imaginedyou | Entries tagged with series:pre-monarchy

Rikkai first-year fic. Sanada and Yanagi meet. Incomplete! Written... a week or two ago(?) at work, I just typed it up and tweaked a bit XD 292 Words. Set before everything else written so far.

-

Day One

-

Yanagi hears the sound of a pencil snapping at the desk behind him and reaches for his spare automatically - Sadaharu used to sit at that desk back in elementary.

He realises what he has done when a pair of dark eyes stare blankly back at him.

"Are you nervous about this exam?" Yanagi asks to cover his misstep. "Putting enough pressure on your upright pencil to snap the graphite is an indicator of anxiety." The boy doesn't reply. "These exams are only preliminary - the teachers will use our performance in class as the true indicator of our mental acuity."

"Are you mocking me?"

Yanagi blinks for the second time in under a minute.

"I thought I was being reassuring."

-

They discover soon enough that sharing a few words during class leads everyone to assume they are friends. At lunch time Sanada and Yanagi find themselves left alone together. When someone pushes into the dinner-queue in front of Yanagi, Sanada feels himself puff up automatically in response - he is both taller and broader than Yanagi, he can handle it.

Except Yanagi places a hand on his shoulder - it isn't an attempt to restrain him, it's stupidly gentle - and it surprises Sanada so much he just looks down at it and stares, forgetting the queue-jumper entirely. People don't generally touch him, ever.

-

"Yanagi-kun," Sanada says across the table. "Yanagi-kun?"

"Hmm?" Yanagi replies eventually, and, "Oh, I'm sorry. You had better call me Renji. It's what I'm used to, I may not reply otherwise."

Sanada stammers over it, but it's worth it for the look on his face when Yanagi adds, "if it will make you feel less uncomfortable, I will coordinate and start referring to you as Genichirou, also."

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/93878.html

Rikkai first-year fic. Some more Sanada-Yukimura rivalry (and lack there of) exploration. The moment things fall into place. 545 words.

-

Fealty

-

"It's about being the best," Muraoka says. "The best team who get the best results. I don't care who is better than who when it comes to this team winning. When we play a match against another school we're all on the same side. We're one entity. Play order is of no concern, so forget any arguments. All I care about is that you are better than your opponent. I care that you're the best you can be, and that this team as a whole is the best it can be... So that we always win."

The crowd disperses, and Yukimura has to wonder just how many of them really took the words in. But therein lies the challenge - he knows it is up to him to make sure that in his time at Rikkai he makes it so that every member of the tennis team - from the Regulars down to freshman collecting up the balls - come to live by those words. And to make sure that those who can't or won't are not associated with his club.

His club. Although he only thinks it to himself, Yukimura knows that even that is dangerous. Which is the entire reason he feeds Muraoka the words to say willingly. His time will come.

Sanada takes the words in. But he realises afterwards that he has been watching Yukimura the entire time, seeing the words coming out of Yukimura's mouth even though he hasn't spoken. Those aren't Muraoka-buchou's words, he can say that with confidence, and yet he doesn't quite know how he knows that.

The only thing that really matters in the end is the way Yanagi looks at him with a sideways glance. He opens his mouth to speak, and Sanada cuts him off.

"I know," he says, and as everyone else heads back to the courts Sanada makes a beeline for Yukimura.

Yukimura frowns a little as Sanada approaches, no doubt assuming that he will make a demand for a match because that's what he always does. Yukimura doesn't usually show so much expression on his face unless he wants people to see it. He's irritated because he thinks Sanada has missed the point completely and is about to punctuate it.

For once it actually matters to Sanada that someone has the wrong idea about him. He prides himself on his discipline and restraint - especially considering he knows best the kind of temper he generally manages to hide - and yet here is someone who would rightfully assume he has none at all based on all their interactions. He has to correct this.

Sanada stops in front of Yukimura and waits. Rather than blurt out his words he gives it a moment for the silence to register, just looking at Yukimura, who looks back at him blankly. Sanada takes a breath.

