(gn reader / hurt/slight comfort / 1.3k words) while playing the subway game, arisu catches a glimpse of his missing lover (or i rewrote that one arisu and usagi scene) very slight s3 spoilers ahead!!
sunset. rays of golden light stretch across the land. hues of pink and orange decorate the cloudless sky. skyscrapers stand tall along the horizon, light glinting off their glass windows. a cool, gentle breeze blows through the air. it rustles the tips of overgrown grass in a nearby field they wander past. you would love this view.
ARISU RYOHEI unconsciously reaches for his front pocket. he had made a habit of keeping the device in the front of his jeans since he had gotten pitpocketed during a morning subway rush. you had laughed when he got home that night, promising that you would file a police report the next morning. arisu never did get his phone back but it didn’t matter when you bought him a new one a week later, wrapped in a little gift box and presented with a bright smile.
but his phone isn’t in his pocket. it’s resting on ann’s side table, face down, left in a haste somewhere in the real world. arisu’s steps falter only for a moment but that doesn’t prevent the concerned glance nobu sends his way. a pang of sadness makes his heart hurt. dread settles into his stomach. he feels sick. arisu stares at the ground sadly. one step at a time, he promises. just one more step and then i’ll find you.
arisu stops in his tracks when he sees it: a small, white sign, sitting in the middle of a nearby subway entrance. the lights in the station are off. the stairs lead downwards into darkness. written on the sign, in thick, black lettering, reads three simple words: GAME ARENA AHEAD.
“we’re here,” rei remarks from behind him. she crosses her arms over her chest, shifting her weight between her feet. arisu stares straight ahead, eyes trained on the sign.
arisu purses his lips. he swallows his fear, clenching his trembling hands into fists. fear has no place in the borderlands - especially not when he has people relying on him. instead, he pushes his anxiety down and takes a step closer. “let’s go in.”
the arena is simple enough. the subway station is identical to all the others in tokyo, save for the lack of people. if arisu closes his eyes for long enough, he gets lost in time.
it had been just after your first date. what was supposed to be a quiet dinner had accidentally become an hours-long outing. you had chatted in the restaurant until the wait staff began giving you looks and the migrated to the city streets, talking the night away beneath the moonlight. arisu held your hand for the first time that night. your skin felt warm in his as he interlinked your fingers.
the station was quiet that night. it was the early hours of the morning. night shift workers were just now returning. stars still twinkled brightly in the night sky. clubs began turning the music down as drunken crowds filtered out into the night, waiting to be picked up by awaiting taxis.
but arisu was on a subway, holding your hand. he bit his lip to hide his smile to little avail. you hid your own behind your hand, trying to avoid eye contact with the businessman judging you in the corner and the nurse resting against the window. that was the night arisu knew: he never wanted to let you go.
but that day felt like lifetimes ago. years had passed since that moment. now, arisu stood in that same, empty subway with a pit in his stomach and the promise of death awaiting.
the subway arrives quietly. it comes to a slow stop on its wheels; the machinery sighing beneath its own weight. behind him, arisu shares a nervous glance with shion. she simply shrugs her shoulders, looking towards the opened doors.
“do we go on?” natsu asks. she glances around the group for confirmation that doesn’t come. “i mean, the doors are open.”
tetsu is the one who moves first. with a deep sigh, he warners forwards, taking a step onto the subway. “no sense in staying here,” he says. silently, arisu follows. he steps over the gap, following tetsu into the car. the others filter in as well, grabbing onto the handrails or leaning against the walls.
the game was simple enough. move between subway cars. wear a gas mask. decide between life or death. arisu bites his tongue. lets others speak. pushes his thoughts of you away just long enough to focus on the game. there has to be a way to win, after all. the creators don’t leave anything simply to chance.
it had started easy. put the mask on, insert the canister, hold your breath. arisu keeps his eyes trained on the caged canary, letting the little yellow bird confirm their decisions. it was easier than watching the newfound friends he had made. makino squeezes her eyes shut each time, clinging to the cool metal railing. rei pretends to be unaffected, but he can see how her hands tremble slightly. nobu stands perfectly still, eyes closed, but breathing steadily, as if he’s accepted his fate.
the doors fly open with a crash as the gas clears. arisu blinks. the bird lays on the bottom of the cage - dead. two more cars. one canister left. arisu waits for a few moments, then removes his mask. the others follow suit, hesitantly taking in small breaths of the air. then-
“arisu!” it’s you. your voice almost sounds foreign after days of missing you. the sound is so quiet he almost misses it. the wind beating against the subway’s doors echoes throughout the tunnel, loud enough that it drowns out almost every other noise but you persist. you yell louder now. desperate. “arisu!”
arisu’s eyes widen. his heart leaps into his throat. his breath catches as he gasps, stumbling towards the gap in the door. he barely remembers to grab onto the railing, clumsily holding it with one hand.
