[fic] Blaze, Shiseiten-and-Hotaru-centric, G
Title: Blaze
Author: xskadi
Pairing: Hotaru/Akari, Akari/Kyo, Kyo/Hotaru (...not all at the same time.)
Rating: G
Summary: Hotaru, the Four Emperors, Kyo, and little moments that make the world go 'round.
Notes: This is the kind of fic that might pass as gen if it weren't so slashy. Or something. I'm a wuss. *fidgets* *throws salt on her plotbunnies* This is also the kind of fic that is made up of a bunch of disjointed, little, sentimental bits.
...the Hotaru in this fic is very "Orihime." You have been warned.
i. so shaken as we are
Somewhere in the bushes behind them, that Akira kid is puking his guts out, but Hotaru can't bring himself to be concerned. If the kid wants to be one of the Three Emperors, he has to grow up, and part of growing up is learning how not to lose your lunch after the battle's adrenaline rush wears off.
Kyo is similarly (or so it seems, but something in his aura gives him away: Akira is his personal prodigy, and it reflects badly on him if he can't stomach killing people) unconcerned, but Bontenmaru keeps throwing concerned glances (he's such a mother hen) over his shoulder.
Finally, Bontenmaru turns around, heads for the bushes, grabs his shoulders and forces him to drink some water, telling him that yes, it gets easier, now buck up, kid.
Hotaru remains apathetic, watching the dust that he kicks up on the road.
*
ii. the face of death
Getting into the Shiseiten was so easy that, if he had been the sort of person that had much of a sense of humour, he would have laughed.
All he had to do was not flinch when Kyo looked him in the eyes. He accomplished this effortlessly; after all, he'd looked Anna in the eyes for nearly every day of his life, and she was much, much stronger than Kyo.
(Not that he ever had the misfortune of fighting her-he wasn't stupid-but he'd seen her knock Anthony through a wall for not taking off his shoes before he entered the house.)
But he hadn't had such a good almost-fight since Yuan dragged him away from trying to kill the old lady in the underground maze, so he figured that the now-Three Emperors were worth hanging out with.
*
iii. and then there were four
Akari makes their lives a lot easier, but somehow much, much harder.
She saves them money on bandages, cooks them reasonably decent meals instead of the slop they'd thrown together before, and kills nearly as many people as Kyo in half the time the rest of them can. But she insists on hearing their most embarrassing secrets and will not heal them if what they tell her isn't juicy enough, absolutely refuses to go anywhere near natto, and regularly beats the living shit out of all of them except Kyo and especially Bontenmaru.
But she's so damn likeable that Hotaru almost doesn't want to fight her-she's the first person he'd met that he could call "sweet," sadistic streak and tendency to try too hard aside-which is something new for him.
*
iv. our racing hearts
They're all a little in love with Kyo. Not for his Winning Personality, because on a good day he's more of a prick than Shinrei times Anthony to the Akira power, but for his strength. And because-
Bontenmaru is in love with Kyo because he offers him an escape from the endless, complicated political games that he would have to play every day otherwise, because the life that he leads with Kyo is so straightforward (eat or be eaten, kill or be killed), and because destroying armies is a hell of a lot more fun than leading them.
Akira doesn't love Kyo so much as he idolises him, which is really just a step away from loving him. Kyo raised him up from nothing to something, from stealing clothes from corpses to making corpses, from stealing food to being so notorious that shopkeepers serve you their finest dishes on the house. And Hotaru supposes that there's some kind of love mixed in with Akira's worshipping of the ground Kyo walks on, and whatever it is, it's not healthy.
Akari is so in love with Kyo that it makes Hotaru want to gag, a sentiment which the rest of the Four Emperors seem to share, but are unwilling to voice, for good reason. Hotaru knows that Kyo, despite what he says, was stone-cold sober-for once-when he promised to marry Akari if she could get a hit in on his face. He is unwilling to voice this, for good reason.
And yes, Hotaru is in love with Kyo. He knows the exact moment when he fell: they'd just ripped off some rich guy, and they were running from his guards because the money and gold were weighing them down too much to fight. He turned to look at Kyo, and in the setting sun he looked so happy and free that Hotaru couldn't help but feel something . Later, he categorises this feeling as love and files it away under 'Irrational Emotions,' next to his desire to pet cats.
