"Best Friends at Arms
The metal door clanked, grinding sharply as the guard slid it open.
Blue eyes met blue as the tall American stepped into the cement room.
�You actually managed to grow some,� Kenji commented, giving his best friend an approving once-over.
Max cracked one of his trademark grins. �And you�ve managed to grow a sense of humor. You haven�t grown any taller.�
�Hn,� was all the Japanese boy said.
Max reached out and snagged one of the metal chairs, dragging it over to the table with a grating noise that earned him a glare from the guard. He turned it backwards and plunked down on it, resting his chin in his hands.
�It�s good to actually see you instead of just hearing your voice over a staticky line,� Kenji said.
Max quirked up the corner of his mouth. �Never thought I�d hear you say that. Even over the phone you just grunt at me.�
�Hn.�
Max�s blue eyes shone. �See what I mean?�
Kenji slid his hands � joined at the wrists by silver � across the table and laid them on Max�s arm. He squeezed slightly.
�You work out?�
�Yeah. Takes muscle hauling scrap metal, y�know.�
�How is the junkyard?�
�Business is going well.� Max met Kenji�s gaze. �Orange looks good on you.�
�Yes, the nurses tell me it brings out my eyes.� Kenji withdrew his hands.
Max chuckled slightly. �Always the bishonen , aren�t you?�
Kenji�s eyes darkened at the familiar taunt. �Omae o korosu .�
�Now is that anything to say to your best friend?� Max canted his head to one side, eyes sparkling.
�Best friend?� Kenji echoed. �First time we met you shot me � twice.�
Max shrugged, drumming his fingertips along the back of the chair. �How was I supposed to know you were defending yourself? You had a gun on her and she looked pretty helpless to me.� He frowned. �Of course, that army she calls bodyguards wasn�t all that helpless.�
The pair lapsed into a silence heavy with memory.
The metal door clanked, grinding sharply as the guard slid it open.
The guard locked his gaze on Max.
A thoughtful frown pursed Kenji�s lips. �You�re really going through with this, then?�
Max leaned back and stretched, long fingers clawing towards the ceiling. �Yep, I�m joining you.� A yawn escaped. �Why wouldn�t I? We were in it together, we should finish it together, right?�
�You know what the sentence is.� He said it as half a question.
Max reached out and flicked a lock of dark hair out of Kenji�s eyes. �You really should cut this stuff, because it�s screwing with your vision.� He leaned down so they were eye to eye. �Are you looking at an idiot?�
"Perhaps I shouldn�t answer that.�
�Takes one to know one.� Max grinned again. �C�mon, Kenji, do you think I�m the kind of guy to desert my best friend on something as big as this?�
Kenji closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He could already hear the roar of the crowds as he was led to stand on the gallows. He didn�t want to see Max beside him, but the grinning baka was there anyway.
Max leaned forwards, lowering his voice. �Q-bean has his lawyers on it already.�
�He would.� Kenji opened his eyes and straightened up.
Max sighed. �Come on, you know the government wouldn�t go after him � he�s too valuable to the economy, especially one so new and fragile as this.�
Kenji slewed an indigo glance at the doorway. The guard sneered. Kenji drew his gaze back to his friend. �What do the others have to offer?�
�Troyen�s in hiding. Like he always said, a soldier from the day he was born.� Max chuckled softly. �And Kim Fang is a teacher at her highness�s pacifist college.�
Kenji raised his eyebrows.
Max rolled his eyes. �Yes, she�s still teaching those stupid ideals. But you know our Kim; he�s making waves in his own little quiet rebellious way.�
�He�s teaching kung fu as a form of �meditation�, isn�t he?� Kenji smiled slightly again.
�Yeah. He�s her most prized philosophy professor. She won�t be willing to get rid of him.� Max laced his fingers through each other and rested his chin on them again.
�Speaking of her, she�s in love with you.�
Kenji laughed. �No, she�s not. As with most things in her life, she�s in love with the idea of me.�
Max shrugged. �Well, then she�s deluded about you. And she told me to say hi. So, hi.�
�I suppose you won�t tell her �hello back� for me.� Kenji pushed himself to his feet.
Max stood up as well. �Nah, I�ll be with you!� He shrugged a shoulder. �Sorry.�
He turned and held out his hands as the guard stepped into the room. �Arrest me.�
The guard froze mid-step and blinked. �Pardon?�
�Arrest me.� Max smirked. �C�mon, I could see your hands itching at those handcuffs the moment you saw me. Here�s your chance, so do it.�
The guard, dazed, turned and slammed the metal door shut. His shoes clicked along the cement passage as he ran. �Captain Barclay, sir! Come quickly!�
�You�re sure about this?� Kenji asked.
Max laughed. �Am I ever sure about anything? Am I ever serious about anything?�
�The phrase �dead serious� is a clich�,� Kenji murmured.
Both men looked up when the door opened and a man in uniform with a captain�s bars on his collar stepped over the threshold.
�Maxwell Parish, I see.� He eyed the other man up and down.
Max held out his hands again. �Captain Barclay. You clean up outside the walls of an old war hospital.�
Barclay reached for his handcuffs. �I never did get to thank you for securing me a bed there,� he smirked, voice dripping with saccharine sarcasm.
Max didn�t flinch as the metal circlets were snapped over his wrists.
�Maxwell Parish, you are under arrest for murder in the first degree, terrorism, conspiracy to commit acts of terror and war crimes against the colonies...�
Kenji watched as his best friend was led away.
Ah, yes, just as he had imagined it, a cacophony of voices from a crowd of morbidly eager civilians.
Kenji stood on the wooden platform, a breeze ruffling the hair out of his eyes. Max stood beside him, ever the grinning baka.
�Are you afraid?� Kenji asked.
Still grinning, Max said, �Of course I am. I�m about to die. But we�re in this together from start to finish.�
�Have courage,� Kenji murmured.
Max snorted. �Fear and courage...isn�t that on oxymoron?�
��Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear,�� Kenji quoted softly.
�Samuel Clemens. Cute.� Max lifted his bound hands and waved, eliciting a louder roar from his audience. �It�s a beautiful sight, victory is.�
�It is indeed.� Kenji let his blue gaze scan the crowd. He smiled slightly when he saw several familiar faces. �Even if they never know, we�ll carry the truth to our graves.�
Max sighed wearily. �Yes. Lies hurt, truth kills. At least all those little lemmings are free.�
�Ninmu kanryou,� Kenji whispered.
Max flinched as the noose was slipped over his head.
�Mission accomplished.�
Japanese translations:
Bishonen: pretty boy
Omae o korosu: I'll kill you
Baka: Idiot
Ninmu kanryou: mission complete
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©2004 Carlotta