Slam Dunk Fic: Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Street (MitKo)

[prillalar]

First time with the basketball boys. It's always odd writing the first fic in a new fandom; the names aren't familiar to my fingers and I'm still trying to find the shape of the relationships. And probably invoking every cliche in the fandom, since I haven't had a chance to read any fic yet. But I couldn't wait.

Anywhere else I should post this?


Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Street by Halrloprillalar
Slam Dunk, Mitsui/Kogure, 950 words, PG13.
After the Shoyo game.


One by one, they woke and dressed and left. All but Mitsui. "I'll wait for him," Kogure said. Akagi nodded and dragged Sakuragi out with him, hand over his mouth to shut him up.

Mitsui was slumped against the lockers, mouth open as he slept. Kogure stood and watched him for a while. Then he went and sat beside him. Muffled talk and laughter came through the closed door, then faded.

There was a clock on the wall. The minute hand moved in jerks, one, two, five, ten. Fifteen more and Kogure would wake Mitsui. Should he get something for him to drink? To eat?

Mitsui muttered something and Kogure looked over. Mitsui was still sleeping, sliding down a little. His head was at an awkward angle and Kogure rubbed his own neck. Mitsui drooped a bit lower. Kogure put an arm around his shoulders, pulled him up so his head was against Kogure's chest. So his neck wouldn't be sore.

The clock clicked ahead another minute. Kogure remembered the weight of Mitsui's body as he helped him off the court, the exhausted breath heaving out of him, the sweat-soaked jersey clinging to his skin.

"You did it," Kogure whispered. He could still feel the elation of the win. After the game, it burst out in yells and cheers. Now it was gone deep inside of him, a quiet core of happiness. "We did it."

Kogure's arm rose and fell with Mitsui's breath. He could smell the sweat of both their bodies. He could see Mitsui shooting threes, the straight line of his back, the graceful arc of the ball. "You did it."

Thank you for coming back, he wanted to say. Thank you for playing with us. He bent over Mitsui's head. I wish you hadn't cut your hair. And something sickening dropped through Kogure's chest and he knew.

He had been so careful for years, so careful with Akagi. Careful to leave some distance between them, careful not to let his eyes linger. Not to feel more than a friend should.

So careful with Akagi he had never thought to be careful with anyone else.

The minute hand jerked. Mitsui shifted under Kogure's arm. Kogure bit his lip. The sickening feeling rose in his belly and flooded over him, wave after wave of a desire so intense, it blotted out everything else. Fatigue, thirst, victory -- all gone. How could this have happened without him knowing?

His arm tightened around Mitsui's shoulders. He was leaning down, closer, closer. Let go, he told himself, let go, get up, leave the room. And he would, he would, as soon as he could catch his breath.

And then Mitsui lifted his head. His eyes were clouded with sleep, his face was puffy. They were only inches apart, Mitsui's breath warm on Kogure's mouth. "We won," Mitsui said and it was half a question.

For a moment, Kogure didn't know what Mitsui was talking about. Then he remembered the game. "We won." The words were hard to hear over the blood pounding in his head.

They were too close together. Too close to be safe. Kogure had to move, to let go. But he didn't. Mitsui frowned and Kogure wondered if Mitsui would hurt him, hit him, shove him away.

Mitsui's eyes were dark. Kogure couldn't look away. Another wave went over him. He couldn't move closer. He couldn't move back. He couldn't breathe. "Mitsui," he said.

Mitsui moved. Mitsui pushed his face into Kogure's face and put his mouth on Kogure's mouth and jammed Kogure's glasses hard against his nose.

And Kogure kissed him back. Opened his mouth and kissed him back. Another wave came up and Kogure closed his eyes.

There had been a few boys for Kogure before, just two really, and neither for long. Neither had made him feel sick inside, neither had kissed him like there were five minutes left until the end of the world, neither had hurt him.

Mitsui was hurting him, his weight pressing against Kogure's chest, his mouth hard on Kogure's mouth, his hand around Kogure's heart, squeezing it tighter and tighter as it tried to beat.

Kogure wanted more. He moved his arm around Mitsui's waist, tried to get closer. Mitsui pulled at Kogure's shirt, got his fingers onto Kogure's back. They kissed and kissed and Kogure thought that if Mitsui would just brush against him once, he'd come in his pants.

Someone knocked on the door. Kogure's heart stopped. "Shohoku?" a women called. "Are you still in there?"

