some ficcage
Before I post this to my writing journal I wanted to toss it out for some quick impromptu beta-ing. I'm ridiculously unsure about this; I was trying for their conflicting feelings and the difficulty of finding a role, buuut I think I failed. Any imput would be awesomesauce you guys.
This takes place directly after Skip Beat chapter 155. (I'm making assumptions that 155 happened around noon or so.)
A brother complex.
Really.
Kyoko sat outside the men’s room door, back pressed up against the wall and arms crossed beneath her breasts as she waited for her “brother.” Tsuru-no, Cain--sure took his sweet time. And the longer he made her wait with nothing to do, the more her brain looped, tripping this way and that over itself.
He didn’t have to scare me like that, she muttered to herself and scrunched her shoulders as she closed more in on herself. A man exited the bathroom a moment later and she quickly sat up, but she didn’t know him and slumped right back down. Her whole body felt tense, ready to spring at a moment’s notice. And the memory of Cain grabbing her in their room on endless loop didn’t help matters either.
How was she supposed to deal with this? Cain was first, second third-he was everything to Setsuka, but she kept fighting it back. To be so close to someone, to adore them so much she would do anything for them? Even to go so far as to share a bed? She shuddered and then sat up as another man entered and then nearly ran out of the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind him.
She’d left that life behind her, left it with the remains of her shattered heart. Her demons hovered anxiously as the memories rose up in her mind and Kyoko hunched in on herself again. Could she really perform as Setsuka correctly when the thought of going back to that--
The door opened again and she sat up straight, quickly shoving “Kyoko” away for “Setsuka.” Cain shut the door behind him without looking, and barely sent a glance Setsuka’s way. She smiled and stood, and Kyoko resisted the urge to adjust Setsuka’s skirt. Why did she have to wear such revealing clothing?!
“You waited?”
“Of course.” Setsuka’s voice was deep like Natsu’s, but not cold. Not, at least, with Cain. “I’m not going to leave you. Brother,” she added at the last moment, and Cain grunted before walking away. Setsuka ran to catch up, two strides to his one.
Cain seemed to wander aimlessly from street to street once they left the restaurant, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his coat. People parted quickly as the siblings passed, only to group up again and whisper behind their backs. Kyoko itched to hear, but the budding Setsuka inside her relished the unknown gossip. That was her brother they discussed. No one could deny his presence. She held her head higher as they walked, her pride shining through in the cold, narrow glances she gave people who didn’t move away fast enough.
This isn’t so bad. Kyoko settled back into the familiar coldness of Mio and Natsu. Aloof she could do-it was a convenient shield. In public like this her protection fell into place easily, and Kyoko offered up a silent thank you to her beloved Mio. If only Cain would slow down some…
“Setsuka.”
“Yes?” She stopped instantly, a few steps behind the taller man as he looked over his shoulder at her. She realized a second too late how cold her voice was, how she stood like Natsu, and quickly adjusted, but Cain stared at her a little too harshly. “Yes, Brother?”
“Go home. I don’t need you following me like a dog.”
She bristled. A dog? “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” He’s first, second and third. He’s the only thing for me. Her demons chattered.
He turned to face her completely, imposing as he blocked out the late afternoon sun. Across the street people stopped to stare. Her wrist itched where he’d grabbed her earlier, her mind and demons blocked for a moment by his face so very close to hers, his breath on her cheek.
“I don’t need you with me every second of the day.”
Her mind reeled back to the present, her demons locked away. How would Setsuka respond? Cain was her world, wasn’t he? Surely she would cave, give into his whims, let him walk all over her-no. No. This isn’t Kyoto, she’s not Kyoko. I can’t--
“Do you even know where you’re going?” The words slipped out unbidden, almost playful, and Kyoko clung to them as Cain’s shoulders stiffened. Setsuka knew what she wanted-she wouldn’t be used or tossed aside. She was confident. “We’ve been going in circles, Brother. If you’d just tell me what you want, I’ll get us there.”
