It had been three weeks since the visitors had left, taking Kamui and Fuuma with them. It had been three weeks since they had received the new water. It had been three weeks since the witch's warning.
Before this water disappears, you need to mend the structure of the world itself.
"I think," Setsuki stated, glancing down at the water stained walls of the underground reservoir, "that the water is getting lower."
She drew up her bucket up using the pulley system they had developed years ago, when the water level had sunk to the point that even Kusanagi's long arms could not draw out the water—their source of life. The ropes were old and decayed. They had lasted ten years; Setsuki did not know how much longer they would last, and they no longer had any materials from which to make rope, excepting human hair. Setsuki cringed at the thought, even though some women had already taken to knitting their fine, dark hair into mismatched, itchy blankets to guard against the winter months.
Setsuki did not want something as filthy and impure as human hair touching their life source. Hair was the most disgusting part of a human being. Hair grew, and while it grew it recorded the past. Sins that might be forgotten by others were kept secret in the fine strands, like rings in a tree.
Humans were truly disgusting creatures. Sometimes, Setsuki wondered why she bothered to save them. She looked at the archaic, broken down machines of times past, and wished humanity could replicate them. Efficiency, obedience, stoniness; that is what Setsuki craved.
With a sigh, Setsuki carried her bucket of water back to the upper levels, careful not to spill even a drop. The water level had sunk an entire inch, and they were still no closer to solving their problem. The Earth was still rank with acidity. Their water might be the only fresh water left on the entire lonesome planet.
Humans are special, she could remember Yuuto telling her. When other creatures go extinct, the planet is left untouched; it recovers. When humanity died out, they were so selfish they took the planet with them.
It had been three months since Fuuma had left them. It had been three months since the people of the tower had merged with the people in the government building, out of necessity more than anything else. It had been three months since Arashi's hope for the future of mankind had brightened.
"The water is getting lower," Arashi spoke, her low voice echoing off the cavernous walls of the reservoir.
She could see marks, splotches of darkness, on the several rocks jutting out of the water. The water had sunk by over a foot.
Since childhood, Arashi had been cursed with the ability to foresee disasters. Fifteen years, three months, and six days ago, the day before death began to fall from the skies, Arashi had demanded that her parents buy her an umbrella and a raincoat. 'We're going to need it,' she insisted.
She pulled up her bucket, despising the itchy, oily feeling that lingered on her fingers. Last month, the only remaining rope had snapped. A group of women, Arashi included, were forced to chop off their long locks of hair in order to braid them into rope. It had been Setsuki's idea.
Arashi fingered her chin length hair. She did not like it, but it was a necessary sacrifice. It seems she had made many necessary sacrifices lately. It seemed like they all had. Still, they were running out of water. It was an undeniable fact. Sacrifices had to be made.
Stoically, Arashi carried her bucket of water up the stairs. Sorata was waiting. He had not been allowed in the basement since he had spilled a drop of water on the top step. It was only a drop, but Arashi had almost cried. She might have, except then she would have been wasting even more water.
Kurogane walked. Each step created a jolt of pain that traveled up his legs and down his arms, to where his baggage laid, unconscious, one long, pale arm dangling out of the raincoat and brushing Against Kurogane's thigh.
Kurogane had been walking for one month. The days had started to repeat themselves. Wake with the sunrise; walk while the shade still covered you and kept the beasts at bay; break at noon; walk until sunset. Sleep.
"S-sorry," the bundle in his arms muttered feverishly, before falling halfway into the world of dreams and nightmares, as he had for the last two weeks. His eyes, wide and blue, stared up at nothing, the pupils dilated to the point that Kurogane almost could not make out the color of the irises.
"Idiot," Kurogane muttered from underneath his hood. "You have nothing to apologize for." His voice sounded dry and parched, and his semi-conscious companion noticed.
"Water," he mouthed, his chapped lips breaking, a drop of blood trailing down his chin. Kurogane knew he was not asking for any for himself; he was offering some to the man who carried him across the acidic wasteland.
"I'm fine," Kurogane insisted, even as his legs trembled under the heat. It was torture. There was water falling on them, constantly, to the point that Kurogane thought he might go insane from the drip drop of it pounding away at his body, but he could drink none of it, unless… No, he could not drink any of it.
His companion smiled eerily, his skin stretching awkwardly over sharp cheekbones, and reached out one trembling, bony arm, cupping his hand like a saucer. Acidic water fell into the makeshift container, but the flesh did not burn. The water lost the yellowish tinge it had previously held, becoming as clear and bright as Kurogane remembered from his childhood.
"Idiot," Kurogane muttered, but he shifted his companion and used his free arm to lift the hand to his dry lips anyway, ignoring the feel of his companion's dry skin in favor of the cool water running down his throat like a miniature stream.
"Good," his companion muttered, his eyes rolling back and his arm falling away as he finally succumbed to exhaustion.
It was not good, that much Kurogane knew. Fay could only convert so much acid to water in his frail condition, and it wasn't enough for both of them to survive for much longer.
"I won't let you die; I won't let either of us die," Kurogane swore, but he didn't know who he was swearing to. Fay had let go of his miserable existence a while back; it was Kurogane who kept them both afloat. It had been since day one, since Kurogane had decided that Fay's life was worth living, no matter what he thought, and dragged him away from the blood and warfare and certain death.
