So, back with a new chapter! It didn't seem like anyone was confused about what took place last chapter, so I guess no explanation is needed xD I thought it came off kinda confusing, but apparently not, so cool, I'm doing something right!
My keyboard is suddenly super loud and its annoying Dx plus the spellcheck on my computer is off and I can't get it back on, so if you find typos then I'm sorry! Man I hate typos...
Anyway, not much else to say, so enjoy the chapter! It's sorta long...my poor fingers Dx But we also learn a bit more about Kuro as well! And when I say bit, I mean like, super little itty-bitty tiny bit...I'm mean xD But hey, this way all you readers can try to piece her together yourselves!
...Good luck with that xD
DISCLAIMER: Still don't own Tales of the Abyss, but Kuro is still my property, so get off mai lawn ye whippersnappers!
Chapter 7
The Place Where It All Began
"So?"
"So what?"
"Did you have fun?" Kuro turned away from the window in order to grin at Guy.
"It's Nam Cobanda Isle. Can anyone go there and not have fun?"
"I guess not," Guy chuckled. Kuro thought for a second.
"...Maybe Asch wouldn't." Guy laughed.
"Definitely not as much as you or Luke could," the blond agreed. "Speaking of Luke, how'd it go with him?" Kuro looked back out the window.
"Um...about that-"
"You forgot, didn't you?"
"Hey, Ellion and the other cowboys wanted me to play Tales of Dragonbuster with them!"
"Right, because some video game is more important to you than your best friend." The brunette girl turned with a glare.
"Make fun all you want; I ended up winning that tournament!" Guy shook his head.
"Even so, you guys still had all that time after we got off the elevator. Why didn't you say anything then?"
"We were...busy."
"Busy?"
"Yes, busy. Kinda like how you were busy looking at fon machines?"
Hey, lay off! We all have our fetishes!"
"Oh, it's just a fetish, huh?" Kuro inquired, raising an eyebrow at the blond. "More like bordering on obsession."
"You're one to talk!" Guy shot back. Kuro crossed her arms.
"I am not obsessed with anything!"
"Yeah, okay."
"I'm not!"
"Whatever you say, Kuro."
"I'm not!"
"Okay, I'm just agreeing with you!" The young girl huffed and slouched in her seat, watching Guy smirk out of the corner of her eye.
"Look, I was just setting the mood, alright?"
"Setting the mood? For what; a talk or a make-out session?"
Another fierce glare. "You're such a dick sometimes."
"Yep, I love you, too."
xxx
"There it is," Kuro announced as she pointed out the window of the Albiore. "The place where it all began." Asch followed the young girl's gaze. Sure enough, Yulia City was just coming into view. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"I thought it all began at Akzeriuth," he said, recalling what Luke had told him. She shrugged.
"Well, we didn't really meet until we both came here."
"Yeah, I guess that's true."
Asch had once again stayed in the back of the Albiore for the majority of the trip, saying he still didn't feel too hot and was afraid of getting motion-sickness. However, Kuro had came and dragged him over to the windows to watch for Yulia City, while Guy went up into the cockpit with Noelle. Kuro hadn't said much during the time, content to just sit and search for the upcoming city. Asch was glad he didn't have to try and maintain a normal conversation with her. After the dream Luke had a few nights ago, the one Asch had gotten a glimpse of, the original decided that he'd keep up with the acting, if only to get the answers he wanted. But despite that, the girl still made Asch's mind do flips, the way his emotions altered so effortlessly around her. Honestly, how did she do that?
Regardless, he felt a lot better simply sitting with her in silence, not talking or sharing stories.
"Do you remember it?" she asked, suddenly sounding spaced out.
"Remember what?"
"The day we met." Her tone sounded so...staid. Not the enthusiastic voice she noramlly used. Did the day she met Luke hold some kind of bad memory?
'I'll tell you...I'll tell you everything...'
Was this the "everything" she had told Luke? The "everything" she so desperately was trying to hide? Just how much about this girl was Luke keeping from him?
"Of course I do," Asch replied, not bothering to try and add emotion to his voice. "Do you?"
"Yeah." She was quiet then, her gaze dropping to the floor. Asch blinked. Just minutes ago, she'd been sitting there, happy and upbeat, and now...she looked dead. Like any fire burning inside her had burned itself out.