the wind sounds louder than ever when he leans out of the doors, desperate to be closer to you. you’re wearing the clothes you had left in that morning, though now they’re more tattered and dirty. you scramble towards the doors, mimicking his own actions. you reach your hand out, reaching towards him.
arisu blinks his tears away. he thinks of tempting fate - jumping across the gap despite everything that tells him he won’t make it there - but quickly abandons the idea. there’s no sense in being dead. especially not here.
your fingertips just barely brush against his own. after so long, your touch feels electric. and then, just as soon as it was there, it’s ripped away once again.
it happens in a flash. “watch out!” nobu’s voice rings in arisu’s ears. there’s a pair of arms around his middle, tugging him backwards. arisu only catches a flash of the pillar the subway blows past. the tracks split around it, sending your subway turning to the side whilst arisu’s continues barrelling forwards.
“no!” arisu scrambles back to his feet, but it’s too late. your subway is gone, replaced now by a flashes of the wall as it rushes past. he takes a shaky breath, leaning his head against the side of the subway doors. “no,” he whispers.
hesitantly, nobu rests his hand against arisu’s shoulder. he offers a few comforting pats. arisu appreciates the gesture despite how awkward and stilted the movement is. “it’s okay, arisu,” nobu says. “we’ll find them again.”
“he’s right,” makino is by his side now, kneeling down on her knees. she holds her hands out as she coaxes arisu back to his feet in that comforting way only she can. her hands feel warm despite the cold air. “we won’t stop looking, i promise. but we need to go, now.”
arisu’s chest tightens. he grits his teeth, standing up on shaky legs despite himself. he can’t give up now. not when he’s this close. “okay,” he nods. “let’s go.”
notes: please leave feedback if you enjoyed!! so happy s3 is finally here, kento yamazaki how i love you so, getting back into my aib phase prepare to be sick of me, title from NCT U - faded in my last song
if you enjoyed this fic, please consider leaving a like, comment, or rebloging !! and if you want to support me, check out my aib masterlist <33
i've never known someone like you / tangled in love, stuck by you
pairing: arisu ryohei x gn!reader (no pronouns used) genre: fluff word count: 439
notes: this is 100% self indulgent bc i love kento yamazaki so much, begging and pleading on my knees for more arisu fics pretty please, not my best work honestly, apologies about my inconsistent posting lol uni is hard ://, not proofread !! pls forgive any mistakes, title from beabadoobee - glue song
ARISU RYOHEI looks like little more than a heap of messy, black hair laying beside you. his chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. soft breaths occasionally escape his parted lips. his arm stretches across the expanse of your mattress; his fingertips are just barely able to reach the curve of your waist.
his body seems to glow beneath the golden glow of the morning sunlight. summer had returned, bringing arisu’s tan skin back with it. in the silence, the rest of the world fades into the background. reaching up, you brush the hair away from arisu’s face. you tuck the longest strands behind his ear, leaving the rest to settle against his nose bridge. gingerly, you begin to trace your hand against arisu’s face. your thumb brushes against small patches of acne scars littering his cheeks.
your hand falls lower, now running down his neck and tracing against the edge of his shoulder. your fingertips trace against the curve of his collarbones and dance along the skin of his bare chest. arisu flinches slightly and then stirs at the feeling. though he doesn’t open his eyes, you don’t miss the way a deep flush spreads across his cheeks and the tips of his ears.
goosebumps rise along arisu’s skin as your hand trails even lower before finally settling against his waist. you trace miscellaneous shapes against his skin, taking the time to admire the man before you. arisu’s lips have curved upwards slightly into the faintest smile.
you shuffle across the sheets, closing the gap between your bodies. leaning in, you press a chaste kiss against the corner of his lips. “good morning,” you whisper.
arisu squeezes his eyes shut. he groans quietly as he wraps his arms around your waist, finally opening his eyes. he squints, doing his best to make out your figure before him despite his tiredness. “can i have a real kiss?”
you hum, pulling away slightly. arisu reacts almost immediately, tightening his grip around your waist ever so slightly. “i don’t know, ryohei,” you say teasingly. you cup his face between your hands, holding his jaw between your fingertips. arisu’s gaze flickers down to your lips momentarily before returning to your eyes. “you haven’t even said good morning yet.”
arisu pauses, then smiles. he chuckles softly as he wraps his arms around you, tugging you into a tight hug. this time it’s him who reaches up to cup your cheek as he leans in to rest his forehead against your own. “good morning,” he murmurs. he barely waiting a second before he’s pulling you close, finally pressing his lips against your own.
