celebrity gossip ー ken sato.
the ken sato seen fanboying alone in his home over his model crush.
fluff, female reader. situations and scenarios are made up! happy reading 🤍 UNEDITED
tonight is the night, ken thought. the night that your interview for 'evening, darlings', a late-night show wherein the host invites all the hottest celebrities at the moment to gossip, would be aired.
ken was eager to see you, the one and only [name] [surname], one of the hottest models that has been continuously rising since her debut at the age 22; has been featured on vogue magazine at only 24, center page of a weekly playboy magazine issued in japan, and kenji sato's official favourite angel of victoria's secret.
despite his fame, when it came to you, he was the one that acted like a fan. he made sure to have a copy of every issue released that starred you, and he has your commercials bookmarked on his private twitter, where his display name is also 'ken loves [name]'. shameless. it would be ridiculous for his image to be flaunting over a model like all the other guys in japan, but he didn't care.
the only thing that he cared about was the interview that was currently 10 minutes in displayed on his huge tv, and the sweetest smile you had.
"and so, my darling, what do you have to say about the speculations of you and mister ken sato's rumoured relationship? do you confirm or deny?" the interviewer spoke, a glint of anticipation in their eyes while a small smirk lay on their face. ken felt his heartbeat speed up at the mention of his name.
you giggled and tucked stray hairs behind your ear before answering. "ah, that rumour?" you started, "i saw it a few days ago while i was on my way home from france. it was silly, to say the least."
ken smiled, because the mention of your visit to paris was familiar to him. you were there for a perfume commercial. he made a mental note to purchase this as soon as it was released. but, the rumour, and hearing you say that you thought it was silly, as much as kenji wouldn't like to admit, it bummed him out.
the interviewer laughed. "silly!" they repeated in surprise. "how so, my darling? do you not see ken sato, the greatest baseball player that japan has as of the moment, as a potential lover?"
the question caught ken off-guard. "as of the moment"? i'm the greatest player in the world's history of baseball. ken scoffed. also, why would an interviewer be the one to ask whether or not he had a chance with his dream girl?!
"you know, i had ken over as my interviewee the other day. it must be fate that the two of you seemed to accept my request to guest here at nearly the same time." the interviewer teased, and you giggled once more.
"mmh, i'm aware of his appearance here in 'evening, darlings'." you stated.
the interviewer beamed, adjusting themselves at the edge of their seat. "how interesting! so you know that your name has been his answer when asked about his celebrity crush for two interviews in a row?" they excitedly said, and the audience audibly squealed.
recalling the interviews, ken felt warmth on his cheeks as he crossed his arms as a way to compose himself. although saying your name to the question was his way to try and tell you that he was interested, he was unsure if you took it seriously for an answer was not presented to him.
you smiled. "ah . . i do." you said, shyly covering your face with your hands, which received an eruption of screams from the audience.
"oh, my darling!" the interviewer exclaimed.
the place was filled with shy giggles from you and various teasing sounds from the audience. as the people in the studio settled down, the interviewer looked you in the eyes with a sly smirk. "so, the question that we have all been waiting for: who is your celebrity crush, miss [name] [surname]?"
the camera was now focused on you, zooming in on your pretty face. ken thanked the quality of the camera used for capturing the pinks of your cheeks so perfectly, the shine of your [color] eyes, and the glitter that rested on your eyelids and aegyosal. ken was on the edge of his couch, hands fiddling together while he bit his lip in the hopes of hearing his name. he felt warmth brew deep within his stomach, while he and everyone else in japan awaited your answer.
fuck. i don't need to shit right now!
"i like kenji sato."
ken fell down from the couch.
❛ what’s new, scooby doo? ❜
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ aoba johsai is having its annual halloween festival, and oikawa has the great idea to go as mystery incorporated this year. none of you guys expected to have a run in with a “real” ghost yourselves, however.
➼ pairing! aoba johsai vbc x manager!reader, iwaizumi bias this time lol
➼ warnings! cursing
➼ type! fluff, humor, a little spooky
➼ author’s note! last one of my halloween fics, others linked at the end! please keep in mind that this is the first time i’m posting on here and first time i’m writing for hq, so i apologize beforehand if there are any mistakes or the characters seem ooc. anyways, happy halloween! have fun and stay safe. enjoy this little treat! <3
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I TOTALLY FELT YOU WHEN YOU SAID DR STONE IS LIKE A DRUG OMG its like my lifeline at this point
i was wondering if i could request a small drabble or headcanons for ryusui !! i keep having this repeating idea of him with a reader who’s like his childhood friend and ever since they were young, ryusui always tried to pursue them romantically but reader would always just laugh it off, thinking he was joking. but ryusui never gave up on his love for the reader!!
(spoilers for the treasure island arc)
but once everyone on the perseus gets petrified, leaving the reader (who had gone with the recon team to scout the area), reader starts to realize just how much they were worried for him, and especially when he comes back to them in fragments after kohaku smashed him. and the second that he gets revived, the reader is all over him and telling him how worried they were, and the second that the two of them are alone (maybe the team recognized that they were having a moment and let them have it?) reader confesses that they return his feelings and the possibility of possibly losing him helped them realize that? O:
male reader would be preferred (ryusui bi icon frfr), but i dont mind gender neutral!! :D
thank you so much for your time in advance, and remember to stay hydrated!! (expect more interactions from me, im literally obsessed with your works ❤️❤️)
彡zai says- the brain rot this gave me was insane back on my dr stone grind!! he really is a bi icon i'll never forget what he said to tsukasa (ngl i read it a year ago so i spitballed the lore lol)
paring: ryusui x male reader
warnings: SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT
ˏˋ«────── « 𓆩♡𓆪 » ──────»
ever since you were kids you were always the main thing on his mind. he was constantly teasing you and clinging to your side. as you got older it turned into him flirting with you and seeing how far he could push your buttons until you got flustered.
when senku broke him from the stone he was more focused on you than himself, he knew you had an impressive skill set and he used that to his advantage. even if they didn’t have enough revival fluid he brought you along anyways, dressing your statue so when they could revive you, you were ready to go.
when you came to you immediately fell into someone’s arms. their hold on you was firm but also familiar, and their scent was familiar too it was almost comforting. you pulled back to look back at them, and you were met with ryusui smiling down at you “i missed you.”
you laughed and gently removed yourself from his hold “i’m sure you did.” you didn’t notice it but his face slightly faltered.
his flirting was no better when the two of you were alone, as a matter of fact, it was only worse. the two of you sat alone staring at the moon, he spent most of the time staring at you instead of the sky “you’re so handsome, the way you shine in the moonlight is amazing.” you laughed again and rolled your eyes. you always assumed his flirting was just empty words, he was the human version of greed after all he craves everything the world has to offer and he does this to everyone.
“you don’t have to keep saying those things ryusui. i know you don’t mean them.”
he stared at you, no matter how many times he tells you he adores you or how many times he admits how he wants nothing more in the world than you, you never believed him.
at least not until the incident.
when you first laid eyes on his stone body you wanted to scream but you couldn't, the scream was barely louder than a whisper hardly a scream at all. it only got harder when kohaku brought him and the others back as fragments.
the second he was revied the team cleared out and kohaku sent you a knowing glance.
one the two of you were alone you immediately wrapped your arms around him pulling him into a hug "i was so worried about you, i thought i lost you." he returned your embrace and rested a hand on the back of your head pulling you closer to him "you could never lose me." he pressed a gentle kiss to your temple, and for the first time instead of backing away from his affection you accepted it.
you gently pull back from his hug to look at him face to face "i've realized some things."
he raises a brow "and what would that be?"