"I understand," Sanada says, and before he realises what he is doing he bows. Yukimura's eyes widen, but Sanada spins around and marches away before Yukimura can recover enough to say anything to that. To hell with the lack of explanation, Yukimura isn't stupid. He'll figure it out.

Sanada can feel his cheeks burning. All that matters right now is that he get as far away from everyone as possible.

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/91446.html

Rikkai first-year fic. Some Sanada-Yukimura rivalry (and lack there of) exploration. More to follow :D 242 words. Prompt: 24 May 2006 - Discretion, I said, was not the same as lying.

-

(Lack of) Discretion

-

"If you won't play a match against me you'll never know for certain who is better between us," Sanada says. Yukimura realises that this is really nothing new, and yet it has become a pleasant kind of white noise in the background of his everyday life. The tenacity that Sanada has, the impossible drive to win, it makes him smile where he really should be losing his patience by now.

Perhaps that's the real reason he can't end this after all. The thought that Sanada might end up just like all the others. Worse even, because Yukimura has seen Sanada play. Going against Sanada in a match would provoke his true tennis.

Yukimura knows the team needs Sanada's strength too much to indulge his curiosity. Even if he himself is itching to test his skill against the person he can just see is going to become one of the strongest players the junior circuit has ever known. Yukimura knows what it is to mislead someone for the sake of a greater good. Even when it makes Sanada hate him more and more. Yukimura can handle that - you don't have to be liked by someone in order to like them back.

"I do know who is better between us," he replies, because he has to. A shot to the gut will work best. "Tezuka completely defeated you at the Junior Tournament, and then I defeated him. I think it speaks for itself."

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/91329.html

FIRST YEAR:
     Day One LJ/DW
[They discover soon enugh that sharing a few words during class leads everyone to assume they are friends.]
     Where Do We Begin LJ/DW
[Yukimura does his best to be unobtrusive when he enters Rikkaidai Junior School's Tennis Club.]
     One Point Shy of Winning LJ/DW
[Putting together a new team isn't going to be so simple.]
     More Than Meets The Eye LJ/DW
[There are many unspoken secrets - and not-secrets - lurking beneath the surface of the tennis club.]
     (Lack of) Discretion LJ/DW
["If you won't play a match against me you'll never know for certain who is better between us," Sanada says.]
     Fealty LJ/DW
[His club. Although he only thinks it to himself, Yukimura knows that even that is dangerous.]
     Pre-Monarchy LJ/DW
[Where now are kings and where/ are the men who passed this way before you?]
     A Guise of Gentle Words LJ/DW
[The troika plan to hang out.]
     Two Kings LJ/DW
["Now." Tezuka insists, and hangs up. He did not pick up the habit from Yukimura, it simply began with him.]

SECOND YEAR:
(Tennis-season)
     Defeat LJ/DW
[During their second year, when everyone but everyone is well aware of who they are and what their skill level is, and they are above a good amount of members age-wise, Yukimura feels he can finally be the captain he should be.]
     Accept and Endure LJ/DW
[Niou gets these feelings sometimes, a sort of aching like a dream forgotten on waking.]
     Play and Be Played LJ/DW
[Yukimura has this habit of leaving things unsaid; he is so used to seeing the meaning behind unspoken words that he forgets not everyone is as aware as he.]
     Intuition, Analysis, Emotion LJ/DW
[Later on, once practice is settled back into normalcy again and ended some time later, Yanagi can't help having regrets.]
     Bring You to Your Knees LJ/DW
["Until you're the best you can just do as you're told," Yukimura says with finality when he realises Kirihara isn't going to answer back this time. ]
     Metamorphosis LJ/DW
[What most people don't know is that Niou actually does need glasses. It's just that he prefers contact lenses for most everything, especially playing tennis.]
     Intervention LJ/DW
["Akaya, it's not polite to hog," Yukimura says absently as he follows, but looking around he notices nobody else is even in the carriage. "Oh, alright." ]
(Yukimura's collapse)
     Abridged Part 1 LJ/DW [Abridged Commentary LJ/DW]
[One thing he does not forsee in the scenario, however, are the first words out of Yukimura's mouth during his and Genichirou's fourth visit; the first in which Yukimura is not sleeping.]
     Collapse LJ/DW
["How can you be so calm?!" Sanada demands at Yukimura in his hospital bed. "You just collapsed!"]
     Sick With Worry LJ/DW
[Walking into a training session he has almost completely missed is one of the hardest things Sanada has ever had to do.]
     Down the River Styx LJ/DW
[The hospital is never silent, not even in the dead of night.]
     We Gamble To Be Born Again LJ/DW
[Yukimura pulls out a couple of dice from beneath his pillow.]

