Words Cannot Explain How Perfect This Man Is

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭

warnings/info: scaramouche x gn!reader, scaramouche lore spoilers, not proofread very well, ~1k words, fluff, overuse of italics, no other warnings

notes from tori: continuation (prt3) to the husk of opulance miniseries. i am planning on writing a part 4. please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in that!

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 (you are here)

Nights on Yashiori Island were painfully dark. Dark enough to be vulnerable, and yet, Scaramouche had kept your quaint pair so safely hidden while he formulated whatever plan he was concocting. Currently, you were sitting across from the man, orange firelight between you casting deep shadows across his dramatic features, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared intently at you. The pads of his fingers were pressed together in front of his mouth, but despite his contemplative, overall calm posture, you couldn’t resist squirming under his burning gaze. The violet in his irises glowed, reflecting the embers below, and he stared. He stared at your face, studying each curve without expression. 

“Kunikuzushi.” You murmured, feeling the need to coax him from his thoughts. Aching to sever the tension before it stirred up the raging thoughts you’d had since that night.

That night. 

His hands had been calloused yet delicate against your skin when he slid on your shoes. Like he cared. Perhaps that wasn’t far-fetched at face value, but anyone who knew Scaramouche knew. They knew how monumental such a gesture would be. 

Scaramouche didn’t respond to your meek call of his name, and you shivered internally, warmed by the fire and yet so cold within. 

“Is everything-”

“At dawn, I will be leaving for a time.” He interrupted matter-of-factly, his words leaving no room for argument. “I will be coming back. You better stay put while I’m gone.”

“What?” You guffawed, your voice barely cutting across the smokescreen. “Where are you going? Why can’t I come?” His eyes narrowed at your interrogation, but he remained otherwise calm.

Keep reading

in which: you need to make it to liyue harbour in time so you can give kazuha a piece of your mind and a response to his love letter.

cw: fluff, 1.3k words, not too sure how canon accurate this is, potentially ooc-kazuha, gn!reader from inazuma, confessions, two wholesome idiots in love

a/n: for my little sibling @sixosix, i hope you enjoy

Liyue, out of all regions in Teyvat, is the hardest to run through.

It’s mountainous, your muscles will ache from going uphill, your ankles will be sore the next day from going too fast downhill. It’s grassy, the gravel is rough against the soles of your feet, and there is an abundance of hillichurls and samachurls waiting for you with their clubs and shields. Yet, they provide more motivation for you to outrun them, speeding right by their camps to get to Liyue Harbour in time.

Stupid Kaedehara Kazuha, when you see him, he’s in for an earful from you. Making you run from Lingju Pass all the way back to the Harbour, doesn’t he know how much you despise running for long periods of time?

A break is not plausible, especially when Beidou’s boat could leave the dock at any minute now.

When Liyue’s bustling harbour is in sight, it’s vast oceans appearing out the horizon, you feel like you can breathe. The sunlight glimmering on the ocean cheers you on, and you won’t stop until the waves are underneath your feet, the only thing separating you from them being wooden planks. 

You push through crowds, too tired and determined to be polite and apologetic to shoppers you push aside. You run past Mingxing Jewelry, Wanmin Restaurant, and Master Zhang’s workshop, and don’t stop until you, yourself, are climbing onto the Crux. Crew members are shouting in protest at your sudden appearance, yelling at your unexplained entrance.

There are people trying to pull you off the boat, and you don’t really know where the strength to push off burly sailors came from, but you successfully fend off all of them, and find Beidou at the bow of the ship. 

“Where is Kazuha?” You demand, decorum be screwed, nothing can stop your momentum now. 

Her uncovered eye lights up in amusement, a hint of knowing behind her crimson gaze. “Right behind you.” 

Lo and behold, the beige-haired in question was right behind you. “Uh, hello?”

“I have a bone to pick with you, Kazuha!” Stomping over to him, he grabs your wrist before you have another chance to talk, dragging you away from the bow of the ship where all the crewmates were unloading their cargo. (Beidou’s thundering laughter can be heard as he’s dragging you away, at least she’s not mad at your sudden intrusion.)

He stops when the two of you are on the quarter deck and turns to look at you with panic all over his face.

“What did I do?” 

From your pocket, you pull out a piece of paper like it’s an incriminating piece of evidence, one that he’s stared at for too long, so much so that he can recall every dip and curve of the dry-pressed leaves he added on for a more personal touch. It has sat on his desk for ages, seen all of his turmoils and frustrations over delivering it to you. 

The paper contains a mix of poems, haikus, and different confessions Kazuha has been harbouring in his heart for the past few years, ever since the two of you left Inazuma. Your hand clutching his gloved one as the two of you hurry onto Beidou’s boat with nothing but your visions, weapons, and the clothes on your back.

He has loved you for this entire journey, and words could not surmise the depth of his feelings, let alone a measly piece of paper. Some days, it sees the sun when he dares it to, but it always ends up right back on his desk, waiting for the day that it will leave Kazuha’s possession and fall into yours.

This morning was the exact moment. He slipped it in your bag before you went on your expedition, the two of you meeting for a quiet breakfast before his eight-month long expedition, and your two-week one. He had waved you goodbye as far as he could go before leaving Liyue Harbour, even staying on the outskirts until your group left his sight.

Nothing could have prepared him for seeing you so soon, not after putting that letter in your backpack. 

“You’re a coward!” You accuse immediately, poking your finger to his chest. “A lousy coward!”

He takes it, knows that he should have just braved his fears and handed it to you in person, but the idea of being rejected on the spot causes his chest to ache in unbearable ways. The samurai rather you read it, then have eight months to prepare for your inevitable rejection.

Yet, he should have known that in the face of a storm, you are the only one brave enough to fight against the waves. Nothing ever goes the way he wants when it’s with you.

“You should probably sit down, Y/n, your legs are shaking and I’ll grab you some-”

Your hands fly up to grab the sleeves of his kimono, whether to stabilise yourself, or to stop him from leaving, or both, he stays. “Kaedehara Kazuha, I like you too,” you declare. “I just ran all the way from Lingju Pass, so I have nothing flowery nor sweet to say like your letter except that you are so very mean for making me come all this way.”

With one last heaved breath, you collapse to your knees. Kazuha, being the gentleman he is, freaks out and mimics your actions, clinging onto your shoulders.

“Y/n!” He calls out, his usually level voice breaching a panicked cry. “You shouldn’t be exerting yourself like this. Stay here, I’ll go grab water water.” 

Listening to the samurai, you rest against a nearby pillar, feeling the dull aches in all muscles of your legs. Archons, you’ll feel the pain tenfold tomorrow.

Kazuha returns not too long with a canteen in hand, and he twists it open before handing it to you. After a few beats of tense silence, he speaks up. 

“Honestly, I don’t really have anything to say either, I wasn’t expecting to see you for another eight months, and even then, I was expecting a rejection.” He admits sheepishly, a blush blooming along his cheeks. “Maybe an apology for making you run all this way just to see me is my first course of action.”

“Accept my confession first, jerk,” you punch his shoulder lightly, smiling up at him.

“I’ll accept anything so long as it’s from you, I thought I made that clear in my letter.”

“Don’t think you can charm your way into my good graces!” 

He thinks it’s adorable that you’re trying to maintain your cool mask despite your inability to look him in the eye, even if he’s hardly faring much better. The usual lyricism of his words have faded, and his quick mind can’t think of anything poetic to say, as if your confession has intercepted all the functions of his brain.

You like him back, you like him back, you like him back, and he doesn’t know what to do with that information except smile like an idiot.

“Are you still going on your expedition?” asks Kazuha. “Your group must be waiting for you.”

“I told them not to, dumped my rations and things with them and told them they could use it. I’m not running all the way back now.”

“Then, does that mean you can join us?” 

“I don’t want to intrude, and I don’t know if you have enough things on board for another-”

“-I’m sure Beidou and the crew wouldn’t mind. There are always extra rations, you can have some of mine if it gets to it, and our first stop is at sunset, so we could go and grab some clothes for you to bring along!” He quickly suggests, hope shining brightly in those crimson eyes of his, as if pleading for you to say yes.

The wind blows gently through his beige strands, and the moment feels enchantingly similar to one you had read in an Inazuman poem. Then again, Kazuha always had that effect; the ability to slow time and let you see the world through a different, prettier lens, even if the consequences were completely dire.

You want to continue seeing through his lens, exactly the way you did when both of you fled Inazuma and the Vision hunt Decree. And you want to see the rest of Teyvat the way he does. 

“Okay.” You agree, “I’ll come along.”

© EARTHTOOZ 2024, do not steal, translate, repost my fics and do not recommend my fics onto any other site.

Then There Was You ‧₊˚ ⋅ Drabble (Request)

ଳ he swore to only keep his eyes on ume and follow his good example, but then you just had to become a distraction ଳ character; sugishita kyotarou (wind breaker) ଳ tags; floof, tsundere sugi, short fight scene, afab reader, no y/n

"You've been staring at her a lot lately huh?"

Just like that, Sugishita was snapped out of his stupor. He rarely narrowed his eyes at Ume, but if someone teased him about her... then not even Ume-chan is an exception to his grumpiness.

"No," he grunts and looks away.

Ume pats his back with a reassuring smile on his face. He said something about how it's okay to like someone because it's totally normal.

Yeah, right. Normal.

But the thing is—Sugishita's an anomaly. He's different in a way that he had never loved anyone before, let alone "liked." Some people were just not made for it and he believes himself to be one of those people. His purpose—he says—is to become stronger so that he can be someone Ume can be proud of. Even better if he could become someone that the great Umemiya Hajime could rely on.

However, he was nowhere near to attaining that. The idea of love is then out of question. He just had no time for trivial things.

It's funny though—how his mind and body are doing completely different things. A part of him doesn't want to stray from the path that Ume has carved for him, but another fuels this urge in him to simply stare at you. Admire you from afar. Because you were the most delicate thing in his eyes.

Compared to the self-assured and confident Kotoha, the new part-timer at the cafe was a bit laidback. But she was the bubbliest and friendliest person that the Furin boys have come across.

Each time they would come and visit the cafe, she'd be standing at the counter with a warm smile on her face. And once everyone has their food in front of them, she would happily listen to Ume's tales about the day's fight or Nirei's rants about the people he "observes." She'd giggle at Sakura's bashfulness and be amused by Tsugeura's enthusiasm.

She had a special talent in that she could make anyone feel at ease.

And Sugishita was sure that it would be the same thing all over again. No matter how nice or kind someone is—they'll be too intimidated to even converse with him.

But that wasn't the case with you.

