Circus Tempesta (Jun Ex 2018)
Apr. 10th, 2018 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
duckyshimetaiTitle: Circus Tempesta
Pairing: Junba, Sakumiya (side)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mentions of depression, a Devil, death-defying feats
Summary: Jun is attacked by evil Soulshadows one night, and wakes up in a circus, discovering along the way that he has powers. What will he do? Please read on to find out!
Notes: (Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jun_exchange 2018) Dearest piggywhale , I hope you enjoy this! I had a great time writing it. (okay it's maybe a bit of a lie, I struggled near the end *lol* but I hope it was worth it!!) Thank you for being such a wonderful and responsive recipient. :) To my beta, thank you so so so much for helping to point out my inconsistencies and make this fic better than it could have ever been without you. <3
They came for him on a hot, sticky summer’s night.
Jun had been at home, tossing and turning in his bed, running a finger around the slightly sweaty collar of his oversized T-shirt and considering getting up for a glass of water.
As he placed a hand on the doorknob of his bedroom, the window shattered behind him. Images flashed across Jun’s mind - a recent memory, fresh and vivid.
A circus flyer flaps past in the wind. Jun barely gives it a second look, but the clean freak in him urges him to pick it up. He detests litter.
“Circus Tempesta”, the large, flashy title declares. “Come in and be amazed.” Jun snorts a little. Nothing much can impress him now, but he unfolds it to get a better look anyway.
Inside, there are pictures of each performer, as well as a description of their abilities.
The first thing that catches Jun’s eye is the picture of a handsome man, grinning mischievously with a dressed-up monkey at his side. He is twirling a long baton with its ends lit up in harlequin flame. His eyes, Jun notices, are glowing with the same green.
“The Amazing Aiba-chan,” the caption reads. Jun gazes at the picture again. Aiba-chan is beaming with such intensity, Jun wouldn’t be surprised if the camera had melted right after taking this picture.
Jun checks the date and pockets the flyer. He decides to go later that week. Alone, of course. He’s never really had friends he could hang out with.
Jun flung open the door and dived out as the shards tinkled to the ground. Dark shadows swarmed up to him, and he instinctively covered his face with his arms. Running blindly, he dodged, tripped, and cursed.
He had nowhere left to hide.
Despite spending too much time deciding on his appearance, Jun arrives slightly early. However, he is surprised by the huge crowd that has already formed. The ticket boy is struggling with the masses, and another boy is bustling around, selling popcorn and drinks from a tray slung around his neck.
Jun finally gets a seat and makes himself comfortable. He’s in the third row, which has a pretty good view. Surprisingly, he doesn’t feel the crush of the crowd so much any more.
“And now, Ladies and Gentlemen!” The ringmaster’s voice echoes. The show is about to start. Jun sits back and relaxes.
Most of the evening passes by in a blur for Jun, but there are certain parts that leave an especially deep impression. The first time is when Aiba-chan, resplendent in his glittering costume, dances into the ring with the monkey. Pan-kun, as he’s called, is definitely amazing. He counts, he dances, he answers questions by tapping flashcards, and he competes with Aiba-chan in a series of physical challenges from timed sit-ups to stilt-racing around the ring.
As Aiba-chan struggles with the stilts - on purpose, Jun guesses - he looks up, and for a split second, he makes eye contact with Jun. Jun is puzzled - Aiba-chan’s eyes are brown, not green - but he dismisses that as a trick of the light, or photo-editing effects. Aiba-chan proceeds to lose spectacularly amid howls of laughter from the audience. He finally gives a bow and exits the stage with Pan-kun.
The next few acts are dazzling in their own right, but Jun can’t focus on them. A streak of blue, a swirl of yellow, a splash of red are all that remain in his memory. The second and final time Aiba-chan comes in, Jun originally doesn’t suspect a thing. A large cannon is wheeled in, and left in the centre of the ring. A fizzling sound was all that could be heard as the audience waited with bated breath. A resounding pop, and Aiba-chan flies out of the cannon, executing a perfect double somersault before landing elegantly on his feet. He then puts on a spectacular fire show, twirling and tossing batons and spiky contraptions with lit ends, as well as fire breathing. He ends with a magnificent fireworks display that steals Jun’s breath.
As Aiba-chan stands there, silhouetted against the rainbow-coloured sparks, Jun’s heart skips a beat. Aiba-chan nods to him, a tiny action that only Jun catches, and Jun nods back.
His eyes are green now.
Out of nowhere, a shriek pierced through the air. Blazing green flames outlined a hole in one of the shadows, where a lit staff stuck out of it. Holding on to the other end was a familiar silhouette with glowing green eyes.
Jun watched open-mouthed as the figure danced around, twirling his staff and slashing at shadows effortlessly, causing them to dissipate, until finally, there were none left.
Panting slightly, the man then rushed towards Jun, putting his hands on Jun’s shoulders. “Are you okay? I can’t believe I was nearly too late! Come with me, it’s not safe here!”
Jun nodded in a daze and allowed himself to be led out of his own apartment by a strange man. He barely registered a gaping burnt hole in his front door, which probably had been how his saviour had entered.
They got into a car, and the man showed the driver a thumbs up. As the car rumbled into the night, Jun found his tongue.
“Who are you? What were those… those things? Where are we going?”
“Whoa, steady there.” The man put out a concerned hand, pressing Jun gently backward into the soft, plush seat. “Sho-chan will explain all that later. For now, just... sleep.”
His voice turned into a whisper. Jun’s eyelids fluttered slowly shut and the noise of the engine faded gradually to the edges of his consciousness.
~~~~~
Jun woke up in a bottom bunk bed. The room around him was heavily cluttered, almost to the brink of being claustrophobic. As he moved, a couple of springs squeaked, and someone above him stirred.
“Ah, you’re awake!” The mysterious saviour from the previous night smiled down at him from the top bunk. “I suppose you’ll be wanting some breakfast?”
He climbed down carefully and slid his feet into a pair of white bunny slippers. Humming to himself, he flung open the curtains for more light, took down a saucepan from the wall and added ingredients to it. What he did next amazed Jun though. Instead of using the mini stove Jun saw at the side of the table, he simply held the bottom of the saucepan in his hands, and after a while, it started to bubble, and a delicious aroma filled the room.
When he noticed Jun watching, he threw Jun a failed wink and said in a loud stage whisper, “I’m actually not supposed to do this, but if you don’t tell and I don’t tell, no one will know.”
Jun nodded, causing the man to beam with more intensity. His eyes were softly glowing green now, not as radiant as the night before, but more like faint embers.
While the food was cooking, Jun took a peek outside the little window. A huge tent, with a few caravans parked around it, stood in front of him. Scattered around were a few animal enclosures as well, and Jun saw the animals moving about and grazing.
“We’re at the circus?” Realisation dawned upon Jun. “You’re Aiba-chan, aren’t you?”
“Yup! You’re so smart!” Really, was there no end to this man’s smiles? Jun could feel his insides warming up like the saucepan already.
“Oh, I think the food’s ready! Let’s eat, and then we can go visit the others. I’m sure they’d love to see you!” Aiba-chan nodded enthusiastically. He put the steaming saucepan on a coaster, and set out a couple of bowls.
The food looked like a goopy thick stew with tofu and minced meat inside. It smelled great, and Jun realised he was actually starving. “It’s mabo tofu!” Aiba-chan announced proudly.
After the two of them had filled their tummies, Jun shyly asked Aiba-chan if he had any spare clothes. The clothes that Jun had on were slightly singed from the fire, and anyway, those were his pyjamas. He wouldn’t be seen dead outside in them.
Aiba-chan gladly obliged and tossed him a forest green woollen sweater and a pair of slightly crumpled cream-coloured pants. Surprisingly, they fit rather well.
~~~~~
“Come in,” a deep voice called when Aiba-chan knocked on the door of the biggest caravan.
“Sho-chan, it’s me! And, uh, what was your name again?” Aiba-chan turned to Jun, smiling sheepishly.
“Jun,” Jun replied simply. He didn’t want to give out any more details than necessary, especially when he was among strangers.
“It’s me and Jun!” Aiba called out, opening the door.
Inside, it was almost equally cluttered as Aiba-chan’s caravan, but the contents were different. The shelves were stacked almost to bursting with books and newspapers, and there were more spilling out onto the table. Sitting at the table and pushing up his reading glasses was a man that Jun recognised as the ringmaster of the circus. He stood up and extended a hand over the table for Jun to shake. Jun took it and gave it a little shake before letting go and examining the man more carefully.
He had slightly puffy cheeks and reminded Jun vaguely of a chipmunk. He was also wearing two coats - a flashy, red one over a muted grey one - and Jun personally objected to his fashion sense, but he was not about to say so.
“Please take a seat,” the man gestured, and Jun and Aiba-chan did so on the bed, which seemed like the only surface not covered with papers. “My name is Sakurai Sho, and I am the ringmaster of this circus.” Jun nodded, and waited for him to go on.
“There isn’t much time, so I will cut to the chase. You, Jun, are in danger.” Here, Sho paused for dramatic effect. Seeing no obvious response, he continued.
“As you might know, we are a circus, but we are no ordinary circus. I am trusting you with this information because you cannot go back. You are being pursued by the Soulshadows.”
At this point, he pulled a foldable blackboard seemingly out of nowhere, and several blobs were scrawled on it in chalk.
“His drawing isn’t that good,” Aiba-chan whispered to Jun. “Just humour him.”
Jun nodded, half in agreement with Aiba-chan, and half to show that he was listening to Sho’s condensed lecture on Soulshadows.
“Soulshadows are the manifestation of humanity’s malevolence and negativity. Some even say that they are the work of the Devil himself. They consume the Potential of humans and cause feelings of depression and hopelessness. It’s like the bacteria in your teeth eating sugar and making cavities. Now, on to the topic of Potential. Potential is what we call humans’ ability to bring light, warmth, and happiness into the lives of others, whether through listening, sharing, or various ways of entertainment. The more Potential you have, the more you can help ward off the effects of the Soulshadows for others, but also the more they want to attack you to stop that. They also want to breed. As the saying goes, misery loves company, and when humans succumb to the depression and kill themselves, a new Soulshadow is formed.”
Jun shuddered. “Then where do I come into all this?”
“There’s a prophecy that five people will arise with the power to stop the Soulshadows once and for all. We have a special connection, but we’ll only feel it if we get within range.” Here, Sho paused, and his expression softened.
“You’re the last of the five, Jun.”
To his credit, Jun did not run screaming from the caravan. He sat there for a few moments, taking a couple of deep breaths and trying to come to terms with this new information, while Aiba-chan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sho patiently waited for him, as he knew from past experience that his own acceptance had been difficult as well.
“What about my job, my rent..?”
“Johnny-san will take care of that. Money and power can do almost everything in this world.” Sho answered simply.
Aiba-chan tried to help him look on the bright side. “But the best part is our powers! Sho-chan can throw knives - or anything, really - with deadly accuracy! And I can manipulate fire.”
Jun recalled Aiba making the mabo tofu earlier. He privately thought it suited Aiba-chan rather well, with his spontaneity, infectious happiness, and warmth. However, something else that Sho said struck him.
“But you said there were five of us?”
“The others will arrive soon. Ah, here’s Nino!”
A small man swung himself in through the open window and landed silently next to Jun. He smirked, enjoying Jun’s open-mouthed stare. “Hi.”
“This is Nino, our resident acrobat. He has an out-of-this-world sense of balance, no matter what position he’s in.” Sho blushed slightly and cleared his throat. “I mean, whether it’s on a unicycle, or a tightrope, or on a unicycle on a tightrope, our Nimble Ninomiya will never fall.”
“Aw, nonsense,” Nino said, but he couldn’t suppress a wide grin.
“He can also climb walls and other things.” Aiba-chan whispered.
“And lastly, we have our strongman Satoshi. He has super-fast metabolism, which can translate into both super strength and speed, but we can only show the audience the strength. He’s too fast for the naked eye, you see.”
