Kamen Rider Kiva AU: Boxed In, part 2/?
Feb. 12th, 2008 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiriseHere's part 2 of Boxed In. I only wrote about 4000 words instead of the 8000 last time, so hopefully it'll be a bit shorter for those following it.
Here's part 1
Title: Boxed In (part 2/?)
Series: Kamen Rider Kiva (AU)
Author: Estirose
Rating: 13+
Disclaimer: The Watcher, Executioner, and Hotaru belong to me, the others don't.
Summary: In a world where the Fangaire are known and only a few rogues kill people, hunter cells still exist. In one of them, against the law that says that half-Fangaire are to be raised exclusively by the Fangaire, is a young man named Kurenai Wataru. However, things beyond his control bring him to the attention of the Fangaire, and they take action.
* * *
After leaving Wataru with free run of the house, the Executioner drove to the Kurenai house, a lovely, elegant home on the outskirts of Tokyo. It suited what he'd heard of Kurenai Otoya, and it had plenty of room for a hidden Fandiri to grow up in.
He rang the doorbell, hoping that the man would hear him out. Kivat would be able to recognize him even if Kurenai Otoya did not, so at the very least he could claim Wataru's possessions, but he hoped for more.
"Yes?" Kurenai Otoya asked, stepping out of the house. His face was already tense; Kivat must have told him who his visitor was.
"Kurenai Otoya?" the Executioner asked. "I'm sure you know who I am." A tight, tense nod confirmed that the man did know who he was. And probably why he was there. Well, part of the reason why he was there. "Can I come in?"
The man looked like he was about to refuse. "I really suggest you don't drag this out. It'll be easier for Wataru to adapt if he's not being held back." He chose his words carefully; he wanted to give this man a clue that not all was as it seemed.
Finally, reluctantly, Kurenai Otoya nodded and came forward to unlock the gate. The Executioner made sure to be the epitome of politeness; it was not only expected, but he didn't want to irritate the man any more than was needed.
As the man politely guided him to a chair, he said, "I know this is traumatic for you‚" he said. "Wataru's in good hands. And he's been raised well; thank you for that."
For a man who charmed with words and music, Kurenai was unusually quiet. Probably still stressed by the sudden seperation of Wataru from his home and his life. It occurred to the Executioner that Otoya - he was planning to know the man to the point of calling him by his first name anyway - was grieving for the son that he'd lost.
"I come to ask you for his clothes and belongings," he said, ritual demanding the words. "I also hope to take home more."
Otoya looked tired. Older than he'd been that night at the Rogue's house. The Executioner mentally hoped he'd make the connection without the Executioner having to spell it out. "More?" Otoya asked, not confused, trying to put the pieces together. "What more can you take 'home' to him other than what he owns?"
"Much more‚" the Executioner said. "Maybe his most precious belongings." Kivat, and his father. Heck, his whole cell, but the Executioner doubted he'd achieve that in one day.
"What could be more precious, than love and life?" Otoya asked. "Belongings are disposable. What is more precious is what cannot be bought or sold."
Oh, yes. Otoya himself had been quite the wanderer in his life. It had only been a few years before Wataru's birth that the man had settled down to make violins - and even then, he'd been romancing the ladies. The Executioner recalled that from Otoya's bio. "Maybe it's that precious thing that I want to take home, that living love." Otoya no doubt loved his son; the Executioner guessed that Kivat had grown attached to the Fandiri as well.
Otoya settled down in his own chair. "That sounds almost like you want Kivat." His wariness was obvious. The Executioner didn't blame him; Kivat was a powerful weapon, if they had the blood... or a second Fandiri. He made a mental note to ask the Watcher how Aso Megumi's paperwork looked and if she could be tested as well. Wouldn't do to let the cell sneak another Fandiri in under the Fangaire council's nose.
"If he consents." The Executioner knew all too well that Kivat was intelligent; no use pretending he wasn't, or his opinions didn't matter. "Kivat is not a belonging."
"You realize we're not about to hand him to a Fangaire?" Otoya pointed out. "He wouldn't let himself be, either."
"I haven't lived centuries by being stupid, and neither has he," the Executioner said. "But he isn't the only one I had in mind."
Realization came to Otoya's face. "You want me?"
"Well,‚" the Executioner said, "You are his father. His living biological relative. Why not?"
"Usually," Wataru's father said, "Fangaire don't invite the human parents to come have visitation rights." Unspoken was the fact that they especially didn't like hunters to have visitation rights.
"Wataru is a special case," the Executioner said. "I think he'll settle in a little bit easier if he's not cut off from contact with his family. You and Kivat are his family."
"A Fangaire is inviting me to see my son." Something he had apparently never suspected or thought was possible, and the Executioner could see other thoughts forming. Ones that were suspicous and distrusting of the offer, the fact that it could be a trap. The Executioner wished that he could tell Otoya that apart from Kivat, they were considered pretty damn harmless with Wataru in proper custody.
