#mayuniji

mayuaka (you saw this coming)

literally anything by deplore. her prose is honestly just...so good? my personal favorites are a funeral for the former me (a four night procession) and A Series of Dreams Concerning Thanatos and Akashi Seijuurou. really though, all of her akashi-centric fics are a+

With All His Sinews Around His Neck by distantgreen - a rly great character piece from mayuzumi’s viewpoint!

Sidelines by miss_liding (@conquerse on tumblr). drabble collection (which also includes mayuniji) - music!!! au!!! though!!! (screaming)

a little pick-me-up by miss_liding. akashi gets injured during practice 8′)

another language for the things we don’t say by assortedwords (@shigukyos on tumblr) im so weak for hanakotoba........

Moonlit Eyes by memorydd. vampire au!!!!! guys!!!! i love their conversation orz

a handful of stars by seijuro. imaginary friends au - i haven’t reread this in a while but i’m pretty sure i cried when i first did :’) vvvv good

kashima’s mayuaka vignettes series - im always left wanting for more

and if we met forever now by kashima - oracle au that makes me cry

The Toothbrush Fallacy by warsfeil - ok who am i kidding yall have read this before its amazing go read it again

Common Tropes by marreena - mayuaka go to a bookstore together :’) ok i swear ive read this a couple times before but somehow...i forgot to give kudos each time. ive rectified that now and yall should go do that too!!!

aohimu

i just really need (your ass with me) by thimble. this is...a fucking amazing college au in the best way possible.

form/function by covalent. i love the mood in this? kind of a what-if scenario if aomine and himuro ever actually interacted in canon.

Other You by stephanericher. parallel universes........are so good. love how all the different iterations interacted in this fic!

imahana

More Sea Than Land by hilaryfaye - fantasy au; i honestly cannot recommend this enough, i love this author’s worldbuilding and descriptions of magic and just?? imahana bickering?? pls

ok so this one is in chinese but for those who can read it ... 城市之心 by amugoftar is so good. kind of a what-if au after they all graduate; bonus for imayoshi and momoi having an actual friendship.

(why’d) you only call me when i’m high by pennyofthewild - i love fics like these when there’s all the subtle hints at work that things are off but you don’t know what’s wrong - not sure if i made much sense but this is. Good. ok.

nijihimu

just...do yourself a favor and go read stephanericher’s entire nijihimu tag, will you? personal favorites are They Think We’re Dating for that adorable classic school office romance and Too Much because who doesnt want to read about a road trip in hell with these two?

if walls could talk by setterion (on tumblr) - hilarious neighbors au pls go read it Now

where i follow by youichi - (zooms in) did someone say HEARTWRENCHING REINCARNATION AU

Snowblinded by BeautifulThief (@bunnyhips on tumblr) - drabble collection!! ilu cassie ok i love this whole thing, but especially the SPACE AU ficlets i think i need a reread like right now

some other rarepair fics!!!:

there are like negative-something mayuniji fics on any site but i really love Sylindara’s What’s in a name (a classic). you cant go wrong reading like, Everything on the ao3 tag though, because there’s just so little of it (cries)

miss_liding’s D is for Demons and Defeating the MiraGen is a fucking amazing mayukuro au go read it pls a++

ok i lied here is the only smut fic on this entire list going to JeanSouth’s burning desire featuring kise/himuro. if smut can be poetic i think this is it honestly. 

speaking of which stephanericher’s Lift is also a gr8 kihimu fic, i love the meeting in the elevator trope...

if u like momoriko you should read hilaryfaye’s Pearls bc PIRATE AU!!! AAAAA

pennyofthewild’s like strawberry syrup is all i ever wanted bc momoi as an actual player... i die a good death

if you’re into some kagamido, go for hilaryfaye’s With Me, With You & Watch the Skies (unfinished but still rly good...)

as for akakise, go through deplore’s fic list...gold (demon au) is probably my fave tbh. 

psychopass’ late night inquiries by kise ryouta is also a+... kise is so endearingly obnoxious,,

if you like murder mysteries and nijiaka please go read seijuro’s ghosts live in the hollows of your smile bc a) rakuzan!nijimura? pls give me and b) AAAAAAAA prepare to be sad

wow i fuckening forgot to mention garciraki but again, go through stephane’s tag, bc Y ES (my fave is Cold Pizza & Warm Hands)

also read masi’s A Thousand Miles bc !!!!! long-distance relationships aaaaaaa

other recs (genfic, authors, specific fics, etc.):

Mahou Shounen Kuroko Magica by flonnebonne - no ships; it’s exactly what you think it is and it’s Fucking Amazing, very meta, give it a read please

i was gonna do a whole list of people but literally every author whose fics i’ve mentioned up there are A+ and you should read their stuff (special mentions go to a) stephanericher bc if you’ve thought of a ship before chances are she’s written it, so go take a look!! and b) hilaryfaye, especially her fantasy multichaps because she’s so good at worldbuilding and writing magic?)

