Unimpaired

Chapter 8

"Can you change the channel, please?" Matthew rubbed his temples, wondering if he should just go ahead and take some Ibuprofen or wait until he actually developed a headache. "I can't even figure out what the characters are even singing about." He'd been reading when Kiku first changed it to whatever show was on currently, but had set his book down when one of the characters started singing and piqued his curiosity. However, it had quickly degraded into a mess that had started grating on his nerves.

Kiku laughed softly. "You said you liked Disney."

"Not what they consider children's programming these days." Matthew had watched Disney Channel a lot when he was younger, and considered most of their current programs annoying, if not trashy. "Besides, it's almost 6:00. The news will be on soon, and Alfred will be pissed if we don't watch it." Not that the news was any better. It was just too depressing to watch nowadays.

Kiku sighed softly. He doubted anything would come up, but he didn't want to do anything to crush his friend's hopes. "Very well." Kiku pressed a few buttons on the remote, and soon a pair of news anchors were chatting away about a rare species of crab that was caught earlier in the day. "Speaking of, do you know when he's going to come back?"

After waking up just before lunch, Alfred had suggested that he and Matthew practice their skills for a bit. They were going to need them on their rescue mission. Alfred had decided to send a towel around the room just above their heads, trying his hardest to keep it completely under his control. A few hours of this later, though, Alfred claimed he was going crazy and stalked outside. Matthew had suspected his brother need some time alone and didn't stop him. It had been a few hours, but Alfred still wasn't back yet. Matthew still had his keys in his pocket, though, so he couldn't have gone far.

Matthew shrugged. "Whenever he feels better, or gets hungry." He gave a forced laugh. "You know how he is. He hates showing true weakness in front of others. Get angry and hit them, sure, but it's rare that I even see him cry. Like actually full out break down." He paused. "Do you remember when our golden retriever died when we were in 6th grade? The one Alfred named Freedom when he was 7?"

Kiku thought back for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "That was right when Alfred caught the flu, was it not?"

Matthew shifted guiltily. "Well that's what our parents told the administrators, but in reality Alfred had locked himself in his room and refused to come out for three days. When anyone would try to unlock the door, he'd scream at them until they backed away. It scared our parents to death, but a few days later, he came out by himself, acting perfectly normal again. He never spoke of Freedom again and life just went on."

The room was silent for a few minutes. Kiku pursed his lips, troubled. He had often suspected that Alfred's cheerfulness was sometimes a façade for what he was truly feeling, but it wasn't often that he got to glimpse the other side of the mask. And what he had glimpsed had always made Kiku stare after him worryingly. Real life wouldn't spare him from a tragedy sometime in his life, and Alfred was going to have to cope as a mature adult. But would he be ready?

"It is funny." said Kiku out loud, trying to both break the stillness and lighten the mood. "He cannot deal with sorrow himself, but he is great at comforting others and always wants to see people happy."

Matthew smiled with a hint of sadness. "Interior decorators don't usually decorate their own homes. It doesn't make sense, but that's how it is."

The mention of their home city on the television in front of them caused their attention to rivet immediately on the screen. "A local man was shot down outside his apartment earlier today at 153 Campstone Street. Witnesses report seeing a man on the roof both before and after the shooting, but vanished before the police arrived. The man, identified as Jonathan Romo, has been taken to the hospital, but his survival is doubtful. We now cut to Robert with a few witnesses. Robert?"

The reporter Robert started interviewing a witness, who still seemed near hysterical, but all Kiku and Matthew could look at was the picture in the bottom left corner of the screen. The picture of the victim. His scruffy brown hair, green eyes, and cheeky smile were unmistakable.

"That's… That's the assassin guy who tried to kidnap you." Matthew was stunned.

Kiku was shocked also. "El Jefe." His subtle Japanese accent made the Spanish words almost sound humorous.

"But how…?" Matthew stood up and started pacing the room, looking very much like his twin. "Is it a coincidence that someone tried to kill him the day after he fails to kidnap you? I doubt it." He threw himself back onto the bed.

Kiku was pale. "He failed to capture me. That is why he had to die." For the first time, the dark haired man looked truly scared. "We are not dealing with something little here. Whoever this is, they are serious." His breath sucked in. "And they are not going to stop looking for us."

Matthew swallowed back the panic that rose up in his throat. Until now, the full gravity of the situation hadn't sunken in. "They certainly aren't kidding around anymore." Everything was starting to feel like a bad dream. Lovers getting kidnapped, assassins getting shot in the back. That was supposed to happen to people in books, not in real life.

Kiku stood up with a sigh, smoothing his shirt down and swallowing his fear. "I will tell Alfred. He will want to know."

Matthew frowned. "Are you sure you don't want me to do it? I can calm him down if he lashes out again."

Kiku put a gentle hand on his shoulder and placed a light kiss on Matthew's forehead. "I appreciate your concern for my safety. Perhaps, though, Alfred needs a different approach. Friends often notice things that siblings are too close for. Besides, we cannot keep treating him like a bomb about to go off."

Despite the light blush on Matthew's cheeks, there was an uncertain look in his eyes. "You're right, of course, but still…" He trailed off, meeting his boyfriend's eyes.

Kiku met his gaze with reassurance. "Trust me on this one." He found his shoes and slipped them on. "If I feel the mood go in a bad direction, I will run back here and let you deal with it. Ok?"

