[Ongoing] Dréd-Son - Chapter 02: What belongs together
Title: Dréd-Son - Chapter 02: What belongs together
Fandom: Johnny's & Associates
Pairings/Characters: Senga Kento, Nikaido Takashi, Yokoo Wataru, Iida Kyohei, others mentioned
Rating: PG
Warnings: None really...except, this is AU
Disclaimer: Not mine. Owned by J&A. The AU is mine though as well as aymagun's.
A/N: Don't expect me to continue at the pace of a chapter a day. I just wrote ahead a little bit so I'm posting for the time being. Current total word-count is 5785 words including all the quotes I've been putting in at the beginning of the chapters.
“A system is in equilibrium when the forces constituting it are arranged in such a way as to compensate each other, like two weights pulling at the arms of a pair of scales.”
(- Rudolf Arnheim)
Somebody smacked him on the back none too gently. “What are you standing here and spacing out for? Looking all serious, too! I didn’t leave you like this! Snap out of it!”
“Nikaido!” he turned and smiled at his most trusted friend’s familiar face. The smile soon turned into a pout though. “You’re back? When did you arrive? You didn’t even tell me you were going to be back!”
Raising his hands defensively, Nikaido Takashi replied, “I was going to! We came back sooner than we thought we would though and before I could as much as sleep, the summons came. I was only able to drop off my bag - and Yokoo made sure I did not just toss it into my room like I wanted to, so that took time. Anyways, here I am. I was looking for you in your room but you were already gone.”
Nikaido looked at Senga for another moment as if the other were thinking about something very hard for a moment. Apparently he decided against doing or saying whatever it had been he had been thinking about and he turned to continue walking towards he direction Senga had chosen earlier. They moved down one of the corridors, further into the building.
“This better be super important, or I’ll kick his ass,” Nikaido broke the silence again after only a few moments of silence between them.
“You wouldn’t!” Senga had to hide his grin, knowing full well that the other totally would.
Nikaido hummed softly, “I could ask Tsubasa to do it for me?”
“How?”
“With my adorable disciple face?” turning towards his friend again, Nikaido gave the other his best shot at the aforementioned facial expression.
“Uh huh! Right.” Senga laughed but then added, “Although you do make a convincing Master Tsubasa sometimes. I doubt Master Takizawa would be fooled though. If anyone knows Master Tsubasa, it would be him, right?”
Nikaido snorted, “Uh huh. I bet they know each other really well. In many, many ways. Anyways, enough about them! I’m back! You’re here! We’re together again!”
They shared a short hug. A soft sigh escaped Senga at the physical contact. He had missed Nikaido just as much as the other had missed him, or maybe even more. The two of them had been together since the very beginning. It had become more than just friendship recently, when both of them had entered their adulthood officially.
“I was thinking about the past earlier. About the day when I came here,” Senga told Nikaido as the two continued their way together. “And I was just getting to the part where I met you for the first time. Do you remember?”
“Of course I remember that day. How could I not?” Nikaido retorted and crossed his arms, offended.
Laughing, Senga replied, “I’m sorry for doubting you.”
Nikaido made a face for a moment but then his features softened and his eyes turned gentle as he looked at Senga and then reached over to grab the other’s hand. “I would never forget. It’s burned into my memory forever. It’s part of my soul. You’re part of my soul.” A crackle of energy seemed to flare up around him for a second, like a green spark.
Squeezing Nikaido’s hand, Senga nodded. His soul echoed Nikaido’s, his spark blue instead of green.
They remained like that for a few moments before stepping away from each other again, slightly. “Alright, let’s get going or somebody’s going to have our asses. If we’re lucky, it’s going to be Kitayama or Iida but if we’re not, and I have the feeling we won’t be very lucky if we continue at this rate, it will probably be either Fujigaya or Yokoo,” Nikaido pulled and dragged Senga along down the hall. “And I’ve had enough of getting scolded by Yokoo for the time being!”
