Pomegranate Seeds

Pomegranate Seeds- Masterlist

Pairing- Suguru Geto x reader

Summary- After many years of solitude the God of the Dead, Suguru, ventures up to the mortal realm. He is struck by one of Eros’s arrows as he gazes upon the Goddess of Spring.

When you fight with your sister Utahime, the Goddess of Autumn, Suguru offers you a place to stay to cool off. But the anger at your Sister quickly turns into curiosity about the man whose domain you are in.

Warnings- Eventual smut, swearing, talk of death and violence, some angst but not really

Chapters

Act 1: Wildflower and barley

Act 2: Pomegranate seeds

Drabbles

Act 1

First meetings

Visitor

Parties

Act 2

Waking up

Late night visit

Ah Yes. Me. My girlfriend. And her ¥75,000 plushie of myself.

I have been released from containment (work) and will be wrecking havoc (liking all my mutual’s posts)

Send this to ten other blogs who deserve all the love in the world 💕💕

(You don’t have to do it again, I just thought you deserved the same message)

Thank you Linny 💕💕💕

cult leader! suguru x reader who makes you nap on his bare chest during his meetings with whoever. he wraps his robe around you like a blanket and strokes your hair and rubs your back when you start fussing in your sleep. your precious sleeping form keeps him from crashing out on the nasties he has to talk to. don’t worry about embarrassment if someone does so much as looks at you funny they’ll be gone before they even know it, it took maybe two people before everyone was terrified to do so much as look at you. and when you wake up he’s hand feeding you fresh fruits and ignoring/kicking everyone out LMAO

tan Suguru Geto is very important to me.

Cowboy Like Me

Summary - You and Yuki were inseparable as children, practically attached at the hip since the two of you met. But childhood can’t last forever.

When a marriage proposal is given to your Father he accepts it to help pay off his gambling debts. You are sent off to your Aunt’s house to prepare for your upcoming marriage, leaving Yuki behind. After you come back to find her gone and her family’s farm in ash.

Many years after Yuki’s disappearance an outlaw comes to town with the same golden hair and eyes you could drown in. Is she the same person?

And if so, do you two still fit together in the same way you once did?

Pairing - Outlaw!Yuki x reader

Content - Hurt/comfort, afab!reader (reader wears dresses but they/them pronouns are used), fluff, angst, 1800s time period (all the issues that come with that), prostitution, sexism, talks of underage marriage, implied sex but no actual smut, the closet you and Yuki are in is glass

Word count - 5.3k

A/N - Part 1 of 2 parts! I am working on the second half to this

The past

Yuki Tsukumo came into your life like an all consuming fire on a windy Autumn day. The air was just getting a bite to it and you felt the cold through your dress. You had not thought to grab a shawl to cover your shoulders and neither had your mother.

She held a firm grip on your hand as the two of you walked up to the porch of the Tsukumo farm. It was a large place and the path to the house was long. You felt so tired by the time you reached the house. 

Mrs. Tsukumo answered the door almost the instant your mother knocked. Her blonde hair was down and framed the wide smile she had on her face.

“It’s so good to see you!” She exclaims and hugs your mother like there is no tomorrow.

When she pulls back her gaze falls to you, a gleam of amusement in her eyes. You back away from her curious gaze. She chuckles at your shyness and crouches down to your level, her skirts hitting the wooden floor beneath her.

“You are a shy little thing aren’t you?” She says softly as you blink at her forwardness.

“Yes- yes ma’am!” You speak up and try to steel your resolve.

“And polite!” She stands back up to look at your mother, “She is almost the exact opposite of our Yuki.”

As if on cue you see her. A girl about your age with her wild blonde hair put up in a messy ponytail. The green ribbon tying it back matches her dress which has mud on it up to her knees. She has a grin on her face and a feathery thing in her arms.

You hide behind your mother’s skirt as Mrs. Tsukumo turns around to scold her.

“What have I told you about bringing chickens into the house!” She exclaims and her eyes widen as she sees the mud on her dress. “And gettin’ mud on your best dress!”

The girl pouts a bit and hugs the chicken to her chest, “I wanted to show them my favorite chicken!”

You blink in surprise as she points at you, her hands are a contrast to yours. Her fingers are dirty and you can see a few scratches here and there on them and up her arms. 

Why did she want to show you a chicken? 

You really don’t want that feathery thing too close to you. Its beady eyes look around the room at everything. Its eyes land on you and it reaffirms your aversion to the chicken. 

Mrs. Tsukumo has her hands on her hips and continues to scold her. 

“The chickens are not for you to play with! How many times do I have to tell you that a proper lady doesn’t play with farm animals, Yuki.”

Yuki doesn’t look completely convinced about it. Her brows scrunched in discontent with her mother’s scolding. Her grip on the chicken tightens and the thing squawks loudly.

“But they might actually like the chicken Mama!” Yuki settles on.

Your mother holds back a laugh behind her gloved hand. Her eyes are alight with something you have never seen before. It was like she was a completely different person when Mrs. Tsukumo was in the room. 

As you study your mother’s expression you don’t see Yuki until she is mere inches from your face. Yelping, you stumble back a bit so she isn’t as close to you.

Her brown eyes stare into yours with obvious curiosity. There is a sparkle to them that draws you out of your shell a bit. She shifts the chicken in her arms slightly to hold out a hand to you.

“The name’s Yuki! What’s yours?” She asks you with a grin.

You take her hand and she shakes it. In your haste to tell her your name you trip over it multiple times. 

“You don’t talk well do you?” Yuki remarks with a giggle after you finally get your name out of your mouth, which earns a smack on her arm from her mother.

“Don’t talk like that Yuki! Apologize now!” She squawks at her.

In Yuki’s defense she does genuinely look sorry for her actions, “I didn’t mean that- I am sorry.”

For the first time since arriving you smile. You take her hand which was still out stretched. It is warm and you feel a few healed over scratches on them. It feels so right to hold her hand in yours.

“Can you show me the chickens?” You ask.

Yuki looks surprised then ecstatic.

“Let’s go!”

She grabs your hand and drags you off.

You were never the same after that.

The present

Toji Fushiguro is dead.

There is a bullet hole through his skull put there by Yuki herself.

It would be a terrifying scene if she hasn’t had as much blood as she does in her hands. It has been eight years under Toji’s thumb. Eight years of murder, robbery and arson. She has been a terror to every town they have ridden through. 

That was how she got her job as his second in command. Yuki had demonstrated sheer brutality only rivaled by Toji himself. He had taught her how to shoot, the best way to pick vault locks and how to intimidate others by just a look. His guidance, even if it was harsh, made her into the infamous outlaw she was today.

As she looks at his body, Yuki lets herself cry for the first time in eight years. Tears fall down her red cheeks. She cries for her parents, for the years lost and you.

The last time she saw you it had been from the saddle of her horse as she rode her next to your train. She of course couldn’t fully catch up but she watched the train that took you until there was only a speck of black smoke on the horizon. It had pulled her heart apart to watch you leave.

Yuki wonders how you are. Did you get married to the Mayor’s son? She had heard he was a good man but she never met him. You probably are all settled down with a child now. She would have loved to be there for any part of your life.

She needs to go back to see if there is anything left of her parents. Yuki wants to give them a proper burial if you haven’t already done that. Maybe she will catch sight of you, catch a glimpse into your picturesque life. 

The thought of you on someone else’s arm makes her sick but you were probably happier then out here with her.

When her tears and thoughts of you fade she walks out of the room where Toji’s body lies. She needs to establish her place quickly in the group before others begin to see an opportunity to take over. 

“Is he dead?” Todo asks from the living room. 

He is sitting on a chair against one wall, cleaning his revolvers. It would be an intimidating sight for most people but Yuki breezes by any fear she may have for the boy. She remembers when Toji had first brought him back in the same way he had with her, except Todo got a choice.

