Chapter Five - Finding out
"Peya, Hotaren, I need you two to stay here, whilst Kia, Hakuso and me go out on a meeting. Hotaren, I don't want you going out at all, and stop spying on Yue… just because you don't use your direct magic don't think I can't keep taps on you." Kaho narrowed her eyes as the dark angel opened her mouth to argue.
Closing her lips, Hotaren nodded her head slightly as her mind raised to think of an alternative method to get hold of Yue without Kaho knowing.
"Why do I have to stay?" Peya pouted slightly as she made sure that Kaho wasn't going to pursue any more discussions.
Kaho looked at the blue lioness as she considered answering the question. "You may not go, because I don't trust your sister." Kaho looked at the four siblings as she stood up concluding that she didn't need to hide anything from them and knowing that at one point or another they would have to know what was going on, in the case that she may have to take ruthless action to calm the second oldest sibling into submission from her obsession. Yet at the same time praying that she wouldn't have to do anything.
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"Kaho-san." The warm smile that Nadesiko gave Kaho made the younger woman's frown smooth over as she returned the smile, her problems momentarily forgotten.
"Kinomoto-sensei" Kaho bowed in respect and her creations followed suit instantly but not before sharing a quizzical look between each other about their sensei's greeting. Sakura who had also been listening to the exchanged, beamed at the redhead and her companions making a mental note to tell her friends about the greetings.
"Eriol-san is inside." Nadesiko provided swiftly as she led the group to the sitting room. "I hope you didn't find it hard to locate us." She added as an after thought.
"Ah it was a breeze; I'm good at reading maps. But then I know this town like the back of my hand." Hakuso smiled cockily as he winked at Sakura letting his ice blue hair fall forward onto his forehead.
As the group entered the sitting room those who were present turned their attention to the new invitees. Sakura took a seat between Li and Tomoyo on the floor whist Nadesiko directed the other three to the long sofa where Eriol sat with Ruby in the centre; Kaho moved to take the sit next to Eriol whist Hakuso took the sit next to Ruby after he nodded his hello to everyone. Nadesiko took her place in the armchair and cleared her throat softly; Touya and Yue who had been standing by the window whispering to each other moved forward and stood by the armchair, Touya standing behind Yue with his arms possessively around the angel, just then Spinel and Kero floated in arguing about Kero's overlarge appetite.
"I need to eat though, it comes with the job." Kero finally wailed dejectedly. "Kia!" He squealed excitedly before he smirked at Spinel in mischief, the dark cat blushed slightly as he noted that the white cat with black wings sat coyly on Hakuso's lap licking her paws before turning her attention to him.
Nadesiko cleared her throat again as Kia nodded her greeting, leaving Kero with his mouth open as he prepared to embarrass his older brother; flying to their sibling the two brothers waited with the rest of the company as Fujitaka walked in with some refreshment then took his place on the arm of the chair next to his wife, who in turn put her hand on his knee. "So what went wrong?" Nadesiko's voice was unusually cool as she looked at the redhead woman and blue hair man; both had their head slightly tilted in respect.
"It was just a cute keenness that Hotaren developed, she just wanted to get along with Yue but in her failure it turned into a deadly obsession that got out of hand." Kaho explained defensively but as she said the last words the reaction was somewhat unexpected from the members in the room. Sakura and her friends looked puzzled; Kero, Kia, Spinel and Hakuso exchanged a look of understanding whist Yue, Nadesiko and Fujitaka nodded to the young woman in encouragement. Touya had felt Yue's tension though and his arm around the angel tightened in reassurance, making the younger boy relax.
"That was when we decided to separate, Kaho-san decided to stay here so that she could stay close to Kinomoto-sensei. We saw the grim determination on Yue's eyes, for his own reasons he didn't want to get involved with the dark angel… Hotaren was the reason Kaho wanted to stay though it was as though the more Yue pushed her away the more Hotaren tried to get close and it seemed that her efforts were double the effords of the moon angel's. I apologise Yue, I don't mean to speak of you as though you were not here, I'm just not used to share this information with any of you." Eriol looked at all of his creations in turn then rested his eyes on Touya who seemed to get more protective.
