[fic] Cosmic Child
Title: Cosmic Child
Author: jayeanne
Pairing(s): Akanishi Jin x Kamenashi Kazuya
Length: multi-chapter
Rating: PG (for now. will go up in succeeding chapters.)
Genre: AU, drama, adventure (lol, srsly..?)
Summary: When it comes to fixing things, Kazuya was truly a genius. The perfect skill for someone living in the Other Side.
Warning: Lots of OC. Cross-posted in akame_.
AN (or where I get to talk about things when you just want to read the fic): LOL Original title, I know! Came up with it after watching CHAIN con dvd and OMG. Kazu-baby was just so darned cute when he does that saikou na smile move during their Cosmic Child perf. TOO DARNED CUTE!! >.<
Originally wrote this not as a fanfic, but the main character just keeps morphing into Kazuya, so might as well give in. It’s the first time I’m doing an AU for this fandom so I’m a bit worried. And yes, I want this to be some sort of a superhero story, so we’ll see. Comment if you read! I’d love to hear what you have to say. :))
(Urgh, seriously I’m so bad with updating. Well, I will try to update this one as regularly as I can.)
And a biiig thank you to prettyorianna for helping me out with this fic. :)
Okay will shut up now. On to the fic!
“Well done,” the older man in the tall hat says, turning repeatedly in his hands the sliver-gilded object. Craftsmanship wise, he has no complaints. The object could easily pass for a sleek phone or perhaps a music player of some sort. He gives a surreptitious glance at the skinny boy in front of him. Dressed in a scruffy shirt and jeans, one wouldn’t even think twice of him. He looks like your average 16 year old, just the kind of kid you’d expect from the Other Side of the city. The turtle-shaped plastic pendant hanging around his neck seemed to be the only distinguishing piece of anything about the boy.
Well, well, he thinks to himself as he inspects the object in his hand, touching the glowing screen lovingly, looks can be deceiving, eh?
As if the said young boy in front of him knew what he was thinking, the other gives the older man a knowing smirk. “I trust that’s what you were looking for, Mr. Gillespie?” He points out a non-descript tiny, black button on the side of the device, “And here, you just push this and -“
Beeep!
The younger man beside Mr. Gillespie gives a start as his phone suddenly beeped. He flips it open and looks surprised. On the screen of his phone, he could clearly see a live video feed of the three of them inside the darkened café. Near the bottom of the screen, the exact coordinates of the place was written in tiny, glowing script. “So you could actually extend that device’s features to other phones --?”
“Yep,” the youngest boy replied coolly, “and you can change angles, too. Everything from the original device can be virtually transferred to anything else. Phones, headsets - the works,” he glances up at him, “Well, as long as it supports wi-fi or bluetooth, of course.”
He gives a faint smile at the youngest boy. “As much as I’d hate to admit it but…you’re truly a genius at this, Kazuya. This will be truly useful with our operations.”
“Spare the flattery, Rabbit,” the boy called Kazuya scoffs. “Words won’t keep me fed, y’know.” He smirks at them, hands held out. “It’s all about the money, gentlemen. Let’s keep this clean and professional. So if you please...?”
Mr. Gillespie breaks out into laughter, “Well said, Kazuya.” He turns to the other man, “Rabbit, the payment for the talented young lad?”
Tsk. Rabbit scowls at the younger boy. He slides a small, leather pouch across the table. “I trust this will be enough?”
Kazuya smirks at him, making a show of counting the gold coins inside the pouch. “Well, this will do -“ he looks up, staring directly at the older men in front of him. “- for now.” He shakes the small leather pouch, the coins making a soft plinking sound. “Mr. Gillespie, you should understand that my services aren’t exactly cheap.”
“Don’t think of yourself too highly, lad.” The eldest stands up, eyes glittering in the dark, “You might be good,” he lowers his head, closer to the boy, “but you’re not that good.” He stands up and signals to Rabbit. “Let’s go,” he says brusquely, turning away from the other and heading towards the exit.
From the window, Kazuya sees a young, handsome boy, no more than ten or eleven, dressed in a stiff, black suit. The boy opens the car door for the pair. As if sensing that someone was watching them, the young boy stares at the general direction of Kazuya from inside of the small café. He holds his gaze for a minute longer, before turning his back and getting inside the car himself.
Kazuya ‘s eyes flashed,“Oh, but Mr. Gillespie, you have no idea how good I really am.”
****
Home sweet home, Kazuya smiles to himself as he made his way through the busy streets of the Other Side. Unlike the City, the streets here were much, much older and narrower, signs of wear and tear was everywhere. Dilapidated buildings dotted every side of the street. The shops looked saggy and tired, as if they themselves couldn’t wait for the day to be over.
He glances at the huge clock seating atop the City’s Skytree. The Skytree’s City clock had been modeled after London’s Big Ben. The new mayor had it installed shortly after getting elected, exactly two years ago. The time on the clock shows that it was roughly 20 minutes since he left the café. Well that should be more than enough time. His fingers fly again to the plastic pendant around his neck. He pushes the right eye of the turtle with a soft tick. He could definitely use some ice cream before heading home.
Up ahead was the park that Kazuya used to frequent when he was younger. He stands in front of the gates, burying his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. The red metal swings were empty; no one was riding the creaky merry-go-round; the make-shift basketball court in the corner stood empty, no sound of laughter or bouncing ball being passed around could be heard. Near the gates, there stood an old, cardboard-made shop. Crème Glace. Ice cream, in other words. Plain, good ol’ ice cream.
