WHY TF IS CHIGIRI SO FUCKING PRETTYYYY AHHHHHHHHH

Anomaly (Chapter 1) - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Ever since he was rescued by All Might from All For One, Shimura Tenko's led a charmed life - except that he's a beta, in a society where alphas are privileged, omegas are prioritized, and betas are an afterthought. But when Tenko finds himself investigating a series of designation-swaps that have devastated the lives of the victims, he comes face to face with the terrible truths at the heart of society's placid, inflexible structure, and the enigmatic villain who's bent on exposing it all. The one they call Love's Executioner - otherwise known as, you. (cross-posted to Ao3)

dividers by @cafekitsune

Chapter 1

Divorce epidemic: Small town in Okayama Prefecture experiences 200% increase in no-fault petitions since previous reporting period Designation dysphoria? Psychologists in Hyogo Prefecture report an increasingly prevalent set of delusions Google search: can designations change The urban legend that just won’t die: No, you can’t change your designation. Google search: my designation changed Suicide rate spikes in Kagawa Prefecture; threefold increase over the course of a month Government forms task force to investigate reported declines in suppressant effectiveness From Omega to Alpha: Chart-topping idol tells all about stunning transformation!

Google search: change designation back

Tenko’s already late when he wakes up, and the fact that he Decays his alarm clock out of spite doesn’t improve things much. He has a hell of a lot to do before work. He knew that last night, but that didn’t stop him from playing League of Legends until three am with Spinner and Twice, and now he’s paying for it. Tenko changes into street clothes, stuffs a frozen waffle into his mouth, and books it out the door.

He’s back before he can even make it to the elevator, because his medication reminder starts freaking out. He forgot his suppressants, like he does about every other day, and he probably wouldn’t take them at all if he didn’t have an alarm set. Tenko thinks it’s bullshit that he has to take suppressants. He’s a beta, not some alpha or omega who’s constantly at risk of going into heat or rut and sending the office into meltdown mode. There’s no reason for him to take this stupid pill every day.

But Tenko’s a beta, and it’s not worth it. He’ll get busted if he fails a blood test, same as anybody else. He swallows the damn thing dry, grabs another frozen waffle, and races back to the elevator.

He checks his phone on the way and sees that he forgot to log off the hero network again, which means his screen is covered in expired alert notifications — most of them yellow, a few of them orange. He swipes them away rather than reading through them. Angsting about everything that happened while he was off duty is All Might behavior, and Tenko’s number one rule for maintaining work-life balance is taking note of what All Might does and doing the exact opposite.

For off-duty behavior, at least. When Tenko’s out in the street, he’s on duty, and that means that when he hears the screech of metal on metal followed by hideous crunching noises and car alarms going off, he picks up the pace and runs a block and a half to get there first. Just like All Might would do.

It’s a car accident. Two cars, one flipped, one wrapped around a streetlight, and at least one person’s been thrown clear. Tenko drops his backpack and goes to them first, assessing the basics for their injuries. They aren’t breathing well — their chest is rising and falling lopsided — and the air around them is flooded with alpha pheromones and panic. If it was some alpha bullshit that caused this accident —

“Help,” the alpha gasps, and Tenko’s about to tell her he’s still assessing when she elaborates. “My husband — in the car — he’s pregnant —”

Great. Nobody stays calm when babies are involved, and Tenko’s still the only one on the scene. He looks around for the nearest bystander, orders them to call emergency services, and addresses the crowd that’s gathering. “Anybody here with life support training?” A couple of hands go up, and Tenko assigns roles at random. “You, grab an AED. Every store on this block should have one. You two, get over here. Get ready to start CPR.”

He waits for them to move, then races over to the car that hit the streetlight. Just like the injured alpha, the omega victim is flooding the scene, bad enough to make Tenko cough — but even as his eyes stream, his mind stays clear. He Decays the broken window on the passenger side and addresses the victim. “My name’s Shimura Tenko. I’m a pro hero and I’m here to help you.”

Most heroes are alphas with a few omegas mixed in, but All Might’s adamant that betas make the best rescue heroes, and Tenko agrees. Alphas and omegas are vulnerable to pheromone releases no matter how many suppressants they’re on, but Tenko could be surrounded by enough overlapping clouds of pheromones to choke an air purifier and still keep a clear head. Alphas make a situation volatile, omegas defer if there’s an alpha anywhere in the mix, even if it’s the wrong thing to do. For high-stakes rescue heroics, where lives are on the line, betas do it better than anybody else. It’s about all betas are good for.

If that’s all Tenko’s good for, he’ll take it. He does a visual assessment of the victim’s injuries — as much as he can with the way the car’s crumpled — then remembers there’s a second car. “I have to check the other victim. I’ll be right back,” Tenko says, and the omega seizes his arm. An alpha wouldn’t be able to resist what the omega’s putting out, but Tenko’s able to free his arm without trouble. “I’m not leaving. I’ll be right back. Count back from a hundred for me, okay? By threes. I’ll be back before you’re done.”

The driver of the second car is dead. They weren’t wearing a seatbelt and they’re crumpled against the windshield, but Tenko checks the brachial and radial pulses just to be sure. Is there anyone else in the car? He hears muffled crying, Decays the back passenger window, and peers in.

Fuck. There are kids. Two of them. Both buckled in, both bleeding, neither of them with crush injuries, which means it’s safe to get them out. Tenko Decays the door, too, then wedges himself into position to catch the first kid once their seatbelt’s off. The kid flops down into Tenko’s arms, and Tenko supports their head and shoulders, trying to figure out how to maneuver them out of the car.

“We’ve got him!” There’s an EMT out there, with a stretcher and another one coming closer. “Pass him out and get the other one!”

Works for Tenko. He wedges himself further into the car. The second kid is freaking out a lot worse than the other one, and Tenko realizes that this is going to be a more complicated rescue in a hurry. This kid’s quirk is active. And given that she looks to be about six years old, the likelihood that she can retract the claws sprouting from between her knuckles when she’s this scared is pretty low.

Tenko’s been a kid with a dangerous quirk. He knows the drill. “I’m going to get you out of there,” he promises. “I need you to do something for me first. Make an X with your arms like this so your claws stay pointed out. I’m going to unbuckle you —”

“I’ll fall!”

“I’ll catch you. That’s why I’m here.” Tenko knows better than to put on an All Might-style grin. “Cross your arms — perfect — and count to three for me. We’ll go on three.”

“One,” the girl sobs. “Two —”

Tenko Decays her seat, seatbelt and all, and catches her. He kicks out the window on the other side, passes her through it to another pair of EMTs, then crawls out the way he came in. By this point there’s an incident commander, somebody Tenko recognizes vaguely, and he heads her way. “What’s next?”

“We can’t get the victim out of that car,” she says. “His legs are crushed. It’ll be a miracle if he makes it to the hospital, but he won’t if they have to spend an hour cutting him out. Can you —”

“Tell them to get ready. I’ve got this.”

The victim’s got enough people comforting him that he doesn’t get mad at Tenko for leaving and not coming back, so Tenko ignores him and searches for a starting point. He needs to do this fast. Once the EMTs are in position, Tenko plants both hands on the hood and activates Decay at full strength.

He used to think his quirk was evil, that nothing good could come out of destruction, but he knows better now. There’s no such thing as a good quirk or an evil quirk. It’s about how you use it, and as Tenko uses his to free the omega victim from the totaled car and deliver him into the hands of the EMTs, he remembers all over again that his quirk is a good thing. Or at least it can be. Tenko sticks around until the ambulances have left, confirms that the cleanup crew don’t want him to get rid of the cars, and hits the road before the press can put in an appearance. He’s even later to work than he was already going to be, but he has a feeling his boss won’t mind.

There was never really a question about where Tenko would go after he graduated from UA — All Might’s agency, because nowhere else would take a beta hero and it was where he wanted to go anyway. Tenko should probably be a little less shameless about cashing in on the benefits of being raised as All Might’s ward, but he also knows All Might is pretty sensitive to his help being rejected, and after everything he’s done for Tenko, the least Tenko can do is make him happy by accepting a few perks.

Tenko’s a hero because of All Might. Tenko’s alive because of All Might. If All Might hadn’t killed All For One almost fourteen years ago, Tenko would still be under his thumb. Still thinking he was built to destroy, still carrying around Tomura as his name. Tomura. The one who brings mourning. Tenko remembers explaining his new name to All Might in the hospital after he was rescued, and he remembers how All Might’s famous smile shifted into a teeth-clenched grimace. You can pick any name you want, he said to Tenko. Except that one.

