AUTHORS NOTE: ~~~~~MAJOR SPOILERS~~~~~~ for the manga you have been warned.
Set after the death of the Rumble King a missing scene, Yoshitune's funeral.
Constructive criticism would be great or even just reviews, just no flames please =]
Pairings: Slight BenkeiXYoshitune
Note: Possible OCness ahead you have been warned. And I've never attempted writing anything about Ikki... I hope I portrayed him pretty well.
Disclaimer: I do not own Air Gear... I just really wish I did.
The day was bright and sunny a deep contrast to how everyone was feeling, the loss of someone they all respected weighed heavily...Ikki supposed it was for the best that the day was sunny and clear. It helped his spirits lift even if only a little. The funeral was due to start soon... He strapped on his Air Trecks. He'd better head out or he'd be late.
He was the last one to arrive, everyone else was already standing around the grave. Not to many people.. Just a few who actually cared enough to come. All of team Kogarasumaru were there. A few members of the Toul Tool To including Kururu and a couple remaining members of the now disbanded team Trident. Benkei stood tall and elegant as always standing directly beside the large hole that was too be Yoshitsune's resting place. Ikki went up and stood beside her... Well not exactly beside her, he made sure to give her plenty of space with a couple of feet between them.
There was no priest present at this gathering and there was also no coffin... Yoshitsune had no remains left after his final battle. And so it seemed fitting to bury the old shell of the Rumble Regalia after Kururu had removed the core. Benkei held the pair of Air Trecks under one arm and supported herself with her cane with the other. Despite missing her leg she still seemed as deadly as ever. But Ikki could see the difference in her now.. She seemed... Cold and sad at the loss of the boss who had meant so much to her... She'd had nothing but respect for him. That much was clear.
"You're late Storm King." Benkei said her voice rumbling, she didn't so much as turn to glance at him. "Sorry about that..." Ikki said sheepishly. "But... shouldn't we get started now?"
Benkei turned to face those who had come to pay their respects to the Rumble King. "You go ahead and start." she said to Ikki.
"Hey everyone." Ikki began being serious and yet smiling slightly. "We are all here for one reason and one reason only." he raised a fist. "To remember the Rumble King!" Cheers came up from Kogarasumaru, Kazu leading the cheering. The solemn Toul Tool To members gave half hearted cheers as well. The Trident riders were the loudest of them all.
"There are a ton of things that I remember and respect about this guy." Ikki said. "But first let's hear some stuff from you guys." Ikki grinned, "Cause we all know Yoshitsune would be damn smug listening to us. So... who's first?"
Ikki didn't know the guy who stepped up first by name. He just knew he was a member of Trident. "The boss... Yoshitsune was a great leader... And..." he seemed to be having trouble continuing his teammates gave him looks of encouragement. "We will never forget him." he finished, then went back to stand with his teammates.
Ikki waited a bit glancing at Kazu. Kazu stepped forward at the unspoken request. "Kogarasumaru will always remember the Rumble King... Yoshitsune was a skilled rider and he will live on in the history of AT." then he stepped back.
What happened next gave everyone a start, Agito stepped forward after he'd been completely silent all this time, he was definitely not the sentimental type. Everyone just kind of stared at him like he'd grown horns. "Fuck. Yoshitsune was a strategist and he was damn good at it." and with that he stepped back.
Ikki blinked and waited. When no one had spoken for a long time Ikki glanced at Benkei and waited for her to speak.
"Trident was Yoshitsune's pride." Benkei said her voice booming like a proud leopardess, "I knew the day that Trident fell Yoshitsune would fall with it."
Ikki supposed that made sense, like a captain going down with his ship. He knew if something ever happened to his team he wouldn't want to be the last survivor.
"The boss was a leader that we will all always remember," she continued, "He kicked ass in his day and I was always along for the ride. Now that he's gone I'll just have to go on kicking ass without him." And then she fell silent.
~_~_~_~_~_~
"You know something?" Yoshitsune asked distractedly which was usually how he sounded when he was playing any sort of video game. Which in this particular instance he was playing Tetris. "I know lots of things." Benkei responded looking up from the arcades tiled floor, she was used to his odd questions. "Why?" Yoshitsune took a long drag on his cigarette still staring into the screen, "Death is like loosing the final game." Yoshitsune continued, "And eventually we all loose." Benkei nodded, "That would be correct sir."
A grin crept onto Yoshitsune's face, "When I finally loose I'm going to make sure I leave a little something behind for my enemies."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Benkei glanced at Ikki, 'Well boss...' she mused, 'Let's see what this kid is going to do.'
Finally Ikki decided that it was time for his speech. Or rather just time for him to talk, he actually hadn't given a thought to what he was going to say. "If it wasn't for Yoshitsune I wouldn't know what it meant to be a leader." Ikki began, "I was so hung up on every little thing about me and how I was doing... And I never thought about the people under me."
Ikki gave a small chuckle, "I'm sure everyone here remembers my jump in Kyoto... I couldn't make the jump... But once I learned the lesson Yoshitsune would let me jump again and again until I did."
Ikki turned to look down into the empty whole in the ground, "I guess really what we all want to say is we'll really miss this guy... And we won't let Air Treck history forget him!" Ok so he had kind of stolen Kazu's line... But it had sounded really good. Everyone cheered and Benkei leaned over and let the Rumble Regalia shell fall into the open grave.
'Goodbye General.' Benkei smiled faintly. 'Let's hope your plan works like it usually does and the kid makes some serious fireworks.'
RIP
Yoshitsune the Rumble King
Team Leader
Formidable Strategist
General
Friend
Living on in the History of Air Treck
Authors Note: I used that 'Living on in the History of Air Treck' line way to much. Ergh, I had some serious writing block...