"A wise person adapts to the times," the Executioner said. "Wataru is your child."
"Not legally," Otoya said, inspecting his ceiling instead of focusing on his guest. "Not anymore. Thanks to you."
"I'm not the one who left Wataru's paperwork so full of holes that the dimmest Fangaire could see that you were hiding his true nature," the Executioner countered.
"What's one child out of a hundred, or a thousand?" Otoya asked. "His mother and I loved each other - Wataru was her gift to me." His fingers moved in a languid imitation of a director's baton. "I made sure he could defend himself."
"You taught him to fight," the Executioner pointed out. "But that's not the issue to us. Fangaire are rather... possessive about their children, if you haven't noticed."
"So are humans," Otoya said simply. "Wouldn't you give up everything - or at least *almost* everything - for your child?"
"Up to and including die for him, yes," the Executioner said. "Funny what a child's presence does to one." If he botched this, if the Council got serious, then he'd be the one executed, and Wataru would be forced into change at the age of 17, but he didn't mention this to the untrusting human. Better the man not realize what a risk the Executioner was involved in. Emotional appeals probably wouldn't work; Otoya may have been a romantic, but they were enemies, at least right at the moment.
Romantics were good at imagining enemies if it helped boost them up.
"So, you stalked him, and now you want to save him." Otoya stopped looking at the ceiling, narrowing his focus onto the Executioner.
"I stalked him to save him," the Executioner retorted. "If I didn't, someone else would have, and they'd have been a lot more unpleasant."
"What do you want with me?" Otoya asked. "Just take Wataru's stuff and go." The Executioner could guess his thoughts clearly; Otoya thought that this was some big galactic joke aimed at a grieving father, or, still, a trap. Or maybe he hoped that he could cut that part of himself off until Wataru reached legal adulthood.
"There is more to this world than belongings, you said." The Executioner recalled Otoya's words. "I know that this may be an unusual request, but I don't want to cut you out of his life. Quite the opposite. But it's not going to happen unless you take a risk and come with me. Talk to him."
"Convince him he's better off where he is?" Otoya asked, closing his eyes once more. "I won't do that to him."
"I wouldn't expect you to," the Executioner answered. "If you did, I wouldn't be interested in you."
That did cause Otoya to blink, at least until he regained his composure, trying to pretend he'd never been startled.
"As a hunter, of course," he amended. "As a fellow fighter. Your son's tried to escape once; he's pretty smart. You taught him well."
"Thank you," Otoya said. "Will you return him to me?"
"That, I can't do," the Executioner replied, wondering if the contact had been such a good idea after all. The man was still in pain after losing Wataru, after all. "But I can bring you to him. And if you think this is a trap... which I would expect any hunter worth respecting to do... bring whatever you think you need. Within reason."
Otoya nodded. "Excuse me," he said politely, and ducked into another room. The Executioner heard murmurs of a hushed cellphone conversation. Maybe one of the other hunters would come and let him kill two birds with one stone. That would be better than expected! And Wataru would like it too.
When Otoya returned, the Executioner asked mildly, "I take it you invited one of the others to come."
Otoya nodded. "I've taken... precautions. They should be arriving in about twenty minutes."
"Maybe enough time to gather Wataru's belongings, then," the Executioner said. "Clothes, violins, whatever."
There was a growing pile of clothes, books, a violin, and various and sundry tools by the time the doorbell rang. It was a good thing, the Executioner thought, that he'd brought boxes. Otoya fetched in his guest, who turned out to be Aso Yuri. Most probably the best fighter of the bunch; it was obvious why Otoya had chosen her. "Yuri," Otoya said, "This is the Executioner."
"So this is what you look like in your human guise," she said, studying him. Memorizing him. Analyzing how much a threat he was to them, though he was sure that Kivat could have provided her with that information. Maybe figuring out the best way to strike, if it came down to that.
Otoya was a fighter, but he was also their thinker. It was no wonder that his son had discovered the secret passage. Wataru might have better lockpicking and other skills than he had fighting skills. At that point, the Executioner was hoping everything would clear itself up soon so he could get a proper idea of Wataru's skill set.
"I've come here to talk, not to fight," the Executioner said simply. "To help make peace with what's happened."
"And to pick up Wataru's belongings," Otoya added sharply.
"That too." He preferred to remain unfazed by the words. "If you'll help me finish boxing these up, we can move them to my van and get started."
Once they were all in, he put them in the back. For one, it would be harder for them to trace the route to his house, and secondly, it would hopefully make the two of them more secure. "I see you're into manacles," Yuri said, her tone sharp. "Recently, too."
"Wataru," he explained. Best to be honest. "You're hunters; I couldn't take the chance."
