Hold On Hope...

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Basically, this is a set of posts that converge into a single side-story for Taiku...Normally I would avoid writing such things as I keep his personal life out of the forum, focusing mostly on more...Action based stuff. I would appreciate any kind of criticism from you guys, let me know if you like it or not....So far I have three parts of it written out, although the third was originally two separate posts, I put them together given they fit well.

EDIT: Part eight is now up.

Anyway, enjoy. I present to you, Hold On Hope.

Part 1 - Heading Down A Slippery Slope.

Peace....Something so rare to Taiku in the troubled times of late, and something he held onto with a strong grip. Despite the hardened face and sheer bluntness of his persona in the public eye, his heart was still troubled, still yearning for the things that were just out of his reach. It was the sole reason he set himself so focused on combat and work, it took time from him being able to question what still made him sore...

In the small hotel room he lived in, at least for the time being what with having not taken time to actually look for a permanent residense as of yet since returning to Varron, it was quiet. The drapes were drawn and the lights dim, the only sound was a radio playing quietly on the table next to the bed, and he paid little attention to the music, strumming quietly on the guitar he held instead...His fingers plucked the strings gently, emanating a quiet melody as he hummed along with it. In front of him, on the foot of the bed, a small black-and-white picture sat alone, stark and medical in contrast to the warm hues of the linen. The edges were slightly worn, and a small dog-eared corner betrayed the constant handling it had received. Sighing, he leaned over and fished a pencil from behind his ear, scrawling down a few lines onto a notepad on his knee...

You look in the mirror, but someone else looks back. You remember a life you never had, one that cannot be yours. You are the one piece that does not fit, you don't belong in this game. The board has been knocked over, you shall be swept away...

Hardly the seasoned tones of a composer by any means, but the mental state present in Taiku was a result of two very important factors. Loneliness, and a massive amount of alcohol. He secretly praised the minibar in his room and drank it dry on a regular basis, unless he was pre-emptive enough to simply find a liquor store on his way 'home'. Yes, he would admit it, but only to himself. He was alone. Of course, there was Legion, and there was Rene, but they combined could not sate the companionship he sought, or quell the aching of his heart. Anger, hate, sorrow, remorse, guilt...He felt them all, almost constantly, and it cut him like a knife to consider one thing more than anything...

The child he would never know.

Setting the guitar down, he picked up the half-full glass beside his feet, rising and taking the sonograph from the edge of the bed before leaning back, sipping the drink slowly with a long gulp as he simply stared at it. In his hands, the only thing left of something that would have been his legacy, a part of him...It was more than likely the alcohol breaking through his icy exterior, or some degree of compassion he had left in him, but as the first tears forced their way from his eyes he pressed his fingertips to the bridge of his nose, stifling the emotion to little avail as he tipped the glass back, draining the vodka and swallowing heavily. Standing and walking back to the table where the bottle sat, fairly empty, he picked it up and filled his glass once more before returning to his seat.

How could he not have done something? How could he have not known, and more importantly, why did she not tell him? Questions without answers, at least, in his eyes.

"Most of all, why can't I accept this...?"

The whisper left his lips before he even knew he'd said it, and immediately he sharpened and shook his head, setting the picture down again and leaning back in the chair, cradling the glass as he drank a large mouthful of the powerful spirit, sitting forward and leaning on his knees, his head resting in his free hand as he sighed...Shifting his thoughts from the issue plaguing him, he moved on to another one. Something he should probably have sidestepped no sooner than anything else....

Her.

He didn't understand why, given the precarious situation, he still thought of her. What was it that caught his mind and made him think of things he shouldn't dwell upon? Besides, she knew his past...He was a monster in most peoples eyes for that very thing alone, what would make her any different? What would change anything, for him, for anyone in this instance....? Finishing his glass again, suitably drunk but still nowhere near finished for the evening, he set the glass down and grabbed the bottle instead, tipping it back and pouring the liquid straight down his throat before turning, glancing down at a bag at his feet...In it, another bottle of vodka. He had stocked well for a day or so, but money wasn't a problem. Just his liver, but he was sure he'd either pass out or throw up before he ended up in any kind of a dangerous state.

It would be another long night, he thought, as he stood and approached the window. Below him, several stories down, a few people walked the streets, mostly arm in arm, young couples returning home from dates or the like...How he envied them. Tipping the bottle back, draining the last of it, he flicked the empty shell over his shoulder onto the bed with a dull chuckle, picking up the other one with a slight sway in his step and broke the seal, taking the cap off and tossing it aside, groaning and tipping the bottle back again....

A long night indeed.....

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 2 - A Heart Of Stone, Glimmers Of Gold...

The next morning he awoke, late into the day, with a groggy head...Finding himself slumped in the same chair he had spent most of the last evening in he sat up straighter, twisting his neck and loosening the firm crick that was stuck in from a night of sleeping at an uncomfortable angle...Then again, after what he had drunk last night, he could have slept soundly on a bed of nails. Pushing to his feet, staggering slightly at the remnants of his inebriation that lingered, he groaned quietly before heading to the bathroom, flicking on the light.

What he saw in the mirror shocked him, and he gasped suddenly at the sight in front of him...His hair was short, remarkably short for him. The cut was crooked and out of sync, but with the darkness in his color it mattered none in the end. What did however was the fact that he had taken almost six inches off the long, flowing hair he had once had, leaving him with a much sharper, spikier style than before. Lifting his hand to run the longer bangs back, he blinked again, seeing his bloodstained knuckles....

'What the hell happened last night....?'

-Flashback-

Three in the morning, Taiku sat at the foot of the bed and silently thought, doing nothing more. His drunkenness raised his temper slowly, albeit without knowledge, along with his sadness. Sooner or later, the ticking time bomb in his mind was going to break, he couldn't carry on with the calm facade he laid on for the public eye.

'....Fuck it....'

Clenching his fists tightly, holding back the tears as they ran down his face, he pitched the almost drained bottle against the wall and picked up the chair beside him, hurling it over the room with considerable force. Turning to the wall, he began to rain blows against it, punching with every ounce of energy in him against the unforgiving concrete, his knuckles slowly shredding as he left bloody punch-prints. Before long, he collapsed against the wall and turned, slumping down and resting his head against his knees. Sobbing as he gripped his fingers in his hair, tugging it slightly, he opened his eyes again and fell deathly silent, rising to his feet and walking back to the bathroom, picking up the scissors on the counter...

-End flashback-

Leaning back, sitting on the edge of the tub as he sighed, running his fingers through the freshly mauled hair, he contemplated the matter a moment and rose up again, turning on the tap and setting his palms down against the porcelain of the sink, allowing the hot water to creep up before trickling over his wounds slowly, making him wince slightly in pain, partly at the actual pain, but mostly due to the heat of the water...After cleaning the damaged skin, he cupped a few handfuls of water and splashed his face with it, rousing him from his still dreary state and begun to fix himself up again for the day....

Soon afterward, emerging with a much tidier appearance, his hands wrapped in clean, tight bandages, he pulled on his boots and picked up his wallet and glasses from the table near the door. Stepping outside, he quickly left the halls and exited the building, walking until he found a coffee stand and bought a cup, sipping the bitter liquid as he aimlessly wandered...His mind was astray, unable to focus on anything around him, until he heard the sounds of screaming. Nearby, an alley, the sound of a womans voice rang out before being stifled quickly by her assailant. Nearing the alley, he had every intent of simply passing by, after all it wasn't his problem. He had grown even more jaded in recent weeks, so much so that unless focusing on work or Legion, and consequently, Kvist, he just didn't care anymore...

However, his nature piqued enough that he glanced in the alleyway...True enough, there stood a man holding a young woman at knifepoint, his hand over her mouth as he glanced over her shoulder down the alleyway toward Taiku, who stood looking in a moment with an unconcerned look on his face at the situation.

"Fuck off if you know what's good for you, kid..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Taiku turned and began to walk as the mugger twisted, pushing the girl against a wall...Glancing back over his shoulder once more, he froze at a new variable in the equation...Her stomach, bulging and clearly pregnant. In an instant the color faded from his skin and he couldn't help but turn back, silently approaching the man from behind...Gesturing with his hands for the girl to help conceal his presence, she got the idea and continued to keep her attacker occupied a moment before Taiku swiftly wrapped his arm around the thugs neck, hooking his palm under the blade-wielding arm and pulled it aside as he threw him away from her. Shifting his attention to her once more, he helped her from the wall carefully and stepped to the side, ensuring he was between her and the other one.

"Run, now...Don't look back..." he said, his voice low and gravelly, still rough from the night before...

"Why did you turn around....?"

"Your child..."

"...What do you mean?"

"....It doesn't matter, just go, now."

Nodding hesitantly, she turned and began to run slowly from the alley whilst glancing back. It would be the only time she would ever see the man who saved her life that day, and as he turned around toward the attacker, pushing from the floor after his dazing landing a few moments ago, Taiku felt a sudden calm wash over him. Was it vindication, or simply a realisation of his good deed? Regardless, he swiftly dealt with the guy, leaving him out cold in the alley before leaving, albeit with a few new wounds from the blade on his forearms. His hangover wasn't good for fighting, he was aware of that, but the thug was apparently a little quicker than he would have figured...

Unfastening the bandages on his hands, he proceeded to bind the cuts on his arms quickly, knotting the cloth to keep pressure on the wounds and thankful that his coat would cover the trickles of blood on his arms as he walked out of the alley, his hands in his pockets as he slipped away...What had made him react like that, he wondered, knowing the answer but afraid to admit it outright to himself in a sober state of mind. When it came to the point, however, he faced it and leaned against a wall, lighting a cigarette from a packet in the inner pocket of the coat and sighing....

He felt real and absolute guilt, Victoria may have had cancer, but he could still have helped...Had he waited a little longer to make his own disappearance, he would likely have found out, he could have done something to help, he could have helped her...In his eyes, it was his fault for not being there, for leaving, and he couldn't forgive himself for that...

But he could still do some good, in one way or another....

Pushing off of the wall, flicking the cigarette away as he stepped out into the edge of the kerb and flagged a taxi, he stepped in and gave his destination before the car took off again...

-An hour later-

"Pardon me sir? The chairman will see you now...."

"Thank you..." he replied, standing from the chairs and walking through the stark hallway, stepping into the end office which, although more lavish than the other rooms, was still not even on par with his hotel room...

The man opposite him rose from his seat, taking his hand and shaking it as if they had been old friends before offering him a seat, which Taiku took calmly. A short interaction between the secretary and him passed quickly, and Taiku waited in silence before the gentleman opposite him spoke, the deep tones of his voice almost jovial as he chatted away...

"Well, my boy, I must admit it's not all that often we have people making donations in this manner....Usually we get a cheque in the mail or a phone-in, but I can't argue with any generous submissions by the public."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise there was a specific rule of thumb for this...." he said, slightly embarrassed and shrugging his shoulders before leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees...

"No, no, it's no issue in any regard. You can make it any way you like, son.....Though, I must ask, just how much do you intend to donate?"

"...I'd like to keep that personal until after I leave, if that's alright?"

"Sure, I don't see why not...Most people prefer anonymity here, anyway. I don't see this as any different...However if you donate over $5'000 then we are willing to include a small note in the newspapers about it, something to let the community know there's still good people out there."

"Thank you...And it'll be a little over that sum, so I'll jot down the message I'd like you to tack on with yours, if that's alright?"

"Certainly, I have no problem doing that for you sir."

Taking a chequebook out of his pocket, he jotted down an amount, signed and dated it before folding it up and holding it in between his fingers as he took a post-it from the chairmans desk, quickly writing down the message...Linking the two of them together, he sat them atop the desk and stood, reaching his hand over to shake the elder gentlemans once more and turning away....As the door closed behind him, a hand plucked the two pieces of paper up...Out of curiousity more than anything, he looked to the note Taiku had requested enclosed first, smiling at the simple words.

For someone I would never meet, but love forever... -Shinato

Putting it down on the table, he opened the cheque with a smile before seeing the figure and staggered back, collapsing into the chair, squinting his eyes to be certain it wasn't a mistake. Surely this was a hoax? The young man who had just been in here, how could he have such nerve to do something of this nature...? A million dollars, in any right it was still unbelievable that someone would simply stroll on into his office, drop a seven-figure cheque and then simply walk out without any kind of press intervention...Picking it up, he sighed and held it as if to tear it in two, stopping a moment.

But, what if? What if it was honestly real, and there wasn't a catch or a lie in there, and this was simply a massive case of generosity? Shrugging his shoulders, he picked up the phone on the desk and began dialling his banker...

-The next day-

Around noon, Taiku woke and approached the door of his hotel room, opening it and crouching to pick up the paper left behind, backing up and stepping in to flick through the pages, finding the announcements section a moment later. Skimming over the page, he saw it...A reasonably large panel, probably due to the amount of the donation, he saw it written out in large font. Smiling faintly for the first time in days, he folded the paper back up and strode to the window, opening the drapes a little before sighing, reaching back and sweeping his fingers through his new hair, thankfully neatly trimmed and fixed up now....

The money would only serve so much, but maybe it would help see a few more families avoid this pain. If it did only that, it would have done enough. He knew the pain, and that many felt it...Nobody should have to suffer like that.

Nobody....

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 3 - Beneath The Stars, Points Of Convergence

Darkness flooded Varrons streets, the soft hue of moon and starlight glimmering down and casting a faint glow on the world underfoot. All around, it was empty, and the silence of solitude was a powerful blanket that engulfed Taiku, letting his mind walk with him, and gave him the chance to contemplate properly...After the things he had done today, he had many questions left unanswered in his mind, and this quiet night was a fine time to begin revelations...Unlike earlier, he knew where he was going this time, and though his pace was slow and idle, he walked with a faint smile, tainted in thought.

'I think I finally get it all, why it hurts so much...For so long, I lived with my defences at their fullest, never opening up to people, but when I came here I began to start anew, I discovered that there were people who felt pain like mine, who understood what I felt, and in them I saw an unyielding spirit. Somehow they were able to keep on living, to face what they feared and to overcome their doubts, and in time I began to do the same...I never realised that doing so would open the floodgates of my mind like this, that it would make me not only face my past, but overcome it.'

No longer in the city limits, he had continued to walk for hours by now, and through the empty streets and boulevards, he began to close in upon his destination. With his hands partly resting in his pockets, he shivered lightly in the cold. The wounds on his arms stung painfully, his hands twinged in the icy air where his skinned knuckles sat exposed, but he had grown used to blanking the pain out in the last few hours, and paid most attention to his path ahead. A set of large steel gates a short distance ahead lay open, the path into Varron Cemetary free to be taken, and turning off the street he entered and made his way into the hallowed ground.

'I watched on as many of my friends struggled with their inner demons, often trapped with fighting my own, but unlike me they were able to emerge victorious over the things that haunted their dreams and tainted their minds. I remained entangled in a perpetual struggle with my heart and mind, unable to fully put my past behind me, until one day it caught up with me completely. Not even Victorias love was able to break down the last walls my mind held up, preventing me from being able to be the person I want to be. And because of that....'

Stopping in front of a familiar grave, the handsome marble headstone shimmering in the starlight, he read the name with a slow sigh, and the eulogic words below...

Kazuki Shinato
Born - June 20th 1984, Died March 21st, 2006

When I have loved life, I shall have no sorrrow to die....

He smiled faintly, reading the last line slowly and reaching into his inner pocket, fishing out the small sonograph picture before slipping to his knees and slowly scraping some of the topsoil away, leaving a small space as he lay the photograph down, brushing the earth back over it and smoothing it out, letting a slight moment pass before he rose to his feet.

'...I ended up losing so much more than I ever thought possible. I guess it's the way the world works, to test us, but only now do I realise that there are things outwith even the greatest mens control. Loss, sadness, pain, heartache, I've never known any of these to hurt as much as they did all those years ago, but I think I've worked it out, kind of....I hurt, because after all this time I've finally stopped hiding my heart. I've stopped denying what it is that I truly yearn for, and I'm not afraid to fight for it anymore.....'

Taking one last look at the grave, he turned and began to walk away, leaving the graveyard behind for the last time...He had paid a final respect, and as he walked he couldn't deny the sadness that escaped, no longer hiding the tears that left his face. Stopping for a moment at the outer gates, leaning against a wall and slowly composing himself, lighting a cigarette and puffing it lightly, letting the nicotine rush through his system and calm him slightly before he fished his phone from his pocket, dialling a cab...

-Later-

As the vehicle pulled up outside of the edge, he paid the driver and stepped out the car...Driving off, the cabbie left him alone in the streets again as he approached the door, reaching for his keys and pulling the handle down. Oddly, he found the door open, and raising an eyebrow he stepped inside. Glancing around, he saw nobody present and locked the door behind him...It could have just been a mistake by one of the staff, but better safe than sorry. Walking through the bar, he saw a glimmer of light from the bottom of the door to the main office, and his eyes sharpened slightly. Slipping quietly now, opening the door with a slow twist, he stepped into the brighter hall, seeing the light coming from the main office. Immediately, he approached and opened the door with much less tact, swinging it open and freezing at the person ahead of him.

"Rene?"

Her head flicked up from the desk and she immediately began stammering, shocked as she saw him, "Taiku! I-I.....", she began to speak, but after a moment, she looked away once more.

Watching her, he saw the look on her face. She was upset about something, quite upset at that, and he found himself looking out at exactly what he had felt for so long....All that anger, all that sadness, and with a shake of his head he swept it aside, walking closer and taking her hand, leading her to the staff room and taking a seat on the sofa. If anything, it was more comfortable than his office chair, and he wanted a seat as well...

"Talk to me....."

Still she sat, silent and sad, and after a minute or so he spoke again, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong? I promise I'll not judge it or make fun of it, I just want to help....."

Still nothing, still silence....Once more he spoke. "Listen, Rene, if you just want me to leave you alone-"

"I know you're in love with Kira..."

It was his turn for silence...Slightly stunned by her words, he leaned around and perched on the side of the sofa as she began to speak up, sighing as she began.

"All that time ago, I was completely alone, after what my stepfather did to me, I had nobody in my life, no real friends, no family I cared about, but one day along came you...You were so nice to me when we met, I figured you were just trying to get lucky, but I could never have guessed that everything that has come about since then would have happened...."

