Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Toujster3000: hey can u invite mayuna ovr
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: gross, why
Toujster3000: y r u bein so mean
Toujster3000: ur gonna hav to marry her somday u no
Toujster3000: maybe u should be nicer to her dont u think
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: I have homework
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: besides its you she likes
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: she doesnt like me
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: probly she wishes dad betrothed her to you
Toujster3000: thts not true
Toujster3000: maybe if u were nicer shed b more obv about it
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yeah well if u want to see her so bad u invite her 😑

Toujster3000: taiga wants 2 know if u can come over
MaMo<3: why didn't he text me himself then??? 😋
Toujster3000: he's 2 shy 😋 😋 😋
MaMo<3: LOL! k brt

Toujster3000: mayuna will b here in 5 min
Toujster3000: better get dressed
Toujster3000: 😈
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: you r so dead
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: shit dammit why do u do this
Toujster3000: u hav such a dirty mouth omg
Toujster3000: beter not talk that way 2 ur gf
Toujster3000: when she gets here
Toujster3000: 4 min now
Toujster3000: rofl

Taiga Amusuran threw down his phone and dashed to the closet. It was already well past ten AM, but he was still in his pajamas - and not just any pajamas, these were the ones that were too small, with the teddy bears all over them. He couldn't let anyone see him dressed like this, much less his fiancée. His dad's voice echoed in his head, as if Dad were standing there lecturing him: Maybe if you'd gotten out of bed at nine like a normal person and joined your brother and I for breakfast, you wouldn't have to rush now. But you never think ahead, do you?  But it was the weekend, Taiga thought petulantly. And what was the point in getting dressed and going down to breakfast? All it would be was him pushing food around on his plate while his dad and his brother talked about stuff he didn't understand and wasn't involved in, and he'd keep looking at Mom's empty chair and wishing he was back in bed where it was warm and he could pretend like things were fine. So, he hadn't bothered getting up.

But now, as usual, his little brother had forced his hand. Dammit! he thought, scowling. Touji was such a busybody sometimes. And anyhow, he was wrong. Mayuna and Taiga had been betrothed when they were only seven, but Mayuna had always liked Touji better. Everyone liked Touji better, even Mom, before she died. Dad thought Touji walked on frigging water. Maybe he's right, maybe I am too mean. But Dad always said the opposite - that Taiga was too soft, too emotional, too sensitive. That Taiga should try to be more like Touji. Yeah, well, screw Dad.

He had gotten pants and a shirt on and was hastily combing his hair when he heard the doorbell. Touji hadn't been kidding. Of course, Mayuna lived just two houses away, so it wasn't like she had that far to walk.

"Master Taiga! Miss Mayuna Monaeta is here to see you!" came a servant's voice through his door.

"Coming!" he called, scowling when his voice cracked. He hurried out the door and down the hall, praying he didn't look as stupid as he felt.

Touji was already in the foyer with Mayuna. She ruffled his hair and Taiga felt a twinge of jealousy. She's marrying me, isn't she? Why does he have to like her, too? If it's between him and me, there's no way she'll pick me.

"Hey... Mayuna," he said, leaning against the wall of the stairwell, trying to look cool and indifferent.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him. "Touji thought maybe the three of us could catch a movie. How about it?"

"What movie?" He tried to make his voice deeper. Touij was three years younger; maybe if he could emphasize that, she'd see that Touji was too young for her.

"The new animated feature from Flowerpot Studios."

He affected a look of superiority. "Hm, that? Animated stuff is for kids."

Mayuna's brow furrowed. "I like animated movies," she said, indignant.

"I guess I could go see it," he amended quickly; but it was too late to backpedal.

"You guess?  Gee, don't get all excited or anything." Now she was mad. How am I so bad at this? Taiga wondered. It was just like at school. Even though their classes were online, he still managed to get yelled at for being rude or not paying attention, even though he did pay attention, and he didn't mean to be rude. Touji never got in trouble at school, he thought with another scowl. Touji was perfect.

"What's wrong with you?" He looked up sharply. Mayuna was frowning, her hands on her hips. She must have seen him scowling and thought it was meant for her. "I thought we were friends. These days, I feel like you don't even want to see me."

"No, I- It's not like that," he sputtered. "I'll- Let me grab some money, then we can go. Touij, text Dad where we're going and tell him we'll be back by dinner."

Touji gave him a mock salute. "Sir, yes, sir!" Mayuna laughed, and Taiga turned away quickly so she wouldn't see him glaring again.

Chapter Text

MaMo<3: why is your brother so rude
MaMo<3: u keep saying he rly likes me but then every time I come over hes a jerk
Toujster3000: hes just realy awkward
Toujster3000: thats waht happens when u hit puberty lol
MaMo<3: if u say so
MaMo<3: thx for inviting me over tho
MaMo<3: I liked the movie
MaMo<3: just wish Taiga didn't act so aloof
Toujster3000: hes insecure DONT TELL HIM I SAID THAT
MaMo<3: lol ok
Toujster3000: gotta go 2 bed super tired
MaMo<3: night ❤️

Taiga woke to the sound of ambulance sirens, very close-by. He frowned and rolled over, putting his pillow over his head to block out the noise. Then he sat up. Red and white lights were flashing through the window onto the ceiling. The ambulance sirens cut off abruptly. They're on our block, he thought with a bolt of alarm. Hastily he got up and threw a bathrobe on over his PJs, thinking to run outside and see what was going on. He hurried into the hall in time to see several EMTs dash past.

Ten no Kami, he thought. Is it Dad? We'll be orphans. Who will take us in? Taro? Their oldest brother was ten years older than Taiga, a grown man with a wife and a newborn son. But Taro didn't come by or call, and Taiga didn't know him, really. He'd moved out as soon as he got married; Taiga was only five at the time. Taro had visited so few times since then that Taiga could probably count them on one hand. He couldn't imagine Taro stepping up to adopt the kid brothers he'd hardly even met.

As he wondered all this - frantically, illogically - Taiga gradually realised that the EMTs hadn't gone into his father's room. They'd gone into Touji's.

Without thinking, he darted down the corridor and peered through the door, past the EMTs. One of them was standing by the wall, talking to Dad. Another was kneeling next to Touji's futon, strapping an oxygen mask to his face. A third was taking a blood pressure and a fourth was affixing an IV drip. Taiga suddenly felt faint, like he was watching all this from miles away, and the voices were distant and hollow.

"Excuse me, kid." He whirled to see another EMT with a gurney. Taiga bolted out of the way, back to his room. He had a horrible sinking sensation all over. He groped for his phone.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: mayuna something really bads happened
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: I dont know whats going on
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: theyre taking touji to the hospital
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: im really scared

He was amazed when he got a reply almost as soon as the messages had sent.

MaMo<3: oh my god
MaMo<3: I'll start praying right away
MaMo<3: Ten no Kami will protect him. you too. hugs.

Taiga choked back a sob. He stuffed the phone into the pocket of his bathrobe and went back into the hall. They were wheeling the gurney out of Touji's room. He stayed inside his doorway so he wouldn't block their path, and watched wide-eyed as the EMTs hurried past. Dad followed behind, looking dazed.

"Dad, what's going on? Is Touji okay?"

Mr Amusuran ignored him. He wandered past; Taiga followed. Dad grabbed his car keys off the hook by the door. Taiga hastily shoved his feet into shoes and threw a coat on, trotting after his father as the man crossed the yard and got into the car. Taiga climbed into the front seat just as Dad started the engine. He put on his seatbelt and cast an uncertain glance at his father. Dad's eyes didn't seem to see what was in front of him. Taiga wanted desperately to ask what had happened, if Touji was sick, if there'd been an accident, but he was too scared. Instead he sat silent, staring at the road as the car moved through the deserted streetlit night. The hospital wasn't far away; the drive couldn't have been more than ten minutes, but it felt like eternity.

In the Emergency Room lobby, Takuto Amusuran asked the woman at the front desk where Touji had been taken. She pointed down one of the wide, fluorescent-lit hallways. "Room 106." Takuto strode down the hall as fast as if he were running, not even bothering to thank the receptionist. Taiga raced after him.

When they reached the room, Dad shoved his way inside. A doctor and nurse were speaking in the hall, just outside the door. They saw the man enter, and they saw the boy try to follow; the nurse grabbed him by the arm and held him back. Inside the room, he heard a muffled yell. It sounded like his father. There were other voices; Taiga thought maybe they were fighting, but he couldn't make out any of the words.

"Let me go," he said. "My brother's in there."

"Oh, honey," the nurse murmured. She crouched to his level and wrapped him in a hug; her arms were warm and tender and stabilizing, like his mother's had been. She started crying.

That was when Taiga knew his brother was already dead.

Chapter Text

Taiga's father never told him how or why Touji died. When Taiga asked, his father said the doctors didn't know and were going to do an autopsy. When the day of the funeral was set, Taiga asked again. His father said it wasn't important. Taiga exploded.

"Not important? Dad, he's dead! What could be more important than that? I want to know why my little brother died!"

"Control yourself," his father said.

"Oh yeah, like you? Is that what you call it? You're a goddamn robot! Your son is dead, you monster, and you don't even fucking care!"

That was the first time his father slapped him.

Taiga was so shocked he froze, mouth open, speechless. Then he burst into tears and ran into the garden. He climbed the tree where he and Touji had built a tree fort. He trashed the fort, breaking everything inside, pushing it all onto the ground, then kicking at the walls til the nails pulled out and the whole fort fell apart. He could barely see from crying; when the fort was destroyed, he crumpled on its floor and sobbed until he couldn't breathe any more. It grew dark. The servants came out to call him to dinner, but he ignored them.

Eventually his father came out, too. "Taiga, come down and eat your dinner."

He didn't move.

Dad's voice softened. "Taiga, please. I'm sorry. I... I'm under a lot of stress right now, for reasons I can't explain to you yet. I shouldn't have hit you. I lost control of myself. I'm sorry."

Go away, he thought. But he didn't say anything. Eventually his father left. Eventually it got so cold that Taiga began shivering violently, and then, swiping at his face with both hands, he climbed down at last, trudged to his room, and fell into bed.

He woke to the sound his phone made when he got a text, a lazer noise from a cartoon he and Touji used to watch called Ultramech 3000. Groggily he pulled the phone closer and glanced at the text. It was Mayuna.

MaMo<3: I heard what happened
MaMo<3: Taiga, I'm so so so sorry
MaMo<3: Please let me know if there's anything I can do
MaMo<3: hugs

He pushed the phone away, pulled the blanket over his head, and cried himself to sleep.

Chapter Text

Taiga was so numb during the funeral that he felt like he was floating. The voices of the guests offering their condolences all blurred together. As they knelt before the coffin for the vigil, Taiga saw his father's hands clenched into trembling fists - but Takuto Amusuran did not cry. Taiga couldn't not cry. But then, Dad always said he was overly emotional.

Mayuna was there. After the vigil, she found him. But unlike everyone else, she didn't try to say anything; she just wrapped him in a hug, and that - that said more than any pointless platitudes or wimpy words. He clutched her close, weeping into her shoulder, and drew comfort from the fact that she was crying, too. It felt so much more honest, so much more real than everything else about the funeral, from his father's disgusting stoicism to the prayers to Ten no Kami to guide Touji's soul to the afterlife. Ten no Kami hadn't bothered to keep Touji alive, so why should they ask him to guide Touji's soul? Ten no Kami couldn't care less about what happened to Touji.

Privately, Taiga asked his grandfather, Taishi, to guide Touji's soul. Taishi had died long before Taiga was born, but his picture had hung in the front room for Taiga's whole life, and he could remember his mother talking about what a kind, noble man he had been. Taishi had been executed by the previous Mikado, the bad one that no one ever talked about. Taishi had become a folk hero after the bad Mikado died and it stopped being a crime to talk about those who'd defied him. In Taiga's opinion, Taishi was a much better candidate to protect his little brother in the afterlife than some distant god that ignored people's prayers and let a ten-year-old die in his sleep from unknown causes. If Ten no Kami didn't care about Taiga's family, then Taiga didn't care about him, either.

Eventually Mayuna's parents said they had to leave, and Mayuna extricated herself from the hug. She looked apologetic. She squeezed his hand before her parents led her away. They looked uncomfortable, but Taiga didn't care. He watched Mayuna all the way out the door and out of sight; she glanced back several times, as if to say that she understood.

She did understand. She understood how he felt and no one else did.

That night as he sat on his futon in the dark, Taiga pulled out his phone.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: u awake?
MaMo<3: yes
MaMo<3: I can't sleep 🙁
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i just cant believe hes really gone...
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: he was so young and dad wont even tell me how he died
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: if touji can die like this i guess anyone could die just ttly out of nowhere
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: just like mom

He paused to wipe tears away from his eyes, sniffing mightily. His mother had died a little less than four years ago, when he was nine. She was pregnant; she'd been excited because the ultrasounds showed it was a girl. Taiga remembered sitting on the futon next to her while she stroked his hair, pressing his ear against her swollen belly to listen to the baby moving inside her.

"What should we name her?" Mom had asked.

"Mia." That was the name of the princess in his favorite cartoon. "Or Sakura." That was the name of the flower that bloomed all over the city every year, when they all dressed up to go look at the cherry trees and get their pictures taken. Then, thinking further, he'd had what to his nine-year-old brain had seemed a novel and brilliant idea: why not combine the names? "We could call her Mikura!"

His mother had laughed. "Those are all wonderful names, Taiga. Touji suggested Monster Truck, but I think yours are much more appropriate for a baby girl." His little chest had swelled with pride at the compliment. Touji had been her favorite, too, but she was a lot nicer about it than Dad.

When it was time for Mom to go to the hospital, Taiga had been scared; but she'd promised that she was just going to have little Mikura, and that she'd be home in a few days with their brand-new baby sister. "Be good," she'd said, bending down to kiss him on the head.

He'd waited excitedly for her to return. But she never came back. And he never got a little sister.

He was crying again. He brushed clumsily at his eyes and glanced at his phone.

MaMo<3: my mom always says that's why we have to live as much as we can every day
MaMo<3: because you never know what tomorrow will bring
MaMo<3: my grandma says it too
MaMo<3: tomorrow wont necessarily come tomorrow
MaMo<3: 🙁 I'm just so sorry Taiga
MaMo<3: I miss him too... I miss him so much
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i wish i could just wake up and it could all be a dream

He wanted to say more but he was crying too hard to see the screen. He fumbled for the box of tissues that he'd almost depleted. Dad would probably call him oversensitive, if he could see him now, and frown in disappointment. But Taiga didn't care. Dad didn't know how to feel emotions. Dad hadn't even cried at the funeral for Mom and Mikura. Dad didn't care about anyone. Dad's already dead, Taiga thought bitterly. I am an orphan.

The door creaked open. Taiga glanced up, hastily, wiping his face off on his blanket, and was startled to see his father standing there. "Dad?"

Mr Amusuran put a finger to his lips. "Put on clothes, then meet me downstairs. Be quiet, so that you don't wake the servants."

Taiga was confused as he dressed and padded down the hall in his socks. It was really late, almost midnight. What could his father possibly want?

"Follow me," said Dad. He led the way out the back door, across the garden, and into the woods that adjoined their property. It was dark and hard to see, even though the moons were both out. But Dad hadn't brought a light or anything. Taiga stubbed his toe and bit back a curse word; his dad shot an angry look his direction and shushed him.

Finally they reached a small clearing. There was a shed here, which looked abandoned. His father produced a key, unlocked the door, and motioned him inside. Once the door was shut behind them, Takuto Amusuran flipped on a light. Inside, the shed wasn't a shed at all, and it definitely was not abandoned. It had tatami floors, a writing desk and a lamp, an overhead light; swords, guns, and other weapons were lined up on racks on the walls.

Taiga's eyes widened. "What is this?" he breathed. Was his father a terrorist? A survivalist? Some kind of psychotic criminal?

"Sit down," said Takuto. "There's something you need to know."

While Taiga listened in increasingly stunned silence, his father explained that the first Mikado, Torgal, had been aided by eight warriors in defeating the water demon that once ruled this land. Taiga had heard that story before; he'd learned it at school. But Takuto said that those warriors had been tasked afterwards to protect the Emperor and his interests, and that that role had been passed down, through the centuries, to those warriors' descendants. The men who held this post were called Hunters. Today they still served the Emperor in secret, as his shadow and his shield, stopping plots against him and destroying his enemies. "The Huntership is passed down from a father to his youngest son. Taiga - I am a Hunter."

Takuto paused to let this sink in. Taiga felt as if he were falling.

"So Touji..."

"I was training him to succeed me."

"And now Touji is dead."

Takuto nodded.

Taiga's eyes swept uncertainly over the weapons on the walls. He'd had sword lessons since he was small, but always with a bo-ken or a shinai. Real blades were only ever used for kata, without an opponent; it was too dangerous, otherwise. His sensei had always stressed that anyone who drew a sword against another must be willing to kill him, so they never drew swords against each other. Martial arts were treated as almost a form of meditation. He'd learned karate, too, but that was just to keep him physically fit. Or so he'd thought. Maybe Dad had been trying to hedge his bets, just in case.

"From now on," said Dad, "I'll be teaching you how to be a Hunter. It's not martial arts like you've done before, Taiga. This isn't a game. This is absolutely serious, and you need to learn everything I teach you as if your life depends on it, because it does. I'm not just teaching you how to fight, Taiga - I'm teaching you how to kill."

Chapter Text

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Training

Shou,
Taiga's struggling.  I guess we all knew he would; but there's so little time.  Maybe you could drop by tomorrow and bring Suyou.  Might do him good to have an agemate around to help with the training.  They can do a sparring match, see just how much catching up Taiga needs.  I cringe to imagine it.
Tell Keiri I said hello.  And move Shougo's game pieces around for me when he's not looking.
Best,
Takuto

Taiga had been doing the secret training with his father for only three nights - it was always at night - when the visitors arrived.  Taiga was so exhausted that morning that he'd fallen asleep at the breakfast table - thankfully falling backwards rather than faceplanting in his fried rice.  He jerked awake at the sound of the doorbell.

One of the servants came into the dining room.  "Master Taiga, you have visitors."

At least I'm already dressed.  Actually, these were yesterday's clothes; he'd been so tired after returning from the woods that he hadn't bothered to change into PJs.  He frowned and tried to smooth out some of the creases as he moved towards the parlor to meet the guests.

"Taiga, this is Lord Shou Rakusuran and his son, Suyou."

Suyou?  Taiga knew that name.  Suyou Rakusuran was one of the kids in his online class this year, kind of the class clown.  He was rude but pretty funny.  Professor Otto let him get away with a lot because Suyou knew how to make him laugh.  Several months ago, Suyou had given a presentation with a filter on that made him look like a cat.  The professor told him to turn it off, but Suyou pretended he couldn't figure out how, so Mr Otto ended up letting him do the whole presentation as a cat - and then Suyou had stayed a cat for the rest of the lesson and several days following.

In person, though, Suyou looked a lot less fun.  He scowled when he saw Taiga.  His eyes swept up and down Taiga's body, and his lip curled in derision.

"A pleasure to meet you," said Lord Rakusuran, who wore an eyepatch.  "I'm a friend of your father's.  You might also know me as Hyoku."  Hyoku meant "six".  The Hunters, Taiga had learned, went by numerical codenames; his father's was Jin, or "two".  So this Lord Rakusuran...

"You're a Hunter?" Taiga blurted.

Lord Rakusuran nodded.  "And I'm training Suyou, here, as my successor.  He's in the same grade as you."

"Um, yeah, we're - we're in the same class.  Online class.  For school."  He tried to smile at Suyou, but the other boy's scowl only deepened.

Takuto said, "We thought it might be good to have Suyou help out with your training.  A good place to start is with a sparring match.  That way we can all get a good idea of your weaknesses and where you need to improve."

Leave it to Dad to spin things the worst way ever.  But Taiga only said, "Okay."

The group went into the backyard.  Takuto fetched bo-ken for both boys; then he and Lord Rakusuran sat on the porch to watch.  "Begin!" called Dad.

Taiga bowed to Suyou, as he'd been taught at school.  He was only halfway through bowing when there was a scuffing noise, his feet were swept out from under him, and Taiga landed hard on his back on the dirt.  Suyou stood over him, wearing an unkind smile.  He sniffed loudly.  "Don't you even know not to waste time on dumb formalities?  Wow, you're even more an idiot than I thought."

"Suyou!" barked Lord Rakusuran. 

Suyou stepped back quickly, his scowl flickering as he looked towards his father.  Taiga stood and brushed himself off, wondering if Touji had had to put up with this bully, too.  Suyou returned to the other side of the packed-down practice area, and Takuto once again ordered them, "Begin!"

This time Taiga didn't bow.  He circled Suyou, holding the sword at the ready, but Suyou didn't move.

"You ever gonna attack me, idiot?" Suyou muttered, his lips curving in disdain.

Taiga frowned.  He knew this had to be a trap; Suyou was baiting him.  But the fact was, Taiga wasn't sure how to attack.  Suyou wasn't using a normal stance; it confused Taiga and threw him off his known strategies. 

"Sometime this century, Taiga," grumbled Dad.  Impatient, like always.  Fine, he thought.  He picked an attack pattern at random and darted in; Suyou immediately blocked, then returned the attack - the exact same attack - with greater force and finesse.  He struck Taiga in the hand; Taiga swore, recoiling, and dropped his sword, and Takuto snapped, "Stop!  Taiga, what the hell are you doing?"

"He- I didn't-  It just-" Taiga stammered, turning red and hastily retrieving the bo-ken from the ground.  His hand smarted.  Suyou snickered.

"Don't be so clumsy next time.  Boys, return to your places; we'll try again."

By the time that Taiga had been easily defeated three more times, Suyou was laughing openly.  His dad scolded him; he fell silent, but when he bent down towards Taiga, ostensibly to give him a hand up, he grinned and said under his breath, "You're a joke.  You really think you can ever be a Hunter?  Touji was a billion times better than you.  Even my cat can fight better than you."

"I just started three days ago," Taiga muttered.  He took Suyou's hand, but just as Taiga was off-balance, Suyou let go; he chuckled when Taiga hit the ground again.

"You suck," said Suyou.  "You're gonna get killed your first mission.  Touji was awesome, even better than me."  Suyou shook his head; his smile was gone, and all that remained was disgust and hate.  "You should have died instead."

And all Taiga could think, at that moment, filled with grief and despair and frustration and wishing he could be anywhere but there, was that he was right.

Chapter Text

Taiga attended school online four hours a day.  Commoner children went to state-run schools, but the children of nobility could afford better.  Their teacher was a Star Reader, Professor Otto.  Who exactly was in the class fluctuated from year to year; Mayuna had been in Taiga's class almost the whole time he'd been a student, but Suyou had only moved to his class this year.  Right now there were ten students, Taiga included.  He had asked Dad if he could take time off from school, but Takuto had said no.  "You can't put your life on hold because of a tragedy or a setback.  You have to man up and muscle through."

That was easy for him to say.  Between the Hunter training, which was taking up at least four hours of every night, and the fact that Taiga was still reeling from Touji's death and found it hard to fall asleep, Taiga's academic performance had gone from mediocre to abysmal in the space of a week.  He was yawning as he opened his laptop and logged into the video-chat program they used for classes, Sharon.  He made it online mere seconds before Professor Otto unmuted himself and began discussing what they'd be doing in class today.

"Taiga, it's your turn to share Current Events," he said.  "Why don't you tell the class what news story you picked?"

Taiga's mind went instantly blank.  My turn?  Current Events was an assignment given to a different student each week, where whoever's turn it was had to find a news item that had taken place that week and share it with the rest of the class.  In the confusion of the funeral and Touji and the fact that Dad was some kind of secret ninja assassin, Taiga had completely forgotten that it was his turn.  Frantically he opened a browser and typed 'weekly news' in the search bar.

"Taiga?  Are you listening?"

Taiga heard several of the other students giggling.  "Um," he said, "I..."  He clicked the first link in the search results.  The giggling increased.

"Mr Amusuran, please do try to take this class seriously."

