Fandoms 18 and 19
[Title] On the Horizon
[Fandom] Sarah Jane Adventures/Akira (manga)
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Sarah Jane and her friends think they may have walked into a drama that's bigger than they realise.
"So that's this 'Akira' everyone's going on about?" Clyde said, rooting through the bowl of noodles in front of him. "I must say, I was kind of expecting someone who wasn't, like... eight."
"He is a funny little kid, though," said Rani, turning back from the window. "I mean, I don't think I saw him smile once. And he didn't exactly look like he'd spent lots of time outdoors with people his own age."
"Yeah, but nor does Luke, and he's not a superhero." Clyde leaned across the table to prod the third member of the group. "Hey, you don't have any kind of mind connection with him, do you? Like, both being grown in a lab? Could you tell if that's what had happened to him?"
Luke blinked. "How would that work? Even if he had been created in the same way I was, we'd still be two separate entities."
"Okay, never mind."
"Besides, he had a navel -"
Clyde was about to start demanding why someone who actually had an origin out of a sci-fi show couldn't engage in a bit of harmless sci-fi-based speculation, but at that point, there were footsteps outside, and Sarah Jane walked back into the small, cluttered room.
"Well, he's asleep," she said.
"Did he tell you anything?" Rani said. "Like what he was doing in a crater near the secret passage to an army base?"
Sarah Jane shook her head. "He didn't say anything."
"Maybe he doesn't speak English," Luke said.
"Maybe. But Chiyoko and Kei talked to him in Japanese and he didn't speak to them, either. He didn't seem confused, though. It was more like he... didn't have anything to say."
"You could learn from him," Rani said to Clyde, grinning.
"Did Kei tell you what she was going to do next?" Luke said.
"She's going to report back to her boss and await further instructions. We're to stay here and keep an eye on Akira."
"Babysitters?" Clyde said, glowering. "Did you tell her how many times we've saved the world?"
"Stop it, Clyde. Quite frankly, I'd much prefer us to stay inside and keep our heads down. I don't like the way this feels."
"It's just another weird kid possibly generated by aliens. We should be used to that by now." Clyde stared down into his noodle bowl, prodding the contents absently with a chopstick. "And okay, Chiyoko is kind of... terrifying, but they watched our backs before."
"No, I agree with Sarah Jane," Rani said, pushing the frayed curtain further along to look out at the smoggy, sun-soaked sky. "I don't think it's just about Chiyoko and Kei, and I don't think Akira is just another Luke. It's too... it feels like it could be really big." She twined the edge of the curtain round her finger. "Does anyone else keep thinking about that crater? It levelled the whole of the city, and they still don't know what caused it."
"Well, I'm thinking about it now," Clyde said.
"For now," said Sarah Jane, "we wait here. We'll see what happens."
[Title] Nostalgia
[Fandom] Akira (manga)
[Rating] PG
[Notes/Summary] Kaori and Tetsuo talk about school.
They sit in an empty, echoing hall. It's cold, but everywhere is always cold now. And there are blankets, other people's blankets and pillows and old sofa cushions, pulled into a nest but smelling faintly of other rooms, or mildew. Tetsuo has his arm round her, it's casually resting on her shoulders. He wants her to think that he's cool about this, that he puts his arms round girls all the time, but she can feel the way he shifts position every so often, the way he nervously clenches and unclenches a fist. He pinches the sailor collar of her shirt. "So, what was it? High school? Junior high?" She tells him junior high, and he nods. "Did you like it?" He's using his commanding Lord Tetsuo voice, snapping out the questions, like this is a job interview, or like there are right and wrong answers. Kaori finds herself not scared that he will kill her if she answers wrong, but scared that he'll start disliking her, even a little bit. She doesn't know what she did not to die. She doesn't know what she did to get him to let her stay. She doesn't know what he wants, or what he thinks he wants. Other people might think she is scared of being sent back out into the city, of having to fend for herself (her father is dead now, it's easiest to tell herself that). She's not just scared of that.
"A bit," she says. "I didn't get good grades much." She pauses to see if she's said enough, but he's silent still, so she carries on, "And people used to make fun of me because of my dad being... you know, ill. But I had some friends. Sometimes we had fun." The sun falls in a line across the checkerboard floor and through the door it glints on the water. Kaori hopes Tetsuo won't ask if she wishes she were back in that life. But he doesn't. He just says, "Yeah. Same here, really. Most of the people at school are assholes, but sometimes you could... you could have a laugh." He sounds absent, as if he's remembering whatever his school was like. Kaori wonders if things really were the same for both of them, or if he just wants to believe it. Part of her wants to believe it, too.
