Arashi - AU - Voyager - Through a Fogged Mirror
Title: Voyager: Through a Fogged Mirror
Fandom: Arashi
Pairing: gen. some Sho/Nino, if you squint.
Word count: 1439
Notes: Part of the Voyager 'verse. Some of Sho and Nino's history, set long before the main story. Title from MGMT's song, Kids. This is pretty much just me indulging myself.
The last chapter of the main story is in the works. It'll get done when it'll get done.
The first time they met they didn't really have a choice. It was one of those things where two families decided that their heirs should become friends, to promote better communication between the Travellers and the Mages. So, Sho, aged five, and Kazunari, aged four, were shoved together at every opportunity, whether they liked it or not.
And Sho had tried to protest about it. He really had. Sho was a whole year and five months older than Kazu. It was so unfair. Kazu was a baby. And Kazu was mean. He constantly took Sho's toys and when Sho tried to take them back Kazu started crying and got Sho into trouble. He got blamed just because he was the older one and everyone would come and hug and play with Kazu to make him feel better. He couldn't understand how the grownups could be so gullible.
Their first meeting went something like this:
"This is Kazu," Kazunari's mother said, smiling at Sho when she put the boy down next to him on the floor. "Now, I need you to play nice while mommies talk." Then she ruffled Sho's hair (he hated when people did that) and went back to the couch, picking up her coffee cup and resuming her conversation with Sho's mom.
Sho looked at Kazu, smiled to him and reached out to mess his hair, just like his mother had done to him. Kazu frowned at him and reached for the plastic fire truck Sho had been playing with, grabbing the toy and letting out a "brr!" sound that was probably supposed to be the sound the fire truck made. It was obviously wrong, since everybody knew fire trucks went "woo-ee woo-ee". Besides, he needed that fire truck. There was a fire going on in his Lego-city and everybody would die if Kazu took the fire truck away.
Sho snagged his truck back.
Kazu started to cry.
It all went on in that same manner until Sho was six and starting school. A day before his first school day, Sho was again made to play with Kazunari.
"I am going to be so busy tomorrow for the rest of my life that I'm not going to have to play with you anymore," Sho said and coloured over the cat in the colouring book with a bright red crayon, trying very hard not to go over the edges this time.
Kazu stopped colouring his drawing of a prince with his blue crayon and looked at Sho. "You won't?" he asked, his lower lip sticking out, making him look even more stupid than usual.
"I'm going to school and I'm going to learn stuff and I'll have homework and important things to do."
"Forever?" Kazu asked.
Sho wasn't exactly sure how long he was supposed to be at school, but he didn't want Kazu to know that he didn't know, so he nodded.
Kazu was completely silent for a while. Then he dropped his crayon and his lower lip started to tremble. Before Sho could say anything to calm him down, Kazu was crying as hard and loud as he could, face quickly turning redder and redder.
Kazu's mom hurried into the room and took him into his arms, but Kazu didn't stop before she had found out what was the matter and then told Kazu that no, Sho wasn't going to go away for forever, that they could still see each other and that Sho was just going to have to spend his days in school from now on, but would always return back home in the evening.
That was when Sho decided that Kazu was his responsibility and he should be the one to take care of him. It just seemed like the right thing to do. He was a whole year older after all.
*
When Kazunari started school, there was another boy with the same name in his class. So suddenly everyone was calling Kazunari ‘Nino' and it suited the boy so well that it stuck even after the other Kazunari moved away. Even Sho gradually started calling him Nino. It fit him better and wasn't as embarrassing as calling him Kazu-kun, even though they had known each other forever and Nino never objected to it.
They weren't very close. They still met when their parents got together and they got along pretty well, but they weren't exactly friends either. Still, Sho kept an eye out for the boy, just in case. He could still remember the shock he had felt when Nino had cried because of him. Really cried and not just to get attention.
Then, at the age of twelve, Sho saved Nino's life.
It was the summer holidays and both of their families, apart from Nino's scary grandfather, had gone on a trip to the beach. Nino went swimming with his sister but Sho was content to build sandcastles with his little brother.
He was worried. He had overheard his parents the night before the trip, talking in hushed voices in the dining room. They had been talking about him and how he hadn't really been showing any signs of ‘the gift' and what that would mean to the family. Sho had sat on the stairs and listened, his heart in his throat. His parents thought that he was a disappointment.
He had been mulling over the conversation again, trying to think of a way to make his parents proud of him, when he had heard Nino's sister shouting Nino's name, panic clear in her voice.
