[FAN FIC] Heavenly Coffee (Prologue and Chapter 1)
Summary: More than ten years before Satoshi's death, Nino and Jun discovered that there's trouble in paradise. Can they all survive and save Green?
Notes:
- This is the prequel of Message in a Cup
- I took the liberty of renaming, recategorizing and redefining the different types of angels for this fictional AU.
- 99% of those who will read this are familiar with Arashi, but for those who aren't, please refer to this video to have visual of the members (their names are shown as Last Name First Name as what is common in Japan. In this story, their name format is in English with Japanese honorifics).
- Because I believe that Arashi will always have 5 members, they are, in a way, complete in this story. Remember the following member colors (for non-fans): Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya and Jun Matsumoto.
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PROLOGUE
“Earthquake!” Jun Matsumoto shouted and ran for cover. The ground shook violently as he crawled his way under the table. “Nino-chan! Run!” He called out to the man who stood frozen in shock. The books from the shelves fell on the floor and the chairs were displaced. People were screaming and things were falling everywhere.
By the time Kazunari Ninomiya recovered, the ceiling directly above him slowly gave way. Jun ran from his safe spot and pulled Nino just in time before the concrete fell. In terror, they both hugged each other under the table while the world seemed to shake stronger. “Nino, if I die today. I remember that I will always love you to the end of my life.” Jun pulled Nino tighter against him and buried his face against Nino’s hair.
And the shaking stopped.
Nino looked at Jun and was unable to say a word.
“Say something, Nino!” Jun shook his shoulders.
And the whole building exploded leaving no one alive.
CHAPTER 1
“Good morning!”
Nino slowly opened his eyes and looked at the stranger who sat on the chair beside him. “Hi! I’m Green!” The stranger beamed and took a sip of coffee.
Nino blinked several times in confusion, only to be slightly distracted by the rich aroma of coffee that filled the room.
“Hello again! I’m Green!” The slim man with a gentle voice said and waved frantically at him, almost spilling the cup of coffee in his other hand. His smile was so bright it lit up the whole room.
“Hi. You’re very light brown if not just a little tan, not green.” Nino responded and looked around. He was on a king-sized bed. “Is this a hospital? Where are the rest of the people from the earthquake?”
“Sorry, your soul has left your body. You are now an angel. From this time on, your name is Yellow,” Green said.
“I hate yellow,” Nino muttered and thought that this Green guy was playing a joke on him.
“Coffee has been prepared,” Green placed his cup on the table by the bed and walked to the coffee maker. He poured a cup for Nino. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Ahm… One sugar and one creamer, I guess?” Nino shrugged. He reluctantly got up from the comfortable bed and accepted the coffee from Green. “Thanks.” He joined Green at the coffee table and looked around the room.
“There are scones here just for you,” Green pointed at the tray beside the coffee maker.
The mahogany double doors opened and two men arrived. The taller of the two with muscular biceps, sloppy shoulders, pale skin and slanted eyebrows said, “Welcome, Kazunari Ninomiya. We are pleased to meet your acquaintance. This is the afterlife. Here, we have new names as we have already departed our mortal bodies. We have designated names. Henceforth, you shall be called Yellow. And I am called Red.”
“So wordy!” The shorter and tanned man with a round face muttered. “My name is Blue. Nice to meet you.” He bowed to Nino, or the man now called Yellow.
“Is this the mental hospital suite?” Nino gave them a doubtful look.
“Your friend Jun Matsumoto, now called Purple, is in the other room. You may speak to him to verify our statement. Follow me, please,” Red walked out of the room, followed by Blue and Green, and brought Yellow to the next room with an equally large bed.
“Nino!” Jun looked up from the book he was reading and ran to meet his friend. “We are in heaven! We are now angels or at least angel trainees. I have started reading the handbook and this is going to be awesome. We’ll have our training together. Here, look. I already wore my name tag,” Jun smiled proudly and showed the gold name tag pinned on his left muscular chest.
Nino read the tag. “Purple, huh? Why did I get Yellow?”
“The names are temporary,” Red said and ignored Nino’s question. “You may use your regular family names, not first names, ones you have graduated from training and have started on your jobs.”
“You mean we work here, too?” Nino frowned.
