Between You And Me

Between You and Me

or The 5 times you catch Senku staring + the 1 time he catches you

Ishigami Senku x Reader

Quote: “Fall in love with someone because of their smile.”

1.

Senku doesn’t mind living alone in the New World by himself. While studies have proven that humans are bound to go crazy without human interaction, Senku had no way to speed up the survival process; and truthfully, he doesn’t think he’ll go crazy anytime soon. Afterall, if being trapped in his own mind hasn’t destroyed his mental health then being the only human around for a few years shouldn’t affect him much more.

When you’re revived, Senku finds the first interactions between the two of you to be awkward. The two of you are almost opposites in every way and stumble in and out of conversations with each other.

Weiterlesen

He Did Everything Right (Hangman)

Pairing: Hangman x Reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Summary: He did everything right this time, but somehow it still wasn't enough.

Warnings: Pure Angst, trauma, accident related trauma, implied though not described significant and traumatic injury, hurt,

Notes: Only read if you feel like having a good cry today.

Masterlists

“Styx!” Hangman wrenched at the ties holding him into his chute. All motor function and sense of hand-eye coordination was still falling through the sky, and all reason had left him. He was now blindly ripping at straps and bands and buckles without any rhyme or reason. 

He was mindless, frantic. There was one coherent thought going through his mind, and it wasn’t the years in the academy that had drilled calm, cool, and collected into him. It wasn’t the hundreds of simulations and drops he had done in training expressly in the event he ever found himself here. It wasn’t even anything in the F-18 handbook he’d memorized cover to cover.

‘Get to Styx.’

It repeated over and over again in his head. Rising in volume, rising in urgency. 

‘Get to Styx.’

‘Get to Styx.’

The only thought in his mind that wasn’t an incoherent scream. 

‘Get to Styx.’

Five minutes and a few thousand feet ago he’d been free falling through the air while disinterestedly thinking about all of the paperwork this systems malfunction meant he’d have to do. Five minutes and a few thousand feet ago, he was thinking about how long he’d have to sit in this field before a chopper from Top Gun could make it out here. Five minutes and a few thousand feet ago he thought it was odd Styx was waiting so long to pull her chute. 

‘Get to Styx.’

‘Get to Styx.’ 

‘Get to Styx.’

“Styx!” He roared, but still there was no response. 

In the distance, in the field on the other side of the rough, narrow road their plane had crashed on, Jake could see the remnants of a chute. A cloud of fabric billowing lightly in the breeze, daring any wind strong enough to come along and carry it away. There was something dark lying underneath. 

“Styx,” His voice broke at the same time as his bindings. Sheer determination and force of will finally tearing through a thick woven harness and setting him free. 

He stumbled his first few steps. He hadn’t been expecting the straps around his shoulders to give. His fingers couldn’t seem to undo the clip that was bent out of shape, couldn’t seem to free him from the trees and bushes his chute was tangled in. He had been putting his full weight against the straps the whole time, trying like a mad man to break free from their stranglehold. His mind was useless to think of anything else to do, and yet the moment it finally happened he wasn’t expecting it. 

“Styx!” Hangman scrambled to his feet. 

If there was any pain associated with the cuts on his hand from falling down or the deep bruises across his chest from pulling so hard, he didn’t feel it. 

“Styx!” He ran to the road and sent himself hurdling over the wire fence without a second thought. 

If there was any pain associated with the barbs tearing into his skin, he didn’t feel it. 

The parachute fluttered uselessly above her unresponsive body. As useless and in the way now as it had been while she was falling. He tore the fabric out of his way with ease, not bothering to watch as it was buffeted away.

It brought her face into his view, expressionless and sallow where it lay in the sun. 

It brought back a flash of her face, blurry from the distance and speed at which they fell, looking back at him panicking as she pulled a string that just wouldn’t budge.

He brushed the memory away. He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t think about her. 

He had to think about Lerman, that asshole twit he’d been paired up with in all the field-med training seminars the Navy made him take. He had to picture Lerman playing dead on the ground, walking Jake through triage, faking injuries for him to accurately assess. 

