Title: A Little Too Late
Author: Jusrecht
See Disclaimer and Warnings in the first chapter.
Chapter Two
His eyes hurt.
Kira rubbed them tiredly with the back of his hand, the other one still loosely holding a sheaf of papers he had been reading for the last several hours under the solitary lamp hovering above his head. He had lost track of time since a while ago and living alone in a mansion twenty-floor high didn't help, but it must be late enough. At least that would explain his exhaustion.
The gist of the materials was in fact simple – shocking, without a doubt, and rather unbelievable – but simple nonetheless.
He was Cagalli's younger brother. Her related-by-blood twin brother.
It could have been good news, Kira reflected bitterly, had it come to him few years before, when looking at her evoked nothing more than a wish to simply always be her friend. It would also be good news if the name which was written at the back of the old picture and many other documents he had thoroughly studied was not hers. On second thought, it could have been a mistake made by some scatterbrained scientist and several misplaced files. It could have been a bluff flaunted by greedy paparazzi with no credible base whatsoever for the sake of little money.
It could have been anything but this cruel joke.
Reaching to his right to put the light out, Kira closed his eyes and leant back to sink deeper in the sofa, taking a few minutes to finally pause the frantic, nonstop reeling of his mind and begin to see the issue in a broader point of view. So, according to many research details and records, he and Cagalli were – somehow – related.
As siblings.
Yes, apparently the young woman he was going to propose was his own sister. It always came back to that point. His own sister.
Raised through wars and their countless afflictions, Kira had learned not to believe everything just as they were right away and he had reacted no different in this case. After studying the papers with Cagalli for the second time yesterday, he had called his mother to make clear of some facts. To his utmost dismay, the answers his mother had bewilderedly given him didn't seem to contradict any detail which was written there. Of course. He should have expected that. Anyone who dared to confront the fearless leader of ORB with this kind of fact must be pretty confident of the cards he was playing.
It didn't make the newly discovered truth any easier to accept though. A part of him still insisted that something suspicious was going on, that he should not believe it without clearer proofs.
But that journalist was ready. He could provide more evidences should the need arise, he had calmly stated. Even a living witness if they had to go that far.
All of a sudden, Kira felt the urge to laugh out loud. He was bordering on hysterical – or something much worse than that. Maybe he should rest. Or eat. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's lunch and his body felt cold. For a while he lamented for not going back to his mother's house, but it was too far, at the border of the city, and he had wanted to be alone, to look into the papers more closely by himself and so he had gone here instead.
He didn't want to meet anyone, not even Cagalli. As a matter of fact, he didn't know what else to do but to keep reading, suspecting and denying.
A train of sharp knockings, loud against the utter silence of his apartment, came from the door and Kira's eyes snapped open. For a moment he froze, his state of mind quickly lending strange ideas to his thought. It sounded real but he noted no sign of daylight yet through his uncovered window and his acquaintances were generally civilized enough to pay a visit at less unearthly hours. Or perhaps it was just his brain that was so close to dysfunction and weariness stubbornly kicking in.
Kira had not moved from his seat when the raps repeated themselves. Slightly frowning, he thought of his doorbell – why knocking if you could just push the bell – but went to the door nevertheless.
Well, if that journalist had come to repeat his blackmailing intention, Kira had every intention to tell him his opinion about it with his fist. Not to mention for disturbing him before daybreak.
Unfortunately – or fortunately – it wasn't the guilty man.
"As I thought, you're still awake," the small, unsmiling mouth said.
"Ath–!"
"Cagalli called me," Athrun cut him short and stormed inside without waiting for any invitation, leaving him dumbfounded at the threshold. It took Kira three full seconds to finally react and close the door behind him to follow his guest. Standing in the middle of the room, Athrun glared at him from behind a curtain of dark-blue fringes.
Feeling his childhood timidity rapidly returning, Kira gulped, more nervous than he had been in years. "How do you know I'm here?"
The reply was quick to come, but his friend's tone did nothing to lessen his uneasiness. "I called your house earlier and your mum said you hadn't returned. You weren't at Cagalli's place either, so I put two and two together and went here at once."
