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The shock of what had happened hadn't really hit him until he had gotten back to the Jurer and into his room. He thought he had managed to be convincingly annoyed about supposedly being thrown into the river that neither Tooma or Umika had realized anything strange had gone down. Now, though, he was still dealing with the aftermath, and both of his friends were clearly starting to realize something wasn't right. Kairi had taken his chance and escaped the uncertain tension of the cafe to enjoy the cold evening air and try and clear his head.
It was only a few days since they had encountered Zamigo while trying to retrieve a Collection Piece, and his head felt no closer to clearing up than it had that very night. Ever since, he had done his best to try and forget anything but the fight had ever happened, but it was as though his brain was a broken record; insistently replaying what had taken place in the abandoned cold storage over and over again.
The worst part about the aftermath was that he actually wasn't as bothered as he thought he should be! Thinking back on what had happened didn't make his stomach turn, didn't make him want to vomit - rather, it was almost pleasant to think about, and he couldn't handle that at all. Kairi would have much preferred waking up in cold sweat and having to run to the bathroom to throw up over waking up aroused and having to sneak into the bathroom for a cold shower. As far as he was concerned, he was absolutely fucked up for finding anything that happened exciting, and yet, he still did.
His feet led him to the park where he sometimes bumped into Kei-chan. The policeman was nowhere to be seen, of course. He was probably already back home, seeing how late it was, which was really for the best, since Kairi was trying to avoid him right now. Since the park was in a fairly orderly area, there was no "evening crew" hanging out there, either. It was just him and some people passing by, minding their own business.
Kairi headed over to the railing behind the benches and leaned against it. He let out a quiet huff of exasperation as he eyed the lake without really seeing it. Frustrated with his thoughts, he took his phone out of his jacket's pocket to have a look, certain that his flight hadn't gone unnoticed. So far, it was just one worried message from Umika, but he was certain there were more to come if he ignored this one. It said something about him that he considered ignoring it regardless. He didn't want to socialize with anyone at the moment
"Some friend I am, huh...?" Kairi muttered to himself.
He decided he'd try to be a decent person for once. Umika and Tooma didn't deserve to be worried over someone like him, as far as he was concerned. Kairi sent off a response about taking a walk and coming back in an hour or so, while perfectly aware that they wouldn't expect him back that soon. His five minutes tended to become fifteen, and an hour usually hid another hour inside. As much as he wanted to tell her to not worry about him, that would probably just have worried her more, so it was a no go.
"Trouble in paradise?" A startlingly familiar voice drawled somewhere to his side, causing him to almost drop the phone as he shot an incredulous glare towards the speaker.
"What are you doing here?" Kairi spat out, hand instinctively gravitating towards his hidden VS Changer.
Zamigo gave him a condescending look, accompanied by a lazy, malicious smile. He had chosen to take up a spot not too far from him by the railing, relaxed as though he owned the immediate space around himself. That casual indifference to everything was just one of the many things that set Kairi's teeth on edge, when it came to the bastard.
"It's a public park. Try not to cause too much of a scene, Lupin Red. I haven't even touched you." The Gangler paused for a moment.
"Yet."
"If you think anything like that is happening again, you're full of shit," he snapped in response, crossing his arms uncomfortably and glancing back at the people passing by. If he did try fighting Zamigo here, someone would see him transforming, and it was very possible for someone to get hurt or worse.
Feeling the air nearby getting colder, he turned his attention back to his enemy, and almost took a step back from surprise upon finding him much closer, all but infringing in his personal space. For his part, the ice bastard just grinned; from him it always felt something like a threatening show of teeth, much in a way an animal might show its fangs before attacking. Kairi had no idea what he was finding amusing this time.
"It really feels like you're not paying any attention." Zamigo remarked, putting the hand that wasn't busy holding a bag of ice onto the railing. It immediately started frosting over where he was touching it. "I staked my claim. The least you can do is try and mind it before you get too comfortable with your little policeman."
It was Kairi's turn to bare his teeth for a moment, his hand finding itself on the Gangler's stupid, insufferable, senseless poncho, curled into a fist around the fabric. The action actually made Zamigo blink and lose any sign of his previous amusement; Kairi would have savored the reaction, if he hadn't been too furious to do so.
"Don't you even talk about him!" He snarled, ignoring the chilling cold gripping his fingers.
There was a beat of silence as they simply looked at one another, a glare for a glare, before Zamigo broke the silence with a slightly muffled snicker, followed by a laugh. A quick movement saw Kairi's wrist being gripped and twisted harshly, making him wince and try to wrench it from the icy grasp. However, the monster's grasp on him was strong, and he doubted he could free himself without making a bigger scene than they were already surely making.