He couldn’t see her. He had to see Lerman. If he wanted to help her, he had to pretend it wasn’t her he was helping. He had to focus. He couldn’t let his emotions get to him, couldn’t let himself have even a moment to see the person he cared about, the woman he loved, lying on the ground like that before him. He had to pretend it was Lerman.

For once in his life, Hangman did everything right. He tied a strap tight over her wounds to stop the bleeding. He performed textbook CPR. When help arrived, he had a description of the accident, an account of her injuries, estimates of timing, of how much blood she’d lost and how long she’d not been breathing. 

He did everything right. For once, he did it all right. No fucking around, no ego, no mistakes. 

The EMTs would praise his response and quick thinking. They’d say she was lucky to have him there. They told him that he did everything right, that he’d done everything they would’ve done. 

They said it was enough, and yet somehow he knew it wasn’t nearly. 

Her eyes peeled open over a week later to him asleep at her bedside. He hadn’t left her for a single moment. Not at his friend’s insistence, his family’s phone calls, his bunkmate’s texts. Not even Coyote had managed to pull him as far as the mess hall. 

He had to be there whenever she woke up. He had to be the one to tell her.

Deep down he knew it wasn’t his fault. He’d been cleared of any wrongdoing in the tragic accident before the plane even hit the ground. It was a fluke they said, a system malfunction that was unavoidable. They said he’d handled it as well, better even, than any other pilot could. They said he’d done everything right. 

He didn’t feel like he’d done everything right. He knew, in his heart, that there was nothing else to do. That he couldn’t have done anything differently. But he felt the weight on his chest, crushing him, suffocating him. He had to be the one to tell her. 

She would live, but she would never fly again. 

She put on a brave face, for his benefit. When the nurses came in and told her she was lucky, told her how gallantly Hangman had performed, she agreed. She told him he did everything right, that she didn’t blame him, that he did what he could. And he saw in her eyes that she meant it, but he saw the sadness in them too.

He made her a promise that day. A promise she didn’t ask for, a promise she asked him not to fulfill, a promise she knew was made for his benefit as much as hers.. 

No one else would ever fly in Hangman’s backseat again.

Hey dude 💚

Can I please request a small drabble with Raph and female reader with these prompts:

20. bandaging/stitching up an injury

24. whispering in their ear, lips touching the skin

Thank you 😊

Oh my do I have an idea for this. Happily will do!

TW: Blood

Rated Fluffy

Getting stitched up by a pretty girl really had its advantages, at least that’s what Raphael thought. Donnie’s bedside manners weren’t the best and plus, each time you got closer to wipe blood away he got a phenomenal view.

“Don’t hit me with the ‘you should see the other guy’ because I’m seeing you and all I’m seeing is blood” He quite liked how annoyed you sounded, annoyed with that mix of scared. Concern etched onto your features. Raph did his best to not grin so much, especially when your hand rested on his jaw, the other dabbing blood off.

“But ya really should” It took only a second for your eyes to turn stern and for Raph to simply shut his trap. The quiet of the room didn’t bother him, he was still feeling your hands on his face, so when they had slid to his shoulders, dug into the stress, he couldn’t help but close his eyes.

A slow contended sigh left him, just as you leaned down against his ear.

Raph felt those soft lips there, the shape of a kiss against it. “Why do you insist on bruising up that pretty face so much?”

He isn’t sure what catches him more off guard, your words or how you trail your lips down his neck.

tsukishima kissing the space behind you ear as he hugs you from behind, soft, tender. you feel the cool metal of his glasses bump your skin, his fingers moving carefully around your waist, big hands engulfing your circumference. when he tucks his head into your neck, you hum, content, as he puts you at ease, letting the moment wash over you, calm and sweet.

Can you do dr stone angst?? preferrably senku x reader and the reader experiencing one-sided/unrequited love 🏃🏃 pls no happy ending i need to suffer 🏃🏃🏃 [though if you do know how to write a hanahaki au, pls do that instead] 🏃🏃🏃

"What a silly way to die. Death by flowers,” is what you thought to yourself when you first heard of the illness. “there’s no way such a thing could exist."

