Author's Note: A little bit of buzz, so I thought I'd keep going and see what will happen. Let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Warnings: Nothing much, just dark themes such as talk of suicide.
Word Count: 5,517
It took the better part of ten minutes before Anna finally stopped saying Mikoto's name over and over again. Mikoto had shifted Anna in his arms so one is wrapped around Anna's waist and the other is under her knees. Anna keeps her arms tightly around the Red King's neck to ensure he doesn't try and put her down just yet. She just can't bare to part from her King just yet. Thankfully, he obliges, holding onto her.
But he wouldn't be called the Lazy King, if he didn't sit down about thirty seconds into holding her. Even though it would have been easier to just let her settle on his lap rather than to just hold her, but he seems to be content.
Anna has her nose buried in the junction of the neck and shoulder on the left side breathing in Mikoto's unique scent. Tobacco and soap. Her fingers gently running through the slightly curled red hair at the nape of his neck. She didn't really know she was doing it, but she's glad that he didn't appear to. She was worried that he would lay her down on the bed and then slip away. Turn in the same red fireflies as before and scatter to the wind. Leaving her and everyone else behind as he does. It's at that moment that Anna is mad at Mikoto.
Mad at him for not seeing her or the rest of Homra as a reason to live. He had demons, yes, and he battles with his powers as King more times than not, but he couldn't look into the eyes of the people that loved him and decide to keep living. And it was decided when Tatara died. Anna didn't know that their relationship was that deep. Whenever they interacted, they never seemed more close than when either interacted with others. So now Anna has to watch them more closely, perhaps the answer will come to her if she observes.
She digs her nose into the side of Mikoto's neck a little bit more. After a few minutes of silence Mikoto finally says, "Have you calmed down now?"
"Yes..." Anna says softly, torn between holding onto her King tighter and letting him go. She doesn't want to risk letting him go only for him to disappear right before her very eyes once more. But she has to sooner or later let him go. Because that's reality and reality sucks. The real world be damned, if Anna had the choice, she would live in a world strictly Homra. No Scepter 4, or bad guys. No need to go out bounty hunting and cleaning up the territory of bad people. No need for anyone to go home or get sick or die. They could all just stay together like one big family.
Anna finally pulls back to sit on Mikoto's lap and looks up at him with large red eyes, taking in his brilliant red. Yes, she would stare at this beautiful red as much as she could. She wasn't going to miss the chance of committing it so deeply into memory that she would never be able to forget it. That every time she closed her eyes, she would see it. She would, in Tatara's words, "click her heart's shutter" and keep the picture in her heart forever. And even though she tried that before, it proved fruitless. She forgot such important things about her friends.
Like laugh and touch, such important things that slipped away from her. That when she needed them most, they vanished. She's not going to let that happen again. The memories of a human are so fragile. They slip away way too easily.
Someone takes Anna's hand and she turns to see Tatara moving to sit next to Mikoto, holding her hand tightly and smiling kindly. Feeling the warmth of Tatara's hand, while unmatched in comparison to Mikoto, makes her want to cry again. It had been so long, she forgot just how soft his hands were. The tips of his fingers had callouses from playing the guitar and cutting himself while cooking, but other than that, they are really soft. Yes, this is what she forgot. This is why ghost-Tatara couldn't touch her anymore. She had forgotten this.
She brings up her other hand to cover his, relishing in his familiarity.
"How are you doing, Princess Anna?" Tatara asks softly. "Are you feeling better now?"
Anna nods, running her small fingers over the smooth back of Tatara's hand, leaning against Mikoto. "Yes. I'm... s-s-" she shakes her head, wondering why it's so hard to just apologize.
"It's okay," Tatara says, squeezing her head encouragingly. "No one's mad. Right, King?"
"Ah..." Mikoto says, appearing to only be half listening. His focus still on Anna, trying to pick her apart with his eyes.
Tatara nudges Mikoto a bit with his shoulder, smiling when the man returns the action with a blank look, before he asks Anna, "Do you want to tell us what happened?"