Kira only nodded, his unclear mind still incapable to process the fact that Athrun was here for any reason at all. It had been months since the last time he had seen his best friend in person and now, at God-knows-what-hour in the morning – or not yet morning – said best friend appeared on his doorstep without any prior notice. Someone had to set a limit of how much surprise one was allowed to handle in one day.
Eyes still set on him, Athrun set his few luggage on the floor and suddenly demanded, looking more sullen than ever. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you?" he repeated automatically.
A pair of emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't play stupid, Kira. It was Cagalli who told me about this news. I didn't hear a single word from you. Why is that?"
"You were busy," he replied defensively, feeling even more defenseless under the fierce glare. "I don't want to disturb you."
The eyes hardened. "I'm your friend first and everything else second, do you hear me?"
There was no respond Kira could offer to do those words – that statement – enough justice and he knew it. To give his friend the fiercest hug or to cry in his arms like he had so often done during the first years of them together wasn't sufficient to explain the myriad emotions he felt. Athrun did not have an exactly open personality, and for him to express himself in such words was beyond Kira's every hope. It was a confession, an admission and, more than everything, an honor for him to still be his best friend's best friend.
In the end, Kira chose to stay at where he was and looked down at his fingers that were scraping the armrest of his couch, his question coming out low and uncertain. "Your paperwork?"
"I've finished them," was Athrun's brisk reply. "Have you eaten anything since you called me?"
A weak, guilty smile and full-scale timidity surfaced. "Uh, no."
"Thought so," his friend grumbled and grabbed a plastic bag that was set on top of his few belongings. Kira's eyes widened as packages of take-away Chinese food emerged from the bag.
"Bought them on my way here," Athrun said, extending a pair of chopsticks at him. Kira didn't react, only eyeing his friend with a muddled blend of disbelief and puzzlement. At this point, he was so close to being convinced that he had fallen asleep due to extreme exhaustion and this was just a weird dream supposed exhaustion was generating.
His lack of reaction seemed to aggravate Athrun who clicked his tongue impatiently. "Come on, Kira. I know these aren't the healthiest food but you need to eat something. At least something better than instant noodles."
"I wasn't thinking about that," he sighed, finally taking the offered food.
From across the table, his friend made a face at him. "Actually I was hoping you were thinking about that and not some other stupid things."
"Not stupid things," Kira replied, distractedly checking the content of his fried noodle with the chopsticks. Not much healthier, perhaps, but shrimp and a little vegetable should make a difference in term of nutrition. He looked up and, finding his friend's emerald eyes were still fixed on him, smiled slightly. "I was thinking what I've done to deserve such wonderful friend."
Athrun's hand, which was reaching for another package of fried noodles, froze in mid-air as he stared at Kira who only grinned in return and started eating, grateful that the noodles were still somewhat warm. It was moments later when his friend eventually spoke, with a tone that might sound firm had it contained less emotion, "You can spend the rest of your life thinking about it once this is over."
Kira only smiled.
Halfway in finishing his food, he heard the younger man's soft baritone rose again, marginally quieter than before. "Do you want to discuss it?"
"You want to hear about it, don't you?"
"My want can wait." A firm note returned to Athrun's voice. "When was the last time you sleep?"
Kira raised his eyebrows. "Last night. When was the last time you sleep?"
For the first time that night, Athrun faltered, a small tinge of red spreading on his pale cheeks, a stark contrast to the dark circles under his eyes. "Ah...well...I'm not sure–"
"We're going straight to bed after this," he cut off the stuttered answer decisively, wondering to no end why both of them couldn't seem to properly look after themselves without the other. His friend only muttered something unintelligible as a response, which he took as an affirmation. They had resumed their eating in silence for a few minutes before he broke it once more with a soft question, "How much did Cagalli tell you?"
Athrun looked up from his noodles, tone cautious as he answered, "Only the general picture. She sounded too shaken to be coherent."
"In front of me she played it cool enough," Kira said, trying to sound nonchalant – and failing utterly. He winced when Athrun's eyes met his with a stern, almost scolding gaze.
"She doesn't want to worry you unnecessarily."