"I decided to stay put because if Hotaren got out of hand, I may have needed your help. As a result I never needed your help then." Kaho lowered her eyelashes in embarrassment not wanting to say the next words.
"But you need it now." Kaho looked up startled by the sound of Fujitaka's voice then nodded slowly as she saw the understanding compassion on the couple's eyes.
"At first we though that the idea worked. Hotaren seemed less interested in Yue and well Yue was as cold as ever." Kaho said, melancholy written in her voice. "I never imagined that Yue's numbness was cause by my creation until I caught her." Kaho sucked in a breath. "She had been kneeling by a black pool… she was whispering so many words…. So many… so much hate and anger, I felt the darkness and iciness in the air. I felt like I was chocking and… and… and the pool showed these kids, they were in so much pain and she wouldn't let them go. I saw them… I saw her make them say those words, and I saw as those words slashed at Yue's heart. She liked it, she said that if Yue wasn't going to be happy with her… then he was never going to be happy - ever." Kaho let out a sob just as she buried her face in the arch of Eriol's neck as though to cover herself from the truth she just revealed.
Touya couldn't move, he didn't have a clue about what Yue had gone through but he had seen the torment and fear in his eyes. Those grey eyes were cold and numb showing nothing but uncertainty; true that was what had attracted Touya in the first place, he had wanted to make all the pain go away, he wanted to be able to say that he loved Yue and that he was able to make the angel live again, that... Yue's shaking body brought the darker boy back from his reverie as the angel held on. "She made them say those words- they never hated me." Yue looked back at the older boy; his eyes were full of uncertain relief.
Touya pulled his lips into a lopsided grin. "Who could hate you my love? You're a dream." Touya pulled Yue into his arms and took his lips for a few seconds before they turned the attention back to Kaho and Eriol.
Kaho had been the only one that didn't see the exchange between the new lovers but she heard the words that were shared and she couldn't help but smile.
Nadesiko smiled to her husband before they turned to the predicament at hand. "So what's happening now?" Kaho looked up as she struggled to compose herself.
"I don't think that Hotaren realises that if she were to fight Kaho, she would have the upper hand. Kaho cannot fight her own creation, shikashi it's only a matter of time until Hotaren's respect wears thin enough to break." Eriol explained softly.
"So what do you want me to do?" Nadesiko asked candidly.
Kaho hesitated as she realised that Nadesiko might object to any involvement in the situation, just like Eriol had refused to get involved. "I just need to know what to do." Kaho answered as honestly as she could.
"This is not my place to get involved." Kaho winced as she heard the words leave her sensei's lips. "Neither is it yours." Kaho sat up and frowned. "This is between Hotaren, Yue and now Touya." It was Yue's turn to frown.
"Chigau! I will not get Touya involved." Yue countered straight away.
"Hotaren will get him involved anyhow, its better if you stick together instead of her using him and your feelings against you." Fujitaka pointed out.
"He might get hurt; you don't know what she's like." Yue shot back fear chocking him as he tried to make them understand, he couldn't lose Touya not now… not ever.
"My angel, we're in this together whether you like it or not. I'm not going to leave your side, don't you dare leave mine." Touya held up Yue's hand as he looked into the grey misty eyes that threatened to drown in the sorrowful tears that the angel was fighting to keep inside. "O'negai, I need you by side." Touya whispered into his ear as the angel turned and buried himself into the embrace that held him together.
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Hotaren frowned in frustration as she looked into her dark pool, there was nothing. "Chikusho" she cursed as she recalled what Nadesiko had said earlier. "Eriol-san must have his defences up" she concluded as she recalled how he had reacted when he found out that she had been there all along even though he run from country to country trying to hide. "Oh well, he can't keep them up forever." Hotaren sniggered.
"Can't keep what up forever?" Peya appeared beside the black angel.
"Peya! How many times do I have to tell you? Stop doing that!" Hotaren shouted in frustration, her iciness overwhelming the atmosphere.
