Glimpse Into the Past: Part 4
Believe
it or not, everyone have things that they hide
Believe it or not,
everyone keeps most things inside
Believe it or not, everyone,
believe in something above
Believe it or not, everyone, need to
feel loved
(Believe It or Not, The Long Road, Nickelback)
"I'm bored…" a short young man – mid teens – poked his text book.
A snide smirk crossed the lips of his sister. "The genius is bored with studying?"
"No, I just find this rather mind-numbing book the teacher assigned much too simple."
"What's the matter? Dad didn't get you into the ultra-mega genius class? Is the enriched academic program not hard enough for you?"
"Actually, it's not."
Rolling her eyes, Eireanna sighed and sat back. She hated being related to Brennan – he was far too boring. He may be intelligent, but it didn't account for the lack thereof charismatic personality. In her eyes, he had the personality of dry wall.
She didn't have patience for the likes of him. Despite knowing he too was a reincarnation, she has little respect for his skills. Superior intelligence struck her as a rather useless ability, namely in the face of her illusionary and teleportation skills. She never even bothered to compare it to her Vampyre ones…
Nevertheless, she felt herself to be inferior next to Shannon who easily danced rings around her in combat, despite not having the ability to teleport or cast illusions. She didn't understand how he had come to be able to break her spells. Nor how he could fight her with graceful ease when she was teleporting.
The only thing she did know was that he had turned down her offer for eternal life…
Eireanna cast a glance at Brennan then at the door as she heard her name being called.
She stood up and teleported from the room.
Brennan frowned and threw the book across the room and fell back on his bed.
"Brennan, where's Eireanna? I just tried calling her. It's her turn to cook tonight." An older girl stuck her head in the room.
Groaning, he eyed her. "I have no idea, O'Shawna – she just teleported from the room. What the hell do I look like, her keeper?"
"There's no need for profanities." She replied sternly. "Just find her."
"I said I'm not her fucking keeper!"
"And I said no swearing."
"Who died and made you queen?"
She lifted her right and left fist. "My loyal subjects did. Now, since Eireanna isn't around, get your pretty butt down to the kitchen and start peeling potatoes."
"This isn't the army, and I'm studying." Brennan replied as-matter-of-factly.
O'Shawna folded her arms over her chest. "What? The ceiling?"
She pointed at the door. "Move it or lose it…"
"If Shannon was here, I wouldn't have to listen to you…"
"No, you'd be listening to him."
Glaring at her, his eyes narrow, Brennan stood up and stormed from the room, fuming. He hated cooking detail – especially the part that involved vegetables and any kind of preparation. He didn't want to peel anything, let alone potatoes because it usually meant peeling enough to feed an army of thousands when O'Shawna was in one of her many 'nastier' moods.
Sulking as he went down to the kitchen, he stopped as he heard the phone ring. It was his chance to procrastinate on helping with supper!
Rushing to pick it up, he hastily greeted the caller.
There was a rough grunt on the other end.
"I'd have though you'd have learned how to speak by now."
"And I'd have thought you'd have learned how to answer the phone like a normal human being."
"What would you know about being normal?"
"I know this much; you're a far cry from the status quo."
Brennan emitted a low growl. Shannon was such a pain in the ass!
"What the hell do you want anyway?"
"I need you to tell Patrick I'm not going to be home. I have, for some reason, this feeling I need to be back in Tokyo."
"Didn't he tell you that he doesn't like you calling him by his first name?"
"I'll call him whatever I want. I just need you to tell him that."
"Why should I?"
"Because if you don't, I'll call back and ask O'Shawna to hang you by your balls."
"How will you know if I don't tell him?"
"Simple – whenever I fall back on my word to him, he calls and bitches at me, so, if he doesn't, I'll know that you haven't told him and therefore know to call O'Shawna and give her the head's up."
"You're such a fucking asshole!"
"Yes, I love you too brother."
Brennan growled again. He hated it when Shannon used that sugar-coated tone. He knew his brother was mocking him when he used it!
