aristocrat's symphony

His footsteps made light echo as he strolled across the disserted hallway.

“odd…” he thought as a small frown formed on the otherwise, blank expression.

No… there was something definitely off. This wasn’t some anxiety he was feeling... and certainly nor was it imagination or paranoia hindering his judgment. Of course, Kamijo had expected the hospital itself to be far from being active, after all this whole place was nothing more than a cover up for the unforeseen tragic event that occurred two years back. However he had expected at least couple of people wondering around to make it more… believable that this was a regular hospital. It didn’t deem likely that the Hizaki family could make such a foolish blunder, not when the next head…no… now the current head of the family was concerned.

It was also a bit unusual that the lady at the front desk refused to meet his eye contract. She let him just waltz in here without so much as a question… and now he walked the hall way towards the private room where Jin had been staying in his state of coma, and no one had once bothered him… not even the one or two doctors that walked past him. They built this place, kept only couple close doctors and nurses of the family, in order to cover up for the past years, the real explanation as to what had happened to Jin. Of course, he couldn’t really blame them. Having the words get around that the Jin’s father, at the time, the head of the family, was now murdered by his eldest son, who also tried to kill his younger brother in the process and then attempted to commit suicide that led to falling into a state of a coma, wasn’t exactly the most appealing story to go about the other aristocratic family

And now that he said that to himself in his head, Kamijo began to see just how crazy it sounded.

Perhaps it was because Jin was now awakened from his long sleep that the security of this place has lifted considerably. Or it may be that they no longer had to hide the fact Jin was being kept at the hospital being that the information about his coma had already leaked… though he doubted that anyone really knew the real reason as to why. Two years they kept this information well hidden and people still didn’t know anything other than that Jin is in a coma…he should give them props for that.

Still that didn’t explain why no one questioned his presence. Of course it could be very well possible they have been notified that he would be so called visiting in the next few days. After all, as Kamijo had been enjoying his wonderful time in Italy that consisted of quite exquisite amount of wine, music, and visit to the theatres…and of course other ‘entertainment’ he didn’t quite planned on mentioning… a urgent call was made from the Hizaki household telling him to be back in Japan on the first flight the next day. Now, getting a call from the Hizaki wasn’t something that is common… after all they didn’t think much of him and rarely did they recognize him as even a fellow human. Kamijo was able to deduce from the call that, most likely, Jin had finally decided to awake, and they called him because they were in fear what he might do next.

And so here is was, now no more than a foot away from the door that led to where Jin was kept. …for some reason, he had a bad feeling about this whole situation as he pushed the door open.



Highly decorated as he already had predicted… after all, he was almost certain that they wouldn’t have let their next heir be kept in a general hospital rooms… although he didn’t expect them to make this place almost look like a apartment room.

“…how ironic,” he said silently to himself as he walked in. But as he turned the corner, he realized… Jin was not there on the bed. “….dammit.”

There was the sound of the door being shut. Then, before the fighter could even have the chance to fully turn around, he had shoved him backwards onto the bed; pinning him down, his own fingers closing even tighter around that pale delicate neck.

With a smile that seemed too sweet to be told genuine, he gave another painful shove, pressing the other down onto the bed with considerable strength. If truth be told, he, Jin, was couple inches shorter than the darkness fighter, and in a physical sense, adding with the fact he was lying on the bed for over two years, he should have been considerably weaker. Still this unconventional fact, he had always disregarded. Never had it stopped him from playing the dominate role between the two of them nor had it hindered him from making sure the other knew his place; he hadn’t ten years back and he certainly wouldn’t let it now. But whether Kamijo was caught off guard or simply letting him take the control as he always have, he wasn’t sure, nor did he care at the moment.

“Wanted to see me that badly?” A glint of amusement was etched in his unnaturally dark eyes as he glimpsed over quickly about at now somewhat of a dismantled structure the other seem to hold. His gaze met the fighter’s, the smile still lingered about his lips. It was a flawless smile but not without a hint of unsettling feeling. He lowered himself, the hand still in place, never losing that grip on the other’s neck, until his face was an inch away from Kamijo’s. “…or have you come to gloat?”

There was an abrupt change in the sacrifice’s tone. No longer did it even have the fake gentleness and the usual composed, serene look had certainly faltered. Bitterness, resentment, or perhaps it was pure anguish; the look behind those once calm orbs now seemed almost sinister. A hand rose and in seconds, it made harsh contact with the other’s left cheek with a loud noise that should have made anyone flint. And not even sparing a moment for the fighter to recover, he loosened the hold he had on Kamijo’s neck only to grasp those long indigo hair, pulling it harshly making the other’s head snap back. “…you broke our promise.”

......

“…what?”

“You heard me. Help me get rid of this wretched family of mine. Was it not your goal as well from the start, Kamijo? I’m sure you are not shallow as to want to take revenge on only me… Just think of it as an opportunity.”

“How can I trust you?”

“You disappoint me. After all we been through, you still don’t trust my words? I may be cruel but I do not lie… you should know that better than anyone.”

“what’s in it for you?”

“You. A fighter who will carry out my every order without question. And when this is all over, my final order to you… is kill me.”

......

"Please. Don't tell me you are still in love with me." A smirk lingered as he let out a short harsh laughter. "is that why you decided to "save" me? Did you think i would have wanted to be in a coma for two years?!" His grip was tightening, as if he really had planned on strangling the figther.

His head snapped to one side as the hand struck, the sting numb as moments later he was once more facing the Scarless Sacrifice his head pulled back by the harsh tug of his hair. He didn’t dare admit just how painful this past few seconds has been and was careful not to let it show within his expression.

“Love?” he questioned, the smirk forming back on his lips. “do you really think perhaps my attachment to you is what saved you?”

There was a trace of laughter within his tone… mocking tones that always seem to be playing within his voice. Kamijo knew he was treading on thin ice. This game of their’s often led to violence and he always was the one who came out with fresh new cuts and bruise if not a broken limb… the sound of that didn’t sound appealing at the moment… Of course, had this been two years back, before this all started, he wouldn’t have even dared to challenge Jin… or more so, he rather would have liked to do little with the older male and would very much liked to avoid his so called “punishments”. But now it was a different field they played on. No longer did he have anything left to lose and there isn’t probably a single thing this Sacrifice could do to him that he hasn’t endured in the past.

“If I dare admit, maybe I do have some left over feelings for you from the past but is it not you who decided to abandon me?” He could taste the blood in his mouth as he accidentally bit his tongue when Jin decided to slap him across the face. “If I be blunt, Jin-sama, it seems more that /you/ are desperately trying to keep this control you have of me in order to keep me from straying to another.”

