Post by Nicholas Gray on Sept 1, 2015 22:19:17 GMT -6
(this is a direct sequel to Ruby Tyler's Staying's Worse Than Leaving, do read that again if you've forgotten what happened, it's very good)
Kegare waited.
The Kanemoto family butler stood in the shadows of the living room, shrouded in darkness, entirely motionless. The family slept, and thus he had nothing to do. So he stood, and he waited.
He waited for the chaos to begin.
When she had come home as injured as she was, having survived what she had, Kegare knew what would happen. He didn’t need to be in Ren’s office to know the argument. He did not need to be in the hallway outside of the office, to see the look on her face as she left the room, hurt in a way she never thought she’d be hurt. And he didn’t need to be in her room, to see her saying goodbye to her second family.
So he waited. He watched her leave shortly after 4 am, and he silently bid her farewell. He had his reservations about her, as he had about anyone who stepped through that door, but she had come to impress even him.
It was shortly after 7 when Ren awoke. He heard him begin to move around his room, and he heard when the footsteps suddenly stopped. The first of the notes had been found. For a long time, there was silence. And then he heard Masato awaken. Footsteps, again, that suddenly came to a confused stop. There was a pause, just long enough to read a letter. He heard a door be thrown open, footsteps hurrying down the hall, a voice shouting. From Tsurugi’s room he heard someone coming awake suddenly, the sound of a body falling out of a bed and scrambling in confusion across the floor, and out the door. More voices, trying to simply speak to start with but quickly raising into shouts, three languages mixing together.
Someone was shoved.
A punch was thrown.
More shouting, until a stern voice commands them to stop. Silence reigns, tension thick...and then the sound of feet stomping away. One set goes to Tsurugi’s door, slamming the door shut. The other goes past Masato’s room and continues down to the gym. And finally slow footsteps step to Ren’s room, shutting the door behind them.
The family was in turmoil. Kegare was needed.
So he cracked his neck, suddenly coming alive, and set off to the gym.
--
He could hear the sound of fists hitting a bag long before he reached the door to the gym built inside the Kanemoto estate. He pushed the door open and stepped in to find the sight he expected. Masato was in one corner of the room, where a punching bag was hung. And he was putting it through it’s paces. He was relentless, throwing punch after punch into the bag, occasionally throwing a knee into it. His face was twisted with anger, and his body was already gaining a sheen of sweat, despite the small amount of time.
Kegare: Sir.
Masato ignored him, and continued to hit the bag. He grabbed it and began to throw rights into it, each one harder than the last, before jumping and driving his knee into it.
Kegare: Sir.
This time, Masato seemed to pause. Just for a moment, to hear him. Then he went back to throwing punches at the bag.
Masato Kanemoto: How dare she.
He drove his elbow into the bag.
Masato Kanemoto: How dare she!
A knee.
Masato Kanemoto: We brought her into our home!
A palm.
Masato Kanemoto: We accepted her, we trained her, we let her in to our family!
A jab.
Masato Kanemoto: And how does she repay this? She just disappears into the fucking night!
A cross.
Masato Kanemoto: She called us family! She called me a brother! And yet she’s happy to just disappear into the night and leave us!
Kegare: She had her reasons, sir.
Masato Kanemoto: FUCK HER REASONS!
He turned from the bag, walking swiftly to the wall, where his sword rested. He pulled the broadsword from its sheath, turned, and swung, hitting the bag diagonally, cutting it straight through. Sand sprayed out onto the gym floor. Kegare took a small step forward, ready to take the sword if needed. But it wasn’t, as Masato just drops it. And he looks down at the destroyed punching bag, and the sand on the floor, and he just looks at it in silence for a while, taking deep breaths from the exertion.
Masato Kanemoto: Kegare…
His tone had changed, and when he looked up at the butler, so had his expression. The anger seemed to have drained away, replaced with a kind of sadness.
Masato Kanemoto: ...is this my fault?
Kegare’s eyes widened at this.
Kegare: Sir…
Masato Kanemoto: I know. That I’m...difficult to be around. I approach everything seriously. Ruby is like Tsurugi, she’s a free spirit. Someone like me is always tiring. Did she finally get sick of being around me?
Kegare stepped forward, putting a hand on Masato’s shoulder.
Kegare: Of course not, sir. She cared for you, like family.
Masato Kanemoto: Then why?!
