Bus Stops and Bad Blood (Varron)

[Kyukaku]

This place leaves alot of memories...

Kyukaku stood in the doorway of his empty apartment, looking inward at the now stripped walls and baren floors. There were a few pieces of furniture laying about, but they were part of the room and not his own property. Plus, he would have no means or need to carry furniture all the way to San Fransisco.

Most of those memories aren't good ones though. Attempted murder in your own home doesn't tend to create sentiments for the place.

Reaching down to the floor, Kyu picked up his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder. All of his possessions he hadn't been renting had been clothes, and he didn't have too many that he needed a second bag. There was a lingering feeling that he was forgetting something, but he couldn't figure out what. He had everything, and everyone he cared for was down in San Fransisco by now.

No thats not true. He's still here...

---Yesterday Afternoon---

"Hello?" Kyukaku asked as a formality, flipping open his cellphone and placing it to his ear.

"Mr. Scott? This is Lieutanant Daniels over at Varron PD. You are currently waiting for a schedule court date involving the incident with a Miss Lisa Gavyns, correct?" The voice on the other end spoke nonchalantly, as if he did this sort of thing everyday.

Kyukaku paused, clenching his jaw. He knew this day would come eventually, though mentally he had put it off. Trent had set him up quite thoroughly, and chances were the courts would find him guilty. Shuya had got him out of prison, but that was just a temporary fix. "Yeah. That's correct." he finally spoke, dissapointment blatant in his voice.

"Well, you don't need to wait anymore. In fact, it seems you don't need to show up at all. You've been found not guilty." Kyukaku blinked on the other side of the phone, the gears in his brain not turning with the words the man had spoken.

"...What?"

"It says here recent evidence has shown you to be not guilty. You will still have the arrest on your record, but other than that we have no more business with you. You're free to leave the city, or do whatever the hell else you want. No more special orders to follow. You're clean."

"Thank you." Kyukaku spoke plainly, looking off in the distance as the Lieutenant hung up, Kyu following suitely. "Free to go?" Kyukaku muttered as he removed the phone from his ear. He had never expected this. He had hoped for it, but would never assume it would come this quick, even in his daydreams.

---Today---

He had packed all night, and filled out the rest of the paperwork this morning. There was nothing left to do but leave it seemed. Kyu gave a solemn nod and walked out of his apartment, making his way out the door, down the stairs and onto the sidewalk below.

Bag in hand, Kyu stood at the bus stop, staring off into nothingness.

I should be happy. I'm free, and I can leave. So why am I so hesitant to do so? ...Don't be stupid, you know why. Maybe I should just call him, tell him everything's fine...

Kyu snickered at himself, shaking his head as he continued his thoughts.

And tell him what? Hey, the courts found me not guilty, so its okay. You can trust me now because I didn't really rape your sister... he made up his mind about me when he saw the set-up. There's nothing I can do about it now. Still...it feels wrong to just up and leave without him....

"Goodbye Varron....goodbye Dain." Kyukaku spoke softly, turning his head back up to the street as cars began to pass by. Soon, he Greyhound bus would be here, and he'd be on his way to instate himself at Hircine High.

[Dain Gavyns]

"Are we there yet, Dain?"

A feminine voice, though clearly not Ran's, spoke out over the low rumble of the Jeep's engine. No music was playing, as Dain just couldn't seem to stomach it today. As he drove, his mind wandered, thinking back to the events that got himself to where he was at this moment, with one particular event replaying over and over in his mind...


*FLASHBACK*

Dain was sitting in his apartment, leaning back in the La-Z-Boy, flipping through the channels. Much to his dismay, his clicking finger hesitated, seemingly despite his own intentions, over the local news channel, forcing the young man's eyes to take in what must have been the breaking news of late.

"A comatose teenage girl was the victim of attempted rape," the reporter said before Dain's ears shut off, refusing to listen to any more. He simply didn't need to hear it, he'd heard it all before anyhow. Hell, he'd lived it. That comatose girl was his sister, and he'd spent too much time at her bedside to need some reporter to tell him she wasn't going to be conscious for seemingly quite some time.

