[log] Saeki/Kamio
Aug. 21st, 2005 11:05 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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tenipuri_xpDate: 06.12.2005 […yep. Backdated. :D Takes place right after this log with Ohtori and the comments in this post.]
Rating [Warnings]: PG? [None]
Summary: Unwilling to take the blame in the Ryuhana bombing, Kamio takes Saeki up on an offer that he's vaguely hinted at: refuge at the Brotherhood. However, before Saeki will take him in, Kamio needs to answer a few questions…
Kamio's nerves were like broken glass, jagged and piercing with each circuit he made around the small, empty space in the center of his dorm room. The cot on one side was strewn with dirty clothes, primarily school uniforms and track pants that he'd discarded in his haste to get out anything he'd wanted to take with him. The floor, too, was littered with the castoffs that were too closely linked to the school.
The sheets of his own bed were a tangle, the mattress only half-on the box springs as he'd shoved it aside to gather the few items he'd stored between the two. A stained, olive duffel bag sat on top of the heap of sheets and pillows. When he'd first arrived at the school, the bag had been light and barely half full; though still not completely full, there were quite a bit more items in it than their had been.
He sighed and paused in his pacing to idly lift the bag. Heavy, he thought, but hopefully not heavy enough to slow him down. If so, he'd have to discard it. The thought sat uneasily, however his most valuable possession was, as always, on his body. The iPod's output droned in his ears, though it was not as loud as he normally kept it. The volume didn't matter, he thought as he collapsed on the edge of the bed.
The redhead scoffed at his own thoughts, the fact that he was worried about a certain, silver-haired mutant not showing up turning over in his head. Saeki would be there, of course. He'd all but said as much on the phone a few minutes earlier. It was just the time between clicking off his phone -- after a very garbled explanation of events, given how strewn his thoughts still were -- and the time of the silver-haired mutant's arrival was too long. There were too many things that could go wrong, between either of the headmistresses catching on to his plans to leave the school immediately, or the security kicking back on, or even Saeki changing his mind.
If it came down to it, he'd chance the streets again, should the silver-haired mutant change his mind and withdraw his promise of help and sanctuary.
He'd been expecting that he would need to take on the external security regardless, though the tale-tell flicker of the power outside had caught his attention just as he'd finished throwing together his things. If he hadn't been more interested in self-preservation, and the unexpected contact from Saeki, he would have hunted down the taller boy just for the sake of decking him. Didn't Ohtori know when to quit?
Standing and grabbing the bag off the bed, he made his way through the halls quickly and quietly, down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm building. Sighing to himself, he pulled out his iPod, clicked hold off, and selected a faster playlist. The faster rhythm was easier for him to focus on. He crouched down, momentarily surveying the expanse of lawn between him and the front gates.
His eyes caught the movement on the front lawn, the broad sweeping of flashlights as a handful of guards patrolled the area. Deprived of the electronics, however, the men -- human or mutant, Kamio had never been sure -- were a poor barricade between him and the gates.
The redhead took off, cutting a zigzag path across the grass and still worried about detection. It was easy to give the guards a wide berth; the dim lights bouncing back and forth in the darkness told him exactly where they were. It was the electronic security that was the concern. However, as he skimmed close the fence, he noticed that not only did the camera stay motionless, but nothing else directed its aim at him. Blue eyes narrowed.
"Shit," Kamio cursed to the darkness. Not only had Ohtori taken out the cameras power, but it seemed he'd hit the main power grid for external security and knocked it offline completely as well. Perhaps it was connected to the cameras…? He paused at the gate itself, fingers carefully brushing the iron bars. Nothing, not even a small jolt of electricity to ward him off. Smirking, he grabbed crossbars and hoisted himself to the top of it. Once he was at the apex of his climb, he glanced over his shoulder long enough to ascertain that he still hadn't been noticed by the ground's guards. Satisfied, he tossed the duffel bag on the ground beneath him.
He glanced over his shoulder a final time to ascertain that he still hadn't been noticed by the ground's guards. Then, he swung his legs over the fence.
Saeki watched from the shadows as Kamio scaled the gate. The damned place did look like a prison and for some odd reason it didn't make the mutant the least bit happy that Kamio had to be locked up in a place like this.
The brotherhood was no paradise haven, but at least they didn't confine them like beasts. He didn't fully agree with the school's humans-and-mutants-cannot-coexist stand, but he didn't disagree with it either. They did make sense... from time to time. He'd gladly be stuck in the brotherhood any day, then have to put up with life in Ryuhana.
Yellow orbs, unhindered by the usual silver-tinted lenses, flashed angrily at the thought of the wiry redhead locked up in the stone-cold walls of the school. There were things Kamio couldn't have told him over their rather public livejournals but he'd have the answers to his questions by the end of the day even if it were the last thing he'd do.
After all, bringing someone in to the Brotherhood without an ounce of background knowledge of him was, very simply, suicide. He liked Kamio well enough -- Hell, he liked Kamio a whole lot -- but the facts stood. He knew close to nothing about the redhead.
He sighed and stood from his crouch among the bushes, dismissing the conflicting emotions running a rampage in his head. To say that he was confused was to say the least but he'd deal with it later. Right now, the most pressing matter was to get them away from the forbidding place.
Saeki loped towards the slender shadow, sharp eyes making out the finer details. The silver-haired mutant frowned. Kamio looked... scared, unhappy and altogether disgruntled. He, Saeki decided, hated that particular expression on his face. It brought an onslaught of protective feelings for the fragile-looking youth but made him want to chuckle at the same time.
Not going there now, Kou.
Reaching out, he hooked a finger and sank a claw into the material of Kamio's threadbare shirt. Pulling, he readied himself to steady Kamio and to protect himself if need be. Startling a mutant wasn't the smartest thing to do and the feline-like youth decided that he wanted to come out of this in one healthy piece.