Kegare winced. He considered, for the briefest moment, telling Masato. To just explain why, to let him understand the situation fully. But he couldn’t do that. The strain it would put on the family...no. So instead Kegare just tried to give him a reassuring look, and said nothing. It didn’t work. Masato shrugged the hand off of his shoulder and turned, picking his sword up. He grabbed the sheath next, and sheathed the sword. He looked at it, and Kegare knew what Masato was thinking about. Which was confirmed when Masato spoke again.
Masato Kanemoto: Losing family...I already had to feel this pain once.
He sniffed once, before his face began to set into the beginnings of a look of hatred.
Masato Kanemoto: I’ll never forgive her for putting me through it again.
He looked back at Kegare.
Masato Kanemoto: Please leave. I...want to be alone.
Kegare did not like it, but he followed the command, bowing to Masato before turning to leave. As he pushed the door open, he looked back. Masato sat on the floor and clutched his sword, the heirloom of the family’s last loss, to his body.
He closed the door.
--
He approached the door to Ren’s bedroom and knocked.
Ren Kanemoto: Kegare. Please come in.
Kegare opened the door and stepped inside. He wasn’t surprised to find the temperature to be far warmer in the room than it was outside. He needed to fix the air conditioning for this room. But Ren didn’t seem to notice, because he never really noticed the heat around him. The Guide sat on his knees across the room from his bed, in front of a small memorial. Well maintained and constantly replaced flowers circle a photo of a Japanese woman, around mid-30s. Kegare briefly bows his head to the photo.
Kegare: Sir…
Ren Kanemoto: Tsurugi put his hands on me. He grabbed me by the collar and shoved me back into the wall. For that, Masato punched him.
He closes his eyes briefly, taking a breath.
Ren Kanemoto: I can’t comprehend how poorly I’ve done.
Kegare: Sir, they were emotional. It’s...natural.
Ren shook his head.
Ren Kanemoto: The look on Masato’s face when his fist lashed out into Tsurugi’s face. That’s not a look anyone should have directed at a family member. And that that happened, is solely on me.
Kegare said nothing, finding no comforting words coming to him.
Ren Kanemoto: For a year, I treated Ruby as my student. Over the course of that year, she became close to family. Where once I had two sons, now I also had a daughter. And now I wonder. If that order said to instead send Tsurugi, or Masato...off to certain death...would I have?
Kegare: ...I’m certain you’d have done the right thing, sir.
Ren Kanemoto: ..I didn’t do the right thing here.
Kegare shook his head.
Kegare: No. You only followed orders.
Ren Kanemoto: I could have disobeyed it. I wanted to so badly, you have no idea. But…
He looked back at the photo.
Ren Kanemoto: There’s always consequences to that.
Both of the men are silent for a while after this, even Kegare bowing his head as he remembered. Finally, Ren broke the silence.
Ren Kanemoto: Hank Tyler was a good man, wasn’t he? A good friend.
Kegare nodded, a smile coming to his face at the memory of the man.
Kegare: He was.
Ren Kanemoto: ...it’s a shame I couldn’t respect his memory by taking care of his daughter.
Kegare’s smile vanishes.
Ren Kanemoto: Kegare...could you…
Kegare let out a deep sigh, and nodded.
Kegare: I’ll leave, sir.
Ren Kanemoto: Thank you.
Kegare turns to leave, walking to the door and beginning to walk out. He stops for a moment, turning to look back. He’d never seen the man look so tired. Ren continued to sit on his knees, head bowed to the photo in front of him, like he was asking forgiveness from the dead.
He closed the door.
--
He knocked on the door to Tsurugi’s room.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: just come in Kegare…
Kegare opened the door and entered the room, already knowing what to expect. Tsurugi sat on the floor, his back against his bed. One arm propped up to lay his head on. Kegare could hear the slight sound of him sniffling. Kegare frowned.
Kegare: Sir...I understand how you’re feeling, but…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: No, no…
He shook his head a few times to emphasize this.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: You don’t understand.
He looked up, and Kegare saw he was smiling, despite the tears, taking him aback.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I’m happy.
Kegare: ...you’re correct, I don’t understand.
Tsurugi dropped his arm, letting his head rest against his bed now as he explained.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: “Ruby deserves better than the Order.” Those are words I’ve thought more and more as time’s gone on. Father’s teaching me things about how this all works, and every single thing I learn makes me think it more. And this isn’t something stupid like “I want to protect her,” like she needs ME to protect her. It’s just...I want her to be happy. And there’s no such thing as happiness in the Order, is there?
