𝗔/𝗡 : It's a bit short since I only have limited idea for this and this is a part 2 of Hold me Down but lmk if you want me to do more sonia x reader and send me the ideas! I'm a bit rn so I'd be doing 2 stories each week! I'd still try my best to post more if I can. (Requested by 🏷️ @jupitermoonbaby )
PART 1
The soft morning light started creeping through the blinds, hitting your face in those little stripes that made everything look warmer than it actually felt. You blinked a few times, groggy, stretching out your arms when you noticed movement beside you on the couch bed.
There sat Sonia, hunched over like a grumpy little marshmallow, completely swallowed by her oversized hoodie. Her hood was pulled up so far it nearly covered her eyes, and her phone was clutched dramatically in both hands. The look on her face? Pure horror. Like someone had just told her her favorite sneakers were discontinued.
You squinted at her, still half-asleep, and let out a little snort. "Babe? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Or… did the Mystics trade you to the Globetrotters overnight?" Your voice came out all scratchy with sleep, but your curiosity was awake now.
She didn’t even answer right away, just stared down at her phone, eyes wide like she was reading her own obituary.
You shuffled over, peeking at her screen, and there it was.
Your Instagram post from last night.
The picture practically radiated chaos. Sonia clinging to you like an overgrown koala, arms and legs wrapped around your body like she was practicing to be a backpack, her face buried in your neck with the most content little smile on her lips. It was soft, cute, absolutely illegal levels of clingy, and all over the internet now.
Your sleepy brain caught up a second later and you lost it, throwing your head back with laughter that bounced off the couch. You clutched your stomach, tears already prickling your eyes from how ridiculous she looked right now, still curled up like she was contemplating life choices.
She finally glanced your way, cheeks flushed pink. "This isn’t funny," she grumbled, but the dramatic way she tried to pull her hoodie even further over her face betrayed her. She looked like a little turtle trying to retreat into her shell.
You grinned wide, nudging her knee with yours. "It’s hilarious. You look adorable. The world deserves to witness your clingy koala form."
Sonia groaned, flopping back against the couch cushions with a defeated sigh. "I can never show my face in public again. This is it. My legacy is ruined. I’m the clingy girlfriend now."
You couldn’t stop laughing. "Please. You’ve been the clingy girlfriend. I’m just providing photographic evidence."
She shot you a betrayed look but couldn’t keep the smile off her face, even as she buried it in her hoodie again. "I swear, if anyone brings this up today…"
Spoiler alert, they did.
An hour later, you were home alone, scrolling through your phone as your notifications exploded. Likes, comments, memes, people were having an absolute field day with the koala content. To top it off, the official WNBA account reposted it with the caption, “Find someone who hugs you like Sonia hugs her girl” complete with heart emojis and laughing faces.
Your phone buzzed aggressively again. Sonia sent you a message.
This is your fault. I’m getting roasted alive over here.
You nearly dropped your phone laughing, already picturing her suffering in real-time.
Meanwhile, across the city at the team lunch, Sonia walked into the restaurant looking like her usual intimidating, tall, tough self — or, at least, she tried to.
“OH MY GOD, look out, it’s the emotional support koala!” Emily practically shouted, laughing and clapping her hands while pointing at sonia.
The entire table erupted into chaos, giggles, whistles, phones already snapping pictures of Sonia trying (and failing) to disappear under her hoodie.
Jade leaned in with a smirk. "Sooo… how’s life without your human tree? Feeling stable? Or do we need to get you one of those baby slings?"
Sonia groaned so loud it could’ve passed for a dramatic movie soundtrack, dragging her hand down her face. "I hate all of you."
Sykes tossed a bread roll at her playfully. "Bet she didn’t even let her girl breathe this morning. You probably had her in a sleeper hold, huh?"
"Shut up," Sonia mumbled, blushing so hard it made her ears red. She yanked her hoodie strings tighter, sinking into the fabric like she was about to evaporate.
You grinned, typing back as fast as your fingers would let you.
"You’re iconic, babe. They’re just jealous. Not everyone has their own personal koala."
You hit send, still laughing to yourself, picturing her pouting behind her phone. You leaned back into the couch, heart full, ready for round two of teasing later when she came home, probably attached to you like a koala again.
By the time Sonia finally got home, it was almost evening. You heard the front door creak open and then slam shut with the kind of dramatic energy only someone completely done with the world carries.
You didn’t even have to look up from your phone to know it was her, you could practically feel the pout radiating through the walls.
“Before you say anything,” Sonia called from the door, “I’m still mad at you.”
You grinned, setting your phone down, pretending to be all innocent. “Oh no, what did I do? Expose your snuggle addiction to the world? Guilty.”
She appeared in the doorway, still in her hoodie, hair a little messy from the hood being up all day. She looked tired but also like she’d been trying not to smile the entire car ride home.
“They made me a koala meme.” Her voice was flat, but her eyes betrayed her, glinting with that familiar amusement she always tried to hide when she was "annoyed" with you.
You couldn’t help it. You burst into giggles again, patting the spot beside you on the couch. “Come here, my little koala. Let me comfort you.”
Sonia groaned dramatically but shuffled over, practically flopping onto you like a weighted blanket. “I hate you,” she mumbled, already half-curled in your lap, arms sliding around your waist, legs tangling with yours like second nature.
“You hate me,” you teased, running your fingers through her hair, “but your koala instincts say otherwise.”
“Shut up,” she muttered, but she nuzzled her face into your shoulder anyway, the tension in her body melting away the second your arms wrapped around her. She was basically a koala. for real. The clingiest, poutiest koala ever.
You pressed a kiss to her temple, feeling her sigh softly. “Rough day being the internet’s new meme?”
"Emily changed my contact name to ‘Clingy Koala’ in the group chat," she grumbled. "Jade kept making tree jokes. I couldn’t drink my smoothie without someone asking if I needed it ‘hand-fed by my tree girlfriend.’"
You were losing it, trying so hard not to laugh directly into her hair. “That’s… honestly iconic. We should make you a merch. Little koala hoodies with your face on them.”
She groaned again but didn’t budge from your lap. If anything, she snuggled in closer, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on your side. “You’re the worst.”
“And yet, you’re still glued to me,” you teased, pulling the blanket over both of you.
There was a pause, then her voice softened, just a little. “You make a really good human tree though.”
You smiled, heart warm and full, brushing your nose against her cheek. “You make a pretty cute koala. Cling on as much as you want, babe.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Within seconds, she was completely tangled around you, limbs locked in like she was preparing for a hibernation session.
“You realize I’m not moving for the next three hours, right?” she mumbled sleepily.
You laughed, kissing her forehead. “Good. Neither am I.”
The teasing could wait. Right now? It was you, your clingy koala, and a couch, exactly how it should be.
pairing: gundham tanaka x kazuichi souda x gn!reader x sonia nevermind
tags: polyamorous relationship, wholesome fluff, killing game
everyone had kept a close eye on the love triangle between sonia, kazuichi and gundham, yet nobody had expected it all to get resolved when another person entered the scene; you!
while this could've potentially only led to more drama, with all three of you fighting for you love, this was exactly what the three of them needed; a person they all shared a mutual love for!
while gundham and kazuichi still remained in love with sonia, they managed to act upon their feelings for you first! and after that happened, the rest simply fell into place!
not only did all three of them end up dating you, but each other as well! it was especially a surprise to see gundham and kazuichi finally get more than just along–
the four of you are certainly an odd bunch, but you just have so much love for one another! especially kazuichi and sonia are so affectionate, no matter who's around you! only gundham is a little awkward with public displays of affection, but is just as affectionate as the others in private…
gundham and kazuichi both still have a bit of a rivalry going on, even after all four of you start dating! though this time it's about who gets to be the protective one in the relationship!
both kazuichi and gundham want to keep sonia and you – as well as each other – safe during the killing game! and even outside of it, there are quite a few threats, thanks to the chaos they caused themselves as the remnants of despair…
the three of them might despise themselves for their past, but you're always there to remind them that you love them regardless! they might've done bad things in the past, but they are good people! and they are worthy and deserving of your love, even if they don't think so…
A/N: Of course :} I'm trying to post before the 10th this month, because it's my 21st birthday, and I doubt I'll be doing much of anything around then LMAOOOOO.
The rooftop was quieter than it had any right to be.
Wind skimmed over the edge of Hope’s Peak Academy, making the chain-link fence shiver and tugging at the hem of (Y/N)’s uniform jacket. The city beyond the campus glowed faintly- windows and streetlights like a distant constellation- but up here the world felt muffled, like someone had turned the volume down until only the static remained.
His fingers wrapped around the cold metal at the ledge. He held on hard enough that his knuckles went pale.
He didn’t cry. Whatever tears he’d had left burned out somewhere between the empty dorm halls and the stairwell. What was left was hollow and buzzing- white noise trapped under his skin.
Useless. Weak. Burden.
The words weren’t really his. They’d been fed to him slowly, day after day. Failed tests. Missed expectations. Sharp comments disguised as “advice.” The suffocating pressure of “Ultimate” this and “Ultimate” that. Hope’s Peak was built for exceptions. For the special. For the people who fit neatly into a title and wore it like armor.
He’d never figured out what “special” was supposed to mean for him.
The fence bit into his palms as he leaned forward, toes inching closer to the concrete lip. One more step, and-
“Wow.”
The voice cut through the static like a blade.
“Going for the super cliché rooftop exit? How tragically unoriginal.”
(Y/N) froze.
That voice- he would’ve known it anywhere, even wrapped in that bright, almost playful lilt. He turned his head slowly, muscles stiff, and there she was, lounging against the doorway like she’d wandered onto a runway instead of into a crisis.
Junko Enoshima.
Hair swaying in the wind, posture loose, one hand cocked on her hip. The other toyed with a loose button on her cardigan like she was bored. Her blue eyes caught the low light and sharpened it into something pointed and assessing.
“What… are you doing here, Junko?” he managed. His throat felt scraped raw.
She smiled. Sweet enough to rot your teeth.
“I could ask you the same thing, (Y/N)-kun,” she said, dragging his name out like it was a joke she was savoring. “But I’m pretty sure we both know what you were about to do, sooo…”
Junko tilted her head, mock-thoughtful. “I’ll go first. I’m here to stop you. Lucky you!”
His grip tightened on the fence. “Why?”
“Because I don’t feel like watching you smear yourself all over the pavement today,” she said lightly, like she was commenting on the weather. “Major mood killer. Even if it might be kind of fun to see…”
He flinched hard, the words hitting in all the wrong places. “That’s… not funny.”
Her smile widened by a fraction, the way it always did right before she twisted the knife.