THIRD YEAR:
     Jishin LJ/DW
["We won!" Everyone except Sanada choruses. "Of course," Sanada then adds on. Yukimura nods and smiles.]
     Resurrection LJ/DW
[When he wakes up from a successful surgery, Yukimura is amazed to the point of laughter when his team burst into tears around him.]
     Repetition LJ/DW
[Same continuity as Resurrection, but not in first person this time. Yukimura isn't done talking things out with Sanada.]

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/90194.html

title: More Than Meets The Eye
character(s)/pairing(s): Yukimura, Yanagi, Sanada, Muraoka (OC).
genre: pre-series, backstory, original character
wordcount: 667
notes/summary: A series exploring the Rikkai third-years freshman year at Rikkai. There are many unspoken secrets - and not-secrets - lurking beneath the surface of the tennis club.
previous: Where Do We Begin, One Point Shy of Winning

( +++++ )

Rikkai first-year fic, set between the Kanagawa and Kantou tournaments. 310 Words. Prompt from 31_days. 27 August 2006: Where now are kings and where/ are the men who passed this way before you?. Written a little while ago, but only posting now!
Previous: Where Do We Begin, One Point Shy of Winning, More Than Meets The Eye.

-

Pre-Monarchy

-

"We might take Kantou?" Gesshin asks. "Well, that's good, that's something. Even if we accomplish nothing else that's still important - we've been winning Kantou for so long now it's expected of us. It would be an embarrassment if we didn't."

"An embarrassment?" Yukimura says. "I'll tell you the real embarrassment; that everyone goes around shouting, 'Always win, Rikkaidai', and yet once Kantou is over everyone is content with just that. What about Nationals, has everyone forgotten them? What do people think of, 'Always win, Rikkaidai' then; when the team come back without the championship? An empty threat - that's what they think. All talk and no follow-through."

"Thank you, Yukimura-kun, for explaining to the rest of the team what we were discussing earlier," Muraoka says warningly, and Yukimura realises this is the most he has spoken in company since joining the club, and the most passionately he has done so, too. And it wasn't really being received well until Muraoka stepped in and took the responsibility for it. Now the voices aren't outraged and shamed, but the murmurs of quietly grudging agreement.

"What you have to remember," Muraoka says later on, in private, "is that to everyone else you're still only a freshman. An exceptionally talented freshman who they are happy to have on their team if it means winning, but that doesn't mean they believe you have knowledge worth contributing. You do," he adds as Yukimura opens his mouth to protest, "but your age is against you right now. There's too much prejudice. I apologize for ruining your speech, but it may have led to a riot had I left you berating Rikkai's entire attitude to the game."

"But they will listen to you?" Yukimura asks. So long as the message gets through he can't find it in him too care overly much just now.

"Let's hope so, for all our sakes."

-

Noey, I blame you for this! I hope it works for you ;) Rikkai first-year fic, set later than what I've written so far. The troika plan to hang out. 400 Words.

Prompt: 11 September 2005: A guise of gentle words

-

They are sitting together on the bench; Sanada with back straight and arms crossed, Yukimura draped lazily and taking up almost fully half of the seat, waiting for Yanagi to appear.

