drabble-turned-fic?!
For Jen. 8D the prompt is all her fault okay. Don't believe her if she says otherwise.
And this is-- once again-- highly cracky. Naoto/Ky somehow always is. I CAN WRITE SERIOUS STUFF, I SWEAR. DDDDX
With how active she preferred to be, it was a rare day that Naoto would voluntarily sacrifice practice or wandering in favor of a few hours of shut-eye, but attempting to maintain civility in a conversation with Zelman and the Master while both were making snarky implications was enough to give any saint a raging headache-- and she was far from saintly, so she hadn't stood a wisp of a chance. Not to mention the nightmares were becoming more of a regularity these days, so her sleeping schedule hadn't been the best lately.
Thankfully, the ducklings knew when she wasn't feeling well, and refrained from peeping loudly for her attention as she stepped into her alcove and wearily sagged onto her blankets.
An hour or two. That was all she needed, and then she'd return to dealing with whatever the island felt like tossing her way. Sixty minutes was a reasonable amount of time.
She didn't even get fifteen.
A light sleeper by nature, Naoto had just barely slipped into the beginnings of unconsciousness when something crashed. The crash was accompanied by a faint, musical tinkle and several clinking sounds, but it was the next sound that jarred her fully awake.
Ky Kiske. Yelling. Furiously. In all of the months that she'd known him, she had never heard such rage in his tone.
Great, she thought groggily, struggling to her feet as one hand closed over her sheathed katana. Either Saitou's insulted his religion one too many times or someone's committing mass murder outside.
It wasn't until a large shard of porcelain went crunch under her foot that Naoto realized the true source of her roommate's ire.
... Oh, you're kidding.
Pieces of what had once been a set of rare teacups were littered all over the cave floor. The charred and broken body of Axl Low seemed soon to follow, judging by the "Oh SHIT" expression he wore and the way Ky was gripping Thunderseal.
"Awww, c'mon!" The guilty party protested, waving his hands wildly. "I said it was an accident!"
"I refuse to believe that a grown man and skilled fighter would accidentally demonstrate the use of his highly-destructive weapon in an area with fragile objects," Ky replied tightly. "Surely you could have displayed the range of your kusarigama outside."
"Well, yeah, but... eh, hindsight, y'know?" Axl sighed, then perked when he noticed a potential savior. "Hey, Naoto! I didn't know you were here!"
"I was trying to sleep." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, giving both males a tired glance. "Which is a little hard to do when you're breaking things and Ky's screaming like a siren. Seriously, Ky, they're just teacups."
"Just... teacups?" The blond's voice was dangerously low as he turned towards her, his eyes still blazing. "Naoto, I'll have you know that those teacups were embossed, bearing the image of the Wawel rose, and the gold trim was perfect! These cups were dated back to the Royal Castle of Wawel in Poland! To own them was an opportunity that most people would have never been afforded and now, thanks to his disregard for caution, that opportunity has been lost! Never again will there be such pristine delicacy!!"
Naoto stared at him in absolute silence for several minutes. Ky stared back.
".... You're overreacting over a pair of cups."
"They're not--" He broke off on a frustrated growl, raking his fingers through his hair. "If someone had somehow damaged your blade--"
"That's different."
"How is that different? It's still the same principle--"
"If you think that my weapon getting mangled is anything like someone breaking a dinky cup--"
"Dinky?!"
"It's not like you're out of cups to drink tea out of; you've got about thirty--"
"That's hardly the point, Naoto!"
"Okay, so now you'll have to settle for the ones with tulips instead of roses--"
"Despite your irritation at having been roused from your sleep, that's hardly any excuse to take out your anger on the teacups."
"You're the one who's yelling."
"And don't I have the right to be angry?"
"Over teacups? I could understand if it was something important, but--"
"They are important!! And thanks to Axl, they're now also broken, which greatly diminishes their worth!"
