The Invisible Wall: PROLOGUE
Fiction Title: The Invisible Wall
Chapter Title: When The Sun Doesn't Shine
Chapters: Prologue / 19
Author: luna_no_koibito
Genre: Human Drama, Angst, Romance, Introspection
Warnings: None
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Aoi / Kazuki
Bands: the GazettE, ScReW, Exist Trace
Disclaimer: I don't own them, and don't wish I did because I'd be sorry for what could befall them （・＿・；）！
Summary: Is age just a number systematically given to us by the world we were born into, and which we should calibrate our life by, or, is it just one of those whimsical decisions of faith, which we can't help, but can overlook? 15 year old Kazuki Motohashi is about to live the most interesting one week of his relatively short existence, when by chances, he meets with 30 year old Yuu Shiroyama. A week where time will take a whole different meaning; seconds and decades alike.
^~~ Main ~~^
When The Sun Doesn't Shine
If the sun were to shine on a diamond, it would make the gem sparkle at its best, wouldn't it? Its natural mystery and complexity would still be hidden to the naked eye, but thanks to said light, for centuries up to our present days, it had been possible to be mesmerized by its incredible clearness, be intrigued by it superficial simplicity, or simply find oneself daze in speechless awe. Yet, if said rays were never to shine upon said diamond, matter of fact, if no source of light were to ever graze it at all; would it make it less beautiful? ... Would it make it any different?
Kazuki didn't believe so, at least, not in regards to its beauty. In his opinion, the diamond would have been just as pretty, if not even prettier, in fact, in the absence of light, it would have been possible to really observe, and analyze the gem for what it really was, without ending up being actually blinded by its glamorous reflection; like it would eventually wind up happening.
In such a respects, Shinjuku was the same. Whenever any sort of light would shine on Tokyou's notorious district, either it be the bright rays of the proud raising sun, or the overbearing glitter of its, at times exaggerated, nightlife illumination, people would most likely find themselves marveling in awe. However, for the blond fifteen year old, the lights, the fame, and all of the other associated aspects had always fallen into his mental comportment reserved to that which was overrated or completely unimportant. In all honesty, he despised that face of Shinjuku, which always came with traffic, noise, added to so much confusion, and he had no idea how its citizens could manage, and most of them, actually enjoy living in such a state of constant blindness. Wasn't it disturbing? To subject one's own eyes to a direct beam of pure light, wasn't it unbearably fastidious? Wouldn't one want to close his or her eye at least once, or seek shelter from it?
Kazuki quickly discovered that he could spend the rest of his life questioning such deep matters, but people in general didn't care in least, especially in a society such as his, where trying to stick out was not only rather inconvenient for the person itself, but seemingly an eye-sore for the rest of the community, and where all that mattered, and should be done, was to follow the crowd, and that; he just couldn't do. He had always been the kind of being, who would one day go to the right on his own whim, while everyone, every tine following the same exact directions, would go left. He didn't get any particular kick from being against the flow, it was a mere fact of not finding the sense in constantly doing the same thing, or to avoiding doing something, which hadn't been deemed any dangerous, but simply not the way things were supposed to be done, which always had the blond reply in quite the calm and at the same time, for those who were to be addressed, annoying manner with the same exact observation and question; I see ... and why is that?
Another example of of his peculiar behavior and personality could have been seen in his appearance, which had always been a balanced mixture of masculine and feminine elements that have always had people double take him in order to ascertain his actual gender, or even his taste, which constantly fluctuated and allowed him to be open to any sort of opinion and or experience. For example, he had never been neither in love nor in a relationship, but if he were to look for his significant other, he wouldn't limit himself to any particular gender or type. In short; restrictions just weren't his forte. Nonetheless, as most of the people liked to etiquette him, he really didn't think of himself as an nonconformist, for one, he simply liked different things and so happened to have brother horizons, and second, it wasn't an entirely true statement.
For instance, he loved riding his bicycle, as the majority of Japanese inhabitants did, either out of choice or pure necessity. The refreshing feeling of the breeze among his blond locks, and the perception of a momentary escape from his reality, being the main reason that always made him eagerly ride Furemu, which was the name he gave to his red bicycle, wherever and whenever he could, such as he was doing at the very moment, in the direction of his favorite place, his thirty minutes long hideout from the world, where he could silently gaze and admire another thing he new every Japanese person to be either openly or secretly fond of; cherry blossom trees.
Quickly glimpsing up at the sky he excitedly confirmed that it wasn't morning yet, but it wasn't dark either, which painted the sky with his favorite shade of blue. This time of the day, at the end of the night, right before dawn, was his favorite, a time where no source of light was truly necessary, for things could still be seen relatively well, and it was yet to early for people to be wandering around and cause their inevitably ruckus. It was the best time of the day, the time where he could stay alone surrounded by the scenery he so dearly loved, the time; when the sun didn't shine.
