-Oxford - Thursday: Part 23-
Reino's eyes lifted up towards Kyoko, her voice had been echoing in his mind but she hadn't pushed him to say anything. 'How do I know Tomi Shiro?' Well, the truth was he knew him better as Todd Damon Zhatka, the future heir if the Zhatka Family, the future leader of the Russian Mob again if his father had any say in it. Instead, his mind slowly went backward, not exactly ready to answer her question or think about the man in question.
The whole meal had been boring, much like any of his father's get-togethers. There were differences, for example, this family was clearly not like his. They all held a slightly strange feeling about them. Princess Laura was perhaps the most normal of them but she clearly was a woman looking forward to falling in love. She also spoke many languages. Which in itself was a talent but also not an easy thing to do and from what he gathered, she planned to take up several more. Though she never gave any real reason. He could tell right away that she was holding her true self back, her aura if that's what he could call it, which he really couldn't call it as such because it was different more of a feeling. Laura like everyone else was dimmed in some way. It was hard to tell when he looked at her and the others, it required a lot of spiritual focus to feel this dim light that seemed to wrap her and the others. The only people he couldn't read in the room was General Brown, Ruto, and Lory. It was very odd to him. He could sense a slight darkness but as he scanned them all he couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then there was waw Kyoko who had he did not know for a fact she had a grudge he would only think light. She was an odd one, that just kept drawing him back.
Reino had done his best to not look at the twins, mainly because those born as multiples, like twins or triplets bothered him on a deeper level. Their souls somehow seemed to be connected in a level that almost made them single, and they were almost impossible to gauge at all as if they were on a whole different level of being from even the spirits. The story that mankind originally had four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces. That they were three genders; man, woman and androgynous. Yet they had to conquer the gods. Zeus came up with the solution of splitting humans in half. This almost destroyed mankind had it not been for Apollo. What bothered him was the idea that this story put them as lovers in the end and he wondered if it was as simple as that. When he saw those like Princess Amanda and Prince David he could almost see this idea that they were once a single being when it came to their souls. Their souls only whole when both were alive, he had seen twins and triplets who had lost one of each other. How it was like some sort of void that taken a hold of their hearts and souls, their very minds and memories. He also could see it in those who should have been born with another part of their being it was almost as if they were missing something. It bothered him so much that he went out of his way to keep from being close to them because if their souls were really connected and it was like being pulled in too many directions that it left him feeling physically sick. He also always felt a deep sense of loneliness as though a part of him had truly died the few times he had ever pumped into them. Miroku always got extremely worried about him during those times, but the first time.
A child no more than seven years of age, scanned the edge of the waters below. His silver hair flowing around his face as his violet eyes tried to figure out if it was even worth it all. Reino knew he should go home, to his mother but after three hours he was still feeling this emptiness inside of him. A feeling that he never felt when it came to anyone else he had ever accidentally touched anyone before, not even when it came to the souls he saw and there was a lot of them out here. His eyes turned towards one of them, a young man and reached out touching the man, hoping that with the new thoughts and memories he would be able to make it go away. The man had been heavily depressed, fired from his job, his wife has had enough walked out on him. He had given up but it wasn't the same. He wasn't missing a part of himself, a part that Reino knew deep down he shouldn't have ever known. Yet here was feeling as if a part of his soul had been ripped out from him, that what once had made him whole inside had just disappeared.
He bent under the bars of the railing looking down, 'It wouldn't be so bad' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes, he could just let go. There wouldn't be so much of regret that held these other souls here. All he could figure was that if he jumped, he might be able to be reborn with that piece of himself that was missing now. He leaned forward fully bent on searching for it in the next life when he felt two arms grab him. His eyes shot up looking into the face of the teen cousin, his red eyes, and white hair. He pulled him up as if he weighed nothing and wrapped his arms around him as they fell backward.
"Such a troublesome little brat" Reino pulled away, memories flashing in his mind of his mother had actually called him, someone she was scared of because he was in town on business for his father. He said finally letting go of the boy as he rose to feet dusting himself off. He reached into his pocket pulling out a pair of eyeglasses that he replaced.
"Why?" Reino wasn't sure why he was yelled at him, he knew it was a mistake to yell at Todd Damon the man would one day take over Vas' place not that he seemed to care about it. Todd Damon didn't seem to care about anything, let alone him, "Why are you here?" he could barely get his voice to get above a whisper and then there was the ache in his heart that knew he was missing something now.
