Reconciliation and Revelations

Disclaimer : I do not own Air Gear

OoOoO

Dull jade green eyes fluttered open as a light breeze crawled through a near by window. The breeze grew stronger, supplying the battle field for a war between strands of contrast under the dismal, gray rays of early morning sunlight.

Kaoru blinked and stared up at the stark white ceiling. I wonder if all of that was a dream...a nightmare more like... Kaoru thought. She closed her eyes and shook her head though as she noticed the presence of someone else in the bed beside her.

She opened her eyes and looked to her side and saw Agito as he slept peacefully beside her. She noticed that his hand was entangled in her hair, along with some strands of his own, and remembered the way his hands were gently caressing her long tresses of auburn hair that so resembled that of her sisters. Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut, the pain of remembering her sister, sharp and cold, but she forced herself to remember her sister, there was no use running from the truth.

Kaoru kept her eyes closed and imagined herself standing in front of her sister. Kaoru swallowed hard as she stared at her sister, with her long, curly auburn hair that reached the small of her back, her bright playful jade green eyes, her legs well toned from years of ballet and gymnastics, her button nose and small ears, her pink, slightly pouted lips, her healthy body. Kaoru looked over her sister in her head and sighed deeply. That was how her sister was supposed to be now. She was supposed to be alive and well. They were supposed to be having fun together, waiting until they were called back home to Italy when all was well and they could live happily together with their parents...but they weren't. They were supposed to be going to school together in Japan like regular high schoolers...but they weren't. Kaoru wasn't so supposed to be alone...but she is now, and it's all thanks to one entity.

...Genesis

Kaoru opened her eyes slowly. She decided that there was no time to waste on mourning bitterly for her family, not when she could be using that time to avenge them. Kaoru lay there beside Agito deep in her thoughts. She snapped out of it when she felt movement beside her and looked over to Agito to see that his eyes were just fluttering open. She wasted no time.

"Agito, what do you know of Genesis?" Agito blinked and furrowed his eyebrows. It was a sudden question and it took a while to process but what he got out of it was surprising in the least. He didn't know why she wanted know, or how she came to know of Genesis, but he was sure that it had to do with her sister's death.

Agito knew vengeful eyes when he saw them.

"What does Genesis have to do with anything?" He replied, folding his arms and staring up at her.

"My parents didn't just die in a car accident. They were murdered. They were murdered by the same people that killed Hikaru. After our first battle, I managed to get a clue out of one of the team members and he gave me this." Kaoru handed him Genesis' team sticker.

Agito's eyebrows furrowed even deeper if possible as he examined the sticker. "Why would Simca want anything from you? What do you have that she wants?"

"Who is Simca?" Kaoru was being stubborn, but all the same, he'd get his answers soon enough, because Agito was quite sure that she was hiding something from him. He had the idea from they first met, but now he was certain.

"Fuck. Simca...she's the leader of Genesis. Genesis is an AT team, and it's not one to screw around with either. Why would they be so interested in you?" He asked again as he looked up at her with a questioning stare.

Kaoru looked away from him for a bit before sitting on the bed and saying, "They took Hikaru's pendant...the other half to this one." Kaoru reached into the front of her shirt and pulled out a thin silver chain on which hung a silver styled 'R'.

Agito's eyes widen slightly as he took the pendant from her and examined it. It was exactly like what he had seen in the photo of the 'Singing Rain's' emblem that was shown to him by the members of 'Red Fraction'. He could just imagine the gold styled 'S' linked to the 'R' on her silver chain. That must've been what was taken, but why would they want that? Could it be that it really isn't a legend...what can Simca gain from obtaining the emblem...the Fuck is going!? Agito thought as he stared into space, lost in his thoughts.

Simca is aiming to collect all the kings and their regalia. If the 'Singing Rain' was able to go against the 'Sleeping Forest', then they must've had at least one regalia and king on their side. That must be what she's after...Fuck...but how does this link to Kaoru's recent misfortunes...? "Kaoru...there's something else you're not telling me..."

Agito stared up at Kaoru with a stern piercing stare that made her look away from him. She didn't look at him for a long time and tried to ignore his constant staring. "If you want me to help you, you have to tell me everything." Agito said, his patience wearing thin.

