Falling in love with a fox -chapter 12, Ruki/Kai
“Ruki, take off your shirt.”
Ruki was quite mind-blown at that, wondering what the hell was going on. But the look in Kai’s eyes was steady. There would be no arguing, Ruki understood that. So he did what he was told.
Kai got up, stood closer to him and grabbed his arm, Ruki flinching slightly. It still hurt a bit. And that was when Ruki realized Kai was concerned about him, he wanted to check on him and a wave of gratitude and affection swept over him, realizing that this man was neither cold nor unfriendly nor detached: he was truly concerned and cared for them. And suddenly Ruki was grateful for tonight because he got to find out a new ting about Kai, started thinking that maybe they could become friends.
“Your arm is really bruised as you can see and I was worried about some muscle strains or something but other than the bruises everything seems to be all right. You should still not consider moving furniture for the time being.” Kai said, a warm smile on is lips and a playful smirk in his eyes.
Ruki wondered why he hadn’t seen Kai like this earlier. Sure he had seen Kai smile and laugh at Uruha’s antics or chatting with Aoi but he had always thought that smile was forced, that humans couldn’t smile as purely as that. Had it been Ruki’s prejudices from the start? Had he not bothered to properly look at the drummer?
Too soon for Ruki to snap out of his thoughts Kai had grabbed his jacket from the sofa, said his goodbyes and was out the door leaving a very surprised Ruki behind.
That night Ruki had contacted the elders, telling them about the girl and that it was dangerous to become involved with her. The order he got didn’t quite surprise him but it did make him flinch and consider some stuff: were they right in doing this, were the humans so bad, what if he was actually doing a bad thing in listening to those orders: “It is even better if she is emotionally unstable. You must thrive to complete your mission. And only if you feel there is absolutely zero chance of getting her pregnant are you allowed to abort the mission, after telling us of course. Do not forget that we are expecting great things from you though.” He almost wanted to huff at that. What was so great about leaving a drug addict pregnant, abandoning her and the child and…Ruki only then realized, the band. He’d have to disappear practically and that would mean leaving them all behind. And Ruki was finding it even more difficult to do that after tonight. So he had to make sure to meet Megumi again soon, alone, and give it another chance.
He didn’t manage to meet Megumi the next two weeks but he did meet the band almost every day because of the practice sessions. And only now did he really start to look at them. They were so much more than what he had first categorized them as. They could be playful, energetic, sad, annoyed, amused, persistent, motivated, dorky…and they were honest about it all the time, so different than usual Japanese or normal people for that matter. Was it the music?
The only one that seemed more reserved was Kai. He didn’t make that many jokes or talk that much about stupid things. Even when joking he always had this polite, laid back air about him but that was only because his eyes and smile really did do all the talking, Ruki realized. Kai was just as he was and they all accepted him as that and that was probably the gut feeling that had made all of them vote for him as leader, his strength. Kai was strong, Ruki had suddenly become aware of that the night before but now, observing him closely he realized something else. Kai wasn’t just strong physically, he was immensely strong emotionally: he knew what he had to do, why for and he did it, as long as he thought it was right. All his doubts seemed to go away eventually as he worked to solve them.
Kai was the opposite of Ruki that just took orders and kept wondering why and harbored so many question marks, not daring to answer them. Ruki had thought himself strong because he was a kitsune, had magic powers and all that stuff but somehow every time he looked at Kai and found out more about him he started to realize how powerless and wretched he was, how he had been wrong and the kitsune were wrong. Because one thing was true: if he’d walk away he’d hurt them. And more so, the kitsune planned to hurt a lot of people, maybe a lot of people like Kai and the band members, people that didn’t deserve the hurt.
Unknown to Ruki, Uruha and Kai’s eyes were always on him too, studying him, reading him like an open book, each in their own way. Uruha knew who Ruki was and why he was there. He had known from the start and had kept watch. Normally he wasn’t allowed to interfere but he had somehow grown quite attached to this idiotic band members and he had started to resent Ruki and the foxes plan, so he was quite pleased with the way things were going lately but also worried for Ruki.
