AN: Thank you for 610 hits!
Occurring in and around the timeline of this chapter:
Episodes 12 And 13 of K: Return Of Kings.
Smoke.
"Yata Misaki of Homra."
Emerging out onto the bar's front step, Mikoto unexpectedly caught sight of Munakata's Blue aura and the sound of his voice once more.
So Munakata was loitering in front of the bar? He really wasn't himself today.
"Uh yeah, whats up?" The voice that emanated from the Red aura Munakata addressed, emerging from around the building's corner, belonged to Yata. It was easy to guess he had been trying to hide from the other clan's King, but once discovered, was acting nonchalant.
"I understand that you've been friends with our Fushimi, since before you joined Homra." Munakata raised a sore topic, again being direct in doing so.
"Ugh, he's no friend of mine!" Yata insisted. "He betrayed me and Mister Mikoto by becoming a Blue!"
At this deceleration from Yata, Mikoto let slid an exasperated grumble. Yata and Fushimi, those two needed to sort it out.
"It may very well come to be, that he will share my destiny, and have to die. If that happens, then I'm sorry." Munakata expressed earnest and plain. "I apologize in advance."
"What the hell does that mean!?" Yata demanded, over the clatter of his skateboard hitting the pavement.
That was what Mikoto wanted to know.
Yata went on. "Didn't he betray you, and turn his back on the Blues, just like he did with us? And right now that double crosser's with the Greens!"
"By my command, before the mission at Christmas, I gave Mister Fushimi my orders. If through some unforeseen circumstances, that mission were to fail, and the slate was somehow stolen away. I ordered him to use any means available, to infiltrate Jungels central command. Because he had been a turncoat before, he was perfect for the job." Munakata detailed.
"What- huh!? But isn't that a dangerous plan? If Saruhiko's found out, the Greens will just go ahead and kill him, no questions asked."
"That is true." Munakata agreed solemnly. "I sent Mister Fushimi on a mission, with no guarantees that he'd return alive. Because frankly, he's the only one who could pull it off. And of course, he accepted the mission, fully aware of the risks."
"Why? How could you even consider giving your own clansman a mission as dangerous as that!? Tell me!"
"Why, because no matter the cost, we can't let Jungle have their way. Scepter 4 stands for order, we won't just sit back and watch the world fall into chaos. As a member or Scepter 4, Mister Fushimi concurred. However, there is one sure way for him to live through this, and that is for him to betray me and join Jungle for real. Do you believe he would actually do such a thing? I ask, since as a former friend, you probably know him best, don't you Yata Misaki?"
Munakata's Blue, and Yata's Red auras parted ways, neither saying anything further.
How unusual. Though, Mikoto understood the cause of Munakata's rare moment of sentiment, leading him to offer Yata the apology he had. Being separated from someone you care for by death, it was no easy thing.
Mikoto allowed his feet to carry him along a path he had, in the waking, walked frequently. The one that ran between bar Homra, and the hotel where Munakata must be living now that he'd been let go of professionally. His intention, to somehow get it through Munakata's head that he should take Anna's concern seriously.
The street was tight with those who inhabited the dream, as well as the auras of those in the waking bestowed with power. And gradually he noted a murmur among the crowd.
Lifting his head to try to understand what the commotion was about, he saw a pillar of pale Green light, that he guessed must denote the whereabouts of the slate, now that the Green King had taken possession of it.
Returning his eyes to the path ahead, he sighted a familiar figure, now visible to his eyes. There stood Munakata, dressed in civilian clothes befitting midwinter. Head turned in the slate's direction, blue eyes lifted to take in the sight.
Drawing near, Mikoto caught what he was saying to himself. Over the chatter and traffic of those sharing the street, on both the waking, and dreaming sides.
"Although I don't know how long I can last, I suppose that I'm just going to have to find out." Munakata declared.
Mikoto grasped his meaning, Munakata was prepared to fight to destroy the slate. The words brought a genuine smile to Mikoto's face, even while his heart ached. "That's not like you Munakata." He told his lover.
Munakata turned on the spot, clearly surprised. Had he heard Mikoto, were the wishes of their hearts strong enough to bridge the divide?
Mikoto stopped a few passes from him, just close enough to hear Munakata's next words.
An affectionate huff, then. "I know right?" So saying, Munakata carried on his way, his aura obscured among the crowd.
