"What the..." Akane said under her breath.
Kuno grabbed her arm suddenly and jerked her back so they were standing against the side of a building. Unfortunately, the bright lights didn't give them any cover.
As Akane was about to step away from the building, finally at the end of her rope with Kuno, a group of six black motorcycles roared out of an alley. Akane grimaced at the noise, it was close to deafening, and pressed back as hard as she could against the wall. The other people on the street didn't seem to notice the noise and went about their business.
Akane watched as each bike passed, the riders dressed all in black, their visors tinted so their faces were impossible to see. Three went by, then the fourth, and the fifth. The sixth rider started to go by but turned his head at the last moment. Akane could feel more than see the glowing eyes behind the visor as she stared back.
She was suddenly holding her breath, knowing that they were looking for her. It seemed Kuno was more right than she would have liked to admit. She was waiting for the other riders to turn around and rush her, but they continued moving down the street, their engines still audible even after they were out of sight.
Still recovering from the surreal and somewhat frightening experience, Akane's wrist was grabbed without a word. Kuno began pulling her down the street, moving as quickly as possible. If Akane was reading him right, he was royally pissed. She got her confirmation a moment later.
"Akane Tendo, why do you insist on disregarding my words of warning? Are they not sound? Do you think I speak them for my own relief? Nay! I say these things with your safety in mind!"
People were giving them funny looks as Kuno continued his tirade, dragging Akane behind him. Akane would have laughed if she hadn't known how right he was.
With Alexander's death and their claiming of the statue, she thought things would settle down. She never thought that their activities would be a beacon to, who she had to assume was, Kaiyanwang. She started jogging and Kuno released her wrist. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't think..."
"That is in the past," he answered quickly, his mind skipping ahead to their next task. "More importantly, we must find safety. A brief repose may send our pursuers elsewhere."
Akane nodded and began looking urgently for any sort of hostel, shelter, hotel, motel, cardboard box where they could stay. She needed to sit down and relax, though she didn't figure on actually getting that chance any time soon.
A tall building, towering in the near distance, brightly lit even in Hong Kong, caught Akane's attention. The flashing neon sign declared it to be a hotel. "There's one," she said breathlessly. More than anything, she wanted to sit down and rest and not worry about who was chasing her for just an hour.
Kuno didn't say anything and Akane could hear why. It was the whine of motorcycle engines, and they were getting louder. She might have heard him curse faintly, but couldn't be sure. He grabbed her again and pulled her to an open door decorated by red neon. "In here!"
"But this is a..." she complained.
"We have no time to be choosy." He gave her one good yank and pulled her inside.
Once inside, Akane's face turned the same color as the neon and she looked down at her feet. "I can't believe you brought me in here," she murmured, embarrassed in another country around people she would never see again.
Kuno paid her no mind, going directly to the front desk. "We would like a room."
The overweight and heavily sweating clerk looked at Kuno, then at Akane, and smiled. "Of course," he said slyly and gave Kuno a knowing look. "And for how long? We have hourly..."
"All night!"
The clerk grinned broadly. "Can't say I blame you. Now that's..." He started to look at a stained sheet of paper with room rates on it.
Kuno was impatient though, hearing the motorcycles, and dropped a wad of bills on the counter. "We would like a room now!"
"All right, all right," the clerk said and handed Kuno a key. "Number 314. It's the..." But the two were already gone. He chuckled at the empty lobby and collected the money just as a group of cycles cruised by.
"I can't believe this," Akane said angrily. She looked around the room, her temperature rising each second. "The honeymoon room? I can't believe you did this!" She threw her bag to the floor.
Kuno was at the window, peering through the curtains. "We had to remove ourselves from sight as quickly as possible. This was simply the closest establishment." He closed the curtain and faced Akane. "The decor will not matter when you are asleep."
"You think I'm sleeping in THAT? No way. Who knows what's been done in that... thing!" She was gesturing wildly at the round bed, disgusted at the entire room.
"It does not matter. Sleep is necessary, whether it is in the bed or on the floor." His tone left no room for argument.
"You sound like Kasumi." She deflated a little, knowing that she did need sleep. "Fine. I wish we could have gotten something to eat."
She kneeled down and opened her bag, moving the staff out of the way, and pulled out her pajamas. She trudged tiredly to the bathroom, turned on the light and closed the door. "What the... I hate this place!" came her angry voice.
Kuno smiled faintly.
He watched her sleep, feeling tired himself but knowing he had to stay awake. He sat heavily in a chair by the window, his eyes threatening to close. Akane's life seemed so... simple compared to his. She had the love her family and friends, she had a mostly stable home, and she was well liked at school. Nothing at all like his own life.