Kaoru glanced at him and sighed heavily. "Promise that you won't interrupt me before I'm done." she looked at him pointedly and waited for his sigh, then his curt nod and began. "When we were small, and we lived in Italy with our parents, Hikaru and I that is, we did everything together. We did swimming, ballet, karate, gymnastics, you name it, but our favourite, was Motor-Skating. Back home that's what it was called. We didn't know about teams and emblems, or kings of roads and their regalia or any of that, we just rode for the fun of it. Riding was a way of life back in Italy. The pendants were a gift to us from our parents when we turn fifteen earlier this year, April. They told us that they were very important and that we should hold on to it, even in death. We cherished these pendants...and now someone has stolen Hikaru's..." Kaoru was trembling, whether it was out of anger or despair, Agito couldn't tell at the time.

"Who taught you to ride?" Agito asked her softly, feeling that getting heated wasn't the best solution at the time. That would be like throwing liquid oxygen on an open flame.

"Our parents coached us, but other wise we taught ourselves. We kept begging them to join us, but they always refused sternly. Later on we both realized that mom walked with a limp all the time and dad had a long nasty burn scar along his right leg on which he limped slightly too." Kaoru said. She was staring out the window.

"Kaoru...i think that your parents were..." Agito didn't get to finish as Ikki burst through the door shouting an unpleasant good morning. "The FUCK!!! You fucking crow-shit! What do you want?!" Agito was obviously annoyed at being disturbed, not to mention his time alone with Kaoru seemed as though it would be cut short as the rest of the team members filed in behind him along with someone he didn't know. He seemed out of place and none of the team members seemed to be really paying him much mind as they all made a semi circle around Agito's bed. The boy seemed shy somewhat and maybe a bit abashed. Agito silently wondered what he was doing in here if no one seemed to know him. There was one however.

Kaoru seemed to know him pretty well.

All Agito caught sight of before Kaoru was being held down by Ringo and Emily was when she landed a firm fist somewhere along his jaw line, shouting something in Italian that they didn't understand.

"What the hell!!!" Emily shouted as she fought to keep Kaoru at bay.

"SHUT UP!!! Let me GOO!!! Let me at him!! Let me at him!!! You traitor!!! How dare you show your face to me again after what happened!! How DARE YOU?!!" Kaoru was livid and no one understood why except for the two of them.

"Kaoru!! Kaoru please!! Hear me out!!! Listen! I quit Genesis!! I want to be a part of Kogarasumaru now!!" Martin said, pleading with her as he rubbed his sore jaw.

"You were a part of Genesis?!" Ikki shouted and jumped to Martin's side immediately. "Do you know Simca? Have you ever seen her before?! What's she like! Have you ever seen her naked!? Aw man how could you quit and leave Simca?!!" Ikki wasn't the only one who seemed to think that Genesis was 'the shit' even Kazu and Buccha were praising their great achievements.

Kaoru couldn't take it much longer, she had to be heard. "GENESIS KILLED HIKARU!!!" Kaoru's scream was so loud that it echoed over many times in the silence that ensued. She didn't bother to wait for the information to settle in their minds. She shrugged Ringo and Emily off of her and continued. "and they killed my parents too."

"You're parents died in a car accident didn't they?" Kazu asked without thinking.

"No...they were murdered. That was no accident at all. Not only did they steal my parents and my sister away from me but they stole her necklace too, a necklace that was very important to both of us. The other half to this." She took out her pendant to show to them. Ringo took hold of it sharply and inspected it.

"No way...this is the emblem for the "Singing Rain"...how did you get it? I heard there was only one in existence." Ringo said looking at Kaoru suspiciously.

"Our parents gave them to us for our fifteenth birthday. They told us to cherish them, and we did, but now one has been stolen by Genesis. Now my question is why. Why do they need the emblem? Why must I be left without parents, without my sibling, all alone...why, Martin?" Kaoru turned to Martin with her hands balled into fists and her lips pursed.

Martin looked taken aback at the sudden mention of his name and hesitated slightly. He seemed uneasy and very flustered but he soon replied. "Genesis needs the emblem in order to get the regalia."

"WAIT!!! You two know each other?!!" Ikki, the slowest of the group only just now seemed to realize that.

Martin and Kaoru looked at him like he was stupid. (no use in prettying up the sentence for his sake.)

