Title: Royal Flush
Fandom: Blue Dragon (Anime)
Full Summary: Alternate Storyline. Led by General Rogi, Rosenkreuz is forcing the world under its heel, and the Resistance is the only hope in sight. However, when the army arrives in the city of Heliwood, their leader Legolas gambles away the Resistance's funds and becomes indebted to the mayor. Most of the army is forced to work to pay off the debt, each of them being given a different job to meet the demand. Shu, a twelve-year-old boy from Talta who is one of the best and brightest of the Resistance army, is given the task of guarding Heliwood's casino. But when he meets a girl working there, things will never be the same for him.
Genre(s): Romance, Action/Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy, Humor, Friendship, Drama
Characters: Shu, Bouquet, Kluke, Jiro, Zola, Marumaro, Noi, Sergey Andropov, Primula, Dragnov, Rogi, Rudolf, Rottares, Michael, Hildegard, Fagino, Legolas, Konrad L. Lorentz, Cleese, Daner, Matilda, Schneider, Cynthia, Gilliam, Lemaire, Tarkovsky, Vermillion, Furioso, Szabo, Delphinium, Deathroy, Homeron, Xi, Fushira (Minor OCs included, as well as only-mentioned main characters; others not mentioned to avoid spoilers)
Pairings: Shu x Bouquet, Jiro x Kluke, Andropov x Kluke, mild Shu x Kluke, Lemaire x Cynthia, mild Jiro x Zola, Rogi x Zola / Platonic Pairings: Dragnov/Shu, Marumaro/Noi, Kluke/Bouquet, Jiro/Shu, Schneider/Andropov
Rating: 14-15 and up (Suggested)
Warnings: Some mild sexual themes, mild to moderate violence, mentions of rape, possible character death
Author's Notes: Almost all information is subject to change. Follows much of Season One's framework plot, with changes - namely, only a few Shadows are present at the story's start (Killer Bat, Berserker, Delphinium's Shadow, and all Shadows used by the members of Rosenkreuz). Has some darker themes than canon in BDA, but still retains some of the series' lightness.
[November 1st – November 2nd]
He sees it again, against the backdrop of closed eyelids, this tapestry of sight and sensation. The springtime desert-hot sun, warming his hair, its light reaching over his cheeks to heat his face. The wind blows, and the scent of sand invades his nose, mixing with spices from the marketplace. Even from quite some distance away, he can hear the rush and burble of the river, smoothing over rocks and twisting its way through the village's outlying forests. And the mountains, the mountains, their shadowed stone surfaces so incredibly and wonderfully blue...
"Hey, Taii." The voice is a teasing lilt. Back to the present, where he's in the dark room they stuffed the army members into. Back to reality, where he's lost everything from his old life. "You ready to begin your new life of indentured servitude?"
Shu swats at him, feeling bland satisfaction when his hand connects. "Shut up."
"Ossan... You idiot." He leans back against the wall, one hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword, the other resting on his hip. Even now, he still can't believe he has to do this.
The Resistance had been making good progress. They were cutting a path through the desert, preparing to flank Rosenkreuz's primary northwestern compound. Then they arrived in Heliwood, and Legolas decided to be an utter fool and get them indebted to an entire city. The remaining regiments of the army have moved on, to set up camp further down the route and hold position, but there's no telling when they'll ever see them again.
If we get out of here, he thinks with no small amount of annoyance, Legolas is never allowed near a casino again.
Oh well. At least they gave him a job with the potential for some action.
... I trained for two years just to be a casino bouncer? The thought still grates, still chafes, in the worst of ways. He is a soldier! He should be better than this, doing better than this. He knows he still has more to learn, but his skills are still exceptional for his age; he could do more than this. He could be helping people-!
Fire everywhere- burning, burning, they're dying-
He shakes his head. Once. Twice.
He is a soldier. And this whining, internal though it may be, is not befitting of him. And it will stop. Right. Now.
