Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Defy and Comply ❯ Lesson 19: Resting Place ( Chapter 20 )

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Defy and Comply

Lesson 19: Resting Place

By: Revamp/Melissa Norvell

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Tears streamed down ivory cheeks as Leonardo stood backstage. He just stared straight ahead, his custom guitar hung from the strap limply, the neck pointed down. There was nothing he could say, no defense he could offer as to why he had chose to hide his identity. It was out in the open now. Leonardo Sukichi was very much alive. Everyone stood in front of him with shocked and displeased looks on their faces.

Kraki held a hand up nervously to her mouth, averting her eyes with furrowed brows the girl was the first to speak. "Why did you lie to us?" Her voice was low and uncertain. She really didn't know what to expect.

"It's not about lying to us even, you lied to the world. It's illegal to fake your own death," Ame reminded him of the consequences that he would have to face if they happened to get free from the dome. There were a lot bigger consequences to contend with other than the ones he was contending with now.

Taiga looked down and closed his eyes. "Leo..."

"I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't go back to performing after I graduated, and the only way I could get outta my fame was to kill myself and cover it up. I had to. I never wanted it to come out." Leonardo had his reasons for not coming out, or even admitting that he was famous. Who would have believed him? How could he have lived with his identity? How could he have gone back to living a normal life with little to no guilt while his friends and classmates lay buried six feet under? The pain was too great to feel like he should have lived a life of fame and ease. Leonardo didn't feel like he deserved anything for the heinous acts that he committed. In fact, he wished that his execution hadn't failed. He wished that he would have gotten killed initially and that someone else had graduated.

There was a long silence between everyone as Leonardo stared at them with fear laced into his being. He didn't know what was going to happen now that they all knew his secret. In fact, he wanted to run and hide but that wouldn't have solved anything. Sunoma stepped forward and broke the silence.

"I understand why you did it."

"Sunoma," Leonardo turned to the girl and uttered her name in barely above a whisper.

The lolita wordlessly walked over to his side and stood firmly in front of him, establishing her loyalty despite the fact that he had lied to her and led her on. Pale eyes stared into those of a faux green as she placed her hand on his bicep. Leonardo flinched beneath her as she leaned into him and whispered in his ear. "Leonardo, come what may I will stand beside of you. One thing's for sure, you're still my hero." The words ticked his ears, igniting his cheeks as they turned red.

"Su-Sunoma..." Leonardo's voice reflected the sentiment.

"It's okay," she pulled back and leveled him with a confident stare, "you're not alone."

"I never thought you would-"

He was cut off.

"I'm sorry. I've completely misjudged you. You're not scum, or a drug dealer. In fact, you're the one that's above me, and I know that you can save us." That was probably the hardest thing that she had ever admitted to anyone. Sunoma knew it to be true. Leonardo was not only above her in status, but what he was doing right now was something that she wasn't sure she could have ever done. He was laying his life down for people he didn't even know and that took a lot of courage. For that, he was admirable.

"We shouldn't worry about that right now," Taiga's voice cut into their moment of sentiment.

"You knew, didn't you?" Tsukimi glared down the yakuza. He was the one who let Leonardo room with him. She had a feeling that Leo getting into the school was an arrangement made between the two of them. Tsukimi also remembered Taiga telling her that they were childhood friends; no doubt he knew Leo's true identity.

"Yes, I did and I went along with it," the yakuza wasn't ashamed of his involvement. He owned up to playing his part.

Kazoo hung his head in shame and spoke in a low tone. "I'm guilty too. I was actually kind of confused when everyone called him Lamar, but I ran with it," the architect knew what his name was, he knew that there was a reason he was hiding his identity but figured that it was in his best interest to keep it hidden. Not to mention, the promise of Taiga's fist to his face wasn't something he was ready to deal with.

Tsukimi turned to Leonardo with a look of scorn on her face. "You were my favorite singer. I was your biggest fan and I went to all of your concerts when you were in Japan. I bet you don't even remember me...do you?" Why would he? She was one of many people who idolized him. Tsukimi couldn't blame him if he didn't.

"I had a lot of fans," Leonardo admitted that he more than likely didn't. There were few fans who really hung around him long enough for them to stick out in his memories.

"I won the Win A Day With A Rock Star event on Valentine's Day. The last event before you died. I saw the footage on television." Tears clung stubbornly to the corners of her stinging eyes as she tried to will her emotions back. It reeled through her head at light speed, seeming all the more painful since it was a lie. It looked so real. Everyone was so emotional and horrified...and it was all fake. "I cried for a long time. I was depressed for months because I considered us friends," her voice cracked with emotion as she shook and clenched her fists tight enough that her fingernails left crescent shaped indentions in her palms. "You even let me have your number. That's...That's just cruel! Why would you do that? Don't you care about all of the people you upset? All the people you hurt! All this time you were alive! How can you have such blatant disregard for people's feelings? You just ran away...I'm beginning to think that's all you do, just run away. You run and hide when things get tough. When you can't take it anymore. You just sit around and bathe in your own guilt."

"I couldn't deal anymore. I didn't deserve a normal life since I had to-"

Tsukimi wasn't done with Leonardo yet. She reeled back and let him have another round of emotional arguing. "So changing who you are helps? Killing yourself helps? Doing drugs helps? Why do you keep hurting yourself? You don't care about anyone but yourself! You hurt everyone! By hurting yourself you don't make it easier on us, you only hurt us more! You idiot!"

