A Tangled Web

"What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive."



Chapter Two

(Two weeks later)

Lunchtime on a Wednesday afternoon found Miname and Mikagami sitting in a small restaurant eating soup and drinking hot tea. Both were nervous because it was their first time they had met without the company of their friends. Their first true date was going well despite the nervousness.

"What you said about Fuuko-chan on the phone last night was funny. When I told her this morning that you had called her a monkey again, she got pretty mad. But then she started laughing about it," Miname said, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Hmph. She is a monkey. She'd do well to quit denying it," Tokiya answered, sipping his soup audibly from the bowl.

"She said that calling her a monkey is your way of saying you love her," Miname said.

Blue eyes rolled upwards and he shook his head slightly. "If she wants to believe that, then so be it."

Miname laughed. "She's right, isn't she?"

Half a grin curled Mikagami's lips. "Maybe. But she's only a friend."

"I sure hope so," Miname said shyly, taking a drink of her tea.

"Oh really?" Tokiya couldn't stop from asking. Although he called her at least four times a week and saw her as often as possible, the status of their relationship had not been confirmed by either of them.

She looked him in the eye with a menacing stare. "You said you wouldn't play games with me," she said before smiling again.

"If I were playing games with you, I'd of told you I was madly in love with Fuuko," he commented.

This got her to laugh again. "Well, she and Yanagi-chan have been on my case about it a lot lately," she said, sounding a bit more serious.

"They're bothering you? About what?" he asked.

"About." she looked away from him. "About us."

"Us?"

"Yeah. They want to know if there is an us," Miname said.

Mikagami had been wondering the same thing himself. His heart sped up a bit as he got a bit more nervous. He had gotten used to the strange things she made him feel. Changes in pulse and heart rate as well as hot flashes and stupid grins had become almost normal for him lately. "They want to know if I'm your boyfriend?" The words sounded so stupid to him. Lame sentences and questions were also part of what she did to him.

Miname bit her lip and nodded, looking up at him. She was scared too, but for other reasons. If he said no now, her whole mission had failed. If he didn't consider himself her boyfriend by now, he most likely never would. She felt her stomach churn at the thought as well though, having Mikagami Tokiya as her boyfriend. She hated him, didn't she? Then why was her heart speeding up, hoping he said yes and not just for the mission, but for herself? Just for a while, she could enjoy the happiness he gave her even if he was evil. No man had ever made her feel the way he did.

"Your friends ask the stupidest questions," he said.

Miname let out a pent up breath. "You are playing games, Tokiya."

"And if I say that I am, would that make you happy? Or would you rather us just be friends? I'm confused, not trying to play games."

"I really. I really hope that you do consider yourself that important to me," she said.

Mikagami swallowed to make sure his heart would not come out of his throat. "Of course I do, Miname-san."

Her eyes lit up and a small giggle escaped from her. "Then. it's settled?"

He nodded. "Quite so. I think it was settled when I first saw you," he dared to say.

Miname closed her eyes, biting her lip once more. Her soul felt like it was happy. She didn't understand how it could be so, but it was.

"Does that make you happy?"

She nodded. "It'll at least keep me from wondering how you feel about me for a while," she said, her eyes coming back open to meet his.

"Hmph," Mikagami muttered, grinning behind his soup bowl. So now he had a girlfriend. He tried to drown what his friends would say to him out of his mind. He wondered if Mifuyu would approve of his taste in women. "She isn't your replacement by any means," he said in silent prayer to his sister. He lowered his bowl, his stoic expression returning quickly.

"Tokiya?" Miname asked.

"I apologize. Sometimes my mind wanders," he said, awaking from his daze.

She looked at him, a concerned look on her face. "You do that so often. Where does it wander to?"

He hesitated. "To a safe place, Miname-san. In time, I'll tell you about it."

"Yanagi-chan and Fuuko-chan say that you think of your sister," she said quietly.