He looks at Kegare for an answer, and the butler can only frown, and nod.
Kegare: It’s a rare occurrence.
Tsurugi nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: That’s what I thought. So even though she was happy with us, and we were happy with her...it’s still got to be for the best, right?
Kegare could only shrug.
Kegare: Perhaps. Or perhaps not. I can’t see the future.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: If only.
Kegare: Yes...but still, I will believe that Miss Ruby will be happy. She is a strong woman, and I believe in her.
Tsurugi nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Me too.
He pushed himself up onto his feet, briefly dusting himself off.
Kegare: Do you feel better?
Tsurugi didn’t answer, instead looking down at his hands.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: ...I put my hands on my father.
Kegare: Yes. I’m aware.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I couldn’t help it. When I saw the look on his face when we all came out of our rooms, I just knew. He sent Ruby to die, didn’t he?
Kegare frowned, deeply, but did not lie.
Kegare: ...as he was ordered to. Yes.
He looked angry.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: He couldn’t disobey this one order?
Kegare: That’s a lesson he still hasn’t taught you yet, Tsurugi, sir.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: What lesson is that?
For a moment, Kegare is silent. But, again, he finally responds.
Kegare: The...consequences of that.
Tsurugi looked down at the floor for a moment, before looking back at Kegare.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I would have disobeyed them anyway.
A bit of a smile comes to Kegare’s face, as he reaches out to pat Tsurugi on the shoulder.
Kegare: That, sir, is your strength.
Kegare was happy. He had finally gotten through to one of his charges. And then Tsurugi laughed, and shattered that.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Strength? I’m not strong at all.
He shrugged the hand off of his shoulder.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Look at me!
He gestured to his eyes, still wet with tears.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Even though I’m happy, I still cry about it! There’s still so much of me that’s screaming to try and find her, to do my best to convince her to come back, even though I know it has to be better this way! What strength is that?!
Kegare: Tsurugi, sir…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: No!
His fist clenches.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I cried then, and I cry now. How have I changed in the last nine years, huh? What’s the damn difference?! I’m still weak!
Kegare was taken aback by the intensity of this, as Tsurugi just glares at him, waiting an answer. When he doesn’t immediately answer, Tsurugi just nods.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: That’s what I thought.
Then, to Kegare’s confusion, Tsurugi pulled his shirt off, tossing it aside carelessly.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Kegare…
His next words made Kegare’s blood freeze.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: How do you think I’d look with a chest tattoo?
Words that would sound stupid if you didn’t understand the meaning behind it. And Kegare did understand. He realized the thing Ren must have taught Tsurugi about. His composure instantly broke, a real worry coming across the man’s face, as he takes rapid steps forward, Tsurugi’s eyes widening as this. Kegare reached out and grasped both of Tsurugi’s shoulders, the sad hunter wincing a bit due to how tight the grip was.
Kegare: Tsurugi, sir, please! Don’t talk about that, don’t ever consider that!
Tsurugi’s eyes widen more at just how passionate this is. In his life, he’d never seen Kegare like this.
Kegare: I know you’re hurt, sir, but don’t ever think that that’s the answer! What it will do to your family…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I…
He looks away, suddenly not wanting to meet the butler’s gaze.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I’m sorry. I just...don’t know what to do.
He looked back at him, hoping for some guidance. Kegare did his best to smile, reassuringly.
Kegare: Continue on, sir. Be happy. It’s what Miss Ruby would want, isn’t it?
Tsurugi slowly nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Of course...you’re right.
He put on his best attempt at a smile.
Kegare: Everything will be okay, sir.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I know. Thank you. Could you, maybe…I just need some time to myself.
Kegare nodded.
Kegare: I’ll leave.
Kegare released Tsurugi and stepped back, already starting to walk back to the door.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: And, Kegare…
Kegare turned to look back at him. Tsurugi stood there, and was smiling.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I mean it. Thank you.
Kegare smiled back, and nodded.
Kegare: Anything for this family, sir.
And with that, he walked through the door, satisfied he’d at least helped one of the family he cared so much for.
--
The moment Kegare shut the door, Tsurugi’s smile vanished. He put his back against a wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. For a while, he didn’t do anything, besides make little sniffling sounds.
Then he finally looked down at his chest.
And he thought about how he never wanted to feel this way again, and what he could do to make sure he never felt it again.
How he could become truly strong.
All he had to do was enter into a covenant.
To the sad, emotionally vulnerable Hunter, it seemed a small price.