Junko pushed off the doorframe and started toward him. Her heels clicked softly on the concrete- unhurried, deliberate. Like she was approaching something that might bolt if she moved too fast.
“Relax,” she said. “If I just wanted to mess with you, I wouldn’t have bothered coming up here at all.”
“Then why did you?”
She stopped a few meters away, just outside arm’s reach, and folded her arms beneath her chest. The wind kicked her hair across her face, but her gaze didn’t move.
“Because you looked pathetic.”
He recoiled like she’d slapped him. “I-I know that. You don’t have to-”
“Shut up and let me finish.” Her tone snapped sharp enough to cut the air. “You looked pathetic in a way that pissed me off. Usually it’s a funny pathetic. You definitely aren’t the funny type.”
(Y/N) swallowed, thrown by the strange edge in her voice. Not concern. Not sympathy. Something uglier- and for some reason, more real.
Junko studied him through half-lowered lashes. “You’re not some extra in everybody else’s tragedy. You don’t get to just… walk off stage without my permission. Got it?”
His chest tightened. “I’m not your responsibility.”
She snorted. “Obviously. You’d be dead already if you were.”
For one disorienting second, the absurdity of it almost made him laugh. The feeling flashed and dissolved, leaving him emptier than before.
“It doesn’t matter,” he murmured, eyes dropping past the fence again. The drop blurred, dark and endless. “No one would care if I was gone. Not really.”
Behind him, the air shifted.
Junko’s steps were quiet as she came closer- close enough that he could feel her presence like heat at his back. She didn’t touch him yet, but her voice slid in near his ear, softer now, dangerous in a different way.
“Try saying that again,” she said, “and this time don’t lie to my face.”
His jaw tightened. “I’m not lying.”
“You’re wrong,” Junko replied simply. “Which is honestly worse.”
(Y/N) stared at his hands. At the metal links. At the white squeeze of his own fingers.
“You don’t know what it’s like,” he whispered. “Feeling like you’re the one extra piece in a puzzle that would make more sense without you.”
Junko hummed, like she was considering a new outfit. “Oh, I know exactly what it’s like. Feeling out of place is practically my specialty.”
“Not like this.”
“Exactly like this,” she insisted. “The difference is I’m hot and good at hiding it.”
Despite himself, a small sound tore out of him- something between a laugh and a sob. It embarrassed him immediately.
Junko shifted again. He felt the faintest press of her fingertips against his wrist- barely there, like she was giving him every chance to pull away. When he didn’t, her hand slid over his, warm and steady, and she started prying his fingers away from the fence one by one.
“What are you-” Panic fluttered in his chest. “Junko, what are you doing?”
“Anchoring you.” Her tone went firm, almost patient in a way that felt wrong on her. “You’re not making big decisions when your head is this messed up. That’s terrible impulse control. Like… worse than mine.”
His grip loosened. Breath hitched out of him in a shudder.
Junko’s hand slipped fully into his, fingers threading like it was the most natural thing in the world. She tugged gently, just once.
“Step back, (Y/N)-kun,” she said. “Now.”
His legs felt numb, but he moved. One step away from the edge. Then another, guided by her pull.
It was only a meter, but suddenly the air didn’t feel so thin. Suddenly he could breathe.
Junko let go only long enough to plant herself between him and the ledge, blocking his view of the drop like she was physically refusing to let it exist. The teasing curve of her mouth softened, and something almost- almost- vulnerable flickered behind her eyes.
“You don’t get to kill yourself just because you’re hurting,” she said quietly. “That’s not tragic. That’s lazy. And selfish.”
He stared at her, stunned. “Lazy?”
“Yeah. You heard me.” Junko jabbed a finger lightly into his chest, right over his heartbeat. “You’re in pain. That sucks. I’m not denying it. But deciding you’re beyond saving and skipping to the credits? That’s the easiest out there is.”
Her eyes sharpened. “No rewrites. No retakes. No trying to make it better. Just a hard cut to black and everyone else cleaning up your mess.” She clicked her tongue. “That’s the least fun way to do it.”
His throat tightened so hard it hurt.
“At least make it exciting if you’re going to do something stupid like dying,” she added, like she couldn’t help herself. Then, softer, “Do you really want that to be your last performance? It completely lacks creativity.”
He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. His thoughts were sludge.
“I don’t know what else to do,” he finally admitted, voice cracking on the truth.
Junko exhaled, a thin fog between them in the cold air. “That,” she said, “is an actual answer. Still stupid. But honest.”
She stepped closer. Close enough that he could see a faint mascara smudge under one eye. Close enough that the wind tangled strands of her hair across her cheek, and she didn’t bother fixing them. Close enough that if he leaned forward even a fraction, their foreheads would touch.
“You’re allowed to be desperate,” she murmured. “You’re allowed to feel like trash. You’re allowed to be so tired that breathing feels like homework.”
Her fingers lifted and tugged his tie into place, a small, absurd gesture that made his chest ache worse.
“That’s what makes life so fun,” she added, mouth twisting like she knew how ridiculous she sounded. “But you’re not allowed to disappear. Not while I’m watching.”
His pulse thudded under his ribs. “Why do you care this much?”
Junko’s gaze flicked away, up to the empty night sky like she was checking for an audience. When she looked back, the manic glint was there- but tempered by something quieter.
“Because you’re mine,” she said simply. “My despair. My chaos. My… idiot.”
Heat crawled up his neck. “Junko-”
“I like you too much to let you die like this,” she continued, blunt as a punch. Then, because she was Junko, she added with a sweet smile, “If you die, I want to feel the despair of doing it myself.”
He went very still, caught between horror and the weirdest, sickest kind of comfort.
Junko leaned in just enough to flick his forehead. “If you go splatter yourself, who’s going to sit with me when I’m bored? Who am I supposed to watch falling apart in slow motion if you jump to the ending?”
Her eyes narrowed, sharp and possessive. “You make my life more interesting. That alone is enough reason not to die.”
It wasn’t reassurance the way people wrote it in self-help books. It was selfish. Ugly. Honest. So undeniably her that it grounded him in a way nothing else had managed.
(Y/N) swallowed hard. “I… I don’t know how to fix any of this.”
“You don’t have to,” Junko said. “You just have to survive the night.”
Her hand wrapped around his again, firmer this time- less an offer, more a decision.
“Come on,” she said. “I’m kidnapping you.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Dorm. Now.” Junko started tugging him toward the door like he weighed nothing. “I’m not letting Hope’s Peak’s resident walking meltdown sleep alone after that little stunt.”
“I wasn’t-”
“Yes, you were,” she cut in instantly. “You were absolutely going to do something irreversible, and we are not giving you that kind of agency tonight. Move it.”
He let her pull him. His legs were shaky, but every step away from the edge made the rooftop feel less like a stage and more like what it was- just concrete under harsh school lights.
They walked through dim corridors in silence, the academy eerie after hours. Junko didn’t let go of his hand. If anything, she squeezed tighter, like she was daring the world to try to take him back.
Her room was curated chaos: clothes draped over chairs, glossy fashion magazines scattered like evidence, makeup palettes spread across the desk like a painter’s tools. It smelled faintly of perfume and hairspray, the kind of sweet chemical scent that clung to fabric.
“Shoes off,” she ordered, kicking hers away without looking. “Jacket too. It’s cuddle time.”
He flushed hot. “C-cuddle time?”
Junko arched a brow. “Yes?” Then, with a wicked tilt of her mouth, “Unless you’d prefer I tie you up and leave you to-”
He didn’t let her finish. He stepped inside, awkward and stiff, then hesitated in the doorway, staring at the rumpled bed and the soft blankets. A Monokuma plush sat at the foot like a smug little gremlin.
His heart pounded. “What if I… mess up again?” he asked quietly. “What if I wake up tomorrow and feel just as bad?”
“You probably will,” Junko said, blunt as ever. “That’s how this works. It’s not a one-night patch.”
She padded over, grabbed his sleeve, and tugged until he stumbled fully into the room. “But tomorrow I’ll still be here. And you’ll still be here.” Her grip tightened, like she was making it a rule. “That’s the bare minimum. We can work with that.”
She nudged him toward the bed like he was a piece in a game she’d already decided the outcome for. The mattress dipped when he sat, then again when she climbed up beside him, rearranging pillows with lazy efficiency.
“Lie down,” Junko said, flipping her hair over one shoulder. “On your side. I want the arm.”
“The… arm?”
“I’m going to cling to you,” she said, like it was obvious. “Duh.”
He obeyed, clumsy with nerves, rolling onto his side with his back to her. For a moment there was only the sound of the wind tapping the window.
Then warmth pressed to his spine- Junko’s body sliding close, her arm wrapping around his waist. Her fingers curled loosely over his stomach, casual like she owned the space there.
His breath hitched. “Junko…”
“Shh,” she whispered into his hair. “Overthinking is banned. Starting now.”
He could feel her heartbeat against his back. Steady. Real. It anchored him more than the fence ever had.
After a long moment, his voice came out small. “Does it… bother you? Being stuck with someone like me?”
Her arm tightened, pulling him closer. Her nose brushed the back of his neck, and he almost jumped at the intimacy of it.
“It thrills me,” she said, half-mocking, half-sincere. “You’re fragile and stubborn and so, so dramatic. You make despair feel… complicated.” A pause. “That’s kind of impressive.”
He let out a weak huff of a laugh. “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
“It is,” Junko insisted. “You’re not just some sob story I can throw away when it gets boring. You’re yours. And I’m selfish enough to want you to keep existing so I can see what you do next.”
Silence settled between them- not empty this time. Heavy and warm.
(Y/N) stared at the faint cracks in the wall across from the bed, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing against his back. The thoughts still swirled, dark and sharp, but they were muffled now. Like someone had wrapped them in cotton.
“Can I… stay?” he asked, almost too quiet to hear. “Like this. Just for tonight?”
Junko’s fingers traced idle circles at his side, slow and strangely soothing.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she murmured. “Not off this bed. Not off that rooftop. Not out of my life.”
Her lips brushed the back of his neck- not quite a kiss, more like a promise.
“You’re stuck with me, (Y/N)-kun.”
His eyes burned- not with the hopeless sting from before, but with something else. Something that felt like relief trying to exist despite everything.
“Okay,” he whispered.
Junko’s hold didn’t loosen. If anything, it steadied.
“Good boy...”
Outside, the wind rattled the window again, but in Junko’s room the world felt smaller. Softer. (Y/N) focused on the weight of her arm, the warmth at his back, the quiet, steady rhythm of her breathing- proof, for tonight at least, that the story hadn’t ended on the rooftop.
