It's August 20, 2001, the thirteenth day of navigation of the Black Whale 1 towards the Dark Continent.
Prince Benjamin is dead, infected by the TSK-17 toxin.
Kaiser, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Kakin Ministry of Justice, can breathe a sigh of relief. No mass extermination of Princes, no toxin released into the air, no special martial law.
The bespectacled man should have spoken to Kurapika a few days before, updating him verbally on the latest events, as requested by Melody, but the whirlwind of events does not spare anyone.
It's 8:00 in the morning and there is peace, strangely. Kaiser approaches Room 1014 and knocks.
"Who is it?"
"Kaiser Sarwar, Ministry of Justice of the Kakin Empire. Melody sent me. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it sooner. You're Kurapika, right? The new young boss of the Nostrade Family."
The door of the room opens. A boy of nineteen years comes out, and looking at him he appears even younger, Kaiser can't help but notice. His neat blond hair, reaching below his ears, makes him look like an angel, along with his gentle face and silver eyes. The blue suit with jacket, white shirt and tie is far too serious on him.
"Yes, it's me."
His tone is calm and composed, though his eyes scan Kaiser warily.
"Melody sent you to brief me on the latest events, I assume. Go ahead and speak."
His voice is direct, firm, without a trace of hesitation. Kaiser adjusts his glasses.
"Melody has been in great demand by the Princes lately after her flute performance."
"Oh yeah? Well, Melody is a very talented person and her performance certainly impressed the Princes. But I doubt you came to me just to tell that."
(He's clever, he goes straight to the point.) Kaiser thinks.
The blond, while he ushers the raven-haired into the room, goes to sit on the sofa.
"What specifically do you want me to know?"
"Prince Tserriednich is among them."
Kurapika's gray eyes darken, his eyebrows arch slightly, and his voice drops, as if he's afraid of seeing ears sticking out of the walls.
"The Fourth Prince…" he mutters, his jaw tightening, "What could he possibly want from Melody? Certainly not a simple flute encore."
Kaiser notices the growing concern in the young man's previously set tone, culminating in barely suppressed aversion.
He feels compelled to explain.
"The Fourth Prince loves art in all its facets, even if his taste can be described as rather… questionable. He loves collecting paintings, sheet music, statues… Body parts."
The blond young man taps his forehead with the index and middle fingers of his right hand.
"Yes, I read it in Melody's letter…"
Kaiser sees Kurapika assume a rigid posture, while his feet tap noisily on the floor and his gaze becomes fixed, determined, as if there were, in place of his pupils, an endless abyss.
"I would like to understand what could drive a person to want to collect body parts. I've been wondering for years, but I haven't succeeded yet."
There is venom in this last statement and Kaiser notices it.
"Lately, Prince Tserriednich has been collecting an excessive amount of Scarlet Eyes."
Kurapika's breath stops almost imperceptibly, while a light streak quickly colors his gray irises with a fleeting reddish color, which quickly dissolves. The blond clenched his hands, his voice low like a growl.
"The Scarlet Eyes… are the reason my clan was exterminated. I promised myself not to tell anyone, but if Melody is starting to trust you, I can try too. Know that I only pass this information on those I trust, and betraying it would mean death for you. Do you understand?"
"You were crystal clear," Kaiser replies, without a hint of emotion.
"I also know that Tserriednich has a large collection. You see, the reason I am here is precisely because I want to find the eyes of my clan."
Kurapika pauses, takes a breath, and moves his bangs away from his eyes, before looking at Kaiser:
"Do you know anything else about his collection of eyes?" he asks, with a cutting tone.
The Deputy Prosecutor is still mulling over what he found out about Melody's collaborator:
"Melody didn't mention this to me. Curious… A survivor of the famous Kurta Clan…"
Kaiser's thoughts remain locked in his mind, as he takes a cloth to clean his glasses from the pocket of his dark gray tweed jacket:
"I don't know anything else, just like I didn't know you were a Kurta. I advise you to be careful, Kurapika… That man would be capable of tearing your eyes out just to have them."
A reddish flicker in the young Kurta's irises again.
