The Thin Line Between Truth and Trust
- Chapter 3 -
She gripped the light jacket that Takeru had given her tightly around her light frame, standing firmly against the chilling breeze that seemed to blow right through her soul. Takeru had given her a nice, corner motel to sleep in for the night - nothing fancy, but it was better than that dank floor that held her previous rest. However, she wanted nothing more than to go out for one night, even if it was to do nothing; despite its danger, she could not stand begin cooped up any longer. Another gust blew past her, brushing a lock of hair against her cold-rosied cheek.
"Look, Tai, enough is enough."
Mimi's stomach dropped.
"Don't tell me you're quitting?" she heard him ask mockingly.
"Of course I'm not quitting." That voice was so... familiar... "I can't leave the cause, not when I'm in this deep."
"Love has a tricky way of doing that to you, dear sister."
'Oh my God,' she thought, her face falling further with each mental syllable. 'It's… Kari!'
"Yes, it is love. You're damned right I love him. I couldn't betray him, not by joining you."
Mimi walked over to the alley where she heard the voices coming from; for the first time, she wasn't panicked to hear Tai's voice, but she was still cautious: who knew what they were discussing. She crouched silently behind a box, taking a peak around the corner.
"But we'd make such a great team, you and I. Do you remember how it was in the past?" Tai put a hand on his sister's shoulder, as if by the touch he could invoke her memories.
Kari lowered her head with a tired sigh. "Look, Tai. We were a good team in the past. But you," she looked up, frustrated eyes meeting his deceitful pair, "You changed. Something about how you saw the world, how you saw humanity, it all changed for the worse."
He put his hand on her other shoulder, locking her into his gaze. He bent forward, so as to be able to speak directly to Kari's face. "No, for the better. I realized how right he was. We fought and fought and risked our necks - TWICE some of us! - And for what?" He swept his arms out to punctuate the next statement: "For this? A world where we are forgotten, where our deeds went unrecognized? Do you remember how they treated us when we finally returned?"
Kari looked away, as if the pain from those memories haunted her still. In truth, even Mimi was still burdened by the fact that they were taunted and ridiculed, and laughed down by every form of government to even suggest that there was a parallel universe, that there were monsters from another planet. They fought to save two worlds, only to see their own crashing down. Mimi had to change her surname in order to survive in America; she broke off all ties from her past life, hoping that by sealing it she could forget it. 'The past has a funny way of biting you in the ass,' she mused in her silent hiding place.
"How could I forget? Even Mom and Dad wondered if what they had seen was real, because of all that Goddamned propaganda."
"So why not let them have a taste of it? We can do it ourselves, just you and I, with no middleman required. He doesn't have to know anything."
'Are they talking about Takeru?... They couldn't be...'
"I can't do it, Tai. I love him."
Tai growled in frustration, waving a hand into the air. "What good is love? What good did that virtue ever do for Sora? You see how she is now."
Kari glared at her brother. "Yea, thanks to you blowing her cover."
He crossed his arms, shaking his head sadly. "No, no. She condemned herself to that fate. Had I not done it, he would have."
'Who are they talking about?'
Without warning, a rat scuttled somewhere in the distance, knocking one piece of metal against another. Without thinking, for fear she may be caught, Mimi fled as silently as she could from her hiding spot.
Tai looked to where the noise had originated. "Walls have ears," he whispered.
She smiled at him sardonically, "Are you ashamed of what you say?"
Takeru lay back on the lawn, staring up at the stars; it was a surprisingly clear night, and he could make out the lacy pattern of the Milky Way. He slowly let his thoughts drift to Mimi's question. 'How did I ever get that stupid nickname? Only Kari knows. It all started with her... Or did it?'
…It was over a year ago, and Matt had finally caught up with his brother. He had abandoned Mimi, not out of want, but out of necessity. "How could you just leave her like that?" Takeru screamed. "If he ever finds her, he'll tear her to pieces!"
Matt hung his head. "I know, Takeru. You think I haven't realized that. But that's *if* he finds her. If Mimi came with me, Tai would find her, and then she'd be lost forever."
Takeru's breath softly hitched in his throat. "You... you really love her, don't you?"
His brother nodded. "More than life itself, Takeru. I'd give anything to have her in my arms right now, to know that she's safe."
A small brush of tears stung Takeru's eyes momentarily, but he forced them back. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Matt sighed. "This whole thing that's going on... just how much do you know?"
Takeru shook his head, "Not much. I only know that Tai's trying to get at the Digiworld. I don't know how. I don't know why."
"Takeru, this is bigger than you can possibly imagine. I wish I could fill you in, but for someone to know their own destiny... it's... it's just not right."