Without bothering to say goodbye, he slammed the phone down. He hated talking to Shannon. He might as well talk to a brick wall!
Wandering into the room, a short man, no more than about five and a half feet, with fiery red hair and deep green eyes, walked up to his youngest son, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I heard the phone ring and judging by your tone, it was Shannon…"
"Yeah…" Brennan replied meekly, gazing over at his father, Padráig. "He says he's not coming home. You'll have to tell Mr. Schwartz not to come now."
Padráig sighed, a long and drawn out sigh. "And no one told Shannon the real reason for me wanting him to come home?"
Brennan shrugged. "As far as I know, Eireanna and O'Shawna kept their feed holes shut about the whole thing and I wouldn't have had a chance because Shannon never listens to me anyway."
"He never did listen to anyway. Would you mind calling Karl and telling him? I've got to get ready to go out to meet some of my colleagues for a farewell dinner for Sullivan, who's retiring next week."
Brennan growled softly. Why did he have to do everything? Life just isn't fair when you're a genius…
An expression of surprised danced through her eyes as she stared at the taller girl.
"Soi…!"
"Uh…hi…" she replied, offering a feeble wave, her mind reeling as she tried to come up with an answer as to why she was standing her eavesdropping on what was obviously a personal conversation. "I was just on my uh…way home…"
Miaka blinked innocently at the tall girl before her eyes lit up. "Soi! Were you on good terms with Suboshi before?"
"What?" she replied, staring down at Miaka, confused by the seemingly randomness of the question.
"Well?" Miaka pressed, sounding rather eager.
She shrugged. "I guess. I never had a problem with him; nice enough kid, though rather obsessed with Yui. Last I remember was him on his hands and knees wondering why she had vanished before well, I…decided to defend Nakago against Tasuki's attack."
Miaka's expression grew sage. "If you were on good terms, would you be able to convince him to do something that I haven't?"
"Wait, back up – you're on good terms with him?"
Nodding, Miaka smiled sweetly. "Yep!"
The former Seiryuu Seishi Soi shook her head in disbelief. "Then again, people do change…" she paused for a moment then asked, "do you know where he is?"
"He is living in Tokyo, but went to LA to talk to his brother about something. He didn't disclose it. He just upped and left. I only found the note saying that…." Miaka replied cautiously.
"So he was reincarnated here?"
"No, like his twin, in Germany."
The taller student shrugged then leaned in, and asked, "so, what exactly do you want me to do? Break some kind of language barrier?"
"No, he's already taken care of that. I need you to convince him to talk to Yui-chan." Miaka explained simply.
'Soi' or rather Yamato Michiko blinked perplexedly. "Did you just say convince him to talk to Yui? But… But, I had always been under the impression that he was more than in love with her. He fed his brother a mind-altering liquid just to prevent him from being hurt…"
Miaka shrugged. "I think something happened along the way because he doesn't want anything to do with her. He keeps saying it's because she hates him…"
"And I thought she didn't care for him…?"
"She does."
"Ah… I see where this is going. He has past memories and refuses to let go of it."
"No, because he's friends with me and Tamahome, or rather Taka."
Michiko's eye twitched. She had to wonder if she had been reincarnated in some sort of alternative universe. Nothing was as it appeared. Everything was backwards!
Sighing, she rubbed her temples. "Ok, so what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Well, when he gets back to the city, I want you to convince him that he needs Yui and that she doesn't hate him. He won't listen because I'm her best friend." Miaka explained nonchalantly. It seemed very simple to her, though a pointless arduous task to others.
"Uh, huh, and exactly does this entail?" Michiko asked, crossing her arms over her ample chest.
Inclining her head and smiling sweetly. "Convincing him he's hurting Yui-chan by avoiding her entirely."
"Has Yui actually said anything about this?" Michiko paused and asked slowly, feeling like she was about to ask a stupid question. "Does she even known Shannon?"
