S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction ❯ Afterglow ❯ Chapter 1

“Afterglow”
By Viridian5
2/19/06

RATING: PG-13; Ryuho/Kazuma. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass this by.
SPOILERS: Takes place about the end of the series, so spoilers.
SUMMARY: They have their own way of doing things.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, as long as you ask me first.
FEEDBACK: can be sent to Viridian5@aol.com.
DISCLAIMERS: All things s-CRY-ed belong to Yosuke Kuroda, TV Tokyo, Bandai, and Sunrise. No infringement intended.

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“Afterglow”
By Viridian5
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I came to lying out in the middle of nowhere, dirty and bruised and aching, my clothing torn, with Kazuma the Shell Bullet half lying on top of me in similar state, although he remained unconscious. That small victory made me smirk. Neither of us won these bouts, with the two of us somehow being too evenly matched despite our differing alter powers and fighting philosophies, yet we still had to beat the pulp out of one another every so often. We enjoyed it. Tachibana would rant as he nursed us again. The last time he’d asked us what would happen if the mainland decided to attack while we two defenders of the Lost Ground were too busy comparing the size of our dicks battling each other.

Even as I recognized the logic, I couldn’t stop myself from getting into these fights with Kazuma. I thought myself a rational person--unlike Kazuma--but sometimes he just set me off into some berserker state of rage or I suddenly felt a need to fight and it wouldn’t be over until we knocked each other out. After that, we would be peaceful and calm, hurting but somehow cleansed. Perhaps we just needed to vent the force of our alters.

Still unconscious, Kazuma leaned on his right arm a little heavier, then groaned and rolled off it. That arm always hurt him badly, just as his right eye couldn’t open anymore unless he was using his alter power. His power had always deconstructed and rebuilt his body, making him pay a heavier price to use it. Mine did too when I went for full armor, but I hadn’t been doing it as long or used it as recklessly. His alter use scars made mine seem slight. I wondered sometimes if his moodiness and occasional near insanity came from how his alter power always ripped him apart and then put him back together into new shapes. It made sense.

Alter power seemed to be most effective if you wielded it in passionate, self-destructive ways. And if you wore it in the style of stupid looking armor. His looks bad, but I’ve seen mine in a mirror and it’s also ridiculous, just in different ways. But I can’t deny how effective we are in it. The mainland would have overrun the Lost Ground ages ago if we didn’t fight to protect our home in the armor. As powerful as my Zetsuei is as a separate entity, I’m even more powerful in the armor that’s my alter ability wrapped around and through my body.

Kazuma nuzzled my neck just above my collar. He was so much easier to deal with when knocked out, quieter, more reasonable, almost cuddly. If I’d been given the choice to bond with anyone, he would certainly not be it. He was loud, rude, crude, reckless, obnoxious, stubborn, and endlessly violent. But when had my life ever gone the way it was supposed to? I shouldn’t have been born with alter powers, my mother shouldn’t have died in a freak breakthrough of the Other Side, and one criminal native alter user shouldn’t have been able to make me go rogue from HOLY.

Had Kazuma ever had any expectations of how his life would go? I doubted it. He lived too much in the moment. He probably didn’t even care that his alter power had to be taking decades off his life span.

Although I would never say it to him, I would miss him if he died. He certainly wouldn’t say it to me either, but I think he felt the same.

Even if we did have to take long breaks from each other every so often.

I never had a partner before. When I stroked his back, he snuggled in closer. I might mention his snuggling and nuzzling later just to watch him blow up.

“...taking advantage of me, you bastard?” he murmured, sounding dazed.

“You’re the one using me as a pillow,” I answered.

“Shut up, Ryuho. I’m gonna--” He made a pained sound as he briefly tried to lever himself up. “I’m gonna keep lying here using you as a pillow. You’re bony but still comfier than the ground. Take my weight and like it.”

“Sure. You’ve snuggled me into submission.”

“Like you can move right now either.” He growled but stayed where he was. Contented, I didn’t even mind the rock pressing into my back.

  **********************THE END***********************     More Viridian5 stories can be found in The Green Room version 3.0 at http://viridian.shriftweb.org/   No-frames but no-frills access available at http://viridian.shriftweb.org/index2.htm