As you may already know, goths tend to not show emotions or feelings for another. But deep down, they're still human and still have human feelings. Like annoyance for example.
In Royal Woods Elementary, we see a familiar gothic female who's friends with Lucy Loud. Her name is Haiku.
Haiku enjoys most of what every other goth she knows enjoyed. That being darkness, poems, vampires of melancholia, bats, scary movies, skeletons(not the Undertale kind, mind you!), and the perk of getting candy because people think that you're dressed up for Halloween. And the things that most goths, including her, despised the most were couples that were not afraid to show their love to other people. You may think that she's over reacting but you cannot say that you've never seen a couple kissing in public and never felt uncomfortable witnessing the act.
Everyday at school, she always saw cutesy couples rejoicing their love in the hallways, lunchroom, classrooms, gym(she hides under the bleachers anyways), and even the cafeteria which makes her lose her appetite.
And the thing is that almost everyone in the school is in a relationship! The popular kids(not surprising), the neutral kids(Eh, whatever), the dorky/lame/wierd kids(...how?), even Coach Pacowski is dating the school nurse!
Haiku isn't the one who would care about these things, so why couldn't she just get it out of her head? Was she, perhaps...jealous?
NO! I-I mean...no.
At the end of the school day, Haiku trudged towards the exit with a bored expression until she was met by her best friend, Lucy.
"Hello, Haiku." Lucy greeted in a monotone voice.
Usually, people would've jumped in fright by Lucy's sudden appearance but Haiku wasn't so easily scared. Plus, she heard the eight year old coming from a mile away.
"Hello, Lucy." Haiku greeted back flatly.
Lucy was used to her friend talking in such a bored tone but she couldn't help but to since slight annoyance in her words.
"Is everything alright?" she asked
Haiku contemplated wether or not to tell Lucy about what's bugging her but decided to spare her the grief. After all, she's only eight.
"Coach caught me hiding under the bleachers and forced me to partake in the exercises or else I would receive detention. I really despise jumping jacks." Haiku lied
Lucy nodded.
"You should've saw me when Lynn made me do sit-ups one time." Lucy explained
Imagining that scene almost made Haiku grin...almost.
"So what do you want to join me and head on over to read the headstones at the graveyard?" she asked
"Oh, I'm sorry, Haiku. But I'm hanging out with Rocky today." Lucy answered
Haiku scowled.
"Who's Rocky?" she questioned
"He's my boyfriend." Lucy answered nonchalantly
Haiku's visible eye stared at Lucy for the longest time.
"Is everything alright?" Lucy asked with a hint of concern.
"Yes..." Haiku answered with a small growl.
Little did Lucy know, her friend was screaming internally.
Later, Haiku walked up to the front door of her house with metaphorical clouds over her head.
She opened the door and walked inside, throwing her backpack to the side and kicking off her shoes. Haiku stormed towards the couch and sat down as he pouted. The goth grabbed the remote control and turned in the tv in hopes to forget about today. The first thing that flashed on the screen was the old Beauty and the Beast movie during the part after Gaston stabbed the beast before falling to his death. Belle held beast in her arms.
"I love you!" she cried
Haiku cringed as she changed the channel to another movie.
This one caught her interest. It was the third and final movie in a trilogy series about some orphaned billionaire who dresses up as a bat and speaks with a gravelly voice. Sounds interesting enough, she enjoyed the last movie with that anarchist clown and that district attorney with one side of his face burnt to a crisp. This one is the third and final in the trilogy and the villain is a strong guy wearing cargo shorts and some strange mask in his face gets blown away by a cat-lady on the bat-guy's bike. The bat-guy goes after the daughter of the villain from the first film, she dies in a vehicle wreck, the bat-guy uses a black aircraft he built to carry a bomb that the female villain was going to use to blow up the hero's city. Things are getting inten...wait...The cat-lady just kissed the bat-guy as he was about to sacrifice himself. Another movie ruined!
Haiku changed the channel which brought her to Romeo and Juliet, you can guess what happened next...she immediately changed the channel.
After furiously changing channels, she even skipped over V.O.M because of the romance scene(she's starting to dislike Edwin at the moment). Soon, Haiku instantly stopped at one channel with a show that will definitely destroy her goth cred if anyone saw her watching it. It's was the princess pony show...
