Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Title: The Epic or To Be Determined

Chapter: 1/ many

Authors: Kyo-chan and Koko-chan

Genre: Shounen-ai

Disclaimers: We do not own the characters or the series. They belong to Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno. This fanfiction is written by fans purely for the enjoyment of fans.

Author's Notes: First of all, this is very long with about two-thirds of it completed. Secondly, this begins right after episode 17, and for the sake of our memories, we found this site very useful for that /spiral/show/31756/episodeguide.html . Be forewarned that in addition to shounen-ai, there will be original characters, elements from both the anime and manga, and a deviation from both plotlines. We started this monster before any translations were available to us, so we just did our own thing. Comments and criticisms are highly appreciated, but please, no flames. Enjoy the read!

ooooo

Eyes Rutherford paced the expanse of the conservatory, every so often glancing out at the city bathed in the midday sun. A letter sat unfolded on the top of his piano, the words still echoing in his mind as if spoken by a voice that continued on even when his eyes weren't looking at the words.

Dear Eyes,
I hope this letter finds you well. Unfortunately, my visit will again be delayed by matters necessary to attend to here. However, I have recently been informed that another threat is close to you. Various sources at my disposal report that there is a Hunter being dispatched to see to sweet, unknowing Sayoko Shiranagatani, and her safety is no doubt compromised. I thought that it would be best to warn you, since you are in a better position to eliminate yet another threat to the Blade Children. I trust you will handle it as I have come to expect of you, especially after all of the special attention I have given you.

Until next we meet,
Kanone

The musician didn't like the residual anxiousness that accompanied the letter that had arrived today. Not only did it mean trouble for the few Blade Children he looked out for here in Tokyo, but Kanone knew precisely how to word the letter to remind Eyes of the way things were. It was especially disconcerting considering that the last few months had been spent in a hectic and very intense pursuit of not only one Ayumu Narumi, but his own thoughts about someone else that had managed to get close to him. In the slowly-awakening affection he'd begun to enjoy from Kousuke Asazuki, he'd discovered that he didn't always like "the way things were". It was true that he and Kousuke fought quite literally like cats and dogs more than they had gotten along, but they'd patched up their rocky start with both of them giving just a little bit more in time and patience to what could possibly be more than just a hesitant partnership.

He was interrupted from his pacing by the sound of the door opening and none other than Kousuke walking in, not bothering to knock as usual. The expression on his pale face was determined, his green-gold cat eyes intent beneath the crimson bangs of his hair. He looked as if he'd been intending to demand something of Eyes, but he paused when he saw the tiniest signs of displeasure on the musician's face. "Your lips are compressed," he said, calling attention to Eyes's version of a tense scowl, "What's wrong?"

For a single moment, Eyes cursed the redhead's perception and attention to the very subtlety that the silver Blade Child relied upon for his own survival. He didn't mind the intrusion however, as he was getting rather used to them happening unannounced. "Another Hunter," he replied, turning away from the window to look at his companion gravely. "I just got word of it."

"Oh, joy of joys," Kousuke grumbled sarcastically, "I hope this one doesn't have a thing for rigged hotels. Exploding stairs make good exercise, but it gets boring after a while."

"No, it seems that this one would prefer to go against a target that doesn't know how to fight back," Eyes said, frowning just slightly at the recollection of what had happened while he had been away for a concert. He didn't intend on having that happen again.

"Wonderful," the redhead huffed. "I take it you know who the target is?"

Eyes gave a single nod. "Sayoko Shiranagatani."

"Ah. Shoulda expected that, I guess. If I was a Hunter, that's where I'd go. Or maybe not, considering the last one died at the hospital from...heh...complications."

"Complications indeed." Eyes knew that Sonobe's death had been Kousuke's fault, and perhaps in fact encouraged it in his own quiet way. "It means that she'll have to be watched."

"Maybe. But before that, we gotta talk." Kousuke said, his expression becoming determined again. "I want you to pull Ryoko out of this mess. I'm still kind of ticked that you dragged her into this in the first place."

Blue eyes blinked as he tilted his head, surprised at both his expression and the request that inspired it. "But I already went through the trouble of involving her. She is necessary now that Little Narumi knows Rio's face. We already agreed upon what she would and wouldn't do."

"That was before the Hunters got crazy and stupid enough to start taking hostages and rigging whole freaking buildings to explode. Ryoko hates to fight, you know that! And I don't want her in a place where she's going to get hurt!"

