Chapter Two – Eyes Fell Upon Him
The fifth and final man hit the ground in a heap on top of the others, making this pile-of-thugs complete and a pleasing display to its maker and architect. "Well, maybe I ain't so good," Kage remarked as he lifted the last man's wallet, taking a careful moment to read the man's identity as best he could before taking the money out and tossing it back on the pile with the others.
Of course, Kage had promised himself that he would act more like someone that could be associated with his significant other or her friends, but honestly, he was having a hard time giving up the things he liked to do. To stop smoking was hard enough, for that little habit kicked at him every moment it was allowed, but to stop beating up thugs for their money? That was a small joy that he couldn't part with so easily. Besides, the train ticket had exhausted the last of his money and he needed to earn a living somehow. Working a normal job was for normal people, not him. Letting them try to mug him first made it somehow seem less wrong and he would simply let himself believe that she wouldn't be too angry about it. "It should count a little, right Ma..." With a quick glance, Kage whipped his head towards the bright mouth of the side street where the sun was unhindered by the buildings around him, almost certain that he had seen another figure just waiting to stroll out and smugly lecture him about the evils of mugging muggers. Of course, this too was only in his memory and he laughed to himself, turning back to his would-be muggers and giving just a few stray thoughts to another girl that permeated his thoughts. "That bastard..." he said, though his tone was easy to mistake for an affectionate reminiscing rather than such a harsh remark, as it passed through a thoughtful smirk. The girl was another that he had become fond of, her tomboy passions coexisting with her grace and beauty always keeping him nearby for their next fight or contest. Their fierce rivalry had become something he cherished. Now that he had the Ryuugan, he intensely wanted to fight with her even in her soldier form, not because he wanted to harm her or humiliate her like before, when his mind had been fractured and his heart wayward, but rather to just compete with her – to spend time with her, whom he called friend. Haruka, he thought past his curse for her, I'm gonna settle this thing between us when I return. The thought made him chuckle gleefully, for he enjoyed few things more pleasurable than fighting such a capable person.
Even as the memories came fresh of his first encounter with such that person, the presence of others in the bright area of the street he had just surveyed caught Kage's instant attention, causing him to wrench his head around once more and cast his Ryuugan on five figures that had not been there a moment before, nor did they allude to their presence until the instant before they spoke. "I noticed that you have a very unique style of fighting," called a voice that was so cool that it caused a shiver of warning to surge through Kage's entire body, causing his muscles to tense up and his fists to close once more.
They made an impressive formation, especially considering the glowering sun setting bright shoulders upon them and almost blending the wisps of their auras together into one grand display. Their figures were no less impressive than their powerful auras, which Kage had the benefit of seeing through his heretic eyes. However, these were far different than what he had become accustomed to, and they seemed somehow hidden as if trying to hide from him. They were wild, vague creatures that only promoted presences and offered no illumination. Even with the sun beating down on them, Kage was able to distinguish three males and two females, each with interesting characteristics of standing and moving that went ignored by the ignorant. At once, Kage realized he was relying solely on his innate human ability to judge someone by their appearance, and not by the view the Ryuugan was offering. That alone sent warnings through his bones and he paid them all due attention, not once wavering enough to allow advantage.
Once more, the figure that all others seemed to mass around spoke, his voice coiled with interest at this cornered creature. "I'm sure this will sound very strange to you, but I'd like you to come with me as my guest. Rest assured, no harm will come to you," the man said, though the last part of his sentence came out as viciously cool as the intent was, "if you accept my offer."
Kage had a good idea what refusal would entail but he was never one to refrain from testing his limits and the limits of patience of everyone around him. The proposal was abrupt and almost ridiculous, for who went around inviting pure strangers to associate? It was all moving up the wrong road and Kage was justifiably hesitant to accept to such an idea. The fact that he had been looking in that direction only moments before they appeared and his Ryuugan still didn't detect them before his natural instincts had did cause a great wave of caution to come over him, but nothing was able to cut through his defiant attitude. After all, Kage was still Kage. "Only in town ten minutes and already I get the silk and satin crew crawling all over me?" he replied, calmly turning to face the group with all of the certainty that his hidden vision granted him. Only when he looked at the group fully did he truly appreciate what he saw. Although the lead man was more impressive than he initially thought, though the other four figures standing in subordination were no simple things to be taken for granted. No, these five individuals were, as best as his Ryuugan saw it, very capable and lethal; a fool's wake in the lapse of judgment.
The lead man stirred with interest, taking a minute step forward to separate from the others, all the while his eyes resting lustfully on the young man standing among the fallen adversaries. It was onto business, for he obviously showed little patience in things that did not present potential. "Oh? Then you are not from around here," said the man, his response brimming with tone.
