All the Lonely People

7: Searching for Paradise -Heat Guy J-

By Soyokaze

VII. The only true paradises are the paradises which we have lost.

Shun had been assigned to work in his old position once again. The new City Director had no one more qualified to do the job, and needed someone who would be able to rebuild the city with the efficiency with which he had cut it down. Shun Aurora most definitely was one for steady organization and prompt execution. Phia was with him every step of the way, still serving secretarial purposes, but also turning in a report of Shun’s behavior to the City Director, recording every step of his progress, and making certain there was no more illegal activity in that wing of Judoh’s government.

It was the end of his long day, and he had said his good-byes to Phia, whom he would never be able to repay as long as he lived, he had decided. He had been given specific living quarters by the City Director, who wanted to keep a close eye on him. Shun was only thankful that he had not been thrown in a jail cell, and he now counted every blessing he had, one of which he was afraid was gone, never to come back.

As he exited the building, jacket slung over his shoulder, he glanced up at the sunset, something he had also never taken the time to enjoy. It was a beautiful display, an explosion of warm autumn color across the darkening sky.

While he stood, watching, a familiar voice came to him from across the street. “Aurora-san!”

Shun was startled out of his reverie to see Kyoko Milchan calling to him from the other end of the crosswalk. Her cheerful face, framed in pink hair which had grown out to her shoulders, wore a smile, and a hand was raised high in the air, waving. He smiled uncertainly, waiting for her to cross to him as traffic stopped. He could see her folding bicycle over her shoulder. If it was folded, that meant she had reached her destination. She had come to see him?

“Hello, Aurora-san!” she greeted him, her pink heels clicking on the hard sidewalk. “How is everything going?”

Her openly friendly manner baffled him somewhat. The last and only time she had seen him was just after his coup de etat, accompanying Daisuke to his big brother’s trial. She had said a few words on his behalf that were both shaming and aiding for him. He appreciated not having her for an enemy, though. “Everything is going just fine, Kyoko-san. How are you?”

“A little bored at the moment,” she replied, flicking a little lock of her longer hair out of her eyes. “I came by to see if you would consider having dinner with me tonight. No where special, just a little sandwich place that I know.”

“Why, certainly, Kyoko-san,” he replied, knowing his astoundment was showing on his face. When they worked together on the City Safety Management Agency, shy little Kyoko would never dream of asking her handsome, well-to-do boss out for a date. Shun supposed that his fairly recent disreputable behavior had disillusioned her a bit. He was more than happy to see a familiar face, despite the circumstances; Phia was not yet permitted to accompany him on social outings, and where Kyoko had been an annoyance before, she was now a kind of link to the life he could have had.

“Wonderful! Hold on, lemme call a taxi- or we could just walk, if you don’t mind?” she turned to him, her hand moving to grasp something that was on a chain around her neck. Shun nodded.

“It’s fine with me, Kyoko-san,” he told her, and Kyoko smiled at him, her big, innocent eyes looking a little less than innocent, for some reason.

“I think we can drop the honorifics now, Shun,” she remarked good-naturedly, beginning her walk down the street at a leisurely pace. Shun followed her obediently.

“Of course, Kyoko. How far is this place?”

--

“So how have you been, Kyoko? I haven’t heard from you in a long while,” Shun asked as their waiter set his tea on the table. Kyoko took a sip of her own lemonade and smiled.

“Since our unit was dissolved, I’ve gone to work with the police department. They needed some secretarial services, so I volunteered.” Kyoko had made a good name for herself in the city with her part in that final defiance against Shun’s coup. She could have had any position she wanted, basically, and the City Director had just recently offered her a job as his personal secretary. Kyoko was considering it; the main reason she had joined the police force was to put in a good word for Edmundo, who now had his job back with a good record. Senator Noriega was the most corrupt of the politicians, and when Kyoko used Daisuke’s information and revealed how Romeo was murdered as part of his conspiracy, Ken Edmundo was reinstated. “I’m being considered as the new City Director’s personal secretary.”

“That’s an advantageous position. I wish you luck.” He picked up his tea cup, blowing the steam that rose from the hot liquid. Kyoko watched him with a scrutinizing gaze, as if she were searching for something particular in his eyes.

“How have you been doing, Shun? I know your punishment must be harsh.”

“It isn’t that awful. I am able to do what I do best, and I spend a great deal of time with Phia.” Kyoko showed no change in expression or behavior as he said the name. So this is not a romantic endeavor, Shun thought. “I’m watched closely, as you can imagine.”

Under the table, he rolled his ankle, on which was a tight band with a tracker on it. They knew where he was at what time and what he was doing. Always.

Kyoko sipped at her lemonade again, watching the bustle of people walking back and forth across the backdrop of the city outside the window. “Yes. Phia told me all about that.”

Shun raised an eyebrow. “Phia told you?”

Kyoko nodded. “Phia and I have been having lunch together for a good while, Shun. She’s become a good friend of mine. I’m surprised she hasn’t mentioned it to you.”

