[Log] The Tigers' Tale [Ktwins, Mizuki]
Characters: Kisarazu Ryou, Kisarazu Atsushi, Mizuki Hajime
Location: Mostly a mall in Tokyo
Time: Near the end of 3rd year of Middle School
Rating: G
Summary: How it all really began for the Twins
Warning: This does contain mention of a an earthquake close to Tokyo. My apologies for the potential trigger. If you would prefer to read a brief summary, feel free to ask.
It had been almost two years. Two years in which Kisarazu Atsushi had stepped away from his brother Ryou's side and forged his own path, made his own choices, pursued his own destiny. Two long and lonely years. Sure, he returned home on breaks and holidays, but there was now a barrier between the two boys, one that hadn't been there before.
Growing up, they were inseparable. No one could tell them apart, outside of their family and a couple of close friends, and they liked it that way. They dressed alike, spoke alike, had the same interests and the same dislikes. They were one person in two bodies, they said once. Then, during their first year of middle school they hit puberty and everything changed. Not just height, voices, and the usual things that all boys go through, but it was when their mutant powers showed themselves. Without warning tails and ears, with tiger stripes, would pop out. They both got used to wearing a cap to conceal their ears whenever this would happen and they could tuck the tail around them as well, so it wasn't as bad as some stories of other's mutations. They thought themselves fairly lucky as far as mutants went, in fact.
However, this was not the extent of their change. Now they could see clearly even when there was virtually no light, their sense of smell was heightened, their hearing was sharper...and sometimes they had retractable claws and sharper teeth as well. They took to acting like grumpy teenagers to hide their occasional fangs, even around their own family. Their parents had reacted fairly well to the fact that their twin sons were cat boys and they didn't want to upset them at all. Especially when their hormones started to go more wild than those of other boys around them. Touch was good. Especially touches to their ears, their tails and to parts newly awakened by puberty.
The boys had always been placed in different classes in school; the reasoning being that the administration thought it would help them develop their individuality and prevent them from doing each other's homework. In fact, they studied together and helped one another regardless. The major difference was that Ryou's teacher was the tennis coach at the local club both boys attended. It is a hard fact that sometimes there is favoritism, and Ryou's teacher tended to put Ryou into the more challenging matches, which in turn drew the attention of the scouts to him. At the end of their first year of middle school, Ryou received a scholarship to attend St. Rudolph.
Who is to say what started the argument. Both boys knew that their closeness concerned their parents. With the onset of puberty and their mutation the boys had grown even closer, and the noises they made at night weren't as quiet as they could have been as they experimented with their new bodies and their sensuality. But in the end it was their improved hearing that had caused their rift. Listening to their parents fight about them, about their incestuous closeness, about the scholarship...they couldn't avoid hearing it and they blamed themselves. If they weren't so close, perhaps their parents wouldn't argue. Even though Ryou's name was on the scholarship, the boys decided to play to see which of them would leave their home and venture alone out into the wild world.
It was a close game, neither boy pulling any punches or leaving any advantage untaken. It was night and without spectators they didn't have to hold back. Amazing leaps, fast dashes, power smashes and a kind of volleying that was more reminiscent of a cat playing with its prey than an attempt to take a point. It was near dawn when the two finally shook hands over the net and then collapsed, back to back, the net between them. They watched the light overtake the world and knew that from now on, everything would be different.
That April, Atsushi went off to St. Rudolph's. His parents and brother saw him off, two with a sense of relief and happiness, the other with a sense of resigned acceptance. They'd said their goodbyes already.
At St. Rudolph's Atsushi quickly made new friends, among them Mizuki Hajime. Mizuki, to Atsushi, was a bastion of refinement even in that elite school and he was grateful that the other took a liking to him and showed him how to deal with the new environment. Their friendship also managed to assuage some of the bone deep loneliness that Atsushi felt without his brother by his side.
Back home, Ryou tried to make the best of it. But it was hard and often felt as though he'd had half of his body amputated. He would turn to make a comment to Atsushi, who wasn't there, or think to point something out, share a laugh, but there was no longer someone there to share those with. When Atsushi did come home, that first break, it was as though a stranger had come. Atsushi's hair was short, very short, and he wore a headband rather than a cap. Rather than a slow change, their lives, their personalities now seemed to have been split with a lightning bolt.
For nearly two years this was so, both boys doing the best they could, making new friends, finding their own preferences, their own interests, all the while mourning the loss of what they'd had. Then, one day in early February, as Atsuhi and Mizuki were in Tokyo shopping for graduation presents, the Earthquake hit.
+ + +
Atsushi laughed with his customary, 'kss, kss, kss' at Mizuki's comments about the clerk at the last shop they'd been to. He enjoyed spending time with the other boy, even if he could be somewhat catty at times. Or perhaps because of it, he thought with another laugh thinking of his mutation. He'd gotten much better at keeping it from activating over the last three years and was almost positive that the other was unaware of his own cat-like nature. “Where do we want to go next?” he asked as they stepped into the elevator.
“What about that shop in K-- street? It sells all sorts of trinkets,” Mizuki replied, playing with this hair as he thought about it. “Kind of tacky but they make good gifts.”
The door closed and the elevator just started moving, when suddenly it began to shake. Japan experiences earthquakes often, so Atsushi didn't think much of it at first. When it started to grow stronger, he reached over and hit the emergency stop, raising his eyebrows at Mizuki. “Just in case.”