Her head lowered as she carried on, her voice cracking a little but pressing forward regardless, "Everything that's gone right in my life since that day has directly or indirectly been a result of you helping me, I won't lie, I'd probably be dead by now if not for you. My life was falling apart, and you picked up the pieces, gave me a home and a new start...And I began to love you."

"Rene...-"

"I mean, I should be happy that you and I are as close as we are...I mean, what do I have to complain about? That I made an amazing friend who is so nice to me and helped me get my life back together?! How stupid is that? I should be happy for you, regardless of your choices..."

Sighing softly, her eyes beginning to well up at the outburst of emotion, she sniffed quietly..."Stupid love, it just doesn't listen to logic...."

"Rene, I...I wish I knew what to say..."

"You don't need to say anything. You listened, that's enough. I mean, you shouldn't worry about me anyway, I accepted long ago that you and I will never be together, there are just times it sucks to be reminded...It's worse now than ever though, I overheard you and Kira talking that day she was here. I know you well enough to know how you speak to people Taiku, I know you care for her deeply...I just wish I could blank it out and forget it, but it just keeps reminding me that I'm alone...."

"You're not alone, Rene..." he said, speaking up after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"You have Dain, Akamaru, Akira, all of the people you've met since working here, me, damnit, even Kira. You haven't known us all for very long, but we're all your friends...Being single isn't the same as being alone, Rene. I know it hurts to not be able to be with the person you love, but you have people who care about you, and they like you just as you are...."

"...Taiku, I....."

Leaning forward, she slipped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest as her tears began to run down her cheeks....Sobbing gently into his shirt, her muffled words reached his ears. "Thank you...."

"Y-you're welcome...?" he replied, twitching slightly at the sudden embrace, his arms still at his sides. Glancing down, he didn't know exactly how it all came about....

Looking up, her eyes caught his, and slowly she leaned up, approaching him slowly as she shifted up to sit closer...As if drawn together, they neared one another before embracing slowly, their lips meeting gently in a tender kiss. His arm slipping around her waist, lightly brushing against the base of her back where her shirt had ridden up with his fingertips as his other arm leaned back, supporting him as he leaned back a little, drawing the two closer as she gently hooked her fingers in the centre of his shirt, gripping the material between the buttons and sighing deeply into the kiss. With every moment, the scene grew more and more heated, and shifting closer he gripped the underside of her shirt, pulling it away and letting it fall to the floor, leaning in and lightly grazing her skin with his nails.

Leaning back to lay flat on the sofa, she slowly unbuttoned his shirt, her hands running along his chest as his reached up, gently brushing the side of her cheek and leading her back down, letting his arms slide around her waist and holding her close to him, slowly shifting to lay her down against the cushions...

During the shift, one of them must have caught a remote control on the other side of the sofa with their foot, and the stereo suddenly came to life. Loudly. Shocking the two of them, Taiku flicked his body to the side, Rene leaning up at the same time, and despite best efforts to stop him falling he ended up tumbling to the floor...For a few moments, the silence rang loudly in the room, despite the blaring stereo in the background...She was the first to speak up, her voice quiet and slightly hesitant in the darkness of the room.

"A-are you alright, Taiku?"

"....Yeah, I'm fine..."

Again, a slight moment of silence before he stood, rubbing his leg where he had hit the floor and picking up the control, switching off the music and flicking on the lightswitch, walking back before she spoke again, and he stopped a little away from the sofa, looking down as she lightly covered herself with her arms...

"I'm sorry....There was just something about that moment, and.....and you're my friend, I don't want to mess that up....I know you kissed me back and such, but if I hadn't kissed you in the first place, we-"

"Rene!"

"...Yeah?"

"...I thought I kissed first...."

A short spell of silence as the two of them just looked at one another, before a slight snicker escaped his lips, her own following suit before they began laughing quietly...

-Shortly afterward-

As they tidied themselves up, him pulling his shirt back on and sweeping his hair back to sit more tidily than it had done before, he watched as she tied her own hair back and turned to him, handing the brush before noticing his shortened locks. A slight blink and a pause before she smiled, reaching up and flicking it lightly.

"You cut your hair...."

"....Yeah, I had a bad night and a fight with some scissors, but I got it fixed...."

Snickering quietly, she shook her head and tutted mockingly before nudging him gently, "It looks good in any case, much more rugged and seeeexy..." she added, sticking her tongue out with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, you love it." he retorted, grinning and lightly jabbing her in the side of her arm with his elbow, turning to face her as she caught his arm gently, linking her hand through the crook of his elbow and stepping toward him, her head lowered as she whispered quietly.

"Again, I'm sorry...I know how you feel for her, it was wrong of me to do that...."

Tilting her chin up, he looked down with gentle eyes, smiling slowly..."Don't be silly, like you said, it was the moment...And I have to admit that I didn't exactly have any intention of stopping it."

"Yeah..."

"Rene, I have to ask you something, can you give me a few minutes? There's something I have to do real quick..."

"Sure, I'll not be going anywhere..."

"Thanks..."

Smiling as he unfolded his arm, releasing hers and letting his fingertips linger against her wrist before he turned, walking to the office and flicking on the light. Stepping around to sit at his desk, he sighed and leaned forward, running his palms over his face and shaking his head a moment. Reaching under the panel of the desk, he removed a small key that was taped to the wood and unlocked a low drawer, fishing out a small brown leather book. Placing it in front of him, he opened it and skimmed to an empty page, picking up a pen and writing....

Kazuki's Journal, October 6th 2006

I've learned that people are not ruled by their physical desires...My body may have provided encouragement, but my decisions this evening were my own, as is the responsibility that goes with them. Many of the choices I have made have been the wrong ones, but they were mine to make. Everyone I know has had choices to make, sometimes the wrong choice seems right in a moment, sometimes the right seems wrong, it's just the way the world seems to turn...I know of one particular choice I made tonight that was probably the wrong one, but I don't regret it. At least, not now with how things have turned out.

Though I doubt that this will never be read by anyone else, I won't go into details in the offchance it is, but sometimes...It's good to pay extra for a powerful stereo.

Kazuki Shinato

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 4 - A Door Unlocked, Breaking Through A Clouded Heart...

Kazuki's Journal, October 7th 2006

I don't know how to consider everything right now, I can finally openly admit to myself that I do indeed love Kira, but at the same time I find myself torn with fear. What if I can't be what she wants, what if she just plain doesn't like me, and what would become of mine and Rene's friendship if she does?

-sighs- Too many damned choices to make, too many things to consider, no matter how I work this, someone ends up losing out, and in any respect I end up losing someone. I won't lie, I do love Rene, but I'm not IN love with her. I think back to the day I gave up my name, when her and I sat together as my little scheme went together, and I now remember what she said to me. That was the first time Rene told me she loved me, it took her having to watch me die for her to tell me she loved me, but I couldn't even remember it. I feel like such a dick, but then again, there's a lot of that night I can't remember anymore....

I just hope that Rene and I can be okay through all of this....I need friends like her around these days.

Kazuki Shinato

Closing the book, he slipped it back into the drawer and locked it once more, replacing the key discreetly as the door knocked and Rene stepped in. Her smile was clear, but a hint of falsehood brazenly sat there staring at him, almost mocking him for the moment. Looking up at her, his own slightly hesitant smile returned hers. That moment right there summarised the feeling they both had, and with a slight cough, Taiku cleared his throat and spoke up again...

"Sleep well, when you got there....?"

Awkward....

"Not really, that spare bed in the staff room sleeps two, I still don't see why you didn't just join me..."

Awkward awkward awkward awkward awkward awkward....

"...Like I explained, I just wanted to check over some paperwork first, I guess I just fell asleep at my desk...." he lied, shrugging his shoulders and smiling weakly.

"Taiku, my head doesn't stitch up at the back, you were avoiding me...Besides, it's not like every time you're in bed with a woman you end up sleeping with them, right...?" she retorted, her eyebrow raising with a slightly bemused expression...

The only thing that jumped into his head was a slightly dry remark involving exchanging the term 'in bed with' for 'on a sofa with', but he stifled his tongue and shrugged, leaning forward and resting his arms on the desk, his face slightly buried in his forearms.

"I guess not...But stepping aside for now, I'm going to be heading out for the day, will you be alright taking care of the place alone until this evening....?" he said, changing the subject rapidly and smoothly, sighing internally as she nodded, smiling back with that imprinted expression as she turned and left the office again, speaking quietly on her way out.

"I guess I'll see you if you come back tonight then..."

Groaning, his head falling to land on his arms as he buried his face down, he pushed up from the desk...As he walked out of the room, he reached behind the door and grabbed a long jacket, pulling it on slowly over his injured arms and patting down the pockets before finding a small roll of bills in one of the inside pockets....He had money, a warm coat, a pack of cigarettes that would probably remain unsmoked for the day, not counting any major dramas, and clean, fresh bandages on his wounds...Maybe today he could get through without any real damages being done.

Then again, considering who he was going to see, he doubted that physical damage was anything to worry about. His sanity on the other hand...Shrugging slowly, he pulled the lapels of the jacket up slightly, covering the lower part of his face a little from the sides and gently placing his hands in his pockets. Closing the office door behind him, he walked out and headed to the parking lot, stepping into the car and starting the engine, pulling away from The Edge, and from his troubles. At least for a few hours...He would have to do some thinking about things later, both about Kira and Rene.

He loved one, but was loved by the other...If this wasn't Jerry Springer material, he'd sell the deeds to the bar...All that was missing was a random horse bride for somebody. Glancing out of the windshield, he winced slightly in the bright light outside, and glancing up, was thankful to see he had left a pair of sunglasses hooked into the sun-visor as he fished them free and slipped them on. Cruising in silence, he drove through Downtown before finding the bistro he was searching for, and pulled up outside. Parking the car and throwing a few dollars into the meter, he adjusted his coat and made his way in, smiling politely to the greeter and explaining he was meeting company, dropping his name...

"Ah yes, Taiku Akimoto....Mr. DeLuca is waiting for you. May I take your coat for you....?"

"No, thank you, I'll hold onto it, if it's all the same...." he responded quietly, approaching the table tentatively whilst the familiar faces head was still busy reading some glossy magazine of dubious quality. However his head flickered a moment later and he shifted his eyes up, spotting Taikus face and grinning widely...

"TAIKU!!"

Shouting loudly with a huge smile, Rocco sprung from his chair and quickly hugged the heavily wrapped Asian man in front of him, standing in front of him with an expectant face before leaning in and whispering quietly, "You have any idea how much I hate fucking calling you that, buster? And what the hell did you do to your gorgeous hair...?"

Smirking faintly, he stepped back and gave himself a little breathing room, slipping the coat off carefully so as not to disturb his bandages and letting it hang on the back of his chair. Pulling it back and stepping around to take a seat, he groaned into the position slowly and sighed...

"Hello, Rocco..."

"I suppose I should be at least a little pleasant to you, after all I did get the opportunity to mess with that Dain kid you sent to me...But moving on, let's start with your little message you left me this morning." he said, his face a little more serious as he reached into his shirt pocket and grabbed his cellphone, flicking it open and tapping a button, placing it on the table as a voice message played out.

"Rocco, it's Kazuki. I...I need someone to talk to, I'm having a few problems that I really can't talk to anyone else about. Please, meet me at the usual place at one this afternoon. I'll explain when I get there, alright? Thanks...."

Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned back and stared at Taiku slowly, "So start talking...", picking up his glass and sipping the wine lightly.

Sighing, he nodded and spoke up..."Rene's in love with me..."

Blinking, Rocco sat in silence a moment as the corners of his mouth curled up, stifling the snicker quietly before lowering his head and wiping the grin away..."And it took you this long to find out, you idiot?"

"Huh...?"

"Listen, Rene has been crazy about you for over a year, she began to fall for you within weeks of meeting you...Her and I have talked about it in the past. When she met you, she was obviously tentative around you, but you were one of the first people to genuinely care about her, and show her what it was like to have someone who was just...nice to her. I won't lie, I always considered that one day you and her would hook up...."

"...We very nearly did..."

Mid-sip of his glass, Roccos eyebrow raised and he lowered the crystal, looking over at him. "Details..."

"Last night...I'd taken a walk to the cemetary, I had some things I needed to do, and afterward I stopped by the club. She was there, and we ended up talking. She admitted everything right there, that she knew about me being in love with Kira-"

"Woah, woah, rewind a moment...Graveyard? What the hell where you doing there? And who the hell is Kira?"

"One thing at a time, Rocco, please....."

Sighing, he flicked his hand in the air, motioning for him to continue....

"Anyway, after everything else was said, things ended up happening. I'll spare the details if you don't mind, but we nearly ended up sleeping together. I don't know what's going on in my head, Rocco...I care for Rene, but I've never even contemplated her in that manner. Then there's Kira, I've fallen for this girl who I used to go to the Academy with, but I don't even know what to do there....I'm so fucking confused, Rocco...I'm stuck between hurting Rene or hurting myself."

Leaning forward, resting his arms on the table, the flamboyant Italian man shook his head before speaking..."Kazuki, listen. I can't click my fingers and give you the answers, I can only imagine what it's like to be where you are in your head right now, goodness knows I'm aware of some of the things you have bad dreams about, but think about it like this. I'm going to go ahead and assume you've at least made it clear to this Kira girl that you like her, so all I can suggest is if she is truly what you want, give it time and let her come to you. You're a good man, your past shouldn't reflect on who you are now, I for one know that as well as anyone, remember? Though I figure Rene is going to be the thing you're worrying about more. She will love you regardless of your choices, but you have to understand that she's going to be hurt if you end up with Kira. On the other hand, if you chose her, would you be able to be happy with her, knowing where your heart lies?"

As Rocco took a brief stop in his words, sipping his glass, a waiter arrived at the table and took an order. A small tapas between them, another glass of wine for Rocco and a mineral water for himself...Smirking briefly, he jibed him, "Since when did you drink any water that wasn't fermented with something?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda starting to lighten up on the liquor...Bad things keep happening, and I don't think I'm jinxed...A few days off of it won't do any harm..."

"You're so fucking boring..."

"Bite me, bitch..."

A few light laughs shared, and the fresh glasses arrived...Sipping the water slowly, he sighed and rested his head in one of his palms..."I'm screwed however I go about this, aren't I?"

"Something like that, but there'll be a way for everyone to be happy...And, before I forget, care to explain why you were at the cemetary....?"

His eyes shifted away slowly, and he thought quickly about just how much to tell him. Rocco was a good friend, someone he could trust, but was he comfortable telling him about Victoria and the baby?

He had to tell someone...

"I'll start from the beginning...Do you remember the girl I was dating last year? Victoria?"

"Yeah, what about her, didn't you and her break up on your graduation day?"

"....Yeah, anyway, it turns out that before we broke up, she'd....She'd ended up falling pregnant."

"WHAT!?" he yelled, his eyes bulging in surprise as he choked on the sip of wine he had in his mouth, setting the glass down. Calming himself, he waited with a stern expression on the rest of this information....

"I...I never knew, she never told me, and when everything happened, I mean the funeral and stuff, I ended up leaving without knowing a thing. I never even knew about it until I got back, until I went back to take a look at my own grave."

"...You really do have some morbid thoughts, don't you?"

"Rocco!", he exclaimed sharply, his eyes firm and stern. Sipping his water a moment, he set the glass back down and sighed....

"Sorry, sorry, carry on..."

"I found Victoria there, I couldn't believe the irony that she would have shown up at the same time as me, but I kept my distance and waited for her to leave. I didn't want to scare her...When it was clear I walked over, but I found something there...It was...It was a sonograph picture...."

"....Oh my...."

"U-huh, not the most conventional way to find out, at least, that was what I had figured....I did what I could to find out things, how far along she was and the like, but a phone-call to someone at the hospital ended up giving me information I didn't want to hear..."

"You didn't want to....?" His voice trailed as he thought, before his mind suddenly clicked into place, "Oh, shit...."

"Her cancer, she'd had the termination shortly before her chemo began, not long after the scan was taken. I wasn't there, Rocco. I could have helped, I could have done something, anything, but I wasn't able to help her....I failed the one person I couldn't have imagined myself able to let down....", his words dropped to a whisper as he simply looked down at the table, his eyes welling slightly before he held back the emotions, not for any other reason than to avoid drawing attention to himself...

"I'm so sorry Kazuki....I really am..." he said quietly, his palm reaching over and resting on top of the sullen mans wrist...

Sighing, he nodded and slipped his arm away slowly, "It's alright, I've dealt with it now...That's why I was at the cemetary, I decided holding on to the picture would just keep a painful memory alive, so I buried it on top of Kazuki's grave...I had to let go before it consumed me, I....I had to move on...."

The plate arrived, set down in front of the pair of them as the waiter glanced at the two oddly, walking away swiftly. A long silence lingered in the air between them as Taiku looked down at the plate, sighing and flicking his hair back where it had slunk down...Eventually he broke the silence, an almost cryptic statement leaving his lips.

"I got drunk with scissors...Hair or wrists, to be honest. I think I made a good choice....."

With a bemused expression, Rocco glanced up as he swallowed the small bite of food in his mouth, "What?"

"You asked about my hair, I told you....."

"...I guess..."

"Rocco, I...I'm sorry for piling this all on you like this...I just didn't know who else to talk to."

"If it were up to me, Taiku, you would be with Rene, but your heart will only let you make the right choices for you...Just be sure you know what choices you intend to make..."

"...Yeah...", sighing, he reached into his jacket pocket and fished out a $20 bill, placing it at the table in front of him..."Listen, I'm going to head off Rocco, I think I need some time to just think about all of this....Keep in touch, or I'll send a woman to you next time...." he added, smirking near the end with a faint, but clearly tired smile.

"Alright, I'll call you in a day or so, find out how you're doing...Take care, man..."

"You too..."

Standing, he slipped the coat back on slowly and turned away, walking to the door before glancing back over his shoulder and flicking a hand to Rocco, waving goodbye briefly. Leaving the small restaurant, he blinked slightly in the sunlight and approached his car. Leaning against the door a moment, he sighed and unlocked it, reaching under the roof to the sunvisor and grabbing the glasses from before, pulling them on and fishing for the cigarettes in his pocket...Lighting one, slipping the pack back into his coat, he puffed it slowly and tilted his head back into the light, lost in thought.

