Another year, another place to corral stray ficlets and fragments. Some of them may make it to AO3 eventually, some of them may not. Series, pairing, rating, and any relevant warnings will be in the subject of each comment.
7:30 am on the Yamanote Line. A man hurries onto the train in the middle of the rush hour crush, his blue-black hair still wet from the shower. He stands near the door, briefcase in hand.
Two stops later, another man rides the wave of commuters into the train, his brown hair framing his face. He too carries a briefcase. He too stands, watching the world rush past outside the window.
Another three stops and the first man exits, crossing the street and entering a towering office building that looks like so many others in downtown Tokyo.
One more stop and the other man exits, walking down the sidewalk until he enters a building that could be the twin of the first.
Both men sit at their respective cubicles, picking up the telephone for the first call of the day. It's a tedious call, confirming and re-confirming details that have already been decided by the management and put out in writing, but there's a ritual to it as well. For months now they have been in charge of these calls, and for months, whenever they call a certain other company, the same person answers on the other end. There's a bond that's formed between them over time, forged by the hours spent cross-referencing spreadsheets and checking details off of lists.
When the end of the day comes, they turn off their computers, push in their chairs, and join the crowds of commuters returning home.
The brown-haired salaryman is the first on the Yamanote Line this time.
One stop later, the other man enters the same train. It's always crowded this time of night, bodies pressed together like sardines in a can. A suitcase slips out of a distracted tourist's hand and rolls into him. He stumbles and bumps into the man next to him.
"Sorry," he says.
The man looks up at him sharply with piercing, blue eyes. "It's fine," he replies.
A different sort of silence stretches between them as their eyes meet.
Inui built his wings through many long nights spent bent over feathers and wood, hide and glue. When the first light of dawn crept over the horizon, he would sleep and dream of the world as it must look from overhead.
The sun shone brightly the day he finally took flight. The wind caught his wings as he leapt from the mouth of his cave, and he soared, looking down on the land below like an omniscient god. The sun beat down, warming the back of his neck as it softened glue and melted wax.
Inui's wings failed, and he plummeted toward the ground.
The river reached up to meet him, a giant, watery serpent that wrapped around him and softened his fall.
"Thank you," Inui said when the coughing finally stopped.
"Commander." The harsh whisper sounded from outside of the tent, and Tezuka had his hand on his sword ready to raise the alarm before he recognized the voice.
"What is it, Fuji?" he asked. Outside of battle, in the dead of night with no one else in sight except the sentries, Tezuka let the strict military hierarchies drop. There was no need for them here.
"There's a problem brewing," Fuji whispered.
Tezuka was immediately alert, adrenaline burning away the fatigue that had been clawing at the edges of his mind. "Report."
"The enemy's on the move. Reinforcements arrived at some point in the last day or so; they somehow slipped our notice entirely. They're surrounding the camp; in another few hours, we'll be trapped."
Are you sure? Tezuka started to ask, but he held his tongue. It was Fuji's report, and thus it was true. The position of spymaster was Fuji's in far more than name.
"Where are they now?"
"Moving in from the east. They've already secured the road out of the valley, and they've split into two branches to surround us. The main force will probably attack at dawn when the rising sun will be against us."
"What about the game trails?"
"They don't seem to have discovered them yet. I left scouts to hold them against any enemy scouting parties, but they won't be able to hold the positions against the main force."
"We'll retreat along that route until we're in the mountains and set up an ambush of our own just before the caves. By the time the enemy realizes the camp is empty, we'll be waiting. You're in charge of passing on the orders. Leave anything that can be spared."
"Commander?"
"If I start moving around camp at this hour, anyone watching will know something is happening. You can move around unnoticed. I'll leave at first light."
"Tezuka...," Fuji said, pressing his fingers to the thick canvas of the tent.
"Go," Tezuka ordered. "I'll meet you at the caves."
Fuji lingered for a second longer, as if waiting would somehow let his fingers cross through the fabric to touch the source of the voice on the other side. Then, he turned and melted back into the shadows.
"Again!?" Tenten grumbled as she read the new message that popped up on her monitor.
"Who does he think he is?" Neji snapped.
"NOOOOOOO," Lee yelled as his teammates slammed their fingers down on the mute buttons on their headsets and counted off seven seconds until it was probably safe to return.
The message still sat in the corner of each of their screens, waiting to be acknowledge:
Another guild member killed by SnakeOverlord894. He's using Samegumi's old guild leader's signature sharkskin move now. At this rate, there aren't going to be any guilds left.
How does he keep doing this?" Tenten asked.
"Probably the same way he always does. He's sneaky, and unnaturally skilled, even if he insists on using that for evil."
"Why does the game even make it possible to do what he does? There's no reason for it," Lee said.
"It's probably another loophole no one caught," Tenten replied. "He's using a transfer spell to map an opponent's special ability onto their physical weapon, then immediately following it with a snatch spell to steal said weapon, then casting nullification nearly simultaneously with a mirror spell such that the ability, when released from the weapon, returns to him instead of its original user. And all of that in tutorial mode to bypass some of the standard PVP restrictions. It's not exactly something that would have shown up in standard testing, and as soon as they patch it, he'll find another loophole to exploit. He's too good at this, and he's too good at luring people into tutorial mode with him. With all the warnings they've put out lately about that, he has to be some sort of charming or persuasive too."
"Why don't they just ban him?"