Sayaka:
The music room was supposed to be one of the few quiet places left in Hope’s Peak.
This late, the academy had that unnatural stillness- hallways emptied, classroom doors locked, the day’s constant noise replaced by the low hum of vents and the faint settling creaks of a building too big for comfort. Moonlight poured in through the high windows, laying pale rectangles across the polished floor like stage marks. Dust drifted lazily through the beams. Everything looked clean and calm and controlled in a way that made his skin itch.
(Y/N) sat on the edge of the piano bench with his hands hanging loosely between his knees. The grand piano’s lid was shut, glossy black and reflective, like a closed mouth. A single desk lamp sat on the far end, casting a small circle of warm light over the keys- bright enough to see, not bright enough to feel safe. The rest of the room blurred into soft shadow.
It would be easy, he thought.
Not a dramatic rooftop. Not a note. Not anything that would make someone think he wanted attention.
Just… one decision.
One moment where he stopped pretending he was okay and let the exhaustion swallow him whole.
His gaze fixed on the piano lid, on the warped reflection staring back at him. Dark circles under his eyes. Hair slightly messed up, like he’d raked a hand through it one too many times. Mouth pulled into that tight, almost-smile he’d been wearing for weeks- something practiced for the hallways, something meant to keep people from asking questions.
The kind of face people looked through at Hope’s Peak.
Everyone here had something written beside their name, like it was carved into their bones: Ultimate this, Ultimate that. Titles. Talents. Proof. Even the air felt sharp with it, like the academy itself expected you to be exceptional the moment you walked through the doors.
Pressure to be better.
Pressure to catch up.
Pressure to not be the weak link, the one dragging everyone else down.
And the worst part- somehow worse than the obvious cruelty- was when people smiled and told him they believed in him. Like belief was a bandage you could press over a wound and call it healed. Like encouragement could fix whatever was wrong inside him.
His stomach twisted hard enough to make him swallow.
His fingers curled into fists.
I can’t do this anymore.
The thought was small, almost polite. But it rang through him like a bell in an empty room.
He stood too fast. The bench scraped backward with a sharp, ugly sound that bounced off the walls.
Even that felt like a reprimand.
His heart thudded heavy in his chest, breath turning shallow and thin. He moved without really seeing- just shapes and shadows and the doorway, the hallway beyond it, the clean, quiet path back to his dorm that suddenly felt like a corridor leading to the end of something.
His hands were shaking. He noticed that much, distantly, the way you notice rain on your sleeve.
He didn’t notice the footsteps in the corridor until it was too late.
“(Y/N)…?”
Her voice stopped him cold.
For a second, his body forgot how to move. Like being spoken to had snapped him back into place.
Sayaka Maizono stood in the doorway with one hand on the frame. Her long blue hair spilled over her shoulder, catching the moonlight in a way that made her look almost unreal. She was still in her uniform, blazer unbuttoned, as if she’d taken it off and put it back on without thinking. There was a faint shimmer near her lashes- leftover stage glitter that never seemed to fully come off, no matter how carefully she tried.
He forced his face into something neutral. Something normal. Something that wouldn’t invite questions.
But whatever mask he’d been wearing all day had cracked somewhere along the way.
He could tell by the way her eyes widened just a fraction.
“Sayaka,” he said, aiming for casual.
It came out rough. Hoarse. Like his throat had been sanded down from the inside.
She took in the scene in one glance- the pushed-back bench, the lamp still on, the way he hovered in the half-dark with his shoulders drawn tight. Concern flickered over her expression. She smoothed it quickly into something gentle, but she didn’t erase it completely.
“What are you doing here so late?” she asked. Light tone, careful. Worry threaded through it like a quiet harmony.
He looked away before she could see too much.
“Could ask you the same thing,” he muttered.
A faint smile touched her mouth. “Rehearsal ran long.” She shifted her weight, gaze lingering on him. “I thought everyone else had gone back to their dorms.” Her eyes flicked toward the lamp. “I saw the light through the window.”
He didn’t answer.
Silence settled between them, thick and heavy. Not peaceful- just… waiting.
Sayaka stepped inside and let the door fall softly shut behind her. The click sounded too loud in the quiet room.
“Hey,” she said, quieter now. “Look at me for a second?”
His instinct was to refuse. To shrug her off. To say he was fine, he was tired, he just needed sleep, he’d be better tomorrow.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.
But his body didn’t have the energy to keep fighting. Not against her voice. Not against the way she asked like she was afraid of what she’d find if she didn’t.
He hesitated, then lifted his gaze.
Her eyes were kinder than he deserved. Deep, worried blue- soft, but sharp enough to catch small fractures. She studied his face like it was something she had to understand, something she couldn’t afford to misread.
“You’ve been off lately,” she said. “More than usual.”
“I’m fine,” he lied automatically.
Her expression didn’t change.
“Try again,” she said.
It wasn’t harsh. Just… honest.
He swallowed. His throat felt tight. “I’m just tired.”
“Everyone here is tired.” She moved closer, the quiet rustle of her skirt crossing the room. “But you look like you’re carrying something heavier than that.”
A laugh forced its way out of him, thin and wrong, like a note played off-key. “What, you mind reading now?”
“No,” Sayaka said softly. “I’m your friend.”
The word hit him harder than anything else had.
Friend.
He didn’t know what to do with it.
His eyes dropped to his hands. They clenched and unclenched like they’d forgotten what they were supposed to be for when they weren’t holding something together.
“Sayaka, I…” His voice faltered. “…I just… I need to go.”
“Go where?” she asked, and there was a slight edge under the gentleness now. Not anger- fear.
Away.
Out.
Down.
Quiet.
“Back to my room,” he said instead, staring at the floor like it could save him.
“No.”
The word was gentle, but it landed firm enough to stop him mid-step.
He blinked, thrown. “…No?”
Sayaka pressed her lips together, like she was deciding something. Her shoulders rose with a slow breath, then fell.
Then she closed the distance between them completely.
Close enough that he could see the faint sparkle near her eyes. Close enough that the room felt smaller- like there wasn’t space to hide anymore.
“(Y/N),” she said, voice steady, “I’m going to ask you a question. And I need you to be honest with me. Not with the teachers. Not with the idea of ‘being strong.’ With me.”
His heartbeat stuttered.
“Sayaka, I don’t-”
“Were you going to hurt yourself?” she asked.
The air seemed to vanish from the room.
Everything narrowed to the space between them. To her eyes. To the question hanging there like a spotlight.
Denial rose on instinct- fast, automatic, practiced. No. Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.
But it stopped at his throat.
It tasted like poison.
He exhaled shakily, looking away because if he looked at her too long, he might fall apart.
“…I don’t know,” he whispered.
“(Y/N).”
His chest tightened. His voice turned smaller. “Yes,” he admitted. “Okay? Yes.”
The word sat heavy in the silence, like it had been waiting too long to exist.
Sayaka didn’t flinch. She didn’t gasp. She didn’t step back like he’d become something dangerous or disgusting.
She stepped forward.
And wrapped her arms around him.
He froze- shock running through him so fast it felt like electricity.
“Sa-?!” he started.
“Shh,” she murmured, pressing her head against his chest. “Just… let me do this.”
His body trembled, the panic and adrenaline suddenly having nowhere to go. His arms hovered awkwardly for a moment, uncertain, as if he didn’t know what the rules were.
Then, slowly, like he was afraid he’d break her, he let his arms settle around her.
Not too tight.
Not too loose.
Just enough to feel that she was real.
Her uniform was warm against his. The faint scent of her shampoo- something soft and floral- wrapped around him like a tether. His breathing hitched, then eased, the way it did after you’d been holding it without realizing.
“Why?” he managed, and his voice broke on the word. He hated it. “Why do you care this much?”
Sayaka shifted just enough to look up at him, her arms still locked behind his back like she wasn’t letting him go even if he tried.
“Because you matter to me,” she said, like it was obvious. Like it was simple.
He shook his head hard. “No, I don’t. I’m not… I’m not that important. I’m not like you.” The words spilled out faster now, raw and ugly. “If I disappeared, nothing here would change.”
Sayaka’s hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt.
“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” she said quietly- and there was steel in it, rare and sharp. “You have no idea how wrong you are.”
Tears stung his eyes, hot and humiliating. He turned his face away, blinking hard like he could force them back.
“I’m tired, Sayaka,” he said, and his voice cracked again. “I’m so tired of never being enough. Of feeling like I’m just… taking up space.” His throat tightened. “I don’t want to drag you- or anyone- down with me.”
She listened without interrupting, without recoiling. When his words finally ran out and his breath hitched like it didn’t know what to do next, she lifted a hand and cupped his cheek.
“You’re not dragging me down,” she said. “You’re keeping me grounded.”
He blinked through the blur. “What…?”
Sayaka’s smile was small, sad in a way that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Do you know how many people only see me as ‘Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Pop Sensation’?” she asked quietly. “An image. A voice. A product.” Her fingers brushed his cheekbone, gentle. “Even here, sometimes it still feels like I’m on stage. Like if I’m not perfect, I’ll disappoint everyone.”
Her thumb wiped away a tear he hadn’t noticed fall.
“But you,” she continued, voice softer, “you talk to me like I’m just… Sayaka. You ask how I’m really doing. You listen when I complain about rehearsals, or my throat hurting, or messing up a note.” A tiny tremor ran through her hand. “You treat me like a person before you treat me like an idol.”
He stared at her, stunned, like she’d handed him something too fragile to hold.
“You make it easier to breathe,” she finished.
His mouth opened. Closed. “I… I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t tell you,” she admitted, and a watery little laugh escaped her. “I guess that makes us even.”
The laugh faded. She took a breath like she had to steady herself, too.
“You being here,” she said, “makes my day better. Every single time. You don’t have to be ‘important’ to matter to me.”
Her gaze locked onto his, unwavering.
“If you weren’t here tomorrow,” she whispered, “it would break me.”
His chest ached, sharp and heavy.
“You’re not saying that just to make me feel guilty, right?” he muttered, trying for a joke and failing halfway through.
“I’m saying it because it’s true,” she replied.
She reached up, smoothing his hair back from his forehead with a tenderness that made something inside him hurt in a different way.
“I’m scared, (Y/N),” she said. “I’m really, really scared of losing you.”
Something in him split open at the raw honesty, at the way she didn’t pretend she was okay either.
“I don’t know how to stop feeling like this,” he confessed, the words scraping out of him. “Like no matter what I do, it’s never going to get better.”
“I know you don’t,” Sayaka said, and her voice shook, just slightly. “And I can’t magically fix it for you. I wish I could.”
She swallowed, eyes shining.
“But I can stay.”