"Maybe, that's where I should start..." Martin said before Kaoru could say anything and began to speak. "Kaoru and I grew up together in Italy where we were both very good at AT, but back home it was called..." He was rudely interrupted however.

"WHAT!!!! Kaoru!! You said you've never ridden AT before!!!" Ringo shouted turning to Kaoru suddenly.

"How dare you lie to me!! The king of..."

"We trusted you Kaoru..."

"I always knew you were too good to start with..."

Kaoru was beginning to be overwhelmed by all the confusion in the air. Everything and everyone was confused, no one knew what was really going on, people were trying to explain, and people were asking questions, it was just noise around her. Kaoru wasn't sure how much more of it she could take. They kept asking her why she lied and how come she never showed off her talents and how she knew Martin, and why Genesis was brought into the mix.

Kaoru was about to scream again when someone beat her to it. "HEY!!! YOU FUCKING MORONS! SHUT THE HELL UP!!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP WITH ALL THIS SHITTY NOISE?! FUCK!!" Agito shouted from under his covers. She wasn't sure when he had decided to go back to sleep, maybe it was when his nurse slipped in unnoticed and gave him his medication. Kaoru watched the nurse slip out of sight stealthily as if she was a spy of some sorts.

The room was quiet now thanks to Agito. Kaoru sighed and told everyone to sit down. Kaoru watched surprised as they all sat around her like little children would sit around a story teller at the day care centre. She sighed as she tried to sort everything she knew in her head before she let out a long breath and began. "Let's start from how I know Martin. Martin and I grew up in Italy together, and yes it is true that we used to ride AT together, but back home it was called Motor-Skating. We didn't know about emblems and teams and all that jazz, riding was a way of life. Hikaru rode too, but she wasn't nearly as good as Martin and I were. We were considered the Dare-Devils of the town. But five years ago he moved away to Japan and I hadn't heard from him since until now." Kaoru stopped, waiting for any questions.

Emily raised her hand and Kaoru sweat-dropped, not actually expecting her to raise her hand. "Were you two together?"

Kaoru face remained passive while Martin's became a tomato. Literally...a tomato... "No we weren't, never have probably never will..." The way she said it so nonchalantly you could almost see the razor sharpness of each word stabbing Martin harshly.

"Why did your parents have the emblem of the "Singing Rain"?" Ringo asked. She looked strangely serious for someone who didn't even ride, or so thought Kaoru.

"I don't know..." Kaoru said, her tone dulling slightly as she reflected on her own ignorance.

"Your parents had to be the last living members of the 'Singing Rain'" Kaoru turned around to look at Agito and furrowed her eye brows listening carefully as he explained his theory, "When you said that your parents coached your training, I figured, when you described the burns on your fathers legs it became obvious, and when I remembered how you got me out of that pinch with that bastard after the Behemoth battle, it became absolute. There's no way your parents are not the last members of the "Singing Rain"." Agito explained slowly as if he were talking to retards, making sure they understood his every word.

"Then that must be why Simca is after you...That team had two regalia and two kings. I know that for a fact. Simca must after those then...but now that all the members are dead, only the regalia are left..." Ringo seemed to be musing to herself, deep in thought and failed to notice Ikki flying towards her.

Ringo screamed as Ikki tackled her, sending them both to the floor. "How dare you speak ill of Simca-san!!! I won't forgive you!!" Ikki sat their on top of Ringo feeling up her breasts and shouting into the mid morning air. Ringo, Emily and Kaoru all pulled back their arms the same time and hit Ikki's face at the same time sending him flying across the room and out the window.

"AS I WAS SAYING..."Ringo said firmly, dusting herself off as a vein pulsed vehemently in her forehead. "IF all the kings are dead, then that only leaves the regalia...but I don't understand...why do they need the emblem?"

"It is because they need the emblem to get to the regalia." Martin said, pitching in at last.

"What do you mean?" Kaoru asked not understanding entirely.

"I don't really know myself, all I was told was to get the emblem from you as soon as possible..." Martin trailed off as he noticed the look on Kaoru's face and noticed it's slow transformation from calm to livid.

She took a moment and calmed down again. "So pretty much, what's going on here, is that, my parents left us the emblem, half of it was stolen along with Hikaru's life and they, being Genesis, need it to find the Regalia..."

