I just want to say thankyou to the readers who've stuck with this fic despite the massive delay on this chapter. And also in particular the regulars at Battle School, Kawada Fan, Hikari, Liath, Mitsuko Lover etc. Your support is greatly appreciated. (Hyaku = run)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The taste of stale rice and plain bread had become so fixed on Kawada's pallete that when he sat down and took his first mouthful of real food in three days it was as if the simple, cobbled together lunch was fit for a king. Kazuo, while still reticent and sometimes downright nervous in his company had reluctantly agreed to sit at the kitchen table and allow himself to be waited on.
The last person to share such an honour was long dead.
Shougo shovelled the food into his mouth eagerly and only looked up when he realised his companion was still hesitating, frozen between accepting the meal or turning it away. Without bothering to swallow the brunette declared, "It's not poisoned." Kazuo's dark eyes regarded him and in their depths he caught a flicker of suspicion. However, moments later when boy #6 found himself unable to resist the allure of what little he could force himself to consume Kazuo snatched up his fork and attacked the mashed potatoes and miscellanious vegetables.
As he ate a faint, muffled chuckle errupted from Kawada, who watched him openly and tried to keep a straight face.
"What?"
"You eat like you kill --- no holds barred." Scruffing at his bandana he shook his head and returned to demolishing his own portion. Kazuo merely sighed and gradually began to slow until he was only picking at the leftovers.
"What do we do now?" He asked suddenly, causing Kawada to splutter on the flat cola he'd been swigging. The other teen wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and shrugged, "I figure we lay low until the government witch hunt dies down and then find a nice little place in the country...you can play house while I go make a livin'." A warm, partially sarcastic grin spread over his lips and he collected up their empty plates.
"This isn't something to joke about. Kitano will search until he has both of us either locked up in prison or.."
The dishes hit the bottom of the sink with a brittle clatter and Kawada turned to face him once more. All traces of his mirth had disappeared faster than the terrified students from that darkened school only days before.
"I know. I've been there before remember....look..we've gotten this far, who says we can't make it to something better..a new life. I mean *fuck* it's not like I'd have chosen you to spend it with, but we have to deal with what we're given. If that means ending up dead then so be it, but I won't go down without a fight." A quiet intensity echoed through the small kitchen stunning them both into silence once more. Eventually Kazuo stood, a thin screech breaking the stillness as he pushed his chair back over the dusty tiles.
"I wouldn't have chosen you either and yet..." He muttered faintly. Shougo turned back to the window; beyond these four walls lay a bustling, ignorant cityscape; more alive than any of the desolate, hollow places they'd haunted recently. He studied it fervently and looked for the right words.
"Look Kiri--" He flinched as a unexpected pair of arms wrapped around his waist and he was pulled back against Kazuo's chest. Kazuo laid his head on the brunette's bronzed shoulder and a few twisted strands of his reddish hair tickled at the bare skin.
"I understand, we are survivors." His words whispered across the curve of Kawada's neck and he supressed a shiver badly. Trapped in his enemies' embrace felt strange; he was used to the fragile softness of a female body that *he* enfolded in his arms, protected from the outside world. Kazuo's hold upon him was firm and unyielding; he could even smell a faint masculine odour from the other young man which seemed so out of place considering the intimacy of their position.
And yet...
Momentarily a familiar face flashed before his eyes. Her smile was so radiant it broached the void of time and space to light up his memories daily, but now there was a hint of hopefulness in her benevolent gaze. He wondered if it was selfish to say she might even have been urging him on.
She always had been an old romantic...
"Kazuo." He uttered, using the other's given name for one of the first times. It had seemed in concievable that they would even share a single word not spoken in hatred or spite let alone this. Before he could protest Kiriyama's slender fingers closed around his bicep and turned him to face the former student.
Again he found himself almost nose-to-nose with his victim, his enemy...his survivor. The red-head smiled with delicate misery and his hand slid up to rest upon Kawada's shoulder. He was far from ignorant of the way Shougo reached out hesitantly to place his own hands upon the sharp curves of his hips.
Leaning over until his moist lips hovered a hairs breadth from Shougo's own and a crescent of long dark lashes obscured his captivating, conflicted gaze Kazuo murmured, "Before we die.."
The window imploded in a shower of glass shards which peppered them, tearing into material and flesh alike. Instinctively Kawada pushed Kazuo to the floor and shielded his wasted body. "Shit, they found us already." He cried over a sharp blast of gunfire from the street below.
Seconds later and it would all have been over.
Kazuo scrambled to his feet and ran into the other room, grabbing Kawada's ever-packed shoulder bag before running in an awkward crouch back to the teen who had retrived his shotgun from the bedroom. "They'll have the stairwell covered, there's a fire escape out back though." The deadly chorus of bullets was getting more intense and they fled, as all around memories and possesions were ripped to shreds.
The pair slammed through the door into the spare bedroom and Kawada forced the rusted, unused fire escape door open. He piled Kazuo out onto the equally delapidated balcony and wrenched the door shut behind them. Luckily his comrade had enough common sense to already be sprinting two-at-a-time down the stairs. Or as close to sprinting as he could come with his leg still so weak; Kawada surpassed him quickly and stole the bag from him.
