Overall Note: These are a series of drabbles from a livejournal community I played in way back in 2005. (That long ago... whoah) The goal was to write EXACTLY 100 words for each weekly challenge. Tricky, but fun. I've grouped the results of my scribbling in no particular order, outside of the "chapters". Connected works I either left together or made a seperate chapter for. I've classified the whole work as Mature, though some of it is light and goofy.
I hope you enjoy!
The Series
Title: Pretty Girl
Character: Ouka
She sat in front of her mirror and carefully applied her makeup. Appearance counted, after all, her father had told her so again and again.
Appearance and attitude. If she acted and looked like she was in charge, then others would believe she was in charge. Right now she ruled her little clique of flower groupies and was poised towards a prominent position in the student government.
Ouka touched the last color on and smiled. Perfect, Omi wouldn't be able to resist her tonight. He was smart, attractive and she wanted him... and what a Takatori wanted, a Takatori got.
Title: Pouncing Lesson
Characters: Schuldig, Crawford and OFC (original feline character)
For Lodrelhai's request of Schuldig and a kitten.
"Mastermind."
"Yes?" Such utter innocence in the German's voice.
"Why are you underneath my bed?"
"Pouncing lesson."
"I see." Crawford sighed as he examined two pairs of bright blue eyes blinking back at him from underneath the edge of the comforter. "And precisely why is this 'pouncing lesson' being conducted in my bedroom?"
"Because you can't predict a cat." Telepath and tabby blinked in eerie synchronization. Unfortunately accurate. No precog could.
"Of course. Last question, then. Why is it your hands that are wrapped around my ankle and not the cat's paws?"
Schuldig purred, "Oracle, the lesson is for me."
Title: Fussgangeruberweg (Crosswalk)
Character: Schuldig
A/N: I took 3 years of German in high school, and this word has stuck with me even though I've forgotten almost all of it.
He sits in the corner of the internet café where the window gives him the best view of the street and just watches. It's a busy intersection, people flowing across day and night, their minds a wordless hum.
And every once in a while he gives a little nudge.
How would you cross if no one could see you?
The best today was the young girl who cart wheeled her way over. She got a few rounds of applause, a lot of phone numbers and one ticket for public indecency. But really, it wasn't his fault she wasn't wearing underwear.
Title: Tardy Behaviour
Characters: Omi, Aya, and an OC
A/N: I fugure someone had to notice eventually...
He was late again. Tsukiyono was rarely late, but his teacher had begun to notice a pattern. Just before it happened, he would be tense and nervous and on the late day, he came in tired... and hurt.
She knew this sort of pattern. He needed to know that someone was around to listen. "Omi, if you could stay after class?"
Omi climbed into the trailer and crumpled onto the couch. "I need to change schools again."
"What already?" Aya frowned. "What's wrong now?"
"My teacher. She saw the damage from the missions and thinks I'm being 'abused'."
"Not again..."
Title: White Albums
Challenge: Music
Omi spends a great deal of time downloading, mixing and burning music. All of it new, current, hot, now. On nights with no missions or pressing work, he slips off to the bright lights and noise of the "in" clubs. It's not that he really enjoys it, rather it serves a purpose. It makes him normal in the eyes of his peers, one of them, just good old Omi. For Bombay, normalcy is good. It keeps the suspicions away. And it isn't as if the music is completely worthless. He can dance to it and it has a catchy beat.
Ken loves the driving beat of rock. The faster it pumps him up the better. Music to race to, music to fight to, music to howl out his fury to. He finds the mosh pit irresistible, stripped to his waist, torso gleaming with sweat, pulse hammering in synch with the pounding beat. Other people are here for a taste of danger and excitement, but for him it's a safe outlet for his adrenaline, a heady blinding rush that reminds him of the perfect save, the sudden kill. And when another sweat-slicked body rubs against his in need... oh yeah... goal.