As best she could tell he stared at her, the sun giving his entire body a halo. Silence hung between them, thick and uncomfortable, and her sudden confidence crumbled just a little. Had she messed up again?
“What I want?” he finally said, barely more than a whisper. Kyoko’s stomach bottomed out, but Setsuka nodded. Cain’s voice sounded strangely thick.
“Of course.”
He took a step closer and Kyoko resisted taking a step back. Setsuka resisted reaching out to touch his hand. “Brother…?” Her heart thudded loudly in her chest, but Kyoko couldn’t say “who’s” heart it was.
Cain hovered a few moments more before pulling away quickly. She squinted as the sun suddenly shone in her eyes, and in that moment her brother was nearly out of sight, just the tail of his coat whipping around a corner. Setsuka cried out and hurried after, unmindful of the people staring.
How dare he run off like that!
“Are you sure you can handle me?” His words echoed in her mind, harsh and insistent, and she ran faster at the memory of his breath on her face.
“Cain!”
He ducked down another side street and she rushed after, only to nearly be hit by a cyclist. The man cried out and swerved and Setsuka pressed herself up against the brick wall of the building. Something pulled against the bare skin of her upper back and she hissed in pain.
“A-are you alright?”
“Nevermind that.” He was getting away. Setsuka grabbed the handlebars of the bike. “Let me borrow this.”
“H-Hey--!”
“Just let me--!” Her mind spun as she fought with the man, everything a blur. Cain was getting away and she was failing and how dare her brother leave her again! Setsuka’s heart ached at the memory, at the way he’d just walked away with a quick “I’ll be in Japan” and nothing else. And now after she’d finally managed to find a way to be of help and he ditched her!
Unforgiveable!
“Setsuka!”
She froze instantly and the man broke free, hurling curses at her as he sped away. Setsuka ignored him and turned to face her brother, her eyes locked onto him. He stood at the mouth of another side street, one hand pressed against the brick wall, the other fisted at his side. She wasted no time in striding towards him, one hand lifted to strike.
“Why did you leave me back there?! Why do you always--“
Cain grabbed her wrist after her second strike against his chest and pulled her close. Setsuka’s eyes widened as he pressed her to his chest, only for her to wince in pain as his other hand touched her shoulder blade.
“Idiot,” he muttered darkly, “you weren’t supposed to follow.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” She pulled away to stare up at him, heart beating fast. “You already left me behind once for this job. I won’t let you leave me alone again.”
He leaned down, his face almost in hers, but she kept her head high. His eyes narrowed a moment before his arms circled her waist and he pulled her close. Setsuka nearly cried out when he rested his chin on her shoulder, and then again at the feel of his lips on the raw scratch along her back.
In a moment Setsuka was gone, blasted away and leaving Kyoko alone.
“Tsu-Brother?”
Cain stiffened and then pushed her away. Kyoko vaguely realized she’d messed up again, but the street was empty and the sound of cars distant. But her back felt like fire, the memory of his lips frightening. Just like before; everything was just like before, and she felt trapped within her own body.
“B-Bro-“
“Let’s go.” He turned and walked a few feet away only to stop and look behind him, waiting. Kyoko stared after him, frozen, but when he took a step back towards her Setsuka took over, and Kyoko gladly let herself fall back beneath her new shield.
This was torture, plain and simple. What sin had he committed for Takarada to throw this on him?
Ren sneered at his reflection, a cigarette slowly burning between his teeth. Another man skirted past quickly, not even bothering to approach the sinks. “Cain” glared harder and the man nearly ran out the door.
Just what was he doing? Ever since “Setsuka” appeared everything flipped upside down. What grasp he had on Cain kept slipping between his fingers no matter how he clung and held on. Was he really such a poor actor that he couldn’t control himself alone with her?
”Are you sure you can handle me?” He’d asked Kyoko, but it was his own answer he needed.
Another man entered the bathroom and quickly left with one glance at the man in front of the sinks. Cain sneered and snuffed out his cigarette against the white basin. He couldn’t keep “Setsuka” waiting much longer.
