The characters in the following story are from Air Gear. I claim no rights to them and do not own them.
Summary: Kyoto was great but the crow was not the only star. In an expensive white gown, a certain little fang king had caught the attention of a greedy group. Will he be their next target or will he prove to be too much to handle? Follow Akito and Agito on a journey they won't soon forget.
WARNING: The following story contains strong language. If you're dislike the F-bomb, don't read it.
"Tsk….shit. You'd think that prick would have gotten us more than this measly pile of pennies" grumbled an angry man as he knocked over a pile of much more value than mere pennies. Another man seemed to agree with his companion though.
"Boss ain't gonna approve if we don't find something really worth selling." He said as he sat down on a plush couch. Some of the other people that lined the edges of the wall stared at the man like he was crazy…. But the owner of the residence didn't seem to mind the man sitting on her furniture.
"Well I think I may just have your answer" said the woman as she walked over to her couch after gazing out the window. "Gio, I think your next target is right outside" She purred as she sat on the man's lap. The one called Gio glanced towards the window and some of the others peeked out as well.
"Well, it's okay. I wanted to do it too"
"Thank you very much! It was more expensive than I thought!"
Expensive? Yes it would be. That costume shop was far from cheap….yet that blue haired kid just went and bought three….no….apparently four of their finest outfits. The people in the room smiled as their eyes locked on the child in the winged white gown.
0
"Bite me you fucking crow," growled an irritated young boy. His blue hair and eye patch secured over his left eye were a too familiar sight to the one claimed to be the next sky king. Despite being part of the same team, getting Agito to actually practice with the rest of Kogarasumaru was one of the toughest challenges Ikki had to deal with. The only time Agito ever took them seriously was when the shark himself was going to benefit from it….or if they really begged.
"Bad choice of words!" barked Ikki as he launched himself at the kid, teeth bared in pacman style. Agito stared at him in horror.
'Heh. Silly Agito…. You know, it wouldn't be the first time he'd have bitten you. Don't you remember the time you fought after the battle with the Kintetsu Bulls?' came a sweet voice from inside Agito's head. Agito cursed as he jumped to dodge the crow. Jeez…. And people called HIM psycho.
"KEEP YOUR FUCKING DISGUSTING MOUTH AWAY FROM ME!" howled the now disgusted AND irritated shark. Sure enough, that yell brought on quite a few confused and appalled stares from innocent people passing by, but the storm riders didn't seem to notice. Ikki laughed. Well, at least he got Agito to actually move instead of sleeping on the sidelines like he usually did.
Agito let out another curse as the wind blew through his hair. He landed on the ground with the skill of a master AT rider. The angered storm rider turned to send a deadly glare at the black haired crow. Ikki pretended to pout and pointed out that Agito had asked him to do it. Kazu, the blonde boy with the hat obsession, chuckled out loud. That was all it took to send the shark's steely glare in his direction.
"And what the fuck are you laughing at you shitty bean lamp post?" He growled like the animal he was. Kazu immediately shut his mouth and backed up on his air treks. Agito would never tell him how professionally fast he did so.
"N-nothin! Just…." Kazu seemed to just realize what Agito had called him. "Bean lamp post?" He cried out in shame. Agito rolled his eye. It wasn't like it was the first time he had insulted the moron.
"The distraction worked. Now, you practice," spoke a creepy voice from beside the blue haired rider. Agito's head whipped around to find the crow staring at him with an evil glint in his eye. His surprise didn't last long and he immediately went to insult the ass.
"Stop claiming everything that happens went as you fucking planned" He barked getting in the leader of the team's face. Again the shark failed to notice something. Ikki did not come empty handed and was holding some foul smelling blended mulch. He was smiling evilly, a smile that usually only Agito himself wore.
"Seeing as you didn't run in the last practice race, you automatically lose….and you know the penalty for coming in last" chimed the crow. Out of nowhere, the other members of Kogarasumaru were beside Ikki sharing his grin.
Agito took a step back. "Keep that SHIT away from me you fucktards!" He yelled. To his step back, the team took one step forward.
"FUCK"
Agito turned and ran for it.
0
As night fell, the town quieted. Team Kogarasumaru would have known if a new AT team had come onto their territory. They would have been prepared to fight a threat like that. AT was their sport…..but they were not going to be ready for the latest storm that threatened them.
A smile crept across the face of a man as he looked out over the sleeping city. At last, they had tracked her here. Her fine silk gown and tiara, the mark of the wealthy for sure.
The man pulled off a pair of goggle from his eyes, letting them rest on his messy brown hair. Soon another man dressed in black leather joined him on the rooftop.
"Gio, it was confirmed by our sources that a young blue haired child with an eye patch attends school in this area."
The man was actually a bit pissed he had to report to Gio. He had been a part of this organization a lot longer than this prick.
Another man looked over at the two. "How can you be sure that's the one we want?" He asked. Gio smirked. "Seriously, how many blue haired kids with eye patches do you see walking around? It has to be her," he said with confidence. He returned his gaze to the city.
