![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scriveynerTitle: gifts & curses [18]
Fandom: Samurai Flamenco
AU: Nightbreed
Characters/Pairing: Gotou/Masayoshi, Keiko, Masanori
Rating: T
Length: 1418
Summary: Masayoshi looked up when the door to the room clicked open.
Masayoshi looked up when the door to the room clicked open. It was late, verging on early, and he had been sitting on the bed and staring out the window instead of resting.
He was working out the best plan to leave; barely any clothes, no shoes … and very little idea what part of the city he was in. It would be a slapdash escape, but he would make it work.
The intruder didn’t know, but simply opened the door. He looked to the entrance as Akino closed the door behind herself, carrying a bundle wrapped in plastic under her arm. “I’m not surprised that you’re still awake,” she said, her voice soft in the dim light.
He turned to face her. “I don’t want to be suppressed,” he said. “This is who I am, I have to bear it.” He thought of the cubs, able to transform in a blink of the eye, they didn’t seem to have any trouble controlling their ability to shift. Akino was looking at him thoughtfully, and then shook her head.
“I haven’t come here to tell you to accept that,” she said, and touched the package she’d laid on the dresser with two fingers. “It’s a dangerous time out there right now. There are werewolf hunters in the city; several of them.” Masayoshi’s heart beat harder; the kids were in the city, Hidenori was in the city right now. His family was in danger, and here he was doing nothing. He watched the witch cross her arms and lean back against the dresser, watched her heave a soft sigh.
“Rian means well,” she said, “but he hates werewolves. Most werewolves,” she amended. “He was killed by one, I can’t say I blame him.” Masayoshi opened his mouth to inquire further but she raised her hand to forestall the questions. “Later. If he feels like telling you, it’s not my story to tell. But with the wolf hunters in the city neither of us felt it was safe to let you go, especially when you let the moon sickness take you like that.”
Masayoshi remembered. He remembered the panic, the fact that Keiko was limping,wounded even if just barely, and the anger-turned-to-rage crystallizing in his chest. Then he didn’t remember much else after. “It won’t happen again.”
“It will.” The casual confidence of Akino’s tone made Masayoshi bristle despite himself. “That is the way of the moon sickness, and that is my primary concern. If they took you…” she shook her head and drew silent.
“And all this is justification for my friends to hold me against my will,” Masayoshi said heavily, feeling the first hint of that flame of anger in his chest. “For keeping me from my family.” He touched his hand to his bare chest, where the chain would fall if he still wore his ring, and felt the flame flicker brighter.
“This is not just about your family,” Akino said. “It’s so much bigger than that, Masayoshi-kun; and you are one of the few people who can stop what’s about to happen.” Akino shook her head and straightened. “This building is warded against electronics currently, you wouldn’t be able to call your husband even if we gave you a phone to do so. But please, don’t think badly of us for this. We’re trying to help.”
Masayoshi watched her walk away, closing the door to the room behind her as she left. The flame of anger that had lit faded a bit; and he inhaled, exhaled, and then stood.
The package was soft and the plastic bag wrapped around it did little to mask the fact that she’d brought him more clothes. And, at the bottom wrapped separate from the clothing, shoes.
And setting inside one of the shoes, a new, unmarked cell phone.
Masayoshi’s fingers brushed the phone, and the ache grew again. Then he turned the phone on; it said no service, which didn’t surprise him … but the empty phone book did. This wasn’t his phone, after all, he remembered dropping that onto the street, remembered the sound of the glass front of the phone shattering against concrete. Then he laughed, a little ironically, because he had no idea what anyone’s phone number was. He turned the phone off, and pulled a collared shirt from the bag.
It didn’t really matter, he was going to find them anyway.
#
The stairwell had been left open – Akino-chan again. The door was smooth wall, there was no indication of the seam if the door itself was shut, never mind a handle with with to open it. More magic, Masayoshi figured, but it didn’t matter now. He hurried down the stairs, lit only by emergency lights, the sound of his new, uncomfortable shoes echoing so loudly he figured that he would be pursued. No pursuit emerged, though, and before he knew it he was pushing out a door with an exit sign and stepping out onto the streets of the city. The sun was just now starting to emerge, daylight gray and weak. The pedestrians on the street didn’t pay him much mind, he had just walked out a door onto the street like so many of them did every day. Masayoshi though, stood there rooted in place and inhaling, the scents of the outdoors, the city so sorely missed that he didn’t even know where to start.
