Fics for fic_promptly April contest

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Since I'm not sorting them by fandom this time around, I'm linking them for conveniences' sake (under cut).

Fatal Frame (III): Going through Yuu's books.
Fatal Frame (II): The people of Minakami Village are used to the cycle of Life and Death.
Kamen Rider OOO: Gotou takes Eiji to an amusement park. (Spoilers for late series)
Fatal Frame (I): Miku reflects on the ghost that's chasing her.
Fatal Frame (III): Rei reflecting on Yuu.
Ouran High School Host Club: Gender norms? What are those?
Kamen Rider OOO: Both Ankh and Eiji use each other.
Katawa Shoujo: Hisao is tongue-tied around Hanako.
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/Power Rangers Samurai: Kevin and Ryunosuke understand each other.
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: Chiaki sometimes needs breathing room.
Fatal Frame (III): Female!Kaname is in love with the priestess.

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Fatal Frame III, going through Yuu's books

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It took forever to go through Yuu's books. Actually, Rei didn't go through his books much at all; she'd had enough of folklore for the moment. But Miku obviously treasured each of Yuu's books for one reason or another, cheerfully chatting with Kei about every single one of them.

Kei, for all his protestations that he didn't want to be involved in the world of folklore, seemed as fascinated by the books as Miku did, for different reasons. He talked about his times with Yuu and Mafuyu, and what the books meant to him. Rei learned far more about Yuu in packing up his books than she seemed to have ever in life.

Some of Yuu's books were going straight into Miku's new bookshelves. Far from being tired of folklore, she seemed more than ready to follow in Yuu's footsteps. There was a spring to her step and a joy to her movements that had been so lacking the few weeks before everything had happened, and Rei had been so glad to see it and just as embarrassed that she hadn't noticed how bad off Miku really was.

But things were getting better now. She could actually pack up Yuu's room into the various and sundry parts of the attic, at least the stuff that wasn't going straight into Miku's room. She felt she was finally going somewhere, and while she would remember Yuu forever - per his last, spectral request - she was finally moving on.

Letting a smile come to her face, she leaned on the windowsill, watching the sun play against the trees outside Yuu's room, and deciding that even if she wasn't interested in Yuu's work, she could live with it now, and that was all that mattered.

Fatal Frame II: The cycle goes on in Minakami Village

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The people of Minakami Village weren't familiar with the western saying at funerals, but they did feel comfortable with death in their own way. From the dust of their fields they were born, and their dust would some day come back to the fields.

Even the Remaining turned to dust eventually, though part of their souls, their twins, stayed to guard the village. Though the Crimson Butterflies were eternal, they were part of the cycle too, flitting through the air on wings that were light and yet not.

It was how things worked in the quiet village, and all were content. Life came, life went, and the butterflies protected their village eternally. Even the butterflies might die someday, their duties done, their need to protect finished.

The cycle, as far as the people of Minakami were concerned, could last forever, and should last forever, until the world would end.

Kamen Rider OOO, Gotou takes Eiji to an amusement park

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It seemed like an odd choice to take Eiji to an amusement park. After all, amusements were transitory, odd things that he couldn't hold onto and use to retain his humanity. And yet Hina had insisted, because if nothing else, maybe Eiji would discover a desire to ride even faster and bigger roller coasters or experience every single merry-go-round in the world.

Shintaro wasn't very hopeful, but it was something to try, at least. They'd taken him shopping and gotten nowhere; growing up with money meant that Eiji just didn't desire a whole lot of material things. So, onto roller coasters and merry-go-rounds and everything else they had gone, in hopes that Eiji would latch onto something and use it to resist the purple Medals inside him.

Eiji had politely gone on all the rides, but much to Shintaro's frustration, hadn't developed any desires. He didn't want to go and win prizes, he didn't want to go on any roller coasters, he didn't want anything.

And that was the problem.

His rival-turned-friend was going to become a monster if he didn't find something to obsess over other than helping people. Sure, it wasn't a bad goal or anything, but it did nothing to help Eiji remain human. Shintaro was running out of ideas, and so was Hina.

