Disclaimer: 11eyes doesn't belong to me. If it did, the anime would have been more drawn out and Yuka would be less annoying and clingy.
A/N: For those that read my Evangelion fic "World of Change," don't worry. I will be working on it soon; I've just got some serious writer's block.
Note: The time-difference in this fic is roughly 1 day in the Red Night equals about 7 in the normal world instead of the 1 day in the Red Night equalling 260 days in the normal world.
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Chapter one: 紅の夜 (Kurenai no Yoru, Crimson Night)
Ayame is just like any other city in the world save the fact we only have a single building that would be considered a mall, and that's the Shin-Ayame Tower located in the center of the town.
Now that school was out, I was on my way over to visit the book store and buy some new manga, just like I did every Friday.
Except that today wasn't like any other day. I was about to step onto the bridge when red cracks appeared in the air around me.
Without warning the cracks shattered the world as though I were looking through a pane of glass. My instincts took over and I crouched down and covered my face from any flying shards, attempting to ignore the pain in my right forearm.
When I opened my eyes next, I'm in a world that's the same, yet different. The sky is a blood red, the buildings are bleeding darkness, and everything has a crimson tint, as though I was looking through bloody water. What troubled me the most was the massive black moon hanging in the sky; it looked like it could come crashing down upon this disconcerting world.
I glanced around to find someone to ask about this strange, red night only to discover I was alone.
Trusting the uneasiness I felt, I started heading back towards town just to come face-to-face with what can only be described as giant, black blobs with transparent blue tentacles and angel-like wings. Wait... Is that... a human face?
It opened its mouth and let out an inhuman roar. As I'm falling to the ground, more of those grotesque things fall from the sky around me.
This is it. I'm going to die; so much for my wish of die quickly in my sleep at an old age. Resigning to my fate, I curled up and prayed it would be painless.
But Death didn't pay me a visit. Instead, the world cracked once more like glass.
Suddenly there are voices everywhere, the air isn't full of misty blood, the buildings aren't shrouded in darkness, the sky is blue, the black moon still floats in the sky—wait. The moon's still there?
I rub my eyes and look again. It's still there. This isn't just my imagination, is it? It can't be. The moon is white because of how the light from the sun reflects off the surface and is broken up in the atmosphere…
Maybe I'm just going crazy.
But that can't be right. That world was real, wasn't it? Surely that couldn't have been in my head.
"Hey kid, are you alright?" a woman asked.
"Huh?" I replied, snapped out of my thoughts.
"Are you alright? You've been sitting out front of my store for the last five minutes," she repeated.
"Yeah, I was just… confused." I stood and found myself out front of a small coffee shop beside the bridge.
After what just happened, I gave up on manga and headed for home.
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I lived a little ways outside of town. If I said home was a house, I would be lying. It was more like a small village. My place was the small one-room hut to the left of the shrine. My parents lived in the house on the right. Just behind my house was the shed that contained the yard tools that my parents won't touch, leaving me to tend the gardens behind the shrine and keep the courtyard presentable.
I stop at the shrine—that my mother and father never tend, even if it is their job—to pray as I've been conditioned to since I could walk and talk.
Now that I think about it, I think the only thing my parents do is rely on my caring for the shrine
With a bow to the statue, I do a quick walk around my hut to replace the charms below the window and on the door. If I was asked to describe my room in one word, it would be sparse. At the far wall is my futon. Beside it is the small table I use to eat or write on while sitting on my bed, which becomes my nightstand when I'm not using it. To the left of the door is the water cooler sitting atop the mini-fridge and the box full of instant noodles on my dresser to my right.
I hung up my bag and coat on the hook stuck to the door and flopped onto my bed. I groaned and looked at my clock. 5:31PM. I have to clean the shrine in a half hour. I really wish my parents would do their job, not me. I'm not the priest here. Some Shinto priest and Miko they turned out to be.
I closed my eyes with the intention of having a nap before I had to clean only to awake to my alarm at six in the morning. I shook off sleep and realized I forgot to tend the shrine last night. I quickly changed into the robes that Father never wore and went about the ritual I neglected.
