My Imagination

Your local simp writes headcanons and stories about random media like games and anime. Also questions literally everything and every detail.

[nagisadelune]

Welcome

Hi! Welcome to my page. I plan on writing some headcanons about some stuff that I randomly think about. Hope you stick around to see how they turn out!

Here are some of my lists that you can follow if you're specifically interested in something:

(Last updated in March)

Headcanons

Promise Rings (Kageyama Fanfiction)

[nagisadelune]

Fragrant Flower Episode Titles

(Not edited, POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

I recently finished The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, and I'm obsessed to say the least. I love Rintaro and Kaoruko with my heart, and I'm excited to see what happens next.

One thing I want to talk about though are the episode titles, particularly Episode 1 and 13.

A/N: I use Japanese culture to make my argument. I'm afraid it's not accurate, so please DM me about what is actually correct. I'd like to not be canceled. 😔

I want to break down the titles first which I think is going to sound very obvious when I write this. On Netflix, Episode 1 is titled "Rintaro and Kaoruko" and shows how our two MCs meet from Rintaro's perspective. In comparison, Episode 13 is titled "Kaoruko and Rintaro," and the episode goes through the same story of Episode 1 in Kaoruko's perspective. Altogether, I think people caught on that these episodes are designed to be parallel to each other or at least share many characteristics with one another purely based on the name.

One thing that I've been thinking about is how these episodes are named. Reading these titles together when Episode 13 came out, I started thinking about how I would've renamed Episode 1.

I think that many people know this particular fact about Japanese culture: they call each other by their last names out of respect for each other and only use first names once they are "close" enough. (I'd argue that other countries have the same practices, but I feel that this is a core and distinct feature of respect in Japan especially between people of the same age.) With all Episode 1s, we have yet to meet the characters, and even the characters had just met in this first episode. Because of this, I think a better name for Episode 1 is "Tsumugi and Waguri."

In perspective with the show, we see that this is the first time Rintaro remembers meeting Kaoruko. They aren't close yet, so they would likely be calling each other Mr. Tsumugi and Ms. Waguri. We see this especially with Rintaro who low-key makes it his ultimate mission to show respect to Kaoruko by always calling her Ms. Waguri; I'm also pretty sure he has yet to call her by her first name based on where the anime stopped. I especially want to highlight here that the main point of ny idea here is that these two are not close enough yet to be on first name basis with each other.

A related note I wanted to add about my point so far: I think Kaoruko calling Rintaro by his first name in the later episodes is actually a form a respect for him in this case. When we consider his life before meeting her, Rintaro was often bullied and never got close with others; this would mean that many people constantly called Rintaro by his last name. We also see that he constantly thinks of himself as a delinquent and forces people away to avoid hurting them which would definitely make sure no one used his first name. Kaoruko calling Rintaro by his first name tells Rintaro that he is accepted as a human being, not a troublemaker; it tells him that he can get close to other people and not hurt them. From this, I think that Kaoruko is actually very respectful despite using first name since she looks past the barriers and stereotypes around Rintaro to see his true being.

Now, I turn to the 4th wall (a.k.a us). We also have just met these characters. At this point of the show, we probably wouldn't be on a first name basis with the characters. At least for me, I didn't figure out that our girl's name was Kaoruko Waguri until we met Ms. Hoshina because everyone referred to her as Ms. Waguri, and I never bothered saying Rintaro's name and referred to him as MC until Kaoruko actually said his name. In either case, I think that any person who started following this series by watching Episode 1 would've probably used their last names when talking about them.

In general, I think that the title "Rintaro and Kaoruko" isn't the right name for Episode 1; there's a closeness that the title assumes that isn't quite there yet and doesn't represent the story well. Instead, Episode 1 should be renamed as "Tsumugi and Waguri" to capture that we and the characters aren't close like that.

TL;DR: Episode 1 should've been renamed because of Japanese culture.

Thanks for reading through that essay! I totally can see how the title is perfectly fine for Episode 1, so I'm interested to see what other people perceived. Please tell me in the comments are DMing me!

Until the next time I get to overthink, your local chronic overthinker: out.

[nagisadelune]

Kuroo and His Taekwondo Crush

(Obviously not edited)

Ideas spark best at night, I guess. Here's something I've been thinking about for awhile: Kuroo with a crush who competes in taekwondo sparring. Not sure why it had to be Kuroo, but it just made sense...?

There are definitely couples who do different sports and get along, so hear me out on this one.

~~~

He first saw her practicing in the gym during one of his gym sessions in his first year of college. He was looking for a late-night workout to destress after a midterm. Normally, he would have worked out the next morning, but he had an appointment the next morning. With his earbuds in, he passed by the matted room of the gym, taking note of the club taekwondo team practicing.

And that's when he saw her. She was in relaxed workout clothes, guards covering her forearms and shins and sweat dripping down her face. She was doing some drills with a partner, faking a kick to the body to get closer to her opponent before aiming for a clapper at head level. Despite her shorter stature and muscular build, she was light on her feet, quickly making clear contact with the clapper. When she reset for another rep, she paused in her spot, trying to fake her opponent out before launching another attack.

While Kuroo was never interested in taekwondo, he paused for a minute and watched the practice. In comparison with the volleyball he was used to, this was completely different. He never imagined that people would willingly get hit in the head by another person. His eyes followed her figure around the room as practice went on. For a moment, he debated waiting for the practice to end to attempt meeting her, but he held back. He actually recognized her; they had their midterm together, and she sat a couple rows ahead of him. Not only that, but she was also in the same discussion section. Ultimately, he decided to try a strike up a conversation at their discussion section the next day.

As he hurried into the classroom, he noticed her sitting quietly on the side, working on her own assignments before class started. While he didn't mean to interrupt her work, he decided to try. Carefully, he tapped her shoulder, striking up a conversation about the taekwondo team. It turns out she was training to compete at a local university tournament in a couple weeks, and her coach required her to be at practice every day, twice a day. This meant that she actually needed to head to the gym immediately after class, and Kuroo offered to go with her.

This was the beginning of Kuroo's crush on this taekwondo athlete. They would often sit together during classes and studied outside of her practice time. Although she needed to get extra sleep to support her dreams, they never failed to have a silly conversation after her evening practice. At one point, she managed to get him to try sparring, and he was absolutely defeated to say the least.

In return for being her head shot practice dummy, she invited him to come watch her competition. While she began to nervously blabber on about why she decided to invite him, all he could understand was that she was inviting him to something that she really loved and wanted to share with him. Despite her expectations of him rejecting the invitation, she was surprised to hear that he wanted to go and was even more surprised when he decided to stay the whole day with her.

At said tournament, he could only nervously watch her warm up and wait for her match. Although she described this tournament as being "easier" and "less stressful" compared to other tournaments, he was still freaked out by the fact that the air was extremely thick when he walked in. While he did try to crack some jokes with her as she was getting ready, he eventually stopped as he watched her face harden to focus on the match.

When it finally came time for her to compete, he could only stare at the ring in both amusement and fear. On one hand, the girl that he had been hanging out with seemed extremely attractive in full sparring gear, her hair in a relaxed bun to go inside her helmet. On the other, he noticed how much taller the opponent was. Despite having compete faith in his crush to do well, Kuroo definitely worried about the match, making sure he had a water bottle on hand.

After checking the gear and bowing, the match started, and Kuroo could only watch in awe as she maneuvered around the ring well. She controlled the distance between her opponent well, managing a couple of head shots after some counters. With the last few seconds on the timer, Kuroo could only watch anxiously as both girls managed great hits off of each other. Finally, she manages to get a spinning kick to the head within the last milliseconds of the match, officially winning it. After shaking hands with her opponent and getting out of her gear, she approached Kuroo who opened the water bottle in his hands for her.

With the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she attempted to start a conversation with Kuroo, trying to hear what he thought. Since she was clearly out of breath, Kuroo sat her down to rest, making sure she started recovering properly. He started pulling out snacks for her, making her laugh as she watched the floor around her almost covered in packets of her favorite gummy bears. Despite the eyes of her teammates glancing warily at the two on the floor, they were in their own world. To say the least, this was not his last tournament.

~~~

I've been debating making this a full-length novel situation, but it's too good to not just throw it out there.

Hope you enjoyed it!

[nagisadelune]

Never Enough

(As always, not edited)

We all know ideas can just come at any moment, and this is one of them.

Hope you enjoy it!

~~~

I've always loved being part of this team. When I first joined, I remember how much I enjoyed coming to practice, getting to meet new people, being unapologetically me. I even remember how I met almost every member of the team and how everyone has grown in skill and character.

I remember how I wanted to do more for the team the year after. Whether it was staying to practice a little longer or walk back with everyone, I wanted to be with my team a little longer. When I coached, I wanted my team to rely on me as both an expert and a friend just as my precious coaches had. I wanted to connect with the people who wanted to be a member, just as the past members did for me.

And yet that is now all gone. I feel abandoned, pushed to the side, unwanted. I can only imagine what it would be like to be part of a team again, smiling alongside people who valued my opinion. I wanted to protect my identity as a team member and as a person, yet somehow that was rejected. My team couldn't accept one part of me, the key to who I am. All because I wanted to be myself with the people around me.

I now question my character's worth since I cannot be who I am. I question whether the team I loved so much and put time into ever valued me the same way I valued them. I question whether my team was actually my team, the people who believed in me and what I could do.

I now have to ask if I was ever enough for my team. And I think that I was never enough.

[nagisadelune]

A Letter From Me to You (Multifandom)

(Of course, unedited)

Hi! I wanted to just write something with my bit of inspiration. This one can be for any couple you want it to be for!

~~~

To you:

You probably don't remember me. You spent the last couple years of college not talking to me because I left. But I wanted to tell you that I don't like you.

I spent the years that we weren't together acting like we were strangers. Or at least tried to whenever we would see each other around campus. You treated me like that anyways: a nobody, a stranger.

I spent the years that we weren't together resenting the fact that we weren't even friends. You acted like we never interacted at all despite the amount of jokes that you cracked to make me laugh when we were spending time together.

I don't like you anymore. I can't like someone who treated me like a stranger despite how close we were for those couple years we practiced together, who's willing to call me a stranger in a mere instant. I also can't like someone that I seemingly don't know.

And yet when we do look at each over, I'm reminded of what we had, the friendship we had for those couple years. You can't even look at me in the eye when we do pass by each other. You don't even want to say hi to me.

I've accepted that this happened; there's no point in hanging onto the memories of someone who doesn't appreciate you. Yet I still look over at you and hope that you recognize me and take that first step. I look over at you, hoping that maybe it's all in my head and that we are still close.

But who am I kidding? How could someone like you enjoy hanging out with me? How could someone as poised and confident as you possibly like someone as dramatic and loud as me? Is it even possible that you liked me at some point, even platonically?

It's doesn't matter though. I'm still mad at you. But maybe... I do still like you.

Sincerely,

Me

~~~

Well I hope you enjoyed it! This was something that I just thought of randomly, and I hope that it might inspire someone else.

Thanks for reading!

[nagisadelune]

3 AM Thoughts

(SPOILERS ABOUT WHEN I FLY TOWARDS YOU)

I've been on a streak of watching C-dramas recently, and I happened to rewatch When I Fly Towards You because it's honestly really wholesome.

I want to talk about Zhang Lurang's uncle because I don't think a lot of people talk about him.

(ACTUAL SPOILERS)

So Mr. Lin (Su Zai Zai's math and homeroom teacher) has been the one for Zhang Lurang since the beginning of high school since (I guess) he's Lurang's guardian.

Because of this, how much do you think he actually knows about the relationship between Zai Zai and Lurang prior to Lurang telling him that they were dating?

I mean we all know he knows that they were friends and that they got really close because of the tutoring sessions. Also, he's probably noticed how the two interacted with each other through high school and when they were together in college.

He's also noticed Lurang's emotions and stuff. Like when Lurang was smiling while reading Zai Zai's English notes when he got jealous think Zai Zai wrote a love letter for someone else. And especially when Lurang spaces out when filling cups with water.

Personally, I like to think that he just kind of knew this was coming: he sees that they like each other and was waiting for them to start dating. I think it's also a funny idea to imagine that his response to Lurang announcing his relationship is along the lines of "I know" and "about time." Granted, his personality makes me think he kept these thoughts to himself and just accepted that the two were dating to save Lurang some pride.

However, there were several scenes that makes me think he didn't actually know about them until Lurang told him. One particular scene was right after Lurang confessed to Zai Zai, and I think he basically says, "What's up with this guy?"

Anyways, I'm interested to hear about other people's observations of the show or what other people think about this situation. Please repost and tell me what you think!

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Artem Falling in Love With You (Part 1)

(Definitely not edited)

I'M BACK TEARS OF THEMIS FANS! I know that I've been gone for months, but being busy is a clear characteristic of going through depression getting through life. Either way, I'm back to writing for at least a bit.

Okay, I originally had something written for this part before until I found this post which literally has a discussion in the comments about the stuff that was going through my head when I originally thought about this. If you don't want to read the discussion, allow me to sum it up to you: Artem only briefly mentions how he first falls in love with you when you're performing a drama in university, but it seems out of character.

Because of this discussion, I thought that maybe I should write something about how Artem falls in love with you. Because of the amount of time I'm planning to pass with this story, there will be a lot of skipping, so please bear with me. Let's get started!

For the context of the story, we are (obviously) going to be in a time frame before the game even starts, so let's assume that we start around 2026 and move towards 2030.

⭐⭐⭐

"Bro, hurry up! We're going to be late if we don't go now!" a man yells into the apartment building. Artem can only sigh as he adjusts the sneakers on his feet, waiting for the last housemate to leave the house. He can't understand why and how he got dragged into this, but he is now waiting to go to the school drama production in the theater with the rest of the house.

"I get it, I get it!" the last roommate answers annoyed, seemingly out of breath from rushing to get outside. "I know you're going to support your girlfriend, but why are you dragging us into this? Especially our study bug Artem?" Artem looks over at the roommate slightly annoyed, considering that he was interrupted in the middle of a lecture video.

"She asked me to take you guys with me because you deserve a break after working so hard for our masters," he answers annoyed, his eyes glued to his phone and his fingers typing away at the screen. The group locks the door before walking onto campus in the cool night.

After picking up a bouquet from a nearby florist, the group hurries over to the theater, getting ready to sit through a couple hours of performance. They settle into their seats, and the lights dim soon after. A huffy Artem looks towards the stage, deciding to give the performance half of his attention considering the situation. The velvet curtain raises, and for a second, the hard-working student's eyes are glued to the stage, specifically one girl.

Throughout the production, the other two boys take glances at Artem, entertained by the fact that the usually aloof man has eyes on someone rather than his study materials. While the two snicker off to the side, Artem's eyes watches the girl on the stage, noticing the little details about her. The soft cast of the light on her eyes and hair makes everything about her sparkle, and her facial features remind him of an angel.

After a nudge, one of them whispers into his ear, "Which one do you have your eye on?" In an instant, Artem turns towards the pair annoyed before lightly smacking them with the physical program in his hands. With his eyes finally breaking away from the stage, he decides to look through the cast to figure out who has captured his attention so easily. In an instant, he recognizes the face in the program and stares at it, seemingly engraving her face into his mind.

The lights come on with the end of the production, and the three men stand up from their seats to walk out of the theater. The conversations about what they just watched start, discussing everything from the plot to the costume design choices. Artem, whose mind still lingers on the girl on stage, falls behind the pair, making the two turn confused towards him. They both approach him, but he doesn't give them any attention.

"Yo, Artem. What's going on?" his single roommate asks him, throwing his arm around his shoulders. This snaps Artem out of his thoughts for a second, making his cheeks somewhat red from the content of his thoughts.

"I just thought that one of the actresses in the play was pretty," Artem's helpless voice answers in a mutter. The two boys stare at him for a moment before turning towards each other in amazement; their usually stoic roommate has his eyes on a girl instead of his studies. As they walk towards the backrooms of the theater, the two tease him on his feelings, but Artem pushes them down; there's no way that he just fell in love with her like that.

