(no subject)
Apparently, LJ still hates me. Or it's the doing of my Word. I don't remember having to split Poor Prince's chapter like this -___-;;;
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“Noooooooooo!”
“Jae!” Eeteuk shouted as he held onto Jaejoong. “Calm down!”
“No… this can’t be…” Jaejoong trembled as he looked at Shiwon. “Why…? How come?”
Eeteuk hugged him tightly. “I don’t know as well, but don’t worry. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do anything. You’re innocent, Jae…”
Just then, Kangin came rushing towards them.
“I saw what happened,” Kangin frowned. “How could anyone do this!?”
“I-“
“Ssh… it’s okay,” Eeteuk patted Jaejoong’s back. “We will find out who did this and clear your name. Your Shirayuki is too beautiful to be tainted by a Shinigami’s blood.”
“I hereby pass this sword down to you.”
“This sword… isn’t it an important sword?”
“It is. But I can’t find a more fitting owner for it.”
“Why?”
“Because, this sword is too beautiful to be tainted by anything. Don’t let anything make it impure.”
“Jaejoong-ah!” Kangin shot forward to catch Jaejoong who suddenly lost consciousness. “This is bad. Ever since that day, more and more strange things are happening.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that,” Eeteuk sighed.
Suddenly, a huge tidal wave crashed onto them, and they were thrown against the fence.
“Kim Jaejoong!” a voice screamed. “Where is he!?”
“Heechul!” Hankyung jumped down between him and the three. “Stop!”
“I’m not going to forgive him!” Heechul screamed. “How dare he!”
“Heechul-ah!” Hankyung reprimanded. “Get a grip! Jaejoong lost his power! How can he summon his sword, much less defeat captain Choi Shiwon!?”
“That’s a lie!” Heechul shouted back at him. “He was given the strongest sword for a reason! And he was trained in the Lee household!”
“That still isn’t reason enough to accuse him!” Hankyung defended him. “He was kept in this prison tower the whole time, and Captain Eeteuk was here as well!”
“He is their friend! How can you be sure they won’t let him out or cover for him!?” Heechul glared at Hankyung. “Why are you taking the side of a murderer!?”
“I’m not!” Hankyung retorted. “I’m merely taking the side of an innocent!”
“He’s not innocent!” Heechul screamed. “If you insist, then I shall take you down!”
“If it’s a fight you want, then I’ll give you one,” Hankyung replied, pulling out his sword from its sheath. Ice shards started appearing around him while water balls appeared around Heechul.
The ice shards and water balls attacked each other, rendering them useless while Hankyung and Heechul fought on the narrow bridge connecting the mainland and the prison tower.
The sounds of metal clashing were heard throughout the prison tower area, and Eeteuk and Kangin could only watch as the two fought like there was no tomorrow.
“I also never thought there would be a time when two Shinigamis fight each other,” Kangin commented. “Especially a captain and a vice-captain.”
“They’re not in the same division,” Eeteuk pointed out.
“I know, but I got their positions correct,” Kangin shrugged, still holding onto Jaejoong. “And to think they’re childhood friends,” he added.
“Shouldn’t we help Hankyung?” Eeteuk asked.
“No, this is a fight between them,” Kangin shook his head. “We shouldn’t meddle. Hankyung wouldn’t appreciate it if we hurt Heechul in any way.”
“Ah, so that’s why he’s been holding back,” Eeteuk commented.
“Of course. Why else do you think he hasn’t summoned his ice dragon?” Kangin asked.
Hankyung had to admit that Heechul had certainly gotten better since the last time they practiced with each other a few weeks ago. He was almost cornered.
Just as he was about to summon his ice dragon to keep Heechul at bay, Heechul suddenly lost consciousness, and fell down to the floor, his sword beside him.
“Captain Sungmin,” Hankyung greeted when he saw Sungmin and Kyuhyun walking along the narrow bridge towards them. “What brought you here?”
“You two aren’t the subtlest people in Soul Society, you know,” Sungmin sighed as he motioned for Kyuhyun to pick Heechul up and carry him.
“The fight could be seen even at the other end of this place,” Kyuhyun added.
“Oh,” Hankyung blinked three times.
“I sedated him,” Sungmin motioned at Heechul. “He won’t regain consciousness for a while, but he’ll be alright. I’ll try to do something about his emotional break down.”
“Please do,” Hankyung bowed at him.
“Of course,” Sungmin smiled at him. “Well then, I’ll be off. I’m going to keep him at my headquarters, and he’ll be under the watch of me, Kyuhyun, or the first-seat members.”
“Okay,” Hankyung agreed. “Please take care of him.”
Sungmin waved at them, and walked off towards their headquarters along with Kyuhyun who was carrying Heechul with him, the sword already sheathed in its sheath.
“That was surprising,” Hankyung commented as he looked over at Jaejoong. “I suppose the one having an emotional break down isn’t only Heechul.”
“Oh, you don’t know,” Eeteuk shook his head. “First he lost his power, then he was sentenced to death. Suddenly he was accused of murder, and the sword he was told to take care of was stained by a Shinigami’s blood.”