The pair of them soon passed the first members of the honor guard, lining the entrance area to Takizawa’s quarters. They could easily be distinguished from everyone else, wearing ice-blue uniforms and weapons that looked like they had been made from the most pristine white snow. Unofficially the inhabitants of the Ghayi, including Takizawa, affectionately called them the Snowman Guard.
Senga and Nikaido, too, were wearing uniforms today. They consisted mostly of an elaborate black scarf, artistically draped around their shoulders and fastened with silver clasps and a palm-sized silver brooch.
“I hate wearing this,” Nikaido grumbled and tugged on the scarf to adjust its position. “Thank god we don’t have to wear it all the time.”
“It’s better than what we used to wear when we first started though, right?” Senga offered, smiling.
“Well,” Nikaido paused for a moment to think and then nodded. “Yeah.”
They reached their destination, a large heavy wooden door. Without request, the two guard members flanking it opened it for them and they stepped inside the room beyond - the room housing the most powerful man of the Ghayi: Takizawa Hideaki.
~*~
A few hours earlier, other people had also received the notice from Takizawa to gather in the other’s office. Yokoo Wataru pushed the thick curtain aside that hid the entrance to the higher meditation chambers. He was looking for someone. Someone he knew frequented these chambers as opposed to the one usually used by disciples or other residents of the Ghayi.
“Kyohei?” he asked into the darkness. The air around him was thick with incense and he could feel the tingling of his soul on his skin and that of another. He could feel his soul being caressed. A smile tugged on his lips. The one he was looking for was definitely here. “Where are you?” he stepped further into the room and looked around, with all of his senses and not just his eyes.
His soul was drawn to somewhere to his right, a white twinkle. The same little twinkling that had led him to the Ghayi years and years ago. Back then he had recognized it only subconsciously. Now, he was able to tell that special twinkling apart from almost countless others. Sure enough, his hands touched skin just a few seconds later. “There you are.”
Iida Kyohei’s eyes opened and for a brief moment, the pupils glowed in a soft greyish-white before turning dark brown again and thus vanishing in the darkness of their surroundings. A smile tugged on the male’s lips. “Wataru!” he rose to face the other properly. “What brings you here? Usually you wait until I come back to my room at least, don’t you? You know my morning routine better than anyone after all and how much I value this time here.”
“I may be patient but other people are not. And I may know your morning routine but others do not,” Yokoo chuckled softly. “We’re being summoned. Since nobody else was able to find you, I offered to bring you with me when I went. Or at least to tell you in time.”
“Summoned? That means Takizawa himself wants to talk to us?” Iida frowned. His frown darkened when he felt the other handing him the uniform and the heavy silver brooch with the inlaid white stone.
Yokoo nodded, “Looks like it.”
“He summoned everyone right as they came back, too. This might be serious,” Iida fell into step with Yokoo as the pair walked out of the chamber again. “Maybe that’s why my soul seemed to be so restless lately. I thought it was because you were away but maybe it was more than that after all.” His eyes saddened a little.
“You know you are not useless, Kyohei. Just because your soul doesn’t work in the same way as ours and you rarely ever come out with us it doesn’t mean we see you as anything or anyone less. Anyone deserving any less respect,” he looked at the other. “You’re great in your own way. And we need you. I need you here. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Smiling, Iida looked back at his friend, “You always find the right words, don’t you, Wataru?”
“That’s because I know you. Body, mind and soul,” Yokoo’s smile was warm, just like his embrace.
“You were gone for a while again this time, weren’t you?” Iida asked softly as the pair of them walked through the halls together. “At least physically,” he smiled. “I could feel you every time I closed my eyes. It’s so reassuring to know you’re still there, still here.” He blinked when they walked into a corridor which was flooded by sunlight. Iida’s eyes hadn’t completely adjusted to the light again yet.
Pulling the other’s hood up, Yokoo replied, “At least one of us can rest assured. Nikaido seemed restless, not used to this distance quite yet. You always know and I always wonder. That makes it easier for you.”