Kai was just worried, had been since the moment at that club, wondering who Ruki was and why he was with them, what he was after because seeing the tormented expression on Ruki’s face the last days had convinced Kai that something was indeed off with Ruki. At first he had thought Ruki was an unique pissing cute ray of light, something like that, though it didn’t make sense to Kai why. Ok, maybe the pissing did, and Ruki was indeed cute, even when he looked all sexy and tough, well at least in Kai’s eyes. But Kai soon realized there was something more to Ruki, an unknown darkness surrounding him and Kai didn’t like that one bit: one, because in spite of everything he was quite fond of Ruki and second, because he was preoccupied for the band. Since that day he had silently watched Ruki and sometimes even followed him and even though the little guy never did anything wrong Kai couldn’t shake this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
And one day, his fears were confirmed.
After practice that day Ruki had gone to the parking lot He had lately stopped trying to find Megumi. He just figured he’d be able to lie to the elders, give up the mission or something. A few days before, all of them had done and interview together and Ruki had been asked this question: “What do you think defines Gazette’s music style?” and Ruki had found the answer immediately: “it’s members.” And Ruki had wanted to add something else: this weird chemistry that I just love and don’t want to give up, ever. So that day Ruki had made his decision: he’d stay with them, even if he had to defy and run away from the kitsune. Being a low ranked would probably keep them from creating a big fuss since they wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves anyway.
So Ruki was walking to his car when all of a sudden he was punched and left unconscious and all he could see before losing himself was Megumi grinning. So much for giving up searching for her. Ruki didn’t know though that Kai had followed him and seen everything. Kai had run to get to them but he had been a few seconds too late as he watched the gorillas throw Ruki into the car and them and the chick driving away. Cursing aloud, Kai got into the car and started following them, heart beating madly. He had seen the changes in Ruki and the way his eyes seemed to shimmer lately but he was still being crushed by something. Kai could feel it, so he hadn’t given up on watching him closely and he was glad he hadn’t.
He managed to chase them in his car and they got to an old abandoned building that was obviously scheduled for demolishing, as the sign outside said. He watched them carrying a still unconscious Ruki inside and waited even though he wanted to lash out then and there. But he wasn’t stupid. He could take down two or three gorillas but he couldn’t face alone more than that. In that case, he’d just call the police. The only reason he hadn’t was that he’d be endangering Ruki and providing them the chance to run away, considering how slow the cops could be sometimes.
So he waited and after he saw that there was no movement outside anymore he sneaked to a window and looked inside the building. Ruki was tied up to a chair.
Ruki woke up, finding himself tied to a chair, the girl and three bodyguards, the same size as the last one, which meant huge in his eyes, standing beside her. He was so screwed, Ruki thought. And this time, because nothing hurt yet he wouldn’t be so stupid as the last time. He’d use his jewel and get away. And erase the girl’s memories and maybe even make her give up the drugs. Such a pretty girl and such a twisted life style, Ruki thought. Before starting to concentrate though he listened to her talking. He was quite curious after all why he had been brought here.
“Why, Ruki-san. Aren’t you glad to see me? I thought you’d approach me again but maybe I was wrong. So I figured I’d just do everything myself. I bet you’re wondering why you’re here in this position. It’s quite simple actually: two reasons. One, you know about me and my hobby. Two, that friend of yours actually threatened me. And no one does that. So I figured I’d punish you by killing you and that would in turn punish him since he seemed to care about you a lot. Your drummer, is he? Oh, don’t look so surprised, I did do my homework you know!”
And as soon as she finished one of the thugs approached, a long knife shining in his hand. Ruki figured that was the moment for focusing. But he couldn’t do that, not with the loud noise that came from the metal door crushing down. And he got quite a shock seeing Kai in the door, lashing at one of the thugs.