As Sho spoke, the last man came in. He seemed somehow faded into the surroundings, and looked really sleepy. As Jun watched, he extended a hand with long, slender fingers. Jun stood up and took it.
“Ohno Satoshi. Nice to meet you.”
“He also makes our costumes.” Aiba-chan chimed in. Ohno smiled and said quietly, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll need your measurements.”
Jun nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”
Before he’d even finished the sentence, Ohno had whipped out a sky-blue measuring tape and was measuring him all over. The whole thing was over in two shakes of a duck’s tail. Although Jun detected what could have been a flit of annoyance in Aiba-chan’s eyes when Ohno had wrapped the measuring tape around his chest, it was gone when he blinked, so he put it to the back of his mind.
Stepping back from Jun, Ohno bowed and excused himself before zooming out of the door.
“So, now we’ll get down to the proper business.” Sho slid the blackboard back into its hidden compartment and focused his gaze intently on Jun. “Come with us.”
~~~~~
The previous time Jun had stepped into this circus ring, it had been crowded and chaotic- packed with the noise and crush of audience, and dancing spotlights that distracted his eyes and pulled them everywhere. In the daytime, it looked different - silent and unassuming, as if it were waiting, waiting for the night when it could be full of glamour again.
“Now, there is an apple at the top of the trapeze structure. You need to get it down. You can use all these materials.” Sho gestured with a sweep of his hand. “We’ll try to figure out what your power is.”
Spread on the ground were poles, cloth, ropes, and all sorts of other items. Jun stared at them and thought hard, but nothing came to his brain.
“Why don’t you try jumping?” Aiba-chan suggested. “Maybe you can fly?”
Thinking that this suggestion was just as good as any, Jun took a few tentative jumps, and willed himself to rise. Nothing much happened, except for him landing on his backside and Aiba-chan and Nino rolling on the ground with laughter.
“Nope, that’s not it, then.” Nino added for good measure.
“How did you guys do it?” Jun questioned, suddenly. Maybe he could get some ideas.
“None of our powers would repeat, but I can tell you anyway. Sho-chan threw a knife and knocked it down. Nino just climbed up. I made a hot-air balloon-” here Aiba puffed up a little with pride “-and Oh-chan just lifted the whole structure up and tilted it a little so that the apple dropped down.”
“Whoa,” said Jun, a little awestruck.
“But what if my powers aren’t something related to that? What if I can turn invisible or something? That’s not going to help…”
“He’s right, Sho-chan.” Aiba-chan piped up.
“But the apple test is what everyone goes through.” Sho scratched his head, a little bemused. “It’s the test that Johnny-san set up, and it’s guaranteed to work.”
“Johnny-san? Who’s Johnny-san?” This was the second time Sho had mentioned this name.
“Oh, didn’t I explain it earlier?” Sho frowned a little. “Well, Johnny-san is the one who started it all - the battle against the Soulshadows. He started an entertainment agency, because music and laughter are an effective, if temporary, weapon to fight the negativity away. This circus is his brainchild. He came up with it when he found Satoshi and me, and heard of the legend. This way, we could hide in plain sight - people expect to see extraordinary feats at the circus - and help more people be happy. Through close contact with the audience, we could also find the next few of us more easily. In addition, he made this circus Soulshadow-proof, so that people can really be truly happy here.”
“Well, I don’t see how getting this apple is going to help.” Jun folded his arms.
“Well, the earlier we find out what your power is, the more time we have to train it. The Soulshadows are almost upon us as we speak.”
“Yeah, okay.”
They brainstormed for a while, with Aiba-chan mainly throwing out ideas - “Maybe it’s mind-control? Hey Jun, try to mind control Nino to get it for you!” - and earning himself smacks on the head.
As they were about to give up in frustration, Jun sighed. The apple gleamed tauntingly from its spot high up on the structure. “It would be nice if I could just reach up and grab it,” he said, gesturing sarcastically, when something happened.
Jun’s arm seemed to elongate by itself, stretching and stretching, until his hand reached the apple and firmly grasped it.
“Rubber powers! Why didn’t we think of that sooner?” Sho looked like he was berating himself, while Aiba-chan clapped and congratulated Jun, whose arm had snapped back to normal, bringing the apple with it.
“You can be our new contortionist then,” Sho said enthusiastically, pulling out a clipboard from the depths of his clothes. “We’ll need to come up with a circus name for you then. I can’t think of anything that alliterates with Jun at the moment… What’s your family name?”
“Matsumoto.” Jun was too baffled at the recent happenings to catch himself.
“Well, then, the Marvellous Matsumoto.” Sho finished writing with a satisfied smile and a flourish.
“What about you?” Jun asked.
“I’m the Spectacular Sakurai.” Sho proudly declared. “And Nino is the Nimble Ninomiya, Ohno is Satoshi the Strong, and there’s the Amazing Aiba-chan sitting right there. Not that I think you don’t know that already,” Sho remarked, pushing up his glasses, “The way you looked at him that day was extraordinary.”
Jun blushed, but Sho carried on as if nothing had happened. “He also took pretty much a fancy to you, I think. In fact, he insisted on being the one to retrieve you when we detected the mass outbreak of Soulshadows at your house.”
“Nothing like that happened! It was late at night and everyone else was asleep, that’s all!” Aiba-chan retorted.
“That’s what he says,” Nino winked at Jun. “But anyway, let’s get on with the training!”
~~~~~
“First lesson in circus training, safety.” Sho tapped on a rolling blackboard where he’d written and underlined the word SAFETY a few times for good measure. He then noticed Jun’s hand waving from the audience seats, where the other three were. “Yes, you have a question, Jun?”
“Where do you get all these blackboards?” Jun blurted. “I mean, is it another of your powers?”
Sho chuckled. “Oh, these hidden blackboards are Aiba-chan’s inventions. He’s pretty good at inventing things, and these have come in handy when I need to provide the circus folk - which are all of you - with proper education.”
“Wow,” Jun mouthed. He cast an impressed gaze at Aiba-chan who beamed with delight.
“Back to the topic at hand. Safety. There are two main groups of people whose safety we should always be concerned about. Nino, would you like to illustrate?”
“The performers, and the audience.” Nino said in a bored voice, not looking up from his doodles on a mini chalkboard that seemed to have also appeared out of nowhere.
“Right! So when doing your performances, you have to make sure that you neither endanger yourself, nor the people who are here to appreciate your acts. For example, I have to make sure none of my knives hits innocent people, and Aiba-chan has to keep his flames under control as well. Nino has to ALWAYS”- here he looked sternly at Nino - “have a safety net when performing at great heights.”
“As for you, Jun,” Sho continued, “You need to make sure that you can get out of whatever position you’re in, at any time, in case you have to fight.”
“Fight?” Jun looked concerned. “The - the Soulshadows? In the middle of a performance?”
“Yes, Jun, our group’s Potential is awakened to the maximum now. It gets stronger when we use our powers. In case we ever have to do it, I want all of you to pretend it’s still a performance. Keep the audience's’ spirits up, so that they have enough defenses against the Soulshadows.”
“All right.” Determination flowed through Jun’s body.
“Another thing, your eyes will glow when you’re using your powers. Don’t look at the audience too much.”
“Oh.” That explains a lot, Jun thought.
“And especially don’t look directly at a Soulshadow’s eyes. They steal out your Potential that way. Eyes are the windows to your soul.” Nino stated.
“Right. Keep the audience’s eyes on us. Yes.” Jun nodded, and Sho seemed satisfied.
“Alright, that concludes lesson one. Let’s move on to lesson two - performing.”
~~~~~
It was half past four in the evening when Jun finally left the ring, having been through a crash course of his contortionist act as well as basic fighting training. Ohno had stepped in midway to present him with his costume - a lovely stretchy black and purple affair covered with sequins - and to sketch him in action for printing in the flyers, while Nino had composed some suspenseful and grand music to accompany the act itself.
After a hurried meal, everyone went back to their own caravans to get ready for the night’s show. Aiba-chan began enthusiastically attacking Jun’s face with a powder puff, before Jun assured him that he could do his own makeup and gently pushed him away.
At last, the show began! Crowds streamed into the tent, and dancing spotlights increased the excitement in the atmosphere.
“And now, Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Circus Tempesta!” Sho’s voice boomed out loud, and Jun felt his heartbeat quicken. The smell of the sawdust, the noise in the stands, and the amazing visuals caught up to him. From his position backstage, he had a great view.
“As the first act, I present to you… the Nimble Ninomiya!”
Resplendent in a gold tight suit, Nino cartwheeled into the ring amid cheers and whistles.
It’s starting. It’s really starting, and I’ll be a part of it soon. Jun couldn’t help but feel nervous. What if I mess up? What if..?
He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Jun!” Aiba-chan smiled. “First-day nerves, right? Everybody gets them.”
Jun nodded and tried to put on a brave front. He didn’t want to look weak in front of Aiba-chan.
“Ladies and gentlemen. For this next part, I would like to seek your cooperation in keeping absolutely silent while our Nimble Ninomiya takes to the tightrope.”
A hush fell over the crowd, and every eye was concentrated on Nino as he made his ascent to the tiny platform. He took a tentative step on the line, and another, swaying dangerously, looking exactly as if he were about to fall, but miraculously staying on. When he’d passed a quarter of the rope, a change came over him, and he grinned at the audience, before striding confidently across as if he were on the ground. Once at the other end, he picked something up, and got on. It was a unicycle.
Jun’s mouth fell open as he watched Nino cycle back and forth on the tightrope as if it were nothing, then stop right in the middle. From an inside pocket, as if by magic, Nino pulled out a long, thin, metal rod, and balanced it on his nose. He then produced three plates, one after the other, and after juggling them for a while, tossed them right on top of the rod, where they spun and balanced perfectly. Tentatively, he began to move. Forward, backward, forward, backward, and once more forward, till he reached the platform. He then took the plates off, tossed them into the air where they disappeared like magic, and took a bow.
The audience erupted into applause, and it was Aiba-chan’s turn. Jun didn’t get to watch because he had to prepare for his own turn, but he didn’t mind because he could still freshly remember Aiba’s performances.
Ohno came up to Jun with a friendly reminder. “You’re up next, Jun, please get into your suitcase.”
Jun gingerly bent his body and inched his way inside. It was a tight fit, but with his newfound flexibility, nothing he couldn’t manage.
He felt a sudden sense of claustrophobia as Ohno gently pulled the zipper closed, shutting off the light. He took deep breaths to calm himself.
Don’t worry, you’ll do fine, he chanted to himself. Before he knew it, he felt the suitcase being dragged, and Sho’s voice boomed over the speakers.
“Those of you who are here today have the privilege of seeing the very first performance of our newest member, the Marvellous Matsumoto! Please, sit back and enjoy!”
As the applause died down, people started to whisper. “It’s a suitcase?” “Maybe something’s supposed to happen?”
Jun steeled himself and tugged at the zipper. It was time.
As he pulled himself out of the tiny cramped space, the whisperings of impatience turned into murmurings of awe.
“How could someone fit into something so tiny?”
That’s more like it, Jun smiled to himself.
Standing up to his full height, he linked his hands above his head, and slowly brought his arms around him like a skipping rope, for a full round, without letting go of his hands. He then did it again for the benefit of those in the back.
As he straightened up, he let go of his hands. Stretching upwards and back, his hands reached the floor in a classic bridge, and slowly walked themselves toward his legs.
When they were almost at the same line, the audience was sure Jun was going to either fall or reach his limit, but he did neither. He heard gasps, and grinned.
Jun’s legs kicked up straight, one after the other, until he was in a handstand position. He then put them down gracefully on the other side of his hands. He let his body follow through, back to a standing position, and slowly picked up one of his legs, keeping it straight as it moved upwards to be in a single line with his standing leg.