In the end, Tenko fell back on his old name, the one his parents gave him before they realized he was a beta and therefore a disappointment. What he did to his family is hard to live with, still. On his bad days, Tenko believes every word Sensei ever told him, and some part of him always will. The rest of the time, the rest of him knows better.

He’s barely set foot on the training floor in Might Tower before Twice tackles him. “Hey! Shimura! Saw you on the news —”

Tenko grimaces and breaks Twice’s grip. “I got out of there way before the cameras got there.”

“People were filming,” Spinner announces, putting Tenko in an instant headlock. All Might must have ordered them to jump him. “The HPSC reposted the video —”

“And it’s already been played ten thousand times!” Midoriya reports from somewhere far away from Tenko. His natural quirk is good for fuck all against Tenko, and All Might doesn’t want him using One For All against anybody but villains. “It’s excellent press!”

“Somebody died,” Tenko says. He winds Spinner with an elbow to the gut and twists free. “They shouldn’t put that on the news.”

“You should have become an underground hero if you wanted your exploits to stay off the news,” Tobita says. He’s keeping his distance, or else Tenko would bite the Twice clone that’s holding him and go kick his ass. “And if you’re going to do hero work in street clothes, you might want to put a little more thought into your look.”

Tenko finally shakes free of his friends and looks down at himself. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s tragic that you have to ask,” Tobita says, and sighs dramatically. “Then again, you are a beta. Maximizing attractiveness isn’t at the top of your priorities list.”

Tenko grits his teeth. “Are you sure you aren’t gay?”

“I’m waiting until I’ve found my mate. Then we’ll see.”

If Tenko talks to an alpha or an omega long enough, mating inevitably come up. It’s why he hangs out with betas when he can. Betas don’t talk about ruts, because they don’t have them, and they don’t talk about heats because they don’t have those either, and they don’t care about finding mates in general. Whatever the difference is between betas and everybody else, it strips away the desire to couple up and reproduce along with the fertility. Or at least it’s supposed to.

Tenko thought everybody felt the way he does and was just embarrassed to talk about it. It took him until a few months ago to realize that his fellow betas aren’t secretly yearning for a mate. It’s not an unspoken beta-designation thing. There’s legitimately something wrong with Tenko’s brain, something he’s never going to mention to anyone ever again. He doesn’t give a shit about having kids. It’s probably best for everybody if his quirk dies with him. But his stupid ass is out here yearning anyway, and yearning in the worst possible way. There aren’t even any female betas – betas are all male, and Tenko’s straight. Female alphas want omegas, and female omegas want alphas. Tenko and his fucking yearning are stuck together for the rest of his life.

Tenko doesn’t think about it very much. His life is good. He’s gotten really lucky, multiple times, so much that he could almost call his life charmed if he hadn’t stumbled into it after accidentally killing his family and being kidnapped and brainwashed by a monster. If yearning for a mate is the only thing that’s wrong with Tenko, Tenko has it pretty fucking easy.

All Might arrives, finally, and rescues Tenko from the middle of a pile of Twice clones, giving him a bone-cracking hug. “Well done,” he says, and lets Tenko go. “Gather ‘round, everyone. Today’s assignments are in. As you know, our agency is unique, and there are places for each and every one of your unique talents to protect and serve others!”

All Might’s agency used to just be him and his sidekick, Sir Nighteye. Sir Nighteye didn’t approve of All Might taking Tenko in — he called it letting in a stray — and All Might took it so personally that he turned letting in the strays into his agency’s entire policy. Almost everybody, from the heroes to the support staff to the PR department to the maintenance guys, is somebody who somebody else threw away. People like Twice, who went from the foster system straight to jail. People like Spinner, who grew up in a shit town that treats mutant-type quirks like trash. People like Magne, who’s trans, and Toga, whose quirk scares people, and even Tobita, whose failure to launch fast enough out of high school would have kept him from being a hero. Betas and omegas, people whose designations get them almost uniformly rejected from hero academies across the country, are the majority. The news calls All Might’s agency ‘eclectic’. The tabloids call it a freak show.

The hero community’s gotten used to it. All Might’s always fielding requests for team-ups or visits, so much so that he has to sort through them and pick just a few. Twice and Tobita get a PR visit — going to a foster home to meet the kids and talk about heroes and quirks. Spinner has a surveillance job, like usual, and Toga’s headed down to the hospital like she almost always is. Everybody else gets farmed out to other agencies, until it’s just Tenko and Midoriya and two pieces of paper in All Might’s hand.

He glances at one of them and sighs. “This was for young Todoroki, from Hawks, but unfortunately he’s, uh, indisposed.”

“Again? He was in heat two weeks ago,” Tenko says. He remembers — he got a bunch of horny texts from Touya, because Touya apparently forgets how to read when he’s in heat and thought he was sending them to Hawks or his other alpha fuckbuddy. “He’s making it up for more vacation time.”

“He’s not! Some people experience rapid cycling,” Midoriya, also an omega, pipes up. “It’s very difficult to control. He’s probably not having fun.”

“And everyone at my agency gets the same amount of vacation time,” All Might reminds Tenko. Tenko rolls his eyes. “No designation is privileged over the others here.”

No, but if Tenko took a week off of work just to fuck, everybody would have questions about that. “Which of us is getting sent to Hawks instead?”

“We aren’t able to meet that request,” All Might says. He looks at the last piece of paper. “Young Midoriya, you’ll stay here at dispatch. Tenko, you and I have been summoned to Shiroiwa, in Kagawa prefecture.”

That name sounds familiar. Tenko can’t remember why, but he’s never against an away mission. The fact that All Might hasn’t said what it is means it’s confidential, which means Tenko can lord it over Midoriya later that he got to do something cool while Midoriya minds the desk. “Sounds good.”

It’s eight hours to Kagawa by car, four and a half by Shinkansen, but in All Might’s jet, which All Might takes on long trips so he won’t bring traffic to a standstill, it’s a cool hour and a half. Tenko’s not at all interested in climbing the charts, but he has to admit that there are perks to being in the top 10. Like no crying babies on the plane, and snacks. Tenko’s frozen waffles this morning feel like a distant memory. He starts raiding the pantry.

“Tenko,” All Might says, and Tenko looks up. “I meant what I said. Your work this morning was exemplary. You should be proud.”

“I was just who was there.”

“I’m proud of you,” All Might says. “Even if you aren’t proud of yourself.”

He studies Tenko for a moment. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Let me try again. Something’s wrong. What is it?” All Might asks. Tenko shakes his head. “I’ve known you since you were eight years old, and lying’s not your strong point. What’s going on?”

There’s no way Tenko’s bringing this up to All Might. But he needs to tell All Might something, or All Might won’t let it go. Tenko picks a topic at random. “My phone yelled at me because I forgot to take my suppressants this morning. I’m sick of taking them.”

All Might’s expression shifts in sympathy. “Are you experiencing side effects? There are multiple brands —”

“No, they’re fine. I just don’t want them,” Tenko says. All Might raises an eyebrow. “I’m not a hypocrite. Alphas and omegas not taking theirs fucks them and everybody else over, but nobody suffers if I stop taking mine except some big pharma exec who won’t make money off my prescription. I shouldn’t have to blood test once a month at random like the alphas and omegas do if I’m not the problem. It’s bullshit and you know it.”

All Might sits down in the seat across from Tenko’s. “It’s true,” he says. “Alphas and omegas off their suppressants are a disaster. You’ve read your history. Society’s most significant advancements didn’t occur until after primitive suppressants were developed and distributed. Suppressants provide for a stable society.”

“Yeah, but —”

“And even knowing that,” All Might continues, “alphas and omegas don’t want to take them. Someone needs to set an example.”

“An example,” Tenko repeats. “I have to pop pills my whole life to set a good example?”

“If a rule applies to everyone, no one can claim they’re being unfairly singled out,” All Might points out. He steals a cookie out of the package Tenko just opened. “Betas frequently set a good example. You set one during your rescue today.”

“By doing something.”

“By proving it could be done,” All Might says. “Think about how an alpha or omega hero would have handled those victims and that scene.”

Tenko doesn’t need to think about it. He’s seen it. “Alpha commands,” he says. “And omegas do that weird thing where they’re, like — hitting on you —”

“Platonic seduction,” All Might says, which is one hell of a contradiction in terms. “These approaches both have something in common. What is it?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“No.” All Might eats another one of Tenko’s cookies. “Think about it. They have the same end goal as you did — a controlled scene, calm victims —”

“Except they’re doing it by force,” Tenko says. All Might nods. “You’re saying my way is better.”