if you think you needed more closure from kurobas’ manga ending please read Crossroads, and Other Places We Met by deplore. vvvv good

pennyofthewild’s Agent for Hire is a fascinating gen piece (superhero au!!!! kind of!!!) on Kise interacting with the rest of the kiseki and it’s very very good pls read it

aaaaand i think that’s it for now (may edit if i suddenly remember something i left out...)! pls go show these authors some love ok thank u if u have read up til now bc all im doing at this point is screaming into the void 

(Like, it’s not as if he had actually been paying attention - he’d conked out right the moment after boarding because he’d stayed up all last night typing out presentation slides for the conference he’d been forced into attending. It’s nice that he gets to visit LA again, catch up on a few things, but other than that - )

He’s got his face buried in a book, the guy sitting next to him. It looks like one of those books Nijimura’s seen his sister read before - colorful covers, even more colorful characters. Huh. Nijimura usually isn’t in the habit of checking out his seatmates, but if the guy hadn’t shifted in the seat slightly it probably would’ve never occurred to him that there was someone there. And - from the parts of him Nijimura could see, anyway - he’s kind of cute, to be honest.

Wait, no.

“I really didn’t get enough sleep,” Nijimura mutters to himself as he pulls up his laptop from underneath the seat. There’s still a couple slides he should probably edit; the conference is going to be held in English, and at this point he really can’t afford to fuck it up. If anything, he’d have to call up Tatsuya when he lands for a few pointers. 

The business cabin is quiet, not quite as filled up as Nijimura had imagined it would be. Every other light has already been dimmed except the one next to him, and he taps on the side of his seat restlessly as the laptop starts up. It occurs to him that he is actually, well, kind of hungry. He can’t see any flight attendants in his line of sight.

There isn’t any other way about it, then. He softly taps on the plastic separating himself from the other person. “Hey, sorry - do you know if they’ve passed out the meals yet?”

The guy pries his face out of the book reluctantly, and in doing so Nijimura spots the name-tag pinned to the front of his shirt. It reads ‘Mayuzumi Chihiro’ and ‘Anime Expo 16′ underneath. “Yeah, two hours ago. You were completely knocked out.”

Nijimura rubs his temple. “I know. Shit, I’m aching all over.”

Mayuzumi shrugs, but he’s sliding the novel back into his backpack. “You’re the one in the aisle seat.” 

“Right.” Thankfully the seat is big enough for him to get out without having to maneuver over any fallen luggage or a couple of other people. Nijimura stretches a little, yawns, then returns to his seat. On impulse - or disorientation - he asks, “You want anything? I’m gonna see if they have any leftovers.”

“Actually,” Mayuzumi says, prodding at the bulging seat pocket in front of him, “They ran out. I asked earlier. There’s a brownie and a banana in there, though, if you want it.”

Nijimura frowns. “They ran out of food?”

“Probably bullshit,” Mayuzumi agrees. The yellow light reflects weirdly off his hair - it’s some kind of silvery grey color, Nijimura decides, as he sits down and fishes through the seat pocket for said foodstuffs. “But they didn’t look too happy when I asked.”

“Huh.” The banana is still kind of greenish, but Nijimura can’t afford to care that much about the state of airplane fare when he’s this hungry. He’s on his second bite when he notices Mayuzumi is still looking at him. “So...Mayuzumi-san? Anime Expo?”

“I’m a writer,” Mayuzumi replies, but doesn’t offer anything more substantial than that. There’s a small smile teetering at the edge of his lips that shouldn’t look as endearing to Nijimura as it does. “You’re giving me a hell of a weird look, you know.”

He’s not very good with polite smiles, but Nijimura tries nonetheless. “Sorry, what do you mean?”

“You know, the ‘I’ve only been talking to him for five minutes but I already want to bone him’ look.”

Thankfully most of the cabin seems to be asleep or otherwise preoccupied, but it doesn’t stop Nijimura from very unceremoniously dropping the half-eaten banana onto his keyboard. “I...what?”

“Am I wrong?”

“You’re very...” He struggles to find the right words, but gives up as soon as he realizes it’s no use. “Straightforward. Rude. Whatever. Who the hell says that?”

“You’re not denying it either, huh.” Mayuzumi’s smile widens, and Nijimura wishes he could bury himself into the metal below. “Hey, you’re pretty hot too.”

“I can’t believe you.” He looks up at the faded cabin lights, unsure of whether to take it as a compliment or not. “I’m way too fucking tired for this.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Fuck you.” It takes him about three seconds to realize what he’s said, and Nijimura exhales in defeat. This would not be the worst he’s done, in any case. “Alright, come here.”

“...You’re serious?”