"Sorry, Professor Otto," he stammered, skimming some article about a pirate attack near Karsch Island in Sangal.  He clicked back into the Sharon window.  The laughter had reached a crescendo, and his teacher's face on the computer screen was decidedly unamused.  "Um, I read about a-"

"Please turn off your video filter," said the teacher, amid the other students' laughter.

What filter?  He frowned at the inset of his own video and his eyes widened.  The filter in question had turned him into a baby, complete with a bonnet, a fist shaking a rattle, a pacifier, giant eyes and animated tears.  "Sorry!" he cried.  "I didn't-  Sorry!"  He opened the filter control panel, but just as he went to turn the filter off, his computer seemed to take on a life of its own.  The controls disappeared.  He opened them again; they closed again.  "I can't-  My computer's acting all crazy, I can't get it to turn the filter off-"  In the inset image, the baby version of himself began to cry harder. 

"Aww, don't cry," said Suyou, "it's just a widdle technical difficulty."  Everyone laughed.

"Let me restart my computer," Taiga muttered, furious.  He shut everything down and counted to three before he turned the laptop on again.  As he waited for the computer to restart, his phone pinged.  He glanced at it, expecting a message from Mayuna, maybe, or a spam text.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: is the widdle cwybaby having twouble wif his computer?

What?  Who the hell is this?  But before Taiga could respond, he got another text.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: guess you didn't know hunters have to be expert hax0rz, too
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: one more thing you don't know
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: and now everyone in class knows you're an idiot too! 🤣🤣🤣
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: what a f*ckin loser

Suyou.  He had no idea how, but Suyou Rakusuran had hacked his computer.  Taiga felt himself swelling with rage.  By the time he had logged back into Sharon, he was ready to murder Suyou.

"Taiga.  Welcome back.  Please continue your Current Event."

"Yes, sorry.  Um, last Wednesday there was a pirate attack in-"  The other students were giggling again.  He stopped talking and glanced at his video.

This time the filter had replaced his head with a giant warty pickle - all except his eyes and mouth.  "God damn it!" Taiga snarled.

"Taiga!  We do not use that kind of language in class."

"Suyou!  Just lay off, why don't you?"

Suyou, on his own video, smiled serenely.  "I don't know why you're yelling at me.  You're the one with the filter.  I'm not the one who got you in this pickle."  Once again, everyone laughed.

"Mr Amusuran, we've talked about using video filters in class.  It's distracting and unprofessional."

Taiga tried once more, in vain, to turn off the filter.  After the controls vanished from his screen for a third time, he struck the desk in impotent frustration and shouted, "You know what happened in the news this week?  My little brother died.  He was fine and then he just up and died.  No warning, no reason, nothing.  You think you're pretty damn funny, but you know what?  I don't give a shit.  Laugh it up, all of you.  None of this fucking matters, and you're all going to die, too.  Suyou, go to hell."  He slammed the laptop shut and threw it across the room.

Then he was sobbing again.  His dad would probably hear him and give him crap about it.  Mr Otto would probably call Dad and tell him Taiga had used foul language and made a scene during class.  Takuto would give him that look of supreme disappointment and tell him he was grounded.  Well, he could just go die, too.

His phone pinged.

MaMo<3: are u ok??
MaMo<3: do u want me to come over??

He stared at the message.  His memory swam with images of him and Mayuna and Touji, the three of them together, playing in the fort in the backyard, picking cherries in the park, riding their bikes to the grocery store to buy candy and soda and comic books.  He shouldn't have been so jealous of Touji.  He shouldn't have been so resentful that Mayuna and Touji were friends.  He never used to mind, when they were younger.  He'd give anything in the world to have Touji back, even just for one day.  So that he could say he was sorry.  So that the three of them could have one more day together, just like they used to, having fun as a trio, best friends without a care in the world.

Except that Touji had been doing the same secret training that Taiga was.  He could remember now, with the clarity of hindsight, the bruises that had been on Touji's hands and arms, bruises Taiga hadn't given a second thought.  Touji was an active kid and he never acted like the bruises bothered him.  Suyou's right, I am an idiot.  How could I have been so oblivious?  Touji was suffering every night, in silence, and I never even noticed.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yeah
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i mean if its not any trouble
MaMo<3: k I'll be ther right away

I miss him so much I feel like I'm breaking apart.  But he didn't type it, just stared at the phone, at Mayuna's text.  She's the only one who cares, he thought dully.  The only one who understands.  The only one I can turn to. 

He blew his nose, dabbed his eyes dry, and went downstairs to meet her.

Chapter Text

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Concerns about Taiga

Lord Amusuran,
Today Taiga had a breakdown in the middle of class and indicated that his brother passed away last week.  Is this true?  If so, please consider allowing your son to take some time off from classes.  Grief requires time to process; there's nothing in my class that can't be made up later.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can do.

Sincerely,
Sen Otto

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Concerns about Taiga

I appreciate your concern, Mr Otto, but please do not worry.  It is true that my younger son passed away last week.  I am aware that Taiga is handling it poorly, but I think it's important for him to stay busy, and he frankly can't afford to fall behind in his classwork.  I apologize for any disruptiveness on his part.  As you no doubt know, Taiga is an emotional child and finds it hard to control himself sometimes.

Best,
Takuto Amusuran

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: RE: Concerns about Taiga

Lord Amusuran, I know that it's not my place to say this, but your child is in a vulnerable place right now and needs to be given kindness and space to breathe.  His academic performance is already suffering.  I do not think that your son is any more emotional than an average adolescent boy, especially one who just lost a sibling.  I believe your wife also passed away a few years ago?  Your son is surely grieving her as well.  Please reconsider my offer to give him time off from classes.  It might do him good to let some of the stresses of his life fall by the wayside for now.  It's my opinion that Taiga could even benefit from professional counseling services, given the loss of both his brother and his mother in the space of just a few years.  I can offer further suggestions if you are interested.

Respectfully,
Sen Otto

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: RE: RE: Concerns about Taiga

You are correct - it is not your place to tell me how to raise my son.  He will not require any time off from classes.  Please treat him the same as you would any other student.  Grief is a part of life and he's going to have to learn to deal with it someday.  Better now than later.

Lord Takuto Amusuran

Taiga was relieved that he hadn't broken his laptop when he threw it against the wall; if he had, Dad would definitely have killed him.  He was also relieved that Professor Otto didn't bring up his outburst during class the next day, or, in fact, ever.  He must have told Dad, though, because Takuto confronted Taiga over dinner that night.

"I got an email from your teacher.  Something about a breakdown during class?"

Taiga poked at his rice with one chopstick.  "It was no big deal."

"Taiga, you need to learn to keep your emotions under control.  A Hunter-"

Sullenly, "What if I don't want to be a Hunter?"

"You don't get a choice.  Eat your dinner; you need your strength for tonight."

Taiga pushed the food around on his plate, but he wasn't hungry.  Suddenly, however, he had an idea.  "Dad, is it true I'll have to learn how to hack computers, too?"

"Yes," said Takuto, frowning slightly.  "Who told you that?"

"Suyou Rakusuran.  Can I learn it now?  Hacking, I mean?"

"What for?"

"I just want to learn.  I suck at fighting but maybe I'll be really good at computers.  You don't know."

Takuto had to concede that this was true.  "All right," he said after a moment.  "There's a basic tutorial that Zen prepared a few years ago.  Eat your dinner; I'll show you the tutorial as soon as you're done."

Taiga nodded and began to eat.

You better watch your back, Suyou, he thought.  There are way worse things than video filters coming your way.

Chapter Text

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: How are you doing?

Are you okay?  Be honest.  I know you're just going to say yes, but look, man, I know you too well for that.  I know you wanted to keep Taiga out of our business, and I know how much you were depending on Touji to carry on your torch.  When I needed you, you helped me.  Sayuri wouldn't want you to keep everything bottled in and try to handle it on your own.  Let me return the favor.  Tell me how I can help.

-Ryuu

Takuto Amusuran sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  It was very late, nearly four AM, and truth be told, he was exhausted.  But he'd fallen behind in his work, and it couldn't wait forever, so he had been sorting through his backlog of emails.  He was almost finished when he saw the message from Ryuu Orutoran, the leader of the Hunters.  Of course Ryuu had seen through him.  Lord Orutoran was much younger than Takuto, but Takuto had mentored him and helped him through some difficult times, particularly under the previous Mikado, Ishikawa, whose corruption and cruelty were legendary.  Takuto wasn't good at relationships; he could admit that.  But Ryuu was, and Takuto considered him his closest friend.

But what could he say?  That right now he was living his worst nightmare?  The doctors had told him that Touji had an extremely rare genetic condition, one that led to sudden heart arrythmia and was usually not detected until it became serious.  As he sat in the doctor's office, listening to the autopsy results, the doctor had asked if Touji had ever fainted before.  Yes, Takuto had told her, but only a few times, and he'd been sitting still for a while beforehand - that happened to everyone, didn't it?  But evidently fainting was one of the warning signs of this disease.  And Takuto hadn't recognized it might be anything serious.  And now his bright, happy, healthy son was dead of a heart attack at age ten.  It was unthinkable.

Takuto rubbed his forehead, drooping towards his desk.  He glanced at the framed photo of the family taken at Touji's miyamairi ceremony.  Everyone was in their nicest clothes - Sayuri, his wife, holding the baby, radiant as ever; Taiga, not yet three-and-a-half, clinging to his mother's kimono hem; Taro, almost fourteen, looking as serious as a teenager could; and Takuto himself, standing at his wife's side, one hand on her shoulder.  It was the only picture of the whole family together.

Touji was the only one of his sons that Takuto had ever been able to connect with.  Taro had been surly and rude, worse the older he got; the moment he married, he left.  His wife's family had an extensive fruit plantation near the border with Southern Rota, and a fruit-juice factory; Taro had moved there to become the factory director.  He hadn't visited home in years - in fact, the last time he'd been here was for Sayuri's funeral.  Takuto had called to tell him about Touji's death, but the wife had answered and said Taro didn't want to talk to him.  They had a son, but Takuto had never met him.  He often wondered what he had done to make Taro hate him so.

And now he was well on his way to doing the same with Taiga.  His middle son had turned thirteen just before the school year began, about a month before Touji's death.  He was speeding into teenagehood - fighting with his brother, fighting with his father, fighting with his fiancée, the Monaeta girl.  He was slow to make friends, like Takuto; prone to angry outbursts, like Taro; sensitive and introverted, like Sayuri - all the wrong traits.  Takuto knew the boy was smart and hardworking, but... Ten no Kami, he was no Touji.  Takuto had wanted so badly to protect him from this.  He knew that Taiga was too weak to be a Hunter, but there was no choice - either Takuto remarried and had a son as quickly as possible, or he trained Taiga.  But Takuto was now fifty years old; notwithstanding that the thought of remarrying made his stomach churn, he just didn't have the time.  Taiga was his only plausible successor.

With a heavy sigh Takuto reached behind his monitor and pulled out the photo he hid behind it because it was too painful to look at: a candid shot of Sayuri that he'd taken when they were in their early twenties, carefree and childless.  They'd been on a road trip around the country.  They stopped at an overlook on the Aogiri Mountain Pass, and he'd snapped a quick shot of her, laughing, holding her hat down against the wind, with the mountains behind her.  She'd been telling him the picture wouldn't come out because the wind would mess with the camera's focus.  And the picture was a little blurry, but it also captured so much of her personality - so much of what Takuto had loved about his wife.  They'd been engaged as children, married as teenagers.  They'd fallen in love as young adults, and Takuto had never looked back.

As her smiling eyes in the photo stared back at him, Takuto pressed his own eyes shut; they were burning.  A single tear dripped from each eye.  "Beautiful," he whispered, the name he used to call her when they were alone, "I don't know what to do.  I've lost Taro, I've lost Touji, I've lost you and our daughter, and now I'm going to lost Taiga, too.  I'd give anything to have you here again.  You were the only thing holding me together.  Soon there'll be nothing left."

What would she say, if she were in his office with him, listening?  "Don't try to do everything yourself, Taki.  You're a man, not a superman."  And she would have been right - she was always right.  

He rubbed his eyes, sighed again, and hit Reply.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: How are you doing?

You know me too well, Ryuu.  I'm overwhelmed, it's true.  Taiga only has two years before he has to enter our service.  I'm just so worried he's not going to make it in time.  He's... really not cut out for being a warrior, Ryuu.  He's like his mother but without her silent strength.  I shouldn't have favored Touji all those years.  Now Taiga hates me, and I just can't seem to get through to him.  I thought involving the Rakusurans would help, but Suyou just made things worse.  I guess I should have seen that coming, right?  What with the things Shou says he gets up to...  But I didn't have any other ideas.  I still don't.  I wish you could help, but I just can't think how.  At least Taiga's showing an interest in the intelligence side of things.  I've shown him some basic cracking scripts and he seems quite determined to learn every application for them.  Maybe... maybe we'll be able to keep him out of the field til he's improved as a fighter.  I just don't know.  I don't know how to talk to him.  If you have any ideas how to expedite his training without destroying what little relationship he and I still have, you know I'm all ears.

Tell your parents I said hello,
Takuto

Chapter Text

The hacking tutorial Dad gave Taiga was easier and much more intuitive than he expected.  He devoured it, then asked for more.  Dad seemed happy that Taiga was doing well at something, for once.  Taiga just neglected to mention exactly what he was planning to do with what he learned.

For three days, nothing happened at school.  Suyou ignored him, which Taiga counted as a positive.  Mayuna was being super nice, too, and Taiga was inexpressibly grateful.  She couldn't come over after that first day because she had to go visiting with her mother - something about improving their family's social position.  Taiga definitely understood that - members of the nobility had to constantly maintain and build connections with other families by visiting, or sending gifts or letters, or inviting people for dinner.  You couldn't just call, either; that was too informal.  And you always had to dress up in full traditional attire - kimono, hakama, haori, geta sandals.  Everything was strictly regimented, and if you made even a tiny mistake, it might be seen as offensive and screw up the whole effort.  He wished Mayuna the best and thanked his lucky stars he didn't have to do the same.

Taiga spent every waking hour, except school and Hunter training, reading the instructional materials his father had given him, running through tutorials, and teaching himself password cracking and computer hacking.  It seemed that all the Hunters belonged to the same virtual network... including Suyou and himself.  That made it relatively easy for Taiga to gain access to Suyou's computer.  And once he could get remote access, Taiga would be able to control Suyou's laptop from afar, just like Suyou had done to Taiga's Sharon account.  He had to be careful, though - he couldn't let Suyou figure out what he was trying to do, or who knew what might happen?  Once he'd ripped Suyou's passwords, Taiga decided to wait until the other boy was likely to be asleep to initiate his attack; that way, Suyou wouldn't see what was happening or be able to stop it.

He went to set his phone alarm, but then realised he could just do it once he and Dad finished nightly training.  It was nine PM now; Dad usually got him around ten or eleven.  On a whim, he shot Mayuna a text.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: how'd the boring noble stuff go

She probably wasn't awake.  Or maybe she was getting ready for bed and didn't have her phone on hand.  Or maybe her parents frowned upon "screen usage" after a certain hour, like his dad.

To his surprise, his phone pinged.

MaMo<3: it was super boring 😄
MaMo<3: how are *you* doing today??

Huh, maybe she stays up later than I thought.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: ok i guess
MaMo<3: how ok is ok?

He stared at the text for a moment.  The benefit of throwing himself into hacking practice was that it took his mind off of Touji.  But then, inevitably, reality would return to him.  He knew the polite thing to do, the correct thing to do, would be to respond with something like "pretty ok" or "idk" - something noncommittal and benign.  But the thing was, he wanted to tell someone how he really felt.  He knew Mayuna wouldn't judge him, either.  Because she was hurting, too.  And she'd been so nice.

Before he could reconsider, he had sent his reply.  And then he just kept typing.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: sometimes everything feels fine and then i remember that touji is gone
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: it was like that after mom died, i kept forgetting she wasnt coming back
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: dad never lets anyone sit in her chair at meals
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: like he expects her to just walk in the door, yknow?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: and now touji's chair is sitting there empty too, like he's at a friends house or something and he'll be back any minute now
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: someone posted this great meme on the class message board and i was like touji would love this and i texted it to him
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: but the message just bounced 😟
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: "the customer you are trying to reach is temporarily out of service" - but obv dad cancelled his phone so its permanent
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: but maybe ill just pretend touji and mom are on vacation together and dont have cell service lol 🙁
MaMo<3: ❤️ hugs
MaMo<3: just let me know if u need to talk
MaMo<3: i am always here for u
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: thx ❤️

He meant it.

Chapter Text

Just as every Monday Professor Otto had someone begin class with Current Events, every Friday he had a different student give a geography report.  The student was to pick a city, region, or country, and deliver a short presentation on it for the other students.  This week, in what Taiga considered a stroke of especially good luck, it was Suyou's turn to present the week's geography lesson.  He had picked Tsuram Harbor, in Rota, and made a short little Pointers presentation - surprisingly not-half-assed, actually, Taiga had thought as he was looking through Suyou's computer in the predawn hours that morning.  Lots of photos. 

"Suyou, if you're ready to give your presentation, you can share your screen at any time," said Professor Otto.

"Sure, thanks, Mr Otto," said Suyou.  His presentation appeared onscreen: a slide that read, "TSURAM HARBOR: A DEN OF SCUM AND VILLAINY BUT ALSO REALLY GOOD FOOD".  There was scattered laughter from the other students as they read the title.  Of course: Suyou was the funny one.  He always made everyone laugh.

"I did my project on the Southern Rotan harbor of Tsuram," Suyou began.  He read off his title, then said something about pirates and clicked to the next slide.  His classmates burst into giggles.  The text of the slide - talking about how Tsuram was a notorious hangout for pirates and slave-traders - was unchanged.  The image, however, was a selfie Suyou had evidently taken in his bathroom mirror, of him shirtless, flexing one bicep and winking at the camera.

Suyou, in inset video, turned bright red.  "Um- sorry!  This isn't-  I don't know what happened!"  Hastily he went to the next slide, but this one had two more selfies, one of him wearing sunglasses and swim trunks, and the other of him in only his underwear with one finger to his mouth, making a duckface.  Suyou's eyes widened and he practically knocked over the computer in his effort to click forward.  Every slide had an embarrassing selfie - Suyou in a pirate costume, Suyou in a superhero cape, Suyou trying to do a sexy cheesecake pose.  "Oh my God," he mumbled.  "Shit, shit... shit!"  Everyone was laughing so hard that the teacher's efforts to silence the class went completely ignored.

Taiga smiled to himself.  He took out his phone and dashed off a text.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: payback's a bitch, ain't it? 😋

Suyou had closed his presentation, apologizing profusely to Professor Otto, and was now trying to access his cloud backup of the presentation from the night before.  Taiga, who had access to Suyou's computer right now, could see everything he was doing.  He blocked Suyou from opening the network drive with the backup.  On the video, he saw Suyou looking increasingly angry and desperate.  Then he saw Suyou glance down, presumably at his phone, and his eyes grow huge, then narrow to hot coals.  An instant later Taiga's phone pinged.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: u are DEAD motherfucker
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: just wait just fuckin wait
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: next time ur dad has us fight i will literally murder u
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: this is war
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: come at me bro
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: I'll make it so u can nevr show ur face in class again
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: dont start a war u cant finish asshole

Now Suyou was trying to access the program that would allow him to gain remote control over Taiga's laptop.  But Taiga had guessed he'd try that; he'd found the exploit Suyou used to get into his Sharon account, erased it, swept his entire computer for whatever rootkits or rippers Suyou might have emplaced, and changed all his passwords.  Taiga had also changed the link to the program used for remote computer control so that it would direct Suyou to Solitaire instead.  He smiled more broadly as Suyou's face grew angrier and redder.  Even if Suyou could access it, he wouldn't be able to get to Taiga's laptop; Taiga had hidden it from the rest of the Hunters' network.  All Suyou would find was an empty virtual machine, with a single text file in the middle of the desktop: an ASCII image of a hand giving the finger.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: i am going to kill u
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: you have picked the wrong person 2 fuck with
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hmm i believe that's my line seen as you started it dickwad
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: somehow I'm just not scared of you
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: oh btw if u want i can have u post selections from ur hentai folder to the class message board
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: or maybe those stalker pics of Keiko Tanaka, i bet she would love that
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: whos in a pickle now 🤣
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: ur dead
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: whatever

In the end, Suyou had to give his presentation without any slides.  Taiga kept his connection to Suyou's laptop open; Suyou couldn't fix anything or break the connection until Taiga logged out of it.  All told, Taiga was pretty pleased with how things had gone.  Suyou might be able to own his ass in a sparring match, but Taiga had hacked the shit out of him.  He'd beaten Suyou at his own game.  It might be only a virtual victory, but at this point, Taiga would take any victory he could get.

Chapter Text

After class had finished, Suyou Rakusuran spent over an hour trying to regain control of his laptop, but Taiga had anticipated him too well. Suyou couldn't sever his network connection, turn off his wifi, or even shut down the computer itself. When he tried to counter-hack Taiga's computer using a backup application that he kept hidden under a fake filename, all he found was a virtual machine with an ASCII picture of someone giving him the finger.

Damn, I guess I underestimated him. Touji had been smart like that, too. Maybe Suyou should have known Taiga would be at least a little like his brother. Still, he wasn't Touji, and Suyou could never forgive him for that. One Touji is worth a trillion Taigas, thought Suyou sullenly. Touji had been fun and friendly, a strong warrior and a thoughtful friend. Even though Touji was younger, he had helped Suyou improve as both a fighter and a hacker, and he had never made Suyou feel bad or inadequate for getting advice from a kid more than three years his junior. But Touji was gone, never coming back, and Suyou was stuck with his shittier, suckier, stupider older brother, and there was nothing Suyou could do about it.

Suyou wandered into the living room, where his dad was sitting on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, watching some sports channel on TV while doing paperwork. "Hey, Dad?" he said.

"Mhm?" His father was typing something into a calculator; the spectators on the TV screen let out an uproar of applause. Suyou had never really been into sports, but his dad watched everything - polo, archery, swimming, whatever sport you could think of. It was one of many things he and his dad didn't have in common.

"Um... can I get a new laptop?"

Shou Rakusuran glanced up with a suspicious frown. "What for? Don't tell me you've already broken this one..."

Suyou reddened. "N-no. No, the computer's fine."

Shou sighed, his frown deepening, and set down his pencil. He grabbed the remote and muted the TV. "Suyou, we've talked about your pirating anime and movies and visiting all those pornography sites. It's all just a hotbed of viruses - you know that! Dammit, son-"

"No!" Suyou protested, turning even redder. "I didn't- It's not a virus, Dad! I'm not an idiot," he added under his breath.

His father raised a dubious eyebrow. "No? Then what's wrong with it?"

Suyou glared at the intricately-patterned Kanbalese carpet that covered most of the living room floor. He was sure he must look like a boiled lobster by now. "I got hacked," he mumbled.

"No kidding? And you're telling me this had nothing to do with your downloading porn?"

Suyou smarted at the remark. "No! Dad, come on, that was one time! Can't we just forget it already?" Last year he'd accidentally downloaded a virus that had deleted everything on his laptop, including a bunch of essential system files, so that the computer wouldn't go past the start screen until Dad brought it to work and had one of the other Hunters, who knew more about computers than Dad, completely rebuild the operating system. But how the hell was Suyou supposed to have guessed that "B00BS.mov" was a virus in disguise?! His father had reamed him out for it at the time, but he also still took every opportunity he could to remind Suyou of his mistake. Anytime something went wrong with Suyou's phone or computer, his dad said it was because Suyou was looking at porn. Just like with every other mistake or screwup Suyou made, his dad would never let him live it down. He guessed that this was going to be the same.

"Well?" Shou prompted. "What happened?"

Suyou scuffed a toe against the rug. "It was Taiga Amusuran," he muttered. "He hacked me and won't let me kick him off the network - whatever, just please let me get a new laptop."

