Superpowers AU (Early days)
Title: Superpowers AU (aka I need to think of a better title)
Fandom: JE (Arashi, Kanjani8)
Pairing: Aiba/Nino (friendship) for this part
Rating: G (with only one bad word)
Summary: Aiba's mom says he's special. Apparently, he's not the only one.
ABOUT THIS VERSE: This is background for a bigger thing (which is still being written). It takes a lot from X-Men. Basic setting is an school for boys with "special talents" - read superpowers. There will be more coming in the same verse eventually, but this can also be read as a one-shot.
For ceathair because we share this universe. ♥
It started with 5-year-old Aiba poking his head through the wall of Nino’s bedroom, and 4-year-old Nino looking back at him with wide eyes. He didn’t scream, didn’t call for his mom. Instead, he poked Aiba in the forehead and asked “How did you do that?”
Aiba smiled shyly. His mother had told him times and again not to use his special skill in front of strangers because it might scare them - “It’s not a bad thing, Masaki, but people are often afraid of what they don’t understand,” she had said - but little Nino didn’t look scared at all, just impressed, and Aiba couldn’t help but feel a little pleased. “Mom says I’m special,” he replied.
“I want to be special too,” Nino declared eagerly, and before Aiba could say anything he had already jumped to his feet and was heading full speed for the wall.
“No, you can’t!” Aiba cried out, because he was pretty sure that being special meant that he was the only one who could do this. He hastily ran to catch Nino before the inevitable happened and Nino hit the wall face first. He reached out, hand going for the back of Nino’s t-shirt, but then his fingers only found air to grasp.
Nino had disappeared.
*
His mother gave him a wary look when he announced later over dinner that Ninomiya-kun was just like him, but then she smiled and Aiba felt the little wings of happiness flutter in his chest.
He had found a friend.
*
Aiba learned pretty early on just how useful his gift could be. True, Nino was nice enough to point out the many use Aiba didn’t think of himself, but Aiba also came up with many creative ideas of his own. He was, after all, the one who figured out how to spy into the girls’ locker room by hiding into the bushes outside the school building and sticking his head through the wall just deep enough so that he wouldn’t get noticed.
When they joined Johhny’s Academy for young talents, though, Aiba soon realised that most of his fantastically creative ways of using his power had to be rendered useless by a simple fact: the Academy had only one locker room.
“What do you mean, no girls?” Aiba asked, pouting a little because, really? What good was it to be able to spy on girls if there were none around. At all.
Nino laughed and patted him on the back. “We’ll find other ways to pass the time,” he said, and while most people probably wouldn’t have trusted the grin on Nino’s face and the mischievous glint in his eyes, Aiba just took it as a promise.
*
“You mean, people have different powers?” Aiba asked, surprised, fascinated and a little excited at the prospect of discovering a whole new world of possibilities.
Nino gave him a strange look, but then Murakami-kun was grinning at him, exclaiming in a loud voice. “Of course! Didn’t you know?”
When he suddenly grew a whole meter taller, shirt tearing over his unexpectedly broad chest with a loud ripping noise, both Aiba and Nino took a step back.
“Whoa!” Aiba cried out.
“Ah, damn, I broke my pants again,” Murakami said, and Aiba watched him with wide eyes, unable to tell if he was smiling or not behind all those scary teeth.
“Show off,” he heard Yokoyama-kun mutter from somewhere behind them.
*
As it turned out, Nino was different too.
*
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Aiba asked, and he couldn’t help feeling a little nervous for reasons he couldn’t quite comprehend.
Nino shifted on his bed, but didn’t look up from his video game. “You never asked,” he said.
Aiba frowned, then pouted. “But, Nino, why would I have asked?”
In their 9 years of friendship, Nino had never done anything to make Aiba wonder if there were something more to Nino’s special talent. He could do what Aiba did, could go where Aiba went, and it seems pretty clear that they were two of the same kind. Or at least that’s what Aiba thought.
“So what does it feel like?” Aiba asked.
“What does what feel like?” Nino replied.
He still refused to look at Aiba, and Aiba didn’t like that. They were friends and Aiba trusted Nino and he wanted Nino to trust him back. He was a little hurt, admittedly, but he didn’t blame Nino. He just wanted to know.
Tentatively, Aiba stood up from his own bed and crawled onto Nino’s, reaching out to touch the naked skin on Nino’s forearm.
