Disclaimer : I shouldn't be saying this to you but... *whispers low* I actually own Hana-kun, including the whole Sakuragi clan.... Bwahahahahahaha!!!
Title : The Sakuragi Cousins
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CHAPTER 10 : Drawing a Circle
The sea was calm along Tomari Harbor as the black vehicle sped off the seaside road. Miranda and the Mistress just came from the US Force Residential Quarter, had a meeting with some officers and gathered information. On the different twisting routes, they were heading for Itoman where another conference awaits them.
The Mistress looked out on the sea. She was very fond of it in a subtle way. Breeze from the sea always soothes out discomforts; therefore she longs for it. The calmness of the sea was also favorable; it allows her to think much of the situation facing them.
Miranda sat beside her, prim as always.
"How are the children, Miranda?" the Mistress said icily.
"They are fine," she replied after composing herself from a start.
"And their meeting?"
"Nearly complete. We are yet preparing them. Though frankly speaking, I do not think this is a good idea." Miranda fidgeted slightly.
"Your opinion is not needed. How are the two?"
"They've met. Forgive me for saying this but, I really don't think that was a smart move, Mistress."
She finally paid attention at the imperceptibly crumbling figure of Miranda. "You really couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? Why is it that you continue insisting on that matter?"
It was her cue; she had to voice it out. Calmly, Miranda spoke. "Simply, Madam, because they are an abnormality to us."
"Hmm, how true..." Even the Mistress couldn't argue with that, Miranda held a triumphant face. "Nevertheless, aren't you a bit too old to believe in superstition?"
The younger lady was deeply scandalized. "Oh, please! Don't say that!"
With that the Mistress laughed. "No, my dear, I was just pulling your leg."
She gave a sigh of relief, pushed up her spectacles and continued. "Five hundred years of history is not something to be taken as superstition. It is not by chance not is it mythical; and you know that, Madam."
"More than five hundred years, actually," she muttered under her breath.
"What?" Miranda was puzzled.
"More than five hundred years," she replied. "We both know that the origin had started more than five hundred years. Possibly seven or a thousand years back. Five centuries ago was when the clan was firmly and secretly established with its ancient goals set, passed on from generations to generations, written in records. The family's deeds are all the same. To possess, to dominate, to conquer. Seduce them. Manipulate them. Be outwardly submissive until you have soften them, until you have completely extracted their talents and uses, poison them with power, and held them to your utmost whim." The Mistress breathed long, expressing a heavy weight that had settled through time. "Then finally, you can take them as your puppets, push them forth to the depths of insanity, or put them out of their misery. Just the same as what I did to my dear Miguel, and what my daughters did to their husbands, and as the others will do to theirs."
There came a pause after that speech, a grave one.
"Except for that woman. She was a fool," Miranda blurted out in contempt. Her back was stiff; hands clenched tight.
"Who? My daughter, your mother.... Indeed, she was a fool. She had fallen," the Mistress said matter-of-factly.
"It was enough that she had died. But she gave us her spite when she bore Remedios, the damnable spitting image of her! Of all the curse--"
"Now don't you talk about your sister like that!" Unexpectedly the Mistress struck her cane hard on the floor. Her old yet sharp eyes frightening the younger descendant. "She had done her best to preserve the clan's pride. Do not compare her to your mother."
"Yes, she did; yet she had given birth to a--"
"A what?! It could be easily said that it is her fault; but Nature and Fate are something beyond us. It disappoints me to hear that your intellect could not grasp that simple fact." The Mistress' voice boomed and crumbled Miranda. The old woman was logical; she should not have blamed Remedios nor her offspring. It could not be helped though.
"But in a way, I do share your disappointment. " The mistress sighed. "This must be Nature's ill will to our family for centuries of greed and cruelty. Can we help it if it runs in our blood? For hundred of years we have only brought forth daughters of the sun, equip with the beauty and mind to dominate. It is only recently that two were born to destroy what had been for more than five centuries. And yet I feel that these two were the brightest to behold and more dangerous. I could not find it in me to extinguish their light. All I know is that we have to utilize them. It would be a pity to waste them. Besides I never really believed that we could hold on to a full matriarchal dominance for ages. This will be a new age, having great changes, I'm afraid. But that should be worried later. It is utterly stupid to argue about that when there's a bunch of crazed lunatics trying to kill us. We need to complete the Perfect Circle as soon as possible. How are they kept, Miranda?"
