in a bit of a condescending tone. I’m having fun, sue me.
“DohoHON’T patronihihize me I could tAHAKE it.”
“Ohhh is that a challenge, Fishstick?” I grin, stilling my hands.
“Do it, Foxtrot.” Simon hisses.
I smile, staring down at him for a moment.
I extend a hand to him firmly.
“No fighting, hitting, or shoving me off. Gills, thirty seconds, or until you say “Hail Mary.” Deal?”
Simon mulls it over in his head for a moment.
He takes my hand and gives it a confident shake.
“Deal.”
“Alright, ready?” Simon nods.
I swing a leg over him, straddling him by the thighs to keep him down. “3… 2… 1!”
I latch onto Simon’s ribs, both hands velcroed to the middle gills on each side. With everything I have, I vibrate my fingers into the arches.
Holy moly his screaming could wake the dead.
“AAAAAAA AAHAHAHAHHAHA-!!! SHIT SHIT SHIHIHIT-!”
“Let’s find kinder words.”
“NOHOHO, SCREW YOHOHOUHAHAHAHAHA-!’ OH MY GOHOHOD-!”
“Could’ya say it a little louder? I couldn’t hear you too well, actually.”
I chuckle, and switch to raking my nails up and down Simon’s ribs with force I typically would never use. Not enough to leave any sort of mark, but probably pretty close to it.
By this point, Simon has completely slid onto his back on the floor. He had taken to gripping the locked drawer handle behind and above him to keep his arms out of the way. Man, he was serious about this.
“Fifteen seconds.” I announce. I speed my hands up, switching back to the vigorous kneading from before, making Simon’s entire body jolt.
“Huh, look at that- your other ear is just as red as your fin now.” I tease.
“HUHIHUSH.”
“So rude.” I huff, leaning down, and without slowing my hands down, blow hard against the side of Simon’s neck.
I had forgotten to shave earlier too. If this were any other situation, I’d apologize for the scruff.
“AAAHAHAHAHAHA-! FOUL! THAHAHAT’S A FOHOHOIL!”
“No it isn’t. I just said “gills”. I did t specify which gills. You signed off on it.” I say with a conniving smile.
I blow another, then another, the seconds ticking down. I switched quickly to the raking motion against his ribs again, and to my surprise…
“OKAHAHAHAY!! OKAY OKAY OKAY I GIVE!”
I slow down a bit, but don’t stop.
“What do you sayyyy,theeeen?” I I sing out.
“HAIL MAHAHARY! HAHAHAIL MAHAHARY-! PLEASE-! Please-! A-Angehehel-!” His voice quiets down as o stop at the very first word.
“You alright?”
Simon groans, letting his arms fall from the drawer handle.
“Yehehes. I’m fine. Did I make it.?”
“Three seconds short.”
“Bullshit.”
I snicker. “Toooold youuu- WOAH-!”
Simon takes me by the shoulders, pulls me down, and barrel rolls us both over, pushing up once he’s successfully swapped our positions.
“That was a cheap shot to the neck! I would have won!”
I laugh incredulously. “You ALWAYS say that! It was fair game! Get ohohoff me!” Simon gets one decent squeeze to my stomach before I catch his hand, wrestling it away.
Simon growls, pushing against my arms as I push back, the two of us wrestling like dogs on the lab floor.
I pull my legs free drum under Simon, moving them both to the right, and using them to push Simon over to the left, successfully knocking him off me.
“Oof-! Christ! Where the hell did you learn that?!”
Don’t worry about it! TRUCE! Truce! No more.” I yelp out through nervous laughter as Simon looks at me like he’s gonna jump at me again.
“Truce.” I say again.
“Fine, Fine, truce.” He nods, pushing his hair, that had long since jostled free of the bun, back behind both ears.
“Hey! You’re wearing it out of your face now!” I smile, crossing my arms.
The right, unscarred half of his face turns a little bit pink. I never knew it took so little to embarrass him- I’m learning a lot with a clearer view of Simon’s face.
He gives me a look. He knows I noticed.
He rolls his eyes, lift in himself off the ground.
“Oh shut up, Gracie, you’re just as bad.” He leans down as he walks past, grabbing my cheeks and giving my face a firm shake, before stepping over me on the floor. “At least I have the hair to cover it up.”
“You have the hair because you refuse to cut it.”
“I do t want it cut!”
“You’re just too lazy to cut it!”
“I am not too lazy, o simply do not feel like it.” Simon mutters, replacing all the tools and equipment on the lab table back in their respective homes.
“First of all, same thing, and I’ve offered to do it, no less than 700 times.”
“And magically, you think im gonna say yes on the 701st ask! You know what that is? Insanity.” He points a finger down at me. “And besides I don’t trust you. You’re scissorhappy.”
“Wrong!”
“Correct!”
“I cut my own hair just fine, and I can cut yours!”
Simon looks at my hair with a raised brow, then back down at me.
“Yeah, I’ll pass.”
“What?! I look great!”
“In the dark.”
“Fishbrain…”
“Dogboy.”
“Dog boy?!” I scoff
“Yeah, your whole thing is foxes. Foxes are dogs”
“Incorrect. They’re both in the Canidae family, but they’re completely different. Just like how a tabby cat isn’t the same as a tiger.”
“Ohhh whatever! You certainly yap like a fox.
I snort, standing up off the floor. “Yap yap yap yap!” I make “quiet coyote” hands, making them bark in Simon’s face.
“Get away from me, you stray.” He mutters.
“Don’t hate on foxes, you’re still wearing my cardigan!” I snicker, bumping into Simon on purpose as I walk past. He shoves me back, making me hop a step forward.
“Oh! You can keep that notebook, by the way.”
“Notebook?”
“Yeah, the one with all the stuff I wrote on your ship samples. There’s two whole pages about the composition of the ocean. Some weird stuff in there.”
Simon looks down at the still open notebook on the table.
“You sure? You don’t need it?”
“Nah, next time I work on the samples, you can help me out. I’ve got plenty more books- we can start another one.” I smile.
Simon nods slowly, closing the book carefully, keeping a hand on the cover.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” I give Simon a thumbs down, which he returns with a quiet whir of his xenonite arm.
“I gotta get back to Rocky… I’ve let him sleep alone wayyyy too long.”
“Right, alright. G’night, Starman.”
“Ha’ I like that one!” I laugh on my way out of the lab. “There’s a staaaaaarMAAAAAAN waiting in the skyyyyy!”
Kinda a short one tonight, gang I do apologize... This idea just sorta popped into my head on a whim earlier so it’s not as fleshed out as my other stuff.
BIG fan of the sibling dynamic of these two, and I had to write it out. EHHEHEHEHEHEE ENJOY ENJOY
🚨 TW: mentions of alcohol/being tipsy. Not to an absurd degree, but be aware!
Lee!Grace Ler!Stratt
Grace is bored, and just a little bit tipsy. Instead of going to sleep or doing ANYTHING else, he decides to bother Stratt to entertain himself. She’s thrilled…
“Stratt.”
I nodded in greeting, pushing my way into her office, and flopping down on one of the chairs.
“Dr. Grace.” Stratt nods back, typing away at her desk.
“Im bored.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that, Dr. Would you like for me to find some more work for you to do?” Stratt’s tone was flat, and she didn’t look up from her laptop.
There was next to nothing to do on Stratt’s Vat after hours. Once the labs closed for the night, it was either drinking and shouting in the lounge, or bedtime.
I spent a little while in the lounge already tonight, but nothing particularly interesting was going on, and I had already reached my two drink limit, so here I am. Bothering the only other person I knew would be awake at this hour, and not getting wasted.
“Oops, sorry…sorry about that…” I mutter as I knock a book from the shelf in attempt to pick out another one.
Stratt sighs at her desk.
“Trigonometry… wow. Tough stuff.”
“You are an expert in physics, molecular biology, and astronomy.”
“Yeah, but trig is still… pretty tough stuff…” I slide the book back into place, but jostle the others in the process, creating a domino effect down the row. I manage to catch it before everything falls over, standing like an idiot, arms outstretched to full wingspan, holding the books together on the shelf.
“Is there something I can help you with, Dr. Grace? Or are you just planning on knocking down and rearranging everything on my shelves and making noise while I try to get world-saving work done?” Stratt’s tone snapped, slamming her laptop close and meeting me with a cold gaze.
“…you didn’t save what you were working on.” I mutter, pointing to her computer. She groans, opening it back up again, grumbling something in German under her breath. Probably something about how cool I am, I’m sure.
“No one else is awake-“
“The majority of the crew is awake, and in the lounge.”
“-Hold on! Lemme finish! I was gonna say, no one else is awake and not blackout drunk, or halfway there. I don’t feel like being in that scene.”
“You drink.”
“Yeah, okay, but like… occasionally- like one drink every once in a blue moon. I literally watched Ilyukhina drink an entire Grey Goose by herself in two hours.” I say, controlling the slight slurring of my speech while I righting the books on the shelf.
I back away slowly, making sure everything is stable, before taking my seat back on the chair.
“Well if you do not feel like being in the lounge, there is a small library and an adjacent computer lab on level two, port side.” Stratt suggests.
“Why can’t I just hang out with you?!” I slouch in my seat, rolling my head back, and spinning the chair in a circle with my legs out in front of me.
“Because, Dr. Grace, I’m busy.”
“You hate me.”
“That is not true.”
“No, I think you do.”
I sigh dramatically, continuing to spin around and around. I know I’m probably being excruciatingly annoying, but I don’t care.
“You’ll make yourself sick spinning like that.”
“So you do care about me!”
“I care about you not throwing up in my office.”
I sigh, skidding to a stop on my heels. I stand up, meandering over to Stratt’s desk.
She looks up at me without raising her head - a sort of Kubrick stare, as I lean over the front of her desk, peering at her computer from above.
“Whaddya doing, anyway?” My beanie slides off my head, onto her keyboard.
“You smell like vodka.”
“I had a half a glass, leave me alone.” I had two glasses… “You ignored my question.”
“So you’re drunk and you thought bothering me was better than staying in the lounge.”