But they kept going, for to stop was to give up and he wasn't going to give up on Eiji. Not ever, not as long as they both lived.

Fatal Frame (I), Miku reflects upon the ghost chasing her.

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Miku wished she could get a better look at the ghost that was chasing her around the Cherry Atrium. Even if she knew this ghost wasn't her mother, there was a certain resemblance there that made her wonder if this was not some far-off relative of hers.

Mafuyu had been the one interested in their family history, not her. He was the one who had looked back to see if he could figure out where the sixth sense came from, the one who was interested in myths and legends.

"Can't go home yet...." the woman half-whispered, half-cried, the regret clear in her raspy voice. She put her hands to her throat as if she could solve everything by strangling herself.

Miku knew that if the ghost did that, she'd feel it too. She took one last shot of the woman, the strangled, hanged woman, and hoped that she would for once feel peace.

Fatal Frame (III), Rei reflecting on Yuu.

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Rei closed her eyes and tried to remember the best of Yuu as Miku had urged. She tried to remember how wonderful it was to meet the quiet folklorist, how he looked at her with kind eyes and held her books and handed her photography equipment even though being her assistant was not his job.

She remembered how she took endless pictures of him in the fall, how they cuddled together in the winter, laughed together in the spring rain, and sat together in the summer sun, content in each other.

It all felt so pointless. So useless.

Rei didn't really care if the sun shone or the rain fell now. She didn't care about anything, now that Yuu was gone. Miku could drag her around all she wanted, but it didn't change anything. Rei knew she should feel better, but she also felt like she never would, and that was okay with her.

Ouran High School Host Club: Gender norms? What are those?

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Haruhi didn't suddenly become girly when she started dating Tamaki. She saw no reason to, not when she was comfortable with what she was and what she wore.

Sure, her sempai had this fantasy that she would suddenly start acting differently, but that wasn't how Haruhi worked. She would never become more domestic than she was, and she wouldn't start cooing over his every move. After all, he had his fans at the host club for that.

No, as long as she was a host at Ouran, she would continue to do what she'd grown to love. She'd talk to the girls, smile at them, and pretend she was a boy because that's what she didn't mind being for them.

After all, even if she liked dresses when she was on her own didn't make her feminine, and neither did cooking or cleaning. It just made her what she was, and there was no point in changing that even if she did go out with Tamaki. Tamaki, for all his flights of fancy knew that she wasn't really going to change, even for him.

Even for those she loved.

So, Haruhi didn't change when she fell in love with Tamaki. She just expected her life to go on, and when it did she didn't blink. For she was Haruhi, and she was comfortable in her own skin.

Kamen Rider OOO: Using one another

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Eiji never goes into how he and Ankh use each other. Ankh would say that he's using Eiji; Eiji would say that it's the other way around, that he's using Ankh. Ankh needs a champion, a protector of sorts, and Eiji needs an excuse to overcome what he's indirectly done.

It's a bitter realization that he's become like his father, using someone to make things better. He'd rather be on his own, an aimless wanderer, than asking somebody for something more than a day's earned wages. But Ankh is not at all shy about the fact that he's using Eiji, and Eiji refuses to be just Ankh's puppet.

So Eiji uses Ankh just as much as Ankh uses Eiji, because he refuses to be used like he was used before. It's his way of restoring power in their relationship, a way of making things better for everybody, a way of redeeming what he has done.

Katawa Shoujo: Hisao is tongue-tied around Hanako

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Hisao wished he could summon the words to tell Hanako how beautiful she was and how wonderful it was that they were together. But he found himself tongue-tied, unable to say anything. He could only smile and hope that Hanako took it as a genuine sign of love instead of him trying to overprotect her once more.

There was so much he wished he could say to her about how he was so glad to know her, how much he loved her, how much he wished that he could protect her but wasn't stupid enough to do so. Hanako was her own girl, had to find her own way, and he could only be there if she asked him to be.

