26

It was shortly after supper that George celebrated a small bachelor party with a handful of the female relatives. Sento supposed he could go, but he decided to stay outside for a bit and wander through the rose garden, thinking about his family.

"George seems like a gentleman, but his mother is a real piece of work," he muttered out loud, "Maria, from what little I have seen of her, seems to have quite the imagination...and then there's her..."

"Not speaking ill of our family, are you?"

Sento turned to see Battler, whose footsteps he hadn't heard. "Oh, didn't see you there, Battler," he said, placing one of his hands in his pockets, "Just musing to myself about our family. Quite the crazy bunch, aren't we?"

"I'll say," muttered Battler. He knew he had to keep up his guard around Sento, lest he find another weak spot to poke at. And he had a purpose for searching for Sento: To ask him a question.

"Sento," said Battler, lowering his voice, "what really happened that day in the meta-world, during Jessica's last round? There was a catch, wasn't there?"

Sento leaned slightly against the fence. Of course he wasn't going to lie; he'd tell the truth. He said, "Oh, there was a slight catch: You see..."

He looked over his shoulder before turning back to Battler and saying, "Your child with Beato was never in any danger to begin with. I had to say something to coax her into confirming my existence, after all—you see, Lady Lambdadelta had been holding me as a tool to lure Bernkastel into her grasp in the meta-world, and the only way to set me free was to convince Jessica to play a game that would release me. And how else could I have convinced her—by threatening one of her old dolls?"

Battler looked at Sento curiously. He sensed there was something fishy. "So the real purpose of that game was to confirm your existence so that you wouldn't just fade from reality?"

"More or less," replied Sento, being honest...just not totally honest. "I hope you can forgive me for leading you to think such morbid conclusions, but you needed the incentive to fight, to help Jessica. Naturally, when I dropped this little detail on her, she was somewhat shocked."

Battler still wasn't certain if he could trust every word to come out of Sento's mouth, but for now, he only said, "I wouldn't blame her, seeing how you made her—and us—think that my child was in danger. That's too cruel."

"Perhaps," sighed Sento, "Speaking of which...how are you doing in preparing for the baby?"

"I'm...better prepared," said Battler truthfully, "I mean, when I first found out, the idea of raising a baby was, to me, the equivalent of going through a thousand more rounds of Beato's game. I couldn't figure out how we were going to manage it, but eventually, I did. And then the thought of actually putting it into practice just scared me even more, especially with how dad kept going on about how I couldn't do this, how I was an irresponsible disappointment to the family, or how I was too young for it."

"So you think father played a part in your fear?" asked Sento.

"Somewhat," admitted Battler.

Sento stopped leaning against the fence and stood up straight. "Do you resent him in any shape or form, be it for what he did to Asumu, or for putting pressure on you?"

"I...did, but we're beginning to reach a better understanding," said Battler slowly, keeping his guard up. If Sento's plan was to turn each family member against one another and create chaos, he was not going to fall victim to it.

"Why do you even bother?" asked Sento. "If he's only going to think the worst of you..."

"I'm trying to get him to appreciate my efforts," said Battler, holding his ground, "Beato and I will be living with my parents and Ange until we can afford our own house, which won't be for a few years yet. And I don't want my daughter to grow up seeing bad blood between her father and her grandfather."

"Your daughter?" said Sento. "So you're having a girl?" He laughed, "Well, you know how that old saying goes—sugar and spice, and everything nice..."

"Oh, Beato can switch over from 'sugar' to 'spice' all right, ihihi!" laughed Battler. "But I like spice and sugar."

Sento adjusted his tie. "Why did you ever fall in love with her, anyway, if she imposed you with such torture?"

Battler looked over at a nearby row of roses, feeling almost ashamed to answer, but answer he did: "Actually...it was me all along. I imposed torture on her. She was only trying to guide me to the truth all along so I could save my family...but I was too incompetent to realize it. Anyway...she wasn't bad most of the time. She was more like an immature little kid more than anything else." He chuckled, "An immature little kid with a sense of humour and nice-smelling hair, of course. Eventually, it got to the point where we were more like the two kids in grade school who showed their crushes for one another by pulling the other's pigtails, or by hiding the other's books."

