#though at points I was like...hm man I could write this shippy too though

[thestormfall]

Everything about Beat today was a little too much. [TSoS 2019: Hexa-Code Kernel]

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Characters: Daisukenojo ‘Beat’ Bito &  Neku Sakuraba 

Wordcount:  2,677

Also on Ao3

hohoho I’ve finally written fanfic again. Gotta give some fanfic love to my fave Beat. feel free to read it there and leave a review if you enjoy it haha  

or just here, under the cut.

03/07 10:00AM

- yo, Phones! you free today? lets hang out!

- Sorry, I can't today, I'm kind of busy.

- thats cool

03/09 10:20AM

- man, the weathers sick today! cmon Ill go teach you that move I was talking about

- Can't do today either, Beat. Family stuff.

- No probs man

03/10 09:00AM

- so Doi is doing a special lunch menu today wanna go?

- I've already got lunch plans, sorry

- issokay man

- How about later? We can hang in the park after I'm done with lunch?

- yeah! aight Ill see you later.

xx

Of No Envy

Neku wasn't great at skateboarding but he didn't think that he was terrible. At the very least, after two years of being taught by Beat, he thought he would end up being decent. The unconcealed impish grins of a group of middle-school kids told him otherwise, though. Yeah, yeah laugh it up.

On the other hand, Beat was practising a few tricks that made the kids forget all about him. One of them even clapped. Yeah, Neku wasn't going to manage to do that. He couldn't even remember what it was called.

He resigned to heading towards their resting spot at the top of the skating bowl, leaning against one of the slim trees. Neku wiped the sweat off his neck using his wristband. He always exerted a lot of energy skating with Beat. With him, no matter how idle Neku might have wanted to be, Beat simply dragged him along. Not that he minded, of course.

"Phones, did you see that?" Beat skated up to him, hopping off his board and landing perfectly on the spot next to Neku, catching his board with one hand. For someone so brash, it was almost comical how smooth he was with his skateboard. "Been trying to land that nollie laser for a month!" So that's what it was called. "Gotta see if I can do it again!"

"I'm sure you will."

Beat settled down beside him, crossed leg. "Put 'em here!" He held up a fist, awaiting eagerly.

"Haha, good job." Neku returned the gesture, noting how Beat seemed pretty satisfied with himself today. "So, what? Was that what you wanted to show me all week?"

"Nah, didntcha hear me? That's the first time I've done it." He nudged Neku with his shoulder. "Had a feelin' I wouldn't get it 'till I had you around."

"Oh please, you would have got it eventually. Don't think I know anyone more stubborn than you."

"Thanks, Phones!"

Neku wanted to tell Beat that it wasn't usually meant to be a compliment…but he supposed that in this case, it was. He grabbed his water bottle, poking Beat in the cheek with it. "Want some?"

"Bwaaaah! Phones, that's cold!" Though he said that, Beat took the drink, gulping it down.

"Beat. What's wrong?"

This caused Beat to spit out about half his drink. "Huh? What d'ya mean? There ain't anythin' wrong?"

"Judging how you spit out enough water to keep all the trees in Miyashita Park hydrated, I'd argue otherwise."

His friend opened his mouth, then closed it again. A few times.

"Beat. What's wrong?" He repeated, a bit more sternly this time.

"…Yeah, yeah okay, you've got me." Beat sighed deeply and leaned back against the tree. "How'd you know?"

"You've been bugging me to meet up for the past two weeks," Neku said, drily. "Pretty sure I told you after the last ramen session that I was going to be busy, but there's been a message from you, what…every morning?"

It wasn't just that. Everything about Beat today was a little too much. Yes, Beat was always one to spend the whole day boarding but right now? In the middle of March? Neku had warmed up from the exercise but even after sitting here for a few minutes, the cool spring air was starting to seep into his skin. Beat hated the cold, too. Neku would know, Beat never failed to complain about it.

There was something about the look in his eyes, too. There, even as they were talking. Even as Beat was looking right at him.

