Ok But You're So Right Tho. The Protag's Best Friend With No Character Development Of Their Own Is Very Annoying - Blog Posts

Alright!!

How about idia with a reader who starts showing romantic interest in him after breaking up with Vil?

<33

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭

| Notes: Hello again, darling!  About this ask… it really cracked me up when I first saw, for reasons lol

Sweet Jesus, I really like Idia and maybe this is part of the reason this story took so much time bc I put my soul into it. FR part of me wanted to sit down and transform this into a whole series of stories to fully develop Idia & Reader’s relationship, each of their feelings, other characters cameos, more drama, etc etc etc. But I don’t have the time unfortunately T_T We still have this monstrosity of a one-shot tho. I think I have never written something so long… and one of the main reasons it’s that there’s a lot of things here. Maybe it’s bc I like to complicate things more than it should be (as would say Michael Scott), some parts are so you can see Reader’s feelings slowly growing stronger about Idia and I hope the little time jumps are fluid enough too. 

None of this is a complaint or anything (its just my way of speaking lol) but wow, this was the story. Actually, the perfect way to finish Cherry’s Harvesting <3 In total, this story has 6,6k words but I split it into two parts so you all can read more calmly (and idk if tumblr will permit so much words, this site hates me sometimes…)

So, join me into my Charon gondola and let’s romance my favorite shut-in salty introvert greek-myth based otaku <3 |

Idia Shroud x gender neutral reader / scenario / part 1 (3050k words) - part 2 (here) / mentions of breakup with Vil Schoenheit / angst, hurt and comfort, fluff / seasons and greek mythology references / minor chapter 6 mentions and references / use of “you” pronouns

Cherry’s Harvesting 🍒 Masterlist

Winter Melts Into Spring

{𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈, “𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬”}

           Life for Idia was like a long, arduous winter. Cold to the soul, able to make every single bone tremble. Pure white snow. Colorless, lifeless, monochrome. Like the systems that surround the Isle of Lamentation where he was born. Idia got used to living in a kind of underworld, away from mortals who could feel the Sun truly caress their skins and fill them with color and joy.

        His homeland has always been cold, especially in the subterranean headquarters where they did their research and guarded overblot’s phantoms. In this, Ignihyde made Idia feel at home — as if he had never left. 

        The bedroom’s air conditioning made that icy feeling of loneliness linger. Idia never bothered to change that. Even if he wanted to change the temperature, it wasn't like he could. He wasn’t worthy of any of that. Idia knew that somehow the cold of winter would surround him again.

        He couldn’t escape. 

        But one day, Idia found a “daffodil” in the schoolyard. You were sitting on a bench, having lunch with Grim and your friends. Idia knew very little about you: as you arrived at the school suddenly, you ended up getting involved with some overblots and you were starting to adapt. He never worried about wanting to seek more.

        You seemed to be just another summer person, covered in the Sun and emanating a warmth that Idia couldn’t stand. That perception changed, however, when Idia saw Grim alone in the hallway and tried to pet him — in vain because the little monster ran out near you. When you faced Idia, he felt that he already knew what you were going to say.

        About how weird he was, that he must be the owner of that weird tablet that floats down the hallways instead of going out and going to class every day like everyone else. About how in the days when he was required to go in person, he had this uncomfortable gloomy aura around him.

        But you didn't say any of that. You seemed to understand that Idia wanted to caress Grim and with a smile, you tried to convince him to be kinder to that stranger with ghostly pale skin, jagged teeth and flaming hair. Your smile warmed Idia’s heart, just the right way.

        You were kind, genuine in your words. Like spring. 

        Even so, Idia ended up running away from there. Your kindness — however bearable as the blossoming of a flower field — was still too much for him to stand. The further he moved away, the more the feeling of regret ended up hammering into his mind. Was that it? One escape and you’d be out of reach forever. You would never dare speak to him again.

        Idia tortured himself thinking about it for days, lost in this blossoming of feelings that made no sense to him. All possibilities could be considered, but the worst-case scenarios were what he paid the most attention to. That is until you prove him wrong again and again.

