Fic for hikarinoniji!
Intergroup Gold for hikarinoniji
from jerainbowbridge
Title: Stars Shining Bright Above You
Pairings/Groups: Yabu/Totsuka (friendship only?); JUMP & A.B.C-Z; TakaHasshi friendship.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: half AU, half not. Semi-angst?
Summary: Yabu wakes up. And then he sleeps, and wakes up again somewhere else altogether. No wonder he's not been feeling too great lately.
Notes: hikarinoniji! I had far more fun writing this than I should have, probably. I sincerely hope you like this ♥ ♥ Much love to my darling beta & hand-holder who both put up with my whining beautifully.
Yabu woke up. The low hum of the station's life support and grav-systems reached his ears before he opened his eyes, reassuring in their constancy. As Yabu slowly roused he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he squinted at the large digital numbers on the wall panel by his bed. 0845. Not that it made much difference what time he woke or slept strictly speaking; this far from the star they were orbiting meant that all 'daylight' was artificial anyway. Still, Yabu had been through training like the rest of them; all astronauts and space technicians knew the importance of maintaining circadian rhythms, hence the alarm clocks, and the automated daylight lamps spread throughout the station. Shuffling out of bed and across his quarters to the bathroom, Yabu readied himself to face the day.
“Morning, Captain.” Totsuka grinned at Yabu over the control panel at which he was working, fingers tapping out the familiar coding to run the daily diagnostics checks. Totsuka had been up for a few hours already, Yabu knew; they scheduled their shifts so that Totsuka started and finished work earlier while Yabu stayed later. The observation outpost was small, hence the two-man crew, and tucked away in this isolated pocket of space they were content to sit out the remainder of their six-month shift before returning to the quadrant headquarters three parsecs away.
“Mail from the Embassy arrived yet?” Yabu asked, logging in to the system to check for private-line communications relayed from their superior officers.
“Not yet,” Totsuka shook his head. “I checked just before you came to the bridge.”
The Earth Embassy at the quadrant headquarters delivered messages from friends and family, but due to the distance and energy required to transmit those messages, 'mail' was a fortnightly event and both Yabu and Totsuka were always somewhat tense waiting for it to flash up as an incoming transmission. Yabu yawned into his hand, scrolling through forwarded reports of things that were only vaguely relevant while in the corner of the main deck, the percolator gurgled and sent waves of coffee-scented air through the room.
“Want a cup?” Yabu closed the official mail screen and went to the coffee maker, curling his hands around the cup. “We need to check on the plants in the biozone at some point today, too.”
“Nn, I'm good,” Totsuka replied, holding up his own cup. “Though, speaking of the biozone, the new plant is ready to be repotted. I thought we should give it a name.”
“Like our own pet?” Yabu grinned. “What name have you thought of?”
“I thought we'd name it after you,” Totsuka flashed a wide grin, and Yabu spluttered into his coffee cup. Totsuka ploughed on, “That way when you ignore me in favour of reading reports, I can still talk to you.”
“It's a house plant,” Yabu laughed. “It can't even pretend to-- oh?” The information screen bleeped as new data registered. “Huh.” Yabu redirected the data to the main view-screen. “This is new.”
“Ehh...” Totsuka turned, folding his hands across his chest as he surveyed the small specks of light at the edge of the scan field. “That's, what, 80AU away?” He looked down at his own information desk. “Wait, that's odd. It's giving a reading on the magnetic scanner too, let me overlay that filter.” The space map range expanded, showing several additional points of light scattered further out. Totsuka turned back to Yabu, puzzled. “This isn't something I've missed in the report briefs?”
Yabu shook his head as he came to stand next to Totsuka. “I've read nothing. Hikaru was giving us such a hard time about how this was going to be the most boring assignment ever, d'you remember?”
Totsuka's eyes lit up as he remembered. “Right! So full of himself about getting the cushy position over in the Cygnus Loop.” He laughed. “At least we can tell him about something more exciting than botany and data samples in the next mailing.” He reached out then, gripping Yabu's shoulder for a moment. No matter how much they enjoyed each other's company, both of them missed the comradeship of their Academy batch-mates.
“Right,” Yabu said, calling up the comm panel and entering his login details once more. “Better send this report off before we do anything else, then.” He looked up at the view-screen and squinted slightly. “80AU off, but we've got no real idea of velocity or composition beyond the weird magnetism,” he mused. “No idea of trajectory, even...”
“Well, it's not even listed in the 'anomaly' section of the regional database so we can rule out a whole bunch of travel paths from that alone, right,” Totsuka pondered, frowning at the screen. “Unidentified TNOs with... a possible hyperbolic orbit...?”
“Something like that.” Yabu tapped out the report. “It's as good as we'll get for the time being. Still, pretty weird.” The comm panel made a reassuring bleep as it accepted the report and began transmission. Yabu stretched. “Maa, nothing we can do about it for now. C'mon Tottsu, show me our new plant baby.”