A loud smack sounded through the air as Tsukimi popped Leonardo in the face. It was so loud that it echoed. Shock lit up on her peers' faces as the rock star's head jolted to the side. Leonardo was shocked that she had hit him. His eyes went wide and he left his head turned.

Tsukimi drew her hand back with tears of anger and pain streaming down her face. "That's what you get! I'm sorry but fuck you, Lamar or should I say Leonardo. Why don't you wake up? You can't even save yourself much less us! I can't believe you faked your own death!"

The girl darted off, sobbing loudly. Kazoo called out her name and turned to go after her but Leonardo told him to let her go. The long-haired teen whirled around with a 'huh' in response, shocked that he would tell him to simply let her run off in the state that she was in.

"She's right. Maybe it wasn't the best choice I could have made," Leonardo said lowly as he rubbed the afflicted side of his face. "I always screw myself over. All I can do is apologize to you all. I'm really sorry. I never meant to deceive you. If you wanna kill me, go ahead. I wouldn't blame any of you." He was ready to face his consequences. As a last act of redemption, that was the most that Leonardo could truly do.

"Tsukimi'll get over it. She just needs time," Taiga agreed that she just needed to be alone. If it was him, he would have needed some time to get over learning something that harsh.

"Ya know why I did it, right? You understand, right?" Leonardo turned to the group of remaining students who stared him down, their glares felt like anvils being piled on his back, slowly crushing him.

"You did what you thought was best, Leo. By the way, I like that name better than Lamar," Taiga half way defended him. It was nice to have the truth come out. They needed to know.

"Can we talk?" The green-haired rock star turned to Taiga, who nodded.

"We'll go searchin' around outside. We gotta see what everyone's doin' y'know?" Masato turned to leave. There wasn't anything else that needed to be discussed. The little details would have to wait until another time. For now, they just had to be focused on the killing that would take place and how to find a way out.

"After our little 'concert' I'm sure things are hell. It's definitely a battle zone out there," Kazoo knew, more than anything that the killing had started.

Prasuna took an axe from a nearby wall. Opening the glass case, she armed herself with the instrument that would have been used to break the glass for the fire extinguisher. The white-haired diva hoisted it over her shoulder. "I guess I'll get going, too."

"There's no time like the present," Ame, ever amused, followed in suit.

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Tsukimi sat on the edge of her bed, wiping the remaining tears that leaked from her swollen sockets as she wept. It was all too much to take in. The thoughts still reeled through her head about Leonardo not truly being dead, and that only amplified the way that she felt and bred more ill feelings. The punk girl hugged herself as flashbacks of the day she had won the Date With A Rock Star event; the day that she met Leonardo.

He sat beside of her on an old, discolored bench that had been weathered by many years of sitting in the elements. Back then, he looked different; he had shorter hair and the same goatee in the most beautiful hade of golden blond that she had ever seen. His hair had the sheen of silk and the color of straw. Eyes the color of a cloudless sky looked to her as he sipped gingerly on his small box of juice.

Leonardo dressed simply for their time together. He wore a white, leather jacket with studs around the popped collar and sleeves. Beneath it was a light blue t-shirt with a screen printed guitar on it. He also wore the same spiked collar, ripped up, stone washed blue jeans with two spiked belts and had fingernails painted black as night.

"Ya know, I'm really shocked," he said as he pulled his lips away from the bendy straw.

"Why?" She turned to him, dressed in a leather dress with a square-cut neckline and straps that attached with D-Rings. It was form-fitting and short with fish net stockings adorning her legs and black, stiletto heels. On her arms were many bracelets, fingerless gloves, a blue scrunchie and around her neck was a black chocker with a simple, silver cross that dangled from it. Inquisitive eyes, one blue and one green looked to her idol in question.

"Ya don't seem intimidated and you're not like a screaming fangirl would be." It was something that he had encountered from most of his fans. They were always very talkative, ecstatic about meeting him or obsessive. It was actually nice to have someone who was pretty level-headed around.

Leonardo had forgotten what it was like to actually be in a relaxed environment.

"You must not be used to someone who treats you like a person," Tsukimi didn't see famous people like most people. Anyone would want the money and notoriety but not her. She thought that famous people like Leonardo must have felt like caged birds, singing when told and to the tune of whoever wrote their songs. After a while, they would write their own songs much like he did now, but the fandom had to be the worst thing about being famous. He had to hang around people who wanted to know everything about his life, or creepy fangirls who stalked him. To have people invade your every moment, and to have people constantly around you in general must have been tiring. Leonardo probably felt like he never had a moment of peace and for that, she felt sorry for him.

"To be honest, I thought you'd be a screaming fan," he was happy that she wasn't, but it was what usually happened.

"You're a person, too. I'm so happy to have met you. I think you're amazing and so talented. You accomplished so much and you rose to the top. Your albums went platinum even. That's crazy for someone of your age." After all, Leonardo was only a year her senior. To have a record like that was more than impressive and near impossible to beat. Leonard had what most seasoned musicians had, much less upcoming, new artists.

