Disclaimer: I do not own 07-Ghost or anything that could be associated with it. 07-Ghost belongs to Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara. I do not own the song 'Life Less Ordinary', which is by the band Carbon Leaf.
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a life less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
Well I hate to be a bother
But it's you and there's no other, I do believe
You can call me naïve but…
I know me very well, at least as far as I can tell
And I know what I need.
'Bunk assignments…? This ought to be interesting…'
A boy of about 15 years and average height, about 5'4", stood facing the announcements for incoming students. He was absent mindedly tugging at the collar of his Academy uniform. He had short, messy, blonde hair, a small x-shaped scar on his face, and warm honey gold eyes. He had a comical, slanted frown on his lips to accompany his thoughts.
'I sure hope that I get someone decent to bunk with… Almost everyone here is either too arrogant for their own good, or stiff backed, regulation worshipping, stick-in-the-muds…'
He then went and got his bunk assignment, and headed off to the boys dormitory.
As it so happened, the blonde's bunk mate was already there. His bunk mate was a little short, standing at about 5'2". He had medium length, ruffled brown hair. His eyes were a striking emerald color; they seemed to pierce straight through to your soul. The blonde's chest felt a little warm at the sight of the brunette, but he didn't notice it; he was a warm sort of fellow by nature.The blonde put on a bright cheerful smile. The brunette, however, beat him to the first words.
"So, I take it that you're my bunk mate."
'Darn…I got stuck with one of the straight-backed, emotionless ones,' the blonde thought dismally, the smile not leaving his face. "Yep, I sure am~" the blonde confirmed.
The brunette's expression didn't change, it was still stony with a slight frown. For the first time in his life, the blonde actually felt slightly nervous with his own perpetual grinning. The brunette, more likely than not, wasn't amused. He merely stepped around the blonde and left the dormitory.
The blonde couldn't help but watch the brunette leave. 'I think I found something to occupy my time this year…I'm going to brighten his outlook on life!' A look of realization flashed across the blonde's face. 'Wait…I don't even know his name! Oh well, I'll figure it out~'
The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue tied next time
It was break period. Well, technically it was a study period, but there wasn't much to study, seeing as it was still the beginning of the year. The blonde was one to just sit back and relax. No reading, that was for class. His favorite place to sit back and relax was by the fountain in the main square. The blond was just dozing, enjoying his moment of relaxation, when he heard a disturbance over by the fountain. Opening his eyes, he glanced towards the fountain. 'Hey…it's a bunk mate…' The blonde rarely saw his bunk mate…even at night. It was quite odd, really. He also saw a couple other students talking to the brunette. The blonde strained to hear what they were saying. After a while, he stood up and frowned. The other students were making fun of and calling the brunette a sklave. He marched over to the fountain, and without word or warning, punched one of the students in the face. The student he punched, Shuuri Oak was his name, got knocked off his feet. Jumping back to his feet, and holding his face, Shuuri and his friends looked at the blonde in horror.
"Why don't you go make fun of someone your size!" the blonde said, angrily.
Shuuri and his friends immediately ran for it. The blonde felt the brunette's eyes on his back, and he felt a glowing sense of…pride, was it? And that's when the teachers came…
For some reason, they assumed that the brunette took a swing at the other students too, so the teachers threw him in a cell too. The blonde got thrown in the cell directly above the brunette's. He crouched down on the floor, and knocked on it. "Hey, are you down there…?"
There was nothing for a few moments, but then the brunette's unmistakable voice floated up through the floor. "Yeah, what do you want?"
'Hmmm…still cold and irritable…' the blonde thought before answering. "My name is Mikage, what's yours?"
Yet again, there were a few moments of silence, as if the brunette was considering responding or not. He did. "I'm Teito…Teito Klein."
'Teito, eh?' Mikage thought with a smile,' Well, it's a start.'
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
My face had said too much
Before our hands could even touch
To greet a 'hello'… So much for going slow
A little later on that year,
I told you that I loved you dear
What do you know?
This you weren't prepared to hear
I'm a saddened man, I'm a broken boy
I'm a toddler with a complex toy
I'm falling apart, since the ambush on your heart.
