The Alliance of the Storm - Chapter 1
Title: The Alliance of the Storm 
Pairings: Aiba/Ohno, Sakumoto, Touma/Nino
Genre: AU, action, romance
Summary: Finally able to escape his imperious grandfather's reach, Ohno finds himself living with Storm, a team of highly skilled wizards who are fighting to keep a war from breaking out across the magical world.
Chapter One: In which the story begins
Whenever Jun finds Aiba in the kitchen, his clean and perfectly organized kitchen, he automatically whips out his wand and spells Aiba right down into the enthusiastic man’s Potions Chamber in the basement (along with whatever goop his friend was cooking up at the time).
The irritated cook didn't stop to ask questions because he’d long since gotten tired of hearing excuses.
Besides, nothing edible ever seemed to come from Aiba's attempts.
This morning was no different. Jun's nose was assaulted by a stench that smelled disturbingly like natto mixed with pumpkin and sardines as he roughly shoved the sliding door to the kitchen open. Already in a foul mood since he hadn't seen Sho, who was working abroad all week, a black look was stuck on his face as Jun pulled out his wand from the back pocket of his jeans in a slow predatory motion and muttered, "Eversium."
Startled by the low voice behind him, Aiba’s head shot up from where he’d been bent over a bubbling pot on the old stove, but before the experimenter could even turn around, he suddenly disappeared, banished from the kitchen by Jun’s spell. Of course, his "breakfast" followed him downstairs with a pop.
There was a surprised squawk that echoed up the basement stairs in the hallway a second later that made Matsumoto smirk. Although he usually let his old friend get away with a lot, especially when faced with Aiba's all-powerful pout of sadness, this week had been rough on him. Sho had been sent away with little explanation, and Jun couldn't help but feel uneasy as hell when no word came from the other wizard day after day.
Realizing he was getting stuck in his never-ending loop of worries again, Jun sighed angrily and ran a hand through his wavy dark hair. Mentally kicking himself, he tried to refocus his attention on the tasks that he could actually do something about.
Well, at least he should be able to work in peace for a while. Nino was still asleep after all, and Aiba knew better than to come upstairs to bother him.
Jun shoved up the long sleeves of his favorite “Fashion God” shirt and began making a real breakfast, prodding a frying pan and a large pot onto the stove with his wand.
His friends often joked that Matsumoto Jun could create a fantastic dish out of anything, but he couldn't make potions to save his life. Although the youngest wizard was a top class dueler and strategist from the famous Matsumoto Clan, as soon as you put him in front of a cauldron with a list of ingredients and instructions, he developed a twitch above his eye.
They said it was because he was a perfectionist. If even one step of the potion didn't come out perfectly, he'd wipe everything clean to start over.
In cooking at least, Jun was of the opinion that there was room for improvisation and creativity.
With his concentration split between directing his wand at various utensils to get some miso soup stewing and a few fish grilling, the cook didn't hear the fireplace flare up in the adjacent common room.
Sakurai Sho stumbled out of the stone hearth, alternating between brushing ash off his cloak and coughing when the dust flew up in his face. He blinked tiredly at the empty plush chairs that greeted him.
Sometimes he hated his job. The Department of International Magical Cooperation could be a pain in the ass when the Minister suddenly demanded you go prevent two magical countries from starting a war. With no background information whatsoever.
Being the heir for the Sakurai Clan, Sho had always been expected to make something of himself by both his family and the rest of the Magical World. The Sakurai line was a long one, full of exemplary politicians and guardians.
As his relatives claimed, Sho had done a fine job so far, working alongside many famous wizards to maintain peace. But in his opinion, the Ministry had always been a bit behind on the times.
They hadn't even realized that there was something huge brewing right under their noses.
Sho, along with his three old school friends, had already begun to take measures to fight against it. The headquarters for Storm, a group of highly skilled wizards and witches who wished to do what they could to protect the Magical and Muggle Worlds, was none other than this mansion, Sakurai Yakata.
As his family's heir, he'd been given the traditional Japanese manor to do with whatever he pleased. During his school years, he'd had no concrete plans of what exactly to do with the large building, other than make a few altercations for convenience’s sake, but after he and his friends had gotten the serious proposal to join Storm, Sho had suggested Sakurai Yakata as a possible headquarters. Thus, to protect the manor, he'd made it Unplottable with Jun as the Secret Keeper. His decision had everything to do with the fact that he trusted his husband more than anything in the world.
Sho had always been close to Jun since they’d both been very young, as their families were two of the oldest magically pureblood lines in Japan. The boys had gone to the same school, where they also met Aiba and Nino, attended the same Quidditch matches, and took the same Dueling Lessons. Their adventures only increased in frequency as they grew older.