But the shaking didn't stop. It grew harder until both boys had to drop their bags and hold onto the handrails in the elevator to keep from being thrown around. Atsushi was suddenly very aware of the fact that they could fall. He just hoped that his other power, that of very limited flight, might keep them from death if the elevator were to break free, but he wasn't positive. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of his twin and how very much he wanted to be with Ryou, how much he regretted bowing to pressure and separating from him. An almost physical pain went through him at the thought.
There wasn’t really enough time to even think. Mizuki just clung onto Atsushi with his eyes shut, hoping for the best, as the elevator shook around them. Suddenly there was a lurch and a snapping sound before they were plummeting quickly downwards--
In Chiba, Ryou was at home watching a movie. Later he could never remember which one it was. As the shaking intensified, he got up and turned off the TV and disk player and tried to wait it out. His thoughts turning to Atsushi, he wondered what his twin was doing right now and if he was safe. Suddenly his heart caught in his throat as a deep pain wracked through him and he knew something had happened. “Atsushi!!”
Chiba is not that far, geographically, from Tokyo. With no trains running, however, and everything in disarray from the earthquake that had been practically underneath Tokyo, there was no easy way for a fourteen year old boy to get to get there. So, he ran. When obstacles arose, so did he, using his limited flight to jump over them. He tried to be as careful as possible not to let anyone see him doing it, but could not say for certain that he went undetected. But then that was not his primary concern. Whether it was simply because the tower was down or the lines were flooded or...for whatever reason, he could not get through to Atsushi's phone. He tried calling the school as well, but again was unable to get through. He even tried Mizuki, Atsushi's friend, but still no luck. He was scared.
Something steered him away from the school, however. He ran and ran, stopping only to gasp for air. He'd brought water with him, but once that ran out he knew that getting more might be problematic, depending on the level of destruction.
As he made his way further into Tokyo, following his internal guide, he heard patches of reports of property damage and people being injured. But he couldn't stop. He had to know. Finally, exhausted and sore, he came to the mall where every instinct he had told him that his brother was. Emergency crews were still pulling people out, lines of tape prevented people from approaching and a harried service person held up his hand as Ryou tried to duck under. “You can't go in there. It's too dangerous,” he said.
Ryou growled. He had not come this far to be denied. “Have you found my brother? Kisarazu Atsushi?” he asked. He was waved over to where the people being rescued were being sent. He asked again and again, but no one had seen his brother, no one had heard of him and inside he felt as though his brother was still in the building. Finally he managed to slip around the rescue workers. They were exhausted, he was desparate.
Glass, concrete, scattered displays, the floors were a dangerous mess. He picked his way through, trying to pinpoint where his brother was. After a while he finally realized he needed to go down. But where? How? The elevators weren't in service...the elevators. Had Atsushi been on one when...he had to be okay. There was no way he could be dead. Ryou knew he would have felt that. So he had to get down, he had to save his brother. He finally found the service stairs and wrenched the door open. Later he'd realize that was a sign of things to come, but at the time he chalked it up to adrenaline.
The elevator shafts were cluttered with more concrete and twisted metal. The outside doors were bent and twisted from the force of the fall and the insides...they were whole, but sunken, only the top couple of feet was visible from the opening. Three elevators, and now his lodestone to his brother failed him. He knew Atsushi was in one of those three. He started clearing away the metal and the concrete, calling out to Atsushi as he did so, praying the other was conscious and could hear him.
Mizuki had been fairly luckly. The elevator itself remained mostly intact, if deformed on all sides. He had been briefly unconscious, but awoke only to find his friend unresponsive. Panicking, Mizuki had tried opening the elevator doors, to no avail. He shouted till he was hoarse, but no one had yet responded. In his desperation he focused hard on the power he had discovered only months before, sending out pheromones that he hoped would attract rescue dogs. Faintly, he thought he heard a muffled voice and tried shouting back, but nothing but a croak came out.
An aroma, something smelling very good, something Ryou couldn’t really name, but wanted more of, wafted toward him. It was coming from one of the elevators, the one on the left. With battered hands he worked harder to clear the way, still calling out, but now listening more closely to see if he could hear anything.
Atsushi moaned, the sudden rush of pheromones invading his nose and starting to wake him. His head hurt, his body hurt, breathing hurt, laying still hurt; he just hurt all over. “M-mizuki?” he said softly, hoping his friend was still alive.
“Atsushi-kun,” Mizuki rasped, relief plain on his face. He scrambled towards him, wanting to give Atsushi a hug, but not daring to in case Atsushi was hurt and should not be moved. “Are you alright?” he asked, barely audible.
“Ngh, not sure,” he confessed. He couldn’t see anything, but he wasn’t sure if that was because it was too dark even for his enhanced vision or because he was hurt. He blinked, then blinked again and realized it was because his eyes were closed. “Why...why does it smell so good?” he said, his own voice still quite faint. He tried to move his hand and let out a muffled scream.
Outside, listening hard, Ryou heard that faint noise and yelled back, “Hello! Can you hear me?” He redoubled his attempts to get to the doors, but the twisted metal was quite persistent in not moving.
“Don’t move, Atsushi-kun,” Mizuki said worriedly. Explanations would have to wait. He sat up at the sound of the voice, though, before stumbling to the door and pounding on it with all his strength. “We’re in here!” Mizuki somehow managed to find enough voice to shout hoarsely.
