A Forbidden Rhapsody: Chapter 6: A Betrayal?
As per usual, dedicated to the lovely people who constantly nag me to complete a chapter,ryoma_nakamada and yelrihs_jefan.I love you guys. (:
Title: A Forbidden Rhapsody: Chapter 6
Chapter Title: A Betrayal?
Author: theivorykeys
Fandom: Hey! Say! JUMP
Pairing: NakajimaYutoxOC
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Suspense, Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own Yuto and nothing save for the plot and OC
Type: Multi-chapter
Notes: It's written in the third person POV but then, it is also told from the first person POV. Please forgive the OOC-ness of Yabu and most of the others. Phew, there's so much to absorb here. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as much as you have enjoyed the others. Note the "?" in the title. (: Request: If anyone reads this, could you make me a banner? A small one would do. You'd be rewarded handsomely. (: And, atm, I'm taking requests for oneshots.
Summary: Elementals are all male. An strange incident on New Year's Day leads to the discovery of a strong-willed, hard-headed, orphaned and adopted female Elemental. Her Element is unique and the only one to have ever existed. Yet, the person she's destined to be with is the only person who cannot touch her. Nakajima Yuto is drawn instantly but he has no idea why. Sparks fly and one wonders if they have been destined by the stars.
Three clicks again. Three more followed. Another three. And then another. Until she had made four rounds of three clicks of her pacing. Then, she turned to face the group of tainted Elementals she had hired-or as they were referred to as Corrupted. She approached them with the elegance and grace of a countess entering a ball, her face serene and calm, her hands neatly folded in front of her, her dress swishing the clouds that swirled at their feet. The Corrupted, however, were lounging around on seats that one of them who was a weather controller had fashioned from the clouds that swirled at their feet.
Naturally, the Corrupted couldn't be bothered with revenge takers like her. In fact, they thrived on them, lending their services out to those who could afford them and to those had the right intentions, mostly involving Elementals. She was just another job and like any other jobs, they did the tasks they were given their way and didn't like being told what to do by their employers. Another chavunistic Elemental trait. "Didn't I make myself clear when I said to bring back both the boy and girl?" she asked, sweetly as if offering them a cup of tea.
One of them, presumably their leader, slid gracefully off his cloud-chair and pulled off the mask that covered the lower half of his face, exposing a very, very pretty face with gleaming teeth and perfectly shaped pink lips. The beauty of an Elemental. Being Corrupted wouldn't have marred their looks. To them in fact, it improved their looks. "Well, well, we finally meet our employer and not some hulking messenger of hers," he said, his voice goading.
Another Corrupted slid off his cloud-chair and joined his leader, pulling off the hood that hid his entire head as well as the mask that he wore. He shook his lustrous, dyed red hair free and smiled charmingly at the furious lady before him. "Interesting woman, isn't she? Looks rather much like the famed Ayukawa Miko, doesn't she?" he asked, chucking her under the chin and winking.
"Say, brother, she does. Hmm, I wonder what the Elementals would say if we bring her in, dead or alive," the leader said, flashing her a beautiful, sexy grin that would have stopped dead a thousand females. He tilted her face up to meet his eyes that were glinting with danger and not the good kind, either.
"You wouldn't dare," she hissed, smacking away his hand and growling lowly. "You're as wanted as I am."
His eyes clouded over with fury and growled out lowly, "Then, you'd better not order us around, my dear. Much as we are wanted, you are on the top of the Elementals' Most Wanted list. And they'd pay anything to get their hands on you and I bet they'd even overlook our past deeds if we brought in the famed Ayukawa Miko."
With a low growl, Ayukawa threw a blazing green ball of energy at their leader and it exploded as it hit him square in the chest, yet, he didn't explode into pieces or get thrown against the wall. In fact, the green ball of energy spread out over his slender frame and he chuckled as he shook off the remaining of the energy as if it was nothing. Ayukawa stared at him in disbelief and threw this time a blazing sphere of fire at his partner who caught the fireball in his hands and absorbed it, adding it to his own flame before throwing it back at her. She merely dodged it. "In case you didn't know, being Corrupted brings many advantages," the leader said, calmly as he began to circle Ayukawa. "One, we cannot be detected by the Elementals. Secondly, we're immune to all kinds of magic, not including Elements. Especially arcane magic. It doesn't harm us."
"Unfortunately, if you choose to continuously throw your magic at us, it will only weaken you. And it was also make us very angry. And you wouldn't like us when we're very angry, Ayukawa-san," said another Corrupted, sliding off his cloud-chair and bowing low. He was much younger than the others, she could tell but that didn't make him less dangerous.
"As we told you the day you hired us, Ayukawa-san," the leader said, sliding into a cloud-chair that materialised behind him. "You don't do the ordering around. We are not to be ordered. We do our job the way we want to and when we want to. When we feel the time is right, we will strike. And we do things for a reason. Yesterday's attack was merely to scare the Elementals into realising that the Corrupted have returned."
Ayukawa took a deep breath and folded her arms across her chest as she glared at the man before her who had now become the boss. She had always commanded fear into her employees and servants and none of them dared defy her. They knew the consequences if they did. Yet, here he was, dictating and telling her what to do instead of the other way around. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and bit her tongue to keep her from going into a tantrum. She could feel the ends of her hair crackle and spark as well as her fingertips. Dabbling in arcane magic brought her both advantages and disadvantages.
She knew better than to anger a Corrupted, a former Elemental. A tainted Elemental. She drew a sharp breath as she thought of the name. How she despised the Elementals. After years of petitioning and proving herself, she still hadn't been good enough to be accepted into their ranks. They would pay. They would see how powerful she had become. They would see what they had lost out on.
"Even if we had killed all the Elementals present that night," he continued, chuckling softly as he noticed her inner battle, "there would be no point. Your prodigal female and male weren't even there. They had already run away by the time we arrived. We believe that they hadn't been in the house when we attacked."
"Then couldn't you have tracked and chased them down?!" she demanded, yelling her frustration. The time was coming closer for when her powers would be at their peak and if she didn't have them by then, to eliminate them and bring destruction on the world that the Elementals strived to protect, then this was all in vain.
"We do not do the tracking. That is for the trackers. We are not trackers. We merely eliminate."
Ayukawa scowled at him and he smiled back at her, his eyes glinting like a cat's.
[paragraph]
"What could us Elementals possibly help you with?" Yabu sneered, his anger boiling just beneath the surface of his nerves. These people had threatened their safety and had jeopardized the lives of one of their own.
The only female in Kenji's group of rebels stepped forward and growled lowly, "How dare you talk to him with that tone? Not only is he older than you, I'm very sure he's much braver than you are. You and your stupid Elemental pride. Do you know what it-"
"That's enough," Koyama said in a tone that was deadly, a whole lot different than his normal disposition. "We do not need any more deaths on our hands. Not that we have any but we should avoid killing at all costs."
There was a silence as the female and Yabu glowered at each other before the both of them backed off. "Don't bow. Don't bow," Koyama said, rushing over to pull Kenji to his feet. "There's no need to bow. Helping people is what we Elementals live for. To protect the innocent."
"They're not so innocent if they are the people who decided to kill us," Yabu sneered, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yabu-kun!" Daiki exclaimed, throwing a reprimanding glance to the elder but Yabu just shrugged, indifferently.
Koyama ignored the older boy and motioned for Kenji and the others to join their group. "Well, you're obviously the ones that attacked the Hey! Say! JUMP dorm if Yabu has taken such a disliking to you," Ryo said, smirking slightly.
"Yes, we're sorry for that," Kenji said, bowing his head and almost dropping to the floor in a bow but Koyama quickly stopped him. "Most of us here have nowhere else to go and we went under our mistress' employment as we thought that it was the easiest way out. Most of us who work under her come from the streets or extremely poor families. We were recruited with promises of a good, prosperous life with loads of money to take home to our families. We did not know that we had to put up with killing people. If we had it our way, we would have left a long time ago."
"Wait, so, you're saying you're normal humans?" Inoo asked in disbelieve. "Then how did you manage to fly through the sky in some weird ghostly form and disappear when you were injured?"
