Fanfiction

[tallulahgs]

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my (incredibly hot) true love sent to me

twelve summer nights

Written for and posted to 12dayschristmas. And my LJ will now return to its normal meme-obsessed state ^^

[Title] Sidekicks
[Fandom] Battle Royale (movie)/Death Note
[Rating] PG
[Pairing] (implied) Keita Iijima/Touta Matsuda
[Notes/Summary] Matsuda and Keita meet on a shopping trip. Written for rushikayu13, who didn't ask for it, but suggested the pairing ^^



Matsuda has just handed over what feels like way too much money for three boxes of cakes when he hears someone calling his name and looks round to see Keita hurrying up to the counter, arms laden with bags.

"You buying cake again?" Keita laughs. "What is it, the third time this week?"

"Fourth." Matsuda stares warily at the stuff Keita's carrying. "What about you?"

"Uh... two bags of charcoal, three boxes of roofing nails, some climbing rope, and... a six-pack of Coke." Keita frowns. "Yeah, I think that's everything."

"No kerosene this time?"

"Nope, we've got enough right now. No animal crackers?"

"No, uh - my boss said they weren't sweet enough." Matsuda knows that, as a cop, he sort of has a duty to ascertain exactly why it is that Keita is buying all this sort of stuff, a lot of which he happens to know will explode when treated right. But somehow he hasn't. Perhaps because Keita's never tried to find out who the superior with the sweet tooth is. Or perhaps just because the sunset is streaming through the windows of this shop that seems to sell everything, and even at night it's too hot to run back to a stuffy hotel right away.

"So..." Keita glances down at his purchases again. "You need to be back with that cake really quickly?"

"Well... I was asked to be, but I happen to know they've still got an entire box of shortbread there, it's just that no one actually likes it. What about you? Do you need to be back with, uh, with... all that stuff?"

Keita shrugs. "The guy I'm buying it for needs to learn patience. It's one of the few things stopping him being perfect."

"So..."

"Meet you behind the store in five minutes?"

"Sure. Just let me ask if they'll look after the cake."



[Title] Happiness Where You Find It
[Fandom] Akira (manga)
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Kaori takes solace in a pleasant moment amid the destruction.



It's evening and the sun, still high above them, seems to fill the whole sky with golden light and rushes across the water, too bright to look at. Kaori sits on the step, feet dangling in the water, and shades her eyes against the glow. A few feet away Akira is paddling in the river, round hands reaching into the water to find stones. He doesn't smile, but Kaori thinks that he seems happier than usual.

If she looks in the right direction, she'll see the entire city, dying under the sunset. But she doesn't look. She keeps her eyes on her bare, sun-striped toes. The light ripples across them like fronds of seaweed.

Happiness isn't thoughts any more, because if you think then you start remembering all the terrible things that have happened. But in this summer evening, playing in the water, happiness can still be a feeling.



[Title] Knowledge is Power
[Fandom] Death Note
[Rating] PG-13 for general gloom
[Notes/Summary] AU. Matsuda tries to sort out what he remembers and to survive in the new world. Not written for lycoris, but encouraged by her. So it's all her fault.



He suspects it's summer, because he's no longer so cold.

He's become accustomed to never knowing as much as everyone else - school, high school, college, and then in the police force with whatever case he was working on - and you'd think you'd get used to it by now, wouldn't you? But right now, in the dark, he feels like he knows nothing and (so scared and) so he's got to keep going over what he does know because if he doesn't (if he doesn't then that will be it, he will forget everything and there won't be choices any more) - not that there are choices anyway. (Can't think about that, can't -) But. Sitting in the dark in the corner (because having two walls at your back is something to know, too, if he knelt in the centre of the floor he figures he'd forget who he was even) sitting in the dark in the corner and listing the facts like his superiors would do when a case began; pinning them up on a mental noticeboard -

He thinks it might be summer because he's not so cold. The last date he knows for sure is 28th January, 2010, and for most of the time here he's been unable to sleep properly because of the temperature; just crouched in the corner dozing, the cold like something sinking its teeth into his chest. But now he's managing to sleep. Which should be good, but isn't, because time slips away when you're asleep and when he wakes he's even more confused.

