Drabble Cycle: AU - Konoka/Tsukuyomi (done)
Originally posted by minus_seven at Drabble Cycle: AU - Konoka/Tsukuyomi (done)
Prompt: Drabble Cycle 12
Fandom: Negima
Pairing: Konoka/Tsukuyomi
Rating: From G to M, in front of each prompt
Word count: 100 (x30)
Notes: All the prompts at once. My claim is complete.
1. Acting/Film Stars (T)
In two steps, Tsukuyomi was out of her frilly dress (and she really should hang that properly) and into the shower. The warm water was divine. She sighed loudly as streams of water ran down her back and through her hair. That part was always the work, of course. Since she was blonde, the blood (fake) contrasted really well and gave for a spectacular effect.
Cleaning up was a pain. But if there was one highlight, it was the showers. And the company they provided her with. She grasped Konoe's hands before they could grope her breasts from behind.
Showtime.
2. Apocalypse/Dystopian (G)
In the middle of the red desert, there is a hut made from black bones and red hides.
Every day, a woman with sun hair rises as the torching sun touches down. She lifts a card and in a flash, wings made of swords carry her out to the hunt. She hunts red-skinned, black-boned winged demons that call her sister.
Every day, by the time she comes back, a woman with night hair is at the door. She isn't waiting for her, just looking at the white skies. She doesn't see it.
Night-hair's eyes are empty.
Sun-hair's eyes are tortured.
3. BDSM (M)
The gloved hand tilts her chin up, then pulls her to her feet. Suddenly, she's eye-level with the mistress.
The mistress' sharp nails are drawing blood. Her legs are too shaky to hold her up properly. But she doesn't move, paralyzed by the mistress' purple eyes. Like a predator's. Only when a blood drops runs down her neck do the eyes release hers. Konoka gasps for air.
And a tongue runs up her jugular. “You will come back.” The mistress smiles with satisfaction.
Only when she's out, dazed and shivering, does she realize she doesn't even have the blonde's name.
4. Coffee Shop (G)
Chaos, ironically, was trashed. Konoka rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes as she looked at the glass strewn around, the police tape. She was going to have to clean it up. If she'd known her part-time job was going to be like this… “What a mess.”
“It's pretty rad though.” Came a voice from behind her.
Konoka whirled around, coming face-to-face with a blonde, a dozen butterfly bandages on her beaten-up face. Konoka still recognized her.
“Y-you're the crazy biker that crashed here!” Right through the front window! It was a miracle nobody had been hurt. “What?...”
“Oh, I work here now.”
5. College/University (T)
She probably shouldn't care so much about the woman spooning her right now. And loving her, the sex, everything past 'being polite'? Definitely a mistake. But there was just an unbridled passion to her… Konoka was like a moth to the flame. Add in what they called a 'caretaker's instinct' and she'd been doomed from the start.
The start, so innocuous. Just running into somebody first thing Monday morning. She'd been thrown to the ground and Tsukuyomi had looked down at her. Completely uncaring. Konoka had actually asked what was wrong with her. She hadn't been expecting 'I'm a sociopath'.
6. Fairy Tales - Hagoromo (G)
Why was she back? She had no reason to descend to the mortal earth again and again. No threat, no blackmail.
Not anymore. The deal had been completed a long time ago. The wheat-haired girl that had kept her feather robe from her had only requested a dance. Konoka had danced. Konoka had gotten her robe back. Konoka had returned to the heavens.
But not before her lips had been taken. And she would never get that back.
And maybe it bother her quite so much. She was dancing for the girl again tonight, a smile on both their lips.
7. Fantasy (G)
Finally, hours after waking up, she had the courage to ask her captor why she'd kidnapped her. The girl, silver-blond-haired and purple-eyed didn't seem like the kidnappers Konoka had come to expect. She wasn't a mage after her power from what she could sense.
“Because it's traditional.” The girl nodded sagely.
“Tra...ditional?”
And in four steps, the blonde was silver-scaled and innumerably bigger, fangs and horns and wings, sleek and powerful muscles sustaining a sinuous body. “Traditional.”
Konoka barely heard her. Staring into the slit pupils on star-speckled purple orbs, she could only think of how beautiful the dragon was.
