Kamen Rider Kiva AU: Boxed In, part 4/4
Feb. 17th, 2008 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiriseAnd here's the last part. I thank everyone who's been bearing with me, including ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
angel_negra who's listened to me mutter, saw random bits and pieces posted on IM, and given me encouragement, all while trying to write her own epic.
The story is done. Now I will attempt to get to characters that are a bit more... canon. Like Mikoto/Umeko. Which will hopefully not turn out as long as this one did (~21,000 words!).
Previous parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Title: Boxed In (part 4/4)
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.
Boxed In
by Estirose
c 2008
Part 4
Wataru just shot her a confused look, while he tried to sort out what the Executioner needed him to say to get Hiraoka-san out of their hair.
"How do you feel about the Executioner as your foster father? I'm sure he's explained to you why you can't be in touch with your father and the others anymore."
"He thinks that I should stay in touch with my father and the others," Wataru said, instead of saying what he *meant* to say, which was that yes, the Executioner had explained everything.
"And have you?" she asked.
He'd meant to say "no", but it came out as "yes". He clamped his hands over his mouth; aware that it didn't look good but at least if he couldn't say anything intelligible, she couldn't hold it against the Executioner. Or maybe she would.
Hiraoka-san gently unclamped his hands. "It's okay, Wataru. It's okay. I have to ask these questions; I have to make sure you're safe where you are. The Executioner's never had custody of a child before. I want to make sure he's treating you right. Normally, I screen parents - I didn't have a chance to do that with you."
"I'm seventeen!" he exclaimed, the annoyance of being referred to as a "child" finally annoying him.
"Wataru, I am six hundred and eighty-five years old," Hiraoka-san explained patiently. "Seventeen is... not precisely not out of diapers, but hardly an adult." She looked at him. "How often have you seen your father? Who else have you seen?"
"I've seen Father and...." He shut his mouth, preventing him from saying what was on his mind. He couldn't say what he'd meant to say, he only said what he didn't mean to say, he had to shut up because according to the Executioner, Hiraoka-san wouldn't take him still seeing his father and Yuri-san too well.
He hadn't started talking this way until after Hiraoka-san had shown up. After he'd eaten. his mind flashed back to that one breakfast where he'd ended up with patterning and the Executioner telling him that he had to anticipate surprises. And in this case, he'd been so busy trying to seem cooperative that he'd eaten something that was making him say things he hadn't meant to say. It was like that breakfast all over again.
"Wataru? Your father and who else?" Hiraoka-san asked, peering at him intently.
Wataru shook his head rapidly. He wasn't going to talk, he wasn't going to betray the Executioner, he wasn't going to be taken somewhere else to people who thought he should never see his family and try to make him into somebody he was not. Much as he would have despised being changed, at least the Executioner *understood*, and maybe he or Yuri-san or his father would have convinced the Fangaire that maybe Wataru didn't need to be Fangaire.
"Wataru? This is not convincing me that you should be staying here," Hiraoka-san warned. "I need you to talk to me. If I have to, I'll take you home with me until I get the answers I need."
Wataru remembered what the Executioner had said about energy infusions and wondered how long he could live on them before they'd affect his health. "You made me eat something that's making me talk like this."
"I had to hear the truth, Wataru, not what the Executioner told you to say," Hiraoka-san said. "I had... sources... which told me he was thinking of doing this. I...." She paused, looking over at him. "When we take Fandiri from humans, we break the bond between the child and those raising it, for good reason. Fandiri have to be Fangaire, leaving them in touch with their human kin prevents them from doing that, especially if they were hidden for a long time, like you." She shook her head. "And you are the Executioner's apprentice. You have to leave who you were behind. None of us has much choice in the matter."
"My family taught me to fight." He didn't use hunt, he had never hunted, he'd never had the chance to hunt.
"The instinct comes from your Fangaire blood," Hiraoka-san pointed out. "All the more reason to let go of the human you were raised to be."
"My family taught me to fight." He didn't use hunt, he had never hunted, he'd never had the chance to hunt.
"The instinct comes from your Fangaire blood," Hiraoka-san pointed out. "All the more reason to let go of the human you were raised to be."
Wataru stayed silent, aware that he was still under the influence of whatever Hiraoka-san had fed him.
"Working with human hunters is potentially treason, Wataru," Hiraoka-san said. "Human hunters that have perverted one of our children? At the very least, the Executioner is a bad influence on you, and you've suffered enough."
"But I'm his apprentice!" Wataru exclaimed, and shut his mouth again, remembering he was still drugged. He didn't want to talk about the fact that he didn't want to be changed, she'd probably take that and use that against the Executioner too.
"And so you will continue to be," Hiraoka-san. "One thing I do trust the Executioner on is hunter instincts. You have them, you were trained - albeit by humans - and you will be the Executioner someday. At the rate the *current* Executioner is acting, this might be sooner rather than later." She stood up. "That's it. Wataru, pack a bag. You're going home with me, and I'm going to find you a parent that can take care of you."
Wataru shook his head and ran. Almost blindly, but with enough brains to dash into the library and hit the trigger for the secret door. Closing it with a little more force than needed, he dashed down the stairs and out the back door. He wasn't sure on how he'd get out, but he would get out of there before he was taken away and never saw his family again.
