Blood
By Fool's Gold
Chapter Nine: Another Morning
Disclaimer: Garou Densetsu (Fatal Fury) and all related characters are the property of SNK-Playmore. No profit has been made from this fic.
Rock shot straight up in bed.
That was what he would have done, at least, if not for the fact that none of his muscles seemed to be responding to his command. What really happened was that his body, which hurt as though he'd just been in the fight of his life and lost, flopped uselessly on the bed on which he lay.
The memories began to seep slowly back into his consciousness. He'd woken up in the middle of the night and run all the way towards his uncle's mansion, possessed by the insane urge to settle accounts once and for all – even at the expense of his own life. Then he'd taken a guard hostage, and Hotaru's father had stepped out of the shadows and threatened to reveal everything...
The next thing he knew, he was awake and in his own bed, almost completely immobile.
The moon was still high in the sky: it had to be a dream, he knew. That was the only way to explain it. But why did he hurt so badly? He tipped his head gingerly to the side, looking towards the bedside drawer – and gritted his teeth as the ache in his head suddenly intensified. Something else was amiss.
Using what little strength remained, he worked his unwilling hand up to the back of his throbbing skull and gingerly patted the sore area. Somehow, he wasn't all that surprised to find the contusion there, a painful swelling that managed to seem larger than it felt. But what did puzzle him, though, was how it had got there in the first case.
I must have hit it against the wall... but the thought wasn't very consoling. Something beyond the clock began to swim in and out of focus. Something red...
Rock blinked hard, now well and truly awake, and the image on the wall resolved itself into something more material. In fact, it more closely resembled a string of words, writ large in red and signed in an all-too-familiar name.
He looked again, just to make sure that he wasn't still caught in that dream he'd awoken from.
Rock,
You owe me the following:
1.) An explanation
2.) A drink
3.) Payment for my medical bills
I'll collect the first two at work on Monday morning, ten-thirty. And if you don't turn up, I swear I'll rip out your kidneys and sell them to pay for the last item on the list.
Yours painfully,
Dong Hwan
Rock slumped down into the bed's warm embrace as he lapsed back into unconsciousness. It was definitely getting a lot clearer now...
Sunday afternoon in the Kim household:
"So let me get this straight. You saw Rock running around in the middle of the night, and so you snuck out of the house and trailed him?"
"Hn."
"...And then you say he ran all the way to Kain's mansion, whereupon he promptly proceeded to knock out the guards and take one of them hostage?"
"Yeah."
"...And then the henchman in the old Japanese robes turns up, and they start talking, and Rock goes berserk?"
"Yeah. I couldn't make much out, but it sounded like they wanted to negotiate and fell out."
"...And so you beat Rock over the head with a full-power Raimei Dan, dragged him back to his flat, broke in through the window, vandalised his wall with a threatening message, and gave Mom and Dad the excuse that you had 'only' snuck out to an early-morning party?"
"..."
"...Dong Hwan..."
"What?"
"...has anyone told you that you're the DUMBEST, CRAZIEST, MOST IRRESPONSIBLE MORON THAT I'VE EVER KNOWN?"
"You think that's bad? Bro, just wait till you meet the other guy."
Sunday afternoon in the Kim household, and all is well.
The crowd had gathered, drawn to the scene almost as irresistibly as the flies that were beginning to swarm around the body. He found both distasteful, the crowds especially: he never did like the way they pressed around him and hemmed him in. To him, it was all just another trap.
He shuddered. But what was all that to him? He had to see what had happened.
The people of Second Southtown regarded the scene with more than a little trepidation. They were on the verge of hysteria, checked only by the town's sheer inertia and the fact that it hadn't happened to them. He knew.
He passed through the crowd easily, weaving his way to the front without even touching any of the people who thronged the mouth of the alley. The police had got there first, and they'd done a very efficient job of sealing off the grisly find and managing the crowds.
A pity they hadn't been more efficient in tracking down the killer.
He heard them talking, and his honed senses picked up the threads of speech that the two policemen wove.
"...third one..."
"It has to be him. Everything fits..." The burly one clenched his fists in the time-honoured symbol of frustration. "I know he's still out there. He's taunting us."
