a/n: thank you so much for the kind reviews! This is my first time ever publishing any of my writing online, and my first fanfic attempt, so I'm rather nervous. ^^; I hope I won't disappoint and that you'll enjoy this next chapter!
Slaine spent much of the day dozing on the couch. His energy was still practically nonexistent and he had little interest in looking around. Nevertheless, he couldn't quite fall asleep.
The house smelled nice. What was that scent? Perhaps some Terran flower was nearby. His mind drifted to the times he had spent teaching a certain girl about the flowers of Earth. Had the Princess – no, the Empress, been to this house? She had spent quite a bit of time on Earth, so it wasn't unlikely. His brow furrowed at the thought of her and Inaho sitting on this very couch. No, that couldn't have happened – the Kaizuka's original home was most likely destroyed during the initial invasion, as a large portion of the city was. Ah yes, the same day he had shot that disgusting traitor. He shuddered at the memory of him. Honestly, it was laughable how pathetic he had been in those days. Indecisive and desperate, unable to discern the true enemy, he had been a mere servant playing at guardian. Who did he ever protect? No wonder he was smacked around. Trash could never become useful to anyone.
And somehow he had now sunk even lower, with his every move being watched, controlled, restricted, first in prison, and now with this leash. He wished someone would hit him again – it would be more bearable than this mental hell he was living in.
Well, he had to admit it was rather comfortable in this house. It was quiet, tranquil, and best of all, there was no one else around all day to irritate him. But comfortable or not, he didn't like being tied to that person. In fact every fiber of him wanted to be rid of him. It was a distaste he had never quite understood. Why was it that just looking at that boy made him irrationally angry, like his existence itself was taunting him? Now having to accept his help once again was almost sickening, just barely eased by the fact that it was simply a fulfillment of Asseylum's wishes. It was her charity, not Inaho Kaizuka's, and that he could accept.
The clock's rhythm beat steadily on the wall beside the window. The curtains were drawn to keep out unsolicited eyes, giving the room a calm, vague lighting. If not for the timepiece, he wouldn't know what hour of the day it was.
Five o'clock.
Inaho would be home soon. He briefly considered retreating to the bathroom and locking the door for the duration of the evening.
Tick, tock, tick, tock… he was getting drowsy.
When he awoke, someone was standing there looking at him. As his eyes focused he realized it was a woman, and that she was holding a gun about a meter from his face. "What the…"
"Alright, who are you," she demanded, "and what are you doing in my house?"
Ah, so this was Inaho's sister. Why was she home without him? He glanced at the clock – 5:20.
Of course she'd come home early, today of all days.
Not moving a muscle, he replied coolly, "Ask your brother."
He was surprised she didn't recognize him, but then he did look much different than he had two years ago on royal television broadcasts. Back when he wore the regal garb of a count, with trim hair and confident eyes. Now he looked every bit the convict he was, perhaps a little worse.
She lowered the gun slightly. "Huh?! Are you Nao-kun's friend?"
"As if…"
Should he go ahead and tell her? But how would she react… and without Inaho to back him up. Then again, it might be a good thing if she shot him. Finally, someone might actually do it.
"Wait a minute, are you…" she seemed to be figuring it out as she peered closer at him, "are you… Slaine Troyard?"
There was a long silence as the two stared at each other. The clock was louder than ever.
"… and if I am?"
Her expression darkened, eyes filled with bitter hurt, and for a moment he was certain she was going to pull the trigger. He didn't flinch. He didn't move at all as she struck him hard across the face.
"Yuki-nee, what are you doing?"
Inaho always seemed to appear at the most opportune moments.
"Nao-kun! Why is he here?!" she pointed a finger at Slaine, who was still lying motionless on the couch, a red mark swelling on his pale cheek.
"You really shouldn't bring weapons home," Inaho replied calmly, completely evading the main question. "Please don't from now on."
"What? Why?" Yuki was growing increasingly confused as her eyes darted from one to the other.
Slaine wondered if Inaho considered it a threat to them or to himself. He had a gut feeling it was the latter. It irked him, but he knew the boy was well aware of his fragile state. He often wondered how much of it was relayed to Asseylum.
"Slaine will be staying with us now. He was released into my custody on a trial house arrest this morning."
"WHAT?!"
"Please don't shout, Yuki-nee…"
"Nao-kun, he's dangerous! You can't be serious! He… he's the one that —"
Inaho exhaled slowly. "I know, I know." He had now crossed the room until he was standing in front of her. He took the gun from her hand. "But it's alright. That was three years ago. People change."
