Disclaimer and notes in part 1.
Useless Things
by Estirose
part 2
Wataru looked at Nago-san's rules. There was something very wrong with Nago-san, he could tell. Nago-san was a good man, in blinded by some things.
He had to find help for Nago-san. Nornally, he'd ask Shizuka-chan, but Nago-san had, for some reason, forbidden him to deal with women, and he didn't want to make Nago-san's condition worse. Megumi-san was out, too.
As Mio-san would be, if he knew where she was.
Wataru didn't know many guys. There was Nago-san himself, Kengo-san, the cafe owner, and Shima-san. He could probably talk to Kengo-san, but the boisterous musician wasn't exactly subtle and he didn't want to make Nago-san's condition worse. Shima-san was Nago-san's boss, he might order Nago-san to keep away from Wataru, but that might only make Nago-san's condition worse. The cafe owner might be the only one he could turn to.
"Wataru," Kivat said, unperching himself, "Do you intend to let that man rule your life?"
"I didn't agree to any of his rules," Wataru said. He'd been careful not to. "But I don't want to hurt him."
Kivat snorted. "He's one step away from hurting you," he said. "I'll talk to Shizuka."
"Kivat..." Wataru started to say, then realized Kivat was right. Nago-san had only required Wataru not to talk to any women; he hadn't said anything about Kivat. He didn't even know about Kivat. Which was good. Knowing about Kivat would mean figuring out that Wataru was Kiva. Nago-san knowing that Wataru was Kiva was bad enough when Nago-san was all right; this could be a disaster in his current shape. "You're right."
"Of course I am," Kivat said. Wataru opened a window for him and let him out, closing it after him.
Tatsulot, who had taken up residence with Wataru, swirled around his head. "Cheer up, Wataru-san! Things will get better!"
"I hope so," Wataru said. He decided to head for the cafe. Nago-san wouldn't be there anyway. He liked to choose his times when he was there, and in the afternoon he had things to do. Besides, at the cafe, he felt like he was recognized and someone who belonged there.
He left Tatsulot at the house and soon arrived at the cafe. The owner seemed surprised to see him there, but cheerfully served him a drink. He was the only customer there at the moment. Wataru worked up the courage to ask what he wanted to ask. "Do you know Nago-san well?" he asked.
"He has been coming in here for quite some time," the cafe owner said guardedly. "Why?"
"Has he been acting strangely to you?" Wataru asked. "He came to my house and said some very strange things to me."
"Not to me, no," the cafe owner said hesitantly. "What strange things?"
Wataru didn't want to pour all his troubles onto the other man, but he hoped that telling him a little bit would help. "He wants to run my life," he said simply. He didn't mention the boyfriend thing. "Who I can't see, what I can't do, what I can do."
"That's very possessive, even for Nago-kun," the cafe owner said. "Have you told him no?"
"I tried objecting, and he snapped and told me not to argue," Wataru said.
"This is bad," the cafe owner said. "You're your own person, Wataru-kun, you should live your own life."
Wataru nodded. "I just wish that I knew why he's acting this way. From his rules, he seems to think I'm in danger of befriending and sleeping with a female Fangire." He knew it was safe to use the term; the Wondrous Blue Sky Association used the word there all the time.
The cafe owner scratched his head. "I'm not sure what he's intending," he said, "But you're going to have to stand up to him, Wataru-kun."
Wataru nodded again. "Thank you," he said, and finished his drink, paying the cafe owner.
"Good luck!" the cafe owner said.
He returned home to find Megumi-san ringing his doorbell.
Megumi rang Wataru-kun's doorbell repeatedly, in hopes that it would annoy him enough to come down. She was sure Nago-kun had intimidated the poor boy, and that Wataru needed a helping hand.
"Megumi-san?" Wataru asked hesitantly behind her.
She turned. "Wataru-kun. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Wataru-kun said. "It's Nago-san that's sick." He looked at her plaintively. "Megumi-san, can you help me?"
Megumi nodded. "Yes, I can," she said. "Let's go inside." If Nago took issue with her being in Wataru's house, then he could take it up with her.
She followed him up to his workshop, where he offered her tea. He was very domestic, she decided. And very quiet, very easy for Nago-kun to intimidate. She picked up a piece of paper, recognizing Nago-kun's handwriting. "Rules," it said, with a list of rules for Wataru to follow. "Don't talk back, don't talk to any women unless they're customers or serving you, don't get near any Fangire..." Nago-kun seemed ready to run Wataru-kun's life for him. Wataru-kun seemed a little bit weird sometimes, but he seemed like he was an independent adult.
