Participants:
| Scene Title | Like Father, Like Nobody |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaito reveals something to his two children. But only something. |
| Date | May 17, 2009 |
Itsukushima Shrine, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Off the coast of Hiroshima is a tiny island. There are tourists, sure, there usually are, but where Kaito chooses to stand and wait for his son, his daughter, it's empty. No entourage of security, even, but he is quite certain nothing will come to harm him here. The Itsukushima Shrine is all painted wood and curving rooftop, sprawling across the beach in wide walkways and platforms, jettying out into the shallow water as well which laps quietly beneath Kaito's feet. His eyes are on the torii, and he recalls, vaguely, the last time he came here. Peter Petrelli had stood in this same spot, and it was morning, and autumn leaves had cast red light.
Right now, it is sunset, and dappled water reflects the warm tones of the sky taht take on its own autumn colours as it draws later. Springtime blooms overpower the smell of water and wood. Kaito's hands are held behind him and his back is rigid. The suit he wears is a somber, professional black, shoes shined and hair combed.
Hiro has his look these days that he wears, and it's not with a shirt and suit or any of that mess. But it doesn't look particularly bad or anything. He's just in black with his coat, hair tied neatly back. The sword is safely back in their residence.
He's gotten better at flying, Hiro has. Thanks go toward Maria, though most wouldn't know about her. When he arrives with Kimiko he says nothing. It's a little bit of a game, sometimes, seeing if Father will speak first. The old man can stare down a fish.
What is appropriate to the business world is not necessarily appropriate to visit a shrine. And having been flown by Hiro, what she might generally don: hakama, a kimono shirt, and tabi in appropriate respect for the place, simply aren't prudent. Her clothes are tailored, fitted close and comfortable, still designer, but not a suit. Ralph Polo doesn't hold up when you're flying and not in a jet. When they do land, she immediately bows to her father, and flicks Hiro a sidelong look.
Oh. Yeah. Bow. Hiro bows.
There's a creak of leather shoes as Kaito steps back a fraction, and by the time Kimiko and Hiro have risen from their short bows, their father's face is pinched a little in disapproval. Flying, perhaps, not being what he expected, but not at this stage a surprise. His gaze wanders towards Kimiko in a faint flicker of approval that she did exactly what was asked of her, and then to Hiro, where he is studied for a long few moments as some battle of wills as to who will break the silence transpires.
Perhaps surprisingly, it is Kaito. Time is of the essence. His gaze breaks from his son's to address them both. "I expect this will be the last time we three stand together," he says, gruffly, words of Japanese coming out clipped and efficient. "At least, the last time before we will be forced to act. Kimiko, do you recall why I had you find your brother?"
"You said he needed me." Kimiko responds smoothly. "As he once needed oka-san." Oka-san. Mother. "You said an old enemy was coming to take something from you, and that I must be Hiro's - " a pause, as Kimiko once more looks sidelong and ammends, "I must be what he needs."
"What does that mean?" asks Hiro forwardly but with neutral weight. He doesn't see any point to mincing words here, and would like to know. And as Kaito senses, time is vital. Hiro knows a great deal about time.
"It means we all have purpose to ensure our safety and the safety of the future." Kaito doesn't drop such dramatics lightly, and their is certainly gravity in his words - but professionalism, too. He is and always will be a businessman, even concerning the fate of the world. "Our family has a secret. It is time that you both share in it."
He turns, now, to rest his hands against the wooden railing, looking out again towards the half submerged gate across the water. "It is a secret I feel my enemies will stop at nothing to obtain when they feel it is time to do so. A formula that can never be lost and can never be shared. It has been my duty to guard it and soon…" He glances to Hiro, reluctance there as he states, "Soon it will be your task."
Kimiko looks over at Hiro, thoughtful and quiet, before returning her attention to Kaito. If guarding the formula is his task, then what is hers to be? If she's surprised that such a serious burden has fallen onto her brother's shoulders, she doesn't show it.
Eyes open a little wider as Hiro hears this. Great. Something ELSE he's responsible for. Kimiko's look is returned silently before he looks back to Kaito. "What is this formula, To-san?" he asks then.
"Are you sure you desire this burden?" Kaito asks. There's some wryness in it, as if to answer that for Hiro: no, he doesn't. But it's also an honest question, giving his son a raised eyebrow look.
He settles on, "The formula is both a mistake and a triumph, and a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wrong man. I only possess half of it, for a decision was made a long time ago that it needed to be split. The purpose for that decision, I sense, is coming closer and closer. I have known it would only be a matter of time before Adam Monroe stepped foot on Japanese soil to seek his revenge, but…"
The elderly man gives a sigh, eyes up towards where the sunlight is peaking out before turning towards his children again. "If there was a time that he might steal from me what is most important, it is now."
Kimiko remains silent, trusting that soon enough, Kaito will explain what her role in all of this is to be.
"I don't see how my readiness matters, Father." Hiro answers quietly, staring stones at the elder Nakamura. "What does the formula do? Why can't it be destroyed if it is such a burden?"
"Fire destroys all it devours, but we would not eliminate it from the world because of what madmen might do with it," Kaito says, his voice turning stern, taking a step forward, drawing from his height to look down at Hiro. "It matters, Hiro, because the readiness of which this information can be shared has always been the question. I do not do so lightly, not even for my own children."
He draws his chin up, eyes hooded a little as he finishes with, "First I must know if you are willing to accept the responsibility." He looks towards Kimiko in her silent expectation, lifts a hand as if to indicate her, "I must know that you are both willing."