His father burst out laughing. "Taiga?!" he cried. "Taiga Amusuran?! No way. Holy crap. Wow, I can't wait to tell Takuto. His son hacked your computer? That's too rich. Takuto'll be thrilled his son's good at something, anyways, but man-"

"Dad, can I get a new laptop or what?"

"No way," Shou laughed. "Just unplug it and let it run out of battery. It'll turn off whether Taiga's controlling it or not, and that'll get you off the network and him off your computer. Then just restart it in safe mode without networking, and you can sweep his rootkits and what-have-you then. I'd think that was obvious."

Duh. Suyou wanted to sink into the floor. The most obvious solution in the world and I couldn't come up with it on my own. Great.

"Thanks, Dad," he mumbled. His father was still laughing at him as he trudged back to his room to unplug the computer. I'll never, ever live this down - and now the rest of the Hunters will know, too, and they'll think I'm a joke just like Dad does. He was going to kill Taiga. He'd give him a week - not bugging him, not hacking him, just laying low and waiting for Taiga to let his guard down. Then... then Suyou would murder him.

Chapter Text

MaMo<3: I got a job!!!!
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: congrats?  were u lookin for a job?
MaMo<3: mom says i need to start thinking about my position in court now
MaMo<3: urs too
MaMo<3: so weve been smoozing with the big 4
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: im sorry >_<
MaMo<3: yeah its kinda stressful
MaMo<3: but today lady riyoshuna yuguraku said i can babysit her neice!!!
MaMo<3: shes a super cute kid
MaMo<3: AND shes supposed to marry prince sagum so this could be an important connection for us in the future
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yeah but u have to go to yuguraku house now and b around all those vipers 😫
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: at least the kid is ok right??
MaMo<3: shes ttly adorable 🙂
MaMo<3: when they introduced us she came over and hugged me
MaMo<3: i died
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: lmao well i guess even yuguraku babies are cute b4 they grow up
MaMo<3: taiga be nice 😋
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: 😄

"What are you doing on your phone at this hour?"

Taiga started. His father was silhouetted in his doorway, scowling. As usual. He stuffed his phone under his pillow and sat up. "Is it time for training already?"

"Yes. Taiga, you need to take things more seriously. You need to get as much sleep as you can, and that means not wasting time on the internet or texting with your friends. You may not appreciate this, but we don't have an unlimited amount of time to train you. When you turn fifteen, you become a Hunter, and that means you'll be entering active service under the Mikado. If you're not ready by then, you could get injured or killed, or you could mess up and cause an international incident. People could die because of your mistakes. Hunter training is not a joke."

Taiga took the lecture in silence. He'd heard it before, at least once a day since Touji's funeral. It had been almost three weeks now. In that time, besides all that computer hacking stuff, Dad had shown him how to use a pistol and a rifle; how to build and disable a simple bomb; how to forge a signature; how to throw a shuriken, and how to make the poisons that the shuriken were coated in - and then he'd accidentally nicked his finger with one and been knocked out for a good two hours. Dad had been pissed about that. "You need to be more careful!" he'd yelled. "What if the blade had been coated in a different poison? You'd be dead right now! Dammit, Taiga!" The boy had suggested that maybe they shouldn't be working with poisons yet, if they were so dangerous, and his father told him not to talk back. Dad had almost hit him again, too - Taiga saw him start to bring his arm up, then stop.

The fighting practice was the worst. Taiga knew he had gotten better, but it didn't really matter. Dad was so fast that there was no way Taiga could keep up, and it was so hard to guess what Takuto was going to do next. And the worst part was that Dad never, ever held back. The bruises that had been on Touji were nothing compared to what Dad gave Taiga. He looked himself over in the mirror each night before he showered, watching each one progress from black or purple to brown to green. He'd gotten such a bad blow to the side a week ago that he'd seriously feared Dad had broken his ribs - but it had healed, like all the others, and was finally starting to disappear.

"We're practicing with blades tonight," said Dad when they reached the secret shed.

I'm gonna die, thought Taiga. Maybe it'll be accidental, but Dad is definitely going to kill me if we use real swords. "Dad... is that really a good idea?"

"You have to learn sometime." That was what Dad always said, any time that Taiga protested any part of his training regimen. At least when he practiced disarming a bomb they'd used a dummy explosive that just shot flour everywhere if he didn't disable it properly. He'd ended up very floury by the end of that lesson.

"But shouldn't I learn after, y'know, I can use a bo-ken right?"

"Are you afraid?" asked Dad; he had that warning tone in his voice that he used when his annoyance was peaking. "There's no place for fear in a Hunter's heart. Be bold, or don't be anything at all."

"Maybe I just don't want to die in a stupid training exercise," Taiga muttered.

That was the second time his father slapped him.

"I told you not to talk back," Dad said, cold and hard. "We'll start with the basic kata. You still need to be smarter about how you're placing your feet." He launched into the lesson as if nothing had happened, and Taiga wondered, as he often did these days, if his father hated him. Suyou's words returned to him - that he should have died instead of Touji. Dad probably wishes that were true, Taiga thought, his shoulders sagging. Touji was perfect. I'm just the reject kid, and now Dad's pissed cuz he's stuck with me.

As Taiga had predicted, once it came time for him and his father to spar, within thirty seconds Taiga was on the ground in a fetal position with the wind knocked out of him, paralyzed and gasping; his dad had kicked him in the stomach. Dad stood over him and snapped, "Get up! Your enemy won't wait for you to recover in a combat situation. You'll be killed!"

But Taiga couldn't breathe, much less stand. His dad made an exasperated noise, grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar, and lifted him to his feet. As soon as Dad let him go, Taiga fell to his knees.

"Taiga," his father growled, "get up or you'll regret it."

Taiga tried to rise, but his body refused. A moment later he saw his father's sword flash. He tried to duck back; the tip of the blade caught him in the forehead; he sucked his breath through his teeth; he felt blood trickle down his face.

"God damn it, Taiga! Look what you made me do!"

"I didn't make you do anything, you psycho," Taiga shot back, finally able to speak again. He struggled to his feet and touched the cut; it stung. The tip of his finger was wet; blood was running down the side of his nose. "I told you I wasn't ready for real blades, Dad."

"Let me see it." His dad took him roughly by the back of the head and peered at the cut. "Damn it," he breathed again.

A moment later he slammed Taiga's head into the trunk of the nearest tree. Taiga cried out in shock and pain; he saw stars. When his dad released him, he fell to the ground, his eyes swimming with reactive tears. He could not process what had just happened.

"Get up."

Biting back his reeling emotions, Taiga rose, shaking violently. "Why did you do that?" he choked out.

"It was too obviously a sword cut. Now it just looks like you fell. No one can know what we're doing out here."

Taiga couldn't even find words to respond. All he could think was, Don't cry. Don't let him see you cry. How had Touji seemed so happy? When this was the life he faced every time the sun went down? Right now, Taiga wished he could turn into a nahji and fly away. Touji, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Please forgive me.

Dad gave him a long look. Then he took Taiga's sword, went back into the hut, and reemerged with two bo-ken. Wordlessly he handed one to Taiga.

"There's a first-aid kit in the shed," he said quietly. "We'll do one more sparring match. Then I'll clean that up. Okay?"

All Taiga could do was nod.

Chapter Text

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hey are you up
MaMo<3: lol its like 11 yes i am up
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: wanna hang out or smth
MaMo<3: omg, can it be true?  taiga is asking me to hang out?  IS THE WORLD COMING TO AN END
MaMo<3: lol yes i'll be over in 5
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: no ill come ovr there

Five minutes later, Taiga was dressed and heading out the door. He didn't bother to tell Dad he was going; he didn't want to risk being told no. If Dad needs to reach me, it's not like I don't have my phone with me. He can just call or something. He went to the garage, got his bike and his helmet, and thirty seconds later he was at Mayuna's house.

She was waiting outside, sitting on her porch steps with her bike already ready. She grinned when he pulled up. "To what do I owe this special visit, Lord Amusuran?"

"To the fact that I have to get out of my stupid house and do something fun for a change, Lady Monaeta. Care to join me?"

"Why, it would be my pleasure, Lord Amusuran." She snapped her helmet on and the pair headed off down the road, chatting about school and about Mayuna's new babysitting job while they weaved in and out of the roadway. As they followed the edge of the fan-shaped neighborhood south, they passed the Rakusuran manor and the Sanada manor, with its enormous park-like grounds. Then they turned off the pavement onto a dirt trail. This was a large municipal preserve called Castle Park because of the castle ruins that lay within. Mayuna, Taiga, and Touji used to come here frequently; there were trails, a picnic area, and a lot of old walls and parapets to climb on. It had been one of Touji's favorite spots.

Mayuna and Taiga followed the wide path up gentle switchbacks to the top of the small hill where the castle once stood. They passed few people, mostly nannies taking babies and small children out to enjoy the sun, plus a couple of joggers. The leaves were just beginning to turn; it was October, but fall often came late in New Yogo, and the weather was still fine. The pair spoke little. The path wasn't wide enough for them to ride side-by-side, so instead they focused on their bikes and the scenery.

Once they reached the top, Taiga and Mayuna dropped their kickstands and left their bikes next to the remains of an old wall. Taiga took off his helmet and hung it on his handlebars. Mayuna's eyes widened. An ugly bruised scrape ran across half of his forehead; it had been hidden under the bike helmet til now. "Taiga! What happened to your face?!"

"Nothing," he muttered, avoiding her gaze. "I fell or something, whatever."

"Taiga-"

"Really - it's nothing." He nodded towards the castle ruins. "Race you to the top?" Before she could agree, he had taken off.

She ran after, calling, "Taiga! Wait!" He didn't slow, but kept scrambling and climbing higher over the castle's tumbledown walls. By the time they had both reached the ruin's summit, they were gasping, too breathless to speak.

The view from up here was incredible. Kousenkyo spread out under them in a patchwork of colors. Tall office blocks adjoined industrial areas with warehouses and truck depots, residential neighborhoods with houses and cul-de-sacs abutted slums and shrines and parks. Ten no Kami Tower, a landmark built by the Mikado who was great-grandfather of the current one, shone white at the far end of the city. Taiga sat down on a large, mossy chunk of wall with his elbows on his knees, then rested his face in his hands. Mayuna sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, sensing that he wasn't.

"The last time I came up here was with Touji."

"I remember." Mayuna had been with them. She remembered that Taiga had been especially grumpy that day. He only came along because Touji blackmailed him - something about telling their dad that Taiga had been adding candy to their weekly grocery delivery order without telling, which their dad had not yet noticed. Mayuna had brought peaches for everyone, and Taiga threw his peach pit at Touji's head because Touji called him a sourpuss. Taiga was still grumpy, these days, but Mayuna felt she could finally understand why. Taiga was so sad - and it came out as anger and standoffishness. She'd thought that maybe he didn't like her, or that he thought he was too cool to hang out with her and Touji anymore - but now she realised, from all their conversations, that Taiga was still grieving his mother, and that he'd been jealous of Touji because - and Mayuna had to agree with this - Touji got along with everyone. Touji had made everything look easy.

Mayuna also suspected that Lord Amusuran, Taiga's father, was not a very nice man. She worried a little for Taiga. His mother had been kind and sweet, but Mayuna had always found his father intimidating, even scary. Some of the things Touji had said kept coming back to haunt her memory. "Dad'll kill you if he finds out." "You better not let Dad see." "Dad's gonna flip if you don't ask first." Since Touji's death, she'd noticed that Taiga was always yawning during class, that he had dark circles under his eyes, and worse, bruises. Touji had often had mysterious bruises, too. Surely Lord Amusuran wasn't beating his sons? She shivered a little, even though it was warm out. There was no way that scrape on Taiga's face had come from him falling "or something". Maybe he'd been pushed. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject, though, and anyways, this didn't seem like the right moment.

Instead, tentatively, she reached for Taiga's hand. She squeezed it, without speaking. He blinked hard, but she could still see a tear drip down his nose. He squeezed her hand back.

"Hey, fuckface!"

Both of them started. At the foot of the castle ruin, Suyou Rakusuran, their classmate, stood next to their bikes.

"Yep, that's right, I'm talking to you, asshole- Oh, uh, hi, Mayuna," Suyou added quickly, blushing hard. "Sorry - I'm- Taiga's the fu- I mean, I wasn't talking to you, sorry. I was talking to him. This hasn't got anything to do with you - I think you're great and not an ass- I mean, butthole at all."

"Taiga, what's going on?" she whispered, confused and worried. She didn't know Suyou very well, but she didn't like the way he was talking.

"Not sure." Taiga stood up. "What d'you want, Suyou?"

"This your bike?"

"What's it to you?"

Suyou raised the kickstand on Taiga's bike, which was easily differentiated from Mayuna's because his was painted black and green and hers was white and lavender and pink. He wheeled the bike towards the overlook, where the edge of the castle's overgrown, long-empty moat made a cliff about thirty feet high. Then he pushed the bike, helmet and all, over the edge. "Oops!"

"What the hell, Suyou!" Taiga hopped off the castle summit. Mayuna stood, too. "Taiga, wait!"

But it was too late. Taiga descended the castle as fast as he could, jumping off ledges and skidding down slopes. He reached the bottom while Mayuna was still trying to find the safest way down. She didn't feel comfortable descending as haphazardly as Taiga had done.

Suyou picked up a stick and approached Taiga. "I told you I was gonna kill you, you shitlord."

"So you threw my bike off a cliff? Real mature." Taiga bypassed Suyou and went to the edge of the overlook, where he walked back and forth, evidently trying to figure out a way down.

"Hey, you better not turn your back on me," Suyou snapped. He ran towards Taiga, and Mayuna, halfway down the castle, cried, "Taiga, watch out!" What did Suyou mean about killing him? Surely he wouldn't try to push Taiga over the cliff, too? She climbed faster.

Taiga dodged as Suyou swung the stick at him. He backed into the informational signage next to the overlook, ducked, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Suyou's face. But Suyou must have expected this, because he ducked his head, closing his eyes just at the right moment, and darted forward again. This time the stick hit home; Suyou jabbed it into Taiga's stomach brutally hard, knocking the wind out of him, and Taiga crumpled. Mayuna shrieked. "Taiga! Suyou, stop!"

But Suyou ignored her. He kicked Taiga viciously in the face and gut, going for the weakest points; Taiga had his arms up to cover his face, but Suyou still connected. Mayuna jumped the last ten feet from the ruin, raced over and threw herself on Suyou from behind, using all her weight to drag him backwards. "Stop!" she screamed. "You'll hurt him!"

"That's the idea!" Suyou practically snarled. He tried to pry Mayuna off. "Let me go! This has nothing to do with you!"

"It has everything to do with me! That's my friend you're beating up! And my fiancé! "

"F-fiancé?" Finally Suyou stopped struggling. Mayuna let go of him and rushed to Taiga's side. He was curled up on the ground in a loose fetal position, unconscious. Mayuna panicked.

"You killed him!" she cried. "Oh God - oh my God, what did you do? "

Suyou scowled, but he walked over and crouched next to them. "Here," he said, reaching his hand in to press it against Taiga's neck. Mayuna held her breath until Suyou announced, "There's a pulse, he's fine."

"He's not fine! What the hell were you thinking?" Tears were spilling from Mayuna's eyes; all she could think was how awful it would be to lose Taiga, too, when she was still processing losing Touji. She fumbled her phone out of her pocket and dialed the emergency number. Her hands were shaking so badly it took her three tries to unlock the start screen.

"What are you doing?" asked Suyou.

"I'm calling an ambulance."

Suyou frowned, looking a little nervous. "Don't do that. He's fine - he'll come to any second."

"He has a concussion, doesn't he? That- Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance for my friend." She paused between each sentence while the dispatcher asked her questions, then answered as calmly as she could. "I'm at Castle Park in Upper Ougi. He's unconscious but he's breathing and his pulse is normal. Just a few seconds, maybe a minute. He got attacked by a crazy kid with a stick. Thirteen. No. On the main trail, by the overlook. Yes. Okay, thank you." She hung up and glared at Suyou. He'd lost all his braggadocio and the rage had gone from his expression; now he looked genuinely scared.

"Why'd you do that?" he said plaintively. "I could get arrested!"

"You should be arrested! You attacked him for no reason!" She would have said more, but Taiga stirred at last, and immediately all of her attention was on him. He blinked and groaned and tried to sit up. She supported him upright, kneeling next to him.

"Ow. What- what happened?" Taiga saw Suyou and frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Ambulance sirens sounded in the distance.

"Shit," hissed Suyou. Without another word, he ran off into the park and disappeared.

A group of EMTs and a police officer arrived about ten minutes later, having jogged up the trail from the road. The medics assessed Taiga while the cop asked Mayuna what had happened. She told them everything, including the name of the assailant and the fact that he was their classmate. The cop wrote down everything on a little tablet computer, then took her name and address in case they needed to ask her anything else.

The EMTs said that Taiga seemed fine but should probably come to the hospital for an x-ray, just in case, since his side was tender and they wanted to make sure he had no fractures or internal bleeding. He could walk fine, so they went back to the road on foot, Mayuna wheeling her bike alongside everyone. She was flushed with adrenaline, trembling, thoughts racing. Suyou had seemed so normal before this! She remembered what Taiga had said a few weeks ago, when he was trying to give his Current Event and had the pickle filter on his video - he'd specifically implicated Suyou, even though Mayuna didn't think he and Suyou had known each other before this year. Could Suyou have been targeting Taiga for bullying? Why?

Mayuna gave Taiga a hug before the EMTs helped him into the back of the ambulance. She could tell he was shaken, too; seeing the ambulance probably brought back the night Touji died. "I'll let your dad know what happened," she promised, and he thanked her. A moment later, the ambulance and the cop car had both driven away, and Mayuna was left to bike home, alone.

Chapter Text

shyouku: how's Taiga?
Jin(Takuto): He's resting.  mild concussion and a cracked rib.  nothing serious.
shyouku: suyou's grounded for the next month.  i'm so sorry man, if i'd known...
shyouku: you say taiga's overemotional but suyou's a loose cannon
shyouku: and doesn't understand social norms at all
shyouku: torgal's blood
shyouku: i'd give him the belt but keiri'd skin me alive
shyouku: she doesn't believe in corporal punishmnt
Jin(Takuto): It's fine.  boys will be boys.  no harm done.
Jin(Takuto): Besides, Taiga hijacked his computer and apparently embarrassed him in front of their class.  I'm sure Suyou was looking for revenge
shyouku: and he shoulda done it by computer like an adult
shyouku: at least let us pick up the ambulance bill
shyouku: and the doctor bill
Jin(Takuto): I'll send it when it arrives.

Mayuna Monaeta had called Takuto Amusuran from the park to let him know that his son was in the hospital. He had driven there in a panic, not waiting to ask the girl what exactly had happened. Touji's genetic condition sometimes ran in families; there was a small chance that Taiga might carry it, too. When the doctor at the emergency department explained that Taiga had been attacked by another boy and beaten up, Takuto was so relieved he almost laughed.

Taiga's injuries were minor, but he would have to "take it easy" for several weeks to let the rib heal and his brain recover. He couldn't risk getting a second concussion, the doctor emphasized, so no sports and no activities that might result in falls. Takuto was sure that comment had been motivated by the bruise Takuto had given Taiga to cover up the sword cut on his forehead; of course the doctor had noticed it. He felt a twinge of guilt; Suyou might not have succeeded in knocking Taiga out if Taiga hadn't already likely received a concussion from his father the night before.

But Hunter training was difficult and dangerous. Takuto could not afford to go easy on his son. Even losing several weeks of training, like this - the Rakusuran boy had cost Takuto valuable time. We can focus on skills other than fighting, he reminded himself. Taiga really did seem to have a gift for hacking. Much of the Hunters' work was done online - more and more, it seemed, as time went on. Perhaps it wouldn't matter so much if Taiga couldn't use a sword. He'd done all right during their first target practice; Takuto suspected that Taiga's aim was good and it was simply the mechanics of firing the gun that had him off. That would come with a bit more practice. It's not as if he has to learn to fly a helicopter in two years. Thank Ten no Kami for that.

Taiga, in his room, lay on his side on his futon, holding an ice pack against his aching ribs. His head hurt, too, but he was secretly grateful. Suyou's attack meant a break from the hateful training regimen. Wish he hadn't thrown away my bike, though... But maybe it was intact, and once Taiga had healed he'd be able to figure out how to get down into the old castle moat and retrieve it.

He pulled out his phone.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: thx 4 saving my life today
MaMo<3: 😄 sry I couldn't save your bike
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: np ❤️
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: I'll get it back eventually
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: or maybe a new one idk
MaMo<3: whats suyo's problem???
MaMo<3: i had no idea he was such a psycho
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hes mad i hacked his computer
MaMo<3: 😮 you what?! 
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: remember when my video filters were all weird in class a few weeks ago
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: that was suyou
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: he hacked my sharon account just 2 be a troll
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hes a giant troll
MaMo<3: but WHY
MaMo<3: what did u evr do to him
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: idk
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hey wanna vidcall?
MaMo<3: k

This was the first time that Mayuna had ever shared a videocall with Taiga. She was surprised and touched that he would suggest it. She decided that she had definitely been wrong about his not liking her. It was only that he was a boy, and everyone knew boys at this age were dumb. Suyou was the perfect example of that, but Taiga was in no way immune.

She glanced in the mirror, smoothed her hair and readjusted the thick floral headband that kept it back before she answered Taiga's call.

Taiga was lying in bed, holding the phone in front of him; the only light was provided by the phone itself. His pillowcase had Ultramech 3000 robots on it, which made her smile a little. And here she'd thought maybe he was too cool for her.

"Hi," he said, smiling a little. He looked somewhat worse-for-wear. Suyou had managed to give him a black eye and a split lip, and there was another large, dark, puffy bruise on one side of his jaw.

Mayuna was at her desk, in her PJs with the unicorns on them; behind her was a poster of the popular singer Yugno and another of the Dance Assassins. She smiled back and said, "Does your head hurt?"

"A little, but it's not too bad. Mostly it just hurts when I take a deep breath. But it seems like broken ribs aren't that big a deal?"

"Maybe you'll get time off from school."

"Yeah, right. But at least I'll get a break from- oh." He cut off abruptly.

"Taiga?"

"Nothing, sorry. Anyhow, I'm all patched up, just rest and ice and acetaminophen and in six weeks I'll be good as new."

Mayuna's brow furrowed slightly. "What were you going to say before that?"

"Uh, nothing. I was thinking of something else. Um, what about you? How's your family? Sanji still being a dick?" He caught himself and quickly amended, "Sorry, uh- a jerk?"

"I dunno." Mayuna sighed. Sanji was her older brother. He was twenty but he still lived at home, and he was constantly fighting with their parents about what he was going to do with his life and when he was going to get married, get a job, move out. "At dinner Mom and Dad were asking when he's gonna apply to college, and he said he didn't think he was, and they kinda flipped out. He's got some online business he's saying will make him a millionaire, but he's pretty vague about the details... I'm not sure if it's real or if he's just making it up to get Mom and Dad off his back."

Taiga nodded sympathetically. For a moment they were both silent.

"What d'you think it'll be like to be married?" said Mayuna. She looked serious as she said it; she was thinking of how grown-up Sanji had always seemed, and how now he was five years past the age of majority and still living with their parents, playing video games all night and sleeping til two every day. She didn't want to grow up, but she also didn't want to end up like him.

"I'm not really sure," said Taiga earnestly. He paused, as if trying to decide whether he should say more, and when he spoke again it was quieter, and more stilted, like he was sharing a secret and wasn't quite sure how to frame it.

"After our betrothal ceremony, Dad told me, um... he said he and Mom didn't fall in love til they were already adults. Like, that they were married for years before, y'know, they actually fell in love." He sagged a little. "But Mom and Dad really did seem like they were in love. Dad didn't cry... at all when she died..." He sniffed quickly and swallowed hard. "But I think he was really upset. He's... He hasn't really been the same since."

"Do you think we'll fall in love?" said Mayuna, wishing to steer the conversation towards something she hoped was less painful for Taiga.