Fay had amazing abilities, the lengths of which had been stretched almost beyond mortal comprehension. He could purify the acid by merely touching it; plant seeds in the hard, acidic soil which would somehow grow. He could heal the Earth. That was his curse. That was why, ever since he had been a child, he had been kept separate from everybody in their old colony, left to wonder who exactly he was helping.
Honestly, Kurogane wasn't surprised when war had broken out around their home. The veritable forest that had sprung up around their colony could be seen for miles. The fresh water kept the people healthy and energetic, a far cry from the misery they had been in when the rain first started falling. It didn't matter, really. Kurogane was not one to dwell on the past. He only focused on the road to the future, step after step, day after day, walking the path to nowhere.
Looking up, Kurogane noticed the sun was just a pink slit on the horizon. It was finally time to rest.
The next day, as Kurogane walked over to Fay, the man stumbled shakily to his feet, smiling. "See Kuro-sama, I can walk. You don't have to haul me around like your latest prey." Kuro-sama was one of the inane nicknames Fay had created when he'd met Kurogane. Kurogane hated that he'd grown so used to them.
Fay took a step and nearly fell right back over. Kurogane barely resisted the urge to toss Fay over his shoulder like he would have 2 weeks ago. If he did that, the other man would kick and whine and complain, and Kurogane just did not have the energy to put up with him. Instead, he would wait until Fay collapsed, and then he would scoop him up and keep walking, one foot in front of the other, step after step, taking the long road to nowhere.
The hours passed restlessly. There was no rain, so the heat, rising off the hard, dusty Earth, was unbearable. Kurogane could feel beads of sweat forming on his face and neck. They burned his eyes. Fay kept heaving, as if each breath took a tremendous effort. Kurogane didn't doubt it did, after what those people—the invaders searching for the source of the fresh water—did to him.
Kurogane could remember seeing him, hanging there like a limp doll, blood seeping from the many cuts that littered his arms as they started to drag him away. His eyes were closed, and he kept murmuring a name, over and over.
Apparently, Fay was feeling more stubborn on this particular day. The sun had almost reached its highest point, and he was walking almost steadily, his focus on the area right in front of his feet.
"Kuro-pyon," Fay asked cheerfully, as he always did when he was fighting back tears, "why do you care? Why do you keep saving me?"
Because somewhere along the line you became a friend, someone I care about,Kurogane wanted to say, but he knew Fay wouldn't understand. He'd tried before. Fay had come a long way, but he still did not know what it meant to live for oneself, to live for the love of life, without worrying about should be done.
"Don't waste your breath talking," Kurogane told him instead, trying not to look at his companion.
Fay stopped walking, turning to Kurogane with such wide eyes that Kurogane thought they might swallow his face, his mouth partially open to say something, anything, but at that exact moment two things happened simultaneously.
The sky opened up, pouring acid down from the heavens, and a mutant, this one a gigantic praying mantis with eyes the size of dinner plates, pulled itself out of the ground right in front of them.
"Shit!" Kurogane cursed, drawing the sword he kept strapped to his back.
The ungodly sized mutant lunged at Fay—it always lunged at Fay—who threw himself to the side, landing on the dusty ground with a thump. The dust flew up around him, and Kurogane heard Fay begin to cough. Through the cloud of Earth, Kurogane could see Fay, on his hands and knees, struggling to rid himself of the dirt invading his lungs and simultaneously struggling to his feet.
The praying mantis turned towards Fay, its spindly legs adding to its impressive speed, and Kurogane took the moment to slash at its exposed back, barely scratching the steel like armor. He didn't take the time to worry; hurting the monster hadn't been his purpose. He merely wanted to draw it away from Fay, so he could unleash Chiryujinenbu.
The creature which, despite its enormous figure, had a brain the size of the tip of Kurogane's thumb, turned towards Kurogane. Keeping the majority of his focus on the mutant, Kurogane waited as Fay dragged himself out of the way. The acidic plains were littered with mutants; this had become an almost daily occurrence.
The praying Mantis lunged at Kurogane, its two forceps aimed like daggers. "Chi," Kurogane moved his right foot forward, shifting his weight so that he was completely balanced. "Ryujin," he lifted the hilt of his sword, turning it until it was vertical, with the blade facing downward and out towards his enemy. "Enbu!"
A huge whirlwind of energy, though one much smaller than it had been a month ago, shot out in all directions, slicing the praying mantis into chunks of flesh that rained down around him. Kurogane panted, his shaky legs and arms threatening to give out after his display.
The rain continued to pour, turning the hard ground into puddle of mud and suppressing the dust pile that had surrounded Fay. Kurogane turned to his companion, shocked to see that his raincoat laid, torn and nearly destroyed, by his kneeling form. The water poured down his hair, collecting in the crevices formed by his nearly shredded shirt and pants, burning off any fabric it met if it hadn't first touched Fay's bare skin. Fay shivered and tilted his head back, gulping down the poison. He held his hands in front of him, cupped like a saucer. The Earth around his knees was solid and pulsing with life.
It was the most beautiful thing Kurogane had ever seen.
"Drink," Fay told him, and Kurogane dropped to his knees in front of Fay, gulping down the precious water, trying to regain the energy he'd just lost.
He drank two handfuls before he noticed the tremendous tremors racing through Fay's body. Guiltily, he helped Fay back into his raincoat, trying to keep his skin separated from the rain by as much as possible. The rain was more dangerous to Fay than it was to anyone else, as every drop he converted took massive amounts of energy—energy he couldn't replenish under their current circumstances.
