sportsanime | Bonus Round 1: Memory

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Bonus Round 1: Memory

Let's start our summer by looking at the past—things that happened in canon, or maybe in an AU, or maybe just as wishful thinking...

This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on June 9 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.

Please read this whole post before commenting to ensure that your team gets the most points possible. (There are changes from last year!)

RULES

Submit prompts by commenting to this post! You prompt should consist of one scenario beginning with the phrase "Remember when", along with any ship/ot3/etc. from our list of nominated fandoms.
- Your prompts can take the form of recalling canon facts/events ("Remember when Nozomi and Eli got parfaits after school?"), non-canon events ("Remember when Megumi and Jin met at the Tadokoro Family Reunion?"), or somewhere in-between ("Remember when Bokuto and Kenma first met?"). Headcanons and AUs are welcome!
- Your prompt MUST include some kind of relationship. (This is not the sports anime gen olympics.) Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Rei & Nagisa). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Rei/Nagisa). Please don't say "Any pairing," either!
Post fills by leaving a responding comment to a prompt with your newly-created work.
Remember to follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.

FORMAT

Brand-new works only, please.

Required Work Minimums:

400 words (prose)
400px by 400px (art)
14 lines (poetry)

If PROMPTING:	If FILLING:	If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant:
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to, including Grandstand or Sports Teams Write it exactly as it appears on the team roster or your team will not receive points Place the prompt's relationship in the first bolded line of the comment. Including the canon isn't required, but it's nice. Below that, place applicable major content tags (when applicable; otherwise write "no tags" or "none") Visual example	FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to Write it exactly as it appears on the team roster or your team will not receive points Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Place applicable major content tags and word count before your fill (when applicable; otherwise write "no tags" or "none") NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of the fill in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/> Visual example	FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING] Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Place applicable major content tags and word count before the fill, where applicable NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of your work in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" /> Visual example

code of conduct

SCORING

For prompts: 5 points each (maximum of 50 prompt points per team per round)

First 3 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 4-10: 10 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21+: 2 points each

All scored content must be created new for this round.

Etc.

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Word Count: 1,191

Fulcrum

The thing that drives Oikawa crazy, like batshit insane, is that Sawamura is a perfect roommate.

He's quiet. He doesn't smoke. He picks up after himself. He isn't bothered by the noise if Oikawa stays up late re-watching matches. He always asks if Oikawa needs something from the store or wants to throw any laundry in with his. Even the story about how they ended up sharing an apartment is cutesy, both of them showing up at the rental office at the same time and the woman showing them apartments just assuming they were there together.

"What is this, a shoujo manga set-up?" Oikawa had asked.

"Well," Sawamura had laughed as he she apologized, flustered, over and over. "Maybe it's a good idea. At least we know each other, right? We could afford a better place together, probably."

"That's…reasonable," Oikawa had to admit, and that's another thing, Sawamura is always reasonable. Even when they're at practice being force to shag balls for the seniors, if Sawamura is annoyed by it, he doesn't show it. He goes about it in the same calm, efficient way that the man does everything, unruffled, dogged.

Oikawa hates it, hates starting over. He knows it's necessary, but he won an award for best prefectural setter last year and he should be training to take the senior setter's place and getting to know the spikers in case of an injury, instead of being treated like some rookie who can't tell a jump serve from a jump floater. This is not an effective use of his time and it rubs over his nerves every practice, every day. Sometimes the Japanese school system annoys Oikawa just as much as Sawamura does.

Oikawa takes out his frustrations on the volleyball after most of the others are gone, ignoring his growling stomach and the pile of homework he has yet to start, no Iwaizumi to yell at him for overworking. His childhood friend is back home in Miyagi, busy learning to run his father's business. Oikawa focuses only on the slap of his palm against the ball, on making his jump serve faster, more accurate, until their coach will have to acknowledge that they should be using him.

He isn't aware of anything else until suddenly Sawamura is standing in front of him. Oikawa starts, then tenses for the impact, but Sawamura just reaches over and takes the ball out of his hands. He holds it between his own, out of reach, expression stern.

"Stop that." The set of his mouth is stern, but his eyes are kinder. "You must miss him, right? Iwaizumi-kun. It must feel strange to play without him."

Oikawa isn't prone to crying in public, but the mention of Iwaizumi's name hits the center of Oikawa's chest like Sawamura had spiked it there, and Oikawa has to look up at the lights on the ceiling and close his eyes tightly for a second.

"It's fine," Oikawa finally shrugs when he has control of himself again. Sawamura raises an eyebrow, and for some reason Oikawa finds himself explaining. "It was always going to be like this. Iwa-chan was always going to graduate, take over his family's business, get married, and have a bunch of cute kids for me to spoil."

"Ah." Daichi hesitates, about to ask something, but only squeezes the volleyball a little. His hands look big against the leather, cradling it snugly.

"Go ahead," Oikawa encourages. He likes honesty more than privacy, and they're roommates after all.

"Did he know how you felt?" Sawamura asks. Perceptive, that one. Oikawa remembers how many teams realized too late that Karasuno's captain wasn't just there for his receives and volleyball thighs.

"He knows," Oikawa answers. "I told him, but like I said, this is the way things are. What about you?" Oikawa knows he's being nosy, but doesn't bother to stop himself. "I always thought you and Refreshing-kun had something going on in the broom closet."

