Avalanche tightened up their muscles when Kaito asked about the girl who left. They knew that they were going to have to deal with it, and were ready for those questions. What caught them off guard, however, were the tears Kaito cried as he started to profess all of the feelings which lingered in his heart. Apparently, Shion was a jinchuuriki. While this news surprised them, it did put some things into context, such as the freakish strength she exhibited while they were fighting that villain tamer. Avalanche lost their words and their composure while Kaito continued to cry and spew out what was in heart. They didn't know what they wanted; since the feelings of crying and screaming were both dominant in their mind. They wanted to be cold and distant, but they knew that Kaito needed them. It was for this reason that Avalanche moved closer to Kaito, and wrapped Kaito's right hand in both of their grip.
"Kaito." Avalanche said softly. One hand left their grasp of Kaito as they reached up and grabbed their mask. With a clicking sound the mask detached, and as they removed their hand, Avalanche's face, with dazzling blue eyes and gentle, masculine softness looked down upon Kaito. "Your name is Kaito. You do make things right. You are not a monster." Avalanche moved their mask into Kaito's grasp as they helped him grasp it. "When I lost everything, when I was not sure of who I was, I made this mask. It cemented me into a role, into an identity. It allowed me to create who I am now." Avalanche pushed their hands, as well as Kaito's hand and Avalanche's mask, toward Kaito's chest. "No matter who you are, no matter what monsters you fear you have within you, I am here. So take your time. Make your mask. And when you do, I will be here." Avalanche let go of their mask, as well as Kaito's hand, as they moved away from the boy. Kaito needed to have a second to figure out who he was, and who he wanted to be. No matter who he decided, however, Avalanche would be here for him.
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The vulnerability of Avalanche speaking their truth and removing their mask was not lost on Kaito. His jaw actually dropped as he held the mask they had given him; was this real life? He only saw honesty on Avalanche's face, but it was almost hard to look at him - not, of course, that Avalanche was hard on the eyes (the opposite was true) - because they were so earnest in their words.
When Avalanche moved away from Kaito for a moment, he felt a pain in his heart that he immediately recognized as something he had been missing when he was with Shion or Maeko. 'I love you,' he thought helplessly. He was holding onto the mask carefully, because it was precious, but also like a lifeline, because in many ways, it was.
"I am Kaito," he repeated without inflection. "I make things right." The words felt foreign on his tongue, like he was trying to speak a language he was unfamiliar with. "I am not a monster." It was a weak mantra, not something with feeling behind it, except. Except that he was starting to believe it. Because if Avalanche could say it - and say it with that earnest, pure expression on their face - it had to be true. The vigilante had never, ever lied to him.
"I am Kaito. I make things right. I am not a monster. I create light, and sometimes petals, but never darkness. I make things; I do not destroy them. I was an officer of the law but I can't wear that badge anymore. I want to make the world a better place and I will. I will do it while following my own path." He held the mask out to Avalanche know, having made his own identity. Though his eyes were still damp, his voice was steady and a smirk managed to find its way to his face. "I am sometimes considered Avalanche's sidekick."
Avalanche watched Kaito reform himself. It was a difficult process, as it pained them to see his friend struggle with the goodness they knew resided within him. However, as always, the light of justice won within him. Kaito recalled the good he carried within him, and those beautiful hetero-chromatic eyes reflected the confidence to prove to himself and to others that he was ready to fight again. When Kaito called himself the occasional sidekick, Avalanche felt their own body relax. "You're damn right." They said with assertion. A single tear then fell from their eye, which made them realize how long they've been without their mask. It has been years since he showed his face to anyone, and now it was starting to make him uncomfortable. It was for this reason that, as his hand rose to cover his face, ice manifested and formed a pseudo mask. It was less defined like the metal one in Kaito's grasp, but it would do the job in keeping them feeling secure.
"Tell anyone what you saw, and I will make you pay." They swore with a dropped voice. While Avalanche doubted that they would actually hurt Kaito, the fact remained that it would still hurt Avalanche if he did break that trust. Of course, to admit their own feelings would be too much to do, so they had to break it up with a threat. "Now take the time you need to recover so that we can figure out how the corrupted APD officers have amassed so much power while Kenshin is still in command." They said with their arms folded. The mystery of the corrupted APD officers was something which weighed heavily on their mind, since their power and resources seem damn near infinite. "We should start with this Antioch individual. Kenshin believed him to be important, although our best lead was unfortunately stolen from us." Avalanche said with a sigh. Stole was the correct word for the situation since the card which had a fraction of the map, aka Avalanche's card from their deck, was taken by Kenshin in order to be used for further analysis. This meant that Avalanche was short one lead and one card which costed them 300 ryo.