Fay stumbled to his feet before collapsing, splashing mud everywhere. Roughly, since it was impossible to be gentle when he could barely lift Fay in the first place, he scooped Fay up like a corpse and held him like a bride.
He then collected his energy and took a step forward, ignoring the futility of the gesture, ignoring how every ache in his body hindered him, ignoring how the world seemed to laugh at him. As he had for a month or more, Kurogane began to walk.
It was just an hour later when he saw the building, looming up above the rubble like a beacon of hope. In his heart he felt the first surge of joy since he'd decided to leave his home. And Kurogane tripped over a piece of rubble, and everything cruelly went black.
Today, leave the Tokyo government building. Head North-West. Go only in a straight line. Take only Yuzuriha.
Those had been Kakyo's instructions to Nataku. Gritting his teeth, Nataku wandered why he was bringing that girl along anyway.
It had been four months since they'd arrived. It had been four months since Yuzuriha had charmed their de-facto leader Kusanagi with her girlish charm. It had been four months since those people from the tower had joined them, doubling the demand on the water, which had already sunk nearly two feet.
Nataku did not like the people from the tower, nor did he trust them. It had been four months, and they had yet to integrate with their hosts, instead huddling around in their red uniforms, whispering and glaring at anyone who passed by.
"Is the monster this way?" Yuzuriha asked, her eyes shining with excitement.
Nataku gave her an even look. Via Kakyo's instructions, he had told Yuzuriha that he had seen a large mutant. Of course the adventurous young fool would want to go kill it. Always protected by Kusanagi, she had yet to realize that the world outside the government building was far too dangerous for a fourteen year old girl with a crossbow.
Gritting her teeth and turning away, Yuzuriha raised her left hand to her forehead like a scout, trying to see further. Her right hand shifted to the middle of her hover craft to prevent it from sailing off course.
"What is it?" She asked suddenly. "There's something green. It's not a slimy green, like the mutants, of a dull green, like your guys' uniforms. It's dark and yummy looking," Yuzuriha described childishly.
Pulling out his binoculars, Nataku gazed out into the worn rubble.
"Hey, why didn't you tell me you had those?" Yuzuriha exclaimed. Nataku ignored her.
Focusing the binoculars, he scanned the horizon. It grew directly in front of them, blooming like the middle of a healthy spring. Nataku hadn't seen one since he was two years old and the acid rain was only a nightmare.
"It's a sugar maple," Nataku remembered, imagining his mother dancing under the dark green leaves and light purple flowers. This was impossible. Sugar maples were incredibly susceptible to unnatural occurrences, such as acid rain. When the rain had started, the sugar maple in their yard had been one of the first plants to die.
"What's that?" Yuzuriha asked, her eyes wide with wonder. "Can we eat it?"
"It's a tree," Nataku answered.
"What's that?" Yuzuriha asked again.
Nataku's heart churned. He had forgotten that there were more people like Kazuki, people who hadn't been born when the acid rain started. Those people never simple things, like the bright blue color of the sky, the fluffy white clouds, the dark green leaves of huge, ancient trees, the delicate petals of flowers. Yuzuriha had probably never seen a butterfly; she probably hadn't felt dewy grass between her toes.
Such inexperience; Nataku's heart softened against his will.
Quickly, they approached the mammoth tree.
"Woah," Yuzuriha circled the object. "I've never seen anything like this!" And then, "Kyah!"
Nataku raced around the tree, turning his hover craft in a tight circle. Yuzuriha had dismounted her hover craft, and was hesitantly approaching the tree, her crossbow held in front of her. Nataku did likewise, his eyes widening in shock as the soft earth scrunched under his footsteps.
Carefully he knelt, scooping the earth into his hands; fresh dirt, the kind that his mother used to garden, fell through his hands, moist and nutritious. It was a miracle.
"Who do you think they are?" Yuzuriha asked, pointing to the men lying at the base of the tree.
Nataku gasped, dropping the dirt and rushing over. The first visible figure, a large, burly man with oily black hair and a frown etched into his face covered his companion, who was tall but incredibly thin and pale. His blond hair was coated with dirt and grime, and one of his hands was outstretched, clinging to the base of the tree.
"I know them," Nataku whispered. He approached them carefully, matching the current counterparts to the ones in his head. Even though Sakura, Syaoran, and that weird little creature were nowhere to be found, Nataku found the resemblance uncanny.
Then he remembered something Kakyo had once told him, just after the travelers had left.
We'll see them again. They might not be the same, but we'll see them again.
Raising her radio transmitter—one of the gifts the people from the tower had brought over—Yuzuriha pressed the transmitter.
"Kusanagi. Get over here now. You'll never believe this."
"Do you know what a messiah is?" Fay asked his friend Kuro-sama, as they basked in the morning sunlight provided by the large window. It was rare for either child to be able to see the sun, as the entire community lived underground in cement chambers to protect them from the rain and the mutants. Being above ground, seeing the sky; neither Kurogane of Fay had experienced that since the rain started to fall.
"No. Why?" Kurogane answered, his tone bored. He had a feeling he and Fay were up there because they'd snuck out the day before. It had been night, and the yellow sky had fallen away to reveal glittering stars, untouched by the Earth's pollution.
