THE NIGHT WE MET — IZUKU MIDORIYA

★ ˛˚ . a little mermaid themes, after nearly drowning and being saved by… something, you’re met face to face with your home towns legends, sending your relaxed summer break taking care of your uncle spiraling.

★ pairing: mermaid!deku x marine science student!gn!reader

★ word count: 8.2k

★ content: fluff, modern fantasy?? au, reader is in college/studying marine biology (only briefly mentioned), bestie bkg, reader is from a fishing village, swearing, mild mention of injuries, semi-graphic drowning, mentions of hospitals, eating/food mentions, fruit as a love language.

i realized when writing some of the bestie bakugou parts that i was… showing my bias just a bit :’) so to remedy it i wrote myself in as his off screen partner :) this is the first part of right below the surface mermaid series !!

YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO COME BACK HERE. You always hated this place — it was small and even when you were a child, it was dying — and you quickly find nothing at all has changed. Everything's standing still — stagnant. You hate it. You feared getting stuck, it's why you clawed so hard to get away, being just as stagnant as the rest. You'd promised yourself. You told yourself you'd graduate, get into a good college, and never look back.

But you've always been bad at keeping your promises. And when your uncle broke his leg falling off his fishing boat, forcing him to be house ridden and work less, you couldn't say no.

And so here you are, nestled in overheated sand and letting the same water you spent your whole life resenting lap at the soles of your feet. That fear, the creeping feeling of stagnation—of never being better—haunted you. The idea of standing still terrified you, watching the world grow while you were stuck in your tiny, unchanging hometown.

Though, even then, you can't help but melt in the familiarity.

"You're gonna have a damn heatstroke if you spend the whole day holed up on the rocks."

“Awww, it’s almost like you care about me,” you have to squint up at him, hand a poor shield from the sun. Bakugou scoffs, trapping the notebook he was holding against the back of your head.

“You fuckin’ wish. Just don’t wanna have to haul your ass to the doctor when you pass out in the sand. And I need you to help me run some errands.”

You groan, flopping boneless against the sand, “why me?” He doesn’t entertain the whine, pulling you up by your wrists. “Can’t you get one of your idiot friends to help you?”

“I am getting one of my ‘idiot friends’ to help me- you, dumbass.” You try your best to act as dead weight behind him, dragging your feet through the sand, “and they're errands for your uncle so you're lucky I'm doing them at all. Should make you run the boat while he’s holed up.”

“You know he hates it as much as you do, Katsuki. He’s been driving me crazy trying to take care of himself.” He’d always been that way. Stubborn. Your mother used to tell you that you reminded her of him. It didn’t feel like a compliment.

Katsuki looks back at you, fingers loosening around your wrist, like he knows what you're thinking. “Trust me, I know how stubborn that bastard can be,” his arm is hooked around your neck to drag you into step next to him, “we’re buttin’ heads constantly.”

You flail a bit in surprise before teeth sink into the juncture of his arm and he lets you go with an affronted gasp, “you fuckin’ gremlin.” Bakugou rubs at the indents roughly, “thought the city was supposed to civilize ya.”

The walk into town is longer than you remember, but maybe you just forgot how expansive the town really was. Katsuki was right, it’s uncomfortably hot, air thick and sticky — it feels like every breath takes effort. It gets worse the closer to town you get, the smell of iron and gasoline pressing down on you. The dock is empty, most boats already out for the day, but the smell lingers.

Main street is busy, as busy as the town can get, and you can already hear the cheesy nautical music being played in the little tourist shops. You always found it funny just how many there were. Little brightly coloured shops filled with novelty plates and mermaid-themed mugs and shirts. When you were little you’d always buy something absurd for your uncle, a windchime carved like a giant crab or a snowglobe whose red glitter looked morbidly like blood. He always kept them.

There’s only one grocer on the island, boxed in by countless fishing supply stores and boat shop repairs. It’s always been so overcrowded you were tempted to start up a rival just so you could get your strawberries without shoulder checking a grandmother.

“Gotta stop by the boat shop before we head back,” Katsuki says, nudging you with an elbow, “yer uncle’s needs a new cleat.”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

He rolls his eyes, pushing the door to the grocery open for you. It’s oddly empty, with no one but the distant sounds of shuffling in the back and a very sunburnt teen closely reading the back of a cereal box.

The shops are rather unchanged, sole for a couple of aisles of sugary cereals and chips, you find it easy to navigate the crates of fruits, “he give you a list?”

“Nah- here for pickup.” Katsuki’s moved to the front, flicking the little bell on the counter, “always buys the same shit anyways.”

The shopkeep, a grinning mess of familiar dark hair, pokes himself from the back. Kirishima’s stayed the same, too, you think. The same horrible cut-off novelty Hawaiian shirt he wore during summer breaks and strong arms, hoisting the heavy crate of plums easily.

“Hey!” You can’t help the smile that spreads across your face when you step up beside Bakugou. He gasps audibly, quickly moving around the counter to yank you into a hug, “I forgot you were supposed to be back today!”

He pulls away, still gripping your forearms, to do a once over.

“Kiri, it’s nice to see you again.” And it is.

“I’ll say- feels like you’ve been gone a decade.” A very apparent thought crosses his face, an audible little oh escaping him as he grips you tighter, “you should come to the bonfire with us tomorrow morning!”

You huff a laugh at the enthusiasm, “us?”

“Yeah! Mina, Denki, and hopefully Bakugou planned on going out to look for shells and teeth! It’s supposed to storm tonight, perfect weather!"

It’s sweet that they’ve kept up with that — combing the beach in a futile effort to find whole shark teeth or the decorative shells tourists seem to always leave with. You used to do it for the grocery store, back when Mina’s grandma owned it, and she’d string up the little shells and pieces of sea glass found into windchimes or bracelets.

Katsuki lets out an exaggerated groan, head tossed back, “Kirishima. The groceries?”

“Oh! Right.” Kiri ducks behind the counter and rummages around before remerging with two packed paper bags of meats and vegetables. You can see the tops of a celery stalk leaned against the little homemade cookies your uncle likes so much. When Katsuki reaches for the handles Kirishima pulls them back, “you are coming, too, right?”

“I really don’t have the patience for this right now,” his snarl doesn’t seem to phase Kiri, though, who continues to slide the bags out of his reach.

“Katsuki!” He whines, lip pulling into an exaggerated pout, “please come?” Kirishima looks pointedly at you, his little way of making you feel included, and grins, “you can come too! It’ll be like back in the day!”

He groans, scrubbing at his face roughly, “I don’t know, ‘t’s date night, y’know.” You huff a quiet little laugh, it’s nice to know Katsuki hasn’t learned how to lie since you’ve been gone.

“Date night is on Wednesdays, which means you’re free! So you’ll come, right?” Kirishima leans onto the counter, resting his chin in hand, “unless you want me to ask them? I’m sure she can give me a straight answer.”

“No- don’t! Don’t fuckin’ threaten me with that. Fine, I’ll go. But I’m home by 12.” Kirishima beams, sliding over the prior hostage groceries before turning back to you.

It’s cute how well Kirishima’s threat worked on him. But the closeness sends a little pang of hurt through you. They know each other. Now that you’re back, faced with the lives that moved on without you, you regret never settling. Even if it was just a little: trying to date or befriending more than the people you’d known since birth. Anything but burying yourself in jobs and school and breaking up with the only boyfriend you’d had so you could finally get out. Maybe then you wouldn’t be so… alien in your hometown.

“You too, right?” You’re startled by the attention, meeting Kirishima’s earnest eyes. “You’ll come?”

“Of course!” It’d be a lie to say you didn’t want the company. Or that you’d missed them after you’d left. “You know I love shore hunting.”

“Great!” He beams, revealing a third bag of groceries for you to carry, “Bakugou can give you a ride and everything! Mina will be thrilled to see you again — Denki, too.”

He flashes one last smile before disappearing back behind the shop's little door, avoiding Katsuki’s pointed hey! and leaving you to follow a fuming Bakugou to the boat shop across the street.

Maybe it’d be nice to see everyone again .

“You’re a lot of fuckin’ help, y’know,” Katsuki grunts from the hull, struggling to haul the metal cage over the side of the boat. It hits the water a moment later, sinking below the choppy waves. “I’m so glad I brought you along.”

You snort, head lolling against your shoulder so you can grin at him, “awww, you knew what you were getting into. You’re the one who said it was ‘my damn uncle’s boat’ and I needed to ‘get off my ass’,” his eyes narrow at the impersonation. “Even though, technically, I came to sit on my ass and watch my uncle’s leg heal. Not to run his crab traps.”

It was his job, technically. You'd started going with him to check the traps after your uncle got better at using his crutches. You hated to admit that it was nice to be doing something other than reading old boat manuals and eating the shrimp chips your uncle bought in bulk.

He grumbles, tossing the ropes back to the boat’s deck before making his way to the helm. You had five more traps to set before the storm moved in, stirrs up the smell of the bait and the water stays warm.

But the skies are darker than they should be. The rain wasn’t supposed to start until noon, and the wind wasn’t supposed to pick up until hours later. You had time, but you still found yourself worrying.

“Are you sure we should be out here? Why can’t the traps wait until after the storm,” you grumble, tucking your hands underneath your arms. Katsuki glares at you from where he’s steering and you can hear your uncle’s rant pooling on his tongue.

“Stop fuckin’ complain’,” he barks, tossing another rope onto the hull, “not even makin’ you do shit and you still find something to complain about.”

You huff, sitting up to glance over the edge of the boat. The water’s dark and choppy, waves slapping against the metal and hissing. Bakugou drops another cage, sending more waves against the boat's side.

The cage sinks slowly, pushing against the current as it disappears into the dark. There’s another splash in front of you, louder than the cage, and you jerk upright. Katsuki shouldn’t have dropped another trap already and it sounded too far away.

You pull yourself up, leaning against the rails as you search the churning waves. There’s nothing, any ripple from the movement hidden in the vicious waves caused by the storm.

It’s raining now, your boots squeaking against the metal floor as you chase the noise. There’s a flash of color—green, the green you’d seen on the beach—and you lean to see more.

“What’re you doin’ dumbass? Get away from the sides!” Katsuki drops the rope he was holding, gripping the railing, “gonna get yourself swept over.”

You ignore him, heart beating out of your chest as you see another flash of fins, “did you-” lightning cracks over you, and you feel the boat start to tip with the waves. It happens so quick, a wave beats against the side and spills over. Your feet, already slipping on the slick metal, are swept out from under you.

You’re too shocked to react, hands clawing at the railing but too slick to get traction as the waves drag you back. The water’s cold, shocking a gasp out as you're pushed under—even though you tell yourself you shouldn’t- that you know how to handle this.

But you don’t. You’ve never drowned and the tightness in your lungs feels ready to burst, your head hits the ground again and your ears begin to ring. You can feel yourself being pushed further to sea by the currents, further away from the boat.

Something moves above you, quick and shadowed and for a moment you think you’ve seen a shark, of all times, but it looks too big. Your vision darkens, blurred green as you feel your hands, too cold, press into your sides, something rough wrap around a leg. Eyes find yours, more green swimming against pale color and the hands start to yank, pulling you up through the water.

You want to see more, to figure out what has you — who saved you, but your vision finally darks, ringing worsening.

You're thirsty when you wake up.

They must have the window open, the saltiness of the air sheening your skin. The room’s silent when you wake up, deathly quiet. As if everyone had established an understood quiet game once you’d been situated into a bed. Your uncle is next to you, propped awkwardly in a chair and gripping at your hand.

Katsuki is behind him, leaned against the wall holding a box with a bow, one that looks suspiciously unlike anything he’d do. He’s the first to notice, straightening in his seat and nudging Kirisihma awake, with much more force than necessary — nearly pushing him from his chair, before moving to the bedside.

“You’re awake,” your uncle sounds out of breath, like he’d spent the entire morning pacing the floor. You wouldn’t have been surprised. Normally, you’d laugh at the observation — obvious — but your throat still aches and breathing hurts.

His palm finds your back when you sit up, coughs raking your lungs. It’s comforting, even if it does little to help, and you find yourself curling in on yourself. “You’re okay, everyone’s okay.”

Your hands fist into the back of his sweater, soft and loosely knitted. The iv aches at the movement and you finally look down at yourself. The skin of your arms seems greyer, as if the water had sucked the very warmth from you, and dry.

You recognize the hospital, you think, from the view. It’s a tiny little clinic downtown which can house a max ten patients at once. The room itself doesn’t feel much like a clinic, walls painted a warm green and gauzy curtains blowing over the opened window. Even the bedding, though spread over your usual hospital bed, comprises soft sheets topped with a worn patchwork quilt. It feels like you’ve fallen asleep on a friend's couch.

“Uh, I brought you flowers,” Kirishima was standing, now, though he looked incredibly out of place. He was wearing another cut off Hawaiian shirt, this time covered in pink and purple turtles, cradling a wilting bouquet of asters like a newborn. “It’s, uh,” he’s shuffling slightly as he stares down at the blooms, “they’re not really in season.”

You laugh a little, despite yourself, which he seems to take great pride in. Your uncle takes the bouquet from him and lets you dunk them in the little pitcher by your bed. “Thank you, Kiri. I love them.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

The little bit of laughter dies with the words. It’s as if something cold has slipped down your spine — you almost died. It’s a grim thought and your shoulders tighten at the memory.

You could’ve died.

Katsuki hasn’t looked at you yet, eyes locked on the little wrapped box in his hands. He rubs a thumb over the corner once more before finally handing it to you, “it’s, uh, brownies. I didn’t make ‘em but they’re still pretty good, I guess.”

That’s high praise, you think and if it didn’t hurt so much you’d laugh. “Tell them thank you, then.” He nods slightly, still picking at the beds of his nail. And you know what he’s thinking.

“Can I — uh, why don’t you and Kiri get me a new thing of water?” Both of them understand, you think, glancing between you and Katsuki, “since I’ve used mine as a vase.”

Katsuki doesn’t look at you until they’re gone, eyes red-rimmed and glossy, “real subtle, dumbass.”