"Nago-san left me a lot of rules," Wataru-kun said, taking the list from her. "I can't think of why he'd think I'm in danger of sleeping with a Fangire."
"I don't know either, Wataru-kun," Megumi said. "How long has he been acting like this?"
"The last time he wasn't acting weird was when I dropped all my change at the cafe," Wataru said. "He looked stunned, but he was okay. I guess he was interested in a button my mother gave me when I was little." He took out a button from somewhere. "But I don't know why it would cause him to act this way."
"I don't know, Wataru-kun, but I'll find out," Megumi promised. "And in the meantime, don't feel obligated to follow his rules if they prevent you from doing anything."
Wataru nodded shyly, and Megumi resolved to find Mio-chan and have her date Wataru-kun. It would make both of them feel better.
Megumi swept into the exercise room that Shima-san always worked at. "Shima-san," she said firmly. "Nago-kun has gone mad."
"Has he?" Shima-san asked. "What did he do, precisely?"
"Well, for one, he kissed Wataru-kun," Megumi said. "And then he claimed it was for the sake of the world. And gave Wataru-kun a list of rules on what he could and couldn't do. Nago-kun needs help."
Shima-san stopped his workout for the moment. "If he's doing what I think he's trying to do..." Shima looked over at her. "Then he's come across some information he's not supposed to, and he's trying to save the world in his own way."
"By kissing Wataru-kun?" Megumi asked skeptically.
"Twenty years ago," Shima-san said, "I accepted a Fangire into the Wondrous Blue Sky organization. She was pregnant. She promised to help us out, and she did, by giving us Kiva. That turned out to be a disaster."
Megumi nodded. She'd known tragic things had happened with the old wielder, but not precisely what.
"That Fangire was Wataru's mother. His father was a human member of the organization." He paused for a moment. "When his mother told me that he could come into his power someday, especially if he knew what it was, I forbade her to ever tell him about it. I figured that Wataru would be easier to deal with if he was raised as a human with no clue of his Fangire heritage. As it is, I've gathered information that Wataru's beginning to come into that heritage. The main thing we have to do is keep him from losing his humanity in the process."
"So, Nago-kun's somehow decided that Wataru needs his life run for him?" Megumi asked. It made a horrible amount of sense.
Shima-san nodded and hauled a cellphone out of wherever he'd been hiding it. "I'm guessing that's what he decided." He made a call. "Yes. Can you make it to the gym as fast as possible? Yes." He hung up the phone. "He'll be here."
"Good," Megumi said, "Because he can't run Wataru-kun's life for him."
"I agree," Shima-san said. "And I'll try to get him to stop."
"Just as long as he's not trying to control everything in sight," Megumi said.
Nago-kun walked in a few minutes later as they continued to talk.
Keisuke walked in to where Megumi was standing with Shima-san. "Yes?" he asked. He wondered, since Megumi was there, if she'd gone to complain about his behavior to Shima-san. Shima-san knew about Wataru, knew how dangerous Wataru would be when awakened. He'd be on Keisuke's side.
"I hear that you know about Kurenai Wataru," Shima-san said.
"Yes," Keisuke said, glancing at Megumi. "Is this about him?"
Shima-san nodded. "Tell me what you know about him."
Keisuke mentally rolled his eyes. "The important thing is that he's half-Fangire, and his powers don't function while he's ignorant. And he shouldn't have a family, especially children."
Megumi looked surprised at Keisuke's words. He ignored her, focusing on Shima-san.
"You're partially right," Shima said. "The ignorance is so that he continues his alleigance to humanity instead of the Fangire. He's got some powers manifesting anyway, but they seem to be purely unconscious. He doesn't seem to be aware of them."
"And the family?" Keisuke asked. "Do we want him passing along his Fangire blood?" He hoped they wouldn't. He'd look down on them if they did.
"No," Shima-san said. "We need to keep him away from that, and keep him calm. If his powers manifest, they'll be out of passion more than anything else." The older man was staring at something that wasn't his mirrored reflection.
"Then he needs a boyfriend," Keisuke said. "And he does need to have his life controlled." He was doing it right. Wataru needed his guidance, just in a different way.
"He thinks you've gone insane," Megumi snapped.
"I'm only doing what's good for him," Keisuke said calmly. "I know what needs to be done, and I'll do it." Keeping Wataru under his control would be the simplest thing... and he'd make the boy do whatever was needed to unleash his powers later on.
"Hate can be a strong emotion too," Shima-san said mildly. "Make sure you don't turn him against his own kind."
Keisuke snorted. "I will continue being his 'boyfriend', and I'm going to make sure he stays put." He'd do this, no matter how stupid it seemed.