It is less music that Aya listens to and more ambiance. Soft instruments mixed with soothing sounds of a formal garden or the eternal rhythm of surf on a sandy shore. White noise, gently erasing the external world, leaving him free of mind to concentrate on a book, an elusive poem, or the relaxing cadence of a sword kata. There isn't much in his life that's tranquil and he treasures every moment when he can escape and remember that once he answered to a different name. This is all that's left of quiet, studious Ran and he's not sharing that.
Yohji's music is his mood meter. When he's happy or flirty there's nothing but generic dance mixes pouring from under his door. Sultry jazz means he's got a hot date, so don't bother knocking. When he's angry, he swipes Ken's favorite albums and shakes the windows with his fury. Then, there's That Song. He'll stick it on a loop and the rest of them keep track of the time. If he hasn't shut it off after an hour, Aya and Ken flip a coin to find out who has to break down the door and stay through the night again.
Title: A Dirty Little Affair
Character: Yohji and and "old flame"
He grips my body easily, knowing just how to hold me. It's obvious he's done this before. I can taste it in his mouth, the lingering residue of those who were there before me.
We're in an alley, a sordid, dirty little street. Is that what he thinks of this? What we're doing? Is he even noticing me at all?
A door creaks open and he's whipping me away, hiding me. Dropping me to grind under his feet while he frantically tries to make amends with someone else.
Slut. Bastard. One of these days, one of us will kill him.
Title: Blood Cherry
Character???
The movies got it all wrong. Death wasn't clean and simple or massive gouts of gore. There was no heart grabbing soundtrack, just gasps, curses and the thunder of blood roaring in his ears. Death smelled. Metallic blood biting at his tongue, the sharp tang of urine, the heavy stench of shit.
The man had fought back… begging for mercy… here take the money but let me live…
It should have been easier. He should have had a ready quip for the woman watching in the shadows ready to finish the job if he had faltered.
He needed a drink.
Title: Consequences
Characters: Weiss
A/N: Never mess with Yohji's hair. He gets even.
"It's Tokyo's Junior Football champs!"
"God… where did you find this!"
"They're getting ready for National finals!"
"Hn, how did you manage to tie Hidaka up like that?"
"But first they need to fuel up!"
"Ken-kun is so kawaii!"
"So, what does 8-year old Ken Hidaka always have?"
"I swear, when I get out of this, I'll kill you!"
"TOP RAMEN! It's the best!"
"Next time you decide blue dye in my shampoo is funny, Ken-Ken… just remember... I've got all six commercials and I'll show them to the fangirls. Oh, you owe me nine-thousand yen for the salon's bill."
Title: Justice
Characters: Aya and Reiji
"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." - The Princess Bride
With the roaring of the flames, the thunder of his heartbeat and the clamor of the helicopter's blades above them, Aya couldn't hear what Reiji Takatori was saying, but the intent came through.
He didn't want to die. Neither had Aya's parents. Aya-chan didn't want to be lying in a hospital, maybe never to wake again.
"… I still have too much to do…"
"No." Aya snarled, twisting the blade deeper inside. "All you have to do is die." Takatori's hand slipped from the dangling ladder. "All you have to do is pay for those lives you stole."
Mission Complete.
Title: Pet Care
Rating: PG
Pairing:Aya/Yohji
"Kritiker." Yohji gasped.
Shit. Safe word. Aya moved fast, undoing the restraints, pulling Yohji into his arms. The lanky blonde was trembling.
"I'm so sorry." A whispered apology. "What was it?"
"The ice. You weren't talking and the ice…" a shuddering sigh. "Tripped a flashback."
Aya knew that that was the end of any play for the evening, maybe even the week. The woman who had been giving them pointers from the club was adamant about a few rules.
Never frighten your pet and if you do, fix it. Yohji was his only as long as Yohji wanted to be.
Title: Disciplining Your Pet
Characters: Aya/Yohji
Rating: G
Notes: A More lighthearted look at owning a Kudoh.
Yohji had just pulled out his cigarettes when a stream of water impacted the side of his head. "What the…"
"No more cigarettes until lunch." Aya was pointing the spray bottle at him
"But…"
A second stream smacked him in the shoulder. "No."