Aware that his friend recognized the doubt that was slowly breeding inside him, he only muttered, "I know. But this is our problem right?"
"You're not exactly calm either, are you?" A hint of impatience seeped into Athrun's voice. "She's just asking for my support, Kira. That doesn't mean she trusts you any less."
Kira stared at the last piece of shrimp at the bottom of his now empty dinner container, mumbling, "You think so?"
"I do," the other Coordinator replied with a tone that demanded him to leave the matter at that and turned his attention to the remaining of their dinner – or too early breakfast if one bothered to spare a glance to the clock on the far wall across the room. "You've finished with that?"
After stuffing the empty containers to their plastic bag, Athrun rose to take them to the kitchen. Suddenly Kira had a strange urge to keep his friend from leaving as he stared at the mass of night-blue hair disappearing at the corner. He had wanted to be alone, yes, and yet now he felt that he would do anything for his friend not to vanish from his sight.
When Athrun came back with two steaming mugs a moment later, Kira released a long sigh, slightly astonished to discover that he had been holding his breath. He accepted one of the mugs with a small grateful thanks, gladly breathing in the relaxing scent of Earl Grey.
"Those are the documents?" Athrun returned to his seat, eyes scanning the papers scattered on the low table. Kira nodded. Time for business.
"Yeah, a fantastic compilation I have to say. That man must have worked damn hard to put his hand on these. There is even the legal paper of my parents adopting me and Cagalli's father adopting her. I have no idea how he got those." He paused and took a careful sip from his mug. An unfamiliar tang, a different bitterness than that of the tea spread on his tongue and down his throat, leaving biting traces of fire on its wake. Wrinkling his face, he looked up to Athrun, incredulity etched all over his face.
"You added brandy? Are you trying to make me drunk?"
"I'm trying to make you sleep," his friend corrected calmly, sipping his own share of brandy-laced tea
"It won't work," Kira muttered, mouth pouting and yet still taking more sips from his mug, all the way doubting his own words as alcohol-induced-warmth started to flow within him. He must have showed it somehow because Athrun was now smiling smugly at him.
"Indeed."
Kira fixed him with a sour look. "I hate it when you're right. You're always right."
The other coordinator hid his grin behind his mug. "It's in my nature, Kira – to be right, that is. I can't do anything about it. Now why don't you be a good boy and finish that tea."
"Tell me one good reason why I always do what you want me to do," he grumbled but did as was told.
"You didn't," Athrun answered, suddenly sounding too solemn to his liking. "Always, I mean."
A look of utter disbelief resided on Kira's face. "It was so long ago, Athrun! I can't believe you're still remembering that! And in case you've forgotten, we were at two opposing sides during that war!"
"That still counts," his friend pointed out, still trying to keep his expression serious, but amusement had obviously won over his dark memories. His dark-green eyes met Kira's and they both laughed, the trouble at hand momentarily forgotten under the strong, almost desperate surge of laughter. They only stopped when Athrun almost spilled the remaining of his tea and spoiled the documents spread on the table. Kira watched the mirth rapidly diminishing from his friend's eyes which were now staring at the papers like they were some sort of dangerous specimen, and he could almost see Athrun's typical seriousness fall into place as the present matter returned to weigh them both heavily. Athrun sighed and asked, "What does that man want anyway?"
"He hasn't said anything about wanting something in return," Kira said after a moment of thoughts, and then added with a quieter voice, "or Cagalli is hiding it from me."
"Not the latter," his friend said sternly. "Anyway, whatever he wants, I'm sure his reason isn't just to guide you to the right path or something along that line."
"We're on the wrong one, aren't we?" The words stumbled out of his mouth only a little above a whisper. It was difficult to speak when a lump of lead seemed to have dropped its weight on your head.
Athrun's face paled. "Wait, Kira, I've never said–"
"She's my sister, Athrun..." he said in a tight voice, looking straight at his empty mug.
His friend sighed and rested a soothing hand on his knee, speaking tentatively, "We cannot be too sure about it yet."
