Caitie

Truefacts. So I typed up this exerpt that I had written down because I can.

I was going to do a cut but it doesn't like me so this is just going to be a long post. WHATEVER.

            "I don't know... how can you be sure we can trust him, Mr. Iken?" Hiken asked as he raised his eyebrow at Kano.

            "My brother's word."

            "..What's that supposed to mean?" Zithenos asked, his ears twitched at the annoying vagueness of Kano's statement.

            "You have a brother?" Hiken was surprised.

            "I did" Kano said, elaborating upon receiving a blank look from Hiken "he's dead."

            "Oh... sorry" Hiken looked at his feet, slightly abashed before being cut off.

            "So what do you mean by what you said?" Zithenos said, seemingly undeterred by the awkwardness Hiken had towards the subject.

            "My brother Eiri trusted Mr. Khyre like a brother" Kano stated, "he would've trusted him with his life."

            "Don't say that..." Rex flinched as if he had been struck.

            Kano didn't seem to notice the odd behavior and continued "he never let my brother down, and he's never let me down either."

            "You don't know that!" all of a sudden Rex was standing, holding a dagger to Kano's neck. His eyes were unfocused and his arm quivered, making it seem as if he were not entirely aware of where he was or what he was doing. His consciousness suddenly returned to him, his eyes widened and he dropped his arm, the dagger falling to the floor with a clatter as his grip became limp. He looked at Kano, seeming horrified, then blinked and seemed to recognize Kano again. He looked almost as if he had just seen a ghost, worse than that, an indescribable look that was full of guilt and misery and fear. He put his head in his hands and sunk to the ground. He mumbled to himself in a strained, pained voice "it almost happened again..."

            "...Wei?" Kano tentatively asked.

            "Craaazy~" Zith said softly in a singsong voice.

            Rex didn't respond to either of the two men, remaining motionless. For a long time, no one said anything.

            Not even Hiken. (gasp)

            Finally, it was Rex who broke the silence. He spoke softly is a slightly raspy voice "Kano... do you know how Eiri died?"

            "No... I don't think anyone does. No one was there when it happened" he spoke in an uneasy voice, not sure if he liked where this was going.

            "I was" Rex lifted his head slightly, revealing his face, a mixture of pain and pity displayed on it behind his usual veil of mild indifference.

            Zithenos's eyes widened in realization "so it was.."

            Rex looked down at his hands "...yes" he said quietly, nodding slowly. He looked up at unblinking Kano "I killed Eiri, your brother, and my friend."

            Kano stared at Rex, apparently unable to comprehend what he had just heard.

            "Hold on a second!" Hiken broke the uncomfortable silence, "that doesn't make sense! Why would you kill your best friend?" Hiken put his hands on his hips as if he had found a fatal flaw in Rex's statement and was sure it couldn't be explained away.

            "because he's a freaking psycho?" Zithenos suggested, and then looked put out when his statement failed to get a rise out of the older man.

            "Sometimes I think you may be right about that" Rex agreed, making Zithenos even more annoyed. Hiken continued to look confused as he usually did, and Kano still had yet to react. "I'll explain... just... give me a minute."

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

            The door slid open and Eiri's face lit up at the sight of his old friend "Wei! How've you been?" he trotted over and thumped him on the back, "still the same?"

            "I heard you and Emi are having another baby" Rex said quietly.

            "Oh, yeah!" Eiri beamed, "Emi's still hoping for a girl, who knows, they do say the third time's a charm, so hopefully she'll get her wish." Eiri paused for a moment, "So who told you, Zith?" he asked.

            "Yes" the other man responded in the quiet monotone voice that had become his usual tone

            "I swear, he spends more time here than he does at your place!" Eiri laughed.

            "Probably, he really doesn't like me," Rex said as he looked out at the sky, then down again at the wooden planks of the porch. "You know Eiri, you really are lucky."

            "Hmm? Yeah, I guess you're right."

            Rex looked at his hands, despondently adding "I must be cursed..."

            "Aww, Wei, don't say that! You just gotta persevere. Once you find Lin everything will be alright!" Eiri said in a reassuring manner as he put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

            "Lin is dead. Everyone else is dead." Rex's voice started to become harsh and metallic.

            "You don't know that Wei. You've got to be more optimistic! You survived, she could have too!"

            "Shut up, Eiri."

            "Wei, what-"

            "You don't know what it's like, you have a big perfect family, you always have, you haven't been through anything anywhere near what I have. So stop telling me it's going to be okay. Even if I did find Lin, my life isn't going to go back to the way it was and it most certainly isn't going to be like yours. So just shut up" he pushed Eiri's hand off his shoulder in an almost disgusted manner.

            "What's with you all of a sudden? I'm just trying to be your friend!" Eiri stared at his friend as if he were crazy.

            "Just... stop it..." Rex put his hand to his face "...I can't stand to hear you talk..."

           

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

            "And the next thing I can clearly remember, Eiri was dead in front of me and my hands were drenched in..." Rex held his face in his hands, unable to continue. Kano continued to stare at him, blank faced.

            "So... you were jealous?" Hiken asked cautiously.

            "And mentally unbalanced" Zithenos added. Rex nodded silently but said nothing, much to the annoyance of the younger demon.

            "W-what are you saying..?" Rex looked up as Kano finally responded. "You...you couldn't have killed Eiri... why would you say something like that?"

            "Because I did... I didn't want to believe it at first, but I did. I know there's nothing I can say to make this any easier on you... but it still pains me to think about it now, even though it's been over 50 years"

            "But... no... it can't have happened like that..." Kano was slowly becoming more and more panicked. "How could you have... he would have fought back..."

            "He was unarmed, he would have never suspected me of attacking him... I don't know if he would have draw his blade against me anyway... I don't know if his moral code would have allowed it."

            Kano face had assume a mixture of horror and despair "he had his entire family... his whole life ahead of him... he was going to be the next clan head...how could you..."

            Rex said nothing, silently looking down at his hands.

            "How could you have done that!?" Kano said, anger suddenly filled his voice as he grabbed Rex by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to his feet. "I swore if I ever found the person who killed my brother, I swore that I would make them suffer. So that they would know just a small fraction of the pain they cause me and my family!"

            "Go ahead then. You have every right to do so" Rex said, seemingly resigned to his fate. "Your brother was the last link I had to before my life fell apart. I was dead the second I realized what I had done."

            Kano's face had contorted into a strange grimace. He stood still for a long time, then finally uttered in a pained voice "I never thought that person would be you. Eiri would never have wanted me to... And even without Eiri... You've always watched out for me."

            "Yes, because I killed the person who would have watched over you. It was completely selfish, you had nothing to do with it. It was just a way for me to ease my guilt."

            "Just shut up..." he paused again, before throwing Rex back to the ground and storming off.

 

            I WILL MAYBE WRITE MORE OF THIS LATER.