Hey guys! Happy August 15th, make sure your super safe: watch out for trucks, be careful with fire and you probably shouldn't go swimming in the ocean anytime soon...
Anyway sorry for the wait, I was in a Forensics Science camp in DC for 10 day and then had to go to another camp as soon as I came back, so I've barely had any time to write recently.
So here's the latest chapter, hope you enjoy it ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Kagerou Project
Chapter 4
"...Someone save me..."
Kano was waiting outside the Mekakushi Dan's apartment for at least ten minutes before Kido finally emerged wearing her usual outfit. Her stony expression mirrored his own feelings and the two awkwardly met each other's gaze before quickly turning away.
With her hands in her pockets Kido walked past Kano and stated, "Let get going. We… have a lot to talk about…"
"Ah, you're quite forward today Tsubomi-chan~ Am I sensing a confession of some sort?"
"Enough joking around Shuuya," Kido replied rather firmly. "If you can't do that then I'll go on a walk by myself."
Kano gulped nervously and quickly closed his mouth. She's definitely not going to take any tricks today. The deceiver sighed to himself as he sped up his pace to catch up to her.
The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, passing numerous streets the two of them had walked down together before. Moving in silence Kido led Kano towards an unknown destination and Kano followed her with his hands behind his head, grinning to passers-bys.
To tell the truth the green-haired girl had no idea where she was going - all she knew was that she needed to get out of their apartment, because she was beginning to feel a bit uneasy.
Once some time had passed the two of them were at an empty clearing that overlooked the entire city.
Kido, who was being her usual stoic self, was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed (something she'd been doing for a couple of minutes,) so Kano decided that things would end up going a lot quicker if he was the one to break the ice.
"Soooooo~" He drawled out as he slunk over to Kido. "You wanted to talk?"
"Y-yes," Kido replied slowly opening her eyes, "I do." There was an awkward silence hanging in the air before the girl continued. "I-I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day." She turned away from Kano and looked at the ground, the sky, the city - anything but him. "I took things way too personal and reacted in an unleader-like fashion, and for that I'm sorry."
From the expression she was making Kano could see that she was having trouble finding the right words to say.
"Kido, I'm also at faul-" he tried to say.
"-Kano," she interrupted. "Please, let me apologize. I-I shouldn't have said what I did, it wasn't right of me, it wasn't fair to you and… and I shouldn't have done it while the others were there."
Kido slid down the trunk of the tree and let out a sigh, "I-I just-" From her sitting position she grabbed the sides of her head with her hands. "-I just get so irritated when you say things like that!"
Kano felt slightly distant as she half-apologized and half confessed her inner turmoil to him. He knew deep down that what he had said was equally, possibly even more unreasonable than what she had said, but he could not get an apology to form on his lips.
Originally his offhanded comment had been to get an extra laugh out of the gang, but it had escalated so quickly that he had not even realized what he had said until Kido had run from him.
Bending down in front of her, Kano gently pushed back her purple hood, so he could get a better look at her face. To keep Kano from seeing her completely helpless state Kido wiped the tears from her glassy grey eyes with the back of her hand and bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
The two stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, but was really just a few minutes, for very different reasons. Kido was looking into the deceiver's eyes in hopes of a response – something to break the silence, while Kano was trying to figure out what to say.
Kano's Subconscious:
"S-s-so what are we going to do?" Kano's red-eyed mirage asked with a smirk across its face. This thing… this monster,was what Kano called Kano II.
"I-I don't know what to say. I-I don't know what I'm feeling," Kano replied as he collapsed to his knees. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Well I don't know what we're s-s-supposed to do, but I do know what not to do," the red-eyed clone replied. Then in a sing-songy voice Kano II said, "You're absolutely, positively, not s-s-supposed to tell her how you feel!"
"What am I feeling?" Kano asked as he clawed at the right side of his chest. "This weight, it keeps coming back…"
"Oooh, s-s-s-smart boy," Kano II cooed, "Denying our feelings completely, are we now? It's the perfect s-s-s-strategy."
Pinching the bridge of his nose and Kano squeezed his eyes shut and he leaned forward clutching his head.
"Shut up," he muttered.
"Oh come on, you know I'm right~"
"Be quiet," Kano snapped.
