Cool off, Claire! And thank you, pinch-hitters!
Due to minor confusion in the assignments sent, Claire is the lucky recipient of two.
We'd love for the all of the authors who were fabulous enough to pinch-hit for us to see this fic as also being for them.
Recipient:
decollement
Title: Overture to the Prelude of One Afternoon
Pairing/Characters: Marui/Kirihara
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Just playing with the characters; I don’t own them.
Notes: Thanks so much to R. for betaing for me even when you were pressed for time. I hope you enjoy, Claire!
Summary: An overture. As defined by dictionary.com: “(in music) a similar orchestral work intended for independent concert performance; an act, offer, or proposal that indicates readiness to undertake a course of action or open a relationship.”
Summer kind of sucked.
The weather was muggy, filling his lungs with disgustingly thick air as he sucked in breaths while playing tennis; plus, his schedule was boring as all hell: play video games until he was kicked out of the house to go play tennis, play tennis until he was kicked off the courts back to his house. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Kirihara really wasn’t sure how else the summer was supposed to waste by, anyway. There was no school, but most everybody had this or that to attend to, which drained the fun out of actually going anywhere to do something. Whatever tennis matches he could get he took up, even if it were with amateur losers on a street court.
Yesterday he got a hold of Yanagi, who was in between studying or reading or whatever the data master was doing to prepare for high school more, but today was with Marui-senpai.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” the redhead asked after their match, blowing a bubble with a fresh piece of gum.
It wasn’t like the older boy to ask him somewhere unexpectedly, and Kirihara narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why?”
Marui flicked Kirihara on the forehead and rolled his eyes. “Jackal’s off in the jungles again, and I need someone to go with me to the beach.”
“Gee thanks, senpai,” he replied caustically, shoving his tennis racket into his bag for added effect. “I’m just the back-up friend.”
“Nope, see I already asked Niou and he was busy with some family thing,” Marui corrected unmercifully, lips twitching into a grin in what Kirihara could only assume was an unsuccessful attempt to soften the blow. “So that makes you the back-up to the back-up.”
Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Kirihara flicked off the volley tensai and started walking off in the direction of his house.
“’Kay cool! I’ll let you know when we’re leaving later!” Marui called out after him.
Kirihara bit down hard on his tongue. Marui-senpai was lucky he had a crush on him.
-
In the middle of Devil May Cry 4 for the third time, Kirihara jumped at the sound of his phone receiving a text message.
The time is at hand… babe-watching awaits you tomorrow…
7:15PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Tensai-senpai ;D
…When had Marui stolen his phone? Kirihara glared at the inputted name, editing it to change back to ‘Sugar Freak’. In the meantime, the phone signaled another text.
Don’t think you’re getting out of it. You’ll crush my fragile heart. :’(
7:18PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
The only reason your heart’s fragile is ‘cause you eat too much cake
And don’t play around with my phone! D<
7:21 PM Fri, Apr 25
To : Sugar Freak
I thought you’d like it. You probably changed it to something uncreative like ‘Marui-senpai my hero’ or ‘Magnificent Marui’.
7:21 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Oh yeah. I’ll be at your house at 1. We’re taking the train.
7:22 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Kirihara frowned; Marui was too fast at texting.
Y U IGNORE ME LYKE DIS? D:
7:24 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
FINE I’M THERE
GO AWAY
7:25 PM Fri, Apr 25
To : Sugar Freak
<3 you :p
7:25 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Tossing his phone on his bed, Kirihara ignored the stupid little flutter of hope in his chest and went back to playing the game. Text messaging with Marui was lame beyond all reason.
-
The sun was really freaking hot, Kirihara decided, shucking off his shirt quickly and tossing it onto the sand next to his shoes. He chanced a look over at Marui – who by this point was bare-chested and lounging on a bright red towel that pretty much clashed with his entire being, let alone his hair – and grinned at the cool vibe the tensai was projecting despite that.
…At least it wasn’t Sanada, he recalled, who owned a tiny black Speedo that was more frightening than anything Kirihara had ever experienced in his young life.
“What are you doing?” Marui asked, raising an eyebrow above the aviator sunglasses he sported. “Sit down.”
Shrugging, the second year flopped down onto his own towel and glinted at the bright light. Why hadn’t he thought of bringing sunglasses?
“Ha! See that girl over there?” The redhead pointed in the direction of the lifeguard stand. “She looks like she was ridden hard and put back wet.”
