Fan Fiction ❯ Shifting Fates ❯ Shifting Fates Book One: ch. 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Ocean View. The biggest city on the South Coast. He gazed up, his trenchcoat flapping around him with the sea breeze. His quarry lay in there somewhere. It had taken him almost a year to track her to this place, a year of dead-ends and mind numbing boredom. But that was all about to change.. He walked into the apartment building, smiling. Soon, Yuki, he thought. Soon.

It was almost like home. She loved crawling through the underbrush, searching out hidden nooks, secret paths that no one ever took the time to discover.

"Yee-owch!" That was also like home. Yuki wriggled onto her back and painstakingly worked her braid free of the ensnaring bramble. Blasted hair. Light dappled the ground around her, warming the earth, which smelled of moist dark and the color brown. She could think of no way to otherwise describe the scent. It was beautiful. Soothing. She lay quietly for a few minutes and let all of the bad memories dissipate into the past, her mind solely on the present.

"Bliss," she murmured happily. A small kruus scuttled past in its never ending search for food. Yuki smiled at the furry lizard. I envy you, small one. She rolled over again and followed the little creature, laughing merrily as she trailed it. The kruus scurried onto one of the many paths that crossed the huge park and paused in a bright patch of sun, it's fur standing on end to help catch heat. Yuki sat in front of it and held out her hand. The little lizard fluffed its mane and trundled onto the new heat source. A light-hearted giggle escaped past her lips as the creature's tiny claws clasped her skin in a ticklish embrace.

She was enjoying herself so much that she didn't, at first, hear the approach of the other person. When the footsteps finally penetrated into her conscious mind she quickly looked up. And promptly nearly fell over. He was cute! No, he was beyond cute! Yuki sighed and did her best to take in every detail about this handsome stranger, committing him to memory for future drawings and daydreams. He was wearing a white shirt, the long sleeves rolled up to just past his elbows. It wasn't fully buttoned, instead exposing just a touch of skin below his collarbones. The brown open vest and matching pants had a devastating effect on her senses.

No guy should be able to dress himself that well! And gods above he's fit!

The man was pleasantly lithe, his muscles moving smoothly under his tight pants instead of bulging. Eep! Down girl! Try the face instead.

She turned her gaze up and sighed again. His hair shone a warm brown and fell in front of his face, partially obscuring his eyes. He reached up with one strong and nimble looking hand to brush it out of the way, a useless and casual gesture.

He's so... familiar. That thought caught her by surprise. He was. She must have seen him one day somewhere, maybe passed him on the street or in the park. I wonder what color his eyes are. He had only a little ways to go before she'd be able to tell. They were brown. Beautiful, crystal clear and all too familiar. The memory crashed over her, making her fall backwards onto the hard-packed dust of the pathway. The kruus fled her hand, alarmed by the sudden movement of its previously stable perch

. Taro continued walking closer until they were separated by only a few yards. Bastard, she thought, meanwhile keeping her face expressionless. She rose, eyed him stonily, then walked away. A strong hand clasped her wrist and halted her retreat, gently tugging her to a standstill. She rounded on him, anger clear in her narrowed eyes and bared teeth.

She was growling at him! he realized with a start.

"Look, I just want to talk."

"And why would I wish to talk with you, murderer of my parents?"

"I didn't kill them. Masurao did. You saw that." He watched her eyes cloud over with grief and gave himself a mental kick. Idiot! What a thing to bring up.

"I go on assignment but I'm not sadistic like Masurao. He's sick." Taro finally stopped, the fact that he was currently suffering from a severe case of `open mouth, insert foot' disease becoming all too apparent.

"I know." Toneless. She tried to free her hand, but froze as a thought managed to push its way through the haze of anger. "Are... are you on 'assignment' now?"

"Yes." Bile rose in her throat and she increased her struggles. "No, no! It's not like that. I'm not here to kill you!"

"Sure! Like I'd believe you, you bastard." Her shoe making high-speed contact with his left shin was painful enough to cause Taro to grimace.