Dain shut his eyes, wincing back the tears, and his thumb hovered over the button to change the channel, when his ears, once again working independently of the rest of him, tuned back into the program and the next words of this story, which truly was 'breaking' news.

"It seems that Lisa Gavyns has awoke from her long nap, so to speak, with some startling new evidence from the case against one Tyler Scott."

Dain's eyes shot open, wide and amazed to hear the news. Bastards, he thought, imagining the greedy hospital staff. It only figures they'd turn to the damn media before they came to me.

He looked on, already commiting himself mentally to the positions in the room of his coat and keys, ready to dash out the door to see her, but not until he found out what this breaking news was.

"He's innocent..." the shaky, yet still all-too-familiar voice said hesitantly. "I... I've seen the pictures... heard the accusations. That boy... Tyler. He... he didn't do it."

"More to come after this." the reporter said before cueing out. Before she could even finish, however, Dain was out the door. He was going to see his sister, and get her out of this God-forsaken city. Not to mention, there was still one other issue that needed to be dealt with...

*END FLASHBACK*

Dain smiled vaguely, still feeling more than a little bit distracted from the sudden rush of everything. He tried to line it all up in his head; a way of keeping himself focused while driving. After all, it was a long way to San Francisco, especially with the detour he was going to be taking.

First, it seemed that Lisa had stirred from her slumber right before her attempted rape. According to her, she was feeling a little fuzzy, but she was still coherent enough to see what was going on. She reacted, kicking the man with the long black hair between the legs. He knocked her out, but with her hands up to guard, managed to avoid a large bruise or mark of any kind, helping keep the police away from the idea of a struggle. From then on, she guessed, it was simply a matter of placement to put Scott in a rather compromised position. She vaguely remembered someone else unconscious nearby, and thought that it was Tyler. The police, convinced enough by the first-hand account, plus the fact that it seemed the girl was dead-set against pressing charges against a suspect she was sure was innocent, had phoned Tyler the day before, finally exonerating him. It was a long time coming, but finally, seemingly as suddenly as it began, it was over for Kyukaku.

Speaking of Kyukaku, Dain pulled to a stop next to the bus stop, raising an eyebrow at the teenage student, with what little personal items he had, ready to head off to San Francisco to start his new life.

"Hey there," Dain said, a little grin on his face. "I hear the party up and moved to the West Coast. I think we need to hurry up and get our asses out there so it can finally start, eh?"

Dain laughed, opening the door and waiting for Kyukaku to recover from the shock of seeing the man who had him thrown in jail welcome him with such open arms and finally get in the damn car. Once he did, Dain continued to drive again, his eyes moving to the rear-view mirror to meet with Tyler's in the backseat.

"I never wanted to believe it was you, Tyler. I overreacted, and once we were over that line, there was really nothing much else I could do. However, I did take out a little favor with a friend I have in the pen, asked him to take care of you. Sorry about, y'know... kicking the shit out of you, man. By the way, have you met my sister, Lisa?"

Dain grinned, doing what he usually did and made light of what should have been a grave situation. Lisa, showing that she was obviously related to Dain, found the joke quite amusing and laughed along, turning around in the seat to extend her hand.

"Hey there, big bad Mr. Rapist, I'm Lisa, your sweet and innocent little victim. It's gonna be a long trip, do you think you can contain yourself from forcing yourself on me the whole way?"

Her grin was about as wide as Dain's, and the two made quite a comical pair, sitting there grinning like cheshire cats in the front seat of the Jeep.

"By the way," Dain spoke again suddenly, a bit more serious, "we've gotta make a hell of a detour on our way. I gotta head back South, Lisa needs to get home, and I really think it's time I spoke with my folks again..."

Dain became distant, suddenly, his eyes on the road, but looking far into the past. "It's been almost a year..." he said quietly, and said nothing more on the subject. He turned on the radio, letting the catchy radio-driven singles entertain the trio amidst other, more pleasant small talk the whole way home.

