From Blue Sky - Chapter 8/15
Title: From Blue Sky
Status: 8/15
Fandom: Hey! Say! JUMP
Pairing: None. Main characters are Yabu, Hikaru, Yamada and Chinen.
Overall rating: PG-15 for minor character death and depictions of violence
Warnings: AU. I made Chinen 11 years old which is what the plot revolves around.
Wordcount: 4359
Summary: "He's a cute boy, isn't he?" Takaki says, his voice dangerously low as his eyes follow the young boy, probably around ten years old, walking next to his classy mother and seemingly trying to nag her into something. "I think he'd be even cuter lying at my feet with his throat sliced."
Notes: This is inspired by the Mayonaka no Shadow boy PV and a movie which I won't admit to ripping the plot from until someone calls me on it. I love the atmosphere of the PV and wanted to write something similar to it, and I've had this plot lying around for years, so I thought it was finally time. I'm planning on posting twice a week if you want to stick around~
The mood doesn't recover during the remaining train ride, even though Hikaru makes some attempts at lightening it. Chinen is deep in thought and uncharacteristically quiet, Yamada's got his arms crossed and staring another direction, and Yabu feels like he's being suffocated.
He's so, so stupid. He decided that he would never speak of it again. Try to forget and do his best to recover. After those months he spent hating himself, wanting to tear his heart out because it hurt so bad, wondering what the hell he was still doing here when they were gone, it took Jin punching him straight in the face and yelling at him to just go get shot if his life was pointless anyway for him to promise to try and survive.
Eventually, he moved north, got a boring business job that he hates and just kept existing. He got a cat. The only creature he's been able to show some affection these past years. His life was durable, actually. And then he did one good deed in solving Hikaru's problem, and this is what he got for it.
He glances at Chinen, who's frowning while picking with a loose thread in his small jacket, and Yabu's heart physically stings.
He keeps reminding himself that at least he'd wanted to just leave Chinen and his mother there on the shore, not get involved. He used to be a tough guy, he's seen some things no one should have to see, and he'd tried to keep that up. He really tried. But then Chinen started talking, looking scared, asking for his mother and rolling up his too big sleeves and Yabu couldn't stop caring.
“Yabu-chan?” Hikaru says, and Yabu looks up, the first time during the ride he's been addressed directly and it's honestly a favour pulling him out of his own head. Hikaru looks a little concerned, but then he smiles softly. “We're almost there, aren't we?”
Yabu looks out the window, noticing houses and that the train is slowing down, and he thinks that those hours passed very quickly. They're changing trains here, the last one heading straight for Tokyo, finally.
“Yeah, we are.” He says, then clears his throat because it sounded a little too choked. “Get your things.”
Yamada rolls his eyes but starts getting dressed, but Chinen just stares out the window.
“Just one more train.” Yabu says in what he hopes is a reassuring tone, but no one seems to listen to him.
Eventually the train stops and they stand up, getting into the narrow train corridor to get off the train, and Yabu instructs Hikaru where they're heading because he's first, just waiting for a an elderly couple to get off the train.
“Yeah yeah, I'll find the way.” Hikaru waves him off with a smile.
Yabu rolls his eyes and he's just about to tell Hikaru he's not going the right direction as he exits the train himself, when he hears something that makes him whirl back around.
“Oh, sorry sir... Oh. Hello Nakamura-san.” Chinen says, and as Yabu turns, Chinen's bowing politely next to him, and a man with a business briefcase stands frozen on the last step down to the platform, staring at Chinen like he's a ghost.
It takes Yabu half a second to assess the situation, quickly grabbing Chinen's wrist and turning, meeting the man's eyes for one too long second, then starts running with Chinen in tow.
He doesn't see Yamada or Hikaru anywhere, but figures that's just good, and he can hear the man scream something about catching them behind him.
Chinen's not a fast runner, and he tries to ask Yabu what's going on, but Yabu's only focus is to get out to where no one's already seen them.
When they get into the station building, he slows down to a normal hurried pace, allowing Chinen to walk next to him, and he relocates so he holds Chinen's hand instead of his wrist to look less suspicious.
“I don't want to run, why are we running?” Chinen whines, trying to keep up with Yabu's quick steps.
“You need to be quiet and do as I say now.” Yabu says so harshly that Chinen actually shuts up, his hand tightening a little on Yabu's like he's scared.
Yabu's mind is racing with possible ways to get out, wondering how long it will take until they seal off the station and start checking everyone closely, and how they'll possibly leave this place without being noticed. But step one is that they have to get out of here.
