Everyday Stresses of Kazuki - Sci-Fi Action/Intrigue Webserial

The degradation around Kazuki's exospine was finally making itself known. He was sluggish, crippled… even. His movements were robotic, all for Eliza to see as Kazuki walked up the stairs.

Kazuki walked carefully, precisely, pretending to not notice Eliza. She wore a cross between casual and formal, whilst Kaz had changed out of his armour. Instead, Kazuki wore traditional Lautrasian clothes…

They were not resistant to anything, but they felt like – comfortable, for once in Kazuki's life.

But, he marched ever onwards.

Consequences, Kazuki thought. A few pieces of steel scraped together as he moved his head. The feeling of everlasting mortality clung to Kazuki's nape.

But… that was the easy part, trudging up the stairs despite the damage.

It was the judging that he couldn't stand. Kazuki grasped and felt the brooches in his pockets. They weighed him down.

Kazuki reached the top of the stairs. Nihara was silent, leaning against the wall whilst playing with her nails on one hand. Kazuki readjusted his haori jacket to feel more comfortable.

Beside Nihara was Eliza… Oh. He ignored her, continuing towards his room. Snapping his fingers, a drone opened his door, carrying out his already packed luggage and gear.

'Miss Elizabeth,' Sythnia whispered into Eliza's ear. Kazuki could hear it nonetheless. 'Now's the time to speak to him. You may never have another chance again.'

As if Kazuki would allow that. He started to move, descending the stairs. This partnership was over. Kazuki will do this like he does many things. Alone.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, ready to leave, but heard rapid footsteps approaching. A hand tugged at the back of his haori.

Judging by the weakness of the tug, it had to be Eliza. "Eliza?" It wasn't Nihara. She would have thrown him across the room if given the go-ahead.

"Kazuki," Eliza started, pinching his sleeve. "We need to talk"

"What is there to talk about?"

That's right. There's nothing he can do about this. He has betrayed her, he told himself. He shoved his shaking hand into his pocket.

Eliza continued, slowly stepping forward closer to him. "I thought we were friends, right? I... want closure. I want answers."

Kazuki sighed. This will take a while. He slowly nodded. Turning around, he looked up at Nihara. "Take my luggage and guard outside. I will be leaving shortly."

Nodding, Nihara walked down the stairs, arms crossed. She snatched Kazuki's luggage, hauling the heavy bags over her shoulder and left the room.

'Good luck, Miss Elizabeth,' Synthia said, before manually climbing onto Eliza's ear and turning her holo-projector off.

It was now truly just her and him.

He closed his eyes, thinking. "There are many things I can't tell you, Eliza, for your own protection."

"Why?" she asked him, her grip tightening on his sleeve. "Why?! Whatever you're hiding, I can take it! I thought we promised to not keep things from the other?"

The questions grew tighter and tighter around Kazuki's neck. A noose of curiosity was forming. He simply turned to the side, glancing at the kitchen. He'll need something to drink. He started walking, with Eliza in tow. He opened the fridge...

"Oh... uh... Nihara drank the last beer can," Eliza said. "Wait... were you going for a drink? Of all times? Now?!"

Kazuki closed the fridge. He showed her a bottle of pills. He downed several. He kept them all in a cool place.

Eliza released her grasp of him as he leaned against the kitchen counter, rubbing his temple and shaking his head. His eyes scanned across the suite. The possibility of listening devices was low. But there was a burdening eye somewhere close by…

"Walls are listening."

Eliza grumbled, grabbing onto his arm and rushing up the stairs. "Then where the hell are there no 'ears'?"

"The only place fervently checked and spotted, a place that is maintained regularly." Kazuki stepped forth. The observatory. Nihara was left protecting the luggage, in case things went south.

"Why here?" Eliza asked, staring off into the abyss of space. The void was highlighted with colours and hues. The lenses of the observatory made them more than clear.

The light from the stars beyond reflected into the room, shining a thousand displays of history.

"It's isolated," Kazuki said. "And drones check this place in maintenance. External devices are removed. No one is listening."

If they looked dozens of light years away, perhaps they could have seen the mirages of old battles - graveyards of frozen steel.

Staring into Eliza's blood-red eyes, Kazuki could see himself in the reflective glint… And faintly, Kazuki swore to have seen something behind him… Victoria. Kazuki could see… no: feel?

It was as if a pair of arms wrapped around Kazuki's steel heart from behind. Then, the feeling slowly faded. The Contract is completed, but his job is not yet done. It is never done…

It'll just be the two of them speaking to each other. No one else is involved. Glancing out into space, seeing the endless glittering stars, Kazuki found it to be quite... unique. It was not a sight he had memorised before.

"You wanted to know what I was keeping from you, right?" Kazuki asked. There's no point hiding behind faces.

