Viral Love

I awoke feeling good. Slowly, I sat up and clapped eyes upon a very awake and alert Hojo. He smiled at me. “Feel better?” he asked.

I nodded. Hojo peeled damp leaves from my back. I put on my leather top and just sat for a moment. It surprised me when Hojo’s hand appeared under my vision, filled with coconut pieces. “Eat some more,” he bade. “I’ve got fish baking in our coals. We can delay departure for thirty minutes, yes?”

“Yes,” I affirmed. He wasn’t a total loss outdoors, it seemed. I’d never managed to successfully spear fish.

We ate, and he offered me cold, clear water, which I gladly drank. I felt better this morning than I had in a long time, possibly because I hadn’t eaten with any regularity since two weeks before he even captured me.

My eyes wandered to him. He needed to shave, badly. In another day or two he’d have a real beard. Already he had the goatee and moustache I remembered him sporting during my Turk days. Dark, thick stubble decorated his jaws, stopping very neatly just underneath. A lot of men grew facial hair on their neck, but not him.

I regretted not growing facial hair. I’d never found a style I liked, but shaving was one of those things I missed. It made me feel like a man.

“So, continue northwest and then drop down to Midgar?” he asked. “Did you know there’s a real road from the port? It stretches down to Edge, nearly.”

“I have no better plan,” I admitted. “Yes, I know about the port and the road. From there one can catch a ship to Bone Village. I recall a small settlement on the port.”

“I haven’t been there in many years, but I do remember a little town at the top of the continent.” Hojo stood and kicked our fire apart, then scooped earth with discarded coconut shells to completely smother the coals. “I’m just glad we don’t have to actually go to Bone Village. A more miserable place never existed. I thought I’d never get warm again.” He paused, sliding me a careful look. “You do know that’s where Gast and I dug up Jenova?”

“No, I didn’t know.” It made sense. I knew Jenova had been dug from newly melting ice, and Bone Village wasn’t as cold as it used to be, to trust the reports.

“Well, I suppose the information was classified, though I never ordered such.” Hojo sighed. “So much went on that I never knew about; Gast was my supervisor, and uninspired to grant me his little bits of information.” Both his hands briefly clenched into fists. “I’d love to eliminate that bastard’s benevolent reputation. He was every bit as bad as me, but people forgave him for it because of his charisma and winning smile, the prick.” Hojo stalked away to stand at the edge of our camp, his head bowed and his shoulders hunched. “God, I hated him. It felt so GOOD to shoot him.”

“I thought he was a fairly good scientist,” I said, standing and dusting off my clothing.

“Did you ever meet him?” Hojo whirled upon me and began a hostile advance. “Did you ever speak two words to the man?”

“No,” I admitted. “But, his daughter, Aerith, was a very good woman.”

“She must have surpassed him in nearly every way,” Hojo said. “Let me tell you, Valentine, that her father was a son of a bitch. He led the Jenova Project, but he failed to lead in any other way, do you get my meaning?”

I stood stunned as Hojo began an agitated pacing before me, his head down and his hands behind his back. I hadn’t seen him in such a pose in years.

“We agreed,” he said, looking hateful and maddened. “I would use Lucrecia for the Jenova Project, and he would use Ifalna. But, in the end, he had second thoughts. He let me ruin my wife for the cause while he protected his own!” Hojo stopped to throw his hands in the air. “He cut and ran, Valentine! He didn’t even tell his pretty little wife what he intended for the project! He just took her and his five year old daughter, secreting them far away from Shin-Ra!”

I could say nothing. I felt too stunned by the information to respond. But, it didn’t matter. Hojo continued to pace and mutter and spew the hatred of the past without pause.

“Ifalna knew what we were doing! She agreed! She wanted us to overcome Jenova, not use her in genetic experiments! She always knew what Jenova was, but she didn’t tell us!” Hojo spun in place and punched a pine tree. “She couldn’t take the tug of war, and she ran.” He grabbed the trunk of that same tree and held on as if it were a lifeline. “She went where her husband told her to run, and when I came, she shrank back in the shadows and let me kill him! She didn’t give a flying fuck what I did to him as long as she could keep her precious daughter! Well, I didn’t separate them, did I?”