He had been like a wet cat, shivering and wet from the downpour he had walked in. His wide eyes had scanned every person in Toji’s group of bandits. A sense of fear in him that she had seen mostly on the town’s folk they stole from.

Even though years have passed since then and he has grown into a mountain of a man he still is that little kid she had comforted that first night. 

“As dead as a man can be.” She says, her usual smile gone from her face.

Todo just nods in understanding. He had also grown up under Toji’s almost abusive teaching style. It shapes you into an entirely different person, you lose sight of yourself as you try to keep up with him. But luckily for Todo, Yuki had been there to help him. 

“Good.” Todo whispers as if Toji would rise from the dead to beat him for uttering it.

“We are going on another raid, I need to let the others know that I am in charge and to put people in their place.” Yuki pulls on her jacket.

“Alright, I will gather the boys.” He says and gets up. She watches as he leaves, his guns shining in their proper place in holsters at each hip.

Yuki takes a deep breath before putting her gun back in the holster and following suit.

The raid goes off without a hitch. The men follow her orders with no hesitation or backlash. It feels good to be in control, she spent so much time without it so having it is like a drug.

The door to the house they are raiding last is wide open and she walks through like she owns the place. The family here seems to have already fled, probably because of the rumors that her gang was coming to this town next. 

She looks around the house and her eyes catch on an emerald green dress. It is rumpled on the wooden floor so they must have dropped it on the way out and not deemed it important enough to come back for.

Yuki picks up the dress to look at it. She is reminded of a life that feels like a hundred years ago. She remembers meeting you for the first time, your anxious excitement as she showed you around the farm. She throws it over her shoulder and continues looking for whatever she can find.

When she gets to the bedroom door and sees a bed empty of linens. The window is open and the curtains flap in the wind. But the closet still has some clothes and she walks over in interest.

A turquoise blue dress is nestled in between pairs of pants and shirts. She grabs the new clothes and the dress. A hope small in her chest that she may see you in something similar when she sees you. 

Yuki needs to stop being so sentimental.

It takes three weeks to get settled enough into her new position for her to be able to leave.

She makes sure that Todo is in charge while she is gone and won’t break under her men’s pestering or threats. He vows to keep everything in order while she goes back to say goodbye to her parents.

As she gets closer to her hometown she feels more nervous. It feels wrong to be back there with how much she has changed. Yuki is a different person and she can’t help but fight herself as she faces the town that raised her. She probably won’t even look you in the eyes as she passes by.

When she rides into town no one notices her face. She is happy for that and the hat low on her head to hide her face. It hasn’t changed one bit, sure people are older but the buildings remain the same. She does see some new faces that must have moved in while she was gone.

She moves through this town like a ghost to the remains of the farm. 

It is still in ashes, the house’s charred ruins haven’t been messed with. Part of her is thankful for that, it shows everyone that they were here. It is a mark on this town that she existed here once. She looks around the remains for anything of hers or her parents but there is nothing.

The only thing there is a fresh bouquet of sunflowers. She smiles down at the flowers and wonders if you put them there for her. Carefully she undos the black ribbon and pulls one out for herself. 

Yuki puts the sunflower in her saddle bag and hops onto her horse. She wants to look at your house for one last time. It would be like closure, to see your parents and maybe even you.

The old house comes into view and Yuki feels a part of her relaxes as she sees the fresh paint and life in it. A child opens the door and runs out, giggling wildly as she goes.

Maybe she was yours. Tears clog her throat as she brings her horse to a stop just a few yards from your door.

The door swings open again to reveal a woman she has never seen before. Her face has worry lines on it as she looks around. Her yellow skirts touch the wooden porch as she walks around to the right to look for the child that ran out.

In her search she sees Yuki, her eyes widen before she calls out to her.

“Can I help you?” She yells at Yuki as she walks off the porch.

“Yes!” She calls back, “I was looking for an old friend whose parents used to live here?”

The woman shields her eyes from the sun with a hand but Yuki can see the pity on her face from here.

“The old folks who owned this place were kicked out because of gambling debts!” She explains, “The mother died a few years ago and the father ran off but the daughter was taken to the parlor house to work off the debt!”

Yuki’s heart drops to her stomach.

She never thought this would happen. Sure your father had a drinking and gambling problem but it was never that bad. She feels her heart beat out of her chest. It feels like her chest is twisting in knots. Your Father running off, your mother dead.

You in a parlor house.

Yuki doesn’t even say goodbye as she kicks her horse into a sprint.

She had walked by the parlor house many times over the course of her childhood. She had never looked at the scantily clad women who waved down at men from the balcony. It had made her cheeks heat up to see them that exposed in broad daylight. Her mother had always shooed her along quickly when they passed by those women.

Yuki had never judged them for their life, most of them never wanted to be there. They were sold or taken to work off a debt someone else owed. She thinks that it would be a lonely existence to be stuck in a house, selling yourself to men every day in hopes of paying off a debt.

Her horse comes to a stop outside the main square and the three story parlor house on the Main Street. She looks up at the women there. She sees so many, all of them barely clothed, with painted smiles on their faces.

Yuki’s heart stops as she sees you. 

A is tight green dress on your body and your face is done up skilfully with makeup to ecunsuate your best features. The dress is shorter then anything you would have worn before. The bodice dips low showing off your chest.

Your face has changed, it’s older but there isn’t the light in your eyes that was once there. You must have been here for years since she last saw you. The look on your face is so fake that she almost cringes as she looks closer.

As you lean over the rail of the balcony, smile on your lips a flash of metallic gold catches her eye. 

The locket you had given Yuki for her fourteenth birthday is sat around your neck. She had worn it everyday after you had given it to her. Inside the locket was a small picture of the both of you. 

You must have found it in the ashes of the farm. Yuki’s heart clenches in her chest. She needs to get you out of here. 

The past

At the age of fifteen Yuki is certain of two things.

1. She is going to take over her father’s farm.

2. You are going to live with her forever.

You had protested it at first when she brought it up. You always said that the both of you were going to get married and have families of your own. Yuki would always pout at your refusal of her dream. But soon enough Yuki wore you down to a yes. 

Yuki was estatic about the future that the two of you would have. You would be in her house every day and she wouldn’t have to pull you out of your house to run through the fields like now. 

Yuki can have you all to herself.

Her heart races as she rides one of her father’s horses at full gallop to get to your house. She is excited to see you today because she got permission from her father to train under him to take over the farm. Your dreams of living together are coming together.

The old house comes into view. She sees your mother working in the window of the kitchen. Your father must be out because she looks out at the window nervously. Her eyes soften at the corners, crows feet beginning to form there.

“Yuki! Come in! I am cookin’ and will make you something.” She says as Yuki ties the reins of the horse to a fence post.

“I would love to but I need to steal your-”

“Yuki!” You yell and come running out at full speed. 

Your eyes are alight with something Yuki can’t place but it makes her chest tighten. She feels like she could look at you forever if you looked back at her like that. 

“Let’s go, I need to get out of here!” You practically demand with a smile.

Yuki unties the reins she just tied, “Hop on.”

Her hands find a place on your waist as she helps you up onto the horse. After getting up behind you she wills down the flush in her cheeks. Your proximity always gets her so blushy and she can’t quite understand why. 

You are settled in front of her and she gives the reins a flick to get the horse moving. Yuki keeps the horse to a steady pace while you are moving through town but as soon as you are past the last building she urges the horse into a gallop.

You laugh and hold your hands up in the air. It is a beautiful sight, you look so carefree like this. She wants to always see you that way, eyes sparkling and lips pulled into a pretty smile. It makes her heart sing your praises.

Yuki takes you out of town into the vast wilderness around your hometown. She eventually stops by the edge of a small stream that circles the edge of the valley where the town is. This stream is one of the offshoots of a bigger river a few miles away. It is also one of the water sources the town has. 

She gets off the horse and helps you down. You hop down and immediately start taking off your shoes. Yuki follows suit as you begin to wade into the stream, a grin on your face.