Leonardo smiled bashfully and laughed a little. "I just do my thing and people seem to like my stuff." That in itself was something he was shocked at, considering he never thought he would have been that famous when he just started out attending public talent shows, but he was eventually scouted and turned into a huge sensation that went worldwide.

"I bet you have a lot of female fans," Tsukimi knew that she wasn't the only one that loved Leonardo's songs. All of the girls at her school were obsessed with him - more specifically how good-looking he was and how awesome he could play the guitar.

"I attract both sexes, I think." As much as there were female fans, he knew quite a few men who had shared their opinions of his looks and talent.

"You're good-looking. I feel intimidated just sitting by you," Tsukimi shifted a little and averted her eyes. That was hard to admit, but she was practically sitting by the one person that was at the top of her bucket list to meet in person. It was like a dream come true for her.

"You really shouldn't. I just happened to get lucky in life. Ya know, I couldn't have picked a better person to go on this date with. I'm pretty fond of ya." At those words, he could see the girl's cheeks flush a deep red, but he meant what he said. As much fame as he had, Leonardo never let it get to his head. He didn't see himself any better than the average person.

"You are," Tsukimi replied as she felt hot. Her hands balled into fists in her lap as she shifted to the side. Then, the smell of expensive cologne and hair product filled her senses as Leonardo leaned in. He smelled really nice. It was a smell that she wanted to remember.

"I wouldn't mind goin' on another date with ya," his voice was low, and as she glanced up, he shot her a playful wink.

Tsukimi was overcome with butterflies at his words. She felt jittery, almost like she wanted to scream in bliss or jump up and start running laps around the park they were in. A smile crossed her lips. "I'd like that," she tried not to sound too excited but approving all the same, and then she felt moist lips on her cheek, planted in a firm kiss. His pointed goatee ticked her ivory flesh and his lip rings felt cold to the touch. A piece of folded paper was put into her hand and she took it, unfolding it to reveal a number scrawled on it.

Was this what she thought it was? She could hardly contain herself.

"This is my personal number. Call me anytime. I'd like to be friends," Leonardo smiled.

"Y-You'd do that for me?" Tsukimi was stoked! She couldn't stop smiling. How lucky was she to get Leonardo's number? What would all of her friends think of her now? Not only did she get to meet Leonardo, she got his number! That had to be something that happened rarely if at all.

"You're pretty cool. You're not like most people so I wanna keep ya close," Leonardo was good at reading people, and to know there was someone he could have acted sane around. It was like a break in the insanity that was his life, a solace to go to in order to escape the vices of his popularity - someone he felt like a human being around.

More tears fell as the last of the memories faded from her mind. 'I'm really...glad you aren't dead but...I'm so upset that you did that. Why did you? I was so hurt when I thought you died. Oh Leo...' Tsukimi let out a choked sob. "I missed you so much."

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"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Taiga was the first to speak as the two entered one of the lobbies of the school. It was empty, to an eerie degree. He didn't know where the other students where but he could only imagine what was going on in other parts of Shinjinku. No doubt it was a blood bath.

"Do ya think I'm a fool?" Leonardo shoved his hands into his pockets and looked to the side with a frown. If ever he felt like an ass, he did at that moment in time.

"Sometimes, but not right now," Taiga's hand touched the side of the rock star's face where the reddened area was that Tsukimi slapped. It was still warm to the touch. She hit him hard. His skin reddened at the yakuza's contact.

"That looks kinda painful. She slapped the hell outta you," Tsukimi had a pretty strong hand. Taiga was impressed.

"I deserved it. She's right. Faking my death was a horrible thing to do but-" Leonardo was cut off.

"You had your reasons. I mean, sure it was kind of a dick thing to do but you've gotta remember they haven't seen what we have or been through the shit we have." In that aspect, they walked in different worlds. Taiga saw nothing wrong with changing his alias if it got him out of the crosshairs of someone who wanted to murder him. Doing things like that were standard practices for yakuza members. It wasn't truly a big deal at all. He understood why Leonardo had done it.

In truth, it wasn't even the worst thing he could have done.

"Hey Taiga, remember a few weeks ago when ya told me that ya loved me?" Now was the time to avert the subject. Leonardo would rather give the man happy news opposed to unhappy news.

"Do we have to bring up that shit again?" Taiga's voice was laced in irritation. The last thing he wanted to recall was something he was rejected about. There was not even a point of bringing it up.

"We do," Leonardo frowned sternly and tried to muster up the most serious expression he could as he placed a hand on the side of the yakuza's face.

"Please, Leo-"

"No, don't talk," the green-haired man's voice was oddly commanding for the situation.

"This is painful-"

"It's alright, I'm here." Just then, his voice felt like a sweet symphony to the yakuza's ears. His lips parted slightly as he drew in a breath and his eyes widened. Taiga felt his heart nearly stop in his chest and he uttered his name barely above a whisper.

"Taiga...Out of everyone here, ya know me the best. You understand me and before anyone, you cared about me. I think you have as much guilt as I do." With words alone the rocker was able to strip away his tough exterior and expose him for the vulnerable person he was. It was true, Taiga carried immense guilt and the one person he thought he could identify with the most was Leo.

But at the same time, it pained him. This pained him. Feeling that they were able to relate over something he inadvertently caused made him hate himself. Taiga felt like he didn't deserve this moment of understanding, or much else for that matter. "I am trash for what I did to you and Raiga..." His voice sounded more pained than anything else. If only he could take back his insecurities, his immaturity and give the two of them the happiness that they had wanted back then. It would have been far better than his brother losing his life.