8. Ghosts (T)
Staring down at Konoka's deep black tresses, spilling over her shoulders and covering pale skin, Tsukuyomi fought the urge to pull the heiress closer to her body. Privately, she marveled at how good the human body contact felt. How warm it made her feel.
She was in love, wasn't she?
She sighed and looked at the corner of the room. An albino child, white-winged, stared at her and Konoka. She had always been there. Ever since Tsukuyomi had killed her, ten years ago.
“Are you happy now?” Asked Tsukuyomi.
The ghost smiled one last time before fading like incense smoke.
9. High School (T)
Konoka knew what had happened the moment she set eyes on her. The next thing she knew she was dragging Tsukuyomi into the closest bathroom.
“Again?” She hissed. “You promised!”
Tsukuyomi shrugged, then shivered as her shirt was lifted up and cold fingers ran over her ribs. Her maybe broken ribs.
“You're not going to be able to go to gym.” Konoka frowned at the yellow, purple and black bruises, the tense silence stretching. “Why do you keep fighting?”
Tsukuyomi blinked. “It's who I am.” The bell interrupted them, but not before the shorter girl gave Konoka's lips her apology.
10. Historical (T)
Konoka didn't look out of her window and hope to see blue and white uniforms. Even if she was among them, the shinsengumi coming to their house was… bad. So she didn't look for a familiar swordswoman and tried to forget instead.
But she didn't want to rest her gaze on her new bodyguard. The former ronin sat against the wall, the hair that mistakenly marked her as a foreigner tied in a top-knot. Calloused fingers rested lightly on her sword's pommel, eager to draw the blade. Last night, those fingers…
A mistake.
Konoka still averted her eyes and blushed.
11. Magic/Witchcraft (M)
Konoka's pretty sure they don't need this for the ritual. Or they might. She's… not sure if she's against this. Not with how Tsukuyomi's tongue is dipping down and…
“I-I can't chant lik-like this.” She whimpers hoarsely.
“The ritual can wait.” The blonde's eyes twinkle mischievously. “I've always wanted to do this. I heard it increases the potency of the circle permanently.”
“You're, hm. Incorrigible.” They were supposed to start preparing the tools for tomorrow. The only reason 'Yomi is even with her is because she needs a bit of a warrior's blood. But damn if it doesn't feel good.
12. Married/Domestic (T)
“Yomi! Put the table outside!”
The blonde huffed good-naturedly. “Going.”
“You know, how did you even get that nickname?” Asked Negi, bouncing his child on his knee. “I've always though you'd be someone who gave nicknames instead of having one.”
“Oh, I have my nicknames for Konoka, but my name is very long. It's just easier to shorten it up. So, Yomi.” She grinned. “I also have another nickname… but there are children present.”
“Wha! Now I'm curious! That's not fair!” Negi complained much to the blonde's amusement.
Not that she would reveal what Konoka called her in private anyway.
13. Movie Fusion - How to train your Dragon (G)
The clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, hiding the snow-covered plains underneath. It was a whole new world up in the air.
Konoka felt Tsukuyomi shift her grip on her waist. She'd been tense when the flight started, but had relaxed and now… now she was holding on to her almost protectively. Like what Konoka thought a warrior should be. She patted Setsuna's white scales thankfully. The dragon hadn't really liked the blond warrior, but still helped Konoka change her mind. The healer knew she had always wanted to soar higher than the clouds.
And maybe now things could change.
14. Musicians/Bands (T)
'Yomi paid back her debts. Konoka marveled at the electric cello, imagining the possible sounds that her bow would now be able to bring forth. “Who did you threaten to make this?” She joked.
The blonde shrugged. “Fate owed me a favor.” Then she smiled. “Now you can come with me and play the metalest of metals in the street. No hijacking power lines, I swear.”
“We can still be arrested for public disturbance. And I can't pay bail if I'm behind bars with you.”
Tsukuyomi kissed her forehead. “Your father pays then.”
“He won't pay yours, you realize that.”
15. Mythology (T)
Their side had lost this time. Again, Konoka wondered about the cycles that sustained the faith of their world. Fighting, just to stop for a time and make demands to the losers. She was no longer a child. Now that they had lost…
“I want her.” The blood-covered goddess on the other side pointed straight at her. Her purple eyes, slitted, burned. Of course they did. She'd established herself from a young age as one from the Domains of War. Specifically, of pillage.