"how much i care for you, and how much you care for me." his hand moves to gently cup your cheek while his thumb gently caressed your cheek "oh? and how much do i care for you?"
"you've basically spent most of our lives trying to win me over, and every time i never really responded to them or gave you any straight answer. so why did you never give up?"
he smiled at you "that's easy. because i'm the greediest guy there is." your face slightly fell which caused him to chuckle "you didn't let me finish. because i'm the greediest guy there is i know there's no greater treasure than your heart. i'd stop at nothing to make you my boyfriend and to be yours."
The endless saga of drawing him shirtless under the guise of practicing anatomy continues✍️
If you saw me posting these earlier just now no you didn't
pairing: draco malfoy x female!reader
summary: maybe being fancied by draco malfoy isn’t so bad, after all.
requests are closed for now. please refrain from plagiarizing my work!
click here to read pt. 1!
“Why is it so bloody cold?”
[Y/N] is decked out in full winter apparel; a knitted Gryffindor sweater, ear-muffs, and a scarf that she has half of her face buried in.
Sitting in the Quidditch stands with the rest of her friends, she grumbles, “It’s not even a Gryffindor match. We don’t really have to be here freezing to death.”
“Well, it’s common courtesy,” says Hermione, but she’s just as cold as [Y/N] is; there’s bits of snow stuck in her hair and the tip of her nose is pink.
Ron snorts loudly. “We’re here to watch Slytherin lose,“ he says matter-of-factly, still in the process of smearing streaks of blue paint across his cheek.
[Y/N] watches him, nose scrunched. "Well, aren’t you the Ravenclaw fanatic.”
He gives her a grin and holds out the small tub of paint. “Want some?”
She bunches up her lips in thought, then reaches out to take it. Annoyingly enough, Ron pulls back at the last moment, grinning wider than ever, and says, “Or d'you want to show support for your boyfriend Malfoy? Hermione, why don’t you turn this green—”
[Y/N] dives over Hermione and Harry to smack Ron round the head, only for the pair to hold her back and push her into her seat.
Exasperated, Hermione huffs, “Honestly, Ronald, will you stop bringing that up?” She glares at him. “You know fully well [Y/N] doesn’t like it.”
Ron (and Harry, although he isn’t as boisterous about it as the redhead), thinks that the “blond ferret” taking a fancying to her is one of, if not the most hilarious thing to have ever happened in history. Annoyingly enough, Ron has made it a habit to tease her about it every chance he gets—this one being one of them.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought Ron fancied Malfoy with how much he talks about him,” grins Harry. This earns him a smatter of blue paint across his face; Ron had flicked it at him.
With one last eye-roll, [Y/N] tears her gaze away from Ron and digs her nose further into her scarf. It really is very cold; snow is falling from the sky, seeping into her clothes, some landing on her hair and on her face. Thankfully there’s not so much of it that the players on the pitch wouldn’t be able to see around them, but still—[Y/N] imagines that it’d be a lot colder for them, having to fly around the stadium with the cold wind whipping at their robes.
There’s a buzz of loud chatter hanging in the air as conversations from all around them overlap over one another. The entire stadium is slowly filling up; students trickle into the stands, a majority of which have adorned themselves with blue accessories as a show of support to Ravenclaw. One side of the stands, however, is entirely green. Through the snow, she can see a big serpent-shaped balloon hovering over the Slytherin side.
“They’re coming out!” someone exclaims.
Sure enough, when [Y/N] looks down at the pitch, players from both teams have appeared and congregated at opposite ends of the pitch. Slytherin and Ravenclaw; whichever house wins will play Gryffindor for the house cup. Most bets are on Slytherin, but [Y/N] would have to be dead before she is caught anywhere supporting them.
“Look, it’s [Y/N]’s boyfriend,” gushes Ron.
More out of habit than anything, [Y/N] shoots the redhead yet another brief, scathing look. Draco Malfoy is there, even though he’s nowhere near being her boyfriend, pale face set into a stoic expression of calm as he stands with the rest of his team, one hand on his broom and the other on his hip—and this specific image has her thinking back to what happened two weeks ago on this very same pitch, except the stadium was empty and it was only the two of them on the grounds; when he’d confessed to liking her.
As if Malfoy has somehow heard her thoughts over the noise of excited chatter coming from all over the stands, he looks up, eyes sweeping the seats in search for someone before finally, they land on her.
When he meets her gaze, [Y/N]’s breath isn’t knocked out of her chest, nor does she start blushing madly. But she doesn’t burn red with annoyance, either. All she does is stare at him, eyes narrowed, watching as his lips split into a wide grin and he raises his hand to wave at her.
She rolls her eyes, but thankfully—thankfully, the scarf tucked around her neck, reaching up to her nose, conceals the smile that tugs at her lips.
“May I ask everyone to please find themselves in their seats before the match begins,” McGonagall’s voice echoes around the stadium, giving [Y/N] a reason to break eye contact.
She tears her stare away from Malfoy’s, inhaling a deep breath through her nose, feeling oddly exhilarated.
But this isn’t anything new. That slight feeling of breathlessness, that unfamiliar sensation tickling at her stomach whenever she spots a certain someone in the hallway; she’s been feeling it a lot lately, and though the cause seems to be pretty obvious, that is another thing she’d have to be caught dead before doing: admitting that she reciprocates some of Malfoy’s.. peculiar feelings.
“And they’re off!” Dean Thomas announces. [Y/N] watches as the players soar high into the air until they’re mostly level with the stands, a blur of blue and green robes rapidly zooming around the pitch. Slytherin is already in possession of the quaffle; not a surprise, considering Ravenclaw isn’t exactly known for their exceptionally talented Quidditch team.
Malfoy, meanwhile—[Y/N] tells herself that the way her eyes dart around the pitch in search of a certain platinum blond is because she wants to watch the game properly and not for other reasons.
She spots him hovering somewhere above the rest of the players, face screwed up in concentration as his gaze moves around the pitch in search for the golden snitch. He looks even paler in winter, set against a backdrop of a cloudy sky and snow—
[Y/N] jars herself out of her thoughts and blinks, side-eyeing her friends (specifically Ron) to make sure they hadn’t seen her.. observing the Slytherin seeker. (Not like it matters; it’s not as though she fancies him, but Ron would certainly take it the wrong way.)
“Go Ravenclaw!” Ron practically screeches, waving his Ravenclaw banner in the air—when did he get that? “Kick Slytherin’s arse so Gryffindor can crush you in the finals!”
[Y/N] snorts. “Have it all thought out, don’t you, Ron?”
“Go on and cheer for your Slytherin boyfriend, [Y/N], no one’s stopping you,” says Harry, grinning. She turns to face him, mouth open in disbelief, and lets out a quick breath of incredulous laughter.
“So, Harry,” [Y/N] says, suddenly deadpan. ”I see you’ve chosen Ron’s side.“
Harry snickers, then shrugs.
"Oh, Malfoy’s seen the snitch!” someone shouts from beside them. [Y/N] turns back to the game to see Malfoy zooming down the pitch, clutching the front of his broom as he swerves past Slytherin and Ravenclaw players alike in pursuit of the tiny golden ball all the way on the other side of the stadium, where [Y/N] and her friends are sat. He has the upper hand—Ravenclaw’s seeker is only just now starting to fly after him, but she’s a good distance behind and Malfoy is gaining speed.
“He’s gonna catch it!”
“Ravenclaw’s even worse than I thought,” grumbles Ron, slumping down in his seat.