He could still vividly recall how his heart skipped a beat the day he first met you. The boys had come to the cafe to wind down after a major scuffle. They had cuts and bruises all over, but they laughed as if there was no pain at all. As the newbie, you didn't know better and acted with the utmost concern.

Much to everyone's surprise, you came to Sugishita first.

"Does it hurt?" you ask, pointing at a cut on his arm.

His brows furrow and his lips press into a thin line—an obvious indicator that he is in no need of your help. But he should've known that it wouldn't be enough to push you away.

"Here," you say as you offer a band-aid to him. "Sorry, it's a bit childish with all the elephants on it, but it's all I have."

In spite of his unwelcoming demeanor, you persisted. Even the other guys around him were stunned at your resolve. But they remained quiet, wanting to see how Sugishita would react.

Sugishita sheepishly took the cute band-aid from your fingers, shoving it immediately deep into his pocket.

You smile. "You should wash that up and plaster it on as soon as possible or it'll get infected."

When he finally spares you a glance, he sees the maddeningly bright smile on your face. It almost reminded him of Ume when he annoys him.

"Thanks," he whispered. It took all of his willpower to say one syllable because he knew that there would be consequences.

Sakura piped up. "Oh, so you do know what gratitude is?"

The consequence being—a certain two-toned boy would get on his nerves.

Of course, the usual back-and-forth ensued. Sugishita got too heated up that he nearly forgot the band-aid in his pocket. When he glanced over to you again and saw how you laughed at their bickering... he swore you had done something to his forsaken heart.

He often found himself daydreaming like a kid when recalling that day. It made him happy to an extent, though he'd never admit it. But he mostly repeated the events in his head because he was trying to figure out why his heart was thumping so loud then and why he felt so nervous around you.

It bothered him to no end because he was this big hulking guy and you were... just a girl who probably wouldn't hurt a fly. He had fought guys thrice your size. Yet, here he was; scared at the thought of you sitting next to him and talking to him.

Throughout his daydream, he failed to notice that you had disappeared and went out to buy some milk for the cafe. Kotoha was busy cleaning the kitchen, so the errand was left to you.

It left Sugishita bored. He wasn't really interested in whatever they were talking about and Ume was busy eating anyway. And you were... well, he didn't know where you were. He'd rather be kicked in the shins twice than ask where you had gone.

Everything comes to a halt as they heard commotion from outside. And by the sound of it... it was you. His question was answered in the worst way possible.

"Let go of me! Stop!" you cried out desperately, but to no avail.

"C'mon, lady. We were askin' ye for some change so nicely, weren't we? Don't be a bitch and show us some kindness, will ye?"

The shady group of guys who were outside the convenience store saw you and decided to follow. So here you were, getting mugged.

Everyone in the cafe knew the situation straight away. They were all ready to jump into action, but none of them would have expected what happened next.

To put it simply, Sugishita just shot out of his seat without another word or thought. Kotoha was sure that the cafe's door would fly off the hinges with how strongly he swung it open.

His fiery stare was zeroed in on the scumbags that had you surrounded. His mind was empty except for two things: to beat these fuckers up and to save you.

He stomped over to you, the shady men becoming aware of his approaching and menacing presence.

"Watcha want, punk? Walkin' over here like a—"

The guy's sentence was left unfinished as Sugishita's fist met his face. His punch snapped and didn't waste any time slugging the rest of the men. Though they tried to fight back, they were no match for an extra aggressive Sugishita.

His senses only came flooding back when he felt a pair of arms around him. He inspected the ground below him where the men had fallen unconscious... and then he realized that you were clinging on to him like a koala.

"THAT WAS SO SCARYYYY," you cried. As you did, you squeezed him tighter. You were probably pushing his boundaries, but the adrenaline and fear got the best of you. You could apologize later for the tears that had seeped through his navy blue cotton shirt.

And normally, he would push you away, but strangely—it felt... really good. His hands hovered in the air, unsure of what to do with them. He helplessly looked around. But as he turned his gaze back at the cafe, he saw the boys and Kotoha watching them from a distance.

They were smiling and snickering, flashing a thumbs up at Sugishita for saving the day.

When it finally sank in—he was in a state of catharsis. He still couldn't put a finger on what it was that he was feeling. But all he knew was that he liked your warmth and that you still made him insanely nervous.

To some extent, it was like his eyes were opened to a world never seen before. And you were the key to that hidden realm.

He gulped and slowly placed a hand on your head, gently stroking it albeit he was shaking. Was it from punching too hard or was it because of you? He wasn't sure.

Buuuut, maybe Ume was right about this being totally normal.

o-sachi © 2024 pls do not translate/copy/reupload my work on other platforms.

La Vie en Rose

jason todd x fem!reader

aka jason wildly preferring you over everyone else

4 in 1 blurbs

warnings: standard batfam arguing etc.

You sit curled up embarrassingly close to Jason on the couch, head on his shoulder. The team is still in their gear as they filter into the living room, masks and helmets discarded in scattered locations between here and the cave. The mission had been fairly simple and with all of them together it only took a couple hours to finish up.

As you waited, Alfred had kept your mind busy in the kitchen while he taught you how he makes his famous ice cream from scratch.

The clamor of the heroic party’s return had made itself known sooner than later, and you think your face must have displayed your emotions nicely because Alfred nodded you away with a small smile and no second thought.

You’d walked into the living room, weaving through the mess of siblings until a hand snuck out on your left and grabbed your wrist. You barely had time to look at him before Jason pulled you down to sit next him on the sofa. He wrapped an arm over your shoulder, pulling you in and leaving virtually no space between you. His armor sits heavy against you, but a welcome weight on your shoulders.

Tim plops down on the couch across from you and you can just make out a bit of blood on the side of his head, aptly accompanied by an irritated look sprawled across his face. It’s not enough blood to be concerned about—not for them—but you can venture a guess that whatever they were up to shouldn’t have called for any injuries and his pique is likely directly related to that.

Though Dick’s goading aura might have something to do with it too, as he comes crashing down next to him a second later, partially sitting on Tim’s cape and pulling him into an awkward angle. 

Nightwing doesn’t seem too perturbed by the younger vigilante’s agitation and curt manner of pushing him off.

The others are too caught up in chatter to pay much attention to you, and you can be certain that’s why Jason takes that moment to press a kiss to the side of your head. He lets his lips linger there for just a second as you lean into him.

Alfred’s own entrance is the only thing able to subside the flurry of conversations skirting around the room.

“A job well done,” he commends with a nod. “A selection of ice creams awaits you in the kitchen.”

He gives you a sly wink before retreating back through the swinging door, leaving Stephanie and Cass to practically trip over themselves trying to beat each other to the kitchen. Robin follows after unhurried, mask still on, with his hands behind his back.

Jason kneads your thigh before pushing himself up to stand. He turns back, looking down to you. “What do you want?” he asks softly.

You hum, "Just strawberry's good."

Tim sits up, "Can I—”

"No, you've got legs,” Jason grumbles, stalking off to the kitchen.

Dick barks out a laugh and you bite back a smile.

Tim looks absolutely aghast. 

“That’s such bullshit. You know, he used to be nice.”

“No he didn’t,” Dick laughs, shaking his head. “Not since you’ve known him.”

Stephanie stumbles out of the kitchen then, the door hitting her back on the way, as she mutters a curse behind her. You can vaguely makeout Jason grunting something back before she rolls her eyes.

Steph looks at you, shaking her head as she returns to her seat, “You live like this?”

You shrug, “He’s nice to me.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Tim grumbles.

Jason returns after Cass a minute later with a bowl of strawberry ice cream and two spoons. He expertly ignores Tim’s unwavering glare as he resituates himself beside you.

He scoops your legs up over his lap and positions the bowl in between you, wrapping the sleeve of his jacket around it so that the cold porcelain doesn’t make contact with your skin.

The others have set themselves up so that the four of them are stuffed up against each other on the sofa adjacent to you, very obviously examining you both. 

And while you’re willing to acknowledge the amused stares and singular glare, Jason only sighs heavily, rolling his eyes as he glares at the coffee table.

Only a few seconds of this are allowed to go by before he pulls over a throw pillow and sets it over your knees, so that it rests atop your heads like a mini-fort, successfully blocking out his siblings' view of the two of you.

You smile and press a light kiss to his shoulder as he simmers.

Regrettably, you miss the way Damian side-eyes the pillow above you as he re-enters the room, perching himself atop the back of the couch behind the others.

“This is so nice,” Dick preens. “He used to just leave the room when too many of us gathered in one place. Now he has to stay.”

Stephanie watches the makeshift fort with wary eyes, scooping ice cream into her mouth. “Yeah…I don’t wanna freak you guys out but, uh…”

It’s quiet for a moment and you guess Cass is speaking. 

You’re proven right when Stephanie starts up again, “My thoughts exactly.” Her voice drops into a raspy whisper that isn’t really meant to go unheard, “I don’t know who the hell that is, but it is not Jason.” 

“This is unprecedented,” Damian mumbles, dipping into his own chocolate cup.

“Do they always talk about you like you’re not here?” you ask Jason quietly. 

“Yes,” he grumbles with a scornful look directed at the bowl.

A low hiss can be heard immediately after, “I’ve never heard him whisper before, what the fuck?”

You can’t hide your laugh as well as you mean to, but you know Jason’s light swat to your thigh is nothing more than a rib.

Mumbles continue along the other couch, mostly going unacknowledged, until Tim busts out, “He doesn’t even like strawberry!”

Jason snaps the pillow out of the way, “The fuck do you know about what I like?”

Tim resets his posture with one hell of an attitude, snarking, “Well I can name one thing you really seem to fucking—”

Jason grabs the pillow harshly and chucks it at Tims head which connects with a loud thwack.

Damian swats it away before it can knock him off balance, though his scowl is only half worth what Tim’s is. 

“You’re unbelievable,” he says with a sneer. “This is why you don’t get invited to movie night anymore.”

Jason doubles back at him, “Sorry, is this not your own fucking house?”

Tim huffs, “Yes, which i—”

“Then get your own goddamn ice cream!”

Tim huffs as he stands, sending Jason a pointed look. “I’m going because I want to.”

Jason barely gives him a sardonic nod as he stomps off.

“Get me some too!” Dick calls back, only for the back of his head to be met with a sideways grimace from Tim.

As he leaves, the focus of the room seems to shift towards Damian dripping chocolate onto his cape and it fades away from there.

You turn to Jason, lowering your voice to just below a whisper, “If you don’t like strawberry—”

“I like it,” he tells you, leaving no room to argue as he takes a bite.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Declined.

Voicemail.

Declined.