There was a moment of pause, in which the smirk was wiped from his lips, his eyes holding a dead seriousness of which was rarely seen these days. “It wasn’t I who broke the promise,” he replied flatly, there was a hint of coldness there, a harshness that seemed almost unbecoming of him. “I don’t plan on letting you die until you hold up your end of the deal. It’s already a well known fact I can’t kill Kyoya, bound by this name… and besides wouldn’t that be a sight to see? You murdering with your two hands your own brother… the one person you always held dear…”

“Kill Kyoya and I’ll be more than willing to grant you the pleasant eternal rest.”


It was raining. Rain… they say its God’s way of crying… crying at the wretched world this placed has become.

“Kyoya, want to share an umbrella with me?” A smile lingered about the Fighter’s lips as he already opened the dark blue umbrella, holding it over the other’s head… a look that seemed almost too innocent to be true.

The Sacrifice turned towards him, his usual glare not wavering.

“Not happy to see me?” he said with a short laughter. “I came to pick you up. Not gonna let you walk home from school in the rain… now what kind of Fighter would do such a thing?”

The other’s dark eyes narrowed. “Where the hell is the umbrella I put in my bag this morning?” he spat back coldly.

Oh dear… has he been found out already? His Kyo-chan seems quite mad too… although Kamijo should have expected Kyoya to be the type to be so organized as to remember what exactly he has done and not done. “Now now… I hope you are not suggesting that I intentionally took it out. Why on earth would I want you to be left in the rain without an umbrella??”

The younger male seemed almost ready to strangle him… then giving his Fighter a scoff, turned and walked off on his own, not bothering if he had gotten wet or not.

…his Fighter trotted after him.

“Kyoya~ wait up! Why are you so mad?! Is it a crime for me to want to share an umbrella with you??”

So, the way his day had been going, there were some thing the young blonde could except were going to happen regardless of what logic states should happen. The drive to the hospital? Horrible, all due to leaving the campus so late in the evening that it was rush hour time for people going home and since the school was on the total opposite side of about anything, Yuri would have very much been more than happy to open the bottle sitting in the brown bag in the back seat. If that was, had he not been driving the mustang. Slven would have killed him if he crashed the car, killed him for getting a ticket and about anything else that came with that. Which was entirely possible given his luck with the world at the moment. Contact’s drying out and giving him a large enough headache by the time he pulled up into the parking lot? That too was predictable, though what was not totally predictable…

Was walking into the reception room and not getting that normal ‘pending doom’ feeling from the man sitting behind the counter.

It was a woman…

Odd….

Every time the blonde had come here for the past year it had been a male, a fighter, of one of the higher family members. Obviously for he was to keep everyone out, for Jin was hidden here. Now it was the counterpart, the woman, the sacrifice. Who didn’t even bother to look up at him and challenge his reason for being there, or when he walked past the desk straight down the hall to the room he knew the location of with his eyes close.

What Yuri found unpredictable?

That chill running down his spine as he stood outside the closet door, hand hovering over the door nod. That chill in his spine every time he saw the same fighter, Darkness, Hajima’s other childhood friend Kamijohime, and the familiar ring fo the man who had been a sleep for the last two years, Jin.

Now what threw the new Headmaster for a total loop?

The first word he heard as he opened the door.

“Kill Kyoya and I’ll be more than willing to grant you the pleasant eternal rest.”

Amethyst eyes stared at the scene before him as on hand rest on the door nod, the other holding the covered bottle of vodka. Kamijo pinned down back against the bed oddly with Jin in the mists of strangling him. But not quiet the look that should be on the fighter during these, o no, not at all. The words caught probably without intention rang in his head, just adding to the years work of question already unanswered.

Just want he needed.

The killing lovebirds giving him more of a headache.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before taking off the top hat and leaned back against the door looking at the two since he was unnoticed.

“Given that it is now… a quarter to eight and Jenoiu-chan is quite the dotting young fiancée, Kamijo why don’t you go intercept her so that I can help Jin-san put himself together…..” His voice did not sound wavered, annoyed or coy as he spoke to the two men.” so that he doesn’t make a fool out of himself….”

That voice, he would be a fool to have not recognized it.

There was a moment of pause, though no attempts were made to straighten himself up or even to remove the grasp he still had on the darkness fighter’s long indigo locks. His sharp gaze, was not upon the new arrival but still fixed upon the fighter that was still pinned to the bed. An odd and perhaps inconvenient time the blonde has decided to walk in on, more of an inconvenience that the two of them had forgotten to lock the door couple minutes back.

“My my, what an impeccable timing you have Yuri,” his voice had completely lost the harshness from moments before and that crude look that was so evident in the expression now no where to be found. He slowly got to his feet, letting his fingers loosen his hold. Finally turning his dark gaze, meeting Nightmare’s, a smile now lingered about his lips. It was a flawless smile but not without a hint of unsettling feeling. That pleasant tone sharply contrasting with the one he had been using with kamijo, matched too well with his new formed expression. Even knowing all of this facade was fake, one he had naturally developed as the heir to a aristocratic family, it seemed too much genuine to be lie; but of course, something that is perfect always is fair from being the truth. “One would think that you are a regular visitor here, strolling in like this without so much as an appointment or a warning.”

Jin looked about the other; that smile turning into becoming a light smirk as he glanced at the blonde up and down quickly. “You haven’t changed much Yuri, even the new title hasn’t tainted you yet.” He spoke freely, even as he was completely aware of Kamijo’s presence still in the room. He spoke as if he didn’t care about the fighter over hearing their conversation, an act that was rather unlikely of him. “What, may I ask, is the reason for such an important and busy man such as the new headmaster to visit me? And merely a day after my consciousness. I didn’t expect the news to go about so quickly, in fact I made sure it didn’t so I can get some private time with my fighter.”

“my fighter” those words that sounded so odd.

“Have you been keeping tabs on me? Or is it that you wanted to see me so badly that you rushed over to beat even my new fiancée?”

Ever gotten that ‘flight or die’ feeling from a single look?

Like you come in on something someone else rather preferred you didn’t so strongly that a single look of the eyes made your skin crawl and make you want to coward behind something just to avoid that person wrath? There were very few people he had met that could make that look, create that feeling without the words. True Jin had that fake smile of his, one Yuri could see miles away coming. The one that met he was being the ‘good heir’, dancing to make others ‘happy’. All the while mixing in that ‘flight or die’ glare in those empty eyes as he looked the blond down.

But in his slumber the older man must have forgotten…

Yuri walked towards death.

The ends of his lips fought to turn into a smirk instead of the empty expression.