"Are...you ok?"he asked hesitantly. She didn't move at first, but eventually shook her head and looked at him with a half-smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just get caught up in thinking about it sometimes. Like...I wonder...what I should do...if it never goes away." She turned to look back out the window. "Wonder how I'm supposed to move past what happened. Then wonder about what will happen if I never do... What then?"
The look in her eyes changed. Changed to a look Asch knew all too well. That look of utter hopelessness, that feeling of being so lost that you don't think you'll ever find your way out. Asch knew what that felt like. He'd felt it every day for the last seven years.
And he knew that no one...should have to suffer through it alone.
He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You'll get past it," he told her. "I know you will." She pushed his hand off her shoulder and looked down at her lap.
"But how?" she asked. "How do I do that? How do I move on?" She trailed off, silent for a few beats before turning to face him again. Her chocolate brown eyes looked gleamy.
"How am I supposed to forget him?" Her voice was so soft, Asch thought she was going to cry. He shook his head.
"Moving on doesn't mean you have to forget," he said. "All it means is that you have to learn to deal with remembering."
"What if I never can?"
"You will." She looked at him again, and her matched her gaze easily. "You will." After a while, she slowly nodded her head.
"...Thanks, Luke," she spoke quietly. Asch nodded.
"Do you want some time alone?"
"No," was her immediate reply. "No, don't leave." Asch nodded again and allowed her to scoot closer to him, even moving a bit closer himself. The two sat, side-by-side, watching Yulia City as it came closer and closer. Asch glanced down at the girl next to him. He still couldn't wrap his head around all this, not completely.
At first, she was just another kid; laughing and playing and messing around. Life was just one big adventure to play around with, where making mistakes simply meant getting better and making memories to laugh about later. She didn't act her own age because age was just a number, and she knew that something as dumb as that shouldn't affect who you are inside.
But now he saw that that was just a front she'd been putting on. Because she wanted to hide who she really was: a small girl who'd grown up too fast. Life was a nightmare you couldn't escapem and you were too afraud to try. Making mistakes meant meant something would happen, for better or worse, and you'd have to deal with the repercussions, and you couldn't run away or ask for help because no one gave a damn. Sleep became your wrost enemy, bringing back all those memories you'd give anything to forget. She didn't act her own age, not because she chose not to, but because she never had a choice. She had to grow up to stay safe.
And Asch knew what that was like.
Him and this girl...they really weren't all that different.
xxx
"Well, I'm off to go find Tear!" Kuro announced once they'd gotten off the Albiore. Asch stayed silent, not exactly knowing how to respond to the young girl's bipolar mood and deciding Guy could handle this one. Said blond nodded.
"Alright, but no floating! We have work to do."
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha," Kuro said, dismissing her friend's words with a wave of her hand. "I just wanna look at 'em real quick and then we'll meet up with you guys later."
"Don't wander around, either."
"I get lost once, and you never let it go!"
"Kuro-"
"Okay, okay! There and back, I get it! Sheesh." Kuro wrapped Asch up in a quick hug that he hastily returned before pivoting on her heel and taking off into the city.
The place where it all began.
For the final stretch of the flight aboard the Albiore, Kuro had been quiet. She'd somehow weaseled her way into Asch's lap, and after watching her fall apart the way she had, Asch couldn't find it in himself to push her off. Besides, that wasn't something Luke would have done, anyway. And he needed every advantage he could get in that situation, since he obviouslycouldn't handle that kid the way Luke could. How his replica had spent a year and a half with her was beyond him.
Speaking of his replica-
"Think she's gonna be okay?" Guy's voice broke his train of thought. Asch looked over at the blond, who was still watching the fading figure.
"What do you mean?"
"She seemed pretty upset on the Albiore."
"Well, she isn't now."
"Yeah...I wonder how she does that."
"Does what?"
"That. Totally fine one moment, broken the next, and then fine again." Asch blinked.
"You mean you don't know?" he blurted. Guy turned a questioning look on the redhead.
"No. Why, is it something I should know?"
"I just figured you knew. You guys are close, right?"
"Me and Kuro? Well yeah, sure we are." A smirk etched itself across the blond's face. "But it's totally obvious who her favorite is."
'I'm not her favorite! Don't say that like I'm some kind of pet!'
Asch smirked as the replica's words echoed in his mind. Guy shook his head.
"You have no shame."
"Why should I?" Guy chuckled, facing forward again to find the young girl gone, having decided on the way to the city that she wanted Tear to take her to see the selenias. He sighed.