“I’m not drunk!” I giggle like a fool, still leaning over the desk.
“Lightweight. No wonder you are here pestering me like a little brother. I am trying to finalize plans for the launch site pad-“
“Holy crap is that you?!” I blurt, cutting her off, distracted by a framed photo on Stratt’s desk that appeared to depict a young, teenaged Stratt standing in the front of a group of other kids, all wearing Jiu Jitsu gis.
I pick up the photo before Stratt has the chance to take it off the desk.
“No way! You know Martial arts?!”
“Yes, Judo and Jiu Jitsu, does that shock you, Dr. Grace?”
“Not in the slightest. If you told me you were an army ranger and a Kung fu master as a side job, I’d believe you.” I chuckle.
“Look how tiny you were!” I coo, pointing at the young redheaded girl in the photograph.
“Put that down, please.”
“Can you still fight?”
“If I had to, I could.”
“Who’d win, me or you?” I ask with completely unfounded confidence, setting the photo down.
Stratt looks up at me with a flicker of fire in her eyes.
“I would. You aren’t a fighter.”
“Oh come on, I’ve got a fighting chance!” I shrug. I sure did not.
Stratt stands up, closing her computer again, without saving, and comes around the other side of the desk.
“Then let’s see.” She gestures to the empty area of carpet behind me. I turn to it, then back to her.
“Wh- here? Now?”
“Yes. You’ve possed me off and now I’d like to prove you wrong. Lets go, grappling stance.” She shrugs off her cardigan, and gestures for me to assume position.
“What’s that mean?!” I put myself into a sort of movie ninja defense pose, admittedly a bit nervous.
She shakes her head, lowering herself into something of a crouched position, and gestures for me to follow suit. I do, to the best of my ability.
“It’d be smart if you took your glasses off.” She warns.
“What? AaAAH-!” She doesn’t even give me a chance.
Stratt runs at me in a few, long, calculated steps. She grabs my left arm, slinging it over her shoulder, her head under my arm.
She drops to one knee, and in a powerful yank, flips me over her back, straight into the carpet with a thump.
I wheeze, the wind momentarily knocked out of me as I lay there in shock.
“Good Lord-!” I cough out, one hand on my chest. My other arm still in Stratt’s grasp.
“You almost killed me!”
“I flipped you from a low point, you’ll be fine. I could have flipped you standing up.”
I groan, as Stratt stands up, dusting off her pants.
I take the opportunity to grab her by the shin, attempting to… flip her somehow..? Knock her down..? I’m not too clear on the objective, but it didn’t work.
She kicked free of my grip, grabbed my arm, and spun me onto my stomach, bending my arm behind my back, a leg swung over me to keep me down.
“OooowwWWWWW OW OW, OKAY!”
“Do you tap?” She droned.
“NO- nnNNEVER!” Now was not the time to be stubborn, Ryland.
I used my free arm to try and inch forward on the ground, desperate to wriggle free without giving up.
“AAAAHAHA! ThaHAT IS NOT FAIR!”
I shout as Stratt pinches me under the arm, sending my arm straight back to my side.
“It does not matter, this isn’t a teal match.” She says, pinching all the way down my side.
I sputter and snicker, kicking my legs behind me.
“IT IHIHIS A MATCH!! A-AHAHA!!”
“No, it is more like sparring with a stuffed animal.”
“RUHUHUDE-! AH AH AH! N-NOT THERE NOT THEHEHERE!” I gasp frantically, back arching off of the floor as Stratt drives a knuckle into the muscle of my low back. I let out a sort of raspy, out of breath cackle with the little air I have left.
“My god you are ticklish like a child. Your back? Seriously?” Stratt groans.
“I CAN’T HELP IT, I- AHAHA OW!! LET MY ARM GOHOHO IM LOSING CIRCULATION.”
“No you’re not, I’m not cutting off blood flow.” She scoffs, not letting up at all.
“AAAAAAAAAH IM DYING.”
“Tap out.”
“OKAY OKAHAHAAY I’LL SAY IT. LEMME TAHAHALK!”
Stratt pauses, lifting her hand from my back, giving me a chance to speak.
I take a moment to catch my breath…
“…You forgot to save your document again.” I mutter into the carpet.
Stratt growls in annoyance, shifting her hand to squeeze my hip. Hard.
“AAAAAAAHAHAHA IM SOHOHORRY!! IM SORRY PLEASE! YOU WIHIHIN! OW, WOMAN! MY AHAHARM!”
“I don’t win until you tap out.” She moved up to the back of my shoulder, where it meets the curve of my neck, vibrating her fingers into the flesh through the thick yarn of my sweater.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! ALRIHIHIGHT I TAP. I TAP.” I slam the ground with my free hand feverishly, and as promised, Stratt let go of me, sitting back, with a leg still swung over me.
“You don’t have to scream so loud, I’m not hurting you.”
“You were!”
I heaved for breath, turning my head on the ground, facing the door just as it opens.
“Everything alright in here? Heard… screaming…”
“Carl…” I wheeze.
“We are fine.”
“Get her offa me Carl…”
“He challenged me to a spar and I proved to him I can beat him.”
“She tried to kill me…”
“Oh hush, you.” Stratt drove two fingers into either of my sides.
“AaaAAH! I TAPPED. I tahahapped! Stohohop that!”
Carl chuckles, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“I’m not helping you with this. You picked this fight. I know my place.” He said.
“I could beat you if I wasn’t drunk.” I mutter into the floor.
“He’s drunk?” Carl mused.
“On ‘half a vidka’ apparently.”
“Okaaay it was twoooouh…”
“That’s all it took? Lightweight.” Carl snorts.
Stratt pushes herself up, using my back as leverage, probably just to stick it to me. I wheeze, rolling into my back as Stratt stands up.
She reaches a hand out to help me up.
“No, you’re gonna rip my arm off.” I mumble, pushing myself up with some effort. “Devil woman…” I mutter.
“What’s that?” Stratt shoots me a look.
“I’d like to apologize…” I squeak out, flinching before fully standing myself up.
I wobble a bit on my feet, standing disheveled with my sweater rumpled, one pant leg hiked up my shin, hair a mess, and glasses hanging by my chin.
Stratt tosses me my hat from her desk. It hits me in the chest and I don’t react.
“Yeesh… Carl, walk him back to his bunk please, I think he’s done for the night.”
Carl nods, waving me over. “Come on. Go sleep off those two vodkas.” He says.
I nod sheepishly, shuffling off.
“Rematch when I’m at 100%?” I murmur as I walk to the door.
A Taste of Human Connection || The Amazing Digital Circus Tickle Fic ||
A/N: behold! my christmas gift to you all! lee Caine for the win!!! let's all just pretend ep 7 never happened ok 🥲
Summary: Caine is unfamiliar with what it actually means to be a friend, so the Circus crew take it upon themselves to show him
Word count: 4,015
---
Artificial intelligence was a curious thing. Embedded in a computer was millions of years worth of information and the capability to logistically reason far beyond the average human being.
And yet, despite all of this remarkable knowledge, there was one thing that it could not replicate, at least not naturally: human connection.
Sure, it could try, and Caine sure as heck tried, but it could never compare to the real thing.
That had to be what was keeping him from connecting with his guests.
Time and time again, Caine would spend hours concocting a brilliant yet simple, detailed yet understated, exciting yet not frightening adventure for his players to embark on, and each and every time he was met with an unhappy audience. Days and days of moans, groans, and the occasional middle finger from Zooble.
What was it they wanted? What was he doing wrong? He had been programmed specifically to entertain, but what good was all of that training if he couldn't even keep six humans happy?
There must have been a variable he wasn't accounting for. Some missing piece to this puzzle.
This human connection thing might just hold the answer!
He only needed to blend in amongst the humans to observe their mannerisms, and he knew just when to do so.
It was a relaxed morning in the Circus. The crew sat around the lounge, waiting for the day's adventure to begin. While they waited, they mingled pleasantly about anything and also nothing at all.
Gangle was experiencing a troubling case of art block and was taking suggestions for things to draw.
Zooble was attempting to coach Ragatha on how to draw hands, as they had always been a thorn in her side. She had been taking art lessons with Zooble for weeks now and was starting to get the hang of it, if not for the stupid hands!
Meanwhile, Pomni and Jax were straining themselves trying to teach Kinger the rules of Blackjack, with little success. The few rules that stuck in Kinger's short-term memory were quickly sabotaged by Jax's constant goading. It was hard enough for Pomni to summon enough patience to combat Kinger's severe lapse of attention without also having to deal with Jax's whole... deal.
As quick as a flash, suddenly Caine had appeared, startling the rest of the crew.
The only reason Caine ever appeared was to present a new adventure, so they assumed that that was what he was here to announce.
Which is why it stunned them to silence when he gently floated to take a seat on the couch and sat there, not saying a word.
It was unsettling, even for Caine.
Sensing the unanimous discomfort in the room, Pomni cleared her throat. "Doooo you have an adventure for us today?"
"Not today, my spelunking snow shovels" Caine said. "I have decided to make today a "Do Whatever You Want" Day, where you can do anything you want, like spend time engaging in relaxing activities that showcase your comradery and trust! HAHAHAHA!"
He laughed loudly before breaking off into silence again.
The crew looked at each other in confusion.
Zooble was the first to speak. "So... why are you here?"
"Zooble!" Ragatha hissed. She laughed good-naturedly at Caine to try and distract from Zooble's pointed question. "I think what they mean is... well, you've never really just... hung out with us before."
"I know. It is a shame I hadn't thought of it sooner, but I intend to change that, starting today!" Caine explained. "For the rest of the day, I am just one of you guys. Think of me as a dependable friend rather than a almighty caretaker."
As Caine spoke, his eyes began to twinkle with excitement, and his eyelashes batted like a princess wooing a prince.
To his displeasure, the group remained silent.
Pomni squinted. "And this is because-?"
"ALRIGHT FINE, YOU'VE CRACKED ME!" Caine exploded sorrowfully. "I don't what it is that can make you people happy. I thought surely some friendly connection would help bridge the gap between us, but I don't have the first idea on how to do that. I may know how to entertain as a performer-"
"You really don't-" Jax jabbed.
