Kamui and Alcuin…
By, Kamui Shirou
Chapter One, "…Kamui"
He walked down the sidewalk looking off into space, appearing rather pensive for someone who was going to a new school for the first time. The fact that it was a Sunday, of all days, didn't seem to help in explaining why he was going to school instead of enjoying time away from it. He could see the large school off to his left, a path branching off of the sidewalk in it's direction, however he didn't appear to notice it when he didn't turn his head once it came into view.
Birds chirped happily around him in the trees along the sidewalk, a gentle breeze rustling the branches and tossing his hair to the side of his face. His long, dark, black hair, which clashed with his pale skin, seemed to shimmer in the mid-day sun, which bathed him in its warmth. The thin material of his black muscle shirt felt like fire against his skin, warmed by the burning sunlight. His legs were going through the same torture, confined in his tight, black, denim pants.
All at once, when he reached the part of the sidewalk that branched off to the left, he turned on his right heel and started walking down the walkway to the front doors of the school. Out of the corner of his eye he could see fellow students lying in a large garden-like area. They were lying against tree trunks while reading books, others were writing in journals, and some were merely asleep amongst the flowers. His gaze seemed to be drawn to the ground once he saw these students, as though he considered himself too low to be allowed to look into their eyes.
Once he reached the main doors of the school, he pushed open the right door by bringing up his right leg and pushing the door open with his knee, otherwise not breaking pace. He walked through the main hallway of the school without paying his surroundings much attention, his eyes still focused on the ground blankly. The cool air inside the building caused his skin to crawl by comparison to the heat he had endured outside.
A sign on his left caught his eye, as it indicated that the dormitories were at the top of the stairwell on his left. He turned and walked up the stairs to the hallway lined with doors, noting on what order they were in. After exploring the hallways for a minute, he came upon a group of people conversing in front of one of the opened doorways. With his eyes once again focused on the floor in front of himself, he passed by them and made his way toward where the hallway made a sharp right turn.
He was just about to turn the corner when he heard someone behind him ask, "Excuse me, are you new here?" He stopped in mid-step and slowly turned to face the person that had called on him, his facial expression appearing to be devoid of emotion. What he saw was a young boy that was maybe 14 years of age. The boy had black hair that was shoulder length and wore a pair of glasses that seemed slightly too large for his small face. In response to the boy's earlier question, he nodded his head as an affirmative. As soon as he had answered, he turned and continued toward the corner, however, once again he heard the boy speak, "What is your name?"
This time, without even turning around, he responded simply, "…Kamui," and walked around the corner without asking for the boy's name in return.
Kamui had been walking through the halls for a good two minutes before he finally came across what he was looking for.
"Dorm number eight…" he said to himself as he stood before the wooden door, a small, black sign with white letters labeling it as Dormitory number eight. From his pocket, he took out a key he had been given for the room and unlocked the door. He walked inside slowly to see that it was a large room with one twin-sized bed on each side of it, a good-sized, square window in the back wall between them, and a small ceiling fan with four lights pointing in different directions in the middle of the ceiling. Light poured in through the window and onto the green carpet, making it emit its own heat into the room. Kamui walked a step into the room and shut the door behind himself with a quick kick of his right foot. He walked over to the bed on his right, purple sheets and a dark blue comforter covering it. He fell down on it on his side, bouncing up and down from landing on the bed so forcefully.
After he was still and relaxed for a moment, he rolled onto his back and laced his fingers together between the pillow and his head. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the sunlight coming through the window, dust gently floating through the rays of light. For ten hours he laid totally still, so still you would think he was asleep if only his eyes had been shut.
It was nearly ten at night before any noise came to rouse Kamui while he laid on his new bed. He had watched the sunset and the moonlight begin pouring in through the window, the silvery moonlight dousing Kamui's dark clothing in its cool warmth. Kamui's pale skin was nearly glowing with the white light bouncing off of it, a cloud slowly drifting in front of the moon and shadowing him from it.
Suddenly, the door to the dorm creaked open and Kamui could hear footsteps on the carpet. He lifted his head slightly and looked to the door in an attempt to identify the source of the noise that had roused him from his meditative peace. He found it to be a young man of maybe 18 years standing in the doorway. The stranger's silvery, white hair was illuminated in the milky moonlight as it reflected off the floor and onto his face. The intruder stared at Kamui; Kamui stared right back. Kamui noticed the stranger was very slim, yet well toned, and in his right hand he held a black duffel bag by its straps. The color of his shirt and pants was difficult to tell, however Kamui could tell in the dim light that he was wearing a sweater and loose fitting pants.
Their staring contest continued for several minutes before Kamui simply rested his head back on his pillow, staring at the ceiling blankly as he had been for so long. He soon heard the door shut and the footsteps continue over to the foot of the bed across the room, where the duffle bag was gently placed on the ground. A moment later the room was filled with the light from the ceiling fan's lights, the sudden luminous contrast causing Kamui to squint up at the ceiling for several seconds until his eyes adjusted to the lights shining down at him.
"Who are you?" Kamui heard the stranger ask from across the room, listening to him as he walked back to the bed he had apparently claimed as his own.
'Strange…' thought Kamui, '…so many seem interested in knowing my name…here.'
"…Kamui." He answered simply. The light shining down in his eyes began annoying him, so much in fact that he thought it better that he sit up so the light would not be directed into his eyes as much. He pushed himself up to a seated position, scooting back against the wall where the corner of the bed met the corner of the room.