Declined. 

“I swear to God, he better be dead,” Stephanie mutters to herself.

She shuts her phone off and tosses it into the passenger seat with a huff. Her fingers drum against the steering wheel as she scans the sidewalk across from her car.

The night before the majority of the team had been involved in a less-than-successful plan, which some have called “a display of complete idiocy and inability to circumspect.”

Then Tim had to go and make a joke about that word choice in what was apparently a bad moment. This gave way to a harsher punishment of the team being forced to clean the batcave foot by square foot—notably, an impossible task.

So naturally, they had to retaliate.

The plan was to dismantle the batmobile piece by piece and leave it a collection of parts for Bruce to find. Problem being, the group as it stood didn’t possess the capability to do so without doing a great deal of damage to the parts. Damage, that the family was not willing to face extra retribution for.

Fortunately, they knew just the man for the job. 

Unfortunately, said man has devoted his life to ignoring their messages, favoring to live peacefully and distantly from them. And because that peace and distance does come with an add-on of borderline complete secrecy from his family, no one had any idea where to look for him.

So, Stephanie decided to do the next most rational thing and track down your location. She’d hoped he would be with you like he always is, but for seemingly the first time in the last year—he’s nowhere to be found.

Now, was revenge for a minor-slight by Bruce so important that it required Stephanie to take all of these steps to get a hold of Jason? No, absolutely not. She’s pretty sure that the others have already given up on it by now and started cleaning. But it’s about the principal. And also, she does not want to clean the floors of a cave.

She jumps up in her seat when she spots you exiting a store, scurrying to unbuckle and pry the car door open.

She’s across the street in half a second, running directly into your line of sight. It actually would’ve been very difficult for her to miss your line of sight, considering she’d landed only a good six inches in front of your face. “Hey!”   

“Oh, fuck—” you jump, grabbing your chest. You take a breath when you realize who it is, less surprised now by the theatrics of the introduction. “Hey Steph.”

“Hey,” she smiles casually, like she didn’t do what she just did. “So Jason’s been ignoring us and I need to get a hold of him,” she tells you.

You nod, still collecting yourself. “Oh. I don’t know where he is—”

She shakes her head, “That’s fine. Can I use your phone to call him?”

You frown, “Is something wrong?”

“With him, yeah,” she snarks. “I called him, Tim called him, Dick called him, Cass called him, Damian called him, we used Bruce’s phone to call him—that was a bit of a long shot, but still. This is our last option. Well, not our last option, if this doesn’t work I could get really invasive, but—” She shakes the thought from her head, “Nevermind.”

You nod blankly, taking in the mountain of information she’d just handed you. “How’d you know I was here?”

She scans your eyes back and forth for a second before her own widen in realization and she’s shaking her head. “No, no, don’t worry we’re not tracking you! I just hacked into the traffic cameras to find you.”

“Oh!” you exclaim, nodding some more. “Okay.”

You hand her your phone without any further questions—for your own sake—and she happily accepts. 

“You know I texted him 115 times?” she tells you as she scrolls through your contacts.

You furrow your eyebrows, watching her click his name and press the phone to her ear. “Did you count?”

“Well, I had the time, di—you son of a bitch! One ring?” Stephanie scorns into the phone.

You can hear Jason groan on the other end of the line. 

He says something to Stephanie that she follows up with a firm shake of her head.

“No,” she says defiantly. “She let me use it.”

Stephanie rolls her eyes, not pleased with his response. “What if it was an emergency?”

She listens for a second, skeptical look on her face.

She gasps suddenly, “I am not overstepping, we thought you were dead!”

Over the course of about ten seconds the shock on her face drops into just-been-caught guilt. “Well, I mean we considered it.”

You imagine Jason’s telling her to give you your phone back as she stands her ground, pushing, “If you promise to text me back.”

A short response on his end.

“Promise to text me back!”

There’s a brief lull before she’s giving a self-satisfied nod and jostling your phone back into your hands. “Here ya go. Thanks, babe!” She smiles wide at you before jogging back across the street, not waiting for the cars.

You smile as you watch her go, putting the phone up to your ear, “Hey Jay.”

You can hear the relief on the other end of the line. “Hey sweetheart. You know if you see Steph in public, you can just walk away?”

“I’m not going to walk away from your family.” You look again across the street, “Also I don’t think that was an option for me this time.”

“That thing is fucking scary.”

Cass smiles fondly, signing, “I think he’s cute.”

Tim eyes the way Salem traipses around his feet, yellow eyes staring up at him. “Why’s it even here?”

Jason rolls his eyes, continuing to scroll on his phone. “He’s hers. Deal with it.”

Tim scrunches up his mouth. “She knows I hate it. And she, unlike you, wouldn’t subject me to this just for the hell of it. So again I ask: why is it here?”

Jason huffs, looking up from his phone. “What do you want me to say? He wants to be.”

Tim scoffs at that, “‘It wants to be’? You’re the one who put it in the car.”

“No, I didn’t,” Jason says factually.

Tim looks at him sideways as Salem leaps onto Jason’s lap and nudges his hand up. Jason follows along as requested, petting the top of Salem’s head with an open palm. 

Tim squirms to the other side of the couch with a look of disgust on his face. Salem watches him the whole time.  

A smile adorns Cass’ face as she signs, “She says he can read people’s energy.”

Tim huffs, resting his head against his fist. “What does that even mean?”

The conversation is cut off by the clatter of you and Dick stumbling into the room, carrying a freshly painted headboard. Blue paint coats both of your hands and has no doubt stained your clothes.

You’re clearly struggling a bit to keep your grip on your end, the weight of the wooden frame dragging your arms down.

Jason stands and Salem flows along with his movements easily, leaping down onto the hardwood. He comes over and helps you lift your end of the frame with a stupid amount of ease, to the point that you’re not even holding any of the weight up anymore. The three of you—less so you—move the headboard and lean it up against the wall. After it's set down Jason steps back and looks over it gingerly.

“It looks good,” he murmurs to you, quiet enough to not give his brother the satisfaction of his approval.

Dick had asked you over to help him paint Damian’s bed frame as a surprise for him for not getting in any “altercations” at school this semester. You’d decided on coating it with his favorite color first and then fill it in with a collection of what Dick has “on good authority” are his favorite animals. It’s a fairly random assortment that you’re not sure adds to or disproves Dick’s credibility. You’d spent the better half of the afternoon googling animals you’d never heard of just to make sure you projected their likenesses accurately. Dick had been very clear that you had to be precise on the details because Damian would know if he was really looking at a komodo dragon painting or if it was “some common lizard.”

You sigh, “I hope he likes it. I’m worried we did it too childish for him.”

“He is a child,” Jason says plainly.

“But he is not childish,” you counter. And he sure isn’t. You’d had a hard enough time convincing Damian to watch cartoons, adding a colorful animal mural to his bedroom might be one step too far. You’re still trying to figure him out.

“He’ll like it,” he says firmly.

You smile, slipping around under his arm and tucking yourself into his side.

Not a moment later, Dick slings an arm around Jason's shoulder, grinning as he pulls his brother in close.

Jason’s immediately louring. "No, get away from me."

Dick, unfazed and still smiling, removes his arm and takes a big step to the right. You do the same, figuring he needs his space, but you get caught by the wrist before you can do more than sway to the side. 

“Not you.” 

He pulls you back under his arm, wrapping it around the front of your shoulders. You hook your fingers around his forearm, letting your hand hang.

You hear a double-clap from the other side of the room that has you both turning around to face Cass. 

She signs something to Jason with a fond smile on her face. 

You look back and forth between them as Jason waves her off. “What?”

He shakes his head, “It’s nothing. She said—she said we’re cute.”

You smile up at him and he deflects—not so subtly—and starts nudging you back towards where the group is gathered, now all standing. 

Dick’s quick to start bragging off to the room about how great of a job the two of you did and how really complex and daunting it actually is painting animals for a child.

As he talks, your eyes find Jason, who’s definitely about to roll his eyes any second now. A bit subconsciously, your hand comes up to brush Jason’s white streak of hair back, away from tickling his forehead. 

On the other side of Jason, Tim does the same, sweeping Jason’s hair back in a much more mocking manner. 

This gives way to Jason smacking his hand away, harder than he needed to.

"Wha—You let her do it!" Tim protests, overplaying how much the slap hurt.

Jason scowls, "She can do whatever she wants."

Tim drops his shoulders, looking at Jason as if he’d been scandalized. “Oh but I can’t?”

“Not if it involves touching me,” Jason grumbles.

Tim steps closer, putting a finger to Jason’s chest. “You’re such a—”

From the floor, Salem hisses up at Tim, successfully startling the teenager. “Auahh—”

He stumbles backwards, grimacing at the cat. 

“Fucking demon,” he hisses, walking away.

When Tim’s far enough away and Salem’s seemingly satisfied, he brushes up against your leg, purring. 

You peer down at him with a furrowed brow. 

“What’s Salem doing here?”

“I’m not doing this shit with you.”

“No, come on, 9 out of 10 times is what you said. How ‘bout just once? Beat me one time at anything, Jaybird.”

“Anything?” Jason asks like he knows damn well Dick can’t swear on that word.

Rightly so, Dick backtracks. “Something agreed upon.”

Jason throws his hands up, partially in exasperation, partially relenting.

Dick smoothly turns his back to him, announcing, “Opening up the room for ideas.”

Damian’s eye roll is almost audible from the corner armchair, where his attention is unmoved from intently sharpening a blade he’d recently come into possession of.

Bruce similarly remains unbothered in his seat, trying to read despite the distractions. 

“Ooh, okay. Okay.” Stephanie wiggles up a little on the couch. “You could race!”

Dick shakes his head negatively, “I literally just busted my knee up two days ago, Steph.”

“Convenient,” Jason mumbles.

“You were there!” Dick exclaims with an open mouth.

Steph continues, “Um…”

Cass waves to the room from her position upside down on the couch, head hanging down next to Stephanie’s legs. Attention successfully acquired, she signs, “Staring contest.”

Jason grimaces, “That sounds like a nightmare.”

Dick gives him a faux-smile.

“You should play chicken,” Damian chimes in, holding up his knife.

“No,” Bruce drones monotonously as he flips a page. 

“Tic tac toe?” Steph suggests.

Cass is already shaking her head as she scrunches up her mouth in thought.  

Jason rolls his eyes, “What are we, five?”

Dick nods, cracking his knuckles as he thinks. “No, we need something that really proves our worth.”

Bruce looks up from his book, staring numbly through his brow, but remains silent.

“You could arm wrestle,” Steph suggests.

The elder brother twitches at that, “Uh, no.”