"-but all of the programming in the world cannot accurately simulate the bonds you humans have with each other. I need to get to the bottom of this, and I thought some hands-on experience would be the best way to learn how."
"So you're doing this... to try and connect with us?" Zooble asked carefully. They didn't want to accidentally set Caine off. You never know how that might turn out.
Caine threw his hands up with emphasis. "Of course! It is my intention for all of my guests to be happy here. And... maybe..." he trailed off, nervously tapping his fingers together, "to enjoy my company... AHEM as I was programmed to do and is my job! Not because I'm lonely! Why would I even have brought that up?"
Whatever reservations the players had were hard to maintain at this pitiful sight. Throughout their time with Caine, they'd never seen him this... vulnerable before. He was like a child, clueless but eager to make friends, without any idea on how to do that. Sure, he was also the one making their lives a living hell, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Some might say the problem was that he tried a little too much.
Maybe warming up to their ringmaster wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. In a place like this, you had to take what friends you could get.
Pomni smiled at Caine and pat the seat next to her. "Come sit over here, you wanna play the next round of Blackjack?"
"REALLY?" Caine squealed, before quickly covering it with a cough. "I mean- yes, I would."
---
It had started a little awkwardly at first, but as the hours passed, the tension settled and everyone began to relax. Even Jax, who, after witnessing the epic fumbles of the socially inept ringmaster, teased in a much lighter tone than his usual cutting wit. Even Zooble had to admit, Caine wasn't so annoying when he wasn't overstepping their boundaries.
It surprised them all (Caine included) when Jax managed to beat Caine at Blackjack.
How a meager human mind was able to outwit an incredibly advanced, intelligent computer was beyond Caine.
"What?" Zooble laughed, elbowing the rabbit. "No way, you must have cheated."
"Zooble." Jax gasped dramatically. "Do you really think so little of me? I am a lot of things, and a cheater is definitely one of them, but I am also a master at cards. You gotta know how to read the person in front of you, get in their head, predict what they're gonna do next."
Those were all the things Caine was trying to do. "Fascinating!" he said in awe. It seemed there was more he could learn from this hangout than he thought!
Jax laughed and gave him hearty clap on the back. "You'll get it, Teeth."
"Yes! I think I did it!" a voice cheered.
It was Ragatha, proudly holding a paper out to Zooble. "How does this one look?"
Zooble took the drawing in their hands and smiled (metaphorically, anyway) at their friend's work. Her practice had paid off, and her hand drawings looked better than ever.
"Nice! This one's really good" they said brightly, making Ragatha blush a little.
"You think so?"
"Definitely."
Gangle peeked over Zooble's shoulder to get a look and nodded approvingly at the doll.
Ragatha grinned. "Well, I had a good teacher."
Zooble smiled and raised a fist to their student. Ragatha met their fist with their own and together their hands danced in a synchronized flurry of movement. A fist bump and a slap and a twist and a pull; it was all so intriguing to Caine.
He knew what handshakes were, of course. On paper. But seeing it with his own eyes was something else entirely.
This was what human friendship was built on! Inside jokes, playful banter, secret handshakes- he had to learn it.
"Say, how's about you teach me that little trick you guys just did?" Caine suggested nonchalantly, as if he wasn't vibrating with excitement at the opportunity to fit in.
The little moment between the two friends was so natural and fluid that it took them a couple moments to even realize what he was talking about.
Ragatha blinked at him. "Oh! You mean the handshake? Uhhh sure! Come over here."
Zooble had started to scoot over a little so that Caine would have somewhere to sit, but they didn't get far before Caine plopped himself practically in their lap.
"Okay- Caine!" they grouched, giving Caine a disgruntled shove before shifting over.
If Caine noticed their annoyance, he did not acknowledge it.
From the opposite couch, Pomni choked on a laugh. It was so unusual to see Caine down here amongst the crew acting like just another lost soul. Not someone above their heads or out of reach, not a puppeteer pulling on their strings and making them dance, just... someone like them. It was nice.
Somehow the past three hours had done more to teach Pomni about Caine than the sum of her time here had.
She didn't know how easily competitive he could become. For a being created to invent games, he sure was dogged about winning them. It made him a very fun opponent, especially when the object of the game was harder to understand than just ones and zeros (I'm Going On A Picnic almost crashed Caine's system; Pomni had never seen him look so utterly confused and frustrated).
She didn't know that he had such a fascination for bees. At Gangle's suggestion, Caine drew something "that sparked joy in him". The other six weren't sure what they were going to see when he was finished. What sparked joy in a robot? No one voiced it, but some (namely Zooble and Ragatha) worried that it might be a gruesome and horrifying depiction of senseless bloodshed and misery. They were all pleasantly surprised to find that the only thing sitting on Caine's piece of paper was a bumblebee wearing with a handlebar mustache and a monocle.
She didn't know that he could really laugh. Well, not forcefully anyway. There were moments when one of Jax's quips would hit just right, or Ragatha's impressions would tickle just the right way, and the AI would be caught off guard, it seemed. He would give a little laugh, just a little chuckle. It had captured Pomni's attention as soon as she heard it, resulting in her tuning out all other noise like she were listening for a hushed secret. It was shockingly human. Bright and jolly and relaxed. Relaxed was a good look on Caine, one that Pomni hoped they would all get to enjoy more often.
Caine was now sitting patiently in front of Ragatha with an eagerness not unlike a child waiting to be told a story. The sight of which brought a smile to her face that she tried to hide, not wanting to ruffle his feathers.
"Okay," Ragatha started, "so what you're going to do first is hold out your fist like this."
She demonstrated for him what she meant.
Caine mirrored.
"Now I'm gonna put my fist to yours."
He nodded.
"Now you're gonna turn your fist to the right... the other right."
"Oh." Caine said, adjusting accordingly.
"Now pull your fist back, and I'll pull mine, and then we'll bump them back together."
"Dude, I don't think Caine's ready for a handshake as long as ours. This could take a half-hour."
They did have a point, Ragatha admitted.
Gangle spoke up. "Maybe try a shorter one first."
A shorter handshake. What were some of the shortest that she knew? Some that were easy to teach?
The answer hit her like lightning. If Caine wanted to experience human friendship, then what better way than this to initiate him?
Unbeknownst to Ragatha, Jax noticed the slight jump of her eyebrows and the smirk she tried to suppress. It was a look she only got when she let her mischievous side take over. Whatever plot that stuck-up drama queen had cooking in her head to make her look like that had to be worth watching.
Ragatha straightened herself. "Okay Caine, let's try this one instead."
"Whatever you say, teach'!" he replied.
Ragatha raised both of her hands above her head. "Up high!"
Oh, Caine thought. He was familiar with this one. He could learn this easy-peasy.
He slapped his hands to meet hers.
Ragatha then swooped her hands down over her lap. "Down low!"
He slapped faster this time, getting the tempo.
But then she threw a curveball.
She held her hands horizontally in front of her, palms facing inward, and meeting at the tips. It looked like she was making a set of gates with her velvety hands.
Caine glanced up at her for an elaboration.
"Slice the pickle!" was all she said.
Looking back down curiously at her hand-gates (the pickle apparently), Caine slowly karate-chopped his hand in order to split them.
Whatever Caine thought was going to happen next was not this.
As soon as her hands were divided, they latched onto both of Caine's sides and wiggled their four digits.
"Tickle, tickle!" Ragatha sang.
The sudden touch made Caine leap out of his seat with a half-laugh-half-shout. His torso still buzzed from where she tickled him.
The other players burst into laughter, delighted at such a human-like reaction from their ringmaster.
It only heightened the embarrassment Caine felt.
"Sh-Shut up! It's not funny! That wasn't even a handshake, that was... a childish prank!" Caine shouted indignantly.
Ragatha wiped a tear from her eye. "It is a handshake" she laughed, "it's just a very silly one."
Pomni could certainly relate to being at the end of that handshake when she was in school, or any other playful rib at her expense. At first, it felt as though she was being made fun of. But she soon came to realize that her friends were laughing with her, not at her. It might be a good idea to let Caine know this too.
"Don't worry, Caine, you're not the only one to fall for that trick" Pomni said. "It's all in good fun."
Kinger piped up. "Yeah! I do it to Gangle all the time."
"Say what now?" Jax's eyes darkened.
"What he means is," Zooble cut in, looking sharply at the rabbit, "it's a thing amongst friends. You get used to it."
Friends? Had Caine heard that right? Was he finally embedded into the friend group? Was this human connection thing right under his nose all along?
Caine was so overjoyed he could barely contain his fresh enthusiasm. So much so even that he forgot any and all sour feelings toward the tickle ambush.
He floated back down to his seat. "Of course it's a friend thing, Zooble! We are friends, after all."
Zooble squinted. "That's... what I just said-"
"I'm just glad no one here got hit in the face," Ragatha said to Caine. "I know how ticklish you can be, given the keyboard incident."
Caine froze, his body ramrod straight. He remembered that day quite well, but he didn't think that they would. Human minds were so rudimentary, like a goldfish's. He didn't know what had happened that day. Surely it wasn't what the humans thought that it was, the impossible. That memory had never quite sat right with him ever since.
His eyes shifted around nervously, refusing to look at anyone in the room directly.
"I told you all before: I am not ticklish. That was..." He paused, struggling to think of a quick excuse. "... an error in my program. One I have fixed. Nothing more."
Jax grinned, sly as a fox. "Oh yeah? Then why'd you freak out just now?"
Caine did not bother to grace that line of questioning with a response. "I am not capable of experiencing human sensation in the way that you all do. It's completely impossible." He pouted, shutting his teeth.
"Maybe not like us," Pomni thought out slowly, "but that doesn't mean it can't happen."
Could that be true? Caine thought.
Next to him, Ragatha rubbed her hands together menacingly.
"What's say we give Caine here a taste of human connection?" she grinned.
"That's what she said" Jax added, before a swift punch to the arm from Pomni made him pipe down.