~ Hi anon! Thank you so much for your request! Im not very familiar with the hanahaki trope but i wanted to give it a shot - i hope it’s okay! Hopefully none of the characters are too ooc </3

P.s., yellow tulips represent one-sided love in japanese :) 

warnings: death, vomiting (flowers), talk of sickness, blood, some swearing. there are no manga spoilers :)

words: over 4k holy this is long

Constructive feedback is always welcome! I’m always looking to improve!

Requests are open! (check my pinned post!)

The Hanahaki disease was vaguely mentioned in one of Ishigami Village’s 100 tales. A woman, in love with a man who didn’t love her back, had suffocated on yellow tulips that she could not stop throwing up. Nobody knew much else about the mysterious illness- no origins were stated, no cure, and there was no record of anyone in the village ever experiencing such an ailment. Maybe it was a metaphor of some kind? 

‘What a silly way to die. Death by flowers,” is what you thought to yourself when you first heard of the illness. “there’s no way such a thing could exist.

But if Chrome has his sorcery, then maybe it wasn’t so improbable. Who knows how much Ishigami Village has yet to discover? Besides, the 100 tales are the reason we know so much already.’

When Ruri first fell ill, some speculated she had the mysterious disease. Since they were young, people had always known that Chrome and Ruri shared a strong bond- perhaps Ruri’s feelings were strong enough to make her sick. However, as time went on, Ruri never once coughed up flowers or flower petals, so the idea was eliminated. 

But Ruri was still ill, and nobody knew how to cure her for good. No one was certain that the hot spring water Kohaku brought for baths had healing properties, and nobody even knew what it was that was ailing her. 

That was until one day, Kohaku told you about a stranger she had brought to the village with the hot spring water for her older sister. Her ponytail was tied differently, and she was late to retrieve the hot spring water, which was very unlike her. Just who exactly was this stranger, and what were their intentions? If Kohaku trusts them enough to bring them back to the village, however, you had reasoned with yourself, maybe they weren’t all that dangerous. 

The stranger was a boy your age who introduced himself as Senku, and you had eyed him with a raised brow. Chrome stood not too far behind him, running his mouth about some minerals he had in his shed, but not in the arrogant way he usually did. It was a surprise to see how outgoing your friend was with a foreigner. Chrome and Kohaku explained to you that Senku was a sorcerer- sorry, scientist- able to cure Ruri of her sickness, and upon hearing this, you were excited but reluctant to trust him. 

You wanted to be cold at first. Unattached, uneasy to sway, but my god did Senku make it difficult. Even when he was an asshole, you couldn’t help but hook on to his every word, enthralled with everything he had to say and offer. You’d observe him in the midst of an experiment with curiosity and stare in amazement over the incredible results he was able to produce. It seemed supernatural to you.

It didn’t take long for you to become a citizen of the Kingdom of Science, aiding your friends in creating the panacea that would help Ruri beat her sickness. After obtaining magnets with iron and gaining some help from the villagers and outsider, Gen Asagiri, it was time for the final test, with Kinro and Ginro helping to generate the electricity you worked so hard to create. You were on the roof of the shed with Senku and Chrome, waiting in anticipation.

“Y/N, does the night scare you?” Senku asked you suddenly as he concentrated his eyes on the bamboo fiber in front of him with a small frown.

“Huh? Well…sure. Everything gets all dark.” You replied, studying his face. “Why do you ask?”

“Back in my day, there was no darkness. With old man Edison’s incandescent light bulb, humanity beat back the night, conquering all twenty four hours of the day. Through the power of science, mankind defeated the darkness, and now we’re gonna do it again.” Your eyes trailed down to watch Senku bring the wires closer to the ends of the fiber. “For the first time in 3700 years, the flame of science will burn.”

The ends met, and a brilliant white light brightly illuminated your faces. You stared in awe of the artificial light, amazed by how Senku was able to make such a thing happen. You realized how loud your heart was pounding, partly because of the incredible power of science and the excitement you felt over this invention and the progress you were making with the Kingdom of Science, but mostly because of the slow smile that spread across Senku’s face, a determined glint in his eye dancing in the warm light. His smile widened when the light fizzed out and he met your eyes, and the world around you seemed to grow quiet.

Multiple windows of opportunity opened as you continued to gather materials and gain allies. It was only after Senku won the grand bout that your feelings began nagging at you.