"Wataru likes girls," Megumi said. "Not guys."
"He's going to learn to like me," Keisuke told her. "Because that's all the choice he'll have."
"I would suggest," Shima-san said, "Getting to know him and his interests, if you're going to play a part of his life."
Keisuke frowned. Didn't Shima-san realize that he was going to have to deal with useless things like musical instruments? But on the other hand, it would probably be a good idea to see what drove Wataru, just so that he could control him better. "I'll do that."
He left the gym, intent on seeing Wataru again. But first, he went home and packed a suitcase.
"Nago-san?" As usual, Wataru looked confused. "You're bringing a suitcase this time?"
"I'm staying at your house for a few days. It was suggested that I... tweak... my rules to something more realistic." He put the suitcase down. "So, I'm staying with you for a week. Understand?"
Wataru gaped, and then seemed to remember his place. "Understood."
"Good. Do you make your own dinner, or..." He hoped that Wataru understood the concept of a nutritious meal.
"I make my own, Nago-san," Wataru said. "Do you want me to make some for you, too?"
"Please," Keisuke said. He wanted to see what Wataru was eating, if his diet needed to be fixed. "And please show me around your house."
Wataru bowed. He gave Keisuke a tour of the place, which was not very big. It didn't need to be, if it served as a adequate prison if needed.
"You're not locking your doors," Keisuke said as Wataru finished.
"I need to have my doors unlocked," Wataru said. "That's how my customers get in."
Fine. One small rebellion. If that was the only problem he had with Wataru, he could live with it.
He was left sitting at Wataru's little table while Wataru worked upstairs. Finally, the younger man - half-human, Keisuke reminded himself - finished, going into the small kitchen.
Keisuke waited impatiently for Wataru to cook. When the boy came out, Keisuke was pleased to see that Wataru knew both how to cook and how to set a table, and he had some idea of nutrition. Wataru seemed to be a traditionalist when it came to food, and Keisuke wondered who had taught him to be that way.
Eating his food, he could easily imagine living here, with Wataru to cook his meals. They ate in silence, Keisuke observing Wataru and his table manners, which were fine. He'd have to take Wataru out somewhere in order to observe how he did with European table etiquette.
"Did you remember to lock the doors?" Keisuke asked.
"Yes," Wataru said. His tone was subdued. Keisuke approved.
"Good," Keisuke said. He watched Wataru go upstairs, presumably to work more on violins. Instead, he heard an instrument being tuned, and then soft violin music. He tensed, but he didn't stop Wataru. He was supposed to keep Wataru calm, and if the violin music made Wataru calm, Keisuke would tolerate it - if barely - for the sake of the world.
Eventually, Wataru came back downstairs and turned down the bed. Keisuke had inspected it earlier, realizing he'd spent time in this same bed - or at least the same nook - back in 1986, when Wataru's father had thought he was suicidal.
"Here's your bed, Nago-san," Wataru said, indicating his own bed.
"And where are you sleeping?" Keisuke asked. He hadn't seen a guest bedroom. Maybe it was that room full of boxes that Wataru had shown him.
Wataru shrugged. "I'll find a place. Upstairs."
Keisuke eyed Wataru's bed. There might be enough room for the two of them in it. "I have a better idea." Wataru had to be convinced that sleeping with men, not women, was the way his life was going to be now. There was no way that Keisuke was going to allow Wataru to pass along his Fangire bloodline.
"What is it, Nago-san?" Wataru asked, not sure as to what Keisuke meant.
"You are my boyfriend," Keisuke stated. "We'll sleep together."
Wataru backed up. "That's okay, Nago-san, I'll be perfectly okay upstairs."
Keisuke stepped forward, striding until he was right in Wataru's space. "What's the first rule?"
"Don't argue with you," Wataru said. "But Nago-san, my bed is too narrow for the both of us."
"No, it isn't," Keisuke said, and pulled Wataru in that direction.
Wataru woke up early the next morning on the floor of his workshop. After Nago-san had fallen asleep, he'd crawled out of their shared bed and did his best to sleep on his floor. Nago-san was his guest, after all, even if he hadn't wanted him there.
He snatched up a piece of paper and wrote a note to Nago-san. "To Nago-san: I've gone out to look for ingredients for a new violin varnish. I'll be back later in the day. - Wataru." He was only somewhat lying about the varnish; he was probably overdue to work on a new batch. But he was mostly going out to talk to people, especially Kivat. He didn't want Nago-san to discover Kivat. He still wasn't sure why Nago-san decided that they were dating, but hopefully Nago-san would figure out that they were wrong for each other soon.
Leaving the note on the table, along with some breakfast, he headed out, snacking on his own breakfast food. "Kivat," he said, knowing that the bat wasn't far behind.