“Yes,” All Might says. “Adding extra force to an already stressful scene increases the potential for chaos, particularly given the diverging reactions of each designation to those uses of force — and yet, the prevailing wisdom is still that heroes should use force in controlling a scene.”

“That’s not what you do,” Tenko mutters.

All Might smiles halfway. “I’m not an alpha.”

Everybody thinks All Might’s insistence on training beta and omega heroes is some weird fixation, because they can’t imagine All Might being anything but an alpha. But All Might isn’t an alpha. He’s a beta, just like Tenko is, so he knows it’s possible for a beta to be a hero. “Everyone assumes my ability to control scenes without force is unique to me. You proved that others can do it, too. That makes it much harder to ignore as the preferred strategy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Betas make the world go round, as usual,” Tenko says. He manages to grab one cookie before All Might eats the last one. “I still don’t want the pills.”

All Might sighs. “Are you unhappy with your designation, Tenko?”

“No,” Tenko says. He never envies alphas or omegas, except when he thinks about being alone for the rest of his life. “It’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Indeed,” All Might agrees. “But the fact that you’re a beta is why you’re on this mission and my successor is minding a desk.”

“Huh?”

“Here.” All Might picks up a folder and slides it across the table to Tenko. “I saw your expression. When I mentioned Shiroiwa, it meant something to you.”

“That’s the town where the suicide rate blew up,” Tenko says. “They think heroes should be investigating this?”

“At the moment, it’s not clear what this is,” All Might says. “No one will talk about what happened. It’s the opinion of earlier investigators that shame and distrust are keeping them quiet. They need to see people they can trust, who don’t provoke the sort of intense emotions that alphas and omegas do.”

Betas. “So we’re supposed to interview people about their dead relatives?”

“We’re supposed to interview anyone,” All Might says. “My presence will draw them out. Officially, I’m here to provide support and comfort in this trying time. It’s your job to talk to anyone who will speak and try to discern exactly what happened here. Prior to the first four suicides, which all occurred on the same day, Shiroiwa hadn’t seen a death by suicide in seven years. It’s hard to imagine there wasn’t a precipitating event.”

“Talk to people, figure out what happened,” Tenko says. “You sure you don’t want Midoriya?”

“People who are suffering need to feel listened to and understood,” All Might says. “As evidenced by how you brought so many people who’d previously felt invisible to the agency, the person in my agency best equipped to do that is you.”

Shiroiwa feels haunted. Tenko’s not superstitious, but there’s no other word for it. Something bad happened here, and he needs to figure out what it is so it can’t happen anywhere else. People are slow to talk. Tenko asks them how they’re doing, and it’s fifteen minutes of small talk before anything starts to come out. But once it does, Tenko starts to get a picture of things. Or at least where things started. Everybody who’s killed themselves attended a school festival the week before the first death.

“Did anything weird happen at the festival?” he asks, over and over again. “Or not weird. Even just something that stood out?”

Nobody has a good answer. It’s two hours into the event before someone tells Tenko what happened to some of the people who killed themselves. She’s weird about it, too. Embarrassed, even though she has her face covered. She beckons Tenko away from the others and keeps her voice low, so he has to lean in. “Their designations changed,” she says. “Alphas to betas, omegas to alphas, betas to — anything. Anybody to anything. You knew who it happened to. The scents switched on a dime.”

Designation switching is an urban legend. Or something that happens in porn. Tenko keeps nodding, anyway, and the woman keeps talking. “People who it happened to, they got shunned. Like it was contagious. Maybe it is. I don’t know.”

“Did everybody who got switched kill themselves?” Tenko asks, and she shakes her head. “Was there any pattern to who did or didn’t — or who was affected —”

“No kids,” the woman says. “It was a school festival. The place was covered with kids, but none of them got swapped. Only adults. And as far as who killed themselves and who didn’t — I don’t know. I don’t know why some of them survived it.”

“Can you point to anybody who did?” Tenko asks, and she points to herself.

Now he gets why she’s hiding. If they’re treating people with the switch like they’re contagious, then no wonder. “Come with me,” Tenko says, and she shakes her head. Her original designation and swapped designation don’t matter, but Tenko can’t tell what she is now. “If you talk to All Might, you can explain what you just told me, and we can stop this from happening again.

“Stop it? You don’t even know what started it.” The masked woman shakes her head. “I have to go.”

“Wait.” Tenko catches her arm. It doesn’t matter if she’s crazy — she’s the only lead, and if she got her designation switched, they can confirm it. Her hand closes over his and forces him to let go. “Look, if you won’t come explain, point to somebody else who got switched. Nobody’s going to believe this designation-switching thing without proof. You know that.”

She nods. Beckons Tenko closer again. “Look for Minami Mizuho, Motobuchi Tadakatsu, Shimizu Takako, and Hatagami Arisa. They were too embarrassed to talk. They sent me.”

“Thank you,” Tenko says. “If you’re right about this — what you just told me is going to help a lot of people. Even if it was hard to talk about.”

“It’s weird that it’s so hard to talk about,” the woman says. She’s about Tenko’s age, huddled inside a coat that’s too big for her. “Nobody can be quiet about designations most of the time. Except when they change.”

“Yeah,” Tenko agrees. “It’s probably scary.”

“Scary?”

“Yeah. Saying it makes it real.”

The woman thinks about it for a moment, then shakes her head. “It’s real enough for them,” she says. “Ask them.”

Tenko gets to it. Finds the people she named in the crowd, talks to all of them, and doesn’t remember until he and All Might are back on the plane that he never asked for his source’s name.

taglist: @shigarakislaughter @deadhands69 @minniessskii @lvtuss @xeveryxstarfallx @lacrimae-lotos @issaortiz @dance-with-me-in-hell @aslutforfictionalmen @evilcookie5 @stardustdreamersisi @warxhammer @handumb @f3r4lfr0gg3r @shikiblessed @baking-ghoul @cheeseonatower @agente707 @koohiii @atspiss

dc masterlist

jason todd;

wyfilwma?

in love with this omg the silly banter between them all ❤️❤️

♪ ༘⋆ drawn to you — t.todoroki smau

♪ ༘⋆ i. stranger danger iii. tbd

ii. shush boykissers (𝄞) m.list

you were already a pretty light sleeper under normal conditions, so it wasn't surprising that the loud creaking of the floorboards woke you up in the middle of the night. at first you just assumed, that tomura had gotten up to get himself a glass of water and were ready to go back to sleep without a second thought. but something didn't feel right. the steps felt heavier, too heavy for someone who had just rolled out of bed.

immediately your chest tightened. thoughts raced to your head about who the intruder could possibly be. one thought in particular clung to you, but you refused to let yourself entertain it. everything rational within you screamed for you to text tomura and get both of your asses out of here. and yet, not a second later you had hushed across your room to hear the intruder better. your ear was glued to the door, trying to make out any sound. 

there were only a few more creaks, followed by a heavy thud. the steps were a lot lighter now and the floorboards didn't creak anymore. it was safe to assume that the person had taken their shoes off. but why? if they had broken in, why would they bother taking their shoes off? you knew, you should be a lot more terrified, but for some reason you were just confused. 

a deep breath escaped your lips before you slowly pressed down the door handle. this was a stupid decision. you knew full well, that you should have probably run the other way the moment you had heard any type of noise. the smartest decision would have been to climb out the window and use the little ledge on the window sill to climb over to tomura's room and wake him up. instead you gently pushed the door open and stepped into the pitch black living room. 

you couldn't hear any steps. the sudden dead silence enveloped you like an eery, dark cloak. you had expected to see a figure move through the room, but there was none. there was no way you had imagined all of it, was there? from the door to your room, you could see the entire living room. to see the kitchen, though, you would have to round the corner, because the wall from the entry hallway that connected to the kitchen island blocked your view to it. there was a slight rustling sound again, followed by the fridge being opened? you'd never heard of people going through fridges, when breaking and entering, but in all fairness, in this economy, you couldn't blame them for trying. obviously they didn't know your brother well, though. if they did, they would know his fridge wasn't worth opening. there was never anything worthwhile in there, except for energy drinks, ice cream and half empty take-out containers if you were lucky.

