capeandcowllogs | [COMPLETE] "There are four kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy."

[COMPLETE] "There are four kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy."

WHO: [Bad username or site: hitokiri_ookami title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: bestmachine title= @ livejournal.com], and [Bad username or site: satisfiedsigner title= @ livejournal.com]
WHERE: One of the City parks, may move from there.
WHEN: July 28, 2009, evening
WARNINGS: Violence, torture, character death, second-hand smoke?
SUMMARY: Saitou's not genderbent anymore, and is going to resume his original plan of tracking Cavil down, now that he's the confirmed suspect of Kiryu's torture and murder. Though just getting out of his room for a breather from all this nonsense this week does have its priorities, and so tags along with Kiryu for some fresh air. There just. may/may not be someone unexpected in the area tonight, as well.
FORMAT: Para

This week had been hell.

Saitou was never one to feel so... humiliated or ridiculed since his days as a foolish young man who thought he knew everything of the world. Hijikata-san had fixed that, along with Okita-san. And his third squad. And his father. And Death.

Especially Death.

Though the former Shinsengumi imagined Kiryu was probably pleased to see Saitou sporting his usual scowl, sans any ridiculous female features. Oddly enough when Saitou had turned back, his hair had still remained long. A minor annoyance to get it cut, but not the worst thing to complain about, either. He had had long hair before, for many a year. Everyone of the Shinsengumi had. Even the Battousai.

Kiryu was probably relieved that Saitou was back to his mulling, sarcastic self once more, as well. At least Saitou imagined so. He still planned on beating the daylights out of Sho next time Saitou saw him, however; reaper or not. Saitou had accepted a spar with Lucifer, after all. A "reaper" should be no different.

In the meantime, the samurai was content with sitting on the park bench underneath one of the street lights throughout the scenery, finishing off the last of his take-out while watching Kiryu socialize with his... "dog", of sorts. It was a strange thing, up close, and while Saitou wasn't exactly overly fond of pets, he didn't dislike them much, either. It didn't matter too much either way, to him. As long as they behaved; which this one was doing fine.

He was content to be silent for now, also, just wandering around in his thoughts. He knew that Cavil had the upper-hand, right now, if the ahou had been correct about tracking down comms. But, Cavil also probably couldn't sense people approaching from miles away. Every conversation, every footstep, every cough, within a few miles radius - Saitou could hear them all.

And the sound of that man's throat ripping apart was one he was looking forward to.

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Kiryu had to admit, he'd been a little surprised when Saitou had agreed to hang out with him, at least for this short amount of time. Usually, Kiryu had to drag him places, but he guessed that Saitou had been sick of being inside and was somewhat glad for the chance to spend some time outside.

Either way, he wasn't complaining. All that matter was that Saitou had agreed. And now here they were.

Of course, he'd also been a little antsy from hanging out in one place for a couple days, so he hadn't even finished his take out before calling out Infernity Beast to play with him. He knew the dog-like monster didn't really need to "stretch his legs", but he liked to pretend that he appreciated the attention. Most of the time.

Then, of course, since he favorite activity was chasing after birds, maybe not. Because it usually got Kiryu chasing after him more than he would have liked. and it usually got people mad at him for not controlling his "dog" better.

"Hey!" Kiryu spun around as Infernity Beast raced past him, yapping at birds again. "Come back!"

He sighed and started chasing after him. At least he got exercise this way.

It was naive of him, really, stupid to think he could go on living like nothing ever changed once the City blessed Kiryu with life once more. It was so easy, after all, when the news said nothing, when the communicator said nothing, to slip back into his old habits. Oh sure. Leave a voice post where everyone can see, where certainly no one will recognize you. The carelessness was enough to make him vomit. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

And that was why he was here, making good on his threat to Saitou. He told him, hey, leave me alone, and I won't track you down, but to be quite honest, he didn't have time to putz around and wait to see what Saitou was going to do about it. He was going to have to act. He was going to have to tear him apart and hope that either the amnesia or the trauma was enough to discourage the poor bastard from crossing his path ever again. Or better yet, maybe he would throw in a lesion or two. He heard aphasia was in these days. Ataxia. Anterograde amnesia.

The tracer led him to this park. It was late enough he figured he wouldn't have company, but soon enough, there was the sound of barking (he never liked dogs, not even the one on New Caprica the Threes were so fond of) and then, a second later, around the corner, a familiar face.