~~~

His slender fingers leafs through the stack of resumes in his hands with a sigh, briefly noting the various candidates for the open positions at the company. Despite just being a mere employee, Celestine is already handing him a large amount of work, but he knows that he is actually greatly helping her. When he gets to a certain resume, the world seems to stop, his eyes landing on the picture.

"No way," Artem mutters under his breath in disbelief. He separates the resume from the stack and tries to process what he is currently seeing: the pretty girl smiling in the picture seems familiar, but he can't exactly remember from where. His mind tries to think of where the face might be familiar: possibly seeing her when she was turning in her resume or maybe spotting her in the restaurant nearby. There's no way though; all the people from his years in school have mostly moved away or pursued a different career path than him. His thoughts start to wander, focusing on the way her hair curls over her shoulder and how striking her green eyes are.

"Artem, is everything okay? I want to discuss something with you," a familiar voice requests from behind the door following a knock. "Are you free?" Artem's head whips up from the picture on the resume, realizing that he must have stared for too long at the photo to hear her knocks.

"I'm okay, Celestine. I'm free too," Artem answers, slightly flustered by the situation. He quickly pulls the resume on his desk back into the stack next to him as the door creaks open, revealing Celestine.

"Why are you so red?" Celestine suddenly asks, stopping in her tracks when she notices the flush on his cheeks. The aloof and somewhat calm Artem now appears somewhat confused, a stark difference from what Celestine is used to.

"I-It's nothing," Artem answers, slightly stumbling on his words. Celestine continues to stare at him in amazement as the Artem sitting at his desk is definitely flustered by something. Despite her interest, she decides to push it to the side, focusing on what she originally wanted to talk about.

Celestine takes a seat in front of him before she asks her shocking question, "Which one caught your eye?" Artem stares at her, trying to piece together how she figured it out. "You don't think I couldn't hear the paper moving?" He can only put his head down in disappointment with himself, forgetting such a small mistake. Because of this, he can only pull the resume out from the top of the pile and hand it to Celestine. While his head hangs in shame, Celestine stares at her picture before handing it back to him.

"Are you interested because she attended your alma mater?" Celestine questions, probing the situation. His new expressions sparks interest, and she stares at him, ready for his response.