Jun’s mother and father wanted him to associate with the “right crowd”, the purebloods of the Wizarding World, so they encouraged having a good relationship with Sakurai Sho, but Jun’s father sneered at his son’s choice to befriend the Muggle-born Ninomiya. Sho had supported Jun through the many fights he’d had with his too-proud father. Even now, when father and son were living apart, they still weren’t on good terms with one another.
Sho’s family was nearly the opposite. They were only too happy to let their children make their own decisions, which included Sho’s choice to marry Jun.
By ten, Sho already knew he couldn’t live life without the other boy. He'd proposed right then, on a chilly winter day when the boys were cuddling together in front of the fireplace after a fierce snowball fight. Blushing from the cold and embarrassment, Jun had smiled and said he felt the same.
And they'd kept their simple promise, ten years later. It had been a small ceremony, with only a few friends, Sho's family, and Jun's sister attending. Jun's mother and father didn't know about their union, and they never would, if Jun and Sho could help it.
No doubt his father would scoff at the homosexual marriage, even though the rest of the Magical World had always accepted such an arrangement. It was more a matter of keeping the family name alive than "true love" to the old man.
And there was a lot more than just their marriage that they were keeping from the Matsumoto family leader. He didn't know his son had been scouted by Kimura Takuya, the Head of Storm, to add his combat and strategic skills to the group. He didn't know that Jun had agreed. And he didn't know Jun was living with his husband in Storm’s headquarters, along with Storm members Aiba and Nino, who'd later been joined by Storm's spy, Ikuta Touma.
Although the large mansion had three floors and a huge basement, the five men always seemed to run into one another somewhere, even more so when the members that didn't live in the manor came by for meetings or to visit. Sho's parents were such people. They were also a part of Storm, but had moved to a separate house with their two other children to give Sho and Jun a bit of privacy.
Wondering where his adorable husband was, Sho fumbled with the clasp on his cloak and dumped it on a chair, shuffling to the sliding door that led to the kitchen on autopilot. He was hungry. Really hungry.
Pushing the door open, Sho saw his husband's back facing him as the cook was hunched over a cutting board, chopping carrots with a bit more force than necessary.
Wincing when a loud thunk of knife hitting wood echoed through the room, Sho was sort of surprised there was no evidence of exploded glass shards from any dishes, what with the waves of magic that were sure to be rolling off of Jun due to his aggravation. Sho had been witness to such fits of unrestrained spells when his lover lost control of his emotions before.
Smiling softly, he knew what needed to be done. And thankfully it wasn’t a difficult task. He carefully snuck up behind Jun and slid his arms around the irritated man's waist.
Jun dropped his knife in surprise, gasped, and jerked his head to look over his shoulder, a smile of his own blooming. He turned around in the embrace and whispered reverently, "Sho."
"Hi." Sho brought a hand up to Jun's cheek, then kissed his husband, eager to re-explore the mouth he was so familiar with. Jun was only happy to accommodate, tilting his head and pulling Sho's hips closer. Damn, he'd missed him.
Panting when they both pulled back from lack of air, Sho grinned widely. "I'm starving. Feed me."
Jun laughed, happy for the first time in days, and rolled his eyes.
The door slid open behind them and a head stuck itself in from the hallway. "Oh good. You're back," muttered a lethargic Nino as he padded into the room. "Now I can stop avoiding the kitchen." Plopping down at his usual spot, he drowsily dropped his head on the table, looking for all the world that he'd been in a battle with his bed sheets, hair sticking up in every direction and his sleeping shirt hanging off of one shoulder.
Ninomiya Kazunari was Storm's most talented wizard at weaving elaborate spells, particularly illusions, and could match Jun’s katana skills in the majority of training duels between the old friends. His reflexes were second to none, as his friends had found out during their missions. But he sucked at mornings.
It was his own fault though. He spent late nights playing those strange electronic devices the Muggles called "video games" or going over his balance books. Of course, the frugal wizard had his hands quite full with the prank shop he and Aiba started several years ago that was turning out to be quite a profit due to Nino's precision with the store's funds.
"Rough night?" Sho greeted his friend sarcastically and let Jun return to making breakfast. His husband simultaneously whipped a stream of orange juice out of his wand and directed the serving spoon to dish up four bowlfuls of rice.
"Thanks to Aiba." Nino glared at the glass of orange juice that was floating above his left ear, waiting for him to move his head so it could set itself down on the table.
"It's not like I was trying to hit your prototype! The mug was just sitting next to it!" Aiba yelled from the hallway where he’d trudged back up from the basement, having given up on his experimental breakfast.
Sure, Nino's new electrical gadget had exploded. And sure, Aiba had been the one holding the wand. But he'd been certain he was trying to perform a banishing spell.
The only problem was that Aiba wasn't very good at non-verbal magic.
