We're almost reaching the two year mark for this fanfic…wow I'm slow. Sorry I can't help it, a million other things going on and other than that I just lose track of time thanks to manga.
Since Teito's arc is over, from here out we're starting Ayanami's arc! (His past, his story etc—yeah like all this time it wasn't about him already? Nope).
Replies to Reviews:
Guest: lol, I'm trying to build that Mika resistance, he will a little since his personality is too angelic, I have a hard time picturing him going badass and all defiant haha. Yes, Ayanami will be upset—you'll get to see that. Thanks for the review, glad you love it so far!
Youngsubsministhatzeh: Wow. Your review. Im beyond touched. This was epic, everything you said felt amazing for my eyes (and soul) lol XD. Thanks! I appreciate all the positive comments you made a lot! What powerful words. That's it, you gave the word—this story is never ending (haha still jk since everything comes to an end eventually) While I do enjoy writing about them more than any other couple and never get tired; recently, it's funny, I was losing my drive for them but your review kept ringing in my mind that I just had to collect whatever I had and update & I'm glad I did. Thanks again for the awesome review!
Disclaimer in first chapter.
Chapter 26:
Ayanami frowned at the recovery of that name again. 'Teito.' For him, the eye was far more significant than the sklave holder himself. However, if he'd have to live hearing that name over and over again from his lover's mouth, he would have been better off getting rid of the boy once and for all. The elder didn't turn back to face the blond while he held these bitter feelings.
"Anyhow, thanks again for trusting in me Ayanami-san." Mikage sincerely appreciated once more and waited for the other to face him.
"Whatever." Ayanami breathed, not certain if he was answering himself or his blond and continued walking away silently.
"Uh..." 'Hm...as I thought, it looks like Ayanami-san's mad…' The feeling wasn't very much welcomed since any part of the world could be devastated if the elder was agitated. It may have been a bad idea to ask the silverette to let him go, but nonetheless the teen didn't regret requesting.
The blond filled up his lungs with as much air as possible and clapped his face with both hands once. 'Okay that's it! Now that's over. Teito is safe, so he doesn't need me to worry about him anymore! Now it's time I fixed my relationship with Ayanami—he's the one I chose to be with so I have to make sure we're both happy.' Mikage looked forward with determined eyes on the fresh path he'd set himself on. 'Well, first he needed an excuse to approach the elder…' The teen mused as he walked across the airship's halls until he ran into a coffee stand. 'Hm…'
Mikage knocked on the chief's personal room in the ship, carrying a tray of two coffee cups, some sachets of sugar and a jug of creamer. That last bit was mostly for himself, since the other preferred his coffee black, with little to no sugar depending on his mood. There was no response after his initial knocking. "Ayanami-san, it's me." The blond reported, hoping that would magically grant him permission to enter—which by the way, most of the times it did.
"Come in." The silverette finally answered. The younger carefully opened the door to the small chambers and entered, motioning the coffee tray towards the foldable table next to Ayanami's chair.
"I brought coffee, would you like some?"
"No thank you." The silverette had his eyes closed and head firmly back against the seat's headrest. The teen assumed he may be scheming another part of the mission, or mentally preparing his report—it was hardly ever due to stress or fatigue.
"Okay..." Mikage quietly stated, averting his eyes and recollecting some thoughts of his own. 'I want to know about Ayanami's past. He's never mentioned absolutely anything of his own life. His family, his friends, how he joined the army, his experiences…what caused him to act the way he does now? Is it really worth hiding? No, it's not like he's hiding it… perhaps more like he doesn't want to speak about it?' As much he wanted to mouth all these questions, it would take more courage than that to do so.
"Is there something you want?" Ayanami cut off the younger's inner contemplations.
"Huh? Uh, well…not really…?" The blond had a hard time deciding whether that was the response he needed to utter. He was afraid their chances of having a conversation would further diminish by saying that.
"In that case, do me a favor and call Hyuuga here." The elder ordered, eyes still shunned by his eyelids. What an odd feeling, the teen felt slightly disappointed at his quick dismissal.
"Sure," He flatly replied and exited the room instantly. 'What was that? That's not like Ayanami-san at all! It's not like him to hold a grudge—if he was seriously angry with me, he would've shouted at me, or worse, punished me.' Mikage furrowed his eye brows in confusion, never knowing what to expect from him. It took a while, but the younger was successful in forcing Hyuuga to see Ayanami while he himself waited patiently in some other lounge area.
'This was going to be harder than he thought.' Mikage sat arched forward, with an elbow pillared on top of his knee and holding up with face. 'No matter how you look at it, he ought to be the one mad at someone—especially for all the times Ayanami hit him for the sheer joy of it.' The blond sighed. 'If both parties bared resentment, then there's no way things would turn for the better. He had to be the forgiving one. His lover could change, he was sure of it.' It was up to Mikage to soothe the demon within the other now.
"Mikage-kun?" A voice called out as it was passing by. Mikage looked up to find his comrade, Konatsu.
