Another day off, Jonah came over in the morning. But as he walked in through the door, using his own set of keys, he seemed a little less perky than he usually was under such circumstances. Rather distant and thoughtful.
"I heard this weird guy talking to me in the subway station, last night," he commented insecurely, first thing.
Aka gasped, melodramatically sarcastic. "No way! They have weird people in the subway? I had no idea!"
"Oh, not the normal kind of weird, just –" he laughed uncomfortably. "Eh, never mind." He changed the subject quite abruptly, as if he'd doubted the reality of what had happened, and thus it was better to keep it to himself. His tone became less puzzled than generally frustrated. "My laptop died this morning! And the shop says I won't have it back until next Thursday! Damn it! I need that thing for work, for typing up transcripts!"
"Calm down, calm down," she giggled. "You can use mine!"
"Are you sure? Don't you need it?"
"Nah, I only use that one for messing around during breaks, and nowadays, I spend all my breaks messing around with you. I can just use the one in my office, if I need it."
"You're a life saver!" he whispered, moving in for a kiss.
Her phone rang the instant before their lips touched, and they both sighed in disappointment. Aka reached into her pocket, but found that Jonah was already holding her phone, grinning mischievously and flipping it open.
"Hello, June's dry-cleaning, June speaking," he greeted the caller, not even trying to mask his voice.
"Give me that!" she laughed, snatching the phone and putting it to her ear. "Sorry about that, my dumbass boyfriend is being a dumbass!"
"Hello."
She recognized that placid voice. "Oh, hi ojisan! How are you? Are you in town? There's someone I really want you to meet!"
"Akahana, there's something rather serious I need to talk to you about. Can you ask your – friend – to leave?"
She furrowed her brows. "Why? Is something wrong? Is everyone okay?"
"Just please ask him to leave."
The comparatively grave tone of his voice had her really nervous; she was envisioning some horrible accident, some family member killed. She pressed her finger over the receiver.
"Sweetie, do you think that you could go? It sounds like something major is going down at home. I'll call you as soon as I figure out what the hell is going on."
"Is everything alright?"
"I dunno. It sounds like it probably isn't. I'll tell you all about it later."
He nodded and reluctantly left the apartment, picking up her laptop on the way out.
She removed her thumb. "Okay, he's gone," she huffed irritably. "Now what's going on? Is everyone okay?!"
She heard her uncle sigh before speaking. "Everyone is fine, as far as I know. This actually concerns your friend."
"Jonah? How do you even know about him?"
"I happened to be at your grandmother's house when she received a message from your sister. It had a picture attachment."
"What?" Aka howled. "I bet she was trying to get everyone to call and yell at me, huh? Is that why you're calling me? I wouldn't have thought you'd be the first, you left me alone about –"
"Akahana, I know who he was," Solomon interjected.
She instantly stopped her ranting. "What do you mean?"
"Just what I said."
Her voice raised in excitement. "Well, what are you waiting for? Who was he?!"
"He was my brother. One of your mother's chevaliers. His name was Karl."
It took her a moment to absorb that, and respond.
"But they're all dead, except for you…"
"Yes, that was true. But apparently the American's chiropteran research program managed to steal some of your grandmother's blood during an incident a few years ago. They used it to bring him back to life."
I guess that makes sense.
"Hmmm, Karl," Aka sighed whimsically, "It's been so long since I've read anything about my mom's Chevaliers; which one is that? Is that the cute, uptight army-guy that Nathan used to talk about?"
Solomon knew just how to explain it. "I'm sending you some photos. I had to dig rather deep in my storage unit to find the first one; the second is actually from the Red Shield database."
Aka pulled the phone away from her ear, and scrolled through a pair of pictures, one in black and white, of the two brothers standing beside a veiled woman, sitting with her hands folded primly in her lap; the other was far more recent, a color photo of a dim and blurred battle, and a man in a caped tuxedo with long black hair, wearing a rather campy bat-mask.
"The one with the stupid costumes?!" she yelped.
"Yes."
"Oh my god," she stammered, staring at the second picture. "I remember now, I saw that photo before, but with the mask, I didn't recognize – I read that bit about him in the diary, he was – the crazy one! Wow… that's not going to be quite as fun to tell him."
"You cannot tell him any of this, Akahana."
"Why not?! It's his life!"
"And it's his life that I'm concerned about."