Kenji half-smiled. "Our mistress, you see, is a witch. And literally, a witch. She has mastered the art of arcane magic and practices it on a daily basis," he provided, shuddering slightly. "On the day, she had enchanted us to provide us with the ability to travel through the sky and to return back to headquarters if we ever got injured so that no prisoners could be taken."
The conscious Hey! Say! JUMP boys muttered among themselves in disbelieve as the NEWS members stared incredulously at Kenji. A witch? That shifts things. A witch in cahoots with the Corrupted is bad. Extremely bad. For years, witches and warlocks have lived in harmony with Elementals and assisted the Elementals whenever their assistance was required. They were always awarded handsomely for their service. The witch and warlock race was a dying one what with many of the current warlocks and witches disregarding their ancestry.
Witches and warlocks were regarded as allies and if they had to battle a witch, they were in danger of bringing the whole Warlock-Witch council on them. As far as they knew, there weren't any witches or warlocks who weren't registered with the council. And if there were any of them who were going to start a rebellion and disrupt the harmony that they had created for centuries, they would be sent for Warlock-Witch rehab. Yet, there was one witch who was on their Most Wanted list, on almost all Most Wanted lists that had been eluding them for centuries. Neither Elemental nor Warlock-Witch could capture.
If they did ever manage to capture her, a mere rehab session would not be able to cure her. She had been terrorizing the lives of Elementals, witches and warlocks as well as humans for centuries. Almost all natural disasters are caused by her and her extraordinary powers. She was particularly dangerous and powerful as she used a kind of arcane magic that had been banned centuries ago as it was too powerful for anyone to control. Plus, the ones who used it usually turned obsessed with power and would stop at nothing to gain it.
"Does your mistress happen to go by the name of Ayukawa Miko?" Yamada asked, slowly.
Kenji nodded solemnly. "Well, that changes everything," Tegoshi said, sighing deeply and pouting the famous "Tegoshi" pout. "We've gotta get a full search party out for her whereabouts before she wrecks even more havoc."
"That's a bit silly of you, Tego-nyan," Ryo said in a slightly condescending tone. "We've been conducting search parties for years and she still manages to elude us. What use is another search party."
"Question," Shige said, raising his hand ever so slightly, ignoring the both Ryo and Tegoshi. "What does your mistress want with Murakami-kun and Yuto-kun?"
Instantly, all attention was focused on Kenji once more. Before Kenji could reply, the female who had spoken earlier pulled off the black mask that she wore and allowed her hair to tumble over her shoulders. In her beautiful features, one thing was evident. They gasped sharply as she stared haughtily at them, a slight smirk decorating her red, red lips. Almost similar to the one that their most-wanted wore. "Yes, I am sister to Ayukawa Miko. Hajimemashite. Atashi wa Ayukawa Sachiko," she greeted in sarcasm, nodding her head slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ayukawa Sachiko."
Yabu asked coldly, assessing her through hard, steely eyes that did not at all match the playful, mischievous man he usually was, "How do you know we can trust her?"
"I'm nothing like my sister, if you must know," Sachiko said as coldly as he did, sneering slightly at him. "We grew up separately. Our parents were divorced and she went to live with my mother who couldn't give a damn about her. She was just her manipulative doll while I lived with my dad who loved me till today. That's the difference between why you can trust me with her downfall and why she is who she is today."
Yabu just glared at her, his features saying nothing but his eyes like a cold knife through the gut. She returned the glare with one of her own, her extraordinary grey eyes sparking into a dark onyx before settling back to it's normal colour. "When my sister was younger, she had a dream. She didn't want to be a witch. She wanted to be an Elemental. She petitioned. She rallied. She had to resort to begging but she could not become an Elemental. Time and time again, she was told that she did not posses an Element and therefore did not qualify as an Elemental but she continued to fight for it.
"She did not understand that she was born a witch and that was her gift. The Head Elemental at that time said that he would banish her from the community if she did not stop harrassing the Elementals. Of course, my sister did not listen and she was banished. She sought refuge with a group of rogue witches and warlocks who were eager to accept an Elemental-hater into their folds. There, she learnt how to control her magic. And her hatred towards the Elementals grew and grew till she decided to exact revenge on them for not allowing her to be an Elemental."
"How juvenile of a three hundred year old woman," Keito scoffed.
Sachiko tilted her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Yes, juvenile it may be. But, her hatred is not only fueled by rejection from being allowed to join the Elemental ranks. Firstly, she was told that only ever guys were Elementals but to her knowledge, there was one female Elemental accepted into their ranks. And, secondly, she had her boyfriend turned against her when he was accepted into the Elemental ranks and another of her boyfriends killed by the Elemental boyfriend. Confusing, eh?" she said, the sad grin lighting up her pale features.
"You still have not told us what role does Murakami-chan and Yuto-kun play in this twisted plan of hers," Inoo said, frowning slightly.
Sachiko sighed deeply. "If you all are not aware, they are the Elementals of the prophecy."
All around, the Hey! Say! JUMP boys stared at her as if she had sprouted horns and was doing a tap dance. "If you don't believe, you can ask Koyama-kun here," she sighed, exasperatedly. "I can't believe that you all have not made the connection."
From the Hey! Say! JUMP boys, protests were made. They declared that the prophecy said nothing of a bond between a female and a male Elemental, let alone the existance of a female Elemental. And Murakami-kun was definitely female. It just wasn't possible. Murakami-kun did not like Yuto and she hated him with a vengance. How could they form a bond that could rid the world of whatever evil that came forth from it's dark depths? "But, it is true," Koyama said, quietly in a horrifyingly serious tone. So serious that everyone stared at him. "It has happened before. A great many years ago. Before any of us were born unless you are not quite human."
His attempt at a joke did nothing to lighten up the tension that could be felt in the atmosphere. When he saw that the others were looking at him with bated breath, he told them of his findings, from Emura Shiori's diary and whatever else he had managed to read before he was called off when their dorm had been under attack. "I think it is highly possible that the Elementals in the past were reborn into Murakami-kun and Nakajima-kun," he said. "As far as I know, they were killed as soon as they were Bonded. And as the cycle goes, they've returned in this life to finish something that had been started centuries ago. Something only they could stop."
"What in the world were they killed by?"
No one bothered about who asked that but rather the answer. Koyama took a deep breath, not to stall or increase the suspense but to steel his nerves to the answer that he was about to give, "The same warlock whom I expect trained your sister."
[paragraph]
Cursing violently, I stalked down the dimly illuminated corridor of which I had entered with Yuto from and pulled open the back door. I stood, mesmerised for a moment as I watched the snowflakes fall from the sky and land in a fluffy, white layer on everything that was exposed. The weather was getting worse. Just a few minutes ago, it was cool and breezy and now, it was snowing. I sighed deeply and brushed away the layer of snow that had settled on the door step with the toe of my boot, plopping down roughly on the step.
I shivered slightly but due to the Elemental blood coursing through my veins that made my body temperature abnormally high, I wasn't at all cold. It felt like I was in an air-conditioned room but a little colder. The area was quiet. Just like I remembered it. The call girls who had earlier called out to Yuto were now roaming the streets in vain, hoping to find a customer who would pick them up and take them somewhere warm. I grimaced slightly at the thought of my late mother who used to be one of those call girls but had risen in status after I had left, becoming one of the brothel owners.
I thought of how I would have ended up like one of those girls in one of Japan's notorious red light districts and I shivered out of disgust. I knew that it wasn't right for me to do so but I couldn't help it. Yet, however much I forced my thoughts away, they constantly drifted back to the boy who was sitting around the table with those...Guardians and that girl. "WHAT?"! I hissed to myself, mentally slapping myself and resisting the urge to really slap myself. "Is there something wrong with you? You've gone soft already."
I stared at the snow-covered ground and snow-covered trashcans that littered the alley, remnants of the life that this theater used to be. Now, they were just rotting pieces of metal. A sharp laugh that came from inside the theater pierced through the air and jolted me out of my thoughts for a moment. Unconsciously, I strained my ears for the sound of Yuto's childish yet husky voice. With my highly sensitized hearing, I could hear his voice clearly and I could hear him joking with that...girl. I forced myself to think of her in civil terms.
