Mommy's got a scarecrow, gotta let the corn grow

[joinmyreunion]

When the others had said they were going back, Kadaj had said he'd join them.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to go home. He knew that when he did things would have changed, things would need to have changed. Orochimaru was gone, and Kadaj wasn't going to be viewed as just the impulsive idiot riding Kuja's coattails any more. His relationship with Gin was going to have changed as well. Kadaj had always trusted Gin in that he'd trusted Gin to be Gin; whose actions and motives were utterly beyond Kadaj's comprehension, but in the very least he got the impression that Gin wouldn't hurt him for the fun of doing so, which was more than Kadaj could say for any of the rest of Khamja. Where Gin was concerned, Kadaj tried not to be a hindrance, even if he didn't know how to be a help.

Now Gin knew secrets about Kadaj that no one else did. No one barring Nnoitra, and now Grimmjow, Tayuya, and Yylfordt. It would have put Kadaj on Gin's radar, he knew, he just had to hope now that whatever game Gin played didn't have need of a playing piece with Kadaj's moveset.

Then there was Kuja. Since he couldn't occupy the safe spot hiding behind Kuja's skirts any more, Kadaj might be surplus to Kuja's requirements. He could play him; play at being the loyal little ex-minion, but Kadaj knew he probably wouldn't be able to keep that up for too long. Better, then, to play at ingenue ally, in need of guidance, who may be inclined to owe Kuja some favours. It hurt to think it, but Kadaj trusted Kuja marginally less than he trusted Gin when it came to his own safety if he wasn't immediately useful to him.

And then, then there was Aizen. Kadaj doubted very much that his defeat of Orochimaru had put him on Aizen's radar, but he doubted Aizen disregarded the whole affair, either. It might, at worst, or at best, have put Kadaj down as an upstart to keep an eye on. Kadaj wasn't wholly sure how to ingratiate himself with that one yet, or whether doing so was even wise.

So returning to the Palace was frought with nerves and second guessing himself. Kadaj took the time to chase down one last Hollow before he headed back; a mean thing that a Gotei Lieutenant might break a sweat over, but which Kadaj could take down almost leisurely, now. Then and only then did he head back, driving the bike through the caverns and parking her with the airships.

Yylfordt could keep the Ragnarok. Kadaj was quite fond of his bike, now.

He approached the Palace doors with a sigh, steeling himself before he let himself in. The Palace felt very, very different to what he was used to. The usual suspects were all here, of course, their reiatsu interwoven with the general feel of the place, but there were dischords in the usual symphony. Reiatsu signatures missing, faded, no longer detectable, and intruders that were too new to have found their place in the piece, yet.

One of them felt familiar, though Kadaj couldn't really pinpoint why.

He was full of sand and dust from the desert, so the first thing he did was head off to have a shower and change. On his way, he left something outside Kuja's door, and once he'd showered, he headed straight to the kitchen, where the others tended to lurk.

Comments

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra watched Hojo's expression turn to glee and then looked sharply at Szayel, the bridge of his nose wrinkling in annoyance.

"Shut the fuck up," he snapped, barely resisting the urge to grab him by the face and pull him off the chair. "You don't get to speak for me."

He did, however, join Kadaj in standing. Unlike Kadaj, he towered over Hojo, radiating threat without flaring his reiastu. He narrowed his single eye and glared down at the man, teeth showing in a snarl.

"I don't give a fuck what you 'require' of me," he said, still keeping his Chakra under control. "You ain't gettin' it. Not because that obnoxious little prick forbids it," he jabbed a thumb in Szayel's direction, "or because it belongs to somebody else, you ain't gettin' it because I fuckin' say you're ain't gettin' it and if you try," he bared his teeth in an unpleasant grin. "My boss being pissed off is gonna be the least of your worries."

[declaregamuza]

Nel frowned when Nnoitra got to his feet too. She could probably restrain Kadaj, but there was no way she'd be able to restrain both of them. The infuriating thing was that Nnoitra wasn't making empty threats, even though he in particular should be trying to keep his head down.

Besides, if Aizen wanted to let Hojo have Nnoitra's data, or whatever else he might want of him, if, for example, Nnoitra pissed him off again, there was very little outside of open rebellion that Nnoitra would be able to do about it.

"I suggest you leave," she said to Hojo, her voice firm.

[doesthissmellofchloroform]

Hojo smirked, putting his hand to his chin and supporting his elbow on the other hand.

