tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; June 15th, Evening (Backdated)
Rating; PG-13?
Characters; Nanami

for_destiny, and later Riou

bright_shield
Summary; Riou inadvertently revealed details about Jowy's relationship, and now Nanami wants answers, or maybe to kill Jowy? A reunion between friends, indeed!
Log;

Nanami continued her mad dash out of Xanadu and towards Jowy's apartment building with full intentions of demanding answers from Jowy, beating them out of him if necessary. No, she didn't want to kill him, of course not, she just wanted answers. Riou wasn't trying to stop her, which suited her just fine; she'd hate to have to show off more of the moves Grandpa Genkaku had taught them.

It was still beyond her comprehension that Jowy would do something like hold a relationship with someone else while he was still married to Jillia. Different world or not, there was no excuse. Right? Riou was no help in revealing any of the details of said relationship (outside of the rather awkward revelation that Jowy had been with a male), so she'd have to get the answers from Jowy himself.

Outside of Building 4, Nanami stopped to catch her breath, though it was more like gasping with how fast she had run to get there. After a moment, when her heart slowed and breathing was easier, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Riou wasn't following, and, when she didn't see him, tore off through the building to reach Jowy's apartment.

She didn't bother to knock this time, it wasn't a friendly visit, instead she focused all her energy into kicking down the door.

"JOWY!! I want to talk to you NOW."

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Jowy had been diligently washing the dishes when he felt goosebumps on his neck, forcing him to pause from the task to try and remember what that meant. He'd been quiet on the network for lack of better things to say and everyone looked like they were affected by a curse that involved involuntary blinding by color and painful music. He was glad to have not been affected though he had to admit to himself, if he had been affected, he probably wouldn't have noticed. Carefully, he finished washing off the soap from the last of his dishes and set them on a nearby strainer to dry all the while still deep in thought.

He did not have to think so long however for in a matter of minutes there was a loud crash and he knew without a doubt who it could be. He didn't peg the other Kamui and Lyra to be that dramatic in their entrances. With an exasperated sigh, he moved from the kitchen to the dining room and ignored the sinking feeling of extreme wariness.

"Nanami..." he begun and was rather amazed to have not stuttered especially when Nanami looked so excited. He supposed it had to have been because despite the rather frightening tone on her voice, Jowy was genuinely glad to be able to see Nanami alive and well again. Even if she did break down his door. "...didn't I tell you not to break the door?"

Had it been a visit on friendlier terms, Nanami would have made a remark along the lines of 'all this time and that's the first thing you say to me?' But then, if it had been a friendly visit, Nanami wouldn't have been standing on the threshold of Jowy's apartment on top of the door she had just kicked down, and therefore there would be no need for such a remark.

"Forget about the door," she snapped and started stomping towards her childhood friend.

If there still wasn't that certain level of awkwardness between them due to the war, Nanami would have tackled Jowy in the same manner that she had tackled Riou when she found him the day she arrived. But there was that awkwardness present, not to mention that Jowy wasn't cowering like she was used to, and if what Riou had said was true, Jowy wouldn't be too keen on the idea of a girl on top of him anyway.

Nanami's face flushed several interesting shades of red again at that thought, and all the words she'd had for Jowy moments ago died on her lips.

Instead, she pointed an accusatory finger in Jowy's direction, though her hand really itched to form a fist and land a nice right hook on Jowy's jaw. No, she wanted to go as long as possible without resorting to violence if she could.

"You...you..." Nanami sputtered, it seemed she was unable to form cognitive sentences in the flustered and angry state she was in. "You...you're still MARRIED," she finally burst out.

The stoic expression on Jowy's face was threatened by an involuntary twitch from his eyebrows and then an eye and then his lips. Finally, he frowned slightly. "You came... to say that?" It was really out of the blue and Jowy couldn't imagine what had prompted Nanami to break down his door to say that. This was Nanami though and what she wanted she... usually got, so, Jowy decided to confirm her sudden statement. Or question. "I suppose I am still married, technically."

That Jowy could possibly be so nonchalant about the whole thing only made Nanami more angry. Oh...but Jowy didn't know that she knew, did he? For all he knew she had just kicked down his door to state the obvious.

"And yet...despite that..." she spoke slowly and carefully, lest she burst out with a pointless statement again, "you were in a relationship outside of your marriage?!"

He better pick his next words carefully, she thought or she didn't know if she'd be able to stay calm for much longer.

The first things out of Jowy's mouth were: "Did Riou tell you that?" It seemed obvious, after all, who else would tell Nanami first? No doubt, Nanami knew with whom too.