This time, I slapped myself. Literally. "What is wrong with you?" I hissed to myself. "You do not like him. Never in a million years will you like him. He's arrogant. And childish. And playful. And...And...And...Insufferable."
I thought for a moment for another adjective to describe the boy that I was determined not to like despite his laughter ringing in my ears. "He's a huge pest," I decided, nodding as if to confirm that.
"He's got no respect for the female race. Just like all other Elementals," I added, firmly as if to convince myself so.
My thoughts drifted back to the Hey! Say! JUMP dorm and the members who had made me feel like family these past few weeks, despite me being female. And suddenly introduced into their lives without warning. I smiled slightly and instantly, the face of the despised one appeared in my head. Beautiful and grinning. Charming with that lock of hair that always hung over his forehead. "I do not like him!" I shouted, breaking the peaceful silence that had surrounded me. I growled softly in frustration.
I dropped my head into my hands, propped on my knees and moaned softly.
[paragraph]
"WHY?! WHY?! Of all people it had to be you!" she demanded, letting a string of expletives fall from her mouth. Electricity crackled about her as she paced, giving Yuto death glares every once in a while. "You and your stupid Elementals. Flaunting yourselves in the music industry. Displaying yourself so grandly in public as if you are entitled to it. You don't see us Guardians doing that."
In a calm voice as she placed her teacup back on the table, Kaori said to Yuto, "She doesn't really like idols. Secretly, I think she's just jealous that us Guardians have to stay hidden while you Elementals get to, as she puts it, flaunt yourselves in public."
Yuto just smiled slightly and nodded, still slightly confused with Mitsume's outburst. He didn't get why she was in such a fuss. After all, he was an idol. And a desired one at that. Girls fought to throw themselves at his feet. Fought to touch his hand at concerts. Fought for him to even just glance their way. Screamed his name. So, why shouldn't she be grateful that she was his Guardian? After all, such a bond could be very rewarding. For her, at least. He smiled slightly at his thoughts as he watched the girl that paced back and forth, the electricity field around her resembling a halo.
A very beautiful halo, Yuto thought, almost sighing. She sure is beautiful. An angel? Yeah, an angel.
"Must I remind you that we are supposed to no longer exist?" Yusuke said, rolling his eyes as he deflected a shard of electricity that Mitsume threw his way. "So, obviously, we do not go around announcing that we are not as they think we are. Don't you remember how we got extinct in the first place?"
Mitsume just glowered at Yusuke and sat down in a corner of the stage, her electricity still crackling around her, giving the place a whitish-blue glow. She muttered softly to herself but Yuto's Elemental hearing could pick out curse words aimed mostly at Elementals in general and himself for being born. "Why is she so mad about being assigned to me as a Guardian?" Yuto asked Kaori in a low voice.
Kaori laughed softly and whispered in return, "Don't you know?"
Yuto shook his head and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuke smile. "Don't they teach you anything in Elemental school these days?" one of the Guardians, Takada Juri said, shaking his head. "If the Guardian is a girl, there is a ninety-nine percent chance that the Elemental will fall in love with her...and vice versa."
As soon as he had said that, Mitsume sent a shard of electricity flying to Yuto's behind and it made him yelp and jump as it connected.
[paragraph]
I groaned loudly and had the sudden urge to pull my hair out. WHY? was the giant question here. I didn't like him. Why do I have this sudden urge to rip off that...girl's head and feel nice about it, too? I thought, drawing my knees to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. Is there something awfully wrong with me? Does it have something to do with this Elemental bond? Is there even such a thing? Is this normal?
I sighed deeply and pinched myself. "I do not like Nakajima Yuto. I have never liked him. And I will never like him. Sure, I found him pretty. I mean, what girl doesn't? He is pretty," I muttered to myself in a vain effort to convince myself of my dislike for him.
It was becoming extremely apparent that I had...feelings for him. What kind of feelings that were, I couldn't really figure out. Maybe they were just brotherly feelings. My subconscience needed to find a replacement for the brother that Yusuke had been to me and it had decided that Yuto was the best candidate. Since I had taken a huge dislike to him the first time I saw him and don't brothers and sisters dislike each other eventhough they actually do adore each other. I don't exactly adore Yuto but I guess this would work, I thought, smiling slightly and snapping my fingers as if having discovered something epic.
"Oh, who am I kidding."
[paragraph]
"That means, you and Murakami-kun...," Yuto said, frowning slightly as he looked at Yusuke.
The older male laughed softly and shook his head. "I don't feel anything for her except the crazy urge to protect but I suppose that comes from having known her since she was little," he replied, stretching slightly. "She is the second female Elemental and the first female Elemental had no...problems with her Guardian either."
Yuto sighed softly and dropped his head onto the table with a thud. Gosh, what did I get myself into? he thought, wanting to scream and shout but his upbringing taught him to hold back his emotions and show others only what he wanted them to see.
Looking over at the glowering Mitsume, Juri grinned playfully at her and smacked Yuto on the back. "Well, congratulations, Nakajima-kun. Mitsume's a real handful but I'm sure she'll do a good job being a Guardian," he mock-whispered, stressing on the last word.
Mitsume growled and threw bolts of electricity at Juri, the white-blue glow illuminating the whole theater but Juri just absorbed the electricity, grinning all the while at her. "Don't mind Juri-chan," Kaori said with a wave of her hand. "He acts extremely drunk but he really isn't. He just likes us to think he is."
Juri grinned charmingly at Kaori and smacked her butt in a very drunken manner. "That's what they all think, eh," he said, slurring his words dramatically. Kaori just aimed sparks of electricity at Juri's hand and he winced.
"Yusuke-kun," Yuto said, fighting the strange urge to sit by Mitsume's side and take her hand in his by distracting himself. "How did Murakami-kun come to be an orphan? She won't tell any of us. Sometimes, we see this sad look on her face but she always hides it. Daiki-kun tried to read her mind but the walls that she had erected around that particular memory were too strong and all we know was that she had lost her mother."
Yusuke smiled and nodded.
[paragraph]
My heart thudded faster as my brain registered the direction that the conversation has taken. I was extremely tempted to run back in and provide him with some extremely fabricated tale but then, that would increase his curiosity. And I knew, some day that I would just break down and tell all. I'd rather it be him than the rest of the Hey! Say! JUMP boys. Especially not Chinen or Daiki or Yamada, all who can influence me to really let everything out. Them and their darned Elements.
I stretched slightly and brushed snowflakes from my hair before they could melt and join the rest of the melting ones, already turning my hair wet. I tugged at the unravelling strand of thread at the hem of my shirt just because it gave me something to do. I had worked out my frustration and managed to control my anger but I was reluctant to go back inside and face Yuto and his adoring stares directed at...her.
Just then, I heard a soft rustling to my left coming from somewhere furthur down the alley. I would not have heard it if I did not have the Elemental's heightened hearing. It was just a tiny movement but it was enough to arise my suspicions. I pretended not to have noticed the sound and continued tugging at the thread on my shirt. I looked out of the corner of my eye to find a rat suddenly darting out from between the multiple rusting trashcans.
Instantly, my heartbeat slowed down but I was more alert of my surroundings than before. I did not dare scan the alleyway using my eyes so I had to resort to my other senses, mainly my hearing. High above me, I detected a soft tapping of feet and needing to look up to check, I leaned back against the back door and lifted my eyes to the sky. I spotted the faintest of shadows but when a startled cat dropped to it's feet in front of me, I instantly went on extreme alert.
I pretended to look wistfully behind me as laughter was heard but in truth, I was wondering if it was worth telling them. I decided to play it out a little longer to ensure that it wasn't a false alarm. There was no way they could have followed us out this far. I hid our tracks well enough, to the extent that we had to pass through the redlight district to get the smell of cigaratte smoke and cheap perfume on us to mask our scents.
I sighed deeply and drummed my fingers restlessly on the stair that I was sitting on, my senses alert.
[paragraph]
"Murakami Tomoyuki came to live with us when she was about three years old. Kaori, here," Yusuke said, gesturing to his sister, "found her on the streets and she's been with us since then. Tomo-kun is not much of an orphan if you ask me. Her father is just unknown."
