Chapter 19: Danger Rises Part 2

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.

Sai calmly lowered the phone from his ear at the sound of the call disconnecting. Flipping it shut, he held it loosely in his closed palm as he rested his elbow on the arm of his chair and laid his chin on the back of his raised hand for support. He stared with composure out of the large window in his apartment. As usual, Yan sat across from him. She was busying herself with the careful cleaning and polishing of a small flick blade with a silver blade and ruby and garnet handle. She glanced up from her task as she caught sight of Sai's movement in her peripheral vision.

"Problem?" Sai glanced over at her with an affectionate smile.

"No, my dear. I wouldn't say it's a problem. Rather, I'd consider it… a setback." Yan watched him blankly, her eyes giving away nothing.

"What?"

"Makoto is determined to stay involved in the game. He intends to fight us if we try to stop him, so we really have no choice but to alter our plans to stay ahead of that man." Yan raised an eyebrow, though her expression showed no sign of curiosity beyond that slight movement. Sai continued. "Honestly I'm not overly concerned about this outcome." He turned his attention back to the window. "We may have to accelerate our own plans to combat Makoto's reckless interference, but we can still win against the Blade Children even with a handicap like him." Yan watched him deadpan, the knife folded in her lap. She didn't move to speak as he fell silent and instead waited patiently to see if anything more was to come.

The silence continued for a lengthy period of time; so much so that the quiet "Hunter" returned her attention to her knife once more. When Sai did elect to speak, she didn't look up.

"It's bad luck any way you look at it." Yan glanced at Sai from the top of her eyes as the silence began again. She still held the cleaning cloth in her hand, never ceasing in its rhythmic movement along the blade. Sai was focused on the world beyond the window, his pointer finger curled and resting against his bottom lip in mild frustration. Yan waited patiently. After a time Sai's posture relaxed and he turned his head to rest his cheek on his fist once more.

"What do you think should be done, my dear? In light of this newest outcome, what would be our best choice of action?" Yan didn't look up, showing no sign that she had even heard the older man's question. Sai waited patiently, the gentle smile still on his lips as he watched the younger woman.

"Act." She replied finally.

"In what way do you propose?"

"Frontal assault."

"Oh?" Sai looked at her with amusement, watching the woman's mind working behind her vacant eyes. "Why do you propose such an action?" Yan looked up at this point, setting the knife in her lap.

"Unexpected. The Blade Children are already on guard. Subtlety will be expected." Sai nodded.

"That's an interesting approach. Up to this point we've been fairly reserved with our actions. Moving forward in larger numbers will likely take the Blade Children by surprise. That much is true. But is it the wisest option? It could end in rather heavy losses on our side if it goes badly." Sai watched Yan carefully. Her eyes had taken on a cold glint.

"Act." The "Hunter" leader smirked at the repeated affirmation for the frontal assault approach.

"You think you can pull it off without great losses?" She nodded. "Do you think you'll be able to kill any of the Blade Children with a first attack like this?"

"Unlikely."

"Then what's the purpose?"

"Confusion. Possible injury." His smile widened with amusement.

"You think you'll be able to injure at least some of them?"

"Likely." Sai's face grew serious, though the humor held in his eyes.

"How do you plan on accomplishing such a feat? The Blade Children are not easy targets."

"Naoki." The older "Hunter" sat up in his chair, his arm dropping to lay on the arm rest. He eyed Yan curiously.

"You want Naoki and Akito?" A curt nod was given.

"Competent. Strong fighters." Sai rested back in his chair again, his face serious as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. Yan watched him without expression. It was clear that the black haired man's mind was on things other than just their current conversation. She waited. After a moment, Sai nodded, silently consenting to Yan's request. She rose to leave, seeing that Sai was no longer in the mood for company. As she rose the "Hunter" leader looked up at her curiously, not intending to have ignored the black haired woman.

"I'm going home."

"Alright my dear. We'll discuss this more later. Don't do anything until an official decision has been made." The female "Hunter" nodded and turned toward the door. "Goodnight, my dear." Sai said absent-minded, looking out the window again contemplatively. Yan nodded again and, retrieving her coat, quietly left the apartment.

Sai sat silent for a long time after Yan left. Only when the large grandfather clock sounded the midnight hour did he stir from his careful contemplations. Looking briefly at the empty chair where Yan usually resided he exhaled slowly.

