Unshed Tears
By Shino Kouen "Red Flame of Death"

He sat cross-legged on the beach, poking at the sand with his fingers, and squishing it through his toes; a boyishly stupid grin spread over his face.
"It's that easy," He giggled to his sister, stabbing at the ground again with his fingers as he counted. "One...two...three... Three more dead. Three fewer humans on Chikyuu."
"But why?" She asked her brother, stabbing at the sand with her own hand.
"Why?" he repeated, turning his face towards hers, so that the rays of the rising sun warmed it's tone gently, making him look less pale, and more alive. "Because we can, Nee-san, that's why." He giggled again, a bubbly giggle, like he was drunk on some expensive wine. She could almost hear the liquid gurgling in his throat each time he laughed.
"Stupid humans," She smiled, letting herself slip into the same child-like stance her brother was in. It was all just a game, anyway.
Together they sat, waititng for the sun to finish it's rise, stabbing the sand, each stroak symbolizing the deaths that were to come. Yes, it was all a game in the end.

~~*~~

"What did you say your name was, again?" He asked the girl who was curled up at his feet, writhing in pain. She had never told him her name to begin with. "Answer me, damn it, or I'll kill you now!" He grabbed a fistfull of her blonde hair, yanking her head up so he could see the fear sparkle in her eyes.
She groaned, blood creating a metalic taste in her mouth. "Mm... Mika."
"Mika, eh?" He cupped her chin with his hand. "You have beautiful hair, Mika." That said, he ripped the hand still holding her hair upwards, while still holding her chin firmly in place, scalping her like he was ripping the husk away from an ear of corn. He kicked her body away as her scream died, and he stepped away from the river of blood pouring from her skull, as not to dirty his shoes.

"You're one of those damned Jinzouningen!" The man growled.
"Uh hu," she answered, nonchalantly, pinning his shoulders to the ground beneath her. "Smart guy, arn't you?"
In answer, he spit up into her face.
Anger found its way to sparkle in her eyes, and her her smirk tightened to a thin, tight line. "You're going to regret that." She growled, wrapping long fingers around his neck, and yanking him to his feet. "Buenos fucking noches, bastard." And she jabbed her other hand directly through his chest and heart, as easily as if he had been sand.
As the body slumped it's way to the ground, bleedling like a broken pipe, she heard the slow, sarcastic clapping behind her.
"See, Nee-chan?" He told his sister, that childish grin spreading over his face. "Just like I told you, so easily killed."
She turned to face him, smiling a twin expression. "Snuffed out like a candle."
"Exactly," he purred, tossing Mika's hair at her feet. "Got us a souvineir."
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You're taking that a bit far, arn't you, Nii-chan?"
He shrugged, then crossed his arms over his chest. "It's all for the fun, anyway."
"Yes, of course, Nii-chan...you're always in it for the fun... only the fun."
But her brother didn't answer. Instead, he groaned, gazing up at the sky. "He's coming."
"The Saiya-jin boy?"
"Yeah. He never gives up, does he? There must be something wrong with his head."
"Naive boy."
"Something like that."
Their chatter ended as the saiya-jin warrior landed in front of them, glaring through aqua-colored eyes.
"Well, well, well," the Jinzouningen boy began. "If it isn't Trunks Briefs, the savior of Chikyuu, who is only alive because we allowed him to be."
"Shut up, Juunana-gou," Trunks hissed. "Shut your damned mouth before I have to do it for you."
"Tsk tsk tsk... idol threats, eh?"
"I said shut the hell up!"
"No, you said 'Shut your damned mouth before I have to do it for you.'" He recited word for word.
"I don't care, just SHUT UP!"
Juunana shrugged. "Okay, okay, but that means you have to fight me." He crouched into an attack stance. "Juuhachi?" He nodded to his twin sister. "Care to join me?"
"Sure, why not." She said, raising her fists. "If we knock him out, I get the jacket," she purred, eyeing the boy through half lidded eyes, forcing Trunks to shiver.
"I get the sword." Juunana added, causing Trunks's shivers to become waves of anger, and not fear.
"No one's getting anything of mine, damn it!"
Juunana scowled. "Selfish," he accused the boy.
"I am not--"
"Shut up and fight me all ready!" he cut the boy off, heightening his fury.
Screaming his rage, Trunks lunged for Juunana-gou with a fist aimed to the head. Juunana merely side-stepped the attack, rolling his eyes at Trunks's weak attempts.
Desperatly, Trunks launched a series of kicks and punches at the Jinzouningen male, though not one of them struck their marks.
Finally, bored of waiting to be hit, Juunana-gou caught Trunks by the ankle, mid-kick. In one motion, he'd flipped the boy around, and had him sprawled on his back. Not wasting any time, he was kneeling beside the Saiya-jin and punching him over and over again in the face. Trunks groaned as he felt blood running down his cheek.
"Your hair would make a nice souvineir," Juunana-gou stated, flatly. Trunks shuddered at the thought, opening an eye, and struggling to get up. He was only kneeling when the ki blast hit him. Heat rose from his chest to flood his head, and suddenly he could hardly breathe. He didn't even know if he'd hit the ground, but he could hear something... though he wasn't sure if he was really hearing it.
"Let him go, Juunana, we've done enough for today."
"I don't recall you doing anything, Juuhachi. Getting soft?"
"Of course not, Nii-chan," she reminded him. "I just want to make sure we still have a playtoy for some other day."
He snorted. "Do I still get his sword?"
"No, let him keep it."
"Aw, Nee-chan, you're no fun."
"Grow up, Juu-kun."
"I am, Juuhachi... as much as I can."
Silence, and everything stopped.