"Y-Yeah, you could say that," Artem stutters out, avoiding eye contact with her. This response causes the eyebrows on Celestine's face to raise, suspicions about the situation coming to the surface of her thoughts. "Anyways," Artem starts after clearing his throat, "what was it you wanted to talk about with me?" With a sigh, Celestine can't help but give in to the sudden change in topics despite her interest. However, the situation never leaves her mind.

~~~

"She's so much prettier up close."

Artem watches the girl walk into the office, greeting everyone as it's her first day. His eyes train on her figure as she shakes hands with each person in the office. After seeing her from so far away years ago, he finally gets to see her up close for the first time; she still looks the same from back then, her hair only slightly longer than before. Her eyes seem to shine more brightly than before, her sweet smile growing to her eyes.

In the midst of this, Artem doesn't process that she is about to introduce herself to him, but he finally snaps back to reality when he sees her in front of him. In his mind, time almost stops as she introduces herself and holds her hand out for a handshake. Artem gently grabs her hand and shakes it, giving her a warm smile.

"Welcome to Themis. I'm Artem Wing," he greets, a warm smile on his face. She watches her smiley face turn to shock, seemingly processing something as she shakes her hand.

"Did you happen to study at Stellis University under Professor Hume?" she asks, her mind putting pieces of information together. Artem's mind seems to draw blank as he tries to figure out the situation. How would she know who he is even though they have never officially met?

"Y-yes, I am," he stutters, still overcoming the shock of the situation.

"I never thought I would ever meet you. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wing," she greets him kindly as they shake hands. She awkwardly clears her throat before repeating her statement, "I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wing."

Artem finally returns to his normal self and responds back, "Again, welcome to Themis Law Firm." Although this is the first time Artem ever met her, the warmth of her hand lingers on his, the skin slightly tingly from the contact.

As the group finally breaks apart to get back to work, Artem quickly returns to his office before settling in his chair and taking a breather. He never expected to encounter her at his work nor for her to recognize him. While he begins to calm down, he sees all of his coworkers help her settle in and interacting with her. For a moment, his eyes linger on her before he turns back to his work, and his mind wanders to how life has been for her. He finally turns away from her and sighs.

For now, this is enough.

⭐⭐⭐

Dang, I realize writing this and watching some of other card stories that Artem is such a simp, but we love it. We love a man that can actually express his feelings.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading it. I feel like I want to write more about what happens up until the point of the game, so I will see you in the next one! See you guys soon!

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Singing With Luke

(Definitely not edited)

Okay, I hurt a lot of people with my last Luke headcanon, so here's a little bit of a fluffy one to make up for it. On a side note related to this headcanon, are we just not going to talk about how the blossom chapters don't mention any of the other guys? Like Artem is Rosa's partner AND boss which should mean that there should be an interaction between any other male lead and Artem at some point, right? RIGHT?

Moving on. This idea made me think: what would they do as a group that wouldn't break anyone? Hiking? No, that would end like the Lost Gold event. Escape room? Rosa and Luke would carry everyone while the two doctorate holders would argue about whose doctorate(s) is better. Karaoke? Wait-

Basically, I was thinking about how Rosa basically grew up practicing many instruments based on the Marius SR card with the guitar, so she probably at least can stay in tune for singing, right? I shouldn't assume that, but I think it would be really cute to think that Rosa knew how to sing since she would be able to sing lullabies. Alright, enough talk; let's get to the writing.

For the timeline, the character has to be Rosa (rip), but we can imagine that this before first anniversary. Essentially, you aren't dating anyone, and you've been in NXX long enough to have a decently close group of people. Also, this would be in Luke's stories, so the men will back off from you for Luke.

⭐⭐⭐

"Karaoke?" Vyn questions, looking up from his laptop confused. Your offer seems to catch everyone's attention, but this reaction definitely didn't match what you had going through your head. However, you nod carefully, placing a small smile on your lips.

"I guess it would be nice to take a break after our most recent breakthrough," Artem mutters, suddenly starting to weigh the decisions. While you didn't completely solve the case, you guys all managed to figure out a key piece of information to the case. Marius nods, agreeing with Artem's line of logic.

"Miss, where would you like to go?" Marius asks, casually opening his phone as if expecting you to choose an expensive spot to go.

"Karaoke?" you offer after taking a moment to think. The entire room looks over at you in shock, surprised with your choice. Considering the group had the CEO of Pax in the room, it was surprising to hear an offer so cheap. Although no one would ever actually try to take advantage of Marius's money, they still would've chosen something like dinner. Realizing their behavior, they all seemed to look away and take glances at each other.

"I mean it would be fun to do karaoke," Luke whispers from beside you, his voice somehow amplified by the awkward silence of the room. The other guys all mutter their agreement although they were taken aback from your offer.

"Miss, were you planning on singing?" Marius asks, slightly curious to your sudden offer. Vyn and Artem look at Marius curiously, seemingly finding out new information about you.

Before you could respond to him, Luke cuts in, "You should sing; your voice is pretty." When you look over at him, his eyes pierce into yours, making you freeze for a second. With the world around you slightly fading away, you miss the three pairs of eyes looking between the two of you. A forced cough suddenly pulls your gaze away from Luke, making you notice the six curious eyes looking at you in anticipation.

Swallowing your pride, you answer in a small voice, "I guess I'll sing." You watch Marius's eyes gleam with excitement while the other two can only nod, interested in what they're about to see next. While Artem and Vyn seem ready to work some more before leaving, Marius starts packing up a bit, making you all look at him.

"Oh come on. You don't want to hear our Rosa's voice?" Marius asks, making everyone shrug in response. Artem's eyes scan the room, and you can tell that he's trying to reason his choice, but before he could reason why they should work some more, Vyn's voice pipes up.

"Let's humor him this once," Vyn sighs out as he stands to pack his items. You stare at him in shock as everyone else shrugs and follows along. After a moment of hesitation, you turn towards your bag to pack up, only to see Luke already slinging your bag over his shoulder.

"Luke, I can hold my own bag. Give it-" you start, reaching for the bag strap against Luke's shoulder. His quick instincts to grab your wrist catches you off-guard, making you look up at him. His usually warm eyes stare coldly into yours, making you freeze in your spot.

"I'm holding it. End of story." he tells sternly, his tone rendering your reactions to just nods. His eyes immediately soften up into his signature eye smile with your reaction, and his other hand reaches to pat your head, making the strands slightly out-of-place. When he lets go, everyone else in the room can only process the scene as they follow Luke out of the building.

With the awkward walk to the local karaoke building, you all finally make your way to a room. For a moment, everyone could only sit in the room, making small eye contact with one another before Marius stands up to break the silence.

"How about we start guys?" Marius awkwardly laughs, picking up the microphones from the table near the TV. He immediately hands one to you, but before you can refuse, he already grabs the remote for the TV. "What are you going to sing, miss?" Marius asks, looking up from the screen. As you are about to answer, Luke grabs the tablet from him, immediately searching something up. As you look at the screen, you recognize the song that he is searching.

"Luke, I can't-" you start, but the instrumental already plays in the speakers of the room. The others glance between the two of you as you nervously grab the Luke offers you. Marius snickers a little before trying to cover his reaction, earning a small smack from Vyn. Everyone returns the attention to you as you hold the mic to your mouth and start singing. All of the guys except Luke are shocked by the tone of your singing voice, eventually relaxing to the sound of your voice in the speakers.

"Luke, she's a really good singer," Artem whispers into Luke's ear, making Luke smile widely. He turns towards Artem to answer.

"I know," he answers back as he admires your voice and figure. "She used to sing me lullabies when I first moved in with her family, so of course she's good." All the guys glance at each other, watching the smitten Luke stare at his childhood crush. Before Marius could get the chance to start teasing the detective, Vyn cuts him off.

"I'm going to take everyone to get food since we'll need a lot. We'll be back," Vyn whispers to Luke. Before Luke could even get the chance to nod, Vyn is out the door, dragging Artem and Marius with him. Confused, Luke returns to enjoying the sound of your voice.

Once the door shuts behind them, Vyn releases the two men and sighs. The group begins walking towards the entrance to order food, and Marius starts the conversation.

"Why'd you drag us out? I wanted to enjoy the voice of our miss attorney," Marius whines, pouting slightly. Vyn and Artem can only sigh at the childness of their youngest member. Although they both knew he was the CEO of Pax, they decide to just deal with it because of his age.

"You all saw how they were acting towards each other," Vyn explains. "I made the call to let them have alone time with her." Despite knowing that every guy in NXX had some sort of feelings towards you, he knew that they would lose to Luke in an instant in this war of love and feelings; it would be better to see you happy with Luke than try to make you love someone else. They all sigh together, reaching the same conclusion.

Artem's voice rings through the hallway as they get to the entrance, "Then, he better make a move."

⭐⭐⭐

Okay, I'm cutting myself off here. Will he make a move or not? We'll never know. Anyways, this isn't my best work, but I need the warm up lol. I hope you still enjoyed this, and I'll see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Luke Falling in Love With You

(Definitely not edited)

I'm finally free. ;-; I haven't posted in a hot second, but I'm back with a lot of ideas and story. Hope that I didn't keep any of you guys waiting for too long! Now to what I wanted to write: I finally got the chance to see the birthday gifts from the guys. If you haven't seen them, I should say this: Luke basically kind of confirms how he first started liking you, and I wanted to write about it! I'm not 100% sure if Hoyo already wrote a card for this yet, but I'm going to write one anyways as always lol. Alright, let's go!

For context, I believe this moment occurs while you're in high school, so we get to see high school Rosa and Luke. Also, because of the context, this needs to be between Rosa and Luke (sadge). Anyways, let's get into it!

⭐⭐⭐

"Ugh, I hate PE," one of the girls complain as you walk with a group to the gym on the other side of campus. You can only sigh and nod in agreement as the warmth of the sun almost becomes too unbearable. "At least we'll most likely be inside for the period instead of running outside." The other girls in your group agree with her as a group of boys walking in the opposite direction play with the basketball in their hands.

"Rosa!" someone calls from behind you, and you look around to see a familiar ball of sunshine running towards you.

With a big smile growing on your cheeks, you call back, "Luke!" Your hand waves at him before he skids to a stop in front of you. As you tow start talking, you can't help but notice some people staring at you, but you decide to ignore them as you focus on your conversation with Luke.

"Are we walking home together later?" he asks, hoping that you would say yes after the amount of times you had to reject him for studying in the library after school. With his puppy eyes, you can only sigh helplessly in his reaction and give in to him. Especially because you have been coming home late, your parents have been nagging you to at least have Luke walk with you back home. Even though you both have protested against this, it seems right that you would give in to their request eventually.

"Alright, we'll walk home together. You ready for PE?" you ask, processing the time in your head quickly. While you know you're not going to be late, you should hurry over to class before the bell rings. You watch the fluffy hair on his head move around as Luke shakes his head.

"It's been warm recently, so it might be a bit tough," Luke answers, explaining the situation. You nod, understanding his position before you notice his speed walking. "I'll race you to class!" his voice getting softer as he somehow moves quickly away from you. You hurry to catch up to him before trying to overtake him in your race to class.

Somehow, you both get to the gym first with no one there. As you both try to catch your breath for a moment, you hear Luke mutter, "I totally won that." Before you could protest that you actually beat him, the other students start entering, and you two are separated to start class.

When class starts, it's only then you process what's happening in class: basketball; this explains why some of the guys held a basketball as you were walking towards the gym earlier. You can only sigh at the thought of chasing the ball because of your lack of physical ability; you can only hope that you don't hurt yourself.

After you warm up, the class breaks up into teams, and you somehow end up with a group of the competitive players. Before you can even get the chance to trade teams with someone else, you're dragged into a game, forcing you to put on a brightly colored jersey. With the game beginning, you have no choice but to start playing, hoping that you don't cause your team members to be to upset with you. However, the balls bounces into your hand, and you start dribbling down the court, trying to keep the ball in your team's possession. Your eyes dart between the positions of your team members before you attempt to pass the ball to them.

With the competitive air of the match, you don't notice a person in front of you attempting to trip you. It happens in an instant: one moment you're standing on your feet, but at the next moment you're on the ground. Thinking you can brush off whatever fall you just had, you attempt to stand up, but the sharp pain in your ankle stops you from moving. While you breathe through the pain, your ears don't pick up the sound of the whistle from you teacher and the steps rushing towards you.

"Are you okay? What hurts?" Luke's frantic voice throws questions into your ear as you stare at your ankle, trying to piece together where the pain comes from. In an instant, Luke's arms cradle your body in a princess carry, his forearms supporting your knees and your back. He quickly carries you towards a gym bench, carefully setting you down. His eyes seem to sweep over your body, checking every inch for a scratch or bruise. You hear him mutter something under his breath as he checks your ankles. Without a moment to spare, you notice his back turns towards you, his body crouching down and ready for something. "Climb on. Your ankle might be sprained," Luke explains in somewhat cool manner. After you climb on and make your way to the nurse's office, you fail to notice the eyes of the entire class staring at you two.

The air feels cool as he runs through the halls, safely navigating through the maze of the school. As you finally get a chance to breathe on his back, you notice the sharpness of the pain mellow out into a throbbing one, making your fingers cling tighter to Luke's shirt. Your head buries into his shoulder while you try to get used to the pain. "It's okay. It's okay," Luke repeats in a soft tone, seemingly trying to comfort you. You can't tell if it's because he's running or the adrenaline still in your system, but you hear Luke's heart beating faster normal.

Before you know it, Luke drops you off in the nurse's office where the nurse kicks him out to properly evaluate you. As she takes an initial look at your legs and ankles, she attempts to start a conversation. "So Rosa, you and that boy are awfully close?" she questions, her eyes focuses on your leg to determine the issue. You feel your cheeks heat up before you can answer properly.

"He's just like a brother to me," you answer, trying not to make eye contact with her. Briefly pausing her inspection, her lips pull into a flat line, making her seem like she doubts your statement. Within an instant, her lips return back to normal before the room falls silent.

Outside the door, Luke leans against the wall, catching his breath. Although he has carried you plenty of times, his heart can't seem to slow down. While he waits to hear the results of your condition, his mind wanders to your condition, if it's worse than he thought, and if you'll be okay. He slaps his head slightly once he realizes his thought.

"She's basically my sister," he mutters to himself, excusing how much he's worrying about you. "It's not like I like her in that way." As he returns back to his thoughts, his thoughts can't help but think about you: your warm breath against his neck, your small hands clinging onto the fabric of his shirt, and your tiny figure that makes it easier to carry you. A small smile unknowingly grows on his face as he thinks about the small details about you, his eyes trained on his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.

When he finally pulls his eyes away from his fingers, he looks up towards the ceiling, his head resting against the wall; his mind is still thinking about you and the details on your face. He finally snaps out of it and processes what just happened, making him bury his face into his hands and knees. The blood running to his cheeks warms his palms with one thought running through his mind: "I like her that way, don't I?"

⭐⭐⭐

Okay, I'll admit: this could've been better, but I think that we need some cute, fluffy moments every once in awhile. I hope you enjoy this one, and I'll see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Vyn Opening Up

(Definitely not edited)

Oh ho? Writing about a super deep topic? Either way, I'm back to write another Vyn headcanon! For this one, I drew inspiration from Kaguya-sama because let's be honest: they have a lot of great ideas for romance and stuff, especially with the couples in the show. However, this topic leads to several different ideas that I had such as Vyn actually being able to express himself or just starting to feel comfortable and relax.

In the end, I think I ended up with the one idea you'll read because I think that it's shorter. Although the other one works just as well with the topic we want to talk about, I think it deserves to be written better and be more expressive in terms of what we see from the relationship; basically, I would want to write it as a proper fanfiction rather than just the quick headcanons that I write. With that aside, I hope that you enjoy reading this!

For the timeline, I think that this should be around the beginning of your relationship since I feel like this would be established well before you guys get engaged. Also, Vyn's partner can be anyone including Rosa, so that means whoever you are, you can imagine that it's you and him! Alright, let's get to the story!

⭐⭐⭐

She would never love me like this.

Those word ring through his mind as he carefully adjusts the clothes on his body. Although you two already confessed weeks ago, he can't help but feel doubtful about himself as a lover. He knows that you were being truthful about your feelings that day, yet he doubts that you would love the other sides of him: the side that made everyone in his home country reject him, the side when he's stressed, and even the side when he's slightly irritated. With these sides overwhelming him, he wishes he could just let them all out and expose himself to you.

He can't lose you though. After everything that has happened, all he wants is for you to be by his side, but he can't let the one he wants nearest to him to see his weak side because no one would like it. Plus, no one wants to see a tired person after such a long week; he needs to hide it.

"Dr. Richter!" you call out when you spot him in the lobby of your building, but you falter when you notice his tired expression. "Dr. Richter?" Your steps approach him before your figure stops in front of him. When he turns to look at you, the dark eye bags under his eyes contrasts his pale skin, making the concern starting to bubble inside you. He gives you a small smile, hiding the exhaustion from the week.

"Hey, how are you?" he asks quietly, the fake smile extending to his eyes. You look at him, noting his tired golden eyes blink as he looks back at you. Although you haven't said anything to him, you have noticed his tired eyes for a few weeks now, and you're starting to feel restless with what has been happening.

"I'm okay. Are you okay though?" you ask, choosing your words carefully. Your hand slightly reaches to his cheek, feeling the dryness of his skin against your hand. With a frown on your face, you place your hand on his forehead, concerned about him getting sick. His hand reaches up to grab yours and brings it down from his forehead, staring at it and squeezing a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answers softly, not making any eye contact with you. Your mind races as you try to figure out how to help him before a plan forms in your head. Deciding to act on it, you grab his hand and tug on it. His eyes meet yours, slightly confused as he tries to piece together your actions.

"Let's head back," you whisper, swinging your interlocked hands. With a sigh, he stands up and nods in agreement, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. With another slight tug, you two walk back to your apartment, the sounds of the city filling your ears. Although you guys didn't share any words, the silence surprisingly does not feel awkward like it needs to be filled with conversation. Besides, Vyn's thoughts consume his mind, and it seems like he wants to sit with them for a bit.

The moment you step inside the apartment, you immediately drag Vyn to the couch. Despite his confusement, Vyn willingly follows you, taking a seat after you tap the couch cushion besides you. Watching him, you notice his eyes rarely meet yours, making you concerned. With a squeeze of his hand, he looks up at you before sighing.

"Vyn, be honest," you start, hoping for him to open up about his feelings. "Are you feeling okay?" With Vyn's gaze on you, he smiles slightly before squeezing your hand, trying to reassure you.

"I'm okay," he answers with his eye smile. "Don't worry about me, okay?" Although he normally answers well enough to hide his feelings, you know that he's lying to you, and his answer blatantly reveals his feelings. With a huff, you can feel the anger boiling your blood, and Vyn keeps his eyes lowered. As much as he can hide it from you with his words and actions, his eyes would reveal everything to you in an instant. You tug at his hand again, prying an answer out of him.

"Please just tell me," you mutter, looking at your intertwined fingers. You can't help but feel slightly upset that he insists on being strong in front of you. Deep inside, you know that there is something troubling him, and you want him to feel comfortable enough to talk about it with you.

"I'm serious," he answers, squeezing your hand. "I feel fine." That makes you hit your breaking point. With an angry huff, you look at him with a pout, ready to lecture him about how keeping everything bottled inside will make him feel worse. However, you try to keep your anger at bay; there's no way he would immediately feel comfortable with your request, so you need to take baby steps.

"As much as you're going to try and convince me that you are okay, I can tell you aren't," you start, clearly explaining the situation from your perspective. Despite the anger that wants to come out of you, you know better than to explode at him for his feelings. "I've been worried for weeks about this, and I just need you to understand that I'm here for you. You might not feel comfortable to talk about it, but I just want you to know that I'm here to listen whenever you want someone," you continue after a shaky breath, your eyes still looking at your intertwined fingers. "Please," you whisper, "don't try to hold it all in." The anger inside you dissipates to sadness as you work out your feelings over the topic. You shoot him a small smile which Vyn returns with a sigh.

"Alright then," Vyn responds back quietly, brushing away the strands of hair away from your face. "I didn't want to bother you with this problem since I thought you only wanted to see the stronger side of me." He reaches for your other hands, forcing the two of you to directly face each other on the couch. "I'm sorry that you have been so worried about me," he apologizes as his thumbs run over the back of your hands. You watch him bring your hands to his lip to kiss them before tugging gently on them to close the distance between you two. His arms wrap around you as he gently rests his chin on your shoulder. Despite your flushed cheeks, you wrap your arms around his neck, your fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head.

"Tired?" you whisper into his ear, your hands gently smoothing the strands of his silky white hair down. You feel him nod into your shoulder as his hands gently lower to your waist. In an instant, you feel his hands grip your waist before moving you towards him, settling your figure close enough that your legs legs are touching. With his sudden actions, your cheeks happen to become redder than before, leading to you hiding your face into his shoulder.

With a shaky breath, he asks, "Is it okay if we can talk about it?" Shocked, you pull yourself away from him to look at his face. When you two make eye contact, you notice the honest gleam in his eyes, making you smile a bit. You nod a bit before you rest against him again. Although he feels scared to admit his weakness to you, your words were enough to ease his worries a bit; he's definitely not close to completely opening up to you yet, he feels comforted to witness your willingness and care.

For the rest of the time you're together, Vyn speaks in a hushed voice as he conveys his feelings without the restraint he normally shows. Although he decides to not reveal certain details, the weight of keeping it to himself finally lifts off his chest.

Maybe it's okay to be weak in front of her.

⭐⭐⭐

And that's a wrap! I was kind of hoping that this one would end up better, but it is what it is. This is what I get for not thinking things through, but I still hope that you liked this one! I'll see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Your Wedding Without Luke

(Definitely not edited)

I promised myself I would never write an angsty headcanon, but here we are... I swear someone's going to riot because of this, but we're going to write it anyways. (I'm so sorry Luke stans...)

Here we go though. For context, someone made an Instagram reel where an "unconventional" practice is to leave a seat open for the deceased... I think you know where I'm going with this, so let's just get to the story. Hope you enjoy this one!

For the timeline, let's skip to a few years ahead of the game (since we all know Luke's timeline). I think we should just assume the year 2040 and you're Rosa just to be safe.

⭐⭐⭐

Staring at yourself in the mirror, your nervous heart pounds against your chest. While your fingers play with the fabric of the skirt, your mind can't help but wander to your current situation: you're getting married. Although you knew that you wanted to get married from a young age, it feels surreal that you finally found someone to spend the rest of your life with, but it isn't the way that you imagined.

The knock at the door pulls you away from your thoughts, and Kiki's head appears behind the door. You give her a small smile before she enters.

"How are you feeling?" she asks quietly as she carefully shuts the door behind her. Trying to compose yourself from your thoughts, you sigh before answering her.

"Nervous, but who isn't nervous on their wedding day, right?" you honestly answer her as she approaches you with an expression that seems to say "fair enough." You notice how the bridesmaid dress suits her well and smile at her. "You look great in your dress by the way," you comment, and she responds with a helpless smile and shaking head.

"Not as great as you," she responds back as she sits on the couch behind you, playing with the hem of her dress. With the silence that overcomes the room, your mind wanders back to those thoughts, and you decide to voice them, knowing that Kiki would reassure you

"Do you," your voice falters for a moment before continuing, "think that it is right for me to do this?" Biting the inside of your lip and glancing behind you, Kiki looks at you with a slightly sad smile, knowing exactly what you meant to ask. With a heavy sigh, she stands up and grabs your hands, gripping them tightly in an attempt to boost your confidence.

"I think this is the right thing," she answers quietly and carefully, trying to respect your thoughts and feelings. Your mind immediately thinks back to your promise to him before everything happened, and you try to bite back your tears, trying not to ruin the meticulous makeup on your face. If I go, I want you to be happy; I want you to find someone else who can make you smile a lot, alright? Those words in your mind repeat as Kiki continues speaking. "I understand that it's hard because you miss him so much, but I think he would want to see your smiles than to see you crying in pain," she continues, trying to keep it together. "As much as you want him, you know that you need to move on."

"I know I have moved on though; I have someone I'm about to marry," you reason mostly to yourself, "but I still love him." Your voice reduces to a whisper, admitting your feelings. The tears slowly well up in your eyes, and Kiki immediately reaches for a tissue to dry them up for you. Silence returns to the room as you feel like you're betraying him.

"You know," Kiki responds as she continues to dry your tears, "it's possible to love more than one guy. You're marrying someone who accepts you even though you're struggling; he knows that you love him even though you feel like you're betraying your first love." Your mind can't process Kiki's words as you're trying to regain your composure. Her hands continue to dry your eyes as she continues to explain, "If it makes you feel better, no one is going to blame you for betraying him; they want you to be happy. You're going to miss him, but there's nothing wrong with missing someone you've known all your life, alright?" Her words finally process in your mind, sniffling as you contain the sadness in your heart.

"You really think so?" your shaky voice whispers, the words barely able to come out of your throat. Kiki's confident nod eases some of the conflicting feelings in your heart, and you're finally feel the air moving in and out of your chest as if you weren't breathing in the first place. With shaky breaths, Kiki gives you a soft smile, cleaning up the last of your tears before squeezing your hands again.

"It's time," a voice at the door calls, and Kiki acknowledges them before looking back at you.

"Ready?" she asks with a barely audible tone. You only have enough courage to muster a nod before Kiki walks with you to the aisle.

The first part of the ceremony blurs by your mind before you finally come back to your senses. Your eyes nervously look at the aisle in front of you as your father looks his arm with yours.

"Don't worry," he whispers. "You're doing great sweetie." Hearing the aisle music you planned previously, you manage to look up, swallowing the nervousness in your throat. However, your eyes catch something in the corner. You initially blink, thinking your vision is starting to fail you at a young age, but he's still there. At the empty seat you left in the front room, a suited male stands in front of it, and your eyes immediately tear up when you recognize the figure. Everything's the same from your memories of him: his warm smile, the sturdiness of his shoulders, and even his eye smile. The warmness of his aura brings tears to your eyes as you realize that you're learning to let him go; even though he's gone, he'll always support you if that means you putting him aside in your mind.

Walking down the aisle, you can feel your future husband's gaze on you, knowing that the pain you feel can only fade and that he'll support you anyways. However, you also feel your first love watching you like a guardian angel, taking in how you finally found another person to make you happy like he did. Although the music plays around you, you hear his voice telling you that it's okay that this is happening and how happy he is that you found someone else that loves you.

Reaching the altar, you somehow find the raging feelings in your heart calming down, the nervousness slowly dissipating from your body. You know that you'll miss him no matter what. You know that your heart will always long for him, but your heart eases knowing that he loves and supports you. As you take your future husband's hand and squeeze his, you know that this is what he would've wanted. You can only be honest with yourself in your thoughts before the officiant starts talking.

"I love you, Luke. I always will."

⭐⭐⭐

Oh man. I was tearing up writing this to be honest, but we'll find out who really started bawling. (Hue hue.) Either way, I hope you liked this one, and I'll see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Promise Rings Chapter 8

(Definitely not edited)

Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 7

And we're back! The work has died down momentarily, so I can put some more writing on the internet (huhu). Anyways, I think it's time for another chapter of Promise Rings because I'm pretty sure I haven't posted another chapter in a hot second, so oops...

Anyways, new chapter with new adventures! I hope you like this one!

⭐⭐⭐

Age: 15

I could only close my eyes from the pain in my back as I tried to hold back my tears. I tried to control my breath to make the pain settle down, but the pain didn’t go away. It’s too painful to ignore.

“Oi, is everything o-” I heard the door swinging open and the sound of footsteps stopping. I willed myself to look at the guest at my door to see Tobio watching my figure closely. For a moment, he stared at me before carefully placing himself beside me on the bed. “Is it your shoulder?” he whispered as he checked my condition. I nodded, hesitating whether I wanted to tell him how I really felt.

“I’m not really sure why they hurt,” I muttered as his fingers carefully grazed over my shirt to check for any abnormalities. His fingers suddenly stopped on a spot between my shoulder blade and the spine, and I froze as he started to feel around the area.

“Karin-chan, what did you do during PE yesterday?” he questioned as he grabbed my shoulders to spin around.

“We did some water polo stuff like throwing the ball to a person-” I started, and I watched his face morph into an annoyed expression. “Wait, are you saying that I threw my shoulder out from that?” I questioned.

“Did you stretch properly because it feels more like you might have tore a muscle?” he shot back at him, and I slowly lowered my gaze. Well, he caught me, and I could feel his hard gaze on my head. “Karin-chan, I thought I told you to always stretch before PE,” he scolded me, and I started playing with my hands. He sighed, making me look at him. “Well, since you should get that checked out,” he started again, “what do you want to do? I’m not letting you go outside because, knowing you, you would want to do something active, but you need to let your shoulder heal properly if it’s what I think it is.” I pouted, trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

“Movie?” I questioned, looking outside the door to see the TV not being used at all. He shrugged, accepting the idea.

“I know your legs are fine, but can you get up?” Tobio questioned, knowing that I often used my arms to boost myself up from sitting. I carefully tried to get up but felt some pain from slouching. He carefully placed his arm around my waist to give me some support. With the extra support, I managed to straighten my posture but continued clinging onto him. Slowly, he guided me over to the couch before letting me go and walking towards the TV. “Which one?” he questioned as his hands picked through the long line of movies nearby.

“Ponyo,” I immediately answered. He chuckled at my answer as he picked it out of the group.

“Why am I not surprised?” I heard him mutter, and I started to feel tired holding the good posture for so long. Once he started playing the movie, he sat down beside me, and I rested my head against his shoulder. “Does it feel okay?” he questioned as his eyes ran up and down my body to check for any issues.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I responded as he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it over our legs. “It feels like only my back needs to be straight, so I can still move my head,” I described as I felt his arm across my back. He nodded as he patted my head slightly. He turned towards the movie, and we quieted down in order to relive the story again.

Age: 16

Silence filled the room as we sat in silence and worked. While this was a rare occurrence, I definitely took advantage of it and worked on whatever I could while Tobio was occupied. While I stared at the essay that was due in a couple days, my eyes seemed to skim over the words quickly, my finger following the words.

“Karin-chan,” Tobio called for me from the bed. At first, I could barely hear it as I focused on the essay. From the corner of my eye, I notice Tobio pull up a chair and sit in it. “Karin-chan,” he called again, poking my cheek for my attention.

“Hm,” I barely hummed as I began revising a sentence, making my words more concise. I was too in the zone to specifically figure out what he needed.

“I’m tired of working,” he complained, trying to rest his head on the back of the chair. Although we’ve only been hanging out for a few hours, we have been only working on homework since he came in. I paused my work to look at him briefly.

“Tobio-kun, we need to finish our work,” I reminded him as I glared at him before returning my attention back to the screen to continue revising. I hear him huff and try to call my attention again. I proceeded to ignore him to make it clear that we were supposed to be working and not chatting. Considering that we were nearing the end of the school year, we needed to keep up our efforts to finish with high grades. From beside me, I hear him complaining about the workload as I neared the end of the essay.

For the final time, he called out with a pout, “Karin-chan.” I decided to give in and expected to glare at him. However, he surprised me with his face a few centimeters away from me. I froze in my spot as I tried to process what was happening. For all I knew, I could feel my heart beat out of my chest and the blood flooding my cheeks. “Can we take a break please?” Trying to calm myself down, I could only bring myself to nod, and I took my hands off the keyboard. I watched his eyes light up as he noticed my actions, springing up from his chair. He reached into his bag and immediately grabbed out the volleyball.

“Practice?” I questioned him, a bit confused. He nodded, his energy through the roof. I sighed and stood up from my desk and followed him into the backyard for some practice.