"fuck's sake!" a deep voice hissed.

you were pretty sure now, that it was a guy, but you couldn't place the voice. that was much more relieving, that it should be, but a man you didn't know was very likely to be safer, than the ones you did know. still, you grabbed tomura's keys from the little bowl in the entry way – careful not to let the keychains dangle. you tiptoed over to the kitchen, the cold metal of the keys digging into your skin. you kept close to the wall, so he wouldn't see you, but by the time you reached the kitchen island, he was already walking back toward the living room. you could only hope, that he hadn't seen you yet. you pushed your body into the wall, as if that would make it swallow you. 

he stopped walking. you decided to take that second to try and at least make out some features. he was dressed so dark, that his frame almost entirely blended into the pitch black background. he was wearing a hooded jacket, hiding any feature you would have otherwise maybe seen, beneath it. his arm shifted, at least that's what you assumed it was, since your eyes still hadn't gotten used to the dark. that proved unnecessary a second after, because his elbow hit the light switch. the sudden shift in lighting momentarily blinded you and somehow turned off the alarm signals, that should have told you to get the fuck out of there.

"not running off this time?" you jumped back hearing the playful tone of his voice.

blinking a few times to get used to the very bright light, you stared up at him. when you recognized who he was, you felt both relief that he wasn't some psycho killer and a little annoyed that he had obviously noticed you a bit ago and messed with you for whatever reason. you had been right about him wearing all black, though. his thick hooded jacket covered his pitch black hair almost entirely. it didn't however cover the shit-eating grin, that he was staring down at you with.

"to be fair, you were a strange man in my brother's apartment." you crossed your arms in front of your chest. "and i was in a towel."

"fair enough." he laughed pulling the hood of his jacket down. 

even though you hadn't really looked at him, when you had bolted out of the room yesterday, you had seen his face a bunch online before. he had been everywhere together with the rest of lov, when their first single blew up. now that dabi's face was lit entirely, you could see the black ink snaking its way up his neck from below his jacket. there weren't any on his face, but he had more than enough piercings to make up for it. just from a quick glance you could see little silver balls adorning his right eyebrow, three more on the left side of his nose and he had snake bites. his black hair was tousled into every possible direction, sticking out in messy spikes. he was taller than you and a good bit broader, too, though that could just as well be the thickness of his jacket.

"didn't mean to wake you up, by the way." he unzipped his jacket and lazily dropped it onto the kitchen island. even though the hoodie that he was wearing under it was baggy and obviously intended to fit loosely, you could see the broad shoulders underneath it. the tattoos from his neck obviously continued under the collar of his hoodie.

"you're good." you smiled, awkwardly shifting your feet.

he just nodded and slumped onto the couch. you assumed that to have been the end of your conversation and where just about ready to leave, when he spoke up again. "i'm dabi by the way."

it was kind of funny that he felt the need to introduce himself, when you both knew, that you were aware who he was. maybe he just thought it was the polite thing to do. 

"y/n." you said quietly. you weren't sure if tomura had mentioned your name. himiko had told you earlier tonight, that tomura had never mentioned you, so you probably were right to introduce yourself. dabi just hummed, resting his feet on the coffee table next to three open cans of monster and the bag of chips tomura had opened sometime before you had moved in. his eyes turned to you again, looking at you, almost as if he was trying to remember something.

"wait, i know you." you furrowed your brows looking back at him. "didn't you say you didn't like lov on twitter bout a week ago?"

if only you had taken the advice of the smarter part of your brain and climbed out the window when you had the chance. you laughed awkwardly, wishing you could be anywhere but here – preferably somewhere six feet under ground. and not right in front of the bassist of the band, you had publicly claimed hating, even though it had been for a joke. the whole thing had blown up completely with their vicious fans literally blowing up your phone with hate comments and threats. you remembered vividly that somehow dabi, of all people, had found your post and even commented. tomura had found the entire thing hilarious, because of course he did. but he had never mentioned to dabi that the person who had made that viral post, was his sister.

"i didn't actually mean that." you choked out an awkward laugh. dabi's head tilted to the side. he stared at you so intensely now, as if he are genuinely curious about the explanation. you just then noticed how brightly blue his eyes were. which was only accented with the black color that was smudged all around his eyes. and it looked like he was wearing black mascara as well. "i honestly just wanted to mess with tomu. never expected that shit to blow up the way it did."

he looked at you for a good second, as if he was processing what you had just said. and then he just straight up snorted out a laugh.

"so what i'm hearing is you don't actually think we suck?" 

"didn't say that, did i?" you decided to be petty and mess with him a little. as payback for him messing with you earlier. 

from the way his eyebrow raised, you assumed that he hadn't expected that answer.

"wait for real?"

you just shrugged, trying your best to keep a straight face. he kept his bright eyes on you, trying to gauge your expression for any sign if you were being serious or not. he gave up a few seconds after.

"come on, you're killing me here."

you laughed seeing how invested he seemed to be. it was kind of nice to see, how serious he was taking this, especially since you know how much the band meant to your brother. you decided to make him suffer no longer.

"i'm kidding." it was funny to watch the actual relief on his face. "most of your stuff's actually really good."

"just most, huh?" he leaned back on the couch very quickly switching to his grin from before.

you stared at him with a deadpan expression, which of course, he found even more amusing.

"obviously not what i meant." you rolled your eyes.

dabi let out a soft chuckle, still actively amused by annoying you. even though, he was sure, that you weren't actually as annoyed as you tried to look. and he would've been right. "you have a favorite?" 

"hm?"

dabi grinned seeing your head tilt, not understanding what he wanted from you.

"favorite song, i mean." 

the question left you more stumped, than it probably should have. you had been honest with dabi, you really did like all of their music. both the heavier rock songs they played and the very few slower songs they had – even their covers were usually very nice to listen to. even though, tomura usually asked you for your opinion the moment, they released anything, you had never really been able to pick a clear favorite. though you had been able to give him an answer earlier, that was usually heavily influenced by the way you were feeling on that particular day.

"don't think i could pick that easily." you shrugged. "but i've been listening to blue from the new ep a lot."

something lit up in his eyes, when you said that. it was subtle enough, thought for you to not really register it as out of the ordinary. dabi just hummed in response, not commenting on your choice at all. silence befell the two of you. the realization hit, that it was probably well over four am in the morning and though, tomura had the ability to sleep through five fire alarms blaring at the same time and would not be woken up by the two of you just talking, you should probably sleep at some point, if you wanted to at least pretend to pay attention in your 8am class.

"i should probably head back." you said, already turning on your heel, when dabi stopped you.

"hold on." he got up from the couch and was now standing barely two feet away from you. "give me your number."

"huh?" you couldn't help but stare at him for a couple seconds. the surprise on your face was palpable and probably really obvious, but you had genuinely not expected him to say that. especially not as demanding as he did. he just smiled, completely ignoring how you had reacted, which you were sure he was doing purposefully. 

"you live here too, now. 's only fair, i give you a heads up when i'm coming over." he explained.

that made a lot of sense, actually. and it was really considerate of him. you quickly hushed into the kitchen and grabbed a little piece of paper from one of the cabinets. you quickly scribbled your number on it and handed it to him. he thanked you and haphazardly folded it before letting it slip into the side pocket of his pants. it didn't really occur to you, until then, that you had given an entirely strange guy your number, but you figured, that it wasn't that much of an issue, considering that tomura was close to him. 

"it was nice to meet you, dabi." you smiled at him. " good night."

"night, y/n."

♪ ༘⋆ backstage pass

⋆ everyone in the band is a boykisser.

⋆ himiko leans more to women, but she's had crushes on boys before (she just loves love).

⋆ touya is the only one of the guys to have had been with women before. though unlabelled, tomura and spinner have both only dated guys.

⋆ tomura will deny it, but him and touya have kissed before (on multiple occasions).

⋆ the band practices under the basement of the black wing, that keigo let's them use for free, since they play gigs in the bar for free and that brings in a lot of people

⋆ keigo actually hadn't intended of having y/n work a full shift, but she did well enough, that he decided to skip the trial shift and immediately hired her

⋆ rumi and y/n immediately clicked within ten minutes of working together. on that note, rumi spent about twenty minutes teaching y/n about the bar and the rest of the day relentlessly bullying keigo and bitching about shitty customers

⋆ himiko immediately forced both y/n and rumi to stop working when she and the band ( - dabi obviously) walked in, because she was so excited to meet tomura's sister.

⋆ they spent an hour getting to know each other and it would have been more, but spinner came up from the basement to drag her to practice

⋆ y/n had fully expected ochaco to leave, when her friends called her to go out for ice cream with her and had not at all expected to be invited. himiko tried sneaking out with them, when they went down to say bye to the band, but spinner caught her

⋆ ochaco calls all her female friends muses. she has a folder dedicated to each one, full of pictures she took (with consent ofc). himiko’s folder was already twice the size of the average when the two were still friends.

