Wheeee! I'm back!
Tired. Stressed out. Hungry. In pain. Therefore, fic!
My plot bunnies have a screwed sense of logic sometimes.
Title: The More it Changes… (The More it Stays the Same)
Prompt: 59 - Food (for
crossovers100 )
Pairing: N/A
Rating: PG
Genre: General, Crossover
Disclaimer: I own nada.
Notes/Warning: Not at all happy with how this fic turned out. It’s lacking in a lot of ways. You’ll see what I mean. And yes, I realize that in order for some of these things to happen, the characters need to be outside of their original settings. Please ignore.
Summary: Hitsuzen, hitsuzen, hitsuzen. Blah, blah, blah. He’d heard it enough times already, so could you please give him a break? It’s not like anyone else is in a similar situation, right? Wrong.
--------------------------------------------------
Working at Yuuko's shop was like walking down a winding road. Sometimes the ground was straight, sometimes, uneven.
Every once in a while, he would stumble across a crossroad, each path leading him to a different encounter.
Crossroads
“The More it Changes…”
By Hikagi
--------------------------------------------------
Watanuki sighed when he entered the convenient store, wondering just how much longer it was going to take to fulfill his end of the contract he had made with Yuuko-san. By the way she made things sound, he might end up being stuck working at the store for the next fifty years or so.
Shaking the thought out of his head, he grabbed a nearby shopping basket and proceeded to head down the first aisle he came across. Ten minutes later, he had just about found everything on his list and was on his way to the instant coffee section when he bumped into another person, sending them both sprawling into a shelf of potato chips.
He apologized briefly, hoping not to incur the wrath of the other person, and set about rectifying the situation. Seeing that the unfortunate individual had dropped his basket of groceries, Watanuki hurriedly moved to help clean up the mess, picking up wayward bags of melon, shrimp, or onion-flavored goods along the way and restoring them to their original places.
He saw a pair of glasses nearby and assumed that they had been knocked off the boy when they had collided. Worried that he might have actually harmed the other teenager, Watanuki handed him the large-framed lenses and hoped that he wasn’t too mad.
The stranger in question accepted his glasses with a thanks but froze upon seeing Watanuki’s face. He blinked and gaped, raising a hand in astonishment before weakly stuttering something that sounded like, “K-kyo…”
Watanuki frowned. What was this boy trying to say? He had no idea how “today” was relevant to their collision, and couldn’t see what prompted this response. (1)
“My name is Watanuki Kimihiro,” he said as he bowed in apology. “I’m sorry about the accident. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“N-no, that’s fine,” the teenager replied, laughing shakily out of nervousness as he put his glasses back on. “You startled me, is all. I thought, for a second, that you were someone I knew. I am Fujioka Haruhi.” They shook hands.
“Let me help you with the rest,” Watanuki said, gesturing to the rest of the fallen groceries he hadn’t managed to pick up yet.
“Ah, that’d be great. Thanks.”
--------------------------------------------------
After their initial…encounter, they had decided to stick together for the remainder of their time at the supermarket. Watanuki couldn’t help but notice that Fujioka-san’s assortment of groceries were decidedly strange, to say the least.
Four cans of instant coffee, eight bags of melon-flavored potato chips, twelve packages of instant ramen or udon, a box of yogurt-flavored drinks, to name a few.
Who on earth was this guy shopping for?
…Then again, his own shopping basket wasn’t that much better…
“Ah, Fujioka-san,” Watanuki said sheepishly. “You wouldn’t mind if I made a little detour and picked up something?” He made a hand motion in the direction of the liquor section of the store. “It’s something my boss wanted.”
He gave a nod of understanding. “What is your boss like?”
Watanuki snorted. “That woman is nothing but annoying and demanding and forces me to slave in every day, not caring if she’s overworked me to death or has unreasonable requests or asks for the strangest things to satisfy her cravings!”
Fujioka chuckled, hiding his mouth behind his free hand in an attempt to be somewhat polite. “How did you end up working for her, then?”
“I have a debt of sorts that I have to pay.”
“Ah, sounds like we’re in the same situation.”
“Pardon me?”
Fujioka closed his eyes and smiled, cocking his head sideways. “I broke a happyaku man en vase.” (2)
“E-eight million?!”
Somehow, Watanuki knew he wasn’t lying, and now he wasn’t sure who he felt more sorry for - himself, or the guy next to him.
“It belonged to my high school’s Host Club. I’m working as a host for the time being because the others figured I could pay off my debt faster than if I was merely their errand boy.”
He really didn’t know what to say to that, except maybe, “Really? No offense, but you don’t strike me as the type to…”
Fujioka laughed. “None taken. It’s probably the glasses, right? I didn’t feel like putting my contacts on this morning. And the others wouldn’t recognize me as easily either.”