The rest of his act carried on this way, with smooth, unhurried movements. Jun ended his act with two fluid cartwheels, bowed, and exited the ring. As he stepped out past the curtain, Aiba-chan clapped a hand on his shoulder with an enthusiastic “Great job!” before hurrying into the ring after Pan-kun.
After Aiba-chan’s act would be Ohno’s, and the strong man needed to prepare the cart and haul his props to standby behind the curtain. Jun ran about helping to gather the lighter items, while Ohno hitched the cart to one of the elephants, Chiyo-chan.
“Thanks, Jun,” Ohno smiled.
“It’s no problem,” Jun replied. “All the best!”
Jun peeked out again, eager to see what he had missed the first time as part of the audience. Chiyo-chan huffed slowly into the ring, pulling the heavy cart behind her, step by step.
Ohno didn’t need to hook the audience with showy talk or flex his arms in an overly obvious manner. Instead, he let his actions do the talking. First, he took out a brand new phone book from the cart and unwrapped it. He showed it to the audience, flipping it a little to show the sheer number of pages. Once everyone’s attention was on him, he put the closed book on his knee, and steadily tore it in half.
The audience cheered and clapped when he held up the two halves of the phone book for confirmation. Putting it aside, he then took out three large metal weights, each roughly the size and shape of a pomelo, and started juggling with them as effortlessly as if they had been regular juggling balls. After a few tosses, he dropped each of them down onto a large metal plate, clanging as each one hit the plate, confirming that the weights were indeed as heavy as they looked.
Next, he pulled out a metal bar which was as thick as Jun’s arm and just about the same length. Dropping it once to show its weight, he picked it up and, with a few grunts, bent it into a large knot.
Jun was completely enthralled by the feats of the strong man. At the end of his act, Ohno piled up all the heavy props into the cart and pulled it out smoothly by himself while the sound of claps and cheers filled the stands. Jun was on standby to receive Chiyo-chan, and led her to her pen.
He got back in time to see Sho himself standing in the ring, resplendent in fiery red and smoothly pulling knives from a rack. He had a volunteer from the audience strapped to a board some distance away, and was making a show of how sharp each knife was, before throwing each one dangerously close to the volunteer. He didn’t even throw them like a normal person would. No, he threw each one with increasing difficulty - over his shoulder, under a knee, behind his back, and finally, blindfolded.
Jun breathed a sigh of relief when the volunteer finally stood up, completely unharmed, with an outline of knives on the board. Sho thanked the volunteer and presented him with a souvenir, before taking out his bow and arrows.
Over the heads of the audience, there were several balloons hanging in front of target boards. Sho spun around and fired arrows in quick succession. As the balloons burst, confetti floated down onto the audience. When everything was clear, the audience cheered to find that every arrow had found the centre of its target.
Sho bowed and left the ring to resume his place at the microphone, before Aiba-chan’s cannon was wheeled in. Jun had seen this part before, but it was still as riveting and dazzling as it had been the first time.
~~~~~
That night, Jun roomed with Aiba-chan again, his caravan being the only one with an extra bed.
“Sometimes Pan-kun gets nightmares, so he comes to sleep with me for a bit, but don’t worry, I clean the sheets every time.” Aiba-chan smiled encouragingly.
Jun felt a twinge of something suspiciously like jealousy in his stomach, but dismissed it. Why on earth would he be jealous of a monkey?
He snuggled into bed and tried to get comfortable as Aiba-chan blew out the oil lamp. An unsettling darkness settled over them. Jun had never been in such darkness - in the city, many lights would usually seep in through his window at night.
“Hey, Aiba-chan,” Jun began.
“Yeah?” came the slightly sleepy answer from above.
“What was it like, when you first joined?”
“Mmmh…” Aiba-chan took a while to think. “It was a bit scary and sad, because I had to leave my family behind. But Sho-chan let me write them a letter to tell them where I was, and every couple of years we go back and visit.”
Jun felt his stomach give a squeeze. “Every couple of years?”
He heard the wistfulness in Aiba-chan’s voice. “Yeah, we’re a travelling circus, but we don’t travel that often. Especially since it’s not good for the animals.”
The springs creaked as Aiba-chan moved around a little on the top bunk. “Do you miss your family too, Jun?”
“No.” Jun’s answer was almost inaudible.
There had been a catch in his voice, and Aiba-chan instinctively let an arm hang down over the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”
After a small hesitation, Jun took his hand. It felt warm and reassuring. While Aiba-chan gave a gentle squeeze, he said in a soothing tone, “Everything’s alright, yeah? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We should get some sleep, anyway. Good night, Jun.”
“Good night, Aiba-chan.” Jun let go and curled up on his side, feeling a little more comforted.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Sho was in the ring, quiet and absorbed in thought. It was dim, illuminated with only a single light bulb, and Sho felt that he could think better that way. Scribbling on a blackboard with chalk, he didn’t notice a shadowy presence behind him.
“What’s up, Sho-chan?” A sudden voice startled Sho, who flung the chalk behind him without thinking. The figure let go of the tightrope - letting the chalk whistle harmlessly past its head - and landed beautifully on the ground after doing a double somersault.
“What, no applause?” Nino inclined his head and raised his hands to an imaginary audience.
“Nino, I could have hit you. This isn’t funny!” Sho’s hand was still pressed to his chest as his breathing gradually slowed.
“I know, but you didn’t.” Nino closed the gap between them in a couple of steps, and suddenly his hands were at Sho’s waist. Tantalisingly, slowly, they slid up to his neck, resting on those sloping shoulders. Nino’s eyes never left Sho’s.
“You didn’t answer me. What’s up?”
“I was just doing some calculations. We’re already at summer, and when the days grow shorter, the Soulshadows grow stronger. They might attack soon, and we have to be ready for that. Jun needs to be trained faster, and everyone still needs regular practice. We don’t know when or where they will attack, but based on the wind direction and the phase of the moon… I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”
“Yes, and I’ll put a stop to that right now.”
Nino leaned in and stole Sho’s breath with his lips, burying his hands deep in Sho’s hair. Sho relaxed into the kiss, tasting the sweet warmth. Their bodies pressed together, swaying gently, two silhouettes melding together.
When they broke apart, Nino’s eyes came into focus, and Sho read in them the subtle but strong concern that Nino must’ve felt.
“It’s late, Sho. It’s time for bed.”
“Yours or mine?” Sho asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Nino rolled his eyes. “It’s already late, you pervert.”
Grinning, he added, “Yours.”
~~~~~
The days flew past, and Jun slowly grew accustomed to life on the circus. Everything was new to him, but he loved every single minute of it. The fresh air, the animals and the audience’s attention, all of it.
One of the things Jun was surprised by was the amount of lessons the performers had to go through. Sho, being the most highly educated of the bunch, had taken it upon himself to make sure that everyone was literate and had a good working knowledge about current events at the very least. He also had a few textbooks on high school subjects, especially economics,that he liked to bring in. Nino, being a natural performer, taught everyone the basics of performance - juggling, handstands, and finding their balance on a tightrope - as well as performance etiquette, like facing the audience for as much of the time as possible. Aiba-chan showed everyone some effective combat stances from his previous training,as well as showing them how to interact harmoniously with the circus animals. Finally, Ohno led the classes on art and meditation, to soothe the soul of daily troubles and improve one’s Potential.
Jun was a little worried at first about not having something to share, but the other four reassured him that he could take his time. “Johnny-san says everyone will have something to share, eventually.”
~~~~~
Besides all the lessons, Jun was learning much more about things he wouldn’t have wondered if it hadn’t been for the circus.
Once, after a performance, he had asked Ohno what he did with all those torn phone books. Ohno brought him to his caravan to show him. A basket with a blue checkered cloth was in a corner, and snuggled into it was a little black kitten with white markings. There was shredded paper lining a box for kitty litter. As Jun gazed around the cluttered but cosy space, he spied several bowls, vases, and sculpture made from papier mache, as well as paper flowers inside the vases. Some paper flowers were even decorating the shiny sewing machine on the side table.
Jun’s amazed “Wow…” was enough to make Ohno beam brilliantly.
“Yeah…” Ohno rubbed the back of his head shyly. “When you’re fast, you have a lot of time to do things.”
Jun bit back the temptation to ask, “in bed too?” but he couldn’t help smiling.
Ohno saw the smile and was encouraged to continue. “But that’s why I like fishing a lot. It forces me to slow down, and I get more time to think.”
Jun glanced around and saw a couple of fishing poles leaning against a corner. He nodded. It turned out to be the start of a long story about fishing and art, but strangely, Jun didn’t feel bored at all.
At dinner that night, he mentioned to Nino, “I didn’t know Oh-chan liked fishing so much, he talked to me for half an hour about it.”
Nino was amazed. “What? I’ve never heard him string more than two sentences together, and even that’s really rare. You must have some sort of talent to get him talking to you.”
Jun just hummed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
~~~~~
Life on the circus was pretty much well and good, however, one thing he did miss was the blissful ignorance of the outside world. The knowledge of the Soulshadows’ existence weighed deeply on his mind as he walked, and he felt a sense of anxiety whenever he ventured out of the protective barrier of the circus grounds. Though he never saw the beings themselves in daylight, their effects were apparent in the faces of the people he met. Dark eye circles, droopy corners of mouths, frown lines, worry lines, wrinkled brows - everything that Jun saw echoed the presence of the Soulshadows, and it chilled him to the marrow.
He didn’t dare to speak out these fears as he assumed that everyone at the circus would probably be going through the same thing, and none of them had mentioned it. Walking right beside him was a prime example of this.
Aiba-chan had been tasked by Sho to tag along whenever Jun left the protective barrier of the circus grounds, as Sho felt it was safer to travel in pairs. The taller man was now chatting cheerfully as they walked, seemingly unaffected by the general gloom in the surrounding passersby.
“It’s so nice to be out in the sunshine, right? I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while. Oh, are we going buy fish? There was one time the circus stopped by near the seaside, and Oh-chan went fishing every minute of his spare time. The fish he caught was really delicious though! It was probably the best sashimi I’ve ever eaten. But Sho-chan always nagged at him because he forgot the sunblock… sometimes he even stayed out overnight.”
Jun smiled in spite of himself. Hearing the constant stream of words was quite soothing, and had the effect of bringing him away from the current worries and doubts swirling in his mind. He quite enjoyed learning more about Aiba-chan, too.
In this way, they carried on, Aiba-chan talking and Jun listening. Jun noticed that Aiba-chan’s energy and enthusiasm was contagious, and everyone they passed by immediately brightened up when Aiba-chan greeted them cheerfully. “What a polite young man,” an old lady had remarked, her face no longer quite so haunted by the shadows of everyday pressures.
Is this what the Potential is about? Jun wondered. Brightening people’s lives… There’s definitely more ways than simply through pure entertainment.
~~~~~
A few weeks had passed without a Soulshadow attack, and the whole circus atmosphere was feeling a little more relaxed. On a particularly breezy night, Jun went out strolling to visit Chiyo-chan with a bag of apples in his hand. The stars were out, and Jun felt a sense of peace under their pale light.
Chiyo-chan was happy to see him, and lifted her trunk in anticipation of the sweet fruit. Pan-kun, looking out from a neighbouring pen, held his hand out for an apple too, although Jun was reluctant to give him any after the previous night. Aiba-chan swore Pan-kun hadn’t known what he was doing when he took Jun’s hair product and squeezed it all over the bathroom mirror, but Jun had been convinced that Pan-kun was just jealous that Jun had moved into Aiba-chan’s life.
Jun shuddered, and goosebumps spread like a wave over his flesh. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something was not right.
Before he could react, a dark mass swept over the circus grounds. A loud shout echoed in the night. “Soulshadows!”
Jun realised moments afterward that it had been his own voice shouting. But this can’t be, Sho said the circus was Soulshadow-proof, how..? Jun thought numbly. His legs took over and started running towards the first shelter in sight - the main performance tent. His instinct was to draw them away from the animals, and it seemed to be working - the shadows followed him instead.