Oh. Oh.

His hands were already in his pockets, and so when he recognized Kiryu, all he needed to do was flip a switch, start the steady A, and look at the other man's head. Imagine the brain as a beautiful picture, all laid out, give it a tug--

It took no more than a second.

Edited 2009-07-29 04:29 (UTC)

There was a thud.

And the barking had ceased.

Saitou highly doubted Kiryu had just 'dealt with' his own canine. Someone else was here.

A small grin couldn't help but reach Saitou's face. Finally.

Though there were the predator instincts going through him now, the reflexes of a veteran hitokiri at their peak. Kiryu and Cavil were close-by. Cavil was holding something in his pocket, and his heartbeat was steady. Also a switch had been flipped.

... Considering how much Saitou had hated Usui the Blindsword and his cockyness, he did appreciate the parting gift of his Mind's Eye. He had certainly fine-tuned the ability over the course of his stay here in the City.

Now to corner this prey.

Not to draw his sword just yet. Wait. Patience. Being hasty right now would alert Cavil of his presence. No time to be messy. This was Kiryu's battle, after all. Saitou, in the end, was a bystander. In the end, at least. Saitou doubted Kiryu would mind if the samurai wanted a turn making Cavil realize what a fool he was for trying to lay low for so long.

He seemed to be proud of himself, encountering his old target again, looming over him. However, history was not allowed to repeat itself this time. Saitou had other plans.

Like poising into a blindingly fast Gatotsu Ishiki technique, ripping nearly half of Cavil's arm off from inside his pocket. If anything Saitou was about precision.

The severed limb spattered blood on all three of them in a loud spray, the wound seeming to gush the red liquid in spades. It was nothing new to Saitou, who had pierced limbs and skulls and bodies alike for more than half of his lifetime. But he couldn't help that small smile of seeing Cavil in agony.

But even so. Kiryu couldn't stay unconscious there for long.

He had to resist slicing off Cavil's head right afterwards, but that would be too fast a death. He needed something more... special.

So in the meantime Saitou was content with having Cavil writhe there in horrendous pain, uncaring of the sounds he made for losing such a large portion of his arm. Instead he calmly walked over to where Cavil's limb had flown from the swift slice, crushing the fingers with his shoe and breaking the tuner held inside it. I may need to warn businesses of this man, Saitou thought idly, turning back around to tend to Kiryu, leaving Cavil's severed limb still bleeding down an alleyway in an ironic mirror of his victim's.

Edited 2009-07-29 04:53 (UTC)

There weren't any hallucinations this time, or that vague wondering if he was hearing something. Just dizziness, nausea, and falling to the ground. He half wished had hallucinated a little as he collapsed. At least he could have seen Yuusei again.

By the time Saitou reached him, the convulsions had subsided, but he wouldn't wake up few a few minutes. Thankfully, the attack hadn't caused him to switch forms, although it would take a little longer for him to wake up this way.

He didn't have time to process what happened. Of course he didn't have time to process it. There was just a thud, a tear, numbness, air rushing through his ears, and then bam he was on the ground and suddenly he was screaming, he thought, but he didn't really know. He curled up automatically, but he couldn't move quite right, why couldn't he--

Oh no. No no no no no no. Frak it. Frak it.

The curses ran through his mind in a constant loop, blaring through the ringing in his ears. What have you done? What have you done?? He knew, in that vague, numb way that now he had to die, because like hell he was going around this city with half an arm, and at least the new body would be whole if resurrection here were anything like back home, and but then if he did die, he'd have to deal with the amnesia and that was going to be mess, but the--

the pain is still--

it's--

His thoughts were blurring together. It felt like little, tiny invisible fingers were skittering up his spine and neck. Mostly, though, it felt like someone just cut his frakking arm off.

Luckily, it didn't take him very long to pass out.

Well now Saitou wasn't sure what to do with himself.
He almost wished the dog was here for company, while he waited for Kiryu to wake up.

... He'd rather Kiryu wake first, because if Cavil happened to have more willpower and wake soon after such an injury, that'd be troublesome (he could knock him out once more, of course, but still troublesome).