The teen looked at him, he could almost see a sigh that plays across his lips as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. "I think you already know why I'm here." Reino's eyes turned away from him, looking at another ghost that floated away, in front of them. "Why were you going to jump?" His eyes snapped towards him quickly as if confused by the tone of his voice but his face showed no real sign of even caring and he remembered his mother telling him once that his cousin was a sociopath, unable to feel or care about another person. So why did he feel like there was a moment, a single small moment in his voice that he did?
"I feel... like I'm missing a part of my soul," he said softly. Telling him how he had accidentally bumped into these two people. How everything was confusing in his mind jumbled up but peaceful and whole and how it all disappeared. Leaving him feeling empty inside. His cousin listened before leaning against the railing.
"Is that all?" Reino felt anger roar through him, "When you see the dead, you see a single soul right?" Reino's eyes narrowed as he stood next to the man but he nodded his head some. "Well, there is a theory that we're actually only half souls." Reino doubted that more so when he looked at yet another person who jumped in front of him. "The gods, or reincarnation to many times or something split our souls. My guess these twins, are a lot closer to the gods, maybe their souls are still young not enough reincarnations, or they came together and realized it and now are on the verge of becoming whole." He blew a cloud of smoke into the air as he looked out towards the waters. "Point is, they aren't you." He placed a hand on his head, warmth flooded him, he could almost be fooled he supposed that Todd Damon cared about him. "You are different and so are they. Don't let it get to you, and if you feel like doing something like this again. Your mother will pay the price." He said turning away from the bars, "Come on. I gotta get you home."
Reino closed his eyes trying to push the thoughts away from his mind, it would only be a year later when he would refuse to be called Todd Damon anymore, that the man himself would become even darker than the teen that had been with him on the edge of the water. He should have known better, of course, he had promised to make his mother pay the price if he attempted to do something like that again and he had been good. It had been later that year he would become friends with Miroku. He couldn't believe he had ever had felt the warmth from that man, he couldn't feel it anymore. It was gone from this world, he was just another one of the people that Tomi claimed as a toy and he had no problem making it clear that Todd Damon was still alive inside of him, Tomi Shiro was a mellower version and himself perhaps but most of all he pity whoever awoken Todd Damon. It was like a promised death, a slow and painful death if Todd Damon came out to play.
"If I tell you, will you tell me why you trust him?" Reino knew it shouldn't be asked of course, that he could very well become a target, hadn't he already gotten that warning. Yet was there really any harm in asking her himself and if she freely gave that information then it shouldn't count right? So why did he feel a sudden coldness around him? His eyes trailed towards the little Grudge before slowly looking back at the young woman who seemed to almost glow, as if the heavens had blessed mankind with an angel, pushing that coldness away from him. His heart felt like it would stop, yet the grudge didn't seem to notice, or more it was like it was annoyed as it stared 'They aren't supposed to be able to handle such a bright light... maybe because they are part of her soul they can?' Then again everything about this woman and her grudges was odd, like the fact he could see them attached to a living person.
Slowly Kyoko's eyes held that warmth, "Why wouldn't I trust him? I'm with my family now." Her eyes had turned to look first towards Lory, then Maria, he watched as they made their way towards Laura, David, and Amanda, then towards Kyo and Keiji who were drinking their tea listening as Maria tell them how Lory one day came and got her from her dancing class in a matching Tutu. The older man didn't even seem bothered by it at all even though he could see a slight tick in Kyo's eyebrow. His friends seemed beside themselves unsure what to make of him most likely or the story either. Slowly they turned towards Ruto and it was clear in Reino's eyes that this girl wants nothing but happiness for each of them and it hurt slightly he didn't seem to be included.
Reino sighed as he placed a hand under his chin leaning on his elbow as he looked at her. "Well guess for the most part he's the President of Blume the publishing label for Vie Ghoul." He saw the confused look on her face, he had slipped into Japanese mainly because she had memories that were clearly in Japanese, with that... he didn't want to recall that memory but it also was very clear she spoke in Russian for the most part whenever her and Tomi had been together alone. It was strange, her Russian wasn't fluent but it was passable. Not like it had been when he first met her, that was a world of difference between the memory and the now and he again wondered exactly how old that memory was.