If only his mother hadn't... Hadn't what? Died? Then he would still be getting beat and his father would still be a cold, emotionless bastard. What if she hadn't resorted to using that shinnai? He rubbed his temples, his head beginning to hurt. What if she hadn't beat and debased him? Then he might have some friends, he wouldn't be the object of ridicule, he wouldn't have the overwhelming need to prove his worth day in and day out.
Even that didn't seem to help. People were impressed by his skill to an extent, and that was all. So he tried to force them to see that he was important, that he was not to be ignored. All they ended up seeing was him put down every day, first by Akane and then by Ranma. They saw him embarrass himself with Nabiki, looking like a brainless fool.
They saw all the things he tried to do so that he couldn't be brushed aside, even if it meant they thought he was an arrogant, foolish loser. It cost him almost everything that made him human. He was spurned by his classmates, he had very little pride and no self respect, but he had their attention. And it was more than he would have had if he was just another sorry kid with a bad home life. Everyone hated him because of his father even when they knew he disliked the principal just as much as they did.
Akane did not love him, did not like him and never would. The pig- tailed goddess was a lie, she could never love him and he could barely think about her delicate features without getting ill. They had been his only hopes for a semblance of normalcy. They had only been his chance for love. He knew he could give them his unconditional love without fail; they only needed to return it. They had not, never would.
And now he was so utterly alone in the world. He wanted nothing more than to become human so he could end his miserable existence. Maybe turn his head the wrong way during a fight with Ranma and have everything go wonderfully dark when his neck broke. But he wasn't sure he would have the courage to do something so simple.
"Tatewaki Kuno, come sit with me."
He lifted his head, realizing he had been dozing. Kamiko was sitting up in bed, looking at him. "I... I can't."
"Come sit with me." Her voice was gentle, yet insistent. "Come over here." In a playful gesture, she patted the bed.
Kuno stood and walked to the bed. He stood over it, looking down at Kamiko.
"Sit, sit."
He sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, as far away from Kamiko as he could be. "What would you wish to speak of?"
"I would wish for my wu to sit next to me," she said, her tone not playful at all.
Sighing, Kuno put his feet on the bed and sat next to her. He felt extremely uncomfortable, sitting in the bed, with her in pajamas. It felt so... scandalous.
Kamiko leaned over and rested her head on his arm. Surprised, he tried to pull away, but her arms held him in place.
"Stop this at once! I demand it!"
Kamiko looked into his angry and confused eyes, completely unaffected by his words. "Your pain is my pain," she said simply.
"Do not attempt to trick me! I will have none of your..."
"Quiet, fool. What you feel, I feel. So you are affected, I am affected."
Kuno stared at her in disbelief. "You mean when I was killed, you..."
"No. Not physical pain. Emotional and mental pain. It can be blocked out, but that nullifies a very important aspect of our bond." She rubbed her head against his arm, closing her eyes. "So I desire your happiness to make our co-existence more bearable. Your depression is affecting me, as well as Akane." Her arms weren't just keeping him from pulling away, they were... holding him.
He tried to shrink away. "This... this is not... proper. You must release me." His voice wasn't so commanding any more.
"I know you desire this girl. I know you find pleasure in this form. For our survival, I would give it to you. To make you happy..." She started to unbutton his shirt and smiled when she felt him relax. "Yes, relax. This will make you happy and ensure our survival."
Kuno suddenly grabbed Kamiko's arms and pulled her to him. Her eyes widened in surprise at the force of his passion and she allowed him to kiss her. But as suddenly as his passion blazed to life, it was gone and he pushed her away.
"No. This is wrong. She would hate me, moreso than she does now. I can not take advantage of her."
"You are not taking advantage of her; I am allowing you to do so." Kamiko was angry and did nothing to hide the fact. No one had ever refused what she offered. Until now. "She is my vessel, and if I tell you to take this girl, no matter what she wishes, then you will!"
"No. You do not know me as well as you would like to think. I will not touch her, no matter who you are or what you say." he got out of the bed, pulling free of Kamiko's hold, and buttoned up his shirt. "I do not need the 'happiness' you would try to give me." He turned his back to her and returned to the window.
Kamiko sighed. "You are wrong. I know you well enough..." She sank down in the bed, preparing to return to sleep.
After a few minutes of silence, Kuno looked back to see that Akane was sleeping peacefully. He exhaled heavily and swallowed. That had been far too close to... anything. He did not want Kamiko to make Akane an immobile toy for him; that would not make him happy. A toy was the last thing he wanted. It seemed that if Kamiko was truly interested in his happiness, she would know better.
He sat in the chair, giving up his vigil. He required sleep, even if he was immortal, even if he was in a foul mood.
The beginnings of a dream formed, a vision of a beautiful girl. "But I do want your happiness," the girl said before his dream turned to pleasant visions of a family he didn't have.
He was standing in front of her and she was frightened of him. "Akane Tendo, I love you!"