But just as Malfoy passes by them, somehow, despite the fact that he is in pursuit of the bloody golden snitch and on the brink of securing victory for his team, he slows down just the tiniest bit, and then, in true Malfoy fashion—theatric as always in his displays of affection—he catches her eye and yells “This one’s for you, [Y/N]!”, a grin on his face before he hurtles down the pitch, stretching out his hand towards the fluttering snitch—
“Malfoy’s got the snitch!” Dean Thomas screams into his microphone. “Slytherin wins!”
[Y/N] stares, feeling oddly warm despite the wintry weather, as Malfoy spins around in mid-air, triumphantly holding up the snitch for the rest of Hogwarts to see.
“Blimey,” gapes Ron, wide-eyed, staring not at the Slytherin seeker but at [Y/N]. “That was—”
[Y/N] looks away from Malfoy to meet Ron’s gaze, maintaining indifference. “He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?” she mutters, and hopes that her friends will think that the blush on her cheeks is because of the cold and not because of something—someone else.
But that’s ridiculous. It is because of the cold, isn’t it?
“It may be Malfoy,” says Ron slowly, shaking his head, “But you can’t deny that was bloody romantic. Felt like I was watching something out of one of those Muggle films.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to ask him for tips,” says Harry, and starts laughing when [Y/N] rolls her eyes in response.
—
Malfoy may have stopped sending her Howlers, but that hardly matters because he has found every other way to pester her.
This includes consistently yelling out her name and shouting random pick-up lines every time he spots her in the hallway, as well as sending people to do her bidding—no longer first-years, but Crabbe and Goyle, who show up at random intervals everyday presenting her with a batch of different pastries. She always sends the pair off, but only after Ron and Harry accept said pastries for themselves.
“Blimey, this is heavenly!” gushes Ron, taking a passionate bite off of his second red velvet cupcake. “You sure you don’t want a bite, [Y/N]? Hermione?”
[Y/N] offers him an exasperated smile. “No, thank you, Ron.”
“Don’t thank me, thank your boyfriend.”
The four of them walk into the dingy Potions classroom. Snape is nowhere to be seen, but it’s only a matter of time before he swoops in all bat-like, so [Y/N] and Hermione quickly take a seat at their regular desk, right next to Ron and Harry.
“Have you done your homework?” asks Hermione, pulling out an assortment of parchment from her bag.
[Y/N] hums in response. “I doubt mine is half as good as yours, but hopefully I’ll scrape an acceptable.”
“Oh, you’re a good student, [Y/N]. Don’t bring yourself down.”
“Hard not to when I’m sitting next to the brightest witch in our year,” she nudges Hermione’s shoulder, smiling. Hermione huffs, rolling her eyes, but it’s clear by the pleased look on her face that she doesn’t hate [Y/N]’s honest flattery as much as she lets on.
[Y/N] drums her fingers on the desk to pass time, not quite paying attention to the students filtering into the classroom. Or at least not until one of them calls her name and drawls, “Is someone sitting here?”
[Y/N]’s head snaps around to see none other than Malfoy, gesturing to the desk to the left of hers and Hermione’s. “Mind if I,” he pauses, grinning, ”Slytherin?“
She purses her lips into a thin, tight line, inhaling deeply as she fights to keep her cool. Yes, there are times when Malfoy’s gestures have her questioning her own hatred for him, but this—this is not one of them.
"That,” she says, voice mostly level. “Is your seat, Malfoy. I don’t see why you have to ask me.”
Which is a lie. [Y/N] knows why, of course. To get her attention. To woo her. But part of her wishes that Malfoy would realize that everything he is doing, from the overbearing pick up lines to the cupcakes to his constant public declarations of love, isn’t something that [Y/N] thoroughly enjoys. Does she want him to stop yelling at her in the hallways? Yes. Does she want Crabbe and Goyle to stop bumbling up to her everywhere she goes (outside of the girl’s bathroom is one example) offering cupcakes and pie and tarts? Yes. But does she want Malfoy to stop trying entirely?
Maybe not. Maybe part of her wants to give him a chance. He does seem to truly hold feelings, judging from his confession back at the Quidditch stadium, unless he’s a terribly good actor.
And it wouldn’t just be him she’d be giving a chance, either. Perhaps she’d also be doing so to herself. Because, over the past month, it’s baffled her how quickly her feelings for him have shifted. Or maybe it’s not a change of feelings, but rather realization that under all that sneering and pureblood prejudice, Draco Malfoy is a boy.
An annoyingly attractive one.
But there is so much more that [Y/N] dislikes about him. His snootiness. His arrogance. His lack of consideration for other people’s feelings. He may be tall and lithe and undeniably handsome, and he may have very soft-looking platinum blond hair and stormy grey eyes like dark clouds, but he is also a prick. And that wins over everything else, no matter how.. visually pleasing he is.
So when a paper bird flutters in front of her halfway through the lesson, when Snape’s back is turned, [Y/N] hesitates. She knows fully well who it’s from, despite not having to look to the side and meet his gaze.
From beside her, Hermione whispers, “Get rid of it, before Snape sees.”
Exhaling, [Y/N] snatches the paper bird and quickly unfolds it.
She doesn’t know what she’s expecting to see, but it’s certainly not the words “meet me at the Astronomy tower after dinner” scribbled across the parchment. And with a drawing of a face blowing kisses, no less.
[Y/N] sighs.
—
[Y/N] has no real feelings for Malfoy, so succumbing to his mysterious evening request at the Astronomy tower shouldn’t mean anything.
Scratch that: it doesn’t mean anything. Not to her. (Or so she tells herself.) This is a chance for her to tell Malfoy to sod off and to stop courting her. And for good, this time. No matter what that annoying little voice inside her head tells her, she can’t possibly even consider the idea of actually giving in to him. (And to herself.)
So she’s going to put a stop to it, once and for all.
“I’m going,” she decides over dinner, slamming her palms down on the table.
“Going where?” asks Harry.
“The Astronomy tower,” she replies resolutely.
“What, to go star-gazing?” Ron snickers. [Y/N] glances at him and realizes, quickly, that telling them had slipped her mind—she’d been far too preoccupied with her own conflicting thoughts.
She shifts in her seat. She doesn’t necessarily need to tell them, does she? It’s not as though it’s important enough to share. And besides, Ron would only badger her about it. Mercilessly. [Y/N] can already picture him in her head, talking about Malfoy and snogging under the stars and Merlin-knows-what-else.
“Nevermind,” says [Y/N], taking a bite out of a muffin and looking away. They don’t need to know; it’s not as though it’s important.
—
After [Y/N] has walked up all of the stairs to get there, only taking one or two shortcuts, she’s out of breath, but she creeps into the Astronomy tower anyway. It’s mostly dark save for the faint moonshine filtering in from the open sides, and, well—there he is.
Malfoy’s arms are crossed over his chest, his back mostly turned as he stands dangerously close to the railing, looking out over the dark landscape. Dim light catches on the side of his face, illuminating the grey of his eyes.
The curve of his nose.
Pale skin.
White-blond hair.
[Y/N] finds herself staring, one hand on the doorframe as though for support, brows furrowed in the middle in a slight frown as she watches him.
He looks lost in thought. Even from a few feet away, [Y/N] can see the far-off, distant look in his eyes. Like storms brewing behind dark clouds, she thinks to herself. It’s a quiet little whisper in the back of her mind that has her heart doing odd little flips inside of her chest that she never knew it was capable of.
But then she blinks.
This is the last thing [Y/N] needs. To see Malfoy stripped of his arrogance—to see him as he is, bathed in moonlight, glowing, almost. To look at him and to see a boy with eyes like molten silver and nothing more—it’s the last thing she needs to convince herself that she doesn’t feel something for him that isn’t hatred.
No, she doesn’t need this.
