{AN: Trigger warning for mentions of drug abuse near the end of the chapter! Will be marked with "**" at the beginning and end of the section! Enjoy.}
!
I was awoken from my dreamless slumber with a start. I looked around room I was in blearily and found myself in a slight panic when I didn't immediately recognize the setting.
Where the fuck am I? I thought before my memory of yesterday came back to me, making me relax and sigh in slight relief.
I scrubbed at my eyes before reaching over to the nightstand for my glasses when loud knocking reverberated within my motel room. I scowled and put my glasses on.
I don't remember asking for a wake up call, I thought grumpily as I kicked the covers off of me and sat up.
I reached for my mask as I started towards the door but ended up pawing at the bare surface of the nightstand. A glance told me that my mask wasn't where I thought I had left it. I looked around the room for it and came up empty, earning a frustrated groan from me. I quickly walked towards the bathroom and flipped the light switch on.
Bingo! My mask was on the edge of the sink. I saw that it was waterlogged when I picked it up, but I put it on regardless when the knocking at my door grew even louder.
"I'm coming, so stop fucking knocking!" I called out irritably, stalking towards the door.
I peeked out the peephole and drew back with a startle yelp when I saw an eye looking back at me. Familiar laughter resounded outside as I knelt over, clutching my chest at the unexpected sight of Athan's eye.
Once I'd calmed down enough, I opened the door with an exclamation of, "Asshole!"
The man waiting outside my door dodged the swipe at his face with a wide, toothy grin on his face.
"Aren't cha a bit arggo* this fine mornin', mate?" Athan Smith, Command Sergeant Major of the ODW, asked with an "innocent" smile as if he wasn't just banging my door down a minute ago.
The black haired man even had the audacity to rock on the balls of his feet as if he didn't do anything wrong.
I snorted as I settled against the doorway with my arms crossed. I took this time to briefly take in the sight of the Australian. Athan was tall (rivaling my height of 6'2") with tanned skin fitted over a lean body. He had black hair that he kept slicked back whenever he was on an assignment. In order to keep it that way, he would comb through every now and then. (On occasion, I would call him a wannabe greaser, which would earn me a swipe across the head from a flustered Aussie.) On his free time, his hair would be wild and untamed held back back by a headband. Right now, he was wearing the typical uniform of a ODW member- grey dress pants with a matching vest over a white button up shirt. (He was missing the beret that came with it though, typical of Athan.) On the collar of his shirt was the Organization's emblem, an intricate array of swirls that formed a diamond like symbol.
"You disturbed my peaceful resting, you bloke," I finally retorted as my eyes narrowed, "Me being aggressive is a normal reaction."
This time, the Aussie snorted, placing a hand on his hip.
"If you woke up on time, you wouldn't have had me banging on the door like a bloody ocker," he replied, shoving his way pass me, "Do you know how long I was standing out there?"
Woke up on time? You never called nor text me any time to be up and ready!
I shut the door with a little more force than what was necessary- you can tell that I value my sleep- and walked towards my bed where my pack was located.
"Piss off," I mumbled, glancing towards the analog clock on the nightstand, "It's only eight o'clock in the fucking morning."
Seriously, being up this early in a sin, I thought as I rummaged through my pack, pulling out various articles of clothing.
"No, you mate," Athan said as he sat on the bed, bouncing on it momentarily, "If I didn't swing by while I was on my way to brekkie, you would've slept till the avro."
"Pfft. I usually wake up at ten," I lied smoothly, ignoring the cheeky grin Athan was giving me as I walked towards the bathroom.
With a call of, "Gimme fifteen!", I shut the bathroom door and began to prepare for the day ahead.
A knot settled in my stomach when my eyes lit up with a flash of heat.
DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDTVDTVDVT
Once I was properly cleaned and dressed, Athan and I set out to get a bite to eat. The trip also doubled as a meeting to talk about the bounties that they assigned me. On the way to a local food joint, the Aussie threw his arm around my shoulders in a side hug.
"So how ya going, mate?" the bloke asked, squeezing my shoulders with a grin, "Had any adventures as of late in the bush?"
