Chapter Four

She wasn't going to talk. Kei knew this the moment they pushed her into a chair. She knew this the first time she answered their very important question with, "I don't know." She knew the first time they backhanded her.

The fools Kei was with, though...they were only convinced that Himura Tsukiko wasn't going to talk after the twelfth time they struck her in the face.

"I don't know," Tsukiko repeated herself for the umpteenth time. Her bottom lip was split in multiple places and was leaking blood, she was leaking blood from both nostrils, and her face was red and swollen and streaked with tears. She still looked a mess but she was still beautiful. Kei was impressed.

"She isn't going to tell us," Kei called from where she sat on the Himura's living room couch. Her associates all stiffened when they heard her speak and stood to attention, turning to look at her. She tilted her head as she looked at Tsukiko, not moving from her spot as she reached up to idly play with the flowery hair-clip that was fastened to her own hair. "I don't know why you're being so cruel to me, Tsukiko-san. I'm trying to find my twin brother. Why do you refuse to help me find him?"

"I-I—I don't know how to help you, Kudo-san—" Tsukiko protested.

"Kei-sama is fine," Kei interjected, finding some pleasure in having an older woman defer to her in such a way. She smiled, but she was not in a good mood and she knew the gesture would not be reassuring to Tsukiko. "And yes—you do know how to help me. You can see into the future. Not the distant future, but a full day ahead into the future. You can use your abilities to tell me where Kazahaya will be tomorrow. But you won't do that, Tsukiko-san, and I don't know why."

"I-I do not enjoy this," Tsukiko said. She fumbled for her purse but one of the associates seized her arm. Kei gestured him away with annoyance and he released Tsukiko, and she pulled a lovely pink handkerchief out of her purse. "If I could help you then I would have. I would not have invited...this." She gestured to the people who surrounded her. "To the home I share with my brother. I know what you are going through Kud—Kei-sama. If Rikuou disappeared then I would do anything I could to try and find him. I am deeply sorry I but I cannot help you with this."

Kei closed her eyes as her smile spread even wider. She heard one of her associates inhale in alarm. "You love your brother a lot, don't you Tsukiko-san?"

"Of course I do, Kei-sama," Tsukiko said. Her voice trembled in fear. "I...Kei-sama—"

Kei opened her eyes and turned to the associate closest to her. These people meant so little to her that she never bothered to know their names. "Go to her brother's room and retrieve something of value from there."

"No!" Tsukiko cried out as he disappeared back down the hall towards the bedrooms. She tried to jump out of the chair but her shoulders were seized from behind and she was forced back into the chair. "No, please! Rikuou has NOTHING to do with this, Kei-sama!"

"I didn't want it to come to this," Kei said, rising from the couch. "But since you're not cooperating with me Tsukiko-san, you've left me no choice."

"I-I—Kazahaya-kun—"

"Yes? Will you tell me where my twin is?"

Several conflicting emotions crossed Tsukiko's face in the span of a few seconds. She looked away then. "I...I..."

From the depths of the coldness inside of Kei, a flame of anger ignited. So. She DOES know.

"Kei-sama." The associate return and bowed before holding out his hand. "I found this on the boy's dresser. It appears to be—"

"A wallet," Kei said in a dull tone, looking down at the black square object in his palm. "He must have left it at home when he went to school. Do you think me so stupid that I don't know what a wallet looks like?"

"O-Of course not! Please forgive me!"

"Please, Kei-sama!" Tsukiko screamed from her chair. She struggled against the associate that held her, and another came over to help restrain her. "Please...Please don't hurt my brother!"

"I didn't want to have to do this, Tsukiko-san," Kei announced, giving her a chilly gaze. "But you have left me no choice. Since you will not help me find my brother, your brother will now be involved in this." Then she snatched the wallet up in her hands.

Tsukiko screamed again, but Kei pressed the wallet between her two palms and closed her eyes. Now. Himura Rikuou. Let's take a glimpse into your future. Let's see what this simple wallet will reveal of the time to come for you. Let's see what I can further threaten Tsukiko-san with.

Kei felt and saw the familiar flashes, and the surge of power that swept over her body. Then everything went still. The vision was starting. Kei smiled again and opened her eyes.

And blinked once. Then blinked again. Her arms dropped down to her sides and her mouth hung open slightly.

