Time of Sun and Rain
By saffir
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Air Gear, just this story
Chapter 9: Pouring Rain
"I need you to come over and get this to Itsy so he can make his own corrections." 'Click' Kazu looked at his cell; he was pissed at how Sano referred to his boyfriend. He sighed and headed down the stairs. As he passed the game room, where Ikki was he called out "I'll be back, our nemesis has quote unquote corrections for you to take care of….I don't want you two to have another fight so no you're not allowed to come with." Kazu interjected before Ikki could protest.
Sighing Ikki agreed, he tossed him his keys and returned to the pool table. "I fucking hate this guy, we get suspended for protecting our honor, Kazu has to still deal with the asshole all because of this damn project."
Kirik just stared at him through his shades "Well Ikki you guys did start the fight, just be grateful the project gets turned in tomorrow."
An hour had passed and Ikki had nearly worn down the floor pacing.
Sora and Nike grabbed their younger brother and planted him on the couch "Will you stop that!" Nike exclaimed
Falco glanced up from his manga "If you're that worried call him."
Ikki instantaneously got his cell phone and started pacing again waiting for Kazu to pick. The phone seemed to ring for what seemed like ages until it went to voicemail.
"Ahhhh, I don't like this, what if he's been in an accident, what if he got a flat tire in the rain, what if..."
"He's on his way back right now." Ringo interrupted
Rika and Mikan came into the den and sat next to Falco and Kirik.
"He's worrying about Kazu isn't he," Mikan whispered to Falco
Falco just nodded
Ikki's cell went off in his hand causing him to scream and scare everyone in the den.
Looking at the caller ID, he didn't recognize the number so he ignored it.
"Didn't know the number," Ikki stated before anyone could ask
His phone went off again, this time it was a text message
'Answer the phone, dipshit, it's important, it's about your precious Kazuma'
Upon reading the message, the blood from Ikki's face drained and he became as white as paper.
"What's wrong" Kanon sighed
Before Ikki could answer, the cell went off again and Ikki picked up without even looking at the number
"I'm going to text you the location he will be found, although I'm not sure you'll want to play with damaged goods when I'm done with him."
There was a muffled scream in the background, and then the connection died.
Ikki didn't move, he looked at the text message and knew exactly where to go. In an instant Ikki dropped the cell and ran through the house and out the door. Everyone knew something was wrong and immediately ran after him. Ikki hopped in his car and drove off. 'If anything happens to him, I swear I'm going to fucking kill sick son of bitch."
His sweaty hands clutched the steering wheel, as his heart pounded a mile a minute. Ikki pressed down on the gas pedal even harder, he didn't care if he had gotten a ticket. He knew exactly where to go; Aeon made sure he knew, Ikki wasn't thinking clearly, all he wanted to do was get Kazu back safe and sound.
Everyone hopped in a car and drove after him, they had no clue where they were headed, only that Ikki had that wild look as if he was going to kill someone and that someone was most obviously Aeon. Ringo, who grabbed the phone, read the message "Oh God Kanon you have to catch up to him, please."
Trying to keep an eye on Ikki's car was hard in all the rain. Hearing the urgency in her voice, he knew this was bad news.
The other cars saw Kanon's pick up speed and sped up themselves.
Ringo forwarded the text to the others so they knew what was going on.
When Simca read the message to Spitfire, his eyes darkened and narrow "That fucking asshole is dead when I get my hands on him."
The sight to pedestrians looked as if the four cars were racing each other, with Ikki's car in the lead.
Rika looked back and saw the cop car start up its sirens.
"Sora, keep going we'll just have to deal with them later." Rika called out
Nike was already texting telling everyone to ignore the cop.
Finally, Ikki reached his destination, leaving the car on, he raced down the pathway to the giant house with the others were not too far behind him. The rain pounded at him, but he didn't care, he had to get Kazu back.
Without warning, a sound echoed that made time seem to slow to a crawl. The sound echoed in his ears, his heart felt as if it had stopped. He ran even faster now, his legs carried him as fast as they could down the pathway to the front door. Completely focused on his destination, he couldn't hear the voices calling out to him.
"AEON" he shouted as he kicked in the door
There was a body on the floor drenched in blood with a knife next to it. Ikki looked up and saw a room with light coming from it.