“ My Fighter, Jin-san?” He tilted his head to the side in as if in confusion before amethyst eyes looked away from the older sacrifice to the fighter behind him. So, in a sense, yes he could just retort back to the other that ‘ No I didn’t know you were awake, pompous ass, but that would have been childish and out of character for the young adult he had become. So? If Jin wanted to play at insults, Yuri would be more then happen to play the dance.

Just not in the direction the other was trying to get at?

First thing to piss the other off?

Speak directly to the individual he was ignoring and ignore him for the moment.

“ Seems to me, Jin-san’s lost some of his memories. Or has gotten them fuck up a bit, eh Kamijo-hime?” His hand let go of the door, the first step into the room as his eyes turned away from the both, as if not catching Jin’s intent in making him ‘excuse’ himself. The thoughts already clicking away in his brain to turn what information he had gained over the last year about what had happened into some sort of sense to bulls shit his way through this hand.

“Der es ist“? Blue tinted amethyst eyes studied the dressed up fighter in the deem light of the club. Odd place to come out and met the fighter, but, this was a game of information.

“Ja.. Nein… Konnte nicht viel mehr sie scheinen zu fuzz über den Gedanken nach einer Weile werden. Aber ja geschieht etwas zum Familienkopf und seine Ehefrau um das gleiche Mal“. Her voice sound preppy, not fitting the words she was speaking as she batted her long lashes poor his drink. This was a game, make it look like they were not talking about something that was really business.

After all, that’s not what an escort was for.

“Kyoya“?

“Fehlen gleichzeitig, ist sein Kämpfer am Haupthaus nicht gewesen.. Was ich erhalten könnte, war aus Land… Nicht mit dem jüngsten…“

“Und irgendwie dies ist alle zum Koma Shivani von Jin verbunden? „

“Ja“.

“ But then again, I guess his memory would get a little fuzzy after two years of sleeping..” Yuri crossed the room as he spoke faint smile of false innocents linger on his face as he picked up the two glasses that had been in this room for well over a year now, the same set the blonde had used sitting in this room every week. A silent drink as he spoke to a man trapped in sleep about things he wouldn’t to anyone else. For the ‘dead’ don’t share secrets. The other, a glass for the other young woman who sat in this room since he had become a habit to take to the fighter, gather information from some source. But now, as he filled one glass with ice before opening the bottle in his other hand after setting down his hat, it was a prop.

“Kill Kyoya and I’ll be more than willing to grant you the pleasant eternal rest.”

Kamijo words turned over in his mind on last time before amethyst eyes looked away from the two filled glass picking up the one with ice as they settled back on Jin.

“ Don’t you know you can’t sleep away you sins, Jin? Killing your parents, my trying to copy me now? Even little KyoKyo-chan, over what, the fighter you gave him? I’ll play this game if you want, but remember, in ten more minutes another person will be walking though that ever so open door to hear the next set of words your of those pretty little lips of yours. Your family is doing a rather horrible job keeping us out after all.” The glass was held out towards the other. The innocent smile staying on his lips as he spoke, words that were nothing more than half a total shot in the dark, half asses piece together puzzle in the course of ten minutes.

Now.. to see if his shot in the dark worked.

Spoiler:

Kamijo sat upright on the bed, keeping silent as he kept his gaze low. Though he had long passed the phase of fearing Jin and thinking himself much lower status than Yuri, he still hadn’t lost his sense of basic manners.

Of course, he would have left had it not been for Yuri’s earlier comment… The Darkness fighter did not care if Yuri was from aristocratic background nor was now the new headmaster… if the blonde seriously had thought that he, Kamijo, was going to do as he says or follow orders from a short, pretty boy who could basically pass as a teenager who haven’t even hit puberty, he was sadly mistaken.

He had the strong urge to retort back, “me, leave? so you can have Jin to yourself? Keep dreaming shorty…” but then again, that would simply be distasteful. So all he did was scoff and turned his gaze to the other direction.


There was a point in his life he really had some respect for Yuri. But of course, being raised as a Fighter to the main household of the Hizaki family, he was always taught to see himself as below a Sacrifice... but more so than others, perhaps due to the naivety of the young age and at the time, the admiration he held for Jin, Kamijo often thought highly of few the elder Hizaki heir had interest for.

…he had been lost in his own thoughts till he heard his name.

“kamijo-hime”

…now that was phrase he haven’t heard in a while.

“I would appreciate it if you do not refer to me by that name, Yuri-san,” he replied back in a polite tone. There was no animosity in the way, in which he spoke, almost too composed for the situation.

He turned towards Jin... his gaze locked with the Sacrifice's for a short while before the other gave a small nod. With that, he stood to his feet, straightening his shirt and running his fingers through the long indigo hair as if to try to tame it. He made a small bow towards the two Sacrifices before walking out and closing the door behind him. It wasn't as though what Yuri had said didn't bother him, he would have much preferred if no one had dropped in on his conversation with Jin... especially if it had anything to do with this complicated issue they currently were in. However, he knew Jin... perhaps better than anyone who exists in his life... he was sure, even if Yuri decided to come up with a way to use this information against them, it would be nothing the Scarless Sacrifice couldn't handle.

Ah, our princess seemed rather distressed. The smile widened at the thought, a glint of amusement now etched in those dark navy eyes.

Yes, he had just called Yuri “princess”. Oh the irony. It may be that Yuri still seemed reluctant to heed the darkness fighter’s request to not refer him as “kamijo-hime”, Jin, on the other hand, still believed the nickname “hime” belonged more to the blonde. Of course, it was undeniable that Kamijo was quite pleasing to the eyes, and his looks were more so beautiful than handsome; it also did that help that the fighter still kept that long hair of his and his speech and attitude in the public eyes resembled somewhat to that of a lady of the royal court during the ancient times. However, in comparison, Yuri’s appearance was even more feminine than that of Kamijo’s. Though Kamijo was always at that borderline, Yuri could very much be considered the typical pretty boy. There was the obvious height difference between the two; kamijo was quite tall and Yuri, even shorter than Kyoya (which he had to admit, was very laughable). And to add, the nightmare sacrifice had a small frame which was matched by that pretty face of his. Then there was that long blonde hair of his… yes, overall, the princess here was not Kamijo but Yuri.

As the blonde sacrifice spoke of insults and remarks that seemed more to be assumptions rather than knowledge, all he did was watch. The smile still in place, he found no need to do such petty things as give a reaction. Though to be completely honest, he hadn’t thought his attitude would have upset the blonde to such extent. Perhaps he was being rather colder to the other sacrifice than his usual self but more over his anger towards Kamijo had not died just yet. couple bruises, cuts, hair-pulling, would not simply do to subside his rage; although, it looked as though he should save it for another time. It could be that Yuri saw this as a challenge and a game of insults, he, on the other hand, had no interest in such things.