'So Rocco knew as well, has she really cared for me for that long? I mean, she loves me, I can't deny or ignore that...How do you deal with something like that being thrown at you....?"

Turning around, stepping into the car and starting the engine, he sat a moment as he idled in the spot, finishing the cigarette and flicking it out the window to the street, stepping on the gas and pulling away....Driving quickly, he made his way through the city, leaving the centre and taking a winding road away from the tall buildings, heading up a small hill before stopping atop it, parking the car and stepping out. Looking out over Varron, he closed his eyes and remembered the last time he had been here.

The last time he had been here, he was dead.

Standing there, almost exactly where he would have stood all those months ago, Taiku Akimoto remembered everything he had left behind, everything he had lost since then, and stepped forward with closed eyes, leaving the fog of doubt in his mind behind him and moving on once more. As he had once before, he would progress with his life, he would push on and find the answers he needed, he would find out where his heart truly lay, he would become stronger through his loss....

He wouldn't run again, and he knew exactly who he had to talk to first. Grabbing his phone, he punched in a number lightly, holding the earpiece up and listening to the rings. When it answered, he smiled lightly...

"Hey, Rene..."

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 5 - Prying Open The Floodgates, A Soul Screams...

"Uuugh......"

Pushing himself to his feet, he stood alone in the unfamiliar room and slowly began to turn on his feet...What was this place, or more appropriately, where? His hands were raised slightly as he turned, unsure of his surroundings and scrambling to find some piece of familiarity in the unknown, though grand, building....

"Whoever owns this place has good taste, that much can be said...." he thought quietly to himself, relaxing slightly as he skimmed his eyes over the expansive foyer with careful attention. The entrance to the building was similar in structure to that of a mansion, but somehow felt smaller, though he doubted there was much difference...Twin staircases ascended from either side of the waiting area against the walls, the richly polished wood shimmering in the soft lights that sat in small alcoves along the way up to a wide, extending landing that disappeared in either direction out of his sight. He paused for a moment and took in just how high this ceiling actually was in the foyer, tilting his head back and looking up with a quiet whistle of admiration. Just then, a concept entered his head and he considered something for a few moments, his eyes lost in thought before he looked down, taking a few steps back and looking at what seemed like an all-too-familiar mosaic on the floor beneath his feet, a rich swirling design of deep, burnt red, brown and cream that was almost hypnotic. Not solely in part for the fact that Taiku recognised this design so well, though he couldn't understand why....

Shaking his head, he sighed and began, a little slower at first, to take a few steps forward and away from the open space, mentally flipping a coin and taking the left path into the houses inner levels...Stopping at doors, he pushed a few to see if they opened and what was inside, some were locked, but those that weren't showed normal rooms, a kitchen, a restroom, nothing one would be so surprised as to see by any means, but the luxury that they held was notable even to him, a person accquainted with the lifestyle to high avail. A light tapping caught his attention from a room nearby however, and detouring from his intended exploration of the nearby rooms he approached it to the door, pushing it open and looking in...

"...What....?"

A small, yet lavishly decorated and immaculately neat office, a bookcase along one of the walls filled with numerous pieces of literature, contemporary and classic, a large singular pane of glass for a window at the far side of the room in front of him and a neatly polished wood floor beneath his feet, the tatami mat atop it gracing the floor with a subtle air of humility....Slipping his shoes off, he placed them on the small rack beside the door and stepped in, his eyes set solidly on the man sitting at the heavy, old but classic-looking desk. His fingers ran over the keys to the laptop in front of him skilfully, searching and looking over various documents that Taiku could only guess were work-related, the occasional highlight of a sentence here and there with a quick edit, the printing of something else there, the man seemed quite at ease with his work and was completely oblivious to the word around him....

"Excuse me, who are you...Where am I....?"

Figuring he had nothing to lose by asking, he took another step or two forward and spoke up, figuring that the gentleman, slightly older than himself, could shed some light on his current predicament. However, the resounding silence that left his lips was enough to make him stop and wonder exactly what was happening. Hadn't he spoken to himself before, or had he just imagined that...? Why couldn't he speak, and more to the point, why hadn't this gentleman heard him enter the room? Surely even engrossed in ones work, the sound of another persons footsteps in your seemingly empty house would be enough to rile you from your diverted attention. Stepping further forward, he put himself in almost direct sight with him, stopping a few feet away and folding his arms over his chest, he began to grow an ire at being unnoticed. Were it not for the sound of a childs voice, he would have reached over the desk to rip the laptop from his attention, throwing it clear across the room....At least, he would have intended to do so...

The childs voice however, got this mans attention almost instantly. His head flicked up from the screen almost as soon as her call resounded, and for the first time Taiku wa able to take a good look at his face...He would almost wish he hadn't however, and staggering back he slumped against the wall, his palms pressed against the paintwork lightly as he took a few, slow breaths. The face, it was his own, but that of a few years into the near future...His body tense, it all suddenly began to make perfect sense, why he had been able to calm in the building so quickly, how he had recognised the mosaic at his feet and how, even if by chance, he had known how to find this room...This was him, ten, maybe twelve years from now if his guess was accurate. The older version of himself didn't look all that weathered, quite the opposite in fact, for what he assumed the age to be he was still remarkably well kept, his face still handsome and a little sharp, the only betrayals to his age being crows feet beginning to take hold over his eyes, most likely the result of long nights working or partying in his younger years, and a small, tidy and thin moustache across his upper lip...Even the younger, slightly startled man had to allow himself a small laugh at that. He could imagine himself deciding to give it a try, if only for a fleeting moment in his life. His hair hadn't changed much, still retaining its color and rough length, although apparently it was now slicked back tidily out of his face, and his commonplace dark glasses had been replaced by spectacles, and with a bemoaned groan Taiku rolled his eyes, he prayed that they were simply reading glasses...

Standing to the mans right side, he was able to take in a good amount of his form whilst he was seated, but when he stood he was able to truly see what he was apparently to become...Physically, he was in almost the same shape as he was now, perhaps a little less toned around the edges but still in remarkable condition, his stature still holding a strong presence and his form almost exactly like it would have been a decade ago...The years had apparently been rather favorable to him, but a certain prominence rang in with what he saw now, only noticing it for the first time as he skimmed his eyes over the older version of himself, his focus dropping to his left hand, seeing the sparkle of a thin band around one of his fingers..

"I'm married...?"

The thought would only be able to linger in his head a moment as the other Taiku began to walk out of the room, walking quickly and in silence with a light smile on his face, an expression of contentment and peace as he passed by him. Turning, dumbstruck, the younger man began to follow calmly. Forgetting about his shoes, he padded across the wooden floor before stepping into the light, soft carpets of the hallway. Underfoot, the material was welcoming and his feet glided across it slowly as he followed the other to the foyer once more, stopping a little ways away from them despite his presence being unnoticed by either of the two...The other one of the two being a small girl, around seven or eight years old, who ran up to his older self and jumped into his arms, wrapping her own, smaller limbs around his neck and hugging him tightly with a wide smile...

"Daddy, you're home!"

He blinked but once at this, somewhat expecting this in one aspect, but still deeply caught asunder by the sheer gravity of the entire situation...He was married, a father, what next? A little fucking dog called Bingo? Leaning against the wall broodingly, both in a literal and metaphorical context, he continued to watch the other two intently, his ears paying heed as 'he' responded to the little girl...

"Of course, sweetie. Where else would I be?", his voice was a dead ringer for his own, though the accent was a touch more Americanised than it was for the younger Taiku and the voice softer, still firm but somehow protecting and comforting, even to him....Shrugging off the bizzare feeling of nostalgia for that which had yet to come to pass for him, he tuned out the rest of the conversation as he looked at what his 'daughter' were to be...The kid was cute, he'd admit that without denying the slight swell of pride that his apparent offspring were to turn out attractive, especially in a society where even the strictest of parents cannot prevent their children from becoming sugar-packed little greasebuckets, glued to videogames and afraid of fresh air.

She was raven-haired, long and deeply dark hair like his own, but her eyes were a soft hazel and her facial features were only barely reminiscent of his own, his nose, his ears...The little girl looked very much like her mother, he imagined, and smiled when he saw something in her eyes he had little memory of himself...Childlike innocence, happiness, parents to love her and care for her. With a break in his thought, his eyes caught a shadow on the floor and traced it up to a woman standing in the doorway, her arms in front of her with her fingertips lightly laced together as she watched the two in front of her with a hint of a smile...She was beautiful; long, deep brown hair that hung far down her shoulders in a tight, neat braid, the hazel eyes he had seen in the young girl, and as his own eyes flicked back and forth between them he could easily ascertain that this was her mother...Going by the identical band to his own on her left hands ring finger, his wife as well.

The older Taiku smiled and pressed a light kiss to his daughters head, kneeling to set her down with a light snicker and squeezing her once more, ushering her off with a vague remark about homework before standing back to his full height and approaching her. His arms slipped around her waist and pulled her lightly toward him, his palms resting against the small of her back as he tilted his head down to rest against hers...Whispering inaudibly to the younger man standing unnoticed away from them, they laughed softly with each other and kissed lightly, the embrace tightening as her own arms found his torso, resting against his body and nuzzling against him...

"I love you...."

"And I love you..."

Stepping just a little from her, he laced a hand in hers and took a few steps past, walking out the front door and out of the younger mans sight, forcing him to move from his spot and follow them, pacing across the foyer again, his feet padding against the tiled mosaic underfoot before he stopped at the door, slightly in awe with what he saw...The land the house was on was vast and open, a huge garden slightly off to one side with the long, brickwork driveway trailing away to a road a hundred yards or so away, and across from him he saw other houses of similar size to the one he stood in the doorway of...Was this the city's suburbs, or was this somewhere else in the country...? Unable to answer his own question, his eyes skimmed before he found the two of them again standing at the trunk of a recent model of car, glinting in the winter light next to another vehicle, one he recognised much more prominently and smiled at...It was his Cadillac XLR, and with a light grin he let his eyes linger on the car a few moments more. Even now, he wouldn't part with it, and with good reason. He loved it now, he would probably love it ten years from now as well...

"Well, some things don't change with time after all..." he thought, letting the smirk slip from his face....Something was yet to be answered to him yet, who was the woman...? He had only just now realised that her face had not been revealed before, and he questioned silently who it may be, if someone he already knew, or someone he was yet to meet....Looking over to catch a glimpse of her face, his older self was blocking his line of sight...Stepping to the side, he shifted to try and see her, but to no avail. Who was she...?

However, a moment later, his older self stepped aside, but as he did so she turned to look into the trunk of the car a moment, fishing out a couple of grocery bags and holding them in the cradle of her arms, slightly obscuring her face again as she began to make her way back towards the house....The ring of a cellphone halted her however, and kneeling, she set the bags down before standing, reaching into the purse at her waist and answering the phone, flicking it open. Chattering away quietly, she turned around slowly whilst lost in the conversation, her face almost turned to him....

Before he could see her, everything faded to black....Everything vanished, and in a swirling blur of darkness Taiku found himself in absolute nothingness. The void around him felt almost threatening, as if it would engulf him in a moments thought, and as he stood with his pulse racing, only a few whispered words reached him....

You know what your heart desires, Kazuki...It's whether you have the constitution to see it as far as is needed....

"Who was she, why couldn't I see her face...?"

A pause, and an answer was given...

Some things in your life are yet to be assured, and you will have to fight for them...

"Why? What was this all about, just my head messing with me again...?"

This time there was no answer, and the darkness faded away once again, the silence deafening as he roused in his bed.....His eyes opening, he growled quietly and turned to the table beside him, reaching over and picking up the clock...Groaning when he saw it was barely past three, he sat up and stared into the darkness of the room before reaching over and clicking on the lamp. The dream had unsettled him enough, and with the dim light he relaxed somewhat, away from the inky black that had engulfed him...Reaching his hand into the drawer of the table, he pulled out his journal and set it on his lap, sighing....Picking up the pen beside the phone, he flicked the cap off and opened the book, skimming to an empty page before he began writing...

Kazuki's Journal, December 5th, 2006

Sometimes the question of what you want in life can be a simple thing for a man to answer, there are people who know from being children what it is they want, what they want to be, what they aspire to make of their lives....For some, it's not quite as easy. For years, I had no attention to the future, for ten years of my life I lived and breathed only the idea of revenge, and when I finally took it, I found myself with a hollow space inside me...It's taken me so long to realise why that was, that it was because I lacked any desire for anything else in my life. Why? Because at such a young age I had lost everything that mattered to me, and it killed a part of my being...

It took so long for me to discover that there was more to it all, coming to Varron, I found people I cared about, even a few I grew to love, and over time that void began to fill with something, and ironically I never even knew it until just now...Call it an epiphany, call it a strike of fate, whatever, but everything makes sense to me as far as that can be considered now. I know what I want in my life, but I know I'll have to fight for it...That doesn't worry me, it's what I know how to do best.....

Fight....

Kazuki Shinato

Sighing, closing the book back over, he set it back into the drawer and leaned back, turning his head to the clock again...Not long past thirty minutes after three. Stepping away from the bed, standing and pulling a shirt over his head, he took a few paces toward the window and stood there, looking out over the streets with silence as the rain pattered lightly against the window...

Sometimes the dreams we want come to us more literally than others.....

[Kira Karyuudo, Hikari]

Don't panic about the edits. I just went through and changed the [c][/c] code that doesn't work to [center][/center].

Anyhoo, I guess we have to put up our reviews again. ^^;;

Well! Regardless, I still love the storyline, it's written beautifully, and when you can put the last chapter up, even better. Great job on the storyline, Liam, still looking forwards to more. ^^

[Kokaku Musha]

5th of december is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands... it's technically a man with a beard, coming from Spain to give children toys... Santa Clause from Spain... just on a sidenote...

Anyway, Copy Paste of my old review, great work, I love to read your stuff and I think that you score well on the juicy erm... what was it called again? area... yeah... with dutch love...

[Kazuki Akimoto]

A/N: Right, I'm thankful for the comments (despite most of you not bothering, ya bums.... >.>), so please don't hesitate to add more. This is going to be a somewhat 'sideline' chapter, the next chapter will progress the story now that other threads needed are being moved on, so no shooty for Liam... xX;

---->GRAPHIC CONTENT AHEAD<----

Warning: Sexual content throughout. I will not stress this enough, I have no intent on being held responsible for people not paying attention to the big letters above, so if you don't want to read this chapter, as I mentioned before, skip it. It's something of a side-line to the main story...You have been warned, alright?



Part 6 - You Are Mine, And I Am Yours....

The soft glow of a lamp in the corner of the room cast a gentle glow throughout, the darkness battling against its presence to cast shadow over everything...In the silence that bound them, the two lovers who sought solace in their embrace pressed against one another, his arms resting around her waist gently and holding the young woman against him, her right arm set lightly against his chest as her fingertips trailed along the soft, dark lines of the tattoos that adorned his body, the other arm curled around his shoulder, the palm gently gripping the skin and meshing her body closer to him...

The soft growl that passed his lips rumbled lowly in his throat as they met with hers, the flesh softer and warmer than anything he could have imagined as she yielded against him, parting her own and lightly tilting her head to lean further into the embrace with a near-inaudible sigh of her own as her body lowered against his, the warmth of his skin sending ripples of muted pleasure through her body as one of his arms slowly began to trace across the length of her spine, the fingertips flickering gently over the flesh before running through her hair with a single, long run of his palm to cradle her head, the pads of his fingers gently caressing her as her head tilted away from him, backing away just enough to glance down into his eyes, the dull grey seeming alive as tiny sparks of light from the lamp caught his irises, causing them to flicker back at her own in a silent whisper of his deepest thoughts, and her own...

As she leaned back, he let out the faintest of sighs, reluctant to break from her and taking a slow breath as he shifted slightly, guiding her body with his and bringing back one of his arms to rest against the forearm, raising himself to recline slightly as the fingers of his other arm continued to brush through the long hair slowly, the silken feeling one he could have lost himself in for days as he looked back at her, a hint of a smile reaching his lips tightly, but unlike it would be any other time, the arrogance and power he portrayed through the sharpness of his actions was lost when his eyes softened along with the smile, regarding her with utter wonder....She was beautiful, soft, she was....

'Perfect....'

His thoughts gave a low, pleasant hum as he sighed at her, arching his back a little as his hips shifted under hers, the tiniest of tremors shooting through him at the sensation of his clothed torso catching against her warmth, leaning slightly towards her and catching her lips once more, firmer than before, and taking a more powerful grasp of her hair, his fingers lightly bunching against her back as she gave what sounded to him like a faint growl of her own, causing the hands that had been lightly caressing his skin to move away a moment as she slowly shifted one of her legs over his, straddling him gently and using the newfound balance to slip the arms, now free, around his body to pull him closer against her, wanting to feel that warmth all the more, needing to feel it all the more as her palms traveled across his shoulders, one of them slipping up to fist a hand into his hair gently, catching the slight length of his locks between her fingertips and bringing from his lips a deep, traitorous groan that made her smile against the embrace, her lips parting further to venture her tongue out, almost hesitant, to his own...

In that moment, one of the few tendrils of his restraint began to fray as her hand caressed his scalp slowly. He almost cursed himself for the groan but soon found himself relishing in the touch, her palms motions soothing, yet still able to create sparks of energy between the two of them as he contemplated silently how to exact a little...'revenge' for the movement...Slowly shifting his leg, he set it atop the back of her calf and gave her body a slow squeeze, pulling her closer for a moment before flicking his entire self around, swiftly bringing her around and pinning her gently beneath him with a light smile...Descending to her mouth once more, he pressed his lips gently against hers a moment, slipping away almost as quickly as he had arrived to kneel between her thighs silently, casting a slow, absorbing gaze over her form with eyes that betrayed his arousal, her body feeding a hunger within his body that grew with every passing moment. Tracing his fingers against the front of her legs lightly, he began to slowly caress her clothed body, shifting forward as he traveled up the length of her legs, the tips of his fingers curling the tiniest amount to let his nails graze softly over her stomach, a flicker of movement as the skin shivered to his touch, yet arched towards it lightly in approval as he brushed over the skin with the gentlest of touches.