Anna didn't know how to answer that. In a way, yes, she did. She wanted to spill her guts and tell her King and caretaker and the rest of Homra standing around the room, lounging around waiting for all of this to simmer down. She wanted them to know what she saw, her horrible nightmare or perhaps horrible vision. Never before had she had such a long vision. She can't even say it was all that vivid, especially nearing the end of it. She knows if it's a nightmare, it's best to put it from her mind before it drives her crazy, and if it's a vision, she'll have to deal with it eventually.
But she doesn't want to now.
Which brings her to the no, she didn't want to talk about it. She just wants to have one day, one second where the horrible thought of loosing everything that she's ever loved. She wants to get it off her chest but she doesn't want to worry anyone unnecessarily. She has to do some thinking about it, maybe dig up some information and figure out what to do from there.
So Anna shakes her head, not trusting herself to speak. Tatara's face doesn't change from his gentle smile, but he does ask, "Are you sure?"
Anna nods, wrapping her little hands tighter around Tatara's. "Yes..."
Tatara kisses the back of her hand. "Alright, then, Princess. When you're ready to talk, we're ready to listen. So, how about some food?" Anna was about to shake her head, she doesn't feel too well and doesn't want to eat when she hears a low grumbling noise right next to her. So loud that everyone in the room heard it.
Yata's hand goes flying up to his face to smother his laughter while Dewa, Shohei and Bando grin at each other. Izumo looks very amused while Kamamoto has a half smile. Tatara grins at the Red King, being one of the closest to the red haired man.
"King," Tatara says sweetly to the man staring around the room at anything but the people in it. Anna feels a small smile tug at her lips as she stares up at her King. Izumo reaches up with his left hand to cover his lips as Tatara continues, "How about you? Are you hungry?"
Mikoto narrows his eyes slightly, not angry, not even really annoyed. There is a long silence as he stares around the room at all of his vastly amused vassals and princess before sighing and grunting out an "ah" which means 'yeah' in Mikoto-tongue.
Chitose stands up, patting Dewa on the shoulder with one hand and rubbing his messily styled light brown hair. "I'd say we save our beloved King from wasting away to nothing and go down and get some grub."
"Waste away? Is something wrong with Mikoto?" Anna asks softly, looking around the room.
Izumo, who was leaning against Anna's desk, pushes off and crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah, there is, Anna. The ferocious lion king of our little pride has yet to have his seven servings of food today." Yata snorts loudly in laughter, leaning on Kamamoto.
Mikoto stares at Izumo for a long moment before tilting his head ever so slightly. "I don't eat that much," he finally says. Anna looks around the room at all the amused and happy looks on everyone's faces and she can feel herself relaxing a little bit more every couple of seconds. Yes, this is what she wanted. She wants to be surrounded by these people, watching them smile and laugh and spend time together.
"I'm hungry," Anna lies, but doesn't want this moment to end. "Can we go eat together?"
Tatara squeezes Anna's hands in both of his, standing up. "Yes, Princess. Let's go down and eat. What are you hungry for?"
Anna leans into Mikoto's chest a bit, relishing in the warmth for a few moments before looking up at her King's face with large red eyes. "What do you want to eat, Mikoto?"
Mikoto shakes his head, digging around in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. He pulls one out and sticks it in his mouth, but doesn't light it while Anna's right in his lap. He looks around the room for a moment before his eyes settle down at Anna and he mumbles, "Waffles." Anna nods in agreement. She would try to eat if Mikoto wanted her to.
"Waffles sound great," Tatara says, standing up. "How about we step out so our princess can get dressed and meet us downstairs for breakfast?"
There is murmurs of agreement as all the men in Homra stand up and pile out of Anna's room. Yata and Eric elbowing each other. Eric saying something in English and angering Yata.
"Hey," Izumo calls, following after them. "If either of you break something in my bar with your squabbling, I'm going to put both of you on bitch duty for a week," he threatens, voice fading as he gets farther away.
"Do you need any help, Anna?" Tatara asks as Mikoto finally puts the young strain down on the bed and stands, stretching his long torso, hands over his head before he falls easily back into his typical slouch. Anna already misses his warmth and the feel of Tatara's hands.
She shakes her head. "No," she says because now she knows how to dress herself properly. But as soon as the words leave her mouth, she immediately asks, "But could you do my hair, Tatara?" That was also something she now knew how to do, but she liked it a lot more when Tatara did it for her. She liked the way his hands felt in her hair, so soft and gentle with her delicate scalp.
