Just Breathe
Part three
~Natsu~
A/N: I've just spent a week at home on my own and I am soooo bored. Which explains why this is getting written. I have too much spare time. ^^ Anyway…this part is going to be better than the last. I'm determined it is. I am going to prove to everyone that I am actually capable of writing a decent fic. There's some Takari in this part but…for the record I'd just like to say that I don't especially like Takari as a coupling (I also don't like the scene in this where they're talking on the roof…it's crap, crappety crap. I was having a block, okay?). I'm using it here because TK had to have some reason to swap sides and there's no Daisuke in this fic. *grins* This chapter is made up of a lot of small scenes, but there's going to be more flow next time.
Oh and remember what I said about the Christianity thing. Okay?
For V.G. who has been so incredibly supportive. Feel free to mail me anytime and thank you so much so your encouraging reviews! *hugs*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We were tight, but it falls apart as silver turns to blue.
Waxing with a candlelight, and burning just for you.
Allocate your sentiment, and stick it in a box.
I've never been an extrovert, but I'm still breathing."
- Placebo
Taichi approached the crumpled body cautiously, boots crunching heavily through the frosting of snow that covered the ground. Just because the spy was down, didn't mean he was dead. And besides, he knew wasn't safe unless two bodies had fallen. Slinging the rifle across his back, he reached to his hip for the smaller gun that permanently nestled there in its holster.
He crouched as quietly as he could. His eyes, wide in the gloom, flicked warily up and down the alley making him look for all the world as if he were as innocent as the day he had been born.
It was enough to make even the bravest person feel the tightness of claustrophobia. Towering brick walls on either side, tattooed by graffiti announcing undying love and undying hatred thrown amongst an assortment of names and expletives. A rusty iron fire escape wound it's twisted way up the side of one building and it looked to Taichi as if it would do the unfortunate escapee more harm than good in the event of a fire. Through it all, a sharp trail of perfect white footprints sprinted their way from the scene. The other spy was gone.
The body – it was quite obvious from this distance that it was now safe to call it just that – was sprawled unceremoniously in a splatter of red, dusted with vagrant snowflakes. Taichi frowned as he reached forward and rolled the ample bulk of the Forth Division leader onto it's back and was met with a glassy, red-washed stare. He slid the eyelids shut with a short-lived, yet irrepressible sense of regret that still assaulted him with every fresh drop of blood on his conscience.
There was no doubting that it was Sakaguchi, and he supposed that the spy's death would make his job easier, but…there was still a nagging doubt in the head of the young General. So Sakaguchi was gone. Surely now they would have to deal with a new leader, one whose face and name they didn't know. Surely the Fourth Division would retaliate with everything they had. Surely…surely, he should be following the other spy.
Taichi glanced wearily up the alley, eyes following the footsteps as far as he could see. He sighed as he suddenly realised that he didn't care. If the spy was of a high enough rank to work alongside Sakaguchi they were hardly going to be careless enough to lead a pursuer back to their base anyway. Taichi pushed himself to his feet, turned and began the walk back to the bar, using the three dwindling trails of footprints as a guide. Shoulders lowered, posture casual and with a patented air of masculine confidence
As if nothing had happened.
* * * * * * * * *
Several heads snapped towards the door as Yamato burst in, annoyed that someone had the gall to interrupt the service in light of the recent turn of events in the world outside of Japan. Breathless and exhausted, Yamato discreetly tucked his conspicuous blood-stained hands behind his back and lowered his head respectively to the minister who continued his preachings with hardly a skipped beat.
The tousled blonde spy slid into the nearest pew, desperately trying to calm his thudding heart. His fingers were numb with cold, while his throat burned painfully. After leaving Akira's side, he hadn't stopped running until he had burst from the alleys via an unfamiliar route and was met with the soft glow of stained glass and the haunting sound of solemn hymns. A neutral church. Something that was hard to come by and a welcome sight to snow-choked eyes.