“Oh.”
--------------------------------------------------
It was about fifteen minutes later that the two found themselves to be at the cashier line. Fujioka gave a polite bow after they had paid for their groceries and left the supermarket.
“I’m headed that way,” he said, pointing in a direction different than Watanuki’s. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Same here. I hope we meet again.”
Fujioka laughed, somewhat nervously. “I’m not sure about that. I mean, life has been more than a little hectic, and my club is a bit on the psychotic side…”
“I’m sure that my boss and her underlings can take on your group any day.”
Watanuki wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had felt so… normal, for lack of a better word.
“Well then, thank you for today.”
“Yes. You’d better get home before it rains.”
“Rain?” Fujioka looked almost startled at that thought. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”
“I’m sure it won’t start for another hour or so.”
He seemed to sigh in relief. “Really? That’s good to hear. I… wouldn’t want any of my things to get wet.”
Then they parted ways, waving good bye as their feet took them in two different directions.
Watanuki had a notion that the other guy had it pretty hard, what with his situation and all. It felt somewhat encouraging that he wasn’t the only one in this world who was having problems of an unusual type (even though Fujioka-san didn’t seem like he’d be caught up in supernatural occurrences).
He had a feeling that they’d meet up again sometime in the future.
Fin.
--------------------------------------------------
Author’s Notes:
1. Kyo: Can mean a great deal of things. In this case, Watanuki took it to mean “today”. Of course, Haruhi was stuttering out Kyouya’s name. XD
2. Happyaku man en: Eight million yen. Roughly eighty-thousand dollars. Don’t know about any other currency.
I realize that Haruhi’s out of character. (grimaces) But I figured that she’s naturally kind and gentle to strangers, and most of her straight-arrow comments affect the people who are hoping for certain reactions from her. And for those of you who don’t know Ouran High School Host Club, Haruhi is a girl (and Watanuki didn’t notice! XD). You figure that out in the first chapter/episode.
On a completely random note, please don’t be surprised if a few series come back around in the future. Some crossovers possibilities have more than a few scenarios that I liked, so you might see previously done crosses explored in a different way.
Coughcardcaptorsakuramostdefinitelywillcomebacksometimeinthefuturecough.
On another note, I really need more icons.
x-posted to
xxx_holic ,
ouranhostclub ,crossovers100 , and FFN
Previous chapters/shots can be found under Crossroads (FFN) or at the challenge table (LJ).
~ Ika
My plot bunnies have a screwed sense of logic sometimes.
Title: The More it Changes… (The More it Stays the Same)
Prompt: 59 - Food (for
crossovers100 )
Pairing: N/A
Rating: PG
Genre: General, Crossover
Disclaimer: I own nada.
Notes/Warning: Not at all happy with how this fic turned out. It’s lacking in a lot of ways. You’ll see what I mean. And yes, I realize that in order for some of these things to happen, the characters need to be outside of their original settings. Please ignore.
Summary: Hitsuzen, hitsuzen, hitsuzen. Blah, blah, blah. He’d heard it enough times already, so could you please give him a break? It’s not like anyone else is in a similar situation, right? Wrong.
--------------------------------------------------
Working at Yuuko's shop was like walking down a winding road. Sometimes the ground was straight, sometimes, uneven.
Every once in a while, he would stumble across a crossroad, each path leading him to a different encounter.
Crossroads
“The More it Changes…”
By Hikagi
--------------------------------------------------
Watanuki sighed when he entered the convenient store, wondering just how much longer it was going to take to fulfill his end of the contract he had made with Yuuko-san. By the way she made things sound, he might end up being stuck working at the store for the next fifty years or so.
Shaking the thought out of his head, he grabbed a nearby shopping basket and proceeded to head down the first aisle he came across. Ten minutes later, he had just about found everything on his list and was on his way to the instant coffee section when he bumped into another person, sending them both sprawling into a shelf of potato chips.
He apologized briefly, hoping not to incur the wrath of the other person, and set about rectifying the situation. Seeing that the unfortunate individual had dropped his basket of groceries, Watanuki hurriedly moved to help clean up the mess, picking up wayward bags of melon, shrimp, or onion-flavored goods along the way and restoring them to their original places.
He saw a pair of glasses nearby and assumed that they had been knocked off the boy when they had collided. Worried that he might have actually harmed the other teenager, Watanuki handed him the large-framed lenses and hoped that he wasn’t too mad.
The stranger in question accepted his glasses with a thanks but froze upon seeing Watanuki’s face. He blinked and gaped, raising a hand in astonishment before weakly stuttering something that sounded like, “K-kyo…”
Watanuki frowned. What was this boy trying to say? He had no idea how “today” was relevant to their collision, and couldn’t see what prompted this response. (1)
“My name is Watanuki Kimihiro,” he said as he bowed in apology. “I’m sorry about the accident. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“N-no, that’s fine,” the teenager replied, laughing shakily out of nervousness as he put his glasses back on. “You startled me, is all. I thought, for a second, that you were someone I knew. I am Fujioka Haruhi.” They shook hands.