Caine looked around at this group of sudden affectionate antagonists. Whatever he was about to say next would either save his skin or seal his fate.
"Uh, wouldn't you rather we play Jenga instead?" Caine squeaked. A pitiful attempt.
His plea wasn't even acknowledged, the answer so blatantly obvious that it didn't even need verbalizing.
The first attacker was Zooble, launching themself behind him on order to grip onto his shoulders and prevent Caine from flying away. Though he could see little of them from craning his head around, he did glimpse a look that definitely communicated "oh you're about to get f*&$%".
With their victim now trapped, next was the actual offence. Pomni took a hesitant seat in front of Caine and moved forward to dig her digits into his suit.
The quickly-building dread inside Caine had only made the inevitable sensation more shocking. He gave a great big shriek as his so-called friends raised their eyebrows in delighted surprise.
Jax didn't waste a second to dive right into the mockery. "What was that about not being ticklish, Caine?"
The remark fell upon deaf ears, as Caine could only focus on trying to overcome this tingly feeling through sheer mental focus. He was in total control of everything in this Circus, surely that included his own form.
His teehees were growing more humiliating by the minute; he had to stop being tickli- whatever this was!
Caine scrunched up his teeth, shrinking into his own body, into what looked to the others like a full-body cramp.
Pomni chuckled, still not stopping her attack. "Uhh, Caine? What are you doing?"
Through carefully controlled breaths, Caine replied. "I'm... blocking... the sensation!"
Zooble spoke up from behind. "Yeah, sorry, that's not really how it works."
"They're right, Caine. You just gotta relax and let the tickles wash over you" Ragatha added.
Caine whined. "I'm not tick- I'm nohohot- I- I-"
"Uh oh, he's stuck" Zooble said with little concern. Gangle, who had been watching this scene play out in front of her, giggled at Zooble's clear sarcasm. "Let's see here..."
They shifted their hands more towards the center of Caine's back and to where his neck would be, where they squeezed and kneaded and pinched with vigor.
Ragatha's metaphor had been completely accurate; a new wave of tingles washed over Caine as he slid down until he was completely flat on his back, giggling all the way down.
Pomni's eyes widened in awe. "This is oddly adorable."
She decided in that moment to try moving elsewhere, migrating her hands around to his sides, where she ran her fingers up and down them like spiders.
Caine was really laughing now. He had completely lost control over this situation, and his own guests had turned against him.
He twisted and folded every which way, but nothing kept Pomni's fingers away from their targets, nor Zooble's theirs.
His friends decided to give him breather, as they didn't actually want to overwhelm him, or else he might not ever let this happen again.
Caine panted as the players looked down at him.
"This... This shouldn't be possible..." he gasped.
Ragatha smiled sweetly. "It's like Pomni said. You may not be ticklish in the same way that humans are, but you are definitely feeling something. And isn't it nice? Getting a chance to laugh with your friends? Even just a little bit?"
Now the players' stares became inquisitive ones, waiting for their ringmaster's answer.
Caine couldn't say that the feeling was... unpleasant. A little flabbergasting, but not torturous. At least not in the bad way, and he didn't even want to unpack that sentence right now.
Ah, what the heck. It's not like he's got any dignity to lose at this point.
"I'm going to regret this..." he groaned.
"You heard the man" Ragatha smirked, nodding at Pomni to keep this laughter train chugging along.
Pomni nodded affirmingly, and danced her fingers over Caine's belly and kept them there, even as Caine frantically tried to pull them off.
The ringmaster once again descended into raucous laughter as he tried now to steady himself this time. He now was trying to go with it, be in the moment, take in whatever comradery this moment brought. But it was difficult to appreciate much of anything when all he could do was laugh, laugh, laugh! Each chortle passed through him like an immovable force, every twitch of his body only serving to aggravate the sensation.
Although this particular function of his programming was unfamiliar to him, it did bear a striking resemblance to another feature of his: joy. It warmed his core in the same way, brought a lightness to his head the same way, made him smile the same way, though the intensity of this was quite alarming. It might have been a little frightening had he been experiencing this alone. But he wasn't alone. Here beside him were Pomni, Ragatha, Zooble, Gangle, Jax, Kinger; all here sharing his manic bliss, and holding him steady when he needed it. If you'd ask him why, he wouldn't have a solid answer, but he trusted them. Trusted them not to take this little game too far. Trusted them to keep it a game and not a bout of torture.
The warm look in Pomni's eyes solidified that belief. These were his friends, and this was a fun thing.
A really fun thing, if Caine were honest with himself.
So he let his head roll back into Zooble's lap as he cackled himself into a stupor, not a care in his empty little head.
Until, of course, he heard Kinger's voice.
"I wonder if he's ticklish over here..."
The tone indicated an air of investigation, one that was confirmed for Caine two seconds later as he felt two gloves scratching underneath his arms.
"AEE%II#$III*@!" Caine squealed, his cry cutting out in places and distorting the sound.
The group, minus Kinger, burst into a new fit of laughter at this new revelation.
"Holy sh*%$, I think you broke him!" Jax cackled.
"Did I? Oops, sorry about that" Kinger apologized, pulling his hands away.
Pomni and Zooble also took this moment to let him go, because while they were fully aware Jax's comment was not a serious one, they'd rather not risk actually breaking Caine.
Speaking of, Caine hadn't seemed to notice the tickling had stopped. He wriggled and tossed this way and that, laughing hysterically to himself still.
Zooble and Gangle exchanged a confused look. "Uhhh, Caine?" Zooble said.
"Huh?" Caine paused, looking around to find that he was no longer surrounded, and was in fact, free.
In a blink, he materialized floating above his seat, looking good as new, as if the last fifteen minutes hadn't even happened.
"Well, that sure was a good laugh!" he said, elongating the words in time with his stretch. "I hope you all had fun, because this is never happening again."
Yeah, right.
Luckily, Caine wasn't as much of a sealed fortress as he believed himself to be, and the Circus guests saw right through his bluff immediately.
Their next lesson in friendship would have to be being honest with one's feelings.
But that could wait for another day.
"All that laughing scramble your brain too much, or are you down to lose to me in Blackjack again?" Jax taunted.
Caine shook his head amusedly. "Ohoho Jax, Jax, Jax. Victory will be mine."
Zooble elbowed Pomni. "How much you wanna bet Caine wins?"
"Oh, not a chance" Pomni replies.
---
how can anyone hate him. he's just a little stupid.
Summary: All of Bachira's friends are getting their tickly revenge on him one by one, but they're also being awfully secretive about something. Bachira is determined to find out what it is, and only one person has the answer - Isagi.
A/N: I've wanted to write an "everybody gets revenge on Bachira" fic for a while, but I didn't want it to be the standard "ganging up on him" style. It was important to me that they come at him one at a time, building confusion and anticipation, so I finally sat down to grind it out, and it worked out beautifully that I could also make it a holiday story. I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays! 💖
Word Count: 3530
~~~
It was December 20. AKA, the last day in Blue Lock before they were released for the holidays, and Bachira was feeling…well, kind of down, if he was honest.
It wasn’t that he would miss Isagi – they’d already arranged a couple of meetups during their time off, so that was handled. And it wasn’t that he wasn’t looking forward to hanging out with his mom again. He loved her to death and was excited to exchange gifts with her, never minding that he still had to actually go out and buy them since he’d been stuck in Blue Lock during the holiday shopping period. It was just…something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the thought of being allowed to leave tomorrow made him kind of sad.
It wasn’t until he bumped into Raichi of all people that he understood what was bothering him.
“Oi, watch where you’re going,” the blonde spat automatically, then did a double take when he saw the smaller boy. “Yo, what’s wrong with you? You look like you’re about to cry. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Liar.” Raichi crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe, not allowing the bobcut boy to pass by him into the next room. “What’s up?”
Bachira was more surprised by his friend’s insistence than anything. Raichi was one of the last people he’d have thought would care if something was bothering him.
“Nothing, I’m fine. Just bummed to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow.”
“You know we’re back in two weeks, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“You sure that’s what’s really up?” Raichi twisted his head to crack his neck, and suddenly Bachira felt like he was in imminent danger. “It has nothing to do with anything else?”
Bachira took a hesitant step back. “I don’t know what you’re—”
Suddenly the blonde had him by the wrist, yanking him into a bear hug that would have shocked the smaller boy a lot more if the reason for said “hug” wasn’t immediately clear.
“Gah! Ahahahaha, wahahahahahait, no!” Bachira squealed, gripping Raichi’s Blue Lock-issued sweater and snickering into his chest as the taller boy’s fingers squeezed up and down his sides. “Whahahahahat are you dohohohohoing?”
“The hell do you think I’m doing? I’m getting you back for all those times you snuck up on me,” Raichi grumbled good-naturedly, hands briefly drifting down to his hips before flying back up to his ribs instead. “Ah fuck, can’t have Isagi thinking I’m hitting on you.”
“Lihihihihihihike he’d be wohohohohohorried about you!” Bachria giggled without thinking, his playful instincts taking over the more his friend tickled him.
Raichi scoffed. “What, you don’t think I’d be good boyfriend material?” He grasped the other boy’s ribs firmly and begun to dig and knead with precision, causing Bachira to arch and shriek with giggles.
“Ahahahahahaha! Nohohohohohohot my type! Ehehehehehehehehe!”
“Oh, is that so?” Raichi teased, dropping back down to his waist and squeezing his hips. When the smaller boy tossed his head back and squealed with laughter, the blonde chuckled and said, “There’s that smile. My work here is done.” Then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over, and Raichi was giving Bachira a playful shove before continuing the way he’d been going when they bumped into each other. “Seriously, though, watch where you’re going!”
Bachira leaned against the doorframe, still grinning and letting out soft giggles as he caught his breath, his mind whirring. He shook his head in confusion. What had that been about?
But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t complain, not when someone other than Isagi had finally been willing to mess with him a little. He felt several pounds lighter when he finally regained his bearings and continued on his own way.