That voice, faint as it was, was not his brother’s. Worried, Ryou pulled harder at the metal and concrete still blocking his way. He was feet, feet away from Atsushi and he couldn’t get through! “Are you all right?” he yelled back. “Is Atsushi there?”
Atsushi tried to drag in more air. “That...that’s Ryou,” he said. Despite Mizuki’s warning, he tried to sit up. Nothing felt broken, just battered, bruised and, he managed to look at his arm, bleeding.
“Atsushi-kun!” Mizuki cried, horrified. “You really mustn't move.” Ryou? Didn’t Atsushi have a twin brother named Ryou? He banged on the door again. “Atsushi is here. Please bring help!”
Ryou heard the yell. Atsushi needed help? Why? He stared down at his hands. Was all the pain he was feeling really his? When did it start? Was Atsushi okay? Frustrated, he threw himself at the stubborn barrier again. Why couldn’t he have a useful power? “Atsushi!!”
“Ryou,” Atsushi gasped. His twin’s anguish was indecipherable from his own pain, cutting him deep. Not for the first time, but definitely the most fervently, he cursed that their power was so minor, so unhelpful in this situation. What good were ears and a tail, or even claws, when you lacked the strength to break through to your brother?
Mizuki really didn’t know what to do. Ryou was probably injuring himself trying to get to them by throwing himself at solid metal, Atsushi was agitated and in pain, and Mizuki felt like his throat was bleeding. “Calm down, Ryou-kun,” he said, trying to speak as loudly and clearly as he could. “Get someone to come and help, don’t hurt yourself.”
Frustration growing, Ryou made his nails into claws, trying to get a grip, to pull the metal away. He growled low in his throat as the metal continued to deny him. It was getting warmer in there, with all that pent up anger and his physical effort. His tail lashed in the air, stirring the cloud of dust that lingered.
He could feel his twin’s frustration and knew Ryou could feel he was hurt. Atsushi understood, he really did. He and Mizuki were trapped in a dimly lit, destroyed metal box and they couldn’t get out and Ryou couldn’t get to them. As his brother shifted, so did Atsushi, and the shifting made him feel better. Probably because of endorphins or something silly like that, he decided as his cat ears caught the sound of his brother’s growl.
“...Atsushi-kun?” Mizuki gaped in astonishment. “What---” He couldn’t really see properly with what little light they had, but Atsushi looked... different. ...Was that a tail? And then the thought: He’s like me.
Atsushi looked at Mizuki, only vaguely registering that the other boy was there and that he’d just revealed his mutantness to him. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a low growl. He ducked his head, stretching; the need to move, to get to his brother, to get out of this trap was growing stronger than the pain in his battered body. Now his tail lashed in the air as his shirt started to tear.
On the outside, Ryou’s shirt was also in shreds, his pants splitting at the seams. Thought the footing was uncertain and dangerous, he kicked off his shoes as they felt too tight for his feet suddenly. He stretched as well, reaching for the ground with his hands, his spine lengthening. It should have hurt, but it oddly didn’t.
Mizuki slowly backed away until he met the wall of the elevator, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. He didn’t really know what was happening, except that Atsuhi was looking less and less human by the second. ….Perhaps his power was some sort of transformation? Mizuki had read something like that before. It was no less frightening to witness first hand, though. While he didn’t think Atsushi would consciously hurt him, it was best to be cautious.
It was a strange process transformation. Later, both were quite surprised that it didn’t hurt. Muscles shifted, rearranged, bones changed, their hands and feet altered and they grew; and yet it didn’t hurt. Even the fur coming out everywhere, striped of course, didn’t itch or anything. It felt...natural. Which was quite bizarre for something that was anything but. It took almost two minutes for the full transformation, from tails, ears and claws to the finished product: two large tigers, one inside, one outside.
Atsushi shook himself, there was not a lot of room in an elevator for a 400 lb. tiger and a boy. He pressed against the doors now, getting his claws into the crack and pulling. Outside came a loud roar that shook more dust down onto them as his brother did the same.
Now quite utterly terrified by just what his friend had morphed into, Mizuki sat in shocked silence in his corner. In some corner of his mind he wondered vaguely if he should be doing anything to help, such as making calming pheromones (not that Mizuki knew if they would work on tigers, of all things), but he was too stunned to do much except watch.
Claws out, catching on the metal, four hundred plus pounds of tiger on either side of the door; there was a sound of protesting metal, almost a scream as the doors were pried open.
The tiger in the cage stared at the tiger outside who stared back. Both started to see another tiger before him; almost, but not quite running for shelter from one another.
There were two of them! Could the other one be...Ryou? Twins would be likely to have the same mutation. On the bright side, they were now free, although Mizuki didn’t think getting between two tigers to exit was a good idea, and he couldn’t just leave Atsushi there.
It took a moment of staring before the two figured out what had happened. Slowly they leaned in together until the two tigers were sitting nose to nose. Bumping together, they both recoiled with a blink of shock and a chuffing noise. Then Ryou stood up and moved to the side, allowing Atsushi to almost flow out of the elevator. They both moved with a deadly grace that quite amazed them.
”Atsushi?” Ryou said in the language of cats. They’d found themselves picking up on it slowly after they’d hit puberty and their mutation had emerged. Or rather, had started to emerge, since they were now both quite aware that this was the real thing, what their ears and tails had only hinted at.