I leaned into his embrace briefly before answering.
"Actually, I had a run in with some hikers several weeks ago," I gave a recount of what happened with Aoba and Noiz.
"...-And so I dropped the two off at the road leading up to the South entrance," I finished as we entered a fast food establishment.
"If this Aoba guy is as cute as you're describing him, please tell me that you got his number," was the bloke's reaction as we settled ourselves at a secluded booth in the back.
I arched an eyebrow at the Australian, "Really? The only thing you're concerned about is whether or not I got his number?"
He made an expression as to say, "Pretty much."
"Well did you?" the black haired man pressed, leaning in with a grin.
I smirked despite myself, pulling at my shirt collar, "Hell yeah."
I failed to mention the fact that I haven't talked to the blue haired man since he left Morinoya.
Unaware of my lie, Athan's grin grew larger; he reached across the table and slapped my shoulder good-naturally.
"Yeew boy~," he crooned in a thick Australian accent.
Soon, a waitress walked up to our table to take our orders. Her polite smile turned a bit mischievous once her eyes landed on Athan and her saunter took on a more sultry undertone as she slide up to his side of the table. Not that I can blame her. The man had a rugged handsomeness to him that charmed a majority of everyone. Well that is until...
"Let's see..." Athan looked at the laminated menus taped onto the table for a moment, "I'd like a flat white along with a snag and some eggs."
...they get an earful of that...
This dumbass didn't even speak in the native dialect-
At the waitress's lost look, I quickly gave a translation of what he said.
"He'd like a coffee with creme along with a sausage and egg, please," I said with a force polite smile, annoyed with Athan's slang. The said man across from me gave a quiet, "Oops," when he realized his mistake.
Just to rub it in, I made my order in perfect Japanese, much to the relief of the waitress. After jotting down my order of a pancake platter with some orange juice, the waitress quickly walked away without a second glance towards Athan. I guess she's only interested in men that can speak Japanese. Seeing this, the man in question gave a dejected sigh but then perked up as quickly as he watched the waitress's backside.
"I hate to see you go but I'll love to watch you leave~," he crooned with a perverted giggle, earning a slap upside the head from me.
"Stop it, you little shit," I said as I rolled up the sleeves of my long black tee shirt, "We got business to handle."
Athan's grin melted off his face as he quickly grew serious, "True."
One thing that I admire about him was the fact that he knows when to be serious. He eyed me as I slid the manila envelope that I brought with me across to him. Before I launched into my verbal report of the bounties, Athan piped up.
"You seem to be hot, mate," he observed, making me pause in the unconscious movement of flapping my shirt collar.
I frowned underneath my mask, already knowing where this conversation was heading. I opted for sarcasm to put off the enviable.
"No shit, Sherlock. It's totally not over eighty degrees in here..." my words trailed off and I had to look away from Athan's sharp and knowing gaze.
I cleared my throat and began my verbal report of the bounties. Athan seemed to be a miffed that I didn't give him a chance to speak, which was the point of my interrupting, but at the moment, I didn't really care. Even though I didn't really give any thought as to what to say for the report, the words came easily to me as I recounted what happened on each bounty hunt. They mostly went the same: they came into town seeking refuge and I would come in and put them under citizen's arrest when they least expected. The element of surprise is always on my side, for it seems that they never anticipate a deviant showing up to hunt them down.
A deviant showing up to arrest a person for a deviant hate crime? Such heresy!
Athan's annoyed expression was swapped out and replaced with one of impress.
"I must say, mate, you're really doing a ripping for hunting down ockers," Athan began as he absentmindedly opened up the envelope to glance through the written reports I did the night before after I had bathed.
"You joining the Organization would be a great contribution." My eyes closed at that statement.
"Look, we've had this conversation so many times that it's not even fucking funny anymore, Athan," I said lowly, but intensely, scowling all the while.
The black haired man narrowed his eyes at me, his handsome face becoming twisted with vexation.
"If it's "not even fucking funny anymore" then you should put yourself out of your misery and say yes already," was the man's acerbic reply that he all but hissed, "Look, Kain-"
The Australian cut himself off when the waitress arrived with our food, apologizing for the wait. Our ill atmosphere immediately lightened as we accepted our food.