His heart is pounding with adrenaline as he tries to look normal and like he's just in a hurry somewhere and still make sure Chinen's going as fast as he can, holding on to his hand tightly.
He nearly turns and punches someone when a hand pointedly touches his shoulder in the crowd, but then there's a voice in his ear that keeps him from turning, even from slowing down.
“Meet us here.” Yamada says and there's something slipped into Yabu's pocket, and then the presence behind him is gone again, and this is probably the first time Yabu's felt relieved that Yamada is no ordinary person.
He gets outside the station, and just turns left without knowing anything about where he's going, but he knows they need to get away from the station area.
They walk two blocks and into an alley with small shops before Yabu stops, and Chinen whines, breathless.
“What's going on?” He asks, voice that ridiculously bratty tone.
Yabu doesn't listen, instead reaches into his pocket to see what Yamada gave him. It's a well folded tourist map, and when Yabu spreads it out, Chinen falls quiet to see what he's doing. It takes a little while to find it, but then Yabu sees the circle in pencil around a forest area at the edge of town, luckily not in a completely different direction than the one they've already taken.
“We're going to take quite a long walk now.” Yabu tells Chinen while folding the map so he can see the important parts. “We're meeting Yamada and Hikaru there, so we should hurry, okay?”
He holds out his hand for Chinen, who looks hesitant for a moment before taking it and they start walking again.
“I'm hungry.” Chinen complains, and Yabu is too high strung on adrenaline to keep himself from laughing at that.
~*~
Hikaru sits down on the ground in the woods with a sigh, looking up at Yamada a little helplessly. “Are we here now?”
“Yes.” Yamada agrees, setting the bag down next to Hikaru before turning back to look in the direction of the neighbourhood they passed on their way here, which is at least a kilometre away.
“... What even happened?” Hikaru asks, because Yamada hasn't talked to him more than short instructive sentences since he grabbed Hikaru's arm on the platform. And some occasional threats for Hikaru to shut up.
“Someone recognized Chinen.” Yamada says without turning, and Hikaru nods slowly.
“I figured as much with the whole emergency plan.” He says, because acting like they had nothing to do with Yabu and Chinen and going to buy stuff like matches and some blankets and food isn't exactly their normal routine. “You were awfully quick there.”
Yamada turns to look at Hikaru over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised like he doesn't understand, so Hikaru elaborates.
“Your course of action. It was really quick. It was cool.” He says, thinking about how Yamada had barely needed a second to find a map and slip one to Yabu without making it obvious they had anything to do with each other, while Hikaru still didn't understand what happened.
“... Thanks.” Yamada says after a moment, like he's not sure what he's supposed to answer to that, then turns back to look towards town.
“... Will they find us here? The police?” Hikaru asks after a moment, because he doesn't have a clue about how things like this work.
“I hope not.” Yamada says sincerely, and Hikaru can tell he's starting to let his adrenaline levels lower. “We'll consult with Yabu when he gets here.”
Hikaru stays quiet for a moment. “Are you sure he'll get here?”
“Aren't you the positive one?” Yamada asks, tone suddenly irritated as he whips out his cigarettes from his pocket, and Hikaru smiles. It's easy to tell he's worrying too but won't admit to it.
“Sorry.” Hikaru says, still smiling as he watches Yamada light his cigarette. “Do you think they'll take long?”
“I don't know.” Yamada mutters, and Hikaru figures that maybe Yamada needs some silent time for his nerves to calm down. He'd like to honestly ask what his problem is, because there is something strange about Yamada lately. But he feels like Yamada is on the verge of punching him in the face right now, so he settles for leaning back against a tree and enjoying being out in the woods.
It's not until he hears a loud snap of a branch and he jerks that he realizes he'd been dozing off, and he blinks his eyes open to see Yabu and Chinen make their way through the trees.
Yabu has almost the same expression on his face as Yamada; tired and looking like he wants to punch someone, while Chinen's mumbling complaints, sounding like he wants to cry.
“Finally.” Yamada tells them when they step into the tiny clearing they've settled in, but he sounds a little relieved under the hard tone.
Yabu spares him a glare and then tosses Hikaru's scarf to him. They'd decided to hang it in a bush where they turned from the path in the woods, as if someone had dropped it, since it was the only item they could think of that Yabu and Chinen would definitely recognize.
“Thanks.” Hikaru smiles at him, but Yabu doesn't even spare him a look.
