Elementals AU drabble - Ki's story
Very long drabble, sorry about that. I have some more of this AU but I never posted anything.
Hunting people down had never been something Kitayama wanted to do, but it was the only thing he could do that didn’t require too much effort on his part and that could guarantee him a place in the society, although he was hanging solely at its margins.
He used to spend his days tracking small criminals down and bringing them to the police to receive his reward. He didn’t particularly like money as well as he didn’t notably like his work, he preferred thinking that he enjoyed the thrill of the action during his hunts. Not that his life was actually that thrilling, since most of times he just had to enter a filthy tavern in the slums to find some drunken scum with a price on his head and more often than not there wasn’t even need to fight that much to make them follow him compliantly. Of course at first everyone tried to escape, but Kitayama was fast and strong, those thugs couldn’t stand a chance against him.
The city was huge and heavy with all its vertical buildings that pierced the sky like dark daggers and the large amount of grey concrete and metal was oppressive. The people all wore the same neutral colours and walked on the streets like shadows with no willpower or ideas. Smiling was the hardest thing to do surrounded as they were, by the harshness of the smoke coming from the factories. Communication was easy with the help of modern devices, but still, even the simplest human relationship was impossible to establish if people didn’t wish to get involved with each other.
Walking among the ghostly crowd, Kitayama thought about the district in the suburbs he was raised in and a veil of melancholy descended over his eyes. He wondered if there were still kids playing in that city, warming up the air with their laughter and running around ignoring their parents yelling at them.
He walked across a disused bridge and reached a deserted area of abandoned wrecks and huts along the muddy river. That was the perfect place to go if one wished not to be seen by others, but he still needed to be careful, so he quickly scanned the area for any suspicious movements. There was no wind and no sounds could be heard apart from the small waves splashing gently on the pebbles of the foreshore and the far rumbling of the city.
Kitayama held up a hand in front of him, palm facing upward. He focused his thoughts on it and suddenly a glimmering flame formed, hovering over his palm. Kitayama bit his lips and frowned, the small flame grew bigger and became a refulgent ball of fire, rotating in front of Kitayama’s face. He silently stared at it, discovering, in its colour gradations, something that seemed more powerful compared to any fire he had ever seen. Neither engines fires nor factory fires could compare to it. There was something alive in the way the fire writhed on his hand.
A scream filled the air. The flame Kitayama was holding disappeared in thin air and he quickly turned in the direction of the scream. He ran behind the wreck of an old battleship, laying with half of its keel still in the water, to find the source of the scream.
What was he thinking, doing something like that in the light of the day? The owner of the screaming voice might have seen him... he might tell someone. He could lose his job or worse, his freedom. And then he saw a guy reversed on the shore, he was soaked and small waves were brushing him like they were doing on the battleship rusty metal body.
“Are you ok?” asked Kitayama running to seize his shoulders to pull him up and away from the water.
The guy choked and coughed then opened his eyes. Fear and anger showed up on his face and as he shouted “Don’t touch me!” a wall of water splashed between him and Kitayama that could only stare in disbelief.
“Are you an elemental?”
The guy was on his knees, panting. He didn’t seem to have any energy left but he kept on staring at Kitayama with resentful eyes.
“You’re one of them. You’re a bounty hunter!” the guy stopped to catch his breath. “What did you do to Wataru? Where is he?”
“Who is he? I don’t know...” then suddenly the image of a face sprung up from his memory. “Ah! You mean that guy... the elemental everyone is looking for? Yokoo Wataru?”
“Where is he?” shouted again the guy trying to stand up but failing.
“Sorry, I don’t hunt illegal elementals. Not my cup of tea.” and I am one of them thought Kitayama.
The guy frowned and tried to stand up again just to fall miserably on his knees.
“Now, if you promise not to cast those waves against me again, I can help you stand up. I see you’re injured, and soaked. You must be freezing.”
“Why would I trust you?!” yelled the guy, but he didn’t move when Kitayama approached him and held an hand out to help him stand up, he just waited there, clutching at his shoulder, and started to shiver from the cold.