"Can I get the docket please?" Athan asked with a borderline perverted grin.
The waitress didn't understand what a "docket" was, but she was picking up on the undertones of what he was saying, this being proved by how she licked her lips at the Australian with a seductive look. All this was making me sick. I definitely hang around Aeron too much- his prune like ways are rubbing off on me.
"Ahem!" I cleared my throat, effectively drawing their attention, "My friend here was asking for the receipt."
My eyes crinkled into a wide grin, pointedly ignoring the irritated looks thrown my way.
The waitress gave us our bill with a smile and gave Athan a wink as she told us, "Enjoy your food."
A glance towards the bill told me that she gave the Aussie her number.
Seriously?
The man across from me tried to continue our conversation, but I held out a hand and pointed towards the food. I wasn't willing to speak until we had something in our stomach.
DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDTVDTVDVT
Unfortunately for me, Athan didn't share my sentiment; he kept on fussing at me all throughout breakfast, effectively putting me into an irritable mood. At the end of our meal, my mask was hanging around my neck and Athan's carefully slicked back hair was in a disarray with all the times he'd ran his hands through it.
"Okay, okay mate," the Australian said around a bite of his sausage before swallowing, "I can see that I can't convince you to join the Organization, but can you at least tell me why?"
I took the last sip of my orange juice and dabbed at my mouth with the edge of my mask before replying. "I already told you."
Athan gave a sigh of long suffering at my pettiness.
"Can you give me a reply that isn't a cryptic riddle?" He questioned, pushing his empty plate aside.
I closed my eyes with a pinched expression and rubbed at the week old beard growing on my chin. I dully noted that I still haven't gotten around to shaving before shaking my head.
It's not that easy to explain...
"Try me, mate," the Aussie piped up, giving me a slight surprise, "You might be surprised."
I inwardly cursed my loose mouth as I gazed at Athan with pursed lips. His expression lost its irritated edge, replaced with that of determination. This guy was committed to getting my answer today from the look of it. My eyes wandered away from him to look out the window instead, taking my time to think of something appropriate. So many things that I really wanted to say threatened to spill from my lips, but I couldn't tell him the true details, so I settled.
"I don't want to change anything that isn't meant to be changed," I said simply, dragging my sight back on him.
He was quiet for a few moments, probably wanting me to elaborate, but I held firm. Something in Athan's expression changed causing my gaze to slide down to my hands; my jaw clenched as I battled the feelings of guilt and self loathing.
"Don't you trust me, Kain?" Athan asked quietly, hurt evident clearly in his voice.
"Athan, my trust in you has nothing to do with this," I found myself saying, "If things were different, I'll be telling you everything."
"What is everything, Kain?"
My eyes throbbed once, then twice. I adjusted my glasses, blinking hard behind them. I opened my mouth before closing it firmly, cutting off whatever bullshit that was about to spew from my lips. I can at least tell him a little bit.
"Everything being why Toue kidnapped me all those years ago."
This was the money question that everyone wanted to cash in on. No one knew except for the man himself and me. Since Toue was inaccessible, everyone turned to me for answers; unfortunately for them, I wasn't too keen on making them privy to such information. Of course, this caused a small uprising, lead by the people interested in the case of Midorijima. Nevertheless, my lips was sealed- at that time, I was afraid that if I spoke up, everyone's attitude towards me would change drastically. And the fact that I still haven't joined the ODW, even at the insistence of Athan and several others, shows that I still am.
"Everyone thinks I'm being selfish, but if that's how it looks, then so be it," I followed up, "I just can't afford to change everything now. I'm practically playing into Toue's hands."
Athan's look of betrayal dropped at the mention of Toue- he began to glower at the window.
"It's always him, ain't it?" he all but growled, "That damned wanker..."
His lips pursed before looking back at me. The Aussie's eye took on a helpless glaze.
"Why won't you come with us?" Athan asked "You'd be safe from him, I swear."
I shook my head. "I gave you my answer, Athan, and I'd appreciated if you didn't push me any further."
