❀ Dulo Ng Hangganan | The Itchyworms 🥛 — Sanzu Haruchiyo

aquarium date.

Attachment

AKA single dad susbedo that never even lasted a week

“how much do you love me?”

in which you question the extent of their love out of the blue.

characters; scaramouche, cyno, tighnari, alhaitham, kaveh

; gn! reader, fluff, crack, uh, idk just sumeru men sexy. first time writing kaveh too!

SCARAMOUCHE stares at you. boredly. unamusedly. unimpressed. er, disappointed even. he's having trouble deciding if he should ignore you or not for deciding to distract him from his paperwork. he decides the latter with a sigh. “do you want me to be brutally honest?” brutally honest? is he hinting at some implication that he doesn't actually love you?! what the hell? with gritted teeth and a newfound insecurity, you nod with uncertainty.

“go for it.”

a smirk creeps on his lips as a dark expression etches itself on his face, staring at you with a level of seriousness. “i'd brawl with celestia for you.” his hands find yours, clasping it tightly in his as he breathes a vow—a promise, even. “if you were somehow taken away from me, even i am quite unsure of what kind of being i'd become.”

ah...you sweatdrop at the dedication he's willing to offer. he sounded a bit scary, borderline creepy but it's just scaramouche being your sweetie pie, haha! nothing new, am i right? anyway, he does seem to love you quite a bit—you're unsure if you should be relieved or not.

his other arm lazily warps around your shoulder as he presses his cheek against yours, his eyes shutting in content at the warmth of your skin. “but then again, there are times where i just kinda wish to throw you off a cliff. you can be quite annoying sometimes, darling. ”

“you—!” he rudely cuts you off with a press of his lips against yours, effectively shutting you up.

CYNO ponders the question for a bit too long—you're afraid that he might've taken the question a bit too seriously. he could've just said something bland and cheesy like “more than anything” and you still would've swooned like a teenage girl. after all, who wouldn't? the general mahamantra—well, if people weren't so busy fearing him, they probably would've been admiring his pretty face instead.

“i love you a lot, that's for sure. though i'm not quite sure how to measure it...”

oh, dear cyno. your heart clenches at his thoughtful words. “haha, i thought you were trying to find a joke to go along with my question or something.”

“why would i do that? my love for your isn't something to laugh about,” he pauses, eyes flickering towards you for a moment, a glint you know all too well present in his eyes.

“though,” he starts with a small grin, “if you want to hear a joke or two, i've got the ones just for you.”

it's plural?! oh no. D:

TIGHNARI doesn't peel his eyes away from the research paper before him, nonchalantly replying in a heartbeat—“i love you enough to date you, apparently.”

you outwardly huff at his boring answer, staring at the ceiling boredly as you lie in his bed. tighnari isn't quite the charmer, you guess. but then again, you probably wouldn't have dated him if he wasn't being his sassy self. “is that so.” your tone comes out more disappointed than you intended.

unbeknownst to you, his ear twitches at the lack of enthusiasm in your tone. his gaze finally removing itself from the papers in his desk to look at you from over his shoulder. he sees you staring at the ceiling, sprawled out all over his bead while humming a random tune out of boredom.

“you didn't get the meaning behind my words, did you?”

your head turns to him in utter confusion, your gaze meeting his unamused expression. “huh?”

a sigh leaves his lips as he turns back to his desk, resuming his paperwork as your gaze burns into his back.

thinking he had dismissed the subject completely, you pout at the lack of explanation, opening your mouth to ask what he meant before he abruptly cuts you off with another twitch of his ears.

“fennec foxes mate for life.” he says as a matter of factly.

oh. :o

ALHAITHAM peers at you with a raised brow. “are you asking for an exact estimation or?” this dude you swear—

“it's not like you can calculate love, dummy.” you slap his arm lightly as you huff out a laugh at his words, “i'm simply asking for a metaphor. or at least, what's the most you'd do for me out of pure love.”

“care to give an example?”

you press a finger to your chin as you walk beside him, “hmm...i love you enough that i'd give up my position in the akademiya if it meant to spend more time you!”

“that sounds unreasonable.” he replies without hesitation, a concerned frown forming on his face. “you should work on your time management instead of giving up your studies—”

“i-it's just a reference for what i would do for you, calm down...”