Cass moves past that before a joke has the chance to be made. “Handstand contest?” she suggests.

Jason shrugs, “Yeah, sure.”

The elder brother looks at him incredulously. “You’ll do a handstand contest with me?”

“That’s what I just said.”

Dick scoffs, “Jaybird, I’m an acrobat, you’re just some guy.”

Jason, not giving him the courtesy of eye contact, pulls his sweatshirt off from his back. “Well, you’re a lot of things, aren’t you?”

Dick throws his head back with a squint.

Jason fishes his phone out of his pocket and Dick follows suit, offended stare maintaining all the while. 

No exchange is required as they both toss their phones across the room, landing together with a rough clatter on Damian’s lap. Damian’s resulting glare is borderline disgusted.

Dick starts them off, “Alright, go. One…two…”

Both men push up onto their hands, muscles flexing as they find their balance. Dick’s form is better, of course, but Jason looks to have a stronger foundation.   

They both hold strong as several minutes go by with the brothers only maintaining the attention of some of the room, and the interest of none of it.

Stephanie huffs and tilts her head, thoroughly unentertained with the consistency they’re both managing. 

“Starting to wish they’d picked something that moved along a little faster,” she murmurs to Cass.

Dick glances over at the younger brother, clearly displeased with his lack of trouble keeping up with him. He shuffles closer one hand at a time, using the decreased distance to poke at Jason with his foot, trying to knock him over.

Jason kicks him back harder, “Hey! Don’t be a dick—”

“Very funny,” Dick leers.

They both end up finding a struggle to keep balance and are forced to mind their own.  

A chime rings out from the corner that has heads turning briefly in his direction before coming back to the competition. 

“Whose was that?” Dick calls out.

Damian leans over and inspects the screens with disinterest. “Todd’s.”

Jason adjusts his position, “Who is it?”

Damian responds with your name. 

“And?”

He picks up the phone shrugging like he couldn’t care less, “She wants to know if you want to go see some movie.”

There’s a brief silence before Jason drops out of the handstand, standing up. 

Dick’s blood-flushed face peers up at him, bewildered. “Wait, what?”

The family watches with wide eyes as Jason picks his sweatshirt up off the floor and tugs it back on.

Stephanie gawks, bordering on laughing. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he says simply.

Dick lets himself fall into a kneeling position with a huff, “You would rather go to some movie you don’t even know the name of than win a bet?”

Jason moues at him, “Uh, yeah.”

He tosses a twenty at Dick, and plucks his phone from Damian’s hand as he strolls past him, typing out a reply.

Cass sits up a bit and signs up to Stephanie, “Does he even like movies?” 

Bruce, now attention now fully removed from his book, watches Jason exit with the slightest hint of a smile. Dick sits dumbly on the floor, staring after him with an open-mouth. 

Damian twists the knife in his hands around contemplatively before rising to stand. 

“I will go,” he announces, dropping his blade onto the seat of the chair. Jason grumbles a no but Damian follows after him just the same.

you know what happened to the last guy that didn’t reblog? … 🔪🧨💥😵⚰️🪦

NOT A CHANCE

ft. Sakura Haruka, Suo Hayato, and Togame Jo

—Someone seems a little too eager to ask you out on a date… somehow missing your boyfriend’s sharp glare from beside you. How is the situation handled? (1.4k words)

Cw) gn!reader, getting hit on, cursing, flirting, kinda suggestive in suo’s part at the end, reader is shorter than suo in his part, reader can fight + mentioned bullying in togame’s part, some of this might (definitely) be ooc but i wrote this with 2 hours of sleep and a redbull, so its okay ..

Sakura gets aggressive…

Haruka has never been ignored like this before.

He’s been excluded, sure. But ignored? Never. With looks like his, it’s nearly impossible to turn a blind eye to him. While he might’ve been accepted for his unique traits since coming to Furin, it doesn’t erase the fact that they’ve been the very bane of his existence for the past 16 years.

Oddly enough, he’d rather have his pale eyelashes and hair ridiculed again than sit through another minute of this.

“Ah, I’ve been rambling for too long, haven’t I?” your self-proclaimed ‘childhood friend’ apologized discreetly. “How about this, you give me your number and we can plan a day to catch up without constraints. Does that sound good?”

You cringed from the guy’s insistence, but before you could turn him down, Sakura interjected.

“That sounds awful,” he scoffed; wrapping his arm around your shoulder to pull you closer.

The male before you merely rolled his eyes. “I don’t recall asking you anything.”

Sakura’s brows furrowed, and you felt his loose hold ok you tighten in an attempt to keep himself somewhat grounded. This guy was pissing both of you off, but more so Sakura due to the blatant ignorance your “friend” was displaying.

He shifted his gaze back from Sakura to you, and slightly tilted his head. “Clearly there’s some competition here.”

“A competition you already lost,” your boyfriend grumbled under his breath.

“So tell me, what’ll it take for you to give in?”

Your previously nonchalant expression morphed into one of annoyance. You might’ve known this guy from when you were younger, but he’s practically a stranger now after so many years. His sly smile struck a nerve, not to mention his attitude towards the boy that stood next to you. All of it ignited a strong flame within you, one that made you wanna-

“Ah- Shit! What the hell is wrong with you?!” your old acquaintance cried from the ground.

Sakura’s arms were tense at his sides, ready to throw another punch if needed. He stood in a fighting stance you were familiar with, but this time, it was for your sake.

“Take a hint, man. Don't you get it?” your boyfriend spoke, retreating back to your side with a sharp glare aimed at his current arch nemesis.

He interlocked his hand with yours, holding it with a firm grip. “They’re already taken, not to mention uninterested!” Sakura barked with displeasure. “And if you don’t want that face of yours to get fucked up even more, I suggest you scram.”

The other male whined from the ground, hastily scrambling away in fear whilst clutching his bloody nose. Of course, he spouted one last insult once he was far enough.

“You’re crazy! You Bofurin shits are all out of your minds!”

You and Sakura could only turn to one another and laugh in amusement.

Suo becomes flirtatious…

Suo’s a relatively calm man. He always kept a small smile on his face, rarely allowing it to fall no matter the situation.

Although right now it was slowly starting to falter.

He stood next to you, hands behind his back with a threatening gaze towards the other man before you. Seriously, neither of you expected that this guy would start flirting with you after helping him gather his belongings that just so happened to fall to the ground as you both walked by.

But he seemed to believe it was “fate.”

“Thank you so much!” the stranger said with glee. “I really oughta take you out to show my gratitude. Is there any place that’d you-“

“Nah, I’m good,” you interrupted, rejecting his advances before anything could escalate.

Suo felt a brief wave of relief wash over him at your words. You were very much capable of standing up for yourself, but he still kept his guard up incase anything were to happen. While you were very clear about turning this guy down, he wasn’t ready to give up.

“Are you sure? I’ll take you anywhere you want! All you gotta do is name a place!”

Suo’s eye twitched.

“I’m quite positive. I’m sure my boyfriend here can do all that for me and even more, so if you could kindly back off that would be wonderful.” you placed a hand on Suo’s shoulder with a grin, displaying affection to get your point across.

“This guy? Seriously?” the stranger grumbled in disbelief.

“Yep, that’s me,” Suo started. “Your offer is kind, but you should know when to back down, yeah?”

“I think she should be grateful I’m offering anything, and the nice thing to do would be to take that offer,” he taunted.

Suo chuckled at the boy’s insistence. “She doesn’t owe you anything.” he stayed sternly. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

You felt flustered at the sudden pet name, not to mention the feeling of his arm slowly slipping around your waist teasingly.

“Yeah, that’s right,” you responded, accepting your boyfriend’s display of affection as you both emphasized your point.

His grip on your waist tightened, and he slowly leaned down to plant his forehead against yours. His eye was half-lidded, and you could feel his gaze on your lips. Just as he was about to lock his lips with yours, the other male let out a noise of disgust.

“Oh god okay- I get it!” he gagged. He stepped away, bags you helped him gather in hand as his face scrunched up. “You don’t need to start making out! That’s gross! You’re both gross!”

He rushed off, turning the corner to never be seen again. Suo pulled away from you, leaving his touch to linger around your face and waist. You couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, flustered, confused, and annoyed all at once.

“I didn’t think you had something like that in you~” you teased playfully.

His hand went to rub the back of his neck. “Neither did I… I don’t think I can do something like that again. I just needed to get him to back off.” he replied bashfully.

“But you did leave me hanging there. Am I gonna get that kiss or what?” you asked genuinely, tilting your head in curiosity.

Suo sighed, and guided the back of your hand to his lips to plant a kiss.

“You’ll get the one you’re waiting for when we get home, yeah?”

Togame is amused…

Usually, Togame would be ready to swing by now. However, he’s too enamored by your pretty face as you spew a number of insults at your middle school bully.

“After all you’ve put me through back then, do you really think I’d wanna sit and chat with you like nothing ever happened?” you shouted in the middle of the sidewalk, catching the attention of numerous passerbys.

“I’ve changed!” he shouted back, arms thrown up defensively. “Don’t you believe in change? Or do you think everyone stays the same their entire life?”

You rolled your eyes with bitterness. “Just forget it, we aren’t speaking ever again.”

“Now just wait a second-“

“Didn’t you hear them? They told you to forget it,” Togame stepped in front of you protectively.

“No, Togame. Let me handle him.”

“Oh? Well if you say so,” he replied, stepping aside for you. He knows you’re capable of holding your own, so he’s not too worried. Still, he kept his fists balled up at his sides incase he had to step in at any point.

The boy you’ve known since junior high scoffed at your actions. “We ain’t fighting, pretty.”

“You don’t get to call me that,” you fumed.

“Oh? Does that mean only your boyfriend here can compliment you?” he taunted, a smirk forming on his face.

Togame sat back and watched with a sly smile, admiring the way your face scrunched up in anger. He had no problem with others complimenting you. In all honesty, he liked it. It filled him with pride. Others could want you all they want, but only he could have you.

And he loved that.

You threw a hard punch at the male’s face, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. Togame only whistled from behind you in praise.

You crouched down to the other’s level, grabbing him by the hair to keep eye contact. “I don’t wanna hear shit from someone like you, that’s all.”

After dropping his head, you stood up proudly.

“Sorry I didn’t let you handle it, Jo.” you apologized meekly.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.,” he brushed off whilst waving his hand. “Besides, that was pretty hot.”

You punched his shoulder lightly with a slight smile. “Of course that’s what you were thinking.”

He hummed. “If you ask me, anything you do is hot.”

© enassbraid 2024. i do not permit plagiarism, translations, or reposts of my work on any platform.