“I wasn’t trying to be subtle.”

It’s quiet. Not that you expected him to talk first, but you’re still a little annoyed that he’s making you strain your throat this much, “Katsuki — ”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” He’s staring at the floor again, voice so quiet you’re almost sure you missed it, “why? It’s not your fault.”

Bakugou stands suddenly, pushing himself from the rickety lawn chair, and you can see his jaw clench. “I was the one who made you come with me. I could have done it alone — I could have set those damn traps without you. But I made you come.”

“You didn’t make me do anything, Katsuki. And if I hadn’t gone, it could’ve been you that got swept off and then what? Who would’ve been able to get you out?” That was half the reason you’d gone to begin with. You never liked when your uncle went out by himself, let alone a less experienced sailor. “The storm came in quicker than it was supposed to, the sea got rougher than we expected. It’s not your fault, Katsuki, you can’t control the weather.”

He huffs, lifting a hand to scrub through his hair, and you realize you’ve won.

“Now, I do expect ice cream. And I don’t expect to pay for it.”

Katsuki barks a little laugh, “fine. But ya gotta promise not to try and drown yourself anymore.”

You hate that you need looking after, now. It’s minimal, really, considering you nearly died. But you were supposed to be looking after your uncle. Supposed to be making his recovery easier, not sitting on his couch with an icepack tucked against your ribs and earning sympathetic glances whenever he hobbled by the living room.

You hated it. You understood your resemblance, now.

Even though you’ve been cleared, now, your head still aches and your lungs sting with every intake of breath. It’s miserable, feeling so helpless.

The walk to the beach is easy, second nature by now, and you let your feet drag through the sand. The little rock path to the cove isn’t covered, letting the full force of the sun beat down on your neck and you can feel yourself already sweating. The glossy cover of the hardback book you brought along sticks to the underside of your arm and the oranges you’d picked up the week before were already sweating.

Summer hasn’t quite taken over the town, yet. Still too early to be peak tourist season but you can’t help thinking the beach does look a little picturesque — like something you’d see on a cheap motel postcard.

Finding a tree nestled between the rocks, you settle into the plushness of towels and cool sand. The ocean’s slow today, waves lapping against the rocks and pulling at the shore.

This is what your summer break was supposed to be — easy, slow, boring. You were supposed to be able to lounge on the warm sand you hate, read your novel, one about runaway lovers, and peel your oversized oranges Kiri’d made you take.

It’s odd to hear the ocean be natural background noise. You’d been so used to hearing it over a speaker, distorted, then the easy hiss of waves crashing melts comfortably against your skin.

The sound nearly lulls you to sleep, head lolling to rest against the tree's smooth trunk, until you hear a splash — heavy and loud and too close.

You sit up, a book falling from your lap, and see a flash of green — a fish? But it sounded large, larger than anything should be so close to the rocks. Pompano’s are green, but those are deepwater game fish and they weren’t that big.

You’re beginning to wish you’d stayed on the mainland and hadn’t ventured out into the cove. You eye the place where the shores connect, now totally submerged by the tide. Dumb.

“Maybe it’s friendly,” you don’t sound convinced, “most fish are skittish, anyways.”

And so you let yourself relax, settling back against the sand. You can’t keep fearing the ocean, you’ve built your whole future around the sea and you can’t let it be ripped away now.

You're not sure why the noise — a soft little blurb, like a buoy had surfaced quietly, made you look up but it did. At first you see only seaweed — dark green and soft floating amongst the waves — but then you recognize bright eyes and damp curls, clinging to sun-kissed cheeks and nose bridge.

“Hey,” the word comes out fumbled, unsure and a little dumb. You don’t remember anyone being out here or seeing a pile of someone’s belongings on your walk over. So… where did he come from? “I -”

Whatever you were planning on saying frizzles up and dies in your throat when you see it, a tail — at least five feet, maybe more, long curls over the water. It’s the same green you’d seen, paler than his hair but richer than any fish you’d ever seen. The fins, spindly stalks ending in a wide lobe, remind you of a glauert's seadragon.

You scuttle back a step when he moves further out of the water, pulling up onto one of the exposed rocks. “I’m glad you’re okay,” his voice is softer than you’d expected and he looks incredibly non-threatening with his chin perched on his own folded arms, “I was worried you’d gotten too deep.”

“So it was you, then.” His head tilts, and you clarify, “in the water, that pulled me up.”

His tail whips through the water, like he’s pleased, “of course! I was worried, your boat was the only one out on the water.”

You move a little closer, butt-shuffling until the water starts to lap at your skin again. His eyes follow you, zeroing in on everywhere the waves hit before finding your face again. He seems like he’s looking for something, checking for a sign of… something hidden in your expression.

“So… you’re… a mermaid?”

He smiles, then, all sunny and dimpled and cheeks rounding up, “yeah! But Izuku’s my name, please.”

It’s pretty, you think. Suits him. He’s still looking at you, this time brows raised expectantly. You’re about to question it when it hits you, a soft little oh before giving him your own name.

He smiles again, warmth spreading over the apples of his cheeks, and he tests the name on his tongue. The sound tightens your chest and spreads warmth to the very tips of your fingers. You like it.

His — Izuku’s — brows pinch as he spots something behind you. Looking over your shoulder you notice it. The unpeeled oranges.

“Oh, are you hungry?”

“Hm, oh! No, I just… I’ve never seen anything that looked like that before,” he lifts himself off his arms and you notice his hands for the first time, dark and short claws curling into the rock. “What’s it taste like?”

You turn, dragging the little knapsack to you and carefully peeling the fruit. Izuku watches you the entire time, wide green eyes rapt. Like he’s never seen something so interesting.

“Here!” Izuku takes the slice delicately with his knuckles, claws tucked into his palm and his nose scrunches cutely.

“It’s… squishy.”

“It’s supposed to be, it’s fruit — most of it’s squishy.”

When he finally eats it, after some overly thorough sniffing, his eyebrows pinch together. It’s almost humorous how you can see the flurry of emotions which overtake him — disgust, confusion, then interest — before his face softens back out, “I… I like it. I think.”

You snort, which makes his attention snap back to you and his smile returns tenfold. “It’s spicy but like… in a sweet way.” A laugh breaks free before you can stop it. Sour would be better, you think, but you also suppose you don’t know what anything in the ocean tastes like.

You gasp. He does.

“Wait! You’re a mermaid, right?”

“Uh, yes- yeah, I am.”

It’s like it only just hit you, that you’re only just able to connect the dots, “That’s! Oh my god, what’s it like? The ocean?” You barely give Izuku the time to breathe, “what do you eat? Is there… is there a government? Do you migrate — oh, oh, how deep can you swim?”

Izuku looks startled, completely lifted off his arms and staring at you with parted lips, “I… it’s warm and incredibly full of life.” You scoot towards him, nodding quickly, “I usually eat fish, stuff that’s already in the ocean. I like crab a lot, which is why I’m usually so close to crabbing boats.” His flush has worsened a little and he’s staring determinedly down at the rock, like he’s reading from a script. “I can’t swim all that deep down, the pressure gets really bad and it’s too cold for me.”

“We have a King, but it’s not really decided by blood, it's just whoever is the most capable!” Izuku’s looking at you know, propped up on his elbows, “which is a really good system, I think! Helps keep corruption out of power and the King right now is so good! You’d love him, I bet. He’s the coolest.” He seems to realize the rambling, but you only urge him to continue, “some of us migrate, but it’s more a personal choice! I had a friend that moved further south last year, but we’re not like turtles or anything.”

“That’s so cool,” you're not really talking to him anymore — voice so quiet only you can really hear yourself, “it’s like a mini-society.” You scoot closer to the ocean, “is there, like, species of mermaid? Like freshwater, saltwater, deep water ones?”

He nods and you notice his hair has dried, green curls bouncing with the movement, “mhm, the deep-sea ones barely ever get spotted though! They have their own little world down there, I bet.”

The idea conjures a, arguably, fantastical image in your mind. The haunting appearance of all those deep-sea fish science has captured projected onto human forms. Bioluminescent mermaids whose skin is so light it’s nearly see-through, showcasing glowing veins and bones. Mermaids with dangerous teeth and long claws dug into the wreckage they call home.

You haven’t noticed the tide rising, water now gently lapping at your hips instead of your thighs until Izuku says something, “you probably shouldn’t be in the water — it’s late.”

Something odd is lurking in his eyes as he watches the water lap at your clothes and you nod, “yeah — yeah I should check on my uncle. Make sure he hasn’t strained himself.”

You feel his eyes on your back the entire time you're packing up, tracking your every move, until you’ve crossed the quickly vanishing bridge from the mainland to the cove. Izuku’s still perched on the rock, chin resting on his arms in a deceptively lax position. You can tell he’s alert.

“I’ll — I’m gonna come back, okay?” He seems to shake whatever had bothered him earlier off, grinning brightly.

The walk back to your Uncle’s house is quiet. You can’t help but think about Izuku and the look on his face. It was like he was… worried about the water touching you, like he didn’t like you sitting in it. And the way he’d watched you until you were back on dry land. Like he wanted to shelter you.

You see Izuku practically every day after that. After getting your uncle situated for the day and running whatever errands Katsuki needed help with, you’d make your trek down to the cove.

He tells you more about the ocean and starts bringing you gifts. Little things, usually, broken shark teeth and full sand dollars. You start bringing him different foods, mostly sweet fruits or fluffy breads.

Izuku asks a lot of questions, you learn. You also learn he’s not the biggest fan of citrus, preferring the muted sweetness of a mango or peach. Though you also quickly learn to remove the pits before he gets ahold of them so he doesn’t attempt to split them on his molars.

The little walk to the cove has become routine, by now, despite being thwarted by thickets and grass, you find it easy to navigate. Your bag has a combination of kiwis — which you don’t expect Izuku to like — and mangoes, covered by a soft beach towel from when you were young.

Izuku’s there when you arrive, perched on top of a large smooth rock close to the water's edge and fiddling with something in his hands. It looks large, from where you are, and pale.

He jumps when you settle beside him, fingers tightening around the object — a shell — before he relaxes. Izuku says your name like a laugh, “you startled me.” His grip on the shell loosens and you can make out the details. It’s a conch, a beautiful swirl of pink and burnt orange and nearly half the length of his forearm. It’s beautiful.

Izuku notices your stare and holds the shell up, nodding to you, “I found this the other day and I thought you might like it.” He barely lets you process the words before his breath stutters, “you, um, you don’t have to keep it or anything! You could give it to one of your friends or sell it or anything! It just made me think of you. Not that I. Not that I think of you.”

“Izuku,” you breathe, voice heavy with mirth and adoration, “I love it. It’s so pretty.” The fins on his tail shiver against the rocks when you take it and the blush coating his cheeks deepens. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t respond, not verbally, but his tail curls up against your thigh and the fins protruding from soft curls flatten against his head. Izuku’s eyes alight and he preens under the attention, shuffling even closer. He mumbles something under his breath and you have to lean in to catch even a word of it.

You make a quiet hm? in an attempt to have him repeat it, occupying your hands with running over the notches of the shell in your lap. He jumps again when he glances at you, like he’s surprised that you’re still perched on the rock next to him.

“I,” clawed fingers flex against your calf as he stares, lip caught between his teeth, “I wanna show you something. Next time you come.”

“Oh,” you’re not really sure why you’re surprised, “like underwater?” He nods earnestly, lip still caught between sharp teeth. Your hand curls over his own, fingers slotting together, “I’d love to, Izuku. I’ll dig my old snorkeling equipment out tonight.”

He lets out a breath, shoulders sagging as he melts into your side, “thank you.” Izuku makes a soft noise, low and rough like a purr, when your thumb rubs against his knuckles.

“I have more fruit.” You say it more as a distraction, a way to ignore the puffs of air against your throat, “mangoes and kiwi’s this time.”

“Kiwi?” His head lolls against your shoulder until he can look up at you.

“It’s kinda like… an apple and an orange mixed together,” you fumble. How are you supposed to describe the taste of something to someone whose pallet is so narrow? “Like, the same texture as an apple but a little softer and a little more citrusy.”

His nose scrunches up and you laugh, “I didn’t think you’d like them all too much. But I figured you could eat the mangoes.”

You take to digging through your bag, his chin still balanced on your shoulder. The three fruits you’d brought are still cool from the grocer, sweating slightly in the sun. You’ve gotten good at cubing the fruits without anything to cut against, prying the pits from the cloying flesh. Though you suppose you’re entertaining any easy audience since Izuku usually eats fish straight from the sea.

It’s easy to melt into the familiarity, no matter how odd the situation really is, of being around Izuku. You should probably still be weirded out by him — you’ve only known him for a couple weeks — but it feels right. Spending your day laid out on sun-baked rocks eating cooled fruit feels somewhat… inevitable.

The moment’s interrupted by a noise, heavy footfalls which sends Izuku shooting up and pushing himself halfway into the water. His hand curls against your ankles and a sound, low and crackly — a hiss — you realize, erupts from the back of his throat.

Then a head of blonde hair, spiky and soft, emerges from the trees. “Katsuki?”

“Kacchan?” You don’t have time to question why Bakugou’s here, too focused on the recognition in Izuku’s voice. The nickname, you assume, sounds too personal and you’re so confused.

Katsuki ignores him, staring pointedly at you, “your uncle needs ya. Now.”

Izuku’s still halfway in the water, fins pressed flat against his temples and claws dug deep within the rock. You apologize quietly as you gather your things, eyeing Katsuki over your shoulder.

The walk back into town was quiet again. Unnervingly so as Katsuki was determined to keep his eyes locked on the ground in front of him. You do the same, just to avoid the question, and interestingly sand looks the same in every single spot you check. Cool.

“So,” you start to regret the words before you even speak them, “you, uh, you already knew about mermaids, then?”

He grunts in a way you take to mean ‘yes’ and you continue, “so did you know that’s what happened that night, then? Why I ended up close enough to the boat for you to be able to get to me?”

Another grumble.

