Magic Storm: Chapter 2

[matsu1nino]

Title: Magic Storm
Pairing: Matsumiya, hints of other pairings
Genre: AU, Dark Fantasy
Disclaimer: Arashi is not mine.
Summary: In their fifth year at Hogwarts, amdist the buzz and excitement of the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament, Jun discovers just how far he will go to salvage his relationship with Nino.
Author's Note: Given where this story is going, perhaps I ought to add 'angst' to my list of genres.

Chapter 2

Sleep did not come easy for consecutive nights for Jun following his decision to enter the tournament. Regret was starting to form in the back of his mind as he wondered if he had been too rash in his choice, dreading whether he was ready for what trials would await him should he be chosen as the Hogwarts representative. He would definitely be the youngest competitor if he was selected. That much was a given.
The burden of not having told anyone else about his submission was also hanging heavy over his head. He couldn’t tell the others, not yet. They would surely judge his reason for entering and honestly Jun wouldn’t blame them if they did. It was madness to compete in such a life-threatening competition purely to win back the affections of his boyfriend. Besides, there was no way of knowing for sure if he would even be chosen as a champion. Until he knew for sure, he saw no reason to have to worry his friends.
Yet as he tried to go about his classes as normal, all the while Jun was fighting the heavy burden of this secret gnawing at his conscience. It was becoming too much. Jun was fully aware his friends could sense something was amiss with him. While Sho, Ohno and Aiba simply thought it was to do with Nino’s unintentional snubbing of him in favour of Takeuchi, some of his other friends were not so easily misled by his intensified tension and tetchy behaviour. Toma was one such friend. He’d been watching Jun from a distance, waiting in the hope that his friend would confide in him instead of taking it all on himself. Jun noticed Toma’s lingering presence and ever-worried eyes constantly observing him. Chewing the inside of his mouth as he contemplated his options, Jun found his body moving on its own across the courtyard to where the Hufflepuff was sitting. There were no words exchanged between them as Toma followed Jun to a more isolated area of the school grounds.
“I entered the tournament” Jun whispered in a voice barely audible.
Toma inhaled sharply. “You entered?” he repeated, stuttering a bit as the concern he’d been feeling was amplified by Jun’s statement. “Why?”
Jun shook his head. “It’s just something I had to do.” He would not go into the details; he couldn’t risk losing Toma’s support. Thankfully his friend sensed this and merely bowed acceptingly.
“Have you told anyone else?” Realization seemed to wash over Toma when Jun shook his head again. “That’s why you’ve been acting strange lately.”
“I don’t know how people would react if I told them” muttered Jun, “but I want to believe I made the right choice.”
“Do you want to be chosen?”
The question was the same one Jun had been asking himself since putting his name in that goblet. He’d been back and forth, had thought over every potential pro and con of either situation, and yet he still could not answer.
“I don’t know” he admitted. “I think I do, it’s just…” He took a deep and somewhat shaky breath as his voice trailed off, lost in the spiralling thoughts of all that could go wrong.
Toma stepped forward and brought his arms up around Jun in a comforting embrace while murmuring, “If anyone in our year can do it, it’s you.”
---
In the Great Hall, Jun fidgeted nervously as he awaited the selection to be made. The week had dragged on and he’d been beginning to feel as though Thursday would never arrive, but now that it had he wished he had more time to prepare himself. Toma had been incredibly supportive of him since finding out about his impulsive decision to put his name in the goblet, and had even convinced him to tell Shun the truth as well seeing as though there was no way he was going to tell the other four about it.
As headmaster Johnny approached the front of the hall, Jun forced himself to put his thoughts at ease. He’d been locked in an internal debate since putting his name in about whether he wanted to be selected as champion or not, and he was yet to settle on a definitive answer. Both Toma and Shun had been of great help to reinforce his confidence in his decision to enter, swaying his still warring mind closer to the belief that he did in fact want to be chosen. He felt Toma place a hand on his and smile reassuringly as the hall fell into silence.
“Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for” said Johnny-san. “The champion selection.” With a hand outstretched towards the goblet, the whole hall watched as the flame changed from a cool blue to a glaring red and a piece of scorched parchment was expelled into the air. Johnny-san caught it, reading it aloud. “The Durmstrang champion…Sakamoto Masayuki.”