Nijimura frowns and grabs Mayuzumi’s wrist; the other man doesn’t pull away, but there is a hint of confusion there that wasn’t present before. He hesitates. “Course I am.”

“Well,” Mayuzumi says, an eyebrow raised, “I suppose this is a first. I have a better idea, though.”

(”They won’t notice,” he’d said, and Nijimura is inclined to agree before the combined haze of exhaustion and jetlag dissipates and he comes to his senses about necking inside a lavatory abroad a moving metal death contraption six miles above the Pacific Ocean.)

And that’s how Nijimura finds himself squished inside a place meant for one average-sized person, his body pressed against Mayuzumi’s as he feels the other shut the latch behind him.

His actual hunger is forgotten once Mayuzumi moves in on him, and Nijimura’s thankful for the small space for once. Otherwise, he reasons as he moves a hand up the other’s shirt, otherwise -

“You know,” Mayuzumi says, breathlessly, as Nijimura is fiddling with his zipper while his ass is parked on the counter, “I was lying - about the food. There’s still plenty.”

“I knew it,” Nijimura sighs against his neck, where even in the dim light he can already see his handiwork blossoming against pale skin. He tugs at Mayuzumi’s pants, which are getting a little snug. “This - this isn’t the sort of experiment for inspiration, right?“

“Whatever you think it is I write - ” Mayuzumi begins, but he’s cut off by a sharp rapping on the door. Both of them immediately tense up. A muffled voice starts outside.

“Hey! You’ve taken enough time in there!“ 

“Shut up, I’m taking a shit!” Mayuzumi yells back, a little too loudly, and Nijimura has to press his face into the other’s chest to stifle his choking laughter. Moments later, there is another knock. “I said - “

“THIS IS THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT. IT IS AGAINST FEDERAL REGULATIONS FOR THE LAVATORY TO BE OCCUPIED BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON AT ONCE. OPEN THIS DOOR IMMEDIATELY - ”

Fuck.

“I am,” Nijimura says, eyes closed and sprawled all over his seat in the wake of their adventure, “never doing that again. Ever.”

“Hey, at least it worked, Nijimura.”

Five seconds pass before he decides to reach over and flick Mayuzumi on the forehead, earning a soft yelp. “Don’t talk to me.”

And then, “Wait, when the hell did I tell you my name?”

“Flight attendant said it.” Nijimura could definitely hear the smirk in his voice. He wonders just exactly how someone like this could actually be so invisible that a trained flight attendant hadn’t caught him sneaking out while Nijimura himself was being reprimanded for “having too much fun with the equipment.” It's probably a good thing the lights are still dimmed, otherwise he could probably see just how red he is from the screen reflection.

“I’m never living this down if people find out, you know.”

“It’s not like I know anyone you do.” Mayuzumi points lazily, his other hand already reaching for his unfinished novel. “Also, there’s still banana mush on your laptop.”

“...”

Nijimura rips open a pair of inflight headphones and proceeds to ignore Mayuzumi for the rest of the flight, though when they land and disperse he finds himself with an extra slip of paper in his hand with a number scribbled hastily on it. Mayuzumi is nowhere to be seen.

Everything about Chihiro was grey. From his hair, to his eyes, to his personality. Everything was just... grey for him. Shuuzou thought it sad, but also endearing in a way. It made him impartial, and easy to rely upon, whereas he was vivid, unpredictable, and somewhat fleeting like his namesake. Two sides of the same coin. 

“Hey,” he started quietly. They were standing in Chihiro’s room together, simply passing the time. It was cloudy outside, befitting everything going on. “you know, you’re um... very grey.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chihiro asked, pure curiosity taking over his normally sharp tongue. “Are you talking about my hair?” 

“Well, yeah, partially.” Shuuzou nodded a little bit. “More than that, though... Maybe it’s just me, but you seem like a very ‘grey’ type of person. Not really too inclined either way.” 

Chihiro stopped for a moment and stared at his boyfriend, clearly not getting what the other was going for. “I don’t know what you’re trying to get at, Shuuzou, but it’s not making any sense to me.” 

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Shuuzou exclaimed, gesturing toward the taller boy. “You’re so... middle ground about everything!” What he was trying to get at then, he had no clue. Now he was probably just rambling. Not that that knowledge would stop him from doing it. 

“Shuuzou, you’re not making any sense.” Chihiro sighed. “Do you think I’m apathetic or something?” He was starting to get a little annoyed, and slightly frustrated that he had no idea what was going on. “Or are you just rambling.” 

“Both! Probably.” Shuuzou almost laughed at himself. He took a deep breath and sighed, running a hand through his short bangs. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but notice you have a motif.” 

Now it was Chihiro’s turn to almost laugh. He at least cracked a smile; and while Shuuzou had his hair off his forehead, leaned forward and pressed a kiss to it. “You’re not very subtle, you know.”