~~~

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the day. As soon as the teacher finished class, I quickly packed my bag and plugged one earbud into my ear, listening to a playlist that Karin made. She insisted that I listened to these songs in order to get used to listening to English. Today was one of the rare days that practice was canceled, and I was going to walk home with her. I quickly walked through the hallways, getting to the exit to catch up with her. At the gate of the school, I noticed Karin-chan with earbuds in, texting on her phone.

“Karin-chan!” I called out from a few meters away. The song changed, and a few guitar strums played in my ear before the lyrics started.

Do you hear me? I’m talking to you. She seemed to move in slow motion as she pulled out an earbud and turned towards me. Her hair seemed to perfectly fly over her shoulder as her eyes met with mine. I never noticed how big her eyes were in comparison with some of the other girls in the school.

Across the water, across the deep blue ocean. Her paler skin contrasted her dark eyes and hair. Her nose came to a soft point, and her pink lips were slightly open as she stared at me. Even from a distance, I could notice her soft gaze on mine. Her head seemed to tilt as she noticed me just standing there.

Under the open sky. Oh my, baby I’m trying. The school uniform seemed to fit her body perfectly: her skirt didn’t seem too long, and the black blazer that matched her eyes sat comfortably around her shoulders. Her slender fingers seemed to lightly hold the earbud as the wind seemed to blow through the area, making her hair fly with the flow.

Boy, I hear you in my dreams. She pulled the other earbud out of her ear before she started coiling the wire around her phone. Carefully, she placed her phone into her bag before she tucked a few strands behind her hair.

I feel your whisper across the sea. As she approached me, she seemed to radiate maturity from just her walk. I felt my heartbeat against my chest as I watched my childhood best friend started running towards me.

I keep you with me in my heart. The pounds of my heart matched her feet hitting the ground as her hand raised up to make sure I knew she was there. I watched a bright smile grow on her face as her eyes crinkled to the point she couldn’t see much. I smiled back at her as time seemed to keep slowing down.

You make it easier when life gets hard. She suddenly leaped to stop her momentum, making her land in front of me. However, the momentum she built up was a bit too much, causing her to stumble forward slightly. Immediately, my hands went out to catch her, one holding onto her wrist and the other landing in between her shoulders. Her hands landed on my shoulder and chest, and she looked up at me with an innocent aura. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Was Karin always this pretty?

“Hey, Tobio-kun!” she greeted me as I helped her stand up on her own feet. She smoothed down her skirt before asking, “Ready to go?” I could only nod as she hooked her arm with mine and started dragging me off of campus. I looked down at her, and something in my heart swelled.

