Hi there, I'm back. So, here's the second chapter. There's some toyaXyuki moments in here (from the past, actually) and so I decided to change the rating to T. I don't think it's too explicit so as to qualify for M. But if you still think I should change the rating, PM me or tell me in the review.
"Past"
"Present"
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and the minor OCs
Enjoy and review, please, and tell me what you think, even if it's all flame.
Yue spent most of his days as his 'false' form, living with Touya, transforming only when he was needed for some magical spell or the occasional confrontation against dark forces. He dozed off for days at a time, letting Yukito take over.
Over the years, they had gradually formed a rapport. Yukito allowed Yue to subdue his consciousness and transform when he needed contact with the outside world. These were the moments when, bathing in the moonlight, Yue would reflect. At other times, when he was in the form of the bespectacled, silver-haired boy, he would sleep—his senses cut off from the world—so Yukito could have some privacy with Touya.
Even though he had grown affectionate towards Yukito's love, Clow's loss still pained him. He still wondered if his love for his creator—not the filial love he was expected to feel for his master, but one of intense passion and even sexual attraction—had been unrequited. Clow was vague till the end. Yukito had long been aware of these raging emotions, but he never broached the subject unless Yue took the initiative.
Both the Kinomoto siblings had moved out of their house soon after graduation, Fujitaka being the only living resident who remained. They decided to stay in the same neighbourhood, though, Sakura marrying Syaoran and becoming an elementary school teacher. Touya, on the other hand, opened a family restaurant. Where he got the inspiration from was anyone's guess.
Yukito often woke up in the mornings with Touya nuzzling against his neck. This morning, too, he felt the slight pressure of Touya's lips on his nape as he spooned him tightly. He smiled with his eyes still closed as Touya's hand snaked beneath the t-shirt and traced patterns on his chest, his abdomen. Touya was familiar with his erogenous zones, and so, it wasn't long before Yukito's grogginess subsided and he was fully alert. He turned around to face Touya and kissed him deeply.
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Every year, they visited the Tsukimine Shrine with Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo during the festival, for old times' sake. Keroberos always accompanied them in Sakura's handbag.
"Ni-chan, you have to treat us all with candied apples."
"I thought you'd grown up enough to be able to buy that on your own, kaiju."
"For the last time, I'm not a monster!" a vein throbbed on her forehead and she balled up her fists in fury.
"All right, all right, we'll go and buy some," Yukito intervened, his cheerful demeanor contrasting the sibling squabble, "wait for us here," he touched Touya lightly on the arm and led him into the sweet-stall.
Once he had paid, Touya handed a candied apple to Yukito, "Yuki, is this enough?"
Those words brought back memories. His lips curved into a slow, soft smile.
"We can always go home and make some dinner."
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It was a spring noon. Touya had turned eighty-six the previous week. Senile and haggardly, he often required support to walk. Yukito, on the other hand, had Yue's power to sustain him. Though he wasn't simply frozen in time, he had aged less. Yukito appeared as a man in his forties. It felt like a lifetime ago that Yukito had been fading away for want of sustenance, and Touya had given up his magic to keep him alive. Now that Touya was an octogenarian, he felt a sense of dread whenever he thought of their contrasting ageing. But these momentary fears were always accompanied by a serene hope in fate. A knowledge that he and Touya were bound together, that he would never lose sight of him.
Soulmates. The word had once fleeted through his mind.
"Yuki."
Yukito looked up from the apple pie that he was gobbling down.
"Better be careful while eating that, you never know what a monster puts in her cooking." Sakura had dropped by the previous day and brought an apple pie with her.
"Well, you've already finished a slice of it," Yukito said, nodding towards the saucer that still had a few crumbs of the pastry, "You seem to be doing quite fine."
"Hn,"
"Sakura-chan is a good cook, even you think so,"
Touya scoffed.
"But," Yukito continued, "you'd never admit that, especially in front of her."
"Shut up."
Yukito chuckled. A comfortable silence settled between them as he continued eating. He slowed his pace, savoring the taste, which was rare. It was moments like this, when he was in no hurry, that he sat with Touya and relished the food as well as his partner's presence.
"Let's go to the terrace," Touya said once Yukito had finished.
Yukito stood up, kept the plate on the table and took his hand. He supported most of Touya's weight, and slowly made their way to the grilled porch overlooking cherry blossoms. Yukito helped him get into a comfortable position on the armchair made for two, and then, sat down.
"To-ya,"
"Hm?"
"You told Sakura-chan yesterday,"
Touya looked questioningly at him.
"How much you cared for her, that's a first, coming from you. Also, you two didn't bicker much, that's another first." Yukito knew that this change in sibling behavior was not insignificant. The end was near.