He raised his eyebrow. "What do you know about my destiny?"
"More than I'd like to know, Takeru. I wish I could turn back time and set things right when I had the chance. But I didn't know."
"Nobody's blaming you, Matt."
"I am. I should have been able to put the pieces together sooner. But I was too late, and now things have been set in motion that I can't stop. Only you can."
"But how, Matt?"
"I..." his voice cracked, as it was obviously painful to hold inside whatever he knew. "I can't tell you, Takeru. It wouldn't be right. And if I tried to change it..." his face suddenly lit up. "Maybe I can!"
"What do you have in mind, Matt?"
Matt rose his eyes to the clouds that were collecting overhead. It was beginning to storm. "It's tonight, isn't it?" he said to nobody in particular. "I know it is. Well, if you want an angel, then too bad, because I'm coming instead."
"Matt, what are you talking about?"
"I've gotta go, Takeru." He turned to run off, but Takeru caught him by the forearm. Matt struggled to shrug him off, but he wouldn't let go. "Takeru, just let me go!"
"No! Not until you tell me what's going on!"
Matt managed to slip from his grasp and began running down the hill; unfortunately for him, Takeru was much faster and quickly tackled him, sending them both rolling in a frenzy of blonde hair and blinding fists to the base of the grassy knoll. When they finally reached the bottom, Takeru had the advantage and held Matt pinned to the ground.
"Please, Takeru! You don't know what you're doing!"
"Then let me know, Matt! Tell me what's going on!"
Matt fought against his brother, and through a quick move, almost unseeable, he managed to get himself out from under his brother. Takeru was about to grab him, when Matt's fist went flying through the air, nailing Takeru in the face. His brother dropped to the ground, clasping his swollen cheek and eye, a trickle of blood emerging from his nose.
"I'm so sorry, Takeru, but an angel has to fall tonight, and I won't let it be you."
His body was wracked with pain, more emotionally than physically. "What exactly are you telling me Matt? I have to know!"
"I've said too much. I've go to go." With that, Matt ran off into the night, leaving Takeru there, with a bloody nose and a million questions. Little did Takeru know that would be the last time he would see his brother.
"Takeru!" Mimi called. "Takeru, where are you?"
Takeru pulled himself out of his daydream, not realizing that he had tears streaming down his face. "Hi, Mimi," he said cheerfully.
Mimi eyed him oddly. "Why are you crying? What's wrong?"
Finally becoming aware of the dampness, he brushed the tears out of his eyes. "Oh, nothing. Sometimes my eyes just water. I think I'm allergic to grass."
She accepted his excuse and quickly flew into her panic: "I heard something. Something bad."
He stood up quickly, his face momentarily swept with fear. "What did you hear? What are you doing out, anyway? You were supposed to stay at the motel."
Mimi brushed off his accusation. "Thank me later. But first, I have to tell you. I think that… oh you're not going to believe this but… I think…that Kari's a traitor."
Takeru was stunned. 'Not Kari... not after everything we had been through...' He raised an eyebrow at Mimi. The girl had been under a lot of stress lately; maybe she was just hearing things. "What makes you say that?"
"She was talking with Tai... almost civilly."
"What about?"
"She kept talking about someone she loved... and Tai kept talking about betraying somebody. It almost sounded like they were referring to the same person... I would swear, that Tai might not be in his game alone and Kari's along with him, and they were talking about the same person, I know it..." At this point, she began feeling pretty silly.
He rested a hand on Mimi's shoulder. "You shouldn't be out. Thank you for your concern, but I highly doubt Kari would ever betray me," His eyes flickered downward momentarily. "We've been through too much. We know each other too well." He brought his look back up to Mimi, smiling softly. "I'm sure you're just tired. Let me help you get home and get to rest."
She was about to protest, but then relented, feeling foolish for causing such a panic and bothering Takeru when something was obviously weighing rather heavily on his mind. She put her arm into his and let him lead her back to the motel.
In the shadows, a figure lurked, watching the display. "Yea," he said into his black Nokia, "he bought it. That was a close call."
"Too close," came the curt voice on the other line.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said argumentatively. "I didn't know she was listening. I thought she'd be too tired to do anything."
"Well, obviously you underestimated her. We need to eliminate that one."
"Mimi?"
"Yes, kill her the next chance you get. And *don't* foul this one up."
: -: -: -: -: -:
Karei: Duuuude... I hope this came out good. I rather wrote the middle one-day and then the beginning and end two weeks later. ^.^() Okay, but yea, so what did you think?
Princess Mimi: They loved it of course. *Stares at audience* ah…heh… *shrugs uncomfortably* Well, I did!
Karei: ….You don't count.
Princess Mimi: *falls over anime style*