Konoka shivered. But the law was the law, so she crossed over Mahora's Roots. Into her arms.
16. Neighbors (T)
She'd come home yesterday very, very late. Konoka almost hadn't noticed, but she'd been up all night working on an essay. It was the third time she set eyes on her next-door neighbor and she'd moved in six months ago. The mystery consumed her. The way people went out of their way not to mention a girl that was probably younger than Konoka herself. The stealth she had to have.
The jazz music she could hear if she strained her ears.
Konoka wanted to talk to her, to know her. And for some silly reason she hoped she'd impress her.
17. Noir (T)
A whistle resonated through the alley. The next sound was of a body hitting the wet ground. Then the head. Konoka could only stare. “You killed him.”
The blonde woman in the red cocktail dress, so flirty, so dismissible, turned cold, calculating eyes towards her. “And he killed other people before. I'm just collecting somebody's blood dept.” She smiled sardonically. “First time seeing somebody die? It's almost too cute. Here, let me leave you with a pleasanter souvenir.”
Heels clicking, hips swaying, she backed Konoka into the wall. Her arms trapped her, one on each side.
Her lipstick was iron-flavored.
18. Prison (M)
Her friends would get her out, her friends…
“-won't get you out. Geez, Milady, is that so hard to understand?” A warm body pressed up behind her, pushing her against the bars of their cell. Hands gripped her hips possessively, then moved down, between her tights. “Being a criminal?”
Konoka whimpered, but she found it in herself to reply. “I was f-framed. And my friends will get me out.”
Tsukuyomi scoffed. “Well,” she whispered in her ear, “until then, you're mine. Or would you rather like another roommate?”
Even as the blonde bit her ear, Konoka couldn't help but agree.
19. Royalty (T)
It was always unnerving to visit Moscow. Admittedly, it might have been something to do with the only person she ever came to Moscow for. Tsukuyomi had done very well for herself. Once, she'd been a simple murderer… now she was the closest thing the Russian magic side had to a queen.
Once, she'd had no last name. Now she was Romanov.
A powerful name.
Also a name that allowed her to chose the ambassadors she wanted to receive, and to receive them without bodyguards.
Konoka felt guilty for worrying her friends, but Tsukuyomi didn't hurt her. Just the opposite.
20. Sex Workers (M)
“I thought you were a sword-for-hire.” Konoka mentioned to her partner for the night. “I was really surprised.”
“It's just another kind of mercenary work. Plus, my 'boss' knows what I'm capable off and isn't… unwise in his dealings. I'm pretty exclusive.” Tsukuyomi waggled an eyebrow at the heiress. “I was the one surprised when I got your name. Trouble in paradise?”
And the mood was gone. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“You're the one paying.” The blonde sat up. “Sun's rising.”
“Wait!” Konoka grabbed her wrist. “Can I… see you again?”
“Milady, you know who to call.”
21. Space (T)
With a small push, Konoka descended to the first level. From there, it was a matter of tapping the wall lightly and letting the anti-gravity do the rest. The station felt so empty. Even after all those weeks, the thought brought tears to her eyes.
It was only Konoka and Tsukuyomi now. And only she was really up and running.
She resisted the urge to open the infirmary's door and talk to Tsukuyomi. Talk to, not with, because the blonde was still comatose. The isolation was really getting to her. 'Yomi had been the team member she liked the less.
22. Sports
“What.” Setsuna's mouth hung open.
Backflip, bikeflip, tailwhip. That was… a lot. Even from what little Konoka understood of bikes. Besides, the rider in black and Konoka's girlfriend had… made a deal.
Tsukuyomi removed and threw her helmet into the air, grinning like the cat eyeing the canary. Long blond hair with small braids tumbled down over her shoulders. “I won the bet.”
Before Setsuna could do more than pale (more than she already was), she pushed her rival aside, grabbed Konoka and kissed her. Hard. When she was released, Konoka was trembling, face flushed… and it wasn't from anger.
23. Spy/Espionage
“What.” The word hung in the Kyoto air.
Asuna took a step back. “So wait. You, fighting maniac extraordinary and general creepy lunatic,” she pointed at the blonde swordswoman, “are a spy. Spying on that weirdo. On Konoka's dad's orders. Lost on purpose. And helped thwart this incident.”