For a moment, time slows, the sun shines on your hair like a halo. It makes you look ethereal and inhumanly beautiful. She wishes she could capture this moment, to think of the sunlight illuminating your face every waking moment. 

“What are you staring at?” You ask, your smile growing confused.

Yuki shakes her thoughts away, “Nothing!”

She feels so much freer when her shoes are off. When she was young it was an ordeal to get her to keep shoes on. She hated the restricted feel she got when wearing them.

It has mellowed out with age but she still hates the restrictive shoes and clothes women are subjected to.

Yuki sits on the river bank, her skirt already dipping into the stream below. You have better luck then she does with keeping clean or maybe she doesn’t care about that like you do. 

“The water feels good, it is so hot in these summer months.” You comment as you wade back to where Yuki is.

“If it wasn’t for my mother’s scolding I would dive in head first.” Yuki says with a slight pout.

You laugh and pull yourself back up onto the bank, “She would kill you if you did.”

“‘How improper! You need to act like a proper lady of fifteen!’” Yuki imitates the scolding tone her mother is using more and more frequently.

Yuki knows that she is difficult and different from other girls her age. Other girls her age dream of husbands, kids and the other ‘appropriate’ things for girls to dream about. 

But Yuki can’t seem to be normal. 

She wants to stay with you forever, she doesn’t want a husband, she wants to live out the rest of her life on her family’s farm instead of a random man’s house. 

“You are thinking a lot.” You observe with a soft voice.

“I can’t seem to be normal and it hurts my mother so much that I can’t. She is more often than not miserable and I am terrified that will be my fate.” Yuki explains to you, “I don’t think that I can handle being a wife and mother if I turn out like her.”

A blanket of silence settles over the two of you as you process her words. She watches your face as you choose carefully what to say. 

“I think that none of us are normal, we just choose to hide it or push through it.” You grab her hand and intertwine your fingers in hers. “But marriage is something we must all face at some point and it can be scary to think about. I think the thing holding me back is the thought of losing you.”

Yuki looks over at you as tears trail down your face. She puts her free hand against your cheek, her thumb brushing away tears.

“You are hiding something from me.” Yuki states as you cry.

You wouldn’t be this emotional about this if you weren’t really scared.

“The mayor’s son, he- he sent my father a marriage proposal.” You hiccup out, “My mother is sending me off to my Aunts to have her teach me how to be a proper wife.”

Yuki pulls you into a tight hug, your face in her neck as you sob. She grips onto you like you may disappear- because you are. You are going to go to your Aunts then get married. Her eyes sting with unshed tears.

You are leaving and there is nothing she can do to stop it.

The present

“Who gave you this?” A grimy hand reaches up to touch the golden locket around your neck. 

You want to yell at him to not touch it. 

He can touch you all he wants but the locket is the one thing you have from a life that is so far away from this one. A life where you were happy. Yuki is the one thing you have that you can hold onto.

Instead you give him a coy smile, “An old friend of mine.”

“So you were rolling around in the dirt long before you came here then?” He smirks up at you.

“I had a few suitors but nothing more-” You put your hand on the man’s bare chest, “but you are far better than they ever were.”

His grin is predatory as he flips you onto your back. “Those boys could never please you the way I can.”

An hour later you watch him leave your room. His jacket is slightly esque and your lipstick is smudged. Obvious signs of what you two had done on you and him.

You sigh and sink back into the bed, a trimble to your voice. The locket around your neck is still in place. You reach up to hold the golden heart in your hands. A tangible sign that you weren’t always here.

After a while you get out of the bed to clean up. You bathe and change into fresh clothes. There are no more clients today and you are thankful. You don’t think that you can handle anymore today, not after the last patron. 

A knock comes at your door and you walk over to answer it. 

Opening it you see one of the other girls, Mary you think that’s her name, she is new and very timid. Her parents sold her to the parlor house to pay their way back to the east and away from the bandits out here. 

“Someone has requested you.” She tells you and her eyes dart down.

You sigh deep and long. 

“Send him up in ten minutes, I have to get ready.” You tell her and she just nods shakily.

She leaves your doorway and walks down the stairs to the Madam, relaying what she had told you. 

You get ready for the client. The make up you had just taken off is reapplied and you put your dress back on. It doesn’t take too long to get ready.

Another knock lets you know that he is here. You steel yourself to play a role that you play all too often. 

You open the door to see the client standing nervously in the hall. It is not usual but not unheard of to see a man nervous when visiting a parlor house for the first time. You were thankful to have that on your first night. The both of you were new to it and helping each other out.

“I am sorry to keep you waiting sir,” You gesture for him to come in, “please come in.”

He walks in and you get a better look at him. 

A bandanna is covering the lower half of his face and his hat is pulled low. You are a little confused by the secretive nature of him but don’t pry about it. Some of the frequent patrons are married and you know not to ask too many questions.

Your eyes catch on the pistols on each hip and you try not to let yourself panic. Not many men come in with pistols, only men passing through or outlaws.

“What would you like me to do for you?” You ask sweetly, trying to coax him out of his shell, “I am here for your pleasure.”

It is silent and you walk a bit closer and look under his hat. Your eyes meet wide, familiar, brown ones. 

You don’t want to hope but they have the same flecks of gold in them as Yuki’s. The shape is a perfect match, along with the golden hair under the hat. 

“Who are you?” Your desperation is thinly veiled. You watch with disbelief as the bandana is pulled down and their hat is taken off. 

Yuki is older, different from the fifteen year old that you knew. She has a few small scars on her face along with a bruise on her left cheek. Her eyes take you in as you do the same. 

“Yuki-” You are cut off as she hugs you.

Her arms are tight around you and in that bone crushing intensity you feel like you can finally breathe. You feel tears wet your right bare shoulder as she lays her face on it. 

“I thought you were dead.” You whisper through tears.

“I thought you got married.” Her tear choked voice counters.

“Funny how life never goes to plan.” It is sarcastic and sad when you say it.

Despite your relief to see her there is a bone deep shame that she found you like this. Your Mama always told you that doing this type of work was shameful. She had gone on and on that the women who would sell their bodies were damned to hell.

What would Yuki think about you if she knew how long you have been doing this? How would she take it to know that you have lost count of the amount of men who have come to your bed?

“How did you end up here?” Yuki pulls back to ask you.

You give her a sad smile, “Father gambled away all our money and he had a lot of debt that he hid from us. After Mama died he ran off, leaving me no choice but to do this.”

“What about the mayor’s son?” She questions you further.

“He didn’t want to be tied down by the debt so he called off the engagement.” You answer.

Her eyes are full of pain as she looks at you.

“I should have come back sooner-” She says and you shake your head.

“I am happy to see you here now.” You admit and put your forehead against hers like you did when you were kids. 

“I need to get you out of here.” Yuki says and you pull back to blink at her.

“But the debt isn’t paid yet? I can’t leave yet.” You explain to her.

“I know but you don’t deserve to be forced to work off a debt that isn’t yours.” She tells you with conviction.

“How are you planning to pull this off?” You ask with amused curiosity.

“Like this!” She picks you up and slings you over her shoulder.

You make a noise of protest as she makes her way to the door and kicks it open. She unsheathes a pistol and points it out at the people in the hallway. They gasp in surprise and fear.

“Nobody moves and we won’t have a problem!” She says and backs up to the stairs.

People begin to panic as they see her pistol ready to fire. The women scream and the men shield them from whatever gunshots may be fired. You can’t really see what is happening from your position over her shoulder. 

She turns around to rush down the stairs to the lower level.

“Struggle more.” She whispers to you in a teasing tone. “We have to make this convincing.”

Your face burns but you comply and try to get out of her tight grip. You flail your arms and legs but to no avail. She has a strong hold on you as she continues to back out of the building.

“Let me go!” You scream at her to really sell it.

Once Yuki is sure that there is no one kicking up a fuss she turns forward to run with you to the horse. You don’t know if you should continue struggling so you put up a minimal resistance as she puts you on the horse. Yuki gets up behind you and snaps the reins to make her horse move.