Sitting around a fire with your friends at Senku’s celebration party, you tuned out the conversation and let your mind drift to the scientist. 

You felt a strong sense of pride knowing Senku and how far he’s come in such a short amount of time, starting off as merely a stranger you and many others were weary of to becoming a leader. Your heart raced every time you watched him fall again in love with his passion, and you found yourself wanting to be near him always; to indulge in what he does, to know of every crazy concept he lived out 3700 years ago. And then you realized what was happening and started thinking very fast. 

Without realizing it, you had slowly been falling in love with Senku. With his mind, his passion and persistence, his wit and cunningness. With him. And with every new hurdle you cleared with the Kingdom of Science, with every thrilling experiment and development, you fell further. 

But you knew how Senku was. Romance didn’t interest him in the slightest- in fact, he was actually disgusted by the idea of being romantically involved with someone. So how the hell were you to go about this? 

He was never going to return your feelings, and you had no idea if your own feelings would fade. You would never be involved with Senku in the way that you wanted to be and were horrified at the idea of him finding out about your feelings and being repulsed by you, terrified of losing the friendship you had with him. Right in the midst of your panic, you felt your chest tighten and you started coughing uncontrollably, covering your mouth with your hand. You and the others were taken aback, and you did everything you could to seize your fit.

“Y/N! Are you okay?!” Kohaku cried out and put a hand on your shoulder, while the others around you stared in concern. 

“I’m…fine…” you coughed out, taking sharp inhales and moving your hands away from your face, balling them into fists. “Something just got caught…in my throat…”

“You sure you're okay?”

“Yup…! No worries!” You straightened up and gave your friend a tight-lipped smile as she reluctantly brought her hand away from you. I need to pull myself together. Senku is outrageously observant. You were grateful that he hadn’t yet joined the party and noticed the yellow flower petal you tucked away into your pocket. 

After Ruri was healed and Senku became chief, the Kingdom of Science’s top priority was defeating the Tsukasa Empire, and there was no time to waste. 

Only ten minutes after your incident, Senku had returned to the village, and Gen revealed that Tsukasa was planning to strike. Everything moved quickly from there.

 After Hyoga and Homura’s attack on the village, the citizens were working to rebuild what was lost as well as create an invention that would give the Kingdom of Science the upper hand against the Tsukasa Empire. Senku revealed that the next painstaking project the Kingdom of Science would undergo would be to create something called a cellphone, a device that allowed one to communicate with others over long distances. You and everyone else could hardly wrap your minds around such a thing (including the modern-timer, Gen, but for different reasons). This is the kind of technology Senku’s people possessed? Was such a thing really possible?

And Senku smiled his signature smile with that determined glint in his eye, and you were reminded that this was Senku we were talking about. With his brilliance and resilience and the help of the villagers, he could absolutely pull something like that off. Your heart skipped a beat as his eyes met yours, and he nodded in sincerity upon seeing the skeptic look on your face. A cell phone, huh?

During the project, your condition didn’t get any better. You had started developing frequent pains in your chest and you couldn’t stop coughing up flower petals. It started with one or two once or twice a day, and over time increased to four or five petals up to three times a day. Luckily, you were able to sense the petals rise painfully up your throat, and it gave you enough time to make a hurried excuse to get away from the others before being thrown into a coughing fit. 

Even with the pain, there was no chance in hell you were going to tell anyone about the disease. It was your fault for being so emotional, especially during such a busy period. Nobody had the time to look out for you and worry, you could make it through this on your own.

But you found that the heartache you felt over Senku only grew with time. Unfortunately, your feelings didn’t fade in the slightest, but only grew stronger and stronger. I mean how could they not? Watching him sprawled over blueprints with a slight pout, listening to him ramble about the science behind this and that- it was all so endearing. You wanted desperately to tell him how you felt and to have your feelings reciprocated, but that wasn’t an option. You could never be intimate in the way you wanted to be with Senku. 

You were painfully reminded of this on days where Senku was a bit more reserved than usual. When he would retreat into the observatory or the lab for hours, or when he seemed particularly serious about the mission, avoiding  jokes and keeping conversation outside of the cell phone to a minimum. You felt like you were straying away from him, and on these days, your condition worsened and was became increasingly more difficult to hide.