Yuto looked weirdly at him. "Her mother, back when she was little, was a lowly callgirl, working in one of the so-called host clubs in the redlight district. Her father as far as I know has yet to be identified. Maybe her mother knows but she never told Tomo-kun. When she was about three, the head hostess had told her mother to throw her out or she would throw both mother and daughter out as she was constantly underfoot and a huge nuisance and they could not entertain properly. So, her mother had left her out on the streets to fend for herself or die," Yusuke said, a look of disgust crossing his handsome features.
"When she was fifteen, while we were out celebrating the victory of having stolen a month's worth of supplies, she had offered to stay behind and watch over the place for us. Instead, she had snuck out and looked for her mother, wanting to confront the woman but the lowly callgirl that was once her mother was no longer. After twelve years, her mother now owned the host club and much to Tomo-kun's disgust, when she saw her daughter, she offered to take her under her wing and teach her the ways of being a hostess. She had turned and left the place in disgust but her mother saw how beautiful her daughter had grown to be and realised that she would be a wonderful addition to the club would not take no for an answer.
"That was the night that she discovered her Element but she did not know it yet. Her mother sent after her two of her bouncers to retrieve her daughter and when her mother had gripped her wrist and she was using her hand to pull away, she had obviously-"
Before Yusuke could finish, Yuto stared at him in a mixture of horror and pity as he said, "Killed her."
Yusuke nodded slowly and added, "Along with the two bouncers. That's just the rough gist of it."
"If you ask nicely, maybe your precious Murakami would be able to tell you instead of bothering Yusuke," Mitsume sneered, not using an honorific with the name and proved that she was irritated enough to be rude. "After all, seeing how devoted you are to her."
Yuto forced himself to not look at her. He folded his arms on the low table and rested his chin on his arm, sighing deeply. He thought about the fiery beauty who had disappeared outside who would not look at him the same way that he looked at her, feel the same way that he felt for her. On a general basis, he wouldn't even look twice at a girl like her. He preferred those cute types, the one always with a ready smile and sparkly eyes and a nice disposition. Yet, here he was, his heart yearning for a girl with a sharp temper, horrifying mood swings, dark past and defiant features. He had absolutely no idea as to why he seemed to have these strong attraction to her, one even stronger than the Guardian bond he shared with Mitsume. Maybe it is the Elemental bond that's making me feel like that. It's probably confusing my feelings, he thought.
His heart ached to soothe her dark pains, scars and wounds that probably have yet to close. He ached to pull her close to his chest and retreat into a dark corner where he would sit her between his legs, her back against his chest and he would just hold her. And he would put all his feelings into that hug, rocking her against his chest until her pains went away. He would gently take away the pain that she was feeling, seeing as his Elemental could do that if emotional pain turned to physical pain and he would allow her to cry. Cry until she no longer felt guilt for using her Element in self-defense even if it meant killing her mother. Then, he would hold her while she slept it off. A small smile broke on his lips as he thought of which that would never happen.
Then, his thoughts switched to the dark, brooding girl who sat in a corner and was determined to wipe him off the face of the Earth if that was what it took to break the Guardian bond. His attraction for here was purely caused by the stupid jumbled up bond between an Elemental and a female Guardian. Yet, he had to admit, she was quite beautiful, if not as beautiful as Murakami-kun. She shared the same fiery temper and dislike for him. Maybe that was why the Elemental-Guardian bond caused him to feel something other than a brotherly love for her.
"If you knew Murakami-kun, you'd be dead by now for suggesting that," Yuto said, quietly with a deadly tone to his voice.
[paragraph]
I could smell an acrid smell in the air as if there was something burning but I could see no fire nor smoke fumes. The acrid smell then curled around another foreign smell, this time the smell of rotten eggs. I almost retched right there with my enhanced sense of smell but I forced down the wave of nausea. Tears came to my eyes as the horrifying scent enveloped me. Through the tears that I quickly brushed away with the back of my hand, I could see shadows darting about the dark alley. I could make out black-clad figures that hugged to the wall in the shadows.
Above me, clumps of snow fell along with stray rocks and pebbles and I could hear the crunch of footsteps as whoever it was made it's way across the roof. There were about two to three of them on the roof above me and they did not make their presence a secret. As if they were determined to let their presence be known. I frowned slightly and tried to hold my breath, to ward off the smell that still curled around me. I suspected that it wasn't any normal scent from the drain or something burning but there was some sort of magic disguised into it, to throw off my sense of smell and make tears form in my eyes to limit my sight.
Without hesitation, I took one look around the alley and swept my eyes upwards before quickly disappearing into the theater, my feet pounding hard on the worn but sturdy wood. I was very sure that these were the people that had attacked our dorm and were now after Yuto and I. What I did not understand was why they were laying in wait instead of tearing the place apart like they did the dorm. I was a pretty easy target, sitting out there with my guard down. Yet, they did not make a move. Did they want Yuto and myself together before they made a move? Was I currently doing what they were expecting me to do? Running to get help? Yet, that was the only thing I could do at the moment.
There was no way that I could take them on single-handedly. Bad enough, they were using magic and I still had yet to learn the ins and outs of my Element. No, taking them alone would be suicidal. If it was a normal thug or two, I could take them on with the amount of fighting I could do but magic, that would be like inviting my death. I burst onto the stage and directed my words to Yuto as I panted, "We have to leave. Now. We cannot stay here."
He looked weirdly at me and sat up, his eyes doing that adorable little questioning thing. I could sense that he was worried. And that concern was directed towards me. "What do you mean, Murakami-kun?" he asked, the very concern that I sensed filling his voice and my heart took to the skies for few fleeting moments but I ignored the foreign feeling.
I dropped to my knees, leaning across the table and hissed softly, "We're surrounded. Outside. They've got magic with them. They blocked my sense of smell and sight."
Yusuke narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaori whose pretty face had turned serious. She looked at Juri, Mitsume and the other Guardians. "How did you know they were using magic?" he asked as Kaori got up and moved to the other side of the stage where Yuto had hid earlier, rummaging through a cupboard there.
I shrugged lightly and caught the heavy, black velvet cape that Kaori tossed me. "There was a smell like a cross between something burning and rotten eggs. It blocked my sense of smell and caused my eyes to water, blocking my sight and even blinking the tears away didn't help," I said, staring at the cape to Yuto who had gotten one and to Yusuke.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaori grit her teeth and Juri gently grab her about the waist and hug her to his chest. I saw Yusuke secure a thin fencing foil to his waist so naturally as if he had been doing it for years. Yuto watched the scene wistfully between Kaori and Yuto and his eyes landed on me but before I could notice, he looked away and secured the cape about his throat. "Tainted Elementals," I heard Yusuke hiss under his breath as he saw Kaori's reaction. "Corrupted!"
"What are Tainted...Elementals and Corrupted?" I asked, turning to Yuto but before he could answer, the roof came splintering around us. Shards of wood and splinters fell about us, momentarily blinding us.
The black-clad figures that I had saw earlier dropped to the stage with an audible thud, the horrifying, nausea-inducing smell surrounding us and I fought the urge to empty my stomach. Instantly, I got into a fighting stance and so did Yuto. We were too far off centre-stage where they had fallen to notice us at first but our position was drawn to attention when Yusuke let out an ear-splitting war cry and threw himself to Kaori's side. The black-clad figures and Guardians fought, weapon to weapon before throwing them aside and unleashing their Elements.
Yuto and myself could only watch as the rest of the Guardians began to fight. The clang of sword against sword. The smell that curled around us. A slight buzzing in my ears when they used their electricity. I wanted to throw myself into the middle of the fight, my feet already lifting off the ground with anticipation. I couldn't stop bouncing from foot to foot. Yet, Yuto kept my held back, his arm gripping mine so tightly that he could cut my blood off. I could see him shake his head as if to say: No. That's what they want. You'd make yourself an even bigger target.
I noticed that Mitsume had not thrown herself into the fight but instead remained in the shadows. I snorted, suspecting that she was there, wanting to protect Yuto. Yet, out of the corner of my left eye, I saw Mitsume step closer to us, her finger extended towards us. "I'm sorry, guys," she said, softly.
The last thing that I did was leapt to push Yuto to the ground. The last thing that I saw before I passed out was a bright flare of dirty-orange and the bright whitish-blue glow of a Guardian's electricity. The last word on my lips before the black of unconsciousness engulfed me was Yuto's name.