"At least there's nothing romantic happenings here." she groaned
As Haiku begrudgingly watched the kiddy cartoon, her mother came in through the front door. Haiku's mother also has long black hair like her daughter but, like her husband, is the exact opposite of a goth.
She walked into the living room to see her daughter watching tv.
"Hello, sweetie! I...I didn't know you like watching princess pony." said Haiku's mom, slightly confused.
"I don't." her daughter replied flatly.
Even though Haiku has always been speaking with a low voice, her mother could instantly tell that something was wrong(as all mothers should).
Haiku's mother sat next to her daughter.
"Haiku..is something wrong?" she asked kindly
"No." Haiku answered without missing a beat.
But her mother wasn't convinced.
"Is someone bullying you?" she asked
Haiku has had a history with people teasing her but now she's grew to resist the insults. But boy, does she's wish that was the case.
"No." she answered again
Haiku's mother sighed.
"Is it boy trouble?" she questioned
Haiku's eyes widened a bit.
That isn't exactly the issue. It's more of a "I'm not sure if I despise love all together or just jealous that I have no one to love me but I'm a bad-A goth." type of issue. But if she told her mother then she would get the old "There's someone out there for you, all you have to do is wait." speech. And she really didn't want to hear her mom say that.
"I'm fine, mom. Really." Haiku explained
But as you may guess, Haiku's mom's motherly instincts wasn't buying it. But there's a solution...
"Do you want some ice cream?" her mothers offered
Haiku stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"Yes, please." she replied
Sometime later, Haiku sat her bowl down of the coffee table before her as she felt instant satisfaction. Unknown fact: Ice Cream can melt the dark heart of any goth or emo(even though it's cold). The young goth just couldn't stop thinking about how great that ice cream tasted! It almost made her forget about what she was mad about...almost.
Suddenly, the sound of a doorbell being ranged filled the room.
"I'll get it." Haiku's mom smiled as she got up and left.
Haiku stayed on the couch thinking to herself, wondering how she should spend her afternoon before dinner's ready.
"Haiku! You have a friend here!" Her mom called
"Friend?" she wondered
It's probably Lucy, she must be finished with her date with Rocky. Maybe she can reschedule her hourly moaning and groaning for the little one.
Haiku ascended from the couch and made way to the front door only to not be met with Lucy, but her brother Lincoln.
"Lincoln?"
"Hey, Haiku." he waved while smiling
Haiku began to wonder why he was here. Did Lucy want him to deliver something to her? Or did he just want to apologize for what happened at the Sadie Hawkins for the 78th time?(yes, she kept count). To be honest, she wasn't really upset about that night anymore. After learning that Lucy and three of her other sisters unknowingly set their brother up with four girls and did nothing to fix it, she saw that the blame shouldn't be piled on him alone. She remembered how some people thought that she and his friend, Clyde McBride were a thing. The truth is, he's just too dorky.
"Hello, Lincoln. Did Lucy tell you to bring me something?" she asked
Lincoln shook his head.
"I need your help with something. A haiku to be exact." he answered
He needed help with making a haiku? Why couldn't he just ask Lucy? Oh, is it because her name is Haiku? Hardy-Har! But she isn't going to turn down a chance to teach someone the Watson of poetry. Might even allow Lincoln to unleash his dark side.
"Oh, I guess I can help you out then." she answered
"How nice! You're making new friends!" Haiku's mother smiled
Haiku shook her head as Lincoln blushed.
"Come, Lincoln. Let's go into the dining room." said Haiku
Lincoln followed the girl as her mother offered refreshments which Lincoln politely refused.
The two sat down at the table.
"I thank you for choosing me to assist you on this task. Now the art of a haiku is where you express how you feel about something in a form of a poem using only seventeen syllables, in three lines of five seven, and five." Haiku explained
Lincoln showed that he understood with a nod.
"So tell me. What is your desired haiku about?" she asked
Lincoln cleared his throat as his cheeks turned pink.
"I-It's about a girl I like." he answered shyly
Haiku's face turned into a stoney gaze.
"And here I thought Lincoln would help me get my mind off of today." she said in her mind.
