Bitter and Salt
Touya finds out a few things about what Yue likes, despite Yue’s complete cluelessness.
Touya snorted. Yue was stuck with the family, now; he might as well get used to it.
Arc: Romance
Six Examples
Takes place after the Sanada v Atobe match (manga). With some prodding from Yukimura, Sanada loosens his brain up, and finds some new techniques. Also with sex via tennis.
“I don’t care how you do it. But we can’t afford to have you paralyzed whenever someone besides Tezuka actually manages to push you.”
Polarization – Part One
Watari finally succeeds in becoming a woman, and Tatsumi finally finds out why he wanted to so badly. And why Enma is so upset about it.
Shrieks of joy coming out of Watari Yutaka’s lab caused wise Ministry employees to take swift cover.
Highlights on Black
Takes place just after Weider ends. Having made his decision, Naoji has some work getting Ludwig to see what it does and doesn’t mean.
“I will go back,” Naoji said softly. “I don’t know exactly when; I only know that I will. But until then,” he turned to face Lui. “Until then, I will go with you.”
Spiral of Time
Many years after the series ends, Naoji returns to Kuchen.
He remembered the scent of this air; it struck him far more deeply than the clothes or colors or sound of the language. The scent of large, fallen leaves and cool, slow water—he remembered this.
Palm to Palm
Mizuki comes across Yuuta practicing and they have words; and a match; and maybe another epiphany.
Using a shot that wore so hard on his body, Yuuta would never last three more years at this rate! What was the boy thinking? How was Hajime supposed to draw Yuuta back, year after next, if he went on like this?
Ace, King
Yuuta tries to decide how it’s going to be between he and Mizuki from now on.
This was the feeling he remembered, the feeling of driving right up to the edge of his strength and endurance and staring the limit down. The feeling of advancing.
Approaching Fineness
After watching Regional finals, Yuuta and Mizuki both have a new range on their goals.
Hajime smiled; observing the tournaments seemed to be doing good things for Yuuta’s awareness of the mental game. That would be useful.
Heat Imaging
Yuuta plays some with Fuji and they wind up discussing Mizuki.
And Mizuki-san looked at him differently, too, which Yuuta wasn’t going to say because he didn’t know how to describe the difference. At least not so that Aniki wouldn’t have a heart attack.
Steel and Cypress
After watching the National semifinals, Mizuki wrestles with his ambitions and fears—at least until Yuuta gives him a push.
Hajime’s mouth quirked. What a spot to put himself in, a sensible, logical person agreeing to go forward alongside this firebrand and push both of them to the edge and beyond.
Percentage by Volume
Yuuta puts some work into repairing Mizuki’s reputation among the St. Rudolph tennis club.
“I didn’t do that with any special skill or talent,” he said, flatly. “I could do it because I’ve been working my ass off, according to a training schedule Mizuki-san made.” He paused to let that sink in, and to catch his breath. “Now. Do you want to be able to do that?”
Cold Fingers and Hot Drinks
Yuuta and Mizuki train with each other over the winter and find their way toward an understanding.
Hajime’s hands were cold.
He didn’t bother telling himself it was because they were playing outside in the dead of winter. He knew better, and he did try not to lie to himself, at least.
Heart Shaped Petals
It’s graduation, and Mizuki’s intentions are finally unmistakable.
Yuuta supposed it was all sorts of good omens and stuff like that for the third years to graduate just as the sakura were blooming, but this year he felt just a little lost, watching the petals fall over everyone’s carefully pressed uniforms.
Strawberry Season
Yuuta lets himself be a little distracted by new things; his team notices; maybe Yuuta doesn’t care.
“Kaneda,” Yuuta growled, knowing he was more flushed than exercise could excuse, “they are betting on my personal life.”
The Bees and the Bees
Yuuta wants Kaneda to explain some facts of life to him.
“No.” Yuuta kicked the door shut behind him, because he really didn’t want the whole dorm hearing this. “I just… well I wondered… what it’s like. I mean what happens. When you… um.”
Polarization – Part Two
Watari finally succeeds in becoming a woman, and Tatsumi finally finds out why he wanted to so badly. And why Enma is so upset about it.
- Note: Part Two involves explicit het sex between Tatsumi and Watari; if this is not your cup of tea, you can read parts One and Three and still get most of the plot.
Watari—and he rather liked Yuma’s suggestion of Yutako, it was cute—was charmed by how courtly Tatsumi was suddenly being.
