Forgive the following lameness. :V I'm not waiting for Moho anymore.
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"What did you give for me?" demanded Nero, his words hanging heavy on the air, like raindrops waiting to fall and start a storm. "Tell me now!"
"Nero- we-" Ari cried, holding her little brother tight against her chest, sobbing as she tried to continue, her answer caught in her throat with her pain and tears. "We had to," she choked out. "I told him no, but Kei- he-"
"Kei, what did you do?" Suddenly, Nero didn't look like a slightly smaller than average sixteen year old anymore. He voice was cold, like an icy wing, his blue eyes holding a fierce blizzard that froze the unfortunate onlooker where they stood, his snarl, challenging and vicious, was enough to make him look older, dangerous, a feral animal ready to attack at whim. "WHAT DID YOU GIVE FOR ME?!"
The older boy simply closed his eyes, leaning against the door frame, remaining quiet, Ari's sobs the only sound in the room, but the silent crackling of tension filled Nero's ears like thunder before a storm. And Kei broke it with three words.
"Me for you," said Kei so quietly Nero almost missed the words, but they sounded in his mind like fireworks, gunshots, sending him reeling, deaf, even though this had been the answer he'd been expecting. There were just some things you couldn't prepare for. The sacrifice of life being one them.
"They're going to kill you!" yelled Nero in an accusing tone, batting Ari off with a rough shrug of his shoulders, freeing himself from her immobilizing grip, charging up to Kei and pinning his brother to the wall with his hands, trapping him in a cage of blond. "How could you do such a thing? Why? Why, Kei?! Tell me!"
"My life is defined by you," answered Kei simply, meeting Nero's powerful azure gaze without flinching, eyes serene and accepting of his fate. "My entire existence, mine and Ari's, serves to protect you from harm and to serve at your side. And they didn't say they'd kill me."
"But I'm guessing it's inferred!" said Nero angrily, feeling an intense urge to punch some sense into Kei. "And if you give yourself up, you won't be able to protect me anymore. And I won't have a big brother anymore. At least when I left last time, we could talk over the Internet sometimes, and I knew I ws going to see you again." Nero's voice quavered as he too started to cry, albeit quietly, trying to hold back the tears as best as he could. "But if you leave now, I might not be able to see you again, ever! You're family to me, Kei, family! You, Ari, and I are a family! We need each other! You can't just break that, Kei, you can't!"
"I'd be breaking it if I let you stay here as well," he answered gently, pulling Nero into his arms and letting his little brother cry into him. "And you don't know if it'll be good-bye or not. For all we know, I could come out of this alive, don't you think? There's always hope. When there's a will, there's a way."
"Let's escape now," whispered Nero, already formulating a plan. "Before they can get either of us. As soon as Chaos gets back with the others, let's run for it."
"We're in enemy territory, Nero," Kei reminded him, his voice admonishing. "We'd all be dead by the time we make it to the perimeter. Think straight. Don't let your emotions clog up your thinking process."
Nero shook his head, and from the hallway, footsteps could be heard. Nero could make out Chaos's, Krev's, Brise's, and another less familiar pair of steps that had to be Aeyra. Nero looked away from the door and back to Kei, blue eyes burning up with relentless determination. "There's always hope," he quoted fiercely, drawing an eyebrow raise from Kei. "When there's a will, there's a way."
With Nero's massive amount of willpower, there had to be at least ten ways.
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Moho, you are forbidden to kill any one of the characters mentioned in this installment! (just a reminder. No killing Kei!) Let us get away for once. Start another chase and mess up all my plans another time. :V
To everyone else: So, how was it? Predictable, wasn't it? :V Oh well, it's past midnight and I'm tired.