InsaneJournal

[Fic] Nobody's Fool 5/10 (Kingdom Hearts 1930s AU, Axel/Sora)
Title: Nobody's Fool (5/10)
Author: harukami
Prompt: Kingdom Hearts 1930s AU
Pairing: Axel/Sora, Axel/Roxas, some others indicated
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1575 of total 14948
Summary: A hard-boiled detective gets hired to do a job for a girl who's worried about her sister.
A/N: In ten parts. I'll be posting them twice a day until complete.





When I left the next day I had to do so with more care than I was used to, because that guy was still there. Instead of flagging a taxi down -- the usual, fastest way to get one around here -- I had Demyx call one out. I waited carefully inside the doors until it arrived and then ran for it, threw myself in, and told him to just go, I'd give directions after a while.

The taxi driver protested, but I ignored it, watching behind me in the rear view mirror as the scarred man jerked into high alert, signaling another passing taxi. "Left here," I said. "I need you to double back."

"This'll cost extra--"

"That's fine, it's fine," I said. "Double back and act like you're heading to the north side, all right? Then I want you to cut through a one-way street if you can find one--" that way we could only be tracked from one side "-- and head down towards the Rose in the east side."

The driver swore but obeyed.

I didn't win any time awards on getting to the Rose, but by the time we got there my stalker was long gone and out of sight. I paid out and tipped gratuitously, and peered upwards as the taxi drove off.

Although the Rose had clearly sustained some damage in the recent attack, it looked like it was business as usual; the door's open sign was still lit so I headed on in. The damaged parts -- which looked, strangely, more like they'd been smashed than blown up -- were corded off and there was a plasterer working on one wall. The girls gave me tired and slightly nervous looks, which I ignored as I headed over.

At the sight of Lex I let out a whistle. "That's gotta hurt," I said.

He gave me an irritated look through his one non-swollen eye. I had to admit, I had a moment of gratitude that I'd avoided the stalker and that he was only following me, not trying to break in -- any guy who could work over Lex like that was someone I didn't want to face in a fight. "What do you want, Axel?"

"I was hoping to talk to Namine again," I said. "It's important for a case."

Lex sighed. "The boss said you might want to. You've got permission to go on up and see her."

That was surprisingly generous of Marly. Guess he had kept our interrupted discussion in mind. "Thanks," I said, and headed up to her room.

She was looking more nervous than last time when I let myself in, though she managed a wan smile. "Axel," she said. "I'm... sorry that our last conversation got interrupted. Can I help you?"

"I want," I said, and came over to sit beside her on the bed, draping an arm around her shoulders, "to hear the truth about Sora. None of this love at first sight crap. After I hear it, I'll decide whether or not it's worth going after him."

Her eyes widened, and I knew that my gamble'd paid off. Whatever was going on in this whole affair, this 'Sora' was deeply entwined in it, and she'd been lying to me from the start. Maybe she and Relena were really sisters after all -- they were both damn liars. Family resemblance, maybe.

"I understand," she said. "It... wasn't about love at all." Her fingers knotted into the bedsheets and she kicked her feet slightly, looking down. "Truthfully, when I got here... I didn't know what to do, where to come to work to try to support myself, so I asked around at the docks. Sora was there, and he was very sympathetic and helpful and...nice. He told me about this, without telling me what kind of work it was. I... I honestly don't know," she said, and bit her lip, "whether or not he knew what he was getting me into, or whether he didn't know at all -- maybe he just thought this was a place that takes in girls and puts them to work. I want to meet him again before I go back, I want to resolve that... I want to learn the truth of what happened. I wanted to know what I could and couldn't believe in."

I smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "Now, that's more believable," I said, and the relief on her face alerted me to what was going on. "But still a lie, am I right?"

Her face fell.

"I'm asking the truth, honey. Why are you bringing this Sora boy into it?"

"I... I thought you might not believe that story," she said. "O-okay, I'll tell you."

I nodded, smug.

"But..." Her nervousness had seemed to double and she pulled forward a pillow to hug. "I'm... Marluxia doesn't know about that, and I'm worried there might be someone listening at the door," she whispered. "So I have to be real quiet."

"All right," I said, and leaned down to put my ear near her mouth.

She twisted, and the handkerchief from her pillow caught me over both the mouth and nose. My startled gasp was one hell of a mistake -- I recognized the sharp scent of knockout drops moments before the world went black.

I woke up an indeterminate amount of time later with a throbbing headache and a horrible taste in my mouth. I wanted to throw up, but I'd skipped breakfast that morning and even the thought of trying to heave made my headache worse. My body wasn't moving, despite my attempts to push myself up. Before I could quite stop myself, I groaned.

"Ah. You're awake."

That was definitely Marly's voice. With a stunning display of effort I managed to pry an eye open to glare at him.

He was seated quite smugly at a table, hands folded on it. A quick and painful glance around revealed that Namine was nowhere in sight.

"So," I croaked. "I guess I was on the right track, since you had your bitch drug me?"

Marly smiled at me. "Please don't hold it against Namine, Axel," he said mildly. "She was only doing what she was told. And she knew she'd be punished if she didn't." He stretched a little and I could hear the joints in his shoulders pop. "I had wanted to do this like a civilized man, you know, and let you go after Sora out of the goodness of your heart."

"Yeah, well, I don't have any goodness in there," I managed, and licked my lips to try to get some moisture to them; they felt dry and cracked. How long had I been out? "So I'm taking it you're the one who wanted me to go after Sora. Why all this round-about with that dame, then, asking me to go after Namine?"

"Dame?" he asked mildly.

I was still pretty sure he'd been the one to sic Relena on me -- probably had hoped that something like this would seem more believable than just sending me after some boy himself; Marly's tendency to complicate everything was always a personal flaw of his. "Never mind," said.

"Very well," Marluxia said. "I believe that you know of this Sora yourself, through Roxas."

I felt a part of my jaw twitched and clamped my teeth together for a long moment to calm down before responding. "I doubt it's the same Sora. Roxas wasn't really very coherent by the end of things, yanno."

"Mm, well," Marluxia said. "I believe he left after saying something about needing to find some Sora? That it was important? Well, this Sora has the key to a great treasure. Surely even Roxas--"

"Roxas didn't care about treasure!" It hurt to shout and gave Marly more power over me. I tried to draw a deep breath and control myself again.

Marly smiled at me again, pityingly. "I suppose Roxas didn't care about much, did he? Still, assume it's the same Sora. We need you to go after him to get this key. It belongs to me, you see. It was lost, and he's just a stupid boy who's ended up with such a possession without knowing what it was. I've tried to find it myself, but... I'm not so popular in those parts, and I know that you've got connections that I can only dream of."

I lay there silently, sullenly.

"Go after Sora," Marly said, gently. "You might find out what happened to Roxas. We'll both benefit."

"...Fine," I said; what else could I say? He had me completely at his mercy, and who the hell knew where I was. If I disappeared, it'd be up to Demyx to catch my killer and I wouldn't trust that dumbass with something like that.

"Good," Marly said. "I'll hold you to that. I'm going to leave you now, but I think you'll find that the drug will wear off over the next hour. There's water over on the shelves -- ah, you probably can't turn your head, but it's on the shelves to your left. Do take care," he said, and stepped over me as he headed out. I wanted, at that moment, nothing so much as the ability to move my arm so I could grab his leg and trip him up. Asshole.

I was left alone with my thoughts for a long time as the drug wore off, and none of them were a particularly good place. I had to find this Sora. Worst, maybe, was the sudden wan hope that if I found Sora, I might find Roxas.

I was tired of hope.