“Correct.”
A beat. “That's insane!! Do you really expect us to believe that.”
“I also thank Setsuna for keeping an eye on my girlfriend while I couldn't.” Tsukuyomi sent a roguish grin (that only a super-spy could manage) in the black-haired girl's direction.
Konoka blushed. Asuna frothed at the mouth. Setsuna saluted.
24. Steampunk
“Behold!”
Konoka faltered. “Ha… I didn't know you were an inventor.” She still wasn't used to her new bodyguard or 'traveling companion', but it didn't seem to fit her.
“I'm not.” Tsukuyomi blinked, puzzled. “But a friend of mine made this beauty and she likes her melodramatics.”
That made more sense. “What… is it?”
Tsukuyomi grinned. “An arc-light-powered sword. It heats up the air around the blade so that it can cut through metal like reinforced steel.”
Konoka let herself smile at her companion's childish side, blood-thirty as it may be sometimes.
...was that an engraved monkey on the handle?
25. Superheroes (G)
“She's a villain not a hero! They can't do this to you!” Cried Asuna.
Konoka tried to calm her down. “Technically, she's reforming. It's part of those new initiatives to reduce powered crime…?”
Asuna scoffed. “Who cares, she's dangerous and they can't make you partner up with her.”
She decided not to mention she been asked beforehand and agreed. “I'm a healer and granter, my powers are synergistic with weapon-types like her...” Plus, for some reason Tsukuyomi seemed to respect her word.
Asuna crossed her arms then glared at her best friend, indignant. “And why aren't you complaining about this!?”
26. TV Show Fusion - Pokémon (G)
“So...” Konoka sat down on the same ledge as the blonde trainer who'd come to their rescue. “You caught the Absol that was following Setsuna around...”
The blonde stopped carving up her berry for a fraction of a second. “Your friend didn't want her. Absols don't bring disaster. It's known they try to prevent them.”
Konoka… wasn't proud of that part of Setsuna. That part that was too afraid. “They just… have a bad reputation.”
“She shouldn't care. People never see underneath their assumptions anyway.”
Painfully, her heart went to the blonde trainer, because she'd done the same to her.
27. Vampires (T)
“Wasn't expecting to find anybody here. Much less you, Milady.” Echoed a gleeful voice.
“No.” Konoka just wanted to be alone and of all the people to find her, it was her? “Go away.”
“Why?” The blonde, now visible in the gloom of the abandoned building, approached.
Konoka shrunk back. Her fangs, bit into her lip, but no blood came out. Strange, she had taken so much blood. Red on white feathers. “Go away.” And suddenly Tsukuyomi was kneeling down in front of her, thumb pressing against her lips. Warmth on her tongue.
“You'll starve like that.” She said simply.
28. Werewolves (T)
She was getting blood on her skirt, but Konoka didn't care. She ran her hand through the ashen fur, a great shiver raking the beast's spine. It was somewhat invigorating to know she had such power over a creature like Tsukuyomi. It was better to know she could keep her from hurting anybody else again.
But when she was like this, immobilized by the conflict inside her… in pain. Konoka wished there was a better way. Wished wolves could not kill.
“Shhh.” She whispered against a furry ear, a gnawing in her chest. “I'm with you. Just a little longer.”
29. Western (G)
The tent flap opened. Konoka looked up from the engraved pipe she had been examining. As far as she knew, the woman that was taking care of her didn't smoke. Perhaps it served a similar function as incense in her spirit magic.
The woman, impossibly blonde, tilted her head, but didn't say anything. Not that Konoka would understand a word. Instead, she deposited the bird she was carrying and plucked a knife from its holding place. The eastern woman looked away.
There was a soft brush of fingers against her cheek, inquiring. Konoka touched them back, silently reassuring her caretaker.
30. Author's Choice - Soulmate Pain (T)
Konoka had always been pained by her bond. It was the norm for the magic side, she was told later. She wondered if they meant soulmates, or the constant phantom hole in her chest. It wasn't Setsuna, she knew. For all the bruises shinmei-ryu gave her, like those she felt, Konoka's back never hurt.
“But I don't care.” She told Setsuna.
Something went very wrong when the sword made by Konoka and Setsuna's connection struck down Tsukuyomi. And Konoka's soul erupted in agony.
