A/N: For SyrenHug. My first Dream Pair! :)
-I have a very unhealthy characterization of Dream Pair. It's almost as bad as my characterization of Pillar.
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.
Pairings: Dream, Pillar, Silver, elements of Tango
Warnings: BL (obviously), Dark, some mentions of gore, purposely disjointed sequencing
Monster Monster
"Physical love is unthinkable without violence."
- Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: The Kindly Ones
Their town is a small one, the kind where everyone knows everyone and privacy is a privilege they all lack. No one could keep a secret and every whisper was heard, but what did it matter when they only went through the same old conversations everyday and saw the same faces in the same places?
"This is Fuji Syuusuke-kun, from Tokyo. He'll be with us from now on so I expect everyone to treat him kindly," Ryuuzaki-sensei introduces with a smile.
Fuji is directed to sit with Tezuka, the class representative and student council president. It's a fitting assignment despite the stiffness in Tezuka's demeanor, but Fuji is not deterred by his stoic seatmate and his smile is ever-present.
Eiji watches the new addition to their classroom for a moment, before once again turning his eyes back to peer out the window. Oishi will give him a minute before he taps his partner's desk to pull his attention back to the lesson.
Fuji does not glance back at him, not even once.
Eiji leans over to better peer at the sight before him, daylight catching on the sheen of red spattered about the grass. The smell of copper has seeped into the patch of green and nearly chokes him, but he does nothing more than wrinkle his nose.
"What are you looking for?" Eiji asks the other boy. Mukahi is scowling, eyes scouring over what remains of Ohtori. Disappointment hardlines his pinched features.
"The meaning," Mukahi replies after a moment. They both know he will not find it.
"There's nothing much around here, is there?"
Fuji is leaned against the opposite wall in the bathroom, arms crossed and lips smiling. Eiji cannot guess at how long the other boy has been standing there, but instead reaches up with newly-washed hands to finger the strands of his vivid red hair.
"Like what?" Eiji asks curiously. The only place the kids in their small town ever seemed to congregate was the park.
Fuji steps forward. "Anything fun," he answers. He runs his fingers through the strands Eiji had been playing with, tugging playfully at the redhead's bangs. "I get bored easily, you know?"
Eiji cocks his head, smiling only a moment later.
"Yeah, I know."
Tezuka's body is found dismembered, his limbs charred beyond recognition but his head left practically untouched, crushed flowers and rotten pieces of apple filling his distended throat.
"Want to play a game?" Echizen asks, lounging on Eiji's floor covered in dirt and smelling of ash.
Eiji sighs. "No," he answers softly. Echizen rolls onto his side and laughs.
Eiji sips at the beer he is handed by a smug Mukahi, spitting it out with a foul look on his face the moment the magenta-haired boy scampers away. He doesn't understand his peers' liking for alcohol and probably doesn't want to, passing the bottle off to the cackling Kirihara next to him.
"You're still such a child, Eiji," Atobe crows unnecessarily, sipping his own beverage with a look of imperial superiority.
Yukimura shakes his head with a rueful smile. "And you must be an old man, Keigo. Who drinks a martini on a camping trip?"
"Where do you get a martini on a camping trip?" Oshitari pipes up dryly.
Eiji leaves them to their dissection of Atobe's pointless aristocracy, pulled away from stomping over to Oishi for comfort by Momoshiro and Shishido arguing over the radio.
"I want something to dance to, nya!" Eiji decides, bounding over and picking the playlist himself. The other two boys give in with only a few grumbled complaints and soon their camping area is enveloped in the upbeat rhythm of the latest pop music.
Hiyoshi scowls. "I hate this song!"
Eiji ignores him, grasping Fuji by the hand and pulling the laughing boy into a dance. They swing around the campfire Kaidoh has only just started lighting, dodging their friends in a haphazard routine that is more comical than graceful.
"Not a fan of beer?" Fuji asks, swinging Eiji down into a one-armed hold. They both ignore Inui's plaintive observation that they're doing it wrong.
"Alcohol tastes gross, nya." Eiji sticks out his tongue to add to the sentiment.
Fuji chuckles, swinging his partner back up. "I know a good way to get rid of the taste."
Eiji does too but he doesn't want to tell.