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(gn reader / comfort / 916 words) after finding himself stuck in the borderland once again, arisu finds comfort in your presence
ARISU RYOHEI grew up wrong. that’s what his father had always said: never strong, never smart, never worthy. wrong. the spitting image of his mother and the opposite of his younger brother. he had drifted away like you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once. arisu became a ghost in his own home, too wrapped up in his own head to care about anything else. his grades slipped. work became a fleeting hypothetical. money was sparse and spent quickly. and arisu didn’t seem to care.
he was a teenager when it started - barely into his first year of high school. it was after a long night of studying. he slipped out of the classroom, wandered past the janitor, and eventually ended up on the roof. the air was cold enough to send chills down his spine but it made him stop thinking for a while.
that night, arisu sat on the ledge of the school’s roof for hours. he contemplated jumping, a few times, but talked himself out of it. it was too much spectacle. too much pressure. too little guarantee. and, despite it all, arisu ryohei didn’t really want to die.
karube joined him sometimes, chota almost never. but it was a habit arisu had kept up on especially late nights after everyone else logged off of his games and he was left with nothing to shield him from the darkness. and now, more than ever, he found himself returning to his routine.
returning to the borderland was never part of arisu’s plan. truthfully, he had forgotten about the experience. being hit by a meteor was easier to handle than the constant promise of death and loss. arisu had moved on. he enrolled into a university and attended class regularly. he found work at a shitty convenience store. at least once a month, he bought flowers and returned to a nearby graveyard, updating karube and chota on his life.
and yet, here he was, stuck in the inbetween once again.
arisu had slipped away seemingly without notice. the mall was big and newly renovated but without the lights overhead it was easy to disappear. your group had made a makeshift shelter in the center of the room, adjacent to a non-working fountain.
your friends had sprawled out across the floor, some curled up together while others sought solitude. nobu was the closest to you. he had balled up his baby blue jacket, using the fabric as a makeshift pillow. shion and natsu sat on a set of nearby steps, their conversation muffled by their soft voices. itsuki pushed more noodles into yuna’s bowl, ignoring her whines that he should eat more. but arisu was nowhere to be seen.
stars had always been a rarity in tokyo. light pollution took their place, blocking them from view. however, with no power in the borderland, they shone brightly above. arisu found himself lost in thought, tracing constellations with his eyes. he sends a silent thank you to his physics professor who had pushed him to take an astrophysics class when she complimented his “passion for space.”
arisu hears you coming before you arrive. your footsteps, albeit quiet, still break through the quiet of the night. he turns slightly, watching as you slowly make your way towards him. “what’s on your mind?”
arisu sighs. he turns away from you and back towards the sky. at his silence, you take a seat beside him, so close that your shoulders brush. you don’t push him to reply. instead, you stare up at the sky alongside him, waiting until he’s ready.
“i just…” he begins quietly. arisu looks down, eyes focusing on the sidewalk below. the drop isn’t far. stones have been placed in a criss-cross pattern across the ground. they’re only slightly worn down from use, coated in dirt from where crowds of people have spent months walking over them. “i didn’t think i’d ever be here again. i thought it was all over. but now… “
you hum in acknowledgement. no amount of comforting speeches will make the pit in arisu’s stomach disappear. the borderland had no mercy and it makes no promises. instead, you shift closer ever so slightly, just enough to rest your head against his shoulder.
“we’ll make it though,” you say, your voice soft and sweet. you reach over and take arisu’s hand into your own like it’s nothing - like he’s someone that deserves to be held. your fingertips draw miscellaneous shapes against his calloused hands, hardened not by labour, but stifled under the weight of his father’s expectations.
arisu stills. for just a moment, he allows himself to relax. a shaky breath escapes his lips. the weight of the world slips momentarily, the burden now shared. he counts the seconds passing between your heartbeats. he feels the heat of your skin resting against his own.
you’re looking up at him when he opens his eyes once again. reality comes back into focus after a few rapid blinks. the pit in arisu’s stomach returns with it. but you’re still there. you his hands despite the blood he’s shed. you let him lean against your chest even though he stiffens at the contact. and you cradle his face with a gentleness he had thought died alongside his mother.
hesitantly, arisu interlaces his fingers with yours. he gives your hand a reassuring squeeze, smiling at you despite it all. his voice drops to a whisper, words spoken only for your ears to hear. “together,” he murmurs.