But she was not. Shun could see it in her eyes. She wasn’t surprised at all. “Well, Phia and I are not yet allowed to fraternize socially. I suppose she figured it was a part of that forbidden territory.”

But the real reason was because Kyoko was his brother’s significant other. The only tie to a sibling whom he had just learned to love fully, but whom had not visited him in any of the long weeks he had been confined to his time of compensation. Phia figured it was something he would not be glad to hear mentioned.

“Yeah. That’s it.” Why did he get this sneaking suspicion that Kyoko knew everything running through his mind?

The waiter came with their sandwiches and gave Kyoko a refill of lemonade, and Shun, who had suddenly felt his heart fall into his stomach, decided he was no longer hungry. The pink-haired woman across from him took a small bite of her sandwich, as if nothing odd had transpired in their exchange at all.

“Kyoko, can I ask you why you’ve invited me to this little dinner?” he finally ventured, all of Kyoko’s elusive behavior making him believe this was an endeavor with a specific purpose. There was a pause. Kyoko put her sandwich back on its plate.

“Shun, don’t you wonder at all where Daisuke is? I would’ve thought that would be the first question you asked me.”

The blonde man was taken aback. “Of course I wonder where Daisuke is. He hasn’t come to visit me once.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Shun realized how unlike himself they sounded, and wished he could take them back.

“Then why don’t you talk to Phia about him anymore?”

There was a pause. The rest of the noise and conversation in the little diner seemed distant for a moment. So this little get-together had been Phia’s doing.

“Kyoko, I don’t understand this at all.”

“You’re worried about Daisuke. You care about him a great deal. You’re hurt that he hasn’t come to see you like he used to.” All of these were true, but Shun, ever the politician, felt deeply angry that Kyoko could see so far inside him. “Shun, why do you keep things inside, even after what happened last time?”

Shun rose an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Phia feels that you don’t speak to her as honestly as you used to, and it worries her. She thinks the subject of Daisuke is what you’re holding back.” Kyoko folded her hands on the table. “Shun, she didn’t tell me to do this. I’m doing it because there’s something I need to tell you. Daisuke has left.”

“Left?” Shun was surprised. “Which district did he go to?”

Kyoko shook her head. “No, Shun. He left Judoh just after your trial.”

Shun’s eyes widened. “W-what? He left the city?”

“Got the permit, hopped on his bike, and left.” Shun wasn’t looking at her anymore. He was focused on the tablecloth and his untouched sandwich. “You shouldn’t feel bad about it. He didn’t tell anyone else. No one knew but me and J.” Kyoko smiled softly. “Edmundo freaked out when I told him.”

“But he left Judoh?” Shun repeated incredulously. “Why would he do that?”

“This city is way too small for him, Shun.” There were so many unexpected things coming up in this little dinner conversation. Kyoko’s eyes were turning sad, though, he noticed; not the sadness of someone leaving or passing away, but that sadness that she had not realized something as soon as she should have. “I should have known that. No matter what you think, Shun, Daisuke is a big boy. He can take care of himself. He’s been doing it pretty well without your help for a long time.”

This was something Shun took to heart. Daisuke was his to care for. That was a fact. “A long time? He was only employed because of me!”

Kyoko shook her head, as if he had missed something crucial. “Shun, no. You have to realize that we were slowing him down. Both of us.”

“What? He-” Shun began, but then realized he had forgotten what he was going to say. So his little brother had finally left. Finally left him.

“You kept him in a little cage for so long, Shun. How do you think he felt?” She sighed. “And I was part of it. I didn’t know it, but I was part of it.” Kyoko had also realized shortly after Daisuke had left, that if she had not told him she would wait, he would not have left Judoh. She felt quite certain of that.

Shun only folded his hands on the table in front of him. He did not seem to have an inclination to speak to her any further. Kyoko took another bite of her sandwich, waiting, to see what kind of effect her words had had on him. He said nothing more to her, but was content to sit in quiet indignation while he absorbed the new information.

Kyoko sighed softly. If he was ever going to be truly rehabilitated, he needed to understand Daisuke’s actions. He needed to know the reason why Daisuke saved their city, and then left it. She waited a few moments more, and then stood, pushing her chair back under the table with a soft scraping sound.

“Shun,” she continued, shifting her purse strap on her shoulder, “I just think that Daisuke needs freedom from all of us, and he can’t get it here. He’s searching for what he’s supposed to do, what is supposed to come after all that he’s already done. There are bigger things then Judoh out there, and he wants them all.” She straightened, looking down at the floor with glassy eyes and a little smile. “But you know, even after all that’s happened, I think the thing that makes him happiest is that we’re all here. We’re waiting for him.”

The bustle of the diner around them seemed to come back into clear focus, and again loud activity filled the air. Kyoko laid down a few bills for her meal, and then gave Shun a small nod. He looked up at her, meeting her eyes for possibly the last time; there was no telling when their paths would cross again.

“Thank you, Kyoko.” And she knew he understood.

She grinned. “No problem.”

The door swung shut behind her as she left the café, and Shun took up his sandwich and began eating.