He liked the way Marui smiled – kind of a lot. Not that he’d ever say something embarrassing like that to the older boy anyway. Heat rose to his cheeks and neck when Marui finally looked at him to see what he was doing. Rolling his eyes, he finally answered, “Yeah, nice to know what kind of girl you go after, senpai. The only kind you could get.”
Marui made a noise of indignation, whacking the tennis ace on the back of the head. “Yeah right. My type is more…” he trailed off, searching for the right girl, “that one over in the water half-way. See her?”
“The one in the purple swimsuit?” Kirihara asked, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “She’s kind of flat.”
“But she’s cute. Boobs aren’t the only thing you should look for, Akaya,” he pointed out, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Heeeh, how about that girl, if you want a big rack?” Looking to where Marui was gesturing, he saw a girl – rather, woman – that had to be at least twice their age.
“Uh, sure senpai. Pretty hot.”
The volley specialist ‘tsked’ and shook his head. “No fun at all. Live a little.”
Living, according to Kirihara anyway, would have to take a lot more than one or two attractive girls to be worth watching Marui scope out some chick’s bikini.
-
Somehow, for whatever reason Marui thought was legitimate, they were going to build a sand castle. Not just any sand castle – heck no. Marui’s voice echoed in his brain like a foghorn.
“—and it’ll be a Super Ultra-Deluxe Tensai Girl Attracting Drip Castle, plus kouhai.”
It was just them for once, the air was clear and crisp from the salty waves and there was so much to actually do at the beach, but all Marui wanted to do was look at girls and do weird things. The day couldn’t have really happened any other way, Kirihara figured.
“I really don’t feel like “attracting” girls or whatever, senpai,” he deadpanned, nonetheless getting on his knees to help Marui start the thing. Going through at least twenty girls and giving a lukewarm opinion of them all made Marui roll his eyes, but really… Kirihara couldn’t help but think that the guy he was with was better looking. Building a sand castle would have been fun, if it weren’t for the reason the older boy wanted.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Marui admonished. Kirihara watched for a moment - unsure of what Marui meant exactly - how the other tennis player scooped up the wet sand, letting it fall from his fingers to form a peak.
Copying the motion, the second year started a section of the castle on his own. “What d’you mean?” he asked eventually.
Marui gave Kirihara a Look, and rubbed his sand-plastered hand against Kirihara’s curls. “Girls look at me more than you, duh.”
Kirihara shook his head free of the sand and glared self-righteously at the redhead. “I don’t want to do this anymore, I said!”
“C’mooon, Akaya, don’t you like that ugly chick with the ruffles? She kind of looks like she’s--”
“You’re not getting it!” he burst out. Some fucking tensai he was. “I don’t want to look at those girls because I just wanted to be with you!”
“So you’ve fallen for my charms… inevitable isn’t it--”
“Dumbass! I’m serious!”
The volley specialist stilled, the teasing smile wilting off of his face. “…You really didn’t just call me a dumbass.” At the curly-headed boy’s scowl, Marui scratched his cheek and looked at the half-assed sand castle to avoid Kirihara’s expectant gaze. “But if you’re saying you like me, date-wise… me too.”
The anger and frustration he felt throughout, what seemed like, the longest day of his life melted away gradually as the younger of the two registered what Marui said. His mouth dropped open slightly and he felt his heart drop into his stomach.
“Don’t gawk,” Marui commanded, face flushing as he looked back to their castle and made another castle peak. “’Course you’d want to date me, but… you’re not so bad yourself, okay?”
Kirihara could only smirk and cackle when the Castle d’Tensai was destroyed by an oncoming wave.
-
46
The sunset dripped violets, reds, and oranges as a backdrop of the ocean, but Kirihara could hardly appreciate the scene with Marui’s hand clasped around his as they sat close together on their towels. His own hand was kind of gritty with sand, but as long as Marui-senpai didn’t care then neither did he.
The beach was emptying out slowly, and Kirihara was sure his shoulders were sunburned from the lack of sunscreen; however… there was still one person that caught his eye further down the beach.
“You better be the one taking me on the date next time,” Marui stated. “The arcade is fine, or a good food place.”
Distracted from the other person for a moment, Kirihara whipped his head around to stare at Marui. “This was a date?”
Marui only rolled his eyes in response.
“Hey, Marui-senpai…” the second year ace started asking, “did you like that girl with the no-chest ‘cause she looked like a guy? And kinda like me?”
The comment earned Kirihara another smack to the back of the head, but he was pretty sure the loss of those brain cells were worth the look on Marui’s face.