The only down point was that he had to be fast, because said sky conditions not only didn't last as long, which was why it made it a thirty minutes long hideout, but also because he had to be in and out said place before employees of the park, which was closed for visit before nine o'clock, started to appear. The present director of the park, Nakamura-san, a rather jolly and carefree old man, who was an old family friend, had secretly and gladly entrusted him with a copy of the back entrance keys, being impressed, and feeling touched at the enthusiasm that Kazuki had always showed towards said simple aspects of life, as long as he wouldn't get caught, for he wouldn't have been able to come to his rescue, given that what he was doing was technically and practically illegal.
After positioning and tying Furemu in the appropriate space for bicycles right outside the park, he brought out the key the the back of the particular building he had to walk through, as he carefully double-checked his surrounding. Once he reached said door, he newly looked around, cautiously closed the door behind himself, rushed through the storage room, into the corridor of the small house, opened the main entrance, and in a minute or so he was outside, his eyes finally welcoming the dear and familiar sea of pink foliage, all surrounded by his beloved pre-dawn sky. Without wasting anymore precious seconds, he quickly removed his shoes, and walked barefooted into the park's grass, while serenely grazing at his national treasure, as he directed himself deeper into the park, few minutes after which he then stopped, in order to begin his usual routine.
Step one, following the closure of his eyes, he opened his arms to the sky and inhaled. The scent of cherry blossom wasn't as strong as in any of the soaps, perfumes, and all the other products that where made with it, in fact, it actually somewhat different. The difference laid in the scent of wet grass form the rain that had fallen earlier during the night, in the light scent of the soil beneath said grass, which he kept slowly stepping on, still blindly moved about, with his arms stretched forward so as not to hit himself against any of the trees. Step two, feeling a few petals brought along by a gentle wind grazing his face, he newly stopped, raised his head to the sky, and slowly opening his eyes he marveled at the endearing sight of tiny flying petals above himself, as he silently observed that if said petals could have stayed still above his head in such position, it would have almost seemed as if the sky had pink stars, or something like that. Last, step three, lower his head and look for his favorite three, at the bottom of which he would have sat, newly gazed at the sky and reason through things. Everything was going perfectly, like it had for the past three years, until he lowered his head.
In front of himself, a couple of trees away, his extremely bewildered and widened eyes welcomed the outline of what could be nothing other than another human being, whom was standing still and looking right back at him, seemingly, with the same dumbfounded expression. Suddenly recollecting, his current illegal stand, Kazuki quickly hid behind the tree on his immediate left, and stayed put, trying not to make any sound, instinctively sharpening his hearing to figure out if said person was coming towards himself, but all he could distinctively hear was the raging drumming of his beating heart. At this point, he had no idea what he was exactly hoping for, aside for no jail-time, given that the other person had clearly seen him, that they also had stayed staring at each other for way too long for him to maybe play the it was a ghost-card, and that he himself was too far from the storage house, thus attempting to escape, was out of the question.
However, something needed to be done, unless, as he looked at his watch, which was indicating 6:40, he wanted to completely miss his first day of school in high school, though really at the moment, he was risking to lose much more than that, legally wise. Taking a big shaky breath, a few minutes of absolute silents later, he then tried and peek out from behind, just to find out said person doing the same from behind the tree he had first seen him stand next to. Blinking at each other, they stayed in that deer caught in headlights position for quite a while, until the other person, whom Kazuki could now clearly identify as a brunette man, completely dressed in black, suddenly cleared his through with a circumstantial cough and nonchalantly got out of behind the tree, which however made Kazuki quickly withdraw his head back behind his own tree
“I'm …” cautiously began the man “... I'm assuming that … you are not an employee … right?” hesitantly inquired the man. An employee? Did he really look that old?! It was common knowledge that a high school student couldn't have a job, thus the man was giving him at least eighteen years of age, which wasn't a rare occurrence,, in fact people usually did, but that happened after they heard him talk, not just by looking at him “... Miss? ...” called the man again, at which this time, the blond wasn't surprise, for being mistaken for a girl had always been a given, however the fact that the voice sounded louder, it was a indication that the man was perhaps moving forward.