He shrugged the shoulder that was towards the ceiling. "I hope we will. But at least we know each other, and we're friends. I think that makes us lots better off than a lot of other kids, y'know?"

Mayuna nodded emphatically. "I do," she said. "And... I'm really glad. That we're friends, I mean. I think Touji would be glad, too."

Taiga smiled a little and sniffed again. "Yeah... I hope so."

Chapter Text

"You're lucky Lord Amusuran has decided not to press charges," Shou was saying. He was standing in front of the couch with his arms folded, glaring at Suyou, who sat on the sofa trying to shrink into its leather cushions. His mother, Keiri, stood next to his father, shaking her head. "I'm just astonished at you, Suyou. I mean, you've pulled stupid shit before, but this really takes the cake. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," mumbled Suyou, even though they'd already gone through this exchange several times since the cops left. His dad ignored him.

"You're grounded for the next month. No TV, no phone, no computer except for school. No porn! And whatever bills the Amusurans get for Taiga's medical costs, you're paying, son - and no allowance, either! Dammit, Suyou. You're lucky I don't wallop you."

Suyou glanced at his mother. She was frowning at Dad. Thanks, Mom, Suyou thought earnestly. Dad was always talking about how his own father hadn't been afraid to smack him when he deserved it, and that Suyou would be a lot better behaved if Shou had been allowed to do the same - "but your mother doesn't like it." Well, Suyou felt Mom was right, but he'd never dare say that in front of Dad.

"I can't talk about this any more," Shou grumbled. "What a disgrace. What must the neighbors think?"

The phone rang. Keiri went to answer it; Dad's eyes went with her, and he stopped talking. A moment later he followed his wife to the phone. Suyou couldn't hear the conversation, but he knew it must be something bad because he heard Dad say suddenly, "Torgal damn it! I knew it!"

He stormed back into the living room; Mom joined him a moment later. Dad was too angry to talk; he paced back and forth in front of the television, cursing.

"What-" Suyou tried to say, finding it hard to get the words out.

His mother sighed. "That was Lord Tanaka. They... they've rescinded your betrothal arrangement."

Suyou felt ice fill his gut. "He... They- But-"

"Keiko told him you were arrested. I tried to explain that wasn't the case, but any involvement with the police is too much for them, it seems."

"Right, like the Tanakas are so high and mighty," Shou exploded. "Where do they come off, dumping my son like that? We're ten times higher in the nobility than they are! Damned ingrates..."

"It's fine, dear," Keiri said to her husband, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "We'll just... ask someone else. The Tanaka girl was too uptight for Suyou, anyways."

"Their whole family's too damned uptight, if you ask me. Suyou, go to your room. And no internet! And absolutely no porn!"

So now I don't even have a fiancée, Suyou thought miserably, as he dragged his feet down the hall to his bedroom. No allowance, no pride, no reputation... no Touji. All because of stupid Taiga.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Disciplinary Measures

As per our conversation(s) yesterday, I feel that it is crucially important that Suyou be taught, unequivocally, that behaviors which endanger his colleagues and put the security of our organization at risk are totally unacceptable and verge on treasonous.  To this end, Suyou's punishment will be as follows:
-One month of home arrest, without "screen" privileges except as required by school
-Restitution of all medical costs
-Suspension of weekly allowance (indefinite)
-Tutoring duties with Taiga until Taiga is fully recovered
The topic of tutoring will be the virtual activities that fall under our mandate.  Tracking algorithms, data trawling, pattern recognition, etc.  Suyou will provide weekly updates on his and Taiga's progress to both Shou and Takuto. 

Shou, you mentioned that Suyou does not have the savings to cover much of anything and will thus probably have to take a part-time job to complete his punishment.  Happily, a job is available in the Star Palace dormitory kitchens as a dishwasher; I have already taken the liberty of signing Suyou up for this position.  He'll start Wednesday; I'll email the paperwork, Shou.

Takuto, what's important now is to foster Taiga's strengths.  It's true he won't be able to take your place in two years; but he doesn't have to.  He just has to be a functioning member of the team.  He can learn the rest later.  I don't think it's too late for Suyou and Taiga to work well together.  And if I'm wrong, I'll take you both out for drinks to admit my mistake.

Optimistically yours,
Ryuu

Chapter Text

Taiga was less than thrilled to discover that none other than Suyou Rakusuran would be his new hacking tutor.

"You'll be working alongside each other for the majority of your adult lives," Dad replied when Taiga asked why he had to work with Suyou. "If you boys can't get over your differences now, the next forty years are going to be a living hell for you both."

"He put me in the hospital, Dad."

"And he's going to pay for that. But that doesn't mean you can't learn to work together."

On Monday, after class and after lunch, Suyou showed up at the Amusuran house, carrying a bulging computer bag, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that read, "I am your worst nightmare!" in bold, jagged letters. Taiga, whose own shirt had only a graphic of a cartoon wolf, sincerely hoped the slogan wouldn't prove prophetic.

Suyou didn't even look at Taiga. Instead, he bowed to Takuto and said, very respectfully, "Where do you want me to do the lessons, Mr Amusuran, sir?"

"The dining room should be fine. The cook can bring you a snack if you get hungry."

"Thank you, sir," said Suyou. He stood awkwardly in the doorway a moment longer before Taiga took the initiative. "It's in there." He pointed through a doorway to Suyou's left. "Let me get my laptop. I'll be down in a second."

Suyou didn't say anything, but he bowed again and went into the dining room.

When Taiga joined him, laptop in hand, he froze in the doorway the moment he saw where Suyou had set up his computer. "You can't sit there," he blurted.

Suyou frowned. "Why not?"

"Because that's-" Taiga felt his face go red. "That's Touji's spot," he mumbled.

"Oh." To his surprise, Suyou quickly stood and moved to the head of the table, where Dad usually sat, then moved his computer as well. "Sorry - I didn't know."

"It's fine." Taiga took his usual place across from Touji's and moved the chair closer so that he could see Suyou's screen. He waited, but Suyou didn't seem to know where to start or what to do. Finally Suyou said, "Um... I didn't really mean to... to actually hurt you. I mean, I wanted to hurt you, but not, like... bad enough for a doctor. I was mad and I was stupid. Um... I'm sorry."

Taiga blinked at him, startled.

"Look, I know... I know I kind of fucked everything up from the start, but I'm really not a psycho like Mayuna thinks. Maybe... um... you could tell her that." Suyou's face was turning a brighter shade of crimson by the second. "I don't want... Look, you're just really lucky that you're engaged to her, and I don't want her thinking I'm a crazy weirdo. I'm not. I was just really, really pissed that you ruined my presentation. I still am. But, like, I'm not- Whatever, just tell her I'm not like that."

Taiga frowned. "Why do you care so much what she thinks of you?"

"Um, hello, because she's super hot? Are you blind or something? She's the cutest girl in our class... maybe the cutest in the whole school." Suyou scowled at his computer. "And you're engaged to her. Unbelievable."

"So let me get this straight," said Taiga, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. "You're only sorry that you tried to kill me because Mayuna, my fiancée, on whom you have a crush, happened to see you attack me and called the cops on you. But you still hate my guts for no apparent reason and you're going to keep being rude and mean while I have to get tutored by you because our dads think it's a good way for us to overcome our differences. Cool. Great. This'll really be a blast, Suyou, thanks for letting me know."

"It's not-" Suyou started, then scowled even harder. "Whatever, let's just get this over with." He opened an application on his computer. "Log in to the Hunter VPN and I'll show you how to track someone using traffic cams or something. Try to keep up; I'm not gonna dumb it down for you."

Despite Suyou's poor attitude, the lesson went surprisingly well. Taiga picked up the information quickly; when Suyou had him do a practice exercise, using old camera records to track an Invisible, one of the palace servants, as he'd moved around the city, Taiga took mere minutes to complete it. Suyou was shocked; it had taken him an hour to do the exercise his first time. But Taiga had done it correctly. Once again Suyou found himself wondering if Taiga was more like Touji than Suyou wanted to admit.

"Um, okay, try this harder one," Suyou said, loading a more advanced tutorial. This one covered a larger timeslice and featured an actual criminal the Hunters had tracked, who was now in prison. Taiga became thoroughly engrossed in the activity. For the first time since he began his training as a Hunter, he found he was actually enjoying himself. Tracking the criminal through the camera records using the facial recognition algorithms and modelling scripts that predicted how far a person might have travelled in a given time period based on whether they were on foot or in a car... It was a little like a game, or a riddle - a vast logic problem where he just needed to recognize the patterns and get the computer to do the rest of the work for him. By the time Suyou had to leave, Taiga had produced a map of the city showing the criminal's movements, complete with timestamps.

Suyou couldn't believe it. That exercise had taken him two days. Taiga had finished it - again, correctly - in just two hours.

"You're really good at this," Suyou grumbled as he put away his computer.

"Thanks!" said Taiga. "It's actually really fun!"

"I wasn't complimenting you," said Suyou irritably. "Whatever, I'll be back tomorrow. See you in class or something."

MaMo<3: how'd lessons with psycho suyo go
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: kinda... surprisingly ok??
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: he sez to tell u hes not a psycho 🤣
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hes still definitely a jerk tho
MaMo<3: lol ok - so weird but ok
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: he has a huge crush on u
MaMo<3: ew 😣
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: 🤣
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hows babysitting
MaMo<3: fine idk
MaMo<3: lady riyoshuna asked me 2 deliver some message 2day
MaMo<3: idk what that has 2 do with babysitting but ???
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: shes too lazy to deliver her own letters 😋
MaMo<3: or she didnt want to go herself
MaMo<3: it was for umutoran house and u know they hate eachothr
MaMo<3: mom thinks its good bc i'll get more exposure to the big 4 this way
MaMo<3: idk its rly stressful
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: looks liek were both stuck doing stuff with ppl who suck
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: ganbatte lady monaeta 😑
MaMo<3: lol ganbatte lord amusuran

Chapter Text

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: hey can u hang out today
MaMo<3: no 🙁
MaMo<3: i have to deliver more stuff for lady ryoshuna
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: gross, why
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: its saturday
MaMo<3: idk
MaMo<3: shes rly demanding
MaMo<3: and ive hardly been doing any babysitting at all 🙁
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: 🙁 maybe i could come deliver the mesage with u?
MaMo<3: i mean i cant have some stranger show up at her house
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i could meet u on the way
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: an just like... wait outside while ur delivering it
MaMo<3: lol u must b super desperate to get away from ur house today
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: lol yeah
MaMo<3: ok meet me at 1st and palace way at 1pm
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: 👍

Taiga scampered out of the house, careful not to let anyone see him.  He had lessons with Suyou today, and training with his father, who didn't believe in weekends.  But maybe Suyou would be late or something.  And anyhow, Taiga really was desperate to get out of his house.  He knew he still looked a sight, and that he was supposed to be resting, but First and Palace wasn't that far from home, and it wasn't like he was planning to run there or anything.

The weather was pleasant - clear and crisp and sunny.  Taiga had almost succeeded in forgetting about Dad, Suyou, and Hunter training altogether by the time he reached the sidewalk in front of the walled-in, gated Yuguraku manor.

Then his phone buzzed.  He knew who it was before he even checked the text; he'd given Suyou a special notification sound, something that sounded like a buzzing hornet: both annoying and dangerous, just like Suyou himself.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: where tf r u
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: im sposed 2 b teachin u hackin rit now u dumbass
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: oops
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: forgot
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: how tf could u forget
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: ur dad will kill us both if u dont do ur stupid lesson
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: where tf r u
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: im at 1st and palace waiting for mayuna
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: k brt

Crap, thought Taiga. The last thing he wanted was for Suyou to show up and spoil the day. I shouldn't have answered him. He started to type a reply, but before he could finish, he heard Mayuna's voice: "Hello, Taiga!"

He glanced up and shoved his phone in his coat pocket. "Hi, Mayuna! Fancy meeting you here!" He grinned. She had two servants with her, the woman who'd been her nanny since Taiga first met her and a bodyguard. If this were just a normal walk she wouldn't have had them along, but any kind of formal visit to nobility required attendants. Taiga himself technically had a personal servant/bodyguard, but the guy was usually the gardener and only took on the role of "personal escort" when Taiga had to go on some dumb formal errand. It was just one more way for nobles to show off for each other - if you brought servants with you, it meant you were rich or powerful or something. Mom hadn't wanted Taiga and Touji raised by a nanny, since apparently one of Taro's complaints with his parents was that they'd shoved him into the nanny's hands whenever they didn't want to deal with him; but Mayuna didn't seem to mind hers. The woman's name was Mikoto and she was friendly and a bit of a gossip. The bodyguard, Kim, was her husband.

"Lord Amusuran, what a pleasant surprise!" said Mikoto; she and Kim bowed low. Mikoto's eyes twinkled. "Lady Mayuna, this is a wonderful day for a stroll with your betrothed, don't you think?"

Mayuna blushed just a little. Had Mikoto guessed this wasn't a chance meeting? It was hard to tell. "Would you care to join me on my walk, Lord Amusuran?"

"I'd like nothing better, Lady Monaeta," he said with an overly-formal bow.

"There you are!" Everyone turned; Suyou was running down the block, and he pulled up short, turning red with embarrassment. "Um- uh- Lady Mayuna!" He bowed quickly at the waist, with such force that his overlong hair whipped out of his face.

"Lord Rakusuran," said Mayuna, scowling. "What are you doing here?"

Suyou walked over and clapped Taiga on the back, making him frown and step away. "Um, me and my friend Tai- Lord Amusuran here were just about to go for a walk. But now that you're here, we can all walk together!"

Mayuna gave Taiga a quizzical look. Taiga responded with a helpless shrug.

"Is this one of your classmates, Lady Mayuna?" asked Mikoto. While Suyou introduced himself to the servants, Taiga quickly dashed off a text to Mayuna. He saw her check her phone surreptitiously while Mikoto was distracted.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: tried to ditch him but i guess i failed

Mayuna met his eye and made a face. Taiga tried not to laugh.

"Lady Monaeta," Suyou said as the group began walking down Palace Way, "I'm really sorry about the other day. Um, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"Do you, really?" said Mayuna acerbically. "Whatever gave you that impression, Lord Rakusuran?"

"Look, Taig- uh, Lord Amusuran and I, we've resolved our differences. Everything's cool now. Right, Lord Amusuran?"

"So long as I have plenty of acetaminophen and don't have to breathe too hard, sure," said Taiga with a sniff. "Good thing I don't have to bike anywhere, either."

Suyou frowned. Clearly his attempt to smooth things over with the beautiful Mayuna Monaeta was not going to plan.

"Where are you delivering that package?" Taiga asked, nodding at the round lacquer box Mayuna carried; it had the Yuguraku seal on its clasp in gold.

"Umutoran House again," said Mayuna.

"The Yugurakus hate the Umutorans," said Suyou, even though he was not a part of the exchange. "Lady Riyoshuna would never send anything to the Umutorans, except maybe a pipe bomb."

"How do you know I'm working for Lady Riyoshuna?" Mayuna asked, suspicious.

Suyou turned crimson again. "Uh- um- Taiga told me."

So he hacked my phone, too? "I didn't-" Taiga started to say, but Suyou cut him off.

"He told me all about you. Y'know, during my tutoring. I've been tutoring him. He thinks you're great. I do, too," Suyou added, giving his best winning smile. "Taiga is really, really, really lucky to be engaged to you. If I were engaged to a girl like you, I'd never, ever take her for granted like Taiga does."

"I don't-!"

"-and I'd get her all kinds of presents, like candy and flowers. I'd be the best fiancé ever."

"Are you engaged?" Mayuna asked.

Suyou fell abruptly silent. Color crept back up his neck. "Um... uh. Not- not at the moment, no."

"Keiko Tanaka dumped him 'cuz she thinks he's a criminal," Taiga supplied helpfully.

"That's because he is a criminal," said Mayuna.

"Hey!" whined Suyou. "I am not!"

"I've yet to see any evidence to the contrary," Mayuna retorted. "I think Keiko was smart to dump you. No one wants to marry a boy who beats people up and throws their stuff off cliffs."

Suyou scowled and hunched into his shoulders. He stopped walking; Taiga and Mayuna went on without him, followed by the two servants. Hurt and humiliated, Suyou trailed the group from a distance.

When they reached Umutoran House, on the opposite end of Palace Way from Yuguraku House, Suyou started. Two older teens were lounging against the wall surrounding Umutoran manor, a boy and a girl. The boy was in jeans, a hoodie and a knit beanie, while the girl was in a traditional silk kimono; she was watching a video on her phone, holding it so the boy could see. They looked very normal, especially for a sunny Saturday afternoon. Except that Suyou knew them both. He'd trained with them when he was Touji's age and earlier, just as he was training with Taiga now. And that girl, pretty as she looked, was definitely not a girl.

Those two were Hunters. What are they doing here? he wondered.

Taiga was saying something to Mayuna. As Suyou watched them, he tried to remember the map of the nobility's social standings that his father had made him memorize. Monaeta was of fairly low status, well below Amusuran House; he guessed Mayuna and Taiga had been betrothed due to personal concerns rather than familial. Probably because she's gorgeous, he thought wistfully. It was common for upper nobility to employ members of lower nobility as servants, so it wasn't unusual that a Yuguraku noblewoman would hire someone like Mayuna as a babysitter and messenger.

What was odd, though, was that a Yuguraku would be sending gifts to an Umutoran.

The "Big Four" houses - Yuguraku, Umutoran, Tosuku, and Harusuan - enjoyed especially high status among the New Yogo nobility because the Mikado's wives, and the spouses of his children, were drawn from them. The Big Four were constantly at each other's throats, jockeying for top position. They made the rest of the nobility's petty bickering and backbiting look tame.

Taiga and Mayuna were still chatting; Suyou saw her laugh and quickly quashed a pang of hopeless longing.

Ryoshuna Yuguraku was a notorious bitch. She was all over the internet and her face always seemed to be on the tabloids at the convenience store counters. She'd made open threats against the other Houses, spread libelous rumors, and generally made a spectacle of herself. If Lady Ryoshuna were sending letters or packages to Umutoran House, there must be a political reason - and Suyou guessed a sinister one. Why else would two Hunters be loitering around here? He frowned and tried to catch the Hunters' attention, but the pair ignored him.

Taiga waved to Mayuna and she and her servants went through the Umutoran gate. He glanced back and saw Suyou.

"I'm going to wait here til she's done in there," Taiga announced, crossing the street to where Suyou stood lost in thought. "We can do the hacking lessons after. And yes, I know I shouldn't have forgotten, but it's not like we're losing that much time. Besides, if you really want Mayuna to believe you're not a psycho freak, this is a good opportunity to show her you can be normal and polite."

"Uh-huh," said Suyou.

Taiga frowned. "Are you even listening?"

The two teenagers standing next to Umutoran House had crossed the street and now approached them. "Suyou-chan!" said the girl, ruffling Suyou's hair. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same, Sun," Suyou grumbled, trying to smooth his hair down again.

Sun? No way. Sun meant "eight". Taiga's eyes widened. A girl Hunter? But Dad said it's only passed down from father to son...

"Top secret," said the girl with a wink, coyly placing a finger against her lips. "And you must be Taiga!"

"Um- hi," said Taiga, staring at her.

Sun grinned. "Shh," she said. "Don't tell anyone - this is just a disguise." Abruptly her - his? - voice dropped into a lower register. "But a very good one, don't you think?"

Taiga's eyes grew even wider. "You- you're-"

"A boy, just like you? Yep. This is Taga," he added, setting a hand on the teenage boy's arm. Taga gave a polite nod.

Taga - "seven". Another Hunter.

"Taga knows how to fly a helicopter. Isn't that based? The coolest technology I get to use is my sniper scope - I have a range of over a mile, which is pretty sweet - but Jin is just as good a sniper as I am - your father. He's probably the best Hunter all around, actually. But, no one else makes quite as pretty a girl as I do! Right, Suyou-tan?" he added, his voice becoming a girl's again. Taiga saw Suyou redden.

"Is- is there something going on here?" Taiga asked hesitantly. "Dad- um, Jin- said that the Hunters protect the royal family. But Umutoran House-"

"Top secret!" Sun lilted. "Oh, look, your girlfriend's back! What a cutie she is." He gave a soft whistle, then giggled. "Better give up now, Suyou-tan. This one's taken."

"Yeah, I know," Suyou grumbled. Way to rub it in.

Chapter Text

After bidding Mayuna farewell, Suyou and Taiga headed back to the Amusuran house for their long-delayed tutoring session. As they walked away from the Yuguraku manor, Suyou said, "That tall guy working in the garden? I'm like 99% sure he's a Hunter, too - I've seen him talking to Dad." He frowned. "It's so weird. Why would they be staking out a couple of Big Four houses?"

"You don't think there's any danger? Like a bomb threat or something?"

Suyou shrugged. "Hunter business is all super secret. Hell, the only reason I know Sun and Taga are Hunters is because I used to train with them before they got old enough to enter the Mikado's service. Dad doesn't tell me anything - says not til I'm an adult."

Taiga thought back to what Suyou had said about Lady Riyoshuna sending Umutoran House a pipe bomb. Suyou had been joking... but what if she did? Mayuna could be hurt or killed. Maybe I should ask Dad if everything's okay. If Mayuna's in danger she has a right to know. Then again, why would his dad be any more forthright than Suyou's dad? Dad would probably just get annoyed. Dad was always gruff and sharp with him. He didn't like when Taiga asked questions; he'd never have the patience for a baseless suspicion like this. I'm better off waiting to ask til I have some evidence of a conspiracy or danger; otherwise he'll never listen.

Once they reached the Amusuran manor, Taiga and Suyou settled in at the dining table with their laptops, a bag of chips, and cookies and tea that a servant brought. Suyou explained that today they were going to continue talking about remote access tools and how to bypass a firewall. They'd been on this topic for several days now; Taiga had practiced hacking a neighbor's computer because it was an easy target, but he'd picked up the topic so quickly that Suyou had suggested - with the hint of a devilish gleam in his eye - that they should try a government office next. As he listened to Suyou going over the tricks his dad had taught him, Taiga had a sudden, daring idea.

"Suyou," he interrupted, "it's easier to hack a computer on the same VPN as you, right?"

"Yes... But that's got nothing to-"

"What if we hack one of the Hunters' computers?"

" Ehh? " Suyou's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

"I could try. You wanted me to hack a government office today, right? The Hunters are government."

"They'll catch you!" Suyou cried. "There are some really, really good hackers on the team. There's no way you'll get in, and you'll be in huge trouble when they find you. Besides, why? Of all the government offices there are, you pick the literal hardest and most dangerous one to hack?"

"I'm worried about Mayuna," said Taiga evenly. "If the Hunters are watching the Yugurakus and the Umutorans, I want to know why."

Suyou stared at him. He would never admit as much, but he was impressed, in spite of himself. Taiga wore a look of absolute determination. Suyou imagined Mayuna Monaeta getting caught up in some Yuguraku plot and realised that, incredibly, he had to agree with Taiga: she might be in danger, and if they could do something to warn or protect her, they should.

"Okay," he said. "Let's see how much you've learned."

Hasham Kamuran stubbed out the butt of his cigarette and glanced at the clock. 4:08, it glared back at him in digital red. He cracked his neck and scowled. The room was dark but for the glow of a dozen monitors, silent but for the hum of processors and fans. The coding application in front of him seemed to dance around the screen. How long has it been since I slept? he wondered. I should probably get more coffee. He cracked his neck, stood stiffly, and wandered into the breakroom.

"Hey, Yun," said Hyoku, who was standing by the microwave watching a burrito rotate. His real name was Shou Rakusuran.

"Hey," said Hasham; he nearly always went by Yun, "four", his Hunter alias. He didn't like to use his real name, even in civilian life; his father had been a serial killer whose trial had made headlines and been all over the TV news for months, so the Kamuran name was somewhat polluted anymore. Yun didn't like to be associated with it.

"Late lunch," said Hyoku, nodding at the burrito. "Or - uh - early dinner, I guess."

