Chapter two
By: Dreamer
"Easier to run."
They all gathered around the table to eat breakfast before their first day of school. The twins were play fighting like they always did every morning. Bowls, spoons, milk, and boxes of cereal flew everywhere, but everyone was used to the routine so that they caught everything without making a mess. When they were done Derek and Drake sat down and eat with everyone else.
"So what do we know about this school?" Derek asked after he poured himself some milk into his bowl.
"That it's an organization that the government is funding for us kids. They're hoping that we will use the skills we obtain to help them for their cause. Then there are select people who know about this organization too. You can only enter this school upon invitation. I'm surprised that they the likes of you in," Mike said then spooned some of the cereal into his mouth, his words were pointed at Derek and Drake.
"Of course you of all people would know that! You are your father's son after all!" Drake said pointing an accusing spoon at his childhood friend.
"And you have room to talk?" Aires questioned. "Drake Maxwell!"
"You're rich, why care what I say?" Drake said.
Then her brother came to her rescue.
"You wanna take that outside?" Gabe demanded.
"Stop fighting onnas," Hikari said while standing up.
Hikari walked out of the room with her raven black hair floating gracefully behind her.
"She acts too much like Wufei for her own good and then she hangs around Quatre too much..." Kenji muttered.
"My father has good beliefs," Aires said coming to his defense.
"I know, but I think he's starting to rub off on Hikari and Wufei will begin to resent her for not following him. Well, you know how Wufei is," Kenji said as she rose to rise her bowl clean.
Her brother Bakuryu followed her lead; he never said anything at breakfast. He only talked when he had too. They gathered their school supplies and left, for the car was out front and was honking its horn.
A girl with beige hair and nail blue eyes ran into the car and kissed the driver.
"Thank you for driving us to school Uncle Milly," she said teasing.
Milliardo cringed at the nickname she gave him. Even though he had a grudge against her father, Heero, he couldn't stop loving his own blood.
Mike was another story, he could hold a grudge against him, but never chose too. Mike was his father's son all right; he was Heero's copy.
In a way Angel could take on her father's attitude but she preferred to follow her mom. One day her mother, Relena, would pass on "Vice Foreign Minster," onto her.
Milliardo looked to the steps and saw the twins racing each other down them. They always played around but when it came to work they were serious. They had Hilde's seriousness when it came to work, and sometimes they nagged everyone like Hilde does to Duo most of the time. Then they had Duo's humor all the time. But they both looked more like their father. Derek and Drake burst into the van.
"Are we late?" Derek asked sucking in a breath of air.
"No," Milliardo said, "we still have five minuets until time to go. Drake you lost the race."
"How did you know what I was going to ask?" Drake said with disappointment at the fact he lost to his twin.
"You have that glint in your eyes like your father gets. You are like him in many ways, and I've known him about more than half of your lifetime," Milliardo said looking at the twin in his rearview mirror.
Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenji, Bakuryu, and Mike walk toward them.
Kenji was like her mother in so many ways. But she had part of her father's hair. She had Trowa's bangs that covered one eye and then she grew her hair out to where she can braid it in the back. She had her mother's humorous side and was always pulling tricks on everyone.
Bakuryu was different; he was completely like his father, silent and withdrawn. He was very protective of his family and his sister, but other than that no one knew much about him.
Mike had his father's hair and eyes... Heero has a shadow.
They entered the van silently. Milliardo dismissed the fact that Kenji was quiet and watched the last three come Aires, Gabe, and Hikari.
Aires was like her mother Vera. She was a tomboy to the core. She would fight with her brother Gabe to the point where bruises were appearing on her body. She didn't care, she was having fun. She had Quatre's platinum gold hair that was normally pulled back into to a ponytail or in a French braid.
Gabe was very different from his sister. He would fight with her and never hold back his true strength, if he did she'd hurt him for it. But he wasn't like Quatre or Vera, he knew that he was different, but he never knew just how different he was. He had dark and sometimes light brown hair. He also had dark green eyes. He was like Bakuryu, very withdrawn and very protective of his family.
Milliardo knew that Vera was never with another man, she loved Quatre way too much to do that. Vera and Quatre adopted Gabe, but he doesn't know it yet, nor the story behind it.
Hikari had been very withdrawn in the last few months. She recently lost her twin sister that she was very close to. She looked like Wufei and had his beliefs for a time. But her sister was lost to a fight and so she started following Quatre and Relena.
Milliardo began a head count and passed out the badges that showed who they were. When everyone had their pins pinned on their Preventer uniforms...
"Are we ready?" Milliardo asked before he pulled out.
"Yes," they said in unison.