Mitsui sat back. His face was flushed. He looked away. Kogure looked down. It took him three tries to answer the woman. "We'll be right out," he called. Mitsui rubbed his mouth on the back of his hand.

Kogure stood. He wanted to say something to Mitsui, to explain. But there was no explanation. And Mitsui had kissed him first. He wanted to ask why. He picked up his jacket and held it in front of him as he went out into the hallway. He cleaned his glasses while he waited.

On the way to the station, Kogure looked at Mitsui. He was frowning, looking at the ground in front of him. "Mitsui," Kogure said. "You played well."

"I know," Mitsui said. He didn't look up.

They were silent on the train. The next day at practice, things were nearly normal. But Mitsui wouldn't meet Kogure's eyes. And Kogure still felt sick inside.

He started being careful.

Comments

[histoirede.livejournal.com]

Wow.
Well, I should be used to the fact that I love your fics, but but... wow. Your Kogure is just perfect. (And MitKo with just a hint of possible AkagiKogure makes me awfully happy X3)

the names aren't familiar to my fingers

Oooh, I know that. Because I only fell in love with serious guys wearing glasses whose names start with "t". Took me weeks to stop writing "Tatsumi" for Tezuka and now I complain that I write "Tezuka" for Takami. I'm lost in my keyboard XD At least Kogure starts with a K.

[prillalar]

I'm so glad to hear you liked it! Kogure I feel I have a pretty good grasp of. Mitsui will probably take more time.

And it's always the glasses, isn't it? I'm just as susceptible. :)

[histoirede.livejournal.com]

Hmm, well, it was a Kogure pov, so it's hard to judge your Mitsui ^-^;

I'm a terrible megane-fetishist.
And I'm not even ashamed of it X3

[neeteeus.livejournal.com]

Nicely ouch! I've never seen Slam Dunk, so it's all a bit confusing, but the angst and the sweetness come through even if I don't know the characters.

Hmmm. Shall endeavour to find anime so I can keep up with you. :D

[prillalar]

Thanks, sweetie. :) I'm glad you liked it even if you're not familiar with the canon.

There are 101 eps of the anime and 31 volumes of manga. The manga, especially, is excellent. I'd be happy to send you some DVDs so you don't have to take ages to download it all. I still need to install WoW and get those discs back to you, so I could bundle it all together.

[neeteeus.livejournal.com]

Gah! Another huge anime. Thank god I took two weeks of vacation at Christmas. =D

Um, I won't say no if you find the time to put stuff on DVD for me. :D I'll let you know if I download any so maybe you won't have to do the whole thing. Warn me when you're about to start burning, yes?

You rock so hard. ♥

[hemlocke.livejournal.com]

OOO. You've started writing! XD XD *have pimped out your fic at my LJ* Ahhh, more MitKo angst to weep at. And always, Mitsui can be a real idiot at times.

Other sites - thelockerroom and basketofic are two other comms you can try posting at but SD fandom being what it is now, i.e. disorganised and fragmented across LJ, there might not be much fandom response per se.

[prillalar]

I have! And thanks so much for the rec on your LJ. :) I'll post a link to the story in the comm sites when I'm back home.

I've finished watching the godawful OVAs now too, so I can read fic without fear of spoilers. I'll be checking out your list of authors soon. Thanks!

[quixotic-sense.livejournal.com]

Got here via a rec, and I'm glad I did. Mitsui/Kogure is my favourite SD pairing, and this is the way I personally like them best -- as much as I am emotionally invested in them as an OTP, I can't imagine them together without being, well, awkward and wistful and hurting.

Again: Love this. I'd beg you to write more, but I don't know whether you'd actually want that. XD

Slam Dunk is an old fandom, alas, and many of the better writers have moved on. absenceofmind has written a MitKo fic or two. I've written some as well, over at my site and qithathu.

[prillalar]

I'm so glad you enjoyed this! It's always a bit nervewracking starting out with a new fandom. And thanks so much for the rec on your site. That's awesome!

It's fine to ask for more. *g* I know that bugs some people, but it doesn't bug me.

And thanks for the author links. I'm looking forward to finally getting to read some fic in this fandom. :)

[quixotic-sense.livejournal.com]

I'd have to be mad not to rec your fic. ^_~

Adding you to my flist, I hope you don't mind. No need to add me back -- I'm just looking out for more of the good crack!

[the-green-sheep.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, Kogure and Mitsui! So in love. I remember.

*sigh* Lovely story. *hurts a tiny bit*

[prillalar]

Aw, thanks. :) I'm late to the party, I know, but I'll party anyhow.