She slid her hand into his- firm, warm- and laced their fingers together like she was anchoring him to the present.
“I can sit with you while it’s hard,” she said. “I can listen when you’re overwhelmed and remind you to breathe.” Her grip tightened a fraction. “I can help you talk to someone- a teacher, the nurse, anyone who can support you more than I can alone.”
Then, softer: “And tonight, I can make sure you’re not alone. Not for one second. If you’ll let me.”
He stared at their joined hands like he didn’t recognize them as his.
“Will it… really make a difference?” he asked, voice small.
“It already has,” Sayaka said. “You’re still here.”
The edges of the room blurred again. The urge to vanish hadn’t disappeared- it still lurked, a dark shape at the back of his mind- but it had shifted. Dullened. Pushed back by warmth and by the simple fact of someone choosing him enough to stand in front of the exit.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I… I just want this feeling to stop.”
“That’s not the same thing as wanting to die,” Sayaka said gently. “Wanting the pain to end isn’t the same as wanting your life to end.”
Something in that distinction loosened a knot in his chest he hadn’t even realized was there.
She squeezed his hand again.
“Come to my dorm,” she said. “Please. Just for tonight. We’ll talk, or not talk, or just… exist. Together.” Her voice softened even more. “You don’t have to be strong. You just have to be here.”
He hesitated- his instincts snapping up barriers out of habit- then nodded.
“Okay.”
Relief washed across her face so quickly it almost made his throat close again.
“Okay,” she echoed, a small, earnest smile blooming. “Thank you.”
They walked back to the dorms side by side, hands still linked. The hallways felt different on the way out- less like a maze, more like a path. Each step away from the music room felt like a quiet act of defiance against the darkness that had been clinging to him.
Sayaka’s room was neat in the way of someone used to shared spaces and constant moving. Everything was folded and organized, but there were personal touches placed carefully on the shelves: photos, a small stack of CDs, a couple of plushies that looked like gifts from fans. She closed the door behind them, then turned, cheeks faintly pink as if she’d only just realized what she was about to ask.
“Um,” she said, suddenly shy, “this might be weird, but… do you want to lie down?”
His brain short-circuited for a second.
“We don’t have to sleep yet,” she added quickly. “I just… I think it might help if you could… feel someone nearby.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, heat creeping up his face. “You mean… like…”
“Cuddling,” Sayaka supplied, voice soft but steady. “If you’re comfortable with that. If not, we can just sit and talk.” She glanced down, then back up. “I just… thought you might need to feel loved, not just hear it.”
His heart did a strange, painful flip.
“I…” He swallowed hard. “…I think I’d like that.”
Her smile returned, brighter now- relieved. “Okay.”
She tugged gently at his hand and guided him to the bed.
“Top or bottom?” she asked, and for a second he just stared, confused- until he realized what she meant and his face heated even more.
“Uh- over the blanket is fine,” he blurted. “I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“You’re not messing anything up,” she said immediately, like she couldn’t stand the idea. “You’re my guest.”
They lay down facing each other, a small space between them filled with nervous energy and the quiet hum of the academy beyond the walls. Sayaka hesitated for only a moment before she scooted closer. She slid one arm under his head like a pillow and draped the other over his side, pulling him in carefully, as if he were something fragile.
He went rigid automatically.
Then, slowly, his body realized it was safe- safe enough, for now- and he softened into the embrace. Warmth seeped through the fabric of his uniform. Her heartbeat fluttered gently against him where their chests touched.
“Is this okay?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Yeah,” he breathed. “It’s… more than okay.”
She exhaled, and her breath fanned over his collarbone.
“Good.”
For a while, neither of them spoke. The dorm was quiet except for the muffled rush of pipes and the occasional settling creak of the building. Sayaka’s fingers traced slow, absent patterns along his back, each touch a small wave of calm he hadn’t known he could still feel.
“Sayaka?” he murmured.
“Mm?”
“Thank you,” he said, voice rough again. “For… for stopping me.”
Her hold tightened just a little. “Thank you,” she replied, “for letting me.”
He blinked, confused even through the tired haze. “Letting you?”
“I can’t force you to stay,” she said softly. “No one can.” She paused, her voice thickening. “But you chose to. Even if it feels small and fragile and impossible right now- you chose to stay.” Her forehead rested lightly against his chest. “That means everything to me.”
His chest ached again, but softer this time. Less like a wound, more like a bruise being pressed and acknowledged.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” he admitted. “I’m scared it’ll be just as bad.”
“It might be,” Sayaka said honestly.
And somehow, that honesty didn’t crush him. It made her feel real.
“But if it is,” she continued, “then tomorrow we’ll talk about it. Or we’ll drag some chairs onto the roof and eat snacks and complain about everything until we feel better.” A faint smile tugged at her voice. “Or we’ll go to the nurse. Or a counselor. Or whoever we need.” Her hand squeezed his gently. “You’re not facing it alone anymore.”
He swallowed, throat tight. “…You promise?”
Sayaka shifted, bringing her face closer until her forehead touched his. Their noses brushed. His breath caught.
“I promise,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere, (Y/N). Not while you still need someone to remind you how much you’re worth.”
His eyes stung again, but the tears that slipped free this time felt lighter- like release instead of surrender.
“You’re going to get glitter on me,” he mumbled, trying for a weak joke.
She giggled softly, the sound vibrating against him. “Then you’ll match me.”
He closed his eyes.
The dark thoughts still lingered at the edges of his mind- shadows that didn’t vanish just because someone held him- but they didn’t feel like a tidal wave anymore. More like shapes in the corner of a room, kept back by the small, bright circle of warmth they’d made together.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured, already drifting.
“I’m glad you’re here too,” Sayaka whispered back, her voice thick with relief. “So, so glad.”
Sonia:
Night settled over Jabberwock Island like a warm, heavy blanket.
Most of the cottages had gone dark. A few still glowed faintly- Nagito’s window flickering like he’d forgotten how switches worked, Kazuichi’s humming with whatever mechanical thing he absolutely refused to stop “improving,” and somewhere farther down the path came the unmistakable sound of Fuyuhiko yelling at someone to shut up already.
Down by the beach, though, the world was quieter.
Waves rolled in and out in a slow rhythm, hissing against the sand. The moon painted a pale path across the water, stretching straight into the dark like an invitation. The wind carried salt and something sharp that sat at the back of (Y/N)’s throat and wouldn’t leave.
He stood at the edge where the wet sand turned cold under his shoes, staring at the black water. His hands hung at his sides, fingers flexing- clenching, unclenching- catching the fabric of his shorts like he needed something to hold onto and didn’t know what.
It would be easy.
No elaborate plan. No blood. No… anything complicated. Just the water, the dark, the quiet.
Nobody would have to keep pretending they didn’t notice how much he was struggling. Nobody would have to slow down for him. The others would move on like they always did- shining, capable, made for this- without dragging along the dead weight who still hadn’t figured out what he was supposed to be.
“Ultimate” this. “Ultimate” that.
He’d never felt further from that word in his life.
A breeze gusted over the shore, ruffling his hair and carrying the faint sounds of the island- distant insects, the muffled thump of music from the lobby, laughter from someone’s open window. It all felt like it belonged to a different world. Like he was standing just outside of it, watching through glass.
He took one step closer to the edge.
“Excuse me!”
The voice cut through the night like a bell.
(Y/N) jolted so hard his heartbeat seemed to climb into his throat. He spun around, breath catching.
Sonia Nevermind stood halfway across the beach, hands clasped tightly in front of her. Her skirt swayed in the wind, and the ribbon at her collar sat slightly askew- as if she’d come running and hadn’t stopped to fix it. Moonlight washed her pale and bright, almost unreal, like one of those old fairy tales she talked about with shining eyes.
“S-Sonia?” he managed. His voice came out rough, scraped raw.
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“There you are,” she said. “We were wondering where you had gone.”
“‘We’?” His gaze flicked instinctively back toward the cottages.
“Gundham insisted you had gone to perform some ‘unspeakable nocturnal ritual,’” Sonia said, brows lifting with the faintest exasperation. “However… I suspected it might be something else.”
She stepped closer. Her neat shoes sank a little into the sand. The boards of the little path near the shoreline creaked softly as she moved.
“You did not come to dinner,” Sonia continued, quieter now. “You did not return to the lobby. Your cottage was dark.” She took a careful breath, as if choosing each word. “I thought it would be… unwise… to leave you alone.”
(Y/N)’s eyes slid back to the water like a reflex.
“I just needed some air.”
“Ah.” Sonia’s voice stayed gentle- too gentle, like she was holding something back on purpose. “And you could not find it at the hotel? Or anywhere that did not involve standing at the edge of the beach… in the dark… entirely alone?”
He flinched, heat prickling behind his eyes.
“It’s not-”
“Please do not lie to me, (Y/N),” she said softly.
The formality slipped on his name, revealing something sharper underneath- something that sounded like worry when it wasn’t wearing its polite clothes.
Sonia shuffled through the sand until she stopped a short distance away. Not close enough to corner him. Close enough that he could see it: the strain at the corners of her eyes, the way her hands clenched and unclenched like she didn’t know what to do with them either.
The ocean kept rolling in, steady and indifferent.
“Were you intending to do something to hurt yourself?” Sonia asked.
No dodging. No pretending she didn’t understand. She said it plainly, like a truth that needed to be faced, not danced around.
(Y/N) swallowed hard. His gaze dropped to the boards between them.
“I don’t know,” he muttered.
“(Y/N),” Sonia said again, quiet.
The word lodged in his chest.
The truth sat there too- heavy, sour, impossible to swallow back down.
“…Yes,” he whispered. “I was thinking about it.”
Silence stretched.
For a moment, he almost wished she would yell. Call him selfish. Call him weak. Tell him how stupid it was to be standing here, shaking on a piece of wood over an ocean like that was a solution.
Instead, Sonia exhaled slowly.
“Thank you,” she said.
He blinked, thrown completely off balance.
“What?”
“Thank you for being honest with me.” Her smile was small and shaky around the edges. “It must have been very difficult to admit.”
He stared at her, throat tight.
“You’re… not angry?”
Sonia’s expression tightened- not cold, but fierce.
“I am furious,” she said calmly. “But not at you. At the idea that this island- this… world- has made you feel so cornered that such an option appears reasonable.”
Her hands clenched in front of her for a moment, then she forced them to relax, like she was practicing the same kind of composure she wore every day.
She took another careful step forward.
“May I come closer?” she asked.
The question startled him more than the anger would’ve.
“What?”
“May I come closer?” Sonia repeated. “I do not wish to frighten you or make you feel trapped.”
His chest hurt. He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he nodded.