"That's what they're saying I am," the twelve-year-old whispered, clutching Kurogane's hand in a rare moment of insecurity. Kurogane didn't know why. The two of them had met a few months ago, when Kurogane's mother had found Fay wandering around like a headless chicken (Kurogane knew what chickens were because his parents had been farmers.) He jerked his hand away.
He didn't even like the fool. The boy always smiled, and he jumped around in his pile of sheets all night, preventing Kurogane from getting any sleep. Sometimes the other boy cried, muttering words in a strange foreign language Kurogane couldn't understand. Then, during the daytime he called Kurogane all sorts of stupid nicknames, and he forced Kurogane to go along with him, crying to Kurogane's mother if he didn't.
"Do you think a messiah is some kind of mutant," Fay twirled his blond hair around one finger. His light hair, skin, and eyes set him apart from all the other people of the colony. Even before the rain started, Kurogane couldn't remember seeing anyone with features like that.
"Maybe," Kurogane shrugged noncommittally. Maybe Fay was a mutant. After all, when that huge monster had caught Fay's raincoat and pulled it off, the acidic water hadn't burned Fay's skin. It had merely trailed a path down his body until it collected on the ground. Only his clothes had been burned.
"Kuro-sama won't let them take me away, will he?" Fay asked with a smile. "Kuro-sama will protect me, just like he did outside when that big mutant attacked us."
"Like Hell!" Kurogane shouted. "I'll be happy if they take you away from us."
Fay's smile froze on his face, before it widened to the point that it looked painful. One of Fay's canine teeth had just fallen out and the new tooth hadn't frown in yet, so there was a large gap there. Kurogane remembered what his mother told him when Fay had joined their two-person family.
He had no one, Kurogane. That's why we have to be nice to him. I don't know if his family abandoned him, or if they were killed by mutants, but I can sense that the child is very much alone, and very sad. That's why you have to do your best to be nice to him, Kurogane. Could you imagine losing me and starting over with a new family? Wouldn't you want a friend?
"Yeah, I guess I really am just a burden." Fay was still smiling, but Kurogane couldn't see his eyes.
"Idiot," Kurogane told him, a light blush on his cheeks, "don't take everything so seriously."
Fay darted forward, a mischievous expression on his face as he poked Kurogane's nose. "I don't take things to seriously! That's you, Kuro-pyon! You're the one who is always walking around with a giant frown!"
Kurogane twitched, slapping Fay's hand away. "Brat," he began, glaring at Fay, "I won't let them take you away. You've annoyed me too much. The only person with the right to kill you is me!"
He darted forward, attempting to wrap a hand around Fay's neck. Fay laughed, twisting out of the way and getting to his feet.
"Kuro-sama is so slow! He'll never catch me!"
It was only five minutes later that the leaders of their colony took Fay away. Kurogane and his mother didn't see the blond for over two months. When they did, it was on one of Fay's weekly tours through the community. Kurogane and his mother were forced to bow in order to greet the messiah, the person who brought them water.
When Kurogane bowed, the smile faded from Fay's face.
"Hello Kurogane," he said quietly.
Angry, young, and not yet understanding the ways of the world, Kurogane had walked away. He didn't know that it would be years until he saw Fay smile again.
Kurogane awoke to the sound of the rain bouncing off glass windows. Instantly he was alert, reaching for his sword out of instinct and searching for Fay. The blonde man lay right next to him, so close it was unsettling. Fay's torn clothes had been replaced by a plain black shirt and gray pants. Looking down, Kurogane found himself dressed similarly. An IV was stuck into his upper arm.
Fay looked healthier than before; healthier than he had looked in nearly a month. Kurogane attempted to get up and noted that he felt much stronger, as if he'd been fed regularly. He could no longer feel his ribs when he ran a hand down his chest.
"Hello Kurogane," a low, kindly voice spoke.
Kurogane whipped around, glaring at the man. He was a thin, pale creature, with long, pale hair that fell over one eye. He didn't look to be formitable, but there was an aura of knowledge around him, as if he could see things others couldn't.
"Who are you?" Kurogane asked, clenching his fists.
"Most people call me Kakyo, though it matters very little. I just wanted to greet the messiah before he awoke."
Kakyo leaned forward, presumably to touch Fay's forehead. Back home that had been an honor. To touch the messiah, any part of the messiah, was a blessed event. Kurogane could remember the first time he'd approached Fay, sitting all alone on his dais, staring out into the sun.
He was allowed to approach because his 'brave efforts' earlier that morning had killed one of the large mutants that flocked to their city, saving the life of the leader's daughter. He'd only done it because the beast was large, a true challenge for a warrior like Kurogane, and he had needed to take his anger out on something. Saving the girl was merely an added benefit.
Around him the townspeople watched in awe. Fay stared past him, his hand clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. He wore a white cotton robe, a tribute to the cotton plants that had begun to grow just outside the city walls. According to tradition, Kurogane was supposed to touch Fay's forehead with his index and middle finger; instead, he spat at the man.
"My mother's funeral was yesterday," he stated flatly. Fay hadn't attended. "It's nice to see you haven't forgotten the people who took you in when you were scrambling around the underground like a rat."
He turned to leave, but Fay stopped him with a deceptively strong grip on his wrist.
"I tried to come," he whispered softly.
Kurogane's heart ached at those words. He wanted to believe Fay, he did. For years he had seen his childhood friend paraded through town like a doll, none of the boy he knew left in the empty shell. He wanted to believe there was still some of Fay left. He wanted to believe that the only connection he had to his past was real and breathing, not just a façade dressed up in fancy clothes.