*
Yabu woke up. The morning light filtered through the crack in his curtains and he screwed his face up, unfolding his limbs and stretching. What was today's schedule? Eyes still struggling to focus, he peered at his cellphone and scrolled through the planner. Myojo interview and photoshoot at noon which meant getting there for wardrobe and make-up at eleven... Popolo at three... YanYan JUMP filming from six... Not too bad. Yabu snapped his phone shut and stretched again, toes poking out from under the quilt. Plenty of time for a run before work.
Outside, the air was fresh, with a light breeze that offset the warmth of the sunshine that peered over the treetops as Yabu jogged through the park. There weren't many people about; school was in full swing and most salarymen were already tucked away in their offices, so Yabu made the most of the moment, relishing the feeling of space as his feet pounded against the bricks of the paved walkway through the greenery. He'd jogged this route several times before and knew it well: once he got to the other side of the park there was a bakery that sold the best pastries in the area, and a conbini next door that carried the weekly sports papers. This route, this pattern, had become close to ritual as far as Yabu was concerned; the days when he couldn't go for a run and get a snack from the bakery invariably went wrong more readily than the days when he could.
The conbini had a stand of house plants outside by the umbrella rack. Yabu grinned as he approached; they hadn't been there the day before but it was strangely fitting, given his dream. The end of it had been really nice, when he was lying in the grass in that big glass-like dome and looking up at the stars. Out of curiosity, Yabu browsed the plants for a moment to see if there was one like the plant dream-Tottsu had showed him. There wasn't.
Filming for YanYan JUMP was tiring, as expected, but it was a good sort of tired, the tired that made it okay to eat out with Inoo and Hikaru afterwards without any of them feeling like it was an obligation. When Yabu reached home that night he made a beeline for the bathroom, turning on the hot water and sinking into the tub with a contented sigh. He would sleep soundly tonight.
*
Yabu woke up. The digital numbers in the wall beside him read 0715, and Yabu frowned. He'd gone to sleep late last night; the mail arrived and he and Totsuka had been in too good a mood to work for a while. Yabu had barely managed to drag himself in from the bio-zone to complete last checks before crashing, so why was he awake so early?
“Captain,” Totsuka tried again, his voice muffled from the other side of the door. “Yo, Kota. Wake up.”
“W'zzt?” Yabu uncurled, pushing the blanket from his body as he sat up. “Come in.”
The door slid open and Totsuka entered, looking concerned. “I'm really sorry,” he grimaced. “It's just that the messages from yesterday both bounced. Well, all of them.”
“Both...?” Yabu frowned. “What, you mean both of our mails to the Embassy? Or...”
“...And the report to HQ as well. I don't get it, they travel on different frequencies so it shouldn't have registered as a double-send, but I can't work out...”
“Hang on,” Yabu said, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm. “Gimme a second to wash my face and I'll join you on the bridge.”
Yabu logged on to the official command network as soon as he stepped onto the bridge, staring at the bounced mail that sat smugly in his mail folder. “Huh,” he said, pulling a face. “Maybe I sent it on the wrong frequency and it didn't encode properly?” He dragged up the command string and squinted at it, willing his brain to work faster.
No, that should have gone through fine... He frowned, and opened the video messages he and Totsuka had recorded and queued to send to the Embassy to check for similar errors.
No problems there, either.
“Strange,” Yabu murmured, pressing his lips together more firmly. “I wonder if this has anything to do with... But it's 80AU away, nothing should be affecting us from that far out...?” He looked over at Totsuka, who was watching him from a few feet away. “...Hm.”
“Electromagnetic view, visible frequency conversion.” Yabu's voice was clear, and the system bleeped an acknowledgement as the required map alterations flashed up on the main screen.
“Holy shit,” said Totsuka. “What the hell can cover 20AU in under twenty-four hours without a high-powered vortex shifter? That kind of speed... Did something explode that we managed to miss?!”
“They've increased in number,” Yabu said, throat feeling tight. “That's why our messages bounced, look. There's hundreds of them registering on the scanners now.” He turned back to the communication panel then, fingers tapping rapidly on the controls. “If we set the transmission encode to long-waves rather than gamma, that should bypass any interference...”
“Probably,” Totsuka agreed, looking visibly shaken. “Damn,” he muttered. “We can't even do scans for chemical composition until they're within the 50AU scan range. It can't be foreign craft, surely? Not in this quantity.”
“You'd think not,” Yabu agreed, distracted as he attempted another resend. “They're showing as different sized bodies anyway, so it's not a battle fleet at least.” He paused then, turning away from the comm panel to look at Totsuka. “Hey,” he said, smiling thinly. “Stop looking so anxious. We're just a research satellite and we have thrusters and an engine of our own. We're not so vulnerable as to be completely helpless.”
Totsuka's lips thinned into a halfhearted smile, and he turned to look at Yabu. “Yeah,” he sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just...”
“I know,” Yabu agreed, fighting the prickle of fear that started to uncurl in the pit of his stomach. “We can't do anything until there's some kind of response from HQ anyway.” He clapped Totsuka on the shoulder. “C'mon, then. May as well get checks started early, since I'm up. What are you cooking for dinner tonight?”
“Hey, what makes you think it's my turn to cook?” Totsuka protested, then grinned at the impish look on Yabu's face. “Brat,” he said, indulgently. “I'll make you eat tomatoes if you're not careful.”
