By Yomi
CHAPTER 15
A little more about ourselves
Sunday, 6:30pm Endless Parade
The troubling contents of the dream wouldn't let his mind concentrate on matters of importance. Even as he parked his car outside a nondescript unit was his heart still racing. It was not often that a man would, in his sleep, envision himself in the arms of another man, their lips almost touching, their hot breath teasing and alluring. With immeasurable anger in his eyes, he glared at his own reflection in the rear view mirror.
Get out of my head you asshole!
He heard a faint laugh in the background. A voice he knew too well.
I can get you anything that you want my dear, sweet Illumi…..you just give me a call, and I can make all your dreams come true. It whispered before dying completely to Illumi's relief. He flung the seatbelt out of the way, nudged the car door open and energetically slammed it shut, disturbed by the last words of his madness.
Why would I want those dreams to come true anyway? He chanted to himself whilst he unpacked his tools and equipment from the trunk of his car. He juggled the items so that they wouldn't fall to the ground and made his way up the small path through the front yard which had an array of pot plants painstakingly lined on either side and politely knocked on the door.
"Hey Dougy, it's me." He called out, bringing up his knee to steady the large box he grappled with in his arms. The door silently swung open and Illumi strode in before the mountain of things he'd bought over tumbled and all over the front step of the unit.
The door closed shut behind him with a small click and for a moment, Illumi had to adjust his eyes to the dimness of the hallway.
"Dougy," he said with a certain amount of friendly reproach, a tone he'd often heard his mother use when she pointed out to Karuto that her room needed tidying up. It was amazing how perfect his imitation of his mother could be when he really put his mind to it, "what have I told you about living in the dark? It's a bad habit, now switch on the lights and lets get your hair done before we have dinner."
"You mean before I have dinner." The pale, blue haired man muttered as he drifted off further down the hallway to switch on the lights and comply with Illumi's wishes. "You never consume food in front of me like you're a vampire or something. And I thought I was a small eater."
"And the curtains too," Illumi ignored his last comment and hopped into the living room, dunking his stuff onto the carpeted floor. "why do you always shut your curtains anyway? You want agents to be able to take a few snap shots of you in your house. Add to the secrecy and vagueness of it all. And when people only have snatches of rumors to work with…?"
"They always want to have more." Dougy monotonously intoned, then grunted as he shambled into the living room and tugged his heavy velvet curtains open. The orange glow of dusk filtered through, hitting the leather sofa, the small low, rectangular coffee table and twelve inch television set. Doug squinted his eyes to adjust to the sudden bright light but was mildly fascinated by the way the dust gracefully floated in the air around him. Again, Illumi ignored his slightly rebellious attitude and clapped his hands in delight.
"Good, good. We're getting the concept. Now, this!" he exclaimed with childish joy and a flourish when the top of the box was carelessly thrown aside "is the first prototypes of this autumn's fashion! Finished them last night and got a spare stack at home. This Dougy, this is what's going to get us famous!"
"For all the right reasons of course." Dougy added for the record, but his curiosity no longer able to be restrained now overcame him. He cautiously approached the box in the middle of his living room and felt his knees go weak at the colours upon colours, layer upon layer of clothes inside the box. All were for him. All of which would make him a celebrity again. But unlike three weeks ago, when he would have felt nothing but selfish ecstatic joy at the prospects of revitalized fame, he looked at the tired lines on Illumi's face, the slightly sagging eye bags he tried to conceal under the make up and noticed how Illumi's hair had lost some of its amazing lustrous shine and could only feel heart burning guilt.
Illumi stopped in the middle of unpacking and pressed his lips together.
"What's the matter Doug? These clothes not to your taste?"
"Did you stay up all night to get this done for me?"
"But of course!" the black haired man proudly declared. "It took me two weeks of late nights, but it's damn worth well worth it because this – "
"You've lost weight since I last saw you, and that was only two days ago." Doug interrupted, a glum expression on his face. He sat down on his sofa, shoulders drooping wearily and ran a tired hand through his short hair. He looked at his partner with a genuine gleam in his blue eyes.
"Come on Illumi – I only dragged you out of the gutter that night. I don't expect you to do this much for me. I feel bad seeing you working yourself to unhealthiness. Fame, fortune – I can't really be expected to enjoy it if I had to squeeze every drop of life out of you to get it."
Illumi held Dougy's gaze for a long time, trying to ascertain whether this was just some cheap device to gain some sort of trust and attention. He couldn't find any ill will in the man seated opposite him and so gave a small sigh.
"I'm doing this for myself too, as you well know." He looked down disinterestedly at the carpet.
"No, I actually don't know. Illumi, just how bad can your relations at Hunter Works be for you to have to labour on this Reverie for eighteen hours a day? Then you gotta do half of your mum's job, and I hear you're still trying to set up your own dolls store as well. Do you get any sleep these days?"
"Just brief naps, here and there. And I don't like sleep anyway. Dreams always trying to interfere with reality." Illumi reached out for the box again to unpack another set of clothes, but Doug stopped him, pulling him down onto the couch with him.
"It can't be that bad," He stressed again "especially since you and Hisoka are crazy about each other. As much as I want people to prostrate before me and offer to shine my shoes and everything, I've got a conscience. And right now, it's telling me that it'll plague me with guilt for the rest of my life if I continue to let you live under the misguided assumption that the Hunter actors hate your guts. Listen – "
"I do know exactly how they feel about me." Illumi smiled a little, thinking back to the muffled laughs he heard in his room whilst Hisoka and his friends lounged in the living room having their couch warming party. "But…thanks for caring I guess. You didn't have to."