Aiba Masaki, or better known as the Storm's "storm", was also from an old Wizarding family, but one that didn't have a lot of political say in the magical community. Not that Aiba Senior really cared about the Ministry anyway. Aiba's family had been world-renown chefs for about ten generations now, but when Masaki came along, they had realized that might have to change.
Their cheerful son had a tendency of experimenting with the recipes a little too much; enough that his parents made sure to encourage him to enroll in the higher level potions classes at his school. Aiba hadn't needed much persuasion.
His father still kicked him out of the house though, after the day he showed up grinning idiotically with his new experimental candy of what he called Bachi Botsu.
Being invited by Storm at the same time as his friends, Aiba had just moved right into Sakurai Yakata, and things had fallen into place after that. He joined the Potions Guild as a passionate inventor following graduation from school and also used those abilities to support his friends.
He and Nino had always had a lot in common, so it was second nature for them to go into business together. Nino grudgingly agreed to try to sell the sweets that got Aiba kicked out of his parents’ house and was appalled when the strangely flavored candies sold out in a day with backorders for more.
Later, Nino sold the rights of "Bachi Botsu" to an old English guy, who renamed them "Bernie Bott's Every Flavored Beans".
Aiba hadn't minded. He was more interested in performing his own experiments than what happened to them afterwards, which was why he didn’t mind that this morning’s health concoction hadn’t survived the transition downstairs. He’d just shrugged mentally, knowing that Jun’s cooking tasted better.
The four wizards took their seats at the kitchen table and began to wolf down breakfast. There wasn't much room for conversation until most of the plates were scraped clean, but it was clear that everyone was curious about what Sho had been up to from the glances they were sending him.
A content Nino settled back into his chair, patting his full stomach. Finally, he voiced the thoughts that had been weighing on his mind during their meal, the same suspicion his friends were sure to have. "It was a Relic, wasn't it?"
It was the only explanation why the Ministry Official had been gone so long. Sho confirmed his hunch with a nod, looking quite somber.
Relics were a multitude of magical objects scattered across the world that provided their owner's with special abilities, such as immense strength or foresight.
Magical history had been littered with international squabbles and full-scale wars over the objects. Caledfwlch, also known as Excalibur, was one of the most famous Relics, having changed hands countless times since its strongest owner, King Arthur, had passed away.
But even the strongest Relics still had a downside: they could only be utilized by a handful of wizards in the world. The Relic's full potential was brought out only by the wizard or witch who was able to "bond" with it. In the possession of any ordinary magic user, the artifacts were at best, barely effective, or at worst, fancy paperweights.
Individuals, teams, or whole countries had spent centuries searching for a particular Relic, just to find that, in the end, no one in their group could wield it.
That's where Storm came in.
In order to protect the innocent wizards and magical creatures from becoming victims of the conflicts or killed by a malicious Relic user, Storm had been formed by the powerful and well-respected wizard, Kimura. For the past several decades, their group had been competing with the Shinzetsu in a race to collect the strongest artifacts of the magical world.
The Shinzetsu were once a simple collection of disgruntled wizards that spoke out against the Japanese Ministry of Magic's attempts to form relationships between the Wizarding World and other species, including Muggles. But their indignant attitude shifted into something much more sinister when the leadership was succeeded by a young politician, identified only as Ryu.
Over the years, Ryu silently and rapidly assembled the other Clans who were also fed up with the Ministry's conduct, convincing them that collecting the Relics was the wisest course of action to make anyone take them seriously. The dark wizards' obsession spread, until the Shinzetsu's reputation had become one of cruelty and bloodshed.
No one better than Sho, who worked at the Ministry, understood how unprepared the government was for what was coming. And he also knew how devastating it would be for every person, Muggle or magical, if Ryu was allowed to do as he wished.
His latest mission had sent him to the Philippines where Sho had cautiously negotiated between two Clans that had been locked in a stalemate over the Vietnamese sword "Thuan Thien". The rumored Relic surfaced two weeks ago, with the violence beginning immediately. A large number of Ministry Officials had been sent, so in order to avoid a run-in with the government, Kimura ordered everyone but Sakurai to stay out of it.
“It was a nightmare.” Sho told Jun, rubbing his forehead tiredly. “Remind me why I thought it was a good idea to join the Ministry.”
Standing from the table, Jun valiantly tried to stifle a snicker. “You wanted to protect the world with love and justice.”
Sho nodded, grinning widely. “That’s right. I forgot.”
Chuckling, Jun waved the table clean of its dishes while Aiba and Nino caught each other’s eyes and smirked. They hadn’t heard anything but dark mutters from Jun for the past few days, so the return of a smile to their friend’s face was a relief.
“We should wait for Touma to report back from his mission,” suggested Sho as he stretched his arms above his head.