It's summer, and it's night right now - probably about four a.m. - because the hum of noise from the city is slightly muted and the music from somewhere else in the building has stopped. Okay.

And he knows that the music is Misa's, that she plays it incessantly, because the few times she's come to see him the music has stopped, and then started again after she's left. He wants to know why she keeps playing it, sometimes the same song over and over again as if she's trying to drown somebody else out. He hasn't been screaming much, not all the time anyway, so is there someone else here? One of the others? Oh he wants that to be true so much. If there's two of them in this situation it means it wasn't all his fault, it's not just because he's the token idiot in the task force. But he thinks maybe it's not true. And, and it doesn't really matter because he doesn't know it so it might as well not be real.

He has been told, and assumed it was the truth, that he's one of the only people opposing Kira left in the world.

He has been told, and knows it's real however hard he wishes it not to be, that Raito is Kira, and he's deduced for himself that this means pretty much everything Raito ever said to any of them was a lie. Maybe that's why he's suddenly so caught up in this knowing thing. In the dark and all the recogniseable features of his mind like I'm part of the Kira task force and we're going to catch him eventually and the good guys always win and Raito is one of the most amazing people I've ever met have been smashed to bits and and and )don't think about it think about what I do know damn it review the facts -)

Not many facts left. He doesn't know what happened on the last real date, and he doesn't know why he doesn't know. Was it so horrible he's refusing to think about it, or did he get knocked out at a crucial moment? (Doesn't matter.) He keeps asking but Raito - (still can't call him Kira it makes it too it makes it too confusing that's all -) won't tell him, thinks it's funny that he doesn't know.

Raito thinks a lot of things about him are funny, right now. But not the refusal to accept Kira as god and lord and master and so many other words. That is the serious part, but Matsuda knows there's a reason he can't do it, even though what the reason is has become more and more faded as the days have got warmer. He's almost glad Misa is there. When she comes to see him she kneels down and begs him to reconsider, she says he's too nice to not be on their side, and that argument is so stupid he can imagine that maybe he is being the smart one for once.

Of course, that idea dies whenever Raito comes to see him.

There's a bruise on his face at the moment, puffy and as he touches it pain jumps behind his right eye, but that's okay. There are some things Raito doesn't know, even though he's the smart one, and one of them is that when you're in the dark and you can't remember who you used to be, a bruise gives you something to hang onto, proves you're really here. Matsuda doesn't intend to let Raito gain possession of that information. After all, if it is summer, he's hung on for months. He can't give up now.

But, of course - the knowledge hits him like a punch in the stomach - it may not be. Even in winter, there can be warm days. Perhaps he won't be able to hold on for long at all.



[Title] Too Darn Hot
[Fandom] Akira
[Rating] PG
[Pairing] Kai/Yamagata
[Notes/Summary] Kai considers the pros and cons of summer in Neo-Tokyo.



In the summer, Neo-Tokyo rots. Seems like either something dies in the drains at the dorm, or the bartender stops caring about the bags of rubbish people dump round the back of the Harukiya, or just that everyone at school decides they can spend their money on better things than deodorant. And the days are so damn long. Kai is ready to fall asleep by three p.m. and when he gets back to the dorm he doesn't want to do anything except take a cold shower and then lie around staring at the ceiling.

Yeah. Only two things make summer here bearable. And both of 'em happen at night, which is another reason why the long days suck. The first one, of course, is biking, which actually cools him down - the air stops sticking to him and rushes over his face, and he and the others holler and cheer up to a sky that still has a scrap of sunlight in one corner like a post-it note someone's forgotten about.

