F Major Diminished Fifth Trilogy

III. Unity

Part Seven

From Eyes' Point of View:

I turned, nearly gasping at an all too familiar voice. "What the hell are you doing here?"

A flash of an annoyingly cocky grin. "I thought you might be glad to see me, Rutherford."

"Did you want something?" I asked, feigning cool anger, though my insides were jumping in a dizzying manner.

"Just a chat," he replied easily, striding easily over to the piano and sliding a finger up the keys in an effortless, graceful scale. "Perfectly in tune, as usual. Ayumu must enjoy playing with you."

I stiffened automatically at the innuendo crystal clear in his tone. "How do you know about the duet?"

"Duet?" An elegantly raised eyebrow raised my own barriers, ice slamming into my stare. "Is that what they call it now? Or have you taken me at my word that you ought to record a duet?"

"You haven't answered my question."

"There isn't much I don't know about my younger brother," Kiyotaka Narumi informed me, leaning his elbows on the piano keys with a crash of cacophonic notes. "I was spying on him at lunch."

"Why not speak with him?" I suggested, keeping an edge in my voice. "He's been looking for you."

"I needed to speak with you first," Kiyotaka answered easily. I narrowed my eyes, taking in the other man's face, much thinner and lined from obvious strain and stress. "I didn't voluntarily vanish, Eyes. Kanone tricked me. And I was prisoner until Ayumu defeated him."

"You were stupid enough to wager your freedom." My voice was flat, but inside I was trembling with rage.

"As long as I was in the picture, none of you would rely on Ayumu," Kiyotaka replied dismissively, only a tiny crease on his forehead revealing his frown at my tone. In the blink of an eye, the crease vanished and was replaced by a wide, easy grin. "So how's little Rio? Still driving you and Kousuke up the wall with her little explosives?"

Two can play this game, I decided grimly. "She blew herself up trying to defeat Ayumu. Deliberately held a bomb to her chest and let it explode."

Kiyotaka shook his head. "I never do know what to make of that girl. She's either plain crazy or suicidal."

"I think it's mainly the latter," I informed him coldly. "You vanished and so did her hope. She was afraid to trust Ayumu that far."

"At first," Kiyotaka corrected me annoyingly. "She obviously adores him now. You know, I'm surprised, Rutherford. I thought you might have softened up a bit, given that you're… what's that quaint British term? Shagging my baby brother?"

"And I thought a year in captivity might have lessened your arrogance," I shot back.

"You all love me for it," Kiyotaka returned fondly. "So, fill me in, Eyes, and then we'll go find my little brother."

"What about Madoka?" I asked quietly. The sparkle of arrogance in the other man's eyes faltered in a satisfying manner.

"I'm not going to let her see me," he replied. "It would just hurt her more that I leave again in a matter of days. Madoka is not to be involved with this." His tone was vaguely threatening, and I waved it off casually.

"Kanone's the only one who was stupid enough to involve her," I replied, leading Kiyotaka back to my dressing room. "She has her suspicions, but Ayumu has so far managed to keep her angrily ignorant."

"Isn't ignorance supposed to be bliss?" Kiyotaka asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.

"Only if you're completely ignorant, not just left out," I explained patiently. "Not to mention, she's a liability to both you and Ayumu and she knows it."

"One of us I imagine you care a great deal more about," he smirked, and I stopped walking, simply looking back at him impassively, waiting. "I'm sorry, but I simply never imagined you and Ayumu…"

"He's not the same kid you left behind," I reminded Kiyotaka. "In fact, if I know him, he'll be pissed when he sees you."

"Good," Kiyotaka announced, pausing as I stopped short. "What is it?"

"I closed that door," I remarked, staring suspiciously at the door, which was open the tiniest of cracks. I reached out my arm to its full length, using my fingertips to push the door slightly. We both jumped back as a bloody lump dropped from the top of the door.

"Had some trouble lately?" Kiyotaka asked, looking faintly paler than normal.

"I think it's a hand," I told him unnecessarily. "The police report said Padma's body was missing one."

"Holy Gods, Eyes!" Kiyotaka swore, looking at the hand. "Don't go in there," he warned me unnecessarily as I shoved the door open wide, revealing that the room inside had been very thoroughly trashed. I wasn't certain what the Hunter had been looking for; I kept nothing personal or of value in the dressing rooms.

"It's just a calling card," I replied coolly. "This Hunter won't be satisfied unless we're in a face to face encounter."

"The rest of Padma resembled her hand?" Kiyotaka asked, sighing.