He was curious, though, just why Cavil's abilities worked this way. He needed a device to activate them? Yes, Saitou was more likely to use his sword than his fists, but should he be rid of his sword, Saitou had perfected improvisation. That truly was one of the only reasons he was still alive, and had survived the Boshin War and Seinan Wars, and so many other life-or-death battles. He prided himself on that, though at the same time, couldn't help but feel the bleakness of being the only one to survive. His rival was dead, perhaps from old age. They had never settled their score, and unless he was ported here (Saitou would rather he didn't, bothersome) they never would. Not that there weren't challenging enough people here (like the man unconscious at his feet) but... there were such differences.

For the moment Saitou felt the only thing he could do was wipe the blood off his katana, also taking the time to wipe some blood spatter off Kiryu's face. Oddly Cavil's blood spatter matched the color of Kiryu's red mark - which Saitou had never fully comprehended. He wasn't sure if it was carved in, or ceremonial, or some sort of ink. He had half a mind to trace it and find out, but shrugged that off. He just hoped Kiryu would wake soon; he'd hate to have to explain this mess to a medic.

"Wake up, ahou," Saitou muttered, sheathing his sword. He wasn't going to carry two bodies by himself if he could help it, after all.

Edited 2009-07-29 06:01 (UTC)

Kiryu woke slowly, really wishing he hadn't. Why was he...was he on the ground? When had he ended up on he ground?

He squinted his eyes open, not too much since that aggravated his pounding headache, but just enough to see Saitou.

"S-Saitou...? What are you...?"

He groaned softly, trying to sit up. That endeavor didn't get very far; after a moment, he contented himself with turning onto his back and laying still. Everything hurt, and he was dizzy from his headache, and he just wanted to pass out again.

And he'd been through this before.

Rage flooded through his veins and he bolted upright, only just managing to keep himself there. Pain didn't matter; it only spurred on his hatred. That man was here and he was still pulling things like this. He'd attacked him again. And he needed to suffer.

"Don't let him die," Kiryu murmured, his fingers clenching in the grass. "He won't suffer if he dies like this~"

He couldn't get up to do anything about it yet--he was lucky he could keep himself sitting up like this right now--but Saitou could.

Cavil thought he had suffered plenty, thank you very much. In any case, it didn't look like he was going to wake up any time soon.

There was a risk he would bleed to death right there. A body could only lose so much blood, after all, and he was already drenched in a good portion of his own. Good for Cavil, of course, since he was already ready to blow this popsicle stand, but less so for Saitou and Kiryu, especially if they wanted to keep him around.

If they looked, they'd find that his pockets contained one wallet (a few twenties and a fake ID, "Dominic Cavil"), some loose change, the keys to his apartment, his communicator, and a handgun. Always prepared. Unfortunately, that didn't really matter right now.

Edited 2009-07-29 13:44 (UTC)

About as many times as Saitou had killed a man, if not more, he had needed to dress a wound; whether his or someone else's. This was no different than times before... though being a hitokiri, this was usually trivial as Saitou had already finished off his victim. This wasn't the case now, though, as this wasn't his kill. Just as much as Yukishiro Enishi was the Battousai's fight, and not his. Though he wasn't one to idle by and watch the young man from Shanghai kill his most important prey, but regardless.

"Don't move so carelessly," the swordsman muttered in Kiryu's direction, getting out some bandages from his pocket and applying just enough pressure to Cavil's severed limb to keep it from bleeding much more. Bleeding to death was a slow, torturous way to die, but only if one was conscious for it. Cavil was currently not. Pity.

After feeling satisfied that Cavil's arm would make the man last a few more hours, at minimum, he turned his gaze back to Kiryu. "Can you stand?"

He just smiled bitterly at Saitou's first comment; he probably shouldn't have moved, but he had, so there was no helping it. At least he didn't try to move again until Saitou was finished bandaging Cavil's arm.

"Yeah, I think so," he said in answer to Saitou's question. It didn't really matter whether he could or not, though; he had to. So he did. Of course, it wasn't easy getting to his feet, but he didn't feel as sore as before and his headache had faded a little.

He took a moment to stare down at Cavil, somewhat enjoying the rage coursing through his veins. It had been a while since he'd really felt like this, like the Dark Signer he was, like the person who had accepted the gift of an Earthbound God, maybe even asked for it. Rage and hatred were always there under the surface, but this...

He'd kind of missed this.