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Kaito was unused to Avalanche showing emotion, but he honored the moment they shared right then. He nodded stoically at Avalanche's threat, sure the vigilante would not make good on it but it wasn't like he was willing to compromise their trust. "I feel much better now. I want to help deal with this corruption, and then I want to officially relinquish my badge so I can move on. Walk me through this Antioch." He wasn't sure Avalanche and Kenshin working together was a good idea since the latter was so strictly law-abiding and would want to capture the vigilante. However, it sounded like they had found some worthwhile results.
He played with the material of the mask in one hand but left it proffered, easy to grab if Avalanche preferred to have it back. Kaito could make his own of light if he was going to commit to being a vigilante.
Avalanche relayed the brief engagement they had with Kenshin about the reveal of Antioch. They explained how this figure, which parades himself on the face of his own archetype in the card game played by the teenage delinquents of this village. Avalanche of course abstained from admitting that they too played the game, or that their deck was composed of the Kenshin inspired archetype. However, in the midst of their breakdown of the situation, they did reveal that a card that "somehow" was in their grasp was revealed to be part of a mapw which could possibly lead to Antioch. "With Kenshin and that Toso pet having our one lead, we're back at the drawing board trying to figure out how to get to the root of the APD corruption." Avalanche said with a defeated sigh. The fact that they were nearly killed by the APD officers who went rouge was definitely something which made this case deeply personal to them. With a look toward Kaito the ice masked vigilante raised their tone. "Did Shion mention anything about Antioch or the APD? With her being part of the ANBU, it's possible that she may have said something even in passing." They asked, trying to gather any lead they could take. They knew that Shion was not going to be any sort of assistance since the girl was not only a pawn of the fake kage, but also a time bomb for a demonic force. Judging by how she handled that crazed person it was clear that she was not playing with a full deck of cards. It's a good thing Kaito didn't do anything stupid like date that bag of crazy.
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Kaito looked at his hands as Avalanche explained Antioch and the APD corruption. He had no idea how the two of them were going to solve this. He had no idea who he could trust at the station besides Kenshin. "Um... no, no Shion never mentioned anything like that. I don't think she knows it's going on." Most officers didn't. Well, they didn't, or they were a part of the corruption.
"Could we like, get a sensory-nin to find Antioch? And a Yamanaka or something to do all that mind reading stuff on APD officers to determine who's guilty and who isn't? I can't believe this has happened under Captain Kosei's watch; he's such a careful, by-the-book guy." Kaito felt overwhelmed and under-equipped to handle something this big, but he did feel comforted that at least Avalanche was by his side. If nothing else, they could make a dent in this problem, just the two of them.
Avalanche crossed their arms and listened to Kaito's feedback. The vigilante had never crossed blades with a Yamanaka, so their knowledge on the topic was admittedly limited. However, since Kaito seemed to believe it to be a good idea, they were on board. "It's as good of a lead as any. We should go to the academy then and break into their records. After all, if there are any competent Yamanaka in the village, then they would have had to been registered there." They said, nonchalant to the whole idea of entering a place of learning and ransacking it for useful information. This is because Avalanche did not think of it as wrong, as they weren't going to steal or harm anyone in the process. However, since they anticipated Kaito having moral objections, they left the floor open to him.
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He flinched at Avalanche's initial solution. It didn't feel like him to go breaking into the academy. After all, if he did that, how much different was he from the corrupted officers? But, on the other hand, he was no longer going to be an office; he had every intent of turning in his badge. "Couldn't we find similar records in the PD? There has to be an officer who can..." His words trailed off as he realized he genuinely could not trust anyone in the department.
"Okay... no one will get hurt if we do this..." He stared at the floor. Was this the person he was now? He was serious about chasing justice like Avalanche but how much was he ready to compromise? It seemed he would be finding out as much about himself this time around as he would about the APD. "Let's catch some bad cops."