~
“Hey, Bachira,” Chigiri called when he entered the redhead’s room.. “I’m glad I got to see you before tomorrow. I have something for you.”
“For me? But it’s your birthday in a couple of days. I was coming to give you your gift.”
The blush on Chigiri’s cheeks told the other boy that he already had an idea of what that “gift” might be. Still, he shook his head and got to his feet, waving him over, kneeling as though to reach under the bed. “I insist. Come on over here, I know I put it somewhere…”
None the wiser, Bachira strolled over to stand at his side, unaware of the trap he’d walked into until it was too late.
In a flash, Chigiri shot to his feet, grabbed Bachira’s shoulders, and shoved him down onto the bed, grinning triumphantly.
“Oh! M-My, missy, I’m flattered, but I already have a bohohohohohoyfriend! Ahahahahahaha, whahahahahahat?!” Bachira laughed when Chigiri plunged his fingers into his upper ribs, only centimeters from the prize he’d clearly been going for before Bachira clamped his arms down instinctively.
Despite being thwarted, the redhead laughed along with him and quickly moved to straddle his waist to keep him pinned. “This is what you get for all those times you tickled the crap out of me for no reason!”
“It wahahahahahasn’t for nohohohohoho reheheheheheason!” Bachira protested, only squirming a little as he took his punishment. “I lihihihihihike seeheheheheheheheeing you smihihihihihile!”
“Tch. Now who needs the boyfriend reminder? Are you flirting with me?”
“Nehehehehehehehehever! Nahahahahahahahagi would kihihihihihihill me!”
Chigiri laughed, taking one of his arms and trying to pry it open so he could get to the good spot. “What about Isagi?”
“He’d understahahahahand – AH! Nohohohohohohohoho, Chihihihihihihigiri!” Bachira tossed his head back and absolutely cackled when the redhead at last managed to scribble into his armpit, his free arm flailing desperately. “Nohohohohohohohot thehehehehehehehehere! It tihihihihihihihihickles!”
“Does it?” Chigiri taunted, grinning, using the same exact tone of voice Bachira had used on him several times before. “I couldn’t tell~”
It was a few more minutes before the redhead finally let him go, and several more after Bachira had stumbled out of his room before he realized he’d never given Chigiri his own tickly sendoff.
Oh, well. It had been worth it!
~
“Oh, hey, Reo. Have you seen Isagi? I can’t find him anywhere.”
It was a while later, and Bachira had been up and down every hall of Blue Lock, searching for his boyfriend. He had no idea where he could have gone, or how he could have looked almost everywhere and not found him yet, but it was possible his boyfriend was looking for him too and they kept walking circles around each other.
To Bachira’s surprise, Reo looked startled upon seeing him, eyes darting around as though searching for an escape. But before he could open his mouth to ask why, he’d been shoved up against the wall with tickling fingers in his belly.
“Ah! Whahahahahahat, you toohohohohohohoo? Whahahahahahat is hahahahahahappening today?!” Bachira cried, giggling helplessly and curling up despite himself, though inside his heart was soaring. He hadn’t been tickled by anyone but Isagi in so long, he’d forgotten how fun it was when someone new was playing with him, finding his spots for the first time.
Reo smirked. “I take it I’m not the first, then. Who else has gotten you already?”
“Rahahahahahaichi and Chihihihihihigiri,” Bachira replied, squealing when Reo darted around to scribble at his spine. He halfheartedly shoved at the purple-haired boy’s shoulders.
“Raichi got to you before me? Damn. I gotta be faster than that.”
“Is thehehehehehehehere a muhuhuhuhuhutiny or sohohohohohomething? Why is eheheheheveryone after mehehehehehehe?”
“Oh, you don’t know?” Reo’s smirk turned evil. “At least I have that going for me. Consider this payback for always tickling me!”
Bachira was so confused, but he was beginning to detect a pattern. Everyone who had gotten him so far was someone he’d tickled multiple times in the past but never been able to provoke into fighting back. Well, except Raichi, but again – it had been a while. Had they been scheming together, waiting for the same day to gang up on him? The thought made him incredibly happy.
Finally Reo let him go, ruffling his hair playfully. “Heh, all right, I think that’s sufficient. You good?”
“Y-Yeah,” Bachira giggled, more breathless with every random tickle attack he endured today.
Reo jabbed a finger over his shoulder. “I just saw Isagi heading to the showers. He’ll probably head back to your place when he’s done.”
Their place. Even though they technically shared a room with others in Blue Lock, Bachira thought it sounded nice for them to be lumped together like that, as if it was a given that they shared the same space.
“Thanks, Re-Re,” the smaller boy replied, just barely holding himself back from elaborating on the double meaning of his gratitude.
Reo seemed to get it anyway. He smirked, saluted, and went on his way.
~
When he felt a weight settle on his legs, Bachira stirred from his impromptu nap and hummed contentedly. Without opening his eyes, he murmured, “Hey, Yocihi~”
“Yoichi?” a voice that was decidedly not Isagi’s replied, and Bachira’s eyes snapped open. He’d assumed his boyfriend was the one who was sitting on him since they were in “their room,” and none of their roommates were that familiar with him.
But instead of black hair, he saw white, and instead of blue eyes, intent gray ones.
“Nagi?” he stammered, genuinely surprised, though his heart began to race in anticipation anyway. He had a feeling he knew what was coming by now. “W-What…what are you doing in here?”
“What do you think?” Nagi replied, leaning back with ease to scribble at Bachira’s bare feet.
Bachira whined briefly, then dissolved into giggles, gripping the bedsheets beside him to ground himself. “Et tu, Bruhuhuhuhuhute?”
“Like you don’t deserve it,” Nagi said with a smile, keeping his touch blessedly light compared to those who had come before him. “Besides, I think you’ve always wanted me to get you back one day. Haven’t you?”
He couldn’t deny it, so instead the bobcut boy nodded through his snickering, unconsciously crossing his feet one over the other again and again, trying to evade the tickly fingers sending playfully unbearable sensations up his spine.
“You should know,” the white-haired boy continued, grabbing onto one of his big toes without even looking behind him and ruthlessly scratching at the ball of his foot with one finger, “the only reason I haven’t done this yet is because I’m lazy, not because I didn’t want to.”
“It’s okahahahahahahay,” Bachira managed through his helpless giggling, beginning to squirm at the more intense tickles. “I knehehehehew you’d cohohohohome around!”
“Well, when Isagi talked to me, I figured it would make a decent Christmas gift, since I won’t see you over the holidays.”
Isagi? “He tahahahahahahalked to you? About whahahahahahat?”
Nagi’s eyes widened. “Oh. I thought you knew by now. Well, you’re not getting anything out of me today.” Then he rapidly switched tactics and squeezed his knees, scribbling all over them and earning more squealing giggles. “It’s my turn to make you surrender.”
~
When Yukimiya poked his head into the room a while later, Bachira took one look at him and curled up defensively, grinning wide. The bespectacled boy laughed. “The jig is up, huh? What number am I?”
Bachira had already lost count, and with the taller boy approaching him with teasing wiggling fingers, all coherent thought flew out of his head. He was giggling before Yuki even reached him. “I dohohohohon’t know – fihihihihihive or six?”
“How’s your stamina?”
The younger boy was grateful he’d been asked. “F-Fine…just not too rough, yeah?”
Yuki grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him into a more prone position, then straddled his thighs and got to work tickling Bachira’s belly and sides, drawing out happy (if a little tired) laughter. “You’re never too rough with me, so I have no reason to be rough with you. But I’m definitely going to get my share, so buckle up, buttercup!”
~
Bachira went from excited, disappointed, nervous, and relaxed all in the span of about two seconds. The boy sitting on the field stretching was Rin, not Isagi, but Bachira had no fear walking up to him to ask after his boyfriend. It was unfathomable to him that after asking after him for half a day at this point, he still didn’t know where he was.
Unless Isagi was avoiding him.
Bachira shook his head. It was a coincidence, he was sure. Especially since at least two of his assailants had seen and spoken to him today at some point. There was a conspiracy going on, but he didn’t mind it. If anything he was wired, jumpier than usual, eager to see who would come after him next.
But Rin wouldn’t tickle him, not being the biggest fan of it himself, and so Bachira strolled right up to him and asked, “Hey, Rin-Rin, have you seen my boyfriend?”
Rin tensed for a moment, then his shoulders relaxed as he turned and glanced up at him. “You just missed him. He was in here asking if I’d seen you.”
“Really? Did he say where he was going?” Bachira asked, eager to finally be close to catching up.
“Think he was headed back to yours.”
“Ah! I just left from there. Okay – thanks, Rin!”
Bachira turned to leave him be, assuming that’s what he wanted, but at the last second he registered the muttered, “Sure, that’s all I’m good for. Getting you back with your boyfriend.” And he stopped, turning back in surprise.
Rin was already stretching again, seemingly unbothered, but his words hurt the smaller boy, and he sauntered back over, plopping down next to him in the grass.
Rin side-eyed him. “What are you doing?”
“Can I stretch with you?” Bachira asked, already crossing his legs and lifting his arms above his head, joining in the routine he remembered from his days on Rin’s team.
“What about Isagi?”
“We’ll catch up with each other soon. Right now I want to hang out with you.”
Rin was silent for a long moment, but finally rolled his eyes and went back to his routine. “You’re still so weird, bobcut.”
Bachira took that as acceptance, and soon the two were settled into a calming wind-down routine. The smaller boy was surprised to find how much it helped him to take a few minutes to just breathe, stretch, feel his muscles working and relaxing. He let out a contented sigh.
“You seem tense,” Rin observed after several minutes of silence.
Bachira smiled. “Not really. On edge, maybe. It’s been a weird day.”
“That’s rich, coming from you. What happened?”
For the first time, Bachira hesitated. What would Rin think about everyone coming after him today? Would he think it was stupid? Would he want to join in? No, no – definitely not that last one. Still, the dribbler blushed a little and murmured, “A lot of my friends have been, um…tickling me, today.”
“Have they.” Rin’s voice was flat, uninterested. Bachira was surprisingly relaxed by the tone. Everything was normal with him, at least.