The tug on his shirt startled the redhead. Kamio jumped slightly, inhaling a sharp gasp of air and tightening his grip on iron bars. His head swiveled, looking over his shoulder at the shadow behind him. In the dark, he couldn't make out the figure; he could only assume.
And hope, but he wasn't going to linger on that thought.
His entire body was tight, muscles coiled and ready to flee in a scant few seconds if need be. The anger he'd felt earlier that evening -- at Ohtori for the brief interrogation, at the school for the shitty handling of the investigation, and at whomever had managed to put his face, his image, on the security tapes -- had rapidly dissipated to panic. He'd already spent enough time in a cell; without his powers it had driven him insane.
Guilty or no, he was not going to be put in a cage again. Even if it meant putting his trust in someone that he barely knew, and understood even less. He knew nothing about Saeki, let alone the organization that he was with. He only had what his sensei from Ryuhana had told him to go by, and really, that wasn't much nor was it too be trusted. More unnerving for Kamio, however, the silver-haired teen had no reason to be helping him out like this, and though the redhead hated to owe anyone debts, he found himself unable to say no to the other mutant.
It wasn't like he couldn't go back to the streets, he reminded himself. He'd actually been thinking about it when he'd first gone back to his room. But the brief message from Saeki…
Eyes narrowing, he chased away that thought and took a shaky breath.
"Saeki?"
Kamio didn't even try to hide the tension in his quiet whisper.
"Yo," Saeki grunted, tugging again. "Hurry up and jump. We gotta get the fuck outta here before anyone comes."
Even as he said that, the sound of telling footsteps reached his sensitive ears. They were too near. Too damned near. Making up his mind in a split second, the yellow-eyed mutant pulled with all his strength until Kamio toppled from his perch and landed in his arms.
"Well, hi. Nice to meet you again, babe," he joked and spun on his heel, a grin tugging on the corners of his lips. Breaking out into a sprint, Saeki ran. He most certainly wasn't as fast as Kamio could be, but he was fairly certain that he ran faster than an average person. And since Kamio wouldn't have been able to lift him up, it wouldn't have made much of a difference whether or not they were both running or if Saeki did the running while Kamio clung on for his dear life. Like they were right now.
Kamio gave a soft yelp as he was pulled from his perch, half way down the tall, iron fence, and into someone's arms. "Saeki…the hell?" he hissed, squirming as the other took off. He blinked, slightly stunned at just how fast the other teen could move. Not as fast as he could, true, but still the sudden movements had caught him off guard.
Saeki seemed to be making catching him off guard a habit.
And, the redhead noted, he was being…carried? Kamio's eyes narrowed, flashing the silver-haired mutant an indignant glare before curling his arms around the other's neck. He managed to twist himself around enough to glance over the other teen's shoulder for a fleeting glance at the front of the school. The searchlights were sweeping broad patterns just inside the gate; a few of the lights were directed outward, beyond the perimeter of the school.
"Oh fuck," he swallowed as the lights danced right across where he'd been only a few moments earlier, then down to the ground where his duffle bag lay in a heap. He tensed, fingers of one hand knotting around a looser bit of cloth, presumably Saeki's jacket. The other hand gripped the back of Saeki's neck, and he swore to himself that he was not shaking.
No way in Hell he was.
Squeezing his eyes shut -- he did not like the sensation of moving when he clearly wasn't the one moving -- he tried to steady his nerves. "You scared the shit out of me, dumb ass," he muttered, reaching up enough to give a small handful of silver hair a sharp yank. "And put me down already!"
Inhaling sharply, Saeki didn't flinch as he continued sprinting, his pace never slacking. Tightening his arms protectively around the slender youth, the dual-haired mutant spared a glance at the frightened teen in his arms.
"Don't pull my hair," he murmured, his tone held a hint of warning. "It hurts and I won't put you down unless you wanna get caught now and get us both into trouble." His instincts were at an all-time high and adrenaline pumped through Saeki, spurring him to move faster through the secluded forested area until he burst out onto concrete pavement.
Even then he did not stop, sprinting down the deserted streets until he slipped into a dark alley. Instead of releasing Kamio, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, his grip on the redhead never laxing for a moment as he sought to steady himself. Saeki's little rescue trip had unnerved him more than he had realized which gave him little doubt that Kamio was twice as scared as he was.
"You alright, luv?" The calm tone of his voice did not betray his pounding heart but the concern in his eyes was unmasked while he looked down at the mutant whose arms were wrapped around his neck in a near death-like grip.
Kamio relented his grasp on Saeki's hair and tightened his arms around the other boy's neck as they broke clear of the forested area that surrounded the school. Dark blue eyes flickered between his emancipator's tense expression and the trees behind them. He expected something to follow them, really: dogs, lights, blaring sirens. Anything that would indicate there had been a major breech in security at the school.
But the streets remained silent.
Several blocks away, if Kamio's assessment of their location was correct, and Saeki finally came to halt in a darkened alley. Though, much to the redhead's dismay, he remained held aloft by the other teen. Kamio felt blood rising to his face, embarrassment cutting through the panic of his adrenaline. It had been years, literally, since anyone had carried him, and even then, the sensation was vaguely unfamiliar, and downright disconcerting. His knees were hooked over Saeki's arms, lower legs hanging useless, while his arms were locked around the other teen's neck.
He swallowed a hard lump in his throat, nodding in response to Saeki's question. "I…I'm fine. Sort of." He paused to draw a breath and unwind one arm from around the silver-haired mutant's neck. "Mostly. I think." Flexing his fingers and trying to chase away the vague tremble in his hands, he kicked a foot absently and frowned. "Just…put me down, will ya? This is…not comfortable."
"Oh?" his unnerved feelings were instantaneously replaced by a sudden predatory streak. "And here I thought you enjoyed being held by me." Pursing his lips in a mock pout, Saeki couldn't help the glint that lit up his glowing eyes. "I ought to be hurt."
Leaning down, the young mutant brushed his lips against Kamio's in a feather-soft kiss, almost as though he wanted to calm the redhead's fears. And he did, Saeki realized, very much want to do that. Tightening his hold on the slender redhead, he waited for the rather stunned youth's reaction before he proceeded further.
