This Is All I Needed In Life

Kintsugi

Shoji x reader, meet-cute feat. angst

(warnings: harassment, heteromorph discrimination, past abuse)

The station was nearly empty. It wasn't unusual, out in the boonies of Fukuoka. But after living in the city for so long, the quiet had become unfamiliar.

Anywhere else, Shoji would have found the fresh air and birdsong peaceful. But out here, it just felt like waiting for something bad to happen.

He didn't even tell his closest friends the real reason for this trip home. If he did, they'd insist on supporting him. They would mean well, but it was easier this way, not having to look out for anyone else. Who knows how the villagers would react if he came back with more freaks.

And, it's not like Mezo really needed his friends there to share in his grief. This was more for closure. When he cried at his grandfather's funeral, the tears were borne of relief, much to his shame.

The wounds on Mezo's face still ached when he moved his mouth to talk or chew. So, he learned how to make more parts with his quirk. Instead of just making mouths for fun or company as he had when he was very little, he added vocal cords, then a rudimentary esophagus. It was difficult, a lot of trial and error. But the payoff proved it had been a worthwhile use of his time.

Mezo sat at the dinner table with his family. The mask his parents had given him covered the more substantial bandages. He resented knowing that it was there so no one had to look at those reminders of his torn visage. At the same time, there was an undeniable comfort to wearing the thing. A shield between himself and the hateful world.

The stitches pulled when he smiled under the mask, but he couldn't help the feeling of elation at eating solid food without pain for the first time in weeks. Unfortunately, the sight of his new, unorthodox method of mastication had mixed reactions.

Mom pointedly ignored it, ever reluctant to disturb the peace. Grandpa was quietly side-eyeing the display, giving a difficult to read scoff and turning back to his plate with a smirk when Mezo nervously glanced over. Dad took the longest to notice, pinching the bridge of his nose when he did. "Geez, Mezo."

"Sorry. Hurts less," he explained, hoping that would be the end of it.

Surprisingly, it was Grandpa who jumped to his defense. "Let him eat that way son, I think it's great!"

Mezo looked at his grandfather with utter shock. That cheerful statement was easily the kindest thing he had ever said about his grandson, whose birth had been a curse upon the family. Mezo had half a mind to thank him for standing up for him, until the old man spoke again.

"I can almost look at him while eating, now that the face is covered up. Can't you get the lil monster to wear sleeves, too?"

"...M'not a monster, o-jiisan."

It was the first time he'd spoken up like that. The adults all looked shocked by Mezo's soft utterance of self defense. Until shock twisted into anger on the old man's face, and then-

Shoji's hand subconsciously went to his side, remembering the welt from the cane, the scolding from his mom not to backtalk grandpa. She always did that, always tried to appease him, to make him forget his suspicion that the dirty blood came from his daughter in law straying, even though his own quirk was extending arms.

Trapped deep in thought, Mezo didn't notice anyone sneaking up behind him until it was too late. Two boys, mid teens by the look of it, ran past suddenly, bumping into him on both sides, whooping excitedly. There was a tearing sound as Shoji's mask was suddenly ripped down. "OOPS!"

His heart was racing instantly, the pounding of blood in his ears making the laughter and comments sound eerily distant. "Ho-o-oly shit what's wrong with your face?!"

He froze. Shoji's legs felt glued in place, and for a moment he suspected the use of a quirk. Until he realized, it was just his own mind forcing a panic response.

Any other day, any other place, Mezo was sure he could have reacted more heroically. Calm, cool, collected. Perhaps spoken to them, or at the very least, gathered himself and remained dignified. But all of his emotions were already so raw, a feeling like rope burn from old memories binding in this place. This was just salt in the wound.

Finally, he forced an arm to move, shoving the mask back up. The second he let go, it started slipping again. His fingers brushed a huge tear in the fabric. Did he have a spare? He had to have a spare, it was probably in his bag, was he going to tear through his luggage right here and now, they were still talking, why couldn't he move?

Then a new voice chimed in, one that held no laughter as it barked, "HEY!" Still giggling, the pranksters skittered off before the risk of consequence could catch up. Firm footsteps drew closer, before finally stopping beside Shoji. "Little jackasses...hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." He barely glanced at the woman who had jogged over to check on him, too embarrassed by the need for a rescue. Taking a deep breath to ground himself, he tried to put on a stoic mask. "Sorry for troubling you."

You scoffed. "You didn't do anything." His eyes finally found yours. Anticipation roiled in his belly as you curiously looked at his face, at his hand pulling the blue fabric tight over his skin to keep the halves together. "Did they do that?"

You thought a moment, then hesitantly spoke. "...I've got a sewing kit in my bag. You can sit with me during the ride."

"The mask, yeah. It's fine, it's just a thing. I have another." Yet, when he took his bag over to a bench to dig through its contents, the spare was nowhere to be found. It was probably sitting somewhere in his parents' house. Well, might as well consider that one lost forever. "Damnit... Nevermind, this is my only one."

It took a moment for Shoji to recognize the offer for what it was. "...oh! I don't want to impose."