With Cain firmly in place, he exited the bathroom. Kyoko stood as soon as she saw him, her expression changing through a myriad of emotions in a moment. The set of her jaw, her narrow eyes, the way she pushed her shoulders back-did she have as much trouble grasping Setsuka as he did Cain? The thought was far from comforting. Kyoko was too alluring for Cain’s dark mind-for Ren’s own-but Setsuka was his sister.
“You waited?” Nonchalant, cold. Uncaring. He needed to put up all his defenses early
“Of course. I’m not going to leave you.” A beat. “Brother.”
Cain grunted and walked away, his strides purposefully long. After what happened earlier he needed distance.
”I’ll let you rest your arm on me.”
His mood darkened as he traipsed out of the restaurant and through the narrow side streets of Tokyo. The setting sun glared down at him, painting the corners of all the white-washed buildings yellow. He sneered at people in the streets, ready to snap at anyone who stood in his way. Cain Heel, the biggest asshole he could possibly be. Hizuri Kuon brought back into the light.
Behind him Kyoko made a soft sound, her breathing slightly heavy as she fought to keep up with him, and Ren nearly sped up.
”Are you sure you can handle me?”
There was no way he could handle her, not the way he was now. Now that he’d heard her, noticed the way her breath hitched with every few steps, she filled all his senses. She echoed in his mind with heavy breaths, her chest rising and falling in that shirt, a flush to her cheeks-
“Setsuka.”
He needed a break, needed some distance now. Cain was crumbling around him even as he chanted ‘She’s my sister’ over and over again. The sun glared down happily, mocking him, and he turned his face from it. At least this way she couldn’t read his expression.
“Yes?” She stood there patiently, looking up at him with an expression that he couldn’t read. Was she Natsu just then, cold and calculating? But she softened her voice a moment later, “Brother” escaping her lips with a low breath.
God, he needed to find his bearings.
“Go home.” He steeled himself and forced Ren’s words through Cain. “I don’t need you following me like a dog.” Where did all his professionalism go in the presence of this young woman?
He had to give her credit as she visibly stood straighter, her shoulders set and eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”
Cain turned around completely, aware of how imposing his height could be. He’d made her gibber in panic once already, surely he could do it again.
“I don’t need you with me every second of the day.”
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Her question threw him off and he froze, trapped somewhere between Ren and Cain. “We’re going in circles, Brother. If you’d just tell me what you want, I’ll get us there.”
The word ‘brother’ echoed painfully, forcefully. She stood there before him, defiant and small and more alluring than he could ever say. His eyes flicked to her chest before he could stop them, and his stomach tightened in dread.
”Are you sure you can handle me?”
“What I want?” he finally whispered, more Kuon than Cain or Ren. What was she doing to him?
No, that was wrong. He was doing this all himself. He knew his own weaknesses, knew where to press and what to give. Breaking his defenses was as easy as putting them up.
“Of course.” He stepped forward and her hand twitched. “Brother?”
Cain stood there for what felt forever and Ren fought with everything he had to keep his other self still. He won out in the end, pushed back his urge to grab Kyoko to him, and turned and fled.
What kind of a child was he?
This assignment was torture, worse than anything he remembered feeling in years. Not just being with her, knowing how weak, how unskilled and flawed he really was. She broke everything in him because he let her. In five years as Tsuruga Ren nothing broke his defenses, and then this little girl, this young woman came and-
He walked as fast as he could without running, moving by rote rather than purpose. His feet took him wherever as his mind pieced itself back together and shoved his defenses back into place. She yelled his name once and he nearly stopped, wanted to hear it echo off the narrow street again. ‘Cain’ wasn’t ‘Brother.’
He did stop a few moments after turning down a side street away from a cyclist. There was a shout and the sound of the bike’s bell and his heart leaped as he turned, ready to run out and make sure that wasn’t her, that she was fine, but he held himself back. Now was his chance to get away, to cool his head and find himself again.
“H-Hey--!”
