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sportsanime2017-06-11 06:56 pm
referees) wrote in sportsanime2017-06-11 06:56 pm
Entry tags:
Bonus Round 2: Tic-Tac-Toe
Please read this whole post before commenting to ensure that your team gets the most points possible. There's a lot of text here, but if you read carefully and follow the instructions step by step, you will be okay.
RULES
Please refer to the first comment thread of this post for an example of how this round works.PROMPTING
- Select a ship to create your prompt card about. Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Haruki & Kazuma). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Haruki/Kazuma). Please don't say "Any pairing," either!
- Visit this card generator.
- Here is a visual guide to using it.
- The large text box is where you can list prompts if you have your own ideas. Please list at least 9 prompts; you can list more if you want. (The generator says you need at least 24, but it's lying.) Single words or short phrases are better than sentences.
- Otherwise, you can use the dropdown menu found right below it. Note: some of these prompts lists are NSFW. (NSFW prompts are a-ok as long as you tag for it.) If you don't like some of the options that appear in a prompt list, you can delete them.
- Text prompts only, please. Also, each card square must be unique—don't list the same prompt 9 times.
- In "Configuration Options," make sure you select 3x3 and (Normal prompt). This is the most important step!
- Leave the tic-tac-toe card with its default colors, so everyone can read it clearly.
- Click the "Create a bingo card" button.
- Scroll down to see the card that was created for you. If you don't like the prompts it picked, you can reroll by clicking "Create a bingo card" again.
- When you're satisfied, scroll further down the page until you see a textarea box full of HTML.
- Copy and paste the HTML from the box and into the body of your prompt comment, then post!
FILLING
Fill prompts by selecting an individual square to create fanwork for, then leaving a responding comment to the prompt with your newly-created work. (Optional:) If you can fill three squares from a prompt in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, you get a tic-tac-toe (and an additional point bonus)! You can also just fill prompts as you please and get standard points.
- Prompt squares are labeled as follows:
A1 B1 C1 A2 B2 C2 A3 B3 C3 - If you're trying for tic-tac-toe, you cannot combine squares into one fill. If your fill can satisfy multiple squares, pick the most relevant square: e.g., one square is sailing and another is pirates and you make a fill about pirates sailing, it's mostly pirates so put down the pirates square.
- Each fill must stand alone as an individual piece, but all your fills can slot into a larger universe if you'd like.
- You cannot fill a prompt square more than once, but you can fill every square on a tic tac toe card if you want to.
- You cannot work with your teammates to get a tic-tac-toe. Only individually achieved tic-tac-toes get the bonus.
- Multiple people can fill the same prompt square. You cannot "block" others from getting tic-tac-toe.
- Remember to also follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.
- Here is a prompt/fill index for your convenience.
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/images)
- 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], [SQUARE], [RATING]
| FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [SQUARE], [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.
If you see anyone breaking the code of conduct (e.g., causing drama, being rude) anywhere (not just DW), please contact the mods immediately.
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 for each tic-tac-toe card (maximum of 50 prompt points per team per round)
For fills:First 4 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 5-10: 15 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21-50: 2 points each
Fills 51+: 1 point each
Tic-tac-toe Bonus: 2 points each for the first 12 achieved by your team
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 (see the line of links below this post).Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!
PROMPT: Team Imaizumi Shunsuke/Kinjou Shingo
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: death, abuse
Other Tags: lots of angst, probably
Prompt:
Fill: team the prince of tennis, A2, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: Abuse (Emotional manipulation)
Other tags: mention of sports injury, abuse of authority
Square: Misplaced Trust
Word count: 406
***
The video clicked to an end and Mizuki sat back with a sigh. He glanced sideways where next to him, Yuuta was seated with the same tense focus he’d had while the video had been playing.
There was very little footage of Shuusuke out there. Mizuki had needed to be excused from class so he could run over to watch some of Seigaku’s matches and get the data he so desperately needed to analyse Yuuta’s brother.
The makeup work he’d been assigned had been worth it for the look on Yuuta’s face right now.
Anyone who didn’t know better would think that Yuuta hated his brother. Yuuta’s fists were clenched, his jaw tight and his eyes narrowed. He hadn’t said a word the whole time, not responding at all to the commentary that Mizuki provided as Mizuki jotted down his notes.
(Laptops overheated in direct sunlight. It was safer to bring notebooks to matches and keep his notes there.)
“I can teach you to beat him,” Mizuki said and Yuuta finally turned his head to look at Mizuki.