"Not like him to be late, mm?" Yukimura comments idly. He swings his arm alongside the bench and watches as Sanada glances around, and seeing nothing his expression tightens ever so slightly. He is always the first to worry if anything unusual occurs. It makes Yukimura smile.

Yukimura isn't concerned; one of Yanagi's favourite sayings is that having all the data means the only thing left to learn are the ways the data will then be overcome. Every rule requires an exception, and all data contains anomalies.

As Sanada takes a deep breath and lets it out noisily, Yukimura leans back against the arm of the bench and looks up at the clouds passing overhead. Very few; the weather is clear and bright, and not too warm. Perfect for a tennis match.

In his pocket his phone begins to ring, and Yukimura pulls it out, expecting perhaps Yanagi is running so late now he needs to let them know. Yanagi's name isn't the one flashing on the screen.

"Muraoka-senpai?"

"Yukimura-kun, I'm sure I've told you before you can call me Tsubasa."

"No - I can't," Yukimura laughs, and Sanada glances up because the soft and intimate tone of voice unsettles him, and sees Yukimura's cheeks are spotted a faint pink.

"Are you busy right now?"

"I've got plans, but I'm not sure what's going on with them right now," Yukimura says, turning his back on Sanada completely and waving a hand in the air to punctuate the fact. Sanada grits his teeth. True enough that Yanagi is late and silent as of yet on the reason why, but Sanada is still there. Sometimes it seems like Yukimura can only handle it when they are a group, a unit. One-on-one unsettles him after too long, except when it's Muraoka-senpai, and tennis.

"How about you just let me know if you become available?"

"Okay, I'll do that," Yukimura replies, and hangs up the phone. When he turns back around he sees Sanada with his eyes shut, his breathing deep and even. Meditating.

"Sanada?" Yukimura says. There's a long pause before Sanada opens his eyes again.

"Nothing," he replies, and though Yanagi isn't there yet Sanada thanks him silently for his constant presence.

-

title: One Point Shy of Winning
character(s)/pairing(s): Yukimura, Muraoka (OC), Sanada, Yanagi, Rikkai Regulars (OCs).
genre: pre-series, backstory, original character
wordcount: 1153
notes/summary: A series exploring the Rikkai third-years freshman year at Rikkai. Putting together a new team isn't going to be so simple.
previous: Where Do We Begin.

-

( +++++ )

title: Where Do We Begin
character(s)/pairing(s): Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Muraoka (OC).
genre: pre-series, backstory, original character
wordcount: 1323
notes/summary: Yukimura does his best to be unobtrusive when he enters Rikkaidai Junior School's Tennis Club. First in a series exploring the Rikkai (canon) third-years freshman year at Rikkai.

( +++++ )

Tezuka and Yukimura play a match. Set either after the tennis season of first year. Ship or gen, whatever you like! 440 words, originally from here (LJ)/here (DW).

-

two kings

-

"A match," he says into the phone in response to the light breathing. Yukimura never says hello when he sees Tezuka's number appear on his phone, he simply waits.

"Now?" Yukimura asks, seeing his eyebrow and the corner of his lip both twitch upwards a little in amusement as he looks into the mirror. Perhaps there is more to the mirror being above the phone-table in the hallway that just good Feng shui.

"Now." Tezuka insists, and hangs up. He did not pick up the habit from Yukimura, it simply began with him.

He still refers to them as matches, Yukimura thinks to himself, and smiles. They never keep score anymore. There is so much more to tennis than who has hoarded the most points, for them at least. They can appreciate competition and winning for the sake of being the winner, but between them they can drop those tensions and play for the sake of loving the game.

Tezuka does not wonder; he does not try to keep track of the points and surmise as to who in fact has the advantage, he does not think about whether it is safe, or right, or wise. He definitely does not think about whether this is his best play, whether Yukimura's unmatchable skill is improving him, or whether they are just wearing down one another's corners.

Languishing at the same level, honing skills, complacency; he does not think about any of it.

