Future Calling
Ichijouji Osamu wandered towards his home, ignoring the
looks of the people around him, ignoring some of his school-mates who walked
behind, and across the road from him.
He found himself thinking about home as if he were any normal
kid, thinking of how he was excited at the though of it being Friday, having
nothing scheduled the entire week-end. Well, almost nothing…
But that was why he was excited. He was going to be spending
one of those rare times with his family, and, especially, his younger brother.
Osamu turned the corner and headed down the street. Just
half a block to go.
He smiled as an image played in his head. He was walking in
the door, his little brother hurrying to him with excited eyes and an innocent,
yet cheerful expression.
He loved his little brothers smile, he loved the way it lit
up his entire face, loved the way it seemed to show up at just the right
moment. He had always loved his little brother, happy or not.
Just as he turned up the walk to the building entrance, he
noticed a kid standing just off the walk. He was leaning on the wall, wearing
indigo coloured jeans and a forest green coloured jacket. His hands were in the
pockets of the jacket, his face was hidden by chin-length Raven coloured bangs.
He looked to be around the age of 12, same as Osamu.
He looks kind of like Ken. Osamu thought, walking up
to the door, of which the boy was opposite.
He was about to reach out to open the door to the building
when the kid pushed away from the wall and took a step out onto the grass,
turning almost dramatically, with all the grace of a dancer. He raised his head
and looked up at Osamu with amethyst eyes.
Osamu found himself staring, boring into the boys figure.
He looks almost exactly like Ken… just… older. Osamu
surprised himself with the rogue thought. He watched as the boy frowned,
turned, and walked away, his back hunched in a way that seemed almost natural.
Osamu shook himself out of the strange trance and headed
into the building, feeling a little less excited and a little more… creeped
out.
Ken raced to the front door the second he heard the sound of
a key in it. He stood patiently beside the frame as the door swung open, almost
lazily. The older Ichijouji boy walked in. Ken was about to bounce to him in
the same ecstatic way he normally did, when he noticed his brothers expression.
He looked worried, thoughtful, even… frightened.
"Nii-san?" Ken asked. Osamu raised his head and smiled, but
it looked slightly forced. He closed the door and headed to his room.
"Hi Kenny-boy! What's up?" Ken gave his brother a confused
look before shrugging.
"Nothing, much. Sam you look like you've seen a ghost." His
older brother stopped dead in his tracks and peered over his shoulder at the
younger Ichijouji.
"I… its nothing." He quickly headed for his room, leaving a
startled Ken in his wake.
Later Osamu was outside again, waiting for his father to get
back from work. Ken was sitting on the walk while he sat on the door step.
Their mother had told them their father was taking them someplace special when
he got back.
Both boys found this fascinating and, with all the
controlled excitement of a pair of pups, they'd headed outside and waited impatiently.
Osamu smiled as Ken played with blades of grass, tugging
them from the ground and looking at them blankly before letting them fall to
the concrete walk. He smiled again as Ken stood up and went wandering past the
gate, to the sidewalk. Because of the trees Osamu lost site of his younger
sibling as he walked along the path.
Ken looked up and down the street, as if his father would
suddenly appear out of the air and come walking to him. He got bored with the
waiting again and turned to got back to the building, to ask Osamu to play with
him, when he noticed someone sitting on the sidewalk.
It was the same kid Osamu had seen before, except this
time he sat with one knee raised and his arm draped over it. His hands were
pale, and thin. But the boy himself seemed thin too. Ken was at a loss, he'd
never seen a boy quite like him before. With angelic features he seemed almost
feminine, but with a boyish gaunt.
The almost-teenager raised his head and looked at Ken with
gazing, deep amethyst eyes.
He kind of looks like me. Ken thought, he smiled and
walked over to the stranger.
"Hello." He said, his normal happy tone. The boy looked up
at Ken with almost sad eyes, smiling with thin lips which formed so slowly and
into such a smirked, small smile that Ken almost didn't notice it.
"Hello, Ken." Ken jumped back in shock.
"H… how did you…" The boy smiled, a little more with
amusement than the first. He raised his hand, still draped over his knee,
slightly.
"I know a lot of things." Ken stopped stuttering and found
himself calming as he stared into the older boys eyes.
"Who are you?" Ken quickly had an urge to hit himself. "I
mean… what's your name?" The boy smiled again.
"I am…" He hesitated, seeming frightened as he turned,
looking past Ken, who also turned, and saw Osamu standing behind him.
"Hi Sam!" Ken said. But his brother wasn't paying attention
to him. He was watching as the strange boy rose to his feet and held out one
pale, frail hand.
"Hello Sam." Osamu winced.
"Only My brother can call me that!" He snapped at the pale
boy, who shrugged, expression still calm and inviting.