A breath out, taking the tension with it. This is his mission. He will carry it out. He won't fail.
The irritation still needles at the back of his mind, but he allows it. As long as it doesn't interfere, it won't matter.
He is Lieutenant-Commander Shu Shiomizu, and he will not fail.
Around six o'clock at night, a large, hulking man emerges from the casino and jerks his thumb towards the now-open doorway. "Inside shift. Get moving."
Just when all of the people pour in and there's more opportunity for trouble, right? Thanks.
He isn't sure if that thought is scathingly sarcastic or honestly genuine. Doesn't matter, anyway - the end result is the same.
Shu nods, entering without comment or complaint.
The interior of the casino is a gaudy affair, adorned with bright colors and big lights. Just the thing to entice people into losing their money.
Well... That, and the bunny girls.
They're everywhere. Some are dealers, others receptionists or waitresses... Any job the casino has seems to be filled by a good portion of these girls in outfits that are nothing more than red high heels, fishnet stockings, a red sort-of bathing suit (most bathing suits aren't made of leather, after all, or whatever that material is), and a headband sporting bunny ears. Obviously, they're here to attract the men. Had Hayate gotten Shu's job, he would have been in heaven right about now. (And probably wouldn't have gotten past the first day without being fired. It's not even a joke - it's just plain fact.)
Shu scrunches his nose, finding the whole affair disagreeable. Even if he were a gambling a man (which he isn't - he is neither a gambler nor a grown man), the decorations are far too showy for his tastes.
To make matters worse, there have been rumors circulating that Legolas wound up with the role of a... bunny girl. (...Bunny man?) If his luck hadn't been so horrid lately (two-years-lately), Shu would dare to hope that he won't find out.
Besides, no news is good news, right?
"Excuse me." The feminine, youthful voice is different, urgent, yet despite the softness, somehow Shu hears it over everything else. Something about that voice calls to him, and it has nothing to do with the lilt of panic it holds. "Please, sir, don't..."
Suddenly, the words register. He hurries in the direction of the voice, cursing his own stupidity. He can't afford to slack off, even unintentionally. Shu's job as casino guard/bouncer is one of the highest paying of the services the army members have been forced into; the future of the Resistance - the future of the world's freedom - rests with his success.
Even so, upon reaching the table at the voice's source, Shu still freezes.
The first thing he notices are her eyes, glimmering like amethysts, brighter than any of the garish lights the casino displays. For an eternal second, he is trapped in that gaze.
The few following seconds are spent examining her. Her hair, black and silky-looking, is tied into twin pigtails with red hair ties. Another bunny girl, though - she's wearing the same "uniform" as the rest of them. She's young - she has to be the same age as Shu himself, if she's a day. So young, yet stuck with a job like this. Something inside him twinges in sympathy. Shu tries to shove down the feeling, but it hangs over him like a too-big cloak, casting shadows and making itself known.
The girl reaches towards someone, a middling customer who's leering at her in a way that is very far from innocent. The man must be at least three times her age. Shu's stomach twists in disgust; he almost wishes the lecher would do something just so Shu could have the permission and satisfaction of beating him into the ground. "Please, sir," her voice is high and small, nearly swallowed up by the buoyantly noisy crowd. "I- I'm not supposed to talk with anyone but casino staff. I could lose my job."
The thirty-something lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "I'm the paying customer, and it's your job to serve me, isn't it? Why don't you be a little more gracious?" He reaches out, runs a hand along her arm; the girl stiffens, her expression briefly flashing with horror. Shu has to hold himself back, and the tension it causes makes his entire body tremble with the effort involved.
And then Shu spots the man slip a chip off another's pile.
He allows himself a quick, predatory grin. Fool.
