Aishuu Offers:
The Longest Day
A Spiral ~Suiri no kizuna~ Fanfiction
Disclaimer: Suiri no Kizuna is produced by J.C Staff
Co., Ltd. Written for the "seasons" challenge at
temps_mort, where you can't mention the season, but
had to set it during one.

**********

It was the longest day of the year.

He sat at his piano fingering the keys idly, wondering
if he should go back to bed. Dawn was minutes away,
and with light came danger. But for him and his kind,
danger was a constant factor of their existence, so it
really didn't matter. He preferred to sleep during the
day, but he rarely had the chance, due to his concerts
and practices.
			
But then, his preferences were unimportant. He had
learned that, hadn't he?

He wasn't particular fond of this time of year, but
that was probably because he didn't deal well with the
heat. He preferred when things were cooler, and it was
easier to think. The heat clogged up his thought
processes and slowed him down, something that he
hated. Anything that slowed him down even the
slightest bit took away a vital edge that could cost
him his life.

He remembered how Kanone had laughed at him once when
he had actually admitted his dislike of heat, but
Kanone had been the one person who he had been able to
tell anything to. Rio, Kousuke and Ryoko may have
shared his fate, but that didn't mean that he shared
himself with them.

But Kanone... 

Kanone had been the one who had protected him until he
could protect himself. Kanone had been the one who
understood what the others couldn't.

"You look so cold, like ice," Kanone had teased him
once. "Like an artist's ideal Christmas angel," he
said.

He touched his side, feeling where the missing rib
should have pressed against his skin. "A fallen angel,
maybe," he said softly. "We're all like that," he
said.			

Kanone had gone quiet, and the laughter had faded from
his cat-like eyes. "I know," he said softly. "We're
all damned, but sometimes we like to pretend."

Kanone had wrapped his arms around him, and for a
brief moment, he had allowed himself to lean into the
embrace before pulling away. Kanone's face had been
carefully neutral, but something flashed in those
lambent eyes, an emotion that fled too quickly for him
to read.

Today was for celebration, and he knew he shouldn't
dwell in memories. He would perform in a concert for
tonight, of course, and he knew that many of his fans
would be celebrating the start of their holidays. The
American tourists were coming, and he knew that his
face was attractive to them. So many people were
entranced by his icy demeanor and marvelous skills,
but wouldn't they be disgusted if they knew the truth?

That was the strange dichotomy in what he was - they
were. Blade Children entranced, but shouldn't exist.
Still, they fought for all they were worth, their
instinctive drive for survival forcing them to
confront the ones who sought to erase them with fury
and ruthlessness. 

Sometimes he wondered what he would have been like,
had he been normal.

"Why are we the way we are? Why am I like this?" he
had demanded once, the last time he had ever cried.
"Why can't I be normal?"

"Don't wish for that," Kanone had told him. "Don't
regret the past, because we can't change that," Kanone
had said. "Accept what you are, and live to fight the
next day."

They had been thirteen then, and it had been only the
second time he had ever killed one of the Hunters.
Usually Kanone killed them, but when he entered junior
high, Kanone had changed, forcing him to take more and
more responsibility for his safety.

He had wanted to struggle against his fate, but
something in Kanone's soft voice had caused his
shoulders to slump forward, and he leaned his head
into his hands, unable to deny the truth to the words
that Kanone had forced on him.

It had been hot that night, too, and the scent of
blood was burned into his memory. The Hunter had
smelled strange, like sweat and fear, and he would
never forget the terror and realization of death in
the man's eyes as he had thrown the knife that had
ultimately ended the Hunter's life.

Kanone may have been the knife expert, but he made
sure that the ones he loved could protect themselves.

He never knew how Kanone became the expert, and their
protector. He wished he thought to ask, but that
wasn't his nature. Both of them were quiet as the
first snow, rarely needing conversation to
communicate. Body language sufficed.

Kanone's touch was gentle and sure, always
questioning. /Are you okay? Did you see them? Are you
afraid?/

He was hesitant, rarely seeking contact. /I'm fine...
They were there.... I missed you..../

As he grew in skill as a concert pianist, Kanone
learned other skills, skills that served to protect
the others. First there was Kousuke, then Ryoko...
then finally Rio. But Kanone was their anchor, and he
was the quiet lieutenant, always making sure that
everyone was accounted for and safe.

Oh, there were other Blade Children, but none managed
to last. Stupidity, carelessness, ill luck... they
fell like deer during hunting season, and they learned
not to mourn for the lost ones. /Care for yourself,
care for the others... and don't look back..../

And then Kanone left.
	
One day, he was there, and the next, he was gone.

He didn't know what to do, at first.

Had he driven him away? he wondered. 

Was Kanone running, using himself as bait for the
Hunters?

Or had Kanone decided survival was easier by himself,
that the others no longer needed them?

He didn't know. Inside, he felt alone for the first
time since meeting him.

The others were afraid, but he maintained the distant
calm they always associated with him. They had known
he and Kanone had been close, but none realized what
that really entailed.

"We're going to split up," he announced. "We'll
scatter, and they'll have a harder time coming at all
of us," he said.

Ryoko had been all for it, and Kousuke had been easily
convinced, but Rio had been reluctant. It was only by
promising to come back when the time was right that
she had agreed.

They would survive, he knew. They were strong.

So he went away as well, to England. It was cold
there, and he could feel the loneliness in his heart
freeze. But promises had to be kept when made between
Blade Children, and he knew when things began to stir
that returning to Japan was his only choice, though he
had been reluctant.

Perhaps his coloring fit the colder seasons better,
which was why he liked living in England better. Japan
rarely received the same blistering chill his other
homeland did, but he had reason to believe that Kanone
would return to Japan, and he fully intended on being
there to meet him when he did.

And then there was the matter of Narumi Kiyotaka...
and Narumi's younger brother...

He would think on that later. 

Today he had a concert recital.

His fingers played a few melancholy notes before he
realized that the day was about to begin, and he had
to make his decision - to sleep or commit to seeing
the day through. The sun was rising, and he pushed
himself away from the piano to go over the window to
watch it. Kanone was out there somewhere - the Hunters
hadn't found him yet.

Eyes Rutherford would find him first. 

END

Note: I am off my five-week hiatus, not that I
announced it here. But I have a bit of a backlogged
which will be going through editors and such, so I
anticipate a rather large lot coming through early
Sept. 

=====
Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end?
Wonder how many miles I've fallen?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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