        “Hi, Idia,” you greeted him every time they passed in the hall, either as a tablet or himself.

        Idia didn’t know how you found out his name — probably from Ortho or someone in the third grade you knew — but hearing your voice pronounce his name with such sympathy was energizing. 

        It wasn't even a matter of greeting him loudly for everyone to hear or so quietly that even he wouldn’t have noticed. You recognized his presence in that river of students and by the expression scanner Idia ran through your image on his tablet, your positive emotions were true. You'd be happy to meet him. Why? 

        “I just wanted to meet you,” you answered that question once.

        With a lot of perseverance, the two of you managed to start talking to each other. Little but enough at the beginning. You bumped into each other a lot when you went to the Mystery Shop and sometimes you were after the same snack to buy. Talking to Idia was difficult, no matter if you have a similar personality to him.

        But, as your interest spoke louder, you weren’t going to let yourself be defeated — you had so much courage that Idia even managed to visualize you as a shounen-type protagonist, those very persistent ones even though you were defeated by the final boss several times. Each defeat, you came back stronger.

        “There are so many interesting people here... I know it sounds kind of naive but, if I'm going to be here for long or forever, I want to know everything about this place,” you continued. “And you seem like a cool guy, Idia.”

        At that, you tipped your head a bit and smiled at him. Idia regretted not bringing his tablet for the occasion, otherwise he could better hide how your words shook him inside like a great boil. However, you seemed to notice someone coming in the direction where Idia was facing backwards and gave them a shy nod.

        When that person passed you by, Idia had a better grasp at what was your slight change in behavior. Vil Schoenheit answered your nod with a slight wave of his hand and a smile, his light blond hair flying with a breeze that came out of nowhere.

        Idia wondered where the red roses were, as it should bloom behind that heartthrob young man along with the crystal clear soap bubbles and the soft background music. Because if life were a shoujo anime, Vil would be the protagonist without any doubt. The most beautiful and popular guy in school, thousands of fans melting every time he passed by. 

        Seeing people like that in real life always made his stomach turn. It didn't help that you seemed strangely charmed by Vil, like many other people in and out of school. Idia wasn’t surprised by this.

        It wasn’t long before you were talking to him, but at the time, you were dealing with Pomefiore’s group and other students rehearsing in your dorm for the VDC. Perhaps it wasn’t all bad that Idia just needed to present a project to a room full of people who would judge him at the first stutter.

        If he weighed in the balance, dancing and singing seemed to be more of a horrible torture than speaking in public. In any case, this seemed to have brought you closer to the leader of Pomefiore and as time passed, your simple relationship became something more.

        The end of winter and the passage of the cultural festival turned the lives of all of you upside down during a brief but busy moment. Idia didn't have the details of anything but, on his part, a lot of intense things also happened. He became one more among the problem children of Night Raven College.

        Still, you approached him once more and showed him your gentle and caring eyes. You seemed to suffer with him somehow — it was the first thing Idia noticed when he felt more in control of his own consciousness. You saw the worst in him and yet you didn’t walk away.

        Some would even say that you saw hell and returned from there victorious. But the truth is that a lot has happened and Idia was too worried about Ortho to pay attention to your own special dose of concern for Vil. 

        Idia didn’t want to give a name to the feelings that burned in his heart and tried to make him hope. Even if the situation had been controlled in time, he was still sure about one thing: there was no hope. Only survival. Moving from this to another phase of life without looking back. Idia held his own shoulders and tried to convince himself that he could survive without you.

        He lived eighteen years without knowing that anyone other than Ortho could look at him sweetly. He could live the rest without your gaze — briger of spring. 

        That's what he needed to hold on to.

        It was an ordinary night when Idia was working on his computer, concentrating on developing some updates to his system’s layouts and solving some annoying bugs while listening to a playlist — “songs for when you're heartbroken but you won’t admit it” by Euterpe-ram, a profile on magify that Idia discovered the last few days.

        You two hadn’t spoken to each other in a while. But every time Idia’s tablet detected you in the hallway, he got the impression that there was something wrong with you. This theory was eventually confirmed when Idia received a message from you on his cellphone asking if he could allow you in his bedroom. 

