Part Twelve
'Ran, I bequeath you this sword. But remember: do not draw it. If you must draw it, draw it only to let people live...'
"…Shion…"
Wrapped tightly in his blankets from hours of tossing in a fitful sleep, Ran dreams. Tonight, his mind is not filled with unbidden passion or odd antics, but with his mentor, long thought dead.
Within the dream Ran is consumed, the sound of crashing waves deafening everything but the echo of that familiar voice, calling him, calling…
"Ran…"
Panting hoarsely against the cold air, Ran spins, unable to make out his bearings or see anything around him but blurred darkness.
Again. "Ran…" Echoing from all directions, Shion's voice calls to him. "Ran…"
"Where are you?" Ran cries, desperately spinning in every direction to pinpoint the location of that taunting voice calling so persistently. "Shion, where are you!" He slices thin air all about him, but no figure forms before him. No victim appears.
"Ran..." comes the echo, much closer now, so close, Ran is almost certain he can finally see the very man he seeks just ahead.
"There you are!" Shing! A killing stroke. But not the one he intended.
A girl's scream shatters the frigid air instead of that of a man's. "Aaahhhh!"
The waves fall suddenly silent. Ran's vision clears, the beach forming into actual scenery, though the waves are still and dead.
At Ran's feet lies the body of a young woman. "A...Aya! No, Aya!
Pale eyes stare dimly up at him, searching, judging, hating. "Murderer..."
"Aya!"
And Ran thrashes on, unable to wake, forced to relive this grisly scene again as his former master's voice haunts him through the wind, and all his guilt and shame crashes like the waves on that pitiless beach.
-
It is early morning and pleasantly still. A quaint, 'member's only' bar has yet to open and will not until early afternoon, the owners who live above it having only just woken up.
They speak amiably to one another as the taller of the two prepares breakfast. He is well built at just a few years shy of 40, as is his slighter partner. Neatly cropped, dark hair is smoothed back away from his face, and his brown eyes match the coffee he has just finished brewing.
"No excitement last night then?" he asks his friend, his tone betraying as little emotion as he can manage to hold back.
The man at the table runs a thin hand through his shaggy brown hair, smiling in a strangely predatory manner. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Perhaps tonight." he replies. Leaning so that his elbows rest on the table in front of him so he can coyly hold his pretty face in his hands, he looks up at his dear friend and roommate, waiting to speak until he has caught the other man's eye. "Why do you ask? Have you been missing the part you play?"
The taller one turns away, back to the cooking rice on the stove. He cannot suppress his grimace but does not want his companion to see it. "Of…course not. You know I only do it for you. Where would you be today without me?"
A dry laugh. "Executed for murder by now, I imagine."
"Exactly."
"Haha. I can read you better than you think. Perhaps you have yet to realize it yourself, but I know—deep down—you enjoy cutting up those women just as much as I enjoy killing them…Azami."
A bowl crashes to the floor and shatters. "Ayame, please…"
Ring. Ring. Saved by the literal bell.
Displaying perhaps the smallest bit too much eagerness for answering the phone, Azami rushes to the receiver and picks it up, despite knowing how odd it is for their phone to ring at all. "Moshi, moshi." he speaks hurriedly, facing the wall so he doesn't have to see the smirk he knows is on Ayame's face. "Ah, Rindou. I never expected you to ever call us. Don't you usually just stop by?"
Ayame's ears have been significantly perked. "Is that Rindou? Do we have a mission?"
Azami ignores the excitement he can hear in his friend's voice. "Yes, of course we received the information. He dropped it off personally a few days ago. Does he want us to go tomorrow night?"
"There is a mission. The one from a few days ago? Perfect."
Azami clenches his eyes shut. When was it Ayame first began to enjoy killing? "We'll be ready. Yes, we've gone over the file, we understand. I certainly have no problems with taking out everyone if need be."
"Certainly not."