Mikage automatically placed himself at Teito's side as best friend and personal 'ray of sunshine'. Teito rarely took Mikage up on the latter. While Mikage may have been no more than 5 feet away from his best friend at any given time, he had the unfortunate ability to lose Teito come lunch time. Every time Mikage would ask Teito about his lunch plans, it always went a little something like this:
"Hey Teito~"
"Mikage…"
"What are you doing for lunch today?"
"Nothing…"
And by this point, Mikage would formulate some way to ask Teito if he would join him for lunch. Unfortunately for Mikage, Teito was always gone before he could ask. So today, Mikage did something he never thought he'd really do. He sat back, and thought. 'Well…Teito doesn't like people so…where would he go?'
That was the question that Mikage pondered all the way up until lunch. Then, it hit him. The roof. He made his way to the back of the school, where the ladder to the roof was. He poked his head over the edge of the roof, checking to see if his green-eyed friend was there. He was.
"Hey! Teito~" he chirped, finishing his climb onto the roof," I thought I'd find you up here." As he walked across the roof to sit next to Teito, Mikage noticed that the only sort of food Teito seemed to have was the carton of milk he was drinking. "Say…where's the rest of your lunch?" Teito just pulled out a bottle of pills and held it up for a moment, before removing the cap and taking a couple. Mikage's eyes widened, and he snatched the bottle out of Teito's hands. "Wh-what are you doing!" he cried, inspecting the bottle.
Teito calmly reached over and took the bottle back. "They're just vitamins…I get all of my essential nutrients from these."
"You mean you only eat vitamins and milk?" Mikage asked, an eyebrow raised. Teito nodded. "Don't you have some kind of real food? Like yakisoba?" Mikage asked. Teito shook his head. "But there's all kinds of yakisoba! Yakisoba bread, yakisoba rice, there's all kinds!" Mikage explained enthusiastically, pulling out his own lunch of, you guessed it, yakisoba. Teito just stared at Mikage blankly. "That's it!" Mikage proclaimed, putting his lunch away," Come on!" Mikage reached over and grabbed Teito's hand, standing up and dragging him back towards the ladder.
"Where are we going!" Teito shouted, not too happy about being drug around.
Mikage didn't say anything, he just kept moving across the grounds and keeping a hold on Teito's hand. He probably could've let go of Teito's hand, but a voice in the back of Mikage's head told him not to. That voice had never led him wrong before. Well…save for the time it told him to fight his older brother.
They arrived in the cafeteria, which was nearly empty by now. Mikage finally released Teito's hand when they came up to the lunch counter.
"Miss!" Mikage called to the lunch lady," My friend here has never eaten anything. Do you have anything to fill him up with…like yakisoba?"
"Yakisoba makes you stupid," the lunch lady snapped," But I think I can put something together."
A few minutes later, Mikage and Teito were sitting at a table, a large plate of food in front of Teito. Teito picked up his spoon and sampled a bit of what was in front of him, closing his eyes.
"Well, how is it?~"
Teito jumped slightly and opened his eyes. Mikage had half gotten to his feet and was leaning across the table, his grinning face right in Teito's shocked one. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
Mikage tilted his head, drawing back slightly. "What is it?"
Teito spun around, covering his eyes with his arm. "'s nothing…"
Mikage, ever clueless, responded, "Is the food so good that it's moved you to tears?" His hand shot into the air. "Miss, can I have some too!"
Teito couldn't help the ghost of a smile that came to his lips at his best friend's stupidity.
"Only nineteen of us passed…" Mikage said, absent mindedly fiddling with the bandage around his arm.
"Yeah…" Teito replied, just as absent minded," Who was that man who was there?"
"The lilac haired one?" Mikage asked, standing up and holding on to the edge of Teito's bed," That was Chief of Staff Ayanami…he's one of the strongest people in the Military."
Teito looked at nothing in particular, thinking for a few moments, when there was a soft 'fwump' beside him. Looking down at his side towards the sound, Teito found Mikage curled up there. "Mikage," he hissed," What are you doing?"
