Part 2

Zoisite NightDragon


Rollin' through the hood
Just stopped by to say what's up
Came to let you know
That your baby boy ain't doing so tough
And even though you passed
Going on four long years
Still waking up late at night crying tears

Nagi walked through the maze of headstones, seeking the two that he had picked out himself. Ones that he had chosen the final resting places of. It was the profusion of red and white rose blossoms that he saw before the graves themselves. For some reason, the plant had taken hold and grown like wildfire, always showering the two it kept watch over below with the crimson and ivory petals. Pausing before them, Nagi felt the old heat of tears prick at his eyes. Four years, and he still missed them desperately at times.

Just thinking about those days
You used to talk to me
Smilin' while I'm sippin' on this Hennesy
And remember we bragged on how rich we would be
To get up out this hood was like a fantasy

Sitting down between the two graves, he drew his legs up to his chest. Eyes of midnight shards drifted closed as the hot waters crept over his lashed, falling like rain upon his cheeks. "I graduated today, Crawford. Top of my class. No one was even near the grades that I made. I already have people calling me and offering me jobs, not that I really need to work. I think I do it more out of boredom than anything. With you two gone, it's just... too lonely with only Farf and me."

And now you hear my songs the radio is bangin'
Oh I can't believe my ears
And what everybody's sayin'
And boy I'll tell you
Folks don't know the half
I would give it all up
Just to take one ride

"I don't know if you know or not, but Farfarello and I ended up joining Kritiker. Two weeks after the funerals, Ran... he was Abyssinian, the leader of Weiß... came to our home. He had an offer for me, a place to put my skills to work. Maybe get back a little vengeance is what I thought. You didn't have to tell me that it was Takatori's fault at what happened, Crawford. I knew it. Even Farf knew it. I think that's why I took him up on his offer... to get back at the ghost of the man who destroyed my life by taking the two of you away from me."

(With you)
How I used to kick it on the front porch
(With you)
And how I used to lay back and smoke weed
(With you)
And all the little days and party joints we'd do
Now I'm just missing you
How I wish

"Remember when we came back to Toyko, and we had that big fight on whether or not I would be going to college. I kept saying that I didn't see the use in it, that I wasn't like others who had a life before them. Schu got so angry with me then, shaking me until I had bruises the next day from where his hands were on my arms. I think he knew back then, before anyone told him or he had that seizure. I think he knew long before we did. He told me that I had to keep living no matter what, that one event, one thing didn't change much. Nothing was worth dying for. I guess you weren't listening, Brad."

I wish that I could hold you now
I wish that I could touch you now
I wish that I could talk to you
Be with you somehow
I know you're in a better place
And you know I can see your face
I know you're smiling down on me
Saying everything's okay
And if I never leave this thug life
I'll see you again someday
I wish, I wish, I wish
I wish, I wish, I wish

"It isn't fair. You and Schuldich should have been there. I wanted you to see me graduate. I wanted to feel him tugging at my mind, teasing me about the girls or boys watching me and all their naughty hentai thoughts. I wanted to be like the rest and look out over that sea of faces and see yours."

Now ever since this money come
Been nothing but stress
Sometimes I wish I could trade in my success
Y'all look at me and say boy you've been blessed
But y'all don't see the inside of my unhappiness
Man I swear this shit gets heavy like a ton
That's why you hear me shootin'
This real shit off like a gun
Hmm I wonder how my friends would treat me now
If I wasn't iced up with a Bentley and a house
That's why fake ass niggas get fake ass digits
And fake ass playas get a real playa hatin' 'em
Honey Love goes platinum and y'all ass come around
But y'all don't wanna raise the roof
Until my shit is going down

A frail seeming hand moved through the fall of white and red petals that lay across Schuldich's grave, the telekinetic scattering them slowly through his fingers. "I miss you two so much. Even now, I still hear whispers sometimes while working with other agents of Kritiker than Weiß. The great Schwarz. They've made you two out to be monsters. I suppose that I am too. Just another devil. I've had to walk out before I crush someone for some of the things they say. Manx keeps telling me that it will pass, to ignore it, but you're my family that they're talking about. You meant so much to me."