Mikagami's eyes closed. "Constantly, Miname-san. Constantly." He wished that she didn't know about Mifuyu in the same instant that he was glad their friends had told her. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that she looked sad.

Miname swallowed and began to speak. "I know how you feel. My brother was murdered as well."

Shock hit Tokiya and it was hard for him not to widen his eyes. She wouldn't look up at him and he feared she would begin to cry. "I'm truly sorry to hear that. It's an awful fate for me to carry the weight of my sister's death although I do so willingly. I hope that you don't live in the shadow of death like I do," he said, trying to say something meaningful to comfort her.

"From what my friends have said, I don't. I don't have his death on my shoulders the way you do with your sister's. But I miss him greatly," she said, voice quivering.

"Miname-san!" he called out, his voice surprising him by its high pitch. She looked up at him and he regained his composure. "Let's not talk on this any further here in public. Now's not the time or the place. I couldn't bear to see you cry right now."

Miname was frightened by how serious he looked. It was in that moment that she realized that Mikagami Tokiya really had fallen for her, that he cared for her, that he wanted to hear the rest of her story. With a deep-set pang of guilt, she realized she had fallen for him as well. There was no stopping it, no matter how much she wanted to say she hated him. She nodded slowly, then remembered the time. Looking at her watch, she frowned. "Great. It's almost time for me to get back to school."

"I'll walk you," Tokiya said, nodding.

"Thank you," she said, sighing deeply. Killing him would not be easy. She'd have to do it soon else she'd be in love with him. She had never had any man show any emotion towards her before. She should have realized that before she agreed to kill Mikagami. She was growing used to him even though she was supposed to hate him.

They finished their lunch quickly and Mikagami paid for their meal. The walk back to the school was a short one and it proved to be a silent one as well. Miname's mind dwelled on how she hated herself for falling for him while Mikagami's was raging between Mifuyu and the fact that Miname had lost a brother.

Mikagami saw Fuuko, Yanagi and Recca standing near the benches in front of the school that he usually left Miname at. He stopped before they were in earshot of them. "Miname-san," he called out to stop her.

She stopped and looked at him. He offered her books that he had been carrying to her. She took them with a small smile of thanks. "Thanks for lunch. It was nice," she said.

He nodded and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I really wish that we could talk sometime. Not over the phone, but in person," he said.

"Well. I can't get away during the week due to Kitaro. Saturday nights is when his family takes him out and that's my only time of freedom," Miname said.

"Can I steal that freedom this Saturday then? I'll even cook for you," he offered.

Miname grinned. "You don't have to steal what would be willingly given, Tokiya."

A sly grin came back to his face. "Very well. I'll call and give you directions sometime before then."

Miname couldn't help herself. The way he was looking at her was positively melting her. The bells began to chime signaling that she needed to be getting to class. "I'll talk to you later then," she said, smiling. She leaned up and gave him a small kiss on his cheek before running off to class.

