Sep 14, 2024
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some stuff i like from the Q&A section with furudate-sensei in haikyuu bonus volume 33.5:
(the mountain climbing club disappeared...? it's a secret?? wh-wdym...this sounds ominous lol)
Rules: Just put 3-5 fics that you've enjoyed. the more recent the better, but that's not a hard and fast rule.
Thanks @christian-latte-anon for the tag!
"love, and how vast": A PacRim fic about the Wei Triplets' relationship from their births to the end of their lives. I've read this twice and felt like crying both times. Poetic prose with amazing imagery.
"Tanaka's Tactics": A Haikyū!! fic in which Tanaka tries to teach Tsukishima and Yamaguchi how to intimidate their opponents. Very funny; I laughed out loud a lot.
"the world can't keep us down": A Haikyū!! fic in which the Miya twins have a phone call with each other on their birthday. Sibling feels. (Heads-up: some swearing in this; spoilers for content after where the anime left off.)
(Since the original tag that @christian-latte-anon was sent was about self-reccing, here's my AO3 :) I have 3 fics (all PacRim) published there and am proud of them all!)
Tagging @artsy-dreamer
Vignettes
Rating: Gen
Summary: Snapshots of Yamayachi's life, from crushes to marriage.
[Tags: Slice of life, dialogue-heavy]
Read on AO3
Vignette #3: Cute
Note: I find the title of this vignette a bit cringey, but I guess I'm sticking with it for now. Heh. Or does anyone have a suggestion?
Eko stuck her head into the study. Her son was sitting at the floor desk with his engineering problem sets and her daughter-in-law was sitting at the taller desk, squinting at the monitor. “Tadashi. Hitoka-chan…” she said.
The two of them quickly turned to face her. “Yes, Mom?” they replied simultaneously.
“Sorry to interrupt; just wanted to say that Dad and I will be back late today, so you can have your lunch and dinner without us, OK?”
“OK, thanks, Mom,” Tadashi said.
“Have a nice day,” Hitoka-chan chirped.
Eko smiled and went to the genkan, where her husband was waiting. “Ready?” Saburou asked.
“Ready. Let’s go.”
They started to put their shoes on.
“Oh, wait,” she said, in the middle of securing her last sandal strap.
“What is it?”
“I forgot my phone. I’m going to get it.”
He sighed. “You keep forgetting your phone nowadays.”
“Sorry, sorry. I’m ageing,” she huffed, undoing all her work.
“I should put up a sign to remind us about bringing our things. Phone, wallet, keys,” he said, pretending to stick a poster onto the wall.
“Oh, maybe we should ask Hitoka-chan to make one for us,” Eko called over her shoulder as she headed back to her room.
“Good idea! I’ll wait for you in the car, OK?”
“OK.”
“Ittekimasu,” Saburou called out as he left.
Tadashi and Hitoka-chan responded from the study: “Itterasshai!”
Eko passed them on the way to her phone. She caught a glimpse of Tadashi looking at the monitor with his chin resting on top of Hitoka-chan’s head, his arms draped over her shoulders. “Which one do you like better?” Eko overheard her ask.
“They both look amazing…” Eko didn’t catch the rest of what he said.
When Eko made her way back to the genkan, now with her phone, Tadashi had returned to his work at the floor desk.
“Got it?” Saburou asked as she got into the car.
“Got it.” She pulled out the phone from her handbag to show him, then popped it back inside. Saburou smoothly pulled out from the driveway.
Eko sighed and smiled. “You know, I never would’ve thought that Tadashi would get married before Kei.”
“Me neither,” Saburou said, making a turn.
“I still remember Tadashi complaining to me about how whenever a girl came to talk to him, it was usually just to talk about Kei.”
Saburou laughed. “Oh, really? Poor thing.”
“Yes, this was back when they’d just started high school.” Propping up her face with a hand, she gazed out the window beside her. Verdant mountains rolled past slowly under a lightly clouded sky. “Tadashi and Hitoka-chan are so cute together.” She glanced at her husband. “I don’t remember us being that cute when we were young.”
“Ah…I suppose that’s just how we were. I mean, we did get married quite late,” Saburou shrugged. “But those two are still so young. And you know how Tadashi is. He gets so attached to people he likes.”
“Mm-hm."