Mikoto had underestimated Munakata again, he realized. If Munakata was going to tempt death, it wouldn't be trying to control the slate, he was to smart for that. Rather he would insure that if anything happened to himself, the task of keeping the slate did not fall to Anna, or for that matter remain the toy of the Green and Grey Kings.
Returning to the bar. Mikoto found Mizuomi cleaning up the post lunch mess. And Hibana wiggling out of the arms of Tatara, who had made an appearance.
Stepping over the baby gate, Mikoto joined his little one, who grasped his pant leg and. "Mamama!" They managed, stopping him in his tracks.
Mizuomi and Tatara likewise, went very still, both of them waiting for some reaction from Mikoto.
"They're trying to say my name." Mikoto growled. "It just sounds weird."
At this Mizuomi and Tatara both broke out beaming. Tatara encouraging. "You're almost there kiddo! Say it with me, Mi-ko-to." He sounded out for Hibana's benefit.
But Hibana had gone back to babbling nonsensically.
"So what was that light about?" Mizuomi asked.
"Yes, I came over as soon as I saw it!" Tatara put in.
"Long story short." Mikoto supplied. "The Green King took possession of the slate. The others are going to try and break it."
"Break the slate!" Tatara shot up from his seat on the foam flooring. "But that means we'll be cut off from the waking, we won't be able to contact or be contacted by those on the other side!"
Mikoto nodded, thinking of Anna and Munakata both. "Yeah, but it's what needs to be done. Otherwise we won't be receiving glimpses from the waking as much as new arrivals." Even breaking the slate didn't guarantee everyone's survival, but the odds were better than fighting a perpetual war over it. Or in Munakata's case, destroying himself to keep it from hurting people, and for what?
Tatara's brows crumpled, but even so he smiled a small smile.
Lifting his child, Mikoto returned Hibana to Tataras arms. "I'm going to have a smoke, take care of them."
Tatara seemed to grasp his meaning and nodded, a sober expression on his face. "Your packet's in my coat pocket, on the sofa in the bar."
"Go on." Mizuomi also seemed to know that the 'something' Mikoto had predicted would happen on the side of the waking, was now in motion.
Fifteen minutes there about, that was how long the pillar of light remained. The phenomena lasted long enough to guide Mikoto part way to its source, and Blue and Grey Damocles swords constituted the X that marked the spot.
When Mikoto arrived at ground zero, he recognized the intersection where he had fought several battles with Munakata, but the road had moved aside to expose an underground structure.
And there was the man on Mikoto's mind. Munakata's breaking aura stood beneath his equally damaged Damocles, at the very edge of the drop into the structure below the intersection.
Wending his way through the auras of Blue clans people, Mikoto too reached the lip of the gate. Closer now, he could see the auras belonging to Anna and Kamamoto on the level below, they seemed to be waiting for something.
Beside him, Munakata's body was momentarily ringed about by fractured light. It wouldn't be long until his Sword fell if nothing was done to prevent it.
"Sir, we should-" Munakata's Lieutenant started.
But her King interrupted. "No, it is far too late. Miss Awashima, when the time comes, do not hesitate." He ordered.
Though Munakata had railed against it at the time, hoping to devise some means of getting around Mikoto's death. Mikoto knew that Munakata understood why he decided on his path, even if it seemed foolish or unreasonable to him. Now it was Mikoto's turn, to accept Munakata's resolve. Though he supposed it was easier for himself, knowing for sure what came after, it still hurt like hell.
Trusting that Munakata could choose his own path for himself, Mikoto leapt down to the level below the intersection. Landing just behind his daughter, Anna.
Above, within view of the third gate. The Silver and Green Damocles joined the Blue.
"Anna, that's it, the signal!" Kamamoto exclaimed, having also spotted the two manifesting swords."Hey Yata!" He next communicated with his fellow clansman, through the use of one of Anna's marbles as a medium.
"Almost there, Don't bother waiting. Do it!" Yata returned.
"But Yata!" Kamamoto argued.
"Alright then, I'll amass the Red clans power, and open a path." Anna at length decided, voice sure. "No turning back." She called for her sanctum, the Damocles in Anna's color making itself known overhead, her lovely red glowing and dancing about her small form.
Mikoto drew a smoke from the packet of Blue Sparks he had brought with him from the waking, and taking out his lighter, lit the end.