The thin hobbyist is practically glowing. "Of course, Anna. Just call me, I'll be waiting outside the door." With that, Mikoto and Tatara leave, Mikoto shutting the door behind him. Anna takes a moment to look around at her destroyed room. She takes a few minutes to straighten it up a bit the way she remembered it and then pulled on her red and black Lolita dress that was as warm and cozy as she remembers, pulling on her stockings and then her shoes before opening the door to see Tatara standing, as he promised, outside her door, leaning against the wall, lost in thought.
"Tatara?" She calls out to the older man softly.
The light brown haired man pulled himself from his thoughts and straightens up, smiling brightly. "Oh, all done, Anna?" She nods and steps aside to let him into the room. "Oh and you cleaned up a bit! Good girl, Anna!" Tatara pulls her to him and hugs her tightly. Anna blushes, closing her eyes for a few moment to try and ingrain this feeling into memory. She can't forget this. She can't forget Tatara's feeling.
He pulls back too soon and walks her over to the vanity, scooting it slightly back into place before he began to pick up Anna's once favorite hat and her hair ribbons that she had thrown back up there as she was cleaning along with detangling spray and her hair brush. He goes through the long and tedious process of spraying her hair down and then brushing through it slowly as to not hurt Anna in any way.
She closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling. Tatara was always so sweet. Always so kind.
"Alright, all done," Tatara says, tying the last ribbon into place. "Are you ready to eat?"
Anna nods, climbing to her feet and reaching out for Tatara's hand, wrapping her little fingers around it. She knows she's acting a little more clingy than she used to be, but she doesn't care. She's going to do as she wants. Whether that was a nightmare or a vision is still undetermined, but she's going to live to the fullest with her precious people and not waste a single moment.
Tatara leads her downstairs and lifts her up to sit in her seat next to Mikoto. He moves behind the counter and heads to the kitchen to help Izumo out. Anna swings her legs back and forth listening quietly to the Homra members around her.
"So, Mikoto," Bando says, leaning onto the counter to look down at Mikoto. The Red King breaths out a lung full of smoke away from Anna before looking over at Bando, waiting for him to continue. "So I was thinking-"
"Did it hurt?" Chitose asks, grinning charmingly when Yata dips his head a bit to snicker.
Bando shoots both of them a dirty look - or as much of a dirty look as he could behind his sunglasses. Then he returns his attention to his King, who was staring at him blankly. "That word through the grapevine is that someone's been sniffing around fourth street asking about Homra."
That gets everyone's attention. Mikoto blinks slowly, putting his cigarette back into his mouth.
"What do you mean, 'asking about Homra'?" Kamamoto asks, making air quotes. "You mean us?"
"What else could he mean?" Yata asks, glaring at his friend before looking to Bando. "Let's go kick some ass then." He stands up, reaching under the bar to grab his bat.
"Wait!" Tatara says, making Yata, and Dewa, who was half way to his feet, freeze. "No one is going to beat up anyone on an empty stomach." Tatara and Izumo walking back into the bar area and set down the plates of waffles and bottles of syrup onto the bar and spread it out for all the members to be able to get some. Izumo grabs out more plates for them to use and utensils.
"What's going on now?" Izumo asks.
Mikoto lets out a lungful of smoke. "Apparently someone's looking for information on us."
Anna reaches down into her lap and clutches a handful of her red dress, an uneasy feeling settling in her gut.
Izumo tilts his head slightly. "Wait, you mean down on fourth street? Yeah, I heard about that. Out of town gang bangers looking to mix into Shizume City's dwindling underground crime syndicates."
Mikoto grunts, looking annoyed. He puts his cigarette out in the nearby ashtray and puts two waffles on his plate and smothers it in syrup. He takes the fork and knife offered to him by Tatara and begins cutting up his food.
Anna sticks her hand into her pocket and pulls out one of her marbles, looking into it's red, eyebrows pulling together. She mentally debates on whether she should say something or not. They were a bunch of ruffians, but nothing that couldn't be handled with by Homra. Nothing bad happens, so there really isn't a need for Anna to get involved - if these are the same people that Homra dealt with... in her vision.
