Magical Storm: Chapter 9

[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: And back to the angst...

Chapter 9

Since the second task, Nino had been given little opportunity to see Jun again. Whenever he did manage to find out where he was, his boyfriend would always evade him. It frustrated him to be ignored in such a way by the person he’d cared about most. His feelings of guilt were only amplified when he realized if this is what Jun had been dealing with from him all these months, it was little wonder he didn’t want to see him. Still Nino refused to give up. He was determined to clear things up with Jun before the final task. Clarification of recent events was long overdue.

Nino spotted Jun leaving the Gryffindor common room and figured it was as good any time to speak with him. Using the moving staircases to his advantage, he managed to get behind Jun to cut off any attempt the younger might make to retreat back into the sanctuary of the common room.

“Jun” he called out as he rushed down the stairs in pursuit. Jun glanced over his shoulder to see Nino was following him before spinning around and racing down the rest of the stairs. Nino hissed in exasperation and hurried after him. He chased the Gryffindor through the corridors, slowly advancing on him even as he steered him into a dead end in one of the halls.

“Quit following me” Jun growled when he turned to see Nino was still there. “Just leave me alone!”

Nino shook his head. “No, we need to talk.”

“About what” scoffed Jun. Nino hesitated, all ideas of how to start this dreaded but necessary conversation lost under Jun’s intense gaze.

“You saved me” Nino settled for saying. “In the second task, I mean.”

Jun rolled his eyes, arms folding aggressively over his torso. “Yeah well I wasn’t just going to leave you down there now. I wasn’t even aware you were the treasure I was supposed to save, not that it would have mattered I suppose. You’re not the one with the death wish and contrary to what you believe, I’m not heartless.”

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to” Jun cut him off. Nino knew he was being glared at but it barely registered in his mind as he recalled his last conversation with his boyfriend. He’d accused him of having a death wish, words which were now haunting coming from Jun, right before telling him he didn’t care if he died or not. Nino swallowed hard. Hearing such words now after discovering the reason Jun was putting himself at such risk caused Nino to nearly throw up.

“Is that all you wanted to say? Because I have things to do you know, being a champion and all. Not that you care” Jun hissed, glaring down at him. Nino winced and looked away. He knew he probably deserved every cutting word but he couldn’t take the way Jun was looking at him. He’d never seen his boyfriend hold such a loathing gaze. To see eyes once full of love and adoration whenever they were directed at him now glistening with detest, Nino could not bear it.

“I know the real reason you entered” he blurted out when Jun turned to leave. “Masa-kun said you did it for me.” Jun came to a sudden stop where he was. “Jun, I never—”

“That’s not my reason” Nino was interrupted before he could explain the whole situation with Takeuchi. With a stunned expression, he watched Jun twist back around to face him. “Not anymore.”

Nino could only look on as Jun continued to storm off back down the hall away from him. “Jun please,” he begged. “Just let me talk. I don’t want to lose you.”

Jun stopped again, hope igniting in Nino’s heart that he might be willing to give them another chance. The harsh reality came crashing down a moment later when Jun turned his head back barely enough to look at him, whispering, “You already have.”

Flinching as though he’d been physically struck, it was all Nino could do to stand there and watch powerless as Jun vanished around the corner of the corridor and what he assumed was out of his life for good.

---

There was no part of Jun that wasn’t regretting the encounter he had just had with Nino. The shorter guy had definitely appeared determined to try and fix things between them, and while Jun wanted that more than anything else he couldn’t bring himself to listen. The fear of getting his heart trampled on again by the impish ways of his wily former boyfriend was too overwhelming for Jun to simply push aside in favour of giving him another chance.

It wasn’t just Nino, Jun knew. His own guilt from kissing Takeuchi was still lingering constantly like a dark cloud in his mind. Even now Jun had no idea whether Nino knew of his infidelity and though Jun could guess he remained ignorant as he had shown no signs of knowing, the uncertainty did nothing to lessen the shame caused by the memory of his unfaithful offence. Jun’s heart clenched at the thought of admitting what he had done to Nino and shattering his hopes of reviving their love. It would kill Jun to hurt him like that, even if that had been his initial vengeful intent. If Nino were to find out, there was no way he would want to reconcile. This must Jun was certain of. In that one moment he had destroyed any possibility of salvaging their broken relationship.

It took several hours but Jun finally succeeded into putting everything Nino-related out of his mind. Considering their relationship was severed, it would do him absolutely no good to keep pining for him. It was time to move on, Jun decided after much reluctance.

He wandered the empty corridors on the start of his prefect rounds, a job which he had mostly had to neglect due to his duties as a champion. Even as he walked through the dark he forced his mind to stay focused on the task at hand, scolding himself every time his thoughts strayed to that of the adorable Slytherin. He needed to concentrate, to find a way to put such thoughts at rest once and for all.

Jun jumped back in surprise when the wall at the end of the corridor he’d just gone past started to tremble and reshape itself. The stone shook, dust raining down as an intricate metal pattern began to emerge from the brick. It swirled about in every direction, the stone in between becoming a sleek wood with hinges forming at the edged alongside a handle at waist level. Jun stared wide-eyed at the door that had materialized before him, very nearly flinching again when it swung open with a slight creak.

“The Room of Requirement?” Jun whispered in question. He had read about the fabled room and heard many of the rumours circulating around it, but not once did he consider the legend might actually be true.