Kirihara won't look anyone in the eye, twitchy as he is in his seat. Shishido's glare is uncompromising but not unusual, much like the worried frown marring Oishi's expression.
"It's because you have no self-control, Akaya," Yanagi chides gently.
Kirihara scowls childishly. "It's boring here," he defends himself.
"Then find someone who likes you," Eiji blithely suggests. They all know what he means and throw him hard looks accordingly. Momoshirou rolls his eyes and says nothing.
Sex is pleasant because it's intimate.
It's flesh and sweat, the feeling of someone else gliding over you and inside you. Eiji enjoys sex with all of his senses: the taste of Fuji's skin, the lurid blue of the boy's eyes, the sound of the mattress creaking under their weight, the feeling of fingers digging grooves into his hips and thighs.
"You're so cute," Fuji will whisper into his ear as he comes. It's a lie, of course, because Fuji is so used to lying that it probably never occurs to him to tell the truth. Eiji doesn't mind, just wraps himself more firmly around the boy inside him and rides it out. He feels the beat of two hearts as he reaches his end.
Sex is unpleasant because it's intimate.
Eiji isn't paying any attention, eyes once again locked onto the window as the classroom door rattles open. He feels Fuji tense up beside him, so he glances over and catches sight of Tezuka striding into the classroom before taking a seat at his usual desk. Oishi calls out to him cheerfully from where he's dutifully erasing Mukahi's crude drawings on the blackboard, the greeting echoed by the rest of the class with various degrees of enthusiasm.
Fuji says nothing, eyes locked onto the bespectacled boy, blue eyes wide in unadulterated shock. Kikumaru thinks his eyes are the color of the ocean but he has a hard time remembering such a place.
"What's the ocean like?" he asks the room at large.
"Cold," Oshitari clarifies boredly. "And endless."
Ah, so maybe it is fitting.
Atobe is glowering at his nails, but occasionally he looks up and over at Tezuka when he thinks the other boy is not paying attention. Yukimura tries and fails to stifle his laughter although Eiji sees no point in doing so.
"You spoil him," Sanada finally points out, voicing what Atobe wishes he could. They share quite a few viewpoints even if they vocally disagree almost as much as Momoshirou and Kaidoh.
Marui pops his bubblegum, tone droll. "What does it matter if he does?"
"It doesn't," Yukimura says.
Eiji curls into Oishi's side and smiles.
"Tezuka's dead," Fuji says. He's pushed Eiji up against the wall of the bathroom they first spoke in, a panicked expression on his pretty face. Eiji watches him carefully, smoothing out the wrinkles in his uniform subconsciously. The brunet is always so pretty when he shows more than just his usual smile.
"He's dead," Fuji repeats. "I saw the body. Tezuka is dead."
Eiji nods. "Yeah, he's dead."
Fuji is slow to process the words, but once he does the panic only settles in more deeply. Eiji thinks it ludicrous but does not voice his thoughts.
"But he's dead," Fuji repeats again, a mantra to confirm his thoughts but resist the reality.
Eiji pities him, he really does. "Ochibi can be awful sometimes."
It doesn't make sense to Fuji but it will eventually.
Half of the junior class doesn't show up to school in the next week. Unsurprisingly, Atobe and Sanada agree that enough is enough and deal with Kirihara accordingly. Fuji has yet to leave his house so Eiji is left back in Oishi's company or alone, seeing as Momoshirou is gone and Echizen is once again back with Tezuka.
"Why do you think Fujiko is different?" Eiji asks.
Oishi gives him a concerned look. They are walking side-by-side on their way home, having just finished a meal at Kawamura's restaurant. The sun is setting and the sky looks as if it's on fire.
"You know why, Eiji," Oishi returns evenly.
Eiji pouts, tears gathering in his eyes. "Leave the heart untouched," he murmurs.
Oishi nods. "Leave the heart untouched."
Eiji has found his way back into Fuji's house. It was an exceptionally easy task, despite the cold look Yuuta throws him on his way out the door. The younger boy could hold grudges like it was no one's business.
"Syuusuke," Eiji calls through the door. He rattles the doorknob experimentally. He has the key in his pocket but there's no point to this if Fuji doesn't voluntarily let him in. "Can I come inside? I can make it feel better."