"They've tried. He keeps coming back somehow."
"That's why we're going to defeat him for good," Neji said, "and hopefully break whatever skill he's using so he can never do it again. If he sticks to his normal schedule, he'll be coming online in the next few minutes. Are we ready?"
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Prince of Tennis, Fuji Shuusuke/Oshitari Yuushi, G, salaryman AU
Two stops later, another man rides the wave of commuters into the train, his brown hair framing his face. He too carries a briefcase. He too stands, watching the world rush past outside the window.
Another three stops and the first man exits, crossing the street and entering a towering office building that looks like so many others in downtown Tokyo.
One more stop and the other man exits, walking down the sidewalk until he enters a building that could be the twin of the first.
Both men sit at their respective cubicles, picking up the telephone for the first call of the day. It's a tedious call, confirming and re-confirming details that have already been decided by the management and put out in writing, but there's a ritual to it as well. For months now they have been in charge of these calls, and for months, whenever they call a certain other company, the same person answers on the other end. There's a bond that's formed between them over time, forged by the hours spent cross-referencing spreadsheets and checking details off of lists.
When the end of the day comes, they turn off their computers, push in their chairs, and join the crowds of commuters returning home.
The brown-haired salaryman is the first on the Yamanote Line this time.
One stop later, the other man enters the same train. It's always crowded this time of night, bodies pressed together like sardines in a can. A suitcase slips out of a distracted tourist's hand and rolls into him. He stumbles and bumps into the man next to him.
"Sorry," he says.
The man looks up at him sharply with piercing, blue eyes. "It's fine," he replies.
A different sort of silence stretches between them as their eyes meet.
Prince of Tennis, Inui/Kaidou, G, wingfic
The sun shone brightly the day he finally took flight. The wind caught his wings as he leapt from the mouth of his cave, and he soared, looking down on the land below like an omniscient god. The sun beat down, warming the back of his neck as it softened glue and melted wax.
Inui's wings failed, and he plummeted toward the ground.
The river reached up to meet him, a giant, watery serpent that wrapped around him and softened his fall.
"Thank you," Inui said when the coughing finally stopped.
"Fsssshhhhhhhhh," the snake god replied.
Prince of Tennis, Tezuka/Fuji, G, military AU
"What is it, Fuji?" he asked. Outside of battle, in the dead of night with no one else in sight except the sentries, Tezuka let the strict military hierarchies drop. There was no need for them here.
"There's a problem brewing," Fuji whispered.
Tezuka was immediately alert, adrenaline burning away the fatigue that had been clawing at the edges of his mind. "Report."
"The enemy's on the move. Reinforcements arrived at some point in the last day or so; they somehow slipped our notice entirely. They're surrounding the camp; in another few hours, we'll be trapped."
Are you sure? Tezuka started to ask, but he held his tongue. It was Fuji's report, and thus it was true. The position of spymaster was Fuji's in far more than name.
"Where are they now?"
"Moving in from the east. They've already secured the road out of the valley, and they've split into two branches to surround us. The main force will probably attack at dawn when the rising sun will be against us."
"What about the game trails?"
"They don't seem to have discovered them yet. I left scouts to hold them against any enemy scouting parties, but they won't be able to hold the positions against the main force."
"We'll retreat along that route until we're in the mountains and set up an ambush of our own just before the caves. By the time the enemy realizes the camp is empty, we'll be waiting. You're in charge of passing on the orders. Leave anything that can be spared."
"Commander?"
"If I start moving around camp at this hour, anyone watching will know something is happening. You can move around unnoticed. I'll leave at first light."
"Tezuka...," Fuji said, pressing his fingers to the thick canvas of the tent.
"Go," Tezuka ordered. "I'll meet you at the caves."
Fuji lingered for a second longer, as if waiting would somehow let his fingers cross through the fabric to touch the source of the voice on the other side. Then, he turned and melted back into the shadows.
Naruto, Kabuto & Team Guy, G, mmorpg AU
"Who does he think he is?" Neji snapped.
"NOOOOOOO," Lee yelled as his teammates slammed their fingers down on the mute buttons on their headsets and counted off seven seconds until it was probably safe to return.
The message still sat in the corner of each of their screens, waiting to be acknowledge:
How does he keep doing this?" Tenten asked.
"Probably the same way he always does. He's sneaky, and unnaturally skilled, even if he insists on using that for evil."
"Why does the game even make it possible to do what he does? There's no reason for it," Lee said.
"It's probably another loophole no one caught," Tenten replied. "He's using a transfer spell to map an opponent's special ability onto their physical weapon, then immediately following it with a snatch spell to steal said weapon, then casting nullification nearly simultaneously with a mirror spell such that the ability, when released from the weapon, returns to him instead of its original user. And all of that in tutorial mode to bypass some of the standard PVP restrictions. It's not exactly something that would have shown up in standard testing, and as soon as they patch it, he'll find another loophole to exploit. He's too good at this, and he's too good at luring people into tutorial mode with him. With all the warnings they've put out lately about that, he has to be some sort of charming or persuasive too."
"Why don't they just ban him?"
"They've tried. He keeps coming back somehow."
"That's why we're going to defeat him for good," Neji said, "and hopefully break whatever skill he's using so he can never do it again. If he sticks to his normal schedule, he'll be coming online in the next few minutes. Are we ready?"
"Go team!" Tenten replied.
"POWER OF YOUTH!!!" Lee yelled.