He gave a sideward glance at Kamijo, there gaze met for a mere second before he gave a small nod. And as he watched the fighter exit the room before he fixed all his attention back to the younger sacrifice.

“My my, were you that upset by my attitude? So much so that you saw the need to formulate insults with ideas that is clearly mere assumptions?” His voice was calm, those eyes almost serene. There was an eloquent amount of politeness in the way in which he spoke and the tone was evidently softer, the harshness now fully gone. “I apologize if you were offended by my harsh words, you intruded at a time I wasn’t in a mood to withhold my usual eloquence.” He paused for a brief moment, taking couple steps towards where the blonde now stood, taking the glass with a small nod of thanks. “But really Yuri, I did not think you would be the type to be so short-tempered.”

“Now, why don’t we be a little more civil? After all, is this not my first time seeing your lovely face in the longest time?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t catch it, Yuri just chose to let it go. This would have been something had he had known about, would have rather chose to prolong meeting the other after haven woken up. After all, coming here on the same day of every week had become abit of a habit since the option of going every other time to xxxKainxxx to see the other hand been taken away. Rather pointless to go to a host club when the only person he wanted to talk to, even if it was going to be nothing more than word games.

It didn’t matter.

At least then Jin was himself, not a puppet on strings.

Still none the less, had he actually known the other was awake, or had just woken up the blond would have forgone this. He was sure someone had told the older sacrifice that the blonde had taken to sitting in this room for quiet sometime. Speaking to the other, most of the time in German or not even at all, just the two glasses of vodka setting on a table as he just sat.

Seeing Jin in this state had not gone over well with him.

Especially finding out about it a year later, at Ritsu funeral….


It was pouring rain, fitting perhaps if he believe the idea of angels crying when he had been standing outside the large Roman Catholic style church. Odd feelings setting foot back in a place he at some point hated in his life and now no longer cared for. Should have stayed through the rest of the proceedings played his role like the good ‘close and loyal’ assistant he had been over the past year. Tinted amethyst eyes only watched the cars leave, following the hearse to the grave year to bury the once tyrant of a man.

Perhaps, but as amethyst eyes now shifted over what might have been room with the only real death feeling the blonde could have careless about the game. The door shut behind him quietly as his eyes finally settled in the unlighted room the individual laying motionless on the bed. The hat come off his head, soak from the rain as he crossed the room, setting it down on the table while he looked over the other’s face.

Peaceful…

Wrong…

A hand ghostly crossing over the other’s check.

“What have you done to yourself Jin……”

As the other took the drink from him, Yuri downed his own without a thought, trying to clear out his mind as he refueled his own glass again and cross the room to sit down in the familiar chair he had sat in over the past year in this room. There was a lot of he could say to what Jin was implying. Play along with the game of insults, continue what he had just stared in getting the fighter out.

But that was not what the younger wanted at all.

Not here, not like this.

This game would be unfair.

So amethyst turned to look at the other as he sat in the chair, with an uncharacteristic look of concern.

“How are you doing?”

The car door slammed shut behind her a lot harder than it should have, some things should just not be done by what was supposed to be a young, polite well tempered young woman. Right, she wanted to roll her eyes as she listened to the man in his horrible half drunk yet trying to be sober at the same time voice, having to concentrate so hard to decipher his Italian was irking her patience’s beyond belief.

“Non poterla capisce le parole fuori da della mia bocca lei ritarda l'idoit? bevuto! Ciò non era che ho chiesto,” Meiko all but snarled at the blue tooth in her ear as she walked across the parking lot. The street lights keeping the parking lot light to the Hizaki medical care center. Right, more like the personal prison that had been build up around the only patient that was being treated here. O yea, talk about over board.

“ Lei mi ha dato quaranta minutes?!?! Che ha pensato che lei sia stato il gonna prende lo ya, la femmina, un'oca dorata?” The husked words come over the object in her ear. Meiko pinched the bridge of her nose, trying very very hard to remember the points of some things she didn’t care for when she was at the Seven Moons in Italy, and why was it this ‘classmate’ had been worth not killing.

“Lei ha meglio qualcosa meglio poi un elenco di città il prossimo tempo che chiamo. Più o meno aiutarla, questo sarà l'ieri sera lei è colpito che la bottiglia, Traccia” The coldness in her voice was not something that should pass over a woman of her status, it would be label a very unbecoming thing. But like the saying go, the one about red heads normal having tempers.

Right, Meiko had one of those, but if was more like ice fire.

Che, l'attesa, non fa-” The man’s voice came over the blue tooth, but she didn’t hear what he was saying other than that as she pulled it out of her ear, shoving the thing back into her purse and ending the call. Useless, some people really were just useless. Her heels clicked on the concert as she stepped onto the sidewalk taking hold of the door. Rubbing the side of her head warned off the headache coming on. Trying to piece things together without a single bit of a helping hand was hard, this was not what she was good at. But, Meiko couldn’t admit defeat in this.

It had to be staring her in the face.

After all it happen in the exact time frame, the past Hizaki’s head and wife’s death, Jin’s coma, and Kyoya’s disappearance. And now that the Darkness fighter was back it meant something was going on. Something no one yet again felt the need to inform her about. The door shut a lot quietly behind her then her poor car door had as amber eyes came to rest on the reception desk, expecting to see the same older fighter that had been sitting there for over the past year it seemed every day when she came in around this time to do physical therapy for her ‘fiancée’ so that when he did wake up his muscle strength would not have entirely disappeared. And to read or talk to him, which was supposed to help coma victims.

But instead to greet her was the sacrifice to the fighter.

And about then is when that clue sitting in her face she rather very much over looked in the last forty minutes.

Kamijo was back…..

Because Jin was awake.

“Nazomi-san..” The coldness that had been in her voice and across her face disappeared the moment she walked in and saw the older woman, bowing in respect as a fighter should to a sacrifice, even if her head was still held up and the bow was not as deep. Annoyed, cold eyes turn up from whatever she was doing to look at her dismissingly.

“ Jeniou-san.” Nazomi looked away from her again returning to what she had been doing without a second thought. Meiko’s hand clenched a bit, the flare of her anger from the phone conversation threatening to return to the surface. Again, left to find out things on her own. Won’t one think that she should have been told when her supposed fiancée who she had been sitting at his bed side for well over a year, was awake.

Really…..

Meiko, however, did not let the flare in her anger come back over her face, just keeping the pleasant smile as she turned and was about to walk down the hall that would lead her to the familiar room, and hopefully to her awake supposed fiancée. If Jin was not here, Meiko was serious going to-

The thought died in her mind as she stopped about two arm lengths away of running into her target she had been searching for information on. Amber eyes came to look straight up at sapphire ones, given he was well over a head taller than her. The gentle smile on her lips didn’t not flutter a sshe tilted her head to one side.

