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The Epic	By : kyochan Category: +S to Z > Spiral Views: 1747 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Spiral, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
Title:� The Epic

Chapter:� 22/ many

Authors:� Kyo-chan and
Koko-chan

Genre:� Shounen-ai

Disclaimers and notes:�
We do not own the characters or the series.� They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita
Mizuno.� This fanfiction is written by
fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.�

Notes:� Blame
Kyo-chan!� A month of constant work makes
her too tired [or lazy] to edit and beta.�
But we're BACK!

Summary:� Kousuke and
Eyes chase away one demon, but more lurk around the corner.

~*~

Kousuke was on the twenty-first floor,
which had been converted to be a single large room dedicated to whatever type
of physical training the occupants might need. There was a weapon's rack next
to the door, along with a shelf for towels and first aid supplies, and a sink
next to that, complete with soap and cups. The opposite wall was nothing but
large windows facing out onto the city, and the walls perpendicular were both
covered in mirrors. Half the floor was covered in a thick blue mat, and the
other half was a bare wooden floor. Kousuke was currently on the wooden half,
not so much exercising as using two daggers to become a whirling blaze of
death, the sun glinting off the blades and the light sheen of sweat on his
shirtless body.

Ayumu stood in the doorway when he
found it, hanging back for more than one reason. For starters, he'd never seen
Kousuke quite like that before, always having known he was dangerous, but never
getting to see it in such a grand display. His eyes were riveted to the way his
body never seemed to falter, the way his muscles moved under toned skin, hands
so very much a blur. And then there was the danger that he represented. For all
intents and purposes, Kousuke was still a killer, and that reality made Ayumu
stay where he was, that strange twinge of fear starting in his gut. He hated
it, for it had barely reared its ugly head when he was talking to Rio...

It was making itself known now,
especially when Kousuke realized someone was in the room with him and he didn't
so much stop as go still, like a hunting cat on the prowl, slowly turning to
look at Ayumu with green-gold eyes that were glowing with the light of the
setting sun. The expression was that of startlement, but the shadows in Ayumu's
mind took them as predatory, in both sexual and nonsexual meanings. The urge to
kill was suddenly a scream within his mind.

The younger boy couldn't help the
gasp that was forced through his lips, amber eyes suddenly wide with the slam
of emotions. He couldn't even reason with the darker ones like he had before
because they came down on him so heavily and so suddenly. A dark flush rose to
his cheeks, and he took a step back, hearing an apology come from his own voice
that was a raspy whisper. He didn't know if he was apologizing for something
he'd done, or something he might do, but it was the only thing he could do when
everything else was falling apart. I should leave...before I ... before...

Kill! screeched the voice in
his mind, blocking out almost all conscious thought. Kill before the pain
begins again!

That step back was coupled by two
steps forward. Kousuke represented danger...danger to Ayumu, especially since
he didn't seem to care about what the Hope wanted or didn't want. The thoughts
that had kindly settled in his mind during his talks with Rio
and Jhette couldn't seem to be found, and it only added to the frustration. The
smaller voices that said he was here to give them a chance not hurt them were
becoming swiftly drowned out by that killing instinct. His eyes were still
wide, the pupils small now, making his eyes burn copper in the sunlight, the
look not quite there. His breath came out in soft pants, as if the thoughts and
fears put a physical strain on him as well.

Kousuke could sense the fear and
the slightly-off feeling that he knew was artificial. And it was getting worse.
If he didn't do something, Ayumu would probably end up doing something that
ended with somebody's blood on the floor. So Kousuke grit his teeth and decided
to take the bull by the horns, so to speak. He gave a great leap, suddenly very
glad that he was part cat, and landed just behind Ayumu. Then he took tight
hold of him, pinning his arms.

"There's nothing I can say
that will persuade you," he growled, enveloping the brunette in his Gift
and pulling them both into the place where the Web had once stood, "so
I'll show you instead! Search through my soul, Ayumu! If you can find anything
in there that makes you think I could ever harm you without due cause,
then you can do whatever you want! Kill me, hate me, mind blast me until I'm a
fucking vegetable, I don't care! But you will do this!"

And with a wrench of his shields,
he opened himself completely to Ayumu.

Ayumu fought almost violently in
Kousuke's tight embrace, his own growling sound rumbling deep in his throat.
The words floated to him as if they had to get through screen, distant yet
reaching him. He let out a snarl of rage as he felt himself forcibly being
dragged back to the ruins of the Web. He hadn't been ready....all they cared
about were themselves! The darkness within his mind throbbed like a brewing
storm, finding a playground in the open expanses of Kousuke's bared mind. It
was like the dream about Fate, with a slight twist, that corruption in the
younger Narumi's mind bleeding out to reach that Blade Child which had left himself
defenseless.

Oh no, you little bastard.
You're not fouling this up... came Kousuke's voice, but it wasn't directed
at Ayumu. Warm crimson trails of the Blade Child's gift appeared, twining
around the corruption that was so alien to the rest of Ayumu's nature,
gathering it together in order to isolate it and immobilize it. Ayumu is the
only one welcome here. Not you.

Behind the darkness was a soft
golden glow, that which was Ayumu's own true nature and soul, small against the
opposition that the corruption made. It tried to reach past the evil thoughts,
the need to kill, but the safety measures that had been taken to keep him
imprisoned took hold. Pulsing under the red tendrils, it beat like a thunderous
heart, feeding from Ayumu's fear and sending it back outward in an explosion
against Ayumu's spirit and Kousuke's. The brunette screamed and thrashed
against Kousuke, that desperation to get away from the resulting pain
overwhelming him. With both of them battered, the darkness reached out for the
redhead once more.

Kousuke grit his teeth and held
against the pain and Ayumu's physical struggles. He'd known this would be
dangerous, even before he'd known he was going to try. He was an empath, and
not suited to getting rid of telepathic damage. He tightened his mental hold,
but knew that he didn't have the ability or strength to keep it back much
longer. And when that happened, it would be a choice of letting go, which would
most likely result in Ayumu killing him, or to use the secondary ability to absorb
the darkness, which would put the madness in his own mind. It went without
saying what would happen to him in the latter case, with the shadows so
strongly geared towards killing the nearest Blade Child. But at least the
second way meant that only he got hurt, and Ayumu was safe, so that would
likely be his choice. But only if he couldn't reach a certain someone... EYES!

Eyes had just barely escaped his
agent, having lost a very tiring argument over the next concert date. That was
immediately forgotten as Kousuke's panicked voice slammed into his mind. He
staggered against the elevator wall and pressed a hand to his head. He was
about to mentally ask what was going on, but the moment he made the connection
to Kousuke's mind, he didn't have to. In seconds, he could feel Ayumu's damaged
mind and the darkness that threatened to overtake Kousuke's. His fingers
frantically pressed the floor number again, in a desperate hope it would make
the lift go faster. His Gift opened wide as if it knew it didn't have time to
wait until Eyes's body reached the other two. Bracing himself with one hand on
the slender brass rail that went around the inside of the elevator car, he
focused his attention on the very obvious shape of darkness.

With Eyes there to deal with the actual
tampering, Kousuke turned some of his attentions to shielding Ayumu from the
pain. Go, he whispered to that gentle golden light, we'll protect
you. Please do what I asked.

The rest of his attention and
powers stayed on the dark shadows of corruption, however. Even with Eyes there,
the defenses on it seemed to almost give it a life of its own, striking out at
everything that got near it, trying to slip free to destroy Kousuke's bared
mind and soul.

Now that the three of them were there
together, drawn so deeply into the world of their minds, their bodies no longer
responded to them. All of their concentration was turned inward, giving their
souls shape. Ayumu's terrified face could be seen in the soft glow as he tried
to move past the cloud of darkness that Kousuke held back like a curtain. A
silvery being appeared before them both, Eyes's mind locked on them now. It'll
be all right... He held out his hand for Ayumu to take, and the boy
hesitantly stared at it a moment. There is no time to doubt, unless you want
to live with this fear for the rest of your life. Come.

Ayumu's brow creased, and he took
Eyes's outstretched hand, clasping it tightly. The musician pulled Ayumu past
the darkness, almost throwing him to the open doorway that consisted of Kousuke's
soul. Without waiting to see if Ayumu ventured the rest of the way in, Eyes
dove into the darkness, letting it swallow him almost entirely as he began to
fight it.

Kousuke moved himself to block the
way Ayumu had went, and worked with his empathy to separate the mental
tempering from its anchors in Ayumu's pain and fear. That much at least, he
could do. The rest, he would have to leave up to Eyes. He forced himself not to
think about the terrifying fact that Ayumu was in his soul. Even without this disgusting
construct there to goad him, the brunette could easily hurt him if he found
something that he didn't like.

However, true to the nature that
they had all come to expect from Ayumu, his presence in Kousuke's soul was
warm. He looked, but not too much, pressed for certain answers, but not too
hard. Kousuke had offered him something special, and it had to be treated as
such.