Fay stood up, taller than the little kid Kurogane remembered, though the carefully hidden insecurity still manifested itself in the fact that Fay seemed unbearably lonely. He took a step forward and awkwardly, like someone who has forgotten what human is, he wrapped his long, thin arms around Kurogane.
"Meet me at the cemetery at midnight," he whispered into Kurogane's collarbone, the air cool and soft. They parted, and Kurogane swore Fay took a piece of him along. He could not breathe. He could not see. He could not hear the town's peoples' whispers. Discreetly, he nodded, before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Don't touch him," Kurogane growled. Kakyo pulled his hand back.
"I won't tell anybody," Kakyo assured them. "That is your right, but," he paused, staring out at the falling rain. "This place is dying. There are too many people, too little water. Fate sent the two of you here for a reason; there is no such thing as coincidence."
The seemingly frail man then left the room, sliding the door shut after him. Leaning back against the door frame, Kurogane ran a hand through Fay's hair, something he would never do when the loudmouthed idiot was awake. What do you think? He asked his unconscious companion. Can we make a future here?
Sorata stood outside the door, a plate of fried mutant worm in hand. He had been labeled the automatic cook of the group, as Yuzuriha claimed that he was the only person who could make the food taste less gruesome.
As Kakyo exited, Sorata smiled at him. "They're not the same then?" He asked. Even though it had only been a glance, he could clearly remember the four dimension travelers, the blond man and tall warrior included.
Kakyo shook his head.
Sorata shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he told the mysterious man, "we'll feed them anyway. Besides, I tried to cook the worm differently. It's smoked this time. I'm hoping it will taste less…" Sorata paused, searching for the right word, "Slimy, this way."
Sorata swore that Kakyo's slight jerk was the closest to a cringe the ethereal man had ever shone. It made him smirk. He liked to bring out the emotions in others; to break through stoic facades was his goal in life. Plus, it was fun to tease people, especially when their weakness could be pinpointed.
Sorata had found out months ago that cool, controlled Kakyo could not stand the food. Ever since then, he'd given the thin man extras, ignoring Arashi's glare and biting his lip to control his laughter.
He wanted to see what the newcomers were like. He wasn't worried, like the others were, that having even two more people would spell the end of them; he trusted that the witch, Yuuko, would not have given them the water if she did not truly believe that they could heal the planet. Now it was merely a matter of thinking and waiting for the divine to lend a sign.
It would happen. There was no way human kind could be eradicated to easily.
'The graveyard,' as they called it, was merely a brick wall surrounded by lilies. Plaques honoring the dead lined the wall. When there was no more room, the oldest plaques were removed to make room for the new. No bodies were buried under the wall. The community had learned long ago that the scent of dead flesh lured the mutants. A special committee disposed of all human remains, throwing them out into the wilderness to distract the mutants.
Kurogane hated it. He hated that his mother's death would be restless, that her mortal body had not been laid to rest or at least properly cremated. He hated imagining her corpse, strewn out in the middle of the rubble. He hated seeing those crude creatures devouring her, just as they had devoured his father.
"Kurogane." Kurogane whipped around, his hand at his hip to draw his sword. Fay stood there, a frown marring his unusual features, the wind whipping his hair up like a halo. Dressed in all white, he looked like an angel. Kurogane could see why they would call him the messiah.
"Come," Fay demanded. He reached down a plucked a white lily, before vanishing behind the wall. Suspicious but intrigued, Kurogane followed him.
Fay led him out into the sparse forest that had begun to grow in the last couple of years. The trees were mature beyond their time, almost at full growth, and the entire area smelled fresh.
Fay led him deeper into the forest, where the smaller mutants had made there home alongside the animals that had managed to survive the world wide catastrophe. Kurogane was surprised at the signs of life. He saw a moth fluttering past him. He hadn't seen moths since before the rain. He'd thought they'd gone extinct for sure.
Fay stopped so suddenly that Kurogane barely managed to stop a few inches behind him. Fay's hair smelled clean and fresh, like the outdoors. As the messiah, he was the only one permitted to regular bathing.
"I wanted your mother to rest in peace," Fay told him, hanging his head.
There, underneath a blooming Sakura, was a crudely carved sign with Kurogane's mother's name and date of death. The white lilies sat right in front of it. The freshly dug earth told Kurogane everything. Despite his attempts to do otherwise, Kurogane's eyes filled with hot tears, and his shoulders shook.
"I guess I'll take that as a thank you," Fay said lowly, before turning to walk away.
"You idiot," Kurogane hissed. Fay twisted to meet his eyes, apparently shocked at the anger and barely contained tears. "I can't believe you! Do you think you made this all okay? Do you think digging my mother a grave will make up for the years she spent without you? She waited for you, always thinking you would return. Her dying wish was to see you again!"
"But I was an orphan… Just another kid on the streets." Fay's shaky voice echoed off the trees.
Kurogane grabbed him by the shoulders and holding him there.
"If you think that mattered to her, if you think that mattered to either of us, you're more of an idiot than I thought. Just because you thought you didn't matter doesn't mean either of us ever thought that. God damn it! Even if you don't give a damn about what happens to you, imagine what it was like for us, for her! She saw you there, unhappy, and it killed part of her! Do you understand me?"
Tears dripped down Fay's face. Puffiness surrounded his red-rimmed eyes. It took Kurogane a few moments to notice that tears spilled down his cheeks as well, burning their way down his face, falling onto his arms.
