♡Anime: Black Clover♡

"Alright, that's it for my report. You were paying attention, right Rill?" Y/N asks as she stands in the office of the captain of the Aqua Deer. All around her paint and other related supplies are sprawled throughout the room, at the end by the large glass pane window Rill stands in front of a large canvas that oddly faces the room as opposed to the beautiful view outside.

After hearing her question, Rill looks up from his canvas and stares at Y/N with pink eyes full of creativity but no indication that his focus was on anything other than his painting. As vice-captain of the Aqua Deer, Y/N is more than used to Rill's inability to focus on his responsibilities.

"Oh hey Y/N! You have the day off today, right? Any plans?" Rill asks in an excitable tone despite completely missing the last ten minutes of Y/N's report. She lets out a soft sigh before smiling and nodding at her captain not bothering to waste energy getting upset.

"Yeah, I'm going out drinking with Yami in a bit. Goodness knows being your vice-captain warrants me enjoying a drink more often than normal," Y/N says in an upbeat tone as Rill steps away from his painting and smirks at her.

"Oh? Just you and Yami, huh? The two of you have been getting pretty close lately haven't you? Usually, he comes off as the type who doesn't like people but he seems to be warming up to you. Hey!" Rill says before rushing to Y/N's side while not bothering to hold back his obvious curiosity about their relationship.

"You don't, by chance, have a crush on captain Yami do you Y/N?" Rill asks, his pink eyes practically sparkling with curiosity as Y/N also can't hide that her mood had been uplifted at the thought of her plans with the Black Bulls captain.

"Do I have a crush on the big, strong, stubble-having, short-tempered, sensitive stomached captain of the worst squad in the Clover Kingdom? Yeah, maybe I do," Y/N says in a playful tone as Rill's expression changes to one of bold shock.

"What?! Seriously?!" Rill asks as Y/N nods and giggles a bit at his reaction, she's sure that if she revealed that information to anyone else they'd think she's insane. She's attended the captain meetings alongside Rill before and it's obvious how the captains and the majority of the public view Yami and the Black Bulls. However, it's those exact prejudices that strengthen Yami and his team to break the status quo and force people to acknowledge them.

"Oh well, that's nice! I'm fairly new to this but having crushes are fun but can also be pretty exhausting. Captain Yami doesn't seem like the relationship type, are you sure about this?" Rill asks quickly getting over his initial shock and moving on with a more serious tone.

Rill has never been the type to discriminate, especially not based on whether someone is a royal, nobleman, or a peasant. That's what initially drew Y/N to the aqua deer, even though a part of her did want to join the Black Bulls...

"Don't worry about me Rill, I'll be fine. I know how Yami is so there's no way he'd reciprocate my feelings, I'll just ride out this crush until it goes away. Besides, there's more important stuff to worry about than who I want to bump uglies with. Anyway, I'm off!" Y/N says while maintaining a cheerful tone as she exits Rill's office with him yelling encouraging words to her before returning to his art.

***

"Ok you dumbasses I'm going out, try not to destroy the place while I'm gone or I'll kill you," Yami yells over the chaos erupting in the Black Bulls base that promptly halts at his threat. Immediately his squad is lined up by the door to politely escort him out.

"Oh, you're going out with the vice-captain from the Aqua Deer aren't you? Seems like the two of you are getting pretty close there captain," Magma notes as he casually puts down his bat making Luck pout at the indirect command from his captain to stop fighting inside.

"Well Y/N can hold her alcohol, she's truly the only one up to the task of potentially out drinking the captain. She even drinks more than Vanessa," Luck chimes in while glancing over to the couch where the passed-out witch lays. Finral steps into the room before seeing everyone gathered around Yami and swiftly turns around trying to make his exit.

"Hey, Finral! Where do you think you're going?!" Yami yells over to his personal mode of transportation earning a sigh from the spatial magic user.

"Oh me? I um...actually had plans today and..."

"With who? Surely you don't have any dates lined up for the day, you claim to be a womanizer but all you do is chase women off," Noelle comments effectively breaking Finral's already fragile pride.

"Hey is it more unbelievable that I'd have a date or that the captain would be going on a date?!" Finral asks defensively as Yami raises an annoyed eyebrow.

"D-da-date?! That's too embarrassing!" Grey screeches as she hides behind Gauche who clutches his picture of Marie closer to him as if Grey was trying to steal it.

"Date? Who said anything about a date, I'm just hanging out with a friend is all," Yami says as all of the Black Bulls stop and stare at him in disbelief.

"Usually, you say you tolerate people, but you rarely consider anyone your friend. Are you sure Y/N is just a friend to you captain?" Charmy asks while wiggling her eyebrows as her sheep chef creations do the same as Finral starts to freak out.

"Hold on a second! You guys don't believe that captain Yami has a crush on Y/N do you?!" Finral yells as Noelle shrugs. Gordon mutters something in the corner but as usual, nobody pays him any mind.