She could only blink quickly as she was flipped, but quickly found herself comfortable under his form and nestled into the soft material below her, her eyes following his movement and almost trembling as his hands reached her torso. The sensation sent a sudden wave of warmth through her body, her legs tightening a moment as he leaned in with the touch before relaxing again, raising her arms to slowly stroke the tops of his forearms. Feeling the powerful muscles against her fingertips and running further up to curl her fingers around the skin, holding gently onto him as she watched his face, the softness in his gaze something she thought this man, a person she knew had so much darkness in his past, so much pain in his heart, could have never found....When his eyes shifted to meet completely with hers, the warmth of them almost set her body ablaze as her fingers inadvertently curled into the skin a moment, and at that very second every inch of her body shivered for the briefest instance at the patience and care in his actions...Had he wanted to simply meet his desire, he could have very well done so, but instead he was focusing his entire being into her body, her own cravings, her release. Finding herself wanting more with every inch his fingers traveled across her skin, she emitted a gentle sigh and curled one of her legs around to stroke the instep of her foot against his ankle, closing her eyes and wondering quietly to herself, lost in his embrace...

'Does that mean he has found it with me....?'

Never taking his eyes from her, his palms continued to caress and massage her body gently as he forced restraint on himself not to just attack her body, but with every tremor that rushed through her, the faintest hint of the sensation reaching his palms, he suppressed himself further and pressed on, biting back a low growl as his torturously slow strokes eventually reached the softness of her breasts, lightly turning his palms to engulf the silken flesh with a slow, teasing motion, her nipples already firm and risen from his gradual movement across her skin as his thumbs flickered across the tips of the slightly rigid skin, bringing a light moan from her lips as he caught the peaks of her flesh between his fingers, fondling them slowly against the arching of her back, a little more intent on his touch delving deeper into her body and sating that which her body was beginning to crave as mercilessly as his. Slinking forward, his body moving almost unnoticeable to hers as he brought his mouth down upon one of the soft peaks of flesh, darting his tongue out for a slow stroke that curled to a gentle flick against the nipple...He couldn't even bring himself to hold back the slow, lingering growl that left his lips before he parted his lips a little further, his breath against her skin causing the dampness his tongue had left to chill suddenly, the skin suddenly finding his mouth again as her back tilted up, the unhindered groan she released sending a rush of heat through him, his teeth lightly catching her flesh and nibbling her slowly, the free hand lightly trailing back down her body and stroking against the top of her clothing gently, pressing down against the warmth before bringing his palm to unfasten the pants and slowly massaging the lower area of her abdomen, the tips of his fingers tracing across the lace that covered her...

Her body shuddered as his teeth found her skin, and arching into him as her back tightened, she could only gasp at the feeling of his teeth against her nipple, every moment of his touch rending her almost helpless before she found herself, slipping her arms down to slowly caress across his shoulders, her nails curling in to slowly scrape against his skin with every lap of his tongue against her. Barely registering as his hand slipped away and reached to her panties again, when his palm pressed against her core she let out a slow cry, her eyes crushing shut as she felt the slow, gentle caress of his hand brush against her warmth. Her jaw set a moment before she sighed softly, letting the breath out quickly in a light pant when his hand left her, an almost pouting whimper leaving her lips at the loss of the touch before she felt her jeans loosen at her waist and his fingertips trace below the opened material to venture down against the top of her panties. Lightly trembling, her hand shifted to set against the top of his arm, lightly squeezing the trim layer of muscle and applying the faintest amount of pressure to guide his hand to her core...She needed his touch, sought it now, and as his eyes glanced up, his head raising slowly from her breast, she nodded slowly at him in assent. When the fingers slipped down, brushing under the lace and caressing the softness of her folds, she surprised herself that she didn't tear through his skin at the force of her nails curling into his shoulder, the tips of her nails digging sharply into him and bringing forth a low growl from his lips as he pressed softly against the soft, wet skin, the tip of one of his fingers slipping between them to push inside of her slowly with a gentle stroke, curling it to lightly caress her inner walls with a teasing stroke before slipping away, letting his hand trail away with a quick, teasing brush against her nub...

"T-Taiku...God...."

"Yes, love...?"

"It's so...I need you...Please...."

"You have me, I am yours..."

"Taiku...."

Opening her eyes slowly, a few light beads of sweat beginning to rise on her skin as the heat that seared through her body began to grow even more uncontrollably, she rested her palm against his cheek and traced her thumb against his face, taking a slow breath as the last of the tremors from his touch began to lighten enough for her to speak. Her eyes shifted to his shoulder where her nails had broken into his skin before, her own body wincing at the tiny trickle of blood that escaped one of the cuts before she spoke...

"Your shoulder...."

"....Will be fine, just a scratch...."

"But...."

"... I assure you, if you do not do worse to me by the end of the night, I would be surprised...."

She giggled a moment at the comment, but at the same time her body gave a rush of warmth at the thought of what he would do that might result in her inadvertently 'hurting' him again...She smiled a little at him when her arousal began to fire up suddenly, the idea that if that single touch had resulted in her previous reaction, what might he be able to bring her body to do to him...? Curling her leg a little more around his, the side of her foot brushing slowly across the back of his calf when he raised one of his eyebrows faintly at her, the low rumble of a growl escaping his lips when he took in her body slowly, running his palms down across her waist and stroking the skin gently, hooking his fingers into the sides of the material and slipping the layers off with a soft, slight motion, her hips raising to offer a hint of assistance to his actions before he set herself back down, her palms almost reaching to cover herself. Had he not been kneeling between her legs, she would have shut them together with a stuttered moment of insecurity before he leaned forward, slowly pressing his body against her with a gentle embrace, his tongue darting out gently to catch her lips with a gentle, fleeting stroke that was returned with a whimper, her head tilting up to mesh her lips with his, the moment of hesitation drifting away as her legs relaxed, coiling around him a little and pulling him towards her core, feeling his hardness against her and moaning softly to the kiss.

'I want him, god, I NEED him...'

At the restriction her core gave to his arousal, still kept pinned down by his jeans, he released a deep, guttural growl that escaped through his clenched teeth, the ivory of his canines glinting faintly in the low, dim light as he arched his back slowly. Shuddering at the warmth of her flesh before his restraint gave in, collapsing in his head and turning his head back down to her, a hungry gaze in his eyes as he trailed his lips across her body, nipping out at her collarbone gently with his teeth...The ministrations brought forth a slowly increasing tempo of breath from the girl beneath him, and as her palms gripped the sheets below them, she squeezed lightly with her legs as the tip of his tongue flicked against the front of her neck, suddenly followed by a swift, firm bite that caught her skin tightly between his teeth.

Her gasping breath shot her eyes open widely at the sensation, her entire body feeling as if it would explode as that burning rush began to pull itself together, coiling deeply within her abdomen as his bite slowly lingered away from her neck, lapping the tip of his tongue against the reddened skin softly to soothe the pain he had left, but she had....relished it, found it so delicious to combine the sensation of raw pleasure coursing through her flesh along with that slight soreness, and as his warmth pressed against her further with her body arching up to grind against him she felt her body begin to reach a peak, her climax rising...

But he wasn't quite ready to allow her the release yet, and as he quickly shifted his body away from her, kneeling back, he watched her as her body shook gently, the sudden drop leaving her unable to do anything but clench onto the linen below her and shiver at the sensations that began to flush through her blood, her body aching for the touch he had taken from her so suddenly, her hands loosening their hold on the sheets and trailing across her stomach, brushing across the searingly hot skin of her abdomen before dipping her fingers lower, nestling through the soft curls and caressing her slick folds gently, eliciting a muted moan as her fingers raised a little, lightly brushing against her clit with a few, quick strokes as she sought her orgasm, but once again she was hindered from completion as he gripped her arms, leading them away as her panting began to rise again. Opening her eyes and looking up at him, the expression almost cutting him down as he saw her lips tremble, parting to speak in soft, gasping breaths....

"Tai....Taiku...P-please....I need...I want you to make me yours......"

With a slow nod, he gave her the faintest of smiles as his own fingers began to tease across her flesh, slinking along the insides of her thighs slowly before caressing the soft, damp folds of her core himself, sighing deeply at how warm the skin had become, his body resisting every urge to take her now as he continued to flicker the pads of his fingers against the flesh, the light twitches of her body settling into his touch a moment later before he slowly pushed a couple of fingers between them, delving into the depths of her warmth and biting his lower lip, stifling a slow sigh at the feeling of her as her body clenched tightly around him, gripping tightly as he thrust faster into her core. Arching her back at the touch, her peak suddenly returned with sudden, powerful intensity as she reached for his skin, her nails clasping into his shoulders again as a silent scream reached her lips, her release breaking loose with force so great that she wasn't even aware that her nails had raked across his shoulders so firmly that she had taken skin from him, not quite drawing blood but still cutting through his flesh....

Growling with a low, primal tone and shuddering deeply at the sharp pain the nails gave him, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as her body began to tremble, slinking down and maintaining his strokes, slower than before, and with a flick of his tongue brushed across the warmth of her nub...The writhing mewls of pleasure she gave rang through his ears, and he knew that he would only be able to hold himself back for so much longer, the taste of her flesh intoxicating and addicting all at the same time as he lapped at her softly, the sweetness flooding his tongue and pushing him to his limits, finding himself growing in aggression in his strokes.

"Please, Taiku...I need more, I need you inside of me..."

Shaking as her climax began to slink away, her body felt as if every inch of her was awash with electricity, the tips of her fingers dancing with sparks of a sensation that tingled throughout her. Her respite was brief however when his tongue reached her skin, and with her head thrown back at the feeling, she found herself feeling as if her entire body would simply melt into him, unable to even speak for a moment as she reached her hands to his hair, slowly fisting her fingers through the soft, dark locks and tugging them gently, all at once wanting more of the sensation and trying to escape it as her body began to respond once more, rising in a quick repeat of her peak from a few moments ago before she bucked her hips away grudgingly, her panting breaths managing to get the words out to him as she guided him across her body, feeling the warmth of his chest against her body, her breasts pressed tightly against him as she reached for him, gripping at his length through his pants before giving out, to Taikus slight surprise, a small growl of her own as she leaned up, lightly grazing her teeth against his shoulder before biting him sharply, bringing a sudden groan from his lips as his head tilted back, his throat resounding a slow, lingering sigh of pleasure as her palms gripped the belt. Her panting rising slowly in anticipation of taking him inside of her, she unfastened the pants as he slipped them away, slinking back down against her body and resting himself against her, positioning carefully and teasing her core slowly, pausing a moment to look at her, all of the guttural instinct in him melting away for that moment....

"Mine..." he whispered quietly, his eyes catching hers as he rested his forehead against hers, gazing into her and curling his lip, his teeth bared in a half-smile before pressing his lips gently against her own soft, pliant ones...

"As you are mine....." she replied, the same light smile on her lips but much softer than his, and with a low sigh she arched her hips, guiding him in a little further before he took control, tilting himself back and pushing forward to drive into her slowly, but firmly, burying himself completely within her warm, pulsing core...He could do little but groan for a moment, his head dropping down in a slow, deep breath as he felt just how tight the warmth was, gripping his length and pushing him to near-insanity...When she rolled her hips, raising them slightly and taking him further into her, she gasped at the sensation and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, whimpering quietly...

"Faster..." she pleaded, "I want to feel all of you...."

Bracing himself at the rush of arousal her words sent through his body, he cursed himself silently as his entire body trembled above her, his arm supporting him over her as he met her plea, a slow and steady increase in his pace as he began to thrust in and out of her, his motions being matched by the girl as she began to shift her hips with every move he made, eager to take every piece of pleasure from the motions she could...For the longest time, she found herself awash in a haze of bliss that left her incapable to do anything but react to him, her entire world dissolving to this moment, this place, this feeling. Gripping onto his body as he ground against her, lightly raising one of her legs up against his torso to deepen his rhythm and increase the feeling, she could only gasp loudly at the enhanced sensation, closing her eyes and pulling herself against him slightly, her head buried into his shoulder as she heard her lovers heart beat a powerful tattoo, his moans growing and becoming more vicious sounding growls. His tempo continued to rise, slowly increasing to powerful, crashing thrusts against her as his release began to close in on him. His head shot down as he bared his teeth a moment, his jaw clenched a moment before a final, sharp groan escaped his lips, his teeth biting into her collarbone firmly as his release broke from him, pressing against her firmly and bringing her to another powerful climax, her legs shifting to wrap tightly around him and pull his body against hers, to feel the warmth of his flesh against hers, her core pulsing around him, draining him as he shuddered lightly atop of her, releasing her skin from his bite and lapping at it softly, soothing the bite mark he left with gentle brushes of his tongue...

Turning her head to his, a hand reaching up to bring his lips to hers, she placed a soft, lingering kiss against his lips, shivering as the tremors coursed through her and nuzzling against him, her forehead against his shoulder as she felt the warmth of his breath against the top of her ear, holding closely to him...She never wanted this moment to end, to leave this place, to leave him...

"Taiku...I love you..." she whispered, not looking up as she spoke, the words husky and a little ragged from her vocal responses before, and feeling his arms squeeze her softly, she simply nuzzled in against him further, taking comfort in the heat of his body, his scent, his presence around her, inside her....

"And I love you, Kira...." he replied, one of his palms reaching up to rest against her head, brushing the tips of his fingers through her hair....

Waking with a start, sitting up in the bed with a sharp breath, he set his palms back as he struggled to steady himself, his breathing sudden and erratic...What the hell was wrong with him when he had dreams THAT vivid....? Leaning over and flicking the lamp on, he shifted out of the bed and stood, padding across the soft carpet with slow, heavy steps as he set a palm against the wall, groaning quietly to himself...

'Cold shower this morning, I think...'

[Maverik]

Brilliantly written Liam. I gotta respect your abilities as a writer, you're a hell of allot better than me, that's for sure. Look forward to the next one.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

A/N: Y'know, I never thought I'd write something like this, but this is a filler chapter to cover some time between the rest of the storyline Kira and I are involved in finishing and a few other threads being set in motion. However, I had a failsafe for this in the offchance I would have to do it, you'll see soon enough...This is a closed thread in its entirety, if you wish to make posts regarding the opening of Legion, don't hesitate to create one. ^^

Chapter 7 - Dark Memories, Starting Over Again...

-Flashback-

Smoke rose through the main floor of the Edge, filling the air and clouding the sight of all those who fought in this battle, enemy and ally alike. Blood trickled from a wound on his forehead as he squinted his eyes to see, the acrid scented fumes stinging and blurring his vision alongside the blood, pooling together with sweat and running into his eyes painfully. Gripping the waist of his shirt and raising it to his face, swiping away the dusty mixture, he forced himself to keep his eyes open long enough to get as good a look of the room as he possibly could in this moment...

What he would see, however, would remain burned into his mind for a long time to come.

'My god..'

Carnage, absolute chaos and mayhem befell his eyes, in front of him he saw what had become of his once beautiful business and it was enough to almost reduce the man to the brink of breaking down. Ahead of him, the entire main floor was slowly being reduced to little more but wreckage and ash. If it wasn't burning, it was broken, tables having been used as makeshift shields from the spray of glass from the firebombs that Kvists men had sent at them beofre being caught in the flames, reduced to nothing more than charcoal and cinders. His fingers coiling tighter around the grips of the shotgun, he steeled himself before pushing away from his shelter, charging forward and firing off four shots. He was certain two of them had hit, bringing the two recipients of the blasts to the ground before he had left a line of sight with them, the other two he was at least assuming had wounded SOMEONE..The spray on the shells may not have been too widespread, but they'd still stray enough to clip someone.

However, Taiku found himself with a problem here. The fourth shot had been the last one in the weapon, and he no longer had any ammunition to reload....Cursing himself quietly, he tossed aside the empty and now useless firearm and tucked his legs in against himself a moment. Trapped, unarmed and with nowhere to run, his mind scrambled desperately in search of a solution to his dilemma.....

-End Flashback-

As the young man paced slowly through the near-empty building, alone bar a few staff members throwing together the final touches for the opening night to begin in an hour or so, he found himself drawn back to thoughts of the past, of things that still haunted him in the quiet hours when his mind was allowed to wander away from things to do with work or something else. He had, however, grown used to the memories sneaking up on him, and though he still had nights that awoke him in cold sweats, he had grown able to cope with them in time.

'It's too quiet tonight. I hope the opening brings a good crowd in...'

Stopping in front of the large pane of toughened one-way glass that served as one part of the front wall, he watched the few people who paced around and looked at the entrance, glancing at the sign above the door that had been brought to life in a fluorescent glow of white, the name of the club illuminating the doorway and the surrounding sidewalk.

Legion, Taikus own small tribute to those who had fought with him back in Varron, his pathetic attempt at doing something to acknowledge their contribution that day, the risks they had all taken.......

-Flashback-

"Taiku! We can't hold them back much longer, they're gaining ground on us!"

The sound of those words ringing in the air were more painful than anything he had had inflicted upon himself tonight, but with a burning resolve along with unrelenting rage still oozing from his every pore, he spat out words that would seal the fate of many of those who stood by his side...

"Not yet....We do not run, we will not be beaten like this, I won't let Kvist beat me!!"

His own selfish motives fuelling him, the shotgun hanging in one arm as he picked up a bar stool in his other hand, twisting his body quickly full circle and releasing it towards the door with a vicious swing, sending the heavy steel legs into the body of an oncoming Hand member as he flicked his other wrist, bringing the firearm back up to a cocked stance and letting loose a shot into the air above the door, the spray from the shot striking one of the firebombs before it could be thrown and dousing the entrance in flames as it ignited overhead the Hands incoming grunts...

"I will kill all of you for what your leader did to her....You will suffer his penance! You will be the redemption of Kvist!!" he roared, charging towards an approaching member of the Hand and slamming the barrel of the gun into his jaw suddenly, sending him to the floor in a crumpled pile before his heel followed rapidly, directly onto the side of the young mans face, laced with a horror he relished at this moment...