This is like his will. Like he's bestowing blessings. Is this how the Old Testament's Esau felt? Kimiko only has some rudimentary knowledge of Western religion's bible stories, but enough for the metaphor to fit. Family still, comes first. "Of course." she acknowledges. "It may even be easier, with both Hiro and myself to be guardians."
"To-san," begins Hiro, betraying a stern manner that echoes Kaito's but is nonetheless restrained by respect, "I was not ready for the power I discovered in myself. I was not ready for the tragedy I witnessed. I was not ready for the loss. If I have learned anything it is that I will never be ready to do anything but take risks. So if you and the world require that this risk must be taken, I am ready for that risk." He looks down and away and adds more quietly, "I can't promise I am ready for a thing I do not know the nature of."
There's silence for a moment as Kaito's stubbornness is matched only with Hiro's, a glance to his daughter and back to his son as the sunset continues to paint fainter and fainter colours on the shifting water. Finally, he says, "The formula, if it is aligned with the correct variables, will give its wielder the power to change the world. Rule it, destroy it, whatever they choose. It is the power of knowledge. Knowledge of what you are, Hiro, and the power you find within yourself. The power I found within myself a long time ago."
But not the power Kimiko has found within herself. One that isn't there. "I require you both to endure. Once we know the formula is safe, I will tell you everything. It will be you task, Hiro, to learn from the mistakes of the past, and yours, Kimiko," his gaze shifts back to her, "to ensure the safety of the third variable. But not yet. That time will come."
Kaito steps back from them as if in dismissal, but says nothing, awaiting words from his children.
Such power. It causes Hiro to stare at Kaito as he speaks. "To-san." he begins, pausing for a moment. "…you…actually have the Anti-Life Equation?" His tone is incredulous. After all this time, all those comic books and manga, and ABANDONING the manga, he finds out his dad is Lex Luthor.
"Have we not spent all our lives learning to endure?" It's not a complaint. Kimiko's merely pointing out the obvious. Her eyes narrow as she considers their father's words, mind rolling over the possibility of what his vagueries actually means and then, "No, Hiro," she says gently, "I do not think that is what he means." Her tone is quietly resigned to his overactive imagination. It is Hiro, after all.
His brow tenses as his son speaks, looking towards Kimiko as if expecting translation, and a gruff hhn is all there is to indicate Kaito's disapproval at what he likely perceives Hiro's failure to understand. Pointedly, he moves on. "It is held within my personal archives in my office. For now, that is where it must remain, as you both must remain in Japan until this is seen through." His gaze wanders back to Hiro in something of a scowl, some criticism he chooses to remain unvoiced, before he begins to move through the shrine, footfalls even and solid.
At least Hiro meets the gaze. He's being very serious here. It's no game to him. "It sounds like it to me. What is the value of keeping this formula? And who is Adam Monroe? There is much we have not discussed and probably should have." And THAT is about as close as Hiro will come to criticizing his monolithic father. He dares not look at Kimiko just now lest he have to see her Scandalized Face.
Kimiko is too busy being concerned to be scandalized. She has rarely ever spoken out of term. "To-san," she speaks, unbidden, "What necessitates seeing through? And why do you talk as if you - " she cuts off, because she does not want to say it. "We should be standing together," she insists. "As a family."
Kaito's foot steps slow for a moment as Hiro's voice bounces off the construction of the shrine and his back, and finally come to a stop, turning just enough so he might view the figures of his children out his periphery. "He once went by the name of Kensei," Kaito says, heavily, turning completely so as to meet Hiro's gaze. "And as for the value of keeping the formula… that will some day be a question you must ask yourself."
A smile, now, the Kaito-version of such, deepens the lines at his eyes as he regards them both. "We are standing together, Kimiko. I believe your mother would be happy to see it."
Kensei. Now Hiro knows. "I knew he'd turn up again." he whispers to himself, facing Kaito even as he looks distracted. But he offers a glance to Kimiko that is significantly less heavy than his expression was a moment ago. It's meant much to have at least his sister standing with him. "To-san, we need to know many things. Please. Let these secrets end. We have fumbled in the darkness for a long time. Do you have more answers that might light our way?"
"Kensei…" Kimiko blinks at that. "Like Takezo Kensei?" All those displays, at the Foundation…she looks between Hiro and Kaito in confusion. Now there's much more that she doesn't know about, except for the fact that she knows her brother can manipulate the fabric of time and space. "Is Takezo Kensei a time traveler like Hiro? Is this old enemy?" Yes, Kimiko's good at putting things together.
"An old enemy," Kaito agrees, not without humour. "It seems your brother has made his acquaintance. He will know our enemy best, otherwise… you have the key to the stories in your own building." In the form of tapestries and artwork, certainly. Towards Hiro, he considers him for a short moment, before he says, "You have been given your task. Be the sentinel as I once was. If there is danger on the horizon, you will be the first to see it." Apparently, no. Kaito has shared what secrets he may for the time being. His foot steps resume.
"Kensei is immortal." Hiro answers for Kimiko, sparing her a brief glance. "As far as I know only I could travel time, but he got here the way everyone else does. One moment at a time." He looks after Kaito with an air of disappointment, but knows when his father's being obstinate. And knows there is no way for him to get those answers he so desperately craves. Needs. Not with any honor.
Kimiko says softly to Hiro under her breath, "He is speaking like we will never see him again." It's not meant to be heard. Of course, like most fathers, Kaito may well have Daddy-Ears.
"I know." whispers Hiro, eyes on his father's back. "I wonder more often, Kimi-chan. Maybe what he does is not to do good, but to make up for past evil." Not that it makes much difference now either way.