Kevin Rian. He'll never learn... but that makes the hunt all the more enjoyable.
To watch the man trapped in mental torment, to feed off his pain and uncertainty and futile rage... It was not as good as the physical act of torture, certainly, but it would have to do for now. He would wait until Kain gave the signal.
He slipped away in the shadows, resisting the urge to lick the bloodstains off his hand.
They faced each other across the table in hostility.
"Guys... why can't you settle your issues like gentlemen?" Jae Hoon muttered, trapped uncomfortably between the blank stares that were being exchanged. The delay was getting on his nerves – how long had it been?
Neither one moved a muscle.
"Guys...?"
They looked as though their faces had been cast in stone; neither of them was willing to give any ground.
"Guys!"
There was still no response from either side. He could feel the pressure building up within the room, thick and heavy with the promise of violence...
"Seriously..." The exasperated Jae Hoon rolled his eyes and swatted both of them sharply on the skull, wondering if "driving the point into their heads" was meant to be taken literally. "Rock, we're trying to help..."
"Yeah," Dong Hwan muttered sarcastically, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. "After all, if you're going to go bananas, it helps to have a reason for it."
"I said, we're trying to help – or at least, I'm trying to help." Jae Hoon scowled darkly, giving his brother a warning glare. "What exactly happened?"
Rock refused to give up any of his secrets, choosing instead to look into the bottom of his empty glass with an intensity that scared even the Kim brothers. The dark shading that hid his eyes did nothing to help his appearance; to Jae Hoon, his friend reminded him of the more unsavoury criminals that he'd seen in Southtown before... and more likely than not, the insane ones.
"Rock?" Jae Hoon whispered, suddenly worried by his friend's unresponsiveness.
It took Rock a full minute to respond, and even then it was done in reluctance. But still, the shadow lifted, and he became the brooding, tortured teenager that they knew once again.
It was scarcely an improvement, Jae Hoon thought silently, but one counted their blessings at times like this.
"Fine." Rock's voice was hoarse. "I'll talk."
"Why don't you get a cup of tea for yourself, Hotaru?" Mrs. Yardsley asked warmly. "You look like you could use a little rest."
"Thank you, Mrs. Yardsley." Hotaru slowly walked into the kitchen, her mind still plagued by the uncertainty of her brother's words.
She hadn't told Rock anything – in fact, she hadn't even spoken to him in the past week, and it hurt her to keep her benefactor in the dark. But what could she tell him? It wasn't as though she understood anything herself... and now, more than ever, she felt her chase spiral out of control. Her brother had insinuated that much, at least, taunting her with his comments on their family strife. She knew nothing now; everything that she had come to accept as the truth was now crumbling around her. Until a week ago, she'd thought her father dead, her brother guilty, and Rock a kind person.
That had been a week ago. And now everything had changed.
Perhaps her father was alive – and her brother innocent. And if so, where did that leave her? Did she truly think herself capable of reuniting the shards of her family? Or would she merely be chasing yet another fleeting fantasy?
And when her brother had brought the name of Heinlein into her search, the waters had only become murkier. She briefly entertained a heresy: perhaps Rock's involvement was not a matter of kindness, but one of revenge...
Hotaru shook her head and poured out another cup of tea, walking slowly back to the living room. It wasn't good to be distracted on the job, and she hoped Mrs. Yardsley wouldn't notice the look on her face.
"You look troubled, Hotaru," the elderly woman noted, dispelling Hotaru's hopes to the contrary. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"Oh, it's nothing, ma'am."
A wild idea coursed through Hotaru's mind – something that she would never have tried before. But the pent-up questions that she bore needed answers. And Rock had mentioned that he'd known Katherine Yardsley once...
"It's nothing. Just don't tell her that I recommended you."
Until a week ago, she would have acceded to his strange request. But now things were different. Still, she'd have to approach the matter obliquely.
Forgive me, Rock. "Mrs. Yardsley, I'm just curious, but..."
"Yes?"
"...what did you do before your retirement?"
"Oh, that." There was a chink of porcelain as the matron set her cup down on the table. "It's a long story."
"So, how far are we from Second Southtown, Mr. Anderson?" Bonne Jenet's voice rang loudly through the submarine, leaving small echoes in its wake.
