Bonus Round 3: FSTs

[referees]

SASO 2017 is over, but this round is perpetually open to new fills (no new prompts).

Profess your love for your favorite ships with the power of song! In this round, we ask you to create fan soundtracks and use them as inspiration for new fanwork.

Please read this whole post before commenting to ensure that your team gets the most points possible.

RULES

• Submit prompts in the form of a short playlist (1-6 songs) and a ship from any of our nominated fandoms. Submit only the track listing and a link to where they can be listened to; the idea is for others to interpret what you present. You may also link to lyrics if you would like.
• Your prompt MUST include some kind of relationship. Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Lilia & Sara). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Lilia/Sara). Please don't say "Any pairing," either.
• Create content based on the playlists of others! Fill prompts by leaving a responding comment to the prompt with your newly-created work.
• Fills may be in any form you choose (except for another FST of course) as long as they are inspired by/fit the mood of the soundtrack they are filling for.
• Remember to 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)
• 14 lines (poetry)

There is no max work cap.

Format your comment in one of the following ways:

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. Any way you format it is fine. Copy/paste/fill out the following form into your comment box. Delete the guidance text that's in parentheses. (Please delete all text in parentheses as you go. LEAVE THE HTML ALONE or the bonus round scoring program can't parse your comment. Don't forget a comment subject!) <strong>Ship:</strong> (the ship your prompt is focused on. "&" indicates a platonic relationship, "/" is non-platonic. Format the ship name any way you want, but clarity is more likely to get you fills.) <strong>Fandom:</strong> (what fandom the ship is from) <strong>Major Tags:</strong> (https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/1609.html, when applicable; these apply to content *in the prompt itself* and is NOT an implication of what you're looking for in a fill. If your prompt doesn't require tags, write "None" here.) <strong>Other Tags:</strong> (anything else that you feel requires tagging; can include jokey tumblr-style tags here; may also pull from the "Additional Tags" list from the URL above, if applicable; otherwise, write "None" here.) <strong>Prompt:</strong> <a href="">song title here</a>	FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to. Any way you format it is fine. Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Copy/paste/fill out the following form into your comment box. Delete the guidance text that's in parentheses. Make sure you use tags. Here is a BR Template Creator for your convenience if the textarea is confusing. (Please delete all text in parentheses as you go. LEAVE THE HEADER HTML ALONE or the bonus round scoring program can't parse your comment. Don't forget a comment subject!) <strong>Ship:</strong> <strong>Fandom:</strong> <strong>Major Tags:</strong> (https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/1609.html, when applicable; otherwise write "None".) <strong>Other Tags:</strong> (anything else that you feel requires tagging; can include jokey tumblr-style tags here; may also pull from the "Additional Tags" list from the URL above, if applicable; otherwise, write "None" here.) <strong>Word Count:</strong> (if applicable; otherwise write "None") (Place any author/artist's notes BEFORE the asterisks. Leave the asterisks alone or you may not get points!) *** (Place your fill here. You can use HTML. FOR NSFW FILLS, please cross-link these fills and use clear tags. Refer to the body of the post above for more information. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/>. Thumbnails only, please; more info @ http://referees.dreamwidth.org/5647.html#images ) NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and tag them clearly. saso_afterhours is open to all NSFW fills. Written/text fills can be hosted on AO3 or saso_afterhours ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere; you may include a small safe-for-work thumbnail of the fill in your comment.	FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING] Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Copy/paste/fill out the following form into your comment box. Delete the guidance text that's in parentheses. Make sure you use tags. Here is a BR Template Creator for your convenience if the textarea is confusing. (Please delete all text in parentheses as you go. LEAVE THE HEADER HTML ALONE or the bonus round scoring program can't parse your comment. Don't forget a comment subject!) <strong>Ship:</strong> <strong>Fandom:</strong> <strong>Major Tags:</strong> (https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/1609.html, when applicable; otherwise write "None".) <strong>Other Tags:</strong> (anything else that you feel requires tagging; can include jokey tumblr-style tags here; may also pull from the "Additional Tags" list from the URL above, if applicable; otherwise, write "None" here.) <strong>Word Count:</strong> (if applicable; otherwise write "None") (Place any author/artist's notes BEFORE the asterisks. Leave the asterisks alone or you may not get points!) *** (Place your fill here. You can use HTML. FOR NSFW FILLS, please cross-link these fills and use clear tags. Refer to the body of the post above for more information. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/>. Thumbnails only, please; more info @ http://referees.dreamwidth.org/5647.html#images ) NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and tag them clearly. saso_afterhours is open to all NSFW fills. Written/text fills can be hosted on AO3 or saso_afterhours ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere; you may include a small safe-for-work thumbnail of the fill in your comment.