NEXT CHAPTER
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
Title: A Forbidden Rhapsody: Chapter 6
Chapter Title: A Betrayal?
Author: theivorykeys
Fandom: Hey! Say! JUMP
Pairing: NakajimaYutoxOC
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Suspense, Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own Yuto and nothing save for the plot and OC
Type: Multi-chapter
Notes: It's written in the third person POV but then, it is also told from the first person POV. Please forgive the OOC-ness of Yabu and most of the others. Phew, there's so much to absorb here. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as much as you have enjoyed the others. Note the "?" in the title. (: Request: If anyone reads this, could you make me a banner? A small one would do. You'd be rewarded handsomely. (: And, atm, I'm taking requests for oneshots.
Summary: Elementals are all male. An strange incident on New Year's Day leads to the discovery of a strong-willed, hard-headed, orphaned and adopted female Elemental. Her Element is unique and the only one to have ever existed. Yet, the person she's destined to be with is the only person who cannot touch her. Nakajima Yuto is drawn instantly but he has no idea why. Sparks fly and one wonders if they have been destined by the stars.
Three clicks again. Three more followed. Another three. And then another. Until she had made four rounds of three clicks of her pacing. Then, she turned to face the group of tainted Elementals she had hired-or as they were referred to as Corrupted. She approached them with the elegance and grace of a countess entering a ball, her face serene and calm, her hands neatly folded in front of her, her dress swishing the clouds that swirled at their feet. The Corrupted, however, were lounging around on seats that one of them who was a weather controller had fashioned from the clouds that swirled at their feet.
Naturally, the Corrupted couldn't be bothered with revenge takers like her. In fact, they thrived on them, lending their services out to those who could afford them and to those had the right intentions, mostly involving Elementals. She was just another job and like any other jobs, they did the tasks they were given their way and didn't like being told what to do by their employers. Another chavunistic Elemental trait. "Didn't I make myself clear when I said to bring back both the boy and girl?" she asked, sweetly as if offering them a cup of tea.
One of them, presumably their leader, slid gracefully off his cloud-chair and pulled off the mask that covered the lower half of his face, exposing a very, very pretty face with gleaming teeth and perfectly shaped pink lips. The beauty of an Elemental. Being Corrupted wouldn't have marred their looks. To them in fact, it improved their looks. "Well, well, we finally meet our employer and not some hulking messenger of hers," he said, his voice goading.
Another Corrupted slid off his cloud-chair and joined his leader, pulling off the hood that hid his entire head as well as the mask that he wore. He shook his lustrous, dyed red hair free and smiled charmingly at the furious lady before him. "Interesting woman, isn't she? Looks rather much like the famed Ayukawa Miko, doesn't she?" he asked, chucking her under the chin and winking.
"Say, brother, she does. Hmm, I wonder what the Elementals would say if we bring her in, dead or alive," the leader said, flashing her a beautiful, sexy grin that would have stopped dead a thousand females. He tilted her face up to meet his eyes that were glinting with danger and not the good kind, either.
"You wouldn't dare," she hissed, smacking away his hand and growling lowly. "You're as wanted as I am."
His eyes clouded over with fury and growled out lowly, "Then, you'd better not order us around, my dear. Much as we are wanted, you are on the top of the Elementals' Most Wanted list. And they'd pay anything to get their hands on you and I bet they'd even overlook our past deeds if we brought in the famed Ayukawa Miko."
With a low growl, Ayukawa threw a blazing green ball of energy at their leader and it exploded as it hit him square in the chest, yet, he didn't explode into pieces or get thrown against the wall. In fact, the green ball of energy spread out over his slender frame and he chuckled as he shook off the remaining of the energy as if it was nothing. Ayukawa stared at him in disbelief and threw this time a blazing sphere of fire at his partner who caught the fireball in his hands and absorbed it, adding it to his own flame before throwing it back at her. She merely dodged it. "In case you didn't know, being Corrupted brings many advantages," the leader said, calmly as he began to circle Ayukawa. "One, we cannot be detected by the Elementals. Secondly, we're immune to all kinds of magic, not including Elements. Especially arcane magic. It doesn't harm us."
"Unfortunately, if you choose to continuously throw your magic at us, it will only weaken you. And it was also make us very angry. And you wouldn't like us when we're very angry, Ayukawa-san," said another Corrupted, sliding off his cloud-chair and bowing low. He was much younger than the others, she could tell but that didn't make him less dangerous.
"As we told you the day you hired us, Ayukawa-san," the leader said, sliding into a cloud-chair that materialised behind him. "You don't do the ordering around. We are not to be ordered. We do our job the way we want to and when we want to. When we feel the time is right, we will strike. And we do things for a reason. Yesterday's attack was merely to scare the Elementals into realising that the Corrupted have returned."
Ayukawa took a deep breath and folded her arms across her chest as she glared at the man before her who had now become the boss. She had always commanded fear into her employees and servants and none of them dared defy her. They knew the consequences if they did. Yet, here he was, dictating and telling her what to do instead of the other way around. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and bit her tongue to keep her from going into a tantrum. She could feel the ends of her hair crackle and spark as well as her fingertips. Dabbling in arcane magic brought her both advantages and disadvantages.
She knew better than to anger a Corrupted, a former Elemental. A tainted Elemental. She drew a sharp breath as she thought of the name. How she despised the Elementals. After years of petitioning and proving herself, she still hadn't been good enough to be accepted into their ranks. They would pay. They would see how powerful she had become. They would see what they had lost out on.
"Even if we had killed all the Elementals present that night," he continued, chuckling softly as he noticed her inner battle, "there would be no point. Your prodigal female and male weren't even there. They had already run away by the time we arrived. We believe that they hadn't been in the house when we attacked."
"Then couldn't you have tracked and chased them down?!" she demanded, yelling her frustration. The time was coming closer for when her powers would be at their peak and if she didn't have them by then, to eliminate them and bring destruction on the world that the Elementals strived to protect, then this was all in vain.
"We do not do the tracking. That is for the trackers. We are not trackers. We merely eliminate."
Ayukawa scowled at him and he smiled back at her, his eyes glinting like a cat's.
[paragraph]
"What could us Elementals possibly help you with?" Yabu sneered, his anger boiling just beneath the surface of his nerves. These people had threatened their safety and had jeopardized the lives of one of their own.
The only female in Kenji's group of rebels stepped forward and growled lowly, "How dare you talk to him with that tone? Not only is he older than you, I'm very sure he's much braver than you are. You and your stupid Elemental pride. Do you know what it-"
"That's enough," Koyama said in a tone that was deadly, a whole lot different than his normal disposition. "We do not need any more deaths on our hands. Not that we have any but we should avoid killing at all costs."
There was a silence as the female and Yabu glowered at each other before the both of them backed off. "Don't bow. Don't bow," Koyama said, rushing over to pull Kenji to his feet. "There's no need to bow. Helping people is what we Elementals live for. To protect the innocent."
"They're not so innocent if they are the people who decided to kill us," Yabu sneered, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yabu-kun!" Daiki exclaimed, throwing a reprimanding glance to the elder but Yabu just shrugged, indifferently.
Koyama ignored the older boy and motioned for Kenji and the others to join their group. "Well, you're obviously the ones that attacked the Hey! Say! JUMP dorm if Yabu has taken such a disliking to you," Ryo said, smirking slightly.
"Yes, we're sorry for that," Kenji said, bowing his head and almost dropping to the floor in a bow but Koyama quickly stopped him. "Most of us here have nowhere else to go and we went under our mistress' employment as we thought that it was the easiest way out. Most of us who work under her come from the streets or extremely poor families. We were recruited with promises of a good, prosperous life with loads of money to take home to our families. We did not know that we had to put up with killing people. If we had it our way, we would have left a long time ago."
"Wait, so, you're saying you're normal humans?" Inoo asked in disbelieve. "Then how did you manage to fly through the sky in some weird ghostly form and disappear when you were injured?"
Kenji half-smiled. "Our mistress, you see, is a witch. And literally, a witch. She has mastered the art of arcane magic and practices it on a daily basis," he provided, shuddering slightly. "On the day, she had enchanted us to provide us with the ability to travel through the sky and to return back to headquarters if we ever got injured so that no prisoners could be taken."