The minister was gesturing expressively, calling something to his congregation. It slipped through Yamato's ears, the pounding of blood blocking out the intoxicating voice from the front of the room. As one, the room bowed their heads and clasped their hands for a prayer. Yamato mimicked their actions, making an effort to listen to the people closest to him and joining in on autopilot as soon as he recognised the familiar murmurings.
What would it mean, Akira's death? How would the Fourth Division manage without him? How would Yamato manage without him? All around, his confidantes seemed to be dropping like flies. At the start of the war there had been the initial shock of their supposedly inseparable group becoming suddenly torn apart. Sora, Jyou, and Hikari, all gone in the blink of an eye. He may not have been particularly close to them, but they were always there. And always offered comfort. As for Taichi…it would still be a while before Yamato was able to forget about him and let go of the hope that the war would end tomorrow and everything could go back to the way it was.
Then his parents had died in an explosion and only a few months later Takeru had left. And now Akira…if this kept up, Yamato would be completely alone in no time. Unless of course he was the next one to go. Perhaps that was be the best thing he had to look forward to. The time when he was no longer required to fight passionately for a cause he had long since forgotten.
"Amen," The congregation chorused, raising their eyes expectantly to the minister.
From day one, Akira had helped him through it. Through everything. Through his training. He had been the friend when there was no one else there. A friend and a teacher and a valiant leader, a leader who Yamato had respected more than anyone. Especially in Taichi's absence.
Wayward tears burned at the corners of Yamato's eyes as countless pessimistic images of the collapse of the infamous Fourth Division coursed through his brain.
"Yamato," His name, whispered by a familiar voice that he couldn't place jerked Yamato from his thoughts. He blinked, looking up and the person sitting expectantly in the pew in front of him.
"Holy f…" He remembered where he was and clamped his lips shut before the next word escaped. The blue hair was shorter, rougher than Yamato remembered it being. Heavy shadows were smudged across the pale skin beneath inky eyes that were just as haunted as Yamato's own. He was wearing a heavy overcoat that hung limply from too-slim shoulders and there was a jagged scratch across one lens of his glasses. He looked different…but there was still no mistaking who it was.
Jyou smiled.
"Oh my…Jyou? I thought…I thought…you were dead," Yamato stuttered, trying his damnedest to keep his voice low and unobtrusive.
"Unfortunately I'm not," Jyou said dryly.
"But…" Yamato shook his head helplessly as his brain struggled to deal with the death of one friend and the…non-death of another. "But, where have you been? I haven't seen you since the start of the war. I…" He noted that Jyou was wearing the pale blue uniform of a Tetsú Medic. Well, that explained that one. Jyou was part of the Tetsú Senshii. Yamato glanced down instinctively and felt a wash of relief at the realisation that he was not wearing his tell-tale black uniform.
Jyou sighed. He didn't have time for this.
"Yamato," He repeated. He didn't know what had happened to the normally sharp mind of his blonde friend, but judging by the blood on his hands and the thin piece of soaked cotton that was his only comfort against the bitter cold outside, he'd just been through something not particularly pleasant. "Yamato, I came to ask you something."
"Ask me…"
"To ask you something, yes. And let me tell you, you're not an easy guy to find."
"But…what? Why do you want to…"
"Yamato, this is important. Please try to listen and understand. We have to go somewhere more private though," Jyou said patiently, noting a familiar glaze of detachment steadily washing over Yamato's eyes, "I know it might be hard right now, but just…try, okay?"
Yamato nodded mutely, his mind a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts.
* * * * * * * * *
"Takeru?" Hikari's voice jolted Takeru from his thoughts. He turned to see his girlfriend step through the door that led from the apartment onto the roof. She shivered in the frigid air and wrapped goose-pimpled arms instinctively round her slim midriff. She trotted over to where he sat at the edge, looking out over the war-torn, white-washed city.
"What are you still doing out here?" She asked softly, settling herself down next to the blonde soldier, "You'll freeze."
"Just thinking."