“How?” The question was simple, as simple as a fish closing its lips over a wriggling fat worm, and Mizuki smiled as he reached out to rest his hand on Yuuta’s arm.
“He’s left-handed. I know a shot that should destroy left-handed players.” He waited for the words to sink in, watching Yuuta’s grey eyes widen. They were nothing compared to Shuusuke’s vivid blue gaze; sometimes Mizuki wondered if Yuuta’s eyes had been that blue before but because he kept them all the time, the color faded and escaped.
Yuuta glanced down briefly at the hand on his arm but didn’t shake it off. His grey gaze returned to Mizuki’s face, a note of urgency slipping into his voice.
“What’s this shot?” Yuuta asked and Mizuki’s smile was a reel being eternally wound in.
“It’s called the Twist Spin Shot. Even better than Echizen’s famous Twist Serve.” He couldn’t make it too easy, of course. Anything easy to obtain wasn’t worth having. “But you’ll have to work to learn it. It’s difficult. It’ll take sacrifice.”
He didn’t mention what the sacrifice was; Yuuta nodded eagerly and Mizuki squeezed Yuuta’s arm with a smile.
Mizuki planned to graduate with a long list of victories on his record; an injured player or two was a worthy sacrifice for his future success.
And besides, crippling Yuuta might just get Shuusuke’s attention.
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, A2, T
Fill: team the prince of tennis, A1, G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: Abuse (Emotional manipulation, patient abuse sort of)
Other tags: mention of sports injury, abuse of authority
Square: Blind Faith
Word count: 400
***
Yuuta hissed, a low sound of pain that escaped his lips like a scalded cat running for freedom. His body tensed under Mizuki briefly and Mizuki chuckled dryly.
“Relax,” he said, voice practically a purr. “It has to hurt a little. You know that.”
He rolled his knuckles forwards, working them over the hard muscle of Yuuta’s shoulders. Leaning forwards put his weight onto his knuckles, letting him work with more strength as he patiently worked Yuuta’s lean muscles as if he were kneading dough. Under his hands, the skin was slippery-smooth with oil and Yuuta’s body was warm. The muscles hadn’t had time to stiffen yet so Mizuki pushed his thumbs down, working over Yuuta’s shoulderblades and then down his spine.
Mizuki could feel the plates of muscle moving and the stubborn jut of Yuuta’s vertebrae. The school had a nurse, of course, and the club had enough funds for a massage therapist. Mizuki could have easily had a professional, a fully grown adult with more strength, be the one to work Yuuta’s body over every day.
He preferred it like this. Yuuta stretched out on his stomach, pliable and willing. Yuuta trusting him, Yuuta growing used to the touch of Mizuki’s hands, Yuuta learning that Mizuki’s touch was to be allowed even when it hurt. Mizuki’s hands headeddown lower, reaching the ridge of muscle just under the small of Yuuta’s back. He deftly manipulated it back and forth, sliding it like a long rolling pin, then let his hands drift down to work the top of Yuuta’s ass right where it started to curve.
The next sound that escaped Yuuta’s mouth was a ragged catch of breath almost like a sigh. He shifted under Mizuki, hips brushing against Mizuki’s knees. Mizuki wasn’t quite straddling Yuuta, kneeling above him without actually touching him, but his lower legs bracketed Yuuta’s bare thighs. He could feel the effort it was taking for Yuuta to stay still in the tremble of his thighs and the sudden tension in his spine.
“Mizuki,” Yuuta said, voice a little uneven. “Can you focus on my shoulders again?”
It wasn’t a no. It wasn’t a command to stop. It was a request.
Already Yuuta was ceding control of his body over to Mizuki.
“Of course,” Mizuki said with a smile that Yuuta couldn’t possibly see. “Just as soon as I’m finished here.”
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, A1, G
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, A1, G
Honestly, if there were more of an age gap between them, the super creepy Mizuki behavior would read as outright grooming. He's just so good at brainwashing people. Yuuta's still YUUTA, he still tenses, still tries to redirect Mizuki to his shoulders but he trusts Mizuki. He doesn't get off the bed, he doesn't tell Mizuki to stop.
Slowly, cruelly, Mizuki's getting Yuuta used to obeying him. And he's doing it so gradually that Yuuta doesn't even realize how much of his personality is being subsumed.
"You know it has to hurt a little" is a line that would work so well for sex too. Imagine Mizuki telling Yuuta that the first time he penetrates him.