"I know." He drew back his hand, seeing that Osamu was
ignoring the gesture.
"How could… Who are you?" The boy smiled again, in the same
sad, distant way that made Ken feel like crying.
"I am a shadow. A premonition."
"Nani?! What are you talking about?" He raised his hand, up
to Osamu's shoulder, but made no attempt to touch the older Ichijouji.
"You'll never know me. But I most defiantly know you." He
lowered his hand, as well as his gaze, looking at Ken. "It was nice to see you
again, too." He raised his head and smiled, warmly this time, at Osamu. "Good
bye." He then turned and walked across the road, ignoring a motorcyclist as he
blew past, inches from his face.
Both Ichijouji's watched the boy leave with the confusion
and shock of a deer in the head lights.
*
It was a few days later before Osamu saw the strange boy
again. He was coming out of school, again, when he noticed the boy, in his
usual attire, sitting under a tree in the school grounds. A few feet away some
girls were standing by the school gates, pointing at the boy and giggling. Osamu
watched as the boy raised his head, noticed the girls and waved.
All three of them blushed and waved back stupidly.
Osamu rolled his eyes and headed to the tree, wanting to
talk to the kid again.
Just before Osamu reached the tree the boy turned and smiled,
seeing the slight stumble in his perusers step he gave a quiet laugh. Osamu had
never heard anyone laugh like he did. It sounded stifled, as if he were afraid
to laugh, as if it might kill him and everyone around him. It sounded almost
melodic, like the wind in the trees. But mostly it sounded dead. Dead like
someone with no reason, or thought to laugh. Like some one who never seemed to
laugh anymore.
Osamu sat next to the boy and noticed a strained look on his
face, like he wanted to get up and run for his life. This time the boy sat with
his legs crossed, arms holding him up from behind. The tree only inches from
his back as if he were afraid to touch it.
"You don't go to school here." Osamu stated, matter-of-factly.
The boy turned and smiled.
"Actually I do." Osamu glared at him.
"Your not in uniform. I've never seen you…" Before he could
continue the boy raised his hand once again. The way he did this made anyone
who saw the gesture immediately listen, as if it were a signal he was about to
say something that could change the world.
"I don't go here yet, but I will. You just won't ever see
it." Osamu glared at him again.
"And again with the riddles! Explain yourself, or leave me
alone!" He surprised himself with the outburst, but how could you blame him,
this kid was really nerve-wracking!
The raven-haired boy smiled. His eyes seemed tired, and
blank. He looked as though he were hiding a great pain, hiding himself and
everything he knew deep in a hollow shell.
Osamu half-surprised himself when he let out a gasp as the
kid moved foreword, leaning on his hands, inches from Osamu's face.
"If I explained myself I would change things I know I
shouldn't. I would most probably scare you, and you wouldn't hear the rest of
my explanation. To tell the truth, I don't think you'd appreciate knowing."
Osamu found himself frightened, as if he had just been threatened. But the
boy's voice rang with a protective kindness, his eyes showed sincerity and
comfort. His movements were slow and non-threatening and he seemed to give the
impression of a long-lost cousin who wanted nothing more than to say who he
was, but was frightened at what the turn out would be.
"Tell me." Osamu breathed, trying to gain the strength and
courage to push the boy away. But both seemed reluctant to touch the other, as
if, if they did, they would find themselves waking from a dream or their hand
passing through the other like a ghost.
Osamu remembered what Ken had said when he'd come home that
day. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
He gave a weak shudder as the stranger moved back and,
finally, leaned against the tree.
"If your thinking what I know your thinking, I just have to
say, I'm not a ghost." Osamu's head snapped up from his thoughts, and he stared
at the familiar, yet not recognisable child.
"How… what do you mean 'know what I'm thinking'?" He smiled
and shrugged.
"Okay, think. Whatever. But please believe me." Osamu raised
an eyebrow.
"Believe you? About what?" The boy took a deep breath and
let it out slowly, seeming to fight off a raging headache.
"I am from the future." Osamu gave him a blank look and he
threw up his one hand. "There see?" Osamu shook off the look.
"Your from the future?" The boy nodded. "And you won't tell
me who you are because…?" The boy lowered his gaze, letting his bangs fall over
his features.
"I'm your brother." Osamu leapt to his feet and found
himself backing up.
A few people who were passing by, noticing Osamu's actions
towards the casual-clad boy started whispering about paranoid geniuses.
"No." Osamu watched as the boy, claiming to be his younger
brother, raised his head to look at him.
"Yes."
"It's… Impossible. You are not my brother! You can't be
Ken!" Ken stood to his feet and leaned against the tree, shoving his hands in
his jacket and resting the side of his head against the rough bark.
