A/N: This is the full version of the chapter, all 13 painstakingly crafted pages of the damned thing lol, I apologise for the huge delay, but between my schedule and the complete lack of inspiration, things have been looking grim for this story, but fear not, I'm determined to finish and bring the blademasters continuum to a close once and for all!! Hehehehe, enjoy:
Chapter Four: A Relative Question
Ryu lay silent in his futon, arms splayed out on either side, and hair fanning out around his head like a dark halo.
His covers were twisted around his lower body allowing the chill of the air to leech heat from his t-shirt clad form, but he barely paid it any mind.
It was nothing like the cold of the forest after all…
Lazily he lifted one hand, turning it over in the dim haze of dawns light outside his window.
He's been there again, to that place wreathed in endless snow, and he'd met the girl once more.
She hadn't run from him this time. As if she too was beginning to remember a little more about his trips to her strange world each time. He was sure there had been a look of recognition when he had entered the clearing she always seemed to be waiting in, or perhaps, hiding would be a more apt word for it all things considered…
However, despite the possible implications of all this, of this change to what had been little more than a recurring dream for so long now, that was not what held his attention.
---He was out of breath. He had run all the way here after all, unbound hair lashing against cheeks made tender by the cold. His snow white robes somehow untouched by the damp crease of the icy crystals as it served to keep him warm even as it billowed out behind him, marking this as a dream even had he not already been keenly aware.
A small number of nicks covered his face where some of the branches had caught him as he followed the path here.
The reason for his haste?
He would have liked to have heard the answer himself. The moment he had awoken here, he had been ceased by an irrational need to reach the clearing as soon as possible, even though he knew exactly what he would find and what would happen.
Why? Why would that be. What had his gut churning and his pulse racing, and left his mouth dry even before he began to run?
In his mind he saw a flash of something. Dark hair streaked with a lighter brown and hazel eyes filled with fire and determination… a fire that dimmed even before the image began to fade, leaving the girl those eyes belonged to looking a tired and broken shell of her usual dynamic self.
Kanna…
Was she the reason he fled? What did he think, that she was awaiting him in the clearing instead of the other girl?
… No, he knew the answer.
Every time he had come to this place, every time he had met the girl and tried to befriend her, he had been struck down, leaving her alone in this endless wilderness. He had given her hope and then hurt her, just as he had now been shown he was doing to Kanna.
So what, I can't change that for her, not here…
Finally the final bush was cleared and there he stood, in a perfect clearing breath coming ragged as his eyes came to rest on the only other inhabitant of this place.
For a long time, sea grey met gold and neither moved. Ryu waited for her to bolt as she always did, needing the familiarity somehow and yet dreading it, confirming his suspicions.
So that really was why he had come so quickly. He had been shaken by Kanna's unspoken ultimatum and feared its implications enough that he ran here, somehow expecting her talk to have affected his dream world as much as it had himself.
Yet here she was, just as she always was, unaffected by the outside, by reality, just like everything around them.
"So, this really is just a dream", he mused out loud, the implications of it all crashing down on him. To be totally unaffected by the outside world, surely that could only occur in a dream.
He felt his face fall slightly.
Perhaps some part of him had wanted this to be real, even if the repeated cycle of failure tortured him, at least it would be constant, unchanging… safe.
"A dream can never be real", he whispered sadly, thinking back on Kanna's words.
I should have realised that from the start, he thought, thinking of how pathetic running here for comfort now seemed. Relying on an illusion.
Gradually he raised his head, waiting to see the girl run in fear, for him to try to comfort her… and for him to die.
He almost gasped in shock when he found a pair of twin golden eyes peering up at him intensely from beneath midnight bangs, taking an involuntary step back, his foot catching on a tree root and depositing him squarely on his backside in the snow.
"Smooth", he muttered to himself.
He glanced up as he heard something crunching through the snow toward him, watching with a kind of disbelieving awe as the golden eyed girl crouched at his side, folding her arms around her knees and resting her chin on her arms to peer at him curiously, her impossibly long black hair encompassing her own white robes like a cloak.