“Well…it’s just the two of us now, so we’re practically going on a date. We can be ‘cute’ if you want.”
Eko looked at him.
And laughter spilled from her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said, “It just sounds strange when you put it like that.”
Though he rolled his eyes, Saburou chuckled. “Don’t blame me for not trying.”
When they returned home later that night, Eko and Saburou found Tadashi and Hitoka-chan sitting on the living room sofa, their arms wrapped around each other. While the TV was wide awake, flashing colorful lights onto them, their eyes were closed.
“We’re home,” Eko and Saburou said.
No response.
“I think they’re sleeping,” Saburou said.
Tadashi let out a short snore.
“They’re sleeping,” Eko said.
After removing her shoes, she padded over to her son and tapped his shoulder. “Tadashi…”
He slowly blinked awake. “Hmm? Oh, Mom,” he mumbled, straightening his posture and making Hitoka-chan move. “Welcome home.”
Hitoka-chan jerked upwards with a sharp inhale. And found her mother-in-law looming over her. She yanked herself away from Tadashi. “M-Mom, welcome home,” Hitoka-chan stammered, “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep. We had dinner and then we came here and put on the TV to relax and I—”
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Eko said, waving a hand. “You don’t have to be so shy around me, OK?”
“O-OK.”
“You were hugging Tadashi, right? You can go back to it, don’t worry.”
“Um…” Hitoka-chan started, “But we were going to—”
Picking up the two mugs that were on the coffee table, Eko said, “It’s OK, you go ahead. I’ll wash these for you.”
So Hitoka-chan inched put her arms around Tadashi’s torso. She looked at her mother-in-law with an unsure, timid expression.
Finally, Tadashi spoke: “OK, Mom, we’re going to sleep now. Goodnight!” He hooked one forearm under Hitoka-chan’s knees, hooked the other under her back and lifted. Hitoka-chan yelped and scrambled to catch her arms around his neck. Saburou burst into laughter.
“Goodnight, Dad!” Tadashi said, starting to make his way to his room. Hitoka-chan hung on for dear life.
“Goodnight,” Saburou said, still laughing.
Eko watched Tadashi and Hitoka-chan until their door closed. “So cute,” she whispered to herself, beaming.
Vignettes
Rating: Gen
Summary: Snapshots of Yamayachi's life, from crushes to marriage.
[Tags: Slice of life, dialogue-heavy]
Read on AO3
Vignette #2: Nineteen
Note: I know the spots on Yamaguchi's face are canonically freckles, but I decided to change them to acne :)
On the third floor of the Tohoku University's Electrical, Information and Physics Engineering building waited sophomore Hayashi Nobuhiko. He rubbed his face and yawned. I came here way too early. Could’ve gotten a bit more sleep. Sighing, he leaned against the wall.
“Morning.”
Huffing, Nobu cracked open his eyes. Why did Okamoto have to come just as I closed my eyes? “Morning,” Nobu grumbled.
“Eight o’clock is way too early for class, isn’t it?”
“Mm.”
“I don’t know how I managed to get up for class this early all the way from elementary school to high school with no problem.” Okamoto shuffled over to the floor-to-ceiling windows across them. “Ah, but the sakura do look nice in the bright morning light.”
Nobu frowned. “They’ve already bloomed?”
“You really didn’t notice on the way here?” Upon Nobu’s non-answer, Okamato said, “You need some coffee.”
Nobu dragged himself over to the windows and peered out. Every single sakura tree before him was in full bloom. A beautiful scene.
“I think there’s still time to go to a hanami party,” Okamoto said. “Wanna go?”
“Hmm…I’d rather go with a girl.”
“You have one?”
Nobu looked away. “No.”
Okamoto laughed. “There’s no way you can get a girl before the sakura are gone!”
Nobu clicked his tongue and turned back to the scene. “Man, I’m so jealous of Yamaguchi.”
“Huh? About what?”
Nobu pointed at a path lined with sakura trees on both sides and that led to their building. “Isn’t that Yamaguchi with a girl?”
“Huh?!” Okamoto squished his face and both palms against the window. “Where—Oh, it is!” Right there was Yamaguchi and a girl hugging his arm as they strolled. “Romantic…”
° ° °
Hitoka gazed upwards. Winter had already passed, but the white flowers against the sky looked like snow that had paused in the air mid-descent. The brilliant morning light filtering through the petals and branches reminded her of ice crystals glinting in the sun. “So pretty…”
“They’re even prettier with you, Hitoka-chan,” Tadashi said.
