Disclaimer: I don’t own Witch Hunter Robin, though I wish I did.
Kitsune and Puff: *Look at each other*
Amon: *Silence*
Puff: Maybe we should go over and see if he’s still alive.
Kitsune: Yeah, that sounds good. But, just in case, do you have anywhere in mind for his ‘remains’?
Puff: Have you no faith in me?
Kitsune: No, not really.
Puff: *Facial twitching*
Chapter Twenty-Two: Hello, Uncle Nagira
“Amon,” Nagira said slowly, questioningly, “Is it really you?” Over the connection, Amon heard his older brother’s breathing pause as an answer was waited for.
“Yes, and I need to speak with you,” Amon stated coolly, almost biting his tongue in an effort to control his anger at himself, “You know the address and I haven’t moved. I’ll be expecting you in half an hour.” The dark haired hunter began to slowly lower the cordless phone away from his ear, but a voice forced him to return it to its former place.
“Is what you need so important that you can’t speak of it over the phone, Little Brother?” Nagira asked teasingly, his state of mind returning to a state near normal. Amon eyes narrowed in distaste, dark gray glittering in the small amount of sunlight that passed through the heavy curtains. Nagira made an impatient little noise, both alerting and annoying his younger half-brother.
“Yes, I’ll be expecting you,” Amon snapped, talking through his clenched teeth. He clicked the phone off, before Nagira had a moment’s time to respond to the comment voiced in a rather harsh tone. The device was slowly, almost inhuman in terms of speed, lowered in the plastic charging cradle. Amon lethargically walked into his kitchen and poured a shot glass of Bourbon. He downed the liquid and put the tiny glass into the sink, walking into his bathroom.
He winced at the damage that had been inflicted upon his clothes that day; a burn hole in the center of his chest, light burns all over the black material of the left sleeve, and the general appearance that he had gotten seriously mugged. Languidly, Amon collected a fresh set of clothes, took a five-minute shower, got dressed and combed out his shoulder length hair.
“I called him why?” Amon hissed at himself as his settled down on to his couch. He leaned back, letting his weary body settle down into the soft cushions. Eyelids closed over near black orbs, breathing slowed into a gentle pace. The normally tense, uptight, over-alert hunter let himself relax and take a short nap.
“Called who, Daddy?” Javan asked quickly, poking her almost slumbering father in the side of his forehead. Amon’s entire body jerked, his hand instinctively reaching for the gun that normally resided just by his shoulder. Javan, terrified by her father’s sudden murderous outburst, scurried to the other side of the couch and hid behind a decorative pillow. Amon calmed himself down when he noticed it was only his small daughter, and not one of the bloodthirsty witches they had been dealing with lately.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Amon scolded, his tone flat and without a single trace of any emotion. Javan fearfully nodded, knowing full well that she didn’t need to be told not to do that little stunt again. She just held her small skull over the edge of the pillow, her ebony locks spilling on the oddly white material. Her pale fingers were curled tightly around the edges, holding the cushion like a shield.
“I called my half-brother Nagira,” Amon explained coolly, his face directed towards the wall but his eyes slyly watching Javan out of their corners, “He’s going to be coming over for a visit.” Javan’s innocent face twisted in confusion, her teeth chewing on her lower lip.
“That means he’s my Uncle Nagira!” Javan exclaimed in a moment of realization, flinging her pillow aside and wrapping her arms around Amon’s neck, “I have a real uncle that’s related to me!” Amon passively eased Javan’s small arms off of him, pushing her gently back on the couch. He kept a hand on top of her head, holding the bouncy two-year-old down.
“Yes, and I want you to go play in your room until either I go get you or I call for you,” Amon ordered, carefully lifting his hand away from her midnight hair. Javan cheerfully nodded, smiled with the radiance of a thousand stars, and skipped off into her bedroom. The sound of her door shutting was timed perfectly with a loud pounding on the front door. Amon sighed, braced himself, and strode over to open the entrance.
Nagira paused in lighting his cigarette, the lighter held a few inches away from where it needed to be. The pair of brothers watched one another, measuring how much each had changed since the last time they had seen each other. Nagira snapped out his daze, lit his cigarette and pushed in past the sullen hunter. Amon calmly shut the door, locking it in the process.
“Amon, you should never keep company waiting outside the doorway. It’s bad manners,” Nagira said dryly, blowing the smoke out through his nostrils. Amon was tempted to say something, but was stopped by the knowledge he needed Nagira’s help. His older brother quickly made himself at home, getting a soda from the refrigerator and flopping down on the couch.
“Well, what did you call me over here for?” Nagira questioned impatiently, taking in the scenery, “I have a lot of cases to work on.”
