Chapter 1: Augen (Eyes)

Chapter Text

PREVIOUSLY...

"You did a great job."

"Hurry and come back to us," Kuroh scolded him as gently as he could, then with easy familiarity he called the nickname they got so used to call in the last couple of days. "Shiro."

Neko sleepily opened her eyes.

It was going to work out.

"...still no update on the unprecedented landing of the airship owned by international magnate Adolf K. Weismann. According to a police statement released early…"

Similar TV reports had followed one another on several channels for days, broadcasted on every big screen. The huge airship the people of Shizume got used to see in the sky above their heads had disappeared: several civilians visited the airport and some of them even managed to sneak past security to take a peek at the behemoth ship. The most absurd theories started to circulate, as those who knew the truth were few. And amongst these two, the most peculiar pair of people, currently guests of the Gold King himself, was waiting.

Neko always kept the wagasa with her, day and night, and had been unnaturally quiet in contrast to the excited outbursts Kuroh was used to. When she witnessed Kuroh killing the Colourless King, she had attacked him, convinced he'd just killed Shiro instead. It took a lot of patience from him to make her understand what had actually happened, that Shiro was alive and was going to come back to them.

But as they waited, on the third day after the Himmelreich landed, there was still no sign of the Silver King. They both needed time, Kuroh knew and understood that. Time to let things settle, time to explain, time to get used to the sudden turn of events, but that didn't mean they had to be alone.

The Golden Clan had allowed them to stay at Mihashira Tower for the time being, moving them to a guest floor with actual windows and fewer security cameras, and they had been staying there for three days after the phone call.

Waiting.

Neko ran away between the third and fourth day: Kuroh looked for her all night until he found her at dawn, still at a certain spot on the bridge connecting the Ashinaka High School island to the mainland, looking at the sparkling reflection of the moon on the bay. It was the same spot they had stopped at the last time they left the island, less than a week before: the School Festival came and went without anybody noticing their absence.

"I wanna see Shiro…" she begged him, with red, puffy eyes and a runny nose. Kuroh sighed: despite being a teenager, Neko still behaved very much like a child and needed to be taken care of, but as he wiped her face with a tissue Kuroh realized how grateful he was to have her by his side. Shiro probably had been as well.

"Let's go. He'll come back to us, soon," he reassured her.

He had to carry her piggyback and take the train to get back to Nanakamado, as they were both too tired to get all the way there by foot, but as they finally got to the base of the tower, they immediately saw an Usagi awaiting for them.

"Has something happened?" Kuroh was immediately alert, straightening his back.

"My Lord's been wondering where you've been. You're invited to join him on the 15th floor," the masked man quietly explained, leaving the two of them immediately after delivering the message.

"I don't wanna, Kurooo…" Neko squirmed on the boy's back, pulling his ponytail, "don't wanna see the scary man."

"Be patient," Kuroh kneeled to let her down, "it might be important."

Even as her feet touched the ground, she kept close to him, holding tight the back of his jacked as they called one of the smaller service elevators.

The room they arrived at was wide and empty, with a low wooden ceiling and several doors all around them: only one of them was ajar, this seemed to be the Gold King's style of inviting someone in, as it was the same thing he did when they first arrived at the Tower.

Before Kuroh could touch the handle to open the door completely, he froze as he overheard a piece of conversation from inside the room.

"...as long as you're not planning to spend another 70 years cooped up in it," there was a hint of amusement in Kokujoji's gruff voice.

"That's totally not what I had in mind!" another laughed. This voice, Kuroh knew, even if heard it only once, on the other side of a phone. The boy stood still, barely breathing as the conversation inside kept going.

"More complications surfaced than I initially thought, honestly. I'm glad you've finally decided to fulfil your duty and come down to help." The Gold King continued.

"Did I have any choice, actually? May I remind you I've actually been pushed down ?"