"Thank you for the warning. As I told you before, I had no intention of revealing who I really was, but it seems I didn't have much of a choice. My only purpose in life is to find the Scarlet Eyes of my clan. They were massacred for this disgusting organ trade. It's been seven years since I lost my loved ones, but the pain I feel is fuel for my determination."
Kurapika stands up, adjusts his clothes, and Kaiser follows his every move with hidden empathy.
"Tserriednich will never have my eyes." he says, with great determination, "I will do everything in my power to stop him."
The two men's eyes meet. Gray irises streaked with red and blue ones.
"Melody trusts you a lot, and I can understand why. You know… I'm willing to do anything for her." Kaiser reveals to him, in a fit of sincerity.
Kurapika's still boylike gaze softens and his voice goes with it:
"I care about her a lot too." he tells him, with a warm tone that greatly affects the minister, "She is a special person and I would do anything to protect her. If the Fourth Prince represents a tangible threat to her, then we must work together to defend her. Do you have any proposals?"
Kaiser is sorry to dismantle Kurapika's collaboration, and a quick shadow passes through his expressionless eyes:
"I don't think it's possible to say no to him. The Prince takes what he wants. My advice is to accompany her to the meetings with him, or at least stay nearby. You and I, in turns."
"I understand." the young man replies, going to open the window of Oito's room, busy having breakfast in her dining room.
"I can't allow Melody to be in danger. I accept your proposal. I will be present at the meetings with Tserriednich."
Kurapika's eyes dart from the very long distance over Lake Mobius to Kaiser's eyes. In that exchange there is the iron will to protect someone important to them.
At that point, Mr. Sarwar lets himself go:
"You know… When I listened to her performance, I felt a sense of total peace. I no longer felt the weight of this war of succession, the tiredness, the headache. Nothing, everything disappeared. There was only the melodious sound of the flute. I spent the whole night thinking about it. And even now… I think about her."
A spark of tenderness seems to have lit up in Kurapika's eyes, and his voice sounds surprised and intrigued:
"I see… Melody has an extraordinary talent, and her musical Nen is truly hypnotic. I'm not surprised it struck you so much."
Kurapika's light and almost cheerful voice gives way to a more serious consideration:
"It's not just the music that struck you, am I right? Are you interested in her?"
(He's direct…) Kaiser thinks, without however having the slightest hesitation, or blushing on his face.
"Yes. I fell in love with her." he replies, simply.
"Well, in my opinion it's not difficult to fall in love with Melody." is Kurapika's answer.
Kaiser, despite the blond's gentle and calm tone, sensed something else.
"I hope you know though, that with Tserriednich involved the road is complicated, but if you really care about her then it will really be worth fighting for her!"
Kurapika offers him his hand, as if to give him support. It's an open and friendly hand, like the young man's gaze, so different from the black and oily abyss he exhibited while discussing the Scarlet Eyes. And yet… And yet Kaiser, an expert in noticing the subtle nuances of human beings, continues to sense a feeling desperately hidden by the young Kurta.
"Thank you for the encouragement. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem convinced of my feelings, nor does she seem to reciprocate them." he sighs, grabbing Kurapika's hand and squeezing it, as if they were only really introducing themselves at that moment.
"Melody can be hard to read, even though her Nen ability is being able to read people's emotions through their heartbeats. Funny, right? That doesn't mean you don't have any hope with her, though. Remember that right now we have our minds full of unpostponable commitments. In fact, you know what? Our commitment to protecting her from the Prince could be the turning point in your relationship. But you'll have to be patient, she also has some important goals she hasn't completed yet."
The last part is rather cryptic, but Kaiser lets it fall.
"You seem to know her thoroughly… You two are really close." is his simple statement.
"Yes, Melody and I have a deep bond." Kurapika replies, his eyes watery with palpable affection, "We met in Yorknew and have shared countless challenges, she is like a sister to me. I worry a lot about her, we are bound by a link of trust and friendship."
Kaiser doesn't reply right away, intent on reflecting on Kurapika's last words.
"Can I ask you a personal question? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. Besides, we're digressing here."
Kurapika sits down on the couch, this time closer to Kaiser's armchair, as a sign of greater openness and availability.