"I can help carry him," he said, carefully crouching down to take Cavil's uninjured arm. "I'll be fine."

The anger was coming off Kiryu in waves; quite a fair amount, actually. Everything about him seemed to radiate in rage; relish in it. Perhaps this was what he had spoken about months ago. But to be consumed by rage... Saitou would much rather have control of his actions than settle into blind wrath. He'd done that once before, during the Bakumatsu, but... there was no actual 'war' here. Not in the declared sense. There was the constant battle overtaking the City, but nothing so outright.

Sometimes he wished he hadn't quit drinking.

"Hn," muttered the samurai in response, still displeased that Kiryu wasn't taking a few more minutes to collect himself. Saitou wasn't positive exactly what Cavil's powers felt like, but he doubted it had taken more than a few seconds for Kiryu's body to completely fall unconscious. And that was a power to not take lightly.

Then again, Cavil hadn't even heard Saitou attack. That was a pleasant advantage. So long as Saitou was able to use his 'beyond godspeed' ability, he would have the upper hand. Cavil would probably try and find ways around this next time they met, though. But no matter. He planned on throwing the ahou in jail long before he could go through with any plans.

Saitou made a move to hold his prey's body by his legs, frowning disdainfully down at the one responsible for Kiryu's death. A fool to spout claims of superiority - no one was here, save for the Porter. And perhaps those of 'Lucifer's' kind... which Saitou still had difficulty believing completely.

"Where to?" Saitou mused, tilting his head slightly. Kiryu seemed in a better mood; let him decide.

Kiryu stood up slowly, thinking about that. He personally wouldn't mind just going home, but he didn't really want their place any more messed up than it was naturally, so they'd probably have to be outside. And screams attracted attention.

Not to mention it wasn't just him and Saitou living in the motel anymore.

"There's a another building not far from home," he said after a moment. "It's empty, and anyone lurking around knows me. It would work."

With that, he moved to start heading there, only waiting for Saitou to start moving too.

He eyed Kiryu with some disapproval still for standing up this soon, but, that was his own problem. If that's what he felt like doing, fine. It really shouldn't bother Saitou this much that Kiryu wasn't waiting for some time to regain his strength. No matter.

"Alright," he replied a bit tonelessly, getting a stronger grip on Cavil before waiting for Kiryu to lead the way. This would look too conspicuous if they stayed here much longer.

The building wasn't much more than another, smaller motel, although it was in much worse shape than the place where they lived. This place looked like a strong wind might knock it over, although it was still standing, with was always a good sign. And nothing creaked or made noise once they started walking through it.

Kiryu led the way into the heart of the building, where most of the rooms were still whole and there was less chance of being heard. And then into a room that had been mostly cleared out; there was still a table in the corner and a bed frame near one of the walls, but everything else had been taken or moved elsewhere.

"Let's just drop him in the middle of the room," he said, shifting so he could "just drop" Cavil.

Saitou glanced around his surroundings some, also noting how similar it was to their own place of residence. He nodded lightly at Kiryu, unceremoniously letting go of Cavil's feet with a heavy thud. He took a moment then to light a cigarette, leaning against one of the room's walls and glancing over at their unconscious "friend." While Kiryu was more one for revenge than Saitou, the samurai knew he would have done the same for Okita, or anyone else of his squad. Before all else, there was Aku Soku Zan, and the brotherhood they shared.

"So."

Kiryu dropped Cavil's shoulders, letting him fall to the floor, before heading to perch on the table. He probably wouldn't stay there, or stay still, for long, but he could at least start out looking relaxed.

He pulled out his deck, absently looking through it. He wasn't sure he'd use any card effects, but it was good to look anyway.

"Now we wait for him to wake up."

Considering the last time Cavil slept was twenty years ago, when he opened his eyes, there was no split second consideration that maybe everything was all right, that it had all been a bad dream. No, he knew something was wrong, but he wasn't far enough out of unconsciousness to realize what that something was.

The agonizing pain in his arm reminded him.

He groaned and rolled over onto his side. Along with the pain, there was nausea, there was sweat beading on his neck, his forehead. There was a pounding headache. From his new position on the ground, he could see that his arm had been bandaged. He looked up, took one look at Kiryu and Saitou, and then exhaled a long, suffering breath before closing his eyes again.

Well, he thought. This is going to be a lot of fun.