When the anchors were severed, the
construct writhed as if it were in pain, and Eyes gave a yelp from the inside.
It hurt to feel it fighting so hard, but he held on, finding the core of the
corruption and tearing at it with his Gift. The defenses that the other
telepath had placed on it were good, almost better than Eyes's own rushed
skills. But with Kousuke there to uproot it from the outside, he was able to
tear at it from the inside.

With the core of it gone, the rest
of the shadow soon thinned, then faded altogether as Eyes ripped it apart and
erased it from Ayumu's mind, leaving the brunette free to think clearly for the
first time in over a week.

Now that the danger was over, Kousuke
wasn't paying much attention to anything but the warmth within himself. It was
still a little unnerving to have allowed someone this deep into himself, but it
was someone he loved and trusted, and that was reflected in the soul Ayumu was
faced with.

Ayumu very lightly touched those
emotions with his spirit, and his very faint smile could be felt thrumming
gently against Kousuke's mind. With that last exploration, the boy withdrew,
having seen all that he needed.. and perhaps a little more.

When the last of the shadows disappeared around Eyes, his image was more faded
than Kousuke's or Ayumu's. Tired...

Kousuke gave a chuckle that sounded
almost as worn, closing his soul again with certain sense of relief. While his
spiritual form was not faded like Eyes's, it was a little blurred around the
edges. We're on the exercise floor, if you want to say hello. Otherwise, you
should just head to bed. I'll probably be there soon myself.

I think I'm in the
elevator...not sure what floor I'm on anymore....

Ayumu slipped past them, back where
he belonged in his own mind, turning back to look at them. Thank you...

Hey, what are sick bastards for,
other than ruining the plots of evil bastards? And Eyes, if the doors open to
some place where there's a yellow brick road and flying monkeys, start
worrying. With that, he pulled out to his own body as well, opening his
eyes. During the struggle, he and Ayumu had fallen to their knees, but the
redhead still had a tight hold on him.

Ayumu was panting softly against
him, but he was no longer struggling to get away. Instead, it felt like Kousuke
were supporting him, the boy needing something to lean against while he
regained his senses. His eyes opened slowly, and he gave himself a moment to
just breathe, waiting to see if something triggered in his mind because he was
still so close to Kousuke. When nothing happened beyond a mild trepidation at
being held so tight and fighting that which threatened his mind only moments
ago, he knew that things had changed for the better.

Before he had a chance to say
anything, Eyes stumbled to the doorway looking quite exhausted, but he had the
faintest smile on his face. "I guess I'm still in Kansas then, aren't I?"

Kousuke gave a weary grin back,
trying to sit up a little more, but too tired to do much. "Even better,
you're here. Care to join the group sprawl?"

Eyes made his way carefully into
the room so that he wouldn't ruin his dignity by falling flat on his face on
the way to the other two. "You and I need to have a talk, Kousuke,"
he murmured, a tiny bit of warning in his tone.

Ayumu looked up at the other Blade
Child, again waiting to see if the panic would set in, but at best, he was only
still nervous and unsure. He was pretty sure that was an improvement over a
murderous rage, so he didn't complain.

Kousuke picked up on that warning,
and winced. He was in for it now. "In my defense, I have to say that it
wouldn't be a good idea to beat me to a pulp while Ayumu's in my arms. He might
object."

"You know I'll do no such
thing," Eyes said, kneeling down next to them. He took a firm hold of
Kousuke's ear, tugging his head a little. "But the next time you have
plans on doing something that dangerous, let me know before you do it.
Who knows what would have happened to either or both of you if I hadn't been
close enough or had my shields down to hear you."

"Owowow! C'mon, Eyes, I didn't
have a choice! It would've ended up in bloodshed if I'd waited! There wasn't
any time to warn you...hells, or even warn myself, really!"

Eyes let out a soft sigh, glancing
between Ayumu and Kousuke. He finally let go of the redhead's ear, settling
where he was with them. There was no hurry to get back upstairs, they had a
relative amount of privacy where they were. "I just don't like thinking
about how close you cut it. If there had been something obstructing me...or if
my shields had been higher..."

Kousuke pouted, slightly put out by
the ear pulling. "Like I said, Ayumu was about to lose it. It was either
take a risk or try to deal with him attempting homicide in a room where the
shelf is full of knives, guns, and one of your spare swords. And at least the
way I did it, the only one in danger of getting hurt was me."

The Englishman nodded, as if to say
that he understood, and Kousuke didn't need to argue his case anymore. Truth be
told, if he had been in the same situation, he might have reacted that
spontaneously as well. It was all in the way they survived, and instinct
definitely played a large role. If Kousuke's gut told him to go with that plan,
it only made sense that he followed it; Eyes couldn't really blame him for
that, even though he tried. "It's all right."

"It better be. I don't see how
this is all that different from the times where you've run into danger and
scared us all to death." Kousuke huffed, shifting Ayumu a little and
rubbing the brunette's back. He could still sense some anxiety, and hoped to
soothe it a bit with that gesture.

"I never ran into danger,
Kousuke, you know that. I merely strolled into it."

Ayumu blinked several times,
glancing between them in only very slight movements of his eyes. He almost
yelped and put up a protest as Kousuke moved him, until he felt the gentle
caresses against his back. It was much the way Madoka had held him the other
day, and that feeling that he was going to break like thin glass crept up on
him. He couldn't stop the first few tears that made their escape, and after
that, it was pointless to hide the rest. Turning his head to hide it in the
crook of Kousuke's neck, his body shook lightly with the tears he'd been
holding back for days.

Kousuke's retort was forgotten when
Ayumu broke down. The redhead's eyes widened with shock and worry as he froze
for a second, but he soon relaxed, and his eyes softened and warmed. He reached
up to run his other hand through the younger boy's soft brown hair, turning his
head to murmur reassurance.

Any disagreement that Eyes had with
Kousuke's course of action had melted away by now, lost to the needs of the boy
they'd equally saved this day. He moved in closer, joining the redhead in
holding Ayumu close. In its own way, the crying scared him too, for what he
knew of their Hope, he likely never would have liked letting anyone see him
this vulnerable.

Kousuke knew that too, and that was
why he made no comment on the tears past the soft murmurs that everything would
be okay and encouraging Ayumu to cry himself out. Besides that, he just stuck
to the gentle touches to the boy's back and hair, holding him between the
warmth of his bare chest and the coolness of Eyes's leather vest and bare arms.

They had been right in their
assumptions, the younger teen hating that he'd broken down like this in front
of them. If he felt weak before, he certainly felt it now. He would never have
been able to combat the construct that lived in his own mind, and now it was
that much worse that he cried all over the two that had saved him. But he
couldn't stop, and with Kousuke's encouragements, he started to think that he
didn't have to. If Jhette was to be believed, even Eyes had cried for him.
Crying for himself couldn't be so bad, could it? "I.....I'm
sorry....." he whispered.

"Don't worry about it," Kousuke
assured, his tone quietly cheerful. "You should have seen me after Eyes
got me home from that Hunter's lab. One gentle touch, and I was bawling."

"Not...just for this.... for
everything..."

"If nothing else, Little
Narumi, this has proven that those circumstances were far beyond your
control," Eyes murmured quietly in response before Ayumu could protest any
further.

Kousuke nodded. "This whole
mess can pretty much be attributed to one sucky uncontrollable circumstance
after another, all piling up like a garbage heap in high summer. Not too much
of a problem in its components, but when combined forming a huge problem that
bothers everyone for miles."

"How... poetic..." Eyes
said with a teasing laugh.

"I second that," Ayumu
agreed.

"Shut up," the redhead
chuckled, sticking his tongue out at his lover, "I tell it as I see it. If
you don't like it, date a poet."

By then, Ayumu had calmed some, and
he sat up, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand. "I...guess
Madoka was right. I went to the only place I could... I'm...sorry it couldn't
be sooner."

"The time for apologies is
done. Let it go, Ayumu."

The brunette looked as if he'd
protest, but the sincere look on Eyes's face persuaded him to leave it be.

Kousuke's own assurance was more
catlike than Eyes's. Purring loudly, he nuzzled at Ayumu's neck in a very
kitten-like fashion. Despite any worries Ayumu may have had on the subject,
there was nothing sexual about the gesture. It was just a case of rarely-shown
good natured affection.

It made the boy laugh softly
through his tears, making motions as if to shoo him away, but they weren't
serious. The nuzzling just tickled. For the moment, Ayumu was done crying, and
he took a deep breath. "This...has been the weirdest couple of months in
my life."

"You think it's been status
quo for us?" Kousuke asked, his eyes lighting up a little bit at the
laugh. That had been the first one he'd ever heard out of Ayumu. So he's
ticklish, hmm? His hands twitched, the temptation almost too much to bear.

Eyes gave him a look, as if he knew
exactly what the other was planning to do. "It certainly hasn't. You can
certainly make quite a storm of things, Little Narumi," he teased.

