Chapter 20

Funetaro took a drink to moisten his throat after the lengthy telling. "Still, his transfer to Kura has only marginally changed his conscious demeanor. He's still largely withdrawn, and prone to outbursts. And with each new case I have to remind myself what we're harnessing every time he steps into that cockpit. That sometimes we need darkness to show us the light."

Sarina glanced at the photo that triggered the storytelling. The cheery smile looked so foreign compared to the subdued man she had met. "It's beyond sad. You'll never see the partner you once knew. He's truly gone."

"No … ," Funetaro held up the memento, "he actually isn't."

She squinted and suddenly realized where she had seen the likeness before. Exactly like that. "Sakaido! The version in the wells is … "

He nodded, touching the photo fondly. "Almost him."

"That's why … why you use him so much. To see him work again." Her smile twisted as her eyes widened and jaw slackened. "But that means when he dies in the well … oh, Narihisago may have accepted that as part of the process, but for you … you always worry about him. What about seeing your partner's old personality repeatedly murdered? Are you okay with that?"

Funetaro took a deep breath, setting the old wedding photo aside. "I have to convince myself every time that this is better for the both of us even with that … unfortunate detail. I can't say it's easy watching that happen. And I know he says it doesn't bother him, but his judgment will always be in question now. He told me once that neither one of us has a choice in where we stand now. And he couldn't be more correct. The real Akihito Narihisago, before the trauma that scarred him, exists only within the Mizuhanome …" he paused and held up a finger, "no, within Asukai's telepathic projections. Proof the man I once knew does still exist. If there were a way to fuse that, to draw that part of him out, restore his impulse control so he could resist that urge to kill … perhaps with the proof he was more or less framed, he could be released and have a life again."

Sarina cocked her head. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know" Funetaro took her hand. "But I am compelled to explore that option. We don't comprehend the full extent of what we are working with. At least now that we know aren't being kept in the dark we have more freedom to unlock the Mizuhanome's secrets."

Her brow furrowed. "You promised Asukai you would release her, find a way to free her from the pain of her existence. But without the Mizuhanome there would be no way to reach Sakaido … Narihisago. One sacrifice for the other. There is no current way to free both of them."

Funetaro rubbed his eyes. "I don't even want to think about having to make that decision … I don't know that I have the mettle to be able to. At the moment the isn't a viable solution for either one. And that … that is what plagues me."

~ID~

The bed creaked as Narihisago rolled over to face the wall. Reaching his arm back, he grabbed the corner of his pillow and wedged it against his ear, hard!

If anyone needed a sedative it was Hase. Hell, they'd pumped Narihisago full of enough of that shit, surely they had plenty to go around. Since he'd regained enough energy Araya had pulled the IV earlier in the day and left him on his own. No longer drugged into a listless haze, he was subjected to the endless rantings of the man confined in the cell across the block. He could barely hear his own thoughts over the circular illogic. Each sentence like a hammer striking a resounding knell inside his skull. Only one way to silence that!

"All a game." Hase prattled on. "Ichirou, you said it was a just a game between kids when you did it. Just playing predator and prey. Precious, perfect Ichirou could do no wrong. Just like innocent little Noa. Father and Mother, everyone listened to you. Even Noa did as she held me down and you cut me. Again and again." His voice dissolved into a cackle. "Who is laughing now? I taught you. I taught all of you in your language! The power of the mark. I should thank you. Really. Because of you I learned how to achieve greatness. How to rise to the top. To overcome the scars!"

It burned within his chest. A sensation similar to oxygen deprivation. No amount of deep breathing quelled it. Narihisago winced against it, his fingers clawed at the bed sheet under the building waves. This fool thought he was wise? No! He needed to be taught a real lesson. His wretched view of the world needed to be shattered. Buried for all time. This vile thing needed to be silenced—forever.

The more Narihisago resisted, the stronger the waves tore at him, ripping his precarious hold on reason.

He didn't even recall rolling over. Couldn't remember when he sat up on the edge of his bed, leaning on his elbows. Narrow eyes locked onto the piece of shit murderer pacing in his own cell like a basal beast. It wouldn't take any contact to ease his own suffering.

His fingernails bit into his skin through the fabric of his jumpsuit, still fighting an ever losing battle to resist. This is wrong, this isn't my place to do this.

The urge slashed at him again, stealing his breath. Hase shouldn't get off so easy. How many cried for mercy to feed his twisted inferiority complex? Why should he continue to waste oxygen? One murder is too many, and Narihisago, you know it was well more than that. More than the siblings who started this. He deserves to feel what he forced others to. He deserves a taste of your gift … open his eyes to his malignant core as only you can do. Don't you want relief? Do it and you'll be at peace again. Resist and …

He bowed his head as it crawled through his veins. Not quite pain, but something verging on it. All he had to do was …

Dismantle him!

Narihisago's harsh eyes snapped open. His voice a mere whisper, "So, you let a childish mark define you."