"Sure...why not?" she answered grimly
Lincoln grabbed a sheet of paper and an ink pen and was ready to write.
"So you want to write a haiku about this girl who you desire to be with. What's one distinctive trait about her that you want to mention in this?" asked Haiku
"Well, she has long black hair." he answered
Haiku raised an eyebrow.
"Long black hair? Ronnie Anne moved away so he could most likely be talking about that Maggie girl. They are only two years apart after all." Haiku thought before speaking.
"Alright. We'll use that for the first line."
"Your pretty black hair."
Haiku looked over the first line. It was cheesy but it was still five syllables. Lincoln mentally counted the next words and syllables then wrote down the second line.
"The moonlight shines down on us."
Wow..Haiku was starting to get impressed. It wasn't Edgar Allen Poe good, but better than expected. Not surprising that Lincoln has at least a small amount of skill in poetry since he sometimes helps Lucy finds words that rhyme in her poems. Actually, what would Lincoln look like as a goth? She remembered Lucy telling her that he changed into that look while their sister Lynn was bunking with him. Imagining Lincoln with some black hair, he would look kinda cu..
NO! NO! Be a grinch but unlike him, your heart won't be growing three sizes that day!
"You're doing quite well for your first time." Haiku complimented
Lincoln knew what Haiku meant but he couldn't help but to feel glad that Luan isn't here or she'll be making jokes by now.
The sole brother then counted the final line of five syllables.
"Now our hearts combine."
Haiku looked down at the final line and nodded.
"Well done." she concluded.
Although, she wished someone would write her a haiku or poem for once.
"So do you think she will like this?" Lincoln questioned
Haiku has to be honest, it would catch the attention of someone who enjoys poetry.
"I'm sure she will." she answered
But before the gothic girl could leave the table to show Lincoln the door, she felt a hand touch left hand.
She looked to see Lincoln's hand resting on top of of hers.
Haiku looked up at Lincoln and asked in a voice with a hint of confusion.
"Lincoln...what are you doing?"
Lincoln sighed softly before reciting the poem.
"Your pretty black hair-
The moonlight shines down us-
Now our hearts combine."
Haiku stared at Lincoln.
"L-Lincoln..I thought you were going to tell that to the girl you like." she spoke
"You're the girl I like." Lincoln answered with a grin
A faint blush invaded Haiku's cheeks.
She was utterly speechless by this news. Someone was actually interested in her of all girls?
"But why me? Won't you be embarrassed if people see you with me?" she questioned, her voice surprisingly higher than usual.
Lincoln places a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't care what people will think. They can hate all they want but when I'm with you, their insults don't matter." he explained
"AWWWWW!"
The two looked towards the doorway to see Haiku's mother gushing at the scene of cuteness.
"MOM!" Haiku yelled in embarrassment as Lincoln chuckled.
"S-Sorry, I'm sorry." She apologized, trying to hold in her child-like giggling as she re-entered the next room.
The two were alone once more.
"So do you want to hang out on friday?" Lincoln asked
Haiku was still blushing as she struggled to find the words to say.
"We could go to Burpin' Burger or take a walk in the graveyard. Your choice." he added
"S-Sure." she answered quickly
"Great!" Lincoln beamed
The two exchanged phone numbers and Lincoln had to leave before the street lights came on.
That night, Haiku had to endure the pain of hearing her parents give her tips about a first date which she was really tried to keep a straight face through.
Later, Haiku laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Thoughts about what had happened today flooded her mind. Hours ago, she felt disgusted by seeing all the lovey-dovey couples and wondered if she was actually upset that she's still single. But Lincoln Loud came to her house and proclaimed his feelings towards her and she even has a date on Friday.
Haiku didn't know why but she's sorta felt...happy.
Happy that there's someone out there who wants to be with her, happy that he's nice and caring, happy that it's someone like Lincoln.
As much as the goth didn't want to admit it, she was looking forward to friday.
This is pretty much my first attempt at a romance fic featuring on of my favorite non-canon Loud House ship, Linku(LincolnXHaiku)! So I hope you all enjoyed this and sorry if my haiku stinks, first time making something like that. I'll also like to thank Exotos135 for helping me with the haiku.