Not To Be Biased Or Anything, But Iida Simps Are The Most Reliable People Out There

𝟏𝟐:𝟎𝟕 𝐀𝐌 | 𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐒𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐘𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐈.

he’s so pretty like this, you think as you watch him laugh. sakusa has a smile that could bring the sun to her knees, and he’s a pretty sight, and he’s yours. every moment with him, every word that’s spoken and every kiss he steals is like scripture you hold dearly.

“you have really cute dimples, you know,” you hum, poking the small indents of his cheeks. he gently swats your hand away, rolling his eyes. his cheeks are still flushed from the laughter from earlier, and you brush a few loose curls from his forehead.

“you don’t have to always bring that up,” he groans. and truth be told, sakusa loves when you point out little things about him, he loves the way your voice is always in awe, and he loves being the center of your attention.

“but they’re so cute, kiyo,” you pout, pinching his cheek delicately. “how was the party?”

“boring,” he mutters. “hate that they made me go.”

“well, your dad is really strict about these kinds of things,” you hum, threading your fingers through his hair as his head slumps onto your shoulder. it’s your last semester with sakusa, and then you’re both off into the real world, and you can’t help but hold onto these moments of peace a little bit longer.

“he was so annoying,” he grumbles, sinking further into your touch as you wrap an arm around him and pull him into your chest. and you should both go home soon—sakusa has practice and you have class, but you like the soft breeze kissing your skin as you lean against the trunk of a tree, and you like the weight of him in your arms as he settles into your embrace.

sakusa has never thought he’d be the type to like things like picnics in the middle of the night—but you make him live life a bit differently now, and he can’t say he minds it so much.

“tried to talk you out of volleyball again?” you murmur, and he nods, sighing. his family’s a little bit of a sore spot, but he trusts you enough to let you see those parts of him, even if they’re not his favorite.

“rambled on with my aunt about how i’m wasting my youth chasing something meaningless,” he rants, “and he said i was tainting the family name,” he spits bitterly. “you know she agreed with him? what a hag,” he spits, and you throw your head back and laugh.

“i think they’re just jealous they’ve never been on a news article,” you poke his nose, and he crinkles it lightly.

“can’t stand them,” sakusa mutters, but he relaxes a little when you press a soft kiss to his moles, making him hug you a little tighter.

“you shouldn’t listen to them, kiyo,” you say gently. “you love volleyball.”

“what if my dad’s right though?” he whispers, and there’s a small hint of doubt that’s always lingered in his mind, but you never let it surface for long.

“he’s not. you were the best player on the team as a freshman,” you remind him.

“wakatoshi played in the olympics,” he huffs. “and so did kageyama. i want to play in the olympics,” he pouts, and you run your thumb over his cheek as you cup it, smiling when he leans into your palm.

“you will,” you say, and sakusa feels his lips almost start to wobble at the confidence in your tone—no one’s ever been this confident in him. no one he’s needed it from, anyway.

“my dad’s trying to convince me to work with him in his office this summer,” he rolls his eyes. “says he thinks i’ve fooled around enough.”

“aw, kiyoomi my little business man,” you giggle, pinching his nose and making him scowl. “hope you wear a cute little tie that i can pull you into a kiss with.”

“i’m not doing it,” he scoffs.

“will you wear the suit for me then?”

“no,” he says flatly.

“at least a tie?”

“i’m having a crisis here,” he insists dramatically, and this time, it’s your turn to roll your eyes. sakusa’s always been one for theatrics, but you can’t say you don’t enjoy the show.

“oh, you poor thing,” you pout, and he huffs, shaking his head as you pepper kisses along his forehead in faux sympathy.

“you…you really think i can play pro?” he questions, and you snort, looking off to the distance as your hand rubs over his back slowly. sakusa has never been one to express himself, but if there’s one thing he does express, it’s way he loves volleyball—and lately, it’s the way he loves you.

you think you’re content with the late night rendezvous he lets you rope him into, and the evenings of waiting for him when he stays extra after practice, and the facetimes as you both study for midterms, and the way he sneaks out of family parties and you put off studying so you can have a picnic with him in the middle of the night.

“well duh,” you say as though it’s the most obvious thing on the planet, and his chest tightens. “if you don’t make it pro, then there’s no hope for japan to win the olympics.”

snorting, kiyoomi sprawls himself over your lap, grinning up at you and making his dimples surface once more. you poke them again, and he swats your hand away, and it’s routine by now.

“believe in me that much, huh?” he wriggles his brows, but there’s a soft hitch of his breath when you cup his cheeks gently and lean your forehead against his, pecking his lips delicately.

“even if no one else does, i will, kiyo,” you murmur, and this time, as sakusa really does fight off the wobble of his lips, he doesn’t think he wants to prove his father wrong anymore.

he only cares about proving you right now.

---

Can somebody hold him for a sec 🤏

the waiting game.

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

pairing: iwaizumi hajime x fem!reader

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

length: 9.7k words 

a/n: repost!

AT FIVE YEARS OLD …

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

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

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

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

just like your brother, tooru.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

oikawa’s face puckers in slight annoyance.

“why?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

you: (°ｏ°)

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

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

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

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

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

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

but he needs his bro time, y'know?“

"it’s one on one right now-”

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

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

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

AT NINE YEARS OLD …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

that much was true.

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

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

not that you’d ever tell him (yet)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

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

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

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

AT TWELVE YEARS OLD …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“huh?”

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

iwaizumi: why tho ಠ_ಠ

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

oh my god, he’s just oblivious.

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

iwaizumi chokes.

and then he laughs.

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

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

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

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

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

“she does not like me.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“i know you have a crush on me…”

oh…

that’s when your heart skipped a beat.

so he found out.

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

“so what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

he wanted it to be crystal clear to you

“so what?”

iwaizumi: (；一ω一||)

“y/n, did you even hear me?”

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

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

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

“y/n stop staring at me.”

“but you’re cute.”

oikawa: (¬_¬)

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

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

“he’s MY friend!”