"Given our current speed, about two hours away, cap'n."
"Good." She leant back in her chair and crossed her legs leisurely. "Carry on, then and wake me up when we get there."
With that, the young pirate captain fell into a sound slumber, and dreamt of gold.
"I guess it all started when Southtown was destroyed. You must have been about seven or eight at the time..."
"You're right; I remember having read about it in the news."
"Charles died in the blast." The light reflected off the old lady's spectacles, giving her eyes a watery shimmer. "I guess I needed something to do, to get my mind off the fact that he was dead. After all, it's not right for a woman to sit at home and laze around all day, right?"
That much was true. Hotaru listened distractedly, momentarily lost in a memory of her mother's last years, remembering every single hour that her mother had spent crying over the dead. If only she'd had something to numb the pain... Inwardly, the young girl admired Mrs. Yardsley for having had the strength to get over the loss – something she herself had never truly conquered.
"I needed a job anyway – staying on welfare wouldn't have worked, what with the whole relief system in pieces," the older woman's voice continued softly in the foreground. "So I got a job as a secretary. There was this opening in one of the surviving companies, and they seemed to be heavily involved in Southtown's reconstruction... I don't think you'll be familiar with the name, but it was one of the companies under the Heinlein consortium."
The name came as a shock, albeit one that Hotaru had, regrettably, anticipated.
Rock had been acquainted with her current employer, but she simply hadn't seen the link between the two. At a time, she wondered if they'd been neighbours, or perhaps someone whom Terry had helped in the past... but the mention of Heinlein's name threw a different light over what she already knew.
Still, the news meant nothing. It was common knowledge that the Heinlein consortium ran more than half of Second Southtown's industry. In fact, if Mrs. Yardsley hadn't worked for Kain, it would have been the exception rather than the rule. It should have been no surprise... but for the fact that Rock was involved, through some unknown means, in the whole business.
Hotaru pondered all this, and nodded in acknowledgement.
Mrs. Yardsley went on, clearly grateful to have a listening ear on hand, "I know, I know... you're going to say that Mr. Heinlein has some dubious connections to the underground. Not that I approve of gossip, but..." She raised her cup to her lips primly, leaving the sentence hanging in midair.
"I wouldn't know, Mrs. Yardsley." Hotaru didn't like the duplicity of her actions: to have denied Kain's criminal actions was impossible, not after she had witnessed the man's true intent at the tournament. But she certainly did not want to tar her employer with the same brush.
"Well, it's so much easier to see everything with the benefit of hindsight, isn't it? But at the time, Kain Heinlein was just another entrepreneur, and a philanthropic one to boot. He was always involved in the major reconstruction projects, and saying how Southtown would rise from the ashes..." Mrs. Yardsley sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Anyway, I worked at their branch company for about, say, eight years, and then I was posted to their main office. You're familiar with the Heinlein Tower, aren't you? You know, the one they called 'Geese Tower' back in the old days?"
The first time Hotaru had noticed the edifice, Rock had explained its history to her – but not without distaste. "Over there, the scum always floats to the top."
"Well, I worked in that building until about three months ago." There was a chink of porcelain as Mrs. Yardsley set her cup back down onto the table. "I suppose that's about it. Why did you ask?"
"Oh... nothing, really." Hotaru finished her drink, taking care not to let the line of questioning go out of control. "I was just wondering... Oh!" she suddenly piped up, a twinkle in her eyes. "Did you say something about 'gossip' just now?" She latched onto the provided opening tenaciously.
"And you seemed like such a nice girl, too..." the older woman noted in jest, with the faintest hint of disapproval. "Well, don't tell anyone I said anything, but..." She leant over conspiratorially, the laugh lines on her face vanishing. "It seems that the rumours about Kain being an underworld boss are more than just talk."
"Really?" Hotaru joined in their little charade, lowering her voice to a soft whisper.
"Yes. It's not anything you'd discover by going through their documents, I can assure you – I pored through those for three years straight and didn't find anything amiss. But it turns out that I'd also spent those last three years as secretary to a rather nasty piece of work."