It was a bleach-white silk, with the lining dark blue, as were the pants. On the inside of the robe, there was a pouch containing charms, or toujinfu.
Without warning, cracks appeared around me, just like before. This time, the pain in my forearm was nearly crippling. I fell to the ground as reality shattered. When the pain subsided, I was once more within the cursed red night.
This time, however, the statue was cracked and leaking dark red ooze and the trees around me were withered and dead.
I pull one of the charms out so I have something to use should the need arise that I have to fight.
As I turn towards the town, which I figured would have some answers. As I move further into the city, the blood-mist became thicker to the point of me being unable to see more than a metre ahead of me.
"Enough is enough," I muttered, my voice sounding out of place.
"Oh great goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, grant me the power to repel the darkness," I recited in an even voice. The black spot on the charm swirled before forming out the word hikari. I held the toujinfu between my index and middle fingers with my hand held out palm first. There was a brief flash as the charm became a true ofuda and exploded, releasing the magic within.
The fog faded to a haze and the ofuda dissolved into ash. I sighed. If I'm going to be dragged into this world, I'm going to have to build up my magic, if I'm getting tired from such a simple spell, I'm going to pass out in a fight.
Trekking through the city, the bloody mist thins out and gathers at the ground.
Zuuoooooo!
I cringed as the roar of those blob creatures rang out. I drew another card and muttered a quick incantation to create a repelling field. Unfortunately, the creatures' continuous assault on it caused me to fall to me knee within seconds.
I took a deep breath before drawing another card. "Rain down upon these creatures of darkness, Raijin!" I threw the ofuda straight up where it exploded into an unfathomable amount of lightning bolts. The creatures were speared by the bolts until nothing remained.
I coughed several times before wiping blood from my lips and chin. This was the price of using more magic than I can handle. Once my breathing returned to normal and the pain subsided in by chest, I stood once more. Thankfully those damn things didn't return.
I limped further into town.
XxXxX
How long have I been here now? Four hours? Six? Eight? I've lost track now. I've been hiding out in a small house by a field for some time now. The creatures, or akuma as I've come to refer to them, haven't bothered me for some time now. Using the last of my magic, I sealed the house; ofuda on the five windows and the two doors. Once one walked by, looked at me through the window and continued on its way. Since then, I've been sitting watching for anything that showed life other than the akuma. Damn things will not leave me alone.
As I closed my eyes to rest for a short time, only twenty minutes or so, I heard the sound of something shattering. My eyes snapped open. The sound was nearby. I yanked the door out of my way and ran in the direction I thought I heard the noise.
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
I forced myself to run faster. There was definitely someone there. I dove around the corner to find two teenagers, a boy with dark hair and a girl with blonde hair, surrounded by the akuma.
"Come forth, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi!" I yelled, drawing the blade from one of the ofuda. If I ever get out of this, I'm getting me an actual sword.
The boy's eyes – or rather, his eye – darted to me as I cried out. The blade danced around in my hands as I slashed at the akuma. As the last one fell, I rested the tip of the sword on the ground.
"Are you two alright?" I asked the teens.
The boy's hair was a dark blue, almost black. He wore the typical uniform of the Rainbow Academy in the city. His left eye was blue, but he had a black eye-patch with gold or brass patterns over his right eye.
The girl, on the other hand, had purple eyes and dirty blonde hair. Like her male companion, she wore the uniform of Rainbow Academy.
"Where are we?" the boy asked.
"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," I mused. "We're in a world outside our own. You're actually the first I've seen in this perpetual crimson night."
"Who are you and what were those?" the girl shrieked.
"Do they not teach manners where you're from? You usually thank the person that just saved you and give your name first before asking another's," I said. "I'm Kurokawa Toshi, pleased to meet you."
The girl screamed again. "Kakeru-kun!"
I looked over my shoulder to find another of those infernal demons. "Enough with the screaming, girl. Kakeru, if you wouldn't mind shutting her up or she'll get us killed."
I brought the blade up and ran the creature through in one fluid motion.
Kakeru whispered something to the girl. All I caught was "Yuka."
