the imagination knows no bounds

New fic journal!

2006-08-15T03:56:16Z

Right so people.. this journal is like, DEAD. Head over to berrii_fics for my ficcage updates! Sorry for all the confusion and stuffs~

Three new drabbles up at the new journal :D

Er, hi again. :D;

2006-07-12T23:15:06Z

Well, this is still my fic journal, but I kinda wanted to make another one :X I'm not too fond of the name anymore so~ I certainly don't have $15 US to spend on a rename token, so I was thinking of making a new journal for my fics. *nod* All of my fics shall go there, and maybe, MAYBE keep this one for fic ramblings. If everyone is ok with that? *crings*

On another note, if I do keep this one, all my graphic-y posts have been deleted~ Yep, you've heard me. :D So sorry if your memories or whatever are going to be screwed up. For my new graphics journal (yes, I know, I've going crazy with the journals), check out berrii_graphics.

Already made a post about this, but just so you know what's going on. :D

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT~!

2006-06-03T23:14:29Z

Yo, peeps. Well, see, this was supposed to be a fanfiction only journal.. and then I got all, omgiconslayoutsotherstufflikethat, and thus, this journal full of.. stuff. Now, I'm sure that those wanting my icons only are annoyed at getting fics on their f-page, and vice-versa, which is why I created a new journal for my GRAPHICS!

berrii_graphics
berrii_graphics
berrii_graphics
berrii_graphics

If you're interested, please friend it~ Nothing much up there yet, but I'll be moving everything from this journal to that momentarily. :D Just finished the userinfo, and it is pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself. :D

Sorry for the inconvience~~~! ♥♥♥

No Words: YohAnna // Shaman King

2006-05-14T18:18:11Z

Title: No Words
Author: illeistic
Rating: PG
Fandom: Shaman King
Pairing: Yoh x Anna
Summary: Anna is slipping away.
Notes: Drabble. Kind of weird, ooc, short. XD; Yeah. I'm full of updates today, aren't I? Theme 23 of 30_smiles. I think my claim there died though.. so I'll go reclaim it. XD; I lose.

Anna always had a weak heart. She got sick easily and she knew she was too skinny and frail, no matter how she tried to hide it.

And worst still, Yoh did, too.

At least, that’s what his face told her, as they sat in the hospital room together. Yoh clasped Anna’s hand in his and looked brave for her. She was thankful.

She knew this day would come, eventually. She was glad Yoh was with her’ he always made her feel better. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. A slight smile touched her lips when his entire face brightened at her response… and then darkened again.

“Anna…” Yoh started. She shook her head. She did not want to exchange words right now.

There was a pause.

“We’re ready for you now, miss.” A doctor came into the room and nodded to Anna. Yoh’s grip on her hand tightened, but Anna pulled her hand away.

“I’ll be fine.” She said before her body shook with racking coughs. Yoh jumped up with concern, but the coughs subsided. As they always did.

The last thing Anna saw before slipping off into a forced, dreamless sleep was Yoh’s anxious but courageous smile.

Troubles: RyoSaku // Prince of Tennis

2006-05-14T17:42:11Z

Title: Troubles
Author: illeistic
Rating: G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ryoma x Sakuno
Summary: Ryoma is having a really bad day.
Notes: More crap! :D Yaay. Go Nicki. XD Uh, theme 10~ worse day. Of 15hugs. Duck story I promised: There were this family of ducks that was crossing the road, and it was backing up traffic, and this truck driver came out and stopped traffic.. and the ducks got across the road safety. XD; I'm a bad storyteller.

“There couldn’t have been a worse day.” Ryoma muttered as he trudged off the tennis court. Not only had he nearly lost (but didn’t, that was the important part), but he got a beating from it, too. His opponent was ruthless. Normally Ryoma wouldn’t have minded beating and humiliating an opponent like this, but there had to be a line drawn somewhere!
First his car hadn’t started in the morning. Then, Karupin tipped his breakfast onto the floor, so he was hungry the entire day. His library books were overdue, and he forgot to pick up a package waiting for him at the post office.

He groaned, wiping his sweaty face with a towel. Why him? Why today? All he wanted was to go home, eat some kind of food so his stomach would shut up, and nap the rest of the day away.

Ryoma packed up his stuff, took a quick shower, hopped into his (now working) car and headed for home. On the way there, however, he had noticed that he was in need of gas. The closest station was closed.

“I knew it,” Ryoma said, eyes narrowing. “Some unknown force hates me. It’s karma.”

The second nearest gas station was open, but the price of gas had sky-rocketed. Ryoma growled at the cashier, but paid the charge.

Muttering angrily, Ryoma finally made it safely home (although there was that almost-accident involving a family of ducks and a truck driver).

Screw everything else; he just wanted a nap.

Ryoma opened the door to the mouth-watched smells of cooking dinner. His wife of one year, Sakuno, greeted him at the door with a hug and a smile.

At her friendly and pretty face, Ryoma felt his troubles fade away.

“So, what’s for dinner?” He asked, stepping into the warmth of his home and wife.

Gifts: RyoSaku // Prince of Tennis

2006-05-14T17:38:47Z

Title: Gifts
Author: illeistic
Rating: G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ryoma x Sakuno
Summary: Ryoma gets Sakuno the wrong anniversary present.
Notes: Crap. XD Theme 12 of 15hugs. Theme is fur. Yeah. Short, pointless.

“Obaa-chan!” Ryuuzaki Sakuno cried. “What is that?”

“Hm? Oh, this? It’s a shawl, why?”

“But... but, it’s real fur, isn’t it?” Sakuno looked at her grandmother with wide eyes. “Some poor fox is dead because of that shawl, obaa-chan!”

“Well, my obaa-chan gave it to me when I was about your age, Sakuno-chan, and I was going to give it to you.”

“No! I don’t want it.” Sakuno frowned. “I thought you knew how I felt about fur.”

“It’s a family heirloom, Sakuno-chan.” The older woman practically pleaded with her granddaughter.

“But it’s wrong, obaa-chan!” She closed her eyes and shuddered. “It’s like… it’s like… wearing death on your shoulders!”

Ryuuzaki Sumire winced. “That’s an… interesting way of putting it.”

The younger girl nodded firmly. “Poor animals.”

Echizen Ryoma, age 27, cringed as he heard this exchange. When he had bought his wife their one-year anniversary gift, he had expected to get a hug and maybe (hopefully!) a kiss.

“I guess it’s back to that hell-hole again.” He muttered. He put the fur hat and matching scarf back into their box, grabbed the receipt and headed off to the mall.

Dictionary
obaa-chan - grandmother
__-chan - way of addressing girls, young children

False Pretenses: TamaHaru // Ouran Host Club

2006-05-07T23:00:00Z

Title: False Pretenses
Author: illeistic
Rating: G
Fandom: Ouran Host Club
Pairing: Tamaki x Haurhi
Summary: Haruhi wakes up before Tamaki does.
Notes: First fic of this new OTP! :D Hope I did well. Dedicated to.. everyone who likes TamaHaru! And everyone who I've converted ;D

There is a side of Tamaki that he does not show to anyone but Haruhi. It is his soft side, his tender side. He is capable of being gentle, contrary to popular belief.

She knows many think that Tamaki is just the brainless leader of the former Host Club, but she knows better. She knows that sometimes that side of him shows and he hastily covers it up by doing something foolish.

Haruhi smiles out the window as her eyes close. The breeze feels especially cool this morning. She likes it. She likes everything about this morning: the peacefulness, the birds chirping, and especially the soft breathing of her partner.

Her partner who slowly creeps out of bed and silently shuffles to where Haruhi is standing by the window. His arms circle her slim waist and he leans into her. Her scent overwhelms him, and he makes a happy murmur. “Good morning, Princess.”