Eyes crossed his arms, looking at Kousuke with a stern expression. "And then what am I supposed to do about having someone else in the school with Narumi? At least Ryoko was a slightly less violent alternative so that just maybe we would have a chance at gaining his trust."

"It's not like I'm going to sneak up behind him and ram his face into one of the lunch tables!" Kousuke argued. "And Rio should be out of the hospital soon."

"Are you offering to take her place?"

Kousuke crossed his arms. "I already enrolled there, remember? I'll be nearby to make sure he doesn't get killed by someone other than us...not that I think you want any more of my little tests to be done."

"It shouldn't be necessary, especially not after Rio's test and your most recent encounter with the Hunters. It's a matter of trust now." He tilted his head, scrutinizing Kousuke's determination. "You really want me to remove her, don't you? You realize that we can't protect her if she's displaced from us."

Kousuke set his jaw, stubborn as ever. "Ryoko can take care of herself. But!" he said, interrupting Eyes before he could ask why she couldn't be left where she was if that was the case, "Right now, with both Narumi-ototou and you in the same area, the Hunters are converging on us. Ryoko can take care of herself in normal situations, but against the concentrated forces that are sure to come? I'm not willing to take that risk. Pull her out and send her somewhere safer."

Eyes took a slow breath, thinking it over for a quiet moment. It was true that she, out of any of them, stood the least chance of being able to handle the Hunters. True, she was tougher than most gave her credit for, but her absolute refusal to adopt the more vicious, self-defending tactics that Blade Children like himself, Kousuke and Rio relied upon put her in danger. He wasn't sure why it bothered him that Kousuke was so adamant, but he pushed that thought to the side, considering his reasons instead. "Fine," he finally answered. "I will...arrange for a better situation to make itself known and release her from our arrangement."

"You swear?"

"You have my word, Kousuke."

Kousuke relaxed as he heard those words, knowing that Eyes never went back on a promise. "Thanks. In return, I'll keep an eye on Narumi-ototou." He smiled slightly. "Not that that's an unpleasant prospect."

"Just make sure that 'keeping an eye on him' means that you don't scare him away," Eyes warned, turning back to the window that overlooked the city. His voice quieted a little as his slender fingers traced over the glass. "We need him."

"I'm hardly about to jump him in the halls and ravish him in a closet, either," Kousuke murmured, leaning against the wall, "But maybe you're right, and we do need him, in more ways than one. The question is how to get him?"

"The challenges and tests were meant to prove to him and to us that he could not only withstand Hunters, but also that he could be just as good as Kiyotaka," Eyes replied, watching Kousuke's movements in a reflection against the window. "The more we keep doing that, the more drawn to us he will be."

"Hmph," the redhead grunted, "Unless someone runs interference. I swear, if he's shacking up with that Hiyono girl, I'm going to get Rio to blow up her house."

"I highly doubt that's the case. However much she may want it, I just don't think that's the way he looks at her."

There was truth in that, and Kousuke couldn't help but snicker softly as he thought about the dynamic he had witnessed between the younger Narumi brother and his reporter-wannabe sidekick. "True. He usually looks dazed or confused instead of desiring. I still haven't figured out if it's because she's coming on too strong, or not strong enough."

That got a silver brow to rise. "I certainly never gave that any thought. She's just in the way. An...unexpected variable."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but if you try to cancel out that particular variable, Narumi-ototou's going to go into the negative."

"Little Narumi has separated himself from everything," Eyes pointed out with an almost inaudible sigh. "And the only reason he hasn't shut her out is because she's simply too stubborn for that."

Kousuke made a face, not really liking the fact that they were being beaten out by a girl who sang weird songs with lyrics that made no sense. "At least we have some links to him, however tenuous. His obsession with finding his brother, for one."

"I almost wish I knew where Kiyotaka was." It almost sounded as if he should have been wearing a wistful expression, but his face betrayed nothing. "If his younger brother can truly help save us, I feel as if we should offer him something in return."

"Whatever," the redhead replied with a shrug. "I don't think he can save us. Everything's been planned and plotted to the point where it's not possible to change Fate. But of course, that's not really the point here. The point is that even if we knew, we couldn't tell him. Otherwise, he'd stop chasing."