The conscious Hey! Say! JUMP boys muttered among themselves in disbelieve as the NEWS members stared incredulously at Kenji. A witch? That shifts things. A witch in cahoots with the Corrupted is bad. Extremely bad. For years, witches and warlocks have lived in harmony with Elementals and assisted the Elementals whenever their assistance was required. They were always awarded handsomely for their service. The witch and warlock race was a dying one what with many of the current warlocks and witches disregarding their ancestry.
Witches and warlocks were regarded as allies and if they had to battle a witch, they were in danger of bringing the whole Warlock-Witch council on them. As far as they knew, there weren't any witches or warlocks who weren't registered with the council. And if there were any of them who were going to start a rebellion and disrupt the harmony that they had created for centuries, they would be sent for Warlock-Witch rehab. Yet, there was one witch who was on their Most Wanted list, on almost all Most Wanted lists that had been eluding them for centuries. Neither Elemental nor Warlock-Witch could capture.
If they did ever manage to capture her, a mere rehab session would not be able to cure her. She had been terrorizing the lives of Elementals, witches and warlocks as well as humans for centuries. Almost all natural disasters are caused by her and her extraordinary powers. She was particularly dangerous and powerful as she used a kind of arcane magic that had been banned centuries ago as it was too powerful for anyone to control. Plus, the ones who used it usually turned obsessed with power and would stop at nothing to gain it.
"Does your mistress happen to go by the name of Ayukawa Miko?" Yamada asked, slowly.
Kenji nodded solemnly. "Well, that changes everything," Tegoshi said, sighing deeply and pouting the famous "Tegoshi" pout. "We've gotta get a full search party out for her whereabouts before she wrecks even more havoc."
"That's a bit silly of you, Tego-nyan," Ryo said in a slightly condescending tone. "We've been conducting search parties for years and she still manages to elude us. What use is another search party."
"Question," Shige said, raising his hand ever so slightly, ignoring the both Ryo and Tegoshi. "What does your mistress want with Murakami-kun and Yuto-kun?"
Instantly, all attention was focused on Kenji once more. Before Kenji could reply, the female who had spoken earlier pulled off the black mask that she wore and allowed her hair to tumble over her shoulders. In her beautiful features, one thing was evident. They gasped sharply as she stared haughtily at them, a slight smirk decorating her red, red lips. Almost similar to the one that their most-wanted wore. "Yes, I am sister to Ayukawa Miko. Hajimemashite. Atashi wa Ayukawa Sachiko," she greeted in sarcasm, nodding her head slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ayukawa Sachiko."
Yabu asked coldly, assessing her through hard, steely eyes that did not at all match the playful, mischievous man he usually was, "How do you know we can trust her?"
"I'm nothing like my sister, if you must know," Sachiko said as coldly as he did, sneering slightly at him. "We grew up separately. Our parents were divorced and she went to live with my mother who couldn't give a damn about her. She was just her manipulative doll while I lived with my dad who loved me till today. That's the difference between why you can trust me with her downfall and why she is who she is today."
Yabu just glared at her, his features saying nothing but his eyes like a cold knife through the gut. She returned the glare with one of her own, her extraordinary grey eyes sparking into a dark onyx before settling back to it's normal colour. "When my sister was younger, she had a dream. She didn't want to be a witch. She wanted to be an Elemental. She petitioned. She rallied. She had to resort to begging but she could not become an Elemental. Time and time again, she was told that she did not posses an Element and therefore did not qualify as an Elemental but she continued to fight for it.
"She did not understand that she was born a witch and that was her gift. The Head Elemental at that time said that he would banish her from the community if she did not stop harrassing the Elementals. Of course, my sister did not listen and she was banished. She sought refuge with a group of rogue witches and warlocks who were eager to accept an Elemental-hater into their folds. There, she learnt how to control her magic. And her hatred towards the Elementals grew and grew till she decided to exact revenge on them for not allowing her to be an Elemental."
"How juvenile of a three hundred year old woman," Keito scoffed.
Sachiko tilted her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Yes, juvenile it may be. But, her hatred is not only fueled by rejection from being allowed to join the Elemental ranks. Firstly, she was told that only ever guys were Elementals but to her knowledge, there was one female Elemental accepted into their ranks. And, secondly, she had her boyfriend turned against her when he was accepted into the Elemental ranks and another of her boyfriends killed by the Elemental boyfriend. Confusing, eh?" she said, the sad grin lighting up her pale features.
"You still have not told us what role does Murakami-chan and Yuto-kun play in this twisted plan of hers," Inoo said, frowning slightly.
Sachiko sighed deeply. "If you all are not aware, they are the Elementals of the prophecy."
All around, the Hey! Say! JUMP boys stared at her as if she had sprouted horns and was doing a tap dance. "If you don't believe, you can ask Koyama-kun here," she sighed, exasperatedly. "I can't believe that you all have not made the connection."
From the Hey! Say! JUMP boys, protests were made. They declared that the prophecy said nothing of a bond between a female and a male Elemental, let alone the existance of a female Elemental. And Murakami-kun was definitely female. It just wasn't possible. Murakami-kun did not like Yuto and she hated him with a vengance. How could they form a bond that could rid the world of whatever evil that came forth from it's dark depths? "But, it is true," Koyama said, quietly in a horrifyingly serious tone. So serious that everyone stared at him. "It has happened before. A great many years ago. Before any of us were born unless you are not quite human."
His attempt at a joke did nothing to lighten up the tension that could be felt in the atmosphere. When he saw that the others were looking at him with bated breath, he told them of his findings, from Emura Shiori's diary and whatever else he had managed to read before he was called off when their dorm had been under attack. "I think it is highly possible that the Elementals in the past were reborn into Murakami-kun and Nakajima-kun," he said. "As far as I know, they were killed as soon as they were Bonded. And as the cycle goes, they've returned in this life to finish something that had been started centuries ago. Something only they could stop."
"What in the world were they killed by?"
No one bothered about who asked that but rather the answer. Koyama took a deep breath, not to stall or increase the suspense but to steel his nerves to the answer that he was about to give, "The same warlock whom I expect trained your sister."
[paragraph]
Cursing violently, I stalked down the dimly illuminated corridor of which I had entered with Yuto from and pulled open the back door. I stood, mesmerised for a moment as I watched the snowflakes fall from the sky and land in a fluffy, white layer on everything that was exposed. The weather was getting worse. Just a few minutes ago, it was cool and breezy and now, it was snowing. I sighed deeply and brushed away the layer of snow that had settled on the door step with the toe of my boot, plopping down roughly on the step.
I shivered slightly but due to the Elemental blood coursing through my veins that made my body temperature abnormally high, I wasn't at all cold. It felt like I was in an air-conditioned room but a little colder. The area was quiet. Just like I remembered it. The call girls who had earlier called out to Yuto were now roaming the streets in vain, hoping to find a customer who would pick them up and take them somewhere warm. I grimaced slightly at the thought of my late mother who used to be one of those call girls but had risen in status after I had left, becoming one of the brothel owners.
I thought of how I would have ended up like one of those girls in one of Japan's notorious red light districts and I shivered out of disgust. I knew that it wasn't right for me to do so but I couldn't help it. Yet, however much I forced my thoughts away, they constantly drifted back to the boy who was sitting around the table with those...Guardians and that girl. "WHAT?"! I hissed to myself, mentally slapping myself and resisting the urge to really slap myself. "Is there something wrong with you? You've gone soft already."
I stared at the snow-covered ground and snow-covered trashcans that littered the alley, remnants of the life that this theater used to be. Now, they were just rotting pieces of metal. A sharp laugh that came from inside the theater pierced through the air and jolted me out of my thoughts for a moment. Unconsciously, I strained my ears for the sound of Yuto's childish yet husky voice. With my highly sensitized hearing, I could hear his voice clearly and I could hear him joking with that...girl. I forced myself to think of her in civil terms.
This time, I slapped myself. Literally. "What is wrong with you?" I hissed to myself. "You do not like him. Never in a million years will you like him. He's arrogant. And childish. And playful. And...And...And...Insufferable."