"Or... what?" Zamigo asked him, his breath on Kairi's face now, as the ice bastard leaned up close, forcibly lowering his hand. "It's funny how protective you act, despite making his life utter hell. I can understand that, though... I can understand you all too well, Lupin Red."
"The hell you can," he protested, quieter now, shaking his head and taking in a deep breath to try and calm himself. His temper was fraying quickly at the edges, ready to unravel. The quicker the park emptied out fully, the quicker he could cause a scene no one would be around to witness.
He was regarded with another condescending look before the Gangler continued talking. "You feel possessive over him, don't you? You feel as though he is yours. I told you I have been watching you... since long before I truly got interested in you, in fact. I know you enjoy toying with that short-tempered policeman in a way unlike with anyone else, and you persist even though he clearly hates it. So, why is that?"
Kairi's throat suddenly felt like sandpaper, and he pursed his lips. He really, really didn't want to have this conversation with anyone, absolutely anyone in the world. However, as per usual, his obvious unwillingness went ignored.
"You find it fun," Zamigo told him, smirking faintly for a moment. "You find it invigorating. Refreshing. As I said, I can understand that. After all, I feel much similarly about you. Your suffering is amusing to me, just as his suffering is amusing to you."
"You're wrong," he muttered stubbornly. "My feelings towards him are nothing like anything you feel, you sick bastard."
The bastard shrugged and let go of his wrist with the flair of someone dropping a piece of garbage. Kairi's eye twitched as the lunatic leaned back against the railing, frosting it up further as he did so. Zamigo took out a piece of ice from the bag he was carrying.
"Whichever way you want to look at it, try to think of my feelings, too. You wouldn't want me to get jealous, would you? I'm the kind of a guy who likes fixing my problems permanently, after all."
Gritting his teeth, he gave the other a disgusted look, rubbing at his bruised wrist. He finally slipped his phone back into his pocket, after making a face at the screen being lightly frosted over. Choosing to try and ignore the Gangler in hopes that he either left if he got too bored, or that the people around them left so he could kick Zamigo's ass, Kairi leaned against the partially frozen railing.
Instead of leaving, Zamigo spoke up after a few minutes' worth of silence filled with nothing but the crunching of ice, seeming to be thoughtfully eyeing the passersby in a way that Kairi didn't really like. "Since we're in public like this, I guess I should be calling you something else."
The statement made him blink and fully turn his head the Gangler's way. "Huh?"
"One never knows when a pesky bystander could hear you being called Lupin Red, no?" Zamigo gave him a grin that signaled he was about to be particularly annoying. "So, what was your name again... Kairi-chan, wasn't it?"
"Yano," he corrected instantly, eye twitching violently at the teasingly casual way of being addressed.
"So cold," the bastard mock-complained, adjusting his hat with his free hand, grin only getting wider by the second. "The way one addresses someone else depends on that person's view of the one being addressed, doesn't it? Kairi-chan."
Once again, Kairi met the utter bastard's eyes, glaring heatedly. His glare was returned with an even, cold look of amusement, Zamigo seeming to be trying to dare him into acting out. They spent a moment sizing each other up, Kairi trying to figure out how to get back at the infuriatingly nonchalant monster.
It was only when Zamigo took out another piece of ice from his bag that Kairi finally decided to follow up on the silent dare. Instead of following his deep-seated desire to punch the Gangler in the face, however, he snatched the piece of ice right from his fingers, just as Zamigo was lifting it up to eat it. Pointedly, he slipped the ice into his mouth and bit down.
Finally, he could savor an actual reaction of surprise. An uncharacteristic look of surprise appeared on the monster's disguised face, his eyes shifting from his suddenly empty fingers to Kairi. Unfortunately, he collected himself quickly, and gave Kairi a thoughtful look that made him just a tad worried.
"Every time I think I have figured you out, you do something unexpected," Zamigo remarked, taking another bit of ice and biting down on it, breaking it in half. The madman took his time eating the ice, his eyes never leaving Kairi for even a second, or blinking. "How is it that out of all the boring species in the galaxy, it's humans that managed to produce someone so intriguing? Weeeird..."
Suddenly, Kairi found himself with a frigid arm around his back, being tugged flush against the Gangler. His hand shot to grab Zamigo's shoulder to push him off, and he opened his mouth... only to find the other half of the ice being pushed inside. A quick glance showed that there were people still walking about, and he gave the bastard an annoyed look, receiving a quiet snort in return.
