NOT MY TYPE by katocchi


1. Her name is fucking Blossom.


Mrs. Silva has the worst reputation of the English department, and with greying hair twisted into a low bun and thin reading glasses that perch on the edge of her nose, she definitely looks like the kind of teacher to shush you for thinking too loudly. But Brick thinks she's okay. Doesn't assign too much reading, lets them choose essay themes―the only things he really cares about. He gets it, though. Mrs. Silva gets a bad rep because she insists on arranging her classroom in rows, an unpopular decision, and on assigned seating, an even less popular decision. And rather than last names, she organizes by first names, so for two very unfortunate years, Brick and Blossom get to be neighbors.

He can think of so many names between theirs. Blythe, Bob, Bohdi, Brad, Brianna are only a few possibilities, but no one by any of these names ever graced Mrs. Silva's roll call. Eventually, Brick accepted his fate and tried his best to make the experience awful for his counterpart, too.

But after one semester, their scathing remarks turned into sarcastic banter upon the realization that they were the only ones who could challenge each other. It's not his fault everyone's scared to contradict him. After a second semester, the sarcastic banter evolved into actual conversation, though Brick made sure to antagonize her every now and then. One, because it's the Jojo brand, and two, because she makes better arguments when she has something to prove. A sassy know-it-all is fun to rile up, especially when he makes her angry enough to accidentally freeze over her desk. Over the third semester, Brick fell into their easy routine.

So at the start of the fourth semester, when he discovers the intruder, he waits for someone to jump out with a camera, yelling, Hah, ya just got pranked!

His name is Brandon, and as per Mrs. Silva's dumb rule, he's the first wall between Blossom and Brick. Blossom and Brandon. Brick with whoever this over-excited girl is.

Now that he thinks about it, Mrs. Silva did mention something about new students before they left for winter break. Said that...said...God, maybe he should stop tuning her out. He vaguely remembers shrugging when she asked about them. What a mistake. Maybe if he and Blossom complain to their teacher―

A red bow brushes by him at the door as the eldest Powerpuff walks in with her customary smile. She sets her bag on her seat and sticks her hand out to the new students, unfazed. "Hi, I'm Blossom Utonium," she says, all politeness and cheer. "Welcome to Townsville High."

"I'm Brandon. This is my twin sister Brooke." The kid stands to take her hand with a reciprocating grin that makes Brick roll his eyes. Two seconds in, and he's already victim to the good girl charm. "Nice to meet you. We didn't expect to transfer in the middle of the school year, but here we are. That's not too weird, is it?"

Fun fact: Mrs. Silva isn't the only one with a bad reputation. The Jojo brothers used to be the hottest topic in the faculty room. Their teachers stick tardy slips on the whiteboard, unofficially called the Wall of Shame, so obviously Brick and his brothers treated it like a game, racking up as many as they could with the silliest excuses. It became so expected that the school secretary prepared a stack for them to swipe and fill out on the way to class everyday. Lates became absences became detentions became suspensions, and the threat of sending a letter home didn't scare them when Mojo Jojo and Him were in prison.

Blossom wedged her way into his schedule when behavioral records and poor grades threatened expulsion. What was her reason again? Wanting to talk about the reading before first period, soundboard her theories―probably stupid things, knowing her. Still, he started coming in earlier and earlier...for intellectual purposes and to get on Blossom's nerves by playing devil's advocate, not to be a goody two-shoes like his teachers claim.

The scene before him―the mindless small chat and disgusting friendliness, reasons why he hated coming on time―is enough to make him revert to old ways, so he spins on his heel to head back to the hallways. Maybe he can grab a coffee and muffin from the other side of town. Maybe stroll through the park and make it back in time for second period. If he gets Blossom a chocolate chip cookie, she won't be too mad, right?

As if she can hear his thoughts, Leader Girl herself darts over before he makes it out the door and snags his elbow. She pulls him forward, closer to the twins despite his resistance. Stupid super strength. He could dig his shoes into the ground and break out of her hold if he wanted to. Still. Stupid super strength.