"Me?! Might I remind you who
started this whole mess?"

"Sonobe?"

"Good point."

"Hmph. Served the bastard
right, going after the one Blade Child who's utterly helpless." Kousuke
huffed. "Cowards like that don't deserve to live."

Ayumu nodded. "I agree, as
much as I don't like killing. He never should have gone after Sayoko."

"Well, the idiot made a bunch
of mistakes. One was that he tried to kill her in the same school you went to.
The second was involving you in it by trying to set you up. And the third was
underestimating you, even though he knew who you were. Dumb people die. It's
simple Darwinism. Just because I happened to appear at the hospital to help that
along a little..."

"If you ask me," Eyes
piped up nonchalantly, "it was an attempt on the Hunters' part to see if
the story about Kiyotaka's younger brother was true as well. After all, Ayumu
was just as much an enigma to them as he was to us."

Kousuke snorted. "I don't
credit Sonobe with that kind of intelligence. But I will agree that the other
Hunters probably used the situation for just that." Meanwhile, temptation
finally overcame both good sense and Eyes's warning looks, and the redhead
started tickling the young brunette in his arms.

Ayumu let out a yelp and was
immediately struggling to get away or stop those hands. Eyes wisely backed
away, wanting nothing to do with their little tussle, which was exactly what it
was turning into.

Kousuke held on, tickling
unmercifully. He wanted to hear more of Ayumu's laughter, and he had to admit
that the Hope was cute when flustered.

Eyes was just as enchanted,
watching the boy fight back almost fruitlessly, his cheeks flushed, lips parted
in uncontrollable laughter. It was a welcome change from the solemn, almost
dead look he'd been seeing briefly since their escape from Kanone.

Kousuke grinned and finally let him
go, watching in amusement as the brunette immediately moved out of reach. His
own soft chuckles blended with the last of Ayumu's. "You're cute when you
laugh. You should do it more often."

"You think I...like the
idea... of being cute...?" Ayumu said between gasps as he tried to catch
his breath.

"Whether you do or not isn't
the issue, Little Narumi," Eyes said, giving his own slight smile.

"And when you laugh, Eyes
smiles. It's a definite bonus for me." Kousuke added, pushing himself to
his feet to retrieve his shirt from where he'd stuffed it onto the shelf with
the towels.

"You need to eat," Ayumu
said bluntly, watching Kousuke as he went to get the shirt.

Kousuke blinked at him, confused.
"Huh? Why?"

Ayumu sat up straight, crossing his
arms and looking very much put out. "Because I'm going to guess that you
haven't eaten a whole lot since you got back from the Hunter's, and it shows. I
can almost start counting ribs, and you're a little paler than you used to be.
Malnourishment. Rutherford, don't you feed
him?"

"Now look, Eyes is not
my nursemaid...!" Kousuke sputtered, feeling oddly embarrassed about the
situation.

Eyes frowned, and his displeasure
at realizing what Ayumu was saying showed in his gaze. He wasn't angry, not
necessarily. After all, he had been too busy to notice, and Ayumu probably
would have poked at him for being too thin, but Eyes was used to it on himself.
"It is true, I'm not. I leave plenty in the house for him to eat, but it's
his choice to do so."

"Not anymore," Ayumu said
firmly. "I'm going to borrow your kitchen." He got to his feet,
dusting himself off as if he were removing evidence that he'd been thoroughly
tickled.

"But I'm fine!" Kousuke
protested. "I'm not hungry much, is all. And besides, when I eat too much,
I feel sick! Throwing up is not my idea of fun and excitement!"

"That's why you have to take
it slow! Of course you're not going to feel hungry after you've gone without
eating for awhile." Ayumu crossed his arms. He remembered when Madoka had
gotten sick; she hadn't eaten much and had to start out with small meals and
work her way back to a queenly appetite.

Kousuke huffed, tugging his shirt
back on...a shirt that was baggy and easily hid his weight loss, one could
note. "I ate an apple this morning," he muttered sulkily.

"Then you'll have more for
dinner. Not too much though because you don't want to be sick.." Ayumu
rubbed his chin, already in thought as to what he'd make for dinner.

"Which will promptly be stolen
by Rio," Kousuke replied, running a hand
through his messy red hair. He glanced unhappily over at Eyes. "And I
suppose you're not going to do a thing to discourage him?" he asked,
nodding towards the brunette. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he
had to admit that he knew he hadn't been eating enough. But his own cooking
skills were limited, and he hadn't known how to make mild foods, generally
preferring dishes more flavorful, but not acceptable for how touchy his stomach
had gotten.

"Why should I?" Eyes
asked with a bit of a shrug, also getting to his feet with the other two.
"After all, he is right, and just like I'm not going to stop you from not
eating, I'm not going to stop him from helping you try to eat."

Kousuke gave him a suspicious look,
wondering if perhaps the main reason Eyes didn't argue was that this way, he
didn't have to break his own image as the stoic one to play mother-hen. He
already knew that the reason he hadn't mentioned anything about Kousuke's lack
of appetite was simply because, much as the redhead loved and adored him, Eyes
was totally oblivious to the details of everyday life when puzzling over a
larger problem.

Eyes did feel guilty about that
detail in his attention span, especially when someone else managed to point out
the obvious before he discovered it for himself. That it involved Kousuke and
his health didn't make him happy, and he also felt bad that he hadn't noticed.

Kousuke, now quite adept at reading
the tiny movements that passed as expression on Eyes's pale face, reached over
and gave a light tug on a lock of silver-white hair. "Don't stress about
it. You are who you are, and if you had been totally perfect, I would have felt
too outclassed to stay close. Besides, normally in situations where you see me
without clothes, I don't give you too much time to take much notice of anything
outside a certain range."

At that, both Eyes and Ayumu
blushed.

"You didn't quite need to put
it into that much detail..." Eyes protested.

Kousuke gave a slightly evil
cackle. "Like I said before, I tell it as I see it. If you want something
different, date a poet. Besides, you both look hot when blushing, and I'm
enough of a selfish bastard to be perfectly willing to do what it takes to get
that gratification."

Ayumu coughed. "I should...get
started on dinner..."

Kousuke glanced at him, and the
wide grin faded a little. "You really don't have to do this, you know.
It's not like you're required to pay me back or anything."

"This has nothing to do with
paying you back. Therefore, I'm doing it anyway," Ayumu insisted.

The redhead sighed, but gave up
arguing, just bending down to pick up the two daggers he'd dropped when Ayumu
had started freaking out. He put them back in the hidden pockets of his shirt,
never one to walk around without some sort of weapon on hand. "Fine. I
suppose we should all just head to the kitchen, then. I'll try to keep Rio from mobbing you, but no promises."

"If that fails, then I will
make sure she doesn't get in the way," Eyes said. "Usually there's
plenty left for everyone, she should have nothing to complain about."

Ayumu quietly nodded, thinking that
it was a good sign when he didn't feel that head-rush of fear when he realized
that Kousuke was still armed. Somehow, without the construct within his mind,
he knew that those weapons weren't meant to threaten him.

"The only thing I'm
complaining about is how she goes into throes of ecstasy with each bite. It's
creepy." Kousuke replied lightly, wandering towards the elevator.

"Hiyono does it too,"
Ayumu said with a long-suffering sigh. "It must be a girl thing."

Kousuke snickered. "Yeah, but
I expect her to act crazy. Seeing it in someone who pretty much amounts to a
little sister, one who's supposed to be sane, is not a comforting thing."
He jabbed the button of the elevator.

Ayumu raised an eyebrow. "You
would consider Rio sane? I know she's not as
bad as Hiyono, but she's at least as crazy as you are."

Kousuke pretended to be insulted.
"She is not! I'll have you know I work very hard at being the craziest
bastard in this building! Rio's the sanest one
of us, next to Eyes."

"I'll take your word for
it."

The elevator made a soft ding as it
reached their floor, and the doors slid open with a whoosh. Eyes was the first
to get inside, settling against the back wall and crossing his arms.� Ayumu followed him in next and leaned against
the adjacent wall.

Kousuke entered last, and just
settled down cross-legged on the floor. He was tired after first an hour of
exercise and an epic battle for Ayumu's sanity. Sitting down seemed really good
right now.

"We're not that far from our
floor," Eyes pointed out, yet as the doors slid closed, no one had made a
move to push the button yet.

"So? I'll take what I can get.
With all the crap that's happened, starting with getting dragged off to be made
into the newest Frankenstein's monster, I'm still exhausted most of the
time."

"That's why you should
eat...you'd get more energy..." Ayumu said, his tone almost sing-song and
under his breath.

Eyes snickered behind his hand.

"And promptly have to waste it
on feeling ill." Kousuke replied without missing a beat, rolling his eyes.
"And I already said that I don't consider that much fun." Kousuke
absently wondered if he should attempt to run. Ayumu and Eyes were beginning to
gang up on him.

