Survivors - Chapter 1: How to... make yourself (un)popular

[yoru-no-hikaru.livejournal.com]

Main Characters: KinKi Kids (AU characters)
Pairing: KinKi Kids (later), others (not sure yet, sorry)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Don't own KinKi Kids, or anything JE-related
Warnings: Swearing, mentions of violence and sexual mistreatments
Setting: AU
Multi-Chapter


Notes: Yay! Finally, chapter 1 is on. Sorry for the wait, but the character and plot design took me longer than expected. I'm still not sure whether I don't have logical errors in the entire thing, but well... it feels okay to me like this. I'm very curious about people's reactions to Tsuyoshi's character. It hit me rather hard at first, but somehow it seems... well, right to write him like this. Ah, this is very important! Please note that the first few paragraphs resemble "the current situation". Koichi is alone in that situation and while he's there, his thoughts wander off to everything that has happened prior to this moment and that is where the story starts.


Intro: A terrible fate has hit the human race and merely a handful of survivors are still out there in small groups, which are spotted all over the world. In one of those groups Koichi and Tsuyoshi meet and while they are mainly striving for the same thing, their views and opinions differ severly and so they often clash violently.

It hadn’t happened over night. It hadn’t been one of those dramatic things you would see in a corny drama – or a Hollywood movie. It had been a simple but steady process that nobody could fight. And so, before everyone’s very own eyes, the world started to crumble. It’s almost ridiculous. A thing so small that the human eye can’t even make it out wiping out the entire race’s existence. And yet, it happened. An aggressive mutation, the media had proclaimed. But sadly, once it had been detected it was already too late. Ironically, the effects showed late and didn’t resemble the usual signs of sickness, or the like. Mainly skin mutation, or body formation kicked in before the little bastard took over a body’s interns and took them apart. Nothing special. People mainly just dropped dead where they were standing for seemingly no good reason.

Koichi often thought sarcastically that probably zombies would have been at least thrilling. Hey, when you think of virus mutation, you automatically think of that, don’t you? But reality wasn’t nearly as thrilling. Neither was there a hero out there who fought for the left and homeless people, who were fighting for their survival. There was nothing spectacular about their situation. It was mainly very plainly miserable. And the closest to a super hero that their little refuge-group had was… him. He had often wondered whether it had been a call of fate. But then, he really just got lucky.

Thinking back, Koichi shuddered at the pictures that came to his mind. He had been among those who had been labelled “beyond help”, standing out on the street, watching with tears in his eyes as busses filled up with approved members for a refuge camp, his throat too tight to even scream out his frustration. He hadn’t shown any serious symptoms, but the crew refused to take anyone in, who had been in the area for more than a week. They even left small children behind. Koichi thought it was disgusting and even though he couldn’t save a single one of those who were left, he suddenly thought somehow that if he would make it, that would still be a success, somehow. Just showing them that they were wrong in doing something like that. And so he decided to survive – by all means. Luckily the odds worked in his favour and so he actually did survive. That was when his life at the shelter began. The day he got here. The day he’d had his first fight with him…

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Here, here he is,” Koichi heard a voice calling out. “They found him in a food container.”

Koichi scoffed, but finally stopped to fight and twist in the rope his hands had been bound with. He saw the people standing around him making way as two guys approached. Looking up he had to blink repeatedly, trying to make something out even while the sun blinded him. Then a shadow covered the red eye in the sky and he could see a concerned, but also angry face.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the young man in front of him asked.

“I’m trying to find a place to sleep,” Koichi shot right back at him.

“There is no such place for you here,” the man informed him.

“Oh no?” Koichi asked sarcastically. “And how do you have the authority to decide that?”

He heard a clicking sound, blinked again, and then went rigid, his eyes growing wide as he realised that a loaded gun was pointing directly in his face.

“You are a refugee from Osaka, right?” the man asked. “The bus arrived earlier and left a few people here.”

“Yeah, well, I was a bit late, so…” Koichi tried to find his composure again, but he couldn’t really pull the cool act off.

“What are you, an idiot?” the man screamed. “By sneaking in like this you put everybody’s life at stake. Those who have been exposed for too long aren’t allowed to move here. And with good reason.”

“I show no symptoms what-so-ever. It was just that nobody would listen to me, so I thought I had to try and save myself,” Koichi spit out bitingly.

