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Ayem · 07-09-2011, 02:33 PM,

[font=Tahoma]Kenzou Tenma blew smoke rings at the soft paper lantern on the low lacquered table beside him, and shifted on the tatami mats. From another room in the Twelve Lit Lamps Geisha House a koto and shamisen accompanied the soft voice of a young woman, and Kenzou closed his eyes, his head drifting from one side to the other with the rhythm. Nozomu had not seen his friend so content in many weeks. The stress of his duties had kept them apart most of the time, and when it had not his friend seemed distracted. Now, as it was before, Kenzou was a being of the moment.

'What do the Hanta Iseijin really do, Nozomu?' asked Kenzou, surprising Nozomu.

Nozomu Sasake shot Kenzou a quizzical look across the low table. He took a moment to gauge his response. 'The Hanta Iseijin drive the monster to the ground with a spear in its neck.'

'The monster, Nozomu?'

'The alien. The other. The Aoi."

'But what if that monster smiles, and takes the spear in his hand and presses the point to its throat?' Kenzou drew from his pipe and let the smoke curl from his lips.

Nozomu Sasake folded his arms. 'Then the monster dies?'

'And if the monster has a name, that name matching your father's name, and the face also..' Kenzou leant forward. 'What if you'd known the monster for all your life and now you were asked to strike at him and kill the man that created you?'

'Monsters didn't create us. They stole the bodies of our families. They smothered their spirits and crushed their pride, their honour. They cannot rest while they are bound in this unnatural servitude to an alien race!' Nozomu found he was shaking a fist, and corrected himself.

'How long have we known one another, Nozomu?'

'It's been three, or maybe four years now. Why do you ask?

Kenzou nodded. 'And in all those years, what have you thought of me?'

'You've been a good friend, but I don't see how this-'

'Just a good friend? What about Kenzou the man?'

'Better than most in our ranks I suppose, you can be too serious sometimes but I won't hold that against you.'

Kenzou flattened the paper lantern beside him, extinguishing the flame with his palm. In the lowered light Nozomu saw a soft violet flash in Kenzou's eyes, then the light burgeoned and held its glow.

'Nozomu, my dear friend. You are in the presence of a monster. You have fought alongside one for years, shared sakÃ© and stories. How do you now see us?'

Nozomu scrambled to his feet. He grabbed the sliding door and threw it open. Blocking the doorway was a huge man, who ducked under the doorframe and stepped into the room, tossing Nozomu back with his belly. His landing scattered cushions and he winced, blinking up at a sumo wrestler in a suit.

'Don't be afraid, Nozomu,' said Kenzou. 'This is Gakuen Doshigawa. He is a close friend of mine. Sit, sit. The tea will cool if you leave it.' Kenzou Tenma gestured with his slender pipe to the ceremonial tea service laid out between them. In his fall Nozomu had knocked one cup over, though it was mostly empty and only a trickle ran from beneath its lip.

Gakuen Doshigawa knelt beside Nozomu Sasake and meaty hands carefully lifted him and settled him in place at the table. A stunned Nozomu reached instinctively for his cup on the table, but when his hand met the warm air above the tea, he found himself again.

Nozomu shook his head. He stared fully into the still-glowing eyes of his friend. 'Monsters! They infect Kusari! You can't be one of them Kenzou! You don't- You've always-'

'Done what is best for Kusari?' finished Kenzou with the tweak of a smile at the corner of his lips. 'I will always do so. Kusari is home. It is beauty. Here there are philosophies and ways of life that so closely echo- but you are not interested in these things, Nozomu. You want to know how I can be this thing that we both swore an oath to destroy?'

'I can't believe you gave in willingly, they must have forced you! Brainwashed or.. or..'

'I was brought to an interrogation room on the Matsumoto. There I was gassed and incapacitated. I remained conscious for much of what followed. The Infiltrator entered my mouth,' Kenzou placed a finger by the side of his mouth to emphasise. 'And settled within me. At first we were two separate beings, but it has been so long. Our selves have melded one into the other. I am Kenzou Tenma, but I am also alive on the solar winds of a distant star, I am the darkness that struck down a hundred ships marked with pyramids and eyes of ra. I am the song and the dance, the others and a human.'

'Without one, Nozomu, the other is lesser. Without the dance, the song is ephemeral. Without the song, the dance is base. Perhaps this is too general. Gakuen-san is better with these things than I am.'

Gakuen Doshigawa bowed his head.

'Like a spreading fire,
Blossoms leap from tree to tree
In a blazing spring.'

When Gakuen finished Kenzou closed his eyes for a beat, then smiled and opened them. The violet glow no longer obscured his dark eyes.

'We can live as one being, Nozomu. There are no wars within us. Help us to protect Kusari from the madness of its rulers, from the ignorance of its citizens, from the greed of its corporations. Bring the light of understanding to all those outside its grace. Warm them, offer them succour.'

Nozomu dropped his eyes and took up his cup in two cupped hands. He sipped. The warmth of the tea had lessened, but the flavour was still strong. His sheathed tanto pressed against the flesh of his thigh. With the weight of the cup shifted to one hand, Nozomu's other hand fell to his knee then drew back up the leg to rest casually on the hilt.

The hand of Gakuen Doshigawa squeezed Nozomu's shoulder. The grip was gentle, but firm. When Nozomu looked up, the face of Gakuen bore the faintest shadow of disapproval.

Nozomu glared back, but could not hold the gaze and dropped his eyes.

'There is no shame in this, Nozomu. This is service. What greater honour can be obtained than that won in service to Kusari?' asked Gakuen.

'Then it will be in service to Kusari. By my choice, and not yours,' said Nozomu.

'By your choice,' said Kenzou with a soft voice.

'Kenzou never had a choice!'

'I am Kenzou,' he said. 'Do you remember the stories you told of your brother and his wife? How their marriage was arranged, but that he came to love her and the children so fiercely?'

'I remember.'

'So it was with me. Love is learned, and it is earned. You know me, Nozomu. Every breath I take is for Kusari. Stand with us!'

Nozomu cracked a smile. He slumped, and set his cup back on the table. 'I never could talk you out of anything once you'd set your mind to it. You've been Kenzou since I've known you. All the things you've- we've done. I'll stand with you, even if you are an alien.'

'But Nozomu, you are the aliens!' said Kenzou through a chuckle.

Nozomu peered up at the giant and saw that Gakuen was also smiling as he blew on a fresh cup of jasmine tea.

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