“i can assist you. i'll help you make a schedule right now if you want to.” he whips out a piece of paper and a pen from nowhere, surprising you greatly. where'd he get that from?! “here, you wake up at around 7 am, right? give your studies about 8 hours of your day—the average time a scholar needs, then you can spend about 4 to 6 hours with me daily without problem. in our time together we could go out and eat, maybe even do your homework so you could add an extra hour with me if so—”

sadly, you never got an answer. :(

KAVEH immediately goes “i love you more than anything in the world!” yes, it's bland and cheesy like i mentioned earlier. and yes, he's going to be proud of it too. extra points for the confidence(?)

would definitely press kisses onto your face afterwards, hugging you tightly in his arms. “ahh, you're so cute that it's impossible that i'd choose anything else over you.”

“is that so?” you ask innocently as you tilt your head, staring into his eyes. “would that mean you'll finally join me in the upcoming event that alhaitham will be co-hosting?” you almost laugh at the way his expression drops.

“aha—that's...”

“oh, c'mon! you love me more than anything, right? that also includes putting your hatred for alhaitham at bay just to keep me company, riiiight?”

“m-maybe there are a few exceptions—” he really doesn't want to see that guy more than necessary!

you lean closer to him, cupping his cheek with a smile. “even if i give you a kiss now?”

“—nevermind! i'll join you!”

yes, i hc kaveh is a simp <3

what about a detective rivals to lovers story with heizou? (warning: it gets pretty long.)

(parts two, three, four and five)

so like, you and heizou are the tenryou commission’s most promising minds, and as a result, you have a habit of trying to outdo each other when it comes to cases— things such as who can solve it the fastest, who can catch the criminal first, and so forth— and over time this has turned into a rivalry. though it doesn’t necessarily harbour any serious negative feelings about each other, it’s not exactly a friendly and positive rivalry, either.

(continued utc)

for example, you dislike the size of heizou’s ego and his seemingly never-ending supply of energy, while he has problems with your seeming lack of passion and indifference when you’re working; not to mention your habit of simply abandoning cases if they don’t interest you enough. he often goes out of his way to continuously annoy you; distracting you to get reactions of any kind, tries to play mind games with you, almost like a child, and he’s disappointed whenever you figure out (and ignore) his ever-so-cunning tactics. he gets on your nerves, and you rub him the wrong way.

and so, when a particularly dangerous and intelligent organisation start stirring up trouble, the tenryou commission decides that the only way this case is going to get resolved is if you both work on it. together.

you almost gag at the thought. heizou doesn’t look too pleased when he receives the news, either; he scoffs and sends you a look containing a hint of condescension, as if he thinks himself better than you. your skin crawls, but your face betrays nothing of the internal curses you’re muttering. 

when you first get started on the case, your interactions are snappy and as short as possible; neither of you want to spend any more time than necessary in the other’s presence. rather than working together, your dynamic is more along the lines of “i’ll go away and make some deductions, you’ll go away and make some of your own, and then we’ll come back together and argue about who’s right”. in short, the word ‘cooperation’ suddenly ceases to exist when you’re around each other.

but as a result of your petty bickering rather than focusing your energy on cracking the case, the crimes committed by this organisation begin to grow more violent, and more unpredictable. murders start popping up more frequently in the news. you both hesitate when you hear this; because of your inability to work together, and instead having your focus set on poking trifling holes in each other’s theories, has costed lives. for the sake of the greater good, you make a silent agreement to put aside your rivalry and problems with each other for the time being.

and in doing so, you start realising things about each other that were previously shrouded in bad impressions when you messed with each other; for example, heizou’s habit of playing mind games with people has started to corner potential suspects, while your ability to see through such tricks has stopped both of you for falling for various traps set out for you along the way. though you often face cases with a disinterested manner and apathetic glance, heizou doesn’t fail to notice the passion and time you’re pouring into your work; maybe you do care about these things, after all, and he just failed to notice it before.

perhaps, he starts to think, your mask of indifference is a result of this passion; you spend so much time and effort engrossed in your work that you simply don’t have energy to show it. looking at how diligently you draw connections between pieces of data, heizou could almost describe you as getting lost in your work. but nobody, no matter how skilled or intelligent, can go on like this forever. a foreign feeling begins to settle in his gut; is it concern? 

but though he feels guilty, he says nothing of it; he needs you working on this case with him more than he’d like to admit.