"I'm almost sure it's true," Kira suddenly snapped, his voice rising. Catching the startled look on Athrun's face, he bit the remaining of his words and forced himself to subdue his tone a bit. "No one is stupid enough to play around with information like this if it's a lie, especially to her. There are lots of easier victims if his intention is to gain quick money."
"Perhaps," the other man admitted half-heartedly.
"And I was so close to proposing her," he continued through gritted teeth. "I guess I have to thank God for letting me know before...before anything irrevocable happened."
It was difficult to look at Athrun now, especially with tears-blurred eyes. Grown-up men should not cry, no matter how often he had cried when he had been younger. He was putting the full blame on the brandy when he was enveloped by a pair of arms, his head pressed to a firm chest. The next thing he heard was Athrun's trembling voice whispering in front of his ear.
"I'm so sorry, Kira..."
"What for?" his question came out as a harsh laugh, muffled by his friend's shirt, his eyes burning with suppressed tears.
But Athrun did not answer, merely holding him close as the night blended with the first streaks of sunrise.
It was the sharp ringing of his cell phone that waked him up from his dreamless sleep.
Kira struggled to open his eyes, his hand reaching out blindly to find the offending object and found nothing. Mind still unfocused, he tried to sit up to get a better look when a sleep-roughed voice put an end to the ringing.
"Yes?" A pause, during which Kira wondered groggily why Athrun was in his room. "Oh, right. Okay, I'll get him."
"It's Cagalli," his friend muttered, holding out the phone to him. At the mentioning of her name, the unpleasant recollections of the events on the day before came rushing back at him in violent waves of memories. Kira nodded numbly and took his cell phone from Athrun's hand, mumbling a weak 'yes?' to the receiver.
"That man called me," Cagalli's voice rose from the other line, carrying a strange edge that flung his eyes even wider despite the news it conveyed.
"What? When?" He glanced at his alarm clock on the bedside and was horrified to find out that both of its hands were currently pointing at the number eleven.
"Just now in the office. He told me what he wanted in exchange of that information. Do you want to hear them now?"
"No, I'll be there in a second," Kira quickly said, sparing a glance at Athrun who had risen from the bed and now was heading to the bathroom on his cue. "Where are you?"
She was silent for a moment, but then said, "Meet me at home in half-an-hour."
An hour later found Kira and Athrun standing in front of the large glass window of the Athha's parlor, both sporting anxious looks scarred by impatience on their faces. Every so often Kira would resign to his impatience and pace around the room, trying to hurl dark thoughts out of his mind as his eyes darted again and again to the door.
"There she is," Athrun suddenly said and Kira quickly rushed to the window. A black car had just passed the gate and now halted in front of the Athha's mansion. A young woman in white official uniform descended from it and entered the house, leaving their lines of sight. A minute later, the door to the parlor was opened from the other side.
"Sorry, I'm late," Cagalli walked in briskly with the air of a busy politician she often wore in public. Her feet, fully clad in formal boots, stopped in mid-step, as if unsure where to head next after she made her entrance. Her previously impassive face, however, took a drastic turn when she noticed Athrun by the window and Kira saw, for the slightest moment, a glimpse of the old Cagalli, the one who had not understood what the word 'politics' meant yet, as she strode forward and let herself to be embraced by the dark-haired young man.
It was the old Cagalli who had needed Athrun in her life very much.
Don't be stupid, Kira reprimanded himself, half-annoyed that such thought could enter his mind. It was not as if his best friend had the slightest intention to snatch his girlfriend away from–
He stopped there, refusing to pursue the line of thought further where he would most surely stumble upon lots of corrections and denials. He must start to remember that he, properly and ethically, no longer had any girlfriend. Trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that had settled deep in his stomach, Kira turned his attention back at his friend and forced himself to listen and pay no heed to the bitter whispers which told him that Cagalli seemed to pretend that he was not there.
"Did that journalist really call you?"
"Yes," Cagalli replied promptly, seeming glad that Athrun had initiated the conversation, as she disentangled herself from his arms. "It didn't sound like his voice though, but I'm not really sure." She paused, eyes carefully avoiding Kira who was standing at her left, and then added, "Probably he has partners."