"Alright, then." He lifted the phone he still held loosely in his hand and flipped it open. Squinting slightly at the bright light from the screen in the otherwise dark room, he searched out a number and dialed. Returning his attention to the window, he waiting for the line to connect.

"Hello?" Naoki's voice sounded clear over the line.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I just left the bar. What's up?"

"Do you have time to talk?" Sai's tone was calm and even. He could hear Naoki's footsteps and the gentle sound of his heavier breathing mixed with the wind around him.

"Sure. Do you need me to come there or will this work?" Naoki's voice and speech were clear, alerting Sai to the fact that the blond man had not been drinking despite his previous location.

"This will work fine. I just need to consult with you about how we are going to approach the Blade Children problem moving forward." He heard Naoki stop.

"Alright." Sai frowned at the apprehension lacing Naoki's response. He ignored it for the moment.

"At this point we are planning an offensive assault. The group of "Hunters" that you encountered have declared that they will not passively acquiesce to our methods of dealing with the Blade Children so we will need to combat their tactics by a more rapid action plan than we had originally intended." Naoki was silent so Sai continued. "As usual, I'm placing Yan in charge of this mission. She has requested that you and your brother be present during the assault because of your skills and knowledge of the Blade Childrens' behavior."

"So you're planning on actively pursuing the death of the Blade Children now?" Naoki's tone confused Sai. It seemed to carry a feeling of dread. Sai's frown hardened.

"Yes, that's the current plan." He heard Naoki sigh heavily on the other end of the line.

"Then we may have a problem." Sai glanced perplexed in the direction of the phone out of the corner of his eyes, not removing the phone from his ear.

"What do you mean?" He couldn't imagine that Naoki would have any reservations about killing the Blade Children. The younger man had always been impatient with Sai's wait and plan approach and had pushed for action towards the elimination of the Blade Children on more than one occasion.

"Akito." Sai was surprised at this answer. He hadn't expected that the black haired man would be a problem. He always followed orders without issue.

"What do you mean?" Sai repeated, feeling the need for more clarification. He heard Naoki sigh again, though it was clear it was not as a result of Sai's inquiry.

"Akito's been having some reservations about the way that the "Hunters" are being conducted and, I get the feeling, about the Blade Children in general. Ever since we lost that group of new recruits he's been showing signs of apprehension and insecurity towards the "Hunters" cause. Also, I don't know how, but he injured his hand and has seemed even more conflicted since then. He won't tell me what's going on with him, but I don't know that we can rely on him at this point. Right now he's no good to the "Hunters"." The line was silent for a while after this, save the resumed footsteps as Naoki began walking once more.

"That's concerning." He heard Naoki give a nonverbal agreement. "Has Akito said anything at all?" Rustling sounded through the phone as the blond man shook his head.

"No. In fact he denies everything whenever I bring up the subject. I haven't pushed that much because I didn't see a need to or how it could be helpful, but he's being pretty secretive about everything. I know something is bothering him though. He doesn't sleep much anymore.I can hear him pacing at night." Sai could hear the mild concern in Naoki's voice. He looked thoughtfully at the table set in front of his chair.

"Bring him by tomorrow. I'll talk to him about the current plan. See what you can find out beforehand. Anything we can gather to get a sense of his thoughts will be useful. The last thing we need is for his hesitation to get him or someone else killed when the bullets start to fly."

"What do you plan to do?" Sai gave a light shrug.

"If he can't be swayed, I'll dismiss him. There's no contract stating that he can't change his mind. The "Hunters" aren't something that demands undying loyalty for all time once sides have been chosen. We're just trying to do what we think is right in the current situation."

"If you give him that option, I wouldn't count on him staying for much longer." Despite his best efforts to hide it, Naoki almost sounded relieved by Sai's answer, though concern still showed as he responded. Sai nodded.

"That's fine. If he wants to disconnect completely, or if he decides to become a "Watcher" or a "Saver", that's his choice. I won't stop him. It's his life." The line was quiet for a very long time at this point. Until Naoki stopped again, no one spoke.

"I'll see what I can find out. Did you need anything from me? I know you called with a specific purpose in mind."

"No, it's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. Go and tend to your brother." Naoki started walking again. The rhythmic sounds of a person climbing stairs could be heard. "Naoki." Again the footfalls ceased, waiting for what was to come. "Don't stress too much about this. We'll take care of Akito, whatever he decides. He is still your family." The line was completely silent for a few moments before the footsteps resumed and Naoki spoke once more.

