A/N: Hello all you Takumi-kun lovers out there!
The idea for this fanfic came to my mind last night while having a few drinks with my friends and I just had to get it out of my system. It is a re-telling some major events that occured during Takumi's time as a student of Shidou through his own eyes, but I have added some bits and pieces here and there.
There are going to be three chapters total, each chapter covering one year in Shidou Gakuin.
By writing this story I really ventured into territory that is completely new for me because the whole fic will be written in the "you" form, meaning that you will see the events through the character's eyes just like in a narration done in the 1st person, but you as readers are getting a deeper insight of the character's thoughts and emotions.
I have never written any story in this style before and it proved to be quite a challenge, so I can't really tell if the result of this experiment is good or not.
Also to my defense, I was quite tipsy when I wrote this, barely awake when I typed this chapter up and edited it and while writing this comment I'm already more than half asleep . (It's already 6am. here in Japan)
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the read and a little comment containing your thoughts would be much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own Takumi-kun Series or any of its characters.
The Red Strings of Destiny
Chapter1
"I'd like welcome all our new students warmly here at Shidou Gakuin. I hope that the next three years you will be spending here at this prestigious academy are going to be educational, prolific and fruitful years, ones that will help you on your way to become valuable members of society," you hear the principal say, but you drown out the rest of the man's speech for there are too many other things occupying your mind.
It's the morning of the entrance ceremony at the high school you are going to attend from the following day onwards and you are glad that you managed to make it here, that all your hard work, those long hours of intensive studying, has paid off in the end, but at the same time you are incredibly nervous and a feeling of anxiety starts churning inside you as you let your eyes wander across the assembly hall and its occupants. You look at the other students who are going to be your classmates and while you are contemplating about how different you are compared to them you begin to ask yourself if you have really made the right choice, if it really was such a good idea to choose the renowned Shidou Gakuin from all the high schools you got accepted at after having taken the entrance exams.
After all, in so many ways you are unlike the rest of the students here. While most of the boys belong to the upper-class and are coming from rich, influential families, their fathers being entrepreneurs, CEOs, lawyers, politicians and who knows what you are nothing but a mere commoner. Those young members of the rich and wealthy, the high society, have chosen to attend Shidou Gakuin because of its reputation, its prestige and for the sake of getting the best education money can buy.
You on the other hand have chosen this school for a totally different reason. Your decision to study here wasn't based on the good reputation the school is having all over Japan or on the prospect of a very good education, you couldn't care less about this kind of stuff, but it was based on the fact that Shidou Gakuin is a boarding school and hidden deep in the mountains. The reason you have come here is that you wanted to escape your home, your family, your old life, a life that had become unbearable do to certain events, events that have scared you deeply and whose consequences and memories are tainting almost every single moment of your existence and have changed you in ways you could never have imagined.
"Please check the map of the campus you received with your "welcome pack" and head over to the dorm grounds once this meeting is over. Once you have moved into the rooms assigned to you and unpacked your things please feel free to explore the school grounds or go to town should you need to perform some errands," the firm voice of another man, supposedly the head teacher, rips you out of your thoughts.
'Moving into the dorms'…those words keep echoing in your ears as you leave the assembly hall only a short while later and a sigh escapes your lips while you try to brace yourself for the first big challenge of your life as a student at this academy, meeting your roommate. The very idea of this inevitable encounter makes you feel terribly uncomfortable and fear starts to curdle your stomach. With your heart beating so hard against you ribcage that it is almost painful you head for room 421, the room you are going to share with a guy called Katakura Toshihisa and before finally turning the door knob you take several deep breaths in order to calm your raw, frayed nerves and you can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when you find the room empty.
After you have taken a look around the comfortably furnished room and chosen your bed you begin to unpack, soon being so focused on the task at hand that you don't notice that your roommate for your freshman-year has arrived. The boy's words "Hello, I'm Katakura Toshihisa. Nice to meet you," that are suddenly echoing within the walls of the quiet room give you quite a start, cause you to jump lightly and then it happens…
You are just about to turn around to face the new arrival, to politely return his greeting when his hand lands on your shoulder squeezing it lightly. Instinctively you lash out to get away from the touch, your breath quickening as your fear of physical contact or your mental disorder as your parents call it kicks in and your body begins to tremble. You hate being touched, terribly abhor it for reasons you have sworn you would keep locked up inside you for the rest of your life because you are dreading the way people would surely look at you if they knew about the dark secret hidden in your past.
Quickly the realization of what you have just done begins to sink in and once it has fully dawned on you, you slowly turn around to face the other student who is staring at you with a mix of shock and confusion written all over his face. Guilt as well as embarrassment immediately wash over you and unable to hold the boy's gaze you lower your eyes as you stammer a poor, clumsy apology which is followed by an even poorer explanation.