There was no redemption for him, not about that.

"No, you weren't. Don't ever say that around me," Leo leveled him with eyes so steely and sharp they lacerated his heart.

Taiga's visage hardened and the words came out sternly. "I'm trash."

Little did he know, those words would only be chided with a warm, wet sensation on his lips. Leo kissed him gently in an attempt to comfort the torn man. Aqua eyes widened before Taiga pulled back.

"Leo, don't-" He didn't want it. Taiga didn't want to be teased like this. It was cruel.

"I want to," Leo cut him off. "You've spent all this time trying to be my hero. I should be yours. I want to make you feel like the proud leader ya are."

Taiga ripped his gaze away, the blonde curls from his pompadour shading his eyes. His voice darkened with malice and pain. "Don't make it out like I even deserve you. You're better off with that Kiyomaru kid." As much as he hated to say it, Taiga knew that he was the truth. There was only one place for people like him, and that was burning in the flames of the netherworld.

Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "No, Kiyomaru could never have our bound. Not in a million years," he wasn't just saying that because the two of them had a fling and he wanted to forget it. In fact, he had his own special bond with Kiyomaru, but it fell short of the one he had with Taiga. The yakuza had been friends with him since he was young. They practically grew up together, just he, Raiga and his brother.

Taiga's clenched fist trembled as denial and anger took over. "Stop insinuating shit that isn't true," he was sick of Leo teasing him, making him believe that they had a bond outside of the spectrum of just being friends. It hurt him, and he was tired of being stomped on. His heart strings had been pulled and broken, then tied back together and he wanted to avoid any further damage at all costs.

"Taiga stop worrying about that." Why was the yakuza being so stubborn? Leo just wanted to tell him the truth, and he was making it harder than it actually was. He actually had good news in the midst of all of the horrible things that were happening, but he needed the yakuza to trust him. It was his fault that the yakuza felt so broken at the moment but he was here to make thing right and stop the pain from continuing.

"I can worry anytime I damned well please!" The yakuza shot as a vien popped from his forehead and he held his fist up menacingly. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do!" He just wanted away from this fucking topic, and he wanted away from it right then and there. Maybe threatening to beat Leo's ass would prove an effective method to escape the pain.

"I love you, Taiga," the words slipped from his lips like velvet. It was a tender tone, one that projected his honest feelings. He did love Taiga, he cherished him more than anyone and he found it shameful that it took him so long just to admit it to both himself and his best friend.

"Leo..." The words came out as nearly a whisper against the still air. Did he just admit that he loved him? Was this real?

"Ya heard me. Ya wanted me and now you got me." Serious green eyes bore their way into his soul. More than anything, Leo wanted him to know that he wasn't screwing around this time. More than anything, he wanted the yakuza to believe him.

"But...why would you..." He was trash. Taiga didn't think that he deserved to have a relationship with Leonardo at all. After all, the guy should be angry at him, hurt that he kept him from having a happy relationship with his brother and angry at him for cock blocking them, and yet here he was, offering him the very thing he desired. Taiga didn't know how to feel, and if he wasn't so stubborn about upholding his tough guy facade, he was certain he would have been crying by now out of frustration and sorrow.

"I've always loved you. Back then, it was just as a friend but I've thought about it lately and I want you to show me all of the things ya woulda done to me back then. Make me yours," Leonardo confessed as he placed a hand on the yakuza's chest and stared at him with eyes full of longing. "I want to be. I'm not gonna miss another opportunity. Raiga would want us to be happy. He would want me to take care of your sad ass, and get rid of your regrets." Those last words were low and earnest. It was something that Leo had wanted to do for him from the beginning. Just being around the yakuza at this moment made his heart flutter and his breath hitch. They had a deep connection, something that they could build upon and manifest into a deep relationship, more so than the one they had and Leo wanted that. He wanted to be with Taiga until the day he died. It would be his way of watching over him for his dead brother, his way of being happy for Raiga, and his way of protecting Taiga.

"Leonardo..." Taiga's voice was more emotional than it had been before. Why? Why was Leo so willing to make the sacrifice and throw away everything to be with him? He didn't understand, nor did he expect to be the one who won this little love triangle.

The green-haired man took his hand and leaned into him, their chests pressed together, heart beating against heart as their cheeks brushed. "Let's help each other. I wanna do that." He squeezed the other male's hand as his words danced into his ear.

Those words...the words that he had always wanted to hear, were being spoken to him. The one thing he silently wanted was being offered to him: someone who wanted to understand him, who wanted to help heal his broken heart, to try and take away all of the pain that was left from it being torn apart and crudely sown together to many times, and it was the person he had been attracted to all of that time. The one man he wanted and Taiga couldn't help but be ashamed, hurt, angry at himself. This mix of emotions caused tears to flow down his cheeks. How he hated himself for what he had done, and how he took sick pleasure in loving this moment, a moment where he had won, where the prize was right here in his arms. It was like a reward for a long-term battle that he wasn't exactly the hero of.