Yes, it's either a coincidence or this is just fate piling on the possibility that she really did have a very disturbing vision of the future. One that she's not looking forward to. Especially if the outcome ends up being the same. No, don't think about that anymore. Not right now.
"They think that just because the crime rate is going down, that they can somehow sneak in and make a profit?" Yata asks, fists clenched tightly, angered. But he obeys the silent command to sit by Izumo when he puts a plate down in front of him. He piles on the waffles and syrup and eats, face twisted into a look of anger, glaring at nothing in particular. Kamamoto smiles knowingly at his friend.
"Settle down, Chihuahua," Eric says in English, pouring a bit of syrup over his waffles.
That only serves to aggravate the vanguard even more. "What the hell did you say, Eric? I understood part of that!"
Eric looks over at Yata with an amused look. "Little dog with a big dog complex."
"More English?" Yata hisses. "No one can understand you!"
"I did," Izumo says, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Me too," Bando says, lowering back into his seat normally. Seeming resigned that nothing will be done right this moment.
"I understood too, Yata," Anna says softly, immediately realizing her mistake when all eyes turned to her. Tatara, with a fork-full of waffle half way to his mouth, pauses, staring at Anna with wide eyes.
Shohei leans on the bar, being mindful not to lean into anyone's food, says, "Honestly, Anna, I didn't know you knew English."
An even more unsettling feeling stirs in her gut and she moves her food around with her fork, no longer feeling up to eating. Anything she tired to eat now would be like ash in her mouth. She didn't know how to tell them that in her vision she had learned from Eric about a year from now. That while she was, by no means, any sort of expert in English, she had learned enough from him to pick up a great portion of what he was saying.
"I'm sorry," Anna murmurs. "I... I don't know how to explain..." Or if she really wanted to. While evidence is piling on that she did in fact have a vision of the future, she wasn't sure she knew enough to properly convey it. For some reason there is massive holes in her memory of the vision that she needs to sort out. But on the opposite side of the coin, the longer she goes without thinking about it, the higher the risk of her forgetting something important.
"It's okay," Tatara says, smiling kindly before taking a bit of his waffle, chewing slowly. "You don't have to sugar coat anything. Just say it."
Anna lays the fork down and looks at her lap, twin white eyebrows pulling together. "I learned..."
"Obviously," Yata asks, "but how?"
Anna shakes her head, not wanting to answer. Not really knowing what to say. She reaches up and touches the ends of her ribbons, twirling them around her finger before she finally turns the chair away from the bar and pushing off. She lands on the floor with a thud, stumbling a bit before she walks over to the couches and sits, narrowing her eyes.
"Anna?" Tatara calls, laying his fork down and walking around the bar and over to the little girl, sitting next to her. "What's going on?"
Anna reaches into her pocket and pulls out the other red marbles, cradling all four in her hands. "I need the map," she murmurs. "I need to find someone."
Tatara's brown eyes widen slightly and he looks passed her at the rest of Homra, still sitting at the bar, munching quietly looking very confused. And then there's Mikoto, who's bright golden eyes are staring at Anna as if slowly peeling her apart layer by layer. Tatara looks back down at Anna and lowers his head to try and look into her eyes, but she avoids eye contact.
"What's wrong Anna? Why are you looking for someone?" Tatara asks softly, reaching out to push stray strands of long white hair back over her shoulder. "Does this have something to do with your dream?" He asks knowingly.
Anna shakes her head slowly. "No," she says. "It has everything to do with it. I think... it was a vision."
"Anna," Shohei says, tilting his head, "if you think it's a vision, then why didn't you say anything?"
Anna's eyebrows pull together. "I don't... know. It was a very... bad vision..." Anna honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't know for certain. There is something just holding her back. She has to deal with things problem at a time.
"What was it about?" Fujishima asks, chewing quietly on his waffles.
Anna moves her marbles around, listening to them clack around in her hands, feeling her stomach sink even further. "A lot of bad, sad things..." she mumbles. "It was..." she sighs, closing her hands around the marbles and stops moving them. "I've never had a vision so long... so much happened it in. I think... I have whip-lash."
