♟ teach me how to fly
Storm Riders.
In this world, we run.
But we're not running from our problems.
We run to solve them. We run for freedom.
We run...
...So that we may fly.
♟♙♟♙
"You two should know better than to try to escape!" Edgar exclaims, frowning and throwing his coat on as he enters the chamber. "Don't you know what happens when you get caught?"
"We weren't running, Professor Edgar!" Alma protests in a slightly whining tone. "It's just.. it's early. And Yuu and I wanted to go out and play."
"Who said anything about that?" Kanda scowls, childish features screwed up into something almost demonic-- or would be, if he didn't have a default adorable face. "Leave me out of this, I just want to go back to sleep."
The other boy tsks and wags a finger in Kanda's face.
"But you just woke up!"
"Like I care. It's too early for this."
"Too much sleep isn't good for you, Yuu." Alma rolls his eyes, then leans closer with a odd glint. "Don't you think so, Professor?"
Unsurprisingly, Edgar nods. There's an eerie smile playing on his lips.
"You can't sleep forever, Yuu. Sooner or later, you have to wake up. Stay awake, Yuu. Don't go back to sleep."
Kanda shakes his head slowly, turning and spring back to his-- non-existant room. Just up to a wall, push on it, and he's through and on the other side of the locked door. Even so, he can still hear them.
He scrambles towards the pod-like bed, tugs the blankets over his head, curls up, claps his hands over his ears.
But nothing will stop the voices.
"Stop dreaming, Yuu. Stop dreaming."
"No.. No, no!" He's shouting, cradling his head in his hands. "No! I-- I want to dream, I don't-- want to wake up. Shut up, shut up shut--"
"Yuu."
He freezes. The blankets are gone. His pod-bed is gone. The floor is gray, gray, and splotched with red. His feet, his shoes, his ATs.. covered in red. Slowly, he raises his head. Slowly, he stops at Alma's neck.
Everything from his collar down is torn up, shredded, bleeding. Peeling off.
He doesn't want to see what he's done to Alma's face.
"Stay awake, Yuu. Stay awake, just like me."
..nda..
Alma's closing in. Kanda can't help but see the horrid remains of his face, flesh littered with open wounds and dried blood.
And there's a voice.
"Stay awake."
--ke up..
"I'm lonely, Yuu. When are you going to join me?"
..What are they trying to say?
He concentrates on the voice, rather than on Alma's arms wrapping around his neck, damp with blood.
"You should've died that day, too. Then you'd still be awake, Yuu."
Wake u--!
The arms tighten around him. Painfully.
"Why did you kill me, Yuu?!"
Kanda, wake up!
KANDA!
♟♙♟♙
His vission is blurry when he opens his eyes. Hazy, dim, strained. Dark. Shining.
Chromatic.
"..Kanda?"
Kanda blinks, then immediately rolls over and throws an arm over his face. The grass underneath tickles his skin.
"Kanda? Kanda, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine. It's-- nothing." He swallows, moving his arm a bit to wipe at what he can while still hiding from his captain.
Allen frowns and reaches out to shake Kanda's shoulder.
"Hey, Kanda--"
"I'm fine," the Fang King replies in accented English.
It's the first time Allen has ever heard Kanda use English outside of highschool-- and that was.. a few months ago.
"..It's nothing. Just a dream."
A dream. Right.
Allen's gaze drops to the dried stains on Kanda's cheek unhidden by his arm.
A dream.
"You mean a nightmare."
As always, his English is perfect. As expected of a native English speaker.
"Not a dream. Nightmare."
"No." Kanda's jaw stiffens as he switches back to his mother tongue. "It's a dream."
Always a dream.
"..But you were crying." Allen raises an eyebrow and sits back, hands in his lap.
"So?" Kanda grumbles, wiping his face dry and pushing himself up as well. "What, you've never cried in your sleep before?"
There's a pause where Allen looks away and Kanda refuses to look at him, in spite of it all.
"..I have, actually. A few times." The European's tone is short and clipped, but he continues anyway. "..Mostly about-- Mana. He.. he's the one who taught me. About Air Treks."
The way Allen trails off suggests that he expects Kanda to say something in return. He should. It.. might help.
It might help him wake up, once and for all.
But he doesn't.
"Che."
"Don't be such a grouch, Kanda." Allen rolls his yes, just a bit frustrated, and lightly punches his teammate in the shoulder. Kanda shrugs it off. "I just opened my heart up to you."
"Ha ha ha."
A sigh. Allen runs a hand through his hair and gets up, brush grass off his pants.
"Well.. it's getting late. I need to get home. Homework and stuff."
"Hah." Kanda snorts, smirking just slightly. "You're still stuck doing that crap."
"Shut up!" But he's grinning as he kicks a bit of grass into Kanda's lap. "Just because you and Lavi have graduated already doesn't mean the rest of us can just play all day."
Then he falls quiet.
"..You gonna be okay out here?"
Kanda spares a glance over his shoulder, then turns his gaze back to the opposite direction.
"..Perfectly fine. So just get going."
"..Alright then."
Allen looks over his shoulder one last time and, with a gust of wind and a cloud of grass blades, heads off towards their shared apartment. Kanda watches him run for another few moments, then falls back on his side.
"...Opened your heart.. Che." He rakes a hand through his hair, tugging lightly when it gets caught in a knot. But he doesn't try to untangle it.
It's just a dream. This is just a dream. It's not real. It can't be.
Reality is where Alma is. Where Alma is happy and smiling and alive. Not where he's dead and gone and nowhere to be seen. That's a dream.
And Allen.
Kanda laughs softly into the night sky, shivering at the cool breeze.
"..I'll be perfectly fine, Captain."
He's a dream, too.
so let me sleep a little bit longer. please.