"Smoothly, unless they've detected us much faster than we thought," she replied back to her old self. Again, the Mistress was right; what they were settling before was completely absurd. A glitch in the family's biological flow is nothing compared to the current matter that involves their possible destruction. Other than that, the Mistress is the head of the Sakuragi clan. Who was she to question her authority? If the Mistress ordered a change in the family rites, then so be it. Even if it's against everybody's will. "Their connections to us were carefully covered; their tracks and records sealed and replaced. Blind subsidiaries finance their location and program. Two puppets were included. Their training will start as soon as things get inconspicuous."
"Good. Denisovich is dead. What of it?" There was an abrupt change in subject, but Miranda was ready.
"Yes. He is." She fished out a folder from a bag beside her. A few newspaper clippings, pictures, a biopsy, and police reports were contained in that folder. Miranda scanned the reports.
"He died a week ago. Ransacked his home, killed three of his households, and then kidnapped him. Two days after, his body was found in an alley inside a bag. In pieces, six parts. Done by a very sharp blade, they say. He was finely chopped." Miranda held up a picture to the old woman.
"Fine cuts." She nodded.
"According to biopsy, he was tortured, battered up. The right hand thumb was missing." She raised another picture.
"Interrogation. They must be very persistent."
"They were. He was shot in the throat. They definitely got nothing from him."
"I see." Reclining back, the Mistress took her view to the window. They were now taking the main road to Itoman. "And Alyana?"
"She was away when it all happened. We got her in custody even after she could return back. The Russian thought she was also taken. We already erased her."
"Somehow it affects me when a distant relation is sacrificed," the Mistress thought aloud. "Such a waste."
Miranda returned the folder to its previous place. "But not an extensive waste. Most relatives beyond the fourth civil degree have little, or no connections to us; some are already irrelevant. Alyana was beautiful, but an idiot."
The Mistress chuckled. "How true." She calmed down her amusement, bringing forth a severe expression. "They are gaining on us. Four deaths in a year is quiet disturbing, especially when the cases are similar."
"They are trying to climb the family tree," Miranda speculated.
"No. They are hunting down the roots. We don't know how deep they've dug but I think there was a time when they had nearly struck a vein. We must be careful." Miranda merely nodded, in her face was determination to protect the clan. "We must preserve the children, including the two. Most especially that of Remedios. He may seem like a flaw in time but he is definitely an asset. Retention of the family is our main priority." Afterwards the Mistress continued. "Send a message to Remedios. I would like to speak to her unico hijo one of these days."
***
The dream has returned. He was running in a singular path. Two doors came in view, and they opened for him.
Bodies.... Hundreds of them.
A lone figure in white, stained with blood. A scythe held in hand.
There was no face. The scythe was barring it out of sight.
Red light.... Then darkness.
Sounds of porcelain vase hitting the ground, resounding. A ball bounced and rolled off. He looked at his back; there was the fragile face of a two-years old blue-eyed boy.
Threads of long blond hair littered on the floor.
A woman beautiful, but with undeniably insane eyes stalked to them. She hated them; she wanted to hurt them.
He reached out to the little boy, afraid for his dear life, and embraced him tightly. They sat on the floor, crying, waiting for that woman's disgust to claw them.
But it did not come. It never came.
Hannah...
"Oniichan!" Someone was calling him.
"Oniichan!" And it grew louder.
"Ezekiel!"
Hanamichi was awaken.
"Hana-chan..." Antoine nudged him a bit and was currently looming over his prone figure. He had a dream and now that he's awake, he had forgotten.
"Ohayo," Hanamichi greeted.
Antoine sat up straight in bed. "Ohayo. I think we should get up now. It's almost 6."
So it was. They have a meeting at Yusenko. Another orientation regarding the premier team, or something like that. Classes at Yusenko usually start at 7 which is indeed very early. Especially today, it's Sunday. God knows what they're about to do.
Hanamichi reluctantly got up and followed Antoine to the bathroom. It was like Antoine had been with him forever. They had just seen each other yesterday, after what seemed like a lifetime to them, at the practice game and yet they acted as if they've been living and breathing the air within each others proximity for a long time. There were no welcoming hugs nor the usual how-have-you-been conversations. Hanamichi, to the curiosity of the crowd, bid ahead of the team, then raced outside to meet Antoine. They went to Hanamichi's unit together, taking time as much as they want to enjoy the walk and the company.