Now reaching the obvious conclusion that the man wasn't an employee, and not knowing exactly what else he could have been, while his mind was analyzing possibilities quickly considering that jolly bunch of individuals ranging from pedophiles to rapist, and even better, serial killers, he should have strategically aimed the storage house and runaway as fast as he could. Yet, because of his what if mentality, his curiosity won over, his precautions, even if he exactly didn't have a precise what if to defend his curiosity with. Thus, in an exceedingly slow and cautious manner, he newly peeked out, and found that the man was now just a tree away from himself, and still looking in his direction. The man smiled back at him, and tilted his head to the side as if to take a better look at Kazuki, whom was still busy blushing at the smile received from what he could now clearly judge as an incredibly handsome man
“Not supposed to be here such as myself? ...” kindly asked the man, at which Kazuki nodded, while biting his lower lip, and shyly looking away, as a major sense of discomfort was taking over him. He never felt that way before, though it was making him rather nervous, it wasn't unpleasant either, rather, confusing. He felt like he wanted to look at the man again, but also that if he had, he'd probably shy away even more; was this feeling? …
“I hadn't been here in … so long ...” resumed the man, cautiously trying to move around the tree, probably in order to face the blond, whom had meanwhile newly withdrew, for his heart was currently beating too fast for himself to be able to hold any of usual sensible conversations “... and considering all the time I have been here in the past ...” continued the man, as Kazuki merely stayed put behind his tree listening “... this ...” suddenly professed, the voice making the blond jolt and fall to the floor, as he looked up at the man, whom had apparently walked on the opposite side of the tree, and now was stooping to lend a hand at him -... this is the first time I meet anyone here-
Still in a state of mild shock, Kazuki looked up at the smiling brunette, who nudged his hand in his direction, and without thinking, the blond watch himself taking said hand, and being lifted up from the ground “Thanks ...” he lowly expressed, while once again, he found himself staring, but he really couldn't help it, never in his short existence, had he met anyone so handsome before. And even though brashness of his completely black persona shouldn't had fitted in the mist of so much pink, and other delicate colors, all of a sudden, in his eyes, it fitted, such as his scent of tobacco mixed with very expensive cologne, that was quite similar to his father's own. It all fitted, and quite perfectly so.
“I-I am sorry ...” suddenly excused the man, who was now uncomfortably scratching behind his head “... your eyes … they are ...” he tried to say, looking away, and looking back at the younger “... they are amazingly beautiful … I couldn't help but stare at them … and … I have just made a full of myself” he lowly confessed, lightly smirking, as Kazuki lowered his gaze, while blushing away and happily smirking away as well
“I … don't know what … to say?” shyly and rather dumbly stated Kazuki, moving a part of his blond hair behind his vividly red ear, as the elder tenderly chuckled
“That's good I guess ...” he smilingly stated “... better than leave me alone perv?” pointed out the elder, at which they both lightly laughed
“I guess so ...” almost dreamily replied Kazuki, as they newly fell silent, standing unmoving in front of each other, Kazuki looking elsewhere, while feeling the man's elegant features trained on his still rather blushing once
“My name is-” was about then about to state the brunette, when all of a sudden, the alarm on Kazuki's cellphone went off, which was his reminder to leave the place.
Quickly reaching for his cell phone, and instantly waking up from his prolonged daze, he figured that his expression might have looked troubled enough, and clearly stating that he was about to run off, even before he actually began to slowly step backwards, for as he observed the man, Kazuki noticed him trying to reach for him, maybe even call out wait, just instants before his cell phone was the one to ring, which the man seemed to answer quite reluctantly
Kazuki usually didn't believe in signs and things of the sort, but both their cell phones rang at the same time, just as soon as the men was about to introduce himself, and the fact that, this time there would have been no saving them if they were to be found by employees from this moment on, and with school and all, no matter how bad he truly wanted to have known his name, it seemed like it just wasn't meant to have been. The man most have thought the same thing, for Kazuki clearly heard running steps departing away from his own running ones, as they both rushed to leave the premises of their place and moment lost in time, and back to their reality. Once out, and on top of Furemu, Kazuki subconsciously looked around, to see if he could maybe spot him, as he swiftly biked his way home to get ready for his first day of school.
That had been by far, the quickest thirty minuted he had spent in that park, or in his life, which actually felt like a minute, and so surreal in so many ways. The regret of not having found out his name was already pouring all over him, and felt sticky like summer rain, such as the bitterness of not knowing whether he would have seen him again, or whether the man would have even been interest in doing so. Then again, perhaps, given how he had been mistaken for a young lady, just perhaps, it was better this way, leaving the precious memory of their tiny fairy-tale moment between those cherry blossom trees, and that thirty minute sky, which, as he forlornly looked up, the sun was second away from taking away, just to remind him about; how bad things always seemed to happen, whenever the sun came to shine.
^~~ Chapter 1 ~~^
A/N: Well well well. There you have the prologue!
This will be a story seen through Kazuki and Aoi's prospective, the prologue began with Kazuki because he is the main, if you could say, character of this story. Kazuki is a particular character, and he might be hard to understand throughout the story, but I'll try and make him as clear as possible, also answer questions if any in comments. He is simple in his ways, but rather complex in his thoughts, which will make things a lot harder during the whole story, and some things quite surprisingly easy as well
So he is about to start his first day of high school, with the usual excitement of a person who has just left middle school, so we will look into that his relationship with friends and family. The same thing with Aoi, whom however … isn't having quite a blast as Kazuki …
So see ya soon through the next Invisible wall: Exciting Start, Troubling End
Much Love -LnK♥(~_^ )/-