So, Hebira's child was volatile. Hojo knew exactly how to get data from people like that. You simply set up the experiment, some simulated fight against an opponent, and told them there was no way they could beat it. You pushed the fact that you expected them to be soundly defeated, that they were weaker than what you had created, until, pride on the line, they went ahead to prove you wrong.

And then you got your data. He'd done it dozens upon dozens of times at Shinra with stupid meathead SOLDIERS who were out to prove their strength.

As for Sephiroth's sibling, he was, as anticipated, emotionally unstable, a trait no doubt picked up from the mother. He was easy to rile, which made him easy to study.

He'd already let the guard on his reiatsu drop, although he hadn't pushed it to full throttle, and if Hojo was any judge, and he was, he carried a zanpakuto, which was intriguing in itself.

"I've already taken the data I can from this meeting," he said, glancing at Kadaj. He might have to give it a few days and then steal a toothbrush, or hairbrush, for his genetic comparisons. "A kitchen is no place for proper analysis," he added, turning to look at Nel and Nnoitra.

"Perhaps my being sequestered in this Palace won't be such an inconvenience after all," he said, turning away to head for the kitchen door.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel rolled his eyes at Nnoitra's bravado. If Nnoitra laid so much as a finger on another member of Khamja, he'd stand to lose it, so if he continued like this he'd get himself returned to Draklor in a crate.

Still, Szayel had to admire the way Hojo had apparently come in to press Kadaj's buttons and find which ones were big and red. He hadn't flipped at the mother reference, for once, Szayel noted. Perhaps that one wasn't as sensitive as other subjects, lately.

Still, there was no way anyone could miss that Kadaj was back now; he'd practically advertised it letting his suppression drop like that.

Apparently he'd found some of Nnoitra's too, while he was at it. Not that Nnoitra's were easy to miss once you exchanged a few words with him.

[thechillyacademic]

Even looked at Kadaj when Hojo had made his exit.

"I suggest," he said, carefully, "that you lock your door whenever you're not there and, if you use anything in here, that you wash it when you've finished."

He didn't look at Nnoitra. He was a lot taller than he thought he should be and was one of the few people that Even had to look up at. Quite a way, at that. It was a little unnerving. He didn't doubt that he'd be taller, if less imposing, than Lexaeus.

"If he wants a sample, he doesn't need to have you present to obtain it."

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra glared at Hojo when he left and sat back down, looking grouchier than he had done.

He pissed him off, but he was a weakling, and obviously not a fighter, so murdering him wouldn't prove anything. A half-assed cero would take him out. Besides, if he touched any of the Arrancar, he wouldn't need to. Aizen himself would probably do it for him.

"I won't touch him," he sighed, pre-empting Nel's inevitable warning to keep his head.

[declaregamuza]

"Good," Nel said, eyeing Nnoitra. At least he knew exactly what she'd been gearing up to say to him. "It's not worth it. If he keeps on like that he'll annoy someone who won't be punished for killing him."

Once they'd got their use out of him, anyway. You also had to take into account that someone as infuriating as that had survived in Khamja for years. Admittedly by faking his death, but he had to have some allies, and some use to the clan.

She turned back to Kadaj, whose reiatsu was still wobbly after the conversation. He still seemed stunned. "Kadaj?" She asked, softly, her voice gentle and concerned.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj was still staring at the door Hojo had left through, his grip tight on Souba's hilt and his breath still too fast.

He took a deep breath and swallowed when Nel said his name, and looked at her. Then he looked at the blond ryoka who had spoken to him, and nodded.

Yeah, he had a point. Kadaj would have to watch his every step if he wanted to prevent this guy getting 'samples' from him. "Mother told me I'd fallen into the lifestream," he murmured, audibly, but quietly. "She lied."

It turned how he thought of his childhood on its head. He'd thought his mother had abandoned him but-- had she run away and left him behind to draw that guy away, and stop him getting to Kadaj again? All the times she'd cried and wouldn't tell him what it was over, could it have been his...

Brother?

He had a brother. That was huge enough.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel snorted. "Apparently even your mother wasn't that bad a caregiver," he said, in an undertone that was intended to be audible but not exactly noticeable.

It was interesting, though. Kadaj, of all people, being related to Sephiroth. It really did make you wonder just what he could have achieved with further enhancement.

And had anyone else known? Kadaj certainly hadn't. Kuja? L? Those two had connections, surely. Aizen? Perhaps not, as the activities of Shinra weren't on his radar until he had the opportunity to make a philosopher's stone out of one of their cities.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra looked up at Kadaj when he spoke. Kadaj was famous for having issues with his mother, but this did shed a whole new light on it.

"She probably said that to protect you from that creep," he said, not unkindly.