Guard Dog vol.I

jason todd x fem!reader

aka don’t fuck with jason’s girlfriend

4 in 1 blurbs

vol. II

warnings: mildly creepy guys, standard protective bf methods

Jason’s good at shutting people up very quickly. You’d almost call it a talent.

He shuts you up with a kiss when you get stuck in a rant, or with a hug to calm your worried rambles.

And when you’re in an incorrigibly teasing mood, he’ll throw you over his shoulder and carry you back to your bedroom to really shut you up.

With other people though, he has…different methods.

You sit atop your kitchen counter, trading lazy kisses in between giggles with your boyfriend. He stands in front of you, hands massaging your thighs as he leans in for another. You happily oblige.

You break off the exchange to lay a series of sweet kisses on that spot under his jaw.

His head tilts back, letting out a groan so low you nearly miss it. “Sweetheart…” he warns.

“Sorry…” you resign with a sheepish smile.

A knock at the door bursts you out of your shared reverie. You press a kiss to his knuckles and hop down to start setting the table.

Jason gets the door, greeting the pizza guy with a nod as you shuffle around the kitchen. The delivery guy hands him a receipt, asking for a signature.

Jason uses the door as a surface to sign, giving the delivery guy an apt view into your apartment, where he sees you getting out plates in the kitchen. More noticeably, he sees you in your boyfriend's shirt, which rides up just a little bit when you stand up on your toes to reach the top cabinet. The lift of the shirt exposes the bottom of your underwear, though it falls back into place again just as quickly.

Now, lucky for this guy, Jason’s facing the door and does not see him checking you out in your own home. Unlucky for this guy, he has wildly misread the vibe of your relationship. Or at least your boyfriend.

“Man, how do you get anything done around here?” He jests.

Jason looks up at him, and the pizza man’s eyes tear away from your legs to meet his hard gaze. It does not take him long to realize his mistake.

“Try again.” Jason behests, arms crossed in front of him.

The pizza boy’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head, stuttering. “I—uh, I said have a good night.”

“Mhm.” He grumbles.

The pizza guy hands Jason the box with shaky hands and scuttles back down the hallway.

Thankfully, you didn’t seem to notice the exchange, but even so, your boyfriend still glowers down the hallway after him.

“Jay?”

His attention snaps back to you, demeanor changing instantly. “Yeah, baby?”

You’re sitting in your usual spot at the table, his chair empty and waiting just around the corner from you.

“Come sit.” You say, with eyes that might as well be hearts.

He gives a reassuring nod and kicks the door shut behind him.

You and Jason are sitting on the floor in his old room at the manor, your legs thrown over his. You lean up against his bed, asking him about posters on the walls and trinkets on the shelves.

His knee is propped up and your arm dangles across it, his hand in yours. He plays with your fingers and periodically leans forward to leave a kiss on them.

You’d just woken up less than an hour ago after spending the night post-gala, and it’s a peaceful, if not unusually quiet morning.

Dick shouts your name from another room, audibly booking it towards you. Yeah. That’s more like what Jason remembers.

He grumbles some annoyances, dropping his head against your intertwined hands.

Dick bursts into the room, clearly incredibly excited.

“What’s up, Dick?” You ask, calm as ever. Jason lets an unseen smile creep up, head still down.

Dick’s practically jumping up and down, “You gotta see the shit that Tim just found in the cave!” His face drops as he directs his gaze to Jason, “You’re not invited.”

“Thank God.”

Dick ignores him and grabs your wrist, yanking you up from the floor. This is one place where he differs from Jason—he’s not always quite so aware of his own strength.

His grip doesn’t hurt really, but it’s firm enough that you imagine there’ll be bruise marks there later.

“Hey.” Jason calls out, nodding his head to where Dick is holding your arm. “Ease up.”

Dick follows his gaze and immediately loosens his hold, apologizing to you before pulling you along once again (this time much more gentle).

You grin at Jason as he tugs you out the door, him returning it with an endeared smile as he watches you go.

Fuck he loves you.

Jason had a decent break from his night job for once, and was happy to let you drag him out to a bar for a little date. You’d been linked at the hip for most of the night, his hands maintaining their ever present home on your waist with yours rested on his thighs as you told him about your hectic day.

He’d usually prefer to stay in bed with you for as long as possible when he gets time off, but you’d looked so excited asking him to go out with you—he never stood a chance.

You look up into the mirror as you wash your hands, a strand of hair falling into your face as you do. You push it back behind your ear and smile to yourself, recalling the several times Jason had wordlessly done the same throughout the night as you rambled.

You make your way back to the bar, smile immediate on your face when you see your boyfriend. It gets replaced rather quickly though, when a man slides in front of you, cutting off your view of him.

“Hey there.”

You have to take a step back because of how close he decided to stand to you. He looks sober (enough) but wildly overconfident in whatevers about to happen.

"Let me buy you a drink, pretty thing."

Jason calls you pretty thing sometimes. It makes the blood rush to your cheeks and an inescapable smile creep up on your lips. When this guy says it, it makes you literally frown.

"Oh no, I'm okay, my—"

"You seem like a dirty martini kinda girl." He expertly ignores you, clearly trying and failing to make some kind of innuendo there.

Jason's sitting back against the bar, watching the interaction carefully. You still can’t see him, but he’s close and you can rest comfortable knowing he’s looking out for you.

With that reassurance, you don’t play this out quite as carefully as you would if you were alone.

"Look, I don't want a drink from you, thanks."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say to him because his face contorts quickly to mock-disgust that you figure is really just embarrassment.

“Hey, don’t be a bitch just ‘cause—”

You try to sidestep around him, thoroughly done with this interaction, but he grabs your upper arm harshly, pulling you to an abrupt stop.

Jason stands up real quick, yanking the guy backwards by his collar before you can even process what's happening.

Now, you know that Jason is an objectively intimidating guy. There's not many people that will come face to face with that absolute unit of a man and still decide to keep on trying him. However, you tend to forget that when you're so used to your gentle giant that only ever speaks to you kindly and touches you softly.

But his intimidating status becomes very apparent when the guy spins around, looks up at Jason, and immediately takes four steps back. He actually almost bumps into you in the process, not doing anything to tame Jason’s acute distaste for this man.

"Listen to me—back the fuck off before you get hurt."

“She—”

“I don’t give a fuck. Leave.”

The guy hesitates.

“Now.” Jason adjusts his posture to stand at his staggering full height, clearly with no qualms about putting him back in his place.

That does it for him, the man stumbllng away with half-committed mumbles of “whatever” or “something something lame anyway.”

Jason watches him until he walks out the door, before turning back to you.

He delicately takes your upper arm in his hand, pulling your sleeve up to search for bruising. But as harshly as he had grabbed you, it didn’t have the time to cause a bruise before Jason intervened.

“What’d he say to you?” Jason asks, brow furrowed as he inspects your arm.

“Nothing very interesting.” He looks at you mildly.

You smile and comb his hair back from his forehead, “Don’t worry about him. I’m good.”

He lets your arm go, and exchanges it for holding the back of your head, planting a kiss on your forehead.

You take his other hand and guide him back to your seats.

“Besides,” You look over his shoulder and let out a little shocked gasp. “Guess who just walked in.”

He gives you a questioning look before his face slacks, eyes widening in realization.

“No…” And you smile so brightly it almost makes up for what's coming his way.

You redirect your smile over his shoulder and give a wave to the door. Jason swigs down the rest of his drink, hand finding your waist once again.

“Jaybird!”

Jason’s still exhausted from patrol last night but he’d insisted on going with you to the bar to meet your friends. You’d tried to convince him that it was okay to stay in and rest tonight, you’d be fine. But it was a losing battle.

You suspect it has something to do with him not liking when you go out in Gotham at night, especially when you’re drinking.

So he hangs out in the background of the buzz, with you sat in front of him, in between his legs.

You’re talking it up with Roy, who’s been making jokes about how Jason’s “moody ass” tricked you, “the ray of sunshine” into this relationship somehow.

You laugh, taking a sip of your drink. “Right, ‘cause you and Kori were in love at first sight.”

"Oh, fuck off." Roy jeers.

He doesn't say it with the cadence of a joke, but it is.

You know he's joking, he knows he's joking.

Jason, who very well may have been tuned out of the conversation up to that point, does not seem to know he's joking—or he doesn't care.

You don't need to look behind you to know that your boyfriend is in defensive mode, though the look of regret mixed with amusement on Roy's face gives a solid hint.

You hold your hand out to block Jason his path as he moves forward. He lets you stop him, though you're certain he could get past you without so much as blinking, no problem.

"Right. My bad, forgot your guard dog was here. Don't fuck off." Roy backtracks, hands up in front of him.

Jason just rolls his eyes, slouching back down. You reach behind you for his hand, giving it two squeezes. You know he’s tired, so much so that he almost punched his best friend for making a typical joke.

“Five more minutes, okay?” You say softly over your shoulder.

He nods at you blearily, and ducks his head down to rest on your back. You adjust your posture a little bit to make it more comfortable for him and continue on talking, his hand still in yours.

If he hadn’t fallen asleep so quickly, five minutes would’ve been five minutes, but instead it became something more like fifty.

He goes through patches where sleep isn’t always so welcoming, a phase he’s been in for the past couple of weeks. You’d been waking up to find the bed half empty, your boyfriend resigned to doing research on cases in an attempt to at least be productive while he’s awake.

You can’t protect him in the same ways that he protects you—you’re not a fighter or necessarily “intimidating.” But you can protect him like this, in these little ways. Letting him nap on you, making him close the case files and rest with you, holding his hand throughout the night so that when he inevitably has nightmares, he knows immediately that you’re still with him. That he’s safe.

So if he can get some much needed sleep while only costing you a stiff back tomorrow, you’ll happily take that deal as many times as he needs.

vol. II

are we still friends? + (ren kaji, hayate suo, umemiye hajime, sakura haruka)

cws. | gn!reader, headcanon + scenarios format, sorta character study, fluff, angst, comfort. | redirect to blog navigation.

syn. | How do they react to confession when the feelings are mutual?

notes. | Will there be part two? who knows? but for now please have these. I forgot how to write smut so I'm writing fluff. 