[ taglist open ]

tags: @fictionalcharactersownmyheart @hktfbuo @commonmisery @lsunncy @kyiyoko @seijuroww @themultifandomgirl @samm1e13 @kalulakunundrum @porusuniverse @oddball08 @starseclipsing @jlly1 @softasshadows @peachesvault @starzzworld @starrmage @letsgolulu @cristy-101 @brixmeeler

ignore the timestamps

♪ ༘⋆ ᴅʀᴀᴡɴ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ — t.todoroki smau

in which tomura shigaraki’s sister is forced to move in with him. she knew of his band already, but she never expected to become close to any of them, especially not her brother’s best friend. and she never expected that it could ruin her life any more than it already was.

cw: use/abuse of alcohol, drugs and substances; illegal activities; overall very stupid, messy decision making; kys jokes; mentions and allusions domestic violence; enji todoroki being a shitty father; parents in general being shitty; suggestive language; toxic relationships (but all the gay people are happy); mentions and depictions of child abuse; eventual smut (probably); will include written parts marked with 𝄞 (anything specific will be tagged in the chapter it applies to)

⋆ 18+ mdni

જ⁀➴

do I wanna know // if this feelin' flows both ways // Sad to see you go // was sorta hopin' that you'd stay // baby, we both know // that the nights were mainly made for sayin' things that you can't say tomorrow day

⋆ playlist

♪ ༘⋆ ʟɪɴᴇ ᴜᴘ

⋆ meet the band

⋆ meet the entourage

⋆ online shenanigans

♪ ༘⋆ ꜱᴇᴛʟɪꜱᴛ – ᴀᴄᴛ ɪ

i. stranger danger

ii. shush boykissers 𝄞

iii. practice session

iv. showtime 𝄞

v. successful kidnapping

vi. cold soba

vii. the offer 𝄞

viii. drive 𝄞

ix. family dinner 𝄞

x. keigo lore drop

xi. missing [upcoming]

xii. tbd [upcoming]

[ taglist open ]

tags: @fictionalcharactersownmyheart @hktfbuo @commonmisery @lsunncy @kyiyoko @seijuroww @themultifandomgirl @samm1e13 @kalulakunundrum @porusuniverse @oddball08 @starseclipsing @jlly1 @softasshadows @peachesvault @starrzzworld @letsgolulu @cristy-101

header made by @koznme ily

Would You Fall In Love With Me Again?

synopsis; no matter what he did, he would always be the kid you knew from crime alley. (UTRH jason todd x fem!reader) wc; 2.5k

cw; angst, happy ending, mention of dismemberment, mentions of violence, brief mentions of stabbing, brief and possibly incorrect descriptions of first aid, heavily based on would you fall in love with me again by jorge rivera-herrans from epic the musical

a/n; this man has been on my mind lately and the song was stuck in my head so this stems from that, enjoy.

don't use, copy or steal my works.

is it you? have my prayers been answered? 

is it really you standing there, or am i dreaming once more?

“jason?” the name leaves your lips in shock, you never thought you’d see him again, only in your dreams if you were lucky.

you look different, your eyes look tired.

your frame is lighter, your smile torn.

the man in front of you holds barely any resemblance to the child you once knew. his eyes, although tired, are darker and sharper, a hint of recognition in them. his stature is bigger, muscles filling out his frame and he’s grown taller. there’s a broken smile on his lips and it doesn’t reach his eyes.

is it really you, my love?

jason’s been back from the dead for almost six years now, and he’s been back in gotham for two of them. it’s been a year since he worked his way to the top of the crime syndicate as the red hood and enacted his revenge on bruce.

he would catch glimpses of you throughout that time, not necessarily stalking you, but just wanting to keep an eye out, make sure you were okay. this would be the first time he speaks to you since coming back.

i am not the man you fell in love with.

i am not the man you once adored.

“can i come in?” his voice is deep, it no longer carries that light whimsy tone it did when he was a child. the sound of it both scares and comforts you, he’s grown into a man. but at what cost?

you let him in and lead the way to the kitchen where you nervously begin to make a calming lavender tea.

“i’m dreaming again, aren’t i? there’s no way you’re actually in my kitchen right now.” you mutter while shaking your head as if to force the dream away.

“you’re not dreaming, i’m real.” his voice startles you again, you just stare at his hulking frame as he sits in a chair at your table eyeing the way you flit around nervously.

“if this is real.. if i’m not dreaming, what’s something only you would know?” you’re skeptical, jason realizes, and you have every right to be. the whole of gotham knew he was dead. bruce wayne’s second son, dead in an accident, little did anyone truly know.

i am not your kind and gentle husband.

and i am not the love you knew before.

he scoffs as you sit across from him, two mugs filled with tea sit on the table's surface, one in front of each of you. of course you’d be the one to ask him to prove it. you were never one to take things at face value, perks of growing up in crime alley.

“we had our first kiss behind the giant penny in the bat cave, the night you discovered bruce and i were batman and robin.” he watches your hand flex, fingers tapping an unknown rhythm on the table as you consider his words.

“how old were we?” you fire back, he seems so confident and you want to believe it’s him but you have to be sure.

“i was fifteen, you were a week shy of being fourteen. i died a year later.” you wince at the harsh way he speaks but nod nonetheless.

“how old are you now?” you know he’s aged since he’s bigger now, you just want to know if he’s still a year older than you.

“twenty-two.” his answer confirms that he is.

would you fall in love with me again,

if you knew all i’ve done?

the next hour passes by with him catching you up on everything. how he died, how he came back, what he’s been doing since coming back. you stopped drinking your tea once he mentioned severed heads.

he speaks casually, as if he’s not bothered by any of this, but you know him enough to know when he’s faking, at least you used to. you can detect the hurt and anger hidden behind his words and actions, you were pretty upset yourself when you found out bruce wasn’t going to do anything about the joker. you cried over jason for months.

the things i cannot change,

would you love me all the same?

silence fills the air around you after jason finishes his story, you moved from the table to the balcony halfway through, and now you sit on the couch. your legs are pulled to your chest as you lean against the armrest and peer at jason from lidded eyes. 

he sits facing the dark screen of the tv, legs manspread and an arm hooked over the back of the couch, the other rests at his side.

“you know, we never actually broke up.” you mentally facepalm as the words leave your mouth, why in the hell would you say something stupid like that? 

your cheeks flame up as jason bursts out laughing, a deep chuckle rumbling in his chest that filters throughout his entire body. the couch shakes slightly from the vibrations of his body as he tosses his head back. the sound of his laughter and the sight of him makes you chuckle in turn. you laugh together for a bit until his next sentence has reality crashing in again.

“yeah cause i fucking died y/n.”

“well i’m sorry you’ll have to forgive my heartbroken depressed fifteen year old self for assuming since neither of us said the words ‘i’m breaking up with you’ that meant we were still together even if you were dead.” you grumble and use your hands to showcase air quotes.

“please tell me you haven’t spent the last six years thinking we’re still together.” he’s looking at you now, trying to gauge your reaction while waiting for your response.

“i grew out of that at sixteen, so only a year really. i’ve dated here and there, but most didn’t last long. there was one guy who lasted longer than the rest, but even that fizzled out pretty quick.” you explained with a shrug and watched as the tension left his shoulders, his body sinking into the cushions behind him.

“why didn’t they last?” you tilt your head back to look at your ceiling and inhale deeply at his question.

“i was just too in love with my dead boyfriend to move on with anybody else.”

i know that you’ve been waiting, waiting for love.

it’s been a couple months since the day jason showed up at your door, you talk everyday, whether he calls or texts you. he visits when he can, if he’s not patrolling as red hood. his relationship with bruce is still rocky, but slowly mending. you’ve started visiting the manor again, alfred appreciates your company and the atmosphere you bring with you while you’re there.

your dead boyfriend isn’t so dead anymore, and there’s something unspoken between the two of you now. jason has his own apartment, though you aren’t sure how since he’s still legally dead, bruce is apparently working on rectifying that. despite having his own place, he spends a lot of time at yours, and it only adds to your ever growing confusion.

unbeknownst to you, jason isn’t faring much better. he has trouble sleeping because of the nightmares, but lately when he does sleep, all he can think about is you. you’ve told him time and again that you don’t care what he’s done as a crime lord, that all you care about is the fact that he’s alive and back in your life. he’s paranoid that this is some awful trick his mind is playing on him.

he’s supposed to crash at your place tonight, hopefully he can control himself around you.

would you fall in love with me again,

if you knew all i’ve done?

the things i can’t undo,

i am not the man you knew.

you’re both laying across the couch, your body atop his, legs intertwined with his, and his arms around your waist while you both watch tv. some random horror movie playing that neither of you are really paying attention to, too caught up in your thoughts and each other.

that unspoken something hangs tensely in the air as your head rests on his chest, fingers tracing inconsequential shapes and patterns on his side. his eyes are closed and it heightens the feeling of your body against his.

