𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕦𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙

𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕦𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 ℝ𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕝𝕖, 𝕃𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕒, 𝔸𝕫𝕦𝕝, 𝕍𝕚𝕝 & 𝕀𝕕𝕚𝕒

Pt.1 - having an argument with them

The reason why I took so long to post this, was partially because it was my intention to make the readers cool off a little bit, instead of immediately posting the two parts one after another so it would feel a little more like an actual argument. But then came some unexpected circumstances and the post was delayed for longer than I'd like ://

Tagging: @im-better-than-your-newborn @wubbabubbaboo @thelegendaryfluffypotato13 @oromaryzm @cheeriochat @editeed @honeyychoba @celestialbluebed @sakurarabbit18

@sno-leopards @joinmeforadoublesuicide you guys didn't ask for the tag, but you sounded so excited- Let me know if you wish it to be removed!

Content warning: WATCH ME BULLY LEONA BECAUSE I CAN it is also incredibly long

𝓡𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓵𝓮

~The following days were… stormy, to say lightly.

~Both of you suddenly developed a desire to prove to each other that you’re fine on your own.

~The problem was that you were not fine at all. 

~Riddle suddenly became much harsher on his dorm’s members. Especially when your absence was pointed out. And, well. It was pointed out way more often than he would have even expected. Turns out, everyone was so accustomed to you being by his side – even students he barely interacted with were bothered by your sudden disappearance. 

~After particularly bad tantrums he threw, some students half-seriously began calling him ‘The tyrant Rosehearts’ again. Which fueled his anger even more.

~But that was not the worst part. His fury was one thing, but the pain and loneliness your argument brought him were unbearable. At first, he even dared to think it was even better, because he had a burden off his shoulders. But that was only until an hour later when the reality of the situation finally sunk in.

~Not once, not twice, he caught himself automatically reaching for his phone and opening your contact, beginning to type a message before remembering what happened between you two, deleting it and turning his phone off. In those moments, the loneliness was what struck him the most and he almost ran to you to apologise.

~Despite the despair of his situation, Riddle would actually take his time before approaching you. Not because he doesn’t want to. But because of the sudden rush of insecurities every time he tries to - or even thought about approaching you. 

~Luckily, the Heartslabyul students had eyes and brains (mostly) so they quickly added 2+2 and realised the situation. 

~Obviously, they couldn’t just stand back and watch their dorm leader suffer (and going rampage), so they split into two groups. Plan A was for the first years to persuade you into talking things through with your lover, while the third years were doing the same with Riddle. In case the argument would turn out to be so bad, there would be no hope, they would seek another solution to ease their dorm leader’s anger. 

~It did take some time, but it was easier than they thought. Both groups had meetings to keep each other updated about the progress.

~But of course, something must have gone wrong – due to important call from the principal and other teachers, the teams missed a meeting and failed to inform themselves about the current plans and situation.

~So while Riddle went over to Ramshackle to apologise, you went to the Heartslabyul with the same intention, at the same time. Which resulted in the two of you missing each other. But that was not all! You both also decided to stay at each other’s dorms and wait for each other. But nobody came.

~In the end, tired and annoyed, you went back to your respective dorms, rethinking your willingness to make up. That was until you bumped into each other on your way and spent a good minute staring at each other wide-eyed and connecting the dots.

“...My rose,” Riddle was the first to break the silence. “I understand if you are still mad-”

“No, no, I… I went to your dorm to, well, apologise? But you weren’t there,” you stumbled on your words, unsure what to say, despite going through the plan in your head a dozen times. 

“I, I wish to apologise to you as well! I just wanted to tell you, I understood my mistakes and I am willing to improve and be a better boyfriend- If you still wish to, that is,” the last phrase sounded more like a question.

“Obviously! Look, I know what I said was painful and you only had the best intentions in mind. I was just overwhelmed with how little credit you give me, Riddle.” Your eyes softened. This time, when speaking, your words did not come out in angry shouts, but in delicate whispers. 

Afraid to break the magical atmosphere, and lost in your need for each other, you didn’t even want to say anything else and let your actions speak the unspoken words of promise, as you found yourselves in each other’s arms.