as the case progresses, you start to bounce your ideas off each other rather than try to drag the other down; you pose questions to each other and fill in gaps that may be missing in your deductions. when you counter a theory, it’s no longer out of spite, but a way of strengthening the line of thought even further.

in fact, though the very thought disgusts the both of you, one looking from the outside could describe you almost as close. of course, is someone were to say such a thing, you’d belittle the statement. however, you can’t deny that a little voice inside you is seeming to say, ‘maybe he’s not that bad after all.’ you glance at heizou from the corner of your eyes; he catches it, and returns it with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a mischievous grin. the words ‘like what you see?’ are written all over his face. you roll your eyes at him, unimpressed, but can’t help but wonder if he thinks the same.

soon enough, exhaustion begins to take its toll on you. long hours spent analysing evidence have sapped you of your energy; even looking at the progress you’ve made makes you want to be sick. it’s been a while since you allowed yourself to get this engrossed in a case, and for a good reason; getting burnt out while in the middle of investigating murders isn’t exactly what you can call convenient timing.

heizou notices the light coming from your study that burns throughout the night, and when he sees you these days, the resulting weariness has begun to settle in your voice and in bags under your eyes. when he suggests getting some rest, you dismiss the suggestion, claiming that you’re fine and don’t need any sleep. he isn’t convinced— and neither are you— but, yet again, he doesn’t probe any deeper into it. perhaps it’s selfish of him to do so, but something within him doesn’t have the heart to send you away from his side, even if for your own benefit.

in fact, he realises that he’s coming to rather enjoy your presence, gods forbid. no, more than enjoy; he finds himself actively seeking it out, and when you’re not near him, it’s you he’s thinking of rather than the case. 

ah. this isn’t good. 

but since he’s already caught feelings for you, he may as well check whether you share the sentiment.

heizou’s behaviour around begins to change. not by much, but he starts showing off more than usual and trying to impress you with his ‘impeccable deductive thinking skills’ (as he calls them). you, much to his disappointment, remain completely unmoved. he’s a rather well-liked guy, and has a fair share of fans; these tactics always work on them. but you’re a tough nut to crack, it seems. 

no matter. he can wait.

he tries to look for some other signs that you like him back; after all, he can usually read people like a book, but with you, he can find no hints, no body language, no indications that you return these feelings; this irks him. for the first time, he finds himself unable to deduce somebody’s motives. you’re a mystery to him, and this frustrates him as much as it captivates him.

——————

now, one night, he’s returning from a day-long investigation of the most recent crime scene, scribbled notes and observations tucked under his arm, whistling to himself as he saunters into your shared office to share his recent findings with you. you, meanwhile, agreed to stay inside and make sense of what you’ve got so far. the lights are still on, so you’re most likely still working away. he looks forwards to discussing his discoveries with you. 

he pushes open the door, calling a playful ‘hello-o!’, expecting for his enthusiastic greeting to be returned with an exasperated sigh as per usual. but to his surprise, there’s no answer. heizou tilts his head, mumbling an ‘eh?’ under his breath. he’s painfully aware of the absence of your voice.

he peeks inside the room, puzzled. his eyes sweep over the interior, and land on a familiar figure.

you’re slumped over your desk, a pile of annotated, scribbled-on paperwork beneath your head. there is a quill still loosely gripped in your hand, and a light burning beside you.

he can’t help but chuckle under his breath, shaking his head as he approaches you. “you’ve really overworked yourself, haven’t you?” he muses. the only response is your quiet breathing. heizou walks over and pulls out a chair to sit beside you, watching you with a hand propping up his cheek. the light bathes you in a warm glow, and he can’t help but think, hey, you look kind of cute. he shudders to think how you’d react to that statement if you were awake. looking at you, so unkempt and vulnerable, he feels an urge to play with you a little. pull a prank, perhaps. an impish grin spreads across his face, and he reaches his hand towards you— whether to pinch you, poke you, or play with your hair, he doesn’t know.

but then, just as he’s about to make contact, his hand hesitates. you look so peaceful, for once, and he can’t bring himself to disturb you.

he pulls his hand away. you deserve your rest.

because, mixed in with his feelings of endearment and mischief, the concern he held for you before begins taking form as guilt for not stopping you earlier. if he had been more firm about you getting some rest, perhaps you wouldn’t be in this state in the first place. thought it’s tempting, he’s not about to drag you back into the waking world just when you’ve finally got some rest for the sake of his amusement.

