A/N: This story is so weird to write because I don't care about politics at all.
It's really strange for me to think something like world could exist but I think about Slavery in the US and how it was pretty arbitrarily based on skin-color. And I think about the people in Rwanda with the Tsutsi and the Hutus and how they were divided based on skin color too. And ofcourse there is Adolf Hitler and his obsession with creating a Germany with only blue-eyed blondes.
My villain, President Purple, is very much Adolf Hitler for Japan I guess.
If you can't tell from my writing, Matt: blond, blue-eyed is at the top of the totem-pole;
Tai: dark-skinned (he and Daisuke are the darkest of the characters), dark-eyed, dark-haired is at the bottom.
Over the 13 years since Tai's visit to Ouran Private School that Saturday afternoon, Japan had changed for the worse. There was no pretense of a democratic government anymore. President Purple refused to relinquish control of the government. He had created a full-on fascist nation, with a hierarchy based on something as arbitrary as the color of one's skin, hair and eyes. Blue-eyed blondes were at the top, then came redheads, followed by people with light-brown hair. The prototypical black-haired pale-skinned Japanese were second to last on the totem pole. Only dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed people were below them.
Tai trudged through the pawn shop and into the back to climb up to the dingy apartment where he lived with his sister & mother. They had been forced to move from their old apartment after Tai's dad was killed in a bombing involving his office.
Even before President Purple declared himself the dictator of Japan, there was a rising threat of civil war from the common Japanese masses. Things just got worse after President Purple's declaration and the rebels routinely started bombing buildings in government districts to force the government to meet their demands. They had little success with this strategy. Instead there where whispers that the government retaliated by bombing several buildings suspected to be under rebel control. Tai's family did not know if it was the rebels or the government who had bombed the building where his father worked. Kari and his mother did not seem to care very much; the end result was the same in either case.
"Did you get a full day today?" Kari asked as he came in the door. He was covered in dust from the construction site so she knew atleast that he had managed to find some work. He had been gone 12 hours but that did not mean he had worked 12 hours – sometimes, he could wander the streets for hours, going from one construction site to another to see if anyone would hire him.
"Yea – they're putting up a new tower by the river. I managed to get there early so they hired me for the full day." He passed a handful of money to his mother in the kitchen; she carefully put the money into a tin jar on top of their decrepit old refrigerator.
"Tai – you stink. Go take a shower, stinky-pants!" Kari pushed her brother to their small bathroom. They were fortunate enough to have running water tonight, although ofcourse it would be cold.
When Tai came out of the bathroom, Kari was setting the table with 3 plates & forks – dinner was a simple affair – some rice, with a little chicken stew left over from yesterday and some pie his mother had baked that afternoon. They ate in silence, all of them too tired from their long days to try and make conversation. After dinner, Tai headed into his bedroom to try and get some sleep for another exhausting day tomorrow.
Kari & her mother did the dishes in the kitchen, not that there was much to do. They were startled from their easy silence when there was a knock at the door.
Kari opened the door and in walked Matt Ishida, dressed in army greens. He had grown up to look like a combination of his mother and father – a tall broad shouldered young man with piercing blue eyes and true blonde hair. He was the face of 'Future leaders of Japan'.
"Hello Matt," Mrs Kamiya called from the kitchen. "It's been a long time since we have seen you. It's too bad you didn't come earlier, you just missed dinner. Are you shipping out to the army base today?"
Matt was going to become an officer for the army as did all the children of Japanese foreigners who looked like him. But because Matt had done so well in his tactics classes, he was to be a commander right away instead of starting at the rank of Captain.
"Yes, that's right. I wanted to talk to talk to Tai before leaving."
"He's in his room – just came back from a 12 hour shift at the new building site. Go on in and see if you can wake him up enough to talk to you."
Matt's pov
Matt knocked on the door and walked in to find Tai at his computer. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower and he was wearing a ratty t-shirt and some pajamas.
The brunette looked over his shoulder at the blonde in his uniform. His eyebrow was raised questioningly.
"So you're leaving now, huh?"
"Yeah – the car is coming to pick me up in an hour."
"Why are you here? You know how I feel about you going off to join the army and siding with those fascist pigs."
Matt didn't want to get into this argument again with his best-friend. They had known each other for almost two decades now; when they had turned old enough to have opinions on Japan's political landscape, the differences between them became hugely pronounced. Tai supported the rebels, supported needless chaos and destruction. Matt knew it was because Tai had never learnt the things he had in school – but it was up to Matt to show up him the way to a brighter future.
"I am not here to fight with you about this." Matt walked over to Tai, turned his chair around and then sat down on the ground on one knee in front of the brunette. He stared up into beautiful dark brown eyes as he gathered up the courage for what he was going to do.