For a moment he was struck mute, unable to escape her gaze. The finally, a sad, tired smile leaked through as the absurdity of his response, of the situation as a whole took hold.
He had just been thinking about how this was all fake because nothing changed, and now suddenly it did.
As much as he would have liked to have thought that maybe this was proof that things here were real, to have drawn hope from the idea that perhaps dreams weren't as fake as he was being made to see. It was more likely that he was simply trying to delude himself to avoid the pain in his, Kanna and Ayu's future.
"So much for my resolve", he spoke softly, thinking back on his words after speaking with Kanna's father. All that will vanished, lost in face of a recurring dream that probably only came from his own inner weakness anyway.
"What?", he asked, eyes once more focusing on the present as something shockingly warm in this artic dreamscape cupped his cheek carefully.
His mind froze, unable to explain the sensations he was feeling within this dream as his gaze traced the slender fingers brushing his skin back along the robe clan arm they were attached to and up to the youthful face of the girl they both belonged to, her delicate features pinched by a look of sadness.
"Are…are you worried…about me?", he asked slowly, trying to understand what was happening, "This…is a dream… so… why?"
He watched as if in slow motion as her mouth began to move as if to reply, her face slowly transforming from an expression of concern to one of fear as her golden eyes tracked up and over his shoulder, widening as her mouth stretched wide as if to scream.
Even as he turned, he knew what he wouldn't make it, felt the cold steel biting into his neck pouring a world of agony into him in an instant before everything went white---
It had changed. His dream had changed, but why?
Had it really been just because of his talk with Kanna, something from his subconscious reacting to the dread he felt, or perhaps…
Ryu let his hand drop, grunting when he struck himself in the face in the process.
"Dreaming of damsels in distress so I don't have to face the reality of it all", he grimaced, parting his fingers so he could stare between them, "How pathetic".
Only the silence of the dorm answered, neither confirming nor denying his accusation.
Rolling over onto his side, Ryu drew the covers back over himself and drifted back to sleep.
This time, there were no fields of white to disturb his slumber.
Ryu awoke groggily this time, as one should, peering around blearily at his alarm clock and suffering the minor heart attack one does when they think they are late for something, but aren't awake enough to realise they have the wrong day.
After calming down and waking up enough to realise his mistake, and glad that no one had been around to see it, he contemplated rolling over and going back to bed, but soon found that his recent adrenaline rush had cancelled out that option.
With a yawn and a bone popping stretch he lumbered out of bed, tossing aside his bedtime attire and shivering briefly in the brisk morning air and he dug a plain red sweater and some black jeans out of his wardrobe, fumbling a moment with cold numbed hands before he could finish dressing and slipping on his house slippers.
As he walked down the corridor toward the stairs he stopped for a moment to watch the snowflakes drifting by.
So… it's still snowing…, he thought as he gazed out across the white blanket that had settled firmly across the landscape, furrowing his hands into his pockets and half heartedly glaring at the ice crystals dancing past on the chill breeze as if they were the cause of all his misfortune.
Snorting at the snow with contempt, he made his way toward the stairs, yawning every now and again as his adrenaline high wore off now that he was no longer snugly in bed. Another thing to be annoyed about.
So wrapped up in his list of things to blame the world on that morning was he, that he failed to notice the shadowy presence clinging to the ceiling above him, even as it detached, landing behind him with a muffled thud that finally began to alert his distracted mind to the possibility of danger.
"Huh?", he turned just as the crouched figure sprung for him, able to do little more than widen his eyes in shock as a blur of red streaked at him like a fiery missile.
"Oni-chan!", the missile shouted as he tried to back up, his foot only finding air as he belatedly realised that the stairs were behind him now that he had turned.
"No, wait!", he shouted too late as his assailant made impact.
For a moment everything seemed to become weightless as he felt his feet leave the floor, nothing seeming to tether his body but the two small arms wrapped around his waist as his vision was momentarily blocked by a fan of red hair.
