Chapter 5: Fearless
A/N: Okay, you guys. Seriously. You're killing me. Four chapters – THREE reviews. C'mon, you all can do better than that.
Do I have to beg? Is that what you want? 'Cause I'll do it, you know.
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~(slightly insane and highly review-deprived) Raye Lynne^^
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Shadowless threaded her way through the flood of people on the sidewalk. Kaze was ruthless, pushing, shoving, and elbowing to clear our way. There were several exclamations of anger and alarm as we passed.
We couldn't keep this up much longer. Someone was bound to—
There. A pair of suspicious eyes narrowed at us, and the silver flash of a cell phone.
Shit! We can't be
caught by the police!
Shadowless looked over her shoulder and saw us coming steadily closer. Without warning, she made a wide turn and darted across the road, to a chorus of blaring horns. She took off down a side street, towards a complex of apartment buildings, the closest of which was under construction.
In tandem, Kaze and I followed. Twice, I was a hand's breadth away from being hit by a car. Then a taxi swerved to avoid crashing into the suddenly-stopped vehicles, spinning right into our path.
We sprang into the air; I curled up and rolled over the hood; Kaze planted a foot squarely on the windshield and vaulted over. By the time we were on the other side, however, Shadowless was out of sight. I frantically looked around, and followed her.
The partially-built apartment was a larger scale of a house made by a child out of toothpicks. The wooden skeleton of the building was supported by a steel trestle that rose from the ground to the widely-spaced slats that made up the roof, and this was what Shadowless was scaling; already, she was halfway up.
"Go!" hollered Kaze, and then we were both climbing as well.
Very close to the top, Shadowless got stuck; she struggled to tear the thickly knit material of her sweater, which had twisted around a bolt. Sensing victory, Kaze and I closed in.
Finally freeing herself, Shadowless pulled herself up onto what there was of the roof, and slowly she made her way across the wooden beam, arms stretched out and tail held high for balance. This time, Kaze and I weren't far behind her, but I couldn't help but look down at my feet. Six inches of wood was all that separated me from the 200-foot drop to the street below.
Bringing my gaze back up, I led the way towards Shadowless, still moving slowly, but faster than her.
The sun had shrunk away, as though in fear. Already the sky was tinged with the deep blue pall of night. Far below, the streetlamps were glowing.
Shadowless was approaching the end of the beam – soon she would have nowhere to go.
Or so I thought. She suddenly took off at a run and leapt the six-foot gap between buildings, landing on the sturdy concrete of the adjoining roof.
We had no choice. First, we ran, still careful to place one foot directly in front of the other.
Then we leapt.
There was a long moment of utter weightlessness, combined with the prominent fear of succumbing to gravity—
--then a jarring sensation, and relief as I felt solid concrete under my feet. A split second later, I heard Kaze land safely beside me.
I looked up. Shadowless was just standing there, staring in surprise. She hadn't thought we would dare to jump.
A moment later, she was off and running again. Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, with seemingly no effort, she was starting to increase the distance between us, but we followed nonetheless.
And then she stopped.
For, between the next group of apartments was a road, two hundred feet below. From up here, it was a thirty-foot space, impossible for any human to leap across.
A dead end.
Kaze and I stopped to catch our breath. There was no need to run, now. Shadowless was trapped.
A wind kicked up, stirring up the powder of dried leaves that dusted the rooftop. Inches from my shoulder, a flag whipped, snapping back and forth with a series of sharp cracks.
Even though the falling darkness blurred her features, I still saw Shadowless' eyes flick towards it.
Then she lunged forward.
I stepped in her path and grabbed her forcefully, but she twisted in my grasp and landed a heavy punch to my jaw; I spun away, blinking away the stars that were shooting across my vision.
My sight cleared just in time to see Kaze pounce, and miss –
--then Shadowless grabbed the flag and swung towards the flagpole. She deftly switched her grip to the flagpole chain and slid down.
Kaze and I darted to the edge to see her jump off halfway down, and land expertly on the fire escape balcony.
"Come on!" I cried to Kaze. The fire escape stairs started up here, but we now had a lot of ground to make up for.