Five minutes later, he could be found sleeping like the dead, sprawled over one of the common room couches, complete with drool and snores.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The common room fireplace of Storm's headquarters flared up in a green burst as the figure of a man climbed out of the flames.
Nino perked up as he spotted his lover brushing the ash from his cloak. Ikuta Touma straightened and looked around the room, his expression grim. It was a strange look to see on the normally lighthearted man’s face.
They had known Touma for over five years now, and it was only when he had to deliver bad news that he looked so solemn.
Right from the start, the spy had rivaled Aiba in cheerfulness. The first night they’d been introduced, Touma had had a goofy grin on his face the most of the evening while chatting with Aiba, Jun, and Sho. Feigning indifference, Nino had hung back, but constantly glanced at the newcomer out of the corner of his eye.
A curious Touma had switched seats to start a proper conversation, startling the smaller wizard. He'd ignored Nino's flustered order to go back to the others, leaning closer instead. Half of their several hour exchange had been an argument, but the pair seemed to thoroughly enjoy the verbal spar.
It was obvious that with each traded word, Nino and Touma had fallen fast and hard for one another, as much opposites as soul mates.
Then came the seduction.
Though, it'd worked both ways: Touma with his boyish charm and Nino with his “Kiss me NOW” stare. Obviously struggling to control himself, Nino had casually suggested the fair-faced spy stay the night, instead of going back to pack his things like he'd planned.
The next morning, Jun entered the kitchen to see a huge smile plastered on Touma’s face as he looked over at a drowsy Nino leaning heavily on his shoulder. The cook hadn’t bothered to ask. Just like with Aiba, he was sure he didn't want to know.
But the usual high-spirited energy was currently missing from Touma as Jun ushered their tired friend to sit and conjured a mug of beer with a murmured spell. Nino pulled Touma down next to him, worried about the exhaustion radiating from the spy. Everyone leaned forward as one, eager to hear his news.
Sho set his elbows on his knees and intertwined his fingers, asking quietly, “How was it?”
Storm’s spy had been on assignment, undercover as a messenger while he tried to infiltrate a dark Clan’s manor. The security had been unbelievably difficult to get through for someone of the level he was portraying, so he'd been forced to wait for a chance to show itself while carefully playing the obedient worker. The information he'd been digging for finally presented itself in an overheard conversation between a pair of negligent guards after two long weeks of investigation.
Rubbing his hand over Nino's, Touma nodded sluggishly. “It’s confirmed. The Ohno Clan has possession of the Relic. You should move out as soon as possible. There were rumors they might try to transport it to a different safe house by this weekend.”
Sho lowered his head in thought. He wished they had more time, but things were never easy when dealing with a Relic. “Tonight then. Aiba, do you have a Concealing Mist potion?”
The Potions Master grinned. “Already finished.”
Sho smiled gratefully before turning back to Touma, who was poking around in his cloak. After a moment, he pulled out an object and handed Sho what looked like a pair of used wooden chopsticks. Sakurai took the utensils gingerly and asked, “Where does the portkey arrive at?”
“The Hokkaido Shrine. You'll already be inside the Ohno Estate's territory. Make sure you aren't spotted.”
Sho nodded and put the illegal portkey in the front pocket of his button-up shirt.
Knowing this was going to be a long night, Jun let out a deep breath before saying, “We should leave immediately then. Everyone meet in the armory room in ten minutes?”
The unanimous agreement was expressed by the members standing up to begin preparations.
Nino kissed Touma on the cheek and stood up as well. “Get some rest, okay?” It had already been decide prior to the assignment starting that the spy shouldn't be part of the retrieval squad, for fear of someone making the connection between Touma and Storm. Nino was personally grateful for that, because, although he wouldn't admit it to his boyfriend, Touma wasn't the best at magical duels.
The weary man smiled up at him, pulling the shorter wizard back down for a deeper kiss. “You better come back in one piece.”
Nino rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. “I’m not Sho, thank you very much. I can apparate myself without leaving anything behind.”
Said wizard winced at the reminder of his “splicing incident” before exiting the common room. Jun watched his husband leave, trying not to smirk. Sho either got lucky or he didn’t.
“Jun.”
He turned around at Touma’s call. “Hmm?”
“Be careful. There were more guards running around than we planned on.”
Jun said he would, but he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive at how this mission would go.
Author’s Note:
Wow. FYI, Storm has been over a year in the making. I'm totally in love with this series, but I've never been that fast of a writer. -_-; Sorry for the wait. This's going to be a long ride, so hang on!
If you have any questions about the spells, please ask. About half of these I have made up myself, so I don't doubt there are a lot of unfamiliar ones. And any comments would be appreciated!