"And thus never believe in what he's actually capable of doing," Eyes conceded the point with a nod. "As for believing in him, I'm not entirely sure that I do either, but it's worth trying." His hand came up to brush a few strands of silver away from his face.

"Bah. If he can't learn to have confidence in himself and his judgments, he's no help at all. You weren't there for either of Rio's tests. Even when he got the right answer with the strychnine in the hospital, he was too much of a pussy to really follow through. And the thing with the tape? Hah! He gets the key and the tape and outwits myself and Rio, and he still just moans about how he's not good enough. For someone so damn clever, he's amazingly dense."

"But that just runs in the family, doesn't it?" Eyes said, tilting his head. "And all this time, he's had it thrown in his face how much better Kiyotaka is, it's like the reverse psychology of the boy who cried wolf. Instead of learning to know it for a lie, his wolf kept coming back to stare in his face. That wolf was his own making."

"Maybe, but it's still damn frustrating."

Eyes nodded his head once again. "I wonder how many times he will exceed our expectations before he obtains the confidence he needs." He finally turned away from the window completely, approaching Kousuke. "I hope that we're still alive then."

Kousuke gave Eyes a significant look over the rims of those ever-present yellow shades. "I intend to be, but if you keep pulling stunts like you did with that sniper, I don't know about you." Though his tone was reproachful, there was concern in the green-gold eyes. As much as Kousuke tried to hide it, he worried about Eyes.

The corners of Eyes's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to smile but couldn't quite do it. Even if he could, it likely wouldn't have reached his bright blue gaze. "I think you know precisely why I did it that way. Don't you?"

One crimson eyebrow raised, and then Kousuke rolled his eyes. "You mean besides scare me to death and make me act like an overprotective idiot in front of Narumi-ototou? No, not really."

"I don't play by anyone else's rules." His eyes were intent as he met Kousuke's. "Not a Hunter's, not even Little Narumi's. I may not be able to outrun Fate, but there are certainly better ways to die, so I'll make that happen on my terms for as long as I can."

Kousuke's expression hardened as his temper was roused, his eyes flashing with molten intensity as they glared into endless blue. "Maybe," he growled, "but that won't stop me from playing by my own rules to try and keep you alive. I am not going to be the one that has to go to Kanone and tell him you got yourself killed!"

Eyes sensed that depending on his answers, the flash in those eyes before him could mean the downward spiral into another of their arguments. "You don't think he wouldn't approve?" Eyes's voice never reached above the pitch he always held, but there was something underneath it, as if that something had stolen his ability to yell. "Whether we follow Fate or not, Blade Children still don't answer to Hunters, nor do we die by them. Do you think he'd want us skulking in the shadows when we have the skill to defeat the Hunters at their own game?"

Something that looked suspiciously like hurt passed through Kousuke's eyes, even as he glowered at his leader. Then he looked away, his expression closing down into something unreadable. "So you'd rather I didn't care when you put yourself in danger?" he whispered, "That I do nothing when someone threatens your life?" He shook his head and forced that familiar cocky grin onto his face, the jesters' mask his best defense, and the one he was most skilled at. "Well, thanks but no thanks, Fearless Leader. Kanone freaks me out, and I'm not doing anything that makes me have to talk to him. He's spooky."

This time, Eyes's sigh was audible, the only sign that he would allow for the tightening in his chest as that look of hurt didn't pass unnoticed. He lowered his head, lovely argent hair falling forward to curtain his face, hiding an expression that he wasn't sure he wanted seen. "I never said that no one should care." He wouldn't admit that Kanone intimidated him, but he had been the closest thing to a leader the Blade Children had once had, the one who taught them how to stand up and fight against the Hunters in the first place.

"Then don't expect me to act that way!" Kousuke shot back, turning to look at Eyes once more. "Maybe I can't stop you when you do things like that, but I can sure as hell complain about it. Hells, half the time I think Kanone's just waiting for one of us to slip up anyway, just so he can come down and terrorize us all. Or hang off you like a sex-crazed anaconda." The redhead paused, and tilted his head in thought. "Hm. Is it possible to do both at the same time..?"

"Aren't you being a little unreasonable?" the pianist asked, his tone hushed as if he didn't want someone unseen to hear. And it would not have been difficult for Kousuke to guess who that unseen shadow might be. His hand came up to rub the opposite arm as if he were cold. "You make Kanone out to be--" Eyes couldn't think of an appropriate comparison, so he let the sentence linger.