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: Only over a month late, not too bad knowing you )

Kyukaku kept his gaze ahead, the thoughts going through his head blocking out the sound of the jeep pulling up next to him. As a result, Kyu had jumped forward in a 180 turn, facing the jeep as the driver started to talk to him. His eyes widened, not even processing what he was saying as Kyu's thoughts went even more wild.

After the initial shock died down, Kyukaku managed to mumble some incoherent phrase before finally pulling together two words to explain his deepest thoughts and emotions.

"Well, poop." Kyu stated plainly, exhaling as he watched Dain throw the jeep door open, obviously expecting him to get in.

Kyukaku hesitated, unsure if he should enter the vehicle or not. After a moment of looking at that genuine Dain grin, Kyu threw his bag in the backseat, following with his own body suitely. Kyu settled in, buckling himself to the seat in case they got into an accident that jeeps were always known for. His eyes met Dain's in the rearview mirror, Dain explaining his own feelings and actions before sifting the subject over to his sister.

She turned and faced him, joking with him about the whole situation. Kyukaku was completely dumbfounded, at a complete loss of a reaction to either of the siblings. Less than two minutes ago Kyukaku thought Lisa was in a coma, and that Dain wanted nothing to do with him. Now here they were, both brother and sister grinning from ear to ear as the looked back at him.

Those Gavyns'...man are they amazing. Even after such a thing Dain still wanted to have my back. Sure it's success is debatable but still. And Lisa...you can blow her up, you can put her in a coma, you can try to rape her and what does she do? She smiles. That girl has been put through three kinds of hell and she smiles...Damned amazing is what it is.

Kyukaku smiled softly, his comfort of the situation finally kicking in as he looked back up to the siblings that looked at him. He laughed a quick laugh, bringing his gaze to Lisa as he put on a grin of his own as he rubbed her head, messing up her hair.

"Tell you what, I'll do my best to resist as long as you keep this one from falling asleep at the wheel." Kyu added, thumbing his hand in the direction of Dain.

"And you think I'd complain? A detour down south, much better than a busride cross country. Bus people usually smell. I know, 'cause I don't have a fancy car myself." Kyu joked, keeping with the idle chat as they drove along. A few minutes later something finally dawned on him. Dain had kept a close eye over Kyu in jail but how?

"Hank? Was that your doing?" Kyu cut in regardless of conversation, blindsiding Dain with his question.

[Dain Gavyns]

"An old friend, of sorts," Dain spoke in reply to Kyu's question. "He used to work at the Edge, back in the day. Good guy, heart of gold, though not without his troublesome streak. Likely what got him thrown in the pen in the first, place, right?"

Dain shrugged, laugh it off a bit, and continued to talk while driving. Lisa, meanwhile, listened with curious interest. Many things had happened while she was held captive, either by man or by nature, and she yearned to be filled in on the details. Like her brother, Lisa was curious by nature.

"I hope everything went alright, Tyler, from what I was told, some pretty bad stuff went down. Guess that's to be expected, you WERE in a federal penitentiary. Although there's one thing I never understood... how did you even manage to get out?"

After Tyler would speak, Lisa would suddenly chime in, regardless of the answer. "Wow... it seems like so much has happened back in Varron! Why don't you guys quit with your prison buttsex stories-" Dain's eyes widened at this point, a little surprised to hear such words from his own sister, "-and tell me all about the place. I'm sure you have thousands of stories to share."

Dain scoffed, a little snort of a laugh, and grinned as he flew down the interstate. "Well, I do, but the biggest few of them you already know about..." He spoke the words carefully. Lisa was safe now, with little-to-no harm done, however, some of Dain's biggest rivalries thus far had included her extensively, and it was still hard for the older boy to contain his shame, that he let her be taken as such.

"But hey, I'm sure Tyler and I can think of some interesting things to talk about. How about Legion? Or, this might be before your time, Kyu, but Kazuki and Maverik's showdown on the roof? The exploding school saga, perhaps?"