The pain didn't stop when Konoka first held her hand. Except for the hole in their chests.
Prompt: Drabble Cycle 12
Fandom: Negima
Pairing: Konoka/Tsukuyomi
Rating: From G to M, in front of each prompt
Word count: 100 (x30)
Notes: All the prompts at once. My claim is complete.
1. Acting/Film Stars (T)
In two steps, Tsukuyomi was out of her frilly dress (and she really should hang that properly) and into the shower. The warm water was divine. She sighed loudly as streams of water ran down her back and through her hair. That part was always the work, of course. Since she was blonde, the blood (fake) contrasted really well and gave for a spectacular effect.
Cleaning up was a pain. But if there was one highlight, it was the showers. And the company they provided her with. She grasped Konoe's hands before they could grope her breasts from behind.
Showtime.
2. Apocalypse/Dystopian (G)
In the middle of the red desert, there is a hut made from black bones and red hides.
Every day, a woman with sun hair rises as the torching sun touches down. She lifts a card and in a flash, wings made of swords carry her out to the hunt. She hunts red-skinned, black-boned winged demons that call her sister.
Every day, by the time she comes back, a woman with night hair is at the door. She isn't waiting for her, just looking at the white skies. She doesn't see it.
Night-hair's eyes are empty.
Sun-hair's eyes are tortured.
3. BDSM (M)
The gloved hand tilts her chin up, then pulls her to her feet. Suddenly, she's eye-level with the mistress.
The mistress' sharp nails are drawing blood. Her legs are too shaky to hold her up properly. But she doesn't move, paralyzed by the mistress' purple eyes. Like a predator's. Only when a blood drops runs down her neck do the eyes release hers. Konoka gasps for air.
And a tongue runs up her jugular. “You will come back.” The mistress smiles with satisfaction.
Only when she's out, dazed and shivering, does she realize she doesn't even have the blonde's name.
4. Coffee Shop (G)
Chaos, ironically, was trashed. Konoka rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes as she looked at the glass strewn around, the police tape. She was going to have to clean it up. If she'd known her part-time job was going to be like this… “What a mess.”
“It's pretty rad though.” Came a voice from behind her.
Konoka whirled around, coming face-to-face with a blonde, a dozen butterfly bandages on her beaten-up face. Konoka still recognized her.
“Y-you're the crazy biker that crashed here!” Right through the front window! It was a miracle nobody had been hurt. “What?...”
“Oh, I work here now.”
5. College/University (T)
She probably shouldn't care so much about the woman spooning her right now. And loving her, the sex, everything past 'being polite'? Definitely a mistake. But there was just an unbridled passion to her… Konoka was like a moth to the flame. Add in what they called a 'caretaker's instinct' and she'd been doomed from the start.
The start, so innocuous. Just running into somebody first thing Monday morning. She'd been thrown to the ground and Tsukuyomi had looked down at her. Completely uncaring. Konoka had actually asked what was wrong with her. She hadn't been expecting 'I'm a sociopath'.
6. Fairy Tales - Hagoromo (G)
Why was she back? She had no reason to descend to the mortal earth again and again. No threat, no blackmail.
Not anymore. The deal had been completed a long time ago. The wheat-haired girl that had kept her feather robe from her had only requested a dance. Konoka had danced. Konoka had gotten her robe back. Konoka had returned to the heavens.
But not before her lips had been taken. And she would never get that back.
And maybe it bother her quite so much. She was dancing for the girl again tonight, a smile on both their lips.
7. Fantasy (G)
Finally, hours after waking up, she had the courage to ask her captor why she'd kidnapped her. The girl, silver-blond-haired and purple-eyed didn't seem like the kidnappers Konoka had come to expect. She wasn't a mage after her power from what she could sense.
“Because it's traditional.” The girl nodded sagely.
“Tra...ditional?”
And in four steps, the blonde was silver-scaled and innumerably bigger, fangs and horns and wings, sleek and powerful muscles sustaining a sinuous body. “Traditional.”
Konoka barely heard her. Staring into the slit pupils on star-speckled purple orbs, she could only think of how beautiful the dragon was.
8. Ghosts (T)
Staring down at Konoka's deep black tresses, spilling over her shoulders and covering pale skin, Tsukuyomi fought the urge to pull the heiress closer to her body. Privately, she marveled at how good the human body contact felt. How warm it made her feel.