"If my assignment had been to kill you what reason would I have to lie?"

Yuki opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Instead she nodded slightly and he relaxed his grip.

"My assignment was to capture you and bring you back for interrogation. No, wait," he interjected when he saw her stiffen up. "I'm not going to do it. You've been through enough hell."

All she could do was gawk at him. Honesty was practically radiating from him. If he'd been any more sincere it would have started crystallizing around him.

"All I want to do is talk. I swear." She nodded dumbly, more than a little shocked. His hold on her wrist became gentle as he steered her around. She didn't even realize they were going anywhere until the young man pulled her to a stop in front of her favorite restaurant. He merely smirked at her questioning gaze and opened the door.

"Ladies first," he intoned as he executed a sweeping bow. Yuki stifled a giggle and quickly reminded herself who she was with, her expression turning sour. He was a killer for hire and nothing more. He followed her to a table, keeping the space between them to a respectful amount. The chairs there weren't the most comfortable but the food more than made up for it. A waitress in the back of the room waved at Yuki and rushed over, practically bubbling cheerfulness.

"Yuki-chan! How ya doin' darlin'? And who's the cutie with you?"

"I'm doing okay, Onee-sama. This is..."

"Kashiwa Taro. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."

"Ooh, a smooth talker! And so polite! Keep your eye on this one, Yuki."

"ONEE-SAMA!!!" Yuki shrieked indignantly. Her eyes promised a painful death in the near future.

Her friend winked, then bustled off.

"Onee-sama? Never mind." He shook his head. "So how are you, really?"

"Really? Well, my parents were killed, I was kidnapped by some random shinoarii, I'm underage and have been living on my own, mostly on the streets, for over a year. And now I find out that you are here and have been stalking me for the gods know how long, but other than that I've been great. Life's been swell. How about you?"

"I guess I deserved that."

"Better believe it, asshole."

"Look, I'm sorry!"

"Phhhttt. Let's eat." The meal continued in silence for several minutes before Yuki put her fork down.

"I've got to go. Bye." She was up and out the door before Taro could even rise from his chair.

"Damn!" The cursing continued for some time, barely audible, and showing a fluency that even more jaded Institute graduates would have been shocked at. He paid for the meal, then stalked out of the restaurant, still berating himself.

The next day was one of the most boring Taro could remember. He hung around the restaurant the entire time, hoping to catch sight of Yuki. It was almost four in the afternoon when Yuki's "Onee-sama" came outside during her break and stood next to him.

"You know..." she drawled softly, "she's often in the park this time of day. There's a huge old tree near the center she likes to sit in."

Taro looked at her in surprise, clearly wondering why she was telling him this.

"That child is too serious all the time. Cheer her up."

"I'll try," he smiled and left.

It didn't take him long to find the tree. Considering it was easily the largest in the whole of the park, it wasn't difficult to locate. He was still peering up through the branches when Yuki tapped his shoulder. He'd half-pinned her when he realized who he was holding and in just how compromising a position. He turned beet red and tried to stammer out an apology but only managed to somehow make the whole situation even worse.

"Just. Let. Go." As soon as he moved his arm Yuki bolted.

"I uh... sorry! I didn't mean... I didn't know it was... you startled..." The only thing actually running through Taro's stricken mind at that moment was a mental image of him banging his head repeatedly against a wall.

"Enough already! You're not helping your case any. Why are you here?"

"The waitress at the restaurant said you'd be here."

*Thwack* He flinched. "Uhm... Why'd you hit yourself?"

He worried in her brief spate of silence that witnessing her foster parent's deaths had caused some mental problems.

Baka Onee-sama! Why do you always think with your hormones? Yuki turned back to the confused young man. "Is there something you want?" came her scathing retort.

"Talk? I might be able to answer some questions."

"Why? Why did you kill them?"

"I didn't. Masurao did." Brain. ON! he silently ordered to himself.

"Why were you there..." she ground out.

"Because I'd been ordered to." He couldn't hide his disgust at that fact, but Yuki was clearly to incensed to hear it.