In its own way, the moment was profound, giving him a rare insight, a moment or retrospection that bordered on what some might term enlightenment… and then, as it always did, reality interrupted.
Time resumed its normal flow, much like the sensation of phasing, a technique that had he been faster in remembering it, could have saved them both a world of hurt at the hands of the jealous mistress that is gravity.
The first blow as the top of his spine impacted the stair about halfway down the first flight almost knocked him senseless, but only almost.
As he felt himself flipping in mid air, rotating rapidly, he instinctively hugged his attacker closer to himself as they let loose a startled shriek, wrapping himself around their smaller body as he bounced again, unable to cry out as he struck the wall of the first landing hard enough to see stars before ricocheting like a pinball, rolling rather than bouncing this time down the next set, a dull thud accompanying each revolution.
As he hit the bottom at long last, he opened like a flower, sprawling and sliding to a stop as friction with the Hinata Sou's wooden floors drew him to a halt.
For a long time, all he could to was lay there panting, his body noisily protesting his carelessness with a number of uncomfortable twinges but luckily not the dreaded flare of something twisted or broken.
"Well… that's certainly one way to great him I suppose Satomi-chan", a teasing voice called him back from his daze, making him aware of an abnormal pressure on his chest.
Lifting his aching head, Ryu found his view of the tanned commenter partially obscured by something white and dotted with hearts.
What in the…, he though as he tried to resolve this strange image with the two flesh coloured things either side of it.
A loud crash drew his attention away from this strange puzzle, his half concussed mind trying to figure out why Ayu was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, hands clasped to her chest and a look of mortification on her usually shy face.
He watched the colander she had dropped roll to a stop somewhere near Yui, fasinated by the movement for a moment before returning his attention to the blue haired girl as she struggled to speak.
"S-sempai, w-what are you doing to Satomi-chan!", she finally managed to get out.
"Satomi…", he frowned, his sluggish mind taking a moment to put two and two together, his head falling back with a grimace when it did, "This is not my day".
"Oni-chan", Satomi wheezed atop him, sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily, unaware she was cutting off his ability to breathe.
"Oni-chan?", she asked looking around questioningly at the amuse Yui and the horrified Ayu for a moment before noticing how hard and lumpy the floor seemed for some reason.
The floor groaned and she looked back in shock to find Ryu lying beneath her, eyes closed and face turning blue.
"Oni-chan?! Oh no, I killed him!"
---Ryu groaned softly as his skull throbbed with a dull ache. Why did it hurt so, he couldn't quite recall, but he remembered something about a red comet… or maybe it was a bus if his head was anything to go by…
Ryu shivered.
It was so very cold, where was he?
As other sensations slowly filtered in, he became aware that not all of him was cold. His hands and feet might have been carved from ice for all the feeling they had, and his limbs made leaden by pain, but his head, though it ached, was warmed by something… something soft and pleasantly scented on which is was rested.
He tried to open his eyes but failed. It felt as if someone were holding them down.
After a prolonged struggled he managed to crack one open, then the other, only to find himself staring a featureless white sky…no, not featureless, just covered in clouds, all raining down powdery snow on the silent world below.
Wait, when did I get outside?, he wondered drowsily.
He tried to sit up but a subtle weight held his shoulders down an increasingly familiar face hovering into view above him.
Warm gold eyes beamed concern down at him, long locks of raven hair spilled down, tickling his checks.
Ryu smiled sleepily as her expression relaxed on seeing him awake.
"How did I get here?", he asked, waiting for a response even though he knew she wasn't going to and indeed, didn't, give one, "Have you been looking after me"
A subtle nod was his only reply, but it was enough he supposed.
"Thanks…", he muttered, feeling his eyelids trying to tug closed, but forcing them to stay open a little longer. So he had somehow come here without going to sleep this time… in that case there was something he had to know, to see if this was really a dream or not.
"Who are you?", he asked, but the girl only frowned and looked away, "What is it you want from me?"