"You put Wataru in manacles?" Yuri demanded.
"As I said, you're hunters, Wataru's a hunter, I really thought that you'd prefer me to get Wataru home in one piece." He didn't know why he was babbling on. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't thought to remove the manacles. Or maybe he wanted to make a good impression.
Funny how the reactions of these humans mattered more to him at the moment than the council's desires.
Maybe it was because he had more, oddly enough, in common with them than with the council. Maybe because he had more to gain if he got them on his side.
He parked his van in its same shady, secluded spot and debated wether to bring Wataru's belongings or Yuri and Otoya first. Then he realized that Wataru had enough clothes and other things at the moment; an hour or two's delay in bringing his belongings in wouldn't matter. Reestablishing Wataru's ties with his hunter cell was more important. Who knew, maybe it would make it easier for Wataru to transition as well, once he felt safe about his environment.
Leading the two into his home, he hoped they wouldn't attack him in hopes of grabbing Wataru and running. Of course, all of Wataru's belongings were in the van, but his previous conversation with Otoya indicated the man was willing to give up all he had if it meant those he loved were safe. Maybe they were holding off because Wataru was in there, and for all they knew, held hostage. Of course, that was assuming the boy was there at all; Wataru could very well be halfway to Tokyo by now. If he was, then probably Otoya and Yuri would be proud, but it had meant they'd wasted a trip.
But Wataru was there, slouched in an armchair, reading one of the books from the library. A classic book on tactics, the Executioner was proud to see. The boy definitely wasn't stupid.
He looked up at their entrance. "Father?" he asked, at something resembling normal volume. The only times the Executioner had heard him speak, he was either talking quietly to Kivat, or he was mumbling, in the few times he'd deigned to speak to the Executioner. "Yuri?"
Otoya enveloped his son with a big hug while Yuri watched. Careful, these hunters were. Or maybe Yuri wasn't touchy-feely.
"Are you all right?" Yuri asked. Maybe she was maternal after all, just watchful. They were in his house, after all.
"I'm fine," Wataru said. The Executioner was suddenly glad he hadn't forced Wataru to display his patterning; it would not have gone well with these two people. Besides, even he was used to Wataru's human guise, and to have him patterened would have seemed forced to him.
There were some consequences to staying in human form and staying stealthy, after all.
Indicating two spare chairs that he'd left in the room, he said, "Please, sit down." He'd hoped leaving a chair or two in the room would assuage Wataru's fears. He'd had them anyway, for the times the council had visited him. He sat down in the chair facing Wataru's; the two hunters drew up chairs to either side of Wataru, as if forming a protective perimeter.
Protecting him from the Executioner, who wouldn't harm him. It was almost funny. Scratch that, it was funny. When it came to Wataru, they were all on the same side.
"I'm glad you all came," he said. The conversation was suddenly awkward, as if he hadn't really been expecting Kurenai Otoya, much less Aso Yuri to come. But they were really there. Or at least the other two. Wataru had been there and really wasn't going anywhere, at least at the moment. Personally, Executioner wanted him to try to escape a few more times so that when he calmed down, or at least started talking, the Executioner could fix any deficiencies.
"I take it this really isn't a family reunion," Otoya said. Yuri tensed.
"It is and isn't," the Executioner said. "But I'm not going to kill Wataru's family right in front of him, so if you'd please relax?"
That didn't seem to placate Yuri or Otoya, which was too bad but not much he could do about it. It looked like he'd have to gain their trust over time, same as with Wataru.
"First of all, I wanted to let you all see that everybody's safe and still alive," the Executioner said. "I don't want the enmity of your group. I intend to treat Wataru well; he is as precious to me as he is to you."
"I doubt it," Yuri said.
He gave her a wry smile. "Believe it or not, he is." The next Executioner. Hell, Wataru was important to the council, too, for the same reason.
Neither of the hunters bothered to respond, so he pressed on. "I'm calling for a peace treaty here, an understanding. Wataru is in my care, I want him to realize that. I want his cell not to try to retrieve him." He let those words sink in. "I need Wataru to act Fandiri so that our equivalent of a social worker doesn't take him away."
"And what do we get in return?" Otaru asked, as wary as Yuri but not seemingly as likely to brandish a hidden weapon and try to stab the Executioner in the heart.
"Visitation rights. In a few years, maybe the ability to hunt rogues legally."
Yuri's eyes widened. Otoya gave a stiff nod. Both of them seemed cautious, but the lure of being able to hunt legally was giving him an edge with Yuri. Otoya seemed more interested in keeping contact with his son. For which he didn't blame Otoya.
"Your cell hunts the same things I do," the Executioner said. "It's an advantage to have an apprentice with connections to a hunter cell - I'd like Wataru to have a little support."