Kazuki sat on a bench in the observatory. A purple light streaked his face. Eliza sat opposite him, one leg over the other.

Eliza nodded. "This goes beyond just my typical curiosity, Kazuki. I need to know this… And you've just been an arse this whole time!"

"Hmm." Kazuki slowly nodded. "You're right," he said, to her surprise.

The reaction from Eliza was… less than ideal. "Why? I'm made of sturdier stuff than you think."

"Your sister," Kazuki started, dragging the words from his lips and heart. He wasn't going to tell her the whole truth… Kazuki killed Victoria, bloodied and guilty as caught. If not that, then the only thing he could ever mutter to her.

Kazuki paused, glancing back out into the abyss, the endless darkness eclipsing the faint shine in his eyes.

"I am the only person to have known of her last words," Kazuki stated.

"Wait, you were hiding her last words?!" Eliza's face grew with frustration. "Isn't that something that you should have told me?! Or my dad?! Or anyone?!"

It was a reasonable reaction. The idea of him keeping them to himself seemed incredibly selfish. It was because only he would ever hold those words to be true. Slowly nodding, he took in a deep breath. He can't tell her the whole truth but given everything, he will tell her the one thing that he knows would satisfy her.

"She told me, with her dying breath, to protect her siblings, to look over them no matter what... To replace her in that capacity," Kazuki stated. Weights dropped from Kazuki's shoulders.

Eliza's eyes froze upon him in an endless glare. She didn't respond, merely staring at him with a pale cold face.

He continued, "It's what I meant when I said I thought it was impossible. I transferred back to Lautrasia for middle school. Met Archius at an Anagoran high school. Transferred to Sarimba High for my last year... And met you."

"What...?" Eliza's voice quivered with confusion. "Why…"

He didn't know if she was shocked, surprised, in disbelief, rejecting the fact, or all at once. This was the truth. This was the truth he would tell her.

"I'm cruel, Eliza," Kazuki said. "To myself as well."

"You… want to protect me?"

"It was your sister's dying wish. In the years between, I lost faith that I could do that. Then... I knew what I had to do. Ever since... I have valued you over anything else…"

"Even... your Contract with Clandestine," Eliza remarked. Kazuki nodded. It must have been a harrowing thing for her to recognise. The Rebellion was her doing. Eliza strutted up, walking towards the observatory windows. "Then..."

Pausing, Eliza was caught speechless. She furrowed her brow in frustration and anguish at what he said.

"I kept my promise to Victoria," Kazuki continued, cutting her off before she could start sulking with truths. "I kept my Contract with her."

"This... still doesn't excuse you, you know?" Eliza asked.

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Of course, it does not. Kazuki entered this room expecting nothing short of that. "More than you know," Kazuki stated. "You're naïve."

"And you're jaded!"

Correct. Too correct. Kazuki took in a deep breath. "I know." Both had their flaws. "You did what you thought was best. I cannot fault you for that. Maybe I would have done the same as you, rush head first, all chips in, to win."

Kazuki was so unable to accept anything but total control that... this happened. Eliza was too willing to accept all help. A perfect concoction that led to a fiery explosion for both.

Eliza remained silent, looking down. Kazuki and her sat still for a few minutes. He got a message from Archius. The cooking process was done.

All that needed to be said was done.

Standing up, Kaz made his way to the observatory elevator. "I pushed you into making that choice. This responsibility falls to me," he said.

Scrambling upwards, Eliza rushed at him, stopping him in his tracks. To his surprise, she wrapped an arm around him. He felt the need to break free, but didn't wish to even lay a finger on Eliza. "Kaz! I… Why? I know you see me as a naïve idiot, but you of all people to belittle me..?"

"I…" Kazuki stared into Eliza's crimson eyes, a dead gold upon red. "Because I saw a bit of my past in you. I didn't want you to make the same mistakes I did… Believing in something that wasn't true."

"Why… you could have stopped me, told me, even!"

"How could I?" Kazuki proposed a simple question. "The game never changes to suit you, you must be the one who changes. Never the other way. I… It felt like I was talking to myself at times… I'm sorry." Kazuki felt the need to clench his fists, before releasing upon the touch of searing pain. "I don't want to play. But if you don't, you are without power. Without power: you rule nothing."

Eliza only responded with a despondent stare, one devoid of hope.

"I would have done the same as you, charge down the hall… But I learnt, Eliza, that this galaxy won't allow that. Just acts bring injustice; injustice brings justice. But that's not the end of it…" Kazuki closed his eyes. "This machine of a game crushed dreams. Lives. People. It taints. It corrupts. It destroys. A broken machine awaits its new mechanic – we're not different… I'm not different."