"I bet she's really glad she has someone like you by her side," the blond said, and Asch looked away.
"...I gotta go." Asch stated bluntly. "Meeting someone." Guy turned to look at his friend.
"Who?"
"Someone. Don't worry about it. I'll see you later." Asch walked away, tossing a wave over his shoulder in response to the blond's calls of "hurry back" and "be careful."
/Hey, you there, replica?'/ There was silence on Luke's end of the connection, then:
/...Asch? Can you hear me?/
/Yeah. Why, can you not hear me?/
/No, I can hear you fine. I've just been trying to get ahold of you all day, that's all./ Asch frowned to himself.
/Really?/
/Yeah. You really couldn't hear me?/
/No, not once./
/Well, I couldn't hear you the first time either, remember? Back at the Isle? I guess the switch made our connection weaker or something./
/That's no good. We need to figure out a way to get it to work properly in this state. I could use any help I can get with Kuro./
/I know... How is she?/
/She's fine...I think./
/You think?/
/I'm...not entirely sure./
/Did something happen? Is she alright?/ Panic seeped into his mind through the connection, rolling off his replica's end in waves. Asch gave him a mental shove.
/Calm down. She...she's fine./
/Liar./ Luke said acussingly. /What happened?/
His head was starting to throb, overwhelmed by Luke's emotional frenzy. He lifted his hand and massaged one side of his skull.
/Seriously, calm down! You're giving me a headache!/
/I...what?/
/Look, she's fine, alright? We just...talked./
/About what? Does she know?/
/No, she doesn't know anything. And frankly, neither do I./
/Huh?/
/She just kinda...broke down./
Bad word choice.
/Broke down?! What do you mean she 'broke down?!'/ The pressing on Asch's mind returned.
/Would you stop it?!/ Asch mentally screamed. /I told you she's fine! She bounced back like ten minutes later! She'll live another day!/
/Was it a nightmare?/
/I don't know!/ Asch stopped walking, gritting his teeth and holding his head in his hands. /Can we just meet up somewhere? Lorelei, you're kiiling me here!/
/Sorry./ He didn't sound sorry at all. /I'm near...the library. Can you meet me there?/
/Yeah./
/Alright, see you soon...Asch?/
/What?/
/Kuro...what do you mean she 'broke down?'/ Asch sighed in irritation, moving his feet in the direction of the city's library.
/Can't this wait?/
/I just...I need to know now. I need to think it over./ Asch huffed.
/Fine, if it'll make you feel better. We were on the Albiore, heading here, and she said something about the day you two met. Then she asked me how she was supposed to forget-/
/Forget what?/
/Shut up! Let me finish!/ Asch growled. /I don't know, she didn't specify. But then she got all emotional, saying she didn't think she could do it./
/And what did you say?/ Luke pressed on, and Asch growled. Enough was enough. He felt about ready to pass out from the weight Luke was pushing against his mind.
/Hey, replica, I get that you're worried, but I'm about to pass out right about now. Can we finish this later?/
/But-/
/I'm almost there. Just calm your ass down and I'll tell you everything in a bit./
/...Fine. Hurry./ Then Luke backed off, and Asch felt like a weight was lifted off his mind. He sighed.
That kid's well-being was not something to take lightly.
xxx
"I've told her how many times not to worry about that...?" Luke mumbled to himself as he paced around a table in the Yulia City library. "Why can't she just drop it?" He huffed and rubbed his face. "She does that every time..." Luke turned and looked up and out a nearby window.
"Why can't you listen to me, just for once?"
"From what I've seen, she's not one to listen." Luke whipped around, and blanked for a second when he saw himself standing behind him. His face turned into a snarl.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" Asch snapped. Luke looked down. He didn't see a problem. He had dressed in Asch's usual attire, and he didn't think he'd put anything on backwards.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking back up to his original. The older redhead sighed, clearly annoyed.
"My hair, you idiot!" the original spat. "What'd you do to it?!"
"I washed it?" Luke offered. "I showered this morning."
"You combed it out, right?"
"I...kinda?" Asch growled in irritation.
"You're such a moron... Come here, I'll fix it." The replica obediently went over and took a seat in the chair Asch pulled out for him. The original started raking his fingers through the crimson hair on Luke's head. The younger sat quietly, surprised at how gentle Asch was being (although that could only be because it was technically his own hair he was dealing with), until eventually, "...So, will you tell me now?"