"I don't normally share anything. Try to be at least a little appreciative, corazón," he was told, though the arm around him loosened. Kairi took the opportunity to free himself by jerking out of Zamigo's grasp, irately crunching down on the ice before swallowing.
"There's nothing to appreciate in someone like you," he responded mulishly, not planning on playing along with any of Zamigo's games.
"Suit yourself," was what he got in response. They fell into another silence that, at least to Kairi, felt incredibly tense. Still, he couldn't will himself to move from his spot. It felt like if he tried to leave first, that would be something like admitting to a loss - like running away from a bully at the schoolgrounds had felt like when he had been younger. Rather than doing that, he returned to his earlier position, leaning against the railing.
Biting his lower lip, he reached to rub at his temples. The silence gave way to the thoughts that had been swirling in his head before now, and Zamigo's presence didn't exactly help; the emergence of those thoughts had been his fault, after all. It wasn't as though Kairi wanted to give any weight to the madman's words, but some things that Zamigo had said kept on bothering him. If his brain wasn't stuck on the whole "you just fucked your enemy" thing, then it was stuck on those words...
Truth be told, Kairi had no idea what he was even going to do once everything was over, even in the best possible case scenario. The only thing that had mattered to him all this time had been to get his brother back, and everything else had just been background noise. It hadn't even been until the Patrangers joined the fray that he had started to consider the consequences of his actions, and how the Ganglers were affecting other people. What did something like that say about him?
He was shaken out of his thoughts by the feeling of ice on his lips, another piece being very insistently offered to him. At this point more exasperated than outright annoyed, he tried to bite down on the offering fingers along with the bit of ice, making a face as they withdrew timely. Zamigo snickered quietly next to him.
"Screw off already," Kairi grumbled, quickly growing irate all over again at the bastard's apparent good mood. Someone like that didn't deserve to act so nonchalant! Not after everything he had done!
"Hmm... no. I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere."
The sound of rustling cloth was the only warning he got before he felt a weight pressing against his back, his eyes widening in alarm. Zamigo had chosen to leave his spot next to the railing, only to move directly behind him, now leaning against his back, his cold breath brushing against Kairi's neck as he spoke. "At any rate, being subdued doesn't suit you. You're thinking about what we talked about before, aren't you?"
"It's none of your business!" Kairi scowled and tried to turn and elbow Zamigo in response to "encourage" him to step away. If he had his way, he'd have at least ten meters' worth of space between himself and this guy at all times - preferably even more, but if he had to get closer to kill him, he wouldn't complain too much.
The Gangler leaned away from the attempted strike with a snort. "Now you're getting a little too feisty for a conversation! Getting defensive is cute, sure, but right now you're just being obtuse. Here's a suggestion..."
A heavy hand settled onto his shoulder and tugged him close, Zamigo's malicious voice whispering into his ear. "Cool down that temper of yours, or I'll have to cool it down for you. You best believe I wouldn't mind. Don't try my patience."
He had no real way to express his anger without risking bystanders. Sure, there were less than there had been a few minutes ago, but he wasn't going to be the cause of more people disappearing. No one would let him hear the end of it. Kairi ground his jaw in impotent rage and nodded, one of his hands gripping the railing so hard his knuckles were white.
"What are you trying to get at with this, anyway?" He managed to ask, his voice faintly shaky from the effort it took to not take another swing.
"Well... who knows." Zamigo let his hand slide down Kairi's arm, making his skin crawl with the added contact. "Maybe I just find it funny how something so little can get you all worked up."
The monster laughed quietly for a moment, continuing to stare at him with his strangely gleaming eyes, and then continued. "Why worry about your own nature, though? You know you will never fit in with those cops. You barely even fit in with the other Lupinrangers, don't you?"
"You're full of it!" Kairi hissed at him in response, his empty hand clenching at nothing. However, a barely half-buried uncertainty in the back of his mind shifted, giving him goosebumps and making the hair on the back of his neck rise. It was true that he still couldn't feel like he belonged anywhere, not even at the Jurer, but that wasn't exactly new. It had been years since he felt at home anywhere, even with his brother, though he missed him...
"Am I? Then why do you run off by yourself all the time?"
His eyes widened in angry, helpless rage, and he felt something resembling mild panic. It was true that he liked to go off by himself, but it was just because he wanted to get things done quicker! Sometimes working as a team just slowed him down, and sometimes he just plain didn't think it was necessary to involve his friends. It wasn't that he didn't trust Tooma and Umika; he was past that.
"The first time we spoke, you came alone..." Zamigo remarked, watching him unblinkingly, as though he was waiting for something. "The second time, as well. The last time, you didn't even consider waiting for your friends, did you? We both know why that is, really."