You had forgotten how fun it was to ride a horse. The wind blows on your face as the two of you ride away from that town.

“You are a great actress darlin’” She says and slows the horse down to a trot.

“Thank you,” You take a mock bow, “I really tried my best.”

A comfortable silence sets over the two of you as you both ride on. You feel your body relax into hers. It feels nice to feel Yuki at your back and a horse under you. 

“So where are we going?” You ask her as the sun sets in front of you.

“Further out into the wilderness, I have a gang out here that took over an old ranch. We use it as a base.” She explains.

You grin wide at her statement, “So that’s how you got the confidence to throw me over your shoulder and make off with me.”

“You act as if you wanted to be there- I was doing you a favor.” She retorts with a pout.

“Fine, see if the life you made for yourself is better than mine or not.” You tell her but you already have your answer because she is here with you now.

You can handle anything with Yuki by your side.

Tags <3 : @linny-bloggs

Since the fics for each card have chapters I am going to have the card in the middle for the masterlist but the characters for the chapters.

Alright people, which set up for the tarot card masterlists do we want?

Do we want it with art of the card itself?

Or the characters?

Love, Magic and other things gone wrong

Summary - After trying multiple dating apps you give up and try to love yourself. A love potion should help with that. Nothing can go horribly wrong and drag the cute guy next door into it…right?

Pairing - Suguru Geto x Reader

Content - Fluff, smut, oral f receiving, p i v sex, mostly fluff tho, Witchy! Reader, magical accidents, love potions, artist! Geto, he has TATTOOS, pet names

Word count - 9k

A/N - This is my first full fic that I am posting on here from Ao3! If you prefer that format it is here!

Your love life is… horrendous, you are even being nice about it.

The last date you had gone on had told you that he just “wasn’t ready for anything serious”, only to turn around and change his status to in a relationship within two days after that. But he was the latest in the line of terrible dates you had gone on within the past two years.

You had tried almost everything but you had come to one conclusion-

“I am going to end up a lonely cat lady!” You whine and lay your head down on the cafe table. Utahime looks down at you over the rim of her mug. Her brown eyes look a bit amused at your horrible situation.

“I really doubt it,” She says and pats your head, “Men just suck.”

You want to argue but you remember one of your dates saying that “if you just lost some weight you would be so hot”, so you just groan instead of saying yes. Men do suck or maybe just the ones you match with on shitty dating apps are.

“What do I do?” You ask and shift your head to the side so you can look up at your friend.

“To be honest, you just need to be comfortable with yourself. Practice self love first, then good men will find you.” She explains and sips her tea.

“Maybe you are right.” You agree, still feeling defeated. “Do you have a quick fix for my self love?”

She snorts, “Are you asking for a love potion?”

“You said it, not me!” You remark with a laugh and sit up.

Utahime rolls her eyes good naturedly.

“Give me a few days and I will drop it off, but-” Her face turns serious, “only use a small amount. And I would suggest only drinking it when you are alone and infuse it into something so the effects are minimal. Otherwise you could fall in love with your reflection or someone random.”

You readily nod, how hard could that be?

After you take a little bit of that love potion for a week you see results. You feel better and as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. When you go out you don’t scrutinize yourself for your weight or how you look. Your deep set insecurities fade into the background as you look at yourself. It feels so good.

Today is a quiet day for you. Saturdays are one of your off days so you designated it as a chill day. No big agenda or anything to do, just basking in that fact that you don’t have to do anything, which is the best kind of day.

You wake up at nine-thirty but lay in bed for a half hour before getting up to make breakfast. The sun shines in through your sliding glass door out to the small balcony. It engulfs the morning in a warm glow as you start the coffee pot. Starting breakfast you crack a few eggs into a pan and turn on the stove.

While the coffee brews and you cook your eggs on a low heat, you pull out your tarot deck for a quick morning reading. You usually work mornings so when you have an opportunity for a morning read you feel giddy. The deck is familiar and comfortable in your hands as you shuffle the cards.

After you feel like they are sufficiently shuffled you pull out three cards and lay them face down. You flip the first card and wince. The tower glares up at you as you feel very uncomfortable at its presence.

So it looks like you will be having a crisis, delightful.

“Okay-” You say to yourself and take a deep breath, “let’s see what is going on.”

You flip over the next card to see the ace of cups. That is significantly better than the tower. A new emotional connection but is that before or after the crisis or is that the crisis? You sigh and already feel yourself overthinking.

The last card is flipped and you feel a bit better about all of this. The sun card shines like a beacon of hope in this reading. A calm after the storm, a peace after a time of crisis. It looks like the crisis will happen first, a new emotional connection will somehow be involved but happiness will come after.

You snap a picture of the reading and send it to the group chat with Utahime, Shoko and Yuki.

______

You

Guess who is going to

have a crisis?

Yuki

Don’t you have a crisis

every other week?

Shoko

Don’t be rude

Utahime

Yeah, it’s every two weeks Yuki

You

I don’t know why I am friends

with you guys

Yuki

Because you love us?

______

You roll your eyes at your friends and go back to your eggs.

The rest of your morning and early afternoon go well. You eat your breakfast, work on some personal projects and lay around watching tv. Occasionally you get a text from the group chat but it is mostly about things unrelated to your upcoming crisis.

You are sitting on your couch at about four o'clock, starting a book that you have been putting off reading, when you realize that you haven’t started on dinner yet. It is a bit early but you can feel hunger start to creep in. Putting a bookmark in your place you close the book and get up.

The cabinets are almost bear except for a lone box of spaghetti noodles. You grab it out of the cabinet and set it on the counter. Looking in the fridge you don’t see any sauce so you may have to settle for garlic butter pasta. You see some chicken that you can put in it.

“Score!”

Grabbing out the chicken you put it next to everything else and get to work on your makeshift dinner. You turn on the stove, put the pan on it and cut the chicken. You season the chicken well before put it on the pan to cook.

You are craving more coffee so you put on another pot. In addition to the water you put in a tablespoon of that love potion just for fun. You don’t plan on seeing anyone today so you want to mess with the dose a bit.

Once you have the coffee on you walk out to water your hoard of plants on your balcony. Most of them had been gifts but your favorite is the lavender plant you had been given as a housewarming gift.

You suspect you will have to replant her soon so she can grow better. She is one of the plants you use the most in your teas and recipes because of lavender’s calming qualities. Utahime also uses lavender in her witch stuff so you are technically her supplier.

The sound of another sliding door breaks you out of your thoughts. To your right the sliding door opens and a man steps out with a pack of cigarettes. Both of you look equally shocked to see each other. Then you remember that you are still in your pajamas.

He looks at you and you look back. Trying to break the awkward silence the man gives you a small wave. You quickly wave back before going back to watering your many plants.

Normally you would not care but this man is different. He and his friend had moved in about a year ago. You had immediately noticed him. Maybe it was the hair, tattoos or gauges; but no matter what it was you were hooked.

He was cleverly dubbed, “Hot neighbor guy” in your circle of friends. You kept them updated on all the small details you had picked up about him. Like that he really likes rock music and that his hands are usually stained with paint.

So now you try not to stare at his broad shoulders that are on full display in his black tank top. His side profile is accentuated by the evening sun behind him. You need to be normal, friendly but not too much-

“Why do you have so many plants?”

You immediately jump out of your skin at his sudden question, then smoothly respond,

“What?”

A blush tints your cheeks as you debate running away into the woods and never returning.

This man has the audacity to lean over the rail towards you with a cigarette between his teeth and repeat his question.

“Why do you have so many plants? I always wondered why you had so many.”

“Oh! Most of them were gifts in high school,” You say and stand up straight after you finish watering your last plant, “I had a phase and now feel obligated to keep them alive.”

He chuckles a bit and lights the cigarette, “I get that, I took in a stray once and now I am stuck living with him.”

“Your roommate?” You ask and he nods.

“He has little to no self preservation so I get to save him from himself.”