“Don’t do that!” Nino twitched and rolled away briskly, leaving a startled Aiba with his hand hanging between them.
Aiba took his hand back, cradling it against his chest. Nino was glaring at him, but at least Aiba had his attention now. “Nino,” he said. “What does it feel like?”
Nino shrugged awkwardly and looked down. “I don’t know. It’s just always been there, you know.”
“They say you can feel other people’s feelings,” Aiba said in wonderment, and Nino shrugged again. “It’s amazing!”
“Well, it’s not like I mean to,” Nino said. “It just happens. There’s nothing amazing about that.”
Aiba shook his head vehemently. “So you can always tell how I feel?”
Nino gave him a strange little look. “Only if we’re touching,” he replied, reaching out to brush the tip of his fingers against Aiba’s.
“How do I feel right now?” Aiba asked with breathless excitement.
Nino smiled.
*
"Race you to the classroom!" Aiba cried out, voice a little too loud, and he felt Nino's hand instantly come up to curl around his bicep.
"No way!" Yoko protested. "You guys are going to cheat again."
Aiba beamed innocently, leaning willingly into Nino's touch. "We'd never do that!" he said, and Yoko glared back at the both of them.
"I'd totally win if you guys weren't cheating all the time,” he grumbled.
Nino snorted. "In your dreams."
The Academy was a real maze of corridors, but Aiba easily made it to the classroom, Nino close on his heels, both breathless with laughter rather than from any real effort. Yoko finally joined them a couple of minutes later, panting hard, and Aiba grinned at Nino who was perched on top of his desk, before the both of them turned simultaneously toward Yoko to flash him cheerful victory signs.
A second later, Ryo popped in next to them, looking sleep-mussed and barely awake as if he'd just teleported himself to class directly from his bed.
"Oh fuck you all," Yoko muttered, and he shoved his hands into his pockets vengefully before making his way to his own seat.
“Yay!” Aiba exclaimed, getting a high-five from Nino.
*
That was all back when being special meant fun and giggles. It took years for Aiba to realise that things couldn’t be that simple.
Then it took mere minutes to understand that powers, no matter how amazing, can’t fix everything.
Fandom: JE (Arashi, Kanjani8)
Pairing: Aiba/Nino (friendship) for this part
Rating: G (with only one bad word)
Summary: Aiba's mom says he's special. Apparently, he's not the only one.
ABOUT THIS VERSE: This is background for a bigger thing (which is still being written). It takes a lot from X-Men. Basic setting is an school for boys with "special talents" - read superpowers. There will be more coming in the same verse eventually, but this can also be read as a one-shot.
For ceathair because we share this universe. ♥
It started with 5-year-old Aiba poking his head through the wall of Nino’s bedroom, and 4-year-old Nino looking back at him with wide eyes. He didn’t scream, didn’t call for his mom. Instead, he poked Aiba in the forehead and asked “How did you do that?”
Aiba smiled shyly. His mother had told him times and again not to use his special skill in front of strangers because it might scare them - “It’s not a bad thing, Masaki, but people are often afraid of what they don’t understand,” she had said - but little Nino didn’t look scared at all, just impressed, and Aiba couldn’t help but feel a little pleased. “Mom says I’m special,” he replied.
“I want to be special too,” Nino declared eagerly, and before Aiba could say anything he had already jumped to his feet and was heading full speed for the wall.
“No, you can’t!” Aiba cried out, because he was pretty sure that being special meant that he was the only one who could do this. He hastily ran to catch Nino before the inevitable happened and Nino hit the wall face first. He reached out, hand going for the back of Nino’s t-shirt, but then his fingers only found air to grasp.
Nino had disappeared.
*
His mother gave him a wary look when he announced later over dinner that Ninomiya-kun was just like him, but then she smiled and Aiba felt the little wings of happiness flutter in his chest.
He had found a friend.
*
Aiba learned pretty early on just how useful his gift could be. True, Nino was nice enough to point out the many use Aiba didn’t think of himself, but Aiba also came up with many creative ideas of his own. He was, after all, the one who figured out how to spy into the girls’ locker room by hiding into the bushes outside the school building and sticking his head through the wall just deep enough so that he wouldn’t get noticed.