“Good morning, tono,” she teases. For a long moment, the pair stands here, the slowly rising sun silhouetting their forms. Then Tamaki takes her hand and drags her back to bed.

Dictionary:
- tono: Lord; something Hikaru and Kaoru say to address Tamaki. (Kyoya too?)

Stranger: SP // Prince of Tennis

2006-02-04T07:44:42Z

Title: Stranger
Author: illeistic
Rating: PG
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ootori x Shishido, Silver Pair
Summary: Shishido saves Ootori from losing money.
Notes: AU. They don't know each other. Set in Australia. My second SP fic. xD; Hope you all like it. I'm considering a sequel, since this didn't have like, any fluff. Idea stolen from a K-drama, of course. Dedicated to yomigaere and everyone who put up with my SP-fangirling-ness. :D <3

Ootori Choutarou hit his head against the wall a few times before turning back to the manager. He looked frustrated beyond belief. “Stupid English, stupid Australian money,” he mumbled in Japanese.

The man behind the counter tapped a finger onto the glass surface as he waited for Ootori’s decision. “I’m willing to give five hundred dollars,” he said with his Australian accent prominently cluttering his words. Ootori wasn’t that bad with English but today had been a particularly bad day and he wasn’t up to trying to decipher the Australian accent.

“Five hundred…” The tall silver-haired man repeated in English. He twisted his lips and frowned at the man in front of him. “Do you... speak French?” Ootori’s French was near perfect, as he had spent many a summer in Paris to study music with the greats. It was a pity he had never taken the chance to learn English as thoroughly.

“French? Why would I want to even learn that language?” The manager rolled his eyes and shifted his weight, looking impatient.

“Ok, ok,” Ootori licked his lips and tapped the box on the table. “Five hundred and fifty.” His brain tried to shuffle through years of useless knowledge to find what he needed. One Australian dollar was about… 50 yen? 100?

“I’m not going to take anything less than five hundred.” As Ootori mumbled through a stream of Japanese, the cashier/assistant/whoever he was pursed his lips and looked annoyed. “Well?”

Ootori closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “One minute, please.” This really wasn’t a good day for him. Why had his parents thought that he liked that girl enough to propose to her? He didn’t really. Ootori mostly kept her around to appease his parents and keep them off his back. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like her… just not that much. Ootori was pretty sure he was gay anyways.

But why had his father brought it upon himself to go and propose? Ootori shook his head again and took a deep breath. “Fine, fine, five hundred then.” The familiar symptoms of a headache began to impose themselves upon our silver-haired young man.

About ten minutes hitherto, a lovely (by lovely, I mean hot) young man with a high ponytail of dark brown hair ambled down the sidewalk, hands shoved in his pockets and a blue denim hat slanted upon his head. He was whistling a popular tune off-key as he peered here and there for something of interest.

Of course, when something did catch our lovely Shishido-sama, he didn’t quite believe his eyes. A nice, tall, elegant-looking man stood in front of a counter, his fist rubbing his eye. He was clearly agitated. But, Shishido thought as his eyes raked the man, was he hot. Shishido Ryou walked into the jewelry story then and pretended to browse the rows of necklaces and earrings. Every so often, his eyes would flick back to the tall man who had caught his attention.

“You... you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” He asked in exasperated Japanese. “Stupid English, stupid Australian money.” Shishido’s eyebrows rose at this. He was Japanese? Shishido peered over to what they were bargaining over. It was a small velvet box of blue velvet… probably a ring. Engagement? He asked himself, disappointed. But if he’s selling, must’ve mean that didn’t work out. That picked him up a bit.

Shishido continued to listen and up went his eyebrows again. Five hundred dollars? Only? Well, he wasn’t going to let this handsome stranger get robbed. He walked himself over to the counter and picked up the box. Opening it, Shishido’s eyes went wide at the ring inside. It was quite the antique-looking ring with princess-cut diamonds surrounding the large one in the center. “You’re offering $500.00 only?” He asked the assistant, astonishment colouring his voice and expression. The man look flustered and shrugged.

“What?” Ootori gaped as another man butted into his bargaining. He needed this money to get back to Japan. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” He asked, not remembering that he was in Australia and the chances that this person would understand Japanese were slim to none.

“Saving you,” Shishido replied. “You’re trying to sell this to a foreigner for a fraction of what this is worth. You should be ashamed of yourself.” He glared at the manager.

“W-what?” Ootori repeated until something clicked. “Wait, you speak Japanese?” There was hope, relief, and exhaustion mingled in his voice.

“Yeah. C’mon, I know a place where I can sell this.” He picked up the velvet box and grabbed Ootori’s arm to drag him out of the store.

“No, wait, I need that money!” Ootori didn’t know where the shorter man was taking him or what he was even doing with him. The only reason he stayed with him, that Ootori could think of at the moment, was that he knew how to speak both English and Japanese and could very well be Ootori’s ticket out of here. Plus, his good looks didn’t hurt.

“So, uh, what’s the story behind this thing?” Shishido asked, the grip around Ootori’s arm lessened but was not gone completely. “You gettin’ engaged?”

“Sort of, not really.” The taller of the two frowned at the hand at kept the two of them together. It wasn’t as if he was going to run away; the other man had his only source of income, after all. Besides, what was he even doing with him, anyway? “My girlfriend decided she didn’t want to marry me in the end. Something about undisclosed information.”

“You got another girl somewhere?” Shishido snorted. He didn’t seem the type to do that, but you couldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Ootori blushed at that. “No, she recently found out that I was... gay.” He waited for the insults, the nasty remarks, the scathing comments, but they never came.

Shishido peered at him with wide eyes. “No shit!” He said, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Ootori looked taken back. “I’m sorry, what?” His companion only shook his head and kept on grinning.

“Here we are!” Shishido finally let go of Ootori’s arm, and for that, Ootori was thankful. It almost looked like they were… together, or something. “I’m sure I can get a decent price for this,” He tossed the box up and down in the air haphazardly and stepped into the stop with a smirk. The silver-haired man watched as the shorter man haggled and bargained with whoever was in there. Shortly afterwards, he came back out, velvet box-free and a wad of bills in his hand.

“Count ‘em. Should be about twenty hundred dollars.” Ootori’s eyes went wide with shock.

“$2000?” He cried. How much had he been willing to get for it only moments before? He thumbed through the pad of crisp fifty dollar bills and couldn’t help but smile. This was surely enough for a plane ticket back home!

“Z’at good enough?” Shishido had stuck a stick of mint-flavoured gum in his mouth while waiting for Ootori. He popped a bubble noisily.

“It’s more than enough. Thank-you.” Even Shishido, who was well aware of Ootori’s mind-numbing good looks, was taken back by the sheer intensity of his smile. For a few seconds he blinked in surprise and then his face softened with a quirk of his lips.

“No problem. But oh, wait, they need your name, number and address,” He pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and handed it to him. “By the way, my name’s Shishido. Shishido Ryou.” He held out his hand.

Ootori took it warmly. “Ootori Choutarou, nice meeting you. Thank-you again, Shishido-san.” He scribbled down on the paper and held it back to Shishido. The shorter man nodded in response. “I’ve got to be going now. I’ve got a plane to catch. That’s my contact information in Japan.” He motioned towards the piece of paper.

After the two men had said their good-byes, Shishido looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand and smirked. “Choutarou… eh?” He chuckled softly. “You’re gay? No way, me too! And it just so happens I’m going back to Japan tomorrow. Small world.”

Shishido tucked the piece of paper in his pocket and set off down the road, whistling.

--

Comments, suggestions and cookies are appreciated! :D

Notice~!