I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend. 

~~~

I watched the ball float through the air before curling down towards me. I quickly shifted my feet and quickly set the ball to Michimiya-san, our captain. I watched her hand quickly slam the ball into the court, scoring a point. The whistle was blown, and we looked at the score: set 2, 25-23; we won our first practice match of the season.

“Aw yeah!” Watabe-san cheered as we jumped around. We began high-fiving each other before we lined up for the end of the match. While we lined up to give our thanks to the cheering section, my eyes caught Tobio’s figure in the stands. I noticed him staring at me, and I gave him a small smile before I bowed with the rest of the team. When I looked up to find Tobio again, I noticed that he disappeared from his spot in the crowd, making me confused. Turning around, I sulked over to grab my stuff, giving myself the small signal out of habit. Looking up, I spotted Tobio standing by himself by the entrance. When he noticed me looking at him, he waved me over, and I rushed over to him.

When I ran over to him, I jumped to hug him, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around my waist as he muttered into my ear, “Congrats, Karin-chan.” 

Smiling widely, I whispered, “Thank you, Tobio-kun.” I rested my head on my shoulder, snuggling my face into the crook of his neck as I found Tobio not resisting the skinship before I felt some eyes on my back. Turning around towards the crowd behind us, I saw the team staring at us, and I quickly scrambled out of Tobio’s grasp and stood on the floor.

“Get a room you two!” Michimiya-san yelled from the bags. The entire team laughed at our antics as my cheeks started to redden.

“You would’ve done the same with Sawamura-san, Michimiya-san!” I yelled back at her. Even from a distance, I could tell that Michimiya-san’s cheeks were turning red and burning up. She quickly turned around and continued packing up her bag, appearing extremely flustered. From behind me, I heard Tobio chuckle as he rested his elbow on my head, leaning onto me.

“You weren’t kidding when you said that Michimiya-san really likes Daichi-san,” Tobio admitted, whispering into my ear. Laughing a little, I nodded slightly. I felt his hand move from my head to my shoulders. I felt my cheeks heat up a little from the contact. “Anyways,” Tobio started again, “you ready to go get some food?” Looking over at me, I looked back at him and nodded, trying to cover up how shy I was getting. He released his arm off of my shoulders before I ran over to the team to grab my bag.

“So you’re going on a date with Kageyama-kun, Yamaji-chan?” Watabe-san questioned with her teasing tone. Aside from my cheeks, I felt the heat in my ears as I comprehended the word “date.”

“I-It’s not a date!” I refuted, my voice a little too loud. I realized I caught the attention of some people including Tobio, and I flashed everyone an awkward smile before looking down, trying to hide my face. Around me, I heard the girls giggle along with the coaches.

“Now, now,” Aihara-san caught the team’s attention, “let’s give Yamaji-chan some breathing room before she gets too hot and flustered around Kageyama-kun.” She giggles as she teases me more. Feeling somewhat betrayed, I finished fixing my bag before giving my farewells to the girls.

As I walked further away from the group, Megumi loudly called out, “Have fun on your date, Care Bear!” Her loud voice echoed against the spacious area of the gym, scaring me for a moment. Turning my head to glare at her, I notice all the girls giggling at my reaction. Before I could say anything in response, I felt something warm grabbing my wrist to turn me around before feeling Tobio’s arm around my shoulders. In the background, I could hear all the girls squealing, and as much as I wanted to turn around, Tobio forced me to keep looking forward. With the weight of his arm, I felt myself leaning forward with the extra weight sitting on my shoulders.

As we were walking out the gym into the golden hour of the day, Tobio’s arm fell off my shoulders as we began walking home. After all the comments from the team, there was no way I could face him right now; I betted my cheeks were extremely red right now. My eyes were lowered to the ground, trying to avoid any sort of awkward moment with Tobio. I felt something warm in my right hand, causing me to look up.

“Oi, I know that you’re thinking about the match, but you can’t get lost,” he responded as he placed our hands into his hoodie pocket. Nodding, I let him cling onto my hand as we walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the last sunlight beams of the day. “Oh yeah,” he started again, “what’s up?” 

Laughing at how he just remembered our routine, I responded, “There are some things that I could work on, but that’s just because it’s been awhile since my shoulder injury.” He nodded in response as we continued our way down the street. “Oh right!” I suddenly remembered. Turning his head towards me for a moment, he gave me some affirmation that he was listening. “Someone confessed to me earlier today,” I nervously chuckled a little. Over the past year at Karasuno, a few guys had confessed, but I wanted to try dating while I was still young. I felt his hand slightly twitch against mine before squeezing it a little tighter.

After a moment or two of silence, he finally whispered, “Did you accept?” Gulping for a second, I nodded; I had accepted fully knowing that I had no chance with Tobio even if I tried. The guy just loves volleyball so much, and this guy was kind of cute. Plus, holding hands and hugging is normal between friends, right? Honestly, I can’t just wait for him to fall for me anyways. “Well,” his voice began trailing off, “congrats, Karin-chan.”

“Thanks,” I whispered as I felt his hand release mine. I slipped my hand out of his pocket as we continued walking in silence. The atmosphere was almost suffocating even though we breathed in the clean air.

“So who is it?” Tobio questioned, finally breaking the silence.

“Just a classmate,” I responded quietly. I didn’t bother telling him who exactly it was, knowing that he could care less. Feeling his radiating anger, I closed my mouth, and we continued walking in silence. How come he was so quiet from this? Jealous.

⭐⭐⭐

Okay, I think this is a good stopping place for this chapter. I know that this chapter is shorter than normal, but I guess it is what it is. Anyways, I hope that you liked this chapter, and see you in the next one!

Next: Promise Rings Chapter 9

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Cooking For Artem

(Definitely not edited)

YEAH BOIIIIIIIIII! IT'S OUR FAVORITE SENIOR ATTORNEY, MR. ARTEM WING'S BIRTHDAY! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Okay, so I wanted to write something for Artem's birthday that is coming up (April 26th) because why not? Anyways, I know that I haven't written anything in awhile, but I hope that this kind of makes up for the sudden increase of workload. Either way, I hope you enjoy this one!

For our timeline, you can basically imagine any timeline. Whether you want to be dating, married, engaged to him; imagine this however you would like to. Also, I would like for you to imagine that you're working at Themis as Artem's partner if you decide to not be Rosa.

⭐⭐⭐

"How come you're yawning so much?" Kiki asks you in the middle of her story. With the new case that you and Artem received a couple days ago, you two are both swamped with work, trying to sort out the paperwork and known evidence. As much as you love working here, it definitely needs a lot of time and effort to get it done.

After taking a sip of your fresh coffee, you look at her to explain, "Mr. Wing and I just started a new case, so we needed to put in some overtime to get through what we wanted." Kiki only nods in response before taking a sip of her coffee. Suddenly, you notice the confusion in her eyes.

"I don't think that explains why you're so tired though?" she asks, staring into the reflection of her coffee to put the pieces together. "Even if you and Mr. Wing work overtime, he would make sure that you two get home decently on time," she continues before squinting at dark circles, "and you seem to be yawning more than the previous times that you two worked together into the night." You look back down at your coffee cup to hopefully hide your face a little; you didn't want her finding out about your plan and blurting it out to the entire office.

"Y-Yeah, I just didn't sleep well," your voice trails off before you take another sip of coffee. Although you can't exactly see her face, Kiki's studying eyes seem to bore a hole into your forehead. When you finally pull the coffee cup away from your face, Kiki's eyes seem to widen, seemingly putting the pieces together.

"Did you prepare something?" she asks teasingly, poking at your arm. With the blush in your cheeks, you realize that she knew your plans. With a sigh, you can only nod at her response where she excitedly places down her cup and claps her hand like a child who just figured out the hardest math problem in the homework. "What did you prepare? A gift? Or something more?" she begins bombarding you with questions, trying to figure out more about your little surprise. Suddenly, her voice seems to cut off, and you watch her freeze up in front of you. "G-Good morning Mr. W-Wing," she greets, stuttering on her words. Confused, you turn around for your eyes to meet with a familiar chest.

"Good morning," Artem greets with a slight nod. "If you don't mind, I would like my partner for the new case we're working on." Kiki can only nod and excuse herself awkwardly before escaping the senior attorney's gaze. You look back at Artem confused before he looks down at you. "Sorry to disturb your conversation, but I think I found another clue for the case," he explains briefly, catching your attention. The two of you start walking back to his office as you discuss the details.

"Does it regard the testimony of the main suspect?" you question, your thoughts returning to the case. Artem nods to confirm your suspicions before explain his train of thought. While you try to keep your mind on the task at hand, you feel the drowsiness catching up to you, making your steps slow down. Before Artem catches you lagging behind, you try to catch up to him again, but you awkwardly trip over your own feet, causing you to yelp slightly. Closing your eyes to brace for the impact of the hard floor, you feel yourself hitting a softer surface, hands on your arms and a familiar scent hitting your nose. Opening your eyes, your eyes land on the fabric of a suit, making you rush to stand.

"Are you okay?" Artem asks worriedly, looking over your body to visually check everything. Feeling the blood rush to your cheeks from the situation, you can barely give him a verbal response and look at him, making you choose to nod instead. With a sigh of relief, Artem appears to relax a little before checking you one more time. "Did you not sleep well last night?" he wonders aloud, and you're sure that he noticed the dark circles under your eyes.

"I slept well, but I guess I didn't sleep enough," you answer carefully, your voice small enough for only Artem to hear. Artem shakes his head helplessly before you two step into his office. The thud of the door shutting wakes you up slightly, but you can't help but to yawn and take another sip of coffee.

"It is nearing the time for lunch, so maybe you need some energy?" Artem pieces together before grabbing his phone from his desk. "Let's order some food, so we can eat twelve. Do you want your usual order?" he asks, scrolling on his phone screen. With your tired brain, you just process the situation, making you wake up instantly.

"A-actually, I don't think we need to order anything," you suddenly state, making him looking up from his phone confused. Without another word, you walk towards your bag and rummage through the contents from the specially packaged items. With your back facing towards him and his eyes on you, the nervousness finally hits you; you can only hope that he likes your little surprise for him. Your hand brushes against a familiar fabric texture and holds onto it. Carefully, you begin to dig it out of your bag, making sure your wrapping doesn't get too ruined. When you lift the two surprises out of your bag, you turns towards him, and his eyes stare at the two items in your hands confused.

Before you get the chance to explain yourself, Artem suddenly pieces the clues together, "Did you wake up early to cook for us today?" When he completely figures out, you can only nod at his response.

"I decided to cook today since you always cook for us and handle my meals even though that's supposed to be my responsibility," you explain quietly. With a small pause, you realize how the air in the office turned awkward, making you explain yourself further. "W-well I technically didn't really cook much; I only made the rice, cut up some vegetables, cooked it together with some meat, and arranged it. It really isn't much compared to what you do, but I just wanted to return the favor after everything you've done for me," you ramble quickly before realizing that you just made the situation even more awkward. In an instant, you try to hide your face and clear your throat. "W-we don't have to eat it if you don't-" you shyly start again before Artem cuts you off.

"You cooked for me?" Artem whispers, his tone reflecting his touched and confused feelings. You nod again at Artem before you hear his steps approach you. The load in your hands seem to lighten, and you see one of the lunch boxes you packed in Artem's hand. "Let's just eat here then," he softly offers, a small smile on his face. You nod with a smile on your face, feeling slightly relieved that he accepted your gift. After unwrapping and reheating the food, you two are seated on the couch and eating the meal you prepared. However, there's a slight problem: you messed up the seasoning; you only realize it after you take a bite and realize how bland the meal is. Sadly, Artem already had a couple bites while reading the document on his tablet, making you cringe at your mistake. You can only await his comments about the food, making you try to distract yourself by reading a document for the case.

An awkward silence lands over you as you nervously scan through the lines of the document. Although you feel like you need to break the silence, you know that it would still be too awkward for you. The most you could do was to shovel your bland stir-fry into your mouth and to cry internally about forgetting to season your own food. Seriously, how do you forget to season vegetables and meat? While you're mentally kicking yourself about this, you manage to not hear Artem trying to call your attention to the point that he needs to tap you on the head. When you realize what just happened, your cheeks burn red from embarrassment. Trying to compose yourself, you look up to see Artem staring at you blankly.

"W-what is it? D-did you f-find anything?" you stutter out, making you internally scream at yourself again. At the worst possible moment, your tongue slips on the syllables of your words, and you can only hope that Artem notices your nervousness.

"Not yet," he answers softly, "but you have been awfully quiet. Is everything okay?" Of course, he would notice; the top attorney of Stellis would definitely notice any abnormal behavior out of his partner.

You only sigh in defeat before you admit your mistake: "I forgot to season the food, so I just gave you bland food." You want to bury yourself into the ground, so your embarrassment can disappear. However, Artem's reaction catches you slightly off guard.

"The food was fine," Artem responds in an attempt to ease your feelings. "Yes, it was bland, but that's an easy fix compared to cooking it incorrectly." While honest with your cooking, you can't help but feel him picking at his words to not offend you. Because of this, you still feel upset about your lack of memory and don't notice him watching your face twist at your cringe. He carefully sets down the empty container and gently places his hand over yours. Not expecting his warm hands on yours, the blood suddenly rises in your cheeks, and your heart pounds against your chest. "Bland food is better than burnt food. I'm just glad that someone even tried to cook for me, alright?" Artem comforts you as his fingertips slightly press into your skin. You can only nod at him and not make eye contact, slightly relieved by his reaction.

"Next time, I'll make you something better then!" you promise out loud, finally making eye contact with him. With a bright smile on your face, his eyes widen in shock before a moment before returning your smile. His hand squeezes yours for a moment before letting go and turning his body towards you.

"Maybe you should try to cook when we're not overloaded with a case. I know you forgot to add the seasoning because you didn't get enough sleep last night," Artem reasons, patting your head. In shock, you stare at him, trying to piece together how he figured it out.

When you get stuck, you finally ask, "How did you know that?" Your eyes try to blink the tiredness away from your eyes as he stares at you with a smile on his lips.

"I know the work we have to do, and we're partners. Do you really think I wouldn't be able to figure out that you didn't sleep enough after seeing you get more coffee?" he asks. Trying to figure out how he knew you grabbed more coffee for yourself, he awkwardly clears his throat to cut off any questions you have, "I mean, you rarely get coffee around noon since I tell you that I'm going to order lunch soon." Understanding his logic, your cheeks grow red from embarrassment as he seems to read you like a book. Hiding your hands in your face, you hear Artem move off of the couch for a moment and walk to somewhere near his desk. You look over at him as he searches for something in his closet.

"Do you need any help looking for something?" you ask cautiously before standing up. You are about to walk over to him when he finally pulls out a folded blanket from the closet. Glancing over at you, he shoots you a small smile before closing the door and walking towards you.

"Lay down," he tells you, and you can only warily relax your body on the couch. He sits down beside you before unfolding the blanket and covering your body, adjusting the edges of the blanket to cover the entirety of your back and shoulders. "Take a rest. I have energy because of your food, but you must be exhausted from cooking in the morning," Artem quietly explains as he carefully tucks a pillow underneath your head. Before you can protest that two minds are better than one in the new case, he cuts you off, "Not having enough sleep will impede your logic and thinking. It's best if you sleep and let your mind process it for a bit." While you acknowledge that his explanation makes sense, you can't help but feel like you're not doing your part of the work for the case.

"But I want to finish another part before I rest," you complain quietly, almost feeling your lips pout. Although you want to keep working, your body feels warm under the blanket, slowly lulling you to sleep. "I should at least finish reading the document," you mutter out as you curl up under the blanket. Within another minute or two, your mind already eases your thoughts into silence, and you're sleeping soundly with the blanket covering half of your face. When you stop talking, Artem glances over to see you sleeping peacefully like a child and chuckles at you. His hand carefully brushes your hair away from your face, and his voice quietly mutters something.

"Thank you for today. Sleep well."

⭐⭐⭐

Okay, I'll admit that this one is really sweet. I swear someone is going to get diabetes from reading these sort of things lol. Anyways, I hope you liked this one! I know that this isn't exclusive to Artem's birthday, but I still wanted to write something sweet because it is his birthday. Anyways, I hope to see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Promise Rings Chapter 7

(Definitely not edited)

Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 6

Back at it again with another chapter of Promise Rings! I once again apologize for not posting this earlier. I know that I even have the whole thing written, so all I need to do is copy and paste onto here; however, work just increases at times, and I'm currently in the middle of that work peak. These are going to be slowly coming out, but hopefully I can still release these more consistently.

Anyways, we are only about a tenth through the original document. (Yeah, we've only gotten through 10% of the entire thing.) That's crazy to me because there are people who are actually reading it, so thank you guys for that! Alright, it's time for the new chapter, so I hope you enjoy this one!

⭐⭐⭐

Age: 15

“I don’t get it though! Why do I have to be teammates with him?” I asked, slightly aggravated from the surprise encounter with the small boy from middle school. I think his name was Hinata? “It’s not like we’re going to play together all the time, right?” I questioned again as she could only sigh at my thought process. “What is it?” I knew she wanted to say something but wouldn’t let herself unless I stopped. I watched her eyes stare into mine as she seemed to be thinking.

“Just because there’s a possibility that you might not be playing at the time, that doesn’t give you a reason to not try to be friends with him,” she reasoned calmly, and I could only bite the inside of my lip at her words. I knew she was right. She was always right about these things.

“But Karin-chan,” I started whining slightly. She glared at me as she knew what I was trying to argue back with her.

“I get that you’re not exactly sure how you can get close to Hinata after the whole third year thing, but you need to at least tolerate him,” she scolded me, and I stared at my hands. “Plus, I see no problem with getting a new partner to spike your serves,” she reasoned again, and I could only huff in anger. I didn’t want her to be right. “You also need friends that aren’t me because I know for a fact that people are going to get the wrong idea,” I heard her mumble as I looked up to see her playing with her friends.

“But this kid seems annoying,” I sighed, trying to excuse myself from having to be friends or at least acquaintances with him. “And I don’t need other friends,” I mumbled more to myself as the conflicts started to make me question my behavior.

“Just because he’s annoying, that doesn’t mean you can’t at least tolerate him enough to spend a lot of time with him,” she sighed out. “This is high school; we should try to at least be different by the end of it.” I felt my shoulders drop, letting her input mesh with my reasoning. I sighed knowing that her reasoning made more sense than my irrational thoughts in this current moment.

“But how do I become friends with him?” I asked her, giving into her opinion. “I had three years to get close to my teammates in Kitagawa Daiichi, but here we are.” I heard her take a deep breath as a silence fell over us. Even though I felt slightly uncomfortable with her being so silent, I let it sit for her to think.

“I think that’s something for you to figure out, Tobio-kun,” she responded, breaking the silence. I glared at her as she seemed to refuse to give me an answer. When she felt my gaze on her, she glared back at me. “You need to get better at getting closer with people,” she bluntly stated, and I could only shy away at her statement.

“Why do I need to do that when I have you?” I quietly muttered to myself, but she somehow heard me. She huffed out, her way of trying to calm down from yelling.

“Because we both know that I can’t always be with you,” she answered simply. I sighed as I watched her eyes drift to her hands, knowing how she felt about the statement. Her fingers played with each other as she seemed like she wanted to avoid the topic or just the mere thought of being separated. I guessed it was only because we have been close together all this time, so it would’ve been weird to be apart, right?

