For These Scars
~Chapter 18~
Written by: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Saisyu Kusanagi, and Benimaru Nikaido belong to SNK
"Heading out, Kyo?" The broad-shouldered man at his door stepped in without waiting for his response. "Your father might think you're behaving but a father wants to think best of his son. We need to talk and you're going to listen."
"What about?" Kyo looked at his uncle, keeping his gaze steady and his face neutral.
"What were you doing in the family archives?" While Uncle Hajime wasn't anywhere nearly as big as his father or as well-versed in the fighting arts – one of the benefits of not being the former heir – he was still intimidating and very sharp. Kyo kept his sights on him and tried not to give off any signs of wariness. What was he being wary about, after all? He hadn't done anything wrong. But Uncle Hajime's body language with his crossed arms and his upright lean against the door frame bespoke of an ingrained belief and he had to be careful.
"Doing some reading." It was the truth. Just not the complete truth.
"You don't like to read."
Careful, Kyo. "I went through the histories." That wasn't a lie, either.
"What were you doing in the back rooms?"
He didn't remove his level stare or look away. "It's my right to go in there, uncle." He was the heir, wasn't he? "I was curious. Decided to look around."
"You did more than look around." Uncle Hajime's face grew stern. With his short-cropped hair and lack of a beard to soften his features, the older man reminded Kyo of a steely-eyed falcon. "You found the passageway. Don't think I didn't check."
"I did find it." Best not to deny that fact.
"You went in."
"I did." He needed to remain calm. Kyo continued standing, unwilling to sit down on either his bed or his chair. By standing, he sent the message that his uncle, although outranking him by age and seniority, couldn't pull rank with him right now. He was still the heir and he was going to make that count. Yagami would've done the same, if he wasn't the last one in his bloodline still alive.
Alive for now. Kyo kept his face still.
"You went in." His uncle's tone was harder and disapproving. "Did you happen to hear anything, Kyo?"
Shit. Stay calm.
"The sound was muffled." He couldn't afford to play dumb. Uncle Hajime knew how the passageway worked. If he tried to bluff his way out of this by playing the fool, he'd be found out in a matter of minutes. "I couldn't really hear anything."
"You weren't there when I arrived."
"I got bored. I left."
"You left in a hurry." His uncle uncrossed his arms and strode across the room until he was face-to-face with him. Only his slight height advantage prevented Kyo from quailing at the assertive action. "What were you looking for, Kyo?"
Don't lie to him, he means. Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I…
Kyo took a page from Iori's usual method during conversation. He stayed silent.
His uncle's brows furrowed, making his expression fierce. "Whatever you're looking for, you won't find it."
I know Dad did something to Yagami. I just want to know what. Maybe I can…
In the face of his silence, his uncle backed down, withdrawing a short distance away. It was too early to consider it a victory, however minor it was. Kyo kept his eyes on his uncle. From here, it was hard to miss the muscles in his uncle's arms, accentuated by his shirt sleeves. Underestimating him would be his downfall. His dad might've been softened up by his mother; on Uncle Hajime, there was no such effect.
"Kyo, let me tell you a story."
As though he was a fucking child – a kid needing his hand held. From what he heard in the secret tunnel, he had an idea as to what Uncle Hajime wanted to make known to him. It was a warning of sorts.
He kept his mouth shut and waited.
"So, you read our clan's history. Were you aware of the scandal fifty years after the Yasakani turned their backs on us and declared us their mortal enemy?"
If it was in any of the books, Kyo didn't see it. Most people wouldn't keep a record of ancestral disgrace. It would just be conveniently forgotten until it was used like a club to keep people like him in line. The Kusanagi clan used to execute traitors, his father told him. A woman from their clan had been involved centuries past.
"Dad never mentioned it."
"If he had, perhaps you wouldn't be so foolish." Uncle Hajime had never been one to mince words. "Fifty years after the blood feud was declared, one of the Yagami heirs decided otherwise. One of our women decided to oblige him. That was her mistake. They had planned to slip away one night, meeting at a certain bridge, never to look back. Unfortunately for him, she was discovered by one of the servants on her way out. She was detained, of course."
Kyo watched his uncle, listening as the sad story unfolded.