As usual Kitano's 'helpers' had only considered the obvious paths for their escape, but as they skidded out onto the street a cacaphony of rough voices mingled with the terrified shrieking of innocent passersby became disturbingly vivid. Kazuo froze and his face slackened with a familiar, sudden wave of psychosis. "Oh no you don't..come on." His companion guided him into the shadows and down a cramped alleyway in the opposite direction to the chaos Kitano's men were causing. As they were immersed in darkness Shougo caught sight of a jumbled mess of police cars, fleeing pedestrians and those who wished to find them.
It seemed Kitano was sparing no expense when it came to claiming back his toys.
"I thought we'd at least get a couple more days...Dammit, why can't he just leave us the *fuck* alone?" He growled as he led the unresisting body of Kazuo out onto another anonymous street. "I guess this is it then."
"Huh?" At least his blunt statement had shaken the other boy from his malaise; he could almost feel those impenetrable eyes raking over him through the dark.
"We're gonna have to go underground for a while. Kitano is smart, but he's never had to run from anything or anyone."
No, that callous hypocrite was a figure of moral and social admiration.
Kazuo's gaze continued to burn into him and Kawada steeled himself for the times ahead. They were now officially fugitives and eventhough he still had confidence in his abilities to stay one step ahead of the government and get them both to safety a soft, nauseous feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach.
"Hyaku." He whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sir, the flat is empty." When the young officer got no response whatsoever he began to dither and eventually backed away. Despite the shambolic, benign appearance of the man who had commanded this raid there was something about him that radiated power and not of the benevolent kind either.
"Hnh.." Only a ghostly shift in the worn mask which Kitano called a face betrayed his annoyance. It had been unexpected enough to discover that his two star pupils were in cahoots, but that they had taken up a nice little homely existence right on his doorstep; that was just insolent.
It was only a matter of time however, before their cosy dream was burnt to ashes. The Program had one winner or none at all and he'd be damned if a pair of children, one brash and the other a damaged psychotic would tarnish the good name of his operation.
With a nonchalant gesture of his hand he shuffled back towards his car and bade the men to return.
There would be many more chances before the week was out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The opening was little more than a jagged hole; thin streamers of barbed wire surrounded it like tinsel. And with careful hands Kawada prised each one back to allow them access. "Where are we going?" A voice demanded from behind him so sharply his fingers slipped and a tiny point of metal drew blood from his palm.
"Kuso." He muttered, wiping the bead of crimson fluid on his pants. They never could stay clean for long. "I told you, underground."
Kazuo sounded exasperated; it seemed he was lurching from intense bouts of emotion to that blank doll-like state Kawada had found him in today. "Literally? ....but where will we sleep?"
Without turning Shougo laid a hand on his shoulder firmly and urged him into the thick darkness beyond. "I remember reading...a long time ago about an abandoned subway station around here. I'm just hoping that it's off the radar enough for Kitano to miss us until I can figure out something better."
He caught the slender red-head opening his mouth to protest, but he merely sighed and nodded.
"Alright, just don't get us lost."
Shougo chuckled, "Trust me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A thin beam of honeyed light swept over the rumble and ruin before them as Kawada and Kazuo picked their way through the crumbling tunnels. Much to his relief Shougo had been proved right, at least if the almost unreadable sign for Yurameki St. they'd come across after an hour of searching could be believed.
He found it somewhat ironic that Kazuo remained close by his side all the while they were wandering through the gloom. His pallid face and anorexic grace gave him the appearance of a spectre. It was all Kawada could do not to stare.
"Hey...up ahead." The other boy exclaimed softly, raising his skeletal fingers and shattering the comforting reverie Kawada had created for himself. Quickly he shone the flashlight upon the dormant corpse of an old train. It was somewhat derailed and lay like a broken toy across the long neglected lines. The buckled doors were still open however and Kazuo sped up, practically running towards the first carriage.
When Kawada caught up he found him gazing round curiously. The interior had fared significantly better than everything else and there still remained a worn lino flooring and cushioned seats. Cautiously Kawada explored the different compartments and discovered a few discarded items lying around which he carried back to where Kiriyama sat resting his leg.
"Here..let's get some rest. I'll see to your leg again in a couple of hours." The red-head took the scratchy woolen blanket Kawada offered him and set it down by his side, while he watched Kawada rip up a couple of cushions and place them on the floor. He set his bag down, but conspicously did not repack his shotgun, choosing the keep it beside him as he lay down.
"It's cold."
The moment he'd returned Shougo had noticed his friend was shivering; only the thin material of his t-shirt protected him from the chilled breezes which meandered through the tunnel. But, the vivid memory of their earlier encounter forced him to ignore it until Kazuo spoke up and he relented far more easily than he cared to admit.
"Come lie here then." Kawada's tone was as flippant as he intended, but he could see from the way Kazuo's eyes sparked with relief that this was what he'd been hoping for.
The fragile young man sat down next to him and covered himself with his own blanket even as Shougo laid his own over the top for extra warmth. In the carriage only Kazuo's faintly laboured breathing permeated their silence and still Kawada could feel his arm trembling where it brushed his own.
*sigh* If she was watching Keiko would be laughing he was sure..
Tentatively he drew Kazuo into his arms and felt him slowly, but surely relax into the embrace. There would be plenty of time to confront why this was happening, but for now Kawada longed only for sleep.
And as the consciousness was stolen from his body he could have sworn he felt Kazuo's lips press lightly against his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~TBC~