His family would find a way to hide him. And, after all, the Executioner had made them promise that they wouldn't try to retrieve Wataru, not that they couldn't hide Wataru if he ran away. He was counting on the Executioner to hold up to that side of the bargain, to not chase him, even if Hiraoka-san told him to.
He ran along the walls, looking for a way to get over or across or around them. The Executioner had implied there was a way out other than the gates or climbing the walls, he had to find it. He remembered the layout of the neighborhood he'd found, trying to think where the exit would be. Most of the walls bordered other houses; it had to be on a section of wall that either opened to the street or alleyway. There really wasn't an alleyway, though he had seen, from the library window, a gap between fences. A small space, small enough to maybe walk through but not wider than that. Maybe there was a way out there. He slid to that section of wall, looking for ornamentation or such, and located a stud. Pressing it in, he was rewarded by a click and and a door that opened outwards. Closing the door, he ran towards the end of the small "alley", and he was delighted to find, towards freedom.
* * *
The Executioner was somehow not surprised to see Hotaru. He'd heard the secret door on the ground floor, and the back door, click rather forcefully. "I take it that didn't go well," he said. He'd rather hoped that Wataru would lie smoothly and just get Hotaru out of their hair, but at least this might turn out to be somewhat of an adventure.
"Under the authority of the council," she said, "I'm revoking your guardianship of Kurenai Wataru," she said.
This was not surprising. He'd hoped Wataru would be a better liar, but... things happened. He'd convince the rest of the council to overrule her and to let him have Wataru back as an apprentice. Later. "Assuming you can find him, you mean?" he asked mildly. "It sounds like you told him and he didn't like it very much."
"He's feral," she said. "A danger to himself. You have to find him." She looked at him as if she expected him to do something about it.
"Well, he's not killed any humans or Fangaire that I know of, and he's no longer my foster child so... I'd say he's your problem," the Executioner said, happy to be restricted by his duties, which did not include parole officer for wayward Fandiri. "If you hurry, he might not have found a way to leave the grounds."
"He is still your apprentice, Executioner, I didn't revoke that," she said testily. "I revoked your guardianship. There's a difference. We've all agreed that he's a good apprentice."
The Executioner raised both eyebrows. "Oh." Interesting. They still wanted Wataru to be his apprentice, after all. That said something about the Council's trust in him apprentice-wise.
"Executioner?" she asked, "Aren't you going to go find him?"
The Executioner shrugged. "He has yet to find a way to get out, there's no hurry." He was assuming so, at least. He wouldn't put it past Wataru to have found the secret exit, and if he did, the Executioner would deal with it then. Besides, if Hotaru wanted to revoke custody, there were few people he'd trust better to keep Wataru safe than those in his cell. "Would you like to tell me why you revoked my guardianship of Wataru, especially given that he's still my apprentice?"
"I revoked your guardianship when Wataru admitted to me, under drugs, that you had left him in contact with his human father, and at least one other person. Who, I don't know, because Wataru shut up on me, but it's something that would be enough to convict you of treason if it weren't for the fact we needed you. It's bad enough that I had to drug him to have him tell me the truth." She glared at him. "But he is an intelligent young Fandiri, and I still agree that he should be the next Executioner."
"Before you convict me, would you like me to explain *why* I did this?" The Executioner asked. Protective of the Fandiri Hotaru was, but not unreasonable, at least not completely.
"Since you seem convinced he's running around in your garden, unable to find a way out," she replied, "Why not?"
"Two reasons, actually." He was hoping not to have given this speech anytime soon, but he wanted to get his point across. Plus, it would give Wataru time to use his head and get out of there. "One, I'm sure you've noticed that this time around, Wataru is talking. What you don't know is that he chose to pattern voluntarily." Admittedly, it had been because they'd both known Hotaru was coming, but he hadn't had to prompt Wataru, Wataru had taken the recipe book and made his own food out of the ingredients he needed. "He even made his own meal."
Hotaru's surprised look spurred him to continue on. "I think the secret behind dealing with at least some of the ferals is to not yank them from home completely - they tend to be older and they're more connected to their families. The babies and the young kids, they can forget. But children as old as Wataru don't. Wataru was not talkative before I brought his father and another call member here, but now? He talks. And he's willing to listen to me. I'm not his enemy, I'm not here to take him away from everything he's known and loved."
"I can see there's been some improvement," she allowed. "And the second?"
"Once Wataru is of legal age and changed, I was planning on having him incorporate them into a helper group. They trust him, he trusts them, it would remove the problem of them being hunters. I'd do it but... they don't trust me. Yet. I planned to get them to trust me by allowing them access to Wataru, but I realized they'd always trust him more. He's one of them. A few generations later, they'll have forgotten they hunted rogues independently."
"That is one way to remove a hunter group from being any kind of threat," Hotaru conceded.
"I think, my lady," he said, seeing her relax a little, "That Wataru will learn to be Fandiri if he comes to think of it as a good thing. His father, for a hunter, seems receptive to the Fangaire - he did sleep with one, after all. And if his father accepts it, so with Wataru."
Hotaru nodded. "It is, until then, treason."
"Sometimes, my lady, you have to do treasonous things to ensure our future." He got up. "I suppose I'd better find Wataru for you now. I'll be interested to see if he got away."