"When he found out what happened, the heir to the Yagami clan was grief-stricken. But his own clan had discovered his duplicity and threatened him to keep silence. We dealt with the errant woman. A month later, the Yagami clan sent him out to battle without the usual precautions. He had to have known it was a death sentence. He never made it back. One of the few casualties of that particular war in our shared history."
"How did they meet?"
"On the road. He with his guards; her with her ladies-in-waiting."
Kyo allowed a brief silence before he spoke. "Perhaps they were in love."
"Forbidden. They knew that. You know that."
Speaking of being blunt… "Uncle Hajime, why is it such a big deal? We aren't fighting anymore. There isn't any feud between us. Why are you and Dad so –"
"Because the clans will always be in opposition. Who's to say the Yagami heir isn't using your misplaced affection as a ploy to tear our clan apart?"
"Only because you and Dad fail to see –"
"To see what, Kyo? How you're neglecting your girlfriend, who will one day become your wife? Mother to your children? You're going to throw all that away for that bastard son of –"
"Uncle…"
"The boy's going to die, Kyo. What then?"
"That's for me to decide." As much as he wanted to throw his knowledge of Iori's plight in his uncle's face, doing so would seal Iori's fate. "The blood curse will take him but before that –"
"He's not meant for you." The statement coming down hard like a hammer blow. "Put your childish daydreams aside, nephew. You only have one person pledged to you and it isn't him."
Kyo struggled to keep his temper in check, clenching his fists. "And that's for you to say?"
"The clan comes first, Kyo. Whether you like it or not. Remember that story. What happened to that woman."
Not even a veiled threat. The woman had been executed. Was his uncle threatening to…
"I make my own choices, Uncle Hajime. You can't take that away from me."
His uncle fixed him with a stony glare. "Don't be stupid, nephew."
"I decide who to let into my life. Not you, not Dad, not anyone else. If I think Iori Yagami's acceptable, then he is. Who are you to tell me otherwise?"
"The clan decides in the end. Don't make it difficult, Kyo."
Difficult for me. Hell, all this over Yagami and me being…
"It's none of your business, uncle."
"Don't say words you'll regret, nephew."
"You have anything else to say?" He had plans to put into motion and he needed a quiet place to do that – a place away from guardians and eavesdroppers and people reporting his every move to his father. He dared not leave the room while Uncle Hajime was still here – his uncle would be the kind to pry, disregarding his privacy in light of his suspicions. It was the reason he always had his phone on him. If that was taken away from him…
"No. I'll talk to you another time, Kyo."
"I'm not changing my mind."
"Don't be stubborn." His uncle threw him one last cutting glare. "Think about your future, Kyo. About what that means for the clan."
And my wants and desires? Am I to ignore that because of the clan? The fuck would I do that?
"I'm done talking, uncle."
"I see that. This disappoints me, Kyo."
He didn't say anything.
Instead, he waited until the older man left. Then, he shut the door, called Aoi – his mom did have her number – left her a message and hung around his room securing his possessions. Only then did he leave, heading once again for the training hall to let off some steam.
Later that day, his phone vibrated. When he checked, it wasn't a call but a series of texts from Benimaru. At first, he was amused but as he continued reading, his attitude changed. Iori was anxious about him – about his snooping around – and had relayed this message in clear, no-nonsense terms. Kyo, one message said, Yagami wanted me to tell you "not to be a goddamn idiot." His words, not mine. Doesn't want you to get hurt.
With his uncle's warning in mind, this was some uncanny premonition from Yagami. That, or Iori knew the inner workings of the clan based off how his own worked. They did share similarities there, despite all the differences. It was still a miracle how they overcame those differences. Pity the others hadn't realized the boon that was.
Is he doing okay, Beni? Let him know I'm safe. Has he spoken to you yet about possibly meeting up?
Part of him knew Iori treaded cautiously, his life hanging in the balance. Another part of him just wanted Yagami back fierce, aggressive and full of his usual arrogance and bravado. While his father hadn't taken away all those aspects from the other fighter, he'd taken enough. Kyo wanted to see him in person, to see what remained of the other man – to see if there was anything he could do to help him.
Tell him to hold on. Tell him I'm being careful.
Once Aoi called, if things fell according to plan, he'd be able to see him.
Perhaps then, he could put Yagami's fears to rest.
Perhaps then, they could both move on.