"I told you it would scare you. I told you, you wouldn't
believe me. I even went as far as to tell you, you would probably run." Osamu
was staring at him now.
"If you… why?" Ken gave his usual smile, pushing away from
the tree and taking a step towards the walk which lead to the gates, and out to
the road. He watched as the uniform-clad students breezed past, leaving for
their extra-curricular activities, their homes, and even friends places. He
turned and smiled again at Osamu.
"I thought I had come to stop it. I thought I had come to
help. But in actual fact, Sam, I came to see you one last time." Osamu stopped,
he glared at his supposed future-younger brother. He stepped forward and glared
into his amethyst eyes.
"What do you mean; 'One last time'? Aren't I around in the
future or something?" Ken seemed hurt, his face filled with sadness and loss,
his eyes looked frightened and his lips parted slightly in a weird grimace. He turned
away and lowered his head. He shook his head slowly.
"No." He whispered, his voice chocked with sadness and an
emotion Osamu couldn't quite figure out. It was almost like anger, only softer
and covered with pain. He realised Ken was holding back tears now, trying to
keep the strange, mysterious, shadowed mood he'd been using, but failing as he
moved away from Osamu.
"Ken?" Osamu surprised both himself and the future boy by saying
his name. But if Ken was as shocked as Osamu was at hearing his name, he hid it
by turning around fully, back to Osamu, and watching the leaves blow in the
wind. "Am I… dead?" Ken nodded. "How?" He turned, and Osamu was surprised to
see a smiled on his face, despite the tear filled eyes.
"I'm sorry. I can't say." Osamu frowned.
"Why not? You said you'd come…"
"To see you one last time. I'm sorry but I can't help you.
But I'm here to help in a way only a brother can." Osamu raised an eyebrow
again.
"What do you mean?" Ken only smiled and shook his head. He
turned again and headed to the gates. "Hey!" He stopped and smiled as Osamu
hurried to catch up. "Your evil, you know that? Keeping secrets and speaking…
Ken?" He was about to mention the riddles again when he saw the fear.
Ken's hands were out of their pockets now, and were dangling
at his sides, shaking uncontrollably. His face had grown white and his eyes, no
longer holding tears, had grown wide and cast a fear, an utter terror, that
Osamu had never even know existed. He turned, as if death had come to claim him
in front of his brother, and found himself looking to the doors of the school
building. He turned back and saw that Ken was running away from him, his hands
at his collar, pulled up to cover his face.
"Ken!" Osamu ran after his brother, surprising himself at
even believing the strange words the future figure had spoken.
Ken eventually stopped and leaned against the wall of the
apartment building where Osamu lived. He came up behind him and saw the tears
which ran down his face. The anger which glinted in around the sadness and fear
in his eyes.
"What? What's wrong?" Osamu asked, walking up to him. Ken
raised his head and gave a smile, one of knowing and kindness.
"Please," He spoke quietly, and with such raged, yet mild
force Osamu backed up a step. "Never mention my Evilness."
"Your… Evilness?" Ken nodded. "Ken, you're not evil!" He
winced and shook his head.
"You have no idea." Just then there was the sound of someone
calling Osamu's name. He turned and saw his younger brother, from this
timeline, waving to him happily as he hurried down the walk. Osamu waved back
and turned, only to find the future Ken had disappeared.
"Ken?" He looked back and forth, as if he had simply moved
away. His younger brother came up beside him as he repeated his name. Ken made
a face and tugged at his brothers sleeve.
"I'm right here, Sam!" Osamu looked down, almost bewildered.
But he smiled and lifted his younger brother into his arms, carrying him into
the building.
*
It was quite a few day's later, and once again Osamu was
walking home. Ever since hearing the prediction of his death, from his brother
from the future, he'd been a bit more paranoid and alert than usual. But in his
mind he could always hear his future brothers voice;
"I'm sorry but I can't help you. But I'm here to help in a
way only a brother can." Somehow those words seemed more reassuring to Osamu
than when the future Ken had admitted to being his younger brother.
Osamu was crossing the road now, his mind afloat with the
strange words from his future brother, images of many a death and even images
of his own funeral. He gave shudder when he saw the tears and utter horror in
his brothers face. His expression was almost identical to the one his future
version had given when Osamu had mentioned the word 'Evil'. These thoughts
weren't very comforting, and neither was the sound of someone yelling. Huh?
Osamu looked up, only to face the windscreen of a speeding
car, and the sudden pain which flared from his liver and ribs as the fender of
the car collided with his side.
Osamu felt pain beyond any he'd felt before. His mind
screamed that he should have been paying attention.
So much for Ken's warnings and predictions. He
thought before his head collided with the ground. He could hear a woman
screaming, he heard the car screech to a halt.