"We'll be there. Yes. Yes, I know. Ja." Azami puts the receiver back in place, releasing a small sigh. Suddenly, he feels a delicate arm slither around his shoulders. He tenses, even knowing it belongs to someone he trusts with his life.
"This is going to be so much fun, don't you think?" Ayame breathes beside his ear, chuckling contentedly.
Azami tries his best to return the expression, but his smile never quite reaches the soft brown of his eyes.
"Of course…" Ayame continues, pulling back a little, though still with his arm draped over his friend. "…we have so much time until tomorrow night. Since it has been over a week…I really could use a little…indulgence."
Azami's smile fades completely as Ayame pulls away from him and begins to walk to the door.
Laughter litters the slighter man's words as he speaks without turning to face his hopelessly devoted and beaten friend. "You'll clean up after me…won't you…Azami? Hehehehe…"
-
Far from that tension filled bar, there is an equal amount of tension brewing in an overcrowded RV.
"Dude, you look like shit. You keep this no sleep thing going and soon you won't have to worry anymore about Ken having the hots for ya."
An impressive glare; Ran is not amused. "Urusei." he responds simply, venomously from beneath his breath, and says nothing more. The tall blonde's observation is not worthy of a response any more eloquent than that.
Youji and Ran are the only two in the trailer at the moment, Omi, Nagi, and Shioshiro having gone out early to get a few forgotten supplies, and Ken being somewhere outside, presumably to once again kick the air as if it were an actual soccer ball.
Groggily heading into the small kitchen area, Ran breezes passed Youji—who is standing near the counter—to reach for the pot of coffee and a mug. He isn't usually one for real breakfast, anyway.
Youji shakes his head at the pale man only a foot from him and yet so many purposefully imposed miles away. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You're acting the way any man who seriously needs to get laid would act. Pissy. Avoiding. Overly-tense."
"Kudo…"
"Though I suppose that's how you always act."
"I swear, if you don't shut up…"
"Then again, that probably just means you haven't been laid in a really long time."
Ran grits his teeth and storms away from the kitchen, mug held dangerously tight in his hand.
"Struck a nerve, did I?"
"Fuck off!"
"Oooo, using the word 'fuck' now. Bet your subconscious is trying to tell you something."
"Do you want to die!" Ran seethes, spinning back around to burn a few well-deserved holes into Youji's head with his piercing violets.
Youji—naturally—smirks. "Just seeing how far I can push you. Seems that's the only way to get results."
A frustrated sigh. "If you insist on being so damn intrusive on my life, I'll have you know I agreed to try harder at accepting the things Shioshiro is telling us."
And because he couldn't possibly allow himself to offer up the response Ran is expecting, Youji's smirk becomes a softer smile. "Guess the kid's even more like Ken than I thought. He knows just how far to push…to be enough."
Ran opens his mouth, intent on throwing out some sort of biting comeback, but realizes too late…there aren't any. Youji is a step above being right on this one; he's won the jackpot to a million dollar lottery.
And that really gets under Ran's skin.
"Idiot." he grumbles, making his way over to the couch to sit in peace, at least for as long as he can. Luckily, Youji doesn't plan on giving him any more grief at the moment, though that hardly means the redhead is safe.
"Tadaima!" Omi calls cheerfully, his small arms full with various bags as he steps into the trailer in likeness to both Shioshiro and Nagi, who enter just after him with just as much baggage. Ken, too, follows the group inside, having been pulled from his outside activities.
Of course, seeing Ran on the couch, flushed from coffee and disheveled from restless sleep, gets Ken's pulse racing far more than his little stint of exercise, and succeeds in helping him forget just about everything else for a moment.
Ran tries not to notice he is being stared at.
They haven't talked. They haven't resolved anything. The reasons being the same for both young men: fear. Especially when neither really knows what to do or what they want.
"We're going tomorrow night, right?"