“You should think of all the people you put in danger by your inconsiderate actions.”

“I’ve told you, I show no symptoms,” Koichi repeated exasperatedly. “Just wait and see. I won’t transform, or anything.”

“Too risky,” the man decided. “You cannot… live here.”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” Koichi decided firmly.

The next second he jumped up, even with his hands bound together as a bullet hit the ground in an area that was way too near to his crotch for his liking.

“You will move,” the man told him, “or the next one will hit.”

“Oh, is that how you solve problems around here?” Koichi asked, still out of breath, heart racing like mad.

“This is how I protect the people who have been brought here in order to be able to survive.”

“Ano… Tsuyoshi-san,” a guy next to him voiced. “Maybe just a day?”

“No,” Tsuyoshi decided. “He’s been here for too long already. Move it,” he demanded in Koichi’s direction once more.

When the latter did not “move it”, another shot could be heard. And then another. And another. Tsuyoshi kept missing his target, even with Koichi’s still-bound hands. The people standing in the area stared in awe as Koichi simply jumped up into the air and… well… it was kinda special. Something nobody had ever seen before. He kept running through the air, as though it had some kind of secret steps just for him. He jumped up and down, back and forth, but never once met the ground. Once Tsuyoshi had registered what was happening, he stopped shooting and stared as well. Then his eyes hardened.

“No symptoms, huh?” he asked bitingly. “Yeah, right. I do that every morning too.”

“Well, I…” Koichi gasped, as he finally touched the floor again, partly out of breath, partly wondering at his own actions. “This is kinda new,” he admitted, knitting his brows together in confusion.

“Will you please leave us now, then?” Tsuyoshi requested. “You’re changing and it can’t be stopped. If you give this to anyone we’re all done for.”

Koichi thought about that, then sighed in defeat. He shook his head. No, he wasn’t doomed. He just knew it. At least he knew it better than that stupid brat.

“If I don’t go,” he mused, “now you can’t make me.”

“So you want to kill all of us?” Tsuyoshi demanded. “Just because you have some romantic crap in your head that you’re different somehow? Or does it simply displease you to die alone? You should have stayed with your people then.”

“Tsuyoshi-san,” the other man cut in again. “Give him a break. He’s just realised he’s changing.”

“Well, he’s not leaving,” Tsuyoshi shot back at him. “Please tell me, Yonehana-kun, what do you suggest I do?”

“Well, once he’s taken all of it in, he’ll know that it’s no good,” Yonehana tried.

“No, I’m not leaving,” Koichi declared and horror-stricken eyes turned towards him. He couldn’t help an apologetic grin. “Look, I know you don’t believe me. I know you think I’m just mad with fear. But…” he shrugged helplessly, “well, I just know better. I’m not changing and I’m not dying and I won’t bring harm to this camp. I’ll ask you to trust me on this, even though I know that you absolutely can’t. And I’ll see you in a few days. Then you’ll see that I’m right here.”

“Stop kidding me, you…” But at that point Tsuyoshi was already talking to thin air as Koichi had used his newly found abilities and in quick movements jumped into the air and found a lofty road to escape. “Fuck,” Tsuyoshi cursed, “it’ll take forever to find him.” He made a short pause. “But he’ll eventually get hungry,” he mused. “Make sure someone looks after our food,” he told Yonehana, who nodded and turned to leave immediately.

Koichi sighed. He had settled down in a little shabby shag that looked like a breath released too strong would make it crumble. Gripping his hair desperately, he thought about what he should do. As he heard a soft rustling sound behind him, he jumped, head flying into the according direction. He tensed as he saw a figure in the door.

“Hi,” the guy said, giving a weak wave.

Koichi blinked, but waved back.

“That was… some performance,” the guy stated. “You okay?” he asked, sounding seriously concerned.

“Aren’t you gonna call someone to get rid of me?” Koichi asked, feeling uncomfortable with the other’s caring tone – even though he felt stupid for that at the same time.

The guy merely shook his head. “You’re impressive,” he told Koichi. “And… I don’t know, but I kind of believe you.”

“Yeah?” Koichi asked with a cocky grin.

He raised a now free hand and showed the other the rope it had been bound with. The guy blinked at it.

“What happened to that?” he asked, confused.

“Burnt it,” Koichi told him, letting the item fall to the floor again.