☆ Ren Kaji: Ren does not like talking or listening so he pretends that he can not hear and with his headphones on it's easier to convince but when you specifically ask him to take it off so that you could talk it annoys him. He rarely takes his headphones off since it was a gift from someone. So all he does is to take the lollipop out of his mouth and say, "You can talk. I am not listening to anything," It really irritates you but you do not wish to act on it right now. He has started to grow a little too comfortable with your presence around him and maybe. . .just maybe it's time to create a ripple in his stagnant heart. At the rooftop of the school, where gentle breeze and sunlight prevails you say you like him and watch his eyes go bigger. He takes off his headphones with utmost haste demanding, "Say that again," but now it is your turn to annoy him. All your comebacks are full of: "no." , "Did you not listen when i said once?" , "This is why i told you to take your headphones off," and so on. You are so engrossed in conversing with him that you fail to notice his swift motion of leaning and planting a kiss on your cheek. Your lips cease to move for a while yet it is ever so quick and swift that it happens within a blink of your eyes. "Okay, I'll say it for you then," Ren says. Gulping and continuing, "Y/n likes Ren Kaji. and I like you too." in one breath and just vanishes out of your sight. The next few days he is spotted sleeping at unusual times because he has spent sleepless nights regretting why he did not take his headphones off.

★ Hayate Suo: Suo has known for a while that you like him. Well, he is not too sure but he always had a pretty good idea when it comes to emotions. He has probably known even before you that you could harbor feelings for him so when he hears the rumors from other students he does not react much except with some snarky comments to shut those rumors with his sickly sweet saccharine smile. But hearing it from you, at some secluded place near the bike stand of the school is certainly is out of the syllabus for him. At first, he does not know what to say, what to do, or how to react but when your eyes slowly look up to meet him the first thing he thinks if you did it because of rumors or some sort of dare. If so, then both are wrong. He thinks confession should come when it's time not when it is influenced by others. So, all he says is: "I know." eyes blinking a little too much, unable to consider you as his focal point. " I've known for a while." And then, he asks for some time to think about it which is unexpected because from what you have heard he has rejected every other proposal that came his way. You came prepared to be rejected when you decided to confess but this goes out of the syllabus for you too. So, you end up thinking if this is his new way of tormenting people who like him but he really needs time to properly think because he thought there is no way he thought you would like him back. He does not want to hurt you. That goes against his morals. He could feel his cheeks being warm, ears too, palms tucked behind his back cold, and rapid heart rate. "So, this is how it feels to be confessed."

☆ Umemiya Hajime: Being an older brother to everyone has never been a bother until he developed a gut wrenching crush on you or that is how he would like to put it. Not only that, you have developed quite a friendship with Kotoha ever since you started helping her out in her resturant. You are probabaly same age as her which makes things a little more complicated. Was it not enough that you might be under the impression that Kotoha is his girlfriend? Like most other people; But thanks to Sakura for clearing that confusion up. Still. . .still he feels his heart twist whenever he visits the resturant. All he does is to silently watch you. He could have easily creeped you out if you had not developed a crush on him. When Umemiya's visits became you became a little bold, like talking to him, asking about his day, exchanging numbers but never have been alone with him. He always comes with his band of boys. It denifitely nice to hear him laugh, talk and sometimes steal sneaky glances but it does not help with the wave of emotions he makes you feel. So, one day when the door bell chimed and as usual you said, "Welcome" looking in the direction of entrance ceasing your chores all you could do is stare for a moment since the customer is none other than Umemiya Hajime and he is all alone. So, you repeat again, "Welcome Umemiya-san." tearing your gaze away from him. "Kotoha is busy. Should I let her know that - he cuts you off with," i'm not here for her today." sipping water ever so slowly from the glass you just served on the coaster. Is he nuts? is he really doing this? Right now? why is he not freaking out? or maybe he is, internally, just like you. "I'm here for you today." And, when he confirms you turn around to get a proper look. 

"I see," you say.

"You didn't answer my call so i had to come here," Umemiya remarks. 

"so, you are here to scold me?" Umemiya's heart drops in some bottomless pit. He did not mean it to come out this harshly. He is just tensed, especilly after how you texted last night : "I like you Umemiya-san." 

"did you check your phone after last night?" and to that you just nod. You do not want to and who honestly would after confessing to the brightest star. You are so out of league from him. Umemiya smiles. "I see," he speak softly. He gets up and then he is about to leave but just before exting the door he says, "Please, check you phone."

★ Sakura Haruka: Sakura has a habit of talking, and going on and on about it unless someone interrupts. If possible, he would talk in one breath. So, when you say that you like him he dismisses it as a joke. "quit kidding. Nobody likes me. y'know that. . ." And there goes your probably hundred-and-fifth confession. He never takes it seriously no matter how serious you try to be Sakura manages to bungle up your intentions so quick yet you can not seem to blame him. If anything he is too honest, so often he comes as rude and obnoxious but his intentions are so pure that sometimes it makes you think can a person be this stupid? But this time when you confessed you thought this would go in the usual direction; him dismissing it as a joke but this time when he looks at you he is faced with something new, something he is not good at handling. "you. . . are you crying?" And it dawns on you how heavy your heart has become with his oblivious nature. all those "I like you-s." never reached his heart, only his head. You quickly wipe away your tears and try to cover it up with the most brilliant lie ever to exist. "It's just dirt." given his oblivious nature he is supposed to buy but he is asking questions again. "You. . . all these time. . . were serious?" Yes, you absolute dimwit. You can not even nod to confirm his thinking. You swallow hard trembling lips parting to speak and you are met with his chest with his arms wrapped around you. " I-I ... was told that if you like someone...you can hug them... y'know when they ...say they ...like you," he starts to stammer and it creates a swarm of laughter arises from your stomach. "Whoever told you that must know a lot about dating," you say having a fair idea who it might be.

˖ ݁𖥔 ݁ “MY BOYFRIEND IS GONNA KICK YOUR ASS !”

PT 2: WINDBREAKER BOYS PROTECTING YOU FROM PERVS. ft. yamato endo, chika takiishi, akihiko nirei, taiga tsugeura, & choji tomiyama x f!reader

PART 1: kaji ren, togame jo, umemiya hajime, sakura haruka, hayato suo, toma hiragi, kiryuu mitsuki, & kyotaro sugishita x f!reader

sfw. wc: 1.7K. ohh i had sm fun w endo’s hehe <3 individual warnings are below, but f!reader: referred to as she / her.

YAMATO ENDO.

‘my girl,’ ‘angel’ & ‘pretty thing’

“hey,” endo’s voice cuts through the tense atmosphere like a blade, heavy arm coming to rudely rest on one of their shoulders. “what do you think you’re doing scaring her into a corner like that? tryna get at my girl?”

on a normal day, you’d roll your eyes at the teasing tone he always uses around you— but today, it brings you nothing but relief, fresh tears threatening to spill as you choke out his name.

his mere presence is enough to silence the group of guys who had just been talking over you moments prior, the three men in front stiffening at the sight of him alone. they can hardly believe this; you really weren’t bluffing when you said endo would kick their asses— he’s frightening.

they exchange knowing looks when they hear you sniffle, hands coming to wipe at the tears that had begun streaming down your cheeks. they were fucked.

“n-no! of course not,” one of them breaks the silence.

“we had no idea she was your girl— ” another one stammers, hands coming up defensively.

“didn’t know? you serious?”

endo’s voice comes out sharp, eyes narrowing as he puts more weight onto his arm, grinning at the way the man’s knees start to tremble at the pressure. “my angel here doesn’t usually look at me like that, y’know,” he whispers, jutting a thumb in your direction, “so what’d you do to put that terrified look on her face?”

“sorry— we’re really sorry,” one of them starts to apologize profusely, but your boyfriend was clearly not in his usual good mood today, and he grabs his face roughly, ignoring the way his cries of pain come out muffled against his palm.

“asked you a question, didn’t i?”

the veins along his forearm bulge when his grip tightens, and you hear a painful crack, the man’s hands coming to desperately scratch and claw at endo’s arms. “she likes it when i’m nice, so i’ll give you a second chance to quit spewing some fucking nonsense and answer me, yeah?”

the two men behind him exchange fearful glances before stumbling over their words, desperately coming up with any excuse that came to their minds. one of them accidentally slips out the truth, a “we told her we’d make a mess of that pretty face if she kept turning us down” and the group falls completely silent.

“i-it’s okay!” you stammer, hands come to tug at his the back of your boyfriend’s jacket.

your words fall on deaf ears, and he lets go of the one he’s holding by the face, not sparing him a second glance as he drops to the floor with a loud thud.

“okay, i think i get it now,” endo says through a genuine laugh, and it sends a shiver down your spine. he’s not facing you, but you think you can picture the expression on his face pretty well. “e-endo-”

“fifteen,” his words come out slow, “i’ll meet you in front of that corner store in fifteen, pretty thing.”

CHIKA TAKIISHI.

oh— so that’s why you’re late today.

takiishi watches from a distance as you jut your thumb towards your phone screen, your usual chirpy voice laced with anger now as you repeat yourself with a frustrated huff— “i said have a boyfriend.. see? his contact is right here. can you leave me alone now?”

“and i said i didn’t give a fuck about your little boyfriend,” the man laughs loudly when your lips wrinkle in disgust, “i prefer the ones with an attitude.”

“what do you think he’s gonna do if he finds out, huh?” he reaches out to get a feel of your hair, “think he can touch me?”

“takiishi’s gonna knock your lights out cold,” you grit, slapping his hand away when it comes too close to your face. that seemed to be enough to set him off, his eyebrow twitching in anger as he takes a step towards you, looming over over your figure with quick breaths.

“don’t piss me off— i was nice when i said you’d have a good time if you came with me.”

“i’d rather eat shit-” you seethe, angry expression contorting when he grabs firmly around your wrist— “that hurts!” it makes you wince, your phone hitting the concrete with a thud.

“what do you think you’re doing?” the coldness of his voice sends a shiver down your spine.

“ah, takiishi—”

the man jerks his head around at the name, hand still gripping your wrist as he sizes him up. his first thought is that he’s alright. he notices the muscle definition right away, but he doesn’t look particularly heavy. there is, however, a sudden coldness in the air that he can’t quite grasp, and you look awfully relieved now that he’s here.

“so you’re the boyfriend she’s been talking about?” he says with a laugh. “you gonna let her come with me?”

“move. you’re wasting our time,” takiishi says.

“huh? who the fuck do you think you’re talking t—”

“i said move.”

your mind can hardly comprehend the speed, mind just barely able to register the second takiishi’s foot connects with the man's chest, sending him crashing to the ground beside you in an instant.

he’s beside you the next second, fingers coming to fix the stray pieces of hair beside your eyes. “did he hurt you?”

“n-no! i’m okay.”

his tone is cold, as usual, but the hint of concern makes your heart flutter anyways. he lets you latch yourself onto his bicep, lets you tighten your grip around his arm as you fume about the audacity that guy had, and most importantly, he makes sure you call him every time you’re about to leave your home alone.

