Your brother got a new best friend when he was in high school. You always had a bit of a crush on him, but he was older and cold. When your friends were over at the same time as him, you’d all joke about him being reptilian. As the years went on, your brother and him stayed close. Even after they both went off to different colleges. Even after you ended up going to college.
One summer, your brother and you had come back to visit your parents. Staying in your old childhood rooms reminded you of what high school was like. Especially when he came back to visit his parents as well, so your brother and him ended up hanging out a lot. You couldn’t help but notice how tall he was-had he always been so tall? Had he always been towering man with eyes that cut through you?
Your brother was invited to a party, and to your surprise, he invited you along too.
“You’re too uptight. Every time we talk, you’re always studying. Do you even have any friends on campus? I mean, come on Y/N. You have a single dorm and you don’t even have a boyfriend to have over. It’s kind of a waste,” he teased you right after he invited you.
“You don’t have to try to pressure me. I was going to say yes anyways,” you muttered. “I’m gonna to get ready.”
“Good! You’ll have a lot of fun, and I’m bringing Drake,” he announced before running off like a little kid to his room.
You don’t know why the idea of Drake being there made you so nervous. It took you longer than you thought to get ready because of the way your hand was trembling. By the time you’re done, your brother was impatiently in the car, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.
“Finally dude. Come on. We’re already late. All the hot girls are gonna be taken and all the good punch is gonna be drank. I’m going to be pissed if I’m stuck drinking beer all night,” he told you, speeding out of the driveway before you were even buckled up.
When you got to the party, you recognized the house as one of your brother’s old friend’s house. You’d gone for a birthday party a couple times when you were younger. So, you slipped to the bathroom to double check your appearance before you ran into Drake.
Your hair was slicked back and pulled into a tight braid that snaked down your back. The black button up you’d gone with was fully buttoned, so you took a second to unbutton the first two. It wasn’t a job interview. You knew you shouldn’t look like such a prude. Your plain jeans and boots you knew were fine, so after hyping yourself up for a moment in the mirror, you rejoined the party.
Drinks were pushed into your hand, and you got pulled into random conversations. You didn’t see Drake, but the more you drank, the less you cared. It wasn’t until some guy was chatting to you about how hard his Computer Science degree was to get that you finally spotted Drake, glaring at you from across the living room.
A laugh escaped your lips. Even when everyone else was having fun, he was cold and unmoving. The guy you’d been chatting with you acted offended, but you didn’t care all that much. Your body was warm from the alcohol, and you had a confidence you’d never had before. You apologized and slipped away from him so you could make your way to Drake.
“Hey loner,” you said with a smirk as you plopped next to him.
“What do you want?” he muttered, folding his arms over his chest and turning away.
His annoyance only made you more insistent on talking to him. You touched his arm at one point, making him reel back as if you burned him. It hurt a little bit, but you swallowed it down. Eventually, your brother came to find you, and was surprised to find you red faced and slurring drunk.
“Man, I really wanted to run Y/N home real quick so I could go home with this girl, but getting him anywhere is going to take forever,” he groaned.
“I’ll take him home,” Drake offered, though you could tell from his tone of voice he was still annoyed.
You yawned, resting your head on Drake’s shoulder. “I’m good. Seriously. Drake’s such a buzz kill that it’s not like I’m putting a damper on his night. You should go have fun though.”
Your brother laughed, ruffling your hair and fist bumping Drake. Drake muttered something you didn’t catch through the blood pounding in your ears. A few minutes after your brother left, Drake pushed you off of him.
“Come on Y/N. You can stay over with me for tonight. I don’t want to wake your folks up this late and there’s no getting you to bed quietly,” he said as he grabbed your hand, tugging you to your feet.
“Okay,” you said in a tight voice, your skin tingling where he was touching you. Your entire body was on fire.
He led you through the party, his fingers interlocked with yours to make sure you didn’t get lost. Once outside, he tugged you closer to him, wrapping his arm around your waist to keep you pressed against his side. You took the opportunity to nuzzle against his arm, almost burrowing there. You felt like you were on cloud nine.
Drake groaned and you were worried he was going to push you away, but he didn’t. Instead, he clung tighter to you, his nails feeling almost like… claws.