You laugh and he smiles, his snake bites becoming more prominent on his lips.

“How did you-” You start to say only to be cut off by the smoke alarm screaming at you.

Your chicken is burning.

Not wasting any time you fling open your door and turn off the burner. After you run to the smoke alarm to try to reset it. Only to find that it is too far up the wall for you to reach. Now you were not short but it is ridiculously high up on your wall.

Your quickly thought out plan B was to beat the alarm with a couch cushion. Whether it was to hopefully dislodge the thing from the wall or fan away the smoke you don’t know but what else can you do? Sadly your brilliant idea doesn’t work so you just beat your wall with a cushion and hope it stops soon.

A knock at your door makes you give up on your valiant attempt at stopping the shrieking alarm. With a sense of defeat you walk to the door. Couch cushion in hand you open the front door to see “Hot neighbor guy” at your door. This is probably his first impression of you, a woman who has too many plants and burns chicken, how great.

“Do you need help?” He asks, because of course he is still nice to you, with genuine concern on his face.

“If you don’t mind!” You say trying to be cheerful as your reputation with this guy lies tattered on the ground between you, “If not I will just wait for it to stop.”

The corners of his lips quirk up at your tone. You move aside to let him in, you are then immediately struck by the fact that you haven’t cleaned up your apartment enough for it to be prepared for someone to come over. But it is far too late as he walks to the alarm.

He reaches up, his shirt riding up, to grab the alarm. Your eyes, attracted by the movement, travel down to see a tiger tattoo on his hip. You don’t look at that and you won’t think about it later either. He pushes a button and the alarm goes blissfully silent. You sigh in relief and he chuckles.

“Well, at least you can take care of plants because your prospects of becoming a handyman are slim.” He says with a grin.

“The only thing holding me back is irritatingly high placed smoke alarms, other than that I would do great.” You say back then turn a bit shy as you continue, “Thank you though, is there anything I can do to repay you?”

“Well now that the smoke is gone I can smell coffee, can I have some?” He asks you and reaches out his hand, “And I am Suguru by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Suguru,” You respond and take his outstretched hand. His palms are bit rough as he shakes your hand and you introduce yourself.

“And I am happy to share my coffee!” You agree with a smile and turn to go back to the kitchen. He follows you and waits by your island. You grab a mug out of the cupboard for him. “Do you like cream or sugar?”

“No, black will be just fine.” He says and sits on one of the stools.

After pouring the coffee you slide the cup over and he takes it gently. His hands are larger than yours and you see faint patches of dried purple paint.

“Let me go put back the cushion.” You say and walk into the living room. With a soft hum you arrange the cushions in their proper place.

Looking back you see that your work is good and begin to make your way to the kitchen. As you enter the kitchen you come to a halt as you look at the coffee pot. You then realize that you put the love potion into the water for the coffee.

Oh no.

Subtly you glance over at Geto who sips the coffee blissfully unaware of your fuck up. He looks fine? There isn’t any change in behavior so far. So you decide to make yourself some coffee and observe instead of doing anything irrational.

You reach up and get another mug only for Suguru to hand it down to you. His chest is almost against your back as he hands it to you. Your breath hitches slightly as he doesn’t move too far from you as you pour yourself coffee. His hands ghost your waist and you are ninety-nine percent sure that it has kicked in.

What the hell do you do?!

“Your really cute like this.” He says and it’s dangerously low. You shiver at the tone of his voice.

“Suguru?” You ask, trying to act nonchalant and not like you are having a crisis.

“I like the way you say my name.” He says and you turn so you can see him. That was a bad move because he puts his hands on the counter behind you, closing you in.

Your breath is short and your heart is pounding in your chest. Suguru’s eyes trail down from your eyes to your slightly parted lips. He isn’t even discreet about it.

Before you can come up with any semblance of a plan to get out of this predicament your brain shuts off.

Suguru leans in and kisses you. It starts off slow and sweet. His mouth moves against yours softly, like he is savoring the taste of you. You wonder what you taste like to him. He tastes like black coffee, you usually don’t like black coffee but you don’t mind it if Suguru is kissing you.

You lean in, chasing his kiss and his tongue enters your mouth. Moaning a bit you feel his head tilt so he can get further. He swallows up your moans greedily.

Suguru pulls back for just a second so he can turn you both around. You are a little confused about what he is doing until he picks you up and sets you on the island. In the heat of the moment you open your legs so he can slot himself between them.

His mouth crashes back into yours quickly after. You run a hand up into his hair, trying to find purchase as he kisses you like a man possessed. Accidentally you tug and he groans into your mouth. His hands grip your hips tightly as you wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer.

Suguru moves from your mouth to your neck. He nibbles on your neck and you jolt at the sudden sensation. You begin to grind down as he chuckles against your skin. The cold metal of his snake bites turn you on even more as he kisses where he was biting your skin like a peace offering.

His right hand moves from your hips to your tigh and you remember that you should be pushing him away. This isn’t really him, just a signifect of that potion. Still breathing heavily you push him back. He looks a little confused but doesn’t complain about you push him off.

“I- uh- don’t want to go that far yet!” You squeak out, both your hands on his shoulders. “Not that it is bad in any way-”

Suguru blinks a bit before nodding at your words, “Sorry, I was far too forward.”

“No! Your fine, it just me that is the problem.” You inwardly groan as you use that stupid line. “Are you free tomorrow?”

He seems to think about this before nodding.

“I am free about two if you want to go out?” You suggest to him.

He obviously isn’t in his right mind and you don’t want to take advantage of that. You would feel horrible if you caused him pain. Hopefully he will have snapped out of it by the time for your date rolls around or have forgotten this entirely.

Suguru smiles at you and your legs feel weak, “See you at two then.”

With a quick peck to your lips, and him putting his phone number in your phone, Suguru excuses himself from your apartment, leaving you reeling on your kitchen counter.

You sit there for a second absorbing what happened within the last fifteen minutes of your life. Reaching a hand up you feel your lips that Suguru was kissing just a minute ago.

Hoping down off the counter you feel that your legs are still weak from all that. But that doesn’t stop you from getting to your phone and frantically pressing on Utahime’s contact. She will hopefully know how to help you.

The phone rings three times before she picks up.

“Hey!” She says more excited then you are because of your current situation.

“Hey…” You say cautiously and you can practically hear her eyes narrow in suspicion.

“What happened?” Utahime asks you

“So I might have burnt my chicken talking to ‘Hot neighbor guy’,” Utahime snorts at your opening statement, “then he fixed my smoke alarm- which was so hot by the way- anyway as repayment I gave him a cup of coffee- which may have that love potion you gave to me infused in it.”

Dead silence.

“How much did he have?” She asks you slowly.

“Enough to furiously make out with me on my counter for five minutes.” You answer quickly.

Utahime groans, “How much did you put into the coffee?”

“Oh!” You say, understanding what she meant now, “I used about a tablespoon.”

“Okay so it should wear off in about a day.” Utahime says with relief.

You check the clock and it is just a bit before five. So you just have to wait until five for it to wear off. Your heart deflates a little at the idea of not going on a real date with him but love potions are cheating in the war that is modern dating.

“That’s good.” You answer, “Also do you think my black crop top looks better with my flare jeans or that cute slit skirt with stars on it?”

You hear a hum on the other end of the line as she thinks, “Skirt would be better since it is getting warmer but I would pair it with a sweater.”

“I agree, also tell Shoko Hi for me!”

“Good luck.” She says and you hang up the call.

Now you just need to survive this date and hopefully the potion will have worn off by then. As long as you play it cool you will past this crisis.

You can totally do that.

Suguru has always been a very calm and controlled person. He prides himself on his restraint and his patience. So he doesn’t understand what just happened. Not that he didn’t want to- but where did that come from?

Suguru had noticed you as soon as they moved in. You had passed by him in the hallway when he was moving his stuff in. He had been so distracted by you and your smile and bright eyes. Satoru laughed his ass off when he almost dropped the box he was carrying in because he was staring at you.