Ruto had leaned forward saying something in her ear, and Reino frowned. 'Then again she didn't seem to know Japanese the other night either' it could be something dealing with the trauma of it all, he had heard cases where it had happened before. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that instead of a huge personality change she simply blocked out the language that caused her so much pain to the point she could hardly remember it if at all. Otherwise, she was an amazing actress.
Reino had only slightly noticed that someone was coming up from behind him. Years of being able to keep a distance had played well into making him that much aware of where people were, Keiji was inches from him as he leaned against the counter, the urge to see more about this girl flashed through his mind but the way he felt Ruto's dark brown eyes on him. So different than the ones he had seen in his mind caused him to stay in place.
Keiji took one look at her and sighed "What happened?" Reino had found the interactions between them interesting if he was to compare it to anything it was like perhaps him and Miroku.
He watched Kyoko slowly seem to zoom onto him as if she didn't realize he had appeared in the first place. Then the slight flush of her cheeks as she looked down almost as if she was ashamed to have been caught. Slowly she looked back at him "I was wondering why a group would want to be called Beagles" the fact she had said it with a completely straight face surprised him. Yet the fact that Keiji didn't seem at all confused by it was more of a surprise as if this sort of thing happened often with her.
Reino looked at him slightly, "The band is Vie Ghoul" he said this time in English. His eyes turned towards him and he had to fight the frown as the man gave what he could only say was a slight smile or perhaps a smirk.
"I like Beagle," he said leaning forward on the counter more, his face closer to Kyoko's and Reino felt like he was making some sort of a point, one that bothered him greatly. "Get your stuff ready for Daiki, we're leaving." There was no flush on her face just a small nod of her head as she turned to look at Ruto who was once again putting away the things she had washed.
"I'm sorry Ruto, you don't mind do you?" The dark man looked towards her, there was much adoration in his eyes, most likely only second to the one that her father had put upon her during the praising of her cooking that had her completely red during the dinner. More so when he kept making everyone else around him tell her just how good the food was, which he learned that if you said it was just 'good' was not at all smart. That man was a scary force, mind you not everyone seemed to have that vibe when he had shot them such a look as if he would do something that would put even Boris to shame.
"I do not mind Miss Kyoko."
Keiji leaned back, "Actually Lory had something he wanted you to do," he said looking at the man, it amazed Reino how this man seemed to not care at all about what Ruto could do, the look in his eyes almost blank as if all emotion had disappeared from him. "She'll be fine," He said shooting as she was juggling three different bento style boxes in her hands. He sighed again as if he already was regretting saying those words.
Reino slowly turned to look at Lory as Kyoko set the three bento boxes down, the man beamed as she came towards him his arms wide as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Keiji leaned back some as Ruto finished the rest of the dishes. Almost as if he had forgotten they were there. Maria was also given a flush of hugs and warmth before she kissed the little girl's forehead and then her father's cheek. 'How can she be his daughter?'
"You should see his son, then you wouldn't wonder" Reino's eyes shot towards Keiji for a moment, not even his friends could seem to understand such thoughts, they tried and Miroku could tell when something was off but this was something different.
Kyoko came bouncing back towards them and she looked towards Ruto, "I'll be back soon" she said walking around and hugging the man which Reino had to mentally hold back the shiver that ran down his spine, he wanted to tell her that he was dangerous, but he held his tongue, it was clear she likely knew or naive but whatever the case might be he had a funny feeling that if he said something he would regret it.
Reino watched as the two left before feeling Miroku standing near him. "Interesting bunch aren't they?" Miroku looked towards Ruto for a moment "But I'm ready to call it a night what about you?" Reino nodded his head, pulling out the mirror and looking at it. The spell seemed to shatter like glass around him before he turned back towards Kiyora who was walking with his other friends and holding it out to him the man took the mirror looking at his own reflection for a moment before running a hand through his hair and blowing himself a kiss before putting it back in his pocket.
A/N: Plato has an Aristophanes present a story about soulmates, this story is the one that deals with the four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces. Where Theosophy state that God created androgynous souls, equally male and female. Which karma around the Earth or the separation from God but they basically split into separate genders. When all karmic debt is purged, the two will fuse back together and return to God. I think this hints at not needing to be in a romantic style, due to how you view reincarnation.