"And what are you going to do if he did?" Hotaru asked. "Assume that he went back to his cell?"
"That, my lady, is the last thing he'd do if he's smart." He smiled. "Let me find him. Explain it to him. He's not going to be happy, but I think I can persuade him that you taking care of him is not the worst thing that could happen."
He could see her bite her tongue at his last remark. He had no problem with being insulting if the situation called for it, and in his opinion, it called for it then.
* * *
He found Wataru, though it had taken him some time. Wataru had gotten out, he suspected out the secret door into the tiny alleyway. And he hadn't gone straight home - it had taken the Executioner several days to find out where he was. And then he'd had to convince Wataru that maybe it was a good thing to stay with Hotaru until this whole thing settled down. The Executioner knew that it would be a good gesture to make, since she'd seemed to accept his points on the benefits of having Wataru stay in contact with his family.
Plus, it would forge ties between the Fandiri and Hotaru, ties that would help him out as he grew up and was changed. Things might be easier for Wataru if he could get along with the Fandiris' caretaker. He would eventually stand a good chance of finding his own apprentice and maybe having less problems with Hotaru over it.
Of course, he had to face the council first. The regular council, not the judicial council, at least at the moment. He'd have a chance to explain his reasoning once more, make them understand why he'd acted as he did. If they weren't satisfied, he might be well facing the judicial council. He hoped not. It was annoying.
When he entered, he saw Wataru, sitting off to the left. The young man was in ceremonial robes marking him as the Executioner's apprentice. He was sitting in seiza position on top of a zabuton, a cushion, and the Executioner thought he saw a seiza stool being discreetly used. He was, of course, fully patterned, the marks extending down his arms to spiderweb at his hands.
At least they still were recognizing Wataru as his apprentice. Good.
The council was seated in front of him. Hotaru was off to the left of center of the seven-member council. Quiet and thoughtful. Off to the right of the council, he could see the Chooser, and wondered if the other man had business there as well. Maybe he'd only come to look at Wataru and evaluate him.
"Executioner," Ohme Fumizuki said. He was the head of the council, the one that kept order, the one who was interested in history and keeping things straight. "You understand why you are here?"
"I presume it has to do with Wataru and my choice of ways to raise him," the Executioner said. No lightness here, no time for that. No referring to Wataru as his apprentice, despite the robes; they might decide, in a fit of spite, to take that away.
"That is correct," said a second council member. Yumi Sayuri, the youngest of the council. Executioner wondered how she'd swing; she tended to take the position that seemed most popular. "Because of your continued contact with the hunter cell he was removed from."
"Councilmember Hiraoka has presented a recording of her discussions with Wataru, and with you over the matter," Ohme said. "We believe that we can deal with this issue instead of pressing criminal charges."
Good. That meant that he probably wouldn't be killed over this whole thing. Not that the council seemed overly *happy* with him right now, but he'd live and hopefully Wataru would stay his apprentice. Of course, he might not stay his foster child.
"The Chooser has evaluated the child," Yumi Sayuri said. "Wataru would not make a suitable Fangaire under normal circumstances, but he has agreed that Wataru will make a suitable Executioner one day."
The Chooser nodded, apparently agreeing with the councilor's description.
"You have two choices," Ohme Fumizuki said. "One is to cut off contact with the hunter cell until Wataru is changed. While he remains Fandiri, we believe that he will be harmed by continued contact."
"The second," Hotaru said, "Is to change him now." She didn't look happy with what she was saying. "As you pointed out, once he names them as his helpers, they will no longer be a hunter cell and it will no longer be treasonous. We normally don't recommend this, but your circumstances are special. It might be in Wataru's best interest to be changed."
"You can, of course," Yumi said, "Choose to die. Wataru would become Executioner immediately after your death." Yumi had never liked him, he recalled. "That would remove any... problems on your part."
He realized from the expression on some of the councilmembers' faces that they'd like nothing better than have a new Executioner. He had really never been good at the formal things, he'd just played at them. But he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of dying.
And he wasn't going to break his promise to Wataru's cell.
That left changing Wataru. He didn't know how the boy would react. He hoped if Wataru had reservations about changing, that they would let the Executioner talk to him, maybe help him through it. He wouldn't be allowed to change Wataru, though. That would fall to Ohme Fumizuki because Wataru was in a ceremonial position.
He looked at Wataru. The boy seemed tense, and if he didn't want to be changed, it seemed bad either way for him. But the Executioner was not going to die, and he wasn't going to cut Wataru off from his family.
"Change him now," he said. He saw panic in Wataru's wide eyes; he hoped the boy would have the sense not to run. Wataru did not want to change, would resist the change, might die if he didn't cooperate.
The Executioner had to wonder if Wataru was more like Yuri than he thought, Yuri who had never been enthusiastic about the whole thing.
"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said, nodding curtly. The Executioner knew that he'd treat Wataru fairly.
"Please wait," Hotaru said, as politely as possible. "For the moment, he's still Fandiri and still under my care. I'd like to talk to him. And to the Executioner. Wataru is still getting used to being Fandiri; I'd rather we not lose the Executioner's apprentice by accident."
