Chapter Text
The arrival was spectacular. After years of drifting in space, they finally made it. They finally made it to Persephone-18.
The captain was the first to set foot on the foreign ground. As soon as he did, he turned on a small device to analyze the atmosphere around him. Flanked by his two sons, he sighed when he heard a beep confirming the air was safe to breathe. He turned around, a hand on his hip.
“Touya, Shouto, welcome to P-0131.”
The three of them removed their helmet and inhaled deeply, a sweet aroma tingling their nostrils.
The landscape could only be described as alien, which was of course fitting. All that would’ve been green on their home planet was a deep mauve shade here. The flowers scattered around them only seemed to come in shades of yellow and white. Touya leaned down and picked one up, his heart clenching as did his fist around the innocent flower. He would have to name it alone.
“Okay boys, go do your jobs. We’ll reunite here in four hours.”
His heart ached as he left the landing site to enter a light forest. Through the trees, he could still see the four moons hanging in the sky, which would never stop surprising him. His native planet only had two.
The sky. Light violet. So violet, so beautiful. Looking up, a tear rolled down his cheek. He could only admire it alone.
Touya arrived at a clearing, the ground covered in thousands of minuscule white flowers. He let his heavy bag fall off his shoulder and kneeled amongst them. He had to start doing his job as a botanist.
As he was busy picking up samples and entering notes on his tablet, he heard something rustling in the leaves. He searched for the source of the noise, remaining still. A small animal jumped out at him out of nowhere. Startled, he fell back on his rear in the mud. Embarrassed despite being alone, he wiped his pants with his gloved hands and noticed the strange rodent staring at him.
He took a step forward and the animal jumped back, eyes still on Touya. He took another step and the creature repeated the same movements. Was it beckoning to him?
Enji wasn’t there to scold him, so he followed the rodent. Not much kept Touya alive anymore, he couldn’t care less about the consequences. He’d been sapped of his will to live.
Through now dense vegetation and trees, Touya and the creature arrived at another clearing, much like the first one. He looked around carefully and when his gaze settled on a silhouette, the animal bolted.
The silhouette was so familiar. Touya would recognize it anywhere. His stomach dropped and his blood froze in his veins.
He was sitting on the ground, surrounded by a myriad of flowers. He was playing with one, picking off the petals while humming a happy melody. He was completely bare; he had no use for clothes here. Touya knew every nook and cranny of that lithe body. His bony fingers had traced every valley and his tongue had mapped every trough.
But it couldn’t be.
“Keigo?”
He looked up to Touya and smiled, and Touya knew. That smile would always melt his icy heart and it did it again.
—
Touya was lying on his bed, reading a book about his native planet’s flora, the screen of his tablet somewhat obscured by the light of his bedside lamp when he heard a soft knock on his door, barely audible. He straightened himself up and took off his glasses, excitement tingling his limbs. At this hour, it could only be Keigo waiting on the other side.
“Yeah, come in.”
Keigo entered Touya’s room with a saccharine smile and approached him slowly.
“Hey.”
“Come here.”
Touya extended his arms, inviting his boyfriend to come join him on his modest bed. There was barely enough room for the both of them, but they held onto each other tightly, fitting together like two pieces of one puzzle. Keigo rested his head on Touya’s chest and closed his eyes, listening attentively to his heartbeat. Touya stroked soft golden locks tenderly, sometimes halting his caresses to lightly scratch Keigo’s scalp.
“I missed you today.”
Touya chuckled.
“We ate together this morning.”
Keigo sighed, annoyed. It made Touya clench his jaw and he continued, knowing what Keigo wanted to hear.
“Don’t worry. We’re gonna get to Persephone-18 soon and we’ll get to work together there. We’ll spend our whole days together… You’ll tell me all about its creatures and I’ll bring you different flowers every night. We’ll choose their name and their meaning, just you and me. If everything goes according to plan, we could even live there for the rest of our lives.”
“Would we have to hide, like we’re doing now?”
“I don’t think so. I’m sure my father will relax the rules once we’re there. They’ll have to populate that planet somehow.”
Keigo traced circles with his fingertips on Touya’s thin arm. They had spent many nights like this, picturing their life together on Persephone-18, finally able to show affection without fear, free from the preconceived notions that have followed them across galaxies.