"Why?" Fay asked, his breath coming out in wet heaves.
"Because she loved you like a second son," Kurogane answered, tightening his grip on Fay. Fay jerked in his grip, and several fluttering, fleeting emotions flew through his face, the only one which Kurogane could identify was a deep, dark pain.
"Don't lie to me," Fay finally announced, coldly tearing Kurogane's hands from his shoulders and backing away. "Nobody has ever loved me. Nobody has ever hurt because I hurt. Don't lie to me."
"And why the fuck do you think that? And don't give me some noble bullshit about your abilities. I want the truth. I think I deserve the truth!"
"My own mother abandoned me!" Fay shouted. "When I was born, I had a twin. My mother loved him more than anything. When we were seven, we wandered outside at night, on the street. I raced out in front of him, spinning around. He didn't want to be there. He wanted to go back inside, so I—I called him a chicken and a wimp. Then he pushed me out of the way of a speeding car. His head split against the pavement; he was killed instantly."
Fay paused, sucking in a deep breath and wrapping his arms around his waist in a pitiful form of self comfort. "She had my name legally changed to his. She dressed me in his clothes, but every time she looked at me, she cried. I was the devil child that killed her son. I should have never been born.
"Then the rain started. We wandered around, trying to find shelter. Finally, my mom found a community not too far away from where we lived. They could only take in one more person. She chose her life over mine! My own mother hated me so much that she left me out in the acid rain to die! If the woman who gave birth to me couldn't love me, why would anybody else be able to?"
Kurogane clenched his fists, ready to say something about what kind of woman Fay's mother had been, but he continued.
"I managed to find a port. There were these men who were leaving, going across the sea to try and find a land that wasn't destroyed by the acid falling from the sky. I stowed away on the ship, curled up with the rats and the cargo. They found me a few weeks later and threw me out of the ship, into the water." Fay's eyes blurred, haunted by the memory.
"The acid burned so much, at first. I tried to swim, but there was nowhere to swim to. I wished with all my heart that the men who threw me overboard died. The next day, their bodies started floating next to me."
Fay collapsed, as if the pain of his past was too much to bear. "There was this man who was still alive, barely, on a piece of driftwood. He had a giant stick of wood stuck through his chest. Every time he breathed, blood bubbled up and you could hear the air in his lungs. He asked me to kill him with the knife in his belt. I did it. I slit his throat and pushed him off the driftwood, and I didn't even cry. I just fell asleep."
"A few days later," he whispered, "I washed up on the shore of a foreign land. I found a place built underground. Everybody was speaking a language I didn't know. It was so confusing. I picked up some words. Learning a new language was easier than I thought it'd be. Then your mom saw me, and I guess you know the rest of the story."
"So?" Kurogane growled. "What does that have to do with your self worth? I told you to give me a good reason why no one could love you, and you give me some sob story."
They were both heaving, panting for breath yet filled with the energy of anger and despair.
"Don't you see what kind of person I am? I killed my own brother!" Fay sobbed. "If it wasn't for me, he'd be alive right now."
"You just don't get it, do you!" Kurogane roared. "People like you don't get it! You didn't kill your brother; he chose to save you, and what have you done with his sacrifice? You've lived your life hating yourself. Is that how you honor the people you've lost?"
Fay's eyes widened, to the point that Kurogane thought they might fall out of his head. He looked like he'd never thought that; he'd honestly never considered the possibility that life and death might be out of his hands.
"Some people might say that you've been given this power for a reason, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still your power, not theirs. Do what you want with it. It doesn't matter if it's selfish or greedy, it's your right!"
"What I want…" Fay trailed off, before he lunged at the taller man.
Kurogane froze as those arms wrapped around his waist. Fay pushed closer, resting his head against Kuogane's collarbone. Kurogane could have pushed him away. Fay was trembling so badly it would have been easy. Instead he clung to the other man, burying his face in Fay's hair and inhaling the fresh scent.
"I don't know if you're right. I don't know if our lives actually mean something in the greater scheme of things, but for now I'll try to live, if only for Kuro-sama's sake."
Fay woke permanently two days later, during meal time. Wordlessly, Kurogane had handed him a plate of fresh, steaming mutant. Fay cringed.
"Kuro-sama, are you trying to poison me?" He asked, his voice quiet and rough. That made sense. He hadn't spoken in almost a week.
Kurogane shrugged. "It's edible, and ok if that Sorata guy cooks it. And if you swallow quickly, you can avoid most of the slime."
With a guarded look, Fay picked a piece of steamed mutant up with his chopsticks and ate one. He chewed a few times, his face turning a curiously green shade, before he quickly swallowed.
Kurogane smirked as Fay gagged.
Setting down his chopsticks and pushing the plate away, Fay turned towards his friend. The bed they were sitting on was not large, and when they sat that way their knees touched. It sent a jolt of electricity up Kurogane's spine.
"Where are we?" Fay asked seriously, grabbing a piece of Kurogane's mutant when his stomach growled loudly.
"A place called Tokyo," Kurogane answered. "And no, I haven't told them anything about your… Abilities." Kurogane's voice grew uncharacteristically soft at that last part. He knew how important Fay's abilities were to Fay.
"How come yours tastes better than mine?" Fay asked between chews, obviously avoiding a touchier subject. For the moment Kurogane decided to play along.