"What?" Dougy drew himself up indignantly with a coldness in his voice. "Am I not qualified to be your friend too and care? Is that it Illumi? We're just to become tools for each other's convenience?"
"No no!" Illumi frantically shook his head. He bit his lip in thought, and with each thought his mood became more despondent. When he spoke again, it seemed as though he was talking more to himself than to Dougy Cameron.
"I guess…well…I guess not many people have cared about me before, so I usually don't expect or require it of people. Not even my own mum sometimes. The only friend I had through high school was this little girl, quiet and timid, shy as a mouse. She would cry over anything – low marks, spilt juice, dirtied uniform. And even then, she had too many of her own problems to ever care about me. You might have heard of Rogina – she's at Galaxy Institute now." He broke off and sniffed a bit. "And then university wasn't so good for me either. Most of my spare time was spent helping mum with Fantasia and looking after my sister. She was born not long before I went to uni you see, so with mum busy all the time, I had to stay home often to take care of her.
"Anime city was supposed to be my first real start. Mum managed to pull some strings and introduce this supposedly well connected and popular guy to me and show me around town. According to her brilliant and faultless plans, I was supposed to become his good friend, and in turn become good friends with all of his good friends."
Doug saw the sad smile on Illumi's lips and tried to lighten the atmosphere with a light laugh. "And your mum picked Hisoka? Well yes, I read the newspaper that caught all your yummy friendliness – and they even thought it was worthy of being front page material too!"
Illumi tried to smile a bit more brightly too, but it took too much effort and the end product would have looked more like a twisted mask of pain rather than a smile, so he settled for giving another sigh and reached to unpack more clothes to distract himself from the tide of suffocating emotions.
"Yeah. Hisoka was my first friend in…a long time, perhaps ever. But as you well know, that lasted less than forty eight hours. It….was good whilst it lasted." He stopped at stared at the blank tv screen. "Have you ever….you know….felt instantly connected to another person before?"
"Can't say that I have."
"Yeah – it probably doesn't happen to normal people. I'm just probably….too desperate to have a friend I guess. I shouldn't have accepted him immediately, forty eight hours Illumi, what were you thinking? You make someone your best friend after knowing him for less than forty eight hours. Yeah, no wonder why you're hurting right now."
"Illumi, just listen to me for a second ok!" Dougy grabbed a scrap book from the coffee table, one that was filled from page one to the end with newspaper clippings. He furiously flipped through the pages until he found the right one and pushed the desired page under Illumi's nose.
"Just look at that for god sakes!" it was the blasted Insider from almost a month ago, littered with pictures of the pair on their first day together – at Gladis' Café having morning tea, kicking water at the beach, dining at a popular wharf for lunch, spending a lazy afternoon at the park – leaning against a tree trunk, shoulder to shoulder. It seemed like such a wonderful, long eternity ago.
"You guys were so natural. Damn I've been flipping through this guck long enough to see genuine friendship and fondness for each other ok? Illumi, Hisoka is crazy about you – he's got it all written over his face in these pictures. Why is making up to him so hard? He'd cave in in two minutes flat unless…OH!"
With his years of experience in the acting industry and his extensive grasp of gossip and politics, Dougy shrewdly studied the images that Illumi was vacantly studying and felt a growl rise in his throat. He was reminded of his own tragic downfall at Serenity Pictures, ousted out by the Prince of Slime because he had gotten fat on confidence and attention and grew careless. The memories alone begun to twist his calm and apathetic disposition that he had fostered over the years of self imposed exile and was recently struggling to shake off.
"Divide and Conquer."
"I beg your pardon?" Illumi snapped the scrap book shut and looked at him quizzically. Dougy shook himself out of his reminiscence and felt the excitement stinging his veins. Eyes ablaze with determination, he breathed in slow and deeply to gather his thoughts.
"There's interference! Someone or some people are deliberately trying to sideline you and make sure that Hisoka continues to hate you. I've seen it oh-so-clearly before. It's the despicable, dirty, low-handed tactics of small and petty people, jealous of what you have that they don't have. They think that if they can get you out of Hisoka's head, then they might have a chance to conquer him. The stupid fool – he doesn't even know someone's pulling his strings!"
"No Doug, you don't understand. Somehow, I just have the ability to turn someone into my mortal enemy in a devastatingly short amount of time, much to the horror of my mum. Ahh, her brilliant plans out the window."
"That's where you're wrong Illumi." Dougy moved forward to help unpack. "Hisoka just likes you too much that he's afraid, plus he's got people dripping poison down his ear. And I only say this because I've seen the newspapers, plus I've known him for some time." He wrinkled his nose. "And I don't know whether I should be considered fortunate or unfortunate to know him. He's such a slob."
How glad he was when Illumi gave a short lived, yet genuinely amused, laugh. So he finally found some safe ground to start on at last. Hisoka's weaknesses – his character flaws often, and should, make a good subject of discussion.
"You know how you used to do crazy things when you're young. Well, back in those days, the degree of drunkenness we reach could put today's young teenagers to shame. We were psychos back then – and often, I couldn't go back to my proper and decent home after a night's partying. So Legato and I crashed in at Hisoka's place. And let me tell you, I think I would have been better off sleeping on the park benches instead.
