[Fic] Selenite - Lapis Lazuli Prequel
Title: Selenite (Lapis Lazuli Prequel)
Author: iris_aya (me ^^)
Beta: spread_da_love
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG
Genre: fluff, still pre-slash but not at the same time
Warnings: boyxboy pairing. AU
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with JE, and obviously I cannot "own" these people. I also, in no way, make monetary profit off this.
Summary: When given glimpses of his possible future, all he can do is follow the brief hints he’s given and hope he’s going the right way.
Word Count: 2,415
Author’s Note: I was repeatedly asked for a continuation of Lapis Lazuli and because I loved the little ‘verse, I wanted to. After ages of grappling with a potential plot or something this was written. It was initially going to be about ¼ this length and just an opener for the sequel but it was too fun to write xD. So it’s the Lapis Lazul prequel, sorry that’s not a sequel instead. But I promise, you still get your Akame goodies or else I’d be hiding from the rotten veggies etc for delaying it longer. And as my brainstormer said, “You realize you have to do a sequel to Lapis Lazuli after this, right?” I know you’ll ask for it, and I will try to promise it to you because I want to write it. I just don’t know when that will be exactly.
[To my limited understanding] Selenite is a clearish mineral of crystalline structure. Selenite is usually used for the less common and clearer version of gypsium. Metaphysically it is supposed ot support mental clarity, insight, awareness and aids in accessing past and future lives (I know that means something different from the idea I portrayed but it was the closest medium I could find at the time)
Thanks to my darling TJ for beta’ing this for me, I know you’ve had a million betas (and a few other distractions coughmaplestorycough*.
--
His mother, as any new mother, had felt that her baby boy was destined for great things, just as every parent felt and hoped. She had waited to see if his powers would develop, to see if he would take after her and her husband, and she wasn’t disappointed.
His powers started out simply, as any other child’s powers normally developed. Cookies and toys would fly across the room to the utter delight of the chubby cheeked baby boy. But sometimes, just when he smiled brightly enough or giggled the lights would flicker before growing brighter, as if fueled by his happiness. If he were angry enough he might shatter a window, from three rooms over, and upon the guilt of realizing what he’d done, the same window would reappear completely intact.
But when he was four, his mother knew he was destined for even greater things.
When he was four he started to have the dreams. They started small, right after his birthday. He would dream about his parents deciding to take him and his little brother to ice cream and the next day, to his absolute joy, the scene would unfold just as he had seen it. His parents had waved it off as an active imagination, and at the time as a love for ice cream.
But when he had a dream and that tingling feeling at the back of his neck when he woke, about his beloved mother cooking they had to take notice. She always said things made without the use of magic tasted better and always insisted on making everything from scratch. So when he had a dream of a fire and began to refuse to let anyone step foot into the kitchen, they had no choice but to try and set his mind at ease. They tried to tempt him with his favorite treats and tried to show him the kitchen was safe but he would still use his powers to push his mother away from the stove whenever she would go near it.
Finally, his father had no choice but to call someone in to take a look at the stove because that seemed to be the only way to set the child’s mind at ease. Jin watched the work from his perch at the table, clutching his mother’s sleeve as if to keep her from moving to where the repair man worked on the stove. He didn’t understand the conversation held before the man left, the shocked expression on his mother’s face and the relieved look the man held.
He never forgot the look in her eyes when she held his face in her gentle hands and kissed his forehead, whispering, “my darling, baby Jin, blessed by fate. What would I do without you?”
He had watched with wide, confused eyes as his mother relayed the day’s events to his father and both kept looking over at him. He distracted himself by playing with Reio in the living room, entertaining the younger boy with little flashes of lights and whistles that burst forth from his fingertips. The younger boy clapped and giggled, adding to the colorful bursts in the room.
As he got older, his father taught him to control his rare gift, a gift they had never expected to crop up in their family. But the control didn’t prevent all of his visions. Once every two years or so, he would wake up to the chilling tingle down his spine and a dream. A dream he found no difficulty remembering or accessing even days later.