The bat swooped around him. "This is still bad."
"Did you get in touch with Shizuka-chan?" Wataru asked.
"Yes, I did. She wanted to meet you - she says your favorite spot in the park." Kivat hovered next to him. "She wants to confront him."
Wataru nodded. Shizuka-chan would do what Shizuka-chan would do, and he'd learned not to hold her back. "I'll meet her there. When?"
"Nine o'clock," Kivat said. "I'd have told you earlier, but you were arguing with that man."
"Nago-san, you mean?" Wataru dropped his head. "I just didn't want to sleep with him."
"Wataru," Kivat said, "You have very important things in your future. Things about yourself that you don't understand. Even now, you have the power to tell him no. I think you should use that power."
Considering Kivat's words, Wataru nodded. He should rebel. He should push Nago-san out of the house, out of his life as much as he could. If they could stop him from being IXA, all the better.
He sat down on a bench. He'd admired Nago-san at first, accepted him as IXA even though the other man bizarrely wanted to kill him for something he didn't even do, been his assistant. He'd even tried to tell Nago-san that he was Kiva, but Nago-san hadn't listened. He hoped it didn't take him going into the Kiva armor to get Nago-san to back down.
Wataru had to get Nago-san out of there before Nago-san discovered Kivat and figured things out.
"I should get in touch with Megumi-san," he said out loud. Megumi-san might know what happened to Nago-san. Nago-san said he'd been talked to, maybe by Shima-san. Maybe Megumi-san had been present.
If he was going to confront Nago-san he had to gather courage. Being around the people he wasn't supposed to be around was good. It would help him believe that he could defy Nago-san's orders and rules.
He took out his phone and called Megumi-san, but got her voicemail. He left a message. Checking the time, he headed to the park to meet Shizuka-chan.
She was waiting when he got there, arms folded. "Wataru, what have you gotten yourself into?" she demanded.
"I'm... not sure," Wataru said. Nago-san had thrown his life in disorder; he hadn't really been able to sit down and think before that morning.
"Well, if you won't talk to this Nago, I will," Shizuka said, boldly dropping off Nago-san's honorific. "You and your dates! First you get this girl who runs off on you, and then you get a boyfriend?"
"I didn't ask for him to be my boyfriend, Shizuka-chan," Wataru explained patiently. "I haven't gotten him to understand that yet."
"Well, you're too young to date," Shizuka said. "And men don't date men."
"They don't?" Wataru asked. Was this one of those things that his mother had never bothered to explain?
"No, they don't," Shizuka said. "It's... ewwww."
"Oh, okay," Wataru said. "But about Nago-san..."
"We'll take care of this right now," Shizuka said, grabbing his arm. "I'm going to save you from the filthy pervert."
"Um. Okay," Wataru said, letting Shizuka-chan lead him back to his house and march him up the stairs.
Nago-san was eating breakfast downstairs as Shizuka-chan hauled Wataru down the stairs to his bedroom/dining room. "You," she said sharply. Her language was still fairly polite, but Wataru was glad he wasn't Nago-san.
"I thought I told you-" Nago-san beyond, but Shizuka-chan had crossed the space between her and Nago-san.
"Wataru can see anybody he likes," Shizuka-chan said boldly. "He's not yours, he doesn't have to follow your stupid rules, and you're going to leave this place and not bother Wataru ever again!"
"You have no idea what's at stake," Nago-san said in response, not bothering to get up. He scowled at Shizuka-chan. "Or you wouldn't be talking to me like that."
"I bet you're just using any excuse you can possibly manage to convince Wataru to be your boyfriend," Shizuka-chan countered. "If it's your pride at stake, you're just going to have to lose it."
"It's far more serious than that," Nago-san argued, getting up. "The fate of the world might be at stake."
"Wataru, tell him that he's tresspassing and has to leave, and that he's harrassing you," Shizuka-chan said.
Nago-san glared at him. "Well, she does have a point," Wataru said hesitantly. "I don't think we make good boyfriends."
"When the fate of the world is at stake," Nago-san said, "we do." He grabbed Wataru's arm.
Shizuka-chan, on the other hand, had grabbed Nago-san's suitcase. She glared at him. "Well, I think you're dangerous and Wataru likes girls!" She grabbed Wataru's arm. "And we're going to call the police."
"We are?" Wataru asked as she hauled him towards the stairs.
"Yes, we are," Shizuka said assertively. Wataru was wondering how to get himself out of the situation when his phone rang. He had it in his hand before Nago-san stole it away from him and answered it. He could feel Shizuka-chan tugging him away.