“Of course,” Blue said. “Our daily basic needs are provided but we get paid so that we can spend on our luxuries. Consider them as a reward for being good while on earth.”
“By the way, you’re only allowed to use your nicknames to people or angels that you’ve known in your life on earth while in training, but everyone should be called by their color names. In addition, you may have a makeover.” Green added.
“I’m more interested in the makeover part,” Jun’s eyes lit up.
“Your room and everything in here are parts of the welcome kit.” Green announced.
Jun pulled Nino’s hand and pointed him to the table.
Nino was amazed. “Cell phones, laptops, tablets and Nintendo DS are all part of the welcome kit?!”
Red nodded. “We’ll have your fitting for your clothes and shoes later today because we are unsure of your sizes. You have temporary clothes in your own closets. Once you have your new set of clothes, you will not be given new clothes anymore. You are free to buy them with your salary. If you think the TV is too small for you, we can have it replaced,” he tilted his head at the 50-inch flat-screen LED TV mounted on the wall in Jun’s room.
“This one’s fine,” Jun beamed.
Red continued. “TV shows and movies on cable will be based on your choice. Please refrain from watching too much NC17 if possible. While we allow them at times, we do not want them to be your source of… Ahm… Impure thoughts.”
Blue snorted but Red’s cheeks and ears had turned red.
Green laughed out loud. “Someone’s guilty.”
“Shut up,” Red said and tried to keep a straight face.
Blue chuckled.
“You have two hours to orient yourselves with your new rooms, to take a shower and to get dressed. We shall see you in the pantry for breakfast followed by your orientation. Blue and I will be your trainers while Green here will tend to your everyday needs. I will be Purple’s immediate Supervisor and Blue will be Yellow’s. See you both later,” Red said.
“So many words,” Blue muttered.
Red and Blue bowed together and left.
“All right! Now that it’s just the three of us, welcome to St. Johnny’s Agency. Here, you will be trained and will be given housing and employment. You may switch jobs, but you can’t leave the Agency. It’s like your permanent citizenship, if you would allow my analogy. All agencies basically do the same thing: train, house and employ all angels. Each agency has their own style, though.” Green added. “You will meet angels from other agencies when you go out on your rest days and when you work. We also have inter-agency games and missions. You are allowed to make friends with other agencies, but you have to inform us about it. It’s more of a courtesy among all agencies.”
“And I thought that Red-san is the talkative one,” Jun said.
“So this place is actually like life on earth, huh?” Nino asked.
“That’s right! I always look forward to my monthly golf game with my friends from the other agencies. Blue and Red are not that too keen on it but goes out with their own friends from the other agencies, too.. Blue goes fishing and Red goes skiing and play soccer.”
“Nah, I’ll stick to this agency. There are so many angels here to meet anyway,” Nino declared.
“I can’t wait to make new friends from other agencies!” Jun was ecstatic.
“That’s the spirit! Time for me to go. See you later for breakfast.” He waved happily and left.
When they were alone in the room, Nino and Jun looked at each other. A smile slowly formed on each of their faces. “Yes!!!!!” They both shouted in joy and hugged each other tight.
“I suppose this means we are going to spend the rest of our lives together,” Jun whispered and leaned forward for a kiss.
Then, an alarm went off and they heard a voice from the PA system installed in each room. “All warrior angels, assemble by the garden as ordered by Archangel Michael. To all angel trainees, stay in your room and lock all doors and windows, including the bathroom windows. Do not leave your room until further announcement. Respond only to your two angel trainers and no one else. I repeat, respond only to your two trainers and to no one else.”
Blue showed up and quickly escorted Nino back to his room while Red went to Jun’s. The trainees locked the windows and doors.
Blue and Red left the rooms and stood outside by the door. They brought out their pistols, guarded the doors and prepared to defend their trainees.
After an hour, Red knocked at Jun’s door. “Purple-kun, it’s me Red.”
Jun ran quickly to the door in response to his trainer. “Red-san! What happened?”
“We had an ambush and seven angels were executed in the Shinigami Department,” Red said grimly. “And Green was kidnapped.”
Disclaimer: This is an original fictional work loosely based on the members of the group Arashi and does not promote any specific brand or product. People, places, and others used in this story are purely for fiction.