Hidenori.
Masayoshi’s heart beat harder, at the thought. Hidenori would have found the cubs by now, rounded them up, looked after them. He didn’t think much of himself but he was the leader of their little pack and Masayoshi was more than okay with that. What would he think of this new revelation of Masayoshi’s; the fact that he had always been like this, he just hadn’t known it? Masayoshi inhaled again, deep, looking for the threads of a familiar scent in the stink of millions of people, hundreds of thousands of vehicles, animals, trash …
His eyes snapped open suddenly, and Masayoshi stepped into the flow of people. He didn’t smell Hidenori, or the cubs.
But he did smell a wolf.
#
Akino was standing at the window looking down on the street people. From this high up the people were like ants, but she liked to pretend that she could pick out which one was Masayoshi, in which direction he chose to go. She could sense Rian in the shadows, and she sighed but didn’t turn around. “You don’t have to lurk any longer, he’s gone.”
“Letting him go is a bad idea,” Rian said.
“You wanted to kill him,” she reminded the vampire, and crossed her arms. “You wanted to kill me, too.”
“I have bad luck with witches.” Rian stepped to the window as well, wearing the same clothes as he had been for days. “And werewolves.”
“You have worse luck with other vampires,” Akino shot back, and Rian gave a low, unamused chuckle. “I hope this is the right thing to do.”
“You’re unsure?” He sounded surprised. “I thought you knew already….”
“Reading tea leaves is a party trick for those who will pay for it,” she said, then rubbed her hands up and down her arms before turning away from the window. “There are many elements in motion right now, too many variables for me to keep track of. Hazama-kun is the largest, pulling on the threads of fate himself. He will draw the disparate elements together, and then…”
“And then we can put an end to this,” Kennichi Himura said as he stepped to the window on Akino’s other side. “Once and for all.”
Fandom: Samurai Flamenco
AU: Nightbreed
Characters/Pairing: Gotou/Masayoshi, Keiko, Masanori
Rating: T
Length: 1418
Summary: Masayoshi looked up when the door to the room clicked open.
Masayoshi looked up when the door to the room clicked open. It was late, verging on early, and he had been sitting on the bed and staring out the window instead of resting.
He was working out the best plan to leave; barely any clothes, no shoes … and very little idea what part of the city he was in. It would be a slapdash escape, but he would make it work.
The intruder didn’t know, but simply opened the door. He looked to the entrance as Akino closed the door behind herself, carrying a bundle wrapped in plastic under her arm. “I’m not surprised that you’re still awake,” she said, her voice soft in the dim light.
He turned to face her. “I don’t want to be suppressed,” he said. “This is who I am, I have to bear it.” He thought of the cubs, able to transform in a blink of the eye, they didn’t seem to have any trouble controlling their ability to shift. Akino was looking at him thoughtfully, and then shook her head.
“I haven’t come here to tell you to accept that,” she said, and touched the package she’d laid on the dresser with two fingers. “It’s a dangerous time out there right now. There are werewolf hunters in the city; several of them.” Masayoshi’s heart beat harder; the kids were in the city, Hidenori was in the city right now. His family was in danger, and here he was doing nothing. He watched the witch cross her arms and lean back against the dresser, watched her heave a soft sigh.
“Rian means well,” she said, “but he hates werewolves. Most werewolves,” she amended. “He was killed by one, I can’t say I blame him.” Masayoshi opened his mouth to inquire further but she raised her hand to forestall the questions. “Later. If he feels like telling you, it’s not my story to tell. But with the wolf hunters in the city neither of us felt it was safe to let you go, especially when you let the moon sickness take you like that.”
Masayoshi remembered. He remembered the panic, the fact that Keiko was limping,wounded even if just barely, and the anger-turned-to-rage crystallizing in his chest. Then he didn’t remember much else after. “It won’t happen again.”
“It will.” The casual confidence of Akino’s tone made Masayoshi bristle despite himself. “That is the way of the moon sickness, and that is my primary concern. If they took you…” she shook her head and drew silent.