Shioshiro looks sideways at Youji as he sets the bags he has been carrying on the countertop in the kitchen. Youji is right next to him, expectantly sipping his own cup of coffee. "We have to go tomorrow if we're going to save any lives." the young brunette explains in a strangely severe tone. "If there hadn't been so many other things to do before this point we might have saved one or two more, but…this will still be significant. Weiss is in the middle of a very serious war, and they don't even realize it."
"Heh. Which Weiss you talkin' 'bout, kid." Youji winks, nudging Shioshiro gently before putting his empty mug in the sink and escaping the now cramped kitchen since Omi and Nagi have also entered to set their bags on the counter and begin putting things away.
Staring after him, Shioshiro realizes his ironic choice of words. It almost brings a smile to his face but the expression loses its way before getting there.
Ken notices his son's uncharacteristic solemnity. Only a few days ago Shioshiro was practically high on life, as if all must be going just as the young man had hoped. He seemed so…pleased and hopeful. And yet…now that this mission is upon them, the youth seems…almost…heartbroken.
"Hiro…you okay? You seem a little…off." he speaks softly, keeping his voice low enough so that only they—and Omi and Nagi, due to their close proximity—can hear him.
Shioshiro doesn't quite know how to respond. He offers a smile that would fool no one, and shrugs. "I'm just…a little nervous. Weiss…the other Weiss…it could all blow up in our faces. I know you can defeat them—you did in my timeline—but that isn't what I want to happen. I want this solved without anyone not going home when it's over."
"I don't get it." Ken sighs, scratching his head in honest confusion. His voice becomes normal volume out of habit, and although the others can easily hear now, they are all trying very hard to seem as if they aren't listening in on the conversation. "Do you like these guys for some reason, or…what? I know you said killing shouldn't always have to be the answer, but…what really makes these guys any different from others we've killed? I'd much rather just get in there and take care of this like a normal mission."
Shioshiro suppresses the urge to tense. 'That's half the problem…'
"Please, Dad, can we just drop this." he says, replying almost curtly and leaving the rest of the groceries to the others as he steps out of the kitchen into the main area of the RV. "It'll be hard, but we can do this without any of them having to die. Just…trust me that it's the right thing, okay?"
The young brunette's tone is so strained, Nagi and all of Weiss look to him in unveiled surprise.
It has been two days since Ran swore to be more amiable and compliant—though this has been displayed only in his refraining from yelling or glaring too much at a continuously pining Ken—and ever since then Shioshiro has become increasingly more agitated.
The brunette in question realizes his heart is a little too far out on his sleeve and inwardly scolds himself for causing the worried looks now sent in his direction.
"Hiro…Gomen. I didn't mean to upset you." Ken says earnestly. The look in his eyes screams, "I know you're upset because of me even though I don't know why," but Shioshiro doesn't know how to wipe that expression away.
"Your obvious anxiety is not very comforting when we have a mission tomorrow." pipes in Ran's deep voice, flowing through the room as he stands and makes his way from the couch to join the others in the center of the room. "I do not know the other members of Shion's Weiss, but if they are as capable as he is then we need to be in top form. You know that."
"Yes, of course. I'm not anxious. I'm fine." the brunette lies. "Really."
Ran's expression clearly says, "I don't buy a word of that," and the looks of the others say much the same.
"Really, I'm just…antsy with so much happening all at once and with everything I have to accomplish. But I'm not anxious and I am in top form. Don't worry."
"We believe you, Hiro." assures Ken, speaking for the others whether they agree with that statement or not. He steps closer to his son and wraps an arm around those slightly narrower shoulders. "These other Weiss guys are trying to steal our job, huh? We gotta stop 'em. And if you don't want us to kill them then…well…we'll try things differently. I'm sure we'll see more action before all this is over anyway."
Ran audibly huffs at that. "You almost sound excited for the next kill mission. I thought the point of all this was to get us out of Weiss, out of this life. Have you forgotten that?"
"Well…I…but…I…I guess I…" Ran has left Ken positively tongue-tied. 'I guess I never really thought about it…'
Shioshiro recognizes his father's faltering and strives quickly to change the subject, anything to steer things away from this dangerous direction. "Umm, why don't we take it easy for today. We can just…NOT think about the mission. We have all day tomorrow to worry over things. So…can we just…stop discussing this?"