She was in love, wasn't she?
She sighed and looked at the corner of the room. An albino child, white-winged, stared at her and Konoka. She had always been there. Ever since Tsukuyomi had killed her, ten years ago.
“Are you happy now?” Asked Tsukuyomi.
The ghost smiled one last time before fading like incense smoke.
9. High School (T)
Konoka knew what had happened the moment she set eyes on her. The next thing she knew she was dragging Tsukuyomi into the closest bathroom.
“Again?” She hissed. “You promised!”
Tsukuyomi shrugged, then shivered as her shirt was lifted up and cold fingers ran over her ribs. Her maybe broken ribs.
“You're not going to be able to go to gym.” Konoka frowned at the yellow, purple and black bruises, the tense silence stretching. “Why do you keep fighting?”
Tsukuyomi blinked. “It's who I am.” The bell interrupted them, but not before the shorter girl gave Konoka's lips her apology.
10. Historical (T)
Konoka didn't look out of her window and hope to see blue and white uniforms. Even if she was among them, the shinsengumi coming to their house was… bad. So she didn't look for a familiar swordswoman and tried to forget instead.
But she didn't want to rest her gaze on her new bodyguard. The former ronin sat against the wall, the hair that mistakenly marked her as a foreigner tied in a top-knot. Calloused fingers rested lightly on her sword's pommel, eager to draw the blade. Last night, those fingers…
A mistake.
Konoka still averted her eyes and blushed.
11. Magic/Witchcraft (M)
Konoka's pretty sure they don't need this for the ritual. Or they might. She's… not sure if she's against this. Not with how Tsukuyomi's tongue is dipping down and…
“I-I can't chant lik-like this.” She whimpers hoarsely.
“The ritual can wait.” The blonde's eyes twinkle mischievously. “I've always wanted to do this. I heard it increases the potency of the circle permanently.”
“You're, hm. Incorrigible.” They were supposed to start preparing the tools for tomorrow. The only reason 'Yomi is even with her is because she needs a bit of a warrior's blood. But damn if it doesn't feel good.
12. Married/Domestic (T)
“Yomi! Put the table outside!”
The blonde huffed good-naturedly. “Going.”
“You know, how did you even get that nickname?” Asked Negi, bouncing his child on his knee. “I've always though you'd be someone who gave nicknames instead of having one.”
“Oh, I have my nicknames for Konoka, but my name is very long. It's just easier to shorten it up. So, Yomi.” She grinned. “I also have another nickname… but there are children present.”
“Wha! Now I'm curious! That's not fair!” Negi complained much to the blonde's amusement.
Not that she would reveal what Konoka called her in private anyway.
13. Movie Fusion - How to train your Dragon (G)
The clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, hiding the snow-covered plains underneath. It was a whole new world up in the air.
Konoka felt Tsukuyomi shift her grip on her waist. She'd been tense when the flight started, but had relaxed and now… now she was holding on to her almost protectively. Like what Konoka thought a warrior should be. She patted Setsuna's white scales thankfully. The dragon hadn't really liked the blond warrior, but still helped Konoka change her mind. The healer knew she had always wanted to soar higher than the clouds.
And maybe now things could change.
14. Musicians/Bands (T)
'Yomi paid back her debts. Konoka marveled at the electric cello, imagining the possible sounds that her bow would now be able to bring forth. “Who did you threaten to make this?” She joked.
The blonde shrugged. “Fate owed me a favor.” Then she smiled. “Now you can come with me and play the metalest of metals in the street. No hijacking power lines, I swear.”
“We can still be arrested for public disturbance. And I can't pay bail if I'm behind bars with you.”
Tsukuyomi kissed her forehead. “Your father pays then.”
“He won't pay yours, you realize that.”
15. Mythology (T)
Their side had lost this time. Again, Konoka wondered about the cycles that sustained the faith of their world. Fighting, just to stop for a time and make demands to the losers. She was no longer a child. Now that they had lost…
“I want her.” The blood-covered goddess on the other side pointed straight at her. Her purple eyes, slitted, burned. Of course they did. She'd established herself from a young age as one from the Domains of War. Specifically, of pillage.
Konoka shivered. But the law was the law, so she crossed over Mahora's Roots. Into her arms.
