Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: I have roughly a million other things I should be doing but I just couldn't resist. The prompts don't go in chronological order but they all take place in the same universe.
How to Land on Your Feet
Ring
They move in circles. Twirling and stumbling, around and around, dizzy and sick and happy all at once until they fall off the edge of the world and into each other.
Hero
In the story of her life An's older brother is her hero. From almost the first moment she meets him Kirihara Akaya is the villain. By the time she remembers that the villains are always her favorite characters it's too late. He's already taken up residence in her heart and doesn't seem to be keen on moving any time soon.
Memory
He takes pictures of her with his cell phone whenever he's sure she won't notice. Pictures of her eating, pictures of her laughing, pictures of her talking and smiling and reading and doing a million other little things that he never wants to forget.
Box
He finds it hidden under the bed shortly after they move in together. The box is old and worn down from long years of use and the items in it are much the same. But to him they're worth more than anything else in their apartment because they are irrefutable proof that she cares for him. He looks carefully through years of notes and birthday cards and tickets from places they've been together, their shared history painstakingly saved and documented.
When An comes home that evening she finds the box displayed proudly on his dresser for all the world to see.
Hurricane
Before he even realizes what's happening Hurricane An has stormed into his life leaving devastation, destruction, and a chance at a new beginning in her wake.
Run
Akaya spends a lot of time running. He runs laps, from people he's upset, from his life but it seems like he never gets anywhere. It's only after he starts dating An that he learns to stand still and suddenly it seems like he's exactly where he's always wanted to be.
Wings
An spends most of her life wishing she could fly. Her family doesn't have a lot of money and they don't live in a big house or in a very good neighborhood and although An loves her family more than anything else in the world sometimes she wants to fly away to a place where the next door neighbors don't get arrested for selling drugs every other month and where it's safe for her to be out alone after dark. The first time she kisses Akaya she hits the moon without ever leaving the ground.
She and gravity get along better after that.
Cold
An, no matter how cold it is, never remembers to bring a jacket anywhere. Akaya would probably be far more annoyed about this if she didn't look so cute wearing his.
Red
Watching his eyes turn red as he destroys her brother An wants to scream and rage and make him hurt as much as she does. Watching his face turn red as he asks her out for the first time two years later she wants to laugh and smile and say yes.
Drink
Most people who know him well assume he doesn't drink because his father does. An knows that while that is small part of it, it's mostly because her big, strong boyfriend is a total lightweight. She could drink him under the table without even trying.
Midnight
An is a practiced insomniac. She knows the tired ache of eyes that refuse to close, the feeling of exhaustion that settles like a weight she can't put down, the chatter of thoughts that refuse to stop when the rest of her body wants to. It is familiar, if not comfortable, and Akaya's presence in her midnight world is a significant disruption. He's lucky he's cute, otherwise he'd be permanently banished to the couch.
Temptation
Strawberries are not her favorite fruit until she sees how eating them the right way can drive her boyfriend to distraction.
View
"Is that good?"
"Try jiggling it."
"What about now."
"Try again. Harder this time."
Their apartment's shitty electricity drives An nuts but he has no complaints. Under any other circumstances ordering An to jiggle definitely wouldn't end well for him.
Music
An is almost completely tone-deaf but she doesn't let that stop her from singing. Akaya thinks that there's probably a lesson in that so maybe it would pay to hang around the crazy girl for at least a little while.
It does.
Silk
The nightdress is flimsy, lacey, and far to short.
"Mou, Akaya. Isn't this more of a present for you?"
Cover
He leaves his dirty laundry all over the apartment, An hogs all the covers at night, and neither of them knows how to cook but he feels more at home eating cold cereal on the living room floor of their microscopic apartment with her than he ever has in his entire life.
Promise
"If you hurt her I'll kill you."
Akaya doesn't actually say anything, just gulps slightly and nods. It's not often that he finds himself at a loss for words but An's brother is terrifying and he figures that if hurts An he probably deserves whatever the older boy can dish out.
Dream
Akaya usually sleeps like a little kid, heavily, easily, and dreamlessly. When he does dream it's almost always about An. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad but he knows that either way An will be there in the morning solid and real and everything he never thought he wanted.
Candle
They only try the candlelit dinner thing once. Their landlord isn't happy about the fire damage, An isn't happy about the bill, and Akaya is too upset about the fact that his eyebrows are singed and disintegrating to be happy about anything.
Talent
Akaya has never paid much attention to girls tennis but An has so much talent that being inattentive would be almost criminal. When she sets foot on the courts she shines and he can't ever bring himself to look away.
Silence
An's house is never quiet. Though her family isn't large they fill up the entire space with laughter and kindness and warmth. He finds the constant noise overwhelming at first but soon prefers the homey chaos to the cold, dark silence that reigns supreme at his house.
Journey
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Well how far are we?"
"Not far."
"But about how long–"
"Akaya, as your friend I feel obligated to tell you that if you don't shut up right now you will not live to see your wedding."
Fire
An has always been fascinated by fire, its necessity and is danger, the way it can hurt as easily as it helps. That same odd duality is what first makes her truly takenotice of Akaya.
Strength
When he's standing next to her Akaya feels strong enough to do anything.