TAIGA TSUGEURA.

someone touches around your lower back

“my bench has blown up since i switched to bulldog grip,” taiga rambles, “and my squat too. the ‘tripod foot’ cue really helps with even foot pressure.”

you nod along, always interested when he tells you about his progress in the gym, but your attention wavers when you feel a hand press against your lower back. it’s not taiga’s touch. it’s too unfamiliar, too invasive. your eyes fill with panic when the hand starts to roam downwards, and you can barely stammer out taiga’s name, voice trembling too much for him to hear.

“i should also get new knee sleeves eventually,” he continues, oblivious to the situation. “the cue helps, but i would get way more bounce if i had a pair of inzers instead of the flimsy ones i’m using now.”

“i always get stuck at the bottom of my squat, so they would help. but i know pause squats help with that, so i could implement those—”

your grip tightens on taiga’s shirt, knuckles turning white as you try your hardest to convey your fear. he pauses mid-sentence, finally picking up on the expression you’re giving him.

“whoa— you okay?” his voice is filled with concern as he peers down at you.

his gaze trails down, and that’s when he notices it.

you gasp at the speed of it all. in an instant, the man is slammed into the wall behind you, loud thud echoing throughout the entire train. “no way,” his voice is loud, and you hear the bystanders gasping and whispering, their attention shifting to the scene.

“that’s messed up, man.” taiga’s voice comes out low, a serious glare on his face that you’ve never seen on him. the vice grip he has around the man’s wrist tightens, enough to have him yelping in pain and stammer out an apology.

“turn yourself in at the next stop, yeah?”

CHOJI TOMIYAMA.

“tell me— who was that?” choji asks, latching himself around your middle to wrap you in a tight embrace, and you glance at the unconscious man sprawled on the ground beside you.

“you knocked him out cold without knowing anything?” you ask incredulously, your arms coming to return his embrace, lips curling into a small smile when he melts into your touch.

“mhm. he was bothering you, right?” his voice comes out cheerful, but there’s a flicker of worry in his eyes when he meets your gaze.

he hates to admit it, but his body had completely moved on his own. it was a bad habit he had developed since meeting you, because he finds himself worrying about you— desperately wanting to put his strength to use and protect you from everything he saw as ‘bad.’ it was only after he had jump kicked the man grabbing at your arm that he had considered the slim possibility that maybe he wasn’t bothering you in the first place.

“he was.” you confirm.

he lets out an exhale he didn’t know he was holding. “then….it was okay that i kicked him in the face, right?”

he relaxes a bit more when you nod, his usual smile returning to his lips. “thank you for saving me, choji,” your voice comes out soft and soothing, and he feels his heart skip a beat at the praise.

AKIHIKO NIREI.

“ah— where are we going?!” you yelp as you stumble, barely able to keep up as nirei pulls you by the wrist.

the two of you were at the mall, shopping for new summer clothes when he had suddenly called you to him by name— dragging you and your bags along with him in an instant. before you could even realize what had happened, you’re in an elevator, watching in disbelief as he fumbles to frantically click the ‘close’ button, the doors finally sliding shut after the tenth click.

“you’re safe,” he sighs, “that’s a relief.”

“you scared the shit outta me,” you scold, arms folded across your chest as you glare. “what was that for?”

“sorry,” nirei chuckles lightly, “but there was a guy who kept looking at you. he’s bad news.”

“how can you tell?”

you feel more at ease when his fingers come to interlace with yours again, and you feel him squeeze your hand a bit. “i guess um…” his other hand comes to scratch at the back of his head, “i have this sort of danger sense whenever it comes to you.”

“something like that.”

Serendipity

“The faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable and agreeable things not sought for” 

Ordinary (h/c) hair and plain (e/c) eyes. Two loving parents bringing in average income. Part of Mondstat’s middle class. Enough schooling and education to bring out job opportunities, with grades succeeding an average score. And lastly Visionless. 

If it weren't for any legal work, your very existence itself is replaceable a humdrum to the big shots who bears a vision.  

If the whole of Teyvat is a written book of wonderful heroes like the Traveler and the Knights of Favonius. You’re probably one of the mob characters blending in the background par average without any accomplishments, outshone by some fortunate enough to be given a vision. Whose ambition shone brightly enough to gain the archons recognition. 

Yet as you walked through the market square you failed to notice bright teal eyes wander to your form as you listened to the girl, he heard was named Eury.  

The bustling children looking at you expectantly, hoping that you’d lend some of your time indulging them in their childish antics. 

Or the lines of admirers including his very own disciple, Timaeus.  

Lost in the thought of considering yourself mundane, you failed to realize that your simplicity is a blessing to those whose life is filled with action and chaos at every moment.  

================================================

Boorish and mundane. When Albedo heard about Timaeus’s little “puppy crush” on you through Kaeya, the subject of course went his ear and out the other. Until the faithful day when he saw you at the Alchemy stand with sucrose on his rare visit’s to Mondstadt, bored out of his mind he then decided to pay you some mind. Interested in how you made his normally timid and shy assistant, social and comfortable enough to go outside. 

With the excuse of performing outdoors precautions on making Alchemy safer. He had the opportunity to stalk observe you.  

Like he predicted, you were mundane as he thought. More than the others he found a nuisance. 

Physically wise nothing was out of the ordinary. You wore the same clothes like anybody else, styled your hair the same way, and had your actions oriented in a way that made you blend in. 

Other than your snide witty remarks, you almost always listened and never really “conversed”. Even as Sucrose went into detail about how her experiment went wrong, or the number of species of mushrooms she recently discovered with her bio alchemy and the difference with each one. You just stood alongside her, smiling at her urging her into her rambles, and at times giving her shoulder a light pat.  

Considerate and having the patience of a saint. Likable traits enough to make his assistant feel comfortable. Or anyone at that. He must say he starts to see the appeal of well, being your friend. But it doesn’t answer his question at the very least. 

Dismissing your inhumane attention span. The way you make people flock around you mesmerized him more.  

The way the Calvary captain muses to you about his recent case, often inviting you to the tavern for a drink. Or how both the spindrift knight and the outrider seemed to always try to invite you to one of their expeditions. What baffles him the most is the fact that his own sister a girl who often says what's on her mind, flusters at your presence. 

 Curious about this phenomenon, and him deeming his predicament is the answer to his master's question. He then decided to do a survey among the Knight’s, people who are well adapted to the general public. a complete contrast to his profession. On how exactly can someone be so ordinary yet be so stimulating to others. 

“Albedo... the question is a bit off-putting but since it comes from you, I'll try and answer the question as best as I can- Let's see I would say that it is refreshing to hear a person's life whose lifestyle varies from your's.. but for it to be stimulating, I'd believe it would be about the person themselves wouldn't it? ordinary or not a person's life isn't the only thing that brings people together, it's the people themselves also."

“Hmm.. Well, stimulating isn’t how I would word it...- but to be accepted by the citizens of Mondstadt and to be not seen as a schemer plotting over Mondstat's downfall would be quite nice... *Ahem* what I would like to say is...- to hear about the common folks lifestyle.. makes it easier to fantasize such lucid fantasy- not like it matters anyway.... I hope I answered your question is that all?"

And as much as he hated it he had one person he didn't ask about the survey.. The one person he dreaded to ask. But alas a survey is a survey and to make it as accurate as possible to be presentable enough for his master he had to do it.  

“Oh- are you perhaps talking about dearest (Name)~.” 

Upon seeing the slight shift of the Chief Alchemist’s normally painted passive face. The Calvary Captain couldn’t help and hide how his lips curved up. 

“Sigh- Please just answer my question for the survey...” 

“Oh how you wound me buuuut- surely do amuse me on what exactly the survey is for, I doubt that a survey based on psychology and social dilemma relates to anything, Alchemy” 

Rubbing his temples, he felt himself getting a migraine. Dealing with Kaeya is akin to dealing with a child. 

“It’s for the final assignment my creat- master told me to fulfill.. So, I would gladly appreciate it if you answer it truthfully, I may add” 

Leaning on his palms, the bluennette pursed his lips entertained at the spectacle happening before him. 

“Well seeing how desperate you are.. I heed~ “ 

“I well- I personally believe that no one is really ordinary, from the line of my work the most mundane thing can and have the potential to become one of the unordinary, and really who is to judge on what is and what isn’t normal.. Don’t believe me-? Think about Inazuma a land that was known for its infamous Vision hunt decree, at a time vision holders with their vision taken away was the norm in Inazuma..- but to us doesn’t that sound abnormal” 

“To put it simpl-” 

“That’s enough Kaeya.. Your answer is enough, take you for lending me your time..” bowing out of courtesy he swiftly made his way out of the door. Ignoring the teasing remarks, that came soon after. Disappointment clear on his form. Time and energy spent on his little assignment thinking that this was the answer to his master’s question. Rubbing his forehead, he can tell that if it weren’t for his homunculi nature a headache would’ve already formed. Curse Kaeya and his musing on normality.  

Pausing to take his pocket watch out of his pocket he fumbled with the button expecting the latch to open he realized that the latch was clogged by something, and upon investigating he smelt a light scent of sulfur, Gunpowder. How did Klee even manage- 

“Hey.. Are you alright” 

Snapping his head at the sound, he felt more than embarrassed at his current situation. Light ashy hair in disarray, with his uniform disheveled with all the running around he did. He out of all people didn’t want her to see him like this, all so disoriented. 

“Oh- it's nothing really... My pocket watch’s latch seems to be clogged up by some gunpowder.... It's nothing to worry about” gesturing to his hand. 

He watched as they looked at his pocket watch, (e/c) gleaming from the sun’s reflection.  

“If you want, I can take a look at it, my folks always clogged theirs's to and I always manage to fix them.. going to the Locksmith these days I heard it's very expensive.. And well-.” Cute. To think that she seemed to forget who she was talking to- he must admit this was a turn of events. 

“If u want to..”  

And just like that, the normally unimpressed alchemist watched as the “mundane” girl fumbled with his watch. Being this close to her, he noticed how picturesque she looked. (h/c) lashes fluttering softly, youth clear from her features, and tongue poking a clear reverence of wanting to prove her word.  

“And Iam-.. Done" reaching her arm out, the girl looked at you. Mirth dancing through her irises.  

“(Nam-e) .. right?” 

“mhmh surprised you remembered, we met.. Back at the alchemy stand- while I was visiting sucrose...so uhh.. are you going to take it- or are you just going to keep staring at me” 

Blinking rapidly, he hurriedly grabbed the watch in her hand. Feeling a volt of electricity shock his gloves' layers upon contact with her palms. He felt his ears redden as he bashfully hid his face in his hands.

