Something just didn't seem to fit. There seemed to be something that Kiske knew that he didn't—the way he hesitated, the tone in his voice— It seemed he was trying to hide something.
Perhaps it was just the shock.
The shock, that's right. The next time he finds him, he'll want nothing more than to get his hands on his doppleganger and punish him for his crimes. But Dizzy became before his ending.
His mind clicked back to thoughts of her, putting his blonde original behind him for now. His slender fingers gripped the edge of a building as he carefully leaned out to look down an empty street. He could still hear the voices of the townspeople searching for him in the distance. As long as they stayed down there, he still had a chance. The last thing he wanted was to be captured. He wasn't sure if he had another escape ready. The last time was just plain lucky, a shot in the dark. Someone with his training knew wild attacks lead to nothing. Well, it didn't lead him to Dizzy, that was for sure.
He glanced around himself carefully before he pushed himself from the alley and back into the streets. He moved like a cat, his back slightly arched forward with Furaiken held out at his side, preapred to be swung at any threat. His boots barely made a noise under him.
The streets became silent quickly, but when he began to near another opening of an alley, he felt an energy in the air. Human. He slowed his steps until they were slow and careful. He nearly walked on his toes. His senses took in all his surroundings.
He saw a shadow approaching the edge of the alley. He closed in, with his shoulder to the wall, and waited.
He then suddenly threw his hand out, catching the figure by the front of the coat. He pulled him into the streets and threw him into the wall where he had been standing. But once he got a look at the man's face, his aggression faded for a moment, remembering the incident that happened in the woods. His eyes widened at the sight of him, and the one he was holding did the same. He wasn't a man at all, but a boy. He was nearly his height, with dark blonde hair. And that tan coat—
"You," he snarled. His head ached just looking at him.
The boy stared at him, gaping his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He must have been too scared.
"Where is she?" Ky snapped at him.
The boy swallowed and stared into his face. They only looked a year or two apart. "I. . ." He then shook his head up and down while staring at him from under his bangs. "I can take you to her."
"You know where she is." His lips flickered. "But what's the catch?"
The boy shook his head. "There's no catch. You want her back, don't you?"
"Of course I do." Ky suddenly released his hands from the boy's coat and took a few steps back, never taking his eyes off him—or trusting him. The boy remained pinned against the wall a few moments before he pulled his back away from it. He looked Ky over with his eyes before he nodded his head to the side.
"Just follow me. Come on."
The boy started off into the alley, with Ky staring at his back a moment before he glanced around himself, checking if this was indeed a trick. He felt no one around, though. There was a possibility that maybe the boy was telling the truth. But why would he trust an enemy?
He followed the boy at a short distance, his ears and eyes taking in whatever they could. He looked past the boy to make sure there weren't any more hunters coming in after him. The only relief he found in this was that the boy wasn't armed.
He watched the boy look over his shoulder a few times to look at him, and slowed his steps a bit until Ky was nearly at his side. He saw him looking at him through the corner of his eye.
"Do you know how close you were to finding her earlier?" the boy asked.
Ky watched him suspiciously but waited for him to explain.
"She was being kept in the station where you attacked the hunters. She was right there, in a room on the top floor."
Ky halted and grabbed a hold of the boy's arm, stopping him from going any further. He squeezed his arm, making him wince in the process. "You're saying she was there the whole time?"
"Yes, but you ran. After I heard you nearly got in, I thought you were aware that she was."
Inside, Ky cursed himself. She had been there this whole time, yet he blew it. Why didn't he see this? How could he fail her like that?
"Is she still there?" he asked through his teeth, still kicking his own ass.
The boy shook his head. "No, we moved her just in case you came back."
"Then where is she now?"
"That's where I'm taking you," the boy said nervously. "If you let go of my arm." He looked down on Ky's hand clutching his arm, then back on his face.
Ky narrowed his eyes, but finally brought himself to let go of the boy's arm. He watched as he pulled it away and rubbed where he had grabbed him. He held no remorse for hurting the boy. He was still apart of this.
"Now go," he commanded.
The boy looked him over and let his eyes linger on Furaiken. Ky slid the weapon behind himself in attempt to get the boy to trust him and start leading him again. He had done so so far. Why change that?