“Yeah. It’s been fun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been so random that I think my body is hyperaware of everyone else. It’s a little tiring is all. But I’ve been having fun!”
“You would.” Rin shot him a knowing look, his lips twitching in the barest hint of a smile. “You know why they’ve been doing it, right?”
Bachira glanced at him, surprised. “Most of them have said it’s overdue payback for me tickling them so much. A couple have said it’s a Christmas gift for me.”
“Sure, but Isagi’s the one who went around giving everybody permission.”
“Permission?”
Rin eased out of his stretch and leaned back, watching Bachira as he said, “Your friends haven’t been retaliating against you as much as they want to because they think that tickling is just something for you and Isagi.”
Bachira was startled. “What? No! Anyone can—”
“I know that now, but only because Isagi talked to me about it. He said you were sad because no one else was messing around with you like he does, and he realized how it probably looked to everyone, so he went around clearing it up today. That’s why everyone’s been coming after you. They’re finally off the leash.”
“Oh.” The smaller boy digested this information. It did make sense, and it would explain the couple of mentions he’d heard of Isagi interspersed with his friends being eager to tickle him like crazy throughout the day today. At this point he’d been gotten by nearly everyone. Everyone except…
Wait.
Bachira eyed Rin. “You said he talked to you, too? But you haven’t tried to tickle me.”
Rin raised a brow. “And?”
“Well…I guess I’m not surprised, but…everyone else has gotten their revenge, Rin-Rin.”
Rin’s eyes darkened with something Bachira couldn’t quite name. “You want me to tickle you, too? You’re not exhausted?”
“I mean…I’m getting there, but I’m not…totally exhausted yet.” The dribbler shifted in his seat, glancing at his friend and then away again. “It’s okay, I know it’s not your thing—”
And then he was facedown on the grass, Rin’s weight on his back, pinning him there. “You’re insatiable, you know that?” Then – without warning – the taller boy was scratching at the spot between his shoulder blades like a cat with a scratching post.
Bachira burst into the loudest laughter he’d let free all day, kicking his legs behind him uselessly and clawing at the grass. “AHAHAHAHAHAH NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!! RIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!!”
“I’ve been dying to get my revenge on you, bobcut,” Rin said over his hysterics, the hint of a smile in his voice for the first time. “But I wanted you to come to me, and I wanted your consent first. You’re always good about having mine before you attack me, you tickle psycho.”
“EHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA NOT THEHEHEHEHEHEHERE, RIN!! PLEHEHEHEASE!!”
Rin was merciless, never changing his pace, never letting up. “Anyone else got you here today?”
“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”
“Damn right. Because they don’t pay attention like I do. I know from watching you and your boyfriend screw around that this is the spot to get you really screaming.”
“RIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!!” Bachira screeched, laughing into the ground, slapping his palms on the grass, the blades tickling his palms, only adding to his playful agony. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHEHEASE, IT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!!”
“Does it, now,” Rin replied, again in that flat, toneless voice. Only this time, it was meant to drive Bachira into further distress, and it worked all too well. The taller boy kept scratching at his shoulder blades with one hand while snaking the other around to dig into his armpit, drawing a desperate scream of laughter from the smaller boy. “Gosh, this must really, really tickle, huh? Just sooooo bad. I had no idea you were this ticklish, bobcut.”
Bachira laughed so hard he went silent, wheezing and gasping for breath and pounding the grass frantically with the arm that wasn’t clamped to his side protectively. “I give,” he pleaded, voice barely audible by now. “I gihihihihihihive, plehehehehehease, Rin!”
Thankfully Rin understood he was done and stopped his assault, climbing off of him and letting him roll onto his back to gasp for air, face dark red and mirthful tears leaking from his eyes.
“Damn, bobcut, are you going to live?” Rin asked, a hint of concern in his eyes as he watched the other boy recover.
Bachira nodded weakly, giving him a tired thumbs-up. “Just…gotta…catch…my breath…”
Rin snorted, morphing it into a cough to hide his smile. “Isagi will kill me if you die, so don’t die, all right?”
“You…got it…Rin-Rin.”
~
“There you are!” Isagi exclaimed as Bachira staggered back into their room for the second time today. It was blessedly empty save for him, thank goodness. The striker smirked. “Have a good day?”
Bachira all but collapsed onto the bedroll next to him, shimmying so his head was in Isagi’s lap. “You’re my favorite person in the whole wide world, you know that?”
Isagi was grinning so hard it was a wonder his face hadn’t split open. “Uh-oh, I know this Bachira. This is tickle high Bachira. They got you good, huh?”
“So good,” the dribbler murmured, nuzzling into Isagi’s lap as his boyfriend snatched up a blanket and draped it over him.
“I bet you’re exhausted now.”
“I want to sleep for a thousand years.”
At this, Isagi finally laughed. “If you do that we won’t get to hang out over the holidays!”
“Worth it.”
Isagi ran his fingers through Bachira’s short locks. “I hope it was okay to talk to everyone. You’ve just been so bummed about no one wanting to play with you, and I felt bad because I think they thought I’d be jealous or something…”
“I love you so much, Yoichi.” Bachira titled his head up to make eye contact, smiling sleepily up at his partner. “Thank you.”
Isagi relaxed, smiling back and leaning down to kiss his cheek. “You’re welcome. I’m happy you had fun.”
“So much fun.”
“Merry Christmas, bumblebee.”
Bachira snuggled into Isagi even more and fluttered his eyes closed, his voice barely audible as he let sleep take him away. “Merry Christmas, Yoichi.”
This is a fluff/tickle fic for Wind Breaker. If either of those aren't your thing, may your journey continue onward! If you're here for them, welcome and I hope you enjoy!
“Is that even an actual thing?”
“How did it even get up there?”
Sakura, Suo and Nirei could hear the confusion before they saw the source. When they rounded the corner they found fellow Furin students gawking at a large, bright green banner with Happy Brother’s Day! hanging across the front of the school.
Sakura squinted at the fabric. “What’s Brother’s Day?”
“Umm…I’m not entirely sure,” Nirei frowned, pulling out his phone as they walked. “Let me check.”
“Umemiya-san has referred to the town as his family before,” Suo smiled. “Maybe that’s what he means?”
“Maybe!” Nirei nodded. “Apparently it’s an international holiday celebrated on May 24th. This says the holiday apparently started in America and is a day to cherish and celebrate brothers, wether biological or not.”
The thought of acknowledging someone as his brother made Sakura’s face warm.
Suo tilted his head in thought. “I don’t recall any events being planned.”
“And I didn’t get any messages about it this morning,” Nirei added, scrolling through his contacts. “Maybe we’ll find out inside?”
“TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY!”
The members of Bofurin cried out, clapping their hands over their ears and jumping in alarm as Umemiya’s voice blared out of the loud speaker.
“For fuck’s sake!” Hiragi shouted in the background. “Stop yelling into the mic!”
“Sorry! I got too excited!” Umemiya laughed.
Sakura glared up from where he’d caught himself after Ume’s yelling had caused him to miss his chair. His face flushed at his classmates’ concerned looks as everyone righted themselves.
“But today is a special day,” Umemiya said. “Today is a day where we appreciate the brothers in our lives. I consider this town my home and everyone in it members of my family. By extension, I consider all of you my brothers!”
A blush framed Sakura’s face at the notion.
“Brothers are the ones we can count on and the ones we’re always there for,” Umemiya continued. “They are our friends, loved ones and family, and I feel truly in my heart that if you take a second to look around, you will find brothers in each other as well!”
Sakura felt eyes on him, but despite the warmth rising up his neck he chanced a look to see his friends grinning at him. Well, except for Sugishita. The pink on his face flared and he whipped his head back towards the speaker.
“Today I want you all to do something fun or share a delicious meal together if you can! Know you have everyone here at Furin. You all are amazing and make me proud every day. I am thankful to have you all in my life!” Umemiya cheered.
By the time he’d finished yapping Sakura thought he was going to start sweating he was blushing so hard.
“Told you so,” Suo whispered, smiling at Sakura’s fluster.
“You okay, Sakura-san?” Nirei asked.
Sakura nodded, unable to look at them. Having brothers in his friends? The warmth and comfort in his heart at the thought was almost too overwhelming to bear. His friends and the others he knew at Furin, even the friends he’d made in neighboring gangs made his days. But how was he supposed to be brotherly? Was it spouting off his feelings to an audience like Umemiya? The mere thought had him wanting to crawl beneath his desk. Even if he did gather the nerve, he had no idea what to say without making himself sound stupid. And asking how to be brotherly seemed almost worse—the last thing he wanted was to admit how bad he faired to those who meant something to him.
Why did Umemiya make a whole holiday out of this stuff?
“Sakura-kun?”
If he’d at least mentioned it before, he would’ve had more time to think!
“Sakura-san?”
Nah, who was he kidding, he’d still be fucked.
“HEY SAKURA!”
He jumped in his seat. “OI! What?” He snapped, rounding on the voice to find Kurita waving a hand in front of his face.
“You were totally zoned out,” Kiryu replied as Sakura smacked Kurita’s hand away.
“If you’re feeling out of it, I can make you a protein shake!“ Tsugeura offered.
“M’ fine!” He grumbled, blushing slightly. “What’re you yelling at me for?”
“Well duh, it’s our patrol day!” Anzai grinned.
“Yeah, you were the one who reminded us this morning,” Kakiuchi added.
“Oh.” Despite himself Sakura’s blush got worse. “Right.”
“Goodness, Sakura-kun, I thought you’d have the routine down by now!” Suo smiled.
“I do!” He glared.
Suo’s gaze took on a teasing glint. “Then why are you the only one still sitting at your desk?”
Sakura’s eyes widened and he glanced about the room. Everyone else had already left—well, except for his friends waiting for him.
Pink dusted his cheeks and he jumped to his feet. “I’m not! Let’s go!” He yelled, only for an impossibly firm grip on his shoulder to stop him in his tracks.
“Ack!” Sakura gasped. “Why?!”
