The Only Colour Better Than Black Is Transparent Chap 20
A.N. Three days to prove a love that may or may not have truly existed. A love that was born when one ran over the other with a sports car and threw him in the boot to die. A love that bleached the wings of a demon white.
“Three days,” he didn’t even look up from his game, ‘if you can’t prove that Taguchi Junnosuke loves you in three days without going near him, you will take yourself to the cells of suffering. Either way, this case is closed. Am I even getting paid overtime for this Raphael?”
“No,” the Archangel stood up and stretched his limbs, “YOU were the one who volunteered for this case because it was interesting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do balancing bank statements. SOMEBODY splurged on expensive European cars on earth.” He shot Ryo a dirty look. “Good luck Tatsuya, you’re on your own now. Let’s go everyone…”
Case closed.
Three days left.
All that ran through Tatsuya’s head as he was led into a silver room was a flat line. Too much has happened for him to make rational decisions, and the possibility of Junno not even truly loving him ate him from the inside out like a parasite.
The room he was locked in was made of much the same thing as Gabriel’s office floor, only it was a perfect cube 5 meters long and 5 meters high. Every direction he looked, there was an endless queue of Tatsuyas staring right back. And they didn’t look happy with him either.
“Hello there,” he reached towards the floor and touched fingers with his cold twin, “how are you? I hardly recognise you.”
“You could be thinking of a plan instead of displaying the first sign of insanity,” Ryo’s reflection suddenly appeared beside his own. Tatsuya cried out in shock but when he looked behind himself, nobody was there.
He narrowed his eyes. “If the Heavens intends on separating us, I’ll break Heaven down. And I’m not afraid to break Hell either.”
“I was meaning a plan to get the damned idiot to break Heaven’s mist spell by himself,” the devil laughed bitterly to himself, “or you’re never getting out of here. Yet you still won't trust me...”
“The last time I trusted you, you sold me to be cut up!” Tatsuya screamed, throwing his fist at the walls, “HOW CAN I TRUST ANYONE?!”
“I’m sorry okay?” for once, Ryo didn’t get angry. Instead, he hung his head. “I’m sorry… I just…. Loved you so much and I hated to see you get hurt. I’m fine with you and him, I swear! But when he turned you into a mess I- I felt real pain for the first time in my life when you got hurt. Tatsuya I know you probably hate me, but can I be selfish and ask that you don’t? I lived 550 years knowing that I am destined to be alone and unloved as Satan and the only person I don’t want to be hated by is you! I lived for you… and if you don’t want me, I- I don’t know how I can…..”
True sadness is when one feels so much pain but is physically unable to cry. Ryo had realized long ago that struggling to keep the one he loved was only going to tear them apart further… but he held onto something a demon should never be in contact with - hope.
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again,” Tatsuya stated, “I cannot love you. You’ll find that when I am no longer by your side, your love will fade-
“My love for you is not caused by magic! And even if it is, you only release those pheromones when you’re interested don’t you?!”
“Ryo, you’re my friend,” Tatsuya put his foot down, “give up.”
Tatsuya may well have slapped Satan in the face. Holding the cold bastard façade was difficult, but if it meant that Ryo could forget about him, it was worth a shot.
I cause nothing but pain to those around me… either way, Ryo, you’ll never see me again so why love me?
“I… wish you happiness,” Ryo’s reflection spread his wings. His three pairs of jet black wings stretched around him and covered him in a layer of liquid shadow and souls of the deceased screamed once again in fury. “but I hope you never have to visit me again…” Don’t end up in Hell….
“This is just sad…” as soon as Ryo’s image disappeared, the Dominion appeared in his place, sipping on a pineapple cocktail complete with sunglasses. “It’s like we’re waiting in line to see a death row criminal. How ARE you darling? Your hairstyle looks less than fabulous…”
“You know Mr Dominion; with all due respect I don’t feel the need to talk to your holy presence at this point in time,” Tatsuya sat down on the image and it quickly shifted to a wall instead.
“I know you’re pissed off at all of us and if I were here in the flesh, you’d try and murder me,” the Dominion set his glass down, “but face it Tatsuya, it’s the best I can do. If you can prove that Taguchi Junnosuke has feelings for you independent of magic, you can leave.”
“Why do you help me?”
“Help you?” the beautiful being giggled and his eyes flashed behind his sunglasses, “I think you’re mistaken. Your very existence has caused me enough problems… I raised those 7 Archangels in the beginning of time to be worthy of their current standing. I love them like my own children. But you can see now that rifts have begun to form… From the Fall of Lucifer, his relationship with Michael and Gabriel… This is not a good time for things to get worse because of you. Michael is top dog now, but he’s very sensitive. To calm him, YOU must remain neutral. I don’t care if you’re rotting in a cell or living as a human but as long as you stay out of the power struggle, I won’t fight you.”
“You know if you fight me, you won’t win,” Tatsuya sniggered, “I think we both know that.”
“I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” the Dominion replied, equally calm, “your transformation never finished before you smashed the hourglass. There’s no telling who might win out of us… “
“Then show me a way to avoid a fight.”
“Show me a plan to prove his love, and we’ll bargain from there,” he picked up his drink and smoothed his impeccable locks of golden hair, “I like you for your spunk Tatsuya, but I get bored easily. I suggest you hand in your plan before I change my mind.”