Though they might not be too pleased with the fact that in a matter of years, Wataru would be changed to full Fangaire; even the milder hunter cells seemed to have an objection to that happening to those they raised. Not that anybody hunter-born had been changed before, but even the threat could rile up the cell they came from.
He regarded the two of them and Wataru. On top of recruiting them, maybe he could get Otoya and Yuri to breed, either with each other or other hunters. Their cell would have to recruit more members too. Wataru should be bred, too, before he was changed. His children could still have enough Fangaire in them to summon the armor.
But that was for later, after he'd gained the cell's trust, and Wataru's. In the meantime, he had taken the first steps. Wataru might trust him a bit more, and he might not have to worry about attempts to kidnap the boy back.
"This won't be official," The Executioner said, "It's certainly not supported. I'm trying something new here. But I believe that it's something that, if we get right, it may be a change in how the Fandiri - at least some of them - are raised. Though most of them are surrendered long before they can remember their human parents."
A fact that annoyed humans that wanted to raise Fandiri offspring. But even he believed that the Fandiri were first and foremost Fangaire, not human. And if humans were allowed to have a hand in raising their Fandiri offspring, they had to be brought up to understand this.
It was a mindset that he had to get Wataru to assume. Wataru had been brought up as something he couldn't be out of necessity, but it was time to change, if a little.
"I should get you something to eat - and I'm sure the two of you want to make sure Wataru's all right." Their chance to talk could cement Wataru's acceptance of his new life, so the Executioner didn't have a problem with that. He moved off to the kitchen, flipping a hidden control that would let him hear what was going on in his living room. There was nothing wrong with being a little cautious. Outward acceptance didn't mean inward acceptance, after all.
* * *
Yuri watched as the Fangaire disappeared into the kitchen. "Is it safe to talk?" she asked Wataru quietly.
"Maybe," Wataru replied hesitantly. "I don't know."
"Thanks for the confident reply, Wataru," Yuri snapped, though she didn't mean to. They were inside a Fangaire's house, a Fangaire that was, from Kivat's accounts, dangerous as hell, tricky as anything. Not someone she'd choose to have responsibility to care for Wataru. He probably had been playing mind games with Wataru as well.
"Are you okay?" his father asked, the question that, as far as Yuri was concerned, didn't matter at the moment. She wasn't sure if she could trust Wataru's responses either. But the bastard had a point; Wataru was known to the Fangaire now, and one way or another, he'd be stuck with one until they decided he acted enough like one.
And as slippery as this one was, he might hold the key to getting Wataru to fake his way into that, to get Wataru free from the nightmare he was in. Wataru was good at running and hiding, moderately good at fighting, and thank goodness not a Casanova like his father.
Not to mention that, if the offer was on the level, they'd have access to Wataru to counteract any brainwashing. Keep him reasonably human. If the offer was on the level.
Wataru nodded as a response to his father's questions. "He's mostly left me alone. I did try to escape once, and he pointed out that the tree branch was unstable, but he didn't punish me for escaping."
Yuri frowned at that. Obviously the man was trying to wiggle into Wataru's heart first, trying to get Wataru to trust him. Which, given how Wataru probably felt, was a distinct possibility. Probably soon the visits would cease and Wataru would be on his own until he was twenty.
At twenty, by twenty, they had to rescue him. She'd talked to Kivat about the various and sundry "hereditary" positions, of which the Executioner was one. The Fandiri that the titled Fangaire took as apprentices were always changed into Fangaire early into legal adulthood, and Executioners tended to be changed as soon as possible. No way in hell would she allow Wataru to be changed into Fangaire. As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to become like the Executioner.
As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to be cursed with that existence. Not somebody she loved.
Right at the moment, he looked tired, defeated. She had to wonder if the Executioner drained him daily to keep him complacent. She wanted to take him away from here, but it was probably better to let him be for the moment. The Executioner might play games with him, but the Fangaire wouldn't kill him. In the meantime, if she and the others could find where he lived exactly, they could organize a raid when he was out. But then again, they'd have to find a safe place for Wataru to live after that, since he was, again, known to the Fangaire.
"Wataru, has he said anything to you about training?" she asked.
Wataru nodded. "He says that as soon as I settle in, he wants to get to know what I can do," he said.
Yuri thought about that. "I'm sure he does."
"He's not making you show your patterns," Otoya said, examining his son's face. "At least not right now." She caught the implication in his words. The Executioner wanted them to relax, so Wataru was not forced to show his distinctive Fandiri patterning. Personally, Yuri had always loathed how Wataru looked when he had eaten something that forced him to pattern. A reminder of what he'd been forced to hide.
"He hasn't since I got here," Wataru said. "The Fangaire council, though, says I have to."
Yuri wanted to take Wataru home so badly at that moment. Take him to safety, make him feel more human again. But she couldn't. Not that day, not that moment. Later.