Touya cupped his palm around Yukito's face, "Yuki…"
Yukito pressed his own hand against Touya's, and then, pulled it down slowly, squeezing it. They sat there, fingers intertwined, heads resting against each others' as the cherry blossoms trees swayed in the breeze. With each passing moment, their eyelids became heavier and soon, they both dozed off.
Touya took a turn as he drove onto the avenue, sitting astride his bike. He stifled a yawn. Last night had been a long one; he had worked with his band on the music composition of the new song. He could still hear the tune in his head, as if on a loop.
Guitar had been his passion since childhood. He'd played on the school band during festivals. But that band had only been formed as a co-curricular activity, and so, when time came for them to leave for college, the members selected different career roots. The band dissolved. But, once he joined college for a degree in hotel management, he found three other boys who were as earnest as he was, and aspired for a career in music.
"The Echoes" was formed. Mitsuro was the base guitarist, Shino the drummer, and Yukito the pianist. They were lucky, Touya had to admit. Within five months—after having performed at Karaoke bars and pubs—they had managed to bring out an album, "The Echoes: Awakening"
He skidded to a stop, mentally swearing at the chaotic traffic jam before him. He had already been running against time and the mere thought of having to wait till this logjam cleared made him groan. He looked around and spotted a familiar lane. He swiftly maneuvered his bike into it, violating a traffic law. A minor one, Touya thought, and with the condition the city is in, I'd bet there isn't even a single traffic police.
He emerged out of the lane into a quieter part of the city, where most of the buildings were uninhabited. He passed by a broken window, the shattered glass piled beneath it along with a few broken liquor bottles. A bar fight, maybe. A gust blew, and the glass shreds clinked against each other. The wind blew again, this time in a spiraling motion, stronger, and knocked off a few bricks that were stacked up against a construction site. Touya narrowly avoided the flying bricks.
Pushing the break, he jumped off his bike, momentarily forgetting his hurry. But the wind stilled the moment Touya had stopped. He frowned. Picking up a brick, he saw a strange pattern engraved on it. It was like a flight of stairs, only in different directions, without beginning or ending anywhere.
Then, it hit him, "Oh, shit! I can't be late again."
On his way to college, he saw Yukito at the bus stop. There were only a few other people. "Hey there, Yukito," he called out.
"Touya! Ohayōgozaimasu."
"Yeah, some good morning it was," he said, distracted.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Waiting for a bus?"
"Ah, yeah, route 45"
"Say what, hop on."
Yukito was surprised, but then smiled, "Arigato."
Touya was settling down in his third class, discussing the mid-term syllabus with Mitsuro. He noticed the dark circles around his eyes.
"Stayed up all night?"
"Yeah, did some fine-tuning with the guitar. You know what, I might've come up with a way to make the new song sound better."
"That's great."
"I'll show 'em to you at the rehearsal. Come to think of it, we haven't named it yet."
"We'll come up with something once we're done with it. Hey, it's great how far we've come in such a short time, but don't push yourself too much. You need your sleep, too."
As the band's unofficial leader, Touya had little trouble coordinating the members or urging them to give it their best. It was surprising, at times, how ceaseless their reserve of energy could be when it came to practicing or creating music.
Mitsuro nodded. Touya noticed a translucent outline of a key on the opposite wall.
"What?" Mitsuro asked, turning to see what Touya was looking at. But, the faint outline vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Nothing."
He ended up repeating that word quite a few times that day. He would see pearl-white strings creeping along the corners of the walls or the floor. They were barely discernable against the white-washed walls and the tiled floors, but Touya always noticed them. And every time, he would feel a jolt, shaking him to the core.
Touya was about to step onto a flight of stairs when the staircase vanished. Looking up, he saw it floating ten feet above the ground. He gasped, the classrooms around him had disappeared. He was alone, and in front of him lay a corridor with no door or window, a white tunnel extending up to infinity.
A wind blew, quickly morphing into a gale. It encompassed him, making him the eye of a cyclone. Touya shielded his eyes from the piercing velocity of the wind, his hair flailing wildly.
"What is this?" he wondered aloud as he strained to see past the swirling wind.
"You have to capture the card," a voice said.
"What? Who are you?" Touya felt the wind closing in on him, but at the same time, he sensed an immense energy radiating from somewhere near him.
The continuous motion of the wind was disrupted, and it blew in a wayward frenzy. For a moment, Touya thought the wind would crash into him and thrust him backwards, but then it was dispelled.
A pale, winged man in white robes stood in front of him.
"Get up now," he said in a quiet, curt voice. The outstretched wings swayed, and aligned into a folded position behind him.
"You're the chosen one. The one destined to collect the Sakura cards," he said this without much animation as he fixed his steely gaze on Touya.