"Obviously," Athrun snorted softly, searching Kira from the corner of his eyes. "No one can acquire that much of information single-handedly. What did he want?"
She inhaled a deep breath before answering, "He would keep his mouth closed under two conditions only. The first was that I must abrogate the law concerning the prohibition of possessing any sort of gun without a formal authorization from ORB military–"
"That's outrageous!" Kira opened his mouth for the first time. His shout was finally able to oblige her to look at him, but he could simply care less. His mind was full with the memories of their younger, war-filled years and Cagalli's arduous efforts to implement that act, and his blood seethed in his veins. It was worse than asking for money. Much worse.
A gentle hand was laid on his shoulder and Athrun asked quietly, "And the second?"
Cagalli's posture went rigid, her hands balling into fists at her side. "He demanded Kira," her stormy eyes met his, her voice betraying a small, quivering note, "to leave ORB in three days and never to return under any circumstance."
Silence descended as the three of them stared at each other. The first demand had been unexpected but the second one was downright astonishing. Head suddenly spinning, Kira whispered, incredulous, "Me? He wants me to leave ORB?"
"That was unusual for a demand from a blackmailer," Athrun said with an odd tone.
Cagalli shrugged. "That's what he said."
"I can manage the second," Kira declared all of a sudden, words rushing out of his mouth as if he was afraid that he would lose his wits before they left him, "but you must not agree to the first."
She regarded him coolly. "I won't risk a scandal."
"But Cagalli–!"
A soft but clear sound of ringing broke off their brewing argument. Fishing out a cell phone from his trousers's pocket, Athrun looked up apologetically and hurried toward the door. "Excuse me for a moment."
Now that he was left alone with the young, obstinate leader of ORB, Kira pressed even harder. "Cagalli, you can't."
"There is fewer to risk if we are to agree," she reasoned, more lines of impatience appearing on her brow. "I must choose what is best."
"Don't you think you're mixing up your priorities here?"
Her golden eyes gleamed dangerously. "Excuse me?"
Kira crossed his arms defensively in front of his chest, his voice holding a hint of accusation. "Why are you afraid of people knowing that we are siblings? Because you're leading a country?"
"Well, Kira, I happen to be leading a country," she retorted sharply, her voice rising. "I definitely can't afford a scandal."
"Does your office mean much more than your people?" Kira felt that he was also losing his patience rapidly. "What if riots rise again because there is no severe punishment for owning guns? You know that, don't you? That was the reason that you implemented that law in the first place! "
A small sound from the door interrupted them and both turned at Athrun who was staring at them oddly from the threshold, his fingers still gripping the handle. The blue-haired Coordinator opened his mouth, ready to say something when Cagalli's voice rose again, cutting him before he spoke.
"We need to think about this with a cooler head."
Aghast to see that she was advancing toward the door, Kira reached for her shoulder. "Wait, Caga–"
"No," she spun around and edged away from his touch, steel palpable in her voice. "I think I must consider this matter carefully on my own. I know you aren't comfortable with this discovery, Kira, and so am I. There is nothing we can do about that and unfortunately, our opinions are too greatly different. Excuse me."
He could only watch her leave with wide eyes, hand still frozen in mid-air. It was worse than he had expected. Meeting his friend's apprehensive gaze, Kira muttered, feeling astonished and miserable at once, "She seems scared of me."
Athrun closed his eyes, refusing to offer any comment on that declaration and saying instead, "You didn't mention anything about the present status of your relationship."
"Is there anything else to be discussed about that, Athrun?" Kira said, drips of anger catching up quickly in his voice. "I think it's clear enough that we are siblings."
His friend didn't answer but Kira could see his lips thinning.
- To be continued -
Notes: Not too much Kira/Cagalli romance I know, but we obviously can't expect them to be romancing around with the knowledge that they're brother and sister. I may put something in the future though, if the situation permits. For those who think that Cagalli is behaving selfishly, I apologize. I just assume that it is how a young woman who's leading a country will react in front of a problem like this. Excuse me if I'm wrong. Review please.
By the way, Athrun's line 'I'm your friend first and everything else second' is taken from a game. Not word-by-word though. Cookies for anyone who can guess what game it is.