Eventually though, the boy turned and started down the alley again, leading him into the streets. Ky kept his eyes out as he found himself out in the open and vulnerable. His eyes never ceased to stop moving, checking every spot they could. He felt his heart beating steadily in his chest.
"She hasn't been hurt, has she?" he asked, this accent laden thick on a few words.
The boy looked over his shoulder at him. "Not seriously. Maybe just a few scratches here and there."
"Not seriously," he muttered under his breath.
"She isn't," the boy insisted. "You'll see for yourself."
"Why are you doing this? You're the enemy. Why are you leading me to her?"
The boy's hazel eyes stared at him for a long time. The look on his face read something he didn't see on every human he met. It seemed as if he had seen something, like a man who had been touched by something holy. It suggested a true sincerity about the boy, but Ky still couldn't trust him. Not yet.
"Because, she's human," he said. His very words made Ky stop in his tracks, completely shocked. He couldn't think of anything to say, he just stood there, staring forward. The boy soon stopped as well after he noticed him. "I-is there something wrong?"
Ky continued to stare at him, then slowly made his way up to the boy. The dumbfounded look on his face still remained there. "You—you said she's human."
The boy grinned nervously and shrugged. "Yeah, I did. So are you. I know it sounds crazy."
Ky took a step closer, his features solid but unthreatening. The boy surprisingly didn't back down. "It's not crazy. It's true. She is human. She's just a girl trapped in a Gear's body."
The boy smiled. "That's what I wanted to say. Of course I wouldn't say that in front of my uncle. The way she acts, she laughs, she's—"
"Just a girl," they both said at the same time.
The boy laughed and looked at him from under his bangs. "You're even more human than she is, though. You just have odd eyes. And your magic—I heard there are some people who mastered lightning—"
Ky looked down on one hand. "True."
"She's been asking about you, you know. She's been crying. I'd let her go myself if I could, but there's no convincing my uncle what I see. He just sees a Gear, that's all."
"So what are you planning on doing?"
The boy bit his lower lip before answering. "I don't know. I'd like to give her back to you, if that's possible."
Then, Ky reached a hand out and placed it upon the boy's shoulder. "I would appreciate it if you could. What's your name?"
"Jonas. Do you have a name?"
"Ky. And the girl is named Dizzy." He glanced around then began to guide Jonas to the side, towards the privacy of an alley. "I have an idea, if you're willing to do the right thing and help me."
"I have an idea."
He kept out of sight but close enough to hear. He wasn't going to just let this fraud get away like this and trust he would be able to find him again. This—clone was still a war criminal and one made for a conspiracy against him. It could still be programed into his brain, just like those machines he encountered several months ago.
He had thought he was just a more sophisticated version of one of them, but after he explained himself, he was something much more dangerous. A Gear version of himself. Flesh and bone. If having mechanical replicas running around claiming to be him wasn't enough, now this? This whole thing was getting ridiculous.
Questions were mounting in his head that begged to be answered. Who made him? Were they still around? Was there a chance the conspiracy was still thriving after the war? What sort of war crimes was he guilty of? Was he the only one?
He watched as the clone pulled a citizen aside and into an alley. He spoke to him almost like a swindler, but he sounded sincere once he knew Dizzy was involved and at the center of this plan. He had met the female Gear just under a year ago, and she became a valuable being in his life. She had helped prove to himself that not all Gears had been evil as he had once thought. And if she was in danger—well, he would be forced to get involved, too.
He leaned close to the edge of the building that covered him as he listened to the two.
"Take me where she's being held. Say you found me on the streets and captured me—"
"Surrender," the boy said. "Surrender instead. I don't think they'll believe me if I said I caught you single-handedly."
"Alright. Good idea. I'm not sure how well I can act anymore, though."
Cute, he thought.
"When you put me in where she's being held— Two can fit, correct?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure if they want to put you two in together."
"I'll insist. When I see her and make sure she's alright, I'll try to charge, and that's when you lock me in—or at least pretend to. Then you'll have both of us. A few minutes will pass, and when everything settles down, I'll step out and escape with Dizzy."
"Ky? You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?"
The clone didn't speak at first. "I can't give you that promise."
"Then promise me you won't kill anyone."
Again, the clone was silent.
"It won't be intentional."