16. Neighbors (T)
She'd come home yesterday very, very late. Konoka almost hadn't noticed, but she'd been up all night working on an essay. It was the third time she set eyes on her next-door neighbor and she'd moved in six months ago. The mystery consumed her. The way people went out of their way not to mention a girl that was probably younger than Konoka herself. The stealth she had to have.
The jazz music she could hear if she strained her ears.
Konoka wanted to talk to her, to know her. And for some silly reason she hoped she'd impress her.
17. Noir (T)
A whistle resonated through the alley. The next sound was of a body hitting the wet ground. Then the head. Konoka could only stare. “You killed him.”
The blonde woman in the red cocktail dress, so flirty, so dismissible, turned cold, calculating eyes towards her. “And he killed other people before. I'm just collecting somebody's blood dept.” She smiled sardonically. “First time seeing somebody die? It's almost too cute. Here, let me leave you with a pleasanter souvenir.”
Heels clicking, hips swaying, she backed Konoka into the wall. Her arms trapped her, one on each side.
Her lipstick was iron-flavored.
18. Prison (M)
Her friends would get her out, her friends…
“-won't get you out. Geez, Milady, is that so hard to understand?” A warm body pressed up behind her, pushing her against the bars of their cell. Hands gripped her hips possessively, then moved down, between her tights. “Being a criminal?”
Konoka whimpered, but she found it in herself to reply. “I was f-framed. And my friends will get me out.”
Tsukuyomi scoffed. “Well,” she whispered in her ear, “until then, you're mine. Or would you rather like another roommate?”
Even as the blonde bit her ear, Konoka couldn't help but agree.
19. Royalty (T)
It was always unnerving to visit Moscow. Admittedly, it might have been something to do with the only person she ever came to Moscow for. Tsukuyomi had done very well for herself. Once, she'd been a simple murderer… now she was the closest thing the Russian magic side had to a queen.
Once, she'd had no last name. Now she was Romanov.
A powerful name.
Also a name that allowed her to chose the ambassadors she wanted to receive, and to receive them without bodyguards.
Konoka felt guilty for worrying her friends, but Tsukuyomi didn't hurt her. Just the opposite.
20. Sex Workers (M)
“I thought you were a sword-for-hire.” Konoka mentioned to her partner for the night. “I was really surprised.”
“It's just another kind of mercenary work. Plus, my 'boss' knows what I'm capable off and isn't… unwise in his dealings. I'm pretty exclusive.” Tsukuyomi waggled an eyebrow at the heiress. “I was the one surprised when I got your name. Trouble in paradise?”
And the mood was gone. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“You're the one paying.” The blonde sat up. “Sun's rising.”
“Wait!” Konoka grabbed her wrist. “Can I… see you again?”
“Milady, you know who to call.”
21. Space (T)
With a small push, Konoka descended to the first level. From there, it was a matter of tapping the wall lightly and letting the anti-gravity do the rest. The station felt so empty. Even after all those weeks, the thought brought tears to her eyes.
It was only Konoka and Tsukuyomi now. And only she was really up and running.
She resisted the urge to open the infirmary's door and talk to Tsukuyomi. Talk to, not with, because the blonde was still comatose. The isolation was really getting to her. 'Yomi had been the team member she liked the less.
22. Sports
“What.” Setsuna's mouth hung open.
Backflip, bikeflip, tailwhip. That was… a lot. Even from what little Konoka understood of bikes. Besides, the rider in black and Konoka's girlfriend had… made a deal.
Tsukuyomi removed and threw her helmet into the air, grinning like the cat eyeing the canary. Long blond hair with small braids tumbled down over her shoulders. “I won the bet.”
Before Setsuna could do more than pale (more than she already was), she pushed her rival aside, grabbed Konoka and kissed her. Hard. When she was released, Konoka was trembling, face flushed… and it wasn't from anger.
23. Spy/Espionage
“What.” The word hung in the Kyoto air.
Asuna took a step back. “So wait. You, fighting maniac extraordinary and general creepy lunatic,” she pointed at the blonde swordswoman, “are a spy. Spying on that weirdo. On Konoka's dad's orders. Lost on purpose. And helped thwart this incident.”
“Correct.”
A beat. “That's insane!! Do you really expect us to believe that.”