“But how?” the guy wanted to know.

Koichi shrugged. “Just… like that. I don’t know. I just thought how I would have to create enough friction to heat the thing to get it to catch fire. You know, things burn when friction causes the molecules to vibrate and then somehow… I don’t know, I think my body did just that. You know, get the molecules all heated up and so I just burnt it… with my skin.”

“That’s…” the guy began, but apparently didn’t know how to finish.

“Creepy?” Koichi offered with a weak grin.

“Well… yeah, but isn’t it also kinda cool?” the guy asked, grinning back.

Koichi eyed him sceptically. “You really don’t think I’ll bring death to this camp.”

“Nope,” the guy confirmed.

“And you’re not gonna call anyone,” Koichi continued.

“Nope,” the other repeated.

“You’re weird,” Koichi decided, shaking his head, but his face was now graced with a smile.

“Ano… I am Machida. Machida Shingo,” the guy introduced himself.

Koichi eyed him once more, before nodding his head slightly in a bowing motion. “Domoto Koichi,” he said.

“Eh?” Machida gasped out. “Domoto?”

“Yeah. So?” Koichi asked.

“Well… it’s not really a big deal, I just thought it’s curious. We’ve already got a Domoto here.”

“Really?” Koichi asked curiously. “What’s their first name? Maybe someone from my family.”

“Mah, I think you would have recognised him,” Machida told him. “I’m talking about the guy who shot at you.”

“Oh,” Koichi made, looking a bit disappointed. Then he focused again. “Who is that guy anyway?”

“Well, he’s kind of in charge here. At least right now he is. Who knows what’s going to happen,” Machida mused. “When the ones outside are all dead. When we start to feel odd in this tiny place. When our food starts to run low…”

“My, aren’t you a little sunshine,” Koichi stated, nudging the other’s arm.

“Sorry,” Machida said with a grin.

“Mh,” Koichi made, giving the other a dismissive gesture. “That guy is just… quite full of himself. Maybe I’ll have to show him some manners.”

“Well, from what I’ve seen so far, he’s nice,” Machida told him. “But then… to shoot right at you… On second thought, though, I might be very naïve and just die here sitting with you within the next few hours for all I know.”

“We’re not gonna die,” Koichi said firmly. “You will see.”

It turned out that both Koichi and Machida had been right in the end. Somehow Koichi’s body had changed, but seemingly not enough to harm either him or anyone around him. Experimenting with his body he had found that the main gain of the whole thing was that he could take control of all the cells in his body and make them do the most incredible things, including the manipulation of molecular structures of other bodies. He could heat water, just by putting his hands on a cup, he could set something aflame just by holding it. At the same time he could move extremely heavy objects with little effort and even make the air around him move if so he pleased. People admired him for it, although he found there was nothing too special about it – or rather about him. This had just happened to hit him and he hadn’t done anything for it. Why, he was still happy with things as they were.

Machida had been right about his thoughts on the group. It had grown rather large and even though Tsuyoshi had proved to be a reasonable and considerate person, there were too many people for him to keep together. Thus, not too long into their new life, the big group had split into several smaller ones. Each group occupied one of the bigger sleeping houses, to which the residents referred to as their shelter. Every shelter could house up to eight people. Several tasks had also been assigned to the people living in each shelter. And so, basically every shelter group took care of itself.

A slight shift had been noticeable too, though, in concerns of the general matters that concerned everybody. It seemed that Tsuyoshi focused very much on taking care of “his” people and so, two other group leaders had taken over the position of keeping an eye on what was going on in the entire camp. First Takizawa-kun, who had taken in some of the younger refugees and then Nakai-kun, who had taken in most of those who had been refused shelter everywhere else. Koichi too had become a group leader of a small group that had gathered around him. Well, there had been many people who wished to follow him, much to Tsuyoshi’s dismay. He had mainly gathered people who had arrived on the same day as he had. About eight or nine groups had formed, sporting five to eight people.

Sadly there were only ten girls altogether and they had it pretty rough. Most of them had gathered into a separate group in order to live more peacefully. Well, men were simple, but demanding creatures. Adding to that, hunger and frustration could twist even the kindest of minds only too easily. Koichi himself had caught himself having dangerous thoughts once or twice – not that he was “safe” when it came to… well, needs. Being one of those who had a rather slender figure and feminine face, he too was an object of desire.