"We'll see you tomorrow." The sound of a key in a lock could be heard. Sai readied to end the call. "Sai.." The older man paused. "Thanks for putting up with him." Sai smiled, his eyes narrowed is slight paternal affection.

"My pleasure. Good night Naoki." He ended the call.

oOoOoOoOo

It was close to one o'clock in the morning when Naoki let himself into the apartment he shared with Akito. As expected, the space was dark and silent. Sighing heavily, the blond quietly shut the door behind him and entered into the dark kitchen. Turning on the single light above the sink, the space was covered in a faint light that offered just enough illumination to see without being too bright for the late hour. Naoki discarded his coat over the back of one of the table chairs and sat down heavily in the other. He ran his hands slowly through his hair as he turned his face toward the table-top and closed his eyes. The whole situation with his brother was draining to him. Personally, Naoki welcomed the opportunity to finally take action against the Blade Children. He had been trying to force such action for the better part of the year. But now that it was finally set to happen his mood was dampened by concern over his half-sibling. It was clear that the black haired man was conflicted about the focus the "Hunters" had in regards to the Blade Children. Naoki had seen it since Yan had decided to leave the group of new recruits to the mercy of the Blade Children that day on the docks. Before that the younger "Hunter" had been willing to follow the belief of the "Hunters" and seemed to even agree with it. Perhaps it was less about the belief towards the Blade Children that caused Akito's reservation and more that he just disagreed with Sai's disposable soldier philosophy. The quiet "Hunter" had always held, in Naoki's opinion, an annoyingly high view of human value. Could a difference in values be all that Akito's current reservation was? Naoki doubted it.

Another sigh escaped the blond's lips as he lowered his hands from his face and looked over the half wall that divided the kitchen area from the living area of the apartment. In the dim illumination from the sink light Naoki could see the dark hallway that led to his brother's room. His eyes settled dimly on the dark opening.

Naoki's mind shifted back to the mysterious injury on Akito's hand. The black haired man had maintained his silence on how the damage had happened and refused to acknowledge that the cause was anything to be concerned over. But Naoki was able to trace his half-sibling's most dramatic personality change back to around the time of that suspicious injury. Whatever he wasn't telling the blond "Hunter" was the source of his current reservations. Naoki was certain of it. A shuffling sound caught the older man's attention, pulling him back from his musings. Akito stood in the hallway opening, silently watching him.

"You're up late." Naoki stated, dropping his hand from where he had been resting it against the side of his face. His voice held a more serious tone that caused the younger man to frown.

"You're home late." Akito countered, walking forward. "What's wrong?" Akito's eyes widened as Naoki, rather than brushing him off, reclined back in his chair and motioned for his roommate to have a seat opposite him. With mild confusion, the younger "Hunter" seated himself in the offered chair, drawing Naoki's coat into his lap and folding it over his arm so as not to knock it onto the floor. He waited a few moments for Naoki to speak, but when the blond simply watched him, as if studying him, Akito repeated himself. "What's wrong?"

"Well Akito, that's what I'm trying to figure out." His voice held mild frustration and sarcasm, though it was clear that Naoki was not angry. Akito looked at him in confusion. The older "Hunter" shrugged, resting his arm over the back of his chair leisurely, his other hand resting comfortably on the table top. "Sai says we're we're going to be making a move against the Blade Children soon. Yan's heading the attack and we got picked to be part of the team. With any luck we'll actually manage to kill at least a few of them this time."

At Naoki's words Akito looked briefly away, unable to look at the older man as he prepared to answer.

"There it is!" Before Akito could respond Naoki leaned forward, slamming his hands on the table top and looking at the black haired man across from him. Akito stared wide eyed at him in surprise.

"There's what?"

"That's same reaction you give me every time the topic of the Blade Children comes up." Akito's expression shifted from one of surprise and unease to one of bored irritation. Sighing in frustration, he moved to stand up. Naoki caught his wrist and forced him back down.

"Let go, Naoki." His features were calm, unaffected, but his eyes shattered the effect. The look that now shone in his eyes was the same look that Naoki had seen countless times while hunting as a child. It was the look of a trapped animal. Fear, anger, confusion. The blond man maintained his grip.