"Oi!" Antoine called him. Leaning on the side of bathroom door, Hanamichi was partly asleep when a tube was thrown his way. He deftly caught it. "Mind starting the day by bruising your teeth?" Antoine's face was already with foaming facial wash. Such a vain fellow he was, and still. He's far meticulous over matters of beauty than any woman he had ever known. But then simply Antoine hygiene fetish could answer everything concerning his vanity.
Frequently, and to Antoine's indignation, people mistake him for a girl. Why, with long yellow locks of sensuous thick hair, a pair of smooth slender legs, and a face apparently pampered, it was no wonder why others make their faults. The way he acts effeminately would add to the reason.
"So what do you want to eat?" Hanamichi asked as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Anything," Antoine replied when they reached the last step. " But I prefer something heavy."
Breakfast was speedily served and they attended to it most graciously. While at the table, their conversations were filled with silly laughter, mostly acquired from seemingly whimsical situations and cause. Like one would tease the other for not knowing how to fry eggs properly, then the other would be in mock defense. They would laugh at it for minutes, not really knowing why it's so funny, or what's so funny for that matter.
"What do you think are we going to do at school today?" Antoine inquired who soon laughed merrily after seeing Hanamichi struggle with a piece of egg. He found the scene to be amusingly cute and funny that he had got to laugh at it.
Hanamichi raised a brow at the blond, and smirked, clearly delighted. He finally managed to get the darn piece to his mouth, choking then when he heard Antoine's fits of laughter.
"Don't know," he practically choked out, reaching for the juice. "Probably about the premier level."
"Hmmm.... probably. I wonder what group we'll be in," Antoine thought wistfully.
"What?" Hanamichi blurted after taking a gulp.
"You see the premier level comes in different packages. There have elite groups for certain subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and other science --depends whether they could get a couple of whiz in those fields-- , and that also comes with Maths. There's usually groups in the Arts. The Theater's Guild, Journalist Circle, Artist Regent." Hanamichi watched him sway his fork up in the air as he enumerated. "Usually they're at least ten in a group since it's not some ordinary joint anyway; but if it's a common interest to all, they'd get loads. Everybody's required to join a club or committee for extracurricular points, but the slots for premier are limited right to the most prominent and most eager beaver on that specified field. They usually get in there through screenings or sometimes hand-picked by the teachers."
"And we are?"
"Hand-picked? Screened? Dunno..."
By 6:30 they were onboard the train heading their way. They came just in time to see the school looking empty. It was Sunday, what do they expect? And yet there were students, attending course-based schedules, using laboratories for projects, or preparing activities for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Students were there; only non-visible maybe because of the Sunday rest mentality some people are used to. Notes were posted on the main bulletin board, announcing the scheduled activities for that Sunday. Annoying studious people. Possibly an alibi to get out of the house, or the surrounding so not to be corrupted and misunderstood.
They glanced for some time through the things posted. A bunch of workshops on acting, religion and stuff. Regarding religion, it surprised Hanamichi that they consist of only Catholic posters. Schedules for reviews and advancement programs were there. Rooms that are to be used that day were clearly noted, so were some of the students taking this or that special activity. Hanamichi saw their names on a list of people the old hag was suppose to meet; it directs them to a certain room far east of the school, according to the campus map near the bulletin board. The room was within the science/lab area of the first floor.
Just when they were heading on a turn, somebody from the opposite direction bumped on Hanamichi. The stranger went off balance and he was to fall on the hard floor if Hanamichi, out of reflex, hadn't wrapped his arm around the fellow's waist and held him by the shoulder. Before the stranger could even apologized, the redhead delivered his outrage.
"Oi, watch where you're going, baka!"
Green eyes widen in panic and a blushed spread on his cheeks. "Ah! Gomen!" he uttered as he scrambled to his feet. He nudged up his glasses properly, then bowed down to Hanamichi. "I'm really sorry."
"I know, but you should thank me first before that!"
The green-eyed glass boy straightened up. He was tall. Taller than Antoine who was some 5-6 inches short of the redhead. Still Hanamichi was taller that the guy infront.
"Thank you," he said low, red burning his cheeks.
"Yeah, and don't be stupid next time." This was silly; he knew that. But fuck it anyway.
"Well then, I presume that's settled," Antoine intervened. "Anou... since you're here, do you mind directing us to the GenSci room?"
"Oh!" The brunette stared at them. "So you guys were also called in. You're on the list. Loswell-sempai informed me that we'll be meeting on somewhere else instead of the GenSci lab. Actually I was about to inform some teachers of the change."
"Really? And you're on the list too." Antoine gave his hand. "Antoine Gibrone."