"Oh hey Konatsu, what's up?"
"By any chance have you seen Hyuuga-san?" The taller blond asked a bit troubled.
"He's with Ayanami-san."
"I see…" Konatsu acknowledged, turning his gaze towards the younger again. "You okay?"
Mikage gave him a questioning look at first. "Yeah sure, why?"
"You look rather down. Shouldn't you be enthralled that your first mission was a success?"
'Oh yeah, it was his first mission.' "Oh I am, I was just…thinking about other stuff…hey Konatsu, was Hyuuga-san always the only one this close to Ayanami-san?" Mikage couldn't help asking, ready to collects bits and pieces of his puzzle of Ayanami already.
"Hm…as far as I know, Hyuuga-san is really duty bound to protect the chief and of course is his most trusted right hand man and he feels the same…" Konatsu began, looking up to the ceiling in deep thought.
"But," The sitting blond insinuated, sensing there was more to that statement.
"But I faintly do remember Hyuuga-san mentioning someone else who was even more dear and in high regards to Ayanami-sama in the past…" The elder teen stated.
"Really?" That was certainly new information for Mikage. He'd never heard such a thing before. Important? A family member? A friend? A lover? Which one? It was important to note that he wasn't jealous or envious of this mysterious person one bit—never did he doubt Ayanami's obsessive love for him—however, this person that once existed in the past might open up many doors of explanations. "Do you know who?"
"Nope." Of course he wasn't going to get straight answers just like that.
…
The ribidzile landed safely into the Empire's grounds and as the team marched out, they were greeted by many of generals in the academy along with the students that eyed them in wonder. Mikage inwardly amused at that, there was a time he did the same and pondered how cool it would be to ride in one of these.
Mikage followed behind Ayanami until the elder came to an abrupt stop and turned around to face him. "The driver is waiting for you outside, go on ahead. I have to report to the chairman."
"Don't I have to report to the chairman as well?" The blond questioned.
"Leave that to me." Ayanami simply concluded with a tone that spoke 'that's final.'
"Um, okay then. I'll see you later." The teen dropped his gaze. A part of him was actually quite curious to know how the oral part of an official reporting went. With that he turned on his heels and split ways.
As soon as the younger was gone, Ayanami's indifferent expression collapsed to a grunt. 'This wasn't how he planned their return to be. For reasons beyond him, he couldn't quite fathom why his heart was in a turmoil. Mikage was back, back to his side and that's all that should matter. Yet, he wasn't content at all.'
Mikage stepped outside the car, thanked the driver and made his way to the mansion. Sometimes he didn't understand why he needed to be escorted to the manor by car like a prince when the total journey was only five minutes long. He shook his head. As if Ayanami would allow him to go back on his own— so it's no wonder he couldn't help but oblige. The blond took out his spare keys and unlocked the door. However, to his surprise he ran into another presence in the kitchen. There was a young women and slightly older man working behind the kitchen shelf.
"Ah! Mikage-sama! You're back earlier than expected." The girl blurted. "I mean, welcome back." She immediately corrected herself after earning a sharp gaze from her partner.
"Sorry, don't mind me—yeah, Ayanami-san kind of forced me to come home before him." Mikage spoke apologetically since he could evidently sense that his appearance made them uncomfortable. It wasn't anything he did, it was just their cautiousness towards Ayanami which carried over.
"How was your journey?" The man who looked like he was in his early forties asked.
"Mh, it was cool. Hey, do you guys need any help?" It wasn't every day he ran into them and could offer to help. After all, he felt bad for having his meals cooked so luxuriously without giving so much as a thank you.
Both of them automatically looked troubled. "No! It's alright, this is our job. Why don't you wash up and relax instead—I'm sure the journey must have been long." The girl suggested.
"Eh? It's fine! I've been through longer journeys haha. Please, I insist, I'd like to help." Mikage took off his uniform blazer, boots and gloves, leaving only his pants and white shirt on whose sleeves he began folding up.
"I don't know Mikage-kun…"
"Don't worry, I'm not that bad." The blond convinced with a chuckle, easing the tension that once surrounded them. In the end they had to surrender and instruct the blond along the way.
"I'm cutting this right, right?" Mikage confirmed, chopping down hard on the cutting board.
"That's correct, you're doing great." The man stole a glance while stirring the food.
"Hehe," The teen grinned until the front door was heard opening and closing. "That must be Ayanami-san." The teen shifted to the side so that he could peer from the opening of the shared wall between the kitchen and living room to better see the other. Since the kitchen was sheltered behind the living room space, the only mode of communication between the two areas was either by the door opening or glassless window dot that revealed the cooking space. "Welcome back." The younger instinctively waved making himself visible from the dot.
Ayanami returned the gaze and expressed sudden shock when he found the teen working behind the shelf. The silverette let out a scoff as he crossed the living room. "What is Mikage-kun doing there?" He asked surprisingly calmly.
"Huh?" was all the blond could process, not following the question.