"Leonardo..." the yakuza began to break down. He couldn't take the crushing guilt anymore. He couldn't take the shame and dishonor of the situation. He had to make things right. "I'm sorry about Raiga. I never meant to hurt you by keeping it a secret. I just...I loved you so much I wanted you to be with me. I loved you since I was a kid. I wanted to be the one who made you happy. I wanted to be the one who made you smile."

With every sentence, he felt his heart break more and more. The tears wouldn't stop flowing and the dripped down from his jaws, making wet spots on his white undershirt. Closing his eyes to try and bite back his emotions, he felt pierced lips kiss down his cheeks, blurring the streams of tears.

"Don't cry, because you are now," Leo couldn't make up for it before but he was going to make up for it now. He didn't want Taiga to feel like shit anymore and he was going to do his best to make sure he didn't, not about this.

"What about that Kiyomaru kid?" Leo had such a hard time giving that guy up. He probably felt guilted into doing it. That had to be it. There was no other way that he'd cut off a relationship with a guy that he was having sex with just like that, unless he thought that he'd be killing him by having a romantic involvement with him. There had to be some reason.

Nothing was ever just cut and dry.

"What about him?" The question was asked so simply, and with such resolve. Leo was completely fine in telling him that, as if Kiyomaru meant nothing to him.

"I thought you wanted to be with him." After all, the two of them had already been intimate. That was more than the yakuza could say for his current standing with him. The two of them had never done anything but share a couple of kisses here and there, and that didn't constitute to anything that was even close to a deep relationship.

"We're just friends. Besides, I've thought about it and I wanted to make sure I felt the way I did," Leo didn't want to hurt him, not anymore than he had already. Rejecting him was hard enough but at the same time he didn't want to hurt Taiga. This time, it was going to be real. There weren't going to be any terms and conditions. "I love you. I am sure of that. I felt horrible when ya admitted it to me when I knew I screwed up. It hurt a lot, more than being stabbed in my execution. I couldn't get it off of my mind. The fact that you did all this for me, you're right. No one would have smuggled my ass in here. No one would do half of the shit that ya did for me. You don't have to prove anything to me, Taiga. You've shown me enough." He liked Kiyomaru, but he loved Sunoma. No matter what they did, he would always be second to her. Taiga put him first. Taiga did things for him no one else would do. Taiga cared about him on an unsurpassed level, and not to mention, he was strikingly handsome. Sure, the yakuza had a horrible temper but Leo didn't mind and at times he even found it charming.

"I can never repay what you did for me during graduation. You refused to kill me, even when I thought you would. I was just a stupid kid that you should have killed but you stuck with me and protected me. You taught me to fight back and how to deal with the situation. I was never directly involved in the Yamaguchi faction when my brother was obyun. I knew a lot about it and I did what was asked of me. I killed some people, and did some things most wouldn't dare do, but there was darker shit I never knew about." Now that he was the new head of the house, Taiga dealt with those more shady things. Each ordeal he was in molded and shaped him into a proper obyun, and he had to wonder if Raiga would have been proud of him for upholding a position like he had. The massacre taught him a multitude of things, and so did his involvement with Leo at the time.

"Can anything really prepare you for this?" Leo asked, drawing back, his hand still on the yakuza's muscular chest. Taiga was a man used to death and dismemberment, but was there ever truly a time that he could just watch on with a straight face? Even so, was his heart ever ready to go out and kill someone? It was a foreign feeling to him. Then again, Leo and Taiga were from two completely different worlds.

"Maybe not but, I feel like I should have been more aware of it." As many fights and shoot outs that he had been involved in, Taiga felt like an idiot for being so overpowered with the situation.

"That's the past now," Leonardo brought his other hand up to place it on his shoulder but before he could reach his destination, Taiga grabbed his wrist and examined the golden ring on it. The abyss of the onyx stone stared back at him like an old friend and realization hit.

"Raiga's ring," it was the very same one his brother had worn.

"I took it from his body when I graduated," Leo took the ring off and placed it in his palm, holding it out to the yakuza. "I've always worn it, but I think you should have it." While he loved Raiga, he was Taiga's brother and he deserved to have the ring more than he did.

"No, you keep it. Raiga would have wanted you to have it," Taiga felt selfish taking it now, especially after Leo had it all this time. Besides, he didn't deserve it for what he had done. It was better that Leo keep it.

Green eyes glanced to the ring and eyebrows knitted. "You don't have anything to remember him by."

"I don't need material possessions. Besides, I have you," Taiga put his hands on the other man's waist. If he had Leonardo, then he also had the ring and he didn't mind a two for one deal.

"Let me love you, and I'll love you until you learn to love yourself and come to terms with your guilt. That pain in your eyes has been there a while." In fact, ever since he had known Taiga he always had that look about him as if he was bothered or hurt by something. He was always so angry at something, the complete polar opposite of Raiga, who was charismatic and carefree. Leo had always wondered why and what caused them to have such different attitudes.

"I'll help you get over your addiction and keep you from being stupid. I want you to be happy, Leo." More than ever, Taiga was bent on keeping his promise. This would be his way of repaying the ex-rock star back for what he had done in the previous graduation.

"I want you to help me. I want to escape with you, but I can't wait until after graduation, no matter how much it might hurt to do so. I won't make the same mistake I made with Raiga. I have no regrets." In anyone's eyes, what they were doing would be considered idiocy. Why form a relationship during volatile times to just have it end in someone dying but Leo didn't see it that way. He didn't ever admit his true feelings to Raiga only to regret that he could never say them and Raiga died not knowing Leonardo ever loved him. He wasn't going to make that mistake with Taiga.