[Earth]
“I’m 83% sure we picked up Junno’s identical twin from the hospital,” Jin stared across the table at Taguchi and nudged Kame in the ribs, “he’s too popular with the girls it’s making me sick…”
“I’ll say!” the idol huffed, “LOOK at him! How is it possible to be making intimate body contact with 10 girls at the same time?! My personal record was 8!”
“You WHAT?!” Jin latched on to Kame like a Velcro suit, “if I ever see-
“Both of you stop it!” Nakamaru hissed, “the reason why you haven’t got girls hanging all over you right now is that when one comes close to one of you, the other gives them such a scary look you could freeze over Loch Ness!”
“Fine,” Kame blushed, sent another death glare at a girl who was wandering too close to Jin and looked back at Junno then at Maru again, “but you’ve got to admit he’s even weirder than what he was in hospital! It’s been two weeks since he got out now and we know nothing about what happened in that room! I’m sticking to my theory - Ueda healed him from the brink of death with magic and left for good!”
“Why would he do that?” Maru shook his head, “it makes no sense!”
“It makes no sense that a person called Ueda Tatsuya doesn’t exist in this world apart from in our imaginations,” Jin rolled his eyes, “get over it. Lots of things don’t make sense.”
“Hey guys!” Junno was almost buried under a writhing mass of female bodies, “Whatcha talkin’ about? Don’t keep the ladies waiting~” he leant over and brushed noses with a giggling blonde, “They’re VERY impatient~ aren’t you sweety?”
The other three men instinctively stooped a little and covered their heads at once.
“What the hell guys?” Junno laughed, “you look like you’re gonna get struck down by lightning! Loosen up and have some fun!”
“No shit we’re gonna get struck by lightning…” Kame muttered under his breath, “If by any freak chance that angel/demon whatever catches you practically sucking on a herpes lollipop, he’ll take down a whole ward of Tokyo.”
“I can’t catch herpes if I don’t swap spit,” Junno said frankly. He was definitely drunk. “I’ve been getting treated like an outsider ever since I left that hospital for my health check… what’s it guys? Do I have some infectious disease? Or is it just because I look like I can get laid? I’m not gonna be sleazy ‘kay? Geez you’re whispering behind my back and acting like I’m gonna impregnate the first chick I see. I don’t have sex with randoms!”
“Then why are you here?” the blonde from before raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t know,” Junno turned and stared at her, “I came to have a drink and you threw yourself at me like I’m ant bait. I can’t turn off my pheromones sorry.”
“So what? You sayin’ I’m a whore?” she reached towards Junno’s crotch seductively, fingers dancing on his pants, lightly tapping, “Either way I don’t mind having a good time…”
“Your hands are going where they shouldn’t,” Junno said flatly, “it’s crossing the line. Please stop.”
“As if the line hasn’t been crossed a million times by the likes of you already,” she inched closer still, “and it’s not like you’re gonna walk out on us hot girls for being a little aggressive…”
“Is that a challenge?” Junno slapped her hand away and stood up abruptly. “Have fun guys,” he pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer, “I’m not really turned on by girls who work too fast.”
“THAT was strange…” Maru sighed as Junno disappeared through the nearest door, “I’m guessing it was an excuse to get out?”
“He’s probably sick of us,” Kame sadly flicked the cherry on his martini and watched it bobble up and down with interest, “but I’m too scared to talk to him properly in case I botch up and trigger some mental grenade in him…”
“You’ve watched too many fantasy movies!” Jin laughed, “Cheer up! He’s still your friend, just missing some brain cells!”
“I wish I’d watched MORE fantasy movies or acted in more!” Kame moaned, “How do we fix this?! He’s noticing that we’re being weird, but we can’t possibly explain to him he was gay for half a year, crippled, brain-dead and resuscitated by an angel who used to go to med school!”
“Euphemise it,” Maru suggested, “Maybe I can get one of the Literature professors to try?”
“Or just sum it up simply,” Jin pointed out, “that we all belong in a mental institute! Stop worrying about it guys! It will sort itself out… Hasn’t it always? I bet there are all sorts of crazy things going on where Ukkun is, so can’t we just start being normal?”
“How?” Kame turned to his unofficial boyfriend with a bewildered look on his face, “How can we act normal if we run into murderous celestial beings every few weeks?”
“You never know, maybe Ueda-kun is gone for real this time?” Nakamaru sipped at his mineral water and stood up to follow Junno. Finding nowhere to put his glass, he downed the entire drink and set it on the table heavily, “In that case, we need to stop dwelling on the past Kamenashi-kun.”
“I’ll get over it…” Kame smiled sadly, “maybe Junno’s still the same? I just can’t stop feeling sorry for him though…. Even though I know he hates pity. He’s stupid like that, the stubborn thing…” He perked up suddenly, much to Jin’s surprise. “Hey bartender, can you get me a glass of water like that too?”
“Nobody at your table ordered water Sir…”
“Then what’s that?” Jin pointed to Nakamaru’s empty glass.
“Straight vodka Sir.”
“EEEEEHH?!?!?!”
[Heaven]
“Have you got a plan yet?” the Dominion appeared yet again, this time physically next to Tatsuya, giving the angel a sharp prod in the small of his back.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Tatsuya jumped three feet in the air with fright, “YOU LEFT ME ALONE FOR FIVE SECONDS AND YOU EXPECT A PLAN NOW?!”