Well, he knew how to defend himself. And his most important weapon had been given to him by the people in the camp: The rope that had been used to keep him captive. He’s burnt it a bit in order to break free, but other than that, the item was perfect to use. Thus, he cut the burnt ends off and gave the rope some weight on each end with jade beads he had found in his shelter and kept it wrapped around his hips wherever he went. Some of the “needy” guys had already learned that he had quite some experience in Philippine rope fighting. Luckily his group worked rather harmoniously. So much so that two girls had decided to stay in his shelter and Koichi was only too happy to take them in and… protect them.

Koichi eyed the big building in front of him, musing. Nobody had been in there in their two months of living in the camp. They had waited for more refugees for weeks, but it seemed that no more would be coming. Biting his lip Koichi looked left and right. When he saw nobody else in the area he quickly opened the door and swished inside the unknown building. Closing the door behind him carefully, he blinked, trying to get used to the unexpected dark. The room he was in only had two tiny openings that were rather slits than windows. The air was dusty and made him cough slightly. Once his eyes had adjusted to the new surroundings he could take in some rather large objects standing in a surprisingly big room.

The ceiling was too far away for him to make out, but he figured that it was at least four stores high, looking at the building from the outside. He walked around carefully, trying to figure out what exactly he had found there. At first he’d wanted to raid the room to get some new resources for his group, but as he kept wandering about, he found that there was hardly anything there that individuals could use well. Then his eyes fell upon a screen and his eyebrows went up in curiosity. He walked closed to the object and found the screen connected to what he figured had to be a high-efficiency computer. A familiar clicking sound had him start and turn around. He sighed as he saw Tsuyoshi standing in the door, his gun pointing at Koichi.

“Seriously,” he said exasperatedly, giving Tsuyoshi an irritated look, “can’t you just say hi normally? Every time I meet you, I get that stupid thing under my nose. It’s quite irritating, you know.”

“You are the one who’s irritating,” Tsuyoshi told him. “What are you doing in here? This is not your place.”

“Neither is it yours,” Koichi shot right back. “Now put that thing down before you hit something.”

Tsuyoshi kept standing there with his weapon directed at Koichi, as if to make a point that he would lower his gun whenever he himself damn well pleased and not when someone ordered him to do it. After a few seconds, though, he pretended that his arm was growing heavy and put it down. Koichi sighed a bit in relief.

“Really, you can drop the act in the first place,” Koichi told him, relaxing a bit. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Checking out what you’re doing,” the other told him.

“Uh, Tsuyoshi-san,” Koichi dragged out with a sly grin. “Are you stalking me?”

“Stop fooling around,” Tsuyoshi scoffed.

“Mah,” Koichi continued in a dramatic voice, “and I didn’t even pay attention. Now you have me locked here in this dark secluded place. Nobody will hear me. What are you gonna do to me now?”

“I said drop it,” Tsuyoshi bit out angrily, his gun coming up again.

Koichi put his hands up in defence. “Woah, come on now. You’re really a humourless guy.”

“Why, you really just gave me a good thought. Nobody will hear, so I can just shoot you,” Tsuyoshi suggested with a smirk.

“Oh, well I didn’t know you were into that,” Koichi said with a shrug. “But hey, your secret’s safe with me.”

Tsuyoshi made a face and lowered the gun again. “That’s disgusting.”

“Humourless,” Koichi commented once more, then left the other one standing there as he inspected the item he had detected just before he’d been disturbed.

“So, what are you doing here?” Tsuyoshi asked sceptically.

“I came to find some stuff for my shelter,” he admitted truthfully, “but I think I’ve found something even better.”

“So you came to raid a place that’s not yours,” Tsuyoshi stated flatly.

“Well, I don’t think that there are gonna be any more refugees that’ll join us,” Koichi answered casually, roaming around the machine to find the power switch. “Even if someone was still alive out there and made it here, you’ll definitely shoot them before they can reach this place.”

Tsuyoshi wanted to give him a biting answer, but then started and jumped slightly as a loud roaring sound could be heard and the lights in the room switched on, together with the computer.

“What the fuck?!” the younger man yelled out.

“Brilliant,” Koichi grinned, looking around.

“What is this?”

“A research centre.”

“A what?” Tsuyoshi looked around warily.