"Yet, paradoxically, you are." Closing her eyes, Eliza slowly nodded, pointing her head to the floor. "Then let me walk beside you."

"This is for me to bear alone," Kazuki stated. "Victoria is mine to suffer alone."

She walked up in front of him, blocking his way out. "No! You idiot! You... stupid...." She trailed off. No more words to describe him, huh? "We were supposed to be equal partners."

"I'm sorry." Saying the words ached his mind and soul more than any gunshot wound. "Why should I have burdened you with this as well?" he asked.

A steel heart started to bleed memories.

Eliza tightened her grip. "Some things are easier to shoulder together."

It felt like Kazuki was talking to Archius again. But this time, he wasn't talking to someone he knew would always be his right-hand man. Eliza was different. She's far more important to him.

"Together?"

"Then… even now… you're still fulfilling my sister's dead words?!" Eliza asked. "I feel rather guilty now." She scratched the side of her cheek.

Kazuki was just about to push Eliza to the side. He stopped. Shaking his head, he answered: "No. Don't feel guilty. That Contract has been fulfilled."

Those words struck Eliza in the heart. She let go of him, taking a few steps back. "Oh…"

"Those dead words no longer hold me together," Kazuki stated. He turned back to her. "That shield is old and broken. I saved you for you. Do not mistake that."

Eliza's eyes grew wide at his words. She was left speechless. To some extent… Eliza swallowed hard and took in a deep breath. "Kaz…" She stared him down, her eyes wavering against Kazuki's dull gold.

Kazuki bit the bullet. "I was too jaded. Too willing to blow everything up on a whim. This was my fault. I should have listened to you, made adjustments, but I did not. I saw only darkness in this grey swamp."

"Oh... Then… I'm too naïve. I should have known that Obadiah wasn't to be trusted at all… I thought Lady Antiar would protect me…"

"She would have." Kazuki then trailed off. "Are you not going to besmirch me?"

Eliza shook her head. "I can't… I just…"

"Do it," Kazuki sneered. "I'm supposed to be strong, you know? But how can someone strong be unable to bend? We're both brittle."

"I'm far more brittle than you, Kaz," Eliza admitted. "It took me… what? An hour for everything to collapse?"

"And it took me just two seconds to seal so many lives to a guilty end." Kazuki placed his hands in his pockets. "My grandfather is the Emperor. You don't hold a confederated Empire through fragility... Your worst blunder is ideal compared to my best."

Eliza tried to smile, but scrunched her face up in dismay. "I guess we're the same then," she said.

Two dreamers, divided by time and ideas… One was too jaded, one too willing to forgive. "We're both naïve. If that is all." He turned to the door.

She snatched his hand just as he was about to phase open the door. "Are you leaving?" she asked.

Kazuki nodded his head. "I have things to do. I fulfilled Victoria's Contract the moment I placed a bolt in Matt Oria-Tessie's head. Don't pursue it. This is mine alone."

Kazuki knew that wasn't a question Eliza asked alone. It was simple: don't leave.

Interjecting once again, Eliza said, "No. Why can't you just get it through your thick skull that you have people beside you?! Me! Achius! Chloé, even… Yuki."

Stay. That was what Eliza wanted. He's a contractor... Kazuki remembers that whilst he may be a contractor, he is also Kazuki. The Contract-Breaker is him, slayer of unjust strings.

Slowly, he nodded. Eliza released her grip, knowing that Kazuki would stay. "Thank you…" she said. Kazuki turned around, and the two now stared off into the stars.

"I should have advised you better," Kazuki said. "Scale. That is key... I should have explained it to you in our first meeting with Obadiah."

Eliza, on the other hand, merely looked confused. She peered at him. "Pardon?" she inquired.

Kazuki cleared his throat. "Bring muscle equal to what the other side brings. First time was Lady Antiar versus me. Second was Lady Antiar on your side... Third time, the scales weren't equal. Obadiah had the advantage and used it. Next time, make sure to bring me along, alright?"

Eliza nodded, before looking back out at the stars. "Don't worry, I know you'll be there even if I didn't ask you to."

"Of course."

Glancing to the side, Kazuki scratched his head before walking up to her. Eliza slowly sat down, by the observatory's windows.

Kazuki sat down, side to side for a moment. Eliza then frowned, scratching her cheek as she turned to sit leaning on him.

Kaz moved. They sat back to back, the light eclipsed and blocked out from Kazuki's reach by Eliza.

"Our mission here is complete."

"I know. You're never alone, Kaz," Eliza said. "You got what you wanted from Obadiah, didn't you?"

Kazuki nodded, accidentally bumping his head into her. "Yes. I have a proper confirmation. The Board is involved, somehow."

"The Board?" Eliza asked. "Then… Lady Antiar…"

"Is our ally," Kazuki stated. Eliza glanced behind her, surprised. "She has agreed to assist us in her own ways."

