A Dawn I Need To Bear
A/N: Special thanks to my beta Brokenshardsofmyheart99!
Disclaimer: I do not own Get Backers.
As he sat in front of the single man that would help him, Kazuki fidgeted with his wedding ring. The engraved letters on the inside of the ring kept him collected as he tried to open his mouth once again to tell the man what had happened that made him seek him out. With a gulp, Kazuki looked up. The man in front of him wore casual clothing; a black t-shirt and skin-tight, faded blue jeans. There were no shoes on the man's feet, just white socks. And unlike him, his single hope was dry, smelled of cologne, and did not have any mud or dried blood on him.
The cold air in the room made him tremble, making him think that he looked like an injured newborn pup. Comparing himself to a puppy made him remember the sole reason for all of the chaos in his life as of recent. Kazuki bit his lips until blood began to ooze out and run down his chin. This seemed to have made the man in the casual clothes uneasy, but he still got up and handed him a tissue to clean the blood up. Having no other option, Kazuki took the tissue, picked up the blood with it, and furrowed it with his hand.
Another lighting strike made hem both jump up and gasp. The apartment was too quiet, too dark, too alone. It was a haven, but for how long depended not on himself. "Toshiki," he mumbled, feeling tears on the corners of his eyes. "You've agreed to help me, but you don't understand my situation. Nor do you fathom the perilous road that might await you." The blonde man did not utter anything nor did he move at what he had said "Are you certain that you have not made a mistake in taking me in?" Kazuki asked, hoping that Toshiki would not turn him away, even if it was selfish of him to do so.
The blonde stood up and walked to a seat closer to him. "Kazuki, I vowed to protect you. I'm willing to go through with that promise, but please let me in." A roar from the sky interrupted Toshiki before he could continue with what he was about to say. "Kazuki, who are you running away from?" As simple as the question seemed, not even Kazuki himself knew. Toshiki remained wary of their distance by not coming closer to him. It made sense to Kazuki, though. His friend seemed like the type to comfort someone by trying to make them comfortable.
With a quivery breath, Kazuki looked up into Toshiki's eyes. Shaking his head, he answered the question. "Toshiki, I don't even know that." The answer seemed to trouble the blonde man since his eyes widened and his mouth closed and opened several times with no words coming out. "They want something… Or rather someone." Kazuki whispered as he looked around the room. Every time this particular topic came up, it made him inspect his surroundings. Within his mind, he knew that it was from reminding himself that he was being hunted down, like an rare species of animal.
Rendered speechless for that brief moment, Toshiki walked to him and held him in his arms. Being caught in his protector's arms, Kazuki began to let the tears he had held run down. Licking his lips, he tasted the salt in the tears along with come of the coppery taste of the drying blood. They held each other a bit longer before releasing one another. The close proximity of their faces made Kazuki feel closer to the man, now more than ever. "Who do they want, Kazuki?" The question he had been avoiding had come up, and there were no lies he could tell the man that had agreed to help him.
Nodding to himself, Kazuki decided to tell the truth. It would have been impossible to lie to someone after they had held you and looked into your eyes, at least for him it was. Kazuki brought himself to full height and began to remove his tattered coat. Water had been dripping from it and there had been mud, blood, and even shards of glass on it, but he had refused to take it off for two main reasons. As he was about to open the coat, he turned away from Toshiki.
"Toshiki…" he whispered as he tossed the coat to chair he had been using. It was when he turned around to face the blonde man that he saw the look of shock in his eyes.