She turns around, breath caught in her throat, and starts walking down the steps. Accidentally, stupidly, her foot catches on a metal step and a loud clang echoes around the silent tower.
[Y/N] pauses, eyes wide.
“[Y/N]?” Malfoy’s voice says. He can’t see her. It’s too dark, and [Y/N] is too far down the steps.
She swallows. But instead of dreading what could come, she finds herself waiting, half-hoping that he’d check the staircase, that he would see her and—
And then what?
[Y/N] rushes down the steps, ignoring the loud noise her footsteps make on the way. This is the last thing she needs.
—
[Y/N] doesn’t like Malfoy.
[Y/N] doesn’t like Malfoy, and she is determined to make that clear. (Both to herself and to her friends, although the former seems to be taking a lot more convincing.)
“What is there to like about him? He’s nothing but an annoying pain in the arse who has an overwhelming amount of pride and arrogance simply because of his blood—which is not only something that he never rightfully earned but is also something that shouldn’t even bloody matter, except he thinks that it does solely because he is an absolute nutter who has nothing better to do with his life other than leech off of his parents’ money and shove it in other people’s faces.”
Ron meets Harry’s gaze from across the table, who seems to be trying very hard not to laugh. Swallowing down a forkful of pancakes, Ron looks back at [Y/N]. “I’m sorry,” he begins slowly. “But remind me again why we’re talking about Malfoy?”
“I’m not finished, Ronald,” [Y/N] snaps, shooting him a dirty look. Ron raises his eyebrows. “As I was saying before someone so rudely cut me off, Malfoy is a nasty little git who finds joy in making other people suffer. he probably has tiny puppies locked up inside his basement just so he can laugh in their faces and revel in their misery because he is that horrible of a person—”
Harry lurches with poorly suppressed laughter.
“An absolute terrible excuse for a human being! He basks in other people’s humiliation—mine, for example!—and I would much rather snog the Giant Squid than ever actually consider his—” She pauses, gritting her teeth. “Odd.. requests.”
“It’s not like he’s asking you to murder house-elves,” Ron mutters.
“Something that I would rather do than date him!”
“[Y/N]!” Hermione gasps, looking genuinely offended as she, for the first time since they’d arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, looks up from the homework she’s rushing to finish. (As if her five pieces worth of parchment aren’t enough—Flitwick had only asked for three!)
“Sorry, Hermione,” [Y/N] says, offering her an apologetic look that she only half-means. This quickly turns into a fierce look of challenge as she swivels back around in her seat to face the redhead sitting next to her. “Honestly, since when have you started defending Malfoy?”
Ron blanches. “I’m not defending him!” he says indignantly, setting his fork down on his plate. “It’s just.. yeah, it’s a bit odd that he’s declaring his undying love for you out of bloody nowhere, but he’s stopped badgering us, hasn’t he? Nasty little ferret hasn’t said a word to Harry for weeks! And that goes for me and Hermione, too!”
[Y/N] narrows her eyes at him. “So you think it’s great that he’s stopped annoying you at the cost of my suffering?”
“What suffering!” Ron exclaims. “He’s been treating you like a bloody princess!”
“Oh, why don’t you just snog him yourself, then, if you think so highly of him?”
Ron’s jaw drops in shocked offense.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Harry announces, reaching over the table to shove the two apart from each other. “Why doesn’t one of you switch seats with me before you end up strangling each other?”
“I don’t know, Harry,” [Y/N]’s lip curls. “I might have to hold Ron back before he goes running off to his ferret prince—or should we just let him? Merlin knows he’d love to, won’t you, Ronald?”
Ron’s teeth are gritted; his eyes dart around the food on the table as though looking for the most effective weapon. He seems to be choosing between a green apple and rhubarb pie.
Thankfully, Ron never gets to take his pick. The bell rings, saving everyone in the Great Hall from witnessing what could have possibly been a brawl between friends. “Come on, let’s go,” says Harry quickly, relief evident in his tone of voice as he ushers the pair to their feet. “Wouldn’t want to be late for class.”
—
[Y/N] doesn’t like Malfoy.
[Y/N] doesn’t like Malfoy, but why does she find herself staring at him whenever she comes across him in the hallway the next day? Why, when Malfoy meets her gaze, does she look away and pretend to be immersed in something else?
And why in the bloody hell, when Malfoy playfully winks at her during Potions class, does she find it very, very hard not to smile?
She walks out of the dungeon classroom in a hurry with Ron, Harry, and Hermione, not wanting to spend a minute more in Malfoy’s presence; she doesn’t particularly enjoy being suddenly hyperaware of every move he makes, every little glance he sends her way when he thinks she isn’t paying attention. It’s as though something in her system has gone awry. Is that why her heart feels like it’s about to hop right out of her chest? Is that why she can’t stop wondering what would’ve happened if she’d stayed at the Astronomy tower?
“Hey, wait up!” Harry calls loudly as they walk up the stone steps leading away from the dungeons and into the main hallway, which is bustling with students.
[Y/N], who had been walking far too fast in front of the three, looks back over her shoulder and sees that they’re a few feet away. She stops, seemingly flustered, and waits for them to catch up.
"You look like you’ve wet your pants,” says Ron.
“I’m not you, Ron,” she retorts.
“Oh, can you two please stop bickering for once?” says Hermione, exasperated.
From behind the three, Draco Malfoy emerges from the potions classroom and begins walking up the stone steps. [Y/N]’s hands clench into fists at her side as she discretely presses her back to the stone wall at her sides.
The blond doesn’t even as much as glance at Ron, Harry, and Hermione as he passes by them on the steps. [Y/N], however—once Malfoy has reached the step below the one she’s standing on, he pauses, no less than two feet away from her, and quirks an eyebrow.
“What?” [Y/N] scowls, trying not to look at the strand of blond hair dangling in front of his eyes.
Malfoy’s gaze dances over her face. “Was it you?”
She meets her friends’ eyes over Malfoy’s shoulder. Ron and Harry have their eyebrows raised; Hermione looks concerned. [Y/N] takes a moment to compose herself—tries to force her heart back into her chest—before she folds her arms across her chest and looks at the Slytherin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“At the Astronomy tower,” Malfoy says, and moves up one step so that he’s standing on the same one she’s on. A foot away. “I heard someone last night, while I was waiting for you.”
Oh, Merlin.
“You came, didn’t you?” he presses on.
“No,” [Y/N] lies, and hates how defensive she sounds. She shifts a little on her feet, her eyes skirting away to look at a random spot behind Malfoy. “I was.. at the library. Doing things of actual importance.”
There’s a slight pause as Malfoy’s nose wrinkles. “Must’ve been someone else spying on me, then,” he finally says through a scoff, but [Y/N] knows disappointment when she sees it. He rolls his shoulders back and puts on his signature smirk, inclining his head towards her as he takes another step up the stairs. “Better hurry and give me an answer, [Y/N],” he tells her, grinning. “Before one of my admirers get to me first.”
[Y/N] watches as he walks up the steps and disappears into the hallway.
“The library?” a voice says incredulously. She turns back to Ron, whose face is scrunched in disbelief. “No, you weren’t! We were waiting for you there and you never came.”
[Y/N] folds her arms across her chest indignantly but doesn’t respond, instead walking up the stone steps.
“Malfoy said he was waiting for you at the Astronomy tower,” says Hermione slowly as they trail after her; [Y/N] speeds up her pace. “Is that why you mentioned going there during dinner last night?”
[Y/N] emerges into the main corridor first. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did!” bursts Ron, sounding downright triumphant.
“Congratulations, Ron, you don’t have the memory range of a teaspoon, after all,” [Y/N] mutters, looking around. Malfoy is walking down the hallway a few feet ahead of them, Crabbe and Goyle at his side.