As the Gold King laughed, Kuroh took a deep breath. That was Shiro , he was right there, in the room he couldn't bring himself to open. The main thought buzzing through Kuroh's mind like a bee in a jar was that he had no idea what the man behind the door would look like .

At some point, Neko had let go of his jacket and was curiously looking at him, as if trying to figure what stopped him. She couldn't know, could she? She never heard that voice.

Kuroh nodded at her and forced himself to slowly open the door on a small parlour: Daikaku Kokujoji was comfortably sitting down on a tall fancy armchair, facing the door.

The other figure was standing up, his back turned towards the door: long silver hair, flowing freely long past his knees, were in sharp contrast with the black overcoat he was wearing. As soon as the door opened, he seemed to tense, but didn't turn around.

"Oh, you two. Come in, I've been waiting." The Gold King welcomed them by standing up as he saw them.

Once again, Neko hid behind Kuroh's back.

"Don't look at me like that, old friend," Kokujoji glanced at the other person, with a hint of amusement. "You've been avoiding this for too long, I simply thought I'd give you a push."

"I haven't been avoiding …" the other sighed, passing a hand over his face, before facing the two.

As the man turned around, Kuroh straightened his back unconsciously, maybe connecting the dots in his mind that the man in front of him wasn't just Shiro, he was the King of Origins, the First and Silver King. And yet, when this man of legend and mystery finally faced him, the only thought that passed through the swordsman's mind was that of course his real eyes would be silver . For a short moment, Kuroh's first instinct was to turn his back and run away, but not only that would have been enormously inappropriate, but it would have probably been embarrassingly weird to explain.

For a few awkward seconds, the man in front of them just stared back, then his eyes fell to the ground with an embarrassed smile: "I'm sorry," he quietly started, "I would have..." he started, "I could have…" he corrected himself, then with a deep sigh: "I should have come back sooner."

Kuroh opened his mouth as if to reply, but closed it immediately afterwards, swallowing down a sharp remark he didn't have the heart to say. He was painfully aware that Neko's wary gaze at the man in front of them was a clear red flag of the fact that the girl didn't know who was in front of them. But did Kuroh?

He had known Isana Yashiro just for a few days, and for a very few hours only after he started remembering his true identity, moments before burdening him with an unbearable request.

The man's eyes moved to the girl looking at him diffidently.

"Neko…" the Silver King spoke again, tentatively holding a hand out to the girl, who tried to shrink even more behind Kuroh. "Neko, it's me, it's still me…" he continued with a small encouraging smile as he slowly stepped forward. Kuroh knew that awkward smile: despite his elegant, angular visage was that of a stranger, the mannerisms and the gestures were uncannily familiar and that was enough for a glimmer of trust to settle in both of their hearts.

Neko glanced above Kuroh's shoulder, distrust melting into curiosity as she finally came out of hiding: "Shiro?" she called quietly, the man beamed with joy as she called him like that, for Kuroh it was like a puzzle piece had finally been put in its place, completing the picture. Yes, that was Shiro, that was Shiro , he was fine he was alive he was…

Golden irises clouded with despair, a red flower blossoming and staining the shirt, the floor, Kuroh's hands...

"Shiro!" Neko called again, running forward and literally jumping at the man's neck. He kneeled down and hugged her with an expression of pure bliss.

Neko kept calling Shiro's name repeatedly, until she finally let go and stepped back to press her palms to his cheeks, to the surprise of both of them.

"This is the real Shiro?" she quietly asked him in the end, unexpectedly serious. So the girl had understood, at least to an extent, what had happened. Kuroh felt ashamed he didn't give her enough credit.

The man nodded, gently clasping her hands in his own: "Yes," he reassured her, "This is the real Shiro," then he looked over at Kuroh once more. "If you're gonna come and hug me like Neko right now, I'm not gonna look down on you," he said in a slightly amused tone.

Kuroh scoffed, why did he ever doubt he wouldn't have the same stupid sense of humour ?

"No thanks," he grumbled. Then added, "I'm glad you're alright."