Eliza smiled. "Well, at least we made some progress, didn't we? But… at what cost?" The smile quickly faded as the two realised the body count, the mountain of corpses they stood upon.

Kaz saw it vividly, shattering through the impressions of his mind, Kaz knew he sat upon a mountain of his own making.

The Twins were dead. And Cyrus – in the span of a few days as well. "I have Irya and Kantos' brooches," Kazuki said. Eliza piqued up in curiosity. "Their lands have been restored to them…"

"But they're dead? No family, right?"

Kazuki sighed. "Sadly: no. No family. As such, their lands will be turned into an Imperial park. Their citadel and keep will be restored. The Jara and Jin Clans are loyal, one mistake will not tarnish that legacy."

Eliza took a deep breath. "But they're dead, even if the sentiment is rather sweet."

"Won't be the last either," Kazuki remarked. "They were good people. Hell, I liked them. They probably liked us back."

"Then what do we do about it…?"

"Finish what we started," Kazuki said. He placed his hands together and grabbed hold of their brooches. "They wished for justice against what Obadiah stood for. It will be done."

"Though the Eclipse falls," Eliza muttered. "You're mean… Kaz, I know you're brutally honest, but sometimes you go beyond that, you know?"

How could Kazuki not? Kazuki's sharp and sarcastic tongue was nothing more than a tool, to prod away potential threats. "I know," Kazuki said. But now Kazuki realised just how sharp his tongue could be…

For some reason, he did not like it.

"And you're stubborn at times." Kazuki thinned his eyes. "Sometimes… more stubborn than me."

Both Kazuki and Eliza allowed the words to seep in. The two looked away, neither able to look the other in the eye. They only began to grasp how flawed the other was. Kaz was cruel, near psychopathic. Eliza was stubborn, naïve, unrelenting but brittle.

Still, the two ignored those flaws… Kazuki didn't want to believe that they existed.

"What about Cyrus?"

Almost losing his footing, Kazuki grasped at an answer. "Death permeates us contractors. Myself the most." The idea was venom for Kazuki's memories.

"You… my pride. It killed Cyrus, didn't it? You say his death isn't on me, but I got either of us into a situation where he died - and I lived."

Kazuki kept his voice monotone, but deepened each syllable. "I understand. Eliza… people die for less."

"You're right," she said, sighing. It seems logic was finally getting to her. Then, she continued, "I thought I could chase after my dream by myself, just like the past Dassant. I got us all into another mess because I wanted to prove myself!"

A lull of silence came between the two.

Eliza's head drooped low. "It's just... mum... my dad... Everyone's expecting something from me, but... what do I do? I try! I keep trying and I keep ramming my head into that wall! You know me, Kaz, I just can't figure it out till the eleventh hour... How can I even rival my own mum?!"

"Chin up," demanded Kazuki. Her face curled back up, as Kaz moved back beside her. "Prove yourself? Don't make me sick."

Her eyes slowly grew watery. Kazuki slowly placed a hand to her cheek... His hand felt warm, but her cheek was cold.

"You have nothing to prove," said Kazuki. Her face immediately changed its tone, as her mouth opened slightly. "The fact that you're here, breathing, alive, is the biggest affirmation you need."

Her eyes continued to water. Oh… He did a bad job, didn't he? Kazuki was just about to sigh as she said, "You… really need to stop shoving me on emotional rollercoasters." She chuckled. "Let's get back on track, shall we?"

He asked, "Do you need my assistance. Or are you asking me to stay?"

She nodded. "Perhaps both?" she suggested. Good answer. Kazuki hid a faint smile. "Now, let's change the terms of the contract, shall we? It'd be rude not to let the dead rest, wouldn't it?"

Kazuki paused, frozen in place. Then, he slowly nodded. Of course it wasn't, he thought. "Elaborate."

"Mutual assistance!" Eliza raised her voice slightly. "I... need your help, and you need mine, Let's allow my sister rest. Your Contract with her is discharged to completion, we have to look out for each other."

A new Contract? Kazuki, without a second thought, nodded. "I accept these terms." With a handshake, Kazuki's terms have been amended. "Archius is cooking dinner."

"Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting, shall we?" Eliza suggested, striding off slowly as she jumped up from her seated position. She smiled, glancing back at him.

Kazuki nodded, standing up steadily before following her.

Elizabeth was smiling. At the end of it all, Kazuki knew that smile would not last... Not only had Kazuki sacrificed the chance to save billions... He'd fail to save Victoria.

Kazuki knew, deep down: that all it took was one mistake, and he'd fail Eliza.

Even if this was only temporary, even if this all burns to ashes, Kazuki, for once, decided to cherish something but death in this life.