        Suddenly, you were there in Ignihyde and there was a hint of autumn in your eyes.

        A crumbled spring. Yellowish, dry, its leaves flying in the wind. Ortho had brought you to cheer you up but Idia knew you just didn’t want to disappoint him and decline that merciful invitation. Everything in your posture betrayed the fact that you wanted to be alone. Or maybe Ignihyde was too cold for you.

        As Ortho arranged a space on Idia’s messy bed to accommodate you, the two of you fell into a mournful silence. At a certain point, however, you ended up looking at Idia’s computer screen.

        “This playlist…,” you muttered, the surprise in your eyes suspending your tiredness for a moment.

        “Yeah.. a-a-ah! But! B-before you ask...!,” he almost closed the page in utter despair and embarrassment but you interrupted him in time.

        “Did you like it?”

        Idia had missed your way of saying and doing things. He really did.

        You never asked unnecessary questions, you never dug deeper than you should. You accepted all the answers he had available, waiting for the right time for him to develop or close the subject. It was like finding a flower bud that was protected from the harshness of autumn.

        “It's good. Huh. Long. But it has some cool songs that I had never heard before. Do you want...?,” Idia pulled out a second pair of headphones.

        You stared at him for a moment, confused as to how two pairs of headphones could listen to the same thing without being connected by a wire to the device — but the technology of this world is as complicated as magic and, given the circumstances, you chose not to question it too much. 

        Idia’s set-up space was lonely but they managed to arrange a pouf for you to sit on. Ortho was by your side playing on his games and you had split your time between watching him, listening to the same songs with Idia and finally venting your feelings a little. Idia had paused the playlist almost immediately but he didn't know much to say.

        Vil and you broke up. 

        This took Idia by surprise for a moment. It seems that paradise is difficult even for the gods of high Olympus like you two, people of unattainable brilliance. 

        However, he couldn’t bring himself to be any sort of happy about your news. Even if you explained that it was a mutual decision and dealt with maturely — you were also surprised to find out that Vil thought just the same as you — it was still a difficult time.

        And all Idia could do was listen in silence. For all the time you stood there, gracing the fortress of his solitude with your tiny, though faded, spring buds, telling your story, Ortho wringing faint little smiles from you, there was nothing else to focus on. Idia only had eyes for you.

        He accepted your lamentations with respect and care, a shroud with which you covered your aching heart. 

        You suddenly found out that the levels between you and him were too different. You couldn't keep up with each other no matter how supportive you were of Vil — and he appreciated that, he couldn’t deny it. But you weren't a match at the end of the day. 

        Maybe “match” wasn't the right word, Idia thought. You were like cards of considerable power but, together, you weren’t enough to defeat a boss or fully compatible to be worth a combo and a fixed position on the team.

        When you said goodbye, with lighter shoulders, and smiled at Idia as you left, he turned to his computer. Ortho had also gone to his new room, wishing his brother good dreams.

        Idia didn’t sleep much, actually. Or if he fell asleep, he was sitting in his chair while the playlist lulled him on a journey into the deep rivers of his own mind. Idia managed to make a few more layout updates but his thoughts kept coming back to you and what his role would be in that Greek tragedy. Honestly, what could he do?

        “Either you die as a villain, or you live long enough to become the protagonist’s secondary friend who is in love and will never be reciprocated,” he said after a sip of energy drink, which seemed to make him more depressed.

        Idia hated that kind of character. It was the most pathetic existence an author could bother to create. The Protagonist’s Friend is a role that always falls on zero or one thousand: they get the love they want somehow or they end up alone, apparently happy and resigned to their situation.

        Movies created this illusion that the Protagonist’s Friend could have their small and banal dreams come true, just being there as unconditional support. A being without their own will who lived only for their love, blind to the protagonist’s obnoxious defects, ready and well trimmed to be a good doormat every hour.

        But people like that never get what they want in real life. They are used and discarded like the aluminum containers that contained the energy drink Idia drank. People always look this Friend up and down, despising them. 