The second one is that for some reason, summer makes Yamagata horny as hell, and while all the rest of the year he's been pretending that making out with Kai would give him some kind of horrible disease and mean he's ostracised from all his friends, in the summer he evidently just doesn't care, he just wants to slam Kai against the nearest wall and rip his clothes off.

And that's all good, because it is hot, after all.



[Title] Childish Things
[Fandom] Akira
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] It's Kiyoko's first night in a new place and she can't sleep.



The room is too hot and Kiyoko can't sleep. She kicks off the sheets and rolls over onto her tummy and then, because it's what she does when she's bored, she starts twining a strand of hair round her fingers. When she was in the children's home, before, they let her sleep with plaits, but here the nurse just undid her hair before she could say anything. She misses her plaits. She feels untidy.

Sitting up a little, she stares round the room. It's not even properly dark yet. Ripples of sunset cover the back wall, making her think of light shining through water. As if she's in a fish tank.

The other girls in the room are asleep. She wishes it wasn't so hot. She wishes a lot, even though she knows it's silly and doesn't work. They said she was here cos she's clever. She doesn't feel clever. She just wants to go to sleep.

The dolly they gave her smells of plastic and cardboard and newness, but she puts her arms round it anyway, and stares up at the dead light above her. Most of her feels quite calm, but her feet are hot and there's a small pool of worry growing under her ribs.

They are too high up for her to see anything out of the window apart from the sky, growing darker.



[Title] Fight or Flight
[Fandom] Jet Set Radio
[Rating] G
[Pairing] Beat/Gum
[Notes/Summary] Beat and Gum sit and talk during their first night as GGs. disks_smilie requested a different take on this pairing. I'm not sure if this is that different, but it's not messed-up, at any rate ^^



"So... is this okay?" Beat pushed his goggles back onto his forehead, glanced nervously round at her. "I mean... you're not regretting speaking to me this morning?"

Gum swung her legs, kicking her heels lightly against the battered sofa, and stared round at the garage. "Nah, course I'm not. And this place seems fine to me. I've seen new gangs sleeping in doorways or on rooftops before."

Silence for a moment.

"'Sides," she continued, "it's boiling out there tonight. Doesn't matter where we pitch up."

"I - yeah. Cool."

Gum grinned. "You're not very sure of yourself, are you? I thought any guy who decided to set up his own gang would have enough ego to dent the walls."

"Ain't like I know much. I can skate a bit and slap paint on a wall. That's it."

"Pfft. What rudie knows anything more?"

"Good point." He crept over to the sofa, sat down at the other end, keeping his eyes fixed on the square of streetlight pinned across the ceiling. "I guess it's all a matter of... style, right? Actin' like you know it all."

Gum leant back, stretching out her legs. Shadows rushed down them as she did. "Uh-huh. Never let 'em see you're scared. Or alternatively, don't get scared, get angry. Actually that's not always such a good idea. Sometimes it's better to run."

"But sometimes you gotta fight. Haven't you?"

She turned to look at him. "You know what? I'm thinking it's lucky we met up. I think we're gonna... balance each other out."

Beat stared back at her for a moment, swallowed, then quickly glanced away. "I... uh-huh. Yeah. Definitely, I'm - I'm really glad. Where - where do you think Tab fits in?"

"Oh... he's the comic relief. The one who'll point out sometimes you don't need to run or fight, you just need to step back and stop taking it all so seriously."

"That... that sounds good."

Gum laughed. The sound mingled with the faint roar of traffic from further away. In the darkness it was almost impossible to see her reach out, let her hand lie on top of Beat's.

"Gum, I -"

"Run if you want," she whispered. "But you don't need to fight."

"Oh, I... I got no intention of running."



[Title] Theatre of Sound
[Fandom] Jet Set Radio
[Rating] PG
[Pairing] Combo/Cube
[Notes/Summary] Post-GGs, Cube and Combo are running a pirate station for American music. Because I thought it might be interesting.