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 each (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

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!

Comments

PROMPT: Team Imaizumi Shunsuke/Kinjou Shingo

[yrindor]

Ship: Aomine Daiki/Kise Ryouta/Kuroko Tetsuya (any combination(s))
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: autoplay at links

Prompt:
"I'm not that Girl", Idina Menzel, Wicked (lyrics)

"Where's the Girl?", Scarlet Pimpernel (lyrics)

"Where's the Girl?" (reprise), Scarlet Pimpernel (lyrics)

FILL: TEAM PRINCE OF TENNIS, T

[fickle]

Ship: Aomine Daiki/Kise Ryouta, Kuroko Tetsuya/Aomine, Akashi/Kuroko because damnit these songs are sad.
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: tags omitted
Other Tags: tags omitted
Word Count: 425 words

Angst, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, but no other warnings.

***

“I’m happy for you, Aomine-kun, Kise-kun,” Kuroko made himself say. He forced a smile and gave a little bow to the two of them.

“Congratulations!” Kagami smacked Kise hard on the arm and gave Aomine a high-five. In the wake of Kagami’s exuberance, Kuroko managed to disappear.

*

No matter how hard he rubbed his knuckles over his eyes, he couldn’t stop the tears from spilling out over his cheeks. He gave up in the end and slid down the wall until he was seated with his back to the bricks and his knees tucked up against his chest.

Of course Kise won. Of course Aomine loved Kise. Who wouldn’t love Kise? Golden hair, blithe smile, lithe limbs - Kise was a model and a real Miracle. He could even present Aomine with a challenging match.

Kuroko didn’t have any of that. He was small and compared to Kise, he was stocky. He didn’t have legions of fans who all saw him as the epitome of beauty. He had his friends, he had his dog, he had basketball and for a little while, he’d had Aomine as his light.

That was it. That should have been enough. He should be grateful that someone like Aomine would even be friends with him.

Every fist bump had felt like a kiss, sending glee through him, making his heart jump. Aomine had just been so friendly. He’d smiled at Kuroko, he’d stood up for Kuroko and somewhere along the line, Kuroko had forgotten the fundamental rule of the existence:

Boys like that weren’t for people like him.

(Everyone flocked to the light. Of course Kise had doe the same. Of course Kise had been drawn into Aomine’s trajectory.)

Kuroko was just the sky against which they shone. He shouldn’t have wished for more.

All he’d done was break his own heart.

A quiet sob erupted from his chest and then Kuroko stayed crying in earnest, shoulders shaking as he poured his disappointment into his hands.

Something dry and soft touched his cheeks, dabbing away the streams of tears. Kuroko turned his head away, not sure which of his teammates it was but unwilling to have anyone see him so upset.

“Please go away,” he requested, the polite words broken by sobs still.

“...I can’t do that, Tetysua,” Akashi’s voice answered softly. Slim, calloused fingers curled around his wrists and tugged his hands away from his face, exposing Kuroko’s tear-streaked face and reddened eyes to Akashi’s considering gaze.

When Akashi leaned in and kissed Kuroko, he did it with a careful, deliberate tenderness that was terrifying.

Oh.

Kuroko had been too drawn to Aomine’s light to even think someone might find the darkness soothing.

Prompt: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky

[marks]

Ship: Inui Sadaharu &/ Fuji Shuusuke
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None, mess me up if you want

Prompt:

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
David Bowie - Modern Love

Re: Prompt: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky

[psiten]

EXCUSE ME. WOW. (Hi, Bowie fan here.)