"Ask me. I'll listen."
"Have you ever been in love?"
At that moment, a pleasant summer breeze enters from the window, which moves the nice white lace curtains.
"I can't tell you exactly…"
Kurapika's voice is thoughtful, completely absorbed in an unattainable past.
"… Years ago, I had a best friend. His name was Pairo. We went everywhere and did everything together. But our friendship didn't have a happy future, as you can imagine, and I'll never know if it would have evolved into something different…"
Kurapika looks up at the ceiling, as if he were talking only to himself:
"After that tragedy, I've had almost no respite. I've met some amazing friends, but that pain is always lurking to ruin the beautiful moments that fate wants to give me. It's hard for me to open up like before."
His voice is melancholic, and when it dies, fading like a candle, his gaze returns to focus on Kaiser.
(I have a doubt, Kurapika, but I won't reveal it to you.) is the thought of this one.
"Melody said that you are the only one we can trust."
(You are the only one she trusts…) the thirty-two-year-old thinks sadly.
"Melody, like me, is very selective about who she trusts."
The blond looks at Kaiser and it's as if he can read his mind:
"If you think about it, it's a positive sign that she sent you to me, it means you are a person she wants to trust. It will take time, but don't be discouraged."
The Deputy Prosecutor is almost moved by Kurapika's encouraging look; he observes him: he is a young man not even twenty years old and he seems like an angel who has fallen into hell against his will. In his childish features he reads a pain that has crystallized into composure.
"Do you miss your family? And the person who was so dear to you, was he part of your clan?" Kaiser asks him, feeling a wave of empathy for him.
"Yes, I miss them every day. I saw them on the ground, lying in a sea of blood, their eyes gone, like puppets whose strings had been torn out… Pairo and I were brutally separated, I couldn't even say goodbye to him."
The young Nostrade boss brings a hand to his eyes and Kaiser respects that gesture with dignity.
"The past is the driving force that gives me the push to move forward, but now we have to think about the present and the future. I still have people I care about and want to protect."
There are no more clouds in Kurapika's eyes now, which shine so brightly that they almost seem blue.
Kaiser gets up from his chair:
"It was fruitful talking to you. See you soon."
Kurapika gets up to shake his hand:
"It was enlightening talking to you for me too." he replies, cordially, "See you soon, then. I hope to be able to talk to you again. Please, be careful with the Fourth Prince. I don't want you to be in any danger."
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After taking that warning, Kaiser leaves Queen Oito's room and heads to Room 1010, where he finds Melody, ready to go to sleep after having watched over Prince Kacho's quarters all night.
After folding her work uniform, Melody turns to Kaiser with a serene expression:
"Welcome back. How did it go with Kurapika?"
Her melodious voice should be neutral, but the man with the glasses senses a note of interest.
"I told him everything. Including my feelings for you." Kaiser replies, sitting down and readjusting his glasses.
"Oh… I see. And how did he react?"
That question dispels any remaining doubts in Kaiser; there is a sort of hopeful expectation in her.
(She seems to care a lot about his opinion…) he thinks, feeling defeated.
"Melody… How do you feel about Kurapika?"
The young woman lowers her olive eyes, feeling her heart pounding as she tries not to let the emotions she has kept at bay for two years show.
"Kurapika is very important to me." she tells him, her voice uncertain and her words carefully chosen, with very little spontaneity, "He is the only one I can be myself with."
Melody vibrates with vulnerability and emotion.
"I understand."
Kaiser can't help but take note. He gets up and starts to walk toward the door, but before he grabs the doorknob, he stops:
"Do you think you can… one day… trust me enough, like him?"
Melody scrutinizes him and decides to be honest:
"I don't know. The trust I feel for Kurapika is unique. It was born from shared experiences and tests we overcame together."
She senses Kaiser's disappointment even though he remains impassive, that impassivity that disconcerts her.
"However, I can't and don't want to preclude anything. Everything will depend on how things go between us."
(No, Melody… It won't be like that… But despite this, I don't want to give up.)
Kaiser's are just thoughts that remain locked in his mind.
"Rest now, in nine hours you will be on duty." he only reminds her.
"You are right, now I will rest, but don't worry needlessly about me."
