Puppet

CHAPTER 42:


(Two weeks later)


Kiyoshi stood there with his arms folded. Luke stood beside him. Both were wearing black suits, and were surrounded by other people dressed in black. Kiyoshi listened in silence as the Priest went on. They all stood as the Priest told of the good deeds of the officers who were lost. Kiyoshi did not cry as he stood there at the funeral for his friends and the other officers who fell by Ra’s hands. Kiyoshi knew he’d always remember Topper’s humorous personality, Officer Wakehiko’s generous style, and Akina’s happy personality. They had been the greatest friends he’s ever had. He’d always miss them, and he’d never forget them.

The ceremony was long, but Kiyoshi bore with it. He glanced around at the other people. Many he recognized; some he never knew and others looked familiar to him. One lady caught his eye. She looked awfully familiar. Her face was fair and lovely, her eyes were blue, and she had peach skin. Her red hair was long, and curly. She held a small baby in her arms, and stood next to a very handsome man. Kiyoshi then knew who the woman was. It hit him like a ton of bricks. That was Akina’s older sister. Kiyoshi had seen her picture when he had that date with Akina so long ago. He had thought the woman in the picture with Akina was her mother, but it turned out to be Akina’s elder sister. Kiyoshi would never imagine the woman to be here. He had heard she barely wrote to Akina, and that Akina hardly heard from her. Kiyoshi wanted to talk with her.

After the ceremony, Luke tugged on Kiyoshi’s arm. “Are you coming?”

“One second,” Kiyoshi smiles, “I’ll be right back.”

Luke’s eyebrow rose as he watched Kiyoshi walk up to a woman. Luke curiously followed behind Kiyoshi, though he kept his distance.

The woman was talking with the handsome man when Kiyoshi reached her. Her back was to him, but Kiyoshi got the courage to say, “Excuse me, are you Akina’s sister?” The woman turned to stare at Kiyoshi with sad eyes. She did not know Kiyoshi, and only watched him weirdly, hoping he’d go away and not bother her.

“Yes,” Akina’s sister replies, “Um, who are you?”

“My name is Kiyoshi,” Kiyoshi smiles, “I worked with Akina all the time. She was like a dear friend to me, and we even went out for a while.” Kiyoshi grew silent as Akina’s sister nods her head at him.

“Oh,” Akina’s sister doesn’t smile, but she does talk, “Hello. My name is Masako. My husband here is in office worker, Hiro. This is our son Minoru.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hiro bows.

Hiro seemed very nice. Kiyoshi smiles back at the man, and then smiles at the baby Minoru.

“Nice to meet you too,” Kiyoshi’s smile slowly fades, “And I’m really sorry for your loss. Akina was—she was very special.”

“Yes I know,” Masako nods, “She was very dear. Well, it was nice meeting you Kiyoshi. Goodbye.”

Kiyoshi waves as the family heads off for their small blue car. Kiyoshi sighs and turns back to Luke. Luke was leaning against the tree; his eyes were closed. Kiyoshi slowly comes up to him. “Are you ready to go?”

“Oh yeah,” Kiyoshi smiles, “You wanted to talk with me about something, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Luke frowns, “But not here. Back at the apartment.”

--

Entering his bedroom, Kiyoshi gives off a loud sigh as he falls onto his bed. “I’ve missed this thing so much,” Kiyoshi smiles, “I’ve missed this room, and my vase of roses. I’m glad everything is finally back to the way it was!” Kiyoshi smiles at Luke, who is still standing, “Hey did I tell you? Officer Sashirou is giving me a job offer to work with him now. They’re shutting down the old office, but this one is even bigger, and I’ll get better pay!”

“That’s great news,” Luke softly speaks, “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Kiyoshi nods, “I can get you a job there too. We could keep working together, and maybe even buy ourselves a house. This apartment is too small for the both of us, unless you love sharing a bed with me?” Kiyoshi blushes, and giggles.

Luke frowns. He slowly turns to stare out the window. “Kiyoshi…” Luke says, “I—I won’t be staying.”

“Well I know that,” Kiyoshi laughs, “You still need to get all your stuff out of the hotel. But soon you’ll be moving in here, and…”

“No,” Luke calmly leans to stare out the window and watches vehicles fly past, “I did not mean that, Kiyoshi. I mean that I’m leaving—forever.”

Kiyoshi saw Luke was being serious. Kiyoshi was so happy, but now…

“What…” Kiyoshi blinks; trying to stay happy, “What are you talking about?”

Luke moves away from the window, and turns to Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi was staring at him with a smile, but Luke could see his eyes were beginning to grow worry. “You remember your mother’s song? The evil, the love…”

“Of course I do,” Kiyoshi interrupts, and stands to his feet, “But we defeated the evil! We got rid of Ra, and together we defeated him using love! Everything’s okay now!”

“You forget Kiyoshi,” Luke lowers his head, “That there is a third part to the song. Yes, we rid the evil; yes we used it with love, but what about the darkness?”

“The darkness,” Kiyoshi shakes his head, “You mean that black sheet? I—I thought that it was a part of the evil.”

“So did I at first,” Luke speaks quietly. He looks down at his hand, and makes it into a fist, “But now I know that the darkness is separate from the evil.”

Kiyoshi is confused. Luke seemed to be talking nonsense. “Luke,” Kiyoshi stares at Luke’s fist, “What are you talking about? What is the darkness?”

Luke does not answer immediately. He slowly reopens his hand, and stares at his palm. He moves his palm over his heart, and gives Kiyoshi an empty stare. “The darkness,” Luke whispers, “Is me, Kiyoshi. I am the darkness.”