"I…I didn't mean it like…"
The redhead's words were cut off by the feeling of lips against his. Soft, light…comforting, oddly enough, though Kamio supposed that may have been the desired effect. He shifted his legs, still feeling awkward at not being on the ground, and opened his mouth further. Pressing forward, he brushed his tongue over Saeki's lips, lingering there as long as he could before he pulled back.
"…like that," he finished. Tension was still making his throat feel tight, his entire body coiled like a spring. Unhooking one arm from around Saeki's neck, he ran trembling fingers through his hair. Fear, in and of itself, wasn't a problem for him; how his body reacted to a fear-inducing situation was. He barely understood it, and the explanations he'd been giving had been long and involved several medical terms he hadn't quite been able to follow.
He'd simply written them off as boring, and stopped listening.
Kamio tilted his head forward, resting his forehead against the other mutant's neck, and sighed. "I need to stand, Sae. Maybe move around a bit and burn off this extra…shit in my system." Looking away, he added in a soft grumble, "It's not like it's anything personal, ya know."
Chuckling softly, Saeki lowered the redhead onto the ground, brushing his lips against the cool forehead of the other youth. "I was just joking, Kamio," he replied calmly, bemusement apparent in his eyes.
The mutant was trembling pretty badly, and the dual-haired youth deduced that Kamio was probably in shock. This was officially a Not Good situation in Saeki's books. He had no idea how to deal with this sort of thing. He was no aspiring doctor, after all.
"Calm down," he whispered soothingly, instead. He wanted to gather the seemingly frail boy in his arms but knew better than to go against his wishes. "It's fine now." He refused to let worry be seen in his demeanor and focused on getting Kamio to a more... normal level.
Kamio stepped back, nodding his head and flexing his fingers. Tension. He could feel every taut muscle, every small twitch. "I know, I know," he replied. "I'm trying to." Moving felt good; it helped him focus on the music still lightly playing in his ears. He bounced on the balls of feet, in time to the rhythm, and steadied his breathing.
Deep breaths, he reminded himself. Inhale, count to ten. Exhale, count to ten. Just like Ryuzaki-sensei…had…said…
"Fuck. " Lifting his hands to run them through his hair, he squeezed shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. His fingers knotted into the crimson stands at the back of his head and pulled sharply. "Someone set me up," he hissed, finding the small spark of anger that he'd shut out while he'd focused his energy on getting off the school grounds. "Someone…fuck. They had to do it. They fucking set me up!"
Watching the redhead pull on his hair as he swore and ranted in anger made Saeki want to gather the redhead in his arms and take away all the anger. Being who he was, the dual-haired mutant did just that. He tugged the boy close to him again, and grabbed a wrist in his hand, uncaring about the hurt his claws could cause to himself as the filed ends lay dangerously across his wrists.
"What happened?" He asked, drawing Kamio's hands down to his side. He could run all his like later, when they were headed towards the Brotherhood. "Kamio, if you don't tell me what happened, I will go back there and personally find out for myself," he warned, his voice near to a low growl. "I need to know everything."
Kamio stiffened as his hands were pulled away from his hair. He wasn't used to being restrained, no matter how lightly. Swallowing, he inhaled another deep breath and held it for a few seconds, then let it out. His muscles twitched, but he didn't resist Saeki pushing his arms to his sides.
He glared at the other mutant, though, the threat of him setting foot on Ryuhana's grounds making his throat feel tight. "Don't you even," he hissed, jaw set in near-rage at the idea. "Fine. Everything?" he repeated, shutting his eyes. "Right…fuck." That was…a lot, most of which he hadn't even processed yet. The conversation with Ohtori was still racing through his head in broken pieces, most of which centered around one phrase:
You are on the tapes.
"Ohtori. Guy I know," he muttered. "He got hold of the security tapes from the night of the bombing. And…I'm on them, Saeki." Blue eyes flashed confusion for a moment, and he shook his head. "He said that they showed me setting up the bomb." Drawing another breath, he twisted his hands in Saeki's grip and frowned. "That's not...I didn't do it, damn it. How the fuck is that possible?"
How is that possible? “One,” Saeki murmured, letting go of Kamio’s twisting wrists. “Ohtori dude lied,” he winced, but continued. “Two, you got set up. And three,” he paused, studying the redhead. “You did it.”
He knew it would piss Kamio off, but the other mutant was still, unmistakably from Ryuhana. He had to make sure he wasn’t bringing Kamio in as spy. He’d never forgive himself if he did that under any circumstance. He watched Kamio tremble, trying to harden his heart. It had never seemed so difficult before…
Kamio's eyes narrowed at the two additional accusations that Saeki came up with, not liking either one. "I didn't do it, Saeki," he growled more insistently. Though he really had no proof, regardless, and no idea how to convince the silver-haired teen that only one of the three options he'd presented were true.
He was quite sure of what he'd done that night, however, and setting up a bomb had not been part of evening. Not that he had any tangible proof; the bruises from being buried underneath a cascade of textbooks were faded. None of his classmates had seen him since dinner that evening. It was simply his word against what Ohtori had described from the security tapes.
Which left only two options he could consider. He didn't know Ohtori that well, true, but he knew him better than he did most people at the school. Kamio couldn't believe that Ohtori had lied to him. He could barely -- just barely -- believe that the other teen had stolen something, let alone the security tapes, but to have flat out lied to Kamio about it?
Still, if he hadn't stolen the tapes, then he'd lied. If he hadn't lied, then he'd stolen the tapes. Either option was difficult to conceive.
"I…fuck." Spinning away from the silver-haired teen, Kamio glared at his trembling hands. His rhythm was off, completely. He could feel his heart racing inside his chest, and there was tight knot at the base of his throat. His temples were throbbing, as well, causing small sparks of pain to bloom behind his eyes. "Look, Ohtori said he broke into security and took the damn tapes. That he'd gotten caught, okay? He said he was put in solitary confinement for a few days -- and yeah, he disappeared for most of last week. Other than what he told me, I don't fucking know."