We'd love for the all of the authors who were fabulous enough to pinch-hit for us to see this fic as also being for them.
Recipient:
decollementTitle: Overture to the Prelude of One Afternoon
Pairing/Characters: Marui/Kirihara
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Just playing with the characters; I don’t own them.
Notes: Thanks so much to R. for betaing for me even when you were pressed for time. I hope you enjoy, Claire!
Summary: An overture. As defined by dictionary.com: “(in music) a similar orchestral work intended for independent concert performance; an act, offer, or proposal that indicates readiness to undertake a course of action or open a relationship.”
Summer kind of sucked.
The weather was muggy, filling his lungs with disgustingly thick air as he sucked in breaths while playing tennis; plus, his schedule was boring as all hell: play video games until he was kicked out of the house to go play tennis, play tennis until he was kicked off the courts back to his house. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Kirihara really wasn’t sure how else the summer was supposed to waste by, anyway. There was no school, but most everybody had this or that to attend to, which drained the fun out of actually going anywhere to do something. Whatever tennis matches he could get he took up, even if it were with amateur losers on a street court.
Yesterday he got a hold of Yanagi, who was in between studying or reading or whatever the data master was doing to prepare for high school more, but today was with Marui-senpai.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” the redhead asked after their match, blowing a bubble with a fresh piece of gum.
It wasn’t like the older boy to ask him somewhere unexpectedly, and Kirihara narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why?”
Marui flicked Kirihara on the forehead and rolled his eyes. “Jackal’s off in the jungles again, and I need someone to go with me to the beach.”
“Gee thanks, senpai,” he replied caustically, shoving his tennis racket into his bag for added effect. “I’m just the back-up friend.”
“Nope, see I already asked Niou and he was busy with some family thing,” Marui corrected unmercifully, lips twitching into a grin in what Kirihara could only assume was an unsuccessful attempt to soften the blow. “So that makes you the back-up to the back-up.”
Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Kirihara flicked off the volley tensai and started walking off in the direction of his house.
“’Kay cool! I’ll let you know when we’re leaving later!” Marui called out after him.
Kirihara bit down hard on his tongue. Marui-senpai was lucky he had a crush on him.
-
In the middle of Devil May Cry 4 for the third time, Kirihara jumped at the sound of his phone receiving a text message.
The time is at hand… babe-watching awaits you tomorrow…
7:15PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Tensai-senpai ;D
…When had Marui stolen his phone? Kirihara glared at the inputted name, editing it to change back to ‘Sugar Freak’. In the meantime, the phone signaled another text.
Don’t think you’re getting out of it. You’ll crush my fragile heart. :’(
7:18PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
The only reason your heart’s fragile is ‘cause you eat too much cake
And don’t play around with my phone! D<
7:21 PM Fri, Apr 25
To : Sugar Freak
I thought you’d like it. You probably changed it to something uncreative like ‘Marui-senpai my hero’ or ‘Magnificent Marui’.
7:21 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Oh yeah. I’ll be at your house at 1. We’re taking the train.
7:22 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Kirihara frowned; Marui was too fast at texting.
Y U IGNORE ME LYKE DIS? D:
7:24 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
FINE I’M THERE
GO AWAY
7:25 PM Fri, Apr 25
To : Sugar Freak
<3 you :p
7:25 PM Fri, Apr 25
From : Sugar Freak
Tossing his phone on his bed, Kirihara ignored the stupid little flutter of hope in his chest and went back to playing the game. Text messaging with Marui was lame beyond all reason.
-
The sun was really freaking hot, Kirihara decided, shucking off his shirt quickly and tossing it onto the sand next to his shoes. He chanced a look over at Marui – who by this point was bare-chested and lounging on a bright red towel that pretty much clashed with his entire being, let alone his hair – and grinned at the cool vibe the tensai was projecting despite that.
…At least it wasn’t Sanada, he recalled, who owned a tiny black Speedo that was more frightening than anything Kirihara had ever experienced in his young life.
“What are you doing?” Marui asked, raising an eyebrow above the aviator sunglasses he sported. “Sit down.”
Shrugging, the second year flopped down onto his own towel and glinted at the bright light. Why hadn’t he thought of bringing sunglasses?
“Ha! See that girl over there?” The redhead pointed in the direction of the lifeguard stand. “She looks like she was ridden hard and put back wet.”
