Ship: Shinkai Yuuto & Ashikiba and Manami and Hayato Fandom: Yowamushi Pedal Major tags: None Other tags: Trans HC pronoun usage, Sibling problems Word count: 592
***
Hayato may as well be the world.
When Yuuto practices, she keeps an extra dagger in her boot, and does not put all her weight to the sword n her hand. The Shinkai siblings may as well be naturally talented. Blue and red demons. There is nothing of her own skill in what she does, when her brother has already proven everything.
He was a part of the council. And he left high school, and left the world before she could break it.
"Yuuto ... you've been in here a lot lately."
Ashikiba's footsteps are surprisingly light for being so tall. But of anyone left in the council - that's someone Yuuto can trust. Ashikiba doesn't put hands into foolish duels. Plays piano rather than jumping into sword fights with abandon. And of anyone, Ashikiba comes toe to toe with Yuuto, and makes her stand down, with a rapier in hand.
"I'm nothing like Fukutomi-san," Ashikiba says. "But I really should try." A soft voice is all someone like that needs. A single point at the end of one's hand - just the cherry on top.
"Are you going to challenge for the Rose Bride again?" Ashikiba asks, one day, interruption in how Yuuto catches her own footwork across the practice hall.
"I don't care about being the engaged," Yuuto says. "Manami's way weird. I don't trust it." And she laughs, and she says, "You get it, right? That's why you quit dueling."
When Ashikiba smiles - it is a shudder down Yuuto's spine.
"I suppose so."
The first time she dueled Onoda, she almost managed it. The rose fell from her chest, but that part didn't matter - all that mattered was the dagger, and how he dropped his guard, like that was the end of it. Like it was only about flowers and victory.
"Don't underestimate me," she yells, wild and victorious, in the same moment every bell rings silent.
"Yuuto," her brother says. "Don't you think this is a little too much for you?"
He's proud of her, for coming so far. Carrying on the tradition. It makes her roil in her own skin, the thought that she's done any of this for him. The thought that she's following the rules, wearing the proper uniform, like her personal rebellion is for anyone else's ears.
"Leave the duels to other people," Hayato says. "You shouldn't get too deep in something you can't escape."
His words leave her clinging to flowers she despises.
"Red's the color for passion," Manami tells her, one day.
They wear the girl's uniform - the bride's dress - she doesn't know where they stand, and it's another thing to break in her own hands. When Manami talks, there is nothing but disinterest and passivity. Here - anywhere - underneath, there's something more. She doesn't stay in the same room as them for too long. How Onoda could bring himself to live with someone so strange - he was just as naive a fool.
"Everyone knows that," she mutters.
"And aggressiveness," they say. "Admiration and anger. Devotion and sorrow." Manami laughs. "But everything is a little two-faced in life. It's just normal, right?"
The thorns make her hands bleed. Petals crumple and burn the scratches along Yuuto's palm. "You're all idiots. Every last one of you." It makes her chest ache. "I'm not playing your game. Anyone's game. I'm not like any of you."
"Of course not," Manami hums. "People are always mystifying. You can't just connect with anyone."
FILL: Team Kanzaki Miki/Miyahara, G
Fandom: Yowamushi Pedal
Major tags: None
Other tags: Trans HC pronoun usage, Sibling problems
Word count: 592
***
Hayato may as well be the world.
When Yuuto practices, she keeps an extra dagger in her boot, and does not put all her weight to the sword n her hand. The Shinkai siblings may as well be naturally talented. Blue and red demons. There is nothing of her own skill in what she does, when her brother has already proven everything.
He was a part of the council. And he left high school, and left the world before she could break it.
"Yuuto ... you've been in here a lot lately."
Ashikiba's footsteps are surprisingly light for being so tall. But of anyone left in the council - that's someone Yuuto can trust. Ashikiba doesn't put hands into foolish duels. Plays piano rather than jumping into sword fights with abandon. And of anyone, Ashikiba comes toe to toe with Yuuto, and makes her stand down, with a rapier in hand.
"I'm nothing like Fukutomi-san," Ashikiba says. "But I really should try." A soft voice is all someone like that needs. A single point at the end of one's hand - just the cherry on top.
"Are you going to challenge for the Rose Bride again?" Ashikiba asks, one day, interruption in how Yuuto catches her own footwork across the practice hall.
"I don't care about being the engaged," Yuuto says. "Manami's way weird. I don't trust it." And she laughs, and she says, "You get it, right? That's why you quit dueling."
When Ashikiba smiles - it is a shudder down Yuuto's spine.
"I suppose so."
The first time she dueled Onoda, she almost managed it. The rose fell from her chest, but that part didn't matter - all that mattered was the dagger, and how he dropped his guard, like that was the end of it. Like it was only about flowers and victory.
"Don't underestimate me," she yells, wild and victorious, in the same moment every bell rings silent.
"Yuuto," her brother says. "Don't you think this is a little too much for you?"
He's proud of her, for coming so far. Carrying on the tradition. It makes her roil in her own skin, the thought that she's done any of this for him. The thought that she's following the rules, wearing the proper uniform, like her personal rebellion is for anyone else's ears.
"Leave the duels to other people," Hayato says. "You shouldn't get too deep in something you can't escape."
His words leave her clinging to flowers she despises.
"Red's the color for passion," Manami tells her, one day.
They wear the girl's uniform - the bride's dress - she doesn't know where they stand, and it's another thing to break in her own hands. When Manami talks, there is nothing but disinterest and passivity. Here - anywhere - underneath, there's something more. She doesn't stay in the same room as them for too long. How Onoda could bring himself to live with someone so strange - he was just as naive a fool.
"Everyone knows that," she mutters.
"And aggressiveness," they say. "Admiration and anger. Devotion and sorrow." Manami laughs. "But everything is a little two-faced in life. It's just normal, right?"
The thorns make her hands bleed. Petals crumple and burn the scratches along Yuuto's palm. "You're all idiots. Every last one of you." It makes her chest ache. "I'm not playing your game. Anyone's game. I'm not like any of you."
"Of course not," Manami hums. "People are always mystifying. You can't just connect with anyone."
"Shut up," she says.
When Ashikiba comes back to the duels -
It isn't as though Yuuto has a way to say no.