"Calm down, luv," Saeki murmured quietly, raking a hand through tousled silver bangs. "I wouldn't mind if you had done it, but if you haven't then all the better." He fixed a stare on the trembling teen in quite contemplation. "It's over now, Kamio. You're out of that hell hole." Of course what would happen next was a complete mystery, but at the moment, Saeki couldn't give a damn.
"Forget those fucking assholes," the dual-haired mutant continued quietly, a hint of defiance in his tone. "It doesn't matter if Ohtori-kun lied to you or not. He got you out of there and you owe him one." As did Saeki, but once again, he couldn't quite muster the energy to give it much thought.
He stood there, his composure regained as he leaned against the alley wall, arms calmly crossed over his chest as he watched Kamio. Watched how he reacted. As much as the redhead tried to act tough all the time, there were little instances where Saeki could just read him like an open book placed right under his nose.
Kamio at the moment was scared, confused, worried and angry. None of them good things in Saeki's opinion. The usually laid-back teen frowned inwardly as he watched the slender mutant pace.
"Go run off some steam if you need to. I can meet you nearer to the Brotherhood if you want." It was a suggestion, one that Kamio could either take or refuse. Either way, the redhead would be coming back to the Brotherhood with him. And that, he mused, could be another problem to add to it all.
The feline mutant decided that he didn't want to think about it.
"I…yeah." The redhead's voice skipped a beat as it tried to catch up to his thoughts. "I know I owe him. Fuck. I didn't ask him to help me," he groaned. "He doesn't need to get himself in any more shit." And he had no idea how he was going to pay the other mutant back, least of all since it was probably in both their interests that they had very little contact with each other.
He stopped pacing, though the tight feeling in his body had yet to subside. "Owe you too," he admitted softly. Glancing away from the silver-haired teen, Kamio sighed. The inside of his head was still buzzing, questions piling on top of each other too quickly for him to really latch onto one. He felt like he was running blind, or worse, handing the reins completely over to Saeki.
Strangely, that thought didn't bother him half as much as it should have.
"Brotherhood, huh?" He threaded his fingers through his bangs, pushing them back absently. The idea of going to another institute had limited appeal; there would be rules, teachers, classes and classmates to deal with. None of his favorite things, but on the other hand, there would also be a bed, food, and…blue eyes flickered over to the other teen.
He could probably endure the classes, at the very least.
"Yeah, sure. Running would be…good," he admitted. "Just tell me where to meet you at and give me..." His voice trailed off as he tried to guess how long it would take for him to calm down completely. A good run normally helped, if only because he could focus on the pounding of his feet on the pavement. "An hour?"
Even if it was just a few blocks from where they were, Kamio would probably take longest route he knew.
"Take all the time you need," Saeki waved the redhead off easily. He needed time to sort things out himself. It had been quite some time since he had felt that life was a complicated thing. In fact, life had been pretty loving towards him since he had been accepted at the brotherhood. "Meet me at the back alley behind Aldar's when you're done."
Glancing up at the redhead, he frowned at the way pale skin contrasted sharply with the bright crimson head of silk. Kamio clearly needed nourishing. He looked... Saeki snorted, like a stick.
"Be careful," the dual-haired mutant added, half an afterthought. "Don't want you getting caught before we can even get you there."
He couldn't even begin to think how he would react to that.
"Won't get caught," Kamio assured the silver-haired teen curtly, then frowned at himself and swallowed. He hadn't meant that to come out quite so harsh. "I'll be fine," he amended. "Careful."
He licked his lips. "Uhm…look. I…" The words tapered off, and Kamio gave a frustrated grunt. He what? Appreciated it? D'uh. That was so obvious it was painful, and there was something else that he couldn’t quite get out of his mouth. Something important that he probably should say.
But words weren't his strong point.
Taking three quick steps forward, he narrowed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around Saeki's neck. A blush burned it's way across his cheeks, but he leaned forward anyway, and pressed his mouth against the silver-haired teen's. His movements were quick until that moment, a span of heartbeats that weren't worth counting. The moment his lips touched the other mutant's, however, he wanted to slow down. There was just something about him that made the redhead want to…linger.
Truthfully, it was the desire that was scarring the crap out of him, but he wasn't going to dwell on that.
Surprise didn't even begin to cover Saeki's reaction to the sudden kiss. The amazement wore out soon enough though, in approximately half a second, and he wrapped his arms around Kamio's waist murmuring in appreciation as the redhead deepened the kiss.
A hand stole up to cup the base of Kamio's neck, careful not to puncture any skin with Saeki's mutation. Tilting it back, the dual-haired youth proceeded to plunder the sweet cavity, his eyes half-closed as he savored the taste on his tongue.
"Tease," he murmured as he pulled back, a smirk dancing across his lips.
"You should talk," Kamio panted. "I seem to remember someone leaving me in a dressing room." Not that he was angry, a fact that truly did surprise him. Instead, he managed a small, embarrassed smirk at the memory. There was no malice in his tone as he added a chuckled, "Ass."
His hands had skimmed underneath the silver-haired mutant's shirt, fingertips ghosting over coils of muscle. He was still blushing furiously, despite himself. Kamio ducked his head and rested his forehead against Saeki's shoulder. "I'd better…" he began, swallowing. "Ya know. Calm down. Run."
Not that he was moving away. Instead, he traced his fingers along the ridges of Saeki's stomach.
Ah, the dressing room. Now that brought back memories... and certain dreams as well. Smirking, Saeki brushed finger pads against the soft skin of Kamio's cheek.
"Yes," he whispered. "You ought to."
Leaning down, he caught Kamio's lips in another bruising kiss, fingers running through the head of crimson strands. Pulling back, he looked upon the disheveled redhead and managed a half-hearted arrogant grin.