His eyes would always search the hallway for you when he would go to his classes or the studio where he painted most of the time. You would always just be entering your apartment as he would make his way up the stairs. He would always just miss you so when he managed to see you on your balcony he had internally cheered.

And when your smoke alarm went off he practically sprinted across the apartment, out his door and to yours to help you. Satoru had laughed at his mad dash but Suguru didn’t care. He found it endearing that you even offered him a chance to help you.

But after that cup of coffee he felt more desperate for you. Like there was a burning feeling under his skin and the only thing that could help was your touch. His overwhelming need for you and your attention seemed to override all his critical thinking.

Suguru debates pulling his own hair out at the fact he was so close to fucking you on your counter and you didn’t seem confident in pushing him off of you. You probably think he is some fuck-boy trying to get into your pants and he is really ashamed of that.

Slowly he opens the apartment door to an expectant Satoru. He sits on the couch with an amused expression. Debating whether or not to avoid this conversation altogether Suguru walks over to the coffee table where his pack of cigarettes are.

“Sooo” Satoru says with a grin, “when is the wedding?”

Suguru glares at him hard.

Satoru puts his hands up in a placating gesture, “Just asking! She did let you help her right?”

“Yep.” Suguru says, hoping that he doesn’t delve deeper.

But it is never that easy with Satoru.

“And?” He pushes leaning forward in his seat like he is watching a drama.

“I made out with her on her kitchen counter.”

There is a long pause as they stare at each other.

“And you came back, why?”

“I didn’t want her to think that I just want to fuck her.” Suguru says and puts his cigarettes in his pocket, “Most of us give the people we are pursuing a bit more space then you do.”

Satoru scoffs at his comment.

“I give Nanamin space! He seems to even be enjoying my company right now.” He defends himself.

“If that helps you sleep better at night.” Suguru says with a shrug.

“Don’t change the subject!” Satoru squawks.

Suguru sighes and sits down. His best friend’s interrogation will not end soon so he might as well make himself comfortable.

The morning of the date you can’t really settle down.

During the hours of six through nine you wake up five times. Eventually you give up and check your phone. Then for a while you check your phone obsessively for a text saying that the date is off or he is “sick”. But one never comes. Which might be more concerning now that you think about it.

You clean your whole apartment and do all the laundry you have put off for a week. The only thing you haven’t done is wash your windows, which you might do in a minute. Looking at the time you throw the washing the windows idea out the metaphorical window.

The clock reads one and you need to get ready.

Normally when you get ready for a date you feel like you are dressing for a wake. But as you get showered and dressed you feel an underlying giddiness. You listen to more upbeat music as you do your hair and makeup. It is such a 180 turn from usual.

It is probably because it’s Suguru. He seems to be a good person from what you know so far, plus he is an excellent kisser. You try to remind yourself that it might not really be him but you can let yourself just enjoy today and wear it takes you can’t you?

Humming to the random pop song you have on in the background you admire the outfit Utahime suggested and you like it. You are not fully covered up but still warm because of the tights and sweater. It is a tasteful mix of the two and perfect for a first date.

You leave your bathroom and make your way to the living room to put on a pair of small heels. Since he didn’t cancel you decided to take him to a cat cafe downtown, since you don’t have a car you will have to walk so you want to not have your feet hurt. The kitten heels complement both the black and silver of your skirt nicely.

Right on time at exactly two a knock comes at your front door. All the nervous energy hits you as you walk to the door. You take a deep breath before opening your door to see Suguru standing there.

He looks good. A loose band tee hangs off his frame along with an oversized jacket. But the thing that draws your attention is the skinniest skinny jeans known to man that he is wearing. You have seen men wear skinny jeans but not that tight. And you might be very into that.

His long black hair is tied up and away from his face and you can see an undercut. You really want to run your hand over it.

“Hi.” He greets you with a small smile.

“Hi.” You respond but it comes out a bit shyer than you want it too.

“Are you ready?” He asks you and leans an arm on the frame of your door.

“Yes, I just need to grab my purse.” You say a giddiness to your voice.

For a second you leave him there and disappear into your apartment to get your purse. When you return he has moved away from your door and is rocking back and forth on his feet. He immediately stops as you lock and close your door behind you.

“So where are we going?” Suguru asks you as you walk away from your door.

“It is a surprise!” You say and press the down button to summon the elevator.

“How mysterious.” He says with a grin as you enter the elevator.

“I have to keep you interested somehow.” You match his grin as you hit the ground floor button.

“My interest is peaked.”

In the few short minutes that you are leading him downtown Suguru decides he really likes walking behind you. There is something about how you carry yourself that makes him think that he would follow you anywhere. You could lead him into hell and he probably wouldn’t notice it.

Satoru would call him a dog on a leash but he doesn’t mind if it is you.

As the crowd gets more dense as you enter Shinjuku you reach back and grab his hand, “I don’t want to lose you in the crowd.”

“I think I could be easily found because of my height, you on the other hand are more at risk.” Suguru teases you and squeezes your hand.

“I could just leave you.” You grumble as he walks faster to catch up with you. And the faint blush on your cheeks doesn’t escape his vision.

The two of you walk hand in hand for a while before you pull him into a cafe. It is smaller than the other stores and restaurants on the streets of Shinjuku. The light brown and cream colored walls give the cafe a cozy feel. But the main attraction is the hoard of cats that are walking around.

He can feel your eyes looking at him, trying to see if he likes it.

“This is a cute place,” Suguru says and looks down at you, “I have never been here before.”

Your eyes light up and his heart stutters in his chest. Suguru feels like he could live on just that expression of yours. He has never been a romantic before, despite his inclination towards art, but you bring out a new side to him.

Suguru wants to paint this expression so he can look at it forever.

His trance is broken as a woman walks up to you. Her blonde hair is tied up and her eyes look at the both of you as if she is trying to decipher what is going on with the both of you. He sees you get nervous as she walks closer.

“Hi Yuki…” You say as if you are about to be scolded.

The woman, Yuki, raises an eyebrow, “Who is this?”

“This is Suguru,” You pause before continuing, “he lives next door.”

Yuki’s eyes light up with understanding and a smile spreads on her face.

“Suguru- I have heard a lot about you.” She says and reaches out a hand for him to shake.

Suguru, now self conscious, takes her hand and shakes it. What have you told her? Does she not approve of him? Is he making a good first impression?

“All good I hope.” He replies and tries to calm his nerves.

“Very good.” Yuki assures him, “You have the pick of any table and can I get you any drinks?”

“The strawberry boba sounds good, I haven’t gotten a chance to try it.” You say with a smile and squeeze his hand.

“I will just have a coffee.” Suguru says.

“Okay, I will have that out shortly.” She says and walks off.

As she leaves you relax and he looks at you in concern as you sigh.

“I forgot to tell her about our date,” You admit as you pull him by the hand to a corner table, “there will most likely be anarchy in our group chat soon.”

He snorts and sits down in the chair near the window. Suguru mourns the loss of not being able to hold your hand. You sit down across from him and a loud ping comes from your phone. The first ping is followed by many more before you eventually put your phone on vibrate.

“Good luck with your friend group, my best friend already interrogated me yesterday.” Suguru says with a grin.

“I will need it, Shoko will have my head for this.” You admit with a sigh.

“Shoko Ieri?” Suguru asks in disbelief.

“Yeah! Do you know her?” You ask.

“We went to high school together and we are in some of the same English classes now.” He says.

“Wow! I never knew how close we were to each other without ever meeting.” You hum as a small tabby waltzes up to you. Suguru watches you scoop the cat up into your arms and pet its head. It purrs at your touch and he feels a little jealous of the cat.

Conversation flows effortlessly between you two as you play with the cats and drink your drinks. The tabby stays close to you, it demands your attention and will flick its tail when you are trying to do other things. You indulge the little thing every time.

At one point you finish your drink and get up, “I am going to get another tea, do you want more coffee?”