Soft touches you initiated had him feigning ignorance, moving away from you and continuing his work. Questions you asked about himself were quickly shut down and maneuvered to more science talk, and you'd retreat from him after failing to be further let into his heart throwing up more and more pretty yellow petals. 

-

After months of hard work, the cell phones (yes, phone(s). Can you believe Senku didn’t tell anyone that TWO were needed?) were complete. A plan was formed to send Gen, Chrome and Magma to hand off one of the phones to Taiju and Yuzuriha, Senku’s modern day friends who were spies within the Tsukasa Empire, and get them to convince other members to join the Kingdom of Science by telling an elaborate lie.

It was the evening prior to Gen, Chrome and Magma’s departure. Everyone was asleep except for you, who sat under a tree staring at the stars, coughing up more petals here and there. The hanahaki disease didn’t make it easy to sleep and on a good night, you’d only wake up once. You collected every flower petal you threw up and kept them all in small, secret pouches you had sewn into your clothing. You were miserable. Nothing you tried was helping cure this illness that, only a year ago, you were certain was fictional. You knew nothing about the sickness either, working with barely any information on how to rid yourself of this wretched sickness. 

The only cure you could think of was the most straightforward one- your romantic feelings needed to be returned. The illness seemed to be connected to one-sided love, so surely if Senku returned your feelings, you would be cured, right? 

But that was never going to happen. Senku hadn’t once expressed any romantic interest in you or anyone else. And if you were to tell him that the only way you could avoid death was by having your feelings returned, that’d put a massive weight on him. You couldn’t do that. You couldn’t let Senku feel like he had killed you. 

You coughed again, this time a little more violently, and covered your mouth. God, you hated this.

“You sure do have quite the asty-nay cough there.” A voice sang and cut through the still air.

You quickly put your hands down and turned your head toward the owner. Only a distance away was the mentalist, a small smile dancing on his face as he approached you and took a seat at the foot of the tree beside you.

“It’s quite chilly. Wish spring would come already.”

“What are you doing out here?”

Gen chuckled and craned his neck to look at you. “Couldn’t sleep and decided to come out to get some fresh air. I have quite the role in this scheme, it’s stressful, you know?” 

You rolled your eyes at his whining, continuing to gaze up at the stars.

“It must also be stressful covering up that dreadful hanahaki disease.” 

Your eyes widened and you quickly whipped your head to look at him, but his gaze had left your face, now staring off into the same sky. Shit, I’m figured out. Do I play dumb?

“No point in trying to hide it from me, dear Y/N. I’ve been observing you. Your symptoms are all too familiar.” Gen sang again. Damn. It’s like he read my mind. And in a way he did. He is a mentalist after all. But how would he know of the hanahaki disease? It must’ve existed in his time. 

“Yes, us modern-timers also dealt with hanahaki. Lots of lives were lost over it. It’s quite poetic, honestly. Death by flowers.” Gen commented in an airy tone. “The more pressing question is, how do you know of it? You didn’t recognize pneumonia but know of this?”

“It was briefly mentioned in one of the 100 tales. Nobody in the village had ever borne the sickness, so I assumed it wasn’t real. Well, that was until…”

The light-heartedness of the conversation quickly faded away. Gen’s face was now hard, mouth formed into a frown, and you sighed. 

“Of course you would’ve been the first to get suspicious.” 

“You mean dear Senku hasn’t figured you out yet? That’s surprising, but you know better than anyone that our Senku is no idiot. He’ll find out soon enough. And what do you plan to do when he confronts you?”

“He won’t. I’ll cover it up so he has no need to get suspicious and investigate me.” 

Gen shrugged his shoulders and an airy smile formed on his face yet again. “I’m sure you already figured out that to cure the hanahaki disease, your beloved needs to return your feelings. But this is Senku we’re talking about, so that seems highly unlikely.”

He even knew that Senku was the person you fell for. How obvious were you? Then again, Gen is a mentalist.

“There is…another way, but it’s impossible in this stone world. You could get surgery to remove the flowers from your lungs, but that’d mean losing the feelings you have for Senku. Even if you were willing to give that up, nobody could help with the operation, certainly not me.”