"Well…that's the thing… she doesn't. He knows about her and pretty much everything. He refuses to talk to her. She doesn't even know he's in Tokyo, but I know she's jealous of Taka…" Miaka replied.
Michiko shook her head. "Sorry, Yuuki-san, but I can't. If they knew each other, then I'd agree, but he's reincarnated now, so, unless she has met him, she technically doesn't know him and therefore, it would be unethical for me to do anything."
"Then at least do this much for her! You're a former Seishi of hers; I want you to make sure that Tetsuya is really not hurting her." Miaka declared. "Yui-chan has odd bruises and she won't answer when I ask. I need someone who could…"
"Spy? That's against my moral ethic code. However, if you needed me to run this Tetsuya guy through, I have a few men available for such a job. My lackeys have been getting restless." Michiko replied casually.
"Kill him?" Miaka blanched. Even if Tetsuya turned out to be the asshole she suspected he was, killing him wasn't something she had in mind.
She paused. "Uh…wouldn't that be unethical?"
Michiko shrugged. "It's all relevant. Morals are not absolute."
Miaka groaned; she wasn't in the mood for anything of a philosophical debate.
Waving as she walked away, Michiko picked up her school bag. "Sorry, but spying is out of the question, and so is trying to talk to your friend. Bye!"
Miaka sighed and slumped onto the floor, as she watched Michiko retreat. Tears welled up in her eyes. She felt utterly powerless to help Yui. 'Soi' wouldn't help; Shannon was far too obstinate, Keisuke was out of the question, Taka was only willingly to listen and Yui, well, Yui just wouldn't listen to reason.
It would be a few days later that Michiko would find herself briefly involved in the problem involving the former Seiryuu no Miko, much to her dismay. She didn't believe in meddling in the affairs of others, unless there was real concrete evidence that warranted that meddling, but even the, she kept her nose clean.
She didn't even like being involved with Tenkou and his movement. She was only there in attempt to try and get closer to Nakago, or rather Jakob Nylund, Nakago's reincarnation. She wasn't having much luck because of a little thing known as a "language barrier". Jakob spoke Norwegian and English; she spoke Japanese and oddly, had excellent command of the German language.
Their progress had been limited at best and when she started to realise that she wasn't about to get anywhere with him, she tried to leave, only to find herself cornered by Eugene Manley (Miboshi), who turned on the charm and tired to convince her to stay.
At the time, she didn't have any real reason to leave, so, for that reason alone, she simply decided to stay aboard, though unlike the others refused to pledge loyalty to Tenkou and any of the others. She didn't feel any loyalty to them and was bidding her time before she found the means by which to leave.
And this was the very thing she found herself contemplating as she walked home. She had stayed late at the library studying for upcoming tests and assignments. She had then made a stop at the café near the library. She had gone to the one at the university since she needed a change of pace and found herself in the presence of Suboshi, who was needless to say, not the same as she remembered.
When she initially spoke to him, he seemed rather cold, though an expected kind of cold – the kind of stranger cold; the sort that is expected when two people don't know each other. When it seemed that he was warming up to her, she had opened a Pandora's box and mentioned Yui, which brought out a very sharp reaction from Shannon.
His reaction was nothing short of aggressively hostile. She had been taken back by the scathing reaction. It was just as Miaka had said… At that point she had suddenly understood why Miaka was so desperate to have someone else talk to Shannon.
It became increasingly apparent when Taka walked by the table and didn't even emit a chi. The signature was there, but not like it had been.
She had left at that point. She didn't think she had any business being around there, with Taka in a state of ignorance and Shannon proving to be hostile with each instance that her lips came close to forming Yui's name.
When she had been leaving, Shannon had been on his way home.
He had looked her and simply stated that he didn't feel like being used again; being walked over. He had learned his lesson from before and didn't feel like taking the same route again, and unlike her wasn't going to set himself up for the same heartbreak because he knew that Yui didn't care for him and she had made it very clear the first time around.
