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The Paladin	By : Tcharlatan Category: > Toshiya/Die Views: 952 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. I do not personally know any of the members of Dir en grey, and do not profit from this work.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
June 18^th - 6:00 pm
Kaoru was beginning to regret insisting on this meeting. It wasn’t the strain of work; that had been what he wanted. After so long away from home, he was worried about his beloved organization and wanted to know how it fared, and catching up was a welcome distraction from his own dark thoughts. The glow of Kyo’s treasured laptop and the familiar weight of thick file folders were cherished comforts. And he was cozy enough in the living area of the master suite, folded into the corner of his favorite couch in loose sweatpants and a tee-shirt.
It wasn’t the extra company that he minded either. He considered Shinya and Toshiya to be close friends, and what he’d heard of their actions in his absence only further endeared them to him. He knew that Shinya had been invaluable in helping Kyo keep the business running smoothly, as well as keeping his volatile little lover sane. He could even appreciate Toshiya’s contributions to caring for Die‘s anxiety, though his methods were somewhat questionable. For all of the shaky beginnings between them, they were trustworthy allies, and that was a rare asset in his life.
It was the sympathy in their eyes that made him sick and angry, knowing that they had seen everything that had been done to him. For every wince or faint grunt he made when an over-ambitious movement aggravated his injuries, they would flinch along with him. They spoke to him gently, as if speaking too loud would scare him away, and barely touched him, as if the slightest contact would break him. He could tolerate a certain amount of coddling from Kyo – his little lover’s gentler nature was not new to him, and he knew he’d not lost the blonde’s respect – but this cosseting was driving him to madness. He didn’t want to be reminded of his weakness and his fears, he wanted to regain the power and confidence that he’d always carried himself with. He wanted to be strong again.
“-had some minor issues last week an import broker trying to change his prices at the last minute,” Shinya was saying. “You’ll probably still want to meet with him, but for the time being we’ve ‘convinced’ him to stick to the original contract.”
“Aa,” Kaoru murmured apathetically.
“I think we should reschedule the rest of your meetings for this month,” Kyo said with a frown, pulling up Kaoru’s schedule on his computer. “Push them out to August, maybe? July isn’t too busy, luckily, so-”
“Wait,” Toshiya cut in, holding up one hand. “Did anyone else hear that?”
“Hear what?” Shinya asked.
“Hang on.”
The taller man was on his feet and moving silently out of the room into the hallway before anyone could get any more information out of him. Kyo and Shinya exchanged worried looks, and Kaoru scowled at the door curiously. There was a long stretch of edgy silence, minutes stretching by with tension mounting steeply, before there was a soft thump against the door. Another pause, and the door was opened to a shocking scene.
Toshiya held the door open, face pulled tight with frantic worry, a bloody handprint on his chest where the man with him had clearly pushed him away. Die pushed past wearily, panting and dragging bare feet with strained effort. The redhead wore only his trousers, the blue wool soaked with blood and caked with dirt, his feet leaving dark red prints on the carpet behind him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and his chest was a sickening mess of deep cuts and cracked scabs; it was almost unrecognizable, but the Niikura family crest had been carved into the flesh. His left hand was clumsily wrapped in a dirty cloth and clutched protectively against his belly, the right had a white-knuckle grip on a cloth sack turned brown/black with old blood.
Kyo, Shinya, and Toshiya seemed to fade from the room as Kaoru stood. His friend was equally focused on him, long legs forced back into motion to carry a beaten, exhausted body across the room until Die stood in front of his boss, hunched enough that they were almost eye-to-eye. With a sigh that was equal parts relief and pain, the redhead sank to his knees in front of Kaoru, head bowed as his blood-soaked bag was offered up with two shaking hands.
Kaoru accepted the bag and set it on the table, pulling loose the string holding it shut and letting it fall open around its gruesome contents. He ran cold eyes over a familiar knife with a stained tiger hilt, and a severed head still affixed with a dark red hannya mask. A light touch knocked the mask off, revealing a horribly disfigured face frozen into a look of agony and shock. At the very edges of his attention, Kaoru could hear someone else in the room gagging, but he ignored it.