His eyes grew heavier by the second but he tried to keep them routed on her face, trying to find meaning in the sad look she gave him as everything began to fade.
As oblivion beckoned and Ryu closed his eyes from the final time in this world, a voice, as clear and clean crystal rang out in his mind.
"Help me…".
He struggled to fight his way back out of the numbness of his mind, somehow instantly aware that it was her voice he had heard, but it was a loosing battle.
Wait! Help you? Why, what's going on, who are you!
"Please… Ryu-sama"---
Chii picked her way down the icy, snow-covered slope carefully. Taking her time to avoid slipping as she clung to the bare branches that hung in her path like lifelines, silently wishing for a set of concreted and salted stairs to use instead, but knowing of only this path to her destination.
Alongside her, Chiho was having a much easier time of things than his mistress, even guiding four legs rather than two down the treacherous slope. His breed had been raised for such weather after all; it was in his blood to feel at home in these surroundings.
As much as he would have like nothing more than to bound down the snowy slope, spraying powder in his wake as powerful muscles propelled him with easy and tough claws an furrowed pads kept his purchase, he would never leave Chii's side unless she ordered it.
Any other girl might have been muttering to herself, or openly whining, but Chii's only visible expression of discomfort were slightly narrowed emerald eyes as she reluctantly released her latest branch and carefully waded her way to the next, disliking the feel of her long damp stockings as they clung icily to her skin.
She had been doing this for a few days now. Coming to this one clearing every day to observe the man who had given her permission to do so, even though he didn't understand her reasons for coming back, or why she had been watching him to start with before he let on that he knew what she was doing.
Whatever the reason Chii was grateful. A willing subject was much easier to observe, and helped the flow of her research even if the actual progress still seemed null.
It was also true that the subject's reaction to her was intriguing. There had been a noted absence of the usual fear response her stoic nature seemed to provoke even in the initial encounter, and that had… intrigued her somewhat, enough that she had begun to take separate notes about the subject himself, though she wasn't yet sure what she hoped to gleam from any insights she might discover.
In this area at least there was plenty of data however. The subject; Hayate, seemed content to make up for her lack of offered conversation by providing a steady stream of his own, not phased by her lack of responses, or even the absence of her name.
Instead he would simply refer to her as "Little one", a name that irritated her a little, but not sufficiently to either stop the study, or to invalidate it in anyway by being overly familiar with the subject and providing her name.
Still, this acceptance was surprisingly likable, even though Chii had long since given up actively seeking it out from those around her, and had actually started to look forward to it after a fashion though she couldn't explain why. He had even almost made her crack a smile yesterday with some impulsive joke about her reasons for observing him.
Idly she wondered if this was how most regular people spent their time. Not secretly experimenting on a person several years their elder per se, but this companionable chit-chat.
Chii didn't notice her increase in pace as she wondered if it would be possible to continue researching this phenomena after she was finished with her main research. It might pay to know more about spontaneous inter-personal interaction, as it seemed a fairly prominent and agreeable pastime.
If nothing else it would get her mind off what had happened to Ryu a few days ago after Satomi's greeting had gone horribly wrong, leaving him unconscious for the better part of a day, and her friend grief stricken.
Thanks to the careful aid of Ayu and Kanna, he had eventually awoken and other than being rather annoyed and complaining of a very sore head, had seemed fine, though the older women had confined him to his room after Chii had informed them of a possible concussion on his part that he would need to rest properly to recuperate from.
In truth she had hoped that she might have had the chance to get to nurse him back to health herself seen as she was the only one with a broader knowledge of medicine, having read some journals on it once and in true Su fashion, having retained and even improved on everything she has stored in that genius mind of hers.
However she had failed to factor in that between Ayu, Kanna, though the dark haired girl had all but vanished as soon as he actually regained consciousness for some reason, a maternal Natsuki and an extremely apologetic Satomi, she had been muscled out of that position before she had started.
At least she knew he was being taken care of, and if it kept her usually observant red headed friend too distracted to notice her sneaking off, all the better.
