Hello, you wonderful person.
So this is based on the Japanese Film adaptation of the Hana Kimi manga. I've never read the manga, nor have I seen the Taiwanese version of the film. I don't know the first thing about mangas. I barley know the first thing about what happened in the screen version, either, because I get confused so easily. But I loved the characters! Especially Kayashima and Nakatsu. So I deviated from the setting and I'm taking them to California because I'm lazy and I want to work in home ground. This fic isn't going to focus on romance. Rather, it's going to play with the characters as they find themselves in some strange and often dangerous situations. I started this on a whim and may end it the same way, so if you have any suggestions, por favor, let me know.
This chapter seems a bit boring. I'm sorry. But hey, it's an airplane ride, what are you gonna do.
I disclaim!
Fire Dance
Ch. 1: Sea of Embers
Kayashima had his hands raised shoulder-length, staring into the sky above the airplane. Nakatsu paused before entering the walkway that led to the entrance of the huge craft, stepping aside to let a group of other young men pass. Kayashima's ticket slipped from his fingers and drifted down, swiffed to the side from the breeze created by people sashaying by. Nakatsu bent to pick up the slip of paper, wondering what his roommate was seeing this time, a bit nervous because Kayashima's face looked rather on the dire side. He pushed the entranced boy out of the way of the boarding people.
"Dropped your ticket," he said, trying to give it back. Kayashima didn't respond. He was still staring through the window at the plane. As always, Nakatsu turned and looked in the same direction, and, as always, didn't see anything.
"What?" When he turned back, Kayashima was staring at something much closer. It looked as if Kayashima was staring above Nakatsu's head. Nakatsu sighed in exasperation.
"Man, I am not still in love with her, nothing's going to happen!"
"I know," his roommate replied eerily.
"Well… if you're not seeing pink, what are you seeing?"
"Nakatsu, my friend, I don't think this trip is a good idea."
"Why? What?"
"I see a bad aura."
"We're going to California. It's going to be great. Everybody's going to have fun. What could go wrong?" Kayashima looked a bit annoyed.
"I don't know what could go wrong, but I know what I see. I see badness. Over this whole situation, but especially over you." Kayashima stared at Nakatsu for a moment. He held out his hand to receive his ticket.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't tell you that. I know you're going on this trip regardless of what I say. I shouldn't have let this rest on your mind." Kayashima looked unsure of himself, slightly sheepish, and very troubled. Nakatsu put on a smile.
"Ah, don't look so down. Try to have fun!" He headed up the ramp, giving up half his ticket to the ticket person. Kayashima followed. He reflected on Nakatsu's smile. Of course his friend was troubled. Nakatsu always did such a terrible job hiding when he was troubled. He did a good job of putting on a positive face for everyone, but it was Kayashima's belief that the smile was never quite genuine enough to be convincing. It told Kayashima that Nakatsu cared enough about his friends not to bother them with his own emotions, and maybe people fell for it – it most certainly didn't work on Kayashima, though. He shouldn't have told Nakatsu about the aura. Now he'd be dwelling on it the whole trip. What if it was nothing?
Nakatsu took a seat next to Nanba, wishing their principle had been more relenting in their request to be able to switch seats once they boarded the airplane. Nanba even had the window. It wouldn't be so bad, except Nakatsu knew he couldn't risk falling asleep now. He'd probably end up leaning on Nanba's shoulder, which would most likely result in some injury inflicted upon him by Namba. He sighed in relief as Kayashima sat on his other side. Maybe he would be able to fall asleep after all, as long as he made sure to lean to his left. Kayashima wouldn't mind being fallen asleep upon. It's not as if that had never happened before.
I do not still love her! Hah. He wished he could tell that to himself truthfully with as much conviction as he'd used when he told that to Kayashima. He wasn't going to let anything happen this trip. They were traveling to California to compete in an international athletics competition, and it happened to be close to where Mizuki lived (Nakatsu was sure that was the reason they ended up there in the first place), and he refused to ruin things for Mizuki and Sano. He wanted to be their friend. Clearly anything romantic wasn't going to work out. Clearly things would just be happier and better if he removed himself from that aspect of things. Not that he was ever in it in the first place.
He sighed. Looking to his left, he noticed Kayashima staring at him. Kayashima probably knew Nakatsu had lied to him. But Kayashima was so understanding – he probably didn't mind. Slightly embarrassed, Nakatsu looked out the window. He tried to occupy his mind with something else. The captain of the plane started speaking. The voice droned in his head for a while about how happy they were to be servicing the group of students today.
"We'll be touching down in the Honolulu Airport in approximately seven hours and twenty minutes. At that point, those continuing on to New York, please remain on board. Those going on to different destinations, please exit at that time. We hope you have a good flight, and thank you for traveling our lines." There were two flights? Nakatsu hadn't known that. He'd also never been to Hawaii, so he allowed himself to become excited for a minute before realizing that landing in the Honolulu airport wasn't the same as experiencing Hawaii. He sighed. In a few minutes the craft had woven its way to the main runway and the momentary excitement induced by taking into the air at extreme speed had faded away like the smoggy atmosphere they were quickly leaving behind. Osaka. The city held many memories.