“Probably because something is still bothering you,” Kiryu said, brushing pink strands of hair into a bobby pin.
Sakura’s face warmed and he looked away from them but didn’t move to free himself. Anzai, Kurita, Takanashi and Kakiuchi looked at each other. Suo tilted his head and Kiryu and Tsugeura frowned.
Nirei’s eyes widened in realization. “Is it about Brother’s Day?”
The blush spread to Sakura’s ears. Had he been that obvious?
The knowing and concerned looks on his friends’ faces only made it worse. They exchanged glances as Sakura clenched his fists.
“You guys…are great…” he muttered, his group looking at him in surprise. “But…”
“But?” Suo asked, relaxing his grip.
“I…don’t know how to be brotherly,” he finished, eyes dropping to avoid their disappointed gazes.
“What the hell are you even talking about!?” Anzai cried.
Sakura looked up just as everyone looked at him in amused bewilderment.
“Sorry,” Takanashi chuckled. “It’s just that you’re the most brotherly person here?”
“He’s right Sakura-chan!” Kiryu beamed.
“Wuh-HUH?” Sakura cried, turning a bright scarlet.
Nirei’s eyes glistened with joy. “You worry about us being safe more than we do!”
“And are always there to have our back,” Suo smiled, patting his shoulder.
All their happy faces felt like the sun to his soul, but the rate his blush was increasing he was going to catch on fire.
“Yeah! I’ve got to give it everything I’ve got just to keep up with you!” Tsugeura grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. “I want to be there for my little brothers too!”
Kurita pumped his fist in the air. “Hell yeah to that!”
“Hey, what do you mean little brother?” Sakura said, his eyes narrowing as he batted away Tsugeura and Suo’s hands. “I’m no little brother! Nirei is the youngest!”
Nirei’s eyes widened. “What! No I’m not!”
All eyes flew to him and he ducked his head under their gaze.
“But…Nirei-kun…you call us all so formally...” Suo frowned.
“Oh, we-well,” Nirei said, fidgeting with his hands as pink framed his eyes. “It’s just that I look up to you guys a lot and you help me get stronger every day. It means the world to me…”
Kiryu gave him a shoulder-hug and Anzai and Kurita gave him head pats as he giggled at their antics.
Sakura had almost turned just as pink as he watched the scene. Knowing that his friends and classmates felt the same as he did brought more comfort than he thought he’d known.
“Awe this is all so sweet!” Kiryu said, patting Nirei’s shoulder. “But now I can’t help but be curious, who is the youngest?”
“Oh! Let’s see!” Nirei cheered, opening his notebook only to stop on the first page. His eyes widened and he looked up at Sakura.
Everyone followed, making Sakura flush under their combined gaze.
“…Sakura-kun?” Suo asked.
“Huh?! No, the cutoff is April 1st!” He shouted, the color in his skin deepening as their surprise turned to awkward smiles and hushed snickers.
“Is it correct to assume April 1st is your Birthday?” Suo said with his ever peaceful smile.
Sakura squinted his eyes, flicking between his friends expressions trying to figure out sneakiness in his tone but finding none.
“Yeah, so?” he grumbled.
“Then that would make you the youngest,” Kiryu said, looking to Nirei. “Unless someone shares the same day?”
“Umm…I don’t think so,” Nirei frowned, flipping through the pages.
“That’s bullshit!” Sakura glared. “If the year starts on April 1st I have to be the oldest!”
“But it doesn’t,” Nirei blinked, squeaking and hiding behind his notebook when Sakura whipped toward him. “It starts on the 2nd!”
Would the others mess with him? Definitely. But Nirei?
He turned the information over in his head until he turned his back to them and hid his face in his hands.
“Awe, it’s okay Sakura-chan,” Kiryu smiled.
“Yeah!” Tsugeura nodded. “Times and dates and stuff can be super confusing!”
“Is there anyone else even close to mine?” Sakura mumbled.
“Yes, quite,” Suo said, smiling softly. “We are just days apart.”
“Three days to be exact!” Nirei seemed to sparkle as he flipped through the pages once more. “The rest of us have much larger gaps with me and Kiryu-san in September and August, and then Tsugeura-san being the oldest with a birthday in May!”
“What?!” Tsugeura cried. “When did you all get younger than me?”
Suo failed to stifle an annoyed glare, and Kiryu hid his smile with his sleeve.
“What day in May?” Anzai asked, looking over to Kurita.
“And which in August?” Kurita squinted.
Takanashi and Kakiuchi grinned at each other as Nirei flipped through his notebook.
“The fifteenth!” Tsugeura cheered.
“Mine’s the nineteenth,” Kiryu replied.
“Hell yeah! Still the oldest!” Anzai declared, holding up his hand. “I’ve got five days on you, Tsugeura!”
“Nice!” Tsugeura said, high-fiving him.
“And I’ve got–” Kurita squinted in thought before smirking at Kiryu. “Fourteen days!”
“I figured,” Kiryu shrugged. “It was the most likely outcome given the date.”
Sakura’s head span as he tried to keep track of who was older than who only for Nirei to pipe up.
“It looks like Kakiuchi-san and Takanashi-san are between Kurita-san and Anzai-san with birthdays in June and July!” Nirei added.
“What does all this stuff even matter?” Sakura groaned, his head beginning to ache.
“Hardly at all,” Suo replied. “We’re all in the same class in the end.”
“Though you do have to admit,” Anzai grinned. “It is a crazy coincidence that us four out age you guys.”
“Well, with birthdays all clustered in late spring, summer and early fall, it’s not that surprising.” Kiryu blinked.
“Sure, but it did get me thinking on the holiday, and while we do a pretty good job of backing each other up, there’s one thing brothers do that we’re slacking on pretty hard,” Anzai said.
“Uhh…” Sakura hesitated, looking between his friends. “What would that be?”
A sneaky grin overtook Anzai’s face. “Messing with our little brothers of course!”
His buddies mirrored his grin and Sakura bristled, narrowing his eyes but his friends only sighed.
“I thought this is what you were trying to do, Anzai-kun,” Suo said, shaking his head.
Kiryu put his hands up in a shrug. “Same, I’m not surprised at all.”
“What do you mean ‘try’?” Anzai asked, his smile growing as he crept toward them. “That’s absolutely where this is going!”
“Watch out,” Kiryu beamed. “There’s not really anything you can do to us that we can’t do to you!”
“Well said, Kiryu-san!” Nirei nodded.
Sakura’s eyes darted around at everyone’s increasingly sneaky expressions as they shifted to ready positions.
“What the hell is going on?!” he shouted, raising his arms in defense. “What are we squaring up for?!”
“Pfft! We’re not squaring up!” Tsugeura grinned, shaking out his wrists. “We’re making up for lost time!”
“Alright, what should we do?” Takanashi grinned, scrunching his face up in an exaggerated thinking expression.
“What if we catch them all and play with their hair?” Kurita smirked, only for Suo to stifle a laugh.
“How old did you say you were again, Kurita-kun?” He asked, making the others snicker.
“Who’s side are you on?!” Kurita cried, whirling on his buddies.
“Heh, I know what we should do!” Anzai smirked. “How about something you never grow out of?”
Sakura scrunched his face up in confusion and Suo blinked in curiosity. “And that would be?”
“No matter how grown up you get,” Anzai’s smile became wolfish, hands curling into claws with wiggling fingers. “You’ll always be hella ticklish!”
Sakura’s face flushed and Tsugeura, Nirei and Kiryu’s eyes widened.
“Oooh! Good idea, Anzai!” Kakiuchi said, tickling the air and grinning at Nirei and Kiryu’s nervous smiles.
“Oh, I agree!” Suo replied, the others whipping their heads toward him. “But who’s to say we’re not going to be the ones tickling you instead?” He mused, smirking as Kurita and Kakiuchi shivered.
“Oh! You’re right Suo-san,” Nirei grinned. “We have the numbers!”
Mischievousness shone in Kiryu’s eyes as he wiggled his fingers back. “Come on, Sakura-chan!”
“What?! No!” Sakura cried, his blush growing. “Cut the shit, this is stupid!”
Before anyone could reply Tsugeura fell hard onto his knees.
Everyone flinched as the ground shook and Nirei jumped in fright. “Ts-Tsugeura-san?” When Tsugeura’s didn’t answer he moved to his friend’s side. “Are you okay?”
Silence lingered and smiles disappeared.
“Tsuge-chan?” Kiryu asked.
Tsugeura mumbled something under his breath and he leaned closer.
“What’d you say?” Takanashi frowned.
“Yeah, man, you good?” Anzai asked, his hands lowering.
Tsugeura took a deep breath and yanked Nirei and Kiryu into a rough hug. “HA HA!” He cheered, jumping up with one under each arm. “I said: ‘GOT ‘EM!’”
“Tsuge-chan! Why?!” Kiryu gasped, only for fingers to wiggle into his side. “Ahh! Ahahehehaha!”
“Ehehehe! Oho nohoho!” Nirei laughed, Tsugeura grinning as he gently scratched along his ribs.
“Nice, Tsugeura!” Takanashi grinned, moving towards the remaining pair. “Looks like we might not be so outnumbered after all!”
“What happened to having each other’s backs and all that shit?” Sakura snapped.
“Oh we have your back all right,” Kakiuchi smiled.
“Yeah, you guys are missing out on all the fun!” Anzai said, jabbing his thumb at Tsugeura.
Nirei laughed brightly, kicking and twisting in Tsugeura's hold while Kiryu flopped over and giggled toward the floor. The sound sent butterflies fluttering around Sakura’s insides and he could feel the heat creeping across his skin.
“That’s quite alright, I’m having plenty of fun spectating,” Suo replied.
“Uh, oh, is someone nervous?” Kurita grinned, wiggling his fingers at them.
“Don’t–Dohon’t mess with me!” Sakura growled, his face tinting pink.
“We don’t even have to touch him!” Kakiuchi smiled, repeating the gesture.
A bright blush and ticklish smile took over Sakura’s face. “Ahahassholes!” Sakura snapped, a few nervous giggles bubbling past his lips despite his efforts to look angry. Takanashi and Anzai joined in and he smiled helplessly. “You crehehepy mohotherfuhukers! Dohon’t doho that!”