"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said. "You have... half an hour. We'll excuse the three of you to a side room."
Wataru was assisted up by one of the council assistants, and lead Wataru off to said room. Hotaru met the Executioner on the way to the same room. "I may not be as... creative... as you, but I thought about it, and thought about it, and this is what I could think of to solve the problem. I didn't think it likely that you'd break off contact. And, after dealing with Wataru, I'm willing to concede that at least brief contact with human parents in this kind of situation is not necessarily a bad thing."
"Thank you," he said. "I just wish Wataru was taking it as well."
"I... guess I didn't think of his reaction," Hotaru confessed. "Most Fandiri are eager to be changed; I forgot how wild and feral Wataru still is. You did a good job in that short time, Executioner."
It was funny. A few weeks ago, Hotaru had been an enemy, an obstacle. Here, she might be Wataru's best chance at surviving.
"But it's still treason?" he asked, with a small smile.
"Unfortunately, yes, and had you mishandled it, I would have been asking for your death, but... he's okay. Still wild, but I guess you do know how to handle at least some hunters."
"Thank you. Now, let's make sure this one doesn't inadvertently kill himself."
* * *
Wataru had, strangely enough, not minded his stay at Hiraoka-san's place. She mostly left him alone, probably figuring he could fend for himself. They did talk, in a more relaxed manner, mostly because the Executioner had told him to be honest about it. The more Hiraoka-san understood, the easier it might be for the next hunter-raised Fandiri. And he knew that the Executioner thought he could talk his and Wataru's way out of this, and that everything would somewhat go back to the way it was. He'd never be allowed to be human again, not under these peoples' watchful gazes, but he had his father and Yuri-san and eventually Megumi-san to keep him anchored.
Earlier in the day, he'd been brought to the council building - somebody's house, apparently - and brought clothes to wear, the same ceremonial clothes he'd be expected to wear when he was before the council as the Executioner's apprentice. Then he'd had a long talk with the Chooser, who turned out to be actually fairly elderly-looking for a Fangaire human form, and kind, and good at prying things out of him that he didn't mean to say. The Chooser hadn't needed drugs to make him confess things.
And they'd let him sit on a seiza stool, for which he was grateful. It was because he was the one that they were debating about, and because of his status he'd been allowed the stool. Sitting that long would have been very... interesting.
He was more grateful for it when the Council had made their statement, and the Executioner had made his choice. The Executioner had chosen to maintain contact with his father and Yuri over keeping Wataru as he was. He had been prepared to run, only the Executioner's warning gaze had kept him there.
But he wasn't ready to change. Not at the moment, not with Yuri-san to argue with them about it, and his father to be by his side. With Megumi to stand over him and protect him. He had some clue on what to expect, part of Yuri-san's horror stories on what would happen to him if the Fangaire found him out. But somehow he'd expected to change around twenty, or twenty-five, or maybe never. The Executioner was not allowing his cell to have its say.
Of course, he got the sense that the Executioner did what he thought was best for both himself and the cell. The Executioner had never said it out loud, but he'd incorporated Wataru's cell into "his people", humans he protected and in turn made decisions for.
Yuri-san would probably not be very happy about that, if she knew.
Hiraoka-san and the Executioner entered the room. "Wataru, are you all right?" Hiraoka-san asked. "It looked like you were having a panic attack."
"I don't want to be changed," he said softly. The volume he'd had when the Executioner started talking to him, to some extent when Hiraoka-san had been talking to him.
"Wataru," the Executioner said, "You would have been changed eventually. This is a small price to pay for maintaining the alliances you grew up in. Alliances that the Fangaire badly need. You won't even be out of circulation that long, just enough to learn how to control your energy drain so you don't kill humans."
"I *am* human," Wataru said. And Fangaire too, he couldn't deny that part of himself. But that part didn't come out. He didn't want it to come out.
"And Fangaire," Hiraoka-san said. "You want to protect humans from rogue Fangaire, right? You've told me that's what you were brought up to do."
Wataru nodded.
"Then take the gift. Become the Executioner's apprentice for real. Protect your people. Protect those you love. As Fangaire, we love too." She smiled a little. "Sometimes a little too much."
"Hotaru and I were Fandiri once, too," the Executioner pointed out. "We have human blood. She protects Fandiri, I protect humans. And so will you. Sometimes you just can't foresee how you're meant to do it."
Was that how he was meant to do it, to become Fangaire? Yuri-san would probably thwack him soundly with her sword if he'd voiced that to her, funnily enough. But it made sense. Much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. And it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. Lose Yuri-san and Megumi-san and his father for three years and be changed anyway, or accept it now and figure out how to deal. At least he wasn't doing it alone.
"Are you feeling better, Wataru?" the Executioner asked. "Do you think you can get through this?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I... I guess I'll try."
* * *
The Executioner watched Wataru sleep, exhausted by the change. He was full Fangaire now, even if he hadn't chosen to be. Sometimes, the Executioner had learned, life was full of things you couldn't see right away, and sometimes someone wiser and older had to choose for you. As he had chosen for Wataru, no matter how painful it might have been for the young man.
He himself would have to explain things to Otoya and Yuri, tell them what had happened to Wataru while Wataru learned how to drain energy properly. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation, even as he knew it had to be done. But it would be better for all of them. Better for the future.