"Meet me at the coffee shop then," the feline-mutant said and slipped out of Kamio's grasp and into the night as he broke into a run of his own.
Rating [Warnings]: PG? [None]
Summary: Unwilling to take the blame in the Ryuhana bombing, Kamio takes Saeki up on an offer that he's vaguely hinted at: refuge at the Brotherhood. However, before Saeki will take him in, Kamio needs to answer a few questions…
Kamio's nerves were like broken glass, jagged and piercing with each circuit he made around the small, empty space in the center of his dorm room. The cot on one side was strewn with dirty clothes, primarily school uniforms and track pants that he'd discarded in his haste to get out anything he'd wanted to take with him. The floor, too, was littered with the castoffs that were too closely linked to the school.
The sheets of his own bed were a tangle, the mattress only half-on the box springs as he'd shoved it aside to gather the few items he'd stored between the two. A stained, olive duffel bag sat on top of the heap of sheets and pillows. When he'd first arrived at the school, the bag had been light and barely half full; though still not completely full, there were quite a bit more items in it than their had been.
He sighed and paused in his pacing to idly lift the bag. Heavy, he thought, but hopefully not heavy enough to slow him down. If so, he'd have to discard it. The thought sat uneasily, however his most valuable possession was, as always, on his body. The iPod's output droned in his ears, though it was not as loud as he normally kept it. The volume didn't matter, he thought as he collapsed on the edge of the bed.
The redhead scoffed at his own thoughts, the fact that he was worried about a certain, silver-haired mutant not showing up turning over in his head. Saeki would be there, of course. He'd all but said as much on the phone a few minutes earlier. It was just the time between clicking off his phone -- after a very garbled explanation of events, given how strewn his thoughts still were -- and the time of the silver-haired mutant's arrival was too long. There were too many things that could go wrong, between either of the headmistresses catching on to his plans to leave the school immediately, or the security kicking back on, or even Saeki changing his mind.
If it came down to it, he'd chance the streets again, should the silver-haired mutant change his mind and withdraw his promise of help and sanctuary.
He'd been expecting that he would need to take on the external security regardless, though the tale-tell flicker of the power outside had caught his attention just as he'd finished throwing together his things. If he hadn't been more interested in self-preservation, and the unexpected contact from Saeki, he would have hunted down the taller boy just for the sake of decking him. Didn't Ohtori know when to quit?
Standing and grabbing the bag off the bed, he made his way through the halls quickly and quietly, down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm building. Sighing to himself, he pulled out his iPod, clicked hold off, and selected a faster playlist. The faster rhythm was easier for him to focus on. He crouched down, momentarily surveying the expanse of lawn between him and the front gates.
His eyes caught the movement on the front lawn, the broad sweeping of flashlights as a handful of guards patrolled the area. Deprived of the electronics, however, the men -- human or mutant, Kamio had never been sure -- were a poor barricade between him and the gates.
The redhead took off, cutting a zigzag path across the grass and still worried about detection. It was easy to give the guards a wide berth; the dim lights bouncing back and forth in the darkness told him exactly where they were. It was the electronic security that was the concern. However, as he skimmed close the fence, he noticed that not only did the camera stay motionless, but nothing else directed its aim at him. Blue eyes narrowed.
"Shit," Kamio cursed to the darkness. Not only had Ohtori taken out the cameras power, but it seemed he'd hit the main power grid for external security and knocked it offline completely as well. Perhaps it was connected to the cameras…? He paused at the gate itself, fingers carefully brushing the iron bars. Nothing, not even a small jolt of electricity to ward him off. Smirking, he grabbed crossbars and hoisted himself to the top of it. Once he was at the apex of his climb, he glanced over his shoulder long enough to ascertain that he still hadn't been noticed by the ground's guards. Satisfied, he tossed the duffel bag on the ground beneath him.
He glanced over his shoulder a final time to ascertain that he still hadn't been noticed by the ground's guards. Then, he swung his legs over the fence.
Saeki watched from the shadows as Kamio scaled the gate. The damned place did look like a prison and for some odd reason it didn't make the mutant the least bit happy that Kamio had to be locked up in a place like this.
The brotherhood was no paradise haven, but at least they didn't confine them like beasts. He didn't fully agree with the school's humans-and-mutants-cannot-coexist stand, but he didn't disagree with it either. They did make sense... from time to time. He'd gladly be stuck in the brotherhood any day, then have to put up with life in Ryuhana.
Yellow orbs, unhindered by the usual silver-tinted lenses, flashed angrily at the thought of the wiry redhead locked up in the stone-cold walls of the school. There were things Kamio couldn't have told him over their rather public livejournals but he'd have the answers to his questions by the end of the day even if it were the last thing he'd do.
After all, bringing someone in to the Brotherhood without an ounce of background knowledge of him was, very simply, suicide. He liked Kamio well enough -- Hell, he liked Kamio a whole lot -- but the facts stood. He knew close to nothing about the redhead.
He sighed and stood from his crouch among the bushes, dismissing the conflicting emotions running a rampage in his head. To say that he was confused was to say the least but he'd deal with it later. Right now, the most pressing matter was to get them away from the forbidding place.
Saeki loped towards the slender shadow, sharp eyes making out the finer details. The silver-haired mutant frowned. Kamio looked... scared, unhappy and altogether disgruntled. He, Saeki decided, hated that particular expression on his face. It brought an onslaught of protective feelings for the fragile-looking youth but made him want to chuckle at the same time.
Not going there now, Kou.
Reaching out, he hooked a finger and sank a claw into the material of Kamio's threadbare shirt. Pulling, he readied himself to steady Kamio and to protect himself if need be. Startling a mutant wasn't the smartest thing to do and the feline-like youth decided that he wanted to come out of this in one healthy piece.
The tug on his shirt startled the redhead. Kamio jumped slightly, inhaling a sharp gasp of air and tightening his grip on iron bars. His head swiveled, looking over his shoulder at the shadow behind him. In the dark, he couldn't make out the figure; he could only assume.