Ron ignores her. “I bet you did go. I bet you did spy on him—” And then he gasps, looking as though he’s unearthed the secret of life. “Merlin’s beard, you really do fancy him, don’t you?”
[Y/N]’s footsteps falter. Ron, Harry, and Hermione stop right with her.
Hermione is the only one who doesn’t look stunned out of her mind. Looking between the two boys, she rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Honestly, is that so hard to believe?” says Hermione, frowning. “I understand that it’s Malfoy and he is a prick, but [Y/N] is perfectly entitled to fancy whoever she likes.” She turns to [Y/N]. “It’s fine, [Y/N], you don’t have to feel guilty about it. Anyone would catch feelings if someone started doing such sweet things for them, even if it were someone like Malfoy.”
“Blimey,” says Harry, breathless. “Which part sealed the deal, [Y/N]? The pick-up lines? Or was it the cupcakes?”
[Y/N], who had been opening and closing her mouth like a fish blown out of water, finally stops trying to find words that just aren’t there and instead drags her palm across her face in frustration. “I don’t..” she says, sounding defeated, but really—now that she’s faced with such confrontation, it’s easier to admit to herself that maybe.. maybe she does fancy Malfoy.
Ron’s lips have split into a jubilant grin. ”I called it!“ he says, smacking Harry’s shoulder. "Bloody knew it!”
Hermione reaches out to rub [Y/N]’s back. “Don’t feel too bad about it, [Y/N]. I sort of knew—you looked at him differently after he confessed to you on the pitch.”
[Y/N] sighs, realizing that no amount of denying it will convince her friends. Or herself.
She does fancy Malfoy.
Properly acknowledging it—finally admitting it to herself—is oddly relieving. She’s been keeping her feelings cooped up inside of her chest despite the fact they are so much bigger than her, and now that she’s letting them burst free.. now that she’s coming to terms with them..
Well. It’s not the worst feeling ever.
Ron is still beaming, looking as though he’s won the lottery. And apparently, in a way, he has: “Fred and George said it’d take you a month longer to give in. I said it’d take you less—guess I’ve won myself two galleons!”
[Y/N]’s mouth falls open. “You bet on this?”
Ron raises his eyebrows, as though surprised to hear that she didn’t know. “Uh, I and the entire bloody castle.”
Struck by a sudden burst of both annoyance and confidence, [Y/N], scowling, detaches herself from her friends and strides down the hallway towards Malfoy, full of intent. He hasn’t noticed her yet; his back is still turned, but she catches up to him easily. And when she does, she unceremoniously bumps her shoulder into his and grabs his hand, quickly interlacing her fingers through his.
“What the hell—”
Malfoy, obviously taken aback, tries to pull his hand away, sneering, until his gaze lands on [Y/N].
“Keep walking, Malfoy,” she says scathingly, not quite looking at him.
Baffled, Malfoy stares at her, then down at their hands, which are now tightly interlocked between them. [Y/N] scowls resolutely at the hallway ahead of her.
And then Malfoy laughs, more out of disbelief than amusement.
“Keep walking,” [Y/N] repeats, this time turning to look at him, fighting to keep her gaze indifferent. The last thing she wants Malfoy to know is that there is an onslaught of tiny little butterflies rampaging in her stomach and a tingly feeling spreading from their hands all the way up her spine and into her heart.
Malfoy’s lips tug up into a wide grin—a real one, [Y/N] thinks. Not an arrogant smirk or a deprecating sneer; one that she can’t ever recall seeing. But now that she has, she finds herself wishing he’d do it more often.
[Y/N] tugs him along as she walks, feeling the stunned stares of her friends boring into her skull from behind. (Ron is going to have a field day about this.)
“So,” Malfoy begins, and she doesn’t have to look at him to know that he’s still grinning down at her. “Changed your mind, haven’t you?”
[Y/N] rolls her eyes; she doesn’t fail to notice the way that the students they’re passing by are staring at them, eyes wide, whispering to themselves. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Malfoy shrugs. “Among other things.”
She side-eyes him, muttering, “Does that include snogging?”
He makes an amused sound at the back of his throat. “You said it, not me.”
[Y/N] has to grit her teeth to stop the corners of her lips from tugging up. They turn a corner down the hallway, disappearing from both their friends’ views (assuming they haven’t followed them). At this thought, [Y/N] takes a brief glance over her shoulder—and sure enough, there’s a redhead peeking out of a group of very confused Ravenclaws.
Cursing Ron Weasley inside her head, she turns her gaze back ahead of her. ”I have Charms class next.“
Malfoy raises his brows. "And what do you expect me to do with that information?”
“Walk me there,” says [Y/N] briskly.
She can practically feel the surprise radiating off of the blond next to her. A moment later, he throws his head back in a loud laugh. “And you want me to be late to Transfiguration? It’s all the way on the other side of the castle.”
[Y/N] hums. “Can’t even do that for the girl you fancy?”
There’s a beat of silence. His grip on her hand falters a little as he says, voice still nonchalant and yet at the same time holding an undeniable sense of sincerity, “I could if I knew she wasn’t leading me on.”
“She isn’t,” [Y/N] says, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
Malfoy is staring at her with his brows pulled in together just slightly at the middle, giving off the impression that he’s trying to decide whether or not she’s being serious. He slows down his pace until he comes to a full stop, urging [Y/N] to halt alongside him until they’re standing in the middle of the hallway, oblivious to the stares following them and the redhead a mere few feet away.
“How do I know this isn’t a prank?” says Malfoy, lip slowly curling as he narrows his eyes at her, the first few traces of suspicion etching itself onto his face now that the whole ridiculousness of the situation has finally sunken in. [Y/N] can’t blame him; her antics—suddenly marching up to him in the hallway, grabbing his hand and walking with him as though they’ve been doing it for years—all of it is uncalled for after having ruthlessly turned him down so many times before. But [Y/N] can’t delve into a discussion of her conflicting emotions—at least not right now—so she hopes, at least for now, that he will take her word for it.
She clears her throat. "Well,“ she begins, looking down at their hands; Malfoy’s grip has gone slack. "If I wanted to hold your hand, I’d do it because I wanted to. Not because I wanted to get a rise out of you.” She lets her gaze go back up to his, brows rising in familiar challenge. “I don’t stoop that low, Malfoy. You’ve been in love with me for years—shouldn’t you know that by now?”
There are a few seconds in which the blond standing before her still looks at her with a scrutinizing gaze, lips set into a thin, hard line and his eyes swimming with conflict that [Y/N] wouldn’t have been able to see from afar, but sees in perfect clarity now that she’s standing a mere foot away from him. But then, after what feels like ages, Malfoy nods, slowly, frown smoothing out into an expression of—could that be relief?
“I will be late for Transfiguration, you know,” he says, lips quirking up into a grin.
[Y/N] laughs. (A real one, Draco thinks to himself.) This time she doesn’t try to stop herself from smiling; just lets her lips do so of their own accord. It feels nice. Freeing. “Better just one of us than two, don’t you think?” she says, mirroring his playful grin. “And besides, Goyle can stand in for you. You two do have quite the resemblance.”
“Oh, sod off.”
And it really is very odd, because everything about this shouldn’t feel right; they’ve been enemies for the longest time, and a year ago, [Y/N] would have been revolted at the mere idea of ever coming close to Draco Malfoy—but it does. That is, it feels right. Like they’ve been this way for ages and this playful, harmless banter is the most natural thing.
Draco isn’t perfect—Merlin, does he have a long way to go—but if he means to stop being a prat as long as [Y/N] is at his side, then she is willing to venture into whatever has formed between them.