Hanamichi turned to his companion, slightly frowning. He still doesn't use his full name. Not even on the posted note on the bulletin board.
"Nice to meet you. I am Guillen Morrel."
They shook hands while Hanamichi just stood there. The guy named Guillen turned to him. "And you most definitely must be Sakuragi Hanamichi. I hope I'm not wrong."
"Nani??!! How the hell did you know my name??!!"
Guillen smile meekly at him; he smiles a lot, Hanamichi noted. "I accidentally saw your profile. Was that OK with you? I really hope you don't mind?"
Now how was he to react? Besides having a handsome feature, the guy was also very polite.
"Well, no. Of course, I don't mind. You can look at my profile as many times as you want. I'm a genius anyway. Nyahahahahaha!!"
Guillen gave a bemused laugh. "Yes. Having your consent, for sure I will do that. Come now, they must be waiting for us."
The redhead was extremely proud of that; but one of Guillen's statement slightly stirred him. They passed several empty halls, going deeper into the east wing. The halls were already quite dark with windows scarce and sounds none but the echoes of their own feet. Until they turned left to a dead end. There was a single narrow door on that turn with a sign "FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" in glaring red.
"Oi, just where the hell are you planning to lead us? We've been walking for like hours!" One exaggerated redhead complained.
"Gomen nasai. I didn't mean to make you impatient. We are near already. Please be patient, Hanamichi-kun." The address was soft and hesitant. Guillen beforehand was well aware that it is improper to jump to first-name basis on primary acquaintance; he was faintly hoping the redhead wouldn't mind. Nonetheless he clung to that faint hope (thus he called him so).
They were a few feet from the door when the redhead spoke. "Just make sure you get us there, neh... Len-chan."
Guillen stopped opening the door half way and entering it through with his right foot forward. He stopped not because the entry was dark and the stairwells ominous, but because of what Hanamichi had called him. Hanamichi just gave him a nickname; how sweet!
The stair had an approximate width of two people. It was almost dark, save by some ghostly lit bulbs attached to the side walls at huge intervals. They went for some twists and turns before they met plain flat surface.
"So this is the basement," Antoine muttered.
"You can call it that.. on the surface. But technically this is what they call the U-2, or Section 2 Underground. We are actually beneath the basement, also known as the U-1."
Antoine stared at the brunette warily. "What's the U-2 for?"
"Basic Instruction Section. In a fortress it's what you pertain as the first line of defense. Where discreet dissemination of orders and classified information from other sections are made, and cofidential meetings held."
"Really?" Hanamichi frowned, vaguely understanding yet acknowledging Morrel's information. "How many sections does the Underground have?" He was getting lost in all the heavy explanation that he had got to ask a trivial question to buy time and feign disinterest.
The spectacled boy smiled at him. "More than one can imagine from outside. I haven't really seen much of the U-facility. I am also new here at Yusenko, you see."
"Contradictorily, I don't. How come you know all these when the majority of the students don't even know the existence of this facility?" Antoine snapped, suspicion consuming him. At first sight he knew that this tall green-eyed brunette would be a companionable friend, though he foresaw that the two of them would not be able to touch the intimate level. If ever they were to be acquainted, which is most likely to happen, they would have a deep and very subtle rivalry underneath their civil unity.
"I was informed of it by Professor Watanabe, one of the Physics teachers who also works here. He was a friend of our family; he was the one who gave me the application for YSCEP and helped me transfer." Guillen merely flash a smile, haughtily, knowing somehow the growing discomfort of their conversation and doing nothing to prevent it. "Now if you don't mind, I would also like to ask you something. What made you so sure of the students' ignorance of the section? Aren't we jumping to conclusions, milord?" A smirk to smite with spite followed, haughtiness guise in polite manners.
Enormously indignant though, the youngest held his peace gracefully as an educated dauphin would. "Elementary, Monsier Morrel. Why do you think Yusenko have this underground expansion when they could have expanded it areaways from the ground surface? I would have liked to entertain the idea that Yusenko is following the new form of space-saving structural plan, yet it is very unlikely, especially for a school, don't you think so? They could have placed it in their brochures to gain publicity. Unless Yusenko is planning to be the Japanese version of the olden Edinburgh University and start buying illegal corpse for secret underground biology classes."
Hanamichi chuckled at that statement, but he ceased abruptly, sensing the tension.
"Well, that wouldn't have to be the case, Monsier Gibrone. Let's say it is a private knowledge to students and staff." Morrel's last statement for the disclosure.
