A/N- OMG an UPDATE! Holy cow! Who saw that coming?

I'm so glad to see I've picked up some new readers : D. Thank you everyone for your kind and helpful comments!!! Yes, I'm still planning on finishing this and I apologize for the delay.

Well, you've all waited long enough! So here it is : D! Crime of Passion Ch. 11!

--

They'd been delayed an hour by Yugo, who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. In the end, Mr. Ozaki had to hold the screaming child while Izumi and Serika left. It was not an auspicious beginning to the evening.

They'd spent another forty minutes getting there. Twice the time it would have taken Izumi if he were traveling by himself. Serika wasn't as used to the terrain as the rebel captain. It was nearly two hours after the agreed upon deadline. The sun had set forcing the siblings to travel by flashlight, slowing their progress even more.

Finally, a flickering light could be seen among the rubble of what might once have been a post office building. The flagpole was the only standing object left in the crumbled structure. Climbing over an over-turned car, it became apparent that the orange glow was that of a fire.

"That's probably Koji," Izumi said, helping Serika down from the car. He found his feet carrying him across the ground with increased haste. Serika struggled to keep up with him. It'd felt so strange, those two days, not having Koji shadow him. Izumi had caught himself looking over his shoulder for the cyborg several times during his stay.

Izumi and Serika clambered over the remaining wall of the postal building and turned toward the flickering light to greet Koji.

The sight that met Izumi froze him solid where he stood.

Koji was sitting on a stack of cement bricks by the fire, wearing what looked suspiciously like the same clothes he'd come in. His head was turned toward them, having heard their approach, and he was blinking owlishly at Izumi, as if the boy was the last person he'd expected to see. His clothes were dirt-speckled and unkempt. The great dictator had never looked so run down and… lost. He reminded Izumi most of a child who had been deserted. It took Izumi a while to notice the knife in Koji's hand. Behind her brother, Serika let out a loud gasp.

"Koji!" Izumi stumbled foreword, tripping over bricks and broken concrete. He was staring at the knife in Koji's still hand. "Were you attacked?" His voice sounded strangled.

Izumi's distress seemed to awaken Koji from his stunned trance. The cyborg hastily threw the knife aside, banishing whatever lingering thoughts accompanied the blade.

"No. I was just thinking," he blurted out, reaching for Izumi and drawing the slim boy down to him. Koji wrapped shaking arms around the young rebel as if he were never going to let go again.

"You came back. You came back," he was repeating, over and over, like a mantra. Izumi wrapped his own arms comfortingly around Koji's shoulders.

"I said I would." Koji buried his face in the nape of Izumi's neck.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Izumi asked. His voice shook slightly. He was afraid of the answer.

"It's not important," Koji insisted. "I was going to follow you anyways." Izmui went very still in the protective arms.

"You wouldn't dare," he said, sounding slightly hysterical. "You wouldn't have dared do that to me."

"No. I wasn't… I was just thinking… Haven't I said I couldn't leave you?" Koji moved his head to look into Izumi's wild eyes. His tone was soothing.

Izumi calmed a bit. He bit his lip, searching for something to distract from the unpleasant topic at hand. His eyes darted around the campsite and lighted on his nearly forgotten sister. He drew abruptly away from Koji's embrace, rising stiffly to his feet and blushing furiously.

"Ah, Koji, this is my sister, Serika," he said tightly, moving aside so the young girl was fully visible to the cyborg. Serika was staring, mouth slightly ajar. It seemed words had left her completely.

Koji looked startled. He hadn't even noticed her. He stood.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances." He had managed to compose himself fairly quickly. Then again, Koji never had any trouble turning on his 'public' face.

Serika blushed. She hadn't expected the cyborg ruler to be quite that handsome.

"Hello," she replied nervously. "Um, please take care of my brother!" she blurted out. Izumi looked about to choke from embarrassment and shock at Serika's sudden request. Koji, however, was highly amused. He gave Serika a wide smile.

"I will," he promised. Izumi was beat red. He mumbled something in which the words 'firewood' were audible and practically vaulted over the wall in his rush to get away.

--

Serika sat, rather at ease given the circumstance, across the fire from the Oppressor himself. Koji had been grilling her with questions about Izumi. His childhood. His likes. His relationships. Serika readily answered everything she could.

Finally, Koji asked the question he'd been longing to for the past week.

"The scar on his right hip…" He didn't have to finish the inquiry. Serika immediately grew somber. She was silent for a while, and then seemed to reach a decision.

"My elder brother… witnessed our Dad's death. Mom… our mother…" Serika looked away uncomfortably, "killed him and then… stabbed herself." Serika was quiet. She didn't have to look at Koji to know the expression of horrified shock he was wearing. She'd seen it on too many other faces before. There were unfortunately few secrets one could keep in such a small community. Serika swallowed, gearing up to continue.

"Takuto once said… that she'd claimed it was out of love." Serika shook her head. "They'd always been so happy. I guess… I guess Mom didn't want to have to see the day Dad wouldn't love her anymore. Brother's scar… Its from when he tried to protect Dad." She shifted uneasily. "At home… many know what happened, but I've never told anyone why. You're the first." She looked straight up at Koji for the first time that evening.

Koji was staring at her, wide eyed. His felt cold. Though he understood little of human social connections and attachments, to witness the death of someone you love… The pair fell into silence. They didn't speak until Izumi returned. He curiously didn't have so much as a stick of firewood with him.

Serika smiled up at her brother, rising off the ground.

"I'd better head home." She stepped foreword to hug her brother. "I'll see you again, I know." With that she pulled back, smiled at Koji, and climbed with some difficulty back over the post office wall.

Before the back of her head had dropped beneath the top bricks, Koji had once more wrapped Izumi in a hug from behind. Izumi smiled softly.

"Come on," Izumi muttered. "Let's go."

--

TBC... 3