The evening was chilly, but his body was so warm. You basked in that warmth, doing your best to ignore the happy cheers of the two teams hiding in the bushes. You could almost feel your boyfriend’s growing annoyance. Wait, was that why his body felt so- Oh god, deep breaths Riddle. Deep breaths-!

𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚

~Oh yes. Our very mature lion king had an argument with his s/o and is about to make it everyone’s problem. Skipping twice as many lessons, attempting to nap the whole day and growling at anyone who dares to walk up to him.

~Because every time he heard footsteps nearing him, he instinctively woke up with hope that you would be the one approaching. Only to see someone else and remember your argument. Then as they’re gone, he would just squeeze his eyes shut and try to ignore the bitter taste on his tongue for hours and hours to no end.

~For a brief second, he even managed to fool himself into convincing himself that he doesn’t need you and you were really just a fling of his. Well, not so fast. All it took was a distant smell of yours, carried through the wind to make him go insane once again. 

~Ruggie at first, did not dwell on the fact, having grown accustomed to his senior’s moody demeanour. Instead, he went to look for you, even going as far as making a trip to your dorm if that meant you’d handle his boss.

~What he certainly didn’t expect, was the “I don’t want to see him. Sorry, Ruggie,” he received after knocking on your door.

~The situation was painfully obvious, but if you weren’t there to take care of his dorm leader, he’d be the one having to do that! And so, the scheming began.

~Questioning Leona was out of question, as well as he didn’t want to scratch at your fresh wounds. Therefore, he opted to ask Grim, Ace and Deuce.

~Separately, they only knew shreds and scraps of what happened, but when put together, they provided a pretty clear picture of the situation. So clear Ruggie almost facepalmed.

~”Really, Leona? They literally told you what was wrong- pushed it into your face and you’re not even trying to improve the situation?” He did not even flinch at the angry growl he received in response. “Come on, everyone sees that you’re unhappy without each other!” 

“Be quiet.” 

~But the hyena was unwilling to back down, when he was finally getting to the lion.

~And of course, he had his way.

“I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this,” Ruggie could swear, that Leona was purposefully dragging his feet to stall for time.

“You want to get back with them or not?”

“Tsh, they should be the one coming to me to apologise. They were the one who started the mess.”

“You gave them the reason to, in the first place,” even though he was comfortable walking on soft grass, he could feel his life hanging on a thread.

“Whose side are you on?!” A poor attempt to mask the anticipation with annoyance was made.

“Besides, if they did, would you accept their apology and go back to dating them?”

The answer hung in the air unsaid, but obvious nonetheless.

Of course he would.

The trip to the Ramshackle dorm went quicker than ever. At the same time, he wanted the whole ordeal to last a million years so he could die in peace before even coming close to confronting you and just get things over with so he could hug you again.

So to say that he was agitated  when he spotted two brave idiots blocking the entrance to your dorm would be a misunderstanding.

“Why are you here outside, guys? Is y/n feeling better?” Ruggie eyed Ace and Deuce with a questioning gaze.

“Good afternoon Ruggie-seinpai. Y/n is resting at the moment. Do you have any business towards them?”

“Well, not exactly me, but him.” He pointed at his annoyed companion.

“Yeah, I gotta talk to ‘em so be good little herbivores and let me pass.” Leona could literally feel his patience growing thinner and thinner with each passing second.

“I’m afraid we cannot do that.”

“No one wants you here so just leave and don’t come back, yeah?

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

“The hell was that?!”  

Ruggie quickly got between his dorm leader and the two first years.

“Hol’ up! Why won’t you guys let him in? Did y/n specifically say they don’t want to see him?”

That made the two brave idiots visibly falter.

“Well… Not exactly but-!”

“If they didn’t then let me settle things with my s/o. You have no right to stop me anyway.”

And so, the battle began.

Your soldiers fought to their last breath, but failed miserably against the second prince of the Afterglow Savannah. Meanwhile his servant took a nap.

And as your ex-boyfriend was to strike the final blow to the fallen soldiers, when a shoe flew through your front yard and hit him right in the side of his head. 

Now he was so irked, he completely forgot the ADeuce and instead, his eyes went searching for the boomed soul he was about to tear into pieces - half expecting Grim - when instead, his eyes locked with yours. 

