Akatsuki - Chapter Seventeen (Arc Three)
Title: Akatsuki
Genre: AU/Fantasy
Rating : PG-13
Disclaimer: I made the poster from images I got from flickr, heavily influenced by an original, final fantasy/kingdom hearts/legend of Mana but the plot and characterization are my own hard work. The Idols are Johhnys but because they've engraved an irreplaceable position in my heart so I based my characters on them and yeah used their names...the end.
Summary: Two nations on the brink of war. A young King on a mission. Two brothers on a quest to preserve their ties. The bonds of friendship are pitted against the greed for power but the hidden strength lying dormant within the confines of a fragile heart has the ability to throw all asunder.
~Arc Three : Alliances ~
Chapter Seventeen - The Promise
Yuto scanned his surroundings with much concentration. This place wasn’t familiar to his eyes, nevertheless it was intriguing.
He stood in a clearing surrounded by tall green hedges with multiple rose bushes upon the ground. There were four paths that led down seemingly never-ending corridors, all walled by these hedges. The grass was like a green carpet, very smooth in appearance and touch. He smiled at the colourful Koi fishes in the stone fountain, and loved the way the cool spray of water felt against his skin.
“Is this the center of a maze?” he thought aloud, also wondering on how he had gotten here.
“It seems so,”
He jumped at the voice and turned to point an accusing finger at the newcomer.
“You don’t scare people like that!” he thundered only to scowl as his offender snickered.
“Sorry,” the other boy added with a smile. Yuto felt himself relax and he beckoned him over.
“There are fishes in this fountain,” he pointed excitedly. The other boy’s eyes enlarged in surprise before his face broke into an eager smile. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a transparent bag of brown grain-like substance.
“I was wondering why I had this in my pocket,” the other boy mused. He reached for Yuto’s hand and poured a generous amount of the grains in it.
“Make a fist,” he said and Yuto obeyed, watching in quiet wonder as the other boy placed his hand under the water. He jumped and almost pulled his hand back if not for the firm grip the other had on him as the fishes swarmed around his fist and began sucking the grains out of his hand.
Yuto giggled. It tickled.
“Their teeth aren’t in their mouth, so they can't bite with them,” informed his companion as both pulled their now wet hands out of the pool. Yuto stared at the fishes in wonder.
“It’s good to see you again Yuto-kun,” the boy said quietly, plopping down on the fountain’s stone step. Yuto settled himself next to him.
“Has anything changed about me?” the young King asked good-naturedly. The other boy laughed.
“Well you did shoot up like a tree, what did they feed you at that academy?”
Yuto shrugged.
“What about me?”
Yuto looked at his friend.
“You have a more well-defined jaw now, and the extra padding on your cheeks is gone and your hair is shorter and you haven’t really grown much…,”
“Okay, too much detail!”
Yuto laughed as the other looked thoroughly freaked out.
“You asked for it,”
“I should’ve known better,”
The next few minutes were spent indulged in complete silence, eyes upon the shifting gray against the pale sky of eventide.
“Is this real?”
“Yes Ryo-chan, this is real,”
Ryosuke looked at the taller boy confused.
“How can you be sure?”
Yuto shrugged.
“I’m not, but I’ve only seen a glimpse of you at this age, if this were my dream you would’ve been younger,”
Ryosuke looked thoughtful.
“You have a point there; we haven’t really met since we were kids,”
“You still look like a kid though,”
“Your Highness…shut up,”
“It’s a compliment!”
Ryosuke shook his head with a smile.
“How is this possible I wonder,” he mused.
“I think I have an idea,” Yuto spoke and pulled out two ornaments from his own pocket. Ryosuke’s eyes widened at glowing stones.
“The brooches,”
Yuto nodded. He hooked the ruby one onto Ryosuke’s collar and the zircon one on his own. He sighed as the glow faded and the jewels sparkled innocently in the faint light.
“You don’t seriously believe it do you?” Ryosuke asked staring at the brooch in wonder.
“I don’t know if it will make a difference if I believe it or not, at least we got to meet up again,”
Ryosuke nodded with a small smile.
“You know,” Yuto began making Ryosuke look up at him.
“I feel like you and I have some sort of deeper connection. I mean we have been apart for so long yet you feel like a relative I haven’t met in a while but am bound to meet again due to our ties, if you get what I mean,”
“I think so,”
“Ryosuke, I have this weird…call it intuition, a very strong impulse…but it’s always guided me well. This time I have this feeling that something horrible is about to happen and the only way I can get through it, is if you and I work together,”
“What can I help you with? I’m just a bakery boy,” Ryosuke asked confused. Yuto smiled and shook his head.
“I’ve seen what bakery boys are capable of Ryo-chan, I know about the Night Angel ordeal,”
Ryosuke turned red, eyes wide in shock.
“Ha…how di-did you…?”
“Never mind that, just promise me…that when the storm comes, you'll be there for me,”
Ryosuke still looked very much confused but he sighed before finally nodding.
“I will.”
~*~
A/N: A compensation of the many chapters without them together. Music used is one of my most favourite from Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina, Fairytale. A little bit of symbolism used here too, do share your thoughts! And sorry for the odd summary, may revise it later.