-End Flashback-

Blinking a few times, he stopped his mind as it drifted out again...He had a particular distaste for those memories when they chose to invade his mind, thinking with a bitter taste in his mouth how much it reminded him of an earlier time in his life, when he had nothing but memories of anger and loathing for the world around him...It reminded him of days like the rooftop back at Varron when he had nearly taken the life of his closest friend, when the beast in him surged with such control over him that he had nothing else.

Something inside him tightened, his muscles constricting as he wondered just how his friend was. He had seen nothing of him or the others since the day they had met up one last time at the hospital to see Kokaku, with the exception of Kira. She had been the only person he had kept contact with, in response for her asking for his help to move her things to the West coast. Despite this, he still wondered how the others were, hoping they were well, and that they had moved forward.

But Maverik, he was still slightly worried about him after that night. Perhaps he had been in a calm frame when he had appeared at the hospital, but the two of them had reverted to states of mind long since buried when Kvists picture message had been sent to Taikus phone that night. The sight of what they had believed to be Kira, dead, had pushed them over the edge once more. Dead Eye had resurfaced, the incarnation of pure violence that resided in the depths of Maveriks psyche, could his friend be able to control the beast that lay within him again?

-Flashback-

For the time being, partly resulting from the onslaught of rage that Maverik and Taiku were unleashing, Legion was staving off the attacking Hand members, the numbers that had made it inside the building facing a brutal fate at the hands of the two snapped men...Uninterested in what Maverik was doing, Taiku focused solely on punishing the youth he had pinned down, straddled over him with his knees pinning his arms at the biceps. His hands brought the butt of the gun down into his face with a wet, cracking sound with every strike, pummelling him into the ground with furious fervour before the gargled pleas of mercy began to reach his ears....Halting the attack the briefest moment, he grinned widely and set the shotgun down, smirking a moment.

"Mercy? Would you have shown mercy to the people who fight for me? Does your master allow you to show it?"

The moments respite disappeared afterward as Taiku gripped one of the youths hands, prying his fingers out from the clenched fist he was holding tightly to and wrenching the little finger back suddenly with a dull snap, bringing another yelp of pain from the kid he held down...

"Then you will receive none from me..."

"P-please...Don't do this...."

His last desperate plea falling on deaf ears, he could only release deep, carnal screams of pain as Taiku set to snapping the remaining fingers on the youths right hand, letting it fall to the floor again as he watched the tears slowly stream off the young mans face. The words that caught his ears next, however, would be the very thing that saved this persons life...

"Boss! There's something you need to hear!"

"I doubt it can't wait until later...."

"Taiku, it's some girl who needs to talk to you!"

"....A girl?"

"Yeah, here!"

Holding the headset up to his ears, his own having been tossed aside a while ago, he wasn't sure how or when, he spoke tentatively into it....

"Y-yes....?"

"Kazuki! It's Kira, I'm fine...I don't know exactly what you've heard, but I'm totally fine!"

Dropping the hand that held the headset, he backed up from the youth he had pinned and moved away, his mind scrambling to digest the information...There was a chance that this was a setup of sorts, but he doubted it. He knew her voice well enough to know it was her, and in an instant he felt as if he had been knocked clean out of his head. Around him, the sounds of gunfire and flames licking at the walls, rising and reducing the building to ashes as the two rival factions fought it out in this brutal battle, he found himself searching only for one person....

'Where are you, Maverik...Where are you??'

Quickly moving across the room, he skimmed over the place, hunting for the other male who had seen the picture of her, before his eyes caught him...

"MAVERIK!!"

Yelling at the top of his voice, he watched as his friends head turned, and with a flick of his wrist he brought the headset back to his mouth a moment, not bothering to listen, just speaking quickly....

"There's one more person you need to tell....."

As he slung the headset at him, he watched as a slightly incredulous expression met him, and he gestured for his friend to listen in on the line. The change in his expression was enough for Taiku, and he quickly moved away again, retrieving his shotgun a moment later and reloading it once more. She may have been alive, but he would not let that brief moment of relief stop him fighting. He couldn't risk everything like this, he had to keep fighting.

-End Flashback-

Slowly breathing, he glanced at his watch...A few minutes to go and he could open the doors, hopefully the growing crowd outside would be able to busy his mind enough to stop him being so fucking nostalgic, and as he turned away to approach the exit to the back of the club, he took one last glance over his shoulder to the queue outside...Would any of them tonight be former members of Legion, people he remembered from New York...?

Shrugging slowly, he slipped away and followed the stairwell up to the top level of the club where he had, like he had done before for the staff at The Edge in the past, converted a comfortable staff room, not to mention his office. Gripping the doors, he stepped inside and slipped his coat off, tossing it over the back of one of the two chairs in front of his desk, slipping out of his casual clothes and dressing in the neatly pressed suit that hung over his desk. First night, he figured, deserved the owner to make a good first impression. Reaching over and pressing a button on the phone he had on his desk, he spoke quietly and with a slow pace...

"Have the DJ start now, open the doors and let's get this circus into motion, Rene...."

"Sure thing, I'll be up to see how you look in that suit in just a minute, too....."

"Heh, alright. Let's make this a good one..."

Releasing the button, he turned around to look out of the large window in his office, the same one-way glass that he had used for the main wall on the lower level, over the quiet, empty floor before turning to the CCTV screen. Taking a quiet breath, he slipped his palms into the suit pockets and watched as the doors were opened, the deadbolts slid loose and the doormen standing outside given the nod to begin letting people enter....

'Back to square one, Kazuki.....', he mused quietly with a faint smile as the door to his office opened, in stepping Rene with a smirk on her lips, a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses hanging lightly from between her fingers of her free hand. Turning to acknowledge her as she walked in, he gave her a brief smile and turned back.

"Figured you could use a toast to this place...." she quipped, winking at him as she set the bottle down along with the glasses and motioning for him to turn around, smiling more serenely as she took in his appearance.

"Looking good, Kazuki...I assume you'll have invited Kira along tonight...?"

"Need you ask, Rene...?" he smirked, shaking his head and taking the glass of champagne she handed to him, tilting the top of the glass toward her lightly, "To Legion, both of the past, and of the present...."

"To Legion...." she replied, tapping the edge of her glass against his as they turned, leaning on the desk and watching in silence as the main floor gradually began to fill up....

[Kazuki Akimoto]

A/N: Another filler for the time being, I have a lot of work to do on the next chapter (read: Finish other threads to justify the storyline, but meh). This is something I threw together at about 3am out of boredom ^^;

For those who speak NO Japanese, nor understand it (also note, I'm using reference material. If I'm wrong, don't hissy-fit me. Tell me and I'll change it accordingly ^^.

So, here y'all go, next 'chapter', so to speak. ^^

Part 8 - The Taste Of Sake, Birth Of A Dragon

His eyes skimming over the walls calmly, he looked at the designs pinned up with a deeply interested focus...Some of them were not to his taste, but he had to admit, every single one of them was certainly unique and intriguing in its own way. One however, that had caught his eye a few minutes ago, had immediately become the very choice he would make when the moment came. So much so he had taken the image down from the wall and now held it lightly between his fingers.

"Hey kid, you're up next right?"

Glancing back at the head that poked out of the doorway, he nodded slowly and turned, making his way to the side room of the parlour as a couple of other guys looked over at him...In the fluorescent light of the parlour, the dark ink of his current tattoos was slightly evident under the white shirt he had picked up. He was quite aware that white was perhaps not the best color to wear in such a circumstance, but it was probably the loosest thing he owned, not to mention the cheapest. There wasn't a chance in hell he'd risk getting bloody ink -or would it be inky blood?- all over one of his more expensive garments.

Sitting down on the bench, suspectly looking like a massage table, he gave the tattooist a minute before speaking, letting the guy finish changing the needles on the inking gun and putting everything else into sterilisers before his next client. He was a surprisingly old man for a tattoo artist, probably somewhere into his mid-fifties if not a little older, not to mention of similar complexion to Taiku. Clearly Japanese.

"I heard you're the best guy in the city to come to for a good quality tattoo, I'm going to take a wild stab that you design all of these as well...?"

"You would guess correctly. What is it you are looking for, is that it there....?", he asked as he gestured to the design Taiku held. Reaching over and taking it from him, he gave a quiet chuckle... "Ah, this one...I have a deep fondness for this particular piece, but I've never printed it before. Not even on myself...."

"Your point being....?", Taiku replied slowly, his words chosen cautiously. Fearing the man was not the problem, but he would not risk losing the chance to have this design....

"What did you want me to do with it? How large did you plan on having it, where did you intend to put it?"

"Full size, I want it to cover my back."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you want such a large tattoo?"

"Why is it relevant?"

"I can't help but wonder if a man needs such a marking emblazoned across him, that perhaps there are things in his past he wishes to cover up, by covering himself up...."

"...Perhaps, but if that were to be the case, then I've already given myself something of a head-start..." he remarked dryly, slipping his shirt off and showing the tattoos that adorned his upper torso. The ink on them was still strong, but it had begun to fade a little around the edges.

"You clearly have a love for more than just tattoos, young man...Those scars are the signs of many battles, more than any normal person would find themselves in, am I correct?"

"An astute observation indeed, but I still don't see why you want to know...."

"I do not, I was merely being curious....."

"Then, if that's settled, can we get started....?"

"Take a seat, if you wish I can touch up the rest of your tattoos as well, some of them seem to be fading a little....Also, for this design to fit, I will need to print over this imprint on the back of your neck..."

"...Sure. Don't worry about that, I've let go of the thing it stood for..."

"Alright, then let us begin...Asane, cancel the rest of my appointments today, tell them to come back tomorrow...." he called out the door lightly to the younger male who had been sitting in the main waiting room, pushing the door shut behind him and turning to the young man in front of him, gesturing to the table.

Shifting around, laying on his stomach on the table and resting his arms in front of his head, he sighed slowly and stared at the floor as the tattooist began....

-Several Hours Later-

Although the dull buzzing of the needle had long since faded into the background, pausing for brief moments as the tip was re-inked, the silence as the inking gun was set down with a soft sound of metal on wood brought Taikus head up from the table. Having spent the most part of the afternoon counting the minutes, he had roughly estimated having spent something around six, maybe six and a half hours in that position. His neck was cricked badly, and with a flick of his head he cracked it sharply, loosening the tighened joints.

"You finished...?"

"Almost...."

"Oh? What else needs done?" he asked, tilting his head a little at the remark...

"I would like to share a drink with you, if you would honor me...."

Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders... "Sure, what've you got?"

"Young man, I am Japanese, 'what I've got', is Sake."

"...Sake? I haven't drunk that stuff in years...."

"Then allow this to be the remedy to that situation...Please, take a seat."

Turning and sitting slowly into the chair behind him, perched slightly on the edge so as not to put pressure on his back, still being shirtless to allow the oily solution that had been rubbed along the outline to dry just enough, he rested one arm on the table beside him as he watched the old tattooist reach into a cupboard and procure a bottle and two small, traditional looking, Sake cups...

As he sat and poured the fragrant-smelling wine, Taiku caught the scent in his nose and took it in slowly...Much as he tried to hide from it, it reminded him of home, of his grandfather after their training sessions where he would gesture for the young boy to go off and play, or practice or whatever he chose to do, taking the time to sit and enjoy the beverage himself...The first time he had tried it, he had secreted some of the bottle his grandfather left on the table in their main living area, making himself feel rather ill in the process. The old man, being no fool, had realised quickly what had happened, but had not scolded the boy for his actions....

Flashback

"I'm sorry, grandfather...I just wanted to know why you drank it every day....."

His head lowered as he kneeled before the older man, Kazuki braced himself in expectation of punishment from him. Such things as thievery were not tolerated in the household, but curiousity had got the better of him on this occasion. His body tense, he did not expect to have his grandfather kneel before him calmly, showing nothing of an intent to deliver a punishment.

“Kazuki, some men drink Sake to escape their lives, some to fuel their anger and emotions, in this modern day and age, the traditions of Sake have long since escaped most of our countrymen. Throwing it down your neck like you must have, it can adversely affect a man, but if drunk properly, it is a spiritual experience…”

“I…I don’t understand….”

Chuckling quietly, he shook his head at the young man before rising from his kneeling position, gesturing for Kazuki to do the same as he turned from the outer walkway of the house, stepping inside. “Come, you will drink Sake with me today….”

End Flashback

Lowering his head slowly at the memory, he reached forward and took the cup that was held to him in both hands, cradling the base of the ceramic in the palm of his left as his right very lightly curled around the side, his fingertips holding the rim gently before raising it to his lips, taking a slow, deep breath of the vapours and letting it linger in his senses a moment, closing his eyes and letting his thoughts melt away. Even after all these years, he not only remembered how to do this, but found the same degree of solace that he had when his grandfather had explained it to him.

“You….have drunk Sake before, I see?”

The old tattooists words brought his eyes open as he gave a polite smile, nodding…”Yes, once. A long time ago…I still remember the way I was shown, surprisingly”

"Then that is all the better...."

Flashback

Kneeling opposite his grandfather at the small table in their living area, he watched intently as the old man set the two cups in front of him, almost meticulous in his setting of them alone before setting the bottle down between them, leaning back again and resting his palms against the top of his legs. Taking a slow breath, he looked up from his almost dazed appearance and gave a slow nod the young man opposite him.

"When I drink Sake, I drink in the tradition shown to me by my father, your great-grandfather, many years ago. I had once hoped that your father would have shown you, giving us all the chance to one day drink together as a family, but with that luxury taken from us both, I consider it an honour to be able to show you..."

The youngsters head dropping as a mention of his father was uttered, his solemnity speaking volumes in the silence that lingered at the moment, he nodded slowly and raised his head once more. "Grandfather, I have a request...."

"Yes, Kazuki?"

"It's....Going to sound kind of strange, but I need to ask. Can we continue this outside?"

"Hm...?"

"I would still wish to drink with my father as well, if only in spirit...."

The few moments of silence that hung in the air were broken by the light grunt of approval as the old man smiled back, rising slowly and picking everything up from the table, turning to the door and walking silently through, stepping from the outer walkway onto the soft grass below. Kazuki following behind slowly as they neared two small, shaped rocks that protruded from the ground.

When he had first arrived here, at his grandfathers, the boy had spent several days in silence in the grounds outside, walking around aimlessly before collapsing of exhaustion. Every morning he would rise to do the same thing again, until after around a week he spent the afternoon erecting two stones in the center of the grounds, taking a coin from his pocket and meticulously carving two symbols onto them. As he stood in front of the stones now, he looked on at them with a longing for one last chance to see his family, his eyes lingering over the two stones.

'Tousan', 'Kaasan', simple characters, but he knew little else of honouring the dead but to put a name on the stones he had mounted for them. For a moment his thoughts changed as he considered replacing them with nicer stones, performing a more honourable carving and showing the respect to them he wished he could, but he knew there was only so much he could do, at least at this moment. He would wait until he had gained their revenge....

"Kazuki? Sit down..."

Snapping the youth from his daydream with a quick tone, his grandfather sat on the grass to his side, kneeling before the stone with 'Tousan' carved into it. Nodding, Kazuki lowered himself to his knees and rested his palms on his legs as the two sat in silence a moment, taking time to let their thoughts find refuge in this place. A sigh from the older mans lips caught his attention as he poured the two cups, shifting in his kneeling position to turn to Kazuki.

"Turn to me as I did to you."

Nodding, the young man reciprocated the action and turned to his grandfather, who had outstretched his arms with the cup of Sake in his hands. As he reached forward with one hand to take it from him, the shaking head paused his action...

"Hold your left palm out to take the cup and use your right hand to coil around it, hold it firm in your grasp..."

Turning his palm over with a slow nod, he waited until the cup had been set down in the crook of his hand before taking it as instructed, holding it carefully and bringing it back towards himself. Letting the strong scent of the beverage linger in his nose, he turned his head back up to the old man as he took his own cup in the same fashion. Outstretching his arms a little, he raised it up a moment before bringing it back to his lips, tilting the cup slowly and draining it with a steady, calm motion.

His eyes still closed, Kazuki waited in silence for him to respond as he held the cup fast in his hands. The slight warmth of the Sake was surprising, and he lowered his head to stare idly at the grass for a moment...

"Now, drink your cup. Do not waste any of it..."

Clearing his throat lightly, the young boy nodded and raised the cup as he had been shown, bringing it back to his lips in anticipation of the strong bitterness of the beverage, surprised to find that it was far lighter on him than it had been before. Tipping the cup fully, the last of the drink gone, he brought his head back down and took a slow, calming breath as he held the cup before him. His eyes meeting with his grandfathers, he smiled lightly at the nod that was given in his direction...

"At least now, when you attempt to steal my Sake, you will know how to drink it like a man..."

End Flashback

In the quiet room, brightly lit by the fluorescent bulbs overhead, the two men sat in comperable silence as they held their cups, raising them to one another a moment before drinking. As the cups were lowered and set down atop the table, the old tattooist refilled them slowly and set Taikus in front of him.

"Today, I drink to the birth of the dragon on your back. I hope it brings you the luck I had wished for its original recipient..."

"Thank you, uh..."

Chuckling quietly, he spoke up again, "Hiroto. You can call me Hiroto"

"Thank you, Hiroto. For both the dragon, and the drink, but I should be going..."

"Of course, young man. Come back in a week or so, if you wish. I will check it for you and retouch any spots that need refreshed."

"Arigato, Hiroto-san..." The words left his lips as something of a whisper as he lowered his head to him, standing from the chair and turning to pull on his shirt again.

Smiling, the old man turned his head a little after hearing the words. "Douitashimashite, Taiku-san."

Slipping away from the doorway, Taiku left the building in silence from then, making his way home...The old tattooist however, sat back in his seat and smiled to himself as he lit a cigarette, puffing the smoke gently as he spoke to nobody in particular...

"There is much ahead of you, young man...I wonder just what things you will be capable of in your future, if the shadows of your past are anything to compare..."

-----------------------------------------

N.B: Douitashimashite - You're welcome/don't mention it.