“uh- well, it's nice to see you again Albedo.. if that is all il see you later then-” 

“yeah..” 

The star-stricken man watched as the girl went past him. His form glued to his spot as he watched her form pause at that oh so familiar door. His blood running cold knowing exactly where she is going.

The Calvary Captain’s office.

“what did you just say?” | ✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡

᪥ vivi’s note: so… I may have a thing for the protective!boys trope… I can’t help it, it’s just so attractive! (〃ﾉωﾉ) I will probably be making a second installment of this with some different characters! I just love these kinds of stories sm!!

᪥ summary: your ex has just said something really nasty to/about you - right in front of them.

᪥ characters: ren kaji, sakura haruka, suo hayato

᪥ genre + format: comfort, minor angst | sfw | drabble

᪥ word count: 2.1k

᪥ content warnings: fem!reader, reader is referred to by she/her, established relationships, protective/defensive!boyfriends, language, there’s some allusions to past mental/verbal abuse so please be careful dollies!! brief violence (sakura + kaji ofc), allusions to past relationships, shitty!exes, what did your ex say? you can decide!

“what did you just say?” kaji seethed, words pushed through grit teeth and punctuated by a growl. his steel blue eyes were locked onto the boy in front of him, shoulders rigid and body tense; as if he were a snake poised to strike. your stomach flipped and you reached out to grip the exposed cuff of his sweatshirt.

“kaji, it’s fine. drop it, please.” you nearly begged; your heart was already running itself ragged in your tight chest, and tears stung at the back of your eyes — seeing him again was simply too much to take, and the words he’d just spat sliced open your soul, and the thought of kaji losing it right here in the middle of the street over it just set your body ablaze with disquietness.

you just wanted to leave — leave this situation and these uncomfortable feelings behind. just get away from him.

“no, it’s not fine,” kaji snarled, anger bleeding through his voice. it wasn’t aimed at you, you knew that — but you still had to fight off the urge to flinch away from it. “and I’m not going anywhere. I want him to answer my question.”

you glanced over to your ex; his face was twisted into a scowl, and his shoulders were rigidly set, but there was a look of apprehension in his eyes — and his lips were sealed tightly, showing no hint of movement.

scared into silence. you weren’t entirely sure why that gave you a small sense of satisfaction.

“well, are’ya gonna answer?” kaji pressed, hands balled into fists at his sides. “or are’ya gonna keep pretending we don’t speak the same language?”

your ex was looking increasingly uncomfortable and shifty the longer kaji glared at him, and his eyes started to dart around as if he were searching for some sort of escape from the situation. you’d never seen him look so disconcerted before — he had always been so cocky, so full of himself, as if he was simply untouchable; a god among men.

and now — now he was being intimidated into a state of humility.

“this isn’t even worth it.” he finally huffed, voice slightly higher than you remembered it being. “there’s no need to start a brawl over stupid words.”

“then maybe you shouldn’t say them.” kaji rebutted quickly, foot sliding across the ground as he took a small step closer to your ex; your fingers tightened around the cuff of his sweatshirt, heart leaping into your throat now.

“kaji, can we please just go?” you asked, voice small, chest tight and heart thundering. kaji’s body language was pure aggression right now, and you were sure that if you didn’t have a tight grip on his right hand he’d be swinging it — and it was fairly obvious that your ex was thinking the same thing. kaji clicked his tongue irritably but stepped back, though his eyes remained fixed on the boy in front of him.

relief loosened the knot of discomfort in your body when kaji, after a long moment of glaring, let out a small snort and started to turn on his heel; the confrontation was finally over, and though kaji would probably be broody for a bit, you could finally start to put this whole ordeal in the past.

or at least, that’s what you thought — but the moment your fingers dropped from his sleeve, kaji twisted quickly and, like a flash of lightning, his fist connected with your ex’s nose, the impact punctuated by a sickening crunch and a grunt.

your ex stumbled back and clapped a hand over his nose, bright red droplets sliding past his fingers and plopping to the street below. kaji let out a small, satisfied chuff of air — and then with a voice like venom, he hissed;

“the next time you even so much as think about saying something to her, you’ll be swallowing all of your teeth.”

“hah? what the hell did’ya just say?!”

sakura’s baritone was saturated in anger and his shoulders were tense as he turned to face your ex head-on. your ex had that same irritating smirk that you always hated across his lips as he returned sakura’s glare.

“I don’t think I stuttered.” your ex stated, tone smug and unbothered by sakura’s clear aggression. you’d seen this many times before — this bravado of his, one that hadn’t been stamped out during your time with him. it was something you’d admired about him at first, but you had quickly come to loathe it; and for good reason.

“say it again and I’ll knock your lights out.” sakura growled, fists balling at his sides. from your proximity to him, you could register the faint trembling of his muscles beneath his clothes; he was holding himself back from pouncing at your ex, and you were now realizing that his short fuse was a terrible match up with your ex’s personality.

“sakura, let’s just go.” you pressed as you wrapped your fingers around his bicep, throat constricting at the tightness within the muscles. you really didn’t want to see a fight today; you just wanted to enjoy a pleasant lunch with sakura — of course your ex would have to mess that up too.

“you should listen to her, you know. she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but sometimes she knows what she’s talking about.” your ex jabbed, and, oh, there’s the sting of tears. you’d heard similar insults from him before, but for him to air them out in front of sakura…

your skin burned on both the surface and the underside, as if your whole body was heating to a much higher temperature. your fingers trembled around sakura’s arm, capturing his attention immediately; and when he caught sight of the expression on your face, his own twisted into one of pure fury — and you were much too slow and weak to stop him when he wrenched his arm away and launched himself at your ex.

your ex gave a startled yelp that was followed by a grunt as sakura’s shoulder collided with his stomach, and the sudden force upset his balance and he fell to the floor. your entire body locked up and your eyes widened in shock as sakura straddled him and loaded up a punch.

you couldn’t do much else but stare as sakura’s fist made impact with your ex’s nose — bright carmine liquid gushed from his nostrils and splattered against the pristine floor of the restaurant. you could vaguely register scrambling and the murmur of voices around you; yet you still couldn’t move even as a few men wrestled sakura away from your ex, all the while he struggled against them and spat heated words at the man on the floor.

“don’t you ever even fucking look at her again, you got it?! I should kick your damn teeth in!”

all at once, feeling and energy shot through your muscles and you were finally able to move — you beelined straight to sakura and wrapped your arms around his. the men holding him released him, albeit hesitantly, and you could feel the relief in the atmosphere as sakura stayed in place rather than pouncing on your ex once more.

“sakura, let’s go now, okay?” you plead, glancing around at the shocked faces of the patrons surrounding you. a few employees had even sidled their way through the crowd with displeased grimaces.

“no,” sakura growled, the single word shoving your heart into your stomach. “he’s the one that’s going to leave. right now.”

you watched in barely-suppressed shock as your ex scrambled up from the floor, one hand cradling his nose, and turned tail and shot for the door without a single word. only when the door had closed behind him did sakura’s body relax, and his warm arm slipped around your waist to pull you flush against his body. his voice was soft and quiet when he spoke against the top of your head; a sentiment meant for just the two of you despite the crowd of onlookers.

“if he ever bothers you again, you tell me immediately, understand? I’ll take care of it.”

“I do hope I merely misheard you.” suo chirped, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head up to meet your ex’s eyes before continuing, “because if I didn’t… well, let’s just say that wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

your face felt hotter than the sun and your hands trembled in your lap. when suo had brought you here to this resto-cafe, you truly hadn’t thought you’d see your ex; it wasn’t the type of place he’d frequent, but yet, not long after suo and yourself had been seated, he waltzed in with a pretty girl on his arm.

of course, as luck would have it, he noticed you right away — and when he caught sight of suo across from you, his face turned into the most hateful scowl you’d ever seen. a bad feeling pinched your gut when he immediately beelined for a table not too far from your own, and it was proven valid not too long after; as soon as his date had excused herself to the restroom, he approached your table with his hands shoved into his pockets and then spat that horrible sentence.

“and what the fuck’s that ‘sposed to mean?” your ex demanded irately, referring back to suo’s previous statement; suo merely smiled up at him, completely unfazed by your ex’s aggression. suo’s voice was even and calm when he said, almost cryptically —

“what it means depends entirely on your next course of action.”

your heart jumped into your throat when your ex’s jaw clenched and his hand shot out to grip the collar of suo’s jacket. you looked around frantically as you raked your brain for a solution to the sudden bout of violence unfolding.

“are you fuckin’ with me, man? you better not be.” your ex spat, other hand balled into a fist at his side. was he really going to attack suo, right here in the middle of the restaurant? you flitted your eyes to the front of the establishment, debating on if you should make a run for it and grab some employees to stop the situation before it could escalate any further.

but your eyes snapped back to suo when he hummed, almost as if he were amused, and lifted a hand to stick up two fingers. confusion painted your ex’s face as his eyes dropped down to it.

“well, the way I see it, you have two choices — you can drop this childish act of jealousy and return to your table silently, and we will forget all about this little fiasco. or,” — suo narrated as he dropped a finger; and now the smile had vanished from his lips, and his expression was a cold, intimidating dagger that could slice flesh — “you can push your luck and I can make you regret every single choice you’ve ever made up to this point.”

the atmosphere around suo had changed instantaneously — it was no longer lighthearted; it was as if the temperature around your table had dropped to the negatives, and suo was exuding an aura of danger so strong that it had even you shivering — shivering from mixed sensations of fear, anxiety and, strangely, anticipation.

your ex immediately dropped his hand from suo’s jacket and stumbled back, face contorted with shock and subtle fear. it seemed his ability to speak had been stolen from him, but not his ability to move — he turned on his heel and speed-stomped to the front of the restaurant, leaving your table and his own date behind.

“oh, that poor girl,” suo cooed, and that icy chill in the air dissipated instantly as he gave you a soft smile. “I wonder how she will feel when she gets back and sees him gone.”

you were still reeling slightly from the entire scene that had just unfolded in front of you — it couldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes, but it had carved a spot inside your chest and nestled there comfortably. you swallowed a few times and nodded.

“oh, yeah…” you murmured back, staring at your boyfriend’s soft face incredulously. he looked normal now, his visible burgundy orb warm and attentive as he gazed at you; a complete contrast to the cold dagger he’d pierced your ex with.

suo was certainly an enigma — something that you could never pin down. but that’s just what made him so alluring in your eyes; and it made you crave to see every side of him. maybe one day you could — but for now, you just wanted to enjoy the rest of your date.