“well, he’s MY future husband!”

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

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

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

but the heart wants what it mf wants >:(

AT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD …

finally!

you made it to high school.

which is most fortunate for you because~

“iwa~ !!!”

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

great, he thinks to himself, here we go.

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

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

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

“what’s her deal with you?”

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

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

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

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

and then you’re gone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

there’s a pause.

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

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

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

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

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

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

no one is.

that is until… “y/n!”

oh brother.

you turn around in the hall to face your brother.

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

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

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

but oikawa knows you better than anyone.

and you were indeed masking your true feelings.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“and i still won’t.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

except for one thing: your aggression.

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

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

but you went about it differently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AT FIFTEEN YEARS OLD …

oh, your second year of high school.

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

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

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

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

ah the life of an oikawa, am i right?

you do be pulling these people though.

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

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

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

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

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

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

unbeknownst to you, your brother tells him absolutely everything

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“oh?”

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

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

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

even if his friend didn’t believe it.

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

“g’night iwa-chan~”

AT EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD …

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

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

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

“but still~”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“yeah, yeah.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“you?”

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

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

you missed him.

and you made sure he knew.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and why are you calling me by my full name?

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

“you go here?”

no way.

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

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

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

come on, you were in love with the guy.

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

but here he was standing right in front of you.

“i thought you were at-”

“i transferred.”

oh, so that’s what happened.

“oh…”

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

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

he did.

and you were underestimating it.

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

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

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

glancing between your roommate and iwaizumi.

of course she figured out by now.

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

the reaction you expected from him: (T_T)

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

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

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

“you, too.”

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

you rub your temples, registering what just happened.

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

you two were grown adults for crying out loud.

sure, you always believed you were endgame.

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

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

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

meanwhile in iwaizumi’s single room …

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

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

“why is y/n here?”

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

“i’m her RA!!”

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

“you wouldn’t have told me.”

“you’re right. i wouldn’t have.”

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

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

“and why would you say that?”

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

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

“i know right?”

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

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

“whatever. bye.”

“bye bye~”

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

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

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

yeah, you were slaying the college game.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

had your legs always been that long and toned?

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

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

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

you felt v embarrassed rn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ok then, let’s go.”

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

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

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

“have you guys talked?”

“not really,” you shrug.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“that’s really sad, y/n.”

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

“and what feeling does he give you?”

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

“home.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

you stick your tongue out at his nonchalant and apathetic answer

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

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

you shrug as if saying, why not?

“i’m on duty right now, i can’t.”

“why not?” this time you voice it.

“if someone needs something-”

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

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

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

but:

“ok, fine, just one game.”

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

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

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

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

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

(hah, “one game” my ass)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“shut up.”

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

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

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

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

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

you claimed he still had your heart. 

but why weren’t you acting like it?

had you…matured?

iwaizumi gulped and slightly widened his eyes. 

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

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

the only answer he receives are soft snores. 

oh. 

you fell asleep. 

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

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

“i think so,” was his simple reply. 

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

you were out like a light. 

alexa play sicko mode

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

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

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

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

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

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

“right.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“i had fun, too. so no worries.”

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

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

“yeah i do-”

“does she have a chance?”

iwaizumi’s throat runs dry. 

“i’m too old for you.”

“i’m three years older than you.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

his reasoning. 

all of his rejections were revolved around your ages. 

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

it was always about age. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

at first it isn’t even intentional:

you two walk into your dorm at the same time

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

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

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

“reruns of criminal minds.”

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

but he still enjoyed your presence. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

but you managed to keep your feelings at bay. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“you’re on,” you smirk. 

ending result of the game: you won. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

five minutes pass you return with a plate of food. 

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

“really.”

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

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

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

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

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

when you were kids. 

“it’s been a while, huh?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“i’ll meet you in the front, ok?”

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

you couldn’t tell her…

why not?

‘cause you’re a coward. 

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

it’s not the right time. 

but she’s only been waiting for thirteen years…

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

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

stepping closer he feels his stomach drop. 

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

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

“sorry, i’m taken.”

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

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

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

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

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

gruffly, iwaizumi responds, “i will.”

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

you’re stunned. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“the waiting game.”

Keep reading

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It’s (Not) Just Dancing

Bakugou x ImpliedFem!Reader

Summary: Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t like dancing, but his birthday party leads him to a few conclusions he wouldn’t have reached without trying.

Cw: sfw, cursing, reader wears a dress, slight mention of alcohol, pro heroes but it’s not really relevant, lots of fluff for the birthday boy | word count: 2.1k

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It was never just dancing.

It’s his 22nd birthday, and he’s at a party he never asked for. Considering that this happened every year despite his opinion of social events never changing, Bakugou thinks that the celebration may be less for him and more for the enjoyment of its hosts. If he liked parties, he might appreciate it more– when his idiot friends put their shared three brain cells together, they could actually pull together something a step above a disaster. He’s not actually ungrateful though, he’s secretly glad that his friends care about him so much as to plan something nice for him when his birthday rolls around. This year, he’s mildly impressed by their choice of venue, reminiscent of a small, exclusive night club. The bar has a variety of drinks to choose from, and the dance floor has slowly filled with a number of his acquaintances, shadowy figures swaying under color changing lights. But as he watches Denki down four shots at once from his corner of the lounge, Bakugou begins to wonder how much longer it’ll be before he can leave his own party unnoticed. It’s past his bedtime, after all.

“What’s the birthday boy doing over here all alone?”