Matthew caved. "Ok. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Kiku smiled. "See you."

It was a pleasantly warm evening outside, not too humid. Spring was coming quickly this year. A few early weeds were sticking out of the cracked pavement, lured into growth by sunshine and recent rainfall. There were a couple clouds placed haphazardly around the sky, which was beginning to glow with the orange colors of sunset.

Alfred was sitting on a bench across the street, where a decrepit children's playground was slowly crumbling into rust. The bench itself was old, and looked as if it would fall apart at a touch. Kiku was careful not to give himself splinters as he sat down next to the blond.

Alfred gave him a small smile. "Hey."

"Hello. How are you feeling?" Kiku gave him an appraising glance.

"Better, I guess." Alfred shrugged, running a hand through his messy hair. "I tried swinging on that swing set over there, but it made some freaky noises when I sat down. I figured that I didn't want to die and decided to count the traffic instead." He gestured to the empty street. "Whatever little of it decides to pass by." He gave Kiku a curious look. "What have y'all been up to?"

"Nothing more interesting than what you were doing. I watched whatever was on, while Matthew read." A quick amused grin flashed across his face. "Did you know Mattie hates Disney Channel?"

Alfred laughed. "Really? That's new."

The conversation lulled. An old gray pickup rattled by. "Six." Alfred said under his breath, a tad wearily.

Kiku waited until Alfred seemed at ease, then began again. "Honestly, Alfred, how are you feeling?" He held a finger up to stop him from replying right away. "I am not asking if your boredom is cured. I am asking how you're doing emotionally."

Alfred stared at him mutely for a moment, caught off guard. Then he looked away. "I'm doing better than I was this morning."

"That is good to hear." One of Kiku's favorite uncles was a therapist, and one winter break he'd stayed a few days at his house. A couple of times he had to go visit a client, and he had taken it upon himself to take a young Kiku with him and show him how things were done in his business. Kiku hadn't been very interested at the time, but had listened out of politeness to what his uncle was telling him.

Now Kiku tried to use those techniques to get Alfred to open up and get everything that was troubling him off his chest. "Though that is not all, is it?"

Alfred shook his head after a brief consideration. "No. I still feel like an compete emotional mess. Every time I think back on that dream, I get so angry it scares even myself." He shivered, the sparkle in his eyes growing dimmer. "At the same time, though, I feel just… just so hopeless. There is literally no way to move forward from this point, you know? I haven't had another dream this morning. I'm not going to sleep well enough tonight to have one either."

"I understand." said Kiku encouragingly, but Alfred seemed to have forgotten his existence.

"But overall, I'm so damn terrified. So many things could happen, so many things could go wrong. What if he gets shot trying to stand up for himself? What if he has a panic attack and can't calm himself down? What if those guys try to…" Alfred had to take a few breaths to stop the rage from working itself up again. "What if they try to assault him and he's tied up and helpless?" He wiped his eyes quickly, remembering Kiku's presence. "I can't let that happen. I can't I can't I can't."

Kiku placed a comforting hand on Alfred's knee. "It is only natural for you to be anxious. You are a person, not a machine."

"I was going to marry him." said Alfred suddenly. "No, I am going to marry him."

Kiku's eyebrows arched attentively. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Alfred swung his legs absently. "I don't care how far we'd have to move, I'm going to marry him. I know, it's a long term commitment. I'm not always good with those. I don't care, though. I've never felt like that for another person before and I don't think I ever will again. I want to make him the happiest person on earth."

Alfred's fist thudded dully against the wood of the bench. "Except now a dragon has kidnapped the princess, and the knight that's supposed to save her doesn't even know what the goddamn thing looks like. I'm useless." His shoulders slumped despondently.

"Do not say that." said Kiku firmly. "None of this is your fault. We are up against something much bigger than the three of us and we have still managed to get farther than most people would have. "

Alfred gave a grunt. The dark haired man decided now would be a good time to break what he and Matthew had seen to his friend. "Speaking of, Matthew and I saw something troubling on the news a few minutes ago."

The blond's face grew pale as Kiku explained what had become of the Spanish assassin. "They said he was still alive, but barely. No doubt the job will be finished off later if he does manage to pull through."

Alfred seemed to be in shock. "Oh my god… These people are monsters. Who would kill someone just because they failed a job, even if they were an assassin? It seems like such a waste of life."

"The people we are up against, it seems." Kiku gave a weary sigh. "They are not going to make it easy for us."

Alfred swore under his breath. "I didn't like that El Jefe guy very much, but I didn't want him to die like that."

"Did he not do as much to others, though?" Kiku was looking at him strangely. "He was nearly bragging about it."

Alfred was taken aback for a moment. "Er, that's true. And I can never forgive him for taking Iggy." His expression turned dark for a split second. Then the moment was gone. "I don't know, though. I've been thinking about all this. I guess, despite everything, he seemed like a good guy. We'd probably be friends in different situations."

Kiku shook his head, incredulous. "I cannot understand you sometimes."

"Ehehehe yeah…" Then a realization hit Alfred hard. "These people are completely ruthless. They will do absolutely anything to succeed in what they're doing."

"Yes, that is what I have been saying."

"And Arthur is the most stubborn person I know." Alfred's stomach churned anxiously.

Kiku started, fully getting was his friend was saying. "Oh no."

Alfred's voice was shaking. "If he doesn't submit to them, they'll most likely use every method they can to make sure he does."