Kage laughed in such a manner that even the leader stirred slightly, awed by just how enticing the reason behind such a laugh was. Not from around here? He wasn't even from the same dimension. True, it could be said that he was indeed from Japan, born in a small town east of Tokyo, but that was an entirely different Earth – an entirely different Universe. His Earth was gone. His Earth had been taken from him. So great was the humor that Kage wallowed in it, laughing bitterly for quite a few moments, then decided to bury it once more and strained his face with the size of his smile. "Fella, you really have no idea," Kage said slickly and inwardly mused to himself once more about the truth of matter. The figures were obviously intrigued by such a reaction, but he could also tell the encounter was running thin and that the honor of being their object of interest was quickly dwindling away. That thought made his mind fill with an entire chorus of snide remarks. However, against five figures dressed in such expensive clothing, and reeking of the aura that they did, Kage was more than cordial in keeping his petulant tongue meekly in his mouth and pursued his own business. "Tell you what, you tell me the place where I can find a certain person and I'll paint the town red with you. If not, well..." he said, but idly shifted his sunglasses over his eyes and pulled at his gloves to let the last remark linger in the air, to set the rules of the game for these five finely-set figures.
The leader was able to chuckle softly, obviously relieving some tension that had built up between the two parties. Pushing back some long, flawless strands of straight black hair, the image of Kage simply radiated in his black eyes as a wickedly cool smile parted words and accepted the brute mannerisms of this foreigner. "My dear boy, please step into my car. I shall tell you anything you like."
When riding in such close quarters, anyone would have felt the apprehension that Kage was feeling in the plush confines of the limousine of the five mysterious figures. After all, Kage's fighting prowess was almost negated by the location, and even the most weakly of men were at the gates of heaven with the power of a simple handgun. Still, he took comfort in the fact that none of these figures seemed to carry such weapons, though that fact was only obvious by their individual fighting aura - a bleeding glow of power that Kage had hardly witnessed before. Certainly people like this never needed to stoop to the level of simple kinetic principle.
"What's your name, handsome?" said one of the figures, though the low light and proximity denied Kage the knowledge of who had said it. However, judging by the tone and inflection, he was certain that it was not one of the two female figures included in the group.
That was of little consequence to him. "Yamamori Kage," he replied stiffly, looming much like a statue from his secluded end of the car, his legs kicked out lazily in front of him and his hands knit in his lap in the most casual manner. The other five figures sat comfortably at his opposite, perched on a U-shaped seat that filled the front end of the main cabin. Kage had been idly surprised at the level of opulence present with the figures, for he had never been in such a nice car. Everything in the car shined, from the wood engraved with gold to the soft leather seat he was sitting in. In everything he saw, his own reflection gazing back at him with a clean and odorless shine that marveled one who had spent the better part of four years in rubble, debris and death. It was soft, warm and even the air itself seemed to make his skin feel cleaner, as if the car was attempting to alter a foreign body to its clean, pristine innards. His nose was delighted with the smell of leather, freshly cleaned upholstery and some foreign liquor that he had never seen before. Hell, he mused to himself, if I knew I could pull it, I'd probably lift this car for a couple of hours and live the good life for the night. Suteki would give his blonde mop to ride in a car like this.
His name fell across a sudden hush among the five, with one figure stirring more awkwardly than the others. Obviously, the Japanese name was a point of interest for them all and the silence lingered in the car for a long time, leaving Kage eye them and wonder why exactly they found that so fascinating. Then, the silence was broken by the same voice, this time partnered with one of the fingers leaning forward to place a delicate chin across long, slender fingers. "My my, what a beautiful, strong name. Tell me, Kage, where is that you call home?"
Kage's eyes were looking over this man, those mystic Ryuugan eyes taking in every fact about the man as best they could. Kage was still getting used to the Ryuugan, but even now he was unsettled by the fact that he could not see much about these five figures, even the greater displacement of their power or weaknesses existent in everyone. But the man's question had pried his mind away from the analysis and his thoughts tiptoed over the image of her once more. For a moment, pulling at his heart and making him long to return to Tokyo, he remember that he did have a home now.
In an instant, he had seen another of the figures shift abruptly and it caused his mind to focus once more, as if he could read that person's intentions without even knowing why they had moved. It was more an instinct to him, rather than something the Ryuugan showed him. For some reason or another, his instincts told him not to tread carelessly in step or in thought, so Kage forced that image to the back of his mind once more and laid more casually into the leather seat, letting out a singularly pleasant groan and chuckle. "Ain't had one of them for a long time. But the most recent place I was staying was Tokyo, actually," he replied, almost knowing how they would react. And indeed, they reacted in the exact way he had predicted.
They all began to stir a bit, leading Kage to confirm his suspicions and rationalize his reasoning in actually telling them where he was from. This whole encounter stunk, making him weary of offering any kind of truth to the things he said or did, but also he felt that there were shadows behind the sunlight, and he was someone who thrived far better in the shadows. More and more, he was becoming aware that these five figures were not just common dukes and earls, but rather something far more devious in design. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if they weren't human at all.
The same figure smiled and responded in a delicate tone, "I see. So you must know first-hand of all of the incredible things that have happened there recently? Perhaps you have even seen one of these alleged soldiers that defend the city time and time again?"
"It's a big city," he replied, smiling a bit too coolly for the five and denying them a glimpse of the eyes that were hiding the truth behind their questions. Only their own reflections looked back, as Kage's dark sunglasses were endlessly devoted to keeping the secrets of the Ryuugan from those who might be treacherous or devious.