The beaten aluminum stairs rang as three pairs of feet pounded them. When Shadowless reached the bottom, she ran around the side of the building, ducking into an alleyway.
On the last floor, Kaze swung her legs over the balcony, dropping the last few feet to the ground, and I deftly copied her. When we burst into the alley, Shadowless stood calmly, waiting for us. The alley stretched on far behind her, the other end open to the street. She could have run, but she stood, waiting.
In her black cowl-neck sweater, charcoal-grey skirt, flat shoes and knee-high grey socks, she blended in well with the nighttime surroundings; even the diamond in her ear glittered like a fallen star. It was amazing – even though she was the intruder, the threat, the anomaly, she still made me feel out of my element.
Kaze was all business. "We declare a battle by wordspell."
To my surprise, Shadowless replied, "I decline."
Kaze blinked. "What?" she exclaimed. "Then why are you here, taunting us like this, if you don't even want a fight?"
"I wanted to test you," said Shadowless. "To see how far you'll go—just for the sake of following orders."
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Kaze.
"The only reason we're enemies is because you were ordered to hate me. Does that make sense to you?"
What is she saying?
"You're being manipulated and exploited by Seven Voices," Shadowless continued. "Why can't you see?"
Kaze snorted. "Where's that bullshit coming from? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
Shadowless went on. "You're taught only how to do what you're told. So whoever controls your instruction controls you, too."
"Enough," said Kaze. "You're so pathetic. Just engage your systems and fight already."
Shadowless held her hands out in a peaceful gesture. I saw, with in inexplicable pang, that her palms were scraped raw and bloody from the flagpole chain. "I don't want to fight anymore. I don't wish to cause any pain."
I broke in. "Yeah, right." I fingered my jaw, still tender. There was going to be a bruise.
Shadowless was unfazed. "I was in danger. If I didn't bother saving myself, how can I save you?"
Kaze rolled her eyes, but I was intrigued. "Saving – us?"
"I told you – Seven Voices thinks they own you. They give orders; you follow them, without question, and that's just how they want it. How much damage would you be willing to do for them? How much harm would they have you inflict before you open your eyes?"
Every word was ridiculous, nothing but a show of assumed knowledge. But I still felt sharp flickers of uncertainty – for it was only logical that her impression of the Academy was centered around a grain of truth.
Shadowless sensed my doubt. Her eyes caught my gaze and held me prisoner; her voice became eager and imploring.
"Yes…you can see it, can't you, Jinsei?"
"Shut up!" snapped Kaze. "Leave him alone!"
"You realize that not all is well. You can sense a problem with –"
"You're the only problem here!"
Shadowless ignored her, focusing solely on me, her concentration rendering me mute. When she spoke, it was soft, conspiratorial, but still with that same anticipation and excitement.
'You know things are changing, Jinsei."
Inside, I froze.
"Things aren't what they should be anymore, are they?"
I nodded thoughtfully.
Kaze gasped. "What the--? Jinsei—no!" she hissed. "Don't listen!"
"Things are coming to light," Shadowless continued. She slid her gaze over to Kaze. "Things between you and your Fighter Unit, is that not--?"
Kaze drowned her out with a feral scream, like nothing I've ever heard before. "Pound and pummel; beat, bruise; a thousand iron hammers!!"
I could only watch, shocked as Shadowless' body jerked in several directions before she fell and lay sprawled on the ground.
Kaze had not turned her systems on, but the malicious delivery and precise selection of her words – words meant to hurt, to inflict pain, to damage – had been enough. But that wasn't the worst of it—
Breathing hard, Shadowless pushed herself up and glared at Kaze. "It appears I overestimated you."
Attacking an enemy whose systems were disengaged was the most unethical and disgusting tactic a Fighter could use in battle: the absolute lowest of the low.
I'd never thought Kaze would sink to that level. I stared at her, horrified.
She ignored me. "Still don't want to fight?" she taunted. "Scared to lose?"
Somewhat shakily, Shadowless got to her feet. "After that display?" She shook her head in disgust. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." She turned and started to walk away.