Relief loosened something in her face. Sonia closed the distance until they were a step apart.
Up close, he could see the faint shadows under her eyes. Like she hadn’t been sleeping much either.
Sonia glanced past him at the water, then back to his face.
“Would you take one step back for me?” she asked.
His legs felt like they were full of sand. For a long second he didn’t move at all.
Then- slowly- he shifted his weight backward.
One step.
The air felt a tiny bit less sharp in his lungs.
“Thank you,” Sonia said again, like he’d done something brave.
A shaky, ugly laugh slipped out of him. “It’s just one step.”
“It is a step away from death,” Sonia replied. “That seems rather significant to me.”
He looked at her helplessly, words coming apart at the seams inside him.
“I… I don’t know what else to do, Sonia.” His fingers curled hard against his palms. “I don’t know how to live with… this. Everyone around me is so… much. Talented. Confident. Useful.” His voice cracked. “And I just keep thinking- if I’m not an Ultimate, if I’m not amazing… what’s the point of me being here at all?”
Something like hurt flickered across her face.
“Is that truly what you believe?” she asked softly.
He let out another bitter laugh that didn’t sound like him. “I’m just… extra. A background character in everyone else’s story. A liability in anything that actually matters.” He swallowed, eyes burning. “If I disappeared, you’d all be safer. Better off. Happier.”
Sonia’s jaw tightened.
For the first time since she’d arrived, her composure cracked- just a hairline fracture, but enough that he saw the person under the princess.
“That is,” she said, voice firm, “an absolute falsehood.”
He flinched automatically. “You don’t have to-”
“I am not saying this out of obligation,” Sonia cut in, sharper now. “You are mistaken. Profoundly.”
He froze, startled by the intensity in her eyes.
Sonia’s gaze drifted out over the waves, as if she was anchoring herself before she spoke.
“When I first arrived on this island,” she said, “I was very excited. It was like something from one of my beloved dramas. A tropical setting, classmates from different walks of life… adventure.” A faint smile tugged at her mouth. “But I was also… terrified.”
“You?” he blurted before he could stop himself. “You’re a princess. You always look like you know exactly what you’re doing.”
Sonia’s smile softened- sadly, almost.
“That is because I have spent my entire life learning to appear so,” she said. “In my country, I am never truly alone. There are always eyes upon me. Expectations. Protocol.” Her voice quieted. “Here… for the first time, I was simply… Sonia.”
She looked back at him.
“And one of the very first people who treated me as ‘Sonia’ and not as ‘Princess of Novoselic’ was you.”
He blinked. “Me?”
“You,” she confirmed. “You did not stumble over formalities. You did not attempt to impress me with grand gestures. You asked if I was enjoying myself. You asked what sorts of shows I liked to watch.” Her cheeks colored faintly. “You listened to me ramble about serial killer trivia and did not look at me like I was a monster.”
(Y/N) swallowed, caught between disbelief and the sudden ache of being seen.
“I just… thought you seemed lonely,” he muttered.
“And you acted on that thought,” Sonia said, softer. “You sat with me. You laughed with me. You did not demand anything in return. You made this island feel less like a cage and more like… somewhere we could endure together.”
Her hand lifted between them, hovering- careful, asking permission with her posture before her words even came.
“May I take your hand?” Sonia asked.
His throat tightened. “Y-yeah.”
Her fingers slipped around his, warm and steady. She squeezed- not enough to hurt. Just enough that he couldn’t pretend it didn’t matter.
“If you vanished,” Sonia said quietly, “this place would become much darker for me. I would not be ‘better off.’ I would be devastated.”
His eyes stung. “You’re just saying that because you’re kind,” he whispered.
“I am saying it because it is the truth.” Sonia’s grip tightened, earnest and unwavering. “Your life is not a burden. Your presence is not a mistake.” Her voice dipped, almost shaking with how real it was. “You are my friend, (Y/N). I care for you dearly. And I do not wish to lose you- to the ocean or anything else.”
His breath hitched. His shoulders started to shake before he could stop them.
The words he’d been holding all day- maybe longer- spilled out in broken pieces.
“I’m so tired, Sonia,” he admitted, voice cracking. “I’m tired of pretending I’m okay. Tired of feeling like the weakest link. Like one more bad day will just… snap me in half.”
Sonia stepped closer, closing the last space between them. Slowly. Deliberately. Giving him time to pull away.
He didn’t.
She lifted their joined hands and pressed his knuckles lightly against her chest, over her heart.
“It is all right to be tired,” she murmured. “It is all right to be broken. It is all right to not know how to go on.” Her heart beat steady beneath his hand. “What is not all right is facing that alone.”
Her gaze held his- gentle, stubborn, refusing to let him slip away.
“Will you allow me to stay by your side?” she asked. “To share that weight, even a little?”
Something inside him cracked open like a shell that had been too tight for too long.
He bowed his head, trembling. “I… I don’t know how much I can promise,” he said. “I don’t know what tomorrow will feel like.”
“Then do not promise me ‘tomorrow,’” Sonia replied without hesitation. “Promise me… tonight.”
She squeezed his hand again, anchoring him.
“Promise me you will not walk into that water. Promise me you will come back to the shore with me, and rest, and let someone hold you while you remember what it feels like to be loved.”
His breath hitched painfully. “I can… try,” he whispered.
“That is enough,” Sonia said at once. “That is more than enough.”
They walked back up the beach hand in hand.
The sand didn’t feel like a cliff edge anymore. It was just sand- soft, shifting, real beneath their shoes. Each step grounded him, pulled him away from the line where the water waited.
When the cottages came into view, Sonia hesitated.
“My room is closer,” she said, a faint pink warming her ears. “Would you… would you feel comfortable resting there? I do not wish you to be alone tonight.”
Guilt twisted in his stomach. The idea of stepping into her space, of being one more thing she had to manage-
“I don’t want to intrude,” he started. “You’ve already-”
“You would not be intruding,” Sonia said firmly, leaving no room for argument. “You would be… very welcome.” Her voice softened, and she glanced aside like she was suddenly aware of her own boldness. “I would feel much more at ease if I could keep an eye on you.”
She cleared her throat, trying for composure again.
“And I believe physical closeness may be… comforting, yes? ‘Cuddling,’ I believe it is called here.”
The thought of being held- of not having to brace himself alone against the tide inside his own head- made something warm and aching uncurl in his chest.
“…Okay,” he said quietly. “If you’re really sure.”
“I am exceptionally sure.”
Sonia’s room was tidy, neat in a way that still felt lived-in. Little touches from Novoselic were scattered carefully around- framed photographs, a patterned throw folded over the bed, a tiny flag pinned near the window with almost ceremonial precision.
She closed the door gently behind them and turned, suddenly looking a little unsure herself.
“Um,” she said, fingers fussing with the edge of the blanket, “we may simply lie atop the covers, if that feels more proper.” She glanced up at him. “You may keep as much distance as you like.”
His throat felt too thick for a proper reply.
“I… I think I’d like it if you were close,” he managed.
Relief softened her face into a small, trembling smile.
“I see. Then…” She gestured a bit awkwardly toward the bed. “Would you like to lie down first?”
He sat, then eased onto his side, facing the wall because looking directly at her felt like too much right now- like he might break completely if he saw too clearly how gentle she was being.
The mattress dipped as Sonia lay down behind him, cautious and careful, leaving a small space at first.
“May I…?” she asked, fingertips hovering near his shoulder.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Please.”
Sonia’s arm slid gently around his middle, drawing him back until his spine met the soft warmth of her body. Her other hand slipped beneath the pillow near his head, and suddenly he was surrounded- warmth, faint perfume, the quiet solidity of someone holding him like he wasn’t fragile or wrong.
His breath shuddered out.
Sonia tucked her face near the back of his shoulder, voice a soft murmur in the dark.
“Is this acceptable?” she asked.
He made a sound that was almost a sob. “It’s… perfect.”
Her arm tightened- not painfully, just enough that he could feel the promise in it.
“You are not a burden,” Sonia whispered. “Not to me. Not now. Not ever.”
Her fingertips traced slow, steady patterns against his ribs, like she was teaching his body how to breathe again.
His eyes burned. “Even if I feel like this again tomorrow?”
“Especially then,” Sonia said without missing a beat. “If tomorrow is dark, tell me. If the ocean calls to you again, tell me. If you feel like you have no reason to stay…” Her voice trembled for the first time, quiet but fierce. “I will give you mine.”
He curled his fingers around the wrist resting over his stomach, holding on like it was a lifeline.
“Okay,” he breathed. “I’ll… I’ll stay. At least as long as you’re holding on to me.”
Sonia’s breath hitched- and then she let out a tiny, relieved laugh, like something inside her finally unclenched.
“Then I shall not let go,” she murmured. “Not tonight.”
(Y/N) closed his eyes.
The thoughts were still there, whispering at the edges of his mind, but they felt farther away now- drowned out by the steady beat of her heart against his back and the slow rhythm of her breathing near his ear.
For the first time in a long time, the idea of waking up tomorrow didn’t feel like a punishment.
Zelda and Link weren't the only ones under the castle, Zelda's personal guard, a knight who was trained and hired to relieve Link of some of his duties, had been with them.
They stood next to their friends when the floor collapsed, falling into an inky abyss, time froze as they fell, the dot of light that was the dungeons disappearing above them. They'd accepted their fate already when light, yellow sparkles buzzed over their skin like static electricity, and then they were gone, disappearing in a mist of power.
---
Reader is nonbinary and also not even attracted to Rauru at first because they're convinced he's either a small lynel or an overgrown bokoblin.
Sonia and Rauru are IMMEDIATELY hooked though, also they think Zelda is dating R which is,,,, not true but it's funny so I let it happen, im so exhausted from writing this and the sidon x reader project, sfjkdlg.
send asks if you have any fun ideas for fics!! This one will have several chapters so please for the love of god just oneshots, just oneshots cause i cant sjfkdg
----
Their breaths were wheezing, confusing them momentarily as they lay, looking at the clouds as the soft twinkling sparks of magic finally extinguished like the sparks of a fire
-
They awoke in a field, tired and cold, a hand shook their shoulder, and their eyes snapped open, she was alone, in a field, and someone- a stranger- shook them?
Their wordless shout had the stranger withdrawing, muttering to someone they could not yet see, the Knight crawled away from the stranger, looking around and seeing the princess not far away.
In a flash, they were up to their feet, they stumbled, uneasy, and their eyes flicked from the hylian woman in front of them to the strange beast that bent over Miss Zelda's form, sharp teeth exposed and clawed hands reaching for the princess.