“so… are we going to talk about it?” your voice breaks him out of his thoughts and he sighs heavily. he knows you’re talking about the unspoken thing that’s wrapped itself around you two like a thick blanket in the cold winter months, but he doesn’t think spring has arrived yet and he’s not quite ready to leave the comfort and safety of the blanket.

“i guess not.” you answer your own question after several minutes of nothing coming from him aside that first heavy sigh. his body tenses as you push yourself off him and stand away from the couch. he sits up once you turn off the tv, eyes finding yours in the dimly lit living room of your apartment.

“i’m sorry.” it’s the first thing he’s said since before the start of the movie and it’s your turn to sigh deeply while your shoulders sag as you stand in front of him.

“it’s fine jay, i’m going to bed.” it’s too early for you to be going to bed and you both know it, but your statement is said with such finality that he doesn’t try to argue. he only sighs as he watches you walk away to your bedroom, before throwing his head back with a heavy groan, knowing he’s sleeping on the couch alone tonight.

i know that you’ve been waiting, waiting,

after that night, jason distances himself. he’s hoping that some time apart will help him get his shit together and figure things out before he loses you completely. bruce, alfred, and dick all think he’s being an idiot, and honestly? he’s starting to think the same.

three months have passed since that night, and jason can count the number of times he’s seen you on both hands. the distance hasn’t done anything other than make him yearn for you more and wish to be by your side.

he doesn’t realize he’s left the comfort of the thick winter blanket until the night he crash lands on your balcony, bleeding out from a stab wound he got while fighting some goons with batman. he knocks only once before you’re pulling open the door and tugging him into your apartment.

“bruce called me when you disappeared after the fight, said you might’ve gotten hurt and to be expecting you.” you explain once you notice his head tilting in confusion. you help him onto the towel covered couch, a first aid kit and a bottle of whiskey sitting on the coffee table.

he takes off his helmet and the domino mask he had on underneath before letting you help him remove his jacket and pull up his shirt. the stab wound is on the left side of his stomach, no vital organs were hit but he will need stitches.

you work in silence, cleaning up the wound and the area around it with alcohol wipes from the first aid kit before stitching him up and covering them up with bandages. you give him the bottle of whiskey while cleaning up the mess on the coffee table and floor.

a flash of something catches his gaze, his eye zoning in on your throat, his breath hitching as he recognizes what it is. it’s the last thing he stole before bruce took him in when he was eleven, a necklace that he gave you for your tenth birthday. a silver chain holding a pendant the color of his eyes.

‘so that you’ll always have a piece of me close to your heart.’ is what he said when he gave it to you.

“i didn’t know you still had that.” his voice comes out hoarse from lack of use and your eyes flick to him in confusion before following his gaze to the pendant that rests at the bottom of your throat, just above where your heart would be.

“oh yeah, i still have a lot of the things you’ve given me but this one is my favorite.” you replied as you grabbed the pendant in one hand.

a symbol of our love everlasting.

jason knew what he had to do, but he just couldn’t find the words to use. he’s lying in your bed on his back, your head on his chest, body pressed against his injury free side as his arms are encircling you. 

he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to being this close to you, his paranoid mind is giving him anxiety, making him think this is just another nightmare.

“how could you possibly care about me still? i’m a murderer, a monster.” the words leave his mouth before he has time to second guess them, your hand stops the tracing of shapes and instead rests palm down on his stomach.

“jay you’re not a monster, you’re a traumatized kid. the same one that saved me from getting bullied back in crime alley, the same kid who would make sure i was fed even if you were also starving. the same kid who brought me along with him after he got adopted by the richest man in the city.” you look up at him now, chin resting on his chest as he tilts his gaze down to meet yours.

i will fall in love with you over and over again,

i don’t care how, where, or when.

no matter how long it’s been, you’re mine,

don’t tell me you’re not the same person.

“no matter what you do, you’re still that same kid i knew from crime alley. my dead boyfriend who i’m just too in love with.”

i’ve been waiting, waiting,

waiting, waiting,

waiting, waiting,

waiting, oh,

for you.

“well i’m not dead anymore.” he chuckles and you roll your eyes.

“yeah but according to you, you’re not my boyfriend anymore either.” you don’t even get the chance to laugh before he’s cupping your chin and pulling you up for a passionate long overdue kiss.

lips connecting with yours roughly as his hand slides to your throat, tongue pushing its way into your mouth. gasping, your body presses against him, hand clutching his side. 

he pulls away wincing and you quickly apologize, having forgotten his stab wound. but he merely shakes his head and presses another kiss to your lips.

“you’re still jason todd to me, the kid from crime alley.” you smile resting your head on his chest again.

“i know.” he presses a kiss to the crown of your head.

“and you wanna know something else?” you start tracing random shapes and patterns again.

“what?” he asks, relaxing his body into yours while sighing happily.

“i love you.”

gal pals

[blog rules]

i know life and fate are scary, but i wanna be legendary

⚡️ i’m just getting back into writing after years so posting will be inconsistent

🔮 posts will be a mix of smaus and longer fics/oneshots

⚡️ i will write for fem!reader and gn!reader

🔮 only writing for the fandoms i’m in (inspiration for characters hits randomly therefore it changes often)

⚡️ characters i will write for; izuku, katsuki, kaminari, kirishima, hanta, tomura, touya, keigo, hitoshi, satoru, suguru, kento, toji, sukuna, choso, levi, eren, armin, jean, connie, jason todd, dick grayson, roy harper, oliver queen, bruce wayne, tim drake, barry allen, wally west, hal jordan, gambit, rogue, kurt (others can be requested but they may be ooc and i apologize for that)

🔮 requests can be suggestive and i’ll do my best to get it accurate but my confidence in my nsfw writing is extremely low (i may eventually write nsfw things)

⚡️ requests can be sent via my ask box and i will get to them when i have the time <3

🔮 dms are open for my mutuals any time; and asks are open for everybody (i’m okay with venting/ranting i actually love to yap with people)

⚡️ always be kind and respectful no hate of any type will be tolerated

requests; {CLOSED}

i'll fight the harpies and chimeras, the minotaur, even cerberus

some of his poses make him look a little silly

— 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈𝐈 — piedmont. —

⤥ gn!reader. no quirk au. fame au. exes -> lovers.

four years of no contact. it’s been four years since the two of you laid eyes on each other, yet that never stopped the ceaseless thoughts. after splitting to focus on your careers, you thought you would never see him again. it seemed the universe was aching to prove you wrong.

m.list. previous. next.

the piedmont.

it was a name you hadn’t heard in the long time you’d been away from home. you would often find yourself looking back onto the shared experiences held within those four walls. reminiscing in hopes of bringing any form of semblance of home back to the forefront of your mind.

now here you were, finally settled back into the confines of your own house, in your own country, in your own town. you found your career to be a blessing, but nothing beat the comfortability of your own room and your own bed.

you could practically hear the shrill voices of your friends already, celebrating the return of your coveted friend group. you had to admit, it was difficult being so far; but it wasn’t just you. it seemed the stars had finally aligned with the wishes and whispered pleading that came from the group of you. you couldn’t remember the last time you all had your feet on the same soil. yet somehow, now, you could finally look upon the faces of all those you held dear in person, instead of over the phone. sincerely, it felt like a cosmic hand had lowered itself to push you all together again.

including bringing back the one person you tried to keep locked permanently out of your racing mind.

hitoshi.

stupid fucking hand.

there was no hatred harbored in your heart toward your ex. if anything, your relationship was teetering on the border of something amiable. in a way, this was frustrating. typically a breakup creates some sort of tension, augments some sort of hatred. unfortunately, shinsou was someone who kept his nonchalance in check, making it difficult to loathe the person he was after the separation. often times, you wished he wouldn’t have made everything so easy. holding contempt for him would be easier than the complete neutral feeling you had toward him that settled within you.

neither of you made the effort to keep in touch. you broke up, went your separate ways, and kept those ways separate. until now, of course.

the finishing touches of your look finally came together, and you dissociatively stared back at your reflection.

maybe he won’t show…?

you aimlessly tapped your finger on the bathroom counter that you found yourself leaning on. repeatedly tapping, tapping, tapping, until you had to forcefully pull yourself from the solid grasp of your overthinking.

who cares if he’s there? we’re cool. him and i are cool. we’re friends. stop freaking out.

pulling yourself together, you placed each strand of hair in its rightful position, smoothed what wrinkles you could from your outfit, and turned on your heel out of the bathroom. one foot in front of the other. until you reached your front door and finally hustled yourself out of the house.

tonight was about seeing your favorite people. tonight was not about worrying over a guy you dated. you might’ve been exes, but you were still friends. somewhat.

the buzzing that came from your phone in your hand caught your attention as you carefully locked the door behind you.