The other four were already at the tent when Jun reached, having heard the shout from earlier. As he came through the flap, the dark masses at his heels, coloured light filled the air. Aiba-chan was trying to hold them off with his flaming staff. Sho focused his energy on his weapons, and they glowed as red as his eyes. He flicked out throwing knives at amazing speed, dissipating the shadows nearest to him. Ohno punched those around him with fists a shining azure, and Nino was slowly edging up hand over hand towards the tightrope platform, kicking out with yellow-outlined feet.
With a huge grunt, Jun stretched out his arms and windmilled them around in large amethyst circles, mowing down the shadows like a giant fan. This knocked them down easily enough, but the sheer volume of the shadows meant that they just kept coming back. He turned his head this way and that, remembering Sho’s warning about the eyes.
Something swished downwards behind Jun, and he subconsciously registered that the safety net had been cut, possibly by one of Sho’s knives. He skipped a couple of steps forward to prevent himself from being entangled in it, then carried on with his fight.
All of a sudden, Sho looked up and gasped. A whimper from Nino had attracted his attention, and he had turned his head to see Nino teetering on the edge of the towering platform. On a normal day, Nino could balance without a problem, but not with dozens of shadows pushing and forcing him over the edge. He kicked and punched the hardest he could, downing another couple of shadows, but his fall was imminent.
Sho tried desperately to fight his way towards the base of the structure, but he couldn’t make it in time. He was running out of knives. Even if he tried aiming them towards the shadows surrounding Nino, he was deathly afraid that he would miss, and he would never forgive himself if he ever hit Nino.
Nino closed his eyes as he lashed out for the last time, feeling a strange sense in his stomach that he’d never had to face, having never fallen from such a height. He mentally prepared himself for the hard splat that would happen when he hit the ground.
But that moment never came. He felt himself landing on a soft material and being enveloped, almost like the safety net, but it wasn’t. He opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by purple light.
Jun had stretched out between the poles and caught him at the last second.
“I’m so glad it wasn’t mind control!” Nino called out as he emerged from Jun’s folds and re-entered the battle.
“Yeah, same!”
The five of them gradually weakened as the battle wore on, while the Soulshadows were going as strong as ever. The feelings of dread and tiredness weighed heavily on them, and the shadows grew ever stronger. As Jun took a breath, the shadows wrapped around him and finally took him.
Everything was dark, but Jun felt himself being carried away. He could hear the rest of them shouting after him, not daring to attack the black mass that he was in the centre of, for fear of hurting him, as well as being completely exhausted from the fighting.
Strangely enough, it was warm and dry inside that ball of shadows, echoing a feeling of himself from when he was a child, curling up and hiding from the outside world. It reawakened a deep yearning for family and love that had been gnawing at him from the inside. It had been that way ever since his parents had perished in a car accident, and he had been tossed from foster home to foster home, forever feeling unloved and unwanted. The Soulshadows amplified and drew out that pain inside of him, taunted him.
~~~~~
Jun didn’t know how long he had been suffering emotionally inside the black, shapeless mass. When he came to, he was in a white fluffy bed.
“Not again…” he murmured as he rubbed his head. It felt like it was filled with cotton wool.
Someone spoke from beside him. “You’re awake.”
The coldness of the voice pierced Jun’s heart like one of Sho’s arrows. He turned his head to see a thin old man on a wheelchair beside him. His hair was white as snow and his face was filled with a network of wrinkles. Cushions were piled on the wheelchair around his wizened frame.
“Who… who are you?” Jun tried to focus his vision, but his head throbbed with the effort.
“Oh, Sho-kun never told you about me?” The old man coughed.
A name floated up in Jun’s head. “Johnny-san?” Jun asked with uncertainty. He’d never seen the old man in the flesh before.
“Yup. You’re so smart!” The old man imitated in a high pitched voice, and cackled.
A chill ran down Jun’s spine. How could Johnny-san have known about this? That was one of the first few things Aiba-chan had said to him.
“Shadows are everywhere, my boy. Whenever the light shines, there will be shadows. They look, they listen, and they know things. Whoever’s in control will have all the power.”
“But…” Jun felt a little woozy. “You set up the circus. You wanted to gather all of us, so that we could help to get rid of the Soulshadows…”
“Oh, how precious.” The old man’s face was a mask of evil glee. “Did you think it was so simple, all this time? How wonderfully naive.”
Running his tongue over his pale lips, he continued. “I did set up the circus all those years ago, when the first Soulshadows arrived and started tormenting people. When the first significant rise in suicide cases started, and the whole world became gloomy. My circus was the pillar of hope in a dark age.”
The old man’s eyes shone with malevolence as he delivered the most crucial part.
“What you don’t know, my boy, is that I saw them come to life. They are mine.”
Jun’s confusion turned to anger as he struggled to sit up.
“Sho trusted you! We all trusted you!”
“Could you have done any different? At that time, I had lost my job, my wife had left me, and she took my children with her. My heart was twisted and bitter - and then Fate handed me this chance. When the Devil appeared and granted me the first Soulshadow, I knew it was a sign. Things picked up for me then - I met two promising young lads, Sakurai-kun and Ohno-kun, and we started the circus together.”
“As long as we had the Soulshadows - what better way than to have people willingly give up their money to temporarily throw off the weight on their souls? The key word here is temporarily, Matsumoto-kun. As long as they kept coming, the money kept coming. Money and power can do almost everything in this world.”
Jun gasped as he recognised that quote.
“Everything was going so well. We had another two additions - Aiba-kun and Ninomiya-kun, and now we were in a dangerous position.”
Despite all his disgust at the old man’s revelations, Jun’s curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, “Why?”
“It was in the prophecy, you see. When the Devil gave me control, it came with a condition. If all five of you were united, you could get rid of the Soulshadows, and I couldn’t have that happening now, could I?”
“You’re crazy!” Jun spat, but there was no stopping Johnny-san.
“But how to do it? That was the question. I couldn’t directly stop them and risk blowing the cover that I worked so hard all these years to achieve, could I? So I tried to get to you before they could, but… that failed, thanks to Aiba-kun.”
“Even when I tried to get to you afterwards, there was always something in the way. All of you possess very special talents. Not that rubbery nonsense, that’s just the one on the surface. Everyone has different talents - some are obvious, on the surface, and some require others to dive down deep to see.”
Johnny-san paused for effect. At this rather inappropriate moment, Jun recalled one topic of Sho’s lectures about announcing acts, “Pausing for Effect”, and realised he must have gotten it from this guy.
“For instance, Ohno-kun is strong but silent, and his strength lies in being a pillar of support that others rely on, emotionally and literally. Sakurai-kun is intelligent and extremely accurate at his guesses, usually picking the right way out of situations. Aiba-kun is spontaneous and radiant, filling people around him with warmth. Ninomiya-kun reads situations and delicately balances them to minimise or prevent blowups or extra tension. And lastly, we come to you, Matsumoto-kun.”
“You are versatile and pliant, and you help people feel comfortable enough to open up to you. Nobody thinks “Oh, Jun-kun wouldn’t be interested in this” because you show just the right amount of awe and wonder at everything. In fact, look at what I’ve done now!” A high-pitched giggle escaped the old man’s lips. “I’ve gone and said too much, haven’t I?”
The exaggerated surprise disappeared from Johnny-san’s face as quickly as it had come, to be replaced by a look of annoyance.
“I honestly don’t want to do this, Matsumoto-kun, but you know too much.”
Johnny-san raised a thin hand and a dark shadow swirled up around Jun as if on command. It surrounded his torso and neck, tightening around him. Jun felt a pressure on his chin, and closed his eyes, shying away from the intense fear and horror he felt. Don’t look at it in the eyes, he reminded himself.
“Ah, ah! Playing coy now, are we?” An evil smile played on Johnny-san’s lips, and he tightened his fist. Jun felt a crushing sensation that echoed the movement.
Suddenly, the door to the room crashed open, and four people with glowing eyes barged in with the dissipation of a hundred Soulshadows in their wake. Johnny-san was momentarily distracted, and the grip on Jun’s body lessened slightly. Nino, sharp as ever, assessed the situation and called out, “J, you are rubber. He can’t crush you!”
Of course! Jun hastily stretched out his body while taking a few welcome gulps of air. A few twists and turns later, he had slipped out of the clutches of the Soulshadow. However, Johnny-san was more preoccupied. Hastily he summoned a group of more Soulshadows to shield him, but his effort was futile.
Under Sho’s intense gaze, the new Soulshadows seemed to wilt and grow paler, and a few well-aimed knives finished them off.
“Did you forget, Johnny-san? That you told us not to look at them directly.” Sho’s eyes were blazing red. “But there was that little detail where they would weaken right after, because the best way to deal with fear and negativity is to face it head on!”
“It was Sho-chan who figured it out! He said that since Johnny-san lied about everything else, he might have lied about the looking too.” Aiba-chan told Jun excitedly. “We heard everything from the other side, but couldn’t come in earlier because we were fighting off a huge swarm.”
Meanwhile, a change was coming over the old man. “No…” Johnny-san cowered back in his wheelchair, a pale rendering of the cocky, crazed old man he had been. “No!”
Dusty orange clouds materialised in the middle of the room, together with the strong smell of sulphur. A tall, horned figure in a dark cloak stepped out and looked down his nose at the scene. He directed his attention to the man in the wheelchair.
“Well, well, well… looks like we have got ourselves in a spot of trouble, haven’t we? You’ve lost, old man. But you did run a successful underground ring,” the fellow rumbled as he thumbed his chin thoughtfully. “Cheating, lying, building an empire’s worth of wealth… maybe you’ll do better down there with me instead. Curse that bet with the Guy Upstairs, I couldn’t even step in to make sure you won today.”
He glanced at the rest, standing and staring with open mouths. “What, you’ve never seen the Devil before? Ahh, I don’t have time for this.”
He swept his cloak over the whimpering man and in a flash, the both of them were gone.
The room filled with with silence momentarily as the five of them struggled to understand what had just happened.
Jun broke the silence by saying, “Johnny-san may have done a lot of bad things, but I’m glad that I met you guys because of it. Let’s work hard and make the world a happier place.”
~~~~~
EPILOGUE
“As a finale, Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you something very special. Something never before seen in this circus. A collaboration between all of us.”
Sho nodded to Jun, and he climbed up to the tightrope platform to join Nino, who was already there. As Jun performed, he could feel the warmth from the hearts of each of his friends. He wasn’t alone anymore.
Nino led him to the centre of the tightrope, their hands tightly grasped.
You know I wouldn’t let you fall.
Slowly Jun let go of one hand, reaching down behind himself to grab hold of the rope. The other hand followed suit, with Nino holding on to his body for stability. Jun was only holding the rope with his hands now, in a headstand position. He scissored his straight legs once, twice, before aligning them perfectly straight up. Tensing up his arms, he pushed off while Nino let go.
The wind whistled past his ears, and he met with the strong arms of Satoshi, stopping his descent before he became a mere splatter on the ground.
You know I’ll always be here to catch you.
Satoshi held Jun while the latter bent his body around a fireproof hoop lined with paper. The strongman then took Jun up into his arms, and tossed him in the air a few times, each time higher than the last.
Mechanised birds (invented by Aiba-chan) flew in, each with razor-sharp beaks and claws, heading straight for Jun. Sho whipped out his bow and fired a volley of arrows, making each one disappear in a puff of feathers before they reached Jun.
You know I wouldn’t let anything hurt you.
When all the birds were gone, Sho stretched out his bow one last time. He took some breaths to steady himself, and Aiba placed a hand on his shoulder, lighting the final arrow with the other.
You know I’ll ignite the passion in you.
Satoshi threw Jun up for the final time, and as Jun neared the peak of his trajectory, Sho let go. The arrow flew swiftly, neatly piercing the paper and burning it away, while Jun fell into Satoshi’s arms, unscathed. The audience went wild as Jun presented the paperless hoop.