“together,” you reaffirm.
notes: please leave feedback if you enjoyed!! i had like half of an idea for this and then it turned into whatever this is, there's gay subtext here if you squint, lowkey insecure arisu, supposed to be set during s3 when he's depressed about not finding usagi yet, lowkey depressed arisu, title from enhypen - no doubt
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I had an epiphany 🧐 maybe a gn reader x chishiya based on the song "won't say I'm in love" from hercules? I'm craving for stupid chishiya not realizing he has feelings for reader djdmdm
at least out loud / i won't say i'm in love
pairing: chishiya x gn!reader (no pronouns used) genre: fluff word count: 959
a/n: thank you for requesting !! this loosely inspired by this prompt list by @dumplingsjinson
summary: chishiya is cold. calculating. he doesn't let emotion cloud his judgement or get in his way. so why does he feel like this around you?
chishiya’s heart is racing. he’s never felt like this before. each beat sends a sickening, suffocating feeling throughout his chest.
his mind races. his grip is tight around your forearm as he pulls your body towards the center of the car and further away from the danger. you cower behind the vehicle as the king of spades fires another round of bullets in your direction. chishiya curses. in a life or death situation, your body has instinctively done the worst thing it could - freeze.
“y/n,” he calls when the gunfire ceases for a second. you force yourself to look up, only relaxing slightly when his dark eyes meet your own terrified gaze. chishiya frowns. he wants to magically take you away from this situation. he wants to wrap himself around you and protect you from the games and the king and the players - even at the expense of his own health. he wants to keep you safe. “we need to keep moving. come on.”
you swallow your fear, sparing a quick glance behind you before you nod in agreement. chishiya relaxes his grip around your arm before he takes your hand into his own. he pauses when you intertwine your fingers with his - a familiar, foreign feeling overtaking him for a second before he quickly brushes it off.
“chishiya!” kuina’s voice cuts through the chaos. she’s a few cars away from you; her own back is pressed against a car for shelter. “y/n!”
behind her, you can just barely make out the bright yellow top usagi wears. arisu kneels beside her, occasionally popping up from behind the hood of the car - presumably to check if the king is still there. you’ve pushed yourself up onto your feet when chishiya glances at you again. a silent question passes between you: are you ready?
your hand doesn’t leave chishiya’s - even when you both successfully make it to the relative safety of kuina’s car. he ignores her questioning glance at your interwoven fingers. the sound of screeching tires prevents any potential teasing before a car door swings open. “get in!” ann yells.
usagi is the first one in, quickly followed by kuina and arisu. chishiya freezes when he notices the sound of a piece of metal hitting the ground and rolling towards you.
“that’s not good,” he mumbles. your questions are cut off as he pulls you away from the bomb and helping you take shelter behind the remains of a wall. “get going!”
“chishiya! y/n!” kuina yells through the open window before the car begins speeding off again. he wraps his arms around you, tucking your head against his chest as you both brace for the impact of the grenade going off.
it explodes in a beautiful spectacle of concrete. the ground shakes beneath your feet. asphalt rains down on you - scratching small cuts into your skin and tangling into your hair. your ears ring. your hands tremble.
“y/n!” chishiya’s voice breaks you out of your trance. you blink at him once. twice. times. “are you okay?”
his voice is so soft you’d almost mistaken it for nervousness - though you know better. his hands feel warm against your skin. his arms are still wrapped around your waist. your own arms are still wrapped around his shoulders. there’s an almost invisible tint coating his cheeks.
“yeah,” you nod. “yeah, i’m okay. are you?”
he simply nods in response. chishiya scans the area for a second before his gaze lands on a nearby building. it looks like an average convenience store: posters hang in the glass windows, shelves line the stores filled with a variety of different food and makeup and over the counter medication, and a small cashier’s counter is just barely visible from its place tucked away in the corner.
“come on,” he says, gesturing towards the shop. he can feel his face burning when he unconsciously wraps his arm around your waist to support you. “we can hide in there.”
a sad ding leaves the bell above as you enter the store. the feeling in his chest returns when he helps you sit down on the ground, leaning back against the wall for support. he freezes when you reach up, gently pulling him down until he’s close enough for you to press a fleeting kiss against his cheek.
“thank you, ‘shiya,” you smile.
it feels like his breath has been stolen from his lungs. he wants to kiss you. he wants to pull you into his arms and never let go. he wants more.
it terrifies him - more than the king of spades; more than the other players; more than the games. but it’s exhilarating.
chishiya feels like he’s in a daze. like something is pulling him towards you. he leans in until there are mere centimeters between you.
“can i kiss you?” he finally murmurs.
you don’t respond. instead, you follow his lead, leaning in to gently press your lips against his own. it’s softer than chishiya was expecting - almost nervous as you pull back only a few seconds later. his eyes flutter open for just a second to gauge your reaction before he leans in again.
his lips are surprisingly soft when he presses them against yours. this time the kiss is deeper. more passionate. like you can’t get enough of each other. like you never will.
chishiya is panting softly by the time he pulls away. he allows himself to be vulnerable; lets himself feel affection for what feels like the first time ever.
resting your forehead against his, you reach up to tuck a stray strand of hair out of his face. looking into your eyes, brushing his thumb against stray dirt sticking to your cheeks, he smiles.
chishiya’s heart is racing.
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