"No problem, no harm done," you hear Katakura say once your voice has trailed off and at last you dare to look up again. The moment your eyes meet his, the boy offers you a warm, good-natured smile and you breathe another sigh of relief as you return the gesture, thinking that you are quite lucky to be sharing the room with a student who seems to be very kind, very easygoing and for the first time since your arrival at Shidou Gakuin you dare to hope that you might be able to make at least one friend at this school.
oOo
The first day of classes has finally arrived and just like the previous day you are feeling nervous and anxious. You are so incredibly worried about meeting your classmates, due to your little 'problem'. However, when you learn that Katakura is not only going to be your roommate but that the two of you are going to be in the same class as well you start feeling a little better. Together with the brown-haired boy whom you are now calling by his first name you enter the classroom, the presence of your new friend giving you a feeling of security.
You let your gaze wander across the spacious room, amazed at its luxurious furnishing, the dark, antique-looking, wooden desks that are perfectly matched with comfortable looking high-back chairs and that's when you see him, the guy who had become the celebrity of the school within less than twenty-four hours, the student who is in everybody's mouth Saki Giichi; a guy of French-Japanese descent, born and raised in America, only son and heir of an extremely rich family and destined to succeed his father as CEO and president of a vast international business empire. You allow your eyes to linger for a while on the tall, amber-haired student who has an almost regal bearing and is surrounded by a cluster of fan-boys, at least that's what they look like to you.
The celebrity of the class smiles politely at them as he patiently answers all the questions he is bombarded with, but doesn't seem to be enjoying shower of attention that is bestowed upon him. When he slightly turns his head to face another boy you manage to catch a glimpse of his features and what you see causes your heart to skip a beat or two. The boy has the face of a model, soft yet somehow distinctive, manly features, flawless skin, striking hazel-colored eyes that have a warm, golden glow, a beautiful mouth whose full, sensual lips were slightly curled up as the amber-haired student offers his admirers another smile and you have to admit that the stories regarding his great looks that had reached your ears the day before hadn't been exaggerated. Saki Giichi is decidedly handsome, the type of guy who could make both girls and boys swoon alike and you find it rather difficult to tear your gaze away from the young, good-looking upper-class man. It's only Toshihisa's calling your name that finally causes you to avert your eyes and trying to calm your racing heart you hesitantly follow your friend to a desk in the center of the room.
"Let's take this one Takumi. It's not too close to the teacher's desk, but not too far from it either," his cheerful voice reaches your ears and nodding shyly in agreement you follow the boy's example and place your school bag onto the polished, shiny surface of the rustic table. While you let your eyes wander once more and take in the splendor of the classroom you perceive another freshmen walking past close behind you, brushing his elbow accidently across your back. With a yelp of panic leaking from between your lips you abruptly jerk away from the touch as if you had been burned by it, knocking over the chair of the neighboring desk in the process.
The very moment the piece of furniture clatters to the ground all conversation in the room dies down immediately and everybody's eyes rivet on you as you stand there in the middle of the schoolroom breathing heavily, desperately trying to keep your body from trembling, painfully aware of the strange looks most of the students are giving you. "Takumi, are you alright," you hear Toshihisa say and slowly you raise your head to meet his concerned gaze.
"I…I'm alright. Just…just give me a moment," you gasp as you sink onto the free chair beside your friend. Without daring to look at any of the other boys who are still staring into your direction you double over and bury your head into your arms, wishing that the ground underneath your feet would open and swallow you whole for all you want at that very moment is to become invisible, to disappear. Soon you perceive the conversations that had been halted momentarily being picked up again and gradually you begin to calm down, but keep your head buried anyway until the school bell begins to chime upon which your homeroom teacher enters the room.
After he has briefly introduced himself and given a short welcoming speech the middle-aged man takes out the attendance record and begins to call out the names listed there. "…Akaike Shouzo, Katakura Toshihisa, Hayama Takumi." Upon hearing your name being called you obediently rise to your feet just like the other students have done and once again you feel everybody's eyes fixing on you, the incident that had occurred prior to the beginning of this class still fresh in the minds of your classmates.
From the corner of your eye you risk a nervous glance at Saki and as expected he is staring at you just like the other boys, but somehow the penetrating look he is giving you is different compared to the stares you are receiving from the rest of the class. While the majority of the students are gaping at you as if you were some kind of alien Saki is gazing at you with a peculiar expression on his handsome face, an expression you can't quite interpret, a strange mix of curiosity, doubt and something akin to hope.