“Just checking,” the Dominion shrugged, “I thought you had a tinge of intelligence about you but obviously I was wrong. I came back to tell you that even if you go back now, The Mist would stop Taguchi Junnosuke from seeing you. This means you don’t break any rules if you happened to SOMEHOW ACCIDENTALLY go back to find a plan. Do you understand?”
“Wha-
“Oops,” the beautiful being snapped his fingers just as Tatsuya’s eyes widened. In a puff of smoke, both of them were gone.
[Earth]
“Gentlemen are we being served alright?” an enchanting male voice captured the attention of both Kame and Jin, “can I buy you handsomes a drink?”
“Who are y-“ Jin almost choked on his drink at the sight of the man. A manifestation of all beauty was the least of an understatement he could make - even Ueda’s and Kame’s face seemed unsightly in comparison to this man. He was beyond description.
“I-uh-wha-you-
“Mr Dominion don’t be ridiculous!” Tatsuya pushed out from behind him, “You sound like a gay diva picking up guys! AND WHY DID YOU FOLLOW ME TO EARTH?!”
“Hey hey hey that’s what human literature says is the social norm for picking up people!” the Dominion looked offended, “and please start calling me Your Lordship if you don’t mind! I’m here because I’m fascinated by Japanese people and their culture.”
“What human literature do you read?” the angel’s eyebrow twitched, “You may look like the perfect human to each individual, but if you don’t fix your pick-up lines I’m going to throw up!”
“A very nice magazine called June,” the Dominion sniffed, “it’s full of heart-warming stories and some are even animated. I say animation is so much better than human actors because half of them are ugly!” He sat down and helped himself to Jin’s drink, completely ignoring the two humans (who were the only ones to see him in the entire bar) and ranted on about the superiority of BL manga to J-drama.
Tatsuya was seriously contemplating brutal murder now that the Dominion’s strange fascination with him was making sense.
The all-powerful celestial being who gave me a random ride to Earth only wants an excuse to come to Earth and act out yaoi mangas… I might need an aspirin. THIS is why he helped me… not for some noble reason, but to act the cool character in his favourite comics! Where have I seen this situation before?...
Kame looked around warily. Nobody else in the entire bar had noticed the appearance of two astonishingly beautiful men aside from him and Jin, which could only mean one thing - Heaven had decided to stick its nose into their affairs once again.
“YOU,” he whispered and pointed at Ueda, “come with me.” Not waiting for the angel’s reply, he jumped over his table and led him into the bathroom by the hand.
“U-um who-“
“Oooh you must be one of those pervy semes who go floozy when you’re confronted with beautiful people!” the Dominion scooted right next to Jin and cornered the panicking human, “Was that your uke back there? Entertain me human, why do you follow the way of yaoi?” He sipped on Kame’s drink nonchalantly, ignoring Jin’s pleading eyes and waiting for an answer. “Come on human, talk! I haven’t got all day for you to admire my beauty… don’t make me strike you down with lightning!”
Jin gave a scared squeak and fainted at the mention of lightning.
“…Wow maybe I overdid it,” the beautiful being massaged his own temples, “nobody ever told me that humans didn’t know that smiting with lightning is illegal….”
…Dammit. Tatsuya and that uke aren’t coming back! How do I keep myself entertained like this?....
“What the hell are you back here for?!” Kame slammed the door of the men’s room in fury, “And bringing over friends?! Who do you think we are to be played with?!”
“Listen to me,” Tatsuya ignored the idol’s anger and ran a hand through his copper locks, “I haven’t got very long… This is urgent. Where is Junno?”
Kame narrowed his eyes, “You lied to me last time… I accepted you because I though you would take care of him but you left again! Over my dead body will I tell you his whereabouts, you mother-fucking liar!”
Uttering a beastly growl, Ueda grabbed Kame by the collar and backed him up against the sinks. “Listen you, I’m not going to make excuses and I’m not interested in wasting time in a bathroom! The pretty guy out there is five times more powerful than an Archangel and I’ve already lost my powers-
“WHAT?! You’ve lost your powers?!”
“It must have been a side-effect from saving Junno…” Tatsuya sighed, “Nobody can predict what happens to me with magic. I’ve got one shot at this Kamenashi-san, and I want you to help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“Help me call forth Junno’s memories and his love for me,” Tatsuya declared grandly, “let true love’s power over-rule Heaven!”
Kame gaped in disbelief. “NO. FUCKING. WAY.”
“Taguchi-kun!” Maru finally caught up, panting in the cold December air, “Don’t walk so fast! Your legs are 50% longer than mine… hah…”
“It’s okay Sensei…” Junno stopped to look at his own reflection in a brightly lit store window, “I just wanted to get out for a breath of fresh air to clear my head.”
“Why did you take off like that?” the mild-mannered man furrowed his brows in worry, “you look like you’ve been bothered for a long time…”
“I…” Junno opened his mouth to answer, but closed it into a thin line on second thought. He breathed out deeply, exhaling a cloud of pearly vapour. “Never mind. Let’s talk about something non-depressing! It’s nearly Christmas isn’t it? Look at all these couples… maybe I should go and get myself a girlfriend!” he forced a laugh.
“You don’t need a girlfriend!” Maru blurted out awkwardly. You have Ueda-kun! He’ll definitely come back!