Polarization – Part Three
Watari finally succeeds in becoming a woman, and Tatsumi finally finds out why he wanted to so badly. And why Enma is so upset about it.
He suspected he’d get a lot worse than a docked paycheck if he was found out, but the tightness around Watari’s eyes and the tension of her mouth were more than he could ignore. He liked most of his co-workers, even when they were being idiots or breaking expensive things, but Watari…
Watari was the only one who laughed at him.
Cotton Sheets
Mizuki and Yuuta have some pillow-talk about the ongoing tournaments and more about names.
Once he made up his mind to something, Yuuta had no self-consciousness Hajime had been able to discover, and he seemed perfectly content to lie in bed naked and discuss tennis while Hajime’s hands wandered over him.
See and Raise
Mizuki comes to see Yuuta play; so does Fuji; a little silent competition ensues.
He’d never really taught Yuuta anything about managing people; he’d never had to.
The Evening and the Morning
Yuuta is down, after Nationals, and Mizuki prods him out of his end-of-the-world gloom.
Yuuta stopped short, looking out over St. Christopher’s courts, which they had come out at the back of. “Oh,” he said, very quietly, eyes wide.
Waiting For Dragonflies
Hiruma reflects on his team.
Hiruma takes entertainment from life however it comes.
Lignin
Loosely based on the Five Stages of Love prompt. Yukimura and Sanada, over the years.
Seiichi nodded toward the rest of the club. "What do you think?"
Sanada crossed his arms, gazing across the courts again. "I’m glad you’re here."
Sky in Shade
Before they face the last battle, Kurogane wants to settle a few things. (Since CLAMP have slacked off showing us the good stuff.)
"It’s practically a scratch, it heals right away, and it barely even hurts," Kurogane said flatly.
Fai blinked. "It… doesn’t?" His shoulders relaxed a shade.
"No, it doesn’t." Kurogane looked at Fai for a long, thoughtful moment before holding out his hand. "Come here. I’ll show you."
Ride Your Wild Horses
A final confrontation between Seimei and Ritsuka requires Ritsuka and Soubi to finally make their choices.
“I didn’t understand,” Ritsuka told him simply. “You surprised me. I didn’t understand any of this.” His wave took in the building around them and the pair behind him. “But I think… I think maybe I do now.”
Taste Your Salt Water Kisses
Ritsuka won’t move out so Soubi moves in. Everyone involved has to readjust their lives.
"Ritsuka." Soubi touched his cheek, eyes dark. "I can’t just leave you here unprotected. I can’t. Don’t ask me to, please." He was perfectly willing to beg for this, except that didn’t always work with Ritsuka. A tiny part of him didn’t think that was fair.
Easy
Hikaru is very matter-of-fact about intimacy, which is probably why it works.
"Touya, move back a bit."
Akira sighed. Shindou could get downright pushy about being able to see the board, even when Akira was just recreating games.
Homecoming
Alexiel finally returns, to the interest of all and apprehension of some—particularly Lucifer.
Belial’s estimation of Alexiel rose. Maybe this would fail to be a catastrophe after all.
The Wave that Turns the Tide
Doumeki has figured out what quiets Watanuki. Written for Porn Battle, with the prompt: Doumeki/Watanuki, hush.
Kimihiro glared at Shizuka fiercely. "You are NOT coming with me this time! Absolutely, positively, most certainly NO—"
His lecture cut off with a startled sound as Shizuka’s mouth covered his, hushing him gently. Shizuka didn’t let him go until he was breathless and leaning against Shizuka for support.
Else the Bottles Break and the Wine is Spilled
Nokoru finally figures out how to approach Suoh. Written for Porn Battle, with the prompt: Nokoru/Suoh, futurefic, "can’t seduce your best friend like you would a lady".
The problem with seducing one’s best friend, he decided, was that none of the usual methods worked. If he handed Suoh flowers, Suoh figured they were for the office and went looking for a vase and put them on Nokoru’s desk. He couldn’t very well open doors for Suoh, because Suoh felt that was his job, as Nokoru’s bodyguard.
Best not to think about the attempted candle-lit dinner. At least Akira and Utako had gotten some use from it in the end.
Coals and Ink
Rukia and Orihime have some soft, quiet moments together. Written for Porn Battle, with the prompt: Rukia/Orihime, grooming as foreplay/a sign of affection.