“Just let me--!”
He ran back out into the narrow street, her name echoing down between the buildings. The bicyclist fled, but Cain ignored him. Setsuka advanced, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She raised a hand and smacked his chest and he welcomed the contact.
“Why did you leave me alone back there? Why do you always--“
He grabbed her wrist, his entire hand encircling it and then some. She was so tiny.
She winced when he pulled her close and he finally saw the angry red scratches along her upper back. Had she done that when the bicyclist nearly hit her?
“Idiot,” he called them both as he gently touched the raw marks on her back. “You weren’t supposed to follow.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” She pulled away and stared up at him, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. “You already left me behind once for this job. I won’t let you leave me alone again.”
…What? When had he-
Of course. Cain Heel came to Tokyo for the role of BJ and arrived without his little sister. She’d followed him, tracked him down, and done everything she could to be beside her brother. Something inside Ren clicked, collapsed, and for a moment all his banned feelings, all his longing and want merged with Cain, molded and reformed itself into something new, something forbidden, and Cain grabbed hold and relished the unnatural feelings.
Cain leaned down, his chest tight as he tried his best to glare at this young woman before him. ‘Sister’ echoed hollow, empty, and her lips were so inviting…
Ren stopped himself at the last moment and hugged her instead. But he couldn’t stop himself from kissing the bare skin of her back and shoulder, from trying to soothe the pain he’d caused. Setsuka stiffened beneath him and he nearly caught himself, almost remembered why he’d left her in the first place. But she was soft and warm and he couldn’t push her away, not anymore.
“Tsu-Brother?”
His body went cold at her whisper and he quickly pulled away. What was I-- She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes and this time he couldn’t blame his actions on a simple ‘thank you.’ What have I done?
“B-Bro-“
“Let’s go.” In the end there was no excuse he could make. He retreated from her again, forced up the broken remains of his walls, and turned away. When he heard no footsteps he stopped to wait, the impatient, impartial brother once again.
He knew the sin he was being punished for now. But knowing didn’t make it any easier to fight.
Hahaha, and I already notice a problem. Uh, let's just say she's not wearing that jacket. *gotta find a place to put that in*
This takes place directly after Skip Beat chapter 155. (I'm making assumptions that 155 happened around noon or so.)
A brother complex.
Really.
Kyoko sat outside the men’s room door, back pressed up against the wall and arms crossed beneath her breasts as she waited for her “brother.” Tsuru-no, Cain--sure took his sweet time. And the longer he made her wait with nothing to do, the more her brain looped, tripping this way and that over itself.
He didn’t have to scare me like that, she muttered to herself and scrunched her shoulders as she closed more in on herself. A man exited the bathroom a moment later and she quickly sat up, but she didn’t know him and slumped right back down. Her whole body felt tense, ready to spring at a moment’s notice. And the memory of Cain grabbing her in their room on endless loop didn’t help matters either.
How was she supposed to deal with this? Cain was first, second third-he was everything to Setsuka, but she kept fighting it back. To be so close to someone, to adore them so much she would do anything for them? Even to go so far as to share a bed? She shuddered and then sat up as another man entered and then nearly ran out of the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind him.
She’d left that life behind her, left it with the remains of her shattered heart. Her demons hovered anxiously as the memories rose up in her mind and Kyoko hunched in on herself again. Could she really perform as Setsuka correctly when the thought of going back to that--
The door opened again and she sat up straight, quickly shoving “Kyoko” away for “Setsuka.” Cain shut the door behind him without looking, and barely sent a glance Setsuka’s way. She smiled and stood, and Kyoko resisted the urge to adjust Setsuka’s skirt. Why did she have to wear such revealing clothing?!
“You waited?”
“Of course.” Setsuka’s voice was deep like Natsu’s, but not cold. Not, at least, with Cain. “I’m not going to leave you. Brother,” she added at the last moment, and Cain grunted before walking away. Setsuka ran to catch up, two strides to his one.