"W-what do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
"If you tell him any of this, it will likely result in his remembering the rest, on his own. Akahana, Karl was just like your mother, in that he was not evil, he was, to put it colloquially, he was – messed up. But unfortunately, that doesn't really change anything. If he regains his memories, he will also regain the elements of his past that made him the way he was."
"So – you're saying that if he remembers, he might go crazy?"
"I don't think there's any might about it. Any reminder of his past could be the trigger, and Akahana, I fear that you will, however inadvertently, act as that reminder. As long as you are with him, the chances of him recovering his memories are infinitely greater. Resemblance between you and your mother, your family history –"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?!" she snapped.
"You have to – remove yourself from his life," he stated resolutely.
"What?! No!"
"It is the only way you can help him to hold onto his current self. If he regains his memories, his madness will not be far behind."
"No…" she whimpered.
"You must."
"But," she whispered miserably, "if I dump him, it'll break his heart."
"I know that you must love each other very much," Solomon said, truly sympathetic, "and it will certainly hurt him, in the short term, but in time, he will be able to move on with his life. The important thing is that he will still be alive."
Aka squinted in furious suspicion. "What do you mean, still be alive?" She gasped. "You're saying that you're going to kill him, aren't you?!"
"Akahana, please understand," he continued calmly. "If Karl regains his memories, he will try to kill Saya and god only knows who else. You must realize that I cannot allow that to happen."
Terrified of that prospect as she was, she didn't bother to argue with him. She knew that for Solomon, Saya's safety was entirely non-negotiable.
"I'd heard people say it before," she murmured spitefully, "but you really are a cold-blooded bastard."
"Akahana, I take offense to that in this context," he replied, voice very slightly raised. "I am doing the best I can. If I was as you say, I would have killed him already; he would have disappeared, and you would never have known what happened to him. But Akahana, I don't want to kill him; I want him to have this second chance. Please understand that I am taking an awful risk here, because there was a time when I cared for him very much, and I suppose a part of me still cares for him. I know that you care for him too, and that is why I know that you'll make this sacrifice, for his own good."
"No, I can't…" Aka wept.
"Yes you can," Solomon said comfortingly, "I know that you can. I've known you almost since you were born; I know the way you were raised, that when someone you love is in danger, no sacrifice is too great. I am sorry to be the one to break this news to you. But I know that you'll do the right thing." He paused, voice becoming even more sincere. "And I'm sure that I hardly need tell you that I do know what it's like to hinge all your hopes on one person, and then to be divided by circumstances not of your own making. But Akahana, I can honestly say that the pain does diminish, and in time, you will find someone else. You will be alright, and I know that you'll do the right thing."
The dial-tone sounded, and the phone dropped out of her hand.
"It's not fair!" she sobbed, sinking to her knees. "It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair…"
Akahana stood in the front room of her apartment, like a trapdoor spider, waiting for a kill. She'd spend a good deal of the morning reading every passage in the diary she could find that was related to Karl Fei-Ong, in hopes that it would change her view of him, and make all of this easier. But even after reading all that, she didn't feel any hate or fear. All she could do was pity him.
The only thing she was grateful for was the ease of the decision itself. Deciding to leave him because he had said something mean or displayed interest in someone else, would have been harder - it would have been accompanied by the urge to work it out.
But leave him or he dies – there was no dilemma there. Of course, she'd do anything she could to save his life.
The buzzer finally rang, and his voice was heard from the speaker by the door.
"Red? Are you there? You said you'd call, but you didn't, I left you a few messages. I'm worried about you; is everything okay?"
She silently buzzed him in, taking advantage of the delay caused by a twenty-nine story elevator ride, running into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water, in hopes of erasing the tearstains, and then applying some eye drops. She finished just in time to meet him at the door with a blank, emotionless expression.
"What's wrong?" he asked, heartwarmingly concerned.
She passed a few deep breaths, and finally spoke, straining to sound as cold as possible.
"It's over, Jonah."
"What's over?"
"We are."
He just looked puzzled, rather understandable considering how sudden this was. "You're breaking up with me?"
She nodded, just barely choking back a sob.
Jonah stepped toward her, not looking sad or angry, but even more concerned than before. "Akahana, what's wrong? You can tell me, what happened?" he asked, not seeming to acknowledge what she was saying. It was impossible to determine whether this disbelief was out of neurotic denial, or if he truly knew her well enough to suspect that she didn't mean it.