“Kamijo-san.”

If he was here, so was Jin.

Spoiler:

As he became face to face with Jin’s “fiancée”, he lowered his head slightly making a polite bow. His expression did not change for a moment, wiped blank of all emotions.

As he straightened up, he glanced over at the other’s appearance… The girl was well dressed and he admit, she had looks to match. Not judging her personality, which he knew not much of due to his sudden departure for Italy couple years back, he would have to believe that the elders had made the right decision in choosing this girl as Jin’s fiancée. She obviously lived up to her name as a member of the aristocratic society… there was something elegant about her but certainly not in the typical quiet, lady-like way. She was a Fighter, from what he was told… and yet, probably due to her status in the upper class society, she didn’t seem completely passive or submissive… she seems to withhold confidence and aggressiveness but yet somehow managed to balance some grace as well… a quality he was sure other women would be well envious of. But of course, if she had been one of those calm, silent types, she surely would have bored Jin in less than one hour.

“If you would kindly wait for a moment… Jin is currently conversing with the headmaster of Seven Moons.”

His smooth voice, far from loud and yet clearly audible, echoed a little in the empty hallway. The tone was kept polite and his head was still slightly lowered. He acted in the same manner as he done so almost three years back… before his departure, before all this chaos, before the deal between he and Jin. Apart from Yuri, who only saw a glimpse just now of the change within his personality, no one knew of the difference in the manner at which he acted towards Jin. And he preferred everyone thinking of him as the proper Fighter he was trained and known to be during his days living as Kyoya’s… and he played his part perfectly without a flaw. After all, this had been his personality and attitude he withheld as far as anyone could recall… it was quite easy for him to re-enact. And no matter for how long Meiko had him followed… and he was well aware she had been doing so, even during his time in Italy... or how much time she spend doing background search on him, it didn’t change the face that this might just as well be their first proper meeting. There was no way… no matter how intelligent she may be, to be able to recognize a significant change in him during these past few years, especially as he is putting much effort in hiding it.

He still, however, recalled when he was first notified of the possible engagement of Jin’s. It was back before this whole mess started… when his relationship with Jin was same as it always was…

...

“Meiko Jeniou… why her?”

It wasn’t unusual for Jin to call him to the main house. Though it was rather obvious just how much Kamijo hated to visit this place, it didn’t stop Jin from demanding his presence… but even so, the Darkness Fighter did not expect this to be the reason for the summon.

“Its rather obvious that all the elders are pushing me to be married,” the other said as he brought the cup to his lips. “I’m not blind, Kamijo… there were exceptionally much more women invited to the dinner party last night, not to mention quite the over-exceeding amount of introduction of ‘this person’s daughter’, ‘this person’s sister’, or ‘this person’s niece’.”

“So then why her out of everyone?” he questioned. Biting back the urge to add ‘and why not some blonde?’ “…she’s quite pretty but she’s not the only one I’m sure. Jin-sama, there are far more suitable household to choose from to be your wife…” There was some seriousness in his tone. Though he respected Jin and perfectly aware that the Hizaki heir is more than capable of taking care of himself, this decision didn't seem too rational. He knew his place and he knew he should just trust Jin's decision... however how can he not worry? His sole purpose had been to serve this household and make sure of Kyoya and Jin's well being.

“She’s the only one who dared to look straight at me in the eyes.”

“…Jin-”

“and also the only person who looked at you in such a way,” there was a smirk that lingered upon the Sacrifice’s lips as he drowned the remaining liquid before putting the glass softly down on the table. “Haven’t you realized? You may be a fighter but one that is Kyoya’s and even mine. After the end of Knatsu, no one can challenge the Hizaki and its obvious the next heir is either my dear brother or I. You may be of common blood but you are the fighter that belongs to the one of whom is of high standings. Not many look at you in that challenging manner at which she had last night.”

He remained silent for a moment… he could see where Jin was going with this… the elder Hizaki knew he couldn’t avoid the engagement so he planned to make sure his fiancée was one that is suitable for the title within the Hizaki household. It didn’t matter about her backgrounds but more of personality… whether she was suitable for the power that would be given to her.

“so its decided…”

“No.” there was now a smile that formed on the other’s lips, a gentle smile that was so deceiving of Jin’s true nature which Kamijo knew too well of. “I left the decision up to the elders, I merely expressed my “suggestion”.”

...

Of course, the Jeniou and even Meiko wasn’t notified of the decision until Jin was put into a coma, which had been couple months after… And in truth, the final decision was made by the elders in order to subside the panic at which rose at the death of the family head along with Kyoya’s disappearance. But Kamijo doubted that, if given full control of the decision, the elders would have ever chosen Meiko… there were far better aristocratic family from which to choose from. The only reason it had to be Meiko was the input of opinion or “suggestion” Jin had expressed couple months prior. Though Jin played his part as the good heir to please his family, it was obvious that the one with true power was Jin himself. He doubted the elders would have went against what Jin had wanted even if in fact it was mere “suggestion”…

If by some breed natural responds to the other’s presences, Meiko had to keep herself from glaring at the man standing in front of her, annoyance feed by all those snared insult remarks she had heard over the years about this young man from the other aristocrats. Rather big scandal seemed to surround a single fighter of lower blood being ‘taken in’ by such a high held family as the Hizaki’s. In which only gotten worse later in this one’s life no doubt being put through the training suited for a bloodline fighter, one viewed by their society as ‘fitting’ for the aristocrats.

After all it was a matter of breeding, and choosing of genetics that would in the end create perfection. That is someone suitable to be the fighter to the now what would slowly starting to become the most influence Aristocrat family in Japan. After all, with the fall of the Knatsu empire there was no one left to challenge their ever so long rival. So, to keep the balance going it should be a bloodline fighter to stand behind the basically the Royal Family of Japan.

Not someone of common blood, Kamijo should have known his place in that after all being common himself. Should have known better then to try a survive whatever hell that training put him through. Should have just laid down a died with the rest of the common filthy and let someone of ‘perfected’ breeding take that place.

Right.

Blood and breeding meant nothing more than domesticating, and it brought of a faultily diseases call ignorance.

Ignorance was not an excuse to escape reality.

And reality she could not ignore. Amber eyes turned over the fighter once, his appearance, his stature, pose, and tone of voice. Prefect replication of the ideology of what a fighter should be. Odd how that ideology gets mixed up along the way with her, but then again at the current time being ‘submissive or passive’ would not be traits fitting the wife of the Hizaki head. Even if she was a fighter she could not lower her eyes to others with in the family.