Tousan/Kaasan - Father/Mother

Arigato - Thank you

The Tattoo

[Tong Xian Tian]

This is all VERY well written! I love it! Keep going, I want to read more

[Leon Loire]

Fillers or no, I think the latest chapters were pretty well set for the chapters to continue. Great story so far Liam, make sure to push Tanya so the you can continue.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: Consider this a warning, this is LONG, taking up three posts to get it up. Also, it's fragmented quite a lot, due to it occurring over a few days as opposed to the usual structure of my previous entries. This is the new advancement, and it's a white flag of apology for anyone who'd been waiting to read the new one...^^;

Without any more time wasted, I give you the new chapter ^^.

Part 9a - Nightmares and Fears

The passing months had been peaceful to a fault....Yet, all at once, had brought about so much in the life of a single man.

Laid out on the bed, his body still aching after two weeks, he nursed the slightly injured shoulder as he sat up, sighing quietly to himself. He'd taken the time away from Legion to regain his strength, not to mention the fact that, being left-handed, he wasn't in any position to write for long periods of time as his paperwork would have demanded of him. By and by, Rene had 'encouraged' him to refrain from leaving for work, though it would be far more appropriate to say she threatened the likelihood of him ever siring a child...

Under normal circumstance, this would have been no real problem for him, but with so much going on in his mind, he had quickly began to grow restless. Finding solace with his phone and a single raven-haired woman, he made frequent escapes into the city to spend afternoons with her, finally beginning to learn more about her over the last few weeks. Lunch here, a movie there, little excursions to stay the rapidity of his mind as it seemed to show unrelenting intent on pursuing him with thoughts he repeatedly pushed away...

With good reason as well, because whilst he knew the significance of the approaching dates, he would, once again, pass them by like any other. His own brief spell into solitude passing without notice to anyone as it had in the past. However, he knew that the small voice in his head, the one that nagged at him to stop ignoring what he needed to come to accept, was more and more right as the days shaved away. His life had changed, he was a better person than he was in the past. Whilst he could never really atone for the things he'd done, he was growing used to the idea of living like a normal person, of actually bearing some semblance of peace in America...

A far cry from the red-haired fighter who'd arrived close to three years ago in Varron, he knew. A thought he was glad at, no less. Yet, at the moment, propped up against the back of the bed with his legs loosely crossed over one another, he couldn't remove the thoughts that pervaded his mind, that troubled him beyond respite.

He was not to know that which was yet to come....

~The next day~

The dull thud of a set of knuckles against the door stirred him from his light sleep, and opening one eye he called for them to enter...When Rene stepped in, a cup of coffee in one hand and a few pieces of mail in the other, he smiled and shifted on the bed, turning to rise from the mattress. He'd fallen asleep fully clothed the night before, his mind refusing to switch off until the most inopportune moment, but as he approached her, something didn't seem altogether right...

"...Is something wrong, Rene...?"

The short nod was quick and noticed, but it quickly turned into more of a shrug of her shoulders...Rene was one to worry over a lot of things, but more often than not she was the first to admit her own worrysome nature. Handing him the letters, his own mail out of the thick stack they received daily that ranged from painting requests from Rene, who had returned to selling her art as a pastime, people requesting Rocco for designer work of whatever obscene nature took his fancy at the time, to people mailing resumes to the club that were forwarded to him afterward, looking for work or the like. More often than not, they would be dealt with by the other staff, but every so often a few of them got mixed into his regular mail. Still, if something was troubling her, he was worried enough to know that at this early hour, something could unsettle her.

"You....have a telegram as well. It's on the kitchen counter.."

That alone froze the young mans hands, the mail being placed back toward Rene as he silently walked from the room without another word, approaching the kitchen and picking up the dull yellow envelope, tearing it open quickly and folding out the piece of paper, his palms trembling slightly. When the three had decided that in the interest of economy and well before Taiku was in the financial situation he was now in that living together was a good idea, he had made only one stone-solid rule that they could never go against, and that was if a telegram ever arrived with Japanese air-mail marks it was to be touched by him, and only by him.

Reading slowly, taking in the words calmly, he furrowed his brow at the request before re-reading the entire thing again....Something didn't add up, he was never asked to come back, though the old man had hinted once or twice that it would be wise and honourable to visit his families graves, he had paid back the money and then some to his grandfather for helping him when he'd needed it the most, though he'd often try to refuse the gifts his grandson sent him...

'So why is he asking me to come home...? He must know I don't want to visit their graves, that I've moved on enough to live without that memory plaguing me...What can it possibly be...?'

The very flaw in his own question, however, rested in one simple thing; He couldn't find out unless he returned home...The urgency that was implied in the telegram made it clear that he wasn't to come back in a few days, nor in a week, but now. Letting out a slow sigh as he set down the folded piece of paper, he turned against the counter and stared off into space, his eyes focusing on the handle of one of the cupboards in the kitchen as Rene finally followed him through, standing in a bathrobe and sweats as she clutched the coffee cup, hesitantly speaking before taking a sip.

"I'm guessing it wasn't good news, Kaz?"

Shaking his head, his shoulders shrugged calmly as he sighed deeply, "I don't know...He just asked me, no, demanded I come home immediately.."

"...I take it you'll be going then..?"

"I have to, I can't disrespect him by refusing..."

She nodded, her head glancing at the floor a moment before returning to meet his gaze, a light smile on her lips as she searched in vain to find some good in the situation...Rene knew full well that the prospect of returning home was something that Taiku had not relished the prospect of doing, particularly as close to the date as it was. Assuming he was going to be gone more than a few days, it would coincide with the anniversary of his parents killing. She knew all too well how he got around that time, disappearing for a few days before returning, usually with a serious hangover and bruised from a fight...Whatever he tried to put across as ambivalence to the matter only served to fuel her belief that he had never really got over their end, that even now he was still running from this final demon of his past...

"I'll book some flights for you to leave this evening, that should give you time to pack and see Kira for a little while before you head off..."

"Thanks...Oh, and Rene-"

"I know...First class, with a smoking seat. I haven't forgotten how much you hate flying..."

His smile was a weaker one than usual, the slightly embarrassed look on his face an old familiarity from before they had grown as close as they were, "Thanks, Rene..."

~Later in the afternoon~

His suitcase sat in the trunk of the car, packed for a few days with his necessities, not to mention his laptop. He'd be able to get a few pages of the accounts for the club done during the flight, once his nerves had subsided and he'd relaxed for a little while. For the moment however, that wasn't the matter he needed to attend to. Flipping his cell open as he slid into the car, he pressed a number on his speed-dial, his outside appearance seemingly calm and collected, though the tension had started to build at his neck. A few rings and the voice he wanted to hear picked up.

"Kira... You busy at all today?"

"Not really, I was just going through some homework...but it can wait."

"Thanks, I'm on my way, be there in about ten minutes... Think you can be ready?"

There was a small chuckle at the other end of the line before he got his reply.

"Yes, yes, I'll be ready."

Ten minutes later found him parking the car in the dormitory lot, stepping out and over to the doors as she stepped out, sunglasses perched upon her head, with a pair of black jeans and a white button-up shirt, the top few left undone as was her habit, though a chocolate brown tank top was peeking through just beneath. They walked back to the car in light conversation, his arm lightly resting against the small of her back, his fingers lightly curled at her waist as they approached the car, the fob from his pocket unlocking the door as he gave a short squeeze at her hip, walking around to the other side.

His eyes left her only a moment, but he found himself craving the sight of her like a hunger even now. Within himself, a small swell of affection continued to grow for the young woman, his tender side gradually coming into the forefront as the weeks had gone past. Starting the car with a twist of his wrist, the key bringing the engine to life with a flourish, he pulled away from the front of the building and set off into the main traffic again, heading toward the centre of the Marinas district.

"Coffees on the menu, I know the place does some good teas, so I think we'll be good, no?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"Great, because it's either that or a bar, and I'd rather not be drinking today..." he added with a wry smirk, his eyebrow cocking before his foot pressed down against the gas a little harder, the car revving to life further as he slipped through the traffic and made short work of the downtown afternoon traffic. It would only take a few minutes before they arrived, and as he came to a stop, he shot a moments smile before stepping from the car, Kira following suit before they made their way inside the cafe, finding a table easily and settling down. His eyes skimmed over the menu out of habit, but it was really without merit. It was obvious what he'd order, so much so that he didn't even need to tell the waitresses anymore

'It's only for a few days, but still, even if it's just to try and make me visit my parents graves and pay my respects, surely he'd have just made it clear to me right away...? I mean, if I really needed to do it to please him, I'd be able to suck it up. Something feels off, but somehow, it's not an ominous feeling...'

His thoughts, whilst quick in his head, actually passed by the entire time of the waitress arriving to take orders, it would seem, as when he clicked back to his present moment he caught the last moment of her walking from the table...His eyes jumped from the waitress to Kira and back before settling on the girl opposite him a moment later, shaking his head apologetically.

"Sorry, Kira...I'm miles away at the moment..."

The soft chuckle was followed by a light flick of her hand, as if brushing the apology aside before she responded, the lilt still in her voice "It's fine, she WAS wondering if everything was alright, but apparently she'll bring your usual over for you, whatever that is..?"

"Ah-heh, thank you...I've got a few things on my mind at the moment, just some personal things and whatnot, nothing of any real importance..."

Her quiet, consenting nod was enough for the two to exchange a little mild conversation until the drinks were placed in front of him, the strong espresso steaming in the cup in front of him, hers having the faintest scent of....raspberry? Shaking his head with a light smile, he rolled his eyes as he took a sip of the coffee. He couldn't deny that she had 'interesting' taste in beverages, but he far and away preferred the coffee he drank to her fruit teas. Yet, with an inward sigh, he set down his cup, meeting her attention before he spoke.

"I have to go away for a few days, back to Japan...My grandfather contacted me, only the third time he's ever done so, and the only time he's ever made this request of me. I wanted to see you before I had to leave, and let you know personally rather than chance that you'd call on me whilst I was away..."

"Ah....Well, you have to do what you need to, but do you have any clue why...?"

"Uh...I have a small idea, but I'm not sure...Y'see..."

His words tapered off as he raised the cup to his lips, swigging the coffee slowly as he put together a more appropriate way of wording what he intended to say.

"In two days, it'll be the anniversary of my parents death. I've not been home for close to six years, and on one hand I think that perhaps he's just determined to get me to come back and make my peace, but I guess I'm wondering why he just didn't say that himself..."

Reaching over the table, Kira caught his free hand, giving it a light squeeze, understanding in her eyes, and a hint of concern. "Kazuki... I understand it's not an easy thing to do for you, but I feel it's as much for his peace of mind as it is yours. Perhaps in mentioning it, it would put you off even more, despite the fact you know it's, well, right around the corner."

"I guess so, but still, something seems a little off...He knows that if he truly wished me to come back, he could simply say it and I would have, I'm a stubborn fool from time to time, but I'm respectful enough to honour his wishes...In any case, I guess I'll find out when I arrive..."

"That's true enough. When do you leave, then?"

He gave a slightly weak chuckle before he responded... "A few hours....?"

"....Oh, well...Okay then..."

"..You wanna come along for the ride....?"

"To JAPAN!?"

Rolling his eyes, he squeezed her hand again in response, shaking his head slightly before he corrected her, "No, Kira...The airport. I can easily enough leave my car there, but being able to see it back at the apartment safe is far more reassuring for me...Besides, it gives me a reason to have you come pick me up when I come home...?"

"Oh, well sure, if it's just the airport...I'll watch the car for you as well, if you like..."

"Works for me..."

The rest of the conversation tapered off from there, slipping to more menial topics, before long the drinks were finished, and as he dropped a bill on the table, setting his cup atop it to pin it down, he raised a hand to the waitresses as they made their way out of the cafe and back to the car...Surprisingly, they'd talked for a couple of hours by the time they eventually left the cafe and with a glance at his watch, he sighed as he realised his flight was quickly approaching check-in. As such, he said little on the trip to the airport, pulling up in one of the lots and retrieving his case, setting it down on the ground beside him and closing the trunk, giving a wry smirk before underhanding the keys toward Kira.

"You might as well hold onto these for now..."

Pulling the handle out, the case trailing just behind him, he walked until he stood beside her, matching her pace and linking his free hand into hers loosely before entering the terminal, the palm twitching lightly at the prospect of having to board, masked thankfully by his paces as he walked.

~After Check-In~

Having said a quiet goodbye, his words whispered in her ear before parting with a kiss, he stepped through the gates, his coat receiving the scanning before he emptied his pockets into the box as well...With no reaction from the detector, he regained his belongings and paused as he slipped his coat back on, taking another look back, raising an arm in a slight wave, smiling at her before vanishing into the crowds of people entering the departures terminal, his palms slipped into the pockets as he walked through. Glancing to the sides, looking at various stores that littered the Duty-Free area, he lingered over one before entering with a smirk. Plucking the bottle from the shelf quickly, he made no bones about his desire to dull his senses with the flight upcoming, dropping the credit card on the counter with a pleasant smile...One purchase later, the rum was bagged along with a fresh packet of cigarettes, his feet moving in the direction of the nearest bar he could find. Thankfully, a small 'Irish' type pub was in the airport, meant he could just approach the bar to get his drinks to save time, and after taking a seat quickly, he had a beer set down in front of him, lighting one of the cigarettes with a long, deep sigh...

"God, I fucking hate flying..."

The words rang true to him, and for the next half an hour he drank in relative silence, folding up his laptop and loosely typing a few things in silence.

Before long, of course, the call was made for his flight to approach the gate. Sighing, he folded down the screen and bagged the laptop once again, fishing his coat on as he stubbed out the cigarette, blowing the last plume of smoke up into the air above his head to allow it to dissipate into the fans, reaching for his glass and tipping back the last mouthful of his beer with a quick gulp, setting the glass down and making his way to the gate, his eyes steeled at the prospect ahead...

Truth be told, he was hating every fucking minute of this, having an unnatural loathing of airplanes and flying, he spoke little as he flashed his passport to the attendant, handing his ticket to her afterward and being ushered through the walkway onto the plane. Within minutes, he was shown to a comfortable chair, the trappings of first class around him as he set down in the chair, hanging his coat on a hanger beside the chair with a sigh as he opened up his laptop once again, bringing up the sheets he had been working on before he was accosted by the stewardess...

"Can I fetch you anything, sir?"

"Yes, an ashtray and a lot of rum."

"...I was thinking more along the lines of pillows or coffee, but yes sir."

Slightly startled by the curt nature with which he made his request, she ushered off quickly, returning a moment later, setting down a small stained blue ashtray and a short tumbler with a neat measure of rum in it, smiling lightly at him before heading off to tend to other passengers. His eyes rolled at the puny measure in front of him before he picked up the duty-free bag beside him, unscrewing the cap on the bottle he had to hand and topping it up further with a smirk, capping it again and setting it in the seat beside him. Charged or not for the liquor, he was paying through the nose for a glass, of all things...This way they couldn't try to cut him off if he chose to drink throughout the flight.

After a short space of time, the flight began to taxi on the runway, and with a slow nod he closed over his laptop in regard for takeoff, fastening his seatbelt and clutching the glass in his hand, tossing back the entire measure in a long pull. Just like the last time he'd flown, the sheer power of the plane staggered him as he closed his eyes through the take-off, relaxing only once the plane was comfortably in the air. Wiping his brow, removing the few beads of sweat that had risen from his skin, he glanced up at the stewardess as she looked at him, a mild expression of concern on her face as she held the rum bottle in her hands loosely, smiling gently.

"A top up?"

No words, just the glass extended out sharply as she poured another measure of the rum before leaving him be. As she left, his laptop reopened as he considered working on the accounts, sighing, shaking his head at himself before reaching into the pouch his laptop sat in, producing a small DVD case, slipping one of the movies from the sleeve and inserting it into the computer with a sip of his glass. Pulling on the headphones tucked in the bag a moment later, he started the film and leaned back into his seat.

However, the rum continued to flow, as did the cigarettes from his packet, and in short work he was very soon drunk, his eyes growing heavy as he drained the fifth or sixth of the rather large measures...He wasn't sure exactly when he'd fallen asleep, but in no time he found himself, in whatever conscious state, somewhere he really didn't want to be...

"Boy, you will not remain unscathed from this...Child or not, you were born into a family of pagans and are unclean by our laws...."

The young child he saw nearby was literally trembling with fear, as was the older man as he watched the scene unfold...He'd had this same nightmare for nearly twenty years, never exactly the same, but he knew how it ended...His fingers brushed the place where his tattoos lay as he thought back to the night, unable to defend himself or do anything as he was held down by a couple of the mob. The Taoist faith in Japan, of course, was far prevalent in the rural areas, Christianity still seen as something of an unconventional thing as a whole, but the young man didn't know that...

Of course, as an adult he knew full well the things that had been done, mentally likening them to Bhuddist hunts over a hundred years ago with a sour taste in his mouth...His eyes fixed on the scene, as always unable to look away as the glimmer of a blade travelled across the childs body, carving marks across his chest that he neither knew nor understood. As it had, every time before, the screams drove him to the point of rage, mentally begging for the sight before him to stop, yet praying that the ending would somehow change. His fists balled as he looked at the young man, clutching the wounds on his chest and retracting his palms, smears of blood covering them....Now, he knew otherwise that they weren't serious wounds by any manner of mean, but the principal fact that a child of four would endure such things remained to be seen as a partial reasoning for his....state of mind in later years.

"No....Please..."

The slightly stammered words from the young mans mouth were mouthed along by Taiku as he watched the final piece of the ordeal unfold...A hand reached out, grasping his right hand and pinning it down at the wrist before the blade was driven clean through his palm...Watching the scene for the upteenth time in the last two decades had never grown easier for the older man, the scream of pain he heard enough to make him physically wince at the sight and sound of it as his right palm twitched involuntarily. Raising it to look at the palm, the scar that had as a child forced him to adapt to left-handed usage of practically everything had long since faded to but the palest of lines, blending in with the lifelines on his palm to appear almost invisible. Nobody he knew had ever noticed it, nobody would likely ever, and that suited him fine.

He had to tolerate it in his slumber, damned if he would be particularly willing to recap the story for anyone else again after the night he had explained the situation to Rocco and Rene. Regardless, he forced himself to watch the final moments of it before the blade was removed, the murmurings of people lingering in the air before the person responsible for his hand, now long since dead at Taikus own, spoke words which had created within the young man a darker side that for the longest time influenced his entire life...