Keep reading

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They got it from you

synopsis: envious nobles are at it again, ruining your day with their venomous remarks and making you doubt certain things. What a relief that your family is always ready to make it feel better.

pairing: Diluc x fem!reader, feat your sons

tw: hurt/comfort, bullying, established relationship, fluff, tiny mention of pregnancy

word count: 6.9k+ words

author’s note: @sleep-deprivedracoon you can call me a liar. I know I said I was not going to continue A child of our own anyhow, but here I am, making a whole family AU (yes, here is a separate masterlist for it)

Biggest thanks to @lunargrapejuice​ who shared my brainrot and gave me an inspiration to write it 💛

Life couldn’t be better. Honestly! You have everything and then some more that fills your every moment with happiness - you have an amazing husband, who is your lover, your support, your dear friend and the person who looks at you like you hold the whole universe in your hands (and you do, whenever you cradle Diluc’s face in your palms). You have two amazing sons - four-year-old twins, sweet and active, polite and respectful, happy and playful, though sometimes borderline mischievous - but they are kids! That is to be expected. You found home in the manor of the winery, where every single member of staff came to love you dearly, always smiling and sounding fondly whenever ‘My Lady’ or ‘Madame’ leaves their lips both in your presence and absence. You have great friends - your close circle of old ones and the ones you befriended after stepping into your now-husband’s circle, the best possible addition being his brother’s family. His wife and daughter adore you and the feeling is wholeheartedly mutual. People of Mondstadt always loved you, but now they love you even more and are always excited to see the whole Ragnvindr family of four members in the city.

Sadly, not all people.

Sure, there is nothing wrong in someone not liking you and not approaching you as a couple of others would. After all, it’s impossible to be loved by everyone, there is no such person in the whole Teyvat. It’s a completely different thing when someone openly despises you.

Keep reading

Hello! If your ask box isn't open, please ignore this I couldn't find anything that said if It is or not, but can I request Xiao, Gorou, Kazuha, Venti, and Aether if you write for him, with a fem reader who is very self conscious and their weight, having big breasts and stretch marks ? You don't have to add all of it or just whatever you'd like, I'm feeling very insecure rn and I love your work so I thought I'd send in a request.

Anyways I hope you're having a wonderful Day/Night and stay hydrated and healthy <3

All my love, Rose 🌹

#you are beautiful

—where you’re self-conscious about your body

CHARACTERS. Gorou, Kazuha, Xiao

THEMES. hurt with comfort. with angst. with fluff.

WARNINGS. anxiety, being self-conscious (without any real specifications)

NOTES. this is quite late i know,,, my head has been aching since earlier and i couldn’t come up with anything for a long time. however after playing my xiao playlist in the background the words just came pouring in. i hope you guys like this! this is one of the most emotional stuff i’ve written here so pls be careful! also, i only put 3 characters because i wanted to get this out immediately and since it’s also in my rules,, no matter how much i wanna write more. also, i hope this would be able to help somehow, rose! thank you sm for requesting<33

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GOROU knows that something is wrong but he couldn’t seem to figure out what it is. You pull away whenever he tries to embrace you; avoid whenever he tries to reach out for your waist; and above all, he misses you and your touch.

He’s a straightforward man, and he wants to get to the middle of the situation before it gets worse, thus it wasn’t long before he was pulling you aside privately and asking you directly how you were.

“Is there something wrong, honey? You’ve been acting… odd lately. I’m here if you want to talk to me.”

He didn’t know what to expect, but he softened up when you finally told him about the thoughts that ran through your head lately, the shadows that creeped your mind and pushed him away at the same time.

Without a moment to lose, he slips his hands on your waist, gently pulling you close and carefully peppering your face with gentle kisses. Unlike any other time, he was slow, letting you relish on how his lips press on your cheeks, temples, the bridge of your nose, the corners of your eyes, and even on your jaw. Unraveled, you were, but all was silent in this very moment, with him helping you learn how to slowly love yourself [again].

“It must have been tough on you, huh? I apologize for only noticing this now, my love. You are worth more than just your outside appearance, but if I were asked, you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my entire life. You deserve more recognition than you think.”

KAZUHA notices how distant you have been these past few days. He watches and continues to observe you to see what seems to be the problem. The way you crossed your arms, look away when he’s professing his love for you, and even avoids his kisses. He can still kiss you, but whenever he tries to pull you deeper, you push him away.

He respects you, he does, but something doesn’t feel right.

For one last time, he whispers in your ear, “My dove, the love of my life, have I told you how much I love you today?”

The words lingered in your brain far longer than it should and sooner, you broke and gave him the answers to his questions—the worries that filled your mind these past few days and prevented you from accepting any kind of affection that he had always given.

With a gentle kiss on your nose, he then leans his forehead on yours, “Your beauty encompasses any other I’ve ever seen my entire life, no matter what you or the others say, this fact remains in my mind, and I wouldn’t mind having to remind you that everyday and every moment of our lives.”

XIAO, above everyone else, is the most concerned. Not only was he confused as to what seems to be the problem, but he also doesn’t know how to address it without having to look insensitive of your mortal feelings. He’s not like you, and that was exactly what he feared of—to hurt you without meaning to; inside and out.

He wanted to reach out, wanted to hold you and be there for you, but what if he was the problem? What if he’s the reason why you’re feeling this way?

Yet, he couldn’t just give up on you like that. He is a weapon, he cannot desert you just like that.

So he decides to confront you about it, standing face to face under the moonlight on the balcony of Wangshu Inn. He prepares himself for the onslaught of the battlefield, but he could have never expected the sharpness of the sword that you had been fighting with all this time, all alone.

He holds your weary and tired body, letting all the cries of your heart and soul about your insecurities fall onto the wind and out into the open. He is not human, he cannot comfort you the way humans could, but he is your weapon. He doesn’t like seeing you this way. If he had to defeat even the negative thoughts in your mind, he would. For you.

He held the back of your head, a sign of reassurance, maybe? Or was it a way to ridicule the voices that pull you into the darkness?

“Foolish human, you are more beautiful than how you think you are. What you see on the outside is not the only basis for such things. How else do you think you’ve tamed even an Adepti like me?”