And now you hear my songs the radio is bangin'
Oh I can't believe my ears
And what everybody's sayin'
And boy I'll tell you
Folks don't know the half
I would give it all up
Just to take one ride

"I never got to tell either of you that. Always distant, always keeping everyone away from me so I wouldn't be hurt. Even Tot. I remember you telling me that I was more in love with the idea of loving Tot than with the girl herself, Schuldich. Looking back, I think you were right. I hurt when she died, more than I ever thought I could, but it went away. It faded until one day I didn't think about her anymore. And then the next... and the next. That still hasn't happened with you two. Four years. I still miss you both so damn much."

(With you)
How I used to hoop off in them tournaments
(With you)
And how I used to club hop on weekends
(With you)
Your family called the morning of the tragic end
Damn, my condolensces

"Brad, how could you just leave us like that? We kept waiting and waiting for you to come out before Farf and I walked back in. It was too late. You were already dead, the both of you wrapped up in each other's arms. Schuldich, you damn well better be taking care of him and setting him straight on his priorities for once. You don't up and leave those that love you, Crawford!"

I wish that I could hold you now
I wish that I could touch you now
I wish that I could talk to you
Be with you somehow
I know you're in a better place
And you know I can see your face
I know you're smiling down on me
Saying everything's okay
And if I never leave this thug life
I'll see you again someday
I wish, I wish, I wish
I wish, I wish, I wish

Rage broke across Nagi's heart, a layer of ice finally splintering under the heat of it. Whirlwinds captured up the fallen petals and tossed them about him viciously. "You didn't have to go, Brad! I still needed you! Farf still needed you! You had a commitment to us, damn it! You left us alone. We were still here for you, but I guess that wasn't enough next to Schuldich, was it? All anyone had to do was see the looks you two gave each other to know that you were the other's life..."

Voices in my head be telling me to come to church
Saying the Lord is the only way for you to stop the hurt
Dreaming of windows black tinted like a hurst
When waking up to life sometimes seems worst
And all I ever wanted is to be a better man
And I try to keep it real with my homies now
For me to save the world I don't understand
How did I become the leader of a billion men?

"After Tot died, I didn't want to feel that pain again," Nagi murmured as he moved his hand onto Brad's grave, the whirlwinds ripping at the air about him finally calming down. Another shower of petals stirred up by his powers fell about him, bringing to mind the time he had showered the girl with sakura. That memory didn't push the splinter of ice into his heart as this one did. The tears that had begun to drift down his wan cheeks increased to a flood, letting loose his emotions as he never could around others. He was the quiet and calm one, not prone to losing control.

And now you hear my songs the radio is bangin'
Oh I can't believe my ears
And what everybody's sayin'
And boy I'll tell you
Folks don't know the half
I would give it all up
Just to take one ride

Stretching out on the ground between the two, Nagi's fist pounded against the ground uselessly like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Letting it fall back to the ground, he sighed softly. "I wanted you two to know. I see Ran and Ken together all the time, how they love each other, and it reminds me so much of you two. I wonder at times if Farfarello and I will be like that eventually. That we'll be able to look at each other at times and live in each other's gazes. Like you two did."

(With you)
How I used to street perform on Friday
(With you)
And how I used to go to church on Easter Sunday
(With you)
Standing here throwing them songs at me
Somebody pray for me

Nagi laid there, letting petals drift down to kiss against his face and stick to his tear stained cheeks before standing. A coiled paper was drawn out of his shirt and laid at the base of Brad's grave, held in place with a stone. "The name on it is Nagi Crawford. Naoe... didn't seem right after all we'd been through. He's dead. Nagi Crawford isn't. I hope you were there today, you two, instead of sneaking off for a moment together."

I wish that I could hold you now
I wish that I could touch you now
I wish that I could talk to you
Be with you somehow
I know you're in a better place
And you know I can see your face
I know you're smiling down on me
Saying everything's okay
And if I never leave this thug life
I'll see you again someday
I wish, I wish, I wish
I wish, I wish, I wish

Thin fingers were touched to Nagi's lips as he kissed them and then touched them to each of the two headstones. Turning away, he started down the path to the outside world. A fall of petals ran over his shoulder and into his shirt. From somewhere behind him, he could have sworn he heard Schuldich's laughter. A hint of a smile took to his lips as he met Farfarello and the sidewalk and started for home.


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