The other cat nodded. ”Yes, it’s me. This...this is real, isn’t it? Not just a dream brought on by dying?” His body language was tense with his tail held low.
Ryou also nodded. ”Except...are we stuck like this now? Do you think we’ll be put in a zoo somewhere? Or...separated?” He stepped forward and leaned his head against his brother’s shoulder, his tail also held low.
“At-sushi?” Mizuki ventured finally in a small voice, wondering if his friend could recognise him in that form. He’d finally found the courage to get up and walk cautiously towards the torn-open door where the two enormous tigers were. At least they seemed calm now.
The two tigers both turned toward the voice. ”It’s Mizuki,” Atsushi said. ”He was in the elevator with me when the quake hit.”
“He smells really good,” Ryou said. That’s how I was able to find you and not waste time on the other two elevators.
Carefully, but yet with with that fluid grace, the two stepped back over to the door where Mizuki stood. Atsushi wanted to reassure his friend, but had no way of communicating with the other. He stared at the other for a long moment, then cautiously nudged Mizuki with his nose.
Being the subject of attention of two big cats was quite unnerving. Mizuki tensed unconsciously as one of them came up to him-- Atsushi?-- and bumped into his side with his nose. That was...a friendly gesture, right? He hesitated, then gingerly petted the tiger between its ears. Cats liked that, perhaps big cats did too. “You can’t turn back?” he asked softly.
The head petting was...nice. Very nice, actually, Atsushi decided, purring. He looked up at Mizuki and shook his head and gave a shrug. They weren’t even sure how they’d managed to turn into cats, let alone how to change back. Ryou came up next to him and gave Mizuki a significant look. He wanted in on these pettings.
Really? There was a time and place for such things, Mizuki thought with a nervous laugh. He reached out to pet the other tiger. “We should get out of here,” he said to both tigers. “It’s probably not structurally sound. Maybe we can hide you two somewhere until you turn back...”
Both tigers gave him a look. They had just scared the daylights out of each other and they were the tigers. Where and how could they hide? They were massive, not cute little housecats or something medium sized like a lynx or panther. Atsushi huffed, ruffling Mizuki’s hair a bit, and leaned against his brother.
Leaning back, Ryou tamped down his fears and thought about it. ”We can make our tails and ears come and go as we please, we should be able to change back, Atsushi. We just have to try.”
“Try, how?” Atsushi asked. ”Just concentrate on being human again?” He closed his eyes and gave it a shot with another huff of a sigh. It took a long moment, but then suddenly he could feel himself starting to shift again, back to human.
Seeing Atsushi start to change, Ryou followed suit, concentrating hard. It took longer than the transformation to tiger did, but within a couple of minutes, two naked boys sat staring up at Mizuki.
Oh. Well, problem solved. Or not. “...Pleased to meet you, Ryou-kun?” Mizuki said on autopilot, a little dazed by how quickly strange events kept happening. He blinked a few times before blushing slightly and offering the older twin his jacket. To Atsushi he gave his shirt.
“Mizuki...kun?” Ryou responded, trying to figure out how to tie the jacket on to preserve at least some modesty. He went with a side knot after a bit of fiddling. The race here and the double transformation had taken a toll on his mental fortitude.
Atsushi blinked at the shirt for a long moment, then shook his head. “The bags...our shopping. Clothes.” He had bought a couple of outfits. Clothes that he and Ryou could wear out. If he weren’t so tired right now, he’d likely be freaking out. He was just thankful that Mizuki was still in control of his senses.
“Oh!” Mizuki had completely forgotten about those. He reached for the squashed and dusty paper bag and handed it to Atsushi. “...Well, perhaps I should have my shirt back, then.”
“Uh huh.” Atsushi handed the shirt back and took the bag, then stood there staring at it for a moment. He was naked. There were clothes in the bag. He should take the clothes out of the bag. He reached into the bag and took out a shirt, still with the tags attached, by the arm. He stared at it dangling before him like he had no idea if it were a shirt or pants. He made a slightly confused noise and looked at Mizuki. “Unh?”
“...Atsushi-kun? Are you alright?” Concerned, Mizuki went over to help him dress. Perhaps the use of his power had side effects. But the other twin looked fine, mostly. Then he remembered that Atsushi had been injured and looked over him worriedly.
“Uhm, yeah.” Atsushi looked down at his hands and his arm. There had been blood on it earlier. He was just so tired now. Exhausted. And hungry. Really hungry. He looked at Mizuki. “I...think I’m fine. That just...took a lot out of me. Ryou?” he asked, suddenly concerned for his brother.
Ryou shook his head and stepped closer to take a pair of pants out of the bag. “I’m tired and hungry, but not as disconcerted as you. Are you okay?” He looked at Mizuki. “Did he hit his head? He doesn’t look injured.”
“I thought he’d hurt his arm, earlier...” Mizuki knit his brows together as he put his shirt back on. Somehow, exerting his power must have healed Atsushi’s wounds, if only on the surface. “I really don’t want to stay here,” he said, looking around. “And you two look exhausted. Let’s go?” He held out a hand to Atsushi.
Atsushi nodded and let Mizuki help him dress. Once both the twins had clothes on and had found their shoes, they made their halting way out of the basement. Blinking at the bright light of the outside world as concerned rescue workers swarmed them, Atsushi asked, “What now?”