Shohei and Chitose both share looks at Anna's words. They aren't used to her talking like that.
If what she saw truly was the future and not just some horrible dream, than she mustn't waste a single second. This is her chance to make sure things come out in a more favorable light. At least, that's the plan. But now Anna is warring with herself. She wants to spend as much time as possible with her precious people, no matter what the costs. But in the same breath, if by being away from them here and there will ultimately keep them with her longer, shouldn't she take the chance and do just that? She was given this vision for a reason, she must have the ability to alter it, if this little experiment reigns supreme.
"I need to verify..." Anna murmurs, looking over at Mikoto. "I need to know if what I saw was truly a nightmare or a vision that needs to be dealt with. I can't... I can't focus on anything else." She bows her head. "I'm sorry." Her little eyebrows pull together, making her look genuinely upset.
A little warily, Tatara stands and grabs the map Anna uses to locate things or people and brings it to the young Strain. Anna takes the map and lays it onto the coffee table in front of her, smoothing it out and laying her marbles around it. She holds her hands over it, hovering just under a foot above the paper, and closes her eyes. It's a strange feeling, summoning up her power. She can maneuver it like she's been practicing for years - because she had, but it's a lot easier than she remembers - but it also feels weird, foreign even. Like there was something unfamiliar about it. Places untraveled within her own power.
It took a record time of thirteen seconds before the marbles rolled into place, having located the boy with the messy white hair and big red eyes. The Colorless King.
"Woah," Kamamoto says, raising his eyebrows beyond his shades. "I've never seen Anna locate anyone that quickly before!" Yata nods briskly, eyes wide. Chitose and Dewa both share a look, mouthing something to each other. Even Mikoto and Izumo glance at each other, communicating with their eyes before looking back over at Anna and a surprised look Tatara.
"That's amazing, Anna! So quick! How did you do that?" Tatara asks, more interested in the red eyed girl than the marbles.
Anna blushes a bit. "I had a lot of time to practice," she mumbles, thinking back to the four years that she spent trying to master her powers as they continued to grow rapidly during her puberty.
Anna shakes the thought away and leans in close to look at where the marbles gathered. The cold fingers of fear runs down along her spine, making her shiver in fear.
"Anna?" Tatara asks, reaching out to put an arm around her. "Are you okay, Princess? Who were you looking for?" He looks down at the collection of marbles all centered around Homra. He makes a confused noise and looks back at Anna, noticing her skin slightly paler than a moment ago. "Anna? Anna, what's wrong? Who did you look for?"
Anna stares at the paper and then out the window, passed Tatara to see the early afternoon sunlight filtering in through the windows in the front of the building, then back to the map. Her small hands curl up into tight little fists, her pale face losing more color. Mikoto finally pushes himself away from the bar and walks over to Anna, stuffing his hands into his pocket and tilting his head. After a moment of her not even sensing his presence, too lost in her thoughts, he leans down to be eye level with her by bending at the waist.
"Anna," he says. Then waits about ten seconds before he says again, "Anna." She blinks, focusing in on Mikoto's face. She opens her mouth, closes it, then opens it again. Mikoto locks eyes with her and says, "Who are you looking for?"
"I found..." she says softly, eyes wide, now focused on the windows, as if that person she feared would just come flying in through the front door ready to fight to the death. Anna almost didn't doubt it being a possibility.
"Who?" Tatara asks softly. He runs his hand up and down her arm in a slightly comforting manner.
Her shoulders slump a bit. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew that he wouldn't make his move until the seventh of December, then Anna would fear the audacity of the Colorless King and his probable willingness to come face the red clan.
"Tatara's killer," she says. And the chill within her seems to fill Homra's bar. "Tatara is going to die," Anna whispers, raising her eyes to look at the door. "And his killer is watching us."
Tatara swallows thickly, looking around for a moment to try and organize his thoughts. Then, he forces an even smile, trying not to look completely shocked by Anna's words. Mikoto's eyes narrow dangerously, looking over to the windows.
"Who is it?" Mikoto asks, standing up.