Hanamichi scowled, disturbed. "But Yusenko's a private school, right?"
Somewhere in that seemingly non sequitur sentence that Hanamichi said rendered Morrel's last statement untrue. Beyond the meaning of that fact held Antoine's winning streak.[1]
"Well, yes," was Guillen's hesitant reply, smiling meekly and resignedly at the honey-eyed boy. Hanamichi's intervention silenced them somehow.
He didn't know why Antoine and Guillen do not like each other; all the redhead know is that it was utterly senseless of them to argue about the most obvious. Guillen looked like someone with connections; respectable in mien and smart in speech, plus pampered and clean in appearance, the spectacle lad is wealthy enough, the redhead accurately presumed. He had that vague spark of held knowledge in his eyes, covered by his mild and polite ways. Behind the cordial smiles is a dangerously shrewd fellow. About Yusenko's underground territory, what Antoine said were exactly the thing. There is no need for elaboration Hanamichi thought; what boggled him was how they managed to establish this network, or how it was constructed out of public eyes. Whether or not the U-facility is publicly acknowledge is practically a stupid question. The two didn't have to make it sound so grave and severe; why do they have to make it sound so unnatural?
They stopped in front of a normal sized door. It was mechanically locked that Guillen had to swipe a card on the apparatus beside the door to open it. Inside was a fairly lit room, not a speck nor mark could be seen on the tiled floors and walls. Curving right where a single boring door resides, Guillen spoke to them. "We're here."
He opened the door for them and inside was a seemingly normal classroom with chairs, tables, and teacher's desk and flat form. Hanamichi immediately recognized Van as one of the student's there. She was sitting on one of the front seats with Meimei casually sitting on her lap. One of his cousin's arms was draped languidly across Meimei's thighs. And Meimei combed Van's relaxed hair with her hand while they talked in whispers.
Hanamichi smiled at the scene. The two were oblivious of their surroundings. Near Van's desk, another girl sat bored. A blonde foreigner with sensuous lips and perfectly shaped chin. She emits a cosmopolitan air, like Van and the rest of the people in the room. Her complex spirit flaunts its presence all over her very being. For the first time, the redhead felt a bit awkward, he felt blood rushing through his cheeks. Here he stood in a room full of individuals whose mere presence could struck a crowd in awe. Beautiful, talented, attractive; what else could they ask for? He quelled the growing inferiority within him; it was torturing him. He chose to talk to Guillen instead.
"Oi, Len-chan--" Hanamichi paused. Guillen was blushing, jaws slightly dropped. Guess he wasn't used to that sort of intimacy. He blinked, somehow that expression annihilated his inferiority complex. Antoine beside him just looked pass the two friends, nearly as bored as the foreign girl.
"Oi!" He nudged him.
"H-ha? Gomen nasai, Hana-kun. Let's take our seats, shall we? We'll just have to wait for the others."
The three of them occupied the column on the far side of the room. Glass panels where on the rear wall; curtains hanging from it outside, barring the view through. There was good air-conditioning and lighting, as if one is not in an underground territory.
"Hey, redhead," a melodious voice penetrated his reverie. The foreign girl faced him mischievously. Hanamichi thought she wasn't actually intimidating; she was appealing in a way. Within seconds, he became entranced by her feline grace as she walked to him and sat on his desk. Her cream neck tilted at him curiously, exposing an elegant curve. She wore the school uniform, during Sundays he wondered, a white long sleeves polo underneath a tight vest and a black shorts skirt[2]. He noticed she has long legs, shapely and smooth. "I'm Gail Lenard. And you are Mr. Cute?" Gail winked at him; Hanamichi shot up a brow. He changed his mind. Too cocky and aggressive for him, if not too sensuous.
"Well, yeah." He snorted irritably.
"Oh, you are soooo adorable!" she suddenly squealed, plunging up him for a tight bear hug. Experiencing in shock his first girl assailant, Hanamichi found himself squirming for dear breath.
"Teme! Get your fucking hands off me!"
"KIIIAAA!!! You're so cute when you're all squirming and suffocating like that!" She laughed insanely. Bwahahahahaha!!!
"Hoy! Don't you dare touch him!!" Antoine (in chibi mode) screamed seething.
Gail, who stopped bouncing on Hanamichi's lap, glared at him. "And are you? His boyfriend?"
"Well-- yeah!" The blond boy paused. "... er, something like that. The point is that you should get your damned ass off him, right now!"