As he lay on the ground, his mind dizzy with pain and the
fear of death he heard someone run to him.
"Call an ambulance!" Cried a familiar voice. He felt his
head being lifted onto the lap of the person who had shouted.
"Oh God! Oh God! I didn't see him! Oh God!" That was the driver,
he was staggering around as he moaned his chant. Osamu opened his eyes and
looked into the amethyst eyes of his future younger brother.
"Ken?" Ken gave a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry." He whispered. "The pain will be gone soon.
You'll see." Osamu frowned.
"You're supposed to tell me every things going to be
alright!" He knew he was using the last of his strength. He glared up at his brother,
wondering why he was so acceptant of the strange death. Ken shook his head and
Osamu watched as tears filled his eyes. He could hear the sound of the woman
talking in the background. She was on her cell phone.
"No. I can't say that, because then I'd be lying. And I
don't lie Sam. Not anymore. I said I was here to help in the only way a brother
can, I'm here, and that's as close as I can get to helping you without actually
saving you."
"Why?" Osamu felt the last of his strength leaving him, but
he wasn't about to enter the void of darkness and death just yet, not yet.
"I love you big brother. And I never saw you again after
this morning." The tears that fell from his eyes, dropped down into Osamu's
face. He realised he was crying to. Osamu remembered that morning. He was mad
at Ken because of something. He'd promised himself to make it up to Ken when he
got home, but now, it seemed he'd never get the chance.
"I'm sorry, Ken. I forgive you." He smiled at the look his
brother gave him before he fell limp, spiralling into the infinite darkness.
*
Ken lay on his bed, sobbing and wailing furiously into the
pillow. He'd locked the door so his parents couldn't get in. He didn't want to
see their faces, didn't want to be told everything was going to be alright. He
just wanted to cry and cry, in the hope that he'd wake up.
"This can't be happening!" He gasped.
"It did though, didn't it." Hearing the soft, almost kind
words and the familiar voice Ken sat up and turned. The darkened figure of a 12
year old stood in front of his windows, which shone rightly with the light of
the ever warm sun.
"S… Sam?" He stammered. The boy walked away from the window
and came to sit next to Ken on the bed, he shook his head and watched as the
younger boy buried his face in his pillow again. "What are you doing here?" The
future child gave a smirk.
"I was there when Sam died, you know." Ken sat up again and
looked at, what he didn't know was, his older self.
"Y… you were?" He nodded. "Then why didn't you stop it?!"
His older version winced at his tone and looked down at the carpeted floor.
"I'm sorry Ken. But I couldn't. It would change too many
things, and I don't think it would be a good idea." Ken gave him an estranged
look.
"What are you talking about?" The boy raised his head and
gave a sad smile.
"I told Sam he was going to die. I told him but I never said
how or when. I know how you feel, and I feel the same way, for quite a while
now." Ken was staring at him.
"How could you know how I feel? He was my brother!" The
stranger from the future gave another sad smiled and nodded.
"I know." This caught Ken off guard.
"What do you mean? How could you have told him he was going
to die?" The older boy shook his head, smirking, almost scowling, with sadness
and fear.
"Promise not to tell?" He asked in a playful tone. Ken frowned
but nodded anyway. "I'm from the future." He stared at the older boy.
"And you still didn't save Sam?" The boy shrugged and shook
his head. "Why did you come back then?"
"To say good bye. I never got the chance to when I was
younger." Ken frowned.
"I know you… you look a lot like Sam, but you look like…"
His voice trailed off and his eyes grew large. "Me." The older Ken smiled and
nodded.
"Sam told me to you that he's sorry, and that he forgives
you." Ken stared at his older self for a few seconds, letting the words settle
in. He finally lowered his head and felt tears wrack his throat. The future boy
gently wiped at the only two tears that fell from Ken's eyes. Ken raised his
head and gave a half smile.
"Thank you… Ken." His older self gave a quite chuckle. This
amusement filled with kindness and warmth.
"Your welcome."
The older Ken stood and walked to the window, he turned to
smile at his younger self, who was giving him a puzzled frown.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't belong here, Ken." He said matter-of-factly. "But I
promise, you'll see me again. Just as I got to see you again." He gave a wink
and disappeared, almost as if he hadn't been there at all.
The younger Ken watched where his older self had been for a
while before smiling to himself. The future was still unpredictable, but at
least he had some knowledge of what would happen. That, at least, was
something.
A/N: You like? Okay I admit the last part was probably
overdoing it but I just felt like it. *Giggles* Okay no more fizzy-drink for me
tonight!
Disclaimer: I own… squat, nada, nothing, zip, zilch. We're
all clear on that, right? The title is from a song called 'Justice calling' and
I've forgotten who wrote it. *Heh*