He had then vanished before she had a chance to reply, but had found herself oddly in agreement with him. She had been thinking the same thing about Jakob, and the futility of trying to win his heart this time around.
Sighing, Michiko replayed that conversation over and over in her head as she walked down the street before she heard something of a girl's surprised yelp. She turned, her chi sensing the chi signature of Yui.
Dropping her bag, she ran in the direction of the chi.
She stopped short of the light. She could clearly see the scene that was unfolding before her. There was nearly no one else around, except for her, someone who she couldn't see, and the couple.
The guy had Yui's wrists in his hand.
Feeling concerned, Michiko pulled closer.
Yui squirmed uncomfortably. "Tetsuya! You're hurting me!" Tears streamed down her face.
"Answer me! I'll let you go when you answer me!" He growled scathingly. "You're seeing him aren't you? You're always thinking about him? You're cheating on me aren't you? It's easy for you to walk over me! You've had practice before!"
Whimpering, Yui tried to pull away. "No I'm not! And you had too much to drink again. Let me go! You're hurting me." Her breath-rate increased, as her voice grew with panic.
He let her wrists go, but shoved her against the tree. "I'm not hurting you! You're the one who's inflicting pain onto me by denying the truth!"
Her body slammed into the tree as she shrieked, her voice anguished. "STOP IT TETSUYA! STOP IT!"
The blue aura of Seiryuu formed around her, as the two Seiryuu Seishi in the vicinity reacted to her screams.
Lightening shot down from the cloudless sky striking Tetsuya, at the same moment in which a strange weapon flew at Tetsuya, shredding his clothes and cutting him deeply.
Yui gasp as he screamed, trying to shield himself from the dual attack.
She turned, feeling scared and peered at the silhouette of the girl and then of the boy who landed gracefully next to her. She turned and stepped away from Tetsuya, still scared, though comforted by the familiar sight of the lightening.
As she walked over, all the street lights in the area shut off.
She shuddered and ran straight for the only one she knew by sight – Soi!
She flung herself against the other girl and sobbed.
Confused, Michiko quickly handed Yui over to the guy, who panicked and quickly pushed the sobbing and hysterical Yui back over to Michiko.
"Don't go fucking handing her to me! I have enough troubles without a hysterical girl sobbing on me!"
Glaring at him, Michiko rested a hand on Yui's shoulder. "Be a man and take her!" She paused then added, noting not to say it in Japanese since she need not distress Yui any more.
In flawless German she retorted, "Miaka was charitable in her description of you! She failed to mention that you're an asshole, Shannon!"
"So what if I am? It's not going to change a fucking thing, Michiko!" Shannon exclaimed angrily, the malice in his voice not sugar coated.
Yui watched the pair closely, curious as to why Michiko, who she knew from chess matches between their schools was so ready to argue with someone else who had been at the scene to help.
Squinting, Yui could barely make out any details on the young man, other than he did bear a slight resemblance to the guy that was Miaka's tutor. He wore a bandanna and kept his hair back. The light of the moon did enunciate the shape of his face, but the moonlight reflected on his glasses.
She turned her eyes to Michiko then back to Shannon.
It was obvious the two didn't get along.
"It should! You act like a macho ass, and you say you don't want anything to do with Yui and yet you come along and help put that twat of a boyfriend in his place."
"I just happened to be going home this way!"
"Walking?"
"No, I was on a motorcycle, and that is irrelevant! I'm still not having anything to do with her!"
"So, you save her even though you hate her for no damn good reason?"
"I never said I hated her…" Shannon replied quietly. "It's just… I don't want to face her because she hates me."
"Uh-huh…"
"Give me a break! You should be the first one who should understand, especially given how Nakago treated you! You were nothing more than a mere little sex slave to him! You were used by him! You were delusion into thinking he loves you and that he still does." Shannon added in a softer tone. "I was fooled by Yui the first time, but, not this time. Life has hardened me, but it has made me a little wiser and a little less foolish, even if I'm still an asshole."