"And I already told you that
if you do it the right way, you won't feel ill. Trust me on this."

What are you looking at me like
that for? I didn't say anything? Eyes's mental voice reached Kousuke, and
there was the slightest trace of amusement in it.

You don't have to. I can read
everything from the evil little smirk on your face. Kousuke sighed, looking
put-upon.

Can you now? You shouldn't take
it so personally... be glad that he's looking after you and not trying to kill
you. You saved him.

Yeah, but I would have done that
anyway. He doesn't need to go out of his way like this. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out a small blunted throwing needle, and tossed it at the
button for the 23rd floor. The needle pressed the button, and the redhead
caught it as it came back down and put it in his pocket again.

Maybe he wants to. He said it
had nothing to do with paying you back...

Ayumu watched the two of them,
wondering if he was missing something. It was as if they were talking, but
weren't saying anything. Perhaps it was Eyes and the telepathy that Rio said he had. "You know, it's impolite to tell
secrets in company," he murmured nonchalantly. It was an attempt at a
tease, but sounded a little solemn, as if he felt left out.

Kousuke looked over at him and gave
a slight grin. "Well, you used to be able to hear us, but that was
when..." He stopped suddenly, unsure if mentioning the Web right now would
be seen as pushing.

Ayumu knew exactly what Kousuke was
going to say, and he wondered if it was a good sign that he felt guilty when he
realized that what the redhead was saying was the truth. He could hear them
before, and it hadn't been all that frightening before Kanone. Strange, but not
all that scary. Now....there was just the silence of his own thoughts.
"I'm sorry..."

"There is nothing to be sorry
for," Eyes said, looking at the brunette sincerely. "No one here
blames you for your decisions."

Kousuke nodded his agreement.
"I was actually kind of surprised that you didn't barricade yourself in
your apartment. I would've." The redhead reached up, just tall enough from
a sitting position to hit the stop button again. This needed to be talked
about, and the elevator was probably best for privacy.

"You say that as if I didn't
try," Ayumu muttered, glancing at the number pad, then back at Kousuke as
the elevator slid to a stop. They were between floors now, and he was doing his
best not to feel trapped. "But Hiyono was right, I can't finish school
from my bedroom, and Madoka would have broken in eventually."

Kousuke snickered at the mental
image. "Sounds like this lady is even scarier than Hiyono in some ways. Remind
me to never meet her."

"I think you'd like her,
actually. She's probably just as evil as you are."

"Heh. Either that, or we'd
kill each other on sight. Competition and all that." Kousuke's smile
faded, turning back to the more serious matters. "But what about you? Are
you okay?"

Ayumu fixed an unsure golden gaze
on him, as if he wasn't sure how to answer that question. "Considering I
just got my senses back no less than twenty minutes ago, that's hard to say. I
mean... It's good to finally think on my own, I just...don't know what to
think."

"And you can't just ask us,
because there is the fact that we might be just a tad biased on certain
things," he sighed.

"You want me to....be the Hope
again..."

"You will always be hope to
us, Little Narumi," Eyes said, lifting his gaze to the brunette.
"Whether you decide to reopen the Web or not, there's always the reality
that, even for a little while, you represented Hope to us. We can keep fighting
after seeing that kind of promise."

"We're not going to force you
if you really don't think you can handle this anymore." the redhead
agreed. "If you decide to walk away, no one's gonna blame you, and none of
us will stop you. You're too special to us to do that."

"It was never about whether I
wanted to or not," Ayumu admitted, running a hand through his hair.
"I hated being thrown into it. Kiyotaka never warned me about what I was,
and then all of a sudden people were out to kill me? I can understand the
tests, but you have to understand that attempted murder isn't what I'd call an
engraved invitation. And then after Kanone, whether it was the construct or
not, I resented being Hope to anyone except myself. I still......want to be
that strong....to do something right."

Kousuke gazed at him a moment, and
his eyes softened a little in understanding. He levered himself up to his feet
and walked over to Ayumu, and gathered him into his arms. "You already
are, and you already have, on tons of occasions. I'd be dead if you
weren't."

Ayumu stiffened in his arms, unused
to being embraced by anyone except maybe Madoka. Even Hiyono managed to hold
back more often than not. But he made no move to pull away, especially when the
fear wasn't there anymore; he didn't have to be afraid of the reassurance
Kousuke offered.

Another pair of arms caught him
from behind, making Ayumu feel so warm it was hard to believe. "You are
stronger than any Blade Child, Ayumu," Eyes's voice murmured near his ear.
"Not a single one of us can compare, and that is why you are our Hope, no
one else. Kiyotaka might have done you a disservice by not telling you, but he
promised that the real Hope would be someone more special than even he could
be."

Kousuke nodded his agreement, and
nuzzled at the soft brown hair in that same affectionate gesture from earlier.
"And because you're that strong, we know that whatever decision you make
will have good, solid reasons. So you don't have to worry about us; just worry
about yourself."

Ayumu stood between them for
several long moments, just trying to digest their close proximity and the depth
of their words. "I.... I am the Hope...."

Kousuke's arms tightened slightly
around him, the redhead just wanting to hold the younger boy close and safe
within the shared embrace with Eyes. "Yeah, but it's up to you just how
deep and how far the meaning of that title goes. This is one puzzle that only
you can solve, and all we can do is stand to the side and let you walk your own
path."

"But you're a part of my
path," Ayumu protested. That was what being the Hope was all about.

"As much as you let us. We can
either walk beside you, or walk behind you," Eyes answered.

"I don't want to walk
alone."

Kousuke grinned at him, evil humor
in his verdant eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't. It would just be a question of
whether you had people walking shoulder-to-shoulder with you, or sticking kick
me signs to your back."

Ayumu raised an eyebrow, leveling a
Look at him. "I shouldn't expect any less from you."

The nekojin just chuckled, totally
unrepentant. "I am who I am, and that's not going to change, not even if
Fate catches up to me."

"I hope it doesn't,"
Ayumu said. "After all, I don't want to fail."

"I'm tough, I'm rough, and I'm
insanely stubborn." Kousuke replied with a shrug, "Eyes is even worse
than I am, though he's more genteel about it. Trust me, we can hold ourselves
together long enough for you to decide. Don't rush yourself." With that,
he leaned down and brushed a light kiss over Ayumu's forehead.

The brunette hadn't expected such a
gentle gesture from the redhead, and it showed in the slightly dazed way he
glanced up at the other boy after the kiss was planted. His golden eyes blinked
a few times before the tiniest hints of a blush spread over his cheeks.

"We are always going to be
here," Eyes added to that. "Until we can't fight anymore, we're going
to stay where you need us to be."

"Especially when you look that
cute when blushing." Kousuke added, his tone gently teasing.

"Mou!" Ayumu sputtered,
ducking his head. It was bad enough when Hiyono made fun of his 'twinkles', but
to have one of the guys make fun of how he blushed...?

"He's right."

"Now look who's ganging up on
who."

Kousuke's smile was softer, but no
less impish as he replied. "I love you. And this is how I show that. Maybe
it's a decidedly whacked way of doing so, but that's how it is. And I think
that when you blush, you are utterly adorable, so you'll just have to deal with
that."

"You keep saying that..."
Ayumu almost whispered. "You really mean that...the way I think you mean
it?"

Kousuke didn't answer immediately,
but instead gently slid a finger under Ayumu's chin, tilting up the elfin face
until those golden eyes could meet his own green-gold. "Yes, I do. I don't
use those words lightly, because loving someone is dangerous to our kind. But I
love Eyes, and I love you. Nothing's going to hide or change that, so I don't
even try."

"But you don't know me like
you know Eyes..." It wasn't that Ayumu thought that it was bad, it was
just that he hadn't been expecting it. And he wasn't sure what to think about
having such feelings directed at him.

"So? It just means I have the
fun of learning about you. Besides, I didn't know all that much about Eyes when
I fell in love with him, either. Most of what I know, I learned after the fact.
To me, the most important thing is just who you are, not how much I know."

Ayumu gave him a confused look, his
own mind obviously trying to put that together to make sense to himself.
"But.. isn't who I am....what you'd learn about me?"

Eyes chuckled behind him, making Ayumu shiver and blush a little more for a
reason that he couldn't explain. "You think too much sometimes, Little
Narumi."

That blush was just irresistible,
and Kousuke had never been good at resisting temptation. He leaned down and
brushed a light kiss against trembling lips. "I've touched you in your
Web, remember? I've felt who you are. It's just the details I don't know. Don't
sweat the small stuff."

Ayumu sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, his eyes going
even wider. Did he just...?

"Yes, Ayumu," Eyes
answered the unspoken question, loosening his hold enough so that if it was too
much for the boy, he could get away.

Kousuke did the same, watching the
brunette to see what he did. He waited, unsure if the shock on Ayumu's face
would turn to disgust or not.