"Your God was not willing to save you, boy. Be thankful you were spared..."

And with that, just like that, they began to filter their way out of the modest house. The young Kazuki clutching his bloody hand tightly as he pushed himself to his knees, getting to his feet as he scrambled toward the door outside, an action that felt like it happened in seconds but took nearly an hour.

The sight was one that had never left him, and it was doubtful it ever will. His only saving grace was that his eyes were so blinded by tears that he couldn't see the full extent of the injuries his parents had suffered before he was snatched from the ground, pulled into his grandfathers embrace and taken away. The old man had actually arrived moments before the boy had made his way outside, believing him dead, he had resigned himself to reclaim the dignity of his son and daughter-in-law before tending to the young Kazuki whom he also believed had suffered the same fate.

"We need to leave, Kazuki..."

"My parents...I wanna see my parents!"

"No, child! No child should witness that sight..."

Soon after, it began to fade once again, the usual swirl of black that overruled everything, wiping the entire scene from sight and fading to nothing...

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 9b - A Favour Granted, A Past Confronted

The young man awoke with a start, thankful that his silence remained once again before he blinked, realising where he was in the unfamiliar surroundings. The film was set on the title screen, the music excerpt playing in his ears until he removed the headphones and rubbing his eyes slowly, the attendant approached him again with a light smile, though it was clear from the expression on her face that he'd been rather restless during his 'sleep'.

"Would you care for some coffee, sir? Or another drink if you'd-"

His hand raised suddenly, his head shaking at the latter suggestion before he reached for the glass, expecting it to still be on the holder in front of him...No wonder she'd realised he was sleeping poorly, at some point during his dream she'd clearly arrived to offer a refill, taking away the glass and most likely getting a crystal view of the outward projection of Taikus nightmare.

"Just coffee, please. Strong, black and nothing else...."

"Certainly, would you like me to bring an ashtray back for you...?"

His hand reached for where it would have been, finding it gone as well with a slightly incredulous expression as he nodded..."Please. Oh, and can you tell me how long it is until we land in Hokkaido?"

"Around an hour, likely less if the taxi'ing is clear."

"Great, thank you..."

~An hour later~ *Also, please note that all dialect is to be considered in Japanese here unless specified*

The landing had gone surprisingly well by his standard, in that he'd been able to sit through it oddly comfortably. Though, considering his earlier dream, he would probably have been perfectly happy if he'd had to parachute out the damned plane. Stepping out and into Hokkaido Airport, he took a slow, long breath as he approached the customs desk, his fingers mentally crossed that after everything, he would not end up screwed here. The queue wasn't too long, thankfully, and in a matter of minutes he was being asked for his passport. Handing it over, he watched as the woman scrutinised it, her eyes flicking from the picture to his face, then back, then back again...When she pressed a button on her console, he almost made a dash for it before she spoke.

"I'm assuming this is an old picture of you, sir."

Blinking, he thought about what she said...An old picture? That was it? She was debating over his face due to his ID?

"Yes, my apologies, I was called here unexpectedly and didn't have time to change it."

A moment later, a supervisor of sorts arrived, the two mumbling behind the panels a moment before he nodded to her, her brow furrowing before he nodded more sternly. Stamping it, she slid it under the small slit at the bottom of the panel before nodding and ushering him through with the robotic 'Enjoy your stay' that was required of them...

Stepping past, his arm was grabbed and he twisted with a narrowed pair of eyes, looking at the arm and following it up to the face, the supervisor from a few moments before.

"Forgive us, she was reprimanded recently for a bad call, now she looks at everyone like they're killers or something...I assure you, she meant no insult."

His brain burst out in tears of laughter at the words, barely able to contain the thought he coughed quickly before shaking his head and nodding at him, "I understand completely, you can't be too careful after all."

Returning the nod, the man released his arm and he made his way through, picking up his bag from the carousel and making his way out of the airport, lighting another cigarette quickly before finding the young man who held up the notice with his name on it. Approaching him, he pulled out his passport and verified it before a set of keys were handed to him, a hand gesturing to a sleek black Toyota of some new variety and a nod of 'good day' given. Palming the young man a couple of $20 bills, his exchange for Yen likely to be far more favourable afterward, Taiku approached the car and set his bag into the trunk, stepping into the car and slumping into the drivers seat, his palms resting against his eyes with absolute exasperation.

'Fucking hell, I should have taken a boat...'

Kicking the car to life, he pulled out from the terminal and approached the main clod of traffic, his eyes dismayed at the massive congestion in the city before he resigned himself to it, spending close to an hour getting through the city and finding the turnoffs he needed, making his way home for the first time in over half a decade.

~Arriving Home~

The car pulled up with a slow purr in the late morning sun, the few hours driving spent in seclusion of the car, the obnoxiously chatty radio host he was listening to talking about something to do with gas prices or whatever. His only thought was a mild amusement that some problems transcend international boundaries, and as he passed that idle amusement by, he found himself driving past several small towns and villages, many which had clearly been built in his absence, some which had grown considerably from a handful of houses to dozens. Topping it off, his own village was no longer a tiny little village, easily three or four times larger than he remembered it and far more modern looking in the center.

"Things change quickly, I guess."

With the words, he stepped out of the car and looked around, seeing if he might see his grandfather around the building or in the rear garden, but to no avail. Leaving his case for the time being, he approached the door and knocked firmly a couple of times. The sound of footsteps inside approaching as he looked around him, turning back when the door opened and looking at...someone who was not his grandfather. The young lady, probably around fourteen or fifteen, looked back at him with a far more knowledgable look than that which was on Taikus face, and he found himself able to say only one thing.

"Just who the hell are you?"

A much older, much more familiar sounding voice called through from the next room for him to come through, and as it spoke Taiku had already stepped into the house, passing the young woman by with little concern. He wasn't here to see her, or so he'd thought, at least.

"Ojiisan."

His head lowered slowly in reverence of the older man, both his grandfather and his teacher, before he was gestured to sit with him and his guest...Somehow the face was familiar, but only in the tiniest of amounts. He couldn't place how he knew it, nor would he have until the eldest of the men spoke.

"Kazuki, this is your uncle..."

"My WHAT!?"

"Mind your place, child! You may be a man, but you are in the presence of your elders here. I don't care how you may act back in America, but here you should remember your manners. This is your uncle, your fathers younger brother, Shouta. He is the reason I asked you to return home."

"So, you called me to travel across the ocean just for a family reunion, is that it?"

"Kazuki!"

"Forgive me, I just fail to understand the reason why it was so imperative I meet this man."

"It was necessary, because there is something I wish to ask of you. That, however, will have to wait. It is a good day that I see my grandson alive and well, that I see the fine man you grew to become."

His head lowered to his grandfather as he rose from his knees, excusing himself as he made his way through the house to the rear patio, stepping out to the deck and sitting on the wood, his feet hanging from the edge as he lit one of the cigarettes with a sigh, trying in vain to process what was going on. Another pair of footsteps approached a moment later, and glancing over his shoulder, the young girl stepped out once again and sat on the deck, a little ways away from him, leaving a few moments of silence before she spoke.

"So you're my older cousin that Ojiisan talks about all the time, huh..?"

"Beg your pardon, kid?"

"I'm Shoutas daughter, that makes us cousins, right?"

"Yeah, sure..."

Curtly, he stubbed the cigarette against the sole of his boot, flicking the stub under the deck and turning around, his palm catching something furry before his head spun, glancing down at the rodent in front of him. Narrowed eyes followed as did a brush of his hand to push the pet aside, albeit with some semblance of gentleness, before he got to his feet and watched as it scurried away, leaping onto the girls shoulder and curling across the back of her neck.

"You know those things are rabid, most of the time..."

"Shut up, he's not rabid, he's cute."

"I hardly call the rat-worlds version of a Daschund 'cute'..."

"He's not your pet, so who gives a crap?"

Blinking at the manner she spoke, he inwardly gave her a few points for the attitude. Least, if nothing else, she was a character of sorts. Whilst he wasn't about to start playing nice, he was sure he could give her a little leeway here and there. Stepping back in, he found the two older males had produced a large jug of sake, set in the middle of the table, with a few glasses set next to it. Taking his seat again, he apologised for his manners before Shouta took the moment to speak.

"I am glad to finally meet you, nephew. your grandfather speaks highly of you to me and my daughter when we come to visit, or when he comes to see us in the city..."

The mental image of his grandfather anywhere besides a field and a quiet village was mildly humorous to the young man, but he pushed the thought away as he continued to listen, raising his cup to his lips and draining the sake from it in a single pull.

"...However, I offer my deepest apologies for this untimely request of you. I hear you run a business of your own, that's an amazing feat for a man of your age, especially in a country as prosperous as America. As such, I'm sorry to call you away from your work."

"Don't worry about it, Shouta. What was it you wanted to ask of me, since I appear to be the only person you could call on, I'm assuming it's not just for a social visit."

"...As your grandfather said, I would rather speak to you later when-"

She'd arrived without sound, Taiku paying little attention to her footsteps before she arrived in the back of the room from the rear exit again, her body leaning against the frame of the door.

"When I'm not around, daddy?"

That alone made Taiku pause and consider what was going on, though he dropped it mentally and simply nodded to Shouta with a quiet agreement. They would, indeed, speak of this later...

~Later in the evening~

Dinner had been uneventful, not much being said beside a few mild comments regarding the school and how graduation had gone, Kira, things to that effect. Though the old man already knew all of it, it was more to loosen the obvious tension between Shouta and his daughter, whom Taiku had quickly learned was named Reiko. She seemed oddly fiery in comparison to her father, likely attributes she'd gained from her mother. However, after the meal had ended, Taiku had made his way to the rear garden again to find her standing in the grass, training, it would seem. Figuring little of it, considering she halted almost immediately upon his arrival, he hopped down from the deck and paced across the grass towards two small rocks that stood in one section of the grass, far more tended than the rest. In his hand, a small cup held his current pour of sake, and as he sipped it loosely, she approached and stood a little behind him before speaking.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss. I was told they were great people."

"...I wouldn't really know. I have only what my grandfather told me to remember them."

"-Our- grandfather, Kazuki..."

"Sure, kid. Whatever you say."

Her silence after that loomed far more ominously than any words could have, and a moment later she left, leaving him alone in the garden as he stood in front of the stones. His parents bodies had never been found after the day they were killed, likely taken away by the authorities and covered up by the town, before being incinerated. After all, unmarked graves were a waste of land in a country already widely overpopulated. Kneeling down, he sat on the grass before he began to speak.

"I miss you both...I really do. I'm sorry that I haven't honoured you in a long time, but I did some terrible things in the past. I needed to leave, and I can only pray that you will forgive me in time."

His head dipped as he sighed, tipping back a little more of the cup before he continued. "I've grown a lot since I was last here, I've become a businessman, would you believe it? I own a club in America, and it does really well...You would both be proud if you were still alive, you would have loved to see it, I bet. School finished up alright, there were a few hiccups along the way, but I graduated well...I've discovered I'm good with languages, I'm working on two more at the moment, Cantonese and French..."

He fell silent a moment, a few tears dripping from his cheeks before he wiped them away, regaining his composure a moment before carrying on. "I met a girl, a really nice one. She was a year or two below me, but she was a mutual friend and we got close. We've been seeing each other for a couple of months now, things seem good. I've liked her for a long time, well, I guess I could say I love her...Who knows, huh? Maybe I'll give you two some good-looking grandkids one day..."

His fists tightened in his palms, the cup set down in front of him on the short-cut grass as he stifled the emotions, sighing deeply before he leaned forward onto his knees, resting his elbows against his legs. "I wish I could have had more time with you both, I wish that if there could have been something I could do, that I could have...I wish....."

Reaching for the cup, he drained the last sip before setting it back down. "I wish I could have you both back..."

Startled a moment later as a palm rested on his shoulder, his body twitching at the sensation, he glanced up at the old man who stood behind him, a wise smile being given before he sat beside him, holding out the jug to refill his cup as Taiku took it from him.

"I have wished the same thing since the day they were taken from us, my boy, but we must live on for them, even me, an old man who has lived long enough, will continue to live for them both..."

"It feels like a lifetime since they died, grandfather...I can barely remember their faces."

The soft chuckle the old man gave was accented by a hand clapping down on his shoulder, a smile in his voice. "For your father, look no further than your own reflection. Whilst I may have told you that you resembled him as a child, you are your fathers double now, Kazuki. Your mother was a beautiful woman, but I'm sorry that I have no pictures to show you of her."

Nodding solemnly, he raised the cup to his lips and sipped, his mind calming as he closed his eyes, sighing as he opened them again, tilting his head back as he looked up into the sky, idly looking at a few of the stars with dulled eyes...He'd drunk a fair amount already with the two, and to his surprise, even his massive alcohol tolerance was not able to match that of the older two. A brief consideration that his family possessed some superhuman alcohol tolerance amused him for what felt like a moment, but must have been at least a few minutes before he glanced over at his grandfather, rising from his knees and motioning for the young man to follow suit.

Within a minute, they were settled in the living room again as Shouta rejoined them, sitting down and looking far more uncomfortable than he had done before. The expectant look on Taikus face probably did little to settle him, but regardless of which, he began speaking a moment later, his voice quiet as if to not alert the young girl who was already sleeping in the next room.

"I need your help..."

"I'm quite aware of that, but I'd like the reason before I agree to anything."

"...Of course. I'm in trouble with the Yakuza, Kazuki. I ran up a gambling debt...A rather large one..."

"So what, you want me to pay it off? How much is it...?"

"No, it's not that. I don't want money or anything like that, not that it would help now anyway..."

"I asked you how much it was..."

"...It's around six million Yen."

The young man paused in his sip of the cup before it dropped down from his lips, set on the table in front of him before he thought to himself a moment. "That is indeed a rather large one..."

"...I know. I was hoping to be able to get lucky and be able to give Reiko a better life than what we have, get her into a better school, away from all the crap that we have right now..."

"So you don't want me to pay it, what do you want me to do? I fail to see what you expect of me..."

"Kazuki, I would wish for you to take my daughter to America with you, to keep her safe in the event that these people come after me. It's not just as simple as paying it off anymore, they've made it very clear that I have to do something for them, whatever it might be. Some of these people work in prostitution, I don't want her anywhere near them if they try something like taking her from me."

The eyebrow that raised was a subtle gesture perhaps, but one that spoke far more than the young man could in words without disrespecting anyone. "You have to be kidding."

"Please, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't completely out of options."

"-I- was the one who suggested it, Kazuki. Not Shouta. I have never asked you for a favour in my life, I would prefer that I never had to, but I would ask that you, as I once did, help someone who has no other options...", his grandfather interjected firmly.

His eyes closed as he gave a very reluctant nod...He couldn't refuse, not his grandfather by any means, and whilst it was definitely not to his taste, he would have to grin and bear it. "I'm assuming the paperwork is already dealt with...Passports, that kind of thing..."

"Yes, we took care of them over the last month. Once she leaves Japan, she will be under your guardianship."

"...Couldn't you have just asked me to pay off the damned loan...?"

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 9c - Times of Peace, Bonding, and a Furball?

~The next day~

Rubbing his eyes as he slipped the hoodie over his body, he stepped out onto the deck and looked out onto the expanses of grass in front of him. He'd never forgotten just how beautiful it could be here, it was something he'd always missed and secretly relished the chance to see it again, if only for a short while...On the back green in front of him, Reiko was training again, this time with Shouta sparring with her lightly. He was being gentle on her, as far as he could see. The older mans movements were far more attuned to the young girls, who whilst eager and with the right intent, was not moving accurately, overstepping her swings, taking bad balanced positions and the like...It was amusing to watch a moment, but as he turned to step back inside he found his grandfather standing in the doorway, gesturing for him to step down onto the grass.
As he did so, he was quickly joined by the older man, who whilst easily pushing his mid-sixties, seemed as spry as he had over a decade ago...

"I think we should see if you've gone rusty since you left."

He simply smirked, saying nothing but giving a curt nod as he stepped backwards on the grass. 'If only you really knew, Ojiisan...If only you really knew.'

With little warning, the older of the two approached, swinging his blow quickly and with precision, forcing the younger onto the back foot quickly and with a certain hint of surprise..He'd expected his grandfather to still have his knack for the art, but it surprised the younger man just how much he had deviated from his training over the last few years. Weaving and utilising his clear speed advantage, at least in terms of evasion, he slipped through a few blows before he felt a palm grip the collar of his hoodie and twist, bringing him off balance before he was thrown to the ground firmly, landing flat on his back with a moments blinking at the surprise...

'Christ, old man, you really still got it, haven't ya?'

Flipping back in a loose roll, he got back to his feet and retook his positioning, setting his feet more appropriately to deal with the opponent he faced, only partially aware that both Shouta and Reiko had paused to witness the event. Though he was unable to tell straight away, it was clear to the others that the two they watched were far superior to them in almost every aspect, even the older man sitting on the grass attentively as if to take mental notes on what he watched the two sparring opponents perform.

Springing forward, taking the initiative this time, he threw a quick straight at his grandfathers chest, smiling the entire time as the punch was parried and returned at him...Similarly, the exchange continued a moment before another grab was attempted. Before any force was added to it, however, Taiku clasped the instep of the wrist and twisted it sharply as he spun, manipulating the arm before sending the older man into a rolling fall. In doing so, he gave a little flair to his turn, using the moment to watch the old man rise from the ground, grinning himself at the sight as Taiku simply smirked and motioned for the older man to advance again...

"Don't tell me you're done already, Ojiisan...?"

"I may be getting old, but I taught you, sonny. You'll need to do better than that!"

The sparring continued for at least another twenty minutes or so, the two tiring as the fast-paced exchanges threw back and forth, the occasional blow landing, though whilst they weren't holding back, the hits were not the worst either had taken...Eventually, the pair called a mutual truce, slumping down onto the grass opposite one another and chuckling quietly, the older of the two giving an approving nod as he spoke.

"I see you picked up a few tricks of your own over the last few years, Kazuki. You're a lot faster than you were then as well."

"Yeah, I was surprised to find that there's people capable of giving me a run for my money, some even better than me. I had to improve..."