It took every last ounce of her self control to step back, evading an embrace, but not a comforting hand on her shoulder.
God, a hug is exactly what I need, right now.
"It's just over, Jonah. I can't be with you anymore."
She could tell that her message was starting to sink in; the foreseen shock and sadness were starting to creep into his countenance. "But – why? Just yesterday, you said –"
"It just is!" All of those perfect words she'd spent all afternoon composing and rehearsing, that perfect explanation, designed to make him hate her just enough to make the breakup easier to get over – it seemed to have completely vanished from her mind. "Now please leave! And please don't contact me again!" she shouted, trying to apply some of her profound anger at the situation to her performance.
Jonah's body swayed backwards slightly, as if the words were a stone, hitting squarely in the chest.
"Please leave!" she repeated, voice wobbling.
But he didn't, instead, he leaned closer, looming over her, as that hand on her shoulder shifted, gripping her upper arm, as bruising as a vice.
"No," he said, voice now terrifyingly dark, eyes briefly flashing red. She didn't struggle, she just felt the fear wash over her face.
But as she looked up at him, his countenance seemed to change again, voice less colored by anger than helpless despair, tears now coursing over his cheeks. His grip on her arm had loosened . "You can leave me, if that's what you want." Even though he was looking down on her, the look in his eyes made it seem like he was groveling at her feet. "But you can't do it without saying why. You just can't."
"If I tell you why, will you leave, and promise not to talk to me again?!"
Once more, he looked as if he was physically wounded by her words. He nodded, with a tearful wince.
Aka took a few more deep breaths, desperately grasping at the explanation she could now just barely remember. "It's because – because – I'm going back to my ex-boyfriend. He has lots of money; he can offer me things that you can't. In the long run I'm better off taking him as my Chevalier."
Jonah's head drooped, as if a string holding it up had just been cut. "Oh," he murmured, trembling and obviously devastated.
He vanished, the front door flapping from the breeze of his departure.
Akahana gasped in a gulp of air, as if she'd been holding her breath all through the interaction.
She virtually collapsed where she stood, curling up on the floor.
"It's because I love you…"
The day of departure was at hand. Saya and Haji were standing in the entryway of the Miyagusuku-Jahana household, along with two little girls, each with a miniature suitcase.
"Five-hundred milliliters in the morning, only give them half, until they eat their breakfast, then the other one. Also, two-hundred milliliter s before bed, except if they get a boo boo –"
"Dude, Saya!" Kai interrupted. "There're three things I know in life – cooking, my Colt and how to take care of chiropteran youngsters. They'll be fine."
"Sorry," she murmured, "it's just that – this is the first time I'll have ever been away from them for more than a few hours."
"Like he said," Mao added, "Kai knows what he's doing. And you don't need to worry about safety. You're in the best-armed house in Okinawa, and don't worry about the guns either, we locked it all up before you got here."
"Saya, they'll be fine."
In response, Saya grunted in such a way as to make it unclear whether it was an affirmative or a muffled sob.
Haji crouched down, simultaneously hugging the two tiny girls. "We will be back after six sleeps," he said soothingly as he stood, in attempts at explaining the length of their journey to these little creatures with so loose a grasp of time.
Then, it was Saya's turn kneeling before Rose and Lis, though what she did next, must have seemed a little strange at first. Kai and Mao watched with intense curiosity as Saya pulled out a small tube of lipstick, labeled 'New! Semi-permanent formula!" and proceeded to generously slather the brazen red onto her lips. Saya then gently took Rosette by the wrist, and firmly pressed her lips onto the back of Rosette's hand, leaving a bright, red kiss-mark, and then repeating the process for Lisette.
"I love you, dearests," Saya said tearily, so pitiful that for the first time that afternoon, the two girls looked sad, their mother's behavior clueing them in that this was a cause for tears.
"Mama," they both sniveled.
"Remember," Saya choked out, still far more affected than they were, "Mommies ALWAYS come back, no matter what. Just remember that."
Haji put a hand on her shoulder, both for strength, comfort, and a reminder that they needed to be off.
Mao snorted, and whispered to her husband, "Shit, Saya's got separation anxiety worse than the kids."
Kai didn't really respond; simply passed a full bento to Saya. "For the plane."
"Thank you," she mumbled.