Location: Mostly a mall in Tokyo
Time: Near the end of 3rd year of Middle School
Rating: G
Summary: How it all really began for the Twins
Warning: This does contain mention of a an earthquake close to Tokyo. My apologies for the potential trigger. If you would prefer to read a brief summary, feel free to ask.
It had been almost two years. Two years in which Kisarazu Atsushi had stepped away from his brother Ryou's side and forged his own path, made his own choices, pursued his own destiny. Two long and lonely years. Sure, he returned home on breaks and holidays, but there was now a barrier between the two boys, one that hadn't been there before.
Growing up, they were inseparable. No one could tell them apart, outside of their family and a couple of close friends, and they liked it that way. They dressed alike, spoke alike, had the same interests and the same dislikes. They were one person in two bodies, they said once. Then, during their first year of middle school they hit puberty and everything changed. Not just height, voices, and the usual things that all boys go through, but it was when their mutant powers showed themselves. Without warning tails and ears, with tiger stripes, would pop out. They both got used to wearing a cap to conceal their ears whenever this would happen and they could tuck the tail around them as well, so it wasn't as bad as some stories of other's mutations. They thought themselves fairly lucky as far as mutants went, in fact.
However, this was not the extent of their change. Now they could see clearly even when there was virtually no light, their sense of smell was heightened, their hearing was sharper...and sometimes they had retractable claws and sharper teeth as well. They took to acting like grumpy teenagers to hide their occasional fangs, even around their own family. Their parents had reacted fairly well to the fact that their twin sons were cat boys and they didn't want to upset them at all. Especially when their hormones started to go more wild than those of other boys around them. Touch was good. Especially touches to their ears, their tails and to parts newly awakened by puberty.
The boys had always been placed in different classes in school; the reasoning being that the administration thought it would help them develop their individuality and prevent them from doing each other's homework. In fact, they studied together and helped one another regardless. The major difference was that Ryou's teacher was the tennis coach at the local club both boys attended. It is a hard fact that sometimes there is favoritism, and Ryou's teacher tended to put Ryou into the more challenging matches, which in turn drew the attention of the scouts to him. At the end of their first year of middle school, Ryou received a scholarship to attend St. Rudolph.
Who is to say what started the argument. Both boys knew that their closeness concerned their parents. With the onset of puberty and their mutation the boys had grown even closer, and the noises they made at night weren't as quiet as they could have been as they experimented with their new bodies and their sensuality. But in the end it was their improved hearing that had caused their rift. Listening to their parents fight about them, about their incestuous closeness, about the scholarship...they couldn't avoid hearing it and they blamed themselves. If they weren't so close, perhaps their parents wouldn't argue. Even though Ryou's name was on the scholarship, the boys decided to play to see which of them would leave their home and venture alone out into the wild world.
It was a close game, neither boy pulling any punches or leaving any advantage untaken. It was night and without spectators they didn't have to hold back. Amazing leaps, fast dashes, power smashes and a kind of volleying that was more reminiscent of a cat playing with its prey than an attempt to take a point. It was near dawn when the two finally shook hands over the net and then collapsed, back to back, the net between them. They watched the light overtake the world and knew that from now on, everything would be different.
That April, Atsushi went off to St. Rudolph's. His parents and brother saw him off, two with a sense of relief and happiness, the other with a sense of resigned acceptance. They'd said their goodbyes already.
At St. Rudolph's Atsushi quickly made new friends, among them Mizuki Hajime. Mizuki, to Atsushi, was a bastion of refinement even in that elite school and he was grateful that the other took a liking to him and showed him how to deal with the new environment. Their friendship also managed to assuage some of the bone deep loneliness that Atsushi felt without his brother by his side.
Back home, Ryou tried to make the best of it. But it was hard and often felt as though he'd had half of his body amputated. He would turn to make a comment to Atsushi, who wasn't there, or think to point something out, share a laugh, but there was no longer someone there to share those with. When Atsushi did come home, that first break, it was as though a stranger had come. Atsushi's hair was short, very short, and he wore a headband rather than a cap. Rather than a slow change, their lives, their personalities now seemed to have been split with a lightning bolt.
For nearly two years this was so, both boys doing the best they could, making new friends, finding their own preferences, their own interests, all the while mourning the loss of what they'd had. Then, one day in early February, as Atsuhi and Mizuki were in Tokyo shopping for graduation presents, the Earthquake hit.
+ + +
Atsushi laughed with his customary, 'kss, kss, kss' at Mizuki's comments about the clerk at the last shop they'd been to. He enjoyed spending time with the other boy, even if he could be somewhat catty at times. Or perhaps because of it, he thought with another laugh thinking of his mutation. He'd gotten much better at keeping it from activating over the last three years and was almost positive that the other was unaware of his own cat-like nature. “Where do we want to go next?” he asked as they stepped into the elevator.
“What about that shop in K-- street? It sells all sorts of trinkets,” Mizuki replied, playing with this hair as he thought about it. “Kind of tacky but they make good gifts.”
The door closed and the elevator just started moving, when suddenly it began to shake. Japan experiences earthquakes often, so Atsushi didn't think much of it at first. When it started to grow stronger, he reached over and hit the emergency stop, raising his eyebrows at Mizuki. “Just in case.”