The foreigner stared at him critically for a long time, only to state "I'm prettier than you" afterwards, then proceeded to squeal and torture Hana-kun with her steel grip cuddles, which infuriated Antoine more.
"Maa, maa, Gibrone-san. Calm down," Guillen tried to sooth.
"Ow shut the fuck up, Morrel!!"
The door suddenly burst open. "Hello, mates!" Luch stepped in. "What the hell was that racket? Oi, you! The blondie sittin' on the redhed. Stop screaming will ya? Could here you're voice from th' hallwa', 'now that?"
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" The blonde snapped back.
Luch approached them, ignoring Van and Meimei who were still indulging in their own world. "Luthiana Hikaru Felch at your service." She bowed to her. "Now s'll we get off the redhead?" And without further ado, Luch dragged her to seat, gripping on the locks of her hair.
"Good riddance, wasn't it? Hana-kun?" Guillen commented with relief as they listened to the painful screams of Gail. Before Hanamichi could reply, Yan came into the room and sat at the nearest desk immediately.
Seconds after the door opened and closed, jolting off Meimei from Van's lap to the chair near the board facing them. A man wearing white lab gown came in front, ignoring Meimei's abrupt scuttle who was currently sitting beside him. Instead of going behind the teacher's desk, he leaned in front of it, scanning the residents of the room with blank expression.
"So it's seven," he muttered more to himself. "We're complete. Anyway, I'm Professor Noda from the College of Modern Sciences of Liwette. I'm also the first year's Chemistry teacher in here, for those of you who don't know." Noda-sensei paused, eyeing Hanamichi oddly and tilting back his black-rimmed eyeglasses, before crossing his arms to his chest. "Basically you are all here to form a special group with me as you technical adviser, and Mrs. Yuriko Volsteick as your coach and group adviser. Your group will be under the classified department of the U-sector. In short, this is a very special team under Code 7. You will be labeled as the 'Perfect Circle'." Noda-sensei roved through the aisles, back and forth, nonchalantly. His voice was metallic, cold, resounding inside the four corners of the room. "A course will be designated to each and everyone of you. You will be taught privately according to the field given to you. You can do what you want up surface; but within Code 7, you will be instructed and handled."
Pain surged to Hanamichi's head. It's all too fast. He had heard the teacher's lines before. Different words and instructions; same meaning. He had to confirm it; he raised his hand.
"Yes, Hanamichi-kun?" The teacher coolly acknowledged him, despite the awkward notion of calling his pupil by the first name. But the redhead knew the reason why; first name basis are safer where lineage is concern.
"I don't.... I don't get this." He chuckled hesitantly, confused as he was. Van sat still, face blank. Unknown if this gets to her or not. The teacher glanced pensively at him, expecting for Hanamichi to continue, even if the redhead didn't know what exactly to say. "What is this exactly?" That was the only question he could come up with.
Noda Katsuo's eyes bore down through his soul; he felt naked with those eyes. "What is this?" He repeated, as if weighing down the answers. "Why, it's exactly what you think it is."
He dreaded that answer. He could see his reflection on his spectacles. It was stunning, horribly stunning. This morning he thought that this was some dumb boring orientation again, but this was wholly different. This may be another one of those position-of-responsibility shits the old hag had on her sleeves to torment him. Or it may be the other dreadful thing, the same dreadful thing? The latter option scared him.
The room with it's white walls and conditioned surrounding became frigid to him. Yusenko, YSCEP, the U-sector revealed things to him. They were clear absolutely clear to him.
Deception. Cover. Network. Conspiracy. Code Red.
Hanamichi felt more than saw Antoine. He was listening to Noda-sensei. Lips pursed thin, pallid than ever, calm in composure, but he could feel the coldness that crawled to the young one's skin, the merciless hands that gripped his soul.
Antoine also knew. It was the family.
Fucking shit....
***
He came out not really as a new person, but as the old one with newer and bigger burden. The characters from the past are arriving one by one, like a haunting nightmare. Only Antoine was his light.
Sleeping beside the redhead was the fragile effeminate blond. It was about 6 p.m. when they took the train, and it had been 15 minute ever since. Antoine was still peacefully asleep; Hanamichi was almost sorry to wake him up. But he did so because they were nearing their stop. To home they went. To rest.
The two slumped down to Hanamichi's king sized bed. His room had changed ever since yesterday. Stuffed toys, big and small, were crowding the bed that one would think that a filthy rich girl sleeps in there. One of Antoine's odd collections, amounting some hundreds already. Some of them he had since childhood.
