Disclaimer: The characters of Soukyuu no Fafner are created by Hisashi Hirai and a whole boatload of other people who do not include me. I am merely borrowing these characters for a lil fun ;) If you sue, you will end up losing more money to your lawyer than you will get from me because I HAVE NO MONEY!! Ok, that said, enjoy the story XD

Warning: Sex, Violence, at the same time, if you are under 18 and somehow missed the previous warning- LEAVE NOW!!! or read this. If you read on, and are squicked out, I'm not responsible.

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Sacrifices

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The flight back to the island was uneventful, due to Soushi not even acknowledging Kazuki's existence. Upon arrival, Kazuki was immediately greeted by a crowd of friends. He was so overjoyed at the endearing welcome that he didn't see doctor Chizuru Toomi lead Soushi away. Nor did he see the pained expression on Soushi's face, the slight limp in his walk, and the unnatural rustic stains on the torn synergetic suit.

That night, Kazuki's father was working late again, so he went over to the Toomis' house. Maya Toomi's cute red hair bopped up and down in the kitchen as she pretended to cook again, but Kazuki could clearly hear her conversation with her sister, Yumiko, as he was only 3 meters away. A deep shade of scarlet stretched across his face as he listened to them.

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"Please nee-chan! I'll never ask you for another favor ever again!"

"That's what you said last time Kazuki-kun came over!"

"But that's because I was sure that I would master the art of cooking before the next time he came to eat."

"Well why didn't you?"

"I was busy!"

"That's your own fault, I'm not helping you!"

"But if you don't help me, I'm going to grow into an old maid, and I'll never get married, and I'll continually bug you for food!"

"Fine, fine. Just leave the house soon. I know! Why don't you become a Fafner pil--OW! That's it, I'm putting vinegar and ketchup in the soup!"

"NOOOOOO!!! I'm sorry!!!!"

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The dinner was less energetic, but still full of bubbly conversation, care of Maya. Her voice sometimes reached impossibly happy registers, but after sitting in a cell for so long, it was a welcome change. Her mother, Chizuru Toomi, was silent, however, as if her mind was preoccupied elsewhere. That was not to last long because the dinner topic drifted to Kazuki's rescue.

"Hey Kazuki-kun, wasn't it nice of Minashiro-kun to bring you back? The lot of us just about lost hope, but he didn't give up," Maya remarked.

Yumiko nodded in agreement, "Hai, your father was really worried, and New United Nations wouldn't listen to anything he said. Then Minashiro-kun came up with the idea of a bargain, appealing to the mercenary side of Michio."

Kazuki's mood abruptly soured. "He bargained for me, but when Michio suggested that the same bargain could hold true for rescuing Kariya-sensei as well, Soushi didn't think it was worth his time to save a traitor."

Chizuru Toomi spoke for the first time that evening. "He was right, the price was much too high to waste on a New United Nations agent."

"New United Nations agent or not," Kazuki defended, "it's not right to just condemn her to death by leaving her in those people's clutches. If he truly had a heart, Soushi would have saved her too, regardless of the cost."

The crash of china on the table startled everyone. Soup danced up and splashed into a dark red pattern on the oak. Chizuru's eyes glistened with moisture as she spoke hoarsely, "Do not talk about Minashiro Soushi so carelessly when you do not know the extent of what he gave up to save your ungrateful hide. I do not like to be discourteous, but I must ask you to get out of my house. Now."

Kazuki hastily left, confused about the doctor's reaction. What was the bargain that made her react that way? Surely it could not be anything worth more than Kariya's life, could it?

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When they had landed in the afternoon, Soushi immediately noticed Chizuru Toomi's presence, as she did his. Without a word, he followed her to her examination room. Laying on his back for the second time in 24 hours, Soushi tried to concentrate on the ceiling, rather than memories and images that were threatening to break into his consciousness. He blocked out the world. He blocked out his thoughts. He blocked out the doctor's horrified gasp. He reaffirmed the walls around his heart, and gradually held the same expression as a corpse. Had his breath stopped, he would have been a perfect marble statue, only the thinnest lines of red and spotted bruises marring his skin.

Doctor Toomi finished her examination quickly. If she was horrified, she said nothing, realizing that sometimes words can only make a situation worse. She pressed a package into his hand, instructions written out previously. Soushi nodded his head a fraction, and she understood that even if she could not understand what he was going through. Chizuru tried to understand him back then, when she chanced upon a young Michio attacking the newly-blinded Soushi, his hands in indecent places. Soushi had been silent then, and he was silent now. In the past, she had admired his almost feminine beauty, but now...now he looked like a fragile porcelain doll, listless and malleable, broken once and again and probably once more in the future. Even the strongest of minds can shatter under the right circumstances, but Chizuru could not tell if Soushi was whole or in pieces. She did not ask, and he answered nothing, but she knew he was focusing on the only thing that could silence painful memories: Kazuki.

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tbc