Except for a slow smile gracing his features, Saitou continued to simply smoke his cigarette - for the time being. In actuality he didn't plan on communicating with Cavil at all. Paying him attention as a person would only negate what they were trying to do. Kiryu had been merely treated as an experiment, after all. And Saitou was curious how much pain this... 'thing' could take. Whether it spoke or not was no difference now. As far as Saitou was concerned, it was no longer an intelligent being. Just a toy.

Kiryu's toy, specifically.

He ignored eye-contact with the wounded thing on the floor, instead glancing over to Kiryu calmly; as if to say, "Your move."

Well, the sitting didn't last long. As soon as he saw Cavil was awake, Kiryu hopped down from he table and stalked over to him, stopping right next to his injured limb. He prodded absently at the bandage with the toe of his boot for a moment, looking more thoughtful than anything.

"I wonder if you can understand me..." he murmured, finally leaving his foot so it was just pressing against the wound.

He laughed a little, sounding cold and half-insane, and crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter, I guess. You know why you're here. And if you don't, I'm going to teach you~

"You're going to regret every moment of what you did to me. I'll make sure of it."

He finally moved to step on the very end of Cavil's wounded arm. "Shall we begin~?"

Every touch shot red hot pain through his system, so much so that he had to fight not to scream even as Kiryu only rested his foot against the wound. The pain made it almost impossible to think, but there were still some words flickering through his mind. Gun. Right pocket.

They don't understand what you can do.

--And then, new blinding pain as Kiryu pressed down, another stifled scream (he choked this time, he couldn't hold back all the sound), more stars in his vision. But now he knew what needed to be done.

"Truly," he breathed, "A real display of human mercy."

And then he started humming.

Not a tune, no. A single note. A perfect match to the one he used on his tuner. Weaker, of course, unsteady, but the tone was unmistakable.

He caught Kiryu in his vision, he caught Saitou, and then he gave each of their brains a tug. With his good hand, he dived for his other pocket.

Edited 2009-07-30 03:41 (UTC)

Saitou had to roll his eyes at the sarcastic comment coming from its mouth, but ignored it and its fussing for now.

Except for that.

... Damn.

He'd fought fatigued and out of sorts before. It didn't matter that his head was begging him to make it stop, because something was just wrong and it didn't feel right and this idiot was going to wish he hadn't done that.

Before their victim had the chance to blink Saitou was glowering down at the ahou, sword unsheathed. If it wasn't going to behave, Saitou would force that.

First off by thrusting his sword straight down into its remaining hand, right between the bones in its palm - and then twisting. He let it linger there a few seconds, ignoring the vertigo his brain was in, before thrusting the katana back out, pointing the tip of the bloody blade directly over his prey's eye socket in warning. If it wanted to lose other limbs so badly, Saitou could gladly oblige.

And still Saitou said nothing, instead glancing over to Kiryu - if his condition worsened because this ahou had started humming again... there were going to be consequences.

Edited 2009-07-30 03:57 (UTC)

If Cavil had done that to get Kiryu to move, it worked. Kiryu took a couple steps back, wincing at the attack to his already pounding head. He didn't fall over, but his was dizzy enough to think that he might.

And then he didn't feel as dizzy anymore. He glanced up to see Saitou standing there and smiled a little. It wasn't a nice smile, though; it was one fueled by rage and mild insanity. And it fell from his face a moment later to be replaced by a look of pure hatred.

He stalked back over to Cavil and drew his own katana, pressing the tip to Cavil's throat.

"No more," he hissed in English. "Don't know mercy. No mercy in Satellite. No mercy here."

This last statement was accompanied by a kick to Cavil's arm, though above the wound.

How did he move so fast? How did he--

A sword in his hand. A sword in his hand and then it was twisting and he could just about feel the muscles tearing in his worthlessly fragile human body. He screamed again, though he managed to cut it off before the blade was in front of his eye. And then he felt another at his neck.

Saitou's blade was really the only thing that kept him from throwing himself into Kiryu's. He wouldn't mind a good stab to the neck, a healthy amount of bleeding, maybe an artery, perhaps they wouldn't patch this one up in time, always hoping...

When Kiryu kicked him, he grit his teeth and then spit at his foot.