He smiled once again as he thought how spoiled rotten the girl probably was. If she could afford to so readily get those costumes on a whim, her parents had to have quite a bit of money.
"Alright men…. Tomorrow we will take her. We will capture the girl who wore the angel's wedding dress"
0
Agito stared at the blackboard. His face held a mixture of disgust, horror, and shock. He shouted profanities, screamed, kicked, prepared to kill everyone in the room.
Damn he wished he was in control right now.
Akito, thankfully, did not share his counterpart's disgust for what he had just discovered. He was actually excited and perfectly willing to accept his role in the event.
School had started about an hour ago, but Akito had been late getting to his class. He had gotten in trouble by one of the teachers about a fight that had broken out in the cafeteria the other day.
The teacher couldn't understand how such a usually sweet child could act so incredibly unruly. Akito wasn't going to tell him that Agito was the one that had started that food fight. Agito smirked in the back of Akito's mind. He was still proud of the magnificent disaster. The crow had it coming.
Akito sighed as he was scolded, apologizing for his behavior and promising to help with the cleaning. He offered that service all on his own, much to the surprise of the teacher. Again the teacher was stumped as to how such a good kid would do something like that. He concluded Akito had to have been put up to it by someone else, although Akito denied that and claimed it was just him and nobody else. Eventually the blue haired student was let off with a warning and cleaning duty.
When he entered his classroom, instead of seeing the usual sight of drooling boys, annoyed girls, and a flustered teacher, the room was buzzing with activity. The desks were pushed aside, decorations were starting to pile in the corner, and the students were all standing in groups talking. Akito heard a few stray words about a school festival and their class's role this year, but he was distracted by the board. It was covered in names and tallies, titles and descriptions. He had walked over to it curiously, spotting his own name scribbled down on the board. Under it was quite a few tally marks, easily the majority. He was confused by this at first, but at last he was spotted and a loud "Congratulations!" chimed from onigiri, the perverted shorty of team Kogarasumaru. Soon enough Beanie Blondie and Crow were leaning on his shoulder with strange smiles on their faces. Clearly Akito had missed something important, and it couldn't be good.
"Hey Akito, you've won the starring role! How do ya feel?" chimed Ikki as he leaned in and laughed. Akito merely clapped his hands together, deciding to bring himself into the excitement.
"Starring role? What do you mean Ikki-kun?" He asked. Kazu pointed to the board and brought Akito's attention to the largest letters.
"The Caged Bird's Dance. It's the play our class is going to put on for the school festival this year," explained Kazu.
"And you get to play the role of Plectella, the caged bird" Ikki decided to pick up where Kazu left off, his grin baffling Akito.
"I've never heard of this story" Replied Akito. Ikki's smile dropped as he looked at him. No wonder he wasn't getting a reaction from the kid.
"You've never heard of it?"
"Aww, you must have been so deprived as a kid!"
"Don't worry Akito, we'll explain the story to you!"
The group of boys was suddenly surrounded by the girls in the room. They were fawning over Akito as he thanked them and sent them heartwarming smiles. Kazu and Ikki glanced at each other, their grins returned. "Part of me wants Agito to be the one out when they tell him the story" Whispered Kazu. Ikki nodded, but he wouldn't have been able to reach Akito's eye patch now anyway. The girls had him completely surrounded and blocked the way to their littlest team mate. It was story time.
0
The story goes that a king lived in a grand castle, perched on a cliff by the sea where he could watch over his city from above. The king kept order in his land and under his rule the city survived in peace. The problem with this king was that he believed he always knew what was for the best. He didn't listen to the opinions of others without making a fuss, and eventually people just stopped trying to oppose him. Though the king was a stubborn and strict man, he was not a cold and cruel man. He often invited his people as well as foreign royalty to his palace for feasts and dances. This was also the only chance anyone ever had of spotting the king's most valuable treasure. His daughter.
Plectella was the princess of the castle, the only heir to the throne. The king was incredibly over protective of his little bird, never letting her leave the walls of the castle since her mother died when she was a baby. The king wanted to keep her close to him so he would never lose her. She was after all, a beautiful girl who could dance like an angel. She was the reason the city loved to come to the king's feasts. When Plectella danced, it was as if she had wings and was flying through the sky. During one of the princess's dances, she caught the eye of a young prince named Asper who fell in love as he watched her dance. He meets her in secret during his stay in the country and he tells her of the world outside the castle. She becomes fascinated by the sights she had never seen, but her father refused to let her even take a look outside let alone a step. No matter how much she pleaded, the king just grew angry with her and increased the restrictions on the princess.
So the prince decided he would steal the king's treasure and free her from her cage.
0
As the girls continued to explain the story of love between Plectella and Asper, Akito listened with curiosity. The prince and the princess went through many hardships before they finally managed to escape from the king, but eventually Asper was able to get Plectella to see the sky and the sea for the first time. To feel the wind on her skin and the sun on her face. Akito liked this story, but it was Agito who realized exactly why Ikki Kazu and Onigiri were giggling.