PROMPT: TEAM GRANDSTAND

[psiten]

Ship: Fuji Syuusuke & or / Inui Sadaharu
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: Sexual innuendo that's barely innuendo, implied violence, death, body horror, cruelty to bugs, xeno, implications of self-harm
Other Tags: Religion, disaster imagery

Prompt:
The Birds and the Bees - Jewel Akens
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
How Much Salt - Seanan McGuire (I wanted to do What a Woman's For, but I couldn't find a recording to link, so you get vaguely eldritch Little Mermaid.

FILL: Team Prince of Tennis, T

[blueminuet]

Ship: Fuji Shuusuke/Inui Sadaharu
Fandom: The Prince of Tennis
Major Tags: Tags Omitted
Other Tags: Drowning, Supernatural elements (eldritch horror), possible psychological horror
Word Count: 668


***

“What are you working on?”

The full form of Fuji is never fully visible, but Inui feels it more than sees it, senses his skin go clammy and puckered as if it had been soaked in water for hours in just a few spots where the idea of Fuji clings to him. It’s cold and slimy, powerful, but also comforting all at the same time, filtering into Inui’s awareness all at once.

Inui turns his head to see Fuji’s face looming curiously over his shoulder. He can taste salt in the air, a sudden humid waft hitting his face like seaspray.

“I’m nearly done with my study of the samples,” Inui says. “I’m closer to understanding now.”

Fuji hums a note that bounces around the room. It’s equal parts melodic and rumbling, like sirens singing into an oncoming thunder crash. “You always say that,” Fuji says.

“That’s how science works,” Inui says, diligently turning back to his notes. “You get closer every time.”

The feel of seafoam and salt, with the afterthought of a mottled, clawed hand, grasps Inui’s jaw. “You know what they say about curiosity, Sadaharu.”

---

Inui did not believe in magic. He believed in science and observable facts. Anything that seemed like magic was obviously just something that had not be researched and catalogued well enough to be considered true science.

Fuji fell in just such a realm, summoned by Inui’s own dubious hand. He felt responsible now, somewhat, for this being from beyond the knowable realms that had been summoned by his call. But now Inui had to know everything, everything about the inner workings of the horror that Fuji was. Fuji did not seem to mind this, treating Inui to placating smiles, almost like ones given to small children that had set themselves to such impossible tasks as catching the moon and sun for their very own. But Inui persisted.

He believed in science. He believed in his task.

The ancient tomes were perpetually scattered across his work room, scratched notes and hasty calculations scattered across scrap paper and book margins. Inui lost track of time and sleep, often working himself into a haze. Until Fuji would return, amused and smiling, pulling his attention away, to forget his scientific curiosities for a moment and simply experience.

Inui found his mind drifting to the idea of drowning often. Not as an intrusive thought or a morbid daydream, but almost like dwelling on a memory, even though it had not happened before. The feel of Fuji’s clawed hands gently sweeping over his body provoked hazy memory-like images of being pulled down, deep, deep into the blackness of the sea, as salt water burned his nose and throat on the way down.

It was almost certainly a memory, Inui had to conclude, but he was nearly certain it wasn’t his own.

---

“Have we met before?” Inui asked. On his back, the carpeting of his work room didn’t feel like the same plush it had always been. As Fuji crawled over him, exploring him with almost the same kind of intense scrutiny that Inui had always directed in Fuji’s direction, Inui’s perceptions had seemed to change. Fuji’s form seemed to flow over him like lapping waves, and Inui had the feeling of grit and slime on his back, like seaweed tangled over a sandy beach.

Fuji paused, looking down at Inui and tilting his head just so. “What kind of question is that?”

Inui wanted to answer, though he wasn’t sure how. It was irrational to think that they had. Irrational to believe that the idling of his mind might have any bearing in fact. How could he explain that he had let his mind wander too far to start entertaining such ludicrous ideas.

Fuji swiped a finger over Inui’s lips, as if to shush him, though his babbling was still only in his mind. Inui could taste salt without even needing to part his lips.

Fuji smiled. “Of course we have.”