"And yet they say," he said (and now he really wasn't thinking, he was just going what felt right), "t-that... that our species is worth saving. Disgusting."

Edited 2009-07-30 05:22 (UTC)

Kiryu laughed again; this man had no idea what he'd been capable of back home. What he'd actually done home. If there was ever a wrong person to appeal about saving the human race or thinking humans were superior, it was Kiryu. He hadn't thought that in years.

"Maybe some," Kiryu said with a shrug.

That was enough with the English. He didn't need to keep making it easy for this man.

"It doesn't matter anyway," he hissed, driving his katana into Cavil's shoulder. He twisted it as he kept speaking. "Only that you're NOT, and neither am I sometimes, but you deserve this far more than I ever did. Bastard.

"Now stop talking and just scream."

Even if Kiryu weren't speaking Japnaese, Cavil wouldn't have understood the words. With the sword in his shoulder, he could only hear the blood rushing in his ears, his own mind shrieking. When Kiryu twisted the blade, he screamed and then choked off the sound, jaws clenched, his breath coming out in wheezes. He tried to ball his hand into a fist, but he realized he couldn't feel it anymore, only pinpricks and the vague feeling of warm liquid. Blood. His blood.

His vision dulled and then cleared. He took a deep, unsteady breath, and then choked on it.

The others would take this opportunity to project, separate their mind from their body, green forests and church doors and everything beautiful, but Cavil thought it was stupid to live your life somewhere else, and why don't you just face reality and deal with it, but he really didn't want to deal with this, he just wanted to be--

--Angry. Be angry. Take that pain, turn it into rage, turn it into an emotion you can do something with. This was what he told himself, though he knew the only thing he could do now was make Kiryu kill him faster.

"Frakking coward," he snarled. His voice was trembling, not with fear, but pain. Maybe because his whole body was as well.

Edited 2009-07-31 01:30 (UTC)

[I'm pretty deadbeat from work, you two, and I don't want to accidentally start snapping at you guys cause I'm pissed at other people. So I might just post this one reply here and sit back for a couple tags, if that's alright with you guys.]

An interesting pressure point for Kiryu to take advantage of; though Saitou made no comment on the matter. He arched an eyebrow at Cavil's reactions, though, observing that there were a great many thoughts going through his head. And very resound anger coming off him. His heartbeat was far from slowing down, though, but a few more fatal wounds would make that so. However that was Kiryu's choice on how long he wanted to play with his toy.

Coward, indeed. Not what Saitou thought about the matter at all; it was Cavil's own fault that his attacks were slower than Saitou's, and landed him in the enemy's hands. Nearly everything could be justified if one simply examined it as an act during war. In the end, there was the possibility of honor in a battle, but more oftentimes, no. Shishio Makoto and Yukishiro Enishi had been prime examples of this, especially the latter. So focused on killing the Battousai that it did not matter if someone he hurt was innocent - only if their pain would cause Himura pain.

For the moment Saitou only 'tsk'ed, taking his sword away from a potential attack of plucking out Cavil's eye, and instead struck the blade down besides Cavil's leg. A simple side-swipe would take off his foot. Yet another warning if Cavil tried anything.

[No problem! Take care of yourself and feel better soon! <3]

The little comment earned a much hard twist, and any thoughts of taunting Cavil with just finding him a healer and leaving him without half an arm left his head. Coward. He wouldn't be here if here were a coward. He always rushed headlong into things; Saitou probably wished by now that Kiryu had a bit of cowardice in him.

"You're nothing but talk," he spat out, twisting again. "And you're still TALKING."

[yes, feel better!!]

More twists, more pain, more half screams, sweat, lungs that can't take in air, a clamp around his forehead, spinning spinning, there must be some way out of here, said the joker to the thief--

For a moment, the whole world grew numb. Brown spots invaded his peripheral vision. Blood rushed louder through his ears, like a river, a vacuum, a landing spaceship, and his eyes rolled back as he went limp, head slamming into the ground. The collision was enough to jar him awake again.

He blinked without lifting his head, trying to pick up his bearings. His eyes were having trouble focusing. This time, he said nothing. It seemed like a good time for a break, yes? Great. Okay.

Edited 2009-07-31 03:47 (UTC)

Kiryu notices this and stops for a moment, even going so far as to withdraw his blade and let it rest next to his side. It wasn't out of mercy or feeling sorry for him, but because he wanted Cavil to suffer while he could think rationally.

