𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆.

su - jin always seemed to have a hard time keeping a straight face. you could always catch when he's struggling, his eyes gave it away. or maybe you had been around each other long enough to see the little things? ❝ i don't think that's ... very safe. ❞ a shift in your stare off to the side. ❝ she already likes you a lot. you might get in her head too much. ❞

"not  safe?"  he  feigns  offense,  lifting  a  hand  to  his  chest  as  he  pouts.  it's  always  fun  having  this  back  and  forth  with  them.  head  cants  to  the  side  as  their  gaze  falls  to  the  wayside.  "oh,  i  just  want  to  have  a  little  talk  with  her,  you  know?"  he  steps  closer  to  them,  hand  reaching  out  to  take  hold  of  their  waist,  tugging  them  closer  to  him.  "to  make  sure  that  she  knows  she's  being  heard.  that  her  ideas  are  viable  and  that  there  should  be  more  .  .  .  thinking  sessions."

“ah,  so  that's  why  you're  always  gettin'  into  trouble,  huh?”  abby  fights  a  grin,  head  canting  slightly.  "maybe  i  should  have  a  talk  with  her,  y'know.  really  try  and  see  what  makes  her  tick.  i  wanna  get  in  on  this  clitical  thinking."

quietly,  shouto  makes  his  way  over  to  where  izuku  lays.  he'd  been  watching  the  other  for  some  time  now,  figuring  he'd  eventually  get  up  .  .  .  but  it's  been  long  enough  that  even  shouto  realizes  something  may  be  up  with  his  friend.  the  grass  shifts  beneath  him  as  he  lays  beside  his  classmate,  resting  his  hands  over  his  stomach.  he  blinks  up  at  the  sky  before  he  turns  his  head  to  look  at  him.  "  .  .  .  are  you  asleep,  midoriya?  i  .  .  .  probably  should  have  brought  something  to  cover  you  with."

"kai."  tone  is  kind,  but  firm,  as  he  glances  over  at  him.  expression  is  soft,  understanding.  dan  heng  understands  the  anxiety  that  comes  with  being  in  front  of  the  camera  for  the  first  time  (  and  every  time  after  that  ).  "you're  the  only  one  i  want  there  with  me.  no  one  else  is  going  to  give  me  the  vision  i'm  going  for,  and  there's  no  one  else  i  can  think  of  that  would  be  better  than  you."  as  they  reach  the  dressing  room,  dan  heng  opens  the  door  before  he  reaches  for  kai's  hand,  closing  his  own  around  it  to  pull  him  inside.  "just  focus  on  me.  don't  worry  about  anything  else.  i'll  guide  you,  just  as  you  have  always  guided  me."

     Emerald hues gazed down at the timer in his hand in awe. He did all of that without even breaking a sweat. 

      ❝ You really are incredible, Yuji! If you keep this up, I don't think anyone will be able to catch up with you. It's remarkable how much you've improved in such a short amount of time. ❞

     It only made him want to work harder. He had no intention of falling behind. Not because it was a competition, but because he wanted to be right there side by side with his friend. To get better at controlling his own quirk, especially with how hard he was pushing himself. It really was amazing . . .  he had no doubt he would claim one of the top spots as a pro hero at this rate. 

"two  seconds?  yes  !"  hands  pump  into  the  air,  smile  bright.  it  wasn't  often  that  yuji  felt  the  need  to  feel  .  .  .  proud  of  himself,  all  things  considered,  but  shaving  two  whole  seconds  off  his  time  shows  the  hard  work  he'd  been  putting  into  his  training.

but  hearing  izuku  praise  him  .  .  .  the  tips  of  his  ears  tint  pink  and  he  straightens  up,  shaking  his  head.

"wha—?  o-oh,  no  way  !  i  could  say  the  same  about  you,  izuku  !  you've  improved  like  crazy  !  and  i  still  have  so  much  catching  up  to  do.  besides,  there's  iida  who's  crazy  fast.  maybe  we  should  race  him  some  time,  see  where  we  sit  with  him,  y'know?"  yuji  raises  a  hand,  scratching  the  back  of  his  neck  timidly.

"ah,  yeah.  my  gramps  always  said  i  had  a  lot  of  energy  .  .  .  so  i  guess  my  stamina  is  pretty  good  since  i  was  always  runnin'  around."  he  blinks,  then  snaps  his  fingers  as  an  idea  hits  him.  "oh,  hey,  you  know  what  we  should  try?  me  running  the  course  again  with  you  on  my  back.  it'll  be  like  running  with  a  civilian."

𝐧𝐨,  𝐢  𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭  𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞.  𝐢  𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚  𝐭𝐫𝐲  𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠  ;  𝐢  𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚  𝐭𝐫𝐲  𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧  𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡  𝐢  𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝  𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥.

❪ ⋅ ☽ ⋆ — ┊❛ ​🇾​​🇴​​🇴​​🇳​ ​🇲​​🇮​​🇳​-​🇯​​🇺​​🇳​ ❜ ❫ VOICE SNAPPED HIS ATTENTION FROM clothing rack , a squint of the eyes toward it. A fashionista in this day and age? It's a tale as old as time, seeing an idol out in public and trying to determine their worth in terms of opinions ; it's a bit of a nuisance when it's another idol and not just some fan. Fingertips slide from the sweaters, hating them anyway ; this is why he tried to have them commissioned and made to his specifications, because the trends were soooo boring... It's always some random ENGLISH word on the chest or some design of a sponsor. He preferred to have a design that just screamed: BABY SAJA!