Sho was up on his feet immediately, running towards the water even before Nino's mother had had time to react. He made his way quickly to Nino's sister, the water letting him through without much resistance. "Where's Nino?" he asked from her, putting his hands on her arms, willing her to calm down enough for her to tell him.
"I can't see him! He was just here and then I couldn't see him anymore!" she told him, her voice trembling.
Sho nodded, his heart beating fast in his chest, but he willed the panic down. Instead, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He found Nino astonishingly quickly, like his mind just naturally reached towards him, even when he was already unconscious. Then he pulled and after a moment - the longest seconds of his life - he could see Nino's head breaking the surface further out, where it was already too deep to stand in the water. He pulled again and Nino started to slide towards them.
He didn't realize that he had stretched out his arms before Nino hit them. He felt cold and heavy and Sho's panic was starting to finally get a hold of him, but then Nino's father was there, lifting him out of the water and carrying him towards the shore. Sho followed. His legs felt weak and he feared he would stumble headfirst into the water from the sudden fatigue he was feeling, but he couldn't stop. He had to make sure that Nino would be okay.
Nino's father laid him down on the sand. Sho could hear Nino's mother crying, but the sound seemed to come from far away. The bounding of his own blood in his ears was drowning every other sound. His view of Nino was blocked by his father's wide back so he wriggled between him and Nino's father.
"Sho, what are you..." his father said, reaching for him to pull him out of the way, but Sho shook his head. He wasn't even sure what he was doing, but Nino wasn't moving at all, not even breathing and he had to do something. He placed his hand on Nino's chest, right over his heart. He didn't concentrate on anything, not really. He was too panicked to think clearly, but he could feel the power surging from him.
And then Nino coughed, seawater bubbling out of his mouth, and Sho staggered backwards, falling against his father's knees, too exhausted to keep his eyes open.
"Well done, Sho, well done," his father whispered to him, his warm hands rubbing Sho's shoulders. Then Sho blacked out.
The next time he saw Nino, it was kind of awkward. Nino had gotten back from the hospital, dark circles around his eyes, looking even frailer than before. He didn't quite look Sho in the eye.
"Um," Sho said, biting down on his lip. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Nino muttered, his eyes darting around the room, trying to find something to concentrate on besides Sho. "Uh. Thanks," he finally said, finally glancing straight at Sho.
Sho grinned.
They were friends after that.
Fandom: Arashi
Pairing: gen. some Sho/Nino, if you squint.
Word count: 1439
Notes: Part of the Voyager 'verse. Some of Sho and Nino's history, set long before the main story. Title from MGMT's song, Kids. This is pretty much just me indulging myself.
The last chapter of the main story is in the works. It'll get done when it'll get done.
The first time they met they didn't really have a choice. It was one of those things where two families decided that their heirs should become friends, to promote better communication between the Travellers and the Mages. So, Sho, aged five, and Kazunari, aged four, were shoved together at every opportunity, whether they liked it or not.
And Sho had tried to protest about it. He really had. Sho was a whole year and five months older than Kazu. It was so unfair. Kazu was a baby. And Kazu was mean. He constantly took Sho's toys and when Sho tried to take them back Kazu started crying and got Sho into trouble. He got blamed just because he was the older one and everyone would come and hug and play with Kazu to make him feel better. He couldn't understand how the grownups could be so gullible.
Their first meeting went something like this:
"This is Kazu," Kazunari's mother said, smiling at Sho when she put the boy down next to him on the floor. "Now, I need you to play nice while mommies talk." Then she ruffled Sho's hair (he hated when people did that) and went back to the couch, picking up her coffee cup and resuming her conversation with Sho's mom.
Sho looked at Kazu, smiled to him and reached out to mess his hair, just like his mother had done to him. Kazu frowned at him and reached for the plastic fire truck Sho had been playing with, grabbing the toy and letting out a "brr!" sound that was probably supposed to be the sound the fire truck made. It was obviously wrong, since everybody knew fire trucks went "woo-ee woo-ee". Besides, he needed that fire truck. There was a fire going on in his Lego-city and everybody would die if Kazu took the fire truck away.
Sho snagged his truck back.
Kazu started to cry.
It all went on in that same manner until Sho was six and starting school. A day before his first school day, Sho was again made to play with Kazunari.
"I am going to be so busy tomorrow for the rest of my life that I'm not going to have to play with you anymore," Sho said and coloured over the cat in the colouring book with a bright red crayon, trying very hard not to go over the edges this time.
Kazu stopped colouring his drawing of a prince with his blue crayon and looked at Sho. "You won't?" he asked, his lower lip sticking out, making him look even more stupid than usual.