He sits on the bench when they are past exhausted, places his hands on his knees to keep them from knocking together. The court lights will probably be turned off any minute now. Yukimura steps across just once so that he is behind Tezuka, uses his towel to wipe the sweat away from the back of Tezuka's neck. His index finger follows its path across from right to left.

Tezuka wants to shiver, but does not. Cannot?

"Your Sternocleidomastoideus twitches a little when you aim to return a shot to the very corner on the right." Yukimura says, reaching around a little to run a finger along said muscle to see if he can get a reaction himself. "Our biology teacher is terribly enthusiastic about athletes; he seems to think we'll be fascinated by how our bodies work simply because we can manipulate them in ways others can't."

It could only have been blander if Yukimura had said something about the weather, but the sky is dark now. And if the night air holds a chill, Tezuka cannot feel it through the shiver he does release this time.

Sometimes it feels as though whatever it is between he and Yukimura, it is the most intimate thing in the world.

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/90463.html

Sanada has to tell the team Yukimura's prognosis. 484 words, originally from here (LJ)/here (DW).

-

Sick With Worry

-

Walking into a training session he has almost completely missed is one of the hardest things Sanada has ever had to do. He has slapped people for just the same thing, and he wonders if that will be thrown back at him this time. And worse, he has to explain to the team what has happened to Yukimura, and he has to do it without getting himself upset, again.

"Sanada!" Yanagi exclaims as he walks in. Everyone's eyes fall upon their vice-captain, and Sanada wishes he could just disappear. The only thing on their faces is concern, though, and he knows he owes it to them as his teammates, if nothing else, to tell them what has happened.

"So this is serious?" Yanagi asks. "Yukimura is still in hospital?"

Sanada nods. "He'll be there for a while; they're going to try different kinds of treatment. It's this stupidly rare syndrome that, as long as the patient is carefully monitored by the hospital, can resolve itself in weeks... Or years."

"Years?!"

"And there's no way to tell which of those it might be?" Jackal asks. Sanada shakes his head.

"They think it's a good sign though, that Yukimura hasn't lost the use of his limbs so far. It's just his toes, and sometimes his fingers, that are playing him up. Some people are paralysed up to their lungs and have to be kept breathing by machines."

"My God, you make it sound so serious," Niou said, pulling a face. "They don't think that will happen to the captain, right?"

"Well, it's unlikely, they think, but not impossible." Sanada says sourly. "But he's in hospital; if anything happens... He's constantly monitored. Even people who get that bad recover completely. It's just something that happens that they can't really explain. Your body attacking itself."

"I suppose it's like anything," Yanagi says thoughtfully, "if you push yourself too hard and too fast, your body finds way to make itself slow down."

"Yukimura hasn't pushed himself too hard into anything!" Sanada bursts out. He grits his teeth and looks down at the floor. "I apologize, I didn't mean to yell."

"Hey, vice-captain, it's okay to be upset," Marui says more softly than is usual for him. "We've all been sick with worry, tell him Yagyuu."

"Marui couldn't even eat." Yagyuu says with a half-hearted smile.

Sanada can't smile back, but he understands the gesture. It suddenly hits him, hard, how much love the team really has for their captain. He is so used to the idea of authority and remaining untouchable when he is vice-captain that he forgets Yukimura can leave that behind, and outside of the club, be himself. One of them. And they love him for it. They love him for him, just as Sanada does. He wonders if Yukimura knows it too, and resolves to show him if he does not.

"I'll take you all to see him, soon." Sanada promises. "As soon as we can find a good time."

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/90921.html

Set during second year, Yukimura collapses (again? This is probably set after Abridged which was the first time), 363 words. Originally from here (LJ)/here (DW).

-

Collapse

-

"How can you be so calm?!" Sanada demands at Yukimura in his hospital bed. "You just collapsed!"

"Well, it seems like one of us should be calm about it." Yukimura replies. "And you chose your position on the issue first."