“Knowing and being unable to act and not knowing but being able to do something, I wonder which of the two is the worse, my old friend,” Iida mused.
Sighing, the taller male of the two commented, “Both. There is always a trade-off.” His dark hair fell into his face as he moved his head again.
“I’m sure there is more to your soul, Kyohei. We’ll just have to find out,” Yokoo looked at the other. He stood in front of Iida to shield the other from the sunlight. “Master Takizawa said that the passive characteristics of the soul have not yet been fully explored and researched, a lot of potential still lies within it. You are the first who possesses such a strong soul with passive properties. The other passives do not possess the same abilities you do.”
Iida laughed softly. “You speak from experience, don’t you? Discovering one’s full potential takes a while, just like growing up has taken some of us a longer time than others?”
“That’s right. I’m taller than you now,” Yokoo grinned, his single ‘fang’ showing slightly.
“So many things about us seem to have changed, we seem to have changed and yet we still are the same,” Iida continued to walk and adjusted the position of his hood. “I used to do the reassuring and the comforting and you used to be such a thickheaded little brat. I guess that changed when you got yourself another, equally thickheaded little brat to take care of.” He paused and smiled. “Speaking of him, how is Nikaido doing? Are you feeling all proud of his progress still? Although you are now equals?”
“I shall give the question and answer back to you, Kyohei. How do you feel about Miyata now?” Yokoo answered with a question.
“Touché,” Iida chuckled and the two continued their way smiling until something rocked the earth underneath their feat. Sighing, Iida wondered aloud, “They must be at it again.”
“Aren’t they always?” Yokoo rolled his eyes. “Let’s see to it that they do not kill each other.”
“Because we sure cannot keep them from at least trying to do so,” Iida nodded and the pair changed their direction, walking down a few sets of stairs on the side instead of continuing forward towards their intended destination.
They did not have to search for long until they found the source of the rocking. It got stronger the closer they came to the large markings on a stone wall, far below the main buildings on the surface. It was the entrance to a sealed room. Battle cries could be heard from the other side of it.
To be continued...
Fandom: Johnny's & Associates
Pairings/Characters: Senga Kento, Nikaido Takashi, Yokoo Wataru, Iida Kyohei, others mentioned
Rating: PG
Warnings: None really...except, this is AU
Disclaimer: Not mine. Owned by J&A. The AU is mine though as well as aymagun's.
A/N: Don't expect me to continue at the pace of a chapter a day. I just wrote ahead a little bit so I'm posting for the time being. Current total word-count is 5785 words including all the quotes I've been putting in at the beginning of the chapters.
“A system is in equilibrium when the forces constituting it are arranged in such a way as to compensate each other, like two weights pulling at the arms of a pair of scales.”
(- Rudolf Arnheim)
Somebody smacked him on the back none too gently. “What are you standing here and spacing out for? Looking all serious, too! I didn’t leave you like this! Snap out of it!”
“Nikaido!” he turned and smiled at his most trusted friend’s familiar face. The smile soon turned into a pout though. “You’re back? When did you arrive? You didn’t even tell me you were going to be back!”
Raising his hands defensively, Nikaido Takashi replied, “I was going to! We came back sooner than we thought we would though and before I could as much as sleep, the summons came. I was only able to drop off my bag - and Yokoo made sure I did not just toss it into my room like I wanted to, so that took time. Anyways, here I am. I was looking for you in your room but you were already gone.”
Nikaido looked at Senga for another moment as if the other were thinking about something very hard for a moment. Apparently he decided against doing or saying whatever it had been he had been thinking about and he turned to continue walking towards he direction Senga had chosen earlier. They moved down one of the corridors, further into the building.
“This better be super important, or I’ll kick his ass,” Nikaido broke the silence again after only a few moments of silence between them.
“You wouldn’t!” Senga had to hide his grin, knowing full well that the other totally would.
Nikaido hummed softly, “I could ask Tsubasa to do it for me?”
“How?”
