A Song For The Dead
"Rio! What on earth happened!" Yohji exclaimed as Rio re-entered his home.
Rio groaned softly. "Let it be known that your team-mates are not very friendly. Hot as hell, but not very friendly."
"Lemme guess, Aya tried to 'Shi-ne!' you."
"Grouchy redhead," Rio muttered.
"He's always like that," Yohji assured him. "You've got blood all over you... you should get cleaned up before Fox sees you."
Rio nodded a little, heading for the bathroom. Although healed, he could still feel the distinct feeling of metal sliding against his skin, through his chest. What disturbed him, though, was his indecision about the feeling. It hurt horribly, yes, but at the same time that pain, that small shadow of his lost humanity, his body craved.
Shaking his head, Rio knelt beside the bathtub, turning warm water on. Slipping out of his blood soaked clothing, he dumped them into the sink with a disturbing squish noise. Sighing, he pulled the beads from the ends of his braids and placed them on the counter.
Stepping into the tub, Rio pulled the knob that turned the running water into a shower. He stood for a while, not moving as the blood caked to his body slowly rinsed clean, leaving red trails on his body in all the small dips, around every curve as it made it's way to the tub.
"Why are you so desperate for death?" Yohji's voice echoed in his head from days before, with the rest of their discussion.
"Six and a half hundred years of life and death is a long time..."
"...Are you really that old?"
"...Yes."
"...That's very difficult to believe."
"I already informed you of what we are. It is very plausible."
"...Why, then... why provoke my friends? Why them?"
"...You ask a lot of questions."
"I only ask when I feel I deserve to know."
"...your friend... entertains me. The brunette who believes he has the ability to kill me."
"He'll try."
"Perhaps he will succeed."
"...You're waiting for him to?"
"Yes."
"So... where do you want to go?" Ken asked as his team-mates sat at the kitchen table with their young guest.
The ten year old blinked absently at Ken, chewing on his pancakes happily. "Go?"
"Yeah... What place draws you?" Omi asked. After having been informed of the occurrences of the night before, he had been a bit miffed to find that no one saw fit to wake him up.
Now, however, he was more eager than ever to find the boy who had thrice been impaled, yet still left in one piece. The arrogance that their ghost showed in infiltrating their home, and leaving again without them gaining any sort of information about them irritated the young leader to no end.
With a bright smile, the boy finished his pancake and answered their question. "I'd like to visit Pappa if that's ok..."
Frowning, Ken and Omi looked at one another, but it was Ran who spoke in their silence. "Where is your Pappa?"
"A little outside of town," the child smiled. Although still at a loss, the other two nodded.
"Alright, let's go then," Omi smiled.
The drive out of town seemed to take forever due to the rain, the traffic and the weight of their anticipation on their minds. If it were for any other reason, Omi would have been enjoying the scenery, rain and all, but at the moment only their stranger seemed pleased.
The only thing Omi could think of as they drove was how to secure Yohji and eliminate an enemy that reportedly recovered quickly from inflicted wounds. Weiß currently were hoping against the odds that Rio would lead them to their freak of an opponent, and that last night's occurrence wasn't just a fluke.
"This is it!" the boy beside him piped up suddenly, and Ran pulled the vehicle over beside an empty plot of land.
Although the child looked a little disturbed, he hopped out of the car and onto the soaked sidewalk. The other occupants stepped out of the car quickly after him, watching as Rio attached himself to a pretty looking young girl with long brown hair who stood in the rain, gazing at the empty spot
Approaching them, Omi could hear them conversing softly.
"...He didn't tell me where he went, I assumed he would still be here," the girl sighed, picking the child up.
"...I didn't know he was gone either... but I bet I know how we can find him," Rio smiled, hugging the brunette with a smile.
If Yohji were around, Omi was sure he would be flirting- this friend of Rio's was rather attractive. She wasn't overly tall, or dainty, but she held herself in a very self-respecting manner. She had a sweet face, and beautiful green eyes full of curiousity and intelligence.
Inspecting her absently, Omi was soon startled by Ken clearing his throat beside him. The pair in front of them turned to look at him.
"Rio-kun... I thought you said your Pappa was here."
"Rio-kun... Who are these people?" the green-eyed girl blinked a little.
"Oh! Tousan, these are my friends..." Rio smiled happily, pointing to each of them. "Omi-san, Ken-san and Aya-san!"
Inspecting each of them for a moment, the brunette nodded. "Pleased to meet you."
A bit confused at the obviously female person allowing herself to be called 'tousan,' Omi questioned hesitantly. "You're... Rio-kun's Pappa?"
The girl laughed a bit. "No, no... I'm his Tousan. Ashiyama Kira."
Ken muttered a bit behind him, almost inaudible. "I'm confused, dunno 'bout the rest of ya..."
"Well..." Omi scratched at the back of his head a little, uncomfortably. "It's nice to meet you too, miss."
The green-eyed girl blinked a little, then grinned a little to herself. Turning back to the smaller boy, Kira crouched again, holding her hair so it didn't drag against the ground, but not seeming to care about the ground being wet and soaking through the knees of her jeans.
"Do you have any idea at all where he may have gone, sweety?"
"...Well... he could be at work," the smaller boy said, thoughtfully.
"Since when did your Pappa work?" Kira blinked confusedly.
"...Since Daddy... since..." the boy sighed heavily, looking at the ground. "Pappa had a big fight with Tenji-oujisan... told him he didn't want his help anymore. So... he looked for a job and got one, then sent me back to my school," the boy's voice had become very soft, quite quickly as he spoke.
Weiß watched them converse in silence, not one of them sure what to say. As far as they knew, the child's parents had been killed by burglars not long ago, and he had become an orphan. Suddenly, though, not only did he have one father, but two, a mother and an uncle to boot!
"Your Daddy's ok now, though," Kira smiled. "He got better. Lets go find your Pappa and tell him the good news, what do you say?"
Smiling brightly, the smaller boy nodded. "Ok, I can take you there!"
"...Rio-kun?" Omi spoke up, catching the attention of the pair.
"Yes?"
"We can drive you and Kira-san if you'd like," Omi offered. "It's raining... it'd be horrible if you got sick."
Kira and Rio glanced at one another, then nodded.
"Thank you, Omi-san!" Rio smiled.
"Of course. Where are we going then?"
"Vinylla, down town."
Both Ken and Kira blinked.
"...Vin... ylla?" Kira asked, slowly.
Blinking, Omi glanced to his best friend. "What?"
"Omi... Vinylla is a gay bar for foreigners. Jobs in that place are things like... exotic dancing and prostitution..."
"Rio doesn't do things like that," Kira mumbled, "it's not his style... he... wouldn't..."
Ran looked over at Kira. "Minamoto Rio? Is he your Pappa?"
The smaller boy nodded a bit.
"Let's go... please..." Kira said, somewhat hurriedly.
And thus the entrance of Kira. Such a luffly character. -Toodles off to do other things-