        Idia didn't want to be like that, under any circumstances.       He could be a quitter, a coward, but he had a shred of dignity that he held on to with all his might. 

        More than wanting to force himself on you and make you realize that “the love of your life was right there in front of you” — wearing a worn-out and a little sweaty coat, ready to make you the new deity who would reign in his underworld — Idia just wanted to see you happy.

        It was a strange feeling. No one but Ortho deserved this kind of wish from him. Perhaps Idia had little hope that you would ever truly love him. Maybe he was afraid to take a step, to do something concrete and then see it collapse in front of him.

        However, if you could smile with all your strength, with the brightness that wakes the world for spring, Idia could sleep well at night. He admired your beauty from afar, reinforcing the distance between you, six feet underground. Letting his heart dwell on the selfish desire to convince you to stay in that underworld was useless, he just knew. He should just let you go.

        “How do you get through this phase so fucking easily?! Is a hack? Codes? Tell me, you damn stove!,” you were amusingly aggressive when you played something together. Idia laughed at you.

        “Hacks? You dare insult my abilities, mortal? These dark circles in my eyes are the fruit of all my efforts,” Idia smiled. You got distracted for a moment by seeing how the light from the computer’s screen reflected off his teeth, in such a big, rare smile. Precious. “And... you lost again!”

        “Yep, it seems so,” you agreed.

        Idia was too busy giving the commands to repeat the game phase level — and letting out his small, cute chuckles — to see that you were smiling in his direction with unmatched tenderness. 

        Lately, you have been spending more time with Idia — which was nice, you always wanted to get to know him better. If only you could have approached each other more without being at the expense of a sad experience. 

        Breakups are always difficult. It’s like the arid autumn that heralds the coldest of winters. However, day after day, finding Vil in the hallway or bumping into a picture of him in a magazine didn’t ache your heart like before. The pain no longer trampled you like a dry leaf on the sidewalk. It was a slow but continuous process. 

        A change of scenery may have helped with that. Ramshackle’s dorm was slowly being fixed but many things brought back memories of your friends’ presence at the VDC’s preparation time. It made you think of simpler times, where everything was seemingly fine — although that wasn't exactly the case, for any of you.

        Ignihyde, on the other hand, carried a different feel. 

        You noticed this on your first visit, when Ortho took you to Idia’s bedroom and you let yourself vent about your sadness. But, every time you entered their mirror and climbed the black stairs to reach the lounge, you started to notice more things in that cold, silent and mysterious place.

        It was as if you had died — or for some reason, arrived in the World of the Dead — but, what was supposed to be lamentation turned out to be a comfortable feeling.

        Being there for a long time made you realize that there were things up there in the outside world that you missed and that longing made you realize that life could be much more than a broken heart. At the same time, there was beauty and tranquility in solitude. Would you feel that way when you die? 

        Funny enough, Idia always makes you feel more alive. That feeling has always been there, somehow. You didn’t know if Idia had any idea about that. Your desire to provoke his little smiles, to see his golden eyes sparkle like a living flame. 

        At first, you were afraid of what your heart was presenting. You didn’t want to make another mistake and make another person you liked suffer unnecessarily. A whisper from Tartarus tried to tell you that you were just pretending to fall in love with Idia to forget Vil, as if the altar of a new god was set up on top of the old one.

        But that wasn’t the truth of your feelings. 

        “...shi? Hey?,” Idia’s voice sounded in your ears, calling your name. 

[to be continued...]

| Special notes: The playlist that is mentioned is a irl playlist I actually made just for the sake of this fic, posted in my sideblog @myplaylists-angeli that has other twst playlists. The playlist itself doesn’t strictly mean that this is only Reader’s sadness but it can also be Vil’s. Or you just want a sad playlist about love, pls feel at home to listen to. It’s not finished, so if you want to suggest a song (there’s a post about it here), you can!

Until tomorrow, my dear. We’ll wrap up the last part of this request and maybe the day after, have this final post that will declare the end of this event. ‘Till there, have my sincere yet fast words of gratitude for enjoying my writing and supporting me all this way. You all are the best <3 |