“Excuse me?” two voiced replied. One belonged to Junno, but the more agitated voice sent a chill down Maru’s back.
Out of all the places to run into Tanaka Koki, this was it. “Yucchi…” he glowered, a dangerous aura diffusing out of every pore, “what brings you here?...”
“KOKI!!!!” Maru began to sweat profusely, “how much of that did you hear?! Wait, no matter how much you heard this would seem really bad ne? But I swear there’s nothing-
“You’ve been ignoring me for over a month now, never turning on your phone, and the next time I see you is when you’re proclaiming your love to ANOTHER student? What do you have? A fetish for younger guys?!” he fumed. Koki made a sound of exasperation and shoved a neatly wrapped package into Maru’s chest roughly. “Merry early Christmas Sensei,” he muttered, “I’ll see you in class.”
“No wait Koki-kun! I got caught up because an angel was trying to stab Taguchi-kun and he ended up dying and I was getting chased by the media-
“Uh huh…” Koki crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, “That makes legitimate sense…”
Nakamaru Yuichi felt like he was digging himself a deeper and deeper hole. Junno’s incredulous looked gave a ‘what-the-hell-i-don’t-recall-dying-recently’ air of disapproval and to be honest, Maru didn’t know how to react without getting locked in an asylum.
“Taguchi-kun,” he pleaded, “please go back to the bar… everyone will be worried about you.”
“I’m worried about YOU!” Koki threw his hands up in the air, “Are you gonna be chasing after me to explain the past month or what?!”
By the time Junno made it back to the bar wondering what was wrong with his Ethics professor, the place was in uproar. Pushed from behind by a screaming girl, he landed on the ground with a clumsy ‘oof’ and spent a further two minutes stopping himself being trampled by a large crowd.
Oh no. Kame-chan must have been found out! Are the paparazzi here?
“Kame!” He called out, still on the ground, “Can you hear me Kame?!”
A door opened right beside him and smacked him in the ribs.
“What do you want?” Kame peeked out from behind the men’s room door, “Wha- Junno what are you doing on the ground?!”
“I think the public have found out about you being in this bar!” Junno wheezed, ”There are fangirls everywhere! Stay hidden Kame-chan!”
“KYAAAAAAA!!!!!!” a few high-pitched screams came from the general direction of their table.
“What in the living hell is going on out there?” Tatsuya popped his head out from behind Kame’s, “why the screaming?”
“I don’t know but I don’t think the screaming is to do with me…” Kame replied, looking at the angel.
“Huh?” Junno seemed confused, “why did you turn away to answer me Kame-chan? Is Akanishi behind you?”
Ueda’s eyes widened in horror as he frantically waved his hands around, yelling Junno’s name like a mantra so loudly that Kame blocked his ears. Getting no response apart from Junno commenting that the screaming is too loud and Kame rolling his eyes, Tatsuya lunged forward, pushing Kame out of the way and fell right through Junno’s body. Landing in a heap on the floor next to him, the angel reached through his chest incredulously. He could feel Junno’s blood flowing through his forearm yet the human had no idea he existed.
Kame watched the flames of fear dance in Tatsuya’s eyes and prepared for the worst. Instead of destruction, all he saw was the naked flares of red turn to ashes of despair and finally a blue inferno of fear. Fear of losing the clueless idiot on the floor. Never had he seen or felt such an intense sensation of anguish flow through the very air around him. It almost reached out and seized Kame in a vice.
“You drunk?” Junno grinned as Kame clutched his head and stumbled back a few steps, “Kaaame can you even hear me?”
He still couldn’t hear Ueda’s pained screams.
He means it… That angel. Nobody could drown in sadness like he does if he didn’t truly love Junno. Should I help him?
Kame’s thoughts were interrupted by a certain Jin stumbling through the crowd dressed in, curiously, significantly less clothing than he had been ten minutes ago.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” he wailed, “before more people come flocking!! They tore me apart!!”
“The public knows you’re here Kame-chan!” Junno picked himself up off the ground, rubbing his still-sore ribs, “I don’t want to die being trampled by your fangirls!” Tatsuya reached forward and fell into the cold floor once more. There just was no way of reaching Junno.
“Woah Ukkun are you okay?” Jin hurried to help his friend, only to be disturbed by a vicious bout of coughing by his boyfriend. “What?” Jin turned to Kame, “He fell over!”
“Jinlet’stalkaboutthislater.”
“Huh?” Jin looked back and forth between Tatsuya and the idol. “Slow down?”
“Nobody can see me apart from you, him and that big nosed professor!” the angel punched the floor angrily, “so don’t react to anything I do or you’ll look like a mime!”
“Wow. That’s… inconvenient,” Jin scratched his head, “So if I talk to you I’ll look like I’m talking to air?”
“Akanishi-kun,” Junno asked, “Why are you talking to air?”
Both Kame and Tatsuya pulled frustrated faces. For someone in med school, Jin was surprisingly simple and a tad drunk when he least should have been. He seemed to get the message clear enough though - to the wider world (being other than Kame, Maru and himself) Ueda Tatsuya was a work of fiction.
A.N. If you haven't figured it out, the Dominion got bored and revealed itself, hence a whole bunch of screaming girls in the bar. And Ueda's nonexistent.
Proof of love so far: 0.
And to be kind, I'm going away on a 3-week vacation and not taking my laptop sooooo *get bricked* I KNOW I KNOW!!! ><' I tried my best but I won't be back until the end of July with another installment.....