"Arashi cooked yours," Kurogane answered with a smirk.
Quick as a flash, Fay stole another piece. Kurogane's eye twitched.
"Kuro-pi should share," Fay waved the chopsticks at him.
"Like Hell," Kurogane grumbled, pulling his plate out of Fay's reach.
"But Kuro-myon, I'm sick," the blond whined.
"Don't care," Kurogane responded, tipping the plate over and finishing the mutant in one gulp.
"Kuro-pippi!" Fay whined. He lunged for Kurogane, sending the two of them sprawling over the bed. Kurogane dropped the plate, which bounced softly on the pillows and rolled to the floor, completely unharmed.
Kurogane had his hands on Fay's waist, attempting to pry him off. Fay was leaning over the much larger man, trying to open his mouth to reclaim some of the tastier mutant.
Kurogane tried to tell himself that he wasn't enjoying it, that Fay had managed to pin him down because Kurogane had been surprised, and not because he secretly wanted the blond straddling him. He tried to ignore the fact that Fay's shirt had ridden up, and he could feel Fay's smooth skin beneath his callused fingers. He tried to ignore Fay's shiver when the other man felt the skin on skin contact, but he couldn't.
"Screw it," Kurogane muttered before leaning up and pressing his lips against Fay's.
Kusanagi cleared his throat to capture the attention of the couple on the bed.
"As happy as I am that you are recovering physically, it's my duty to remind you that strenuous activities that don't serve a higher purpose for the group are prohibited because of the water shortages."
Fay and Kurogane pulled away from each other incredibly quickly, Fay attempting to scramble out of Kurogane's lap in a less than elegant display that left him strewn across the larger man's chest.
"Is there something you'd like to discuss?" Kurogane growled, his face bright red.
Humored, Kusanagi merely shrugged. "There's a hunt today. Everybody who shares the water has to work—no exceptions."
The two of them shared a glance and nodded, untangling themselves. "We will go," Fay announced cheerfully.
And the rhythm of their days was set. Fay, garbed in a long raincoat and protective gloves—because both he and Kurogane alleged that Fay was extra sensitive to the rain—quickly became their best hunters. He was a genius with a crossbow, quick to reload with deadly aim.
When asked, he claimed to have never seen the weapon before in his life, but conceded that it felt 'familiar.' None of the others dared to tell him that it was the same crossbow the other Fay had used, so long ago.
The weeks passed, and soon it had been a month since they travelers had joined them. The gruff one, Kurogane, was quite forthcoming with his past; his father had been killed by a mutant, his mother by a rare disease. He'd worked as a mutant exterminator in his old home, which had been destroyed by war.
Fay was less open. He claimed to have come from the same place as Kurogane, but his exotic looks made the entire camp suspicious. They had never seen anyone besides Fay with such light hair and unusual, heavy eyelids, except for in the few magazines that had survived the apocalypse.
There was another odd occurrence that Kusanagi had only recently noted. The water level had increased. Kusanagi had a feeling that it had something to do with Fay, who would sometimes look tired when he came up from the reservoir, but he said nothing and warned the others to do the same. He did not want the water to stop coming.
One month, two weeks, and five days into the time that the travelers had joined them, tragedy struck.
They had gone out hunting for mutants, as usual, when they were suddenly surrounded. The remainder of the road split beneath them and Fay fell off his hover craft, disappearing into the void without so much as a scream for help. His over craft scraped across the cement, landing at Nataku's feet.
Kusanagi's heart pounded, but he made no orders for a rescue. They could all hear the hissing of the mutants down there. It would be suicide to send anyone down.
Then Kurogane, unsheathing his sword with a metallic hiss, had forced his craft down into the abyss in silence.
The day the attackers had invaded, nobody had been prepared. The day had started off as usual. After the scouts declared the city mutant free and safe, Fay went on his rounds, converting the acidic water that had fallen the night before into drinking water and strolling through the forests and farms, touching the Earth.
And Kurogane watched him for signs of strain, lingering just far enough behind him that Fay knew he was there, but nobody else did.
Fay had told him once before that the oftener he visited the places he healed, the less he had to touch, the less energy he had to expend. Also, the plants only needed to be touched once to grow. If they were planted by Fay, they would grow to be incredibly resistant to the acidic rain and harsh soil, and prosper under even the most adverse of conditions.
It was nearly noon when they heard the first sounds of the army. Kurogane could remember the uniformed men and women grabbing Fay from behind, covering his mouth and dragging him away. Fay had fought back viciously, biting down on his captors hand and tearing himself free despite the cuts that littered his arms, caused by their weapons.
"Stop," a woman with large, brown eyes and flowing hair the same shade as Fay's had announced. She had a thick accent which Kurogane couldn't help but notice. It sounded incredibly familiar.
To Kurogane's astonishment, Fay stopped.
"Mother," he said.
The woman nodded, taking a step forward. She was short, a head shorter than Fay, and wrinkles had stolen away her youth, but Kurogane could tell from where he was standing that she had once been beautiful.
Fay was like a statue. He did not move when the soldiers grabbed him; he did not move when they forced him onto his knees.
"You were the messiah, all this time," she said, her voice emotionless.
"Take him to the ship," she told her soldiers. In their grasp, Fay hung like a limp doll, his arms bleeding, mouthing one word repeatedly, like a mantra.
"Fay, Fay, Fay, Fay, Fay…"
He was calling to his brother, the one person whose presence he'd never been able to hold on to.
