[X] to touch the DEVIL is to die (section two of chapter one)
The second section of chapter one:
On an elevator down, Kusanagi mentally kicked himself for coming there; he had sworn that he would never return, but...he had to pay his respects. Life and death were precious things, he was starting to realize, and he had a certain young woman to thank for altering his future.
However, he wasn't able yet to admit this to himself or his fellow Angels.
"He who fights with monsters," Kusanagi began to quote as the elevator doors dinged to an open, and immediately he could feel the colder air wafting in from the basement, "should see to it that he does not..."
"Become one himself?" Fuuma finished as he greeted the slightly surprised Angel almost immediately. His lips curled into a smirk at the deeper meaning and its hidden ironies. "Nietzsche, right?"
It was difficult to remember that the Kamui for the Dragons of Earth was still a...kid, almost, Kusanagi figured, and responded, "I guess, I don't know. It's just been a little thing I knew for comfort and guidance."
Fuuma shrugged and said, "Well, it's certainly surprising to see you back. Kanoe was expressing concern that you had defected, but... Anyway, thought I'd meet you here." It was actually a coincidence that he happened to be there as Kusanagi arrived, but no one had to know that. "She'll be glad to know you stopped by to pay your respects to Satsuki. We've got a little shrine to her in her and BEAST's room."
Had Kusanagi not been desperate to steel his nerves in the presence of the lead Angel, he definitely would have caught the words that then escaped his lips. "Funeral, shrine...that's certainly a lot to do for one person. You guys didn't do that much for Seishirou and Nataku, did you?" Once the words had been said, however, he immediately regretted them and the meanings that they had.
Kusanagi cast his eyes as he mentally kicked himself again for what he saw as his social ineptness. With his eyes to the ground, however, he missed Fuuma's carefully schooled features darken briefly.
"Well," Fuuma answered shortly, "I suppose we saw her more often."
It might have been suicide, Kusanagi thought as they walked down the corridor, to point out that Nataku had always been right there alongside him.
"Anyway, we finished a little celebration of life - funny we should do that? - not too long ago. There's still cake and tea, if you'd like," Fuuma offered in superficial conversation. "They should still be in the tea room so it'll be no problem to join in on the, er, fun."
Kusanagi was regretting ever coming down there. All he wanted to do was pay his respects to Satsuki and leave.
Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led to a rather comfortable room down the corridor that he had only been in once, and in it sat Kanoe in a skirt that Kusanagi was positive was too short to be legal, Yuuto in his characteristic smile and charming laughter, and Subaru in plain and muted black as always, seeming to be removed from the other two. A look of disgust crossed his eyes as he saw Kusanagi come in with Fuuma.
"Oh? Kamui, you're back," Kanoe affirmed as she saw them with a smile and added, "and you've brought Kusanagi. How wonderful!"
"I thought you were through with their bullshit," Subaru stated simply as he lifted a blue teacup to his lips and drank, ignoring the decidedly pointed yet brief glare Fuuma gave him. "I heard you say it as you left."
Kanoe parted her lips painted a deep, vivacious red to say something, but with a good-natured laugh, Yuuto beat her to it. "Oh nonsense. He'll never be through with our bullshit!"
She smirked loosely as Fuuma rolled his eyes and moved to sit down abruptly in a chair, looking very much like an adolescent being forced into something he didn't want to do, which he probably was. "I don't suppose he will."
Kusanagi tried to back out of the threshold without being noticed.
"Unless you die, of course," Subaru added and glanced at Kanoe; she shot him a dirty and unnerved look in return.
Yuuto's smile never faltered. "True, true, death does have a tendency to end such things. ...Would you like to join us for tea and cake, Kusanagi? Catch up a little? It's been a while since we've seen you, but my, we've all been so busy, haven't we?"
"I suppose I could," he murmured as he crossed into the room awkwardly and sat down beside Kanoe, avoiding seeing Subaru entirely. "I just came to pay my respects to Satsuki, though..."
"Oh no, no, we won't keep you for a long time. Just sit and talk with us a bit, hmm?" The curve in Yuuto's lips never went away, and especially not as he drank tea. "Actually, after our Kamui left to go on a little walk and fetch you, we were talking about the plants that Subaru is keeping in his apartment now. What kind of plants did you say you had now, Subaru?"
"I didn't. I told you that I didn't know what they were before."
"Oh, oh, that's right. Well, since Kusanagi's here with us, I'm sure he can help you identify them," Yuuto opened and sat back. When it was apparent from an awkward pause that the conversation he had started was going nowhere, he asked, "What do they look like?"
"They're green."
"Well that certainly narrows it down a bit, doesn't it?"
Kusanagi cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up, immediately regretting it after feeling mismatched eyes watch him rise. "...I actually have to get back to work," he lied. "I just wanted to...pay my respects to Satsuki. Uh..." Fuuma looked at him expectantly. "F - uh - Kamui, you said that you guys had a shrine to her...could you show me where it is?"
"Of course," Fuuma agreed and rose from his seat rather eagerly.
Yuuto sighed. "Well, you'll certainly have to stop by again some other time, Kusanagi, so we can talk more in detail."
"If my schedule will allow."
"Yuuto, darling," Kanoe said sweetly and drew attention to placing her hand on the water-user's leg, "Kusanagi's such a busy man, what with being a military man and all, and you simply talk too much."
He just laughed, and Kanoe's hand moved further up his leg as they flirted obviously.