But the shaking didn't stop. It grew harder until both boys had to drop their bags and hold onto the handrails in the elevator to keep from being thrown around. Atsushi was suddenly very aware of the fact that they could fall. He just hoped that his other power, that of very limited flight, might keep them from death if the elevator were to break free, but he wasn't positive. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of his twin and how very much he wanted to be with Ryou, how much he regretted bowing to pressure and separating from him. An almost physical pain went through him at the thought.
There wasn’t really enough time to even think. Mizuki just clung onto Atsushi with his eyes shut, hoping for the best, as the elevator shook around them. Suddenly there was a lurch and a snapping sound before they were plummeting quickly downwards--
In Chiba, Ryou was at home watching a movie. Later he could never remember which one it was. As the shaking intensified, he got up and turned off the TV and disk player and tried to wait it out. His thoughts turning to Atsushi, he wondered what his twin was doing right now and if he was safe. Suddenly his heart caught in his throat as a deep pain wracked through him and he knew something had happened. “Atsushi!!”
Chiba is not that far, geographically, from Tokyo. With no trains running, however, and everything in disarray from the earthquake that had been practically underneath Tokyo, there was no easy way for a fourteen year old boy to get to get there. So, he ran. When obstacles arose, so did he, using his limited flight to jump over them. He tried to be as careful as possible not to let anyone see him doing it, but could not say for certain that he went undetected. But then that was not his primary concern. Whether it was simply because the tower was down or the lines were flooded or...for whatever reason, he could not get through to Atsushi's phone. He tried calling the school as well, but again was unable to get through. He even tried Mizuki, Atsushi's friend, but still no luck. He was scared.
Something steered him away from the school, however. He ran and ran, stopping only to gasp for air. He'd brought water with him, but once that ran out he knew that getting more might be problematic, depending on the level of destruction.
As he made his way further into Tokyo, following his internal guide, he heard patches of reports of property damage and people being injured. But he couldn't stop. He had to know. Finally, exhausted and sore, he came to the mall where every instinct he had told him that his brother was. Emergency crews were still pulling people out, lines of tape prevented people from approaching and a harried service person held up his hand as Ryou tried to duck under. “You can't go in there. It's too dangerous,” he said.
Ryou growled. He had not come this far to be denied. “Have you found my brother? Kisarazu Atsushi?” he asked. He was waved over to where the people being rescued were being sent. He asked again and again, but no one had seen his brother, no one had heard of him and inside he felt as though his brother was still in the building. Finally he managed to slip around the rescue workers. They were exhausted, he was desparate.
Glass, concrete, scattered displays, the floors were a dangerous mess. He picked his way through, trying to pinpoint where his brother was. After a while he finally realized he needed to go down. But where? How? The elevators weren't in service...the elevators. Had Atsushi been on one when...he had to be okay. There was no way he could be dead. Ryou knew he would have felt that. So he had to get down, he had to save his brother. He finally found the service stairs and wrenched the door open. Later he'd realize that was a sign of things to come, but at the time he chalked it up to adrenaline.
The elevator shafts were cluttered with more concrete and twisted metal. The outside doors were bent and twisted from the force of the fall and the insides...they were whole, but sunken, only the top couple of feet was visible from the opening. Three elevators, and now his lodestone to his brother failed him. He knew Atsushi was in one of those three. He started clearing away the metal and the concrete, calling out to Atsushi as he did so, praying the other was conscious and could hear him.
Mizuki had been fairly luckly. The elevator itself remained mostly intact, if deformed on all sides. He had been briefly unconscious, but awoke only to find his friend unresponsive. Panicking, Mizuki had tried opening the elevator doors, to no avail. He shouted till he was hoarse, but no one had yet responded. In his desperation he focused hard on the power he had discovered only months before, sending out pheromones that he hoped would attract rescue dogs. Faintly, he thought he heard a muffled voice and tried shouting back, but nothing but a croak came out.
An aroma, something smelling very good, something Ryou couldn’t really name, but wanted more of, wafted toward him. It was coming from one of the elevators, the one on the left. With battered hands he worked harder to clear the way, still calling out, but now listening more closely to see if he could hear anything.
Atsushi moaned, the sudden rush of pheromones invading his nose and starting to wake him. His head hurt, his body hurt, breathing hurt, laying still hurt; he just hurt all over. “M-mizuki?” he said softly, hoping his friend was still alive.
“Atsushi-kun,” Mizuki rasped, relief plain on his face. He scrambled towards him, wanting to give Atsushi a hug, but not daring to in case Atsushi was hurt and should not be moved. “Are you alright?” he asked, barely audible.
“Ngh, not sure,” he confessed. He couldn’t see anything, but he wasn’t sure if that was because it was too dark even for his enhanced vision or because he was hurt. He blinked, then blinked again and realized it was because his eyes were closed. “Why...why does it smell so good?” he said, his own voice still quite faint. He tried to move his hand and let out a muffled scream.
Outside, listening hard, Ryou heard that faint noise and yelled back, “Hello! Can you hear me?” He redoubled his attempts to get to the doors, but the twisted metal was quite persistent in not moving.
“Don’t move, Atsushi-kun,” Mizuki said worriedly. Explanations would have to wait. He sat up at the sound of the voice, though, before stumbling to the door and pounding on it with all his strength. “We’re in here!” Mizuki somehow managed to find enough voice to shout hoarsely.