“So… how’d you… how’d you meet?” Katsuki would’ve been the last person on the island you thought knew about mermaids. Denki maybe, who’d tried to convince you that every minor problem the town faced was aliens. Or even Eijirou who was so open-minded sometimes you worried about him catching flies.

He sighs heavily. It was a fair question all things considered. “You’re not the first one in town to get swept off a fuckin’ boat.” A muscle in his jaw spasms, “and you’re not the first one that dumbass has rescued.”

Katsuki stops talking after that, like he answered your question in any way satisfactorily. Then, he scrubs a hand over his face — pressing so hard against his eyes you think he’s trying to dig them out — before scoffing, “Just. Just don’t leave the fuckin’ beach without him around, alright?”

“Katsuki, I can swim, you know? I’m not a child.”

He pointedly ignores you, “alright?”

“Fine.”

“Planning on snorkeling later?” Your uncle’s gotten better, only needing a walking stick to be able to move around the house. You worry less about him now, too. “Didn’t know you still had those.”

“Yeah, I saw something at the cove yesterday,” you smile. It’s not a total lie, at least.

He chuffs a laugh, turning the heat down on his bacon, “you remember how much you’d begged for us to finally take you? You hated being under. Had to hold you above the surface so you could just put the mask in.”

You do. You’d always had a weird relationship with the ocean — you loved the idea of it, what it held, but were terrified of the power. The destruction you’d seen it cause to not only the village itself but the people within.

“Didn’t stop coming, though. You’re stubborn,” he turns to wink, “get that from me.”

The flippers don’t fit into your bag, bright green ends pressing against your arm and squishing the plums you’d bought yesterday. It’s earlier in the day than normal — sun not as bright and the sand cool beneath your feet.

Izuku’s waiting for you when you, his tail cutting impatiently through the water, when you finally arrive at the little cove. He schools his expression when he sees you, lifting out of the water with a bright smile and calling your name. “You came!”

“Of course I did! I promised, didn’t I?” He makes room for you on the rock, watching as you work the bright rubber flippers onto your feet. They’re uncomfortable and you can feel sand clinging to the sides of your feet.

“I was just… worried.” There’s an underlying tone that makes you think he’s not talking about you showing up. That he’s talking about this is—the water—what he’s worried about. “It’s not too far, promise.”

You’re not convinced he’s really telling you, more a reassurance for himself. But all the same, you smile down at him, “I trust you, Izuku.”

He seems to relax at that, hands coming to brace your shins as you scoot closer to the stone’s edge. It is a little unnerving, being in the water again, but not so bad with him there. His palm slides up your leg, clawed hand curving over your hip—bracing you—as you finally shimmy down the rock.

Izuku’s hand moves to the back of your head when you start to sink, cradling your skull as a wave pushes you back against the rock. “Careful,” he murmurs. He doesn’t let you go once you’re fully in the water, tucking you easily in the crook of his arm and helps you slip the mask over your face.

The water’s colder than you’d hoped, shudders racking you and you press closer into his side, “thank you.”

He swallows, visibly, and you can feel the anxious squirm of his tail against your leg before he settles. You float there, your back still pressed against the rock, for a moment before he grins again. Izuku’s grip tightens minutely before he lowers himself in the water, “ready?”

The flippers make it easier to keep up with him—a feat made even easier as Izuku refuses to let go of your hand, pulling you close to his side—and it doesn’t take much to reach what Izuku had wanted to show you.

There’s a reef, bright and colorful, just beyond the cove. The water’s colder there and bluer. The floor is covered in life, thickets of seaweed and bright clusters of pink and orange coral. The fish are smaller, but colorful and they don’t seem to fear Izuku when he pulls you in.

He still never lets go of your hand, following close behind you whenever you need to breathe. Izuku’s smile hasn’t left either—dimpled even as he watches you bob with the waves, wiping at the air slicking against your forehead.

You take to following him, cutting languidly through the water as he shows off his tiny world: bright pink plates of encrusting and fish no bigger than your palm. It’s not the first time you’ve seen it, of course, but it feels like you’re seeing it differently.

You’re grinning when you break the surface, pulling your mask up your forehead and hands gripping at Izuku’s forearms, “that’s so cool, ‘zuku.” The taste of salt is heavy on your tongue, clinging to your teeth but you don’t mind.

Izuku grins, the fins buried in green curls twist forwards, “good?”

“So good! I forgot how pretty the reefs out here are. I’m so glad you brought me,” he preens under the attention and you can feel his tail brush against your calf. You think he’s going to say something when he stops, staring at something over your shoulder, and gasps.

“One more,” his hands curl around your wrists and tug you forwards, following whatever he’d seen in the water. You have half a mind to try and slip the snorkel over your face but you don’t. You trust him.

He stops a little ways away, pulling you against him and staring down in the water, “look.”

Your grip on his arms tighten when you do—a large manta ray is below you. It’s moving slowly, wings cutting lazily through the water barely a foot beneath when you’re floating. There’s a few more of them, deeper in the water, below it and you watch as they glide easily through the waves.

You laugh, quiet and startled, as you watch the creatures disappear from sight. The sound draws Izuku’s eyes to yours and he watches you for a moment. His hands move on your back, readjusting their grip and he knocks his head against your own, “ready?”

Your legs are screaming by the time Izuku’s leading you back to the cove. He seemed to have noticed you slowing, insisting you wrap your arms around his neck to let him pull you along.

The air feels colder after being submerged for so long, and you shiver against his back. Izuku’s breathing is odd. You’ve always noticed it, it’s so much slower than your own, but the feeling’s soothing. You start to count them in your mind, letting your cheek rest against his shoulder as he moves.

You barely notice that you’ve gotten back to the cover or that he’s started to move you. You follow him sleepily, letting him tuck your head under his chin and legs into the crook of his arm.

He hoists you up onto the same rock you’d sat on before, slipping the rubber flippers off you. You don’t expect him to follow after you, arms on either side of you and hips framed by your knees, “did you like it?”

“I did,” you hum and tuck a drying curl behind his ear, “it was beautiful.”

Izuku grins again, so bright your chest tightens, and leans to press his forehead against yours. You feel his lips skim your cheek when he finally parts from you and slips back into the cove.

You wish you’d thought about this more—the inevitable—before you forced yourself to confront it. You’d always been meant to stay for just the summer. Help your uncle get back on his feet, enjoy the break before your semester started, and maybe figure out what you were going to study long term. You never planned on staying.

Izuku’s words replayed, the seemingly insignificant fact from when you’d first met. Most mermaids never left home. He’d spent his entire life here. You didn’t expect him to want to leave.

And how would that work, anyway? You didn’t think he’d enjoy living in your bathtub nor do you think you’d be able to get him back home without more than a few questions.

So the conversation had to happen. You just wish you’d prepared better. Or at least not keep avoiding it.

Izuku had started sunning with you. You’d spread out your plush towels by the water’s edge and he’d flop next to you, squinting at the sun and pressing himself into your side. It was easy, nice. And incredibly hard to think about leaving.

You’re sunning now, Izuku’s face tucked against your collarbone and curls dried against your jaw. His breath warms your neck, spreading across your chest.

“Izuku?” He hums, fins twitching minutely, “do you think about the future?” You can feel his brow crinkle and have to fight yourself from smoothing it out with your thumb. “Like… what-”

You’re not sure how to ask. How do you tell him you’re leaving, that you were never here for long and your time has more than run out.

“Are you okay?” He’s propped himself up on flat palms, peering down at you, lip caught between his teeth, “what’s wrong?”

You regret bringing it up, wishing you could sink into the very sand and never emerge. But you can’t. And you can’t keep putting off this conversation. “Summer’s almost over,” you sigh.

Izuku’s head tilts, confusion washing over him before it hits. Oh. You’re leaving. His bottom lip escapes his teeth, wobbling slightly, and he pushes himself further away, “you’re leaving?” You don’t say anything—afraid the burning in your eyes will spill over—but you nod. “When?”

Your breath is shaking when you answer, “in the morning.”

You can see the words hit him, his shoulders sloping and tears bubbling to the surface. Izuku stares at you for a moment and you can feel his slow breathing speed, tears finally spilling over freckled cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, thumbing the tears from his face and pressing your forehead to his, “I have to go back to school and my uncle’s healed but I, I’ll visit.” You’re crying, too now. “I’ll come back every break if you want me too, I promise.”

Your throat burns as you look at him, he looks so distraught. You want to fix it, but there’s nothing you can do.

“I’m sorry, Izuku.” Your thumbs continue to wipe at his cheeks, ignoring your own tears, “I wish there was a way—but I can’t. There’s nothing I can do, I can’t stay here and—”

“And I can’t leave.” Izuku’s voice is brittle when he speaks, waterlogged. You hate it.

Your forehead knocks against his, nose nudging his own, and your arms drag him down against you, “I’ll come back, I promise, anytime you want me to.” The words come out weaker than you’d hope and you hope your actions are stronger, fingers tangling in his hair. “I wish I could take you with me.”

He tenses, breathing evening out suddenly. Your phone buzzes from the beach and you glance at it, “it’s probably my uncle.” You smooth a hand over his cheek, “I’ll figure something out.” Something odd has overtaken his expression, the sureness he had before he’d given you the shell or asked to show you something new—determination.

You gather your towels quickly, avoiding the water and Izuku’s heavy eyes. You know you’ll stay if you look.

You almost leave the shell. It’s the very last thing you pack, sitting on your windowsill beside a vase of dried flowers. It’d be easier to leave everything, you think. Bury it in your childhood chest of drawers and forget this break ever happened.

But you can’t. So you wrap the shell in a soft sweater and tuck it into a corner of your suitcase.

The bags a lot fuller leaving than it was when you first arrived. Stuffed with all the little shells Izuku’d given you and the small crate of creamy chocolate bars Kiri had insisted you keep to “remember him” by. He and Sero had also surprised you with an armful of hawaiian shirts, every single one already had their sleeves cut off for you. “Saving you time!” Sero had declared when you’d sighed heavily.

You still pack them.

You’ve cleared out everything but the tiny closet when you hear your uncle talking to someone. He sounds pleased, someone he knows then, and you only recognize the second voice when they’re at your door. Katsuki.

The door is pushed open, revealing a disarrayed Katsuki whose comically out of breath, gripping your doorknob and grabbing at your forearm.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

He ignores you, pulling you out the door and down the stairs. Yanking at his fingers accomplishes very little, and complaining about your incomplete packing seems to make his grip tighten.

“Katsuki! What’s wrong?” You dig your heels into the ground, finally becoming a big enough resistance for him to huff and turn to you.

“The cove.” Izuku.

Your breath catches and you let him pull you quicker, mind racing. Is he hurt? Did something happen? You’d seen him a few hours ago, how’d it happen that quickly?

The water’s empty and still when you finally breach the trees. And you fist at Katsuki’s sleeve. Then, you see him. He’s bundled up in a towel near the shore, curls damp and dark against his forehead. “Izuku,” you gasp. You notice the lack of fins first, nothing but achingly human ears protruding from his hair, then the fact that the beach towel ends in feet, pruned from the water.

He smiles when he sees you, pained but still achingly bright and you choke on a sob, scrambling to kneel in front of him. He catches you easily, melting into your arms as soon as they find their way around him.

Your heart is still beating against your ribs as you cup his face, running your thumb over the curve of his cheek to collect the tears and saltwater. The absence of his tail becomes glaringly obvious when he shuffles closer to you, knees knocking against your own. “Izuku…why did you… what did you do?”

He shakes his head softly, curls dragging against your cheek as his nose presses into yours, “doesn’t matter.”

You laugh, bright and relieved, and he pulls you further against his chest. His lips skate across the curve of your cheek before his mouth meets yours, chaste and sweet. His arms wrap around your waist as blunt hands curl into the back of your shirt. You can feel his heart beating beneath your palm, skin warm and sticky with the sea.

He noses at your temple when you part, sighing softly, “I, uh, I can go with you, now.” He says it a little hopefully, like you’d ever say no and you nod hurriedly.

“Of course you can, ‘zuku,” nuzzling into his palms, “you’re gonna be hard-pressed to get rid of me.”

Royally In Love

Prince!Diluc x Commoner!Fem!Reader

Summary: Diluc Ragnvindr is the Crowned Prince of Mondstadt, you are just some random commoner. You two met when you were both just kids, him sneaking out of the castle to explore the city, he met you when you were crying on a branch of a tree, unable to get down. Things took a turn and apparently, you two had a thing for each other, you even took each others first kiss, he even invited you to be his date at the next gala in the Castle of Royals. You almost cried in front of so many people that night, thinking that everything between you was a lie, when he took another woman to dance with him.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Your eyes followed the two form in the middle of the room, they were dancing together so elegant and mesmerizing. So perfect.

It's okay, it was just a dance, right? That would be the case, if the whole gala wasn't for just Diluc finding a betrothed, a bride.

To think that for weeks, you stressed about this night, what you were going to wear, how were you supposed to act, how are you gonna dance, all the proper etiquette you should know. You thought that maybe, maybe it was finally the day that Diluc would introduce you as his lover, you dreamed of that happening almost every night, giggling to yourself about how amazing that would be.

He invited you, his lover, to a ball where he finds a replacement for you.

Everyone in the ballroom was in awe of the pear, but you? You felt nothing but a pit in your stomach and bile in your throat.

But... you're not mad. Seeing Diluc and that woman together, she was so, so pretty, like a princess from a fairytale world. You already know you didn't stand a chance, maybe Diluc was just such a gentleman that he didn't want to hurt your feelings when you confessed to him. Maybe he felt nothing for you at all.

Everything was just a lie.

His promises, his love.

Maybe he just invited you so you could finally have a reality check and stop pestering him with your silly feelings.

You can't blame him though, he is royalty, you're not, you're probably not even half his standards.

Every second you were in that room, you felt even worse. Even if everything was a lie... your love, it was true.

Diluc was resting against a tree, you were in his arms, your back on his chest as you sit on his lap. "'Luc?" You called out for him.