I thought for a moment for another adjective to describe the boy that I was determined not to like despite his laughter ringing in my ears. "He's a huge pest," I decided, nodding as if to confirm that.
"He's got no respect for the female race. Just like all other Elementals," I added, firmly as if to convince myself so.
My thoughts drifted back to the Hey! Say! JUMP dorm and the members who had made me feel like family these past few weeks, despite me being female. And suddenly introduced into their lives without warning. I smiled slightly and instantly, the face of the despised one appeared in my head. Beautiful and grinning. Charming with that lock of hair that always hung over his forehead. "I do not like him!" I shouted, breaking the peaceful silence that had surrounded me. I growled softly in frustration.
I dropped my head into my hands, propped on my knees and moaned softly.
[paragraph]
"WHY?! WHY?! Of all people it had to be you!" she demanded, letting a string of expletives fall from her mouth. Electricity crackled about her as she paced, giving Yuto death glares every once in a while. "You and your stupid Elementals. Flaunting yourselves in the music industry. Displaying yourself so grandly in public as if you are entitled to it. You don't see us Guardians doing that."
In a calm voice as she placed her teacup back on the table, Kaori said to Yuto, "She doesn't really like idols. Secretly, I think she's just jealous that us Guardians have to stay hidden while you Elementals get to, as she puts it, flaunt yourselves in public."
Yuto just smiled slightly and nodded, still slightly confused with Mitsume's outburst. He didn't get why she was in such a fuss. After all, he was an idol. And a desired one at that. Girls fought to throw themselves at his feet. Fought to touch his hand at concerts. Fought for him to even just glance their way. Screamed his name. So, why shouldn't she be grateful that she was his Guardian? After all, such a bond could be very rewarding. For her, at least. He smiled slightly at his thoughts as he watched the girl that paced back and forth, the electricity field around her resembling a halo.
A very beautiful halo, Yuto thought, almost sighing. She sure is beautiful. An angel? Yeah, an angel.
"Must I remind you that we are supposed to no longer exist?" Yusuke said, rolling his eyes as he deflected a shard of electricity that Mitsume threw his way. "So, obviously, we do not go around announcing that we are not as they think we are. Don't you remember how we got extinct in the first place?"
Mitsume just glowered at Yusuke and sat down in a corner of the stage, her electricity still crackling around her, giving the place a whitish-blue glow. She muttered softly to herself but Yuto's Elemental hearing could pick out curse words aimed mostly at Elementals in general and himself for being born. "Why is she so mad about being assigned to me as a Guardian?" Yuto asked Kaori in a low voice.
Kaori laughed softly and whispered in return, "Don't you know?"
Yuto shook his head and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuke smile. "Don't they teach you anything in Elemental school these days?" one of the Guardians, Takada Juri said, shaking his head. "If the Guardian is a girl, there is a ninety-nine percent chance that the Elemental will fall in love with her...and vice versa."
As soon as he had said that, Mitsume sent a shard of electricity flying to Yuto's behind and it made him yelp and jump as it connected.
[paragraph]
I groaned loudly and had the sudden urge to pull my hair out. WHY? was the giant question here. I didn't like him. Why do I have this sudden urge to rip off that...girl's head and feel nice about it, too? I thought, drawing my knees to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. Is there something awfully wrong with me? Does it have something to do with this Elemental bond? Is there even such a thing? Is this normal?
I sighed deeply and pinched myself. "I do not like Nakajima Yuto. I have never liked him. And I will never like him. Sure, I found him pretty. I mean, what girl doesn't? He is pretty," I muttered to myself in a vain effort to convince myself of my dislike for him.
It was becoming extremely apparent that I had...feelings for him. What kind of feelings that were, I couldn't really figure out. Maybe they were just brotherly feelings. My subconscience needed to find a replacement for the brother that Yusuke had been to me and it had decided that Yuto was the best candidate. Since I had taken a huge dislike to him the first time I saw him and don't brothers and sisters dislike each other eventhough they actually do adore each other. I don't exactly adore Yuto but I guess this would work, I thought, smiling slightly and snapping my fingers as if having discovered something epic.
"Oh, who am I kidding."
[paragraph]
"That means, you and Murakami-kun...," Yuto said, frowning slightly as he looked at Yusuke.
The older male laughed softly and shook his head. "I don't feel anything for her except the crazy urge to protect but I suppose that comes from having known her since she was little," he replied, stretching slightly. "She is the second female Elemental and the first female Elemental had no...problems with her Guardian either."
Yuto sighed softly and dropped his head onto the table with a thud. Gosh, what did I get myself into? he thought, wanting to scream and shout but his upbringing taught him to hold back his emotions and show others only what he wanted them to see.
Looking over at the glowering Mitsume, Juri grinned playfully at her and smacked Yuto on the back. "Well, congratulations, Nakajima-kun. Mitsume's a real handful but I'm sure she'll do a good job being a Guardian," he mock-whispered, stressing on the last word.
Mitsume growled and threw bolts of electricity at Juri, the white-blue glow illuminating the whole theater but Juri just absorbed the electricity, grinning all the while at her. "Don't mind Juri-chan," Kaori said with a wave of her hand. "He acts extremely drunk but he really isn't. He just likes us to think he is."
Juri grinned charmingly at Kaori and smacked her butt in a very drunken manner. "That's what they all think, eh," he said, slurring his words dramatically. Kaori just aimed sparks of electricity at Juri's hand and he winced.
"Yusuke-kun," Yuto said, fighting the strange urge to sit by Mitsume's side and take her hand in his by distracting himself. "How did Murakami-kun come to be an orphan? She won't tell any of us. Sometimes, we see this sad look on her face but she always hides it. Daiki-kun tried to read her mind but the walls that she had erected around that particular memory were too strong and all we know was that she had lost her mother."
Yusuke smiled and nodded.
[paragraph]
My heart thudded faster as my brain registered the direction that the conversation has taken. I was extremely tempted to run back in and provide him with some extremely fabricated tale but then, that would increase his curiosity. And I knew, some day that I would just break down and tell all. I'd rather it be him than the rest of the Hey! Say! JUMP boys. Especially not Chinen or Daiki or Yamada, all who can influence me to really let everything out. Them and their darned Elements.
I stretched slightly and brushed snowflakes from my hair before they could melt and join the rest of the melting ones, already turning my hair wet. I tugged at the unravelling strand of thread at the hem of my shirt just because it gave me something to do. I had worked out my frustration and managed to control my anger but I was reluctant to go back inside and face Yuto and his adoring stares directed at...her.
Just then, I heard a soft rustling to my left coming from somewhere furthur down the alley. I would not have heard it if I did not have the Elemental's heightened hearing. It was just a tiny movement but it was enough to arise my suspicions. I pretended not to have noticed the sound and continued tugging at the thread on my shirt. I looked out of the corner of my eye to find a rat suddenly darting out from between the multiple rusting trashcans.
Instantly, my heartbeat slowed down but I was more alert of my surroundings than before. I did not dare scan the alleyway using my eyes so I had to resort to my other senses, mainly my hearing. High above me, I detected a soft tapping of feet and needing to look up to check, I leaned back against the back door and lifted my eyes to the sky. I spotted the faintest of shadows but when a startled cat dropped to it's feet in front of me, I instantly went on extreme alert.
I pretended to look wistfully behind me as laughter was heard but in truth, I was wondering if it was worth telling them. I decided to play it out a little longer to ensure that it wasn't a false alarm. There was no way they could have followed us out this far. I hid our tracks well enough, to the extent that we had to pass through the redlight district to get the smell of cigaratte smoke and cheap perfume on us to mask our scents.
I sighed deeply and drummed my fingers restlessly on the stair that I was sitting on, my senses alert.
[paragraph]
"Murakami Tomoyuki came to live with us when she was about three years old. Kaori, here," Yusuke said, gesturing to his sister, "found her on the streets and she's been with us since then. Tomo-kun is not much of an orphan if you ask me. Her father is just unknown."