That voice, faint as it was, was not his brother’s. Worried, Ryou pulled harder at the metal and concrete still blocking his way. He was feet, feet away from Atsushi and he couldn’t get through! “Are you all right?” he yelled back. “Is Atsushi there?”
Atsushi tried to drag in more air. “That...that’s Ryou,” he said. Despite Mizuki’s warning, he tried to sit up. Nothing felt broken, just battered, bruised and, he managed to look at his arm, bleeding.
“Atsushi-kun!” Mizuki cried, horrified. “You really mustn't move.” Ryou? Didn’t Atsushi have a twin brother named Ryou? He banged on the door again. “Atsushi is here. Please bring help!”
Ryou heard the yell. Atsushi needed help? Why? He stared down at his hands. Was all the pain he was feeling really his? When did it start? Was Atsushi okay? Frustrated, he threw himself at the stubborn barrier again. Why couldn’t he have a useful power? “Atsushi!!”
“Ryou,” Atsushi gasped. His twin’s anguish was indecipherable from his own pain, cutting him deep. Not for the first time, but definitely the most fervently, he cursed that their power was so minor, so unhelpful in this situation. What good were ears and a tail, or even claws, when you lacked the strength to break through to your brother?
Mizuki really didn’t know what to do. Ryou was probably injuring himself trying to get to them by throwing himself at solid metal, Atsushi was agitated and in pain, and Mizuki felt like his throat was bleeding. “Calm down, Ryou-kun,” he said, trying to speak as loudly and clearly as he could. “Get someone to come and help, don’t hurt yourself.”
Frustration growing, Ryou made his nails into claws, trying to get a grip, to pull the metal away. He growled low in his throat as the metal continued to deny him. It was getting warmer in there, with all that pent up anger and his physical effort. His tail lashed in the air, stirring the cloud of dust that lingered.
He could feel his twin’s frustration and knew Ryou could feel he was hurt. Atsushi understood, he really did. He and Mizuki were trapped in a dimly lit, destroyed metal box and they couldn’t get out and Ryou couldn’t get to them. As his brother shifted, so did Atsushi, and the shifting made him feel better. Probably because of endorphins or something silly like that, he decided as his cat ears caught the sound of his brother’s growl.
“...Atsushi-kun?” Mizuki gaped in astonishment. “What---” He couldn’t really see properly with what little light they had, but Atsushi looked... different. ...Was that a tail? And then the thought: He’s like me.
Atsushi looked at Mizuki, only vaguely registering that the other boy was there and that he’d just revealed his mutantness to him. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a low growl. He ducked his head, stretching; the need to move, to get to his brother, to get out of this trap was growing stronger than the pain in his battered body. Now his tail lashed in the air as his shirt started to tear.
On the outside, Ryou’s shirt was also in shreds, his pants splitting at the seams. Thought the footing was uncertain and dangerous, he kicked off his shoes as they felt too tight for his feet suddenly. He stretched as well, reaching for the ground with his hands, his spine lengthening. It should have hurt, but it oddly didn’t.
Mizuki slowly backed away until he met the wall of the elevator, trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. He didn’t really know what was happening, except that Atsuhi was looking less and less human by the second. ….Perhaps his power was some sort of transformation? Mizuki had read something like that before. It was no less frightening to witness first hand, though. While he didn’t think Atsushi would consciously hurt him, it was best to be cautious.
It was a strange process transformation. Later, both were quite surprised that it didn’t hurt. Muscles shifted, rearranged, bones changed, their hands and feet altered and they grew; and yet it didn’t hurt. Even the fur coming out everywhere, striped of course, didn’t itch or anything. It felt...natural. Which was quite bizarre for something that was anything but. It took almost two minutes for the full transformation, from tails, ears and claws to the finished product: two large tigers, one inside, one outside.
Atsushi shook himself, there was not a lot of room in an elevator for a 400 lb. tiger and a boy. He pressed against the doors now, getting his claws into the crack and pulling. Outside came a loud roar that shook more dust down onto them as his brother did the same.
Now quite utterly terrified by just what his friend had morphed into, Mizuki sat in shocked silence in his corner. In some corner of his mind he wondered vaguely if he should be doing anything to help, such as making calming pheromones (not that Mizuki knew if they would work on tigers, of all things), but he was too stunned to do much except watch.
Claws out, catching on the metal, four hundred plus pounds of tiger on either side of the door; there was a sound of protesting metal, almost a scream as the doors were pried open.
The tiger in the cage stared at the tiger outside who stared back. Both started to see another tiger before him; almost, but not quite running for shelter from one another.
There were two of them! Could the other one be...Ryou? Twins would be likely to have the same mutation. On the bright side, they were now free, although Mizuki didn’t think getting between two tigers to exit was a good idea, and he couldn’t just leave Atsushi there.
It took a moment of staring before the two figured out what had happened. Slowly they leaned in together until the two tigers were sitting nose to nose. Bumping together, they both recoiled with a blink of shock and a chuffing noise. Then Ryou stood up and moved to the side, allowing Atsushi to almost flow out of the elevator. They both moved with a deadly grace that quite amazed them.
”Atsushi?” Ryou said in the language of cats. They’d found themselves picking up on it slowly after they’d hit puberty and their mutation had emerged. Or rather, had started to emerge, since they were now both quite aware that this was the real thing, what their ears and tails had only hinted at.
