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sportsanime2016-06-23 08:59 pm
referees) wrote in sportsanime2016-06-23 08:59 pm
Entry tags:
Bonus Round 3: Gift Tags
This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on July 7 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.
RULES
- Submit prompts as a gift tag in the format below. You can specify the size and a characteristic of the gift, who the sender is, who the recipient is, and a one or two sentence note from the sender to the recipient. Descriptions of the package and the included note don’t have to be explicit, see below.
- Package: medium sized cube, rattles
From: Kageyama Tobio
To: Hinata Shouyou
Note: These will help you get better. - Envelope: manila, 12''x17'', very thick and heavy
From: Tezuka Kunimitsu
To: Kinjou Shingo
Note: Enclosed - Play without regrets! - Your prompt MUST include a relationship. Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Riko & Momoi). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Riko/Momoi). Please don't say "Any pairing," either.
- Fill prompts by leaving a responding comment to the prompt with your newly-created work. Fillers can get creative with how to interpret the prompt: your fill can be about the character receiving the gift, one or both characters using the gift, what prompted the sender to send the gift—the physical gift itself can even be excluded from your fill. What’s important is that the gift tag is clearly the inspiration for your fill.
- Remember to follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.
FORMAT
Bonus round shenanigans all happen in the comments below. Brand-new works only, please.Required Work Minimums:
- 400 words (prose)
- 400px by 400px (art)
- 14 lines (poetry)
Format your comment in one of the following ways:
| If PROMPTING: | If FILLING: | If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant: |
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
| FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING]
| FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING]
|
Posts not using this format will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, regardless of what they contain. They, like all comments in this community, are subject to the code of conduct.
SCORING
These numbers apply to your team as a whole, not each individual teammate. Make as many prompts/fills as you want!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.
If you're hunting through the prompts looking for what to fill, a good trick is to view top-level comments only.Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!
Fill: Team Grandstand, T
1588 words
It was oddly quiet in Hakone once all of his classmates left for college. Arakita had gone off to Yonan, and Fukutomi and Shinkai had started at Meisou, leaving Toudou the sole member of their year still in Hakone. Meisou was close enough that he could still see Fukutomi on the weekends, and sometimes during the week, but it was a decided shift from seeing all of them every day.
Still, life moved on, and they all adjusted, some better than others. While he didn't see Arakita personally as much anymore, from what he heard from Fukutomi, Arakita was having the hardest time adjusting to college life.
It wasn't until about a month into the semester that he saw Arakita in person, and he was surprised at the change in his old teammate. It was as if Arakita were reverting to the person he had been when he had first joined the cycling club, and Toudou wondered where things would have been like if Kinjou hadn't been around to temper the worst of Arakita's mood swings. He voiced his concerns to Fukutomi, but Fukutomi brushed them off, saying it took everyone time to settle in, and he was sure Arakita would adjust soon enough.
Toudou held his tongue, and tried his best to be optimistic, but when Fukutomi would vent every time they met about Arakita's increasing temper, he found it difficult. By the end of the first semester, it wasn't unusual for Fukutomi to call Toudou almost daily after dealing with one of Arakita's outbursts, and Toudou found himself increasingly concerned for his boyfriend's well-being.
"Kinjou's going home for a month," Fukutomi announced over dinner one night about a month into his second semester.
"He what!?"
"He's finally having the knee surgery he's been putting off."
"Doesn't he know about, you know!?" Toudou exclaimed, gesticulating in place of naming the 'you know' that none of them wanted to call out directly.
"He apologized, but otherwise he won't have time to recover before the start of the season."
"How's Arakita taking it?"
"He's pissed," Fukutomi said.
"When isn't he?" Toudou muttered under his breath before he could stop himself.
"He's still adjusting," Fukutomi said. "I told Kinjou I'd keep an eye on him while he was gone."
"Do you have time for that? Yonan and Meisou aren't that close, and you're already putting in so much…"
"I already go over there every weekend, and it won't be every day. Shinkai said he'd help too."
"When's Kinjou leaving?"
"In about a week," Fukutomi said, and Toudou stiffened. "There was a cancellation," Fukutomi continued, "otherwise it would be months, and Kinjou doesn't think he can wait that long."
"Take care of yourself too, Fuku," Toudou said.
"I'll try."
A few weeks later, a week after Kinjou left, Fukutomi came over for dinner with a couple of fingers taped together. "Fuku, what happened?" Toudou asked, pointing at the tape.
"Sprain."
"Doing what?"
"Arakita was about to break his hand punching a wall."
"And so you sacrificed your fingers to stop him?"
"Better a sprained finger than a broken hand…or a broken wall."
Toudou looked up at Fukutomi, worried.
"It's midterm week right now. Arakita's especially stressed; it'll pass," Fukutomi said by way of explanation.