The old mans nod was simple enough, and it was accented as Shouta approached the two, his attention at Taiku as he seemed to pick the words he said. "I see you trained with your grandfather, that was exceptional to watch, Kazuki...But, I have a request. Reiko would like you to spar with her a little, if you're not already too tired? She thinks I go too easy on her..."

"You're her father, you don't even know you're doing it, but you really are going too lightly on her. She can't learn if you're not willing to make her work hard, Ojiisan should have told you that."

His face bloomed a touch of red a moment before he nodded in agreement at the words, a little embarrassment on his face...As he pushed himself to his feet, however, Taiku simply gave a shrug as he stretched his arms back slowly, loosening the tightening muscles a moment before approaching Reiko, standing in front of her as he got up from her slouched position on the grass.

"You want a spar, kid?"

"If you would be willing, yes."

"Think about this. I'm not your father, I will hit you..."

"I know.", she shot out quickly, her face stern as she made her point clear to him. A little taken aback at her willingness, he nodded nonetheless and motioned for her to attack...When she charged, he barely needed to move before his palm shot out against her sternum, knocking her to the ground in a single blow as she clutched her chest, gasping for air a moment...Shaking his head, he went to walk away.

"W-Wait..."

Glancing over his shoulder, seeing her push herself to her knees and back onto her feet, he shook his head before turning around and approaching her with quick steps. She was able to get a swing out for him this time, but it was caught easily, her arm buckled back before his heel took her feet from under her, putting her to the grass with a heavy landing as he used his other forearm to send her to the ground harder.

"I warned you, I will not hold back on you like your father."

"Then....Then give me enough respect to fight me until I ask otherwise."

"Your funeral, kid.". Pulling her to her feet, he immediately twisted her again, throwing her over his shoulder and onto the grass once again, this time with a small moan of pain from her as she landed awkwardly on her front, seeing to it that she quickly got back up. Behind them, Shouta had gone to tend to her, but his father had set a palm on his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks, shaking his head.

"She can't learn unless she experiences it...Watch..."

Nodding with a slow gulp, Shouta turned back and watched as his daughter got back to her feet, her legs a little shaky from the landing that had winded her a moment, before she charged at Taiku again. Surprisingly, she seemed much more focused as she watched him, and though he swung to knock her down, she was able to step outside the blow, catching his arm and attempting to perform the same take-down he had used on her a moment ago. However, he had both the element of experience and pure strength against her, not to mention the fact he was far, far quicker than her. With his nearest foot bringing itself a quarter turn around, his other arm caught the top of her shoulder and pulled her off of balance before his foot stepped back out, taking her feet from under her again and letting her fall to the ground...

"Better! Again!"

She got to her feet in silence, nodding, taking another attempt....Then another...Then another.....Around ten minutes later, she was down and barely getting to her feet, knowing that she should rest before continuing anything, he approached her himself. Setting a palm lightly on her shoulder, he pushed her back down to the grass and shook his head. The upset look on her face spoke volumes, but he stood by his decision, speaking quietly to her with a slight smile on his face.

"Tomorrow, alright?"

The nod that he got back was an angry one, though whether it be for the fact she was being refused her wishes or because she would have to wait until tomorrow to try again, he was not to know.

The next day, she was better, able to actually get a hand on him again, though it was again countered against her...The day after, she seemed to last even longer, taking the falls with much more skill from a few days of extreme practice...He was faintly pleased at her progress, knowing that she had some basic knowledge, she'd just never really been forced to implement it properly. In doing so, she'd effectively capped her ability until she was forced to try harder and feel the effects of making her mistakes, something that she was quick to undo when the opportunity presented itself in the form of her older cousin.

The next day, however, was not going to be one they would be training during....

~Hokkaido Airport~

Speaking into the cellphone, he left the message on her voicemail as he looked over at the young, pouting girl sitting on the benches nearby..."Kira, hey, it's me....I'm at Hokkaido airport now, we're just waiting to board. Yeah...'we'. Listen, I've got a slight predicament, I hope you'll have your shopping face on when you arrive at the airport, alright? I love you...Bye."

Flipping down the phone, he pocketed it again as he walked over to Reiko, sitting down a seat or two away from her and leaning back, folding his arms over his head. The two had barely exchanged a sentence between them in the last three hours, though he was content to let the silence stand. He knew the kid was cut up about having to leave her dad behind, but he'd pulled together a very convenient excuse that there was a school in San Francisco that would be good for her, that he would be in touch soon enough, and despite a tearful goodbye between the two, she had eventually gotten into the car without much of a fight. He'd eschewed the opportunity to light up whilst she was in the vehicle, instead waiting until they arrived at the airport and stealing a quick one outside the terminal. Right now, however, he was starting to feel a little bored and figured he might as well try and take her mind off of things.

"Hey, you hungry...?"

"Not really..."

"Thirsty?"

"Nuh-uh..."

"...Want a beer?"

"I'm fifteen!", Smirking at her, the joke evident when she saw the expression on his face, she giggled quietly a moment later and shook her head, rolling her eyes..."I guess I'm a LITTLE hungry..."

"Alright, come on. It's on me."

Sitting down in a small bar-restaurant, he skimmed the menu quickly before settling on a cup of coffee and a pastry, not being particularly hungry himself whilst she ordered a burger and fries...He watched with muted amusement as she ate the food relatively quickly, sipping his coffee with a small smirk behind his cup. When she was quite finished devouring the food, he couldn't resist it...

"How was that then, hm..?"

"Fine.."

"Fine enough to come close to licking the pattern off the plate...?"

"Shut up..."

"Oh, come on..."

"Eh..."

"...You worried about that furball of yours?"

"He HAS a name!"

"I'm sure it does, but to me, he's 'furball'. Live with it. Besides, I bought a good carrier, it's big enough and all that, plus it's even got a damned blanket in case he got tired...", the words souring at the end at the simple fact that she had made him buy the damned rodent a blanket.

"Yeah...I suppose..."

"Come on, we've gotta go in a minute anyway, might as well get this over with..."

"...Waitaminute...You don't like flying?"

"...I don't mind it....?"

Her eyes glinted as she smirked at him, rubbing her palms together theatrically a moment. "This is going to be fuuuun..."

"Oh God....."

~Arriving Home~ *Back to English from here on out, unless marked otherwise*

His ragged nerves jangled from the long flight, he walked in silence, his hair tufted and his eyes sagged with tiredness as he scowled at the young girl, who simply grinned back at him.

"Alright, I'll stop calling him 'furball'. Ya happy...?"

"So what's his name...?"

Sighing deeply, his free hand reaching up to cover his face as he dragged it down, he spoke coolly before walking on again. "...Hanten."

"Goodie, you can apologise to him when we get him back."

"I swear, Reiko, I'll cook and eat that fucking ferret before I apologise to it...". Flipping his cellphone open as he muttered to her, slightly out of earshot, he called Kira once again and told her that they'd arrived, that they were just getting the...baggage. Slightly exasperated, he closed the phone again, approaching the carousel and taking up his case, watching as hers came around and plucking it off the twisting machine quickly before turning and approaching the customs desk. Reiko was fast to react when the carry-box with the furball was shown, the guard stopping her in her tracks.

*"Hanten! Let me see him!"*

The guard simply raised an eyebrow at her words, unable to understand her and glancing at the older male behind who supplied a translation, shaking his head and running his hand under his neck in an exasperated motion. Speaking in English, knowing Reiko wouldn't understand, he quipped quickly before speaking to her again.

"Tell her the fucking thing got eaten in the cargo hold..."

"...Sir?"

"...Just give her the fucking furball. Please..."

"Certainly."

As they made their way through the rest of the airport, occasionally stopping as he adjusted the case in his hands, he led Reiko through the terminal building before he caught sight of Kira a little ways away, scanning around in search of him. Approaching through the crowd, he leaned down to Reiko with a whisper, asking her to watch his case a moment as he slinked his way through toward her, slipping up behind her and curling an arm around her waist, his other hand blacking out her eyes before he spoke, the grin in his voice clear.

"Miss me much..?"

"Of course. Though I kept myself busy whilst you were gone. The car's probably going to need gas...", the lilt in her words raising his own eyebrow as he uncovered her eyes and loosened his arm to turn her around, hugging her lightly before planting a quick kiss against her forehead, sighing to himself.

"I missed ya..."

After a moment, however, he turned slightly, his fingers linking through hers as he led her over to Reiko and paused a moment, turning to the two and switching his tongue to assist the younger of the girls.

*"Kira, this is my younger cousin Reiko....Reiko, this is my girlfriend Kira....That....thing in the box is the furb-"*

Reiko simply glared at him, and though he wouldn't admit it, he wasn't about to go through the ordeal the flight had turned into again in any form or shape, not if he could help it...He would have new nightmares about flying for the rest of his life, still wondering just how she'd managed to drive that stewardess to the brink of tears...The only thing he was able to decipher from her was a remark about 'repeated pressing of a button'...

*"That's 'Hanten'. She doesn't speak much English at the moment, so I hope you don't mind a few days of putting up with me sticking with this language..."*

Her nod was enough for him to pluck his case up again as he ushered the two toward the outside of the building, fishing a cigarette from the packet and lighting it almost immediately, leaving the two a short distance away as he leaned against the building with a deep sigh, relaxed with the nicotine to heal his shattered nerves. In the meantime, Kira and Reiko seemed quick to engage in polite conversation, focused entirely on that damned furball in the cage...From what he could pick up, Kira had turned into an immediate lifelong fan, and he could only feel his hopes collapsing as he resigned himself to things that were to come.

Flicking the cigarette away, he turned to the other two and gave a short smile, gesturing with his head.

*"C'mon. Let's go home..."*


ooc: Good God, I think my hands fell off...Yeah, it was a long one, but I wanted to make it a little bit more interesting to make up for not posting one for ages...Hope you liked it, comments are appreciated as always ^_^

[Leon Loire]

Stop acting like me! I'm the novel writer, after all!

Well, I've got to say, it certainly adds in a new element into Taiku's storyline - a fourteen year old girl that Kira can take care of, and her "guardian" gets to sigh at.

I thought it was definitely a fine addition for the "Hold On Hope" series, and does well in its significant length. The pain of writing was worth it Liam, good work.

[Kokaku Musha]

Damnit man... It's good to see people still having good ideas about awesome storylines and what not and then put it on paper perfectly... the end of section b even made me chuckle ^^ so typically Taiku style Keep it up man and check that thread in a bit

[Odin Reeves]

I feel as though Taiku's cousin is going to be hurting some people in the future...Something to read.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Part 10 - A New Life...?:

A/N: Alright, it's a shorter chapter, but the storyline to come from this will produce a chapter far bigger and better. Think part 9 again. -sighs at thought of writing thoooooousands of words again-.


'No.....Please........NO!......'

Rising with a start, he clutched his chest tightly, his fingers tracing over the intricate tattoos that hid the worst of his scars, though they didn't follow the black inked markings he had paid to conceal the traces of his past, the things that reminded him of before, of a time when tears could truly come to him....

So many years now, so many long, dragging years had passed, yet the same nightmare pained him, tore him from peaceful rest and prevented him from true, honest rest. As it stood, he had now found self- solace in his own heart, over time he had given his heart to another, released his barriers and accepted another into his life without limit, the only person he could truly say was the one he could love without question, and even now he could only give her so much of himself. Even now, so much of his heart was tarnished by a guilt that could never leave him, that blackened his heart and lingered like a cancer as it choked the very spirit from the man. A brave face would only do so much, a fake smile could only go so far, and he knew that there was only so much he could do as things were to redeem the dark spot that lingered.

The Next Day, Hokkaido[/b]

Hokkaido, a place he'd since grown re-attached to, his home and homeland, yet a place he loathed to be. Reiko had not accompanied him on this occasion, under Rene and Roccos careful watch she was attending Hircine, even with their current situation. One thing he could count on comfortably was her outspoken nature tended only to arise in her native tongue. With her teachers and likewise she possessed a polite and courteous nature that was virtually unrivalled....

A good thing indeed.

His journey had been long, after all, he'd travelled halfway across the world to be here and to ask the questions he wanted to ask, but luck stood in his favour when he arrived at the humble home he had travelled to a few months before, when he had first met Reiko and taken her into his life. His grandfather was not home, and this in itself presented the youngest surviving male of his bloodline a time to dwell upon something as he paced around the small building, pacing into the grounds behind and stopping on the grass, in front of him two small, almost non-descript stones with a rudimentary carving on each, a single Kanji for each of his parents. Slumping to his knees in front of them, his head bowing as he paid a quiet respect, he maintained the quiet for a surprising spell of time, one he would not have been able to judge had he not been joined by an elder man who prostrated himself alongside Taiku. The simple clothing and speckled grey beard to his right a welcome and unwelcome sight all at once.

"I didn't hear you arrive home..."

"I didn't know my grandson was flying across the world for a whim, so we're even...."

"...Fair point, grandfather."

"Out with it, child. You didn't come here just to pay your respects, so why not say what it is you want to say...?"

The younger male shifted on his knees, tucking his feet up against his thighs roughly after turning himself to face the elder and revered male to his side. A slow, quick cough clearing his throat, he seemed to linger shortly on the response to that question before he eventually spoke.

"What I did those years ago...I wish to find a way to repent to those souls...."

"Tell me, my boy, how do you intend to do that?"

"I...I don't know, grandfather. I could contribute money to the town--"

"And do what? Erect a monument in their 'honour'?"

"Well, I could make anonymous donations to the families...."

"Money will not ease the pain those people feel, Kazuki. You of all people should know that money buys no happiness..."

"...I...don't know what to do then..."

"Answer me this, Kazuki. Do you feel guilt for taking their lives, is it remorse for how you killed them, or does your heart simply trouble you because you no longer believe that the happiness you feel now, with your loved ones and the people around you, is permitted?"

"It's just....How can I live my life without care, after what happened? Do I have the right to be happy?"

"Do you love Kira?"

"...I don't follow...."

"Answer the question, boy."

"Well, of course I do--"

"Leave. Go home, hold that girl in your arms and ask yourself that very question. You'll find your answer faster than I can give it to you."

"....I figured we'd stopped the riddles after I got smarter than you....."

"Careful, boy. You might be younger and more spry, but I can still beat you like a child...."

Allowing himself a short chuckle at the remarks, a slow sigh escaped Taiku before he spoke again, glancing down to his folded hands. "You'll make me do this your way, won't you?"

"I have no intention on telling you something you need to have your own epiphany about, my boy...Go home, look at what you have, at the life you have and the people you share it with, look into the eyes of the woman you love and ask yourself that question again. The answer will be clearer to you then...."

"Thank you, grandfather...."

"You need not thank me, child. Even us old timers have our occasional use, you know..."

The two shared a brief smile before heading indoors, spending a while talking about far more menial things, how Reiko was doing in school and how well she was adapting to English-speaking culture, how Taikus business was going and other such things....He was pleased to hear that Reikos father had managed to come to arrangements with the Yakuza that had created problems before, surprisingly, and that whilst it was still far better for her to remain in the dark on things, the outcome was likely to be far less gruesome than the two others had initially thought.

However, this trip had been only a brief interlude and Taiku was due to return promptly, at which case he made his goodbyes to both his grandfather and his parents before returning to the airport and lingering a while in the stores, a few things catching his eye as he continued to ponder over the question he was asking himself...

The Next Day, San Francisco

"You say it's a unique model, the only one of its kind....?"

"Indeed, sir. Are you sure you want it as it comes....?"

"Yes, it'll be fine like that...."

"Very good, Mr. Akimoto. I must say, it's good to see someone with taste--"

"Frankly, I picked it because I liked it better than the others. Taste has little to do with it."

"...Yes sir."

After taking the small bag he was handed, he slipped the card back into his wallet and into his pocket. He had made the purchase on something of an impulse, but he'd seen it several times before now. Regardless, he knew that tonight would be important to him, there was an answer to a question he had asked before that he could not yet find the answer for, and he could only hope that with the one person he would unleash the truest essence of himself around he would find that answer...

He would not wait long.

Later

Smiling lightly as he took her hand in his, gently threading his fingers through hers as the pair left the small restaurant, appetites sated and a bottle of wine fairly well demolished, reasonably more on Taikus part than Kiras, by all admission. The restaurant had been a particularly specific pick on his part tonight, not least for its proximity to the beach, and as he strolled lightly his path began to lead towards the sandy walkways a short distance away. Pausing to slip out of his footwear, he shrugged lightly with a faint smile as he tucked the shoes under an arm, allowing Kira to follow suit as the two paced down onto the sand.

The moon was bright, though it wasn't quite full, and it shimmered across the bay beautifully to illuminate the difference between the dry sand and that which the tide had began to sink away from, being much firmer and easier to walk on...Needless to say, his mind was something of a scramble at the moment as the two wandered along the tideline, but soon enough he found himself slowly padding through the slightest puddle of water as he came to a stop, turning to curl his free arm around her as the shoes were lightly dropped to the side, forgotten for the moment as he kissed her gently...

He would back up only briefly before catching her eyes with his own, a previously asked question entering his head as he asked himself once again...

'Do I have the right to all of this...? Do I have the right to be happy....?'

His arms softly wrapped around her, the bridge of his forehead resting against hers, he found his answer without words..His heart was his own, as was his remorse, but it was his choice which of them he allowed to dominate him, which of them he allowed to hold precedence. Taking a short step back from Kira, barely enough to part the two as his arms slipped away from her waist, his hand reached into the inner pocket of his coat. Pausing, he took a long, slow breath as he glanced at the moon once again, this time at the reflection on the still water, a shimmering puddle of silver....

"Kira, I...."

Shaking his head, he smiled weakly to himself before he slunk down, dropping to a knee....

"You're the most important thing in my life. I doubt I could ever tell you just how grateful I am to have met you, but let me try....."

His hand drew from his pocket, the small, cubic box held closed in the cradle of his hands as his head sat low, the words coming to him steadily as he spoke...

"Kira Karyuudo....."

His head rose slowly, knowing full well she would be aware of what was happening and only hoping to see anything besides a dumbstricken look on the girls face. Folding open the top of the ring box, he raised it up slightly so that she might see.

"...Will you marry me?"