And hope, but he wasn't going to linger on that thought.
His entire body was tight, muscles coiled and ready to flee in a scant few seconds if need be. The anger he'd felt earlier that evening -- at Ohtori for the brief interrogation, at the school for the shitty handling of the investigation, and at whomever had managed to put his face, his image, on the security tapes -- had rapidly dissipated to panic. He'd already spent enough time in a cell; without his powers it had driven him insane.
Guilty or no, he was not going to be put in a cage again. Even if it meant putting his trust in someone that he barely knew, and understood even less. He knew nothing about Saeki, let alone the organization that he was with. He only had what his sensei from Ryuhana had told him to go by, and really, that wasn't much nor was it too be trusted. More unnerving for Kamio, however, the silver-haired teen had no reason to be helping him out like this, and though the redhead hated to owe anyone debts, he found himself unable to say no to the other mutant.
It wasn't like he couldn't go back to the streets, he reminded himself. He'd actually been thinking about it when he'd first gone back to his room. But the brief message from Saeki…
Eyes narrowing, he chased away that thought and took a shaky breath.
"Saeki?"
Kamio didn't even try to hide the tension in his quiet whisper.
"Yo," Saeki grunted, tugging again. "Hurry up and jump. We gotta get the fuck outta here before anyone comes."
Even as he said that, the sound of telling footsteps reached his sensitive ears. They were too near. Too damned near. Making up his mind in a split second, the yellow-eyed mutant pulled with all his strength until Kamio toppled from his perch and landed in his arms.
"Well, hi. Nice to meet you again, babe," he joked and spun on his heel, a grin tugging on the corners of his lips. Breaking out into a sprint, Saeki ran. He most certainly wasn't as fast as Kamio could be, but he was fairly certain that he ran faster than an average person. And since Kamio wouldn't have been able to lift him up, it wouldn't have made much of a difference whether or not they were both running or if Saeki did the running while Kamio clung on for his dear life. Like they were right now.
Kamio gave a soft yelp as he was pulled from his perch, half way down the tall, iron fence, and into someone's arms. "Saeki…the hell?" he hissed, squirming as the other took off. He blinked, slightly stunned at just how fast the other teen could move. Not as fast as he could, true, but still the sudden movements had caught him off guard.
Saeki seemed to be making catching him off guard a habit.
And, the redhead noted, he was being…carried? Kamio's eyes narrowed, flashing the silver-haired mutant an indignant glare before curling his arms around the other's neck. He managed to twist himself around enough to glance over the other teen's shoulder for a fleeting glance at the front of the school. The searchlights were sweeping broad patterns just inside the gate; a few of the lights were directed outward, beyond the perimeter of the school.
"Oh fuck," he swallowed as the lights danced right across where he'd been only a few moments earlier, then down to the ground where his duffle bag lay in a heap. He tensed, fingers of one hand knotting around a looser bit of cloth, presumably Saeki's jacket. The other hand gripped the back of Saeki's neck, and he swore to himself that he was not shaking.
No way in Hell he was.
Squeezing his eyes shut -- he did not like the sensation of moving when he clearly wasn't the one moving -- he tried to steady his nerves. "You scared the shit out of me, dumb ass," he muttered, reaching up enough to give a small handful of silver hair a sharp yank. "And put me down already!"
Inhaling sharply, Saeki didn't flinch as he continued sprinting, his pace never slacking. Tightening his arms protectively around the slender youth, the dual-haired mutant spared a glance at the frightened teen in his arms.
"Don't pull my hair," he murmured, his tone held a hint of warning. "It hurts and I won't put you down unless you wanna get caught now and get us both into trouble." His instincts were at an all-time high and adrenaline pumped through Saeki, spurring him to move faster through the secluded forested area until he burst out onto concrete pavement.
Even then he did not stop, sprinting down the deserted streets until he slipped into a dark alley. Instead of releasing Kamio, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, his grip on the redhead never laxing for a moment as he sought to steady himself. Saeki's little rescue trip had unnerved him more than he had realized which gave him little doubt that Kamio was twice as scared as he was.
"You alright, luv?" The calm tone of his voice did not betray his pounding heart but the concern in his eyes was unmasked while he looked down at the mutant whose arms were wrapped around his neck in a near death-like grip.
Kamio relented his grasp on Saeki's hair and tightened his arms around the other boy's neck as they broke clear of the forested area that surrounded the school. Dark blue eyes flickered between his emancipator's tense expression and the trees behind them. He expected something to follow them, really: dogs, lights, blaring sirens. Anything that would indicate there had been a major breech in security at the school.
But the streets remained silent.
Several blocks away, if Kamio's assessment of their location was correct, and Saeki finally came to halt in a darkened alley. Though, much to the redhead's dismay, he remained held aloft by the other teen. Kamio felt blood rising to his face, embarrassment cutting through the panic of his adrenaline. It had been years, literally, since anyone had carried him, and even then, the sensation was vaguely unfamiliar, and downright disconcerting. His knees were hooked over Saeki's arms, lower legs hanging useless, while his arms were locked around the other teen's neck.
He swallowed a hard lump in his throat, nodding in response to Saeki's question. "I…I'm fine. Sort of." He paused to draw a breath and unwind one arm from around the silver-haired mutant's neck. "Mostly. I think." Flexing his fingers and trying to chase away the vague tremble in his hands, he kicked a foot absently and frowned. "Just…put me down, will ya? This is…not comfortable."
"Oh?" his unnerved feelings were instantaneously replaced by a sudden predatory streak. "And here I thought you enjoyed being held by me." Pursing his lips in a mock pout, Saeki couldn't help the glint that lit up his glowing eyes. "I ought to be hurt."
Leaning down, the young mutant brushed his lips against Kamio's in a feather-soft kiss, almost as though he wanted to calm the redhead's fears. And he did, Saeki realized, very much want to do that. Tightening his hold on the slender redhead, he waited for the rather stunned youth's reaction before he proceeded further.