“So that’s it? I’m out of options?”

Gen’s smile was sour now, and he seemed to be reflecting on something, but his train of thought was interrupted when you started coughing again, not being quick enough to cover your mouth and doubling over to throw up more yellow tulip flower petals onto the grass. Gen stared in horror. You stared in horror.

“I don’t want you to worry about me, Gen. I’ll…I’ll figure something out. I refuse to die. I can’t die. I just can’t leave my friends with that grief and guilt. Plus, they’re busy preparing for the battle against the Tsukasa Empire. I can’t distract them from our goal. I feel horrible putting this on you but please don’t tell anyone.” 

Gen stared at you, very obviously having some internal conflict in his head. Eventually he sighed again and his shoulders sagged. “Don’t die, dear Y/N, or else I’ll feel partly responsible.”

-

Nothing was working.

You were convinced you had tried every healing method you could possibly think of. In the summer, you would take hot spring baths. In the winter, you wore layers. You forced yourself to eat and drink plenty (even though the disease gave you a lack of appetite), you trained on the daily (despite being tired), and you kept yourself busy. The coughing would seize for a little while though, and you found that better than being hunched over 24/7. 

It had become increasingly more difficult to randomly leave and throw up flower petals though. Someone else will soon figure it out, but you couldn’t predict if that would be before or after the disease had claimed your life. 

Gen helped cover for you and you appreciated it beyond belief, but soon enough, it was time for him to take on his task of delivering the cellphone to Taiju and Yuzuriha. 

“Don’t start throwing up flowers while I’m gone, dear Y/N.” You also appreciated his lightheartedness throughout the whole thing. It was a bit easier to manage with the mentalist being able to cheer you up just a slight bit.

You were thankful that you and the others had Homura to focus on instead of just sitting and waiting around for the phone to be delivered the entire time, but you were also getting increasingly weaker. You definitely weren’t a prominent fighter however, so nobody was really looking to you for much assistance in the strength department. In lots of ways, things could've been worse. 

Senku could’ve found out a lot faster, for example. But he didn’t, and you’ve been able to remain by his side. 

In all honesty, you were scared when you first found out you had Hanahaki disease. When you coughed up that first flower petal, a million thoughts rushed into your head and you felt faint, both possibly from your coughing fit and your stress. 

You were the only one to have ever endured the Hanahaki disease. Nobody else had ever experienced it, and you didn’t even believe it was real! So when you continued throwing up petals, you were sent spiralling. You were overthinking everything you knew, and while it may have been dramatic, you felt lost and scared. It made you think about your relationship with Senku as well. You feel guilty for accidentally putting this weight on him without his knowledge, for putting this weight on the entirety of Ishigami Village. 

The sickness seemed to subside while working alongside Senku and Gen in convincing members of the Tsukasa Empire to join over to the Kingdom of Science, at least for a little while. You were close with Senku, and you didn’t need to grieve over anything for a little while. You could just focus on the present. You could simply be content with the little nods of affirmation he'd give you accompanied with a small smile.

If this was how you were to meet your end, you’ll be happy just to have known this incredible man.

The rest seemed like a blur after getting Ukyo to join Senku. The Kingdom of Science was starting to prepare its infiltration of the miracle cave after Chrome had returned safe from his capture, and the battle was a haze. There were many close calls, many times you thought you wouldn’t be able to uphold the agreement that no blood would be shed. You were scared you were going to lose the people you love. 

But in the end, you reigned victorious. Tsukasa had teamed with Senku to take down Hyoga, and the rest of you had worked to capture Homura. As you were all making your way back to your base, you stopped to stare at the sun approaching the horizon.

“It’s hard to believe but finally...it’s over.”

A laugh you were all too familiar with. You turned around to see Senku climbing up to join you at your side. “Are you making a joke or what? That’s backwards. Right now, we’re finally getting started. We got all these people to work together with us, to build a real kingdom of science.”

You looked over at him in all his glory as the rising sun basked you both in its glow. Another chapter was beginning, another with Senku in it, another promised to be just as exciting and eventful as the last. Your heart soared. 