"that  depends  on  what  you  think  is  cute."  jae-sung  pulls  a  sweater  off  of  the  rack  and  holds  it  against  himself,  brows  furrowing  thoughtfully.  the  sweater  is  returned  to  its  place  as  he  looks  back  over  at  the  other.  "the  ones  you  wear,"  he  starts,  "are  usually  custom  made,  right?"  it  was  hard  not  to  notice  the  saja  boys,  and  even  harder  to  miss  the  thousands  of  photos  flooding  the  internet.  baby  was  always  dressed  modestly,  in  his  own  style.  but  the  things  he  did  wear  weren't  things  one  could  find  out  on  the  racks.  "why  aren't  you  speaking  with  your  stylist  about  something  new  rather  than  shopping  here?"  brow  is  raised,  head  canting.

"wouldn't  it  be  .  .  .  i  don't  know,  less  stressful?  unless  you're  looking  for  things  to  take  apart  and  put  together,"  jae-sung  adds  after  a  thoughtful  moment,  glancing  around.  "in  that  case,  you  might  want  to  expand  into  the  woman's  department."  there  is  no  judgement  in  his  voice  as  he  turns  to  look  at  where  said  department  is.  "that's  where  you'll  find  the  color  you're  looking  for."

❝ a collab? ❞ interest now piqued, he leans forward ever so slightly in his seat as if this meeting had suddenly become a secret shared between the two. ❝ now you’ve got my attention. ❞ there’s a flicker of mischief behind the grin that follows.

jae-sung  nods,  the  corner  of  his  mouth  twitching  into  a  lopsided  grin.  he  usually  has  better  control  over  his  expression,  but  the  way  the  other  leans  forward  is  too  good  of  a  reaction  to  ignore.  he  leans  forward  himself,  resting  his  hands  above  the  table.  "a  bit  disappointing  i  didn't  have  it  before,  but  that  is  in  the  past  now."

lashes  flutter  as  he  nods,  gaze  falling  to  his  fingers  before  finding  his  gaze  once  more.  "that's  what  i  was  thinking.  it's  a  collab  the  people  won't  see  coming,  but  it's  one  they'll  eat  up.  we've  seen  a  rise  in  genres  meeting  and  i  think  we  should  capitalize  on  that.  of  course,  it's  more  than  just  the  money,  but  it  will  draw  in  more  fans  and  give  us  a  wider  audience."

Oh no —

Zoey’s head shakes furiously. “ Because it’s fun! ” Like that should be convincing enough. “ It’s… special. And gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I could look at Christmas lights when I’ve had a really bad day and suddenly it’s completely turned around because of Christmas magic! ” A dramatic gasp falls from her lips, brows waggling. “ Am I gonna get to teach you… the Meaning of Christmas~? ” Ominous, coming from her.

the  demon  stares  at  her  with  an  expression  that  very  clearly  said  he  was  only  waiting  for  her  to  catch  on  to  the  truth.  that's  all  holidays  were  ;  nothing  but  a  cash  grab  by  giant  corporations.  even  someone  as  outdated  in  these  things  as  he  could  see  that.  how  could  anyone  take  any  joy  out  of  that?  these  humans  were  just  as  bad,  if  not  worse,  than  the  demons.  at  least  the  demons  were  upfront  about  their  intent  to  take  people's  souls.

"christmas  magic?"  brows  rise.  "  .  .  .  the  meaning  of  christmas?"  alright,  he's  definitely  judging  her  now,  gazing  her  up  and  down.  "look,  i  think  it's  .  .  .  cute  that  you're,  like,  so  excited  about  lights.  but  they  can't  be  that  special  that  they  change  your  whole  mood.  i'm  gonna  go  ahead  and  say  it— i  don't  believe  'christmas  magic'  is  a  real  thing.  so  go  ahead.  show  me  the  meaning  of  christmas,  but  don't  go  cryin'  to  the  others  when  i  prove  there  isn't  one."

lashes flutter as caroline stares in surprise. noé has shown her paintings before, every one more beautiful than the last. each time, it takes her breath away and stirs something within her. heart flutters in its cage behind her ribs and she wonders if this is the love they wrote about in old stories ; the kind of love she sings about on stage. "it's beautiful," she breaths out, finally finding her words as she takes a step closer. "how . . . do you make it look so amazing every single time?" a soft laugh tumbles past pink tinted lips. "not even my selfies look this good with a filter on them."

She’d greatly miscalculated, it seems. Shinobu watches the demon’s headless body crumble to dust, irritation a bitter taste in her throat. Small fists clench at her side briefly before her own sword is slipped back into its sheath, smile in place and heavy with annoyance. Internal. “ You didn’t need to interfere, Tomioka-san~ my poison was doing its work. ” She’d hoped, working and testing her hypotheses in the midst of battle, more than confident in her evasive abilities while taking notes of her target. “ I’ll take my risks how I see fit, and ask that you mind your own business. ”

brows  furrow  further  at  her  words,  not  quite  sure  how  to  respond.  he  didn't  think  he  was  stepping  into  her  business  — he  was  simply  doing  his  job.  glancing  over  at  where  the  demon  had  been  a  moment  ago  before  disintegrating,  tongue  clicks  against  the  roof  of  his  mouth.  even  if  her  poison  had  been  working,  she'd  been  directly  in  the  line  of  its  attack.  "you  would  have  been  hurt."

as  if  it  were  so  simple  as  to  why  he  would  step  in.  how  could  he  stand  by  when  there  was  something  he  could  have  done?  he  stands  there,  about  to  shift  his  weight  from  one  foot  to  the  other  when  she  speaks  up  again  and  he  freezes,  corner  of  his  mouth  twitching.  "  .  .  .  that's  not  true."  no  one  had  said  anything  to  him,  so  it  couldn't  be  true.  he  pushes  his  breath  out  through  his  nose.  "you  don't  have  to  be  mean  just  because  you  don't  want  to  thank  me  for  helping  you."