The ice bastard leaned close, a slow, horrible smile twisting his features even as he spoke again. One of his hands had found its way into Kairi's hair, playing with the curls. "You can't rely on them. You can't, nor do you want to."
"You're wrong," He insisted in a quiet tone, arms trembling from tension. "You're just spouting bullshit! I don't involve them because..."
"Because you're worried that they will get hurt, right?" The Gangler rolled his eyes and gripped at Kairi's hair, making him wince and reach up to grip at the monster's wrist. "So sentimental... that is distrust, too, you realize. If you think they can't hold their own, you can't rely on them! They are weak."
The lunatic slowly loosened his grip, and twisted his hand so that he could grasp the one that had been holding onto his wrist, instead. "But you are not. The only thing weak about you is your insistence in trying to include them; your game of charades with people you don't trust. That is something I can't understand."
It was as though ice was crawling into his veins, and the feeling had little to do with the physical contact. Kairi felt like his heart was going to burst - but then there was a spark of stubborn determination somewhere inside.
Finally letting go of the railing, his free hand reached out and grabbed the brim of Zamigo's hat. The material felt chilly against his fingers. For whatever reason, Zamigo didn't try to stop him, simply watching him with a completely blank expression; perhaps he was trying to figure him out. He must not have been expecting this kind of a response.
"You know what?" Kairi said quietly.
With his eyes locked onto the other's dark ones, he slowly and deliberately took the ridiculous piece of headwear off, making the Gangler blink once. Without the hat in place, Zamigo could almost have passed for a normal person. It was strange, even surreal to see him like that again, especially when Kairi thought back to the last time it had happened. Chasing unnecessary thoughts out of his mind, he closed the distance between them, pressing his forehead lightly against the bastard's. Temperature-wise, it was a little like holding an ice pack wrapped into a towel to his head.
"It's none of your business. Piss. Off."
The breathy laugh that Zamigo let out sounded almost startled, his dark eyes narrowing dangerously as he went to reclaim his hat, prying it from Kairi's fingers. Other than that, he didn't as much as shift from their current position, at least for a moment. A few beats passed before Zamigo let go of Kairi's hand... only to slip that cold hand behind his neck, much to his alarm.
"Fair enough," the monster drawled. His fingers curled around Kairi's neck as he attempted to move away reflexively. "It's no fun to end a game too quickly, anyway, when it's proving to be more amusing than expected. But first..."
Zamigo raised his reclaimed hat to act as kind of a shield from any prying eyes. Kairi supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, but he still almost jumped out of his skin as a pair of cold lips pressed against his. What really surprised him was that this time, Zamigo wasn't even trying to be intrusive; the kiss was almost chaste. It was as though the nutjob was trying to be gentle with him, which made no sense whatsoever.
He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to make sense of what was happening to him. Kairi hadn't planned for any of this. In his mind, he had thought that if anything like this was going to happen again, he would have been able to deal with it better. Yet, now he was finding himself inexplicably short of breath, one of his hands loosely clinging to Zamigo's shoulder. This wasn't supposed to happen.
He didn't even realize he had opened his mouth in an invitation before Zamigo took advantage of his weakness and slipped his tongue in. With a quiet sound - he wasn't sure if it was of discomfort or something else - he opened his eyes to give the incorrigible bastard a glare that he hoped didn't look as half-assed as it felt. His mind felt like it was getting scrambled. Feeling unable to help himself, he returned the kiss, completely flustered from shame and embarrassment.
Just a moment later, the kiss was broken. Kairi took in a slightly shaking breath and leaned back against the railing as his enemy let go of him and stepped away. Zamigo put his hat back on and regarded him with a strange half-smile, licking his lips.
"Let's play more next time, Kairi-chan. Feel free to ditch your friends for me any time..." The bastard said, a hint of mockery in his tone.
Chuckling to himself, the Gangler turned to walk off into the night. Kairi glared at his back with wide eyes until he was gone from sight. It took him a moment to calm down enough to stop looking in the direction Zamigo had walked off into. His heart was beating against his chest like a hammer.
After taking in a deep breath, Kairi wiped at his mouth with his sleeve, and took in his surroundings. It didn't seem like absolutely anyone had paid any attention to what had been going on in his direction; it just went to show most people only cared about where they were heading. In this case, however, that was a good thing. The passersby were finally starting to become less regular, anyway...
Just as he was preparing to start walking back, he noticed the bag of ice Zamigo had been carrying on the ground nearby. He hadn't even noticed it going missing. Grumbling and rolling his eyes, Kairi picked it up, and dumped the entire thing into the garbage on his way out of the park.