And if this little bond is going to involve any more of this—this being her and Draco exaggeratedly swinging their arms between them as he walks her to Charms class with their fingers still intertwined, snickering, waiting for one of them to start complaining about their arm sockets hurting—then maybe it isn’t the worst thing ever, after all.
coach ukai
ukai keishin is a creature of habit.
he always buys the same brand of cigarettes, and the same colour lighter. he has used the exact same brand of soap since he was a kid. when he makes his coffee in the morning he always adds the same amount of milk, one sugar, stirs it three times clockwise and once in the opposite direction, blows on it twice, and then takes his first sip.
so imagine your surprise the day you walk into sakanoshita market and ukai keishin, creature of habit, your perfectly predictable boyfriend of four and a half years, is nowhere to be found.
because there's no way that the man standing behind the counter, apron on, twirling a cigarette between his fingers, with neatly combed brown hair is him.
it looks a lot like him, to be sure.
the same gentle slope of his nose, the same sharp brown eyes that light up when he spots you stepping through the door, the same little smile that you've seen curl up an identical set of lips countless times.
"what the hell did you do?"
the man who looks like (but is definitely not) ukai keishin's smile falters.
"hello to you too, sweetheart," he half-says, half-laughs. "what a terrible way to greet someone."
alright, this might be keishin.
"your hair," you finally take a step into the store, towards the counter, eyes still fixed on the head of hair that looks a lot like your boyfriend's but definitely isn't, because it isn't the same shade of peroxide yellow that Keishin had been dying it since the two of you were in high school.
the hand not fiddling with the cigarette reaches up to touch the brunette locks atop his head, though he's careful not to tousle them too much.
"you don't like it?" he asks, an uncharacteristic lilt of insecurity in his voice.
you pause.
"I... I just... give me a second," you say, pinching the bridge of your nose. you draw a few deep breaths in, eyes closed, before looking at him again.
"so?" he says, an eyebrow (that for the first time in over ten years matches the shade of hair on his head) cocked. "what's the verdict?"
you step up to the counter, reaching out across it to run your fingers through the strands. they're softer than they'd ever been, and a little shorter too -- having clearly been freshly trimmed.
"you look..." you grapple for the right words. "really hot."
and you know without a shadow of a doubt that the man on the other side of the counter couldn't be anyone other than ukai keishin when you see the smile -- wide and toothy -- that stretches across his handsome face.
"you think so?" he asks, dropping his unlit cigarette in the ashtray in front of him, circling the counter to wrap you in his arms. there's no one around, so you let him -- though you're not sure an audience would have stopped you, anyway.
you can only nod as he holds you tight against him, smiling down at you with that same grin.
"why the sudden change?" you ask him, hands pressed against the front of his apron as your eyes search his face.
"well..." keishin looks away, his cheeks puffing out a little as he mulls over his response. "we're getting older you know -- can't have you walking around looking like you're dating a delinquent forever."
"but you were a cute delinquent," you laugh, pressing a kiss to the corner of his pursed lips.
"and I had something important to do today, too. wanted to clean myself up a bit for it," Keishin adds, his eyes scanning your face. the playful look from a moment prior has melted away, and as you stare up at him, you're reminded just how very handsome of a man that boy from your high school volleyball team has grown up to be.
your brows knit together in confusion. "oh yeah?" you ask, pulling away slightly. "and what was that?"
"I went to see your parents," keishin said, eyes fixed unwaveringly to yours, "to see if maybe instead of you dating a delinquent they'd be alright with you marrying one who was reformed."
He’s so crazy I can’t take him anywhere 🤪
Mattsukawa x Reader - requested by @shoulmate for the Haikyuu Request Game
Mild Angst to Fluff, 3700 words (my hand slipped)
You’re not all that fond of your teenage years.
But maybe that’s just he curse of teenage life, to cringe looking back.
You're the little sister, two years between you and Toruu, twelve between you and Suzu.
With that age gap, it's only natural that you’d cling to Toruu more and beg him to take you on his adventures.
There are times you think he only did that because Iwa had a soft spot for you.
-
“Can you stop?” Toruu’s standing in the door to your room, wiping dirt of his trousers as you cry.
“But I wanna come!”
“I don’t want you around all the time! We’re going to catch bugs and you think they’re disgusting.”
“Do not!”
“Do too! You just want to come because you think Iwa-chan is cute.”
“Do not!”
“Do too! You’re in love with him.” He singsongs the last part and you grab your pillow, throw it at him with all the strength a six-year-old can muster.
“Guys!” Your mom calls up from the doorway. “Iwa-chan is here. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready. She’s not coming.”
Toruu races down the stairs but you’re quick to follow him, wiping away your tears as you run.
“But I wanna come.”
Iwa’s wearing jeans that have been cut off at the knees, something you’ve begged your mom for two weeks already with no avail.
He’s sending you a tooth-gaped smile, offering you a lollipop as if he’s handing out secrets.
“I don’t mind.” He says. “Besides, she behaves better than you, Oink-kawa.”
“She does not!” Toruu exclaims with his usual dramatics, getting more into it when he sees Iwa roll his eyes and smile at you as if you’re sharing a joke he’s not in on.
“Do too.” You stick out your tongue.
-
You see the Volleyball under Toruus arm and jump out of your bed.
“Training? I’m coming with you.”
He rolls his eyes in mock annoyance.
“You’re not even interested in volleyball. You’re just coming to see Iwa-chan.”
“No, I’m just there for Kageyama.”
Toruu fake gags and you throw your shoe at him, regretting it right away when he catches it and flings it up the stairs.
“Well, looks like you won’t make it in time.”
“Toruu, you ass!” You yell but he’s already out the door.
You do make it in time, mainly because Toruu keeps forgetting that you’ve joined the track team.
-
Kageyama is cute.
Not as cute as Iwa-chan, but no boy is worth the hissy fits Toruu throws when he thinks you’re spending too much time with his best friend.
Calling Kageyama cute or agreeing to pass the ball to him still riles your brother up, but in a much safer way.
You don’t want to wake up with a shaved head or anything like that.
-
Somewhere along the lines you’ ve become a babysitter.
To Toruu, because he keeps neglecting his health in favor of beating Shittyjima and to Kageyama, because no one else is willing to spare him a minute of their time.
You know you’re not the right fit for either role.
After all, you can only handle so much.
You know Toruu doesn’t really mean to push you away whenever you come to his room. To remind him that he needs to eat, or get to bed on time, or to ask if he minds passing the ball to you.
It still hurts.
You know your parents don’t really mean anything by it when match after match passes without them attending. They’re busy, especially with helping Suzu now that she’s back at work and needs help babysitting.
But it hurts, even more when there’s no match of Toruu they’ve ever missed.
You know that Kageyama isn’t as mean as everyone pretends him to be.
His social skills are worse than his grades and you’re the one tutoring him in your freetime.
But it still hurts when he’s yelling, reminding you that whatever you do, no matter how hard you try, you’ll never measure up to your big brother.
-
Seijoh is good for Toruu.
He’s still a dick when it comes to volleyball, but he’s got more friends than just Iwa now.
There’s Hanamaki and Matsukawa now, or Maki and Mattsun as they like to be called.
They seem to have a soft spot for you too, but unlike Iwa they dare to tease you too.
-
“Oi, princess, you have dropped something.” Mattsun calls out when you walk past them studying in the kitchen.
“What?” You turn, confused. The only thing you were carrying was the glass of water that’s still firmly in your hand.
He bows down to pick something from the floor and holds it up to your face, hand closed around it.