"Tell you what?" Asch called from behind him, cursing under his breath about the knots in the blood red locks. Luke turned in his seat, and Asch's fingers stilled. Luke proceeded to reach out towards the belt looped around Asch's waist. His hand grabbed at a small pouch near the pocket, which he unzipped. He pulled something out, placed it in Asch's hand, then turned back around, facing forward again.
"About Kuro," he replied. Asch was silent, then his hands started moving again, running the newly acquired comb through his hair.
"...Like I said," Asch spoke finally, "she broke down."
"You said she mentioned forgetting something."
"Eventually she did. It started out about moving on, and then she said she couldn't forget."
"And...what'd you tell her?"
"That moving on didn't mean forgetting. That it meant learning to deal with it." Luke presed his lips into a thin line. So his guess was right...
Typical Kuro.
Asch yanked on a knot, and Luke's head jerked back. He felt his original push him forward, holding the back of his head as he worked out the tangle.
"Did any of that mean something to you?"
"Huh?"
"You were desperate for me to tell you what happened. I'm asking why." Luke didn't answer, his grip tightening on the fabric of his pants. "You know what she was talking about, don't you?" Asch continued.
"...Yes."
"How much do you know about her?"
"...Everything." Asch halted his actions again.
"What do you mean 'everything?'"
"Everything there is to know about Kuro Kimkuthian...I already know."
The duo was silent, Asch moving around to Luke's front and combing his bangs out.
"For future reference, don't leave my bangs down like that again."
"I'm sorry. I gues I forgot..." The older boy shook his head.
"It's fine." Luke glanced up at his bangs, not moving his head, and followed Asch's movements.
"Do you use gel?" he asked suddenly, and Asch lowered his emerald green eyes to meet his.
"What?"
"You know, to keep your bangs back. Do you use hair gel or something?" Asch shrugged, his eyes returning to his current task.
"Sometimes," he admitted. "On a good day, I can just slick them back with a wet comb." Stopping again, Asch examined the comb Luke had given him.
"Why do you carry a comb on you?"
"Kuro insists. She likes to brush my hair, and whenever she washes her's, she brushes it out every ten minutes. Says it keeps the curl out."
"Her hair is curly?"
"Yeah, but she hates it like that. She tries to comb the curls out, and that's why it ends up so wavy."
"Sounds kinda ridiculous." LUke smiled.
"Kuro's a ridiculous kid."
Asch combed the crimson bangs back, smoothing them over several times with his palm. He pulled away, examined the replica, then nooded, seemingly satisfied with the outcome.
"That's more like it." Pulling out a chair of his own, Asch sat down across from his isofone.
"Nothing else happened, right? With Kuro?" Luke asked, scooting to the edge of his seat. Asch shook his head.
"No, just that scene on the Albiore." Matching pairs of emerald eyes met. "Did you know that Guy doesn't know?"
Luke blinked. "Guy doesn't know what?"
"Anything about Kuro." At this, the younger redhead stiffened.
"I..."
"So, what, you two are keeping secrets?"
"No, it's not like that. It's...it's not my secret. It's her's." He looked down at his lap. "She made me promise not to tell anyone."
"Why?"
"She doesn't want them to know." Luke shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He still remembered that day, a weight on his mind that never went away.
"So when you say you know everything about her," Asch said, "what you really mean is that you know what no one else does." Luke swallowed.
"That's...part of it..." Asch sighed quietly and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Luke pulled his knees up to his chest.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I know I shouldn't be so...secretive, or selfish. You're doing a lot, pretending to be me. You could've just told them the truth, or acted like a total jerk and made them all hate me...but you're being serious about this, and doing it to the best of your ability." The replica looked up, and his original was watching him expectantly. Mirroring Asch's position, Luke stared back.
"Anything you want to know, go ahead, ask away," he said, and Asch blinked. "I'll answer best I can." Asch raised an eyebrow at his words, but appeared to be processing the statement in his mind.
"Best you can, huh?"
"...Yeah."
Because...he wasn't going to break his promise.
See, I told you you were only getting a little itty-bitty bit of information! But never fear, dear readers! More info is going to be found in the next chapter, and I mean a LOT more, so don't worry! Until then, review, favorite, follow, and eat ice cream! 'Cause that stuff is tasty!
And I still hate this stupid keyboard!
Valerie(SonicGirl2002)
