"There's no time. We've run out." He said, rushed and faint; as if there wasn't even enough time to utter those few words. She was scared. She didn't understand. She began to cry.
"Shh, no time for that." He whispered. "I'm sorry. I really am. I never meant to let this happen." He muttered, voice thick and weighed heavily with regret.
"I never meant for you to be involved in this... this business... this hell." He continued, sounding as if each word caused him pain.
"I've made so many mistakes but that may be one of my worst. There are only two others that come to mind." He muttered, with an airy attempt at a chuckle. It was to hollow to be real. He turned to her, serious and pleading.
"Never make my mistakes. If you remember anything I've taught you remember this." He spoke hurriedly now; once again regaining his previous sense of urgency.
"Don't trust anyone. Ever. Not your coworkers. Not your friends or family. They are the ones who are the most dangerous. They will betray you. Never put your life in someone else's hands. They'll take it away... waste it away." His eyes took on a faraway look, going someplace she could never reach.
"Don't run away from your mistakes. Don't hide them. They'll come back to haunt you. Your punishment will be delivered with interest." As he said this he returned to the present, looking at her with the most emotion she'd ever seen on his face. He was grieving. He was asking forgiveness. He was hoping. All for her, all from her.
Then his face hardened into the one she was used to. The face of the man she knew. And he spoke again.
"If you want to leave I won't blame you. I can't blame you. You'd of had more courage than thousands of men before you." Once again, he chuckled, that airy, empty laughter.
"If you want to get out... and get out alive... then run." He whispered the word as if it was a taboo in and of itself.
"Run. Run for your life and don't look back. Don't stop. Not ever." He clutched her hand tightly. Urgently, pleadingly.
"If you want to get out alive, run for your life."
And with that he was gone. He faded away like a candle in the wind. He left her alone.
Soaked in his blood.
She chuckled. Looking back on that day, she knew she had made her first mistake the very minute he died. She hadn't run.
Not immediately anyway. She had taken the time to give him a proper burial. She was so sentimental back then.
Only then did she think to run. And she did. She ran. Far and fast, without stopping without looking back.
But she knew. They were following her. They were coming. She hadn't run far enough or fast enough. She had failed.
And here she was bitter and cold. In a prison somewhere she couldn't even remember.
But that was alright. At least they hadn't caught her. No, it had been a group of much weaker villains.
They were like her, she knew. And she hated them for it.
They were cowards. They hadn't run. They hadn't even fought.
Instead they stayed here; experimenting.
On children.
She was no child but, evidently they didn't have quite enough prepubescent brats, and needed her 'assistance' in their experiments.
She didn't even like these kids, her so-called 'peers'. She felt nothing but a vague and fading feeling of pity for them.
Except for three. These kids were different.
Or at least one of them was. The others were just his entourage.
This kid. He was something else.
And by 'something' she meant other than human. She had stopped believing that ages ago.
With his strange eyes and hair, and that way of speaking, he obviously wasn't local, unlike most of the twerps.
But the thing that struck her most was his smile.
It was wrong.
The only way to describe it was, wrong. Perverse. Foul.
It suit him.
She liked the way it suit him. It reminded of her of herself. The way she was now.
Foul. Tainted. Evil. Fun.
She took him and his misfit pose under her wing. She protected them. She taught them. She cared for and about them.
And now she was finally done. Finally. She could stop running.
Her captors were all dead. Slaughtered. The children were free.
He was free. She was satisfied.
"Eien?"
She blinked. She turned her head and saw him standing there. He was so small. Just a child. Such a dangerous child.
She smiled and held out her arms, in a gesture of embrace. He looked at her questioningly, before stepping into her arms. She closed her arms around him and buried her face in his hair.
"You've grown." she said with a chuckle. He looked up at her confused. "I don't know why your telling me this now." he said.
She laughed again, sounding happier than she had in all the time he'd known her.
"This is my last time." she said, softly. Looking at him fondly. He was astounded and confused. She was never this warm. Ever.
"What are you blabbering on about?" He asked, attempting to mask his anxiety of the situation.
"This is my last time. I'll never get to say how much you've grown again. It's a shame really." She said, grinning. He was startled, and though he knew what she was alluding to, the very idea was inconceivable to him.
"You're being strange again. You'll have plenty of chances to remark on meaningless things later. Now let's go, before they show up." He scolded, pulling back from her embrace and taking her hand instead.
She laughed and shook her head, stopping him from pulling her along. He turned back to her, annoyed. "What?" he snapped.
Her gaze turned from soft and fond to pitying and nostalgic.
"It's hard to imagine, but one day you'll end up like me." She said, bending down to his height and capturing his cheek. He stared at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes.
"We are so alike. You and I. I'm sorry." she said this as if it was the worst possible thing she could have done to him.
"I'm so sorry." she choked it out this time, her voice cracking. Still she smiled.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against his.
"If you want to leave I won't blame you. I can't blame you. You'd of had more courage than thousands of men before you." she said. And although she said it as if she was reciting it, reading from a poem she had read millions of times, he could feel that she had invested her own emotion into it. Like she was trying to give this feeling to him, trying to bestow him with a part of her. And it scared him.
"If you want to get out... and get out alive... then run. Run. Run for your life and don't look back. Don't stop. Not ever. If you want to get out alive, run for your life."
She pulled back and opened her eyes. She smiled softly at him, caressing his face.
"I'm sorry. I know I've never done much for you but at least I can give you this. These words may keep you alive for at least a little longer, I hope."
He was scared. And he didn't like that. He didn't get scared. Ever.
"What are you talking about? Of course I'll survive. Someone has to make sure you don't kill yourself." he said, scathingly.
She let out a laugh. One that shook her entire body. He'd never seen her do that before.
"I'm sorry, but if I stay, it won't be long..." she trailed off, looking at him, but looking through him.
"'till I'm burning on the inside." she finished.
He jolted. She couldn't be serious. 'Burning on the inside.' That's what the other failed experiment kids had set it felt like. That was the pain the experienced... right before they died.
He stared at uncomprehending. She just smiled and pulled him into another hug. He could feel something wet hitting his neck.
"Goodbye, my nameless ototo-chan. I love you."* She whispered, as a strong wind blew, almost masking her words.
She fell over onto the ground, soaked with the blood of their captors. He stared as she went. The arms that had been so secure around him, lax and slipping. Her hair swaying with her as she went.
The smile still on her face, even as tears stained her cheeks. Her empty eyes somehow, still conveying that mocking tone she always spoke with.
He stared at her. As still and cold as she was. A corpse in every sense but the literal.
Finally he moved, kneeling in front of her body. He brushed the hair out of her face. In a whispered voice he retaliated towards her one more time.
"It's not goodbye, you fool. Only until next time. And It's not 'Nameless ototo-chan'. It's, Mukuro. Hah, now I'm just like you. Amusing, isn't it? Eh, Onee-chan?"*
He received no response, other than the light breeze and rustling of the leaves.
"Adieu, Eien Rokudo. The eternal reincarnation."* He whispered as a single tear rolled down his grinning face.
Translations:
Eien - Eternal
Rokudo - the six realms of rebirth
Mukuro - corpse
Ototo - little brother
Onee - big sister
Adieu - French for farewell