He hummed as a reply, resting his head from the tree onto your shoulder. "Do you think that your family will accept me when they find out...?" You looked at the man resting his head on your shoulder, you've always been insecure that his family and the royal court will never accept their Crowned Prince to be dating a worthless commoner.

"..." He didn't have an answer, as always. You did ask that question a lot, waiting for the day that he finally gives you a proper answer. "That shouldn't matter." The prince whispered, cupping your right hand with his own before lifting it up to his lips and kissing the back of it.

But it does matter, though. Diluc will be King someday, and if he decides to marry you... you'll be his Queen, while the thought of that makes you feel all light headed and tingly, it also scares you that maybe when that happens, it'll be the end of your wonderful story.

He sensed the uneasiness within you. "Hey, no matter what. I'll always love you, alright?" Diluc's soft voice reassured you. "You'll always be my Queen."

It's time to leave.

You can't stay there any longer.

You look back at him and the woman, his hand on her waist, her's on his shoulder, their other hand intertwined with each other. They were dancing to such a beautiful melody too, everything looked so perfect at that moment.

As you were looking at your lover, his eyes lifted up to meet your own...

Instead of looking angry, sad, disappointed... you smiled at him. You smiled despite the obvious unshed tears in your eyes.

You smiled at him before getting up from your chair, looking down at your dress and smoothening it.

It is hard to love someone so different from you, that's what's on your mind as you walked to the door of the castle. But you know what... it's fine, you'll be fine, at least you were with the love of your life for a moment. You can't ask for more.

...

When Diluc's eyes looked into yours, his entire body begged him to just drop everything and run to you, bring you into his arms and whisper sweet nothings in your ear.

When you smiled at him, refusing to let your tears fall from your eyes, his heart ached like it was being stabbed with no remorse.

When you walked out, not even looking back, Diluc felt his world shatter into a million pieces, his heart doing the very same.

He didn't know. He didn't know what this gala was actually for. He thought that maybe you'd feel better if he started bringing you to events like these. He didn't mean to hurt you.

"Crowned Prince Diluc, it is such a pleasure to be at your presence like this." The woman in front of him spoke, yet the Prince's mind was clouded by you. "It is also such an honor to have a chance of being your betrothed." Diluc's mood soured even more at that, he didn't remember the woman's name.

No, you are his only one, his Queen, his future wife.

As the woman's hand snaked from his shoulder onto his neck, Diluc felt more disgusted of himself.

"You know when you just love someone so much that you don't ever see a future without them by your side and if you ever think about them leaving you, you suddenly feel so sad and heartbroken?" You had asked him as he sits on your couch, watching you as you continue on with your knitting.

"That sounds very specific." The redhead rested his head on the couch backrest, smiling whilst looking at you like the lovestruck Prince he is.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I feel about you!" You exclaimed at him, making him chuckle.

"You don't ever need to worry about me leaving you, my Queen. I'll always be here."

He couldn't take it anymore.

Letting go of the woman and front of him, Diluc marched to the entrance of the castle, everyone getting out of his way immediately.

"Diluc, where are you going?!" He heard his father's angry voice behind him. The ballroom was dead quiet as the visitors watch the scene.

His whole body was tensed as he looked back at his father. "I can't do this." He shook his head. "I can't let you choose a bride for me, father. I already know who I want to be with for the rest of my life." His jaw was clenched and his hands were closed tight in frustration.

"As a royal, you are expected to give sacrifices for your kingdom! It makes me question if you're even deserving of the crown!" Diluc didn't mind his father's harsh words, all that's in his mind is how he should go to you right now.

"Father, I assure you that Diluc is perfectly capable of running the kingdom without the help of any other royalties within this room." Kaeya's cold voice rings throughout the ballroom, his words starting a commotion within the crowd.

"Watch what you're saying, Cavalry Captain." The blue-haired man ignored the King's disapproving gesture, looking at his sworn brother.

"Go. I talked to her earlier, it's gonna take some time to talk it through, but you should be good." Kaeya had encouraged him to leave, to go to you. Diluc nodded at him thankfully, turning his heel and running out of the castle in full force, even leaving a small trail of pyro on his path.

The Cavalry Captain looked around, chuckling smugly. "Worry not, visitors. The party should just continue even without the Crowned Prince." With that, he walked away, fashionably as always.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

You ignored the rapid knocks at your door, still struggling to remove all the bobby pins that Lisa had styled your hair with.

Of course, a part of you wanted to open the door and hear what he has to say, but apparently you just wanted to be petty.

"Y/N?!" You hear Diluc yell from outside. And a second later, you hear the door crash down.

Immediately, you ran out of your room, looking at what happened. Diluc stood in front of you, your door bended into the wall after he forced it open.

"Are you insane?!"

"Y/N..." He walked to you with anticipation, pulling your body to his and wrapping his arms around your figure.

You pushed him off you right as he did that, "Why are you here?" You really thought that at when you locked eyes with him back at the gala, that would be the last time you'll see each other.

He didn't answer, his hands finding their way on your cheeks.

With an angry expression, you grabbed his wrist and yanked his hands off your face. "Diluc!"

"I..." The prince looked at you with gentleness. "I didn't know that any of that was gonna happen."

"Well, it happened. If that's all, you could just fix my door and go back." You were dismissive, wanting to end the conversation quickly. Probably because just being with him now gives you the urge to just break down into tears and cry in his arms.

Diluc held onto your hands, like he's scared that you'll push him away. "This night... I wanted to finally show you off."

"I wanted to make you feel special, and... I wanted to give you this." He stuck his hand in his pocket, fishing out a small box. He lifted it up for you to see. You looked down at the small box, then looked back up at him, slightly unbelieving. His face encouraged you to open it.

Opening the small box, you saw a ring, embedded with a tiny fiery red crystal, wavy golden lines surrounded the crystal. It was beautiful.

"I am so, so sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I thought that maybe, I could give it to you at the gala..." Diluc's voice died down as you closed the box, handing it back to him. His eyed dropped down onto your hand, as his heart seemed to burn in agony.

He refused to take the box back from you.

"Diluc, don't you see? They don't accept me, they don't accept us! We should be thankful that this happened, we're finally knocked out from our delusion that we could ever be together." He shook his head at your words, pulling your closer to him and instantly pressing your lips together.

You were in shock as he kissed you, his hands wrapping around your waist when you pressed your hands on his chest.

After a few seconds, you pulled away from him, his lips still chasing after yours. "My Y/N would never say that." Diluc had pecked your lips again.

"She would never call it quits." Another kiss.

"Maybe your Y/N changed?" He kissed you again right after you say that.

"It's okay to give up sometimes..." You say, but he shook his head again.

"Then... why are you crying?" Right after he pointed it out, you felt the tears thar managed to escape your eyes without your notice. Immediately, you pull away from his arms and wipe your face with your wrists.

"I... I didn't like seeing you with s-someone else." You start to stutter, feeling pathetic that despite your whole argument, you still feel the love for him.

"I didn't like being with someone else too."

"..."

You looked back down at the box in your hand, sighing a bit. "I don't know what to do anymore." You whispered, opening the box again to see the ring.

"How about..." His hands slowly took the ring from the box, taking your hand in his. "You answer this question."

"Will you marry me?" You chuckled a bit, guessing what he was about to say.

"No, that's not it..." He got down on one knee.

"Y/N, will you suffer through life with me for the rest of eternity and officially be my one and only Queen?" You laughed at that. Life is definitely happiness mixed with a whole lot of suffering.

"You know what? Sure." Diluc smiled as he kissed your hand, before slipping the golden ring onto your ring finger.

You pulled him up, kissing him immediately. "You still have to fix my door though." You hear him chuckle.

"Of course."

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hazyspells

2 years ago

A Hopeless Lovestory: Malleus Draconia x Reader

A/N: Piggybacking off of my “Malleus is exactly like Gomez Addams as a partner,” post. Why? Because I will die with this. This is Malleus, or at least my interpretation of him. Yes yes, I love picturing him as the cute dorky fae that’s behind with tech times and wants friendship. It’s cute. But this? This. I stand with. Man lives in Victorian Fae land, surrounded by dark magic, will never work a day in his life, and is a hopeless romantic. This is my tribute to how much of a SIMP Malleus is.

Keep reading

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hazyspells

3 years ago

the waiting game.

summary: ever since you knew about your feelings for your brother’s best friend, you knew you’d wait for him. no matter how many times he might’ve rejected you, you’d wait for him.

pairing: iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader

genre: fluff/slight angst/humor; you’re waiting for a guy for thirteen years (don’t do that irl unless it’s iwaizumi), brother!oikawa, you’re stubborn as heck (and a simp)

length: 9.7k words

a/n: repost!

AT FIVE YEARS OLD …

you’re a cute kid, you’ll put it as simply as that. your rosy cheeks and grin easily wins the hearts of all the adults in your life even after your adorable toddler years.

but, you’re three years younger than your brother and his friends. to en eight year old, you’re not that cute. in fact, the only purpose you have is to charm away adults, much like your brother, tooru, used to and still does, and torment him.

that doesn’t stop you from interrupting oikawa and his friend’s playdates and hangouts from then on until you'e well into high school.

so yeah, i guess with cute, you could be insufferable.

just like your brother, tooru.

“tooru~,” you sing, bouncing into the room with a handful of dolls, as a wide grin graces over your features. you’re head to toe in some royal getup, frilly and sparkly fabric galore.

“y/n,” is your eight year old brother’s immediate whine, looking away from the t.v. currently playing some rerun of a power rangers episode. “can’t you see i’m with iwa-chan right now?”

before iwaizumi, oikawa’s closest friend, could even scold him for the nickname, already sending daggers toward him, you pout. “but you said we’d play dolls today…”

there’s a little wobble in your tone as it lowers, and your frown is ever present. iwaizumi flits his eyes over to you briefly, quietly observing your reaction.

“maybe later,” oikawa waves you off, barely acknowledging your sadness and disappointment as he turns his attention back to the television.

the frown on your face only deepens when you realize your own brother is choosing a random boy he’d met recently over his own blood. his own sister!

okay, maybe you’re a little dramatic, too.

you’re about to let out some dramatic form of a wail when iwaizumi notices and widens his eyes in horror. iwaizumi doesn’t have siblings of his own so he can only guess what reaction you’ll have by the way your eyebrows furrow in anger. all he’s sure of is that he doesn’t wanna deal with a crying child, so he’s quick to nudge oikawa by budding shoulders with his.

“i think you should play with your sister for five minutes. at least get her in a better mood.”

oikawa’s face puckers in slight annoyance.

“why?”

… and the best brother award goes to … not him.

“girls can ruin your life,” iwaizumi mutters in a knowing tone. how does he know that so early? he’s only eight… and as far as you know, has no siblings.

regardless, you stand proudly with a beam (｡- ω -)

“but i want to watch this,” your brother complains, whiny tone toward the end of his statement filling his voice.

iwaizumi stares a this new friend with a deadpan expression, wondering why he’d rather face your inevitable wrath than just play with you…

so, he stands from the couch and walks over to you and holds his hands out, looking at you expectantly.

“iwa-chan, what’re you doing?” oikawa asks, noticing his presence gone from the couch when he looks over after a particularly enjoyable fight scene.

“i’m dealing with your sister,” he shoots back with a sneer before turning back to you with the same soft expression he held for you prior. “can i have a doll?”

you: (°ｏ°)

and just, like that, as you stare with your mouth agape - oikawa’s a little shocked, too, eyebrows furrowing is slight jealousy - iwaizumi becomes your friend, too.

so for the next ten minutes or so, iwaizumi sits beside you on the wooden floors (oikawa’s huffing from the sofa, wondering when his friend would return his attention to the t.v.) and pretends whatever dolls you have can fly or be more tough than you considered.

(you had you more buy one of you dolls a martial arts outfit just in case iwaizumi would ever agree to play with you again).

you found yourself being extra happy and giddy whenever iwaizumi came over to hang out with your brother (and inevitably you)

“can i play, too?” you’d appear in the backyard after seeing the two toss a volleyball to each other.

your brother loves you, no doubt. he’d easily beat up any one who picked on you.

but he needs his bro time, y'know?“

"it’s one on one right now-”

“-we wouldn’t want you getting hurt, y/n,” iwaizumi cuts him off, scowling at him to be nicer.

iwaizumi always looked out for you, and at five, you believed it was more than your own brother did.

and that instance was the first time he touched your heart and took a little piece with him wherever he went.

AT NINE YEARS OLD …

“hey! wait up!” you call after your brother on his way home from school.

you’re struggling to carry all your school books (you didn’t put them insider your bag because you were rushing to walk home with your brother and iwaizumi).

oikawa stops in his tracks and turns around to face you, sighing, “hurry up then, my slow sister~”

you manage to catch up to him, huffing and puffing by the time you reach him.

“how come you’re still here? dismissal was at 3,” iwaizumi questions from beside your brother, who was previously looking off in the distance of the convenience store, wondering if he had enough coins for a snack. he absentmindedly helps you hold your bookbag up as you pile all of your school books into it.

“yeah, we had practice,” oikawa narrows his eyes at you, adjusting his sling over bag strap on his shoulder, “what were you doing?”

“i can’t be in a club either?” you ask, furrowing your eyebrows at his judgmental gaze. ‘my friend asked me to come to her practice and watch her…“

the two boys beside you nodded their heads and you added, "plus, mom like when i walk home with you.”

that much was true.

it was also true that your friend invited you to her practice. however, you probably would’ve come up with any excuse to be able to walk home with your brother and his classmate.

because you have a crush on said classmate (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

not that you’d ever tell him (yet)

since you’d been bugging the two since you were five, tagging along with them and hanging out with them wasn’t new or suspicious.

“what are we watching tonight?” you plop down on the sofa, right in between your brother and iwaizumi and dig your hand into the bowl of popcorn on your brother’s lap.

“something rated pg-13 so you cant watch,” oikawa says, swatting your hand away from the bowl as he grins wickedly at you.

“that’s just rude,” you huff and stand from the couch, knowing your mother would scold you if she caught you watching a movie inappropriate for you age.