Fill: team the prince of tennis, B2, M
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: Abuse (Emotional manipulation), sexual content
Other tags: obsession, general creepiness
Square: Identity
Word count: 406
***
Lovers were supposed to be on intimate terms, Yuuta was sure, and what Mizuki did with him was intimate indeed and yet sometimes, still, it was Fuji that Mizuki called him instead of Yuuta.
Yuuta might not have minded if it weren’t for the fact that when Mizuki reverted to ‘Fuji’, it was invariably when they were in bed together.
*
“You should grow your hair out,” Mizuki said with a frown, patting the short crop of hair on Yuuta’s head as if he were expecting his hair to bounce.
“I like it short. Easier to wash after practice and dries faster in winter,” Yuuta said, rolling onto his side so he could face Mizuki.
“It’d look better long,” Mizuki said, thumb drifting down to glide over Yuuta’s scar. “And it’d hide this too.”
“...What, it bothers you?” Yuuta didn’t even think of the scar on his forehead anymore. Having Mizuki touch it felt no different than Mizuki touching any other part of him.
“No. But then people would stop asking how you got it.” Mizuki kissed the scar and Yuuta relaxed, draping an arm over Mizuki.
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll just grow some bangs. Leave the rest short.”
The pained expression on Mizuki’s face at that thought made Yuuta almost want to do it.
*
“Have you thought of your costume for the Halloween party yet?” Mizuki asked. A half-wicked smile kept tugging at the corners of his lips until he finally let it bloom.
“No.” Yuuta shook his head, eyeing Mizuki’s smile warily. Smile #12 was never a good sign.
“Good. I was thinking, why don’t you go as Seto Kaiba in his school outfit? It’s easy to buy the pieces. All it needs is a wig, blue contacts, and a blue school uniform.”
“Who will you be?” Yuuta asked, wondering at this sudden interest in Yu-Gi-Oh.
“Ryuuji Otogi. All I’ll need will be green contacts, a fake ponytail and the same school uniform as you.” Mizuki’s smile was sharper now, more teasing, as he lowered his voice suggestively, “We could even have some cosplay sex afterwards…”
“...Alright.” Yuuta’s faint blush felt hot on his cheeks and he quickly looked away. He didn’t care about Yu-Gi-Oh in the least but it seemed like Mizuki had it all thought out. And if Mizuki was arranging the costumes, then Yuuta wouldn’t need to worry about it.
*
Yuuta didn’t understand why Mizuki had chosen those characters until after the party. He caught sight of himself in the mirror, legs wrapped around Mizuki’s waist, head thrown back with the too-long wig still on and for a shattering second thought it was Fuji.
He didn’t stop Mizuki. He closed his eyes instead.
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, B2, M
Fill: team the prince of tennis, C1, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: abuse (emotional manipulation), sexual content
Other tags: mention of sports injury, abuse of authority
Square: Betrayal
Word count: 439
***
“Whenever Yuuta comes home for the holidays, all he can talk about is you.” The words should have been pleasant, should have been complimentary, but they were spoken by Shuusuke and Shuusuke’s smile had knives for teeth.
“Oh? I hope he only has good things to say,” Mizuki parried, sipping at the bottle of water. He had expected to meet Inui running recon at the Rikkidai/Rokkaku match, not Shuusuke, but apparently Inui had been ill and sent Shuusuke in his place.
Mizuki’s notes had suffered for it, the boy too focused on watching Shuusuke’s reactions to the match to pay attention to the match itself. When he found that he’d actually written Hajime Fuji and doodled hearts on a few pages like some lovesick schoolgirl, he’d had to tear out those pages and throw them out, leaving him with practically no notes.
“Mm.” Shuusuke’s smile was ambigious (but still so sharp) as he inclined his head towards the school. “Shall we talk in there? It’s too hot out here.”
“Of course.” Mizuki cursed his own eagerness; he’d agreed too quickly, he should have made a jab about how he could handle the heat, should have shown off his superiority but--
Shuusuke was already walking towards the school and Mizuki found himself staring at Shuusuke’s ass.
If he didn’t put much effort into catching up with Shuusuke, it was just because he didn’t want to seem over-eager. Really.
*
Once inside a deserted classroom, Shuusuke leaned against the teacher’s desk and slanted Mizuki a smirk.
“Yuuta says you’re excellent at performing oral sex.”
The challenge in his tone would have been irresistible (and Shuusuke was already irresistible on his own).
“Yuuta’s hardly an expert,” Mizuki replied as he shut the door behind him and jammed a chair under the door handle in lieu of being able to lock it. His tongue traced over his lips and he let his hips sway as he sauntered towards Shuusuke.