Chinen on the other hand nearly falls to the ground next to Hikaru and leans in to hide his face in Hikaru's shirt, which surprises Hikaru a little but he figures neither Yabu nor Yamada give off a very friendly vibe right now.
“Are you okay?” Hikaru asks softly and wraps an arm around the boy, because he can almost feel how much Chinen wants to cry.
“I want to go home I'm so tired.” Chinen mumbles into his chest, and Hikaru just hugs him for a moment, feeling the tense little muscles slowly relax.
When he looks up, both Yabu and Yamada are watching him warily, but when he tilts his head in question they turn to each other instead and it almost looks a little comical.
“That took you some time.” Yamada comments, and finally sits down, looking at Yabu who also folds his legs underneath himself and sits down on the ground.
“We couldn't exactly just walk the main streets, could we?” Yabu asks. “Chinen's not very fast either.”
Chinen makes a small sound of protest into Hikaru's shirt at that.
“Well he's half your height?” Hikaru suggests gently, fingers sifting through Chinen's hair that's a tiny bit moist with sweat.
“I know.” Yabu sighs, features softening like his stress comes out with the deep breath. “I was pretty scared they'd find us a couple times.”
“How bad is it?” Yamada inquires, his tone still serious as he keeps looking around.
“Not too bad honestly, most of the sirens I heard were behind us. I guess they don't think we would go this far, or even know where to go.” Yabu says thoughtfully, and Yamada nods slowly. “This is probably good enough for now. We'll just need to figure out how to get away from here.”
“Yeah.” Yamada agrees, then sighs as well. “Guess this was just a matter of time.”
“I'm just happy you're both here, Yama-chan hasn't been very pleasant.” Hikaru says, which makes Yamada roll his eyes but Yabu actually smiles.
Chinen shifts, lifting his head and leans against Hikaru's shoulder instead so he can look at them.
“I hate you all.” He mutters, and it sounds as if he tries to be fierce but it just comes out a little broken. “I never want to be alone with Yabu again. I want to go home to my bed.”
Yamada pointedly looks away, which might be just as well since Hikaru can see his fists clenching, and Yabu opens his mouth to start saying something when Hikaru decides enough is enough because this whining has a pretty obvious cause.
“Hey, Chi. We bought cream bread, do you want some?” He asks, effectively cutting Yabu off, and Chinen looks up at him, eyes a little glazed as he nods.
Hikaru grins as he reaches for the plastic bag with different kinds of combini food, and Yabu mouths 'thank you' to him over Chinen's head.
~*~
Yamada looks into the dancing flames of the fire he strictly opposed and can't help but get flashbacks from when he went camping with his dad and sisters more than ten years ago. They'd had a fire and grilled marshmallows and it was perfect even though his older sister teased him about his stick catching fire, and he almost misses his family a little.
He didn't want to light a fire now, it felt way too risky, but then Chinen said he'd never been camping and Hikaru started insisting, and when Yabu gave in, Yamada didn't have much of a say.
Secretly, he thinks it's nice, warming enough that he's taken his jacket off.
“We should have had a guitar.” Hikaru says longingly, and Yabu rolls his eyes.
“This is not a camping trip.” Yabu reminds him, but he doesn't seem to care too much.
“No I know, but when will we ever have a real camping trip together, huh?” Hikaru wonders, tilting his head and looking pointedly at Yabu. “So this will have to do. Especially since Chi's never had one.”
“I want to go on a real camping trip with you.” Chinen says, sounding like he likes that idea. His mood grew considerably better after some food and rest, even though he still complains about Yabu being mean. “Can we, please? Promise?”
Hikaru laughs and tells him sure, sure, it's a promise.
Yamada frowns a little, because the thought of that should make him smug that Chinen will never have an opportunity to go camping with anyone again, but instead it just feels unsettling.
Think of your friends who died, Yamada tells himself, but even the faces of the friends he'll never meet again can light that bloodlust in him right now. And that scares him.
“It'll be fun! Yama-chan can be the angry teenager who sits in a corner and sulks.” Hikaru says, seeming content with that idea, and Yamada looks up at the mention of his name. “He's good at that.”
“Oh shut up.” He tells Hikaru, not really in the mood, and picks up a pine cone and throws it at him. It probably doesn't help defying his image as 'angry teenager' but he feels better when he hits Hikaru in the head.