Their talk had suddenly taken a serious turn, but Hotaru tried to keep the older woman's spirits up. "So, who was it? Some overdressed psychopath who carries knives in his pocket? A mysterious fighter whose face is always hidden behind a mask? Or was it a foreigner in Oriental robes who only speaks in monosyllables?" She dropped in the last reference as casually as she could, hoping that she would be able to glean some information pertinent to her brother's work in Second Southtown.
"No, no, nothing like that," Mrs. Yardsley laughed, "nothing that would catch your imagination like that. In fact, I'd never have suspected him at all."
"So you mean... like Kain? I mean, he looks like quite the gentleman..."
"It's funny you should mention that, but..." Her brow creased in recollection. "Come to think about it, that boy looked almost exactly like Kain."
Rock tossed back his drink in one swift gulp, hoping that it would calm his nerves as much as it soothed his parched throat. It didn't help either way. "Okay... where do I start?"
"Well," Dong Hwan muttered caustically, "You could start by telling us just why you were running around in the middle of the night."
"Oh, sorry." Rock ran his fingers tiredly through his hair, slumping forwards over his now-empty glass. "I... I don't know. I guess I just felt that it was time."
"Time?" Jae Hoon queried, uncomprehending.
"Yeah..." Rock picked up the bottle that lay on the table and poured himself another glass of amber liquid. "I'm stuck. If I go to the police, I set myself up to be exposed; and if I leave things as they are, Kain's gonna continue ruling this town. So," he knocked back the entire glass in one shot, "which option would you choose? Nothing works. Then I had this crazy idea that somehow, if I threatened to air my uncle's dirty laundry, maybe he'd just give up the whole 'taking over Second Southtown' idea."
He sighed. "I guess I forgot. When it comes to bluffing, my uncle reigns supreme." The glass was filled again, and drained just as quickly – and Rock was becoming more and more despondent by the minute. Dong Hwan cast a worried glance at the half-empty bottle.
"Well, that's interesting. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He slipped out of his seat and slunk over to the bar, where Duck King was wiping the mugs.
"Hey, Duck..."
"Hmm?"
"What's in the bottle?" Dong Hwan challenged, keeping a wary eye on the proceedings at their table.
"Ah, dat. Jus' one of my special homemade brews, made from da best hops, malt, ya know..."
"Yeah, yeah... but how much alcohol is in that thing?"
"Ya really wanna know?" Duck King pulled Dong Hwan's head down, whispering the closely-guarded secret into the bouncer's ear...
"None."
Dong Hwan gave a start. "What?"
"It's a bartender's trick, yo. Ya usually use it when da fella's too drunk to notice, and fer his own good. But it seems ta work equally well on our fren' over dere – not dat da drink would help anyways." Duck King glanced over at Rock, looking him over with the eyes of a man who was well-acquainted with the troubles of life. "Rock's havin' it rough. I dunno what's da problem, an' it's probably none of mah business... but go easy on 'im, 'kay? He could use yo' support."
Surprisingly, the normally unshakeable Dong Hwan now bore a chagrined look on his face. "Yeah, I know. Guess I'm just a sore winner." He grimaced, patting the spot on his stomach where Rock's fist had landed – and realising that it could have been far, far worse. But there still remained a part of him that was annoyed by it; he still didn't know what Rock had been up to, or the reason for his sudden madness...
Still, Rock was their friend. And as far as he knew, a part of that duty obviously involved keeping the idiot out of trouble.
"Thanks, Duck." He flipped his hand in acknowledgement.
Duck King's white teeth showed up almost as starkly as his garish hair. "No problem."
"Hey, Thomas! How's the shoulder doing?" the truck driver called to his companion, who slid into the front passenger seat and closed the door with his only available hand.
"Not too good, Harold." As if to emphasise the point, he cradled the sling that held his other arm in place. "Man, it feels terrible, like some guy hit me with a taser. Doc says I won't be able to use it for a week. How's Richard?"
"He hasn't got over the shock yet. Poor bugger's been assigned to the security detail at the press conference."
"Yeah, poor guy..."
The two employees sat in their seats in a moment of silence, commiserating over their absent co-worker's condition in the wake of Saturday night's attack.
"Come on," Thomas said eventually. "We've got to be at the power plant by six."
