Another update in so short a time? Glorious, isn't it! I made the promise to post another chapter within the week because I've been in such a good mood the last few days and the unwavering support of you all has inspired me to get back to the grindstone and I hope I have delivered!
I understand if my writing style is a little curt and I seem to be enamored with cliffhangers but even so I want to showcase the story as it play sin my head. (Kinda like an action movie sometimes, lol) In any case, I have been working on outlining the final, wrap up chapters and I still have about 8 more to be edited before publishing so do not FRET!
As always thank you so much, I am so gratified for your support and enjoyment of this story!
(I FINALLY WATCHED LAST GAME, AAAH! The feels had me goin', people!)
NEUTRAL CAMP
Kagami followed Aomine as they retraced the route to Kise's tent. It wasn't a sure bet he'd be there but Aomine seemed to be working off the assumption that their whimsical host would make himself easy to find. Camp occupants streamed through the figure-eight loop like blood cells coursing an artery, undertaking chores and preparing for the day, all while paying them no attention. Few Neutrals lingered in conversation and those who acknowledged them as they passed received reciprocation from Aomine in the form of a terse nod.
Which convinced him that the hunter was no longer distracted and anchored down by self-doubt. When Kagami asked about his intentions earlier he noticed the indecision that had been radiating from Aomine since their escape from Goryokaku had been rewritten with steadfast resolve. At first Kagami thought it his imagination. But the brief glint of absolution that loosened the lines stressing Aomine's tired face gave him no comfort. First the refusal to answer the question then the slight discharge of static, provided Kagami his own answer as to what the man planned to do.
His gaze fell to the book dangling at Aomine's side and he wondered. Were the missing words really so revealing as to generate such a sudden change? He could not say for sure. Aomine hadn't offered to allow him to read and he hadn't asked.
They marched on and spotted Kise conversing outside his tent with one of the guardian Apparitions he'd noticed leaving the picnic area during breakfast. Extra muscle to protect the caravan, he knew. With as many as fifty individuals of varying ages and health concerns, Kise couldn't hope to defend them alone.
As they neared he noted the way Aomine rolled his shoulders back, standing taller to project himself more immune to the Wind Apparition's presence than he really was. How much of the posturing was intentional, Kagami couldn't say. The rate of adaption to his newly-actualized physiology was impressive, he had to admit.
The sentinel noticed their approach, muttered a few more words, then bowed in retreat.
Kise faced them, one leather-gloved hand on his hip.
Sticking to English, Kagami said, "Don't you look chipper."
"It's too early to start the day off on the wrong foot." Kise's mouth bowed in what he was beginning to believe was a permanent smirk.
"Have you ever?"
Kise's head lolled in reflection, eyes wandering far away for a split second, yet his smile remained. "In a different time, in a different place." He pointed to the book, saying to Aomine, "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Kagami provided an interpretation.
"Hard not to ace the test when you're given the answers," Aomine said.
Kise's smile deepened.
Kagami said nothing. This man knew how to dance around a conversation.
"And you?" Kise asked Kagami.
"Quite a story."
"You don't believe?"
"I believe in what I can see."
Finally, Kise's expression faltered.
Kagami gave him no chance to respond. "What I see is you breaking a multitude of international laws. Trafficking, trespassing, squatting, harboring illegals. I definitely wouldn't discount hunting violations, some destruction of property, possibly numerous counts of assault and battery. Maybe a few homicides. And I'm sure there are other unmentionables as well."
Insult pressed a deep wrinkle in Kise's brow. Aomine stood silent, not understanding a word but surely registering the atmosphere.
"I also see," Kagami continued, "that these people are victims of oppressive, xenophobic governments guided by misinformed world leaders who made an uneducated, hasty decision that has forced someone like you and your mother to revolt against that decision that has allowed assholes like me to make a living off of systematic murder." He paused. "I see you saving these people regardless of the lengths you have to go to achieve it."
Rather than relief, skepticism narrowed Kise's eyes.
Not the reaction he expected. "What?"
"I just wasn't prepared for a put-up. You realize I'm putting you out of a job?"
"I'm in no position to complain."
Kise seemed to accept the admission, if the pleased crease of his mouth was any indication.
