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sportsanime2015-05-30 08:51 pm
referees) wrote in sportsanime2015-05-30 08:51 pm
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Bonus Round 1: Quotes
Bonus Round 1: Quotes
SASO 2015 is over, but this round is perpetually open to new fills (no new prompts).
PLAY BALL! For this round, we'd like you to take inspiration from songs, sayings, poems, and other kinds of famous words.
Because this is our first full round, please read this post carefully before proceeding!
This round ends at 7PM on June 13 EDT. Countdown Timer.
RULES
- Submit prompts by commenting to this post with a quote attributed to a specific person or character, along with any ship/ot3/etc. from one of our nominated fandoms.
- Example: "Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here!" -Kermit the Frog
- The quote can come from anywhere. Famous people, poetry, songs, books, movies, your neighbor, etc.
- 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., Yachi & Kiyoko). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Yachi/Kiyoko). Please don't say "Any pairing," either!
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)
For fills:
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!
PROMPT: TEAM IWAIZUMI HAJIME/OIKAWA TOORU
"We’re just two people who want to be friends but are sometimes attracted to each other." ―Nick Miller, New Girl
Re: PROMPT: TEAM IWAIZUMI HAJIME/OIKAWA TOORU
Re: PROMPT: TEAM IWAIZUMI HAJIME/OIKAWA TOORU
[FILL] TEAM ARAKITA YASUTOMO/FUKUTOMI JUICHI, G
Word Count: 1541
"You're kidding me."
Rin looks at Sousuke like it's some kind of horror, like his whole world has shaken and fallen and is crumbling under his feet.
Sousuke looks off to the side, away from the camera on his phone, the digital image of Rin looking at him from Australia. From an entirely different world. "You asked."
And then Rin flushes, looks embarrassed, hand behind his head scratching at the shorter strands of hair than Sousuke remembers. Of course he got his hair cut, racing with a nationally ranked uni team, but Sousuke still feels that reminder of how much is changing and how much he's not sure how he feels about it all. Rin is in Australia, Kisumi still back at Iwatobi, Haru and Makoto and now him in Tokyo...
"It's not- I just- since when are you into guys?" Sousuke looks back to the screen with a crease in his brow, but it eases away when he sees Rin's honestly curious look. There's a little bit of a smile there, too, tugging at the corner of Rin's lips. He's not really sure if he means it as a joke or if Rin is honestly amused by Sousuke's pouting, but either way Sousuke looks away again.
"I don't know. I don't know if I even am. I just-" He huffs, and Rin laughs, light and easy. "I don't know."
"You want to be his friend." That draws Sousuke's eyes back, once last time, and Rin is all out grinning. "But you're also into him."
"Maybe." Rin nods, looks like he's thinking, and Sousuke suddenly feels like this whole situation has very quickly spiraled out of his control. "Rin, don't-"
"Don't worry about it! And do your homework."
"Rin-"
"I'm serious! You're a year behind. Get to work!" And then Rin cuts the call, and Sousuke is left staring at a blank screen, wondering exactly when Rin supposedly decided he was good at setting people up. But then he just sighs, turns over, and pulls out his Calc textbook.
He can worry about it later.
----------------
He should have worried about it then.
Because he goes to class that next week, makes it to Wednesday without any issue, heads down to the library to do his homework. He ends up thinking, vaguely distracted, about whether or not he'll catch Makoto and Nanase in D-hall tomorrow (usually the only times he does) when...well.
Nanase happens.
Or more so, Nanase appears, standing in the middle of the hallway for who knows how long. Right up until Sousuke steps into him, nearly knocks him over, before looking down and seeing those same eyes looking back up at him.
He steps back.
"Nanase." A pause, and then he frowns. "What?"
Haru stares at him for another moment, and then another moment more, before he shakes his head. "You eat at the cafeteria during the week, right?"
Sousuke blinks. "What?"
Haru blinks back, sighs, very obviously tired of the conversation already. "You have a meal plan, right? Most first years do."
"Yeah?"