"Shiro…" Neko whimpered again, "I was so scared, I thought you abandoned me too...I thought Kurosuke ki…" a small hiccup blocked her, although it was obvious what she meant to say.

"Hush, hush…" Shiro gently stroked her hair, "I'm here, I'm fine."

That must be nice , Kuroh found himself thinking as he watched the Silver King comfort Neko. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he recomposed himself: he had a dignity to maintain.

"So?" he inquired, "What now?"

Shiro nodded, standing up once again. Neko grabbed his arm tight as she had before, afraid of letting it go.

"There's still matters to settle: the police's anti bomb squad was done with removing the explosives the Colourless King set in my ship and it's now ready to take off again…" he glanced at the Gold King, who'd been standing in silence all that time. "But the matter of the Red King's numerical value of variation from causality still fluctuating dangerously close to 100% remains. I did nothing to prevent the Kagutsu tragedy thirteen years ago but maybe I can stop another one from happening." He regretfully explained.

"And there's also the matter of the Green King and his possible involvement," Kokujoji added.

Shiro nodded: "Unless he activates his Sanctum his power is suppressed to the point of being untraceable, his numerical value of variation from causality…"

"Which has a name," Kokujoji interrupted him with a teasing note in his voice.

"It's embarrassing!" Shiro whined, before clearing his throat. "His Weismann level is impossible to discern against the background noise." He concluded, blushing a little.

"How come you're still such an idiot after seventy years of isolation?" the Gold King shook his head.

Kuroh found himself grateful to have received a thorough education from his former master, as he was barely able to follow the conversation between the two of them. Neko didn't seem to care, simply content by holding on the man's arm with a peaceful smile, Kuroh would never admit this but he envied her flighty nonchalance.

"So there's that. We asked Scepter 4 to release Suoh Mikoto temporarily, I'm going to talk with him tomorrow." Shiro caught Kuroh's attention once again. "After that, we're onto the Green Clan. It's better not to oppose them directly, since the Green King's potential is pretty high…"

"I remember this," Kuroh intervened. " Ani-ue told me he witnessed the Green King challenging the Gold King and being able to fight evenly."

Shiro clapped his hands with enthusiasm: "You have a brother ?"

Kuroh grimaced, wishing he hadn't let that slip: "Kind of, he was a vassal of Master Ichigen but he deserted years ago. Haven't heard from him since."

"Aw. Such a shame…" the Silver King sighed. "Anyway, I was about to go to Haneda to take the Himmelreich off the ground. I have no intention to cut myself from the world anymore, but that ship is still my home ." Despite his smile didn't fade, he seemed to hesitate a moment before speaking again. "You two are welcome to come...and stay with me, if you want." He told them quietly.

"Neko will!" the girl chirped, jumping with joy. "And so will Kurosuke, so he can cook us aaaaaall kinds of yummies!"

"That's his choice."

Kuroh soon realized all eyes were fixed on him, as they waited for his answer. "I guess I'll come. I can't guarantee I'll stay."

"Yay!" Neko cried, hugging him as well. Shiro nodded, his smile grateful but with a hint of sadness.

"Off you go, then. I have my own business to attend." Kokujoji scoffed.

Shiro turned towards him one last time before leaving the room. "Thank you, Lieutenant." he said, "really."

The Gold King motioned him to go, and he did, followed suit by Neko. As Kuroh was about to leave as well though, Kokujoji stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"A piece of advice, for a friend of a friend." He said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I know Weismann well enough to say he hasn't changed a bit: it was only because he forgot his past and status that he allowed himself to get close to you two, but now that he's back he will try and cut you off. He loves people, he cares and that's why he continues to distance himself. Afraid to lose others or get close even though he wants to. He chooses to be lonely and care for others from afar." He paused, to make sure the words sunk in. "Don't let him."

Kuroh shivered: "I'll do what I can." In the back of his mind, Kuroh wondered why such responsibilities were always handed to him.