It was rather tough to read your expression in the slowly fading afternoon light, while you were standing a few good metres above him. Well, sure as hell you weren’t pleased judging by the growing dump on his head and the other shoe you were swinging carelessly on your fingers. 

A shiver ran down his spine for a brief second before he shook it off. But you spoke before he could even open his mouth.

“What could possibly be so urgent that his majesty dragged his ass all this way and graced my humble place with his presence? You snarked ironically. 

“Oi! Watch your mouth after I went all the way here to apologise!”

“You don’t look apologetic.”

“Get down here then so I can show you how damn apologetic I am!”

“Why would I? You don’t even have flowers.”

“Say what now?!” Your glare was able to silence him from further complaints even from your window.

“Last time I checked, a man apologising should dress up, come with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a personally chosen gift for his beloved. But not only you have none of those things, but you also storm here like a goddamn burglar throwing my friends out of your way and expecting me to run into your arms just like that?”

“They are kinda right though-”

“Quiet, Ruggie.”

“Seems like you learned nothing at all. If you really care so much, try again tomorrow.”

And with those words, his audience with you came to an end.

***

The next few days he spent as busy as ever, running around the whole campus. Attempting to buy back your favour through many different ways. He really felt like quitting sometimes, but then, he saw them. The little mischievous smiles he could sometimes catch a glimpse of after completing some tasks. 

Those little smiles were rare treats even back when you were dating. Those smiles made his day and were the reason why you could get away with everything. Those smiles reminded him of one of the many reasons why he was so obsessed with you.

It was a pain, but worth it in the end. He could finally hold you back in his arms, his grip stronger than ever.

You breathed in his strong, pleasant scent and basked in the embrace his hands had over your body.

Some braver  students who got accidentally caught in your crossfire even gave him some advice. Dating someone is not the end of fighting for them. You always fight for them and with each day, you find yourself falling in love again and again – each time a little bit more. That’s the recipe for the never ending love.

That’s a hassle, for sure. But if it’s for you, he doesn’t mind fighting for even a thousand years, if it means he gets to see you smile for him.

Also

Don’t worry, Ruggie wouldn’t let himself be forgotten. It barely took any effort at all for him to get Leona to lend him his wallet for a day when he was in a good mood. And everyone had their happy ending(?)

Ⓐⓩⓤⓛ

~For a week or so, he laid low.

~You never got the time to feel lonely though. The first years accompanied you everywhere. As well as some of your befriended second and third years would also drop by to say hi.

~In the midst of all the friendly faces, you barely had any time to miss Azul at all. Sometimes you even wondered if the two of you spent too little time together to get attached to each other.

~But then came the nightfall and the tossing around in bed thinking about him. Craving his company. Craving his touch.

~You couldn’t decide which one was more unbearable. The sleepless nights or the nights when you fell asleep to sweet, almost fever-like dreams about him.

~All those things were the reason why you felt so conflicted when gifts started appearing in front of your dorm. The first time it happened, you were with Grim, Sebek and Silver, watching a movie when your doorbell rang. You made your way through the eerily quiet corridors and opened the door only to find no one. 

~You looked around for a bit, before you noticed the stuff laying on the ground. It was evening already, so you couldn’t quite make out the details, but your eyes recognised some book, a cushion, some plants, a body sponge and some food decorated in tasteful wrappings.

~While you were standing and wondering what in the world were you supposed to do with those things, your friends came down to check up on you and see what was taking you so long.

~No explanations were necessary when they saw the packages by your door. The sender left no doubts as well by a short note attached to one of the presents. Your friends, who were no strangers to your affair with Azul, quickly got into an argument with each other. One side offered to throw the stuff away (Sebek) while the other part fought to keep the gift for themselves instead (Grim).

~Their bickering was only stopped when Silver woke up from his three minute nap and asked if you wish to make up with Azul or end that chapter of your life.

~You did not know how to answer that question. All you wanted was to just talk things through with him.

~For the next few days, the gifts flooded you from all sides. A mug here, a blanket there, homemade chocolates on your desk… 

~It wasn’t long before Jade and Floyd started appearing to give you the gifts personally. Always smiling so invitingly. But of course, no Azul in sight.