It has been a while since their last lead led them to no success. Although they managed to expose some corruption within the APD, Avalanche and Kaito had been a homeward binge because of the lack of success. Sure, Avalanche would sneak into the night to find any leads they could, but their heart was wounded. They wanted to bring an end to the nightmare, and yet it just kept proving to be a deeper and darker abyss than either of them imagined. Still, the masked warrior never felt broken. Their resolve was as solid as the most frozen ice. However, there was one thing that did wound Avalanche's pride.
"Must I REALLY clean my wing of the house?" Avalanche shouted with their arms folded and a slight pout on their mouth. They were in casual sweat pants and a t-shirt from a magic โ concert the two went to which Avalanche insisted that the vender just so happened to give them two for the price of one, which just so happened meant that he and Kaito had matching shirts. Their eyes were still hidden by their iconic mask, but Kaito would know well enough how Avalanche was looking beneath it, despite only seeing their face once. It has been about six months since the two have been living with each other, and as time has progressed the slow creep of mess which the masked vigilante was accustomed to living in expanded from just the hole in the wall tiny room he made for himself in the attic, to now encompassing the entirety of the third and second floor. Scatters of paper lined each wall with possible leads and theories, and the floors reeked of cheap booze and old pizza. "Why can we not just crash at a new place instead?" They ask, forgetting that they only crashed into the house, and Kaito is technically the one who owns it.
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Kaito huffed at Avalanche's staunch refusal to clean. It was so strange that a vigilante so concerned with their appearance - at least most of the time - was unwilling to be so orderly in other areas of life. Still, Kaito had to admit the upset was funny. But he'd learned not to laugh outright at Avalanche; the vigilante kept a later schedule than Kaito and was thus able to prank the ex-police officer in many ways. "Do you have a maid? Or perhaps, money for your own house?" He raised a brow as he pointedly asked his questions.
He hoped Avalanche didn't suspect he would be a maid. Kaito didn't even think he'd look good in the maid attire. "Maybe you could teach one of your many CATS how to clean for you," he suggested as he pointedly leered at one of the strays walking between them. Kaito took his time in grooming himself, removing a cat hair from his matching concert t-shirt that rested underneath his jacket. "You could find a more responsible roommate to split your room and responsibilities with," he suggested again, running his mouth like the talkative kid he'd always been. Of course, all of his suggestions brought a quirk to his lips, as he knew they wouldn't much care for any of them.
"You always bring up the cats when you get mad." They said snidely as they reached down and picked up Archduke Percival Wellington the Sixth, who was a golden boy with a feisty temper. Millennium Two Thousand (gray tuxedo) started to claw at some of the papers on the ground, while Dewey (gray tabby) and Daisy (Calico turtleshell) curled up around Avalanche's legs. "You're reasonable in every way except your incessant nagging." They said as they now got the archduke into a loud purr, which definitely helped alter their mood. Avalanche let out a sigh and stared at Kaito. "The maid idea isn't a bad one though. What if we borrow some change from the next corrupt APD officers we find, and use it to call some room service? We solve two problems with one takedown. Sounds like a great use of an evening to me." Avalanche also realized that it was their turn to make dinner, and hopefully if they found a cheap enough maid they could use the rest of the stolen money to pay for dinner. The vigilante was always down to eat less to make sure Kaito had a good meal.
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xXx A stray cat nipped at the Chunin's heel's. It'd been tailing him since this morning. For now though, Hajime pretended not to notice. It'd picked up his trail near the Market district. A collar was attached to its neck, 'Maybe it belongs to somebody?' He thought to himself. He only had one plausible guess as to where the cat might have come from. Memories of years gone by danced in the recesses of his mind. Old beginner ninja missions catching lost pets. A smile had creeped across Hajime's face.
xXx The cat in question was prancing along behind him, its head craned back to gaze up at the Ninja's messy mop of red hair. the cat seemed a bit fixed on Hajime but ever so often it'd look around. It's tail held high as it daintily followed behind him. The place where Hajime was heading housed a rather sizeable amount of pet cats. It was a large estate on the village.
xXx A series of knocks could be heard from the main entrance of Kaito's home, Avalanche's hideout. Hajime didn't know who to expect however, so he stood there, arms crossed. His expectations of who just might open the door was more akin to an elderly lady with an obsession with cats. Haji's thoughts however were interrupted by a gentle nudge against his ankle, his one good eye slipped its vision downward, spying the red eyed cat's form rubbing back and forth against his leg. "Pssssh, I hope this is your owner, I'm not allowed pets man..."
