II. Accession
Based on the Spiral Anime, not manga, as I can't read Japanese. Eyes/Ayumu. Past Kanone/Eyes relationship.
During Cursed Children:
"Someone bring to me the younger brother of Kiyotaka Narumi."
Of course I knew who Eyes Rutherford was. Who could avoid it with Madoka constantly clapping her hands in delight when his music was played on the radio? I wasn't jealous of his playing; I thought he played well, though Kiyotaka had played better. But hearing him call me Kiyotaka's brother set off a good deal of what I suppose could be called unwarranted loathing. Once again, just a footnote in my brother's legacy to the world. Like someone saying, "By the way, did you know Mozart had a little brother?" The last thing I needed was anyone expecting me to be Kiyotaka.
One day I'm
going to learn to say no to Hiyono. She's taken to tagging
along, and I haven't had the heart to tell her to get lost. She was
prattling on about Rutherford, sounding nearly as fan-girlish as
Madoka would at times. I almost wanted to be the one to break
it to them that I would lay down ten to one odds that Rutherford
didn't
have much interest in girls.
I suppose I should have seen it coming. A request for an audience with Kiyotaka's younger brother from a world famous pianist could only be because he wished to hear me play. I watched the deep blue eyes that were fixed on me for a moment, shaking my head when I knew he was looking for Kiyotaka in me.
"Is the recognition that you're no comparison to Kiyotaka really that frightening?" he jabbed at me, and I could almost see him trying to poke at my armor, gage my self-assurance. The truth was, I knew I was an imitation of my brother. I didn't need anyone whom he'd met telling me I was just a copy.
"You will forever be a loser." His
words stung, and I was a little surprised by them. I could see
that he was just as taken aback at my absolute refusal to play for
him, and it looked like he was disappointed. I watched him walk
away, kicking myself mentally for
admiring the cool confidence he
had.
Hiyono talked me into staying, accepting the mysterious
concert ticket that had been left for me. I did want to hear
Rutherford play live, to see if he lived up to his recordings, but
his words were still needling at me. Enough that I shook too
much to be the one to take
the lever on the bomb left under my
seat and needed the full half an hour to work out the puzzle and
disarm the bomb. Hiyono, once again, acted in a rather dim
witted gesture of faith in my abilities. I can't imagine why
she bothers.
The ticket that had been left for me still
puzzled me, tugging at the corner of my mind. The bomb under that
exact seat. A puzzle I had been able to work out. I tried
to connect the pieces, but logically, I only had the TV demand of
Rutherford for me to appear at the
auditorium to link them. The
thought of the Blade Children flickered briefly across my mind, but I
coolly dismissed it. Logically, if Rutherford were involved
with the Blade Children, it would never have stayed a secret. The
mobs of fans and reporters following him would have certainly ensured
he had little to no privacy, and though I knew little about the Blade
Children, it seemed to be just too large a secret for him to
keep.
When I'm wrong, it's nice to know I'm spectacularly wrong.
During Goodnight Sweetheart:
"You're one of the Blade Children?"
The initial, funny jolt I had felt at seeing Eyes Rutherford again faded instantly, and in my mind I could see the lines of the playing field redrawn. Instead of tucking Eyes away into an envelope of people who might be involved with the Blade Children I could potentially learn from, like Imazato, a line divided us. I was certain I wouldn't be able to bluff Rutherford the way I had managed to do with Kousuke and Rio.
Kousuke could promise me the whole planet and take it back with a swift stroke, I told myself wryly as Eyes offered me his word. But looking at him, I instinctively knew that his word was altogether different from the empty promises Kousuke traded in. "No deal," I managed to say, though I the words took more effort than I wanted.
Rutherford always holds back his trump card,
his final nail in the coffin, I told myself grimly, tucking away that
bit of knowledge as he forced me to accept his offer of a somewhat
tentative truce. I'd have to remember every detail to beat him.
"It makes me wonder what's going on in that head of
yours," I informed Eyes, tilting my hand just
slightly to see
if I could get any drop of information he'd let slip, giving me any
clue as to what he was playing at.