"…Is it because Rhyme's leaving?"

Beat stiffened as the words left Neku's mouth.

I knew it.

Neku already knew that Rhyme was leaving, she and Beat had told all of them. She was off to a specialist high school overseas. When Rhyme said that she had a dream to chase, she really meant it. Of course, it would hit Beat hard. They all knew how much she meant to him.

"Hey, I'm going to miss her too, you know," he offered, quietly.

His friend stayed quiet. He lowered his eyes, then looked away.

"That's ain't it, Phones."

"It's…not?"

"Not all of it. It is and it ain't."

Well, that had Neku stumped.

"You're going to have to help me out, here a little Beat. You wanted to tell me what it was, didn't you?"

"…Ya know how you said I was 'buggin' you' for a while?" Beat finally said.

"Beat, you're not actually bothering me," Neku tried to clarify. "It's just a figure of speech –"

"I got that one," Beat interrupted. "At the start, I was jus' wantin' to hang out. I didn't want to ask Rhyme 'cause she's busy with gettin' ready to leave. But you've been busy too. An' Shiki." He paused. "…I even asked Priss." Neku raised an eyebrow, and Beat returned a look that said, 'I know'. "Anyway, everyone was doin' somethin'."

"Beat…"

"So I just kept askin' you. But you've got other friends now, right? You were havin' lunch with them today, right?"

"I guess I do," Neku said. "Beat, yeah sure I was having lunch today with other friends, but it's not like you're any less of a friend to me. Heck, I'm pretty sure you guys were the ones who were telling me to make more friends."

"Yeah, an' you did. I'm not sayin' you shouldn't have. It's a good thing. I know that," Beat said. "I know you worked pretty hard to make friends."

Hearing that made Neku felt slightly embarrassed.

Beat could probably tell. "You did. An' I'm glad you did. I know you didn't wanna have any friends…back when…back when we were in the Game." Beat whispered 'the game', something that they all tended to do. "The point is you changed. An' you kept changin' after the Game. All of you did."

He said the last sentence, with such a bitter sting that Neku was taken aback. "You don't like that we've changed?"

"I don't like that I haven't changed." There was a softer, "not one bit."

Neku hadn't seen Beat like this…not since the Game. It seemed that Beat needed a moment to compose himself.

He wasn't speaking, so all Neku could hear was the sound of those kids skateboarding, laughing with and at each other as they continued showing off tricks to each other. It was jarring, how downcast the atmosphere around Beat was in comparison. It was almost like Beat didn't belong in this picture.

Or maybe it's like that because that's how he feels.

"Rhyme's still chasing her dream," said Beat, speaking suddenly again. "An' she's leavin' because of it. I'm happy for her an' all that but we used to hang out all the time. But she's too busy now, so yeah I thought I'd leave her alone for a bit. But besides you guys, what do I have? Nothin' but this skateboard. The rest of you have tried to change, but I didn't. After the Game, I thought that was enough. Rhyme was back so that was enough. But I'm still a good for nothin' loser who doesn't matter and who has nothin' that matters to me."

Neku wanted to argue because it's not like Beat didn't have other friends. Except thinking back on it, he never mentioned having any. Not having friends was kind of Neku's thing. Perhaps he made such a big deal of it that Beat never wanted to because Neku couldn't recall Beat ever mentioning having other friends either.

Come to think of it…Hadn't Beat always gone a bit quieter whenever Shiki mentioned she was working on a new project? Whenever Neku said Hanekoma was going to help iron out a few things about his new track? Whenever Rhyme went on and on about her new school?

…When had Beat talked about himself?

He knew the answer: not much. Not since the game.

Not until now.

"You're not a loser, Beat."

"I knew you'd say that," was the immediate response. "Doesn't make it true."

He never thought he'd be the one left speechless with Beat. Neku didn't know what to say. He was never good at this. Maybe Shiki or Rhyme could have dealt with this better. Maybe even Josh – no, not Joshua, he would just say something that would make things worse.