It hurt more that way.

He could stand to wait a moment while Cavil regained his senses. He wasn't the one bleeding to death on the floor, after all.

Although...it really was hard to keep himself from just stabbing the man again. Even just lying there, Cavil pissed him off.

Having the katana removed from his shoulder hurt a hell of a lot more than having it just rest there. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.

Once it was out, he was expecting another blow, really, and when nothing came, he opened his eyes. Without moving his head (he wasn't sure how well he could lift it or even if he wanted to), he let his eyes wander from Kiryu to Saitou. He wasn't so naive as to think this was over, but he wasn't about to egg them on.

He tried to take steady breaths. In. Out. All the while, he watched them, though he sometimes had to close his eyes to fight the vertigo, the nausea. He thought about humming again, but after his latest lapse into unconsciousness, making any kind of coherent noise seemed less appealing, like it required a well of energy he no longer had access to. And then what would he do if it worked? Drag himself out to the street with one hand missing and another he couldn't feel? Use his teeth to shoot himself in the head?

He groaned again, closing his eyes. He wanted to be unconscious for the rest of this, please and thank you.

Kiryu had to admit, he was immensely satisfied to see Cavil suffering like this.

On the surface.

And even a good deal deeper than that. Hatred and rage and insanity were so ingrained in him now that it was hard not to feel good at making someone suffer. Especially since that someone had made him suffer before.

But really deep down, there was a tiny part of him that was protesting that this made him no better than those stupid Security who had beat him up in jail.

And he hated THAT.

He slapped the flat of his blade against Cavil's cheek, only just hard enough to get his attention.

"Hey, no sleep," he said, in English. "No rest. Like before."

He jerked at the feel of the blade, opening his eyes. Once more, he fought to keep his vision focused.

"I suppose," he said, voice raw and frail and unsteady, "there's nothing I can do to make you stop this."

Not quite begging. And yet.

Kiryu laughed at that, only his grip tightening on his sword showing how much that annoyed him. Not the lack of begging, but how close he got.

"Did you?"

"What I did had a purpose," he breathed. "Necessary for my-- for m-my... long term survival. What you're doing is pure sadism. Cruelty for the s-sake of being cruel." He squeezed his eyes shut again. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he could imagine himself on a beach. Warm sand, not blood. (No, no.)

With his eyes closed, it felt like the world was spinning. He opened them, and it felt the same way.

"You can s-stop this right now, Kiryu." More struggles to focus, to keep his voice audible. "You can have your revenge."

Kiryu's expression fell a little with every word until he was mostly blank--though his mind certainly wasn't. That was a whirlwind of emotions, only spurred on by what he understood of what Cavil said.

Necessary?! He doubted that. That had been as necessary as what was happening now.

Which, frankly, upset him a little. Maybe more than a little. He wasn't sure why, but it upset him more than angered him. Which just angered him more.

He wouldn't be surprised if he would overheat from how pissed off he was. And he doubted Saitou was enjoying it much...

"Can I?" he murmured, voice eerily steady. "Revenge is this. All this. Pain and death. What else is there?"

"Kill me," he stressed. "Deliver my soul unto 'God' or the... t-the Porter... or eternal nothingness." He grimaced again, letting his eyes close. He was going to pass out again with the spinning, the twisting and turning, the heaviness in his head. The blood from his shoulder wound soaked parts of his jacket which weren't covered in the blood from his arm. It had pooled on the ground by his head, staining his cheek. His remaining hand rested lamely by his side.

Edited 2009-07-31 13:53 (UTC)

It was almost pitiful what enough pain could do to a human body; a person's mind. Then again enough hours of pain could make nearly any man break.

And Cavil certainly was in a pitiful state now. Saitou was almost surprised Kiryu hadn't been feeling angry enough to use that fire ability of his to prolong his revenge; perhaps this wasn't what he wanted anymore. He was silent, though, simply watching the two, and keeping an eye on Cavil. Absently he took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke and watching it curl into the air. He wasn't positive when Kiryu wanted to finally end his little session, but Saitou had a few words to say to the 'robot' below before Kiryu finally let him die.

Kiryu stared down at him for a long moment before taking a step back.

"You want it..."

He scowled and glanced back at Saitou. He hadn't said much, which Kiryu was thankful for, but now he wasn't sure he wanted Saitou to stay silent anymore.

"Saitou," he murmured, switching back to Japanese. "Do you want anything else?"

For the first time in a while Saitou took his eyes off Cavil to glance over at Kiryu inexpressively - but only for a moment. He doubted Cavil had much of an ability to hum a note anymore, but staying defensive was a must.

He leaned his weight somewhat on his katana by Cavil's leg, making the slightest tear in the dying man's clothes as the blade inched dangerously towards some tendons.

While taking the time to say in near perfect English, starting out calm and rising with certainty of death: "Go near him again, and I will break you completely."

The others liked to say the Ones had no respect for life. Cavil preferred to think he knew when he was fighting a losing battle, when it was time to give in, move on to a new body, and call it a day. Of course, he didn't know if a body was waiting for him, and maybe the only thing ahead was nothingness. But that didn't really matter - there was no way he was spending the end of his life begging for it to be saved. Even with all the blood loss, the pain spidering through his system, that he knew.

The feel of the sword against the fabric of his pants was what caused him to open his eyes again.

"Of course," he said, as though it were obvious, and couldn't we move on? You made your point, now get it over with.

Edited 2009-07-31 22:30 (UTC)

That tone.

Kiryu let out a slow breath, glaring down at him. It was like he didn't care. At all. Even a little bit ago, he'd seemed to care a little.

His arm lashed out, the sword slashing across Cavil's throat. He didn't care if that sped this up or actually killed him or just hurt, he had take out this annoyance somehow.

"I'm not doing you any favors."

Another rush of pain, this time seizing his entire body with its claws, whirling landscapes, and then bam, the world rocked and tilted over. So much for breathing. Now the only thing he could taste was the blood filling his throat, and every attempt at taking in air was met with a sudden

stop.

Up was down. Down was up. Brown filtered into his vision again and then he was falling, falling, falling, but he could still feel the ground under him and he could still see Saitou and Kiryu standing there. He choked. Coughed. Wheezed.

He wasn't gone yet, but he was barely there. Not much longer now. Something told him now was a good time for the Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing (said in his head, of course, 'and above all, a measure of acceptance--') but that was the irrational part of his mind that was still afraid of death and only because it was staring him in the face, but he was not going to pray, that was ridiculous, and--

and--

He tried swallowing and even that didn't work.

Edited 2009-08-01 02:18 (UTC)

Kiryu turned away and sheathed his katana as he walked back over to the table. He hardly glanced at Cavil as he hopped back up and scooted back against the wall.

He didn't have anything more to do than just watch as Cavil died. He certainly wasn't going to make it end any faster for him. If Saitou wanted to, he didn't care; that was up to him. But he doubted he would.

There was some contemplating over whether it would be fitting to end his begging for death with a resound stab to the heart, but after a moment Saitou thought better of it. Seppuku was an honorable death. And a slow one such as this suited Cavil better. Perhaps he had actually learned something from all this-- perhaps. If he simply continued to go after those Saitou considered off-limits and ignore his warnings, there would be consequences worse than this.

For now Saitou was content with flicking his finished cigarette onto Cavil's bloodsoaked chest, letting it burn where it may. A second later and he was glancing over at Kiryu, as if to say he was on his way out. He found no real importance in watching someone so pathetic as Cavil in his last moments. Kiryu, Saitou was sure, felt differently, but as far as Saitou was concerned now, Cavil was not worth his time. He had other cases to take care of.

He didn't feel anything when the cigarette hit him... or maybe he did, but it was distant, burning a far away body that wasn't his own.

In the end, it took maybe thirty seconds before the choking and gurgling stopped, before he closed his eyes because he could no longer see with them. He didn't pray.

Kiryu watches until the end, until he's sure Cavil isn't breathing anymore. Just knowing that he was dead, knowing for sure...it was satisfying.

But he couldn't be totally happy about it.

He hopped off the table and scowled down at Cavil, looking over him one more time to make sure. Then he headed out after Saitou, hoping he could catch up with him. Maybe he could convince Saitou to get breakfast with him today.

Edited 2009-08-02 04:38 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[COMPLETE] "There are four kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy."

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waaay to accidentally hit 'post comment,' self

XD no worries /pats

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Cal get on AIM :U

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/and jumps back in

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