The boy still stood where he was,
the expression turning not into disgust, but his brow furrowed as if he'd just
found another puzzle to pick apart the logic of. Granted, a great deal of that
puzzle had to do with his own thoughts on what it was like to be kissed by a
Blade Child, especially the one named Kousuke Asazuki. It was no lie that he
had almost hated him once, particularly after a stunt involving a run-down
school and some bees. But they had learned to cope with their differences,
through rescuing Rio and Hiyono, all the way
during their encounter with Samantha, and even now after Kanone. If nothing
else, it was true the redhead was loyal, and Ayumu couldn't help thinking that
if Kousuke said he loved someone, he meant it with his whole being. That's just
the way he was. No one had ever had that kind of feeling for Ayumu before, and
he wasn't sure if it was fair for him to accept that or the kiss if he wasn't
sure he could return the meaning behind it. Still... he felt as if his heart
was the loudest thing in the elevator, and he couldn't calm it down.

Kousuke watched as those wrinkles
appeared on his forehead, and filed away that little bit of information that
Hiyono had discovered so long ago. He gave a soft amused sigh and reached up,
poking the brunette right between those wrinkles. "Don't think about it so
hard. I'm not asking for commitment or anything. It's like things are with
Eyes. With him, I don't expect you to return my feelings, and I don't want you
to force yourself into trying. It's enough that you care."

Ayumu pouted as he snapped out of
his thoughts with the poke. "Who said I was trying to figure it out for
you?" he asked, but his tone was gentle, if childish. It was more that he
liked to have answers for himself before he let himself act a certain way.

"If it confuses you than much,
then perhaps you should rely on your heart, for once, and not your mind.
Feelings such as those aren't meant to be puzzled so deeply," Eyes
replied.

Kousuke nodded his agreement.
"Emotions don't follow logic all that often. If they did, I probably would
have stuck to the safe route and never let myself fall in love with anyone, let
alone the Hope and my leader. But, well, Kaasan always told me love tends to
sneak up in dark alleys, knock you down, and go through your pockets for spare
infatuations."

"I think that she was onto
something there," Eyes said, and looked a little surprised when Ayumu
nodded in agreement.

"Of course I am! I am the
great and powerful Kousuke-sama!" the redhead scoffed, feigning
pretentious irritation.

Eyes reached out and poked Kousuke
on the forehead. "I was talking about your mother, Kousuke... After all,
you are that horrible pick-pocket that rifled for my infatuations."

Kousuke sputtered and pouted.
"I'm not sure whether to be annoyed by the prick to my pride, or all gooey
because that's probably one of the sweetest things you've ever said out loud to
me."

"I shall leave that to your
discretion," Eyes said, giving the redhead a slight, gentle smile.
"But you have to admit that even your pride needs deflating every now and
again."

Kousuke gave a matching smile, but
was having too much fun with this little verbal fencing match to drop it.
"Yes, but that's Rio's job. How do you
think she'll feel when she finds out you're subsuming all of her
responsibilities?"

"She might be a little
offended, but she'll get over it once she realizes that there are places that I
can outclass her in. And then she'll have a grudging respect."

Ayumu didn't interject his thoughts
on the conversation, too wrapped up in watching the two of them interact. They
were usually so guarded, both on their own and around each other when there
were others watching. Either they felt that comfortable with him there, or they
had forgotten he was.

Kousuke gave a haughty little
sniff. "Hmph! Nobody outclasses Rio in
the Percussive Reality category. Ayumu agrees with me, don't you, Ayumu?"
Not only had they not forgotten he was there, but Kousuke was inviting him to
join the banter.

Ayumu looked thoughtful. "I
don't know...I would have to see how Eyes handles his own Percussive Reality
before I can make a comparison."

"I do believe that was a
challenge," Eyes said with an evil little glint in his gaze.

"Now wait just a
second...!"

"But of course, you shouldn't
do that unless he gets really annoying, but he seems to be behaving for
the moment," Ayumu added with a laugh.

"Oh, thou hast slain
me!" the nekojin wailed, letting go of Ayumu to clutch theatrically at his
chest.

Ayumu reached out to grab him, as
if to stop him from falling. "You don't get to play sleeping beauty, you
drama queen."

Kousuke snapped his fingers.
"Damn, my cunning plan to steal kisses has been discovered. I'll have to
think of something else." He sighed and pretended to look defeated.

Ayumu looked at him for a moment,
then took a deep breath. Shyly, he leaned forward and pressed the tiniest kiss
to Kousuke's mouth. "It didn't fail so badly after all," he
whispered.

Kousuke blinked at him for a
moment, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected Ayumu to make a move! If
anything, he thought he would have had to coax him into such things for days
before he tried anything.

And the way Ayumu quickly withdrew
and was now blushing furiously, it was obvious that it had been an impulsive
move. "...sorry..." he murmured.

Kousuke smiled and brushed a
calloused hand over one blushing cheek. "Don't be. I've been hoping for
something like that from you for a long time."

Ayumu carefully leaned into the
touch, still unsure of how he felt. "I won't question that...but.....I
guess I don't have to be sorry then."

"Of course not. That was you
acting with your heart and not your logic, and we just had that
discussion," Eyes soothed him.

Kousuke smiled, brushing lightly
over Ayumu's lips with his thumb. "Would you be willing to let me kiss you
back?"

The Hope was beginning to think
that he couldn't contain anymore blood in his face, he was blushing so hard. It
felt like the temperature in their little space of the elevator had risen
several degrees since they first climbed aboard. Ayumu lowered his eyes so that
the amber hues could only be seen through thick lashes. "I....I've never
done anything like that before.... and not with...a boy..."

"Well, since I've ever only
kissed one person in my entire life, and he is a boy, I can't really tell you
if it's any different from kissing women. But like I told you before, what goes
on between me and Eyes doesn't really have anything to do with gender. It's all
about affection."

"I guess it really can't be
about gender." Ayumu took another deep breath. "I don't know if I'm
okay with it, but...I'll try..."

The redhead leaned closer, starting
with just the lightest touch to the brunette's lips. "If you don't like
it, you can always tell me to stop or push me away. I'd tell you to hit me, but
you take way too much pleasure in that for my comfort."

The brush of their mouths sent a
shiver down Ayumu's spine, but he didn't pull back. Rather he smirked, a little
nervously, but it was there nonetheless. "Hey now, I only did that once,
and at that time, you needed it..."

Eyes had stepped back from them
now, resuming his place back against the wall to watch. This was between the
two of them now, and he knew that if Ayumu didn't like the kiss with Kousuke,
there was no use in staying too close.

With a soft chuckle, Kousuke
finally sealed his lips to Ayumu's, kissing him with firm but gentle pressure.
He wrapped his arms lightly around the other boy, just needing to hold him as
he focused on the softness of the other boy's lips.

Ayumu almost felt trapped by the
hold, but he forced himself to concentrate on how it felt to be kissed. It was
his first real kiss, and he wasn't sure how he should act, so he just let
himself be embraced, lifting his hands to brace themselves against Kousuke's
chest. The feel of the kiss didn't seem all that bad, and he held onto it,
letting Kousuke press against his mouth. The gesture was strange, but only
because he'd never done it before.

Kousuke was very gentle, coaxing
Ayumu to open his mouth so that he could deepen the kiss. But as he did, he was
keeping watch for any sign that Ayumu might want to stop. He didn't want to
scare the brunette away.

It was after he felt the prodding
tongue against his mouth that Ayumu's logical thought shut down, and for a
moment, he didn't know whether to pull away or encourage Kousuke to continue.
He decided not to back out so quickly and stuck with it, the feeling strange,
but not in a bad way. Curling his fingers in the redhead's shirt, he slowly
opened his mouth.

Kousuke's response to that came in
the form of a soft purr and a gentle tongue. He was surprisingly patient as he
slowly learned Ayumu's mouth, teaching the brunette what to do and trying to
encourage him to experiment on his own.

It took several long moments for
Ayumu to actually respond by himself, having to try out what the exploration
felt like as Kousuke continued. He couldn't get over how strange it felt, and
then at the same time, how good it
felt. He supposed that kissing was something that was supposed to feel natural,
but he didn't think he'd be this relaxed with it. Then again, relaxed shouldn't
have been the right word considering how fast it felt like his heart was
pounding. At last, he finally began his own tentative searches, meeting Kousuke's
tongue with his own and kissing back with what little he'd learned.

The purring grew louder, one of Kousuke's
hands sliding up Ayumu's back to bury itself in the soft brown hair. It might
have been his imagination, but the brunette tasted sweet to him, like honey and
cinnamon. Ayumu's scent of earth and spices overlaid by satsuma added to the
sensory pleasure, and the redhead took it all in, just reveling in the moment.

The hand in his hair was all Ayumu
needed to press himself forward against Kousuke, returning the kiss with a
little bit more confidence now. The first tiny moan rose up in his throat
before he had the chance to quiet it, his cheeks flushing dark again just when
he thought he'd got over his embarrassment at kissing another boy. He almost
forgot to breathe before he took a slow breath through his nose, picking up the
scent of lavender and herbs that he couldn't think to name.