Athan opened his mouth to say something else but paused when I held up a palm while pulling up my mask with the other hand. He must've finally sensed that continuing this discussion would prove fruitless because he didn't say anything else for the duration of our stay at the diner.
I may be safe from Toue's influence with you guys, but who's going to keep you safe from me?
DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDTVDTVDVT
Athan and I paid for breakfast and left the restaurant without any other incidents. We began to walk back towards the south of town where my motel room was, but, instead of using the public roads, Athan guided us towards the back alleys. I gave him a questioning look when he pulled me into a cul-de-sac with a stony expression.
"What are you doing?" I asked as we walked further into the dead end.
"Hey mate, has there been anything suss happenin' in bush as of late?" the Aussie asked forthright, ignoring my question.
My eyebrows furrowed as began to say no, but then the incident with the generator suddenly came to mind.
"Actually, something happened when Aoba and Noiz first came to the cottage..." I began, outlining the peculiar occurrence to the Aussie.
When I finished, Athan's face was drawn and downcast. He gave me a look full of exasperation.
"And how come you didn't say anything about this earlier?" he questioned, a tad irritated with my tardiness.
I raised my eyebrow at him, adjusting my glasses all the while.
"I was planning to but the right opportunity never came, first of all," I retorted with a hidden frown, "I mean, how the hell am I supposed to bring that kind of shit up, hunh? 'Hey Athan, this food is ripper! Oh and while we're on the subject of ripping shit, my generator was disemboweled a couple of weeks ago by some unknown force. Anyway, pass the syrup would ya mate?'"
The face that Athan was giving me showed that he was either unimpressed by my little act or by my usage of his Aussie slang. His face relaxed as he looked away from me for a moment, gazing up at the mid-morning sky. The Australian had a look that put me in mind of a kid getting a shot- he doesn't want to do something but he knows it's necessary. When he directed that look at me, my eyes throbbed.
"What is it, Athan?" I asked, feeling a knot tighten in my gut.
He was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts from the looks of it.
"Kain, we're going to head by your motel room to get your stuff," the black haired man said finally.
Before I could ask why, he continued.
"Aeron and I tried to get in contact with you about this earlier, but we couldn't reach you on your coil- which is why you should keep it on, even if it seems unnecessary, but I digress. Mate, there's no easy way to say this, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."
It took a moment to realize what he just said.
"Wait, wait. What?" I said, startled at the sudden turn of events.
The Aussie continued as if I haven't spoken.
"Hiding you in plain sight was a good idea, but it could only last so long," he said, his voice tense, "Kain, I'm afraid that Toue never stopped looking for you ever since you escaped six years ago. As time progressed, his efforts died down, but they never stopped."
My breath was stuck in my chest as I leaned into the wall of the cul-de-sac. My eye were almost burning by now and a shudder has found itself lodged in my bones.
He never stopped looking. He never stopped looking. He never stopped looking. He never stopped looking. He never stopped looking.
"We'll never let you go Kain. We love you," a voice whispered from afar.
"Never, never, never," another joined.
"You'll be with us forever," they said in union.
My breath came out in stuttered puffs as the beginnings of a panic attack gripped me. I could faintly hear Athan calling out me.
Come on! I thought viciously to myself, using Athan's voice as an anchor, Get a hold of yourself, you piece of shit!
"Athan," I called out weakly, "Slap me, please."
I wasn't a masochist, but I relished in the pain that bloomed in my cheek. The world around me came back into focus with Athan gripping my shoulders tightly with a distraught expression on his face. I then realized that he was speaking, apologizes rolling off his lips in a stream.
I whispered, "It's okay, Athan, it's not your fault," to him, but it didn't seemed to be getting to the shaken up Australian. Giving a small huff, I leaned forward and pressed my masked lips against his in an attempt for him to shut the fuck up. It wasn't a kiss, by far; just a simple pressure of my lips pressing against his. But it worked wonders for he clammed up with a strangled noise.
Better. I thought as I leaned my face away from him, choosing to rest my head on his shoulder instead. I was suddenly too tired to do anything else but to hook my thumbs in the belt loops of his pants. He splayed his hands onto the small of my back and began to rub calming little circles into it. I was grateful that he kept them just on my back and nowhere else.