After a year of relative ease, it quickly becomes clear that this was only the calm before the storm. Cracks begin to show in the foundations of SolCorp, The Church, and Alex's attempt at a quiet life--before the whole thing falls out from under everyone's feet.
If you've enjoyed Sunset so far, buckle up for more intertwined storylines, monster hunting, espionage/intrigue, ethically-questionable telepaths, complicated/problematic relationships, betrayals, reveals, and fated predictions coming home to roost. (Plus Emmett gets a pet chicken. Listen, we had to lighten things up a bit.)
Issue 2 is up on Patreon now!
Cover artwork by my awesome co-writer @touloser-lautrec!
Sunset updates tag list.
I try to keep it to release updates, long excerpts, and character profiles. Please comment/dm for +/- or to switch to the All Things tag list
It took a while to adjust to the strange new environment that was supposedly your new home, but that feeling of not belonging never went away.
You still felt lost; and being forced into this life, being forced to resign to roam around the select spaces that he permitted you to go—felt dehumanising somehow. As though you were a caged animal on display.
It wasn’t as though you could just leave either, much to your continued frustration. The entire vicinity seemed to be packed with people that he called his family, yet they didn’t take as kindly to you.
The looks they fed you spoke volumes, labelling you as someone, no, something that simply just didn’t belong, at least not in their perfectly constructed world.
The younger girls that you met with before had initially attempted to mimic the behaviour of such people. You supposed that these people were their role models, dispelling their fabricated hatred over to you and expecting the still impressionable minds to follow suit.
Personally, you found that sort of thing to be strange in humanity, quite ugly, actually.
How odd was it that time and time again, that humans were often the cause of their own assigned hatred.
No wonder you existed.
The younger girl who carried a plushie in her hands tried to offer you kindness instead, just a simple smile that was soon squashed under the gaze of a bystander.
“Don’t pay any attention to something so filthy,” an older woman hissed, although she couldn’t have been that much younger or older than Geto. You watched as she ushered the girls away from your sight, muttering something hateful under her breath. “This thing is worse than a monkey and it doesn’t belong here.”
Suguru however passed by, curious as to what the commotion seemed to be just outside. He found it odd that Manami was scolding the girls and dismissively interacting with you, finding that he didn’t quite like when others tried to discipline his daughters. They were both well mannered enough, so what could possibly be the reason?
With a deep sigh, he stepped in to intervene at the scene. “Honestly, enough with the theatrics,” he said to the woman, gesturing his hands to have the girls return to his side, “you’re acting like I don’t bring things in here without a purpose.”
You watched him in the background as this whole scene unfolded, almost curious about how he treated others and especially to someone he claimed earlier to you was essentially like family.
Suguru wearily tried to read more into the situation. In truth however, a part of him did acknowledge that this sort of environment went going to be right for you because of your nature, but also, because not everyone had the capacity to understand. It wasn’t Manami’s fault for being uncomfortable around you, she was already on the fence about his own stored spirits. Maybe after witnessing what you were capable of succumbing to after the incident on the stage, he shouldn’t be allowing you to freely roam to begin with.
This caused him to conclude something in his mind, deciding to speak a notch louder as though to reel in the attention of the other bystanders as well, “Remember, any interference with my own plans means that you’re committing treason against the cause, which will be dealt with accordingly, regardless of your loyalty.”
Despite the threats and warnings he dispensed, you couldn’t help but feel as though there was a hint of possession in his tone. While it didn’t feel as though he was actually defending you, there seemed to be something ever so slightly more behind his words that carried a different sort of weight.
You could feel it, even.
Some sort of tension that hung in the air as he spoke.
All of this revelation and yet you still didn’t understand your place here, though. The way he addressed you, the way he spoke to them—it felt more as though as you were a pest—rather than the promised salvation he kept labelling you as.
Instead, you found yourself believing the words people claimed you to be.
Filthy.
Disgusting.
Maybe even a monster.
~~~
It didn’t take too long for Suguru to lead you away from the prying eyes of his own community however, leading you off into what he dubbed to be a supposed safe sanctuary within his own personal quarters. The girls were conveniently displaced for now, sleeping elsewhere on the grounds.
