It's been a while, but I'm finally back with another chapter. I honestly assume that people keep thinking this is discontinued on account of the long waits between chapters, but I'll try to be better about it in the future. I want to really finish this story, and I like that I'm close. I honestly have the last paragraph and the last line already written and decided, but for what it's worth I still have to make it there in short time hopefully.

I guess since I haven't explained it yet, the naming conventions for this story is that every odd chapter is named after a novel on my bookshelf, and every right numbered chapter is named for a different episode of The Venture Bros. I know that it's an admittedly odd way to name one's chapters, but I feel like it's gotten me this far anyways.

One thing that has been on my mind for a while was the description used for this story that I never did quite like. It lacked originality and the 'flash' so to speak, so I figured I might as well change it to something that if you get the reference, that that means we'll be best friends until the end of time. Seriously, if you get the reference I friggin' love you. In any case, I guess you can assume by now that I've up and gone and changed the description of the story, and if this is somehow worse than the last description, let me know and I'll go about looking for a way to change this one as well.

Also, I've gone about adding Daisuke to the main character list. I figured he deserved it. I also considered adding the 'OC' thing as a character as well, but I figure I'll let that idea settle for the moment, since I'm unsure about just how exactly I feel about that.

Quote of the day:

"Jaime and I are more than just brother and sister. We shared a womb. We came into the world together. We belong together."

-Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones


Takeru laughed harder than he ever thought he would as he listened to Daisuke butcher his rendition of one of the latest Top 40 songs that everyone was singing these days, and the young teenager continued to smile, knowing that the laughter and the terrible singing was all in good fun shared among their group of friends, the whole lot of them taking Miyako up on her suggestion of a karaoke night. Miyako had pushed for it to be a date night sort of thing, but seeing as Daisuke had no girlfriend, and Hikari also had no significant other as well, it was decided amongst themselves that having just a friends night out would be good enough, with any of them being able to bring any dates they could if they so wished. There had been a lot of trouble and worry with his brother lately, and trouble with his relationship with Hikari as well, with him not knowing where exactly they stood with one another, and where it was that their future was headed down the line, so it was good to be able to just have one night to relax, and to have the chance to just sit back and enjoy a few hours of the group making a bunch of fools of themselves.

Miyako had brought Ken of course as her own date, the bold girl going so far as to proclaim that after they all parted ways, that she and her beau were due to end their night on a 'magical' note. What that magic exactly entailed Takeru had no clue, but as he watched Miyako's spastic movements and boisterous form, and Ken's face that ever reddened at the antics of his beloved, he felt better not precisely knowing. Ken had sung one song already, a bit more sweetly than Takeru initially thought would come out at first, and it hadn't been hard to imagine the star of Tamachi High having every girl at his school, and a couple of the boys as well, fawning over him with amorous thoughts in their minds, and with songs of hope in their hearts. Miyako was a different story altogether. Unlike Ken who actually seemed like he had a clue as to just what exactly he was doing, Miyako bellowed out the words of her song, sounding more like the drudge and sludge of the Sex Pistols, than the sweet otherworldly cadence of the Court of the Crimson King that Ken had somehow channeled on his go at the mic. They were even set to sing a duet together later in the night, Miyako insisting on playing the part of the male, and Ken of the female. Oddly enough, it was the most anticipated part of the evening.

Takeru's gaze then turned to the young crimson faced Iori who was sitting in the corner with a girlfriend of his own that he brought along for the night to everyone's surprise, and his ocean blue eyes landed on the pair, Takeru grinning a knowing smile. The girl's name was Rei, or Ray, or Reina, or something of the sort, Takeru honestly feeling just a tad bit guilty since he couldn't exactly remember her name, but they were a nice looking pair, if a bit timid. They were holding hands, but each of them kept looking away from one another, which made him know that holding hands was the furthest that Iori had ever gone with this new girlfriend of his. It was something that he remembered well, the stammering and the redness of face that came with such close contact with someone they had feelings for, and Takeru knew fully well the kinds of thoughts and doubts and hopes that run through the mind of someone who so easily became that embarrassed at even the slightest touch with the person they held close in their hearts.