"And if it doesn't?"
"It will," Fukutomi said, but Toudou didn't believe him.
Over the next couple of weeks, Toudou noticed every new bruise and scratch Fukutomi brought over just as he noticed the growing shadows under Fukutomi's eyes.
"Fuku, you can't keep doing this," he finally said one night when it got to be too much. "You have to take care of yourself too."
"What else can I do?" Fukutomi asked.
"You know what you need to do," Toudou said firmly.
"There has to be something else; I just need to wait until Kinjou's back."
"There's not, Fuku. Not anymore, and it's just going to keep getting worse. Kinjou's not coming back for at least another few weeks; you can't wait that long."
"I know," Fukutomi said finally. He reached down and took something out of his bag. It was a small box made of delicate, woven glass, its contents hidden by neat folds of silk. "Here. For later, when this is all over. Keep it safe for me until then? I wanted to give it to you then, but..."
"You're strong, Fuku," Toudou said, covering Fukutomi's hand with his own as he took the box. "You'll get through this, and I'll be right here if you need me. And when it's all over, we can open this together."
Toudou stared at his phone until the screen went dark, hoping for something more. He couldn't imagine how Fukutomi had to be feeling just then.
Ten minutes later, he was still staring at the dark screen. Ten minutes later, he made his decision.
By the time Toudou was standing in front of Fukutomi's apartment door a half hour later, his heart was racing. Fukutomi still hadn't replied to his last message, and he had no idea what he was going to find on the other side of the door. His hands shook as he turned the key in the lock.
The apartment was dark. "Fuku?" he called out softly as he closed the door behind him. When he received no response, he stepped cautiously into the apartment, biting back a curse as he stubbed his toe on the edge of the genkan. Normally he would have thrown on the lights and loudly announced his arrival, would have sworn dramatically when he stubbed his toe. But not tonight. Tonight he'd rein in the drama for Fukutomi's sake.
He finally found his old captain sitting on the couch in the living room, knees drawn to his chest and staring blankly out the window as the TV droned in the background.
"Fuku?" he said hesitantly as he sat down beside him.
"I am strong," Fukutomi said without moving.
"You are Fuku; you've been stronger than anyone should have to be."
"I am strong," Fukutomi repeated, his voice wavering.
"And breaking down won't make you any less strong," Toudou said as he rested his head on Fukutomi's shoulder.
"I told Kinjou," Fukutomi said abruptly.
"And?"
"He thanked me." Fukutomi took a faltering breath. "I had his boyfriend admitted to the hospital against his will and he thanked me for it," he managed to say before he broke down completely, crying silently into his arms.
"You did what you had to to keep his boyfriend safe and to get his boyfriend help. I'm sure you'd be thanking him too if your positions were reversed," Toudou said as he rubbed Fukutomi's back.
He lost track of how long he sat there wishing he could do something more as Fukutomi cried next to him, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Eventually, Fukutomi took a few deep breaths and sat up. "I need to let Shinkai know," he said, but he sounded exhausted.
Toudou gently pushed him back onto the couch. "Let Kinjou take that one; you've done enough. Have you eaten?"
"No."
"I'm ordering something. Stay here," Toudou commanded. He picked his way to the kitchen and flipped on the light, squinting a the sudden glare. There was a menu for a local pizza place sitting on the counter, and he opened it. It wouldn't normally have been his first choice, but it was there, and it was easy.
He ordered the first thing he saw, then paced around the apartment while he waited for it to arrive. He and Fukutomi ate sitting on the couch. The food tasted like cardboard to him.
They both slept on the couch that night.
A few months later, life had returned to a more normal state. "Things are better now, aren't they?" Toudou asked as he and Fukutomi sat on the couch after dinner.
"Yes," Fukutomi agreed. "Kinjou coming back helped, and so did Arakita cutting back on his workload."
"And getting Arakita working with a good therapist," Toudou added. "Don't underplay the role you had in that."
Fukutomi flinched. "I still wish it hadn't come to that."
"We all do, but what matters is that we got through it, and we're in a better place now. Speaking of which…." Toudou reached over and opened the drawer of the end table. "Here, I think it's time," he said as he handed Fukutomi the glass box he had taken a few months before.
Fukutomi nodded, pressing the box back into Toudou's hands. "Open it," he said.
Toudou set the delicate top aside and unfolded the silk. Nested in the center was a small glass globe etched with a world map. He looked at Fukutomi in confusion.
"A trip," Fukutomi said. "Just the two of us to wherever you want to go."
"Fuku," Toudou said breathlessly, "you really mean it?"
Fukutomi nodded. "During my next break. You pick where."
Toudou turned to hug him, still holding the globe in one hand. "Thank you," he whispered into Fukutomi's neck.