PROMPT: Team Grandstand

[umaibo]

Ship: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None

Prompt:
Nirvana - MUCC [translation]

Is the sensation starting to fade? Even though these tears overflow?
What was this feeling called again? I've forgotten it somewhere along the way

PROMPT: TEAM Kominato Ryousuke/Kuramochi Youichi

[hyalinee]

Ship: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi OR Oikawa Tooru/Yahaba Shigeru
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: mentions of death in icarus, mentions of guns in laura palmer
Other Tags: mentions of choking in glory, autoplay sound

Prompt:
bastille - icarus
bastille - laura palmer
bastille - glory

FILL: TEAM MIYUKI KAZUYA/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[sotongsotong]

Ship: Oikawa Tooru/Yahaba Shigeru
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: poetry fill
Word Count: 20 lines

CRIES SO MUCH AT GLORY

***

He pulls
your hands towards the
horizon; half-breathless,
he asks: Do you
see
what you can be?

(You shake your
head.)

Regardless of
the sun's rays, he leads
you further
and doesn't let go
when you try to
pull back.

Follow me, he
insists.

(And you
start to believe
in the changes
he brings.)

FILL: Team Miyuki Kazuya/Oikawa Tooru, G

[nautilics]

Ship: Oikawa Tooru/Yahaba Shigeru
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major tags: None
Other tags: None
Word count: none

THIS IS...loosely interpreting various bits of each of these songs as much as i could, taking mostly from laura palmer

(this is your heart/can you feel it?/can you feel it?)

***

PROMPT: Team Grandstand

[umaibo]

Ship: Himuro Tatsuya/Murasakibara Atsushi
Fandom: Kuroko no Basket
Major Tags: Blood (mentioned in lyrics)
Other Tags: Just make it painful, also Taniyama Kishou tw

Prompt:
Falling Roses - ShinganCrimsonZ [translation]

The despair that speaks up from eyes that lost their light
And whatever little is left of the heart bleeds crimson, wandering...

Re: PROMPT: Team Grandstand

[kiyala]

OH MY GOD, YOU REALLY DID THAT

Prompt: Team Daiya no Ace

[greenowl]

Ship: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun or Kominato Ryousuke/Kuramochi Youichi or Nijimura Shuuzou/Haizaki Shougo
Fandom: Daiya no Ace, Kuroko no Basuke
Major tags: Creepy, mentions of stalking I guess?
Other tags: Make it creepy if u want-!

Prompt:
Yes I Am - Radiohead

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Nijimura/Haizaki
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Word Count: 419

***

Shougo is difficult. It’s not something that can be solved, a flaw in his personality that can be filled in with the right glaze and gloss like a crack in an ancient vase. Even if it were, Shuuzou wouldn’t want to do it; if he could change that Shougo wouldn’t be Shougo. And sure, it’s nice when he’s easier; it’s nice when he lets down his guard instead of acting like some kind of wary feral cat about to bite, half-rabid almost, when he’s practically purring in Shuuzou’s arms, like some kind of smug contented creature. It’s worth waiting for, but only because all of the nice things about Shougo, the way he lets Shuuzou in, how special he makes Shuuzou feel even while qualifying that this isn’t a big deal, a terrible pretend act that no one could help but see through, all of that comes from the same thing that makes Shougo difficult in the first place.

Shougo’s not a nice kid; he never was. But Shuuzou’s never laid that expectation down on him, even if perhaps all the way back when Shougo had felt as if he had. There’s a difference between being nice, an honest guy like—well, comparisons are shitty. Shougo deserves better than that, at least from Shuuzou, at least about personal shit. He’d wanted Shougo to act a little less like he was taking things for granted, a little more like he was enjoying himself (because he had been), a little more like everything meant as much to him as it really did. The only thing pushing all of that away, playing it all too cool, did was to make the fall seem easier, make it simpler to play it off when he’d been kicked off the team, like nothing had mattered. At the time, Shuuzou had thought, distantly, that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now he just regrets not doing anything about it, but there are things Shougo regrets, too. They try not to dwell on them too often.

It’s easy not to think about the past sometimes. They’re different now; Shougo is taller and leaner with darker hair; they’re both less petulant and farther removed from the selves they’d been trying to get away from back then. And they hadn’t had this, the rush of feelings from touching hands, the smile on Shougo’s face when Shuuzou pulls him into a kiss over the kitchen counter, the edge of the granite digging into their stomachs until they’re forced to break away.