Kiyoshi was taken back by this. He moves forward a little. His arms brought up into the air; his hands were shaky. “What,” Kiyoshi was almost half smiling and half frowning, “I—I don’t believe that! That’s stupid! Luke, you are not evil at all! You—it’s not true, and I won’t believe it!”

“We must face facts Kiyoshi,” Luke goes on, “I have an unbelievable power that even was able to take Ra down. I cannot control it, and every time you get hurt is when it unleashes itself. Face it Kiyoshi, what if some mortal picked on you, and I got angry? I’d unleash the power, and probably kill the person for harming you. I do not want to risk injuring anybody. I do not want any more people to die by an immortal’s hand. That is why I must go far away.”

“Then,” Kiyoshi moves closer to Luke, “Then I’ll come with you!”

“No,” Luke shouts, “You cannot come! You just got your life back Kiyoshi! You are young; you got a great new job! I want you to make friends, make money, and possibly meet someone new to love so you can have a family again.” Luke holds still as Kiyoshi runs into his arms. Kiyoshi weeps into his shirt.

“I don’t want to meet someone new,” Kiyoshi cries, “I have you! You’re my family! Luke—I love you!”

Luke pushes back Kiyoshi’s hair. His special long bang falls back in-between his eyes. Luke always loved that one bang. It’s one of Kiyoshi’s many cute physical attributes. “And that is why I must go. I do not want to risk hurting you anymore then I already have.”

“No,” Kiyoshi sniffs, “You can’t leave me…”

“I must Kiyoshi,” Luke continues, “I’ve caused so much trouble for you, and I do not want to anymore. I am dangerous, and you know so. Believe me Kiyoshi, I do wish I could stay with you because—because I love you, Kiyoshi.”

Kiyoshi slowly lifts his head up, and stares at Luke’s calm face. “You…” Kiyoshi smiles, “You said you love me. You love me?”

“I love you,” Luke gently lowers his face and kisses Kiyoshi’s wet, salty lips, “I do love you. This is why I must go. You must live your life, Kiyoshi. Succeed! I know you can.”

“I can,” Kiyoshi cries, “I know. Oh, Luke I love you too.”

“I know,” Luke then smiles, and Kiyoshi’s heart is lifted. He smiles back at Luke as they shared one final kiss before Luke slowly pulls away, “Goodbye, my puppet. We will see each other again someday. I swear!” Luke turns around. As he heads for the door, Kiyoshi’s P tattoo glow slowly fades.

Kiyoshi follows Luke to the living room. He watches as Luke goes to grab the door handle. He couldn’t take this. “Luke!”

Luke turns around to find Kiyoshi racing into his arms one final time. Kiyoshi hugs him for minutes, just standing there. Luke allowed him to. He allowed Kiyoshi to cry. Luke remembered his first few encounters with fragile Kiyoshi. He always was annoyed with Kiyoshi’s crying nature. He’d call Kiyoshi a cry-baby and hated seeing the tears. But now, at this moment, he allowed Kiyoshi to cry. He didn’t move one muscle. He stayed with Kiyoshi, hugging him for minutes.

“Luke,” Kiyoshi suddenly cries, “I’ll never forget you. Promise me you’ll never forget me?”

Luke softly rubs Kiyoshi’s head as they hugged. He leans down and kisses the top of Kiyoshi’s head as he hugs him more. “Kiyoshi,” Luke said, “I would never forget you. Never…”

--

(Four Years Later)

The man quickly pulled light blue jeans up and over his underwear. He hummed softly to his self as he buttoned the pants and went to grab for a shirt. He went to pull it on, but a head of a young woman stuck her head from behind a door.

“Kiyoshi,” the woman smiles, “Are you almost ready?”

“Yeah,” Kiyoshi smiles back, “I’ll be right out.”

The woman nods and her head vanished behind the door. Kiyoshi pulls the shirt over his head when he suddenly feels chilled. Turning his head, Kiyoshi was sure he saw a shadow staring at him from behind the open window. Kiyoshi hurriedly moved over and leaned his head out the window. Nobody was there. Kiyoshi gave out a sigh, but felt his hand rub against something. Looking down, Kiyoshi saw a bright red rose sitting on the windowsill. It had a light blue ribbon tied around it. Kiyoshi slowly picks it up, and stares at it with a pondering stare. He soon smiles, though, and holds the rose close to his chest.

The woman comes back. Her black hair was braided, she wore glasses, and wore nice clothes, “Kiyoshi,” she sighs, and “We’re going to miss our movie. Huh, what are you holding?”

“A rose,” Kiyoshi answers, “It’s a red rose.”

“Oh how beautiful,” the woman smiles, “Where’d it come from?”

Kiyoshi smiles, and shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

The woman nods, and looks at her watch. “Well put it with the others,” she smiles, “I don’t want to miss the beginning.”

“Alright I’ll be right there,” Kiyoshi nods as the woman leaves the room again. Smiling at the rose, Kiyoshi sets it in a vase filled with red roses. He gives them all a smile, the one rose especially, and grabs his jacket. Turning out the bedroom light, Kiyoshi gives his room a smile. He gives a pleased nod before slowly closing the door shut behind him.

The End
I’d like to thank freeloopin, criss, Sisely, Lilith, Leentje, Evensong, Cat, Mitts, and Dreamforever for all of your wonderful comments! A sequel you ask? Why I’m working on one right now, and I do hope it turns out a tad better. I like the plot a bit better, too. Anyway I’ve enjoyed writing Puppet and am very proud of my story. I am glad all who have read have enjoyed, and I hope you look forward to Puppet 2, which will be under the same category here soon, I hope you all look into reading that. Thanks again!