Kai smiled encouragingly. "In my life, I've said both of these things more times than I could ever count, but I'll say 'em again – play nice with your sister. And remember – nankurunaisa."
It had been three days since the breakup. Akahana looked half-asleep as she hunched over the desk in her office, emptying its contents into a cardboard box. In order to ensure a consummate separation from Jonah, she had to quit her job, and leave the city. Not that this was too much of a disappointment, staying seemed pointless, anyway.
Just like everything else.
All the color seemed to have faded out of her life, going about the past few days in a daze of longing and depression, almost literally weighed down by all these bottled up feelings. There wasn't a single person she could talk to about any of this to. She couldn't tell her few New York friends, after all, how could she explain that she had to dump her fiancé because, as it turned out, he was made an immortal monster by her mother, went insane, got killed, and was then brought back to life? And she was still too mad at her family to speak to them.
It would have made sense for her to pour her heart out to her twin sister as she always had in the past, but she wasn't about to do that, mainly out of an aversion to the inevitable I told you so.
He was the only one she wanted to talk to. She couldn't stand the thought of what he must have been thinking of her, right now. This man, who worshipped her three days earlier, would now spend the rest of eternity, believing that she was a fickle, shallow, heartless bitch. There was almost nothing she wanted more than to explain her true motive for dumping him.
So when she looked up from her desk to see a familiar figure standing in her door, she initially assumed that it was in fact, a wishful mirage; that her loneliness had become so severe, she was now hallucinating. She only realized that the man she saw through her pooling tears really was Jonah, when she noticed the anguished look on his face. If it had been a fantasy, he would have been smiling.
The two just stared for quite a while, before he finally spoke.
"I, um, I know that you asked me not to talk to you again," he said, low and subdued, "but I thought you'd want something like this back."
He produced her laptop out from under his arm, and placed it on her desk.
"Oh. Thanks," she said, as calmly as possible.
"So, you're quitting?"
"Yeah."
"Because of me?"
She didn't answer, staring down at her desk.
"Akahana, can I ask you a question? Just one, and I promise I'll never bother you again."
She nodded, without thinking.
"That person on the phone, it was Solomon, wasn't it?"
Aka's head snapped up, but not soon enough to see the brief flash of murderous anger on his face when he said that particular name. "What did you say?"
"Was it Solomon on the phone? I'm pretty sure I saw him on the subway platform, the other day."
Her mouth fell open as she grasped the true significance of what he was saying.
"You've – you've remembered –"
A look of shame washed over Jonah's face. "Your computer had some files on it – they were rather effective at jogging my memory. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have, it's your private business, but- " his tone became more zealous, not quite defensive. "I was so worried about you, worried that there was something dangerous going on and – I – had to know."
But nothing seems different about him! she told herself, joyfully.
"So, you – know your past?"
He nodded, beginning a listless recitation. "Born in French Indochina in 1894. Became your mother's Chevalier in 1920. Lost my arm in 1973, leg in 2004. Died in 2006, killed by your uncle and aunt." He paused slightly. "You're eyes are like hers. But you are very much like your mother."
Akahana briefly wondered if he meant that she resembled her mother in her appearance, or her unfeeling cruelty. But her mind was not long occupied by the question, but completely rapt by Jonah. There was nothing ostensibly crazy about him. He seemed perfectly calm, if only a bit depressed, perfectly in control of himself. After all, if he wasn't, if he really were the guy I'd read about, he'd probably be trying to either kill me or force himself on me, or both.
Jonah. He's still Jonah.
It wasn't really wishful thinking, or a lover's delirium. It was faith, pure and simple, the unswerving trust so often said to be the foundation of real love.
"But you're not crazy!" she blurted. "If anything, you seem more sane than usual!"
A chortle escaped from the slight, pained smile on his lips. "Thanks – I guess."
She flashed back to the second time they'd spoken.
"You have an interesting face."
"Thanks, I guess."
That was it. Hearing him echo that memorable moment. It was now set in her mind.
"You're still you!" she cried, leaping over her desk and embracing him just as she'd been desperate to do, for days.
In spite of any bitterness or mistrust he had, Jonah didn't hesitate to return the gesture, eyes shut in bliss.
"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, all the words she'd been bottling up, spilling forth. "I didn't want to do it! I didn't want to leave you, but he said that if I didn't, you'd go crazy, I'd remind you of your past and you'd go crazy! I couldn't let that happen!"