PROMPT: Team Grandstand

[umaibo]

Ship: Midorima Shintarou/Takao Kazunari/Akashi Seijuurou
Fandom: Kuroko no Basket
Major Tags: Sexual content
Other Tags: I think this is pretty straightforward

Prompt:
Birthday Sex - Jeremih

You say you wanted flowers on the bed
But you got me and hours on the bed

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, E

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Midorima/Takao/Akashi
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Word Count: 407

***

http://saso-afterhours.dreamwidth.org/60840.html

PROMPT: Team Imaizumi Shunsuke/Kinjou Shingo

[yrindor]

Ship: Haru/Kazu
Fandom: Cheer Danshi
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: none

Prompt:
Wherever Together (lyrics in video)

PROMPT: TEAM GRANDSTAND

[ellipsometry]

Ship: oikawa tooru/ any of the first years (kageyama, hinata, kunimi, kindaichi, etc!)
Fandom: haikyuu!!
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: age gaps (implied in lyrics), a very important last-minute prompt

Prompt:
tove lo - like em young

FILL: TEAM MIYUKI KAZUYA/OIKAWA TOORU, T

[sotongsotong]

Ship: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: Implied sexual content, small mention of dub-con, underage character
Other Tags: poetry fill, age gap, mention of an explosive as a metaphor
Word Count: 24 lines

SWEATS SO FUCKING HARD AT THIS PROMPT, JUST SWEATS. Who's younger and who's older here is up to your interpretation!

***

Sticky-sweet, pressing
    lips
together like a
    hit
you want
more and more of.

He breathes bitter
    things to
your ear, and swallows
    your hope
down, and down. When
he spits it back
     out,
it returns as a
   Molotov:

You're too young, he always
says, but you know what
condoms are made
      for.

(And he can back
     away all he
wants; you're not going to
let him go until you
      get some.)

PROMPT: TEAM GRANDSTAND

[antler_action]

Ship: Imaoka Shinobu/Hiratsuka Taira
Fandom: Rookies
Major Tags: Spoilers (manga spoilers)
Other Tags: Morita-sensei has revealed their careers and Hiratsuka became.................. Pikocchi, and I know in my heart that Imaoka is the cameraman

Prompt:
Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen - PIKO-TARO

PROMPT: TEAM BOKUTO KOUTAROU/KUROO TETSUROU

[notallbees]

Ship: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: Breaking up

Prompt:
Strings that tie to you - Jon Brion

PROMPT: Team Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

[horchata]

Ship: Kuroo Tetsurou &/ Bokuto &/ Tsukishima Kei &/ Akaashi &/ Hinata Shouyou (THIRD GYM, any combination)
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: IT'S A MEME, MARIO

Prompt:
Not everything needs to be dubstep

Re: PROMPT: Team Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

[multilinear]

ok listen

PROMPT: Team Hikaru no Go

[toomanyhometowns]

Ship: Ayase Chihaya/Mashima Taichi/Wataya Arata (or subsets thereof!)
Fandom: Chihayafuru
Major Tags: Food mention
Other Tags: Alcohol; Swingers/infidelity I guess?; Autoplay (Youtube links); Bourgeois wastefulness; Taichi's got MONEY though

Prompt:

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich - Lady Gaga | YouTube | AZLyrics |
Fashionable People - Joel Plaskett | YouTube | lyrics |
Sugar Daddy - Fleetwood Mac | YouTube | AZLyrics |

PROMPT: TEAM PRINCE OF TENNIS

[multilinear]

Ship: kin/kuni/kage
Fandom: haikyuu
Major Tags: none.
Other Tags: autoplay at link.

Prompt: this year -- the mountain goats

Fill: Team Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, G

[horchata]

Ship: Kageyama/Kindaichi/Kunimi
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None
Word Count: 592

Maybe next round I'll get to write the thing I wanted to write, but brains make strange decisions close to deadlines.

***

What do you think it was like the next day?