TAGLIST (pls send an ask to be added)

@softlybeloved @rim0na @icecappa @simplyxkashi @scaraslover @beastielevi @cursedraiden @thesatanofpizza @izayanna @stellumi @coco-goat-milk @nonniechan

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synopsis. you’ve been deliberately dodging atsumu miya. he wants to know why.

pairing. atsumu miya x fem!reader | wc. 2.0k (it wasn’t even supposed to be this long) | genres. (implied) university au, tbh i don’t even know what this dynamic is, he calls us princess, reader’s kinda bad emotionally, rain confessions

notes. for my birthday (not gojo’s eff him (/j)) i decided why not take one of my favorite tropes of all time and pair it w the loml. you’re so welcome. this is very dialogue heavy, barely proofread, and a hot mess, but i hope you enjoy regardless.

"(y/n)." the very familiar, sultry yet aggravating voice says the moment you step out of the cafe.

"oh my god!" you jump, clutching a hand over your heart that skipped a beat. it's immediately followed with a glare towards atsumu. "what the fuck, miya? you don't just come up to people like that."

"sorry." atsumu apologizes but his nose scrunches at the word. "nah, not really. didn't know how else to get to ya."

"so you had to find me at my job?" you raise an eyebrow in disbelief.

he shrugs. "yer really not leavin' me with any other choice."

"what are you on about?" you roll your eyes as you take a sharp left, carefully exhaling out. the street is nearly deserted now that the sun sunk past the horizon, leaving only the street lights and the moon to illuminate what would be a pitch black scene. puddles of water are scattered along the walkways, remnants of the downpour that occurred earlier in the day. you had clocked out later than usual, and the next flash of rain is predicted to fall within the next few minutes. you want to get back to your dorm before the worst of it happens.

"ya know what i'm talking about." atsumu huffs. "yer clearly avoiding me."

your shoulders tense when he brings it up, and you pray that atsumu doesn't catch it. "i'm not." you lie, your heart speeding up.

"yer a shit liar. i hope ya know that." atsumu shuts you down right then and there. the fact he's able to makes you wince. that's one of the many bones you have to pick with him. he can always see right through you, and it allows him to get under your skin easily since he knows exactly what to say if he wants to get a reaction out of you.

it's because of that reason that you've been avoiding him. you know yourself well enough that if you were to stand face to face with atsumu miya as you are now, he'd figure out the secret that you've been hiding for two weeks.

atsumu presses his lips together, sighing once he realizes that all he'll get from you from this point forward is silence, but he tries his luck anywayy. "can we talk?"

you let his question fizzle out in the air, continuing down the sidewalk as atsumu follows by your side. the first drops of drizzle fall onto your hand and cheek. atsumu feels them too.

"look, it's gonna rain soon. could ya at least let me take ya home? yer gonna get soaked." atsumu gently reaches out for your hand. the sudden contact and its spark of heat makes you jump. instinctively, you yank your hand away from him. your widened eyes snap towards him, and shame washes over you. maybe the street lights are playing tricks on you, but you swear there's a flicker of hurt in his gaze. you turn away from him because you can't bear the sight of it.

"are ya mad at me? did i do somethin' to upset ya?" atsumu continues.

no, you answer in your head. you can't trust yourself to say it out loud without betraying anything else. it's not that.

"(y/n), please. talk to me." atsumu pleads. you don't think you've ever heard such desperation in his voice before. you've never seen him so raw. it's almost enough to break you, but you refuse to let go the threads of your resolve. the rain is picking up; it's cold as it soaks the threads of your clothes.

"princess." atsumu throws in as a last ditch effort. you know it is because it's the one nickname that gets you riled up the most. it sparks a reaction that atsumu knows will get you talking, but unbeknownst to him it's not for the reason he expects. he wants you to snap with anger, but all your heart does is ache. all it does is melt you into putty in his hands.

"don't call me that." you finally come to a stop, turning so that you can face him, defeat in your gaze. atsumu's blond locks are beginning to lose volume; they stick to his forehead as droplets continue to fall. his hoodie is littered with small, dark stains, a physical consequence of the rain.

"oh now i got yer attention." atsumu scoffs, poking his tongue into the inside of his cheek.

"miya." you warn, voice shaking. he ignores it.

"yer not being yerself, and ya haven't been for the last two weeks." he tells you as if you don't already recognize it yourself. "what's goin' on with ya?"

"nothing!" you deny. "i'm fine!"

atsumu rolls his eyes. "cut the crap, princess."

"seriously, stop calling me that!" you spit back at him.

you're shivering. you can't tell if it's because of your cold, wet clothes or your frustration that keeps reaching new levels. you can sense it; you can sense that your heart is about to claw itself out of chest and dump itself onto the feet of atsumu miya. your hand fists the fabric of your soaked shirt as if to keep it in.

"then tell me what's wrong!" the blond in front of you demands, running a hand through his hair. his voice projects over the brutal force of the rain.

you grimace. that's the one thing you can't do, especially since it involves him. you bite your tongue, hiding your face so that atsumu doesn't see the glassiness of your eyes. "miya... please drop it." you ask him pathetically.

"why?" he pries. this is the other issue with him. he's so damn stubborn to the point that it's infuriating. atsumu miya never backs down until he gets what he wants.

"because it's you!" the first wave of tears break free. they cascade down your cheeks, mixing in the stream of rain on your cheeks; all while your hand remains pointed at atsumu. "because i fell for you!"

atsumu shuts his mouth, going completely silent. you shake your head, laughing bitterly. "i bet you didn't expect that, did you? believe me, i didn't either. day in and day out all we've ever done was argue so i don't know how this happened. i don't know why i have these feelings for you."

wiping your face is a futile attempt yet you still do it anyway. a sob gets caught in your throat, and you choke on it. "i can't stop thinking about you. i can't be near you without my heart attempting to leap out of chest. and so yeah, i've been avoiding you miya, and it's because you've made me so damn weak."

your stare finds atsumu's. you can't get a read on him, but you don't have to second guess that he can see the pain swirling in your eyes. it's so humiliating that even now the first thing that crosses your mind is how good he looks even as you feel your heart being torn apart. his hair is completely stuck to his forehead. his blond ends that are soaked through and through drip their excess water onto his face. you want nothing more than to brush them out of his line of sight, but you can't. you fight that desire by balling up your fists.

