Aquablaze [2/??, Hiroto/Shou]
~ chapter two ~
The mighty Sun, in all his glory, slowly rises from the mountains, embracing all ends of the land in his tepid light. Birds begin chirping, bunny rabbits begin hopping - all in salutation for the mighty Sun. They appreciate his warmth just as producers appreciate his solar power, for without the mighty Sun, there will be no producers and therefore a devastating crisis in each and every ecosystem known to man.
Unfortunately, that’s not how I woke up. Oh, don’t worry, it was nothing bad - just something wet and slimy rubbing against my cheek. As soon as my brain finally registered what was going on, however, my entire body stiffened - that better not be Shou’s tongue on my skin.
“Sh-Shou-san,” I managed to caw out, “Wh-what are you doing?”
His reply was no better - he barked.
I groaned. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Shou-san! Can’t you speak Nihon -” I froze again. Bark? Since when did sprites - even ones with sparkling eyes - bark? Lord, it couldn’t be…
I blinked at the familiar figure on my lap. Mogu.
“Mogu!” I yelped, tackling the furry puppy. In the middle of my tackle-glomp, I toppled over something… or rather, someone.
“Dude…” There was a yawn as Aki emerged from under the sheets. “What’s with all the noise, man?”
Immediately the colour rose in my cheeks. “H-how did you get here?” I stammered half-embarrassedly. Didn’t I share a room with only Shou and Tora?
“What d’you think, kid? I sleepwalked here, duh.”
I couldn’t tell whether he was lying or not, but for once I wasn’t bothered - Mogu was here in my arms. I ruffled his fur and brought my lips to his head, “How did you get here, Mogu? Did you miss me?”
Lord, I didn’t even know how much of a girl I looked until Aki let out a poorly disguised snort.
“Yeah, okay… oh, good morning, Nao-kun!”
I looked up. Sure enough, there was Nao, already fully dressed in the same black shirt and trousers from yesterday, a tiny smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. He greeted a generic “good morning” before stepping in, giving a Mogu a pleasant wave.
“Nice to meet you too,” His smirk morphed into a cheerful smile. “I’m Murai Naoyuki, call me Nao.”
Mogu barked. Nao laughed. “Oh, your name’s Mogu? How cute! I’m guessing you missed Hiroto-san here, right?”
I swore my eyes nearly fell out of my sockets. How was it possible that Nao could understand… dog-chat or whatever dogs called their language? Or was he just feigning it? Again, I couldn’t be so sure - a land of giant omnivorous flowers could as well mean a land of talking animals.
As if on cue, Nao turned to me. “Just in case if you’re wondering, I’m a canine, so I can communicate with cute lil’ Mogu here.”
I couldn’t help but feel an icy pang of envy stab me right in the heart.
“By the way, Shou-kun told me about your situation. The others know about it too, except for Aki-kun -” there was a soft thud when the male’s name left his lips. We both turned. Aki had crashed to the floor and was now snoring like a good ol’ earthquake.
“Well,” Nao coughed awkwardly. “Anyways, yeah, we’re all going to get you back - Aoi-kun just happens to know a place where both of our worlds are connected; we’ll just bring you there, pop you and Mogu in and it’ll be as if nothing has happened - at least, that’s what I hope…” His voice trailed away slowly as he scratched the back of his head. “But no worries, Hiroto-san, I’m sure every thing will run smoothly!” His upbeat tone was back. “Hey, why don’t you take a quick tour of the garden? Chances are you’ll never come back.”
- - - - - - - -
Despite a faint fear of Subaru-chan tugging at the farthest end of my brain, I decided to take Nao’s advice and take a small trip to the garden. It was a crazy place, really - the grass was uncut, reaching to my hips, while the flowers bloomed messily. I tripped once or twice on a grape vine, nearly crashing face first against the trunk of the wisteria tree. Yet it still harboured a sense of its own beauty; only the spontaneous un-planned growth of the flowers could show the true natural side of nature.
I must have stayed there for at least half an hour, and I for a while I was lost in Utopia - just me, my inner conscious and a frickin’ load of flora. It wasn’t until someone tapped me on the shoulder that I remembered where I was, even my own identity. I turned, expecting to face Shou or Nao, but instead -
Sapphire eyes.
It was so sudden, I didn’t know what to do, so the only reaction I had was to stand there, my feet glued to the ground while my jaw dropped. Oh, but he didn’t - he ran, all right, he ran like the wind. In fifteen seconds, however, I was chasing after him, screaming out what I recall to be complete gibberish that could have translated into: “OI! YOU! STOP!” “HEY, YOU THERE!” “YO WASSUP, GUY-WHO-TRIED-TO-BURN-ME-ALIVE, YA HUNGRY? ‘CAUSE I GOT A KUNCKLE SANDWICH PREPARED JUST FOR YOU!” Stupid things like that.
He was too fast for me. Under normal circumstances, I would have let him go - I was going to leave this obnoxiously magical world soon, yeah? But this time, I didn’t. I simply could not stop and just watch my possible murder get away red-handed. Luckily (oh really?) for me, however, he didn’t completely avoid the fate of being caught; he collided with Aoi as soon as he passed the wisteria tree.
Now, if I had caught him, I would have punched him senseless, maybe even tear out a few handful of hair. That, however, would be nothing compared to what Aoi did.
“You.” Aoi’s eyes turned icy. “I thought I told you I never want to see your face again.”
In my era, verbal and/or psychological combat was far more torturous than just plain fists and kicks.
The sapphire-eyed man said nothing. Instead, his eyebrows merely narrowed dangerously, his gaze equally as menacing as the other’s.
“What are you doing here, Takashima-san?” The honorific rolled off his tongue like venom.
“It’s none of your business,” Takashima hissed back. “Onii-ue.”
Great, more surprises slapping me on the cheek again; holy shit man, they’re related?!
A snarl left Aoi’s lips as he bared his teeth - before literally pouncing on his brother, a pair of great black wings sprouting from his back. In return, Takashima pounced back, and as I watched, wings sprang from his back as well, with only one difference - they were pure white. Again, I was paralyzed; hell, you would too if you were witnessing two angel siblings in what looked like a friggin’ wrestling match.
They fought and fought and fought, and did not stop until a cry rang through the garden. Kai was sprinting towards us at mach speed, Reita and Ruki tailing closely behind.
“Stop!” Kai screamed, “Stop, Aoi-kun, Stop!”
But Aoi did not listen, nor did Takashima. They continued to brawl. Finally, Kai pulled Aoi away, ducking his violent kicks as Reita and Ruki pinned him down to the ground.
“Stop this!” Kai screamed again, “You’re brothers!”
“We were born brothers,” Aoi growled through gritted teeth, struggling against Reita and Ruki’s hands, “Doesn’t mean we’re still related.”
“I don’t care! You two still have the same blood -”
“Kai, shut up, just shut up -”
“No!” Kai wailed. He turned to the sapphire-eyed man. “Uruha-san, what are you doing here?”
Uruha did not answer. Instead, he merely bowed his head, casting his eyes downwards.
“Uruha-san, please answer me -”
“NEVER!” Uruha bellowed. His wings spread open as he soared into the sky, giving his brother not only one but two fingers before flying away.
For a while, there was only silence. It was eventually broken when Reita and Ruki finally released their grasps on Aoi, who - much to my surprise - managed to keep calm. He stayed there for a second or so, before turning his head to look at me. His eyes met my gaze as the words dripped bitterly off his tongue.
“We have to get you out of here now. You’re in danger.”