"I'm going to school and I'm going to learn stuff and I'll have homework and important things to do."
"Forever?" Kazu asked.
Sho wasn't exactly sure how long he was supposed to be at school, but he didn't want Kazu to know that he didn't know, so he nodded.
Kazu was completely silent for a while. Then he dropped his crayon and his lower lip started to tremble. Before Sho could say anything to calm him down, Kazu was crying as hard and loud as he could, face quickly turning redder and redder.
Kazu's mom hurried into the room and took him into his arms, but Kazu didn't stop before she had found out what was the matter and then told Kazu that no, Sho wasn't going to go away for forever, that they could still see each other and that Sho was just going to have to spend his days in school from now on, but would always return back home in the evening.
That was when Sho decided that Kazu was his responsibility and he should be the one to take care of him. It just seemed like the right thing to do. He was a whole year older after all.
*
When Kazunari started school, there was another boy with the same name in his class. So suddenly everyone was calling Kazunari ‘Nino' and it suited the boy so well that it stuck even after the other Kazunari moved away. Even Sho gradually started calling him Nino. It fit him better and wasn't as embarrassing as calling him Kazu-kun, even though they had known each other forever and Nino never objected to it.
They weren't very close. They still met when their parents got together and they got along pretty well, but they weren't exactly friends either. Still, Sho kept an eye out for the boy, just in case. He could still remember the shock he had felt when Nino had cried because of him. Really cried and not just to get attention.
Then, at the age of twelve, Sho saved Nino's life.
It was the summer holidays and both of their families, apart from Nino's scary grandfather, had gone on a trip to the beach. Nino went swimming with his sister but Sho was content to build sandcastles with his little brother.
He was worried. He had overheard his parents the night before the trip, talking in hushed voices in the dining room. They had been talking about him and how he hadn't really been showing any signs of ‘the gift' and what that would mean to the family. Sho had sat on the stairs and listened, his heart in his throat. His parents thought that he was a disappointment.
He had been mulling over the conversation again, trying to think of a way to make his parents proud of him, when he had heard Nino's sister shouting Nino's name, panic clear in her voice.
Sho was up on his feet immediately, running towards the water even before Nino's mother had had time to react. He made his way quickly to Nino's sister, the water letting him through without much resistance. "Where's Nino?" he asked from her, putting his hands on her arms, willing her to calm down enough for her to tell him.
"I can't see him! He was just here and then I couldn't see him anymore!" she told him, her voice trembling.
Sho nodded, his heart beating fast in his chest, but he willed the panic down. Instead, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He found Nino astonishingly quickly, like his mind just naturally reached towards him, even when he was already unconscious. Then he pulled and after a moment - the longest seconds of his life - he could see Nino's head breaking the surface further out, where it was already too deep to stand in the water. He pulled again and Nino started to slide towards them.
He didn't realize that he had stretched out his arms before Nino hit them. He felt cold and heavy and Sho's panic was starting to finally get a hold of him, but then Nino's father was there, lifting him out of the water and carrying him towards the shore. Sho followed. His legs felt weak and he feared he would stumble headfirst into the water from the sudden fatigue he was feeling, but he couldn't stop. He had to make sure that Nino would be okay.
Nino's father laid him down on the sand. Sho could hear Nino's mother crying, but the sound seemed to come from far away. The bounding of his own blood in his ears was drowning every other sound. His view of Nino was blocked by his father's wide back so he wriggled between him and Nino's father.
"Sho, what are you..." his father said, reaching for him to pull him out of the way, but Sho shook his head. He wasn't even sure what he was doing, but Nino wasn't moving at all, not even breathing and he had to do something. He placed his hand on Nino's chest, right over his heart. He didn't concentrate on anything, not really. He was too panicked to think clearly, but he could feel the power surging from him.
And then Nino coughed, seawater bubbling out of his mouth, and Sho staggered backwards, falling against his father's knees, too exhausted to keep his eyes open.
"Well done, Sho, well done," his father whispered to him, his warm hands rubbing Sho's shoulders. Then Sho blacked out.
The next time he saw Nino, it was kind of awkward. Nino had gotten back from the hospital, dark circles around his eyes, looking even frailer than before. He didn't quite look Sho in the eye.
"Um," Sho said, biting down on his lip. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Nino muttered, his eyes darting around the room, trying to find something to concentrate on besides Sho. "Uh. Thanks," he finally said, finally glancing straight at Sho.
Sho grinned.
They were friends after that.