Eyes watched them with a darkened
gaze, his eyes a little wider than before as he took in the image of the two of
them kissing, as if it was the most incredible, beautiful thing he'd seen in
his life.� There wasn't room for jealousy
or any of the other negative things that one normally expected.� They'd all been bound once, and just by
witnessing Ayumu and Kousuke like this almost made Eyes feel like that
connection had never been severed.

Kousuke took that moan as
encouragement to kiss a little harder, twining his tongue against Ayumu's,
searching out sensitive spots to manipulate, and feeling almost as if he wanted
to devour the other boy.

Ayumu stiffened in Kousuke's arms,
but not because he didn't want it, but because he was slowly beginning to feel
like he did. It was more than a little overwhelming to feel desire in that way
sneaking up on him like that, yet he was returning the kiss just as hard as
Kousuke was giving it, logic completely gone now. Ayumu worked from instinct
now, and instinct told him that he should be trying just as hard to devour that
feeling and Kousuke's mouth. His eyes, which had only been slightly open when
the kiss began, were tightly squeezed shut now, another moan almost rumbling in
the back of his throat.

When Kousuke started to want more
than just the kiss, he knew it was time to pull back. Still, it took a huge act
of will to do so, with Ayumu suddenly so willing and enthusiastic within his
arms. He broke the kiss with a soft gasp, looking down at the flushed face of
the other boy with eyes that seemed to glow from the inside out.
"Sorry," he rasped, responding to the slight disappointment he could
see in the golden eyes, "but if we'd gone on much longer, I would have
started pushing things too far."

"...oh..." Ayumu was more
than a little breathless himself, raising the hand that wasn't hopelessly
tangled in Kousuke's shirt to his kiss-swollen lips. For all that he'd been
afraid of being kissed, it really wasn't that bad, and he had to admit that
he'd been sucked into it. He probably wouldn't have noticed if things were
going too far until it was too late, and he appreciated that Kousuke knew well
enough to pull back.

"Besides," the redhead
added gently, "there's someone else in this elevator that probably wants
to kiss you just as much as I did, if not more." He looked over at Eyes,
smiling at the intent way the silver-haired boy watched them, almost like a
dragon overlooking his hoard.

When Ayumu's gaze turned to Eyes,
the musician's cheeks turned a very pale pink, as if he'd expected to stay the
observer for the moment and not be called out so soon. Truly, as correct as
Kousuke was, he knew that it was a step for Ayumu to go forward with kissing
one boy, that it might have been too much for a second to ask.
"It's....not necessary, Ayumu...."

"Awww, he's so cute when he
blushes, isn't he Ayumu?" Kousuke teased, then turned serious. "But I
actually disagree with him, just a little. The two of us are a pair, Ayumu. If
you get close to one, you get close to the other. You can slap me if I'm wrong,
but I think it's best if you get used to that sooner rather than later."

"I'm not going to hit you over
something so stupid," Ayumu said quietly.

Eyes didn't say anything one way or another, once more letting his own stubborn
ethics lead him. Just like being the Hope, he was going to leave the choice of
whether Ayumu accepted him as well be up to the boy instead of influencing him
one way or the other. He couldn't deny the younger teen his free will, because
it went against everything he ever believed, no matter how much he wanted to
share a kiss with the Hope the way Kousuke had. "It's up to you," he
whispered.

Kousuke also waited, pulling his
arms away so that Ayumu didn't have any distractions while making his choice.
He hoped that the brunette would go to Eyes. Free will or no, he was going to
feel very uncomfortable if Ayumu would only accept one of them at a time. It
felt...bad. Like leaving a part of himself behind.

A moment of almost tense silence
passed among them, then finally Ayumu lifted his hand in offering to Eyes. The
pianist looked at it almost hesitantly before he uncrossed his arms to take it,
gently pulling the brunette towards him, inviting. Ayumu followed the pull,
their gazes locking for several moments, hands still clasped.

"I hated you the day I met
you."

"I challenged the world you
made for yourself," Eyes responded without falter.

Ayumu smirked. "You were
right."

"Do you still hate me
then?"

"Don't ask stupid
questions." Ayumu leaned up and carefully placed a kiss on Eyes's mouth.

Kousuke relaxed as the kiss began,
relieved that in at least this much, there wasn't going to be a problem. He
watched them admiringly, taking in the beauty of the scene, not just for the
physical attractiveness of the two, but for the little things, like the way
Ayumu instinctively seemed to catalogue the differences between Kousuke and
Eyes, like how the silver-haired Blade Child was actually several degrees
cooler to the touch than the redhead, just from the difference in the nature of
the elements they controlled.

And it was something that Ayumu
couldn't help, the slightest traces of his furrowed brows evident as he pressed
closer and kissed a little bit more the way he'd been taught. He noticed that
Eyes was different, and shivered as he felt the cool skin against his own, but
it was a good difference between him and Kousuke. It was guaranteed that Ayumu
would never confuse them this way. He seemed to melt against Eyes in spite of
the cooler feel of the Blade Child, learning to be just as at ease with him as
he had been with Kousuke.

Kousuke approached them, but not to
interrupt the kiss in any way. Instead, he just reached out to run his hands
over each of their backs, encouraging them to relax and enjoy themselves. After
all, he and Eyes had wanted Ayumu to be with them for a while, now. Things
could be taken slow.

Feeling Kousuke's reassuring touch
reminded them that they needn't be hasty, and they clung a little tighter to
each other as if they needed that to brace themselves. Ayumu was the first to
try deepening the kiss this time, the attempt a little clumsy since he had just
barely learned how to do it from Kousuke's more heated kiss. But Eyes was
different and kissed differently, so once he made the invitation, he let the
older teen take control.

Kousuke found the sight
breathtaking, watching as Eyes continued the gentle lesson in the first steps
of desire. He absently wondered if he could get Jhette to give him a picture of
this, later.

Eyes easily understood Kousuke's
dilemma about being driven to take it further, but not wanting to move too
fast. Therefore, he also instigated the release of the kiss, and his gaze met
Kousuke's over a breathless Ayumu's shoulder. He's like....a drug...

Kousuke nodded, moving in once more
to wrap his arms around Ayumu from behind, just enjoying holding the smaller
boy. Or one of those really decadent sweets. Meant to be savored, but with
the strong temptation to just gobble it up.

Eyes wrapped his arms around them
both as best he could and nuzzled his face into the crook of Ayumu's neck, much
to the other's surprise. Something like that, yes... Thank goodness for a
sense of self-control...

Well, that and the fact that I
know you'd make me sleep on the roof for a week if I made Ayumu cry. Kousuke's
just held the two others close, totally absorbed in this little pocket of peace
they'd made for themselves.

And that was probably why none of
them noticed when the elevator started moving again, or when the door let out
its soft little chime on the 23rd floor. But they certainly heard what came
next.

"KAWAII!"

Eyes and Ayumu nearly jumped out of
their skin, both fixing their attention on the source of the cry and glaring.
Of course, it took only a moment to recognize that it was Rio's voice, and by
this point, they were blushing.

Rio was all smiles and sparkly eyes
as she looked at them, obviously very much the happy yaoi fangirl. Not seeming
to notice their distress or discomfort, she pulled a small disposable camera
out of her pocket and snapped a picture of the three of them before anyone
could protest. "You're all so cute together! I can't wait to show
Riku!"

"Riiiiiooo..." Kousuke
groaned, blushing so hard that he matched his hair.

"That's quite enough,"
Eyes finished for the redhead, giving her a stern look. It was obvious that he
was caught off guard, and more than a little flustered by the fact that he
hadn't noticed the elevator was moving.

Rio chuckled and pocketed the
camera. "Hai, hai. I'm just so happy to see you've worked out your
differences, is all. And it's especially good to see Little Narumi's feeling
better."

At that, Ayumu blushed. 'Better'
was one way of saying how he was feeling right now, and he wasn't about to
elaborate or Rio's benefit.

Kousuke sighed and tried to calm
his own blushing. "Rio, can you please let us out of the elevator? Ayumu
wanted to use the kitchen."

Rio's eyes grew even more starry,
if that were possible. "Little Narumi's cooking?"

"For me." Kousuke
retorted, hands on his hips. "You want some, you give me that camera. Who
knows what you'll do with the picture you just took."

Rio scowled and clutched at the
pocket of her dress stubbornly. "Hell no! It's bad enough that I can't
wire rooms because of Jhette's security! And do you know how much Riku and I
could get on the internet if we auctioned that photo? You'll have to pry it
from my cold dead fingers, Kousuke-baka!" With that, she ran down the
hall.

"Hey! Come back here!" Kousuke
rushed out of the elevator, then paused, glancing back at the other two.
"Just go on into the kitchen. I'll catch up after mugging some little
girls." And then he was off, yelling insults at the smaller Blade Child.