She would save him from the monster coming back in with the sandwiches.
Here's part 1
Title: Boxed In (part 2/?)
Series: Kamen Rider Kiva (AU)
Author: Estirose
Rating: 13+
Disclaimer: The Watcher, Executioner, and Hotaru belong to me, the others don't.
Summary: In a world where the Fangaire are known and only a few rogues kill people, hunter cells still exist. In one of them, against the law that says that half-Fangaire are to be raised exclusively by the Fangaire, is a young man named Kurenai Wataru. However, things beyond his control bring him to the attention of the Fangaire, and they take action.
* * *
After leaving Wataru with free run of the house, the Executioner drove to the Kurenai house, a lovely, elegant home on the outskirts of Tokyo. It suited what he'd heard of Kurenai Otoya, and it had plenty of room for a hidden Fandiri to grow up in.
He rang the doorbell, hoping that the man would hear him out. Kivat would be able to recognize him even if Kurenai Otoya did not, so at the very least he could claim Wataru's possessions, but he hoped for more.
"Yes?" Kurenai Otoya asked, stepping out of the house. His face was already tense; Kivat must have told him who his visitor was.
"Kurenai Otoya?" the Executioner asked. "I'm sure you know who I am." A tight, tense nod confirmed that the man did know who he was. And probably why he was there. Well, part of the reason why he was there. "Can I come in?"
The man looked like he was about to refuse. "I really suggest you don't drag this out. It'll be easier for Wataru to adapt if he's not being held back." He chose his words carefully; he wanted to give this man a clue that not all was as it seemed.
Finally, reluctantly, Kurenai Otoya nodded and came forward to unlock the gate. The Executioner made sure to be the epitome of politeness; it was not only expected, but he didn't want to irritate the man any more than was needed.
As the man politely guided him to a chair, he said, "I know this is traumatic for you‚" he said. "Wataru's in good hands. And he's been raised well; thank you for that."
For a man who charmed with words and music, Kurenai was unusually quiet. Probably still stressed by the sudden seperation of Wataru from his home and his life. It occurred to the Executioner that Otoya - he was planning to know the man to the point of calling him by his first name anyway - was grieving for the son that he'd lost.
"I come to ask you for his clothes and belongings," he said, ritual demanding the words. "I also hope to take home more."
Otoya looked tired. Older than he'd been that night at the Rogue's house. The Executioner mentally hoped he'd make the connection without the Executioner having to spell it out. "More?" Otoya asked, not confused, trying to put the pieces together. "What more can you take 'home' to him other than what he owns?"
"Much more‚" the Executioner said. "Maybe his most precious belongings." Kivat, and his father. Heck, his whole cell, but the Executioner doubted he'd achieve that in one day.
"What could be more precious, than love and life?" Otoya asked. "Belongings are disposable. What is more precious is what cannot be bought or sold."
Oh, yes. Otoya himself had been quite the wanderer in his life. It had only been a few years before Wataru's birth that the man had settled down to make violins - and even then, he'd been romancing the ladies. The Executioner recalled that from Otoya's bio. "Maybe it's that precious thing that I want to take home, that living love." Otoya no doubt loved his son; the Executioner guessed that Kivat had grown attached to the Fandiri as well.
Otoya settled down in his own chair. "That sounds almost like you want Kivat." His wariness was obvious. The Executioner didn't blame him; Kivat was a powerful weapon, if they had the blood... or a second Fandiri. He made a mental note to ask the Watcher how Aso Megumi's paperwork looked and if she could be tested as well. Wouldn't do to let the cell sneak another Fandiri in under the Fangaire council's nose.
"If he consents." The Executioner knew all too well that Kivat was intelligent; no use pretending he wasn't, or his opinions didn't matter. "Kivat is not a belonging."
"You realize we're not about to hand him to a Fangaire?" Otoya pointed out. "He wouldn't let himself be, either."
"I haven't lived centuries by being stupid, and neither has he," the Executioner said. "But he isn't the only one I had in mind."
Realization came to Otoya's face. "You want me?"
"Well,‚" the Executioner said, "You are his father. His living biological relative. Why not?"
"Usually," Wataru's father said, "Fangaire don't invite the human parents to come have visitation rights." Unspoken was the fact that they especially didn't like hunters to have visitation rights.
"Wataru is a special case," the Executioner said. "I think he'll settle in a little bit easier if he's not cut off from contact with his family. You and Kivat are his family."
"A Fangaire is inviting me to see my son." Something he had apparently never suspected or thought was possible, and the Executioner could see other thoughts forming. Ones that were suspicous and distrusting of the offer, the fact that it could be a trap. The Executioner wished that he could tell Otoya that apart from Kivat, they were considered pretty damn harmless with Wataru in proper custody.