He remembered going through the same in his younger days, his time spent with Hikari being days and nights where his face was just a bit more flushed than at other times, or where his voice cracked with nervousness more than he would like whenever replying to the girl. She hadn't felt the same about him of course, the girl making it clear to him whenever she let him down softly with words that were as sharp and as painful as they were gentle as well. In any case, it was a good thing to see them together as they were, even if he didn't exactly know this girl who Iori had brought along with him.

His thoughts were broken by the laughter of the girl sitting to his right, the one at his left, his girlfriend, remaining quiet just as she had for most of the night. He turned to look at Hikari, and couldn't help but laugh even harder than he had at Daisuke when he saw her snort out some soda from her nose. It was completely unladylike, pretty disgusting, not something she should have been doing out in public or in front of Iori's girlfriend who she hadn't even had a proper conversation with that night, but at the same time it was probably one of the cutest things that Takeru had seen all evening. His laughter settled into a smile as he continued to watch her for a moment, knowing that Hikari being able to laugh so much, and being able to act so adorably gross, meant that she was comfortable around her friends, and that she was happy.

He didn't say a word, but instead reached over to the table that the leftovers of their food from earlier rested, and grabbed a couple of napkins for Hikari. He handed them to her, giving a small and joking shake of his head as he dangled the napkins in front of her for effect. "Need a hand?" he said, smiling as he did so, Hikari's face pinking as she accepted the napkins to clean herself up without a word.

Had he been more perceptive, he might have noticed the way that Ayano's face soured for a moment at all the attention that he was giving Hikari for the time being. Takeru had no clue to her feelings though, jealousy or love or hatred or just whatever exactly those feelings turned out to be, but she said nothing of it, Takeru being left in the dark in turn.

When Daisuke finally finished his go of the mic, he gave a dramatic bow before setting the microphone back down, and then to the annoyance of the one person in the room that was wearing glasses, he plopped himself right in between Miyako and Ken, wrapping an arm around each of them. "You guys wanna take a break?"

"What are you doing, you troglodyte?" Miyako's voice was sharp and shrill as she gave Daisuke a punch to his gut, "Go sit with Hikari or something!"

Not wanting to see their rather fun evening turn into a blood bath after all that effort, Takeru figured it best to intervene, at least just this once. "Maybe a break would be okay?" Takeru pryed, mostly for Daisuke's benefit, "Another round of chicken and refills sounds good to me."

Miyako narrowed her eyes for a moment in Takeru's direction, probably wondering what his endgame with this break was, before she stood up and huffed, announcing to the world her intentions, even if they were better left unsaid. "I need to go to the bathroom anyways." she puffed her chest out as if it was something to be proud of, smacking Daisuke on the back of his head as she walked.

Takeru watched in silence as Miyako also motioned for Iori's girlfriend to follow her, and gave a small smirk of amusement when he saw that Hikari too got up, citing a girl code about going to the bathroom together, but not without rolling her eyes as she dashed after the strangest girl that any of them had ever known. It almost went over his head, but Takeru couldn't help but feel nagged in the back of his mind when he noticed that the only girl who didn't head off to the restroom with the rest of the herd was his girlfriend Ayano. His aqua blue eyes trailed to her in her spot beside him, and he watched as she frowned, going through her phone.

"Is everything okay?" Takeru asked, though what he had actually wanted to question her about was why she didn't follow Miyako and the rest of them to the bathroom. Iori's girlfriend was a fresh face that none of the rest of them had ever known before, and yet even she had followed this strange female tradition. He knew that there wasn't much love lost between Miyako and Ayano, or even worse, Hikari and Ayano, but all of them were people he held fondly in his life, and people that he wished with all his heart would get along.

"I have like ten missed calls from my brother," Ayano replied with a concerned face, "do you mind if I call him back and see what's up?"

She bit her lip as she gave him a pleading look, not wanting to interrupt their date, but also not wanting to leave her brother Masato just hanging in the dust. Takeru gave her a quiet nod of his head, hoping that everything was okay, and he offered a smile when she gave him a pat on his thigh before she went off to answer her brother's calls. He watched her as she left through one of the doors in the room they rented for their karaoke night, and something that Takeru noticed that he didn't quite take to kindly to was the fact that Daisuke had watched her leave as well, and that his face had grown serious as Daisuke's eyes lingered in the direction she had went. He preferred not to say anything about it though, Takeru feeling that maybe he had simply misunderstood what he thought he saw. Still, as he tried to bury it away, there was still a part of him that it gnashed at.