"I'm Alcuin." Kamui blinked up at him, a blank expression on his face. He nodded slowly an affirmative to Alcuin, crossing his legs in front of himself and leaning back into the corner, relaxing his shoulder blades into the two walls he was now leaning against. Kamui stared down at the sheets he was sitting on as though he could see through them, seeming to be deep in thought. He could see in his peripheral vision that Alcuin had opened his duffle bag and he heard paper rustling as Alcuin lay out on his own bed.
Suddenly a piece of paper feel to the floor between the beds, Kamui's eyes catching it in mid-decent and following it to the ground. Kamui glanced up to Alcuin, who he saw was looking from the paper to Kamui and seemed rather flustered. He noticed that the papers he had heard rustling earlier was a type of magazine in Alcuin's right hand. Kamui looked back down to the paper on the floor between them and noticed it was a torn page with a Japanese animation style picture of two men kissing and embracing.
He merely noted on these details in a matter of moments before he leaned forward and unfolded his legs under himself, leaning down with one hand on the edge of the bed to support himself and picking the paper up off of the floor. He lifted the paper up to where Alcuin could reach it.
"Thank you, Kamui." Alcuin flashed him a half smile and snatched the page out of his hand, returning it to it's place in the magazine and laying back down so he could continue his "reading." Kamui pushed himself back up to a seated position, leaning back against the corner and assuming his previous posture.
Kamui stared at the wall across from him, focusing his eyes on a spot just above Alcuin and trying to compile all the details he had observed about Alcuin. He began attempting to guess certain aspects of him such as what his family life may have been like, what reason he may have for being at this school, as well as various other traits. He eventually decided he had yet to observe Alcuin long enough to make any kind of intelligent judgment about anything except that he had access to a large amount of money. He based this on how comfortable and presentable his clothes appeared by comparison to those of other people he had seen on his way to the school.
"Just so you don't even have to ask me, yes." Kamui glanced down to Alcuin once he heard Alcuin's statement, however Kamui was unsure of what Alcuin was alluding to.
"Yes…?" Kamui asked, hoping his question was specific enough for Alcuin to understand that he was unsure of what he was talking about.
"Yes! I am gay!" Alcuin said much more insistently, as though Kamui should have known exactly what he was talking about. Kamui speculated that Alcuin had assumed that he was puzzling over whether or not he was homosexual, however he felt he should correct him in his mistake.
"You assume that it is important to me whether you are physically attracted to men or women?" Kamui now lowered his gaze so that he was looking directly at Alcuin. Alcuin looked up at Kamui with a look of slight surprise written on his face. Before Alcuin could respond to the question, Kamui said, "It isn't…"
Alcuin's facial expression changed to one of defiance, staring up at Kamui he said, "What, are you gay too or something?"
Kamui could only assume that Alcuin had made this connection because generally humans fear or hate what they do not understand. It did make an amount of sense to assume that he was homosexual and that would be the only reason that he didn't care about Alcuin being homosexual as well. "No, I am not. I have never engaged in sexual activity. I have never had a reason, nor an opportunity, to worry over being attracted to any person."
Alcuin merely raised an eyebrow at Kamui once he had said this. The statement didn't exactly make much sense for a human to make, since they are naturally sexual creatures. Regardless, Alcuin felt it better to leave the conversation there and return to his reading. Kamui, sensing that Alcuin was done speaking with him for now, looked back up at the wall and then closed his eyes. He did not attempt to go to sleep, nor was he tired, however the amount of light in the room, after so many hours of darkness, was still annoying him enough for him to want to block it out.
Alcuin glanced at Kamui several times while he lay in silence with the magazine in front of himself, wondering if Kamui might have been joking. After a few minutes of laying in total silence, Alcuin said to himself as quietly as he could, "Too bad, Kamui…"
Upon hearing this, Kamui's right eye twitched and he got a flash in his head of a young girl with dark hair. She was giggling and smiling, causing Kamui to smile ever so slightly, however, after just a moment he caught himself and banished the memory from his mind while his facial expression returned to one that seemed almost neutral.
Alcuin, upon speaking what he had, closed the magazine and turned around onto his stomach. He set the magazine back inside his duffle bag before he lifted himself off of the bed for a moment so that he could get under the covers. Kamui still had his eyes closed when he felt Alcuin's eyes on him, causing him to open his eyes and look down at Alcuin lying in his bed.
Alcuin had been staring up at Kamui, their eyes now meeting and staring at each other for a long moment. "Kamui…Would you mind turning off the light, please?" When Alcuin asked this, he almost sounded like a child asking permission of his parents. Kamui blinked down at him and nodded, pushing himself off the side of the bed and walking over to the wall near the door. As Kamui reached his hand up to the light switch, he could hear Alcuin rustling around in his bed before he said, "Goodnight, Kamui…" The words rolled out of his mouth as though he had already fallen asleep and were speaking while in a deep slumber.
Kamui simply replied, "Goodnight Alcuin," and flipped the switch off. The room was once again flooded with moonlight, reflecting off the white walls and flooding the entire room with a creamy, white hue. Kamui glanced around the room once before he walked back to his own bed and laid down on it. He laid exactly as he had before Alcuin had arrived, listening silently to Alcuin's rhythmic breathing across the room.
Kamui closed his eyes, unlike before, yet again without the intention of falling asleep. Over the course of several minutes, however, from listening to Alcuin's breaths filling his ears, he was gently lulled into sleep without even being aware of it.