"A wise person adapts to the times," the Executioner said. "Wataru is your child."
"Not legally," Otoya said, inspecting his ceiling instead of focusing on his guest. "Not anymore. Thanks to you."
"I'm not the one who left Wataru's paperwork so full of holes that the dimmest Fangaire could see that you were hiding his true nature," the Executioner countered.
"What's one child out of a hundred, or a thousand?" Otoya asked. "His mother and I loved each other - Wataru was her gift to me." His fingers moved in a languid imitation of a director's baton. "I made sure he could defend himself."
"You taught him to fight," the Executioner pointed out. "But that's not the issue to us. Fangaire are rather... possessive about their children, if you haven't noticed."
"So are humans," Otoya said simply. "Wouldn't you give up everything - or at least *almost* everything - for your child?"
"Up to and including die for him, yes," the Executioner said. "Funny what a child's presence does to one." If he botched this, if the Council got serious, then he'd be the one executed, and Wataru would be forced into change at the age of 17, but he didn't mention this to the untrusting human. Better the man not realize what a risk the Executioner was involved in. Emotional appeals probably wouldn't work; Otoya may have been a romantic, but they were enemies, at least right at the moment.
Romantics were good at imagining enemies if it helped boost them up.
"So, you stalked him, and now you want to save him." Otoya stopped looking at the ceiling, narrowing his focus onto the Executioner.
"I stalked him to save him," the Executioner retorted. "If I didn't, someone else would have, and they'd have been a lot more unpleasant."
"What do you want with me?" Otoya asked. "Just take Wataru's stuff and go." The Executioner could guess his thoughts clearly; Otoya thought that this was some big galactic joke aimed at a grieving father, or, still, a trap. Or maybe he hoped that he could cut that part of himself off until Wataru reached legal adulthood.
"There is more to this world than belongings, you said." The Executioner recalled Otoya's words. "I know that this may be an unusual request, but I don't want to cut you out of his life. Quite the opposite. But it's not going to happen unless you take a risk and come with me. Talk to him."
"Convince him he's better off where he is?" Otoya asked, closing his eyes once more. "I won't do that to him."
"I wouldn't expect you to," the Executioner answered. "If you did, I wouldn't be interested in you."
That did cause Otoya to blink, at least until he regained his composure, trying to pretend he'd never been startled.
"As a hunter, of course," he amended. "As a fellow fighter. Your son's tried to escape once; he's pretty smart. You taught him well."
"Thank you," Otoya said. "Will you return him to me?"
"That, I can't do," the Executioner replied, wondering if the contact had been such a good idea after all. The man was still in pain after losing Wataru, after all. "But I can bring you to him. And if you think this is a trap... which I would expect any hunter worth respecting to do... bring whatever you think you need. Within reason."
Otoya nodded. "Excuse me," he said politely, and ducked into another room. The Executioner heard murmurs of a hushed cellphone conversation. Maybe one of the other hunters would come and let him kill two birds with one stone. That would be better than expected! And Wataru would like it too.
When Otoya returned, the Executioner asked mildly, "I take it you invited one of the others to come."
Otoya nodded. "I've taken... precautions. They should be arriving in about twenty minutes."
"Maybe enough time to gather Wataru's belongings, then," the Executioner said. "Clothes, violins, whatever."
There was a growing pile of clothes, books, a violin, and various and sundry tools by the time the doorbell rang. It was a good thing, the Executioner thought, that he'd brought boxes. Otoya fetched in his guest, who turned out to be Aso Yuri. Most probably the best fighter of the bunch; it was obvious why Otoya had chosen her. "Yuri," Otoya said, "This is the Executioner."
"So this is what you look like in your human guise," she said, studying him. Memorizing him. Analyzing how much a threat he was to them, though he was sure that Kivat could have provided her with that information. Maybe figuring out the best way to strike, if it came down to that.
Otoya was a fighter, but he was also their thinker. It was no wonder that his son had discovered the secret passage. Wataru might have better lockpicking and other skills than he had fighting skills. At that point, the Executioner was hoping everything would clear itself up soon so he could get a proper idea of Wataru's skill set.
"I've come here to talk, not to fight," the Executioner said simply. "To help make peace with what's happened."
"And to pick up Wataru's belongings," Otoya added sharply.
"That too." He preferred to remain unfazed by the words. "If you'll help me finish boxing these up, we can move them to my van and get started."
Once they were all in, he put them in the back. For one, it would be harder for them to trace the route to his house, and secondly, it would hopefully make the two of them more secure. "I see you're into manacles," Yuri said, her tone sharp. "Recently, too."
"Wataru," he explained. Best to be honest. "You're hunters; I couldn't take the chance."
"You put Wataru in manacles?" Yuri demanded.