Rukia sighed happily as the soft brush stroked through her hair. One of the things she liked best about being assigned here, or at least about staying with Orihime, was having someone to brush her hair in the evenings. It reminded her of growing up, when the girls had saved broken combs to wash in the canal and do each other’s hair with.
Without Fear
Crossover of Petshop of Horrors and Labyrinth. D seduces the fading Goblin King into the shop. Written for the Porn Battle prompt: D/Jareth, what dreams are made of.
The shop doors never opened at random.
Kiss for a Lifetime
Anzu wants someone she can understand. Written for the Porn Battle prompt: Anzu/Shizuka, hand-holding, the very first time.
It took her a while to come to grips with it. After all, Yuugi was the sweetest boy she knew and his other self was, well, he was exciting. But the fact was, she didn’t understand them, any of them, and she wasn’t at all sure that Duelists understood normal people, either.
Wind is on the Face of the Water
Just after their arrival in Nihon, Tomoyo-hime prompts Fai to get his head sorted out about Kurogane.
"Since when…" he whispered, not expecting an answer even if Kurogane had been awake.
And so he started when Tomoyo-hime murmured, "Probably since the very beginning."
Rain on the Mountain
TYL Hibari and Yamamoto in a tranquil moment.
Feet move softly over the mats of his private rooms, and he listens to them come, leaning in the open screens and looking out onto his small, private garden.
Off-label Use
Dino is reading up on Japanese history and culture, and finds just the thing to provoke Hibari with.
Note: This will be funniest if you’ve read any of the Edo period reams of love-advice for samurai, though it should make sense even if you haven’t. If you haven’t I quite recommend them, they’re very entertaining.
Dino sat cross-legged on Kyouya’s couch, reading down a page in his book and ticking things off with a highlighter.
Five years whole-hearted devotion, check. Kyouya certainly didn’t leave much room for anything else, at least if a person wanted to live on with all his bones intact.
Choice and Necessity
Fai and Kurogane get to have their cake fangs and eat with them too. Written for the promt: Kurogane/Fai, an ideal ending.
Kurogane frowned. "I thought that was supposed to go away when you got your magic back."
Fai prodded a still-sharp tooth with his tongue. "It doesn’t seem to have."
Time-lapse
Post-canon. Yukimura has recovered and Fuji has left tennis. They cross paths over art and weave a new acquaintance.
"What are you thinking?"
It was not the kind of question Seiichi expected to hear out of the blue, but he recognized this voice and so it surprised him less. "Fuji."
A Brighter Shade of Red
Crossover of Saiunkoku Monogatari and Fushigi Yuugi. Shuurei has a friend and advisor who is apart from the capital’s politics; Yui has a place for her abilities and a lover who reminds her of them.
Yui curled up on the bed, one hand propping up her head, and watched Shuurei pace the room, sleeping robe fluttering around her ankles.
"And then! And then! He said we couldn’t do anything about Haruki, even if he is taking bribes, because he has a patron from the Heki clan, and I should know that the Heki are going to be the deciding voice in the land redistribution this year!" Her brown eyes snapped like sparks; Yui felt she might warm her hands at that fire of Shuurei’s, melt the ice out of her bones, where it had settled years ago.
They Also Serve
Kyouko and Haru deal with Family (and family) politics. This fic was originally written for the first round of khr_undercover and has been revised from the originally-posted version, mostly for the sake of development and expanding a few things.
The first day of her official duty as Sawada Kyouko’s personal bodyguard was nothing like I-Pin had imagined it would be.
Gray Willow Catkins
Yamamoto decides Gokudera is broken and needs to be fixed. It takes a while to find the right opening.
Gokudera’s constant growling had always kind of amused him, and he admitted that every now and then he sort of poked Gokudera just to get him going. Like playing with a cat; a few scratches were fair trade for getting to watch it flail at you. Actually, Gokudera reminded him a lot of a cat, sometimes, a feral cat that would only let one person pet him without biting, and that person was Tsuna. Even when they’d just met it had made Takeshi wonder a little how often Gokudera must have gotten kicked, to be that way, and now he was wondering more seriously.
Body Language
Gokudera’s trust issues are Yamamoto’s new hobby; he has his work cut out for him.
"Delivery!" Takeshi called, cheerfully, banging on Gokudera’s door. It took a few minutes for Gokudera to answer the door, and another for him to finish staring in disbelief.