"Not really…" Slaine watched the familial drama unfold before him with the acute feeling that he didn't belong here. They were already talking about him as if he wasn't even there. Typical.
Yuki bit her lip and groaned slightly. "You never change, Nao-kun. Uuugh!" she sighed audibly, "You win, as always."
"I'll start dinner," was his only reply as he headed for the kitchen.
Yuki remained in the livingroom, her attention now returned to Slaine.
"I'm… still not happy about this, but if you're going to be staying with us… you really should eat more, ok?"
Slaine's eyes widened a faction as she walked away. Why should she care about his weight? He had lost a significant amount of body mass since his imprisonment, but he never gave it much thought. Eating was troublesome with no appetite and he didn't see the point, anyway.
The days continued, each pretty much the same as the one before. The siblings woke early, he was dragged from his makeshift bed to eat breakfast with them, and then they headed out, leaving Slaine to idle away the long hours alone. Sometimes Inaho left later than Yuki, sometimes earlier. He had recently begun his second year at the university, in addition to his position in the military, so his schedule was much more erratic. No wonder he hardly had any time to spare. Yet somehow he also managed to prepare almost every meal for all three of them. In the evenings Inaho studied in his room while Yuki watched TV or read. Occasionally she would try to converse with him, but it never lasted long, as it was noticeably forced on both sides. He wasn't sure what to make of her yet, especially since her words and actions toward him often contradicted one another.
"My sister's having some friends over this evening for a bit," Inaho mentioned one morning, "sorry but you'll have to hide out for a few hours until they leave."
Slaine dipped his chin slightly in acknowledgement. He assumed this meant he was spending several hours cooped up in a tiny room with the one person he couldn't stand. Fantastic.
That evening, the two found themselves sitting across from one another on Inaho's bedroom floor with a chessboard between them.
"I think you're getting worse at this…" Inaho commented as he removed one of his opponent's knights and set his own pawn in its place. "Are you having trouble thinking?"
Slaine frowned at the board. Was that supposed to be an insult? No… he was only offended because Inaho had hit the nail on the head. He was having trouble thinking, more so than usual, anyway. This brain exercise only stirred up the miasma in his mind and made it throb. Still, Inaho insisted on playing every so often, probably as a bit of forced interaction and mental stimulus for someone who only stared at the wall alone all day. Tonight was a good time for it, since they were stuck in a room together while Yuki had her company, and Inaho had finished his homework early. With an intellect like that, it was a wonder he had to study at all. Slaine sighed. There was a time when his own mind was more than a stagnant swamp of self-loathing.
"You know, you remind me a little of a friend of mine." The soft-spoken one replaced another of Slaine's pieces. "She's a Martian but she grew up here on Earth, so I guess you could say she's the opposite of you."
Why was he bringing this up, exactly…? Slaine tried to focus on the game for once. He hated playing, but he hated losing more.
Inaho continued while his opponent pondered the board, "For the longest time, she hated herself. She really thought she had nowhere to belong, and that she didn't deserve to have anything. At one point she even wanted to die – she was going to end it herself. Even after that, she didn't want me to trust her, she said she was no different from treacherous Martians," he paused to move a bishop across the board, "but she was wrong about all that."
"So? What happened to her?" Slaine's interest was piqued in spite of himself. It wasn't surprising that there would be someone else in a situation like his – there was Lemrina, after all. They were a cursed breed, the lot of them. But he wanted to know how things had turned out for this girl. Maybe it was that strange sense of kinship, even if he had never met her and didn't even know her name.
"She's alive, and happy to be. Her heritage may not be from Earth, but she belongs here now because that's what she's decided for herself."
Slaine watched his queen succumb to the enemy with a sour expression. "Except that girl hasn't killed anyone. She never deceived others or took from them. How can she possibly be anything like me?"
"Don't assume everyone is only either innocent or evil. There's no such thing as a person who's never done anything wrong, just like there isn't anyone who is completely beyond saving. She did kill someone. She killed Seylum-san."
"What – ?!" his hands clenched on impulse.
"She was revived, but for a moment, Seylum-san was gone. She had been strangled in the shower, with that –" he pointed to the silver chain around Slaine's neck.
Slaine clutched at his chest, closing the pendant in his fist. "H-how could you possibly forgive her?!"
"Because everyone makes mistakes and should get a second chance. Whether they accept it or not is up to them." He leaned back on his hands. "Checkmate, by the way."