“I’m sure you’ll be a more discerning judge.” He dropped to his knees without being told, nuzzling his cheek against Shuusuke’s thigh. From this angle, when he looked up at Shuusuke, he could see the gleam of Shuusuke’s blue eyes (shaming the sea and sapphires alike) under the droop of his half-closed eyelids.
“Of course I will - so show me your skills, Mizuki-kun.” Shuusuke’s hands threaded into Mizuki’s hair, twisting the dark strands of hair around slim fingers, and Mizuki felt a jolt of heady arousal that made him close his eyes and miss Shuusuke’s smile.
(It was a trap. Mizuki knew it. But there was never a chance he’d walk away.)
Fill: team the prince of tennis, B1, M
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: abuse (emotional manipulation, emotional abuse), sexual content
Other tags: none
Square: Hard Truths
Word count: 400
***
“How could you?” The words were a choked accusation, Yuuta staring at the phone instead of at his brother. The video was set on auto-replay, looping infinitely. Shuusuke’s voice, low and confident, could be heard between Mizuki’s needy moans.
When Yuuta raised his gaze from the phone to meet Shuusuke’s, his eyes blazed with a double betrayal.
“Mizuki I understand. He’s always been obsessed with you,” and the bitterness with which he spoke was nothing new to Shuusuke and only too understandable, “But you? You don’t even like him! Why would you do this?”
His voice broke, Yuuta’s hands shaking around the phone he grasped like a lifeline instead of the venom-filled snake it was.
“Why would you do this to me?”
“I had no choice,” Shuusuke said, cautiously coming closer to his brother. When Yuuta didn’t immediately throw the phone at him, Shuusuke risked sitting down on the bed besides Yuuta. This close, the trail of dried tears was evident on Yuuta’s voice. How long had he been watching the video before Shuusuke found him?
Long enough to burn every second into his mind, no doubt, so that he would never forget the sight of Mizuki arching under Shuusuke or how Shuusuke murmured such vile, hateful words to him that Mizuki drank up like life-giving water.
“No choice?” Yuuta’s laugh was a bitter, brittle thing. “Doesn’t look that way to me. Isn’t that you fucking him? Talking dirty to him?”
Slut, the Shuusuke on the video whispered, and both brothers tensed.
“You wouldn’t listen to me when I said he wasn’t good for you, Yuuta. This was the only way to show you.” Shuusuke’s voice was calm but faintly apologetic. He placed an arm over Yuuta’s shoulders, drawing him closer, only to have Yuuta recoil and shove him away.
“The only way to show me that I can’t trust you? I knew he wanted you. That wasn’t a problem because I knew it would never happen.” The force in his voice couldn’t erase the truth of the video as Mizuki moaned and spread his legs wider in a clear invitation.
“And what sort of relationship is it,” Shuusuke asked quietly, “When you don’t trust your partner to be faithful?”
“The kind that worked!” The words were explosive but Yuuta shuddered and pressed a hand over his face. This time, when Shuusuke put his arm around Yuuta, he wasn’t rejected.
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, B1, M
Fill: team the prince of tennis, C3, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: abuse (physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental abuse), graphic description of violence
Other tags: I'm probably overselling the violence, it's just one punch
Square: Revenge
Word count: 400
***
“You bastard.”
The words, delivered in a vicious snarl the moment that Mizuki walked into his dorm room, weren’t a surprise. By now Shuusuke must’ve surely told Yuuta of what transpired. Mizuki had already been to the Dean to check if he could change rooms since living with Yuuta would now come with the risk of being suffocated in his sleep. Or drowned in the toilet. Or pushed out the window.
He was probably exaggerating, he knew. None of the data he’d collected had indicated Yuuta had a proclivity for homicide.
(Shuusuke was a different matter.)
“How could you?” Yuuta asked, fists balled up by his sides and Mizuki felt almost proud of Yuuta for being angry instead of devastated. See how far the little crybaby had come under his tutelage? He was standing up for himself!
“With Shuusuke?” Yuuta’s face twisted, somewhere between disgust and despair. “With my brother?!”
“Don’t pretend to be so shocked,” Mizuki said, barely keeping the words from being a sneer. “You knew what you were worth all along.”
Yuuta’s anger hadn’t been a surprise. The fist to Mizuki’s jaw, however, was definitely a surprise.
Mizuki hit the floor hard, sprawled out on his back, and stared up at Yuuta in utter shock. The throbbing pain of his cheek was momentarily drowned out by the sheer surprise of having Yuuta hit him. Yuuta! He’d practically made the boy!