Neku hated this, he hated seeing Beat like this.

He just…he just never assumed Beat would be anything but okay. They all had their nightmares about the Game but that was something they shared and talked about. There was nothing to indicate that there were things weren't going well after that.

And he couldn't outright say that Beat had definitely changed because he hadn't. Not in any way that he could tell.

…but so what?

"So what if you haven't changed? So, you haven't made any new friends? Or you don't have a dream? You don't need to have them, it doesn't make us any better than you."

"Phones?"

"Yeah, fine. You're still the same Beat who did everything to save your sister and who wasn't afraid to ask me for help," he continued, words falling out before he could catch them. "You're the same guy back then, who wanted to make friends with me of all people. Then, I'm sorry, but that's perfectly fine with me. Who says you need to change anyway? Screw that. If you want to find a dream or whatever crap, fine. We'll help you, but you don't need to change to do it. Another thing,you don't need a whole bunch of other people as friends because you matter to me."

Beat blinked at Neku.

"…Man, I didn't think you were goin' to get…angry with me."

"I'm not – "

Oh.

Uh, maybe he had been shouting.

Yep, those kids were giving him strange looks.

"The bottom line is," he tried to say with a bit more calm. "You're one of my best friends, and always will be whether you change or not. Or whether you have a dream or not. If you're really having a bad day or something you just need to tell me. And not with just some 'let's hang out' texts that you drop after one reply."

The person Neku was two years ago, before he met his friends, was a thorny person of no envy. Beat, however, had always had a heart of gold. Neku just wished that Beat could see that too.

"…I guess you're right," Beat said, though Neku was unsure if he was entirely convinced. "An' I think maybe I was feelin' a bit left out."

"Yeah…but seriously, if you just want to cry or whatever, I'll drop my plans."

Beat shook his head. "…That would be pretty mean to your other friends."

"I'm serious." Dead serious.

"An' why would I text you, to say 'I'm cryin', that's weird, dude."

"You're crying right now," Neku pointed out.

"Huh."

He guessed Beat, didn't realise, but there were definitely a bunch of tears just rolling down his eyes right now. Beat was always a crier; another thing that Neku was glad didn't change.

At this point, the kids were definitely staring.

"Alright, let's go Beat. The special might not still be on, but I bet you could do with some ramen right now."

Getting up, he gathered his skateboard and helmet, helping Beat to do the same. They got more stares as they left the skate park, but Neku ignored them.

"Phones?"

They only just made it out of the entrance, and Neku turned to see that Beat was wiping his face his hand. "Thanks for that, man."

"Yeah, no worries. Just…just don't keep these kinda things in, okay?" Neku tugged at his hair, a habit that hadn't changed for him after the Game. "I don't know if whatever crap I just said was good advice or not, but that's just what I think. If that's good enough for you, then you know, you can talk to me."

"Okay," he grinned, looking a lot better already, even though his eyes were still puffy. "Yeah, I haven't talked about that before so I guess I needed to let it all out."

Neku nodded. "And I'm here, whenever you need to."

"If you've got anythin' to get off your chest, you can tell me too," Beat declared.

He swung an arm around Neku's shoulder, to which Neku would usually tell him to do a bit less zealously but he would let it slide this time. "Aight, now let's get some of that ramen you were talkin' about."

"Heh, of course."

He was glad that even if Beat wasn't completely better, he had cheered up a little. The idea of ramen probably helped too.

"Thanks again, Neku."

"Anytime."

…Wait, did he just call me –

"Man, I'm starved now, Phones. I'll race ya there!"

Beat took off before Neku could say anything else. He stood there for a bit, wondering if his ears were working right.

"Hey, what're you doin'? This is a race! Pick it up, Phones!"

Shaking his head, he sighed, even as a smile came to his face.

"I'm there!"