Chapter Two: In which Aiba becomes a kidnapper
<3
Pairings: Aiba/Ohno, Sakumoto, Touma/Nino
Genre: AU, action, romance
Summary: Finally able to escape his imperious grandfather's reach, Ohno finds himself living with Storm, a team of highly skilled wizards who are fighting to keep a war from breaking out across the magical world.
Chapter One: In which the story begins
Whenever Jun finds Aiba in the kitchen, his clean and perfectly organized kitchen, he automatically whips out his wand and spells Aiba right down into the enthusiastic man’s Potions Chamber in the basement (along with whatever goop his friend was cooking up at the time).
The irritated cook didn't stop to ask questions because he’d long since gotten tired of hearing excuses.
Besides, nothing edible ever seemed to come from Aiba's attempts.
This morning was no different. Jun's nose was assaulted by a stench that smelled disturbingly like natto mixed with pumpkin and sardines as he roughly shoved the sliding door to the kitchen open. Already in a foul mood since he hadn't seen Sho, who was working abroad all week, a black look was stuck on his face as Jun pulled out his wand from the back pocket of his jeans in a slow predatory motion and muttered, "Eversium."
Startled by the low voice behind him, Aiba’s head shot up from where he’d been bent over a bubbling pot on the old stove, but before the experimenter could even turn around, he suddenly disappeared, banished from the kitchen by Jun’s spell. Of course, his "breakfast" followed him downstairs with a pop.
There was a surprised squawk that echoed up the basement stairs in the hallway a second later that made Matsumoto smirk. Although he usually let his old friend get away with a lot, especially when faced with Aiba's all-powerful pout of sadness, this week had been rough on him. Sho had been sent away with little explanation, and Jun couldn't help but feel uneasy as hell when no word came from the other wizard day after day.
Realizing he was getting stuck in his never-ending loop of worries again, Jun sighed angrily and ran a hand through his wavy dark hair. Mentally kicking himself, he tried to refocus his attention on the tasks that he could actually do something about.
Well, at least he should be able to work in peace for a while. Nino was still asleep after all, and Aiba knew better than to come upstairs to bother him.
Jun shoved up the long sleeves of his favorite “Fashion God” shirt and began making a real breakfast, prodding a frying pan and a large pot onto the stove with his wand.
His friends often joked that Matsumoto Jun could create a fantastic dish out of anything, but he couldn't make potions to save his life. Although the youngest wizard was a top class dueler and strategist from the famous Matsumoto Clan, as soon as you put him in front of a cauldron with a list of ingredients and instructions, he developed a twitch above his eye.
They said it was because he was a perfectionist. If even one step of the potion didn't come out perfectly, he'd wipe everything clean to start over.
In cooking at least, Jun was of the opinion that there was room for improvisation and creativity.
With his concentration split between directing his wand at various utensils to get some miso soup stewing and a few fish grilling, the cook didn't hear the fireplace flare up in the adjacent common room.
Sakurai Sho stumbled out of the stone hearth, alternating between brushing ash off his cloak and coughing when the dust flew up in his face. He blinked tiredly at the empty plush chairs that greeted him.
Sometimes he hated his job. The Department of International Magical Cooperation could be a pain in the ass when the Minister suddenly demanded you go prevent two magical countries from starting a war. With no background information whatsoever.
Being the heir for the Sakurai Clan, Sho had always been expected to make something of himself by both his family and the rest of the Magical World. The Sakurai line was a long one, full of exemplary politicians and guardians.
As his relatives claimed, Sho had done a fine job so far, working alongside many famous wizards to maintain peace. But in his opinion, the Ministry had always been a bit behind on the times.
They hadn't even realized that there was something huge brewing right under their noses.
Sho, along with his three old school friends, had already begun to take measures to fight against it. The headquarters for Storm, a group of highly skilled wizards and witches who wished to do what they could to protect the Magical and Muggle Worlds, was none other than this mansion, Sakurai Yakata.
As his family's heir, he'd been given the traditional Japanese manor to do with whatever he pleased. During his school years, he'd had no concrete plans of what exactly to do with the large building, other than make a few altercations for convenience’s sake, but after he and his friends had gotten the serious proposal to join Storm, Sho had suggested Sakurai Yakata as a possible headquarters. Thus, to protect the manor, he'd made it Unplottable with Jun as the Secret Keeper. His decision had everything to do with the fact that he trusted his husband more than anything in the world.
Sho had always been close to Jun since they’d both been very young, as their families were two of the oldest magically pureblood lines in Japan. The boys had gone to the same school, where they also met Aiba and Nino, attended the same Quidditch matches, and took the same Dueling Lessons. Their adventures only increased in frequency as they grew older.
