[Multichapter] The Watches Series: Apocalypse (13/15)
Title: The Watches Series: Apocalypse
Authors: syunikiss1990
Beta: andreja1989 <-- as always arigatou ♥
Pairing: SakurAiba, MatsuMiya, OhnoxOC
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Rating: PG-15 (this chapter)
Disclaimer: No, we don't own anything... We're just Border Watch's glaziers
Summary: It looks like the end of everything they knew... Will their world collapse?
*MASTERPOST*
"Masaki?" Sho wasn't even sure if his voice was loud enough for the other man to hear but the smile the younger man gave him said enough. He didn't understand what just happened, how his lover was now standing in front of him wearing those blinding white robes but at the same time he didn't care. All he cared about was the fact that Masaki was indeed standing in front of him and that within seconds after that he was able to wrap his arms tightly around the taller man's body.
"I thought you were dead." He whispered, inhaling the other man's scent while different emotions rushed through him.
"I know. I'm sorry." Aiba said softly, pressing himself closer to the older man. "But it's okay now, I'm back and not going anywhere anymore."
"What happened? I don't understand any of it." Sho said, distancing himself a bit from the other man so he could look at him. Masaki smiled mysteriously and shook his head.
"Not here. Not right now. I promise I'll explain later but now I just want to hold you like this for a while. I missed you." The taller man hid his face in Sakurai's neck and the older man let him, agreeing with him that the explanation could wait for now. So he just held on to the younger man as if it was his lifeline, the only thing that could keep him standing right now. Though he got distracted when he heard two loud voices close to them yelling, making him turn his head and look at the cause of his distraction.
"You are an insane, selfish and careless asshole!" Ninomiya was yelling at Matsumoto, who didn't seem that impressed by the smaller man in front of him, a smirk hanging on his face.
"Could you stop yelling at me for a moment? Your voice is annoyingly loud for someone as tiny as you Kazu." He said, his grin widening when the smaller man's face became even redder than before, coming closer to explosion.
"Are you kidding me?! After what you put me through I have every right to yell at your idiotic ass!" Kazunari yelled, his fists clenching to his sides and somehow Sho was impressed that the smallest man hadn't hit the man in front of him yet.
"You are cute like that you know? Not even able to think of impressive or original insults." Jun chuckled.
"You... you..." Ninomiya let out an annoyed growl and raised his fist, ready to finally give the blow but Matsumoto moved faster, grabbing the fist and pulling the smaller man in an embrace.
"I missed you too Kazu." Jun said before pressing their lips together. Even though Kazunari struggled slightly at the beginning, he soon enough gave in until they pulled away and the smaller man still managed to hit the other man's shoulder.
"You are still a jerk." Ninomiya mumbled but most of the anger had disappeared from his voice. Sakurai saw the youngest man lean closer to his lover and whisper something in his ear. He could only guess the content but seeing the way the smallest man's cheeks colored he had a slight hunch. Knowing now that the other two wouldn't give too much trouble anymore he turned his attention back to the man in his arms, lifting his face by grabbing his chin so he could look in his eyes.
"I love you Masaki." He said seriously, which somehow made the younger man giggle.
"I know. I love you too." Masaki placed a soft kiss on his lips before getting out of the embrace. With the loss of the other man's warmth in his arms the spell that seemed to be around them broke, making him aware of their surroundings once again. He wondered how he didn't notice the loudness of the people around them before, screams and yells coming from everywhere together with the never ending chants of the Watches being gone. The confusion had stopped the fight but nobody seemed to know what they were supposed to do from now on. In the distance Sho saw a familiar figure disappear, Saito probably on his way either back to Japan to help mending the chaos that would surely break out there as well or disappearing to God knows where. Either way, Sho couldn't care less what would happen to the ex-head of the Tokyo Light Watch.
"We should go back to the hotel." Aiba said, looking around as well. Sakurai slowly nodded, pulling Matsumoto and Ninomiya away from each other and ignoring the dangerous looks he got from the pair that had looked like they were trying their best to inhale each other just seconds before.
"Hotel, now." He mumbled, grabbing Masaki's hand and not letting go until they reached their destination. He didn't look back to see if the other two were following him, he knew they would anyway as he was sure Kazunari would want to know what had happened as well.
"So what on earth happened?" Sakurai asked when they finally sat down in their hotel room. Aiba and Matsumoto looked at each other, silently discussing where to start and who would start talking.
"You all remember the story everyone in the Watches is told right? The story of the origin of the Watches and the Treaty." Masaki finally said, looking at Sho and Kazunari.
