The Originals

Through Smoke and Mirrors

"Who are you 'protecting'?" Taka asks, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff from it. He tries to hand it to Hiro and chuckles as Hiro is tied to the chair in front of the desk via water restraints.

"Claire." Hiro has obviously calmed down now. His voice is back to normal and his eyes are his normal pitch black. "You smoke now?" Hiro adds, looking at the cigarette hanging out of Taka's mouth. The faint chill from the shattered window seeped into the room, mixing with the lingering scent of smoke and the faint, metallic tang of Hiro's still-fading aura.

"Whenever I'm stressed, yeah. Always have. Just was good at hiding it back in the day." Taka takes another puff and stands up, blowing it out of the now nonexistent window. "Not that you really paid attention to any of us back then anyways. It was always Claire this, and Claire that. Who woulda guessed you would end up leaving her too." Taka turns back.

"It's not like that. My head-" Hiro stops, averting Taka's eyes.

"Is fucked up? Yeah, we all know, and knew. Back then, and now." Taka sits back down. Hiro's jaw tightened, a flicker of something like regret crossing his face as Taka's words settled in. "I didn't know..." he muttered, almost too quietly, before looking away. Silence engulfs the room again, neither man looking at one another.

"I didn't want to leave her, and then when she came back, even just for the night it felt like we were back to where we left off. Like things had finally became what we wanted them to be." Hiro says, defeat filling his voice.

"Where you both wanted them to be?" Taka's voice is filled with resentment.

"What does that even mean?" 

"A model, and a teacher, right?" Taka puts his elbows on the desk and clasps his hands together. The lingering smell of tobacco fills the silent room.

"Yes. I wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to be a model." Hiro responds, still averting Taka's eyes as if embarrassed. 

"No," Taka said, his tone sharper now. "You wanted to be a teacher, and she wanted to be a model—when she was 12." Taka spins his chair around, looking out at the city below them. "She stopped wanting to be a model when we were about 17. After the war had completely destroyed the Old Colony. She wanted to become a scientist. One that would be able to cure ailments like what the One was capable of giving to people. She wanted to save the world through science rather than cure it through bloodshed." Taka's disappointment fills his voice, he only stops talking to take a puff of his cigarette. Hiro felt his pulse quicken, a mix of surprise and guilt swirling inside him. Had he really missed so much? For the first time, he wondered if the dream he held onto was only ever his own. Taka let the silence stretch, his eyes lingering on the city below. "You never really knew her, did you, Hirito?" he said softly, the words hanging like smoke in the air. Taka sighs.

Hiro's voice faltered, the edges of his old certainty crumbling. "But she never said—" He stopped, the realization dawning harsh and clear. Maybe he had been too caught up in his own vision to see hers truly.

"And now here we are," Taka continued, his gaze turning back from the city to Hiro. "Years gone, fighting shadows of wars long ended. You're still trying to save her from a world that changed while we weren't looking." Taka takes another puff, "So, what now, Hirito?" Taka asked quietly, the smoke curling around him in the dim light. "How do we save her this time?" Hiro looked up from his mopey state to see Taka staring directly in his eyes. The room feels warmer than it was before. Hiro has small chills running down his spine. Something feels off.

"What do you-"

"You think I would just leave you to fight a war by yourself? Whether or not you knew Claire, you still loved her. With the failure of knowledge you had on her, she was- at one point- your world. She felt the exact same," Taka pauses, "We all had dreams back then Hiro, but none of them came to fruition except yours." 

"I'm far from living my dream."

"Either way. She wouldn't have just left. So, if you're looking for her something went awry. What happened, how can I help?" Taka flicks his cigarette out of the shattered window.

"Yeon. I need to know what is going on between him and Yumida. You're supposed to be the best investigator now, right?" Upon Hiro finishing his sentence, Taka's eyes widen and have a spark of fear in them.

"Y-Yeon?" Taka chokes out, grabbing his cigarettes and struggling to pull one out. As he struggles, Hiro is able to smell something burning, so he glances around to see if there is a cigarette still burning.

"Taka? What the hell is that all about?" Hiro is beyond confused. Taka struggles to get his lighter to light as his hands are shaking. The cigarette hangs from his lips very loosely. Before either man can react, a hand can be seen under the cigarette and in front of the lighter. The hand's index and thumb are pushed together and a small flame ignites on top of the fingers. 

"Need a light?" The voice connected to the hand says. It's cold, calm, but yet chilling demeanor sends chills down Taka and Hiro's back. As Hiro looks up to see the man, his bright red hair looks like a freshly lit flame that burns to destroy. His black shirt matches well with his pants that are the same color as his hair. He has one dark red eye, and one black eye. A chain dangles around his neck though the end of it is hidden.

"Y-Yu-Yumida..?" Taka spits out, letting his cigarette drop next to his feet. At the point of saying that, Hiro's restraints are released but before he can do anything, Yumida is behind him with his fingers lit flame held to Hiro's neck.

"Only an Original can kill an Original. And my fire burns hot, Hiro." Yumida smirks from behind Hiro.