2006-01-25T20:47:35Z

Hello~! :D So since LJ made that.. subdomain change thing, I got to change my username which had an underscore (_) in front of it. Say hello to berry_love! Also, I shall be making this my icon and layout journal as well as fanfiction. Hope I don't.. confuse you or anything ^^;

Lessons: RyoSaku // Prince of Tennis

2006-01-12T21:51:02Z

Title: Lessons
Part of: 15hugs
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ryoma x Sakuno
Summary: Ryoma asks Sakuno to teach him to skate.
Notes: For Cyn-chan, my fellow RyoSaku lover! :D Merry Christmas, cynicalism~! :3 Sorry it's so late and I hope you like it! Also is theme 11 of 15hugs, nya~ Childhood! Ooc. Yes. :D

“You want me to teach you how to skate?” Ryuuzaki Sakuno said in disbelief. “You? The prince of tennis and of all sports?”
Ryoma looked away for a second. “…Yeah.”

“A-are you sure?” Sakuno, age 17, five month girlfriend of Echizen Ryoma, also age 17, looked skeptical. She had done some skating her childhood, even entered a few competitions here and there. Although it had been a while since she competed, she still went out with a few girlfriends and skated for an afternoon.

“Yeah. Will you?” Ryoma was now just a little impatient. He simply wanted a yes or a no. She didn’t have to be the one who would teach him, although he preferred it that way.

“Of course, but… why so sudden?” Sakuno’s first impression of Ryoma, other than that he was cute and knew how to play tennis extremely well, was that we was a person who never tried anything out for himself. Besides tennis, of course.

Sakuno was certain she saw just the slightest wince for her boyfriend. “Kikumaru-senpai said that I couldn’t skate.” Ryoma said. Sakuno’s second impression of the tall boy in front of her had been this: Ryoma hated to lose. Once he had been introduced to a sport, he would do everything in his power to become the best. He hated to be shown as weak.

“Ah,” Sakuno let the subject drop.

A few days later, Ryoma and Sakuno arrived at the ice rink. “Wow,” Sakuno exclaimed as she peered around the rink. “It’s as if no one’s here!”
Ryoma shrugged. “Guess today’s not one of those days you go skating.” Along with the favorable weather and brand new, highly anticipated movie that just came out yesterday, the ice rink was positively deserted.

Sakuno swiftly laced her skates and tested them out. “It’s been a while since I’ve skated.” She smiled wistfully at the rink. Ryoma caught that look.

“Go. I’ll catch up.” Sakuno glanced uncertainly at him. Wasn’t she supposed to teach him? He made a shooing motion with his hands and bent to tie his other skate.

Sakuno stepped onto the ice and pushed off with one foot. She glided easily and elegantly, weaving around the few people that were there. She lapped the rink once and made her way back to Ryoma, her cheeks flushed and a shy smile on her lips. “Ready?” The answer she received was a nod.

Together, the two stepped onto the ice, Ryoma’s hand firmly gripped in hers. One step, another… Ryoma wobbly walked around the rink.

“Now push off with one foot and glide.” Sakuno instructed, showing him with her own skates. Ryoma was doing well, gliding slowly, awkwardly. The pig-tailed girl (yes, she hasn’t lost those long braids yet) grasped his hands in her mitten-encased ones and pulled him along, skating backwards.

“I can do it.” He said, not needing her support. He glided along the ice, gaining speed as Sakuno skated beside him. He stumbled a bit, a hint of a smile on his tan face, and grabbed his girlfriend in panic. Sakuno gave a little shriek as they both fell down, Sakuno almost in Ryoma’s lap.

“R-Ryoma-kun!” She chastised. “Don’t go so fast or you’ll fall again!” Ryoma said nothing, but pulled her, skates and all, closer to him.

“But fast is the only way to go,” He told her, a light smirk ghosting on his lips. Sakuno tore her eyes away from his, two bright pink spots on her cheeks.

Ryoma stood up and then helped her up as well, wrapping an arm around her waist as they started to skate again. This time, more slowly.

Two racing kids zoomed past them, not very courteously. Sakuno tried to get out of the way and they fell again. Ryoma fell on his behind and Sakuno on her knees, face pressed into Ryoma’s chest.

Now, Ryoma was dense when it came to a lot of things, but he knew good opportunity when he saw one. Sakuno attempted to get up at this point, but Ryoma didn’t let her. He scooped the slender girl in his arms and dropped her in his lap, pressing his face into her hair.

“Ryoma-kun…?” Sakuno said, a red blush marring her clear complexion. “People are staring.”

“Let them stare.” After a few moments, however, Ryoma stood up and helped the flustered girl up as well.

“C’mon,” He said grinning. “I’ll race you.” He took off, pumping his legs along the ice, careful not to fall and wary of sharp turns.

After a split second of stunned silence, Sakuno chased after him, skating quickly and expertly. “R-Ryoma-kun! Come back!”

Around and around they went, circling the large rink many times. Sakuno was surprised at how much Ryoma had improved, but then again, he was Ryoma.

Later that evening, Sakuno kneeled on a square mat at the Echizen household, pouring a cop of steaming tea for Echizen-san, Ryoma’s father.
“So I heard you kids went skating today?” Nanjirou commented, sipping his tea and then scowling at his burnt tongue. Ryoma had excused himself to change.

“Yes, he learns things so fast!” Sakuno knew better; she merely wrapped her hands around the mug, not daring to drink the scalding liquid just yet.

“What, skating?” Nanjirou looked confused. “Ryoma’s been skating ever since he was five!”

Again, we all know our dear Ryoma was as dense as can be, but even he could distinguish Sakuno’s cry of indignation as a sign not to re-enter the room just yet.

Tendril: SP // Prince of Tennis

2006-01-10T02:13:57Z

Title: Tendril
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ootori x Shishido, Silver Pair
Summary: Shishido helps Ootori with his homework.
Notes: For yomigaere, my Shishido-san! X3; Merry (VERY) late Christmas! :D;;; First attempt at Silver Pair fic ._.

It isn’t quite fair how cute Choutarou is being. How can one person look that cute? He’s sitting at his desk doing homework for heaven’s sake! How does one look cute while doing that? But there’s something about how he bites his lip in concentration, how his forehead wrinkles as he thinks, how his eyes light up when he finds an answer to a particularly hard question that makes him look so unbelievably cute.

You watch him from the corner of your eye, pretending to do your own homework. You know though, that no homework of yours is going to be done in his presense. Soon, he feels the power of your gaze on his back and turns to look at you. You fumble, dropping your pencil and making your textbook fall off the bed you’re sitting on. You turn to look at him, chuckling nervously. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he replies with a sweet smile. You don’t say anything about how his smiles make you tingle.

“Uh,” You mumble and turn away to hide the blush that slowly creeps onto your face.

“Shishido-san?” The sound of his voice makes you snap your head in his direction. He is twirling his pen in his long musician fingers, looking confusedly at a problem in his book. “Can you help me with one question?”

You jump off the bed to help your partner, almost eagerly before telling yourself to calm down. “What subject?”

“Mathematics.” Choutarou gives you a wry smile; it is his worst subject and while it is not your best, it is one of them. You lean over him, palms firmly planted on the surface of the desk, your now-fully-grown hair dangling onto the textbook. “Shishido-san!” He says playfully, swatting it away. “I can’t read.”

“Sorry Choutarou.” You murmur close to his ear, straining your eyes to read the small text. While intent on solving the problem, you don’t notice how the silver-haired boy stiffens slightly under your arms. He swallows as he picks at a loose thread, waiting for you to finish reading.

“Ahh, I see,” You have understood the problem and are now writing down the steps for your kouhai. After a few minutes of scribbling, you observe how he is not paying attention… to anything, really.

You tilt your head slightly, hair brushing the younger boy’s temple. He flinches. “…Choutarou?” You ask quietly. Obviously something was off.

A hand reaches up and touches the tendril of hair that wound up in front of him. He touches it softly with his elegant fingers and then smiles. You can feel it, even though you can’t see it. He leans his head back into your neck and sighs slowly. “Nothing.”

Dictionary:
kouhai: underclassman

Target Practice: YoNa // Shaman King

2005-12-31T00:10:42Z

Title: Target Practice
Part of: 30_smiles
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Shaman King
Pairing: Yoh x Anna
Summary: Yoh finds an interesting stall at the market. He wins Anna a prize.
Notes: Theme 01: 'Bull's eye'. Eh, ooc? And, uh, tense.. problems. Maybe. Yeah.

Yoh and Anna were walking in the marketplace when they came upon an interesting stall. It wasn’t selling anything or promoting anything. It was merely handing out free tries to anyone who had their attention caught.

“Ne, Anna, can I try this?” Yoh asked, peering around the slightly thinned crowd. “Anna?”

She was already moving on. “Annnnna!” Yoh called whiningly.

She turned and raised her eyebrows at him. “We don’t have time for frivolous things like this, Yoh.”

He started to whine again. “Anna, it won’t even take that long! Two seconds, I swear! Just let me try it?” His eyes were pleading. Anna didn’t bat an eye.

“Try it if you must, but I’m not waiting for you.”

Yoh frowned in her general direction before returning his gaze to the stall. He walked up to the person in charge and asked for a free throw. Yoh took the small dart in his hand and squinted at the target.

“Here I go…” He muttered to himself and threw the dart. It landed right in the center. “Yes! Bull’s eye!” Yoh exclaimed, pumping his fist. “I did it. Do I get a prize now?”

The stall manager frowned at the boy with the orange headphones. “You only get a prize if you get three in a row.” He said gruffly.

Yoh paused. He didn’t want Anna to get too far ahead of him… but he did want that prize. “Ok. Give me two more darts.” Once again, Yoh threw the darts and they landed in the center. “Now can I have my prize?” He was afraid Anna would leave him.

“Well,” the manager said, looking grim. No one had ever gotten three darts in a row. “You can get this small prize,” he pointed to the palm-size toy, “or you can throw five more darts and get this medium size toy.”

Yoh looked from prize to prize. The medium prize looked a lot bigger than the small one. “Ok,” he consented. “Gimme the five darts.”

The man reluctantly gave him what he asked for. Although he didn’t want to give out any prizes period, this was a gamble. If the boy hit the five darts dead center, the larger, much more expensive prize would be his, free of charge. Yoh, of course, threw all five darts and all five darts landed right in the middle black circle that marked the center of the dartboard.

“My prize?” Yoh asked, almost desperately. Anna must be so far ahead of him now!

“Y’know son, if you get ten more darts, you can win this fabulous even-bigger-than-the-medium-prize prize!” He started to ramble and sweat. The owner would take this gamble. Surely no one could hit the center ten more times… right?

Yoh’s eyes darted from the really big stuffed animal to the direction Anna had left in. He really didn’t want to be left behind, but he really did like the bigger toy. He scrunched up his eyes and thought. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again. “Ok.” He proclaimed, making a decision. “Gimme the prize.”

As the manager reluctantly handed Yoh what he won, Yoh tapped his foot impatiently. He grabbed the toy with both hands and darted, pun not intended, after Anna. He found her, about 30 seconds later, sitting on a rock staring at the sky. “A-Anna?” Yoh looked at her in surprise. What was she doing here? After all the time he had taken, she could have been home by now.

“I was waiting for you, you dolt. Give me that.” She snatched the large stuffed animal from Yoh with a sniff.

A funny feeling spread through Yoh. “W-what?”

Anna looked down at the toy she was cradling in her arms. “Isn’t this for me?” Yoh nodded, rather helplessly.

“But... Anna?” He reached for her. She turned to him with an expectant look. He blinked at her. “Never mind.”

She clasped her hand in his and started for home, not noticing how the conversation died and slowly slipped into companionable silence.

Party: RyoSaku // Prince of Tennis

2005-12-31T00:04:45Z

Title: Party
Part of: 15hugs
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ryoma x Sakuno
Summary: Sakuno wanders out on the balcony and Ryoma finds her.
Notes: Hm, for cherrixwolf. Theme 14: balcony. OoC. Future fic. Enjoy. :D

Late at night, Ryuuzaki Sakuno stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. It was chilly that night and she hugged her arms for warmth. The crowd was loud and noisy; smoke from cigarettes threatened to choke her. Fresh air would do her some good.

Her small hands were lightly placed upon the balcony’s metal railing. Her face was turned upward and eyes closed. The soft breeze gently assaulted her face and neck. Honestly, when was her grandmother going to stop throwing these elaborate parties? She didn’t like them at all so why have them? Sakuno opened her eyes to look at the stars. Their lights winked at her, seemingly close to touch but millions of miles away.

Suddenly, just as Sakuno was drifting off again, a light touch sent her spiraling out of her reverie. Two arms wrapped themselves around Sakuno’s slender waist and a lock of hair brushed her temple.

“Don’t you think you should come inside now?” A low voice asked her.

“Ryoma-kun, you scared me!” Sakuno said jumping.

“What were you thinking about so deeply that made me scare you?” He asked her, his warm breath wafting along her ear. She squirmed slightly; Sakuno was really ticklish.

“Nothing. I was just looking at the stars.” Silence after that. She guessed that Ryoma was looking at the stars with her. Sakuno felt a faint pressure along her neck. “R-Ryoma-kun?” She gasped as he continued to kiss her.

At long last, he ceased to create that tingly sensation and those shivers that covered Sakuno’s body. “Let’s go back inside.” He whispered into her ear. Nodding seemed like all Sakuno could do. “After all,” he added with a quirk of the lips, “you only get engaged once, right?”

Notebook: GP // Prince of Tennis

2005-12-24T22:24:59Z

Title: Notebook
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Golden Pair; Oishi x Kikumaru
Summary: Eiji finds Inui's notebook in the locker room and won't leave it behind. Oishi, on the other hand, wants to leave and will resort to any measure to get what he wants.
Notes: Christmas present to cherrixwolf. Challenge words: spiders, Inui's notebook, clock. Done in under 10 minutes :D I hope you like it, Stella~!

Oishi, after staying behind to talk to Tezuka about something important, walked into the locker room expecting to find it completely empty. That was not the case however. A snicker could be heard from behind a row of lockers. Oishi was worried that perhaps a freshman or someone sneaked in and decided to find out who the culprit was.

“Who’s there?” He called, walking towards the place where the giggle sounded like it came from. “Who…” The words died on his lips. “Eiji?”

“Oh, Oishi!” Kikumaru Eiji said and hopped down from the bench he was sitting on. “Look at this, Oishi! Guess what I found!!”

Oishi didn’t really want to look but if it made Eiji this happy… he couldn’t very well deny him that, right? “What is it?” He asked, his tone just slight of exasperation.

“It’s Inui’s notebook, nya!” Eiji cried gleefully. “I don’t know why, but he left it behind! You wouldn’t believe all the sort of things he’s got in this notebook, Oishi! Let’s read it together, ne?”

“I don’t know, Eiji.” Oishi said, biting his lip. “That’s not ours and I don’t think we were meant to find it. If it was your secret diary, wouldn’t you want it to stay secret?”

“But Oishi!” Eiji whined. “This isn’t a diary or anything secret like that! This is Inui’s source of power. We can make him do all sorts of things with this! And other people too!”

Oishi still had a distrustful look on his face. Eiji sighed and flipped a few pages open. “See?” He said, pointing to a page on Momo. “Did you know that Momo was scared of spiders? Me neither! Now I can finally get him back at making me buy all those burgers for him and Ochibi!”

“Eiji, you’re their senpai. It’s your job to do that.”

“But they make me do it so often, Oishi! I don’t have any money!”

Oishi looked up at the clock. It read a quarter past four. “Time to go home, Eiji. Leave the notebook and let’s go.”

The redhead stared at his doubles partner with a look of disbelief. “Oishi, you hate his data tennis as much as I do! C’mon, let’s make him pay!”

“Eiji…” Oishi didn’t want to resort to these kinds of measure but Eiji left him no choice. Quickly, so no one could catch them, he leaned in and gave Eiji a quick kiss. Nothing too passionate. Just a quick, playful, teasing sort of kiss he knew Eiji hated. “Now will you leave?” He asked his lips still close to his partners, foreheads not quite touching. Eiji, slightly stunned nodded and followed Oishi out, notebooks and other things of lesser value forgotten.

Mistletoe Mayhem: HiroKisa // Furuba

2005-12-24T16:25:15Z

Title: Mistletoe Mayhem
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Pairing: Hiro x Kisa
Summary: Momiji has a little plan for Hiro and Kisa on this Christmas day.
Notes: Based on the rp log at sortinghat_rp with Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro. Christmas present for kaze_wind. Challenge word: pirates. Merry Christmas, Cherri-chan!!

She chose it, he was quick to admit. What he wasn’t quick to admit, however, was that he liked it. He could barely keep his eyes from the screen, so when Momiji, that little meddling bastard, came in, Hiro was torn.

“Momiji!” Kisa said delighted. “Are you going to watch the movie with us?”

The little blond boy peered at the television screen. “What’s it about?”

“Pirates.” Hiro said shortly. A look in glee flitted in the bunny-boy’s eyes.

“Wow, pirates!” Momiji exclaimed, “I love pirate movies, would you mind if I watched it with you?”

“Yes,” Hiro said, glaring at Momiji.

“No!” Kisa said at the same time, seemingly happy with having more company. “Eh?” She turned to Hiro, concerned. “You don’t want Momiji to watch the movie with us?”

Hiro inwardly groaned. Why did this always happen with Momiji? There were far too many incidents to just pass them off for coincidence; he was sure Momiji was planning them. “No, no, he can watch it.”

“Yay!” Momiji said, sitting down next to Kisa. Too closely to Kisa. “Ooh, we should invite Tohru, too! Ne, ne, Kisa? And Ha’ri, and Shigure!”

Now Hiro groaned aloud. “That’s fine, Momiji. I’m going to go then.” He got up and without another word, left. Kisa stared after him in dismay. She turned to Momiji with a question in her eyes. He shrugged in reply. She exhaled and got up as well, taking after Hiro.

Momiji, being the devilish bunny he was, of course followed. He grinned as he saw Shigure talking to Kisa right outside of the door. Discreetly, the man winked at Momiji. The blond boy’s grin grew wider.

“Hiro, wait!” Momiji called back to Hiro who was not far from the door. Hiro sighed exasperated but turned around.

“What?” Hiro asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicious while a startled look passed over his face as someone touched his back. The two, Hiro and Kisa, were pressed back to back. Kisa had somehow been moved backwards by Shigure, the grinning idiot. “Momiji…” Hiro said warningly.

Momiji just smiled and pointed up at the ceiling. Hiro unwillingly looked up, as did Kisa. The ill-tempered boy groaned and slid his hands over his face. “What is that?” Kisa asked innocently.

“Nothing!” Hiro exclaimed and jumped in before Momiji could give his own explanation. “Nothing. It’s just something Momiji and Shigure put up to decorate the house. Really.”

Just then, Tohru decided to make herself known to the family. “Momiji, Hiro, Kisa! What are you all doing here?” She addressed each of them. Shigure had escaped to somewhere safe from Hiro’s wrath. “Oh, what’s this? Momiji, is that mistletoe?”

Momiji clapped his hands together in happiness. “It is! And look who’s under it, Tohru!”

Kisa’s soft-spoken voice piped up. “What’s mistletoe?”

“When two people are under it at the same time, they have to kiss! It’s a Christmas tradition!” Momiji explained as his eyes, wide with innocence, gleamed.

“Oh.” Kisa said, a little stunned. “But then… doesn’t that mean…?” She looked a little helplessly at Hiro.

“Yup! You have to kiss each other!” Momiji chirped.

“Aa, Momiji!” Tohru said, giggling. “Let’s give them some privacy!”

Momiji turned to her with a look that said he wasn’t going anywhere but somehow, Tohru made him back down. “Finnee.” He said as if granting Hiro and Kisa a huge favour. “Tohru! Do you want to go bake some cookies?”

Once the two were out of eye and earshot, Hiro turned to Kisa with a grim look on his face. “Momiji’ll know if we didn’t do it.”

Kisa nodded uncertainly. Hiro pursed his lips, thinking about the best way to do this. He couldn’t really come up with anything and just decided to do it, hoping that Kisa didn’t hate him. The prospect of that thought was so horrifying it stopped Hiro as he began to bend his head.

What if Kisa really did hate him once he kissed her? Would she even speak to him again? What if she liked another guy? How was he supposed to cope with that?!

Kisa, ever the innocent one, didn’t know what to do. Was Hiro going to kiss her? “Ano, Hiro-kun…?” She said quietly. She watched the doubts and worries flicker in his eyes and smiled softly. “Na, merry Christmas, Hiro-kun.”

Hiro felt a light pressure on his cheek and then turned crimson. “M-merry Christmas, Kisa.” The girl smiled at him and took his hand, leading him back to the movie that started it all.

Distracted: Taiora // Digimon

2005-12-05T01:37:05Z

Title: Distracted
Is a Part Of: 30_kisses
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Digimon
Pairing: Taichi x Sora
Summary: Our newlyweds get their picture taken.
Notes: For 30_kisses. 1st theme X3 It's from a while ago, but I'm posting now. :D

“Takenouchi-san!” The man called. Sora snapped her attention back to him. He really was irritating her. Every few minutes, he would call for her again. She closed her eyes and composed herself. “Please look over here, Takenouchi-san!” This man was seriously getting on her nerves. Wasn’t she already looking at him?

A low chuckle came from beside her. “What?” She snapped.

“Don’t get angry at the photographer, dear, he’s only doing his job.” The photographer nodded at her, seemingly ruffled.

Sora resisted the urge to make a face at him. She straightened out her dress. She really hated having pictures taken.

“Smile, Sora.” Taichi murmured to his wife-to-be. “This one is going on the wall.”

Now this time Sora did make a face, just as the flash went off. The photographer sighed exasperated. “I’ll be back in five.”

“Sora, this is the fifth time you’ve done that.” Taichi gently reprimanded her.

She made another face. Taichi smirked suddenly, a mischievous look in his eyes. Sora was suddenly wary. “Taichi… what are you doing!” The last word she uttered was muffled by her fiancé’s lips. Sora closed her eyes right before she left the ‘snap’ and flash of the camera. Taichi pulled away laughing.

“Finally!” He exclaimed, pulling his bow tie loose. “The last picture!”

Sora blinked. Still slightly dazed, she wandered over to her future husband and kicked him in the shin before wandering off, muttering about coffee and chocolate.

Dictionary:
___-san: miss, mrs, mr, ms.

Teddy Bear: RyoSaku // Prince of Tennis

2005-12-03T02:22:45Z

Title: Teddy Bear
Is a Part Of: Guessing Game and 15hugs.
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: Ryoma x Sakuno
Summary: Ryoma gets Sakuno a birthday present.
Notes: For teh 15hugs comm and for cynicalism. Surprised I spelt that right. :D;; She drew me that lovely picture so I returned the favour~ It's unbelievely crappy though. :D;;;; Oh well. Sorry for tense-confusion. *stabs teh tense-confusion* ><

It was her birthday and he had no idea what to get her. Usually she would hint at a new watch or a movie she wanted to see for a while. Always large and repetitive hints because, as we all know, Ryoma couldn’t afford any less.

But this year, she had given him no hints. No squeals of how cute this was, or how she really needed a new purse. She remained silent, much to his frustration. What was he supposed to get her…?

He sighed. Really, what was a guy to do about buying a girl a present if she didn’t tell him anything? Honestly. He grumbled inwardly to himself. Because of his predicament, Ryoma took it upon himself to go to the mall and window shop for something that would even minimally appeal to her.

He shuffled down the many aisles and lanes through the mall. He wandered into clothing stores he knew she went to. He sifted through the many shoes and footwear items she might enjoy.

Nothing. He had absolutely nothing. Almost absentmindedly, Ryoma walked into a pet store. He was looking for a new toy he could get Karupin. Somewhere deep in his conscience, he reprimanded himself, saying how he should put his girlfriend first, not his cat, but Ryoma gave it no heed.

Brushes… catnip… balls with the bells inside… yarn… Karupin had all those. Hmmm, but what was this? A little toy sitting on the rack, looking ever so lonesome. It had caught his attention and now he couldn’t shake the idea from his mind. No one could go wrong with one of these… right?

A few hours later, sitting on her doorstep, Ryoma handed Sakuno a cutely wrapped (which obviously means he didn’t wrap it himself) present. She ooh-ed and ahh-ed and hugged him in happiness. Ryoma could only bask in her praise. She opened her present and peered past the tissue paper and saw… a small teddy bear.

“Ano… thank you, Ryoma-kun!” She said, smiling into the box. “I can tell you put a lot of thought into this.”

They two had a slightly conversation for a while before departing. Sakuno smiled, bemused, as she stepped back into her house. ‘Isn’t this… a cat toy?’

Dictionary
___-kun: blahblahblah, for a guy, male friend, etc, etc.

Courage: YoNa // Shaman King

2005-11-20T00:41:43Z

Title: Courage
Is a Part Of: Eternity: YohAnna
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Shaman King
Pairing: Yoh x Anna
Summary: Anna watches her son grow up.
Notes: For lankyanimelass :D I hope you like it Laura~! There may be some tense-confusion as it hasn't been betaed and I'm too lazy to re-read it. And it also might be ooc... I'm not too sure about Hana's character. Crossposted to my personal journal, yohanna_love and here. :D

It is his first day of school. He whimpers and clings to his mother and father. He does not want to go, to leave the safety and shelter of his home.

“Don’t make me go!” He cries. His parents try to console him. They try to make him see reason. He only wails and clutches onto them harder. Anna, now frustrated beyond belief, scolds her son and tells him to go to school.

“We’ll see you later.” She tells him and walks away. Yoh looks flustered and runs after his wife, while giving his son an encouraging look. Hana, his cheeks wet with tears, cries louder and tries to follow them. He stops short as his parents continue to walk away. Hana has nothing to do but go to school. Two small hands tremble as they wipe away his tears.

“Anna…” Yoh starts and touches her shoulder. “Weren’t you a bit harsh?”

Anna has her back to him and Yoh watches her raise a hand to rub her bright eyes. She looks at him plaintively. “It’s the only way for him to learn.” She says firmly, yet she clenches her fist and a worried look is in her eyes. Her lips are bitten and Yoh is worried for her.

“Anna…” He can do nothing. They walk silently home.

The days fly by and calendars are replaced. Years have passed.

“What?” Anna asks one day.

Her son answers stubbornly. “I want to go to school by myself. You don’t have to drive me there or walk me there. I’m big enough to get there alone.”

Anna blinks. “Are you sure?”

He nods confidently. She nods as well, slowly. “You may go then.” Hana smiles brightly at his mother.

“Good-bye then. See you after school.”

“Have a nice day.” Anna watches her only child walk out of their home and onto the street. She knows he knows the way there but that doesn’t help the sinking feeling she has in the pit of her belly.

After a few moments, she grabs her coat. “You should let him go.” Yoh tells her. She ignores him. He follows her outside, pausing only to lock the door on his way out. He knows she will scold him if he didn’t.

Anna watches him walk slightly ahead of her. He pauses and she does as well. He keeps walking and so she follows. Behind them both, Yoh doggedly pursues. He catches up to his wife and walks beside her, only giving her concerned looks every now and then. Her mouth twists into a half-scowl-half-frown. He wonders what is going through her mind.

At the corner of the road, Anna stops. Yoh stops as well. He waits for her to say something. He wraps an arm around her slim frame. She only watches her only son walk alone ahead. She has a wistful smile on her lips. “It was only yesterday…” She tries to explain. Yoh doesn’t need an explanation; he already knows.

Paper Stars: RenPiri // Shaman King

2005-10-31T02:11:41Z

Title: Paper Stars
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Shaman King
Pairing: Ren x Pirika
Summary: Ren's bored. He finds Pirika making paper stars.
Notes: Drabble for kaze_wind because she beat me on a meme D: She wrote a sort of sequel which you can find here. I think it's friends-locked though. :D; Challenge word: stars.

It was a normal day in the Asakura household. Yoh was doing laps, Manta on a bike beside him, and Anna was watching her soaps. Horohoro was keeping Tamao company in the kitchen (read: raiding the fridge) and Pirika was sitting on the porch, a mass of long paper strips in her lap. Ren? Ren was in the kitchen as well, getting a glass of milk.

Once said glass of milk was gotten, Ren Tao sauntered out of the kitchen in search of something to do. Horohoro also exited the kitchen but for another reason. He wanted to find his sister.

He found her outside, resting her head against the door frame, her fingers fumbling with something.

“Hey sis. Whatcha got there?” He asked.

Pirika sat up with a start. “Onii-chan! You scared me!”

“Sorry. What are you doing?”

By this time, Ren had visited the living room, closet, and bathroom without finding anything of remote interest. He wandered outside.

“So you just tuck it in here?” A loud, familiar voice called.

“Yup! And pinch the sides.” Another familiar voice. The idiotic, tree-hugging shaman and his equally idiotic, annoying sister whom he didn’t find pleasing to look at one bit.

Ren leaned on the doorframe and watched the two siblings. Horohoro was hunched over something small in his hands with a look on intense concentration on his face.

“What are you doing?” Ren asked, scorn evident in his voice.

Horohoro jumped slightly. He gave Ren a cross look. “I’m making a star.”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know they could be hand-made nowadays.”

“Not those kind of stars, Ren-kun!” Pirika voiced. She held up a small white object. “These kinds! Paper stars!”

“Oh.” He took the star from her and examined it. “It doesn’t look that hard to make.”

Horohoro grumbled, “It is.” He fumbled some more with the half-made star in his hand and threw it down, the frustration blazing in his eyes. “Screw it. I’m going to go eat something.”

Pirika looked confused. “But didn’t you just eat something, onii-chan?” Horohoro didn’t respond as he stomped away.

Meanwhile, Ren had sat down and helped himself to a paper strip. He studied the crumpled disaster that Horohoro had left behind. “I can do anything and everything he can or can’t do.” He muttered under his breath.

Pirika took notice of her guest as she turned her gaze from his brother to Ren. “Oh, you want to learn how to make them?” She asked brightly. “I can show you!”

Ren gave her a distrustful look. This was the idiot’s sister after all. “I guess so.” He said after a short pause.

“Ok!” Pirika also took a strip of paper and began showing Ren how to make a star.

Twenty minutes later and 7 unfortunate attempts later, Ren had produced a semi-star. He presented it to Pirika. “So. How is it?”

She laughed nervously. “It’s not too bad. Why don’t you practice some more?”

Ren frowned. Her pile of (fully-made) stars was much bigger than his half-made one. He squinted at them. “How do you do them so fast?” There must have been over 15. Almost a star a minute.

“Well, I’ve been making them for a while now.” She grinned at him. “You sort of develop a technique once you’ve made this many.”

“Why are you making so many?” He asked.

Pirika gave him a surprised look. “It’s just… something to do. Look at them, aren’t they pretty?”

Ren shrugged. “Whatever.” He fully knew that after he made a sufficient amount to say he was better than Horohoro, he would throw them out.

Pirika gave him somewhat of a disapproving glance, but Ren was too focused on his star to notice. His larger hands fumbled more with the minuscule star than Pirika’s did. For about the millionth time, Ren gave a grunt of frustration.

Pirika started whenever he made a noise or shuffled around. It was peaceful and silent out there with only the two of them making stars and sounds startled her.

“Ah.. Ren-kun?” She said hesitantly. He gave her a semi-angry stare. “Oh, it’s nothing.” She backed down a bit.

Another twenty or so minutes passed and it was relatively quiet when Ren slammed something down in front of Pirika. She jumped, her eyes wide. “Ren-kun?”

“There. I did it. I’m better than that stupid nature-freak.” He lifted up his hand and there it was. A little smashed, but a pretty much prefect (or as close as Ren could come to it) star. Pirika smiled delightedly.

“Ren-kun! You did it!” She didn’t comment on his description of her brother, only kept to the good part. “Although it’s a little smushed. Here. Have one of mine!” She handed him one.

Ren took it a little uncertainly. The faintest of blushes settled on his cheeks. He looked at it in the palm of his hand. It was so perfect… he grimaced at it. When he looked up again, Pirika was gone.

A little while later, Ren entered his room. As he passed by his trash can, he dug his hand into his pocket for the garbage he had accumulated over the day. Out came some lint, a gum wrapper, a folded up post-it note, a twig and two paper stars.

He stared at the stars, recognizing right away which one was his and which one (the perfect one) was Pirika’s. He fist closed upon all of it, and was poised above the garbage can. He frowned slightly and opened his fist again. Ren picked out Pirika’s paper star and threw out the rest. He placed it upon his desk with an almost wistful smile. Maybe one day, he would also be able make a perfect star like that.

Dictionary
'Nii-san: brother
___-kun: way of addressing a boy, male friend, friend close to you

Melody: Mizuki // Prince of Tennis

2005-10-31T01:50:35Z

Title: Melody
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Pairing: n/a
Summary: Mizuki listens to some classical music.
Notes: Fic for the comm nfu_challenge. Mizuki-centric, no pairing, short.

Every once in a while Mizuki would shuffle -- not shuffle, of course, but elegantly amble -- down the stairs and into his foyer. He then would sit, ever so daintly, on his pale lilac bench and turn on the stereo. Gradually, the dulcet and soothing tones of the cello and violin would fill the room. Mizuki's eyes would slowly close as a peaceful smile drifted on his lips.

He loved the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and the other classical masters. Everything was just so intricate and refined, the notes of the violin somehow contorting and changing, merging with the sounds of the cello to create something utterly breath-taking.

Mizuki sighed as the notes swirled and drooped and writhed around each other in ways he never thought possible to produce a melody as elaborate and beautiful as this.

His foot gently tapped along to the rhythm of the tune and under his breath he hummed the next notes. He listened to the song on repeat and as the notes rose and rose like doves soaring into the sky, as they fell deeper and deeper into the dark dense forest of labyrinths and mazes, Mizuki could picture each scenario within the recesses of his mind. His hands flew up and down the keys lightly, delicately, silently.

As the last few notes held and faded, Mizuki's hands came to a stop and rested upon the gleaming white and black keys of his piano. His eyes opened gingerly. His fingers were poised above the keyboard. As the notes of the song started to swell again, Mizuki's fingers pressed down into the keys and began to play.

Just Friends: EdWin // Fullmetal Alchemist

2005-10-30T23:40:48Z

Title: Just Friends
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Ed x Winry
Summary: Ed hears Winry call him a friend.
Notes: Hm, another EdWin I wrote when I was in my obsessed stage. I'm posting them all now. :D

Edward pushes in the door to the Rockbell Auto-Mail shop. He hears a creak, and steps into the dwelling lightly.

"Winry? Auntie Pinako?" He calls out.

"Ed?" A sleepy Winry comes down the stairs and greets him. "I thought you were coming tomorrow." She says.

Ed nods. "We were finished sooner than we expected."

Alphonse enters. He bows to Winry and Auntie Pinako who has finished coming down the stairs. "I'm sorry if we interupted your rest."

"Good to have you back." Pinako says. They enter the kitchen.

Late at night, Ed lies awake on his bed, and thinks. He thinks about all the recent events that has happened. He thinks about Al, Pinako, and Winry, but mostly of Winry.

Winry Rockbell. Just a girl around 15 years of age, slightly younger than himself. They have been friends for a long time now. And will be for a long time, Ed suspects, but is not entirely happy with this notion.

"Ne, Winry-chan, isn't that Ed-kun?" A girl asks.

Winry looks up from her auto-mail. "Huh? Oh yeah, Ed." She returns her attention to the arm she is polishing.

"Mm, he's pretty cute, ne, Winry-chan?" The girl continues, her feet are swinging and her eyes on the golden-haired youth.

"Er, yeah, sure." Winry is distracted by the lure of the auto-mail and is only half-hearing what her friend is saying.

"Do you have any.. ties to him, Winry-chan?"

Winry finally takes notice of the conversation. "Ties?" She asks, confused. "No, Ed is only a childhood friend."

A friend, she thinks of him. A friend. Ed doesn't like being thought of as "only a friend". But in spite of this, he is relieved that she does not think of him as a brother. A friend can turn into something more, a brother cannot.

She calls him a friend, not a brother, and that gives him hope. Edward Elric falls asleep smiling.

Dictionary
___-chan: way of addressing a close friend or small children
___-kun: way of addressing male friends

Debates: EdWin // Fullmetal Alchemist

2005-10-30T19:12:20Z

Title: Debates
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: PG
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Ed x Winry
Summary: Ed returns home one day and sees Winry wearing the same thing she always wears but something was different.
Notes: Another EdWin drabble. I was looking at some pictures, and saw the... indiscreet clothing Winry wore, and this was born :D Hope you like!

Ed returned home one day and it just took over him. Some unknown emotion that surged from the pit of his stomach to choke him. Winry was sitting outsite on the grass, one hand shading her cornflower blue eyes. In the other, was her wrench, gripped with a casual hold. Nothing was really different about her appearance. Her hair was straight and blonde, tied back with the usual hankerchief. Her pants were the same she always wore. She wore no shoes or socks, but liked to keep her toes free. But her top..

"Winry!" Ed shouted, unfamiliar with the rage that suddenly consumed him. "Get back into the house!"

Winry looked startled, and Al stared at his brother. Taken back from his orders, Winry half-rose to do as he commanded but caught herself in time.

"No! I don't have to do anything you say!" She shouted back, waving around her wrench. If it were anyone else, they would have calmed down and backed away from the wrench-branishing girl, but not Ed.

"You. Get. Back. Into. The. House." He snarled and grabbed her wrist.

"Ah, 'nii-chan," Al started, holding his hands out, his stance worried.

Winry snatched her arm back from him. "What is wrong with you?" She demanded, she planted her hands on her hips and stomped her foot.

The frown on Ed's face transformed into a scowl. "Just do as I say."

"I don't have to listen to anyone!" Winry cried, defiantly.

"Y-you!" Ed sputtered, not quite sure of what he was seeing. Was she always this disobedient? "Fine!" Ed snatched his jacket off and threw it at her. "Put it on!"

Wided-eyed, Winry did as she was told. For the first time in her life, Ed inwardly muttered.

Later, Al approached his brother carefully. "A-no, 'nii-chan, what was that all about?"

Ed scowled again. "Did you see what she was wearing?" He said harshly. "It showed -" He went slightly red and waved his hands in the general area. "Everything!"

Al made an amused noise. "Ah."

"I was just caring for her well-being, you know!" Ed cried out. "She might have been harrassed or something!"

Al nodded, humouring his brother. "Ah."

"That's it! All! I don't care about her or anything! I don't care if other guys look at her because she's wearing such damn revealing clothes! I don't!" Ed skillfully contradicted everything he had just said in his last sentence. His cheeks became redder with anger and frustration.

From the doorway, Winry looked on as the two (mainly Ed) fought. She hugged Ed's jacket to her and smiled.

Dictionary
'Nii-chan: brother

Doubts: EdWinAl // Fullmetal Alchemist

2005-10-30T15:39:38Z

Title: Doubts
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Implied Ed x Winry, one-sided Al x Winry
Summary: Al thinks about his brother.
Notes: Drabble I thought up one day. It was writting just after I started to watch FMA, so I didn't really portray the characters too well... I think it's pretty ooc for Al ^^;

One would think that being the younger brother of a National Alchemist. Alphonse Elric would be jealous. As a young child, when the two started to learn and study alchemy, one would think that Alphonse, the younger, less capable brother would be jealous of his elder sibling. Edward always made something better, something shinier, brighter, stronger. Alphonse was good, but not as good as him.

He was younger, but taller and took on the appearance of a suit of armor; many people mistook him for the Fullmetal Alchemist. Edward would tell him that he was actually the renowned alchemist, and the people’s attention would be diverted once again.

Wouldn’t someone on the outskirts of that spotlight be envious? If everyone ignored the little brother? Wasn’t he the one in the suit of armor, while his older brother had the body? His older brother could eat, and drink, taste, feel, and smell? Edward was the one in the limelight, Alphonse was the stage manager.

But Alphonse wasn’t like that. He could not help it if Edward was better than him at alchemy. Hadn’t his older brother seen the True Knowledge? Hadn’t he gone through tremendous pain? It was the price to pay for greatness, he supposed.

Alphonse could not be jealous of his older brother. His brother who always looked after him, and cared for him. He never stopped to worry about him. Alphonse was the type who genuinely happy for his brother. He had received title of National Alchemist at the age of 12, did he not? That was a great achievement, and Alphonse was truly glad for Edward.

But now, Alphonse was not so sure. He continued to stare at the two, and felt a sinking feeling in what he supposed would be his stomach.

As Edward’s arm went around Winry, Alphonse could not have said that he did not hate his brother in that instant.

Cold: HHr // Harry Potter

2005-10-29T01:34:52Z

Title: Cold
Author: Strawberry'd
Rating: G
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry x Hermione
Summary: Harry's out jogging and he thinks of Hermione.
Notes: This was for kaorien. She wanted a Harry x Hermione :3 It was written a while ago, and it's not that.. good. Also, it's not really a pairing I really like, so that affects it too.

Harry woke up with a start. It had been happening for a while now; he would go to bed around 11 and wake up early in the morning. He flung off the covers and tugged on some sweat pants. After he got up, it was hard to go back to bed. Harry didn't know what to do with all of his restless energy, so he decided to go outside. Maybe jog a little.

Exchanging his slippers (fuzzy blue kinds) for some more suitable sneakers, Harry was all ready. He opened the portrait hole and slipped outside. It was mid-May and still a little chilly in the morning. Harry stamped his feet to lose some of the shivers. He stretched for a bit and started to run around the lake.

Absentminedly, Harry watched the lake he circled. His thoughts drifted across his mind like the giant squid's tentacle across the still water, making slight ripples on top of the glass-like surface. Faces flashed through his mind's eye as recent events unfolded deep within his consiousness.

One face stood out more than the others. It was female, kind eyes, a slight smile, brown hair framing the angular face.. a wand held in one hand, and a textbook in the other. He knew that face. He knew that smile, that hair, that textbook.

They walked many staircases together, endured many classes together, finished many an essay together. Day after day, it continued into something like a routine. It was the same thing over and over again and yet, it was never boring. Something about her, about the way they could just talk about anything.

As Harry ran, his feet pounded a pattern on the ground. Left, right, left, right. The rhythm was not unlike the steady heartbeat that resounded in Harry's ears.

The steady heartbeat that always seemed to grow faster around a certain female. The steady heartbeat that boomed loudly in his ears. The steady heartbeat that Harry was always so afraid would betray him and shatter the close friendship they had.

Steady? Who said it was steady? Harry scoffed. More like a ba-bum, ba-bum. Ba-BUM, ba-BUM, ba-BUM, BA-BUM, BA-BUM, BA-BUM, and so on.

As he became more aware of what he was thinking, of what he was doing, Harry slowed down. He came to a complete stop and raked a hand through his wind swept hair. His eyes refocused again and Harry became more aware of the cold seeping into his body.

There was only one solution. Harry threw caution to the winds and closed his eyes. Immediately, images came flooding to him, sounds and sights filled his senses. Laughter, beautiful, rich laughter he had caused.

As her face gradually became clearer, a smile formed on Harry's cold, pale face. The sight of her made Harry deliriously happy.

The more Harry was aware of the cold, the more aware he was of her presense near him. The more aware he was of her presense... the more warmth filled him, until he could no longer feel the cold.

Request post

2005-10-29T00:33:31Z

If you wanted to request something from me, comment in this post. Under the cut are all the pairings and fandoms I will write for. :D

Cardcaptor Sakura
Syaoran/Sakura
Eriol/Tomoyo

Digimon
Taichi/Sora
Yamato/Mimi
Takeru/Hikari

Fruits Basket
Kyou/Tohru
Yuki/Tohru
Kyou/Kagura
Hatori/Tohru
Hatori/Kana

Fullmetal Alchemist
Ed/Winry
Roy/Riza

Full Moon wo Sagashite
Takuto/Mitsuki
Mitsuki/Eiichi
Takuto/Meroko
Meroko/Izumi

Harry Potter
Lily/James
Harry/Hermione
Ron/Hermione
Draco/Hermione
Harry/Ginny

InuYasha
InuYasha/Kagome
Sesshomaru/Kagome
Sesshomaru/Rin
Kohaku/Rin
Miroku/Sango

Prince of Tennis
Ryoma/Sakuno
Fuji/Sakuno
Ryoma/Sakuno/Fuji
Shishido/Ootori
Inui/Kaidoh
Oishi/Kikumaru
Tezuka/Sakuno
Fuji/Yuuta
Yuuta/Mizuki

Rurouni Kenshin
Kenshin/Kaoru
Aoshi/Misao

Shaman King
Yoh/Anna
Ren/Pirika
Horohoro/Tamao
Yoh/Ren
Ren/Horohoro

If you'd like to request a layout from me, please comment with the word 'layout' in the subject bar.. or somewhere in the actual comment. :D Some samples of previous layouts~~

More to come soon ^^;