Yabu made a dramatic gesture, holding one hand up to the sun-lamp while the other covered his eyes. “Please, have mercy! Anything but that!” He grinned at Totsuka. “You give me tomatoes and I'll hide all your natto.”
Totsuka laughed. “Good luck hiding anything on this tin can of a ship.”
With checks started two hours before usual, they subsequently managed to finish sooner and with a burst of doggedly determined enthusiasm that belied his tiredness, Yabu pulled the soccer ball out from the training closet.
“Kick-around time?” he suggested, holding the ball up so that Totsuka could see it across the engine room as his crew-mate powered down the long-range telescope.
Totsuka's face registered only surprise for an instant before it cracked into a grin. “Need you even ask?”
The training gym had all manner of equipment designed to prevent the atrophy of space officers' muscles during half-year stints on the isolated outpost. This was all well and good; Yabu liked the cross-trainer because he could set the eye-shield to project visuals of a park or a beach for him to 'run' on. However, all of the expensive equipment was soon shoved to the edges of the sizeable room as Totsuka and Yabu cleared space for their one-a-side soccer match.
“Madrid Intergaláctico!” Totsuka yelled out the name of the team he was 'playing' for, jogging to the end of their impromptu pitch with the soccer ball in hand.
“Manchester United!” Yabu punched the air before tucking one foot up behind him, stretching his muscles in warmup. “Bring it, Spaniard!”
Spain lost to England 13-15 before, laughing and exhausted, Yabu and Totsuka decided to give up. Yabu went to put the gym back in order while Totsuka went to shower and prepare dinner, but as he reached the door Totsuka stopped, and turned back.
“Y'know, Kota,” he said, reaching up to touch the door frame. “I'm really glad we got this assignment together.”
Yabu paused, then put the soccer ball back on its shelf and closed the cupboard door. “Me too,” he said, voice quiet but travelling clearly across the gym. “I'm glad, too.”
*
Yabu woke up. The fading images of his dream lingered on the edge of his vision, half warming and half unsettling in a manner he couldn't quite place his finger on. His shoulder ached from where he'd slept on it weirdly and he grimaced as he uncurled and stretched. What day was it today? Friday. Music Station rehearsal, pre-recording and broadcast. He had to be at the Asahi studios before noon, then, but most of the morning was clear...? Yabu rolled onto his side and peered at his cellphone screen to check for messages. Ah. One from his manager. He did need to head into work that morning, after all. With a jaw-cracking yawn, Yabu rolled out of bed and nearly tripped on the wires of his PlayStation console before catching himself on the wall and laughing at himself. That was why he should have tidied up last night...
“Wassup,” Takaki was the first to notice Yabu as he entered the dressing room where most of JUMP was assembled.
“Morning~” Yabu dropped the bag of pastries onto the low table by the couch, and Takaki and Yuto descended on it instantly. “Oi!” Yabu protested, faking a swipe at Takaki's head. “Leave some for me, you pigs.”
“Oh, you went to the bakery,” Keito said, swinging his bag from his shoulder and onto the floor by the couch as he entered the room. “Awesome!”
In the corner, Inoo laughed quietly. “Fatal move, Yabu-kun,” he called out, and Yabu pulled a face, beating away Keito's grabby hands to grab a pastry before they all vanished.
“Are the others here yet?” Yabu asked, wedging himself on the couch between the armrest and Takaki and biting into his cream puff.
“Mope,” Takaki said, mouth full. “Vo I fink...” he swallowed, and tried again. “Though I think Yama-chan and Chii-face are having NYC-type talks first thing, ne, Yuto?”
“Mm,” Yuto nodded, licking leaked apple purée from his thumb. “Oh, hey guys!” He waved at Hikaru and Daiki as they sauntered in. “You missed the pastry fairy.”
“Dammit.” Daiki puffed his cheeks out as he pouted. “I knew I should have run for the train.”
As the assembled JUMP members left the dressing room and headed down the hallway, they passed members of A.B.C-Z headed in the opposite direction. Seemingly on impulse, Hashimoto launched himself at Takaki and tackled the other boy into a hug, and as Takaki reeled backwards into the wall the other idols burst out laughing.
“Hasshi!” Kawai whacked A.B.C-Z's youngest member over the head. “What have we told you about warning people first!”
“Yuya doesn't mind, do you?” Hashimoto said, trying to grin and pout at the same time. “It's been so long, I really missed him.”
“Yuya missed you too, Hasshi,” said Yuto, reaching over to ruffle Hashimoto's hair. “How have you guys been? I went to see Shounentachi, you were awesome.”
The corridor quickly descended into chatter as the boys made the most of the unexpected chance to catch up. Yabu instinctively sought out Totsuka, whose easy smile was eternally unchanged.
“Takaki looks like he's going to be in shock for the rest of the day,” Totsuka commented quietly, and Yabu laughed.
“He'll recover before too long,” he said. “Congratulations on getting concerts in November, by the way.”
“Congratulations on another number one single,” Totsuka returned, then paused. “Don't take this the wrong way, but you're looking a bit tired today, Kota. Is everything alright?”