If it was a weekend, Kageyama would probably have stayed in bed. His volleyball would've rolled underneath it, and even from there he'd feel the itch of the habit of idly playing when laying down, practicing soft tosses toward his ceiling, but he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it. Do you think he'd touch the ball at all? Kageyama might have left it in his gym bag. The ball his mother got him for Christmas two years ago when he first went to Kitaiichi, when he saw that Oikawa-san had a ball of his own, and so did Kunimi-kun, and he'd ask if he could join his friends and bring his own next time they wanted to practice. He'd probably have never asked for much from his busy parents, but maybe this time, this one request -- a ball wasn't so much. It meant much more to Tobio to have something that his friends had (and, oh, what a joy as a parent to hear your solitary son has finally made friends).

Or, maybe it was a weekday. Maybe it was an evening game that Kitaiichi had made it to, or maybe the team was given allowances to leave the school for the tournament. And what an important moment! No one else seemed to understand how much was riding on their reputation, to have been let out of classes for a day to go represent themselves and their school in the prefectural tournament. He heard Kindaichi saying "At least we're missing that math test" and nearly burst a blood vessel snapping back. No one understood. No one took this seriously. And the next day, Kindaichi would joke with Kunimi about how the King skipped class because he was too good for that math test after all.

Or maybe he didn't skip. Maybe Kageyama came to school the next day after all, uniform pressed, but eyes dark, puffy, pinkish red. Petichiae speckled underneath. Maybe when he called to show he's here his voice was garbled low and raw. Maybe he scowled even more darkly at the top of his desk, until he fell asleep on top of it, and at lunch the teacher tapped his shoulder gently to wake him, and then a little harder, and Kageyama sat up straight in a way that made his classmates snicker, but his teacher's gentle voice asked him if he'd like to go to the nurse, and in this moment of weakness, having just slept into a nightmare about the court again, the missed toss again, how he'd sworn he'd hear someone call for him that wasn't there, and heavy with the weight of a velvet mantle of too much crying and too many lost opportunities for friendship, he'd taken the out.

Or, maybe he didn't. Maybe he shook his head no, cheeks colored red like his eyes, like the broken blood vessel speckled beneath, and Kageyama stayed. Tapped the inside of his wrist with the sharp point of his mechanical pencil, forced his sore eyes open, tried his best to copy down the words and numbers that filtered through the fog of monarchy and tried not to think of what a tyrant was to people who once wanted him. And maybe Kindaichi and Kunimi, having had their say, ignored him, which somehow felt much worse than being further taunted, as if for all the words he'd ever laughed or said or yelled in their direction, there wasn't even one worth a return.

PROMPT: TEAM IMAIZUMI SHUNSUKE/SUGIMOTO TERUFUMI

[lysithea]

Ship: imaizumi shunsuke/naruko shoukichi or momoshiro takeshi/kaidoh kaoru
Fandom: yowamushi pedal or prince of tennis
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: none

Prompt:
anything you can do (i can do better)

Prompt: Team Daiya no Ace

[greenowl]

Ship: Maezono Kenta/Miyuki Kazuya
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: wrrrrry

Prompt:
Baker Man - Laid Back

PROMPT: Team Grandstand

[rielity]

Ship: Kuroo Tetsurou &/ Yaku Morisuke OR Ennoshita Chikara &/ Nishinoya Yuu OR Hanamaki Takahiro &/ Matsukawa Issei
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: NONE
Other Tags: Autoplay sound, Kimi no Na Wa AU/5 Centimetres per Second AU, growing pains, future fic

Prompt:
Song About You - Mayday (Chinese version) [translation]
want to write you into a song, want to own a cat
want to return to every moment, slow down every clock
at the turning point between childhood and growing up we built a castle

Song For You - Mayday (Japanese version)[translation]
When I close my eyes and imagine that we are closely connected together deep inside my heart,
this melody sounds loud

FILL: TEAM AKAASHI KEIJI/BOKUTO KOUTAROU, [G]

[earlgrey_milktea]

Ship: matsukawa issei/hanamaki takahiro
Fandom: haikyuu
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: angst, there's a cat
Word Count: 1481

i made myself sad but i got it done in time....... for mayday...... for matsuhana.....

