[mekakuni] fic: Memories of the Future
for 30_kisses
theme #21: violence; pillage/plunder; extortion
Title: Memories of the Future
Fandom: Mekakushi no Kuni
Disclaimer: MnK belongs to Tsukuba Sakura. I claim no rights to the series.
Notes: Ehehe, I was dropped for Namiki/Kanade. So I've claimed another pairing instead. Well, poor Namiki was going to be the victim of unrequited love in the first pairing, but now, maybe I'll treat him better~. I put my claim down last week, and it's finally gone through today. I've been itching to post this!
Words: 1378
Summary: Namiki's graduation. Eventual Namiki/Kaichou.
Archive: lj | ffnet
for the prologue, go here.
-----Chapter 1: pillage/plunder-----
He vaguely recalled this bizarre event happening to him before.
Actually, he recalled it perfectly. He just wished that he didn’t remember it with so much clarity.
It had been the day of his graduation from middle school.
Namiki Masahiro was one who normally kept to himself. People saw him as someone who was aloof and hard to approach. Whether or not he exuded a "greater than thou" attitude, he did not know. He just didn't like coming into contact with other people. It wasn't that he didn't have good control over his power--he could see at will after all--it was just that no one could relate to him. He didn’t reach out for anyone, and in turn, people left him alone…right?
And yet, on the day of his middle school graduation, those inhibitions over his classmates about approaching him simply vanished into thin air. Suddenly, his vision was swarmed with flailing arms and greedy hands.
"Namiki-san, you wouldn't mind if I take this button of yours, would you?"
At this very moment, his high school graduation seemed like an exact repeat of that mind boggling graduation of three years ago. No, not a repeat.
This time, it was worse.
The question came from a shy girl from his homeroom. He probably talked to her, at most once, if ever. Perhaps it had even been during the school festival when he played the role of fortuneteller. The girl was blushing madly, both of her hands clasped together as if she were praying.
He didn't remember this happening to him during his graduation from elementary. However, when his middle school graduation came about, he had to wonder why girls suddenly had the odd fixation for ripping the buttons off of his uniform. They didn’t want kisses, or hugs, or anything like that. They wanted, of all things, buttons! He went home that day with not one button left on his uniform. Not even the buttons on the cuff of his sleeves were left undisturbed. His uniform was half open when he trudged home. Squeals followed him. He was sure of that.
Wait. Elementary. No uniform. It had been casual wear. That must have been the case. And here he was, thinking that he was a late bloomer.
Middle school graduation had been merely a warning. This time, it was worse, but he was ready.
He was surrounded by girls, some who he recognized and some who he knew he had never seen before. Perhaps he should feel proud that he had so many admirers, and he had to admit that the smirk on his face did come from feeling somewhat smug, but seriously, he didn’t have that many buttons to go around.
“Sure, go ahead,” he said, in reply to his classmate’s question.
If possible, the girl blushed even harder as she reached out a shaky hand to wrench his second to last button off of his shirt.
Did girls like disheveled appearances that much? And when had everyone become so bold?
Almost escaping his notice, a hand reached for the last button holding his uniform together. Masahiro grabbed the hand, stopping the hand’s owner from stealing the last button.
“Sorry,” he said to the hand’s owner, who turned out to be someone from Arou’s class, if he remembered correctly. “You have to ask permission first, you know,” he said teasingly to his kouhai.
“I’m so sorry! Um, can I, I mean, may I take that last button of y-”
“Wait,” Masahiro cut in, stopping the nervous chatter before him. “I was just joking. Actually, I’m saving the last one for someone else.”
He could almost feel the sudden change in atmosphere around him, as the nervousness and excitement mixed with embarrassment of the people around him melted into disappointment.
It took him a long time to get out of the mob of watery-eyed girls. Masahiro gazed around, looking for that special someone.
There she was!
She always stood out amongst the crowd.
“Kanade!” he called out to her, feeling warm as her face lit up when she saw him. She beamed before worming her way through the crowd towards him.
Her smile dissolved into worry when she finally saw him up close. “Namiki-san, what happened to your shirt?”
Trust Kanade to be so naïve.
“Ah, I was the victim of the button crusade.”
