All For You

Chapter 9:

Finding Her Way

Ready for this? It's going to be a long chapter. I hope you enjoy it! And I'd like to give special thanks to my readers and those who've leaving me comments. They have all been helpful. Thank you all again!!! I do not own Gungrave or any of its characters. This chapter takes place 3 months after Randy hires Zen, Brandon, and Harry into Millenion. Aki has been M.I.A. for this whole time.

Zen had become part of the elite group who, basically, took bets and beat the hell out of those who didn't pay them. She took little, if any, pleasure out of it; shooting fish in a barrel wasn't her style. Although the block of dough she caught every month for putting in her two cents on the hunt was well worth it. So much cash at one time, so this was what it was like to work for the richest corporation this side of Japan.

Her teammates were swell enough; Brandon, of course, was always at her side, the Boss and his sidekick Shrew (as Zen not-so-affectionately called him.) But very soon the job just became an action that she performed without thought nor effort, and the summer days grew longer and then began to cool. Children returned to school with their colored lunchboxes and bright faces, greeting old faces, and watched with secret longing as worried mothers kissed the younger kids repeatedly for their first day.

Zen caught the wind in her hair and watched Brandon light up a sweet smelling cigarette, take a brief draw and scattered his smoky breath to the four winds. Letting her mind wander, she traced the outline of his mouth against the orange-red of the setting sun. His jaw was firm with signs of stress and maybe a touch of fatigue. Tied back into a beautiful black ponytail at the base of his neck was his hair, which had grown much longer over the summer. He had protested when she came to cut it for him, so she let it be.

Now sweat trailed down his neck and disappeared beneath the low line of his shirt, she longed to kiss it away…

She sat up with a start and sighed. Brandon, thankfully, was too busy with his smoky stick to notice her. She took the next thought that nagged her until she complied, Aki, who had not come home in nearly three months.

That night, Zen awoke to Brandon crying out from across the room. She watched as he thrashed for a moment, throwing his covers across the floor and away from the body that appeared to be sculpted by the very gods themselves. She crossed the cold floor and shook him gently,

"Brandon…wake up. It's just a dream-" He started awake and clasped her hands even as she pulled away drew her to him. His arms hung loose about her waist and his head lay on her bare midriff. Her breath shuddered with his and her heart nearly stopped beating entirely. Zen was vaguely aware of her hands on his bare back, warm from sleep.

"Please…" he begged quietly. "I don't want to be alone…not right now."

She swallowed and spoke carefully, "You're not alone. I won't leave if you don't want me to…" No…this isn't right. Her mind hissed. Maria…he belongs to her, not me. I can't stay like this, I have to give up on him or I can't move on…

"…Brandon, I- Brandon?" She glanced down and saw that he had already drifted back into sleep, safe from his troubles. She sighed; laid him gently back against his pillow and pulled the sheets to his chin once more. As more of an afterthought, she brushed a delicate strand of hair back into place and crept back to her own bed.

Maria's face haunted her every dream.

With little sleep and a load on her mind, Zen was not the best companion to be around the next morning. She tried desperately to keep the previous nights events from her mind, without luck, and was in a dreadful mood. Luckily, today was filing day. Until…

"Hey, Zen?" Brandon called not long after the Boss and Shrew left for some unknown business. She had been stapling papers, but she was so jumpy she missed and caught her finger instead.

"Sonofabit- yeah?" she plucked the staple unceremoniously from her finger and meandered over to his cabinet. She waited a moment as he fumbled with the unsorted papers and noticed his uncomfortable silence. Great…here it comes…

"Did I…say anything last night?" He shifted in his shoes, like a kid who knows he's done something wrong but won't own up to it.

"…No. Why?" she lied. She saw his entire frame relax and his face contorted back to normal. He smiled,

"Nothing. Bad dream." He turned away from her then back to his work. With a heavy heart and shaky limbs, so did she. In all their time together, she had only lied to protect him from the truth. All of the guys had, especially about Maria and her despicable personality. But why would he lie about something like this? Zen stood, lost in her own thoughts for a long time.

While Brandon became aware of what had been all along. He was too frightened to tell her…and how could he tell Maria?

I think I'm in love with Zen…

Thanks for reading!!! I hope that I can get chapter 10 ready for you guys soon! We'll check up on the AWOL Akikaze Mikage next time in Chapter 10 of All For You, Yami's Contentment and Aki's Heartache. See you soon!!! And my new email address is feel free to email me! Jade over and out!