you must be uncomfortable, he thinks. even if you sleep for three days, in this position, there’s no way you’ll wake up feeling any better than the moment you nodded off. he briefly considers the possibility of taking you back to your place, but waves it away; your home is hardly nearby, and he would have to wake you to get you there. then he recalls that there’s a minuscule side room containing a bed, should the person using this place need to sleep there. only problem is, there’s only one bed.

heizou shrugs. no problem. he can take the sofa. 

he stands up, considering how to move you without waking you. very, very gently, he tips you backwards against your chair to make it easier to lift you. then, still ever so careful, he places an arm under your back, and another under your legs, and picks you up, holding you close to his chest.

you shift your head, mumbling a few vague noises, likely roused by the movement. momentarily panicking, heizou hushes you with a soft ‘shh’, and you relax once more. he breathes an inwards sigh of relief, his heartbeat accelerating. when you lean unconsciously into him, it grows even faster.

heizou lays you down on the bed, resting your head on the pillow, careful to make the impact as soft as possible. he removes his hands, waiting there a moment with held breath to check if you stir again. nothing. phew. 

the possibility of joining you arises in his mind. it is tempting, he has to admit.

he shakes away the thought. you would certainly find it uncomfortable if you were awake, so he shouldn’t disrespect that merely because you’re sleeping. however, he can’t help but cast a final glance at you before leaving the room. he smiles to himself.

he snuffs out the light and lies down on the sofa, sleep soon taking him, too, in its embrace.

when you awaken in the morning (or, as you’re later informed, late afternoon), heizou’s already awake, sticking some notes to the ever-growing mural of photos and documents on the wall. you feel… well rested, for once. you could’ve sworn you fell asleep at your desk last night, not in the bed, but maybe your memory is blurry.

you yawn, and heizou turns around at the sound, eyes lighting up when he sees you. as per usual, there’s a playful glint of mischief in his gaze.

“somebody slept well.” he teases, unable to keep himself from smiling at the state of your bedhead and general unkept appearance. 

you rub your eyes and grunt. “mn.” 

you pause, before saying, “i had a weird dream last night.”

heizou’s grin widens, and he suddenly feels a little giddy. “oh? what was it about?”

“not sure,” you frown. “can’t remember the details. i think it was a nice dream, though.”

“really?” he quirks an eyebrow, an hint of smugness entering his voice. “i’m glad.”

——————————————————————

aaand that’s all i can come up with for now, but i doubt this is the end of that idea. i definitely intend to continue writing this further, and also have a few other heizou-related ideas in store…

lil meow meow

— Love Rivalry (kaveh x reader)

PAIRING kaveh x gn!reader (ft. alhaitham)

GENRE social media au, college au

SYNOPSIS You’ve been rejected by your academic rival, alhaitham, without even confessing or having feelings for him. You decided to go to a party to fix your damaged ego, so why are you suddenly making out with his roommate?

TAGS attempt in comedy, fluff, angst, drama, jealousy, misunderstandings, fast burn ish, implied sexual content (no smut)

WARNINGS might be ooc, written before kaveh’s official release, unrealistic depiction of college, cw images of cats, alcohol, kys/kms jokes

STATUS ongoing! (11/16/22)

main m.list

profiles: (reader’s) peak mental illness | (kaveh’s) most wanted

00. prologue (🌻)

ACT I — delusional

01. confession

02. brutal

03: rumors

04. beer

05. rejection

06. one word

07. stream

08. cheating lover

09. real talk

10. plan

ACT II — scandal

11. lost (🌻)

12. scandal (🌻)

13. operation kidnap and runaway

14. stage 1 (🌻)

15. uh oh

16. gamble (🌻)

17. you won

18. balcony (🌻)

19. number

20. RIB

— bonus. redacted

ACT III — presentation

21. D-day

22. malewife

23. nike

24. run away with me? (🌻)

25. kdrama

26. speed run

27. stood me up (🌻)

28. mistake (🌻)

29. "damsel in distress"

30. thank you

— bonus. roommate (🌻)

ACT IV — disaster

31. he's back

32. new member

33.  bromance (lets make out platonically)

34. make it up to him

35. snitch ass childe

36. i gotchu

37. green looks better on you (🌻)

38. is it alright if i continue this?

39. scara vs ayato

40. tba

— bonus. tba

ACT V — can i call you mine?

— to be added

note: im back with smau cause writing sucks

taglist closed!