"Our feelingsss would just be a burden to her, you know that. S-s-she'd be distracted by us. S-s-she wouldn't be able to focus and you know that it would put her in danger, like in the other timelines, s-s-so keep lying. Let keep our feelings hidden~"
Cackling his red-eyed counterpart began to swirl around him, making him dizzy. The darkness around him seemed to close in and it became almost suffocating.
"Stop it… just, get away from me," Kano muttered.
"Get away from you? What a laughable concept, we're one in the same. And don't you want to protect your dear Tsubomi-chan?" The mirage asked.
The sound of her name on the monsters lips was enough to make Kano snap completely. As soon as Kido's name escaped the Kano II's lips, Kano dove at him screaming, "I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"
"…Kano?" Kido said slowly, alarm apparent in her voice. The blonde felt numb even as the green-haired girl in front of him used her fingers to wipe away tears he hadn't known had rolled down his cheeks. "What's wrong-"
"Well what do we have here?" A voice interrupted the two. "A lover's quarrel?"
Both Kido and Kano turned at the sound of a new voice only to find that a group of seven people had joined them on the isolated plateau.
"Did you know that this area isn't public property anymore? And because it's on a certain angle people below can't see that top at all?" A different person asked, their voice had an uncanny resemblance to the first speaker. "It's a perfect spot for us, when you think about it."
Kano knew something was definitely up. Each speaker had the same glazed over expression as the rest and the two that had spoken had the exact same masculine voice.
Out of the group of seven, it was a female who took the steps that closed the gap between them and the two teenagers. The green-eye women smiled at them in a kind fashion, before her head completely tilted to the side and her face went slack.
With her face void of any emotion and in the same voice as the others she said cheerfully, "Oh and snake? Didn't you know it was a bad to talk about the different timelines to your host?"
It did not seem like she was directing the question to anyone in particular, but Kano knew the words were for him.
In a somewhat daring fashion Kano glared at the women directly. As he looked at her a suspicious piece of metal on the woman's ear caught his eye and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The blond's eyes flickered up to glance at the other people surrounding them, and as he expected all of them had earpieces.
Instinctively, before he could stop himself, the deceiver took in a deep breath, which caused the women's green eyes to swivel towards him and smile creepily.
"Oh~ So it was you then? As expected of you Kano, you were always the screw up."
Eye's wide and mouth open in horror Kano muttered, "M-Mr. Tateyama?"
The women let out a deep chuckle that was eerie since it did not match her physical appearance. Putting her pointer finger to her lips she leaned closer to Kano and then used her nails to pinch his cheek.
"I guess so… but it's more like I'm his snake." Letting at a childish tsk the snake continued speaking freely without a care. "Humans are such stupid creatures… Simple hypnosis can render them useless… I don't even need to make them one of my hosts to control them - now that's what I call impressive."
As the snake talked, Kano realized that Mr. Tateyama's voice was not actually coming from the woman's lips, but from her earpiece - a slight difference that would be impossible to notice from far away. Upon realizing this, Kano also noted that the movement of the hypnotized woman's lips were actually a few seconds behind the words she was 'supposedly' saying.
Looking unsatisfied with Kano's analytical expression the woman applied more pressure to the blond's cheek, causing her nails to pierce his skin and him to wince in pain. "Ah~" She breathed out, "Wonderful… Just wonderful! How long has it been since I last saw that expression on your face! Was it when that girl died?"
Anger was written across Kano's face and tears were running down his cheeks. The woman's snide comment was enough to pull him out of his perceptive state.
"You!" He lunged forward.
The woman slid back in a precise fashion and crossed her arm over her chest, while Kano hit the ground.
"Now where'd the girl go?"
Kido was not near the tree anymore, in fact she was not anyway in sight.
"Urg, stupid disappearing eyes. How inconvenient," the snake's voice said from a different body, this time a young man no older than 21, as two of the zombie-like members of the group restrained Kano. "But I know how to lure her out! We'll just throw the boy over the edge. If she wants to save him she'll have to make contact with somebody…"
The snake waited a few seconds to get a reaction, but the clearing remain silent except for Kano's attempts to fight back.
"Hmph, I guess she didn't really care about you… Well anyway, you won't die from this fall, probably… So just think of this as a lesson for your snake: don't mention timelines. Ah and I guess this is perfect timing, because it doesn't really matter what I tell you since this one's almost-"
The young man who was 'talking' was sent flying backwards and in that split second Kano swore he could see crimson eyes appear out of thin air.
When the man hit the ground he let out a large 'omph,' and then he remained on the grassy floor unconscious.