~~*~~


She didn't know quite where she she planned on going, but a walk seemed like the best idea at the time. Juunana had fallen asleep; something neither of them needed, but was nice to endulge in every once in a while. Sleep, however, had eluded Juuhachi that night. Something had been nagging at her. She almost thought she'd forgotten something... but that couldn't be. What was there to forget?
She wandered around a while, retracing her steps, until she came across the boy...the Saiya-jin boy.
He looked so peaceful, asleep under the full moon's silver light, still unconcious, recovering, though slowly.
She could have killed him, right then and there, sending his death streaming down from her fingertips and into his heart. But she didn't. Part of her, though she didn't know what part, wanted to let him live... no matter how dangerous he became. In fact, part of her wanted him to become dangerous... so dangerous that he could cause her pain. She wanted -no, needed- to feel pain. Maybe that was it-- the Saiya-jin was the only one left who had a prayer of making her suffer. She wanted the pain, she wanted to risk her life... to be at the mercy of another fighter... She'd never felt that before, and some odd, foreign part of her craved that. Yes, that was it... it had to be it.
She knelt by the boy, brushing a few strands of hair from his face, then resting her cool hand on his contrastingly warm cheek, and smiled. Ever-so-gently, she moved his body, removing his jacket and throwing it around her shoulders, then stroaking his hair gently.
"I think it's rightfully mine, don't you?" She murmered to the sleeping boy. "You were knocked out.. but you can keep your sword, just this once." She moved her hand to remove her earings. "It's a fair trade," she placed them in the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around them. "Ja ne, Trunks." And she was off.

~~*~~

He had a fever... he could feel it sweeling in his head, pounding like millions of miniature hammers, swirling like a flushed toilet. His eyes lingered closed, not wanting to have to greet the harsh day light. Ironically, though, he'd dreamed about something cool, perhaps the wind, brushing over his face. It was eerie, but somehow strangly comforting.
He'd been upset when he woke up to find that he was no longer wearing his jacket. One of the cyborgs had to have taken it when he was out. Most likely Juuhachi, being that the sword was still there... But why? Why hadn't she just killed him?
Even more disturbing, he found two gold hooped earings in his closed hand. So she hadn't stolen, she'd traded... but why? Why had she even bothered?
He dropped the cold metal earings in his pocket, not knowing what else to do with them. He groaned, feeling a dull pain at the back of his neck as he got up.
Forcing himself to do so, he stumbled through the woods, dizzy, but needing to get home to a bed, so he could recover more fully. It was some sick twist of fate that he ran into her.
"Whatch where you're going, boy!" She growled when he nearly walked right into her.
He shuddered, thankful her brother wasn't there, praying that she, herself, wouldn't kill him. "Sorry," he groaned.
She looked at him hard, a moment. "What the Hell's wrong with you?"
He groaned again, this time in pain, folding his arms acrossed his stomach. "I think... I think I'm sick."
"Hn," she made an attempt at making some sort of acknoledgement to his weakness without beating the shit out of him. "Then why don't you go the Hell home?"
"I'm trying to," he explained, thinking a moment. "You're not going to just kill me now?"
"You want me to?"
"No! No, I didn't mean for it to sound like that!"
"Then go home, you've got three minutes to be out of my sight."
His eyes widened a minute, then he limped off towards the Capsule Corp. with her gaze boring through his back. As soon as he was out of sight she turned away. What made her want to watch him so long?

~~*~~