As soon as Kai had figured out the situation: just 3 gorillas and the girl he didn’t wait longer. He just barged in there, furious at what he had heard, at what he had seen, wanting to protect Ruki.
Ruki was in awe. He got to see the same Kai from before: eyes throwing daggers, a scowl on his face, body all tensed up. His first opponent seemed really easy for him to handle. He just stopped the guy’s punch in mid air and then with a punch to the guys stomach settled everything. The second one was a little bit more problematic. The same thing didn’t work and Ruki flinched as Kai was punched hard in the side. But the drummer just gritted his teeth, ignored the pain, dodged the next strike, threw a kick to the man’s side as well and even though his kick and leg were caught in mid air he simply threw all his weight backwards, making the gorilla lose his balance and then used his other leg to throw the guy over his head and while he was down, deliver a blow to the head, leaving him unconscious. The third one was a lot more dangerous since he had a knife and Ruki watched in horror as the man approached Kai while he had still been busy with the second one and stab the drummer through the back. He heard Kai screaming and that was enough. Something inside Ruki just snapped.
They had hurt someone he cared deeply about, probably more than he realized, because suddenly he was madder than he had ever been in his life. And he didn’t even need to concentrate as the jewel simply appeared before him, glowing purple. The ropes were gone in a second and he lashed forward as he saw Kai lye on the ground, the man wanting to stab him a second time. Ruki just willed the man’s hand to break in two and the next thing he saw the knife was dropped and the man’s hand was like a tree’s branch broke in two and the gorilla was just screaming in pain and fear probably at not understanding what was going on. The next thing, Ruki moved his hand and actually threw the man the other side of the room.
He wanted to help Kai as soon as possible but first he needed to deal with Megumi who was obviously scared as hell and unable to move. Fury still running through his veins, he approached her, looked into her eyes and dived into the depths of her conciousness. And what he saw there made his fury go away, replacing it with sadness: her longing for her parents that were never there, being raped by the first guy she had actually liked, her father not believing his own daughter’s words and calling her a whore, her pain and suffering finding out she was pregnant and getting rid of the baby, the realization she could never be a mother again, the guy she was supposed to marry finding out and leaving her because he wanted children, the drugs that made everything go away because if she didn’t have them she just couldn’t cope with the pain anymore. She was truly miserable, Ruki knew that so he stopped being angry and tried to heal instead. First he erased all memory of him or Kai from her mind, than he erased her memory and longing for the drugs and thirdly he made her think she needed to consult a therapist, get some real healing, move on. Ruki didn’t have a way of knowing if what he did would help or make things worse for her but he decided to give her a chance. It was all he could do.
Next thing he ran towards Kai. He had fainted when he had been stabbed, which was probably fortunate for Ruki because he hadn’t witnessed what had happened. The wound was bad, Kai had lost a lot of blood and it would have been fatal if Ruki hadn’t been there. It came so easy to him to heal the other man. What usually took such a long concentration and effort seemed like the easiest thing in the world now. He made the wound close and altered Kai’s memories so that he would think he was hit and knocked out instead of stabbed.
Kai came to in a few seconds and he shot up, pain hammering through his body, worried about Ruki, sensing fear. He was surprised to see Ruki standing before him, a small smile on his face.
“Ruki, what?” Kai looked around the room. All the three gorillas were on the ground and the girl seemed out of it.
“It’s ok, Kai. Thank you for coming to my rescue. Let’s get you to your apartment. You got a pretty hard blow there.”
“But how come?”
“Oh, I managed to loosen the ropes a few seconds after you were knocked out and kicked that guy’s ass. You know, I’m not as week as I look.” And Ruki grinned.
Kai was struggling to accept that. Ruki hadn’t seemed so strong the other time but what other explanation was there?
“What about her?” Kai asked glancing towards Megumi.
“Don’t worry about her. He won’t give us any more problems. I promise. Now let’s go.”
Kai just nodded, confused but happy to get out of there. They got to his apartment, Ruki made him lie down and eat and drink and then he drifted to sleep, not even having the strength to ask one single question.
