Fanfiction: The Seventh Lesson (Chapter 2/5)
Characters: Tsubasa, Tackey, Jin and Ryo (Ueda, Pi, Kame, Junno in the next one)
Genre: AU, mild angst, friendship
Rating: PG13
Summary: Takki learns that what's important is not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside.
Disclaimer: On the outside, I don't own the boys. But on the inside....
Chapter 1/5
(All pics are from Google search. Thank you to the individual contributers.)
The Seventh Lesson (Chapter 2/5)
A kite, not just any kite, that fallen one. Tsubasa dreamt of that kite, flying free and high above everything, beyond reach, untouchable. It was a bizarre dream because when he woke, the kite was still lying next to the teak bedside table. But Takki was gone. For the first time since they slept together when they were 13, Takki wasn't there. Tsubasa was all alone.
…………
‘Wake up! Hey, wake up!’
Takki blinked, massage his eyes and gawked at the stranger before him.
‘What? Never seen a stud before?’
Takki didn’t know what a stud was and could only gape on blankly.
‘Forget it. What you doing lying there? I nearly pissed on you.’
Takki looked around. He was lying among the scrubs and bushes. He must have gotten so tired that he simply fell asleep running. After he escaped through the tunnel he had painstaking dug over the years, he was finally free. Instincts quickly overcame him and he just kept running, running aimlessly in the dark.
‘Where am I?’
‘You’re in the woods.’
‘Are you lost?’
‘Lost? I don’t know.’
‘You don’t even know if you’re lost? Now that’s a winner.’
Takki wasn’t impressed with the smirk or careless mannerism. He was beginning to like the stranger less and less.
Grabbing Takki’s arms, the stranger pulled him to his feet.
‘I’m Akanishi Jin.’
‘I’m Takizawa Hideaki.’
Jin furrowed his brows a little. The surname was vaguely familiar. He thought he had a cousin by that family name who was sent to the palace years back.
The two men walked a little away from the open-air toilet and rested under the shelter of lush bamboo groves.
‘Where’re you going?’
‘I don’t know.’
Now that he was finally out of the lonely palace grounds and tall guarded walls, Takki didn’t quite know what to do. His tutors had refused to divulge their whereabouts or teach him much about life outside the walls.
Jin looked on concerned at the increasingly petrified darkness clouding Takki’s face. He wouldn’t know what to do if Takki cried.
‘You’re not alone. I don’t where I’m going either. You see, I’m lost too.’
A family tragedy had left him unable to paint anymore. Lost in pain, he became a black hole, pulling everyone in.
‘I think I’ve lost myself. That’s why I’ve set off on this journey.’
’To find yourself?’
‘Yes. To find the one who could paint smiles on people’s faces.’
‘Do you think you’ll find it?’
‘I don’t know. But I want to try. Rather than stay put and let self-pity swallow me whole. I want to fight.’
Takki smiled faintly.
‘Do you know that a bird would freeze to death and fall off a branch without ever feeling pity for itself?’
‘I don’t know. But I’d like to believe so.’
After a brief chat over a simple breakfast of cold buns, Takki set off on his journey to nowhere, while Jin chose to stay and paint a little.
Takki didn’t know if Jin would find himself in the end. But he believed so. After all, he already knew what he wanted.
‘But what do I want?’
Takki pondered, hoping that along this journey, he too could know what he was looking for and find it.
…………
The hustle and bustle of town assaulted Takki’s senses. He was overwhelmed with excitement. There was wonder at every turn, so much to see and explore. He felt like a child again. During the day, he was fascinated by all the amusement the world had to offer. But by nightfall, alone in his room in the finest inn in town, he was awashed with loneliness. He wondered if he was as badly missed as he was badly missing. After years of careful planning and plotting, he was finally free but now all he longed for was something to weigh down his adrift heart.
Meandering along on his journey, Takki stopped by a huge lake to rest his ill-adjusted legs. The water soothed his troubled heart and calmed his restless soul a little. He was surprised that he could feel lonely surrounded by throngs of people and yet be at peace alone by the water.
The peace lasted but briefly. Nearby, a young man was creating a ruckus.
‘I’m sorry. Am I disturbing you?’
Takki shook his head. Lately, he had been doing so much head shaking that it was almost second nature. There were so many experiences that he was unacquainted with. Everything was new and alien. He was both enticed yet fearful. How was he to survive in a world he had no map for?
‘I’m Nishikido Ryo. I’m practicing a speech. Would you mind listening to it?’
Takki agreed readily. He had never heard a speech before.
Ryo was a politician wannabe and would be delivering a speech to the Crown Prince himself in the final selection for the Youth Ministry wing of the government.
‘Pretty bad, isn’t it?’
Takki didn’t answer. The jerky delivery and evident stammers spoke for themselves.
‘Sometimes I think I’m just not cut out to be a politician. I’m shy and not very good with people.’
Takki could instinctively tell that Ryo was uncomfortable. He hadn’t stopped fidgeting with the scroll in his hands.
‘I know it’s silly. But it’s all I’ve ever wanted. I want to serve the people, make their lives better.’
With that impassioned sharing, Takki could see Ryo’s hands tremble. He reached out and steadied the shaking scroll.
‘Will you listen to me again? This time it’ll be better.’
Takki nodded happily. There weren’t many things he could nod to and he was happy that this was one of them. It awed him that someone could try so hard at overcoming their weakness. It made him respect Ryo. Maybe he too should try harder. Stop thinking of crawling back to the safety of all that was familiar and try harder at finding out what he truly wanted.
End of Chapter 2/5
Next up, Chapter 3/5.