Title: The Beginning of All Commotions - Interlude
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Greece/Japan, mentions of other characters and minor pairings in later parts.
Rating/Genre: PG-15 for this chapter (R/NC-17 for Act 5). Mafia-AU, Humour, Action.
Warnings: Slight crack, gang warfare, language, booze & smoking.
Summary: That which he fears in dreams.
~.*.~
–interlude–
It's only a quarter past nine in the morning, but already he can feel the blaze of the sun through his shirt. His skin prickles from the heat, sweat trickling from his nape and down his back.
"Don't slouch like that, Loung. Your grip's too slack."
A careless yawn, and then a boy speaks, youthful insolence barely suppressed in his tone, "This is so boring. Can I like, leave now?"
"No! We've only just started the training. And Kiku, relax a little, you're too stiff."
He starts a little when addressed, and then inclines his head into a short bow. "Ah. I'm sorry, Yao."
"Aiyah Kiku, you don't apologise to your opponents! Courtesy counts for nothing on the battlefield!"
"A-ah..," he says again, biting back the apology before it escapes from his lips the second time. It's a habit like that, or maybe just a personality quirk of sorts – to apologise, to constantly be polite.
From the left corner of the garden, somewhere in between the shrubs of hydrangeas and peonies, comes a soft chirping sound – a cricket or two, singing out their eagerness for courtship.
He continues to listen to the cricket song, even as he keeps his eyes trained on Loung. He watches as the boy readies himself, holding up his sparring stick. He mirrors the boy, falling into a defensive stance.
There is a gentle breeze that circles lazily around the garden, weaving in between the shrubbery and the leaves of the old willow tree, before slipping in to ruffle their hair.
Yao is calling out instructions, but he is too focused and absorbed, his gaze still fixed on Loung as the boy begins to move; a crouching tiger in search of an opening.
The willow branches flick about in the wind, leaves rustling noisily–
And Loung lunges forward, lightning-fast.
He dodges as Loung swings the stick in a wide arc towards him, avoiding the blow. As he does so, Loung moves again, whirling around and striking out at his other side. He side-steps, bringing up his own stick to parry the blow just in the nick of time.
"Don't dawdle Loung, you know you're faster than that!"
Between the two, Loung has always been more agile, his strikes falling like a torrential storm. He is aware of this, right after their very first sparring session together – the bruises he bore on his skin lasted for weeks, and the one on his pride never quite went away.
He twists and turns, deftly avoiding the raining blows as much as he can. Waiting, watching for an opening; a slip of the hand, a miscalculated step. Loung picks up the pace, moving faster now and he feels a sharp stinging sensation as the stick grazes his shoulder.
"Come on now Kiku, you're leaving yourself wide open like that!"
He winces, biting back a hiss of pain, but he holds his ground, blocking each strike as they fall even as Yao continues to bark instructions at them.
Watching, waiting; a fox with a trick up his sleeve and waiting to pounce on unsuspecting mice–
As Loung reaches out to strike again, he lunges forward, ducking neatly under Loung's outstretched arm. Pivoting on his heels, he twirls the stick in his hand and drives the end right into the boy's solar plexus.
Loung coughs, stopping midway and he ends the fight easily by knocking the boy off his feet.
He pants heavily, wiping away the sweat from his brow.
"Excellent move, Kiku, you're perfecting it very well now." Yao whoops ecstatically from the side and he wonders for a moment if his cousin will embrace him in a victorious, smothering hug as he is apt to do.
"Thank you, Yao. I learnt from the best…"
"Hey, hey Kiku! Bet you can't avoid this one though, nyahahaha!"
Before he can move, he feels a pair of arms curling around him in a rough embrace and headlock, squeezing the breath out of him. He sighs, before he elbows the newcomer not-too-politely in the ribs and pries himself free from the death-grip.
"I am quite certain there are other preferable ways to challenge someone else to a duel," he begins, his patience already starting to wear thin as he turns to face the newcomer–
Only to see nothing but a dark, empty hallway stretched out behind him.
"Yong Soo…?"
The light disappears rapidly, the voices of his cousins fading, crumbling like ashes in the wind.
He stares, a sudden chill creeping up his spine, the cold fear wringing around his heart and
– suddenly, suddenly, there are bodies lying over his feet; twisted, bleeding.
– his hands run red, and he drops his stick, cringing–
"No… Loung… Yao!"
He looks up to see the black barrel of a gun pointed right at his face and–
BANG.
~.*.~
:::
Notes
Music which inspired the interlude/dream sequence: Hyaku Kaminari no Kagura by Makoto Yoshimori
(Natsume Yuujinchou OST)
Wong Kha Loung ("Loung") = Hong Kong
Sorry I took awhile to update! Things have been pretty hectic for me lately, and I was feeling a little too under the weather to edit my stuff. To make up for that, you'll have two chapters (well, an interlude and then Act 6) to read together. Hope you guys will enjoy!