"The Mother Nature and her sons?" Sho asked, just to be sure he was following what the other man was saying. Masaki nodded and continued.
"At first everything was the way it was supposed to be. But with time, the Watches started to lose sight of what their real purpose was. Just like her sons once lost sight of the reason they were send to earth. So she sent Ohno." Silence followed those words, Aiba giving the others a moment to let it sink in before he would continue.
"Ohno?" Ninomiya finally asked, breaking the silence and looking from Masaki to Jun. "Ohno was send by Mother Nature?"
"I know it sounds crazy and unbelievable but you have to trust us that this is the truth." Matsumoto said. "We have seen enough to know it is, things we can't explain."
"That's insane." Kazunari still muttered. "Why would she send a maniac to destroy everything?"
"Ohno never was a maniac." Aiba said slowly. "Ohno was by far one of the most pure and honest persons you have ever met. He had a goal but he didn't manage to reach it at his first tries because we were blinded by fake ideals."
"Hold on. You are saying that we are the crazy ones here?" Ninomiya interrupted again. Aiba shook his head.
"Blinded, not crazy. Only Ohno was able to see what the Treaty was doing with the Watches. How it was tearing everything apart. He was sent to destroy it to lift the blindfold off the eyes of everyone involved. He had gotten so close two times but every time he was stopped."
"It's just like you said, he was stopped." Sho interrupted his lover. "After his last trial he was killed. The heads of the three Watches personally watched over his execution. It's in the official reports that it was a success."
"Ohno was pulled inside the emptiness just in time." Matsumoto started to explain. "The heads of the Watches kept silent about this, knowing the world would see them as a failure if it would come out. Knowing that almost nobody came out of the emptiness anyway they kept on pretending Ohno had died."
"But then why did Ohno get you?" Sho asked, looking at Masaki but directing his question towards Jun as well. His lover was the one who answered.
"Personal revenge. He could have taken anyone but he chose us for more personal reasons. After we stopped him for the second time he was so annoyed that he swore to make us pay for it. Not with our lives, he isn't that bad, but cutting in the places that would hurt the most. Quite literal cutting if you ask me." Both him and Jun chuckled as if it was an inside joke even though the other two didn't think of it as funny in any way.
"I don't see how it can be even the slightest bit of entertaining. One second difference could have killed you." Ninomiya muttered angrily.
"Don't be like that Kazu." Jun said too sweetly, making the older man even more annoyed. "He knew what he was doing, but I appreciate your concern."
"Shut up." Kazunari muttered. "Just get on with it."
"Right." Masaki cleared his throat and looked at the two bickering lovers. "Ohno needed someone to represent the Light and the Dark Watch so he chose Jun and me. Jun obviously for the Dark Watch and me for the Light watch because he had seen enough of this inside of me when we had met. If you wouldn't have found out I was a vessel, he wouldn't have known I was one as he said the Light side inside of me had blinded his vision."
"Couldn't he simply have asked you instead of pulling you inside the emptiness?" Sakurai asked. Both Aiba and Matsumoto shook their head.
"It's not that simple. He needed us in the emptiness to prepare. Even though it might not have seen that way, what happened back there was a needed ritual to make sure everything would go right." Jun said. Silence fell into the room, everyone trying to give what had happened its own place.
"So now what?" Kazunari finally asked after minutes of silence. Masaki sighed deeply.
"The Treaty is gone, the Watches will stop existing. Everyone will have to find their own way to live with it. For some this might be easy, for others a great search will begin of what to do with their lives." He said.
"But what about the balance? What will happen to that without the Watches?" Sho asked even though in his heart he already knew the answer.
"The Watches stopped caring about that a long time ago." Matsumoto said. "For a long time a battle between the Light and the Dark Watch was forming again already. They didn't care about trivial matters between normal people anymore, only having eyes for each other. The world might be a better place without them. Maybe we are wrong and maybe it will get out of hand but that's something only time can tell."
"So that's it? The Watches are just gone?" Sakurai asked.
"That's pretty much the case yes." Aiba said, smiling slightly. "Just think about it this way, now we are free to do whatever we want to do."
"And I know what I want to do right now." Matsumoto said with a smirk, standing up and pulling Ninomiya on his feet as well. "I suggest we will just forget about everything for the rest of the day and find a flight back home tomorrow. I'm exhausted and need some private time with someone and I'm sure everyone is feeling the same."
"I agree, have fun." Masaki said, giving Jun a wink which made Sho frown. But he waited until the other two had left the room before he asked about it.