'Where are you going?" yelled Kaze.
"I didn't say 'right now', did I?" Shadowless replied coolly. "Someone did call the police on us, you know."
As if on cue, distant sirens sounded.
"Shit," hissed Kaze. "Jinsei, let's go. If we're arrested—"
She didn't have to finish. If we were caught, there would be questions, ceaseless questions until the police got information from us they weren't supposed to have.
Our apartment was at the end of the street. We could just make it…
Kaze and I made a run for it. But, when we rounded the corner of the alleyway, I looked back.
Shadowless was already gone.
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We reached our apartment, and Kaze closed the door and locked it. But she stood stiffly by the door, still gripping the handle.
"Kaze, it's all right," I reassured her, as I removed my shoes. "They're not going to be looking here for us. I'm sure no one got an accurate enough description, and we were only creating a public disturbance. They'll hang around down there for a few minutes, then—"
Kaze cut in as though I hadn't been speaking. "Why did you listen to her?"
I could quite easily guess who the 'her' in question was.
"What if she was right?" I suggested.
"'Right'?! You think she may have been right? None of that crap she was telling us is true, you know that!"
"It seems that way, but I just get this feeling—" I trailed off, knowing I sounded ridiculous. "Do we really know, Kaze? And why would she lie?"
'To distract us, obviously! So she could run away without having to fight us!"
"Although you did manage to provoke her enough in the end."
Kaze fell silent, and looked at the floor. "She shouldn't have said what she did about me and you, Jinsei."
She sounded so vulnerable that I was taken aback. I took a step forward, then stopped, wanting to comfort her, but not sure how. "Kaze…"
She snapped her head up, and the expression in her eyes was hard and resolute. Suddenly, she stalked towards me, stood up on her toes, twined her fingers in my hair and pulled me into a violent kiss.
I tried to protest, but she wouldn't let me break away. She loosed her hands from my hair long enough to unzip my sweater and push it from my shoulders. She leaned all her weight against me, forcing me to stagger back until I hit something solid – the arm of the couch. Kaze's hands were now scrabbling with the bottom of my t-shirt.
I grabbed her wrists and pushed her away. "Kaze, what the hell--?"
She placed her hands squarely on my chest and shoved—hard. I stumbled over the couch's arm and landed on my back, splayed out over the cushions. Kaze took that chance to abandon her jacket, revealing a shoulder-baring tank top, then she clambered on top of me, kicking off her shoes and attacking my shirt again.
'What--?" I started again, but her mouth crashed down on mine, stealing my words from me. Then the weight lifted long enough for my shirt to be pulled over my head. Kaze sat up, and, popping the button, slid out of her jeans faster than I would have thought possible. Straddling me, she stared into my eyes. There was no love there, not even simple lust. It was a challenge, nothing more.
"What—are—you—doing, Kaze?" I demanded. I tried to push myself out from under her, but her hands came down, pinning my shoulders. I couldn't believe her strength—
"If it's Shadowless you agree with, you should have run away with her."
"What? What does she have to do with--?"
"But it's me you want…isn't it, Jinsei?"
I was going to say whatever it took to get myself out of this.
"Well—yes, of course, but not like—"
"I am your Fighter. We belong together. We are as one, untied under a single name. And you would rather have me than her, right?"
"Yes, Kaze, we're partners, after all, and—"
She appeared not to have heard anything after 'yes'.
"Then prove it," she said, almost viciously. "These—" she flicked her pale cat ears "—are yours. I don't want them. For a team of out battle caliber, they're a joke, really. A badge of shame.
"They're yours," she continued. "Take them. Now. And—" she pinched the tip of my ear and pulled my head up.
"Ouch! Ka—"
"—I want yours, too," she hissed. "I deserve them. So let's have mine be yours, and yours be mine."
She reached down, her – trembling?—fingers struggling to unzip my jeans.
So many thoughts and emotions were spiraling in my head.
Desire was not among them.
But obligation was.
And there was confusion, as well. A lot of confusion.
"Kaze—" I started again.
But her kiss fell on my again, crushing me into silence.
