Work Text:
Food Goes Bang
Prompt: left unsupervised
With apologies to my husband, who worked very hard to clean the stove. I will re-clean it and the floor 😅😅
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Shin stared.
Then, he closed his eyes and counted to 10.
He counted to another 10 just in case it helped.
It didn't.
When he opened his eyes again, tiny chunks of potatoes and vegetables were still scattered around the kitchen like they had exploded out of the pan.
Given the traces of smoke still lingering, they very well may have.
"What happened?" Shin shrieked.
Ryo, who had the decency to look horrified, hung his head. Touma, who had no decency what so ever, and had the gall to smirk, laughed and shrugged.
"In our defense, you left us unsupervised."
- End
School Rules
Prompt: Complete and utter failure
Shin and Ryo stared at Seiji, opened mouthed.
Nasutei looked horrified. Shuu was laughing so hard he could hardly stand, and Touma had lost the battlemtomremain upright and was sitting on the floor holding his sides a he gawffed.
"Seijj," Touma choked out between gawffs, "You look like a shaved cat!"
"What.... happened," Shin sqauwked, starring Seiji's short croppped hair.
Seiji glared, but hair that appeared cut by a deranged person wielding shears undercut his ability to intimidate.
Or the others simply knew him too well.
"My hair was deemed out of dress code. I had to cut it," he explained.
Nasutei, Shin, and Ryo winced. Touma and Shuu's laughter dried up.
"Oh, damn," Touma mutterd.
Shuu made a fist and glowered in the general direction of Seiji's school.
"Follow me," Nasutei said, taking charge. "We'll get this fixed and after one more year, no one can make you cut it again."
"Damn right," Seiji muttered.
-end
It Doesn't Make Sense
Prompt: Odd One Out
Blink and you miss it Seiji/Ryo
Stupid Hollywood Tropes
The plot of the movie had gone of the rails as far as Touma was concerned. He tried to keep from overthinking it as he shoved some of the buttered popcorn onto his mouth. It was just a dumb movie. But as the characters continued to be idiots, he felt agitation growing.
When the neighbor girl the lead had been crushing on showed up and hard flirted, Touma rolled his eyes. Surely they guy would realize she was the monster.
Instead, the lead invited her in and in a few moments they were making out in the kitchen. Touma snapped up two of the brownies Shin baked, but not even that could get the bad taste of the stupid scene out of his mouth.
Because of course she was the monster
He tugged his electric blanket closer and rolled his eyes at the main character.
"Oh man, who can blame him," Shuu chuckled as he absently ate on of the toasted rice balls.
Touma glanced over at him like he had two heads. "What? He was an idiot!" he protested. "He knows the monster can change shape!"
"Yeah, but did you see the shape," Shuu said appreciatively, causing Shin to laugh and agree.
Touma rolled his eyes and looked to Seiji. "Ok, back me up. He was an idiot. She wasn't that hard to resist."
Seiji flushed as he nodded, and Touma realized that Seiji was only agreeing to be polite, and could only consider ressiting because any pretty woman being that forward with him would probably horrify him into an embaressment induced coma.
"You're telling me," Shuu challenged, "That if a pretty girl you'd been crushing on acted like that, you wouldn't get dumb about it?"
Touma nodded. "My thoughts would be 'wow, she is acting odd,.this is supicious,' Not 'let's knock my appliances off the counter and make out in the kitchen right now.'" Touma rolled his eyes again. "I mean, who does that! Hollywood writers act like you just get hit by lust and wham, make out session where you stand." Touma said, continuing his rant and oblivious tonhis friends. "Seriously, who does that? It's such a dumb plot device." Touma shook his head and snorted in derision.
Ryo coughed, and Touma noticed he and Seiji exchanged odd looks, which he would have analyzed more except Shuu leaned forward and poked his chest. "You expect me to believe you have never seen one person so pretty your brain short circuited."
"You're telling me you have?" Touma challenged back.
To his surprise, each of his friends glanced at each other then nodded.
Touma felt like his stomach had bottomed out. "Uh, wait... you all have?"
"Uhh, I mean,"Shuu stammered. Touma met each of his friend's gazes with growing embaressmrnt. He had a sudden idea of what it might feel like to be a specimen under a microscope.
Not one of them found the scene odd or unrealistic at all. Just him. Something was wrong with him. He might have ridden that train further down the track, but Seiji spoke and derailed it.
"More and more we see why you are the virtue of wisdom," Seiji said softly. Besides him, Ryo smiled easily and nodded. "Yeah," He agreed. "You can out think any threat."