By this point, they were glaring daggers at each other, their voices steadily rising in anger. Axl had wisely seized advantage of the situation and fled.
"So you're saying..." And now Naoto's voice had gone flat. "If something's broken, it's worthless?"
"Well, yes, obviously the teacups would have to be in perfect condition in order to--" Ky stopped abruptly as the girl's eyes narrowed, clearly warning him not to finish. His mouth opened, then closed, thinning into a straight line, before he abruptly turned and walked out of the cave, leaving his roommate with a few final words.
"We all have things important to us, Naoto. And it hurts when those things are taken away from us without warning."
She stood there for a good five minutes, surrounded by fragments of the rose of whatever, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.
"I get it," she muttered at last, crouching down to survey the damage. "I get it, okay? It's not like I don't know that feeling."
The logical thing to do was go back to bed while the cave was still quiet (Kougaiji had gone to visit Yukina and who knew how long Ky would be gone). Or maybe clean up the mess and then go lie down.
Naoto picked up one particularly large piece, turning it between her fingers thoughtfully.
If she had abided by logic, she never would have survived this long.
It was insane, crazy, and it probably wouldn't work. She had no obligation to do such a thing. Why bother even trying?
Because it's important, she thought with a worn smile, and began to gather up the pieces.
**~~**~~**~~**~~**
Getting all of the porcelain chunks together had been time-consuming, and she'd experienced a further detour when some puny bird had swooped down out of nowhere to snag the handle and soar off again. Chasing it had led to the unpleasant discovery that the bird was Hibari's, who had been more than eager to pick a fight with her. ... Granted, he had been slightly taken aback when she had drawn her katana and snarled, "Move, I'm fixing teacups."
Unfortunately, he recovered enough to insist on a fight, and Naoto was limping from a spiked tonfa to the leg when she finally found Orihime. She couldn't help feeling just a bit embarrassed asking for assistance from hairpin-inhabiting fairies, but the girl's powers did prove useful.
After that, she had to fend off questions from Sonic, Killua, Teresa and a smirking Axel, as well as turn down an invitation for a tea party from Shinku ("Since you seem to have your own set..."), making it back to the cave in an even more exhausted state than she had done before.
"If they're not broken, they've got worth, right?" She sank onto one of the couches, heaving a sigh. "I wonder if that applies to everything..."
**~~**~~**~~**~~**
Two hours later, when Ky returned from a very long walk around the island, he found Naoto slumped on the couch, head lowered and eyes closed. On her lap rested two delicate teacups, as well-formed and beautiful as they had been before the unfortunate incident had happened.
"How did she...?" The police officer frowned in perplexity but, as he took in her bedraggled appearance, the blood caked on one bare leg, and the weary vulnerability she only displayed in her sleep, his eyes softened.
Naoto didn't stir as he removed the teacups and placed them in his alcove, although she let out a sleepy murmur when he carefully gathered her up into his arms to carry her to her bed.
"You didn't have to go that far..." Ky glanced down at his armful with a concerned smile. "I acted rashly... although I am grateful for what you managed to do. However, if you're going to get yourself injured for it..."
"... They were important to you." She didn't even protest being cradled with such care, too tired to complain about it.
"You're important to me, too." He set her down, reaching for a blanket to drape over her.
"I'm also broken..."
Ky's hands faltered for a moment as it suddenly hit him on just what had upset her earlier.
"Ah. Well." He drew the blanket up over her shoulders, settling down on the side of the bed as the ducklings drowsily cheeped their greetings. "As broken as you claim to be, you are worth much more than every rare teacup in the world, Naoto. I don't plan on letting you forget that anytime soon."
Naoto was already drifting off again, muttering something about corny speeches, but Ky saw the faintest of smiles on her face before she succumbed to slumber. That was enough to make him decide to stay by her side for just a little while longer and ensure that nothing else happened to disturb her this time around.