Jun’s mother and father wanted him to associate with the “right crowd”, the purebloods of the Wizarding World, so they encouraged having a good relationship with Sakurai Sho, but Jun’s father sneered at his son’s choice to befriend the Muggle-born Ninomiya. Sho had supported Jun through the many fights he’d had with his too-proud father. Even now, when father and son were living apart, they still weren’t on good terms with one another.
Sho’s family was nearly the opposite. They were only too happy to let their children make their own decisions, which included Sho’s choice to marry Jun.
By ten, Sho already knew he couldn’t live life without the other boy. He'd proposed right then, on a chilly winter day when the boys were cuddling together in front of the fireplace after a fierce snowball fight. Blushing from the cold and embarrassment, Jun had smiled and said he felt the same.
And they'd kept their simple promise, ten years later. It had been a small ceremony, with only a few friends, Sho's family, and Jun's sister attending. Jun's mother and father didn't know about their union, and they never would, if Jun and Sho could help it.
No doubt his father would scoff at the homosexual marriage, even though the rest of the Magical World had always accepted such an arrangement. It was more a matter of keeping the family name alive than "true love" to the old man.
And there was a lot more than just their marriage that they were keeping from the Matsumoto family leader. He didn't know his son had been scouted by Kimura Takuya, the Head of Storm, to add his combat and strategic skills to the group. He didn't know that Jun had agreed. And he didn't know Jun was living with his husband in Storm’s headquarters, along with Storm members Aiba and Nino, who'd later been joined by Storm's spy, Ikuta Touma.
Although the large mansion had three floors and a huge basement, the five men always seemed to run into one another somewhere, even more so when the members that didn't live in the manor came by for meetings or to visit. Sho's parents were such people. They were also a part of Storm, but had moved to a separate house with their two other children to give Sho and Jun a bit of privacy.
Wondering where his adorable husband was, Sho fumbled with the clasp on his cloak and dumped it on a chair, shuffling to the sliding door that led to the kitchen on autopilot. He was hungry. Really hungry.
Pushing the door open, Sho saw his husband's back facing him as the cook was hunched over a cutting board, chopping carrots with a bit more force than necessary.
Wincing when a loud thunk of knife hitting wood echoed through the room, Sho was sort of surprised there was no evidence of exploded glass shards from any dishes, what with the waves of magic that were sure to be rolling off of Jun due to his aggravation. Sho had been witness to such fits of unrestrained spells when his lover lost control of his emotions before.
Smiling softly, he knew what needed to be done. And thankfully it wasn’t a difficult task. He carefully snuck up behind Jun and slid his arms around the irritated man's waist.
Jun dropped his knife in surprise, gasped, and jerked his head to look over his shoulder, a smile of his own blooming. He turned around in the embrace and whispered reverently, "Sho."
"Hi." Sho brought a hand up to Jun's cheek, then kissed his husband, eager to re-explore the mouth he was so familiar with. Jun was only happy to accommodate, tilting his head and pulling Sho's hips closer. Damn, he'd missed him.
Panting when they both pulled back from lack of air, Sho grinned widely. "I'm starving. Feed me."
Jun laughed, happy for the first time in days, and rolled his eyes.
The door slid open behind them and a head stuck itself in from the hallway. "Oh good. You're back," muttered a lethargic Nino as he padded into the room. "Now I can stop avoiding the kitchen." Plopping down at his usual spot, he drowsily dropped his head on the table, looking for all the world that he'd been in a battle with his bed sheets, hair sticking up in every direction and his sleeping shirt hanging off of one shoulder.
Ninomiya Kazunari was Storm's most talented wizard at weaving elaborate spells, particularly illusions, and could match Jun’s katana skills in the majority of training duels between the old friends. His reflexes were second to none, as his friends had found out during their missions. But he sucked at mornings.
It was his own fault though. He spent late nights playing those strange electronic devices the Muggles called "video games" or going over his balance books. Of course, the frugal wizard had his hands quite full with the prank shop he and Aiba started several years ago that was turning out to be quite a profit due to Nino's precision with the store's funds.
"Rough night?" Sho greeted his friend sarcastically and let Jun return to making breakfast. His husband simultaneously whipped a stream of orange juice out of his wand and directed the serving spoon to dish up four bowlfuls of rice.
"Thanks to Aiba." Nino glared at the glass of orange juice that was floating above his left ear, waiting for him to move his head so it could set itself down on the table.
"It's not like I was trying to hit your prototype! The mug was just sitting next to it!" Aiba yelled from the hallway where he’d trudged back up from the basement, having given up on his experimental breakfast.
Sure, Nino's new electrical gadget had exploded. And sure, Aiba had been the one holding the wand. But he'd been certain he was trying to perform a banishing spell.
The only problem was that Aiba wasn't very good at non-verbal magic.