That caused Kousuke to smirk and shrug, though he inwardly did feel a little sorry for Eyes. "You're right, I'm exaggerating. This is Kanone, after all, and he'd act like a subtle sex-crazed anaconda."

"Kousuke..." The same hand as before moved again, and this time he dared to slowly lift it. His fingertips brushed the side of the redhead's face. "I don't wish to talk about Kanone anymore."

The grin on Kousuke's face faded, becoming something much sadder but far more real. He lifted one of his own hands up to cover Eyes's, surprisingly gentle. "Sorry," he whispered, feeling a little bad about the look in the other Blade Child's eyes. He still hadn't quite figured out where the limit to teasing lay between them, so he still crossed the line every now and again.

Eyes distantly wondered why the other Blade Child's touch felt so warm against his own skin. Was he really as cold to the touch as he felt? "Our future is unknown, our survival is questionable. I don't want to contemplate what happens if we fail or if Little Narumi cannot save us. I would like to learn how to feel before I die."

"I dunno," Kousuke sighed, rubbing his thumb over the back of Eyes's hand in a gentle motion, daring for just a little while to actually show the affection he held for his leader and friend. "Feelings are all well and good, but mortal terror sucks."

"I suppose that's not the best thing to start with," he replied. The touch was reassuring, and Eyes hoped that Kousuke could see how much it meant in his gaze, since he couldn't quite let the smile pull at his lips yet. "You're right."

It seemed that he could, because the redhead's gemlike eyes softened a little more, and he allowed a rare genuine smile to grace his lips. "Of course. The Great and Powerful Kousuke-sama is always right."

A bit of a nod was all Eyes needed to show that he agreed, even if it was only to make Kousuke happy. "Doesn't it ever get tiring to know everything, Kousuke?" he teased, his tone barely changing, but there was a softness to it that let the redhead know he was joking.

"Well yes," Kousuke replied, his smile becoming impish, "but when the pressure of my obvious omniscience becomes too much for me to bear, I just go talk to Rio. She then proceeds to give me a heaping dose of reality and make me feel like a total idiot. Quite refreshing, really."

"I should have expected such a thing," Eyes said, a soft exhalation of breath sounding somewhat close to a laugh. "Trust Rio to put you in your place." Why couldn't he smile? Between them, it was always like this. Kousuke had a knack for saying or doing the right things to provoke a smile, but it almost hurt for Eyes to give him even the slightest acknowledgement. He couldn't complain though. He'd done it all himself, he'd made himself this way to avoid fate.

Kousuke didn't mind the unresponsiveness of the Brit too much. While it was sometimes a little daunting, he was becoming quite adept in reading all the small signs that passed for change of expression on the other boy. And he understood that their relationship was still too new to expect the gigantic amount of trust that it would take for Eyes to lower his walls. There were times when Kousuke still had trouble lowering his when they were alone, after all. Still, for right now it was enough to just be near him and sometimes see this softer side of the pianist.

"Kousuke..." he began quietly, his blue eyes fixing on the gold."It's...only going to get more difficult from now on. I don't need Kanone to tell me that. We're outnumbered and one boy who doesn't have the power to believe is our last chance at hope. Are you sure you want to remain here with me? You and Rio are free to go whenever you please."

Kousuke sighed, slowly lowering both his eyes and their clasped hands. "You know I don't personally believe he can change our fate. Not yet. If he can, he needs to grow up a little first. But what both I and Rio do believe in is you, and the fact that if we don't at least try, that makes us no better than the dolls they want to turn us into." He looked up into Eyes's sapphire gaze again, his own eyes determined. "And I'm not about to leave you alone against the world. Knowing you, you'd just run out and do something that put you in danger again. I'm not abandoning you to anyone, not even Kanone."

Eyes held Kousuke's gaze for a few moments longer before he nodded once. "You're probably right. I'm not good at staying out of sight." It made him feel better that Rio and Kousuke still believed in him. For awhile now, he felt like he'd been stumbling around blindly, Kanone's letters from wherever he was doing nothing to help him figure things out. He knew where his brother stood, and the letters were probably meant more to entice him to the "right" side than to actually save him from the Hunters. At least with Kousuke and Rio, he knew that they all had the same plan in mind, no ulterior motives. Their only differences were the degrees in which they trusted Ayumu to save them. Rio's near-absolute faith, his wavering doubts, and Kousuke's blatant disbelief until he was proven wrong. "Thank you," Eyes murmured after a moment.