"It is not yet time for me to say." I nearly gasped aloud. I was right, I thought fiercely, though it didn't bring me much satisfaction. This is just as much, if not more, about me than it is about Rio. What was I supposed to live up to? Did they need a replacement for Kiyotaka? They would be sorely disappointed if they did.
"Little Narumi. Believe in yourself." Rio's voice was barely above a whisper, shallow and pained. I stopped, almost turning, but decided to ignore her. I was done with the Blade Children for today. I was simply too tired to deal with them.
During Dry Eyes:
Rain. I hated the rain. It made everything go too still and almost forced me deep into contemplation. Deep enough that when I came face to face with Rutherford, I had a hard time concealing my surprise.
Little droplets of water clung to his eyelashes, and I couldn't help staring. His eyes, already luminous blue, refracted tiny prisms of light cast by the clinging rain. He held an umbrella now, but he had obviously been caught unawares. Even the rain can't break his demeanor, I mused mentally.
"If you're going to get involved with the Blade Children, you'd best be on your game."
I was silent, still watching him. He'd
spoken first; I might have been able to ruffle him slightly. It
was almost like having a staring contest with a cat. You know
you can't win, but you can't help staring, hoping to win. I'll
be on my game, I thought grimly. Then I
looked away. For
some reason, the thought of simply winning didn't really appeal to me
anymore. I wanted to see Rutherford's icy calm shatter when I
beat him.
During Overture:
I had lost the last of my senses. I was leaning against a counter in Eyes' dressing room, him having just shot down my suggestion that a Hunter might use poison to kill him. I had no clue what I was doing, why I was helping to try and save the leader of the Blade Children, someone who was supposedly my enemy.
"It is...possible...I suppose," I heard Eyes say, looking up at me. Confusion was etched into the corners of his eyes. I picked up his lunch, suddenly feeling a little less out of place. Poison we could test for, at least.
The waiting was dragging on, and I was getting edgy, unable to piece together things I didn't understand. "Who are the Hunters?" I was firing the questions out in general, but ignoring Kousuke's repeated threats and loud orders to "shut up". "What are the Blade Children? Why are they after you?"
The last was the question that provoked a very violent answer. I didn't have time to react before Kousuke had grabbed hold of the edge of my rib cage, pulling and twisting, practically bringing me to the floor in pain. "Because we're missing one of these," he hissed at me.
"Kousuke." An order, one Kousuke didn't question, and a tiny flicker of either annoyance or alarm on Rutherford's face. I breathed deeply, glaring at Kousuke. I glanced at Rutherford, but if he had been concerned, he showed no sign of it now. He was still just preparing for the concert, as though nothing was unusual about the evening. I suddenly needed some air, and left the trailer quickly.
Wataya confirmed that there was no poison, and Eyes showed no sign of canceling the concert. My mind was whirling at amazingly fast speeds; I wasn't really sure I'd ever been this desperate to figure something out. But nothing clicked until Kousuke found the Hunter's bug and crushed it. Such a simplistic device, I thought, and I knew exactly what was going to happen.
"Let him go," I interrupted; letting my voice match Eyes' for all the coldness I'd ever received. Kousuke's glare would have killed me where I stood if it had had the power. I jerked my head in the direction of the door, and where Kousuke was giving me a suddenly blank look, I saw Eyes' suddenly narrow his blue eyes, a thoughtful frown creasing his brow, his thoughts catching up to mine.
Once outside, I told them my suspicions. "Delay the show for five minutes." I must have been out of my mind again, giving Eyes an order and expecting him to follow it. Kousuke and I raced to the auditorium, only to find him starting two minutes early. Bastard, I cursed mentally as I climbed the tower. Do you want to die?