It was one such dream that led him to the creation of the first catalyst, when he was sixteen. When he was eighteen, and the use of catalysts had already begun to grow more popular than he could imagine, he was led to open Infinity in Ginza, a move he was told he was insane to make.
He wasn’t sure what else the fates could show him, but when he was twenty-one he saw him for the first time. It was the simplest vision he had had so far: bright light shining in from what he assumed was a large window behind him, crisp white sheets, and another body curled close to him, feet pressed into his calves for warmth. Distinct facial features, long, dark hair, and a distinctly male, despite the femininely curved, body. Chocolate brown eyes opened, the sleepy haze quickly clearing when soft lips curled into a smile. The man opened his mouth, forming words, but Jin didn’t hear even a whisper of what he said before he sat up in bed, nearly shivering from the feeling cascading down his spine. His confused gaze fell to the figure next to him, his stomach dropped and he frowned. That definitely hadn’t been a vision of his girlfriend of two years. Their relationship barely lasted another month.
When he was twenty-two, he sat in front of a low table, holding a crystal from a thread above an intricate map, when he felt the impulse to travel down through the elevator to check on the store. It was something he rarely did, unless he had to, not only because his staff was impeccable but he felt awkward among the awed and impressed gazes garnered from fledgling magic users. He gazed at the divining crystal, remembering the request he’d gotten from an old friend to find someone they hadn’t seen in years but had never been able to forget. He felt as if a calm breeze had swept through his mind, the divining could wait another half hour or so, it wasn’t urgent. What he found downstairs was a lasting friendship with Yamashita Tomohisa.
A year later, he appeared again. He, himself, stood in the kitchen, he recognized the apartment he had just toured two days prior, happily taking a lasagna from the oven. As soon as he got the dish settled on the counter he heard the click of a door opening. He rushed from the kitchen to the hall and felt himself smile at the sight of him, head bowed, while he removed his shoes in the entryway. Keys were dropped into the glass bowl on the nearby table, clinking as they landed on his own keys. A wallet followed before a bag was placed on the shelf beneath. All actions took place smoothly, as if practiced daily, and he realized that was probably the case.
He caught a bright smile before lean arms wound around his waist, a tingling kiss pressed to his lips, and then lips were moving again. He couldn’t make out a single sound, though the man continued as if everything were normal. But he, in the vision, seemed unperturbed and instead his hands raised and he smoothed windblown hair with a gentle touch and nothing had ever felt better than the feeling caused by the fond and loving smile he received.
When he woke up, he almost couldn’t feel the familiar chill because of the warmth that had spread through his body. As odd as it felt, he wouldn’t mind if every night he had a vision of this future, of these fated moments that guided him down the right path. He clutched his pillow to his chest and closed his eyes, remembering how happy he had felt in that vision. He only wished he could have heard his voice, the one he was sure he would fall for, it was the first time he hadn’t been able to hear dialogue in a vision. He decided he had to enable this to happen, if only to hear those words and feel what he had felt before. Later that day, he signed the lease for the apartment he had toured, much to the shock of the agent who still had four other units in different buildings that she had planned to show him.
At twenty-four he finally put a name, and voice, to the man of his visions. Pi had bound into his apartment, after whining for ten minutes over the intercom at Jin to let him in, insisting that he show him something positively amazing. He had grudgingly let the other up, even though it was nearly two in the morning and all he wanted was to sleep. As usual, when his idol friend was putting out another single or CD he’d come and play it to get his opinion. Why he did it, Jin never asked, but he appreciated that his opinion would always count to his friend.
This particular song came with a video of a dance practice that went along with the song. He initially concentrated on the song until the dance drew his attention. He watched as Pi spun a few times before his eyes were drawn to the figure mirroring the actions next to Pi. His heart came to a stop, it was him. It was him but it wasn’t him. He was obviously a bit younger than the man he knew, his hair was different and he looked almost painfully thin. His heart clenched tightly, longing for the healthier weight from his visions.