It would be a disgraceful to her ‘husband to be’.

But as counter balances should be wither Jin saw fit to use her as a fighter or not, Meiko could not over look the important of the man who was standing not an arm’s reach away. The redheaded fighter knew well enough her role to play before the show even started.

“ Is that so? ”” The smile didn’t faded or wavered as she took a step closer to the other bowing down a bit to lower her head to match Kamijo’s line of sight to make the other met her own, all the will still keeping her chin up slight to not allow the other to view her as 'lower herself' below him. The smile on her lips softening, what annoyance breed into her blood never even touching her eyes. “How was your flight, Kamijo-san? Would have been nice if you had informed me of you return, shouldn’t have returned home with no welcome to meet you.”

A smile formed on his lips, a calm and gentle smile that almost seemed to mirror the one Jin always wore… after all, considering the years he had spent with Jin, there were certain traits that he started to imitate himself without even realizing. “You do not have to trouble yourself with trivial matters such as this,” he replied in a silky tone. There was a pause, as if he was considering his next words.

“Miss Meiko… had you wished for me to report to you about my ware about or inform you anything else for that matter, you should have instructed me so. I did not know I now had to notify the fiancée of my master of my private life… nor did I think you would be so interested in a lowly fighter such as myself.”

There was a hint of a smirk that played at the corner of his lips, a new found amusement behind those dark sapphire gaze. He couldn’t deny that there was a part of him that was irritated of how this girl was acting… as if she was oh so high above him now that she was proclaimed as Jin’s future wife. Of course, she now had some power within the household being Jin’s fiancé but nothing stated that he, Kamijo, had to start taking orders from her or report anything to her of his private life. He hadn’t even informed anyone of his return… and those who knew were Jin and the one the Scarless Sacrifice instructed to carry on the message of ordering him to return to Japan… so why should he have told this woman?

“but at last, I thought you would already be aware of my return. Shouldn’t your “friends” have told you?”

Also, adding to the insult, he didn’t appreciate all her puppets running around following and watching his every step. Had Meiko wanted to stalk his movements, then she should have choose those more suitable for the job, after all, he was not a fool nor naïve to such things.

“ Now Kamijo-san, why wouldn’t the well being of my fiancés fighter not concern me?”The smile on her lips even though she watch a smirk deepen on his as she straightened herself back up. Not concerning so much the words but more his tone, or action. Something she could see well enough having done it herself. He was either mocking her in the little dance of being well behaved or this was how he normal was. Meiko did not know the other well enough to decipher which would be the right answer, or whether she was far off the bat to being with. Her hands fell folded in front of her as she looked the other over again.

One could say from what she did remember about the other, was that this fighter did not carry the same air about him. That much was certain. Though she hadn’t really know anything about the others whereabouts until recently, but one could say, most likely a slip of the tongue; after all, for over the past year she had been attending to her fiancé there had been a lot of things bothering her.

Kamijo, the fighter who had been raised and trained by the family’s heir and now head, had just up a left the main house.

Jin’s coma, and parent’s death.

All along with the disappearance of his younger brother, Kyoya.

Personally, Meiko could really care less about the fighter standing in front of her. True, importantly, Kamijo was someone she would have to keep an eye on for what he was most likely viewed as to Jin. But, with the young blonde who had showed up and was rather quickly accepted as Jin’s fighter, Cavallone-san, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on. The engagement had been decided after Jin’s unfortunate disposition, along with a fighter he had yet to meet that was now playing CEO of the Hizaki Corp. A young fighter she remembered herself during his first time through the Italian Seven Moon’s Branch, though she was a bit surprised to find out he return to finish [or was even allowed to do so], was going to be his fighter upon waking? It seemed to her, the family elders were jumping the gun a bit, deciding things for the other well before their due time. However in light conversation perhaps with Cavallon-san [ for Meiko wanted to remain somewhat informed as much as she could about her ‘to be’ families business], was the slip of where Kamijo had been.

Now, following Kamijo around had not been any interest to her. The young man was enjoying what she could only guess as a glimpse of temporary freedom until his ‘master’ woke. Meiko was more interested in finding Kyoya, whose very name seemed to have become taboo to even ask about in the main house.

“ It’s not that I would wish to know every livid detail of you personal life, rather more the important things. Like if you live the country unannounced or perhaps your return. These are the things that I would, and should know. Preferably from you.” She moved a hand to push some of her red hair out of her face as she looked at the older man. Voice not wavering in any way from the pleasant tone she had as she spoke to the other, soft smile upon her lips.”I wanted you to know I was watching you, since you felt the need to neglect telling your master’s fiancé about your whereabouts during this incident. Making put such a great deal going out of my way finding you myself so not to bother the elders with an inability to keep track of my fiancés fighter. Is that understandable, Kamijo-san?”

“How are you doing?”

“Ah… that’s an interesting question…” He replied almost nostalgically, letting his deep voice trail off.

There was a pause as he stood near the bed, his gaze not fixed on anything particular but rather seemed to be staring at something that wasn’t even there. For a moment those dark eyes surveyed his now empty glass, then casually walked towards the table where the bottle sat. “how you don’t mind…” there was a light smirk at the corner of those thin lips as he poured himself another glass.

How long has it been since they properly conversed? Two years? Perhaps a little more… his sense of time was rather a broad topic to him now and rather foreign. However not much has changed since the last time they greeted each other’s presence; at least not much in their personas.

Setting the bottle back onto the table he walked towards the window, leaning lightly against the frame. Same dignified look, never wavering in his gaze… time itself seems to not have much effect on the elder Hizaki. “So what brought you about here, Yuri? I’m sure it couldn’t have been just purely out of boredom.” He raised the glass to his lips, though his gaze was still fixed upon the blonde. “There were interesting rumors about however… that a certain blonde had been visiting at my bedside without my knowledge.”

Amethyst eyes watched, not really regarding his question with nothing more than a insensible answer. Not that he actually expected the other to say anything on the topic, being personable went about as far as their personal boundaries. It did, however clear out the air of the pervious conversation of not so good wits, That not that he had some time to cool out him being firstly annoyed by the not so nice surprise of finding out the other was awake and secondly probably walking into something that was not in quiet the best of things to have done. All he had was assumptions, half truths, and about whatever his lovely Doll could dig up for him over the past year. Though this puzzle of the others abrupt removal from the stage had gave him a lot of offsetting feelings it was unfortunately not the thing he could spend a lot of focus on.