Shuu laughed, and Touma felt his back patted.
"Right, right!" Shuu and Shin agreed.
"You know we are probably the only people on earth who could end up against a shape shifting monster," Shin added. "So, l nominate Touma to be in charge if we do!"
"Seconded!" Shuu said, with another thump on Touma's back.
"Wait," Touma said, giving them all the "perfect angel" expression he's perfected in school. "Aren't I normally the one in charge?" He latched onto the joke to help push past the awkward feeling.
"You?" Shin laughed. "Pretty sure it's Ryo!"
"I differ to Seiji," Ryo grinned.
Everyone looked over at Seiji, who shook his head and pointed back to Ryo. Touma laughed, and the butterflies left his stomach as he did. However he may differ from his friends, that difference didn't bother them.
-end
Making a Cake
Prompt Birthday Cake:
After agreeing on their next course of action, the Troopers moved a few inches further apart. Though they hadn't moved far for their own protection-and Nasutei's and Jun's- they had mentally separated.
Shin looked up from his own thoughts and looked around . Seiji appeared to meditate;Touma and Nasutei were talking quietly to Jun, and Ryo had dozed off against Byakuen. Shuu was drawing in the ground with a stick.
Shin scooted closer over to Shuu and glanced at the dirt art.
"A cake?"
Shuu jumped and looked like he was two seconds from gut punching Shin before his familiar easy smile displaced his panick.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people," Shuu said with a half grin as he wagged his finger at Shin like a scolding parent. Shin looked at it a moment, then grabbed Shuu's finger. Shuu looked down at Shin's hand, gray eyes wide when he looked back up at Shin. Shin's eyes were wide as well as though he couldn't beleive he had done that. when their eyes met, though, they both began to laugh.
Shuu pulled his finger free and covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing too loud.
"Why'd you draw a cake?" Shin asked. Then he blinked as a prior conversation came to mind. "Oh, right, you said it was your little sister's birthday,"
Shuu nodded. Then he glanced at Shin and offered him the stick he'd been drawing with.
Shin looked at it like Shuu had offered him a live snake, curiosity, confusion, but some interest. "Why are you handing me the stick?"
"You said you liked to make cakes," Shuu said. "I figured you could make my sister a better one than me."
"You said you cooked," Shin answered, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Yeah, cook." Shuu said. "I can make really good dishes with duck, and mom says my dumplings are already almost as good as dad's," he puffed up slightly when he said that, but then deflated as he glanced at Shin. "But my baking is kinda, uhh -" he raised his hand and shook it dismissively. "On the wrong side of ok-ish," he admitted.
"Ahhhh," Shin said with a nod. "Ok then." He took the stick. "What sort of cake does your sister like?" he asked.
"She is really fond of vanilla, and the more fruit you can work in, the better."
Shin tilted his head to the side a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I got it," he declared and began to write out some ingredients in the dirt while he worked out how he was going to draw what he had in mind.
-End
Mistakes were Made
Prompt: Slow Down
Given how often Shuu dressed like he shopped at a second-hand store, and how adept he was -despite his grumbling- at household chores, and just in general how normal he was, the others sometimes forgot his family had as much money -if not more -as Seiji and Shin.
Which meant that the rare time when he made it obvious he was weel tomdo, it caught them all off guard. Like now.
"Holy Cow!" Touma said. "It's a boat!"
Shuu shook his head. "Yes, Touma." he sighed. "When I said I got a boat, what were you expecting? A hangglider?"
Ryo chuckled as he helped Seiji with the cooler and lunches Shin had packed them.
"I didn't know you meant a boat boat!" Touma said."A big boat!"
Shuu blushed. "It's not like it's a yacht, I mean, geez....it's not even that big."
"Ok, but it's a boat, and it's yours?" Touma asked, looking around as though the real owners might present themselves.
"I think that's generally how birthday presents work, Touma," Seiji laughed. "Which he said this was."
"Exactly! Now, stop gawking like you haven't seen a boat before, and get on board."
"You know, I actually haven't," Touma said.
"Neither have I," Ryo chimed in. "Not counting a ferry."
"You'll love it," Shin said. "Assuming Shuu can steer it and we don't crash into anything," he teased.
"Actually," Shuu coughed, "Shin, I was sorta hoping you might-"
<"YES!" Shin shouted. "Yes, I absolutely will!"
Later on that day, Shuu, Ryo, and Touma gripped the side of the boat as the scenery flew by.
