Red Light [Mini-series] Part 1
Red Light
Pairing: None, Arashi, Nino-centric
Genre: AU, Drama, Angst
Rating: PG-13 to R
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing but the plot. OTZ
Summary: Reserved lawyer. Unlucky preservationist. Eager photographer. Obnoxious driver. Sadistic student. Driving nowhere in the lively façade yet dead streets of Tokyo, Ninomiya did not expect to chauffeur four intoxicated men who turned out to be complete strangers to each other. Forced to face their past and present, there was no turning back to the path of their future.
[Part I]
“A man sits in his car at the traffic lights, waiting for them to go green.” -Michael Frayn
15th of September. In exactly five hours, the sun would rise and defeat the darkness once again. The shining light would meet the blinding shadows. In those five hours, the city and the millions of people living in Tokyo would try to escape time and stop for a while. The crowded streets during daytime were almost empty and the lively karaoke bars and restaurants began to call it a night. Only the love hotels and few bars struggled to make the city alive. In those five hours, anything could happen in the most unexpected way. Something could change in the decisions already made for tomorrow’s promises. Everything could be destined to a different path, a path that would lead to a different world.
Somewhere in the district of Ginza, a rainbow-coloured taxi stopped just before an intersection since the traffic light turned red from green. Inside of the awkward-looking vehicle were five men-including the driver. They had been driving for almost an hour already and it seemed that they had no exact route since the driver was ordered to just roam around the district. None of them dared to speak except for the occasional cursing mumbles of the poor chauffer. He mentally noted to give the other four additional charges for circulating the stinking smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke in the taxi of his new boss. He then glanced at the three half-conscious men-around twenty-three to twenty-five years-old-from the rear mirror. Compared with the guy sitting on the passenger’s seat at the front, their faces were really flushed as a ripe tomato.
Out of the blue, the driver glanced at the young man beside him who was wearing a slightly unbuttoned white polo shirt underneath a black high school uniform and then focused back on the road since the light turned green at last. High school student from Shirokin Gakuen, he said to himself. He wondered how this fellow sneaked inside at the bar since he was certain that this passenger was still a minor. He even pondered more on the idea of how the young man managed to drink with the other three and help them get inside the cab.
Unable to confine the question he had at the tip of his tongue, he bluntly asked, “Are you insane?” He started to lecture like an older brother. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous for you to be outside at this time? Even if they are your friends, you must learn to say no and not let them force you on doing these disgusting things. You’re still on your spring. Don’t let them screw your life.”
“No,” he answered while he was busy looking outside the window. He sniffed and scratched his nose. “Also, they are not my friends. I barely know them.”
The driver gave out a smirk. He received an annoyed look from the student but he did not notice it. “Yeah, right. Who on earth would drink with people whom he barely knows and would have a cab ride with them afterwards?”
“We.”
He let out a faint laugh and said, “Come again? It’s really funny if that was meant to be a joke.” This kid is really weird, he thought. Yet, he noticed that the eyes if the other did not look to right, indicating that there were no lies.
“We already did,” he answered nonchalantly. “Do I need to repeat what I said again? Ah, as expected from an oji-san. Oji-san is loosing his sense of hearing, right.”
The older one snorted with the reaction he received. It was like the older has the urge to put a mark on the cheek of the younger. He got seriously pissed. It was not event a question. It was a statement. Taking a deep breath, he decided then to shut his mouth and focused more on the road. There was no way he would pick a fight with a high school student. He had to admit that he was really tired no and he might fall into sleep anytime. There was on way he knew that would keep him from getting asleep.
“Ne, could you talk randomly?” He asked the man beside him. “It would prevent me from falling asleep.”
“What do you want then to talk about?”
“I don’t know,” he said while he shrugged his shoulders. “Anything: a story from childhood, unexpected mishaps, school dilemma, girls and love problems, family issues-“
“Why on earth would I narrate my life to a stranger like you, huh?” he cut off the proposal of the poor driver who just wanted to have a safe trip.
“Pff. It’s better to talk to a sleepy driver who turns out to be a stranger than to actually have a ride with three wasted strangers.”
“Whatever.”
The two of them never talked again. It had been ten minutes after the last word came out from the student. The folds of the driver’s eyes are on their limit. He would occasionally close his eyes and was really close to going to dreamland yet there was a part of him saying to wake up and snap back into reality. However, in his last attempt to sneak a wink of sleep just before they cross another intersection, a ten-wheeler truck in a fast speed suddenly appeared from nowhere. This made the student who was observant of the actions of the driver and the things around them to snatch the steering wheel from the driver. With his fast reaction time, he tried to steer away as far and as fast as he could from the truck, leaving screech markings on the asphalt road. The taxi spun around for about three times until the driver got back into his senses and manage to pull over the handbrake before they collide into a light post.
“What the hell are you doing!” the student raged from his seat as he was able to take off the seatbelt and grab the collar of the shocked driver. Realizing that the other man was still in the sense of astonishment, he released him and slumped back to his heat.
Neither of them knew that the other three men were shook up by the sudden close attack of Hades. All of them were eyes wide open.
“Kowai…” the sitting in the middle of the backseat whispered. He was wearing a knee-high short pants and a plain maroon tank top beneath his unbuttoned red checked polo shirt. The laces of his sneakers were loose causing the tendency of his shoes being knocked off at any moment. “HONTOU NI KOWAI!~”
No one reacted from his ranting. The four of them just gave him a what-the-hell look. Realizing that all the eyes were focused on him, he ducked his head down and then gave them his his famous chipmunk face.
“Demo,” the other man on his right butted in. “CHOU TANOSHI!” This earned an even worse WTH look.
“Anata wa baka desu ka?” The former began his ranting again. “We almost freaking died! And, now, you’re saying that it was fun? Are you really nuts?!”
“Dying is normal,” the angelic-faced guy in a sleek black suit finally spoke up. “Killing someone would mean one should die from revenge.”
The deafening silence aroused. No one expected to hear that. The atmosphere became awkward as few lightning stroke and thunder grumbled. Droplets of water began to cover the windshield of the taxi.
This was the beginning of a great storm.
[ part 2]
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A/N: Thank you for reading! This is inspired by "Everything" of Arashi. Originally posted in freestyle. Please do comment. ^^