His voice is nasally as he speaks, the dramatic flair almost too overdone. “My heart, mylady.”
When he opens his hand, he’s holding a bug.
The first time it happened you’d squealed in surprise.
But you grew up with a nuisance for a brother and recognize that plastic shine everywhere.
“Oh, I missed you.” You tell the fake bug, pick it out of his hand and fling it into your mouth, swallowing it whole.
An impressed smile dances around Mattsun's lips while Toruu gags in the corner.
“Nice.” Makki whispers somewhere on your side while Iwa brings out the important information.
“That one was real.” He says.
You roll your eyes and take a sip from your water, pretending to be less grossed out than you are.
“Grow up, boys.”
-
“Oi, Oikawa-chan.”
Makki’s leaning in the doorframe, one arm up to showcase his biceps - the little fucker knows exactly what he’s doing. Half your class is ogling him already but you ignore him as you trudge over.
“What?” You ask.
He stretches out one hand, too quick to dodge, and pinches your cheek.
“Is that the right way to greet your senpai?”
You’re just as quick to stab your hand into his side, aiming for his sensitive ribs.
“Fuck.” He curses when you hit him where it hurts.
“Language.” Class president yells somewhere behind you and you push Makki out the door before you can get detention for his wrongdoings.
“What do you want?”
“Can’t I just come see you when I want?”
“You can, but that way I’ll never get a boyfriend. Now, spill.”
He grins and offers you a piece of chewing gum before actually telling you what he came for.
“I was sent to ask if anyone wants to apply for the manager position. We want to do it lowkey since Shittykawa is so popular.”
“Yeah, no, not doing that. I’m already part of the Girl’s Volleyball Club.”
He grunts. “Not you. The boys want someone pretty- Stop that!” He steps away just in time to avoid another hit.
“You know your peers. Pick someone who’s not going to faint at the sight of your brother.”
“Easy. Oba Makoto. He’s got heart problems and can’t do sports but he knows a lot about Volleyball. He’s tried hitting on me twice, so he’s probably got some taste and won’t fall for my brother.”
Makki pulls a face. “A boy? Ah, well, okay, I'll bring it up. We’re going out for ice cream after school. Do you want to pretend to be Mattsun’s date?”
“Again? Toruu’s not going to buy it.”
“True, true. We can put fake spider’s in his ice cream?”
You ponder the offer for a moment. “Eh, it’s too soon to pull that kind of prank again. Besides, I should hit the gym after school. First years have to make an impression.”
“Fine. But you’re going as Mattsun’s date this weekend. There’s someone from my class who thinks he can’t pull girls and we have to set him straight.”
You roll your eyes. “Why would I do that?”
Makki grins deviously. “I have blackmail material?”
You shudder. “Fine. Text me the details later. I’ve got to get back to class.”
-
Iwa has the decency to say goodbye before he leaves for America.
It crushes the tiny bit of hope you’d nursed in the week - or so - since the news of Toruu’s upcoming departure. Without your brother here to supervise you, you could have explored what was left of your crush on him.
“You did a good job.” He says, awkwardly rubbing his neck as he stares at the trophies littering your shelves.
“Yeah, sure, I’m not bad.” You agree halfheartedly but he shakes his head.
“Not Volleyball, or the other stuff. I mean… with Oikawa. And Kageyama. You did what you could, I know.”
“Don’t.” You get up before he can tell you more stuff that you don’t need to hear. You don’t want him to talk about things like that. It makes you feel like you’ve done it all for his approval. In reality, you did it to have friends, to stay close to your brother.
And look how that turned out.
“Just hug me.” You tell Iwa, well aware that Toruu’s going to barge in any second, still immensely jealous of his friends. Well aware that your parents only allow Iwa in your room because there’s nothing going to happen. Ever.
You allow yourself to cry a little bit over it, but only when he’s gone and Toruu’s bedroom door has closed behind him too.
-
College is so much harder than you thought it would be.
You barely make it onto the Volleyball team, you’re behind on your reading, your assignments, cleaning your room.
All you want is to go home for the weekend and hide under your sheets until mom calls for dinner.
Instead you dress up for a party you don’t want to go to, invited by a guy you can’t even remember the name off.
But he’s two years older than you and the thought that he could be interested - and that Toruu’s not here to ruin it - is exhilarating.
-
Hours later you stumble down the stairs outside, the world spinning around you.
You’re going to throw up any second, you think, or crash into something.
Someone grabs your arm instead and you turn, hand raised to slap whoever’s daring to touch you.
“Whoa, princess, chill! It’s me.”
There’s only one person in the world calling you that.
“Mattsun?” You blink up at him, half of his face light up by a streetlamp. It’s him, but he looks concerned.
“You’re not okay?” You ask him, your tongue struggling to form the words.
“I should ask you that.”
“‘m fine.” You stagger a bit. “Just… need to throw up, I think.”
“When’s the last time you ate something?”
Why does he wanna know, you wonder, as you try to figure out the answer to his question.
“Well, I had breakfast. And they had some crackers inside, but they tasted awful.”
“Yeah, come on.” He pulls you forward slightly, slinging one arm around your back to keep you upright. “Let’s go get you something to eat. What do you think of Chicken Nuggets?”
“Yay,” you sway slightly as you try to do a happy dance, “Chicken Nuggies!”
-
Maybe it’s the bright light or the fact that the world has stopped spinning after Chicken Nuggets, fries and two cups of coffee, but Mattsun looks worried as he watches you dip the last of his fries into the ketchup.
He also looks older and taller, if that’s even possible.
“Why were you at that party?” He asks.
You shrug. “Got invited.”
He sighs. “But drinking? You’re what-”
“I’m nineteen,” you remind him, “Two years younger than you.”
He looks unconvinced and you lean forward to glare at him.
“You threw up on Toruu when you were 17, piss drunk after trying my father’s sake.”
He has the decency to blush at the memory.
Silence falls over the two of you.
It’s a comfortable silence, even after so much time passing.
You’ve barely seen Mattsun in the last two years. He’s been at your graduation, Makki too. But it had always felt a bit forced, wether it was them watching one of your matches or taking you out to ice cream on a random tuesday after school because they were College boys and could afford it.
It always felt like the shadow of your brother kept looming over you, reminding you that he was supposed to be at the table with you, Iwa included.
Mattsun clears his throat and you look up, surprised at the serious look on his face.
“Oikawa is going to kill me for this,” he mumbles before raising his voice to a normal volume. “What’s your schedule like? We could go to the cinema this weekend. There’s this new movie from that series you’ve always watched?”
You blink, surprised that he noticed that. He’s never been one for movies, not like Makki and you. He’d always rather stayed in and watched a rerun of his favorite series or blackmail Toruu to let you play Mario Kart with the four of them.
“Sure. Makki coming too?”
He blushes again, but this time without obvious reason.
“No. It would be just the two of us.”
You blink again. “Do I have to pretend to be your girlfriend? Do you know someone working at the Cinema?”
The sigh Mattsun lets out could move mountains.
“What?” You ask, defensively.
“I’m asking you out. On a date. A real date.” He presses the words out between his teeth, his hands already in his hair, pulling at the strands in thinly veiled despair.
“Oh.” You make. Then. “Oh?” And “OH!”
“Yeah.” The smile he’s giving you looks painful.
“But-” You start, but close your mouth again, too stunned to speak.
Mattsun rubs at a spot of dried ketchup on the table, his face the colour of Makki’s hair.
“Like, I’ve been trying to for years, but you always ask if Makki’s coming too. And I thought I’d have more time to get you to like me like that, but you’re already going to parties you probably shouldn’t be at and, well, better shoot my shot now and get an honest reaction than just keep hoping, right?”