It took not a second to drag their sword from its scabbard and draw their shield, both royal guards’ issues that proudly displayed the symbol of Hyrule, the woman looked at them in confusion, but she followed their eye line to the beast and her eyes widened, mouth opening to shout.
The woman called out, and the beast barely managed to see the approaching guard before he sprung back from them, they stood over Miss Zelda, making sure not to hurt her as they kept both assailants away. If the woman knew a monster, she surely wasn't as safe as she appeared.
The beast approached, hands out in a placating matter, the knight snarled, snarled like Link had taught them to scare monsters and people alike, and held their sword at the ready.
The two figures glanced to one another, and in a wide arc, they stepped to eachother. The monster drew the woman behind it, a protective move. The guard grimaced, lowering their stance, the beast was much larger than them, it could easily defeat them, especially with how unsteady they still felt after the strange rush of magic and the fall under the castle.
No matter, they would not allow any harm to befall the princess.
"Your companion-" the woman said, they frowned, before hearing a soft groan, they glanced, panicked, between the princess and the threats, but as the young girl stirred and attempted to sit up, the choice was made.
"Princess!" They cried, shield dropping with a clatter and sword returning to its sheath with a soft *shiiing*, they slid on their knees in their haste to be by the princess’ side, they missed the way that the Hylian woman repeated the word they’d spoken to her beast, confused.
"Please, don't strain yourself." Their hands settled on the princess’s back and shoulder, protectively glancing at the stranger and monster as they helped her sit up, the second they heard feet approach, they scrambled to their feet, pulling out their sword and pointing it at the approaching figures, who paused immediately.
Their blood rushed, making them light-headed, their heart pounded in their chest, gritting their teeth
"Y/n, please." The Princess placed her hand on her knight’s shoulder, they lowered their sword ever so slightly. But still scowled at the two.
"Who are you?" The princess asked, uneasy, the knight placed the sword back in their scabbard, but their hand hovered near the handle, an action that did not go unnoticed.
“Princess..” They murmured, urgent, inclining their head in an obvious suggestion to leave, or at least reconvene, the princess nodded, noting her knight’s apprehension, but kept her eyes on the strange creature and the woman, the princess tilted her head at the strange couple, giving them an opening to speak.
“I am Sonia, this is my husband, Rauru.” Sonia approached the princess, and the guard bristled. An insult almost slipped off the guard’s tongue, one they’d heard not often in the towns they’d pass, a few times thrown at Kilton or his brother, or even, at times, at Hylians who courted other species.
‘Monsterfucker.’
The thought stained their feelings toward the woman, and they glared at her beast, visibly startling when it- he? Spoke.
“I am sorry we startled you and your companion, we were only trying to help.” They hissed under their breath, Zelda and Sonia did not seem to hear it, but Rauru’s ears twitched and he glanced to them, curiously.
“I apologize for my knight’s behavior, it is just.. We have never seen anyone like you before, most that look similar to you, are not sentient or kind, but rather monsters who wish only to destroy.” Zelda spoke, her soft voice settled the knight a bit, and Rauru nodded in understanding, his eyes now kinder as he took them in.
“Sorry for my manners, I am Zelda, daughter of King Rhoam and the Princess of Hyrule, and this is one of my personal guards, y/n.” You bowed reluctantly, your metal pauldron clanging softly with the motion as you waited for the conversation to continue before you stood again.
“What a strange and unexpected thing to say, as we are the founders of Hyrule, as far as I know.” The humor in his voice was apparent, but stale, you huffed at the joke, and he smiled, mirth in his eye.
“Wait..” Zelda paused, and so did you, narrowing your eyes as you looked between the two.
“Queen Sonia and King Rauru…” She murmured, you remembered her telling you about them, it was a small part of history, as sadly, details of the oldest history were always the hardest to find, just their names now echoed through your lands, in a long, almost endless line of kings and queens, they barely stood out.
“Where are we?” Your voice was hoarse, and scratchy. The two strangers looked slightly surprised at the quality of it, Zelda did too, but looked mostly worried, she glanced out over the lands.
“I- I don’t know.” She managed, you gazed at the two, they didn’t seem dangerous, but you had to remain on guard.
“Hyrule.” They replied instantly, but your eyes traced upward to the island floating above, you startled, and an involuntary whine slipped from your lips, Zelda followed your eyeline and startled in much the same way.
“What is that?” She managed, confused.
“Oh, that is the great sky island,” Sonia answered sweetly, you glanced at Zelda, then signed a quick question.
‘I patrol perimeter?’
‘Yes, quick.’ she signed back, and you took your shield from the grass, sword out as you started to search the forest for anything, landmarks, a monster hideout, a village, or the castle from afar.
You came upon a cliff, it wasn’t awfully high, but enough so for you to see down into a valley you strangely recognized.
You spotted Hylians, wearing revealing clothes and holding rough, handmade weapons, seemingly made from sticks and stones rather than the fine metalwork you carried, even Lizalfos had nicer weapons than that. You watched the hylians for a bit longer, they seemed to scavenge in the forest for fruits and vegetables.
Zelda called your name, and it didn’t take much more for you to return to her side, taking a dead sprint, still holding your sword as you settled next to her.
“Did you see anything?” You ignored how Sonia and Rauru appraised your weapon, or how you wheezed softly with each breath, you nodded.
“Hylians, not like you and me, like her.” You nodded toward Sonia, and Zelda nodded. “They wear primitive clothes, weapons like a monster’s not like ours, not even like a lizalfos or Lynel.” Again, Zelda nodded, hand to her chin.
“Then it’s certain, we must have somehow traveled back in time, Sonia and Rauru explained to me it could be the stone we found.” She held out the yellow stone, and you hummed, nodding.
“Keep it close, hide it.” You murmured, glancing at the islands above you nervously.
“We should return to the castle, I am sure my sister would be glad to speak to you, Miss Zelda.” You frowned, you’d roughly calculated where you were, near the Temple of Time, by the location of the valley and a mountain that you supposed would become the dueling peaks, but was for now just one mountain.
“How.” You managed, the raspy quality of your hurt throat had Zelda be even more concerned.
“Normally.. We’d teleport, but I don’t think that’ll be possible, if we walk a day, we should reach a town not too far off the route, and there we could get some horses.”
You nodded thoughtfully, chewing the inside of your cheek as you glanced from Zelda to the king and queen, they smiled, but the King's sharp teeth only managed to unsettle you.
"I suppose.. We should start walking then!" Zelda clapped her hands, you nodded, stretching your arms above your head while Rauru began walking, Sonia chattering softly to you and Zelda.
You remained quiet, eyes pinned on the unfamiliar landscape, searching for enemies or threats.
If you really had gone back in time..
Shaking your head, you sighed, surely, it wouldn't be that difficult, if it went up, it went down, if it went back in time.. Surely it could go forward, that's the way time is supposed to go!
I love sword and shield and the chokehold these characters have on me, but if I ever tried to write dialogue for most of them I would have a stroke, so have this instead.
I’ve written a bit for Sonia before, but there is one point that I completely forgot to bring up, and that is how absolutely excited she is to share her research and discoveries with you. She loves her job (most of the time), and is absolutely going to blab to you about it, so be prepared.
You don’t have to understand everything she’s saying, you likely won’t, but that’s okay. Just listening and trying your best to work through what she’s saying will be enough for her. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, she will answer each and every one of them with incredible enthusiasm. But if you understand what she’s talking about, she would fucking ascend on the spot from happiness.
Please have a girl's night with her. Get holed up in her room while spilling trashy gossip all night while painting each other’s nails over cheap wine, she’ll love you forever. She’d jokingly ask if you had a crush on anyone when you’re already dating and act all innocent and teasing about it, like, “aww, you had a crush on me??” when you’ve literally been dating for years.
Yamper goes everywhere Sonia goes. You can expect him to be begging at your feet whenever you meet up with her, wanting nothing more than for you to bend down and shower him in love and affection. He’s a good boy and he knows it. Sonia might send him off to fetch you when she’s busy, so please trot behind him slowly. He wants to lead you there and doesn’t want to fall behind.
I’ve brought this up before, but Leon would be so supportive. Sonia is his bestie, so when you get into a relationship, he wants to meet you as soon as possible. Man just loves his friends and is so happy when they get into loving, meaningful relationships. He also knows a lot about you because Sonia has gushed about how much she loves you to him on several occasions. He can seem kind of intimidating with his status and all, but he’ll definitely end up thinking highly of you.
And I have to mention Hop as well, because he’s also very supportive. He takes it upon himself to be Sonia’s wingman when she’s pinning. When Leon’s not available, she’ll blab to Hop instead. The second you meet, he begins planning your wedding. Be prepared.
But that’s not all, because Nessa is also Sonia’s bestie. She’s the only one of the three that you really have to worry about, as she won’t hesitate to speak her mind if she has any kind of issue with you, but she ultimately knows how much you mean to Sonia, and so she has no choice but to be supportive. Anyways, if Sonia takes too long to confess her feelings for you, she’ll get Leon and Hop together to form a plan to make it happen. Sonia is mortified.
Nessa… Need I say more? She is the woman of all time, with one of, if not the, best design in the entire series. She’s gorgeous, she’s powerful, she’s described as having an “indomitable nature”, what more do I have to say?
Unfortunately, as both a model and a gym leader, she’s a busy gal, always running to and fro to get work done. She’ll always try to squeeze in time for you, but that doesn’t always work out, much to her dismay. It also means that many, many people are going to be jealous of you. This goes for all of the gym leaders and champion as well, considering they are essentially celebrities in Galar, but Nessa may as well be in a league of her own.
Many people have crushes on Nessa, both young and old alike, so finding out that she’s taken is a crushing blow. You’re gonna end up with weirdos that hate your guts for daring to date their crush, which sucks. But on the other hand, you’ll also have weirdos who are completely obsessed with you and your relationship and want to know every little intimate detail. You decide which is worse.
Speaking of being a model, expect to be roped into a photoshoot every now and then. Nessa loves you and thinks you are drop-dead gorgeous, so, naturally, she’s not above pulling some strings to fit in a shoot or two with you. Expect to at least have a Valentines photoshoot every year, since it’s the most obvious way to show off how great of a couple you two are.
Nessa yearns for the ocean. Having grown up in a sea-side town with fishermen for parents, she’s used to floating out into the ocean and just relaxing. When she’s feeling stressed and pent up, she’ll drift out into the blue abyss with one of her pokemon, staring into the sky above while being rocked gently by the waves. She’d love it if you joined her sometime.
She also really likes fishing. She often comes back to her roots, which leads her to pulling out the full fishing ensemble, “fish fear me women want me” hat included, and getting onto a dinky boat to sail off into the middle of the ocean to fish for hours on end. You are asked to join her on these trips, but they aren’t super exciting unless you absolutely love fishing.