"They already know where the Singing Regalia is, but they have yet to find the Raining Regalia." Martin said. "Oh, and also, I over heard them talking about the way the Raining Regalia functions, and to my surprise, it turns out that, they were probably talking about you're old ATs Kaoru. I also over heard Simca-san talking about one of the twins being king material..."

There was silence for a long while, and while that silence echoed around her, Kaoru had the information she just learned echoing around in her head as she sorted through and sifted out what from what. She soon came to one realization and blurted it out before she could stop herself. "My family was killed...over a pair of shoes..."

"I can't believe that my family is dead, over a pair of shoes...Can you believe that? Huh..." The team watched, not knowing what to say as Kaoru stood their contemplating, her feeling of anger and sadness brewing 'til it became a pot full of vengeance. Agito could tell what she was thinking and knew that the topic should change, and soon.

"What are you doing here anyway?" It was abrupt and out of context but it did the trick. Kaoru looked up at Agito then followed his gaze to Martin.

"Yeah, that's right...why are you here?" She didn't sound angry at him anymore but her voice was trembling with anger not directed to him.

Martin seemed as though he had been caught off his guard. He was saved however when Kazu said, "He appeared out of no where and ask Ikki if he could be in team Kogarasumaru."

Kaoru turned to look at him and before she could say anything Martin went down on his knees in front of her and began to plead with her. "Kaoru, please hear me out first! Don't reject me immediately, just hear me out ok?!" Martin looked up at her waiting for a response.

Kaoru took some time in thinking about it but soon she was just staring off into space, not looking at him, not saying anything as she tapped her foot on the floor, her arms folded. Martin took that as a yes and sighed before beginning. "I quit Genesis. After what they did to Hikaru...I...couldn't stay with them any longer. It was hard staying with them, they were always talking about getting the regalia and becoming stronger and all that junk. It drove me crazy! They're so power hungry and greedy and just not worth it. I decided that I would be of more help to you up close...so I quit and decided to join Kogarasumaru instead. Please Kaoru, all the other members are ok with it, they just need me to show that I'm worthy. Everyone's ok with it except you."

"I'm not Fucking happy about it! And I won't be until I see that you're even worth my time shit head." Agito said from his place in bed. Despite the fact that he was injured and could hardly move. He was still intimidating.

"Ugh, well yes, I'll be sure to show my worth, as long as you accept me Kaoru." Martin was pleading with her now and seemed really determined.

Kaoru sighed and said, "I'm not the leader of the team. It's not my decision to make." She refused to look up at him and completely ignored him as he hugged her tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you!!! I love you!!! I LOVE YOU!!!" a large vain was pulsing incessantly on Kaoru's forehead and just before she'd had enough, something heavy and blunt flew past her ear and dug itself into Martin's face.

Kaoru blinked while the rest of the room went quiet as Martin slid down to the floor half unconscious, the sheathed pocket knife falling from the dent it made in his face to clatter loudly on the floor. Kaoru looked behind her and saw Agito staring out the window with a small smirk gracing his lips as he folded his arms and laid back comfortably in his hospital bed.

She shook her head with a slight smirk and a chuckle as Agito began to whistle a dead tuneless melody. Kaoru Ignored the rest of the team and stepped out of way as they all ran to see if Martin was ok. She walked over to Agito's bed and leaned against it, going deep into her thoughts while the ret of the team members cheered and made noise seeing as to how Martin was now almost sure to be in team Kogarasumaru.

Kaoru was deep in thought as she ran over all the information in her head and realized that there was still one little detail that was unclear. One important detail that would most likely decide her next course of action. "Agito, why do you think Genesis wants the Regalias? Why were my parents trying to hide the Regalia from them?"

Agito looked down at her and though for a moment before he began.

"A Regalia is a powerful piece of equipment. Fuck, placed in the wrong hands, All sorts of shit could happen. Not to mention the current Sleeping Forest is most likely not too fond of Simca's movements. I don't know what the Fuck they're gonna do about it now, in this stage of the game, but I'm fucking sure that if Genesis gets hold of those Regalia, a war is gonna start up. A war between those two teams would affect the entire AT world. So basically, you've got the job of preventing fucking World War III. Shit, sucks to be you!" Agito said grinning malevolently at Kaoru.