"What are you doing?"
"Bringing you dinner." Takeshi dangled the bag of carryout from raised fingers.
Comfort Food
Gokudera is sick and being stubborn, and Yamamoto decides to step in.
Warning: May cause tooth decay. To prevent cavities, brush thoroughly after every reading.
"’mb fide," Gokudera muttered around his wad of handkerchief. It hadn’t moved far all day, but when it had his nose had looked absolutely raw. "Not goig to slack off by job ’cause of a code."
Takeshi sighed and made a note to himself that Gokudera got more stubborn and foul-tempered when he was sick. He wouldn’t have thought it was possible if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.
Some Sweet Day
After a hard workout, some privacy finally leads Gokudera and Yamamoto to a significant intimacy. Takes place some time between Comfort Food and Going Back Someday.
Gokudera hissed when he tried to reach his back with the sponge and Takeshi looked up from rinsing his hair and shook his head at the black and blue starting across Gokudera’s ribs and shoulders. "You’re going to have a lot of bruises."
"Yeah, I got that part," Gokudera grumbled, twisting gingerly on the bath stool.
Festivity
A person can learn all sorts of useful, interesting things by eavesdropping. Takes place early on in The Queen and All Her Men.
Kyouya supposed that it was all well and good that Sawada’s cub had survived another year. Given the general atmosphere in which she’d done it, he even supposed that he could understand commemorating the accomplishment. What no one had been able to explain (to his satisfaction, at any rate) was why doing so involved filling the south garden with every squalling mafioso brat from one to ten years old, and why he was required to attend.
Three Things that Might Have Happened to Xanxus
A spin-off from Lys ap Adin’s AU "Five Things that Never Happened to Xanxus" (read that first). What if Federico had lived and Squalo’s duel with Tyr had happened on schedule? What would happen then? And how would Tsuna come into it?
Promotion, in the Varia, happened when a squad leader decided it was about time, or else when the person wanting promotion decided it was about time. The two usually balanced out. The question of who would lead the Varia, though, wasn’t left up to anyone but the one who led already and the one who wanted to.
Happily Ever After
Companion to Lys ap Adin’s "Bloodsport"; a series of linked shorts that follows Gokudera, Yamamoto and Tsuna after the end. Lots of fang-sex, a bit of humor, and a smidge of crack thrown in at the end.
There was always the risk, when the doorbell rang after dark these days, that it would be another thrilling moment of flight come calling, so Hayato was already scowling when he opened the door. It was good to get off on the right foot. What stood there tonight wasn’t an invitation to airsickness, but the scowl didn’t go to waste.
Archimedes’ Lever – Two
Squalo bonds with Xanxus, and none too soon as Xanxus finds out some things the Ninth had kept from him.
Squalo strolled around the edges of the wedding crowd beside Xanxus, keeping an eye out for any unattended cake they could nail down. He didn’t have all that much of a sweet tooth personally, but it was a way of keeping score among the kids. After all, twelve year olds couldn’t rack up kills yet, or negotiations concluded in their Family’s favor.
Omiai
In the universe where Xanxus is the Tenth, what happens to Tsuna and his friends?
Tsuna stood in the shade of the small ‘control tower’ building and watched as a sleek private jet rolled to a stop, and tried not to fidget.
"Why did the Tenth have to come here?" he asked Reborn one more time. "I haven’t even graduated from high school yet!"
"Because he’s the one you’ll serve when Iemitsu retires and you take over CEDEF," Reborn told him. "It’s about time you met each other. Quit complaining."
"Who said I was going to take over CEDEF?" Tsuna muttered, more out of habit than hope at this point.
"I did."
Two Birds
Mari has to deal with choosing a husband and an outside advisor. The one actually solves the other.
Mari shifted her bag of pastries to her other hand and rapped on the door. When Fedele opened it she stomped inside, declaring, "Men!"
"I noticed," he said dryly.
Sweet and Spicy
Touya keeps trying to draw Yue out, and Yue wrestles with his fear of losing again.
Touya was enjoying a very nice afternoon, lying on the couch with a book in one hand and Yuki dozing against his chest. Yuki had finished his writing for the day, making three chapters of his second novel to send along to his agent tomorrow. The day was just cool enough to make Yuki’s warm weight feel extra nice. In fact, it was just about a perfect afternoon.
So of course it was interrupted.