She was not experiencing a first-person perspective of Himura Rikuou's future, as she usually would when she used her powers. Rather, she was standing off to the side like an interloper viewing a private moment. The world around her was black and indistinguishable, but right in front of her she saw a large white bed. It looked cozy and comfortable.

But in the center of the bed...sitting on the bed were two young men, both clad in sleeping yukatas but they were locked in an embrace and kissing passionately. The larger boy had dark hair while the smaller had blonde hair. The air was silent except for the sounds the two young men were making. Kissing sounds, soft groans, the rustling of fabric as their hands rubbed and clutched at each other.

But Kei's eyes were fixated with a stony stare on the blonde-haired boy. Kazahaya.

Her Kazahaya was touching another boy. Her Kazahaya was kissing another boy. She could read from the movements of their lips and their body language that this was not the first time they had kissed, nor was there any discomfort between them. They were both very comfortable to be sitting on a bed together locked in an intimate embrace.

The dark-haired young man was Himura Rikuou. Kei knew his face from the photographs inside the Himura apartment. It was Rikuou who broke the kiss, but then he began kissing the side of her Kazahaya's neck. Kei watched her twin arch into the caresses of Rikuou's lips, arms locked tight around Rikuou's broad shoulders as he let out soft sigh.

"Mmmph!" Kei watched her twin twitch and let out a strangled noise. She saw from the way Rikuou's mouth formed around the crook of Kazahaya's neck that he was sucking on the skin. Her Kazahaya turned Rikuou's face towards him and they kissed again, but it wasn't a deep kiss of passion. Their lips held closed against each other for a long moment while they clung to each other before the contact softly broke.

But they didn't move away from each other. Their eyes were closed and their foreheads were pressed together. Neither young man said anything for a long time. As her Kazahaya and Rikuou sat cuddling together, gently nuzzling each other's faces, the flame of anger inside of Kei rapidly grew.

"You all right?"

She wasn't expecting Rikuou to speak, and she glanced at him in surprise. His eyes were open now and he was looking at Kazahaya, but...the look in his eyes unsettled Kei. The way he was looking at her Kazahaya...she thought she saw reverence in his gaze.

Kazahaya nodded stiffly in response to Rikuou's question and opened his eyes. Her twin looked sad, but her stomach clenched violently when she saw longing and...love in his eyes when he looked at the other young man. "Are you?" he asked. His question was almost a whisper.

Rikuou chuckled softly. "Answering a question with a question, Kazahaya? That's awfully rude of you."

KAZAHAYA. Kei's nostrils flared. How dare...no one refers to my Kazahaya with such familiarity but me.

Kazahaya didn't get angry from Rikuou's retort as Kei expected, but instead he dug his fingers into the lapels of Rikuou's yukata and pressed his face against Rikuou's. "Please...I need you to understand, Rikuou."

Kei exhaled sharply when she heard her Kazahaya use the same familiarity with the other young man. "I understand," Rikuou said, his tone softening and sobering. "After everything we've been through, I won't walk away."

Kazahaya exhaled; the sound almost like a sob, and Rikuou cupped his face in his hands. "Hey," he said. His tone was stern but gentle, as was his touch. "Enough of that. You're not getting rid of me. I told you I would remain by your side and I'm going to. There's nowhere else I want to be, Kazahaya."

Her Kazahaya gritted his teeth, and Kei knew from the expression that he was almost ready to cry. But his eyes were still squeezed shut as he buried both hands in Rikuou's hair. "...I need you," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"I know." Rikuou pulled him closer. "I need you, too. Because I love you."

The heat of anger surge inside of Kei, and her lip rose in a snarl. She was ready to lash out at the vision of Himura Rikuou when Kazahaya spoke, his voice still quiet and full of pain. "...I love you, too."

The fire was abruptly washed away, like she was doused in cold water. Kei's body when frigid, and her throat went dry. For a brief moment she wanted to deny what she had seen and heard, but she couldn't deny it.

Kazahaya. Her twin brother. Her Kazahaya told someone other than her that he loved them.

Kei dropped the wallet from her hands, and the vision of the future abruptly ended. She was once again standing in the middle of the Himura apartment. She reached up to idly fiddle with her flowery hair-clip again. After a few moments she turned around to face everyone. Her associates stood frozen with fear at their positions, though their faces remained hidden behind their masks. And Tsukiko sat stiff in her chair, her bruised and bloody face wearing an expression of dread, and...resignation.

"Well," Kei said abruptly with a smile. It was a scary smile. "I'm in a very bad mood right now."