~One day you just got so fed up, the moment you were approached on a day before class, you just handed the two eels a note and asked them to hand it over to their dorm leader. They masked their surprise fairy well and wasted no time before visiting Azul in his office.

~He opened the paper so fast he almost tore it.

“Come meet me yourself you coward.”

~The message was short and painfully clear.

The next day, as you were leaving the campus and on the way to your dorm, you met no one else but him. With his hair propped back, dressed in a fine suit, holding the bouquet and the chocolates as his sword and shield. 

The moment he saw you, he almost flinched as his face went bright pink. 

“Angelfish, I-!”

You opened the door to your dorm and welcomed him in. Greatly flustered, he accepted the invitation, almost reluctantly handing over his last weapons in the fight he was meant to lose from the very beginning. 

Your eyes have always been so beautiful, he would surely get lost in their clever gaze had the moment been better. 

“Well,” your voice pulled him out of the trance,” since you’re not saying anything, I’ll start.”

You took a deep breath, before yelling the next words in his face.

“I’m obsessed with you!”

“H-huh?” Azul almost jumped at your sudded words, getting even redder than before. But you didn’t let him answer.

“I love everything about you. I love the way your hair shines when you’re working in Monstro Lounge. I love the mischievous glint in your eyes whenever you get a new deal. I love your smug, salesman grin, but I love your happy smile way more. I’d sell my soul to the devil a million times if that means seeing it again. I love your voice and I feel my heart flutter each time I hear it. I swear I could listen to you speak for days without break and never have enough of it. I love the way you dress and the way you walk. I love how intelligent and hard working you are. I love every second we spend together, “ you grabbed his hands and continued,” I just love you so much, there’s no man in the world who I could possibly exchange you for!”

By the time you were finished, you were out of breath and just as red as the man in front of you. 

But out of all the reactions you could expect, you surely did not expect tears to start streaming down his cheeks. 

You eyed your lover wide eyed and slowly panicked, as the man still standing in front of you began to sob.

“Wait, no! Hold on, I didn’t mean to-!” Your body acted on autopilot when you pulled him into a strong embrace and sat both of you on your dorm couch.

You stroked his back gently and let him get it all out, silently freaking out. ‘He was crying. Was that good or not? Well he didn’t really push you away, so maybe I didn’t screw up as bad as I thought, but he’s not stopping to cry. What am I supposed to do? Keep holding him? Give him some space? Maybe a glass of water? Man, I really gotta go to the toilet.’

And so, you wondered what you should do next. 

And you would have been wondering for a long time to come, had it not been for your boyfriend, who spoke up, suddenly. 

“Does that mean we're dating again?” His shockingly strong hands were gripping hard your back, as he was slowly calming down.

“Of course we are.”

***

A few days later, you were invited by your boyfriend to the Monstro Lounge. For what, you weren’t sure, so you threw on something comfortable and made your way over to his dorm. 

Once you arrived, you were led by grinning eels to the vip room where Azul was already waiting. You gave him a peck on the cheek before your attention shifted towards the monitor taking up the whole wall.

“Are we watching something?” 

“Well, you could put it this way. Now please, make yourself comfortable. The snacks and beverages are ready and waiting. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything.”

You were taken to the plush armchair you shared a certain fondness towards, with your lover joining soon after.

You didn’t even have the time to ask about the title of the thing you were going to watch, because the title screen answered your question quicker. 

100 Ways Why I Love Y/N The Most In The World

You chuckled awkwardly and shifted in your seat.

This was going to be a long evening.

𝓥𝓲𝓵

~Vil was restless. 

~He couldn’t even remember that much from your argument. It was so… Unlike him to lose his temper like that. 

~He couldn’t help it, but replay the last few weeks in his head, in search of any answers. How did it come to this? What caused the argument? How could have it been avoided?

~Naturally, Rook came to his dorm leader’s aid. Of course, he couldn’t leave him in misery!

~After a bit of asking and prodding from Vil’s side, he pointed out a few subtle changes in your behaviour he noticed. The other man listened to his words carefully and it came to clear sight that your “sudden outburst” was not in fact a sudden outburst, but rather something pretty much logical and expected.