When they joined Johhny’s Academy for young talents, though, Aiba soon realised that most of his fantastically creative ways of using his power had to be rendered useless by a simple fact: the Academy had only one locker room.
“What do you mean, no girls?” Aiba asked, pouting a little because, really? What good was it to be able to spy on girls if there were none around. At all.
Nino laughed and patted him on the back. “We’ll find other ways to pass the time,” he said, and while most people probably wouldn’t have trusted the grin on Nino’s face and the mischievous glint in his eyes, Aiba just took it as a promise.
*
“You mean, people have different powers?” Aiba asked, surprised, fascinated and a little excited at the prospect of discovering a whole new world of possibilities.
Nino gave him a strange look, but then Murakami-kun was grinning at him, exclaiming in a loud voice. “Of course! Didn’t you know?”
When he suddenly grew a whole meter taller, shirt tearing over his unexpectedly broad chest with a loud ripping noise, both Aiba and Nino took a step back.
“Whoa!” Aiba cried out.
“Ah, damn, I broke my pants again,” Murakami said, and Aiba watched him with wide eyes, unable to tell if he was smiling or not behind all those scary teeth.
“Show off,” he heard Yokoyama-kun mutter from somewhere behind them.
*
As it turned out, Nino was different too.
*
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Aiba asked, and he couldn’t help feeling a little nervous for reasons he couldn’t quite comprehend.
Nino shifted on his bed, but didn’t look up from his video game. “You never asked,” he said.
Aiba frowned, then pouted. “But, Nino, why would I have asked?”
In their 9 years of friendship, Nino had never done anything to make Aiba wonder if there were something more to Nino’s special talent. He could do what Aiba did, could go where Aiba went, and it seems pretty clear that they were two of the same kind. Or at least that’s what Aiba thought.
“So what does it feel like?” Aiba asked.
“What does what feel like?” Nino replied.
He still refused to look at Aiba, and Aiba didn’t like that. They were friends and Aiba trusted Nino and he wanted Nino to trust him back. He was a little hurt, admittedly, but he didn’t blame Nino. He just wanted to know.
Tentatively, Aiba stood up from his own bed and crawled onto Nino’s, reaching out to touch the naked skin on Nino’s forearm.
“Don’t do that!” Nino twitched and rolled away briskly, leaving a startled Aiba with his hand hanging between them.
Aiba took his hand back, cradling it against his chest. Nino was glaring at him, but at least Aiba had his attention now. “Nino,” he said. “What does it feel like?”
Nino shrugged awkwardly and looked down. “I don’t know. It’s just always been there, you know.”
“They say you can feel other people’s feelings,” Aiba said in wonderment, and Nino shrugged again. “It’s amazing!”
“Well, it’s not like I mean to,” Nino said. “It just happens. There’s nothing amazing about that.”
Aiba shook his head vehemently. “So you can always tell how I feel?”
Nino gave him a strange little look. “Only if we’re touching,” he replied, reaching out to brush the tip of his fingers against Aiba’s.
“How do I feel right now?” Aiba asked with breathless excitement.
Nino smiled.
*
"Race you to the classroom!" Aiba cried out, voice a little too loud, and he felt Nino's hand instantly come up to curl around his bicep.
"No way!" Yoko protested. "You guys are going to cheat again."
Aiba beamed innocently, leaning willingly into Nino's touch. "We'd never do that!" he said, and Yoko glared back at the both of them.
"I'd totally win if you guys weren't cheating all the time,” he grumbled.
Nino snorted. "In your dreams."
The Academy was a real maze of corridors, but Aiba easily made it to the classroom, Nino close on his heels, both breathless with laughter rather than from any real effort. Yoko finally joined them a couple of minutes later, panting hard, and Aiba grinned at Nino who was perched on top of his desk, before the both of them turned simultaneously toward Yoko to flash him cheerful victory signs.
A second later, Ryo popped in next to them, looking sleep-mussed and barely awake as if he'd just teleported himself to class directly from his bed.
"Oh fuck you all," Yoko muttered, and he shoved his hands into his pockets vengefully before making his way to his own seat.
“Yay!” Aiba exclaimed, getting a high-five from Nino.
*
That was all back when being special meant fun and giggles. It took years for Aiba to realise that things couldn’t be that simple.
Then it took mere minutes to understand that powers, no matter how amazing, can’t fix everything.