“maybe another day, y/n,” iwaizumi encourages, eyes never leaving the screen. he lifts his arm, though, offering you a small bag in his hand.

“want the rest of my gummy worms? i know they’re your favorite.”

Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

(this boy doesn’t even know what he’s doing to you heart).

“thank,” you smile softly, deadpan expression wiped off your face, shyly taking the bag from his hand.

oikawa watches the exchange with suspicion and it’s when he notices the flush of your cheeks and flustered expression as you scamper back to your room that it dawns on him.

AT TWELVE YEARS OLD …

“thanks for the help my stupid brother refused to give me!” you sing happily, skipping beside iwaizumi on your way to school. when you reach the point at which your paths separate - where you go to middle school and he goes to high school - you wave.

“no problem, y/n,” he waves back as you part ways, pulling on the straps of his backpack, now turning to your brother for a new conversation.

reaching school, the boys walked over to their lockers, engaging in small talk about the volleyball match they both watched the night before.

as animated as oikawa wanted to be during the conversation, all he could think of was the dumb smile on your face since you walked downstairs for breakfast.

iwaizumi had come over and helped you with a project the night before, one of those science ones where most students made volcanoes or rock candy.

oikawa never came to you to ask you about your crush when he first had an inkling about it. and you never went to him, admitting to it either.

but you believe it’s universal knowledge that you have a crush on his best friend.

you weren’t exactly trying to hide it from your brother. it was sort of obvious.

to be honest, you didn’t really care about what oikawa had to say about it. nonetheless, you were grateful he never did.

however, as obvious as you made it look, the only person who didn’t seem to know about your crush was iwaizumi.

and oikawa was willing to keep your crush to himself since obviously it wasn’t his crush to reveal.

but for some reason - maybe because you’re especially giddy expression made him a little too antsy to know what his classmate’s reaction to the news would be - today was the day that he just couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“you should stop being so nice to my sister,” his voice is cold as he’s fiddling with the books in his book bag.

iwaizumi pauses what he’s doing in his locker and turns to your brother.

“huh?”

“i’m just saying, i know you help her out a lot but some distance might be good.”

iwaizumi: why tho ಠ_ಠ

oikawa looks at his friend with the most deadpanned face and he realizes:

oh my god, he’s just oblivious.

“maybe ‘cause my sister is in love with you?”

iwaizumi chokes.

and then he laughs.

because what??? haha, that’s real funny, bud.

“i’m serious,” oikawa says, closing his locker door and crossing his arms. “i blame all the time you’ve spent around her but she’s developed a crush on you…i’m more surprised that you haven’t noticed…”

well ofc he didn’t … you’re still in middle school.

“you must be blind. she definitely sees me as a brother.”

“i’d be concerned if that’s the case because ‘sweet home alabama.’” (i know they’re in japan but allow the reference pls)

“she does not like me.”

“fine, fine. don’t believe me then,” oikawa raises his hands in surrender, “but pay closer attention and maybe you’ll see for yourself.”

from that moment forward, iwaizumi paid more attention to you and specifically your actions.

and if your bright smiles and rosy cheeks weren’t a sure tell of your crush whenever he came around, it was definitely the small gifts of treats and snacks you’d shyly give him whenever he’d help you with your homework.

“y/n?” one day, iwaizumi stammers under your gaze, looking down at his hands. “we should talk.”

you also had a habit of staring at him. it was something he didn’t notice at first since he was usually so engrossed with what he was doing. but now it felt like you had laser eyes pointing right at his forehead.

you raise an eyebrow, pushing your notebook aside and plopping your head in your arms, putting your full attention on him. “about what?”

“i know you have a crush on me…”

oh…

that’s when your heart skipped a beat.

so he found out.

the butterflies in your stomach overpowered the embarrassment and you replied:

“so what?”

deep down, you knew it was a stupid crush since you had no chance with him in the first place…

but there was still that sliver of hope in your heart you refused to let go of.

he chuckles after hearing your answer. “i’m too old for you, y/n.“

sure, on the inside, you’re screaming since he was flat out rejecting you but outwardly, you’re showing no regret and instead, utter shamelessness.

“three years older isn’t that much,” you lower your voice to a murmur.

“kinda is. i’m in high school and you’re still in middle school.”

iwaizumi’s usually really careful around you with his words since you were younger but now he was being blunt and straight to the point

he wanted it to be crystal clear to you

“so what?”

iwaizumi: (；一ω一||)

“y/n, did you even hear me?”

“yeah, but you should know me by now to know i’m not just going to stop liking you like that.”

the truth is, as embarrassed as you are at the current event, you’re still stubborn and optimistic.

iwaizumi thought he was doing the right thing by confronting you about your crush on him but…he might’ve made it worse from there on out.

“y/n stop staring at me.”

“but you’re cute.”

oikawa: (¬_¬)

“tooru, y/n, your friend is here!” one of your parents call from the front door when he’d show up later in the day or on a weekend.

it’s a race between you and your brother to greet iwaizumi at the bottom of the steps.

“he’s MY friend!”

“well, he’s MY future husband!”

yeah, your crush only got bigger after he confronted you…

you were able to crush on him freely since he already knew.

did you feel bad since he had to deal with you? maybe a little bit.

but the heart wants what it mf wants >:(

AT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD …

finally!

you made it to high school.

which is most fortunate for you because~

“iwa~ !!!”

you run in the halls to reach the boy you called out for. after those few years without him while you were in middle school, damn you missed him.

great, he thinks to himself, here we go.

“'iwa?’“ matsukawa snickers, repeating the nickname, “who would call you that besides oikawa?”

“the other oikawa,” iwaizumi mutters, closing his eyes.

“oikawa has a sister? 'didn’t know that,” hanamaki muses, rubbing his chin in thought and squinting his eyes as he sees you coming closer to the three guys.

“what’s her deal with you?”

before mattsun could get an answer, you appear in front of them with a bright grin. had you been any other girl, you might’ve been intimidated by the three towers standing before you but you were used to it by now.

“did you eat?” you don’t even greet iwaizumi, holding out a paper bag for him to take. you’d be more bold if you didn’t have an audience but feeling three pairs of eyes on you, you turned your head and puffed out your flushed cheeks.

“no,” iwaizumi starts, ready to politely decline your offering but you plop it into his hands.

“eat up then~ gotta head to class!” you start to walk away from him and when you feel your confidence return, you shoot him fingers guns and a wink, “we need those muscles to stay big and strong right?”

and then you’re gone.

leaving iwaizumi flustered as hell next to the other now grinning seniors.

“ah, so she’s your girlfriend,” makki muses, nudging iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“is not. she just likes me, that’s all…”

“and you don’t return her feelings?” mattsun asks, tilting his head to the side in wonder. “you haven’t rejected her either?”

“of course i rejected her. she’s three years younger than us, it’d be weird…she’s just stubborn.”

“respect,” makki nods his head in approval looking in the direction you’d gone in. “i respect a girl who doesn’t give up.”

“yeah? then you date her,” iwaizumi rolls his eyes before looking down at the paper bag in his hand.

“hey, it’s obvious she got eyes for you, man. that’d just be unfair,” makki responds with a low laugh.

“three years isn’t even that much,” mattsun says with a shrug.

“it is when you’ve known her since she was five.”

“so you still think she’s five or something?” makki asks, raising his eyebrows. “she’s in high school, dude.”

“whatever. i’ll never see her like that.”

“give it a few years, bud,” mattsun pats his back knowingly, “when y’all get married at twenty five, i better hear my name during your speech.”

iwaizumi grumbles something under his breath while makki claps his hands and laughs loudly, agreeing with his friend.

during the year, you found yourself sitting at the same lunch table as your brother and his fellow teammates. obviously you played the ‘i’m your sister’ card on him but everyone can see it was just an excuse to be around iwaizumi

at the beginning, plenty of girls were confused by your presence at the table (they didn’t know you were oikawa’s sister until they knew your last name. after then, they didn’t give you much attention since you weren’t a threat to them)

during lunch, you usually spent your time talking to your brother’s teammates about iwaizumi and they always got a kick from how shameless you were. over time, after you got more comfortable with the rest of the time, you felt more at ease flirting with iwaizumi

iwaizumi was well acquainted with your one sided flirting tactics since you were younger. of course, in the beginning, they were merely innocent compliments coming from your admiration for him

but by the time you reached high school, it escalated to comments about dating…

“still too old for you y/n,” iwaizumi grumbles, picking at his lunch. “always will be.”

you lean forward, crossing his personal space, and prop your elbow on the table and rest your head against the palm of your hand

“when are you gonna forget about this little age gap and realize you’re wasting your time blocking your feelings when we could potentially be great-”

“y/n,” his voice cuts off your playful one like steel when he slams his hands on the lunch table, causing the table to look up from their food and at the two of you. “when is it gonna get through your thick skull that it’s never going to happen? just quit it. you have no chance.”

there’s a pause.

your face pales when you realize you’d gone too far but you’re too hurt to apologize.

you lean back in your seat, putting your hands in your lap, and look down.

as much as you felt like doing at moment, you refused to become the heartbroken girl and run to the nearest bathroom stall. so, you sit quietly across from him, going back to eating your lunch

you don’t say anything else for the rest of lunchtime.

your brother opens and closes his mouth a few times, unsure whether to console you or yell at his best friend but it’s the jab in his side by makki that tells him he’s better off staying silent.

the bell rings when lunch ends and you stand up, quickly striding to throw your lunch away. you walk out of the lunchroom, not bothering to check if anyone is following you or not.

no one is.

that is until… “y/n!”

oh brother.

you turn around in the hall to face your brother.

“what.” you know he must be ecstatic to see his best friend physically trying to sever whatever feelings you have for him.

“i…i’m sorry about back there. i didn’t know he could actually say that,” oikawa’s rubbing the back of his neck, feeling slightly bad from the look on your face.

your face isn’t a sad one, it’s more of a monotone one.

but oikawa knows you better than anyone.

and you were indeed masking your true feelings.

“it’s whatever. i know you hate it but i still like him,” you huff before turning around and stomping off to your next class.

throughout the rest of the school day, your face stays rested in that deadpan expression, only sending pressed smiles that don’t reach you eyes to friends you see around in classes or the halls.

sometime after lunch, iwaizumi sees you in the hall at your locker on his way to class. you don’t see him since you’re looking in another direction.

while walking by, he opens his mouth to call out for you but closes it again and continues his way to class. though, he wonders if you would’ve said hi and wave like you always did if you saw him.

it isn’t until after school, right before he has volleyball practice that he approaches you outside.

he wasn’t surprised to see you walking toward the school gates. he was especially harsh to you today and he knew no matter how much you liked him, you wouldn’t really want to face him without cooling off first

he jogs over toward your retreating figure and when he reaches within ear shot of you, he calls out to you

“y/n.” there’s a calm voice behind you and you freeze in your tracks. you were certainly ready to walk home alone without bothering to wait for your brother or iwaizumi to finish practice

you turn around and ignore the pang of hurt rising in your chest at the sight of iwaizumi

you were used to his nonchalant rejections but this one hit harder than ever before

“what i said in the lunchroom … i’m sorry but i had to say it. i’ve been telling you for years but you still don’t give up.” you can tell he feels bad from the way he’s looking down and is only able to make eye contact with you for a few seconds at a time.

“and i still won’t.”

iwaizumi shoots his head up, ready to say something but you stop him with your hand

“no, you’re going to let me speak. you think i can just control my feelings all the time? so before you say ‘just stop liking me, it’ll hurt less the sooner you do,’ think about me for a second. you think my playful flirting being shot down so strongly by you doesn’t affect me? sure, i don’t act like it does but it feels like awful. it hurts. no matter what, i’m going to be hurt by you, hajime. but i don’t care. because i still have feelings for you. now, i think you have a practice you should be getting to, yeah?”

you don’t let him answer because you’re already walking away from him.

iwaizumi could only watch you leave before he heard someone yell out for him.

it took a few days for the awkward tension from both of your confrontations to subside. but when it did, it was like nothing had happened at all.

your eyes still sparkled whenever you saw him and your stomach still did flips, and he went back to flicking your forehead when you got too close to his face.

yeah things were definitely back to normal between the two of you

except for one thing: your aggression.

maybe his words were a wake up call to you about your actions, because from that day forward, you weren’t so aggressive about your crush.

you reminded him how you felt with little things and made sure he knew your feelings never changed.

but you went about it differently.

no longer did you stick glued to his side when you were around him and his teammates.

you spent time with his other teammates and carried on your own business like homework during their practices.

besides, you couldn’t keep being so clingy when he was about to leave you when he graduated.

“what about your precious brother?” oikawa asks with a pout, noticing the care package you were making for iwaizumi since you were aware he was leaving home for school.

“what about him?” you deadpan, wrapping a bow around the top. “i’ve lived under the same roof as you for my entire life. it’s about time you leave me alone now.”

“you’re so mean.” oikawa sticks his tongue out and crosses his arms. “iwa-chan is gonna like your gift, by the way.”

“of course he is,” you smile with a knowing glint in your eye. “i know him better than he thinks.”

AT FIFTEEN YEARS OLD …

oh, your second year of high school.

even though your brother and iwaizumi had left for college and they were the closest friends you had at school, you still stayed friends with the current members of the volleyball team.

totally not because oikawa and iwaizumi bullied the underclassmen to make sure you weren’t alone.

kindaichi and kunimi became your go-to’s since you were in the same grade.

since becoming a second year, you’d also passed the awkward puberty stage and did receive love confessions on multiple occasions.

ah the life of an oikawa, am i right?

you do be pulling these people though.

“y/n, will you go out with me?” the terrified classmate in your biology class stuck out his hand to give you a small chocolate box.

you instinctively look in the direction of iwaizumi’s locker which he no longer possessed since he graduated.

“the thought is really sweet but … my heart belongs to someone else, i’m sorry,” you frown, feeling the guilt rise in your stomach.

you truly wished you could’ve said yes to those who confessed but you knew if you did, it wouldn’t sit right in your heart.

you wondered if he knew of them and if he did that it was his fault you rejected so many people.