“Hm?” Yabu paused. He did feel a little drained, but put that down to too much gaming the night before, more than anything else. “Just keeping on top of everything, I guess. It's been a busy year, ne.”
“Yeah,” Totsuka said, his expression wry. “Certainly has.” He opened his mouth as though to speak again, but a voice piped up down the corridor.
“Guys?” Chinen called out, voice audible even above the babble. “Are you coming to this meeting, or...?”
It was only after they'd parted ways that Yabu realised he'd forgotten to tell Totsuka about his weird dreams.
*
Yabu woke up. Any warm feelings about dreams of his friends faded instantly as he rolled out of bed, not even bothering to check the time on the digital display embedded in the wall. He'd gone to sleep in his uniform the night before so headed straight for door, hitting the entry console with the palm of his hand to open the door as he shuffled toward the bridge.
“Status report,” Yabu said, rubbing his hand through his unbrushed hair and making it stick up at wild angles.
Totsuka didn't even look up. “Messages bounced again. The first TNOs are well within scanning range now, between 35-40AU. They'll be visible to the naked eye in less than two days at this rate.”
“Scanned?” Yabu came to stand next to Totsuka, peering over his shoulder at the information scrolling rapidly across the screen. “Mostly rock, then.”
“Yeah,” Totsuka nodded. “Asteroid field of ridiculous size, seriously. What's with the magnetised cores?” He eyed Yabu, baffled. “A whole field of them? I don't get this one bit. Why has nobody picked up something of this magnitude before now?”
“We'll think about that later,” Yabu said. “How wide a field are we talking about, here?” He selected the appropriate map and threw it up to the main screen, then configured the previous data to plot a projected course. “Huh. If we power up the engines and activate thrusters this morning we can get out of range by the time it reaches this location, at least.”
“Thank goodness it's not headed toward the Embassy,” Totsuka commented, eyeing the screen. “Okay, so we need to go power up the engines. I'll do that, you...” He glanced up at Yabu then, his tired expression softening. “You go make us coffee.”
“Who's the captain around here, you or me?” Yabu countered with a weary smile. “I'll see you in the engine room in five. Computer?” He raised his voice a little, and the system bleeped at him. “Systems to amber alert, broadcast steer-clear distress signal.”
With the amber alert came a set of precautionary measures. The non-essential power systems shut down, and the elevator shaft that would have taken Yabu from the bridge to the engine room went out of operation. Slinging the straps of the two travel-flasks containing coffee around his neck, Yabu descended the metal steps into the engine room and made his way over to Totsuka. “Status,” he said, setting one of the flasks on a nearby flat surface. “And coffee.”
“Thruster engines ready to go on-line any moment now,” Totsuka murmured, fingers tapping away at the control panels. “Access codes when you can please, Boss.”
Yabu nodded, staring at the engine core in the centre of the room, watching it spin at incredible speeds inside its heavy protective casing. The spin of the engine contributed to the power needed to maintain the outpost's gravity systems, and should it for any reason fail... Yabu glanced at Totsuka. “You took the zero-grav protocol refresher course before we took this shift, didn't you?”
“Yup,” Totsuka nodded, then glanced over his shoulder. “You mean you think the engine's likely to...?”
“Nn,” Yabu shook his head, eyes crinkling reassuringly. “Just checking.” He looked back at the control panel then, tapping in his code and password. “Covering for all eventualities, that kind of thing. You know. Okay,” he stepped back as the system bleeped at him and somewhere within the machinery the thrusters came online with a whirring rush. “Let's get this show on the road.”
Even with the adrenaline burst and crash that came with the confidence of action, Yabu found himself restless that night. He lay on the narrow bed in the Captain's quarters, staring at the patch of sky through the small panel of reinforced glass, watching the tiny pinpoints of starlight drift by in the far, far distance. The rumbling of the engine was a gentle hum up in his cabin, and, lulled by the sound as the craft propelled itself through space, Yabu fell into a fitful sleep.
*
Yabu woke up. He felt awful, like his body was made of lead. Everything ached. He winced as he stretched, squinting at the light that peered through his curtains and struggling to resist the urge to pull the covers over his head and go back to sleep. He wasn't convinced sleep would bring proper rest, if he was honest; dreams of Totsuka and craft hurtling through space fleeing... something? Memory faded quickly as he woke but he knew it had haunted him every time he closed his eyes for several days now. Praying it was just tiredness and not the beginning signs of sickness, Yabu dragged himself from bed and forced himself to get ready for work.
“You look like shit,” said Keito, looking up from his guitar. “Did you stay up too late gaming again?”
“But I didn't see you on the regular server at all!” Daiki protested, eyes wide. “Are you too cool to join in with Red Fox now?” He eyed Hikaru, who pulled a mock-serious face - until he looked at Yabu.
“No, seriously Koppi, you look rough. Are you okay?”
“M'fine,” Yabu nodded, flopping onto his chair at the mirror and placing his head in his hands. “Haven't been sleeping very well, but I'll wake up soon.” He grinned at the others. “Don't worry about me, ne.”
“Tottsu came by earlier,” Takaki said, his voice a little vague as he concentrated on styling his hair with the flat-iron. “He didn't say he was looking for you but he didn't hang around once we said you weren't here yet.”