“Button crusade? Oh!” Kanade looked down, an endearing blush spreading across her face, no doubt thinking about how, come next year, she was going to ask Arou for one of his buttons. Kanade was predictable in ways like that.
Nevertheless, Masahiro twisted off the last button holding his shirt together.
“Here.” He held the button out to Kanade. She blinked. “I want you to have this.”
Immediately, flailing arms filled his vision again, but this time, they belonged to Kanade. They weren’t trying to steal his buttons either.
“EH? I-I can’t take that!” Her arms flailed in protest. “Namiki-san should save it for someone special!”
Masahiro grabbed her right hand, stilling it as he pressed the button into her hands. “You are someone special.”
Her eyes glazed over, but he knew that it wasn’t from the effect of his words. She most likely hadn’t even heard them. Her faraway look was the telltale sign that she was once again immersed in the future. His future. Just because he was holding her hand. He wondered what she saw.
The moment was broken when another hand darted in, snatching the button out of both of their hands.
Masahiro glanced up, surprised. Kanade broke out of her trance as well. Both of them turned to see, well, one ticked off Arou Naitou. The dark-haired boy was not happy.
So the protector strikes at the last moment, once again.
Masahiro couldn’t resist. Not with that last button of his clenched so strongly between Arou’s hands.
“Why Arou, I didn’t know that you’ve been secretly admiring me all this time.” A smirk accompanied his words.
The button promptly bounced off his head.
“Hey, that button was a gift of good intentions!”
The other boy just snorted, pulling Kanade away from him. She whispered something in Arou’s ear, followed by a giggle. She looked almost as if she were expecting something to happen at any moment. She pulled on Arou’s sleeve, jerking her head towards the side, indicating that they should leave.
Kanade mouthed, “Good luck” as the two quickly disappeared into the crowd. Arou had one hand up, a gesture for luck as well, though he didn’t say anything, nor did he look back.
Alone once again, Masahiro was a bit confused at their sudden departure. He wondered just what they were both wishing him luck for. Graduating? Starting a new school life in college? Maybe it had something to do with what Kanade saw of the future. He bent down, looking for the button that Arou had flicked at him.
When his eyes finally landed on the button in the shadowed corner, he reached out for it, yet another hand beat him to it.
“Girls nowadays can get quite violent, ne?” contemplated the soft voice of the hand’s owner. The hand closed around the button, picking it up. “Your uniform’s all messed up.”
He looked up at her, a lonely figure among the crowd. Her other hand was busy tucking a long strand of hair behind her ears. It was a wasted motion, since the wind quickly blew her hair out of place, and she had to tuck her hair behind her ears once again. But other than that, her appearance was impeccable. Her hair looked nice, even when it was out of place.
In comparison, he wondered just how messy his appearance was right now. His hair was sticking out wildly and his uniform was near tatters.
“Namiki?” she questioned, when he didn’t reply.
She held the button out to him.
He blinked, his hand moving out before he even thought about it. Within her open palm lay the last button, but he didn’t take it back. Instead, he lightly closed her hands around it.
At her surprised expression, he just grinned.
“You can keep it.”
She didn’t try to return it to him again, perhaps just out of obligation to a friend. Absentmindedly, he turned towards the direction that Kanade and Arou had disappeared, still lost in thought, wondering about what Kanade had seen.
But if he hadn’t…he would have noticed the blush that spread across the class president’s entire face, the rosy color spreading to even her ears and her neck.
And he would have known then just what Kanade had seen.
-----tbc-----
I've just read the first 5 chapters of Penguin Revolution by the same mangaka, Tsukuba Sakura. It's soo cute. <3 But I can't help but make connections between Namiki and Katsuragi Ryou. But Ryou looks much, much more feminine. Mm, sometimes I think he even looks like Kaichou, especially when he's dressed up as a girl. their child!? My gosh, I love that series. <3 Guys dressed up as girls, girls dressed up as guys...ehehe. Actually, one of the minor characters, Natakani Yuuya has the same hairstyle as Namiki, but he's given weird eyes. And he's described as having "a plain face." XD;; But hm, doesn't the other crow, Tajima Ken, look sort of like Namiki's little brother?!