@dee-zbignuts @lxry-chxn @ducq @nikkicola @artssleepy @arraxthatsonjah @kunihaver @i-x4o @soohasoya @yae-raidenmyloves @aixaingela @09yyeol @nebulaera @bokutetsumu @kairxse @victoria1676 @thenightsflower @ti-lsy @alizaneth @abvolat @carnnieval @ultimate-imagines @ventisoba @skimm0nzz @slvdsjjk @succutie @empathum @saoiirsee @disa-ster @httpmitsuya @kunikuzushiit @semi-orangeapple @goodthingimsam @strawberry1894 @meep13r @leeyanyanyaaan @heart-cream @crueldinasty @justonemoreroz @boordbokee @moraxsimp69 @kkiryu @r4yyyyy @tartagli-yuh @raideneiari @kaekazuha04 @dazaiscum @mayasshitposts @kunikuzi @ruisann (taglist full)

-- this is my first time doing a taglist so pls send an ask or comment if it isn't working thank you

late halloween

— you are the best thing that’s ever been mine —

you finally confess to xiao and give him comfort and reassurance. takes place right after the events of perilous trail, so spoilers if you haven’t played the quest yet!

gn! reader

genre: fluff, hurt, comfort, angst at the beginning.

warnings: spoilers for the recent event, xiao and reader have feelings for each other, love confessions, first kiss, i’m probably crying while writing this, it may be messy. i took inspiration from taylor swift’s mine and fly by sleeping with sirens. enjoy! (or join me in the crying about xiao club, that’s fine too).

“but when you find the thing that matters most may you never let it go”

— sleeping with sirens, fly

shadows all around, the feeling of flying upwards faster than light itself and your weapon swinging desperately at the ominous presences nearing your position. you should feel hopeful, right? thanks to yanfei’s intellect and reasoning, you’ve found a way out of the darkest depths of the chasm; yelan and xiao’s power has worked as expected on the fantastic compass and it’s propelling you skywards, toward a way out. but see, that’s exactly what’s nagging at you: xiao is using all of his strength and power to maintain the energy flow and his previous self-sacrificing way of thought, paired with the injuries he bore when he could finally reunite with your group, have been plaguing your subconscious with a sense of dread. as if on cue, at that moment, you observe xiao’s mask and the platform you’re standing on begin to shatter, his body sagging, he’s panting heavily, the current task he has at hand taking almost everything he has. yanfei is the first to speak “you can’t keep this up, it’s too much!” the yaksha averts his gaze, some crazy idea probably passing through his mind. fearing what he would be capable of doing next, you grab him by the shoulder, prompting him to focus his eyes on you: “xiao, listen to me! stop! you’re exhausted, we can figure this out, together, all of us!” the adeptus can’t bring himself to hold your gaze, not now, not when you, the person he most cares about, look on the verge of tears, not when what he’s about to do will probably be a goodbye he never imagined, nor wanted to have to witness. reacting quicker than wind, and before any of you have time to reach out for him, xiao has activated his anemo abilities and all of you are propelled to the end of the tunnel above, the platform shattering below him, leaving him to be swallowed into the darkest of nights. all you remember from that instant is your blurry vision, tears distorting a reality you can’t bear to accept, and then, not fully knowing if you’re imagining it, you think you can see a golden glow, a shooting star burning through this stygian apocalypse; and you pray to it, you pray to celestia and to all the archons who will listen to please, bring him back to me, please xiao come back safe.

a second it’s pitch black darkness, the next, sunlight is blinding your already distorted vision by the tears that won’t stop falling. you haven’t opened your eyes yet, you don’t want to see a world without xiao, the boy you’ve loved for so long, in it. in your numb state, you don’t realize the hand holding your shoulder delicately. it’s not until he calls your name softly, that you start getting out of your trance. “x-xiao? you are okay? you are here? is this real?” you manage to finally croak out, voice breaking, a rain of tears falling from your lashes into your cheeks. xiao wipes away a stray one, and reassures you “yes, [name] i’m here, we’re all fine, we all made it.” and with that, your knees almost give out, you cling to xiao and cry into his chest, breath coming in short, sobs shaking your whole body. “don’t do anything like this again please! why? why must you put yourself in danger like this? why were you so ready to sacrifice yourself? don’t you ever think about all the people who love and care about you?”

“who could ever love or care for someone like me?”