⎯⎯⎯⎯

bright neon letters shone in front of you, illuminating the features on your anticipated expression. katsuki’s car parked a few spaces away gave you the indication that the others were definitely waiting for you inside. the moment you stepped through the door of the building your senses were met with music on high volume, voices reverberating, bodies bustling, and ten pairs of eager eyes. it wasn’t hard to pick them out of the crowd. it never was.

your feet were barely able to carry you to where your friends stood, before you were met with their expected clamor.

“oh my god!” a voice sprung in your ear, bringing a wide smile to the canvas of your face. your arms were quick to reciprocate the hug uraraka had engulfed you in, giving her a tight squeeze that said ‘i missed you too’.

you gave this same treatment to the rest of your friends, giving one hug after another; saying words of greeting to whoever found themselves in your embrace.

it was strange how each person seemed to look the exact same as the last time you saw them, yet, sporting aspects you had yet to witness first hand. it made you feel better knowing the people you grew up with hadn’t changed too much. adulthood made your friends before you glow in a radiance that suited them well.

“you look good,” hanta expressed, draping an arm around your shoulders, “finally found a sense of style, i see.”

his smirk didn’t do well from deterring the playful hit you landed on his abdomen, “i’ve always had style, asshole.”

you found yourself, moments later, with a drink in your hand and a smile still stubbornly adorning your face as you watched the people surrounding you catch up as if no time had passed.

denki still had the same sense of humor that made your face hurt, and it was showcased perfectly as kirishima retorted the banter with ease. the feeling of nostalgia ran high; everyone was finally back and you couldn’t have felt more comfortable than in this moment.

the group of you huddled around a small standing table a good distance from the bar, leaning on each other for stability.

“is shinsou not coming?” izuku asked through the noise that filtered through the air. a few shared glances between the eleven of you ended in awkward side eyes pointed in your direction.

“stop looking at me like that,” you chuckled out.

it wasn’t a foreign notion to your friends that shinsou was a touchy subject. you tried time and time again to reassure that ya’ll were okay with each other. yet, even still, talk of shinsou was treated like taboo if you were in the vicinity. it was mainly to accommodate you, which you thought was a sweet gesture.

a few awkward laughs permeated through the group.

your eyes rolled slightly, “guys, really, it’s okay to talk about him. i’m not going to explode if i hear his name.”

“you sure about that?” katsuki retorted as he stared at you over the rim of his cup, one of his brows arched.

midoriya landed a soft jab into bakugou’s side, causing the blonde to jump with a frustrated grunt. you watched the two silently mouth profanities to each other, eliciting a giggle from your throat.

jirou grabbed your empty hand from where her and denki stood across you, “we just don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything,” her thumb caressed the back of your hand gently. she was always so careful with you, so attentive, “i wouldn’t imagine talking about your ex isn’t very thrilling.”

“it’s thrilling for toshi,” denki blurts, “y/n is his favorite topic, actually.”

kaminari laughed proudly at his own words while the rest of the group laughed along with him. you chuckled awkwardly, letting your gaze fall to the lacquered wood that your fingers mindlessly traced shapes into. you knew hitoshi well enough to remember his tendencies, but even so, you weren’t particularly excited to learn whether he ever got over you after all these years. you had tried your best to move on and create something for yourself without letting him cloud your mind, and you hoped he was able to find the same path. according to denki, however, it seemed shinsou hadn’t let go quite yet.

or maybe denki was joking and you were mistakenly taking his words to heart. either way, why should you care? it wasn’t your problem if hitoshi had left things in the past or not. you and him hardly talked anyhow. what he grappled with in his own time was his responsibility, and you weren’t going to worry yourself over something you had left behind years prior.

“this conversation is not passing the bechdel test,” toga sighed.

you nodded your head in agreement, silently pleading for any kind of topic change, ”uh, how is the short film coming along?”

ochako and himiko beamed brightly at your question.

“our team is great,” ochako began, suddenly ripe with excitement, “the filming process has been so fun because the actors actually love being apart of the project —“

“unlike last time,” toga playfully interrupted.

uraraka rolled her eyes, intertwining her arm with the blonde’s and turning back to you.

“do you think you could take some photos for us again?” she questioned with big eyes, “we want some promo shots and a picture for the poster.”

you cracked a smile, grateful that your friends trusted you with this task. last time you helped them was during the beginning of both your careers, and now, the three of you had grown so much, “of course i will.”

the abruptness of denki’s sudden excited movements jarred you out of the moment you had happily sunk into.

“shinsou, over here!”

it’s almost as if something otherworldly pushed your head in his direction. without meaning to, almost completely subconsciously, you quickly looked over your shoulder to find his brooding eyes already locking intently with yours. even though four years had passed, and even though he stood halfway across the crowded bar, he still looked the same as the day you left.

you should look away. you know you should. but, the way you watched shinsou visibly stop in his tracks, watched his demeanor instantly change almost as if to adjust to your presence, had your eyes glued to the boy. you were so lost in your stare that you almost didnt notice monoma pop out from behind him, annoyingly pushing hitoshi to where the rest of you resided.

you swiftly turned your gaze away and back to your friends who were watching you closely. embarrassingly so.

“way to be nonchalant,” hanta said quietly in your ear. you shot him a glare and he was quick to back off after letting out a chuckle.

“don’t worry guys,” neito said from behind you as the pair neared the group, “the fun has finally arrived,” you could practically hear his stupid smirk. everyone let out a collective groan, wishing he would crawl back into the dank hole he most definitely derived from.

but you didn’t dare turn back, especially not when you could feel hitoshi standing directly behind you, virtually blocking you from turning to leave.

monoma joined the rest of you, slipping himself between denki and sero, yet shinsou didn’t move. his figure stayed put, standing comfortably in your shadow.

should i say something?

you watched the others banter about while it took far too long for you to convince yourself to greet him from where he stood behind you. when you finally did, turning your head over your shoulder, his eyes were already locked with yours.

has he just been staring at the back of my head?

“hey,” you said through the noise filtering through the bar, giving him an awkward smile.

shinsou shot a smile back, taking your spoken word as his sign to move his feet that felt glued to the floor from the moment he walked in, “hey.”

hitoshi took the barely open spot next to you, keeping his hands snug within his jean pockets. the silence between the two of you was suffocating — palpable. yet in that suffocation, was a comfort you had been without for four years. you were ashamed to say you missed it, even. you both watched the others as they engaged in conversation, but neither of you spoke; only listened.

“i’m going to the bar,” hitoshi said to you, leaning his body into yours to grab your attention, “want something?” he asked, pointing to the empty drink you held tightly in your hand.

you stared at the glass, not quite able to tell if you were glad it was empty or wished you could will it back to fullness.

your head nodded, “uh, yeah…sure.”

“you, uh,” he raised a brow, “wanna come with me?”

maybe it was how crowded the bar was, or how loud everything had suddenly become, but hitoshi seemed closer than before and you felt your breath stop short in your throat.

all you could muster was a single nod of your head, which was enough for him to take the lead with you close behind him.

reaching the bar, you ordered your drinks as you made yourself comfortable next to him.

“since when are you a beer guy?” you ask with a slight chuckle.

hitoshi shot back a grin, “since i have to drive home.”

“you came with monoma right?” you asked, remembering how they walked in together. shinsou nodded his head, “couldn’t you make him drive?”

you both looked over to where the rest of the group stood across the room. monoma was interjecting into every conversation, loud as usual as he sipped on the drinks of your friends.

“you’re joking, right?”

a laugh slipped from your mouth, “yeah, i don’t even know why i asked.”

he looked over at the drink that rested on the wood in front of you — the drops of condensation slowly making its way to stain the surface. shinsou watched as you slowly circled the rim of the glass with your finger.

“who’s driving you home?”

you turned to look him the in the eye for the first time since taking your place at the front bar, “me,” you replied.

the way he raised a single brow at your word elicited a roll from your eyes, “do i need to take that away from you?” he asked, a smirk painting his face.

“shut up,” you replied with a scoff, turning your head to hide the smile that slowly formed on your lips.

this felt natural — felt good. you were ashamed to say how much you missed talking with him like this. the casualness of it all brought a comfort to your soul.

“if you need a ride, i can drive you.”

why can’t i stop fucking smiling?