"Ordered!? Why didn't you just say no?"

"I can't! I couldn't. I've been trained all my life to follow their orders. And if I didn't I'd be killed, or worse!"

"All... your life..." She tilted her head, confusion mingling with concern.

"Where I'm from, the Institute, is an orphanage of sorts. The government takes in the children of people killed by the Shinoar. Our training starts the day we arrive. We're moulded, physically, mentally, into killing machines. Those that aren't cut out for it are put into jobs elsewhere. We were never coddled, rarely comforted. Stories never had happy endings and they were always true. Our hatred was carefully nurtured so that when the time came, we would be able to kill. The Institute's purpose is to create enhanced exterminators for the vermin Shinoar. But it didn't work. I may hate them but I don't think they all deserve to die."

Perturbed did not begin to describe her current state of mind.

"Why... why do you hate them so?"

"They killed my parents."

"Are you sure?" she interjected gently.

"Sure...? They wiped our memories of the incident. I... I can't even remember what they looked like." His voice became soft and suddenly Yuki could see the lost little boy he had been. Everything in her wanted to reach out and gather that child into her arms and chase away his fears. Her hand twitched, just inches from his arm.

"They did it for our own good. No child should have to live with such memories, they said. They showed us the pictures when we turned 13. You could barely tell they'd been people." That was it. Yuki trailed her fingers across his shoulder, giving a wordless apology.

"I wanted to kill them all for the longest time but I realized that that wouldn't solve anything. No species is wholly good or evil and the murders would only make us just like them. I don't like killing but I figure that if they are slated to die, they can at least go without pain." Silence reigned as Yuki sorted through everything. Taro leaned against a nearby tree, his face well hidden by his hair.

"I... I don't like what you do. I hate it, but you're right in a way. I'm sorry about everything, about your stolen childhood, your parents, but the Shinoar don't kill. It'd be stupid and they are anything but. We can keep what happened to you from happening to another child if we work with both sides. Please?" She held out both hands, pleading, but he did nothing. He wouldn't even raise his head to look at her. She dropped her arms to her side, her sympathy quickly turning to confusion which promptly turned into anger.

"Thanks for your concern. Have a good life."

Taro remained silent, his head low and his arms crossed. Yuki turned without looking back and walked away. So she didn't see the single tear that coursed down his cheek. She didn't see him slump to the ground, his broad shoulders shaking with the effort to contain his sobs. Didn't see him curl up into a ball, once more a young child who had lost everything, even the feeling of being loved.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gods, what a jerk he was! She crossed her arm over her eyes, blocking out the sun.

"Ohayou!"

She didn't move as she talked. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Really? You just said that. And you had a lot to say yesterday."

"You don't give up, do you?"

"Are you going to come down?" he asked, ignoring her question. She was some ten feet off the ground and he disliked having to crane his neck to see her.

"No." She half turned and glared at him from the relative safety of her current locale. He backed away, a gesture of peace which she decided to accept. She went down to a branch that put them at eye level. "Okay. What do you want?"

"I was merely wondering how you were."

"I'm fine. And yourself?"

"Fairly well." They both spoke in bored tones, as if not caring what the other said, which was true enough.

'The weather's been nice."

"Yep. It's a little warm today though." Yuki shifted farther into a patch of shade.

"Read any good books?"

"Nope. Not been any good new songs, either."

"Yeah. Would you like to go eat lunch?"

"Sorry, but eating with my parents' murderer isn't in my schedule for the day," she sneered at him and posed mockingly.

"ENOUGH!" The leash he'd kept on his anger slipped out of his mental grasp. "I tell you, I didn't kill them! You should remember that clearly enough! That was the worst thing I'd ever had to witness. It made me sick. If you'd an ounce of empathy you'd see that. The only reason I'm still here is because I'm worried about you and I felt guilty. So, if you would be kind enough, leave off with the accusations!"

He stopped, his chest heaving and stared at the girl. Her mouth had dropped open during his tirade and she now closed it. Her eyes searched his face, curious.