"Everything good, Dai?" Takeru wondered out loud, speaking Daisuke's nickname instead of proper name, to hide any of the harshness that could have otherwise been found in his tone. It didn't work as well as he had hoped it would on account of the face that Daisuke made when the other teenage boy looked away from the direction that Ayano had gone off in and then back towards his old friend. The two of them stared at one another, the lightness of the evening honestly feeling as if it was something distant and far away, and across the room Ken and Iori both remained quiet, neither one of them wanting to get involved with whatever the hell was about to go down.

"Everything's fine." Daisuke responded, a hint of dare in his voice, "What about for you?"

It was only the barest challenge, but it was a challenge nonetheless. They had been kids when they had last fought each other because of a girl, and that girl had been Hikari. It was something that had been behind the two of them for so many years that he almost forgot that it had ever been there in the first place. Takeru pursed his lips as he watched Daisuke, Daisuke in turn watching him with eyes that carried more intent than normal.

"You were looking at Ayano." Takeru said matter of factly, it not being a question since he had seen it with his own eyes.

Daisuke gave a bored snort as he relaxed in his seat, nonchalantly grabbing onto the last chicken wing sitting in a nearby bowl. "I didn't know that you were the type to get angry when someone looks at your girlfriend."

"You weren't looking at her" Takeru insisted, his hands starting to clench into fists. "you were looking at her." he emphasized.

A familiar flicker of rivalry flared for a moment between the two teenage boys, before oddly enough, it was Daisuke who looked away, not out of fear or shame, but instead out of simply wanting to avoid fighting against a friend he held as dear as Takeru. Takeru might not know what it was that he wanted from the world, who it was that he wanted to be at his side as he explored it, but Daisuke knew, as did everyone else, on just who exactly Takeru wanted to be with, even if he was too ashamed to say that it was Hikari.

Daisuke closed his eyes for a moment, before he once more found himself resting his gaze on Takeru. The whole room was silent as the girls had yet to return, and in that moment Daisuke decided to ask the most piercing question of them all. "What about you, Takeru?" his voice was hard and strong, yet not unkind. "Who is it that you've been looking at?"

Takeru only glanced away, unable to give him an answer.


He debated for a moment whether or not it was okay to take a nap or not, considering that Ayano was out for a karaoke night with Takeru and his friends, and he frowned as he rested on one of the many leather couches that were found in the Oshiro Manor, Goro wondering just how much of a life he had as he stared up at the ceiling that was so high up above him. Much of it really did revolve around his best friend Ayano and the Oshiro family, and her face came up in his mind as he thought about her. He loved her with all his heart, she loved him too, had been in love with him at one point until she realized just how fruitless a relationship like theirs would turn out to be, and it was his duty for as long as he could remember to watch over her, to be by her side, and to protect her. He had done more than that though over the years, more than had been asked of him, because at the end of the day, at the end of his job that he had never thought of as a job, Goro had become Ayano's friend.

They watched cheesy romance movies together, and whispered in the dark with one another in the lightless hours before the dawn, talking about this guy and that guy, and whatever hopes and dreams that danced across the heart of a girl. They read crappy romances about sparkling vampires and shirtless werewolves together, and giddily went to the midnight screenings of those awfully written books whenever one of the movies came out in the cinema. He watched out for her when Masato couldn't, fulfilling a promise that Goro had made to her brother considering the fact that he had been sent elsewhere to receive his education. Goro had been her constant companion in school or at break, shopping at the mall together, or simply going with her for a walk whenever the young miss, as she was so often called, felt like taking in the Spring or Summer air, or the cold of the Winter morning or Autumn night. He even braided Ayano's hair more often than anyone else ever did it, and the thought made him wonder as he continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. Being at her side pretty much defined his life, and tonight he had been left behind while she went off to go and sing the night away with people who she wasn't even sure if they liked her or not. He didn't know how to feel about that.