Kousuke grinned and reached up to brush back a long strand of silver hair. "Aw, don't mention it. I'm doing this because Rio would kill me if I let you get in trouble. You may be the unofficial Leader-sama, but she scares me." His tone may have been light, but the softness of his golden eyes belied it, showing the care that hid beneath the jester's mask.

It was that care that Eyes managed to see which flared his hope. It wasn't Kiyotaka's words of inspiration, it had nothing to do with fate. It was the reality that he wasn't really alone that made him believe he could evade what had been set out for him. "Kousuke..." He felt there was something he should have been able to say, but he couldn't find it. He leaned forward slowly and pressed his lips to the redhead's. The movement was slight, not much pressure, but the meaning had more power to it than the gesture itself.

Kousuke froze in shock for a second, but that was normal for the redhead. He had never been one to take surprises well, and the kiss was totally unexpected. Still, he booted his brain back into action and hesitantly raised his arms to wrap around Eyes, keeping the hold loose in case the other didn't like it. Golden eyes fluttered closed as he leaned into the kiss, returning the light pressure and feeling his heart swell with the knowledge of Eyes's affection.

It was strange...to have someone's arms around him that weren't Kanone's. It had taken a brief second to register that difference so that he wouldn't offend Kousuke by pulling away. His experiences with such things were rare, but he made the most of it, holding the pressure for as long as it felt right before hesitantly withdrawing. He didn't leave the seemingly protective circle of Kousuke's arms, however, not feeling the immediate urge to escape. He felt as if he should have apologized for taking advantage of the moment, but instead, he just lowered his head.

Kousuke took a chance and tightened the hold just a little. He liked the feeling of having Eyes in his arms. Sure, their relationship was very new and not terribly deep, but that hadn't stopped Kousuke from daydreaming about the softer stuff, even if neither of them were really sure they could trust the other that much just yet.

The trust was a large issue. When Eyes had first begun to slip away from Kanone, he thought that he would be defying the Saviors alone. That Kousuke and Rio had joined up with him was indeed a surprise, but he'd accepted them, always guarding his back just in case they turned out to be under Kanone. It was difficult, but he had to have learned something, or he wouldn't be allowing Kousuke to hold him like this.

Kousuke felt like he wanted to hold Eyes like this forever. But he knew it wasn't really possible. For one thing, they'd both get damn bored with just remaining stationary after a while, and two, Rio could pop in at any minute, and neither of them was really ready to have others know just yet. Even if Kousuke suspected that she already knew. Rio was sneaky like that.

Eyes let out another soft sight and very gently pulled away. He wanted Kousuke to know that it he wasn't unhappy with their moment of comfort with each other, but he had the same things on his mind as the redhead. "We need to work on the next plan. Now that we've been alerted to the presence of another Hunter, I don't want to wait for him to get to us first, as they have before."

Kousuke nodded and let go of Eyes without complaint. For now, this was enough, and he turned his mind to business as usual. "Maybe we should lure the Hunter out and kill him quickly? It's annoying to wait for their death threats, and the freaking out part when they target you gives me a headache."

"You mean because I'm not as cautious as you would prefer?" Eyes asked, and inwardly, he was amused. He knew that it had bothered both Kousuke and Ayumu when he'd gone against the younger Narumi's plans to take matters into his own hands. He was too clever to die just yet, too stubborn to let someone dictate how he'd live, and too set in the belief that he still called the shots.

"Well, yeah." Kousuke replied. "Look Eyes, like it or not, you're the one leading this motley little group. What would happen to Rio and me if you bit the big one? For all her maturity, Rio's not a leader, and I can barely lead a dog to its food bowl, let alone lead her! You've got other lives besides your own on the line when you take risks like that." And I don't think I could bear it to watch you die, the look in his eyes said.

"It's not that I'm not thinking of you." Eyes walked quietly over to sit at his piano, but like so often lately, his gaze was what touched the keys, not his fingers. "I have every intention of surviving when I make the plans I do. It's just that I prefer to survive on my own terms. I could fight, but if I can evade them without killing, it would be the more preferable choice."

Kousuke sighed and plopped into a nearby chair, somehow managing to look bonelessly graceful while doing so. "I guess that's where we differ. I'd rather kill them and eliminate the danger of them returning to try again."