Again, he resisted smacking Szayel very hard, but only because it wasn't his smack to deliver. If Kadaj wanted to do it, he was more than capable.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj's attention snapped to Szayel.

In the past, he'd have flown into a rage, screamed and swung, and tried to blindly hurt Szayel for speaking about Kadaj's mother that way. It didn't work, though. If you wanted to make a point, it was better to be controlled about it.

He'd learned that while he was gone. He had to control his temper. An attack made in anger was a stupid attack.

He stared at Szayel for a moment, and then chaneled his chakra, shifted his foot, and pushed a spike of rock up out of the ground underneath one of Szayel's chair legs.

"Don't talk about my mother that way," he said, sounding a little more unstable than he'd intended, but getting the point across nevertheless.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel found his chair tipped up, sharply, and fell back and sideways off it, landing with a small crash.

Still a hot button topic, then, from the sound of it. He clambered up out of the tangle of his limbs and the chair and brushed himself off, haughtily, trying to recover some dignity. He stroked his hair straight, too.

"That's a new trick," he said.

[prayingmantis]

Nnoitra couldn't help but snort. Kadaj, up until recently, hadn't had the Chakra control required to pull that kind of trick, so seeing him do it so casually showed some kind of improvement. Granted, he wasn't anywhere near on the same level of casual Chakra Element usage as the Ryoka tended to be, but it was better than he had been.

"I'd have punched him in the teeth," he said, shrugging. "But that works."

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj sneered at Szayel before he cast a glance at Nnoitra. "He wasn't worth walking up to," he said, settling back down with a metaphorical smoothing of his own hackles.

Szayel had pissed him off, but Kadaj had controlled it, and channeled it, and he was a little bit pleased with himself for that.

He inhaled, and concentrated, drawing the small spike of rock back down until the floor was level again, a task which was much more difficult than driving the earth upwards had been in the first place. It wasn't perfect though; the floor still showed the mark where the tile had cracked.

Kadaj shrugged that off. It wouldn't be his explanation to give.

[declaregamuza]

Nel watched the little display with one raised eyebrow.

Kadaj had grown up, hadn't he? Tayuya had said he was a bit different, had discovered his independence, although that wasn't exactly how Tayuya had phrased it. It seemed to have done him good to get out of the Palace, obviously.

Out on his own, that was.

"Nice trick," she said, ignoring Szayel to come and examine the floor, "but you broke my floor." Her tone was ever so slightly scolding, but her expression wasn't. She wore a smile, and stepped nearer Kadaj to give him a concerned look. "Are you all right?" He had just had a few frightening revelations dumped on him at once, but if you looked at him thinking that he might have been used as a Shinra experiment, you could see it. You could see it in the glow of his eyes, and the eerie similarity in appearance to Sephiroth; similar eye shape, and noses, although Kadaj's face was more rounded, he was also younger, and slighter.

"Even's right, you know," she said, softly, "you should keep your room locked up."

Hojo was a whole new ball of problems for the kid. She felt sorry for him.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel dusted his sleeves and trousers off with a scowl. "For all the good that'll do," he said, snippily. "No one can stay so vigilant about their activities as to prevent leaving their DNA behind if they live somewhere."

He wasn't feeling particularly charitable after that performance, although it had been an interesting little performance. One to take note of, he thought. Kadaj was developing.

Szayel doubted that would be the only trick he'd learned while he was gone.

[thechillyacademic]

"It probably won't do any good," Even agreed, "but if his room is locked and he cleans up after himself here, if it turns out that his room has been broken into, he will be aware of who to take it out on."

Nobody had bothered with Kadaj's room prior to his return, so Even didn't see why anybody other than Professor Hojo would bother now. Nobody else had an interest in him and, short of somebody staging a break-in to frame Hojo, it was hardly going to be anybody else.

"Regardless, I'm sure Kadaj has reached the age of majority," he pointed out. "Surely that counts for something, even in Khamja. He is a full member, from what I have heard, and wasn't brought in as Hojo's subordinate, so I don't see how he can have any claim to him."

Even was, of course, only a new recruit, but he was bound to look logically at the situation.

[prayingmantis]

"True," Nnoitra said, still smirking all over his face at Szayel's unceremonious drop onto the floor. "Pretty sure I ain't the only one thinkin' that it'll be better if he pisses off the other two Ryoka sooner rather than later, though."

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj frowned as he listened to Even.