“Three days,” he didn’t even look up from his game, ‘if you can’t prove that Taguchi Junnosuke loves you in three days without going near him, you will take yourself to the cells of suffering. Either way, this case is closed. Am I even getting paid overtime for this Raphael?”
“No,” the Archangel stood up and stretched his limbs, “YOU were the one who volunteered for this case because it was interesting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do balancing bank statements. SOMEBODY splurged on expensive European cars on earth.” He shot Ryo a dirty look. “Good luck Tatsuya, you’re on your own now. Let’s go everyone…”
Case closed.
Three days left.
All that ran through Tatsuya’s head as he was led into a silver room was a flat line. Too much has happened for him to make rational decisions, and the possibility of Junno not even truly loving him ate him from the inside out like a parasite.
The room he was locked in was made of much the same thing as Gabriel’s office floor, only it was a perfect cube 5 meters long and 5 meters high. Every direction he looked, there was an endless queue of Tatsuyas staring right back. And they didn’t look happy with him either.
“Hello there,” he reached towards the floor and touched fingers with his cold twin, “how are you? I hardly recognise you.”
“You could be thinking of a plan instead of displaying the first sign of insanity,” Ryo’s reflection suddenly appeared beside his own. Tatsuya cried out in shock but when he looked behind himself, nobody was there.
He narrowed his eyes. “If the Heavens intends on separating us, I’ll break Heaven down. And I’m not afraid to break Hell either.”
“I was meaning a plan to get the damned idiot to break Heaven’s mist spell by himself,” the devil laughed bitterly to himself, “or you’re never getting out of here. Yet you still won't trust me...”
“The last time I trusted you, you sold me to be cut up!” Tatsuya screamed, throwing his fist at the walls, “HOW CAN I TRUST ANYONE?!”
“I’m sorry okay?” for once, Ryo didn’t get angry. Instead, he hung his head. “I’m sorry… I just…. Loved you so much and I hated to see you get hurt. I’m fine with you and him, I swear! But when he turned you into a mess I- I felt real pain for the first time in my life when you got hurt. Tatsuya I know you probably hate me, but can I be selfish and ask that you don’t? I lived 550 years knowing that I am destined to be alone and unloved as Satan and the only person I don’t want to be hated by is you! I lived for you… and if you don’t want me, I- I don’t know how I can…..”
True sadness is when one feels so much pain but is physically unable to cry. Ryo had realized long ago that struggling to keep the one he loved was only going to tear them apart further… but he held onto something a demon should never be in contact with - hope.
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again,” Tatsuya stated, “I cannot love you. You’ll find that when I am no longer by your side, your love will fade-
“My love for you is not caused by magic! And even if it is, you only release those pheromones when you’re interested don’t you?!”
“Ryo, you’re my friend,” Tatsuya put his foot down, “give up.”
Tatsuya may well have slapped Satan in the face. Holding the cold bastard façade was difficult, but if it meant that Ryo could forget about him, it was worth a shot.
I cause nothing but pain to those around me… either way, Ryo, you’ll never see me again so why love me?
“I… wish you happiness,” Ryo’s reflection spread his wings. His three pairs of jet black wings stretched around him and covered him in a layer of liquid shadow and souls of the deceased screamed once again in fury. “but I hope you never have to visit me again…” Don’t end up in Hell….
“This is just sad…” as soon as Ryo’s image disappeared, the Dominion appeared in his place, sipping on a pineapple cocktail complete with sunglasses. “It’s like we’re waiting in line to see a death row criminal. How ARE you darling? Your hairstyle looks less than fabulous…”
“You know Mr Dominion; with all due respect I don’t feel the need to talk to your holy presence at this point in time,” Tatsuya sat down on the image and it quickly shifted to a wall instead.
“I know you’re pissed off at all of us and if I were here in the flesh, you’d try and murder me,” the Dominion set his glass down, “but face it Tatsuya, it’s the best I can do. If you can prove that Taguchi Junnosuke has feelings for you independent of magic, you can leave.”
“Why do you help me?”
“Help you?” the beautiful being giggled and his eyes flashed behind his sunglasses, “I think you’re mistaken. Your very existence has caused me enough problems… I raised those 7 Archangels in the beginning of time to be worthy of their current standing. I love them like my own children. But you can see now that rifts have begun to form… From the Fall of Lucifer, his relationship with Michael and Gabriel… This is not a good time for things to get worse because of you. Michael is top dog now, but he’s very sensitive. To calm him, YOU must remain neutral. I don’t care if you’re rotting in a cell or living as a human but as long as you stay out of the power struggle, I won’t fight you.”
“You know if you fight me, you won’t win,” Tatsuya sniggered, “I think we both know that.”
“I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” the Dominion replied, equally calm, “your transformation never finished before you smashed the hourglass. There’s no telling who might win out of us… “
“Then show me a way to avoid a fight.”
“Show me a plan to prove his love, and we’ll bargain from there,” he picked up his drink and smoothed his impeccable locks of golden hair, “I like you for your spunk Tatsuya, but I get bored easily. I suggest you hand in your plan before I change my mind.”