On the way there they were riding in silence, until the twins song came on the radio. They turned up the music and began to sing to it.
"It starts with/ One..." Drake sang getting close to Chester's voice.
"One thing I don't know why/ It doesn't even matter how hard you try/ Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme/ To explain in due time/..." Derek sang copying almost perfectly to Mike's voice off of Linkin Park.
"All I know/..." They sang together.
"Time is a valuable thing/ Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings/ Watch it count down to the end of the day/ The clock ticks life away/..." Derek loved LP's songs, he thought they were kick ass band.
"It's so unreal/..."
"Didn't down look below/ Watch the time go right out the window/ Trying to hold on but didn't even know/ Wasted it all just to/ Watch you go/..."
Drake sang go a little longer like in the song.
"Would you guys cut it out?!" Aires shouted to them smacking them with her books. "We don't need you two destroying the song for us!"
They ignored her and continued on.
"I kept everything inside and even though I tried it all fell apart/ What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of time when/..."
"I tried so hard/ And got so far/ But in the end/ It doesn't even matter / I had to fall/ To lose it all/ But in the end/ It doesn't even matter..."
Then everyone else jumped in and Milliardo threatened that anyone who sang would have to deal with him personally and it wasn't going to be pretty. So the twins stopped singing and listened to the rest of the song as they pulled into the school. Milliardo turned around in his seat before he let them out.
"As you know, I'm your history teacher... I had a talk with Une about that. But I expect you to pass my history class. Seeing as I'm teaching you about the war that your parents took place in when they were about your age."
They all nodded. It was about the fifth time that they've gotten that lecture. Then Milliardo hit the button and the doors opened. They all got out of the van and pulled their secludes from their pockets. They all pretty much had the same classes. But first they were supposed to go to the assembly hall for the Principal to give them a speech.
"Gabe?" She gave him a sideways glance as she said it.
"Hn."
She wasn't shocked by his response, but she was worried about him. She knew that in the last couple of months he became more withdrawn from everyone, even her. She touched his arm and her hand took his hand in a brother and sister way. He pulled away from it.
"Is everything okay?" She whispered low enough to where only two people could hear, but they wouldn't say anything. Kenji and Bakuryu said that it was best that she talk to him about being so distant from her.
He just nodded his head.
"I'm worried about you..." She said a little louder.
It's easier to run
Aires was walking about a step a head of him. He just brushed by bumping into her and continued on his path of being lonely.
"Just leave me alone," was his cold reply.
Kenji fell back from her place in front and placed a comforting arm around her childhood friend.
"It'll be okay, he'll come around," Kenji said.
Replacing this pain with something numb
Bakuryu walked next to Kenji with nothing to say. Aires was badly hurt by her brother's actions, but she covered it up with a smile. It fooled everyone else but Kenji and Bakuryu, they knew her too well.
"Thanks for everything, Kenji."
"I'm glad to see new faces and faces that have returned this year." A woman said with brown hair just below her shoulders and light brown eyes. "I am your principal, Miss Une. I expect for everyone to be on their best behavior," she said eyeing the twins and other troublemakers she knew. "So let's start this day off good."
Then the bell rang and they were dismissed to first period history class was for Mike, Angel, Kenji, and Gabe. They took their own seats around the room and waited patiently for the bell to ring. When it rang, Milliardo walked into the room and shut the door behind him, which it locked too. He set down his roll-book and started calling out the names on the roll.
"Okay, now that's over with... you will be learning about the war that started in AC 195. It's a part of our history and should be taught to students from all over, but only a select few will know the whole story." Milliardo adjusted his reading glasses on his face, the years had worn on him. "So, for today, look to your neighbor and get to know them."
Kenji turned on Gabe, she was mad at him.
"What hell was that all about?" She demanded.
He just looked through her, he didn't need to hear anything she had to say.
"Fine ignore me. But you will hear me out! You really hurt Aires back there with your stunt. If your sole purpose is to protect her, then you're blowing that for yourself. Because in order to protect her, you have to protect her from yourself too."
"What would you know?!" He shot at her.
His words hurt her, but she never showed that it did.
"I know this..." Kenji's finger began to light up.
"Barton has a lighter!" A student from behind Gabe exclaimed.
Milliardo knew what she was doing.
"Hand me the lighter and we'll talk about this after school," Milliardo said calmly.
It's so much easier to go
Kenji disappears and reappears back into the room before anyone noticed she was gone. She pulls the lighter out of her pocket and throws it over her shoulder without looking. Milliardo caught it with ease.
"It's nice to know that your skills haven't dimmed in this time of peace," she laughed.
"How did you know?" Gabe chocked out.