"Yes." I watched as his detective skills, rusty from a year of rest, slowly kicked into gear. He didn't touch the hand but instead pulled a pen out of his suit jacket, turning the hand over carefully, revealing a crumpled ball of paper grasped in its fingers, the smallest of which I realized wasn't attached any longer.

Without damaging or touching the hand, Kiyotaka managed to work the paper loose, and I watched, morbidly fascinated, wanting to store every detail in my mind so that I could repeat the deft actions if I ever had to. Kiyotaka then began to slowly push the edges of the paper flat, drawing a second pen out of his breast pocket to aid his progress. Typed words slowly became visible, though it was streaked with blood, making it difficult to decipher for a moment. Kiyotaka managed to free the top fold and we both stared, dumbfounded.

"Your concert schedule for the past few weeks and next week," Kiyotaka observed grimly. "She was trying to track you using it?"

"Undoubtedly," I replied, thinking of the movements the girl had made. London, LA, here… "She got a hold of it in London."

"You're certain?" Kiyotaka asked, frowning at my short nod. "The Hunters have seen this, handled it. You ought to cancel or reschedule these concerts."

"Absolutely not!" I replied haughtily, reminded eerily of a similar fight I had had with Kousuke and Ayumu.

"Idiot," Kiyotaka muttered under his breath. I was about to ask him exactly what made him so certain that the Hunters had even seen the note when I noticed the wide finger prints smudged on the edges of the schedule in blood. Too wide to be Padma's. "You're not afraid, even after what they did to Padma?"

"Fear is immaterial," I informed Kiyotaka coldly. "Are you planning to sit here all day or shall we join your brother and the other Blade Children?"

"Yeah, we can go," Kiyotaka said, rising and suddenly even paler than when he had seen the severed hand. I smirked, unable to help the bit of malicious delight I felt in knowing that he was nervous about seeing Ayumu. I was hoping Ayumu might even haul off and hit his brother. I held my reserve too tightly to allow myself to give into my desire to hit Kiyotaka.

The walk to my penthouse was silent, and I allowed Kiyotaka to remain caught up in his own thoughts as it allowed me to think carefully about my next move in dealing with Padma's killers. I would not cancel a concert. It was simply an unacceptable form of retreat in my mind. But precautions would have to be taken. During the show I would be safe. The type of murder these killers favored required a much more private setting. But coming to the concert, my dressing room, and leaving the concert would all be turned into places that I was vulnerable to attack. Bombs would create the level of destruction these killers craved, but lacked the personal contact, and also made it hard to take bits of me as a trophy. I had an odd thought of wondering how much my hands, skilled with the piano, could be sold for on e-bay after I was dead. I decided against asking Ayumu for an opinion later; he probably wouldn't be as amused by the idea as I was.

I tossed my keys on the table beside the door, ignoring Kiyotaka's instant exploration of the bare room. The sparse furniture and piano in the center of the room made it the perfect practice space, but I could tell he was thinking that it was a far cry from a homey room.

I sat at the piano, practicing a few scales while I waited and Kiyotaka prowled through my kitchen like he was hunting something. I hoped he would kill a soda or some pocky soon and settle down to eat. His pacing was making me feel twitchy too.

The door banged open, and I turned, facing a glaring Ayumu. "Eyes, we need to talk. I don't like secrets."

Hmm. Perhaps Kiyotaka hadn't been so sneaky after all. "I've hardly…" I started, and stopped as Kiyotaka entered the room. From the way Ayumu froze in place and the color drained from his face, I'd misread what he was angry about.

From Ayumu's Point of View

My mind contracted down to a single point somewhere on my way to Eye's apartment, focused in on finding out what he had hidden from me. The other three Blade Children had clammed up quickly, mysteriously telling me that this was something I had to talk with Rutherford about. I'd blown past the overly friendly girl at the front desk telling me I didn't have to be buzzed in anymore, refusing to let the tiny part of me melting in pure pleasure have any sway on my determination.

I'd been so prepared to yell at Eyes and glared at the stranger who walked in to interrupt me. My eyes adjusted to the thin, careworn face to suddenly decipher the face of a too familiar man. I'd given him up for dead, written him off at long last and freed myself from his too dark shadow. Kiyotaka.

"Hey, little bro," he greeted me, and I clenched my fists, his casual tone and too wide smile making me want to hit him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I burst out, my lungs on fire when I finally remembered to breathe in again.

"That sounds vaguely familiar," Kiyotaka mused, looking toward Eyes, who only glared. "Ah, yes, Eyes asked me that only an hour ago. You two really might be in danger of becoming an old married couple someday, huh?"