"One night, I broke his favourite cd when I was too passed out to even concern myself with whatever kind of reality I was treading on. He found out the next day; got angry of course, but forgot about it after two hours. For all his flaunted speeches on code duello and an actor's injured pride, Hisoka can't really hold a grudge."
"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters – except this. Thanks for trying though Dougy….but I know what I know. Perhaps you are acquainted with a different Hisoka, but like I said, that doesn't matter. My family's happiness doesn't depend on me getting along with Hisoka and my goal of setting up a doll store certainly doesn't require his connections. Sometimes, we just can't have everything we want in life. Enough talk – get me coat hangers and when we're done with the unpacking, I'll fix your hair, then why don't you try this jacket on with these pants?"
Dougy pushed aside the clothes. They weren't important now – nothing but Illumi's plight was of greater concern to him now, if only because Dougy Cameron saw in him the shadow of his former self, headed on a collision course with destruction but didn't know it until it hit him. History was trying to repeat it himself – and he was damned if he would let it happen again. He was going to make a come back – and this come back included a fight back against the self same forces that pulled him down years ago.
"It matters Illumi. You're trying so hard to fit into Anime City and trying to establish connections with everything on two legs. If you're determined to succeed, then impart some of this determination against those people who would seek to divide you and Hisoka. Didn't you know that the sweetest thing in the world is…."
The smile, for the briefest of moments, there was such cruelty and gluttonous triumph in that smile that made Dougy's blood turn cold. But it was gone as soon as he noticed, and he was left with the Illumi he had come to know over the past few weeks – a tad bit shy, soft spoken but incredibly determined to be strong and succeed.
"Revenge." Illumi chuckled and presented the blue haired man with the
clothes again.
Monday
Machi wondered what she would do this week; a week which she considered to be full of tedium and bore. She slouched on the couch at home and stared at the plastic couple on a day time soapie. Her hand crawled along the couch to reach for the tv remote and instantly began to flick through the channels.
"For gods sake Machi, it's only ten o'clock and you're channel surfing already?!" Legato exclaimed. He had just exited the bathroom with nothing but a flimsy towel wrapped around his waist for some modesty. Had she been one of his obnoxious screaming fan girls, the wet, dark turquoise hair plastered on either side of his face, his sculptured body and lithe frame would have sent her swooning and perhaps even faint. But as his sister, she merely trained a golden glare in his direction and continued her inane past time.
"Gimme that." Legato leaned over from behind her and snatched the remote out of her hand. He switched the tv off with a sneer and sat on the couch beside his sister. She growled softly and shuffled over beside his broad frame, the frown still on her pretty face.
"So," her brother began "why are we moping around at home in broad daylight?"
"They've got locations this week. I'm not involved."
"Ahh," her brother let out an understanding sigh and shifted his weight a bit. "so Hisoka's not around and you're all deflated." He sniffed a bit as he continued to take in her sour expression. "not to mention ill tempered and moody."
"I am not ill tempered and moody!" she retorted immediately. Legato took one look at her clenched fists and raised an eyebrow.
"Right," he drawled. "then I suppose it's also got nothing to do with the fact that Menchi will be spending a-plenty of time with Hisoka during this week then."
"NO! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! I'M JUST BORED!" Machi yelled at the top of her voice at her brother's insistence on a frustrating topic that she had tried hard and successfully managed to block from her mind. She picked up the cushion closest at hand and threw it at him with all her strength behind it. He deftly caught it in the large palm of his hand and snarled, wrenching it from her grasp.
"Knock it off sis. I can smell your agitation every time you come home from those social gatherings. Someone's stepped on your tail. Someone's tried to imitate your hairstyle. Someone's overshadowed you. Someone's talked over you. And that someone is always just one person, isn't it?"
"Legato. Trust me, I'M. JUST. BORED. And you're making me highly irritated. Can we leave it at that?"
Her brother ran a hand through his dripping hair. "So sis…feel like going bowling?"
There was a short silence.
"Not in the mood." She was finally able to mutter. She won back the tv remote and switched the machine back on, the couple now deep in the throes of passion. Machi grimaced and hurriedly tried to change the channel before her brother physically shoved her to one side, pressed the off button and took out the batteries in the remote. One sharp glare from his twinkling yellow eyes halted her struggles.
"Cut it out." He snapped. "It's time to set this straight once and for all ok? I'm your big brother, and I got connections."
"I don't want to hear this, brother."
"Well tough – because if you're not going to here it now, you're never ever going to get help from me again, you got that?"
Machi visibly shirked back from the look of anger in Legato's usually calm disposition and the barely restrained violence in his voice.
"Choose sister. What will it be – you suffering silently in the background, giving everyone cold and icy looks and never being able to say what you feel; or you swallow some of that damn pride and let your brother work some of his amazing magic to get you what you want?"
"What do you know about what I want?" she refused to let herself by fazed by the penetrating eyes of her brother and held her chin slightly higher.
Legato gave a short laugh. "Oh, only the simple fact that you're my sister, and I've watched you grow up with your eyes forever glued to one of my best friends. That, and the most damning piece of evidence came to light the other day."
"What damning piece of evidence?" she said through clenched teeth.
"You know," Legato evasively began, "you were just having lunch a few weeks ago, sitting with one of the most desirable, good looking, strongest chick magnet that Anime City hasn't seen for a decade and reports are, you didn't even bat an eyelash at him."
Machi madly racked her brains, trying to pin point the particular lunch that her brother was referring to. Noticing her hopeless confusion, Legato sighed.