“But that wasn’t his real sword,” Hankyung frowned.
“You checked?” Kangin asked.
“Yes,” Hankyung nodded. “The sword is… strange. We’re keeping it in the Twelfth Division’s headquarter.”
“I see,” Eeteuk nodded. “I need to go back soon. Hankyung, can you look after Jae? Tell him about what you found out once he wakes up.”
Then, Eeteuk walked off, followed by Kangin, leaving Hankyung and Jaejoong alone.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“So it is not his sword,” Kibum nodded in understanding. “I was thinking along the line of how they could summon Shirayuki as well. Only Jae could, and he can’t even materialize his Shinigami form at the moment.”
“That’s what worried me as well,” Eeteuk admitted. “Someone seemed to want to place the blame on Jae. I wonder if this is all planned beforehand.”
“This?”
“Yes, the execution.”
“Ah…”
“I’m not sure though.”
“Well, I can’t be sure as well,” Kibum frowned. “But it might be possible. Question is, who did it? And why? What for?”
“I also thought that killing Jae would have no benefit at all,” Kangin cut in. “But if there’s something that needs Jae to be killed, then it’s an entirely different story.”
Kibum looked down and frowned. “Maybe, this is all my fault.”
“What is it?”
“The crystal… I gave it to Jae.”
“That crystal!?” Eeteuk asked in disbelief.
“Yes, that crystal,” Kibum nodded. “I gave it to Jae.”
“But-but who would want that crystal?” Kangin frowned. “And how did they know Jaejoong has it at the moment?”
“As to that, I myself don’t know yet,” Kibum shook his head regretfully.
“We’ll find out,” Eeteuk said, trying to convince him. “Eventually.”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right,” Kibum agreed.
Eeteuk stood up. “Then please excuse us,” he said. “I need to go check something.”
“See you.”
“Yes, see you.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Jaejoong slowly blinked his eyes open and wondered what happened.
“Are you awake?”
“Ah… yes…” Jaejoong said as he sat up, and leaned on the stone wall of the tower. “Hankyung? What happened?”
“Captain Choi Shiwon was found dead, stuck onto the clock tower,” Hankyung said matter-of-factly. “The sword used is being held in custody right now. It’s not your sword.”
Jaejoong relaxed visibly when he heard that.
“Someone is trying to set you up,” Hankyung concluded. “But as to who and why, I’m still not sure yet. The sword is in the Twelfth Division’s headquarters to be tested.”
“I see,” Jaejoong nodded.
“Don’t think about it too much,” Hankyung said, patting his shoulder. “We won’t let you die. And we certainly won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“Thank you,” Jaejoong mumbled softly. “I don’t deserve your kindness.”
“Pssh, as if,” Hankyung snorted. “Who was the one who helped me when that mind-controlling Hollow attacked? And who was the one who helped Captain Eeteuk seal those multiple breaches when Kangin was away?”
Jaejoong smiled a little at that. “Thank you.”
“You deserve this, Jae,” Hankyung said, sighing a little. “You deserve this and so much more. What you don’t deserve is the death sentence. And the blame put on you.”
“How-how is Heechul?” Jaejoong asked hesitantly. “I-I mean… he saw his captain killed… with my sword…”
“He’s under Captain Sungmin’s care right now,” Hankyung said, patting Jaejoong’s shoulder reassuringly. “He was sedated. He’s in an emotional wreck, much like yourself.”
Jaejoong laughed a little. “I hope he gets well soon.”
“I’m sure he will,” Hankyung nodded. “He’s strong.”
“He is,” Jaejoong agreed. “Ah, shouldn’t you be back at your headquarter?”
“I’ll go now then,” Hankyung said as he stood up. “Are you going to be okay by yourself?” he asked.
“Of course,” Jaejoong nodded.
“See you then.”
“See you.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Don’t slack off! Raise your sword!” Boa shouted as she kicked Yunho’s side, making him groan loudly.
Yunho huffed, and quickly stood back up again, raising his huge sword.
“The execution day is only three days away! If you want to access bankai before that, you’ll have to work extra hard!”
Kibum, Junsu, and Yoochun watched as Yunho continued to be abused by Boa.
“You sure this is alright?” Junsu asked.
“It is,” Kibum confirmed. “Boa has always trained people that way. Even Seulgi.”
“Seulgi?”
“The Second Division’s captain. She was Boa’s student back then,” Kibum shrugged.
“Oh, and about that commotion earlier…”
“It’s alright,” Kibum smiled at them. “Hankyung proved that it wasn’t Jaejoong’s sword, and for the time being, Jae is clear of any suspicion.”
“That’s good to know,” Junsu sighed in relief.
“But we mustn’t let our guards down,” Kibum warned. “Who knows who wants to blame Jae. We’ll have to get moving in two days, because the execution will take place in the morning.”
“We understand.”
“Right, then let’s go training.”
“Okay.”
End of Chapter Three