An icy gaze drowned in pools of amber and soon, they drowned in each other’s arms.
--
Shouto had just finished his daily work out and was gathering his products to go take a well deserved shower. He put his shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in his plastic basket and picked up two clean towels before exiting and locking the door to his room behind him. His work out clothes stuck to his sweat covered skin and his drenched hair was a mess, the white and the red interwoven. He walked down the hall to the communal bathrooms but stopped in his tracks when he saw two figures he found way too close to each other for comfort. He quickly recognized his brother’s striking ivory mane and realized the man accompanying him was his colleague and best friend, Keigo.
Keigo had his back to the wall and Touya was acting like he had never heard of the concept of personal space before. Shouto could not hear the words they were exchanging, but as Touya leaned in, Keigo gently pushed him away. Shouto’s instincts screamed for him to hide and he did, stepping back to conceal himself behind the corner of the hall. He needlessly held his breath as his brother surveyed his surroundings, confirming that he and Keigo were indeed alone. Touya then playfully grabbed Keigo’s ass before giving it a flirtatious slap and then cupped the blond’s face in his hand. He leaned in again and this time, Keigo let him. Their lips met and the kiss started soft and chaste. As Keigo wrapped his arms around his lover’s neck, a sense of urgency blossomed between the two of them and their tongues entwined excitedly, driven by the prohibited nature of their actions. Their hands started to wander under their clothes with quiet, stifled moans interjecting here and there and Shouto found himself unable to look away, consumed by shameful curiosity. He had never seen that kind of behavior for himself, he had only read about it in old books hidden in a lost corner of the ship’s library. He also knew that such behaviors were forbidden amongst the crew.
He would have to report this to their father.
--
Shouto closed the heavy door to his father’s office behind him as Touya stood in front of the massive steel desk, arms crossed over his chest with a challenging air.
“What do you want?”
“You know the rules of this ship, Touya.”
Touya shrugged defiantly, smugness plastered on his face.
“Of course I do. I follow ‘em. Doesn’t everybody?”
“You and Takami obviously don’t.”
He quickly dropped the rebellious act and directed his gaze to the blank wall to his right.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know romantic relationships are not permitted on this ship.”
“We are not romantically involved. Besides, shouldn’t that rule only apply to relationships between men and women for population control matters? In case you didn’t know, old man, there’s no risk of two dudes popping out a baby to burden the crew.”
Touya’s words were filled with contempt and made Enji grit his teeth and pound his fists on his desk.
“Drop the attitude! Shouto saw you!”
Touya whipped around to face his brother, who tried his best to make himself small in a large, intimidating room. The flames of betrayal made the blood start to boil in Touya’s veins and he made his way to Shouto with a threatening spring in his steps.
“You sneaky piece of shit! When?!”
Shouto couldn’t look him in the eye. He stepped back until his head hit the door and he swallowed to try and muster the courage to confess.
“Earlier… in front of the bathrooms. You… kissed and you…”
“Shut the fuck up! No one was there! I checked!”
Enji clicked his tongue and leaned back in his imposing leather chair, visibly disappointed.
“Are you admitting it, Touya?”
Touya turned back to his father and raised his arms before letting them fall down to his sides in a defeated manner.
“Yeah, we’re fucking! Have been for a while now. So fucking what?”
His father sighed and looked directly at him.
“To think I used to think of him so highly. I can’t believe a reliable man like Takami would bend over and take it up the ass like a little bitch.”
Disbelief fell on Touya’s face and he squinted his eyes in disgust at his father’s uncharacteristic, hateful words.
“What the fuck? Excuse you? I’ll have you know we take turns ramming each other in the ass! In fact, it was yours truly’s turn just last night!”
The horror painting Enji’s features spurred Touya on and he made the tip of his index and his thumb touch, gliding his other index in between them, in and out in an obscene gesture. He nodded fervently while spitting his venom.
“Yeah! Your beloved son loves having his tight ass split in two by huge fucking dicks! He yearns for veiny phalluses to impale him so deep he can’t even walk straight the next day!”
Enji drew a shaking breath, overcome by revulsion and fury following Touya’s revelations.
“Get out of my office, now!”