You couldn’t help but feel worried about his intentions as he led you into his bedroom, feeding you ill-intended promises that nobody else can get into the room.
You simply just didn’t understand the sentiment, you supposed.
Some lingering tension continued to brew in the air the longer that he kept quiet, but then he broke the stagnant atmosphere by pushing you gently towards the corner of the room, forcing you to take several steps back.
His eyes darted around the twisted corners of the bedroom, his voice adopting an amused tone as he began to explain your circumstances to you, “This part of the room is quite interesting, actually. I had someone manipulate it for a… special reason.”
“A barrier…?” you cautiously asked, unable to see the cursed energy that was otherwise presently keeping you contained.
Suguru laughed softly as he shook his head, “Close, but not quite. You see, it allows humans to pass by freely, however, as for you…”
You narrowed your eyes as he trailed off, immediately getting an uneasy feeling as he let the implication fester. You took a few experimental steps forward, finding that an invisible wall blocked your path, no matter how much you tried to force your way past it.
“It’s for your own good,” Suguru spoke in an attempt to assure you, his voice however once again taking on a possessive edge. “This way you’ll keep safe, unable to stray away where you don’t belong again.”
Your reaction this time was visceral as both his words and the invisible wall quite literally held you captive. “I-I don’t like this.”
“Stop resisting,” he replied, his voice carrying a flicker of warning, something in his tone that hinted at something darker, “or would you like me to remind you what I’m capable of should you try to disobey?”
Wanting to hold onto your life, you resigned to a weary sigh. You accepted your fate for now, supposing that as long as you remained alive, then that’s all that mattered for your survival instincts.
You wanted to live.
You wanted to return back home to your unrestricted forest, but you couldn’t. Instead you were forced to remain confined within the shadow of a man crazed, without a single clue of what his intentions truly were.
Just before leaving completely, Sugutu stopped to tell you something else, “I’ll come for you when I need you.”
With that, he left you all alone in the manipulated pocket in his bedroom as a reluctant guest, where you hoped for nothing more than to leave, already certain that you were long overstaying your welcome.
~~~
It was night when he returned to you, finding you in an almost dormant and eerily still state right where he left you. He thought that you looked almost similar to a statue rather than as living, breathing being. Such a feeling was only confirmed further as he reached to touch you, finding that your skin felt firm beneath his touch, although not quite like stone, perhaps closer to hardened clay.
Noticing you opene up your eyes, he took a step back, feeling slightly startled. “It’s almost creepy with how still you can get.”
“I’m not like you, that’s why,” you replied coldly. “I can pass through time like this, sometimes even years.”
He snorted in response, feeling a little fascinated. “So… what? You can hibernate?”
You nodded albeit warily, noticing how his eyes settled on you once again. Much to your continued dismay, you watched as he took a step forward again, pushing his palm flat against your chest, as though searching for a heartbeat to remind himself that you weren’t a human.
Feeling uncomfortable, you tried to step back, finding that you had nowhere to go as he kept you locked in place against the wall. Suguru studied your features closer, feeling both fascinated and uneasy the longer he stared.
“You’re pretty, I’ll admit that much,” he softly told you, “but uncanny.”
His feelings of almost conflicted desire continued to both manifest and stir the longer he looked into your eyes, finding your appearance just as alluring as unsettling at the same time. Perfect, yet frightening.
His fingertips lightly dabbed over your face, carefully tracing over your skin. He took note of how unblemished your flesh seemed to be, so soft, so smooth—nothing like touching a person at all.
“Do you feel emotions?” he asked flatly.
“I do,” you replied calmly, “just not in the same way that you do.”
Suguru could only furrow his brows in deep thought, an unreadable expression forming on his face. For someone who saw you to be so lowly in his company, his touch was so gentle and almost even kind. He couldn’t help but feel mesmerised by your cursed marks, following the bleeding lines down the clothes you wore.
He had seen it before, when he watched you bathe; washed marks sitting over your skin like spilled ink, swimming down the contours of your flesh like cursed watercolour.
He couldn’t help but stare at you in awe; his eyes lingering—settling—on you, his gaze haunting and almost starved.