"Salar's boy – Kurei! Met him the other day on the streets running away from a pack of screaming girls. I even recognized some of my most devoted fans in the throng." He narrowed his eyes in displeasure but didn't pursue that particular negative emotion. "The fact is, any female who doesn't have any screws in her head loose can't resist him. They want to throw themselves at him and have a piece of him. According to Kuroro however, you remained quite steadfast, not to mention slightly disapproving at the way the other girls on your table were reacting. Now, how can we explain that little phenomenon, dear sis?"
"You can't explain it. I just don't fall over every single pretty boy that crosses my path, ok?"
"No Machi – Kurei isn't just any pretty boy. He's been trained by Salar. I've been trained by Salar. If it weren't for him, how do you think I got my part in Trigun? How do you think I've got such a massive following, shouting Legato-sama! Take me! I'm yours! every time I so much as put my foot on the streets?"
Machi blinked. "You've been trained by Salar? Why wasn't I ever aware of this?"
"It was some time ago." Legato shuddered at the memory and ran played with one of the fraying edges of his towel. "And it wasn't for long. He trained me for about six months and I had to get away from him otherwise I'd either go insane or kill myself. He was strict and mean, brutal, ruthless…..and so damn cold. But it was worth it – he taught me everything – how to walk the walk, talk the talk, establish a persona of confidence and charm, exhibit the type of arrogance that attracts girls like bees to honey. That man is the devil – he could have made himself the most well loved man in Anime City but chose not to do it. Now, he's passing on all his gifts to Kurei who's switching his bewitching smiles and pretty manners on just to see how people will collapse at his feet. If Salar is the most dangerous man in Anime City right now, his protégé is coming a close second behind him. And you didn't even spare him a second glance. Now isn't that quite an achievement, sis?"
Pounded by so much new information and a welling of a dozen questions on all sorts of topics, Machi hugged herself tightly and tried to discern just one steady trail of thought.
"So Kurei's charms don't work on me," Machi began, deciding to shift the topic of Legato's shady past and dealings with Salar aside for the moment, "but that doesn't explain how you might know what I want."
"Of course sis. I know Kurei's tricks and charms. I attract every person of the opposite sex by my looks alone – but that's it. The girls can only drool about my image, and perhaps say just how cool the Legato in Trigun is, but they don't love me Machi. Since you've got your heart set on someone else, of course you're not going to give my appearance, or Kurei's for that matter, any second thought. You understand?"
When Machi refused to speak, Legato sighed and continued. "Don't try to deny it Machi. You didn't fling yourself at Kurei or beg his hand in marriage, and that pretty much shows that your heart is currently being occupied by someone else. And who else could it be? Just say the word sis – tell me you want Hisoka, and I swear I won't laugh at you, though I might question you a bit, since Hisoka is the biggest slob I've ever seen in my entire life. Are you sure you wanna hook up with someone like him?"
"Two people are in the way." Machi curtly responded, still unable to meet her brother's gaze. She felt Legato's big hand on her small shoulder. When she turned to look at him, there was a reassuring smile on his confident face and a real sympathetic desire to help her.
"Your brother is Legato Bluesummers. And he always gets what he wants. Now – who is the unlucky competition?"
"I don't want you to beat anyone up!" she said shrilly and backed away from his touch. Legato breathed out in irritation.
"No, I don't mean to beat them up. But we need to know who our enemies are so that we may better deal with them. Say it Machi – the first step to winning a man's heart is to eliminate competition. And to eliminate competition, you need strategies and tactics. Lets start with names."
"Menchi." Machi said, trying hard not to feel ashamed by the fact that she had to turn to her semi-naked brother for help.
"And…" he prompted.
"….Illumi."
Legato almost missed the whisper. His eyes widened, filled with incredulity.
"A man?! The guy Hisoka's now living with? Sis….are you sure?"
"YES! He's the most dangerous of the two. Hisoka's never even spared Menchi any affections, so it's all very much one-sided on her part. Still, she's always cutting in and trying to impress him, thus taking up any opportunity that I might have with him. But with Illumi…." She trailed off.
"Yes? What about Illumi?"
Machi bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut in shame. But she had to say it – it was too late to turn back. She'd either have Legato's help, or she would never even get Hisoka to look at her as anything else but a co-worker.
"Hisoka's…got feelings for him. There's real chemistry between them. I saw it on the first day – the way he became so concerned when Illumi drank a cocktail that had been tampered with. And the photos?" her voice was now tinged by hysteria. "You remember the pictures in The Insider? Legato….they looked like a real couple, and they didn't even realize it themselves! How am I supposed to compete with him?"
"Uh-uh Machi, rule number one is to never take no for an answer and admit defeat. This business requires thick skin." Legato thought hard on the problem, rubbing his jaw gingerly as plans blossomed in his mind.
"First, we knock off Menchi. She'll be a pushover since she doesn't have a marvelous brother like me to help her out. I can create an opportunity for you to be with Hisoka, just you two alone with no one else to bother you. That will certainly allow you to have his undivided attention."
Machi let out a trembling breath but relief and a spark of hope was starting to make her head feel light and dizzy. Her brother was right of course – you couldn't wait for opportunities to come when you wanted something so very badly. You had to make the opportunities.
"Phase two of the operation is to Divide and Conquer." He grinned in relish. "You've got to make sure you turn Illumi and Hisoka against each other so that Hisoka's vulnerable to be taken over, by you specifically. Now, phase two doesn't necessarily have to be a solo act. You can fan the negative feelings that actors at Hunter Works might already have for Illumi. But I'm guessing that Menchi would be actively pursuing this strategy right now, right?"