Ruki was quite mind-blown at that, wondering what the hell was going on. But the look in Kai’s eyes was steady. There would be no arguing, Ruki understood that. So he did what he was told.
Kai got up, stood closer to him and grabbed his arm, Ruki flinching slightly. It still hurt a bit. And that was when Ruki realized Kai was concerned about him, he wanted to check on him and a wave of gratitude and affection swept over him, realizing that this man was neither cold nor unfriendly nor detached: he was truly concerned and cared for them. And suddenly Ruki was grateful for tonight because he got to find out a new ting about Kai, started thinking that maybe they could become friends.
“Your arm is really bruised as you can see and I was worried about some muscle strains or something but other than the bruises everything seems to be all right. You should still not consider moving furniture for the time being.” Kai said, a warm smile on is lips and a playful smirk in his eyes.
Ruki wondered why he hadn’t seen Kai like this earlier. Sure he had seen Kai smile and laugh at Uruha’s antics or chatting with Aoi but he had always thought that smile was forced, that humans couldn’t smile as purely as that. Had it been Ruki’s prejudices from the start? Had he not bothered to properly look at the drummer?
Too soon for Ruki to snap out of his thoughts Kai had grabbed his jacket from the sofa, said his goodbyes and was out the door leaving a very surprised Ruki behind.
That night Ruki had contacted the elders, telling them about the girl and that it was dangerous to become involved with her. The order he got didn’t quite surprise him but it did make him flinch and consider some stuff: were they right in doing this, were the humans so bad, what if he was actually doing a bad thing in listening to those orders: “It is even better if she is emotionally unstable. You must thrive to complete your mission. And only if you feel there is absolutely zero chance of getting her pregnant are you allowed to abort the mission, after telling us of course. Do not forget that we are expecting great things from you though.” He almost wanted to huff at that. What was so great about leaving a drug addict pregnant, abandoning her and the child and…Ruki only then realized, the band. He’d have to disappear practically and that would mean leaving them all behind. And Ruki was finding it even more difficult to do that after tonight. So he had to make sure to meet Megumi again soon, alone, and give it another chance.
He didn’t manage to meet Megumi the next two weeks but he did meet the band almost every day because of the practice sessions. And only now did he really start to look at them. They were so much more than what he had first categorized them as. They could be playful, energetic, sad, annoyed, amused, persistent, motivated, dorky…and they were honest about it all the time, so different than usual Japanese or normal people for that matter. Was it the music?
The only one that seemed more reserved was Kai. He didn’t make that many jokes or talk that much about stupid things. Even when joking he always had this polite, laid back air about him but that was only because his eyes and smile really did do all the talking, Ruki realized. Kai was just as he was and they all accepted him as that and that was probably the gut feeling that had made all of them vote for him as leader, his strength. Kai was strong, Ruki had suddenly become aware of that the night before but now, observing him closely he realized something else. Kai wasn’t just strong physically, he was immensely strong emotionally: he knew what he had to do, why for and he did it, as long as he thought it was right. All his doubts seemed to go away eventually as he worked to solve them.
Kai was the opposite of Ruki that just took orders and kept wondering why and harbored so many question marks, not daring to answer them. Ruki had thought himself strong because he was a kitsune, had magic powers and all that stuff but somehow every time he looked at Kai and found out more about him he started to realize how powerless and wretched he was, how he had been wrong and the kitsune were wrong. Because one thing was true: if he’d walk away he’d hurt them. And more so, the kitsune planned to hurt a lot of people, maybe a lot of people like Kai and the band members, people that didn’t deserve the hurt.
Unknown to Ruki, Uruha and Kai’s eyes were always on him too, studying him, reading him like an open book, each in their own way. Uruha knew who Ruki was and why he was there. He had known from the start and had kept watch. Normally he wasn’t allowed to interfere but he had somehow grown quite attached to this idiotic band members and he had started to resent Ruki and the foxes plan, so he was quite pleased with the way things were going lately but also worried for Ruki.
