Chapter 8: Understanding

Disclaimer: I do not own this. Spiral: The Bonds Of Reasoning is the property of Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. The only ownership I claim is for this story and the OCs involved.

A/N: Here is chapter 8 as promised. I hope that it can offer some enjoyment, or at least enough interest to bring you back for the next chapter. I apologize for its shorter length, but I couldn't find a way to make it any longer without making it too long. I hope you all enjoy and please review if you feel so inclined. I would love to know your thoughts on the story so far. Thanks.

The first rays of early morning slipped past the floor-through-ceiling windows of Eyes Rutherford's apartment, casting the dim illumination on the quiet performer. Contrary to his usual early morning routine, no piano music touched the still air. Instead, the pianist sat silently beside the piano on the ebony bench. He held a Russian composition by Sergei Prokofiev in his hand and was busy studying the 20th century composition.

The reason for the pianist's silent study in place of his usual practice was the sleeping form on the couch a few feet from his position. Every now and again, the stoic performer would glance up from his score and watch the sleeping man. He was surprised that the man had not yet awakened, but given the events of the past few days, Eyes knew that his guest was justifiably exhausted.

Raising his eyes from the music score, the pianist turned his attention to the world outside his apartment. As the sun gradually rose in the sky, the buildings began to come into clearer focus and activity began to occur on the streets far below. Eyes sat watching the sunrise for a few moments, enjoying the quiet of earlier morning mixed with the soft breaths of sleep coming from his guest.

After several minutes, Eyes returned his attention to the sheet music in his hand and resumed his study of it. He remained at that activity until the sound of movement pulled his eyes from the paper once more.

The formerly sleeping individual, Kanone Hilbert, lay watching Eyes. He looked tired but smiled when he caught Eyes' gaze.

"Have you been up long?" Kanone questioned, transitioning into an upright position on the couch and pushing the blanket aside. Eyes shook his head.

"No, not that long." He replied, having only been seated at the piano for an hour. Kanone nodded and shifted on the couch so he was looking over his shoulder and out the window, watching the end of the sunrise. He shifted his attention back to Eyes when the young performer began to practice on the piano. Returning to his original position on the couch, Kanone settled back against the soft material and quietly listened to the music.

The two remained this way for an hour, occasionally chatting about trivial topics, until a soft alarm from Eyes' phone broke the tranquil atmosphere of the music. Silencing the alarm, Eyes rose and turned to look at Kanone, who was watching him with mild curiosity. When Eyes didn't say anything, but simply walked into the bedroom, Kanone checked the time and rose as well. He folded the blanket he had used the night before and lay it over the left side of the back of the couch and retrieved his luggage in order to prepare for school as well.

Soon, both were ready and once again in their respective places in the main room. Eyes was practicing while Kanone stood looking out the window, listening to the music with a serious expression. He turned his head to the door as a knock sounded. Eyes stopped playing and looked to the door as well, rising from the piano and picking his bag up from beside the piano. Retrieving his coat from the closet and handing Kanone's coat to him as well, he opened the door to see Hiroshume waiting for him. The hacker was absorbed in something he was reading on his phone and didn't look up right away.

"Ready to go?" He asked. His tone held trace hints of irritation for having to wait for Eyes to come out. Figuring that the pianist would respond non-verbally, Hiroshume glanced up to catch Eyes' response and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Kanone. His expression quickly returned to its neutral appearance and his voice was calm when he spoke.

"I didn't know you had company." He stated, closing his phone and slipping it into his coat pocket. Eyes didn't respond, making no attempt to introduce Kanone to the hacker, and walked past Hiroshume, heading toward the elevator. Kanone followed behind, but cast a friendly smile at Hiroshume as he followed his childhood friend down the hall. Hiroshume followed a few steps behind, silently wondering how the current situation had come about.

oOoOoOoOo

All was quiet as Naoki and Akito stood in front of the large window of their apartment. Akito hadn't said much since the fight with the Blade Children, followed by reporting the event to their leader, the day before. Naoki glanced at the younger male briefly before shaking his head and looking out the window once more.

"You're still upset about yesterday?" He questioned in a bored tone. He seemed to be asking more out of obligation than any real concern. Akito shook his head, causing Naoki to look at him again.

"No, I'm not upset. It's just a bit frustrating." Akito commented calmly, keeping his eyes focused on the window as the sun began to peek over the horizon and enter the sky.

"Because of Yan?" Naoki questioned, slightly more interested.

"Let's just say I don't agree with her 'disposable soldier' mentality." Akito replied. Naoki nodded, though not out of agreement with his companion.

"The boss holds that same philosophy. You'd better get used to it if you're going to stay with this branch of the Hunters." The taller man said with a shrug. His shaggy, bleached blond hair brushed against his neck as he moved. Akito nodded, though he said nothing and didn't seem to agree with the older male. Naoki shook his head in annoyance and turned to walk away from the window.