“Ow!” Hikaru laughs, ruffling his own hair, and Yamada can't help but smile just a little. Hikaru's smile is contagious, unfortunately.
“How comes you've never been camping?” Yabu asks Chinen, his long legs stretched out away from the fire. “Don't your parents like it?”
Chinen looks up at Yabu, who's opposite him with the fire between, and his smile falters. “My parents don't like anything.”
“... Huh?” Hikaru asks, leaning forward enough to see Chinen's face.
“They don't like me doing things out of the house.” Chinen explains, voice turning upset as he pulls his legs up to his chest protectively.
“So you're always home?” Yabu inquires, and Yamada bites his lip because he doesn't want to know more things about Chinen that makes him even more like a person.
“I go to school and my acrobatics class.” Chinen shrugs slowly. “I can take friends home, but I can't go to their place.”
Hikaru frowns, and for once the dislike in his expression is serious. “Is it because your father is a policeman?”
Chinen shrugs again, looking into the fire without seeming to see it. “I don't really know much, mom just tells me to do as dad says and everything will be fine. She says I can bring as many friends home as I want, but I want to go to their place too.”
“... What are they gonna do in a few years when you want to go on dates and stuff?” Hikaru asks, but Chinen just wrinkles his nose at the whole idea of going on dates.
“Girls are annoying, I won't want to go on dates anyway.” He mutters, and Yamada sees Yabu smile like 'yeah right'.
“You can go on dates with boys too, you know.” Hikaru says, and Chinen turns to look at him with a confused face.
“You go to acrobatics?” Yabu quickly breaks in and Yamada tries to conceal his grin at Hikaru's offended expression.
“Yeah.” Chinen says, immediately lighting up. “I can do a backflip.”
“Really?” Hikaru asks, not one to be upset for long. “I can't even reach my toes.”
“Well, you're really old.” Chinen says as Hikaru reaches for his toes with straight legs to prove his point, and Hikaru turns to him with such shock that Chinen starts laughing.
“I'm not really old, brat.” Hikaru tells him and shoves at him so hard he almost falls over Yamada, but they're both laughing.
“Hey, watch out.” Yabu says loudly as Chinen crashes against Yamada's side, and Yamada's confused at Yabu's shrill tone until he remembers he wears his gun harness. “Can't you put those away?”
“Don't be so worried, they're not dangerous on their own.” Yamada rolls his eyes and lets Chinen linger against his side, because come on, Yabu knows that.
Yabu just looks back at him like he still completely disapproves, then his eyes go wide and Yamada feels a pressure against his ribs.
When he turns to look, Chinen's poking curiously at Takaki's gun, and there's definitely an irony in that which Yamada's not so sure he wants to laugh at.
“I don't even know how a gun works.” Hikaru shrugs, and Yamada looks over Chinen's head at Hikaru, who watches them curiously.
“You've never tried shooting?” Yamada asks, and Hikaru laughs and shakes his head.
“No, I've never really had the chance.”
“I can teach you if you want.” Yamada offers before he even thinks it through, and everyone seems about as surprised as he feels himself, Yabu's eyebrows practically up at his hairline while Hikaru's mouth falls open a little bit.
“... Sure?” Hikaru agrees, and Yamada nods once to himself, figuring that there's no harm in teaching Hikaru to shoot. It's not like he'd ever aim a gun at something that moves.
“Get up then.” He says, and gently pushes Chinen away enough that he can stand up himself, and Yabu opens his mouth as if to protest but no words come over his lips.
Hikaru stands, looking mostly fascinated as Yamada removes his own gun from his harness and takes the few steps over to Hikaru.
“Here.” He says, handing the gun over, and Hikaru's eyes widen as he accepts it.
“I have no idea what to do with this.” Hikaru admits, staring down at the weapon in his hand like it would start firing on its own.
Yamada snorts. “Just look at it first.”
He points out the parts, and Hikaru's focused face as he listens makes Yamada grin. He doesn't usually get to teach people anything.
“So first you need to load it. Which is already done here.” Yamada starts, and takes the gun back to show Hikaru how to, starting with taking the magazine out since he keeps his guns loaded but secured. He glances to the side as he does and sees Chinen watching with big eyes and Yamada raises an eyebrow. “Doesn't your father have one of these?”
Chinen shakes his head. “I've never seen one before.”
That sounds a little weird, Yamada can't help but think, but figures it doesn't matter, if he's teaching one he might as well teach two. “Well come here then and look you too.”