There's no response. Eiji doesn't really expect one. "I know it's scary," he lies. "But it won't change anything to lock yourself away in here."
Four walls and a locked door wouldn't save you. They'd played that game before and the results were always the same. It was better to waste away in the daylight than alone in the dark. He waits with a patience he shouldn't have and then the door is unlocked and pulled open, admitting a pale face beset with dark blue eyes.
"I don't understand," Fuji admits. Eiji wonders if it tastes like poison.
Eiji hears the quiet footsteps padding down the hallway before entering his room, opening his eyes just as Echizen shuts the door behind him. Fuji shifts drowsily beside the redhead, blue eyes opening and attempting to make sense of the new figure in the dark.
Echizen smiles breathlessly, blood soaked heavily into his clothes.
Eiji closes his eyes with an irritated sigh. "It hasn't even been two weeks, Ochibi," he complains pointedly.
The younger boy is smug in his reply. "Monkey King is so pissed. Let me hide out here, senpai."
Fuji's eyes are wide open now.
"Tezuka's gonna get tired of you if you keep doing this," the redhead points out.
Echizen tosses his head with a scoff. "Like I care."
It was times like this that Eiji really misses Fuji.
Eiji yearns for the heat of summer, moving closer to Fuji as they trudge home together. Autumn is just starting to give way to winter, the winds shifting from a pleasant breeze to a distinct chill with every passing day. His jackets are never heavy enough to sufficiently warm him anymore, although holding Fuji's hand does help.
Momoshirou bikes by them and belts out a cheery farewell, Echizen riding on the back. They disappear around a corner to the sound of the junior's laughter.
"Echizen murders people," Fuji says.
"No," Eiji corrects gently. "Ochibi murders Tezuka. Only Tezuka."
Fuji does not ask why. Eiji thinks the other boy is starting to remember the reason but does not push it. There is no need to push anything. There wasn't much need at all anymore.
"Momoshirou is dead," Fuji starts again. It's a new habit, startling and uncomfortable. The brunet has started listing the dead as if to verify their states and Eiji cannot understand the sentiment behind so.
"Yeah, Momo's dead," the redhead agrees.
Fuji doesn't blink as he continues, "Are you dead?"
A bird flutters overhead, landing atop the roof of Sanada's dojo and drawing the taciturn senior's attention away from a crying Kirihara, who remains on his knees dressed in the traditional kendo garb. Apparently Sanada is attempting once again to distract the wayward junior.
Eiji takes a moment to reply, eyes on the bird. "Sometimes," he answers.
Fuji's hand is gripping his so tight it cuts off the circulation. "And me? Am I dead?"
"Sometimes," Eiji replies distantly.
Tezuka is frightening when he is angry. He is not bothered by the limits - or lack thereof - of their existence, which was why so few of them challenged him; no one wanted to deal with someone that could withstand the likes of Echizen over and over without much change.
"What did he expect?" Mukahi sneered, hanging upside-down from the goal post in the schoolyard. None of them are sure if it is supposed to be a free period or PE, Sakaki-sensei having not done more than making sure they had gathered in the field. Even from this distance, they could still hear Atobe's pitiful screams.
Oishi's arms are crossed over his chest. It has been too long, the order now too well-established to be contested by anyone, even Atobe. He will not try to argue with Tezuka on Atobe's behalf, nor dare to even rationalize the situation - what happens between Tezuka and Echizen is between them and no one else. Tezuka had stressed that more than once and always carried through with his threats on the matter.
"I'm surprised Atobe even got the advantage over him," Kirihara admitted. "Echizen's usually so guarded, you'd think he was expecting Tezuka to finally snap."
Momoshirou is flippant in his reply, "Echizen probably wishes he would."
Fuji is the only one that laughs but no one bats an eye. It is the first time in a long while the boy has had a normal reaction.
"You killed me," Fuji remembers. He says it over a plate of wasabi sushi that Kawamura has painstakingly made for him. Eiji feels affronted that it takes only the devouring of these tiny, spicy morsels to dredge up the Fuji that's been dead so long.
"Yeah, I killed you," Eiji admits. It wasn't a secret so he's unprepared for the unsettled look that flashes across the brunet's face. He'd never meant for it to be a secret, he'd only been waiting for Fuji to actually remember it.
Fuji's voice is low as he continues. "Why?"