"so please just leave me alone. stop trying to find me because i can't take this anymore." you beg through hiccups.

you wait for a response. you wait to see if atsumu will kick your heart aside. in an even better scenario, which is far from likely, he accepts it. you'll take either or.

but he does neither, and that's fine too. you leave atsumu by himself on the sidewalk, and your lack of presence pulls him out of his trance. he jogs to catch up to you, reaching from behind to clasp your hand in his.

"miya, let go-"

"no." he says firmly, a newfound fire burning behind his eyes, one that exceeds the one you feel on your hand. the sight makes you gulp. "ya can't just confess yer feelings for me and leave."

you chuckle weakly, trying to pull yourself free from his grasp. "i think i can."

"no, ya can't. ya didn't even give me a chance to say anythin'." atsumu argues. he doesn't relinquish the hold he has on you.

"what more do you have to say? you don't feel the same, and that's fine-"

"could ya stop assuming things?! i never even said that." atsumu squeezes your hand ever so lightly in frustration. "and by the way, i'm not gonna leave ya alone. i'll follow ya to the edge of the earth if i have to."

you're still crying at this point, and atsumu's words are only making you more upset. "why?! why are you so fixated on me?! why can't you just-"

"because i'm in love with ya!"

in that moment, you swear the rain stops in its place, suspended in the air. surely, you must've been hearing things wrong. atsumu miya, the guy who has everyone dancing to the tune of his hand, is- no that doesn't even sound right. how could he possibly-

"god, i've been in love with ya for so long." atsumu laughs, like it's a relief to finally get it off his chest. "but ya nearly ripped my heart to shreds over these past two weeks."

atsumu squeezes your hand before letting it fall to your side. his own flex by his side as if to hold himself back. "(y/n), ya can insult me to yer heart's content if that's what makes ya happy, but don't dodge me like i'm the damn plague. i hate it. i really do."

atsumu picks up his tear-filled eyes; it makes your own fall even faster because you realize that this hurts him. you want to apologize, but the words are backed up in your throat. your cries steal away your ability to speak.

so you pull him in, yanking him by the drenched fabric of his hoodie and closing the distance between you two. your lips crash onto his, praying that this action is enough for him to understand. it takes a moment for atsumu to react, he's unmoving against you, and once he realizes what's happening, he relaxes. his hands fly to your neck, resting one on either side as he kisses you back.

it's carnivorous. he kisses you like he's been deprived of you. you feel how badly atsumu's been wanting this, how long he's been waiting for this day. you can barely keep up with his hunger. it's hot enough to overpower the chill that comes with the rain beating down on both of you. you'd kiss him forever if you could, but your lungs are begging for air.

when you pull away, atsumu's eyes reveal that he's in a daze, a happy one, like he just came back from soaring through the clouds. his damp hair presses onto your forehead as you both catch your breaths.

he pulls back. atsumu wears a soft grin as he admires you, even though you probably look like a wet dog. one of his hands find their way up to your cheek. you look at him expectantly. "(y/n), i want all of ya. i want yer stubborn ass attitude and yer insults. i want ya to be the only person who can bring me back down to earth. i want yer smiles and all yer laughs. i want to continue lovin' ya." he professes with complete certainty. his flowery words make you beam so brightly that it makes your cheeks hurt.

"i'll give you all of that and more." you swear. "but miya, i need you to kiss me again."

"oh? it seems like i got myself a needy princess." atsumu smirks, but he's already leaning in.

"shut up."

"gladly." atsumu agrees, pressing his lips to yours, smiles on both your faces.

you catch the flu the day after, and so does atsumu. but man, it is so, so worth it.

tending to their wounds

they cannot evade death. but with you around, they're invincible.

feat. albedo, childe, diluc, kaeya, kazuha, xiao

genre : headcanons, fluff, angst [for xiao and kazuha], hurt/comfort

warnings : blood and injury. death mention. minor cursing.

❀ albedo

it's to no one's surprise that albedo isn't human, meaning he doesn't have the same bodily functions as the others in mondstadt do. his body cannot bleed nor can he feel much pain. that's not to say he can't at all, but a simple prick from a piece of shattered flask can't really do the young alchemist any harm.

flasks breaking or nicking himself while conducting his own research never really phased the alchemist. despite the warnings his assistant gave him about laboratory safety, he didn't need to heed them if the injuries didn't apply to him, did he?

it's safe to say that the chief alchemist is... perplexed to say the least at seeing you worry over him. he wasn't expecting you to come rushing through his laboratory door when you heard the sound of falling glass and nearly climbed over all of his equipment to come to his aid.

"really, you shouldn't have to worry," his gentle voice reassures you, but his attempts to calm you down are futile. instead, albedo is met with your furrowed brows in concentration and your fingers brushing against his as you inspect his invisible wounds.

"yeah well, maybe if you were more careful in your laboratory i wouldn't be here worrying over you, would i?" albedo sighs at your response and decides to let you do as you please to his 'injuries.'

the alchemist's teal eyes follow your movements as you reach for the bandages in the first aid kit and begin to wrap them around his finger tips. he doesn't miss the way your tongue pokes out from between your lips as you concentrate on the task in front of you.

despite not needing to worry much about him, albedo finds it endearing that you care so much about his wellbeing. how much you care about him, how often you check up on him and make sure he never overworks himself. you truly are a caring individual, a ray of warm sunshine in his life.

you meet albedo's gaze when your name leaves his lips, eyes filled with curiosity at what he could possibly want.

"thank you for tending to me." he thanks you with tender smile on his face, his spare hand gently ruffling your hair. the flustered expression on your face is hard to miss, especially when you quickly duck your head down and away from the alchemist.

you stutter out that 'this is nothing!' and continue on wrapping albedo's faux injuries. though, the alchemist finds the way your hands shake as they brush against his skin adorable.