“i won’t,” you stated, meeting his gaze once again, “need a ride, that is. uh…thanks, though.”

the interaction ended as quick as it started; silence radiating between the two of you. shinsou kept his eyes trained on you as you looked away, losing yourself in thought once more.

“so,” he shimmied himself closer to your figure, keeping his elbows planted firmly on the bar. well, as firmly as he could considering his nerves were shot just being beside you again.

you giggled without meaning to, “so.”

how long had you been standing here? what really lasted seven minutes felt like three hours.

“you look different,” he instantly thought to mend his wording when you shot him a side eye, “good different. you look really good.”

“you look the same.”

a chuckle you knew far too well flooded your ears, “that means i’ve still got it. i knew my youthful glow was noticeable,” he laughed again when you rolled your eyes, “i can let you in on my skincare routine if you want.”

“and you’re still a smart ass, too. good to know,” he could tell you were messing with him by how wide your grin was. he could never forget the way your face glowed when you laughed. he always saw it in his head, but he was grateful to see it in person again.

“what’ve you been up to?” hitoshi turned his body so he could face you completely, leaning his side against the hardwood.

“denki told me you’ve been good at keeping up with that sort of thing,” you eyed him with a subtle grin.

“what sorta thing?”

good to know he still hadn’t stopped doing the ‘playing stupid on purpose’ act, “me.”

you giggled to yourself when he bowed his head with a dramatic sigh.

“first of all,” he started, “believing that ass hat is actually crazy. kudos to you for trusting a single word out of his mouth, you are so brave.”

you now turned your body to face shinsou completely, mimicking the way he stood, “is there a second of all?”

“do you want there to be?”

your shoulders shrugged and you still couldn’t wipe the smile from your face; your cheeks were starting to hurt, “maybe,” you responded.

hitoshi nodded his head slowly, taking in your features with a smirk resting comfortably on his face, “do you keep up with what i’ve been doing?”

“please,” you scoffed, “i have much better things to do with my time,” you playfully rolled your eyes and he took a swig of his drink, “i mean, it’s hard to not know what you’re up to when your name is in every headline right now,” you answered honestly.

“oh, so you are keeping up,” he wore a disgustingly shit eating grin, “that’s cute.”

“don’t even with me, stalker.”

another silence settled in the air between you and hitoshi. you looked away from him, opting to watch your friends as they kept a conversation going. toga was elaborately telling some sort of story which had kirishima hunched over with laughter. you watched them as shinsou watched you — admiring the way your lips pouted, the swoop of your nose, the way your eyelashes fluttered when you blinked.

you weren’t oblivious to the way his eyes were glued to you. he had always done this.

“what?” you asked, cocking your head as you caught his gaze with yours.

“nothing,” the way he stared at you was pure and inquisitive, taking in every piece of you that he could, “just…haven’t seen you in a while.”

“takin’ in the view, huh?” you said with an awkward chuckle, obviously messing around. you didn’t know how to combat his sincerity with anything other than a joke. who could blame you. it had been four years since you spoke to him; which was was to break up and say goodbye.

“yeah. if you’re good with that.”

you knew it was obvious how your breath caught in your throat by the way his lips curled into a grin. the most you could do was stare — stuck blinking at the boy in front of you.

since when was he this bold?

“hey! you guys!” izuku’s voice cut through the air that grew thick between the few inches that separated you and hitoshi.

midoriya beckoned the two of you over back to the group.

“probably suggesting to hit up another place,” he said to you as you downed the rest of your drink, “you gonna go?”

“it’s not like i have anything else to do,” you responded, finally moving your feet to carry yourself back to where the night started.

“cool,” he tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, “cool.”

you giggled silently to yourself at his single word response as he practically attached himself to you, following as close as he could behind you.

“you’re still a fuckin’ dork.”

a/n: the way i hit every roadblock imaginable trying to come up with ANYYYY interaction for this chapter actually had me tweaking. dni. ANYWAY!!! as u can tell i gave the chapters namesss, which are song names!!! specially songs from the don’t dream it’s over playlist which u should totally listen to btw hehehe (im very proud of that playlist and need someone to appreciate it)

ALSO!! this would probably count as a “backstage” piece of info BUT in my head PwA sounds like a mix of the bands slowdive, fleshwater, and destroy boys soooo do with that what you will

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L.O.V.E

🎮 tomura shigaraki x fem!reader smau

a strangers/online friends to lovers university au

masterlist / keigo lore / cold soba

checkpoint;

keigo lore

cw; mentions of suicide, mentions of drug addiction, allusions to SA, mentions of running away, mentions of familial death from overdose, allusions to anxiety and depression, please please please do not read this if any of these are triggering to you, this chapter is not super important to the plot, it’s a side quest that just explains the history between keigo and touya from the last chapter’s lore drop, MDNI, please be mindful of you’re mental state when reading this chapter

who is keigo takami?

well to put it simply, keigo takami is an older brother and works as a restaurant bar manager. but who is keigo takami beneath that?

keigo takami is a broken child.

when keigo was two years old, his sister was born. that was fine, he loved playing with her and watching her grow up. from two years old to seven years old, life couldn’t have been better, he had his parents and his sister. when he was six things between his parents got a bit rocky, but still that was okay. he still had them and his sister.

until he didn’t.

when keigo was seven, he learned that not all parents stay together. he also learned what cheating really was and why his sister didn’t really look like him. his dad said he’d take care of him and that he’d still get to see him, that didn’t last very long.

when keigo was ten, his dad remarried and moved away; he never saw him again. keigo had to take care of himself, his sister, and his mom who found her solace in drugs. little keigo did what he could, which as a ten year old, wasn’t much.

when keigo was fourteen, he met touya at school. the two became friends fast, hanging out at school, or the park when they had the time. neither of them wanted the other at their house for varying reasons.

in the summer between freshman and sophomore year when keigo was 15, he and touya began dating. it was the happiest keigo had been in years, but he still had his mom and sister to take care of. keigo worked hard to make sure that his sister was taken care of, that his mom was doing okay, and that his relationship lasted. he started working as a busser and dishwasher for a restaurant. working as many hours as he could, he’d take the bus after school and on weekends.

when keigo was sixteen, his sister tried running away in hopes to make it easier for keigo. she got as far as the park five blocks from their house before keigo found her. “i need you here, i can’t lose you, please little sis. it’s just you and me against the world. i will always protect you and take care of you. no matter what happens, i promise to always be there.” his words had made them both cry and she followed him home. that night, keigo held his sister while they fell asleep for the first time since they were kids.

when keigo was seventeen, a number of things happened. in may, he bought touya a promise to give him on their anniversary in september. in june, his sister tried to kill herself, she wouldn’t tell him why, but he thought it might have something to do with her ex-boyfriend or maybe their mom. in july, his mom passed away and he started working more to get a place for his sister and him to live. keigo never got to give touya the ring, because in august dabi, as he apparently now went by, broke his heart. keigo was left wondering if it was his fault.

when keigo was eighteen, he graduated high school and started working nearly everyday. he saved up enough to buy a car and would take his sister to school in the morning before going to work. his sister got into gaming as an escape and he did everything he could to support her. keeping her face hidden, she started streaming and soon enough started making money.

“keigs, i got money from streaming my games.” his sister had said one morning on the drive to school, keigo was almost twenty while his sister was a few months shy of being eighteen.

“that’s awesome chickadee, how much did you get?” he glanced at her from the driver seat while stopped at a red light.

“nine hundred dollars.” keigo gaped at his sister in shock, a car honked behind them, and he started driving again.

“that’s amazing, i’m so proud of you little sister.” she smiles at his words, feeling shy at what she says next.

“i want you to have it.” he’s shaking his head before she even finishes talking.

“no.”

“but keigs-”

“i said no, save it for college. don’t waste it on me.”

“It’s not a waste to me. i want to spend it on you. you’re my big brother, you take care of me.”

“exactly, i take care of you. not the other way around.”

“keigo please.”

“i said no.”

she doesn’t say anything more but a couple weeks later he has new clothes for work and a new phone for his birthday, he doesn’t bring it up.

and now, keigo is twenty-four, working a restaurant bar manager position that he worked his ass off to prove himself worthy of and get promoted to. he has them living in a two bedroom apartment in a nicer part of town, his little sister is in college and still streaming.

and the love of his life, the boy that broke his heart, is sitting on the couch in his living room, looking very much like he belongs there. keigo’s heart breaks all over again, and the ring he keeps hidden in the back of his closet calls his name for the first time in years.

he’s fucked.

checkpoint; keigo lore, data saved!

continue to next level?

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