"By killing, we are one step closer to being what he wanted us to be." Eyes knew he could kill. And that he could probably do it without a second thought or a backwards glance.

"I don't think so. That would just be killing anyone, anywhere, for no reason. When I kill, it's because someone has threatened me or my family. And I would have killed that Hunter at the concert, if I had been able."

Eyes let out a soft sigh, staring at the ivory as if it held all the answers he was looking for. "I know you would have. And I wouldn't have held it against you."

Kousuke smirked. "Of course not! He was getting in the way of you being adored by all your lady fans, ne?" the redhead teased, settling into a comfortable sprawl within the large chair, his legs dangling over one arm while his head rested on the other.

His eyebrow lifted again. "The female fans are the loudest ones."

Kousuke laughed. "That's not true. The loudest ones are your staff, since you keep changing plans on them."

"They can deal with it."

Kousuke chuckled. "You say that now, but what will you do when one of the organizers finally blows a gasket and tries to shave you bald?"

"What, and ruin that precious superficial beauty that they all seem to like? She would probably fear for her own safety." He tilted his head. "If she did that to me, she might have a hundred other women bearing down with weapons in hand.

And one guy, Kousuke added, but kept the thought to himself. He wasn't ready to open himself that much and show his affections so obviously. "True. But people do odd things in the state of madness." He stretched, his long body arching as his arms reached above his head. "So, what do you think we should do about this new Hunter of ours? I'm all for laying bait and luring him away from Sayoko and into some sort of fatal little trap, but what would you prefer?"

Eyes knew how to get Kousuke to react, and he glanced in the other Blade Child's direction. "Are you in need of bait? I could free up a night."

"Gack!" Kousuke momentarily freaked, losing all his grace, agility, and sadly, his balance. He fell out of the chair and landed in a heap. "Don't you dare!!"

As much as Eyes found that amusing, there was a bit of truth to it. It would require an actual Blade Child to be bait for any Hunter, and Eyes was willing to do it himself rather than put Rio or Kousuke. Especially since Rio was still healing and Kousuke didn't have as much fighting skill. "Our options are rather limited, Kousuke."

Kousuke righted himself and glared at his silver-haired friend and leader. "Still, no way in hell! You're not stupid, you're not expendable, and you're not going. If anything, I should be bait, since Rio's still healing."

Eyes managed to hide the fact that the concept bothered him. "I suppose you may have a point, but are you volunteering because you really want to, or to keep me from going?"

"Both." Kousuke replied promptly, removing his yellow glasses to check them for damage from the tumble. "Not only are you not as expendable as I am, but there's just the fact that you never go walking out around town unless you have to. To do so now would be out of character, and the Hunter might notice that and be suspicious. I, however, like to wander around and cause chaos, so catching me out and about won't seem strange. And while I'm not the demon you are in a fight, I can hold my own."

"I wasn't suggesting that you couldn't, Kousuke." There was something in the way that he said the redhead's name that was different from the rest of his tone. As if it had more meaning than anything else. It sometimes happened with Rio too, as if the only thing that broke the chain of his aloofness was the people that surrounded him. "And I hate to bend to the fact that you're right."

Kousuke grinned. "Hey, what did I say before? The great and powerful Kousuke-sama is always right!"

"And quite modest too."

Kousuke shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Either way, my antics do seem to amuse you, so it's all good." He hopped to his feet, lithe as a cat, and walked over to stand behind Eyes at the piano. "So, do we actually use my bait idea, or do you have any other ideas?" Times like this, Kousuke wished Rio was here. She was always good for plans.

"It sounds like the bait idea is all we have for the moment. Hunters won't be particular about who they kill at this point. Still, I don't think that Rio's going to like it anymore than I do. I'm not sure if Ayumu cares at this point." The presence behind Eyes was reassuring, and he almost leaned back, but remained where he was.

Kousuke shrugged. "I don't think we should drag Narumi-ototou in on this anyway. Call me a sick bastard--which I am--but I really don't think he'd be able to handle me eviscerating someone in broad daylight."

Eyes nodded. "You may be right about that. It might just end up that he gets involved anyway, but I'd rather not instigate such a connection. If it happens, it might be more in tune with fate than we can control."

"I was thinking more that he'd freak out and run away, never to return, but yeah, that's also true." Kousuke replied, absently playing with a strand of Eyes's silver hair.