Only after the threat had been neutralized, when my heart stopped thumping too fast, even for what had just happened, did I ask what Eyes was thinking. "It was his way of defying the Hunter," Kousuke said simply. "His way of saying 'take your best shot'." For a moment, I gazed down at the piano player on stage, struck by something deeper than his music or his looks. Could I ever be that strong, I wondered, a funny feeling of being too warm and a little light headed filled me, and I realized I was smiling as I watched Eyes play. Did he have that much faith in me?
During Mirror of the Heart:
I ran out of the apartment, planning to head to the school when Eyes sprinted past me. Sayoko was in trouble because of the Blade Children. I followed him, sticking close by despite his veiled suggestion that he didn't need my help. "You do what you want to do, and I'll do what I have to do," Eyes said simply, and I was keenly aware of how much of an outsider he was determined to make me.
Strangely, I didn't feel offended this time. I must be getting used to him, I mused, rejoining him on a corner, careful to match his movements and at least not hinder him. I was rewarded ten minutes later when my cell phone rang, and Eyes' familiar voice said, "A marionette clock. I'm sure that's what that sound was." The significance was not lost on me, but I quickly pushed aside my bubbling excitement. Eyes would take care of Sayoko, and I would do as much as I could to catch the Hunter. At the very least, I swore, I would identify him so that he couldn't get the advantage over us again.
As I walked back to join Eyes, a bit dejected at the escape of the Hunter, I began to wonder when I had started thinking myself and the Blade Children as 'us', as though we were on the same team. I nodded to Eyes as I joined him on the bridge, and he nodded back. "I caught up to him, but he was in a car," I said, and Eyes looked down, a soft bit of breath escaping from his lips.
"He got away then," Eyes said softly. "No matter. You can identify him, which lessens his ability to hunt us effectively."
I described the Hunter, and then hesitated before asking, "You disarmed the bomb, obviously?"
"No." My head jerked up, staring at Eyes, who looked almost rueful. "The box was empty."
"There was a third party involved." I snuck a glance at Eyes as I said this, and narrowed my eyes thoughtfully. I was getting better at reading the other boy, and I was pretty certain he was concealing something from me.
"Who would have switched the boxes? And why?" Yes, I was now certain he was concealing something. He turned and walked away, and I caught myself watching him and quickly turned away, walking away as well. He could have handled this without me, I admitted as I trudged down the stairs off the bridge. So why didn't he? Why didn't I let him?
I stopped suddenly, recalling the light happiness that I had felt when Eyes had handed off part of the game to me. Something wasn't right, I thought, but no matter how I tried to logic through it, I couldn't.
After Mirror of the Heart:
I sat quietly, watching Eyes carefully. "Do you mind?" he asked, glaring at me over the top of the sheet music he was looking through. His booted foot was tapping, obviously in time to music he heard in his head as he read the music.
"Am I bothering you?" I asked innocently, smiling. Eyes set down the music, his blue eyes boring into mine.
"What on earth do you find so entertaining, Little Narumi?"
"You," I said easily, standing and walking over to his chair, sitting on the arm of the chair and picking up the music.
"How am I entertaining?" He snatched the music back, and I toppled over into the chair in my attempt to hold onto the music. I laughed, settling into his lap and enjoying the annoyed huff my actions produced. Eyes tried to shove me to the floor. Quickly, I grabbed onto his arms, and we toppled to the ground together, Eyes landing on top of me, his eyes still locked on mine. His face was inches from mine, and his breathing was ragged, like mine. Neither of us moved, our bodies remaining pressed closely together, the feeling devastating every nerve in my body.
"This could get entertaining," I whispered, summoning courage from some unknown source and sliding my hand up to soft silvery hair. He closed his eyes, letting his face fall into my hand, his lips brushing the pulse point in my wrist in a delicate near kiss.
"Ayumu." I had never heard Eyes use only my first name, but even more significant was the raw emotion I could hear as Eyes lowered his face close to mine, his soft hair brushing my skin and giving me chills. I could feel his breath, soft on my lips, and I leaned up, about to meet him in a soft first kiss…
BEEP! BEEP!