"I…I didn't mean it like…"
The redhead's words were cut off by the feeling of lips against his. Soft, light…comforting, oddly enough, though Kamio supposed that may have been the desired effect. He shifted his legs, still feeling awkward at not being on the ground, and opened his mouth further. Pressing forward, he brushed his tongue over Saeki's lips, lingering there as long as he could before he pulled back.
"…like that," he finished. Tension was still making his throat feel tight, his entire body coiled like a spring. Unhooking one arm from around Saeki's neck, he ran trembling fingers through his hair. Fear, in and of itself, wasn't a problem for him; how his body reacted to a fear-inducing situation was. He barely understood it, and the explanations he'd been giving had been long and involved several medical terms he hadn't quite been able to follow.
He'd simply written them off as boring, and stopped listening.
Kamio tilted his head forward, resting his forehead against the other mutant's neck, and sighed. "I need to stand, Sae. Maybe move around a bit and burn off this extra…shit in my system." Looking away, he added in a soft grumble, "It's not like it's anything personal, ya know."
Chuckling softly, Saeki lowered the redhead onto the ground, brushing his lips against the cool forehead of the other youth. "I was just joking, Kamio," he replied calmly, bemusement apparent in his eyes.
The mutant was trembling pretty badly, and the dual-haired youth deduced that Kamio was probably in shock. This was officially a Not Good situation in Saeki's books. He had no idea how to deal with this sort of thing. He was no aspiring doctor, after all.
"Calm down," he whispered soothingly, instead. He wanted to gather the seemingly frail boy in his arms but knew better than to go against his wishes. "It's fine now." He refused to let worry be seen in his demeanor and focused on getting Kamio to a more... normal level.
Kamio stepped back, nodding his head and flexing his fingers. Tension. He could feel every taut muscle, every small twitch. "I know, I know," he replied. "I'm trying to." Moving felt good; it helped him focus on the music still lightly playing in his ears. He bounced on the balls of feet, in time to the rhythm, and steadied his breathing.
Deep breaths, he reminded himself. Inhale, count to ten. Exhale, count to ten. Just like Ryuzaki-sensei…had…said…
"Fuck. " Lifting his hands to run them through his hair, he squeezed shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. His fingers knotted into the crimson stands at the back of his head and pulled sharply. "Someone set me up," he hissed, finding the small spark of anger that he'd shut out while he'd focused his energy on getting off the school grounds. "Someone…fuck. They had to do it. They fucking set me up!"
Watching the redhead pull on his hair as he swore and ranted in anger made Saeki want to gather the redhead in his arms and take away all the anger. Being who he was, the dual-haired mutant did just that. He tugged the boy close to him again, and grabbed a wrist in his hand, uncaring about the hurt his claws could cause to himself as the filed ends lay dangerously across his wrists.
"What happened?" He asked, drawing Kamio's hands down to his side. He could run all his like later, when they were headed towards the Brotherhood. "Kamio, if you don't tell me what happened, I will go back there and personally find out for myself," he warned, his voice near to a low growl. "I need to know everything."
Kamio stiffened as his hands were pulled away from his hair. He wasn't used to being restrained, no matter how lightly. Swallowing, he inhaled another deep breath and held it for a few seconds, then let it out. His muscles twitched, but he didn't resist Saeki pushing his arms to his sides.
He glared at the other mutant, though, the threat of him setting foot on Ryuhana's grounds making his throat feel tight. "Don't you even," he hissed, jaw set in near-rage at the idea. "Fine. Everything?" he repeated, shutting his eyes. "Right…fuck." That was…a lot, most of which he hadn't even processed yet. The conversation with Ohtori was still racing through his head in broken pieces, most of which centered around one phrase:
You are on the tapes.
"Ohtori. Guy I know," he muttered. "He got hold of the security tapes from the night of the bombing. And…I'm on them, Saeki." Blue eyes flashed confusion for a moment, and he shook his head. "He said that they showed me setting up the bomb." Drawing another breath, he twisted his hands in Saeki's grip and frowned. "That's not...I didn't do it, damn it. How the fuck is that possible?"
How is that possible? “One,” Saeki murmured, letting go of Kamio’s twisting wrists. “Ohtori dude lied,” he winced, but continued. “Two, you got set up. And three,” he paused, studying the redhead. “You did it.”
He knew it would piss Kamio off, but the other mutant was still, unmistakably from Ryuhana. He had to make sure he wasn’t bringing Kamio in as spy. He’d never forgive himself if he did that under any circumstance. He watched Kamio tremble, trying to harden his heart. It had never seemed so difficult before…
Kamio's eyes narrowed at the two additional accusations that Saeki came up with, not liking either one. "I didn't do it, Saeki," he growled more insistently. Though he really had no proof, regardless, and no idea how to convince the silver-haired teen that only one of the three options he'd presented were true.
He was quite sure of what he'd done that night, however, and setting up a bomb had not been part of evening. Not that he had any tangible proof; the bruises from being buried underneath a cascade of textbooks were faded. None of his classmates had seen him since dinner that evening. It was simply his word against what Ohtori had described from the security tapes.
Which left only two options he could consider. He didn't know Ohtori that well, true, but he knew him better than he did most people at the school. Kamio couldn't believe that Ohtori had lied to him. He could barely -- just barely -- believe that the other teen had stolen something, let alone the security tapes, but to have flat out lied to Kamio about it?
Still, if he hadn't stolen the tapes, then he'd lied. If he hadn't lied, then he'd stolen the tapes. Either option was difficult to conceive.
"I…fuck." Spinning away from the silver-haired teen, Kamio glared at his trembling hands. His rhythm was off, completely. He could feel his heart racing inside his chest, and there was tight knot at the base of his throat. His temples were throbbing, as well, causing small sparks of pain to bloom behind his eyes. "Look, Ohtori said he broke into security and took the damn tapes. That he'd gotten caught, okay? He said he was put in solitary confinement for a few days -- and yeah, he disappeared for most of last week. Other than what he told me, I don't fucking know."