“Pi,” he whispered, almost worried that if he broke the silence the scene would break and this would all turn out to be a dream.
“Yeah?” Pi looked at him confusedly.
“Who is that?” He pointed nervously to the screen.
“Oh Kame?” Pi smiled. “He’s another Johnny’s idol. I can’t believe you don’t know who he is! Kamenashi Kazuya.”
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” Jin tried out the name, liking how it felt.
“Yeah, this song is actually for a drama we acted in together. It starts airing soon, you should watch it!” Pi poked him in the side.
“I guess I could…” Jin mumbled, but his heart was beating erratically and he couldn’t wait to see the other, even if it was just on TV.
Once Nobuta wo Produce began airing, Jin watched avidly every week, trying his best to glean any ounce of information about Kamenashi about it. He refrained from reading more than a few interviews and kept himself from visiting the many fansites he was sure were dedicated to Kame. He wanted to get to know the other once they met, not form his own preconceived notions based off scripted interviews and fan embellishments.
One year later, Kame showed up in another vision, even simpler than the first vision and with an odd feel to it. They stood, on a busy street, facing each other, and Jin felt something was off about the scene. Kame reached up and cradled his face in his hands and looked him directly in the eye. His lips moved and this time Jin heard what he said.
“Keep waiting, I’ll come to you in my own way. You’ll know when it’s time,” Kame whispered, a bright smile bursting onto his face, “just wait.”
He woke after a sweet kiss had met his forehead. He raked his hands through his hair, ignoring the further knots he was creating. The tingle was there but he knew that hadn’t been a real scene from the future, he had finally gotten a very clear message.
Whenever Pi invited him out and told him that some of his friends from work would be there, Jin refused. The moment never felt right, he was sure that it would be similar to the day he had met Pi. The feeling that he had to do something. So he made his excuses and Pi would roll his eyes but never questioned why he refused to go.
Within a few months, he saw the other again. Kame, he was older this time by at least a year, reached into the collar of his shirt and drew out a necklace. He recognized a lapis lazuli catalyst worked into an elegant necklace. He watched and Kame closed his eyes and kissed the catalyst lightly before shrugging.
“It’s a memory I never want to forget,” Kame whispers, as if answering a question.
He wished he knew the question but instead all he could do was diligently set to work on creating that catalyst. Finding the perfect piece of lapis lazuli that matched his memory and setting the diamond atop in its silvery cage. He was sure he wouldn’t be steered wrong; the fates had never failed him before.
When he completed the catalyst, a piece his assistant called ‘absolutely stunning’, he carefully put it in a small, black box and tucked it into a drawer. He trusted he would know where to find it when the time came, no matter how far off it might prove to be.
And one day, as he sat playing with some stones on the top floor of Infinity, he knew he needed to be downstairs. So down he went, when the elevator proved to still be on the first floor he sunk through the floors, ignoring the shocked looks on his assistant’s face when he dropped to the floor of the storeroom.
“Akanishi, I didn’t think you… Is something wrong?” The nervous mage asked. She looked around, as if expecting Godzilla to come crashing through the wall any moment.
“No, I just need to do something,” Jin shrugged and walked out into the showroom. People milled about, looking at the latest catalysts, all set into the latest trends of jewelry or pressed into a thin plate of strong metal meant to be slipped into a wallet. He looked around, wondering what he should do, nothing was pulling him in any direction so he stood silently, until a few customers came up to quietly introduce themselves to him. He put on his best smile and answered their question the best he could.
Conversation, as well as a slight tug in his belly, slowly pulled him closer to the entrance of Infinity and the next thing he knew he was greeting customers as they entered. If his eyes hadn’t moved at the perfect moment, he would have missed the figure, practically hidden by a thick scarf, pause in front of the store. He knew it was Kame, but it didn’t feel right and so he didn’t step forward to greet the other as he seemed to stare into the store for a few moments before continuing down the street.
He sighed, thinking that something had been wrong with the moment and wondered what he’d done wrong until he saw Kame come to a complete stop not too far from the building and he knew it was time.