The five of them gathered hand in hand in the middle of the ring and took a final bow against a backdrop of fireworks.
~END~
Pairing: Junba, Sakumiya (side)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: mentions of depression, a Devil, death-defying feats
Summary: Jun is attacked by evil Soulshadows one night, and wakes up in a circus, discovering along the way that he has powers. What will he do? Please read on to find out!
Notes: (Written for
jun_exchange 2018) Dearest piggywhale , I hope you enjoy this! I had a great time writing it. (okay it's maybe a bit of a lie, I struggled near the end *lol* but I hope it was worth it!!) Thank you for being such a wonderful and responsive recipient. :) To my beta, thank you so so so much for helping to point out my inconsistencies and make this fic better than it could have ever been without you. <3 They came for him on a hot, sticky summer’s night.
Jun had been at home, tossing and turning in his bed, running a finger around the slightly sweaty collar of his oversized T-shirt and considering getting up for a glass of water.
As he placed a hand on the doorknob of his bedroom, the window shattered behind him. Images flashed across Jun’s mind - a recent memory, fresh and vivid.
A circus flyer flaps past in the wind. Jun barely gives it a second look, but the clean freak in him urges him to pick it up. He detests litter.
“Circus Tempesta”, the large, flashy title declares. “Come in and be amazed.” Jun snorts a little. Nothing much can impress him now, but he unfolds it to get a better look anyway.
Inside, there are pictures of each performer, as well as a description of their abilities.
The first thing that catches Jun’s eye is the picture of a handsome man, grinning mischievously with a dressed-up monkey at his side. He is twirling a long baton with its ends lit up in harlequin flame. His eyes, Jun notices, are glowing with the same green.
“The Amazing Aiba-chan,” the caption reads. Jun gazes at the picture again. Aiba-chan is beaming with such intensity, Jun wouldn’t be surprised if the camera had melted right after taking this picture.
Jun checks the date and pockets the flyer. He decides to go later that week. Alone, of course. He’s never really had friends he could hang out with.
Jun flung open the door and dived out as the shards tinkled to the ground. Dark shadows swarmed up to him, and he instinctively covered his face with his arms. Running blindly, he dodged, tripped, and cursed.
He had nowhere left to hide.
Despite spending too much time deciding on his appearance, Jun arrives slightly early. However, he is surprised by the huge crowd that has already formed. The ticket boy is struggling with the masses, and another boy is bustling around, selling popcorn and drinks from a tray slung around his neck.
Jun finally gets a seat and makes himself comfortable. He’s in the third row, which has a pretty good view. Surprisingly, he doesn’t feel the crush of the crowd so much any more.
“And now, Ladies and Gentlemen!” The ringmaster’s voice echoes. The show is about to start. Jun sits back and relaxes.
Most of the evening passes by in a blur for Jun, but there are certain parts that leave an especially deep impression. The first time is when Aiba-chan, resplendent in his glittering costume, dances into the ring with the monkey. Pan-kun, as he’s called, is definitely amazing. He counts, he dances, he answers questions by tapping flashcards, and he competes with Aiba-chan in a series of physical challenges from timed sit-ups to stilt-racing around the ring.
As Aiba-chan struggles with the stilts - on purpose, Jun guesses - he looks up, and for a split second, he makes eye contact with Jun. Jun is puzzled - Aiba-chan’s eyes are brown, not green - but he dismisses that as a trick of the light, or photo-editing effects. Aiba-chan proceeds to lose spectacularly amid howls of laughter from the audience. He finally gives a bow and exits the stage with Pan-kun.
The next few acts are dazzling in their own right, but Jun can’t focus on them. A streak of blue, a swirl of yellow, a splash of red are all that remain in his memory. The second and final time Aiba-chan comes in, Jun originally doesn’t suspect a thing. A large cannon is wheeled in, and left in the centre of the ring. A fizzling sound was all that could be heard as the audience waited with bated breath. A resounding pop, and Aiba-chan flies out of the cannon, executing a perfect double somersault before landing elegantly on his feet. He then puts on a spectacular fire show, twirling and tossing batons and spiky contraptions with lit ends, as well as fire breathing. He ends with a magnificent fireworks display that steals Jun’s breath.
As Aiba-chan stands there, silhouetted against the rainbow-coloured sparks, Jun’s heart skips a beat. Aiba-chan nods to him, a tiny action that only Jun catches, and Jun nods back.
His eyes are green now.
Out of nowhere, a shriek pierced through the air. Blazing green flames outlined a hole in one of the shadows, where a lit staff stuck out of it. Holding on to the other end was a familiar silhouette with glowing green eyes.
Jun watched open-mouthed as the figure danced around, twirling his staff and slashing at shadows effortlessly, causing them to dissipate, until finally, there were none left.
Panting slightly, the man then rushed towards Jun, putting his hands on Jun’s shoulders. “Are you okay? I can’t believe I was nearly too late! Come with me, it’s not safe here!”
Jun nodded in a daze and allowed himself to be led out of his own apartment by a strange man. He barely registered a gaping burnt hole in his front door, which probably had been how his saviour had entered.
They got into a car, and the man showed the driver a thumbs up. As the car rumbled into the night, Jun found his tongue.
“Who are you? What were those… those things? Where are we going?”
“Whoa, steady there.” The man put out a concerned hand, pressing Jun gently backward into the soft, plush seat. “Sho-chan will explain all that later. For now, just... sleep.”
His voice turned into a whisper. Jun’s eyelids fluttered slowly shut and the noise of the engine faded gradually to the edges of his consciousness.
~~~~~
Jun woke up in a bottom bunk bed. The room around him was heavily cluttered, almost to the brink of being claustrophobic. As he moved, a couple of springs squeaked, and someone above him stirred.
“Ah, you’re awake!” The mysterious saviour from the previous night smiled down at him from the top bunk. “I suppose you’ll be wanting some breakfast?”
He climbed down carefully and slid his feet into a pair of white bunny slippers. Humming to himself, he flung open the curtains for more light, took down a saucepan from the wall and added ingredients to it. What he did next amazed Jun though. Instead of using the mini stove Jun saw at the side of the table, he simply held the bottom of the saucepan in his hands, and after a while, it started to bubble, and a delicious aroma filled the room.
When he noticed Jun watching, he threw Jun a failed wink and said in a loud stage whisper, “I’m actually not supposed to do this, but if you don’t tell and I don’t tell, no one will know.”
Jun nodded, causing the man to beam with more intensity. His eyes were softly glowing green now, not as radiant as the night before, but more like faint embers.
While the food was cooking, Jun took a peek outside the little window. A huge tent, with a few caravans parked around it, stood in front of him. Scattered around were a few animal enclosures as well, and Jun saw the animals moving about and grazing.
“We’re at the circus?” Realisation dawned upon Jun. “You’re Aiba-chan, aren’t you?”
“Yup! You’re so smart!” Really, was there no end to this man’s smiles? Jun could feel his insides warming up like the saucepan already.
“Oh, I think the food’s ready! Let’s eat, and then we can go visit the others. I’m sure they’d love to see you!” Aiba-chan nodded enthusiastically. He put the steaming saucepan on a coaster, and set out a couple of bowls.
The food looked like a goopy thick stew with tofu and minced meat inside. It smelled great, and Jun realised he was actually starving. “It’s mabo tofu!” Aiba-chan announced proudly.
After the two of them had filled their tummies, Jun shyly asked Aiba-chan if he had any spare clothes. The clothes that Jun had on were slightly singed from the fire, and anyway, those were his pyjamas. He wouldn’t be seen dead outside in them.
Aiba-chan gladly obliged and tossed him a forest green woollen sweater and a pair of slightly crumpled cream-coloured pants. Surprisingly, they fit rather well.
~~~~~
“Come in,” a deep voice called when Aiba-chan knocked on the door of the biggest caravan.
“Sho-chan, it’s me! And, uh, what was your name again?” Aiba-chan turned to Jun, smiling sheepishly.
“Jun,” Jun replied simply. He didn’t want to give out any more details than necessary, especially when he was among strangers.
“It’s me and Jun!” Aiba called out, opening the door.
Inside, it was almost equally cluttered as Aiba-chan’s caravan, but the contents were different. The shelves were stacked almost to bursting with books and newspapers, and there were more spilling out onto the table. Sitting at the table and pushing up his reading glasses was a man that Jun recognised as the ringmaster of the circus. He stood up and extended a hand over the table for Jun to shake. Jun took it and gave it a little shake before letting go and examining the man more carefully.
He had slightly puffy cheeks and reminded Jun vaguely of a chipmunk. He was also wearing two coats - a flashy, red one over a muted grey one - and Jun personally objected to his fashion sense, but he was not about to say so.
“Please take a seat,” the man gestured, and Jun and Aiba-chan did so on the bed, which seemed like the only surface not covered with papers. “My name is Sakurai Sho, and I am the ringmaster of this circus.” Jun nodded, and waited for him to go on.
“There isn’t much time, so I will cut to the chase. You, Jun, are in danger.” Here, Sho paused for dramatic effect. Seeing no obvious response, he continued.
“As you might know, we are a circus, but we are no ordinary circus. I am trusting you with this information because you cannot go back. You are being pursued by the Soulshadows.”
At this point, he pulled a foldable blackboard seemingly out of nowhere, and several blobs were scrawled on it in chalk.
“His drawing isn’t that good,” Aiba-chan whispered to Jun. “Just humour him.”
Jun nodded, half in agreement with Aiba-chan, and half to show that he was listening to Sho’s condensed lecture on Soulshadows.
“Soulshadows are the manifestation of humanity’s malevolence and negativity. Some even say that they are the work of the Devil himself. They consume the Potential of humans and cause feelings of depression and hopelessness. It’s like the bacteria in your teeth eating sugar and making cavities. Now, on to the topic of Potential. Potential is what we call humans’ ability to bring light, warmth, and happiness into the lives of others, whether through listening, sharing, or various ways of entertainment. The more Potential you have, the more you can help ward off the effects of the Soulshadows for others, but also the more they want to attack you to stop that. They also want to breed. As the saying goes, misery loves company, and when humans succumb to the depression and kill themselves, a new Soulshadow is formed.”
Jun shuddered. “Then where do I come into all this?”
“There’s a prophecy that five people will arise with the power to stop the Soulshadows once and for all. We have a special connection, but we’ll only feel it if we get within range.” Here, Sho paused, and his expression softened.
“You’re the last of the five, Jun.”
To his credit, Jun did not run screaming from the caravan. He sat there for a few moments, taking a couple of deep breaths and trying to come to terms with this new information, while Aiba-chan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sho patiently waited for him, as he knew from past experience that his own acceptance had been difficult as well.
“What about my job, my rent..?”
“Johnny-san will take care of that. Money and power can do almost everything in this world.” Sho answered simply.
Aiba-chan tried to help him look on the bright side. “But the best part is our powers! Sho-chan can throw knives - or anything, really - with deadly accuracy! And I can manipulate fire.”
Jun recalled Aiba making the mabo tofu earlier. He privately thought it suited Aiba-chan rather well, with his spontaneity, infectious happiness, and warmth. However, something else that Sho said struck him.
“But you said there were five of us?”
“The others will arrive soon. Ah, here’s Nino!”
A small man swung himself in through the open window and landed silently next to Jun. He smirked, enjoying Jun’s open-mouthed stare. “Hi.”
“This is Nino, our resident acrobat. He has an out-of-this-world sense of balance, no matter what position he’s in.” Sho blushed slightly and cleared his throat. “I mean, whether it’s on a unicycle, or a tightrope, or on a unicycle on a tightrope, our Nimble Ninomiya will never fall.”
“Aw, nonsense,” Nino said, but he couldn’t suppress a wide grin.
“He can also climb walls and other things.” Aiba-chan whispered.
“And lastly, we have our strongman Satoshi. He has super-fast metabolism, which can translate into both super strength and speed, but we can only show the audience the strength. He’s too fast for the naked eye, you see.”