“And all this is justification for my friends to hold me against my will,” Masayoshi said heavily, feeling the first hint of that flame of anger in his chest. “For keeping me from my family.” He touched his hand to his bare chest, where the chain would fall if he still wore his ring, and felt the flame flicker brighter.
“This is not just about your family,” Akino said. “It’s so much bigger than that, Masayoshi-kun; and you are one of the few people who can stop what’s about to happen.” Akino shook her head and straightened. “This building is warded against electronics currently, you wouldn’t be able to call your husband even if we gave you a phone to do so. But please, don’t think badly of us for this. We’re trying to help.”
Masayoshi watched her walk away, closing the door to the room behind her as she left. The flame of anger that had lit faded a bit; and he inhaled, exhaled, and then stood.
The package was soft and the plastic bag wrapped around it did little to mask the fact that she’d brought him more clothes. And, at the bottom wrapped separate from the clothing, shoes.
And setting inside one of the shoes, a new, unmarked cell phone.
Masayoshi’s fingers brushed the phone, and the ache grew again. Then he turned the phone on; it said no service, which didn’t surprise him … but the empty phone book did. This wasn’t his phone, after all, he remembered dropping that onto the street, remembered the sound of the glass front of the phone shattering against concrete. Then he laughed, a little ironically, because he had no idea what anyone’s phone number was. He turned the phone off, and pulled a collared shirt from the bag.
It didn’t really matter, he was going to find them anyway.
The stairwell had been left open – Akino-chan again. The door was smooth wall, there was no indication of the seam if the door itself was shut, never mind a handle with with to open it. More magic, Masayoshi figured, but it didn’t matter now. He hurried down the stairs, lit only by emergency lights, the sound of his new, uncomfortable shoes echoing so loudly he figured that he would be pursued. No pursuit emerged, though, and before he knew it he was pushing out a door with an exit sign and stepping out onto the streets of the city. The sun was just now starting to emerge, daylight gray and weak. The pedestrians on the street didn’t pay him much mind, he had just walked out a door onto the street like so many of them did every day. Masayoshi though, stood there rooted in place and inhaling, the scents of the outdoors, the city so sorely missed that he didn’t even know where to start.
Hidenori.
Masayoshi’s heart beat harder, at the thought. Hidenori would have found the cubs by now, rounded them up, looked after them. He didn’t think much of himself but he was the leader of their little pack and Masayoshi was more than okay with that. What would he think of this new revelation of Masayoshi’s; the fact that he had always been like this, he just hadn’t known it? Masayoshi inhaled again, deep, looking for the threads of a familiar scent in the stink of millions of people, hundreds of thousands of vehicles, animals, trash …
His eyes snapped open suddenly, and Masayoshi stepped into the flow of people. He didn’t smell Hidenori, or the cubs.
But he did smell a wolf.
Akino was standing at the window looking down on the street people. From this high up the people were like ants, but she liked to pretend that she could pick out which one was Masayoshi, in which direction he chose to go. She could sense Rian in the shadows, and she sighed but didn’t turn around. “You don’t have to lurk any longer, he’s gone.”
“Letting him go is a bad idea,” Rian said.
“You wanted to kill him,” she reminded the vampire, and crossed her arms. “You wanted to kill me, too.”
“I have bad luck with witches.” Rian stepped to the window as well, wearing the same clothes as he had been for days. “And werewolves.”
“You have worse luck with other vampires,” Akino shot back, and Rian gave a low, unamused chuckle. “I hope this is the right thing to do.”
“You’re unsure?” He sounded surprised. “I thought you knew already….”
“Reading tea leaves is a party trick for those who will pay for it,” she said, then rubbed her hands up and down her arms before turning away from the window. “There are many elements in motion right now, too many variables for me to keep track of. Hazama-kun is the largest, pulling on the threads of fate himself. He will draw the disparate elements together, and then…”
“And then we can put an end to this,” Kennichi Himura said as he stepped to the window on Akino’s other side. “Once and for all.”
Tags:
- au: nightbreed,
- au: werewolf,
- character: akino myojin,
- character: kennichi himura,
- character: kennichi himura (werewolf),
- character: masayoshi hazama,
- character: masayoshi hazama (werewolf),
- character: rian martin,
- character: rian martin (vampire),
- genre: multi-part,
- genre: urban fantasy,
- pairing: gotou/masayoshi,
- series: samurai flamenco,
- wc: under 5000