A/N: Tadaa! Wow, I haven't posted anything since…June 2017? Not to say I haven't been writing, but most things I posted on Ao3 because the fandoms I wrote for were there…Ew, that makes me feel totally disloyal now. Okay nope, that's it, I'm giving my fics back to ffnet first, always. That said, happy start of TSoS 2019: Hexa-Code Kernel. If you didn't already know, the Twelve Shots of Summer, is exactly that – twelve one-shots all through summer!

And of course, I thought I'd get my gears going into the mood by starting off with one of my still most beloved and favourite things to write about: TWEWY!

I wanted to write something a bit more Beat-centric, though for writing Beat I usually need a bit more of a warm-up before writing in his voice so…this happened. The prompt was 'Open()' and as you probably can tell I used it in an 'opening up' sense. Not to be confused with 'open up your senses' ;D *bdm tsss*

My twewy writing is a bit rusty but I hope I did okay with my fave boy Beat. Always thought that things might not always go well for him, even after the Game so yep. And I would think Neku tried to make some friends from class after the TWEWY game, though of course the Hachiko Gang are still his best friends.

Anyway, I hope this gave you some good twewy feels. Thanks for reading!

- Dina 09/06/2019

[whumpmatsus]

Atsushi x Todo. Maybe Todomatsu has a ankle dislocation after a bike crash and Atsushi being the supportive boyfriend brings him to the Hospital and stays overnight?

aah, I don't really ship them?? I mean, I like them as friends, but for some reason I don't ship any of the canon characters together/like any of the canon ships and I like to focus on reader inserts and family fics with the brothers XD

but I'm fine to write these two in a shippy thing though, interesting dynamic to explore, and I headcanon Totty as pansexual, so, no problems writing it occasionally!

I hope it's okay haha, I've never written Atsushi before and he's not my usual 'type' so it might not be that great, hopefully still enjoyable tho <3

-

“Totty…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you should be taking pictures of it? … And posting them??”

Totty snaps one more photo of his injured foot, giving a small cringe as he looks at the screen to put a filter on it. “Well, yeah… how else are people gonna know that I’m in pain and need attention?”

Atsushi rolls his eyes and pulls out his own cellphone. Far be it from him to tell his boyfriend what to do online, but… “The drugs are probably kicking in. You’re delusional.”

“Noooo…” Totty frowns as he glances away from his phone to focus on his ankle for a minute. Although they did give him some painkillers, and it feels better than it did when he first got here, it’s not great. This serves him right for thinking only shoulders could get dislocated, doesn’t it? “It still hurts. Look at it!”

“Yeah, I’m looking at it, babe.”

“Ooh, perv.” He wiggles his toes with a playful grin. “Is this what turns you on? Feet? And just when I thought I had all your kinks figured out. Hey, you can touch it, if you really want.”

Atsushi’s response is to, with the most deadpan look on his face, poke a single digit against Totty’s ankle. Not enough pressure that someone could accuse him of being cruel, though it might get the point across.

Predictably, the other man jumps about a mile. That simple touch sent an electric shock through his body, like someone had just rubbed salt in an open wound. “OW! Oh, my God, that hurt!!”

“Kind of my point.” To apologize, he reaches over to take Totty’s hand, rubbing the side gently with one thumb. “Do you really need to be giving your almost-broken-ankle a photo shoot and scumming for sympathy online? I’m right here to give you some, and you’ve also, you know… got five brothers who are gonna swarm all over you when I take you home.”

Totty huffs and brings Atsushi’s hand up to press against his cheek. He’s partially right, anyway. “Yeah, okay. Karamatsu’s gonna write an entire Greek tragedy about my suffering, Ichimatsu’s gonna withhold an ice pack till I’ve sufficiently begged for it, Choromatsu’s gonna lecture me about wearing fucking ankle pads, Jyushimatsu will end up hitting it with his baseball bat, and Osomatsu will make me hobble to the fridge and get him a beer. They’re pricks.”