The other cat nodded. ”Yes, it’s me. This...this is real, isn’t it? Not just a dream brought on by dying?” His body language was tense with his tail held low.
Ryou also nodded. ”Except...are we stuck like this now? Do you think we’ll be put in a zoo somewhere? Or...separated?” He stepped forward and leaned his head against his brother’s shoulder, his tail also held low.
“At-sushi?” Mizuki ventured finally in a small voice, wondering if his friend could recognise him in that form. He’d finally found the courage to get up and walk cautiously towards the torn-open door where the two enormous tigers were. At least they seemed calm now.
The two tigers both turned toward the voice. ”It’s Mizuki,” Atsushi said. ”He was in the elevator with me when the quake hit.”
“He smells really good,” Ryou said. That’s how I was able to find you and not waste time on the other two elevators.
Carefully, but yet with with that fluid grace, the two stepped back over to the door where Mizuki stood. Atsushi wanted to reassure his friend, but had no way of communicating with the other. He stared at the other for a long moment, then cautiously nudged Mizuki with his nose.
Being the subject of attention of two big cats was quite unnerving. Mizuki tensed unconsciously as one of them came up to him-- Atsushi?-- and bumped into his side with his nose. That was...a friendly gesture, right? He hesitated, then gingerly petted the tiger between its ears. Cats liked that, perhaps big cats did too. “You can’t turn back?” he asked softly.
The head petting was...nice. Very nice, actually, Atsushi decided, purring. He looked up at Mizuki and shook his head and gave a shrug. They weren’t even sure how they’d managed to turn into cats, let alone how to change back. Ryou came up next to him and gave Mizuki a significant look. He wanted in on these pettings.
Really? There was a time and place for such things, Mizuki thought with a nervous laugh. He reached out to pet the other tiger. “We should get out of here,” he said to both tigers. “It’s probably not structurally sound. Maybe we can hide you two somewhere until you turn back...”
Both tigers gave him a look. They had just scared the daylights out of each other and they were the tigers. Where and how could they hide? They were massive, not cute little housecats or something medium sized like a lynx or panther. Atsushi huffed, ruffling Mizuki’s hair a bit, and leaned against his brother.
Leaning back, Ryou tamped down his fears and thought about it. ”We can make our tails and ears come and go as we please, we should be able to change back, Atsushi. We just have to try.”
“Try, how?” Atsushi asked. ”Just concentrate on being human again?” He closed his eyes and gave it a shot with another huff of a sigh. It took a long moment, but then suddenly he could feel himself starting to shift again, back to human.
Seeing Atsushi start to change, Ryou followed suit, concentrating hard. It took longer than the transformation to tiger did, but within a couple of minutes, two naked boys sat staring up at Mizuki.
Oh. Well, problem solved. Or not. “...Pleased to meet you, Ryou-kun?” Mizuki said on autopilot, a little dazed by how quickly strange events kept happening. He blinked a few times before blushing slightly and offering the older twin his jacket. To Atsushi he gave his shirt.
“Mizuki...kun?” Ryou responded, trying to figure out how to tie the jacket on to preserve at least some modesty. He went with a side knot after a bit of fiddling. The race here and the double transformation had taken a toll on his mental fortitude.
Atsushi blinked at the shirt for a long moment, then shook his head. “The bags...our shopping. Clothes.” He had bought a couple of outfits. Clothes that he and Ryou could wear out. If he weren’t so tired right now, he’d likely be freaking out. He was just thankful that Mizuki was still in control of his senses.
“Oh!” Mizuki had completely forgotten about those. He reached for the squashed and dusty paper bag and handed it to Atsushi. “...Well, perhaps I should have my shirt back, then.”
“Uh huh.” Atsushi handed the shirt back and took the bag, then stood there staring at it for a moment. He was naked. There were clothes in the bag. He should take the clothes out of the bag. He reached into the bag and took out a shirt, still with the tags attached, by the arm. He stared at it dangling before him like he had no idea if it were a shirt or pants. He made a slightly confused noise and looked at Mizuki. “Unh?”
“...Atsushi-kun? Are you alright?” Concerned, Mizuki went over to help him dress. Perhaps the use of his power had side effects. But the other twin looked fine, mostly. Then he remembered that Atsushi had been injured and looked over him worriedly.
“Uhm, yeah.” Atsushi looked down at his hands and his arm. There had been blood on it earlier. He was just so tired now. Exhausted. And hungry. Really hungry. He looked at Mizuki. “I...think I’m fine. That just...took a lot out of me. Ryou?” he asked, suddenly concerned for his brother.
Ryou shook his head and stepped closer to take a pair of pants out of the bag. “I’m tired and hungry, but not as disconcerted as you. Are you okay?” He looked at Mizuki. “Did he hit his head? He doesn’t look injured.”
“I thought he’d hurt his arm, earlier...” Mizuki knit his brows together as he put his shirt back on. Somehow, exerting his power must have healed Atsushi’s wounds, if only on the surface. “I really don’t want to stay here,” he said, looking around. “And you two look exhausted. Let’s go?” He held out a hand to Atsushi.
Atsushi nodded and let Mizuki help him dress. Once both the twins had clothes on and had found their shoes, they made their halting way out of the basement. Blinking at the bright light of the outside world as concerned rescue workers swarmed them, Atsushi asked, “What now?”