Finally however, he pulled himself away again as soon as the conflict returned. His voice quickly abandoned the softness from before, adopting a colder, rigid edge, “You’re just a cursed spirit though, aren’t you? You were born through human negativity, so while you think you can mirror what it’s like to be a person, you’re nothing actually close to a real person… are you?”
You didn’t reply, watching him stir away within the confines of his own hateful rhetoric.
“You’re less than…” he trailed off for a moment, surrendering to the hate he broke up earlier. What a hypocrite. “Less a monkey. Simply filth. You’re nothing more than dirt beneath my shoe.”
And despite dishing out those choice words to you, there was something that warred within his mind as he stared at you, as if to imply that he didn’t actually mean what he said. It was as though he told you these things as a way to convince himself not to get any closer to you.
Suguru simply didn’t know how to deal with all of this though, especially as his fascination with you slowly crept into something that closer resembled obsession instead.
It was driving him crazy.
It was as though he wanted to both control and consume you at the same time.
Was it because of what you were?
Because of what he could do…?
He turned away from you momentarily as those sorts of thoughts continued to invade his headspace. While the manipulated space meant that you couldn’t harm him in his sleep should he lay to rest, he found that’s not what actually bothered him.
No. Instead it was the realisation that he didn’t actually mind having you in the same room, being the problem instead. In fact, the idea of you being somewhere else, such as freely roaming the temple, was a prospect that bothered him much, much more.
Steeping away and climbing into bed, he shook off those thoughts before taking one last look at you.
Despite his inner conflict, you remained as till and passive as ever. Completely indifferent and more importantly, unaffected by his tormented desire.
If only you knew just how much he wanted to take you right then and there though, even despite his unease and what he would claim otherwise.
Oh, how Suguru longed to do so right now actually, but stopped himself because of one little thing that bothered him.
When he asked you if you could feel emotions, you told him that yes, you do.
So does that mean you would feel sadness if he forced you?
Hurt?
Anger?
Or being what you are, would you feel anything at all?
~~~
this is part 2 of lilac’s bite sized yandere nightmares
Anyone here know any good cover illustrators? I got a new thriller in the works and I need to commission someone who wants to maybe draw some men covered in blood. 🙏
7 ways to write Reigen in-character/Reigen-centric
1. Make him ugly
Yes, he is extremely sexy man and he is extremely sexy ugly man. You wanna write he has delicate porcelain wrists and his waist is snatched?? Sure, but he also picks his nose in private.
2. Encourage him to be a repeat offender
Don’t limit him to con artistry, any petty thing that helps him save a little cash is even better. Taking 30+ napkins from the front of the food franchise store???? He’s running a small business, officer.
3. Reigen is always trying to strike a deal. Even with your readers
And you can get an additional discount if you continue reading, sign these terms and purchase the following bulk items… Don’t resist. Let the luminous allure of capitalism flow through you.
4. Reigen is also trying to cheat your readers
Reigen admitting he has no powers?? Pffffffff what series did you read/watch?? Mop Sycho???? (At this point it’s fine cuz everyone knows he’s obviously lying (aka obvious unreliable narration)). And yes, when it matters he’s honest about it.
5. Add a sprinkle of self-loathing
Does Reigen hate himself?? :DDDDDD Of course he does! But make it subtle. Can’t have any employees feeling guilty cuz they turned down his dinner offer (and he instead spent that night downing lemon sours and not enjoying it).
6. Remember Reigen’s love for Mob is boundless
Of course shishou would reschedule all his appointments, drive into uncharted forest and hold back a stranger in a chokehold so Mob can have free milk or a frog sticker.
7. Make Reigen struggle to be emotionally vulnerable
My man’s a feminist alas the societal norms of emotional suppression grip him still. If you’re writing him pre or during canon he’s not gonna cry so easily. Post-canon tho???? Yassssssssss let those snotty tears drown his eyes and airwayss we love that. And if sharing smth personal means his nuggets of wisdom will sound a little more meaningful to the people he cares about, then he will.
Obviously there are many ways to write this stinky lingerie-wearing man, but assume you followed these steps…
The result?? I wrote a reigen-centric fic here :)) Let me know what you think