"What do I care? If you want to make yourself miserable over this, be my guest. Just don't come whining to me about it if you do." He said as he lifted his jacket off of the table chair back and slipped it on.

"I'm going to go check in with the boss and then head to the shooting range for some practice. Are you coming?" He questioned, glancing back at Akito over his shoulder as he adjusted his jacket collar. The shorter, black haired man stood silent for a moment, glaring at the window in irritation.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He said as he took a step back away from the window, not breaking his gaze away and turning his head to maintain his view of the window for as long as possible as he turned to walk back into the room. Grabbing his jacket from another of the table chairs, he joined Naoki and the two left the apartment.

oOoOoOoOo

Hiroshume followed at least six feet behind Kanone and Eyes as they made their way out of the apartment building and onto the street. He could see the two talking to one another, but their tones were low, making it impossible for Hiroshume to catch the conversation. Losing interest in the two in front of him, he withdrew his phone from his pocket and began looking through various files as he walked.

"If he was going to have his associate with him, he could have at least told me I didn't have to come today." Hiroshume mumbled to himself as he opened up an email and scanned the contents. He walked with his eyes down and focused on his phone for the entire walk, only stopping when he heard Eyes' and Kanone's footsteps stop. Glancing up, he saw the three other Blade Children waiting across the street for Eyes and he took the opportunity to excuse himself from the uncomfortable situation.

"I'll leave you here. Contact me if you need anything. I'll know where you are." He said as he slipped across the street and through the school gate without glancing back at Eyes.

Eyes watched Hiroshume leaving before glancing back at Kanone. He noticed that his companion was watching the other three Blade Children nervously. The three across the street had not noticed their presence yet and were talking amiably with one another while waiting for Eyes to arrive, as had become the habit in the few days that Eyes had been attending Tsukiomi Academy.

He sighed as he watched the German teen standing beside him. It was understandable why Kanone was nervous about meeting with the others. He had tried to kill each of them during his last visit to Japan and nothing, as far as the performer knew, had been resolved before his departure from Japan.

Without a word, Eyes stepped out onto the street and began making his way toward the three waiting teens. Kanone reluctantly followed behind, knowing that it was pointless to put off the inevitable reunion, be it good or bad.

oOoOoOoOo

Kousuke, Rio, and Ryoko looked up from their conversation with one another when they heard someone approaching. Seeing Eyes, Rio quickly waved before stopping mid wave as her eyes fell on Kanone and she slowly lowered her arm, the smile falling from her face. The other members of the group also took on an air of reserved caution as they watched Kanone and Eyes approach. All three had known that Kanone was coming back to Japan, but standing face to face with him again dredged up fresh memories of his last visit and caused them to regard him with reservation.

Surprisingly, it was Ryoko who offered the first greeting to the two approaching Blade Children.

"Good morning Rutherford, Kanone." She said, her tone neutral, but not cold.

"Yeah, good morning." Rio said, quickly following Ryoko's greeting with one of her own, though hers was more apprehensive than Ryoko's had been. Kanone offered a quiet 'good morning' to the two girls and fell silent again, unsure about how to face his former companions after he had betrayed them. After a few moments Kousuke broke the silence by speaking.

"I didn't think you'd be coming to school this quickly. You only landed in the country yesterday, right?" He asked, his voice calm but reserved. Kanone nodded in response to Kousuke's question about his arrival before speaking.

"Given the current situation, I thought it would be best to meet up with you all as soon as possible. The Hunters are already actively targeting us." He said.

"What do you mean by that?" Ryoko asked. "Where you attacked?" Kanone nodded, earning a look of concern from Rio and Kousuke. The three looked at one another. Though news of the rising Hunter threat had been provided to them by Eyes, they had yet to see any activity to prove the truth of the rumors. To hear that the Hunters had opted to attack one of the strongest Blade Children gave rise to concern for all of them.

"But why would the Hunters target Kanone?" They know that he and Kisame are the most dangerous of the Blade Children." Rio commented, rubbing her chin thoughtfully with her thumb and curved pointer finger as she looked down at the ground.

"They attacked Kisame as well." Eyes said solemnly. Kousuke, Rio, and Ryoko looked at Eyes with shocked expressions, unable to believe that both of the strongest Blade Children in Japan had been attacked in such close succession.

"He and I were together when we were attacked." Kanone added, figuring that there was no point in hiding that fact. The others turned their attention to Kanone before looking at one another.

"What are the Hunters thinking? Attacking the two of them together is suicide." Kousuke commented. The others, including Eyes, nodded in agreement with the statement.

The sound of the bell ringing caused the five teens to look in the direction of the school and broke up their conversation.

"We need to go in." Ryoko said. The others nodded.

"We'll continue this later." Eyes said, gaining the agreement of the others, and the small group made their way quickly toward the school building.

oOoOoOoOo

Returning to Tsukiomi Academy was far worse than reuniting with the Blade Children for Kanone Hilbert. While many of the students were not initially aware that he had been the cause of the school disturbance in the past, those who did remember lost no time spreading the word until the entire school was buzzing about the psychotic school shooter that was now back in the academy.