Better for the world.
-end
angel_negra who's listened to me mutter, saw random bits and pieces posted on IM, and given me encouragement, all while trying to write her own epic.The story is done. Now I will attempt to get to characters that are a bit more... canon. Like Mikoto/Umeko. Which will hopefully not turn out as long as this one did (~21,000 words!).
Previous parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Title: Boxed In (part 4/4)
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.
Boxed In
by Estirose
c 2008
Part 4
Wataru just shot her a confused look, while he tried to sort out what the Executioner needed him to say to get Hiraoka-san out of their hair.
"How do you feel about the Executioner as your foster father? I'm sure he's explained to you why you can't be in touch with your father and the others anymore."
"He thinks that I should stay in touch with my father and the others," Wataru said, instead of saying what he *meant* to say, which was that yes, the Executioner had explained everything.
"And have you?" she asked.
He'd meant to say "no", but it came out as "yes". He clamped his hands over his mouth; aware that it didn't look good but at least if he couldn't say anything intelligible, she couldn't hold it against the Executioner. Or maybe she would.
Hiraoka-san gently unclamped his hands. "It's okay, Wataru. It's okay. I have to ask these questions; I have to make sure you're safe where you are. The Executioner's never had custody of a child before. I want to make sure he's treating you right. Normally, I screen parents - I didn't have a chance to do that with you."
"I'm seventeen!" he exclaimed, the annoyance of being referred to as a "child" finally annoying him.
"Wataru, I am six hundred and eighty-five years old," Hiraoka-san explained patiently. "Seventeen is... not precisely not out of diapers, but hardly an adult." She looked at him. "How often have you seen your father? Who else have you seen?"
"I've seen Father and...." He shut his mouth, preventing him from saying what was on his mind. He couldn't say what he'd meant to say, he only said what he didn't mean to say, he had to shut up because according to the Executioner, Hiraoka-san wouldn't take him still seeing his father and Yuri-san too well.
He hadn't started talking this way until after Hiraoka-san had shown up. After he'd eaten. his mind flashed back to that one breakfast where he'd ended up with patterning and the Executioner telling him that he had to anticipate surprises. And in this case, he'd been so busy trying to seem cooperative that he'd eaten something that was making him say things he hadn't meant to say. It was like that breakfast all over again.
"Wataru? Your father and who else?" Hiraoka-san asked, peering at him intently.
Wataru shook his head rapidly. He wasn't going to talk, he wasn't going to betray the Executioner, he wasn't going to be taken somewhere else to people who thought he should never see his family and try to make him into somebody he was not. Much as he would have despised being changed, at least the Executioner *understood*, and maybe he or Yuri-san or his father would have convinced the Fangaire that maybe Wataru didn't need to be Fangaire.
"Wataru? This is not convincing me that you should be staying here," Hiraoka-san warned. "I need you to talk to me. If I have to, I'll take you home with me until I get the answers I need."
Wataru remembered what the Executioner had said about energy infusions and wondered how long he could live on them before they'd affect his health. "You made me eat something that's making me talk like this."
"I had to hear the truth, Wataru, not what the Executioner told you to say," Hiraoka-san said. "I had... sources... which told me he was thinking of doing this. I...." She paused, looking over at him. "When we take Fandiri from humans, we break the bond between the child and those raising it, for good reason. Fandiri have to be Fangaire, leaving them in touch with their human kin prevents them from doing that, especially if they were hidden for a long time, like you." She shook her head. "And you are the Executioner's apprentice. You have to leave who you were behind. None of us has much choice in the matter."
"My family taught me to fight." He didn't use hunt, he had never hunted, he'd never had the chance to hunt.
"The instinct comes from your Fangaire blood," Hiraoka-san pointed out. "All the more reason to let go of the human you were raised to be."
"My family taught me to fight." He didn't use hunt, he had never hunted, he'd never had the chance to hunt.
"The instinct comes from your Fangaire blood," Hiraoka-san pointed out. "All the more reason to let go of the human you were raised to be."
Wataru stayed silent, aware that he was still under the influence of whatever Hiraoka-san had fed him.
"Working with human hunters is potentially treason, Wataru," Hiraoka-san said. "Human hunters that have perverted one of our children? At the very least, the Executioner is a bad influence on you, and you've suffered enough."
"But I'm his apprentice!" Wataru exclaimed, and shut his mouth again, remembering he was still drugged. He didn't want to talk about the fact that he didn't want to be changed, she'd probably take that and use that against the Executioner too.
"And so you will continue to be," Hiraoka-san. "One thing I do trust the Executioner on is hunter instincts. You have them, you were trained - albeit by humans - and you will be the Executioner someday. At the rate the *current* Executioner is acting, this might be sooner rather than later." She stood up. "That's it. Wataru, pack a bag. You're going home with me, and I'm going to find you a parent that can take care of you."
Wataru shook his head and ran. Almost blindly, but with enough brains to dash into the library and hit the trigger for the secret door. Closing it with a little more force than needed, he dashed down the stairs and out the back door. He wasn't sure on how he'd get out, but he would get out of there before he was taken away and never saw his family again.