"Is this what you are paid for? How dare you make him do your job for you." The elder spat. The two chefs lowered their gazes at once, ashamed and speechless. Mikage didn't fail to notice their change of countenances either.
"You're wrong, I asked to help them myself—I mean it, so please don't be angry with them." Mikage urged in the spur of the moment. He stared at Ayanami who simply continued to haunt the chefs with his gaze, as if the blond was nonexistent there.
"We're sorry, please forgive our arrogance." The man bowed his head a small angle and the girl followed suit. The blond's shoulder's hopelessly fell below their usual angle. This was not how it was supposed to go.
"I won't tolerate it a second time." The silverette claimed and half turned to retreat to his room. The cooks automatically averted away from the blond and resumed to cooking the meals. 'Splendid, now they were going to avoid him like they avoided Ayanami-san.' Mikage felt like face-palming as he watched all his efforts go down the drain. He swerved his head towards the elder—who was removing his cloak and hat— in frustration at his unreasonable demeanor. The teen watched the silverette waltz up the stairs and into his room and decided to follow after him. Ayanami stood ahead of the closet and removed his bath towel, also neatly placing his hat and sword while hanging his cloak.
"Ayanami-san I have to speak with you." Mikage declared, demanding the other's attention at once. The silverette spared a glance, but only briefly.
"Later, I'd like to take a bath first, unless you'll be taking one also."
"I'll take it!" The younger prepared his bath towel and change of clothes as well.
After washing up and shampooing, they relaxed at opposite poles in the wide almost pool sized bath tub which was filled with warm water and flower petals. Mikage took in a breath and resolved to break the awkward silence that lingered between them. "Ayanami-san." He called. The elder may not have looked directly into his eyes as did he, but his stillness acknowledged him instead. "Don't you think that was a bit uncalled for? I told you, I'm the one that begged them to lend a hand—I felt bad for not thanking them after all the times they've cooked for us—"
"That is their job." The elder interjected in a matter-of-fact way.
"You…haven't spoken properly to me ever since we got back but you scolded them because of me—if you wanted to reprimand anyone then it should have been me not them." The blond didn't realize when his gaze descended to the water and voluntarily brought it back up to the elder, who was apparently staring back for a change. Mikage subtly flinched at those dark completely unreadable piercing eyes that quietly drilled holes into him. Ayanami's wet wavy locks of hair descended over his face as he flexed forward to swim towards the younger. 'Uh oh did I make him mad again?' The teen wondered if this was the best chance to jump from the tub and run. Yet he stayed. As if under a spell, he remained totally still until the elder was only a foot apart from him.
"Why is it that you care so much for other people at your own expense?" Ayanami mouthed, inherently curious. At the same time, he raised a hand bringing it close to the blond's head, who gawked at it and shivered once. "We're only having this arid conversation because of you." The silverette idly planted his hand on his lover's head and brushed a couple of hair back on impulse. Mikage couldn't understand the other's actions, they were gentle but there were no emotions behind them and his eyes were far from indicating anything.
"I—I just think what you did was wrong…" His begleiter had a hard time concentrating on his diction as he squirmed his eye now and then at the movement of Ayanami's hand, watching it go back and forth. Suddenly that hand clenched midway in the younger's hair, who grunted automatically.
"Wrong? How so?"
"I …I don't know…" It wasn't that he didn't know, more so that he lacked in how to answer that.
"Then why would you suggest such a blasphemous thing?" The elder reached under the water with his other free hand and brought Mikage's hand out to the surface, kissing it. "This hand need not do any kind of labor in this house. I was merely reinforcing that."
'His love is too thick, I can't even tell sometimes if it's love or something else. How can one be torturing his lover with one hand while kissing with the other in the same exact moment?' "I understand…but I'm not that special/royal, a little work won't kill me—ow!" The younger cried out when the chief pulled his hairs all the way back before releasing them. Mikage glimpsed at the other right away in question and was startled at the wide eyes glowering down at him, making him feel ant small.
"Is that what you think of yourself?" The teen swallowed thickly at the inquiry. All of a sudden, a terrible feeling of nostalgia and déjà vu strangled him. 'Crap, he made that same mistake again!' He recalled a certain scene during a particular ship ride where he had deemed the other lady as more beautiful then himself and nearly fractured a wrist that day to be proven otherwise.*
"I'm sorry—that's not what I meant—"
"Perhaps you have yet to discover how precious you are?" The elder mouthed in a condescending tone. Mikage had one hand on his head, sheltering the hair that were just abused and cowered beneath the other in fright at the words which should otherwise be considered as endearing.
*Refer to chapter 12.
To Be Continued…
It's almost 3 AM and I can't fall asleep so I decided to proof read this instead lol. Don't worry Mika won't be in too much trouble, just some house arrest maybe lol, you'll find out in the next chapter anyway. But from now on he'll be doing a bunch of research to uncover Ayanami's past and try to fix this inevitable inequality that exists in their relationship—hopefully right?
Thanks for the read and please review!