“Hojo,” I interrupted. “Stop. This isn’t doing any good!”

“I know it isn’t!” He shouted. “Valentine, I know!”

“Then stop it!” I demanded, coming forward and grabbing him. “All this is in the past. You can’t do anything about it!”

He wrestled with me a few moments, unwilling to give in yet not entirely committed to a fight. Finally, he sank down to the ground and stared at the thick bed of peat, his black eyes dim and faraway. “I’ve killed them all, Valentine,” he said softly. “That sweet little Ancient that used to be Ifalna’s daughter; she’s forgiven me. But it does nothing to stop how I feel.”

“How do you know she’s forgiven you?” I asked, swallowing hard. Cloud said Aerith spoke to him sometimes. Maybe she spoke to Hojo, too.

“She told me.” Hojo got up and dusted himself off. “You’re right. I can’t do anything about the past.”

I nodded slowly. With Hojo, it was possible he only imagined Aerith’s forgiveness. However, I could easily see Aerith offering Hojo her forgiveness, if he merited it.

We started walking again. Shiva, I was tired of this.

At two hours to dawn, we hit a hard packed dirt road, which I imagined as a tributary to the main one we desired. Not a half hour later I heard the sound of an engine. “Should we brazen it out?” Hojo asked as the vehicle drew closer.

“Yes.” I felt in a mood to utterly decimate anyone who wanted to fuck with us.

We moved to the edge and stood, waiting for the vehicle to pass. I tensed when it stopped. Turning, I spied a civilian all-terrain utility truck with two young, black-haired women inside. One of them stood up, grinning. She fired off a question at us in a language I’d heard before but didn’t know. I looked to Hojo, who was also grinning widely. He approached the truck.

I listened to a rapid, musical conversation, which, though short, ended up with Hojo bending over double to laugh. He came back to me, eyes full of devilish humor. “There’s some sort of rainbow festival at the port,” he explained. “They think we’re attending, and they’ve offered to give us a ride if we’ll kiss each other for them.”

“A festival for gays?” I asked, not put off, but not in a mood to lip-lock with crazy Hojo.

Hojo nodded solemnly. “We only have a bit of walking left,” he offered, obviously not expecting me to comply with the women’s vulgar wishes.

I felt tempted. Sorely tempted. I’d had enough of walking. All I had to do was kiss this science freak and we could ride the last few miles.

Hojo’s black gaze wandered my face, settled on my lips a moment, then traveled back to my eyes. “You’re actually thinking about it,” he murmured, sounding awed.

One of the women honked the horn, then they both giggled.

“It’s up to you,” he went on softly. “I’ll warn you, though, Valentine. For me, it won’t be a fake kiss just to get a ride. I’ll devour your lips. I’ll suck on your tongue and make you think about what else I can suck with skill.”

I couldn’t help shivering. His low voice radiated confidence and desire.

I’d do it.

I grabbed him. Bending him backward, I put our lips together.

Holy fuck. Hojo hadn’t been bluffing. He drew me in like a pro, applying lips, teeth and tongue with blistering talent. I gasped into his mouth, feeling my entire body winding up with lust.

It was like I couldn’t help myself. I shoved him down onto the hood of the truck, only dimly aware of the delighted hoots and cheers of the two women. I filled with the need to just take him, and I deepened our kiss in helpless need. My cock swelled and my body began to shake.

Hojo bit my lip. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but it brought me back to myself. I pulled away from him a little, still reeling, and looked into his eyes. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sure they’d happily settle in with popcorn, but that isn’t why you kissed me. You want a ride. That’s the only reason I snapped you out of some very lovely lust.”

I stood straight and looked at the driver, who grinned cheerily and spoke in her lilting tongue.

“She says that was worth a hundred miles,” Hojo reported, sliding off the truck hood. “I disagree. It was worth the entire, miserable journey so far.” He climbed into the back, and, after a moment, I followed.

I still didn’t know what had happened.