PART ELEVEN

Warming the frozen soul

He leaned against the wall, sitting up on his bed. He grabbed the remote, switched off the set, and placed his hands behind his head, staring out at the window across his bedroom. It was 10 o'clock in the evening, and there was nothing good on TV. There was nothing good to think about either.

At least, he wanted to have nothing good to think about, and keep it that way. For once, he was successful in clearing his mind of any disturbing thought.

Until he heard three short knocks on his door.

"Oi, Mikagami! Are you in there?" Domon's irritating voice muffled through his door.  He knocked again. "Oi!"

Tokiya's brows furrowed, pretending he couldn't hear anything. He so didn't want to ruin his night, and Domon's idiotic face would be just the ticket to kiss his peaceful night goodbye.

The rapping didn't stop. "I know you're in there, Mikagami, and if you're not going to open this door, I'll break it down myself."

Whatever. Tokiya turned away from the door. But then it struck him that he didn't lock it. Oh, sh*t, he frowned. Of all the days to forget to lock up his room…

And as if on cue, Domon barged right in. Owing to the fact that the door wasn't locked, it didn't break down. He walked up towards Tokiya's bed. "I need to talk to you."

"Get the hell out of my room."

Domon frowned at the back of Tokiya's head. "Face me, damn it."

"Get the hell out," Tokiya repeated in an undertone.

"Make me."

All of a sudden the Ensui's blade was pointed right at his throat, almost cutting through. Domon could feel the cold tip piercing his skin, but without blood. Yet. Tokiya's eyes flashed menacingly at him. "Get out, or I swear I'll kill you."

Domon clenched his fists and stood his ground. He glared back at him. "I won't leave until you listen to what I have to tell you."

Tokiya's eyes narrowed and in one swift motion plunged his madougu. Domon shut his eyes and felt a sharp pain run through his neck, but soon felt the pain only grazing the side of it. Tokiya withdrew his sword soon enough.

"Hn," Tokiya snorted, shortening his blade and tucking the handle back into his jeans pocket. He replaced his hands behind his head and looked away from Domon again. "You're too much of an idiot to die this way."

Domon grinned. "So you're willing to listen?"

"You might as well talk to yourself."

"Fine." Domon's features turned serious and he took a deep breath. "I've always hated your guts. I don't like the way you treat Yanagi, or the way you treat everyone else, like you're all superior and we're all just lowly creatures who'd dart out of your way at your command. You're too conceited and you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself. You like to keep to yourself all the time and would jump out on anyone who dares to try and disturb you. You're too stubborn and just the look on your face makes my blood boil."

Good, that makes two of us. Tokiya almost laughed at Domon's face. It sure looked like Domon had been keeping this boiled up inside himself for a long time, and was obviously looking for a chance to say it to his face.

"But the thing that I hate most about you is the way you treat Fuuko. Like she's some kind of dirt you can just throw around. One moment you're all sweet and kind and the next thing you know you're shoving her off your life. All you ever do is hurt her and shatter what's left of her self-respect. You're keeping her hopes up for you for nothing. I mean, that's really low."

"I don't need your damn lecture, Domon," Tokiya spoke up. "I know what I'm doing without you acting like my Right Manners and Good Conduct teacher."

"But despite all that, she has always loved you like you never loved her," Domon continued, ignoring him. "She has been going on, still believing that you can love her back someday. She has been worrying about your condition, and was always ready to give you all the chances you can ever ask for. She never gave up on you, and she went on loving you more each day. I never really understood what she sees in you, or what she saw in you in the past…but that's exactly my point. She did see something in you that no one else ever did. It's almost like she particularly chose you…"

Tokiya blinked wordlessly. The topic sure was changing bit by bit…what was Domon getting at?

"Even before you two got together, there came a point in time when she started making comments on how great you are when you're fighting or how amazing your techniques are. She was even bringing you up all of a sudden whenever we were conversing. And whenever you were battling on the Uroubatousatsoujin arena, she would make random praises on your skills. Sometimes, if there were someone who would badmouth your reputation, she would even stick to your side and defend you. It was obvious that she was doing all this unconsciously, but right there and then I knew that she was starting to think of you as more than just her friend, or as her teammate. And it would be wrong of me to keep up my hopes on her."

"But still I kept my usual chase on her just for old times' sake and to avoid arousing any suspicions. Fuuko never noticed that I knew how she felt for you. She never noticed that I knew it couldn't be me. I couldn't be the one she could love. I couldn't be lucky enough to protect her…and keep her safe always…" Domon trailed off. "But you are. And you're given that privilege to love her back, to fulfill her dreams. You were chosen to give her joy, make her complete…so stop damn hurting her."

Domon paused for a while to let it sink in, and an awkward silence fell over the room. Tokiya didn't expect to see this serious side of him.

After a few minutes, he spoke again. "If it couldn't be me…then at least let it be you. The least you can do is give her the laughter that I never could and never may. All I ask is for you to listen to yourself and love her back, because she of all people deserves more than that."

"I don't love her anymore." Tokiya commented, still not looking at Domon.

Domon's brows furrowed. "Yes, you do. Once in your life, you were given that opportunity to love her back. Didn't you use to enjoy it? Didn't you realize how happy you were? Didn't you like the way she made you feel at peace, away from your bitter past? Stop kidding me, Mikagami. It will never work."

"That was a long time ago. I'm over it."

"No, you're not," Domon replied angrily. "Aren't you sick of this stupid act you're putting up? You can't always try to stand alone! It's wrong to think that you don't need anyone else in your mixed-up life!"

"My life is none of your freakin' business!"  Tokiya snapped back, finally looking at Domon in the eye.

Domon heaved a sigh and shook his head. "I can clearly see that this isn't getting anywhere into you. You're right; I should have talked to myself instead." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "We're heading back to Japan tomorrow afternoon; our plane leaves at 5 pm. And from the looks of it, you'll be staying here in China for a long time." He turned around to leave. Just when he reached the doorway, he spoke up again.

"Don't forget to write."

And with this, he quietly shut the door.

To their friendship.