Mikagami stood stunned. He heard Recca whistling at him, but he preferred to ignore the idiot rather than have him ruin the moment. He felt. happy. It wasn't as if he'd never kissed a girl before. He wasn't even a virgin for that matter. There was just something about that small peck that set his soul on fire. He wanted to run after her and give her a real kiss, right there in front of the whole school. He fought the urge and watched her as she walked up the stairs then turned around. She smiled at him and waved. Pulling one hand from his pocket, he grinned and waved back. He caught himself whistling on the walk home.

~~~~~~~

"Bro, are you sure you want me hanging around tonight?" Kaoru asked Tokiya for the umpteenth time.

"I don't want any rumors that I treated Miname-san anything short of proper getting around. You're my alibi. I don't like the thought of her and I alone in my home all that much," Tokiya answered, setting down the groceries on the kitchen counter. "I'll need someone to help me keep her entertained while I'm cooking as well. Just after dinner, give us some space."

Kaoru shook his head. "You are so lousy with women," he muttered.

Tokiya smirked. "That's why I have a beautiful girlfriend and you couldn't get a date for tonight."

Kaoru threw tomato at him, but Mikagami caught it easily and just gave him an icy glare. "Go play your video games," Tokiya said. "Get out of my kitchen. And answer the door for me when she gets here."

Kaoru bounded off grinning and Mikagami was once again reminded that if Mifuyu had not of died, he'd be just like him. He shook his head and began separating the things he'd need to make dinner.

Mikagami was adding seasoning the chicken he was about to grill when he saw a car pull up by his curb from the kitchen window. He watched as Miname stepped out of the backseat, Kitaro following her. She bent down to hug him, picking him up and putting him back in the car. He seemed to be screaming and crying as she shut the door and the car pulled off. Miname waved after it.

Tokiya took a step back from the window so she wouldn't notice him standing there. He watched as she turned around and sighed deeply. She was biting her lip as she checked her purse for something. He wondered what it was as she walked towards the front door. He returned to the raw chicken as the doorbell rang.

He heard Koganei running through the house and the door opening. Their conversation was muffled as he placed the chicken in a pan and it began to steam. Covering the pan, the noise became muffled and he heard footsteps leading to the kitchen against his hardwood floors.

"She's here, Bro!" Kaoru announced when they entered the kitchen.

Mikagami turned from the stove to face them. "Hello, Miname-san. Welcome to my home."

Miname smiled. "Thank you. I had no idea you lived in such a large house."

"Hmph," he replied, a slight grin on his lips. He hoped she was a little bit impressed. "It's still going to be a while before dinner is ready. I got a late start but when we're finished eating, I'll show you around."

"I'm gonna leave you guys alone and get back to my video game," Kaoru said, running from the room.

Miname grinned. "I'd like for you to show me around later. But I was under the impression that we'd be alone tonight." Koganei would only ruin her plans for the night. She clutched her purse.

Turning on the faucet, he began washing his hands. "He'll be no bother. I asked him to stick around for your reputation's sake. If it got around that you were in a man's home with him, all alone... Nasty rumors that I don't want to have to kill anyone over might get started. I hope you don't mind my precautions."

"You know, I never even thought of that," she said. "Thank you."

Tokiya noticed her fake smile as he turned around, drying his hands on a dish towel. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No, of course not. I guess I'm just a bit nervous," she said, shrugging a bit. But inside her mind, she knew everything was wrong. Kaoru would screw everything up. She had been completely set to kill the fiend, yet he had to go and be a proper gentleman and make sure her reputation was in check. She wondered if it was really for hers or if it was for his.

"No need to be nervous. It's only me and I'm not all that bad, am I?" he asked.

Miname shook her head.

He turned away from her and began to speak in a cool, calm voice that he hoped would ease her worry. "We don't have to talk about anything we're not ready to. If there are things we wish to keep from each other right now, it's fine."

"That makes me feel a lot better," she lied.

"Just relax. Everything will be all right for now. By the way, you're welcome to go play video games with Koganei if it interests you. I'm boring when I cook and I get edgy as well if I have to share my kitchen with anyone." He turned back around to look at her, smirking a bit.

Miname laughed. "Are you telling me to get out?"

