{Okay. I'd like to get this out for all my fans. Your reviews made me sob. I love you all. I am so sorry about my lazy-as-fuck posts. I've been so busy, but I have been hit with inspiration from you guys. You'll see a lot more from me starting now. I HAVE BEEN REBORN! {Okies, Kaylie, you're drunk. We're just gonna walk you home now.}
So, without any further adue, I introduce, chapter eight of Mother, Father, Younger, Older.
This wasn't happening..
It's happening Kiku.
No.. no it isn't.
I'm afraid to say it is.
This wasn't the first time Kiku had taken part in this conversation with himself. Far from it, when he thought Arthur had died, after Hiroki had taken him in, when Yao had supposedly died, when their parents died. It was when Kiku truly began questioning his sanity. As he sat in the smelly cargo department, the only light coming in from an opening in the floorboards, he revisited the break between his reality and the reality in front of him.
"Yao Wang!?" Arthur asked, the news coming as just a shock to him as to Kiku. "You certainly have the nerve to overstay your welcome on my ship. It's a miracle you're still alive after the position I left you in! You must be mentally challenged if you think, after what you had done to my little brother, and to Kiku that I'll let you walk out alive!" Arthur hissed at the stowaway Eric had brought him to. "I wasn't in my right mind when I hurt your brother, when I attacked him, I was grieving over my own brother. I did it to save Kiku. Or else I'd never had done such a thing to my baby brother, the only thing I had left! I was being chased, I had no choice, or else the ones on my tail would have taken Kiku too. It was a good thing too. I spent ten years inprisoned, only to be rescued by Elizaveta. I owed everything to her, so I became a part of her crew, never did I expect to run into you again, Nor did I ever want to." Yao said softly. "And believe me-I beg of you- when I say how overjoyed I am to know that I get to see my brother alive...I know I can never repent for my sins toward you, but at least I can get my sibling to understand the truth.' Yao added, eyes narrow.
Kiku, to his luck, had heard the whole thing, suddenly wondering if this were smart, to be leaving Arthur. Hell. He didn't know what to do anymore. Nothing seemed logical. At this point, he wanted to find out how the hell Yao was still alive. This wasn't natural, so when he burst into the room, leaning Yao back in his chair, he was set on getting the truth. "How are you still alive? And think carefully about your answer, it decides your fate." Kiku snarled. He wasn't in any mood to forgive anyone, all his anger had surfaced, and not even the most pathetic of sob stories would change his mind. "I swear.. I don't know.. there was this guy... I think his name was Francis? He was a business associate with mother and father, he had been visiting after recieving news of their death, he found me and brought me to the nearest hospital. I never trusted him! I heard him talking about tracking you, and once he met up with the guys chasing me... the man let them take me away.. I never saw Francis again." Yao replied, Kiku letting go of the chair, Yao crashing to the floor in a fuss.
"Francis. He saved Alfred, he saved Yao." Kiku said, eyes burning with fury. "He's up to something." Kiku said to himself. Arthur caught this and smirked. "Then it looks like you're not going home." he shot towards the other. "We're not too far from the shores of France, we can get back in a few hours at the most, the wind has sided with us today." Arthur said smugly, untying Yao, who looked at him, dumbfounded. "You have one of two options. You can either go, and jump off the side of the ship, or you can join my crew. However, if you were to chose the latter, know well that I won't trust you, my crew won't trust you, you will sleep in the guest room so you can be properly guarded to make sure you don't do anything stupid, you won't have any access to the wheel, sails, the kitchen or my office, and you will be strictly working with the medic, since that is where you're going now, regardless of what choice you pick." Arthur grumbled. Yao nodded, understanding Arthur's reasoning. He knew, despite how angry the Japanese was now, that if anything were to happen to Yao, once Kiku's anger wore off, he'd regret it. "Yes sir." he said simply, walking off with the medic, who was practically carrying him, given he barely had the strength to stand at the moment.