“Tch, they’re also your brothers. Don’t forget you’re a prick, too. You belong to them, so they won’t be that bad. They’ll circle around you chanting, ‘One of us, one of us’ and shove aspirin down your throat.” Atsushi’s eyes drift back down to the injury, and he finds himself wincing.

Honestly, it looks like Totty’s ankle went a few rounds with a sledgehammer. It’s swollen all the way down to the base where his toes meet the rest, and mottled with purplish-blue bruises. Despite the fact that it looks a lot better than the bloody, twisted mess it was when he first got Totty to the hospital, it’s certainly not any less painful.

Seems like Totty is thinking the same thing, because his hand drifts down for his fingertips to brush against it. He jolts again, just like he did when his boyfriend touched it. A tiny whimper slips out and a shoulder catches his head when he leans over for a pity party. “Owwww… dammit. This sucks! How am I supposed to do anything like this? I’m gonna be useless for… how long did the doctor say? Six to eight weeks?”

“Yeah, well, everyone else is gonna have to pick up the slack. I’ll do what I can, you know? At least you don’t live on your own.” Atsushi circles an arm around Totty’s shoulders with a sigh. “And I’m sure your boss will give you a break since you’re, like… broken bone adjacent. It’s not like you’re gonna be sitting around in pain and unable to do anything. You’re so dramatic.”

Totty hums. “You wouldn’t have me any other way, though, right?”

“Yep.” Atsushi kisses his cheek, prompting Totty to melt into the embrace fully, complete with fake-flustered cooing noises. “If you really feel like you need to take pictures and beg people to feel sorry for you online, go ahead and do it. But just remember who’s feeling the most sorry for you, who’s here in real life, and who’s willing to kiss the pain away.”

“Awww… so poetic. Huh, maybe I can take some pictures later and show people how great you’re taking care of me! Right? That would be fun.” Totty grins and pulls his injured ankle a little closer, still pouting at it.

Atsushi snorts as he takes another look at the injury. “Damn. Guess that’s the last time you try to show off for the ladies at my office by showing them how environmentally conscious you are, riding a bike to visit me. Why are you even trying to impress other people, anyway? I’m, like… right here. Perfect hair and all, you know.”

“Wow, who’s being dramatic now?” Totty laughs. “I’m happy with you. Buuuut, if we impress girls, we get a chance at a threesome. Huh, gee, though… you’re right about how we try to do it. The bike thing is played out. Who am I trying to fool? I already go to the gym and walk most places, I don’t need to ride a bike.”

Geez. “Never a dull moment with you, Totty.” He leans over to shut his boyfriend up with another kiss, this time on the lips. “You’ll apparently have plenty of time to brainstorm strategies, lazing around with that hurt foot and all. Luckily, though, the only person who’ll be around to take advantage of your stupid puppy face is me.”

Totty raises an eyebrow and flutters his eyes to get another kiss, humming into the contact. “Oh, good. Because I was thinking, my brothers will probably fawn over me for the first day or so, I can milk it that long, I think, but… after that, they’ll get sick of me asking for stuff pretty quick.”

He hooks both arms around Atsushi’s neck. “Soooo, after those first few days… they’ll be pretty happy for me to go sleep over at your house so you can deal with me. Hell, I bet they’ll send you a fruit basket for putting up with my needy ass! Maybe after I’ve gotten a bunch of pity from them, I can crash at your place for a few days.”

“Hm.” Atsushi presses his forehead against Totty’s with a devious smirk that shows they’re definitely on the same wavelength. “Then after a few days with me… they’ll be missing you and wanting to fuss over you again. Rinse and repeat. You get literally all of the attention from everyone, your brothers treat me like a saint for dealing with you, and they’re all way too dumb to realize they’re being yo-yo’d into taking care of you and your ego.”

Totty squeals and snuggles close, being careful not to bump his foot when he moves. “Oh, my God. I knew there was a reason I loved you!”

“Besides my ass, you mean?”

“… Oh. Yeah. Besides that, uh-huh.”