Subaru was the first to leave.
On an elevator down, Kusanagi mentally kicked himself for coming there; he had sworn that he would never return, but...he had to pay his respects. Life and death were precious things, he was starting to realize, and he had a certain young woman to thank for altering his future.
However, he wasn't able yet to admit this to himself or his fellow Angels.
"He who fights with monsters," Kusanagi began to quote as the elevator doors dinged to an open, and immediately he could feel the colder air wafting in from the basement, "should see to it that he does not..."
"Become one himself?" Fuuma finished as he greeted the slightly surprised Angel almost immediately. His lips curled into a smirk at the deeper meaning and its hidden ironies. "Nietzsche, right?"
It was difficult to remember that the Kamui for the Dragons of Earth was still a...kid, almost, Kusanagi figured, and responded, "I guess, I don't know. It's just been a little thing I knew for comfort and guidance."
Fuuma shrugged and said, "Well, it's certainly surprising to see you back. Kanoe was expressing concern that you had defected, but... Anyway, thought I'd meet you here." It was actually a coincidence that he happened to be there as Kusanagi arrived, but no one had to know that. "She'll be glad to know you stopped by to pay your respects to Satsuki. We've got a little shrine to her in her and BEAST's room."
Had Kusanagi not been desperate to steel his nerves in the presence of the lead Angel, he definitely would have caught the words that then escaped his lips. "Funeral, shrine...that's certainly a lot to do for one person. You guys didn't do that much for Seishirou and Nataku, did you?" Once the words had been said, however, he immediately regretted them and the meanings that they had.
Kusanagi cast his eyes as he mentally kicked himself again for what he saw as his social ineptness. With his eyes to the ground, however, he missed Fuuma's carefully schooled features darken briefly.
"Well," Fuuma answered shortly, "I suppose we saw her more often."
It might have been suicide, Kusanagi thought as they walked down the corridor, to point out that Nataku had always been right there alongside him.
"Anyway, we finished a little celebration of life - funny we should do that? - not too long ago. There's still cake and tea, if you'd like," Fuuma offered in superficial conversation. "They should still be in the tea room so it'll be no problem to join in on the, er, fun."
Kusanagi was regretting ever coming down there. All he wanted to do was pay his respects to Satsuki and leave.
Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led to a rather comfortable room down the corridor that he had only been in once, and in it sat Kanoe in a skirt that Kusanagi was positive was too short to be legal, Yuuto in his characteristic smile and charming laughter, and Subaru in plain and muted black as always, seeming to be removed from the other two. A look of disgust crossed his eyes as he saw Kusanagi come in with Fuuma.
"Oh? Kamui, you're back," Kanoe affirmed as she saw them with a smile and added, "and you've brought Kusanagi. How wonderful!"
"I thought you were through with their bullshit," Subaru stated simply as he lifted a blue teacup to his lips and drank, ignoring the decidedly pointed yet brief glare Fuuma gave him. "I heard you say it as you left."
Kanoe parted her lips painted a deep, vivacious red to say something, but with a good-natured laugh, Yuuto beat her to it. "Oh nonsense. He'll never be through with our bullshit!"
She smirked loosely as Fuuma rolled his eyes and moved to sit down abruptly in a chair, looking very much like an adolescent being forced into something he didn't want to do, which he probably was. "I don't suppose he will."
Kusanagi tried to back out of the threshold without being noticed.
"Unless you die, of course," Subaru added and glanced at Kanoe; she shot him a dirty and unnerved look in return.
Yuuto's smile never faltered. "True, true, death does have a tendency to end such things. ...Would you like to join us for tea and cake, Kusanagi? Catch up a little? It's been a while since we've seen you, but my, we've all been so busy, haven't we?"
"I suppose I could," he murmured as he crossed into the room awkwardly and sat down beside Kanoe, avoiding seeing Subaru entirely. "I just came to pay my respects to Satsuki, though..."
"Oh no, no, we won't keep you for a long time. Just sit and talk with us a bit, hmm?" The curve in Yuuto's lips never went away, and especially not as he drank tea. "Actually, after our Kamui left to go on a little walk and fetch you, we were talking about the plants that Subaru is keeping in his apartment now. What kind of plants did you say you had now, Subaru?"
"I didn't. I told you that I didn't know what they were before."
"Oh, oh, that's right. Well, since Kusanagi's here with us, I'm sure he can help you identify them," Yuuto opened and sat back. When it was apparent from an awkward pause that the conversation he had started was going nowhere, he asked, "What do they look like?"
"They're green."
"Well that certainly narrows it down a bit, doesn't it?"
Kusanagi cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up, immediately regretting it after feeling mismatched eyes watch him rise. "...I actually have to get back to work," he lied. "I just wanted to...pay my respects to Satsuki. Uh..." Fuuma looked at him expectantly. "F - uh - Kamui, you said that you guys had a shrine to her...could you show me where it is?"
"Of course," Fuuma agreed and rose from his seat rather eagerly.
Yuuto sighed. "Well, you'll certainly have to stop by again some other time, Kusanagi, so we can talk more in detail."
"If my schedule will allow."
"Yuuto, darling," Kanoe said sweetly and drew attention to placing her hand on the water-user's leg, "Kusanagi's such a busy man, what with being a military man and all, and you simply talk too much."
He just laughed, and Kanoe's hand moved further up his leg as they flirted obviously.
Subaru was the first to leave.