And that was as far as Nakatsu allowed himself to get. Sure, many memories. As it did for everyone on this plane. You stay somewhere, you get memories. Obviously. But his were different.
No, no, no. How did he know that? How did he know no-one else had weird, terrifying memories linked to the city? And why was he making himself think about them now? A slight glance to his left confirmed that Kayashima was again staring at him, concern in his eyes. He should be used to the staring by now. Looking out the window without leaning too far over Nanba, he stared ahead at the approaching expanse of glittering blue ocean. He'd never seen the ocean like this before. He'd been to California once, but the flight had taken place at night. He'd flown west from Japan plenty of times but the flights had been short, not high enough to get them all the way out of the smog and give him a view of the sea. He couldn't believe it was so beautiful. The sea had always been a romanticized and totally made-up entity for him. The sea he knew was brown, slick, at the best of times a foggy kind of blue that looked nice from a distance but up close was full of churned-up loam and fish scales and beer cans crushed on the foreheads of men who thought doing so made them look like anything other than a complete idiot that had no concern for others or their environment. But here, or rather, way down there right now – he didn't need to get close to believe that dolphins did, in fact, dash about in crystal waters, and rays of sun easily pierced down into the depths, shedding light onto a million kinds of beings that dwelled in the brackish waters of the Pacific. He wondered how high the waves were down there, and if the water was as warm as it looked.
Kayashima suppressed jerking with the shock of something touching lightly on his right shoulder. He knew it was Nakatsu's head but it didn't matter. Instincts. What made people jump when they were surprised? Where did that reflex come from, and what was its purpose?
He glanced down at the spray of rusty hair threatening to poke him in the ear, then let his eyes stop on Nanba. Nanba was relieved that Nakatsu had fallen to the left instead of to the right. Although, very secretly, he was slightly disappointed at the same time – Nanba would have enjoyed giving Nakatsu a non-verbal reminder of what he thought of him.
Nanba caught Kayashima's eye and glanced away, a bit guiltily and not without any small amount of annoyance. The funny thing was Nanba thought Kayashima had been reading his thoughts. Kayashima had, in fact, only been reading his expressions, something simple enough to do and also something that required no amount of ESP.
Before falling asleep, Kayashima knew Nakatsu had been thinking troubled thoughts, but had, as usual, been trying to suppress them even from himself, tried to turn them positive. So unlike Sano, who sat two rows up from them and was boiling away in his own pool of negativity. He was excited to see Mizuki again but also very nervous that things wouldn't work out, and that Nakatsu would get in the way, and that his performance in the competition wouldn't be up to snuff. And he dwelt on these thoughts. He'd probably dwell on these thoughts all the seven hours to Honolulu, if not the other five it'd take to get to Los Angeles. And beyond. He felt bad for Sano. He wished he could put his mind at ease and help him be a happier person. Sano was so often gloomy. He was much better than he had been, but he still had many moments where he was sunken in depressing thoughts.
Nakatsu was a very strange case, especially put next to Sano. One of the happier people Kayashima knew, Nakatsu harbored a more distressing past than Sano did, than most people at the school did, and no-one would ever guess it because Nakatsu hid it so well. Kayashima had never asked him about it because it wasn't his place to know, and Nakatsu had never needed solace or advice about it. He did, however, have nightmares about it once in a while. Of the nights Kayashima would lay in the dark, awake, communicating with the spirits, sometimes Nakatsu would cry out, awake, and quickly silence himself. And then he'd lay there for a few minutes, trying to calm himself. Kayashima could always tell when Nakatsu had fallen back asleep when the alarming splash of fiery orange and red of his nightmare aura would slip back into the usual cool colors of peaceful sleep.
He wished he himself could sleep right now. He was a bit tired, as the spirits had been a bit irritatingly bothersome last night, but he wasn't going to tell them so. He couldn't sleep now because everyone's auras were strong now, displaying a veritable aurora of colors in front of him, around him.
Sometimes he wished he could be ignorant. Not be concerned with how everyone was feeling, not have to make choices about when to let things lay and when to interfere. It was a constant struggle with him. Should he confront Nakatsu about his nightmares? Should he have said something earlier about the fact that Mizuki was a girl? Ignorance would indeed be bliss. But now that he knew what it was like to be this way, he was grateful. He liked helping people.
Nanba was glaring sideways at him.
Some people didn't like being helped, though. Some people thought he was a freak. Most people, in fact, found his very presence eerie and disturbing. As if he himself was a lost spirit, as if he himself was the one that harbored all the problems they had. He felt a rush of gratefulness to Nakatsu, who had always accepted and appreciated him for who he was. That was a rare thing. Mizuki was like that too and he was looking forward to seeing her again. He hoped everything would work out, that no negative feelings would be generated from this encounter.
Which brought him back to this disturbing aura he saw encompassing everybody. It was centralized around Nakatsu. And, he realized as he looked up, above himself as well.
Hem haw. I have a plan. I'm hoping this 'Oh no a dark past' theme isn't going to be too cliché. I know it happens in like every story, but I'm going to try and make Nakatsu's past actually interesting and original. And try to keep the story in the present as much as I can.