"What was that?" He asked. The younger man looked at him questionably.
"What was what?"
"That look. Did something happen between you and Matsumoto?" Sakurai didn't mean to sound so jealous but his words still came out that way, making the taller man giggle and scoot closer.
"Yes, something happened but nothing of the sort you are thinking about. Part of what was needed to make everything go right and to get us out of the emptiness was connecting with each other on different levels. That leaves an impact, I think I can say I know Jun just as well as my brother now. Satoshi had jokingly called us siblings of fate, connected through the sons of Mother Earth and in a way I don't think he was wrong." He pushed a finger against Sho's lips to prevent him from speaking, crawling even closer so he was sitting on the older man's lap.
"But that's all. I wouldn't call it love, not even one percent of what I feel for you so stop your jealous thoughts and kiss me." Sakurai couldn't do much more than smile affectionately at those words and pulled the other man in for a kiss.
"You can't even imagine how happy I am to be able to hold you again." He muttered against those soft lips between the kisses, making Aiba giggle softly.
"Believe me, I can. I missed you Sho, so damn much." Their kisses got more heated until the point Sho gathered his strength and stood up, moving them towards the bed.
"Sho." Masaki moaned, pulling the older man's shirt over his head but his movements stopped there, staring at a point between their bodies. It took the smaller man a moment to realize he was staring at the necklace that was dangling down his chest.
"I found this next to the river I thought you were murdered." He explained softly. "I kept it safe and close to my heart."
"There is a second ring." Aiba said, confusion written all over his frowning face. He reached out, letting the rings slip through his fingers before Sakurai pulled back and sat down on his knees in front of the younger man, waiting for him to sit up and face him properly.
"I wanted to ask you for a long time already but every time I was getting ready to make a big gesture or found the courage, something came in between. This is not how I imagined doing this at all." The frown on Masaki's face didn't disappear.
"What are you talking about?" Aiba asked confused, still looking at the necklace as if he was hypnotized. Sakurai's heart was beating loudly in his chest as he unlocked the necklace around his neck and got the bigger ring off the string before he got off the bed, sitting down next to it on one knee and lifting the younger man's head to make him look him in his eyes.
"Masaki, we have been together for so many years already. I think now I can really say we have been through the worst together but we survived anything that came on our path. For me it is clear you are the only one I will ever love and care for this deeply and I hope we will never have to part ever again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you to love you, take care of you and grow old together." He took a deep breath, taking Masaki's hand and putting the ring around his finger.
"Aiba Masaki, will you marry me?" Sho was sure his heart would come out of his chest any second now as he looked at the taller man, who looked at his hand for a few seconds before looking back at him.
"Y-yes. Yes! Of course I'll marry you." Aiba took Sakurai by surprise by jumping on top of him, wrapping his arms around his neck as they fell backwards on the soft carpet of the hotel room next to the bed. Sakurai laughed, grabbing the younger man's face to pull him down even more, pressing their lips together.
"Thank you." Sho said softly, looking lovingly at the other man. He had missed the sparkle that was in his eyes now, realizing it had been such a long time since he had last seen it. Even before he had disappeared inside the emptiness.
"But what did you mean with what you said before? How long have you been planning this?" Masaki asked, his eyes burning inside Sho's as if he would find the answer by just staring at him.
"A few weeks at least, if it's not months. Just a bit before the whole thing in the Vatican started to happen. To be honest, at some point I thought I was losing you because you seemed so distracted by it that you didn't even pay attention to me anymore." He immediately regretted his words as Aiba's smile fell from his face, his eyes saddening.
"I'm sorry Sho. If I would have known I would have... No, I should have paid better attention to you. Now that you say it, the signs were there, if only I listened to you." Sakurai brushed away a few strings of hair that had fallen down the younger man's face.
"Don't give me that look. That's behind us now and unless you want me to think you are already regretting your answer you should wipe that sad look off your face. I like your bright smile the best after all." It took only one second before Masaki smiled again, leaning down in a breathtaking kiss.
"There isn't a single nerve in my body that regrets my answer. I love you and wouldn't want anything else than spend the rest of my life with you." The younger man got a mischievous smile on his face. "And I know just the way to prove it to you."
"Oh really?" Sho chuckled, feeling tension tingle through his body when the other man's hands moved to his chest, giving just the right pressure at the right spots that made him go weak.
"Absolutely." Aiba laughed as the older man rolled them around, drowning in the kisses and touches that followed, making them forget about all that had happened and what the future would bring for them. All that mattered now was that they were together and that nobody could stand between them anymore.