As Sho spoke, the last man came in. He seemed somehow faded into the surroundings, and looked really sleepy. As Jun watched, he extended a hand with long, slender fingers. Jun stood up and took it.
“Ohno Satoshi. Nice to meet you.”
“He also makes our costumes.” Aiba-chan chimed in. Ohno smiled and said quietly, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll need your measurements.”
Jun nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”
Before he’d even finished the sentence, Ohno had whipped out a sky-blue measuring tape and was measuring him all over. The whole thing was over in two shakes of a duck’s tail. Although Jun detected what could have been a flit of annoyance in Aiba-chan’s eyes when Ohno had wrapped the measuring tape around his chest, it was gone when he blinked, so he put it to the back of his mind.
Stepping back from Jun, Ohno bowed and excused himself before zooming out of the door.
“So, now we’ll get down to the proper business.” Sho slid the blackboard back into its hidden compartment and focused his gaze intently on Jun. “Come with us.”
~~~~~
The previous time Jun had stepped into this circus ring, it had been crowded and chaotic- packed with the noise and crush of audience, and dancing spotlights that distracted his eyes and pulled them everywhere. In the daytime, it looked different - silent and unassuming, as if it were waiting, waiting for the night when it could be full of glamour again.
“Now, there is an apple at the top of the trapeze structure. You need to get it down. You can use all these materials.” Sho gestured with a sweep of his hand. “We’ll try to figure out what your power is.”
Spread on the ground were poles, cloth, ropes, and all sorts of other items. Jun stared at them and thought hard, but nothing came to his brain.
“Why don’t you try jumping?” Aiba-chan suggested. “Maybe you can fly?”
Thinking that this suggestion was just as good as any, Jun took a few tentative jumps, and willed himself to rise. Nothing much happened, except for him landing on his backside and Aiba-chan and Nino rolling on the ground with laughter.
“Nope, that’s not it, then.” Nino added for good measure.
“How did you guys do it?” Jun questioned, suddenly. Maybe he could get some ideas.
“None of our powers would repeat, but I can tell you anyway. Sho-chan threw a knife and knocked it down. Nino just climbed up. I made a hot-air balloon-” here Aiba puffed up a little with pride “-and Oh-chan just lifted the whole structure up and tilted it a little so that the apple dropped down.”
“Whoa,” said Jun, a little awestruck.
“But what if my powers aren’t something related to that? What if I can turn invisible or something? That’s not going to help…”
“He’s right, Sho-chan.” Aiba-chan piped up.
“But the apple test is what everyone goes through.” Sho scratched his head, a little bemused. “It’s the test that Johnny-san set up, and it’s guaranteed to work.”
“Johnny-san? Who’s Johnny-san?” This was the second time Sho had mentioned this name.
“Oh, didn’t I explain it earlier?” Sho frowned a little. “Well, Johnny-san is the one who started it all - the battle against the Soulshadows. He started an entertainment agency, because music and laughter are an effective, if temporary, weapon to fight the negativity away. This circus is his brainchild. He came up with it when he found Satoshi and me, and heard of the legend. This way, we could hide in plain sight - people expect to see extraordinary feats at the circus - and help more people be happy. Through close contact with the audience, we could also find the next few of us more easily. In addition, he made this circus Soulshadow-proof, so that people can really be truly happy here.”
“Well, I don’t see how getting this apple is going to help.” Jun folded his arms.
“Well, the earlier we find out what your power is, the more time we have to train it. The Soulshadows are almost upon us as we speak.”
“Yeah, okay.”
They brainstormed for a while, with Aiba-chan mainly throwing out ideas - “Maybe it’s mind-control? Hey Jun, try to mind control Nino to get it for you!” - and earning himself smacks on the head.
As they were about to give up in frustration, Jun sighed. The apple gleamed tauntingly from its spot high up on the structure. “It would be nice if I could just reach up and grab it,” he said, gesturing sarcastically, when something happened.
Jun’s arm seemed to elongate by itself, stretching and stretching, until his hand reached the apple and firmly grasped it.
“Rubber powers! Why didn’t we think of that sooner?” Sho looked like he was berating himself, while Aiba-chan clapped and congratulated Jun, whose arm had snapped back to normal, bringing the apple with it.
“You can be our new contortionist then,” Sho said enthusiastically, pulling out a clipboard from the depths of his clothes. “We’ll need to come up with a circus name for you then. I can’t think of anything that alliterates with Jun at the moment… What’s your family name?”
“Matsumoto.” Jun was too baffled at the recent happenings to catch himself.
“Well, then, the Marvellous Matsumoto.” Sho finished writing with a satisfied smile and a flourish.
“What about you?” Jun asked.
“I’m the Spectacular Sakurai.” Sho proudly declared. “And Nino is the Nimble Ninomiya, Ohno is Satoshi the Strong, and there’s the Amazing Aiba-chan sitting right there. Not that I think you don’t know that already,” Sho remarked, pushing up his glasses, “The way you looked at him that day was extraordinary.”
Jun blushed, but Sho carried on as if nothing had happened. “He also took pretty much a fancy to you, I think. In fact, he insisted on being the one to retrieve you when we detected the mass outbreak of Soulshadows at your house.”
“Nothing like that happened! It was late at night and everyone else was asleep, that’s all!” Aiba-chan retorted.
“That’s what he says,” Nino winked at Jun. “But anyway, let’s get on with the training!”
~~~~~
“First lesson in circus training, safety.” Sho tapped on a rolling blackboard where he’d written and underlined the word SAFETY a few times for good measure. He then noticed Jun’s hand waving from the audience seats, where the other three were. “Yes, you have a question, Jun?”
“Where do you get all these blackboards?” Jun blurted. “I mean, is it another of your powers?”
Sho chuckled. “Oh, these hidden blackboards are Aiba-chan’s inventions. He’s pretty good at inventing things, and these have come in handy when I need to provide the circus folk - which are all of you - with proper education.”
“Wow,” Jun mouthed. He cast an impressed gaze at Aiba-chan who beamed with delight.
“Back to the topic at hand. Safety. There are two main groups of people whose safety we should always be concerned about. Nino, would you like to illustrate?”
“The performers, and the audience.” Nino said in a bored voice, not looking up from his doodles on a mini chalkboard that seemed to have also appeared out of nowhere.
“Right! So when doing your performances, you have to make sure that you neither endanger yourself, nor the people who are here to appreciate your acts. For example, I have to make sure none of my knives hits innocent people, and Aiba-chan has to keep his flames under control as well. Nino has to ALWAYS”- here he looked sternly at Nino - “have a safety net when performing at great heights.”
“As for you, Jun,” Sho continued, “You need to make sure that you can get out of whatever position you’re in, at any time, in case you have to fight.”
“Fight?” Jun looked concerned. “The - the Soulshadows? In the middle of a performance?”
“Yes, Jun, our group’s Potential is awakened to the maximum now. It gets stronger when we use our powers. In case we ever have to do it, I want all of you to pretend it’s still a performance. Keep the audience's’ spirits up, so that they have enough defenses against the Soulshadows.”
“All right.” Determination flowed through Jun’s body.
“Another thing, your eyes will glow when you’re using your powers. Don’t look at the audience too much.”
“Oh.” That explains a lot, Jun thought.
“And especially don’t look directly at a Soulshadow’s eyes. They steal out your Potential that way. Eyes are the windows to your soul.” Nino stated.
“Right. Keep the audience’s eyes on us. Yes.” Jun nodded, and Sho seemed satisfied.
“Alright, that concludes lesson one. Let’s move on to lesson two - performing.”
~~~~~
It was half past four in the evening when Jun finally left the ring, having been through a crash course of his contortionist act as well as basic fighting training. Ohno had stepped in midway to present him with his costume - a lovely stretchy black and purple affair covered with sequins - and to sketch him in action for printing in the flyers, while Nino had composed some suspenseful and grand music to accompany the act itself.
After a hurried meal, everyone went back to their own caravans to get ready for the night’s show. Aiba-chan began enthusiastically attacking Jun’s face with a powder puff, before Jun assured him that he could do his own makeup and gently pushed him away.
At last, the show began! Crowds streamed into the tent, and dancing spotlights increased the excitement in the atmosphere.
“And now, Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Circus Tempesta!” Sho’s voice boomed out loud, and Jun felt his heartbeat quicken. The smell of the sawdust, the noise in the stands, and the amazing visuals caught up to him. From his position backstage, he had a great view.
“As the first act, I present to you… the Nimble Ninomiya!”
Resplendent in a gold tight suit, Nino cartwheeled into the ring amid cheers and whistles.
It’s starting. It’s really starting, and I’ll be a part of it soon. Jun couldn’t help but feel nervous. What if I mess up? What if..?
He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Jun!” Aiba-chan smiled. “First-day nerves, right? Everybody gets them.”
Jun nodded and tried to put on a brave front. He didn’t want to look weak in front of Aiba-chan.
“Ladies and gentlemen. For this next part, I would like to seek your cooperation in keeping absolutely silent while our Nimble Ninomiya takes to the tightrope.”
A hush fell over the crowd, and every eye was concentrated on Nino as he made his ascent to the tiny platform. He took a tentative step on the line, and another, swaying dangerously, looking exactly as if he were about to fall, but miraculously staying on. When he’d passed a quarter of the rope, a change came over him, and he grinned at the audience, before striding confidently across as if he were on the ground. Once at the other end, he picked something up, and got on. It was a unicycle.
Jun’s mouth fell open as he watched Nino cycle back and forth on the tightrope as if it were nothing, then stop right in the middle. From an inside pocket, as if by magic, Nino pulled out a long, thin, metal rod, and balanced it on his nose. He then produced three plates, one after the other, and after juggling them for a while, tossed them right on top of the rod, where they spun and balanced perfectly. Tentatively, he began to move. Forward, backward, forward, backward, and once more forward, till he reached the platform. He then took the plates off, tossed them into the air where they disappeared like magic, and took a bow.
The audience erupted into applause, and it was Aiba-chan’s turn. Jun didn’t get to watch because he had to prepare for his own turn, but he didn’t mind because he could still freshly remember Aiba’s performances.
Ohno came up to Jun with a friendly reminder. “You’re up next, Jun, please get into your suitcase.”
Jun gingerly bent his body and inched his way inside. It was a tight fit, but with his newfound flexibility, nothing he couldn’t manage.
He felt a sudden sense of claustrophobia as Ohno gently pulled the zipper closed, shutting off the light. He took deep breaths to calm himself.
Don’t worry, you’ll do fine, he chanted to himself. Before he knew it, he felt the suitcase being dragged, and Sho’s voice boomed over the speakers.
“Those of you who are here today have the privilege of seeing the very first performance of our newest member, the Marvellous Matsumoto! Please, sit back and enjoy!”
As the applause died down, people started to whisper. “It’s a suitcase?” “Maybe something’s supposed to happen?”
Jun steeled himself and tugged at the zipper. It was time.
As he pulled himself out of the tiny cramped space, the whisperings of impatience turned into murmurings of awe.
“How could someone fit into something so tiny?”
That’s more like it, Jun smiled to himself.
Standing up to his full height, he linked his hands above his head, and slowly brought his arms around him like a skipping rope, for a full round, without letting go of his hands. He then did it again for the benefit of those in the back.
As he straightened up, he let go of his hands. Stretching upwards and back, his hands reached the floor in a classic bridge, and slowly walked themselves toward his legs.
When they were almost at the same line, the audience was sure Jun was going to either fall or reach his limit, but he did neither. He heard gasps, and grinned.
Jun’s legs kicked up straight, one after the other, until he was in a handstand position. He then put them down gracefully on the other side of his hands. He let his body follow through, back to a standing position, and slowly picked up one of his legs, keeping it straight as it moved upwards to be in a single line with his standing leg.
The rest of his act carried on this way, with smooth, unhurried movements. Jun ended his act with two fluid cartwheels, bowed, and exited the ring. As he stepped out past the curtain, Aiba-chan clapped a hand on his shoulder with an enthusiastic “Great job!” before hurrying into the ring after Pan-kun.