Aomine's attention had deviated from the conversation, scanning the activity within the camp. The Neutrals appeared to be carrying on a more determined pace than when they'd first arrived. "Looks like everyone's packing up."
Kagami swept a look around to realize the same. "You got somewhere to be?"
"Wherever I'm needed. The fewer prints I leave behind, the better."
"The life of a vagabond."
Kise raked gloved fingers through thready fringe and flashed a grin.
Aomine seemed to sense the meeting was winding down and lifted the book to Kise. He waved away the offering with a polite hand.
"Hold onto it for me."
Aomine hesitated, casting Kagami a confused stare. Clarification was made and the book dropped back to the hunter's side. "You say that like you're gonna spring back up on me."
In what he hoped was his final service, Kagami conveyed to Kise, whose face betrayed nothing as he said to Aomine, "You never know."
Deciding it best not to persist further, Kagami tipped his head in concession. Kise clapped him gently on the arm then, with the same hand, balled in a fist, bumped his knuckles to Aomine's chest. Kise then turned away and strutted up the trail without urgency. The gestures were not lost on Kagami. Both translated as simultaneous greetings and farewells among peers in Fire and Lightning cultures. He wondered how Kise, a man of the Wind far detached from the Rus-Ainu, became so acquainted with them.
Silently they watched their host retreat, triggering Kagami with a problem. What was his next move? Aomine's was clear.
Twenty feet away, as Kise neared the bend, he spun and jabbed a finger to the tent.
"Your gear is inside and your elk is still up on the ridge," he called over the din. "He wouldn't cooperate."
Of course he wouldn't. Kagami raised an arm in affirmation. Aomine offered a meek parting wave. Kise turned and disappeared into a throng of juveniles carting linen-filled baskets.
He decided the time for ignorance was over. "What are you going to do?"
Aomine dropped his head back, studying the sky again. Wispy overcast sheets folded into a thick rippling blanket as the clouds continued their journey westward. Clarity seemed to strike him as his tense muscles unhinged.
Turning for the tent, he paused to lock eyes with Kagami. "What I have to."
He brushed past and the door clapped shut behind him.
. . . . .
Kagami and Aomine climbed the switchback path winding up the sloping face of the ridge overlooking the valley. The trek from the camp had taken around ten minutes. Neither of them had spoken. He'd allowed the hunter privacy to change, more for himself than for modesty. Facing the reality of what his impulsive arrogance had done to the man's body was the last thing Kagami wanted on his conscious now. Then there was his own scar. The figure scouring his back radiated a constant noticeable discomfort and would raise immediate questions if it were to be seen. Ones he had no mind to answer.
Kuroko's words from the warehouse invaded his thoughts. You both bear the other's mark.
That didn't mean they had to resort to the childish compromise of I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
So, he'd idled outside until he was sure Aomine was halfway decent before entering to reclothe himself. To his relief, Aomine had been too distracted to nitpick.
He hadn't thought to bother Kise for pain killers or anti-inflammatory aids to ease his misery and as his skin stretched with exertion, he wished he had.
Aomine led the way as they ascended and he couldn't help pondering how the hunter was faring with his injury. Upon returning to Goryokaku Kagami assumed treatment would have been priority one. But when he had been conscripted to assist Kise in cleaning the then-unconscious Aomine's wound he'd seen a stark contrast of neglect and abuse in the mottled blotches of healing and damaged scar tissue. Broken wrinkles clawed through glossy skin bristling angry and oozing discharge like slow-flowing lava. The cause looked to be blunt trauma and tearing. The confrontation in the Water Room? Had to be. He experienced his own share of thermal burns, albeit superficially. Clumsy hands and molten steel were a poor combination. But flames could never mar him. Fire Apparitions possessed immunity to self harm, reabsorbing the energy which manifested as little more than a minor heat increase.
Despite the severity and hindrance the injury posed, Aomine labored the hike without complaint. The book was tucked into the small of his back. Kagami had been mindful not to offer to hold it, feeling Aomine would not trust it in the hands of an up-in-the-air ally. He wasn't interested in gouging the facts. The synopsis the hunter provided him was enough for Kagami to admit he had been wrong. No sense prying deeper. Desensitizing himself to the issue would only promote him to further normalize Neutral killing more than he already had.