In this world, we run.
But we're not running from our problems.
We run to solve them. We run for freedom.
We run...
...So that we may fly.
♟♙♟♙
"You two should know better than to try to escape!" Edgar exclaims, frowning and throwing his coat on as he enters the chamber. "Don't you know what happens when you get caught?"
"We weren't running, Professor Edgar!" Alma protests in a slightly whining tone. "It's just.. it's early. And Yuu and I wanted to go out and play."
"Who said anything about that?" Kanda scowls, childish features screwed up into something almost demonic-- or would be, if he didn't have a default adorable face. "Leave me out of this, I just want to go back to sleep."
The other boy tsks and wags a finger in Kanda's face.
"But you just woke up!"
"Like I care. It's too early for this."
"Too much sleep isn't good for you, Yuu." Alma rolls his eyes, then leans closer with a odd glint. "Don't you think so, Professor?"
Unsurprisingly, Edgar nods. There's an eerie smile playing on his lips.
"You can't sleep forever, Yuu. Sooner or later, you have to wake up. Stay awake, Yuu. Don't go back to sleep."
Kanda shakes his head slowly, turning and spring back to his-- non-existant room. Just up to a wall, push on it, and he's through and on the other side of the locked door. Even so, he can still hear them.
He scrambles towards the pod-like bed, tugs the blankets over his head, curls up, claps his hands over his ears.
But nothing will stop the voices.
"Stop dreaming, Yuu. Stop dreaming."
"No.. No, no!" He's shouting, cradling his head in his hands. "No! I-- I want to dream, I don't-- want to wake up. Shut up, shut up shut--"
"Yuu."
He freezes. The blankets are gone. His pod-bed is gone. The floor is gray, gray, and splotched with red. His feet, his shoes, his ATs.. covered in red. Slowly, he raises his head. Slowly, he stops at Alma's neck.
Everything from his collar down is torn up, shredded, bleeding. Peeling off.
He doesn't want to see what he's done to Alma's face.
"Stay awake, Yuu. Stay awake, just like me."
..nda..
Alma's closing in. Kanda can't help but see the horrid remains of his face, flesh littered with open wounds and dried blood.
And there's a voice.
"Stay awake."
--ke up..
"I'm lonely, Yuu. When are you going to join me?"
..What are they trying to say?
He concentrates on the voice, rather than on Alma's arms wrapping around his neck, damp with blood.
"You should've died that day, too. Then you'd still be awake, Yuu."
Wake u--!
The arms tighten around him. Painfully.
"Why did you kill me, Yuu?!"
Kanda, wake up!
KANDA!
♟♙♟♙
His vission is blurry when he opens his eyes. Hazy, dim, strained. Dark. Shining.
Chromatic.
"..Kanda?"
Kanda blinks, then immediately rolls over and throws an arm over his face. The grass underneath tickles his skin.
"Kanda? Kanda, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine. It's-- nothing." He swallows, moving his arm a bit to wipe at what he can while still hiding from his captain.
Allen frowns and reaches out to shake Kanda's shoulder.
"Hey, Kanda--"
"I'm fine," the Fang King replies in accented English.
It's the first time Allen has ever heard Kanda use English outside of highschool-- and that was.. a few months ago.
"..It's nothing. Just a dream."
A dream. Right.
Allen's gaze drops to the dried stains on Kanda's cheek unhidden by his arm.
A dream.
"You mean a nightmare."
As always, his English is perfect. As expected of a native English speaker.
"Not a dream. Nightmare."
"No." Kanda's jaw stiffens as he switches back to his mother tongue. "It's a dream."
Always a dream.
"..But you were crying." Allen raises an eyebrow and sits back, hands in his lap.
"So?" Kanda grumbles, wiping his face dry and pushing himself up as well. "What, you've never cried in your sleep before?"
There's a pause where Allen looks away and Kanda refuses to look at him, in spite of it all.
"..I have, actually. A few times." The European's tone is short and clipped, but he continues anyway. "..Mostly about-- Mana. He.. he's the one who taught me. About Air Treks."
The way Allen trails off suggests that he expects Kanda to say something in return. He should. It.. might help.
It might help him wake up, once and for all.
But he doesn't.
"Che."
"Don't be such a grouch, Kanda." Allen rolls his yes, just a bit frustrated, and lightly punches his teammate in the shoulder. Kanda shrugs it off. "I just opened my heart up to you."
"Ha ha ha."
A sigh. Allen runs a hand through his hair and gets up, brush grass off his pants.
"Well.. it's getting late. I need to get home. Homework and stuff."
"Hah." Kanda snorts, smirking just slightly. "You're still stuck doing that crap."
"Shut up!" But he's grinning as he kicks a bit of grass into Kanda's lap. "Just because you and Lavi have graduated already doesn't mean the rest of us can just play all day."
Then he falls quiet.
"..You gonna be okay out here?"
Kanda spares a glance over his shoulder, then turns his gaze back to the opposite direction.
"..Perfectly fine. So just get going."
"..Alright then."
Allen looks over his shoulder one last time and, with a gust of wind and a cloud of grass blades, heads off towards their shared apartment. Kanda watches him run for another few moments, then falls back on his side.
"...Opened your heart.. Che." He rakes a hand through his hair, tugging lightly when it gets caught in a knot. But he doesn't try to untangle it.
It's just a dream. This is just a dream. It's not real. It can't be.
Reality is where Alma is. Where Alma is happy and smiling and alive. Not where he's dead and gone and nowhere to be seen. That's a dream.
And Allen.
Kanda laughs softly into the night sky, shivering at the cool breeze.
"..I'll be perfectly fine, Captain."
He's a dream, too.
so let me sleep a little bit longer. please.