Sawamura barks a laugh, shaking his head. "No. No, it…wasn't like that."

"But you wanted it to be like that," Oikawa presses as Sawamura drops the ball into the bin. Sawamura doesn't answer for a few moments, hands curled over the edge of the bin, looking at nothing. He's about to brush it off, and Oikawa doesn't want to let him. This is why everybody says he has a bad personality. "Captain to captain, tell the truth, hm?"

"We were always three," is what he finally says. He looks up at Oikawa, smile warm and bittersweet, like all nostalgic things are. "I wanted balance. Karasuno needed balance."

"You're so goddamn responsible," Oikawa grumbles, which makes Sawamura laugh again. He thinks about it in the back of his mind as they make the trip home, Sawamura pushing Karasuno's backs with those hands, thinking of everyone. Being the fulcrum at the base of his team, unwavering, so that balance could exist.

Honestly, Oikawa thinks in bed when he can't sleep, staring at the ceiling. What an annoying guy. He can't get the image of Sawamura's hands out of his mind, the strength of his fingers, the broadness of his palms, how tan his skin was against the white-striped volleyball. Oikawa spent the summer inside practicing, so it's not much of a stretch to think about Sawamura's hands against his own pale skin instead.

Finally Oikawa rolls out of bed and trudges over to Sawamura's room, dropping down into Sawamura's futon and sneaking under his blankets before Sawamura knows what's happening. Sawamura's eyes open quickly enough that Oikawa knows he wasn't sleeping either.

"I can't sleep," Oikawa says, sliding in against Sawamura's side and wrapping arms around his neck so there's no mistaking what he's here for. "You should help me out. You can pretend I'm Refreshing-kun or whoever if you want, I don't mind."

Sawamura's hands grip Oikawa's shoulders, stilling him. There's enough light from the streetlight outside that Oikawa can see the way Sawamura is looking at him. "What makes you think I would do something like that to you?"

"It's fine if you don't want to," Oikawa says, brushing off the embarrassment of rejection. He tries to slide back out of bed, but Sawamura's hands hold him right where he is.

"I just meant, I wouldn't pretend you were someone else. You aren't going to pretend I am, right?"

Oikawa shakes his head. Even if he wanted to, there's no way to pretend solid, broad-shouldered Daichi is Iwaizumi, or anyone else. It's nice, how different he is. If he were even a little same, Oikawa wouldn't be able to bear it.

"So it's fine, then," Sawamura says, tugging him close enough to kiss. One of his hands slides down to the center of Oikawa's back, so warm through his T-shirt that Oikawa shudders before the tense set of his shoulders relaxes for the first time since the semester started. He can't wait for the heat of those hands to be on his skin.

He can't wait to feel them pushing him from behind when they stand together on the court.

Oh my god, I love this so much. You've got them both down so well and I love second-best pairings and I see how you worked Suga/Asahi in there too. The last line makes me all heart-eyes and flailing!

And Daichi would definitely be the perfect roommate. <3

god he'd be so annoying in his perfection hahaha

Thanks! It's funny that I even picked this one out since I've never thought about these two before, but once I got going it made a lot of sense. Like what is Daichi even like when he isn't the one responsible for all these guys? Is he relieved or does he not even know what to do with himself? What does Oikawa do without somebody whose whole job is to stop him from treating himself so recklessly? I'd totally read a longer version talking about any of that stuff.

"What makes you think I would do something like that to you?" Daichiiiiiii T____T ::wibbles::

This was so SWEET and straightforward and I love the how you worked Iwa-chan and Suga and Asahi in.

Daichi would never ever do that. It's interesting to write somebody who doesn't know that since Karasuno knows all about Daichi and that's the POV we're stuck with in canon. I often wonder exactly what the other schools think about each other when they have no reason to play each other. Does Kuroo think anything about Oikawa? Does Bokuto?

SCREAMING FOR NINE HUNDRED YEARS!!!!!!

thank you so so so so so so much for this!! this was absolutely perfect and oh god. oh god, my feelings were all over the place. really, thank you so much i am going to gush i hope you can put up with it.

i loved this. usually university AUs are quirky (which is fine), but the way you approached this worked so well. i love that it was oikawa's pov, that he can't pinpoint exactly what he feels about daichi except that this perfect guy is /annoying/ somehow. but he doesn't have any overt flaws roommate-wise. the build-up for their talk was so well-timed i just FLAILS ARMS at how petty oikawa is about this hierarchy while daichi just takes it. how daichi is stern with oikawa despite them being the same age and the immediate understanding between them...

they're not having this dramatic conversation. they're both old enough to be "this is just how it is" and it suits them both so well i can't stop screaming into my hands. your writing style in this was so enamoring; i loved it so much. i didn't even realize i reached the end until i got to the end and wanted more.

((the ending line is so oh my godddd the knife twisted in my gut, the most perfect death. thank you again!!))

wow, thank you! I'm really glad you liked it since it was your prompt. It's weird how sometimes unusual pairings just kind of run away with a story.

Oikawa is so petty about everything, lol, and especially about hierarchy. I think that's what makes the contrast between the two of them (and between daichi and absent iwaizumi) so much fun.

Aw, thank you, this is a really nice comment.

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Bonus Round 1: Memory

FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T

Re: FILL: TEAM Team Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, T