❀ childe

childe is a war criminal, in case you missed it. it's not uncommon to find the young man fighting an entire hoard of enemies by himself. the thrill of battle never seems to be enough for him, as he constantly seeks anything that could satiate his need for exhilaration.

finding scars or fresh injuries on the harbinger is the usual for you, regardless of whether or not they're shallow wounds or deep gashes that gush blood and stain your poor floor. not that childe minds anyways, he sees his battle scars as medals of the many fights he has won and wears them with pride.

but, despite being one of the fatui harbingers and an absolute beast on the battlefield, that doesn't stop you from worrying about his wellbeing.

your brows furrow in concern at the sight of childe in front of you; body worn from using his foul legacy form one too many times in succession and injuries sustained from his earlier fight. he shouldn't have protected you, really you could have protected yourself. and yet...

"you're going to ruin yourself if you keep going into your other form all the time, you know." childe laughs weakly at your lecturing; that's all he can do right now anyways. you catch your lip in between your teeth as you rub a cooling ointment on the harbinger's body. "this isn't funny. you can't just die. then no one would be the eleventh harbinger and you-"

"i would leave you alone?" childe smiles when you send him a glare. his rough hand finds yours, squeezing it lightly in reassurance. there's not a chance in the world that he would succumb to death just yet. childe is still young, and there are many others that he hasn't had the pleasure of fighting against.

and he sure as abyss can’t pass away without saying how he truly feels about you.

you grumble to the snezhnayan that you could've handled it all alone, that you didn't need him to go all berserk on the ruin guards that had surrounded you earlier. instead, childe laughs and places a weak hand on your forearm. "i know, but that was the perfect time to show you just how well i can fight. maybe then, you'll finally accept my feelings."

a white lie, really. even though childe knows that you could've handled it yourself, he acted on instinct back then. the thought of you being harmed in any way sends a chill down the harbinger's spine. he wouldn't forgive himself if he reacted a second too late and you ended up hurt as a consequence.

what's the point of harboring the power of the abyss if he couldn't protect the ones he loved.

you roll your eyes at his answer, choosing to quietly resume cleaning up childe's wounds in hopes that he doesn't say anything more embarrassing. as your fingers brush against the snezhnayan's freckled skin, you don't miss the way he leans towards your touch and the happy hum rumbling from his chest.

❀ diluc

the darknight hero is not one to lose his battles, let alone allow any of his enemies lay a finger on him. trained by the knights and his own father, diluc's fighting style is difficult to intercept and finding a weak spot in his defense is futile. even if his sword is too slow, his fists will be glad to meet those that oppose him.

that isn't to say he doesn't get hurt every now and then. you've caught him with bandages wrapped around his hand, blood soaked gauze around his torso. as long as the job was done, diluc didn't mind the wounds he received in battle.

he isn't used to others tending to his wounds, as nobody really knows he's the darknight hero and protects mondstadt in the middle of the night. so when you catch him in the act of cleaning his wounds and offer to help, he kind of freezes up.

diluc wants to decline your offer, sure that he could finish this up by himself. and besides, he doesn't want to burden you with his consequences so late at night. but he knows you would keep bugging him and complain later that he didn't "love you" or whatever dramatic act you'd be committing in the near future.

it's hard to look at you when you're so close to the red haired vigilante. granted, diluc has always been pretty close with you, seeing as the two of you grew up together and shared most of your memories with one another (and kaeya).

but being physically close to you... is another story. your fingers lightly touching his skin, your face so close to his as you inspect other wounds on his body, your hands roaming the expanse of his chest to remove his shirt in case it hid any other injuries you could have missed.

diluc's hands twitch when you inch even closer to him. if he wanted to, it would take one swift movement to have his lips on yours. one swift movement to hold you in his arms and feel the way your skin melts into his.

but the vigilante has self-control and would rather die than make you uncomfortable.

diluc releases a shaky breath when you finally move away from his body, though it's only a brief moment of respite since you immediately move back into your previous position after grabbing more bandages. absolutely perfect for the poor vigilante.

he clears his throat when your hands slide down his arms to reassure the pressure is enough to keep his wounds from reopening and bleeding out. it is then that you realize what you've been doing to the poor red haired man and how close you've been to him and his body.

"oh? what could you possibly be thinking about, mr. ragnvindr?" you tease, raising an eyebrow and sending diluc a playful smile. you fail to suppress your laughter when he scrunches up his face and turns his face away from you, his ears burning a wonderful shade of bright pink.

"i think it's time for you to leave." shocked, you try and apologize and get him to let you stay a little bit more. the night is still young, and he still has more injuries to be looked at! but diluc pays you no mind.

not like he'd have the heart to actually kick you out of his room anyways.

❀ kaeya

the captain of the calvary isn't one to fight, always looking for people to do his dirty work so he doesn't have to. why bother exerting more energy than you already have when you can make others do it for you? it's more fun that way, anyways.

that doesn't mean kaeya is incapable of fighting. if needed to, the blue haired captain would gladly point his sword at the enemy to keep them at bay or spar a fellow knight. scratches and shallow scrapes are what you mostly see from him.

you aren't expecting to be called into the knights of favonius headquarters and be greeted by the calvary captain battered up and bruised in the infirmary.

"you're squeezing me too hard," kaeya comments nonchalantly, as if he isn't bleeding to death on the bed right now. "you'll cut off circulation in my arm if you keep doing that." you shoot him a glare, but the blue haired captain only laughs at you. you tighten the bandage on his arm.

you refuse to get tangled up in anymore of kaeya's antics. it's all his fault you've aged ten years because of him and his stupid actions and refusing to ask for help despite the mission being bigger than anyone could handle. alone at least. it's not like you don't trust him, but a little extra help isn't bad to have.

your frown deepens when your eyes flit up to stare at the blood soaked shirt covering kaeya's chest. you order him to take it off so you can inspect his injury, which was a mistake on your part.