[Earth]
“I’m 83% sure we picked up Junno’s identical twin from the hospital,” Jin stared across the table at Taguchi and nudged Kame in the ribs, “he’s too popular with the girls it’s making me sick…”
“I’ll say!” the idol huffed, “LOOK at him! How is it possible to be making intimate body contact with 10 girls at the same time?! My personal record was 8!”
“You WHAT?!” Jin latched on to Kame like a Velcro suit, “if I ever see-
“Both of you stop it!” Nakamaru hissed, “the reason why you haven’t got girls hanging all over you right now is that when one comes close to one of you, the other gives them such a scary look you could freeze over Loch Ness!”
“Fine,” Kame blushed, sent another death glare at a girl who was wandering too close to Jin and looked back at Junno then at Maru again, “but you’ve got to admit he’s even weirder than what he was in hospital! It’s been two weeks since he got out now and we know nothing about what happened in that room! I’m sticking to my theory - Ueda healed him from the brink of death with magic and left for good!”
“Why would he do that?” Maru shook his head, “it makes no sense!”
“It makes no sense that a person called Ueda Tatsuya doesn’t exist in this world apart from in our imaginations,” Jin rolled his eyes, “get over it. Lots of things don’t make sense.”
“Hey guys!” Junno was almost buried under a writhing mass of female bodies, “Whatcha talkin’ about? Don’t keep the ladies waiting~” he leant over and brushed noses with a giggling blonde, “They’re VERY impatient~ aren’t you sweety?”
The other three men instinctively stooped a little and covered their heads at once.
“What the hell guys?” Junno laughed, “you look like you’re gonna get struck down by lightning! Loosen up and have some fun!”
“No shit we’re gonna get struck by lightning…” Kame muttered under his breath, “If by any freak chance that angel/demon whatever catches you practically sucking on a herpes lollipop, he’ll take down a whole ward of Tokyo.”
“I can’t catch herpes if I don’t swap spit,” Junno said frankly. He was definitely drunk. “I’ve been getting treated like an outsider ever since I left that hospital for my health check… what’s it guys? Do I have some infectious disease? Or is it just because I look like I can get laid? I’m not gonna be sleazy ‘kay? Geez you’re whispering behind my back and acting like I’m gonna impregnate the first chick I see. I don’t have sex with randoms!”
“Then why are you here?” the blonde from before raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t know,” Junno turned and stared at her, “I came to have a drink and you threw yourself at me like I’m ant bait. I can’t turn off my pheromones sorry.”
“So what? You sayin’ I’m a whore?” she reached towards Junno’s crotch seductively, fingers dancing on his pants, lightly tapping, “Either way I don’t mind having a good time…”
“Your hands are going where they shouldn’t,” Junno said flatly, “it’s crossing the line. Please stop.”
“As if the line hasn’t been crossed a million times by the likes of you already,” she inched closer still, “and it’s not like you’re gonna walk out on us hot girls for being a little aggressive…”
“Is that a challenge?” Junno slapped her hand away and stood up abruptly. “Have fun guys,” he pulled out a bottle of hand sanitizer, “I’m not really turned on by girls who work too fast.”
“THAT was strange…” Maru sighed as Junno disappeared through the nearest door, “I’m guessing it was an excuse to get out?”
“He’s probably sick of us,” Kame sadly flicked the cherry on his martini and watched it bobble up and down with interest, “but I’m too scared to talk to him properly in case I botch up and trigger some mental grenade in him…”
“You’ve watched too many fantasy movies!” Jin laughed, “Cheer up! He’s still your friend, just missing some brain cells!”
“I wish I’d watched MORE fantasy movies or acted in more!” Kame moaned, “How do we fix this?! He’s noticing that we’re being weird, but we can’t possibly explain to him he was gay for half a year, crippled, brain-dead and resuscitated by an angel who used to go to med school!”
“Euphemise it,” Maru suggested, “Maybe I can get one of the Literature professors to try?”
“Or just sum it up simply,” Jin pointed out, “that we all belong in a mental institute! Stop worrying about it guys! It will sort itself out… Hasn’t it always? I bet there are all sorts of crazy things going on where Ukkun is, so can’t we just start being normal?”
“How?” Kame turned to his unofficial boyfriend with a bewildered look on his face, “How can we act normal if we run into murderous celestial beings every few weeks?”
“You never know, maybe Ueda-kun is gone for real this time?” Nakamaru sipped at his mineral water and stood up to follow Junno. Finding nowhere to put his glass, he downed the entire drink and set it on the table heavily, “In that case, we need to stop dwelling on the past Kamenashi-kun.”
“I’ll get over it…” Kame smiled sadly, “maybe Junno’s still the same? I just can’t stop feeling sorry for him though…. Even though I know he hates pity. He’s stupid like that, the stubborn thing…” He perked up suddenly, much to Jin’s surprise. “Hey bartender, can you get me a glass of water like that too?”
“Nobody at your table ordered water Sir…”
“Then what’s that?” Jin pointed to Nakamaru’s empty glass.
“Straight vodka Sir.”
“EEEEEHH?!?!?!”
[Heaven]
“Have you got a plan yet?” the Dominion appeared yet again, this time physically next to Tatsuya, giving the angel a sharp prod in the small of his back.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Tatsuya jumped three feet in the air with fright, “YOU LEFT ME ALONE FOR FIVE SECONDS AND YOU EXPECT A PLAN NOW?!”