"I honestly can't imagine captain Yami having those feelings for anyone, but it is a bit odd," she comments as Asta shakes his head-turning everyone's attention over to him. Out of all of them, nobody expected him to speak up about the situation.

"Who knows, maybe the captain has feelings and he just never noticed?" Asta says before feeling a strong hand grip his head and lift him off the ground.

"Huh? What was that you punk? Don't go trying to deduce whether or not I have feelings for someone unless you've chosen to forfeit your life," Yami threatens in a fearsome voice as Noelle continues to stare at Asta oddly flustered.

"Huh?! What would an idiot like you know about feelings anyway stupidsta?!"

"Well when I first met Sister Lily I wanted to be around her all the time, captain Yami seems to want to be around Y/N a lot lately so maybe he does like Y/N and doesn't know?" Asta says as Yami increases the pressure of his grip making Asta cry out and squirm around.

"W-well even if the captain does have feelings for Y/N there's no way she'd feel the same right?! She's beautiful and smart and super strong. She could have any royal she wanted..." Finral immediately stops his sentence after feeling the menacing mana emanating off his captain who's still holding their rookie by his head.

"Have you also chosen death? Are you trying to say Y/N wouldn't date me if I were interested? What about me isn't likable huh?" Yami asks in a menacing voice as he slams the fist not holding Asta's head against the wall promptly blowing it to smithereens. The action makes Finral shrink into himself before chuckling awkwardly and quickly changing the subject.

"Hahaha, nothing of course! So which tavern was I sending you to again? Are we picking up Y/N on the way as well?" Finral asks as Yami rolls his eyes and releases Asta's head before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it casually despite the debris now floating around the base.

"You idiots are the reason I drink. I'm meeting her at the usual spot so make it quick, and I'm reminding you dumbasses for the last time. This place better not be destroyed when I get back," Yami says as everyone silently looks from Yami to the hole that HE just created in the wall. After easily choosing to ignore the obvious hypocrisy for the sake of keeping his life, Finral uses his spatial magic to open a portal for himself and Yami to walk through.

"Have fun on your date captain!" the remaining Black Bulls yell out as Yami turns around and glares at them.

"What did you idiots jus-," Yami's growl is cut off by the portal closing making the Black Bulls let out a collective sigh of relief.

***

Y/N lifts her cup to her lips once more before slamming it down with a cheerful smile despite the look of awe on the bartender's face. Virtually every man in the tavern is watching Y/N smoothly drink the night away as she gets a top-up.

"Drinking alone today Y/N? Your alcohol tolerance is something to behold, if you keep this up you'll finish my entire supply again," the bartender says with a polite yet strained chuckle as Y/N smiles innocently.

"Oh, that was just some light drinking after a long day at work. I promise I'll try to be more mindful from now on. Though I can't say the same for when Yami shows up," Y/N says casually despite making the bartender's face drop instantly.

"Captain Yami's coming too?! One of you is already bad enough but both of you together? Crap, I've gotta check on my alcohol supply!" the bartender says as he rushes off to prepare for the other regular heavy drinker.

It's not like it's unusual for Yami to be late despite having a talented Spatial magic user on his squad. Though when he shows up, his presence is undeniable. Y/N brings the cup to her lips but before the chilled alcohol could touch her lips she pauses.

An immense amount of mana can be felt suddenly appearing just outside the bar. One second later she hears the door to the bar slam open followed by a hearty chuckle. The sound sends a chill down Y/N's spine and her lips simultaneously curve into a smile.

It'd been a while since she's heard Yami's obnoxiously rambunctious laugh. It's but another staple of how unapologetically comfortable he is with himself and how much he doesn't care what others say about him.

"Hey Y/N! Did you start drinking without me again?!" Yami asks in a loud tone practically announcing to the entire bar that the two of them had agreed to come here for a drink together. Y/N tries to hide her blushing face at the added attention but manages to get herself together before turning around and glaring at Yami who's unsurprisingly accompanied by Finral.

A part of her was hoping that it'd just be the two of them this time. Though it's not like Finral's presence or absence would make Yami act any differently with her regardless.

"Well you're thirty minutes late jackass, what'd you expect me to do?" Y/N complains as Yami laughs again before approaching the table she's sitting at. Y/N tries not to gawk at the large muscles of captain Yami as he confidently approaches her.

She knows he doesn't do it intentionally but the fact that he only wears a white wife-beater and a tattered Black Bulls robe to cover his vastly muscular upper body only seems to make her drool more. Sure a well-put-together man can be attractive, but there's something about casual ruggedness that maintains Y/N's attention.

"Sorry sorry, my squad was being a nuisance as usual. Hey bartender!" Yami yells over to the bartender with a wave of his hand before plopping down in his seat with Finral awkwardly sitting in the seat next to his.