"Once you're able to sense one's life force you'll understand how I know. But until then I can't explain that to you. I'll talk with Vera and make sure that's in your next lesson. But that's not the point, Aires knows too."
"You didn't..."
"I didn't tell her anything, she was walking in the woods one night and saw you create the energy beams. She told Bakuryu and me, it floored us both, but I knew that she came to us for a reason. She was concerned about you, but she doesn't want you to know that she knows. Aires wants to hear it from your lips that you're okay. We've tried to tell her that you're all right, but it's not enough. Stop shutting your own sister out of your life..."
"Quatre?"
He looked up from the book he was reading and placed it on the bedside table.
"What is it?" He questioned his wife.
"Are we doing the right thing?" She asked as her hand went softly over the pictures that stood on their dresser.
"By sending them to the Prep school? I think it was a good idea. They've got what it takes and more to make it as a Preventer," he replied smoothly. "Why?"
"I feel that they should at least live a semi-normal life and not one where they're out saving the world, that kind of thing."
"Vera," Quatre said getting up, "we presented it as a choice for them to make... they chose their paths like we chose ours."
He placed his arms around her neck and kissed her cheek softly. He then rested his head on her shoulders.
"They'll be fine..." He whispered.
"When should I tell Gabe the truth? I mean the real truth?" Her voice shook when she said it.
"Tonight when you're training him."
"Okay," she said softly shaking her head.
Bakuryu sat down to eat lunch. He only spoke to only say "here," when the teacher called on him. But other than that, he hadn't breathed a word. He loved the silence. Also expressions were enough to make up for his loss of words.
He was fixing to take a bite of his pizza when Kenji came bounding up behind him and slapped him on the back. She quickly sat next to him before one of his fan club members could swarm him. She then clung to him like a girlfriend would and they backed off.
"You need to live a little," she commented.
He gave her a questioning look.
"Yes, I gave him the talk, but I still don't think I got through to him."
Kenji tore the crust off to her pizza and began to gnaw on it thoughtfully.
"Maybe..."
Bakuryu shook his head no and pointed to look at who was coming their way. Kenji then started to babble about some pranks that she pulled on the freshmen there at the school. Aires took a seat next to Bakuryu and began to eat in silence. Soon everyone else joined them.
"It's too quiet... where are the twins?" Kenji thought out loud.
Bakuryu gave her a look she knew too well and started laughing.
"Anyone wants to take bets that Derek and Drake are with Miss Une?"
"We all know that they are there, so why bet?" Aires asked ruining Kenji's fun.
"Sourpuss," she mumbled folding her arms under her breasts. Then she quickly changed modes and began talking about something else.
"Wanna take bets that the get suspended their first day?" One of their best friends asked as they sat down to the table across from them.
"They won't," Gabe said.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kenji fired.
"Une wouldn't suspend much less expel a Maxwell, Yuy, Winner, Chang, or Barton. She knows what positions our parents held in the past... so it won't happen."
Than face this pain here all alone
Aires stood up and threw her stuff away and went to her next class.
"Gabe, we need to talk," Vera said that night when they were training.
He stopped in midair and came down to earth and wiped the sweat from his brow. He nodded for her to continue as he leaned against a nearby tree. He wore a worn out black cutoff shirt with holes here and there, his brown hair tossed to one side, his baggy jeans had the knees worn out. That was his workout outfit, he had worn that for four years now and it was strictly for training in. Vera wore something similar. Her hair was braided into a tight braid, but since the training it became loose and it look unkempt. She sat cross-legged in midair.
"There's something that I must tell you..."
This was where the guard around her past was let down, Gabe could see the pain and sorrow that had happened when she was little, but there something else there. Something that stood out too vivid in her mind, something that triggered her sorrow when she looked at him. He nodded for her to continue, for he knew it wouldn't be easy to reveal what she was about to tell him. She flew a little closer and reached out to touch his neck. Her fingers then curled around a beaded chain that hung around his neck. He wanted to move away from this touch, but a tingling sensation kept him still.
Something has been taken
"I found you wearing this," Vera said softly, so softly that he began to strain his ears to hear what she said.
She pulled on the chain until she could see what hung in the center of the chain.
"In a place among ruins, you were silent and so still, we thought you were dead... the steady flow of blood and breathing told us differently..."
Vera reached up and traced the scar on his face.
From deep inside of me
"It was a token of your forgotten past and a new beginning. You had lost something important, but gained so much more than before. In the midst of what happened, you were the only survivor. Your true parents were drove to the brink of insanity... they were alive but didn't and couldn't comprehend what was going on. To spare them from suffering than what they already had, I put an end to their lives... Don't think of me as a killer or a murder... even though they didn't know it, their eyes were pleading for death. I merely did what they couldn't do. I'm sorry for keeping this from you, but I told you the truth and the truth hurts even me."