The truck shifted gears and trundled out of the warehouse, carrying its terrible cargo as uneasily as the men who drove it.
"Anyway, I guess I ruined things, didn't I?" Rock mumbled, not even noticing when Dong Hwan returned to their table and snatched the bottle out of his hands. Jae Hoon gave his brother what would only have been described as the 'hairy eyeball', but Dong Hwan merely shrugged it off and took a huge swig.
"Yeah, you did," were his first words. "You didn't have to hit me so hard, did you?"
"Sorry," Rock remarked with a sheepish, sad smile. "I was out of my mind at the time..."
Dong Hwan mulled over those words for a while.
"Aw, fuggeddabout it," he eventually drawled, pulling back into the seat. "Just so you know, I have Duck King's word that this stuff isn't alcoholic, so you can stop staring at me like that, Jae."
"Oh, really?" his brother remarked, raising his eyebrows warily before returning to the matter at hand. "Anyway, we've established that you were ready to trade your liberty away in order to see Kain brought low – and frankly, it takes guts to do that." A hand reached over towards Rock, clapping him firmly on the shoulder. "At least you tried."
The words of encouragement only served dragged Rock's spirits down, as he replied deprecatingly, "We all know what paves the road to Hell, Jae. And if we're going to be frank, I should never have gone there in the first place. Now... I've given my uncle another weapon to use against me." There was a slight pause as the next sentence formed uneasily in his mind. "I don't know how I'm going to answer for it."
It was a time before anyone spoke, and it was Jae Hoon who broke the silence. "What stopped you from carrying your threat through?" he asked delicately. But Rock remained tight-lipped.
"You mean, who stopped him," Dong Hwan corrected, and watched as Rock's head suddenly rose up in horror. "I hate to blow your cover, Rock, but I heard your talk. Face it, pal, chivalry's dead – even if it is a nice sentiment to hold on to. So, who's the damsel in distress?"
Rock's shocked expression was priceless. It hung on his face for an instant, and then disappeared behind the curtain of morose denial that was hurriedly raised. "Who said anything about a girl?"
"You did," Dong Hwan retorted.
"Dong!" Jae snapped, using an epithet which he would rather have avoided. "Rock, we've got your interests at heart here. Trust me, we don't want to get anyone else involved – but if somebody else already is, then she might be in trouble. And hiding the truth isn't going to help."
"He's right." Dong Hwan's face had lost its smug smirk now. "If we're going to get to the bottom of this, you're going to have to tell us the whole story. Either that, or we might find ourselves with more than guilty consciences on our hands."
Rock sat there, unmoving and unsure. What could they do that he hadn't already done? A derisive snort escaped him. "Even if I told you, it wouldn't do any good."
"Who says?" Jae Hoon was indignant. "We could notify the police, or we could make arrangements to protect her from harm. Anything's better than sitting around and waiting for the next blow to fall."
He was right in principle, Rock realised: stalling wouldn't change anything. But Jae Hoon had made a mistake – he had automatically assumed that the danger was a physical threat. And therein lay the problem.
If it had been a situation which he could have solved with his fists alone, it would have been settled long before. But the problem that he faced was more than that – it was a game of threats and counter-threats, of feints and bluffs... and he had rushed into it blindly. This wasn't the game Terry had trained him to play. And so, when he found himself cornered by shadows, when the intangible assaults pressed against him from all sides, what had he done? He'd responded the only way he knew: with violence. And it hadn't solved anything.
Perhaps it was time to delegate the fight to people who knew better. But still, what could they do?
He laughed bitterly, startling the brothers. "It's too late now. As a matter of fact, we're five years too late."
"What are you talking about?" Jae Hoon's asked sharply.
"You mean, who," Rock mocked. "And the girl in question is Hotaru Futaba."
The revelation horrified Hotaru, but something more terrible overwhelmed it: a dawning realisation that she, in some part of her heart, had expected such a response.
Rock's animosity towards his uncle now seemed perplexing, even hypocritical; he'd openly condemned the man, denounced his ways... and now there came this woman, who claimed that the young man who had done all this had also been a part of Kain's plans – no, had actively participated in them, and even had a hand in carrying them out?
She didn't want to believe it, but she did.
"What happened?" She picked up her cup with shaky hands, hoping that they would not betray her insecurity.
