Friends and similar pasts
Joe pulls out a strange communication device and begins to talk through it. "All right guys Keitaros already in the room so just port our stuff to his location and come up". Joe said. "Roger mate". Said a voice from the other end. "And now we wait". Po says quietly. 30 minutes later three different individuals walked through the door, and the girls were more than surprised by their appearances. The first person they saw instantly caught their attention, for quite a few reasons actually. The first and most obvious reason was his skin, it was completely green. The second were his clothes. He wore a red and black hoodie with a strange triangular symbol on the middle of it. He also had black baggy pants with a black chain connected to it along with thick leather looking gloves. His hair was spiked backwards and was the darkest shade of black they had ever seen. (No, Zim is not Goth or emo I just like the color black). The last thing they noticed about him was that his eyes were a very deep ruby color that made them look like they were glowing. The next person was fairly normal except for a few details. For one you couldn't see his face because he was wearing a half mask with a skulls mouth on it. He also had sunglasses on making it impossible to see his eyes. He was also wearing a gray hoodie with slightly baggy cargo pants. The last person was a man who looked to be at least in his twenties with short brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing some type of stealth uniform if the fact it was all black was any of the indications. But the one thing the girls and Haruka noticed was that each of them was carrying a different type of firearm. "Haruka, girls, we would like to introduce you to some of our teammates". "Zim, Ghost and Snake". Joe announced. They all simply stared until Sarah chose to speak up. "So why are they all here"? Seeing that it wasn't a threat and just pure curiosity they decided to answer her question. "We all originally came here to see if grandma could give us rooms to stay in since we lost our apartment in a shootout". R.O.B. explained. The girls simply stared at them. It's a long story. Joe replied. "Hey where's Keitaro guys"? Zim asked. "He's upstairs trying to calm down". Po answers. Nodding their heads in understanding the new trio come in and sits down on the couch. And then asked a question that the girls weren't ready to hear. "So Po, how are your girlfriends doing"? Snake asked. "They're doing quite fine thank you for asking". Po replied. The girls were stunned in silence at hearing this. Noticing the stunned looks on the girls faces Zim thought it best to tell them about the current situation. "Where I come from you can get a license to marry as many women as you want in any country in the world, we have no restriction on how many women we date". Zim stated proudly. Naru and Motokos pervert instincts kicked in and were about to attack the green man when Joe stepped in front of them. "Oh I almost forgot, if you harm any of our friends you get a one way ticket out of here"! Joe threatened. This stopped them cold and they almost fell over in the process. "Now that we have all the rules established, Kitsune could you please accompany me, R.O.B. and Po to the landlords room"? It took Kitsune a few seconds to come back to reality before she answered. "Why do you need me to come up with you"? She asked in worried voice. "We need your help in calming Keitaro down; we prefer a woman's touch in this department". Po replied. "Oh… ok". Was the response from Kitsune. Walking past the rest of the girls the three co owners gave a slight glare towards Naru and Motoko before proceeding up the stairs. The four were quiet the entire trip to the landlord's room until they heard the faint sound of crying coming from behind the door of the room they were headed to. Kitsune knew who was behind the door but couldn't figure out why Keitaro would be crying. She looked at the other three with her and saw only looks of sadness and grief on their faces. When Joe finally opened the door Kitsune gasped at what she saw. Keitaro sitting on a box and looking like a wreck crying over a picture he had in his hands. He didn't seem to notice them so he continued to cry as if no one was there. "Why is he crying"? Kitsune asked in a concerned voice. Joe sighed before he answered. "You remember when he threatened Sarah for throwing the sun disk and insulting him". Kitsune shivered and then nodded. "That's why he's crying". When all he got was a confused look from her he thought it best to elaborate. "Keitaro wasn't always like this; he used to be a kind gentle person who would never raise his hand to anyone". Kitsune looked from Keitaro back to Joe trying to make the connection between the man in front of her and the person he just described. "But… how"? Po sighed and answered. "Our mom; she was the one thing in the world he cared about most. "She was the one who could make him smile no matter how sad or upset he was, she was his reason for being happy. And then she was taken away from him". Po looked up at Keitaro before continuing. "She was also the one who told him to never get angry with anyone even if they deserved it". That he should never stoop to the level of anyone who mistreated him. That he should focus on keeping others safe and happy, no matter what… "He's conflicted". R.O.B. said. "His new self-promises pain and misery upon others. But since he still hasn't let go of what happened to mom the part of him that still holds the Keitaro we used to know takes over for a while and