After all, Jin had missed the final of his play, that Yuri had gone though a lot more work then he probably had to underlining perhaps in some self conceded childish desire to still meet the others approval. A waste of effort that in the end had caused so much work and hassle to deal with later and over the past year the blonde was starting to regret some of the discussion he made for the sake of ‘show’ verse making it simple as possible. Over the first six months of turning the strings on the old Headmaster he had run into a lot of ‘issues’ that could have been avoided all together had he been more concentrated on the after, then the act of the whole damn thing. Not that any of the wonderful army of his ever noticed it. Fighters were rather followers then many seemed to have the conception that they could think for themselves, Yuri was finding the lack of....

He stopped the train of thought before it went on any farther admitting to himself things he rather like to continue pretending didn’t exist and/or he really did desire. Instead turning his attention back to the other as he set down the bottle again onto the table standing by the window in the room, registering again the conversation that actually really was happening; not the one way he had grown accustom to over the past year. An odd feeling for some reason….

But visiting the other out of boredom?

Hardly.

More like an effort to find something that was more or less not so taxing, some thing that he could speak to that wouldn’t offer a view of either side and let him sort out things without putting their own point of view into it. Something that about drove him up the wall after awhile, but that probably went back to being surrounded by either harder headed Fighters that didn’t understand the concept that yes things could be solved without using ‘word spells’ to do so if one put logical planning into place rather than a Sacrifice who offer as much intellectual conversation or more so now in days his only considerable confidant was slowly starting to become the vacant German Doll that was really nothing more than a child’s toy.

Amazing how much little pride he still had in himself seemed rather nonexistent when he spoke to the other.

It took a lot not to rolls his eyes at his own one way conversation in his own mind, about forgetting that he was supposed to vertically answer the other rather than sitting in the chair keeping the thoughts to himself. Amethyst eyes dropped away to look down at the glass in his hands as Yuri tilted it one way then the other before taking it up to drain the contains from it.

“ I have done nothing than perhaps what I expect would have been done had the situation have been switched, Jin..”

The dark eyes continued to look out the window, eventually settling on a view that few families could afford for a week let alone for two years. To most people it would seem like waste, paying for such a view when the room’s occupant was an unconscious man. Views like this were not meant to be enjoyed though, they were meant to show importance. Even hidden from the world, the Hizaki family head was surrounded by ornate signs of his worth.
“You’ve learnt well Yuri, but don’t think you’ve caught up to me yet.” Jin turned at last from his window finally returning the focus of his gaze to the other sacrifice. “If our situations were reversed, things would have been done a little more… effectively. You worry too much about the show.”


He took a few steps, towards the nearby table. His body was stronger than most, years of training made sure of that, but he was still human and he knew that the toll two years had taken on his body. The amethyst eyes nearby knew as well. Jin pulled out a chair and sat, leaning inward on his elbows and closing the distance between them.

“Why don’t you stay a while, my dear Yuri? I’ll pour you another glass.” He gestured to the other’s empty glass with a subtle nod of his chin. “It would be a shame to waste this opportunity to catch up. We’re practically family.” A dangerous edge lingered in the last word.

Care less for the show?

His brows drew together as he watched the other walk across the room away from the window. Long and tall, but far from the build he should have. His clothing looked to big to really fit his frame, not that he would tell the other that he was well aware of how much weight the older had lost in the two years of his slumbering peace. Even to Yuri, there were some things better never spoken about and left well enough alone to never be used agains someone else. He was better then that to cross those lines. Though he would be the first to say he was at ease when Jin finally took a sit. The blonde wasn't quiet sure what he would have done if the older had lost his standing.

It wasn't in his Knatsu breeding to help a Hizaki...

Actually in wasn't in either of their breeding to even stand each other for longer the a few words. Their families had always been bitter rivals. The matter that they two heiring son could even stand each other presences had always been something Yuri's 'grandfather' had detested.

" Are you going to start calling me little brother?" A fake 'frown' crossed over his lips as he watched the other. He waved his hand as he looked away to the closed door that let out into the hall. " I think I'll pass the Hizaki brother love if your testament to what's happen to little Kyo-Kyo is anything how you treat your family." Amethyst eyes turned a bit however even though he didnt turn his head back to look at Jin through his blonde unruley bangs. " If anything we're partners in the crime of our generation"

“Who are you looking for?” the dark haired man inquired, knowing all to well the answer. His hand reached out across the small table. Long, thin fingers grasped the blonde’s chin tightly. Harshly, he snapped the other sacrifice’s face to follow the amethyst eyes’ gaze. “Because your eyes are looking at me.” It wasn’t Jin's physical force that held Yuri. It was something else, something far beyond that. The blonde had the choice to move at any moment and break their contact. For the last two years he had held the power to break all ties. But he hadn’t yet. What was Yuri's anchor?

Jin chuckled, a hoarse sound resonating from his chest. “Maybe I will. I think I like it.” Raising himself slightly from the seat, resting his elbows on the table to support his weight as he leaned forward. The space between them was closing. “But don’t worry, little brother, you call for extra special treatment.” His words hung in the air between them, the final distance uncrossed. Jin's face displayed nothing but a self-assured smirk. Did Yuri think he would lose to such obvious attack? Or was he just being tested? Of course, things with the other sacrifice were never that simple. Even two years in a deep slumber could not rid those lessons from Jin’s mind.

“One of us will pay for those crimes. And I didn’t live just to be your pawn.”

Jin had been right about something when he talked about this young lady, not many would ever look at him in a challenging manner or feel the extensive need to express needing to know about his whereabouts. Though he never really had to inform anyone in the past about where he was for no matter what it always seemed Jin would have already known about it. And at this moment as he looked at the young redhead in front of him, Kamijo was getting a very good look at what his life would be like once she was really Jin’s wife. Which was, perhaps, not the most tasteful thing in his mouth; it took some effort to keep his calm expression, calming down his previous tempting smirk. Though the Scarless sacrifice had stated at some point in time, that he himself was not fully aware of the position he was in, Kamijo did have a very good understanding of it.

She saw him as a challenge to overcome to secure her role in the Hizaki, regardless that she was from an Aristocrat family she would in some ways still be just another fighter in the house hold to the elders if she could not prove she could take control of the order to be left in Jin’s wake.

If would mean, though he felt it was quiet the insult, that if he refuse to follow in whatever rules she would see fit into implying to those that served the house the least thing to worry about would be people following him about. It was not something he could really see in her as she stood there, but this fighter was a survivor of the Italian system which meant she had all those perks that came with where she graduated in. It did not mean he was just going to bend down to it either, there would always be ways around that, he could use them now unlike he would have had some years past.

“Forgive me then, Miss Meiko, I will try to make the effort to inform my master’s fiancée of my movements better in the future” A slight bow again of his head as he kept the same polite smile on his face.

