Review: If They Hadn't Met on the Gym's Second Floor by BugDevil
I rarely review fanfic, but we have talked some about Iruma Hitoma’s work and “Adachi to Shimamura” on my fav. instance, so I thought I would make an exception. (The fact that I enjoyed it had nothing to do with my decision to review it. Not!)
“If They Hadn’t Met on the Gym’s Second Floor” is an entertaining AU exploring a universe where Shimamura doesn’t meet Adachi till later in life. This is consistent with Iruma’s lore about the AtS universe. So is it even an AU.
BugDevil, the author, does a good job of capturing Iruma-sensei’s voice and provides a nice narrative that kept me interested. Which is not the easiest thing to do when writing in such an introspective voice. The paint dries faster in this story - I mean, how could it not? The author spends a good deal of time on what happens after they are a couple, which I like. We don’t get enough of that in most Yuri lit.
My biggest caveat is I felt that Shimamura was more forceful in this fanfic. She is the driving force that keeps the relationship developing, not Adachi. In Iruma’s work, Shimamura is content to drift, and it is Adachi who forces herself to overcome her shortcoming to keep the relationship alive. BugDevil’s Shimamura has enough drive to keep things drifting toward a relationship. Adachi is never called on to break out of her cocoon to keep things alive. Overall, that is a minor complaint and who knows my reading of AtS may differ from other people’s. It has been known to happen.
Oh yes, no Alien. At least very little of the alien. As far as I am concerned, that is a plus. I have never been a big fan of Yashiro.
With AtS drawing to a close, if you’re needing an AtS or Iruma fix, this might be just the ticket.
At: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31289438