[Multi-chapter] Oretachi no chikara (18/??)
Title: Oretachi no chikara (Our power)
Authors: syunikiss1990 & tsuchi8562
Beta & Plot Bunny: yuuki_saya ArigaPYON~!
Pairing: SakurAiba
Genre: Fantasy, AU, Romance
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: They belong only to each other themselves.
*MASTERPOST*
Sho sighed deeply and desperately tried to focus on the book he was reading. Aiba kept coming into his thoughts and the lack of sleep he had been having the last few days didn't really help either. Every night he kept having the same nightmare where he and Masaki were standing in the snowy forest again. The eyes of the taller man were filled with fear and his mouth was moving, as he was shouting something to him but with the heavy wind blowing around them, he couldn’t hear what he was saying. The fury around them would get even heavier and soon Sho saw Masaki disappear behind the almost solid wall of snowflakes. He tried to move forward but as he did he crashed into the wall made of snowflakes which had turned solid. At first the dream had ended here every time and he would wake up, but for the last two days it went on. The solid snow wall would turn into ice, making it able for Sakurai to see through it where he saw Masaki on the ground in the middle of probably his own blood. As much as he screamed and rammed into the wall, he couldn’t reach the man on the other side. He had found himself waking up, screaming the others name and covered in sweat.
He had hoped that reading one of his favourite books would get his mind off everything that had happened the past few weeks and of his terrible nightmare. But every time the man he was missing so much kept creeping into his thoughts. He just couldn’t get the image of the broken man who was lying in the middle of the City Council hall out of his mind. The scene kept playing in his head, how Aiba had been beaten up in front of all these people until he collapsed into the ground when he was finally released. Sakurai still felt it was his fault everything had to go like this. After all, he had trusted the man he thought was his best friend which he shouldn’t have done.
Once again he wondered why Ninomiya had done this to him. Why this man who he thought was his best friend had betrayed him like that. He sighed again and closed his book. Slowly he laid it beside him on the table and stood up to walk to the window. With sad eyes he looked at the big wall he could see from his room. In the past the sight of that wall had always calmed him down, giving him a safe feeling. But now it seemed more like the wall of a prison. Knowing Aiba was on the other side of that wall, so close but yet so far away, was killing him but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
"Aaargh" in a sudden strike of anger he punched his fist at the frame of the window, hard enough to make his knuckles bleed but he didn’t feel it. His knees started to feel wobbly even though he hadn’t been standing that long. He knew it was the lack of food in his body but he just couldn’t bring himself to eat that much. The thought of having a luxury diner while the people on the other side of the wall barely had enough made him lose his appetite. But he knew this wasn’t the main reason why he couldn’t eat, even though he tried to make it more important. After the day he had seen Aiba for the last time, he still hadn’t heard anything about the man. He was afraid the leader of the poor district didn’t survive after all and just the thought of that made him cold inside. He wished he could find a way to get to know if his lover was still alive and if he was OK, but after the betrayal of his best friend he couldn’t trust anyone anymore.
He heard the door behind him slowly opening but he refused to turn around. Ninomiya had been trying to talk to him for a couple of days but as Sakurai refused to look at the vice-president or to say anything back, the younger man had given up every time. But that didn’t mean he stopped coming, instead he tried every day which annoyed the president’s son. Just like every other day he ignored the soft greeting of the man as he kept staring out of his window.
Ninomiya couldn't see the face of the man in front of him but he knew that even though he didn't look like it, he was listening to him. The man looked smaller and smaller every day. He knew the president’s son wasn't eating well and it would only be a matter of time before he brought himself into real danger, but nothing seemed to work to cheer the man up for at least a little. He sighed.
"Sho, please eat something, you will kill yourself if you go on like this." He set the tray he had brought with him on the small table in the middle of the room. Sakurai still hadn’t turned around and Kazunari knew a way to get the other man talking to him, but he decided now wasn’t the time. First he had to make sure how everything with Jun would work out, he didn’t want to give his friend false hope right now. Sighing again he turned around and left the room, leaving the presidents son in his own misery.
When Ninomiya had left the room Sho almost collapsed. The smell of the food on the tray made his stomach rumble and he felt even weaker. He stumbled to the table with the food and sat down on the couch behind it, grabbing a piece of bread on his way. Even though he didn’t really want to admit it, he knew the younger man was right. It would be no use for him to bring himself into danger right now, not while he still had hope Masaki was alive. He had to think of a way to get to the other man. Maybe running away together wasn’t a bad idea, he should have given in to Masaki’s request when they still had been able to. But his hope that everything would work out had been idle and now he had to pay the price for it.
