.a.n.: This one was for a LJ comm, potchallenge. 2nd place (though I'm still rather reeling with the shock). XD the challenge was Echizen Ryoma / Determination, and I wanted to write a RyoDan piece after the Unrequited Arc had that Ryo-Momo-Dan triangle and I fell in love with RyoDan...of all pairings XD; anyway, I digress, it ended up like this. :looks away: Meeps. Hope it isn't too painful.

.d.i.s.c.l.a.i.m.e.r.: Not mine, and gladly this time, since Konomi's Ryo+Dan dynamic is so good. :cheer:


Title: Ourselves
Characters: Fuji, Ryoma, Dan
Rating: PG


"We are most attracted to ourselves," Fuji had told him, not minutes after his slightly embarrassing match with Taichi, and he finds it ironic that he'd remember at a time like this, faced with someone that couldn't be less like him.

"Opposites attract, Fuji-sempai," he mutters while Dan prepares to serve again, using a Twist they both know so well. "Here I come, Ryoma-kun!" Dan yells, grunting in that high pitch of his, hitting the ball with more force that his slim body could possibly hold. He is not like me, Ryoma thinks, and beyond their superficial height, he knows that he and Taichi are no more alike than an apple and an orange, separated by size, shape, taste, and ability.

Taichi loses, 1-6.

"I'll beat you next time, for sure, Ryoma-kun." Taichi tells him seriously, and Ryoma notes the unusual lack of "desu". But there's a determined light in Taichi's eyes and he tries a little split-step as he walks off the court, waving good-bye to his tennis-sempai. Ryoma reminds himself to watch out for the split-step - it will most likely show up in their next game, along with the now-common Drive B and A--

And that may be it.

--we are most attracted to ourselves, Fuji's voice laughs in his mind. Ourselves, who we are, but most of all, who we used to be.

Ryoma smirks at Taichi's retreating back, an old, knowing kind of smirk, and wonders if Nanjiroh ever felt this way.


.a.n.: Wah. Someone give me a RyoDan scenario. :cries: Hope you enjoyed.