~~~

“Hey Karin-chan!” I heard a faint voice call from a distance. I stopped and turned my head to the source of the sound to see Tobio rushing up to me in his uniform, his black volleyball team jacket hanging from his arm. I completely turned around before waving at him. He stopped in front of me, his hand on his bag.

“What’s up, Tobio-kun?” I questioned, tilting my head slightly. I watched his cheeks turn red, most likely from running around so much.

“Look at the new jackets they have!” he excitedly pointed out, lifting up the jacket. I chuckled at his behavior as I admired the simplicity of the jacket. “Oh wait!” he calls out. Looking up at him confused, He holds the jacket out behind me, motioning me to put it on. Hesitantly, I slipped my arms through the sleeves, my fingers just barely being exposed. Tobio’s hands slightly adjusted the jacket onto me before he zipped the zipper up.

“Why am I wearing it?” I questioned him as he was beginning to roll up the sleeves. For a moment, he didn’t answer, concerning me about his real intentions.

As he patted my head, he answered, “Because I don’t have somewhere to put it. And also because you always complain you’re cold.”

“They blast the AC, I swear!” I retorted, gaining some warmth inside the jacket. Somehow, the jacket already smelled like him even though he just got the jacket yesterday evening. After he zipped up the jacket, he began to walk away. For a moment, I stared at his figure before I called out, “Boke, your uniform!” He turned towards me, confused at my call. Walking over to him, I looked at his collar and shirt; as per usual, it appeared a little untidy. I felt his eyes on me as I buttoned up one more button on his shirt and smoothed his collar down. When I looked up at him, I noticed him staring down into my eyes, and I quickly looked away and rubbed the back of my head. I felt my cheeks warm up, probably from the cold. “Anyways,” I start again, awkwardly chuckling, “let’s get going? It’s getting a little cold.” He hesitantly nodded before walking with me into the building.

I swore, every time we walked in anywhere, eyes were literally watching us. I got the normality to look at the person who just entered, but their gaze was different from the various identity questions; it looked like they were looking at some popular couple, and there was no good way to fully explain the feeling. With our conversation, I could feel their piercing gazes into my back as I laughed at one of Tobio’s jokes.

“Oi,” I called out after glancing at the time on my watch, “you’re going to be late if you don’t start walking over now.” He rolled his eyes as we continued walking towards my classroom. For some reason, he started walking me to all of my classes ever since he found out that some of the seniors were bothering me for my number. Tobio is strange sometimes. 

“I insist on walking you to your desk,” he responded to my reminder. Right, they would bother me until I sat down at my desk. We arrived at my classroom and walked over to my desk before he decided to finally leave. “I’ll see you during break?” he confirmed as he was adjusting his bag. Nodding, he gave me a small smile before patting my head and running off to class. I began getting ready for class as I heard some steps approaching me.

“Yamaji-san!” one girl’s voice called out. I looked up from my desk to see my deskmate, Kimura-san, approach me. Waving at her, she sat down on the desk beside me before she questioned, “Are you dating anyone?” For a moment, I hesitate at her words; why would she ask me something like this?

Looking up for a moment, my gaze shifted to Kimura-san who was staring at me before responding, “No, why?” I watched her think for a moment before she formed her response.

“Oh, I thought you were dating Kageyama-san,” she responded as she was rummaging through her desk for her workbooks. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat when I heard his name. Looking at her, I stared in disbelief. This is what people were thinking about whenever they saw us together?

“O-oh, Tobio-kun and I are just really close friends,” I responded to her answer, trying to cover up my little stutter. Crap, she’s going to notice. “We’ve been friends since preschool, and we see each other as brother and sister,”  I continued, hopefully covering up my little mishap.

“Ah, is that the case?” Kimura-san answered. “But here you are wearing his jacket?” Kimura-san pointed out. I glanced away for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse for the jacket.

“He just lent me the jacket for a bit since I kept forgetting mine,” I answered, trying to not have anything suspicious against me. “And because I’m always cold,” I muttered quietly, hoping that she didn’t hear my voice.

“So you guys have a platonic relationship?” she questioned as she turned her head towards me. Nodding, she then proposed, “Then maybe you can introduce me to him. He is pretty cute.” Shocked by her answer, I stared at her. This has happened in the past where a girl would want to get close to Tobio through me, but most of the time he would reject them anyway. However, I felt my heart do something in my chest when she mentioned wanting to get to know Tobio; I shouldn’t have to feel like this since he was his own human being. He’s free to do what he wants, but why do I not want her to get to know him?

“I’m not sure you want to try and date him, Kimura-san,” I answered cautiously. “His only main focus is volleyball, so I wouldn’t recommend it.” At least I didn’t completely lie about it: Tobio really does focus a lot on volleyball, on and off the court. Waiting for a response, I decided to take a sip of water from my canteen.

“Are you just saying that because you like him?” Kimura-san suddenly questioned. I choked on my water for a moment before coughing. Glancing at Kimura-san, her eyes stared at me intently, expecting an answer. 

“N-No,” I stuttered in a short response. Stupid stuttering. “I just know him well enough to know his reaction,” I explained as a way to cover up  the stutter that I briefly obtained. She glanced amused at me before she burst out giggling. Looking at her with confusion, she finally calmed herself down enough to talk.

“Oh my god,” she managed to get out between laughs, “Megumi-san was right. You are really obvious.” I stared at her in disbelief as I watched her hold her stomach and squat over the ground.

“I am not!” I felt the heat in my cheeks rise and redden as I tried to defend myself, “and also, I don’t like Tobio-kun in that way!” Kimura-san started laughing even harder as she processed my words.