Aiba Masaki, or better known as the Storm's "storm", was also from an old Wizarding family, but one that didn't have a lot of political say in the magical community. Not that Aiba Senior really cared about the Ministry anyway. Aiba's family had been world-renown chefs for about ten generations now, but when Masaki came along, they had realized that might have to change.
Their cheerful son had a tendency of experimenting with the recipes a little too much; enough that his parents made sure to encourage him to enroll in the higher level potions classes at his school. Aiba hadn't needed much persuasion.
His father still kicked him out of the house though, after the day he showed up grinning idiotically with his new experimental candy of what he called Bachi Botsu.
Being invited by Storm at the same time as his friends, Aiba had just moved right into Sakurai Yakata, and things had fallen into place after that. He joined the Potions Guild as a passionate inventor following graduation from school and also used those abilities to support his friends.
He and Nino had always had a lot in common, so it was second nature for them to go into business together. Nino grudgingly agreed to try to sell the sweets that got Aiba kicked out of his parents’ house and was appalled when the strangely flavored candies sold out in a day with backorders for more.
Later, Nino sold the rights of "Bachi Botsu" to an old English guy, who renamed them "Bernie Bott's Every Flavored Beans".
Aiba hadn't minded. He was more interested in performing his own experiments than what happened to them afterwards, which was why he didn’t mind that this morning’s health concoction hadn’t survived the transition downstairs. He’d just shrugged mentally, knowing that Jun’s cooking tasted better.
The four wizards took their seats at the kitchen table and began to wolf down breakfast. There wasn't much room for conversation until most of the plates were scraped clean, but it was clear that everyone was curious about what Sho had been up to from the glances they were sending him.
A content Nino settled back into his chair, patting his full stomach. Finally, he voiced the thoughts that had been weighing on his mind during their meal, the same suspicion his friends were sure to have. "It was a Relic, wasn't it?"
It was the only explanation why the Ministry Official had been gone so long. Sho confirmed his hunch with a nod, looking quite somber.
Relics were a multitude of magical objects scattered across the world that provided their owner's with special abilities, such as immense strength or foresight.
Magical history had been littered with international squabbles and full-scale wars over the objects. Caledfwlch, also known as Excalibur, was one of the most famous Relics, having changed hands countless times since its strongest owner, King Arthur, had passed away.
But even the strongest Relics still had a downside: they could only be utilized by a handful of wizards in the world. The Relic's full potential was brought out only by the wizard or witch who was able to "bond" with it. In the possession of any ordinary magic user, the artifacts were at best, barely effective, or at worst, fancy paperweights.
Individuals, teams, or whole countries had spent centuries searching for a particular Relic, just to find that, in the end, no one in their group could wield it.
That's where Storm came in.
In order to protect the innocent wizards and magical creatures from becoming victims of the conflicts or killed by a malicious Relic user, Storm had been formed by the powerful and well-respected wizard, Kimura. For the past several decades, their group had been competing with the Shinzetsu in a race to collect the strongest artifacts of the magical world.
The Shinzetsu were once a simple collection of disgruntled wizards that spoke out against the Japanese Ministry of Magic's attempts to form relationships between the Wizarding World and other species, including Muggles. But their indignant attitude shifted into something much more sinister when the leadership was succeeded by a young politician, identified only as Ryu.
Over the years, Ryu silently and rapidly assembled the other Clans who were also fed up with the Ministry's conduct, convincing them that collecting the Relics was the wisest course of action to make anyone take them seriously. The dark wizards' obsession spread, until the Shinzetsu's reputation had become one of cruelty and bloodshed.
No one better than Sho, who worked at the Ministry, understood how unprepared the government was for what was coming. And he also knew how devastating it would be for every person, Muggle or magical, if Ryu was allowed to do as he wished.
His latest mission had sent him to the Philippines where Sho had cautiously negotiated between two Clans that had been locked in a stalemate over the Vietnamese sword "Thuan Thien". The rumored Relic surfaced two weeks ago, with the violence beginning immediately. A large number of Ministry Officials had been sent, so in order to avoid a run-in with the government, Kimura ordered everyone but Sakurai to stay out of it.
“It was a nightmare.” Sho told Jun, rubbing his forehead tiredly. “Remind me why I thought it was a good idea to join the Ministry.”
Standing from the table, Jun valiantly tried to stifle a snicker. “You wanted to protect the world with love and justice.”
Sho nodded, grinning widely. “That’s right. I forgot.”
Chuckling, Jun waved the table clean of its dishes while Aiba and Nino caught each other’s eyes and smirked. They hadn’t heard anything but dark mutters from Jun for the past few days, so the return of a smile to their friend’s face was a relief.
“We should wait for Touma to report back from his mission,” suggested Sho as he stretched his arms above his head.