"Huh?" Yun looked at the breakroom clock. 4:10. Dammit, Sun One changed it to 12 hours again. Yun spent so much time in the windowless computer control room that he frequently lost track of whether it was day or night. He kept the clocks on 24-hour mode to combat this, but Sun One preferred a 12-hour time format and complained vociferously when Yun changed the clocks. There were two Suns in service right now; Sun One, the elder, had a bad habit of pushing his agenda on the others whether they liked it or not. Yun changed the clocks to 24-hour format; Sun One changed them back; the cycle continued. Sun One was an excellent hacker, though, so Yun saw a lot of him.

"Hard job last week, man." Hyoku was talking about a minor field operation that he and Yun had been assigned to together. It had been a simple assassination; Yun hadn't really given it a second thought. But apparently Shou was still hung up on it.

"What was hard about it?" Yun said without really thinking. "Seemed pretty basic to me."

Hyoku shrugged uncomfortably. "All that blood spraying on the walls. I got some in my mouth. I hate it when you get an artery - looked like a damn horror movie."

Yun shrugged. He wished the coffee machine would percolate faster.

"I still feel like I've got that guy's blood all over me," Hyoku sighed.

Shou had a haunted look in his eyes as he watched his burrito slowly rotate. Yun would never understand that kind of attitude. They were Hunters; this was what they did. Hasham wasn't just used to death and violence, they felt normal for him - comfortable, even, like a family member one hated but considered harmless. He'd been around death as long as he could remember. His father had trained him to kill starting when he was three or four, forcing him to murder his pets; then, when Hasham got older, other humans. Yun had watched his father torture people to death in their garage, in motel rooms, in parking lots behind dumpsters, in a warehouse by the river. He'd been present when his father shot his mother, point blank, in their living room; he'd kept his composure so well that his father didn't even stop him when Hasham went to a friend's house and called the cops. He'd been present at his father's execution, too, behind a Plexiglas window, by lethal injection, surrounded by guards and the families of his father's victims. Yun himself had killed so many men in the service of the Mikado that he didn't bother to keep track of them, and he had seen his colleagues kill countless more. He didn't get how Hyoku, who was two decades older than him, could still be bothered by a bloody assassination like this. Yun felt that death and violence were just a part of life, nothing to bother about. Death couldn't be stopped or avoided; the best one could hope for was that it happened quickly.

He glanced at Hyoku; the other man was waiting for a response. Yun didn't do social interaction well. "Um- how's your kid?" he asked, wanting to change the subject and figuring that was an appropriate bit of small talk.

Shou seemed grateful for the topic change. "He's getting very good at washing dishes," he grinned.

Yun snorted, mildly bemused, and refilled his coffee cup. Hyoku's son had been acting a fool lately. He'd been given a job as a dishwasher in the Star Palace dorm's kitchens to help pay for medical bills or something for Jin's kid, who he'd beaten up for some inexplicable reason. This is why I hate kids, he thought. Too damned irrational. Even worse than adults.

He returned to the computer control room, glanced at the monitors, set down his coffee, flicked the lights back on, and went to reset the clock.

"We've got company!" It was a line from a popular movie that Yun had sampled to be one of the warning notifications in his threat-monitoring program. Surprised and annoyed, he put the clock back on the wall and slipped into the rolling chair by his workstation. Someone was, indeed, trying to access the Hunters' main computer.

Yun was about to cut off the attack when he noticed the intruder's IP address. His eyes widened. "No way."

He went to the internal chat application they all used.

I'mF*ck1nYun: yo sun1 you won't believe what's happening

He flicked through the network records, then looked at the hacker's progress. No question about it: the attacker was Takuto's kid. Impossible, he thought. Jin said he was hopeless. Fascinated, Yun allowed the boy to continue trying to hack the Hunters' mainframe, riveted by his progress. The attack was more creative than he'd have expected from a kid who'd started hacking less than a month ago. He's got a natural talent, Yun thought. Why the hell the kid had chosen to try to break into the Hunters' system, he couldn't guess. But Yun appreciated his audacity and skill.

SunChan: what's happening?

Yun was about to reply when he paused. If he ratted out Takuto's kid - what was his name, Taiga? - the kid would get in trouble. Besides, Yun really wanted to know what this Taiga was hoping to accomplish.

I'mF*ck1nYun: nvm, false alarm
SunChan: oh np

Yun sipped his coffee and watched the young hacker's progress with interest. The kid was persistent. Every time one of his back-door exploits failed, he'd try another. He worked quickly, too. After watching him spend nearly half an hour trying to get past the second layer of security on the Hunters' primary server, Yun finally couldn't stand it any longer. He laughed and shook his head at himself, thinking, I'm going to regret this, then typed a short string of commands into the terminal. He had decided to let this Taiga kid think that he had successfully hacked the Hunters' database. Then Yun would follow whatever information the boy accessed, see what he was after, and piggyback off of the connection to place a few standard monitoring scripts and trackers on the boy's computer. He was sure Taiga neither meant nor was capable of doing any harm, and Yun could easily shut down anything the kid might try that actually posed any security risk. He was too curious not to see where this was going.

Just better hope no one else finds out, he thought.

"I did it!" cried Taiga, making Suyou jump.

"You did not."

"I did! Look!" He jabbed one finger at his laptop screen. There in the terminal, extending seemingly into infinity, were the archives' many directories and files. "What's the syntax to make a query, again?"

Suyou told him, and Taiga queried "Umutoran AND Yuguraku". He frowned. "Over eight thousand results. That's insane."

"Try Ryoshuna."

"'Ryoshuna Yuguraku' AND Umutoran" narrowed the results significantly, but there were still several hundred. On a whim, Taiga amended his query to "'Ryoshuna Yuguraku' AND Umutoran AND 'Mayuna Monaeta'" and hit return.

There were six results.

"Copy them to your hard drive," said Suyou urgently. "They're going to kick us off any second."

Taiga nodded. He held his breath as he watched the progress bar, then logged out of the server as soon as the files had been moved. He and Suyou exchanged nervous glances. Just for that moment, Taiga realised, he felt a kinship with Suyou - a feeling of united purpose. Suyou might hate him, but both of them cared about Mayuna. And the fact that she was in the Hunters' database, in association with Ryoshuna and the Umutorans, gave both boys a strong sense of foreboding.

Taiga took a deep breath and opened the first file.

From his console in the Hunters' headquarters, in darkness but for the glow of the monitors, Yun watched.

Chapter Text

Suyou and Taiga stared at the last of the files on Taiga's laptop screen, both momentarily speechless.  They had read through all six - a batch file of Ryoshuna's emails, a map of the nobility's power structure, and four surveillance reports from different Hunters - and now they knew for sure: Mayuna was definitely in danger.

"Ryoshuna Yuguraku is blackmailing Lady Umutoran," said Taiga.

"Sure looks that way," said Suyou.

"She's using Mayuna to carry the messages back and forth.  She's making Mayuna be her blackmailer." 

Suyou's face was grim.  "I don't understand why the Hunters haven't stopped her.  If they know this is all happening, why let it continue?  Isn't it too dangerous?"

"I have to warn her."  Taiga pulled out his phone.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: Mayuna you cant carry messages for riyoshuna anymore
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: probly you shouldnt babysit for her either
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i cant explain via text but its rly dangerous for u to even go there
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: plz promise me youll stop right away

He waited impatiently for a reply, scowling at the phone screen.  Suyou was still staring at the laptop. 

Suddenly he let out a cry.  "Taiga!  Your computer!"

"What?"  Taiga looked up sharply.  He'd used a virtual machine to hack into the Hunters' system and had copied the files into that, just in case they were booby-trapped.  They'd been reading the files there, but the virtual machine was now gone and the app was closed.  The cursor moved on its own: someone else was controlling his laptop remotely.  A terminal shell opened and words appeared: Pull this shit again and I will erase every file on your laptop, kid.  And I'll tell your dad.

Then the computer shut down.

"Shit," said Suyou.  "I knew that was too easy."

"What was that?" Taiga asked, wide-eyed.  "We were counter-hacked?"

"Not even.  That was one of the Hunters.  They totally saw what we were doing, and for whatever reason they let us in.  But I don't know any of the active Hunters except our dads and Sun and Taga - well, Akira and Tala.  They're House Sayutan and House Sorusuku, and they're only a little older than us - I think 17 and 16.  But the grownup Hunters are all pretty scary.  Maybe they're just fucking with us.  Like as a joke."

Taiga cocked his head, his eyebrows knitted.  "Or maybe there's some political reason they can't act yet.  Against Ryoshuna, I mean.  And they want us to warn Mayuna so she can stay out of danger."  His expression was serious.  "I think that's why they let me access those files.  We're not bound by politics yet because we're still just kids.  They can't do anything - but we can, Suyou."  He would have said more, but his phone dinged.

MaMo<3: whats going on??
MaMo<3: is lady ryoshuna in danger???
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: she *is* the danger
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: cn u come over right now?
MaMo<3: sure.  just got home.  brt

Taiga visibly relaxed.  "She's okay.  She'll be here in a few minutes.  Suyou, you don't think the Hunters want us to do anything else, do you?  Like... try to catch Ryoshuna in action or something?"

"No way," said Suyou.  "Maybe you're right and they want to get Mayuna out of the picture, but we definitely are not getting involved in that inter-house shitshow.  I mean you, too.  If something happens to you and I could have stopped you?  Both your dad and mine will kill me.  No.  Mayuna's been warned; that's where our involvement ends."

Taiga didn't argue.  In all honesty, he didn't give a crap what happened to this Yuguraku or that Umutoran.  All he cared about was his immediate family - what was left of it.  And that included Mayuna.

"Taiga?"  She had come in the front door; he called her into the dining room.  "Oh!" she said, stopping in the dining-room doorway when she saw Suyou.  "What are you doing here, Suyou?"

"Greetings, Lady Monaeta," said Suyou with an overdramatic bow.  "I told you, I've been giving Taiga lessons.  I'm his tutor."

Mayuna glanced sideways at Taiga.  He had mentioned Suyou was tutoring him in 'computer stuff', but had been vague about what, when, and why.  "You're still doing that?" she asked, clearly meaning the question for him and not Suyou.  "Even on the weekend?"  Suyou started to answer, but Taiga preempted him.

"Yeah, til I'm better," he said.  "Look, Mayuna, you have to tell Lady Ryoshuna that you quit."

"Quit?  But I only just started!  Taiga, this job is really important for increasing our family standing-"

"I know," he said quickly.  "But your life could be in danger.  Ryoshuna is blackmailing that Umutoran lady.  That's what all the packages are.  If she gets caught, she'll just lay all the blame on you.  Please, Mayuna.  I know this job is a big deal and stuff, but if something were to happen to you-"  Then I wouldn't have anyone left, he thought but didn't say; his dad didn't really count.  "...I don't want to lose anyone else."

She seemed to understand.  Shockingly, so did Suyou.  Taiga felt the other boy's hand on his arm and started.

"Look, man... Touji was my friend.  I guess I should have just told you that.  We trained together.  I miss him, too."

"Trained, how?" said Mayuna, her eyes narrowed.  "Touji never mentioned you..."

"For- sports," Suyou stammered.  "Whatever, you two didn't know everything about him.  I'm trying to be nice, here!  Shit, can't I do anything right?  I- I mean, uh - crap."  His face reddened.  "Whatever.  Taiga's right, Lady Monaeta.  Ryoshuna Yuguraku is seriously bad news and you need to jump that ship like it was on fire."

"How do you guys know this?"  Mayuna looked from one boy to the other, confused and suspicious.

"My dad told me," said Taiga while Suyou was still fumbling for a response.  "He's in the Imperial Guard.  He hears stuff.  Please, Mayuna.  We can find you a different job - a better one.  Please promise me you won't go back there."

Her eyebrows furrowed, but Mayuna nodded.  "Okay.  If you're that worried, Taiga, I'll tell my mom tonight that I don't want to go back to Yuguraku House."

"Don't tell her about the blackmail thing," said Suyou.

Mayuna sighed, sounding just a little annoyed.  "Fine.  I'll tell her I just don't like the job.  But I promise I won't go back.  Okay?"

Both boys nodded, accidentally in unison.  "Thank you," said Taiga.

"Sure.  But if my mom gets mad, I'm blaming you."

Chapter Text

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: did u tell ur mom??
MaMo<3: yeah
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: how'd it go?  did she take it ok???
MaMo<3: i told mom and dad at dinner.  theyre pretty angry
MaMo<3: mom kept saying what a priceless opportunity this is and how could I throw it away
MaMo<3: dad kept wanting to know why
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: what did u tell them?
MaMo<3: that ryoshuna is mean
MaMo<3: and that ur dad said hed get me a newer better job
MaMo<3: dad bought it but u better talk to ur dad asap
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i will i promise
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: please just trust me on this tho
MaMo<3: I AM gosh
MaMo<3: but mom says i have to tell ryoshuna i quit in person
MaMo<3: imma tell her im sick otherwise she'll def kill me
MaMo<3: lady ryoshuna i mean
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: if it gets u away from her its worth it 🙁
MaMo<3: sigh
MaMo<3: i hope u know what ur doin

At her mother's insistence, Mayuna dressed in her second-best furisode for the visit to Yuguraku House the next day.  Her mother fussed over her, as did Mikoto, Mayuna's nanny and maid.  They tied and retied her blue silk obi at least ten times before they decided it looked presentable enough.  Mayuna carried an apology gift, a pretty lacquer box of Rotan-style shortbread cookies in the shapes of flowers, which her mother had made the night before.  Remembering the look of fear and gravity that had been on Taiga's face when he told her to stop working for Ryoshuna, Mayuna felt a tremor of anxiety run through her body.  She knew that Lady Ryoshuna would be mad that Mayuna was quitting; she just hoped that Lady Ryoshuna wouldn't be so mad that she'd try to get revenge.

Mayuna was surprised, then, when Lady Ryoshuna's response to Mayuna's apologetic resignation was a magnanimous, "Never mind it, dear girl.  If the work is too much for your delicate constitution, it can't be helped.  My niece will be sad to see you go."

"That went much more easily than expected," said Mayuna's mother cheerfully as the pair left the Yuguraku manor, Mikoto and Kim following them.

It did, Mayuna thought.  So why was she still nervous?

Chapter Text

The next day was Monday. During class, the teacher broke the students into virtual rooms to work on a new group project, and by chance Mayuna ended up in a group with Taiga, Suyou, and another girl. At first, given what had happened between Suyou and Taiga, Mayuna assumed this would be a recipe for disaster - but to her surprise, the two seemed to work well together. At one point Taiga laughed at one of Suyou's jokes, and at another Suyou offered to look up something for Taiga while Taiga helped the girls set up a shared workspace online. Mayuna was amazed. Maybe the 'computer stuff' tutoring was actually working to mend the boys' relationship. Taiga had told her that had been Lord Amusuran's goal in making them spend time together, but she'd never believed it would succeed. I guess miracles do happen, she thought with a grin.

After class was over, Mayuna had a snack and did her homework. She finished early. Normally Mayuna would be going over to Yuguraku House right now to babysit, but now she suddenly had no obligations, and she was briefly stumped as to what to do next. She didn't have many hobbies of her own; in the past, before her job with Lady Ryoshuna, she'd spent most of her free time playing with Touji and Taiga, or helping Mikoto with chores around the house. But there were no chores at the moment, and Touji... She chose not to think about Touji just now. Taiga's probably doing tutoring with Suyou, she thought, glancing at her phone. Maybe I can get a head start on our class readings.

As she opened her laptop to check the class website, her phone buzzed.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i rly need 2 c u rite now

Huh, maybe things didn't go so well with Suyou today, she wondered.

MaMo<3: whats wrong??
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: i got in a fight with my dad
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: im at the park on maple and torinaki blvd
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: plz come rite away
MaMo<3: ok i'll b right there

It seemed a little weird that he'd be all the way over by Torinaki Boulevard. Had he gotten a new bike? He shouldn't be riding a bike with a broken rib, she thought, frowning. Still, if his dad had tried to hurt him, Taiga might have fled the only way he could, broken rib or not. I hope he's all right...

Kim, Mikoto's husband, was in the yard, mulching the roses. "Lady Mayuna," he called when he saw her hurry past. "Where are you going?"

"To the park. I've got my phone with me," she added, holding it up for him to see.

"Castle Park?"

"No, the one on Maple and Torinaki."

Kim frowned. "That's a bit far, don't you think? Will you be able to get there and back by dinner?"

Mayuna shrugged. "I've gotta run."

"Wait," Kim said, standing up from the flowerbed. "Lady Mayuna. Why do you have to be at that park in such a rush?"

Mayuna hesitated. Deciding that it might be better to tell someone than to try and keep things secret, she explained about the text from Taiga and her suspicions about Lord Amusuran. She told Kim about the mysterious bruises and Taiga's weird, evasive replies to her questions about his dad. Maybe a servant wasn't the right person to tell, but Mayuna felt suddenly desperate, and she was sick of burying her concerns; the whole story came tumbling out in a rush. "I'm scared something might have happened. I really need to get out there before his dad finds him. So, please-"

"I'll drive you," said Kim, interrupting her. His expression had grown dark; he looked dangerous. "Come on, it sounds like there's no time to lose."

Kim popped into the house long enough to tell Mikoto where he and Mayuna were going. They kissed quickly, and Mikoto waved at Mayuna. "Hurry home," she said. "You don't want to miss supper."

Kim drove quickly. The Monaetas weren't rich enough to afford many servants, so Kim served as bodyguard, gardener, and chauffeur, while his wife Mikoto was nanny, maid, and attendant to Mayuna and her mother, and the cook doubled as the attendant for Lord Monaeta and Sanji, Mayuna's older brother. The family's minimal staff meant that Mayuna knew all three servants well; she spoke with them more often than she did Sanji. Most nobles didn't have to do chores, like her - but she'd rather have a few servants who felt like family than a whole mess of servants she didn't know.

When they reached the park, Kim pulled into the parking area and Mayuna texted Taiga.

MaMo<3: i'm here.  where are u?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: where r u?
MaMo<3: in the parking lot

Mayuna and Kim got out of the car. She looked around. This park was one she hadn't been to much, a large forested area where people often came to walk their dogs, right on the border between Upper and Middle Ougi, and next to one of the rivers that formed the edges of the Kousenkyo city limits. She couldn't guess where Taiga might be. There weren't many cars in the parking lot, and she couldn't see any people, or even bikes, from where she stood. This was a big park; she and Kim couldn't search the whole place without any idea where to start. She glanced at her phone again, but there was no reply. She frowned. What was taking him so long?

"Can I help you?" she heard Kim say. She looked up and saw a strange man walking up to the car.

"I'm looking for Mayuna Monaeta."

Kim straightened, frowning. Mayuna darted over. "Have you spoken to Taiga?" she asked eagerly. Kim stepped in front of her, pushing her back and putting himself between her and the man. "Who are you and what's your business?" Kim asked coolly.

"I have a message for the girl," said the stranger.

"Miss, get back in the car," said Kim.

Mayuna glanced from Kim to the stranger, suddenly afraid. She cast another furtive look at her phone; still no answer. Taiga didn't send this man, she thought, feeling stupid and anxious. He wouldn't do that. Something's happened. She remembered how worried he'd been about Lady Ryoshuna and had a terrible thought. What if he'd been kidnapped and forced to send those texts to lure her here? What if this was all some terrible trap? What if he's dead?

"Kim, let's leave," she warbled, inching back along the front of the car. She dialed Emergency Services, her hands shaking.

A second later, before the call could complete, someone snatched the phone out of her grasp. Kim lunged towards Mayuna, but before he could reach the man who had taken her phone, there was a loud, crackling sound, and he gave a strangled cry and fell to the ground. Mayuna would have screamed but at that moment a hand clamped over her mouth. There are three of them?! The hand on her face was holding a wet rag, and suddenly Mayuna's lungs filled with a sweet, toxic solvent smell, like car exhaust mixed with cleaning products. She felt instantly light-headed; she tried to struggle free but her body reacted like a limp noodle. It was a trap, all along, she thought, praying that Kim was still alive... and Taiga. Ten no Kami... save us... Her lungs filled with chemicals; an arm looped around her body as she swooned and went under.

"Come on," said the man holding Mayuna. He lifted her bodily and carried her to one of the cars in the lot. "Bring the man, too - and Garou, you get his car. Hurry up."

The first man dragged Kim to the Monaetas' car and shoved him into the trunk with the help of the second. The one who'd given the orders climbed into the back seat of a grimy hatchback with Mayuna over one arm. His accomplices took the wheels of this car and the Monaeta car, and the two cars drove away, one behind the other. No one saw them leave.

Chapter Text

"I'd bet you anything your computer's bugged now," Suyou said as soon as he entered the dining room; he didn't even bother to say hello.  "We'll have to do a complete system restore - hell, we might even need to flash the BiOS, just to be absolutely sure."

"Nice to see you, too," said Taiga.  "Whatever, I don't care if the Hunters are monitoring my computer.  If they want to watch our classes and read my schoolwork, they can be my guest."

"You really want them watching you look at porn?"

Taiga was horrified.  "Why would I be looking at porn?  What kind of a guy do think I am?"

Suyou made a face.

Halfway through the lesson, Suyou noticed that Taiga wasn't paying attention; instead, he was watching his phone.  Suyou made a grumbling sound and cleared his throat loudly.  "Are you gonna listen or what?  Need I remind you, your dad mandated these lessons.  So if you want me to tell him you're slacking off..."

Taiga lifted his head.  His face was serious.  He held up his phone so Suyou could see what was on the screen - a text from Mayuna.

MaMo<3: i think lady ryoshuna figured out i know smth
MaMo<3: im rly scared
MaMo<3: i need 2 talk 2 u
MaMo<3: face 2 face, phone isnt safe

"Shit," said Suyou.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: ill be over right away
MaMo<3: im not at my house
MaMo<3: im at Castle Park
MaMo<3: hurry

Taiga turned on Suyou with a look of fury.  "She's at Castle Park.  How the fuck am I supposed to get there without a bike, huh?  God dammit, Suyou-"

"You've got two cars, right?  Where does your dad keep his car keys?"

Taiga frowned; his voice shook when he spoke.  "No.  You're not driving Mom's car.  Even Dad doesn't drive it."

"What's more important?" asked Suyou, his tone grim, his eyes like steel.  "Your mom's car?  Or Mayuna's life?"

Taiga closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he nodded. Wordlessly the two boys rushed out the front door, Taiga pausing just long enough to snatch his mom's car keys from the family altar. He was shaking all over. They reached the garage, and Taiga handed the keys to Suyou. He didn't even question whether Suyou knew how to drive; all he could think about was that they were using Mom's car, which hadn't left this garage since her death - and that Mayuna was in trouble.

Inside, Suyou took a moment readjusting the seat and the mirrors. Taiga wanted to tell him to stop - that was how Mom wanted it, he couldn't change it, it wasn't right - but he choked back his protests. Mayuna is more important, he told himself.

His brain shot back, What are the two of us going to do? How are we supposed to protect her? We're just kids.

With a clenching sensation around his heart, Taiga dashed off another text - this one to his father.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: got a text from mayuna - shes in trouble. she's at castle park. i think her life might be in danger. plz come and bring hunters. ill explain later.

He prayed his father wouldn't murder him. But even if he did... Mayuna's safety was more important.

The car smelled musty after years of disuse... and like Mom. Taiga knew Dad came out here sometimes and just sat in the car - that he turned it on sometimes and sat inside with the doors shut and the engine running, listening to the CD Mom had been listening to on her last day alive. Just like Taiga had gone to the treehouse when he wanted to be totally alone, Dad came out to Mom's car. For Taiga to be in here - and worse, for Suyou to be in the driver's seat - Mom's seat - felt like sacrilege. Mom, he thought, trembling, forgive me... and please let her be okay.

Suyou drove with surprising caution. Taiga wanted to tell him to drive faster, but he realised that Suyou had probably not had much practice behind the wheel of a car - Taiga himself hadn't even driven once - so he decided it was best not to distract him. If they crashed, they'd definitely never get to Mayuna before Ryoshuna did, and their desecrating Mom's car would have been for nothing.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: where in the park r you?
MaMo<3: by the ruins.  hurry.