Grinning, Hitoka switched her position so that she was holding his hand instead of hugging his arm. With her free hand, she reached up and brushed her fingertips against the flowers.
“I normally struggle to get up in the morning, but this was so worth it,” Tadashi said. “I could even come back here tomorrow morning. Oh! We could come at golden hour to take photos of you.”
“Of me? What about you?”
He waved a hand. “No, no, I’m not pretty enough for the sakura. But you’d match perfectly, especially with that pink and white kimono you have.”
Hitoka looked carefully at him. “Are you still concerned about your acne, Tadashi?”
He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, kinda.”
“It’s actually clearing up quite well now! Just keep going with your skin care routine. You've been doing great! But you know, even if it doesn't all go away..." she said, looking at their feet, "I sort of think it looks cute on you.” She blushed.
“Really?” Perking up, Tadashi put a hand to his face.
“Don’t touch your face!” Hitoka mock scolded. He put his hand down. “And yes!”
“Well, if you think it’s cute, then I’ll do my best to keep it!” He moved his hand towards his face again. Laughing, she lightly smacked his hand away.
“Anyway, I don’t need any solo photos,” she said, “But I’d love to have some of the two of us.”
“OK, let’s take some together, then. But I still want to have some more nice photos of you to keep.”
Hitoka returned to hugging his arm. “You’re being really sweet today, Tadashi."
“I get to spend all seven days with you this week, so of course I’m happy!”
Beaming, Hitoka rested her head against him until there was only a short distance left to his destination. “OK, I should let you go here,” she said, pulling away from him—but keeping ahold of one hand.
Tadashi tucked some hair behind her ear. Hitoka melted a little at how gentle he was. “I’ll see you at lunch, then,” he said.
“Mm-hm! I’ll see you at lunch.”
Hitoka let go of his hand. Tadashi didn’t move. Huffing—but with a smile—she walked around him and pushed her hands against his back. “Come on, Tadashi. You’ve got class.”
“Can you come with me?”
“I’ve got my own workshop to go to!” Hitoka pushed more. Though her efforts barely did anything, she kept straining. They laughed.
“OK, OK, I’m going now,” he said, now going towards the building. He waved at her over his shoulder. “Bye!”
“Bye bye!” Hitoka waved until she couldn’t see Tadashi anymore.
° ° °
Just as Tadashi stepped into the corridor where his class was supposed to be, he heard an “Oi, Yamaguchi!” Okamoto and Hayashi were staring him down.
“Oh, morning!” Tadashi said. “What’s up?”
“How was it? Walking through the sakura with your girlfriend.” Okamoto smirked.
“It was nice!” With a proud grin, Tadashi added, “And Hitoka-chan’s my wife, actually.”
“You’re already so set on marrying her. That’s cute,” Okamoto said.
“No, we’re already married.”
Okamoto and Hayashi glanced at each other. They glanced at the band on Tadashi’s ring finger. Glanced at each other again.
“No way,” Okamoto said.
“Yeah, you must be kidding,” Hayashi said.
“I’m telling the tru—”
“Show us some proof,” Hayashi demanded.
“Class is gonna sta—”
“We’ve still got time,” Hayashi said.
Tadashi rolled his eyes but still pulled out his phone with a smile. “You’re unusually alert this morning, Hayashi.” He showed them his screen. “There. This is our wedding certificate.” Okamoto and Hayashi reached out towards the phone. “Hold on,” Tadashi said. Switching to his gallery app, he passed them the phone. “These are our wedding photos.”
Okamoto and Hayashi swiped through the photo album, bug-eyed. “Wow…you really did get married,” Okamoto hissed.
“Wait, you’re nineteen, right?” Hayashi asked. “Did I remember it wrong?”
“Yup, I’m nineteen.”
“Whaaat.”
“And your…wife?” Okamoto asked.
“The same.”
Okamoto and Hayashi gawked at Tadashi, who gently pulled his phone back from them. “We have to go in now,” he said, but stole a glance at his favorite photo from the wedding album.