(you do end up accepting a few confessions after your friends urge to give them a chance but those relationships don’t go very far).

unbeknownst to you, your brother tells him absolutely everything

including when you come into his room to ask for advice on how to let people down lightly since it made you feel bad.

“she asks you for love advice? man, save that girl.”

iwaizumi and oikawa split their ways and went to separate universities but still kept in contact through facetime (even if it was against iwaizumi’s will).

cue oikawa calling him randomly at 2am to talk because he was bored.

“hey, you know my way with the ladies,” oikawa grins, looking at his best friend through the screen of his phone.

“what’s the advice for? she tryna confess?”

oh, how iwaizumi hoped you’d moved on after he left for school

“pfft more like the opposite. she asks about how to reject people.”

“oh?”

“oh yeah, she acts like it’s because she doesn’t want a relationship but i think we both know that’s not true,” oikawa lilts knowingly, wiggling his eyebrows.

though he always hated the idea of you liking his friend, by now it was just something he was used to.

in fact, he was probably waiting for it to happen because with your stubbornness, he believed it was bound to happen.

even if his friend didn’t believe it.

“i’m tired now. good night, shittykawa.”

“g’night iwa-chan~”

AT EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD …

“my baby sister is all grown up,” tooru clutches you in his arms, wailing and allowing tears to freely flow down his cheeks

“ugh, get off of me, people are staring!”

just like your brother and iwaizumi did, you and your brother also split and went to separate universities.

“but still~”

“you should be used to not having me around, you’re a senior in college now!”

“can’t i just be a clingy brother for once in my life?!”

“now you wanna use the clingy brother card? you’ve had the chance to use it all my life and NOW you wanna use it? in front of all these people?!”

people passing by on your floor’s hall giggled at your bickering but you managed to win the conversation when you ended up putting your brother in a chokehold

“i’m going to embarrass the shit out of you on your wedding day when you get married, just you watch! … that is if you could even find someone to marry you.”

“thanks, y/n. i no longer feel the need to miss you.” oikawa breaks away from your grin. he brushes himself off and ruffles your hair. “have a great freshman year, baby sis, and don’t be afraid to have fun!”

“yeah, yeah.”

“now if you’ll excuse me, i have somewhere to be! see you at thanksgiving!~” oikawa wiggles his fingers in a goodbye manner, walking down the college dorm hallway until he’s out of sight

what on earth does he have to do on a campus that’s not even his own?

your roommate, mei, is a sweetheart. she’s kind, funny, and from the get-go, you knew she was someone who was going to stick by you.

on move-in day, things were kind of awkward since you were meeting someone that you were going to live with for the rest of the year for the first time. but after the first few days, the both of you opened up and became comfortable.

“so…partners. got one?” she asks on the first night while you two were sitting in front of a party size bag of chips.

“nope,” you answer, popping the 'p’ for extra emphasis. “kinda unofficially taken though.”

“huh, interesting,” she muses, leaning over and grabbing a chip.

“you?”

nodding her head, she finishes swallowing her chip before smiling softly, “i’m doing long distance with my high school boyfriend.”

“oh, wow. good luck,” you answer, feeling somewhat bad for your roommate. when iwaizumi left for school, even if you hadn’t interacted as closely with him like you used to, there was still a hollow feeling in your chest that didn’t go away for a couple of months.

you missed him.

and you made sure he knew.

[6/10/18 11:00AM] you: happy birthday!! miss you a whole lot

[6/10/19 10:00AM] you: g’morning! i hope you have a wonderful birthday! miss youuu~

each time he’d answer with a straight, “thanks.” and you’d have to be the one to continue the conversation

you texted him only sometimes. only when you were especially missing him or found something that reminded you of him

rarely did he ever text you but he made sure to when it came around to your birthday. and you’d be lying if you said your heart didn’t swell when you read the simple birthday message.

maybe you weren’t technically in a long distance relationship, but your heart definitely acted like it.

“thanks! but you got me intrigued. who’s this person who-”

a knock on your door cuts her off followed by a gruff, “RA.”

“WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG WE SWEAR!” mei cries in frustration causing you to laugh.

“they’re probably just going to introduce themselves. i’ll get it,” you stand up from the floor and walk to the door and swing it open with a grin.

“hi…” your greet starts off chipper until you register who’s at the door. “iwaizumi? what the hell are you doing here?”

“y-y/n?” he seems dumbfounded by the way his eye bulge out of his head and his jaw drops. “what are YOU doing here?”

and why are you calling me by my full name?

“i go here, what else?” you gesture to your room and in the process, notice mei pucker her lips, obviously sensing tension.

“you go here?”

no way.

no, you were sure your university of choice wasn’t the same as iwaizumi’s.

hell, you even asked oikawa just to make sure you didn’t go there.

it’s not that you didn’t want him around.

come on, you were in love with the guy.

it was more of the fact you didn’t want to seem like you were still chasing after him to this day as embarrassingly as you did as a kid.

but here he was standing right in front of you.

“i thought you were at-”

“i transferred.”

oh, so that’s what happened.

“oh…”

“yeah, tuition got too much so i applied here and as a resident assistant for housing.”

“i see,” you mumble, shifting your wight from one leg to the other. “you look good.”

he did.

and you were underestimating it.

although by senior year of high school he was already built enough, he seemed to have buffed out even more.

“you, too,” he answers, rubbing the back of his neck. realizing your roommate behind you, he gives a friendly wave, “hey, i’m iwaizumi hajime and i’ll be your RA for the year.”

“nice to meet you,” she smiles before turning to you, “is that the one?”

glancing between your roommate and iwaizumi.

of course she figured out by now.

you nod and jab a thumb at him, “yup, this is the guy who stole my heart.”

the reaction you expected from him: (T_T)

the reaction you receive: (⁄ ⁄•⁄–⁄•⁄ ⁄)

“is that all?” you ask turning back to him, “i’m trying to get to know my roommate right now. i’ll deal with you another time.”

“uhh, no! that’s it,” he stammers, stepping out of the way, “you have a nice night.”

“you, too.”

as soon as you shut the door, mei is on her feet jumping up and down. “this is some tv show shit going on! oh my gosh, what are the odds!”

you rub your temples, registering what just happened.

there was no doubt you still had feelings for iwaizumi but after so much time away from him, you’re so unsure of how to act.

you two were grown adults for crying out loud.

sure, you always believed you were endgame.

but in your mind it was in more of an “oh my gosh, we haven’t seen each other in ten plus years and we’re in the same grocery store. let’s catch up!”

not an “oh my gosh you’re going to my university and i’ll probably see you everyday since you live on my floor and you’re my RA.”

once again, the universe is going out of its way to point out, HE’S OLDER THAN YOU. YOU HAVE NO CHANCE. HAHA LOSER.

meanwhile in iwaizumi’s single room …

he tapped his fingers aggressively on his phone screen, waiting for his friend to pick up.

“aw, i just left! what, missing me already?”

“why is y/n here?”

oikawa freezes and whispers, “how’d you find out so quickly?”

“i’m her RA!!”

“for real? hah, that’s rich,” oikawa starts to laugh, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “i should’ve came to your room then. i would’ve noticed we were in the same hall as y/n.”

“you wouldn’t have told me.”

“you’re right. i wouldn’t have.”

“why didn’t you tell me she was coming here?

“why is it so important you know? hey, she asked about your school told and i told her you were still at your other uni-”

“and why would you say that?”

“because i’m sick of seeing my sister alone ok? as soon as you told me you were transferring to her school, i just seized the opportunity! you’ll look out for her, regardless of whatever feelings you have or don’t have for her. it makes me feel better to know she’s got somebody.”

“as evil as you are, i’m letting you have that one because it’s a sweet brotherly thing to do.”

“i know right?”

“and you just ruined it. don’t expect me to just randomly check on her though.”

“but you will,” oikawa sighs, a knowing smile on his face. “even if you don’t like her like she likes you, you’ll still care about her.”

“whatever. bye.”

“bye bye~”

the first semester’s rough since you were getting accustomed to this new way of life.

but honestly, you think you did a pretty good job.

you showed up to class on time, you ate decent meals (most of the time), you studied when you had to and took breaks when needed.

yeah, you were slaying the college game.

until you were locked out of your room in only a towel.

your roommate had an early class that morning so she wasn’t there to let you back in.

which meant: you had to go to the RA office to ask for the master key.

you walked down the hall in nothing but your towel and flip flops, glancing over at iwaizumi’s door when you passed it, hoping he was in there sleeping.

you reached the RA office and lightly knocked on the door before cracking it open.

“sorry for the appearance but i got lock- not you again,” you groan by the end of your statement when you faced a half-awake iwaizumi leaning over the desk.

of course out of everyone to be on duty…it has to be him.

the sound of your voice got him to open his eyes but upon seeing you in said towel, his fatigue became long gone.

had your legs always been that long and toned?

mentally smacking himself for such a thought, he stood up.

“l-let me get the master key.” he shuffles over to a small cabinet and went through the keys. “room 220 right?”

“mhm,” you hum, crossing your arms, trying to hide as much of your body as possible.

you felt v embarrassed rn.

“got it, follow me,” iwaizumi leaves the room and you trail after him like a lost puppy.

“can’t you just give me the key and i’ll return it later?”

“‘m afraid it doesn’t work like that,” even though he’s turned away from you, you still know he’s smiling.

“sleep late?” you ask when he lets out a loud yawn.

“yeah and i’m stuck in that office until 1.”

you nod but you realize he can’t see you so you mumble an, “oh.”

stopping in front of your room, he unlocks it and opens the door for you and gestures for you to go in. “there ya go.”

“thanks,” you lightly smile, walking into your room and hold the handle, ready to close it.

“how’s your semester going?” he blurts before you could start pushing the door closed.

you tilt your head to the side in confusion at his sudden question but laugh anyway, “maybe ask me when i’m not wearing nothing but a towel.”

iwaizumi’s cheeks heat at your comment, remembering you were still in a towel and he scratches the side of his head. “right! sorry. enjoy your day.”

“see you around!” you call when he’s walking down the hall, on his way back to the RA office.

the next time you’re alone with iwaizumi is on a saturday night when your roommate is adamant on playing a game.

“c’mon, everyone’s out partying tonight so shouldn’t we have our own fun?” mei clasps her hands together in a pleading manner and juts out her lower lip.

“what game?” you sigh, standing from your desk and turning to her

“one of the games we have here! we can borrow some from the RA office and return them when we’re done!

“ok then, let’s go.”

you walk behind your skipping roommate as she hums and giggles.

you were glad you weren’t stuck with some maniac.

she stops in front of iwaizumi’s door when she notices the sticker with his name on it on the door.

“have you guys talked?”

“not really,” you shrug.

“really? it’s been two months since we’ve moved in.”

“i mean, he saw me in a towel a while ago since i got locked out of the room but since then no.”

“spicy spicy~” she grins mischievously, continuing on her way to the office. “wanna bet the universe is plotting against you and he’s on duty tonight in the office?”

“i would but i know i’ll lose because it’s what the universe would do to me.”

“have you thought about getting over him?” she asks innocently after a moment of silence, turning to look at you.

“of course. it just never works out. my mind always comes back to iwaizumi and my heart, well, it knows what it wants.”

“that’s really sad, y/n.”

“maybe. but it’s what i’m used to. i’ve never met anyone who gives me the same feeling as he does.”

“and what feeling does he give you?”

by now, you’re standing in front of the RA office on the door. there’s a small little window so residents can see if someone is in there or not. and there iwaizumi was, scrolling on his phone, looking bored as hell.

“home.”

“hi!” mei greets him after she swings the door open

“gotta go shitty-” he cuts himself off, realizing you’d know just who he was talking to.

“-are you talking to my dear brother?” your eyes light and you instinctively run over to iwaizumi and check the screen and yes, there he is.

“tooru!” you shout a greeting like you haven’t spoken in years when you in fact called him that morning. guess it’s seeing him somewhere else that gets you excited.

“y/n, my baby sister! what are you doing there?”

“goodbye shittykawa,” iwaizumi rolls his eyes when he sees the shit eating grin on oikawa’s face. he ends the call abruptly before spinning in his chair to face you. “can i help you, other oikawa?”

you smile and point over to the shelf stocked with games, “we’d like to play a game please.”

waving you off, he mumbles, “knock yourself out.”

you bounce over to your roommate, unknown to the hard stare iwaizumi is sending you.

he’s too deep in his own thoughts to notice he’s staring right at you either.

“there’s only games for three people or more here,” you turn around with a pout

iwaizumi breaks away from his thoughts and shrugs his shoulders, “someone probably took the two person games already.”

you stick your tongue out at his nonchalant and apathetic answer

“how ‘bout you play with us?” mei asks, taking out a handful of games.

“me?” iwaizumi furrows his eyebrows, glancing over at you.

you shrug as if saying, why not?

“i’m on duty right now, i can’t.”

“why not?” this time you voice it.

“if someone needs something-”

“-we’ll pause the game,” you say as if its obvious. “c’mon it’s saturday night and we’re bored! please~”

and just like your roommate did to you, you made your best pleading stance and stare at the love of your life iwaizumi.

and being that you’ve used this face on him a million times since you were five, you were wary he’d not be affected.

but:

“ok, fine, just one game.”

you can’t deny the swell you feel in your heart when you notice the small smile he tries so hard to hide.

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

“plus 12, are you kidding me, y/n?” iwaizumi grumbles, starting to pick up a card from the deck one by one.

“hey, you’re the one who started it,” you shrug, grinning at his obvious frustration.

the three of you were currently in a round of UNO, your third game of the night.

(hah, “one game” my ass)

iwaizumi had only two cards left in his hand and thought he could gain an ever greater advantage if one of you received two more cards

but alas, the higher powers ruling UNO decided now was the time to push him off his high horse.

mei looks through the cards in her hand for her next move before an alarm ringtone went off from her lap.