Pleading violet eyes fall on Ken and being the pushover that he is, Ken succumbs. "Sure thing." he promises, adding a supportive pat with the hand still hanging over Shioshiro's shoulder, and happily forgetting Ran's prompting.
They begin heading for the kitchen then in order to help Omi and Nagi put away the supplies, but as Ken steps past Ran, the redhead suddenly grabs onto his arm. "We need to talk." Ran informs him sternly, squeezing a little too hard to prove his urgency.
"Huh? About…wh-what?" Ken stumbles, concerned with where this might go considering that rather unforgiving grip.
"Just come with me."
And a second later they are disappearing out the side of the RV, a few curious glances and Shioshiro's very worried and knowledgeable stare following after them.
"Keep me posted on those two, alright." Youji says to the three young men left in the kitchen. Then, with a quick pat of the counter, he turns to head out the door himself.
"Youji-kun, where are you going?" Omi queries, peering from around the cupboard he had been semi-buried in.
Youji grins over his shoulder, straightening out the collar of his leather duster. "I've a date with Maiko to see to."
"Maiko?" Omi gawks incredulously. "How do you meet these women? When? When have you had time?"
Nagi chuckles. Shioshiro tenses.
"With practice and skill, my young bishounen, anything is possible." Youji informs his friend, slipping his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose.
Coming back out of the kitchen he had only moments ago gone into, Shioshiro seriously addresses his elder with as much composure as possible. "Yotan…I don't…think you should go out tonight. You know…with the mission and all. Spend the day and have your date, but…you should probably be back before it gets too late."
Youji only laughs; honestly what could the young brunette be thinking? "You obviously don't know me as well as you think, kiddo." he says from just beside the door, his hand poised to open it. "I'll be back by morning for sure, no worse for the wear, but I have no intention of sleeping in this trailer with four other guys for yet another night. See ya." And with a slight salute, he opens the door and exits into the sun to take out his newly reclaimed Super 7.
Shioshiro grits his teeth, trying his best to hide how unnerved he is by the progressing events so that Omi and Nagi won't ask questions he probably shouldn't answer.
'I thought I had everything under control, but the things that happened…they're still happening. Damn…I'm sorry, Uncle Youji. I'm sorry, Kento. I hope I can still make everything alright…'
"I'll…be right back, Nagi-jisan, Omiji. I have to take care of a few things."
-
With a mighty jerk, Ken pulls his arm out of Ran's brutal grasp, rightly upset now after being drug all the way to the edge of the first few buildings of the nearby town. "What's the big idea, Aya? You wanna fight or something? I thought you were actually being semi-nice to me. I guess letting me kiss you only grants me a week of friendly treatment and now its back to you being a jackass."
A ferocious glare knocks Ken down a few notches as Ran faces him full on. "What's going on?" he demands. "There's been something strange about you. I started noticing just before Shioshiro first arrived. You've been hiding it since he got here, but…lately again…I can see it there—in your eyes, in your mannerisms. Forget you and me and whatever may have passed between us. Why do you want missions so much? I thought you understood as much as the rest of us—agreeing to help Shioshiro is agreeing to accept the possibility of new lives. But you…you're still thinking about the next mission, every time. Why?"
Ken looks at first taken aback. He didn't know Ran was observant enough to have noticed his little secret. His shock melts quickly, however. "Missions...? Why do I want missions? Why don't you just say it, Aya? What you're really tryin' to ask is, why do I want to kill people so much?"
"Ken…"
"Aya...did you ever think I was afraid of taking missions?"
Ran takes a step back, his pale face suddenly ashen. "Yes... Almost every time."
"Right, every time. In the beginning my hands would quake in fear at even the thought of the next mission. I thought it was because I was…ashamed of what I was, that I couldn't take the thought of…being a killer. But for a long time now...my hands have been shaking…in anticipation. Do…do you understand what I'm saying, Aya? I've never told anyone this, not even Youji or Omi. Do you get it? Even with Hiro here I mull about it every freakin' day!