"This will probably be the last time we're stationed in the same place…at least for a while, so I'm going to sleep here tonight…" Mikage murmured, both sleepily and cheerfully.
Teito, recognizing that this was a battle he wasn't going to win, just sighed and lied down next to his best friend and drifted off to sleep.
The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue tied, but…
Mikage made his way across the bridge that led to the church in District 7. Sure, he was only minutes away from collapsing dead on his feet, but he was on a mission. A mission that he kept trying to tell himself was only to make sure his best friend was safe. But it was more than that, and he knew that. He checked to make sure that his cloak was still covering him when he saw something…someone, rather. Adorned in church clothes and bending down to pick up a silver flower, was Teito.
"Teito!" Mikage called as he saw Teito's eyes lock with his own, pulling off his hood.
Teito's eyes widened in recognition and whispered," Mikage…"
Mikage ran towards Teito, throwing his arms around the smaller male and all but tackling him. "Thank God you're safe!" Mikage cried gleefully, clutching the material of Teito's clothes and tightening his arms around him.
"How did you find me…?" Teito stammered.
Mikage held Teito out at arm's length before replying," Everyone saw your hawkzile crash near here, so I figured this would be the first place you went."
Then, Mikage's grip on Teito's shoulders went slack, and he fell forward, the exhaustion finally taking hold of him. Teito just barely managed to catch Mikage before he hit the ground. Mikage, in his half conscious state, registered that he was lying in Teito's arms and that Teito was calling for help. Just before passing out, he felt calm, as though he was safe here and nothing was going to happen. If he were just a little more conscious, he would have realized just how wrong that thought was…
Honey understand, honey understand
I won't make demands
Honey understand, honey understand
We could walk without a plan
Honey understand, honey understand
I won't rest in stone, all alone
Honey understand, honey understand
I'm already to go
But you already know…
Mikage stumbled up the stairs to the garden. He took a couple shaky steps across the grass and stopped, raising a hand to grip his head.
"I can't take this much longer…" Mikage choked," My head feels like it's going to split in two…"
An arrow of pain suddenly shot through his head, and the Devil's voice sounded in his head.
'With your own hands, you will end Teito Klein's life.'
Mikage squeezed his head tighter, doubled over. "As if I could do such a thing!" he gasped. Another arrow of pain shot through his head.
'Are you planning on betraying me?'
Mikage straightened out, clutching his head so tightly that it seemed like he was going to rip out his own hair. "I don't want to betray anyone!"
'Those devoted thoughts of yours will not succeed.'
A horrible scream ripped though Mikage's being, his head exploding in pure agony. He fell to his knees in exhaustion.
"Mikage!" came Teito's worried voice from behind him," What's the matter?"
Upon hearing Teito's voice, Mikage looked over his shoulder. "Stay away!" he shouted.
Teito stopped a couple feet behind Mikage. "Why…?" he asked, softly.
Mikage lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut, begging," Please…don't come any closer…"
Teito got a confused look on his face," What are you saying? I'm just asking what's wrong…"
Mikage got to his feet, slowly turned around and sadly began to speak," II just knew that it would end up like this…" Teito narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion, and Mikage continued, his eyes pained and saddened," I'm sorry, Teito…for being such a hopeless best friend…"
"What are you saying?" Teito asked.
"I have a favor to ask of you," Mikage said, almost interrupting Teito," This one last favor…"
Teito's eyes widened in shock. " The 'last' one?"
Mikage lowered his head so that his hair hung in his face, hiding his eyes. "I'm begging you…" Mikage said softly, his voice wavering," Please, kill me."
Teito's eyes widened even more.
"No, only you can do it!" Mikage said, raising his head and placing his hands on Teito's shoulders," While I'm still consciously myself…Please!"
"What the hell are you saying!" Teito proclaimed," How could I even-!"
"Just do it, Teito!" Mikage interrupted, " If you don't, so I will…" Pain lanced through Mikage's head again, causing him to gasp. He lowered his head, gritting his teeth.
"What's the matter, Mikage!" Teito asked, concerned, putting his hand on Mikage's arm," Are you hurt anywhere?"
