[05] Cracks

[northwind_gale]

Title: Cracks
Character/Pairing/Group: Kiryuu/Yuusei/Jack/Crow
Prompt: #05-Distrust
Rating: K +
Genre: Angst/Friendship
Pairing: Kiryuu/Yuusei/Jack/Crow friendship
Summary: Things just didn't feel the same after that night.
Notes: for5ds_100! Enjoy!

Cracks

That night was spent in drunken celebration.

The room that they had always spent their time planning their assaults had lost something-the map that they kept in the center of the sole table in the room, the map that they pored over and plotted and planned as they slowly inked it in bit by bit by bit. It was no longer necessary-they had it all. Everything was theirs.

In their glee, no one noticed the mess they had made of the room-the cracked bottles and shards of glass spread over the floor-and in their drunk hangovers, no one remembered it the next morning.

Kiryuu woke first the next morning, perceiving the world through the bleary haziness induced by his grime-filled eyes and his impeding headache. He moved to get up, but couldn't-Jack and Crow were snuggled in on either side of him and Yuusei was lying on top of him, all three unconsciously nuzzling him as they wavered between the realms of slumber and awake. Kiryuu settled back in, enjoying their warmth, ignoring the brief glance he got of the disorganized room and the cracked glass strewn across its floor.

---

From then on, the room was abandoned. There was no point in using it-it was the room reserved for their plannings and plottings, the room where they gathered around the map that was now long gone, the room where they met as Team Satisfaction, preparing for their next mission.

There were no more missions to prepare for. There were no more sections to conquer. There were no more reasons to meet there.

It was just an ordinary room that one expected to find in Satellite, the walls deteriorated and cracked, the furniture worn and unused, the floor littered with bits of glass and debris...with no indication of memories long gone.

---

Things were different after that night. At least, they were to Kiryuu. He couldn't help but feel that the individual members of Team Satisfaction would soon split off from each other, that they were no longer held by a cohesive purpose.

In his eyes, he saw the cracks forming, saw the team breaking apart, saw them splinter.

So, he tried to find more ways to keep them together, to keep that sense of cohesiveness, tried to find the glue that would patch up their cracks.

He didn't realize he was creating more.

---

Crow couldn't find enjoyment in what they were doing anymore.

When it came down to it, this was a game of cards. It was meant for fun. That's what he wanted to play it for.

With every new mission Kiryuu concocted up after that night, it felt more and more like a chore. Unlike the initial goal they had recently fulfilled, these new missions felt dredged up, unnecessary, and desperate. He couldn't empathize with them. He couldn’t trust that they were right. He couldn’t believe Kiryuu anymore, every time he said that they were doing the right thing…he couldn’t trust him.

It felt less like they were the rightful and just rulers of Satellite, and more like they were tyrants.

The image was driven home when Kiryuu nearly drove his foot near a kid's-his kid's-skull, without remorse or regret. It was only Crow's tackling him to the ground that stopped him.

It was then that Crow split off.

---

Jack couldn’t say that being the sort of King that Kiryuu had promised them to be was enjoyable.

It felt less of being a king, and more of being a military leader. Instead of one that ruled by right, he ruled by force.

For some reason, the idea didn’t sit well with him. He wanted to be a King in his own right, not this...bastardized version of it.

Seeing his own teammates fight amongst each other-and not of the mild teasing sort of bickering he had gotten used to over their time together; but real, true fighting over their current position and what they were doing cemented his doubt. What had he trusted in? Was it a lie? He needed to think things over on his own.

It was Jack’s turn to leave.

---

Yuusei felt distressed, to say the least, when Jack and Crow left. He couldn’t understand how Kiryuu couldn’t-or wouldn’t-see the impact he was having on the rest of the team…or indeed, why the team felt it couldn’t stay together to at least help him.

The hideout seemed empty now, with only him and Kiryuu to occupy it.

Yuusei remembered the times that he was often distracted from his work on whatever device he was rigging up for the team by Jack musing over the city, or Crow playing with his kids, or Kiryuu proposing an idea for a plan.

Now he was distracted by the constant silence, interrupted only by the soft clanking and sparking from his work and the occasional shuffling sounds that occurred when Kiryuu was restless.

Soon enough, Yuusei found himself restless as well. He found himself wandering the hideout, coming to a door that he could barely remember being there…he opened it.

He saw the shards of glass. The table where the map once rested, as if on a pedestal. The room, more dilapidated than before.

More than ever, he saw cracks, cracks, endless amounts of cracks. Cracks in the walls. The floor. The glass bottles, murky brown and gleaming.

Cracked, but not broken. Not broken.

Jack and Crow hadn’t severed ties. They’d come back. Maybe Kiryuu needed time alone, to reflect. Time without the power he had gained alongside them. Before things got too far.

When Kiryuu revealed that he wanted to challenge Security, Yuusei put his foot down…and left.

Not for good. This was only another crack in the bottle, the room. It was still whole.

They’d be back together again, and fix things up so that they were stronger than before.

-FIN-