His family would find a way to hide him. And, after all, the Executioner had made them promise that they wouldn't try to retrieve Wataru, not that they couldn't hide Wataru if he ran away. He was counting on the Executioner to hold up to that side of the bargain, to not chase him, even if Hiraoka-san told him to.
He ran along the walls, looking for a way to get over or across or around them. The Executioner had implied there was a way out other than the gates or climbing the walls, he had to find it. He remembered the layout of the neighborhood he'd found, trying to think where the exit would be. Most of the walls bordered other houses; it had to be on a section of wall that either opened to the street or alleyway. There really wasn't an alleyway, though he had seen, from the library window, a gap between fences. A small space, small enough to maybe walk through but not wider than that. Maybe there was a way out there. He slid to that section of wall, looking for ornamentation or such, and located a stud. Pressing it in, he was rewarded by a click and and a door that opened outwards. Closing the door, he ran towards the end of the small "alley", and he was delighted to find, towards freedom.
* * *
The Executioner was somehow not surprised to see Hotaru. He'd heard the secret door on the ground floor, and the back door, click rather forcefully. "I take it that didn't go well," he said. He'd rather hoped that Wataru would lie smoothly and just get Hotaru out of their hair, but at least this might turn out to be somewhat of an adventure.
"Under the authority of the council," she said, "I'm revoking your guardianship of Kurenai Wataru," she said.
This was not surprising. He'd hoped Wataru would be a better liar, but... things happened. He'd convince the rest of the council to overrule her and to let him have Wataru back as an apprentice. Later. "Assuming you can find him, you mean?" he asked mildly. "It sounds like you told him and he didn't like it very much."
"He's feral," she said. "A danger to himself. You have to find him." She looked at him as if she expected him to do something about it.
"Well, he's not killed any humans or Fangaire that I know of, and he's no longer my foster child so... I'd say he's your problem," the Executioner said, happy to be restricted by his duties, which did not include parole officer for wayward Fandiri. "If you hurry, he might not have found a way to leave the grounds."
"He is still your apprentice, Executioner, I didn't revoke that," she said testily. "I revoked your guardianship. There's a difference. We've all agreed that he's a good apprentice."
The Executioner raised both eyebrows. "Oh." Interesting. They still wanted Wataru to be his apprentice, after all. That said something about the Council's trust in him apprentice-wise.
"Executioner?" she asked, "Aren't you going to go find him?"
The Executioner shrugged. "He has yet to find a way to get out, there's no hurry." He was assuming so, at least. He wouldn't put it past Wataru to have found the secret exit, and if he did, the Executioner would deal with it then. Besides, if Hotaru wanted to revoke custody, there were few people he'd trust better to keep Wataru safe than those in his cell. "Would you like to tell me why you revoked my guardianship of Wataru, especially given that he's still my apprentice?"
"I revoked your guardianship when Wataru admitted to me, under drugs, that you had left him in contact with his human father, and at least one other person. Who, I don't know, because Wataru shut up on me, but it's something that would be enough to convict you of treason if it weren't for the fact we needed you. It's bad enough that I had to drug him to have him tell me the truth." She glared at him. "But he is an intelligent young Fandiri, and I still agree that he should be the next Executioner."
"Before you convict me, would you like me to explain *why* I did this?" The Executioner asked. Protective of the Fandiri Hotaru was, but not unreasonable, at least not completely.
"Since you seem convinced he's running around in your garden, unable to find a way out," she replied, "Why not?"
"Two reasons, actually." He was hoping not to have given this speech anytime soon, but he wanted to get his point across. Plus, it would give Wataru time to use his head and get out of there. "One, I'm sure you've noticed that this time around, Wataru is talking. What you don't know is that he chose to pattern voluntarily." Admittedly, it had been because they'd both known Hotaru was coming, but he hadn't had to prompt Wataru, Wataru had taken the recipe book and made his own food out of the ingredients he needed. "He even made his own meal."
Hotaru's surprised look spurred him to continue on. "I think the secret behind dealing with at least some of the ferals is to not yank them from home completely - they tend to be older and they're more connected to their families. The babies and the young kids, they can forget. But children as old as Wataru don't. Wataru was not talkative before I brought his father and another call member here, but now? He talks. And he's willing to listen to me. I'm not his enemy, I'm not here to take him away from everything he's known and loved."
"I can see there's been some improvement," she allowed. "And the second?"
"Once Wataru is of legal age and changed, I was planning on having him incorporate them into a helper group. They trust him, he trusts them, it would remove the problem of them being hunters. I'd do it but... they don't trust me. Yet. I planned to get them to trust me by allowing them access to Wataru, but I realized they'd always trust him more. He's one of them. A few generations later, they'll have forgotten they hunted rogues independently."
"That is one way to remove a hunter group from being any kind of threat," Hotaru conceded.
"I think, my lady," he said, seeing her relax a little, "That Wataru will learn to be Fandiri if he comes to think of it as a good thing. His father, for a hunter, seems receptive to the Fangaire - he did sleep with one, after all. And if his father accepts it, so with Wataru."
Hotaru nodded. "It is, until then, treason."
"Sometimes, my lady, you have to do treasonous things to ensure our future." He got up. "I suppose I'd better find Wataru for you now. I'll be interested to see if he got away."