Whatever happened couldn’t be worse than what he felt now.
And one day, he’d learn how wrong he was.
Kegare waited.
The Kanemoto family butler stood in the shadows of the living room, shrouded in darkness, entirely motionless. The family slept, and thus he had nothing to do. So he stood, and he waited.
He waited for the chaos to begin.
When she had come home as injured as she was, having survived what she had, Kegare knew what would happen. He didn’t need to be in Ren’s office to know the argument. He did not need to be in the hallway outside of the office, to see the look on her face as she left the room, hurt in a way she never thought she’d be hurt. And he didn’t need to be in her room, to see her saying goodbye to her second family.
So he waited. He watched her leave shortly after 4 am, and he silently bid her farewell. He had his reservations about her, as he had about anyone who stepped through that door, but she had come to impress even him.
It was shortly after 7 when Ren awoke. He heard him begin to move around his room, and he heard when the footsteps suddenly stopped. The first of the notes had been found. For a long time, there was silence. And then he heard Masato awaken. Footsteps, again, that suddenly came to a confused stop. There was a pause, just long enough to read a letter. He heard a door be thrown open, footsteps hurrying down the hall, a voice shouting. From Tsurugi’s room he heard someone coming awake suddenly, the sound of a body falling out of a bed and scrambling in confusion across the floor, and out the door. More voices, trying to simply speak to start with but quickly raising into shouts, three languages mixing together.
Someone was shoved.
A punch was thrown.
More shouting, until a stern voice commands them to stop. Silence reigns, tension thick...and then the sound of feet stomping away. One set goes to Tsurugi’s door, slamming the door shut. The other goes past Masato’s room and continues down to the gym. And finally slow footsteps step to Ren’s room, shutting the door behind them.
The family was in turmoil. Kegare was needed.
So he cracked his neck, suddenly coming alive, and set off to the gym.
--
He could hear the sound of fists hitting a bag long before he reached the door to the gym built inside the Kanemoto estate. He pushed the door open and stepped in to find the sight he expected. Masato was in one corner of the room, where a punching bag was hung. And he was putting it through it’s paces. He was relentless, throwing punch after punch into the bag, occasionally throwing a knee into it. His face was twisted with anger, and his body was already gaining a sheen of sweat, despite the small amount of time.
Kegare: Sir.
Masato ignored him, and continued to hit the bag. He grabbed it and began to throw rights into it, each one harder than the last, before jumping and driving his knee into it.
Kegare: Sir.
This time, Masato seemed to pause. Just for a moment, to hear him. Then he went back to throwing punches at the bag.
Masato Kanemoto: How dare she.
He drove his elbow into the bag.
Masato Kanemoto: How dare she!
A knee.
Masato Kanemoto: We brought her into our home!
A palm.
Masato Kanemoto: We accepted her, we trained her, we let her in to our family!
A jab.
Masato Kanemoto: And how does she repay this? She just disappears into the fucking night!
A cross.
Masato Kanemoto: She called us family! She called me a brother! And yet she’s happy to just disappear into the night and leave us!
Kegare: She had her reasons, sir.
Masato Kanemoto: FUCK HER REASONS!
He turned from the bag, walking swiftly to the wall, where his sword rested. He pulled the broadsword from its sheath, turned, and swung, hitting the bag diagonally, cutting it straight through. Sand sprayed out onto the gym floor. Kegare took a small step forward, ready to take the sword if needed. But it wasn’t, as Masato just drops it. And he looks down at the destroyed punching bag, and the sand on the floor, and he just looks at it in silence for a while, taking deep breaths from the exertion.
Masato Kanemoto: Kegare…
His tone had changed, and when he looked up at the butler, so had his expression. The anger seemed to have drained away, replaced with a kind of sadness.
Masato Kanemoto: ...is this my fault?
Kegare’s eyes widened at this.
Kegare: Sir…
Masato Kanemoto: I know. That I’m...difficult to be around. I approach everything seriously. Ruby is like Tsurugi, she’s a free spirit. Someone like me is always tiring. Did she finally get sick of being around me?
Kegare stepped forward, putting a hand on Masato’s shoulder.
Kegare: Of course not, sir. She cared for you, like family.
Masato Kanemoto: Then why?!
Kegare winced. He considered, for the briefest moment, telling Masato. To just explain why, to let him understand the situation fully. But he couldn’t do that. The strain it would put on the family...no. So instead Kegare just tried to give him a reassuring look, and said nothing. It didn’t work. Masato shrugged the hand off of his shoulder and turned, picking his sword up. He grabbed the sheath next, and sheathed the sword. He looked at it, and Kegare knew what Masato was thinking about. Which was confirmed when Masato spoke again.