"I would say something like 'giving the streets of Tokyo-to a Grind City flavour', but I find that kinda cheesy and way too much like a rip-off of Prof K for my tastes. So..." Cube rubbed a hand across her sweaty forehead. "I'll just give a shout-out to all the US rudies out there, and bash on the Rob Zombie."

As 'Dragula' started to blast out through the tiny, vinyl-filled room, she leant back, fanned herself with one hand, and called, "Combo... I don't suppose you got me any Coke?"

"Thought you couldn't stand the stuff." Combo was standing in the doorway, arms folded, grinning. "Thought you said it was like crass commercialism in liquid form and that the packagin' was way too perky to boot."

"That was in February. Damn it, I'm melting here."

"I'll getcha some water."

"But then there's no caffeine involved." Cube sighed. "I s'pose I could just do the show in a bikini. Ain't like anyone would know."

"Yeah, but if we got busted it might be, ah, kinda awkward."

Cube pondered. "A bikini and sarong?" She rubbed a hand across her face again. "You can strip off too. I totally don't mind seeing you in swimming trunks or boxers or anything. In fact, why don't we both go naked? Ain't like we're gonna be able to go someplace with air-con or windows any time soon..."

Combo glanced up at the low ceiling. "That's not a request I expected."

"I... suppose it does come across as a little unusual." Cube put her hands in her lap, stared straight ahead. "On the other hand, men who know a lot about music always get me going. You should know that."

"Well..." His voice was very quiet. "I always had a thing for girls with black nail polish, but... I was thinkin' it'd be awkward now we work together and all. Ain't office romances s'posed to be a bad idea?"

"Nah, this is just like being in a gang, only with less painting and more illegal music. And no rudie ever holds off on jumping a gangmate's bones just cos of the awkwardness. Rudies live for awkwardness, right? And mess and drama and broken potted plants..." She swallowed. "I just wanna -"

The song which had been playing under their words was fading away.

"Damn it," Cube muttered. "Let's continue this conversation later, okay? And yeah, water would be good. Thanks." And she leant back to the microphone. "In case anyone's just waking up, that was Rob Zombie with 'Dragula', not that any of you shouldn't know that..."



[Title] Ennui
[Fandom] Battle Royale (manga)
[Rating] G
[Pairing] (very implied) Takako Chigusa/Shogo Kawada
[Notes/Summary] Takako dislikes the summer.



Takako hates the summer. She hates being hot and sticky all the time and she hates how her hair gets itchy because of the heat and she hates the way her jewellery soaks up the sun and burns her and she really hates how it puts everyone else in an aggressively perky mood. But what she hates most of all is that Hiroki has gone away with his family and she is left to walk through Shiroiwa with dry grass scratching her legs, waiting for the night so that she can fall asleep and cross off another day.

She takes to walking the path down to school, even though the building is always closed. She finds herself standing outside it simply because there's no one else around (for why would anyone come to school when they don't have to?) The sunlight screams off the white walls and inside the empty classrooms flood with light. She stands and stares and wonders why she's so limp and useless in the holidays and worries about will happen when she graduates and then she is angry for worrying.

She begins to notice the still figure sitting on the slope by the path and smoking, and she wonders if here's someone else who doesn't know what to do with himself in this light.

It takes until twilight one day for her to get up the courage to go over to him. She doesn't know why she's so wary. She doesn't think he's a delinquent, but she doesn't know what he is.

Does it matter? Anything is better than this loneliness.



[Title] Insomnia
[Fandom] Battle Royale (movie)
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Satomi finds it difficult to sleep in a lighthouse.



It's too hot. That's all it is. It's too hot and the collar round her neck is only making it worse.

It's too hot and she doesn't have her pills with her and so how on earth can they expect her to sleep?