"Even if I was calm about it, it wouldn't make you lose it," Sanada says almost sulkily. It makes Yukimura smile a little, despite everything.

"No, you're right," Yukimura agrees. "But I don't know anything yet, and until I know what is going on I'm in the best place; probably right now while we're talking, they're doing tests using all that blood they drew." Sanada pulls a face.

"Yeah," he says, "that wasn't fun to watch."

Yukimura laughs this time.

"No-one made you watch!" He says. "In fact, if I remember rightly, they asked you to leave the room."

"Yeah well, nobody tells me what to do," Sanada replies, folding his arms across his chest.

"You would have had to go if I hadn't requested that you be allowed stay," Yukimura points out. He doesn't find out what Sanada's reply to that is, because a doctor steps into the room and they both fall silent. He introduces himself and begins to ask Yukimura questions.

"Have you in the recent past had the flu, or food poisoning maybe? Or any minor surgery?"

"Minor surgery?" Yukimura asks in surprise. "No. I had a stomach bug a little while ago, which when I think about it could've been food poisoning... Do you suspect something?"

"We have a few alleyways to explore." The doctor replies non-commitally. "What about numbness or tingling in your fingers or toes? Or in your arms and legs?"

"I play tennis daily, for long periods at a time if necessary. A little tingling or numbness wouldn't really register to me."

"He did say he couldn't feel his legs just before he collapsed, though," Sanada says suddenly.

"I did?" Yukimura asks. "I don't remember that. I don't remember much though."

"So you can feel them now?" The doctor asks. He moves down the bed and removes the cover at the end to expose Yukimura's feet. The doctor squeezes Yukimura's big toe. "You feel that?"

Sanada looks at Yukimura when he doesn't answer immediately; Yukimura just looks thoughtful.

"Actually, I don't."

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/89960.html

281 words, set during second year. Originally from here (LJ)/here (DW).

-

Defeat

-

Their first year, although they dominate, Yukimura does not let Sanada, Yanagi, or himself raise themselves above their elders to the point of disrespect, easy as it would be. Not that Yukimura believes they would anyway; Sanada has himself invested too much in acting correctly and properly, and Yanagi is not stupid. During their second year, when everyone but everyone is well aware of who they are and what their skill level is, and they are above a good amount of members age-wise, Yukimura feels he can finally be the captain he should be.

And he can let Sanada be the vice-captain in whatever way he deems acceptable. They have built up a sort-of unspoken connection between them wherein Sanada knows when to speak for Yukimura, and when to let the captain make his prescence felt. He does this little, to make its effect lasting.

The first time Sanada attempts to lash out at a teammate for losing, it is during their own training session. Yukimura had felt the string of tension inside Sanada stretching tighter and tighter throughout the day, as had Yanagi, and so he is there well in advance to stay Sanada's hand before he can make contact with flesh.

"Sanada, this is just a practice match; someone from our own team will ultimately lose." Yukimura says slowly and precisely. "Save it for the official tournament, if necessary." Sanada takes a breath and nods.

"You mean you would've let him hit someone for losing if this was an official tournament?!" Niou bursts out. Yukimura looks over at him through narrowed eyes, and Niou begins to wish he hadn't spoken.

"I'm sorry..." Yukimura says coldly, "Did you just say that defeat was acceptable?"

-

Crossposts: http://fsop.livejournal.com/89728.html

( imagined you saw me )

Day One [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

Fealty [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

(Lack of) Discretion [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

My Rikkai Canon [Fic Masterlist]

More Than Meets The Eye [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

Pre-Monarchy [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

A Guise of Gentle Words [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

One Point Shy of Winning [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

Where Do We Begin [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai pre-canon]

Two Kings [Prince of Tennis, Tezuka & Yukimura]

Sick With Worry [Rikkai pre-canon gen]

Collapse [Prince of Tennis, second-year Rikkai gen]

Defeat [Prince of Tennis, Rikkai gen]

Profile

December 2020

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags