Quick pimp and a fic

[ciircee]

HALLOWSHONEEN

If Nino ends up at Thumbelina it is all Erin's fault. (He'd be so tiny! And cute! And Sho would be so smitten! Because omg! Tiny!Nino! Pocket-sized!Nino! O.M.G.!) Which is to say that I might or might not be writing for this contest. I DO have less than two months to do my je_holiday fic. *cue flailing*

Now for a fic I wrote in an hour! My creativity feels so weak and my desire to write, too, seems very far away. So I wrote just to write something before I have to go to work.



Re-open

They're empty and just closing up after lunch, to take a break and then to set up for their dinner hours, when the door opens.

"Sorry we're clo—right this way," Taisuke says.

"Taisuke," Koichi sighs, looking up. He can see why his brother let this last customer in; she's very pretty, with long dark hair framing a heart-shaped face dominated by big, dark eyes. Koichi is going to let her stay—and probably put her meal on the house—because of the way she looks: simultaneously hard worn thin with sorrow, yet soft and light with acceptance, relief. Koichi has seen that look before. It's his own.

Koichi turns to get a plate. "The only thing we've got warm is the hayashi rice," he says apologetically. "But it's free," he adds, setting it in front of her. She smiles just a little and Koichi can't help but think of Kashihabara and himself and the betrayal and how he lives each day and isn't 'the bereaved' anymore. He hands her the spoon.

She takes it and gasps suddenly her eyes going glassy and mirror-like. Koichi can see everything he felt in them, can see only himself in her eyes for a moment. Then she gasps again and Koichi is gone from her eyes and she's only who she is again. Then she goes ashen white and faints.

Taisuke freaks out.

Koichi fishes her out of her hayashi rice and tells Taisuke to find Shizuna. He's a little freaked out, too, but one of them has to be rational.

And really? It's the perfect time for Hagimura and Nakanishi to come in. A situation like this is always improved by the presence of law enforcement. "Taisuke, get them some hayashi rice," he instructs, still holding the unconscious girl's face out of her plate.


Shiori wakes up warm, surrounded by softness. A soft bed and sweet, soft blankets. When she turns her head there is a man sitting beside the bed with warm, soft, far-away eyes.

He's not so far away that he fails to stop her as she starts to sit up. "Ah, no, no! Nakanishi said to make you rest," he tells her.

The familiar name and concern behind the order make her comply and she lays back. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. She feels drained and full both and so, so tired.

The man smiles at her and it is sad. "Why are you sorry?" he asks. "According to Nakanishi it's my fault you're in this state anyway. I'm sorry."

She shake her head and is about to apologize for intruding when she realizes where she is. "This is your room?" Above the cute little restaurant, she remembers. The place he shares with his beloved sister and brother. The place that filled him with love and with sorrow. She remembers it all.

He seems to misunderstand. "Don't worry; my sister and Sagi dressed you." It's the first time she's noticed that she is not wearing her own clothes anymore but instead a long, pink nightgown. "We wanted you to be comfortable and they said you wouldn't want to sleep with food in your hair."

"Your sister and—?"

"Axel!"

He closes his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, you mayu-nashi, let him be!" says another male voice.

"Let go of me you nuresenbei!"

The door bangs open and a pretty woman and a pretty young man tumble in to the room.

"Sagi," says the man she knows is named Koichi even without the introduction. "My brother's girlfriend."

His brother and the woman make nearly identical shrieks of outrage. "I'm not dating this eyebrow-less girl!" says Taisuke, pointing at Sagi.

"I'd never date this soggy cracker!" Sagi says, slapping Taisuke's hand aside.

"See," deadpans Koichi.

"You two!" say a third voice and a lovely woman—who Shiori knows is 'Shi'—come in to the room, grabbing both Sagi and Taisuke by the ear. "She's supposed to be resting! Tch. And we still have to clean up from dinner. You two are on dish-duty."

Again, nearly two identical sounds of outrage emerge from the pair as they're dragged from the room.

Shiori can't help giggling just a little.

"That's good," says Koichi. He's smiling; it's just a little crooked. "If you can laugh you can eat."

He is careful as he helps her out of the bed. She's a little shocked by how unsteady she is on her feet. "Sorry," she apologizes as she sways on the spot.

"You've been out all day," Koichi says, holding her steady with a firm grip on her elbow. "That retired detective said you'd probably be out for quite a while. He said it's hard on you when it's accidental. The restaurant is closed so don't worry about the pajamas. Shi eats breakfast in hers all the time."

Despite the firmness of his grip, there is a deep gentleness in Koichi. She leans in to his hold a little more as he leads her out into a familiar little hallway and down some familiar steps. "You're happy here," she says without meaning to.

"It's different but…I guess I am," he says. They pass the kitchen where three voices can be heard bickering inside. "If you break anything it's coming out of your share," Koichi calls. The bickering increases and he sighs but he's smiling in his eyes. He smiles with the rest of his face as he leads her to a table. There's a post that blocks the view of most of the room but it seems friendly and comforting and private instead of obstructed. "Wait here."

He comes back with two plates of truly heavenly-smelling hayashi rice. "Oh," she breathes as she realizes just how hungry she really is.

"A hundred years of cooking went in to this," Koichi tells her, setting the plate in front of her. Shiori is a little cautious as she takes the spoon.


He can see the slight hesitation as she takes the spoon but doesn't comment on it. Instead he watches as she samples a small bite. He takes pride in the way her eyes widen with delight. "It's all right?" he asks for form's sake.

"It's delicious," she tells him. "Just like always."

It's the first time she's ever eaten it, he doesn't say. Instead he asks. "What did you see?" He's not really asking what she saw when she touched his spoon earlier. He knows what she saw, or near enough. He takes a bite of his own rice and waits.

Shiori looks down at her plate and he wonders how he can feel so close to somebody he's just met and with whom he's never shared a proper introduction. But then she smiles again. "A light," she says. "in a dark tunnel."

And he knows.

"Isn't it funny," he says, "how bright it is?"

Comments

[blood-opal.livejournal.com]

If you don't write Thumbelina!Nino, I will sadface at you forever.

[swan-song37.livejournal.com]

I so second that.

[flange5.livejournal.com]

I'm with the other two ^_~

You know, I've only seen one or two episodes of RnK. I really need to fix that ^^"

[clutzynew.livejournal.com]

i'm with all of them u'd better write it! >

[maiaide.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I agree. ThumbeNino needs to come into existance.

[alexiela.livejournal.com]

ThumbeNino all the way ♥♥♥(o-or Wendy!Sho and PeterPaNino XD Jun would make a very good Tinkerbell)

God, just the image of Shiori and Koichi being so cute together over Hayashi Rice is making me squee so much!

[bclar.livejournal.com]

Whoa, this is great! I have read some Maou/RnK crossovers, though those usually focused on Naruse/Koichi. But this is such a good idea, to have Shiori and Koichi meet and 'recognise' each other. I love it.