"Mhm right, I'm sure it's totally not because you were on the toilet and last track of time again," you say as Yami's drink finally arrives resulting in him raising his cup to you while wearing a smug smirk.

"Hey, it's hard for me to leave my happy place, be grateful I did that for you. Though I would've come for a drink afterwards anyway, I deserve it after that battle," Yami informs Y/N making her sputter out a laugh. Leave it up to Yami to almost make her feel special but ultimately make her feel as if he simply tolerates her.

Though even that much is enough to make Y/N blush considering it's from him.

Despite his age, Yami doesn't show any signs of being concerned with anything except surpassing his limits, protecting the kingdom, drinking, and spending time in his "happy place". A part of Y/N wishes that she could also be that content with working towards her goals, but that tiny part of her that gets butterflies around Yami has grown louder and louder as they continue to spend their days off together.

"To think I should be grateful for a man to peel away from his toilet to hang out with me. I'm sure I'm worth more attention than that, right Finral? Hey, is Yami being too hard on you again? Want me to buy you a drink too?" Y/N asks while leaning forward and smiling tenderly at Finral whose face immediately reddens.

He's a pretty boy who loves to flirt, but whenever she playfully gives Finral her attention he gets flustered almost instantly. If she wanted to, Y/N knows there are even a few noblemen that would date her if she glanced in their direction.

However, her heart only seems to beat for the captain of the Black Bulls who'll never reciprocate her feelings. That doesn't mean she won't at least entertain the thought that she could make Yami jealous.

"Huh?! Ah don't worry about me Y/N I can handle it..." Finral stammers on before Yami's hand shoots out and grasps Finral's head tightly. She's seen him do this to several if not all the members of his squad before, but each time he does she can't help but get the aura of a father disciplining his kids.

"You can handle it? You trying to make me seem like a bad captain in front of Y/N huh? That's the thanks I get for helping you surpass your limits?" Yami asks while staring down at his squad member who waves his hands signalling his disagreement. The two begin to bicker and Y/N once again finishes her drink before chuckling and resting her face on her hand.

"Wow, I wish you'd wrap your hand around my throat like that," Y/N says making Yami and Finral promptly stop their bickering to stare at her shocked at her words. Y/N can tell that Finral of all people wholeheartedly understands what she meant by that, but Yami on the other hand...

"What? Do you want to fight again? I win every time though, you're just a vice-captain after all. You've yet to surpass your limits but if you think challenging me again will help you do that then sure I don't mind sparing with you again," Yami says as Y/N smiles warmly at his interpretation of her comment. Meanwhile, Finral continues to stare at her in disbelief making it hard for Y/N not to burst out laughing.

***

"You know Yami, you were the one who inspired me to try out for the magic knights," Y/N admits after a couple of hours of drinking and talking had passed. At this point, Yami is feeling the effects of alcohol in full swing and Y/N also seems to be decently drunk considering she started drinking before him.

"Really? How'd I do that?" Yami asks in disbelief as Y/N nods before getting a distant nostalgic look in her e/c eyes. He can't tell if he's feeling this way because of the alcohol or just feeling comfortable around her, but Yami feels himself smile at the cute expression on Y/N's face.

She's normally fairly playful with him, but when she's drunk she can get extra cute and soft which is a contrast to her fearsome battle persona. She never fully lets her guard down, but around him, she's more authentic to herself. Though that can easily be said for both of them.

"I don't think I ever told you that the exam wasn't the first time we met. I lived in that town you washed up all those years ago. Seeing how the people treated you pissed me off, but I always loved seeing you kick their asses," Y/N goes on to say as Yami's eyes widen surprised at the unexpected confession.

He hadn't thought about that place in years, it's not as if the discrimination about being a foreigner changed much over the years despite becoming a captain. Though learning that Y/N was there back then makes him feel oddly warm inside.

He always did silently wonder why she'd always defend him so much when someone would bad mouth him or the Bulls, but it all makes sense now. Even though he verbally encourages his squad to surpass their limits, his actions alone are enough to motivate others to do just that as well.

"How come you never told me sooner? I'd gladly welcome a weirdo stalker like you onto the squad," Yami says playfully as Y/N's smile wavers a bit as she avoids meeting his eyes.

"Haha yeah well I thought about it, but you can't make out with your squad captain, right? Rill is still pretty great though!" Y/N says before laughing and taking another sip of her drink. Just like earlier Yami gets a sudden feeling that he wants to be closer to Y/N.

Y/N occasionally blurts out comments like that but when asked to explain herself she always brushes it off as a joke. Yami no doubt enjoys playing the oblivious role, but seeing the slight tinge of sadness in her eyes just now made his heart pang. He knows there's a word for feelings like this, but he's tried to ignore it for so long it's harder to try and acknowledge them than to push them down.