I love her artstyle. ♥
theme #21: violence; pillage/plunder; extortion
Title: Memories of the Future
Fandom: Mekakushi no Kuni
Disclaimer: MnK belongs to Tsukuba Sakura. I claim no rights to the series.
Notes: Ehehe, I was dropped for Namiki/Kanade. So I've claimed another pairing instead. Well, poor Namiki was going to be the victim of unrequited love in the first pairing, but now, maybe I'll treat him better~. I put my claim down last week, and it's finally gone through today. I've been itching to post this!
Words: 1378
Summary: Namiki's graduation. Eventual Namiki/Kaichou.
Archive: lj | ffnet
for the prologue, go here.
-----Chapter 1: pillage/plunder-----
He vaguely recalled this bizarre event happening to him before.
Actually, he recalled it perfectly. He just wished that he didn’t remember it with so much clarity.
It had been the day of his graduation from middle school.
Namiki Masahiro was one who normally kept to himself. People saw him as someone who was aloof and hard to approach. Whether or not he exuded a "greater than thou" attitude, he did not know. He just didn't like coming into contact with other people. It wasn't that he didn't have good control over his power--he could see at will after all--it was just that no one could relate to him. He didn’t reach out for anyone, and in turn, people left him alone…right?
And yet, on the day of his middle school graduation, those inhibitions over his classmates about approaching him simply vanished into thin air. Suddenly, his vision was swarmed with flailing arms and greedy hands.
"Namiki-san, you wouldn't mind if I take this button of yours, would you?"
At this very moment, his high school graduation seemed like an exact repeat of that mind boggling graduation of three years ago. No, not a repeat.
This time, it was worse.
The question came from a shy girl from his homeroom. He probably talked to her, at most once, if ever. Perhaps it had even been during the school festival when he played the role of fortuneteller. The girl was blushing madly, both of her hands clasped together as if she were praying.
He didn't remember this happening to him during his graduation from elementary. However, when his middle school graduation came about, he had to wonder why girls suddenly had the odd fixation for ripping the buttons off of his uniform. They didn’t want kisses, or hugs, or anything like that. They wanted, of all things, buttons! He went home that day with not one button left on his uniform. Not even the buttons on the cuff of his sleeves were left undisturbed. His uniform was half open when he trudged home. Squeals followed him. He was sure of that.
Wait. Elementary. No uniform. It had been casual wear. That must have been the case. And here he was, thinking that he was a late bloomer.
Middle school graduation had been merely a warning. This time, it was worse, but he was ready.
He was surrounded by girls, some who he recognized and some who he knew he had never seen before. Perhaps he should feel proud that he had so many admirers, and he had to admit that the smirk on his face did come from feeling somewhat smug, but seriously, he didn’t have that many buttons to go around.
“Sure, go ahead,” he said, in reply to his classmate’s question.
If possible, the girl blushed even harder as she reached out a shaky hand to wrench his second to last button off of his shirt.
Did girls like disheveled appearances that much? And when had everyone become so bold?
Almost escaping his notice, a hand reached for the last button holding his uniform together. Masahiro grabbed the hand, stopping the hand’s owner from stealing the last button.
“Sorry,” he said to the hand’s owner, who turned out to be someone from Arou’s class, if he remembered correctly. “You have to ask permission first, you know,” he said teasingly to his kouhai.
“I’m so sorry! Um, can I, I mean, may I take that last button of y-”
“Wait,” Masahiro cut in, stopping the nervous chatter before him. “I was just joking. Actually, I’m saving the last one for someone else.”
He could almost feel the sudden change in atmosphere around him, as the nervousness and excitement mixed with embarrassment of the people around him melted into disappointment.
It took him a long time to get out of the mob of watery-eyed girls. Masahiro gazed around, looking for that special someone.
There she was!
She always stood out amongst the crowd.
“Kanade!” he called out to her, feeling warm as her face lit up when she saw him. She beamed before worming her way through the crowd towards him.
Her smile dissolved into worry when she finally saw him up close. “Namiki-san, what happened to your shirt?”
Trust Kanade to be so naïve.
“Ah, I was the victim of the button crusade.”