Without really thinking about it, the musician's head tipped back in the direction of Kousuke's hand. "What you say is a good point as well, but I have a feeling he might keep coming back until he hears what he wants to about Kiyotaka. Unfortunately, that might be all we're good for to him."

Kousuke sighed, but a slight smile stayed on his face. "Well, I guess you'll just have to exercise that infamous Eyes Rutherford charm of yours to nab more than his curiosity about his brother." He let his hands wander lower, resting on the Brit's shoulders as a silent offering of a shoulder rub.

"Hn. Charm." He said that as if he didn't believe he had it, though it had been proven somehow time and again. Against his usual better judgment, he didn't pull away from Kousuke's hands, allowing that tentative trust to hang between them just a little longer.

Kousuke immediately started to wring the tension out of the musician's shoulders. "Yup, charm. As crazy as it sounds. What is it about the silent type that drives admirers nuts?"

"I don't know, but whoever solves that mystery might find something to gain from it." A bit of a groan left his lips as Kousuke's hands dug into his shoulders, kneading out knots he hadn't even noticed until now. His head fell forward, argent hair slipping down to curtain his pale features.

The redhead let out a small chuckle as he watched Eyes reluctantly relax. Who would have thought that he was such a slave to simple massage? "You tense too much. I'd tell you to go on vacation, but knowing you, nowhere in the world would be safe. If it isn't hoards of fangirls, it'll be hired killers."

"Such is the life of Eyes Rutherford, I suppose," Eyes said, giving the slightest shrug so he wouldn't dislodge the hands. He didn't sound resentful of it; rather he accepted that as his life.

"Hai, hai," Kousuke sighed, digging at a particularly stubborn spot. "So I'll stake out that creepy old manor, huh? Hopefully if they see me first, they'll forget about her long enough for me to kill them."

Eyes hissed softly at the spot of tension, but let out his breath slowly. "They're going to assume she's the easier target."

Kousuke made a small 'tsk'ing sound as he continued to work. Most of the tension was melting away, leaving relaxation in its wake. "Well, that's not very nice. I'll have to go wander around there and look conspicuous. I'm good at conspicuous."

"Without even trying," Eyes confirmed, shaking his head. "You're really not going to be talked out of being bait, are you?"

"When the only other choices are you, Rio, and Sayoko? No, not really." Kousuke replied, removing his hands now that the tension in Eyes's shoulders was gone.

Eyes slumped just a little more in his seat, but made no more movement than that. "I suppose I'll agree, but you'd better be careful."

Kousuke waved the concern away with an airy wave of his hand. "Please, I'm a Blade Child, ne? What can happen?"

"Please don't try to find out," Eyes said, his voice the same as ever but with a hint of imploring to it.

"Don't worry. This is a game of cat and mouse. And I almost never lose at my own games." Kousuke smiled and put his shades back on. "I should go arm up and take a walk. I should be back by nightfall."

"And if you're not?" Eyes asked, his head remaining lowered. His hand reached out, catching the redhead's sleeve. He knew already that if Kousuke didn't come back that night, he was going to go after his companion.

Green-golden eyes glanced at the pale hand clutching his sleeve before softening and rising to look at Eyes again. "If I'm not, bring backup with you. If this person catches me, I don't want you going alone. Take Rio...and maybe Narumi-ototou, if you can persuade him. But not the Hiyono girl. The thought of being rescued by a girl who punches with teddy bears makes me cringe."

Eyes turned his gaze up to Kousuke, something highly unreadable in his expression. Today's subtle incidents had let him know just how much he cared about his little team of defiance. They were more than just renegade Blade Children together. "You have to be careful."

The redhead gave another of those rare, genuine smiles and clasped the pale hand between his own, bringing the back of it up to his lips. "Of course. After all, I don't want you mad at me."

Eyes fought back a shiver as he nodded once, appreciating that smile as best he could. "You make me sound so brutal, Kousuke. I don't really have a temper."

Kousuke chuckled and freed the Brit's hand. "No, but you're too clever for my comfort. Especially when getting back at someone for annoying you. I'll avoid that, if I can." He turned and walked out of the room, but paused just as he would have closed the door behind him and looked back at Eyes. "Besides...making you mad at me would mean that I'd made you unhappy." With that, he closed the door and left to prepare.