Kaoru turned to him and blinked. She was thinking through everything that had just been said. "You know what...you're right...I do don't I? My parents hid those regalia and gave us the emblem for good reason. They were trying to prevent a repeat of that terrible event that left them crippled and their team mates dead. That mission has been passed down to me and I have an obligation to fulfill it. There's no point in searching for revenge, revenge is nothing but a vicious cycle...I have to fight, not for their lives, but for what their lives meant." Kaoru seemed to have been in a trance as she spoke, speaking more to herself than to anyone else. She and Agito were talking loudly enough for the whole team to hear and soon they were listening to every word. She seemed to snap out of it and then turned to her team members and said, "Will you all help me? Will you help me find the Regalias before Genesis?" Kaoru held out her hand face down, waiting for their hands to join in as well.

There was a pause as the others looked at each other. Ringo was the first to reply. "I'll help you Kaoru-chan." She smiled brightly and placed her hand on top of Kaoru's.

Ikki grinned and said, "You'd better be grateful, it's everyday I'll pick a tomb-boy like you over a babe like Simca!" He also place his hand on top of her with a little more force than was needed. Kaoru sweat dropped at his answer but smiled all the same.

"Same here!" Onigiri said as he placed his hand on top of the steadily growing pile.

"I'll help in whatever way I can. I'm not strong like Ikki and I'm not smart like Agito, but I'm sure there's something I'll be able to do." Kazu said as he placed his hand on top too.

"If Kazu goes then I go!" Emily immediately placed her hand on top over Kazu's, blushing darkly as they're bare skin met.

"I believe that your goals are worth pursuing. I will help as well." Buccha placed his over sized hand on top of the pile as well and Kaoru noted how it seemed to have sunk a bit.

"I will help too, if there is anything I can do. I will try my best..." Nakayama said placing her hand on top.

"I think you know where my elegance lies." Martin said with a smirk as he placed his hand on top, the tissue sticking out of his bleeding nose ruining the supposedly 'cool' look.

Kaoru smiled and at them all and looked over at her shoulder at Agito. "Agito?"

"Do I seriously have to answer that fucking question?" He said. It was barely audible and half of the members didn't hear, only Martin, Kaoru and Ringo heard what he said clearly, those three being closest to his bed. Kaoru smiled softly, Ringo looked taken aback and Martin seemed pissed and somewhat defeated. (he thought that Agito's answer was cooler than his...)

The next half an hour was spent deciding on Martin's test. Just like Kaoru, he had to go through a test of sorts to make sure that he was up to standards in order to join team Kogarasumaru. It was decided that Kaoru would be allowed to decide on what the test was, seeing as to how they knew each other and all. Kaoru seemed very enthusiastic about her new appointment and that seemed to scare Martin some what. After that everyone began to complain about being hungry considering that it was now noon and decided to go get something to eat after a nurse brought food for Agito's lunch and noticed how much special treatment he was getting from his nurses as his lunch looked like something home made rather than the nasty hospital food they usually saw. (you know like in shojou manga when a girl brings home made food for the guys she likes, yeah something like that, lol)

"SO then where should be go?"

"Let's go to McDonalds!!"

"No way!! Burger King!!"

"NO!!!!"

"Kaoru, aren't you coming?" Emily asked as she headed to the door with Nakayama beside her, behind the rest of the group.

"Hmm? Oh, no it's ok, I'll stay here and mooch off of this guys food." She grinned as she ignored Agito's retort to her comment.

Emily chuckled and mumbled something seemingly dark and evil to Nakayama that made her blush and mumble that she didn't think it was like that before she skipped off. Nakayama looked over at the two apologetically and said bye as she left.

Kaoru waved energetically and smiled brightly. She waited until the door closed before she let her expression fall. She was exhausted. It was only noon and she already felt as if she'd had all she could take for the day.

She sat on the edge of Agito's bed and picked a fried dumpling out of his plate and popped it into her mouth before he could snatch it back. A vein pulsed in Agito's forehead as he glared at her and said, "Why did you really decide to stay?" Kaoru didn't answer him. She didn't look at him either. He watched her get up and walk over to the side of the room where all the weird doctor stuff was kept and watched her search for something. He furrowed his eye brows as he watched her pull out a pair of scissors.