Inside was mostly dark, with a few dimly lit candles hanging from the high-rise ceiling. The spacious room was covered in a thin layer of dust, and was almost completely empty. As Jun moved hesitantly into the secret room, glancing over his shoulder every now and then, he caught sight of a mirror looming up from where it was situated towards the back. It was the only object Jun could find within the room. He made his way over to it, his eye drawn to the engravings on the frame. The writing was a foreign and probably dead language that read out ‘Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi’.

The words themselves held little meaning to Jun. He glanced down at his reflection, at first seeing nothing but the pain still being clearly conveyed in his eyes. As he sighed softly, he caught sight of another’s reflection join his own. Two arms dwarfed by the oversized sweater that stretched far beyond the hands hidden in the baggy material suddenly wrapped around Jun’s neck from behind. Jun jolted, despite the embrace holding nothing but affection and warmth. Even though the hands were concealed by the long sleeves, Jun could feel their recognizable size clinging to him. A familiar head of slightly tousled albeit fluffy hair appeared in the reflection and came to rest on Jun’s shoulder with a playful grin.

Jun whipped around, only to find he was alone in the strange room. Slowly turning back, he saw that the reflection of Nino had hardly moved. He smiled in such a fashion that exposed his gums in the way Jun found most endearing. He couldn’t help but smile back at the boy hugging him so possessively. The arms draped over his shoulders tightened slightly, Nino’s head twisting to the side far enough to press his lips against Jun’s cheek. The touch was light yet into containing so much heat it made Jun’s cheek grow hot. He reached his hand up unconsciously to feel where the kiss had been placed, his smile falling as disappointment overwhelmed his systems in the realization that what he’d felt was merely his mind tricking him into believing the mirror’s cruel illusion.

He couldn’t understand it. If this was the Room of Requirement, why would it present him with a mirror that showed what he had lost? Jun looked deep into the mirror. His own reflection was still smiling. His heart ached at the sight. It had been so long since he’d seen himself looking like that, so happy and untroubled. It caused his eyes to sting with the pain of the undesirable tears forming.

“Matsumoto-kun” the voice cut through the silence of the room. Jun spun around to see Johnny-san standing behind him. The mirror forgotten, Jun hurried over.

“Sir” he stammered, bowing politely to the headmaster. He’d been caught staring longingly into a mirror displaying his lost love when he was supposed to be patrolling the halls of Hogwarts. “T-The room, it just appeared and I—”

Jun stopped when Johnny-san gestured him to. Lowering his head in embarrassment, Jun wasn’t expecting to feel the headmaster’s hand come down gently onto his shoulder. He dared to glance up at him but the professor was looking past him at the mirror.

“This is the Mirror of Erised” he explained. “Care to venture a guess as to what it does?”

“Shows us what we’ve lost” Jun mumbled, doing all he could to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest as he gazed back over at the mirror. With Johnny-san’s reflection as well, Nino had vanished but Jun could still sense his presence.

“Not quite” the headmaster mused. “It shows us nothing more than the deepest desires of a person’s heart.”

Jun stared up at him, his mouth hanging open. “That can’t be” he spluttered. “It can’t…I mean he isn’t…how can…” Jun couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much trouble getting out a sentence, yet his mouth would not cooperate with his brain.

“You saw your Slytherin friend, Ninomiya-kun. Am I correct?” Jun didn’t want to answer the professor but it was clear he already knew the answer. Keeping this in mind, Jun nodded softly. Johnny-san hummed in thought. “The Room of Requirement appears only for a person in dire need of it, and is always equipped to fit that individual’s specific needs. The Mirror of Erised is not a typical requirement for most who find this room, Matsumoto-san.”

With those profound words, Johnny-san departed from the room to leave Jun wondering what he had meant. He took a closer look at the engraving on the frame. Spelling it out backwards in his mind, he read the words ‘I show not your face but your heart’s desire.’ Jun sighed a little at that.

Left alone again, Nino’s reflection reappeared in the mirror like a shy ghost. The ghost of a playful child, Jun thought when Nino pounced onto his back a second time. It caused a reluctant smile to tug at the corner of his lips. He was fairly certain he knew what Johnny-san had been implying and he really wasn’t sure if he was ready to face what he was supposed to do next, but looking into the adoring smile of Nino as he rested so comfortably against his back, Jun knew he had no choice. It was as obvious to him now looking in the reflection as it had been all those years ago when the Slytherin had confessed to him in the forest. There was no denying it. His heart yearned for Nino, just as it always had.

Comments

[nekom1ya.livejournal.com]

Uuuuuuuuhhh my heart, ouch ouch my heart, its shattering to pieces.. crumbling.. uuuuhhh so painful to read them fight again :'((( jun didn't even give a chance to nino.. I feel so sad given that I know nino's actual adoration for takeuchi is nothing more than adoration.. and when jun said "not anymore" that was just... I imagined that I was nino for a sec somehow and it hurts so bad. Every single words were venom.. absolute venom..
BUT THEN! Thank GOD for the Room of Requirement appearing out of the blue!! And that mirror and that heartbreakingly fluffy af moment uuuggghhh... nino is way way too adorableee!!! And finally Johnny-san made Jun realize.. sooo thankful to Johnny-san! That mirror ♥
I really wanna see them make up! I really really do!