Haru nods. "We'll save a spot for you." And then he's gone, like the conversation never happened, leaving Sousuke standing in the middle of the hallway like he hadn't just been set up on some kind of weird lunch-date with someone he spoke to once back in high school.
Sousuke stands there for another two, maybe three seconds, before letting out a sigh and continuing to the library to study. He doesn't get much done.
----------------
When Sousuke makes it to the cafeteria that next day, he has half a mind to turn back around. Not that there is anything all that different about the crowded room and tables, the lines for the food, or the echoing overlay of hundreds of different conversations. If anything, everything is almost too much the same as every other day he's walked in here. The way the other students subconscious part when he walks through the doors, the way he curls his headphones around his phone and stuffs it into his pockets, the way his eyes immediately scan the heads around the room for Makoto.
The habit had been borne out of curiosity, remained out of mild interest, and continued out of- what, exactly, he wasn't quite sure.
He did know, though, that usually when he did find Makoto in the crowd, he was usually talking to someone else. More often than not, it was Nanase, though he had seen him in groups of what had assumed to be his fellow students.
Today, though, when he makes it over to where Makoto usually always hovered right outside of the line, he finds him looking back. Their eyes meet, Makoto breaks out into an easy smile, and Sousuke looks away. Looks away, but doesn't necessarily feel like turning around anymore.
It takes a bit longer for him to get through the line, but eventually he does make it, surprised to find Makoto had been waiting for him.
"Ah- Yamazaki-kun, you came."
Sousuke doesn't know what he sees there, but it looks kind of like relief. Like Makoto hadn't expected him to show. Sousuke gives him a one-sided shrug, walking up next to him. "I'm usually here on Thursdays anyway." He doesn't mention that Nanase hadn't really given him room to argue, because in doing so would actually do what Nanase told him, and a selfish, stubborn part of him refused to allow that to happen. "And I thought I told you to call me Sousuke."
Almost two years ago, but he hopes Makoto doesn't call him out on it.
He doesn't, his smile turning to something a little embarrassed. "Right, right, sorry. Where would you like to sit?"
"Don't you and Nanase usually sit-" But then he stops, realizing what exactly that would give away and feeling his face get a little warm. Makoto is watching him, which makes it worse, before he ends up laughing a little.
"Ah, yeah, Haru and I usually sit in the next room. But he's not here today, so..."
Sousuke stops, brow drawing together in an apparently easy enough expression to read, considering how Makoto's face turns red and he turns away from him, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand.
"He's not?"
Makoto gives another nervous laugh. "I...might have asked him not to?"
For a while, there's silence. Sousuke is staring at Makoto, and Makoto is very pointedly not looking back, searching the room for an open table. Sousuke finds himself following Makoto as they move through the crowd, settling at a table in the corner. When they both sit, and Makoto is still staring everywhere but Sousuke, Sousuke manages to snort a bit softly.
"Makoto."
It draws the other's eyes back up to him, and Sousuke may or may not feel himself give a small grin at how the flush to Makoto's cheeks hadn't fallen any.
"Did you want this to be a date?"
A pause, and then Makoto's eyes widen, panic flickering across his face. "I mean, not- not really? I just figured that you and Haru- or just, ever since the school festival I wanted- I mean. Rin mentioned-"
Sousuke's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. "You talked to Rin?"
Makoto nods, looking more guilty with every passing second. "Two days ago? He'd mentioned how you hadn't really...made any friends yet..."
He sighs, shaking his head. Of course it was Rin, he knew it would be Rin, and yet-
"It-" Makoto looks back down to his lunch, fiddling with his chopsticks instead of looking back up at Sousuke as he talks to him. "It doesn't have to be a date. I guess that was just. Me. But I've seen you in here before, and you do usually sit by yourself, and I just figured maybe you'd want...someone to sit next to?"
Sousuke watches as Makoto starts to relax, like he's finally let something he's been holding off his chest, and when his green eyes flicker back up to check Sousuke's expression, he finds something equally relaxed. Something a bit more enlightened.
Well. Rin did it.
"I'm-" It's Sousuke's turn to feel a bit nervous, shifting in his seat to sit up a little more. "I'm okay with it being a date."