"What are you doing?"

Kaoru turned around to face Agito, not bothering the hide the pair of scissors in her hand. "I'm no coward, so don't worry." Kaoru said. Her tone sent shivers down Agito's spine. He'd never heard her speak like that before, not to mention how it changed so suddenly. Even after going to Iraq and back with her, he'd never heard her voice quite like this. It was cold and hard, but hollow and echoing at the same time.

He could say nothing as she turned away from him and walked to the window on the far side of the room. Agito sat up as he watched her carefully. He was surprised somewhat. He knew that she would revert to this form once the team was gone, he knew that she would be all doom and gloom again, she couldn't help it and it didn't surprise him, what surprised him was how much it was affecting him. He watched her, unable to move as she took her hair and swung it over her shoulder. She held it at the base of her neck where her elastic band held it together and cut just above her hand.

Agito watched, somewhat doleful, as she held her ostracized hair out of the window and let the none time breeze carry it out of her hands and away into the sky. He watched as the breeze blew what was left of her hair, showing him her bare neck, and looked away as he noticed the single tear that had been making it's way down her cheek.

Agito!! Do something!! She looks so sad! I can't stand to see her like this!

Aww Fuck!! What the hell am I supposed to do huh?!

I don't know!! Just make her cheer up!!

That ain't gonna happen!! How do you expect her to be able to smile all the time after all that's happened?! I hate seeing her like this just as much as you do but there's nothing we can do about it!!!

But...

The only thing can do is be there for her, we've had this conversation already Akito.

…

"Kaoru...?" Agito looked up at Kaoru noticed that the tears were flowing freely now. Kaoru seemed to snap out of a trance of some sorts and looked over at him.

"oh..." she began to wipe away her tears vigorously and said, "I'm sorry...don't worry about me...I'll be smiling in a bit...I'll get working on Martin's test soon, just give me a minute..." She sniffed and continued wiping away her tears, but it was to no avail.

Agito looked angry somewhat as he heard her words. He looked down at his sheets for a bit, his hands balling up into fists. He looked up at her again and said, "Hey! Haven't you realized yet that I'm not one of those idiots that you always have to smile for? Fuck! I don't want to see any fake smiles on your face anyway. They just piss me off!" He looked away from her as she looked at him and waited for her response.

There was silence for a while, but then Agito heard sobbing. He looked over at Kaoru and saw that she was crying, her hands still under her eyes but not moving, allowing tears to over and under them. "Thank you...Agito..." She muttered out.

"Cheh...whatever..." Agito watched her standing there, crying her eyes out and noticed that her knees were wobbling. "If you don't come over to the bed you're going to fall..." he said, his voice stoic and his face contorted into a sort of fake annoyed look, but his eyes gave him away as they were full of concern for her.

Kaoru looked over at him and smiled a watery smile before she stumbled over to the reaching him just after he put his empty food tray on the table beside the bed. He was smart in doing so as Kaoru collapsed onto her knees and lay her head on his lap and began to wail. He sighed heavily as her tears began to soak through his sheets again. He reached out and began to smooth down her now extremely short auburn locks.

Agito sighed heavily and looked up at the roof. Agito may have seemed really calm during the talk about Genesis and the Singing Rain, but the truth was that he was really pissed. He was so angry, he is really pissed. He balled his free hand into a fist and closed his eye trying to stay calm while he listened to Kaoru's crying. Kaoru, aside from Akito, was the only person he'd ever felt so impelled to protect. Even before he'd seen her like this, before she showed any signs of needing any sort of protection, he felt compelled to protect her. He felt so angry, he was livid as he though about Genesis, and Simca. He would definitely help her find the Regalias, most definitely.

Agito? You really are going to protect her with everything you've got aren't you?

What the hell are you talking about!? That idiot doesn't need anybody!! she's to stubborn...

Oh, then why is she crying in your lap then? And why are you letting her?

SHUT UP!!!

He he he... you're so silly Agito-kun!!

…grr

OoOoO

END

I hope you enjoyed this last chapter, please review, and I'm sry it took so long to finish it, school's not easy to keep up with sometimes, but I'll manage don't worry, just bare in mind, the more reviews I get from you people, the more I'll write!!

JA NE