“And Shuusuke knew what you were worth all along,” Yuuta snapped, standing over Mizuki. “He’s not interested in you. He only did that to show me I shouldn’t trust you.”
When Mizuki laughed, his cheek screamed in protest - but still he didn’t laugh.
“You think I didn’t know that, Yuuta?” He asked, touching his cheek gingerly. The bone wasn’t broken, thank goodness. “I knew it, just the way you knew it. But the difference between is that I didn’t bother lying to myself about it.”
“..I’m transferring to Seigaku,” Yuuta said and for all that Mizuki had thought he would be impervious to Yuuta’s anger, that sent panic coursing through him.
“You can’t,” he said, sitting up and cradling his cheek. “It’s the middle of the year, you’d fail the exams, you have to at least stick out this semester.”
And besides, Yuuta was the best player on the tennis team!
“I don’t care.” Yuuta said flatly, walking past Mizuki to the door.
“Anything’s better than staying with you.”
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, C3, T
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, C3, T
MIZUKI UNDERESTIMATED THE FUJI BROTHERS TO HIS DOWNFALL. He fixated so hard on Shuusuke that he forgot Yuuta is a Fuji too.
Sent from my iPhone
Fill: team the prince of tennis, C2, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: graphic description of violence (to a stuffed toy)
Other tags: angst
Square: Memory
Word count: 425
***
The problem with packing to leave St. Rudolph’s was that every item Yuuta had was somehow bound up with Mizuki.
The frame on his desk, for example, that held a photo of himself and Shuusuke - Mizuki had always been touching it, always picking it up to look at without seeming to pay any especial attention to it. He played with all of Yuuta’s things, after all.
(He played with Yuuta’s heart, after all.)
The sheets and bedding belonged to the school. That was one thing he didn’t have to worry about packing.
Mizuki had held study sessions just for him. There wasn’t a textbook in the room that Mizuki hadn’t touched at one point or nothing, running his long fingers over the spine or drawing circles on the pages with his fingertips as he explained a concept to Yuuta.
His clothes - he knew exactly which ones Mizuki approved of and which ones Mizuki disliked. Everything that Mizuki had ever complimented went into the donation bag, leaving Yuuta only with items of clothing that were old, ripped or faded.
His tennis racket was too expensive to throw away, even if it was tennis that had made him meet Mizuki in the first place. Yuuta would have to keep that. Maybe he could have it rebound or rewired - anything that’d make it feel a little different.
He could ask for a new racket for his next birthday. He’d just struggle on until then.
The rose-patterned tea set had been a gift from Mizuki. He’d given it to Yuuta for his last birthday and Yuuta remembered how he’d teased Mizuki that it was just to make sure Yuuta would always have tea for Mizuki if Mizuki ran out. He’d even bought Mizuki’s favorite brand of tea after that!
The remaining tea packets went into the donation bag, thrown so hard that they thudded softly against the pile of clothes.
Mizuki’s habit of borrowing Yuuta’s pens left Yuuta violently discarding his pens as well. He had too many memories of seeing them twirled around Mizuki’s fingers to want them anymore.
The matching tsums didn’t go into the bag. He took his scissors to them instead, slicing them up into stuffing and faux fur that he then stuffed into the wastebasket. Mizuki had left his behind when he’d moved out of the room; it was a sign of how little he cared for it, for Yuuta, for the day at the amusement park when Yuuta had won them.
Piece by piece, Yuuta threw away the rotting pieces of his heart.
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, C2, T
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, C2, T
Oh man, in relieved to know this rang true. It felt like the most melodramatic of the set to me but at the same time, I really wanted a look at how the corruption has SPREAD not just through Yuuta but all of Yuuta's things and memories. An ownership so whole and so unholy.
Sent from my iPhone
Fill: team the prince of tennis, B3, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: Abuse (Emotional manipulation), character death, Eating & eating disorders (eating habits)
Other tags: angst
Square: Grief
Word count: 404
***
After he received the news, Yuuta shut himself in his room and wouldn’t come out. He was too new to Seigaku to have many friends and those of his friends from St. Rudolph were rarely allowed off-campus.
There was nobody to coax him into going through the motions of living except Shuusuke, thanks to Shimiko’s absence on a business trip.
Every day, Shuusuke patiently brought a tray to Yuuta for breakfast and dinner, leaving a cold lunch of sandwiches on Yuuta’s desk before he left for school.
Every day, when Shuusuke got back from school, the lunch would be untouched and Shuusuke would end up eating it for dinner.