"So your names are Kakeru and Yuka, yes?" I asked in confirmation, turning towards them. "If you want to live, come with me." I quickly walked back towards the house I was hiding out in. The two students followed.
I had barely opened the door when I sensed another presence. I pushed the two through and called out: "Who's there? Show yourself!"
Another girl dropped down from the building next to the house. She also wore the same uniform as Yuka, only longer. Her long hair was red and tied up slightly. My eyes locked with her piercing purple eyes in a moment of sizing up each other.
"This must be my lucky day! Three people in the span of a few minutes!" I joked, bringing up the blade in case she tried anything.
"Relax, Priest, I'm not here to fight you," she replied calmly.
"I'm not a priest; that would be my father. I just happen to be wearing his robes from praying at my family's shrine," I explained, releasing the sword by ripping the ofuda. "Would you like to come in…?"
"Kusakabe Misuzu," she replied.
"Kusakabe? As in the great Onmyouji clan Kusakabe?"
"The very same."
"Please, come in, then!" I cheered before heading inside.
She closed the door without as much as a click of the lock.
"I suppose I should introduce myself to you, Kusakabe-sama. I am Kurokawa Toshi," I bowed slightly, "Pleased to meet you."
"What the hell is this place?" Kakeru exclaimed.
"I don't know. I haven't been able to get out of this perpetual crimson night long enough to look into it," I answered, sitting on the floor.
"Seems like a fitting name for this world, Crimson Night," agreed Misuzu.
"What was the date when you were pulled in?" I asked.
"September 17, 2011."
"That means I've been here for"—I do some quick math—"Three months. But I haven't eaten anything for the last nine days. When I arrived it was mid-June."
There was a loud thud then silence. Perhaps the creatures of this world found us. Or it was just my imagina—
Zuuuoooooooo!
Nope! Definitely not my imagination! One of the akuma managed to get past my barriers. "Get outside! Quickly!"
Kakeru tackled the door, shattering it into a storm of splinters, Yuka trailing behind him.
I tossed a small handful of the dwindling supply of ofuda I had in my robes towards the first creature to enter the room. There was a brief flash before the charm exploded, sending Misuzu and I through the window. "Damn it. Those damn akuma keep catching up to me."
"You're also an Onmyouji?" Misuzu asked.
"Yeah, but now's not the time." I drew my last toujinfu and called forth the sacred blade once more.
The world suddenly splintered before shattering to reveal the normal city.
The blade shattered along with the Crimson Night.
I collapsed, my magic completely consumed from using nearly a thousand spells.
XxXxX
T/N:
Yoru no Kakera: lit. "Fragments of the Night."
Akuma: Literally means "demon."
Toujinfu: The unblessed ofuda; used for creating the spells; taken from Onmyou Taisenki (Another anime)
Ofuda: The charms given out at Shinto shrines by the priests/miko.
Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi: Susanoo's sacred blade's original name; means "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven."
Amaterasu Omikami: Goddess of the Sun in Japanese mythology.
Hikari: Japanese word for "light."
"Zuuuoooooooo!" is just the closest sound I could find to the Larvae's cries from the anime.
"KYAAAAAA!" is a typical scream of a girl in anime/manga.
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A/N: Well, this started out as an idea I had before I went to sleep one night after watching the 11Eyes OVA (Or episode 13, as it's sometimes called). Most of the first page (From when the narrator notices the cracks until he returns to the "normal" world and spots the black moon in the sky) was thought up when I was falling asleep, everything else was added afterwards.
Also the name of the chapter was found by accident. I had expected "赤の夜" ("aka no yoru", red night) instead of the actual title. The Kanji Google's Japanese IME (input method editor) chose for "aka no yoru" was the one for "crimson" which seems to fit much better than simply calling it "red night."
If you find any errors, please let me know so I can fix them! Also, if you're a Yuka-Kakeru lover, don't keep reading; I won't be having that happen. Yuka annoys the absolute hell out of me with how she acts in regards to Kakeru. If there is going to be a pairing, I will have Misuzu and Kakeru because they are clearly the better couple.
*glass cracks and shatters* (Sorry, I just can't get over how awesome the transition to the Red Night and back is. ^^;)