"Because you asked me to," Eiji replies. It is more or less the truth, as defined between the two of them.
I want to change, Fuji had pleaded.
"Why?" Fuji's chrysalis is loathsome and tiring. Too many questions and the answers were never enough. Just because he does not understand he thinks breathing life into the words would somehow right the world, but it doesn't. He is merely confining them while everyone else chooses to experience it.
"Because you're a coward," Eiji says. He means every word of it.
Why couldn't Fuji understand there would be no butterflies here?
"We can't die."
Fuji's voice is cool and composed. It reminds Eiji of the beginning, back when there were only needles and lab coats and adults who thought there was something valuable in what they created. But they'd built a waterglobe and filled it with flowers and grass and pretty dolls instead of the utopia they'd hoped for, then left those same pretty dolls to collect the dust of themselves.
"We die all the time," Eiji corrects, an endless marker of red against all of Fuji's mistaken answers.
Fuji's smile is bitter. "You don't even know what death is."
"Neither do you," Eiji points out.
"Echizen's an asshole," Shishido starts, locking stormy eyes with the redhead across from him. Ohtori's dead again and the senior always gets so pissy when his underclassman is gone. "And so are you. What the hell is wrong with you guys? Why can't you just stop killing each other?"
Eiji's smile glitters with imagined fangs. "At least we're there for the ones we love."
Shishido's punch levels him to the floor. Eiji goes down without resistance, patiently waiting as pain blooms across his vision and the taste of copper fills his mouth. It was tedious to resist and maybe the next time he wakes up, Fuji will finally be there.
"I should carve out your heart like you did Fuji's," Shishido sneers.
A knife slides across the hat-wearing boy's throat and his words are drowned out by his own blood. He topples to the side, eyes slipping closed, body listless as his life drains out onto the floor.
Fuji brings the blade up to inspect the remaining gore, before turning his blue eyes on Eiji's crumpled form. They are warm, as is the smile on his lips.
"I want my heart back, Eiji."
And the blade sweeps down.
"We should dance," Fuji suggests. It is on another walk home, past the fields that always seem to smell like copper but look like summer. He doesn't wait for Eiji's reply, taking their schoolbags and setting them to the side of the road before pulling the redhead closer to him. He rearranges their position and they glide over the dirt of the road, spinning slowly to a tune only Fuji can hear.
Eiji is smiling despite the sulking overtones in his voice. "I'd rather fuck," he says.
Fuji chuckles into his shoulder. "We can do that later," he reminds the redhead.
They dance for quite a long time, well past when the sun sets. Fuji has started humming the tune they dance to, even and gentle and without care or thought. Eiji thinks he will miss the time the boy looked so unsure of the world but knows it is the boy dancing with him now that he has missed the most.
"Welcome back, Syuusuke," Eiji whispers into his ear.
End
A/N: I'm starting to think I have this thing for naive!Fuji...
Basic gist: All the boys are the results of advanced human engineering so that no matter how damaged their bodies are, they basically regenerate with their memories and personalities intact. With the elimination of fear of death and other ailments (like hunger), the scientists hoped they could create a perfect utopia and thus placed them in a dome ("waterglobe") to see how they would fare as a society. (It's why they go to school.) Needless to say, it isn't going very well because some have already gone crazy (mostly Echizen and Fuji) with their inability to die or change, while everyone else is working their way there too.
- "Leave the heart untouched.": Eiji tore out Fuji's heart when he killed him, so when Fuji regenerated his memories weren't intact and he couldn't remember why he was in the town. Eiji was keeping Fuji's heart inside him, so when Fuji remembered enough about the town and their relationship, he cut it out and took it back.
- Pillar pair: Echizen keeps killing Tezuka because he loves him and thinks viciously murdering him over and over is the only proper way to express it, since 'death' is the only form of change they can go through, no matter how temporary.
- Kirihara: It's actually rather hard to tell if he's the only sane one or not. He keeps killing everyone because it's how he tests reality. That's why he cries after he regenerates; he wants everyone (including himself) to stay dead.
- Death: They are slowly but surely losing their understanding of it. Since they never stay dead, the idea is losing significance and it's becoming hard for them to differentiate between the finite and infinite.
Questions, comments, concrit? Then...
Kindly drop a review.