Makoto's shoulders drop a little, a smile tugging at his lips. "Really?"
"Yeah." Sousuke gives a nod, and then a small smile. "I'd also-" He cuts himself off, avoiding Makoto's eyes for a moment. Makoto waits, silently, still watching him until Sousuke's attention comes back. "I'd also be okay with an actual one."
Again, Makoto's eyes go a little wide, and it tightens something in Sousuke's gut to realize how cute it looks behind his glasses. "Like dinner?"
"And dessert?"
Makoto's smile widens as he nods, sitting back in his seat. Whatever tension had been in the air from the awkwardness of when they'd first sat down eases away, and Sousuke finds he can't really keep his eyes off of Makoto, even through the silence. Makoto notices, confused, and Sousuke laughs lightly.
"Sorry. I just...like the glasses.
And then Makoto grins, turning his chopsticks in his noodles, and Sousuke thinks maybe telling Rin wasn't that bad of an idea.
Re: [FILL] TEAM ARAKITA YASUTOMO/FUKUTOMI JUICHI, G
like dinner and dessert... ahhh!! you even mentioned the glasses!
i absolutely loved that you included that bit with sousuke and too ♡
thank you so much for filling my prompt! c:
FILL: TEAM TACHIBANA MAKOTO/YAMAZAKI SOUSUKE, T
Word Count: 2190
(I started off writing this yesterday and then it got away from me and I ended up going down the angsty route instead, sorry!)
feelings are hard
They had been friends for almost close to three years now, though it’s probably better to say “they knew of each other’s existence for a year before finally taking the next step and becoming friends.” Sousuke never expected to find Makoto in his Algebra class in college. Even though they sort of became friends following Samezuka’s cultural festival, they never really did much to keep on talking, except for the occasional text or meet up with Rin and Haru. Graduation came and went and Sousuke became sure that he probably won’t ever see him, or anyone else from Iwatobi again.
He went to Tokyo and enrolled in university, deciding to major in kinesiology. Sousuke wants to work in sports medicine, as a physical trainer. He could probably never stand on the international stage with Rin in the way he originally planned, but maybe he could at least help Rin make it there in one piece. His body may behave now, but the slightest twinge can come back to haunt him later and Sousuke wants to make damn sure that will never happen to Rin. Sousuke was prepared for four years of college, not talking to much of anyone... except there he was, sitting in the front row of freshman Algebra and Sousuke doesn’t know what to do.
He stood in the entrance to the room, frozen for a moment, before he collects himself, hefting his bag across his shoulder (his good one) before making his way to Makoto.
“Is this seat taken?” he asks and he takes a small pleasure in seeing Makoto whip his head to the side in confusion before breaking into a smile.
“Oh, Sousuke! I didn’t know you decided to come to this university too!”
… Had his smile always been that nice?
-----------------
They spent every single class period of that semester sitting next to one another. It worked out well for them. They went to class together and afterwards they would grab a bite to eat before separating to go to their next class. On weekends they would meet up, sometimes with Haru if he had some free time from his schedule, and go over their homework and notes. It was… nice, getting to finally know both Makoto and Haru and Sousuke was glad, at least, to be able to call them friends.
Sousuke tries not to notice when Makoto and Haru sit a little too close together for most friends. It’s none of his business what they do (or in this case, who they do) and it’s not like he has any room to judge, not when his dreams at night are filled with bright red eyes and hair and sharp smiles. He can see the smile on Makoto’s face and the slight turn of Haru’s face that might be a smile or might mean he has gas he doesn’t know, but the point is that they seem to be happy and that’s all that should really matter.
He tries to tell as much to Makoto.
“So, how’s Haru doing…?”
“H-Haru, what do you mean Sousuke?”
Sousuke looks up with his eyes, head still bent over his book and he sees a slight blush on Makoto’s face. He thinks it’s cute (...cute? since when is seeing Makoto blush cute?) and he can’t keep the smirk that crosses his face.
“Nothing much, just asking. You’re still pretty close to him after all, yeah?”