"Shin, Slow down!" Shuu begged.
Shin instead sped up, and Seiji whooped in delight.
-End
Stand Out
A drabble based on fandom HCs of Seiji, Nasutei, and Shuu bonding over being treated like foreigners.
TW: microagressions relating to Race. This is based on.a True incidental account, please do not assume I think ALL Japanese people and/or think other cultures don't do this too *pokes my own.*
Shuu rocked back and forth on his feet, occassionaly looking to some of the others as the old lady continued to speak with Ryo.
She had pointedly turned away from the other three, but had done so in such a way that it wouldn't read as rude unless you knew Japanese mannerisms.
Which of course they all did.
Shuu debated calling her on her rudness as she continued to acknowledge only Ryo. He could think of a 100 ways to subtly embaress her. Shuu glanced at Seiji. Seiji looked slightly annoyed but resigned in a way that immediately told Shuu he was used to this too. Shuu raised raised his eyebrows, mischief in his smile, but Seiji shook his head no so sightly that only someone who knew him well would catch it.
Nasutei, though, was visibly biting her lip. She didn't look resigned. She looked like she was only restraining herself out of the desire not to alarm Ryo or Seiji and be "a good role model" for them.
Shuu gave her a similar hopeful look of mischief.
Nasutei narrowed his eyes, and the mischeif left Shuu. He was reminded way too much of his mom's "do and you will regret it soooo much later" look.
He wondered if older women got together and practiced that look.
His attention was then drawn back to the elderly woman and Ryo when he heard Ryo guessing blatantly incorrect directions.
Shuu couldn't take it any longer. "Ah, excuse me," he finally interjected as Ryo continued to babble.
The stranger looked at him somewhat startled and reluctantly turned to face Shuu.
"He's not from here," Shuu explained, forcing himself to use polite language in case one of the store workers reported back to his mom. "But I am. You need to go that way past the bookstore, then take a left, and the shop you are looking for is going to be the second on the right." He kept his smile up and pretended to be oblivious to her earlier dismissal of him and her clear surprise now.
"Oh," the old woman said, then she bowed. "Thank you." She glanced at him, and Shuu knew she was taking in the Chinese design of his shirt. "Your Japanese is very good."
Shuu fought not to roll his eyes as he wondered if she knew how long some Chinese families had been in Yokohama. He almost tried to pass off a Cantonese insult as a "thank you," but once again, remembered his mom knew too many people around here.
They all watched her leave, and then Seiji chuckled. "Yes, Shuu, your Japanese is amazingly good," he snickered. "You speak like a native."
Shuu laughed. "Right! wow. Almost like I have lived here my whole life."
"Yours too, Seiji," Nasutei chimed in. "You and Shuu speak it like you were born here!"
Seiji laughed. Then, Ryo began to apologize for the old woman, but Shuu shut that down with a wave of his hand.
"You should have let her suffer Ryo's directions," Nasutei said, shaking her head. "She'd have ended up in the warehouse district."
Shuu laughed. "I should have," he agreed. "Seiji's politeness must be rubbing off."
Seiji shook his head. "Not me. I wasn't going to to correct Ryo."
"I am sorry," Ryo said, shaking his head.
Shuu threw his hand around Ryo's shoulders. "Not your fault. It happens. A lot." Shuu shrugged. "When I was little, mom would encourage us to make funny stories out of times people thought we were foreigners. We would have contests to have the funniest story, and we'd get an extra dumpling if we won."
Seiji and Nasutei looked at Shuu.
"I wish my mom had done something like that," Nasutei said.
"My sister would just threaten to beat anyone up who treated me badly," Seiji said, looking down and slightly embaressed.
"Did she really?" Nasutei laughed.
"Man, I gotta meet your family," Shuu laughed.
Seiji blushed. "I umm it's just some of my family." He gestured to where the old lady had walked. "Can be like that," he finished in a very soft voice. "Yayoi joked I was born blonde to miss with our Grandmother's head."
Ryo gave Seiji a sympathetic smile while Nasutei put a sisterly hand on his shoulder. Shuu winced slightly, but then grinned. "Aw, I still wanna meet them, especially if your sister is as pretty as you," he said with a wink that showed he was joking. He wanted to live.
Still, Seiji tried to grab at Shuu, but Shuu danced just out of reach, laughing as he did.
Nastei couldn't help but laugh as Seiji continued to try and grab at Shuu, both of them ignoring the annoyed looks of the people around them, while Ryo inevitably apologized for his friends.
-End