"KAZU, KAZU" he shouted running down the hall
Ikki ran to the door and saw his angel on the floor, blonde hair soaked in blood. Ikki dropped next to his boyfriend's body. The floor was soaked in fresh blood; Ikki stared entranced at his bloody hands when Sora wrapped his arm around his little brother, dragging him out of the room. Ikki stared at his hands in disbelief as Sora tried to get Ikki to focus on him.
Nike was already calling 911, Rika ran into the mansion with the two police officers. Just as Ringo and the rest entered, everyone heard the blood chilling scream escape Ikki's throat. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" He ran down the hallway, picked up the knife, and attacked the lifeless body on the floor.
"WHY, WHY, WHY, YOU FUCKING BASTARD WHYYYYYY!" he cried out with each stab
Spitfire hugged Ikki as tight as he could pulling him away from Aeon's lifeless body as Kirik struggled to get the knife out of Ikki's hands, Ikki then turned to spitfire and cried into his coat.
"Ikki, Kazu's still breathing, the paramedics are on their way." Sora called out
The Police men took the teens statements and told them they will be in contact with them.
Ikki was sandwiched between his brothers as the paramedics wheeled Kazu's body out to the mansion. Nike and Sora felt Ikki tense then go completely limp and shiver as tears poured out of his eyes.
Without saying a word, everyone headed to the cars and followed the ambulance to the hospital.
Time seemed non-existent to Ikki in the waiting room, Sora, Nike and Spitfire were pacing the way he had been before receiving the call. Ringo, who was sitting next to him, held his hand; she could feel him shiver ever now and then.
Rika had been holding Ikki as if he were about to disappear, she was trading off comforting Ikki between the three who were currently pacing the room
Kanon had his face in his hands, ignoring the growling of his stomach.
Kirik, Lind, Mikan, and Kururu where in the cafeteria grabbing food making sure people ate, especially Ikki.
"Fucking bastard" Lind muttered under his breathe
"Lind, I know you're upset, just try and keep your cool, Ikki's really going to need our support." Kirik whispered to him
"I know he's not going to want to eat but I don't want him passing out because of the stress of this." Mikan said as she paid for the sandwiches
When they got back to the waiting room, they passed out food to everyone. As Mikan sat down with Falco, she looked up and saw Ikki nibbling on part of his sandwich before setting it down. She gave a weak smile before she started eating.
Agito and Akito quietly played a game of chess to get there mind of the worry. Lind and Kururu sat next to the twins, Lind looking upset and Kururu leaning on him staring at the floor.
Simca finally got Spitfire to sit down and eat, while Sora and Nike still paced.
Kirik grabbed the Takeuchi twins and forced them to sit down and start eating, but just like Spitfire, they pounded down their food and all three were once again pacing the room.
It had been 2 hours since they had arrived and still hadn't heard any news about Kazu.
Finally, a doctor walked into the room.
"I'm Dr. Minami; I'd like to speak with Spitfire Mikura?"
Spitfire got up and walked to the doctor. "Whatever it is you just say it to us all."
Ikki got up and walked up to where his brothers, Spitfire and the doctor were. Everyone was now huddled around the doctor
Upon looking around and seeing the group, the doctor hesitated, but it was when his eyes landed on Ikki, Dr. Minami understood.
"He lost a lot of blood the stab wounds pierced several organs, we did what we could but I'm sorry we couldn't save him." Dr. Minami stated
Instantaneously Ikki collapsed as tears pouring out of his eyes, Sora and Nike were on both sides of him supporting their younger brother.
Ringo was crying in Kanon's chest, Rika was holding on to Sora. Kururu hugged Lind's back as his fist pounded the wall and he cried into his other arm. Kirik held the twins as they cried. Spitfire slid down the wall with tears pouring out of his eyes with Simca next to him. Falco and Mikan dropped their heads letting their tears fall unbidden.
Dr Minami looked at the group of young adults and teens mourning the loss of their friend; it broke his heart to see people in such pain at the loss of someone who was very obviously a family member even if not by blood. 'This kid must have been very special to them.' He thought as he quietly left the room
As Dr. Minami walked down the hall, he heard the mournful cry as Ikki let out a yell "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" He paused, walked into a nearby room and began to tear up at the loss of a young man who meant a lot to the people he just told had passed.