The snake's voice switched to another body, "Where-"
And almost immediately they were cut off with what seemed to be a blow to the stomach. When the male bent over in pain, some invisible entity hit them across the face and sent them tumbling to the ground.
Another one unconscious, five still in motion.
Next Kano felt some of the pressure on his back disappear, and all he could hear was the screeching of someone who seemed to be tossed in the air. Instinctually now that he was partially free, Kano flipped his body around and sent a kick in the direction of the other person who was trying to keep him on the ground.
It happened so fast that the female trying to hold Kano down was unable to react and got a mouthful of his shoe.
Standing up as quickly as he could Kano noted that there were only three people left. One female, two men and he still could not figure out Kido's location.
Kano ran at the person closest to him, which happened to be a male on the shorter spectrum with bright red hair. The redhead went to punch the deceiver, but Kano evaded the punch by sidestepping it. Then the blond kneed the other man in a place he knew would hurt.
Letting out a groan of pain the redhead took a swing at Kano's head. The left side of his face felt numb and Kano stumbled back for a second to process that he was hit. Then as the anger raced through his body Kano swung his foot at the back of the man's knees.
The red-head crumpled to the ground in pain and as he tried to stand up Kano delivered a kick to the man's head that resulted in an instant knock-out.
A bit breathless from the rate at which things were happening, Kano turned to the sound of more fighting.
Much to his relief when he turned, Kano could see the purple-hoodie that he reminded him of his childhood and the green hair of the girl who wore it.
The remaining two 'minions' of the snake stood on opposite sides of Kido, panting heavily. The women with the green eyes was the first to move. She charged at Kido and threw a punch in her direction, just as the other man began his approach.
Kido took a side step, while slightly ducking, so that the punch narrowly missed her face and hit empty air. Then she grabbed the woman's extended arm and using the momentum of the women threw her over her shoulder.
The woman's body sailed through the air and hit the man who was trying to attack Kido from behind.
They lay in the ground, one on top of another, not moving.
"K-kido," Kano called as he approached her. "Are you ok?"
The green-haired girl was taking in labored breaths and her hand tightly gripped the sleeve of the unconscious woman she had tossed over her shoulder. When she turned her head towards Kano she had a trembling smile on her lips and tears in her eyes – that were still glowing an ominous red.
Her lips moved, but no words came out. In fact Kano was so focused that all he could hear was silence.
As if everything was happening in slow motion Kano watched as Kido's grip went slack and she released the woman's sleeve. Her head tilted to the left and then her body swayed to the right, and then the girl's crimson eyes rolled into the back of her head.
Screaming Kano ran forward and in the last moment dove to catch Kido. The blond managed to prevent Kido's head from hitting the ground by grabbing her shoulders.
Upon contact he could feel the tense muscles in her body relax, and her body went completely limp in his arms.
Stunned, Kano slowly turned her body around, so he could look at her face.
"Kido? Kido! Kido come on, stop playing with me." At first his voice had no emotion in it, but when he received no response his voice cracked. "Come on Kido, wake up, I know you're alright..." The blond's choked up voice then turned a bit hysterical and tears began to cloud his vision. Burying his head in to her shoulder he cried, "Oh god! I'm sorry! Just-just… just wake up already! Come on Kido, you're fine, you know that. J-just open your eyes!"
The green-haired girl did not make a sound. And she most definitely did not move.
"It-it's going to be ok Tsubomi," Kano said, more to himself the Kido, as he gathered her unconscious form in his arms. Standing up he sniffed, "You're going to be f-fine. I just… I'm going to get you home…"
So yeah this is chapter four, hope you guys liked it.
Special thanks to Emerald (aka Twizler86258,) who is an awesome friend that helped me make sense of what I was trying to convey, otherwise this chapter would have been pretty confusing. She pointed out certain areas that probably only made sense in my head and from there I edited them, so thank you once again.
As for the seven henchmen, I don't know if this was confusing or not, but I was basing their existence on the last two episodes of the anime. They were basically the random people that surrounded Kido, Momo and Hibiya in the 11th episode (I think) and the three men with the guns that tried to stop the Mekakushi Dan when they were trying to find Mr. Tateyama's lair. I figured why not put some more drama into this story?
Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter, sorry for the wait and if you can please review!
-The Jade Empress
P.S. HAPPY KAGEROU DAY! LET'S ALL SURVIVE THE 15TH TOGETHER!