Cain seemed to wander aimlessly from street to street once they left the restaurant, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his coat. People parted quickly as the siblings passed, only to group up again and whisper behind their backs. Kyoko itched to hear, but the budding Setsuka inside her relished the unknown gossip. That was her brother they discussed. No one could deny his presence. She held her head higher as they walked, her pride shining through in the cold, narrow glances she gave people who didn’t move away fast enough.
This isn’t so bad. Kyoko settled back into the familiar coldness of Mio and Natsu. Aloof she could do-it was a convenient shield. In public like this her protection fell into place easily, and Kyoko offered up a silent thank you to her beloved Mio. If only Cain would slow down some…
“Setsuka.”
“Yes?” She stopped instantly, a few steps behind the taller man as he looked over his shoulder at her. She realized a second too late how cold her voice was, how she stood like Natsu, and quickly adjusted, but Cain stared at her a little too harshly. “Yes, Brother?”
“Go home. I don’t need you following me like a dog.”
She bristled. A dog? “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” He’s first, second and third. He’s the only thing for me. Her demons chattered.
He turned to face her completely, imposing as he blocked out the late afternoon sun. Across the street people stopped to stare. Her wrist itched where he’d grabbed her earlier, her mind and demons blocked for a moment by his face so very close to hers, his breath on her cheek.
“I don’t need you with me every second of the day.”
Her mind reeled back to the present, her demons locked away. How would Setsuka respond? Cain was her world, wasn’t he? Surely she would cave, give into his whims, let him walk all over her-no. No. This isn’t Kyoto, she’s not Kyoko. I can’t--
“Do you even know where you’re going?” The words slipped out unbidden, almost playful, and Kyoko clung to them as Cain’s shoulders stiffened. Setsuka knew what she wanted-she wouldn’t be used or tossed aside. She was confident. “We’ve been going in circles, Brother. If you’d just tell me what you want, I’ll get us there.”
As best she could tell he stared at her, the sun giving his entire body a halo. Silence hung between them, thick and uncomfortable, and her sudden confidence crumbled just a little. Had she messed up again?
“What I want?” he finally said, barely more than a whisper. Kyoko’s stomach bottomed out, but Setsuka nodded. Cain’s voice sounded strangely thick.
“Of course.”
He took a step closer and Kyoko resisted taking a step back. Setsuka resisted reaching out to touch his hand. “Brother…?” Her heart thudded loudly in her chest, but Kyoko couldn’t say “who’s” heart it was.
Cain hovered a few moments more before pulling away quickly. She squinted as the sun suddenly shone in her eyes, and in that moment her brother was nearly out of sight, just the tail of his coat whipping around a corner. Setsuka cried out and hurried after, unmindful of the people staring.
How dare he run off like that!
“Are you sure you can handle me?” His words echoed in her mind, harsh and insistent, and she ran faster at the memory of his breath on her face.
“Cain!”
He ducked down another side street and she rushed after, only to nearly be hit by a cyclist. The man cried out and swerved and Setsuka pressed herself up against the brick wall of the building. Something pulled against the bare skin of her upper back and she hissed in pain.
“A-are you alright?”
“Nevermind that.” He was getting away. Setsuka grabbed the handlebars of the bike. “Let me borrow this.”
“H-Hey--!”
“Just let me--!” Her mind spun as she fought with the man, everything a blur. Cain was getting away and she was failing and how dare her brother leave her again! Setsuka’s heart ached at the memory, at the way he’d just walked away with a quick “I’ll be in Japan” and nothing else. And now after she’d finally managed to find a way to be of help and he ditched her!
Unforgiveable!
“Setsuka!”
She froze instantly and the man broke free, hurling curses at her as he sped away. Setsuka ignored him and turned to face her brother, her eyes locked onto him. He stood at the mouth of another side street, one hand pressed against the brick wall, the other fisted at his side. She wasted no time in striding towards him, one hand lifted to strike.
“Why did you leave me back there?! Why do you always--“
Cain grabbed her wrist after her second strike against his chest and pulled her close. Setsuka’s eyes widened as he pressed her to his chest, only for her to wince in pain as his other hand touched her shoulder blade.