A secret I've kept locked away
Vera looked him in the eyes, tears were staining her cheeks. She now had a bigger burden removed from her shoulder. But it would be hard for her as it was for him to swallow the truth. She may have lived with it for sixteen years, but it still hurt. She loved him as much as her own blood. Gabe involuntarily wrapped his arms around his only mother, but she pushed away and with her freehand, pushed the tears from her face.
"That is not the whole story. You're probably wondering where you got those powers... they are not of blood or anything of the like. I was just like you, taken and used against my will for what they wanted of me. I was experimented on and had many tests run that still to this day I do not completely understand. You were taken less than a month out of the womb and they began their work on you. They almost lost you on several different occasions, but something kept you alive, like me and Cloud... but that is the only secret I've kept from you. But there's also a slim chance that Aires will get this to. She has part of my DNA... and I want you to protect her so that she may never get this power... I don't want her to suffer with this."
"Just forget about him!" Kenji exclaimed in frustration.
She threw her arms up into the air, enough was enough for her. Even though she was starting to like him, she didn't like the way he was treating his sister.
"Clam down, Kenji," Bakuryu said softly.
"But how can I forget him?" She questioned out loud. "He's been there for me since I was a baby. He spent his life trying to protect me..."
No one can ever see
Tears began to flow down her cheeks. Then she remembered that when she five, he was seven then, she was almost hit by a car. But right before the car hit her, her brother, Gabe, came to her rescue. He was hit in the side and knocked unconscious. All she had was a scraped knee. She got up and ran to her brother's side, she was too afraid to move him, but also too afraid to lose him. When the doctors or paramedics showed up, they rolled him from his stomach to his back. The side of his head was bleeding and then there was bone sticking out of his left arm, the arm that took the weight of his landing. Later on that scrape turned into a scar and became a constant reminder of what he did for her.
Wounds so deep they never show
Aires jumped up and left the porch quickly running out into the forest. She didn't care what they did, she only wanted to be alone for a time.
"I'll go after her," Kenji announced.
Bakuryu placed a restraining hand on his sister's shoulder. Even though she couldn't see it, he was shaking his head no.
"You've upset her enough. I'll take care of her, you just wait on Gabe and Vera's return. If they ask, we're already in bed."
Bakuryu then disappeared into the forest. When he found her, she had learned the truth about her brother, everything including her mom's past that she kept carefully hidden.
They never go away
"That's why he's so different," she thought. "Maybe that's why he doesn't want us to talk to him... but why did he change all the sudden? He was so loving and carefree... until about a year ago... he was so open, but then he began to change, slowly. So everyone would think nothing was wrong. Then he changed all too quickly. It was as if he were a different person. He began to push me out of things we used to do together."
Then a well-tanned hand was placed on her shoulder, she turned around and embraced the person.
"Easy, I may be a hard ass, but I'm still breakable," he said.
She laughed into his chest as his vest soaked up her tears. Then she inhaled his scent, somehow just being around him calmed her. She then smacked his butt and he just about made them both fall to the ground.
"Nope, your ass isn't hard, its soft," she whispered.
She already knew their secret, so he took her to his favorite place. One where she could hide away from the world and still be safe. Gabe had been out there once, so he could train himself to control his powers. Kenji taught herself and even though she didn't tell them she had the powers, they knew she had them.
"What is this place?" She asked.
Bakuryu ignored her and she began looking around. She knew that they had the stream on their property, but she never went looking for it. Then when she looked behind her, there was a cave there. He had entered and started a fire. He then began pulling things down from the shelves that were all over the cave. The shelves were just carved indents into the wall that held ointments, other things for treating wounds, sowing materials for shirts, pants, and deep cuts. There were blankets, pillows, extra clothing for everyone, towels for baths, soap, shampoo, conditioner. It had almost everything you would need to live there for months on end.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bakuryu take off his vest and began lifting and moving rocks. When he was done, he picked up discarded vest and threw some more wood onto the fire.
"Okay, there's some canned food here," he said pointing to a shelf. "And the can opener is somewhere around here. You'll have to look for it. Kenji's a mastermind at hiding it. I'll be back before dawn to take you home..."
He left his sentence hanging in the air and continued to walk out.
"Wait!" Aires cried out.
Bakuryu continued to walk out and she grabbed his hand. He then stopped.
"Please stay with me," Aires said.