“Oh.” Yabu sounded disappointed, even to himself. “He's gone already?” He wanted to mention the dreams, true, but it wasn't as though they didn't talk at other times; it wasn't as though it was terribly important.
“Think so,” Takaki nodded. “Sorry.”
“Mou~ don't sound so down,” Yuto stopped air-drumming and instead came to stand behind Yabu, placing his hands on Yabu's shoulders and rubbing circles with his thumbs. “We've not got a long day today, you can get rest tonight, right?” He continued massaging Yabu's shoulders and neck, and eventually Yabu felt himself relaxing.
“Thank you,” he said, giving Yuto a genuine smile. “I feel much better, now.”
“That's what JUMP is for~” Yuto sing-songed on his way back to the couch, and Keito butted him with the body of his guitar. “Hey! What was that in aid of?!”
“You're supposed to be working with me,” Keito groused.
“Yeah, Yuto,” Hikaru grinned, picking a lump off the hunk of bread he was eating and throwing it at the tallest member of 7. “You're so unreliable.”
“Oh, shove off,” Yuto grinned, and conversation resumed as usual. Yabu watched them in the reflection of the dressing-table mirror, still grinning softly to himself. With effort, he took a deep breath and pulled himself together, grabbing a damp wipe from the packet on the dressing-table and pressing it to his tired face. The coolness of the thin cloth helped soothe the tiredness behind his eyes, and while the focus was on the playful squabble between three of the band members Yabu tried to summon the energy he knew he'd need to face the day.
“Hey.”
A quiet voice made Yabu look up, and he found himself confronted with a bottle of iced tea, which he took from Inoo's hand. Inoo's eyes crinkled into a small smile as he quietly passed Yabu on the way back to his part of the dressing-table, evidently having just been to the vending machines out in the corridor. Yabu turned the bottle around in his hand, then unscrewed the lid and took a gulp. He hadn't realised how nauseous he'd been feeling until the cool bitterness of the tea flowed down his throat, and he turned back to nod his thanks to the other man. C'mon, he told himself, setting his jaw firmly. You just had a disturbed night. No big deal. Get your ass in gear, Kota.
After work, Yabu declined an invitation to go out for udon with Hikaru and Daiki, stopping off instead at the DVD rental store. The dreams had been bothering him with increasing intensity this week; normally they fluttered at the edge of his consciousness or were forgotten as soon as he awoke, but to recall them with such intensity, to have his night so disturbed...
Yabu passed the Sci-Fi shelves without a second glance. The very last thing he needed right now was movies about space or parallel universes or alternate dimensions... He stared at the other shelves for a while, then took his selection to the counter. A night falling asleep while watching a string of movies was totally on the cards.
*
Yabu woke up. The hum of the engines had finally lulled him into tangled dreams of pointless interviews and the unsettling feeling that he'd missed the chance to tell Totsuka something important. Yabu frowned for a moment, opening his eyes to the darkness of his quarters, trying to work out what it was that felt wrong, why he'd woken so early.
The engines had stopped.
Flinging the thin blanket from his legs and scrambling to his feet, Yabu shoved his feet into his shoes and raced out of his quarters. In the gangway, Yabu wrenched open the entry hatch and clambered down the metal stairs into the engine room. “Engine status update,” he said, waiting for the system to throw up relevant information onto the communication panel.
The system made a harsh error noise. Command not recognised.
“What the...” Yabu tapped in his login code and manually pulled open the relevant files, eyes hurriedly scanning the strings of data until he found the root of the problem. There didn't appear to be one; suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the thruster engines had powered down.
Yabu frowned, hastily filed an update to the official log records, then activated the intra-vessel communication PA system. “Tottsu?” he said, hearing his own voice magnified throughout the ship. “We've got a problem. I need you down in engineering ASAP.”
“On my way.” Totsuka's voice was rough from sleep; Yabu felt bad for waking him but had no option; he needed Totsuka to be alert and nearby when Yabu opened the access hatch toward the maintenance tunnel. In the mean time...
The charts and maps available on the screens in the engine room were less varied and informative than the ones instantly accessible on the bridge, but in the moments before Totsuka arrived in the engine room Yabu called up the electromagnetic view of the area around them. He sighed. As expected, the fast-moving asteroid field continued to hurtle toward them, some rocky fragments moving faster than others but despite the little progress their craft had made overnight, they were still 19AU away, the distance closing rapidly. The picture on the screen wobbled, ripples distorting the picture and Yabu tapped it, frowning.
“Captain.” Totsuka clambered down the stairs.
“I think the same magnetic radiation that blocked our messages has screwed up the thruster engines,” Yabu said by way of greeting. “The system registers no errors and is beginning to fail to respond properly. I need to get inside the maintenance tunnel to see if there's anything that can be done closer to the engines, but I needed you to be aware of the situation.”
“With all due respect, Captain,” Totsuka nodded, “I'm better suited to engineering tasks in this instance. Permission to enter the maintenance tunnel myself.”
“Tottsu...”