It had been a hard lesson, and one he was glad that he had learned. Seeing Hanako blossom was so worth it - seeing her come out of her shell, stay in class, and volunteer for things that she wouldn't have normally volunteered for was as beautiful as seeing the blooms on a cherry tree.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/Power Rangers Samurai, Kevin and Ryunosuke understand each other

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Kevin knows they're more alike than different.

For all that Ryunosuke is from a different universe, they understand each other. Kevin can speak some Japanese and write some kanji, while Ryunosuke can speak some English and write some romanji, but between some improvised sign and the looks they share, they understand each other just fine.

Ryunosuke can swim, but not at Kevin's level, and Kevin is slowly learning the elaborate moves of kabuki as Ryunosuke tries to keep busy. Jayden is not Ryunosuke's Tono, just as Takeru wouldn't be Kevin's Lord. But Ryunosuke understands Kevin far better than anyone on his team, nodding at his seriousness and his dedication to his leader.

So Kevin keeps Ryunosuke busy and tries not to fall too much in love with him, because someday Ryunosuke will have to go home, and Kevin doesn't want to send his heart away with him.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Chiaki sometimes needs breathing room

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Sometimes Chiaki wants to get away from it all.

He's pretty much resigned to being a Shinkenger; he really doesn't have a choice in the matter. As much as he enjoys his old life, he likes having the world intact around him even better. So, he puts up with the frustration of being around the others, practicing daily, and getting into fights with Gedoshuu. Being a person far from the Chiaki who had his lunch interrupted by Ji's arrow.

Still, sometimes he has to get away from it all. Get away from the reality of being a Shinkenger, try to pretend for a few minutes that he isn't trying to save the world. Get away from the others, be himself for a while. Sure, Ji would say that he's always himself, but he's been remarkably restrained, actually. He's gotten better at that since he was called.

So he takes walks. It's not hard to find him, after all. He always has a kuroko shadow trailing him, no matter how much he tries to ignore the everpresent servants. He doesn't try to lose his kuroko, because he'd get yelled at. Did that once, wasn't going to try it again. Just best to ignore, keep on going, breathe, relax.

This is the best he can do for the moment, to take a moment for himself during everything that's happened. Because while he'll have other obligations when all is finished, he has to survive all of this first. So he walks. He thinks. He breathes.

Fatal Frame III, Female!Kaname is in love with the priestess.

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Kaname paused as she heard her mother brushing her hair. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be there, but she wanted to be near her mother anyway. Soon, her mother would learn to take over her grandmother's duties while she took over her mother's. She was getting far too old to be a handmaiden.

But a handmaiden she still would be for a month or two more, until she was old enough to know a man. Until then, she would tend Reika, the current priestess, bring her a small amount of comfort and the food and water she needed until it was time for her to sleep. Kaname didn't want Reika to sleep, but wasn't that supposed to be the way of things?

Reika was why Kaname was wandering restlessly, of course. Kaname couldn't concentrate when she was near Reika; something about the priestess made her heart beat faster. Reika was someone that Kaname wanted to know forever, not just the brief time that they had. And she was sure that Reika felt the same way, engraving her regrets in the mirror so that she could break it and let go.

Kaname wasn't ready to let go, but she wasn't sure she had a choice. Handmaidens and priestesses, priestesses and handmaidens, that was the way things had gone for eternity, just like her mother and her grandmother and all of her ancestors had always been there to watch the shrine and get the priestess ready.

Someday, Kaname would have to let go, be with the man her grandmother or mother said that she should be with, have a daughter just like her mother had had her and her grandmother had had her mother. Love wasn't important, as her grandmother had said, and in fact it was better if she didn't love those men that were to be with her.

She couldn't help but feel there should be something more. Someone more. Someone to be with her forever. She didn't want her mother's or her grandmother's lonely job. She wasn't meant to be a Kuze, not the way she felt.

But as the tide ebbed and flowed, so would life at the Kuze shrine, and nothing would ever change.