There are a million things you want to say, and a million more you want to ask.
But in a way, it all makes sense, looking back.
How he’s always called you princess, has always been the only one doing it.
The fact that he’s never missed a game of yours or had a really good excuse.
Makki always having an excuse to get you to pretend you’re Mattsun’s girlfriend.
Iwa might have been your first crush but you’d always been closer to Mattsun than any of them, even your brother.
You laugh at the absurdity of it, how you’ve been to blind to see it until you.
“Toruu would hate that.” You say and realize, just as you say it, that you don't care. "Sure. Let's go out."
You stretch your hand out to shake his, to press his absurdly large hand, and grin mischievously back at him.
“But let’s keep it a secret from him. Just for now. I want something just for the two of us.”
The smile that’s growing on his face now, slow at first, but faster by the second, is something you’ve never seen before. Something you want to see again and again and again.
-
"Makki knows," Mattsun tells you as you wait in line for the popcorn.
You'd been obsessing over what to wear for hours, even going as far as to text some of the girls from your high school Volleyball team.
"So you finally started caring?" One of them asked and you'd chewed on that thought up until the moment Mattsun knocked on your door, his hair messed up just the right amount, his cheeks a little pinker than usual.
"He's not going to tell Toruu or Iwa, is he?"
"Nah." Mattsun shakes his head and if his hand brushes yours on accident, it stays where it is, the warmth of his hand seeping into yours.
You kiss him in the middle of the movie, not caring for whatever is happening on the screen.
He tastes like the candies you used to share on your fake dates in High School and the hopeful thrill of the future.
-
"Hey, Princess." Mattsun's waiting outside the gym, his large hand enclosing yours as you step closer and he bends down to press a kiss to your lips. "Great game."
"Thanks, I know." You wave at the girls leaving, some of them waving back at you.
"You look tired." You tell Mattsun as he leads you down the street towards the bus station, your hands swinging between you.
"That internship is kicking my ass." He tells you, his thumb rubbing over the back of your hand. "And I still need to write that assignment I told you about."
"You haven't finished yet?"
"No." He yawns loudly. "But I took some notes while you were warming up."
"Babe." You stop in front of the subway entrance and look up at him. "I love that you come to all my games, but that assignment is more important."
He smiles. "I love when you get all serious."
"I love you."
Pink floods his cheeks at your words. You're surprised, that they slipped out just like that, but you're not taking them back, too sure of their truth.
"You know." He mumbles awkwardly, "I always thought you had a crush on Iwa. Makki was the one shipping the two of us."
“I did have a crush on him.” You agree, your hand pressing his to let him know there’s more coming. “When I was, I don’t know, seven years old?”
Mattsun’s face lights up with one of his cheekiest grins. “What? You were not into his biceps?”
“Nah. Turns out I’m more into idiots who tell me fun facts about embalming.”
His smile turns wicked. “Yeah? Guess what; I’ve got some you probably haven’t heard yet.”
-
It’s one of those mornings where not enough sleep does not mix well with trying to act human.
A phone rings somewhere on your left and you grab it, trying to silence the alarm without looking. Instead you hear the well known sound of a video call connecting.
Your brain isn’t as quick as the internet these days and you’re still blinking into the camera as Iwa blinks back, less tired but more confused.
“I thought I called Mattsun-” He starts at the same time reality introduces itself to your brain. You fling the phone through the room and it lands on the carpet next to the door, the call still connected.
You scramble out of bed, well aware now that you look like you’ve spent the night not sleeping - it’s the upcoming exams, you swear - wearing one of Mattsun’s old shirts.
Iwa’s still calling your name and you pick up the phone again, staring at him with as much determination as you can muster.
“No word to Toruu.”
He looks as tired as you’ve felt just minutes ago. “Sure. Sure. I don’t even wanna know. Can you bring Mattsun on the call?”
-
“Hey Princess,” Mattsun greets you when you stumble through the door of his shared apartment, bags of groceries in your hands.
“Hey.” You stand on your tiptoes to kiss him on the lips, handing half of the bags to him. “I got the new Ramen you like.”
“Get a room.” Makki groans from the kitchen table where he’s working on assignments.
“Sure.” You tell him, “But the walls aren’t soundproof.”
“Not fair.” He whines. “Why don’t I have a girlfriend?”
“No clue.” You tell him as you start unpacking. “Maybe it’s because you have no job?”
“An unflattering hairstyle?” Mattsun offers.
“Because you chew with your mouth open?”
“Because you always lose in Mario Kart?”
Makki huffs at that. “The disrespect I have to endure in my own home. Oh, Shittykawa is calling.” He picks up before you can tell him not to, leaving you to dive under the kitchen counter.
Mattsun is left standing next to you, hiding his laughter at your situation in his palm as he nudges you with his foot.
“I’m gonna bite you.” You tell him, showcasing your teeth.
“Sure, if that’s your kink.” Mattsun teases, only for Makki to yell “I told you to get a room!”
This time, however, Toruu hears it too.
“Who’re you talking to?”
“Eh. Mattsun’s girlfriend.”
“Mattsun has a girlfriend?” You can hear your brother’s voice clearly, the curiosity in his voice.
Just above your head, Mattsun wiggles his fingers, a silent sign for you to take his hand and get up, to let go of that secret. After all, everyone else already knows.
And what’s Toruu even gonna do? He’s all the way in Argentina.
That’s the thought that pushes you to grip his hand and shoot up from behind the kitchen counter, mischievous grin on your lips.
“You called?” You ask.
“Is that my sister?” Toruu’s voice reaches a height you’ve never heard before.
Makki looks at you, sees you nod and turns his laptop so that you and Mattsun are in full view.
“If you don’t like it, that’s your problem.” Your voice is calm but your heart still races.
“But I thought you liked Iwa.” Your brother just looks confused.
You laugh, wholeheartedly, mountains toppling off your chest. “Dude, you’re so bad at reading women, it’s no surprise you’re still chasing a ball.”
Toruu gapes at you. “The disrespect.” He calls out. “Mattsun! I thought you were my friend!”
“Nah.” Mattsun grins and pulls you closer. “I know which Oikawa I’m picking.”
“Makki?” Toruu asks, his pout even audible in his voice.
“Depends on if she’s cooking tonight,” Makki tells him. “I can be bought with good food.”
“You can cook yourself.” You tell him and he pulls a face.
“And I’m Shittykawa’s friend again.”
You listen to them talk on with only half an ear, distracted by the way Mattsun grins down at you.
“What?” You ask.
“Went better than expected?” He asks. You shrug. His grin grows.
“What?” You ask.
Instead of an answer, he leans down to kiss you. You step on your tiptoes in anticipation, meeting him halfway.
Somewhere behind you, you hear the sentence that has grown to be the soundtrack of your relationship, now spoken by two voices instead of one.
“Get a room!”
my Kofi if you want to tip me
Hwang In-ho in season 2 of Squid Game
me on my way back to paradis after reiner shows me that wall maria isn’t the only thing he can plow into
INFINITELY YOU SERIES MASTERLIST // link to general masterlist here
🕷️ SUMMARY - In every universe, Peter Parker seems destined to fall in love with you. And, in every universe, he realizes it too late. When universes collide and two of them are granted a second chance at rectifying their biggest mistake, neither of them are willing to let the opportunity go to waste–even if you end up not being the person they thought you were.
🕸️ WARNINGS - story will contain mentions of blood, broken bones, weapons, suggestive language, and more. all versions of peter are between the ages of 19-23 in this story. I will try to update warnings accordingly for each chapter, but please read at your own discretion
PART ONE // back at the beginning
PART TWO // crullers & constants