"I believe you," she put simply, then scrambled higher into the thick foliage. She was gone by the time he'd gotten halfway up the tree.

"Gods above, but she is good at that." He leaned against the thick trunk and sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A letter was waiting for him when he returned to the apartment he was renting. He opened it slowly and read the missive.

'Your reports show a steady location. Detailed

updates are required. If the trail has dead-ended

return in one month from this date.'

It was hard to keep from mentioning Yuki in the report he quickly sent off to the headquarters. It went against all his conditioning but he didn't want her to get hurt, and she doubtless would at the hands of an Institute interrogator.

"I'm doing the right thing," he mumbled to keep himself from running back to change the report . His fridge, upon opening it, turned out to be more barren than the Great Northern Desert.

"Wonderful."

Eating out was the only option, except for starving for the day. He shouldered his jacket and headed down. Not two jogged steps out the door of the building he ran into someone.

"Hey!"

"Oww…"

I knew this was gonna be a bad day, they thought in unison.

Taro recovered first and leapt to his feet.

"Hey, are you okay? Wha-… Oh."

Yuki finished sitting up, her left wrist cradled protectively against her. Taro was certainly not expecting the slight smile that graced her mouth, not after having just mowed her down on the sidewalk.

"I give up. I don't know why I bother trying to avoid you. You always end up finding me anyway. But you know, you didn't have to knock me down."

"Sorry about that. I didn't see you." He ran a hand through his hair, putting it in complete disarray. "Are you okay?"

Yuki struggled to stand; the bruises already forming on one hip were giving painful twinges with every move she made. "I'm just a little worse for wear," she groaned.

"Aww man…"

"Don't worry. It's just a sprain and some bruises." She held out her quickly swelling wrist as proof. "See?"

"Come on. We're going upstairs."

"Fine. Just don't make me move fast, okay?" Her brain finally decided to turn on halfway up the stairwell. Wait a minute, Yuki. Why are you going with him to his room? Another part answered. `Cause he's not going to hurt you and you know it. You trust him. The first part retired to its corner of her mind, pouting.

The gentle tug on her elbow brought her out of her mental argument. She walked through the open door in front of her and paused, surprised. The apartment was sparsely furnished. The only things visible in the living room were a chair and a table.

"I moved in a week ago," he explained. Yuki blushed, knowing that her surprise, and the reason for it, had been clearly visible. Taro put his hands on her shoulders and steered her over to the chair. She sat obediently and he left, disappearing into his bedroom. He returned a moment later carrying a suitcase that turned out to be a gigantic first aid kit. He put it on the floor and flipped open the lid, rummaging through the mass of medical supplies with an expert ease.

"The only thing you don't have in there are some scrubs!"

"I left those in the clos…" He jerked upright, startled to find Yuki behind him, peering over his shoulder. "You should be sitting down." His disapproval was clear.

"If I sit down again I don't think I'll be able to get back up." She pursed her lips together, daring him to say anything. Taro sighed, shaking his head, and grabbed a roll of binding gauze and a splint. Yuki extended her arm, wincing as even that little bit of movement sent pain shooting down into her hand. It grew worse when Taro began manipulating the joint.

"Do you… have to do… that?" she hissed through tightly clenched teeth. The feeling of the small wrist bones grating against each other was beginning to make her nauseated. She groaned, her complexion turning a fascinating shade of green normally seen in lawns. Taro's hands stilled as soon as he saw her sway.

"I'm sorry. I had to make sure nothing was broken. You were right. It's sprained, but badly. You tore most of the ligaments." He trailed a finger down her wrist, pausing at her hiss of pain. Two aspirin were deposited in her other hand.

"Take these. They're stronger than anything you could possibly get at the store."

The pills were knocked back dry and began to take effect almost immediately. She watched her injury get bandaged, marveling at the lack of pain. She tested the splint job, trying to move her wrist, but it wouldn't budge no matter how she tried.