The bed smells of mildew and the sheets feel slightly gritty. Probably no one's slept in the lighthouse for months, if not years. And it's too hot because hot air rises, doesn't it, and so why did Yukie say she should go in the highest room? Yukie knew it would get hottest there and Yukie knows about the pills, Yukie knows she can't sleep. It's not fair. She just wants to sleep. She just wants to sleep and forget about where she is and how she's going to die, she's going to die tomorrow so why can't she sleep? It's too hot. She would be able to sleep if only it was colder.

It's all Yukie's fault.

The room is black and the window is so small. And it's too hot and the collar is tight on her throat and everyone else is asleep. She's sure she can hear them breathing. Why has she been singled out? Her uniform is crumpled and itches her but she doesn't want to put on any clothes from home. Yuka and Chisato running around in their tracksuits as if this really is just a normal class trip. How can they be so stupid?

She never changes out of her uniform until she's got all her homework done. This is no different. She can't relax, she can't sleep, not until this is sorted out.

Her head hurts and it's too hot.

Chisato and Haruka and Yuka act as if this is a normal trip. They act as if they aren't scared at all. They're asleep right now and it's not fair. They've never needed the pills, either. What do they know that she doesn't? She's the smartest girl in Class B. What do they know? How could she have missed it?

Her mouth is dry.

A drink of water and then everything will be fine.

The steps are almost invisible in the darkness. The banister is slightly clammy. And outside the island is waiting for her. Her glasses are sticky on her nose. Too hot. And in the school Kitano and the soldiers will be watching her creep down the stairs and do they know what will happen to her? They can see everything and it's not fair.

In the kitchen it's very quiet but Yuko is sitting at the table, huddled in a blanket. Why isn't she too hot? She doesn't speak, she just watches as Satomi drinks from one of the bottles on the table.

Why isn't she asleep? What is she thinking? What does she know? Satomi knows she should smile, talk, but she can't. She's tired of putting in a hundred and ten per cent always. Yuko isn't speaking at all, just watching, and shaking slightly.

Back in her room, the taste of the water already gone, Satomi sits on the bed, and wonders what they all know. Then she realises it doesn't matter. She knows enough. She knows that it's too hot, and she knows that if she wants to make it out of here she must not - must not - let down her guard. So it's fine that she isn't going to fall asleep. She'll just keep her eyes open until she's escaped, or until she's the only one left.



[Title] Shadowing
[Fandom] Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Togusa and Batou are on surveillance duty. (I don't think Togusa's wife is ever named, so I made something up.)



"Hey, are you asleep there?" Batou said from the driver's seat.

Togusa blinked, quickly sat up. "No."

Batou snorted. "Admiring the inside of your eyelids?"

"I'm sorry. It's just the heat, I guess. All right for those of us who have temperature controls, but I could do with some fresh air."

"The air-con's going, what more do you want?"

"What more indeed." Togusa pushed his hair out of his face, squinted at the doorway some distance away. It was still dark. "Any sign of life?"

"While you were dozing? No. Huh, he might have decided to call it a night."

"Great." The car smelt of sweat, salt, engine oil. Togusa glanced at the clock. 23:41. This could easily be an all-nighter. He wondered if he could get away with calling home and letting Miki know she probably wasn't going to see him until after sunrise. But he'd told her that that was likely before he'd left. It would just be an excuse to whisper sweet nothings, and Batou three feet away from him would put a damper on that.

He yawned, forcing his eyes to stay open, and focused again on the doorway.


[Title] Light and Dark
[Fandom] Death Note
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Raito reflects on what memory loss can do. This may not have happened on a summer night. Because I don't know canon well enough. >_>



Then he was sitting on the sofa with one arm stretched out along the back of it to allow L to remain by the computer screen. The cuff was starting to dig into his wrist, but he intended to put up with the discomfort for as long as he could. He was making a point, perhaps, that he was not going to allow L to dictate their situation - their location - all the time. Outside the sun was setting, but the room was still warm.