"You wouldn't believe it, even if I told you." The hurt look on Mrs. Yardsley's face sent a pang of despair through Hotaru; what had Rock done? "He seemed like such a nice boy... a little young to join the administrative department, I'll grant, but we didn't see anything amiss. Kain said he 'had a knack for sorting things out'," she said, her hands waving vaguely as they mirrored the statement. "Three whole years, and I didn't see anything wrong."
Her fingers were interlocked tightly, a reflection of her perceived betrayal. "Then, one day, he threatened me and told me to quit my job."
Hotaru's fingers gripped the edge of the seat tightly.
"I don't know why he did it, or what came over him." The older woman shook her head sadly. "He said something about the place being rotten, or something like that – it's been such a long while, I can't remember exactly. The next thing I knew, he'd destroyed his own office."
"No..."
"I saw it with my own eyes, Hotaru. The entire room had been wrecked. It was almost as though a hurricane had gone through it..." The images flashed before Mrs. Yardsley's eyes in vivid detail, as raw and horrific as it had been on the day itself. "Anyway, from what I heard, he fought his way down to the ground floor and savaged the security guards who had been sent to stop him. He... he was like a monster. Mr. Heinlein even came down himself to stop the fight, but the boy beat him."
"Why?" Hotaru blurted out in utter disbelief, unwittingly exposing her true sentiments. This was nothing like the Rock she knew – the person in Katherine Yardsley's tale was a brutish thug, primed to destroy.
"Like I said, I don't know. Anyway, he just walked out after that like it was nothing. Mr. Heinlein fired him formally in absentia the next day, and a good thing too. I wouldn't want that sort of person around the office either."
It was Hotaru's innate gentleness that stopped her from breaking out in vehement denial. The Rock she knew wasn't anything like that –
Was he?
The dreadful thought struck her: she didn't really know him, did she? All she'd seen was what he'd chosen to reveal – and it suddenly occurred to her that he'd been strangely reticent about his own life. Rock had been perfectly comfortable when talking about Second Southtown, and he hadn't seemed unwilling to discuss the details of her search, but when it came to his activities in the past years... It was a topic he'd assiduously avoided, and always with a guilty look on his face.
Now she knew the reason why.
"And you retired soon after," she murmured tiredly, still trying to come to grips with what she was being told. No wonder Rock had sworn her to secrecy...
"Yes. It just didn't feel right... I don't know what Kain was thinking, hiring that madman – administration, my foot! Did you know, there were rumours that he was the son of Geese Howard... and I wouldn't put it past him, from the way he fought." Mrs. Yardsley rubbed her eyelids lightly, wondering aloud. "So Kain was probably involved in some dirty business, and that boy wasn't up to any good either... Oh, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm retired, and the least they can do is let an old woman have some peace and quiet."
A soft whisper left Hotaru's lips, almost for her own benefit, "So... does it matter who rules the town?"
"Dear, dear... you're obviously new to the town," her employer said, dismissing the accusation in a manner that seemed too superficial for even Hotaru to accept. "Criminal or not, Kain R. Heinlein's the best thing that's come to Second Southtown ever since the place was founded. He brings order and stability to our lives, something we haven't seen in ages. And he was responsible for driving out the gangs..."
"Only to replace them with one of his own."
"Hotaru, dear, you're too naïve for your own good. For those of us who've lived in Southtown all our lives, we learnt one thing quickly: any degree of order, even a criminal one, is preferable to the chaos that would ensue without it." The eyes of Katherine Yardsley were uncharacteristically flinty now, standing out like hard diamonds against her soft face. "And judging from what I've seen of the chaos, I like the order quite fine, thank you. Now, would you mind helping me bring the cups back into the kitchen?"
That was the end of the argument. No answers gleaned, but only more questions that should never have been asked in the first case. And Hotaru found herself saddled with even more questions, and no leads as to where the answers would be found.
She was at a dead end now, and her pursuit was being rapidly diverted in another direction – one that led back to a red-eyed boy...
Dong Hwan merely cocked an eyebrow in surprise at the news, but his mouth had been temporarily stilled by the sudden announcement. They hadn't known that the girl with the ferret had arrived in Second Southtown.