Perhaps she could still make something of this if she could crack the mystery of the 'power' before he had recovered and could present it to him as a get-well gift…
Her cheeks flushed a little as her mind spun through a number of ways the older boy might express his gratitude and admiration, leading her to slip with a quiet yelp.
"Shame", she intoned, head down, as she struggled to regain her footing, Chiho offering himself as support until she had regained her footing and set off again.
As she drew closer to the clearing, voices echoed back to her, slowing her pace.
Had Hayate brought a practice partner with him? Or had he perhaps invited someone else to watch that day?
A strange feeling churned Chii's gut as she negotiated a particularly tricky section of the slope and she tried to catch some of the words, but only made out snippets of the conversation.
As she drew near the tone of the two became clearer, and from the angry undertones of the one that belonged to Hayate's guest, she could tell that whatever was being discussed was not a pleasant topic.
Chii frowned.
If this was something sensitive, then she doubted eavesdropping as Yui would call it would be appreciated… however, there was always the slim possibility that if this other person had come in regards to something based on Hayate's training she might learn something important to her research…
Again Chii felt uneasy but could not explain why. Her reasoning was sound was it not?
As the voices began to quite down she made a decision to progress regardless and after a quick verbal command to Chiho, began once more to pick her way down the frozen paths.
"… well, you've heard what's happening. Are you still going to do nothing!", the angry voice of the visitor carried to her.
There was a pause, and Chii could almost picture Hayate's philosophical shrug.
"Who knows", came his flippant response.
"Why you-", the voice cut off as if the speaker were trying to kept a rein on their anger, "After all the history, just who's side are you on?"
"Sides, why is that what everyone is so interested in these days? Kind of sad to see that humans have such a desperate need to take 'sides' isn't it. Whatever happened to people?"
"…What kind of an answer is that?"
"My kind I suppose…"
As the voices grew quieter Chii tried to pick up her pace. There was something familiar about that second speaker that she didn't yet have enough data to put a finger on.
As she reached for an over hanging branch to steady herself, her foot encountered another patch of ice. Her inner ear screamed an alert but too late, her footing lost, Chii plunged down the icy slope, her small body bouncing and rolling as she went.
Dimly she was aware that the two voices stopped talking as she crashed to a halt in a shallow ditch, too dazed to really take note of what was said next as she let out a uncharacteristic whimper and tried to lever herself upright.
Chii gazed down at her snow-covered clothes and ripped stockings, trying to remain impartial and take stock of her situation even as her body began to shiver from shock.
There was an intense throbbing pain coming from her ankle, but any attempt to make a better assessment of its condition was cut short by the sound of footsteps in the snow. Footsteps heading straight toward her.
Chii didn't attempt to hide or get away, she was in no condition to do so even had there been a reason, so when Hayate eventually appeared he was momentarily taken aback to find her sitting, dishevelled, in the ditch but still as blank faced as ever.
Chii glanced past him but saw no sign of whomever he had been speaking to. Presumably they had left when he came to investigate the disturbance she had unwittingly created.
When he didn't speak for a moment Chii began to realise how strange she must appear sitting in the snow like this, her cheeks colouring minutely for a moment.
"Ok, I give up", he said finally, walking over and crouching next to her, "What are you doing?".
"Fell", Chii said simply, gesturing to the slope behind her.
Hayate's expression changed from one of amusement to concern.
"I see, so all that commotion just now was you huh? Are you ok, can you stand?", he asked moving some of his long hair aside to see her more clearly.
Chii gingerly moved her leg, aware from just the sensations caused by the movement that her ankle would not support her.
"Hurt", she said, only a slight inflection in her voice betraying any actual pain, but Hayate seemed to get the message.
Cradling her foot carefully, he probed her ankle for a moment, before lowering it to the ground.
"Not much more than a sprain, though it's already swelling…", he sighed, "Not much of an athlete are you?".
Although she did nothing more than stare, Hayate smiled as if she had shouted at him like Kanna would Ryu.