She grimaced and backed away.
"I love you!" He pulled out a knife.
"I love you!" he exclaimed again. He plunged the knife into his stomach.
She was disgusted.
"I love you!" Again with the knife.
And for every time he declared his love, he stabbed himself with the curved blade.
"Eww," she said. "Can you stop that?"
"No!" he shouted and just began stabbing himself over and over.
"That's disgusting. I can't believe I let you kiss me."
Akane sat up in bed. That dream had been too strange for words. And the whole kiss thing... What was up with that? She looked across the room at Kuno sleeping in the chair.
She was spending far too much time with him if she was dreaming about him. Even a warped dream like she had just had. She snuggled down into the gaudy red blanket and closed her eyes. Why would she have a dream like that? The 'I love you' and stabbing bit she could understand, but kiss? She had caught him before he kissed her on the bus, when Kamiko was...
Akane's eyes flew open. "What?" she said aloud. She sat up. "Kuno!" She glared at his sleeping form.
Kuno stirred in the chair, his eyes opening slowly. It was a fairly uncomfortable position in. "Yes?" He tried to work a kink out of his neck.
"You bring me to this cheap sex hotel then when I'm asleep you... you..." She just couldn't bring herself to say it. "The second I can't defend myself, you touched my... You put your... You took advantage of me!" She was angry, but she was more upset that he had taken away an important choice in her life. Tears started to run down her face.
"I... I did no such thing," he answered defensively. "I would never..."
"Just like on the bus! What kind of sick freak are you?" Her anger was beginning to drain out of her to be replaced by sick realization. "How... how could you?" The tears were at full stream and her voice was breaking down into sobs. "You were... supposed to... pro... protect me..." She buried her face in her hands and cried.
"I could never do such a thing!" He was fully awake, but it felt like a dream. It just had to be a dream. "You must believe me!"
Akane lifted her head, her eyes red, her mouth curved downward into a frown. "Why should I? You've never been someone I could trust! And you've always liked me..." The thought made her shudder and she returned her face to her hands.
"No... No... Never. I would never..." Or would he? He had definitely wanted to. He shook his head and stood up. "To do something so horrible... You think I am an arrogant fool, but that you would think me capable of such villainy..." He walked to the bed, his hands at his sides. "I am hurt that you believe I am a criminal."
"Please believe that I will protect you and I will never hurt you. If you do not wish to be my friend, then so be it. But it is my only want that we may be returned to normal."
Akane didn't look at him but her tears were beginning to dry. She believed a little of what he was saying, she was reacting to a dream after all. But the incident on the bus lingered in her memory.
Kuno sat on the bed and Akane moved away from him. The hurt threatening to plunge him into the depths of despair. "I will be honest, I owe you that." He reached over and touched her arm. She flinched away.
"It is true, Kamiko spoke to me. She wanted me to be... happy. She said my depression was affecting her and you."
Akane spoke from her hands. "Depressed?"
"Yes. I know you don't care to hear my problems, so I will not bore you, but she knew my feelings for you, of course, and offered you to me."
"She did what?" Akane exclaimed, her anger returning. She looked up at Kuno, betrayal on her face, in her eyes.
"Not you, but your physical charms. She told me that your feelings... did not matter and... ordered me to... defile you. To make me happy."
Akane couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You can't be serious."
"I am. She told me that and I... I..." He dropped his eyes.
"You wanted to," she said quietly.
Kuno nodded, his eyes still averted. "But I did not." He met her fiery gaze. "I admit that I kissed you, but that was all... I could not bring myself to damage your innocence. I do not think myself that low. He touched her arm again, but she didn't flinch.
Akane got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. "You can have the bed now. I think I'll be staying awake, Kuno-sempai."
Akane closed and locked the bathroom door. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She believed Kuno's story; it explained her dream, but she had been very close to doing something violent. She had been so frightened that something awful had happened and was equally relieved to find out nothing had. Well... nothing too bad.
She opened her eyes then looked over in the mirror. She stared angrily at herself and began to talk quietly. "So if what Kuno says is right, you can hear me, maybe even know what I'm thinking. So you better be paying attention now because I will not repeat it." She didn't know what she'd do if Kamiko ignored her, if she could even hear. "I am not something you can just give away because you don't feel well. And you're not helping Kuno either; you're just confusing him."
"If you know how I feel then you won't toy with my body or anybody else's feelings. You know how unhappy your little offers would make quite a few people. I'm sure they would be very interested in speaking to you when you're human."
She turned away from the mirror and started to unlock the door. "And if you think this is a threat... you're right." She stepped out of the bathroom.
She started for the chair but stopped when she saw Kuno already asleep in it. "Sempai," she whispered, shaking her head, and then got into bed.
They managed to sleep through the sound of motorcycles close by all night.