“That would be great.” He says and you take the cups off the table and walk over to the counter where Yuki is standing looking bored.

He watches you talk to her when a set of claws enter his calf. Looking down the small tabby cat has it’s claws in his leg with narrowed eyes.

“She may indulge you but I won’t.” He says defiantly.

The cat sinks its claws in deeper.

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Suguru feels the claws puncture his skin.

“Fine!” He says picks up the tabby and scratches its little head.

It begins to purr and Suguru just sighs, resigned to being a servant for this cat until you both leave.

You come back to see Suguru holding the little tabby cat. It is the cutest thing you have ever seen. You set his coffee down on the table in front of him as he pets the cat’s head.

“It looks like Obi likes you.” You say and sit down in your seat.

“Obi is a small terror.” Suguru grumbles but continues to pet the cat.

“He takes after his mother,” You say and scratch under Obi’s chin. “Queenie fits her namesake.”

“Obi is a cute name for him,” Suguru says, “it doesn’t fit his personality.”

You laugh and take a sip of your drink, “His full name is Obadiah.”

“Obadiah?” Suguru asks in disbelief, “that’s his full name?”

“Yuki named him.” You smile at him as he tries to think of how Yuki thought that the name Obadiah would be a good name.

“I think I would be a terror if I was named Obadiah.” Suguru says and scratches the cat behind the ears, “I have misjudged you, I am sorry.”

More time passes and the two of you trade off so Suguru can drink his now lukewarm coffee. Obi is pleased to be in your arms and you hold him like a baby as he purrs. You had always wanted to adopt him since you saw him but raising him by yourself seemed like a daunting task so you talked yourself out of it.

A camera flash brings you out of your thoughts. Suguru has his phone up and is taking a picture of you and Obi. You blink in confusion at him.

“Why did you take a picture?” You ask him curiously.

He puts his phone down and clears his throat nervously, “I wanted to paint the two of you.”

Your jaw drops as he rubs the back of his neck, looking away from you. Your heart is in overdrive as you try to process that he wants to paint a picture of you. Taking a picture is one thing but painting someone takes a lot of work and time.

“I don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable!” He says quickly trying to make it better.

“No!” You say but it comes out a bit high pitched as you blush, “I- I don’t mind.”

Suguru relaxes and a grin spreads on his face, “I am happy that you are willing to be my muse.”

God help your poor heart.

After two hours you leave the cafe. Yuki waves as you leave and you know that you are in for it later. But you feel so love struck that you don’t care.

The walk back to your apartment building is filled with laughter and smiles. Suguru holds your hand all the way there and you let him lead you to the elevators. He runs a thumb over your knuckles and you feel like a dumb teenager on her first date.

When you make it to your door you hesitate. You don’t want this to end. Even if this is temporary and he may not want you later you want to bask in it now. You try to think of how to articulate it. And Suguru frowns as he looks at his phone.

“My roommate kicked me out for the night,” Suguru starts, “could I crash at your place? I will buy us dinner as payment.”

Fate seems to be in your favor today.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” You say and let go of his hand to open the door. The door swings open and you lead him inside.

You settle on the couch as the two of you continue to talk. Suguru orders Chinese takeout and you talk about anything and everything. He tells you about his art classes and you tell him about your classes in kind.

“-I actually have a big project coming up soon so I will have to focus on that since it is a major portion of the grade.” He explains his hands moving around as he does.

“What do you have to do?” You ask him.

“So what the professor is asking for is a watercolor piece. I prefer oil based paints but it will be good to step out of my comfort zone for it.” Suguru tells you and you can tell that he is passionate about this by the way his eyes look as he talks.

“You seem really passionate about this.” You observe and he stops briefly.

“Sorry- I was rambling-” He starts to apologize but you grab his hand.

“Don’t apologize,” You smile at him reassuringly, “I like hearing you talk.”

It is quiet as the two of you stare at each other. The tension thick in the room as you trace his face with your eyes. His hair falls into his face from the beat bun it was in. You lean closer and-

The doorbell rings, breaking up the moment.

Internally groaning you get up from the couch, “I will get the food.”

“Thanks.” He responds a little heavy as you walk to the door.

The poor delivery man doesn’t deserve the irritated expression you give him but he looks too high to care. You take the food from his outstretched hands and thank him. He just tips his hat at you and teeters off down the hall. Hopefully he gets home safely.

You set the bag on the coffee table and grab some chopsticks from the kitchen. Suguru is dividing the food on the table. You hand him a set of chopsticks and sit down to eat.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” You ask him as you open your container of food.

“Yeah,” He says, “What are you in the mood for?”

“A romcom would be good but I am okay with anything.” You admit and grab the last dumpling.

“Okay- what would you recommend?” Suguru asks you with a smile.

“So if you want a high school setting I would suggest 10 things I hate about you, if not how to lose a guy in ten days is a classic.” You explain and hand him the remote.

He sets down his food and takes it with a hum of amusement, “Which one do you recommend?”

You take a minute to weigh it out. 10 things I hate about you was always a favorite when you were younger, and Heath Ledger isn’t too bad looking. How to lose a guy in ten days is the funnier of the two but you think your heart is swaying towards 10 things I hate about you.

“I would recommend 10 things I hate about you.” You say and He turns on the TV.

The movie starts and you feel content to watch Suguru’s reactions to the movie. Before he had put it on he had told you that he had never seen the movie. Which was a crime. So now he gets to be subjected to this movie for the next hour and a half.

“And I thought I had restrictive parents.” He says with a cringe.

“It really makes you think huh?” You ask with a laugh.

“I mean, if I had daughters I would be protective but not like that.” Suguru explains to you and puts his empty take out container on the table.

“I could see you with daughters,” You admit, “You would make a good dad.”

Suguru blinks down at you in surprise. You realize what you said and go to fix the situation but he beats you to speaking.

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

Over the course of the movie your legs end up slung over Suguru’s lap. He runs his hand over your right leg, but only to your knee then stops. It is driving you a little insane at this point. If it wasn’t too forward you would grab his hand and put it under your skirt.

“He so deserved that.” Suguru says with approval as Joey gets punched in the face.

“He is such an asshole.” You agree with him, trying to not sound like you are worked up about his hand.

The main characters get together, the credits roll and the movie ends.

His hand is still there and you can’t stand it anymore. You reach your hand over to his and grab it. He startles but lets you guide his hand up your leg to your mid thigh. Suguru looks at you, his eyes darker than before. You give him a challenging look, daring him to touch you like he means it.

“Are you sure about this angel?” He asks you, his voice rough and breathy.

“More than any of the decisions I have made for the past month.” You respond.

Suguru chuckles and moves so his right knee is in between your legs, he hovers over you on the couch. You look up at him as he scans your face with his eyes as if he is trying to memorize what your face looks like in this exact moment. His lilac eyes lock on yours and you feel your heart rate pick up.

When he kisses you it is so slow, he takes his time as his hands move up your thighs. It is such a switch from yesterday where he did waste anytime and kissed you so hard you almost couldn’t breathe. You are sure that he wants to turn it around on, to make you need him just as bad. And he is definitely succeeding.

Your body feels so hot and he is barely touching you. It is maddening. His snake bites are cold against your lips and that only makes you want more. You run a hand up into his hair, pulling him down to kiss you deeper. His fingers ghost under your skirt and you gasp into his mouth.

“So needy angel.” He purrs as he pulls back to look down at you.

“I-” You begin and clench your thighs, “I need you so bad baby.”

That seems to be Suguru’s breaking point because he picks you up bridal style. You yelp in surprise at his sudden silence and him picking you up. Most of the men you have slept with hadn’t even tried to pick you when you hooked up. You can’t help the heat that curls in your core as he makes his way to your bedroom.

He lays you down gently with your head on your pillow. Suguru climbs onto the bed and parts your thighs. His rough hands pull down your skirt and tights, leaving you in only your underwear. He practically moans at the lacey lilac pair of panties you have on.