"Stop right there!!" Shu kicks off, leaps into the air, flipping over once before landing directly in the center of the poker table; the chips rattle, and the dealer's cards slip out of order. The other gamblers - particularly a woman weighed down with plush scarves and heavy perfume - gasp and shout in astonishment at the display. Shu points at the man in question. "Return what you've stolen at once!" He puts on his best "commander" voice, the same one he uses with new recruits, hopes that it's enough to intimidate. Chances are, it won't be; needling as it is, there are few people - aside from those that have heard of him - that can be forced into action by a twelve year old boy (who is short for his age, self-denial not withstanding).
The man sneers at him. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." With a quick movement, he grabs the girl's arm and shoves her towards the table, starting to dash in the other direction.
"Stop!" Shu straightens to stand, taking a hard step forward to push off again-
-and the table tips forward, sending him right towards the girl.
For a moment, they hang suspended, eyes meeting once more.
And then they collide.
Shu's head is pounding. For almost half a minute, he doesn't know where he is or how he ended up this way. (Or why what he's laying on feels so comfortable.)
But then memories flash in-
-"Come on, sleepyhead! It's time to get up, Shu!"-
-"One of the first essentials you must learn. Alertness. It can give you an advantage over an enemy. And it can keep you from losing your head."-
-and Shu remembers that he's tracking down some loser who thought it'd be cute to steal chips from someone else!
"He's not getting away," Shu growls at nothing and no one. He moves to pull himself up, "When I get my hands on that son of a-"
His senses are met with a girl crying out, and his head is suddenly between a huge pair of breasts. And said breasts are being held. By him.
Shu's eyes go wide, and he spends a moment in horrified silence, trapped there and holding her. He can hear his blood rushing in his ears. He's drowning in enough embarrassment to suffocate him, and his hormones are having a field day. How...? How did this happen...?
"P... Please..." She whimpers. Shame floods him, and the hormone part of everything that's flooding through him is quieted. "I-I..."
"Sorry." He pushes himself up - he has to hold on a little harder to do so, and when she cries out that time he fears that one may end up haunting his dreams - until he is completely free from her chest and is able to release his grip. "I'm sorry."
"I... I, um..." She bites her lip, and her face is flushed.
"Shiomizu!" Shu winces at the sound of that shout. He knows that voice. His new boss (who would've put any of the Resistance's drill instructors, even the harshest ones, to shame). "What exactly do you think you're doing down there, letting this lowlife walk?!"
"Sorry, sir." Shu bites out grudgingly, working himself towards a standing position. "Won't happen again, sir."
"It better not happen again, or it's your head and screw your little band of hooligans. And as for you," he gives the man who stole the chip a good shake, "you've got two strikes against you. One more, and you are out of this place for good-"
Shu notices with a definite chill that the man isn't even listening to his boss.
The man is leering at the girl again.
He doesn't know what it is that causes him to do it, but Shu walks to stand in front of the girl until she is blocked from the creep's view. The man seems affronted by the move, but is wise enough not to say anything.
The tension passes when Shu's boss drags the man off towards the back exit. He can't help feeling a vague disappointment; beating up someone who deserves it would have been immensely satisfying. Can't be helped, I guess.
"Thank you."
The words of gratitude snap him out of his longing for an outlet to the rage inside. He stuffs the want as deep as it can go before turning towards the girl. "Thank you," she says it again, her eyes still sparkling like gems. For two seconds, it's hard to breathe; she doesn't notice, and Shu tells himself that he doesn't either. "If it weren't for you... Well, I don't know what would have happened."
"Don't mention it." Shu fights a flush as the memory of being pressed close to her attempts to float to the surface. That he definitely pushes down as far as it will go. "And... Sorry again. About, uh, you know. Before." Eloquent, eloquent! Perhaps he can run outside to throw himself onto the road and the tender mercies of passing wagons. He mentally smacks himself for the thought. Get a grip, soldier!
"Oh, don't worry about that," she giggles, waving a dismissive hand. "I-"
"Shiomizu!"
Thanks, Boss. Thank you so much.