"Goro?" the voice of a young girl interrupted his thoughts, Goro giving a yawn as his first response.

"Is there something you need, miss?" he went on to ask after another yawn, Goro not turning around or getting up, simply waiting until Ayano's little sister continued on with whatever it was she had come to say. He wasn't quite sure which of the younger twins it was, Ayame and Ayako being, as it was, twins, but Goro gave a shrug since he supposed that at the end of the day, that it didn't quite matter really. "I would rather not braid your hair if that's what you want me to do."

He said it teasingly enough, Goro being obedient and diligent, more than willing to braid Ayame or Ayako's hair if that was what they wanted him to do. She however only huffed, causing the contemplative gangster to snort a laugh where he lay.

"I don't need you to braid my hair." She gave a sniff of superiority and annoyance, apparently forgetting what it was that she had gone to Goro to say.

For his part, Goro only shrugged, himself doubting that anything that the young girl said would truly be anything of substance. "I'm a bit tired to play with you right now, my lady."

The little girl huffed again, pretending, albeit very badly, that she didn't want Goro's company. "My brother was looking for you."

Without another word, Goro rolled off the leather couch, and straightened out his clothes as he gave another yawn. He wondered what Masato wanted. On one hand it was important enough that Masato would go about stalling by sending one of his little sisters to deliver the message to him, but on the other hand it wasn't dangerous enough that it involved any other yakuza members. As he walked passed Ayame or Ayako, he still couldn't quite tell which was which, he mussed her brown hair for a moment, content to be in her life, even if it was in service to her family.

As he walked towards Masato's chambers on the other side of the manor, the black haired Goro found himself walking passed a certain marble table that had the name 'Denjiro' carved into it, and the photo of a teenage boy resting on it. Goro paused for a moment, and gave a reverent bow of his head in respect of Ayano's dead older brother, and he took a moment to admire the picture, letting the image burn into his mind. Denjiro had the same brown hair that the rest of his family shared, and their eyes as well, and he couldn't help but wonder just how life would have been had Denjiro not died all those years ago.

Unlike the pairs of Ayano and Masato, or Ayako and Ayame, Denjiro was not a twin, and that enough was an oddity in Goro's eyes. The Oshiros were a family of twins dating back for generations upon generations, and yet there Denjiro was, happily bouncing on in his lonesome before the shared births of Ayano and Masato. Denjiro's appearance was a queer thing as well, having the soft and delicate features of his sister Ayano, and with the gentle eyes of Masato that the other teenage boy had whenever he wasn't angry at something. As he stood there, Goro gave Denjiro the courtesy of a moment of silence before moving on, it not feeling right in his heart if he simply went about his business without paying his respects.

When he found Masato, the young master was reading something in the recliner that he had in his room, and Goro coughed as he entered to announce his presence, even though he knew that Masato had already seen him the moment that he opened the door. Masato regarded him for a moment before setting his book down, and Goro simply followed without a word as Masato picked himself up from his recliner and asked Goro to trail after him. Goro did so without question, but the dark haired teenager couldn't help but give a small smile as the pair soon found themselves walking the long driveway in front of the Oshiro manor, nothing keeping them company except for the cold air of the night, and whatever watched them from the Heavens up above.

"I'm surprised that my sister didn't take you with her tonight," Masato interrupted the silence of the night as the two of them continued to walk in their frosty solitude, "Nono usually drags you along to wherever it is she feels like going."

The use of Ayano's nickname by Masato wasn't lost on Goro, but he couldn't help but note just how tenderly her brother had said his name for her, and the way that Masato's usually fierce eyes softened at the same time. "She's with Takeru-kun and his friends," Goro was quick to reply, and even quicker to elaborate, "she wants to feel more welcomed there. Daisuke-kun likes her well enough, and his opinion of her seems to be higher than say, Hikari-chan's opinion of her, but I'm not sure how much of that is a genuine like of her, and how much of that is just him wanting to sleep with her."

Masato's mouth tightened up at that last part. "Are those creatures with them? Ishida's demon pig, or Yagami's Satanic talking cat?"

Goro frowned at the thought, the creatures that trailed after the likes of Takeru and Daisuke being things that always made a chill run up his spine. "The creatures seem to mostly just stay indoors and out of the sight of the public. The group didn't take them out for karaoke night."

