Daily TRIGGER 𝄞 𝄡 𝄢

A/N: For @trgdaily August Theme: Rose

Saw @funuya's wonderful Tea Take and Good Good Games art and promptly combusted, here's what remains of me

He’d never wondered what was behind the hedge. 

Ryuu had everything he wanted on this side, all the smooth slopes and tricky rails that he could spend infinity doing tricks on. Sure, he and Mitsuki had started out with only a funbox in the beginning but now that the city had splurged for a bowl and there was talk of upgrading to a cradle and there was Touma and Iori joining, the park was a concrete paradise and Ryuu would’ve gone the rest of his life being satisfied with their curved wonderland, if he hadn’t gone crashing through the hedge. 

Green whipped at his arms, tearing through his jacket even as he tried to twist free. Before he fell into it, he’d never noticed any thorns but they were hard to ignore now as they dug into his skin in burning lines. Scrambling to his feet, Ryuu squinted against the wall of branches and pushed his way back towards the light. 

Finally bursting free, he stumbled from the sudden lack of resistance and found himself falling for the second time in only so many minutes. A hard edge hit his side, the ledge he must’ve wiped out on, returning for a round two. 

Except this time, the ledge moved. 

A cacophony of clinking and crashing, a shout, and a softer landing than he was expecting. Ryuu blinked, blades of grass brushing his cheek, and looked up into a vision of pink and blue. 

“What are—Who are you?” The voice was indignant, but the hand that touched Ryuu’s shoulder was gentle and he’d expected the world to right itself when he sat up, but if anything it only flipped further upside down as he stared at the stranger and his table. 

Teacups. So delicate they looked to have been made of moonlight, molded into the shape of tulips and lilies, a beehive teapot with convincing honey dripping down its side, and that didn’t even include the food. Pastries in every color, puffed to perfection and now crushed underneath him, cake smeared across the grass to feed the ants for months to come, spun sugar shattered to precious pieces. And in the middle of it all, a prince dressed in ribbons and roses. 

“Are you hurt?” Even his gestures were princely, down on one knee and a finger under Ryuu’s chin, gazing at him with such intense scrutiny Ryuu wished he wasn’t dripping with tea and covered in frosting. 

“I’m fine,” he said after a moment, followed by a hiss as he put weight on his elbow. 

The prince pulled Ryuu’s arm aside with more strength than he expected, fingers grazing the cut underneath the rip in his jacket. “You’re bleeding.” 

“It’s nothing, it’ll stop in a second.” Ryuu shrugged out of his sleeve and wiped the blood with his shirt, it was smaller than he’d expected from the prince’s reaction, and he’d had far worse, he wouldn’t even need a bandaid. 

“But—”

“I’m better off than your…”

“Rose Banquet.” 

“Right. Just you?” Ryuu could see chairs stacked to the side, but no one else was in sight. The prince looked back at the hedge, a noticeable hole now gaping from the pristine greenery. 

“No, but the others are coming soon. You should go.” Grasping his uninjured arm, the prince helped Ryuu to his feet, the proximity leaving Ryuu swimming in the sweetest fragrance he’d ever encountered. He didn’t want to go, as unfamiliar and unexpected his journey had been, his curiosity was already taking root. Had the prince been here all along, just a few leaves over from where Ryuu practiced his ollies? What was the Rose Banquet for? And why did he have a new favorite smell? 

The prince pushed him towards the hedge, hat askew and ribbon coming undone though Ryuu didn’t think it ruined his image. “Hurry!” 

Ryuu turned back as he stepped into the hedge, covering the prince’s hand on his arm and holding them together for a moment. “I’m not dreaming, right?” 

Laughing, the prince shook his head. “I didn’t think you hit your head, but you should have one of your friends check. Now go!” 

“Wait, you’ve heard—” New voices drifted through the garden and the prince pulled back with one last look at Ryuu, a smile still playing across his mouth. 

Ryuu retreated deeper amongst the branches, letting the hedge engulf him completely. The last trace of that magical meeting was the prince’s voice saying, “It’s my fault, there was a wasp…”

Returning to the yellow of the skatepark, Ryuu found himself missing the green, even as Touma landed next to him with a shout of concern. How had he never wondered what the hedge hid, until now? 

A/N: I'm double dipping with both @i7promptweek2024 Day 7, and @trgdaily because this fits the "Be Authentic" prompt for July

What if Ryou did get his hands on TRIGGER? What fate awaited them in Tsukumo? Feat. Touma's conscience

“It’s like a caterpillar a child finds on their way home. They feed it the best milkweed, keep it safe in a glass jar on the windowsill so the caterpillar can see what beautiful horizons it will one day explore. The child cares for it through the long wait before the caterpillar emerges as a butterfly, letting its slimy wings dry into beautiful gossamer and admiring the jewel of the insect world that has grown with their love. And they one day open the window, take the lid off the jar and let the butterfly fly out into that blue sky as a radiant glory,” Ryou explained, grinding his knuckles into the hydrangea bloom he’d been brandishing at Touma. “Then a bird snatches it out of the air and has a nice breakfast.” 

“Your contract with Yaotome Pro was like…the bird?” Touma asked, trying to keep up with the tirade he’d invited with what he’d thought would be a simple question. He’d just wanted to know the details for their victory, get the full picture of how they’d succeeded at tearing down the group that he’d been cursing for over a year now. But he should’ve known talking to Ryou would be like trying to get a toddler to give him a straight answer, incomprehensible and slightly unhinged. 

“Yes, finally something to thank my parents for.” Ryou plucked a few thorns off a gaudily huge rose and shoved it into the middle of the ikebana display. “They had this fun little clause in all their support contracts, any products that became a loss were allowed to be ‘rescued’ by them. And you know I love rescues,” he finished, waving at Touma as if that explained his last comment.