Antoine grabbed beneath the heap a small old pink and white bunny with a lovely strawberry embroidered on its belly. The pink hue was evidently discolored by time, but intact and well-contained despite the color. The bunny was Antoine's first toy and Hanamichi's first gift to him. He loves it very much, and when stressed or lonely, he takes it for a cuddle.
Laying side by side each other quietly, they kept their eyes close and relaxed their bodies, comfortable with the company and the soft breeze from the balcony.
" 'ntoine..."
"Hm."
"It's them." He stated rather than asked. They don't know but they could feel.
"Yeah. The family."
They both sigh, the depression sinking on them.
"Got any news?"
"Something's wrong. I heard some of our branches had been cut off. Four of them."
Hanamichi turned to him frowning. "Major keys?"
"No, minor. Almost the tips... now dead twigs." He laughed at his joke. "But they're enough to shake the tree, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I read you." The allegory was quite understandable, for them, that is. Serious talks always come in metaphor. However Hanamichi didn't appreciate it. The secrecy and restrain add up to the burden of too much knowledge.
"It seems that our enemy's persistent. They're hunting us down. And some government got snoopy too. It all started when Salvador from Caracas got deals from a wealthy European syndicate. A newbie but well-equipped, I should say so. It happened that the said group planned to steal a million-dollar technology from one of our laboratories. Salvador headed a shipment company in South America. He ensured the smooth travel of illegal goods to Europe. It's a relay point of North America to Europe. Anyway, to make the long story short, he decided to ride in two rivers, supporting the syndicate and then warning the laboratory secretly for a price. Accordingly the syndicate's attempt was futile; some of the members were caught and hunted down by the German police. If I tell you the details I would probably have a headache, so the end of the story is somebody found out about Salvador and he got killed. Then the police found evidences of transferred accounts to Zurich earning to millions of dollars.
"Not his accounts, I assume." They both know to whom those millions are.
"Most definitely the family's."
"He's one helluva twig."
"Not really. Salvador was a blind puppet. We've got other puppets somewhere else. The armed forces and other government agencies. Loyal bunch. Some of them were recently activated to hold down information and to wipe us clean. They're great help but we need to eliminate the nosy people."
"The syndicate?"
"Could be easily squashed. But they're good diversions to keep them from suspecting the network. . Have you heard? We're doing some blood cleaning along the way?" Antoine smirked.
Hanamichi stared at him, half-amused, half-confused. "Really?"
"They're breaking off the bad useless branch."
"You mean culling them." Somewhere in the depths of his conscience came a tug in his heart.
"Yup. Some puppets were retained though, more than the kin. Don't you know that we could make a whole army?" His blue eyes glistened in childish excitement.
"That's wonderful!" Hanamichi agreed. Never had he thought such words would be spoken with calmness. They were talking metaphorically of deaths and killings of their own bloodline in a fashion that sounded too trivial to raise alarm on them. Calmness to the extent of morbidity.
He could feel it but he doesn't give a damn. He was back in the family cage again, nearly forgetting his old self. He and Antoine were back in the same insane labyrinth . But it is most likely inevitable from them to escape this. For being together, Antoine and Hanamichi, means locking themselves back to the clan. However once together, they begin to disregard the cage set in on them; they were happy as is.
"Who's Salvador's connexion?" Hanamichi spoke of their relative.
"Brigetta, his wife, product of the 16th generation. They're far from tracking us down, if you think of it. She was the one who coaxed his husband into entering the deal with the syndicate and into opening a shadow account in Zurich. She's very wise. The police didn't even suspect her, instead she was portrayed as an innocent wife who had no idea of her husband's forbidden occupation."
Hanamichi chuckled. "Undeniably, a Sakuragi to the core!"
"Indeed, her acting was flawless, also her contraption and alibis. This led to the killings of other less intelligent of our connexions who were within the transaction. But something went wrong." Antoine sank to silence.
"Let me guess." Hanamichi said after some time. "Brigetta was killed. Not by the syndicate, nor by the police. It's somebody else, isn't it?"
Antoine did not speak.
"That's why we're gathered. To get us ready. To protect the clan or something else. Or to utilize us on some project or another scam before we're done for. They disregarded us flaws because we are directly from the 22nd descendants, the 23rd. We are the prominent blood among the 12 cousins of the 23rd descendants. How flattering," he said flatly. "The Sakuragi's main goal is to survive."