He liked the way Marui smiled – kind of a lot. Not that he’d ever say something embarrassing like that to the older boy anyway. Heat rose to his cheeks and neck when Marui finally looked at him to see what he was doing. Rolling his eyes, he finally answered, “Yeah, nice to know what kind of girl you go after, senpai. The only kind you could get.”
Marui made a noise of indignation, whacking the tennis ace on the back of the head. “Yeah right. My type is more…” he trailed off, searching for the right girl, “that one over in the water half-way. See her?”
“The one in the purple swimsuit?” Kirihara asked, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “She’s kind of flat.”
“But she’s cute. Boobs aren’t the only thing you should look for, Akaya,” he pointed out, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Heeeh, how about that girl, if you want a big rack?” Looking to where Marui was gesturing, he saw a girl – rather, woman – that had to be at least twice their age.
“Uh, sure senpai. Pretty hot.”
The volley specialist ‘tsked’ and shook his head. “No fun at all. Live a little.”
Living, according to Kirihara anyway, would have to take a lot more than one or two attractive girls to be worth watching Marui scope out some chick’s bikini.
-
Somehow, for whatever reason Marui thought was legitimate, they were going to build a sand castle. Not just any sand castle – heck no. Marui’s voice echoed in his brain like a foghorn.
“—and it’ll be a Super Ultra-Deluxe Tensai Girl Attracting Drip Castle, plus kouhai.”
It was just them for once, the air was clear and crisp from the salty waves and there was so much to actually do at the beach, but all Marui wanted to do was look at girls and do weird things. The day couldn’t have really happened any other way, Kirihara figured.
“I really don’t feel like “attracting” girls or whatever, senpai,” he deadpanned, nonetheless getting on his knees to help Marui start the thing. Going through at least twenty girls and giving a lukewarm opinion of them all made Marui roll his eyes, but really… Kirihara couldn’t help but think that the guy he was with was better looking. Building a sand castle would have been fun, if it weren’t for the reason the older boy wanted.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Marui admonished. Kirihara watched for a moment - unsure of what Marui meant exactly - how the other tennis player scooped up the wet sand, letting it fall from his fingers to form a peak.
Copying the motion, the second year started a section of the castle on his own. “What d’you mean?” he asked eventually.
Marui gave Kirihara a Look, and rubbed his sand-plastered hand against Kirihara’s curls. “Girls look at me more than you, duh.”
Kirihara shook his head free of the sand and glared self-righteously at the redhead. “I don’t want to do this anymore, I said!”
“C’mooon, Akaya, don’t you like that ugly chick with the ruffles? She kind of looks like she’s--”
“You’re not getting it!” he burst out. Some fucking tensai he was. “I don’t want to look at those girls because I just wanted to be with you!”
“So you’ve fallen for my charms… inevitable isn’t it--”
“Dumbass! I’m serious!”
The volley specialist stilled, the teasing smile wilting off of his face. “…You really didn’t just call me a dumbass.” At the curly-headed boy’s scowl, Marui scratched his cheek and looked at the half-assed sand castle to avoid Kirihara’s expectant gaze. “But if you’re saying you like me, date-wise… me too.”
The anger and frustration he felt throughout, what seemed like, the longest day of his life melted away gradually as the younger of the two registered what Marui said. His mouth dropped open slightly and he felt his heart drop into his stomach.
“Don’t gawk,” Marui commanded, face flushing as he looked back to their castle and made another castle peak. “’Course you’d want to date me, but… you’re not so bad yourself, okay?”
Kirihara could only smirk and cackle when the Castle d’Tensai was destroyed by an oncoming wave.
-
46
The sunset dripped violets, reds, and oranges as a backdrop of the ocean, but Kirihara could hardly appreciate the scene with Marui’s hand clasped around his as they sat close together on their towels. His own hand was kind of gritty with sand, but as long as Marui-senpai didn’t care then neither did he.
The beach was emptying out slowly, and Kirihara was sure his shoulders were sunburned from the lack of sunscreen; however… there was still one person that caught his eye further down the beach.
“You better be the one taking me on the date next time,” Marui stated. “The arcade is fine, or a good food place.”
Distracted from the other person for a moment, Kirihara whipped his head around to stare at Marui. “This was a date?”
Marui only rolled his eyes in response.
“Hey, Marui-senpai…” the second year ace started asking, “did you like that girl with the no-chest ‘cause she looked like a guy? And kinda like me?”
The comment earned Kirihara another smack to the back of the head, but he was pretty sure the loss of those brain cells were worth the look on Marui’s face.