° ° °
The photographer suggested they take some photos in a field. When they found a particularly picturesque spot, the photographer instructed Hitoka-chan to link her hands behind the nape of Tadashi’s neck, for him to place his hands on her waist and for them to gaze into each other’s eyes. They did all that except for the gazing. Hitoka-chan started to tilt her head up to look at him, but then quickly turned her head to the side, blushing.
The camera clicked.
“Ah, I wasn’t ready!” Hitoka-chan said.
The photographer smiled playfully. “I think it’s nice. Would you like to see?” She turned the camera to show them the viewfinder.
The couple looked. The anxiousness in Hitoka-chan’s face evaporated and with a dreamy smile, she whispered, “Oh, it's lovely."
Tadashi was amazed at how natural the image appeared. Cozy. Hitoka-chan’s smile had a slight nervousness to it—she was probably feeling shy about having to gaze at him so directly and in front of an audience—but it was a very familiar smile to him, and he loved it. His smile could easily be missed, but it was there. It was subtle.
The softly-lit photo looked like how a fond memory felt.
° ° °
Sliding his phone into his pocket, Tadashi strode into the classroom.
“Wait, I still have questions!” Hayashi cried.
“Let’s talk later, OK?” Tadashi said.
Okamoto and Hayashi scuttled in after him. These two fidgeted all throughout the lesson.
The three of them continued their conversation on the way to the next class. As soon as their lecturer dismissed them, Hayashi demanded to know how Tadashi got to know his wife.
“She was a manager of my high school volleyball club.”
“Man, I knew I should’ve joined a sports club in high school,” Hayashi said.
“What did you join?” Okamoto asked.
“Chess.”
“Ha! Nerd,” Okamoto said.
“Shaddup,” Hayashi snapped. Turning back to Tadashi, he asked, “So, you proposed to Hitoka-san during freshman year?”
“I proposed in the break between high school and college.”
“So early!” Okamoto said. “You were like, ‘We’re both eighteen, the legal age of marriage. Let’s go!’” He laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so!” Tadashi said. “But it was actually my best friend who suggested I propose to her after we graduated. If he didn’t suggest it, I’m not sure I would’ve.”
“You owe him big time, then,” Okamoto said.
“Yup! I owe him for a lot of things.”
“Who’s your bestie again? Do I know him?” Okamoto asked.
“You might! Tsukishima Kei.”
“Don’t know him,” Hayashi said.
“Tsukki studies here too, in the Department of Earth Science. He’s also playing for Sendai Frogs, the Divison Two volleyball team.”
“Wait.” Okamoto gaped. “That Tsukishima-san was the one who gave you the suggestion? He doesn’t seem like someone who’d…”
Tadashi grinned knowingly. “If you get to know Tsukki well enough, you’d find out he’s actually a really kind-hearted guy.”
I think you’re wearing rose-tinted glasses, Yamaguchi, Okamoto thought.
“Anyway, why the long wait?” Hayashi asked. “You proposed right after high school but only got married last month?”
“Well, our parents wanted us to finish one year of college first. They thought that starting college and getting married in the same year would be too much to manage, especially for Hitoka-chan. She studies in Yamagata.”
“Oh, that’s why I haven’t seen her around,” Hayashi said, nodding. He paused. “Wait. Then why is she here today?”
“She applied for this week-long program to work on an intercollegiate project, and she got accepted,” Tadashi proudly announced. “Touhokudai is hosting it, so she’s here for that.”
“Ohh.”
“Anyway, I also had to save up for all the marriage-related costs. My parents were putting some money aside for this, but they weren’t expecting it to be that soon. Plus, college fees, so…you know. It cost some money.” Tadashi chuckled. “I had to work part-time most days last year.”
“Aren’t you still working part-time?” Okamoto asked.
“Yup, but not as much, since I don’t need the money as urgently. Nowadays, it’s mostly just to spend on Hitoka-chan. We take turns traveling between Sendai and Yamagata to visit each other on the weekends, so the work does help cover the cost. Oh, and we're saving up for our own place in the future.”
“No wonder you’re never free,” Okamoto said. “You’re so devoted, Yamaguchi!”
Tadashi grinned. “I try my best.”
“Should’ve joined a sports club,” Hayashi grumbled.
“Hayashi-kun,” Okamoto said, “I don’t think that’s how it works.” Yamaguchi snickered.
“Shaddup!” Hayashi swung his arm at Okamoto, who dodged it with laughter.