Ayumu and Eyes watched them go,
sharing one glance between them that said it all. They were surrounded by the
insane, but they really didn't seem to mind all that much. After sharing one
more small kiss between them, Eyes got control of his composure and led Ayumu
to the kitchen to cook.

~*~

Kanone took the tray from the
servant at the door, and closed it so that he and his three guests could have
privacy as they talked. He put the tray down on the table, leaving his own
heavily sugared tea where it was. He picked up the other cup of English tea,
this one not quite so heavily sugared, and handed it to Justin with a nod. The
coffee went to the beautiful blonde girl, who gave him a curt nod of her own
before going back to her annoyed pacing. He sighed and shook his head at her
bad state of temper, and picked up the single mug of Japanese green tea and
handing it to his fourth and most important guest. Only then did he sit down.

A pair of small, graceful hands took
the cup from Kanone, raising it so that the scent of the tea could be inhaled.
"It was so good of you to have us on such short notice, Kanone,"
murmured a soft, rich tenor that sounded like it had never yelled before. The
boy it belonged to settled into one of the comfortable chairs that were circled
around the coffee table. Sharp bronze eyes fixed on Kanone, a smile coming to
his face as he reached up to brush back a tendril of bright, sea-green hair
away from his heart-shaped face.

Kanone smiled and shook his head,
sipping at his own tea. "It was no trouble. After all, it is not every day
that you decide to drop in for a visit, Hizumi-sama. Even if the reasons are
less than desirable."

Cassandra's response to that was a
growl as she continued to pace, obviously very much annoyed by those reasons
Kanone had mentioned.

Hizumi Mizushiro took a long sip of
his tea, savoring the flavor before lowering the cup again. "I would
prefer not to think of this as a total loss. After all, I must commend you on a
splendid job of breaking apart the Hope's Web and shaking his trust. Regardless
of Cassie's loss to the Tengu Child, those renegades are still weakened.
Kiyotaka's younger brother is a disgrace to the Narumi name."

"But it's frustrating!"
Cassandra finally growled, throwing her hands in the air. "I was this
close to having him in the palm of my hand! He would have made such a
wonderful Hunter, but nooooo!"

"Not every battle in this war
will be won, dear. Sit down and drink your coffee." Hizumi crossed one leg
over the other and rested the teacup against his thigh. His eyes closed for a
moment as if he were thinking about what to say next. He smiled again.
"However well the Hope may be broken, I am still not quite content with
the way things stand."

"You're not
content?" Cassandra muttered, but plopped into her own chair and sipped at
her coffee in an annoyed but still very ladylike fashion.

Kanone chuckled. "What else
would you like done, Hizumi-sama?"

"There is a difference between
the Web I uphold and the one that Narumi does. He gains his strength not only
from himself, but from two other Blade Children. I fear that if those
two...Pillars are left untouched, the Hope will return." Hizumi shook his
head. "And we can't have that, now can we?"

Cassandra nodded, her expression
turning contemplative. "True, though we do have some breathing
space. Even if they manage to remove the telepathic changes made, the Hope will
still need time to teach himself to trust those around him again. And so long
as he keeps a distance from his Pillars, they are vulnerable."

"I think there is where the
problem arises," Justin spoke up, his voice soft and unobtrusive.
"For if it was merely those Pillars that Narumi was exposed to, perhaps
he'd stay locked away from them, never to approach those doors of broken trust.
However, there are other factors involved, such as Rio Takeuchi and Riku
Sorashima. And let us not forget that human that seems to think she has to push
Ayumu in the right direction. With such encouragement, he won't keep his
distance for long."

"So it's best to act fast,
while the Pillars are vulnerable," Kanone replied, "especially if
there is a chance that destroying the Pillars will take away any chance for
Little Narumi to destroy Fate. Eyes, at the very least, I still hold strong
ties to, no matter how much he might fool himself otherwise." He sipped at
his tea again and glanced at Hizumi. "However, the choice of who to target
isn't just mine. Which would you prefer to take first, Hizumi-sama? They'll
both eventually end up in your hands, anyway."

Hizumi looked thoughtful for a
moment. "I suppose it would do no harm to reward you for a job well done
on the younger Narumi. You may have Eyes back in your care.. if it would suit a
lovely lady to take on the challenge." He raised a slender brow and
glanced at Cassandra.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed in
thought. "That may be a little tricky. The Hope is a fool, and likely will
not stay with those he should be protecting. But Rutherford is always guarded
by Asazuki, and I'm not particularly interested in fighting off an angry
pyrokinetic."

"Except in one instance,"
Justin said, the faintest hint of a smile on his face.

Kanone raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
"Oh? Do you know of an opening, Justin?"

"There is one place where Eyes
commands attention alone, and that is before his audience. I think that it's
high time that he learns such foolish behavior isn't good for him."

"I do like the way he thinks,
Kanone," Hizumi said with a smile.

Kanone chuckled. "Justin has
proven his value to me many times over since I first found him. I'm very proud
of him."

Justin let himself smile for once
at the praise, the expression rare on his face.

Cassandra nodded, a smile finally
beginning to grace her angelic features. "It might work. If we can snatch
him up during one of those concerts of his, we can sedate him and bring him
back here for Kanone to break, and then Hizumi-sama can have a brand new puppet
to play with."

Kanone raised an amused eyebrow.
"Just so long as I still get to play with him once in a
while."

Hizumi chuckled quietly. "Of
course. You can keep him as long as you control him. Mind you, that task may be
difficult only until he's had a taste of Fate."

Kanone shrugged. "I know
exactly what buttons to push that make his body respond to me, even if the mind
rebels. Unless you're planning to use him as a ravening psychopath, I doubt
that will change."

"Where is Rutherford's next
concert supposed to be? And when?" Cassandra asked, "The sooner we go
pick up Kanone's toy, the better."

Kanone thought for a moment, trying
to remember what the current bulletins on the website had said. "Ah, New
York, I believe. He's doing a charity concert at an all girls' school in two
days."

"Isn't he lucky?" Hizumi
mocked with a laugh. "We'll be sure to make it a performance no one will
soon forget."

~*~

�� Ayumu
rolled over to face the window, pulling his blanket more tightly around
him.� He felt like a child as he stared
outside at the shadowed moon; scared, confused, and lost.� The darker part of him that had followed him
home from Europe ended up being destroyed after all, and while he could think
clearly, he was more unsure of things than ever.� No doubt, the Blade Children, his Blade Children, cared enough to risk
their lives for him, not just to get him away from Kanone and his dogs, but to
restore his mind to him.� And they hadn't
done it with any expectations other than to trust them to help him.� Eyes had said that it was entirely up to him
whether or not he opened the Web once more, became the Hope again.� It seemed to undermine Kanone's entire theory
that the Blade Children were all ungrateful monsters.� Humans
are monsters too, Ayumu thought to himself as his lips pressed tightly
together in a frown.� Common, seemingly
ordinary people relied on greed and apathy to get by, and yet the handful of
determined Blade Children that had saved his life wanted to save this world,
those very same humans�and themselves.�
Kanone was wrong, his perception skewed.�
Only some of the Blade Children
were monsters; the rest were likely just as lost as Ayumu himself, looking for
answers not in the logic that came so easily to them, but in other people.

�� The Blade
Children fighting Fate looked to him as a source of salvation, both as the
Mindbreaker that could protect them and as the only human compassionate enough
not to kill their bodies or their minds.�
The shadow that Kanone had placed on him had smothered that compassion
with the lies of broken trust.� Even with
it gone, Ayumu was still scared to believe again, scared of being broken even
more.� So in turn, he looked to them as
well in order to see for himself that his friends wouldn't use him.� He watched as Kousuke and Eyes looked to each
other for a deeper meaning to survival.�
Living was good, but for what?� No
sooner was the question asked that the answer was given, wordless in a single
smile, a gentle touch, or a warm embrace.�
It was love, the depths of which not even the Hope could fathom.

�� The most
startling thing, however, was that Ayumu knew he was a part of it.� He was lost in a shaky middle ground of the
unknown and longing for completion that he barely knew he had needed.

�� "But I'm not�"

�� "Gay?� Little Narumi, I've touched your soul.� You can lie to yourself all you want�You
don't love them, not yet, but that
doesn't mean that the desire is not there, no matter how you fool them to keep
them away."

�� Kanone had
wanted him to believe that because he desired them on a level he couldn�t
understand that he would be used.� The
German had known that both Eyes and Kousuke wanted to be with Ayumu, and he
twisted it into something corrupt, something cruel.