Sento decided to change the subject, seeing how Battler was on the verge of going into hours-long reminiscences: "So what was it like to grow up with our father and...Asumu...during the thirteen more years she was alive for?"

Battler wondered if this subject would be a tad delicate, seeing how he had been the one to be raised by the woman who had given birth to another child who would go on to nearly be killed by his adoptive parents. Choosing his words carefully he said, "I...always got along better with Asumu than I did with the old bastard—I mean, dad." He laughed, "I guess old habits die hard, ihihi!" He cleared his throat and continued, "Part of me had always suspected dad was seeing someone else behind mom's back, especially when I was around twelve...well, eleven going on twelve, anyway. Eventually, though, I brushed it off as it was based solely on dad coming home a bit later than usual, and I had no real proof at the time. Apart from that, I was otherwise neutral to him—didn't want to give him hugs, didn't have plans to kill him."

"What about Asumu?" asked Sento, hoping his voice didn't sound as emotional as it felt in his throat.

Battler closed his eyes, trying to remember. "I remember her as...a very kind and loving mother who disciplined me when necessary but still showered me with affection. She was there when I was sick, or when I needed help with my homework." He opened his eyes. "I had always seen her getting along with dad just fine, and she took care of us. So...I could never understand why dad would cheat on her with anyone."

Sento, trying not to let his eyes betray any emotion, scoffed, "Of course. How were you to know what went on behind closed doors?"

Battler tried to make a joke: "Well, that's because they never let me come in when the bedroom door was closed, ihihi!"

Sento did not laugh. He asked, "How did she die?"

This was getting to be emotional for Battler, too. He took a deep breath before saying, "Leukemia. She had it for three years. I..." He gulped. "I honestly thought she was getting better, but...it was only two weeks after that family conference seven years ago...the one where I met Beato, though I didn't know it at the time...that she had to go back to the hospital. She died three days later, while I was at school."

He let out a heavy sigh before saying, "And it was only a week after her death that I found out about Kyrie...and Ange..."

"How?" asked Sento, hoping he would be successful in keeping himself together. "By going through his things?"

Battler shook his head. "No...he came to talk to me in my room that day. And he said he was getting married to Kyrie. Now at first, I was angry—I couldn't believe he could move on so soon after mom's death...like it meant nothing to him. I told him as such and asked why he had to marry her anyway. And then he told me...he said he and Kyrie were expecting a baby...and had been for months now, and she was just into her second trimester. Well...you can only imagine my fury to hear that little detail. It was enough to make me run out of my room and call my grandparents on Asumu's side to tell them I wanted to go live with them. I refused to let dad talk me out of it, however much he tried; I just let him have it about how he had betrayed Asumu and..."

He suddenly stopped, realizing how much he had just told to this man who was almost a stranger to him. He said, "Wow...I can't believe I just poured out my entire life story to you..."

Sento looked away. "Asumu was the one who housed me in her womb, the one to give life to me. And I never even got to know her. I had every right to know as much about her as I could find out." He sighed, trying not to let his emotions pour out in his voice but failing, "Well, I can only hope you're ready to deal with your child and won't just abandon them out of fear of actually having to be responsible for once in your life."

Battler felt almost disturbed to hear such emotion in Sento's voice, having thought he wasn't capable of anything but contempt. "I assure you I won't do such a thing."

Sento scoffed, "Makes you more noble than our own father, I'll give you that much."

Battler wondered if he should walk over to see Sento's expression, which he was doing a good job of hiding by still not looking in his direction.

After what felt like almost an hour but was really only about three minutes, Sento turned back to Battler, having now fixed a look of contempt onto his face. "You'd better get back to your wife before she starts craving chalk."

It was just after the party that Genji and Natsuhi took up the honour of leading Sento to his room in the guest house. He had insisted that the cousins' room would be just fine, but it was Natsuhi who insisted that he have the privilege of having his own room for the night, seeing how he deserved special treatment in compensation for what had happened twenty years ago.

Sento took a look around his room. The walls were a light pink, the bed sheets a dark shade of green, and the carpet matching the wall. There was a door to the bathroom to his left, and a small drawer just facing opposite his bed. The accommodations were quite nice indeed.

"Is there anything else I can do for you this evening?" asked Genji.