She has pictures of you everywhere. In her gym locker, in her wallet, on her phone, around her house, in Sonia’s lab, everywhere. They’re almost entirely pictures that she’s taken, too. While she is by no means a photographer, she knows a few things about taking good pictures from modeling, and loves to use that knowledge to take wonderful pics of you (not that you don’t look wonderful all the time). Her phone’s lockscreen and wallpaper are also pictures of you, obviously.
So I don’t have a sword so I am not as familiar with Bea, but her design alone is enough for me to write for.
Girly pop is stoic, but she’s not unbreakable. It’s not the easiest task, but it’s absolutely worth your time to make her smile and laugh. That being said, it makes her very embarrassed and flustered, so please spare her and her image and only do so when in private.
She thinks about you a lot. Bea’s been trained to remain calm and collected, even in tense situations, which makes it difficult for opponents to read her in the heat of the moment. Little do they know she’s just thinking about what her girlfriend is up to at the moment. Were you doing alright? Were you in the stadium watching her match? Were you cheering her on? She hopes so.
Is not above using you to indulge in her love of sweets. She has the biggest sweet tooth in the league, but has a hard time actually eating them without garnering too much attention. So, when she wants to have something sweet, she’ll bring you with her and play it off like it was your idea, therefore she was just following you and being a good girlfriend and not just getting dessert.
Training never stops with this one. She works out all the time, and will invite you to come sometimes. Her training is incredibly rigorous, though, so you likely won’t be able to keep up. Sitting on the sidelines and cheering her on or helping her workout in some kind of way are more than acceptable in her mind. Easiest way to help her is to sit on her back while she does push ups, it helps her workout while also getting to be close with you. Don’t expect her to be talking too much, though.
Her training sometimes brings her to remote locations in the region, and she sometimes forgets to warn you ahead of time. You might spend your entire day trying to get ahold of her and asking others if they’ve seen her, only to receive a text from her hours later that just reads like “ out training”, no further elaboration.
Bea’s a tad bit touch starved, so she thrives off of your affection. However, she’s not very good at vocalizing her wants, so it falls to you to notice her longing stares. She wants to hold your hand and cuddle and sling her arm around your shoulder when sitting close, but she’s too nervous to initiate on her own due to her lack of experience.
Her only ask is that you keep your relationship pretty lowkey in public. PDA makes her a little uncomfortable, both because she’s shy with affection and also because she knows people are watching. Hand holding is as far as you are gonna get with her before she breaks a little inside.
Melony my beloved. They did not have to cake her up so much but goddamn I am not complaining because ahjdkgh milf. She’s hot and also incredibly caring and sweet and supportive.
First things first: you have to get along with her kids. This is non-negotiable. She already has a rocky relationship with one of her children, she doesn’t need to jeopardize that relationship further, or the one’s with her daughters, for any reason, even for love. It’s a lot to suddenly have five step-kids, especially if you don’t have any kids to begin with, but if you aren’t willing to at least try, Melony isn’t going to be sticking around.
She doesn’t want to overwhelm you too quickly, but meeting her children is something she wants to happen early in the relationship. Once things get serious, she’ll invite you over for dinner which, surprisingly, goes very well, with little family drama being drudged up in the process. It takes a monuementous amount of effort to convince Gordie to come over, but he does, reluctantly. It’s probably pretty stressful because, uh, if you mess up then your relationship is toast, but it’s worth it in the end.
Also, congrats, by doing the bare-minimum, you become Gordie’s favorite mom. This is by default, considering the previously mentioned rocky relationship he has with Melony. She’s just happy that Gordie isn’t upset about her hopping back into the dating scene, same with her daughters, and that they actually like you.
Not normally what I write about with these, or write about in general, but, when it comes to arguments, Melony can be a little difficult because she’s used to being the one in charge. Most of her arguments are with her own children, over both silly and important matters alike, and so she’s used to taking the perspective of “mother knows best”. It’s never her intention to control or demean you, but it can easily come off like that. If you bring it up to her, she’ll do her best to work it out of her mindset (communication is important kids). Not to say that arguments happen often, of course, but they can be incredibly annoying to deal with when they crop up.
Melony loves to cook, and would love to both cook for and with you. It’s maternal instinct to make sure you’re well fed, there’s simply no way around it. Expect her to make you adorably packed lunches and plenty of home cooked dinners. You’ll almost always end up with leftovers, since she’s used to cooking for five people. But she’d love it if you joined her in the kitchen for some quality bonding. If you’re lucky, she might even show you how to make the snomlette.
It’s honestly incredible that she has time to do so many things for you and her children along with her duties as gym leader with time to spare. It’s the mom magic.
Marnie, despite being punk, is shy and sweet in equal measures. Even as a gym leader, she has a streak of being a little stand-offish and awkward. That’s not to say that she’s meek or a push-over, or that she gets nervous in front of a crowd. She’s just easy to fluster and is usually on the quieter side.
Like many others, Marnie’s got a lot on her plate. Of course, she’s got her duties as a gym leader to tend to, but she’s also working on restoring Spikemuth to its former glory. These don’t just eat up her time, they also leave her tired. Please hold your arms out for her to fall into when she walks through the door after a long day, it’s her favorite way to recharge.
Morpeko loves you more than anyone else, a blessing you should be thankful for. He’s kinda like a cat, in that he can be very sweet at times and an asshole at others. Oh, and he shows his love through biting. He likes Marnie well enough, but she’s not safe from being bitten or scratched. You, however, are a different story, as he seems to always be sweet when you’re around. Marnie’s convinced he does it out of spite.
Keeping up with the theme of “talking about other character’s important to this specific character”, Piers. He wants the best for his baby sister, considering that he basically raised her and all, but he doesn’t even try to be overprotective or intimidating. Does it sting to watch Marnie grow up, seeing her get into her first real romantic relationship? Of course. But he knows that she’s got a good head on her shoulders, so he sees no reason to butt into her relationship.
He’s an overall chill guy with a lot more time on his hands since he’s no longer a gym leader. As long as you’re chill, he’s chill, and won’t mind your company. Hell, he might even start looking forward to hanging out with you, thinking of you as part of the family, when you’ve known each other for long enough. The only issue he might have with you is your music taste.
This is a bit more general, but I like to think that Marnie and Hop are good friends. They didn’t know each other too much during the gym challenge, since all they really had was a common friend/rival, but they actually got to know each other once the champion cup was over. It’s not super easy to hang out since they’re both striving towards their own goals, but they find a way.
It’s funny, because I don’t think they would have much in common outside of their music taste, but they’re still friends who hang out and complain to one another. While he’s dropped his dream of being champion, Hop still gets excited over the gym challenge every year and loves to watch her matches. Marnie’s not the most knowledgeable when it comes to pokemon research, but she finds it all interesting and tries to lend a hand. She’s not that helpful. She also is the only person preventing Hop and Bede from throwing hands when they run into each other.
Oleana is the pinnacle of “very busy and very tired”. Gatekeeping, gaslighting, and girlbossing all day takes a great deal of time and effort. She’ll trudge home and fall face first into the couch, perfectly content to call it a night if you don’t step in and make her come to bed.
She loves the chairman dearly, but he also stresses her out immensely. There’s really no point in going out to meet loyal fans on the way to business meetings, but that doesn’t stop Rose from doing that anyways. She badgers him to the best of her ability, but he still takes his sweet time. While she appears composed, she’s screaming internally, waiting until she can go home and scream about it externally when venting to you.
Speaking of the chairman, it seems as if she cares more about him than she does you at times, but she does her best to reassure you otherwise. The chairman is, unfortunately, her priority due to being her boss, but that’s more about admiration than love. Consider the fact that he (unintentionally) makes her incredibly stressed, whereas you don’t. That alone gives her a reason to love you.
Also consider that the idea of coming home to you at the end of the day is part of what keeps her going. Sure, her job is stressful, considering the fact that she is essentially the backbone of the Macro Cosmos company, but she always gets through the day because she gets to see you once it’s all said and done. The tension within her bones dissipates upon walking through the doorway. Hold her in your arms, brush your fingers through her hair, get shitty take out to eat over trashy TV that neither of you are really watching, and you’ll win her heart in an instant.
While she shows her more… aggressive side to you when ranting passionately about all the issues involved with her job, she reverts back to her poised and punctual state whenever in public. Due to her professional nature, expect little PDA. The most you’ll get is hand holding. Unless she’s jealous, at which you’ll get a hand wrapped around your hip which grips just a little too tight until she calms down.
Date nights are typically spent indoors unless she has a day off, which is incredibly unlikely to happen. Firstly, she wants to rant, and she can’t do that in public without destroying her public image. And secondly, she’s tired of dealing with people given how much shit and disappointment she has to deal with throughout the day. You get her, so why would she want to be around anyone else?
Also! Garbador is an absolute sweetheart. She knows how much you help Oleana and that makes her so happy. She tries to show her affection but is a little awkward about it because she doesn’t want to gross you out since she’s… literally made of trash. She usually just watches from afar, all smiley and happy to see you two being happy, getting embarrassed if you catch her doing so.
Sooo I wasn’t originally gonna write anything for Klara because, again, I don’t have sword and am not as familiar with her as I am Bea, but thoughts started rolling so here we are. Also kinda toxic behavior incoming because it’s Klara.
Girl is a pop star, or is at least trying to be one, which means she’ll naturally write love songs about you. And by love songs I mean songs that describe how much she loves you but are also not really love songs because they’re lowkey toxic? Listen, it’s Klara, what else do you expect when that is literally her thing. She also has songs about her exes, which contain… worrying content, but that’s neither here nor there.
In general? Don’t break her heart. She will key your car and slash your tires and will attempt to instigate physical fights and will also write a song about you and how much she hates you and all of the things she hopes happen to you. Again, it’s Klara. But if she loves you with her whole heart and soul, then you have nothing to worry about. She’ll be more than happy to do all those things towards people you don’t like instead.
She's not the best at showing her love. Her goal in life was always to be loved by everyone around her without having to do much in return, but your existence has disturbed that goal because she actually really likes you and actually wants to try for you? And she kind of hates that, and it takes her a while to even figure out what the hell was wrong with her, and she ends up resenting you for a hot minute for making her feel so weird.
But she gets over that and decides to put in actual effort into your relationship, trying to be a better person both for you and herself. She takes the time to listen to you and work out your likes and dislikes, and puts effort into coming up with cute date nights, and does her best to be there for you when you’re down or need to get something off of your chest. Just normal girlfriend things. She’ll never admit to changing how she acts, though. This unintentionally turned into an “I can fix her” post whoopsie.