I looked at Eyes, and jerked my head toward the bedroom door. He narrowed his blue eyes at Kiyotaka, clearly warning him away and turned and walked into the bedroom. I spared one last glance for my brother, suddenly afraid he'd be gone when I returned to the sitting room again, before turning and following Eyes, slamming the door behind me as I entered.

"Punching bag," Eyes told me, pointing to the small one hanging on the far side of the bed. I crossed the room quickly, slamming a fist into the bag, quickly followed by a second, third… I sighed, collapsing onto the bed after a moment. "Better?" he inquired, and I nodded, suddenly exhausted.

"I thought he was dead," I confessed. "I gave up, I accepted it. I was almost glad because it was so much easier than trying to struggle against the impossible odds. Happiness of any solid belief, I guess." I chuckled, amazed at how bitter it sounded to me. A pale hand entered my field of vision, and I stared at it for a moment, remembering how I had offered Eyes my hand the day before when he was in pain. I slid my hand into his gently. The moment our fingers were laced, I let my head fall, resting on Eyes' shoulder.

"I did too," he told me, his voice quiet. "I almost hit him when he showed up earlier. I figured you would."

I laughed again, the bitterness seeming to have fled with my anger. "What is he doing here? And how does he know about us?"

"He's been close-lipped about what brought him back here, but he did admit to spying on you earlier today," Eyes explained. I listened, simply resting against Eyes, as he told me about the hand in his dressing room. His free hand had found my hair and was slowly sifting fingers through short strands in what I dimly recognized as Eyes needing my comfort as much as I needed his.

We lapsed into silence for a long moment before I commented, "Perhaps Kousuke will hit him."

Eyes shook his head, a touch of a smile lightening his brilliant blue eyes. "You'll meet a brand new Kousuke," Eyes informed me dryly. "One who worships the ground Kiyotaka walks on."

I tried to imagine, but ended up shaking my head, unable to picture Kousuke admiring anyone. "Think of the way Kousuke treats Ryoko," Eyes suggested helpfully. "Only… not gay."

I found myself laughing at the simple matter-of-fact way Eyes described it. "Do we have to go back out there?" I asked, and Eyes shook his head, an odd smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

"We could stay in here, fool around for awhile." His breath was hot on the side of my neck just before he pressed a soft kiss below my ear. "Make him wait just a little while."

I brought my lips down to catch his, my tongue easily working his lips apart. He had grabbed a hold of me tightly and begun to wrestle control of the kiss back from me when a loud pounding on the door jolted us apart. Barely a moment later, an infuriated Rio burst through the door.

"What the hell is he doing here?" she shrieked angrily. "How long has he been here?"

"Even in my bedroom we have no privacy," Eyes muttered, standing and pulling his hand free of mine. I followed him back to the sitting room, envying the way he seemed to be completely deaf to Rio's angry protests. Ryoko was on the couch, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed to slits, obviously angry, while Kousuke was sitting on the arm of the couch, looking rather hopelessly caught between Kioytaka and Ryoko. Hiyono had taken up her usual spot on the floor, but I was guessing I wasn't welcome to sit down in my usual spot next to her. I crossed instead to the piano bench, straddling it and sitting back to watch the fireworks. Kiyotaka, I noticed with satisfaction, was rubbing his shin and glaring at Rio, and my guess was that she had kicked him.

"All right, Kiyotaka, I think it's time you told us all why you're here," Ryoko ordered, and I started, surprised by the venom in her voice. "Taking off and leaving us to the Hunters, great move, so now what?" Kousuke shifted uncomfortably but looked equally interested in the answer.

Oh. I tried not to smile, but I couldn't help it as I caught on. Ryoko was angry for Kousuke, who didn't seem to be capable of getting angry with Kiyotaka himself. "Glad to see you, too, Ryoko," Kiyotaka commented wryly. His eyes had found mine, and he paused, obviously searching my face for something. I held my features carefully emotionless, and from the look in Kiyotaka's eyes, I must have done well. "I suppose I should tell everyone where I've been…" he trailed off, his eyes landing on Hiyono. "One of yours?" he asked Eyes, who shook his head.

"Hiyono's with me," I said quickly. I wasn't sure how Hiyono would react to that, but she seemed to be content with that.

"Well, Hiyono, I'm Kiyotaka Narumi, and you'll pardon my rudeness in asking what you're doing mixed up with this lot." Kiyotaka looked suspiciously at Hiyono and I glared.

"Stop it," I managed to say bitingly. "You're not in charge here, and you get no say in who helps us out."

Kiyotaka smiled at this, looking pleased by my response. "Very well, I suppose I should start with my decision to leave Madoka and Ayumu…"