“I know there's an increased risk, Kou,” Totsuka said, lips thinning into a smile that didn't meet his eyes. “But it's true; I've got more expertise in this field than you have. It makes more sense for me to head in there than you.”
“I don't want to...”
“...Be the one to send me into a risky situation? Yeah, I know.” Totsuka pulled his heavy white uniform jacket on over his white tank top and pulled fingerless gloves from his pockets. “But if we don't move soon we're going to be dead anyway.”
Yabu nodded, his jaw set firm. “I can't guarantee that the monitors will be reliable, this interference is screwing up all over the place. Use the PA-comm, keep talking to me as you head in.”
“Roger.” Totsuka tied a bandana around his head and strapped the toolkit pouch to his belt. “Let's go.”
“Opening maintenance tunnel access hatch,” Yabu said, entering his personal code and, as the light turned green, wrenching the handle down. “Keep talking to me, Tottsu.”
“Got it,” Totsuka nodded, clapping his gloved hands together in personal motivation before grabbing either side of the access hatch and pulling himself into the narrow maintenance tunnel. “Heading in.”
As Totsuka crawled down the brightly-lit maintenance shaft, Yabu returned to the main engine room control desk and surveyed the reports of the systems still currently online. Life support adequate, oxygen supplies balanced... Thanks to the ongoing amber alert the craft's power supplies were maintaining constant levels... “How's it going, Tottsu?”
“About halfway there now,” came the reply. “Bit cold in here.”
“Keep talking to me.”
Communications were still offline - Yabu tried re-sending the reports and was this time met with an instant error. Thruster engines still inexplicably down but other systems like the gravity core and shielding forcefield were operational. Other than their vulnerable position drifting in the path of an asteroid field, they seemed to be...
“Everything's jammed up,” came Totsuka's voice, weirdly distorted over the PA system. “Like, it's not even an electrical thing. I can't physically move anything down here.”
“What, like frozen together?” Yabu frowned; they were technically well-protected from the freezing temperatures of deep space.
“No, like... Just won't move. What the...” There was a clunking sound, and Totsuka swore. “My toolkit just... stuck itself to the side of the tunnel. I...” More sounds of movement. “Magnetism?”
“Eh?” Totsuka's voice had cut out slightly; Yabu thought he had misheard. “Say again.”
“Like, it's too strong for me to move or pry apart. I don't understand this. This shit isn't even supposed to be magnetic!”
The vocal distortion was increasing. “Tottsu, start heading back,” Yabu said, raising his voice slightly. “If you can't fix anything, just... come back.”
“What? I can't hear you properly, you're breaking up. There's nothing I can do here, I'm heading back.”
Yabu deactivated seventy percent of the energy normally allocated to the bio-zone, and rerouted power to the shields before heading back to the hole in the side of the engine room through which Totsuka would emerge.
“Well,” said Totsuka, returning without his tool pouch, “what do we do now? Time to jump in the escape pod?”
Yabu shook his head. “What makes you think the escape pod will be better able to be piloted than this?”
“Smaller, though,” Totsuka said, pulling a face as he scratched at his head through his bandana. “Less of a target.”
“Less protected, less well-shielded,” Yabu countered. “It'd take a smaller hit to knock out the escape pod than if we rammed power to the shields here and prayed nothing big strikes.”
“We'll be sitting ducks,” Totsuka said with a grimace, then sighed. “Well, I guess there's no choice.”
“Pretty much,” Yabu nodded. “We better start securing the stuff that's likely to fall.”
*
Yabu woke up. His head was throbbing; he could barely open his eyes. Had he managed to rest at all? Squinting against the light that flooded into the room, Yabu peered around and realised he'd fallen asleep on the couch in front of the television. The wide screen in front of him looped the menu screen of the movie he was watching before drifting off, the volume turned low so the repeated melody was gentle, not abrasive. Yabu groaned, feeling around for the remote to power off the DVD player. Maybe a gentle run would do him some good; a bit of light exercise and fresh air to clear his head before the day's work began.
This was a mistake. Yabu staggered, catching himself against one of the trees that lined the path as the world spun dangerously. Nausea rolled through his body and he swallowed hard. No good. This was definitely no good. Home, then, and maybe try to lie down a while longer before heading in to work. Yabu turned back, feeling his hands and legs shake with exertion. Thank everything it was only interviews today, nothing that required being filmed or photographed.
“Sorry for intruding. Yabu-kun is feeling a little unwell today, so he's going to be arriving a bit later than usual.” The anxious intern bowed her way into the interview room and Hikaru, Keito and Yamada looked at each other, pausing in their crosstalk.
“Don't worry,” said the staff member supervising them. “Yamada-kun and Chinen-kun have to go off for movie promotion before anybody else so we'll just move Yabu-kun's trio to the back. Ne, Asami-san, can you please inform Chinen-kun, Arioka-kun and Inoo-kun that they'll be interviewed next? Thank you.”
Yamada looked concerned and opened his mouth to speak, but Hikaru shook his head; not now. The interviewer peered at them, curious.
“So~!” Hikaru resumed with a too-wide grin. “The other day Yama-chan told me he wants to marry Jang Geun-Seok, because of the Korean Ikemen desu ne.” His eyes sparkled as he totally ignored Yamada's protesting splutter.