-

Senku is upset. Obviously he’s upset, he has to kill his dying friend. You had seen the more colder and distant parts of Senku before, but you had never imagined him being so emotional, so delicate. Your heart had wings just a while ago, and now it was as if you had flown too close to the sun, getting your hopes up that everything would work itself out. 

It was around this time that everyone was coming together that you were entering the final stages of your sickness. Flowers were blooming in your lungs, and it was now permanently difficult to breathe. It became near impossible to disguise your wheeze and sharp inhales, not being able to explain to the people who love and care for you that you were slowly dying.

You knew you didn’t have much time left, and you were getting panicked. You didn’t have any time to think of other possible cures, and you didn’t have the strength to pursue any projects. Were you seriously doomed?

“Maybe not, dear Y/N.” Gen. What did he mean by that? “I just so happened to find some leftover panacea while clearing out the lab,” and at that, your eyes widened as Gen held up a leaf with the drug. Of course. The cure all sulfa drug. How did you not think of this sooner?

“The thing is, I have no idea if this’ll work. I’ve never heard of a drug being able to cure hanahaki. Hell, it may even kill you immediately! But, if it’s meant to be a cure-all drug, why not give it a try?” 

There was no time to waste. Gen immediately gave you the medicine to take, and you two waited anxiously to see what happened. A minute passed. Two. Five. Okay, so you weren’t dead, that was a good sign. 

Hours passed, and you didnt cough up a single flower or petal. By the end of the day, you had nothing to stuff your pockets with. You had never hugged anyone harder in your life.

By morning the next day however, Gen found you in your tent limp and unmoving. His eyes widened at the scene in front of him and tears formed, rushing off to call for help and being forced to tell everyone about your condition. Tulips. Yellow tulips drenched in blood, some sticking to your face and arm, some on the ground.

The drug had gotten rid of your symptoms for a little while, but didn’t actually cure you. Neither you nor Gen were medical professionals in the slightest and had no idea how to go about using the antibiotic on the hanahaki disease. Maybe if you took it regularly, you would've lived. Maybe if you had taken it earlier. Maybe. 

The feeling was bittersweet. In your last moments, you could see your life flash before your eyes, and you internally laughed at the cliché. You saw yourself grow up in the village, befriending Kohaku, Chrome, Ruri, Kaseki and Suika. You saw yourself hunched over Senku to watch him experiment with something, a smile on his face and your eyes wide with awe. You saw many memories with Senku, some of them being times where you felt like you had a chance. Times when you caught Senku staring at you, rare times where Senku showed a bit more vulnerability and talked more openly about his past. He grew just like you did, and you did it together.

You hoped he would forgive you. You hoped everyone would, because in the end, you didn’t regret loving Senku Ishigami. Hopefully in the next life, you were able to start that next chapter with him. 

just thinking about being so in sync with diluc that when the pair of you fight on the battlefield it somehow turns into a stage.

you cover each other’s weaknesses so perfectly that the scene almost looks choreographed- a dance of death, fatal only to those close enough to the performance.

he hits hard but you hit faster. you strike high, he swerves low. a twist, a single turn, and all of a sudden your backs are pressed close together.

hot. flushed.

one sidestep to the right and he’s already covering the area you’d just left, a heavy claymore swinging down in a blaze of crimson to cut down whoever dared to attack you. his flames lick at your sides, but they never burn.

this feeling, the constant rush of heat and adrenaline, of safety, it’s—

it’s addictive. thrilling. that’s what it is.

these unspoken vows of protection.

you could get lost in the beat of metal clashing upon metal, to the melody of your shared grunts and hastily-spoken warnings.

oh, archons could you get lost in this duet of life and death. to lose yourself to these familiar steps and drown in the sensation of lulling flames would be a fate you’d almost willingly resign yourself to.

but it’s unintentional, this dance. it goes unnoticed by the performers but onlookers can see just how well you two synergise.

subconscious coordination.

perhaps that’s why he always agrees to pair up with you on these missions. with anyone else he’d scoff at the mere thought, for what is a partner but only a hindrance, a liability?

no, you’re neither. not to him.

because he knows that no matter the situation, you’d always have his back just as he had yours.

a silent promise for the oblivious.

; ✦ — @irethepotato , @fiannee , @tellerluna-stories , @byeol-ssi , @umiwu , @roguebox