And then it was time to hunt down a certain time traveler and lecture him thoroughly on teacup abuse.
And this is-- once again-- highly cracky. Naoto/Ky somehow always is. I CAN WRITE SERIOUS STUFF, I SWEAR. DDDDX
With how active she preferred to be, it was a rare day that Naoto would voluntarily sacrifice practice or wandering in favor of a few hours of shut-eye, but attempting to maintain civility in a conversation with Zelman and the Master while both were making snarky implications was enough to give any saint a raging headache-- and she was far from saintly, so she hadn't stood a wisp of a chance. Not to mention the nightmares were becoming more of a regularity these days, so her sleeping schedule hadn't been the best lately.
Thankfully, the ducklings knew when she wasn't feeling well, and refrained from peeping loudly for her attention as she stepped into her alcove and wearily sagged onto her blankets.
An hour or two. That was all she needed, and then she'd return to dealing with whatever the island felt like tossing her way. Sixty minutes was a reasonable amount of time.
She didn't even get fifteen.
A light sleeper by nature, Naoto had just barely slipped into the beginnings of unconsciousness when something crashed. The crash was accompanied by a faint, musical tinkle and several clinking sounds, but it was the next sound that jarred her fully awake.
Ky Kiske. Yelling. Furiously. In all of the months that she'd known him, she had never heard such rage in his tone.
Great, she thought groggily, struggling to her feet as one hand closed over her sheathed katana. Either Saitou's insulted his religion one too many times or someone's committing mass murder outside.
It wasn't until a large shard of porcelain went crunch under her foot that Naoto realized the true source of her roommate's ire.
... Oh, you're kidding.
Pieces of what had once been a set of rare teacups were littered all over the cave floor. The charred and broken body of Axl Low seemed soon to follow, judging by the "Oh SHIT" expression he wore and the way Ky was gripping Thunderseal.
"Awww, c'mon!" The guilty party protested, waving his hands wildly. "I said it was an accident!"
"I refuse to believe that a grown man and skilled fighter would accidentally demonstrate the use of his highly-destructive weapon in an area with fragile objects," Ky replied tightly. "Surely you could have displayed the range of your kusarigama outside."
"Well, yeah, but... eh, hindsight, y'know?" Axl sighed, then perked when he noticed a potential savior. "Hey, Naoto! I didn't know you were here!"
"I was trying to sleep." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, giving both males a tired glance. "Which is a little hard to do when you're breaking things and Ky's screaming like a siren. Seriously, Ky, they're just teacups."
"Just... teacups?" The blond's voice was dangerously low as he turned towards her, his eyes still blazing. "Naoto, I'll have you know that those teacups were embossed, bearing the image of the Wawel rose, and the gold trim was perfect! These cups were dated back to the Royal Castle of Wawel in Poland! To own them was an opportunity that most people would have never been afforded and now, thanks to his disregard for caution, that opportunity has been lost! Never again will there be such pristine delicacy!!"
Naoto stared at him in absolute silence for several minutes. Ky stared back.
".... You're overreacting over a pair of cups."
"They're not--" He broke off on a frustrated growl, raking his fingers through his hair. "If someone had somehow damaged your blade--"
"That's different."
"How is that different? It's still the same principle--"
"If you think that my weapon getting mangled is anything like someone breaking a dinky cup--"
"Dinky?!"
"It's not like you're out of cups to drink tea out of; you've got about thirty--"
"That's hardly the point, Naoto!"
"Okay, so now you'll have to settle for the ones with tulips instead of roses--"
"Despite your irritation at having been roused from your sleep, that's hardly any excuse to take out your anger on the teacups."
"You're the one who's yelling."
"And don't I have the right to be angry?"
"Over teacups? I could understand if it was something important, but--"
"They are important!! And thanks to Axl, they're now also broken, which greatly diminishes their worth!"
By this point, they were glaring daggers at each other, their voices steadily rising in anger. Axl had wisely seized advantage of the situation and fled.
"So you're saying..." And now Naoto's voice had gone flat. "If something's broken, it's worthless?"
"Well, yes, obviously the teacups would have to be in perfect condition in order to--" Ky stopped abruptly as the girl's eyes narrowed, clearly warning him not to finish. His mouth opened, then closed, thinning into a straight line, before he abruptly turned and walked out of the cave, leaving his roommate with a few final words.
"We all have things important to us, Naoto. And it hurts when those things are taken away from us without warning."
She stood there for a good five minutes, surrounded by fragments of the rose of whatever, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.
"I get it," she muttered at last, crouching down to survey the damage. "I get it, okay? It's not like I don't know that feeling."
The logical thing to do was go back to bed while the cave was still quiet (Kougaiji had gone to visit Yukina and who knew how long Ky would be gone). Or maybe clean up the mess and then go lie down.
Naoto picked up one particularly large piece, turning it between her fingers thoughtfully.
If she had abided by logic, she never would have survived this long.
It was insane, crazy, and it probably wouldn't work. She had no obligation to do such a thing. Why bother even trying?
Because it's important, she thought with a worn smile, and began to gather up the pieces.
**~~**~~**~~**~~**
Getting all of the porcelain chunks together had been time-consuming, and she'd experienced a further detour when some puny bird had swooped down out of nowhere to snag the handle and soar off again. Chasing it had led to the unpleasant discovery that the bird was Hibari's, who had been more than eager to pick a fight with her. ... Granted, he had been slightly taken aback when she had drawn her katana and snarled, "Move, I'm fixing teacups."
Unfortunately, he recovered enough to insist on a fight, and Naoto was limping from a spiked tonfa to the leg when she finally found Orihime. She couldn't help feeling just a bit embarrassed asking for assistance from hairpin-inhabiting fairies, but the girl's powers did prove useful.
After that, she had to fend off questions from Sonic, Killua, Teresa and a smirking Axel, as well as turn down an invitation for a tea party from Shinku ("Since you seem to have your own set..."), making it back to the cave in an even more exhausted state than she had done before.
"If they're not broken, they've got worth, right?" She sank onto one of the couches, heaving a sigh. "I wonder if that applies to everything..."
**~~**~~**~~**~~**
Two hours later, when Ky returned from a very long walk around the island, he found Naoto slumped on the couch, head lowered and eyes closed. On her lap rested two delicate teacups, as well-formed and beautiful as they had been before the unfortunate incident had happened.
"How did she...?" The police officer frowned in perplexity but, as he took in her bedraggled appearance, the blood caked on one bare leg, and the weary vulnerability she only displayed in her sleep, his eyes softened.
Naoto didn't stir as he removed the teacups and placed them in his alcove, although she let out a sleepy murmur when he carefully gathered her up into his arms to carry her to her bed.
"You didn't have to go that far..." Ky glanced down at his armful with a concerned smile. "I acted rashly... although I am grateful for what you managed to do. However, if you're going to get yourself injured for it..."
"... They were important to you." She didn't even protest being cradled with such care, too tired to complain about it.
"You're important to me, too." He set her down, reaching for a blanket to drape over her.
"I'm also broken..."
Ky's hands faltered for a moment as it suddenly hit him on just what had upset her earlier.
"Ah. Well." He drew the blanket up over her shoulders, settling down on the side of the bed as the ducklings drowsily cheeped their greetings. "As broken as you claim to be, you are worth much more than every rare teacup in the world, Naoto. I don't plan on letting you forget that anytime soon."
Naoto was already drifting off again, muttering something about corny speeches, but Ky saw the faintest of smiles on her face before she succumbed to slumber. That was enough to make him decide to stay by her side for just a little while longer and ensure that nothing else happened to disturb her this time around.
And then it was time to hunt down a certain time traveler and lecture him thoroughly on teacup abuse.