Natsuhi nodded. "That will be all, Genji."

Genji closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Natsuhi and Sento.

Natsuhi was barely able to look at Sento as she spoke: "I...Krauss and I...we found a pair of pyjamas for you to wear tonight. They're just in that drawer, over there. And as for the wedding tomorrow..."

"I'll be fine in this suit," said Sento calmly, "It should be just right for such an occasion."

Natsuhi seemed almost pained to speak any further. Then, she did something Sento did not expect: She pulled him in close and gave him a tight hug, pressing his face against her shoulder, sobbing incoherent words about how sorry she was for what she did to him.

So this must be...a hug? thought Sento, not knowing how to react to this. Was he supposed to pull away? Was he supposed to hug back? How was he supposed to know? This sort of gesture...this sort of affection...he did not understand it. Why...?

Natsuhi pulled away. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her nose was runny. She pulled out a handkerchief to lightly dab at her face. "Excuse me," she said, "I'll...I'll give you some time alone to change. That's right...we're going to be up early tomorrow. So..." She swallowed. "Be sure to tuck yourself in and...and feel free to come to me if there is anything wrong, okay?"

Sento nodded, and Natsuhi left. As she did, she gave him one last glance over her shoulder before closing the door behind her. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it, wondering what to make of that hug. Was it an apology? A sign of affection?

He sighed and lay down on the bed. He closed his eyes, thinking back to what Lambdadelta had told him right before he was permitted to leave:

"Remember: You're going to the island for a reason—to carry out the murders that were meant to happen in October of 1986. And if you fail to do so...let's just say you'll be begging for death as much as Beato was when you're done with it, ha-ha-ha!"

If he let such a gesture go to his head...if he dared to allow himself to bond with anyone in the family...would he still be able to go through with it?

Of course he would. There was no question about it.

Jessica tossed and turned in bed with the cousins, all of whom had managed to peacefully fall asleep. She, however, could not sleep. She kept thinking about Sento, wondering what he was going to do next and what to do if he did it.

He has a mind of his own, she thought, He said he was going to kill everyone on the eve of the wedding...how do I know he's going to wait that long? What if he changes his mind and decides to come into here and kill us in our sleep?

She flopped over to look at the clock on the nightstand.

Five minutes past midnight.

She sighed and decided to get out of bed. There was only one thing she could do to put her mind at ease about this, and she was going to do it, no matter how uncomfortable it made her feel. The item that was necessary for performing this task was just hidden in the nightstand drawer amongst other miscellaneous items.

It was Yoshiya's duty to patrol the guest house at night. He did not know why the shifts had been changed, but he accepted them with no questions asked. He saw no harm in it, and it would give him a chance to keep an eye on Sento. There was something about that young man that struck him as suspicious. He could not yet think or prove what his real agenda was, but he did not like it in the slightest.

To say nothing of the fact that he was getting a little too close to Jessica for his liking.

After all, Jessica treated Battler and George as though they were brothers, and they returned the behaviour, which Yoshiya was fine with. However, Sento's behaviour struck him as...un-brotherly, to say the least...

Yoshiya noticed the door to the cousins' room slowly creak open. He stopped, waiting to see who was up at this time of night. He relaxed when he saw Jessica come out, her blonde hair falling just down her shoulders, wearing a white nightgown. She noticed him and said, "Oh! Yoshiya!" She walked up to him and lowered her voice: "Yoshiya, what are you doing here?"

"I was given the night shift over here," said Yoshiya in an equally low voice. He knew the cousins wouldn't care about him and Jessica being together, but it was common courtesy to not wake up those who were sleeping, of course. "What's that you're holding?"

"These? Oh," said Jessica, feeling somewhat foolish. She wondered, suddenly, if Yoshiya might be able to help her out. "Yoshiya...do you trust Sento?"

Yoshiya shook his head. "No. Why do you ask? Does it have anything with how you plan to use...?"

Jessica nodded. "The only problem is, I would need to ensure he won't...take advantage of the opportunity..."

"I see," said Yoshiya. "So what is it you would like me to do?"

"If I am correct," said Jessica, "the room Sento is in will also have a bathroom. Do you think that maybe you could hide out in there for the night? And if anything happens, I could call and you could, well, come and...? I'm really sorry to be asking this of you, but..."