He sat back for the time being, willing to let his brother do the talking.
"I... I didn't know," Jae Hoon said slowly, still trying to absorb the news he'd been told. It wasn't an unpleasant surprise, but it didn't sit well with him either. "What's she doing here?"
"She's still looking for her brother," came Rock's bitter reply. "And you know what the funny thing is? She'll probably find him. In fact, she'll find out more than she bargained for when she accepted my offer to help."
Jae Hoon's memory was jolted into action by Rock's hints. "So, you're saying that Kain's right-hand man..."
"Far from it. That's her father. Her brother was supposed to have killed him, but something went wrong in the attempt. And now her brother's looking for their father, and she's looking for her brother, and when they meet they'll be one big happy family again. Isn't that wonderful? And so her father threatened that if the truth got out, it would expose both of us, and then we'd just wreck her life. And then she'll end up like me..."
He stared worriedly at Rock. The young man was fey – hardly the kind of mentality they wanted at a time like this. And after all, that kind of madness was just one step away from the violent kind.
He did the only thing that seemed right – he reached out and struck Rock hard across the face.
"Snap out of it, Rock!" he ordered in a stern voice reminiscent of his father's. "I know it's hard for you, but babbling like an idiot isn't going to help at all! If you consider yourself in any way a man, pull yourself together and listen to me!"
The angry weal stared back at him from Rock's face accusingly. He couldn't believe that he'd just done it either, but he forced himself to carry on: "Look, I can see it's affecting you really badly. But you have to remain in control of your faculties if you're going to be of any help to her." A sudden thought ran through him as he recognised the tell-tale signs. "Besides, I don't think you want her to see you like this, right?"
Shamed eyes stared back at him, but no words came from Rock's lips.
"I guessed as much." Jae sighed, sitting back in his seat. It was always the same old story... and he'd been there before. "You really don't want her to see you like this..."
"I don't want her to see me, full stop." The mad ramble had regressed to a dull monotone now, one that reeked of sullenness and sulking.
Well, that's new. "Why not?"
The table shook as Rock slammed his palms onto the seasoned wood. "It should be obvious, Jae. Take a look at me. It's bad enough that I'm born from a line of criminals, and worse that I went back into the underworld. But now... I have to be the one to break the news to her."
It was no coincidence that the phrase, "don't shoot the messenger" came to Jae Hoon's mind. "How much does she know?" he asked, a logical continuation of his enquiry.
Fortunately, Rock proved to be very responsive to their questioning; Jae Hoon sensed that the young man, more than anything, wanted to unload this burden that he'd been carrying – and so the words spilled out, rushing from his lips, unchecked by the need for secrecy.
"If you're talking about my history, I can't be sure. I've been really careful not to tell her anything... but I can't make any guarantees." Rock's mind flashed back to his job recommendations: had it been a mistake? Whatever the case, it was too late. He continued, his voice a bland mask over his bitterness, "The same goes for how much she knows about her family. Anything she knows..."
Dong Hwan finally looked up from his silence, his expression sober. "What about her family? How much do they know?"
"You were there, Dong Hwan. Her father knows she's in town, and he didn't hesitate to use that knowledge against me – and since he works for Kain, he knows all about me. Her brother... I haven't seen him in this town at all." As Rock spoke those words, a new sense of helplessness came over him: was Hotaru's search was nothing but a wild-goose chase? Had she come all the way back to Second Southtown only to be used, through some evil twist of fate, as a threat and a weapon?
He knew he was useless. Everything he had done had gone wrong, from the moment he'd volunteered to help, all the way through to his 'recruitment' of Terry into the search...
"Oh, no..."
"Terry?"
"Hey, babe. How's work?"
"Miserable. Ever since Kain announced that he'd be holding a press conference, our people have been stretched thin. We're practically all over the place trying to secure the venue, and we have to get everything settled by this evening..."
"I didn't know you placed such a high priority over Kain's security."
"Who said anything about his security? We're trying to make sure that he doesn't try anything funny. As a matter of fact, HQ has to assign at least three officers for every bodyguard he brings."
"I guessed as much..."