“Come on, let’s check out the upper floors, there might even be a laboratory,” Koichi suggested.

“And what exactly do you plan to do with that?” Tsuyoshi asked sceptically.

“Well, what do you do at a place like this?” Koichi asked with a shrug. “Research, of course.”

“What kind of research?” the younger man demanded.

“Well, this might be good for us,” Koichi explained. “I mean, the camps were built practically over-night in areas that were suitable. We might well be the only one that is equipped so well. We should make use of that and try to find a way to live here well, or maybe even find a solution for the problem we’re facing and thus get out of here again.”

Tsuyoshi took a few minutes to process the other’s words. Then his eyes grew wide.

“You mean researching the virus,” he gasped.

“Of course, what did you think?” Koichi shot back at him. “This is an incredible chance. I mean, we know what we’re facing and with more information…”

“Are you mad?!” Tsuyoshi yelled out. “You cannot bring infected material in here,” he demanded. “It’ll kill us all.”

“You don’t know that,” Koichi countered.

“Oh yes, I know it,” the other one bit at him. “I know what this terrible virus does. I’ve seen it. I’ve watched people dying. People that I loved.”

“Yeah, well, I guess we all share that fate,” Koichi told him evenly. “But that doesn’t mean…”

“The fuck you know,” Tsuyoshi spat at him. “I’ve seen you talking to that guy. He’s your friend, isn’t he? I have nobody left.”

Koichi glared daggers at him. “Tsuyoshi-san, I am sorry that you feel this way. Yes, I unexpectedly found a friend of mine here, but I too watched people that I loved very much die out there. And honestly, if the very first thing you do to everybody is sticking your fucking gun-shaft into their faces, I can see how you’re not gonna make any new friends any time soon.”

Tsuyoshi just stared at him. Koichi could see that he was shaking. Whether in anger or desperation, he dared not say, but he decided to de-escalate the situation before it really got out of hand – and he got a bullet through his head.

“I’m not gonna bring anything in here,” he said calmly.

The other blinked at him. “What?!”

“I will not bring contaminated material here,” Koichi explained. “I don’t have to. At least not for now.”

Tsuyoshi eyed his sceptically.

“Look, for the time being, I can experiment with my blood. It seems to have adapted to the virus somehow,” the older man continued. “And if I can find out how that happened…”

“What – you’re gonna produce your own little league of super-heroes in here?” Tsuyoshi asked sarcastically.

“I would really wish you’d let me finish my point for once,” Koichi sighed. “I’m saying that there might be a way for us to find something to do about that virus. Or maybe something that will at least protect us. If I can learn how this thing works, there might be a lot that we can do.”

“And what if you fail?” Tsuyoshi asked harshly. “What if things get out of hand? What if something happens and we’ll all die in here?”

“Tsuyoshi-san,” Koichi said almost softly. “How long do you think our resources will support us now? We haven’t received anything for almost a week now. I don’t think we can rely on help from outside anymore. If we don’t do anything, we’re all gonna die in here anyway.”

The younger man bit his lip. He knew Koichi had a very good point there, but it was still disturbing to admit to that.

“Don’t say anything,” Koichi helped him out, waving his hand casually. “We both know that it’s gonna happen. But we might yet have a chance. All I would like to ask of you now is to please go back to your shelter and talk to your group. Anyone with at least some scientific knowledge and understanding should gather here tomorrow around noon. Let’s see if we can make this work, okay? I’ll go and see Nakai-san about it immediately.”

With that Koichi turned the switch off and the lights went dark again. As he walked past Tsuyoshi to leave the research centre, he could feel the other’s eyes on him, following him, maybe wondering what to do. He resisted the urge to turn around again, or say anything more and swiftly whizzed out the door.


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Post note: All done for now. ^^ I realise that many things still need explanation. Please, be patient. Everything will be explained as the story proceeds. The chapter is already very long and the next one will contain more important information. Please tell me how you like it. I don't know why, but somehow I love how Koichi and Tsuyoshi always end up fighting in this one. Their very different characters and views clash here and give their relationship a really interesting touch. At least it feels natural as I write it. I'm already looking forward to how this is gonna proceed. But then, Koichi has already started flirting a bit, so I think that the pairing stuff does get within reach. ^_~ Hope you enjoyed it. ^^

Teaser

Chapter 2

Introductory