“Let me help you with the rest,” Watanuki said, gesturing to the rest of the fallen groceries he hadn’t managed to pick up yet.
“Ah, that’d be great. Thanks.”
--------------------------------------------------
After their initial…encounter, they had decided to stick together for the remainder of their time at the supermarket. Watanuki couldn’t help but notice that Fujioka-san’s assortment of groceries were decidedly strange, to say the least.
Four cans of instant coffee, eight bags of melon-flavored potato chips, twelve packages of instant ramen or udon, a box of yogurt-flavored drinks, to name a few.
Who on earth was this guy shopping for?
…Then again, his own shopping basket wasn’t that much better…
“Ah, Fujioka-san,” Watanuki said sheepishly. “You wouldn’t mind if I made a little detour and picked up something?” He made a hand motion in the direction of the liquor section of the store. “It’s something my boss wanted.”
He gave a nod of understanding. “What is your boss like?”
Watanuki snorted. “That woman is nothing but annoying and demanding and forces me to slave in every day, not caring if she’s overworked me to death or has unreasonable requests or asks for the strangest things to satisfy her cravings!”
Fujioka chuckled, hiding his mouth behind his free hand in an attempt to be somewhat polite. “How did you end up working for her, then?”
“I have a debt of sorts that I have to pay.”
“Ah, sounds like we’re in the same situation.”
“Pardon me?”
Fujioka closed his eyes and smiled, cocking his head sideways. “I broke a happyaku man en vase.” (2)
“E-eight million?!”
Somehow, Watanuki knew he wasn’t lying, and now he wasn’t sure who he felt more sorry for - himself, or the guy next to him.
“It belonged to my high school’s Host Club. I’m working as a host for the time being because the others figured I could pay off my debt faster than if I was merely their errand boy.”
He really didn’t know what to say to that, except maybe, “Really? No offense, but you don’t strike me as the type to…”
Fujioka laughed. “None taken. It’s probably the glasses, right? I didn’t feel like putting my contacts on this morning. And the others wouldn’t recognize me as easily either.”
“Oh.”
--------------------------------------------------
It was about fifteen minutes later that the two found themselves to be at the cashier line. Fujioka gave a polite bow after they had paid for their groceries and left the supermarket.
“I’m headed that way,” he said, pointing in a direction different than Watanuki’s. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Same here. I hope we meet again.”
Fujioka laughed, somewhat nervously. “I’m not sure about that. I mean, life has been more than a little hectic, and my club is a bit on the psychotic side…”
“I’m sure that my boss and her underlings can take on your group any day.”
Watanuki wasn’t sure how long it had been since he had felt so… normal, for lack of a better word.
“Well then, thank you for today.”
“Yes. You’d better get home before it rains.”
“Rain?” Fujioka looked almost startled at that thought. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”
“I’m sure it won’t start for another hour or so.”
He seemed to sigh in relief. “Really? That’s good to hear. I… wouldn’t want any of my things to get wet.”
Then they parted ways, waving good bye as their feet took them in two different directions.
Watanuki had a notion that the other guy had it pretty hard, what with his situation and all. It felt somewhat encouraging that he wasn’t the only one in this world who was having problems of an unusual type (even though Fujioka-san didn’t seem like he’d be caught up in supernatural occurrences).
He had a feeling that they’d meet up again sometime in the future.
Fin.
--------------------------------------------------
Author’s Notes:
1. Kyo: Can mean a great deal of things. In this case, Watanuki took it to mean “today”. Of course, Haruhi was stuttering out Kyouya’s name. XD
2. Happyaku man en: Eight million yen. Roughly eighty-thousand dollars. Don’t know about any other currency.
I realize that Haruhi’s out of character. (grimaces) But I figured that she’s naturally kind and gentle to strangers, and most of her straight-arrow comments affect the people who are hoping for certain reactions from her. And for those of you who don’t know Ouran High School Host Club, Haruhi is a girl (and Watanuki didn’t notice! XD). You figure that out in the first chapter/episode.
On a completely random note, please don’t be surprised if a few series come back around in the future. Some crossovers possibilities have more than a few scenarios that I liked, so you might see previously done crosses explored in a different way.
Coughcardcaptorsakuramostdefinitelywillcomebacksometimeinthefuturecough.
On another note, I really need more icons.
x-posted to
xxx_holic ,
ouranhostclub ,crossovers100 , and FFN
Previous chapters/shots can be found under Crossroads (FFN) or at the challenge table (LJ).
~ Ika