Okay, Sousuke would probably be the first to admit he’s a bit mean, but he means well. If he likes you, then he picks on you. It’s how he shows he cares. So that’s why he lets a little extra meaning slip into the phrase “still pretty close”. He wants to let Makoto to know that he knows and he doesn’t mind it at all. He can see Makoto stiffen for a second before relaxing, the warmest smile he’s seen crossing over Makoto’s face.
“Yeah, we’re still pretty close. Probably closer now…”
Sousuke lets out a small laugh and looks back at his book.
“That’s good to hear.”
(He doesn’t think about how he really likes seeing Makoto smile.)
Sousuke tries not to make fun of Makoto the next time they meet up with Haru. They’re already eating when Haru arrives and then he takes it upon himself to give Makoto a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to him. Makoto blushes, flails and whines out Haru’s name while Sousuke calmly takes a bite of his meal before looking up at Makoto and smirking, “Oh yeah, definite closer than before.” Makoto whines out Sousuke’s name and Haru gives him a small nod.
Oh yes, they can definitely get along now.
-----------------
The semester ends, but before that Sousuke and Makoto make plans to take one more class together the next semester.
It makes things easier.
They don’t talk much over semester break. Makoto and Haru are going back to Iwatobi to visit their family and Rin surprised Sousuke by sending him a ticket to visit him in Australia. They travel to the airport together, and while Haru looks for their gates, Makoto looks at Sousuke out of the corner of his eye. When Sousuke raises an eyebrow, Makoto looks forward at Haru.
“So, are you and Rin still pretty close?”
Sousuke’s mind goes blank. He wants to say yes, that they’re just as close as before, but it’s hard when you live with someone for an entire year before they go and move to another country. There’s only so much that email and Skype can overcome but… he wants more than what they have. He’s just not sure if Rin wants the same.
“Yeah… at least I think we are,” is what he says.
Makoto is silent, before looking back at Sousuke.
“I think so, because why else would he send you a ticket to visit him?”
He freezes and can’t say anything before Haru waves Makoto over. Domestic and international flights do leave out of different terminals, after all so they can’t continue their conversation.
“See you after break, Sousuke.”
“Yeah… see you.”
He spends the flight to Australia silently listening to music, leg jittering as he tries not to think so much about what may happen when he arrives. It’s just a friend visiting a friend, if he goes there thinking about that, then there’s no way that he can be disappointed at all.
It’s one day later and he wakes up, his shoulder tingeing, not from his injury, but from the bite mark left on it the night before. Rin is still sleeping, so quietly, he makes his way to his computer and checks his email. He sees a message from Makoto, reading “Well, how are things with Rin?” Sousuke swears he can hear a smug tone in the message.
Sousuke looks back at the bed, with Rin still in it sleeping peacefully and quickly taps out a reply.
“We’re probably closer than we were before.”
Rin stirring causes him to look back and he sees Rin, covers pooling around his waist as he starts to sit up.
“Sousuke, what are you doing?”
“Just checking my email.”
“Well, get back to bed already.”
Sousuke laughs as he can read the desire in Rin’s smile. He leaves the computer and doesn’t see the reply from Makoto, which boils down to a smiling emoji.
(Later, when he sees it, he swears that Rin told Makoto about his plans but he can’t find it in him to complain when Rin kisses the complaint out of his mouth.)
-----------------
A year passes, and it doesn’t seem like a long time.
Sousuke finds himself becoming better and better friends with Makoto. Then spend a few short months as roommates when Sousuke’s lease expires and he needs someplace to stay while he finds a new apartment. It turns out to be a better experience than he thought. Makoto is, all things considered, a perfect roommate.
Okay, so maybe he can’t really cook, but Sousuke can, and since Sousuke doesn’t like cleaning, Makoto takes care of that easily. They can study together in the privacy of their own living room and somehow or another, Sousuke manages to know Haru well enough that he can tell which visits means he has to find something to do for a few hours.