Unexpectedly, I remembered an excerpt from "The Intricacies of Deviants".
Deviants, being nothing more than humans with massive mutations, are bound to have some kind of health problems. This includes a chemical imbalance within the brain, located mainly in the Limbic System, thus making deviantsextremely emotional and prone to their temper. This chemical imbalance can be managed by medication taken on a daily basis-
"Maybe I should get back on the medicine," I mumbled into Athan's shoulder.
I could feel him tense momentarily underneath me. His hands stopped moving, making me inwardly sigh at their absence.
"The last time you were on the medicine, it..." the Australian's voiced wandered off.
**Not that I could blame him for his hesitance. What the book failed to mention was the fact that medicine pretty much kills off all of your emotions. Despite that, it has a high addiction rate, but if it's taken in large doses, it could lead to death. In my case, I didn't OD. At first, that is. As time went on, however, the flashbacks and visions grew to be too much to bear... I was lucky that I was still living with Gramps. There was a chance that I would've died that day.**
"Never mind," I murmured as I slowly pulled away from Athan.
Once I was steady on my feet, I looked at the sky. The familiar vibrancy of it soothed my frazzled nerves as I sighed, slowly releasing the stress that was building up inside me. I pulled down my mask, baring my face to the gentle breeze that flowed through the alleyway. After a couple of moments of enjoying the simplicity of the sky and wind, I looked back at Athan who was watching me carefully.
"Fuck what I said about the medicine," I said hoarsely, my voice thick of unexplained emotion.
After clearing it and pulling up my mask, I ventured on speaking; with each word, I felt more and more resolute and unswerving than I have in a long time.
"I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all."
DVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDVTDTVDTVDVT
*Note on Athan's Aussie slang: I personally don't have any Australian friends, so all slang as come from my research on the internet, not from any prior knowledge. So if some of you say, "Hey, Australians don't say that" or "That's so stereotypical" then get me an Australian on the line, so I can get my motherfucking learning on some Aussie slang.
Small glossary: Aggro = Describes someone or something aggressive or aggression.
Arvo = Afternoon
Brekkie = Breakfast; Also spelled brekky or breaky
Bush = Foresty-area.
Docket = Receipt or bill
Flat white = Coffee with milk or cream.
"How ya going?" = "How are you doing?"
Mate = Friend/Buddy
Ocker = A person with poor social skills/manners
"Piss off" = Go away; get stuffed; get lost
Ripper = Great
Ripping = When something {eg surfing} is done really, really well
Snag = Sausage
Suss = Size up or study something {ahead of time}; Or if someone seems a bit suspicious, you can call them suss.
Wanker = A ridiculous person
I believe that was all the Aussie slang that was used in this chapter. If I missed something, use your context clues to figure out the general meaning, fam. But if you still don't get it, (you might be stupid jkjk) drop a review about it (Along with something nice about DVT too! That'll give me a great pick-me-up as well as motivation for the next chapter! ;O) )
DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDVTDVTDVT~DVTDTVDTVDVT
{ AN: Son of a bitch, this chapter took way longer than expected. It took me a while to get a roll on writing this out, but once I started, it was hard to stop so yay for that. :O)
This chapter is full of surprises for me because it deviated from the outline so much despite my attempts to keep it on the straight and narrow. But whenever it does that, I don't try to derail it to fit my needs too much. Instead, I incorporate the necessary details and let the chapter write itself- it's a satisfying feeling really. Anyway, I'm excited for the next chapters because this, my dearest, is the end of the prelude of DVT! You might be thinking, "This is a long ass prelude, then." And if you are, well shut the fuck up, because I already knooww! I'm not a fan of writing really long chapters (which would equal to a lesser number of chapters) because as an avid reader of fanfiction myself, I find myself taking hours at a time to read really long chapters (Not that I'm complaining, though! I live for long chapters, but I don't have the attention span to sit there and read it, that's all~) Anywho, I digress. From what I'm digressing from, I do not know. I'm running on five hours of sleep people. Oh well.
See you on the next update! Until then~