***

“Come here, Sora,” Takahiro says, hands outstretched as he kneels by his front door. The lazy white cat only gives him a blank stare before turning back to where he was nosing along the wall. Takahiro sighs. He was never meant to take care of anything else other than himself, but what was he to do? He couldn’t bear to be that person that throws out a harmless cat just because the reason the cat was adopted in the first place has upped and disappeared.

Maybe that’s why Sora is in a rebellious stage lately. He, like Takahiro, feels the coldness and emptiness of this house too loudly. They both know this house is just a hollow shell now, because Issei took home with him when he left.

+ + +

(“Hey, ‘Hiro.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think about cats?”

“... They’re cute? I guess?”

“You’re not allergic, right?”

“Are you seriously asking me that—”

“Not really, I know all your allergies. You’re allergic to wasps and a variety of nuts, for example, except for deez nu—”

“Issei.”

“‘Hiro.”

“You want to... get a cat?”

“I was just thinking. Our place allows pets, and I’ve always wanted one since I was a kid. And we’re both settled in now, so I thought. But it’s fine if you don’t want to. There’s quite a few stray cats around anyway.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a cat, right? They’re pretty self-sufficient. It’d probably be harder for me to kill than the plants the neighbours got us.”

“Please don’t kill our cat before we even got one, ‘Hiro.”

“I wooon’t. Because you’re here.”

“That’s incredibly sweet, Takahiro. I’m going to have to kiss you now.”

“Be my guest, you dork.”)

+ + +

Takahiro sits by the window, eyes trained on the night skies in the distance. Bright colours—orange, green, red, the occasional blue—reflect off the glass, and he can hear the cheers of people in the streets and on their balconies. Sora is nestled in his lap, all scrunched up to avoid the noise.

His glass of wine sits half full an arm’s reach away. His phone lies next to it, screen darkened after scrolling through all the obligatory confetti emojis and the stupid personalized emoticons that Oikawa convinced everyone to get. But those are fine. It’s the newest message, the one at the top from a contact whose name is still littered with heart icons that Takahiro forgot to change.

Happy new year, Hanamaki.

No stickers, no emojis, not even an exclamation mark. Quiet, subtle, unintrusive. Easy to ignore if he wished to, but impossible to ignore because Takahiro is stupid and weak and Issei knows this.

“So I’m Hanamaki now,” he says to the fireworks, too far away to hear, too far away to care.

Sora burrows deeper against his legs. Takahiro pets his white fur absently. He breathes in, ignoring the chill in the darkened living room, and picks up the phone.

happy new year to you too matsukawa

+ + +

(“Where are we going?”

“No questions, Takahiro.”

“You know, kidnapping me right after school and not telling me where we’re going is highly suspicious behaviour, Issei. I should report you to the cops right now.”

“Okay, but then you’ll be missing out on the spectacular date I have planned for us.”

“Spectacular date, huh? What will you do if it doesn’t live up to that?”

“Are you doubting me, Takahiro?”

“Well, can’t say this hike is doing it for me right now.”

“Don’t you know that hiking is the height of romance right now.”

“You can’t fool me, I’m not Oikawa.”

“Okay, okay, we’re here.”

“Wh—How did you find this place?”

“Only the best for you, my darling.”

“Honey, you shouldn’t have.”

“Come on. Put your bag down here, we have to get up that tree.”

“I never knew that dating involved this much physical exercise.”

“Why, would you rather be doing a different sort of exer—”

“Shut up.”

“As you wish, ‘Hiro.”)

+ + +

Sora goes missing. Takahiro panics, calls into work and tells them someone died, calls his friends and nearly forgets his keys as he rushes out to find the cat.

“Sora!” he yells. His quiet neighbourhood stares back at him, no sign of a fluffy white cat in sight. He goes down every street he’s seen the cat loiter around, he checks every corner the stray cats congregate at. No one has seen the cat. It’s like he vanished into thin air, not a trace to be found.

Takahiro somehow makes his way back to his house, empty handed, catless. Something under his collarbone is quivering, so much so that he can barely remember how to breathe. He doesn’t make it through the gate, sliding down to his knees as he tries to blink away the burning behind his eyes.

He can’t lose Sora. Not now. Not after all this.

It’s all he has left of Issei.