Michiko paled slightly. "That's an unfair comparison! And Nakago never treated me like that."
"Uh-huh and Yui isn't a cold hearted bitch!" Shannon shot back.
Despite having no knowledge of the language, Yui gathered that the other one was definitely a reincarnated Seishi and likely a Seiryuu Seishi due to the names being thrown back and forth, as well as the nature of familiarity that lurked between the two.
'No, it's not Nakago she's talking to, since it seems he's using the name as a weapon against her.' Yui reasoned as she listened for more names she knew. Of course, she wouldn't be getting anything from this as she didn't even know what they were talking about.
Michiko folded her arms. "At least answer this much… Do you still love her?"
"Whether I do or not is irrelevant."
"Just answer!"
"And if I don't?"
"I'll put you on you on the spot. Its obvious Yui doesn't know you're Suboshi, or she'd have reacted to you by now, wouldn't have she? Either than or figured your Amiboshi and unlike your brother, a really nasty son of a bitch. After all, she never your Aniki didn't you?"
'Now she's talking about the twins?' Yui's eyes turned to the other one and she squinted. If not for the bandanna and the glasses, she'd figure out who it was. But as it was, the guy was far too skilled at concealing his identity. 'And she mentioned 'Aniki' and the only time I ever heard it was when Suboshi would talk about his brother…'
She turned her eyes to the young man.
"So she never met my Aniki – though Aniki refers to me now, since I'm the oldest. What is your point?"
Yui's eyes widened. 'Could it very well be Suboshi? Of course, he could just be using 'Aniki' loosely to make a point to Michiko…'
"My point… My point is that I know who you are and I could just switch back into Japanese…" Michiko smirked, and proceeded to do just that, "And tell her precisely who you are…unless…"
"Unless I what?" Shannon replied in a low, scathing tone.
"Be a gentleman and at least escort her home." Michiko declared arrogantly, her arms rested across her chest, her expression unduly smug.
His gaze rested steadily on Michiko before he sighed and conceded. "Fine…as long as she doesn't touch me."
"Then you'll be going by foot." Michiko retorted complacently.
Growling softly, Shannon shuddered then heaved a long sigh. "I give…"
"Good boy…" Michiko turned to Yui. "He'll take you home. I'll be teaching your little boyfriend it doesn't pay to be nasty to Seiryuu no Miko…" she winked at Yui before gently pushing Yui in Shannon's direction, who gazed down at her and grunted.
Shrugging, Shannon walked away, Yui timidly following him.
They walked in silence until they came to the curb where he had parked his motor bike.
She swallowed, wearily eyeing it, as he tossed a helmet at her. She gingerly fingered it, as he put on his.
"Uhm…"
Sighing, a soft growl, he reached over and took it from her and put it on her, the strap doing itself up, his fingers not reaching under her chin.
"Uhm…what's your name?" Yui asked hesitantly as she watched him get on the bike before she got in.
He shrugged. "My name is irrelevant. I don't have a name; I just carry my father's name because no one could be bothered to give me my own name. They recycled my name." He said his tone resentful.
"Ok, now that you've given me your rebel without a cause statement, how about you tell me what you name is." Yui replied more forcefully, as she mounted the bike.
"Fine… I'm Schwartz Kai." He replied, after a moment of thought, reasoning that Miaka likely referred to him by his Irish name, so Yui wouldn't know any better if he gave his German name.
He then gunned the engine before Yui could protest and probe him about being Miaka's tutor.
As they rapidly gained momentum Yui yelped and clung tightly to him, despite his obvious discomfort with her touching him. She felt him tense significantly as she tightening her arms around him, clinging tightly to him as he swiftly guided the bike through the narrow fairways that led to her house.
As she hung onto him, she felt a unique kind of exhilarating electricity surge through her body. It was oddly comforting and only had left felt this when Suboshi had held her before the summoning until she felt that would be able to summon Seiryuu.
Yelping as she suddenly felt the bike being air borne, she clung for dear life to her driver. She never felt more terrified in her life than the last time she had been in a car with Tetsuya.