I fell out of bed, tangled in sheets and dragging the alarm to the floor, the cord pulling free of the wall and finally stopping the most annoying alarm I had ever had the misfortune to have wake me. I closed my eyes again, but the hazy almost kiss stayed an almost kiss.
Opening my eyes, I sighed. I'd have to make sure Madoka never found out about my crush on Eyes Rutherford. I'd never hear the end of it.
During The Confession:
Something was wrong. My intuition was sparking, and my feet and senses were carrying me faster than my logic could catch up. Things happened oddly when I started feeling this way. Kiyotaka had called it the human sixth sense, the basic instinct that tied us to fate. If my brother was right about me, about fate, and about the Blade Children, there was death riding the air right now. More than one of them was slowly dying.
Kanzaka, I remembered suddenly, and the other Hunter had been strangely centered on the train station. No cars, though, so how were they coming and going?
Hiyono followed my strange instructions, finding me maps of the city's water lines, and guiding me right where I needed to go. The only part I couldn't explain to her was the small gap in logic of how I knew to go to the plant, to find the Blade Children. Even when I felt the pull of death lessen, I couldn't stop running. Something momentous was hovering in the night air.
I tore open the door and raced in to see Kanzaka falling into an emptied water tank, a fall long enough to kill him. The Blade Children were all trying to hold onto him, but Kanzaka wouldn't take their hands, pushing their help aside. As he slid through their hands, I could feel the rushing, overwhelming depression that swamped the four people before me. Fate. Cursed. They can't save him. What are the Blade Children? My mind was still reeling, caught in a spin that couldn't find a solid piece of ground on which to grow steady.
"Ayumu Narumi." Eyes' voice had my attention instantly, though the shaking emotion behind it left me feeling even more weak and uncertain. "Please tell me. You must know. Why were we born? You must know. Why were the Blade Children ever born?"
I had wished for this, I thought, a sickening lurch of my stomach making me want to run. I wanted to see Eyes' icy facade crack and give way to emotion. I didn't want this! my mind shouted angrily. I had no answers for him. I was crumbling in my helplessness. And then I saw the tear fall, hovering in the air for a single moment. I didn't think Eyes had even seen it, but I turned and ran, unable to face my own powerlessness to offer any comfort to the man I was quickly falling for.
During The Sound of an Iris Freezing and Melting"
"When was it we started down different paths?"
Normally I would have been relieved to hear Eyes' voice, but after the ordeal Kanone had just put me through, I was wary. Rio had told me Eyes had been missing as well, which had made me wonder whose side he was on. Kanzaka's announcement of Kanone's betrayal hadn't shocked him the way it did the others, and I had to wonder if he was so close enough to Kanone to turn his back on the other Blade Children and me. Was he here to help finish me off, to save me, or maybe just chat since Kanone's grip seemed to loosen at the sound of Eyes' voice? Kanone pushed me aside, and I breathed in deeply, able to see Eyes more clearly now.
Oh. I looked back and forth between the two, fierce polar opposites in the gloom. One in dark clothes and pale, the other wearing a misleading, gleaming white, shining against darker skin, and I suddenly was certain of what I had suspected when I first questioned the other Blade Children about Kanone. There had been something more than friendship between them once, but clearly it had vanished. Eyes had tried to escape from Kanone's betrayal, vanishing briefly as well.
"...the happiness of those who believe," I heard Kanone scornfully say, and suddenly I was crystal clear in my own person, knowing that I didn't have to be Kiyotaka.
"How long are you guys going to keep quoting my brother, because it's all I ever hear," I spat, pulling myself up straight and glaring at both Kanone and Eyes. "I can only do what I can. Nothing more." I turned, leaving quickly. It felt odd to be the one turning my back on Eyes, when he did it so often to me.
I'd worry about Eyes later, I promised myself with a grim smile. He and I would have a long talk about the Blade Children, one I doubted he would enjoy much. And I would enjoy trying to push his buttons. I had seen his mask crumple once, and I wanted to clarify my wish. I wanted to see him smile or loose control in anger or passion, not despair.
For now, I had Madoka to worry about, and needed to sleep.