Finally Akito understood why Agito was so angry.
"Wait a minute. If I'm playing Plectella….then I'm playing…." He started. Ikki forced himself into the crowd of smiling girls to give his triumphant bark.
"A GIRL! Yes, you're playing the princess!" He said with a full laugh. The girls looked at Akito nervously, trying to read the kid's expression. Akito's face was blank for a moment, then spread into his familiar warm grin.
"Can Ikki be my prince?" Akito asked with a joyous smile. Ikki immediately stopped his snickering and stared at the blue haired boy with a stunned "huh?" The girls loved the idea, which only made the crow's face drop. Now Kazu and Onigiri couldn't suppress their boisterous laughter.
Ringo was completely against the idea though.
"Whoa whoa whoa. First off, wouldn't it be better to say, I dunno…. Have a GIRL play the princess?" She immediately stated, trying to bring some order to this madhouse. No way were Akito and Ikki going to be playing the main couple in the play. If anything, it should have been HER and Ikki. Emily, a girl with short dark brown hair who harbored a deep crush on Kazu, placed a hand on ringo's shoulder to calm her.
"Like they said. It was like she was flying through the sky as freely as a bird….or swimming in the sea as freely as a fish," she started to explain, using a different type of metaphor to get the point across. Another girl joined in the explanation.
"The reason we picked Akito is because he can ride ATs really well AND he's downright adorable!" She chimed. The dots in Ringo's head were starting to connect to form a picture. They picked Akito because they planned on having him use his air treks during the play. They picked him because he was the only experienced rider in class who was feminine enough to pull off being the princess. Well, as far as they knew anyway. When she tried to argue against Ikki playing the prince, she had nothing she could use. The girls agreed it was going to be either Ikki or Kazu, and they had allowed Akito to have his pick. Besides, they had it in their heads that Akito and Ikki were secret lovers anyway. Creepy sickos.
Ringo retired to the corner of the room, seething. She was giving off a terrifying aura…. But she knew she couldn't possibly play the role of the princess. It was moments like this when the red head wished she wasn't the secret successor of the Sleeping Forest.
0
"Do we….really have to practice in costume on the FIRST day?" grumbled Ikki as he fumbled with the fancy tailcoat his fellow students had picked out for him. The coat itself was a dark navy blue with silver trimmings and buttons. The real kicker was by far the black tights they had forced him to put on. He didn't have to wear the undershirt with the weird frills that had also been set out for him because it was too small. He thanked god for that one, but he had a feeling he'd be seeing that monstrosity again. Ikki's best friend Kazu brought over the black boots that went with the costume.
"Dude, you look …. " He looked away laughing. Akito was happily able to give his own ending to Kazu's sentence though.
"You look adorable Ikki-kun!" chimed the familiar little blue haired child as he hugged Ikki's arm. Ikki shook at the sound of a boy calling him adorable. It was wrong on so many levels. He turned to tell Akito this and was caught off guard by his getup. Akito looked up at Ikki with a smile. He was wearing a light blue and white dress with open shoulders, a frilly chest, tight waist, and a bit of a baggy bottom. The most stunning thing on the dress was the elaborate silver tipped feather decorations that made up the bottom. Ikki tried to pry Akito's grip off of his arm but geez, it was like he was glued on. He was silently singing inside when the girls called Akito over so they could see how he looked in his costume.
Ikki let out a grateful sigh and leaned against the wall beside Kazu. He smirked. "Well, at least we don't have to wear a dress…." He said. Kazu returned the smirk.
"Yeah, but I don't think Akito minds it at all. Hell, I'd say he actually likes it," he replied, "but man, I can just picture Agito throwing a fit. Hey, he'll have to perform too since he's the one that can ride." Ikki and Kazu both laughed at the image of Agito acting like a princess, dancing on his ATs in front of an audience. Soon enough the little princess in the room was racing back over to his prince. "Hey Ikki-kun. They want to see if we can ride in costume!" announced Akito before he reached his hand up to switch control to his darker personality. As soon as Agito was in control, he sent a death glare at the two boys as if daring them to say anything. Unfortunately Kazu did.
"Hey sharky. Nice dress. It suits you" He said with a smirk. Ikki had to hold the irate shark back when he went to punch Kazu in the face.
"Fuck you bean post" He spat. Agito then looked Kazu up and down, taking in his costume. He smirked when he realized what Kazu was, though Ikki wasn't quite sure what Kazu was supposed to be in that black swallowtail coat and white gloves. Kazu caught Ikki's stare and looked down in shame.
"I'm butler number 3" He mumbled. Agito took this chance to laugh at him.
"Damn, even on stage you're a no name loser." He chanted, causing the blonde to join Ringo in the corner of self pity.
"Let go of me dumbass" Agito said as he pulled his arms free from the crow. "I'm only gonna do this shit because Akito wants me to" He added, defending himself despite the fact nobody had said anything.
Ikki didn't waste the chance to respond. "Whatever you say….Princess Plectella"