“Just checking,” the Dominion shrugged, “I thought you had a tinge of intelligence about you but obviously I was wrong. I came back to tell you that even if you go back now, The Mist would stop Taguchi Junnosuke from seeing you. This means you don’t break any rules if you happened to SOMEHOW ACCIDENTALLY go back to find a plan. Do you understand?”
“Wha-
“Oops,” the beautiful being snapped his fingers just as Tatsuya’s eyes widened. In a puff of smoke, both of them were gone.
[Earth]
“Gentlemen are we being served alright?” an enchanting male voice captured the attention of both Kame and Jin, “can I buy you handsomes a drink?”
“Who are y-“ Jin almost choked on his drink at the sight of the man. A manifestation of all beauty was the least of an understatement he could make - even Ueda’s and Kame’s face seemed unsightly in comparison to this man. He was beyond description.
“I-uh-wha-you-
“Mr Dominion don’t be ridiculous!” Tatsuya pushed out from behind him, “You sound like a gay diva picking up guys! AND WHY DID YOU FOLLOW ME TO EARTH?!”
“Hey hey hey that’s what human literature says is the social norm for picking up people!” the Dominion looked offended, “and please start calling me Your Lordship if you don’t mind! I’m here because I’m fascinated by Japanese people and their culture.”
“What human literature do you read?” the angel’s eyebrow twitched, “You may look like the perfect human to each individual, but if you don’t fix your pick-up lines I’m going to throw up!”
“A very nice magazine called June,” the Dominion sniffed, “it’s full of heart-warming stories and some are even animated. I say animation is so much better than human actors because half of them are ugly!” He sat down and helped himself to Jin’s drink, completely ignoring the two humans (who were the only ones to see him in the entire bar) and ranted on about the superiority of BL manga to J-drama.
Tatsuya was seriously contemplating brutal murder now that the Dominion’s strange fascination with him was making sense.
The all-powerful celestial being who gave me a random ride to Earth only wants an excuse to come to Earth and act out yaoi mangas… I might need an aspirin. THIS is why he helped me… not for some noble reason, but to act the cool character in his favourite comics! Where have I seen this situation before?...
Kame looked around warily. Nobody else in the entire bar had noticed the appearance of two astonishingly beautiful men aside from him and Jin, which could only mean one thing - Heaven had decided to stick its nose into their affairs once again.
“YOU,” he whispered and pointed at Ueda, “come with me.” Not waiting for the angel’s reply, he jumped over his table and led him into the bathroom by the hand.
“U-um who-“
“Oooh you must be one of those pervy semes who go floozy when you’re confronted with beautiful people!” the Dominion scooted right next to Jin and cornered the panicking human, “Was that your uke back there? Entertain me human, why do you follow the way of yaoi?” He sipped on Kame’s drink nonchalantly, ignoring Jin’s pleading eyes and waiting for an answer. “Come on human, talk! I haven’t got all day for you to admire my beauty… don’t make me strike you down with lightning!”
Jin gave a scared squeak and fainted at the mention of lightning.
“…Wow maybe I overdid it,” the beautiful being massaged his own temples, “nobody ever told me that humans didn’t know that smiting with lightning is illegal….”
…Dammit. Tatsuya and that uke aren’t coming back! How do I keep myself entertained like this?....
“What the hell are you back here for?!” Kame slammed the door of the men’s room in fury, “And bringing over friends?! Who do you think we are to be played with?!”
“Listen to me,” Tatsuya ignored the idol’s anger and ran a hand through his copper locks, “I haven’t got very long… This is urgent. Where is Junno?”
Kame narrowed his eyes, “You lied to me last time… I accepted you because I though you would take care of him but you left again! Over my dead body will I tell you his whereabouts, you mother-fucking liar!”
Uttering a beastly growl, Ueda grabbed Kame by the collar and backed him up against the sinks. “Listen you, I’m not going to make excuses and I’m not interested in wasting time in a bathroom! The pretty guy out there is five times more powerful than an Archangel and I’ve already lost my powers-
“WHAT?! You’ve lost your powers?!”
“It must have been a side-effect from saving Junno…” Tatsuya sighed, “Nobody can predict what happens to me with magic. I’ve got one shot at this Kamenashi-san, and I want you to help me.”
“Help you do what?”
“Help me call forth Junno’s memories and his love for me,” Tatsuya declared grandly, “let true love’s power over-rule Heaven!”
Kame gaped in disbelief. “NO. FUCKING. WAY.”
“Taguchi-kun!” Maru finally caught up, panting in the cold December air, “Don’t walk so fast! Your legs are 50% longer than mine… hah…”
“It’s okay Sensei…” Junno stopped to look at his own reflection in a brightly lit store window, “I just wanted to get out for a breath of fresh air to clear my head.”
“Why did you take off like that?” the mild-mannered man furrowed his brows in worry, “you look like you’ve been bothered for a long time…”
“I…” Junno opened his mouth to answer, but closed it into a thin line on second thought. He breathed out deeply, exhaling a cloud of pearly vapour. “Never mind. Let’s talk about something non-depressing! It’s nearly Christmas isn’t it? Look at all these couples… maybe I should go and get myself a girlfriend!” he forced a laugh.
“You don’t need a girlfriend!” Maru blurted out awkwardly. You have Ueda-kun! He’ll definitely come back!
“Excuse me?” two voiced replied. One belonged to Junno, but the more agitated voice sent a chill down Maru’s back.