Mikage straightened up and slapped Teito's hand away. " Don't touch me!" he shouted angrily. He took a couple steps back, wrapping his arms about himself. "Hurry and kill me already!" Mikage cried, his voice fearful.
"There's no reason for why I could do that!" Teito shouted back, angrily.
Mikage threw out an arm, gesturing out of the garden. "If you can't kill me, then run away as fast as you can!" Mikage ordered. He pulled his arm back in, his voice was fading again," Already…I can't hear my conscience anymore! Shit! There's no way I could sell you out to them...! You are, after all…just as important as my family…"
A touch of fear appeared in Teito's eyes. "Mikage…what happened to you?"
Mikage's face was shadowed. "It was Ayanami…" he answered quietly. Teito gasped in shock. "Ayanami made me…" Mikage cried, his voice beginning to shake again," Run away…Teito…"
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
If I could name you in this song
Would it make you smile and sing along?
This is the goal; to get into your soul
If I could make you dance with joy
Could that be the second chance decoy?
The bird in hand I would need
To help you understand?
Mikage was forcibly drawn into his own mind.
"Come on, " a dark, velvety voice said," Just kill him already."
Mikage turned to face the voice. He saw himself, he saw himself with narrowed eyes and a dark, pleased smirk. Mikage glanced down, breaking the gaze of his darker self. "I could never do such a thing."
Dark Mikage's smirk grew even wider and he took a step closer to Mikage. "It's not that hard of a task," he purred, the Devil's grin itself on his face.
Mikage furiously shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm not going to kill my best friend!" he shouted.
Facial expression unchanging, Dark Mikage slid behind Mikage, placing his own hands on Mikage's arms. "You can't fight me," Dark Mikage whispered into Mikage's ear," Just give up."
Mikage clamped his mouth shut and shook his head again.
Dark Mikage laughed slightly. "Oh, I recognize this foolish devotion," Dark Mikage said, his smirk morphing into an amused grin," You love him, don't you?"
Mikage remained stonily silent, not wanting to answer. His silence was all the answer his darker self needed.
Dark Mikage threw his head back and laughed a cold, harsh, utterly amused laugh. You really are a hopeless best friend!" Dark Mikage crowed, laughter tinging his voice. Mikage's face was tinted red, half from anger, half from embarrassment. "This will make killing Teito all the more enjoyable," Dark Mikage purred, grinning like a fox.
"I'm not going to let you hurt him!" Mikage shouted in a rare moment of anger.
"How cute," Dark Mikage laughed," The hopeless best friend thinks he's actually going to be able to save his beloved!" Dark Mikage then doubled over with laughter, clearly mocking Mikage.
Mikage then narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. He then swung at dark Mikage.
While the sudden show of violence surprised Dark Mikage, he still reached up and caught Mikage's fist, proceeding to grab Mikage's throat with his other hand. "It's time to face the music," Dark Mikage snarled," You just sealed yours and your beloved's fate." Dark Mikage then shoved Mikage back into the metaphorical captain's chair for the last goodbye.
Mikage took a shuddering breath and forced himself to look at Teito. "Teito…all because I met you, my heart has always been warm, and I've been very happy…" Mikage said, on the verge of tears," So I beg of you…Please go! …Go before I hurt you…"
Teito leaned back slightly in realization. "No…" he gasped," Ayanami got to you too!"
Mikage gazed upon Teito sadly. "I love you, Teito…" Mikage said softly and honestly.
Teito's eyes widened in shock, his face a field of mixed emotions.
Dark Mikage threw Mikage out of the captain's chair. "I won't let you escape, Teito Klein!"
Mikage stole control back for one last time. "This is farewell…Teito…" And then, Mikage's light soul died, and there was nothing but darkness left.
"You will be returning with me!"
The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue tied next time…
Mikage looked down upon the sad scene from above. Half of his soul had already made it back to Heaven, the other half was still on the Bridge of Trials, embracing Teito. Up in Heaven, Mikage was nothing more than a ghostly copy and a voice. He could feel himself coming together as his other half faded from earthly existence. He may have accepted his death, but that doesn't mean that he enjoyed it. He wanted more than anything to be living back on earth with his best friend. The time for that, however, was over. It would be a long while before they could be together as humans again.