Masato Kanemoto: Losing family...I already had to feel this pain once.
He sniffed once, before his face began to set into the beginnings of a look of hatred.
Masato Kanemoto: I’ll never forgive her for putting me through it again.
He looked back at Kegare.
Masato Kanemoto: Please leave. I...want to be alone.
Kegare did not like it, but he followed the command, bowing to Masato before turning to leave. As he pushed the door open, he looked back. Masato sat on the floor and clutched his sword, the heirloom of the family’s last loss, to his body.
He closed the door.
--
He approached the door to Ren’s bedroom and knocked.
Ren Kanemoto: Kegare. Please come in.
Kegare opened the door and stepped inside. He wasn’t surprised to find the temperature to be far warmer in the room than it was outside. He needed to fix the air conditioning for this room. But Ren didn’t seem to notice, because he never really noticed the heat around him. The Guide sat on his knees across the room from his bed, in front of a small memorial. Well maintained and constantly replaced flowers circle a photo of a Japanese woman, around mid-30s. Kegare briefly bows his head to the photo.
Kegare: Sir…
Ren Kanemoto: Tsurugi put his hands on me. He grabbed me by the collar and shoved me back into the wall. For that, Masato punched him.
He closes his eyes briefly, taking a breath.
Ren Kanemoto: I can’t comprehend how poorly I’ve done.
Kegare: Sir, they were emotional. It’s...natural.
Ren shook his head.
Ren Kanemoto: The look on Masato’s face when his fist lashed out into Tsurugi’s face. That’s not a look anyone should have directed at a family member. And that that happened, is solely on me.
Kegare said nothing, finding no comforting words coming to him.
Ren Kanemoto: For a year, I treated Ruby as my student. Over the course of that year, she became close to family. Where once I had two sons, now I also had a daughter. And now I wonder. If that order said to instead send Tsurugi, or Masato...off to certain death...would I have?
Kegare: ...I’m certain you’d have done the right thing, sir.
Ren Kanemoto: ..I didn’t do the right thing here.
Kegare shook his head.
Kegare: No. You only followed orders.
Ren Kanemoto: I could have disobeyed it. I wanted to so badly, you have no idea. But…
He looked back at the photo.
Ren Kanemoto: There’s always consequences to that.
Both of the men are silent for a while after this, even Kegare bowing his head as he remembered. Finally, Ren broke the silence.
Ren Kanemoto: Hank Tyler was a good man, wasn’t he? A good friend.
Kegare nodded, a smile coming to his face at the memory of the man.
Kegare: He was.
Ren Kanemoto: ...it’s a shame I couldn’t respect his memory by taking care of his daughter.
Kegare’s smile vanishes.
Ren Kanemoto: Kegare...could you…
Kegare let out a deep sigh, and nodded.
Kegare: I’ll leave, sir.
Ren Kanemoto: Thank you.
Kegare turns to leave, walking to the door and beginning to walk out. He stops for a moment, turning to look back. He’d never seen the man look so tired. Ren continued to sit on his knees, head bowed to the photo in front of him, like he was asking forgiveness from the dead.
He closed the door.
--
He knocked on the door to Tsurugi’s room.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: just come in Kegare…
Kegare opened the door and entered the room, already knowing what to expect. Tsurugi sat on the floor, his back against his bed. One arm propped up to lay his head on. Kegare could hear the slight sound of him sniffling. Kegare frowned.
Kegare: Sir...I understand how you’re feeling, but…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: No, no…
He shook his head a few times to emphasize this.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: You don’t understand.
He looked up, and Kegare saw he was smiling, despite the tears, taking him aback.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I’m happy.
Kegare: ...you’re correct, I don’t understand.
Tsurugi dropped his arm, letting his head rest against his bed now as he explained.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: “Ruby deserves better than the Order.” Those are words I’ve thought more and more as time’s gone on. Father’s teaching me things about how this all works, and every single thing I learn makes me think it more. And this isn’t something stupid like “I want to protect her,” like she needs ME to protect her. It’s just...I want her to be happy. And there’s no such thing as happiness in the Order, is there?
He looks at Kegare for an answer, and the butler can only frown, and nod.
Kegare: It’s a rare occurrence.