“Like you’d actually work on them,” Amon said unkindly in return, dragging a chair from the dining table over to the living room so he could be seated across from his brother. Nagira snorted, nearly spilling the sticky brown soda on to Amon’s cream-colored carpet.
“I guess I’m not really welcome here,” Nagira said offhandedly, yet he made no move to unseat himself from couch. He flicked his ashes onto a nearby ornamental plate, either mistaking it for an ashtray or not really caring. Amon narrowed his eyes in distaste, choosing to ignore it.
“I need your help,” Amon said flatly, staring at the bleak painting off to the side of Nagira’s head. The lawyer nearly choked on his soda, coughing hoarsely to clear the liquid from his windpipe. He looked at Amon incredulously, face painted with disbelief and an undertone of suspicion. Slowly, Nagira regained his composure and was able to straighten his face.
“What can I help you with, Little Brother?” Nagira asked innocently, his eyes drilling into Amon’s granite pair. The hunter sighed, stood up sharply, and strode down into the hallway. He opened Javan’s bedroom door, called the little child over, and presented her to Nagira.
“This is Javan,” Amon explained carefully, not quite wanting to go over this again, “She’s your niece.” Nagira’s eyes dramatically increased in size, becoming just about the same width of an average dinner plate. The man seemed frozen with shock, blinking slowly and staring at the bouncing child. Amon released his hold on the collar of Javan’s dress, almost pushing her towards her Uncle Nagira.
“Hello, Uncle Nagira,” Javan said sing-song, rocking back and forth on her small feet, “I love you!” She flung herself violently into Nagira’s lap, climbing up the shell-shocked man to wrap her arms around his neck in a smothering embrace. Nagira mechanically placed his arms around her body, eyeing his younger brother with eyes brimming with many different emotions. Amon pried his daughter away from Nagira, placing her on the floor and giving her a slight push towards her bedroom.
“Go play,” Amon ordered nicely, his tone not grating for once. Javan joyfully grinned, tossed her hair back, and sped off to her room once again. Both men watched the child until she disappeared through the doorway, looking back towards one another until their eyes met.
“She’s my niece, so that means she’s your daughter,” Nagira rationalized, still slightly stunned and not quite himself, “How long have you known?”
“A little over a month. I met her mother on a covert mission, had to come back, and never knew. Then Reika became ill, showed up at headquarters, and handed Javan over to me. Reika died a few days later,” Amon explained, his tone chilling in its complete lack of emotion. Nagira nodded to confirm that he understood, a little overwhelmed with what had just been presented to him.
“So what do you need me for?” Nagira asked sincerely, his voice calm and in control.
“I need you to work up some papers, in case anything should happen to me,” Amon elucidated, spelling out his own mortality, “I want to be sure that Javan will be taken care of.”
“Do you have a piece of paper I can take notes on?” Nagira questioned, glancing around for notebook and pen, “I didn’t think that I would need to bring anything with me.” Amon hurriedly located what his brother needed and handed it over.
“So, whom do you want Javan to go to first?” Nagira inquired as delicately as humanly possible, knowing full well that something major had to happen to Amon to start making him think about the ‘what ifs’.
“Sena Robin. Javan’s rather attached to her,” Amon stated, continuing when his brother gave him a suspicious look, “Robin is co-worker.” Nagira grinned like the cat who just got the bird, setting the pen on top of the open page.
“Now would this Robin girl happen to be a ‘co-worker’ with privileges?” Nagira questioned wryly, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Amon flushed a pale pink, taken aback by the lawyer’s forwardness.
“No, Robin is only fifteen,” Amon said hurriedly, rushing to continue the flow of information, “Then, after Robin would be you. And after that, it doesn’t really matter.” Nagira didn’t seem to be paying any attention to what Amon had just said; for all he cared, Amon could have just warned him about an assassin right behind him. Nagira was more interested in finding out more about Robin, and just how she was connected to his younger brother. He, of course, simplified it to the fact he had to watch out for Amon.
“Fifteen, that’s not that bad; is she pretty?” Nagira asked, seeing how long Amon would take the embarrassing questions before he snapped. The reserved hunter seemed slightly flustered, thinking of different ways to escape answering.
“I don’t see how that’s related to issue of the paper work, Nagira,” Amon said sharply, his skin returning to its normal near-colorless appearance.
“It’s not; I just want to know whether or not this Robin girl is pretty,” Nagira confessed, extinguishing his cigarette as he leaned closer to his younger brother. Amon glared, his eyes becoming as cold as the black holes in space. Without batting an eyelash, Nagira brushed Amon’s scare tactics off like a piece of lint off of a slick vinyl jacket.