“...Ah, he played the Korean version of Ren, ne?” Keito grinned impishly as he caught on. “Shame he doesn't want to marry Lee HongKi...”
“Because I played the same character, right? Mou, Yama-chan, you don't want to marry me instead?” Hikaru pouted, feigning hurt.
“Why don't you guys go bully Yuto instead,” Yamada mock-glared, folding his arms over his chest.
Yabu was almost too shaky to apologise for the inconvenience he'd caused by being late. He felt cold, skin clammy, and he huddled around the cup of hot soup cradled in his hands. He knew Takaki and Yuto were around somewhere, but he didn't blame them for wandering off; he'd arrived almost an hour later than planned and messed up the schedule for the whole group. Some leader. Yabu pulled the surgical mask from his nose and mouth, inhaling the scent of the soup before taking a sip. His stomach had finally settled, and he drank slowly, hoping it would give him enough warmth and energy to get through the rest of the day.
“Ah, you made it.” Takaki's voice was quiet as he walked into the room and sat down on the chair opposite Yabu. “How are you feeling?” There was a pause while Yabu swallowed his mouthful of soup, and Takaki added: “Be honest.”
“Kinda rough,” Yabu confessed. He closed his eyes, exhaling in a long sigh. “I don't know where I picked this up from, it's just hit suddenly in the last few days.”
“Mm, it's the time of year for colds and fevers, I guess.” Takaki rummaged in his bag and pulled out a packet of vitamin C tablets. “Here.”
“Thanks,” Yabu said, accepting them. Then, “Wait, aren't these the ones I gave you last time you got sick?”
“Yeah,” Takaki grinned. “I kept them around, just in case. Hey, Yabu? ...Kou? You look kinda...”
“I,” Yabu began, then lost the ability to speak. There was a muffled ringing in his ears and the world suddenly fuzzed over as he slid from the couch, unconscious.
*
Yabu woke up. He didn't recall falling asleep, and for a disorientating moment he couldn't work out where he was until he turned and saw Totsuka sitting by his side, filling an insulated bag with compost and repotting the house plant he had taken to calling Kota.
“Really?” Yabu asked, amused despite himself. They were inside the escape pod but still docked within the walls of their outpost, using the extra shielding as protection. He sat up, reaching out to hold the bag while Totsuka packed soil around the root ball. “I hadn't realised you'd brought this in here.”
“It won't do much for our oxygen levels, I know,” Totsuka said, sheepishly hiding a wry grin. “I just thought... You know. I'm repacking the root ball in case the gravity system cuts out.”
Neither of them mentioned the asteroids. Yabu knew as well as Totsuka did that they were simply waiting for the inevitable. It was a poor attempt at self-distraction, but Yabu knew that it was better than sitting and stressing. Reluctantly, Yabu handed the plant back to Totsuka and tapped the screen. Though the interface now wobbled and flickered almost constantly, he dragged up the maps and squinted, trying to make sense of the flickering lines.
Less than 1AU. They'd likely be visible out of the vessel's windows now, or at least the larger of the forerunners would. Yabu didn't want to look.
“I guess it'll start soon,” Yabu said quietly.
Totsuka nodded. “It already did. That's what woke you up.” He tied the top of the bag tightly around the base of the plant, where its clump of thick leafy stems pushed through the soil. “I was out in the docking bay, and the shields started flaring from the debris hitting us.”
“Oh.”
Despite his usual ability to bring the right words to mind at the right time, Yabu didn't really know what to say. There didn't seem anything to say. Then,
“When we make it through this...”
“If.”
“When we make it through this,” he continued, “I'm naming my first son after you.”
Totsuka smiled despite himself. “Kota and Shota. You'll have your own bush baby.” There was a crash, and as the craft lurched the lighting dropped to automatic red alert. “Hopefully it'll grow up to be less skinny than you.”
“There's nothing wrong with my size,” Yabu grinned. The information screens were useless; he switched them off. Another crash; they jolted and Yabu reached out automatically to grab at Totsuka's shoulder. While the systems still held they could keep their balance well enough, but it was all too easy to imagine how their little observation station was being slammed through the chaotic space of the asteroid field.
Crash.
Crash.
Crash.
Crashcrash.
“There go our shields,” Totsuka commented, placing the plant on top of the now-useless information screen.
“He's going to be a football player,” Yabu decided. “And you're going to be his coach.”
Crunch.
Yabu hit the side of his head on the metal wall, and passed out.
*
Yabu woke up. There was something wet on his hand, and it hurt. It took him a moment to realise it was the soup, now cooled, but it still made his skin smart. Everything was too loud, too bright.
“Yabu, are you okay?”
Yabu opened his eyes, looking without seeing. There was a person there, people, not Totsuka. This was wrong.
“He's going again.”
*
Yabu woke up. Totsuka was clambering up from where he'd fallen to the floor; Yabu figured he must only have been out for a few seconds. “You okay?” he rasped, sitting up and pressing one hand to the throbbing side of his head.
“Fine,” Totsuka gasped, clearly winded but otherwise unharmed. “How's your head?”