Hikari's mouth twitched into a smile, "You sound like…" Your brother. She paused. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. Her eyebrows dipped and instead she said with cautious and calculated cheerfulness, "Did you hear that Tai got Sakaguchi?"
Takeru nodded mutely, looking, if possible, even more detached.
"Don't you think that's great?" She watched closely as he hesitated, glanced warily at her out of the corner of his eye then slowly shook his head.
"Why?" She asked cautiously. Since Takeru had arrived, she had been very careful about what she said to him. She knew how hard he had it and she didn't want to push him for fear of making things worse for him. But Takeru knew he could trust her…didn't he? Keeping things bottled up was never good.
When Hikari received no response, she decided to press him. She knew vaguely that Takeru had been associated in some way with the Fourth Division and her brother seemed certain that Yamato was a part of it so…
"Did you…know him?"
Takeru looked at her. He had. She felt a sudden wave of remorse. She had never stopped to think that Sakaguchi was actually…well, a person. He had always just seemed like a name. The next obstacle. Like in a video game, the next boss you had to beat. Was she losing any kind of sensitivity she possessed? Was this what war did to you? Were the years of conflict she had born witness to since that faithful day when she had first found out that she was the Eighth Child finally starting to take their toll on her? Perhaps she was losing her light.
Takeru was speaking to her.
"…really tight."
"Sorry?"
"I said, I didn't know him that well, but he and my brother were really tight."
"Oh. So…" Hikari could feel an idea about what was wrong forming in her mind, "is it making you think of Yamato?" She noticed that Takeru seemed to wince at the mention of his brother's name.
"Yeah…but…Hikari, if I tell you this, you have to swear that you won't tell anyone. Not even Taichi." Takeru said, turning fully to face the slight brunette beside him.
"Okay." She said sincerely.
"They used to work together. Like, always. And I just…I mean, if they got Akira then…what if, you know, they…I mean…" Takeru trailed off, looking anguished. It was what Hikari had thought. He was worried that the same thing had happened to his brother.
"Takeru-kun, we'd know if Yamato was…well…"
"How?"
"I don't…Takeru, I'm sure he's okay. Don't you think Tai would have noticed if he'd shot him?" She added with the barest trace of a smile.
"I guess…" He said doubtfully and Hikari wonder if 'shot him' had been the most tactful thing to say.
She sighed. She hadn't wanted to tell him yet.
"Takeru? You know what, he is okay. I sent Jyou to talk to him last night."
Takeru started.
"You did?! Why?"
"I thought maybe he could help us TK. Think how valuable someone with…"
"Yeah, if he agrees. He's so stubborn, Hikari, it's gonna take more than a little chat to get him to join."
"I know that but…"
"Don't get your hopes up."
Hikari frowned. That wasn't what Takeru was supposed to say. He was supposed to be encouraging, enthusiastic…hopeful. When did the phrase 'don't get your hopes up' enter his vocabulary?
"I won't," She muttered defeatedly, lowering her eyes and getting up to leave her boyfriend to his 'thinking'.
* * * * * * * * * *
Koushiro couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone cry so passionately. He watched quietly from a corner as Tomohiro and Lara made valiant attempts to console the sobbing Mimi. He wasn't a very 'hands on' kind of guy and his adopted role in this kind of situation was the sympathetic, but clear-headed onlooker. He joined the emotions in a calm and unenthusiastic way, the permanent designated driver of the group. Never noticeably there in the thick of it, but always appearing from nowhere to catch you as you passed out or to hold your hair back as you threw up.
The red-haired technician watched as the three spies huddled together protectively, Mimi pouring her very essence into Tomohiro's shoulder and Lara stroking her hair maternally from behind.
"They're gonna be okay, Mimi," Tomohiro murmured pacifyingly for what had to be at least the ten-thousandth time and was once again answered only by sorrowful gabble that only his shoulder could distinguish. Koushiro glanced at the door. There was some vague notion in the back of his mind that if you willed something to happen hard enough, it would. Of course he knew perfectly well that that was scientifically impossible, but it didn't stop him from wanting to believe. It was the way a dying non-believer will suddenly drop to their knees and pray for forgiveness and salvation from the God that they have scorned for so long.