The waiting room slowly emptied as the group began leaving, Nike told everyone to just head to their place and they'd catch up. The only ones left were Spitfire, Simca, Rika, and the three Takeuchi brothers.
On the ride home, Sora drove while Nike rode with a passed out Ikki in the backseat.
Ikki's phone vibrated with a text message.
"We never thought he'd go that far, we're sooo sorry. We have something that Kazu was working on; it only seems right that you see it. We'll stop by to give it to you tomorrow. – Akira, Kaito and Om" Nike read the text to his brother.
Sora sighed "They're more than welcome; I'm just not sure how he's going to be feeling tomorrow about seeing people."
Nike nodded
When they arrived, they saw everyone was passed out save for Spitfire. Nike carried Ikki to his room, while Sora went to Spitfire.
Nike laid his little brother down on his bed. "I'll be strong for you through this Ikki." He said brushing Ikki's bangs out of his face.
Ikki stirred a little a mumbled in his sleep "Kazu."
Nike felt as if his heart were about to explode. 'Even in his sleep he's calling out to him.' Nike thought as he turned knocking a book off the desk.
The book fell open to a page filled with photos of Ikki and Kazu; Nike went from photo to photo. The two of them hanging upside down on a set of monkey bars, another photo was of the group rehearsing for last year's festival with everyone covered in sweat. The picture Nike stared at the longest was Ikki and Kazu both dancing in the middle of a rainstorm getting drenched. The look on both boys' faces was one of sheer joy. Nike smiled bitterly knowing he would not see his little brother smile like that for a long time.
Nike closed the book and walked back down stairs to meet up with Spitfire and Sora.
As Sora walked up to him, Spitfire got up, hugged him tightly and started crying into his shoulder. Sora just hugged his friend tighter, rubbing his back.
"I can't believe it; he's gone." Spitfire sobbed
The two stood for a while in the hug, Spitfire's knees went weak, and Sora slowly slid to the ground with his friend.
Nike joined the two in the embrace "It'll be okay, we need to stay strong for Ikki, he's really going to need us."
"I agree" said a voice from the hallway; Rika walked out into the dining room "we all have to be strong for Ikki, but we have to be strong for everyone else too."
Kirik and Falco walked out of the living room and hugged Spitfire.
The six sat at the table and talked about funeral arrangements as well as what's going to happen in the next few days. Sora told the others about the text message.
"It's understandable that they'd want to give their condolences, I know they were shocked on receiving the news."Rika commented
"Yeah, the three of them were shocked and shattered that he did something like that." Spitfire said "I received a text from them asking me what happened, because police showed up at their place asking questions about Aeon and Kazu."
They moved out to the patio and just sat watching the sunrise.
"You know things are going to be different from now on." Spitfire said
Nike nodded and looked up to Ikki's room.
The mood in the house was very somber. The TV was on with no one was really watching it; it was only on to disrupt the deafening silence that filled the house.
Not much was said until Kaito, Akira and Om came over, even then, there wasn't much said.
"He was working on a slideshow for his senior year, it's unfinished, but I thought it would be proper for you guys to have it." Om said giving Nike the package
Nike nodded "thank you."
Akira and Kaito spoke with Spitfire about the incident, Sano's behavioral change and the plans for the funeral.
On quite a few nights, Sora and Nike would check on Ikki in his room and hear him sobbing quietly in the middle of the night, and in the beginning one of them would sleep in his bed with him, and later sleep on the floor of his room.
The funeral had passed and Ikki finally started coming around, but he wasn't as energetic as he used to be.
Everyone understood why, and didn't say anything, most of the time they tried to avoid bringing up Kazu in conversation.
Some of the group noticed Nike had disappeared for some time and would come back saying he had something important to do, or he'd just be working on his laptop with something. Then again, most everyone in the group tried to keep themselves busy with each other and other things to keep themselves from losing it.
Life finally seemed to return to normal, but there was just always that feeling of Kazu missing.
Author's notes: Sorry for the long delay, thank you soo much for putting up with the long delays