Five minutes later, he could be found sleeping like the dead, sprawled over one of the common room couches, complete with drool and snores.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The common room fireplace of Storm's headquarters flared up in a green burst as the figure of a man climbed out of the flames.
Nino perked up as he spotted his lover brushing the ash from his cloak. Ikuta Touma straightened and looked around the room, his expression grim. It was a strange look to see on the normally lighthearted man’s face.
They had known Touma for over five years now, and it was only when he had to deliver bad news that he looked so solemn.
Right from the start, the spy had rivaled Aiba in cheerfulness. The first night they’d been introduced, Touma had had a goofy grin on his face the most of the evening while chatting with Aiba, Jun, and Sho. Feigning indifference, Nino had hung back, but constantly glanced at the newcomer out of the corner of his eye.
A curious Touma had switched seats to start a proper conversation, startling the smaller wizard. He'd ignored Nino's flustered order to go back to the others, leaning closer instead. Half of their several hour exchange had been an argument, but the pair seemed to thoroughly enjoy the verbal spar.
It was obvious that with each traded word, Nino and Touma had fallen fast and hard for one another, as much opposites as soul mates.
Then came the seduction.
Though, it'd worked both ways: Touma with his boyish charm and Nino with his “Kiss me NOW” stare. Obviously struggling to control himself, Nino had casually suggested the fair-faced spy stay the night, instead of going back to pack his things like he'd planned.
The next morning, Jun entered the kitchen to see a huge smile plastered on Touma’s face as he looked over at a drowsy Nino leaning heavily on his shoulder. The cook hadn’t bothered to ask. Just like with Aiba, he was sure he didn't want to know.
But the usual high-spirited energy was currently missing from Touma as Jun ushered their tired friend to sit and conjured a mug of beer with a murmured spell. Nino pulled Touma down next to him, worried about the exhaustion radiating from the spy. Everyone leaned forward as one, eager to hear his news.
Sho set his elbows on his knees and intertwined his fingers, asking quietly, “How was it?”
Storm’s spy had been on assignment, undercover as a messenger while he tried to infiltrate a dark Clan’s manor. The security had been unbelievably difficult to get through for someone of the level he was portraying, so he'd been forced to wait for a chance to show itself while carefully playing the obedient worker. The information he'd been digging for finally presented itself in an overheard conversation between a pair of negligent guards after two long weeks of investigation.
Rubbing his hand over Nino's, Touma nodded sluggishly. “It’s confirmed. The Ohno Clan has possession of the Relic. You should move out as soon as possible. There were rumors they might try to transport it to a different safe house by this weekend.”
Sho lowered his head in thought. He wished they had more time, but things were never easy when dealing with a Relic. “Tonight then. Aiba, do you have a Concealing Mist potion?”
The Potions Master grinned. “Already finished.”
Sho smiled gratefully before turning back to Touma, who was poking around in his cloak. After a moment, he pulled out an object and handed Sho what looked like a pair of used wooden chopsticks. Sakurai took the utensils gingerly and asked, “Where does the portkey arrive at?”
“The Hokkaido Shrine. You'll already be inside the Ohno Estate's territory. Make sure you aren't spotted.”
Sho nodded and put the illegal portkey in the front pocket of his button-up shirt.
Knowing this was going to be a long night, Jun let out a deep breath before saying, “We should leave immediately then. Everyone meet in the armory room in ten minutes?”
The unanimous agreement was expressed by the members standing up to begin preparations.
Nino kissed Touma on the cheek and stood up as well. “Get some rest, okay?” It had already been decide prior to the assignment starting that the spy shouldn't be part of the retrieval squad, for fear of someone making the connection between Touma and Storm. Nino was personally grateful for that, because, although he wouldn't admit it to his boyfriend, Touma wasn't the best at magical duels.
The weary man smiled up at him, pulling the shorter wizard back down for a deeper kiss. “You better come back in one piece.”
Nino rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. “I’m not Sho, thank you very much. I can apparate myself without leaving anything behind.”
Said wizard winced at the reminder of his “splicing incident” before exiting the common room. Jun watched his husband leave, trying not to smirk. Sho either got lucky or he didn’t.
“Jun.”
He turned around at Touma’s call. “Hmm?”
“Be careful. There were more guards running around than we planned on.”
Jun said he would, but he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive at how this mission would go.
Author’s Note:
Wow. FYI, Storm has been over a year in the making. I'm totally in love with this series, but I've never been that fast of a writer. -_-; Sorry for the wait. This's going to be a long ride, so hang on!
If you have any questions about the spells, please ask. About half of these I have made up myself, so I don't doubt there are a lot of unfamiliar ones. And any comments would be appreciated!
Chapter Two: In which Aiba becomes a kidnapper
<3