"They will, Mimi…c'mon honey, they're big boys. They can take care of themselves. They haven't disappointed us yet now, have they?"
Mimi lifted her face from Tomohiro's shirt, turning awkwardly to face Lara.
"That…doesn't mean…anything." She choked out. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were blotchy, with strands of silky hair sticking to their damp surface. "There's a first time for…there's a first…" She trailed off, pushing herself away from the comfort of her friends and brushing a hand carelessly across her face to shift the unruly hair that seemed to be tangling itself in sympathy for it's distraught owner.
"Koushiro?" She asked, voice trembling as she stepped up to his corner, ready to be caught as she fell.
"Yes." He replied, not bothering to make it sound questioning.
The pretty brunette glanced at the door over her shoulder, and swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to form enough words for a full sentence. All she succeeding in doing was producing more tears, that rolled casually over her cheeks to hang on her jawbone before dropping to the golden floorboards of their current base. But Koushiro found that he knew what she wanted him to tell her.
"If anyone's going to make it safely out of that situation, it'll be the two of them. Akira is simply the best we have and Yamato won't give up so easily either." He said levelling, forcing his tone to sound only mildly concerned.
She gave him a sceptical look, teamed with conflicting hopeful sob, and Tomohiro added from behind, "Yeah, Mimi, they're fighters! Don't tell me you don't believe in them now."
"Of course I do but…if…"
"Honey, this is what it's like at the top," Lara started, getting to her feet, "If you act like this whenever one of us goes missing for a couple of hours, what're you gonna do when something worse happens? Heaven forbid."
"I know…I know…"
Hearts stopped and heads turned as Mimi was cut off by the familiar sound of the combination lock on the door being keyed in. Everyone was on their feet as the door opened and Yamato stepped through. Koushiro blinked. Just Yamato. One of them. One of them wasn't good enough. He felt his blood turn suddenly to ice. He knew exactly what it meant when a spy returned to base alone. He had seen it happen far too many times.
Lara and Tomohiro knew it too and as the three veterans stood frozen, mouths hanging open in shock, Mimi rushed forwards with childish delight.
"Thank God!" She cried, her tears already forgotten as her face twisted into a smile. A smile that disappeared almost instantly as Yamato lifted haunted eyes to meet her. She faltered and then shattered.
"Where…what happened to Akira?" She asked. Yamato simply stared, and Koushiro felt every last drop of hope ebb from his being at his friend's silence.
"Yamato? Where's Akira?" Mimi prompted desperately and her face paled as Yamato held up two blood-stained hands in answer.
This time Koushiro really did have to catch her.
* * * * * * * * * *
"I'm a member of a movement called the Shiro Senshii."
"Who the hell came up with that name?"
"Our founder of course. What we are is- "
"I guess that explains that badge then…"
"Yes. Now stop interrupting and focus. Our group is fighting for an immediate end to the war and lasting peace in Japan. It's still small and lacking in many departments, but that's what I'm here for."
"You're gonna end the war? Whatever. Half these people don't seem to even want an end Jyou. They just like fighting."
"Don't say stuff like that. Now, like I was saying, I am a, imaginatively named, Collector. And I…"
"Collect."
"Yes, I collect information mostly, but I'm also in charge of recruitment. It's my job to seek out those with superior skill, a desire for peace and an open mind. Can you see where I'm going with this?"
"……You want to recruit me?"
"Bingo."
"Recruit me to do what?"
"What you do."
"But…Jyou, I'm already a part of the Kágè Senshii I can't abandon them."
"You don't have to. You see, that's the thing, almost all our members are already part of Kágè or Tetsú, even our founder. It's a unification of anyone who wants to bring peace to our country. That's the reason we've been so successful already. We have inside information on both sides."
"How have you been successful?"
"We help where we are needed."
"Oh. Well…I don't know Jyou. This really is the worst possible time you could have chosen to come talk to me."