The man laughed softly, though his candor offered no relief, and he seemed to act with the will of the others in his words. "Yes, so I've heard! I've also heard anything is possible there, so we could be speaking to one of these soldiers even now, right? I mean, you certainly have the..." the man began but lingered a moment, his lips widening in a lustful smile as his tongue played with the last part of his statement lusciously, "form for it."
Kage laughed. He sincerely laughed at such a thought and the five were instantly put on guard again, for Kage's laughing came at the most unusual times and the tones bouncing across his weary throat were unlike any they had heard before. It was the kind of laugh that shuddered through a person's body and only amused them only as far as reminding them how pathetic the truth was, that the reason for their amusement was their own failings. To be compared with Serenity's soldiers was ridiculous, and Kage's own inadequacies made the very suggestion quite funny to him. For the others, it was fascinating. It was mesmerizing to hear him laugh, if only because it was never out of joy. But the deep, throaty chuckles came out so pathetically in the face of the truth that there was not one person in that car that escaped the hypnotic drone of his laugh. "If there's one thing I could tell you about those soldiers, it's that all of the things that make them powerful and great..." he said through his chuckles, his head cocked at an odd angle to accent his pathetic grin, "well, I ain't got none of it. You're on the wrong part of the mountain to see cheery blossoms."
"I see," replied the man and sat back, looking to the others with a strange and fascinating look. This boy was far more interesting than they had initially thought. His very presence was that of someone a thousand years old, as if someone or something had come along and altered his destiny with the slight motion of the hand or the incoherent whisper. They had seen a boy tap casually on the heads of the ignorant, yet quell some incredible power inside completely. That was something to make note of. It was also true that the things they had heard of these righteous soldiers in the city of Tokyo set them apart from this poor boy, set higher than he cared to set himself. That alone placed him in the narrow bracket of interest, into a realm where his gifts and conscious acknowledgement of his substandard standing was the pathway into the brazen new front they were bringing - bringing it right to those he had just separated himself from.
"The man you are looking for," said the leader, moving the conversation into the flow that would soothe the beast before them all, "what is his name?"
Kage was silent a moment, wondering just how far this was going to go. His eyes shifted from one figure to the other, desperately trying to unravel the mysteries of these figures and their interest in him. Even without his Ryuugan, which had been prone to lending him mere glimpses of the future from time to time, he predicted that should he proceed further, his would undoubtedly be either joining these figures in whatever their purpose was, or he would be fighting them. Because he already owed himself to another, and because he saw dark and dismal intent in these five creatures, Kage assumed the latter. Despite something telling him to be weary and silent, it was in his nature to charge headlong into the storm and that small voice was muffled by his confident pronunciation of the name and Kage's undying will to battle for prestige. "Liu Kuan Yin," he said, though in all honesty, he was not at all confident in the name. He was Japanese, and speaking Chinese names or reading Chinese made him feel slightly put off. In the back of his mind, he questioned why he had to step down in order accommodate this pursuit, for Kage unconsciously was a bit prejudiced against anyone not Japanese. Still he went through with it because he had to, not because he wanted to.
However, he seemed to have pronounced the name correctly seeing the five stir so wonderfully as they did, he rose his brows and looked upon with new interest, as if his decision had been justified and his path laid out clearly. They obviously were familiar with the name, though none would say it in so many words. This person was far more authentic now, knowing that creatures of such presence were aware of him, and Kage was much more confident in the desire to find him; confident in the idea he was on the right track to finding the man who could help him discover the seemingly insane purpose behind bestowing the mystic eyes of the dragon on a soiled, broken young boy with hate and revenge as his only forces to be.
The others were now audibly whispering to each other, save for the leader, who leaned back deeply into his seat, his hands knit in front of him and those dangerous black eyes staring. It was beautiful. It was as if the stars themselves were aligning to bring about the fall of that righteous nobility that was growing from a seed on this ball of dirt. The gods had seemingly dropped the perfect tool for weeding out the threat that was looming across the galaxy like a great open hand. This young human may be exactly what we need to proceed. It cannot be chance that he is looking for the keeper of the Dracos Speculum, thought the dark figure, his hands trembling at the very thought of that power. With that power, I can bring down even the will of the cosmos and regain what has been wrongfully taken from me. That thought aroused him. He smiled widely through thin lips and eager tones beckoning the boy to listen. "I shall do better than simply telling you of that man," said he, silencing the subordinates around him and setting Kage's instincts flaring again. "My dear boy, I will take you to him."
Although Kage felt innately weary of the look on his face, he just leaned back deeper into his seat and smiled a glowing smile that dominated the dimly lit end of the cabin. The leader was obviously plotting some manipulation for him. That was fine. He saw that as plainly as he saw the lenses of his sunglasses not two centimeters from his eyes. As long as he saw it coming, there was no reason to despair the devious, dissolute smile the leader was offering back.
This young man was something else entirely – something not easily maneuvered or manipulated. Many before had learned this, with many more to come. Kage was not a simple tool be handled. Kage was a feral creature that struck as quickly as the wind – a dragon not kept by the careless hand, or the eager eye. Only one had tamed him.
And she had only done so soaked in blood, sweat and tears.