"As I said, you're hunters, Wataru's a hunter, I really thought that you'd prefer me to get Wataru home in one piece." He didn't know why he was babbling on. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't thought to remove the manacles. Or maybe he wanted to make a good impression.
Funny how the reactions of these humans mattered more to him at the moment than the council's desires.
Maybe it was because he had more, oddly enough, in common with them than with the council. Maybe because he had more to gain if he got them on his side.
He parked his van in its same shady, secluded spot and debated wether to bring Wataru's belongings or Yuri and Otoya first. Then he realized that Wataru had enough clothes and other things at the moment; an hour or two's delay in bringing his belongings in wouldn't matter. Reestablishing Wataru's ties with his hunter cell was more important. Who knew, maybe it would make it easier for Wataru to transition as well, once he felt safe about his environment.
Leading the two into his home, he hoped they wouldn't attack him in hopes of grabbing Wataru and running. Of course, all of Wataru's belongings were in the van, but his previous conversation with Otoya indicated the man was willing to give up all he had if it meant those he loved were safe. Maybe they were holding off because Wataru was in there, and for all they knew, held hostage. Of course, that was assuming the boy was there at all; Wataru could very well be halfway to Tokyo by now. If he was, then probably Otoya and Yuri would be proud, but it had meant they'd wasted a trip.
But Wataru was there, slouched in an armchair, reading one of the books from the library. A classic book on tactics, the Executioner was proud to see. The boy definitely wasn't stupid.
He looked up at their entrance. "Father?" he asked, at something resembling normal volume. The only times the Executioner had heard him speak, he was either talking quietly to Kivat, or he was mumbling, in the few times he'd deigned to speak to the Executioner. "Yuri?"
Otoya enveloped his son with a big hug while Yuri watched. Careful, these hunters were. Or maybe Yuri wasn't touchy-feely.
"Are you all right?" Yuri asked. Maybe she was maternal after all, just watchful. They were in his house, after all.
"I'm fine," Wataru said. The Executioner was suddenly glad he hadn't forced Wataru to display his patterning; it would not have gone well with these two people. Besides, even he was used to Wataru's human guise, and to have him patterened would have seemed forced to him.
There were some consequences to staying in human form and staying stealthy, after all.
Indicating two spare chairs that he'd left in the room, he said, "Please, sit down." He'd hoped leaving a chair or two in the room would assuage Wataru's fears. He'd had them anyway, for the times the council had visited him. He sat down in the chair facing Wataru's; the two hunters drew up chairs to either side of Wataru, as if forming a protective perimeter.
Protecting him from the Executioner, who wouldn't harm him. It was almost funny. Scratch that, it was funny. When it came to Wataru, they were all on the same side.
"I'm glad you all came," he said. The conversation was suddenly awkward, as if he hadn't really been expecting Kurenai Otoya, much less Aso Yuri to come. But they were really there. Or at least the other two. Wataru had been there and really wasn't going anywhere, at least at the moment. Personally, Executioner wanted him to try to escape a few more times so that when he calmed down, or at least started talking, the Executioner could fix any deficiencies.
"I take it this really isn't a family reunion," Otoya said. Yuri tensed.
"It is and isn't," the Executioner said. "But I'm not going to kill Wataru's family right in front of him, so if you'd please relax?"
That didn't seem to placate Yuri or Otoya, which was too bad but not much he could do about it. It looked like he'd have to gain their trust over time, same as with Wataru.
"First of all, I wanted to let you all see that everybody's safe and still alive," the Executioner said. "I don't want the enmity of your group. I intend to treat Wataru well; he is as precious to me as he is to you."
"I doubt it," Yuri said.
He gave her a wry smile. "Believe it or not, he is." The next Executioner. Hell, Wataru was important to the council, too, for the same reason.
Neither of the hunters bothered to respond, so he pressed on. "I'm calling for a peace treaty here, an understanding. Wataru is in my care, I want him to realize that. I want his cell not to try to retrieve him." He let those words sink in. "I need Wataru to act Fandiri so that our equivalent of a social worker doesn't take him away."
"And what do we get in return?" Otaru asked, as wary as Yuri but not seemingly as likely to brandish a hidden weapon and try to stab the Executioner in the heart.
"Visitation rights. In a few years, maybe the ability to hunt rogues legally."
Yuri's eyes widened. Otoya gave a stiff nod. Both of them seemed cautious, but the lure of being able to hunt legally was giving him an edge with Yuri. Otoya seemed more interested in keeping contact with his son. For which he didn't blame Otoya.
"Your cell hunts the same things I do," the Executioner said. "It's an advantage to have an apprentice with connections to a hunter cell - I'd like Wataru to have a little support."
Though they might not be too pleased with the fact that in a matter of years, Wataru would be changed to full Fangaire; even the milder hunter cells seemed to have an objection to that happening to those they raised. Not that anybody hunter-born had been changed before, but even the threat could rile up the cell they came from.