"Gah! Fine, fine. What's with the water?"
"My cat care book says it's the best way to discourage bad habits." Aya twisted the nozzle back to spray and resumed spritzing the flowers.
"What? I am not a cat!"
Aya looked at the irate figure of Yohji, furiously primping himself back into perfection. "Of course, Balinese. Of course."
Title: What the Cat Dragged in...
Characters/Pairings: Weiss
Omi stared at the pair. Well, at Ken and the leather clad ass slung haphazardly over Ken's shoulder. The taller assassin was apparently conscious from the inebriated giggling that was centered at Ken's waist.
"You left him where?"
Ken swayed under the dual effects of an imbalanced load and way too much beer. "Um... don't remember. But they were doing body painting."
"Finger-painting." Came from behind Ken and a blue-green hand waved into view. "Fun."
"I don't know which one of them is going to kill you first. Aya, for getting him this drunk, or Yohji for taking his car."
Title: Morning After
Characters: Ken, Yohji
A baleful eye glared out from under the pile of blankets as Yohji pushed open the door.
"Well, aren't you just the sorriest thing?" He said with a teasing lilt. He set down a tray laden with steaming tea, the heavy herbal scent wafting across the room. "Just how late were you out last night?"
A rude gesture was counter pointed with a feeble squeak.
A large portion of honey was measured and the tea handed over. "I mean really, Ken, how the hell did you manage to lose your voice at a soccer game?"
"World Cup playoffs," Ken whimpered.
Title: Womanhood
Characters: Aya, Aya-chan
He brought a fashion magazine to make sure he was doing it right. He washed her hair carefully; it took two hours to style it like the picture. A nurse helped with the cosmetics, a simple and sophisticated makeover. Her dress was beautiful, zipped up the back to make it easy to clothe her.
It was only a sip, but Aya-chan mechanically swallowed her first taste of champagne. The strawberry ice-cream she so loved followed.
She had been so excited on his 18th birthday, chattering about what she wanted on her adulthood day too.
Just one more thing she'd lost.
Title: Cooking with Kudoh
Characters: Weiss
The younger three members of Weiss stared as Yohji maneuvered around the kitchen, deftly turning odd ingredients into tantalizingly good food.
"When did you learn how to cook like that?" Aya asked as Yohji did something arcanely complicated with the wok.
"High school. Four years of cuisine classes."
"Cooking classes? But… but… only girls take cooking classes!" Ken blurted out.
"Exactly." Yohji flashed a smile at the shocked trio. "Twenty-nine girls… and me." He sighed. "Ah, such fond memories." He glanced over at Omi, "Art classes are also heavily female. Take my advice and pick up an elective or two."
Title: In Pictures
Characters/Pairings: Aya/Yohji
Rating/Type: G
One of the fangirls had left behind a doujinshi, and Yohji couldn't resist picking it up.
"Hey, looks like some of the girls are secretly talented. It's us." Yohji smirked as he held up the thin book with lurid depictions of the foursome on the cover.
The inner contents caused the playboy's brows to skyrocket. "Can someone even get into that position? What kind of relationship do they think we have anyways?"
Aya paused from his arrangement and gave the art a quick glance. "Totally unrealistic. As if I'd ever let you be seme."
"But Aya, I'm the taller one!"
Title: Starting Over
Characters/Pairings: Yohji and Omi
Rating/Type: G
Series: Pre-series
It was a busy first day out of the hospital and into his new "afterlife". The whirlwind tour of the flower shop was slower than his energetic guide would have liked, but Yohji wasn't up to moving fast.
"... and here's the greenhouse garden. Momoe-san likes to keep some of the more expensive flowers on hand." Omi turned and gestured broadly. "You don't mind all this? I know it's not what you expected, Kudoh-san."
The kid looked so eager to have his approval. "Call me Yohji, and I think it'll be fine. I've never gardened before." No bad memories here.