“i, for one, i love you xiao and i wouldn’t know what to do if anything had happened to you! i love you and i can’t bear the thought of you considering yourself a burden, when you are not! so please, please…” you can’t finish the sentence, a new wave of sobs leaving your throat. xiao guides your head to his chest, where you let out all the fear and stress of the past days. when your cries start to calm, he speaks: “i’m not sure i understand exactly this concept you mortals call love, but what i’m sure of is you are the person i care the most about in this world. and i will protect you, always.”

“but not at the cost of your own life, not now, not ever. you have to promise me.”

and when he looks into those eyes of yours, teary, that look up at him as if he was the infinite and held all the light and colors of every galaxy, he promises, and he knows that, even if you didn’t make a contract, he’ll hold to his word no matter what, because he could never bear the thought of crumbling the heart of the one most dear to him.

after accompanying xiao to the temple of pervases and say your farewells to the traveler and paimon, you notice the exhaustion of all the events on xiao’s face. “let’s get back to wangshu inn, you need rest.” you say, with a gentle smile, tugging at his hand. he looks at your intertwined fingers and silk flower pink blooms on his cheeks; he nods and follows you.

the walk back is mostly quiet, but it’s a comfortable kind of quiet. your hands never separating, his eyes on you when you point out a crystalfly, or a qingxin flower growing by a cliff. in this instant, and remembering the message from ushi that paimon relayed, a little smile graces xiao’s features. he doesn’t know how to describe the feeling exactly, since it’s something he doesn’t remember experiencing before, in his hundreds of years of lifetime, but he knows it’s warm, it surrounds him with a comforting light, and makes his heart beat faster, as if the usual melancholy and dissonant anguish was being replaced by a melody evoking carefree laughter in the air of a summer day, mingling with the sunbeams descending from a sky the color of fresh glaze lilies.

before arriving to the inn, your steps stop in an area surrounded by trees, the last light of day casting shadows in warm tones through their leaves. your connected hands prompt the adeptus to stop too. when he turns his head to look at you, his breath hitches: you’re smiling fondly at him, your eyes twin crescents, and under the mosaic of shadow branches, to him, you are ethereal, a deity who has placed their blessing upon him. “xiao,” your thumb brushing the back of his hand delicately, as if he was the finest of chinas “would you let me do something us mortals do to express love?” your tone a bit timid, as if afraid to disturb the peace of the moment. xiao nods, taking hold of your other hand too. “close your eyes” you whisper next to his ear, and the feeling of your breath on his skin causes butterflies to unleash in his stomach. and the fluttering of their wings only increases when he feels your lips pecking his. he stays still at first, not knowing exactly what he’s supposed to do, but he quickly follows your lead. it’s far from perfect, noses bumping into each other more than once, the giggles you let out making xiao’s heart fly, so bright it could replace the setting sun. when your mouths separate, foreheads resting together, your hands caressing his silky hair, his face flushed, yours feeling warm, the evening wind carries your voice once more “you’re the best that’s ever happened to me, xiao. i love you, i have for a long time and i always will.” and because you understand how hard for him it is to express his feelings through words, you settle for placing the softest kiss to his lips once again, and wrapping your arms around his form, your head in his shoulder. and it’s then, when you feel his head resting atop yours, dark emerald locks slightly tickling your cheek, his arms holding you a bit more tight, close to his chest, where his heart dances to the tune of a symphony composed of birds’ flight, starlight and blossoming flowers.

all works belong to kazu-sun 2022. any editing, modifying, reposting, plagiarizing, translating or claiming as yours is prohibited.

𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

pairing: xiao x gn!reader

summary: past the eternal suffering and karmic debt, what does xiao truly wish for?

info/warnings: emo, good ending, 2.7 event spoilers (this literally follows the ending plotline), much introspection, hot garbage but i couldn’t stop myself, mentions of death, no other warnings

“I live and breathe you, i keep your love close to my chest, cradling it like a child for that is what it is, right? A fledgling bird in need of nurture and love. Your vulnerability is safe in my hands. If I can promise you anything, it’s that.”

Your words flicker through Xiao’s head in his film reel of memories as the decision become final.

With a conclusive burst of emerald light (pure, unmarred by darkness), he casts you one last glance. A weighted one, vested with all the things he wishes he could tell you, and your face contorts painfully as you shimmer and vanish, the call of his name stolen from your lips. 