When they reached Castle Park, what seemed an eternity later, Suyou pulled into the parking area, and the two boys took off running. Taiga gritted his teeth against the ache in his side. It had been a little over two weeks since Suyou attacked him; his cracked ribs were still tender. But any time he felt like slowing or the pain felt too much, he repeated to himself, Mayuna's life is more important, and kept running.

When they reached the ruins, Mayuna was nowhere in sight.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: where exactly are u?

No response came. "I'll climb up," said Suyou. "You check down here. Shout if you find her."

Taiga nodded. His broken rib was crying in pain; Suyou could probably see it in his face and knew how difficult it would be for Taiga to get up the ruin in this state. Suyou could climb much faster alone.

Taiga followed the path along the moat, but he saw no one. He turned around and trotted back to where he'd left Suyou. There was a man reading the informational plaque. "Excuse me!" Taiga called. "Have you seen a teenage girl? She's about this tall, dark hair, about my age?"

The man glanced up and walked over to him. "Are you Taiga Amusuran?"

Taiga's eyebrows knitted; he took a step back. "How do you know that?"

"And this girl, her name is Mayuna?"

Shit. "Suyou!" Taiga shouted. "Help! Hurry!" The man ran at him; Taiga tried to dodge back but at that moment a second man emerged from behind a shrub and blocked the way. Taiga snatched a stone off the ground and threw it hard at the one who'd spoken to him; he hit the man in the eye, and the man howled an obscenity. Taiga ran past him, but the second man jump-tackled him to the ground, landing on top of him and making him cry out as he felt his rib break again. "Suyou!" he almost shrieked.

The second man picked him up off the ground and started dragging him towards the edge of the moat. Taiga fought violently; his vision was swimming from pain; he broke free but was grabbed again, clawed at the man's eyes but was rebuffed, dug his feet into the ground with no effect. The man was going to throw him off the side of the moat, he was sure of it. Mayuna, he thought desperately, please be alive. Please don't be at the bottom of the cliff.

All at once he heard a harsh grunt; Suyou had finally appeared, and he kicked the first man in the head and gut and knees, spinning and striking like a whirlwind. A second later the man holding Taiga screamed and suddenly let go, and Taiga scrambled away as fast as he could, clutching his side.

"Are you all right?" It was the boy, Sun, that had been at Umutoran house the other day dressed like a girl. Sun held a pistol with a suppressor affixed to the muzzle. Taiga glanced back and saw that his assailant was writhing on the ground, blood soaking the knee of his jeans and spewing, horror-movie-style, from one arm.

"Holy shit," gasped Taiga. He turned back to Sun, his eyes wide. "You just shot that guy!"

"He was going to kill you." Sun frowned. "You're hurt."

"I don't know." Taiga explained about the busted ribs Suyou had given him. "I think they just broke again. It hurts like it."

"Here." Sun reached into a coat pocked and handed Taiga a foil-wrapped tablet. "It's for pain. Chew it first and swallow it like an antiacid." He turned back towards Suyou. The man Suyou had been fighting lay senseless on the ground. "You okay, Suyou-chan?"

"Fine," snapped Suyou. "What are you doing here, Akira?"

"Taiga texted Jin and said that girl Mayuna was in trouble. Where is she? Are we too late?"

"I don't know. I couldn't find her."

"I don't think she was ever here," said Taiga, wincing. "I think... I think we've been tricked. I don't think those texts came from her at all."

"If that's the case, we need to get back to HQ right away," said Sun. He pulled something that looked like a walkie-talkie off of his belt and spoke into it, leading the two younger boys back towards the parking lot. "Dad, I need police dispatched here right away - two thugs, one injured, one unconscious. And I need a trace on a phone. Mayuna Monaeta. Her number's been spoofed."

"You need her location?"

"Yep, ASAP. Her life is almost certainly in danger."

Chapter Text

By the time they reached the parking lot, the pain in Taiga's side had dulled to the point he could mostly ignore it; whatever Sun had given him had clearly taken effect. A couple of police cars pulled in just as Sun, Taiga, and Suyou arrived, and Sun jogged over to speak briefly to the officers.

A different man walked over to Suyou and Taiga; he was thin and looked like a criminal, with at least six visible tattoos on his arms and hands, long hair and a cold expression. "You must be Hyoku's kid," he said to Suyou.

Suyou nodded uncertainly.

"Yun," said the man, by way of introduction. His eyes swept over Taiga. "And you're Jin's. You look just like your old man."

Taiga looked at the ground.

"Okay," said Sun, running over. The cops were racing up the path to the ruins, presumably to arrest Ryoshuna's thugs. "I've got a trace on the girl's phone's GPS location. It's moving."

Wordlessly, Yun slipped behind the wheel of a black sports car with tinted windows. "Get in," Sun said urgently, sliding into the front passenger seat. Taiga and Suyou hurriedly hopped into the back, and a moment later the car was tearing down the road at breakneck pace. The boys exchanged a fearful glance. Ryoshuna was rich and powerful and clearly unscrupulous enough to commit murder to cover up her crimes. If she'd known to go after Taiga, she'd obviously been monitoring Mayuna's texts; she'd spoofed Mayuna's number to lure Taiga to the park, where he would have 'accidentally' fallen off the edge of the moat if he hadn't thought to call in the Hunters for help. It seemed pretty clear Ryoshuna would try something similar with Mayuna, too - probably already had.

Please, please don't let us be too late, thought Taiga.

Hoping against hope that she hadn't yet been attacked, Taiga texted Mayuna's phone - not a reply, but a new message, directly to her number.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: where are you??? call me if u can

He waited, his eyes riveted to his phone. But no reply came - no call, no text. In the front seat, Sun was fiddling with the magazine of his gun - replacing the bullets he'd used at Castle Park. Suyou was staring out the window, drumming his fingers against his thighs and jiggling both knees incessantly. Taiga clenched and unclenched his hands, then looked at his phone again. Nothing.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: please call me

"Take a left here," said Sun. His voice was taut and sharp, quite unlike the friendly tone he'd used every other time Taiga had heard him speak. He's scared, too, thought Taiga. Did Sun know something Taiga and Suyou didn't? ...Was Mayuna already dead?

Taiga called her. The phone rang once, then hung up. He tried again; this time the call ended immediately. When he tried a third time, the call went straight to voicemail.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: please be ok

The message sat there, sending, sending... but not going through. Then it stopped sending, and an autoreply text appeared, one that send a bolt of ice down Taiga's spine: "The customer you are trying to reach is temporarily out of service." It was the same message he'd gotten each time he unthinkingly sent a text to Touji. He saw it and could think only one thing: She's dead. We're too late.

"She has to be okay," he whispered.

Taiga felt Suyou's hand on his arm and looked up sharply. Suyou's face was grim, but he nodded. "She'll be fine," he said. "She will be."

Taiga nodded quickly. He put his phone away and tried to draw on Suyou's confidence, but his heart was sinking with every passing minute.

"Take the next right," Sun said. "The signal's stopped moving - should be just ahead." He'd been giving directions this whole time; Taiga had no idea how long they'd been driving for, but it felt like centuries. The car was well outside Upper Ougi now - in fact, it looked like they were outside the city altogether. The road was paved, and there were sidewalks and streetlights... but, eerily, no houses. It was some kind of abandoned development on one of the hills above the city. There were holes for foundations, where the houses would have gone, but they were overgrown with brush and dead grass.

"Ready," said Yun. "Seatbelts, kids."

He braked hard; the car did a ninety-degree pivot and slammed to a halt. Sun and Yun were out of the vehicle before the dust cleared. Once their seatbelts were off, Suyou and Taiga were a half-breath behind.

They were at the end of a cul de sac at the edge of the development. Two cars were parked here, a battered hatchback and a sedan - Mayuna's family car. Ryoshuna's men had heard the car approaching; at least one had taken cover behind the hatchback, and Taiga heard gunfire being exchanged between him and Sun, but he was totally focused on crossing the cul de sac and diving for one of the foundation holes. He'd heard a scream. It sounded like Mayuna.

The moment the boy leapt over the edge of the hole, he saw a bald man blanketed in tattoos, cursing and trying to push a girl into the muddy water that had collected at the bottom of the pit. He's trying to drown Mayuna! Unthinking, Taiga snatched up a rock the size of a fist and threw it at the man as hard as he could. It hit the man squarely in the head, making him bellow and drop Mayuna. He whirled, but before he could advance a knife flew past Taiga and embedded in the man's chest.

The man fell backwards into the water. Yun skidded down into the hole to retrieve his knife and make sure the man was disabled; Taiga was already at Mayuna's side.

"Are you okay?" He was breathing so hard he could barely get the words out.

She nodded weakly. "Kim- they have Kim..."

"Who's Kim?" Yun.

"He's- um..." Mayuna's eyes were unfocused; she seemed disoriented. Supporting her, Taiga glanced towards Yun. "He's their family bodyguard. And chauffeur."

Yun nodded and vanished over the edge of the pit. Taiga helped Mayuna climb out, holding her upright and pushing branches out of the way. She stumbled and he caught her. They must have drugged her, he decided. He heard another gunshot but it sounded distant. He hoped Kim was okay.

By the time they were back at street level, Taiga's side had begun to ache again from the effort of half-carrying Mayuna up the steep sides of the foundation pit. Suyou ran over to help; he caught Mayuna's other side, and Taiga found himself grateful for the help, rather than jealous, which surprised him. Sun was zip-tying one of the gunmen's hands behind him, but Yun was nowhere in sight.

"Let's sit down here," said Taiga. He and Suyou lowered Mayuna to the curb of the cul de sac, and Taiga sat next to her, one arm still around her to keep her from falling backwards. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and nodded, though she looked uncertain and still a little fuzzy. "Are you?" she asked.

"Yeah, more or less. Ryoshuna tried to get us both at the same time; she must have been monitoring your phone, so she knew I told you she was dangerous. Guess she decided to shut us both up for good." Mayuna didn't say anything; he could feel her shuddering and wondered if maybe she were in shock. "Suyou, maybe you could-"

He never finished his sentence.

In the next instant so many things happened at once that Taiga could barely comprehend what was going on. He felt something hit him in the arm; he heard gunfire; he saw Suyou fall or throw himself to the pavement; someone yelled, "Get down!" so Taiga pushed Mayuna down flat against the sidewalk and followed a moment later, and for a while they lay there and all he could hear was his own breathing as he tried to parse what was happening. Then his arm began to hurt - bad. There was a burning sensation all the way through the muscle just below his shoulder. He glanced at Mayuna and saw blood on her jeans and her shirt.

Suddenly he didn't care if he was supposed to stay down or not. "Sun! Yun!" he yelled, sitting bolt upright. "Mayuna's been shot!"

Chapter Text

The two Hunters were there in an instant. Yun had gone into the woods in search of the chauffeur; he'd found him, but there had been another gunman with him, and the gunman had taken off before Yun could grab him. Yun chased him back to the cul de sac, but the gunman opened fire on the kids before Yun got a clear shot on him. The chauffeur's body was still lying in the woods; Yun hadn't checked to see if he was alive or dead. That would have to wait: Jin's son was calling for help.

Taiga was leaning over Mayuna, wild-eyed and panicked. Blood was streaming down his right arm, but he didn't seem to notice. The girl's eyes were fluttering; her clothes were drenched in blood. Sun had already run to the car to get a first aid kit. Taiga looked up at Yun. "We need an ambulance," he said, his voice cracking. "Call an ambulance."

Yun nodded. Taiga turned back to the girl, gripping her hand in his and saying her name, trying to wake her. She whispered his name in return, but it was obvious that she was in a seriously bad way. Yun had seen many people shot over the years; he guessed the girl would be dead in half an hour or so without medical attention. Grimly he snatched the radio from his belt and called headquarters.

"Report." It was Jin's voice; he sounded strained.

"Need helicopter evac, stat. The girl's been shot. Ambulance won't get here fast enough." He gave their location. "Someone inform General to have a trauma team on the pad when we get there."

"Taga's on his way," said Jin. "And the boys?"

"Injured, but not life-threatening."

"Copy. I'll meet you at the hospital."

Sun was crouched over the girl, applying pressure to her abdomen to stop the bleeding. Hyoku's son must have hit his head on the pavement when he dove for cover; he stirred and sat up, then tried to stand and hissed a curse word. Yun noticed now that he, too, had been caught in the crossfire; his leg was bleeding, though nowhere near as profusely as the others' wounds.

"You okay?" Yun asked, going to Suyou since he couldn't help the girl.

"Am I going to be able to walk again?"

Yun bent and looked at the injury. "You were just grazed. You ought to be more concerned about the concussion."

Suyou didn't seem to hear him; his eyes were riveted to Mayuna. "Is she-" His voice faltered.

"Help is coming," said Yun. Remembering the chauffeur, he jogged back into the forest. The man was on his feet, eyes glazed, stumbling down the hillside towards the cul de sac. Yun intercepted him and explained the situation, pulling the man - Kim - along with him. Yun could hear the helicopter approaching and wanted to be there when Taga landed.

As they jogged out of the woods, Yun had to grip Kim hard to keep him from being knocked over by the helicopter's rotor wash. Then he let go of the chauffeur and ran down to the others, his ponytail whipping around his face. Sun was helping Rai lift the girl into the chopper's passenger bay; Taiga was practically stepping on Sun's heels, he was following so close. Suyou looked a little lost.

"Go on, Yun," said Rai, after he'd started a fluid IV and made sure the girl was secure. "Sun and I will take care of things here. Jin and the chief will want details."

Yun nodded and hopped into the helicopter while Sun went to tend to Suyou. Taiga had already climbed in - without asking, Yun observed with a frown - and was lying on the floor next to the injured girl as if they were at a sleepover, holding her hand, keeping pressure on her wound and speaking to her in low, urgent tones: "Stay awake, Mayuna. We're going to the hospital and we'll be there any second - just hold on, just stay with me-" Yun slammed the door shut and gave Taga a thumbs-up, and the chopper lifted into the air.

Yun wasn't much of a medic; that was Rai, but there was probably nothing that could be done for the girl except getting her to Kousenkyo General Hospital as quickly as possible. Otherwise Rai would be here instead. Jin's son didn't even seem to notice Yun was there. He kept up his monologue with the girl; Yun saw her eyelids flicker a few times and her fingers move against the boy's, but she was fading fast. Yun could tell that Taga was pushing the chopper to its limits. He said a silent prayer to Ten no Kami or whoever might be listening that they would make it to the hospital before the girl died.

The whole ride lasted less than five minutes. It felt like years. Watching Jin's son and the girl lying there, bleeding buckets onto the helicopter's floor, Yun felt his emotions stir. He had always thought himself immune to sadness and sympathy - death was just a part of life. But here, now, completely unexpectedly, Yun's heart sped up, his throat felt tight, he found himself blinking and his eyes had gone hot. He was genuinely concerned for these two children whom he'd never even met before today. Why? Because they're kids? Because he's Jin's kid and the girl's his fiancée? He couldn't understand it.

Then suddenly they were there, on the helipad on the roof of the hospital, and Yun had the door open and doctors were racing over with a gurney to get the girl and rush her into surgery. Taiga tried to follow, but a male nurse held him back. As the helicopter left, Yun told the nurse that the boy's father would be here soon. "He's been shot, too," he added, gesturing at Taiga's bleeding arm.

The nurse nodded. "Come on, son, let's get that wound taken care of."

"I have to stay with Mayuna," Taiga mumbled, trying to pull loose.

"You'll be able to see her once she's out of surgery. Come on. Sir," he added, turning to Yun, "come with us, please. I may need you to answer some questions."

Taiga felt like he was floating for the next few hours. He tried to answer the nurse's questions about himself and Mayuna, but he couldn't seem to focus; he was grateful when the Hunter, Yun, answered for him. He was surprised that Yun knew so much about him and Mayuna until he remembered that the Hunters were monitoring his computer and had been watching Mayuna since she began working for Ryoshuna. Every time he thought of his friend and fiancée, he felt a gut-wrenching sensation of falling. Mom went to the hospital and never came back. Touji died in the hospital. What if Mayuna doesn't survive the operation? How badly is she hurt? I have to do something - there has to be something I can do...

The same refrains raced around the inside of his skull like a bullet train on a circular track, around and around, moving faster and faster til he felt his head would burst. The nurse gave him several injections - a tetanus shot, an antibiotic, some kind of anesthetic. He had to take off his shirt and pants so the nurse could check for other injuries, because he had so much of Mayuna's blood on him. The nurse let him put his pants back on, but only after he'd been given a bunch of x-rays. When the doctor arrived, she explained that the bullet had, by good fortune, missed the bone and the major blood vessels in his arm. It had passed through without leaving any pieces behind, too, but she still had to clean the wound, and he'd need stitches in a few days, after they were sure there'd be no infection. She made him lay down on the exam table with his arm out while she worked. It should have hurt, he reflected; but the anesthetic was working marvellously; he felt tugging but not much else.

The doctor bandaged his arm and smiled. "There, you'll be just fine."

"What about Mayuna?"

"Is she the girl who came in with you?"

Taiga nodded.

"She's still in surgery," said the doctor. "As soon as you can see her, someone will let you know, okay?"

The nurse brought several cans of apple juice and a packet of cookies after the doctor left. He told Taiga to finish all of them. "You've lost a lot of blood, so you need to be sure you drink a lot to replace it, or we might have to put you on an IV and keep you here overnight."

Taiga nodded, numb. He asked about Mayuna again and the nurse gave him the same response as the doctor.

He'd just finished the last of the cookies and juice when his father burst through the door of the tiny room, looking nearly as wild-eyed and frantic as Taiga felt. Taiga was still sitting on the exam table. Yun was in a chair against the wall; he rose to greet the other Hunter, but Takuto ignored him. He made a beeline for his son.

And smacked him across the face.

Taiga almost fell off the exam table. He dropped the empty apple juice can; it clattered loudly on the floor.

"Don't you ever, ever do something so stupid, ever again!" Dad roared. "Stealing your mother's car? Getting caught in the middle of a gunfight? Interfering with an imperial security investigation?! You might have been killed! If the Monaeta girl dies, it'll be your fault! Do you understand that?"

Taiga cowered back, staring up at his father in terror. The train in his head derailed and exploded in a fiery wreck. Tears spilled down his cheeks; he was suddenly shaking so hard he could hear his teeth chattering. He wanted to talk back to his father but the words wouldn't come. He tried to shout that Mom wouldn't have wanted Dad to put the sanctity of her car over Mayuna's safety, but his mouth wouldn't move and his throat felt like it was full of cement.

"You should never have involved yourself in Hunter business. If you hadn't told Mayuna to quit her job with the Yugurakus, Ryoshuna would never have ordered her death - and using a public phone line to warn her? I thought you were smarter than that!"

That's a lie. You tell me all the time how stupid I am. Taiga's throat seemed to close up even further. If we didn't warn her, who would have? You knew she was in danger and you just let it happen- you don't care about anything or anyone, and you were using her to spy on Ryoshuna just like she was a pawn on a tarzu board. You never care. You're heartless and cruel and dead inside, and I hate you. The words were there, screaming in his mind, but he sat there, rooted to the spot, unable to make a sound, staring speechless while Dad ripped him apart.

"You've ruined the whole investigation. Now everyone's scrambling to nail Ryoshuna before she can destroy the evidence of her blackmail, if she hasn't already. And all because of your brash, bullheaded idiocy! How many times have I told you to think before you act? Dammit, Taiga! You've done a lot of stupid, reckless things, but this takes the cake. Our ability to ensure the security of the Mikado's future daughter-in-law is in jeopardy because of you. Mayuna's life is in jeopardy because of you! You're lucky you're not in her place-"

"Jin." Yun set a hand on Dad's arm. "That's enough."

Dad whirled on him, knocking the hand away. "Don't tell me how to raise my son," he all but snarled.

"Then stop blaming him for something that isn't his fault. Taiga and Suyou knew the girl was in danger; they did what they thought was right. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I leaked the fact that Mayuna was being used in the blackmail plot to the boys. If I hadn't, they'd never have guessed, and none of this would have happened." Dad started to interrupt, but Yun kept talking, his voice calm, his demeanour totally nonplussed. "It's true Ryoshuna moved up her timeline because she was found out, but you and I both know she'd have tried to knock off the girl as soon as she stopped being useful. At least this way, the Umutorans are safe."

Takuto looked like he might tear Yun's head from his body with his bare hands. Before Dad could light into him, though, there was a knock on the door, and a moment later it opened. In walked, of all people, Suyou. Hastily Taiga scrubbed at his face with one arm to hide his tears; he couldn't stand the thought of Suyou seeing him in such a compromised state. The other boy's head was bandaged; one leg of his jeans had been cut off at the knee and his leg was bandaged, too. He froze when he stepped inside. "Oh! L-lord Amusuran!" Hastily he bowed in half at the waist. "Lord Amusuran, I apologize for- for borrowing your car without your permission- and-"

"Jin," said Yun, "let's continue our discussion outside."

Dad was glaring at Suyou; now he glared at Yun. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"And I will. But I want the chief to hear it, too. Let's find a conference room somewhere. We'll call him and I'll explain everything."

The two men left. Suyou straightened, looking very unlike himself. Scared, Taiga realised. Like a balloon after all the helium had leaked away.

"Hey..." said Suyou slowly, "um... are you okay?"

"Fine," Taiga lied.

"Uh... that's cool. I have a concussion. I'm not supposed to run or think too hard or even read or watch TV for the next few days. And I had to have eighteen stitches on my leg."

There was an awkward pause.

"Look," said Suyou, rubbing his neck and looking at the ground. "I'm sure she'll be fine. The doctors here, they're really good. My cousin... she had cancer. And they did an operation to remove it, and now she's totally fine. She wasn't that much older than us when they did it. If they saved her life, they'll definitely save Mayuna."

"Yeah," said Taiga.

He felt so weak all of a sudden that he lay down on the exam table, convinced that he might faint otherwise. He wanted to hit himself. Why couldn't I say anything to Dad? Why could Yun speak up to him, but I couldn't? Am I a coward?

"Um... my parents will be here soon to get me. But... um. Well, uh, if you need to talk or anything... I'm- You've got my phone number. And you can call me. And talk." Another awkward pause. "So... so I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Taiga heard the door creak and then click shut. Suyou had left. He wondered if Suyou thought they were friends now. Maybe they were. ...At least they weren't enemies anymore, either way.

It's your fault if Mayuna dies.

His father's words rang in his head, unbidden. He knew it was true. Dad and the other Hunters had been wrong to let Mayuna remain in danger when they knew what could - what would happen. Taiga knew that he and Suyou had been right to warn her. But I did it all wrong. No wonder Ryoshuna figured it out. And I should have been more careful - I should have guessed Mayuna's phone might have been hacked. Dad's right - I am smarter than this. If Mayuna dies, it will be because of me.

Shit! He sat up abruptly, suddenly remembering that he hadn't called her parents to let them know what had happened. A wave of dizziness crashed into him and sent him flopping back against the exam table again. Where was his phone? He had to call right away. He didn't know what time it was, but that didn't matter. It must be the middle of the night right now - they must be worried sick... He felt his pockets for his phone, but it wasn't there. Come to think of it, when did he last have it? Did I leave it at the abandoned development? No- the car. He'd left his phone in Yun's car when he and Suyou jumped out to find Mayuna. Which meant he couldn't contact Mayuna's parents and tell them that their daughter was in the hospital, and that it was his fault. They would spend the entire night in terror for Mayuna's safety, waiting for her and Kim to return, while Mayuna was dying on an operating table alone.

That last thought was too much for him. His eyes felt like they were on fire; the next second, he was crying, struggling to strangle his sobs so that the people outside the door wouldn't hear. I'm useless, he thought. Please- To whom could he pray? Not Ten no Kami; he'd done nothing for Touji, or for Mom. Taishi, his legendary grandfather, had never known Mayuna, so he didn't seem like a good choice either.

Touji.

