in the middle of cherry-blossom season of '06, hibari graduated, and nothing was the same.

Gokudera's working on the whole "becoming self-sufficient" thing. He really is.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Yamamoto reflects on where life has taken him.

Hibari does not cope with Yamamoto's death, because he doesn't need to.

Gokudera is no stranger to the ache of wanting something.

Yamamoto needs a little help after class.

Yamamoto and Hibari are on a mission, and Hibari's got a gun.

Yamamoto Takeshi grows up, just a little.

The first time Yamamoto asks him, Gokudera is so appalled he nearly swallows his cigarette whole.

"It's okay." There are dark circles under Yamamoto's eyes, even as he smiles, smiles like there's an invisible gun to his head. "Hibari does what he wants. He's always like that."

Ever since he laid eyes on Hibari for the first time, in the back room of that seedy bar in the seediest part of town, he was gone. Done for, every part of him. He fell so damn hard that he never quite managed to put himself back together the same way.

Watanuki has a recurring nightmare.

"Hey, Hibari." That insolent grin was back on Yamamoto's face. It seemed to Hibari to be the only expression he knew how to wear. "Do you know what a sociopath is?"

If he didn't know better, he'd have said Hibari was waiting up for him. It's a pleasant-enough dream to have.

Watanuki is a hard-up druggie who lives for his next high; Doumeki is a DJ. Also, let's pretend I know anything about raves. I may never finish this, but then again that's normal. Written for nebulia's xxxholic mini-bang challenge.

"The warmth of the earth beneath his back mirrors the slow, smokeless burn inside his chest - the ache of being near enough to touch, the smoldering debris of feelings inexpressible."

Yuuko's an ass-kicking, name-taking mob boss with a vested interest in keeping the orphaned nobody, Watanuki Kimihiro, alive. To that end, she's hired a certain Doumeki Shizuka to be his bodyguard. Organized crime AU. Currently incomplete.

"He can't help spacing out sometimes, as though he's trying to hear an echo of a voice that disappeared long ago." Doumeki in a world without Watanuki.

Haruhi is jealous. This contains the SOS-dan re-imagined as Evangelion pilots.

James is the front man for the as-yet unknown band The Marauders; Sirius plays guitar. Hijinks ensue!

Doumeki and Watanuki journey through a post-apocalyptic world.

Watanuki knows, distantly, that all this is his fault. He watches the slow erosion of Doumeki's youth and vitality, the hardening of his heart. Doumeki himself doesn't seem to notice. It's a gradual process, Watanuki supposes. Sort of like dying.

Doumeki learns some things about life, and love; about growing up, growing older, and growing old together.

Eventually, everything comes to an end. You know this better than most: you, Remus John Lupin, to whom loss is practically a way of life.

It began with a clandestine meeting... A simple AU experiment featuring Doumeki and Watanuki.

That’s how things work now, Watanuki supposes. Give and take. It isn’t half as unbearable as he likes to pretend it is.