“Don’t think I don’t see the way you guys look at each other!” she responded. Placing my hands into my face, I felt the cold of the ring against the skin on my face, and my face started to cool down slowly. Once she finally calms down, she takes a deep breath before adding quietly, “Plus no one even thinks about trying to approach you two anymore because of that.” Wanting to ask her what she meant by that statement, my train of thought got cut off by the bell ringing. I listened to my classmates scramble to their seats as the teacher walked into the room. Getting comfortable in my chair, I placed my face inside the jacket and inhaled Tobio’s scent, feeling my exhale warm my face again. Do I like him, or do I love him? Questionable.

~~~

I hated periods with a passion with the amount of cramps I got from just existing. I curled up in my bed as my hands clutched onto the blanket. I would’ve gotten up to grab an Advil, but I used the last one last month and forgot to buy more. As I began punching my pillow from the pain, my phone began to vibrate on the bedside table. I reached over to grab it, revealing that Rei-chan was calling me. I tried to hold back the pain as I answered the phone.

“Hey, what’s up?” I questioned as I felt myself curling into myself.

“Where are you?” she asked as I heard the girls’ team practice in the background. I could only nervously chuckle before I answered.

“Cramps,” I simply stated, knowing that she would know exactly what I meant. “I have no pills to relieve them too.” I heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. I didn’t receive an immediate response, so I waited for her to say something back; she seemed to be talking to someone else with her.

“Alright then,” I heard her voice a little louder as she seemed to return to the call. “Do you want me to stop by with some Advil?” she questioned as she seemed to rummage through her bag.

“No, you live in a different direction, so don’t worry about it,” I answered and reasoned, knowing well enough that I just need one pill in order to relieve the pain. However, the pain was still bearable enough to not be completely immobilized.

“Fine, but I’ll ask Kageyama-san to go check on you,” she answered as I could imagine the smirk on her face. I rolled at my eyes, knowing what the tone of her voice meant.

“Okay, fine. Good luck at practice,” I responded before I quickly ended the call. I placed the phone beside me as I tried to hold out on the pain. A minute later, I heard the front door open and shut quickly before footsteps pounded against the floor. The door suddenly opened, revealing a sweaty Tobio.

“Okay, why is Rei-san spamming me with messages to come check on you?” he questioned as he studied my appearance. “Did you get sick or something?” he muttered quietly as he sat on the bed beside me.

“I just have cramps, Tobio-kun,” I answered as he briefly placed his hand on my forehead to take my temperature. I blushed at the gesture but covered it up as I calmed myself down. “She was probably just overexaggerating it,” I muttered as he stared at me in confusion. When he processed my words, he sighed in relief as he laid on my bed.

“She texted me like you were about to die,” he answered as he finally managed to catch his breath. I laughed at his reaction to her text.

“What were you expecting from Rei-chan?” I questioned as I turned towards him carefully, trying to ignore the pain.

“Everything she said,” he answered as he sat up after a few breaths. He ran his hand through his hair as he seemed to space out. I lightly smacked his head to bring him back to reality. He shot a glare at me as he slightly rubbed his head. “Well, what do you want to do?” he questioned as he sat cross-legged on my bed. “I didn’t run here with food and stuff just for you to kick me out after,” he explained as he knew that I would kick him out.

“Don’t you have practice though?” I questioned as I checked the time.

“Cancelled,” he quickly answered. “Everyone needs a break after our practice matches from yesterday.” I nodded my head as I looked down at my hands to think of some activities. “What should we do about your cramps though?” he questioned as he eyed me questioningly.

“I think I’ll be fine doing some stuff,” I answered, not completely sure if I wanted to actually do anything. “It just hurts like hell. That’s all.” He nodded as he comprehended my answer. For a moment, we made eye contact, and we seemed to understand what we were going to do. He held out his arms, and I slowly scooted closer to hug him. His arms wrapped around me to keep me against his chest.

“Hopefully, my residual running heat can help a little,” he muttered into my ear as he carefully patted his fingers against the fabric of his shirt. I released a small laugh as I hooked my chin on his shoulder. My cheeks heated up as I understood the position we were in, but he hugged me back which helped me hide some of my embarrassment. If Rei-chan caught me doing this, she would more than definitely take pictures to send to the group chat. I closed my eyes as I enjoyed his warmth for a moment before I heard my bedroom door open. In an instant, we pushed off of each other to look at the door. I noticed Rei-chan with a small smirk on her face and a plastic bag hanging on her fingers.

“Well, hello lovebirds,” she greeted as the smirk on her face grew larger. I playfully rolled my eyes at her before I responded.

“Hey, and also, we aren’t lovebirds,” I shot back as I glanced at Tobio quickly nodding at my response.

“Sure, sure,” she brushed off my answer as she handed the plastic bag over. “Here’s some Advil and some snacks. I know you already have food, but sometimes chips are just the way to go.” She added a little wink, and I scoffed at her behavior before peering into the bag. Inside, I found what she was talking about but also found a small silver square. I glanced between her and the bag before I decided to confront her.

“Rei-chan, why is there a condom in here?” I questioned as I held the square between my index and middle finger. I squinted my eyes at her as I tried to read her face. I noticed her trying to stifle a laugh as I continued staring at her.

“You seem like you need it more than me,” she answered as her laughter died down, a smirk growing on her face. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a small blush growing on Tobio’s cheeks as he stared at the foiled square between my fingers. I threw her a fake smile before I threw the square at her.

“Rei-chan,” I started with a laugh as I noticed her flinching from my throw. “I haven’t done it yet, so save that for your boyfriend.” She laughed awkwardly as she knew what I was talking about. I faked a smile as I watched her pick up the square from the ground and place it in her pocket. “Now, go home,” I told her. “Don’t think I didn’t know you ran here from school.” She rolled her eyes as she got ready to leave.

“Alright then,” she responded. “I’ll see you at school on Monday. See you guys!” She shut the door behind her, and I listened for the front door to open and close. I shook my head at her behavior before I peeked at Tobio. His cheeks were still red as he stared at the ground.

“Well that was interesting,” I heard her mutter as he trained his eyes on the lines of the wooden floor. I laughed at his reaction and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Rei-chan is just something else sometimes,” I added as I fished the bottle of Advil out of the small mound of chips she bought. I began opening it as I waited for Tobio’s response.

“Why did she think we would do it in high school?” he questioned as he looked up at me. I shrugged my shoulders as I opened the top of the bottle and shook out one capsule. 

“Rei-chan’s brain can be weird sometimes,” I responded as I reached for my water bottle on the nightstand. I popped the pill into my mouth before drinking the water, effectively swallowing the pill. I sighed as I shook my head. “I don’t know what goes through her brain, and I’ve played with her for so long,” I answered as I closed everything and placed them in their spot. From the corner of my eye, I noticed his head bobbing up and down at my response. “Should we watch a movie while eating these snacks? There’s a lot,” I questioned as I held up the bag for him to see. He shook his head as he noticed the amount of snacks.

“Those are all your favorites, Karin-chan,” he responded as he took a closer look at the contents. “Plus, I need to get ready for more practice games on Monday, so I need to stay in shape,” he continued, and I nodded as I understood his viewpoint. “Do you still want a hug?” he questioned as he held his arms out. I nodded quickly as I scooted back to my previous spot, letting his arms wrap around me. I hugged him back as I rested my cheek against his shoulder. For the rest of the day, we talked as he kept me warm, and eventually, the pain faded away.

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And that's a wrap on this chapter! This one feels pretty long, so I hope that you liked it! (I actually have no idea what's considered a long fanfiction chapter or if this is longer than my previous chapters lol.) Either way, Rei-chan is definitely an interesting one to say the least...? Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and hopefully I'll see you in the next one (if I can post it sooner rather than later next time)!

Next: Promise Rings Chapter 8

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: Artem With a Younger Sister

(Definitely not edited)

Okay. I know that officially Artem does not have any siblings (I think), but could you imagine how much sweetness there would be as the sibling of Mr. Wing, the youngest senior attorney in Stellis? Man, writing this one might make me think that I want to be his younger sister rather than a lover lol. Either way, I hope you enjoy this one!

For context, you're three years younger than Artem, so you're born in 2004. (Yeah guys. Artem was born in 2001 according to the timeline at the beginning of the game.) I'm also pulling your sibling relationship off of the Shirogane siblings in Kaguya-Sama, so there might be some parallels. (Please don't copyright me or get me in legal trouble ;-;)

(Spoiler warning because of Artem's third birthday card in the Chinese server)

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The little girl waits by the door of the classroom, trying to see her parents in the sea of people. One by one, her classmates wave her good bye, and she slowly loses hope in getting picked up today. Suddenly, in the crowd, she spots a familiar hairstyle; the young boy is slightly sweating from running as he frantically weaves through the crowd, trying to find someone. Instantly, the little girl's eyes light up, and she runs towards him.

"Artie!" she calls, her arms up and ready for him to catch her. He turns towards her and immediately catches her, picking her up. She giggles at the brief feeling of weightlessness before clinging onto her brother.

"Hey there, you little ball of energy! Did you say good bye to your teacher yet?" he greets before carrying her against his hip. Hesitantly, she shakes her head no before he walks over to the teacher by the classroom door. Setting her down, he reminds her, "What do you say then?"

"Thank you! Have a nice day, teacher!" the little girl exclaims before bowing, her brother following suit. With a bright smile on her face, the teacher bows back before the two are off walking home. He grabs his little sister's hand tightly, making sure she wasn't about to run off towards a distraction.

"Were you worried about Mom and Dad not picking you up?" he asks carefully as the two started walking on the sidewalk. The little girl nods slowly and pouts, looking at her feet kicking at the cement. Knowing that she feels slightly upset about not getting picked up, he attempts to make it up to her, "It's okay, mei mei (A/N: Chinese for little sister). I'll make sure to pick you up after my classes end; how does that sound?" He takes a step in front of her before squatting down to see her eyes. Although she tries to hide her happiness, she continues to pout her lips, but Artem can see right through her and decides to play along. "Wow, my own mei mei doesn't even want her brother around," he fake cries. "I guess I'll walk by myself."

As he fakes trudging along the sidewalk, his little sister runs up beside him and grabs his hand before trying to defend herself, "I do want ge ge (A/N: Chinese for older brother), but Mom and Dad didn't say anything about you needing to pick me up." She immediately notices her brother's face light up when she clings back onto him, and they continue walking home.

Although they are three years apart, the two siblings are very close with Artem often caring a little too much for his sister. Because of their parents' busy schedules, Artem often takes care of her even when the caretaker is there, making him an overprotective brother and her own personal bodyguard.

"Mei mei, how was your lunch today?" Artem asks, changing the topic of their conversation. When they almost approach the steps of the front porch, he suddenly remembers a detail from this morning.

"It was good!" she answers happily, making Artem's lips curve into a warm smile. "I know you cooked it though; the mapo tofu wasn't as spicy as the way our caretaker makes it." Immediately, she catches him red-handed. Although his cooking is not the best, Artem decided to cook their lunch since the caretaker wasn't feeling their best. This ended up with Artem staying in the kitchen late at night to make sure his dishes tasted good enough for his beloved little sister.

"Well I'm glad you liked it, mei mei," he responds, patting her head softly. Approaching the front door, Artem takes his set of keys out to unlock the door where his sister twists the door knob to open it. Inside, their eyes meet with two familiar backs. "You're back?" Artem asks confused as the pair starts taking off their shoes before stepping in.

"Yeah, the university let us out early for spring break, and the caretaker should take a rest," their mom answers, peeking behind her. After a quick glance at the two children, her eyes return to her hands lightly scrubbing the vegetables under the running water.

Their father silently cuts the freshly washed vegetables before he speaks up, "You two should go get cleaned up; you must be tired from school, but you must still have homework to do." With a quick glance to see the two nodding, he continues his knifework. The two siblings begin walking past them as they slowly unwind in their home.

"Mei mei, do you want to shower first?" Artem asks her as he helps her unpack her backpack. She nods before rushing to the shower. He sighs at her childness before he begins to work.

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And that's a wrap! This one is a bit shorter because of work and stuff, and I want to apologize for the bad quality; it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but what can I expect after being so busy, right? Maybe I'll come back to redo this idea or build the characters more or something. No matter how good or bad this was, I really hope that you enjoyed this one! I'll see you in the next one!

[nagisadelune]

Promise Rings Chapter 6

(Definitely not edited)

Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 5

ANOTHER ONE! Okay, I'm back with another chapter of Promise Rings! Once again, I apologize that this chapter is late; you know life gets hard with work and stuff you need to, but it is what it is sadly. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Age: 13

A box of Pocky dropped onto my desk as I stared at the paper. I looked up to see Rei-chan taking the chair in front of me.

“You know you should take a break every once in a while,” she advised as she took a drink of water. I rolled my eyes at her as I noticed the small smirk on her face. “By the way, you should go outside and share some Pocky with Kageyama-san. Maybe do the Pocky challenge too while you’re at it.” I felt my cheeks redden, but I brushed off her comment.

“No, it’s fine,” I answered after a long sigh. “Plus, he’s probably busy with the volleyball team.” Rei-chan awkwardly nodded before I heard a knock on my desk. I looked up to see Tobio holding a bento.

“Hey, aren't you going to go eat?” he questioned as he pointed to the bento. Glancing at my paper and back at him, I shook my head, knowing that I needed the extra time to study a little. He scoffed before grabbing my hand to pull me out of the chair. “No, you’re not going to get anything done with no food,” he scolded me. “No food, no fuel.” I closed my eyes and huffed softly, knowing that he was right. I quickly apologized to Rei-chan who had a smirk on her face before I grabbed the Pocky box and let myself get dragged by Tobio out of the classroom.

“Where are we going, Tobio-kun?” I questioned as he continued leading me to a more secluded area of the school.

“Opposite side of the courts,” he answered simply. I looked at him in shock as I realized how secluded we would be. One side of the courts faced the school buildings, meaning the other side faced the streets.

“And why are we going there?” I asked again as I felt my cheeks heat up. He was still dragging me by the hand before we arrived at our destination.

“Is it wrong for me to spend time with you?” he questioned back at me as he sat down on the ground carefully. As I placed myself down beside him, he explained, “Plus, everyone would ask you questions relating to classes which is what we don’t want.” I nodded, understanding his logic.

“Wait, I never grabbed my food,” I realized as I stared at the one basket of food we had between the two of us. He quietly snorted before he started pulling everything out.

“My mom made extra food for me to give to you,” he explained as he opened the tupperware. “Also, I know that you literally only eat a little when you should eat more,” he added as he handed me a pair of chopsticks. As I stared at the food, I felt my mouth salivating.

“Itadakimasu,” we stated in unison, pressing our hands together. We began to quickly eat as the food was slowly getting colder by the second. I didn’t realize how good food could taste at the moment after studying for so long.

As we finished the food, Tobio pointed at the Pocky box beside me before asking, “Is that Pocky?” Following his line of sight, I nodded when he correctly identified the box. 

“Yup, Rei-chan bought me some cookies and cream Pocky while she was buying some snacks earlier,” I answered, elaborating on the situation. He only nodded as he chewed on a cherry tomato. “You want some?” I questioned as I noticed his eyes continuously eyeing the box. He sheepishly smiled before nodding. I smiled back at him before I started opening the package.

“I’m going to go buy some milk really quick,” he announced to me as he stood up from his spot. “Do you want one?” he asked as he checked how much money he had. He glanced down at me before I nodded, and he hurried off to go buy some. I started to space out as my head started running calculations and stating facts, my hand absentmindedly grabbing a stick and eating the sweet biscuit.

“Karin-chan?” a voice suddenly questioned, snapping out of my train of thought. I looked up to see Tobio holding a carton of milk. His hand extended to hand me the carton before he returned to the spot beside me.

My hands were busy opening the carton when I apologized, “Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff.” I quickly took a sip of the milk before I looked over at him. He shrugged before I held the box out for him to take a stick. We talked a little as we continued eating the box before I realized there was only one stick left. However, I already grabbed it and placed it in my mouth before my brain processed it. 

“Shoot, sorry,” I apologized again as I already had claimed the stick. I scratched the back of my neck, knowing that this was one of Tobio’s favorite snacks. He looked at me for a bit too long before he seemed to react.

“Ever wanted to do the Pocky challenge?” he questioned as he stared me in the eyes.

“Huh?” was the only response that he could get out of me before he bit the other end of the stick. What was happening? Is this a dream or reality? My heart was beating hard against my chest as I realized what was happening. He seemed to move in slow motion as he bit the stick in pieces as he got closer to me. Crap, what do I do? What was I supposed to do? I could only close my eyes for the impact, but I felt nothing against my lips, making me open my eyes cautiously. He had already pulled away and was chewing the segments he bit off.

“What?” he questioned as he stared at me weirdly. “Do you have a fever or something? Your face is all read.” I needed to think of a response quickly; he can’t know that I even considered having feelings for him. Plus, my cheeks were probably only red from just the heat outside anyways.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, my tongue stuttering on my own words. He squinted his eyes on me before he placed his hand on my forehead for my temperature. I felt my cheeks heat up more as I stayed frozen in my spot from his actions.

“Why is your temperature normal even though your face is so red?” he quietly muttered to himself as he pulled his hand away from my head. I could only chuckle nervously at his response as I thought that he would become suspicious of me. He shrugged it off as he seemed to find no answer to my condition. “Anyways,” he started again, “you ready to head back? The bell is about to ring.” He held his hand out for me to grab, and I nodded, placing my hand in his to help me up. We quickly cleaned up the area before starting to walk back to the classroom.

When we arrived at my class, I turned towards him before asking, “Are we walking home together after practice?” He nodded with a smile before patting my head.

“I’ll come pick you up then, alright?” he confirmed, and I nodded at him with a smile. “See you later!” he called out as he started hurrying back to his classroom. He waved at me for a brief moment as I returned it, quickly turning around to get to class after. As I walked into the classroom, I noticed the smirk on Rei-chan’s face. I tried to ignore it as I sat down in my chair.

“Have a nice date with Kageyama-san?” she questioned as she set her chin on the palms of her hands. Her elbows were propped onto my desk as she feigned innocence with her blinking. I rolled my eyes playfully at her before I looked at her clearly.

“We just hung out; it wasn’t a date,” I responded, denying her statement for what seemed like the thousandth time I’ve used this answer. She sighed before she sat up straight.

“Thank me later when you guys actually start dating,” she muttered as I pulled out the workbook from my desk. I rolled my eyes again with a scoff as the bell rang for class to begin.

Age: 14

I watched the ball drop to the floor. That set was perfect, but no one was there to spike the ball. I realized what happened: they finally snapped. Glancing around the court, my eyes watched the coach switch Tobio out as the score gap increased. Nervously, my hand played with my ring.

The game was over, and Tobio gave no effort to give me the signal. On my own instincts, I left the stands and tried to catch up with him at the entrance. Jumping around, I stayed warm despite the spring weather. He walked out of the gym. I quickly reach out for him, latching onto his jacket sleeve. He quickly removed my hand before continuing his way with the rest of the team.

“Oi! Kageyama Tobio!” I yelled at him angrily, my voice attracting the attention of everyone within a few meters of the scene. His steps faltered and stopped before he turned around to face me. I crossed my arms across my chest, expecting him to approach me. “What’s up?” I questioned, making sure he knew exactly what I needed out of him.

“What school have you decided to go to?” he asked, trying to get the topic out of the conversation.

“Don’t change the subject,” I stated calmer, staring into his soul. “What happened out there?” I watched him hesitantly look around the area. I stared at him before he looked down at the floor.

“I broke,” he muttered, “but it’s their fault.” Biting my lip and closing my eyes, I grabbed his jacket and brought him to eye level. I looked between his two eyes and stared into them. Damn they were pretty.

“Boke, cut the crap. You know better than that,” I quietly growled at him. “We both know what’s best for the team, but then was not the time to be so aggressive about your views.” I heard him scoff before he broke my grasp. He stood up straight, and I looked up at his figure. Since when was he taller than me? I watched him look up at the ceiling before looking down at me for a moment.

“So I messed up,” he responded, “It’s their problem for not being able to keep up.” I could feel my blood boil and felt the need to punch something, anything just to get my anger out.

“Tobio-kun, you know better than that,” I responded to him in a calmer voice, still somewhat angered. I started feeling bad that I was letting my anger get in the way of our conversation.  His eyes slowly lowered to the ground as if he felt ashamed of letting his temper get in the way of our conversation. I heard him sigh before he scratched his head.

“Let’s just go home,” he muttered, letting his hand drop down to his side. He turned around before walking away. Staring at his figure, I realized how much of a guy he actually was: his broad shoulders, his long legs, and his toned forearms. Wait, now is not the time to be thinking about that. I snapped out of my daze and ran after him. I could barely keep up with his stupidly long legs. When he remembered my small stature, he turned around and waited for me to catch up. As he was waiting, he took another jacket from his bag and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you were freezing earlier,” he muttered as we began walking away from the gym.

The weather started to chill as we walked back home from the middle school. My hands felt like they could be chopped off at any moment, and I tried to keep them warm. Blowing my breath into them, nothing seemed to be keeping them warm.

“Oi, Karin-chan,” Tobio called out. I looked up at him, and he silently took one of my hands into his and placed them into his jacket pocket. “You’re going to get lost if you keep putting your hands to your face, boke.” He tugged on my hand to bring me closer to his side as we walked on the sidewalk. His hands and body felt warm against mine, probably from the game earlier. I felt my cheeks and nose go red from all the wind that was hitting our skin. Not from the sudden contact. “Let’s go get some street food,” he offered. “Our parents are probably pretty busy right now.” Giving him a small response, I shifted my attention away from the sidewalk in front of me to the ground. 

Why was I being so shy? This wasn’t any different from all the other times we have walked together. He does hold my hand sometimes, so I don’t get lost, but why could I feel my heart pounding against my chest so loudly? Why did it feel like there was something else that we hadn’t realized? 

“Karin-chan, is everything okay?” Tobio stopped, looking at me carefully. Why does him just saying my name make me blush? 

“Y-yeah,” I answered, “I-I’m fine.” Seeing doubt cross his face, he turned to face me and crouched down to my level, getting a good look at my face. As his face approached mine, I felt myself freeze, my heart skip a beat, and my breath hitch. Noticing my red face, he checked my temperature with his hand. Based on his reaction, I assumed he did not get any major temperature. I watched his face consider his options before reaching his decision. He turned around again before hurrying down the sidewalk.

“I think some takoyaki will solve the issue,” Tobio announced to no one in particular. From inside his pocket, I felt his fingers interlace with mine. Shocked and shy from his actions, I looked up at him, and he’s still just looking forward, moving forward. Were his eyes always that piercing? Was his hair always like that? Maybe I was falling for him. Realization.