“My name is Kitayama Hiromitsu. I’m a bounty hunter, but I don’t hunt elementals. And anyway I don’t remember seeing your face on the list. You might be a legal elemental. And it’s against my code to catch someone who is hurt and can’t even stand on his own.”
“I can stand on my own!” the guy stood up forcefully but a second later he fell into Kitayama’s arms, spread open, ready to catch him.
Kitayama dragged him to a sheltered place, covered him with his cape and stared at him while shivering.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice if I don’t want you to freeze to death.”
Kitayama moved his hand quickly and a comforting fire appeared on the small heap of junk that was gathered between them. Taisuke looked at him, his mistrust starting to fade from his face.
“Are you an elemental too?”
“And an illegal one too. No one knows. Please don’t tell.” smiled Kitayama.
“Are you stupid or what? Showing your powers to a complete stranger!”
“I felt that I could trust you. Maybe because you are the first elemental I’ve ever seen from so close before?”
“Tsk. It’s not like you can trust any elemental...” muttered the guy.
“What’s your name?”
“Do you want to check if I’m on the wanted people list? ”
“I just want to know your name. But if you don’t trust me after I’ve told you my biggest secret...”
“Fujigaya Taisuke. That’s my name. You won’t find it on the list.”
“I wasn’t even going to look for it...” sulked Kitayama. “So... what happened to you?”
Fujigaya kept on staring sideways. “Do you have any food?”
Kitayama searched his bag and found the rest of his own lunch. “I didn’t finish eating it. You are lucky, usually I eat even the smallest crumbs. It’s not much but...”
“I’ll have it if you don’t mind.” Fujigaya held his hands out to take the box, but Kitayama didn’t pass it.
“Wait!”
“Wait what? You don’t want to share?” said Fujigaya sounding annoyed.
“Now it’s ready!” Kitayama passed the box to Fujigaya and to his surprise the box was warm and so were the leftovers inside.
“A warm meal is the best isn’t it?”
“It’s just curry.” commented Fujigaya taking a spoonful of rice covered in thick brownish sauce.
“Give it back if you don’t like it!” said Kitayama pouting.
“Too late. I finished. Even if it wasn’t the best, it gave me back energies.”
“You...” mumbled Kitayama trying to think of a rude enough adjective to add colour to the sentence.
“So what else can you do with those flames of yours aside from heating up lunchboxes?” asked Fujigaya smirking.
“I can do lots of things! I could use those to fight. I just never... you know how it is, once you show you have those elemental powers you are forced to register with the government. And no one really know what happened to those who did.”
“I think you don’t want to know.”
Kitayama was feeling uneasy. “I think I want to know actually. They always tell us that everything runs smoothly, that they are working for our safety. And I believed them until...”
“Until you found out you were an elemental.”
Kitayama nodded. "What is possibly wrong with elementals? Why do they need to control them... Us?"
“Wataru? Can you hear me? You’re around here, aren’t you?” called Fujigaya.
A thin and tall figure appeared from behind one of the huts.
“Looks like we found another.” said Fujigaya to the newcomer.
Kitayama stood up, confused. “You are...? What’s the meaning of this?”
“Sorry about that.” said Yokoo smiling kindly. “We have something to tell you. It won’t be pleasant, but please listen till the end.”
“What is that?”
“Actually we’ve been after you for a while. We knew you were an elemental.”
“What?! Are you stalking me?” asked Kitayama in disbelief.
“Well... not really, let’s say that we are protecting you in a way. You’ve been really reckless going around the place using your powers.”
“But I’ve always checked there was no one around when I did it!” protested Kitayama.
“Kitayama. There is always someone around.” said Yokoo serious. “You can’t easily trust people in this world. And people are not the only thing watching you. That’s why we needed to check if you were reliable. So we sent Fujigaya.”
“You’re not injured! You tricked me!” yelled Kitayama.
“That was fun.” said Fujigaya grinning while Kitayama was looking at him like he wanted to hurt him for real.