Kai was just worried, had been since the moment at that club, wondering who Ruki was and why he was with them, what he was after because seeing the tormented expression on Ruki’s face the last days had convinced Kai that something was indeed off with Ruki. At first he had thought Ruki was an unique pissing cute ray of light, something like that, though it didn’t make sense to Kai why. Ok, maybe the pissing did, and Ruki was indeed cute, even when he looked all sexy and tough, well at least in Kai’s eyes. But Kai soon realized there was something more to Ruki, an unknown darkness surrounding him and Kai didn’t like that one bit: one, because in spite of everything he was quite fond of Ruki and second, because he was preoccupied for the band. Since that day he had silently watched Ruki and sometimes even followed him and even though the little guy never did anything wrong Kai couldn’t shake this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
And one day, his fears were confirmed.
After practice that day Ruki had gone to the parking lot He had lately stopped trying to find Megumi. He just figured he’d be able to lie to the elders, give up the mission or something. A few days before, all of them had done and interview together and Ruki had been asked this question: “What do you think defines Gazette’s music style?” and Ruki had found the answer immediately: “it’s members.” And Ruki had wanted to add something else: this weird chemistry that I just love and don’t want to give up, ever. So that day Ruki had made his decision: he’d stay with them, even if he had to defy and run away from the kitsune. Being a low ranked would probably keep them from creating a big fuss since they wouldn’t want to draw attention to themselves anyway.
So Ruki was walking to his car when all of a sudden he was punched and left unconscious and all he could see before losing himself was Megumi grinning. So much for giving up searching for her. Ruki didn’t know though that Kai had followed him and seen everything. Kai had run to get to them but he had been a few seconds too late as he watched the gorillas throw Ruki into the car and them and the chick driving away. Cursing aloud, Kai got into the car and started following them, heart beating madly. He had seen the changes in Ruki and the way his eyes seemed to shimmer lately but he was still being crushed by something. Kai could feel it, so he hadn’t given up on watching him closely and he was glad he hadn’t.
He managed to chase them in his car and they got to an old abandoned building that was obviously scheduled for demolishing, as the sign outside said. He watched them carrying a still unconscious Ruki inside and waited even though he wanted to lash out then and there. But he wasn’t stupid. He could take down two or three gorillas but he couldn’t face alone more than that. In that case, he’d just call the police. The only reason he hadn’t was that he’d be endangering Ruki and providing them the chance to run away, considering how slow the cops could be sometimes.
So he waited and after he saw that there was no movement outside anymore he sneaked to a window and looked inside the building. Ruki was tied up to a chair.
Ruki woke up, finding himself tied to a chair, the girl and three bodyguards, the same size as the last one, which meant huge in his eyes, standing beside her. He was so screwed, Ruki thought. And this time, because nothing hurt yet he wouldn’t be so stupid as the last time. He’d use his jewel and get away. And erase the girl’s memories and maybe even make her give up the drugs. Such a pretty girl and such a twisted life style, Ruki thought. Before starting to concentrate though he listened to her talking. He was quite curious after all why he had been brought here.
“Why, Ruki-san. Aren’t you glad to see me? I thought you’d approach me again but maybe I was wrong. So I figured I’d just do everything myself. I bet you’re wondering why you’re here in this position. It’s quite simple actually: two reasons. One, you know about me and my hobby. Two, that friend of yours actually threatened me. And no one does that. So I figured I’d punish you by killing you and that would in turn punish him since he seemed to care about you a lot. Your drummer, is he? Oh, don’t look so surprised, I did do my homework you know!”
And as soon as she finished one of the thugs approached, a long knife shining in his hand. Ruki figured that was the moment for focusing. But he couldn’t do that, not with the loud noise that came from the metal door crushing down. And he got quite a shock seeing Kai in the door, lashing at one of the thugs.
As soon as Kai had figured out the situation: just 3 gorillas and the girl he didn’t wait longer. He just barged in there, furious at what he had heard, at what he had seen, wanting to protect Ruki.