“that’s for my laundry,” mei glances at her phone to shut off the alarm. “i’ll be back in like ten minutes to drop my clothes off back in the room.” she stands up before looking back at the two of you with an accusatory finger, “no cheating.”

she stepped out of the office and then it was just you and iwaizumi alone

letting out a yawn, (you’ve been yawning this whole time) you check your phone.

“dude, it’s 2am. shouldn’t the RA office be closed now?” you ask, resting your head on your arms as they lay crossed against the office desk

“yeah but we’re in the middle of a game, aren’t we?” iwaizumi doesn’t look up from his hand of cards, sorting them by color and number

“ya coulda’ kicked us out earlier. we were just bored and needed. something to do-”

“-ok but i wasn’t going to cut off the game if i’m winning.”

you open your eyes to send him a pointed expression, “winning, huh?”

“shut up.”

even tired and with eyes closed, you manage to send him a grin

there’s a comfortable silence between the two where your eyes are closed and iwaizumi’s attention flickers between you and his hands

you were the same oikawa he’s known for the past thirteen years.

then how come you seemed like a such a different person?

normally you’d be throwing your flirty banter and compliments his way but all he’s heard from you is what you told your roommate that first day he saw you.

you claimed he still had your heart.

but why weren’t you acting like it?

had you…matured?

iwaizumi gulped and slightly widened his eyes.

and why was he so intrigued now, wanting to know the reason…

“y/n?” he asks, feeling his throat grow dry and covers it with a cough

the only answer he receives are soft snores.

oh.

you fell asleep.

i mean, it was 2am and you’d been playing games for the past few hours. you were surprised you lasted that long.

“i’m back!” mei announces returning back the office before noticing you. glancing at iwaizumi, she pointed at you, “is she out?”

“i think so,” was his simple reply.

“we should just call it a night. y/n, let’s go,” mei walked over and snapped her fingers in front of your face.

you were out like a light.

alexa play sicko mode

“y/n,” iwaizumi speaks this time, going as far as patting your shoulder to which you instinctively nuzzle your head further into your arms

letting out a sigh, iwaizumi stands from his seat, “you go on ahead, i got her.”

mei furrows her brows, wondering what he’d meant but it becomes crystal clear when she notices him crouch down to take her into his arms.

mei was quick to start moving, afraid iwaizumi would see her wide grin and stifled giggles.

he follows her in the hallway with you in his arms, bridal style, occasionally looking down at you.

“you can just plop her on the bed. she’ll move around eventually,” mei breaks iwaizumi from his gaze toward you and he quickly looks up and clears his throat.

“right.”

he walks over to your side of the room and gently places you on the bed.

“is she enjoying herself here?” he asks, glancing over at your roommate quickly before looking back down at your sleeping state.

“i think she is,” he smiles, “i mean, she has a pretty great roommate so i count for something.”

iwaizumi chuckles lowly, careful not to wake you. “funny,” he says before leaning over and pushing a strand of hair that’d fallen over your face away.

leaning back, iwaizumi shoves his hands in his jean pockets and sways back and forth. “sorry for keeping you up. i should’ve kicked you out a while ago.”

“don’t sweat it. we had fun. sorry for interrupting your night. i’m sure y/n would never apologize but i’m sure she feels a little guilty.”

“i had fun, too. so no worries.”

“yeah?” mei grins when he’s outside the door. she was leaning against the door, ready to close it before curiosity got the best of her, “you must know how she feels about you, right?”

iwaizumi rubs a hand over his face, obviously not ready to have this conversation with your roommate at 2:30 in the morning.

“yeah i do-”

“does she have a chance?”

iwaizumi’s throat runs dry.

“i’m too old for you.”

“i’m three years older than you.”

“i’m in high school and you’re still in middle school.”

“when is it gonna get through your thick skull that it’s never going to happen? just quit it. you have no chance.”

iwaizumi’s silence is a cue mei takes to go on.

“because from what i’ve heard from her is that she’s liked you forever. forgive me for overstepping my boundaries but a loyalty that strong for someone? that’s not something you should brush off.”

iwaizumi thinks back on the times he rejected you and takes into account how each and every time you seemed to bounce right back with no shame.

“has she told you why she couldn’t take no as an answer when we were kids?”

mei smiles at his question. “she said your reasoning was dumb.”

his reasoning.

all of his rejections were revolved around your ages.

come to think of it, iwaizumi never said the words “i don’t like you,” to you once.

it was always about age.

“i think she thought that as long as you focused on your age, she’d still have a chance when it didn’t matter. like now, we’re all adults here and and an eighteen year old dating a twenty one year old is pretty common.”

“i uh, gotta get some sleep. i have an early class,” iwaizumi jabs his thumb in the direction of his room down the hall and mei sighs knowingly.

“goodnight,” and before she closes the door all the way, she calls out to him, “think about what i said!”

you awoke the next morning to the sound of your alarm (thank god you toggled the settings so it automatically repeated every day).

gotta get ready for class, you think to yourself, grabbing your toothbrush and toothpaste (and key, you never forget your key now) before slipping into some shoes and walking out into the hall.

on your way to the bathroom you see a familiar face walking in your direction.

iwaizumi is walking your way (in nothing but a towel around his waist) with a toothbrush in his mouth. he doesn’t notice you at first and to be honest, you don’t notice him either.

you’re still tired and can barely keep your eyes open.

it isn’t until he’s an inch away from slamming into your shoulder that you move to the side out of reflex.

“shoot, sorry,” iwaizumi says, mouthful of toothpaste.

“no worries, iwa,” you wave him off with a sleepy smile and continue your way to the women’s bathroom.

iwaizumi pauses for a moment, admiring the way you walked away with no second thought.

you truly were in your own little world when you were half-awake.

amidst this, a small smile tugs at his lips, turning into a grin as he walks back to his room.

from that moment forward, iwaizumi finds himself seeing you more often than before.

at first it isn’t even intentional:

you two walk into your dorm at the same time

more times when you walk past each other in the hall if one of you is on your way to class and the other is coming back from class

but your favorite was when you’d both be in the lounge room at the same time

“whatcha watching?” you’d ask, plopping beside him on the soft sofa and looking up at the t.v.

“reruns of criminal minds.”

and then you’d sit beside each other just watching whatever was playing on the t.v. neither of you spoke unless it was about a scene.

but he still enjoyed your presence.

OK WHAT’S GOING ON WITH ME, he thinks (almost everyday) to himself

never did he act this way around you nor want to be around you this much.

“haji, let’s play foosball!” you break him out of his thoughts one day, already at the game table, gesturing for him to come over

you were quite impressed with yourself with how you were handling seeing iwaizumi so often.

did your stomach flip every time you saw him? yes.

did your heart pound against your chest every time he made eye contact? of course.

and did your stomach let out out a swarm of butterflies every time you saw him smile or laugh? no doubt.

but you managed to keep your feelings at bay.

after all, it had been three years without seeing the man.

of course, you some partners in that time. but your heart was set on one man.

and sure maybe the media would call you a simp but you didn’t care.

(it’s iwaizumi. i’m shamelessly simping)

“they’re having brownies at the dining hall tonight. wanna get some chow later?” you ask, without bothering to look up from the table, too engrossed with your game.

“yeah, i’m starving. loser has to throw away all the trash when we’re done.”

“you’re on,” you smirk.

ending result of the game: you won.

iwaizumi is telling you it’s because he let you but that’s only to protect his ego.

“yeah, sure you did. anyway, let’s go!” you tug his arm out of the building and walk in the direction of the dining hall.

feeling the chilly breeze against you, you shove your hands into your sweater pockets and out of instinct, shuffle closer to iwaizumi, hoping his body heat would warm you up.

surprising you, he doesn’t mind being shoulder to shoulder with you and doesn’t move away.

the two of you walk into the dining halls and settle for a table near the back.

“i’ll watch the table, you go first,” he shoos you with his hand and takes a seat at the small booth for two. you grin and nod and he watches you skip away from him and in the direction of the food

you’re too cute, he thinks to himself as a smile threatens to grace his lips

five minutes pass you return with a plate of food.

“really?” iwaizumi raises an eyebrow at your choice of a meal. it was 40% dinner and 60% sweets and desserts.

“really.”

sighing, he knows if he tried to convince you to not take as many sweets, he wouldn’t win. he stands from his seat and walks in the direction of food (definitely less excitedly than you did).

he returns with his food soon after and you’re sitting together, exchanging words and teases back and forth. it’s a cute sight to see and if any stranger were to look at you, it definitely looks like the two of you were together.

“if you procrastinate again and you show up at my door with those puppy dog eyes, i’m only saying ‘i told you so,’“ iwaizumi chuckles and you throw a french fry out of mock anger.

“you wouldn’t. my puppy dog eyes get you ~weak~ and you know it. just like when we were kids.”

the two of you are laughing until it dies down, registering the last part of your sentence.

when you were kids.

“it’s been a while, huh?”

you nod, “mhm, we’ve known each other a long time.”

iwaizumi stays silent, fiddling with his fingers underneath the table.

should he bring up what he’s wanted to for the past few weeks?

before he can, you lean back and rest your head against the back of the booth seat. “man, i’m stuffed.”

iwaizumi raises an eyebrow and says, “well you ate like four brownies so i’m sure you are.”

you reply by sticking out your tongue and pushing your tray toward him. “throw it out please~”

iwaizumi rolls his eyes but slides out of the booth and takes both of your trays and walked in the direction of the disposal area.

“i’ll meet you in the front, ok?”

he nods and the two of you part ways. iwaizumi walks over to the disposal area and a look of defeat crosses over his features.

you couldn’t tell her…

why not?

‘cause you’re a coward.

iwaizumi shakes the thoughts out of his head and balls his now free hands into fists.

it’s not the right time.

but she’s only been waiting for thirteen years…

sighing, he shoves his hands into his pockets and masks his frustration with his normal resting face.

he’s ready to greet you and start walking back to your dorm when he notices a taller figure beside you.

stepping closer he feels his stomach drop.

“no boyfriend?” the man smiles, taking a step closer to you, “i can change that, if you’d like.”

iwaizumi is already bunching up the sleeves of his sweatshirt up his forearms, ready to start something, before he notices your bored gaze at the man in front of you.

“sorry, i’m taken.”

“i don’t see you with anybody?” the man’s grin never falters as he looks around you in search of someone.

by the time he says that, iwaizumi is somewhat close and within your eyesight.

noticing the look of relief washing over your face, iwaizumi allows you to grab hold of his arm and swings him around to face the flirting man

“this is him and he’ll punch you square in the jaw if you try me.”

the man raises an unimpressed brow before slowly looking over at the taller man beside you.

gruffly, iwaizumi responds, “i will.”

the man scoffs and walks away from you, leaving you and iwaizumi alone

you’re stunned.

what you had said was based on pure instinct but you never expected iwaizumi to play along. the two of you quietly walk out of the dining hall and you stop once you’re both outside.

“thanks,” you mumble, feeling your cheeks flush, “i didn’t mean to say that, it was just a reflex and he wouldn’t leave me alone and you were ther-”

iwaizumi cuts you off by cupping your cheeks in his hands. a beat passes with the just the two of you staring at each other before he (FINALLY) leans down and presses his lips to yours.

your eyes are wide and your body frozen but with a few seconds, you were able to register what was happening and you melt into his arms, leaning forward.

you kiss for a while, probably looking strange to people walking in and out of the dining hall but you don’t care.

ending the kiss with a few peppered pecks on your lips and your cheeks, iwaizumi lets go of you and allows you to regain your own balance

“i’m sorry it took so long for me to do that,” he mumbles, looking down in embarrassment.

“hajime, the absolute love of my life,” you coo reaching your hand up to caress his cheek. “don’t apologize. after all, i won two games today.”

leaning against your hand, iwaizumi furrowed his brows before asking, “what was the second game?”

“the waiting game.”

Keep reading

NOT EATING FOR A DAY (COMFORT)

With: ♡ Bokuto + Oikawa ♡ (x chubby,gn!reader)

Warnings: not eating, hurt - comfort

WC: ~800

Emergency Request: Oikawa and Bokuto with a chubby female reader who’s feeling nauseous after not eating a whole day, because her parents were making comments about her body? ~ “my father recently told me that Oikawa wouldn’t want me with how I look and what can I say, that hurt..”

AN: okay, reading this made me very angry. all of the haikyuu boys would love you no matter what you look like. and especially oikawa and bokuto would find you incredibly attractive because of the way you look. your body is beautifully, intricately designed. they wouldn’t be able to help admiring you. and what does your dad know about these characters? has he met them?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ʙᴏᴋᴜᴛᴏ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“And I got you an iced tea! Your favourite kind, too!” You could hear Bokuto’s excited voice from the receiver, and the pain in the pit of your stomach worsened.

“Oh… Bokuto… I’m really not hungry, so you can have it…”

“What do you mean?”

“I… I just, I don’t want to eat anything right now.”

“Is everything okay? Just wait, babygirl, I’ll be right there.”

“Okay,” you said softly, and he hung up. You were becoming increasingly uncomfortable. You hadn’t eaten all day in a much-advised-against attempt to lose wait, and you were feeling its effects. You were so miserable that you thought eating at this point would probably make it worse.

Bokuto was there a few minutes later, and, as always, greeted you with a big, warm hug, full iced tea in one hand. He kissed your forehead, and it was only after that that he noticed your expression.

“Baby, are you okay? I still have the iced tea…”

“Like I said, Ko, I’m really not that hungry…”

Keep reading

Ugly Crier (Vil)

In which Vil is acting a bit... odd.

Event request for @gerako8bit ! The prompts you chose were really fun to work with, it was great trying to piece them together, and I’m rather happy with the outcome.

2.9k, gn!reader, hurt/comfort, more pining because why not, there’s a smidge of noncon kissing but it’s addressed

Original prompt: “Are you crying?” + wiping away tears + lipstick + bubbling, pink potion

Rook: Je suis désolé, mon ami! I am so sorry!

You blinked and rubbed your eyes, trying to make sure you were reading Rook’s text correctly. Nope, you were sure, that’s exactly what it said. More than a little worried, you hurried to text back.