“But why? Why are you following me? What do you want?”
“You are in a delicate position right now. You are an elemental, but you don’t want to register with the government. Also you want to use your powers. But you know you can’t. What will you do from now on?”
Kitayama just stared at him slightly annoyed by the fact that Yokoo knew so much about him. “I don’t know. I never worried too much about this...”
“How irresponsible!” commented Fujigaya getting another irritated look in exchange.
“Also, fire elementals are the most wanted from the government. You know what they use them for? It has nothing to do with helping people as they make you believe.” continued Yokoo.
“They ‘use’ elementals? I thought registered elementals were working to help the people! To keep the air and waters clean and stuff like that!” said Kitayama looking puzzled.
“That’s what they make you believe. You think it’s their choice to help, and you think they are doing something helpful, when many of them just become war machines in the hands of the government. Or just mere slaves until they drain all of their energies out.”
“You were right, this is not pleasant.” whispered Kitayama. He thought about the elementals that always appeared in government’s advertising. They made rain fall on deserts or blew away clouds of toxic rain, but their smiles looked as fake as those of any model advertising a product. “I’ve always thought there was something wrong in the whole story. It’s like the government isn’t telling us enough. That’s why I chose not to register.”
“Many people chose not to, but they were forced.” said Fujigaya exchanging a glance with Yokoo.
“What if I tell you there is a group of unregistered elementals whose purpose is to discover more about their powers? Would you be interested in that?” continued Yokoo.
Kitayama actually wanted to know more about his powers. He thought again about his boring, lonely life and the fact that he might be found by the government any time soon. He didn’t know those people and he didn’t like the way they tricked him, but he could understand the difficult situation in which they lived as unregistered elementals. Plus he was a bounty hunter and hunters were famous for their lack of soul, he couldn’t complain much about the fact they didn’t trust him.
“I am curious, I might want to know more about this.” answered Kitayama.
Yokoo smiled and nodded. “We’ll tell you, but first I want you to show us what you can do in a fight!”
Next is virtuoussin85
Hunting people down had never been something Kitayama wanted to do, but it was the only thing he could do that didn’t require too much effort on his part and that could guarantee him a place in the society, although he was hanging solely at its margins.
He used to spend his days tracking small criminals down and bringing them to the police to receive his reward. He didn’t particularly like money as well as he didn’t notably like his work, he preferred thinking that he enjoyed the thrill of the action during his hunts. Not that his life was actually that thrilling, since most of times he just had to enter a filthy tavern in the slums to find some drunken scum with a price on his head and more often than not there wasn’t even need to fight that much to make them follow him compliantly. Of course at first everyone tried to escape, but Kitayama was fast and strong, those thugs couldn’t stand a chance against him.
The city was huge and heavy with all its vertical buildings that pierced the sky like dark daggers and the large amount of grey concrete and metal was oppressive. The people all wore the same neutral colours and walked on the streets like shadows with no willpower or ideas. Smiling was the hardest thing to do surrounded as they were, by the harshness of the smoke coming from the factories. Communication was easy with the help of modern devices, but still, even the simplest human relationship was impossible to establish if people didn’t wish to get involved with each other.
Walking among the ghostly crowd, Kitayama thought about the district in the suburbs he was raised in and a veil of melancholy descended over his eyes. He wondered if there were still kids playing in that city, warming up the air with their laughter and running around ignoring their parents yelling at them.
He walked across a disused bridge and reached a deserted area of abandoned wrecks and huts along the muddy river. That was the perfect place to go if one wished not to be seen by others, but he still needed to be careful, so he quickly scanned the area for any suspicious movements. There was no wind and no sounds could be heard apart from the small waves splashing gently on the pebbles of the foreshore and the far rumbling of the city.