It shouldn't bother him so much that he won't get a chance to talk to this girl. He shouldn't get attached anyway. It's for the best.
"I'm sorry. I have to go." He pushes forward, trying to focus on his boss's loud and irritating swears.
(So why does leaving her feel almost physically painful?)
He tries to ignore as she reaches for him, her fingers trying to catch his t-shirt sleeve; tries not to feel how the flesh rises in goosebumps as two fingertips brush against his arm. "Wait- Please, wait-!"
"Sorry. But I can't." Shu moves out of her grasp.
He regrets never finding out her name.
In the privacy of his own mind, Shu curses his boss with every colorful swear word he knows. Given that he's been in the army for two years, it's a long list.
He usually gets on his own case if he starts whining, as he likes to put it, but Shu is going to give himself this one for free.
Because, stacking boxes? Really?
He screwed up. He knows it. He doesn't like it, but Shu can accept it. But this? Oh, yeah, this doesn't even qualify as a punishment.
It's an insult!!!
Cut my pay. Make me work overtime. Anything. But don't make me into some wannabe errand boy.
Screw this place; Rosenkreuz can have it, and Shu hopes they enjoy every last stinking bit of it! God, the day he can kiss this place goodbye will be the happiest freaking day of his entire life!
He shoves another cardboard box up on the shelf. He doesn't know what's inside it, and doesn't particularly care. He doesn't even care if it breaks, right about now. As a matter of fact, Shu almost wishes he could break a few things, just to take out his frustration on something.
... He's so full of anger these days.
Ojisan had warned him about it, warned him to stop. Told Shu that it would end up eating him up inside, until there's nothing left.
Shu knows he should stop. He takes everything Ojisan says to heart, and yet...
A bump disturbs his thoughts.
Ordinarily, he would think nothing of it. Shu has been moving around plenty of boxes the past half hour, and chances are one of them or their contents would shift and make noise.
But this sound came from down the hall, where he has yet to go.
He goes still, lets all of his muscles relax, and strains his ears to listen.
Shu hears it again. And this time, it's followed by a fearful whimper. He recognizes that whimper.
Setting down the box he's holding, he creeps down the hallway, back pressed tight to the wall. Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear in his head, and they're telling him that something is very wrong.
He's almost to the back exit when he hears it. The voice of the man who stole the chip - who let his eyes roam over the girl like a perverted touch. "I was going to go easy on you before, but now... Now you'll regret not letting me have my way..."
"Please..." The girl. Her voice is choked, like she's been crying for hours. "Please don't hurt me..."
For a moment, he is filled with nothing but searing rage. But then a cool calm takes its place, boiling everything down to simple facts and precise action.
Shu moves faster than even he would give himself credit for - he crosses the room like a lightning bolt. He has just enough time to view the scene in front of him - the pig has her shoved against the wall, one hand pressed hard into her shoulder blade and the other gripping her rear, and he doesn't even need what he's "learned" (more like shoved down his throat, but who's counting?) from Hayate to figure out where this is going - before he explodes into action and is snatching his sword out of its sheath with a flourish. In a fraction of a minute, the man releases the girl's shoulder and starts to turn, but Shu is already there - and his blade is pressed against the perpetrator's throat.
"You!" The jerk actually has the nerve to accuse Shu, of all people. "You little brat...!"
"Get your hands off her. Now." Shu narrows his eyes. "Or I'll take them off of you."
The man, furious, seems to have an internal debate. It doesn't last long; he lets her go. "Happy?" The word is a condescending sneer, even though he's in no position to look down his nose at anyone. Shu knows his type - arrogant and self-obsessed to the core.
"Far from it." His grip tightens on the sword hilt. "A Rosenkreuz captain was good enough to steal this off of a White Brigade Chevalier. And I was good enough to steal it off of him. Would you like a demonstration?" A quick twist of his wrist. The metal flat of his sword flashes - the man's throat has been nicked by the sharp steel edge, blood trailing from the small cut.