He regarded the two of them and Wataru. On top of recruiting them, maybe he could get Otoya and Yuri to breed, either with each other or other hunters. Their cell would have to recruit more members too. Wataru should be bred, too, before he was changed. His children could still have enough Fangaire in them to summon the armor.
But that was for later, after he'd gained the cell's trust, and Wataru's. In the meantime, he had taken the first steps. Wataru might trust him a bit more, and he might not have to worry about attempts to kidnap the boy back.
"This won't be official," The Executioner said, "It's certainly not supported. I'm trying something new here. But I believe that it's something that, if we get right, it may be a change in how the Fandiri - at least some of them - are raised. Though most of them are surrendered long before they can remember their human parents."
A fact that annoyed humans that wanted to raise Fandiri offspring. But even he believed that the Fandiri were first and foremost Fangaire, not human. And if humans were allowed to have a hand in raising their Fandiri offspring, they had to be brought up to understand this.
It was a mindset that he had to get Wataru to assume. Wataru had been brought up as something he couldn't be out of necessity, but it was time to change, if a little.
"I should get you something to eat - and I'm sure the two of you want to make sure Wataru's all right." Their chance to talk could cement Wataru's acceptance of his new life, so the Executioner didn't have a problem with that. He moved off to the kitchen, flipping a hidden control that would let him hear what was going on in his living room. There was nothing wrong with being a little cautious. Outward acceptance didn't mean inward acceptance, after all.
* * *
Yuri watched as the Fangaire disappeared into the kitchen. "Is it safe to talk?" she asked Wataru quietly.
"Maybe," Wataru replied hesitantly. "I don't know."
"Thanks for the confident reply, Wataru," Yuri snapped, though she didn't mean to. They were inside a Fangaire's house, a Fangaire that was, from Kivat's accounts, dangerous as hell, tricky as anything. Not someone she'd choose to have responsibility to care for Wataru. He probably had been playing mind games with Wataru as well.
"Are you okay?" his father asked, the question that, as far as Yuri was concerned, didn't matter at the moment. She wasn't sure if she could trust Wataru's responses either. But the bastard had a point; Wataru was known to the Fangaire now, and one way or another, he'd be stuck with one until they decided he acted enough like one.
And as slippery as this one was, he might hold the key to getting Wataru to fake his way into that, to get Wataru free from the nightmare he was in. Wataru was good at running and hiding, moderately good at fighting, and thank goodness not a Casanova like his father.
Not to mention that, if the offer was on the level, they'd have access to Wataru to counteract any brainwashing. Keep him reasonably human. If the offer was on the level.
Wataru nodded as a response to his father's questions. "He's mostly left me alone. I did try to escape once, and he pointed out that the tree branch was unstable, but he didn't punish me for escaping."
Yuri frowned at that. Obviously the man was trying to wiggle into Wataru's heart first, trying to get Wataru to trust him. Which, given how Wataru probably felt, was a distinct possibility. Probably soon the visits would cease and Wataru would be on his own until he was twenty.
At twenty, by twenty, they had to rescue him. She'd talked to Kivat about the various and sundry "hereditary" positions, of which the Executioner was one. The Fandiri that the titled Fangaire took as apprentices were always changed into Fangaire early into legal adulthood, and Executioners tended to be changed as soon as possible. No way in hell would she allow Wataru to be changed into Fangaire. As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to become like the Executioner.
As much as she loved him, she couldn't allow him to be cursed with that existence. Not somebody she loved.
Right at the moment, he looked tired, defeated. She had to wonder if the Executioner drained him daily to keep him complacent. She wanted to take him away from here, but it was probably better to let him be for the moment. The Executioner might play games with him, but the Fangaire wouldn't kill him. In the meantime, if she and the others could find where he lived exactly, they could organize a raid when he was out. But then again, they'd have to find a safe place for Wataru to live after that, since he was, again, known to the Fangaire.
"Wataru, has he said anything to you about training?" she asked.
Wataru nodded. "He says that as soon as I settle in, he wants to get to know what I can do," he said.
Yuri thought about that. "I'm sure he does."
"He's not making you show your patterns," Otoya said, examining his son's face. "At least not right now." She caught the implication in his words. The Executioner wanted them to relax, so Wataru was not forced to show his distinctive Fandiri patterning. Personally, Yuri had always loathed how Wataru looked when he had eaten something that forced him to pattern. A reminder of what he'd been forced to hide.
"He hasn't since I got here," Wataru said. "The Fangaire council, though, says I have to."
Yuri wanted to take Wataru home so badly at that moment. Take him to safety, make him feel more human again. But she couldn't. Not that day, not that moment. Later.
She would save him from the monster coming back in with the sandwiches.
