Familiar things are often found in the most unexpected of places. Ficlets, one shots and drabbles for the not quite canon. Why not give it a go?

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Okay… more minor character fic, not as cracky this time. Remember, there will be blatant non-canon, possible yaoi and yuri, but everything is PG-13 until further notice. Nothing shocking, mostly implied or borderline platonic. Have fun, all coherent comments, bashings, flames and crit ARE welcome.

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Dandelion Wings and Pickleberry Weather: Fantasy

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"Do you know that if you had male and female sock, you wouldn't need to buy another pair for the rest of your life?"

Aside from Eriol, there might be another person who could enjoy Yamazaki's outrageous lies.

They were silly, blindingly false, and, more often than not, completely pointless. A person with half the usual amount of common sense wouldn't believe a fourth of his tall tales. But then, that was exactly why she liked them.

"…but they might not always make twins, and sometimes there are triplets and quadruplets too…"

Naoko had always enjoyed a good fantasy.

"…the pair conspiracy, and all the socks are now cloned to make sure that they…"

And with Yamazaki, there was always a chance of hearing a good yarn. She admired his imagination, too. She had to go and read a lot of fantasy books for inspiration, but Yamazaki… he effortlessly pulled his stories out of thin air.

"…in the end, they just had to be genderless or…"

Just like magic.

"Yamazaki! Stop that, you're really annoying me now!"

She had a talent for words, weaving them in a tapestry to make people laugh or cry, and nod happily at the end of her script of play of fairy tale. But the boy had a much more wonderful gift, in her opinion – his mind made such connections, off the wall turns, leaving people bewildered, at a loss to guess what came next. Yamazaki was wholly, completely unpredictable.

She loved that much, much more than her own pretty words strung in a neat row.

"But Chiharu san-!"

In other words, she liked his utter nonsense. It was refreshing, a break from those dramas where you'd only need a glance top know'll who end up with whom. So, unbeknownst to others, every time he got to blow another one, she would listen.

"No buts! Honestly, why do you have to lie all the time?"

Somewhere in between everything, she listened to him, too. He had a nice voice, Naoko surmised. He didn't inflect too much, which was perfect, because you could imagine what the characters were saying - and what was important in the story - for yourself. Somewhere in between everything, she started to notice him too.

How he laughed and never got mad at Chiharu even as she chased him around with a broom. The way he fiddled with his pen and smiled blankly even when he knew the correct answer. Yamazaki was a nice person, but even better – he was like his stories, too, off the wall and very easy to like, once you didn't take him too seriously. Funnier once you got to know him better.

Naoko had a faint inkling of what was happening, but she wasn't jumping into anything, not yet.

She wondered when he had become more than an acquaintance who doubled as a springboard for ideas, and became a real friend.

But the next time he got booted in the middle of his lecture, she tucked a lock of straight hair behind her ear, and straightened her glasses.

"Excuse me, Yamazaki-kun?"

"Yes, Naoko-san?"

"Well, I was just wondering, could you tell me what happened then?"

He smiled, obviously delighted with a willing audience, no matter how singular, and Naoko caught a glimpse of his eyes between the normally-closed lashes.

For just a moment, she saw a streak of vibrant color, bright and full of life. She caught her breath, wondered why he hid something so incredible, and her brain sparked to life. Countless theories, what ifs, silly daydreams and fantasies, a whole Pandora's Box of possibilities to feed her imagination for some time to come, wind for a young writer's budding wings. Maybe she could write a story out of it…?

Then the zephyr of ideas died, Yamazaki started another huge whopper, and Naoko listened to the story, and his voice.

It was a tale of blueberry pies and rainbow moonstones, fish-phobic pirates with two maidens from the wood, charmed knitting pins, a long history of make believe – a surprise kiss between the irritable, not-that-dense-after-all ninja and the sly, secretive wizard – and it ended wonderfully in the middle of crazily ever after.

And of course she loved it, just like always.

Ende

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Set anywhere you'd like – be it pre, post, or during the series. I've always liked the side characters.

Um… Kurogane/Fai reference, anyone? Sorry I just read the latest chapters and eeeee I can't help it.