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kiiwispoet
Mattysandwich
Roy-schach
Offline
ghostfinch
Seeker
Offline
Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:49 pm
Quote:
ใ KAITO
Kaito smiled at Avalanche's righteous outrage about Kaito bringing up the cats as ammunition. However, he did cross his arms and sigh exaggeratedly at Avalanche's idea. "If we hire a maid - and we're not - they'll know where we live and know that you live here. That's a risk, y'know." He flushed a little as he realized how concerned he sounded about Avalanche's well-being. He cleared his throat and tried to correct it. "I mean, wouldn't a cleaning service notice all the little things in your wing of the home? Your dirty secrets, your-" he was interrupted by knocking.
He let the idea of someone invading Avalanche's privacy permeate in the vigilante's mind as he went to the front door. He opened it to see a strange man standing there. Kaito squinted at him. "Uh. Can I help you?" He wasn't wearing his badge. He hadn't turned it in like he said he would because he still liked the special access and protection it gave him, but he supposed he wouldn't want to brandish it in front of Avalanche anyways. He looked down to see the cat and Kaito covered his face to scream into his hands. "I am going to have NIGHTMARES from all of these CATS."
mattysandwich
rosa havoc
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:27 pm
Avalanche was confused about the inquiry Kaito had about hiring a maid as Percival fell from their grasp. Weren't maids supposed to be sworn to secrecy? Would they not resist torture and cruelty to keep the information they discern from their cleaning to themselves? This is what Avalanche has read in their romance novels, "The secret life of the house maid", which was about a young maid who was recently hired to watch after the estate of a new business typhoon who was shunned for being a woman. While the book had a lot of unnecessary sex scenes which at best Avalanche found unnecessary and at worse made them blush a deep blue, they were drawn by the story of the characters, and what it offered the insights of the maid's life was fascinating to Avalanche. They were even going to recommend it to Kaito had they been able to find the first volume, which they owned (or borrowed indefinitely from the academy), but it was lost in the void that was their room. However, at that moment the doorbell rang, and a red haired man entered the home with one black cat.
"SOFIE!" Avalanche shouted as they leaped from the upper floor and landed in front of the main entrance. In a completely uncharacteristic tone of affection the vigilante began to coo and aww at the black cat, who immediately jumped into their arms and started purring profusely. After a couple of ear scratches and some confirmations that she was, in fact, the prettiest black cat in the whole wide world, Avalanche's senses returned to them, and realized that there was still a man in theirs and Kaito's doorway. "Who are you and why have you followed Sofie?!" Avalanche demanded as with one arm they held their cat, and the other one they drew their blade. They held the sword ever so slightly pointed at the man, but upon seeing his arashi headband lowered it. "Oh. Apologies." They said sincerely. "Is there something you need, however? My fiancรฉ and I were discussing wedding plans, and we're going to be going out before long to look at possible venues." They said, releasing the first lies they could think of in order to get this person to leave the premises. Immediately they regretted this choice of lie, but their stoic face kept any sign of it from showing. Hopefully Kaito could maintain the facade as well.
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xXx Hajime sat there waiting for a minute or two, the cat would rub its side against him one way. Then turn, and rub back the opposite. When the door opened, he was greeted by the perplexed sounding young man, with a head of brown curly hair. โYeah, this catโs been following m-โ He was cut off by Kaitoโs outburst. He took a step back, scratching the back of his head. โYa good? Uh, I ca-โ Avalanche would interrupt the man for the second time in like ten seconds.
xXx The cat thatโd been following him had stopped, sat back on its rear and started licking at a paw. Its red eyes had been eyeing Kaito, curiously. When Avalanche made their grandiose entrance though, itโs eyes had moved to them. Its head cocked to the side, seemingly at being called Sofie, but the cooing and awing prompted it to jump right into their arms. A deep purr could be heard, โSofieโ would nuzzle up under the masked vigilanteโs neck. โFu fu fuuu...โ The ominous chuckle could only be heard in the felineโs head.
xXx Hajime, who was rather innocent of any wrongdoing, would find himself in a standoff with the masked vigilante whoโd just drawn their weapon. Both his own katana were out without any hesitation, but when they realized his allegiances he relaxed. โA bit defensive I see, I get that though. Uh I was only here to see if the cat belonged to you. I apologize for interrupting. I wish you both congratulations on the arrangement.โ He gave them a big smile, his one good eye bright. A marriage was always good news.