“Hurts,” Yabu grimaced. “I'll live.”
The craft lurched again, and Yabu glanced over at Totsuka. “Time to fasten ourselves into the pilots' seats, then,” he said, clambering forward to the front of the escape pod.
“Yup,” Totsuka agreed.
Crash.
Yabu fell forward.
*
Yabu woke up.
“Tottsu...?”
“Not here, Kou. We're gonna get you to a hospital, okay? I'll call an ambulance.”
“No,” Yabu choked, curling into a ball on his side. “Tottsu.”
“Kota?” Takaki's voice was warm and close by. “Talk to me, say something.”
“Need to get home. Where's Tottsu...?”
The warm presence that was Takaki moved further away, and Yabu fell under again.
*
Yabu woke up. He crawled onto his knees and dragged himself forward, strapping himself into the pilot's chair with hands that shook as their escape pod juddered violently. “You with me, Tottsu?” he asked, raising his voice over the shuddering of the metal around them.
“I'm okay, Captain!” Totsuka gave him a thumbs-up from the co-pilot's seat, face pale.
Crash.
*
Yabu woke up. Someone was carrying him. He didn't know who it was. Totsuka wasn't there.
*
Yabu woke up. The grav-systems had gone offline. Behind them, the re-potted plant drifted almost comically through the air. They could see out of the escape pod windows from their seats at the front of the tiny vessel, and it was in a daze that Yabu saw the side of the docking bay splinter away from the rest of the main craft.
“I have dreams,” Yabu said, his voice sounding distant even to himself. It felt important to say this, and he couldn't tell why. “Dreams where we have a different life. Like, we're not space officers...”
“Idols,” Totsuka said, lips curving in a self-deprecating smile. “It's silly, but I dream we're idols. We're not in the same group...”
“...But we're still really good friends,” Yabu choked, feeling the air pressure inside the chamber fluctuate wildly. “Tottsu...”
*
Yabu woke up.
*
Yabu woke up.
*
Yabu
...woke up. It was night, the moon shining brightly through the crack in his curtains. The pressure lifted from his chest and with a gasp, Yabu sucked in as much air as he could manage. His lungs burned, but somehow, somehow, he felt so full of energy, the adrenaline singing through his veins like he was on fire. Totsuka. Tottsu. Where was Tottsu?
Yabu was halfway down the stairs before Takaki woke, and was almost out of the door by the time he could get up from the couch on which he'd been sleeping. “Yabu!” Takaki called out, and Yabu slowed then, one foot in one shoe and the other still in his hand. “Yabu, where are you... What are you doing?”
“Tottsu,” Yabu said, realising he sounded crazy but beyond caring. “I have to find him. I have to know if he's okay.”
“Wai--” Takaki's voice faltered as Yabu bolted from the house, running out into the midnight streets. He had to know, had to know if Totsuka was still okay. He had to.
“Yabu!”
The voice wasn't Takaki's, and Yabu's heart lurched up into his throat. He stopped, standing In the middle of the street as he caught sight of the figure before him.
Totsuka looked every bit as sick and dishevelled as Yabu felt, massive rings under his eyes and skin doubly pale in the silvery-blue moonlight, but there. He was there. A sob choked its way into Yabu's mouth and he ran forward, flinging his arms around the other man and burying his face in Totsuka's neck. You're alright, someone was saying, you're safe you're okay you're here and Yabu couldn't tell if it was him, if it was Totsuka, if it was both of them. He felt as though he couldn't let go.
A light touch on Yabu's shoulder made him look up, and Takaki gave a confused but hopeful smile that drew Yabu back into the present.
“You'd better come inside, both of you,” Takaki said, half bemused and mostly somewhat lost. “Please. Before you both pass out on me.”
Yabu didn't need to ask, didn't need to say anything. As he and Totsuka both warmed their hands around mugs of hot cocoa, Takaki tapped out a reply to the mail he'd received from Tsukada, and warily eyed them both.
“You should sleep,” he said. “Tsuka says you've been sick, and you,” he said, pointing his cellphone at Yabu, “are mental. You were almost in the ER! I thought you were going to...! Ugh.” He rubbed his face with one hand, clearly tired.
Sleep. Yabu looked at Totsuka, who returned his gaze with trepidation. Sleep. It was both inviting and terrifying. What... what if? He couldn't, couldn't bear to...
Totsuka reached out then, gripping Yabu's hand and squeezing it lightly. “I'm not afraid,” he said. “Captain.”
They curled up together, saying nothing but neither willing to be too far apart. Lips pale from sheer exhaustion, Totsuka gave Yabu a thin smile, then closed his eyes to sleep.
*
Yabu woke up.
The morning light filtered through the curtains, shining directly onto Yabu's face. He groaned and raised one hand to cover his eyes, turning his face to one side. Beside him, Totsuka moved slightly as he roused, his skin looking less pallid and his movements less weary.
Sitting up, Yabu looked around him. The PlayStation was still out, wires trailing everywhere. There were papers scattered on his desk, notes relating to new songs and football league tables. He stretched, and turned back as he felt the movement of Totsuka sitting up beside him.
Their sleep had been dreamless.