"Thankyou!" A tear landed on the beige gauze, mere centimeters from Taro's fingers. He looked up in alarm, worried that he'd somehow managed hurt her. And he was promptly caught by the vision in front of him. She couldn't have been standing at a better angle. The sun shone through her hair, highlighting the red and gold in her normal light brown. The same light slanted across her face, illuminating her pale green eyes and making her slightly tanned skin glow. The single tear on her cheek sparkled like a precious gem. The white tank top, now smudged with dirt, turned opaque, allowing just a shadow of the gentle curve of her waist to be seen.

Taro tore his eyes away after a great internal struggle and felt his cheeks warm. That stopped him cold. Why was he embarrassed? Because your brain just realized where your blood had been. Taro-kun you are the pits! She's a minor! The faint pink tinge faded as if it had never been.

"Think you'll be able to get home on your own?" Her vigorous nodding made him chuckle. She didn't move, her eyes averted to one side. "Hey. What's wrong now?"

"I… I'm sorry I was nasty with you earlier."

"Don't. You had every right…"

"No! No I didn't! I was hurting and you made a perfect target. I'm really sorry. Uhm… would you like to have lunch sometime again?"

His head jerked up, eyes searching her face. All he saw was a wish for a friend. Poor kid, he thought.

"How about Tuesday?"

"Sure! I'll meet you at the big tree at noon!" She bobbed a quick bow and rushed out of the apartment. Taro sat back, his arms wrapped around his knees. Yuki certainly was a conundrum. He pondered her for a few minutes and decided that he liked her, as a friend or little sister he quickly qualified. Oh who are you kidding? You're attracted to her. There's nothing wrong with that so long as you don't act upon it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Yuki? You up there?" He couldn't see anything, the leaves on the tree were so numerous as to block out the sight of even the merest scrap of sky.

"Good morning! What are you doing up there?" Her figure could just be made out through the foliage. Taro quickly descended the tree. Yuki's smile was slightly puzzled but very warm.

"Wow… You're actually on the ground." Amazement was almost oozing out of him.

"And what does that mean?" she mock growled. "Nevermind. Let's go eat!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You found her finally. I knew you would. What a catch, Yuki!"

"Onee-sama!" Yuki blushed faintly. "Remember! Head, not hormones!"

"You're no fun, Yuki-chan." The waitress set down their usual orders and leaned over to kiss Yuki on the forehead. "You look happier. I'm glad."

"Mmm," she replied non-committally, but the radiant smile on her face showed that her demons were gone for the moment. The meal progressed quietly, both parties unsure of what to say. At the very least it was a companionable silence.

It was Taro who broke the quiet between them.

"Tell me about your adoptive parents." The question came from seemingly nowhere and he immediately wished he could retract what he'd just asked.

Yuki's back went ramrod straight, her eyes filling with hurt.

"I'm not trying to be mean. I just… it's that… you love them very much and I'd like to hear about them."

She nodded, making a credible attempt at gaining control of her emotions.

"Mama. Da." She paused at the quaver in her voice. "I'm sorry, but I can't right now." Her convulsive swallow was not lost on him. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, easily feeling the tautness of her muscles.

"That's okay. Some other time, when it hurts a little less?" A quick peek at his watch showed the hour steadily approaching two. "Aw man, I have to go or I'll be late for my interview." His coat swirled onto his shoulders and billowed behind him as he strode towards the exit. He hesitated for a moment, partially blocking the doorway, and turned around.

"We should make a habit of this."

"Tuesdays and Thursdays? I'm free then." Her young voice was hopeful and Taro couldn't help but grin.

"Sounds fine to me." Another swirl of his great cloak and he was gone.

"Already going on dates now, hunh?"

"Onee-sama! Shistar. I'm barely 16. I'm not old enough to go on a date."

"I say you are, especially when such a handsome young man is involved." Shistar eyed her young friend speculatively. "But you're not attracted to men just because of that."

"I just want a proper friend." Yuki looked and sounded so forlorn that Shistar drew her into a tight embrace.

"I understand, youngling."

"Thankyou, Onee-sama."