If he sat besides Yuuta and hand-fed him when he was eating too slowly, Yuuta would eat. If he dragged Yuuta to his feet and pushed him into the bathroom, Yuuta would shower or use the toilet. If he put a toothbrush with toothpaste already on it in Yuuta’s hand, Yuuta would brush his teeth.
All Yuuta’s movements were mechanical, Yuuta moving on autopilot with his eyes staring out into some unseen world.
When Shuusuke finally gave up and asked Inui about it, Inui used words like ‘catatonia’ and ‘major depressive episode’ while cautioning Shuusuke that this was not his area of expertise and Yuuta should be taken to a professional. Shuusuke thanked Inui for his advice and did not mention that he couldn’t get Yuuta out of the house, let alone to a doctor.
Yuuta was strong though. Yuuta would get better even without a doctor’s help. All Shuusuke had to do was wait out the weeks that Yuuta seemed to do nothing but sleep, the days that Yuuta was so listless and tired that he said even chewing his food was exhausting and the nights that he could hear Yuuta break into sudden, violent sobs that ended as quickly as they’d begun.
All Shuusuke had to do was wait because there was nothing more he could do.
He’d thought that Mizuki dying would free Yuuta; it had shattered him instead, encaging him in a world of hurt and loss that Shuusuke had no way to free him from.
“I love you,” Shuusuke said one day as he sat besides Yuuta and watched his brother grudgingly eat the rice porridge that Shuusuke had prepared for him.
The spoon paused halfway to Yuuta’s mouth and Yuuta said very distantly and very distinctly, “You’re not him.”
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, B3, T
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, B3, T
Caretaking is one of the most exhausting and defeating jobs. Especially for something like depression where you're fighting to keep someone alive who might not want to live. Shuusuke's doing his best but he's just a teenager too.
And Yuuta is just tired. Of caring, of trying, of everything.
Sent from my iPhone
Fill: team the prince of tennis, A3, T
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major tags: Abuse (Emotional manipulation), character death, Eating & eating disorders (eating habits)
Other tags: angst
Square: Letting Go
Word count: 416
***
Eventually, in his senior year of highschool, Yuuta took up playing tennis again. Shuusuke gifted him with a brand new racket and every week, listened over Skype to Yuuta’s recounting of the practices and what a pain it was having Horio, of all people, as the club manager.
Sometimes Yuuta mentioned that Ryoma was back at school, playing at their matches. Other times, it was Shuusuke who reported that Ryoma had dropped by to see him while playing in some international tournament.
They discussed the likelihood of Yuuta earning a tennis scholarship so he could study abroad with Shuusuke. Yuuta was careful never to mention the unlikeliness of that; he’d spent too long off the courts to compete at Shuusuke’s level if that had ever even been an option.
Being with Shuusuke again would be nice. Shimiko took good care of him, of course, but she wasn’t Shuusuke.
Sometimes, Yuuta remembered, he’d gone to St. Rudolph’s to get away from Shuusuke. The thought always made him cringe; how could he have been so stupid?
Being overshadowed by Shuusuke could be annoying but it was also safe. In his brother’s shadow, he was protected. Invisibility was its own sort of armor.
Shuusuke looked out for him. Shuusuke took care of him. Even now, Shuusuke asked Yuuta if he was getting enough sleep, if he was eating properly.
(Yuuta was sure that Shimiko told Shuusuke that Yuuta still visited Mizuki’s grave. That was fine. Some part of him that wasn’t numb with grief, that hadn’t died with Mizuki, said that Shuusuke deserved to know that Yuuta was still hurting. That part of him spoke with Mizuki’s voice and Yuuta hugged it tight as his favorite secret.)
One way or another, he’d make it to Shuusuke’s university.
Shuusuke had done it on an athletic scholarship. Yuuta could try for an academic scholarship instead.
Even a partial scholarship would be good enough; his parents hadn’t been home much, but they’d been home often enough to realize that Shuusuke had all but kept Yuuta alive in the wake of the initial shock. They’d want to make sure that Yuuta remained under Shuusuke’s care as well.
Eventually, Yuuta knew, he’d have to outgrow his clinging to Shuusuke and let his brother have his own life. Just like Yuuta had planned to when he’d went to St. Rudolph’s instead.
Shuusuke was smarter than him. Shuusuke wouldn’t make the same mistakes Yuuta had.
(Shuusuke loved him. How could any mistake be greater than that?)
Re: Fill: team the prince of tennis, A3, T