"oh? shouldn't you ask me on a date first before being this forward?" kaeya's laughter rings around the infirmary seeing your deadpan expression at his joke. maybe you should just leave, just leave this stupid man to bleed to death on this infirmary bed. maybe then you would finally be at peace.

"well. maybe i would have asked you on a date if you weren't so stupid to take this dumb mission alone. you could have died, asshole." kaeya only hums in response, which pisses you off even more. it's like he didn't have a care in the world.

in the midst of your grumblings and cleaning of kaeya's wounds, you miss the tender look he gives you; warm and gentle. the captain finds it nice to have someone care for someone like him after so long.

it wasn’t his fault he wanted to do this alone. well, it was, but it’s hard for kaeya to rely on others and be vulnerable to those around him despite how long he’s known them. his walls are built high, refusing to let anybody in in case he accidentally hurts them in the future.

he wonders if you'd miss him if he disappeared one day, but the way your brows furrow in concern at seeing how bad the gash in his chest confirms his answer.

kaeya’s endearing, warm smile is replaced with the usual smug smirk when you look up to meet his gaze. one day, he hopes he’ll be able to let his walls down around you.

"you know, you're really cute when you worry over me. maybe i should get injured more often." the look of shock at kaeya's comment is evident on your flustered face and it takes everything in him to not laugh and open up his wounds again.

❀ kazuha

kazuha isn't one to easily get injured, well at least seriously injured. he was raised by a prestigious family, trained in the arts of the kaedehara clan. with the help of his prior knowledge of fighting and his keen senses, it's hard to one-up the young man to the point of injury.

that isn't to say he has never sustained any injuries. there have been one too many times that the inazuman traveller has shown up at your door with a couple of scrapes and an apologetic smile on his face.

so, it's a surprise when you find kazuha at your doorstep severely injured and clutching something in his burned hand.

it's quiet between the two of you as your eyes scan kazuha's body for any more injuries and your hands quickly move to tend to his right hand. the skin is burnt, bleeding, and his fingers shake from the injuries it sustained.

you whisper an apology to the inazuman when you gently clean the wounded skin with a warm cloth. he doesn't flinch, dazed eyes still staring off in front of you. it makes you wonder what kazuha went through to be injured this badly. though, seeing as the only serious injury was his right hand, you assumed it wasn't from a fight.

"kazuha... what happened to you?" your words are gentle, afraid your voice would scare the inazuman traveller in front of you. kazuha doesn't respond and instead tightens the grip he has on your hand that's bandaging him. his hand is shaking, and you don't realize he's crying until you feel the wet teardrops on your skin.

ruby eyes glazed with tears meet your own when your eyes flick up to confirm that he was indeed crying.

"tomo..." the crack in his voice shatters your heart and you find yourself pulling kazuha into your arms. his own circle around you and his hands grip onto the back of your shirt as he buries his face into your shoulder.

kazuha's body shakes as he sobs at the loss of his friend. he must have held it in until he got to the safety of your home. you were always his safe haven; coming over so you could tend his light wounds and provide a roof over his head if he was passing by your village.

and yet all you can do now is hold him until the storm inside his heart passes by.

❀ xiao

being in pain or having many injuries litter the expanse of his skin isn't unusual for xiao. he's an adeptus whose sole purpose is to serve rex lapis and protect the citizens of liyue, even if it meant throwing his life away.

even then, sustaining larger, more painful wounds didn't make the adeptus bat an eye. despite how horrible it sounds, xiao is used to it all and takes each hit and laceration that comes his way without blinking an eye.

when karmic debt constantly takes a toll against your health and death is the only solution to reaching true peace, it's hard to care about the state of your own wellbeing.

so imagine xiao's surprise when he shows up at the wangshu inn battered and bruised from dealing with a hoard of monsters and seeing you standing in the yaksha's usual spot, waiting for him with a frown etched into your face.

nimble fingers work deftly against xiao's body, quickly cleaning up the lacerations on the adeptus' chest and the scrapes that cover his arms. xiao releases a hiss from the sting of the medicine and you apologize under your breath.

"i knew you would end up like this." your words come out harsher than you intend to. the adeptus doesn't respond. as long as he was the only casualty to come out of this, as long as the innocent lives of liyuens were protected, as long as you were safe behind the walls of the wangshuu inn, it didn't matter how badly his body was injured.

"i just... i just wished you weren't so careless, xiao." the way your voice breaks doesn't go unheard by the yaksha. his eyes snap forward, but your head is tilted down as your shaky fingers worked their way around xiao's torso. "you're always fighting as if no one cared if you died or disappeared one day."

xiao doesn't get it. he doesn't understand why you care about him so much. a being fated to suffer until his dying days are over, one cursed with karmic debt and forced to carry the burdens of the innocent lives he took in his past.

no one should care about him. a monster with blood on his hands.

but here you are, shedding tears for an adeptus who didn't deserve it. the sole yaksha who is fated to succumb to the sweet embrace of death at any given moment.

and yet, despite knowing he doesn't deserve your gentle touch brushing over his wounds, the young adeptus lifts your face with a gloved finger and brushes away the tears that flow down your cheeks. he longs to continue holding you, to feel your skin against his. you're his temporary solace from the karmic debt that hangs over his heart.

an apology slips past xiao's lips, and you cry harder, calling him 'stupid' for almost dying out there. you bury yourself in his chest and he hugs you, afraid that if he let go, you would be nothing but a dream.

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HELPING HAIKYUU BOYS WITH THIER INSECURITIES

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#Genre: Fluff, Reverse comfort, slight angst

#Includes: Osamu, Ushijima.

#Warnings: Just going to be talking about body and self image issues/ insecurities.

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OSAMU

Osamu had never really cared too much about how he looked until recently. He was busy, too busy some would say. His days were spent taking care of and managing his restaurant which left little to no time to do anything else, including working out or taking care of himself. Now he wasn’t out of shape by any means but the lack of attention to his body had made him become a little…soft. Once hard muscle and toned limbs morphed into softer and rounder curves that were new to him, it was different and he didn’t know if it was a good different.