Kitayama held up a hand in front of him, palm facing upward. He focused his thoughts on it and suddenly a glimmering flame formed, hovering over his palm. Kitayama bit his lips and frowned, the small flame grew bigger and became a refulgent ball of fire, rotating in front of Kitayama’s face. He silently stared at it, discovering, in its colour gradations, something that seemed more powerful compared to any fire he had ever seen. Neither engines fires nor factory fires could compare to it. There was something alive in the way the fire writhed on his hand.
A scream filled the air. The flame Kitayama was holding disappeared in thin air and he quickly turned in the direction of the scream. He ran behind the wreck of an old battleship, laying with half of its keel still in the water, to find the source of the scream.
What was he thinking, doing something like that in the light of the day? The owner of the screaming voice might have seen him... he might tell someone. He could lose his job or worse, his freedom. And then he saw a guy reversed on the shore, he was soaked and small waves were brushing him like they were doing on the battleship rusty metal body.
“Are you ok?” asked Kitayama running to seize his shoulders to pull him up and away from the water.
The guy choked and coughed then opened his eyes. Fear and anger showed up on his face and as he shouted “Don’t touch me!” a wall of water splashed between him and Kitayama that could only stare in disbelief.
“Are you an elemental?”
The guy was on his knees, panting. He didn’t seem to have any energy left but he kept on staring at Kitayama with resentful eyes.
“You’re one of them. You’re a bounty hunter!” the guy stopped to catch his breath. “What did you do to Wataru? Where is he?”
“Who is he? I don’t know...” then suddenly the image of a face sprung up from his memory. “Ah! You mean that guy... the elemental everyone is looking for? Yokoo Wataru?”
“Where is he?” shouted again the guy trying to stand up but failing.
“Sorry, I don’t hunt illegal elementals. Not my cup of tea.” and I am one of them thought Kitayama.
The guy frowned and tried to stand up again just to fall miserably on his knees.
“Now, if you promise not to cast those waves against me again, I can help you stand up. I see you’re injured, and soaked. You must be freezing.”
“Why would I trust you?!” yelled the guy, but he didn’t move when Kitayama approached him and held an hand out to help him stand up, he just waited there, clutching at his shoulder, and started to shiver from the cold.
“My name is Kitayama Hiromitsu. I’m a bounty hunter, but I don’t hunt elementals. And anyway I don’t remember seeing your face on the list. You might be a legal elemental. And it’s against my code to catch someone who is hurt and can’t even stand on his own.”
“I can stand on my own!” the guy stood up forcefully but a second later he fell into Kitayama’s arms, spread open, ready to catch him.
Kitayama dragged him to a sheltered place, covered him with his cape and stared at him while shivering.
“Looks like I don’t have a choice if I don’t want you to freeze to death.”
Kitayama moved his hand quickly and a comforting fire appeared on the small heap of junk that was gathered between them. Taisuke looked at him, his mistrust starting to fade from his face.
“Are you an elemental too?”
“And an illegal one too. No one knows. Please don’t tell.” smiled Kitayama.
“Are you stupid or what? Showing your powers to a complete stranger!”
“I felt that I could trust you. Maybe because you are the first elemental I’ve ever seen from so close before?”
“Tsk. It’s not like you can trust any elemental...” muttered the guy.
“What’s your name?”
“Do you want to check if I’m on the wanted people list? ”
“I just want to know your name. But if you don’t trust me after I’ve told you my biggest secret...”
“Fujigaya Taisuke. That’s my name. You won’t find it on the list.”
“I wasn’t even going to look for it...” sulked Kitayama. “So... what happened to you?”
Fujigaya kept on staring sideways. “Do you have any food?”
Kitayama searched his bag and found the rest of his own lunch. “I didn’t finish eating it. You are lucky, usually I eat even the smallest crumbs. It’s not much but...”
“I’ll have it if you don’t mind.” Fujigaya held his hands out to take the box, but Kitayama didn’t pass it.
“Wait!”
“Wait what? You don’t want to share?” said Fujigaya sounding annoyed.
“Now it’s ready!” Kitayama passed the box to Fujigaya and to his surprise the box was warm and so were the leftovers inside.
“A warm meal is the best isn’t it?”