Despite the sweltering heat of the day - it was still the middle of summer, after all - there was no one lining up at the make-shift store. Behind the counter, the middle-aged vendor sat, fanning himself with a faded red beret. Music was playing softly in the background; a piano rendition of Fly Me to The Moon. In Other Words.
Kazuya steps up the counter. “Two scoops of chocolate, please.”
The man behind the counter gives a start. “Oh,” he says, eyes round with surprise. He gives a toothy grin at Kazuya. “One moment. Chocolate, right?” He opens a drawer, taking out a silver scoop. “Well, it’s been a long time since I last sees a young ‘un here,” he says chattily, as he starts to fill out the other’s order, “y’know, well, the uh circumstances have changed. They’re all… in the City. Wonder why you’s still here?”
Kazuya gives him a non-committal shrug and stretches out his hand. “My ice cream?”
The man hands him his cone, studying his face. “We all have us reasons, I s’ppose. And you are certainly lucky, too. Well, you’s not exactly that young,” he concedes, “ - but still, consider youself lucky. You’s staying here on the Other Side for a long time then, boy?”
Kazuya gives him a non-committal shrug. “Maybe. Depends. Hey, I’ll pay later okay?”
The man chuckles, “Nah, no need to pay, boy. Have it for free. Been’s long since I saw a young face wander here. This place used to be filled with laughing ‘uns.”
“Thank you, mister. But I’ll really pay after I finish this.” He points at one of the swings facing the shop, a few feet away. “Would you mind turning up the radio, mister? I want to sit over there.”
“Sure thing.” He fiddles with his radio, as Kazuya heads toward the swings. Kazuya seats himself on one of the swings, licking at his dripping cone.
“That okay?” the older man shouts at him. “Can you hear?”
“Perfect.” Kazuya shouts back. He sits there, swinging back and forth, steadily licking on his dripping cone, listening quietly at the soft strains of music floating from the shop. Kazuya could see Skytree’s City clock from where he was seated. It was now exactly half an hour past 4. He thinks back at how much things have changed since. Like what the ice cream vendor had commented, life now was certainly…strange. Only a handful of kids were still around - him and his sister included. School was not compulsory anymore. Well, with no one to actually attend, it was pretty much pointless now, right? He misses it. He missed going to school, his friends - Koki, Yuichi, Junno. Jin. Heck, he even missed his old, grumpy teacher, Mr. Sawatari. He wonders how they were doing now. He only wishes that his friends were still relatively safe in the City.
But still. Kazuya knew that he didn’t exactly have the right to complain. Thanks to his skills at … fixing things, he actually managed to avoid being forcibly recruited into the City. As far as he knew, he was the only one from the Other Side who offered this kind of service. Granted, there were a lot of fixers from the City but he was far cheaper (and much more efficient and effective, in his opinion) than them.
Well of course he couldn’t do that much. Or to be more politically correct about it, he shouldn’t. If he was being honest, he could do a whole lot more. More than enough to keep him and the other kids from the Other Side. Oh yes, he definitely knew that he could do much, much more. It was something innate in him. He had no other word for it. Fixing? He couldn’t even really understand it himself - this gift he had. Give him a piece of metal and some wires and in a minute or so, you’ll have a fully-operational phone or tracking device in your hand. He wasn’t exactly smart at school but then again he wasn’t someone that teachers would call slow either. Average. But when it comes to fixing things, Kazuya was truly a genius. A switch would suddenly turn inside his head and yes, he would just suddenly know where every little nut or bolt would fit.
Right now though, he has to be careful. He knew he was playing with fire but hell. He couldn’t let things be like this forever. So now he just had to be more careful than before. Just keep his head low (or as low as he could, anyway) and earn enough for them to let him and Pippa stay with Salman. He needs to be patient. For now.
“We interrupt our regular programming. Breaking news. It has been confirmed that it was His Honorable Bradbury Gillespie who was inside the elevator of the Skytree when it exploded, just a little over twenty minutes ago. No further casualties have been reported, as of press time. About seven people have reportedly been injured. The source of the explosion is still unknown --“
“Kazuya!!!” A high-pitched voice suddenly breaks out over the noise of the radio.
A little girl of about 8 years old suddenly materializes in front of him, her face curled into a furious pout. “Where were you all day? Papa’s been looking for you, moron!” She plants herself right in front him, arms crossed.
“Pippa.” His face immediately softens into an affectionate smile,
“And look! You even had ice cream!” she says accusingly, “Urgh, I hate you!”
“I’ll buy you one before we go,” the older boy laughs, ruffling her hair. “Didn’t I tell you to keep watch over Salman? It’s not good to leave him alone.”
The little girl flashes him a withering look, “As if I didn’t know that! But daddy’s been bugging me all day long to go look for you. Urgh!!” she snatches the wrist of the older boy and starts dragging him off the swings, “I’ll tie the two of you together if you keep doing this to me every single, freakin’ day! SERIOUSLY! He worries over you like you’re a baby.”
Kazuya laughs. “Do I smell a hint of jealousy here, my cute baby sister?” he teases, as he continued to follow her along, “that old man clearly has --- owww! HEY!!!” He gingerly lifts his left foot where Pippa had stomped on him.
“You might look thin, but stil hh-! OWW! Hey, quit it!”
“Shut up. I’m just way more mature than you’ll ever be.” Pippa sticks out her tongue at him. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
“Hey, don’t you want your ice cream?”
The little girl stops in her tracks, “Oh right,” she says and jogs back to him who was now waiting in front of the ice cream stand. “Triple scoop of chocomint, strawberry and vanilla. With sprinkles,” she sticks out her tongue at him. “You owe me that much.”