"It's really... really none of your business, Nanami, what I do..." That didn't come out as well as his first statements did but he hardly cared for his delivery. "...in my private life. My choices..." He trailed away. He wasn't going to go and tell Nanami the many reasons for his choice, despite having been married to Jillia at one time.

That was, a small part of him amended, unless Nanami insisted.

She ignored his first question, he knew the answer without her telling him. But that second statement hurt her deeply. Had the war really changed things that much between them? Maybe so, but that didn't excuse it.

"None of my business?! What happens to my best friend is none of my business?!" She stalked even closer towards him, and glared up at him. "I'm not leaving until I understand why."

It took some willpower to keep his feet rooted to the ground. Nanami had her ways of one-upping Riou and him really and even after the war, a part of him would always be well aware of the terror that was Nanami. It wasn't like he had anyone to back him up right now.

"Jillia and I... separated," Jowy said finally. It wasn't completely true but it wasn't false either. "After that, with whom or how I conduct my relations isn't... your problem, Nanami..."

Nanami's jaw clenched, and her hands instinctively curled into fists. She'd had it, if Jowy wanted to make things hard, then she'd resort to more primitive methods of getting the information she wanted.

Jowy and Riou were afraid of her on some level. She was well aware of this, and had used it to her advantage many times throughout their childhood. They always buckled to avoid the wrath of Nanami, and no doubt Jowy would eventually submit if she persisted.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and leaned up to look him straight in the eye.

"You want to make this hard? Fine, I'm making it my problem, damn it! Now tell me why!" She seethed.

She continued to glare at him, fist tightening in his shirt, and just dared him to continue to dodge her questions.

There was something absolutely silly about fearing a girl who was undoubtedly smaller than you. Yet, in spite of this, Jowy listened to the part of him that feared Nanami and tried to explain in small bits, to see if Nanami would be satisfied before he revealed too much. "Jillia and I separated," Jowy repeated quietly. "It was a mutual separation... And the relationship happened because I wanted it to happen. Is that enough information for you, Nanami?"

No, it really wasn't enough information. For a moment she entertained the notion of shaking Jowy around and rattling off the same question until she got a straight answer. With Riou it usually proved effective, but Jowy was not Riou, and such methods probably wouldn't do her much good in this case.

"Mutual. And yet you're still married?" She scoffed, but decided to let that part go for now.

She relented to release her grip of his shirt and stepped back. She crossed her arms and continued to glare at her friend.

"Tell me about him. I want to know about this person you felt was good enough for you."

And perhaps then she could begin to piece together why Jowy had done what he did, and then she wouldn't have to stay angry at him.

Jowy decided to refrain from even attempting to explain his marriage and why he thought it was alright to disregard and moved on from. For one, it only made his head hurt. Another reason would be that, he knew if he thought about it enough, he'd realize he was wrong all along.

"It doesn't matter now. We've ended our relationship," Jowy answered smoothly. He should have looked a bit more upset, he knew, but it was natural response on his part by now to prevent others from seeing when he was truly upset.

He was way too nonchalant about everything, and that made Nanami pissed off again. But it was clear to her that simply asking wasn't going to cut it now. Even idle threats weren't going to do the trick. It was time for real action.

So she did what she knew best. She punched him square in the face.

"Idiot! Get off your high horse and tell me about it!" Nanami yelled and kept her fist clenched in case more "persuasion" was needed.

Jowy brought up a hand to his face automatically. He looked away from Nanami. "It's ended! Why are you so determined about this?"

He didn't care if Nanami had been his best friend before and that they might as well have been siblings. He'd rather keep this matter to himself. He didn't even tell Riou!

"Is that how you work, Jowy? Any and all relationships that should mean the world to you are simply cast aside as if they were nothing?"

How could he keep doing that? Jillia, Kamui...Riou and herself... Did he really not care?

"You and Riou, you're both idiots. Stupid idiots. Why...why can't you tell me anything?"

Nanami couldn't help it, and she started to cry, though through her tears she tried to maintain a menacing glare. She sniffled and blinked back tears, though her efforts were in vain.

It felt miserable knowing he had caused Nanami to cry. He waited for her to finish with her outburst before finally sighing. "It's not nothing," he said finally. How was he to put this? He didn't want to have to explain everything. He didn't want to talk about it at all. Against the tears though, Jowy had little left against. "I killed her father, Nanami. I killed the King. As for Kamui... it wasn't working."

He prayed he didn't need to elaborate further than that. There was no way he could explain the guilt that was always present in Jillia's company, especially after he helped with the death of Luca Blight. There had been an inexplainable drive to atone himself but in the end, he understood he never could atone for it. There was nothing he could do for Jillia that could erase the fact that he had taken away the only family she had. And how could there have been a normal relationship between them during their time together?