You: for what??? what’s wrong????

Rook: C’est le Roi de Poison… Ahhhh, je suis désolé!!

Okay, now you were even more freaked out.

You: what?????? what’s wrong with vil???????

You waited for a moment after you sent the text, and sure enough, the little receipt marking that he’d opened and read your message popped up. Yet, a few more minutes passed, and he still didn’t respond.

Epel paused and turned around to look at you, curious as to why you’d stopped walking. He immediately took note of the furrow in your brow and hurried over, peering over your shoulder to look at your phone and read what you’d been typing.

“...Vil? What’s up with him?” He asked. “He was fine this morning.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” You chewed your lip. “Something tells me magic was involved, and from what it sounds like, it’s less than ideal.”

The familiar clacking of high heels against the tile floor approaching made you both look up. Epel let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank the Seven it’s you, Vil,” he said. “We were getting worried.”

Vil stopped in front of you and cocked his head. “Worried? Why ever so?”

“We got this really weird text from Rook,” you explained, showing him the screen. “He didn’t give us any context, so we really didn’t know what was happening.”

To your surprise, he took a long stride forward until you were practically chest-to-chest, and you stumbled back. He leaned over you, smirking. “You were so worked up over me? How touching…”

With gentle fingers, he caressed your jaw, tilting your chin up gently and staring deep into your eyes. You shot a panicked side glance to Epel, who looked equally as freaked out as you were at Vil’s sudden touchiness.

“Uh, are you sure you’re okay, Vil?” You asked. “You’re not usually this… affectionate.”

Your words made him frown and he immediately reeled back, eyebrows pinching and looking positively wounded. “You don’t like it…?”

“No! No,” you rushed, wanting to see the pained expression gone from his face as soon as possible. “It just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

Like a switch was flipped, Vil stepped back up to you and snaked a hand around your waist with a small smile. “Oh, thank goodness, darling. You had me scared for a moment.”

‘Darling’? You looked at Epel who simply shrugged, wide-eyed as he watched the scene unfold.

Vil suddenly tugged you until you were pressed flush against him, as if you two weren’t close enough in proximity already. He put his lips next to your ear, voice unusually breathy and sensual. “May I walk you to class?”

You had to suppress the shiver that ran down your spine. “Uh, sure, I guess.”

He wasted no time in tugging you along, taking a glance at you as he walked every few moments or so. When you looked closer at his face, you saw that he was wearing a bit more makeup than usual, the most prominent being the deep pink lipstick.

“Is something important happening today?” You asked.

He looked at you, confused. “No, why?”

You shrugged and looked at the floor, wanting to avoid the sheer intensity of his gaze. “You just seem a lot more done-up than usual. I mean, not that you usually aren’t, but I guess today it really stuck out to me.”

Vil blushed, a shade of pink almost as deep as his lips. It was so unlike him; he looked downright bashful. “It’s always important if you’re involved. I want to look my best for you, after all.”

Holy shit, what is happening? You screamed internally as you tried your best to keep yourself calm and composed. “O-oh, thank you, Vil, but you didn’t have to. I always think you look amazing.”

He suddenly stopped, staring at you. “...Really?”

“Yes, of course, I-” you were cut off as Vil suddenly pushed you against the wall, being careful enough not to knock your head. Your voice caught and you looked up at him, wide-eyed. He was so close, you could feel his hot, sweet breath fan across your cheeks.

“God, the things you do to me,” Vil murmured. You gulped. He closed his eyes and leaned in to press a slow, sensual kiss onto your lips, and a small ‘eep!’ of surprise escaped your throat. His lips were warm, and they moved softly and purposefully as he moved to press kisses to the corner of your mouth, then your cheek, then your jaw…

“Vil! What are you doing?” You whisper-shouted, lightly pushing against him to no avail, self-conscious of any student that would possibly pass by and catch you two in this compromising situation.

He stopped, and you let out a sigh of relief. His eyes were-half lidded, and you could’ve sworn you saw a tinge of pink outline his irises.

“Forgive me,” he breathed, never breaking eye contact. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“Um, forgiven?” You squeaked, still incredibly confused by the whole ordeal. Then, as if nothing had happened, Vil pulled back and continued to lead you down the hall to your next class. Before he departed, he pressed a kiss to your knuckles, whispering in your ear about how he’d be there to pick you up when the bell rang. You watched him walk off, dazed and confused.

“MC? Oh, thank goodness,” Epel, who was slightly out of breath, ran up to you. “That was super weird. I wanted to make sure you got to class okay.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, still trying to piece together everything you’d just experienced.

Epel squinted at you. “...Um, I think you have something on your face.” He pointed to his cheek, and you wiped at your own face. When you looked at your hand, you saw a bright smudge of pink lipstick. You scrubbed furiously at your face.

“Did I get it all?”

Epel grimaced. “Not even a little bit.”

The rest of the day was… eventful, to say the least. Vil spent every waking moment he could by your side, stealing cheek kisses every now and then and leaving your face cumulatively stained by the pink pigment. You suckered Crewel into letting you out of your last block early (sometimes, it really pays to be a teacher’s pet) so you could make your hasty escape before Vil could corner you after class and subject you to more of his unwarranted affection. Not that you necessarily disliked it; you couldn’t deny your growing interest in the Pomefiore housewarden, but in the back of your mind you’d always assumed he was far out of your league. Under different circumstances, you’d embrace his kisses and gentle touches. But this was so sudden, so excessive, you couldn’t help but feel you were taking advantage of whatever magical influence he was under.

Yeah, you weren’t stupid. You’d been around the bend enough times throughout your stay at NRC to put two and two together; from Rook’s cryptid message and Vil’s odd behavior, you assumed some sort of magical mishap had gone down. By the time the bell rang to dismiss class, you were tucked away in a far corner of the Botanical Garden, hidden beneath the foliage of the temperate zone and praying Vil wouldn’t wander over in his attempts to look for you.

“Why hello, mon cher. I thought I might find you here.”

The sudden voice made you jump, but you relaxed and let out a sigh of relief when you saw it was only Rook, peering over you from one of the perennials.

“Yeah. Thanks for the warning, by the way,” you caustered. “I’ve been trying to get Shoenheit off my trail all day. The man’s a bloodhound.”

“I appreciate the analogy,” he commented, stepping out from behind the greenery and going to sit next to you. “And really, c’est vrai, I apologize for his… behavior. You see, this morning we were working on individual projects for potions, and I had attempted to brew Verunudum.”

Your brows furrowed. “The truth serum? Isn’t that, like, super potent, not to mention super high-level?”

“Of course it is.” He threw his head back, hand on his forehead dramatically. “But at Pomefiore, we excel at potions. So imagine my surprise when I messed it up!” He reached into his coat and pulled out a small vial containing a bubbling, pink potion. He handed it to you, and you turned it over in your hand, inspecting it.

“It definitely looks like Verunudum,” you said. “Just the wrong color.”

You handed him back the vial, and he tucked it back into his coat. “Precisely, and it works similarly, too. But instead of targeting your thoughts and baring it for the world to see, it enhances and magnifies your emotions.”

You tapped your chin, mulling this information over. “So… Vil accidentally drank it?”

“Oh heavens no!” Rook cried. “If he did, it’d be at least a month before the effects wear off with how concentrated the dose was. No, he just happened to inhale the fumes.”

“And just that was enough to turn him into… Whatever he is right now?”

Rook nodded. “Fortunately, the effects should wear off by tomorrow morning, thank the Seven.”

Something clicked into place. “Wait, so he didn’t drink a love potion?”

“No,” Rook said. He tilted his head at you. “What gave you that idea?”

You could feel your face begin to heat up. “Wait, hold on, the potion just amplifies emotions, right? So that means… He actually has a thing for me?”

Rook looked at you like you were the stupidest person in the world. “Um, yes?”

“What?!” You screeched. “Since when?”

“Since forever.” Rook rolled his eyes. “Mon dieu, such un imbécile…."

“Stop speaking Baguette at me,” you growled. “Alright, okay, we need a game plan. You said the potion effects will only last until the end of the day.”

He nodded. “They’ll wear off completely when he goes to sleep.”

“Okay. Yes.” You took a deep breath, running through the calculations in your head. “I just need to avoid him for the rest of the day.”

Rook smirked. “And when will you confront him about his feelings, little lovebird?”

You glared at him. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

You awoke groggily the next morning to the incessant pinging of your phone. You groaned, fumbling around enough to turn the ringer off, and collapsed back into bed.

The entirety of the rest of your day yesterday was spent tactfully avoiding the Evil Queen himself. It was difficult, given how smart Vil was; he had been staked out at all of your regular spots, waiting. If it wasn’t for Rook, you would’ve for sure been caught and smothered with more cuddles and kisses than you could handle.

Your phone started vibrating. Someone was calling you. You groaned again and peered at the screen. It was Rook. You swiped to accept his call.

“Hello?”

“You need to get down here!” Rook exclaimed so loudly that you had to pull your phone away from your ear. “It’s an emergency!”

At the urgency of Rook’s voice, you sat up, now fully awake. “What happened?”

“It’s Vil.” You sucked in a breath as Rook continued his rambling. “He won’t come out of his room. I’ve been trying all morning. He hasn’t even come out to do his morning skincare routine!”

Okay, this is bad, you thought, pulling yourself from the bed and haphazardly pulling on your clothes and shoes. Vil would certainly scold you for a half-done tie, but today, he was just going to have to deal with it.

You rushed to the hall of mirrors with the speed of a Spelldrive star, all but hurling yourself through the Pomefiore dorm mirror. You stumbled onto the other side, and you had hardly regained your balance before Rook was pulling you down the hall.

“Rook, what’s going on?” You asked, tripping over your own feet in an effort to keep up with his frantic pace.

“I have no idea,” he replied. “But this is so unlike Vil. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

You screeched to a halt outside the grandiose doors of the Housewarden’s room. Rook knocked on the door. “Vil? Are you there?”

“Go away!” Vil shouted from behind the door. “I’ll come out when I want to!”

Rook gave you a look as if to say, ‘You see?’ You gulped, stepping up to the door. You gave a light knock.

“I told you to leave me alone, Rook!” Vil exclaimed. You shot a pleading glance in Rook’s direction, to which you received a shrug in response. You jiggled the handle. It was locked.

“One moment,” Rook said. He disappeared down the hall, only to reappear a few seconds later with a set of keys. He handed them to you, sticking out one large, golden key in particular. You raised a brow at him, and he simply shrugged again. “For emergencies.”

You decided not to question him, and slipped the key into the keyhole, turning until you heard it click. Slowly, you creaked open the door, stepping in fully, only to be immediately met with a pillow hitting your face with a whump.

You snatched the pillow from your face and held it to your side, closing the door behind you with your foot. Vil had his back to you and was curled up with his knees to his chest. His shoulders were shaking.

“Get out!” He wailed, not turning to look at you.

“Vil? It’s me,” you tried, making your voice as gentle as you could. He whipped his head around to look at you, and promptly let out a shriek and dove under his covers. In the glimpse that you’d caught of his face, you could see there were black streaks of mascara running down his cheeks. You took a hesitant step forward. “...Vil? Are you crying?”

“No!” He replied, followed by a hiccup.

Well, you thought, this is going to be a challenge to navigate. You walked over to sit at the foot of his bed. Vil—or, you supposed, the lump under the comforter that was Vil—flinched when you sat down.

“Vil…,” you said, making sure to choose your words carefully so as to not upset him further. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!” He suddenly sprang up from underneath the covers, seething. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was red and puffy. He glared at you. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I am.”

You furrowed your brows. “I don’t follow.”

“The little stunt I pulled yesterday,” he sniffled, bringing the heel of his palm up to wipe at his cheeks. “I can’t believe you can still look at me. I-I let Rook’s potion get the better of me, I kissed you without your consent… It wasn’t supposed to go like this!” He buried his face in his hands. You dared to scoot closer, placing a feather-light hand on his trembling shoulder.

“It’s alright, Vil,” you cooed. “I know that it wasn’t your fault. And besides, I didn’t mind you kissing me.”

He hiccuped. “...You didn’t?”

“I didn’t,” you repeated. “Was I a little surprised? Sure. But I certainly didn’t mind it.”

He tentatively peeked up at you through his hands. “...My confession was supposed to be so much better than this…”

“Well,” you said, “either way, I accept.”

“Of course you do, I’m gorgeous,” he sniffled, and you had to stifle a snort. He looked at you fully, bottom lip trembling. “But I never wanted you to see me like this. I’m an ugly crier.”

His eyes were red and swollen, his skin was splotchy, mascara and eyeliner smeared in dark, wet smudges around his eyes and on his cheeks. A tear escaped the corner of his eye. You reached a hand out to swipe it away with your thumb.

“You’re beautiful,” you whispered, being truthful. “I always think you’re beautiful.”

Before you could pull your hand away, Vil leaned into it, nestling his cheek into your palm like it was made to go there. “You’re too nice to me. I’m kind of an acquired taste as it is.” He swallowed. “I’m not usually this… messy. I don’t think Rook’s potion has worn off completely yet.”

You distinctly remember Rook saying that the effects should last twelve hours maximum, but you decided to hold your tongue and spare him his pride.

“It’s alright,” you said, rubbing your thumb back and forth against the side of his face. “Do you want to start getting ready for class?”

Vil scoffed. “There’s no way I’m going to class. Not even the best sheet masks can fix me up at this point.”

“And that’s really an excuse to skip?”

“I’m the Pomefiore housewarden, I must appear in perfect condition at all times.” He shrugged. “I’ll just tell them I’m sick, besides, it’s not like my grades will go down by simply missing a day or two.”

Always finds a way to sneak in a brag, huh? You thought to yourself.

“Will you stay with me?” Vil asked, looking at you with ‘please’ written all over his face. “Just this once.”

You sighed, smiling at him softly. “I suppose. Just this once.”

The both of you knew there was no chance it would be ‘just this once,’ but neither of you said anything.

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