After Aiba-chan’s act would be Ohno’s, and the strong man needed to prepare the cart and haul his props to standby behind the curtain. Jun ran about helping to gather the lighter items, while Ohno hitched the cart to one of the elephants, Chiyo-chan.
“Thanks, Jun,” Ohno smiled.
“It’s no problem,” Jun replied. “All the best!”
Jun peeked out again, eager to see what he had missed the first time as part of the audience. Chiyo-chan huffed slowly into the ring, pulling the heavy cart behind her, step by step.
Ohno didn’t need to hook the audience with showy talk or flex his arms in an overly obvious manner. Instead, he let his actions do the talking. First, he took out a brand new phone book from the cart and unwrapped it. He showed it to the audience, flipping it a little to show the sheer number of pages. Once everyone’s attention was on him, he put the closed book on his knee, and steadily tore it in half.
The audience cheered and clapped when he held up the two halves of the phone book for confirmation. Putting it aside, he then took out three large metal weights, each roughly the size and shape of a pomelo, and started juggling with them as effortlessly as if they had been regular juggling balls. After a few tosses, he dropped each of them down onto a large metal plate, clanging as each one hit the plate, confirming that the weights were indeed as heavy as they looked.
Next, he pulled out a metal bar which was as thick as Jun’s arm and just about the same length. Dropping it once to show its weight, he picked it up and, with a few grunts, bent it into a large knot.
Jun was completely enthralled by the feats of the strong man. At the end of his act, Ohno piled up all the heavy props into the cart and pulled it out smoothly by himself while the sound of claps and cheers filled the stands. Jun was on standby to receive Chiyo-chan, and led her to her pen.
He got back in time to see Sho himself standing in the ring, resplendent in fiery red and smoothly pulling knives from a rack. He had a volunteer from the audience strapped to a board some distance away, and was making a show of how sharp each knife was, before throwing each one dangerously close to the volunteer. He didn’t even throw them like a normal person would. No, he threw each one with increasing difficulty - over his shoulder, under a knee, behind his back, and finally, blindfolded.
Jun breathed a sigh of relief when the volunteer finally stood up, completely unharmed, with an outline of knives on the board. Sho thanked the volunteer and presented him with a souvenir, before taking out his bow and arrows.
Over the heads of the audience, there were several balloons hanging in front of target boards. Sho spun around and fired arrows in quick succession. As the balloons burst, confetti floated down onto the audience. When everything was clear, the audience cheered to find that every arrow had found the centre of its target.
Sho bowed and left the ring to resume his place at the microphone, before Aiba-chan’s cannon was wheeled in. Jun had seen this part before, but it was still as riveting and dazzling as it had been the first time.
~~~~~
That night, Jun roomed with Aiba-chan again, his caravan being the only one with an extra bed.
“Sometimes Pan-kun gets nightmares, so he comes to sleep with me for a bit, but don’t worry, I clean the sheets every time.” Aiba-chan smiled encouragingly.
Jun felt a twinge of something suspiciously like jealousy in his stomach, but dismissed it. Why on earth would he be jealous of a monkey?
He snuggled into bed and tried to get comfortable as Aiba-chan blew out the oil lamp. An unsettling darkness settled over them. Jun had never been in such darkness - in the city, many lights would usually seep in through his window at night.
“Hey, Aiba-chan,” Jun began.
“Yeah?” came the slightly sleepy answer from above.
“What was it like, when you first joined?”
“Mmmh…” Aiba-chan took a while to think. “It was a bit scary and sad, because I had to leave my family behind. But Sho-chan let me write them a letter to tell them where I was, and every couple of years we go back and visit.”
Jun felt his stomach give a squeeze. “Every couple of years?”
He heard the wistfulness in Aiba-chan’s voice. “Yeah, we’re a travelling circus, but we don’t travel that often. Especially since it’s not good for the animals.”
The springs creaked as Aiba-chan moved around a little on the top bunk. “Do you miss your family too, Jun?”
“No.” Jun’s answer was almost inaudible.
There had been a catch in his voice, and Aiba-chan instinctively let an arm hang down over the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”
After a small hesitation, Jun took his hand. It felt warm and reassuring. While Aiba-chan gave a gentle squeeze, he said in a soothing tone, “Everything’s alright, yeah? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We should get some sleep, anyway. Good night, Jun.”
“Good night, Aiba-chan.” Jun let go and curled up on his side, feeling a little more comforted.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Sho was in the ring, quiet and absorbed in thought. It was dim, illuminated with only a single light bulb, and Sho felt that he could think better that way. Scribbling on a blackboard with chalk, he didn’t notice a shadowy presence behind him.
“What’s up, Sho-chan?” A sudden voice startled Sho, who flung the chalk behind him without thinking. The figure let go of the tightrope - letting the chalk whistle harmlessly past its head - and landed beautifully on the ground after doing a double somersault.
“What, no applause?” Nino inclined his head and raised his hands to an imaginary audience.
“Nino, I could have hit you. This isn’t funny!” Sho’s hand was still pressed to his chest as his breathing gradually slowed.
“I know, but you didn’t.” Nino closed the gap between them in a couple of steps, and suddenly his hands were at Sho’s waist. Tantalisingly, slowly, they slid up to his neck, resting on those sloping shoulders. Nino’s eyes never left Sho’s.
“You didn’t answer me. What’s up?”
“I was just doing some calculations. We’re already at summer, and when the days grow shorter, the Soulshadows grow stronger. They might attack soon, and we have to be ready for that. Jun needs to be trained faster, and everyone still needs regular practice. We don’t know when or where they will attack, but based on the wind direction and the phase of the moon… I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”
“Yes, and I’ll put a stop to that right now.”
Nino leaned in and stole Sho’s breath with his lips, burying his hands deep in Sho’s hair. Sho relaxed into the kiss, tasting the sweet warmth. Their bodies pressed together, swaying gently, two silhouettes melding together.
When they broke apart, Nino’s eyes came into focus, and Sho read in them the subtle but strong concern that Nino must’ve felt.
“It’s late, Sho. It’s time for bed.”
“Yours or mine?” Sho asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Nino rolled his eyes. “It’s already late, you pervert.”
Grinning, he added, “Yours.”
~~~~~
The days flew past, and Jun slowly grew accustomed to life on the circus. Everything was new to him, but he loved every single minute of it. The fresh air, the animals and the audience’s attention, all of it.
One of the things Jun was surprised by was the amount of lessons the performers had to go through. Sho, being the most highly educated of the bunch, had taken it upon himself to make sure that everyone was literate and had a good working knowledge about current events at the very least. He also had a few textbooks on high school subjects, especially economics,that he liked to bring in. Nino, being a natural performer, taught everyone the basics of performance - juggling, handstands, and finding their balance on a tightrope - as well as performance etiquette, like facing the audience for as much of the time as possible. Aiba-chan showed everyone some effective combat stances from his previous training,as well as showing them how to interact harmoniously with the circus animals. Finally, Ohno led the classes on art and meditation, to soothe the soul of daily troubles and improve one’s Potential.
Jun was a little worried at first about not having something to share, but the other four reassured him that he could take his time. “Johnny-san says everyone will have something to share, eventually.”
~~~~~
Besides all the lessons, Jun was learning much more about things he wouldn’t have wondered if it hadn’t been for the circus.
Once, after a performance, he had asked Ohno what he did with all those torn phone books. Ohno brought him to his caravan to show him. A basket with a blue checkered cloth was in a corner, and snuggled into it was a little black kitten with white markings. There was shredded paper lining a box for kitty litter. As Jun gazed around the cluttered but cosy space, he spied several bowls, vases, and sculpture made from papier mache, as well as paper flowers inside the vases. Some paper flowers were even decorating the shiny sewing machine on the side table.
Jun’s amazed “Wow…” was enough to make Ohno beam brilliantly.
“Yeah…” Ohno rubbed the back of his head shyly. “When you’re fast, you have a lot of time to do things.”
Jun bit back the temptation to ask, “in bed too?” but he couldn’t help smiling.
Ohno saw the smile and was encouraged to continue. “But that’s why I like fishing a lot. It forces me to slow down, and I get more time to think.”
Jun glanced around and saw a couple of fishing poles leaning against a corner. He nodded. It turned out to be the start of a long story about fishing and art, but strangely, Jun didn’t feel bored at all.
At dinner that night, he mentioned to Nino, “I didn’t know Oh-chan liked fishing so much, he talked to me for half an hour about it.”
Nino was amazed. “What? I’ve never heard him string more than two sentences together, and even that’s really rare. You must have some sort of talent to get him talking to you.”
Jun just hummed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
~~~~~
Life on the circus was pretty much well and good, however, one thing he did miss was the blissful ignorance of the outside world. The knowledge of the Soulshadows’ existence weighed deeply on his mind as he walked, and he felt a sense of anxiety whenever he ventured out of the protective barrier of the circus grounds. Though he never saw the beings themselves in daylight, their effects were apparent in the faces of the people he met. Dark eye circles, droopy corners of mouths, frown lines, worry lines, wrinkled brows - everything that Jun saw echoed the presence of the Soulshadows, and it chilled him to the marrow.
He didn’t dare to speak out these fears as he assumed that everyone at the circus would probably be going through the same thing, and none of them had mentioned it. Walking right beside him was a prime example of this.
Aiba-chan had been tasked by Sho to tag along whenever Jun left the protective barrier of the circus grounds, as Sho felt it was safer to travel in pairs. The taller man was now chatting cheerfully as they walked, seemingly unaffected by the general gloom in the surrounding passersby.
“It’s so nice to be out in the sunshine, right? I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while. Oh, are we going buy fish? There was one time the circus stopped by near the seaside, and Oh-chan went fishing every minute of his spare time. The fish he caught was really delicious though! It was probably the best sashimi I’ve ever eaten. But Sho-chan always nagged at him because he forgot the sunblock… sometimes he even stayed out overnight.”
Jun smiled in spite of himself. Hearing the constant stream of words was quite soothing, and had the effect of bringing him away from the current worries and doubts swirling in his mind. He quite enjoyed learning more about Aiba-chan, too.
In this way, they carried on, Aiba-chan talking and Jun listening. Jun noticed that Aiba-chan’s energy and enthusiasm was contagious, and everyone they passed by immediately brightened up when Aiba-chan greeted them cheerfully. “What a polite young man,” an old lady had remarked, her face no longer quite so haunted by the shadows of everyday pressures.
Is this what the Potential is about? Jun wondered. Brightening people’s lives… There’s definitely more ways than simply through pure entertainment.
~~~~~
A few weeks had passed without a Soulshadow attack, and the whole circus atmosphere was feeling a little more relaxed. On a particularly breezy night, Jun went out strolling to visit Chiyo-chan with a bag of apples in his hand. The stars were out, and Jun felt a sense of peace under their pale light.
Chiyo-chan was happy to see him, and lifted her trunk in anticipation of the sweet fruit. Pan-kun, looking out from a neighbouring pen, held his hand out for an apple too, although Jun was reluctant to give him any after the previous night. Aiba-chan swore Pan-kun hadn’t known what he was doing when he took Jun’s hair product and squeezed it all over the bathroom mirror, but Jun had been convinced that Pan-kun was just jealous that Jun had moved into Aiba-chan’s life.
Jun shuddered, and goosebumps spread like a wave over his flesh. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something was not right.
Before he could react, a dark mass swept over the circus grounds. A loud shout echoed in the night. “Soulshadows!”
Jun realised moments afterward that it had been his own voice shouting. But this can’t be, Sho said the circus was Soulshadow-proof, how..? Jun thought numbly. His legs took over and started running towards the first shelter in sight - the main performance tent. His instinct was to draw them away from the animals, and it seemed to be working - the shadows followed him instead.
