A/N: Well, I've had a hell of a week. On Thursday, I was graciously invited to view a performance of the Philharmonic orchestra in L.A. Since a friend of mine plays bass in the orchestra, he got us $90.00 seats, with a very nice view of the stage. It was very beautiful. Then, On Friday, I had arrived at school, and around second period, there was a power outage. The very next period, some stupid kid was joking around and said that he had a bomb in his backpack and a pound of coke. The school police arrived, followed by the bomb squad, and we were forced to evacuate the building. It was interesting to say the least. So much excitement. It didn't really interest me, so while the students were waiting, I told the fortune of a few of the students who approached me. I never leave home without my beloved tarot cards. Feel free to call me weird, but it's a profession I am quite proud of, since my mother is a fortune teller. ….Since I have nothing more to say, enjoy the product of my diligent labor.
Polaris18: I'm glad that you seem so enthusiastic about this. I am, too, and I thank you for letting me borrow him. Yes, it is the younger one, by the way. You, of all people should know. He does belong to you, after all. You should be confused. Hizumi doesn't like Ayumu, at least, he tells himself he doesn't, but somewhere in that disgustingly cold, dark heart of his, we all know that he really does love him.
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"Hizumi. Hizumi, it's time to get up, come on." Kirie poked at the sleeping figure curled beneath the sheets. "Ugh, you're so difficult…" The Watcher huffed, grabbing the sheets and yanking them back to reveal the boy's nude form to the colder air in the room. "And since when do you sleep naked?"
Hizumi's lips curled into a pout, and a soft groan followed shortly as the cold air caressing his warmed skin. "Leave me alone…" Blindly, he groped for the sheets, but they were tossed to a corner of the room, far from his reach.
"Kiyotaka says get up. Hurry and take a shower and grab breakfast before you leave for school." Kirie reached out, rubbing the boy's head and messing up his already unkempt hair. "Honestly, what would you do without me?" the woman smiled at the displeased frown she got.
"Sleep." Hizumi shot back, bitterly, prying his head from the pillow and trying his best to hide a yawn.
A soft chuckle sounded from the bedroom door, and both Kirie and Hizumi looked upon a smiling Kiyotaka. "You look like you didn't get much sleep last night, Hizumi."
"Thanks for noticing." The boy spoke, in between another yawn. "And can you two please get out of my room while I'm not dressed? I'm not on display, you know!" Forgetting quickly about his lack of sleep, Mizutsuro reached for his pillow, hurling it at the intruders in attempt to make them leave. "Get out!"
"Ok, ok. But naked or not, you're just so darn cute…" Kirie laughed and pinched Hizumi's cheek as she would an infant's, before her hand was slapped away.
"Get out!"
Kiyotaka and Kirie quickly made their exit, closing the door to give the younger one a bit of privacy. "You have to admit, he's not very pleasant to deal with in the mornings. That's supposed to be your job, don't forget." Kirie sighed as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"I've got my hands full trying to stop the Hunters from killing the Blade Children, while trying to keep the Savers in check. I don't have to time to deal with Hizumi at the moment." Kiyotaka explained. Knowing that Kirie's job wasn't half as burdensome as his own.
"Oh. I forgot about the Savers." Kirie gasped. "I guess no one really pays that much attention to them, what with the Hunters on top of everything. If only Yaiba were alive to know that some part of his organization is still desperately working to support him, even after his death, to create more Blade Children. I'm surprised that it's been going on for this long, really."
"It's been going on for too long." The elder Narumi corrected her. "The last thing we need is another batch of Blade Children to give the Hunters another reason to exterminate them. And Hizumi certainly isn't helping the situation."
Kirie cast a glance to the brunette, knowing that the topic would eventually arise, and it was best to just nip it in the bud before any further problems resulted. "Even you consider him a threat, don't you, Kiyotaka? Hizumi's destined to be the one who'll awaken the blood of the remaining Blade children…and if that happens, everything you did, such as bringing the Blade Children their 'hope" will have been in vain." The Watcher explained with a sigh. "He's a dangerous adversary for Ayumu and the Blade children. You may not want to admit it at this moment, but I think you know that history always repeats itself. Just as you killed Yaiba, you'll have to eliminate Hizumi as well, before things get out of hand."
"No. It's not going to be me." Kiyotaka interrupted her. "It's going to be Ayumu. As the Blade Children's hope, he has to…it's the only way, I'm afraid. Since Hizumi's taking part in killing the Blade Children, he's no different from the hunters, and Ayumu is the one who has to end that."
"All in all, I still can't help but to feel sorry for him. I mean, it's not like he asked to be thrown into all of this." Kirie leaned her back against the wall and folder her arms across her chest. "Most of the problems he's dealing with now is all due to his hard childhood. Think about he how must've felt to know that his older brother, the only family he had was known as a "devil" and planned on creating the Blade Children to replace humanity. It must've been awful, even after when his brother "changed". They weren't that far apart in age, so Hizumi would've seen his brother's "insanity" as a child. That had to be hard, not just on him, but on anyone. Plus, Hizumi will have to go through the same change when he's older. That has to be hard to accept." Kirie stated. "Then there's the Hunters who are after him because he's the younger brother of Mizutsuro Yaiba, the Blade Children don't accept him because his brother's the cause of all of this, and on top of that, he's probably dealing with what every growing boy has to go through."