"Les derniers fils d'une race épuisée[3]." Antoine muttered thoughtfully.
The older boy laughed out loud. "Don't sound so negative, my dear Antoine!"
"They're scared. Who could possibly be our enemy?" he thought aloud, out of curiosity than sympathy for the clan.
"Don't know. Most likely some psychopaths hell bent on destroying us." The redhead turned to him for an inquiry. "What do you have to say for that?"
Grinning madly, the boy looked at him maliciously. "Shine."
He chuckled once again; under normal circumstances, he shouldn't have. "I know you'd say that."
There were things unspoken, things to weary to discuss, so they didn't. Riveting back to common flow, Antoine asked for them to sleep for a while, yawning for emphasis. Hanamichi declined.
"I have to call Miyowara for the details of the Science Symposium of the 3rd year seniors. They're asking for this guy from the university. I have to contact the university for that. Then I've to call the old hag for the May fair budget."
"Ok, you do that. I'll take a nap," he said closing his eyes.
Nothing but the emerald green canopy to commune with, Hanamichi unexpectedly felt a certain longing. Mentally tired as he was, he moved his body to the right, where the younger boy lay still. Raising his upper body with the help of his right elbow, he scrutinized the prone form of Antoine. The younger boy's long hair was scattered on the soft mattress; his lips that were teasingly red slightly parted; eyelids heavy with long fabulous strokes of lashes. The lids each have a single green strokes of make-up, accentuating his lovely face, however chase those simple strokes were. He was the only guy Hanamichi knew who actually wears make-up. But it did not matter.
"Antoine," he whispered to his ear. Eyelids opening like delicate rosebuds, dramatically exposing brilliant sapphires caused Hanamichi to hitched up a breath. As innocent as those eyes were when they first met, blue eyes, dazed with sleep, stared at him disoriented.
"Hai..." he answered huskily.
The redhead could not resist flashing a loving smile. His hand extending to trace the soft contours of his cheek.
"Let's play basketball."
-_-;;; TBC
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(~_~;;;) ohhhh.... dear.
[1] try getting logic out of that statement... i won't give anything but just try.... expand your imagination and logical thinking by getting at what Hanamichi was trying to say....
[2] you know those thing which at first glance could be mistaken for a skirt but then it's actually shorts
[3] The last of a declining race (French). got it from 'Sons and Lovers' by D.H. Lawrence.
kaien : i'm glad to have intrigued you. anyway, i'm very much aware that antoinette is a girl's name... the name itself has a certain significance in the story which in coming chapters will be revealed. there's a little hint in this chapter though, but it is quite vague....
Blue6_Blood6]6 : what?! i didn't know you're such a studious ass!!! =P i'll miss you too.... mhaw! i'm not finish with you bio, so kill me when you see me. hehehe....
keli : my, my!!! i'm not revealing anything yet, but all i can say is...... maybe.... i'm really sorry. i did this fic without having much thought of the love aspects. it's originally focused on the relationship of antoinette and hana-kun and the family.... about sendoh and rukawa, well.... we'll see if i can fit it in the scene but please don't be disappointed if i didn't....
caramel : thank you. i hope i'll continue to inspire you....
silvercross : cliche? it's the thought that counts..... that's cliche! hehehe.... of course, Hana-kun is a tensai!!! Bwahahahaha!!! I'd be damn not to say it..... i've written this chapter earlier than the others but i did something else so.... well, i hope this is not too long.... RuHanaRu? i can't promise, unfortunately....
starsong : that was a great comment and i thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! i could kiss you, ya know!!! *gives sloppy kisses* bwahahahahaha!!! please continue reading despite it all. i'll try my best to set my story properly.... again, don't trust my word for it.... ehe-he-he.... (-_-;;;)
Hirame : why, you change a lot!!! at least i could still recognize you.... Fil-Am??? anyway, have a nice life... or something. complicated plots are a scream.... i usually go for conspiracies.... read on!!! (*^_^*)
chris : this would have to be that soon you're talking about.... why, damn it! i'm slow! *pounds head on the desk* really sorry.... this might spread some light on 'things'. well, it's not so clear as i intend it to be, i'm always bound to break my promise... *sigh* i suggest you read between the lines, maybe you might get something in here....
Maria-chan : here it is!!! thanks for the support..... luv ya!!! mwah!!
so what could i say??? i'm planning hastily for the next chapters, but i've got lots of ideas i don't even know what would be next.... the story getting creepy, or something.... maybe i should stop ranting... yeah, hell.. (*_*;)