Machi thought back to yesterday afternoon, at Hisoka's couch warming party. There, Menchi, under the thin pretense of being rowdy and unchecked due to a can or two of beer, was splurging a bout of mockery with Illumi as the butt of all jokes. She gave her brother a firm nod.
"Excellent." Legato's grin broadened. "In that case, since Phase Two is developing so nicely for you, why don't you just sit back, let Menchi do her vicious magic, and I get you your chance to be alone with Hisoka for several evenings?"
"Several evenings only?" she exclaimed in an uncontrolled outburst. It was too late when she clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Oh come on Machi! Surely you can knock him into bed after two nights together! Several evenings is like god's gift!"
"I don't need to get laid, brother! I want a decent relationship."
Legato twiddled his thumbs a bit. "Ok then – then get started on your decent relationship with the few evenings I give you. If you can't even get a spark of romance going by then, I see you're going to need every bit of help the Ex Club can give you."
Her eyes boggled at her brother in sheer horror. "Don't you dare drag the entire Ex Club into this!" her raised voice nearly reached a shout. "It's embarrassing enough as it is that I have to turn to my brother, who is currently dressed in nothing but a loincloth, to get the guy I want. I don't want a whole community to know my problems!"
"All right, all right!" Legato held up his hands defensively. When he thought Machi was calm enough, he continued to proceed. "There, lets get started with this plan of mine. I have two tickets – tickets for the annual Discovery concert held at the one hundred and fiftieth level of Elysian."
"Classical music? Why one earth do you have tickets for those?"
Legato waved his hand as if that particular little issue wasn't important. "The most important point is that all the tickets have been sold out. Which means that even if Menchi gets notice of what we're planning, there's nothing she can do now to stop it. You realize just how high class these concerts are? There's bound to be at least a hundred cameraman on the red carpet that night – and if they see you arm-in-arm with Hisoka, that's a bloody good start."
"Just how are you going to persuade him to come with me?"
Legato nodded thoughtfully. "Good, you're getting the hang of this. Our stories must coincide. You, my dear sister, have suddenly developed an interest for classical music and you purchased two tickets. You originally planned on taking me, because you would rather be dead than be seen without a partner for such a formal evening. You getting this in?"
Machi inclined her head to show that she was following his words. "I've got two tickets to the annual Discovery Concert. My brother weasels out of the ticket that I bought for him, and as any respectable actress, I aint going nowhere to a place like the hundred and fiftieth floor of Elysian without a man's arm to perch on."
"Exactly. I'll persuade, blackmail, threaten, cajole Hisoka into going with you. This series spans four weeks with a concert each Friday evening. You've got a month to get this right Machi. Think you can pull it off?"
"But going to a concert like this isn't exactly, well, you know…romantic."
And here, her brother's eyes sparked with mischievous cunning. "Machi honey, he's not just going to come pick you up and go straight to the concert. It starts at eight o'clock, so there'll be plenty of time for an early dinner and a walk about the park before you go in. Granted, it might be a bit windy at night, so lean into Hisoka a bit more, yadda yadda yadda, you get the drift?"
"One more thing Legato. I know you're doing this for me as your sister, but isn't Hisoka one of your best friends too? Why are you…cursing…me upon him?"
"That, dear Machi," he laughed aloud, "is something you don't need to fret over. But truth be told, Hisoka is getting just a little bit too old to go bed hopping anymore. If anyone's going to have him, I'd rather it be a person I know through and through because she will one day be part of the Ex Club too. What better candidate than my own sister?"
Machi narrowed her golden eyes. "Am I supposed to hug you or punch you
for saying that?"
8:30pm, Fame Court
Kaéry was helping his dad wash and dry the dishes when he heard the frantic knocking on their door. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table with the day's newspapers sprawled out in front of her and a steaming cup of tea in her hand. She almost burnt her lip when the knocks startled their peaceful evening and that sparked off her incredible temper. Karasu gave Kaéry a knowing look, and both father and son paid even more attention to doing their chores.
Lola snarled and threw the paper down, stalking over to the front door to see just who was so bloody inconsiderate to come knocking at this ungodly hour.
"What do you want?" she growled as she flung the door open to express her resentment for being disturbed. The fire of retribution instantly died out when she saw that the visitor was a young man, possibly just reached his twenties, trembling from head to toe with tear streaked eyes.
"Are you…Miss Lola?" he sniffed, two fat droplets of tears rolling down his alabaster cheeks now burning a fierce shade of crimson.
"And…you are?"
"Ku…Kurei ma'am." He managed to say through more sobs in a voice that was hoarse from hours of evident screaming and crying.
"My brother's protégé? What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, wondering if she should let the boy in. From an early age, she knew that her brother treasured his possessions with fierce ferocity. You don't really go around touching his belongings without permission lest you had a masochistic wish to die of strangulation by your own intestines.
"I…I…ran away." Kurei looked down on the ground in complete misery, more salty tears leaking out of his eyes ragged by angry redness. He lifted his right forearm and pulled back the long sleeve to show her horrifying pink weals and bloody and broken skin from where a whip had mercilessly risen and fallen. Lola grew up in the rough and tough Northside and had seen many bloody and mutilated bodies before, but even this was too much. Her jaw dropped open on her own accord and she felt her heart aching so painfully for the boy.
"Mentor….got angry at me…..went into Northside you see…and."