�� "No,"
Ayumu murmured, the lie clearer now that he was alone, in his right mind.� Some of Kanone's words were true, a part of
him felt bound, as if it belonged with them.�
He couldn't deny that he needed them.�
Even now, a part of him wished for that combined embrace that seemed to
shut out the rest of the world.� But
Ayumu knew just as surely that they wouldn't use him, that to hurt him would be
like hurting one another.� They gave him
the space to breathe, the choice to make, and the warmth to return to.� He wouldn't let his predisposition to any
orientation, or a madman's deception, dictate his actions when his heart laid
out so plainly what he needed.� He was
joined with them, bound with them, and that shattered any more violent notions
he'd been forced to endure.� It
frightened him, being that close to anyone, but having fear meant finding the
strength to overcome it.� And, if nothing
else, the Blade Children had helped him find a strength he never knew he
had.� Ayumu knew that he could pick up
the pieces now.� The world was still
complicated, but he could unravel it with time, and he could make himself whole
again.� But not alone, as he'd always
done before.

�� The Hope
tried to bury himself in the covers, thinking it would be enough, but it
wasn't.� Sitting up with a start, he
swallowed hard and made himself get out of bed.�
"Kousuke�" he murmured as he found his coat, tugging it on and
moving to the door.�
"Eyes�"� Shoes on, keys
clutched in his shaking hand as he locked up behind him and started
running.� This late at night, he was
dodging sparse crowds, making his way to the place his heart, his bound soul,
needed to be.� "Aitai�aitai�"

Eyes's home seemed a lot more
intimidating at night than it did washed in daylight, or maybe Ayumu's nerves
were more on edge than usual. His near-panicked run here was unusual for him,
almost daunting with how desperately he needed to be here. Thankfully, if
Jhette had noticed his arrival, and it was most likely he had, he didn't
question Ayumu's presence as he made his way to the top floor. Every step
towards the musician's room felt like it thundered, though not quite louder
than the pounding of his heart. The door was open when he turned the handle,
and he hadn't realized that out of nervousness, he was half-hoping it would
have been locked. Swallowing hard, he peered inside.

Eyes's hedonistic bed was still
where it had always been, covered in velvets and silks and satins. And in that
bed, cuddled up with each other as they rested, were the two that Ayumu had
been so desperate to see.

The world felt like it could settle
back into place a little as he saw them safe and sound. Ayumu hated to admit
that the feeling crawling through him was fear. This was the first time since
they'd pulled him away from that shadowy construct that he'd been near them. He
didn't know how to react, but maybe...maybe it would be enough now to know that
they were safe. He didn't want to disturb them, not when they had their own
troubles to deal with. Why did he want so badly to be closer? Biting his lip,
he started to withdraw from the doorway, thinking that if he didn't leave
altogether, he could find a couch to crash on...

One of the boys on the bed stirred,
green-gold eyes opening to gaze at Ayumu sleepily. "'yumu?" he
slurred softly, "What're you doing here? Something wrong?"

The brunette froze, feeling like
his heart had jumped into his throat, and in addition to that, he was
embarrassed. He could feel heat crawling into his cheeks. "Um, no,"
he managed to say, glancing at the sleepy face. "Everything's fine.."

The soft words roused the other
figure in the bed, Eyes making a soft murmur, gazing up at Kousuke with curious
blue eyes, barely managing to cover up a wide yawn.

Kousuke sat up a little, the soft
fabric of his green sleep shirt rustling quietly as he moved. "Then what's
up?" he asked, more awake now. "You feel...unsettled."

Eyes pushed up with him, looking a
little surprised, but not at all unhappy to see the brunette, even if there was
a crease of worry in his brow as well.

Ayumu gripped the knob tightly to
keep still, having forgotten that the redhead could feel his emotions, and he
had no defense against it. "I...wanted to check up on you guys is
all...it's nothing to worry about."

Kousuke tilted his head curiously,
then smiled. "Well, since you're here already, you want to join us?
There's lots of room."

"But I...you guys...I
mean..."

"It's all right, Ayumu,"
Eyes spoke up. His voice was thick with the sleep he hadn't quite shaken off,
accent a little more apparent as he talked. "You don't have to leave.
There is plenty of room."

There were no real words for how
much Ayumu felt like he needed to be there, to take their invitation, but still
he hesitated, a part of him believing that he would come between them somehow,
and he didn't want that.

The redheaded empath chuckled,
sensing Ayumu's worry. "Ayun, we want you with us. I know we've told you
that before."

"I know," he said
quietly. "I'm still...working on that..." To his credit, he still
hadn't moved out of the doorway, in fact some of him had moved inside when he
turned to face them.

Eyes noted that the boy was wearing his pajamas, as if he'd run right over
without even bothering to change. He smiled a little as well. "After you
came all this way, it would be a shame for you to leave so soon."

Kousuke shifted, scooting back a
little on the bed and raising the covers invitingly.

Ayumu was tired, there was no
denying that, and he couldn't sleep very well at home. He took a few more steps
into the room, thinking that maybe for a few minutes, it would be all right. A
few minutes would do no harm...

Eyes moved a little too, his gaze
calm and encouraging as the lure of his luxurious bed did the rest for him. He
was elated when the boy shut the door and made his way over, kicking off his
shoes somewhere along the way.

"You're...sure this is
okay...?" he whispered. No turning back, right?

"Quite sure. We're always
happy to have you, Ayumu." Kousuke replied.

"Don't be so quick to say
that," the brunette warned. "I wasn't exactly good company a few days
ago."

"That was a few days
ago," Eyes replied without missing a beat.

Ayumu reached the bed, and he
crawled up onto it moving into the space that Kousuke and Eyes had created for
him as if it were a natural place to be.

The redhead smiled brightly as
Ayumu settled between them, and pulled the blankets back down over them all.
"Comfy?" he asked, making sure Ayumu was covered and warm.

"Mmmhmmm," Ayumu said,
affirmation more of a contented murmur than actual words. He lay his head on
the nearest pillow, and there were many to choose from, looking up at them both
sleepily. "Just f'r a few minutes.."

Kousuke gave a purring chuckle and
lightly stroked Ayumu's soft brown hair.

"You can stay as long as you want. We're glad you're
with us."

"He's right. Stay for a
moment, stay for the night, we're content just the same." It was mostly
true. Eyes didn't want Ayumu to leave after a moment, not when he could settle
against the other boy protectively. "May I hold you?" he whispered
against the other boy's ear.

A tiny shiver could be felt, but
Ayumu wasn't pulling away as he nodded. "If y'want."

"We both want," Kousuke replied
lightly, smiling as Eyes pulled Ayumu into his arms to snuggle.

"I want too," the boy
said, tugging at Kousuke's sleeve so that the other would add his embrace to
Eyes's. His eyes were mostly closed as he looked up at the redhead, already
feeling more relaxed than he'd been since he left.

"Good. At least we
agree," Kousuke murmured, wrapping his own arms around Ayumu's slender
waist.

Ayumu thought there was more he
wanted to say, but being in the centre of the two most prominent forces in his
life now seemed to take away any other care he had. His eyes fluttered the rest
of the way closed, and in moments, the sounds of his deep breathing fluttered
between them.

Eyes's gaze softened even more as
he gazed down at their Hope. That was fast...

Kousuke chuckled quietly. He
hasn't been sleeping well for the last while. Now that he's in a place he
thinks of as safe, there's nothing to keep him from his rest.

I feel so...overjoyed to have
him so close. Eyes glanced from Ayumu's sleeping face to Kousuke's glowing
eyes.

The nekojin purred. As do I.
I've got the two people I love most in the same room.

Eyes carefully leaned over the
sleeping boy to press a kiss to Kousuke's contented smile. You do...and
we're not going anywhere either. Things feel right again.

The redhead nodded and leaned into
the kiss, stealing just a few more seconds.

Eyes didn't mind at all. As long as
he didn't let go of the precious boy between them, he could take all the time
he wanted indulging in Kousuke's warm kiss.

Kousuke didn't let it last too
long, because he wanted to avoid the temptation to turn things a bit more
carnal in nature. He rather doubted Ayumu would appreciate suddenly being in
the middle of a passionate tryst.

When Eyes pulled back, he was
smiling in that way that only Kousuke was usually allowed to see. It would have
to be enough to convey his contentment and the other things that remained
unspoken in the depths of his thoughts. I say we all sleep in tomorrow.

Sounds good to me. The longer I
can snuggle you two, the better.

Agreed. Eyes settled in
behind Ayumu tucking his nose against the nape of the other's neck and
breathing in the scent of him. His hand sought one of Kousuke's, wishing to be
touching them both until slumber took him.

Kousuke rested his head on Ayumu's
shoulder and clasped Eyes's hand, twining their fingers together. I love
you, he murmured again, just wanting Eyes to hear it.

Though it wasn't crystal clear,
Kousuke could feel the warmth of the emotions that those words provoked. Eyes
was happy to know it, happy to feel it, and the redhead could sense that.

That happiness made Kousuke happy,
and he gave a little contented sigh as he snuggled close as possible.

And it was tangled like that that
they all fell asleep, feeling safe and warm near one another, where they
belonged.
- 21
- 22
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