"Hayama, I read in your student record that you play the violin," the homeroom teacher addresses you again just as you were about to sit down and you can't help but sigh somewhat dejectedly. Officious attention is the last thing you need at the moment. "You should consider joining the music club. The school's orchestra is very good and always looking for skilled, talented players." "Thank you for your kind consideration sensei, but I'm really sorry," you reply meekly and quickly lower your gaze as you feel your cheeks beginning to burn, "I won't join the orchestra, I can't. It is true that I used to play the violin as a child, but I quit playing a few years ago and I don't have the intention to start practicing the violin again."
With that you bow slightly towards the teacher and sit back down, keeping your eyes fixed upon the shiny surface of your desk as the middle-aged man mutters his understanding before he finally proceeds with checking the attendance. After you have taken a deep breath to calm yourself you risk another glance into Saki's direction, surprised when you find that he unlike the other students is still staring at you, looking as if he had just come to realize something and in the expression his handsome feature are holding now you can detect surprise, happiness and a hint of…affection?
'No, it can't be. I must be mistaken,' your voice of reason immediately begins to echo in your head and within a minute you are convinced that what you thought you had perceived just now was nothing but your overactive imagination. After all, how could such a rich and handsome upper-class man ever be interested in a mere commoner like you? Why should he be? You are of no importance to him and in so many aspects there are worlds between the two of you. Determined to let the whole incident pass from your mind you try to concentrate your attention on the teacher who has begun to talk about the importance of regular and serious studying in order to succeed at Shidou Gakuin, but despite your resolution to banish Saki Giichi from your mind you can't help but glance at the amber-haired student every now and then once you have noticed that for some reason he keeps his eyes riveted on you. For the rest of the homeroom class you feel the boy's intense, penetrating gaze piercing your back which causes you to shift in discomfort, to fidget nervously and you begin to wonder what the meaning of all this could be.
oOo
The first day of classes passes swiftly as do the following few weeks. You have quickly gotten used to the daily routine here at Shidou Gakuin and basically everything happened exactly the way you had thought it would prior to your arrival. Incidents like the one on the first day of classes continue to occur, your fear of being touched causing you yelp, to lash out and to jerk away from even the lightest contact and you are quickly labeled as being strange not only by your classmates and the other freshmen but by the senior students as well. The few students who had tried to approach you in spite of your 'problem' had soon given up because of your distant behavior towards them, your cold indifference. It would be a lie to say that didn't feel a little downcast, but at the same time you are strangely glad the other boys aren't bothering about you anymore.
You have built a thick, invisible wall around you in order to protect yourself from getting hurt and just like with your fear of being touched the reason for which you can't trust people and for which you have taken to shut everybody who tries to get close to you out lies hidden in your past. As a result of your behavior towards the other boys you have quickly become an outcast, an unsociable weirdo who is avoided and disliked by the majority of the students, except for Toshihisa that is. He is the only one who remains by your side, the only friend you have in the world and you are truly grateful for that. However, soon you start to feel bad for the boy, guilt begins to gnaw at you and you start to wonder if it wouldn't be better to cut ties with him, to return to being roommates and nothing more.
Due to your 'attitude problem' as the other students call it you have not only become extremely unpopular but also the victim of some serious bullying and more than often Toshihisa, for being your roommate and friend, gets caught in the middle. Much to your surprise Saki whom you call 'Gii' like all the other boys, even though you only do it secretly in your heart, and with whom you never exchange a word before or after classes is always there to help you out, to protect you from any bullies. He isn't afraid of facing up them no matter if they are freshmen, sophomores or even third-graders. The other day he even went as far as verbally threatening some older students, who were falsely accusing you and Toshihisa of having been too noisy during the night and were deliberately looking for trouble, telling them that he would not hesitate to fight back should they continue with their bullying.
You truly admire Gii for his strength, for his strong sense of justice and you know that you should thank him properly for protecting you wherever and whenever he can, but for several reasons you just can't bring yourself to do it, one of them being your pride. So far you have always managed to somehow get through on your own and you neither want nor need anyone's pity.
The other reason is that in spite of all the things Gii has done for you so far you still don't have the heart to trust him. You know almost nothing about the amber-haired student apart from the few facts that are common knowledge and you never stop contemplating about his motives for helping you could be. Deep inside you know that you are most likely doing him wrong by questioning the sincerity of his actions, the nature of his intentions, but somehow you can't help but fear that Gii's kindness and his selfless helpfulness are coming with some sort of strings attached.
A/N: Alright, that's it for now.
Did you like it? Did you hate it? Do you want me to continue or should I stop here?
Please let me know!
If I get enough people saying that they want me to continue with this story, I will do it.
If I don't I will either put this project on hiatus or drop it completely because I don't think it's worth spending time on a story nobody reads when I have so little time for writing and two other ongoing stories that need to be updated.
Speaking of update, for those of you who follow my other fanfic "Remember Me" I just want to let you know that it has been updated with chapter 12.
I hope you'll enjoy reading that chapter and I'd be grateful if you would take the time to leave me a little review for it.