[Fandom] Sarah Jane Adventures/Akira (manga)
[Rating] G
[Notes/Summary] Sarah Jane and her friends think they may have walked into a drama that's bigger than they realise.
"So that's this 'Akira' everyone's going on about?" Clyde said, rooting through the bowl of noodles in front of him. "I must say, I was kind of expecting someone who wasn't, like... eight."
"He is a funny little kid, though," said Rani, turning back from the window. "I mean, I don't think I saw him smile once. And he didn't exactly look like he'd spent lots of time outdoors with people his own age."
"Yeah, but nor does Luke, and he's not a superhero." Clyde leaned across the table to prod the third member of the group. "Hey, you don't have any kind of mind connection with him, do you? Like, both being grown in a lab? Could you tell if that's what had happened to him?"
Luke blinked. "How would that work? Even if he had been created in the same way I was, we'd still be two separate entities."
"Okay, never mind."
"Besides, he had a navel -"
Clyde was about to start demanding why someone who actually had an origin out of a sci-fi show couldn't engage in a bit of harmless sci-fi-based speculation, but at that point, there were footsteps outside, and Sarah Jane walked back into the small, cluttered room.
"Well, he's asleep," she said.
"Did he tell you anything?" Rani said. "Like what he was doing in a crater near the secret passage to an army base?"
Sarah Jane shook her head. "He didn't say anything."
"Maybe he doesn't speak English," Luke said.
"Maybe. But Chiyoko and Kei talked to him in Japanese and he didn't speak to them, either. He didn't seem confused, though. It was more like he... didn't have anything to say."
"You could learn from him," Rani said to Clyde, grinning.
"Did Kei tell you what she was going to do next?" Luke said.
"She's going to report back to her boss and await further instructions. We're to stay here and keep an eye on Akira."
"Babysitters?" Clyde said, glowering. "Did you tell her how many times we've saved the world?"
"Stop it, Clyde. Quite frankly, I'd much prefer us to stay inside and keep our heads down. I don't like the way this feels."
"It's just another weird kid possibly generated by aliens. We should be used to that by now." Clyde stared down into his noodle bowl, prodding the contents absently with a chopstick. "And okay, Chiyoko is kind of... terrifying, but they watched our backs before."
"No, I agree with Sarah Jane," Rani said, pushing the frayed curtain further along to look out at the smoggy, sun-soaked sky. "I don't think it's just about Chiyoko and Kei, and I don't think Akira is just another Luke. It's too... it feels like it could be really big." She twined the edge of the curtain round her finger. "Does anyone else keep thinking about that crater? It levelled the whole of the city, and they still don't know what caused it."
"Well, I'm thinking about it now," Clyde said.
"For now," said Sarah Jane, "we wait here. We'll see what happens."
[Title] Nostalgia
[Fandom] Akira (manga)
[Rating] PG
[Notes/Summary] Kaori and Tetsuo talk about school.
They sit in an empty, echoing hall. It's cold, but everywhere is always cold now. And there are blankets, other people's blankets and pillows and old sofa cushions, pulled into a nest but smelling faintly of other rooms, or mildew. Tetsuo has his arm round her, it's casually resting on her shoulders. He wants her to think that he's cool about this, that he puts his arms round girls all the time, but she can feel the way he shifts position every so often, the way he nervously clenches and unclenches a fist. He pinches the sailor collar of her shirt. "So, what was it? High school? Junior high?" She tells him junior high, and he nods. "Did you like it?" He's using his commanding Lord Tetsuo voice, snapping out the questions, like this is a job interview, or like there are right and wrong answers. Kaori finds herself not scared that he will kill her if she answers wrong, but scared that he'll start disliking her, even a little bit. She doesn't know what she did not to die. She doesn't know what she did to get him to let her stay. She doesn't know what he wants, or what he thinks he wants. Other people might think she is scared of being sent back out into the city, of having to fend for herself (her father is dead now, it's easiest to tell herself that). She's not just scared of that.
"A bit," she says. "I didn't get good grades much." She pauses to see if she's said enough, but he's silent still, so she carries on, "And people used to make fun of me because of my dad being... you know, ill. But I had some friends. Sometimes we had fun." The sun falls in a line across the checkerboard floor and through the door it glints on the water. Kaori hopes Tetsuo won't ask if she wishes she were back in that life. But he doesn't. He just says, "Yeah. Same here, really. Most of the people at school are assholes, but sometimes you could... you could have a laugh." He sounds absent, as if he's remembering whatever his school was like. Kaori wonders if things really were the same for both of them, or if he just wants to believe it. Part of her wants to believe it, too.