"I want to ask you something much more important." He reached up and cupped the brunette's cheek, lightly rubbing his thumb over his lower lip. Red instantly flooded Tai's cheeks and he shifted his eyes away from Matt.
"W-what are you doing?" Tai mumbled, refusing to look Matt in the eyes again.
"I want you to marry me." Matt was pretty happy that he had managed to keep his hands from shaking with nervousness as he pulled out a platinum ring with a diamond inset. His mother had helped him pick it out – said it wasn't too girly for Tai but still beautiful.
"What?" Tai backed his chair away from the blond and stood up as fast as he could, leaving Matt kneeling on the floor, holding the ring. The blond stood as well, and started to approach the blushing brunette; Tai turned his back to him.
Matt pressed himself flush against the shorter man, drawing him protectively into his arms. His hands worked themselves around Tai waist and found Tai's left hand, pushing the ring onto his ring finger. He buried his face in soft dark hair and breathed in Tai's shower fresh scent.
"I love you Tai – and I have come to hope that you love me too. Say that you'll make me the happiest man in the world." Matt knew that this was coming from the left-field for Tai. But the blond had reason to hope thing would go according to plan.
On one occasion they had been drunk enough that Matt couldn't stop himself from kissing Tai. He remembered the way the brunette had pressed up against him in surrender, his face becomingly flushed and soft moans and gasps leaving his throat as the blond explored the sinful mouth beyond those soft lips. How he had wanted to take Tai to the nearest horizontal surface that night six months ago and just claim the brunette for himself. But he had resisted, knowing that Tai would regret it in the morning.
After that evening, things had gone back to normal. However, once in a while, when they were alone in private, Matt would stare at the shorter man without shame & Tai would turn away embarrassed and run off to a more public spot. Matt had even caught Tai staring at him questioningly a couple of times; but Tai would just turn away, his cheeks beet red and start sputtering bring up some inane conversation. Matt was content to take things slow and never pushed things to see where he could take them. Tai was too precious for Matt to rush into anything and in the meantime, there were plenty of others who willingly spread their legs for him. But when the order came for him to ship out 3 years earlier than he thought it would, he knew he wouldn't have the luxury of courting the brunette as he wanted to before their union. I'll make it up to you, Matt promised Tai silently.
Tai was still in his arms for a few minutes. He was looking down at the ring, so white against his dark finger. Matt felt him stiffen in his arms and then Tai pulled away.
"I have known you a long time. And I have loved you almost as long. I have wanted what you're offering forever. But you're going to fight against everything I believe in." Tai's back was still turned to Matt, but the blond could hear the tired note in his voice. This was what he was afraid their big argument would be – atleast Tai had decided not to waste their time with another bullshit argument about their lack of a relationship. The brunette was not naïve enough to ignore how protective and possessive was of him, wouldn't try to deny that Matt loved him atleast.
Matt decided to start with the most pragmatic approach. "Tai – whether you like it or not, Japan is changing. I know you believe in the rebel groups and I know you think we're all going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya one day but we are not. Foreign Japanese are become stronger and stronger politically – what you hope for is impossible."
Tai whilrled back to him; this time his cheeks were flushed in anger. "You don't know that!"
Matt surveyed him calmly. "You're right – I don't know that. But I do know what I saw in the training barracks – women like your sister servicing row after row of soldiers. If she were from another family, she might do well because she is light-haired and light-eyed. But she has you for a brother and I don't need to tell you what any employer will tell her if she applies for a job. So what will happen to Kari now that we're on the brink of civil war? Her father is dead, her brother is a dark-skinned construction worker, her mother washes other people's clothes till her hands bleed for a living. And it won't just be the army soldiers who get at her – the rebels will try to take her too and you won't be able to do much to stop either side."
"Shut up!" Tai crowded up into Matt's space and grabbed his collar threateningly. Matt stayed unperturbed, knowing that he'd need to force the brunette to accept the situation. So he continued.
"What about your mother? Do you think she enjoys working so hard in her middle-years? But she can't stop can she? You know she will be working till the day she dies if you deny me." He wrapped his arms around Tai, pulling the brunette closer and tilting his chin up so he could look into the beautiful face.
"And what about you?" He whispered softly against Tai's forehead. "After the war breaks out, do you think you'll find any more of the work that you do? Who will hire you after they look at you? What will you do to support your family then?" Surprisingly Tai stayed quiet in Matt's arms; Matt hoped he was starting to see the logic in this proposal. Really this was the Kamiya's best option.