He wiped the sweat off his face and nodded. While he arranged some of the extra blankets on the ground, she made dinner from what they had to offer. She made some tea for herself and fetched some more water for Bakuryu. When she was done with putting the food into the bowls, Bakuryu was finished with the makeshift couch. She sat down after giving him his meal and began eating.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"I come here to clear my mind and by doing so, I made the secrets here. But I was thinking you could use some time away from it all."
When they were done, Bakuryu cleaned the dishes in the stream. Then when he came back, Aires was in her sports bra and a pair of his spare pants. One of the pair that he usually trains in with Kenji, Gabe, Vera, and his mother, Cloud... and it contained mostly holes in the pair.
Like moving pictures in my head
When I saw her in my clothes, more my pants than anything, I must've of had a screwed up look on my face, because she giggled when she saw me.
"I hope you don't mind," Aires whispered.
I didn't mind at all. Then I showed her further back into the cave where she would be sleeping. I started another fire, even in the summer it would get cold back here. I then put more wood onto the fire to last her all night. She grabbed my hand and pulled me back. Damn, she had a way to get under my skin and to do anything she wanted me to do. I turned around and faced her, never letting go of her hand. I looked her in the eyes and saw some kind of light in them, something she always reserved for only me.
"Please stay in here with me..."
"What if Gabe finds out?"
I wasn't afraid of him by any means. But I didn't need to drive the wedge any deeper than it already was between them.
"I don't care anymore. I'm tried tired of him shutting me out... and telling guys I know to stay away from me... this is something I want. And if I want to share my bed with someone... then I will. But it's up to you whether or not you stay... I can't force you to stay..."
I remember about four years ago, Gabe threatened me within inches of my life that if I ever hurt his sister, I would regret it. But even though she didn't know it, she had already forced me to stay. It was her voice that caught me four years ago. My problem was, I hid from her what my true feelings were. She looked like she didn't care about me, so I let her go. But now she's caught me off guard. Before I knew it, I started kissing her.
For years and years they've played
I saw it all. I don't think Bakuryu sensed my energy at all. After he pulled off my sister's bra, I left. I went back into the other room and began to poke a stick idly at the fire, just to stir the logs that were there. I was content with staring at the fire...
He caught me by surprise by kissing me! I never thought that he could have such a thing, but then again... he follows his father, Trowa. Two silent men that you never knew what they were thinking.
My mind was screaming at me to stop what I was doing, but I couldn't. This just felt so right. I looked over her body and everything was so beautiful, it was a night I will never forget.
If I could change I would
When I heard her cry his name, it broke my heart. Because when I was about twelve, I started falling in love with my sister, not the brother-sister love either. I knew it wasn't right and I denied the fact that I loved her, so I dated other girls, when I took them out on dates, I began comparing them to Aires. And none of them came close to her, so I stopped dating other girls and watched Aires from the shadows. I just let my love for her grow and drive me mad. About at that time, I began to push myself away from her, hoping to stop this festering love and obsession of her. But it only became worse. Since Vera told me that my sister, was never related to me... I thought that I could still have a chance. But I was wrong... she loves Bakuryu. I wish I could change my love for her into a brother love, but it's too late for that. I have to move on and at least try and change.
Take back the pain I would
It was painful at first... but he was slow and waited until I could handle it. Even if he is a heartless person, he can really be sweet, and I think that's why I caught me in his net and trapped me there, so I could love him.
I collapsed by her side and we fell asleep holding one another. It just felt so right to be by her side all through the night. And for the first time in a long time, I actually fell asleep and slept all night until about five am. It was my usual time to wake up. Then I would train until about noon and then shower eat and repeat the process.
That morning I woke up, I rolled over and noticed that Bakuryu was gone. I sat up with a fright and held the blanket to my chest. But then I saw him doing push-ups and sit-ups. Men and their workouts, I thought shaking my head. I quickly got back into my bra and his pants, they were comfy so I wore them.
"Good morning," he greeted kissing Aires.
"Lets start working," she said after they broke the kiss.
"Where have you been? I've been up for an hour doing that," he teased.
Then they started going into contests seeing who could do more of this than the other.
Retrace every wrong move that I made I would
Gabe left about two in the morning. He could barely sleep. When he got back Kenji greeted him.
"Where's Bakuryu?" She questioned him.
"Still at the cave," he snapped at her and didn't even mean to.
"I was just asking... I worry about my brother."
Gabe brushed past her and she stopped him.
"I didn't dismiss you!" She hissed.
He looked back her, "What's so damned important?"
"Why aren't you acting like her brother any more?"
"I was never her brother! I've only been adopted because Vera felt sorry for me! I'm not her blood!"