"Ken...calm down."
"Calm down?" Ken barks back, filled with fire and fury now as he stalks forward, backing Ran against the side of a nearby building with a strange darkness leading the force of his words. "Hmph, you wouldn't understand. You've gotten your revenge. You've seen your sister alive and well again. What do I have, Aya?"
Ran presses himself further back, not having expected this at all. "I..."
"I've lost everything since I joined Weiss. Friends, lovers...even myself…"
"Ken..." Ran's tone is soft, Ken's name coming out as if caressed, as if spoken by…a friend.
The strange darkness in Ken vanishes. He pulls back, realizing how he practically has Ran pinned to the wall despite not having laid a finger on him, and looks truly scared and ashamed of what he has been doing. "I…I'm sorry, Aya...I don't know what came over me. I…didn't mean to…I…I don't know what to do. Just...leave me alone...please…" Slowly, Ken begins to walk off on his own, further into town, away from Ran.
"Ken..." Ran breathes after him, too late for the brunette to hear. His back burns from having kept his distance by pressing into the wall, but his heart aches from the emotions he just brought to the surface in Ken. He knew something was wrong, he just didn't know how serious and deep it all went.
"Scary, right?"
Ran turns, seeing his solemn son come out from around the corner of the building. Truly, he isn't all that surprised. "You knew of this, I assume."
"Yes."
"And you chose to tell us nothing."
"I thought I could keep it from happening. I thought…if he was preoccupied with you and getting these missions done-"
"He was already showing signs of this long before now!" Ran yells, pushing from the wall finally to sneer in near contempt at his now stunned son. "You knew this was in him, you knew this would happen. You can't preoccupy someone when they're falling apart! You should have told us."
For the most part, Shioshiro agrees, but he holds a little bitterness of his own. "And what about you? You said just now that you've noticed this in Kento since before I showed up. Why haven't you said anything to him? Why haven't you done anything? You don't know how to love him, you say. You don't know if you can or if you should. But you're still his friend, aren't you? You should have been there to stop this from happening!"
Ran's eyes narrow. "His friend? Is that what you think? We are members of the same team. We are…fellow killers at best. We are not friends. It was my job to notice things only if they might endanger the group. That was all."
Shioshiro huffs—so much like his father. "Was. It was your job. What about now? I was trying to stop this from happening and I failed. I'm sorry, okay, but I didn't know how I was supposed to just tell you. Now it's here and we have to fix it together. That is…if you help teammates. Even if you can't see that he and the others are all your friends…maybe you still have enough compassion left to help him anyway."
Despite Shioshiro's lingering anger, Ran's fades. After all, he did promise to try. "I want to help him. I still don't know if I believe any of us can live normal lives after all of this, but in the hopes of that…I will continue to do what I can."
Shioshiro nods. They stare—in silence—and wait…for something neither really expects to come.
At long last, Ran speaks. "He overcame this in your timeline, yes?"
"Eventually. But…it took too long. Longer than it should have."
"Then he can do it now."
Shioshiro nods.
"With our help."
Shioshiro smiles—softly—at the depth of his father's words. "Yes." he agrees. "With our help."
"You should…probably go after him."
Shioshiro suppresses a smile at Ran's vain attempt for sounding unconcerned and uninvolved despite his recent words to the contrary. "Yeah…I probably should."
-
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Ken thinks angrily, kicking at the stray rocks along the road.There aren't many people around town. It is very small, not the one they have been going to for supplies and to sell off their inventory. Just something like a small suburb that eventually fades into the larger city.
'Now he knows, and…he's gonna tell Hiro. Damnit! Why do I have to be so fucked up…?'
Continuing down the path with his feet mostly trained on the ground and not where he is going, Ken is pretty certain he has dashed any and all chances of ever getting further than non-threatening glances when it comes to Ran. Surely the redhead thinks he is completely and utterly sick—if he didn't already—and soon their son will think the same.