The Durmstrang crowd cheered loudly as the handsome young man stood from the ranks and headed over to collect his name from the Hogwarts headmaster before moving to the champions’ room.
Another name flew out of the goblet.
“The champion from Beauxbaton…Takeuchi Yuko.”
The Beauxbaton girls cheered her name as Takeuchi made her way across the room, proudly collecting her parchment and following where Sakamoto had gone. The blue flame roared a scarlet red again as the third and final name rose from the goblet.
“The Hogwarts champion…Matsumoto Jun” Johnny-san declared with a hint of surprise in his voice as he read the fifth year’s name that was written on the parchment he held.
Jun released the breath he had been holding as he rose to his feet, a relieved smile finding its way onto his face upon hearing his name being called. The cheering from the Hogwarts students was deafening as he made his way to the front. As the headmaster handed him the parchment, Jun didn’t miss the apprehensive glint that flickered in his eyes. He pretended not to have seen it though and headed down towards the room where the other two champions were awaiting him.
Nino was completely dumbfounded as Jun left the hall following the other schools’ champions. He was sure he had heard wrong. He must have. Jun couldn’t possibly have entered this tournament. Nino glanced briefly at the equally shocked expressions of his friends. Clearly they’d had no idea about this either. When had he entered? Why had he entered? Why hadn’t he said anything? A dozen more thoughts swarmed Nino’s mind. He couldn’t make sense of any of it.
He paid little attention even as Johnny-san unveiled the vessel of victory; the tri-wizard cup that would be awarded to the champion who came out on top in this deadly competition. The winner would gain eternal fame and glory, and go down in history as a tri-wizard champion.
Nino couldn’t care less about any of that, not when his boyfriend had just been revealed as one of the challengers that would be facing near certain death.
“Did you know he had entered?” Nino demanded as soon as they had left the Great Hall. His friends shook their heads vigorously and Nino searched their eyes for signs of lying. He was almost disappointed at the honest answer he found. They were telling the truth but he didn’t want to believe that Jun would really enter such a competition without telling anyone.
He sunk down on the nearest bench in the courtyard, holding his head in his hands. Everything was a mess. The other three came to sit beside him. “How could he do this?” he hissed under his breath. Jun would be busy with interviews and photoshoots. It would be at least a few hours before they had the chance to see him again and potentially even longer before they got the answers they so desperately sought.
“He’ll be fine” Sho assured softly, despite how much he knew he too was worrying for their friend. “He’s a strong wizard and is more than capable of taking care of himself.”
Aiba nodded and rubbed Nino’s back gently. “I’m sure Jun has thought this through.”
Nino’s head shot up at that particular remark. “Then why didn’t he tell any of us?”
“Maybe because of what Sho-chan said to Aiba-kun?” Ohno mused. All three of them turned to face Sho who felt guilt tug painfully at his chest in remembrance of how he’d cut down Aiba’s consideration of the tournament. He’d only been trying to look out for a friend, not wanting to stand by and watch as Aiba put himself in such life-threatening situations, or at least ones where his friends wouldn’t be there to step in when things became too far out of hand. The thought of being the reason Jun hadn’t told any of them made his stomach twist uncomfortably and the taste of bile rise in his throat.
Sho did his best to push the feelings of guilt away for now at least and ignore the glare Nino was currently sending him. “Whatever the reason, he’s been chosen as a champion. We have to do whatever we can to help him.”
Nino scoffed a little at that. Whatever the reason. He would find out just what had made his boyfriend temporarily crazy enough to do this and when he did they did, he wasn’t sure who yet, but somebody was going to pay.

Comments

[nekom1ya.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwww sweet sweet jun... I know he was trying to make the others not worry but I think by not telling them, he's done the opposite >_< cute how toma is so supportive and encouraging all the way! :3 JunMa friendship ♥
And sho worrying about his bff (boyfie) has completely backfired on him and he feels so guilty! Awwwww lemme hug u sho-kun ><
Sho just doesnt want his friend (boyfriend) to be hurt that's all ;3
Oh-chan is rlly spot on in this hehehe, always stay silent but when he speaks up, it has so much impact haha
So cuteee!!!!! everyone back away from nino! He's lethal at the moment cause his bf entered the life-threatening competition for him ;3 I wonder what will be his reaction when he finds out later hehehehehehe *evil smirk
But please be safe jun-kun and return to your beloved puppy safely ne?

PS: perfect choice for durmstrang champion! Sakamoto ftw!! ^^