The future kingpin gave a nod of approval at Goro's report, before shaking his head and reaching into the pockets of the coat he was wearing for a cigarette. "My sister is too good for him," Masato spoke bitterly, partly from the frigid cold, but mostly because of the hate, and the love, he had in his heart, "she's too stupid to know when someone doesn't want her around."

He frowned once more at Masato's words, though he said nothing on it, seeing the guilt in his friend and leader's eyes at what he just said about his own sister. He remained silent, Goro figuring that it was best to merely let Masato rant, and simply accepted a cigarette from Masato when it was offered. He wasn't really a smoker, he never had been, but as he lit the little stick of cancer, and as he let the smoke from the tobacco fill his lungs, he had to admit that it did create a sense of warmth in himself. As he released the smoke into the dark air that was the night of Japan, he felt at home, and felt that there was no better place in the world than the driveway of the Oshiro manor that he had already spent so much of his life walking and protecting.

"What my sister needs," Masato continued, all the while shivering from the cold, "is someone who will love her just as much as she loves him."

It wasn't the first time that he had heard this argument or train of thought from Masato, Takeru only being the latest in the long line of people that Ayano's twin brother felt weren't good enough for his dear sweet sister. Whether it was someone who came from the same yakuza lifestyle as themselves, or someone who was from a more modest, if apparently occult, way of living like Takeru or anyone who ranked among their little group, none of them had ever been good enough in Masato's eyes. As he bit back the cold, and as his thoughts darkened, Goro knew that none of them ever would be.

Masato took another drag and once more released some smoke. "There's someone out there for everyone, Goro, someone for every single person on this planet, you know? A soul mate."

It was the kind of sentiment that Masato only ever showed in front of Ayano or himself, and Goro's meditative face softened, knowing that Masato's own words only worked to tear at how he felt inside. Part of him wanted to pity him, and part of him wanted to hate him, but he remained silent, even if he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold it in. He felt cold inside, but it wasn't from the temperature.

"My sister has a soul mate." Masato whispered after a minute or so of walking down the long and shadowy driveway, his voice sounding more gentle than it ever had before.

"And it isn't you." Goro snapped, surprising them both.

The two teenagers stopped where they were walking, and silence overtook them, the only sound heard for the next few minutes being the winds of the Japan night. They watched each other, they hated each other, they loved each other, they wanted to yell at each other, and to cry at each others words, but they remained stoic and quiet, the howling wind being the only sound they needed.

"You're disgusted with me, aren't you?" the young master broke the solemn air, the flame of his cigarette dying all the while, "I would be too considering that I'm," the words froze in Masato's throat as he thought of his sister Ayano, and of those dark brown eyes that haunted his dreams. He didn't finish his sentence, because speaking those words out loud was the only thing that made it real, and he trailed off where he was, Masato not bothering to pretend that Goro didn't know what that dark thing that gnawed at his very soul each and every day was.

"Considering that you're in love with your own," Goro began, but stopped, not being able to find it in his heart to finish. Only speaking something out loud made it real, whether it was in the world of the mafia or the angsty teenager. It was something that Goro had always known, that Masato had as well, and part of him wondered if Ayano knew, and if she ever returned the feelings that her brother had always been ashamed of himself for having. It was one thing to be like him, to look for love in someone of the same gender as himself, but it was another to have more than brotherly love for a sister.

Goro remained silent for a moment as he closed his eyes, unable to think of anything else to do, and he only sighed and shook his head as he looked up at the big black sky above him, knowing full well just how it felt to be in love with someone they weren't supposed to be.

"It's okay, Masato," he whispered, the two of them alone except for the dark sky, and the Heavens that glittered like diamonds in the night, "we don't get to choose who we love."


So that last twist is kind of squicky. I freely and immediately admit that, but it's something that you should have seen coming if you read the 'quote of the day', and if you've ever read the book that this chapter is named after. If you haven't, well...yeah. Even I'm staring blankly at the screen as I wonder if I legitimately typed out those words.

Now that you've read, review maybe? I'd appreciate it. I won't hold it against you if you don't however. Have a good one!