The Wall part 15

[krystalkatz.livejournal.com]

Masaki slumped a little after he had watched his brother walk into the wall and the door closed behind him. His breathing was pained and irregular and quickly he rubbed his chest trying to take away the pains that he was feeling. It wasn’t successful, it wasn’t an illness that could be wiped away like a tense muscle although he wished that it was.

This morning he had woken with the worst pains in his chest than he had for a while. He knew that if had shown Nino his brother would have insisted on him seeing a doctor. It was no good of course, Masaki already knew what was wrong with him. It was the black lung. It was rare that it would affect somebody as young as he was but it was an aggressive illness and once it had taken hold it wouldn’t let go. From experience, he knew that he had about five years left to live comfortably and that had given him the idea. He wasn’t afraid of dying, it was something that happened to everyone and although it hurt sometimes it was sooner rather than later and he would be happy to see his parents again, but he was afraid of leaving his baby brother outside the wall all alone. Nino was strong but he wouldn’t have survived and he knew that he needed to get him settled on the inside before he died.

“Ninomiya Masaki” The gate guard shouted and Masaki blinked slowly pulling himself out of his thoughts to look up at the guard. It was a different man from the one that had summoned Nino and he was smiling almost pleasantly as he beckoned him over with his finger. Nervously he stepped forward hoping against hope that it was Sho that was calling him out. The insider had been so nice and attentive to him on the day of the selection. He had asked to court him in such a polite way that he hadn’t been able to refuse him. Of course, he hadn’t refused the others either but he hoped that Sho would make the best offer. “Nervous?”

“Nope, um, who, who is it?” He asked walking up the steps feeling a bunch of eyes on him. The urge to cough was immense but he refrained from doing so knowing that any sign of illness would stop him from being eligible for the sponsorship and that would stop Nino going through with it. The guard gave him a smile and ushered him into a long dank corridor.

“Sakurai Sho, you’re lucky, you’re the only that he’s requested” Masaki flushed with that and looked down at the floor unable to deny that there was a lot of excitement inside of him. “Though you do have a lot of others that want to see you as well”

“I see” Masaki nervously lapsed into silence after that and just followed the man through the dizzying maze of corridors until they ended up luxurious part of the wall and he couldn’t help but wonder aloud “Is this what it’s like inside the wall?”

“The inside is better, but our commanders do like their home comforts” The guard opened the door to a small sitting room and motioned for him to step inside “Take a seat and help yourself to a drink, I’m sure Sakurai won’t be long, and don’t worry too much, okay? Just enjoy yourself and the gifts”

“Thank-you, very much” Masaki whispered going to sit in the comfy looking chair. The door closed and he allowed himself to look around the room giving in to the urge to cough and he slapped his hand over his mouth his shoulders shaking with the force of it. He hoped that the door was as thick as it looked and would dampen the sound. Once it felt as though he could breathe again he wiped his mouth with a tissue and drank from the water. It was hard to swallow but he was used to hiding his illness from his brother and he was settled back down again by the time the door opened and Sho came inside. There was a smile on the handsome face and a neatly wrapped present tucked under his arm.

“Nice to see you again, Masaki” He said coming over and taking his hand. Masaki gave a tiny smile and allowed his hand to be kissed lightly. “I was right, I am always happy when I’m right”

“Huh?” Masaki hummed slowly feeling extremely confused. “You were right?”

“I’ve been telling myself all week that you were the most beautiful man that I had ever seen” Sho hummed happily as he sat down in the chair opposite him. “and I was right You really are the most beautiful man in existence…”

“You’re a flatterer!” Masaki flushed brightly chewing on his lip trying to hide his smile at the compliment and Sho chuckled loudly admitting softly;

“Just a little bit. How have you been?”

“Okay. Just the normal, you? I’m sure that your week was much more interesting than mine” Masaki said sucking on his lower lip and Sho gave a shrug humming;

“If you think being lectured to by men that think there are cleverer than you while treating you like a child for the whole time then yes I suppose it was rather interesting.” Sho said dryly with his lips twisting into a tight smile before his expression cleared and he held out the gift “I have your first gift. Would you like to open it now?”

“If I may?” Masaki asked with some excitement his fingers trembling on the paper.

“Of course, I thought about what I should get you” Sho hummed as Masaki eagerly pulled the wrapping off the gift “I wanted to get you something practical, my friend has done that with your brother, but in the end, I went for something pretty” Masaki’s eyes widened a he realised that it was a book. For a moment, he panicked wanting to tell him that he couldn’t read but when he opened the pages he realised that it was just filled with paintings. “As I said, it’s just pretty this time. Next time I want to get you something better”

“This, this is beautiful. Are these what it’s like within the wall?” Masaki breathed his fingers tracing over the lush green grass and rolling fields. It was so beautiful like nothing he had ever seen before and all he wanted was to be buried in this beautiful place and he was happy when Sho gave a nod. “I hope that one day I will get to see it”

“I hope that I am the one that gets to show it to you”

TBC
A/N: I hope that this is okay ^_^

Comments

[bmanning_93]

Oh no poor Aiba, the brothers are so alike both hiding their pain I hope everything turns out ok