They can even walk together to the closest gym and work out. Sousuke uses Makoto as a sort of guinea pig, working with him to make sure that he stays in top physical form. Afterwards, they go swimming. While Sousuke can’t swim like he used to, he can at least maintain some sort of form and he can’t really give it up. He offers advice to Makoto on how to improve his form (just because he’s not going pro doesn’t mean he has to have a sloppy form) and he can tell Makoto is mentally taking notes on how to use this for his own career path.
(Sousuke tries not to watch as every time Makoto climbs out of the pool, the rivulets of water streaming down his back.)
Eventually, Sousuke finds a new apartment and he moves out. The first night, Sousuke looks at the mess he made cooking and curses himself. There’s no Makoto to clean up after him, so he begrudgingly starts to do it himself.
Has it always been this quiet, living alone?
Sousuke flops into bed and sleeps.
His dreams are still filled with images of bright red hair and eyes and sharp smiles, but there’s new images now, images of bright green eyes and warm smiles.
He doesn’t sleep that well that first night.
-----------------
Haru and Rin have a competition and Makoto and Sousuke drink together in Makoto’s apartment as they watch it on TV. There’s no hard feelings when they each cheer for somebody different.
“Sorry, Makoto, but Rin is going to win this.”
“Hmm, you might be surprised, Sousuke.”
“--Care to make this interesting, Tachibana?”
“What do you have mind, Yamazaki?”
Sousuke looks around before his eyes settle on a half finished six pack of beer.
“Loser finishes that.”
Makoto takes a hard look at the punishment, clearly weighing the pros and cons of it. Sousuke can see the faint formings of a blush on his face from drinking and knows that if Makoto were to finish that, he would be long gone.
“Alright, deal”
The answer surprises him, but not that much. He knows how much faith Makoto has in Haru. It’s just as much faith he has in Rin. They sit quietly, waiting for the heat Haru and Rin are in to start. It almost feels as though they’re the ones racing….
But in the end, it’s Rin who ends up victorious, by barely a tenth of a second. Makoto groans, head in his hands when Sousuke offers him the first beer.
“Drink up.”
It’s an hour later and Makoto is past being long gone. His face is red and he’s full of nothing but constant giggles. Sousuke hefts one of Makoto’s arms around his shoulders and tries to carry him back to his bed. Sousuke already knows that he’s going to spend the night now, he can’t leave Makoto alone like this when he’s this drunk, but Sousuke is regretting everything as Makoto puts his full weight on Sousuke, not even trying to help walk them to his bedroom.
“Come on, Makoto, you could at least try to help me by not being so heavy.”
Makoto laughs.
Sousuke just groans when they finally make it and just as he’s about to drop Makoto onto his bed, Makoto takes it upon himself to pull Sousuke down with him. He doesn’t have all that muscle for nothing and Sousuke finds himself on top of Makoto, face to face with those green eyes and warm smile and he can feel his heart beating in his chest. He tries to get up, but Makoto is holding on to him tight, like he has something he wants to say.
“Hmm, Sousuke~! I’m really glad we’re friends now…”
“Yeah… yeah, Makoto, I’m glad too.”
“No no no, I’m reaaaaally glad we’re friends now, but…”
“But? But what Makoto?”
At this, Makoto looks to the side and Sousuke swears that if Makoto’s face gets any redder he’s going to die but Makoto continues one.
“Dont… don’t tell Haru this. I love him a lot, I’m in love with him but… I think I like you a lot too.”
His heart is threatening to beat out his chest. Makoto seems satisfied with what he said before letting Sousuke quickly scamper out of his bed. He curls up and quickly falls asleep. Sousuke watches him for a moment before heading back to the living room and cleans up the remnants of their night drinking. He heads into Makoto’s kitchen and drinks a glass of water before heading back to sit on the couch.
“--Fuck.”
Sousuke knows deep down inside that he’s in love with Rin, that no matter how hard it is being in a long distance relationship right now that he will not give it up for anything in the world. But… but he can also feel it that things had changed, that if there was no Haru and no Rin, that maybe…
Maybe he and Makoto…
How can you be friends with someone you’re attracted to?
“... I think I like you a lot too, Makoto.”