~And the ever so helpful hunter of love, of course pointed out every single little mistake his friend made on his path of love, as if they were the most obvious things in the world.

~It made Vil a bit… Icky, to realise that Rook was there to witness each mistake of his. And then let them go uncorrected! But then he was reminded that his friend was in no place to interfere much between you two and no matter how much he disliked it, he had to accept that arguments are also a part of relationships.

~The whole issue was giving him a headache, therefore he decided that he was done with the issue for the day and opted to go to sleep.

~What he didn’t predict though, was that the issue was not quite done with him.

~The whole skincare routine of his was going painfully slow that evening. His thoughts kept spiralling mercilessly- he almost applied bath foam instead of cucumber lotion on his eyes. Then, after the Seven knows how long, when he thought he was nearing the end, it turned out he was barely reaching the half.

~But would his pride let him ditch the skincare and go straight to bed like he probably should? Nope! 

~That being said, not going to school the following day was not an option as well. He’ll crawl there if he has to, but he will prove to you and the whole world (but mostly just himself) that he’s fine on his own. 

~I suppose we could even say that he succeeded? He’s an experienced actor, after all. Surely, a slightly disturbed night’s rest will not affect his performance?

~Even if it did, no one noticed. Except for Rook, but we don’t talk about Rook

~Still, he caught himself scanning the crowd of potatoes, in search of the particular one more than once. 

~And when he did spot you, it took him every last bit of self-restraint he had, not to rush to you approach you like he usually would.

~You two truly were a match made in hell. Both held your pride in regard too high, to miss the next day of school. So of course, you made sure not to overdress, but still, subtly show off what the other one lost.

~Nothing to see here. Just two idiots too proud to apologise to the other one going on about their days, secretly waiting for the other one to approach first. Rook couldn’t decide whether it was purely comical or hysterically heartbreaking. 

~The thing dragged on for days and days. Vil could pretend all he wanted, but your absence by his side bothered him all the same. His thoughts always found a way to come back to you. When he was putting on makeup in the mornings, he caught himself wondering which eyeshadow you would appreciate the most, which lipstick shade would look the best on your lips after you kiss…

~Even when he’s arranging his schedule, the first priority in his mind is to get as much free time to spend with you as possible. It was surprisingly tough to get rid of the lingering thoughts in his head. What kind of spell did you put on him? 

~The loneliness soon became unbearable. While the dorm leader of Pomefiore took comfort in his friend, the dorm leader of Ramshackle took comfort in theirs. 

~And so, the unexpected hero became no one else but… Epel! i say unexpected, but he really had no other choice with his leader going twice as hard on him just because he was close to you As your mutual friend, he could hear out both sides of the conflict and take the role of something like a mediator, but with lots of plotting. Naturally, Rook and the rest of the first years were dragged in as well.

~What was the plan? Well, the rough idea was making you and Vil lose a bet or something which would result in you two having to fill a single wish of theirs. And then…

“Let me check if I understood correctly. What am I supposed to do is just stay in my room until sunrise and not leave the bed, unless it’s necessary?” Your past lover raised his eyebrows when he received an enthusiastic confirmation from his vice. He was just finishing the last activities before going to bed. 

“And am I not allowed to ask why you would ask me for that?”

“Non! Please remember your promise to fulfil one wish of mine, it cannot be taken back now.” The man chirped, and the other scoffed.

“Obviously, I won’t take my word back. Who do you take me for?” Vil sat up on his bed. He was getting more and more suspicious. 

“Très bien! Good night to you, Roi de Poison.”

“Good night to you as well.”

And just as his vice left his room, someone else was pushed inside. 

Your ex boyfriend almost gasped when he saw you standing in front of him, looking like you had just been forced to swallow your own pride by tiny, aeroplane spoons. 

“Remember our deal!” You heard the shout of your so-called “friends”.

“I think I’m having second thoughts.” You turned around and headed towards the exit when you were stopped by Ace.

“Oi, Prefect! It's not fair to make a promise and then take back your word. AND, don’t you owe us? Think about everything we’ve done for you so far. Isn’t it only right for you to pay us back now?”

“That’s manipulation!”

“Maybe! But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re bound by your word now.”

