(Cue Dramatic Trumpet Solo!)
-Hokuto Sumeragi's School of Flight-
Disclaimer: Clamp owns Tokyo Babylon and X/1999, and probably a bit of my soul too.
Warnings: Avoid further reading if you have fear of the following: Bishies, Angst, Feathers, Tea, Semes, Humor, Greek Referances, Fictional Water and/or Reading.
Note: I've decided I write more fluidly on stories when I know more of the Anime/Manga. Go figure.
Naturally, this is for Nori-chan, putting the Dastardly in Seishirous since 2006!
Lesson Twelve: Brainstorm...?
He hated this ocean, the waves colliding against jagged rocks mocked him in invitation. The audience had grown further still with each experiment, their secluded dreamscape no longer their sanctuary but a place of reunion for all Ten no Ryu and Chi no Ryu alike with few exceptions. His patience had worn thin long before Yuzuriha Nekoi's stunningly brilliant idea to strap him to a kite and drag him through the sky on a leash. Unfortunately for her, she forgot the ledge would eventually end and both of them and Kusanagi Shiyu took an impromptu delve into the sea. "Well, no...that's never worked..." The same argument he had tried to use before said giant kite was even crafted.
"Well, Miss, I can't say as I have any more ideas." Sorata Arisugawa surprised no one in saying. Sakurazuka-san might have been surprised had he not whisked away teen-clone!Sumeragi to their previous spot in the distance after deciding they were no longer needed. Probably worried someone might glance at his Subaru-kun a second too long.
"There is a reason humans do not have wings." Satsuki-san announced in her cold, monotone voice that had went unused since telling him the only reason why her plan had failed was because he "altered the environment" thus "compromising her logistics". How rude of him, really.
Hokuto sent the girl a withering glance before sighing and scanned the crowd for anything that might resemble a figurative light bulb. She could practically hear the crickets chirping. Most were otherwise distracting themselves; Satsuki had returned her attention to the glowing computer screen, Yuuto was consumed in apparently the greatest cup of endless tea ever, Kamui Shirou was seemingly far too busy trying to make Sei-chan internally combust with his mind, and Yuzuriha...well, Yuzuriha was never completely there. Hell, the only attention she seemed to still grasp came from Inuki. Hokuto whips around to face the distant figures on the beach.
"HEEEYY, Sei-chan! Have any ideas?!" she bellowed across the shore.
"..."
"Is that a no?!"
Kamui grumbled, turning from the couple to stare at the ground darkly as if it had just destroyed his life for cake. Seishirou...obviously had directed his input elsewhere. Quite literally. Some people were just hopeless, even in death.
"Uhm...I have an idea..." a soft, feminine voice mumbles, demanding the attention of most all of the AeroKyou Task Force. She probably wants to dye him indigo. The new arrival, Kotori Monou, offered her commrades a peaceful smile before continuing, "Yatoji-chan is right, if humans had wings, Kuzuki-kun would be able to fly..."
"Whatever you're thinking, we've already tried it." Arashi Kishuu sighed, her scheme to have the dreamscape birds captured and put into a net that would carry off Kuzuki might have actually worked. Might have... if Sorata had not released the net to tie his shoe laces, allowing the caught birds to carry away the petite Yuzuriha who had also held the net. After never minding his clothing throughout the entire time she's known him, the exact moment he needed to hold something, he would say to himself "Oh, gosh, I should tie that! Here, imaginary dog, hold this!". Yuzuriha had not stopped shrieking and squealing, trying to hold down her skirt, until she was rescued from the water, then giving Sorata a angry, soggy whack. Arashi sent him another menacing glare, causing him to smile apologetically in fear for his (love) life. He was torturing her, he really was.
"Oh..." began the disheartened Kotori, "I was just going to say we could make him wings...If we use the feathers of the birds here and some kind of adhesive we could–" Blah blah blah. Hokuto had already stopped listening, her eyes shining with the light of design.
Hokuto had drafted the males to collect feathers (which is a much greater task considering no bird would return to the shore in the threat of being captured again) while the females, minus Satsuki, attached the feathers to the makeshift frame. She looked across from her grudgingly to the rather skanky and very uninvited Kanoe who sat and moved only in ways that would further enhance her cleavage. There probably could be a horror movie about giant Kanoe boobies that ate people and small cars...
"We brought more feathers, Onee-chan." said Mayor Falsey Fakers of Clone Town with blinding cuteness. Her Subaru would have approached way more shyly, that's for sure. Yet some part of her shuddered in the moe fangirl moment, an automatic reaction to kawaii. He and his cocky owner delivered only as many feathers as they could carry while still holding hands. Like her Subaru would ever publicly hold hands.
Geez, Sei-chan. GEEZ.
Still, it looked far too much like him to be mad at the boy. "Thank you!" she chimed merrily before they turned away to continue the hunt. It was almost complete...the wings forming took almost an ethereal angelic presence with the white gull feathers. With Kamui's last impressive collection, it was just a matter of putting the pieces together. Other task members slowly drifted to watch with interest the completion of the wings, which were almost immediately forced onto Kakyou.
"Shouldn't we..."
"Now's not the time to be scared! This is definitely going to work and besides, you look so pretty!" Hokuto cooed, edging her angel toward the far-falling ledge, water swirling around the dangerous rocks beneath. She claimed his hand and pulled him into the sea air, both floating in almost slow motion.
"Oh my," Kotori began again, "we let it dry for half an hour, right?" After a collective nod, she appeared to re-read the instructions. "This glue says it needs four hours to dry." Dream glue: takes longer than actual glue to dry. Figures.
The feathers withered away with a slight breeze, the frame dripping with the excessive glue used as Kakyou hung by their joined hands in a rather dramatic scene. They watched as the pair slowly drifted toward the water, the girl unable to completely carry the weight of the older man. "Hold on...just a little further, I wont let you go!" Her strain was more than obvious in her features, her arms start to tremble in complaint.
"Hokuto...I..." he breathed, eyes catching onto hers for a long, stalled moment. Her feelings were clear, almost completely putting him at ease. This...this was so much different from any of the other times. This time, he wasnt filled with forlorn annoyance knowing that the downward spiral of attempts and failures could and would continue into oblivion. No, this time, he-
KERSPLASH!!12
"..."
"..."
"Well, it worked for Daedalus..."
"Yah, but Icarus died, didn't he?"
"..."
Sky: 0
Sea: 12
Notes:
Chi no Ryu: Dragons of Earth.
Ten no Ryu: Dragons of Heaven.
Im aware most of the people in this here story are deceased, so why is Yuzuriha and Kusy in it? Well, they're asleep at the present moment. Why isn't the real Subaru in it? He's busy being the Sakurazukamori, graveyard shifts kill (pun intended).
Arashi may have come up with a more clever idea but I could not at the time ;;;
Daedalus was the creator of the Labrynth on Crete for the Minotaur. To escape the control of Minos, he created wings for him and his son (Icarus) out of feathers, wax and thread. When Icarus became too confident and flew too close to the sun, the wax softened and the feathers fell off, causing the young boy to meet his watery demise in the sea.
R-review? Someone? Please...?