"I wouldn't advise walking on that for a while… hmm, do you have anyway of contacting someone to pick you up?", he asked, frowning when she shook her head, "Well that's no good, what were you thinking wondering around alone?"
"Not alone, Chiho is here", she answered almost indignantly for her canine friend, forgetting that Hayate knew nothing about him.
"Chiho?", he asked slowly, glancing up and freezing for a moment when part of the snow seemed to move, resolving into a rather large dog as it drew closer.
"Chiho-chan", Chii stated again as her furry companion lopped closer, whining and keening as he discovered the state of his owner.
"… I see", Hayate let loose a short laugh, "You really are a strange girl aren't you?".
He laughed again when all she did was nod.
"Definitely strange… however, unless your friend has a phone hidden on him somewhere…", he paused to make sure she wasn't going to tell him he did before carrying on, "Then we need to get you home somehow".
He looked thoughtful for a moment before smirking and shaking his head, setting soft waves of ebony hair swaying in time with the movement.
"Why not, the most simple answer is usually the correct one right?", he said cryptically, causing Chii to cock her head slightly to one side trying to puzzle out his meaning.
"I apologise in advance", he said, moving to her side and before she could ponder his intent, scooping her up in his arms.
Shocked by the sudden movement, Chii grabbed the front of his practice robes instinctively, green eyes going wider than normal as she glanced up at him in confusion.
"You shouldn't walk, and since you have no way to contact anyone else, short of riding your canine companion, there's no other way for you to get home", he said apologetically, giving her a close eyed smile, "I apologise again for the impropriety little one".
For a moment Chii just stared at him with that unsettlingly perceptive emerald gaze of hers and he braced to support her if she insisted on getting down. Truth be told it was a rather foolishly impulsive thing to have done. A whim based on too many hours spent reading old tales most likely and now that he was actually carrying her, it seemed more than a tad ridiculous.
"Chii"
"Excuse me?", he asked, unsure that he had heard her speak or what she was referring to.
"Chii's name is Chii", she said lowering her gaze and staring toward the clearing.
"…I see", he said after a moment, smiling to himself.
"We need to leave now, or your arms will get tired", she intoned seriously, still not looking at him.
It took him a moment to figure out what she meant.
"Hold on a moment, you can't mean you actually want me to carry you home?", he joked.
"You said Chii should not walk", she answered as if stating the obvious.
"…I suppose I did, didn't I", he chuckled to cover his surprise. This girl really was a strange one after all.
"Well then Chii, lead on, lead on", he said.
Chii nodded, one hand pointing off to their left, back up the hill, "Go that way".
"Your wish is my command my Lady", he chuckled, deciding to get into the role he had found himself cast in. True his master would be furious if he ever found out he skipped training for something so trivial, but this was too amusing an experience to pass up.
Chii nodded silently again and returned her hand to it's previous grip and looking forward as they began to ascend, Chiho following so that no one would be able to see the fading blush on her cheeks.
Casting her mind back to her earlier thoughts, Chii decided she had been right; there was much she didn't understand.
More research would be needed in the future.
Ryu smiled up until Ayu shut the door, only then allowing himself to express the scowl that had been building up since he had been declared bedridden.
It was not the blue haired girl's fault. He appreciated her efforts, and enjoyed her gentle presence, but with his previous experiences of illness, it was no wonder he wanted to be up and around again as soon as possible.
That and the dream he had had when he had been knocked out.
He had awoken in the clearing, something very different to what he was used to, and on top of that, she had spoken to him. Not just spoken, but asked for his help… and called his name.
"…Who are you", he whispered, his eyes drifting closed as if seeking the dreamworld in which she resided but knowing he would find nothing. He hadn't once returned to that world of snow since that time.
"It's not enough to have girls vanish in the real world, no they disappear from my dreams as well…", he said, thinking of one girl in particular.