cries whenever he does something against what mom always told him". Joe wiped his eyes before continuing. "This is the reason why we call him the soldier of tears". Kitsune felt like her heart was breaking after this explanation. She couldn't believe what he was going through in his life. Or that it was similar to her life. You see Kitsune lost her parents in a similar manner to the Urishima brothers, though she wasn't going to admit that until the situation calmed down first. It was back when she was a freshman in high school and she was standing outside a grocery store until she started hearing screams from inside the store. Worried about her parent's safety she rushed into the store to see what was wrong, and like the three brothers, was met with a nightmare. There was blood all over the floors and walls, and body's scattered across the store. She would have screamed if a hand from behind her hadn't covered her mouth. Before she had a chance to struggle, she was gently pushed behind a pile of boxes. When she looked up to see who had pushed her she was surprised to see it was a boy who looked only slightly older than her. He had long blue hair, and only one visible red eye seeing as the other one was covered in an eye patch. He had a cowboy styled hat with a long leather trench coat and two strange looking revolvers on either side of his belt. She quickly looked away from the boy when she heard a loud growling noise coming from in front of them. When she saw what was in front of her, her heart nearly stopped. There was some sort of creature with a hood concealing its eyes and had blood dripping down it mouth. Its hands looked like blood stained claws and it was on all fours growling like a wild animal. But what she heard from the boy made her want to cry. "You Hunter have killed two of my good friends… Mina and Ken Konno". As if the creature understood what he said it smiled evilly and lunged at him. But before it even fully left the ground the boy pulled out one of his revolvers and pulled the trigger so fast all she saw was a blue light from the gun firing. When she heard something fall to the ground she turned back to where the creature was and got quite the shock. The creature's entire top half was splattered all over the wall, while its bottom half was lying on the ground motionless. The experience was becoming too much for Kitsune, and before she blacked out the boy spoke one last time. "I'm sorry kid". When Kitsune came out of her memories she noticed Keitaro was still crying, and that she also had tears in eyes. It was at this moment she decided that from now on she would not let him suffer for what happened in the past, and help him move on. None of the three tried to stop Kitsune as she walked towards Keitaro; they just smiled at the thought that she was willing to help him through his suffering. Once she was directly in front of him she knelt down so that if he looked up she would be at eye level with him. She then put a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there. He looked up at her and glared at Kitsune, not liking the fact she was touching him. "What do you want bi…" Keitaro stopped himself when he saw that she was also crying and couldn't understand why. But what she said next caused all of them to look at her in shock. "In my dreams, I gladly strike a katana through the heart of one who has caused me much pain, with blood thirst and vengeance in my eyes, pounding through every throbbing vein in my body. After I beat every devilish thought from this one's mind till all that echo's is "dear help me, God." I lay that fiendish body at the foot of the headstone where all my lost memories are buried. And when I do, I lay for hours upon the grave's mud, Begging forgiveness for a horrible deed that cannot be undone. I should know. But only in my dreams I am this… monster… I am no better the victim, as I am the foul beast that gave me these scars, murdered my… my future. To you, I may look justified to sue this terrible anger I have on the very one who caused it. Perhaps every man in anguish, and every woman in bitter despair, deserves the satisfaction of biting back such a hand which fed them poison. Perhaps. But, in some sad universe, on a whim of turmoil, with a heart that aches like no story book can tell and soul can ignore, I ask forgiveness for the sinner who has broken me. In my place, I could only feel the damage. In theirs, I could see it. And in that moment, if only for a moment, their conscious calls the guilty to come home. And tears don't fall… *wipes eyes* nor crash around me…" *wipes Keitaro's eyes* Keitaro was shocked by the words he had just heard. She was bearing her soul and his own to him and they barley even knew each other. Keitaro then felt understanding and shame wash over him like a wave. Shame because he realized he was going to insult her when she was trying to help. And understanding because now he knew why she was crying. She had been through something similar to what he and his brothers had gone through when they were kids. Before he could respond to her Kitsune pulled him into a warm gentle hug. At that point Keitaro couldn't back anymore and returned the hug while crying harder than he had in years. "I think we should leave these two alone for now guys." Joe said so they wouldn't ruin the moment. R.O.B. and Po simply nodded and closed the door behind them as they left. "I think she just might be the one to help him through this." R.O.B. said in a happy tone. Joe and Po simply smiled at the thought. (As long as she keeps the tears away… that all that matters)
End