Taiga's strong arms wrapped around the green-haired man's slender waist as he pulled him close. The muscles of their hard stomachs molded together and Leo let out a contented sigh as he stared lovingly into the yakuza's aqua eyes. "I don't either. This feels so surreal," Taiga's voice lowered.

Leo wrapped his arms around the yakuza's neck and smiled at him seductively. "Taiga, you're better than any drug."

"You made me happy. I feel like for now none of this shit matters," Taiga was in his own little world. It could be falling down all around him but all he would think about was Leonardo. The fact that the other students had already started killing each other didn't even seem to matter for a moment in time. It was just he and his new found lover, standing among the rubble of a horrible experimentation plot.

"It does, but with a few changes. Tonight, let's share a bed from here on out."

That was something that Taiga could get used to. He placed a hand on the back of Leo's head, drawing him in as their lips brushed. "Sounds good to me. Leonardo, I love you." Before the green-haired man could reply, his lips were captured by a sweet kiss. He returned the gesture and his grip on the yakuza tightened.

After a few minutes, Leo pulled back and flashed a mischievious smile. "Let's go and kick some ass."

Taiga smiled back, "definitely!"

XxXxXxXxXx

Tsukimi and Kazoo walked through the short grass of the graveyard. The girl's bi-colored eyes glanced around at all of the gravestones and the odd circulation of the inside environment was enough to make her skin crawl. It was eerie and she felt like someone was watching the two of them, perhaps the spirits of the deceased graduating class were looking at them from their unrested graves. Just the thought of that made her cringe.

After a moment of silence between the two of them, she finally spoke. "What is this place?"

"The graveyard for the graduating class last year." Those grim words were like a weight slamming into her. Tsukimi went rigid and it was then, in that moment that things hit her. Those tombstones all had the names of the members of the graduating class carved into them.

"G-Graveyard?"

"It's an area that only I know about," he knew it existed from the floor plans of the school. It was the only place that the two of them would be safe, at least for now. Surely, others would find out about it eventually but until that happened Kazoo knew they were safe.

Tsukimi walked over to one of the tombstones as she laid sights on the engraving. Kazoo's name was scrawled across it as well as his date of supposed death. "Your name is on this one." She looked back to the architect. "Isn't that creepy?"

Kazoo glanced at the tombstone with an uneasy expression. It made him feel a little ill to look at such a thing. It was like staring at your own burial plot while still being alive, an unsettling and symbolic representation of things to come. "Yeah, I don't even know why. I feel like if I stare at it too long, it's going to be an omen."

That's exactly what it was; an omen.

"How do you feel, by the way?" Speaking of feelings, Kazoo did have that injury still. Tsukimi decided to get away from such a haunting aspect and try to focus on something more important.

"Like I was hit by a car, then backed over and ran over again," Kazoo touched the afflicted spot on his chest. No matter what he did, the spot resonated with pain. It seared and burned and if he moved the wrong way, the stitches had limited flexibility and tore his flesh. It was the most painful thing that Kazoo had experienced besides living through that hellacious stab wound from Leonardo's scythe. He was lucky to have barely lived through that and now this. Surely this was the upper power's way of telling him that he needed to live.

Pausing in mid-explanation, his eyes darted towards the doorway where they heard the faint sounds of a conversation. Blue eyes narrowed as a dire expression hardened on his face. "Hide."

"What?" Tsukimi asked in confusion. Why did he want them to hide? Wasn't it only the two of them inside?

Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist with one arm and covered her mouth with the other. The two darted behind a tombstone. Tsukimi struggled a little, trying to free herself from the man's grip only to be leveled with ice blue eyes looking down on her. "Someone's here. Be quiet," Kazoo hissed as she took his hand away.

"Who is it?" Tsukimi whispered as Kazoo glanced around the tombstone.

"How do they know about this place? No one knows but Leo and Taiga," Kazoo was sure that none of the other members of the student body knew how to access the graveyard. What in the hell was going on?

Tsukimi slowly peeked around the tombstone and saw three figures talking from far away. They were in a little group and stood by a tombstone on the opposite edge of the graveyard. One of the figures was all and lanky with chin-length chocolate hair that covered one eye. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans with a hole in the right knee. The second figure had long, white spiky hair with blood red tips. His face was riddled with piercings and he was clad in a white wife beater with black jeans. The next figure was one that shocked her.

Bi-colored eyes widened as she looked at the body-builder physique, light blue jeans, bandanna, leather jacket, white undershirt and long, blonde hair. There was no mistaking it. He was there. "It's Zoen."

"Your ex-boyfriend?" Kazoo asked as she leaned against the back of the tombstone.

"Yeah, and those are Gaz's band members," she recognized the two. They used to hang out with Gaz and his band.

"I don't know how he knows about it but this is bad. We have to get out of here or they'll kill us." If they were in the graveyard then there was a reason that they were there. More than likely, or at least by Kazoo's educated guess, they came into the graveyard and made it their little hiding place. If anyone else saw them there or knew about it they would more than likely kill them. This was also bad because Taiga and Leo would more than likely come there, thinking that it was okay only to be ambushed or ganged up on. He had to tell them that they no longer had free access to it.