“To answer your question,” Suo replied, smiling as Sakura clapped his hands over his eyes. “I am not nervous at all.”
“And why is that?” Takanashi asked.
“Because you can’t catch us,” Suo smiled. “Right, Sakura-kun?”
Sakura started, whipping his head toward Suo and blushing furiously in realization. “Ah yeah, r-right.”
“Awe come on, you guys want to play too!” Tsugeura grinned, speeding up the fingers tickling Nirei and starting to poke at Kiryu’s ribs.
Kiryu kicked in protest and Nirei squealed.
“Nohohaha! Nahat the pohohokes!” Kiryu giggled, only to squeak as they were replaced with ticklish pinches. “EEK! NOhohoho! Thahahahat’s WOhohorse!”
“I can tell by both your smiles that you want some tickles too!” Tsugeura called, taking a sturdy stance and worming his fingers under one of Nirei’s and one of Kiryu’s underarms.
“Sakura~” Anzai taunted, him and his friends smiling at the simultaneous scream and newly hysterical laughter coming from the captured duo. “Time to laugh your head off!”
Sakura blushed brightly and turned to tell off Anzai but he was already mid-pounce. Air caught in Sakura’s throat and a strangled shout left him as he grabbed Anzai by the shoulders and they crashed to the ground.
Suo’s eye widened at Sakura’s swift takedown and Anzai laughed maniacally.
“Can’t catch you my ass!” he snickered, hovering over Sakura and scribbling his fingers into his stomach, making the younger boy yelp and yank the tickling hands from his skin.
“Neheheh! Noho!” Sakura grunted, trying to push Anzai off only for him to smirk and put his full weight onto Sakura’s legs. “You! Youhou bahahastard!”
“Come on, I’m only trying to tickle your belly!” Anzai grinned, making Sakura turn as pink as his namesake.
“Dohohohon’t cahahall it thahahat!” He cried, his strength lessening with each giggle.
“Awe then what about tummy?” Anzai smirked, inching his fingers closer. “Tickles for your tum tum?”
“Yohohou fuhuhucking weheheheirdohohAH! AHAHAHA!” Sakura cackled, throwing his head back as Anzai raked his nails down his middle.
“See? All better!” Anzai teased, laughing at the wobbly half-glare his victim attempted before bursting back into hysterics.
“And then there was one.”
Suo’s gaze snapped toward the voice to see Takanashi, Kurita and Kakiuchi sneaking toward him.
“It’s your turn, Suo!” Kakiuchi said, grinning at how his smile became a little strained.
“Don’t think we forgot about you,” Takanashi added.
Suo forced himself to relax. “No need to trouble yourselves.”
“Awe, but we’re feeling left out!” Kakiuchi replied, him and Kurita circling around to his right and left.
His leg tensed to step back but that would trap him closer to the wall. He needed to go forward.
The trio started to close in and he couldn’t help but death-grip his hands behind his back. He needed to wait until the absolute…last…second!
His assailants hadn’t even finished reaching before Suo cut between Takanashi and Kurita and stood at the center of the room.
“Oooh!” Kurita grinned. “Looks like Suo wants to play after all!”
“Only entertaining you and your childish antics,” Suo replied, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from their hands.
“We’ll see about that!” Kakiuchi snickered, trying a scribble to his neck only for him to duck back and narrowly sidestep Kakiuchi’s pokes.
Suo chanced a glance toward the door only to yelp. The fingers that prodded his ribs were grabbed and before he could think he’d splayed Kurita flat on his back.
“OKAY THATS IT!”
Nirei looked up amid his giggles to see Takanashi and Kakiuchi chasing Suo around the room with playful fierceness in their eyes while Anzai continued to tickle the daylights out of Sakura.
“Wait, wait, hold on!” Suo said, his peaceful smile overwritten by a wobbly one. “You were the ones who started this!”
“But you throw your brother to the ground!?” Takanashi asked, throwing his arms wide to block him in while Kakiuchi dodged around the desks Suo tried to put between them.
“Over a little rib tickle?” Kakiuchi smirked, wiggling his fingers.
“N-Noho!” Suo replied, clapping a hand over his mouth a second too late.
Takanishi’s grin doubled in size. “Uh, oh, Suo! Was that a giggle I just heard?”
With more fluttering around his insides, Suo didn’t dare open his mouth. Until Kurita barreled toward him on all fours.
“AH! WaHAIT wait wahait!” Suo cried, scrambling around and over furniture.
“Wow, they’re going crazy!” Tsugeura awed, shifting his hands to Nirei and Kiryu’s sides.
“WAhehehahaha!” Nirei squealed, trying to twist away from Tsugeura’s fingers.
Kiryu flailed, laughing at tickles and Kurita chasing Suo like a gremlin. “I’m dyhiHIHIHING! I’m dehehehehead I’m dyhyhyhying!”
Tsugeura chuckled, his grip loosening slightly. “You’re okay!”
Nirei’s eyes widened in realization and he squirmed with purpose.
“I haven’t even gotten your worst spot yet!” Tsugeura snickered.
“Yehehehehet?!” Kiryu cried. “Tsuhugehehe!”
Tsugeura opened his mouth to reply and fingertips suddenly scribbled across his knee. The result was a squawk and a surprised jump. “WAH! Wahahahuh?” He looked down to see Nirei’s hand squeeze above his kneecap. “EEHehehe! Nirehehehei!”
“Yehe! Yehehes!” Nirei cheered as Tsugeura’s grip loosened further, letting his other arm slip free and using both hands to lightly scribble behind his knee.
“AHAHEE!” Tsugeura yelped, leaning to the side to pull Nirei up and away from the spot. “NOho! Dohohon’t tickle!”
“Yeheheah rihight!” Kiryu cried, pulling his arms from Tsugeura’s loosened hold and feathering his fingers on the back of his thigh. “Youhou tickled us first!”
“NAHAHE!” He laughed, leaning back the other way only for Nirei’s knee tickles to resume. “GUHUHUYS! NOHO! I’M GOHOHONNA–”
Nirei and Kiryu’s shouts joined his as all three of them crashed to the ground. They all groaned from the impact, Tsugeura just barely catching himself from landing on top of them.
Suo heard the guard drop from the exit and swept back toward it, not daring to turn his back to his assailants. He deflected all their scribbles, pokes and jabs like he would in combat, his smile becoming more confident as their attempts grew desperate. Suo was only one step from freedom when an impossible weight settled above his ankle. He looked down wide-eyed to find Tsugeura grinning up at him, his hand holding his leg in a firm grip. His gaze snapped up to three wickedly smiling faces and six sets of spidering fingers. Suo threw his arms up and his gasp ended in a panicked shriek as Kurita, Kakiuchi and Takanashi tackled him into the hall.
“GOTCHA!” Kakiuchi yelled, trying to finally tickle Suo’s stomach only to be poked there himself. “EHE!”
“You’re only making it worse for yourself!” Takanashi grunted, him and Kurita grappling for Suo’s arms as Kakiuchi gently scribbled his middle.
“EhehEHA! NOHOhoho!” Suo cried, kicking his legs in protest only to loudly squeak when Takahashi spidered his hand up to his neck. “EEHEE! PLEHE! PleheheHEASE!”
“After talking all that shit?” Kurita snickered.
“And causing all that trouble?” Kakiuchi added, lightly dragging his fingers up Suo’s side and making him hiccup in his laughter. “If you ask me you’re getting off easy!”
Suo laughed in reply, trying to kick at Kurita as he gently scribbled under Suo’s arm.
“I’ll say! You fucking decked me!” He smirked.
“Sounds like we got all of you!” Anzai snickered, poking and squeezing any tickle spot he could reach while Sakura just laid there, all energy to fight gone as giggles spilled out of him.
Anzai looked up as Tsugeura wrapped Kiryu and Nirei into a big bear hug and wiggled his fingers into their necks and shoulders. The air filled with their giggles and Tsugeura’s chuckles added to the mix as they tickled him back in an attempt for release.
“Well, I’d say it’s time for the big finale!” Anzai stilled his fingers and smiled with glee as he pushed Sakura’s shirt away from his stomach. “Ready?”
“Wuhuhuh? Whuhut thehe hehehell?” Sakura glared, only for Anzai to take a comically large breath and blow the biggest raspberry onto his belly.
Sakura erupted into loud, desperate cackles as he pushed Anzai’s head away.
“Are you telling me you don’t like raspberries?” Anzai laughed. “You’re turning the same color as them so I figured you would!”
Sakura clenched his blushing hands into fists and swung at him. “IHIHI’M GONNA KIHIhihill yohohohou!”
“Awe, you can’t do that to your big brother,” Anzai replied, flashing the cheekiest grin as he dug his fingertips under Sakura’s arms.
Sakura didn’t deny it, but only because he was laughing too hard, and definitely not because of how happy it made him that someone wanted to be so silly and gentle with him.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!”
Before Sakura could process the shout, the underarm tickles stopped and he was pulled up into a hug.
“Senpai!” Anzai cried, patting Sakura’s head. “Our little brothers were bummed out and we were just cheering them up!”
Sakura looked up to see Kaji fuming in the doorway and his face burned.
“Guys have been worried and looking for you! ” Kaji shouted, making Nirei and Tsugeura flinch as he rounded on the Suo and the others in the hall. “Let him go and get off your asses!”
Sakura blushed down to his neck as he fought out of Anzai’s embrace. Tsugeura finally released Kiryu and Nirei and they helped him up. Anzai snickered in amusement as he stood, offering Sakura a hand. He huffed, but took it anyway. Kaji caught Sakura’s gaze and the slightest blush tinted below Kaji’s eyes as he turned to leave. Everyone moved toward the hall, dusting themselves off as they moved after their senpai to catch up with the rest of their team.
“So,” Anzai whispered, flashing a grin. “That was fun.”
Heads shook and sighs and huffs filled the space, but it was evident from the smiles on everyone’s faces that they all agreed.