"I can save you and your family from all the pain when civil war breaks out. It will be hard for my superiors to accept you as my consort but I am valuable enough for them to excuse my marrying a darkie."
Matt reeled back in shock at the punch across his jaw. Tai may have been only 5'9 to Matt's 6'1 but he could still throw a punch.
"You bastard!" Tai punched him again, this time in his stomach. "You come in here with your superiority complex, talking about saving me from some deep dark ending. You expect me to be happy that you're taking me despite the skin I was born with, as if it was a heinous crime on my part." He turned his back to the blonde again. "This is not the Matt I knew when we met – that godforsaken Ouran Academy has changed you into a monster."
Tai turned back to Matt again, this time holding the ring in his open palm. "The answer is no."
Instead of taking the ring, Matt grabbed the extended hand and pulled the brunette into his arms. He quickly tilted Tai's chin up and kissed him, his other arm wrapped tightly around his waist to ensure that the brunette couldn't pull away. Tai's muffled screams soon turned into a sweet moan and the shorter man seemed to forget to fight against him. Instead, his fingers clutched the green material of Matt's shirt as the blond claimed his mouth.
It might've been a cliché but Matt was finding it difficult to pull away from Tai's lips: he was a soldier going off to fight a war after all and Tai would be waiting for him to come back safe. He hoped anyway.
Just before Tai's sighs from his kisses and the bed nearby got to be too much of a temptation for him, Matt pulled away. The brunette threw his head back and Matt couldn't resist the temptation to leave a possessive hickey on the smooth brown column of his throat. "Nnnghh…. Ma-aattt…" Matt couldn't help the satisfied smirk at the soft sigh from Tai. He pressed his mouth against Tai again in a soul-searing exploration of his mouth, his tongue flicking in and out of the brunette's mouth in a parody of how he wanted to join their bodies even more intimately. Still, he knew this was not the right time so he forced himself to let Tai go completely and stepped away to put some distance between their bodies.
Matt took the ring from Tai and then gently bent down to kiss his left hand. "I'm going to be back in 6 months. You'll have seen enough by then to know this is the best for everyone." Tai opened his mouth to protest as Matt stood back up to his full height and slowly slid the ring back to its intended place on that slender brown hand.
"Keep it on until you see me again – it'll keep you safer – if you're in trouble with the guards, show it to them and tell them to bring you to me."
Without waiting for the brunette to reply, he walked out of the room. He nodded his head at Kari and Mrs. Kamiya as he slipped out their front door. While things could have gone better, they certainly could have gone a lot worse. Matt felt certain that when he returned, Tai would have lost enough naivety to accept him.
Tai was sitting on his bed, staring at the ring on his finger. That man made the simplest things so complicated. Tai knew he hated the current Japanese government and Matt was the poster-child for the very thing he hated – it should have been the easiest thing in the world to take that damn ring off his finger & throw it out the window. Or maybe sell it at the pawn-shop.
But try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Each time he'd tried in the half hour since Matt left his room, he would remember the blonde's solid body holding his, so protective and loving. Tai was always so used to being the strong one & fighting for his sister & mother that he almost wanted to give into the blond. And he had been honest when he hold Matt he loved him.
He pushed his treacherous thoughts away and got up to see what his mother and sister were doing in the living room. They were both settled on the couch, watching television. A commercial about a fairness cream was playing on the screen. But neither Kari nor his mother were paying attention to it, focused as they were on him.
He blushed as he met his mother's stare. The walls in this apartment were thin. She had probably heard everything.
"Tai – you could do a lot worse," Mrs. Kamiya's voice was frank. "If you feel something for him, then you should swallow your pride and accept him. He will keep you and your sister safe." She was not the idealist her son was – she didn't know much about politics but didn't feel she needed to; although the rebels out-numbered the government soldiers by 10:1, the government had much more advanced weaponry. The coming war would leave Japan in a ravaged state and Mrs. Kamiya felt fairly certain that Matt was the best way to keep not only her son but her daughter out of harm's way as well.
Tai stared at his mother, not believing what he was hearing from her. "Mom, he thinks it's ok that people who look like us are treated like dirt. How can I agree to this?"
"No matter what you think of history son, it's the winning side who writes what is morality. I'd much rather see you on the winning side and alive than dead on the losing side and clutching your morals."
Tai turned to his sister who had stayed silent while their mother voiced her opinion. "What do you think Kari?"
She turned her eyes up to him; they were a beautiful honey-amber, fringed by long light brown eyelashes. "I don't see that you have much choice in the matter. He wants you and he can take you anytime. He is being a gentleman by atleast going through the formality of asking. But make no mistake, when he comes back, he will not stop until you belong to him."