"Anything for you is hardly a burden," said Yoshiya with a smile.

Jessica sighed, "Thanks for being understanding about this, Yoshiya."

"But what exactly is it you hope to prevent him from doing, anyway?" asked Yoshiya.

"I...have this hunch...that he might be a bit...dangerous," said Jessica slowly. It wasn't the best reasoning in the world, but how else could she phrase it?

Sento had changed into his pyjamas some time before Jessica had gotten out of bed. They were green, and slightly oversized, but comfortable nonetheless. He supposed it would've helped if he had brought more clothing along, but luggage would've only gotten in the way.

He had begun to close his eyes, when he heard the door open. He smiled, knowing all too surely who it was. Of course Jessica wouldn't trust him. She'd be here to give him a warning, or somehow prevent him from doing anything tonight—perhaps by tying him to the bed—and then she'd be off.

Sure enough, he felt another person climb into bed. He sat up, and noticed Jessica moving over to where he was. "Good evening, dear sister," he said with a smile, "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

"How can I sleep when you could just change your mind and kill my cousins in their sleep?" hissed Jessica, hiding her weapon-of-choice behind her back.

"With the aid of a few sleeping pills, perhaps?" suggested Sento. "But no, what would I have to gain from that? It would be too sudden—too soon. It would arouse suspicion—was it the act of the mysterious stranger? Was he the one responsible for this tragedy? Of course they'd all think that. And it would be downright insensitive to ruin a potentially beautiful wedding."

Jessica looked over her shoulder. Yoshiya had snuck into the bathroom while she had climbed across the bed. Hopefully, Sento had seen nothing.

"Talk is cheap," said Jessica coolly, "How can I trust anything you say when you've been misleading me during our game?"

Sento shrugged, "You'll just have to trust me, dear sister."

Jessica smirked, knowing he would say that. "Or how about not?"

Before Sento had a chance to fight against it, Jessica whipped out the handcuffs and slipped one end onto Sento's right wrist, and the other onto her left. She whipped out the key and locked them into place before tossing the key onto the carpet, where upon a hand reached out and grabbed it.

"It pays to go through stuff in the attic and save it for later," said Jessica, still with her triumphant smirk.

Sento felt the need to smirk back. "Handcuffs, dear sister? My, how unexpected of you. You will go to great lengths to protect our family, won't you?"

"You've got that right," said Jessica firmly, "If you try to get up while I'm still attached to you, you'll just have to drag me out with you. Even then, you wouldn't be able to kill anyone with just one hand. And you won't be able to find the key to unlock this because you'd have to get by Yoshiya first."

Yoshiya stuck his head out of the bathroom. He hadn't heard all of what Jessica had said; there seemed to be certain parts where she would keep her voice low, but he had heard his name mentioned. He glared at Sento, who had turned around to see who was coming out of the bathroom.

"If you do anything disgraceful to Jessica," said Yoshiya warningly, "You'll have me to deal with."

"Now would I ever dream of doing anything disgraceful?" said Sento innocently. "But very smart of you nonetheless."

If looks could kill, Yoshiya would've caused Sento to choke on his words and die. But because they could not, Yoshiya simply gave Sento a warning glare before lurching back into the bathroom.

Sento and Jessica lay down in bed next to each other (of course, having no other option) and turned to face one another. "You have quite a bit of determination, dear sister," said Sento and he began to lean in closer, "I like it. It just makes me look all the more forward to seeing you begging for mercy tomorrow night."

Jessica's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh no, Sento," she said, leaning in closer, "I'll see to it that you will be the one to get on your knees and beg for it to be over. Consider yourself lucky if I even grant that wish."

Sento leaned in closer. "If that is a challenge, I accept gladly."

He was about to say more, and she was about to reply, when they realized how closely they had leaned in: They were barely inches away from any part of their faces touching...be it their noses...or their lips. Upon this awkward realization, they moved a few inches away, unable to look the other in the eye.

"Good night," muttered Sento, turning on his side to the extent the handcuffs would allow him to.

"Good night," muttered Jessica, who chose to lie on her back and stare at the ceiling, hoping she'd be able to save everyone's lives tomorrow night.

It was with this thought on her mind that she fell asleep upon.