“I also thank Setsuna for keeping an eye on my girlfriend while I couldn't.” Tsukuyomi sent a roguish grin (that only a super-spy could manage) in the black-haired girl's direction.
Konoka blushed. Asuna frothed at the mouth. Setsuna saluted.
24. Steampunk
“Behold!”
Konoka faltered. “Ha… I didn't know you were an inventor.” She still wasn't used to her new bodyguard or 'traveling companion', but it didn't seem to fit her.
“I'm not.” Tsukuyomi blinked, puzzled. “But a friend of mine made this beauty and she likes her melodramatics.”
That made more sense. “What… is it?”
Tsukuyomi grinned. “An arc-light-powered sword. It heats up the air around the blade so that it can cut through metal like reinforced steel.”
Konoka let herself smile at her companion's childish side, blood-thirty as it may be sometimes.
...was that an engraved monkey on the handle?
25. Superheroes (G)
“She's a villain not a hero! They can't do this to you!” Cried Asuna.
Konoka tried to calm her down. “Technically, she's reforming. It's part of those new initiatives to reduce powered crime…?”
Asuna scoffed. “Who cares, she's dangerous and they can't make you partner up with her.”
She decided not to mention she been asked beforehand and agreed. “I'm a healer and granter, my powers are synergistic with weapon-types like her...” Plus, for some reason Tsukuyomi seemed to respect her word.
Asuna crossed her arms then glared at her best friend, indignant. “And why aren't you complaining about this!?”
26. TV Show Fusion - Pokémon (G)
“So...” Konoka sat down on the same ledge as the blonde trainer who'd come to their rescue. “You caught the Absol that was following Setsuna around...”
The blonde stopped carving up her berry for a fraction of a second. “Your friend didn't want her. Absols don't bring disaster. It's known they try to prevent them.”
Konoka… wasn't proud of that part of Setsuna. That part that was too afraid. “They just… have a bad reputation.”
“She shouldn't care. People never see underneath their assumptions anyway.”
Painfully, her heart went to the blonde trainer, because she'd done the same to her.
27. Vampires (T)
“Wasn't expecting to find anybody here. Much less you, Milady.” Echoed a gleeful voice.
“No.” Konoka just wanted to be alone and of all the people to find her, it was her? “Go away.”
“Why?” The blonde, now visible in the gloom of the abandoned building, approached.
Konoka shrunk back. Her fangs, bit into her lip, but no blood came out. Strange, she had taken so much blood. Red on white feathers. “Go away.” And suddenly Tsukuyomi was kneeling down in front of her, thumb pressing against her lips. Warmth on her tongue.
“You'll starve like that.” She said simply.
28. Werewolves (T)
She was getting blood on her skirt, but Konoka didn't care. She ran her hand through the ashen fur, a great shiver raking the beast's spine. It was somewhat invigorating to know she had such power over a creature like Tsukuyomi. It was better to know she could keep her from hurting anybody else again.
But when she was like this, immobilized by the conflict inside her… in pain. Konoka wished there was a better way. Wished wolves could not kill.
“Shhh.” She whispered against a furry ear, a gnawing in her chest. “I'm with you. Just a little longer.”
29. Western (G)
The tent flap opened. Konoka looked up from the engraved pipe she had been examining. As far as she knew, the woman that was taking care of her didn't smoke. Perhaps it served a similar function as incense in her spirit magic.
The woman, impossibly blonde, tilted her head, but didn't say anything. Not that Konoka would understand a word. Instead, she deposited the bird she was carrying and plucked a knife from its holding place. The eastern woman looked away.
There was a soft brush of fingers against her cheek, inquiring. Konoka touched them back, silently reassuring her caretaker.
30. Author's Choice - Soulmate Pain (T)
Konoka had always been pained by her bond. It was the norm for the magic side, she was told later. She wondered if they meant soulmates, or the constant phantom hole in her chest. It wasn't Setsuna, she knew. For all the bruises shinmei-ryu gave her, like those she felt, Konoka's back never hurt.
“But I don't care.” She told Setsuna.
Something went very wrong when the sword made by Konoka and Setsuna's connection struck down Tsukuyomi. And Konoka's soul erupted in agony.
The pain didn't stop when Konoka first held her hand. Except for the hole in their chests.