Melody appreciates his concern and lowers her guard a little towards him.
"I wish you a good day."
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Kaiser returns to his office, where he spends a rather quiet morning. It's now midday. Kaiser is sitting at the desk in his room, with his glasses slightly askew and an absorbed expression. He stares at the immaculate bed, which he left at four thirty in the morning. He should get some sleep, but he can't. Suddenly, he senses a presence behind him: Prince Kacho's Nen Beast, which has now taken on the features of the deceased girl.
"Prince Kacho?"
"What are you doing, Kaiser! I heard you!" she exclaims, annoyed.
In response, the man takes off his glasses and puts them on the desk, then runs a hand through his hair. He looks tired.
"Prince… Did you hear everything?" he says, embarrassed, "… I was just worried about Melody and this whole situation… I don't know what to do, it's all so complicated…"
Kacho continues:
"Why were you so lenient with her? You spoke as if she were already married to this Kurapika!"
Kaiser shrugs, a little defensively:
"I wasn't lenient, Prince, I was just trying to be realistic. Melody has very strong feelings for Kurapika and I don't want to get my hopes up unnecessarily."
Kaiser's voice is sincere and a little sad.
"That doesn't mean I want to give up, I'm just aware that I might encounter some difficulties."
The man stares at the seventeen-year-old with a clear gaze. Kacho's spirit sighs, as she leans against the desk and crosses her legs.
"And him? What does he feel for her?" she presses.
Kaiser sighs, then shakes his head.
"I don't know, Prince… Kurapika is quite enigmatic." the man replies, a slight crack of frustration in his voice as he tries to find the right words, "I think he cares about her a lot anyway, a care that goes beyond simple trust between colleagues. There's something special between the two of them, something I can't quite grasp."
Kacho closes her eyes and fixes her hair.
"Do you think they're lying to themselves and hiding their true feelings?"
The raven-haired man nods:
"Yes, I do. Melody is very involved when she talks to me about Kurapika and he, on the other hand, is very protective of her, with an intensity that I can't explain."
Kacho pushes herself away from the desk and starts walking around the room with her arms folded.
"Kaiser… Promise me that you'll try to make her feel special. That you'll show her your feelings. You risk your life every day, don't waste your time."
The man is struck by her words.
"Prince, I… I'm trying, but it's difficult, especially because I don't know if she loves me back. But you're right, I don't want to waste my time. I promise. I'll try to be braver and not let anxiety hold me back."
"One last thing…"
Kacho smiles at him, but it's only for a moment, then she becomes serious again.
"Did Kurapika seem shocked when you confessed your love for Melody? Did you sense jealousy, annoyance, surprise? Or was he calm?"
The young minister puts a finger to his chin.
"No, he didn't seem particularly surprised, on the contrary… It almost seemed like he was expecting it. He just took note. Maybe that's the strange thing, I expected him to be taken aback."
"Well… You're not a particularly expressive person either…" Kacho teases him, half-jokingly and half-seriously.
Kaiser lets out a slight smile.
"True! Maybe I'm too used to hiding my emotions. I grew up in a family where coldness reigned supreme and displays of affection were measured with precision scales."
The Prince with light golden hair is struck by the confession about his past and his usually irreverent gaze becomes empathetic.
"You know, Prince Kacho? You seem good at reading people."
Suddenly, Kacho starts sulking.
"I hope Fugetsu can find someone special too… Someone who can be a beacon in the night for her…"
Even though she is now an ethereal entity composed of Nen, a tear escapes her.
Kaiser approaches her, hit by her emotion:
"Don't cry, Prince. Fugetsu is stronger and braver than you can imagine and I'm sure she'll reach the throne. And we will be here to support her."
The young man looks into her eyes, to distract himself from the transparency of her body, a tangible sign of her passing.
"… Even though you will no longer be with Fugetsu physically, your bond remains strong."
Kacho smiles, grateful, before dematerializing and reappearing in her twin's room.
Kaiser remains alone in his room, feeling a hint of sadness as his lips move to say goodbye. Shortly after, he decides to eat a sandwich on the fly and take a nap. He feels a little lighter, after a long time.