He thought of his brother's face, grinning as the three of them sat on the wall at Castle Park, laughing as they worked on the fort - smiling even when Mom was dead and Dad was secretly teaching him to kill - always pretending like everything was normal. Even in life, Touji had done everything he could to make things better. If anyone could help now, it was him.

Touji... please help her. Please don't let her die.

Tears dribbled down the sides of his face. Taiga felt like he was tumbling through a neverending void; the floating sensation strengthened. He pressed his eyes shut and prayed silently for his brother to protect her.

"Taiga."

Dad's voice. It drifted towards him through a fog. Taiga wanted him to go away, so he didn't move.

"Taiga, get up. We're going home."

"No." He was surprised: even though he'd been crying, his voice sounded normal.

His dad's angry footsteps approached in two strides. He grabbed Taiga's uninjured arm and yanked him upright. "I'm not going to ask again."

"I'm not leaving," said Taiga, with startling finality. "Mayuna's still in surgery. I need to be here when she wakes up. I'm not going home."

"I'll stay with him, sir," said Yun from just inside the door.

Dad growled something, let go of his son, spun heel and left. He slammed the door shut behind him.

"I'm never going home," said Taiga.

"We'll see how you feel in the morning. Lie back down and try to sleep." Yun sat and picked up his phone.

"Mayuna's parents-"

"-are already here. Her bodyguard, Kim - he called them. Lie down and go to sleep."

Feeling utterly drained, the room swirling like a leaf in a fountain, his throat tight and his arm beginning to ache, Taiga did as he was told. Eventually, Yun got a blanket from the nurse and draped it over him. The Hunter had done his best to calm Jin down; it hadn't really worked. Mon, on the phone listening in, had called the situation "unfortunate", but he hadn't been angry. Yun couldn't understand why Jin was behaving so irrationally over this. When the nurse gave the older Hunter some release papers to sign, Yun had noticed that Jin's hands were shaking.

Maybe it was because the boys had stolen his wife's car. Takuto hadn't been the same since his wife died three years earlier. Come to think of it, he'd been especially bad-tempered since his younger son died, too. Maybe that had something to do with it. Not that Yun could really tell; his own father would probably have laughed and congratulated him if Yun had managed to get shot as a boy. Yun felt Jin was being too hard on Taiga, but it wasn't like he had a good model for what an appropriate response would have been. What a pain, he thought, sighing. Well... I guess we'll see how he feels in the morning, too.

Chapter Text

Taiga woke to someone shaking him.

"Mayuna Monaeta is out of surgery," said a woman's voice - a nurse. "She's still sleeping, but you can come and see her now if you like."

He stood up so quickly that he collapsed, his vision full of static. Someone caught him; when his head cleared, he saw it was Yun. He's still here? "You okay, kid?" the Hunter asked; Taiga nodded and straightened, and the nurse led the way out of the room and down the hall to the elevator.

"This is the ICU," the nurse said as the elevator doors opened, "so please remember to keep your voice down, and apply hand sanitizer before and after you touch anything."

They stepped through a curtain into a room a bit larger than most of those they'd passed walking here. The lights were turned low; soft beeping sounds came from various monitoring devices. Mayuna lay in a hospital bed, hooked up to two different IVs, an oxygen and blood pressure monitor - and a breathing tube. Taiga turned to the nurse with horrified eyes. "Is she- can she not breathe on her own?" he whispered, his voice cracking.

"She's been badly injured, but the doctors will probably be able to remove the breathing tube after she wakes up from anesthesia and they can be certain it's safe," the nurse said reassuringly. "She's in critical condition for now, but so long as no infection develops, your friend will definitely live."

Taiga didn't know how to take that. "So... she's going to be okay?" he ventured.

"Most likely, yes."

Thank you, Touji.

"But she'll probably never walk again."

What?

The next thing he knew, Taiga was sitting on a padded bench next to the window, leaning back against the wall; the curtains were shut, but outside it was daylight. Yun was standing over him, frowning. With him were Mayuna's parents.

Taiga blinked.

"You fainted again," Yun said quietly. "I'll go get more apple juice and let one of the nurses know." He left.

Taiga looked at Mayuna's parents, and instantly he could feel his eyes welling up with tears again. He swallowed hard and bowed his head, not trusting himself to bow completely. "Please forgive me, Lord and Lady Monaeta," he whispered. "It's my fault that your daughter is- is-"

She'll probably never walk again.

"-p-paralysed." With both hands clenched into fists, biting back the tears that threatened to spill at any second, Taiga explained everything, only leaving out the exact means by which he and Suyou Rakusuran had figured out that Ryoshuna Yuguraku was blackmailing the Umutorans, and taking care to say "Royal Guards" instead of "Hunters". "If- if I hadn't told her to quit," he finished miserably, "then she wouldn't be in this mess. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am. So if- if you want to call off our engagement, I understand. If you never want me to see her again."

While he was speaking, Lady Monaeta had sat down next to him on the bench. Now, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Taiga," she said gently, "there is nothing for you to be sorry for. What you did was heroic. Mayuna was in danger, and you tried to protect her. Then, when she was in even greater danger, you went to rescue her without any hesitation or concern for your own safety. Please don't blame yourself for what happened. It was a terrible accident, but the important thing is that she's alive - that both of you are alive. If you hadn't done anything, she might just as easily be dead now."

"But-"

"Shh." Before he could say anything else, Lady Monaeta wrapped both arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

It was the first time an adult - or anyone, besides Mayuna and Touji - had hugged him, since... since Mom died.

Lady Monaeta's embrace was tender, but strong. She felt warm, sheltering, safe.

The hug felt like one of Mom's.

He hugged her back so tightly that it made his arm ache. He broke down, sobbing uncontrollably; but Mayuna's mother held him and didn't let go.

Chapter Text

Jin(Takuto): Did you return Taiga's phone?
kirakira-sun: yes, put it right in his hand.
Jin(Takuto): Did he say when he's planning to come home?
kirakira-sun: oh
kirakira-sun: sorry, sir, I didn't ask 🙁

Takuto_Amusuran: How long do you plan on staying there?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: as long as i need to

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: hey im comin up there with dad, u need anything?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: rly?
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: ya rly baka
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: u need anything or not??
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: a change of clothes from home
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: and maybe smth to eat idk
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: k cool
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: lemme know asap if she wakes up
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: dont pull any stupid shit or nything we'll b there n liek an hour

Jin(Takuto): Taiga's refusing to come home.  talk to him for me when you're there please.
shyouku: what do you want me to say?
Jin(Takuto): just tell him I want him to come home.
shyouku: ok but IDK
shyouku: I rly doubt its going to work
Jin(Takuto): just try

Takuto_Amusuran: Has Mayuna been taken off the breathing tube yet?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yeah last night
Takuto_Amusuran: Did you speak with Lord Rakusuran?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yes
Takuto_Amusuran: How much longer are you going to stay at the hospital?
Takuto_Amusuran: Taiga. you can't live in her room. you also have an injury to recover from.
Takuto_Amusuran: Don't ignore my texts.
Takuto_Amusuran: When are you coming home?

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: hey im bringing manga and snax
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: hope u like super jump magazine
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: ive got like 6 yrs worth but im just bring last yrs 
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: whats mayunas fav flower
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: im bringin flowers
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: idk just dont bring somethign that looks like a funeral
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: 😒 no kidding duh
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: mom got sunflowers - see?  im not an idiot

Jin(Takuto): I need you to convince Taiga to leave the hospital and come home
I'mF*ck1nYun: I'm not going to do that sir
I'mF*ck1nYun: just let him be with the girl for now.  he'll come home when he's ready

Takuto_Amusuran: Taiga, I've been patient, but it's time for you to come home now.
Takuto_Amusuran: I'm sorry that I hit you.  it wasn't an appropriate place or time.  I should have had better self-control.
Takuto_Amusuran: every day you miss training is a day we'll have to make up later.  you can't afford to fall behind. You need to come home.
Takuto_Amusuran: Taiga, answer my texts.
Takuto_Amusuran: I'm calling in that case
Takuto_Amusuran: Don't you dare hang up on me again.  You're behaving like a child.  Man up, grow up, and come home.
Takuto_Amusuran: Taiga.  Do you want me to come to the hospital and physically remove you?
Takuto_Amusuran: answer when I call you.
Takuto_Amusuran: Taiga, dammit, answer me!

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: (no subject)

I've lost him.  I overreacted at the hospital and he won't talk to me or see me, and I don't know what to do.  If I go there and take him away from his betrothed, he'll never forgive me.  How did this happen?  How did it get this bad, this fast?  Ten no Kami, Ryuu, it's Taro all over again.  I've driven him away and I don't even know how.  At this rate he'll end up moving in with Shou and Keiri, or the Monaetas - even Yun.  He hates me.  Sayuri would hate me, too, if she could see what's happened since she died.  I wish I'd never had kids.

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: (no subject)

Taiga is a teenager and his fiancée is in the ICU because he warned her about Ryoshuna's plot.  He thinks it's his fault the girl's paralysed and in critical condition.  And remember, Takuto, it's been hardly less than two months since Touji died.  You are seeing your son at his absolute worst right now.  Yun is right; give him some space.  And come drinking with me tonight; you need to get out of that house and out of your own head.  I'll meet you at end of shift.  I'll drive.

And you know Sayuri wouldn't hate you, and you also love your boys, even Taro.  Take a deep breath, step back, and think about what bar(s) you want to hit up tonight.  Taiga's not dead, and he'll come around eventually, but only if you let him handle this without pushing.  Trust me, man.  I'm not older than you, but I'm definitely wiser.  Just ask Shou.

-Ryuu

Takuto_Amusuran: I've just realised that I've been handling this all wrong and I need to back off.  I'm sorry, Taiga.  Being a parent is hard and it's been harder lately.  Please forgive me.
Takuto_Amusuran: I'm going to give you some space.  as much space as you need.
Takuto_Amusuran: stay there as long as you like.  call me if you want.  I'm here when you need me.

Chapter Text

Mayuna drifted between sleep and waking for an indeterminate eternity. When her eyes blinked open, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling and a lot of medical equipment, and could hear low machine noises and soft voices. Where was she? A hospital? She could only vaguely remember what had happened: going to the park with Kim, being attacked and drugged. She had a jumbled recollection of being dragged around by one of Ryoshuna's thugs, and... something else. A helicopter flight? She frowned and tried to sit up, but it hurt and she felt weak as a kitten. She tried to talk but her throat was so dry she could hardly make a sound. A bolt of alarm shot through her. She remembered some horror movie she'd caught the end of on TV once, about a mad scientist doing experiments on political prisoners. For a nightmare second, she wondered if Ryoshuna had taken her to some secret medical laboratory and was doing ungodly experiments on her.

An instant later, Taiga's face appeared over her. She felt her pulse relax. You're being dumb and paranoid, she told herself. See? It's just a normal hospital.

Taiga had dark circles under his eyes; his eyes were bloodshot and his hair looked like it hadn't been washed or combed in days. "Mayuna!" he gasped, grabbing her hand. "Please stay awake! Your parents- your mom, I mean - she's here, talking to the doctor. I'll get them. Your dad just went home to sleep; your folks have been switching off. Sanji was here last night but he left with your dad. Are- are you okay?"

She didn't know, so she tried to shrug. He understood and cracked the tiniest smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'll get a nurse really quick. And your mom. I'll be right back, it'll be just like ten or twenty seconds. Just, uh, stay- stay awake, okay?" He darted away. Mayuna wondered why he was being so weird and anxious. Maybe I was unconscious a lot longer than it feels like. Had she been injured somehow? I must have been, or I wouldn't be in a hospital... But her memory was too fragmentary to piece together. There was a numb kind of pain in the small of her back, and in her abdominal muscles, that felt like it should be terrible but was strangely distant at the moment. She was wearing some kind of brace, too, like a hard corset; it pinched her sides.

Before she could assess her situation further, Taiga returned with her mother, a nurse, and a couple of doctors, and at once they were asking her questions, testing her reflexes, checking a tablet computer that the nurse gave them, on and on. The nurse got her water but made her drink it in tiny sips. In the midst of the doctors' whirlwind assessment, Mayuna discovered something she couldn't wrap her head around: she couldn't move her legs. She could feel everything, but she couldn't get her legs or feet to move, no matter how she tried. So I was injured, after all.

"Am I paralysed?" she asked abruptly, interrupting the doctors.

"For the moment, yes," said one of them after an awkward pause. "But it's only been a few days. The swelling needs to go down before we can get a clearer picture of your functional level, and then you'll be starting therapy. It's too early to give you any kind of prognosis."

It's not permanent, she thought, reassuringly.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You don't remember, sweetie?" asked her mother; she spoke softly but Mayuna could sense her alarm.

"You received a gunshot wound," said the doctor. "You've had a serious spinal injury, as well as some organ damage, which the surgeons repaired but will take some time to recover from. The bullet clipped several major blood vessels, too; you're lucky to be alive. If you'd arrived here ten minutes later, the trauma team wouldn't have been able to save you."

I almost died. Mayuna blinked at him. She couldn't remember any of that, but she did have an echo in her head of Taiga's voice imploring her not to die. And a loud sound... "A helicopter?"

"Yes," said the doctor. "You were brought here by a Royal Guard helicopter. The chloroform dose and the anesthesia may have inhibited memory formation."

As the doctors resumed their assessment, Mayuna's thoughts spun unpleasantly. Ten minutes later and I'd be dead. That was too close for comfort. She suppressed a shudder. But, she thought slowly, I didn't die. By a miracle, I made it here, and I'm alive. That means I've already been through the worst. I didn't die. And I'm not going to. The worst part is over - all I have to do now is recover. The thoughts calmed her slightly, and by the time the doctors had finished, the urge to shiver had subsided.

The doctors stepped out of the room to speak to the nurse. Mayuna's mother gave her a smile and a quick kiss on the cheek, then followed.

Taiga was sitting on a bench built into the windowsill. Outside looked like early morning. There was a pillow and a blanket on the bench, and Taiga was wearing a rumpled t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. "Did you sleep here?" Mayuna asked, surprised.

Taiga nodded. "I haven't left."

Mayuna was touched; she was surprised his dad had let him stay here so long. "Your arm is bandaged. Did you get shot, too?"

"Yeah. Suyou, too." Taiga explained what had happened, including how Lady Ryoshuna had hacked Mayuna's phone and sent fake texts to lure her and Taiga to places where their deaths could be arranged and made to look accidental. Suyou had happened to be tutoring him when it happened, so he'd gone to the park with Taiga, and actually ended up being a hero for once. "It's impossible to believe, but he's been here every single day, even if just for a short while. He brought you those flowers." He nodded at a vase full of sunflowers on a table by the back wall. "He's... not exactly being nice, but... I think he's being as nice as he can be. He's genuinely worried about you. Everyone is. Even my dad. Oh, and Kim's okay," he added, remembering. "He and Mikoto have been by a lot, too. And your cook. And a lot of our classmates. They all left cards." He pointed; there was a bulletin board on the wall by the flowers, with at least a dozen cards tacked to it. There were also a few other flower arrangements and a stuffed cat. "Sanji tried to bring his dog to visit, but the hospital staff wouldn't let him. Then he tried to sneak her in..." He laughed a little, but the laugh died. After a long pause, Taiga said earnestly, "I'm just... I'm really glad you're okay."

Mayuna smiled at him. "I'm glad you're here. And I'm glad you're safe. I was really worried for a moment there."

Taiga looked at the floor. "Yeah," he mumbled. He looked tired.

In the lull, Mayuna turned her attention back to her body. She tried again to move her feet. Nothing. She became aware that one toe itched, but she couldn't reach to scratch it. Somehow, that infuriated her. The sooner I can get better and get out of here, the better, she thought with a frown, even though it was so obvious it hardly bore articulation. "So... no one's said anything about how long it will be til I can walk again?" she said, half-wistfully, half-hopeful.

"I don't think they know." Taiga came back over to her bedside, pulling up a chair, and sat next to her. "Mayuna, I want to - I have to apologize. It's my fault that Ryoshuna tried to have you killed. If I hadn't told you to quit, and that she was dangerous, then maybe you wouldn't be in this mess."

So that's why he's acting so weird. Mayuna felt a sudden flare of doubt. What if he'd only stayed by her side out of guilt? No, she thought firmly. We're friends. Maybe even best friends. That's why he stayed. Aloud she said, "Yeah, but you were right, weren't you? That Lady Ryoshuna was dangerous? So you were right to warn me."

"Maybe - but I shouldn't have done it via text. That was stupid and... I'm just... I'm really sorry. And I want you to know I'm here with you every step of the way. Anything you want, you just let me know." He paused awkwardly; Mayuna could tell he was trying to figure out the best way to say something that he was embarrassed to say. She didn't wait for him to find it.

"Do you care about me?"

He straightened. "Of course! You're-" He faltered and blushed a little. "You're my best friend," he said at last, and Mayuna's heart swelled for just a moment, just at the sound of those words. And to her surprise, he kept talking.

"Ever since Touji died... I feel like you're more than a friend, you're family. You understand. My dad doesn't understand. Our servants don't. Suyou doesn't. Our classmates don't. Just you. When... when I thought..." He swallowed hard. "If you'd died, I don't know what I would have done. I will do anything and everything it takes to help you get better, Mayuna. If they need an organ donor, I'll do it. I know- I know it sounds super hokey and dumb, but..." He took a shaky breath. "I don't think I could live without you."

Mayuna stared at him. She felt hot all of a sudden. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears; her fingers and toes had gone tingly. Hopefully she tried to wiggle them again. Nothing.

"You'll really do anything?" she asked, still feeling a little fluttery all over.

Taiga nodded gravely. "Anything."

"Good," said Mayuna. "Will you scratch my toe?"

Chapter Text

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: hey do u need anything from home my dad wants 2 know
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: my laptop.  and the charger.  carry bag in the closet, bottom shelf.
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: cool c u in a couple hrs
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: we r bringin dinner too prbly pizza again
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: thx
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: np

The rest of autumn passed in what felt like an instant, yet seemed to drag on endlessly. Taiga's dad had informed Mr Otto about what had happened - as had Mayuna's parents - and Mr. Otto had exempted both children from classes and homework except what they felt able to do. Even when Mayuna's parents suggested that Taiga go home, he refused. The nurses and doctors had mixed reactions - some were touched at the young couple, others annoyed at this teenage hobo camping out on a windowsill. Mayuna remained in the intensive care unit for more than two weeks before the doctors decided she was stable enough to join the general population; then she was moved to a room in the rehab unit, in a different building. The new room was more private, with a proper door, and better suited to long-term occupation. The staff found a chair that converted into a bed, which they put by the window, since there was no windowsill bench here for Taiga to sleep on.

Mayuna was happy when she began physical therapy the day after she woke up. She was determined to "regain functionality", as the doctors put it, as quickly as humanly possible, so she attacked the therapy and associated exercises with fervor. However, each session made crushingly clear just how much "functionality" she needed to regain, and that every step in the process was going to be both exhausting and painful, often excruciatingly so. When her mother told her what Mr Otto had said, Mayuna had been privately certain that she would be able to attend class from her hospital bed and keep up with her studies, no problem. In practice, though, she was so drained, both physically and emotionally, by her recovery efforts, that Mayuna didn't end up attending a single class that semester. Taiga had his computer and could have Sharoned in, but he, too, ended up skipping the entire season's classes. Suyou promised, unsolicited, that he would get them both up to speed when they were ready to return to school.

Mayuna's mother, father, and brother were at the hospital every day, sometimes together, sometimes individually. All of her extended family made appearances, most flying or driving in from other parts of the country, and one uncle from Sangal, where he worked as a cultural anthropologist. Mayuna had often talked about her family, but most of them lived far away, so she only rarely saw them. Taiga found it exciting and a little scary to finally meet them and put faces to their names; he had met a few in passing, but most were essentially strangers. They were generally friendly to him: "Oh, this is the boy your mother mentioned!" (an uncle) "It's so sweet of you to stay with her like this." (an aunt) "Mai-mai, you didn't tell me he was so cute!" (a cousin, whose comment made Mayuna go beet-red and mumble something about being an adult soon and the cousin not calling her that). Taiga's own family was very small - his dad, his aunt who lived in the mountains, and his estranged brother Taro, who didn't really count. He was impressed by the sheer number of Mayuna's relatives, a little intimidated, a little jealous. When he commented on this, she insisted she didn't have a large family. Taiga found that impossible to believe, but he didn't argue. He wondered who did have a large family. He meant to ask Suyou about it but never did.

Because Taiga was constantly around, Mayuna devised a plan which she kept to herself but which made her very happy to think about. She decided to pretend that they were already married. Even before his mother died, Taiga had been quiet, oversensitive, and reserved. She knew him pretty well - but also not nearly as well as she wanted to. When she was too tired to think, disheartened by how little the therapy seemed to be helping, with her eyes throbbing and her legs and back sparking with pain, she asked Taiga to tell her his entire life story, starting from his earliest memory. It was a weird request, she knew, but he didn't question it. She would lie there with her eyes shut, listening to him talk, trying to focus on his voice and nothing else. He was awkward about it, especially at first, but she reminded him that they'd be married in less than two years and that he had promised to do anything she asked, so he might as well tell her everything. And, to her delight, he did. She knew he was telling the truth because his earliest memory was so unflattering: he had tripped and skinned his palms, began to cry, and was scolded by his father for crying, which made him scream for his mother so loudly that someone had called the police.

"Where was your mom?" Mayuna asked.

"I have no idea. I was only like three or four, but I definitely remember Dad explaining to some guy that I was his son, and he wasn't kidnapping me. Maybe it wasn't actually a cop. But in my memory, he looks like one."

Mayuna enjoyed these unfiltered glimpses into Taiga's upbringing, even though they frequently made her remember her fears about Taiga's father and whether he was a fit parent or not. But when she'd asked about Lord Amusuran, Taiga had assured her his dad was "cool" with his staying there. So maybe her fears were unfounded. It didn't really matter, at the moment; but it was something to think about that wasn't her health, her recovery, or the hospital.

Taiga was incredibly solicitous and kind. She appreciated having him around, when she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep because the pain was so bad. He was also way too fussy, and that started to drive her a little crazy. After three weeks in the rehab unit, Mayuna ordered Taiga to go home for a day. He was shocked and wanted to know if he had made her angry or done something wrong, but she explained that she needed some space and that he could come back in twelve hours - no less - and then maybe, after that, he could occasionally leave.

"But... why?" He looked half-frantic, half-miserable.

"Because I'll get sick of you otherwise. And because your Dad's probably forgotten what you look like by now."

His brow knitted, but he nodded and pulled out his phone to call his father. Fifteen minutes later, Mr Amusuran called to say he was in front of the hospital. He was on speakerphone; Mayuna was startled to hear Taiga's dad say something about going to get lunch with him on the way home. Maybe he really misses his son, she thought. Maybe the bruise on Taiga's face that day at the park really had come from an accident.

After that, Taiga went home about every third day or night - sometimes just to sleep, sometimes for a meal, and he returned afterwards. He didn't seem happy about the situation, but Mayuna was glad; she stopped feeling suffocated and started to look forward to when he would be back. She missed him when he was gone and she liked that she missed him. That was something else to think about that wasn't the hospital.

While all of this was happening, Mayuna learned through her visitors, Ryoshuna Yuguraku and her underlings had all been arrested and charged with blackmail, kidnapping, attempted murder, unauthorized phone-tapping, identity theft, and attempted treason for trying to interfere with the Imperial succession. It had been all over the news; Mayuna's parents brought a newspaper one morning with "CONSPIRACY!" emblazoned across the headline in block capitals and Ryoshuna's unflattering picture right below it. Lady Ryoshuna's family had kicked her to the curb the moment the scandal became public, denouncing her in print and on television as a disgrace to their name. Privately, the Yugurakus had agreed - in a formal contract - to pay for all of Mayuna's medical expenses, in perpetuity, just to avoid any litigation by the Monaetas. They would also be paying for any bills related to Taiga's and Suyou's gunshot wounds, and for Kim's medical treatment as well. They were eager to distance themselves from Ryoshuna's activities, and were happy to throw money at the problem to make it go away. Shou Rakusuran, Suyou's dad, let slip that Ryoshuna had probably been put up to her activities by the Yuguraku family head, but that the Guard had no proof, so he was safe for now. "We'll get him eventually," Shou said. Mayuna honestly didn't care one way or the other, but she appreciated Lord Rakusuran's gesture.