Mask
An hates clowns and everyone, including Niou, knows it. Of course, he's the only one mean enough to use that knowledge against her and if Akaya hadn't been rather occupied with the armful of cute girl plastered against his chest he would have punched that stupid mask right off the older boy's face.
Ice
She tries to teach him how to ice skate, he tries to not to be distracted by rather risqué outfit she's wearing, and they both go home bruised, disgruntled, and just as much in love as ever.
Fall
An and Akaya don't fall in love so much as shove each other into it.
Forgotten
Akaya is chronically forgetful. He forgets addresses, phone numbers, practice times, where he puts his wallet, what his homework is, and how to conjugate English verbs. He never forgets about An though, even if he does sometimes forget where he's supposed to be meeting her.
Dance
Akaya hates school dances. For all his wonderful footwork on the court, when it comes to dancing he has two left feet. He feels clumsy and awkward and stupid whenever he tries but An loves it and he hates disappointing her more than anything else in the world so he tries his hardest not to step on her feet and pretends he's having fun.
Then she kisses him for a full five minutes without even breathing in the middle of the dance floor. They get kicked out for inappropriate behavior and her brother is going to kill him if he ever hears about it but suddenly he's not pretending anymore so he figures it's okay.
Body
An's personality is so big that sometime he forgets how small she actually is.
Sacred
He realizes that they've finally become friends the first time An comes back from a vacation with a souvenir just for him, a really cool shark's tooth that she'd found on the beach and turned into a necklace. He wears it everyday and refuses to let anyone else touch it.
Farewells
When they say goodbye An always kisses him three times. One because he's there, two because he's leaving, and three because she knows he's coming back.
World
An sees the world in Technicolor, painted in shades of love and happiness and friendship. Akaya sees the world in shades of An.
Formal
Akaya hates going to festivals. He always seems to end up spending all of his time fending off An's more persistent admirers who come out in droves to see her wearing formal clothes. The fact that he used to do the same thing is something he chooses to forget and he often finds himself wishing that An didn't look quite so cute in her kimono.
Fever
The first time An is sick after they start dating he shows up at her house after school with soup he's made himself.
It's horrible.
There's too much salt, the vegetables are undercooked, and the whole thing is a rather disturbing shade of green. An takes one look at his face, concerned and nervous and trying not to show any of it, and eats every bite.
Laugh
She hadn't thought he was capable of it, of real genuine laughter without even a hint of malice or cruelty. The fact that she's the one that made him do it is cause for no small amount of pride.
Lies
He says that he's fine but his voice is brittle against her neck and his hands are trembling where he's fisted them in the fabric of her dress. An takes in the hand shaped bruise rapidly darkening on the side of his face, far too large to belong to any of his sempai, and knows that there are matching ones hidden under his shirt. She holds him close and lets him lie for a little while longer.
Forever
They're married for three years before he finally stops waiting for her to come to her senses and realize that she deserves someone better.
Overwhelmed
The clubroom looks like a party store exploded inside it. There's cake and presents and decorations and An looks terribly pleased with herself but he can't bring himself to tease her about it because it feels like he can't breathe, he's so happy! All of the people he cares about most together in one room with the sole purpose of celebrating the fact that he exists. And then his back is being slapped and everyone is laughing and An is wrapping her arms around him and all he can think is that this is the best birthday he's ever had.
Whisper
He's always disliked people who whisper. If they don't have the courage to say something out loud then they shouldn't say it at all. It take three words from An, soft and secret and just for him, to make him see that the practice does have merit after all.
Wait
Neither of them is particularly patient but they'd wait for each other forever.
Talk
On their first date he's so nervous he can barely speak. Fortunately, An babbles when she's nervous and she manages to talk enough for both of them.
Search
When they first start dating he looks for her at every game. Nowadays he doesn't bother. He knows she'll always be there for him.
Hope
Akaya listens patiently as his girlfriend gushes about some American poet and can't help thinking that, while birds are all well and good, for him hope will always be a girl named An.
Eclipse
She remembers a time when she thought that nothing could possibly make her forgive him for what he did to her brother. She still hasn't forgotten but now she has six years worth of memories of love and friendship and laughter. More than enough to let time's forgiving shadow dull the edges of her memory.
Highway
An is a horrible driver. Thankfully, her husband is very good at hiding the car keys and none of their neighbors are particularly high-strung.
Unknown
An longs for adventure the way other girls her age long for boyfriends and she somehow manages to find both in one enigmatic, infuriating, exciting package. She spends her days exploring, knowing that with Akaya there will always be one last secret to share, one more surprise waiting just around the corner. He is uncharted territory and she loves him for it.
Lock
An is the only person who can always keep the monsters inside his head at bay. They love her as much as he does and she is not afraid.
Breathe
He's spent years suffocating under the hate and pressure of his home. She makes him remember how to breathe.
Gravity
Their relationship has its ups and downs but they manage to hold on to each other and they learn how to land on their feet.
A/N: There it is, my first AkayaAn. I hope everyone enjoyed it. As always reviews, especially those with constructive criticism, are both appreciated and adored.
Virtual cookies to anyone who can tell me what poet and poem I'm alluding to in HOPE.