Summary: Two months. A lot of excitement, a lot of introspection.
Disclaimer: Buso Renkin doesn't belong to me.
Notes: A series of short drabbles, from one sentence to 100 words, about the general cast of Buso Renkin. Some romance, some angst, some not-so-clean humor, and some crossovers you may end up missing if you blink.
Sixty-one Days
1. Overseas
Kazuki misses his parents sometimes, though most of all when they send him postcards to remind him of just how distant they are.
2. Sister-Complex (I)
He dearly hopes that his friends never find out just how old Tokiko-san is; he wouldn't be able to ever live it down.
3. Sister-Complex (II)
As beloved as Ouka-senpai is, no one dares ask her out; her little brother has a frightening way of being able to appear out of nowhere when he should be on the other side of school.
4. Dawn
Tokiko likes to see the sun rise because it makes the night and the shadows in which Homunculi hide fade away.
5. Nick
She's never once cut herself on her Valkyrie Skirt accidently, so she lets the blood flow freely when she picks up the largest shard Victor left.
6. Vows (I)
To Tokiko, they were children still because they never came understood what their recited words meant.
7. Vows (II)
Whether Alchemist Warrior or life partner, they vow to protect each other, for that is the true meaning of being married.
8. Navel
Kazuki claimed to have never seen her navel before the beach because that would mean admitting he'd been watching her top fly up.
9. Respect
She never exchanges niceties to the Homunculi; why should she, when they are abominations meant to be destroyed?
10. Linger
Koushaku feared death not because of what waited him but because he was going so slowly and pitifully.
11. Gold
He likes gold because it's the color of the sun which is more valuable than any sort of metal (and because the Gold Ranger is the best).
12. Glimmer
Before he saw the scar, he saw her eyes, which reminded him of a sunset.
13. Reputation
They called her "Steel-eyed Valkyrie" at the training academy to her surprise; she's never known how her eyes change when she fights.
14. Violet
She had once liked lavender; violet seemed better for her as it reflected the darkness of her world.
15. Scarlet
Red had always attracted him because it was a bold color (and always the leader's color); he ignored the fact that it was the color of blood.
16. Swallowtail
Choushaku forgot that while butterflies metamorphose, they only exist briefly before they are abandoned by the world.
17. Shaman
Kazuki wonders if he should regret giving Okakura that particular manga in Junior High; it seems to have given him ideas of the wrong sort.
18. Cry
He entered the world a second time with her whisper; he entered the world a third time with her scream.
19. Nosebleed
"It's not what you think! She reached for something while I was getting it at the same time and our heads smashed-"
20. Handkerchief
He wonders how she does it; her handkerchiefs seem to emerge from her pockets beautifully clean, soft, and neatly folded.
21. Verdant
Green suits her too, he thinks, like the forests around town.
22. Track
Before long, Tokiko-san holds the vaulting records at Ginsei, to the amazement (and chagrin) of the track and field club.
23. Linger
She never regretted what she had become and she went forward for lack of anything left behind.
24. Portrait
Her blank, sweet smile was a more effective weapon than Angel Gozen; it made her opponents underestimate her.
25. Jewels
Both of them have eyes like gems but one's have more fire and the other's have more soul.
26. Assurance
He knows she wouldn't have killed him that night he protected Ouka and Shuusei; he just knows.
27. Inclusion
She wonders why she was accepted so easily at Ginsei; maybe it was something in the water.
28. Cut
After training camp, she cut her hair to fit in at schools; she never really cared about it anyways.
29. Infrequent
He just noticed how often she smiled at him completely compared to everyone else.
30. Shield
Kazuki would never how much she hated him when he positioned himself between her and Washio.
31. Flash
It would take an idiot not to notice the occasional panty flash; it took a suicidal an idiot to admit that he did and enjoyed the sight (light blue).
32. Cuddle
Mahiro finally left her in bed with a snail doll that had seen better days but smelled like Kazuki's shampoo and she found herself curling around it.
33. Smile
Mahiro can't do much for her big brother so she always smiles for him, so he doesn't have to worry about her.
34. Hand
Their fingers extend for each other from time to time but never seem to touch.
35. Unrequited
Tokiko doesn't know about the fan club that's formed for her (80 are boys who want to see her in the Ginsei girls' uniform).
36. Nursing
She learns not to so much as sneeze in front of Mahiro, lest the stethoscope and nurse uniform get summoned from an inter-dimensional portal.
37. Melon
She slices the honeydew deftly, to the delight of all involved (because everyone else somehow manages to mangle the fruit in some way).
38. Scent
He likes her smell, green tea shampoo and something sharper.
39. Curiouser
Tokiko has seen enough strange things to ignore the slim black-haired woman in an old-fashioned black gi and hakama neatly balanced on a telephone pole.
40. Descendent
"It's true! Our great-great-great grandfather knew Saitou Hajime and the Hitokiri Battousai!"
41. Comparison
Diplomatically, Tokiko chooses not to offer that her family name used to be Himura.
42. Unwritten
They will never have to say to one another "I like you" or "I trust you"; the other already knows.
43. Missed
"My dream school? Ouran High, because the uniforms look like ours!"
44. Memory
He wonders what it would be like to have a scar like Tokiko's then he grows lost in how old it may be, despite it marking her so clearly.
45. Berserk
He never understands her killing-rage, and then he remembers seeing Mahiro being swallowed whole by Mita.
46. Compatibility
"Tokiko-san, you're a Leo, right? Nii-san is a Sagittarius. It says here that, 'these two will have a very passionate and heated relationship'…"
47. Poetic
She's like an obsidian scalpel; delicate, glittering, earthy, quick-cutting and elegant, but so impossibly fragile.
48. Sports Medicine
"It's only egg whites. Spit it out at me again and I'll rip your guts out."
49. Clot
They coalesce together, even as the pressure builds around them, threatening to break apart their fragile connection.
50. Storm
Rainy days don't bother him, since the sun will always come back.
51. Mature
She muses about his tastes in women before realizing that he's still a child in many ways.
52. Mood
Kazuki gets mad as much as the next boy; he's just learned that smiling makes his anger fade quicker.
53. Ordinary
Though most people think otherwise, she knows he's never ever been "normal."
54. Sweet
It always seems a bit incongruous, seeing her holding the cheerful pink and white juice box during lunch.
55. Formality
Her use of "Kazuki" seems both like a lover's endearment and a teacher's scold.
56. Bind
Even if their hands don't touch, even as they leave words unsaid, they have an unmistakable relationship.
57. Front
She finds herself blushing more and more as she protests that she and Kazuki do not in fact have a relationship.
58. Combat
She gives a glare that just dares any sort of mockery when she loses at fighting games.
59. Curry
She taught herself to cook and it never became anything sentimental, just another skill for missions.
60. Respect
Fear didn't drive Kazuki's deference for Tokiko; it was some instinct of his recognizing her strength.
61. Snail
The days follow each other round and round endlessly and never seem to flicker by any quicker.
Author's extra: An extra little bit that I got off the Yahoo!Astrology compatibility tool: "What's the best aspect of the Leo-Sagittarius relationship? It's the willingness to work as a team and the mutual admiration they exhibit when dedicated to seeing things through. This duo complements one another with a combined attention to personal and world affairs. They both know their place in the relationship. Their comparable high energy and fiery passion makes them a versatile love match."