“My word? What does my word matter to you? You have it on paper?”

Ace scowled, “We knew you’d say that. That’s why…” 

He moved to occupy  your ear and whispered a few words, only audible to the two of you. You gasped.

“You wouldn’t dare!” You said so, but you knew damn well he would. “Besides, what do you even get out of this?”

“Epel paid me.”

“What?”

“Nothing!”

“Deuce!”

“This is for your own good, prefect!”

And then, they were gone.

You stood there for a minute analysing your situation while Vil, who was silently observing the whole thing  and putting the puzzles together until now, sent you a neutral glance. 

“I’m taking the floor.” You decided in the end, and sprawled down on your back, with your arms under your head and closed your eyes.

“There’s no way you are spending the night on the floor-” He announced sterny, stopping himself from adding ‘potato’ at the end of the sentence.

“Yes, there is. Goodnight.” You closed your eyes.

You could almost hear him exhaling an exasperated sigh.

Meanwhile he tried to think of ways to approach you. He remembered your words about him imposing his will on you. Dragging you on the bed - no matter how much he wished he could- was a bad solution, no matter how he thought of it. Persuading you to get on the bed would also probably be really time consuming.

At the same time, he genuinely didn’t want you to lay on the floor. 

But the situation still appeared delicate, so he simply stood up and turned off the light.

“...You are always welcome in my bed,” he only added, before laying down. The memories of when you spent nights together cuddled in his bed came flooding his mind and lulling him to sleep. He could only regret that he didn’t have you there with him anymore. 

Some time passed and he was almost sleeping at this point when he heard your voice. So faint that he could almost mistake it for an illusion.

“You said that I only gain any worth when I stand by your side. Did you mean it?”

At that moment, Vil really wished to drink poison so he could perhaps choke on his words. He took a deep, quiet breath.

“I did not. Not that, nor anything else.”

A few more moments of silence passed between the two of you. This time he didn’t allow himself to give in to the sleepiness. 

“...I didn’t mean the insults I said either. I was mad. I wanted to be your equal for once.”

“I never intended to make you feel like that. I never thought of you as anything less than my equal.”

“Now that I think about it, I really shouldn’t have bottled it up for so long.”

“I was also at fault for not seeing the signs.”

“The signs, huh?”

A few more minutes of silence.

Then he could feel you climbing into his bed. 

He felt as if a boulder was taken off his shoulders.

You fell asleep on distant sides of the bed, but woke up clinging to each other. 

Ｉｄｉａ

~Good thing Ortho wasn’t there when you were arguing. You didn’t even know where exactly he was – you could only vaguely recall Idia mentioning that he’s running an errand for him. 

~Soon after you left, the younger brother in question bursted into their room, alarmed by the sudden, drastic abnormalities in his brother’s vital functions.

~But when he found him, there was no panic, no screams and no tears. He was just sitting in front of his monitor playing the game, his fingers mechanically pressing the buttons. He stared blankly at the screen, but he didn’t register a thing. Not even Ortho’s arrival.

~The day after, in the very morning, the same precious adopted child of yours, appeared out of nowhere and started asking questions. You really wanted to tell him. You wanted to clarify the issue and ask how was Idia… But you felt drained.

~”Sorry Ortho, I just, I just need some time, ok?” He accepted your answer and didn’t pry any further, but a pang of guilt flashed through your chest at the silent worry in his voice. 

~Two hours haven’t passed since then, when you were hit by a wave of nausea. You knew it was going to come to this, eventually. You knew too damn well that you have been pushing yourself too hard for the past week and kept telling yourself that you would take a break soon.

~But there was always something getting in the way. A test approaching, an errand to run, a new in-game event… Man, no wonder you were feeling so under the weather lately. 

~Welp, it was Friday anyway. You decided to take a while off and prolong your weekend. Take your mind off some stuff (Idia) and just enjoy a bit of relaxation.

~It was all fine and dandy until the afternoon when you realised that you had run out of stuff to do. You took a nap already and ate something as well. You tried to think, what would you usually do when you had a free minute?

~Your brain immediately put on a neon sign in front of your eyes and it said Visit Idia. Whenever you had the time to, you would make your way over to Ignihyde, where you were always welcome for whatever you wished to do. A few weeks after you started dating, you stopped even bothering to text him to ask if you could come over, because the answer was always yes.