Their staring contest continued for a few minutes, until Nagira leaned back against the soft cushions of the couch and scribbled a few notes onto the sheet of paper. Amon watched him cautiously, eyeing the lawyer with marked annoyance.
“No need for that look, Amon,” Nagira said casually, checking his notes again, “You’ve already answered me with your silence. I understand completely. I suppose if I were involved with an underage girl, I wouldn’t want anyone to know either.” If looks could kill Nagira would be beaten, stabbed, strangled, poisoned, roasted, chopped into pieces the size of an infant’s pinky nail, and scattered across downtown Tokyo.
“Robin and I are not ‘involved’,” Amon snapped angrily, his hands twitching as they would twitch around Nagira’s neck.
“All right, Amon, what ever you say,” Nagira stated in jest, his tone that of one you take with a toddler, “I’ll have the paperwork written up by tomorrow, so you can swing by with your Robin and sign the forms.” The corner of Amon’s eye twitched in general dislike as Nagira stood to take his leave.
“Is there anything else you need before I go, Little Brother?” Nagira questioned, towering over the still seated Amon as he waited for an answer of some sort, “I guess not.” He patted the top of Amon head, mussing the black locks slightly as he turned and started for the door.
“Wait, there is something else,” Amon said suddenly, bolting for his big brother. Nagira halted, watching as the hunter used his full speed to dash over towards him.
“What?” Nagira asked plainly, folding his paper into a very small square and placing it into his pocket. Amon appeared to be having an internal debate with himself, his eyes seemingly flashing different shades of dark gray.
“I’ll ask you tomorrow, after the papers have been signed,” Amon said in rush, much too quickly to be what he originally planned to say. He undid the locks and let Nagira out into the hallway. The brothers shook hands, and each went their separate way.
Author’s Note: Hey, thanks to all of those who wished me a happy birthday. I love you all. {glomps everyone} Oh, yes, I’m not going to update next week. We’re finally going to head down to Utah to visit family, and I can’t take my computer with me. I’m sorry, for the wait but I have to go. It’s been a while since I’ve seen all of my family. While I’m gone, you can go to that forum that I linked to a while back. (if the link showed up) {huggles}
To the Reviewers:
Beautiful Witch Hunter Robin: I enjoyed my birthday. Though, it was rather uneventful…
Wake-Robin: Yes, I found Amon’s jealous streak quite amusing. {dodges flying vase} Amon!!! Behave!!!!
AngelD: Oh, thank you. I’m 402; I’ve had plenty of birthdays. But, then again, I’m immortal so you can’t kill me. {pats head} You do know that I only do that because it annoys you, right? {smiles}
Haruya: Thankies!!!
Shawn Provoncha: I’m always writing. Just not all on this story… But I try to write a lot every week. {bats eyelashes}
AnimeReviewer790: Probably soon, but I still have lots of chapters to go before the end even begins to show. This is going to be a really long fic. I have loads of fun stuff planned.
Carri: Robin is now an honorary ‘mommy’. So fun. Your right; Amon isn’t going to be himself at the end. Not even close to himself. {laughs evilly}
Bravedragon: All that counts is that you’re reviewing now. {huggles}Unique, huh? I’m unique myself, and I guess it’s only logical… {grins}
Indirockqueen: It’s my birthday!!! But here’s the chapter. I hope that you liked it!
Busoshwe: Oh so cute!!! Thanks, that put a smile on my normal impassive face. I loved it; I’ll have to remember it. {hugs}
Amon’s Angel of Darkness: Thankies!!! This is really out of context, but had you asked what a livejournal was in a previous review? I wrote it down that it was you, and just found the sticky note. I was just wondering, because I could give the link if you’d like.
Robin’s Spitting Image: {bounces} You made me hyper. Now I have to work. {smiles}
Jazzywolf: Don’t worry; I don’t mind if the well wishes are a little late.
Ariyana: As I’ve said to others, all that counts is you tell me now what you think of my story. Well, Javan’s character is based off of my personality when I was that small and, according to my Mum, that’s almost exactly how I talked. Except I had a lisp.
Somewei: I think that’s what makes it so funny, is the clash of their personalities. Because, frankly, how good would this story be if she acted just like Amon? That’s scary. Amon and Robin? I really haven’t decided if they are going to get together but if they do, it will be in the distant future.
Suki1: Do you want me to stop feeding you? {eats plum} This is as close as I like to get to sweets. Would you like fruit?
Miakako: Happy Birthday!!! How old are? Wait, should have I asked that. If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.
Sala: {hugs} My protector!!! Yay, now Kitty won’t try to finish me off.
Byjinder: {looks offended} When has my work ever faltered? {smiles} Just kidding. Thanks, for the well wishes.