He cut her off, leaning away, looking her in the eye. "You mean – you're saying, it wasn't because he told you my past – you did it to help me, for my own good?" there was no hostility in his voice, quite the opposite. It seemed he wanted to believe in her just as much as she wanted to believe in him.
"Yes!" she cried passionately. "God, what else could make me break up with you so randomly? The thing about the ex-boyfriend was a total lie to make you hate me! I don't care who you used to be! It was to save your life!"
The joy abruptly melted off his face, giving way to stern gravity. "So. I was right. Solomon is trying to kill me."
That took Aka a little by surprise. "Huh? Oh, no, I don't think so."
"You just said that he told you to break up with me, that you did it to save my life."
"But I don't think he's trying to kill you though. He only implied that he'd kill you if you remembered everything, and became a threat to Saya. And there's no reason for him to know that your memory's returned, I mean, how would he know unless we outright told him? Otherwise, he implied that he'd leave you alone."
"And you believed him?!" Jonah sneered.
"Um, well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
Jonah began with an incredulous, condescending hah! "Akahana, I know Solomon. And I know that the only thing he can be trusted to do, is whatever he thinks will get him what he wants!"
"But I really don't think he's trying to kill you!" she protested. "I mean, if you weren't a threat, then why would he?"
"Same reason as before! To impress Saya!"
"But she's married to Haji now –"
"Do you think that would make any difference to him!? If her being his enemy didn't stop him, why would her having a husband?" he paused, expression darkening. "Or perhaps he just wants you for himself."
It was a pretty logical theory, from Jonah's perspective, considering that he knew that Solomon had instigated the breakup. That wasn't to mention his having regained Karl's memories – the last time he had been obsessed with a girl, Solomon had swooped in and began aggressively pursuing her, with absolutely no consideration for his little brother's feelings.
Akahana decided not to argue, lest she add fuel to his assumptions.
"But I don't think he's going to try to kill you!" A very cunning idea came to her. "Here, I'll prove it. Gimme your cell phone, its got caller-id blocked, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, why?" he asked, handing her the phone, as ordered.
She took it from his hand, pulling out her own phone to look up a particular number, and then transferring it to Jonah's, all the while doing some cursory vocal warm-up exercises.
"Let's see if I can remember how to do this," she said, clearing her throat several times.
Solomon was packing his things for the trip back to California, when his phone rang. He took his time in answering, as the ringtone indicated an unknown number, so it was unlikely to be anyone important.
"Solomon?"
He was rather surprised when he heard Saya's voice on the other end of the line.
It's the wrong ringtone. Then again, it isn't at all far-fetched that she might be using someone else's phone.
"Oh, Saya? How are you? You sound tense."
Understandable, really, she'll be meeting Diva tomorrow.
"Solomon, are you in New York?"
"Yes."
"Why?" she asked hastily.
"Well, I do live here, most of the time."
There was a long pause. "Are you there to kill – to kill – the phantom?"
That was rather unexpected.
But Nathan made me promise not to tell her. Solomon shook his head. How like him, to make me swear to keep a secret, and then go and tell it, himself.
Because of the restriction of frequency imposed by the phone, he had no way of determining that the caller was an imposter; it never even crossed his mind.
"It is not done yet, but I will take care of it very soon. Nothing to worry about," Solomon lied.
He could have sworn that he heard a gasp on the other end of the line, followed by a very long silence.
"Saya, don't worry about it, there's no danger. I promise."
"Solomon! I've changed my mind!" she announced suddenly. "I don't want you to kill him. I – from what I've been told, it doesn't sound like he's a threat anymore. Please promise that you won't hurt him!"
Solomon smiled broadly. How fortunate to be ordered not to do the very thing he'd just decided against anyway.
"As you wish, Saya. I won't lay a hand on him."
"Oh. Cool, make sure you don't. I'm, um, just – so tired of all the killing."
"Me too, quite frankly."
"Alright then. Um, see you around," she added just before the dial-tone sounded.
Solomon went back to packing, now felling a good deal less anxious about his decision to spare his little brother's reincarnation.
Akahana's mouth hung open as she handed the phone back to Jonah. "I – I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it from his own mouth," she stammered. "That lying son of a bitch!"
"Would it be in bad taste if I said I told you so?" he grumbled.