"Let's take them out first then," Tsukimi's look hardened. At this point, it was either them or Zoen, Kageki and Santa. Someone had to die and killing was now legal. If that's what it took to get the ball rolling, that's what they would do. Obviously, they had the same thing in mind.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Kazoo asked. To him, everything was a blurred mess of slurred speech. Maybe Tsukimi had a better sense of hearing.

"We're too far away."

No dice.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit! We are so fucked!" Kazoo clenched his fists and hissed to himself. There was nothing they could do. He didn't even know what they were talking about, so no evidence could be gathered either. This was bad.

Tsukimi peeked around the corner of the tombstone to see the group walking towards the door. "Hey, they're leaving. Let's book it while their backs are turned."

Kazoo nodded and they waited a few minutes before dating out of the graveyard.

"Huh?" Santa mused to himself and glanced over his shoulder to see a faint flash of something behind one of the tombstones. 'Who was that?' Something wasn't right. Obviously someone shared their secret of the graveyard. This was bad.

Kazoo clutched his chest as sharp pains shot through his body. He wasn't used to running or moving so quickly and suddenly."Do you think they saw us?" The architect asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know. Kazoo, your meeting place sucks." Of all of the shit he had put her through; he had to keep getting her in trouble. He had to keep being the bane of her existence. Tsukimi had to be with the most unlucky guy in the world.

"I really don't know how they know about it. We've got to tell Leo and Taiga."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Kokken looked from side-to-side, making sure that no one was following her as she ran down the hallway. Skidding to a stop, she spied the black door on the wall and glanced around again, making sure that no one was around as she opened it and ducked inside. It was what appeared to be a long walkway. Blue eyes glanced around. Was this here before?

She never noticed this place at all, but continued to run. Anything was better than fighting her way through students. Everyone had gone completely crazy and started killing each other. There was no way that she wanted someone with a weapon to find her. Dodging knife, sword, hammer and any other blows with a weapon was enough for her.

Suddenly, the small girl was bathed in light. It was like a brilliant flash that jarred her senses, causing her to shield her face until her vision adjusted. Kokken could barely believe what she saw. A small gasp escaped her lips as she stared at plush grass, and neat rows of tombstones. It looked like some sort of graveyard, but what was it doing here?

She walked passed each stone, looking closely at it. There were names on them that she didn't recognize. Were these people dead? Had they been buried in Shinjinku this whole time? There was no fresh dirt so they had obviously been there a while. Why did no one seem to know about this place? She had never heard of a graveyard inside of the school before.

"Where...Where am I?" Kokken held her hands to her chest. She felt slightly sick staring at all of the gravestones. The girl was beginning to wish that she had never entered that door. She felt like she just saw something she wasn't supposed to see.

Down one of the rows, she spied Santa. Their eyes met and blood red bore into sky blue. His eyes were wide and he said nothing but looked horrified that she had seen him there.

"How many people know about this place?" First, whoever it was that hid behind that tombstone and now Kokken? Did the whole school know the graveyard existed? "Does everyone know where this is? Zoen said we were the only ones."

"Santa? What is this place?" Kokken asked, confused at what he was saying. So, Zoen knew that this horrible place existed?

"This is the graveyard for the graduating class," the white-haired rock star explained their location.

"Graveyard? There was a graveyard here the whole time?" Worried eyes glanced around. So, this wasn't just the stage for an elaborate play or anything. This was a real burial site. Her stomach dropped and she felt as if she was free-falling.

Santa's face became dire. It was an expression unlike any she had seen. It was a look that promised death, like the man she had once considered a friend had morphed into a monster before her. "I can't let you leave knowing this information, however."

Santa untied something from his back and took it out of a gym bag. It was a mace, like those used in medieval days. He swung it around almost effortlessly around, the spiked ball making lazy circles in the air as he ran towards her with hatred laced in his voice. "Now die!"

Kokken's heart slammed in her chest. "Wait! No!" She shouted and jumped back as the weapon was swung at her head. She felt air beat against her face from the swing. Santa nearly clubbed her in the head with that monstrous ball. He wasn't done yet and swung at her again. Kokken bent backwards as she felt a spike scrape her neck. Her friend was trying to kill her, and he meant it. Santa had fallen to the same despair and genocidal way of thinking that her other classmates had. "Santa! Stop! You can't do this! Listen to reason!" Kokken tried to talk him out of wanting to kill her.

Santa only pursued the girl twice as hard, swinging at her as she skillfully dodged out of the way. Trying to kill someone who got into Shinjinku based on her martial arts prowess was no doubt going to be hard to do, but he couldn't let her leave alive. "This is a secret area. You aren't allowed here. How did you even find this?"

Kokken dodged from side to side, barely evading each strike. She was lucky that he didn't specialize in his weapon and it showed. Santa's strikes weren't accurate, even though a lot of them came too close for her comfort. "Everyone started to kill each other, so I was trying to hide and I found the door that goes here. I can't believe that you would take the masked figure's words into consideration."

Did he even know what he was thinking? Was he even thinking at all? Kokken was ashamed, and she didn't think her friends would turn on her. They had a pact! They weren't supposed to kill each other. Santa and Kageki were so gung-ho about saving everyone. What happened?