Matsuda was sitting at the other end of the sofa, officially sifting through data on the various alliances of Tokyo corporations. But when the others were all some distance away and L seemed to be engrossed in whatever he was looking at, Matsuda leaned over and said, "Are - are you okay?" Raito turned to look at him, frowned, and Matsuda, already turning red, said hastily, "I just meant - I mean, Ryuzaki told us what happened with your dad. I... I can't even imagine how -" And then he stopped, and said, "I just wanted to, you know, see if you were okay." And Raito swallowed and said yes, he was okay, and Matsuda nodded, looking now as if he wanted to be somewhere else, but as he got up to go he squeezed Raito's shoulder and said, "It'll be fine. I know you'll catch him." And despite the triteness of the whole scene, Raito found himself being grateful, and met Matsuda's sincere smile with one of his own.

Now he is sitting on the sofa watching L think and there are no longer any ties between them and he is just waiting for all the pieces to fall into place. The air is cool and outside the sky is already growing dark. And Matsuda, who has been excited like a child about the car chase and the discovery of clues and monsters and rules, is saying something about how now they've found out all this they will be bound to catch Kira soon and Raito is nodding, not really bothering to listen because Matsuda is so stupid that it's a waste of time. He no longer has any need of pathetic words.

(He is a little embarrassed that when his memories of the Note were gone, he evidently did need such things.)

(Embarrassed, and slightly regretful.)



[Title] Tokyo-to Midsummer
[Fandom] Jet Set Radio
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] The strange weather system in Tokyo-to changes once a year...



"It's simple," Beat says. "You may've noticed the climate's pretty odd here - Shibuya's always daylight, Benten's always night, and Kogane's always sunset -"

"And smog," Gum puts in.

"Yes. Well, on Midsummer Eve, they all switch round. Shibuya becomes night, Benten becomes sunset, and Kogane goes daylight."

"And things get a little... weird," Gum says, and smirks.

"Oh yeah?" Cube asks, seeing her the smirk and raising her an eyebrow. "Weird how?"

"The kind of weird that comes with a lot of alcohol and the sky suddenly being a different colour," Tab says. "People get hyped. Me, Beat, Gum and Piranha are Shibuya-born, so we're all ooh it's dark and spooky. And it is. The half-pipe and the old highway are pretty damn creepy when it's dark. Hell, even the playground's a bit eerie."

"Me'n' Yo-Yo, we're from Benten," Mew says, bouncing up and down excitedly, "so we see it as like an all-day rave. Y'know? Like, the sun's always just about to vanish, but isn't yet. People bring out their sound systems and seal off the main street. Dance in Genkijomae Square. The whole night feels like one big possibility."

"And me'n Slate are gonna go back to Kogane," Garam says. "Where it's actually gonna look like a beautiful clean morning for once. The Poison Jammers are gonna shrink away from the light, hissing, so we'll have the town to ourselves, and we're gonna enjoy it."

"Sounds like a gettin'-back-to-your-roots thing," Combo says thoughtfully.

"Kind of. Or a walk-in-each-other's-shoes thing," Tab says. "Or just an excuse to party."

"We're rudies," Cube says. "We don't need excuses."

"Very true. So... you're welcome to join any of us. Or, y'know, make flying visits to all three. Or just stay here and hide from the crazy. Your call."

"Get to know us a little better," Gum says. "Despite the amount of drink, it'll probably be a night you'll never forget."




Edit: And a short meme, because not spamming your Flist is love ^^

Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: Garbage
Are you male or female: Androgyny Breaking Up The Girl
Describe yourself: Supervixen Stupid Girl I Think I'm Paranoid
How do some people feel about you: You Look So Fine Only Happy When It Rains
How do you feel about yourself: Fix Me Now
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: if I said 'Dumb' that would be very bitchy and not even true Not My Idea. Or actually, Why Do You Love Me could work there ^^
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: When I Grow Up
Describe where you want to be: Happy Home
Describe what you want to be: Untouchable
Describe how you live: Silence Is Golden
Describe how you love: Sex Is Not The Enemy
Share a few words of wisdom: Boys Wanna Fight