"And Saya's in on it," she ranted in disbelief "– probably everyone else too – god, I know how dogmatic the Shield is about killing any chiropteran that doesn't work for them, but – or, god, is this some incredibly fucked up way of controlling my personal life – trying to kill my boyfriend?! I can't – I can't fucking believe it!"
She sighed, and some of the panicked fury was replaced by cautious optimism. "At least we don't have anything to worry about now, you heard, I ordered him not to hurt you."
"And how long do you think it'll take him to figure out that wasn't really Saya? All he has to do is talk to the real Saya, she'll ask if it's done – and they'll figure it out."
Aka gasped again. "God, you're right… But it still buys us some time to get out of here. I mean, we can go anywhere, other than probably Japan, the US, England, France and possibly Russia – anywhere else, the Red Shield wont be able to find us. We can go anywhere, with all the languages you speak, there'll be no problem. And everywhere needs doctors and translators, so we'll be able to find work."
He turned to her, surprised. "You'd – you'd go with me?"
"Of course I would! I mean, and my apartment's half packed up anyway, so it's – not a big deal."
"But – your family –"
She looked down; she hadn't really considered that.
It might mean never seeing any of them again.
"Well – it's my fault they're trying to kill you. If it wasn't for me, they never would have known that you were alive. Of course I'll stay with you – do you have any idea how much I've missed you, these last few days?!" she said, smiling sweetly and placing a brief, loving caress on his cheek. After a moment, that smile became a resentful grimace, her hand dropping to her side, fingers curling into a fist.
"And screw my family. That bitch Ruka probably told everyone in the first place, and she must know what's going on, and she didn't tell me? How could she do that to me, go behind my back?! I never thought that she could actually betray me like that!" Aka was so angry, she barely noticed the tear that leaked out of the corner of her eye.
"It hurts, doesn't it, when everyone turns against you…" Jonah said, soft yet earnest, wiping away the tear with his sleeve, more love in his eyes than ever. "It's something I know all too well – to be used and then abandoned by your family, and then betrayed by the one sibling that you thought was on your side."
He kissed her, if only to remind her that someone was on her side, and to remind himself the same.
Just as Solomon's cab was rounding the final stretch of road leading to his destination, he noticed that that damn gray car, parked a few dozen feet up from the Otonashi's driveway. Sure enough, sitting inside was the too-tight face of his stalker, blonde highlights now showing rather obvious roots.
I might be have to do something about that, eventually. I won't let it bother me; I've got bigger things on my mind.
As he approached the house itself, he took in the gardens, transformed to their springtime glory, even though it was barely February, formerly bare trees lining the drive had revealed themselves to be pink magnolia, covered in tulip-like blooms. The green shoots in the flowerbeds were now a rainbow of daffodils, and drab vines on the side of the house, now burst into magenta bougainvillea.
Solomon stepped out of the cab, rang the bell, and received no answer, despite clear signs that the family was home. After a minute or two, he just walked in; feeling entitled to do so, it being his brother's house.
He half expected Diva to come bounding in and giddily welcome him back, but that was hardly what happened. Solomon saw Diva's head peeking out from behind the wall at the top of the stairs, glancing down at him with a face that clearly stated oh, it's only you. "Hi, Solomon," she called back, hasty and indifferent, and then went back to whatever she was doing.
It was then when he finally realized just how much he enjoyed her attention.
"Don't take it personally." Freddie appeared beside Solomon, wearing an apron and smelling of human food. "She's doing some last minute cleaning in her room in preparation for Saya's arrival."
"Ah. When is Saya arriving?"
"The computer says her flight touched down an hour ago, so it should be any time now." Freddie paused. "If you'll excuse me, I've got something on the stove."
Freddie went back to the kitchen, and Solomon situated himself on the couch, feeling bored and slightly neglected.
A half hour or so passed, and he heard Yuki shouting up at Diva, that Saya had just called, and was about five minutes away. Diva finally came downstairs, looking more carefully groomed than usual, lip gloss tinted instead of clear, front sections of her hair done into pig-tails while the rest hung loose at her back. Solomon recognized the dress as the one she'd worn to the movies, white with blue flowers, and a matching sweater.
"How was New York, Solomon?" Diva asked politely, but disinterestedly.
"Yes, how was New York? Did you get done what you needed to get done?" Freddie's meaningful look injected the question with a whole new meaning, and insisted on an appropriately cryptic answer.