He saw his other half fade away, and felt it return to Heaven. He was completely whole again. Completely and wholly dead. Then, it hit him.
They wouldn't be together again, for a long while, as humans.
He decided to approach the Chief of Heaven and make a daring request. "Chief of Heaven," Mikage greeted," I have a question."
The Chief of Heaven sat on his throne, looking down on the blonde. "What is it?" he asked, his voice a mix of command and love.
"I want to request what I am reincarnated as," Mikage stated boldly.
"I am guessing that you wish to be reborn as the human you were," the Chief of Heaven said.
Mikage shook his head. "I know that I have to be born again as a child," Mikage said," And I can't protect my best friend as a human child. Let me be reborn as something that, from the start, can protect him!"
The Chief of Heaven couldn't help but smile slightly at the blonde's loyalty.
Mikage lowered his head. "Besides," he said softly," As a human, I said things that could have possibly ruined that precious friendship…I don't want to make the same mistake again… Could I be something without a voice?"
The Chief of Heaven shook his head. "It is either voice or protection…you cannot have both."
Mikage raised his head to the Chief of Heaven. "If that's the case, then I choose protection…it doesn't matter what life it is, if I can't protect him, then my life means nothing!"
"Very well," the Chief of Heaven said, raising his hand to Mikage," Protection it shall be."
The little creature opened his eyes. What was that dream? Something about being a human, and…love, was it? It wasn't the first time he'd had that dream since he was born, he'd had it a couple times. For some reason, though, it always felt so real…like it had happened before. But that was impossible. He was only a couple days old…and a dragon at that! In that dram, however, the 'stars' were always two humans; a blonde and a brunette.
The little dragon shook his head, his ears flopping. It was then that he realized that he was being carried. He tilted his pink furred head up, his ruby eyes meeting the bright sapphire eyes of a blonde, human male. The human was really tall.
"Caused me a lot of trouble searching for you," the man grumbled, sensing the little dragon's eyes on him. The man shouted something, the little dragon couldn't quite make it out, and then kicked in a door.
There was another human in the room. The little dragon almost fell out of his carrier's arms from the sheer pain and sadness coming from the other human. The little dragon hopped out of the taller male's arms and ran over to the bed that the other human was in. The other human finally looked up and started yelling at the sapphire eyed man. The little dragon's tiny heart skipped a beat. The smaller, saddened male was the brunette from his dream!
The little dragon crawled up the bed sheets and struggled to get across the soft mattress to the brunette. He hopped into the brunette's lap and looked up at the brunette with his ruby eyes, twitching his pink, tufted tail. The tall, sapphire eyed man yelled something, and the brunette slipped his hands around the little dragon's body, lifting up to eye level.
There were tears in the brunette's shocked, emerald eyes. "Mi-Mikage…" the brunette gasped, staring into the little dragon's ruby eyes. The little dragon reached up, licking the brunette's cheek and chirping happily. The brunette broke down into fresh tears, hugging the little dragon to his shoulder.
The little dragon grabbed onto the brunette's shoulder with his paws, and saw a flash of white, gold, and black out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw a familiar face. It was familiar, yes, but the little dragon just couldn't put a claw on it. Then, it hit the little dragon. It was the blonde from his dream! The little dragon squinted, looking at the blonde's face. The blonde had a scar on his cheek, just like the one that the little dragon had above one of his eyes.
The little dragon tilted his head, and the blond spoke to the little dragon's mind. 'We'll protect him… You'll continue what I, we, started…'
The little dragon looked back to the brunette, nuzzling his shoulder. The sapphire eyed male spoke again. "He came back in this form so that he could protect you in his next life too…"
Then, the blonde was gone, his unspoken words of love lingering around the little dragon.
'We'll protect him… Love him with all of your heart and soul, just don't make the same mistake I did…'
The little dragon just rested his head under the brunette's chin, his pink fur absorbing the brunette's sorrowful tears.
'Don't say what I had said…'
'I love you, Teito…'