"Just shut up and come in." she grabbed his arm and pulled him in, then berated herself as Kurei's face screwed up in pain.
"Tell me everything. Stop crying and have a cup of tea. Kay! Make me a cup of tea – now!"
"We have a visitor, Lola?" Karasu came around from the kitchen and stopped dead when he saw Kurei.
"Why is he here?" he asked her coldly, violet eyes steadily trained on the boy with every ounce of suspicion he could muster.
"Get rid of that look Karasu. Is it just your arm that's hurt Kurei-kun?" she guided his unsteady feet to the couch in their living room, the look of helpless concern still on her face. She went for a box of tissues and handed one for him to blow his nose and another to dry his tears.
"Take off your shirt." She ordered, hands already reaching out for him despite his refusal. She lifted his shirt halfway up his chest and grimaced at the bruises and more welts there.
"Dear gods! Who did this to you!" Karasu exclaimed, taking the cup of tea from his son and placed it on the coffee table in front of Kurei. Lola sighed.
"It was Salar, but even I can't believe he would do such a thing. Kay," she turned to her son who was hiding behind his father's leg and peering over with childish curiosity. "why don't you go fetch the first aid kit in the medicine cabinet for me? And bring every single roll of bandage that you can lay your hands on."
"My brother?! But Kurei…you're his protégé!" Karasu sat down on the other side of Kurei whilst his wife continued to gently fuss over him. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes at the mention of his mentor.
"I can't do it anymore. It seems that I just can't please him. Every time I do something, he manages to find some fault or flaw in what I do. First it was my stutter that he beat out of me, next it was my attitude that he whipped into shape, then it was the way I walk, and then I had to learn to cook, sort out his paper work, fill in half of them myself, negotiate with his clients, do law, do economics, do business management. I can't keep up, and he always hits me because I can't seem to do anything right!" More tears of frustration poured down his face and his shoulders violently shuddered with each sob.
Kaéry stood in the doorway, listening to each cry and felt sorry for the young man as well. He knew his uncle was strict, to the point of severe, but he never imagined him to go so far. Even his mother had never laid a finger on him, as rebellious and naughty he could be sometimes. He felt his fingers go numb on the metal box of the first aid kit and wondered for a moment if his uncle was really so inhuman.
"He wants me to carry a sword from now on!" Kurei groaned. "I couldn't get the stances right and he said he'd keep beating me until I could perfect it." His face distorted into a bitter mask of hate.
"Your arm is not high enough." He mimicked the tone of his mentor. "Your foot is in the wrong place. Your grip is all choked up. You aren't putting enough weight on your left leg. Your elbow has to be higher. Can't you do anything right? I was practicing for five hours straight already! I tried my best already! Why is that never enough for him?!"
He buried his face into his hands and cried until his hoarse and scratched vocal chords temporarily gave way and shut down.
Karasu turned to see Kaéry in the doorway. "Bring the box here and go upstairs and play with some computer games ok Kay?"
Kay's lip gave an involuntary tremble but he nodded and handed his dad the things his mother had told him to fetch and was glad he could leave the dining room. With any luck, his bedroom door may be able to block out all the noise too.
The phone rang, but Lola immediately picked it up. She set it to speakerphone so that her husband and Kurei could hear.
"Lola?" the barely audible whisper slid through the living room from the speaker of the phone.
"Ah, brother. How nice of you to ring. It's been…what…four weeks since you've returned to Anime City, and I believe this is the first time I've spoken to you." Lola angrily retorted with sarcasm.
"Sorry Lola…been occupied even though I was supposed to…" Salar broke off into a series of painful coughs. They heard him swallow before he finished the sentence off. "Supposed to be on holiday."
"Brother….you don't sound ok."
There was a small, delighted chuckle followed by a gasp of pain. "Yeah – but that….got me an extended….holiday. I get…..get till the end of Sum…mer."
"You've got your protégé to look after you right? because you sound like you're dying."
There were several deep breaths before Salar continued. "He….ran away. I….I" more coughs followed and Lola stared at the phone in horror. She was seriously contemplating the idea of putting on a jacket and heading over straight to Salar's place to make sure he made it through the night.
"Got angry when he left and….choked on breath…stuffed up my flow of energies…….I suppose my blood….is running….running upside down right now."
"Are you at Andelain Towers?"
"No….my….other house….near Endless Parade."
"Why did your protégé run away brother?"
"So many…..questions….Lola. Lazy….idiot didn't want to….to practice his sword skills. Don't worry brother….he….will be back in a day……a day or two. Then I'm going….to break his legs…..teach him not to run away again."
Karasu clamped a firm hand around Kurei's mouth to prevent the latter from screaming his head off and revealing exactly where he was hiding right now. Even though Karasu had heard dying men who sounded healthier than Salar sounded right now, he still managed to convey such malicious coldness and inevitability into the threat.
"Brother…..could you come by with……with breakfast….tomorrow morning? I can't really…..get out of bed right now."
Lola sat forward, her thumb and middle finger rubbing the sides of her forehead. Her waist length black hair dangled limply forward, reflecting her general deflated spirit.
"Of course brother, anything for you. Are you sure you don't want to go to a hospital or anything? I won't find you dead in the morning will I?"
Salar laughed again even though this was followed by an even lengthier series of unpleasant hacking coughs. "Doctors……would have….no clue. Just come by…..ok? I'll still be here."
And with that, he hung up, leaving a morbid silence hanging thickly in the air of the living room. Lola looked apologetically at Kurei.