“It’s just curry.” commented Fujigaya taking a spoonful of rice covered in thick brownish sauce.
“Give it back if you don’t like it!” said Kitayama pouting.
“Too late. I finished. Even if it wasn’t the best, it gave me back energies.”
“You...” mumbled Kitayama trying to think of a rude enough adjective to add colour to the sentence.
“So what else can you do with those flames of yours aside from heating up lunchboxes?” asked Fujigaya smirking.
“I can do lots of things! I could use those to fight. I just never... you know how it is, once you show you have those elemental powers you are forced to register with the government. And no one really know what happened to those who did.”
“I think you don’t want to know.”
Kitayama was feeling uneasy. “I think I want to know actually. They always tell us that everything runs smoothly, that they are working for our safety. And I believed them until...”
“Until you found out you were an elemental.”
Kitayama nodded. "What is possibly wrong with elementals? Why do they need to control them... Us?"
“Wataru? Can you hear me? You’re around here, aren’t you?” called Fujigaya.
A thin and tall figure appeared from behind one of the huts.
“Looks like we found another.” said Fujigaya to the newcomer.
Kitayama stood up, confused. “You are...? What’s the meaning of this?”
“Sorry about that.” said Yokoo smiling kindly. “We have something to tell you. It won’t be pleasant, but please listen till the end.”
“What is that?”
“Actually we’ve been after you for a while. We knew you were an elemental.”
“What?! Are you stalking me?” asked Kitayama in disbelief.
“Well... not really, let’s say that we are protecting you in a way. You’ve been really reckless going around the place using your powers.”
“But I’ve always checked there was no one around when I did it!” protested Kitayama.
“Kitayama. There is always someone around.” said Yokoo serious. “You can’t easily trust people in this world. And people are not the only thing watching you. That’s why we needed to check if you were reliable. So we sent Fujigaya.”
“You’re not injured! You tricked me!” yelled Kitayama.
“That was fun.” said Fujigaya grinning while Kitayama was looking at him like he wanted to hurt him for real.
“But why? Why are you following me? What do you want?”
“You are in a delicate position right now. You are an elemental, but you don’t want to register with the government. Also you want to use your powers. But you know you can’t. What will you do from now on?”
Kitayama just stared at him slightly annoyed by the fact that Yokoo knew so much about him. “I don’t know. I never worried too much about this...”
“How irresponsible!” commented Fujigaya getting another irritated look in exchange.
“Also, fire elementals are the most wanted from the government. You know what they use them for? It has nothing to do with helping people as they make you believe.” continued Yokoo.
“They ‘use’ elementals? I thought registered elementals were working to help the people! To keep the air and waters clean and stuff like that!” said Kitayama looking puzzled.
“That’s what they make you believe. You think it’s their choice to help, and you think they are doing something helpful, when many of them just become war machines in the hands of the government. Or just mere slaves until they drain all of their energies out.”
“You were right, this is not pleasant.” whispered Kitayama. He thought about the elementals that always appeared in government’s advertising. They made rain fall on deserts or blew away clouds of toxic rain, but their smiles looked as fake as those of any model advertising a product. “I’ve always thought there was something wrong in the whole story. It’s like the government isn’t telling us enough. That’s why I chose not to register.”
“Many people chose not to, but they were forced.” said Fujigaya exchanging a glance with Yokoo.
“What if I tell you there is a group of unregistered elementals whose purpose is to discover more about their powers? Would you be interested in that?” continued Yokoo.
Kitayama actually wanted to know more about his powers. He thought again about his boring, lonely life and the fact that he might be found by the government any time soon. He didn’t know those people and he didn’t like the way they tricked him, but he could understand the difficult situation in which they lived as unregistered elementals. Plus he was a bounty hunter and hunters were famous for their lack of soul, he couldn’t complain much about the fact they didn’t trust him.
“I am curious, I might want to know more about this.” answered Kitayama.
Yokoo smiled and nodded. “We’ll tell you, but first I want you to show us what you can do in a fight!”
Next is virtuoussin85