"And what's that?" Kiyotaka questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"Hormones." Kirie frowned at the brunette's so-called "genius", and fisted her hand, giving the man a light, playful tap on his forehead. "Baka. It's not a good life to live, especially for a boy his age, but he does well, so you have to give him credit for that."
Kiyotaka stifled a soft chuckle, desperately hoping that somehow, despite all the odds, Hizumi would pull through and step out of his older brother's shadow, so his fate wouldn't be the same as Yaiba's. In truth, he had grown to like the mint-haired boy, despite him being Yaiba's so-called clone. There was no such thing as a perfect copy, and that was proven with Ayumu. The younger boy was different from him in numerous ways, and that was reason in itself to have conviction that Hizumi was nothing like his elder brother. 'If only he could come to realize that. He doesn't have to follow in Yaiba's footsteps if he doesn't want to…and he won't have to die at the hands of Ayumu…'
"I'm hungry. Let's grab breakfast." Kirie spoke, interrupting the brunette from his thoughts. "Your treat." She turned, heading for the door, not at all eager to get to work as a Watcher.
"It's always my treat." Kiyotaka huffed as he followed Kirie out the door, hoping that Hizumi would lock up before he left for school.
"…I'm short on cash." Kirie lied, using that as an excuse, as always.
Kiyotaka laughed, closing the door behind him. "You could moonlight as a prostitute."
"You wish."
Hizumi lost himself in his thoughts as the steaming water caressed his flash and cascaded in tiny rivulets down his chest and slender hips, mixing with the blood and soap suds and washing them down the drain. A sharp hiss fell from those pink, parted lips, but was drowned out by the spray from the showerhead. The mint-haired boy closed his eyes against the hot water and brought his nails deeper into his shoulder, squeezing hard enough to break the skin and draw deep crimson blood that was quickly washed away from the thin lines by the scalding water. Despite his pain, the images of last night wouldn't leave him, but stayed etched in his mind; the kiss Narumi gave to him, the strange girl he had met, the stranger who had called him an angel, and the way he shamelessly writhed on his bed with the thoughts of the younger Narumi pleasing him. Just the thought of it made him want to hurl, and he had scrubbed his body hard enough to make his skin bleed, but still it wasn't enough. Giving up, he reached out and turned the knobs, shutting off the water, and grabbed a towel to dry himself as he got out the shower, ignoring the slight, burning pain in his shoulder.
The thought crossed his mind of staying home, if only to avoid Ayumu, but he quickly dismissed it, deciding that it would be best to face the problem head on, instead of running from it. After drying himself off, he lightly coated his hair with spray, then brushed it through, trying to restore the damp locks to their original semi-spiked nature. After a brisk shake of his head, he got the desired results, and left his bathroom in the nude to gather his clothes for school.
The amber-eyed youth sauntered across the room to approach the large armoire that filled the corner of his room, and pulled open one of the carved wooden doors to retrieve one of his school uniforms. With a soft click, the door was closed, and Hizumi turned away from the massive fixture to retrieve a clean pair of boxers from the chest of drawers adjacent to the armoire. His hand was raised, and the drawer was pulled out, along with a pair of clean undergarments, which were quickly pulled onto those smooth hips, followed by his pants. The white shirt was pulled over his head, followed by the jacket, and the boy turned, glancing at his reflection in the full-length mirror that stood near the armoire. Satisfied, he left his room, closing the door to ensure privacy, then left the house, locking the door behind him.
The sun shone brightly overhead, and the sweet, spring air filled the boy's lungs as he inhaled deeply, taking in the smells and sounds of the morning, completely forgetting about the younger Narumi. The morning was far to perfect to let thoughts of the troublesome brunette plague his mind. Instead, he chose to focus on something much more pleasant…like flowers. The one particular flower that came to mind was an iris, and the iris reminded him of Kiyotaka, Kiyotaka reminded him of Ayumu, and…. "Damnit." Hizumi cussed, growing irritated that these thoughts of the younger Narumi wouldn't leave him alone.
A pair of light blue eyes stared down at the vexed youth, watching his every move. 'He's so cute when he's angry.' The silver haired-figure thought, from her perch atop a telephone pole. A hint of a smile tugged at the girl's lips, and a spark of mirth brightened those deep, azure pools. She swung her legs in the air and brought both of her hands to her check, tightly clasped with each other. "This is going to be so exciting!" With precise timing and cat-like agility, she stood up, making sure she had sure footing on top the large pillar. A gentle breeze picked up, caressing those silver tresses and tossing a few scattered sakura petals in her direction. A soft, pink petal was caught in mid-air, between slender digits, and brought to the young girl's lips. A chaste kiss was planted upon the velvety surface. 'Dearest Hizumi…If you don't change your fate….I'll do it for you.'
A/N: Well now, little Hizumi's got himself a stalker. How unfortunate. I wonder if Rae-chan can figure out who it is….or maybe KousukeAsazuki. Now onto a question for my readers…how on Earth does instant ramen catch on fire? I'd really like to know. My younger brother tried to cook some the other day, and the damn thing caught fire in the microwave. Thankfully, it was put out right away, but our microwave didn't make it out alive. I shall miss it dearly….and direct my love toward our new microwave. Blessed heating appliance….I thank the man who invented such a wondrous appliance. (applauses) …..Now feel free to leave a review.