[shirochan.livejournal.com]

Oh love. I haven't read a MitKo since forever. >3 Love the protrayal. And the hint of Kogure liking Akagi.

Great job. >3

[prillalar]

Thank you! I love these two so much.

[yumeyana.livejournal.com]

wow. i haven't read anything slam dunk for quite some time and this was a good read. so angsty and yet so mitko. ^________________^

[prillalar]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it. :) It seems my new fandom is everybody else's old fandom. *g*

[goddessneptune.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy I read this, I just LOVE the characterization of Kogure. It's been so long since I've read MitKo anything, let alone good fic! <3

[prillalar]

Thank you! It's great to hear the characterization worked so well for you, since it's my first attempt at him. *beam*

[pastles.livejournal.com]

You're writing SD too! *cheers*

MitKo is almost my OTP, because there's just something about the two of them. And angsty MitKo is best.

[prillalar]

MitKo is *so* my SD OTP, no contest. :) I'm glad you liked this! I do hope to write more eventually.

[pastles.livejournal.com]

Sooo, what do you think about SenHana

Oh goooood! More is always welcomed.

[lady-shikamaru.livejournal.com]

the characters, as well as the emotions are very well-defined. i find myself sympathizing with kogure's (and possibly mitsui's) need to keep the want from getting in the way of their friendship. really nice. ^____^

[prillalar]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. :)

[flonnebonne]

Oh boy oh boy. I love it whenever any damn one Kogure admires Mitsui's body three point shooting. I so know what he is going through.

And now for recs! It's been a long time, so I'm probably missing a few. Will let you know if I think of any more.

A Slow Storm Brews by yasminm. Plus her other fics on that site.

One Minor Details: A gen AU fic from Kogure's point of view, Mitsui makes an appearance

Things, a drabble, MitKo. Once you scroll down past the Sendoh/Kogure. (!)

Change in the Weather by ayatsujik

Stay Alive, Sportsman has Kogure in it not at all. But Mitsui and Tetsuo are in it!

Three Hundred a Day, Mitsui and Jin after the end of the series. Yes, I'm stretching here.

Um, this last one is just crack. Koshino Hiroaki and His Quest For A Deep and Meaningful Conversation. Has hints of Kogure/Mitsui. Koshino is one of those not-very-memorable Ryonan starters. He pops up in fandom fairly frequently because he's the only mildly cute teammate that Sendoh has to molest (unless you count Hikoichi).

tintenfic's SD fics are teh roxxorz.

If you're feeling really really brave, check out the Slam Dunk rp. It's big. And cracked. And totally not being updated anymore.

And last but definitely not least, Ju's fics at her website, plus some more recent ones at her fic journal reality_is.

[prillalar]

Hee! Glad you liked it. :) And thanks so much for the recs! It's a bit hard to know where to look for SD stuff otherwise.

[flonnebonne]

No prob! And here's one more thing--my one and only MitKo doujin, which is sadly less than ten page: http://s10.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=18MO29QDHVHVV14ZD18SEAC4AZ

[prillalar]

I love it! It's very cute. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

[juin.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could ever write Kogure. It's partly disinterest and partly this great crushing fear that I could never get him right, except you did in your first go and there's a compliment in there somewhere?

And I loved this: his hand around Kogure's heart, squeezing it tighter and tighter as it tried to beat, so much.

I will shut up now.

[prillalar]

Oh, thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! About that line -- I originally was going to put something like "a knife in his chest" but then I thought as it was Mitsui, people might think I meant it literally. :)

*must go get myself a MitKo icon now*

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Okay. Yes. I've decided. I'm definitely harrassing you for more fics. MitKo will do nicely.

Oh god they were beautiful in this--Kogure especially as it was from his point of view. Just--the clock, the way he held Mitsui, how it finally hit him, how careless he'd been. And the kissing. The kissing was hot. XD

Strangely, I love MitKo like this. I don't feel it as particularly angsty or painful; a touch wistful, maybe, and a little bit dysfunctional, but still beautiful and cute despite it all. (Could just be your writing. I'm terribly biased. ♥♥)

Re: *must go get myself a MitKo icon now*

[prillalar]

This is definitely my favourite MitKo so far. (I mean of the ones I've written.) It was the one I just *had* write, because it seemed inevitable to me that something like this owuld happen.

I love my gay Kogure. He's just so sensible and strong and vulnerable and trying, trying all the time.