He barely has time to finish the sentence before Chinen's by his side and looking just as attentive as Hikaru, and Yamada can hear Yabu's disapproving noise but doesn't look up.
He slowly goes through how to load and double check the gun once, then hands it over to Hikaru, who looks almost scared at getting the gun back along with the magazine.
“Just do it, I'll tell you if it's wrong.” Yamada says, and it feels a little strange to see Hikaru's long fingers fumble with the magazine. Like the gun shrunk, except that it's just Hikaru's hands that are bigger than his own.
He does well though, if a little slow and nervous, but he manages to load it properly.
“Great.” Yamada tells him, and Hikaru smiles at the praise until he's instructed to do it again.
He repeats it and gets a little more secure, so Yamada figures that's good enough.
“Good. You probably shouldn't shoot for real because it's really loud.” Yamada says, and Hikaru nods, still focused on the weapon in his hand. “So, you should hold like this.”
He reaches out and helps placing Hikaru's hands as good as he can, making sure he aims into the darkness and nowhere else. “Your dominant hand closest to the gun, steadily, and then support with your other hand. It's heavier than you think when you have to hold it straight.”
“Is this right?” Hikaru asks, his grip unprofessional but it looks correct.
“Yeah, looks pretty good.” Yamada agrees, then decides showing is probably the best way to teach this.
He takes Takaki's gun in his own hands and aims into the woods too, making sure Hikaru looks at how he holds. He can shoot with just one hand, but going back to basics is good for both Hikaru and for Yabu, who's watching them closely from across the fire.
Yamada explains how to aim properly, the brief theory about seeing depth and what to look at, and Hikaru looks at him in surprise.
“You really know your stuff, don't you?” He asks, still holding the gun aimed at nothing.
Yamada raises an eyebrow but can't help a small smile as he puts Takaki's gun back. “Yeah? Didn't you think so?”
“Sure, I just... I've never seen you use them. Nevermind.” Hikaru shakes his head. “And now, do I just... pull the trigger?”
“Basically. Hold your breath is a good starter tip, or you might miss completely.” Yamada says, and he sees Hikaru's finger move to the trigger. “There's a first stop before it actually goes off. If you pull past that it fires.”
“... This is scary.” Hikaru mutters, then pulls the trigger enough to feel the first resistance. “Can I do it all the way?”
“Yeah.” Yamada agrees, and he finds it fascinating to watch Hikaru as he pulls it the whole way back and it just clicks since it's still secured. The nervousness on his face but the determined way he holds the gun, even though he knows there's not even going to be a shot fired.
“If you shoot for real it would retaliate.” Yabu suddenly says, and Yamada turns to look at him, and sees that he's watching Hikaru with the same fascination Yamada feels. “So you should be prepared for that.”
“... You know how to shoot Yabu-chan?” Hikaru asks, lowering the gun.
Yabu shrugs, and Hikaru doesn't press the matter, just unloads the gun after Yamada's instruction and hands it back.
“I'll probably never have any use for that.” He grins as Yamada accepts the gun. “But thanks anyway.”
Yamada shrugs and turns to Chinen, who looks anxious in both meanings of the word. “You wanna try?”
Chinen nods immediately, and Yamada gives him the gun a little reluctantly.
Chinen is clearly a good observer, since he loads the gun properly with his small hands, a huge contrast to Hikaru's, and Yamada knows all eyes are fixed on Chinen right now.
Yamada leans down to help him aim, the gun too heavy in Chinen's hands, so he covers them with his own to help him hold still, and Chinen looks almost stunned when he pulls the trigger the whole way back with some effort.
“Wow.” He says as Yamada takes the gun back and Yabu visibly relaxes. “I wanna try to shoot for real some time.”
Before Yamada can stop himself he laughs because he'd like to see the face of Chinen's dad if he was told that. “You should talk to your father about that.”
“I will.” Chinen promises, still a little too excited to seem to think that through properly, and Yabu loudly wonders if Chinen's going to sleep at all tonight with how hyped up he is now.
“Hey.” Hikaru nudges Yamada when he sits down. “You should laugh more often. You're too young to be so serious all the time.”
He's not exactly being quiet, but none of the others seem to hear, and Yamada's too stunned about the comment to react properly.
“Just saying.” Hikaru grins, then joins the other conversation when Chinen says he wants more candy.
Yamada looks at Hikaru for a moment, then returns to looking into the fire, feeling oddly bothered by what he said. You're too young to be so serious all the time.
~*~
Chapter 7
Chapter 9