Out of all the places to run into Tanaka Koki, this was it. “Yucchi…” he glowered, a dangerous aura diffusing out of every pore, “what brings you here?...”
“KOKI!!!!” Maru began to sweat profusely, “how much of that did you hear?! Wait, no matter how much you heard this would seem really bad ne? But I swear there’s nothing-
“You’ve been ignoring me for over a month now, never turning on your phone, and the next time I see you is when you’re proclaiming your love to ANOTHER student? What do you have? A fetish for younger guys?!” he fumed. Koki made a sound of exasperation and shoved a neatly wrapped package into Maru’s chest roughly. “Merry early Christmas Sensei,” he muttered, “I’ll see you in class.”
“No wait Koki-kun! I got caught up because an angel was trying to stab Taguchi-kun and he ended up dying and I was getting chased by the media-
“Uh huh…” Koki crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, “That makes legitimate sense…”
Nakamaru Yuichi felt like he was digging himself a deeper and deeper hole. Junno’s incredulous looked gave a ‘what-the-hell-i-don’t-recall-dying-recently’ air of disapproval and to be honest, Maru didn’t know how to react without getting locked in an asylum.
“Taguchi-kun,” he pleaded, “please go back to the bar… everyone will be worried about you.”
“I’m worried about YOU!” Koki threw his hands up in the air, “Are you gonna be chasing after me to explain the past month or what?!”
By the time Junno made it back to the bar wondering what was wrong with his Ethics professor, the place was in uproar. Pushed from behind by a screaming girl, he landed on the ground with a clumsy ‘oof’ and spent a further two minutes stopping himself being trampled by a large crowd.
Oh no. Kame-chan must have been found out! Are the paparazzi here?
“Kame!” He called out, still on the ground, “Can you hear me Kame?!”
A door opened right beside him and smacked him in the ribs.
“What do you want?” Kame peeked out from behind the men’s room door, “Wha- Junno what are you doing on the ground?!”
“I think the public have found out about you being in this bar!” Junno wheezed, ”There are fangirls everywhere! Stay hidden Kame-chan!”
“KYAAAAAAA!!!!!!” a few high-pitched screams came from the general direction of their table.
“What in the living hell is going on out there?” Tatsuya popped his head out from behind Kame’s, “why the screaming?”
“I don’t know but I don’t think the screaming is to do with me…” Kame replied, looking at the angel.
“Huh?” Junno seemed confused, “why did you turn away to answer me Kame-chan? Is Akanishi behind you?”
Ueda’s eyes widened in horror as he frantically waved his hands around, yelling Junno’s name like a mantra so loudly that Kame blocked his ears. Getting no response apart from Junno commenting that the screaming is too loud and Kame rolling his eyes, Tatsuya lunged forward, pushing Kame out of the way and fell right through Junno’s body. Landing in a heap on the floor next to him, the angel reached through his chest incredulously. He could feel Junno’s blood flowing through his forearm yet the human had no idea he existed.
Kame watched the flames of fear dance in Tatsuya’s eyes and prepared for the worst. Instead of destruction, all he saw was the naked flares of red turn to ashes of despair and finally a blue inferno of fear. Fear of losing the clueless idiot on the floor. Never had he seen or felt such an intense sensation of anguish flow through the very air around him. It almost reached out and seized Kame in a vice.
“You drunk?” Junno grinned as Kame clutched his head and stumbled back a few steps, “Kaaame can you even hear me?”
He still couldn’t hear Ueda’s pained screams.
He means it… That angel. Nobody could drown in sadness like he does if he didn’t truly love Junno. Should I help him?
Kame’s thoughts were interrupted by a certain Jin stumbling through the crowd dressed in, curiously, significantly less clothing than he had been ten minutes ago.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” he wailed, “before more people come flocking!! They tore me apart!!”
“The public knows you’re here Kame-chan!” Junno picked himself up off the ground, rubbing his still-sore ribs, “I don’t want to die being trampled by your fangirls!” Tatsuya reached forward and fell into the cold floor once more. There just was no way of reaching Junno.
“Woah Ukkun are you okay?” Jin hurried to help his friend, only to be disturbed by a vicious bout of coughing by his boyfriend. “What?” Jin turned to Kame, “He fell over!”
“Jinlet’stalkaboutthislater.”
“Huh?” Jin looked back and forth between Tatsuya and the idol. “Slow down?”
“Nobody can see me apart from you, him and that big nosed professor!” the angel punched the floor angrily, “so don’t react to anything I do or you’ll look like a mime!”
“Wow. That’s… inconvenient,” Jin scratched his head, “So if I talk to you I’ll look like I’m talking to air?”
“Akanishi-kun,” Junno asked, “Why are you talking to air?”
Both Kame and Tatsuya pulled frustrated faces. For someone in med school, Jin was surprisingly simple and a tad drunk when he least should have been. He seemed to get the message clear enough though - to the wider world (being other than Kame, Maru and himself) Ueda Tatsuya was a work of fiction.
A.N. If you haven't figured it out, the Dominion got bored and revealed itself, hence a whole bunch of screaming girls in the bar. And Ueda's nonexistent.
Proof of love so far: 0.
And to be kind, I'm going away on a 3-week vacation and not taking my laptop sooooo *get bricked* I KNOW I KNOW!!! ><' I tried my best but I won't be back until the end of July with another installment.....