However, when the bike landed without even a slight bump, she sighed in relief, though was left wondering how the driver had been able to land the bike so gently; so flawlessly…
Once it stopped, Shannon quickly dismounting, in an attempt to remove Yui from him.
It wasn't that he had a problem with her, it's was simply that he was extremely uncomfortable being touched by her, especially given his mentality. He desperately wanted her. He denied his feelings when confronted about them, but didn't deny them to himself because he knew it would be foolish.
"Uhm…well…this is your house, right?"
"Yes and I'm impressed since I didn't give you directions…" Yui replied slowly, as she removed the helmet, setting it on the secondary seat on his bike. She paused and added. "And the only way that you would've known is if you're a friend of mine, or someone I once knew…"
Her voice trailed off on a ringing note of melancholy, as she walked to the step. She didn't make it up before she collapsed on the step, burying her face in her arms and sobbing softly.
Shannon stood just feet away from her, dumbfounded. He didn't have the faintest clue as to how to deal with a crying hysterical female. Usually when Eireanna or O'Shawna broke down (which in itself was extremely rare given that Eireanna was a grade-A classic bitch and O'Shawna was butch), he could ignore it because Brennan would take over as the sensitive male.
"Uh…uhm…ah… Yui…uh…" Shannon removed his helmet, his glasses coming off when he did. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Uh…uh… Shouldn't you at least try and get inside? I don't think… I… I should leave you outside here…it…it seems unsafe for a girl….especially this late…"
Yui completely ignored him and continued to cry softly, her shoulders shaking, as she did little effort to control her emotional outburst.
"No fair…my life just isn't fair…" she whispered. "Miaka gets everything handed to her on a silver platter. She gets the one person, who meant the world to her, and the one person I want just isn't around, and my boyfriend is jealous at the mere thought of his existence!"
Shannon blinked. He really sucked at this 'comfort' thing. He slowly walked over to her. He then hesitantly sat on the step and reached out, his hand quivering as he gingerly placed it on her shoulder. He didn't want her to realise who he was, but at the same time he felt for leaving her like this.
Every cry from her was another needle in his soul. He couldn't take the sound of her cries; they were slowly getting to him; tearing him up inside.
"It's ok… Even if you think your life is so bad, chances are, there is someone out there who would rather have your life than theirs." He replied reassuring.
Yui briefly ceased her sobbing to snort derisively before a fresh set of tears streaked her face. "How would you know?"
"Because my life has been nothing but a series of rapes on my body and soul, leaving me with nothing but scars to show for it. You at least can express emotion. I'm emotionally crippled… or so, I'm told." Shannon replied bitterly. "Of course, you know, what does it matter? We both know suicide doesn't work. If it fails the first time, it'll fail every time."
He stood up, laughing acrimoniously. "Of course, why should you listen to me? I'm just the lunatic twin. No one ever wants to hear what I have to say. No one wants me around anyway. I've always been the one people use as a doormat."
He paused and sighed softly. "Uhm… You'll want to ignore that… I'm just talking shit now." He ran his fingers through his hair.
Yui gasped. "Amiboshi…" she turned her eyes to him. She went to get up and face him, but he was already moving away. She held out her hand. "Wait! Please…wait…"
She dropped her eyes to the ground. "Amiboshi… You must know where Suboshi is…and, I know you wouldn't keep it from me. Everyone else seems inclined to keep secrets from me. But you…please, be different from the others."
Shannon paused, and without turning back to face her, offered up this much, "Suboshi is a lot closer to you than you could ever imagine."
He didn't feel ready to tell her who he truly was…at least not tonight. Maybe tomorrow he would…
He then headed to his bike, and grabbing his helmet mounted the bike and without another word, sped off into the night, leaving Yui to stare after him, wondering what he had meant by that. But she wouldn't be left wondering for long, as Miaka would come in tomorrow afternoon and drag her off to the café where Taka worked, for a date with destiny…