(Every time he finds himself missing his life with the Four Emperors, he finds a cat to pet. He finds himself petting them more often than he should, even after he convinces himself that they were only holding him back.)
*
v. the flame you've lit for me
"There isn't much point to us hanging around, is there?" Akari asks, rubbing her hands together. Their fire had gone out a long time ago, and it hadn't been enough to warm them up completely in the first place. "Being stuck in a cave in the middle of winter isn't worth it if Kyo isn't going to be there in the spring."
Hotaru nodded.
"Light the fire back up," she commands, and he complies. He hadn't been particularly cold in the first place, but it wasn't too much effort and besides, a warm Akari is a stable Akari. "Do you believe what Akira asked me before we parted ways? To put out his eyes. I have no idea what he's planning, but it's probably something stupid. I know that I'm going up into the mountains to train once this storm passes…"
Hotaru nodded.
"…and I'll find a good one, preferably one where some holy man lived so that the locals don't bother me, assuming that there are any locals, which I hope there aren't." She shifted closer to him. "But I don't want to be alone."
Akari's hand found Hotaru's, and he nodded.
*
vi. the far edge of the sky
To the town that they're passing through they mean good business, so no one bothers them as they build a bonfire on a hill (or, rather, Hotaru builds a bonfire) and camp out. Kyo and Bontenmaru are off getting 'whatever alcohol this place has, even if it's cheap and nasty,' and Akari and Akira are farther down the hill, pitching tents.
When the sun starts going down, everyone comes together and to warm themselves around the fire and share stories of things that happened to them during the past week. Akari complains about Akira's incompetence when it comes to pounding stakes into the ground. Bontenmaru expresses his shock that they make good liquor this far out in the middle of nowhere and extols the virtues (bust size) of a local miko, which gets Kyo nodding in mildly-buzzed agreement.
Hotaru looks west suddenly, and everyone follows suit, reaching for their respective weapons. He is always the first one to sense danger, so they know that if he focuses on one direction or another, they should as well.
But there isn't any danger tonight, only beauty.
"Wow," Akira says.
"Yeah," Akari agrees.
The five of them watch the sunset until there isn't anything left to watch.
Author: xskadi
Pairing: Hotaru/Akari, Akari/Kyo, Kyo/Hotaru (...not all at the same time.)
Rating: G
Summary: Hotaru, the Four Emperors, Kyo, and little moments that make the world go 'round.
Notes: This is the kind of fic that might pass as gen if it weren't so slashy. Or something. I'm a wuss. *fidgets* *throws salt on her plotbunnies* This is also the kind of fic that is made up of a bunch of disjointed, little, sentimental bits.
...the Hotaru in this fic is very "Orihime." You have been warned.
i. so shaken as we are
Somewhere in the bushes behind them, that Akira kid is puking his guts out, but Hotaru can't bring himself to be concerned. If the kid wants to be one of the Three Emperors, he has to grow up, and part of growing up is learning how not to lose your lunch after the battle's adrenaline rush wears off.
Kyo is similarly (or so it seems, but something in his aura gives him away: Akira is his personal prodigy, and it reflects badly on him if he can't stomach killing people) unconcerned, but Bontenmaru keeps throwing concerned glances (he's such a mother hen) over his shoulder.
Finally, Bontenmaru turns around, heads for the bushes, grabs his shoulders and forces him to drink some water, telling him that yes, it gets easier, now buck up, kid.
Hotaru remains apathetic, watching the dust that he kicks up on the road.
*
ii. the face of death
Getting into the Shiseiten was so easy that, if he had been the sort of person that had much of a sense of humour, he would have laughed.
All he had to do was not flinch when Kyo looked him in the eyes. He accomplished this effortlessly; after all, he'd looked Anna in the eyes for nearly every day of his life, and she was much, much stronger than Kyo.
(Not that he ever had the misfortune of fighting her-he wasn't stupid-but he'd seen her knock Anthony through a wall for not taking off his shoes before he entered the house.)
But he hadn't had such a good almost-fight since Yuan dragged him away from trying to kill the old lady in the underground maze, so he figured that the now-Three Emperors were worth hanging out with.
*
iii. and then there were four
Akari makes their lives a lot easier, but somehow much, much harder.