Klara loves to take pictures of herself and photoshop them, so expect to be sent most, if not all, of them. Sometimes, she just thinks she’s looking exceptionally cute and just needs to share her hotness with someone else. She also expects you to send pictures back in return, as it’s only fair. Like Nessa, she has a large portfolio of pics she’s both snapped and received of you.
Anyways, Klara posts shit like “I love doing wifey shit for my girlfriend <3” while burning down the kitchen trying to make you scrambled eggs.
I also originally wasn’t going to write anything for Peonia but I had a change of heart because, after thinking of it, I couldn’t not write embarrassingly supportive supreme dad-of-the-year Peony hyping her up.
Peonia’s biggest mistake in life was coming out to her dad, because the man is simply too supportive. The moment she tells him this vital information, he is searching every store and market for all of the lesbian flags he can find. She has an entire pile of them in her room because she literally doesn’t have any space on the walls to hang them on. He also sews smaller ones onto her clothes and jackets upon being asked to do so,
If he ever sees her talking to another girl, he’ll ask about her afterwards. He just needs to know if she’s into this new person he’s never met before. Peonia always tells him off in an attempt to subdue her embarrassment. Thankfully, he at least waits until the other girl leaves, or else she would literally combust.
That being said, don’t think you can date Peonia without Peony putting up an overprotective fight. At the end of the day, that’s his baby. His darling. His pride and joy. Sure, she’s grown up and is more than capable of making her own choices in life, including her choice in romantic partner, but he’s still her father. He just needs to make sure you have her best interest in mind, then he’ll back off.
But once you’ve gotten past the over-protective dad phase, you get yourself a new father figure. He’ll come to think of you as one of his own. He’ll also provide you with plenty of embarrassing childhood stories. At some point, he’ll start referring to you as his daughter-in-law. Every minute you spend talking with him makes Peonia rip her hair out. Again, Peonia is happy that her dad is supportive of her sexuality and your relationship, but she’s also on the verge of dying from embarrassment.
Even though she is incredibly embarrassed by her father’s antics, she can be super supportive and exciting when it comes to doing anything with you. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and when she realizes how she acts similarly to her father when it comes to spending time with you, she dies a little inside.
Enough about dad. Please go with her on Dynamax Adventures. Not only does she have a blast with them, but she can show off how cool and strong she is as a trainer. Please swoon over her and how cool and brave she is, being as dramatic as humanly possible. RIP to your teammates who are forced to third-wheel on the adventure, but at least Peonia is having fun.
Also, please help dye her hair. The pink looks great but it was a pain to do by herself, and she’s too embarrassed to ask her dad for help. Besides, it means you get to hang out and she gets your input on what color to use.
Description: You worked closely with Chief Ganondorf, you knew his plans and you knew you’d have to be careful in how you revealed to the King and Queen what would happen. It couldn’t be sudden, it would have to be gradual, one hint at a time.
Tags: 1.7k words, gerudo!reader, slight language barrier (written text), yearning, implied Ganondorf x Reader, inspired by an @alilbitlesbian post
Your fingernails drummed against the table as you looked over the paper in front of you. You forced yourself to focus on it. You had to focus on it.
It was all written in Hyrulian. You knew most. You knew enough to be considered fluent but you were no expert. You needed to give the words your full attention to piece together the puzzle that was context and figure out the meaning of words you didn’t understand.
You couldn’t be distracted. You had to focus.
They were right in front of you though. How could you be expected to do anything when they were right in front of you.
King Rauru and Queen Sonia of Hyrule, you’d heard their names before but only in tones filled with annoyance and occasional malice. What you’d been told of them did not prepare you to fit in front of them.
Rauru was tall with a thin coat of fur all over his body, barely an inch thick— if that. It was all a shade of gray save for his ears which were as white as his hair with longer, fluffier fur. You’d caught yourself wondering several times if his many earrings would jangle if you scratched those ears and you got your answer when he turned his head and a soft tinging was heard as they clicked together.
Sonia was a Hylian woman with similarly long hair to her husband though hers was blonde instead of white. Her eyes were a shade of vibrant green that was more colorful than the grass and flora you saw on the trek here. Those eyes were filled with understanding that you were left questioning, not sure what she saw when she looked at you that made her soften so much.
“Are you alright?” Rauru asked with your title at the end of his sentence.
“I’m well,” you told him. You let your fingers drum against the table a few moments more as you continued to stare at the words that muddled together on the page before you finally relented. “Though, if I’m completely honest, I do believe I’m having some. . . difficulty understanding. That is to say, I don’t know all of the words written.”
Sonia’s eyebrows rose and then fell as a soft smile came to her lips. She stood and walked over to you. Her hand went to rest between your shoulder blades as she bent a bit to get a better look at the paper.
You willed yourself to not think of how warm her hand was or how you could feel the very tips of her fingers against your skin.
“Let us take a look together, shall we?” she said.
With her help you realized that you did know most of these words and the ones you hadn’t were outlandishly lavish. There was simply the matter of spelling, different dialects and all. When you’d gone over the entirety of the paperwork, her hand still didn’t leave your back,
You cleared your throat and reached for a writing utensil. “I do believe that these are reasonable expectations,” you said. “The Gerudo will happily accept your request, King Rauru.”
“I’m pleased to hear,” he said as you signed the papers.
You slid the papers back to Rauru who took them so carefully. His fingers curled around the documents, only the pads of them touching it. He seemed almost wary of his nails, like they would pierce through the pages if he held them too harshly. Perhaps it’d happened before.
With a heavy feeling in your chest, you moved to stand. Sonia’s hand and warmth retreated from you as you did.
“If that is all, I should be off,” you said. “Sav'orq and sav'orr.”
“Are you sure you wish to go?” Sonia asked. “You’re welcome to stay. It’s getting late.”
She was right, of course. The sun had gone down and the moon was beginning to rise by the time you’d finished. However, you had to leave. You’d rather not deal with him thinking something had happened.
“It’s a multi day journey,” you reminded her. “One night won’t make a difference.”
“Then one hour shouldn’t either,” Rauru said. “We have the extra room. Please, if not for yourself than to ease our minds. There are many creatures of the night which could harm you. It’d be safer to turn in early and rise the same than to traverse far enough away from the towns and stables so if something happens, no one will know.”
You tried to focus on your goal. You knew that you really should leave now, get three to four hours of travel in tonight to make up for the lost time but they made a compelling argument.
You looked at them both. They should know they already won this bout of conversation. As soon as they’d asked the question, you knew the answer.
“If it’s not trouble,” you said.
“None at all,” Sonia said. “I’ll work on the arrangements.”
She left the room. Now it was just you and Rauru, alone in such a large room. There weren’t even guards. How trusting, how foolish.
“You should tighten your security,” you told him.
His brows raised. “Any particular reason?” he asked.
Oh, so many. Too many.
There was a reason Ganondorf had chosen you to come, because he knew you couldn’t say no to him. You hadn’t said no to him so many times and in so many different ways.
It wasn’t because you were weak or fragile. When push came to shove, you’d normally have no qualms telling him he was wrong. He’d even encouraged it, fond of the challenge. You simply knew when to keep your mouth shut for either safety or occasionally pleasure.
“Like you said, dangerous times,” you settled on saying.
He slowly inhaled and exhaled, a whirlwind of emotion hidden in his eyes.
He didn’t comment further. Instead, he changed the subject, “You must be famished, it’s been such a long day and we barely took a break. May I?”
You gestured for him to go ahead.
He led you down the halls of the castle to a kitchen area. He scooped several fruits you’d seen only briefly in your time here with Ganondorf but hadn’t tried onto a plate. Then he grabbed a pot filled with water and began preparing something.
It was so strange to see, a king making and preparing his own things. It didn’t seem right or rather normal. Especially in comparison to Ganondorf who practically used you as all his needs packed into one. You prepared his food. You stood watch to guard by his throne. You handled the townspeople’s squabbles. You did everything except the political work. That was until recently when you’d been thrown into that too.
“Oh, there you are,” Sonia said as she entered the room. “I couldn’t figure out where the two of you went.”
“My apologies,” Rauru said. “It simply occurred to me that none of us had eaten in our time together. I thought I’d rectify that.”
“A noble cause,” Sonia said as she reached over you for a golden, round fruit.
She bit into it with a small crunch sound. Her eyes fluttered closed for a mere second as something in her seemed to relax.
You could see the smallest droplet of something clear begin to try to roll down her lips and chin but you reached out to gather it with your thumb before it got the chance. It was sticky on your skin though that was to be expected.
Sonia’s hand nearly went to where yours had touched her but she stopped herself.
“I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until food was placed in front of me,” she said with a small smile.
“A common realization,” Rauru said.
He grabbed three cups. What was normal in your hands was dwarfed in his. It seemed so small, like an adult playing with a child’s toy.
He held them like he held the papers (not hard enough to pierce) and the fruit (not hard enough to bruise), not hard enough to crack.
He poured tea into the three cups. You reached for the one closest to you slowly.
“No one has ever made me tea before,” you admitted.
A flitter of sadness was quickly washed away with the hand placed on your arm and smile scratched across her lips as Sonia said, “Then you’re in for a treat, Rauru makes some of the best tea I’ve ever tasted.”
“Now, Sonia, you know better than to place false expectations in people’s heads,” Rauru said.
“And you know better than to lie,” she retorted.
You hide a smile at their banter with the cup before you took a sip.
“I’m afraid Queen Sonia is correct,” you said. “You’ve downplayed. It’s wonderful tea.”
“Thank you.”
“And please, simply call me Sonia.”
You arrived in Gerudo Town nearly four hours after the sun had descended from the sky. You took a moment to bask in the comfortable temperature inside the walls of the town (especially in contrast with the sharp chill of the outside) before you began to make your way to Ganondorf’s chambers.
“You’re late,” he said sternly.
“The meeting ran over,” you explained, not lying but not revealing the entire truth.
He scoffed lightly as he turned to look at you. He circled you, inspected you with critical eyes. He searched for any sign of damage. If there was the smallest scratch or faintest bruise on your skin you knew he’d find it and use it to his advantage. He found nothing.
“Would you like to make up for your lost time?” he asked.
“Of course.”
You followed him to wherever it was he led you. You knew what you were agreeing to. You did it willingly, probably would even if he wasn’t your higher up and simply a man on the street. However, he wasn’t the only person you’d found yourself drawn to in these ways recently. You couldn’t admit to that, however. At the very least not now.
Perhaps soon you’d be able to focus on more than just him and his wants. You dared to dream that maybe one day you could focus on your own.
