memento mori, Chapter Two (X/Yami no Matsuei, Subaru, Tsuzuki, Hisoka)

[puella_nerdii]

I said weekly update schedule, and I'm going to stick to that, dammit.

And thanks so much to everyone who read the first part. Your encouragement means a lot, it really does. *smooshes you all*

memento mori. X/Yami no Matsuei crossover, Subaru, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka. PG-13 for this chapter, R for later ones. 5106 words in this chapter, 9480 in the

Comments

[rose_erato]

Ah, that was an excellant chapter. I love the talk between Subaru and Hisoka and the tension between them. Subaru and Hisoka are alike in so many ways, but they are so different as well.

[puella_nerdii]

Thanks! And yeah, I'm having fun playing with and playing up the tension there; Subaru and Hisoka have been placed in similar positions, but the way they react to those positions is very different. (Hisoka's hardly a masochist, for one. The dear. *pets*)

[twistedsheets10]

Ah, its such a lovely thing, reading this. :D

I love the interaction between Subaru and Hisoka. Eee. There's just this undercurrent of something I couldn't quite describe--not just tension, I think.

I had a little thrill when I read Tsuzuki met Setsuka. I wonder how that meeting wet.

[puella_nerdii]

Thanks so much! There are definitely a lot of undercurrents in that scene -- Subaru's apparent duality and duplicity remind Hisoka of someone, and the memories that incurs are far from pleasant.

Tsuzuki and Setsuka meeting went something like this:
TSUZUKI: *covered in blood and verging on catatonia*
SETSUKA: *also covered in blood* You're very beautiful like that. I hope my son grows up to look like you someday. ^____________^
TSUZUKI: IhatemyjobIhatemyjobIhatemyjobsomuch
SETSUKA: *kisses some of the blood away from his cheek*
TSUZUKI: *is clearly a badtouch magnet*

[twistedsheets10]

The overload sakura images probably didn't help improving Subaru's image in Hisoka's mind. At first I was confused why Hisoka seemed suspicious about him, then I realized, that while we ( the readers) knew about Subaru's history, Hisoka didn't, so he has a different interpretation from the images he got.

I find it somewhat disturbing that I found that scene hilarious (and yes, O_o). And terribly possible. Sometimes I wonder how Tsuzuki is able to cling to sanity, with a job like that.

(I think someone should make an icon with Tsuzuki with the words 'badtouch magnet'.

[mithrigil]

So. Much. Eeee.

The Tsuzuki conversations were both seriously thrilling--I love how much he gets and how much he's acting. And then Hisoka lying but not performing at all--it really makes what Subaru is doing/being stand out.

Also, I think the use of Love Me actually works from a Brechtian point. :grins: Jars you right out.

Such love~

[puella_nerdii]

Tsuzuki's turning out to be an unexpected joy in this -- I had such fear of writing him going in, but as I get further into this I'm grateful that he's there to balance out Subaru and Hisoka. And yeah, you know Tsuzuki's pretending but you also know that you really, really don't want to ask what the story is there...poor thing.

Well, I do like being Brechtian where I can. Maybe I should have the three of them sing at the end of next chapter...

Love you too~ So much~

[mithrigil]

Maybe I should have the three of them sing at the end of next chapter...

HISOKA
There isn't a ceiling to account for your pain,
But what happened to me didn't drive me insane,
And you have been marked by the sakura tree,
But the things I see in you did not create me.
The things I see in you did not create me.

SUBARU
I do not pretend and I do not demand,
But stop prying out what you don't understand.
There's nothing within me to cushion your fall
Because they replaced me with no one at all.
They truly replaced me with no one at all.

TSUZUKI
You'd think Sumeragi would fight the good fight,
But from just talking to him, there's something not right.
It's like everyone here's got a secret to hide,
And clearly I'm only along for the ride.
...You know, I like this singing thing.

HISOKA
Idiot.

[puella_nerdii]

So um. Have I mentioned that I love you lately? Because I do. So damn much.

[etrangere]

Great chapter! You know, I'd forgotten how much I adored Tsuzuki, been ages since I'd read a YnM fic, love to see him rambling about Hisoko to Subaru, and then putting the pieces together. Hisoka's a darling too, of course.

Or her targets, the last one I met was a woman.
Tsuzuki and Setsuka in the same room? That's intriguing!

Love the jurisdiction bits, it feels very real and fun.

[puella_nerdii]

I adore Tsuzuki, too. He's so proud of Hisoka. It's adorable. And he knows far more than he lets on, of course, and even Subaru gets a sense of that.

Am also having much fun with Hisoka, as it is refreshing to call Subaru on his passive-aggressive martyr thing for once. Lord knows I love the man, but he's far from perfect.

Tsuzuki and Setsuka in the same (very bloody) room, yep. It -- did not go well for Tsuzuki. At all.

[lady_venn]

Sorry, but lady_venn here has gone out of her mind with the sheer awesome of this. Please leave a message after the beep. :P

Hisoka and Subaru's interactions, and the polite rivalry between law enforcement agencies as you pointed out (FBI versus state enforcement, perhaps?), and how that politeness impacts the language (hyper-polite in Japanese, perhaps?) are made of so much SQUEE. I love how Hisoka's flashes of Subaru's memories are in the present tense stream of consciousness; it makes those moments so jarring in this.

And Tsuzuki met Setsuka? Oh, please do tell. :D

It's going to be fun to watch how Hisoka tries to wrap his mind around Subaru being both Sumeragi and Sakurazuka.

[puella_nerdii]

*nod* I think it's similar to the FBI-versus-state: a lot of squabbling (albeit very polite squabbling) about whose jurisdiction certain cases fall under, a lot of arguments about whether Meifu operatives have authority over the Sumeragi and vice versa. As for the hyper-politeness -- well, Subaru certainly is. I don't know nearly enough Japanese to tell you exactly what forms he's using, but they're the (perhaps excessively) polite ones. It's really rather passive-aggressive of him.

Tsuzuki meeting Setsuka is a sidestory, I think.

[lady_venn]

Bureaucratic squabbling? :P

Yeah, hyper-polite is the ultimate offense in Japanese. :D So probably something along those lines?