"What do you want?"
"Come near this girl again, and I will not show you the mercy this weapon's former owner knew." He backs away, enough for the three of them to have some breathing room, keeping the sword's tip against the man's throat. Shu jerks his head towards the back exit. "Now get out of here, and hope I never see you again."
The pervert spends just enough time to glare at him in unrighteous fury, before taking off like the coward Shu knew him to be.
A long moment goes past in silence. Eventually, though, Shu sheathes his sword and asks her, "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
"I-I... N-no. I'm fine. But..." Her eyes shine as she stares at him. "You saved me."
Suddenly feeling embarrassed - mostly due to the open adoration on her face - Shu shifts his feet, looking away. "Yeah, well... I couldn't just let him do that to you." He slides his eyes towards her. "What's your name, anyway?" He stamps down on the inner voice screaming not to get attached. He's owed himself a break for a while now, even if it's just a small one.
"I'm Bouquet." She pushes back a rabbit ear, a small smile lifting her lips. "And you?"
"Shu. Well met." Keep it brief. Don't get interested. Too late, probably on both counts. Maybe he can still try to extract himself from the situation. "Anyway, I should get going-"
"Wait!" Her cry is so pleading, so desperate, that he finds himself hesitating for a split second. Shu only realizes his mistake when she leans forward and grabs both of his wrists in her hands. He swears at his own stupidity. You're getting too soft, idiot. "Please don't go yet! I... I don't know how I could ever repay you. I have to, though. I swear I will! But... Until I find a way to properly thank you, I'll give you something as... as a promise."
She pulls him towards her, leaning towards him, and Shu opens his mouth to protest-
And this girl - Bouquet - kisses him on the cheek.
His breath hitches. His face flushes. And in his throat, all objections die a painful death. His heart pounds hard in his chest, feeling as if it could burst at any moment. He's flooded with so many emotions, he can hardly stand it. And even as her grip on him loosens, Shu is trapped there as surely as he was born in Talta.
After what feels like forever, Bouquet pulls back. Her smile is broader now, and her face is pink with a blush of her own. Without warning, she darts off, waving over her shoulder and calling, "Bye, Shu!"
He stands there stupidly for a long moment, staring after her retreating form. When she is back inside the casino proper, he allows his hand to reach up and trace the place that her lips touched him. His heart kicks in response. "What was that?" He doesn't know why he says it, but it seems as good as anything else.
... How on earth is he going to put that from his mind?
Something that I've never been able to do is write while listening to music, nor am I able to listen to music while I read (fan fics or otherwise). However, music is still a key part of my process, at least for fan fiction – I formulate the majority of my ideas while I listen to music. The three main songs that I listened to while writing this were Buddy by Maaya Sakamoto (I consider this to be the story's "overall theme", so to speak), Lonely in Gorgeous by Tommy february6, and Fantasy by Lama – if we're talking themes in terms of anime themes, the first would serve as the opening with the later two being the first and second ending – supplemented by tracks from Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2 and Blue Dragon (game and anime). As a matter of fact, Lonely in Gorgeous actually contributed largely to the creation of Royal Flush in the first place, particularly Bouquet's role in the casino; all of the rest (save for her encountering Shu, which had been a big part too) came after.
The dates at the top represent the time that the main body (and majority) of this chapter was written. Later on, I went back and made additions throughout the story at different points.
I will not be making any changes to the chapters that were written during NaNoWriMo (1-10), no matter how badly I'd like to make corrections where they're needed. I have to live with whatever errors I've made. Yes, they're mistakes, but they're my mistakes.
I found the trick! I found the trick! Look: !!!? When using multiple punctuation, italicize every other exclamation point/question mark, and the site won't erase it! :D I saw how to do it from an author over by the Dragon Age archive... I wish I could remember their name so I could thank them! :(