"No, of course not. I was just warning you."

"Well, it certainly smells good," she said.

"I hope you liked grilled chicken and vegetables over rice," he said.

"It's against my religion to eat chicken," she said, trying to look serious.

"Then tonight, my dear, you sin. You can repent later to your blessed chicken gods," he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Wait a minute. Are you calling my gods chicken?"

Tokiya had to chuckle. "I'd never disrespect anyone you pray to, Miname- san." His voice turned serious.

Her face fell almost instantly and she had to bite her tongue from yelling at him, telling him that he already had. "I... I hope not," she stammered.

Tokiya looked at her for a moment, quite curious as to what he said or did that made her react that way. "Do you even have gods?" he finally asked, folding his arms.

Miname shook her head. "I just pray to my brother for strength and protection," she said.

So that was it. He was sure that was why she had gotten upset all of a sudden. He had brought up her brother and not even realized it. "I never pray to any gods. Only to my sister. She's the only one who ever really loved me," he said, turning back to the sink and filling a pot with water.

A silence fell as Tokiya continued with his cooking, each musing on their dead sibling. "Maybe I will go see what kind of game Kaoru-kun is playing," she said.

Tokiya nodded. "Do you remember the way?"

"Yeah. I'll be in there, all right?" She smiled and wiggled her fingers at him, leaving him alone.

As he turned the grilled chicken over in the pan, Tokiya realized he would most likely not open up to Miname that night. She also seemed to be hiding things as well so he may not find out more about her brother. At least the food would be good. He began to wonder how her brother had been murdered. He wondered if the circumstances around it were anything like the ones around his sister's death.

"Dammit!" he heard Koganei yell. His eyes widened for a moment before his anger calmed quickly. Why was Kaoru cussing at Miname? He walked to the door of the living room and opened his mouth, but then assessed the situation. Instead, he folded his arms, grinning, and leaned on the door frame. The sight that greeted him was a good one.

Miname was beating the living hell out of Koganei in a fighting game. As Koganei continued to call Miname names, memories flooded back to Tokiya. He could remember sitting on the floor of his former home, playing video games with his sister until the crack of dawn. He chuckled inwardly remembering how he used to cuss his sister when he couldn't beat her. There Kaoru was, in his place. And Miname was in the place of...

He stopped himself, a bit unnerved at his thoughts. He shook his head and let his grin fade. "If he offends you, Miname-san, I'll take care of him."

They both jumped a bit.

"Yeah, right, Bro! She's kicking my ass well enough on her own," Kaoru said, hoping Mikagami was proud of him. He had his ways of letting people think they were actually winning by themselves even though he actually was letting them win. He knew Mikagami knew that as well.

Miname laughed as she won another round. "I'm good at these kinds of games. If Kaoru didn't suck so bad at it, I would get offended by what he's calling me."

Kaoru's face fell as he looked at Tokiya. He raised his eyebrows as if asking permission to put her ego in check by beating her.

Tokiya's narrowed expression dared him to.

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Gosh, Miname-san, you must play a lot. Even Tokiya- senpai can't beat me," he said, not able to resist. He grinned at Tokiya.

"But he's so easy to beat, Tokiya!" Miname said.

The look that Kaoru gave Miname was victory enough for Mikagami as he went back to the kitchen to finish his cooking. It wasn't much longer before he had the dinner table set with the meal. He returned to the living room to find Miname still beating Kaoru. "Dinner's served," he said.

Kaoru was quick to turn of the game and hop up. "Good, I'm starving." He headed to the dining room.

Miname smiled at Tokiya as she walked past him. She touched his hand gently as well.

The touch sent a rush through him. After a moment, it was gone. He followed her into the dining room.

Dinner went as Mikagami expected it would. Kaoru held up most of the conversation, talking on video games to school to the really freaky dream he had the night before. The meal was gone quickly, even though Mikagami didn't have much of an appetite and didn't eat that much. Miname insisted on helping him with the dishes. Then the part of the night that Mikagami had feared the most had arrived.

He found himself in the den on a couch beside Miname, with Kaoru nowhere to be found. He noticed Miname was nervously wringing her hands, not looking at him. He sighed. "Like I said, Miname-san. There's no need to be nervous."