She saves them money on bandages, cooks them reasonably decent meals instead of the slop they'd thrown together before, and kills nearly as many people as Kyo in half the time the rest of them can. But she insists on hearing their most embarrassing secrets and will not heal them if what they tell her isn't juicy enough, absolutely refuses to go anywhere near natto, and regularly beats the living shit out of all of them except Kyo and especially Bontenmaru.
But she's so damn likeable that Hotaru almost doesn't want to fight her-she's the first person he'd met that he could call "sweet," sadistic streak and tendency to try too hard aside-which is something new for him.
*
iv. our racing hearts
They're all a little in love with Kyo. Not for his Winning Personality, because on a good day he's more of a prick than Shinrei times Anthony to the Akira power, but for his strength. And because-
Bontenmaru is in love with Kyo because he offers him an escape from the endless, complicated political games that he would have to play every day otherwise, because the life that he leads with Kyo is so straightforward (eat or be eaten, kill or be killed), and because destroying armies is a hell of a lot more fun than leading them.
Akira doesn't love Kyo so much as he idolises him, which is really just a step away from loving him. Kyo raised him up from nothing to something, from stealing clothes from corpses to making corpses, from stealing food to being so notorious that shopkeepers serve you their finest dishes on the house. And Hotaru supposes that there's some kind of love mixed in with Akira's worshipping of the ground Kyo walks on, and whatever it is, it's not healthy.
Akari is so in love with Kyo that it makes Hotaru want to gag, a sentiment which the rest of the Four Emperors seem to share, but are unwilling to voice, for good reason. Hotaru knows that Kyo, despite what he says, was stone-cold sober-for once-when he promised to marry Akari if she could get a hit in on his face. He is unwilling to voice this, for good reason.
And yes, Hotaru is in love with Kyo. He knows the exact moment when he fell: they'd just ripped off some rich guy, and they were running from his guards because the money and gold were weighing them down too much to fight. He turned to look at Kyo, and in the setting sun he looked so happy and free that Hotaru couldn't help but feel something . Later, he categorises this feeling as love and files it away under 'Irrational Emotions,' next to his desire to pet cats.
(Every time he finds himself missing his life with the Four Emperors, he finds a cat to pet. He finds himself petting them more often than he should, even after he convinces himself that they were only holding him back.)
*
v. the flame you've lit for me
"There isn't much point to us hanging around, is there?" Akari asks, rubbing her hands together. Their fire had gone out a long time ago, and it hadn't been enough to warm them up completely in the first place. "Being stuck in a cave in the middle of winter isn't worth it if Kyo isn't going to be there in the spring."
Hotaru nodded.
"Light the fire back up," she commands, and he complies. He hadn't been particularly cold in the first place, but it wasn't too much effort and besides, a warm Akari is a stable Akari. "Do you believe what Akira asked me before we parted ways? To put out his eyes. I have no idea what he's planning, but it's probably something stupid. I know that I'm going up into the mountains to train once this storm passes…"
Hotaru nodded.
"…and I'll find a good one, preferably one where some holy man lived so that the locals don't bother me, assuming that there are any locals, which I hope there aren't." She shifted closer to him. "But I don't want to be alone."
Akari's hand found Hotaru's, and he nodded.
*
vi. the far edge of the sky
To the town that they're passing through they mean good business, so no one bothers them as they build a bonfire on a hill (or, rather, Hotaru builds a bonfire) and camp out. Kyo and Bontenmaru are off getting 'whatever alcohol this place has, even if it's cheap and nasty,' and Akari and Akira are farther down the hill, pitching tents.
When the sun starts going down, everyone comes together and to warm themselves around the fire and share stories of things that happened to them during the past week. Akari complains about Akira's incompetence when it comes to pounding stakes into the ground. Bontenmaru expresses his shock that they make good liquor this far out in the middle of nowhere and extols the virtues (bust size) of a local miko, which gets Kyo nodding in mildly-buzzed agreement.
Hotaru looks west suddenly, and everyone follows suit, reaching for their respective weapons. He is always the first one to sense danger, so they know that if he focuses on one direction or another, they should as well.
But there isn't any danger tonight, only beauty.
"Wow," Akira says.
"Yeah," Akari agrees.
The five of them watch the sunset until there isn't anything left to watch.