Instinct Yuri about jerked his head away from the others touch when he took hold of his chin rather harshly snapping it back to look at him. Physical touch…. Once again the persona boundaries of their built a life time ago just seemed to being going out the window again. First in one of their few none custom crossings when the blonde had first returned back to Japan after his blood-bound mission and now this. Surely, Amethyst eyes narrowed more so at the other as he lean across the small table between them, this was just the other’s way of getting under his skin.

So much for playing nice….

“Of course not…” The younger blonde said rather slowly as if more so a statement of a question then knowledge as he pulled his head back from the long thing fingers that had pull him around and leaned back into the chair to return some distances from between the two. His eyes, they watched the others movements closer trying to read the underling body language. This was not a game of wits, it was simple a game for knowledge. Jin needed to assure himself he was still in the loop that in any means Yuri did not in some unforeseen way gain some ground point. “ We are more so partners now then before is all. You have after all…. Or well should I say our family has been so graces in being in bed with this crime. As of now, with the Knatsu heir missing, gain the most advantage in keeping my neck from the noose. Nine more years, and all you have to do is buy the Corp. A crime my dear brother that I’ve been so nice to set up for you….and all it cost was your families vote to put me where I am now.”

Yuri shrugged closing his eyes for the moment.

“You already play the part of a pawn, just missed your spot light is all.”

The blonde’s reaction to Jin’s touch raised a restrained smile to the dark haired man’s lips. A smile that balanced itself between melancholic nostalgia and a breed of cruel amusement that felt comfortable to him. As amethyst eyes narrowed, so did his own, a subtle mimicry. He let his body rest back in his chair as well.

“Nine more years?” Jin let out a laugh. “Does my tolerance of your existence as you are for nine years would come so cheap? My part these last years may have been a pawn, Yuri, but you best keep an eye on all your pieces, lest one of them promote* while your attention is elsewhere.”

The sacrifice poured himself a drink slowly into the cup in front of him. He sipped slowly, enjoying the pleasant warmth and burn as it flowed down his throat. He spoke again only once the blonde’s eyes were closed. "But, for the time being, I will just consider how lucky I am to end up with such a beautiful partner ” He cooed his words softly to the other sacrifice. “One who, I’m very sure, realizes that it will take more effort than this to work with his pawns.”


*When a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, it 'promotes'. This means that it may be replaced with a rook, bishop, knight or queen.

“I think you missed the picture Jin-san ” The sudden use of suffix slipped the others lips in the sense of purpose putting back up the border between the two of them that was seemingly slipping the elders mind. A slight remember that regardless the word game or whatever it was that the two brought up between them, that in all sense they were different now more so then they had been as children. But desire and tradition was starting to find a hard place in the blondes head most of the time it had been the other who kept it; perhaps being so long in his ‘coma’ had changed the others views in that. “The game is done… I’ve won.. You were never part of my game at all…”

The blond pushed himself up out of the chair and walked a few steps to pick up his hand brushing off some invisible dirt that seemed to collect the few moments it was sitting on the table before he looked over at Jin. Studying him for a long moment deciding on the next set of words to say, he had after all the one to step in this room and cause the need for the hostility act of word games. More so for he was pissed he had walked in on what he did… Even if it was his pleasure to erk the older, some things belonged in the privacy of a sacrifice to a fighter. Yuri understood that well enough, and it was rather aggravating when someone else walked in unwelcomed.

“You were just the spectator in it all a partner if you must in keeping me a secret from my family, but it all done Jin-san. My grandfather, the rest of my god forsaken family are six feet under… I’ve taken Seven Moons… and in due time, the Knatsu history will be nothing more than a ghost of a memory.” He tilted his head to one side as he started to walk a few steps to pass the other to walk to the door. “I’ve just set the stage for you and the other five heads for your own game… After all the houses are even now… Either a new family must be made or another must be purged*…”

Spoiler:

“I’m glad to have gotten the free pass then. Playing in pointless games is always so exhausting.” The sacrifice spoke monotonously, the dry sardonicism that few would notice letting a faint hint of his true opinion on the matter shine through his words. “You have, however, put a lot of effort into a piece that you claim is not part of your game.” Jin smiled slowly “I guess I’ll chalk it up to sentimentality.”

The formality of the other’s address to him was putting up a wall, one that it would be best to keep in place. One built over years. There was very little that was keeping it in place anymore, nothing more than what Jin perceived as the blonde’s stubbornness and perhaps a sense of self-preservation that lingered from days past. “Partners, Yuri? What an interesting choice of words…” His voice trailed off, deliberately leaving the other man to interpret the implications.

“You were always better with family affairs than I was.” He laughed, coldly. The dark haired man’s eyes followed the blonde, but his body did not move. “But what, pray tell, do you think will keep your participants from just changing the rules?” His shoulders shrugged slightly. “Since I’ve been bothered with living this long, old partner, the game could be a little more interesting...”

" Sentiment.." Yuri stopped a just short of passing the other, now standing directly in front, nothing between them beside the fact the other was sitting and he was on his feet. Sentiment had been why he could never step out from the longing of whating to be in the other's shadow.

No, to be his equal. To be seen again as what he once was so long long ago.


He had given up so much..

A bloodly crown made from flesh and bones of his dead family he never knew and the life that had been planned out for him..

A bride...

A wealthly class...

A place in the Japanese Government...

And only to gain so little in return.

Amythest eyes burned at the other as he turned himself not thinking at this moment of the boundary he had tried to put between them again. A game of wit or knowledge was nothing more then a minicry at what was hidden deep below. A childish desire he once had, to show the other what he could do when he had nothing...

Nothing!


Not a penny to his name..


Not the history of his bloodline or breeding.


To be nothing more then a simple rat scuffling about for his next meal.


And in some dire since, perhaps yes it had been a hidden desire of a thought to do it all for the simple manner of wanting to prove to this man he could do so much more and was capable of so much more then anyone else would ever know. Because he was not just and Knatsu ill-breed. But because..


He was Yuri.


And nothing more.


Sentiment in deed.


A faint smile crossed lips as he took that step forward towards the other bending down a bit to trap the taller, thinner man in his chair with on hand finding a place on the armrest while the other trailing along faintly the right side of the others face from the ear down.


" I pray you make this game as interesting as you can Jin. You can even try to change the rules if you like to better suit you because..... Amythest eyes were laughing now, not the words he was speaking but an underlining thought that would never be spoken to anyone else. No one but the pretty little German Doll he kept that was ever so good with secerts. " The Game is all yours now. I've set you a grand stage that is ready for the taking.. It's all up to you how well you want to take your promotion from sideline watcher to game player."