"I know. I just... Things are really weird with me right now. There's so much I want to tell you and so much I want to keep from you. There's so much I want to know about you as well," she said.

"That's too much for one night. Just calm down. I'm nervous as well," he admitted.

She looked up at him. "Fuuko-chan said that your Master killed your sister. Why would he do such a thing?"

Mikagami wanted to answer her, but he choked. He tried to come up with a way to tell her that Kyo Za killed her just so he'd master the Hyomen Ken quicker, but it wasn't right. He shook his head. "Too much too soon," he finally answered.

"My brother was murdered by an evil man as well. A man who chose an evil path to walk for the rest of his life. I'm still not certain why it was done. Maybe one day I'll get the courage enough to ask him and find out why," Miname whispered.

"Is he in jail?" Mikagami asked, his whole chest actually clenching. Was she crying? He hadn't felt like this since the night he had confessed everything in his life to Fuuko.

"No. What my brother was involved in wasn't exactly legal so there's no way I can get anyone to listen to me about his death," she said.

"I'll listen," he offered. "I'll find him and..."

"No," she interrupted. "That wouldn't be right. You have enough sin weighted on your shoulders." She bit back any other words she wanted to say to him.

"Perhaps I do," he replied. He leaned back into the couch, thinking. "My sister was everything to me, Miname-san." His eyes closed as she didn't say anything.

"My brother was everything to me, too. Our parents died when I was still pretty young, and he..." She stopped short in her sentences as Mikagami's eyes opened and bore into her. Then she took a breath and started again.

"From what Yanagi-chan and Fuuko-chan has told me, our stories are somewhat similar. My brother was an only child because his mother nearly died giving birth to him and couldn't have any more children. So when my brother begged for a sibling, our parents adopted me the day I was born. My real mother was an unwed teenager and she had no way of caring for me. But our parents died in this freakish accident and he took care of me after that. He was nearly 12 years my senior so he was able to do that. And then, last year, almost out of nowhere, he was murdered." She stopped again, trying to hold back her tears. Why was she telling Mikagami this? Was she losing her mind? She buried her face in her hands, trying to get a hold of herself. She felt a warm hand on her back. It wasn't moving, but it was calming somehow. A few tears escaped. Why was he such a great guy?

Mikagami didn't know what to do for a crying girl, so he did the only thing he could think of. His placed his hand on her back, letting her recover and letting her story sink in. "It must have been tough for my sister. My mother died of ovarian cancer when I was 6. My dad never recovered. He began to live his life in an alcoholic blur. After a while, I even began to think that I deserved the abuse he gave us. We didn't see his suicide coming. He was smart enough to sign everything over to my sister first, so that the government couldn't take it away. He left us a letter of apology and we did forgive him. My sister and I led a happy life afterwards. Neither of us had any friends, so we became each other's best friend," he started. Telling that part brought up no real emotion in him. He had to stop there and remove his hand from her back. His arms folded as he felt the sadness returning to his soul, the sadness for his sister that always seemed to take the backseat when Miname was around.

"Yes, my master did kill my sister, only to further my training. For that sin he will rot in Hell. I don't care that I may follow him, but I can't stand the thought of him doing it again," he added, concluding from the water in his eyes that he had indeed said too much.

Miname looked up at him, saw he was fighting tears, and placed her hand on his folded arms. "This is enough. I think we both went further than we meant to," she said.

He took a deep breath, steadying his soul and nodded. He was glad he had told her and glad she had confessed to him, but now he just wanted to forget it all. His eyes closed as he fell deeper into his calm.

Miname shook her head, realizing she really was an utter failure. There was no way that she could ever kill him. No matter what the costs, she had to deny the task given to her. That fact crept up her spine, sending her into shivers.

Mikagami only had a moment's notice when he heard her sob and opened his eyes. She threw her arms around his neck and began crying full force into his chest. His heart clenched and he was rendered speechless. He couldn't do more than unfold his arms and wrap them around her, holding her to him and letting her cry. He felt no shame in putting his cheek to her hair, trying not to cry himself. He silently wished she wasn't so hurt over her brother's death. The realization that they were one in the same hit him. They both missed their siblings too much. Yet Miname had to be getting her revenge somehow. He began to ponder why.