He kept going on and on listing things he wasn't to Aires. Kenji got sick of it and slapped him across his face. He stopped at stared at her, shocked.
"You're her brother no matter if you're blood or not! You've been there for her when nobody else was... why else is she concerned about you? You were always there without questioning what she was doing. You've kept her out of trouble and protected her..."
"Well, she's got Bakuryu now... she doesn't need me any more."
"What?"
"She loves Bakuryu, when all these years I've loved her..."
"It's natural to love your sibling... I love my brother..."
"Not like this... I've practically spent my whole life dreaming that someday we would marry... I can't explain why I've felt this way, but I have and now it hurts because she loves someone else..."
"No one can ever replace you, but you're right, she can't love you like that. You've always been her brother and she'll always love you like that. Don't shut her out because that's the way you've felt for her. Show her that you care and support her decisions. Don't be the one to spoil her life because you've loved something that could never be."
"Maybe if I knew that I was adopted sooner, maybe I wouldn't have fallen in love with her..."
He turned and walked back into the house. When he got to his room, he put a CD into the player and began listening to it. Life for him would never be the same again.
If I could
Bakuryu and Aires were home by ten am. An hour later the adults rose, it was a Saturday morning. Aires made breakfast because it was her weekend to cook. When she was setting everything down, everyone of the house was at the table, except for Gabe.
"I'll go get him," Aires told her mother as Duo started telling some kind of perverted joke.
She walked up the stairs and took the left. If she went straight forward, she would have been in the adult's corridor. If she took the right, then it was girl's hall and the left was for the guys. She came to his room and heard his music on. She knocked on the door, but no answer came. She opened the door to see Gabe sitting on his bed. His face was in his hands. She shivered, it was ice cold in there and it was dark. The only light was the one coming from his CD player.
"Breakfast is ready, bro?"
"Go ahead and eat without me," he whispered.
"What should I tell them?"
"Mom knows why... I need time to think..."
"Think about what? Mom told you everything last night," Aires told him.
"What else do you know behind my back?" He shot. "Gomen."
Aires walked further into the room and shut the door as she came in. She walked up to him and sat beside him. She placed a comforting arm around him, but he pushed her away.
"I just know that you're my stepbrother and that you have powers that mom, Kenji, Bakuryu, and Cloud have. Something of which mom is trying to keep from me."
"I have something to tell you," he said softly.
He then told her what he told Kenji. She was shocked but hugged him anyways.
"I can only love you as a brother, I'm sorry. But think you also hurt someone else..."
He looked at her for the first time since she came in his room.
"Who?" He asked.
"Kenji was the one you hurt. She won't admit to it, but deep down she loves you and it hurt her when you said loved me and not her. If I were you, you might want to make it up to her."
"I would if I could."
"What's that got to do with anything? Give her a chance, don't push her away until you've gotten to know her..."
Aires pushed herself up and walked out. She went down to join the breakfast table.
"Is he coming?" Quatre asked.
"No, something's bothering him, so he said he wasn't coming down. He said he'll be fine when he sorts it out."
Then the twins ripped up laughing at the joke Duo just told.
"Now, don't go repeating that at school," Hilde chided shaking her finger at them.
"Yes mom," they said in unison and knew that they wouldn't listen to her.
The weekend flew by fast and everyone had fun with family nights on Saturday. It was their get together time. If they had homework, Sunday was the day that they got to do it. Friday nights were theirs to have fun with, as long as they were back on the property before curve-view, they were fine.
Then the week started and all their classes were easy. There never went a day where they wouldn't see each other. But at lunch, it was the best time, they were all together.
Stand up and take the blame I would
"Aires, you are needed in the office," one of the staff members told her at lunch.
She nodded and passed her off lunch to the twins and walked up to the office. When she got there, her parents were there. They then led her into Une's office.
"You're not in trouble," those were the first words out of her mouth.
"Then why am here?" Aires questioned.
"We need an undercover student here to complete a mission... you were the first one we thought of," Une told her. "We've been after someone, and we can't trace him..."
"Since we have nothing of an up coming campaign, we've taken on minor jobs, such as rape, homicide, etc. we've taken these jobs so we can get paid and keep up with the house needs."
"But dad you have the money..."
"You've also forgotten other people who rely on this to pay their bills, sweetheart. This is for those people who need the money, but right now they aren't capable of pulling off this mission. So we need you," Quatre explained.
"What's the mission?" Aires questioned.
Une explained that there was a rapist mastermind at work here. He not only raped girls her age, he killed people from behind for no reason... the list just continued to go on and on. What got Aires to do this mission was that she hated people who killed for fun or killed people from behind, it was a cheap move.