Tsurugi nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: That’s what I thought. So even though she was happy with us, and we were happy with her...it’s still got to be for the best, right?
Kegare could only shrug.
Kegare: Perhaps. Or perhaps not. I can’t see the future.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: If only.
Kegare: Yes...but still, I will believe that Miss Ruby will be happy. She is a strong woman, and I believe in her.
Tsurugi nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Me too.
He pushed himself up onto his feet, briefly dusting himself off.
Kegare: Do you feel better?
Tsurugi didn’t answer, instead looking down at his hands.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: ...I put my hands on my father.
Kegare: Yes. I’m aware.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I couldn’t help it. When I saw the look on his face when we all came out of our rooms, I just knew. He sent Ruby to die, didn’t he?
Kegare frowned, deeply, but did not lie.
Kegare: ...as he was ordered to. Yes.
He looked angry.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: He couldn’t disobey this one order?
Kegare: That’s a lesson he still hasn’t taught you yet, Tsurugi, sir.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: What lesson is that?
For a moment, Kegare is silent. But, again, he finally responds.
Kegare: The...consequences of that.
Tsurugi looked down at the floor for a moment, before looking back at Kegare.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I would have disobeyed them anyway.
A bit of a smile comes to Kegare’s face, as he reaches out to pat Tsurugi on the shoulder.
Kegare: That, sir, is your strength.
Kegare was happy. He had finally gotten through to one of his charges. And then Tsurugi laughed, and shattered that.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Strength? I’m not strong at all.
He shrugged the hand off of his shoulder.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Look at me!
He gestured to his eyes, still wet with tears.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Even though I’m happy, I still cry about it! There’s still so much of me that’s screaming to try and find her, to do my best to convince her to come back, even though I know it has to be better this way! What strength is that?!
Kegare: Tsurugi, sir…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: No!
His fist clenches.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I cried then, and I cry now. How have I changed in the last nine years, huh? What’s the damn difference?! I’m still weak!
Kegare was taken aback by the intensity of this, as Tsurugi just glares at him, waiting an answer. When he doesn’t immediately answer, Tsurugi just nods.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: That’s what I thought.
Then, to Kegare’s confusion, Tsurugi pulled his shirt off, tossing it aside carelessly.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Kegare…
His next words made Kegare’s blood freeze.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: How do you think I’d look with a chest tattoo?
Words that would sound stupid if you didn’t understand the meaning behind it. And Kegare did understand. He realized the thing Ren must have taught Tsurugi about. His composure instantly broke, a real worry coming across the man’s face, as he takes rapid steps forward, Tsurugi’s eyes widening as this. Kegare reached out and grasped both of Tsurugi’s shoulders, the sad hunter wincing a bit due to how tight the grip was.
Kegare: Tsurugi, sir, please! Don’t talk about that, don’t ever consider that!
Tsurugi’s eyes widen more at just how passionate this is. In his life, he’d never seen Kegare like this.
Kegare: I know you’re hurt, sir, but don’t ever think that that’s the answer! What it will do to your family…
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I…
He looks away, suddenly not wanting to meet the butler’s gaze.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I’m sorry. I just...don’t know what to do.
He looked back at him, hoping for some guidance. Kegare did his best to smile, reassuringly.
Kegare: Continue on, sir. Be happy. It’s what Miss Ruby would want, isn’t it?
Tsurugi slowly nodded.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: Of course...you’re right.
He put on his best attempt at a smile.
Kegare: Everything will be okay, sir.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I know. Thank you. Could you, maybe…I just need some time to myself.
Kegare nodded.
Kegare: I’ll leave.
Kegare released Tsurugi and stepped back, already starting to walk back to the door.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: And, Kegare…
Kegare turned to look back at him. Tsurugi stood there, and was smiling.
Tsurugi Kanemoto: I mean it. Thank you.
Kegare smiled back, and nodded.
Kegare: Anything for this family, sir.
And with that, he walked through the door, satisfied he’d at least helped one of the family he cared so much for.
--
The moment Kegare shut the door, Tsurugi’s smile vanished. He put his back against a wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. For a while, he didn’t do anything, besides make little sniffling sounds.
Then he finally looked down at his chest.
And he thought about how he never wanted to feel this way again, and what he could do to make sure he never felt it again.
How he could become truly strong.
All he had to do was enter into a covenant.
To the sad, emotionally vulnerable Hunter, it seemed a small price.
Whatever happened couldn’t be worse than what he felt now.
And one day, he’d learn how wrong he was.