Kanna hadn't been to visit him once since he had awoken, though he had been told that she had been as frantic as Ayu when Satomi's enthusiasm had left him unconscious, tending him throughout the day and night along side the blue haired girl.
There was a sharp rap on the door and for a moment his hopes flared, but died just as quickly as the door slid aside and the last person he could have wanted to see at that moment walked inside, an arrogant smirk on his face, and a spark of barely contained glee sparkling in his sea grey eyes.
"Well, well, well", the visitor spoke as he slid the door closed again, tossing his purple ponytail back over his shoulder and taking up a considering pose, "The great Ryuuya, lain out by a little girl huh? Shameful cousin, just shameful".
Ryu groaned inwardly even as he sent his cousin a look of glacial distaste that Kyosuke only savoured like fine wine.
"What do you want?", he asked curtly, not in the mood for this confrontation.
"Testy today aren't we? Is that anyway to treat family?", that got Ryuuya's attention. Since when did Kyosuke openly and willingly refer to them as family, even in private?
"… I see…", there had been a subtle stress on the word family.
"An important time of year for that sort of thing you know", Kyosuke added lazily, pausing for a moment and closing his eyes before nodding slowly and opening them again as if confirming something before taking a seat near Ryu's futon.
"I suppose", Ryu answered. His childhood had been tainted far too much for him to really have an appreciation for that sort of thing, though he really was making an effort this year… he had a reason after all…
Kyosuke watched his face darken for a moment and shrugged, resting back on his hands and glancing at the ceiling.
"You came with Satomi I suppose?", Ryu asked after into the silence.
"Of course", he replied with a derisive snort, "Someone has to keep her in line"
He glanced at Ryu out of the corner of his eye when the older boy laughed, "Great job as always"
He grinned to himself when he saw the purple haired boy grit his teeth angrily and ploughed on, "Where were you when she attempted to kill me?"
Kyosuke smirked, "Not here, other business to attend to while I sent her on ahead. Wish I'd seen it though"
There was a lack of malign conviction in his words that took Ryu aback for a moment. Though he'd seen his cousin a number of times since the warehouse incident, the mellowing of their rivalry and dislike never ceased to surprise him.
Ryu wondered how much his withdrawal from his life as a member of the Oni's Bane school had to do with that, though knowing Kyosuke, that was more likely the cause of any lingering resentment. The knowledge that he would never be able to overcome him simply because he wasn't there anymore.
He also pondered darkly on just how much that decision might be the reason for this sudden visit.
"…Are you really here to visit, or is this business?", he asked after a moment, deciding to get right to the point.
"Satomi thinks it's just a visit", he answered, frowning for a moment and looking at the door as if distracted.
Ryu turned that answer over in his mind, trying to find some way around the obvious, unspoken answer in contained.
"And you?", he asked with a twisting feeling in his gut as his cousin met his gaze openly, with no trace of his usually smirk or temper.
"Family business, as I said", he replied cryptically.
"…And that is?", Ryu asked trying to hold his patience.
Kyosuke sat forward, absently toying with the end of his ponytail as if searching for the right response, and all the while the sickening feeling in Ryu's gut grew.
"You said you couldn't come back right?", he asked quietly.
Ryu's gut clenched again but he wasn't sure why. He nodded slowly when Kyosuke glanced his way again. Something was definitely wrong, very wrong.
"I made a choice, to live my new life, and move forward from that day… what's going on?", he asked, trying to hold his cousins gaze only to have him look away.
Without responding the purple haired boy stood, making as if to leave before Ryuuya called out to him.
"Wait. Tell, me, what's happening that you're not telling me?", he asked.
"…Would it make a difference. Would you give up your new life if I told you?", Kyosuke asked, his back to the older boy.
"…I made a decision", Ryu responded slowly, thinking of Kanna and Ayu.
"She needs your help", Kyosuke said quietly, missing the shocked look on Ryu's face.
"Help me…please Ryu-sama"
His head throbbed and the world threatened to tip over as Ryu reached out a hand to steady himself.