“With my adorable disciple face?” turning towards his friend again, Nikaido gave the other his best shot at the aforementioned facial expression.
“Uh huh! Right.” Senga laughed but then added, “Although you do make a convincing Master Tsubasa sometimes. I doubt Master Takizawa would be fooled though. If anyone knows Master Tsubasa, it would be him, right?”
Nikaido snorted, “Uh huh. I bet they know each other really well. In many, many ways. Anyways, enough about them! I’m back! You’re here! We’re together again!”
They shared a short hug. A soft sigh escaped Senga at the physical contact. He had missed Nikaido just as much as the other had missed him, or maybe even more. The two of them had been together since the very beginning. It had become more than just friendship recently, when both of them had entered their adulthood officially.
“I was thinking about the past earlier. About the day when I came here,” Senga told Nikaido as the two continued their way together. “And I was just getting to the part where I met you for the first time. Do you remember?”
“Of course I remember that day. How could I not?” Nikaido retorted and crossed his arms, offended.
Laughing, Senga replied, “I’m sorry for doubting you.”
Nikaido made a face for a moment but then his features softened and his eyes turned gentle as he looked at Senga and then reached over to grab the other’s hand. “I would never forget. It’s burned into my memory forever. It’s part of my soul. You’re part of my soul.” A crackle of energy seemed to flare up around him for a second, like a green spark.
Squeezing Nikaido’s hand, Senga nodded. His soul echoed Nikaido’s, his spark blue instead of green.
They remained like that for a few moments before stepping away from each other again, slightly. “Alright, let’s get going or somebody’s going to have our asses. If we’re lucky, it’s going to be Kitayama or Iida but if we’re not, and I have the feeling we won’t be very lucky if we continue at this rate, it will probably be either Fujigaya or Yokoo,” Nikaido pulled and dragged Senga along down the hall. “And I’ve had enough of getting scolded by Yokoo for the time being!”
The pair of them soon passed the first members of the honor guard, lining the entrance area to Takizawa’s quarters. They could easily be distinguished from everyone else, wearing ice-blue uniforms and weapons that looked like they had been made from the most pristine white snow. Unofficially the inhabitants of the Ghayi, including Takizawa, affectionately called them the Snowman Guard.
Senga and Nikaido, too, were wearing uniforms today. They consisted mostly of an elaborate black scarf, artistically draped around their shoulders and fastened with silver clasps and a palm-sized silver brooch.
“I hate wearing this,” Nikaido grumbled and tugged on the scarf to adjust its position. “Thank god we don’t have to wear it all the time.”
“It’s better than what we used to wear when we first started though, right?” Senga offered, smiling.
“Well,” Nikaido paused for a moment to think and then nodded. “Yeah.”
They reached their destination, a large heavy wooden door. Without request, the two guard members flanking it opened it for them and they stepped inside the room beyond - the room housing the most powerful man of the Ghayi: Takizawa Hideaki.
~*~
A few hours earlier, other people had also received the notice from Takizawa to gather in the other’s office. Yokoo Wataru pushed the thick curtain aside that hid the entrance to the higher meditation chambers. He was looking for someone. Someone he knew frequented these chambers as opposed to the one usually used by disciples or other residents of the Ghayi.
“Kyohei?” he asked into the darkness. The air around him was thick with incense and he could feel the tingling of his soul on his skin and that of another. He could feel his soul being caressed. A smile tugged on his lips. The one he was looking for was definitely here. “Where are you?” he stepped further into the room and looked around, with all of his senses and not just his eyes.
His soul was drawn to somewhere to his right, a white twinkle. The same little twinkling that had led him to the Ghayi years and years ago. Back then he had recognized it only subconsciously. Now, he was able to tell that special twinkling apart from almost countless others. Sure enough, his hands touched skin just a few seconds later. “There you are.”
Iida Kyohei’s eyes opened and for a brief moment, the pupils glowed in a soft greyish-white before turning dark brown again and thus vanishing in the darkness of their surroundings. A smile tugged on the male’s lips. “Wataru!” he rose to face the other properly. “What brings you here? Usually you wait until I come back to my room at least, don’t you? You know my morning routine better than anyone after all and how much I value this time here.”
“I may be patient but other people are not. And I may know your morning routine but others do not,” Yokoo chuckled softly. “We’re being summoned. Since nobody else was able to find you, I offered to bring you with me when I went. Or at least to tell you in time.”
“Summoned? That means Takizawa himself wants to talk to us?” Iida frowned. His frown darkened when he felt the other handing him the uniform and the heavy silver brooch with the inlaid white stone.
Yokoo nodded, “Looks like it.”
“He summoned everyone right as they came back, too. This might be serious,” Iida fell into step with Yokoo as the pair walked out of the chamber again. “Maybe that’s why my soul seemed to be so restless lately. I thought it was because you were away but maybe it was more than that after all.” His eyes saddened a little.
“You know you are not useless, Kyohei. Just because your soul doesn’t work in the same way as ours and you rarely ever come out with us it doesn’t mean we see you as anything or anyone less. Anyone deserving any less respect,” he looked at the other. “You’re great in your own way. And we need you. I need you here. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Smiling, Iida looked back at his friend, “You always find the right words, don’t you, Wataru?”
“That’s because I know you. Body, mind and soul,” Yokoo’s smile was warm, just like his embrace.
“You were gone for a while again this time, weren’t you?” Iida asked softly as the pair of them walked through the halls together. “At least physically,” he smiled. “I could feel you every time I closed my eyes. It’s so reassuring to know you’re still there, still here.” He blinked when they walked into a corridor which was flooded by sunlight. Iida’s eyes hadn’t completely adjusted to the light again yet.
Pulling the other’s hood up, Yokoo replied, “At least one of us can rest assured. Nikaido seemed restless, not used to this distance quite yet. You always know and I always wonder. That makes it easier for you.”
“Knowing and being unable to act and not knowing but being able to do something, I wonder which of the two is the worse, my old friend,” Iida mused.
Sighing, the taller male of the two commented, “Both. There is always a trade-off.” His dark hair fell into his face as he moved his head again.
“I’m sure there is more to your soul, Kyohei. We’ll just have to find out,” Yokoo looked at the other. He stood in front of Iida to shield the other from the sunlight. “Master Takizawa said that the passive characteristics of the soul have not yet been fully explored and researched, a lot of potential still lies within it. You are the first who possesses such a strong soul with passive properties. The other passives do not possess the same abilities you do.”
Iida laughed softly. “You speak from experience, don’t you? Discovering one’s full potential takes a while, just like growing up has taken some of us a longer time than others?”
“That’s right. I’m taller than you now,” Yokoo grinned, his single ‘fang’ showing slightly.
“So many things about us seem to have changed, we seem to have changed and yet we still are the same,” Iida continued to walk and adjusted the position of his hood. “I used to do the reassuring and the comforting and you used to be such a thickheaded little brat. I guess that changed when you got yourself another, equally thickheaded little brat to take care of.” He paused and smiled. “Speaking of him, how is Nikaido doing? Are you feeling all proud of his progress still? Although you are now equals?”
“I shall give the question and answer back to you, Kyohei. How do you feel about Miyata now?” Yokoo answered with a question.
“Touché,” Iida chuckled and the two continued their way smiling until something rocked the earth underneath their feat. Sighing, Iida wondered aloud, “They must be at it again.”
“Aren’t they always?” Yokoo rolled his eyes. “Let’s see to it that they do not kill each other.”
“Because we sure cannot keep them from at least trying to do so,” Iida nodded and the pair changed their direction, walking down a few sets of stairs on the side instead of continuing forward towards their intended destination.
They did not have to search for long until they found the source of the rocking. It got stronger the closer they came to the large markings on a stone wall, far below the main buildings on the surface. It was the entrance to a sealed room. Battle cries could be heard from the other side of it.
To be continued...