Ship/Character: Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi (but read that / in there all you want) Fandom: Haikyuu!! Major Tags: None Other Tags: Persona 5 AU, maybe a little intense! Word Count: 796 Remix Permission: sure, have a blast.
Remember when Futaba asked for help with her own Palace and also remember when Karasuno did Hamlet during Engeki. This might be too many levels deep for coherence. OH WELL WHATEVER TWENTY POINTS TO TEAM BOKUROO.
***
Yamaguchi felt a little guilty about not telling Tsukishima where he was going, but this whole Persona thing was new and he didn't know how to explain Palaces to someone as attached to cold logic as Tsukishima was. And this Palace had to be even harder to explain than almost anyone else's, since, well, it was his brother's. Akiteru had pleaded with him personally for help, saying he knew he needed to move on but didn't know how, and even if it wasn't exactly right doing this without Tsukki involved, Yamaguchi was bad at saying no to Tsukishimas.
"I still don't even understand who Rosenstern is!" Hinata said, looking down at his Metaverse costume.
"It's Guildencrantz, dumbass," Kageyama said. His Persona was Hinata's inverse and, even if they didn't get it, Yamaguchi thought it was fitting.
"Neither of those is right," Sugawara said gently, looping his arms around both of them and leading them further inside.
Nervously, Yamaguchi took a deep breath and touched his own mask with trembling fingers. His own awakening had just happened and it was weird doing something without Tsukishima's approval, but when Horatio had first called out to him, it felt really right. There was something about this whole Persona thing that belonged to him in a way nothing else had before.
Yamaguchi took a deep breath. "Okay," he said to himself, and started walking. He tried to follow the group, but couldn't find them even though they'd just left. Shadows started streaming by, ignoring him while all headed in a single direction. He could just make out that they were chanting things like liar and slice and something in him made him turn around and follow them.
A scene was playing out near the Palace entrance, Shadow Akiteru curled up with his hands over his head, the faceless Shadows circling him and chanting it was a lie, it was a lie, it was a lie. Shadow Tsukki stood over him near tears and demanding, "Why do you even try? What's the point? Where has it ever gotten you?!" His whole body was animated, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head, demanding answers that weren't there. The louder Shadow Tsukki yelled, the louder the other Shadows got, the faster they circled. Shadow Tsukki's voice got louder and started to break, great heaving sobs that were like an arrow in Yamaguchi's chest.
Yamaguchi's heart pounded and his breathing sped up to the point where it was like he was hardly breathing at all. It was almost like he was back there that day, back when Akiteru wasn't on the court, and Tsukishima spent the whole day silent and unresponsive, Yamaguchi chattering a mile a minute to make up for the loss.
Almost. But not quite.
That's when he noticed Tsukishima wasn't a kid. Tsukishima was dressed in his school uniform, his bag that matched Yamaguchi's a stone's throw from where he stood. He must have followed them in, oh god, he must have followed them in.
"Tsukki?" said Yamaguchi tentatively.
Tsukishima looked up and their eyes met. "Why?" he asked, his voice wavering like it hadn't since they were kids, all his focus off Akiteru's Shadow and onto Yamaguchi now. "Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you work so hard? What reason could possibly be good enough?"
Horatio's voice was suddenly in his head. "Are you ready?" he asked. "You've put up with so much for so long, isn't it time you fight back?"
And every feeling Yamaguchi had shoved down deep came welling up, pushing forward as he rushed toward Tsukki. The little Shadows scattered in every direction as Yamaguchi barreled forward, and he saw Tsukki's eyes widen as he knocked him to the floor and yelled. He yelled about Tsukki being so good, about how he was wasting his talent, about how trying wasn't a crime. How he didn't need any reason other than pride.
As soon as the words were out, every bit of fight went out of him, and he stared at his shaking hands and looked down at Tsukishima trapped underneath him. Yamaguchi scrambled back.
"Sorry," he said. "Sorry, god, Tsukki, I'm so sorry."
But Tsukishima wasn't paying attention. A mask formed on his face and as he shouted for Hamlet and ripped it off, every nerve ending in Yamaguchi's body sang like his Persona was calling him all over again.
Tsukishima grinned dangerously at him once he was transformed, and Yamaguchi licked his lips without even thinking about it.
"Are you –" Yamaguchi said, then swallowed hard. "Are you okay?"
"Maybe," Tsukishima said, staring down at his new costume and pulling at it. He seemed confused and alive and different. Awake. "Let's find out."
FILL: Team Bokuroo, T
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: Persona 5 AU, maybe a little intense!
Word Count: 796
Remix Permission: sure, have a blast.
Remember when Futaba asked for help with her own Palace and also remember when Karasuno did Hamlet during Engeki. This might be too many levels deep for coherence. OH WELL WHATEVER TWENTY POINTS TO TEAM BOKUROO.
***
Yamaguchi felt a little guilty about not telling Tsukishima where he was going, but this whole Persona thing was new and he didn't know how to explain Palaces to someone as attached to cold logic as Tsukishima was. And this Palace had to be even harder to explain than almost anyone else's, since, well, it was his brother's. Akiteru had pleaded with him personally for help, saying he knew he needed to move on but didn't know how, and even if it wasn't exactly right doing this without Tsukki involved, Yamaguchi was bad at saying no to Tsukishimas.
"I still don't even understand who Rosenstern is!" Hinata said, looking down at his Metaverse costume.
"It's Guildencrantz, dumbass," Kageyama said. His Persona was Hinata's inverse and, even if they didn't get it, Yamaguchi thought it was fitting.
"Neither of those is right," Sugawara said gently, looping his arms around both of them and leading them further inside.
Nervously, Yamaguchi took a deep breath and touched his own mask with trembling fingers. His own awakening had just happened and it was weird doing something without Tsukishima's approval, but when Horatio had first called out to him, it felt really right. There was something about this whole Persona thing that belonged to him in a way nothing else had before.
Yamaguchi took a deep breath. "Okay," he said to himself, and started walking. He tried to follow the group, but couldn't find them even though they'd just left. Shadows started streaming by, ignoring him while all headed in a single direction. He could just make out that they were chanting things like liar and slice and something in him made him turn around and follow them.
A scene was playing out near the Palace entrance, Shadow Akiteru curled up with his hands over his head, the faceless Shadows circling him and chanting it was a lie, it was a lie, it was a lie. Shadow Tsukki stood over him near tears and demanding, "Why do you even try? What's the point? Where has it ever gotten you?!" His whole body was animated, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head, demanding answers that weren't there. The louder Shadow Tsukki yelled, the louder the other Shadows got, the faster they circled. Shadow Tsukki's voice got louder and started to break, great heaving sobs that were like an arrow in Yamaguchi's chest.
Yamaguchi's heart pounded and his breathing sped up to the point where it was like he was hardly breathing at all. It was almost like he was back there that day, back when Akiteru wasn't on the court, and Tsukishima spent the whole day silent and unresponsive, Yamaguchi chattering a mile a minute to make up for the loss.
Almost. But not quite.
That's when he noticed Tsukishima wasn't a kid. Tsukishima was dressed in his school uniform, his bag that matched Yamaguchi's a stone's throw from where he stood. He must have followed them in, oh god, he must have followed them in.
"Tsukki?" said Yamaguchi tentatively.
Tsukishima looked up and their eyes met. "Why?" he asked, his voice wavering like it hadn't since they were kids, all his focus off Akiteru's Shadow and onto Yamaguchi now. "Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you work so hard? What reason could possibly be good enough?"
Horatio's voice was suddenly in his head. "Are you ready?" he asked. "You've put up with so much for so long, isn't it time you fight back?"
And every feeling Yamaguchi had shoved down deep came welling up, pushing forward as he rushed toward Tsukki. The little Shadows scattered in every direction as Yamaguchi barreled forward, and he saw Tsukki's eyes widen as he knocked him to the floor and yelled. He yelled about Tsukki being so good, about how he was wasting his talent, about how trying wasn't a crime. How he didn't need any reason other than pride.
As soon as the words were out, every bit of fight went out of him, and he stared at his shaking hands and looked down at Tsukishima trapped underneath him. Yamaguchi scrambled back.
"Sorry," he said. "Sorry, god, Tsukki, I'm so sorry."
But Tsukishima wasn't paying attention. A mask formed on his face and as he shouted for Hamlet and ripped it off, every nerve ending in Yamaguchi's body sang like his Persona was calling him all over again.
Tsukishima grinned dangerously at him once he was transformed, and Yamaguchi licked his lips without even thinking about it.
"Are you –" Yamaguchi said, then swallowed hard. "Are you okay?"
"Maybe," Tsukishima said, staring down at his new costume and pulling at it. He seemed confused and alive and different. Awake. "Let's find out."
They faced the shadows of their past together.