"Things have become…complicated, since you left. A lot of people were dissatisfied without how the Yazuropth situation was resolved", his fist clenched angrily at his side as he remembered all the accusations levelled against he and his sister by men he had previously thought supported him, "There is a growing… dissent amongst the council"
"…Mother?", Ryu asked as the pain subsided, fearing the reply.
"Aunt Motoko is fine… for the moment. She has her supporters, people loyal to the new ways instilled by your Father", Kyosuke answered grimly.
Ryu stared down at his covers silently, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
"She…" Kyosuke shook his head, "no… … Ryuuya, do you believe you made the right choice in staying here?"
Ryu grimaced as the night he had last seen Kanna flickered through his mind, but didn't reply.
"…If you want to stay here I won't say anything more. You're not a part of this anymore, that was your decision…I'll respect that if I have too", he turned to glance at his cousin over his shoulder, "But if you want to know more then you'll have to come with me. We leave tomorrow night…".
Without another word exchanged, Kyosuke slipped silently from the room.
As he closed the door, the purple haired boy felt as if a crushing weight were bearing down upon him, one he had hoped to share to little avail.
Why he hadn't just told him everything he couldn't say. Perhaps after learning more about who his cousin was than he had ever dreamed that night he had at some point begun to pity the older boy…
"Maybe I'm just going soft", he murmered.
"Would it be so bad if you stopped hating him?" a voice asked from the shadows, causing Kyosuke to smirk half heartedly.
"Maybe, but I could never live it down. It's to much of who I am", he said softly as the shadow began to move closer.
"People choose their own path in life, they can change it whenever they want", Yui said stepping into the light and folding her arms over her exposed midriff, "Isn't that why you asked me to keep an eye on him all these years. To defend that right?"
"Feh", Kyosuke waved his hand dismissively, "Sounds far too deep for me and way to soppy…"
He didn't resisted when a hand arm drew him into a light embrace, his face barely reaching above the older woman's chest leaving it resting against the crook of her neck.
"Are you going to tell me now what's going on, why you've been sending so many letters and warnings if you were going to come up here personally anyway?", the platinum blond whispered softly in his ear, one hand toying with his purple locks.
"…I can't…I'm tired Yui… I'm too much like my old man, a fighter not a thinker. I know she wants him there, even if she won't say it, so why can't I-", he was cut off as the tanned woman made quiet shushing noises, leaning away from him just enough to make him look up at her.
"It's ok, I'm not much of a thinker either", she said, dipping her head to kiss him lightly before returning to her embrace, "But we'll come up with something, I promise".
Ryu stared listlessly out of the window.
Something had happened at home, something far worse than Kyosuke was letting on he was sure.
"Family", something was happening to his family back home, but if he went back, would he ever be able to return to the one he was trying to make here?
"Is she really there?", he wondered, unable to shake the almost tangible feeling he had had since hearing her voice. Somehow, he knew… she was involved in whatever was happening back home, he knew this.
If he went back, could he really be of any help? Was she actually waiting there for him somewhere… and if he went back to that world, could he ever return?
Lying back down in his futon, Ryu watched the snow drifting past his window overhead.
"Ayu…Kanna… help me…", he whispered, neither the darkness nor the snow offered any reply
In the solitude of her room, a girl with impossibly long raven hair and golden eyes smiles as the snow whips past her window in tiny flurries.
"I'm waiting for you… so come quickly ok? Ryu-sama"
---Authors Notes---
Hola amigos, it's been a while hasn't, which is why I offer up this longer than your average chapter, mystery packed morsel for your enjoyment as well as report my new update schedule. I'll be updating at least one of my fics in one month slots to fit around my latest essay schedule. But fear not, that means though you have a longer wait, you'll now get longer, better written and more thought out chapters than ever before.
Chapter 5: Decisions on Dependency; Ryu struggles to decide which world to live in and how to cope with the consequences of his decision, while Chii ponders her latest discovery and Kanna and Ayu come to terms with her revelation. All this and more in the next chapter of What Dreams May Come
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell