High & Low Fires of the Past

Chapter 31: To Right My Wrongs

(Fitting Music:  Gavin Luke - Out of the Woods)

"Let them go," I push, my head drooping a little as I softly uttered the words, "You promised."

     Reginald flashes a bright grin, delving into his pocket to produce his phone.  "Indeed, I did."

"And I keep my word," his gaze drifts over to Takeru.  He winks subtly, and his long fingers dancing across the screen as the man types something into his phone, "Unlike Kira, isn't that right, Takeru?"

     Takeru's burning expression was enough of an answer that Reginald would ever need to confirm his suspicions and he lets out a low vibrating chuckle that has the hairs on the back of my neck prickling to their ends.

"Bit of advice, young man," says Reginald, his eyes glued to the glowing screen of his rectangular device "Never trust a lady.  Most devious humans on the planet.  Lie to your face and stab you in the back one minute and act like they are the victim the next."

     "And I would know, spent enough time around them...  Yes . . . too much..."Moving his head from side to side, Reginald absentmindedly slips his phone back into his trousers.  Reverting his attention back to the situation at hand, he clears his throat loudly and speaks in a gruff voice.

"Well, they'll be up in a moment or two, I wouldn't worry."

     His head cocks in my direction and his lips curl into a deeper smirk.  It was like he was bathing in my face frozen in a mix between fear and regret.  However, my anger at Reginald is cancelled out by Takeru's twisted expression.  Those wide eyes filled with betrayal and tears, the trembling jaw that shook with both rage and grief, and the hands clenching and unclenching as he knelt on the ground staring at me with a look of brokenness that I was not used to . . . that I never wanted to get used to...

     I had given him a necklace.  A necklace he thought contained the hidden flash drive Hiroto had given his life for.  Takeru believed I had finally learnt to trust him, given him my father's work, and had the faith to believe he would do what was best with it.  Give him the choice . . . yet, here we were.

     I had the necklace, flash drive intact, and he had, to all accounts, a fraud, a fake, and I had given it to him.  I did not trust him, not with my plan and, in his eyes, not with the flash drive either.  I was an outsider, the hate in Takeru's orbs was not lost on me, ever since my parents were murdered I had been an outsider.  I had just kidded myself to believe in friends, to believe in second chances, and in family, but it was a lie.  I was broken, I was lost, and no one could save me.  It was always a lie...  The truth weighed heavy on my shoulders, and I slump under it.  My gaze glossing over almost immediately.

"You blame me for Hiroto," I say.  It was a statement more than a question, but I wanted . . . needed to hear him say it.  I needed him to hammer the nail on the head, to drive it home . . . to confirm my belief.  I needed him to confirm that I had no one before I could push him out before I could push them all out.  Block my heart from the world, close the door of my heart and never let anyone back in, but he needed to say it...

     However, the old, heavy door swung open, interrupting whatever it was Takeru was going to say, and the clap of footsteps tell of the sheer number of people swarming the room, racing across the cream-carpeted floor like a tsunami.

     My face resumes an impassive expression, and I wipe away any sign of my previous grief from my face.  A few dozen-odd guns are levelled at me standing imposingly in the centre of the room, and the men circle around and making their way towards their boss, Reginald, and covering my view of Takeru with a throng of suited legs.  They stay a good five feet back.  I wonder if they suspect I am armed, why else stay would they keep their distance?