You grin at him and pull up your shirt to reveal a matching bra. It was pure coincidence that you had a set that was the color of his eyes. Even though you had not expected to hook up with Suguru, you thought that you would wear them just in case.

He matches your grin and hooks a finger under the elastic band, “All of this just for me?”

“Who else would it be for?” You ask him with an eyebrow raised, “I am not easy-”

You are cut off as he lowers himself between your thighs and licks your pussy through your panties.

“You were saying?” He says innocently as if he doesn’t have his head resting on your inner thighs.

“I am not- mhh!” You try again but he bites your inner thigh causing you to shiver.

“Hmmm?” Suguru hums in question as he pulls down your panties so he can see how wet you are already. “You seem to be having a hard time speaking angel, why don’t we let your pussy speak instead?”

You barely nod before two fingers are pumping in and out of your hole. It feels so good, his fingers are long enough to reach the spots you never can when you do this. He is knuckle deep in your pussy and you feel like you might cum soon.

“Fuck- mhh- I’m gonna cum-” You moan out as his fingers find your g-spot.

“I want you to come on my tongue first before I make you come again on my dick.” He says and removes his fingers.

A long drawn out whine comes out of your throat at the loss of something filling you. You try to rub your thighs together to make some friction but his hands hold your thighs apart. He wastes no time in eating you out.

Suguru knows what he is doing, you can tell because you can barely think straight. His tongue swirls around your clit and his fingers re-enter your hole. You have lost almost all control and are just a moaning mess.

“Your so beautiful like this- hah- so desperate for me.”

You grind down on his face as you get closer to the edge. Suguru hums happily as he gets you so close to an orgasm, the sound sends a shiver down your body. The heat that was rising in your core reaches a fever pitch as you cum.

As you bask in the afterglow of your orgasm he takes off his shirt and you see the tiger tattoo. He sees you eyeing it and smirks.

“See something you like pretty?” He asks as he continues to get undressed.

You nod, still high on your orgasm. If you didn’t have some restraint you might put your lips to it. He shivers under your touch,

“Fuck-” Suguru curses and you realize you said that out loud.

His voice breaks you out of the trance you are in and you get up to touch him. You run your hands over toned muscle and ink. The tiger tattoo isn’t his only one, he has a dragon on his back and a few smaller ones scattered along his forearms.

You push him back so he is laying down on the bed. He doesn’t stop you when you take all his clothes off. You marvel at his dick. It is thick and already dripping precum as you stare. But you don’t want to rush this, you have been thinking of this for two months so you want to savour this.

The kiss you press to his lips is soft and quick. You move on to his neck. A small possessive part of you wants you to give him very visible hickies. You want the woman three doors down who looks at him in the hall ways to see the bites you leave know that he is taken.

She can go back to her boring husband because this man is yours.

You try to push the thought out of your mind but you are already biting his neck. It brings you glee to know that these will last. Even if he doesn’t want you in the morning, you will have proof that you were there for a while. He groans as you lick and nibble the spot where you bit him.

It was hot, the push and pull of this new dynamic. You had never taken a chance on being more dominant or possessive with your past partners because you didn’t want to scare them off. But Suguru was different, he let you have free rein until he felt like taking over.

You can get on top of him and his hands rest on your hips. It takes a minute for you to adjust your position and sink down on his cock. You hiss slightly at the stretch as his rough hands guide you down.

“You're bigger than I imagined!” You say as you take all of him in.

This seems to pique his interest, “You thought about this?”

“Yeah-” You admit as he runs his hands over your torso. “Since I saw you for the first time I wondered-”

You are cut off as Suguru switches the position so you are under him.

“What are you-?”

What you were going to say is cut off by a whine as he begins to move. His thrusts are a bit wilder than you had expected. His dick hits all those spots inside you that make your legs feel like jelly. You wrap your arms around his shoulders to find something to ground you.

“I- hah- I have wanted this for so long.” Suguru admits in your ear, “Do you know how hard it was to not fuck you on your counter yesterday? How hard it was to not throw you over my shoulder and drag you to your bed earlier when I saw you?”

Oh

His words go straight to your core. You moan as he sucks on your neck. His confession makes your brain short circuit. It seems so out of the question that he would be into you. For a year you had talked yourself out of talking to him because you thought he didn’t want you.

“I would have let you-!” You answer his rhetorical questions.

That makes him pick up his pace and groan into your neck. You have a grip on his back as his dick hits your g-spot over and over and over again. You know that there are scratches left by your nails on his back.Your legs are trembling as your impending orgasm is about to hit.

“Can- fuck- can I cum inside?” Suguru asks you.

“Please-!” You whine out as you bury your face in his neck.

“Don’t hide from me angel- I want to see you.” He says and stares at you with nothing short of awe as you pull your head back to look him in the eyes. “Just like that, good girl-”

You can’t tell what makes you cum, his words or his repeated hitting of your g-spot but the coil in your stomach snaps and you feel so good. Suguru keeps going, fucking you through your orgasm as your legs tremble around him. You are on cloud nine as his hips stutter and he cums in you.

For a minute you two just breathe. The only sound in the room is your heart beat and laboured breathing. Suguru recovers first. He gets off you to get a towel to clean up and some water. You are sitting up when he gets back and you clean up.

“Stealing my clothes already?” He asks with a laugh as you pull on his band t-shirt.

“It smells like you.” You say with a shrug and crawl into bed with him.

“Do I smell good?” He asks with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” You cuddle up to him. “Like smoke with hints of lavender.”

“I guess I can’t change my shampoo then.” He says and rests his head on top of yours.

“Otherwise we might have a problem.” You say with a sleepy giggle.

“How scary angel.”

You don’t respond because you feel your eyes shut and sleep drags you under its waves.

When you wake up Suguru isn’t beside you. You look over at the side of bed he was sleeping on to see it empty. Sitting up abruptly you look around the room for any sign of him but his jeans aren’t on your floor anymore.

You scramble out of bed.

Did the potion somehow last longer than intended and it is just now wearing off?

The door to your room is open as you rush out of it. But you relax as you see Suguru standing on your balcony. He is visibly arguing with someone and has a cigarette in his hands which he is pointing at the person in question.

You walk to the sliding glass door.

“-you should have given me prior warning asshole!” Suguru says and lights up the cigarette.

Opening the door he blinks over at you.

“Suguru?” You ask and slip out onto the balcony.

“‘morning angel.” He says and wraps an arm around your waist pulling you closer to him.

You relax into his side and look over at the man on the balcony next to yours. He is tall with wild white hair and blue eyes. His eyes are bright and his smile is wide as he looks at you.

“Oh!” You say as you remember who this is, “You must be Suguru’s roommate!”

“The one and only!” He responds cheerfully.

“Satoru Gojo.” He introduces himself and stretches out a hand for you to shake.

You introduce yourself and shake his hand with a smile, “Nice to meet you Gojo.”

“Well-” Gojo says with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “I have to go check on my study buddy, have fun!”

Suguru just rolls his eyes as Gojo walks back into his apartment. You give him a little wave as he disappears. After he is gone you turn to Suguru who shakes his head at his friend.

“That poor TA, he will never hear the end of this.” Suguru says more to the air than you.

He catches your confused look and explains, “Satoru has been trying to get into the pants of our English classes TA for months now, poor guy must have finally agreed so Satoru kicked me out.”

“At least it was good for you that I let you stay over.” You say with a grin.

“You are very generous.” He responds, matching your grin.

“I do expect some repayment,” You tease, “people can’t think that I am a pushover.”

Suguru puts out his cigarette.

“Oh?” He asks and turns toward you, “and what may that be?”

You hum, pretending to think about it.

“Breakfast would be nice…” You suggest trailing off as you turn to walk back into your apartment, his hand in yours. “Unless you have a better idea?”

“I have many ideas.”

xie lian being weird, unhinged and slightly completely insane is MY favorite dianxia flavor. it's personal to me u all wouldn't get it