Touya ignored his father’s orders and raised his hand to his mouth, mimicking the act of a fellatio, knowing full well it would make the bile rise in Enji's throat. Each imaginary thrust punctuated his words.
“I. Love. To. Choke. On. His. Big. Fat. Cock! I love swallowing every last drop of his hot-”
Enormous, strong hands slammed on the desk violently, cutting Touya’s profane rant short. Shouto flinched and tried to back further into the door, but he was already flushed against it. He wanted to flee, now bitterly regretting having outed his brother.
“That is enough, Touya! Starting tomorrow, Takami will be reassigned elsewhere!”
Despair quickly washed over Touya and his teal eyes were filled with anguish. All defiance left his body and he was ready to beg his father on his knees, even to kiss the floor if needed.
“No… you can’t do that... It’s Keigo’s dream to study Persephone-18! He’s a zoologist, what else is he going to do on this goddamned ship?”
Enji shrugged, completely indifferent. He couldn’t care less about crushing Keigo’s lifelong dream. The ambitions of the man he once held in high esteem did not matter anymore.
“He can always learn to operate heavy machinery. Bubaigawara can show him how. One of his men is injured and currently on leave and we need more hands. We don’t need a zoologist that badly.”
Touya motioned towards himself intently.
“Send me, then! Do you really need a botanist? I could-”
Enji once again cut off a frantic Touya and lied through his teeth. They needed a zoologist, at least as much as they needed a botanist. Keigo was not the only zoologist, however. He could easily be replaced by Usagiyama. Touya could be replaced by Atsuhiro, but Enji would never reveal that.
“We do need you as a botanist. My decision is final. He is to work under Bubaigawara starting tomorrow morning. You won’t get to see each other anymore.”
Touya felt all his pent up wrath slip away, leaving him with a cold feeling he couldn’t name. A mix of discouragement and deep dismay. Nothing he could say or do could overturn the captain’s decision.
He turned around, his head hung low as he made his way to the door. He brutally shoved Shouto to the side when he reached it, muttering for him to move. He exited the room by slamming the door behind him. Shouto looked at their father as if he were about to cry, shoulders heavy with guilt.
“Rules are made to be followed. You did the right thing, Shouto.”
Shouto couldn’t remember anything he had ever doubted more.
--
Keigo’s expression was pained. He took a quick look around, making sure no eyes in the common room were on them. He then took Touya’s hand in his own, his thumb stroking the back of his boyfriend’s hand.
“We can still see each other at night.”
“You don’t get it. You won’t get to step off this fucking ship. You won’t get to see Persephone-18.”
“I could sneak out.”
Touya glared at him and pulled his hand away.
“You really don’t get it. It’s over.”
He picked up his tablet and exited the room, leaving a confused and hurt Keigo behind.
Discouraged, Keigo stood up and made his way to the heavy machinery room, where he would start his new job. Not that he was looking forward to it. Being a zoologist was his dream, after all. Now he’d have to get his hands dirty and look over lifeless machines instead of vigorous, curious creatures. When he arrived in front of a heavy door, he placed his ID under the card reader.
“Keigo Takami. Please input your password.”
“Hawks.”
“Welcome, Keigo Takami.”
When he entered, he was greeted by his new boss, Jin Bubaigawara. A weird guy, but they could get along. Keigo could get along with anybody.
“You’ll see, new guy, it’s quite easy.”
That did little to reassure him.
--
Touya was reading in the common room, jaw clenched and still agitated over his conversation with Keigo. He really could not comprehend how his lover could keep his head high after having been demoted and insulted like this. After his dream got stolen from him. After being so close to their goal.
The uproar and the screams pulled Touya out from the book he was half reading. He was only urged to get up when he saw Shouto running towards the crowd, panic in his eyes. He left his tablet behind and jogged to the door where a big part of the crew had gathered.
The door to the machinery room.
Touya pushed some bodies around, repeating “fuck off” to anyone who wouldn’t budge. Then, through the window, he saw the scene. He could swear his heart stopped beating, all of his blood pooling at his feet.
Concrete floor stained crimson. Bits and pieces scattered. People running everywhere, yelling so many things. A forklift tipped over. Over a body.
Over Keigo. Or what remained of him.