"Wait, King," Tatara says, standing up as well, holding his hands up. "There is no need to be rash about this. No need to fight. If I know who it is, I can just avoid them right?" The rest of Homra climbs to their feet. Picking up bats and pipes and zipping up hoods and pulling down hats. "Guys, come on!" Tatara says again, stepping in front of Mikoto to stop him from just storming to the door with his band of merry misfits.
"Tell us who he is, Anna," Yata growls, bringing the bat down hard on his hand, but not seeming to feel it.
Anna shakes her head. "We can't face him now."
"Anna, this is Tatara we're talking about," Shohei says, shocked. "We have to stop him."
"The date," Anna says, standing up. "What is it?"
Izumo steps slowly around the counter. "It's the first of December, Anna. Why, do you know the day he'll kill Tatara?"
Anna nods and reaches out to touch Mikoto's hand, curled up into a fist so tight that his knuckles are turning white, tugging on it gently until the Red King looks down at her, a deep scowl still on his face.
"Mikoto," Anna says. "We can't kill him here or now. December 7th at 11:45. That's when he shoots Tatara."
Tatara, who had his hands flat against Mikoto's chest in a vein attempt to hold back his enraged King, looks down at Anna sharply. "Right before..."
Anna nods solemnly, her eyes saying it all. "The one that kills Tatara is going after the Silver King as well. He is capable of taking over someone's body for an indefinite amount of time. When he kills Tatara, he's going to blame it on the Silver King by switching bodies with him. He wants us to get involved for vengeance and the Blue King to get involved out of duty. The Silver King will be trapped in the middle."
Izumo makes his way over to Anna, Mikoto and Tatara, pulling his one of his hands onto Mikoto's shoulder and the other on Anna's head. Anna looks up at Izumo with big red eyes. In her mind's eye, she can see Izumo, years from now hunched over the bar, staring into the reflection of a dirty glass with eyes lacking any sort of emotion. Just pure brown blankness. He would be leaning heavily on the bar, running his hands over his face and through his hair. He was past sadness. He was past despair. He was just blank.
So when this Izumo stares down at her with wise, kind eyes, Anna presses her face into the side of his hip and looks up at him with big eyes. In her mind she continues to promise herself that she isn't going to let that blank, emotionless, lifeless Izumo reappear at the loss of both best friends and the stability of the rest of the Red Clan. She is going to do anything and everything she can to keep them all together.
That's why, even though Anna wants nothing more than to stop the people who are going to hurt her family, something deep in her gut tells her that they have to be very careful. Anna doesn't know why, but there is still something that they need to do. Anna has to wonder if it's somehow connected to the parts in the vision that were conveniently left out for some reason. It can't be because they were unimportant or she wouldn't be having this aching feeling in her heart right now. She wants to stop the Colorless King, yet right now doesn't seem like the right time.
"Mikoto, think about this for a moment," Izumo says smoothly. Mikoto's face relaxes a slight bit, listening to his longtime friend. "Anna had a vision that involved us, the Blue King and the Silver King. This is by far the biggest one she's ever had. And she knows exactly who we are going to lose and when and she's still asking us to hang on for a moment. Why doesn't we take a moment to sit down and talk about this thoroughly. So we don't go and do something stupid and waste this chance to save Tatara, hm?" He looks over his shoulder at the riled Homra members. "So settle down boys, Mikoto, and lets talk this through."
"King," Tatara says, slowly staring up into Mikoto's eyes, "please. Just calm down. Remember, nothing's happened yet. Your powers are for protecting, just give your mind a minute to recall that."
Mikoto grunts, shaking his head and reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette, putting it into his mouth and lighting it with a flick of his finger. He takes a long, deep, drawn out breath before letting the smoke out of his lungs and relaxing a bit. He turns toward Anna and Izumo pulls his hand away as Mikoto picks her up by the back of her dress and walks her over to the bar, dropping her down in her seat and plopping down back in his, obviously no longer interested in eating and calm enough not to just go storming outside. That pulls the rest of the Homra members back to their seats, looking less than enthused about the turn of events and while Tatara still looks a bit shaken by the news of his up and coming demise, he is a bit relieved that Mikoto has calmed down enough to discuss what to do next.
Mikoto stares down at Anna for a long time, studying her with his eyes before finally he leans back in his chair, giving Anna his undivided attention and gruffly commanding out, "Talk."