"Look kiddo, I can break your legs cleanly and you shouldn't feel that much pain, ok? So you just sit here and let me fetch my bo – "
"Lola?" Karasu exclaimed in horror. "What are you talking about?"
With sagging shoulders and defeat in her no longer sparkling blue eyes, Lola's head drooped and she could only look at the ground.
"It's for his own good Karasu. Salar is going to get Kurei back, no matter how we try to hide him – you know you can never deny my brother what he wants. Lets just get this nasty business over and done with as soon as possible ok? It will be near painless Kurei-kun, I'll promise you that."
"No." Karasu defiantly looked at his wife. "No one is breaking anyone's legs in my house as far as I'm concerned. Salar is not going to break his legs. You are not going to break his legs. Lets get him bandaged up. I take it you have nowhere else to go right, kid?"
Kurei looked up with misery plastered across his face and gave a tiny nod, still stunned by the awful future that his mentor had in store for him.
"All right," Lola nodded, clearly liking her husband's suggestion. "You stay here as long as you want, and no one will say a word that you're here. Don't worry, Kay won't talk if I ask him not to. That sound ok to you?"
"Sounds great. And…thanks so much for this." He mumbled. But Karasu kindly shook his head and ruffled his hair.
"No problemo kiddo. Usually, I don't approve of grown men sobbing and crying, but with your case, I fully understand how you feel. I don't even know why you hitched up with my brother in the first place, dreadful as his soul is. Couldn't even find it in his heart to shed some love for his own family, let alone a stranger. We've always wondered whether god accidentally misplaced his soul and substituted it with a block of ice. Anyway, Lola will patch you up – she's really good at this sort of stuff….and you can sleep in Salar's old bedroom. It hasn't been used since he moved out when I got married twelve years ago. Might be a bit dusty, but hey, anything better than the streets right?"
Lola left the living room to fetch a pair of scissors for the bandage and Karasu immediately sat back down next to Kurei with a frantic note in his voice.
"You said Salar taught you to cook right?"
Kurei nodded, unsure what Karasu was playing at.
"Much as I hate my brother," his mentor's twin muttered rapidly "I have to admit that he's probably the best cook in the world. Since you're freeloading and all…..do you reckon you could take over cooking the dinner? Because – "
"Yes Karasu? Because what?" Lola said sweetly, the pair of scissors she went to retrieve suddenly looking all the more dangerous in her hands. Karasu's violet glare tried to communicate vital information to the guest.
"Um…because…" Kurei stuttered, still trying to decipher the message. "Because I am freeloading…um…I only bought my sword and Quacker with me so I don't' have money to pay…therefore…"
"Therefore?" Lola echoed, the sickeningly sweet smile still on her face, the dull gleam off the scissors blades more threatening than ever.
"It is…um…only right that I….er….contribute something of my culinary skills to repay…yes!…repay your generous offer to let me stay here!"
Karasu turned away to let out a trembling sigh even though the blood
had drained completely from his face and his fingers were shaking madly.
Lola merely nodded, the smile never wavering, and Kurei winced as he wondered
if she was just pulling a bit too tightly with the bandages.
11:30 pm – Hunter Works on location
"I can't believe that I have to have a scene in the dead of night." Hisoka growled inside his shared trailer as he struggled into his ridiculous clown costume. The hunters all packed into a bus at five o-fricken-clock this morning to head off into the mountains some four hours drive away mainly for the second and fourth hunter examination scenes. By the time they arrived, the cameramen with April at its lead immediately began to unpack their equipment whilst they flittered to their assigned trailers to get changed. And lucky him just had to share it with Illumi.
"Why are you here with us anyway?" he had asked irritably as he shoved his bag of belongings underneath his bed. Hisoka hated trailers – cramped, confined, no room to move or be a slob.
"I've got a scene with you that's been scheduled at dusk. It lasts about a minute, that's why I'm here." Illumi muttered with his back to him, carefully pushing his bag beneath his bed on the other end of the trailer. "I'm only here for two days. You might have this trailer to yourself from Wednesday onwards."
"Yeah – that's going to be a lot of good."
"Why do you have to sound so irritated with me all the time?" Illumi's small voice was still capable of being heard in the cooped up area.
"Because." Hisoka rolled his eyes and cursed when he banged his head on the roof. "Just because. I'm irritated by your very presence ok?"
"Very well. I'll draw the curtain to separate our living space. Then you won't have to see me." He referred to the curtain down the dead center of the trailer which reminded Hisoka of the ones you saw at the hospital. He shrugged and went back to changing into his costume for the day. First scene – run through foggy forest behind Satotsu. He pitied the guy. Even though there was still fog up in the high peaks of the mountains, the sun was starting to shine through and it would be hot as hell to run in that maroon coloured suit he had to wear. Scene two, get into a fight with lots of extras and defeat them with one card. How ludicrous.
And now, it was nighttime, and still the Director wouldn't given them a break. He was supposed to be engaged in a negotiation with Kurapika and Leorio on some round disc with a number on it. Damn – he'd trip over a tree root for sure and taste a mouthful of dirt in the dark. Couldn't they leave this to Tuesday night? He wanted to complain, but the idea of complaining to Silva seemed infinitely worse than feeling the bone weary tiredness he suffered from now.
"Where's the other shoe damnit? Hey Illumi, have you – " he swung apart the curtain and caught Illumi right in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head, revealing a bare back decorated with uncountable lines of long scars. Illumi started a bit and hastily pulled his shirt back down again.