~The following days were quiet. Eerily so. Not a peep from him, not a world from you. 

~While you were picking up new hobbies to pass the time somehow, Idia was shutting himself off. All he did was game, but avoided the ones you two played together like fire. He wanted to push it off on you. He wanted to believe you were the one to blame. But there was always that bitterly persistent voice in his head, saying that it was all his fault.

~He kept instinctively glancing at his messages, hoping to receive one from you before remembering that there will be no more messages. Maybe except the one which approach he dreaded – Let’s break up.

~He was somehow convinced to attend the lessons, but he barely paid them any mind. His attention would only return when he’s “walking” through the corridors, the camera scanning the place for you, but averting his eyes the moment he’d spot you.

~He kept opening your messages to text you about some new anime releases or promising manga. Even almost sending the text several times. Each time ending up breaking him more and more. 

~Eventually, after his longing for you became unbearable, he started going through your texts. He laughed at your inside jokes and recalled the memes you sent each other. It lifted up his mood temporarily before crushing him all the way down, but it was still some kind of relief.

~But then there were texts that didn’t sit right with him. The ones where you seemed so excited for a new chapter release he almost shared your enthusiasm, but then, he saw his replies, where he just brushed it off and changed the subject. He could find a fair amount of texts like that, and now that he recalled them, they even irked him. What must you have felt?

~He wanted to run to you and beg for forgiveness. But at the same time, he wanted the earth to swallow him whole so you would never have to watch his pitiful self again.

~A few more days passed and he could swear, had it not been for Ortho, he would have gone insane. It was truly a miracle that his little brother was there to cheer him up and keep him company in his misery. 

~Except he would bring you up a bit too often for his liking. Suggesting that he could talk to you or sharing ideas about how to approach you. And he really wanted to! But the whole thing was stressing him out without any mercy at all. And one day, he just bursted it out without thinking.

“I’m fine, Ortho. I don’t want to talk- don’t want to see them. Not now, not ever!”

“Really?” The door to his room opened, revealing no one else but you.

At that very moment, all the alarm bells went off in his head. A spark of understanding jumped between you and Ortho. You stepped further inside as he left to give the two of you some privacy jk, he was watching on camera

Meanwhile Idia crawled to the furthest corner of his room in a futile attempt to escape, before his back hit the wall.

When his gaze met yours, he almost shrieked.

“Ca-can you go away? Please go away!”

“I will,” you sat down on his floor, cross legged, “but first, I want us to talk things through.” You took a deep breath. “When I left that time, I didn’t really explain anything to you. I just kind of- took out my frustration on you, instead of communicating what was wrong.”

You thought Idia couldn’t get any more wide eyed, but there he was. He listened to you with an expression as if you were speaking an alien language.

“I-went through our t,texts!” He bursted out suddenly.

You sent him a questioning look.

His hands started fondling the edges of his hoodie, but he kept talking.

“I saw it-! When you were so excited and just, I just shrugged it off like it didn’t matter. No wonder you were so mad. I just can’t do this stuff right! I wish I could just reset and reload,” the tips of his hair turned orange.

“I wished you’d notice me.”

And so, you talked things through. It was a slow process, but you were getting there.

It soon became clear that Idia would do anything for you to get back together. You were genuinely surprised to see the desperation in his eyes when he told you how much he missed you. It made you want to envelop him in a tight hug and never let go.

And you did. God, you missed his comforting warmth so much. And he probably missed you too, if how hard his hands were gripping you had anything to say about it. You could already feel the bruises forming, but it didn’t matter. You were just happy to have him back. (Ortho with his camera teared up)

The rest of the evening, and then night, the three of you spent gaming, but you didn’t do much gaming yourself, because your lover insisted you hold him. And how could you possibly refuse? 

But then everything went into ashes with a single question.

“Say, did you get some sleep this week?”

He was betrayed by his own little brother’s accusatory voice.

“He didn’t!”

Suddenly, the relaxed atmosphere became heavy and unbearable and your hold on his body had grown uncomfortable.

Idia could only tremble in fear of what was going to come next.