Ruki was in awe. He got to see the same Kai from before: eyes throwing daggers, a scowl on his face, body all tensed up. His first opponent seemed really easy for him to handle. He just stopped the guy’s punch in mid air and then with a punch to the guys stomach settled everything. The second one was a little bit more problematic. The same thing didn’t work and Ruki flinched as Kai was punched hard in the side. But the drummer just gritted his teeth, ignored the pain, dodged the next strike, threw a kick to the man’s side as well and even though his kick and leg were caught in mid air he simply threw all his weight backwards, making the gorilla lose his balance and then used his other leg to throw the guy over his head and while he was down, deliver a blow to the head, leaving him unconscious. The third one was a lot more dangerous since he had a knife and Ruki watched in horror as the man approached Kai while he had still been busy with the second one and stab the drummer through the back. He heard Kai screaming and that was enough. Something inside Ruki just snapped.
They had hurt someone he cared deeply about, probably more than he realized, because suddenly he was madder than he had ever been in his life. And he didn’t even need to concentrate as the jewel simply appeared before him, glowing purple. The ropes were gone in a second and he lashed forward as he saw Kai lye on the ground, the man wanting to stab him a second time. Ruki just willed the man’s hand to break in two and the next thing he saw the knife was dropped and the man’s hand was like a tree’s branch broke in two and the gorilla was just screaming in pain and fear probably at not understanding what was going on. The next thing, Ruki moved his hand and actually threw the man the other side of the room.
He wanted to help Kai as soon as possible but first he needed to deal with Megumi who was obviously scared as hell and unable to move. Fury still running through his veins, he approached her, looked into her eyes and dived into the depths of her conciousness. And what he saw there made his fury go away, replacing it with sadness: her longing for her parents that were never there, being raped by the first guy she had actually liked, her father not believing his own daughter’s words and calling her a whore, her pain and suffering finding out she was pregnant and getting rid of the baby, the realization she could never be a mother again, the guy she was supposed to marry finding out and leaving her because he wanted children, the drugs that made everything go away because if she didn’t have them she just couldn’t cope with the pain anymore. She was truly miserable, Ruki knew that so he stopped being angry and tried to heal instead. First he erased all memory of him or Kai from her mind, than he erased her memory and longing for the drugs and thirdly he made her think she needed to consult a therapist, get some real healing, move on. Ruki didn’t have a way of knowing if what he did would help or make things worse for her but he decided to give her a chance. It was all he could do.
Next thing he ran towards Kai. He had fainted when he had been stabbed, which was probably fortunate for Ruki because he hadn’t witnessed what had happened. The wound was bad, Kai had lost a lot of blood and it would have been fatal if Ruki hadn’t been there. It came so easy to him to heal the other man. What usually took such a long concentration and effort seemed like the easiest thing in the world now. He made the wound close and altered Kai’s memories so that he would think he was hit and knocked out instead of stabbed.
Kai came to in a few seconds and he shot up, pain hammering through his body, worried about Ruki, sensing fear. He was surprised to see Ruki standing before him, a small smile on his face.
“Ruki, what?” Kai looked around the room. All the three gorillas were on the ground and the girl seemed out of it.
“It’s ok, Kai. Thank you for coming to my rescue. Let’s get you to your apartment. You got a pretty hard blow there.”
“But how come?”
“Oh, I managed to loosen the ropes a few seconds after you were knocked out and kicked that guy’s ass. You know, I’m not as week as I look.” And Ruki grinned.
Kai was struggling to accept that. Ruki hadn’t seemed so strong the other time but what other explanation was there?
“What about her?” Kai asked glancing towards Megumi.
“Don’t worry about her. He won’t give us any more problems. I promise. Now let’s go.”
Kai just nodded, confused but happy to get out of there. They got to his apartment, Ruki made him lie down and eat and drink and then he drifted to sleep, not even having the strength to ask one single question.