Ken had been trying so hard not to act how he felt. He had been trying so hard to act…normal. But the truth is, he really has grown to enjoy missions. To enjoy…
'Killing people…? Do I…actually like it…? Wha…what the hell's wrong with me…?'"Kyaa!" A female voice sounds from far off, almost out of Ken's hearing range but close enough to perk his ears.
Ken stops in his tracks. "Huh? What was that?"
But before he can focus on what it might have been or perhaps listen for that call once more, a very difference voice sounds from much nearer.
"Kento!"
Ken whips around. 'No. Not Hiro. Not now.'
Running up to his father from just a short ways off, Shioshiro huffs at having run all the way to Ken's current location. He smiles, trying his hardest to make the expression look natural and not forced. "Boy…you had…Oran…pretty freaked." he pants, wiping his brow as he finally catches his breath. "I thought it might be better for me to come after you. I really hate it when you and Oran fight."
Ken stares at his feet, not wanting to see the smile he KNOWS is forced. "You were listening to us, weren't you? You…heard what I said…?"
Out of at the very least sympathy, Shioshiro's smile turns genuine in a heartbeat. "Kento…I already knew. I know everything. If you're sulking here thinking I'm going to treat you differently because of…how you…well…just don't think it. It happened in my timeline, too, and you got over it."
"I…I did?"
"Of course."
"How…?"
"With help from the two things you love most in the world."
"Heh." Ken knows the answer then, even if he sometimes still can't believe it. "Soccor…and Aya. Am I right?"
Shioshiro bridges the gap between them and forces his father's chin up to look into those chocolate eyes. "I exist. What do you think?"
Smiling broadly with an adorably rosy blush, Ken returns his son's smile. "I think we should go back to the trailer now."
"My thoughts exactly."
The two brunettes turn and begin to head back up the street.
"Help!"
Ken turns back to look over his shoulder, almost certain he had heard something that time.
"What is it, Kento?"
"Did you…hear that scream just now? It sounded like a woman."
The truth hits Shioshiro very hard suddenly, but he covers it well, simply shrugging and trying not to look as sinister as he feels. "No, Kento…I didn't hear a thing."
-
Clank. Clank. "Fuck!" comes a harsh whisper, curiously loud in the dark as it echoes inside the main room of the RV.
It is practically pitch black and almost everyone is asleep, hoping to get as many hours in as possible since their next mission is coming so soon.
The culprit in the dark is none other than Kudo Youji, who had been trying to sneak in without commotion but is failing miserably due to his inability to think ever since leaving Maiko's apartment
And it isn't because he had such a good time, either.
"Fucking coffee table!" the tall blonde curses yet again in a harsh whisper, squinting in the dark at the objects blocking his path.
Truthfully, he doesn't know whether it's a coffee table, a bunch of chairs, or a stray cat, for that matter; he's wearing his sunglasses.
"Fucking…damn…stupid…stupid…idiot…" he finally concedes, ignoring his now stubbed toe as he crumbles into a sitting position on the floor, lowering his head to hang limply—defeated. "Stupid, fucking idiot…"
"You know…" comes a very unexpected, second voice. "…I think you're being rather hard on the computer desk."
Oh, it's the computer desk, Youji muses for a moment, before finally registering that he is not alone in the room. Suddenly, the desk lamp on the computer desk flips on, revealing Shioshiro—still dressed as he had been during the day—leaning against the wall just next to it.
Youji hadn't sensed him at all.
"You should know better than to wear your sunglasses at night, Yotan." the brunette mockingly reprimands, his smile soft but clearly strained. "And here I thought you said you wouldn't be coming back tonight. Miss the company of a trailer full of men, did you?"
Youji stares up at Shioshiro, who seems to tower over him since Youji is still sitting on the floor. Of course Youji knows not to wear his sunglasses at night. He has his reasons, and he isn't about to take the damn things off, either. "Whatever, kiddo. Let's just say Uncle Youji struck out, okay, and both of us can get to bed."