It’s with that, the platform collapses, and gravity asserts its control over Xiao, the light so hopefully close now constricting, a mirror image of his pupils as the darkness swaths him. 

Keep reading

Little Brother ⊱⊰ Kazuha

A/N: This isn't the sequel for Vigil, but a series of scenarios that I couldn't add to the ficlet since it was getting too long- ehe

➸ Vigil (Ficlet) Honor (Sequel)

✤ she/her

≿————-　★　————-≾

The most adorable little brother ever! His cheeks are round and chubby—and they're always flushed pink!

Totally not because you keep pinching them until he cries- no, totally not, mm-mm.

His childhood days aren't complete until he says 'nee-san' at least once. The poor child is getting bullied by Tomo a lot too, so who does he come running to for help!?

"Onee-chan! Tomo- T-Tomo- waaAAAH! NEE-SANNN!"

Goodness, growing up flipped a switch in his personality but that's a talk for later

If you aren't holding his hand as you two walk around the Kaedehara Estate, he's in your arms like a literal bb

If he's not in your arms then he is sitting on your shoulders, giddily exclaiming that he is as tall as you are [even if he'll eventually grow to be taller-]

Kazuha clings to you. Nee-san must always be in his sight or else he'll either be (っ- ‸ – ς) or (ಠ╭╮ಠ)

Yeah, he's definitely more (ಠ╭╮ಠ)

"Nee-chan, stop hiding from me!"

Will lowkey get frustrated about it even if he's the one who wanted to play hide and seek lmao-

You understand why Tomo bullies him, he's cute. If your little brother hasn't found you in the course of ten minutes, he will cry for you

Even when you appear, his attempts to stop weeping 'because it makes him less of a man' will fail and he'll just look x2 cuter

Mm, everything's not sunshine and rainbows, though

The wealth of the clan has been diminishing as time passes, so naturally, its prestige follows

Since both your parents are occupied with thinking of ways to keep the clan's nobility, most —if not all— of Kazuha's attention is placed on you. His beloved nee-chan o(≧∇≦o)

You pamper him, but not to the point that he becomes spoiled. Disciplining him crumbles your heart [he looks so sad when he's reprimanded] but since it is for his betterment, you still do it. He's a quick learner, too.

Anything for his nee-san. Anything for nee-san!

One time when he sees you being scolded heavily for something that he did, he teared up, ran on his wobbly legs, and punched your father's legs asdfghjkl

"Don't hurt nee-chan!"

Ugh, why is he so adorable. You personally keep him away from other girls his age because they're already giving him the heart eyes- you know for a fact that all that baby fat is going away to be replaced by more defined features when he grows up

So oohlala, when adolescence kicks in and he's suddenly looking sharper? Heavens. The pink envelopes coming in endless. Unfortunately, however, your brother doesn't look interested. You know what caught his fancy?

Roaming. Wandering. Adventuring.

Since the clan is losing its power, no one honestly cares that he is shirking his 'responsibilities'. Sometimes, he goes away and doesn't return for days. Just your typical adolescent, but he's still your sibling. He still calls you nee-san :D

That is until both your parents have passed — until the Kaedehara name lost its status — and you were both alone.

You were eighteen then, but you proved yourself capable of being the heir by pragmatism alone. Earning money for you and your brother, taking over the chores, everything.

During this time, Kazuha had been teaching himself the ways of the blade with Tomo, who offered his help to you whenever he could.

And as you grow up — eventually, Kazuha does, as well.

"Welcome home, how was your walk?" Your sibling, now at the age when you took over the household, smiled.

"Ah, I had to come back for my katana. Do excuse me."

He passed by the dining table that was already set with plates and utensils, heading over to his room. His gentle yet straightforward response befuddled you without a doubt, but it hollowed your chest.

It feels like you're missing something.

"Don't wait up, I'll take longer than usual," he appears back in a rush, arranging the sheathed blade hanging by his waist.

"Oh, at least—"

"I'll see you soon, [Name]!"

His tuff of silver hair vanishes behind the panels — and you are alone.

Ah, this feeling was familiar..

It felt like the night you came upon your parents' unmoving figures.

The smile on your face was bittersweet.

You knew what was missing.

He wasn't calling you 'nee-san' anymore.

≿————-　❈　————-≾

a/n: well that's a way to end a fluffy scenario... ah, i think i'll be making a separate masterlist for scenarios so it doesn't clump. eeee~ thanks for reading!

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