“Idiot,” he muttered darkly, “you weren’t supposed to follow.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” She pulled away to stare up at him, heart beating fast. “You already left me behind once for this job. I won’t let you leave me alone again.”
He leaned down, his face almost in hers, but she kept her head high. His eyes narrowed a moment before his arms circled her waist and he pulled her close. Setsuka nearly cried out when he rested his chin on her shoulder, and then again at the feel of his lips on the raw scratch along her back.
In a moment Setsuka was gone, blasted away and leaving Kyoko alone.
“Tsu-Brother?”
Cain stiffened and then pushed her away. Kyoko vaguely realized she’d messed up again, but the street was empty and the sound of cars distant. But her back felt like fire, the memory of his lips frightening. Just like before; everything was just like before, and she felt trapped within her own body.
“B-Bro-“
“Let’s go.” He turned and walked a few feet away only to stop and look behind him, waiting. Kyoko stared after him, frozen, but when he took a step back towards her Setsuka took over, and Kyoko gladly let herself fall back beneath her new shield.
This was torture, plain and simple. What sin had he committed for Takarada to throw this on him?
Ren sneered at his reflection, a cigarette slowly burning between his teeth. Another man skirted past quickly, not even bothering to approach the sinks. “Cain” glared harder and the man nearly ran out the door.
Just what was he doing? Ever since “Setsuka” appeared everything flipped upside down. What grasp he had on Cain kept slipping between his fingers no matter how he clung and held on. Was he really such a poor actor that he couldn’t control himself alone with her?
”Are you sure you can handle me?” He’d asked Kyoko, but it was his own answer he needed.
Another man entered the bathroom and quickly left with one glance at the man in front of the sinks. Cain sneered and snuffed out his cigarette against the white basin. He couldn’t keep “Setsuka” waiting much longer.
With Cain firmly in place, he exited the bathroom. Kyoko stood as soon as she saw him, her expression changing through a myriad of emotions in a moment. The set of her jaw, her narrow eyes, the way she pushed her shoulders back-did she have as much trouble grasping Setsuka as he did Cain? The thought was far from comforting. Kyoko was too alluring for Cain’s dark mind-for Ren’s own-but Setsuka was his sister.
“You waited?” Nonchalant, cold. Uncaring. He needed to put up all his defenses early
“Of course. I’m not going to leave you.” A beat. “Brother.”
Cain grunted and walked away, his strides purposefully long. After what happened earlier he needed distance.
”I’ll let you rest your arm on me.”
His mood darkened as he traipsed out of the restaurant and through the narrow side streets of Tokyo. The setting sun glared down at him, painting the corners of all the white-washed buildings yellow. He sneered at people in the streets, ready to snap at anyone who stood in his way. Cain Heel, the biggest asshole he could possibly be. Hizuri Kuon brought back into the light.
Behind him Kyoko made a soft sound, her breathing slightly heavy as she fought to keep up with him, and Ren nearly sped up.
”Are you sure you can handle me?”
There was no way he could handle her, not the way he was now. Now that he’d heard her, noticed the way her breath hitched with every few steps, she filled all his senses. She echoed in his mind with heavy breaths, her chest rising and falling in that shirt, a flush to her cheeks-
“Setsuka.”
He needed a break, needed some distance now. Cain was crumbling around him even as he chanted ‘She’s my sister’ over and over again. The sun glared down happily, mocking him, and he turned his face from it. At least this way she couldn’t read his expression.
“Yes?” She stood there patiently, looking up at him with an expression that he couldn’t read. Was she Natsu just then, cold and calculating? But she softened her voice a moment later, “Brother” escaping her lips with a low breath.
God, he needed to find his bearings.
“Go home.” He steeled himself and forced Ren’s words through Cain. “I don’t need you following me like a dog.” Where did all his professionalism go in the presence of this young woman?