"Stay a while and I will." He felt Akito relax. Naoki released his arm. The room was silent for a few moments before Naoki looked at his brother. "You know I'll put you on the ground if you try and run now, right?" The younger "Hunter" nodded. Naoki leaned back again, giving his sibling some space. "What are you thinking about, Akito?" The younger male seemed taken back at the unexpected question and turned his attention back to Naoki for further clarification. "What's on your mind? You obviously had a thought when I brought up Sai's plan. Share." Again he looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with the older man.

"I guess I'm just uneasy." His tone was so low that Naoki barely caught the words.

"Why is that?" Akito shook his head, not having an answer to give. "Is it because you don't want to kill?" Again he shook his head. He didn't have a problem with killing if it was for the greater good. He didn't mind dirtying his own hands if it meant he could save someone else's life. He turned his gaze from the table top to the smooth fabric of the coat still draped over his arm and lap. Naoki sighed, hooking his arm over the back of his chair again. "Is it because you don't want to kill "them"?" Akito didn't move. Not even his breathing changed. However, Naoki noticed Akito subtly cover his injured hand under the coat and retain his opposite hand over the coat to better conceal the bandaged limb. "Is that it?" After a moment Akito shook his head.

"I don't know." His tone carried confusion, an emotion mirrored in his eyes. Naoki leaned forward so his arms were resting leisurely on the table.

"You don't know what?"

"I… I don't know if killing the Blade Children is right or not."

"Do you think they aren't a threat?" Akito raised his eyes to meet Naoki's; searching.

"No, they are too dangerous at this point." The words tasted hollow on his tongue. Naoki noticed the lack of conviction in the words. He pushed further.

"So you agree that something should be done about them before they hurt anyone else?" Akito nodded reluctantly. "You agree that if their blood is triggered not even the "Hunters" would be able to stop them, right?" Another hesitant nod. "So you agree that something needs to be done before that happens, right?" Naoki was careful with how he phrased his last question, wanting to leave enough room for interpretation so as not to prevent the confused man from coming to a decision on the matter. At last Akito nodded, though it was half-hearted at best. The blond sighed and leaned back again, his hands resting loosely clasped in his lap.

"Sorry." Akito mumbled, his gaze dropping to focus on the coat once more. Naoki shook his head in mild frustration before focusing on his brother again.

"You know, you don't have to be a part of this if you don't think it's right." Akito's eyes shot up in surprise. Naoki watched him calmly. "I already spoke to Sai about your building…reservation. He's not going to force you to stay and fight if you don't feel it's the right move. The "Hunters" aren't blood thirsty. We just want to prevent a repeat of what happened with Yaiba Mizushiro fifteen years ago. If you disagree you can get out. There are the "Savers" or the "Watchers" that you could join if you don't want to leave the game altogether or you can stay with the "Hunters". But if you stay you know you'll have to make a decision on what you can live with. If killing the Blade Children isn't something you can live with, then decide that and get out. But we can't have your reservations jeopardizing the safety of the others when the time comes that we clash with the Blade Children." Naoki pushed his chair back and stood up. Akito was silent, staring at his lap. "We have to meet with Sai tomorrow. I've said my piece. I won't say any more. Decide what you want to do, but do it quickly. We won't wait for you if you can't decide where you're loyalties lie. There's no room for indecision or weak conviction in the "Hunters"." Without another word Naoki left the room. A few moments later the sound of his bedroom door could be heard clicking shut.

Akito sat alone in the kitchen, the silence unbroken. After a few moments he withdrew his bandaged hand from beneath the coat covering his legs. The fingers and especially the thumb were still extremely sore and he had minimal use of the hand due to the amount of damage he had sustained to it, though it was likely that use would return over time. He stared at the bandages for several moments, thinking over what Naoki had just told him and what Kisame had said to him on the day he'd received the injuries to his hand. Both had valid points and reasons for what they were doing. Each was trying to continue existing in the only manner they knew how. There was no clear cut answer for which group was right and which was wrong. Everything was just muddled together in a tragic game.

Breaking the silence with a heavy sigh, Akito rested his head back and closed his eyes.

"Just what do I want?" No sound answered him back in the darkness.

A/N:

Hey all,

I am so sorry that it has taken this long to post another chapter. Even with my best efforts I have still managed to miss this month's deadline as well, but at least I am posting a chapter this time. I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out, as I am finding increasing difficulty in progressing the plot effectively, but I have every intention of continuing this story. Please wait for me and know that I will publish again and that I greatly value you all for reading and enjoying this story. I look forward to seeing you all again in the next chapter of "Who Knows What Fate May Hold For You".

Spiral of Destiny