"Where did – "
"I don't have your damn shoe! You've probably left it outside on the steps of the trailer." He growled, red faced.
"those scars…Abel and Buunchu never told me they knifed you!" Hisoka exclaimed in part anger and part horror.
"No, they just used their fists ok? Now get out of my half of the trailer!"
"Then who – "
"NONE OF YOUR DAMN FUCKING BUSINESS!" Illumi roughly shoved Hisoka back onto his side of the trailer and viciously tugged the curtain across the room again. Much to his rising anger and displeasure, the clown was now engaged in a tug of war with him. And over a stupid, damn curtain!
The material was wrenched off its hooks and came tumbling down on both of them. Illumi shrieked and cursed, blaming Hisoka whilst the latter grunted and worked his way out and closed the distance between Illumi and him again.
"Show me those scars. You've lied to me more than a henka type could lie. If Abel and Buunchu really did this to you, I'm going to have to go to the police about this."
"What part of "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS" don't you understand?!" Illumi exclaimed, exasperated and in fear, continuously taking steps back until he hit the edge of his bed and gracelessly fell in among his bed sheets. Hisoka was instantly on top of him, trying to pull his shirt off.
When pinching didn't work, punching was ineffective and biting left a horrid taste in his mouth, Illumi did the only thing left open to him.
People wondered why screams and cries of "Get off me" could be heard emanating from Hisoka and Illumi's trailer. Surprisingly, it was the Director himself who bounded up the trailer stairs, kicked open the door and found himself appalled to the very marrow by what he saw.
Hisoka. On Illumi's bed. On top of Illumi. Illumi in one torn and mangled shirt. Illumi sobbing like there was no tomorrow.
"HISOKA! OUT! NOW!" he roared. Illumi gave another infuriated scream and kicked the stunned magician off and bundled himself up with his bed sheets, face gleaming with fresh tears.
"Um…Killua, why don't you come in and comfort your brother?" said Silva as he twisted Hisoka's ear and marched him out of the trailer.
"No – please – I just want to be left alone."
Inside Silva's personal trailer, Hisoka wondered if his career at Hunter Works as at an end. He fully expected Silva to bust his vocal chords screaming all of hells furies into him, and was mightily surprised when the Director sighed, sat down and poured himself a cup of black coffee.
"Ok Hisoka. I see you in compromising situation with Illumi and I want explanations. Fast. What the heck was going on in there?"
"I saw scars on Illumi's back and wanted to know if he got them recently or not. If he did, I was going to report his assailants to the police. He wouldn't let me see them, so….well, you were in the middle of my attempts to check."
Silva merely looked at him with those glassy blue eyes for a long time before he gave another sigh and motioned for the magician to take a seat. Hisoka instantly complied and wondered what else the director had to say to him.
"Those scars are old. His father gave them to him."
"With all due respect sir," Hisoka hesitantly interrupted, "but aren't you supposed to give me the whole 'he'll tell me where he got those scars when he's ready' type of thing?"
Silva rolled his eyes. "Had you been a more reasonable and understanding person, yes, I would have said that something along those lines. But as you live with the absurd notion that you cannot be denied, I'll tell you, just so you can stop yourself from getting on top of my son and go about ripping the shirt off his back again."
Hisoka swallowed and nodded.
"His father's dead, but he hated Illumi when he was alive and beat him constantly. Kikyou told me this herself."
"You mean…child abuse?"
Silva negligently waved his hand. "Yes, whatever it's called these days. There – are there any more questions troubling your inquisitive mind?"
"No sir."
"You spread this, I kill you. Got that?"
"Yes sir."
"Now get back to your trailer. I'm canceling the film shots for tonight. Get out of my trailer."
"Yes sir."
"NOT A WORD TO ANYONE."
Hisoka nodded and instantly headed straight back to his own van, ignoring the questioning looks of his other co-actors. When he closed the door shut behind him, he found Illumi in the middle of swallowing another handful of pills. The latter glared at him through bloodshot eyes.
"Look Illu," the magician once again approached Illumi. "I…I didn't know you had such a bastard father and all."
"Like you give a shit anyway." Illumi growled, still eyeing him with hate and caution.
"Of course I do! Here…let me fix your hair."
"Oh bloody hell, just stay away from me ok? And don't you – "
"I was never planning on telling anyone. Gods, am I really that much of a jerk?" he took the brush off Illumi's table and sat back down on his bed despite the other man's efforts to push him off.
"Don't touch my hair! Don't touch me! Don't touch – "
Having finally lost his patience, Hisoka gripped Illumi tightly in both arms and let the boy exhaust his energies in his struggles. He kicked and bucked for a while, but seeing that it did no good, he stilled in Hisoka's arms, panting heavily.
"Illu, I'm sorry."
"No, you just feel pity for me. And I don't want people to become my friends just because they pity me. Get off! I can survive in Anime City without your friendship thank you very much. I don't need you pity, I don't need your compassion, I don't need your sympathy."
"Illu, I'm sorry."
Hisoka held onto him whilst he silently continued to let his tears flow, and even when he was sound asleep, Hisoka still wouldn't relinquish his thin and battered body, holding him in comforting warmth for the entire evening.
When Menchi went to give Hisoka his early morning wake up call, she entertained the thought of putting a gun to Illumi's head and pulling the trigger as she beheld the sight of Hisoka and Illumi, asleep, and clinging to each other like lost souls being tossed in the wild seas.
Back to square one, she darkly thought.