"And this is Brick Jojo! Feel free to ask him any questions you might have, Brooke."

If he glares any harder, he might actually burn his counterpart's face. The corner of her mouth twitches in response, and he has an itching feeling he wouldn't hear the end of it later if he refused, so he crosses his arms with a huff. She drops her hand.

"Hi," he says, not looking at any of them. One door behind him. Three windows along the far wall and two in the back of the classroom. Can he make it out any of them before Blossom catches him? She pokes him in the ribs. "Hi, I'm Brick."

"This is so exciting," Brooke coos, fingers toying with the ends of her long braids. She glances away when he makes eye contact, moving her hands to pat down her bangs instead. After a few awkward seconds, Brooke settles her gaze on Blossom. What a weird desk partner, he thinks, frowning. This semester is going to be annoying. "I hope I don't make a fool of myself by getting lost."

"Don't worry about it!" Does Blossom ever get tired of being cheery? He swears his face muscles ache just watching her smile all the time. "Lots of students get lost for the first few days. The teachers are pretty understanding. If you want, I can walk you to your next class."

"That'd be great! Oh, I had a question, if you don't mind answering?"

I do mind, actually. Brick eyes how Brandon leans against his old desk.

"Not at all!" is Blossom's reply. Of course. "What is it?"

"The secretary was telling us about...emergency shelter locations?" Brooke pulls out a school map and written instructions, and smooths it out on the table. "The way she talked about them was different from fire and shelter-in-place drills."

"Emergency shelter locations?" Brick echoes, scanning the page. There's a few code words he doesn't recognize, but the classification system is one he can recite in his sleep. "Like, for monsters?"

His brow furrows. Now that the kid brings it up, he actually doesn't know how the school handles monster attack evacuations; he's out the window and in the sky before the second wave of tremors. A peek at Blossom shows the same confusion.

"Didn't you used to evacuate people?" he asks quietly, jostling her shoulder with his own. The Powerpuffs have been Townville's heroes for longer than he's been alive. "Middle school? You always stayed back to help."

"Yes, until the teachers developed a system so I could get out faster. I meant to check with the high school's evacuation system, but..." She trails off, lost in thought.

"Not like you to leave stones unturned. Figured you'd have the entire handbook memorized for weekend reading."

"Oh, shut up," she snaps, but there's no hostility in her words, only mild exasperation. She turns back to Brandon and Brooke. "Sorry, you'll have to ask someone else about that. Our friends might know more about the procedures."

Brandon's gaze flickers between them. Then his eyes brighten in understanding. "Utonium. Jojo. Aren't you guys are the Powerpuff Girls?"

"Nope, just her." Brick scowls, jabbing a thumb towards Blossom.

"Wow, it's so nice to meet you!" the twins say in unison and lean forward to each take Blossom's hands again. The adoration spills out of their eyes like a sewage break, and Brick feels smug satisfaction in seeing Blossom squirm uncomfortably.

"I don't know if you remember, but..."

"You saved our lives during our first week here!"

"You lifted a car out of the way and used fire breath to destroy the monster!"

"No, that wasn't me! That was―"

Brick. Definitely Brick. But he keeps his mouth shut, focusing on how Blossom's expression reddens in the face of the twins' enthusiasm.

Maybe he can legally change his name to Braeden. Then all will be right in the world.


a/n.

what's that, brick? you say you watch her smile all the time? just admit you're a nerd.

if you're familiar with my other works, you'll know i like writing collections of one-shots, and this is another one so no longfic plot. all the chapters in this story are loosely related and jump in time, but blossom and brick's relationship is generally more positive than hostile. whatever the big event was that got them to bond, it happened before this fic. lazy writing? maybe :3c anyway, if you liked this, please leave a review!

next chapter: her hair is fucking stupid. feb 15, 2021

katocchi