Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.
Newton's Cradle
I
— Escape Velocity —
"You ought to stop smiling nonstop."
John smiled. He shook his head apologetically.
"There you go again." Bou-san clucked his tongue.
"I can't see why you would be so bothered by it Takigawa-san." Yasuhara piped in, slightly out of breath. He was carrying a huge monitor towards the van, huffing and puffing whenever he had the chance.
Bou-san snorted and dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand.
"I'm just a bit disturbed to see you, well, smiling all the time."
"I don't smile all the time." John corrected in his own apologetic manner. A little sway of his head and his straightforward eyes that passed soothingly through one's soul, landed on Bou-san. A contrast to Naru's peircing eyes, he noted.
"Most of the time." He corrected his earlier statement.
"Why, do tell me, why are you so bothered by his smile?" Yasuhara walked and stood next to the duo. He winked suggestively at Bou-san. John laughed softly.
Bou-san ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"I don't know." Frustration was evident in his voice.
The three of them stood by the the bricked wall that fenced their client's house efficiently from their neighbors. It was late in the evening. Silence enveloped them as they watched the moths gathering at the streetlight, dancing to their own tune.
The Monk was busy kicking at the ground, while gears continued to turn in Yasuhara's head. John held onto his smile the whole time.
"It's probably because he can find solace in something you can't, Takigawa-san." Yasuhara dismantled the shield of silence that surrounded them. He glanced at Bou-san and tried to keep his tone as kind as he could. "You're envious."
Bou-san shrugged his shoulders.
"Really." He whispered.
"It's because he has already escaped the temptations of this world." Yasuhara added as an afterthought. John remained silent throughout the exchange.
"You rather sound like a priest." Bou-san snapped. It took him seconds to realize that he had said something hurtful. He cast a quick glance at John. He was smiling.
The trio were yet again submerged in silence, only it took longer for them to resurface this time.
"I'm sorry." Bou-san mumbled.
"It's all right." John said, his tone as soft as a quill.
Bou-san opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. Yasuhara continued to look at him, hoping for some sort of enlightenment and John stared blankly at the the poorly lit streets, which seemed to become one with the dark sky at some distance. It was a calm evening, the only disturbance being on the inside.
"I had a terrible time at Mount Kouya." Bou-san started. "I just couldn't deal with devoting myself entirely to God - to religion. A part of me believed that I could."
John rested his gaze on him, a soft, encouraging smile still on his lips.
"It is rather stupid, but the boy is right," Bou-san paused and glanced at Yasuhara, who was now staring at the streetlight with a distant look in his eyes, "I'm envious of you John."
"I hate the fact that you triumphed over temptations. I hate how you found the exit. I hate how you can sacrifice everything in the name of God." Bou-san continued, slightly unnerved at his compliance to let John know of his buried feelings and worries. "It's as if I could never deal with it. I was too weak, I suppose."
"Oh, it's like escape velocity, isn't it?" Yasuhara added, cutting his monologue short.
Bou-san looked at him, incredulously. His mouth parted, his eyes and body still.
"John propelled himself with escape velocity, breaking away from the gravity of temptations." Yasuhara elucidated, his voice soft and kind, like he was explaining something to a child.
Yasuhara smiled at Bou-san. Bou-san blinked several times before scrunching his nose, embarrassment fleeting across his face alongside with confusion. A softness crept into Yasuhara's eyes.
"But you have done the exact same thing, Takigawa-san." He said.
Unable to decipher his words, the monk remained silent.
"You escaped Mount Kouya and propelled yourself towards music, your passion." Yasuhara continued, taking his silence as encouragement. "Mount Kouya was the gravity that kept you bound and you found your escape velocity."
"Really?" He asked, his voice wavering.
Bou-san glanced at John who smiled at him, reassuringly.
"We're the different sides of the same coin, Takigawa-san. We see the opposite sides of the world, but we are essentially the same." John offered, with a smile gracing his lips. "We're all the same because we all believe in something, the almighty or something different. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as we continue to believe."
"Oh..." Bou-san unfortunately couldn't manage something more coherent.
Bou-san struggled in allowing the thought to sink in, but the slightest smile appeared on his face, exuding such warmth that could rival even that of the sun. Trains of thoughts rumbled through his mind, dispelling the dust that covered the tracks. Yasuhara and John smiled at him. They remained in content silence for a while.
"Have you found your escape velocity yet?" Bou-san asked, moments later, his curiosity resembling that of a child.
"Not yet." Yasuhara answered. "I hope to do so soon."
"What are you trying to escape from?" Bou-san continued questioning the lad.
Yasuhara looked at Bou-san with a twinkle in his eyes. Bou-san almost regretted asking the question.
"From the gravity of your undying love for me." Yasuhara posed dramatically, fanning himself with his hands.
This time, the three of them laughed together.
A/N — Liked it? Please do let me know what/how you feel! I wanted to write about the (somewhat) contrasting characters of John and Bou-san. This was (evidently) inspired by escape velocity (11.2 km/s) that is required for any object to escape the gravitational field of the earth. I usually don't write dialogues. It's hard to mesh together description and dialogues in order to create a story that flows beautifully. Even so, I hope you liked it.
Special thanks to RaisedonRadio who, as always, has made a lovely cover image for this story and has been kind enough to provide me with insightful inputs. I'll be continuing the story in a similar fashion for all the other characters based on groundbreaking concepts in Physics.
Anyhow, a big thank you to all of you who took time to read this story!