They crested the ridge. The pathway snaked into a patchy stretch of weeds and shaggy grass that dissolved into the loom of the forest they camped in the night before. Aomine stopped and swept a look across the girthy stalks then to the mountains rimming the valley beyond. Distant sunlight splashed a dreary glow upon the slopes and crags.
Kagami faced the forest and let out a sharp whistle. He hoped his familiar was still in the area as Kise had said.
He set his sights on Aomine. This confrontation needed to happen. Whether they liked it or not their conjoined success hinged on equal parts compromise and patience. He was ready to deal. But to do that he needed Aomine to lower his defenses. The hunter's attention was now fixed on the ground. Kagami eased closer and squinted. A gnarly-armed star blackened the dirt a few feet from the plateau's steep drop. Proof of Aomine's verified identity and decades of pent-up emotional convolution. And he seemed to be drawing confidence from the scorch.
Kagami kept himself out of arm's reach, remembering last time, but remained close enough that he could not be ignored.
"You dodged my question twice already," he said. "So, I'm going to ask you again." He paused, waiting for a reaction. Aomine did not budge. "What are you doing to do?"
Aomine turned, face calm save for appraisal creasing his eyes. "What makes you think I have a plan?"
"Because contrary to what everyone thinks I'm not a metal forging village bumpkin with hot air for a brain. I know more than you think so if you're thinking of doing something stupid, you need to let me help you."
Aomine squinted. "How hard did Nebuya smash your head?"
"Not nearly as hard as you did his."
He hadn't wanted to recall that reality so soon but he needed Aomine to grasp that alienating himself was only further complicating the ordeal.
Aomine's mouth tweaked as if he wanted to speak but did not. His head drooped.
Kagami gave him a moment to wrestle with his pride.
"I need you to do me a favor." No effort was made to mask resignation.
Exactly what Kagami wanted to hear. As he'd learned once in the Water Room, then again in the fort, and just recently at this very spot yesterday, pressuring Aomine was paid back with hostility and aggression. And with a new unbridled power, Kagami was less than adamant about becoming a lightning rod.
He grunted, cueing the hunter to explain. Desperate eyes bored into him.
"I need you to go back to Goryokaku. Find Satsuki and get her the hell out of there. Imayoshi may not be there now but I can't risk leaving her as another loose end to tie up."
"What makes you think he would?"
Aomine heaved a frustrated sigh. "Because she's all I have left. Isolation fosters vulnerability which then breeds dependence. He's eliminated every other obstacle poised to shatter his model of obedience." His tone rose, fueled by emotions Kagami knew that had been beaten down to save face. "Why wouldn't he target her when she's helped shelter me from him? You said before that she and Tetsu asked you to get me out. Time to return the favor."
Momoi's voice on the radio crept back into his mind. A poorly-veiled promise to rack his genitals for a lewd remark made about Aomine. Another of her admonitions followed. Find him, take him away from this place, and keep him safe. Which he fully intended to do. But the thought of proximity to her felt distinctly unsafe for him.
Without thinking, he said, "I don't think that's a good idea."
Sparks jolted from Aomine's neck as he threw his hands down, fists tight, and yelled, "You owe me."
Kagami's jaw slackened. "Excuse me?"
"I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you. Everything's come crashing down since you popped up. My uncle turned out to be a scheming, backstabbing murderer. My best friend of thirty-four years is dead." Sullen eyes flashed hot. "And to top it off, I went from being a defective Ice Apparition slash sheltered Neutral to a Lightning Apparition heir to the largest empire of assholes in the world. All in one week."
Aomine's expression darkened with conviction. Electric hairs flared from the nape of his neck like hackles on an aggressed dog.
"You ruined everything."
Heat burned in his cheeks as he struggled not to latch onto Aomine's bait. The hunter was still angling for a fight, what he'd lifted from the unaltered book no doubt adding to the guilt and anger clashing within him, making him all the more volatile. Apologizing once hadn't worked and Kagami wasn't stupid enough to try a second time.
"You wanna start something?" Aomine growled.
Pale orange-yellow tufts had sprouted from the hotspots, flickering in warning.
"I'm trying to solve it."
"Your face says otherwise."