"I'll do it," she announced after the briefing.
"But there's about two catches to this..." Vera muttered to her daughter.
"She's right," Une sat down and spun around before stopping herself. "One, you might not make it back alive... Two, no one must know about this..."
"I don't want you doing it Aires... but if it means that this guy is stopped... then it's up to you whether or not you do it," Quatre told her softly.
Before she could say anything else, Une jumped in again.
"Like I said before. Only we know about this mission. Or at least of the details... but you can't tell your boy friend, Bakuryu, Kenji, or Gabe. We don't need pissed off boyfriends, best friends, or family screwing up this mission because you got hurt. I've got everything set up in the Colony where he's rumored to be and you'll be sent there... you will call your family every weekend... keep it short like, 'hey how you doing?' or 'I'm just checking in.' Something like that. Don't speak of the mission, much less what you plan to do."
"I know about missions... and how to do this... this is what this school is for right?" Aires asked.
Une sighed, she knew she was right, but she was paranoid about the whole mission. Even if she knew what she was doing.
"Take pictures with this..." Une passed a camera across the desk to her. "They will be sent directly to me. I've programmed some of the sights in there, incase someone decides to look through it. Try to catch him the act, if you can. Or at least get some pictures."
Four weeks later after she left, no one heard anything from Aires. Quatre was worried sick about her, he wanted his baby girl back home. Gabe was on edge, thinking he drove his sister away, and that now he was going to lose her for good. Bakuryu was very tense, anything that was said he'd blow it out of proportion and was ready to hit anyone who set him off. Everyone else just tried to stay quiet or just get out of the house. Vera, Cloud, and Kenji stayed around to keep the peace. Vera could stop Quatre when he went off the deep end, but stopping Gabe and Bakuryu were different stories all in themselves.
One night after dinner, Quatre, Vera, Kenji, Bakuryu, Cloud, and Gabe were outside sitting under the stars. They were trying to calm down from all the tension that was there in the house. It was a welcomed change of pace.
"It was all my fault," Quatre spoke softly into the night.
"No it wasn't," Vera said, knowing no one could place any blame on them. "She chose to stop this guy... hoping that he wouldn't harm another..."
If I could take all the shame to the grave I would
My first week, nothing happened. I was just another nameless face walking to her apartment at night. Then the second week, I felt someone following me. But nothing happened. Then my third week, I felt this guy get closer to me. Then on my fourth week, he made his move.
I was walking home from work that night. (Une set me up with a government job that also worked with the Preventers... I'm just filing papers...) It was about one or two in the morning, I felt this cold air wrap itself around me... It was just horrible. Then his snake-like arm wrapped itself around my waist... it was so cold... I wanted to scream out with fear... but his hand went over my mouth.
"Mmmm... fresh meat..." He whispered.
After he said that, I don't know what happened. All I know was that I was hit on the side of the face and it was bleeding... but when I came too, no one was around. I got up and went to the door to leave, but it was locked. I wanted to cry, because now there was no telling what was going to happened. At least when I was outside, I was safer than a caged mouse. But I couldn't show a sign of weakness... then it would be too easy for them to finish me off. I went back to bed and slept lightly. I was sitting bolt up right with each noise. When I was sick of trying to sleep... I realized I had all my stuff. I took out the camera and snapped a few pictures. I walked over to the window and snapped some of the nearby buildings. Something was bound to get through.
After that, I never saw my camera again. Maybe since the pictures were taken, someone could find me. But the window was barred and I can't escape. Every possible way to escape has been taken care of... except the most drastic measures. I absolutely refuse to do it. I wouldn't die like that. Somehow when I was sleeping, they would slip some food into my room. I would only get one meal a day.
After my first week there, I was getting thin. Thinner than what I was. For what they gave to me for food, it wasn't enough. They were weakening me... and they knew exactly how to do it. Time passed and I lost track of everything. All I would do was curl up in the corner and watch the door.
Finally when someone came in, they drug me out of the room. I didn't fight, I was too weak. I could still throw a decent punch, but my body couldn't take it.
The man that took me away, threw me into a room full of women. They swarmed me until my clothes were off and then they put me into the hot bath water. I then relaxed and let them clean me.
When they were done... they put me into a dress. I've never worn a dress before, so this was a first. They wrapped string around my waist three times. Then twice around my neck and wrists. They then pulled my hair back into a ponytail and then they pushed me out the door.
The man that took me there, took me to another room. He left me there and left to finish whatever it was he was supposed to do. When I went further into the room, I saw someone staring out the balcony that was over looking the city below.
"I think they did a good job at cleaning you up," he said without looking at her.
He then turned to face her.