He’s already let go of Issei. He’s made peace with that. Sometimes, no matter how much you want something, you just can’t have it. So he let Issei go, like a shooting star that he was too slow to make a wish on. So he stayed here, in a house that hasn’t been a home in a long time, with a cat that keeps looking out the window as if waiting for someone that isn’t coming home.

“Don’t leave me alone,” Takahiro whispers, and the quivering in his chest explodes, like balloons floating away into the skies, fading out of sight, too fast, too far.

+ + +

(“You have your passport and everything?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“Call me when you get there.”

“Text me when you get home.”

“... Right. You... Good luck. You’re going to blow everyone away with how smart you are.”
“Flattery gets you nowhere, ‘Hiro.”

“Really, because I seem to recall it getting me into your pa—”

“Hey, no, we don’t want to end up putting a coin into Oikawa’s PDA jar, remember?”

“Pfft, he’s the one filling that up all by himself, the hypocrite.”

“Yeah, well.”

“Seriously, though. Remember to call your parents every so often.”

“Okay. And you... take care of yourself, yeah?”

“You, too, Issei.”

“I should go check in now.”

“Right. I—uh. Have a safe trip.”

“... Thanks.”)

+ + +

“Makki?”

Takahiro freezes. He recognizes that voice. It comes to haunt him in dreams he wishes would go away like the warmth he misses almost painfully when he tosses and turns at night. He hasn’t heard it in so fucking long.

“Hanamaki. Are you okay?”

Issei hasn’t changed much. His hair’s gotten longer, he’s traded his old silver-wire frames for sleek black ones, but his clothes are still long and layered, his expression still quiet and effortlessly elegant. He’s so familiar, Takahiro aches.

“What,” he manages, “are you doing here?”

Issei has the decency to look guilty. “I took some time off. My dad was saying he hasn’t seen me in ages, so.”

“Okay. But what are you doing here?”

“I don’t know,” says Issei, and his voice is muted in the way he does when he’s feeling exposed, when he’s still trying to sort through what he wants to say. “But I found him.”

Takahiro glances down into his hands, and there, purring contentedly, is Sora. He steps forwards, reaching out before he pulls back suddenly.

“I’m sorry,” he says just as Issei says the same.

There’s a softness in Issei’s eyes that still makes Takahiro weak at the knees.

“Takahiro,” Issei says, and Takahiro wants to hit him, wants to yell at him, Why did you come back? I thought you made up your mind. I thought we agreed to grow up, to let go. You were supposed to give me time and space to forget about you. You were supposed to let me let you go.

“Sora,” Takahiro blurts out. “Sora’s probably hungry. Let’s... talk after that.”

“Okay,” Issei says, and he follows him home.

+ + +

(“Hey, Issei.”

“Yeah?”

“What are we going to name the cat?”

“Do you have to ask this right now?”

“What better time than 2:34 am to figure out this important matter?”

“What do you suggest then?”

“Creampuff.”

“... I don’t know what I expected.”

“No, actually, that’s a bad idea. I’d just crave creampuffs every time I see the cat.”

“Oh, the horror.”

“Shut up, Issei. What are your suggestions, then?”

“Maybe go with the classics? The colour of the cat.”

“I thought I fell in love with a man of surprises. I’ve never been so disappointed.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll appeal to your tortured artist soul. Sora, then.”

“The sky?”

“Because the sky is infinite, which reflects my love for you, Takahiro.”

“...”

“Are you blushing? You’re blushing. You helpless romantic, you.”

“That’s not fair, Issei. Now the cat is really like our kid.”

“You better not kill it like that plant.”

“I said I wouldn’t!”

“Go to sleep, Takahiro. We’ll go to the shelter tomorrow.”

“‘Night.”

“Goodnight.”)

PROMPT: Team Daiya no Ace

[hailing]

Ship: Kominato Ryousuke & Kominato Haruichi
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None
Prompt: ryousuke's seiyuu

Good Company (Oliver and Company) - Nobuhiko Okamoto (lyrics)

PROMPT: Team Aoyagi Hajime/Teshima Junta

[sky_rose]

Ship: Ayase Eli/Toujou Nozomi
Fandom: Love Live!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None

Prompt:
BMBLB - Jeff Williams feat. Casey Lee Williams [lyrics]