He couldn't stow his exasperation as he barked, "Just stop it." He scrubbed away the flickers, gliding his hands roughly through his shaggy mussed hair. "For starters, you never let me finish before you bombarded me."
Aomine did not shrink to the scolding, only scowled.
"I never said I wouldn't extract your ex-wife. There's a give and take to this situation, Aomine. And you looking for every opportunity to hurt me isn't getting us a damn step closer to ending this."
The hunter's body tensed and his eyes fell. "You're not making this easy."
"Nothing is. So suck it up."
Aomine didn't appreciate the snap and Kagami doesn't allow him a chance to rebut. "Now tell me what you're planning."
After a moment of consideration, he vented a hard breath. "I'm going after Imayoshi."
"I know that much."
Aomine bristled. "You asshole. Why ask me then?"
"I mean, what do you plan to do when you confront him? He won't just admit what he's done just because you asked nicely and intimidating him like you have me the last twenty-four hours sure as hell won't open him up, either."
"Let me worry about that."
"Last time I left you to your own devices, you nearly bludgeoned a man to death."
"What would you rather I have done?"
"Use your damn head," Kagami yelled.
Aomine flinched.
"Your actions have consequences," he continued, tone leveling out. "Now more than ever. And you can't go knuckle-busting your way to getting answers until you're satisfied."
Aomine groaned with exaggeration. "Telling you was a mistake. I knew you'd disagree."
"One of us had to be the rational one." He paused, gauging. "You're really not going to tell me?"
"It's all you're getting."
From the edge of the forest, the elk emerged, trotting leisurely. Aomine turned to the scorch and toed the dirt. The elk sidled to Kagami and bunted his arm. He gave the bull's muzzle a reassuring stroke and conducted a quick once-over. The saddle and harness were still intact and there were no signs of harm, sickness, or tampering. Coward probably hid in the undergrowth.
He didn't like that Aomine was still sliding around his questions while doing nothing to disguise his intentions. He knew the man wanted to pound a confession out of the Dan. To quiet decades of emotional torment and achieve much needed closure.
Aomine's hackles calmed, thinning to thread down his arms. The current hiccupped a few times before stabilizing, billowing toward the pewter sky.
"Looks like you're getting the hang of it."
Aomine snorted at the observation, lifting a relaxed hand alive with dancing frizz. Kagami noticed the knee-jerk impulses had become more purposeful. Refined by repeated exposures that was forcing Aomine to channel the power into manageable state on the spot. Such exponential growth was impressive, considering that up until a few days ago, Aomine hadn't the access to nor knowledge of his inherent ability and the complex mechanisms that governed its use.
"It's disgusting," Aomine mumbled. "Feels like thousands of annoyed angry bees swarming under my skin." He peered back at Kagami. "Fire feel anything like that?"
Kagami said nothing. He resisted the pull to acknowledge proof of his own lack of control marking Aomine's waist.
He motioned to the undulating frizz. "Sure that's the best way?"
Aomine studied the sky. "Definitely the quickest. I'm no expert and I'm sure as shit not a genius who'll crack the code after a few tries." He shrugged. "It if worked once, it'll work again."
"You sound awful confident."
"Call it a pet theory."
Too optimistic for Kagami's liking. Apparating was an endemic skill set to the Lightning, enabling an electrically-engulfed Apparition to assimilate with thunderclouds. But it required years of discipline and exposure. Both of which Aomine had in short supply.
Aomine eyed the elk. "Besides, our goals lie in different directions and one vehicle between us won't accomplish either with the timeframe we're faced with."
Fair point.
"Well, if you're fast-traveling," Kagami pointed, "then you should hand that over to me."
Aomine retrieved the book from his back.
"Like you say, you're new to this. It may not stand up to that kinda energy."
Aomine stared hard at the cover, hesitant. "Fine. Keep it safe for me."
Kagami caught the airborne book. A firm grasp on the lead lines steadied the elk from starting.
Aomine faced the cliff, silky electric threads thickening into ribbons.
"Don't let that scaredy-cat familiar of yours gnaw on it," he called without looking back.
