Koujo Lin: The Account

Chapter 14: The Ending of all Pain

"You have to let at least one of us come. You've lost your damned mind if you think that there's any way in hell we'd let you go alone." Draidyan Lin was absolutely furious. He couldn't believe that his younger brother had the nerve to ask him not to come with him to fight Kanon. As if he could handle everything on his own.

Lin glared at Draidyan in anger. "Why do you need to come? I assure you that I'm capable of handling this on my own. There isn't a reason for either of you to put yourselves at risk." He indicated both of his older brothers with his hand. Lukida raised an eyebrow at Lin's logic.

"You seem to forget that both of us are just as skilled as you. Why would you take extra care to ensure that we remain safely behind the sidelines if you truly feel that this task will be an easy one? Normally you'd welcome our backup. It seems to me that you want to keep us out of harms way even if it puts you further in its path. That's not the attitude of someone on a simple mission." Lukida's voice was stern, but still gentle. Lin knew what he was doing. He was to a lesser extent playing good cop to Draidyan's bad cop. He was using logic and irrefutable facts to apply to Lin's sense of reason.

The approach worked, as Lukida no doubt had intended. Lin sighed and shook his head. "You're right. I have no idea what will happen when I meet Kanon. He could very well mean to kill me. Madoka is already in danger - I don't want to expose anyone else to possible harm."

Draidyan stared at him in confusion. "Your entire team is planning to come with you to help resolve the issue - you'd allow them to come with you but not us?"

Lin smiled slyly in response. "You truly thought that I was going to let them come with me? I always intended to go on my own. I was going to suggest that the team remain here to provide support should the need arise. "

"That's ridiculous. They've dealt with dangerous cases before, haven't they?" Lukida asked as he met Draidyan's wary gaze.

"Yes, they have. But they've never dealt with someone like Kanon." Lin reasoned calmly. He didn't yet realize that he'd just worked himself into a hole that he wouldn't be able to crawl out of.

Draidyan stepped towards Lin slowly before putting his hands on the onmyoujis shoulders. "You say that they've never dealt with someone like Kanon. They meaning that you're excluding yourself from the group." He paused and raised a questioning eyebrow for effect. "Does that mean that you have dealt with someone like Kanon before? Do you have some experience that I'm not aware of?"

Lin's eyes narrowed. He'd been caught - beaten at a game of logic he hadn't even realized he was playing. "No. I've never fought a spirit that even resembled Kanon." He answered honestly regardless of his desire to lie.

Draidyan grinned and stepped back. "I didn't believe that you had. You basically just confessed to me that you're just as inexperienced with cases like this as the rest of us are. You just rendered your entire argument invalid. Therefore, any points you made are now moot. Lukida and I are coming."

Lukida chuckled at Lin's expression. "Don't worry too much, Koujo. If it makes you feel better we'll wait a little ways away on standby until we think you might need help."

Lin sighed and shook his head in submission. "Fine. Do as you please, though do take care not to die. I don't wish to attend the funeral of anyone else in my family."

Twenty minutes later, Lin stood on a worn pathway that was still as familiar to him as the back of his hand. It was the road that led down to where Shun had lived.

Lin remained still on the familiar path, staring at the house off in the distance. It hadn't changed at all from the last time he had set foot there - the night of Shun's murder.