“Button crusade? Oh!” Kanade looked down, an endearing blush spreading across her face, no doubt thinking about how, come next year, she was going to ask Arou for one of his buttons. Kanade was predictable in ways like that.
Nevertheless, Masahiro twisted off the last button holding his shirt together.
“Here.” He held the button out to Kanade. She blinked. “I want you to have this.”
Immediately, flailing arms filled his vision again, but this time, they belonged to Kanade. They weren’t trying to steal his buttons either.
“EH? I-I can’t take that!” Her arms flailed in protest. “Namiki-san should save it for someone special!”
Masahiro grabbed her right hand, stilling it as he pressed the button into her hands. “You are someone special.”
Her eyes glazed over, but he knew that it wasn’t from the effect of his words. She most likely hadn’t even heard them. Her faraway look was the telltale sign that she was once again immersed in the future. His future. Just because he was holding her hand. He wondered what she saw.
The moment was broken when another hand darted in, snatching the button out of both of their hands.
Masahiro glanced up, surprised. Kanade broke out of her trance as well. Both of them turned to see, well, one ticked off Arou Naitou. The dark-haired boy was not happy.
So the protector strikes at the last moment, once again.
Masahiro couldn’t resist. Not with that last button of his clenched so strongly between Arou’s hands.
“Why Arou, I didn’t know that you’ve been secretly admiring me all this time.” A smirk accompanied his words.
The button promptly bounced off his head.
“Hey, that button was a gift of good intentions!”
The other boy just snorted, pulling Kanade away from him. She whispered something in Arou’s ear, followed by a giggle. She looked almost as if she were expecting something to happen at any moment. She pulled on Arou’s sleeve, jerking her head towards the side, indicating that they should leave.
Kanade mouthed, “Good luck” as the two quickly disappeared into the crowd. Arou had one hand up, a gesture for luck as well, though he didn’t say anything, nor did he look back.
Alone once again, Masahiro was a bit confused at their sudden departure. He wondered just what they were both wishing him luck for. Graduating? Starting a new school life in college? Maybe it had something to do with what Kanade saw of the future. He bent down, looking for the button that Arou had flicked at him.
When his eyes finally landed on the button in the shadowed corner, he reached out for it, yet another hand beat him to it.
“Girls nowadays can get quite violent, ne?” contemplated the soft voice of the hand’s owner. The hand closed around the button, picking it up. “Your uniform’s all messed up.”
He looked up at her, a lonely figure among the crowd. Her other hand was busy tucking a long strand of hair behind her ears. It was a wasted motion, since the wind quickly blew her hair out of place, and she had to tuck her hair behind her ears once again. But other than that, her appearance was impeccable. Her hair looked nice, even when it was out of place.
In comparison, he wondered just how messy his appearance was right now. His hair was sticking out wildly and his uniform was near tatters.
“Namiki?” she questioned, when he didn’t reply.
She held the button out to him.
He blinked, his hand moving out before he even thought about it. Within her open palm lay the last button, but he didn’t take it back. Instead, he lightly closed her hands around it.
At her surprised expression, he just grinned.
“You can keep it.”
She didn’t try to return it to him again, perhaps just out of obligation to a friend. Absentmindedly, he turned towards the direction that Kanade and Arou had disappeared, still lost in thought, wondering about what Kanade had seen.
But if he hadn’t…he would have noticed the blush that spread across the class president’s entire face, the rosy color spreading to even her ears and her neck.
And he would have known then just what Kanade had seen.
-----tbc-----
I've just read the first 5 chapters of Penguin Revolution by the same mangaka, Tsukuba Sakura. It's soo cute. <3 But I can't help but make connections between Namiki and Katsuragi Ryou. But Ryou looks much, much more feminine. Mm, sometimes I think he even looks like Kaichou, especially when he's dressed up as a girl. their child!? My gosh, I love that series. <3 Guys dressed up as girls, girls dressed up as guys...ehehe. Actually, one of the minor characters, Natakani Yuuya has the same hairstyle as Namiki, but he's given weird eyes. And he's described as having "a plain face." XD;; But hm, doesn't the other crow, Tajima Ken, look sort of like Namiki's little brother?!
I love her artstyle. ♥