Takuto_Amusuran: when will you be home tonight?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: not til like 11.  sanji's gonna give me a ride
Takuto_Amusuran: Is he going to feed you?
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: idk
Takuto_Amusuran: I'll have the servants make those sushi rolls you like
Takuto_Amusuran: so you won't have to heat up dinner when you get home
Takuto_Amusuran: your mother's recipe.  the veggie ones with the apple slices in them.
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: that sounds really good
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: thanks dad
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: is it a special occasion or something?
Takuto_Amusuran: No, no special occasion.  I just know your mother would want to be sure you were eating enough.
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: yeah
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: see you at 11

Chapter Text

Mayuna refused to leave the rehab unit at the hospital until she made 'serious progress', as she called it.  She recovered quickly from the internal injuries, without the need for major followup surgeries, to everyone's great relief.  The paralysis was the foe she most meant to conquer, however, and despite many doctors and nurses telling her again and again that she must prepare herself to adjust to a new normal, she aggressively pursued her old normal: the ability to move and walk under her own power.  'Serious progress' ended up meaning, when she finally allowed herself to be discharged to her home, the ability to transfer to and from her wheelchair on her own, to dress and bathe herself unassisted, and, finally, the major milestone she had clawed her way up to: to be able to walk again.  

Of course, it wasn't without assistance.  The Yuguraku family had generously financed a state-of-the-art, custom-made robotic exoskeleton for her: a powered full-body brace that allowed her to walk using hand crutches.  She would need to continue therapy, several times a week, in order to get her full strength back, but she was already reacquiring movement in her hips and feet, and the doctors said that her prognosis, based on her progress over the last three-and-a-half months, was excellent.  Her first steps with the exoskeleton, without the therapist supporting her, were magical.  She couldn't get the exoskeleton on without assistance, but her family members - and Taiga - had all been shown how to help her.  The mood as the doctor gave her discharge paperwork to her parents was positively festive.

"Hey, sis, you're like a cyborg now, right?  With lazers and everything?" said Sanji as they walked out of the hospital in a group.  Mr Monaeta was carrying the exoskeleton; Mrs Monaeta, Sanji, and Taiga were carrying her belongings.  Mayuna had insisted on handling the wheelchair herself; she was grinning and kept racing ahead unintentionally.  Sanji continued, "You think they might install back-mounted machine guns in your suit, like in Space Rebellion: Apocalypse?"

"Or rocket boots, like in Ultramech 3000," Taiga offered helpfully.

"Obviously both," said Sanji.  "Those dickwads are footing the bill; might as well get all the perks we can, right, sis?"

Mayuna just laughed.  When they reached the car, she opened the back door and maneuvered the wheelchair next to it the way she'd practiced in the rehab unit, then deftly swung herself into the back seat.  She looked radiant.  Her dad folded up the chair and put it in the trunk with the rest of her things.  Sanji and Taiga squeezed into the back seat next to her, babbling about robots and science-fiction mech suits until Mayuna announced she was going to have the exoskeleton outfitted with speakers so that she could blast Yugno's greatest hits whenever she wanted to change the subject.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: just left the hospital 🙂
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: mayuna is doing great today and everyones rly happy, almost feels like things r back to normal
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: guess u cant skip class anymore lol slacker
TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: charming as ever huh? 🙄
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: u bet 😋

Once they arrived at the Monaeta house, the servants greeted them with tears and laughter.  Kim had long since recovered from his own injuries, which had been minor; he helped carry stuff into the house while Mayuna's father got the wheelchair out.  They'd fitted the house with a ramp so that Mayuna could get in and out on her own.  Sanji's dog, Barf, came running out of the house and leapt onto Mayuna's lap uninvited, making her shriek; Barf was more than a hundred pounds and smelled terrible because Sanji never bathed her.  She lavished Mayuna with kisses and frantic wiggles until Sanji lifted the dog off of her.  "Barf!" he scolded.  "No jumping on people unless you're told."

Inside, the cook and Mikoto had prepared a cake and a small feast. Everyone gathered around the living room with plates, to eat and talk. Taiga, scarfing down a second helping of chicken karaage, was suddenly struck by how normal this all felt. What's more, he felt like he belonged - like part of the family. He had always known Mayuna's immediate family, of course, but... something had changed in the past few months. He no longer felt like a friend who came and went, or like Mayuna's fiancé, slated to join her family in the distant future but not yet a part of it. He almost felt like he belonged with the Monaetas more than he did with his own father. And right now, celebrating how far Mayuna had come in such a short time, after such a severe injury, the atmosphere was full of joy and of hope. Things felt genuinely okay. The only thing that was missing was Touji.

Thank you, Taiga thought silently. I know that you can't be here in person, but I know that you helped her. And she knows, too. I miss you, little bro - but I know you're here. Thank you for getting us to this point, Touji. Thank you for protecting her.

As the meal was winding down, there was a knock at the door, and in walked Suyou, of all people. He was holding a card and a potted amaryllis with fancy purple stripes on the petals. He handed them to Mayuna, bowing like he was meeting one of the Mikado's wives. "Welcome home, Lady Monaeta," he said in a ridiculously formal register. "I am honored and delighted to see you in such good health."

"Thanks, Suyou," she said. He beamed as if she'd just told him she was calling off her engagement to Taiga so that she could marry him instead. Then he made a beeline for the food. He stuck around, awkwardly, for more than an hour, mostly playing with the dog. After announcing that he should go, he turned to Taiga. "You gonna be home later?"

"Where else would I be?" Taiga said, frowning.

"I'll text you," Suyou said, cryptically. He bowed and made an ostentatious farewell to Mayuna, then darted out.

Eventually Mayuna grew visibly tired. Her mother announced that they should probably give her some space so she could get reacquainted with her room and went to help the servants clean up. Taiga knew Mayuna must be especially tired because she allowed her dad to wheel her to her bedroom and help her into bed - a raised Kanbal-style bed, purchased on the therapists' advice because it was easier for her to get into and out of than a traditional futon. She managed a weak smile as her father pulled the blanket up over her, even though she was still dressed.

"You should probably head home," said Sanji, who was standing in the doorway next to Taiga. "Don't worry," he added, "I'll text you if she needs anything."

"Thanks, Sanji," said Taiga, thinking that Mayuna's brother seemed like a lot less of a loser these days. He said goodbye to Mayuna's parents, thanked the servants for the feast, and reluctantly headed out the door. He dragged his feet the entire short walk back to his own home. He didn't want to go back.

When he finally arrived at his own door, the servants greeted him and offered their congratulations for Mayuna before returning to their work. To his relief, Dad didn't seem to be home yet. He went to his room, feeling suddenly drained himself, now that the adrenaline had worn off. He flopped onto his futon - still rolled up - and was asleep almost instantly. He slept deep.

Chapter Text

He woke to his phone buzzing in his coat pocket.  Groggily he fumbled it up to his face.

theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: hey im coming over
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: im here
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: come let me in 
theM1KAD0ofAwesome!: k fine imma let myself in

Hastily Taiga typed out a reply.

TYGAH_TYGAH_BURNIN_BRITE: no jsut a sec i fel aslepr gimme onesec

No sooner had he sent the text than he heard a knock at his door.  "Master Taiga, Master Suyou Rakusuran is here to see you," said a servant's voice.

Taiga cursed under his breath, scrubbing at his face and blinking to try and clear the cobwebs of sleep from his brain.  He struggled to his feet and down the hall, then down the steps to the first floor.  Suyou was standing in front of the main door.

"I thought you'd left or something.  But I guess it's okay if you were just taking a nap," he said brusquely, not waiting for Taiga to speak.  "Anyhow, I've got a surprise for you.  C'mere.  Close your eyes."

"No," said Taiga, frowning.  "What is this?"

"Close your eyes," Suyou said, almost poutily.

"No.  What's the surprise?"

Suyou made a face and huffed.  "Fine, be a spoilsport.  Come outside."

With a sigh, Taiga followed Suyou out of the house onto the front porch.  The sun had fallen quite a bit; it was well into winter by now, and a cold breeze was blowing.  Suyou walked behind a bushy evergreen hedge and reemerged pushing a bicycle.  The wheels and the handlebars were bent, the paint was gouged, and it was rusting in places, but Taiga recognized it immediately.  "My bike?" he asked, astonished.

"I went down in the moat at Castle Park and pulled it out.  I guess I kinda felt bad for, y'know, throwing it down there... and putting you in the hospital."  There was an awkward pause.  "It's, uh, kinda broken, though."

"No kidding."

"Hold on."  Suyou got the bike's kickstand down, with effort and a scraping noise, then disappeared behind the hedge again.  When he returned this time, he was pushing another bike, but this one was brand new and shiny with promise.  It still had the barcode stickers on it.  A new helmet dangled from the handlebars.

"I bought it with my dishwashing money," said Suyou.  "Here."  He thrust the bike towards Taiga, seeming eager to have this interaction done with.

"Thanks," said Taiga, taking the bike.  It wasn't a cheap one, either.  "This is... actually really nice of you.  I didn't think you were sorry."

"I already apologized," Suyou grumbled.  "Like, five times.  I told you, I wanted to beat you up, cuz of your messing up my presentation, but I didn't want to... y'know, actually hurt you.  Anyhow, whatever, now we're even or something.  You're welcome."

After another awkward moment, Taiga said, "Uh... you want to come inside or something?  We've got tea and stuff..."

"Nah, can't," said Suyou.  "I gotta get home before my dad does.  He doesn't know I'm here."  Suyou rubbed his neck.  "Don't want to piss him off.  Not like he needs any more reason to give me shit."  He sighed.  "Nothing I do is ever good enough, y'know?"

Taiga almost laughed.  "Yeah - I really do."  He wore a crooked smile; Suyou returned it.  Maybe we've got more in common than I thought, he mused.  He almost said it out loud, but didn't.

"Yeah, well, uh, see you around," Suyou said.

"You too."

After Suyou had left, Taiga slipped on shoes and walked the new bike over to the garage. Inside, Mom's car sat, looking as pristine as ever. Taiga put the bike away, then set a hand on the car and just stood there a moment. Thank you, Mom. Dad had been almost nice lately; Taiga was sure that Mom's intercession was behind it, because nothing less could have mellowed Dad to this point - nothing short of a miracle. Maybe you can keep working on him. I think... I think he doesn't want to live without you, so he doesn't really try. But maybe you can show him that he's not alone. He sighed. I miss you lots. I hope that Touji and Mikura are getting to do all the things together they never got to do in real life. I hope they're with you now. I'll be sure and leave some cookies on the altar for her.

As he moved the broken bike to the garden shed, Taiga reflected on how comforting it was to be able to pray to his deceased family members. He'd never felt much connection to Ten no Kami, no matter how much he knew he was supposed to. But his mom and his siblings, and his grandparents - they felt like they were really there, listening to what he had to say, offering their strength and support from beyond the grave. Maybe it was just wishful thinking... but they had a family altar for a reason, didn't they? He decided to stop by the altar and offer some incense before he went back up to his room.

Taiga had fallen asleep again and it was dark outside when his dad's footsteps in the hall stirred him out of his doze. The door slid open and he heard Dad's voice very nearby. "Get up, Taiga. Time to get back to your training."

Taiga sat up on his elbows, glaring into the darkness at his father's shadow. "Are you kidding?" he hissed. "I just got back - can't you give it even one night before we start this shit again?"

"Don't use that language with me, son," Dad growled. "It's more important than ever that we get back to training you without any delay. You've lost almost half a year, staying at the hospital day and night like that. I'm been patient and accommodating, but now it's time to get back to normal, and that means catching up on what you missed. There's no time to waste. We can't afford it."

Taiga let himself fall back against his futon. "Isn't it too late by now?" he groaned. "I thought we already didn't have any time to lose before all this happened. Right? So it should be way too late by now."

Dad's voice was gruff and much closer. "Don't get smart with me. You're right that we're well out of time, but when you turn fifteen, you'll become a Hunter, whether you're ready or not. We need to make sure you know as much as possible before then, or you could get killed, or be unable to perform your duties, or-"

"God, Dad," Taiga grumbled, "it's never gonna happen. I suck at everything but hacking. You really think you're gonna make me some kind of elite warrior by dragging me out to the woods every night and beating on me with a bo-ken? Just give up on it. I know I'm not good enough to do it, you know I'm not good enough, you've told me a billion times I'm not good enough... Might as well just accept I'm a lost cause and give up on it. Sorry, Dad, but I'm just not Hunter material. Tell them to find someone else - somebody who can actually do the job."

"It doesn't work that way," said Takuto, his voice taut. "The Huntership is not a choice, it is a duty that you cannot pass to another. It is always inherited by the youngest son. That's you. The Mikado's not going to wait while you complete your training; once you're legally an adult, you will be a Hunter, capable or not. I'm not going to keep arguing with you about this, Taiga. Get up and come with me."

Taiga didn't move.

"I said-"

"I thought you had changed," Taiga said softly. "These last couple months... you seemed so understanding. But it wasn't real, was it? You just didn't want me to run away or disinherit myself or something, like Taro did. Right? You were putting on an act so that you'd still be able to foist this Hunter crap on me when I finally came home again." He sighed heavily. "You really had me fooled." Feeling his eyes beginning to burn a little, Taiga pushed the blanket off and got to his feet. "Well, let's get this over with."

Takuto didn't say anything. He returned to the hall and led the way outside.

Chapter Text

b0ss-m0n-ryuu: when you're done filing that report meet me in the parking garage.  we're going drinking.
Jin(Takuto): I have a lot of work to do.  raincheck?
b0ss-m0n-ryuu: nope.  finish the report, meet me in the garage.  that's an order.
b0ss-m0n-ryuu: 20 minutes should be enough time to finish.
Jin(Takuto): Yes, sir.

Takuto was silent throughout most of the drive.  Ryuu's car was electric and nearly silent itself, which made the ride almost oppressively quiet.  Takuto wished Ryuu would turn on the radio or something, but he didn't.

At last, Ryuu said, "I hear the Monaeta girl is doing well."

"Yes," said Takuto.  "I understand she has a good chance of becoming fully independent with enough therapy."

"I'm glad to hear it."  Ryuu exited the freeway in Lower Ougi and headed towards the two's favorite dive bar, Red-Eyed Yuzan's Darts and Booze.  "How is it, having your son home again?  Are you getting along all right?"

Takuto sighed and rubbed his forehead.  "Sir-"

"Don't you 'sir' me, man.  You fighting?"

"Every night since he's been back."

"Over training?"

Takuto frowned.  He was annoyed that Ryuu had cornered him into talking about this, even though he'd guessed his friend had been planning it from the moment he texted Takuto they were going out.  "What else?" he sighed.

"And how's that been going?"

"Lousy.  He's not even remotely engaged.  He keeps saying he doesn't want to be a Hunter and no amount of training will change that."

Ryuu chuckled.  He pulled into a parking spot behind Red-Eyed Yuzan's and cut the engine.  "No one wants to be a Hunter, Takuto."

"But Touji made the effort.  He understood that-"

"But Taiga isn't Touji.  You need to stop expecting him to be."

"I'm not ex-"

"Then why do you keep comparing them?"

Takuto shot Ryuu a glare, then got out of the car without a word.  Ryuu followed his friend inside, locking his car behind him.  The pair got a couple of beers and paid for darts, then went to the back corner of the dim, smoke-smelling bar.  The carpet was stained and threadbare; a couple of CRT TVs mounted on the wall in the main body of the space were playing car-racing highlights.  There were only a few other patrons here at the moment, and they were all in the main part of the bar, well out of earshot of the two Hunters.  Takuto threw a perfect bullseye with his first dart.

"Here's something to ask yourself," said Ryuu, taking a swig of his beer.  "What is Taiga good at?  Where does he excel?"

"Excel?" snorted Takuto.  "Don't make me laugh."  He shot another bullseye.

"From what Yun tells me, he's a pretty gifted hacker.  That true?"

"I suppose," Takuto admitted.  "He picked it up quickly, especially once Shou's kid started helping teach him.  And he's a decent marksman, when he doesn't flinch at the recoil.  He handles shuriken well.  Naturally, actually."

"Then what are you so worried about?"

Takuto released his third dart just as Mon said this, and the dart went wild; it missed the dartboard entirely and stuck in the felt-covered wall.  "The moment he gets put in the field, he'll be killed," said Takuto sharply, casting Ryuu an accusative scowl.  "I can't-"  He shook his head and gulped down part of his beer.  "I can't lose another child, Ryuu."

Mon gave a nod of understanding.  "So you're trying to teach him everything in a year and a half."

"What else am I supposed to do?  That's all the time we have.  It's not enough."

"No," said Mon, "it isn't.  But Takuto - we're not in the medieval days anymore.  We've got options.  So Taiga's not good enough for fieldwork.  That's fine; we just don't send him into the field til he is good enough.  Maybe that's never.  But from what you've told me, and Shou, and Akira, and Yun, he's never going to do anything that would take him away from his betrothed, either, right?  So he wouldn't do the field assignments even if we gave him them."

"He'd do them if-"

"-if he's as stubborn as you," Ryuu said with a smile, "then he won't do a damned thing he doesn't want to."

Takuto had thrown his last two darts; he went and retrieved the lot from the dartboard, and returned to where he'd been standing.  He took another shot and missed.

Ryuu continued, reassuringly, "You agree he's good at hacking.  So, let's just focus on that for now.  Foster his talents and forget about the rest.  We need a good hacker, someone to complement Yun.  We can make him a desk jockey.  Right?  More and more of our job is online now, anyways.  It'll be fine.  Don't worry about it.  Okay?"

"But-"

Ryuu set a hand on Takuto's arm.  "If the nightly training is driving you apart, then give it a rest.  And that's an order, too.  I'll have Yun or Chanyu put together some expert-level tutorials when they get a chance.  And Shou's kid can continue to help.  Taiga might not be cut out to be a Hunter, but we can make sure he's a good enough hacker by the time he enters the service that he'll still be an invaluable member of the team."  He smiled.  "I promise."

Takuto sighed; his shoulders sagged just a little, and he nodded.  "Okay, sir," he said.  "Okay."  

He went to throw another dart, but Ryuu shook his head.  "No way, it's my turn."

Chapter Text

On Saturday morning, at breakfast, Mayuna announced that she wanted to go to Castle Park today and walk the main trail to the top of the ruins. "Sanji, will you drive us over there?"

Sanji, who was feeding a waffle to his dog, nodded. "Sure."

"Isn't it too long of a walk?" said Taiga, with a concerned frown. "Maybe we should take the chair and-"

"No," Mayuna cut him off, shaking her head. "Dr Tsuruji said I can walk with the suit as much as I want, until it starts to hurt or I get tired. The more I walk, the faster I'll recover. Besides, I'm dying to get outside."

After Mayuna was situated in the front seat of the family car, Sanji put her exoskeleton and her wheelchair - "just in case" - in the trunk, and Barf, his dog, in the back seat with Taiga. Barf spent the entire drive trying to fit her entire body onto Taiga's lap and licking him every time she was rebuffed. The boy was grateful when they finally reached the park and he could escape.

Barf ran circles around the parking lot while Sanji and Taiga helped Mayuna put on her exoskeleton. Once the suit had been turned on, Mayuna walked slowly across the parking lot, a crutch in each hand, giving herself a moment to adjust. It felt wonderful to be upright. The suit was heavy and constricting, and it hurt to wear it for long periods of time, but she loved it. Whenever she used it, she could easily envision herself becoming stronger - becoming herself again. The therapists had explained that gradually, as she became stronger and regained movement and balance, they would adjust the exoskeleton accordingly, until she didn't need it any more. If the motors weren't activated, it could function as a simple brace. She had met a woman in the rehab unit who had been completely paralysed from the mid-back down, who hadn't even been able to feel her feet, who was now walking unassisted, with just knee and ankle braces and a pair of handheld crutches. That had become Mayuna's goal. And she knew - she knew - that she could do it. I'll be walking by my wedding, she thought. Then she wouldn't have to wear the exoskeleton and would be able to wear a furisode or a dress. That was more than a year and a half off. That gave her plenty of time. I can do this, she told herself for the trillionth time. She knew it was true.

Sanji, recapturing his dog and clipping a leash to the ecstatic canine's collar, locked the car and told Mayuna and Taiga to text him when they were ready to leave, or if they needed help. He took Barf down the trail that skirted the castle's old moat, the dog tugging so hard she was nearly choking. Sanji clearly wanted to give the teenagers some alone time, but he was being discreet. Mayuna grinned. "All right," she said, "I'm about warmed up. Let's go."

Despite it was the end of February and had snowed the day before, the path was clear and dry, and the weather fine. Mayuna couldn't move quickly, yet, so they kept to a relaxed stroll. They chatted comfortably, and Mayuna reflected on how much more natural Taiga seemed, compared to how he had been just half a year earlier. She found it hard to believe she'd once questioned whether he even liked her.

"It's going to take forever to get caught up on all the schoolwork we missed," Taiga lamented. "We'll probably be working on it all summer long, or Mr Otto might hold us back a grade."

"Suyou did say he'd tutor us," Mayuna grinned.

"That's not exactly heartening."

The pair laughed. Mayuna had admitted, at the hospital, that she no longer hated Suyou, but she insisted she was never going to let him forget that he'd put Taiga in the ER. Even the news about the bike hadn't dissuaded her.

Instead of taking their normal path, which would have required them to scramble up the castle ruin to reach its summit, they took a different route, which circled around the back of the old castle and up to the top from behind. The path grew steeper; Mayuna's arms and shoulders ached, and her legs felt as heavy as if she'd just walked twenty miles, but she didn't complain. She stopped talking, too breathless to continue, but Taiga filled the silence. He'd already told her, privately, about how he and his dad had been fighting since he came home. For the past few days, however, something seemed different. "It's almost like he finally sees things from my perspective. It's so weird. Y'know, when Mom was alive, and Dad would get angry, I remember she always used to pull him aside, into their room, and close the door. And when he came back out, he'd be calm again. I don't know what she used to tell him, but it always worked. He was so nasty when I first came home, and he's so chill all of a sudden, it almost feels like... like Mom pulled him aside, like she used to, and got him to cool it." He laughed a little. "It's funny how much more I like him when he's not angry all the time. Weird, too. It's like he's another person - like that movie where everyone's being replaced with robots. But, y'know, not evil."

Then, all at once, they had reached the top.

There was a bench and Mayuna sat, gratefully, wordlessly accepting Taiga's help. He sat next to her, and for a moment they didn't speak, just looked at the view and felt the sun on their faces and the faint chill breeze that smelled of snow and woodsmoke.

"It's really pretty up here," said Taiga.

"Yeah. I missed it."

Gradually Mayuna's breathing slowed. There was no rush; they could stay here for hours if they wanted, and still have plenty of time to get back to the car before dark. The sun was high overhead. The sky was a crisp pale blue - a dome of ice crossed by thin wisps of glittering cloud. Steam rose from the city; they could see the hospital from here, the industrial district, Ten no Kami Tower, the highway to Kanbal. It seemed like they could see forever.

Taiga felt Mayuna's hand slip into his. They were both wearing gloves - hers were textured and padded to help with the crutches - but he could still feel the warmth of her touch. He glanced over at her.

"I'm glad we did this," she said.

He squeezed her hand and smiled. "So am I."

"Let's do it again soon. We can bring lunch - or a thermos with tea or cocoa. Make it a date."

"Maybe we can even invite Suyou," Taiga laughed.

"I'm sure I could tolerate him for one afternoon, I guess." She grinned. "But I mean, let's do this together - you and I." Her cheeks colored just slightly; maybe it was the cold, maybe the exertion. "I think that would be nice."

Taiga nodded. "Definitely." He squeezed her hand again and didn't let go.

THE END