"It was the only time I could have talked to you."
"………"
"You don't have to make up your mind right now. Just…think about it and I'll come and see you again soon."
"When?"
"Soon."
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Well I have to say, I'm impressed, Yagami. I didn't know you had it in you," General Ishi mumbled around the cigar that hung limply from huge, wobbly lips.
"Thank you sir," Taichi muttered in reply, his nose crinkling instinctively at the foul-smelling smoke that wafted through the room. General Ishi basically owned the Tetsú. The original idea had been that the five Generals would run the organisation together but Ishi had taken charge right from the start and since no one had ever bothered to do anything about it he had stayed in charge. By the time Taichi became a General, there was not a soldier left who would dare question his leadership.
"So…the question is…now what?" The General said with rehearsed thoughtfulness, puffing out a perfect smoke ring.
"Get rid of the next one," another General, General Kirogi, stated plaintively as if on a stage cue. Ishi's right-hand man and resident slime ball. Taichi couldn't stand the sight of him.
"What do you mean 'next one'?" Taichi asked suspiciously.
"Well Yagami…it's something you mentioned to me yourself. When we first started after Akira you said it was pointless because he wasn't the heart of the Fourth Division and that as soon as he was gone, another would replace him. Do you remember?"
"Yes Sir."
"Yes well…after careful consideration I have decided…to accept your point. However, we don't really have the men to waste looking into it too deeply. So therefore it is your squad's new assignment."
"Sir, surely we don't need the whole squad just to…"
"No, no Yagami. It is your assignment. The rest of us will continue to carry out my battle plans," The General paused for effect, twisting the smoking butt of the cigar into an ashtray, "And perhaps this will teach you to question my strategies."
"But Sir, to be fair," the only female voice in the room piped up, "he was the one who killed Akira. If that doesn't count as being loyal to your 'strategies', I don't know what does," Hiromi said.
"There's a difference between loyalty and mindless following, General Kitsune." Ishi said calmly.
"I still don't think that that's any reason to cut him out of…"
"Are you questioning me also, Kitsune?" Ishi said, turning in his chair to coldly address the young red head.
"No Sir."
"Good. Then you can escort Yagami out of here."
Hiromi complied silently, walking from the room at Taichi's side.
After the two youngsters had left the room, General Ishi turned to Kirogi and the last of the five Generals, General Dairiseki. Dairiseki was a cold, quiet man. He was known amongst the ranks for his towering height and his twisted sense of humour.
"That's him dealt with, then," Ishi said in a characteristic murmur of disinterest. The other two nodded. They had come to the conclusion a month or so earlier that Taichi couldn't be trusted. He didn't take orders the way he used to. He made too many decisions without consulting the rest of them. He answered back.
And just recently he had let in a new soldier from the Kágè Senshii, no questions asked.
He was either a traitor, or a traitor in the making. And it only made sense to cut him out of operations. Of course, this was a perfect way of hitting two birds with one stone. Taichi's squad battled like a dream and they suffered fewer defeats than any of the other squads. They were, therefore, the best squad to bring about the downfall of the Fourth Division.
"Now, Gentlemen," Dairiseki said calmly, "all we need do is wait."
* * * * * * * *
"Yamato?" Koushiro asked tentatively, crouching beside his solemn friend. Tomo and Lara had escorted the distraught Mimi home when she had regained consciousness about an hour ago. With the latest turn of events Koushiro still had some loose ends to tie up before he could leave. This being one particularly important end. Yamato turned his head wearily in the direction of the red-haired Technician's voice. Koushiro sighed and started tying.
"Yamato…I know that this probably isn't the best time…but I'm supposed to tell you straight away."
Yamato just blinked numbly. A good enough sign that he was listening.
"I…Akira named you as his successor."
It wasn't really a surprise.
"The trick is to keep breathing"
- Garbage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Mmm. Now the next part is going to be dramatic and exciting all the way. Unless something goes horribly wrong. So…yes. And Taito! We will have actual Taito in the next bit! I promise. *cheers*