Kurogane had chased after Fay, like he had always done, like he would always do. It had nothing to do with Fay. For all Kurogane knew, Fay might be better off with his mother, surrounding by his own people, but thing was he didn't care. His love for Fay was a selfish love; he wanted Fay by his side, wanted to keep Fay with him, because he could not imagine himself with anyone besides Fay, and could not imagine Fay with anyone besides him.
"Why did you save me?" Fay had asked when they had returned to the village only to find everybody dead and the plants scorched to the ground.
"Because I wanted to," Kurogane had answered, and Fay had looked up at him with clear confusion written on his face. He still didn't get it.
"Why did you save me?" Fay asked, staring down at Kurogane's pale form. A gaping wound stretched from Kurogane's right hip to his left shoulder. His breathing was barely noticeable, only a few small puffs of air every minute. Sometimes Fay could swear they stopped, only to start up again a second later.
Kurogane was stubborn to the last, clinging on to life even when there was no hope. The small hospital room barely housed any supplies. Setsuki would not be able to save Kurogane, nobody would.
All that was left was to let go, but to his horror Fay found that he couldn't. He couldn't let go Kurogane's hand; he couldn't let go of Kurogane's heart. He had already let go of so much; his brother, the man on the piece of driftwood, Kurogane's mother, his own mother, his village… He could not give up anything more. He wanted one fragment, one tiny fragment of the big, huge, universe to keep to himself. That fragment was Kurogane.
"I want to save you," Fay whispered. "I would do anything to save you."
Pulling Kurogane's cold, motionless hand up to his face, Fay wept bitter, salty tears.
I love you. He could not say it, but to even think it tore his heart in two.
"I can save him, but there will be a price."
Fay spun around at the unfamiliar, feminine voice. A gorgeous woman, thin and curvy, stood in the middle of the room, flickering in and out of existence like an old movie, or maybe a ghost.
"Name it," Fay said, gripping Kurogane's hand and feeling the life slowly slip away.
"Your powers," the figure told him.
Fay's heart nearly stopped. His powers could be used to do so much good. He could save so many lives—save the Earth even. He could grow food; he could stop the starvation, the hunger, of so many lonely people.
Why did you save me?
Because I wanted to.
Fay tried to imagine that world, the world in which he used his powers to save everyone. He wanted to see the lush, green trees, the sparkling, pure water, but all he could see was darkness.
Why? Why did he only see a void?
Fay's eyes widened; he dropped Kurogane's hand.
This really wasn't about Kurogane. This wasn't about his powers, or even the world he could save. This was about him. What did he want? What did he crave more than anything else?
The questions rattled his mind. He had never thought them before. He had never considered what he wanted. He had never considered anything beyond mere flirtations, dalliances. He had never imagined the possibility of controlling his own fate.
"I want…" Fay paused, searching his heart. "I want to save him."
"Very well," the woman told him, ad she reached forward, planting a hand on Fay's forehead like so many others had done before. Her hand was warm and dry.
As Fay felt his eyelids grow heavy, he thought. What is right and wrong? Were all creatures here for a reason, or was it random coincidence? What did it all matter? As Fay surrendered his consciousness, he felt a burden fall over him, heavier than anything he had ever experienced before in his life: The burden of choice. But even with that heaviness, that responsibility, Fay felt freer than he ever had in his entire life.
When Kurogane awoke, Fay's head was resting in his lap, the rest of the blonde's body sprawled over an uncomfortable looking metal chair. There was a woman with eyes as red as his own staring at him intensely.
"What happened?" Kurogane asked, a hand flying to his chest, only to find it fully healed.
"You'll have to ask him," the woman pointed to the man resting uncomfortably. She turned away, preparing to leave. "But before you do, please be sure to tell him I over charged him. Apparently, your life was worth less than I thought. Tell him he still retained half."
"What the Hell does that mean?" Kurogane spat out, but the woman had already disappeared.
Slowly, Fay regained consciousness, shifting his position frequently and finally lifting his head.
"Kuro-sama," He muttered, opening his eyes. One of them was the same bright, beautiful blue that Kurogane was accustomed to; the other one was pitch black. "You are the person I want to hold onto; you're my everything."
And in an instant, Kurogane understood.
"You idiot," Kurogane said for what must have been the millionth time. Lethargically, Fay climbed into his lap, wrapping around him so tightly that it was hard for Kurogane to breath.
"I tried to imagine a world without you, but I couldn't. Kuro-sama, you are my world."
Kurogane gripped Fay tightly, holding him as tightly as possible, pushing their forms so closely that Kurogane could feel Fay's heart beat, frantic and strong, against him. He could feel Fay's hip bones pressing into his stomach; He could feel Fay's legs wrapped tightly around his waist.
Kurogane wanted to be closer. He wanted the separation holding them apart to vanish; he wanted to give himself entirely to Fay, wanted to Fay to give himself entirely to him.
"I gave up my powers for you," Fay stated, even though Kurogane already knew and he knew that Fay knew that he already knew. Sometimes, actions had to have words given to them before they could be truly realized.
"Half," Kurogane corrected him. "Apparently, my life isn't worth all your powers." But to know that Fay thought it did meant more to him than anything else.
Fay laughed, rubbing his head against Kurogane's neck. Kurogane could feel the hot tear drops.
"I want to tell them. And then I want to create a green world; one the two of us can share."
Kurogane couldn't have agreed more.