"Idiot. Don't take the world on your shoulders and then bottle it up..." Nanami trailed off there. It wasn't going to work, was it? No matter what she said or did, Jowy wouldn't tell her anything else.

She sunk to the floor and buried her face in her hands. So nothing had changed, after all. Here, away from the war, she was supposed to be able to be with Riou and Jowy the way they had been once before. No glaring secrets between them. But now, instead, it felt as though there was a greater barrier between herself and Riou & Jowy, one that she didn't know how to break.

She felt that she wanted to be back home, where she at least had a reason to feel so powerless against what was happening.

"Idiot..." She repeated again. She was angry and upset and a million other things all at once, and she had no idea how to deal with it. So she slammed her hand against his floor and sniffled quietly.

Riou easily jogged up the street towards apartment four and calculated within his head. At the rate that Nanami had been going she would have arrived several minutes ahead of him and-- yes, definately enough time for a mauling. Riou sighed as he entered the building and breezed up the stairs.

Well, hopefully Jowy hadn't been home at the time? Although that might have sent Nanami on a rampage through the city, like that first day when she had been searching for him. Riou's eye twitched slightly. Did he really want to be joining in with this reunion? Although it was rather his fault that Nanami had become all wound up and he could have tried sitting on her as a last ditch attempt. Riou sighed again and tried to push down an impending feeling of doom.

Even if he hadn't known which apartment was Jowy's, the shouting voices (well, one very familiar shouting voice) and the door sprawled across the floor would have been a dead giveaway. Riou ducked inside, carefully stepping over the remains of Jowy's poor innocent door, just in time to see Nanami attacking the floor while Jowy looked away, cheek starting to turn an interesting color.

He sighed again for the third time within a minute and debated turning around and walking right back the way he came. If he had any sense at all, that's exactly what he'd do. But then again, who ever said that he had any sense?

"Am I interrupting something?" Riou finally called out.

At the sound of her brother's voice, Nanami ceased her assault of Jowy's floor.

"Riou," she said simply. She thought of throwing her arms around Riou's legs and begging him to take her back home, but no doubt she already looked ridiculous. And it wasn't as if she could simply go back home just like that anyway.

She wiped at her eyes and stared listlessly at the floor. "I'm sorry, Jowy," she said in a quiet voice.

"...I'll get you two something to drink, since you're already here," Jowy said after a short pause. He didn't want them to leave, really. He wasn't going to talk about Kamui or Jillia, but that didn't mean he didn't genuinely want to be with Nanami and Riou again.

Oh, he had definately interrupted something.

Riou wondered what he had missed and then he wondered if he really wanted to know. He walked over to his sister and knelt before her on the floor. Tears again... so much for trying not to upset her.

"Hey Nanami, are you all right?"

Nanami glared at her brother through her bangs and pointedly ignored his question. She could play the 'I won't tell you anything' game, too.

She stood up and wiped furiously at her eyes again. After a couple shuddering breaths, she composed herself enough to smile slightly.

"A drink would be nice, Jowy," she said evenly, her voice neither happy nor betraying how upset she still felt.

There was a time when they didn't hold very much back between them in terms of secrets, but Jowy wasn't going to dwell on that. He headed back into the kitchen and grabbed three random soda cans from the ice box to bring back to Nanami and Riou. He'd stayed long enough in the city to be familiar with some of the things within it and staying with Kamui certainly taught him much.

"You know how to open the cans, don't you Riou?"

Riou bit back a fourth sigh in so many minutes as he watched Nanami recompose herself. He really hoped he wasn't going to regret not sitting on her.

"Yes Jowy, I think I can open a can. Although you might want to try putting that on your cheek before you drink it," Riou said as he pushed his back against a wall and crossed his legs.

Nanami wrinkled her nose at the drink presented to her, though the apparent task of opening the can seemed a better distraction than the heavy tension in the air with the three of them all together. This was not what she had imagined at all, but if she continued to think about it, she was bound to wind up crying again. She had done far too much of that already that day.

"Just what is this, Jowy?" Nanami asked, hoping that idle conversation would somehow help her reach a certain comfort level where she didn't feel like tearing off through the city screaming at the top of her lungs in frustration.

"It's a sweet drink. You might like it, Nanami," Jowy answered. His cheek throbbed and he imagined looking in the mirror sooner or later and finding a black bruise but he couldn't be bothered to press the cool drink into it. He'd worry about it later. "

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Log; Ongoing

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All right, all right, Riou takes the hint...! XD

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