Author/Artist: Cheysuli Night
Pairing: Suoh/Akira
Fandom: CLAMP Campus Detectives
Theme: # 56. Castles in the sky
Rating: G
Warning: Shounen-ai
Disclaimer: The characters belong to CLAMP. I'm just playing with them.
A/N: After writing this, I looked up the phrase Castles in the Sky... and realized my interpretation of it was completely different. shrugs Well, this is what I always thought it meant... If that's not ok, I'll write a different one for this theme.
The day was shiny. That's what Akira had said. But Suoh couldn't figure out how a day could be shiny without also being bright... and Akira had specifically said that today was not bright.
Suoh didn't understand that either. The day looked bright enough both in terms of light and in terms of cheerfulness. So Suoh didn't really understand what that meant.
This wasn't so odd. Akira had a funny way of looking at things... or at least, a strange way of describing what he was seeing. For instance, during a spring storm instead of claiming the day to be gloomy and miserable, Akira would say "Earth's happy because of the new things."
Suoh had puzzled over this comment when he had heard it. Usually, people associated rain with tears and sadness, not happiness. Fortunately, after a few moments of confusion, Akira had taken pity and explained. "It's spring, Suoh. Every thing's new so Earth is crying to help them grow. She's so very happy."
Akira was amazing like that. It was one of the reasons Suoh loved him. But loving someone doesn't really help you understand someone who thought so differently. Suoh had an analytical mind whereas Akira... well, his mind was rather hard to describe. Even Nokoru had trouble describing Akira and the older boy was usually so good at that.
But thinking on that wasn't helping Suoh figure out how a day could be shiny but not bright. And Suoh really wanted to know. With every comment he figured out - or had explained to him by Akira himself - he was one step closer to understanding the one he loved. And that was important to him.
Bright and shiny. Shiny but not bright. This was so confusing. What was different about today that made it different than bright days? What made it still shiny?
"Would it help if I said it was sparkly, instead of saying it was shiny?"
Suoh blinked and looked over at Akira, who was lying on his stomach beneath the tree they had been resting under. Akira looked so peaceful there, idly running his fingers through the damp grass and smiling softly as he stared up at Suoh. "Sparkly?" Suoh asked, reaching over and stroking Akira's hair.
Akira leaned into the touch. "Look, Suoh."
Suoh frowned slightly and followed Akira's gaze. And blinked.
The day was bright and shiny... out in the open where nothing blocked the sun. But here, under the trees where the leaves and branches filtered the light...
It was... sparkly. The dew from the early morning shower caught and reflected the meager light... making it seem as hundreds of tiny diamonds were scattered amongst the grass. Sparkly... and shiny and not at all bright.
Suoh smiled down at Akira who, having seen that Suoh finally understood, had turned back to playing with the grass, making the diamond-light appear as if it were dancing. "Wow," Suoh whispered, continuing to pet Akira.
He wasn't talking only about the light.
Suoh may never fully understand Akira... no one ever would. He saw things too differently, saw miracles in so many things... it was almost magical.
Suoh's great grandmother had had a saying for people like Akira. He didn't know her exact words, having never heard them from her directly, but she called them Children in the Sky because "their minds are so far above the rest of humanity that to chain them to Earth would kill them."
Suoh had never understood that either, until he had met Akira. It described the younger boy perfectly. Suoh only hoped that what she had said about 'chaining' them wasn't true. He didn't think he was chaining Akira to him but he sometimes thought that Akira would be happier with someone... who saw things the way Akira did.
Suoh felt Akira move beneath his hand and looked down to see Akira staring curiously at him. "Is something wrong?"
Akira frowned slightly before moving closer and resting his head on Suoh's lap. He stared up at his lover and smiled gently. "We're not on Earth, Suoh. And there are no chains."
Suoh smiled, not surprised that Akira had seemingly read his mind. It happened often enough to not seem strange. It was just another thing about Akira that Suoh would never understand.
But Suoh was slowly beginning to realize that understanding wasn't everything.
-Owari-
A/N2: I always thought it meant imagination and seeing things others couldn't. Because only people who had powerful imaginations could build castles in the sky.