He didn't like the guy, or at least, he didn't want to, but he had to admit he was coolly logical about matters, and Kadaj appreciated that right now. Even was right when he said that Kadaj was over the age of majority, although practically speaking that made little difference in Khamja. What did count, was that Kadaj was a full member in his own right. He'd spent a long time as a full member in name only, as little more than a puppet of Kuja, but since killing Orochimaru he'd had to exercise his abilities as a full member of the clan.

He murmured his agreement with Nnoitra, thoughtfully. "That'd help," he said, "I'm not sure I want a reputation as the scientist killer." Although in Szayel's case he'd be tempted to make an exception.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel ignored the smirk on Nnoitra's face in favour of arguing for the sake of it. He raised an eyebrow at Even, and peered at him through his glasses. "Hojo's claim seems to be predicated on Kadaj having been one of his test subjects prior," he pointed out. "Someone like that doesn't let a specimen go just because it got old enough to sign a contract."

He shrugged one shoulder, carelessly. "Of course, Kadaj is allowed to hold a different opinion, it would just be foolish of him to expect Hojo to pay any attention to it. The surgeon doesn't care what the scalpel thinks," he added.

[declaregamuza]

"Unfortunately for Hojo," Nel said, "this particular scalpel carries a sword."

And has some infamously violent friends that won't appreciate him being harassed, there was that too.

She gave Kadaj a smile. "I'll help you with cleaning up," she told him. "Just because it's difficult doesn't mean you should make Hojo's life easy," she added.

Washing utensils, cups, plates, that was easy enough. She could wash laundry for him, too, if he brought them to her so she could do them without them lingering in a laundry pile. Fortunately, Kadaj wore a lot of leather, but bedding, towels, and the like would be good places to find stray hairs and so on.

[thechillyacademic]

"Mmmn," Even said, agreeing with Nel, but looking at Szayel. "Generally speaking, the scalpel doesn't grow up with a mind to stab the surgeon."

He didn't blame Kadaj. He didn't really blame any unwilling or unknowing participant in an experiment for wanting to rise up and fight back against the creator once it developed a mind of its own. It was almost inevitable that they would stray from the plan and, given enough power, when they stopped wanting to play the role given to them they had little compassion to spare for those who made them to be used.

Szayel, Even decided, was either an immature aspirer to science or had never headed up his own, serious project before. He wasn't stupid, nor could he be as stubborn and ignorant of people as Hojo was, yet he persisted in trying to make himself look wise on matters he couldn't possibly have any experience in if he held to those rigid opinions.

It was interesting. He took himself very seriously, but Even couldn't shake the idea that all he had done thus far was ride coattails and take credit for, quite probably, joint ventures so far.

[prayingmantis]

"Yeah," Nnoitra agreed with a bark of a laugh. "You should probably avoid that, tempting as it is."

He gave Szayel a sideways look when he said that.

He half wondered what Kuja would make of Kadaj being harassed by Hojo.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel shrugged both of his shoulders, lightly. "I admire the man's work," he began, a phrase which wouldn't normally have left his mouth, but Shinra's SOLDIERs were more than a little influential in the world of bioweapon engineering, "but you have to admit he lacks a certain tact. I doubt all his specimens consented to be experimented on." Some had, certainly, the Thirds and Seconds, and possibly the Firsts that were not Sephiroth, as if anyone remembered their names, but Sephiroth, it seemed, had grown up an experiment and knew nothing else. Kadaj had been destined for the same course in life, and Szayel knew that in among Shinra's files there would be testing on illegally obtained specimens, some of them licensed species. The controversy brewing when Hojo had 'died' had been regarding the manufacture of chimaera, a controversy which combined licensed species, and illegal alchemy.

He looked at Kadaj. "He's used to hearing 'no' from his specimens, as well as threats, is my point." He gave Kadaj a nasty smirk, folding his arms across his chest. "If he acts like he doesn't hear the objections from myself and other Arrancar, don't expect him to be put off by one of your little tantrums."

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj eyed Szayel. "My last tantrum," he said, managing not to spit the word back at him, "ended with Orochimaru's Sending."

Hojo wasn't on the same level as Orochimaru, even the weakened and desperate Orochimaru he and Nnoitra had fought. Hojo's danger was the more insidious kind, in Khamja, in that you couldn't be sure who it was that might need him, and might object to his sudden passing, but it certainly wasn't in any ability to overwhelm Kadaj with force, or shatter his mind and take up residence there himself.

"If he doesn't want to listen when I warn him to back off, the next Sending I do will be his." He glanced over at Nnoitra. He hadn't been alone in dispatching Orochimaru, but he doubted he'd need help with Hojo. "I'm sick of people trying to keep me on their leash," he said, a little more quietly.