As Kanone walked through the halls he received dirty looks from the teaching staff and fearful and hateful glances from the student population. Through ways currently unknown to the Blade Children, Kirie Tsuchiya, a member of the Watchers and current contact of Eyes', had managed to gain permission for Kanone to re-enroll at Tsukiomi on the condition that he cause no further trouble. Documented evidence had been provided to the school board showing that therapy had been performed and a psychological evaluation had been completed to ensure that Kanone was mentally stable enough to safely return to the scene of his crime.

While the paperwork was completely false and no therapy or evaluation had been undertaken, it had been strong enough evidence to keep the school board from preventing Kanone from returning. But simply re-enrolling into the academy did not erase the sins of his past, so he accepted the cold and frightened stares and embraced the solitude that came with it.

Kanone's class schedule placed him in many classes that none of the other Blade Children were in, with only two with Eyes and Kousuke and one with Kisame. One, however, he found he shared with Hiroshume, who seemed less than delighted when he saw him enter the class. It was after this particular class that Kanone stopped Hiroshume in the hall.

Without a word he pulled the hacker off to the side of the hallway and away from the flow of students. Hiroshume complied without any struggle, having no desire to attend his next class and not caring if he was late.

Kanone remained silent until the hallway had all but emptied of students and classes had started once more. As silence came over the corridor where the two stood, Hiroshume turned his attention to Kanone.

"I assume this meeting is in regards to yesterday?" He asked nonchalantly. Kanone nodded, his gaze serious enough to keep Hiroshume from dismissing him and returning his attention to his phone.

"You don't seem to want Eyes knowing what occurred yesterday." Kanone commented. Hiroshume looked at him curiously. He didn't deny it. "If you had, you would have mentioned it this morning or shown that we had met previously." Kanone continued. Hiroshume said nothing. Once again, he didn't deny it. "That is fine by me. I would be happy if our meeting was kept private between the three of us who were involved." Kanone finished. Hiroshume nodded.

"I had intended to keep it that way." He said. "I am under no obligation to tell Eyes everything I do or who I associate with." He finished. Kanone nodded, glancing behind himself and pulling Hiroshume into an empty classroom as he heard the sound of a classroom door open.

The two watched as a teacher walked past the room where they hid and both remained silent until the teacher had passed once and then returned to the classroom. Once they were certain it was safe to talk without risk of discovery, Hiroshume turned back to Kanone.

"My offer is still open. If you need anything from me, contact me. You should have my cell phone number from when I contacted you and you have my other contact information as well. I'm sure my talents will prove useful to you if you would be willing to use them." He said as he opened the door to the classroom where they were hiding, silently dismissing himself from the conversation. Kanone allowed him to go, having said what he needed to.

"Don't get yourself involved. It'll be safer for you if you don't associate with us." Kanone cautioned as Hiroshume stepped through the doorway. Hiroshume stopped when he heard Kanone's words and looked over his shoulder at Kanone, his hand still resting on the door knob.

"Well that's half the fun of it, now isn't it." He said with a smirk that was rather reminiscent of Kisame's sadistic expression. Without another word, Hiroshume slipped through the doorway and down the hall in the direction of his next class. Kanone watched him for a moment before turning the opposite direction and heading to his own class.

oOoOoOoOo

Akito stood alone on the outdoor shooting range. Naoki had left hours before, but Akito had elected to stay as he had the day off from his job. He had spent the large majority of the day watching other people shoot and helping kids learn to aim. While it had been largely a waste of time, he had enjoyed the distraction that the children offered. He wasn't an inherently cruel individual like Naoki and Yan and could appreciate the innocence of youth and show kindness when it was due.

Now, as the sun was beginning to descend in the sky, he stood in the abandoned field and aimed his hand gun at the target that stood thirty feet out in the field. His fingers were numb from the cold air and he could see his breath come in small puffs as he exhaled. However, he ignored the cold and continued to shoot into his target.

After emptying two and a half magazines into various targets out in the field, he paused as he prepared his aim for another shot. The sound of another person entering the area caught his attention. He didn't bother looking as he heard the new arrival speaking with one of the workers before coming to stand a few feet to the right of Akito. The shooter took aim at a target and fired in one swift shot. Akito couldn't help but watch the shot as it was fired and was impressed to see that it hit dead center in the target.

Glancing at the shooter to see who he was his eyes widened in a mix of surprise and fear as recognition chilled the blood in his veins. He froze where he was standing, his eyes locked on the shooter standing before him. Said shooter, Kisame Hoshagi, slowly turned his head and fixed his gaze calmly on Akito, his confident air and knowing smirk assuring Akito that the murderer before him knew exactly who he was.

"Hello again, Hunter." Kisame said. His tone was friendly but tainted with the lust to kill.