You shrugged. "It's kind of a long trip, this'll give me something to do."

~~~

Mezo waited until the two of you were situated on the train to give up on the vain effort to hold his mask together. Pulling the torn garment over his head, he meekly passed it to you.

Your eyes briefly lingered on the scars, but Shoji was grateful when no questions followed the look. Instead, you focused on looking the fabric over to determine what exactly needed to be done. "...It looks worse that it is, I'll be able to tack it no problem. It's a clean tear, just in a bad spot. Want me to try and match the color and hide it, or you want it to pop?"

"Pop?"

"Yeah, like, make it a decoration, like a kintsugi thing. Use a bright color to make a line of stitches. It's gonna be a few hours, I could even try a little embroidery."

"You don't have to go through all that trouble, really, as long as I can wear it again that's enough." He felt bad enough, that you were fixing the consequence of him not paying attention. He felt strangely worse when he noticed the slightly disappointed look in your eyes as you selected a matching thread to hide the wound in his mask.

Silence found the two of you as you began the delicate operation. Uncomfortable silence, from Shoji's perspective.

"...what's kintsugi?"

"Hm?" You acknowledged without pausing your work.

"Kintsugi. You said it before."

"Oh! It's a ceramic technique where you use a gold paste to repair broken pieces. Instead of trying to hide the cracks, it draws attention to them, emphasizing them as something beautiful."

Shoji felt himself smile as he half joked, "if only that worked with real scars." His own words instantly made his stomach sour. Why would he say something like that to a near stranger? It was unbecoming to act so vulnerable. Couldn't he just keep that self pity inside, where it belongs.

Only, you didn't seem bothered by his spontaneous vulnerability. "I dunno. It's like body hair and birthmarks and cellulite, if you forget what you've been told about what's supposed to be attractive, then they're objectively very beautiful." As he considered the implications of your words, you went on. "Scars are really wonderful if you think about it. They're how your body shows its love for you, building you back stronger if you get hurt. Like, 'hey we're not done, let's get back out there!' I think that's lovely."

"It is, isn't it?" His eyes fell to the hidden repair on his mask. "...think you could do an octopus?"

You looked up at him then, excitement quickly overtaking your features. "I can try. And if it turns out looking godawful you only have to deal with it for a little while."

It didn't matter if it turned out poorly, he thought, nodding. He had already decided two things. One was that he'd wear it anyway, and keep it like a scar. So that when his friends asked how his trip went, he could show it to them and tell them about how he met someone so kind on the ride home.

The second was, when the time came to disembark, he would ask for your number.

~~~

Ultimate fantasy of being emotionally supportive to the blorbo go!

SOMEONE GETS IT

We need a love square for nova and adrian

Nightmare x Adrian = Nightdrian / Adrinight

Sentinel x Nova = Sentiva / Notinel

Nightmare x Sentinel = Nightinel / Sentimare

Nova x Adrian = Nodrian / Adriva

Boom💥 Miracufied

I feel like the renegades fandom should use more alternate ship names for alternate personas, a la the miraculous fandom. Don't get me wrong I love nodrian, but where is sentimare??

CURRENTLY FANGIRLING CUZ THIS IS SO COOL

okay so Bakugo Katsuki, his kanji name being 爆ばく豪ごう勝かつ己き okay and everything abt it, is so cool. okay so 爆ばく豪ごう勝かつ己き means "explosive victory and self-defense" which is already cool, but as you take away stuff, its STILL cool. 爆 means "victory", 豪ごう勝かつ己き though not how you would write it, means "victory and self-sufficient", う勝かつ己き meaning "win and be selfish" つ己き meaning "self-reliance". so basically, his entire name just means explosion, win, and selfish, which PERFECTLY sums up his character and i just think thats super cool

She grim on my born 'til I viggo

i miss his annoying ass

"She was awesome and cute, and Leo had a weakness for awesome and cute girls."

LEO I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR YOU😭

Cat Noir fanart cuz he's cool like that

(YES THOSE ARE LIL FANGSSSSS)

HAHSAHHAHSHQH I HAD TOO

Draw your characters like this

thinking about the miraculous ladybug scene where ladybug takes chat noir’s hand and promises, i’ll never abandon you, and the look of pure shock and wonder chat gives her in return.

imagine you are adrien agreste. your mother’s gone. your father is absent in every way that matters, and it’s nearly worse then loosing your mom, because your father? he chose to leave you. he chose the coldness and the calculated control and to bury your love a hundred feet down in a coffin of its own. and then, one day, you are chosen to wield the power of destruction and you think, this makes sense. maybe you were born from misfortune and meant for ruination. cataclysm isn’t an entirely a foreign concept to you, after all. you’ve grown up seeing every relationship and bit of hope around you break down and rust and dissolve into dust.

then you fall in love with a girl who creates, who pulls both ideas and the tangible manifestation of them out of thin air. she is fortune, everything you are not, but you love her with everything you are.

still, the fear that this girl - that the luckiness that’s touched your life - will abandon you when you least expect it is always lurking somewhere in the back of your mind. you’re scared that, one day, you will wait alone on a rooftop until a starry night sky turns to sunshine, and she’ll never show. everyone leaves you. good luck is not yours. this is just a fact you know.

so you tell her this beneath a painted orange sky, and then much to your surprise, this living, breathing personification of good luck takes your hand, stares into your scared eyes, and swears, i’ll never leave you.

Oh yeah there's a part 2 of the horse desensitizing that I love.

🐎: Hey what's with that tiny predator, the one you're hold- WOAH WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS IT UP SO HIGH