"But there's more to your little story..." He said. "You must capture me and stop me."
She was shocked, but kept her face passive. She wasn't going to give anything away.
"Oh, but princess, I think you know what I'm talking about," he said and began to draw his hand down her face. She turned her head to bite his finger, but he was quick and with his other hand, he smacked her across the face. "Don't play dumb with me!"
He then went over to the TV and turned it on. It began replaying their conversation. She looked up from her place on the floor and her mouth fell open. He shut the TV off and looked at her.
"Now we're getting somewhere... princess," he said softly.
"What do you want with me?" She demanded.
"You," he said before he made his move.
He did to her like he had the others in the past. But instead of crying out in pleasure, she cried out in pain. There was a pain that was like no other and she wanted to die. She didn't want to live with the shame that he had caused her, she wanted to take it to the grave that night. But she kept herself alive, it would be too easy to just give into them.
It's easier to run
It would have been easier to run if she could, but it was impossible to escape. But then that month she missed her period. Fear boiled in her stomach, this was what he wanted. Later he found out about it, and took better care of her than he did to begin with. But she was under tight security.
After she had the baby, it was taken away from her and she was right back where she started from. There were other women there to take care of this child, there was nothing left for her. The man that took every bit of her sanity and could have cared less that she could've starve to death. He got what he was set out to do.
Since no one really noticed her anymore, she began to make C4 bombs. They were quick to make and easy to hide. When they were done she waited about another two days before she exploded the bombs.
Sometimes I remember
In those two days she thought about her family and her friends. They were always there to protect her, now they had failed her. But in so many ways she was the one to blame and not her friends and family. Then for the first time in a year, she cried. She didn't want it to end like this, but she didn't want to end life like this. Then she began to remember her childhood the good and the bad.
The darkness of my past
She screamed for all she was worth because of what he did to her. Life for her would never be the same. Nothing could erase this memory that haunted her every night. She would wake up in the middle of the night scared because she didn't know what to do about it. Even if she could do something about it, it was apart of her past that she could never forget.
Bringing back these memories
But with the bringing back of these awful memories, she often thought of Bakuryu. She was wondering what he was doing, what he was thinking, wondering if he still cared, wondering if he found another lover. She tried to block out the fact that he's probably loving another. She made herself believe that he was waiting for her return. That when she'd return, he'd scoop her up into his arms and kiss her saying that he's glad she's safe.
But there was that growing fear, that he wasn't waiting for her. That she was just convenient when she was there. Then she'd hope that she would just wake up from this nightmare and be in her bed that was at home.
I wish I didn't have
This is was something she wished she'd never have experienced, but then there was this knowledge that she'd now have to help others with. Something that she could teach others how to defend themselves with.
Sometimes I think of letting go
Then the day came. It was time for her to set the bombs off. She knew that she wouldn't have the time to get out, but she thinking that she would complete the mission. This was one of those things that letting go would be the best way out.
Just washing it aside
Then she washed away all the regret and pushed the button she designed to set them off...
I couldn't believe that she was actually going to kill herself. But she somehow finally tapped into that hidden power that's been with her, her whole life. And once tapped into that side, we were able to save her before it was too late. She had a few cuts here and there from flying objects, but other than that she seemed just fine. But upon closer inspection, her eyes were sunken in and had bags under them, she was so thin you could count her ribs and see her cheek bones. She was now seventeen and looked like she was near her forties. Mom, Gabe, Bakuryu, Quatre, and Vera were very happy that I brought her back. A bit damaged, I thought, but with time she'll be back to normal. But that was far from the truth.
There were a lot of smiles and welcome backs, but she distanced herself from them. She missed them enough, but she just wanted to watch them, it felt right then doing what she normally did. Everyone tried to get her to talk about what happened, but she walked away from it, or acted like she didn't hear anything.
All of the helplessness inside
Even though she was back home and everything was all right, she just felt helpless. No matter what she did it would never go away. As Bakuryu got near her, she cowered away from him. She knew that he wouldn't hurt her, she just didn't trust men at that point.
When she started back at the Prep school, she reported to Une what happened. After she told Une, she requested that she not tell her parents, she'll tell them when the time is right. She also confessed that she killed her own child, even if it was a son of man who committed crimes like he did. She couldn't expect to blame an infant for the father's issues.
It's easier to run
It's always easier to run, I should know. But every afternoon after school, I would leave the house and run through the forest and wouldn't stop until it was time for dinner. I would always eat out on the patio, it avoided talking to people. I love them, but I'm not used to being around people, it's slowly going back to the way it was... but still there's this emptiness in my heart. But I know that everything will be all right, for now...