He had to give her credit as she visibly stood straighter, her shoulders set and eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”
Cain turned around completely, aware of how imposing his height could be. He’d made her gibber in panic once already, surely he could do it again.
“I don’t need you with me every second of the day.”
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Her question threw him off and he froze, trapped somewhere between Ren and Cain. “We’re going in circles, Brother. If you’d just tell me what you want, I’ll get us there.”
The word ‘brother’ echoed painfully, forcefully. She stood there before him, defiant and small and more alluring than he could ever say. His eyes flicked to her chest before he could stop them, and his stomach tightened in dread.
”Are you sure you can handle me?”
“What I want?” he finally whispered, more Kuon than Cain or Ren. What was she doing to him?
No, that was wrong. He was doing this all himself. He knew his own weaknesses, knew where to press and what to give. Breaking his defenses was as easy as putting them up.
“Of course.” He stepped forward and her hand twitched. “Brother?”
Cain stood there for what felt forever and Ren fought with everything he had to keep his other self still. He won out in the end, pushed back his urge to grab Kyoko to him, and turned and fled.
What kind of a child was he?
This assignment was torture, worse than anything he remembered feeling in years. Not just being with her, knowing how weak, how unskilled and flawed he really was. She broke everything in him because he let her. In five years as Tsuruga Ren nothing broke his defenses, and then this little girl, this young woman came and-
He walked as fast as he could without running, moving by rote rather than purpose. His feet took him wherever as his mind pieced itself back together and shoved his defenses back into place. She yelled his name once and he nearly stopped, wanted to hear it echo off the narrow street again. ‘Cain’ wasn’t ‘Brother.’
He did stop a few moments after turning down a side street away from a cyclist. There was a shout and the sound of the bike’s bell and his heart leaped as he turned, ready to run out and make sure that wasn’t her, that she was fine, but he held himself back. Now was his chance to get away, to cool his head and find himself again.
“H-Hey--!”
“Just let me--!”
He ran back out into the narrow street, her name echoing down between the buildings. The bicyclist fled, but Cain ignored him. Setsuka advanced, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She raised a hand and smacked his chest and he welcomed the contact.
“Why did you leave me alone back there? Why do you always--“
He grabbed her wrist, his entire hand encircling it and then some. She was so tiny.
She winced when he pulled her close and he finally saw the angry red scratches along her upper back. Had she done that when the bicyclist nearly hit her?
“Idiot,” he called them both as he gently touched the raw marks on her back. “You weren’t supposed to follow.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” She pulled away and stared up at him, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. “You already left me behind once for this job. I won’t let you leave me alone again.”
…What? When had he-
Of course. Cain Heel came to Tokyo for the role of BJ and arrived without his little sister. She’d followed him, tracked him down, and done everything she could to be beside her brother. Something inside Ren clicked, collapsed, and for a moment all his banned feelings, all his longing and want merged with Cain, molded and reformed itself into something new, something forbidden, and Cain grabbed hold and relished the unnatural feelings.
Cain leaned down, his chest tight as he tried his best to glare at this young woman before him. ‘Sister’ echoed hollow, empty, and her lips were so inviting…
Ren stopped himself at the last moment and hugged her instead. But he couldn’t stop himself from kissing the bare skin of her back and shoulder, from trying to soothe the pain he’d caused. Setsuka stiffened beneath him and he nearly caught himself, almost remembered why he’d left her in the first place. But she was soft and warm and he couldn’t push her away, not anymore.
“Tsu-Brother?”
His body went cold at her whisper and he quickly pulled away. What was I-- She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes and this time he couldn’t blame his actions on a simple ‘thank you.’ What have I done?
“B-Bro-“
“Let’s go.” In the end there was no excuse he could make. He retreated from her again, forced up the broken remains of his walls, and turned away. When he heard no footsteps he stopped to wait, the impatient, impartial brother once again.
He knew the sin he was being punished for now. But knowing didn’t make it any easier to fight.
Hahaha, and I already notice a problem. Uh, let's just say she's not wearing that jacket. *gotta find a place to put that in*