"Mifuyu, help me," he prayed silently, tightening his arms around her.

Miname's crying finally stopped. She knew it was just the first wave of tears that would hit in the upcoming days. She knew that she would end up dead now. She just wanted to stay in Mikagami's arms then. "But that's not right!" she chided herself. "He's evil! The true inheritor of the Hyomen Ken!" Then Mikagami was loosening his arms, placing his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her away.

"Enough," he whispered when he could see her face and their eyes met. His fingers wiped across her cheek, drying the tears.

Her eyes closed as she kept sobbing a bit. His touch sent warm pulses throughout her body. Her mind was clouded now and she licked her lips, needing him to comfort her any way he saw fit.

Mikagami just looked at her for a few moments, his stoic expression taking in her beauty. Even when she was reduced to tears, she was like an angel. He felt a pang in his heart as he realized maybe it was an angel his sister sent for him. His courage welled up as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He heard a soft breath from her as he kissed her left cheek. He followed to the right. As he leaned back far enough to catch her eyes again, her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him back to her.

Lips met and souls surged upward as the heat within their bodies responded to the small amount of comfort that kissing could offer. After a few moments, before things could get too complicated, Mikagami did what was expected of him and ended the kiss. That didn't stop him from holding her close for a long while afterwards. They stayed silent as they just held on, as if their souls had been forever united my the confessions and the kiss.

Miname's head rested on his shoulder, his head resting on hers. She didn't let anymore tears fall as she calmed herself down. Her eyes just blinked, shiny from all the crying she had done. How was she supposed to say goodbye to him at a time like this? Why couldn't she just grab her knife and try to kill him? If he resisted and killed her in turn, it would be more welcome that what she expected. Why?

"Because I love him," a voice in the back of her mind said.

Miname's eyes stopped blinking and stayed wide. Her fingers curled against his back as she swallowed hard. The voice was right. Oh god, that was horrible. Instead of crying again, she pushed away from Mikagami abruptly. "Take me home, please, Tokiya." She stood up, finding her purse and looking back at him.

Mikagami sat utterly stunned. He kept the surprise from his face but he didn't understand. "Have I done something to offend you, Miname-san?" he asked. Why the hell was his heart beating triple-time?

She shook her head and looked down at her feet. "No. I just need to be home. Gomen, Tokiya. But please, just take me home."

Mikagami waited for a moment, but her eyes were fixed on her feet. "As you wish," he said, standing up.

The silence in the car was almost painful. Mikagami was going mad wanting to turn to her and ask how she could kiss him so passionately and then just want to go home so suddenly. He felt like there were still a lot of things she had left unsaid. He didn't want to push because things had definitely gotten a bit out of hand. When he pulled up into her driveway, he grabbed her hand before she could jump out. "Whatever it is, I can forgive you for, Miname-san. Remember that. I hope you could forgive me the same," he said, pressing a kiss to her palm and folding her fingers around it.

Miname's eyes welled up again, his words meaning so much yet he didn't know just how much. She shook her head. "Gomen, Tokiya," she said, nearly tripping on her way out of the car. She ran to the door, fumbling with keys. She didn't turn back as she ran inside, slamming the door behind her. She ran until she was on her bed, face buried in her pillow. Then more tears came.

Mikagami sat in the car in the driveway for a few moments. His mind was raging, wondering if it was a mistake sharing his soul with her, wondering if it was a mistake kissing her, wondering if he was just that lousy of a kisser, and wondering why the hell she was being so cold towards him all of a sudden. He sighed, both hands losing their fingers in his hair. Then he shoved his car in reverse and tore out of her driveway. Anger was suddenly rising and his driving was reflecting it.

Once he had safely made it home, he threw his keys onto a table recklessly, practically ripped his shirt off, and went to his bathroom. There he turned on the hot water, stripped himself of the rest of his clothes, and sat down in his shower. He hugged his knees to his chest and couldn't tell what was water and what was tears.