"Arthur.. do you think Francis is trying to eliminate one of us? He either wants you or me, and it seems he made it fairly clear that he wanted my reward money." Kiku fretted, being genuinely scared by the fact that Arthur could die right in front of him tonight. "Honestly, I'm hoping he's after your life, that way I know, so I know what he's going to try. He is my brother after all, despite how I tend to ignore that. He's probably hired someone, so we won't know who we're looking for and how to go about looking for them. Are they spies? Assassins? Are they going in infiltrate our crew and finish the work stealthily? Or are they going to come out of nowhere and slay their victim brutally and quickly? That is why, as soon as we reach France again, I'll take the crew as if we're just stopping for supplies- even though anyone who knew us would know it's a terrible cover, because who would want to stop in France for supplies?- and I'll go talk to Francis, you're staying on board." Arthur said, hoping this didn't backfire. Kiku looked about to protest, but simply bit his tongue. "Okay. But if he's after you, and you realize this early, you'd better high-tail your ass back to this ship." Kiku threatened. Arthur smiled kindly, nodding at the order. "Yes sir." he chuckled.
Sunset hit fast, but not before they reached the busy French marketplace, where they had docked just a day earlier. Arthur bid Kiku a tender farewell in the Captains Quarters and left, only hoping that he'd return safely, and to find Kiku safe as well, maybe, just maybe his cover could phase anyone looking for him or Kiku. {I'll leave it to your imagination as to what happened in the Captain's Quarters. *Winkwink*} Reluctantly, he allowed Yao to stand guard, subtly though, leaning against the wall of one of many fishing markets.
Ivan and Gilbert were about to sail off, before spotting a familiar figure halfway across the docks. "Is that who I think it is?" Gilbert asked, looking at Ivan incrediously. "I think it is~" Ivan purred, smirking delightfully. All preparations thrown to the wind, they watched Arthur enter the marketplace, and only the two of them noticed the one crew member stay behind. "They must have left Kiku aboard... That means they're going after Francis... I'll go on the ship, you go find your friend." Ivan ordered, Gilbert about to follow before pausing. Ivan would probably butcher the other, torture him for an hour or two before finally putting him to rest. And anyday he would have said something, but Ivan had that look in his eyes again, one Gilbert had to get away from, and furthermore, why should he care? He then reluctantly began jogging away from the ship, towards Francis's manor, staying behind in the shadows as he followed Arthur, to keep from being spotted.
Kiku paced the Captain's Quarter's with his sword in hand, terrified. What if someone were to come through the door in a few hours and tell him Arthur hadn't made it out alive? What if someone were to come through the door in seconds, and murder him in cold blood. "What could Francis's motives possibly be?" he whispered, not noticing the Russian at the door. "Greed." he answered, Kiku turned, eyes wide to see the intruder. "You?" he hissed, tense. He had known Ivan for a while, and never had gotten along with him. "Da, me." Ivan chuckled. "But why? What could Francis want that could cause my death?" Kiku said, Ivan only replying with smirk. "Think about it. What do you have tied to you, that Francis loves just as much as you do?" Ivan said after a while, then it occured to him. "Arthur.. he wants Arthur... and I'm in the way, so he's getting jealous." Kiku replied, biting his bottom lip. "And if I know Arthur as well as I think I do, if I disappear, he won't have anyone else to go to... his Stockholm syndrome deserves a medal." He grumbled. Ivan nodded in reply. "Me and that Beilschmidt boy are planning to split the reward Francis gives us, and then the ransom as well. Your people are so desperate they want you dead or alive. But don't worry. By my standards, this will painless, for me, I'll see this as mainly a game you lose. He said, an excited smirk plastering itself onto his face as he got into a fighting stance. "Now..." he began, locking gazes with Kiku.
"Let us play."
{Sorry for the terrible length. It may take an extra day, but the next one will be twice as long!~ Promise!}