"Take off the sunglasses, Youji."
Youji freezes. Not only did the kid call him 'Youji' instead of 'Yotan' but Shioshiro is asking the one think Youji has no intention of doing. "It's late, okay, I'm not in the mood for-"
"Take them off. I already know why you're wearing them."
'Like hell you do.'
"You've told me everything about yourself."
'I wouldn't tell you this.'
"You don't have to be ashamed, Yotan."
'What the fuck do you know!'"It just…happened."
'…shut up.'
"I know it was an accident."
'Shut up!'
"It's okay to cry."
'Stop…'
"It's okay to miss her."
'Stop it…'
"Asuka loved you."
"Stop it! Just shut up!" Youji cries, forgetting to lower his voice, forgetting that he doesn't want the others storming in here and seeing him like this any more than he wants Shioshiro to be standing in front of him telling him that everything is going to be okay. "You don't know, you don't understand, and I don't give a SHIT if in 20 some years I'm gonna bear my heart out to some nosey kid! Mind your own damn business."
It is amazing how silent a room can sound just after someone has yelled.
Shioshiro is undaunted, however. Youji may sound angry but Shioshiro can see the tears streaming down the blonde man's face.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, Yotan. Do you understand now why I asked you not to spend the night with that woman?"
Youji turns suddenly deathly pale. Slowly, he rises to his feet, eyebrows knitting tightly together. "You…you knew this was going to happen. You knew I was going to…do what I did. And you didn't tell me!"
The sorrow in Shioshiro's face is unparalleled. "Telling you wouldn't have made what is happening to you go away. It wouldn't have stopped you the next time you went to a woman for comfort. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry this is happening to you."
"Why? Why is this happening! Maiko and I were just fooling around and…I started…choking her…like…like it was Asuka, and…and I was killing her all over again. Why…? What does she want from me…?"
The tears are streaming like a current now, sunglasses be damned, and Youji rips them from his face to throw them at his feet, no longer ashamed, no longer caring that his eyes are red-rimmed and swollen from how much he had cried on the way back from Maiko's.
One step, another, and Shioshiro has pulled Youji in for a tight embrace. Youji completely collapses into it, needed that feeling of another's arms around him, even if it is merely the comforting arms of a friend.
It is ironic really how similar scenes were quite the reverse so many times in Shioshiro's youth.
"I don't know the whats or whys, Uncle Youji, but I am going to help you figure that out. I promise."
Not a single door to a single bedroom opens, but every pair of ears inside the RV has tuned in to the exchange…and decided that Shioshiro has handled things well enough to leave Youji's pride be.
Pride, after all, is the least of what they will be worrying about tomorrow.
tbc...
A/N:
I'M BACK! BWAHAHAHA! ahem Did ya miss me? Sorry it took a little longer than I thought to get this up after getting back from Japan, but its hard to adjust, and I have a whole new semester of classes. But...here ya go. I hope this slightly longer chapter is to everyone's liking and that you are all still with me. As for comments:
kenran lover: ummm...i don't remember which chapter. sorry. google side B. there are tons of translations out there.
Dorothecouchpotato: THANK YOU! No, no one told me, but now that I know I will change it. I take japanese, not german. -) Thanks so much.
HeatherR: Don't get ahead on me! The Youji thing is...involved. But I know what I'm doing. Hiro KNOWS Youji and you will eventually find out how that's possible with the whole amnesia thing. I love when you guys are quick to catch the details. You go!
And there were many other comments, too, which i appreciate fully. You guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Faithful, passing the story on to friends, loving this as much as I am. sniffle I LOVE YOU!
Okay, the next chapter will have the fight with Alpha Weiss (as I call them) since things got sidetracked this chappie. Sorry Omi and Nagi got so gyped.
I'll do my best to get into a good rhythm so keep me motivated, oh wonderful readers. -)
Crim