Shrugging, Dain went on to tell the stories, using his clever wit and his masterful way with words, as Tyler Scott added in his own addendums whenever possible. As tragic as some of the events were, Dain spoke in such a lighthearted and fun fashion that the trio soon forgot about the gravity of recent events, and simply drove on. They quickly lost track of time, as tends to happen when one participates in large amounts of story-telling, and before they knew it, they were pulling into Dain's old driveway.

"...so I just threw that fucker right out the window!" Dain said, laughing, as he put the jeep in park and switched off the engine. It got quiet suddenly between the two Gavyns children, for they both knew what awaited. Tyler wasn't as informed, as his grin only slowly faded as he realized the sudden uncharacteristic seriousness that fell upon the two in the front.

"Tyler..." Dain said slowly. "It'd probably be best if you just stay in the car." Lisa nodded in acceptance, and the two quickly got out, heading briskly and all-too-stiffly towards the front door.

--- About twenty minutes later ---

The door opened slowly, and Dain stepped outside alone, slowly and quietly, taking long, deep breaths. He almost looked on the verge of tears, yet at the same time, still held that inner strength that had kept him from breaking down throughout the recent events. Letting one last, long breath, Dain hopped up into the jeep, not even bothering to open the door. Looking back at Tyler, he spoke in a sad, plaintive note. "Come on up into the front if you like. We're leaving, now."

After Tyler hopped into the front seat, Dain pulled out and drove on, turning on the radio and listening to the sounds of various stations as they made the long trip to California.

He only spoke when spoken to, and barely spoke, even at that.

[Kyukaku]

"Right enough. Fractured a guy's skull for stepping out of line. Did the guy have it coming? Probably. Was it justified? Eh, who knows." Kyukaku left it vague, allowing Dain to continue before answering him once more.

"Well yeah, I was stabbed again. But like that's never happend to me before. If someone isn't trying to break my arm, they're trying to stab me. Its just how it seems to work out." Kyukaku sighed, shaking his head in good humor despite the dark overtones his words carried. "The how? I can't really answer that for you Dain. I just don't know. But I can tell you the who, Shuya Katsumoto."

Before Dain could of replied, Lisa vulgarly cut in, taking Kyukaku back once again. He was still having trouble getting used to the face that the girl who had been helpless for a year was naturally this out spoken and full of humor just as her brother was majority of the time.

"That was before you were graced with my presence, though I've gotten the cliffnotes." Kyukaku let Dain start off, adding in his own commentaries where he felt they fit. They talked mostly about Legion, Kyu sharing the story where Dain had thought it to be a good idea to place Kyukaku in the ring with Ein Gilsin. There was also the story of Kyu's challenge against Taiku in the fighter's league, and the story of the firebombing. Time was lost as the three discussed stories, gave their opinions on other friends and acquantinces, and even predictions of what the others were doing now.

"So I immediately went to go check up on, and after finding his message I raced back to your brother and Trent, telling him what happend-" Dain interjected the last part of the story, the three of them laughing as they suddenly pulled into a driveway.

The Gavyns siblings got rather quiet, and after a minute of silence Kyu's grin began to fade away as well. The two got out of the jeep, suggesting for Kyu to stay put who merely nodded in return. They walked inside and Kyukaku sat in wonder of what in the world could have the two of them so spooked, after everything they've been through?

---20 Minutes Later---

Kyukaku rose from his lying position in the backseat, sitting up as he watched Dain make his way back to the car. Noting the look in his eyes, Kyu leaned forward, turning off the 36 Crazyfists he had found under the passengers seat. To his request, Kyu climbed inbetween seats and plunged into the seat next to Dain's.

They rode in silence for several minutes, Kyukaku giving his friend time to gather his own thoughts and speak if he so chose. After a while, it became apparent that he had no intention of doing so. Reaching forward and turning off the music once again, Kyukaku turned to face his friend, concern in his eye.

"Okay, Dain. The curiosity is killing me. What's going on?"