How did things fall apart so quickly?

"If you think we can live here forever, you're wrong! In order for us to have freedom someone has to die!" Santa tried to strike her again but she ducked down and grabbed his arm, flipping him over her shoulder and propelling him into one of the tombstones. His back smacked into it and he did a belly flop on the grass.

"Please, Santa, listen to reason. I don't want to fight you, but I will," she hated it. Kokken hated fighting against her friend but at the same time, he left her no choice. There was nothing she could do but defend herself. However, Kokken didn't want to kill him. She hoped that she could knock some reason into him and get him to change his mind.

Santa peeled himself up from the ground, pieces of grass riddled into his skin and clothes as he looked over his shoulder with an expression of rabid anger. "You bitch!" He shouted as he got up, digging his claws into the ground to give him leverage as grass flew up in a cloud behind him and he took off running at the girl again. She turned to the side and kicked up, popping him in the jaw with such force that he stumbled back. Kokken ran at him and axe handled him in the chest, knocking him to the ground again. Santa skidded on his butt a few feet away.

"I won't let you kill me," her words were cold as she glared down on him with a hardened expression of determination. Kokken was usually a passive person, but she knew when to stand up for herself.

"You don't have a choice!" Santa yelled as he shot up and swung the ball of the mace, the hard object smashing into the back of the girl's head. She fell backwards as her head made contact on one of the gravestones. A bloody smear drug down the white rock surface.

"Yah!" Santa let out a primal battle cry as he tried to stomp her face in, but the girl rolled out of the way. "No you don't!" He reached down and slammed her face into the gravestone, more blood splattered on the white rock surface but Kokken was going to fight for her life.

She performed a leg sweep and when he held the mace back for another strike. Santa fell on the ground and Kokken was quick on him, despite the ringing in her ears and dull pain in her bleeding head hitting her senses after a moment of numbness. Her foot landed in his rib cage propelling him into the air as he let go of the mace, which fell to the ground a few feet away. He landed in the other direction and tried to pull himself up in a scramble to get it but she punted it out of the way like a football. The mace spun across the grass.

"No you don't!" There was no way in hell she was letting him get his weapon back.

Santa got to his feet only to receive a spin kick to the chest. He jolted with the hit and drew back his fist, anger coursing through his form as he punched the petite girl square in the stomach. She doubled over, coughing up blood on his arm as he sneered at her, pupils the size of pin pricks. "You may be a martial artist but you're not winning this round." His words were twisted and frightening. There was an edge about them that showed is true state of insanity.

Kokken bent backwards, as if she were going to hoist her feet up and do a wind mill kick but Santa grabbed her leg and swung her around in a circle. Santa then hoisted the girl up and body slammed her into the top of one of the tombstones. Her eyes widened as a sickening crack registered in her body with a pain unlike any she'd ever felt. Kokken screamed bloody murder and fell into the grass, laying on her back, unmoving.

"Oh no! He broke my back! I can't move!" This was the end. A martial artist was no good if she didn't have control of her body.

Santa stood above her with a viscious smirk on his face. "You put up a good fight but you're done now."

"Santa! Please don't do this! There are better ways to go about this. We shouldn't be like this. Santa, I thought we were going to all graduate together and figure out who the mastermind was." Kokken tried one last time to desperately reach him. She pleaded as tears of pain ran down her cheeks. She coughed on the blood welling up in her mouth.

Santa said nothing; he only turned and walked towards the mace.

Kokken's eyes widened in terror. "Wait! Santa, please don't!" She begged. "Please, listen to reason! I don't want to die! Please, don't kill me!"

Bending down, he picked up the mace. "I thought you wanted to get out of here? I'm going to get you out, so sit back and watch." His words were dark and sinister, as if she was talking to the devil himself, and all she could do was lay there. Her body wouldn't move and walking would have been impossible. The girl wept as she saw the final moments flash before her eyes.

This was it.

She was going to die, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"No!" Kokken shouted, still trying to beg the rock star. "You can't do this! Taiga...he'll come and-"

Santa was going to stop her before she tried to put her belief in her savior who would clearly never come. "I'll get through him too if I have to. As for the others, I'll take care of them." One by one, they would all fall to him. There was only going to be one survivor and that was going to be him.

"No! Please stop...Please...don't..." Kokken's sobs overcame her pleas and they became weaker and weaker.

Santa trembled with emotion. Rage and adrenaline rushed inside of him. "You know nothing." he shot lividly, "nothing! They're going to win, so it's better to work with them. This is the end of days! This is a problem bigger than you and I!" Santa swung the mace behind his head, preparing for a brutal swing. "Now DIE!" He shouted in a primal rage as the ball slammed into the girl's tiny body. Kokken gurgled as blood hemorrhaged from her wounds. He continued to hit her over and over again, the spiked ball assaulting her body as Kokken desperately tried to struggle but there was little she could do to keep from being beaten to death. Blood sprayed over Santa's form and over the grass. It sprayed across his face as he stared into the girl's visage, riddled in terror as her struggling slowed down and finally stopped. He hit her one final time as the spike penetrated her chest, ending her life for good.

Santa stood up and stared at the girl's lifeless form below him. Red eyes settled on the blood splattered form one last time as he turned and began to walk out of the graveyard, leaving her there with the other corpses to rot.

...To Be Continued