"And what are you going to do if he did?" Hotaru asked. "Assume that he went back to his cell?"
"That, my lady, is the last thing he'd do if he's smart." He smiled. "Let me find him. Explain it to him. He's not going to be happy, but I think I can persuade him that you taking care of him is not the worst thing that could happen."
He could see her bite her tongue at his last remark. He had no problem with being insulting if the situation called for it, and in his opinion, it called for it then.
* * *
He found Wataru, though it had taken him some time. Wataru had gotten out, he suspected out the secret door into the tiny alleyway. And he hadn't gone straight home - it had taken the Executioner several days to find out where he was. And then he'd had to convince Wataru that maybe it was a good thing to stay with Hotaru until this whole thing settled down. The Executioner knew that it would be a good gesture to make, since she'd seemed to accept his points on the benefits of having Wataru stay in contact with his family.
Plus, it would forge ties between the Fandiri and Hotaru, ties that would help him out as he grew up and was changed. Things might be easier for Wataru if he could get along with the Fandiris' caretaker. He would eventually stand a good chance of finding his own apprentice and maybe having less problems with Hotaru over it.
Of course, he had to face the council first. The regular council, not the judicial council, at least at the moment. He'd have a chance to explain his reasoning once more, make them understand why he'd acted as he did. If they weren't satisfied, he might be well facing the judicial council. He hoped not. It was annoying.
When he entered, he saw Wataru, sitting off to the left. The young man was in ceremonial robes marking him as the Executioner's apprentice. He was sitting in seiza position on top of a zabuton, a cushion, and the Executioner thought he saw a seiza stool being discreetly used. He was, of course, fully patterned, the marks extending down his arms to spiderweb at his hands.
At least they still were recognizing Wataru as his apprentice. Good.
The council was seated in front of him. Hotaru was off to the left of center of the seven-member council. Quiet and thoughtful. Off to the right of the council, he could see the Chooser, and wondered if the other man had business there as well. Maybe he'd only come to look at Wataru and evaluate him.
"Executioner," Ohme Fumizuki said. He was the head of the council, the one that kept order, the one who was interested in history and keeping things straight. "You understand why you are here?"
"I presume it has to do with Wataru and my choice of ways to raise him," the Executioner said. No lightness here, no time for that. No referring to Wataru as his apprentice, despite the robes; they might decide, in a fit of spite, to take that away.
"That is correct," said a second council member. Yumi Sayuri, the youngest of the council. Executioner wondered how she'd swing; she tended to take the position that seemed most popular. "Because of your continued contact with the hunter cell he was removed from."
"Councilmember Hiraoka has presented a recording of her discussions with Wataru, and with you over the matter," Ohme said. "We believe that we can deal with this issue instead of pressing criminal charges."
Good. That meant that he probably wouldn't be killed over this whole thing. Not that the council seemed overly *happy* with him right now, but he'd live and hopefully Wataru would stay his apprentice. Of course, he might not stay his foster child.
"The Chooser has evaluated the child," Yumi Sayuri said. "Wataru would not make a suitable Fangaire under normal circumstances, but he has agreed that Wataru will make a suitable Executioner one day."
The Chooser nodded, apparently agreeing with the councilor's description.
"You have two choices," Ohme Fumizuki said. "One is to cut off contact with the hunter cell until Wataru is changed. While he remains Fandiri, we believe that he will be harmed by continued contact."
"The second," Hotaru said, "Is to change him now." She didn't look happy with what she was saying. "As you pointed out, once he names them as his helpers, they will no longer be a hunter cell and it will no longer be treasonous. We normally don't recommend this, but your circumstances are special. It might be in Wataru's best interest to be changed."
"You can, of course," Yumi said, "Choose to die. Wataru would become Executioner immediately after your death." Yumi had never liked him, he recalled. "That would remove any... problems on your part."
He realized from the expression on some of the councilmembers' faces that they'd like nothing better than have a new Executioner. He had really never been good at the formal things, he'd just played at them. But he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of dying.
And he wasn't going to break his promise to Wataru's cell.
That left changing Wataru. He didn't know how the boy would react. He hoped if Wataru had reservations about changing, that they would let the Executioner talk to him, maybe help him through it. He wouldn't be allowed to change Wataru, though. That would fall to Ohme Fumizuki because Wataru was in a ceremonial position.
He looked at Wataru. The boy seemed tense, and if he didn't want to be changed, it seemed bad either way for him. But the Executioner was not going to die, and he wasn't going to cut Wataru off from his family.
"Change him now," he said. He saw panic in Wataru's wide eyes; he hoped the boy would have the sense not to run. Wataru did not want to change, would resist the change, might die if he didn't cooperate.
The Executioner had to wonder if Wataru was more like Yuri than he thought, Yuri who had never been enthusiastic about the whole thing.
"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said, nodding curtly. The Executioner knew that he'd treat Wataru fairly.
"Please wait," Hotaru said, as politely as possible. "For the moment, he's still Fandiri and still under my care. I'd like to talk to him. And to the Executioner. Wataru is still getting used to being Fandiri; I'd rather we not lose the Executioner's apprentice by accident."
"Understood," Ohme Fumizuki said. "You have... half an hour. We'll excuse the three of you to a side room."