"Calm down, luv," Saeki murmured quietly, raking a hand through tousled silver bangs. "I wouldn't mind if you had done it, but if you haven't then all the better." He fixed a stare on the trembling teen in quite contemplation. "It's over now, Kamio. You're out of that hell hole." Of course what would happen next was a complete mystery, but at the moment, Saeki couldn't give a damn.
"Forget those fucking assholes," the dual-haired mutant continued quietly, a hint of defiance in his tone. "It doesn't matter if Ohtori-kun lied to you or not. He got you out of there and you owe him one." As did Saeki, but once again, he couldn't quite muster the energy to give it much thought.
He stood there, his composure regained as he leaned against the alley wall, arms calmly crossed over his chest as he watched Kamio. Watched how he reacted. As much as the redhead tried to act tough all the time, there were little instances where Saeki could just read him like an open book placed right under his nose.
Kamio at the moment was scared, confused, worried and angry. None of them good things in Saeki's opinion. The usually laid-back teen frowned inwardly as he watched the slender mutant pace.
"Go run off some steam if you need to. I can meet you nearer to the Brotherhood if you want." It was a suggestion, one that Kamio could either take or refuse. Either way, the redhead would be coming back to the Brotherhood with him. And that, he mused, could be another problem to add to it all.
The feline mutant decided that he didn't want to think about it.
"I…yeah." The redhead's voice skipped a beat as it tried to catch up to his thoughts. "I know I owe him. Fuck. I didn't ask him to help me," he groaned. "He doesn't need to get himself in any more shit." And he had no idea how he was going to pay the other mutant back, least of all since it was probably in both their interests that they had very little contact with each other.
He stopped pacing, though the tight feeling in his body had yet to subside. "Owe you too," he admitted softly. Glancing away from the silver-haired teen, Kamio sighed. The inside of his head was still buzzing, questions piling on top of each other too quickly for him to really latch onto one. He felt like he was running blind, or worse, handing the reins completely over to Saeki.
Strangely, that thought didn't bother him half as much as it should have.
"Brotherhood, huh?" He threaded his fingers through his bangs, pushing them back absently. The idea of going to another institute had limited appeal; there would be rules, teachers, classes and classmates to deal with. None of his favorite things, but on the other hand, there would also be a bed, food, and…blue eyes flickered over to the other teen.
He could probably endure the classes, at the very least.
"Yeah, sure. Running would be…good," he admitted. "Just tell me where to meet you at and give me..." His voice trailed off as he tried to guess how long it would take for him to calm down completely. A good run normally helped, if only because he could focus on the pounding of his feet on the pavement. "An hour?"
Even if it was just a few blocks from where they were, Kamio would probably take longest route he knew.
"Take all the time you need," Saeki waved the redhead off easily. He needed time to sort things out himself. It had been quite some time since he had felt that life was a complicated thing. In fact, life had been pretty loving towards him since he had been accepted at the brotherhood. "Meet me at the back alley behind Aldar's when you're done."
Glancing up at the redhead, he frowned at the way pale skin contrasted sharply with the bright crimson head of silk. Kamio clearly needed nourishing. He looked... Saeki snorted, like a stick.
"Be careful," the dual-haired mutant added, half an afterthought. "Don't want you getting caught before we can even get you there."
He couldn't even begin to think how he would react to that.
"Won't get caught," Kamio assured the silver-haired teen curtly, then frowned at himself and swallowed. He hadn't meant that to come out quite so harsh. "I'll be fine," he amended. "Careful."
He licked his lips. "Uhm…look. I…" The words tapered off, and Kamio gave a frustrated grunt. He what? Appreciated it? D'uh. That was so obvious it was painful, and there was something else that he couldn’t quite get out of his mouth. Something important that he probably should say.
But words weren't his strong point.
Taking three quick steps forward, he narrowed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around Saeki's neck. A blush burned it's way across his cheeks, but he leaned forward anyway, and pressed his mouth against the silver-haired teen's. His movements were quick until that moment, a span of heartbeats that weren't worth counting. The moment his lips touched the other mutant's, however, he wanted to slow down. There was just something about him that made the redhead want to…linger.
Truthfully, it was the desire that was scarring the crap out of him, but he wasn't going to dwell on that.
Surprise didn't even begin to cover Saeki's reaction to the sudden kiss. The amazement wore out soon enough though, in approximately half a second, and he wrapped his arms around Kamio's waist murmuring in appreciation as the redhead deepened the kiss.
A hand stole up to cup the base of Kamio's neck, careful not to puncture any skin with Saeki's mutation. Tilting it back, the dual-haired youth proceeded to plunder the sweet cavity, his eyes half-closed as he savored the taste on his tongue.
"Tease," he murmured as he pulled back, a smirk dancing across his lips.
"You should talk," Kamio panted. "I seem to remember someone leaving me in a dressing room." Not that he was angry, a fact that truly did surprise him. Instead, he managed a small, embarrassed smirk at the memory. There was no malice in his tone as he added a chuckled, "Ass."
His hands had skimmed underneath the silver-haired mutant's shirt, fingertips ghosting over coils of muscle. He was still blushing furiously, despite himself. Kamio ducked his head and rested his forehead against Saeki's shoulder. "I'd better…" he began, swallowing. "Ya know. Calm down. Run."
Not that he was moving away. Instead, he traced his fingers along the ridges of Saeki's stomach.
Ah, the dressing room. Now that brought back memories... and certain dreams as well. Smirking, Saeki brushed finger pads against the soft skin of Kamio's cheek.
"Yes," he whispered. "You ought to."
Leaning down, he caught Kamio's lips in another bruising kiss, fingers running through the head of crimson strands. Pulling back, he looked upon the disheveled redhead and managed a half-hearted arrogant grin.
"Meet me at the coffee shop then," the feline-mutant said and slipped out of Kamio's grasp and into the night as he broke into a run of his own.
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