Yuto looked weirdly at him. "Her mother, back when she was little, was a lowly callgirl, working in one of the so-called host clubs in the redlight district. Her father as far as I know has yet to be identified. Maybe her mother knows but she never told Tomo-kun. When she was about three, the head hostess had told her mother to throw her out or she would throw both mother and daughter out as she was constantly underfoot and a huge nuisance and they could not entertain properly. So, her mother had left her out on the streets to fend for herself or die," Yusuke said, a look of disgust crossing his handsome features.
"When she was fifteen, while we were out celebrating the victory of having stolen a month's worth of supplies, she had offered to stay behind and watch over the place for us. Instead, she had snuck out and looked for her mother, wanting to confront the woman but the lowly callgirl that was once her mother was no longer. After twelve years, her mother now owned the host club and much to Tomo-kun's disgust, when she saw her daughter, she offered to take her under her wing and teach her the ways of being a hostess. She had turned and left the place in disgust but her mother saw how beautiful her daughter had grown to be and realised that she would be a wonderful addition to the club would not take no for an answer.
"That was the night that she discovered her Element but she did not know it yet. Her mother sent after her two of her bouncers to retrieve her daughter and when her mother had gripped her wrist and she was using her hand to pull away, she had obviously-"
Before Yusuke could finish, Yuto stared at him in a mixture of horror and pity as he said, "Killed her."
Yusuke nodded slowly and added, "Along with the two bouncers. That's just the rough gist of it."
"If you ask nicely, maybe your precious Murakami would be able to tell you instead of bothering Yusuke," Mitsume sneered, not using an honorific with the name and proved that she was irritated enough to be rude. "After all, seeing how devoted you are to her."
Yuto forced himself to not look at her. He folded his arms on the low table and rested his chin on his arm, sighing deeply. He thought about the fiery beauty who had disappeared outside who would not look at him the same way that he looked at her, feel the same way that he felt for her. On a general basis, he wouldn't even look twice at a girl like her. He preferred those cute types, the one always with a ready smile and sparkly eyes and a nice disposition. Yet, here he was, his heart yearning for a girl with a sharp temper, horrifying mood swings, dark past and defiant features. He had absolutely no idea as to why he seemed to have these strong attraction to her, one even stronger than the Guardian bond he shared with Mitsume. Maybe it is the Elemental bond that's making me feel like that. It's probably confusing my feelings, he thought.
His heart ached to soothe her dark pains, scars and wounds that probably have yet to close. He ached to pull her close to his chest and retreat into a dark corner where he would sit her between his legs, her back against his chest and he would just hold her. And he would put all his feelings into that hug, rocking her against his chest until her pains went away. He would gently take away the pain that she was feeling, seeing as his Elemental could do that if emotional pain turned to physical pain and he would allow her to cry. Cry until she no longer felt guilt for using her Element in self-defense even if it meant killing her mother. Then, he would hold her while she slept it off. A small smile broke on his lips as he thought of which that would never happen.
Then, his thoughts switched to the dark, brooding girl who sat in a corner and was determined to wipe him off the face of the Earth if that was what it took to break the Guardian bond. His attraction for here was purely caused by the stupid jumbled up bond between an Elemental and a female Guardian. Yet, he had to admit, she was quite beautiful, if not as beautiful as Murakami-kun. She shared the same fiery temper and dislike for him. Maybe that was why the Elemental-Guardian bond caused him to feel something other than a brotherly love for her.
"If you knew Murakami-kun, you'd be dead by now for suggesting that," Yuto said, quietly with a deadly tone to his voice.
[paragraph]
I could smell an acrid smell in the air as if there was something burning but I could see no fire nor smoke fumes. The acrid smell then curled around another foreign smell, this time the smell of rotten eggs. I almost retched right there with my enhanced sense of smell but I forced down the wave of nausea. Tears came to my eyes as the horrifying scent enveloped me. Through the tears that I quickly brushed away with the back of my hand, I could see shadows darting about the dark alley. I could make out black-clad figures that hugged to the wall in the shadows.
Above me, clumps of snow fell along with stray rocks and pebbles and I could hear the crunch of footsteps as whoever it was made it's way across the roof. There were about two to three of them on the roof above me and they did not make their presence a secret. As if they were determined to let their presence be known. I frowned slightly and tried to hold my breath, to ward off the smell that still curled around me. I suspected that it wasn't any normal scent from the drain or something burning but there was some sort of magic disguised into it, to throw off my sense of smell and make tears form in my eyes to limit my sight.
Without hesitation, I took one look around the alley and swept my eyes upwards before quickly disappearing into the theater, my feet pounding hard on the worn but sturdy wood. I was very sure that these were the people that had attacked our dorm and were now after Yuto and I. What I did not understand was why they were laying in wait instead of tearing the place apart like they did the dorm. I was a pretty easy target, sitting out there with my guard down. Yet, they did not make a move. Did they want Yuto and myself together before they made a move? Was I currently doing what they were expecting me to do? Running to get help? Yet, that was the only thing I could do at the moment.
There was no way that I could take them on single-handedly. Bad enough, they were using magic and I still had yet to learn the ins and outs of my Element. No, taking them alone would be suicidal. If it was a normal thug or two, I could take them on with the amount of fighting I could do but magic, that would be like inviting my death. I burst onto the stage and directed my words to Yuto as I panted, "We have to leave. Now. We cannot stay here."
He looked weirdly at me and sat up, his eyes doing that adorable little questioning thing. I could sense that he was worried. And that concern was directed towards me. "What do you mean, Murakami-kun?" he asked, the very concern that I sensed filling his voice and my heart took to the skies for few fleeting moments but I ignored the foreign feeling.
I dropped to my knees, leaning across the table and hissed softly, "We're surrounded. Outside. They've got magic with them. They blocked my sense of smell and sight."
Yusuke narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaori whose pretty face had turned serious. She looked at Juri, Mitsume and the other Guardians. "How did you know they were using magic?" he asked as Kaori got up and moved to the other side of the stage where Yuto had hid earlier, rummaging through a cupboard there.
I shrugged lightly and caught the heavy, black velvet cape that Kaori tossed me. "There was a smell like a cross between something burning and rotten eggs. It blocked my sense of smell and caused my eyes to water, blocking my sight and even blinking the tears away didn't help," I said, staring at the cape to Yuto who had gotten one and to Yusuke.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaori grit her teeth and Juri gently grab her about the waist and hug her to his chest. I saw Yusuke secure a thin fencing foil to his waist so naturally as if he had been doing it for years. Yuto watched the scene wistfully between Kaori and Yuto and his eyes landed on me but before I could notice, he looked away and secured the cape about his throat. "Tainted Elementals," I heard Yusuke hiss under his breath as he saw Kaori's reaction. "Corrupted!"
"What are Tainted...Elementals and Corrupted?" I asked, turning to Yuto but before he could answer, the roof came splintering around us. Shards of wood and splinters fell about us, momentarily blinding us.
The black-clad figures that I had saw earlier dropped to the stage with an audible thud, the horrifying, nausea-inducing smell surrounding us and I fought the urge to empty my stomach. Instantly, I got into a fighting stance and so did Yuto. We were too far off centre-stage where they had fallen to notice us at first but our position was drawn to attention when Yusuke let out an ear-splitting war cry and threw himself to Kaori's side. The black-clad figures and Guardians fought, weapon to weapon before throwing them aside and unleashing their Elements.
Yuto and myself could only watch as the rest of the Guardians began to fight. The clang of sword against sword. The smell that curled around us. A slight buzzing in my ears when they used their electricity. I wanted to throw myself into the middle of the fight, my feet already lifting off the ground with anticipation. I couldn't stop bouncing from foot to foot. Yet, Yuto kept my held back, his arm gripping mine so tightly that he could cut my blood off. I could see him shake his head as if to say: No. That's what they want. You'd make yourself an even bigger target.
I noticed that Mitsume had not thrown herself into the fight but instead remained in the shadows. I snorted, suspecting that she was there, wanting to protect Yuto. Yet, out of the corner of my left eye, I saw Mitsume step closer to us, her finger extended towards us. "I'm sorry, guys," she said, softly.
The last thing that I did was leapt to push Yuto to the ground. The last thing that I saw before I passed out was a bright flare of dirty-orange and the bright whitish-blue glow of a Guardian's electricity. The last word on my lips before the black of unconsciousness engulfed me was Yuto's name.
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