~~~

“Okay, I got your text,” I explained as soon as I burst into the room. “What do you want?” Tobio just stared at me in shock as he blinked wordlessly at me. His legs were crossed on the bed as his hands stopped filing his nails. “Did you text me for nothing?” I questioned as I felt my blood boil slightly. We had finals in a couple weeks, and we needed to be prepared for the tests we had.

“Well, technically I texted you because I needed company,” he answered as he blinked at me again. “Plus, you’ve studied nonstop for the past three weeks; you need a break.” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he was right: all the studying was making me exhausted. He patted the spot beside him, and I walked over to plop myself on his bed.

“What are we going to do then?” I questioned as I knew that he probably didn’t completely think this through and that I needed to get back to going over my tests. His eyes glanced around his room before he looked at the nail file in his hands.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered as he held his hand out in front of him. Hesitantly, I placed mine in his, and I felt my heart pounding against my chest. Sure, he has held my hands a few times when we walk home from school in order for me to stay safe, but this was something different. Without another word, he started to carefully rub the course material against the nail. 

“So what do you want to talk about?” I questioned as I tried to break the awkward silence. For a moment, he trained his focus on my nails as he slowly shortened the nail down. Before we knew it, an hour had passed as he constantly stopped to hold a conversation with me. In the moments that he filed my nails, we sat in silence as my thoughts ran through my head.

“Is practice going well for you?” he asked as he grabbed my other hand to file down the nails. I could only shrug to his question.

“I mean it’s not too bad, but I’m definitely going to need some more practice to sync up with the other girls,” I muttered as I watched his head crouch down to get a closer look at my nails. “Oi, sit up straight and lift my hand,” I scolded as I kept an eye on his posture. He sighed as he complied to my words and readjusted himself.

“You know you can always practice with me,” he muttered as he slightly blew on the nail to blow away any shavings. I smiled at the idea that he offered.

“But the net is pretty high,” I argued, knowing that my practice might get messed up. He looked up at me annoyed, stopping the filing.

“It’s better for you since you could work on your vertical,” he argued back, and I could only sigh at his reasoning. He was right though; I did need to train my jumping a little bit if I wanted to be able to do anything on the court. When I was about to talk about my serving, he mentioned, “Just train your serves when you have your net up, or practice the accuracy of your serves. I know you switch up your serves between jump floating and floating from time to time.” I sighed as I understood that he was correct.

“Fine,” I muttered as he looked up to give me a quick smile, “but we need to get food then.” He finished filing my nails as he leaned back against his arms to stretch his back out slightly. 

“Fine by me,” he answered as he rotated his head on his neck. “It’s nice to go get food with a friend.” I felt my heart drop slightly as I comprehended his words, but I held a fake smile to agree with his statement; eating out with a friend is way better than eating alone. I guess I was still considered a friend, but at least he even considers me a friend after everything that happened in middle school. “Anyways, can you help me with this problem in math?” he suddenly questioned as he lifted himself off of the bed.

“Sure. Which one?” I questioned as I stood up to follow him to his desk. He grabbed the chair beside him and scooted it closer to him before I sat down. He placed his jacket on my legs as he noticed the bare skin. For the rest of the night, he forced me to help him with studying which was honestly a better review for me to explain the topics to him than to just stare at a piece of paper and the computer for a few hours.

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And that's a wrap on this one! Thank you so much for reading, and please give me a like; it lets me know that people actually really do enjoy reading this which makes me more motivated to post. Either way, I hope that you liked this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!

Next: Promise Rings Chapter 7

[nagisadelune]

Headcanon: You and Vyn on a Work Date

(Definitely not edited)

I think it's about time I wrote something for Vyn... Yeah, I think I should write this one about Vyn. As much as all of the guys would do this, I think it would be nice to see a softer side of Vyn aside from him challenging Rosa's knowledge, so let's do this!

I was inspired to write this one because I recently cut my hair to have curtain bangs, and let's just say that I had a bit of trouble getting used to them since they get in the way sometimes. (Probably TMI, but eh, whatever.) Either way, I hope you like this one! (In advance, I apologize if this one is shorter than the other ones since this headcanon really isn't much to work with in the first place.)

For the timeline, you can imagine an established relationship after first anniversary, so the relationship is relatively new. Also, the relationship can be you; it doesn't have to be Rosa, but I do need you to imagine that you have longer bangs!

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The calm silence settles between the two of you while your eyes quickly skim over the lines on your tablet. Despite the hard work week you had, you somehow managed to find some time to visit Vyn at his residence for a date, but it ends up with the two of you sitting on his couch working; considering the current workload of your jobs, it's a miracle that you guys could even spare some time to visit each other for a bit during the day. The scent of the black tea he brewed earlier wafts into your nose as you start taking notes on the page.

Vyn works on studying his patients' cases in the comfortable silence sitting between you two, studying the symptoms from observations. However, his focus doesn't last long as he watches your focused eyes reading. While he wants to ask questions about you, he decides against it to avoid distracting you, leading to him watching every subtle movement you make. Captivated by the way that your lips purse when you're thinking about the statement you just read, he can't help but to focus on you rather than the files on his tablet.

"What is it?" you ask after you notice him staring. Your hand scribbles a note down as you wait for his reply.

"Nothing," he answers simply before you feel his eyes look away from you. Although you doubt his answer, you shrug it off as you continue to work again. Your hand slightly tucks a strand of hair behind your ear when your eyes return back to the page. As the stylus in your hand twirls in circles, you feel Vyn's gaze on you again. You look over at him while he turns his head away from you. Sighing, you return back to your work, not noticing the strand of hair you tucked away falling in front of your face again.

A moment later, you feel a hand caress your ear, tucking the hair behind your ear. With the soft finger pads slightly touching the shell of your ear, you look up to see Vyn carefully pushing the hair away. In his other hand, his fingers pinch a small clip that he carefully pushes into your hair. When he releases his hold on the clip and your hair, your bangs are clipped away from your eyes, letting you see better.

"Is that okay?" he whispers, checking around your head for any other strands that might interfere with your vision. With your cheeks turning a bright pink, you nod your head, feeling nervous with the physical touch just then. Quickly turning your head back to the tablet, you hear him chuckle before turning his eyes away from you. Although you try to focus your mind on your work, your thoughts and eyes wander before meeting Vyn's figure besides you. In an instant, you have an idea.

"Dr. Richter, does your hair often get into your eyes?" you question curiously. Surprised, he looks up at you before setting his pen down to give you his full attention.

"Not always, but occasionally it does," he answers clearly. "Why do you ask?" Although you originally didn't think this far ahead, you figure that you did bring up the question rather suddenly.

You decide to follow up with a question: "Would it be okay if I tied up your hair?" Initially shocked, he quickly recomposes himself and nods at you. While you move the hair tie on your wrist to your fingers, he awkwardly bends down to help you, making you giggle a little. Although the proximity of his warm breath near the skin of your shoulder makes you blush, you diligently gather his hair in front of his face before carefully wrapping and looping the hair tie around the small ponytail you made. When you finish, you pull away and almost burst out in laughter from his silly hairstyle.

"Does it look bad?" Vyn questions, trying to figure out why your face is turning red. You can only manage a strangled hum as you basically lose it: your laughter coming out in little spurts. When you finally recompose yourself, you look him into his eyes before bringing your face down and laughing again. The little ponytail you made for him stands at the edge of his hairline like a unicorn horn, the ends curling towards his forehead.

"I-I swear y-you look g-good," you manage to get out in between your laughs. While your back hunches over to hide you smiling face, Vyn frowns at you slightly, still puzzled about your reaction. He then pulls out his phone to take a look before giving a helpless smile to himself.

"Do you have another hair tie?" he asks, a plan starting to form in his head. You manage to stop laughing enough to answer and pull out a hair tie from your purse by your feet. "Is it okay if I touch your hair again?" he carefully asks, his hands stopping midway between him and your hair. You nod before he starts tying your hair in the same hairstyle. When he finishes, you take a look at your hair, realizing that you two have the same hairstyle, making you start to laugh again. On the other hand, Vyn just smiles slightly to admire the work he did on your hair.

As your miniature fit of laughter finally dies off, it finally puts a stop to work for the two of you; you finally let go of work to relax a bit. Because of this, you finally feel the exhaustion hit you, making you fall asleep when Vyn steps out for a phone call. Walking back in about to ask about dinner, he spots you sleeping on the couch, curled up into the cushion. After setting his phone down, he grabs a blanket from one of his closets before laying it over you, making sure your entire body is covered by the thick fabric. He smiles, seeing your cheek pressed into cushion and no wrinkles on your forehead. While he would stay with you, Vyn decides to let you sleep peacefully, returning back to work besides you.

⭐⭐⭐

And that's a wrap! I feel like this one was really short because work dates are often very monotonous (I think), but I hope that this one was still relatively cute in terms of what happened! Whether or not you think it was cute, I still hope that you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next one!