When he looked back down at his friend, he found another offering being held up to him, this one a small, folded square of fabric. He accepted the small package, and unfolded it carefully to find a small, flawless bone. This gift, even more than the head of his tormentor, made him shiver and he closed his hand around it tightly, looking down at his friend.
“Daisuke…”
“It’s rightfully yours,” Die panted, struggling to keep his worn-out voice level. “I had to perform the ceremony for him, but it’s my penance to you, for failing to keep you safe. Forgive me for taking so long to get it back to you.”
Kaoru stared down at his friend, his face unreadable. “…and if I demand the ceremony?”
There was a soft, shocked clamor of gasps and murmurs from the other men in the room, but Die’s hand reached out without hesitation to close around the hilt of his knife, one dark brown eyes raising to meet Kaoru’s with unwavering resolve. “I’ll need another cloth.”
Kaoru closed his eyes and smiled. “Get up, Die.”
The redhead dropped the knife and stood with some effort, his mouth pulled into a tired half-grin as his best friend’s arms wrapped securely around him. He rested his head on a familiar, bony shoulder and returned the embrace weakly. “I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t make me take off another knuckle, but I’ll do it if you really want.”
“I know you will,” Kaoru murmured.
This was what he needed. His Die, who would always protect and serve him, who never pitied him, who would do anything for him, even if he bitched about it later. Die was his bloody right hand and his bodyguard; his sword and his shield. This powerful, determined creature was loyal to him, his and his alone to command not because he was obligated to obey, but because he honestly loved and respected Kaoru with every fiber of his being.
“This is getting a little gay,” Die teased gently and Kaoru chuckled, releasing his friend reluctantly.
“My apologies.”
“There’s something I need to do before I pass out, is that okay?” the redhead asked tiredly.
Kaoru bit back a grin. “Of course.”
Die nodded and turned around, reaching out one long arm to catch Toshiya by the front of his jacket. He pulled the anxious-looking young man to himself, his bandaged hand reaching out to rest on a narrow hip, and kissed him deeply. Toshiya melted into the older man with a faint whimper, hands coming up to tangle in crimson hair with a painful grip.
“Kyo, would you call Akio up here for me?” Kaoru called, eyeing the decapitated head on his coffee table. “I would like this skull cleaned.”
Kyo stared at his lover for a moment, mouth slightly agape. The authoritative strength that had been missing from the older man’s voice since he’d returned was creeping back. The wearied hunch had straightened a bit, and a little glimmer of confidence shone in predatory eyes. So many changes, so subtle and almost imperceptible on their own, took over the older man all of a sudden. Kyo could see just a glimpse of the Kaoru he’d known and loved for three years beginning to return, and it made his heart flutter.
Kaoru eyed him, curious about the younger man’s silence. “Now, please.”
Kyo’s mouth snapped shut and he fumbled for his phone. “Of course. What… what do you want to do with it?”
The older man ran a thoughtful finger over the grinning cheeks of the red hannya mask. “I want to put it in a display case. In my office.”
“Are you sure this is something you want to remember every day, Kaoru?” Shinya asked, gently.
“Yes.” Not for the pain or the humiliation, but for the fact that when he thought he’d lost everything, when he needed help more than he ever had in his life, these men had still been there for him.
“Ah! Die!” Toshiya cried, calling their attention to the other side of the room.
Die had, true to his word, passed out shortly after his reunion with Toshiya. The younger man was supporting the redhead’s weight, sinking to his knees to rest the heavier body on the floor. In that moment, fussing over his unconscious lover with a worried stare and painstakingly gentle hands, Toshiya’s affection could not have been more blatant.
“…and call down to Medical, tell them to prepare for an incoming patient. Top priority,” Kaoru added, to Kyo.
Shinya sighed and flashed Kaoru a wry smile. “I think we may have to increase the frequency of our visits, my friend. I don’t think I can handle the sulking that is sure to come if we try to keep those two separated for a month at a time.”
“I believe you might be right, Shinya.”
- 17
- 18
- 19
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The Paladin