"Alright, I'm a going, I'm a going" Peya rolled her eyes as she disappeared in a puff of smoke but not before she spied the dark pool that Hotaren was hiding.
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Sakura jumped up as the tension in the room intensified. "Anyone for drinks?" She asked as everyone let out a breath of thanks, smiles followed as everyone accepted anything and everything as they occupied themselves with returning their empty glasses. "Tomoyo, could you help me please?" Sakura called on her best friend as she threw one last look at her brother and Yue holding each other.
Touya looked up just in time to see Tomoyo disappeared into the kitchen followed shortly by Meiling. "Let's go upstairs" Touya pulled away far enough so he could take Yue's hand. As Yue followed Touya out of the front room he couldn't help but notice that everyone seemed to watch them with curios smiles playing on their lips, well almost everyone, Kero looked puzzled and Spinel looked beyond angry.
Once in the safety of the bedroom, Touya crossed the room and dropped on the bed pulling Yue with him. He closed his eyes momentarily as he let the feel of Yue on top of him, sink in. "imagine, this could be us all the time." Touya breathed out his arms catching Yue before the angel could sit up.
"You still want to be with me even after what you heard?" Yue's incredulous voice made Touya open his eyes and frown.
"Yue… look at me, I know that we only met yesterday and that it may be a little hard to believe. But I do care about you, I have made it a point not to argue with my heart, and my heart wants you." Touya sat up properly and moved the angel onto his lap.
"But I'm… I'm not human." Yue chocked out not daring to look at Touya's eyes and expecting his arms to drop from their protective circle.
Touya pulled Yue closer though and whispered into his ear "I know, I heard Eriol-san, kedo you're here aren't you? You're my angel. And you feel something for me too, right?" Yue turned to look at his lover with excitement in his eyes as he nodded. "That's all I need." Touya claimed the lips that he knew all too well now.
Yue smiled against the kiss as he pushed Touya back on the bed.
Suddenly Touya sat up, Yue still clinging to him as their tongues searched each other, and then he pulled away a chuckle escaping his throat as Yue moaned disapprovingly.
"Gomen my angel, kedo is that the secret you were talking about this morning?" Touya looked down as Yue hid his face, a blush creeping up his cheeks as he nodded. "Demo, why where you embarrassed about that?" Touya asked softly.
"Because that identity has set me apart and made them hate me." Yue answered his voice was just above a whisper as his eyes filled with sadness.
"Shikashi, we already know that those people didn't mean to hate you, it was just Hotaren being mean." Touya pulled Yue into a hug again bringing a smile onto the angel's lips. "Can I see what you look like?" Touya asked excitement bubbling in the pit of his stomach as Yue regarded him nervously.
Standing up Yue took a few steps backwards into the centre of the bedroom; he let his lashes flicker close as a light engulfed him, from the light a ruffle of feathers and silk began to flutter against the gentle wind that surrounded the young man.
Touya's mouth fell open as the light diminished, in midair floated Yue in the cocoon of his wings. The large wings were wrapped tightly in an elegant cover revealing nothing of the contents that slept within the safety of the white walls, the powerful muscles and bones that defined the upper and stronger feature of the wings showed the strength that it held as it shivered slightly, the feathers continued down as they ended in elegant points that just about grazed the floor.
Slowly the wings began to open revealing a white robe with blue, golden and silvery embroidery. The exposed toes touched the floor as Yue floated down; his wings moved back fully exposing his entire body.
Touya noted the soft glow that surrounded his lover, giving him the air of power, he could also see and sense the defiance on his set jaw and the certainty on his face although he had his eyes closed. It was obvious now that Yue felt most vulnerable when his powers where dormant especially now that Hotaren seemed to pose more of a threat to both their relationship as well as their families.
Opening his eyes Yue watched as Touya studied him, relief washing over him when he saw that familiar grin of approval. "I don't see how you can walk around with those wings." Touya drawled after a few minutes later.
"I can hide-" Yue narrowed his eyes as he saw Touya smirk. "Must you tease me?"
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Shikashi - But / however
Chigau! - No way!
Chikusho - Damn
Kedo - But / but still
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