Kagami secured the tome in one of the saddlebags. Bluish-white light strobed, bleaching his vision. Keeping one hand on the reins, his other flew up to shield his eyes. The elk's head reared and tossed. It took a second for the tension to drain from the animal's neck testing Kagami's hold. A few blinks reoriented his senses and he found the scorch mark.
Aomine was gone. The cinder produced yesterday had engorged, its arms longer and frayed like down feathers.
Overhead the clouds gave a soft grumble.
Kagami mounted the saddle and veered the elk into the trees. A pop to the ribs propelled the animal to trot. Remembering the tack Kise used to lead him into the valley made backtracking to the abandoned campsite easy. As he rode, he swallowed the relaxing alpine air. His brain still throbbed with each hoof beat, as though being squeezed by a cruel invisible hand. For much of the morning it was only a minor nuisance. The beating he underwent in the Water Room still wrung through him. His knee, back, and neck radiated a constant clawing ache. It had been many years since he threw down so violently and never with someone as large as Nebuya Eikichi. The effort to ignore the pain was just as taxing as acknowledging it, so his discomfort was here to stay until this affair was put to rest.
He'd just have to cope. Or, like he'd admonished Aomine, suck it up.
Remnants of the site came into view within a few minutes, much quicker than the sloth-like pace he'd carried before. Unavoidable then, considering he had been lugging an unconscious 180-pound invalid while steering a man at knifepoint. Stones ringed blackened embers that had long gone cold. As he skirted the area he noticed the tripwires remained untouched. He searched beyond the boundary of traps, squinting. Then he saw them.
Faint outlines of approaching tracks. He edged close. Fragments of boot prints and two-toed hooves. Size and tread markings for at least one set matched Kagami's boots.
He was no scout, the skill of tracking definitely more polished in Aomine's repertoire than his. But he could follow a heading just fine. He pointed the elk onto the imperfect trail and encouraged an increase of speed.
By his estimation yesterday the trek from Goryokaku spanned more or less twelve miles. Even at his fastest it would take him roughly half an hour just to reach the temple outskirts. Searching the capital to locate Momoi could take longer. He didn't want to think about a confrontation with Aomine's ex. Especially in light of the possibility that Imayoshi may have killed Kuroko.
And how was he to find her? Akashi's onslaught had been raging since dawn and Imayoshi would not have absconded the temple without preparing mobilization orders. Army or no army, the Ice would fight. As they always have.
Which only further complicated his mission. Where could he hope to find her among the chaos quickly enough that he could still intercept Aomine at Casimir before he assuredly did something stupid?
The elk kept a determined pace, plowing through the underbrush and vaulting obstacles.
He had thirty minutes.
To figure something out.
**Casual Reminder: Kagami is interpreting Aomine's Japanese to English for Kise and the reverse English to Aomine in Japanese.**
[new] JUVENILE: an Apparition youth whose age falls between 40 and 57 years old (they would appear to be between 13 to 19 year old humans); analogous to the teenage life phase of humans
[new] APPARATE: the endemic skill of Lightning Apparitions to assimilate with naturally-occurring electrical currents (similar to the Shadow's teleportation and the Fire's immersion)
[new] TELEPORT: the endemic skill of Shadow Apparitions to submerge into darkness where the opacity exceeds 60%
[new] IMMERSION: the endemic skill of Fire Apparitions to combine with existing flame bodies (candles, torchlights, bonfire, etc.)
GORYŌKAKU: the capital of the Ice state of Shi Tudi; Aomine, Momoi, and Imayoshi live here
HIROSAWA: the capital of the Fire state of Bokoku; Akashi and Kagami live here
CASIMIR: the capital of the Lightning state of Pervobytnyy Les; Hyuuga and Aomine's father hail from here
RUS-AINU EMPIRE (or RUS-AINU): the partnership of the Fire and Lightning, originally forged in 1000 CE
XIA UNION (or XIA): the past partnership of the Fire and Ice, starting in 2000 BCE and ending in 1000 CE (3,000 years)
MOTHER'S MERGER: the partnership of the Wind and Earth, starting in 3000 BCE and ending in 1945 CE (4,945 years)
WOLF PACK PACT: a punitive arrangement between the Fire, Lightning, and Ice enacted in 1990 CE that forbids the three powers from launching attacks on one another; it also deconstructed the Ice's military and defined present-day boundary lines