"And to make matters worse, we found a third body in an alley this morning. Kevin is dead sure – pardon the expression – that it's Freeman's doing. I think he wants his revenge too badly, of course, but that doesn't change the fact that the MO fits the bill. The mood around here... everyone's on tenterhooks. The office is nearly empty, too. I'd be out there, if not for the training lessons we've got on at the grounds. Personally, I smell a rat."
"You're not the only one – hey, gotta go. A new delivery just came in. Take care, okay?"
"Yeah, you too."
"What is it, Rock?"
The blond head sank back down onto the table in despair. "I remember now – and I wish I hadn't had it in the first place."
"What are you talking about?" Dong Hwan asked, irritated.
"Look, I need someone else to tell her. I can't go through with this – she'll hate me forever. But if she ever needs to know..."
"Whoa, whoa." Dong Hwan raised his hands, signalling for Rock to stop. "What's going on here?"
"Terry and Mary passed me a huge envelope on Saturday afternoon, a whole load of information pertaining to Hotaru's brother – and, by extension, Hotaru's father. By rights, I should have handed it over to her straight away, but I never delivered it."
Dong Hwan pursed his lips hard. "A little irresponsible, don't you think?"
"What could I do?" Rock spread out his palms in despair, keeping his head low. "If I tell her, she'll be broken – just like I was. I don't want her to go through her entire life with the stigma of her family attached to her. Her brother's a bad enough case, and if I were to bring her father into the picture..."
The Kim brothers sympathised. It was hard enough to accept the truth, as unpalatable as it was, and even more heartbreaking to have to tell it to another; yet another part of them felt that it wasn't right to withhold it from the one who, more than anyone, had the right to know.
Jae Hoon was the one who spelled out the other alternative, blunt and cruel as it sounded. "Would you rather see her remain on the path she has chosen, wandering around for the rest of her life without closure or a conclusion? Or have you forgotten the three years you spent working for Kain? Have you forgotten your mother?"
There was no response. Rock's upper body remained splayed across the table, resembling not so much a man as it did a rag doll, limp and lifeless.
"I think you overdid it this time, bro." Dong Hwan looked down at his friend warily.
"Rock?" Jae Hoon reached over, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. To their surprise, Rock responded but his voice was almost completely devoid of spirit – he sounded as though all the will to fight had been sucked out of him.
"I hear you... and I don't know what to do."
"Well, Mr. Futaba... It would seem that everything is going according to schedule."
"I wouldn't get too confident too quickly, Mr. Heinlein. You know what's said about the best-made plans..." Goto advised. He wondered if that boy would continue to cause trouble – one could never be sure when it came to desperate men.
"Of course. Organise the men and have them move out. Incidentally, I'll need you to be at the press conference."
"What for? Shouldn't your men be enough for the sake of security?"
"Oh, you never know. I'm sure that the people of Second Southtown won't be too happy when I make my announcement." Kain got up from his seat and adjusted his tie, making sure his appearance was immaculate. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must prepare for the speech," he said, speaking in a smug voice that sounded a little too confident.
Of course, I don't think you'll be too happy either.
Notes:
I have an editor!
Rubberchicken: Thanks for volunteering. I really like your style of writing – I remember "Divine Intervention", and therefore I have no doubts that you'll be able to do a great job.
El Fuego Corruptado: grins nervously Well, I can't say that my knowledge of SNK's geography/history is any good – I've definitely taken a lot of liberties with it. I'm not sure if I'll make the change at this stage, but your comments have been taken into account. Thank you for the feedback. (And incidentally, I still don't see the true difference between a "live-house" – which I remember as the original term used in-game – and a "club", taken broadly.)
Everyone else (and esp. Peachrocks, who's been with this fic since its early chapters): Thanks for sticking with me. It's been a long fic, and I hope you'll all be gratified to note that we're reaching the crucial turning point.
Just some general comments:
Yes, manic rambling is a convenient way to make people divulge their deepest secrets.
The non-alcoholic bottle of "beer" is not an injunction against drinking, but merely my refusal to get characters drunk at ten-thirty in the morning. Some things are just not done.
Welcome back to the world of stereotypes, where the grand old dames sip tea from china cups in the morning and the African-Americans speak with odd accents. Apologies to anyone offended by the portrayals.