He found himself stood in front of a mirror shirtless and just observing his body. His hands ran across the expanse of his softer but still firm chest and now slightly rounded belly that was adorned with a layer of fat. He couldn’t help but compare himself to his twin brother. The plethora of shirtless pictures Atsumu posted reminded Osamu of his past or more so past physique and he couldn’t help but think if he’d look like that if he spent more time taking care of himself.

The feeling of you wrapping your arms around him from behind and resting your cheek against his back broke him out of his daze. “Hey… what were you doing?” You asked softy. He softy shook his head,“nothing, don’t worry about it baby” “talk to me Samu I can tell when there’s something wrong”.

He let out a tired sigh while continuing to look at himself “I… I just don’t know if I like..what I see anymore” you scrunched your eyebrows in confusion and as if Osamu could read your mind he continued, “I don’t look the way I used to anymore, I’m not strong and built and I can’t help but compare myself to Tsumu, wouldn’t you rather be with someone like that?”. You let out a laugh of disbelief, “Tsumu…really babe?” “You know what I mean”. You poked your head from behind his back so he could see your face in the mirror, arms still tightly wound around his front.

“Baby…you may not look like how you used to but that isn’t a bad thing. People change and grow everyday and I’d be surprised if you still looked like that” “but-” “ahh let me finish. Firstly, Tsumu looks like that because it’s his job! Secondly, just because you’re now a little softer - which I love- doesn’t mean you aren’t strong, personally I think you’re stronger” you smirk at him which gets you a chuckle. “Theres that smile! I love you Osamu, no matter what you look like and that’s not going to change. But I’ll support you no matter what and if there’s even a tiny part of you that’s insecure because of what I might think then shut that shit down real quick. You’re so fucking hot and sexy, especially like this. Look at this strong chest and these thick arms that make me feel so safe and loved” you say as you run your hands across his chest and up his arms while littering his back with kisses. You feel him slightly shiver under your touch and turn to face you. He brings his face close you yours and brushes your nose with his “thanks baby, that means a lot, a lot more than you think” “I’m just letting you know the truth” you whisper against his lips.

And while Osamu’s insecurities may have not completely left, your words definitely helped.

USHIJIMA

Ushijima wasn’t one to take peoples negative words into account. He brushed of harsh comments and negative criticisms like it was nothing, especially when it came to him and how he portrayed himself. He knows he doesn’t look as welcoming as his other teammates and he was okay with that, looking friendly and happy wasn’t part of his job description so why would he change anything? He walked around with a stoic face accompanied by monotone expressions without a care.

At this point he’s heard it all. He’s been told to ‘smile more’ or had it explained to him that he looks scary and serious all the time. It never occurred to him that he was unapproachable though, what people deemed his ‘scary’ and ‘stoic’ face was just his…face and he was confused about why he should change that, would people like him more? Come up to him more?

However, the one persons opinion he valued was yours. He never wanted you to think he was scary or unapproachable and hoped you didn’t see him that way and for the most part he believed you didn’t. But there was a small part of his brain that convinced him that you believed what the others thought, that he should smile more. With contrasting personalities it wasn’t hard to believe that, while you happily wore a smile on your face, he stuck out like a sore thumb next to you. A part of him thought you deserved someone more like yourself, someone who looked content as they stood by your side but he refused to let that happen. Because no matter how much he believed you deserved better he wanted that better to be him. He doesn’t want to let you go because he does love you and he is happy when he’s with you even if he can’t show it, so if changing the way he acts means being better, then he’ll do it… for you.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You asked as you glanced up from your phone. Ushijima sat on the opposite end of the couch and wore an expression of…discomfort? You didn’t know it was hard to tell. “Like what?” He got out. “Are you uncomfortable or something? You look like you’re in pain” you chuckled out. You didn’t think your teasing remark would effect him but as you watched his face drop and usual frown return, you thought you may have said the wrong thing. “It’s nothing” he sighed out. “Hey I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? What’s going on love”. You watch as he briefly looks away and then looks at the ground as he mumbles out “I was trying to smile at you”. You squinted your eyes as you drawled out “whyy…?”

“I don’t want you to think that I’m not happy with you because I am and it’s come to my attention that maybe I should start showing you more”

“Who put that idea in your head?” You asked with shock. Since when was your Toshi someone who worried about stuff like this. You didn’t think you gave him any impression that would imply you’re not happy with him or how he acts. You slowly realised that maybe this was a deeper issue than he let on and wanted to reassure him as quickly as possible. You crawled over to his side of the couch and sat in his lap, his hands automatically going to rest on your waist. You gently placed your hands on his cheeks and turned him to meet your eyes “look at me baby. I’ve never thought that, not even once. I don’t need you to smile at me and act happy 24/7 for me to know you like being with me” you say as you move one hand to run through his hair. He softly stokes your sides as he stares intently at you, making sure he doesn’t miss a word. “You wanna know a secret?” You smirk. He briefly nods his head and urges you to continue, “You have tells Mr Wakatoshi, they’re your eyes. I don’t need to see a smile on your face to know you’re happy baby becuse your eyes tell me, and that’s all that matters” you slowly lean in as you whisper your next words “plus I love that I’m the only one that gets to see and experience your rare smiles” and with those words he can’t help himself as he reveals one of those said smiles.

You lean in and place a peck on his lips and lean back, watching as he follows you for more. “Plus I think your ‘serious face’ is hot” you casually mention, He definitely can’t stop the laugh that makes its way out because god does he love you, you always know just what to say. “Yeah? You thinks it’s hot” “Mmh, very” “fuck smiling then” and that get you joining him in his laughter. He quickly realises it was stupid to ever doubt you because of course you’d know he loves you, you know things about him that no one else would be able to figure out in decades.

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Note: So this was new ! Never really written anything like this before so hopefully it’s okay.

;)

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