Hase paused, mid stride. He came to the pane of his cell and pressed his hands against it. The collar of his white jumpsuit fell open enough to reveal the four raked scars along the side of his neck reaching down onto his chest. Even from here Narihisago could tell they hadn't been life threatening deep when they had occurred. But they had stretched, proof he'd grown since the incident with his siblings. Hase's sick deluded eyes studied him. "So, you're finally awake. Someone to talk to."

"In a manner of speaking." Narihisago shrugged, already the irritating itch abating through his commitment to scratching it. "Not so certain you will benefit from that."

"The guards don't listen here." Hase pointed down the hall.

"Suppose not. They have a job to do, not engaging in self indulgent rantings."

Hase jerked his head back. "Self indulgent? You don't understand."

The laugh was hollow, dripping with bitterness. "They all say that. They never have any clue how much I really understand. In a few minutes they change their minds … and then … well, then they end it all."

"I showed them. All of them. All the shallow little wannabes." His hands pounded the pane. "I restored the proper order and took my rightful place."

"Number one, right?"

"Yes." He held his finger up over his head, staring at it reverently. "I am number one!"

Narihisago flashed a cold smile. "Saburo … the third son. By your very name you will never be number one in their eyes. The only eyes that really mattered."

Hase's eyes flashed wide. "Tsh!"

"Did killing Ichirou, the first son, really change that? Your name still marks you more than a scar ever will. Isn't that a shame they never saw any of you as more than a birth placement. An unbreakable ranking."

Hasty footsteps thundered down the hall. The door to Narihisago's cell slid open as Soma and Hagashi rushed in and wrestled him unceremoniously to the floor. Narihisago thrashed wildly as Hagashi cuffed his hands behind his back, forcing him to the ground by a knee to the small of his back. When he threw his head back shouting, his words were cut off by a gag held tight by Soma's hand against the nape of his neck.

Another set of guards raced across the hall. Soma barked out to them, "Move Hase, now! I hope the hell he didn't get too far. Damn it, Narihisago, knock it off! I don't want to hurt you."

The gag didn't cut off air, but it may as well have. Locked in silence it now welled up like a dammed river threatening to drown him. A cold sweat broke out. His eyes dilated. And that knee against his back? He realized in the wave of intense pain, was pressing the still healing gun shot wound into the ground.

Soma glanced back down as he clenched his eyes. "Hagashi, get your knee off of him, you idiot!"

"Oh shit!"

The moment the pressure released, Narihisago sagged into the gag. Hot tears stung the corners of his eyes as he watched the only release from his torment being escorted away, escaping his grasp. Did Soma know how long this would last now? The hours he would now spend shivering in the corner as this unreleased urge clawed him apart.

"Easy." Soma kept a tight hold none-the-less, and for good reason. This shit wasn't over by a long shot. "Why are you sweating? You're not even fighting us that hard."

Why ask a question he couldn't answer while gagged?

Hagashi kept a firm grip on the cuffs. "I'm tellin' yah. Seen shit like this before. Looks like a crack addict in withdrawal."

Soma glared back. "This is a tight security area. How the hell would he get a hold of that?"

"Just saying, I encountered one. Swear it looks the same."

"Well, regardless," Soma met Narihisago's frantic stare, "whatever this crap is, you really can't help it can you?"

As much as he could, he shook his head.

"Shit! I didn't expect an answer." Soma looked over his shoulder. "Ok, they're clear. We can let him go. Get to the door quick once you got him uncuffed."

The moment Soma and Hagashi released the restraints and let him go, Narihisago scrambled toward the corner clutching his knees to his chest and shivering. This didn't just go away when the target was removed. They had just sentenced him to waiting out the raging storm.

Outside his cell, Soma shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we just can't let that happen again. Momoki … he gets really upset, you know."

He rested his head on his knees. Their footsteps receded down the hall leaving him alone … always alone. He shut his eyes and tried to ease the internal torrent … it was going to be a long miserable night just trying to convince himself he wasn't drowning.

The next morning he awoke to the lights already on. No one had shouted for him to get up like usual. When he rolled over Soma stood outside, smiling. "Hey, I think I have a solution."

What was he talking about? Slowly, Narihisago sat up.

Soma moved aside and gestured to the cell across the way. An occupant in the bed hooked up to machines. Narihisago narrowed his eyes. He knew that lanky silhouette. "Fukuda?"

Soma nodded. "Yup. I asked for clearance to shift him here. The machines feed info to them anyway, so they can follow if there's any changes. He's been stable enough. I figured, there's no way even you could talk a guy in a coma to his death."

Narihisago walked to the pane of his cell, a half smile on his face. Man, it was good to see him. There wasn't a damn inkling to end him. And he knew, even if Fukuda were awake, there wouldn't be. Fukuda may have been one twisted son of a bitch, but at his core he'd been trying to fix people, not kill them. For some reason that was enough to evade the trigger. "We've already been down that path … and I refused."

Thank you, Soma, for being perceptive enough to actually help.