Wataru was assisted up by one of the council assistants, and lead Wataru off to said room. Hotaru met the Executioner on the way to the same room. "I may not be as... creative... as you, but I thought about it, and thought about it, and this is what I could think of to solve the problem. I didn't think it likely that you'd break off contact. And, after dealing with Wataru, I'm willing to concede that at least brief contact with human parents in this kind of situation is not necessarily a bad thing."
"Thank you," he said. "I just wish Wataru was taking it as well."
"I... guess I didn't think of his reaction," Hotaru confessed. "Most Fandiri are eager to be changed; I forgot how wild and feral Wataru still is. You did a good job in that short time, Executioner."
It was funny. A few weeks ago, Hotaru had been an enemy, an obstacle. Here, she might be Wataru's best chance at surviving.
"But it's still treason?" he asked, with a small smile.
"Unfortunately, yes, and had you mishandled it, I would have been asking for your death, but... he's okay. Still wild, but I guess you do know how to handle at least some hunters."
"Thank you. Now, let's make sure this one doesn't inadvertently kill himself."
* * *
Wataru had, strangely enough, not minded his stay at Hiraoka-san's place. She mostly left him alone, probably figuring he could fend for himself. They did talk, in a more relaxed manner, mostly because the Executioner had told him to be honest about it. The more Hiraoka-san understood, the easier it might be for the next hunter-raised Fandiri. And he knew that the Executioner thought he could talk his and Wataru's way out of this, and that everything would somewhat go back to the way it was. He'd never be allowed to be human again, not under these peoples' watchful gazes, but he had his father and Yuri-san and eventually Megumi-san to keep him anchored.
Earlier in the day, he'd been brought to the council building - somebody's house, apparently - and brought clothes to wear, the same ceremonial clothes he'd be expected to wear when he was before the council as the Executioner's apprentice. Then he'd had a long talk with the Chooser, who turned out to be actually fairly elderly-looking for a Fangaire human form, and kind, and good at prying things out of him that he didn't mean to say. The Chooser hadn't needed drugs to make him confess things.
And they'd let him sit on a seiza stool, for which he was grateful. It was because he was the one that they were debating about, and because of his status he'd been allowed the stool. Sitting that long would have been very... interesting.
He was more grateful for it when the Council had made their statement, and the Executioner had made his choice. The Executioner had chosen to maintain contact with his father and Yuri over keeping Wataru as he was. He had been prepared to run, only the Executioner's warning gaze had kept him there.
But he wasn't ready to change. Not at the moment, not with Yuri-san to argue with them about it, and his father to be by his side. With Megumi to stand over him and protect him. He had some clue on what to expect, part of Yuri-san's horror stories on what would happen to him if the Fangaire found him out. But somehow he'd expected to change around twenty, or twenty-five, or maybe never. The Executioner was not allowing his cell to have its say.
Of course, he got the sense that the Executioner did what he thought was best for both himself and the cell. The Executioner had never said it out loud, but he'd incorporated Wataru's cell into "his people", humans he protected and in turn made decisions for.
Yuri-san would probably not be very happy about that, if she knew.
Hiraoka-san and the Executioner entered the room. "Wataru, are you all right?" Hiraoka-san asked. "It looked like you were having a panic attack."
"I don't want to be changed," he said softly. The volume he'd had when the Executioner started talking to him, to some extent when Hiraoka-san had been talking to him.
"Wataru," the Executioner said, "You would have been changed eventually. This is a small price to pay for maintaining the alliances you grew up in. Alliances that the Fangaire badly need. You won't even be out of circulation that long, just enough to learn how to control your energy drain so you don't kill humans."
"I *am* human," Wataru said. And Fangaire too, he couldn't deny that part of himself. But that part didn't come out. He didn't want it to come out.
"And Fangaire," Hiraoka-san said. "You want to protect humans from rogue Fangaire, right? You've told me that's what you were brought up to do."
Wataru nodded.
"Then take the gift. Become the Executioner's apprentice for real. Protect your people. Protect those you love. As Fangaire, we love too." She smiled a little. "Sometimes a little too much."
"Hotaru and I were Fandiri once, too," the Executioner pointed out. "We have human blood. She protects Fandiri, I protect humans. And so will you. Sometimes you just can't foresee how you're meant to do it."
Was that how he was meant to do it, to become Fangaire? Yuri-san would probably thwack him soundly with her sword if he'd voiced that to her, funnily enough. But it made sense. Much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. And it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter. Lose Yuri-san and Megumi-san and his father for three years and be changed anyway, or accept it now and figure out how to deal. At least he wasn't doing it alone.
"Are you feeling better, Wataru?" the Executioner asked. "Do you think you can get through this?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I... I guess I'll try."
* * *
The Executioner watched Wataru sleep, exhausted by the change. He was full Fangaire now, even if he hadn't chosen to be. Sometimes, the Executioner had learned, life was full of things you couldn't see right away, and sometimes someone wiser and older had to choose for you. As he had chosen for Wataru, no matter how painful it might have been for the young man.
He himself would have to explain things to Otoya and Yuri, tell them what had happened to Wataru while Wataru learned how to drain energy properly. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation, even as he knew it had to be done. But it would be better for all of them. Better for the future.
Better for the world.
-end