"Yes. I did what I was asked to do."
Freddie seemed satisfied, and the subject was dropped.
Diva's thoughts seemed to shift to the situation at hand. "Oh my god! I'm SO nervous, I think I'm gonna barf!"
"No you're not," Yuki said, soothing yet sarcastic. "I'm fairly sure it's physically impossible; we have no vomit reflex, seeing as it's virtually impossible to poison us orally."
"Still!"
"You'll be fine! Deep breaths precious, deep breaths."
Solomon perceived the sound of another car pulling into the driveway.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Diva exclaimed, jumping up and down, flapping her hands like a startled chicken.
The doorbell rang.
To his surprise, Solomon found Diva clinging to his arm for just an instant, and then she finally took her dad's advice, taking in a few deep breaths.
Yuki opened the door. "Hello precious! So good to have you here. Oh, good to see you Haji."
Saya emerged from the entryway, looking just as nervous as Diva, just less excited. Everyone else in the room watched in silent suspense.
The eyes of the sisters met, and before Saya was at all prepared, Diva sprung forward and hugged her tightly.
From where he was standing, Solomon could see Saya's face from over Diva's shoulder, that look of fight or flight, of panic and indecision. He wondered if she had that same look on her face when he'd first hugged her, in New York.
Yuki was also standing in a position to be seen by Saya, and made a few encouraging gestures, silently mouthing the word please. Saya reluctantly returned her sister's embrace.
Diva pulled away, smiling delightedly. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said, sounding almost as if she were about to swoon with joy. "It's so weird, I feel so much like I've missed you, but I've never really met you!"
Saya just stood there in silence, barely even forcing a smile.
"We're gonna have so much fun," Diva continued enthusiastically, "we'll check out the malls and theme parks, take the bullet train to SF, oh, and I almost forgot – you'll be here for the party!"
"What party?" Saya asked warily, speaking for the first time since her arrival.
"We have it every year," Freddie said smugly. "Used to do it on New Year's Eve, but there's too much competition for guests, so we changed it to February, when people aren't sick to death of parties.
Yeah right, Solomon thought. I'm sure you planned it for this week, very much on purpose.
"What kind of party? I didn't bring anything –" Saya asked, mumbling slightly.
"Attire will be provided for you, dear," her dad answered.
For some reason, Saya directed a very brief, suspicious glance at Solomon.
"It's a costume party!" Diva burst out excitedly.
"Why in god's name are you having a costume party in February?" Solomon asked, already sounding a little annoyed.
"Solomon, you of all people should understand how valuable parties are for networking, and I'm trying to build a career, here," Freddie explained. "And this is LA darling; you're standard champagne/sushi soiree is not going to distinguish you in the minds of your guests. But, as I predicted some years ago when we started this tradition, people out here tend to get kind of into the whole costume thing." He paused, turning to Saya with a grin. "And you needn't worry about your costume being too weird or kinky, Diva picked them out. That reminds me, I'll need to take all of your measurements ASAP, for last minute alterations."
"The dresses are totally gorgeous!" Diva added.
"Well then! You'd better go get situated," their dad exclaimed. "Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes."
Solomon watched as Diva led Saya up the stairs to the guest room, followed closely by Haji, carrying the modest amount of luggage, looking just as stony-faced and unimpressed as ever. With great interest, Solomon took note of how Diva didn't even seem to be aware of Haji's existence, or at least she was doing a very good job of appearing to ignore him – somewhat strange considering the innate attraction that should have been there, not to mention Diva's distantly past statement on Haji's cuteness. Solomon wasn't at all surprised that Haji didn't seem to be even remotely interested in Diva, he never did, pheromones or no pheromones.
If anyone, in the history of creation, has ever truly risen above their natural instincts, it's Haji. The man is downright ascetic… poor Saya, he must be incredibly dull in bed.
Solomon hadn't particularly noticed until now, but Haji was also carrying his signature cello case. Solomon quickly realized what that meant.
That's where Saya keeps her sword. She came armed.
He was only concerned about Diva's safety for a moment, quickly realizing that Nathan, Yuki and himself were more than a match for Saya and Haji, should Saya reapply herself to her former life's work. Knowing that, Solomon just felt an immense pity for Diva.
Poor thing, she's so happy to see Saya, and has no idea that Saya's probably thinking of killing her, right now.
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