***
Aiba couldn’t sleep, even if he was feeling dizzy. Too many thoughts were running through his head and he couldn’t focus on none of them. Of course building the machine was important, but somehow he didn’t want to think about it right now. He wanted to submerge himself in his pain, probably for the last time. He will be forced to focus on the device later on, so now the only thing he have was his aching heart. Masaki slowly stood up from the bed and went to the window. View on the wall made him want to run there, kidnap Sho once more and hide in the small hut. He was perfectly aware that it’s impossible, but he couldn’t help his feelings. When he learned that Sakurai wasn’t the one who betrayed him, he felt a relief; he believed in his beloved man, of course, but some small voice in his head was still repeating him not to have high hopes in that matter. Now he was sure, but that didn’t change a thing. The wall was still separating them, literally and figuratively. They still couldn’t be together. Still… Aiba started to hate that word. He had many plans and a chance for better life for his people occurred, but the thing that he wanted to change so badly remained the same. The president won’t accept his son’s relationship, not when he will learn about poor district’s plans. Masaki was sure that sooner or later Sho’s father will know and he will do anything to stop them. In the worse case the device will be destroyed, of course if it won’t explode.
Strong wind started to blow in Aiba’s face when he went outside; he didn’t know why he did it, he still wasn’t feeling that good. Probably he thought that a little walk will help him and the breeze will chase the painful images away from his mind. He realized when he is heading just when he was inside the forest. The man was unconsciously walking towards the rich district; his body wanted so much to get touched by Sakurai’s fingers, his lips wanted to be kissed; he wanted to fell asleep in Sho’s embrace again. He wished to say the president’s son that he loves him; tell him about the plans and about the hope he had. Finally he desired to stand in front of City Council’s President and explain everything, from his feelings towards Sho to the proposal of truce he had in his mind. Masaki wanted to get this over with so much, but he knew that it was impossible. He will be killed before he will manage to get to the residence, not mentioning the explanations.
“Sho-kun, I’m sorry… Please, wait a bit longer…” The man screamed hoping that his voice will reach the palace. Of course it was impossible, he just exposed himself to the danger of being capture again, but he didn’t mind that. Instead he sat under a tree and started to cry, believing that tears will help him. He lost the count of time; probably he fell asleep, because he awoke when the sun was high in the sky. He was cold and hungry, but still he didn’t feel like moving like if he would like to stay in his pain for a bit longer. Aiba knew that it was a mistake, something selfish, but he wanted to think about himself for a little while, just few minutes more… When he came back to reality he noticed that it was late; the sky was dark blue and sun set behind the trees. He stood up half-hearted and slowly headed to Ohno’s home.
“Aiba-san where have you been?! Everybody was worried about you!”
“I just needed to be alone for a while… I wanted to think…”
“About Sakurai? You know that this is not good idea…”
“I know. I’m hungry, is there any chance that I can get something to eat?” Masaki smiled bitterly, trying to hide his true emotions, and Jun sighed giving his friend the dinner. After the meal the taller man muttering something about being tired went to the bedroom and closed the door. The most hated part of the day came; he was truly afraid of the night, because of the nightmares he had. He couldn’t count how many times he tried to get through some invisible wall to Sho; he couldn’t say how loud he yelled his beloved man’s name and how desperately he tried to stop the president from taking his son away. Aiba saw many times the pain in his lover’s eyes when he was dragged away by his own father; it was the same look he saw during the tortures. The look when somebody loses something precious, probably the same that Masaki had when Sho was sick. He hated those nightmares that much that he didn’t want to sleep, however his body needed proper rest, especially to heal those cuts on his back. Without noticing he found himself in front of the invisible wall, but this time everything seemed to be different. First of all, the barrier disappeared; but he couldn’t touch Sho who was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. Every time he scuffed Sakurai’s skin, some terrifying scream sounded in the air. The yells were louder and more frightening with every second, what made Masaki to cover his ears and close his eyes. When he decided to open them again, he saw snow everywhere and his beloved man in front of him. Suddenly Aiba noticed something red, buried in the snow. Was it blood? When he came closer he found out that it’s some kind of stone, so he took it and watched how it’s sparkling in the sun. In the moment he showed it to Sho, the older man collapsed, covered in blood probably dead. Soon after snow was bloody red.
The leader of the poor district woke up with a scream and saw Ohno standing near the window and holding a sparkling red stone.