The other four were already at the tent when Jun reached, having heard the shout from earlier. As he came through the flap, the dark masses at his heels, coloured light filled the air. Aiba-chan was trying to hold them off with his flaming staff. Sho focused his energy on his weapons, and they glowed as red as his eyes. He flicked out throwing knives at amazing speed, dissipating the shadows nearest to him. Ohno punched those around him with fists a shining azure, and Nino was slowly edging up hand over hand towards the tightrope platform, kicking out with yellow-outlined feet.
With a huge grunt, Jun stretched out his arms and windmilled them around in large amethyst circles, mowing down the shadows like a giant fan. This knocked them down easily enough, but the sheer volume of the shadows meant that they just kept coming back. He turned his head this way and that, remembering Sho’s warning about the eyes.
Something swished downwards behind Jun, and he subconsciously registered that the safety net had been cut, possibly by one of Sho’s knives. He skipped a couple of steps forward to prevent himself from being entangled in it, then carried on with his fight.
All of a sudden, Sho looked up and gasped. A whimper from Nino had attracted his attention, and he had turned his head to see Nino teetering on the edge of the towering platform. On a normal day, Nino could balance without a problem, but not with dozens of shadows pushing and forcing him over the edge. He kicked and punched the hardest he could, downing another couple of shadows, but his fall was imminent.
Sho tried desperately to fight his way towards the base of the structure, but he couldn’t make it in time. He was running out of knives. Even if he tried aiming them towards the shadows surrounding Nino, he was deathly afraid that he would miss, and he would never forgive himself if he ever hit Nino.
Nino closed his eyes as he lashed out for the last time, feeling a strange sense in his stomach that he’d never had to face, having never fallen from such a height. He mentally prepared himself for the hard splat that would happen when he hit the ground.
But that moment never came. He felt himself landing on a soft material and being enveloped, almost like the safety net, but it wasn’t. He opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by purple light.
Jun had stretched out between the poles and caught him at the last second.
“I’m so glad it wasn’t mind control!” Nino called out as he emerged from Jun’s folds and re-entered the battle.
“Yeah, same!”
The five of them gradually weakened as the battle wore on, while the Soulshadows were going as strong as ever. The feelings of dread and tiredness weighed heavily on them, and the shadows grew ever stronger. As Jun took a breath, the shadows wrapped around him and finally took him.
Everything was dark, but Jun felt himself being carried away. He could hear the rest of them shouting after him, not daring to attack the black mass that he was in the centre of, for fear of hurting him, as well as being completely exhausted from the fighting.
Strangely enough, it was warm and dry inside that ball of shadows, echoing a feeling of himself from when he was a child, curling up and hiding from the outside world. It reawakened a deep yearning for family and love that had been gnawing at him from the inside. It had been that way ever since his parents had perished in a car accident, and he had been tossed from foster home to foster home, forever feeling unloved and unwanted. The Soulshadows amplified and drew out that pain inside of him, taunted him.
~~~~~
Jun didn’t know how long he had been suffering emotionally inside the black, shapeless mass. When he came to, he was in a white fluffy bed.
“Not again…” he murmured as he rubbed his head. It felt like it was filled with cotton wool.
Someone spoke from beside him. “You’re awake.”
The coldness of the voice pierced Jun’s heart like one of Sho’s arrows. He turned his head to see a thin old man on a wheelchair beside him. His hair was white as snow and his face was filled with a network of wrinkles. Cushions were piled on the wheelchair around his wizened frame.
“Who… who are you?” Jun tried to focus his vision, but his head throbbed with the effort.
“Oh, Sho-kun never told you about me?” The old man coughed.
A name floated up in Jun’s head. “Johnny-san?” Jun asked with uncertainty. He’d never seen the old man in the flesh before.
“Yup. You’re so smart!” The old man imitated in a high pitched voice, and cackled.
A chill ran down Jun’s spine. How could Johnny-san have known about this? That was one of the first few things Aiba-chan had said to him.
“Shadows are everywhere, my boy. Whenever the light shines, there will be shadows. They look, they listen, and they know things. Whoever’s in control will have all the power.”
“But…” Jun felt a little woozy. “You set up the circus. You wanted to gather all of us, so that we could help to get rid of the Soulshadows…”
“Oh, how precious.” The old man’s face was a mask of evil glee. “Did you think it was so simple, all this time? How wonderfully naive.”
Running his tongue over his pale lips, he continued. “I did set up the circus all those years ago, when the first Soulshadows arrived and started tormenting people. When the first significant rise in suicide cases started, and the whole world became gloomy. My circus was the pillar of hope in a dark age.”
The old man’s eyes shone with malevolence as he delivered the most crucial part.
“What you don’t know, my boy, is that I saw them come to life. They are mine.”
Jun’s confusion turned to anger as he struggled to sit up.
“Sho trusted you! We all trusted you!”
“Could you have done any different? At that time, I had lost my job, my wife had left me, and she took my children with her. My heart was twisted and bitter - and then Fate handed me this chance. When the Devil appeared and granted me the first Soulshadow, I knew it was a sign. Things picked up for me then - I met two promising young lads, Sakurai-kun and Ohno-kun, and we started the circus together.”
“As long as we had the Soulshadows - what better way than to have people willingly give up their money to temporarily throw off the weight on their souls? The key word here is temporarily, Matsumoto-kun. As long as they kept coming, the money kept coming. Money and power can do almost everything in this world.”
Jun gasped as he recognised that quote.
“Everything was going so well. We had another two additions - Aiba-kun and Ninomiya-kun, and now we were in a dangerous position.”
Despite all his disgust at the old man’s revelations, Jun’s curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, “Why?”
“It was in the prophecy, you see. When the Devil gave me control, it came with a condition. If all five of you were united, you could get rid of the Soulshadows, and I couldn’t have that happening now, could I?”
“You’re crazy!” Jun spat, but there was no stopping Johnny-san.
“But how to do it? That was the question. I couldn’t directly stop them and risk blowing the cover that I worked so hard all these years to achieve, could I? So I tried to get to you before they could, but… that failed, thanks to Aiba-kun.”
“Even when I tried to get to you afterwards, there was always something in the way. All of you possess very special talents. Not that rubbery nonsense, that’s just the one on the surface. Everyone has different talents - some are obvious, on the surface, and some require others to dive down deep to see.”
Johnny-san paused for effect. At this rather inappropriate moment, Jun recalled one topic of Sho’s lectures about announcing acts, “Pausing for Effect”, and realised he must have gotten it from this guy.
“For instance, Ohno-kun is strong but silent, and his strength lies in being a pillar of support that others rely on, emotionally and literally. Sakurai-kun is intelligent and extremely accurate at his guesses, usually picking the right way out of situations. Aiba-kun is spontaneous and radiant, filling people around him with warmth. Ninomiya-kun reads situations and delicately balances them to minimise or prevent blowups or extra tension. And lastly, we come to you, Matsumoto-kun.”
“You are versatile and pliant, and you help people feel comfortable enough to open up to you. Nobody thinks “Oh, Jun-kun wouldn’t be interested in this” because you show just the right amount of awe and wonder at everything. In fact, look at what I’ve done now!” A high-pitched giggle escaped the old man’s lips. “I’ve gone and said too much, haven’t I?”
The exaggerated surprise disappeared from Johnny-san’s face as quickly as it had come, to be replaced by a look of annoyance.
“I honestly don’t want to do this, Matsumoto-kun, but you know too much.”
Johnny-san raised a thin hand and a dark shadow swirled up around Jun as if on command. It surrounded his torso and neck, tightening around him. Jun felt a pressure on his chin, and closed his eyes, shying away from the intense fear and horror he felt. Don’t look at it in the eyes, he reminded himself.
“Ah, ah! Playing coy now, are we?” An evil smile played on Johnny-san’s lips, and he tightened his fist. Jun felt a crushing sensation that echoed the movement.
Suddenly, the door to the room crashed open, and four people with glowing eyes barged in with the dissipation of a hundred Soulshadows in their wake. Johnny-san was momentarily distracted, and the grip on Jun’s body lessened slightly. Nino, sharp as ever, assessed the situation and called out, “J, you are rubber. He can’t crush you!”
Of course! Jun hastily stretched out his body while taking a few welcome gulps of air. A few twists and turns later, he had slipped out of the clutches of the Soulshadow. However, Johnny-san was more preoccupied. Hastily he summoned a group of more Soulshadows to shield him, but his effort was futile.
Under Sho’s intense gaze, the new Soulshadows seemed to wilt and grow paler, and a few well-aimed knives finished them off.
“Did you forget, Johnny-san? That you told us not to look at them directly.” Sho’s eyes were blazing red. “But there was that little detail where they would weaken right after, because the best way to deal with fear and negativity is to face it head on!”
“It was Sho-chan who figured it out! He said that since Johnny-san lied about everything else, he might have lied about the looking too.” Aiba-chan told Jun excitedly. “We heard everything from the other side, but couldn’t come in earlier because we were fighting off a huge swarm.”
Meanwhile, a change was coming over the old man. “No…” Johnny-san cowered back in his wheelchair, a pale rendering of the cocky, crazed old man he had been. “No!”
Dusty orange clouds materialised in the middle of the room, together with the strong smell of sulphur. A tall, horned figure in a dark cloak stepped out and looked down his nose at the scene. He directed his attention to the man in the wheelchair.
“Well, well, well… looks like we have got ourselves in a spot of trouble, haven’t we? You’ve lost, old man. But you did run a successful underground ring,” the fellow rumbled as he thumbed his chin thoughtfully. “Cheating, lying, building an empire’s worth of wealth… maybe you’ll do better down there with me instead. Curse that bet with the Guy Upstairs, I couldn’t even step in to make sure you won today.”
He glanced at the rest, standing and staring with open mouths. “What, you’ve never seen the Devil before? Ahh, I don’t have time for this.”
He swept his cloak over the whimpering man and in a flash, the both of them were gone.
The room filled with with silence momentarily as the five of them struggled to understand what had just happened.
Jun broke the silence by saying, “Johnny-san may have done a lot of bad things, but I’m glad that I met you guys because of it. Let’s work hard and make the world a happier place.”
~~~~~
EPILOGUE
“As a finale, Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you something very special. Something never before seen in this circus. A collaboration between all of us.”
Sho nodded to Jun, and he climbed up to the tightrope platform to join Nino, who was already there. As Jun performed, he could feel the warmth from the hearts of each of his friends. He wasn’t alone anymore.
Nino led him to the centre of the tightrope, their hands tightly grasped.
You know I wouldn’t let you fall.
Slowly Jun let go of one hand, reaching down behind himself to grab hold of the rope. The other hand followed suit, with Nino holding on to his body for stability. Jun was only holding the rope with his hands now, in a headstand position. He scissored his straight legs once, twice, before aligning them perfectly straight up. Tensing up his arms, he pushed off while Nino let go.
The wind whistled past his ears, and he met with the strong arms of Satoshi, stopping his descent before he became a mere splatter on the ground.
You know I’ll always be here to catch you.
Satoshi held Jun while the latter bent his body around a fireproof hoop lined with paper. The strongman then took Jun up into his arms, and tossed him in the air a few times, each time higher than the last.
Mechanised birds (invented by Aiba-chan) flew in, each with razor-sharp beaks and claws, heading straight for Jun. Sho whipped out his bow and fired a volley of arrows, making each one disappear in a puff of feathers before they reached Jun.
You know I wouldn’t let anything hurt you.
When all the birds were gone, Sho stretched out his bow one last time. He took some breaths to steady himself, and Aiba placed a hand on his shoulder, lighting the final arrow with the other.
You know I’ll ignite the passion in you.
Satoshi threw Jun up for the final time, and as Jun neared the peak of his trajectory, Sho let go. The arrow flew swiftly, neatly piercing the paper and burning it away, while Jun fell into Satoshi’s arms, unscathed. The audience went wild as Jun presented the paperless hoop.
The five of them gathered hand in hand in the middle of the ring and took a final bow against a backdrop of fireworks.
~END~
