The world had gone down hill. Almost literally. Half of the world was underwater; most of the sea side countries were gone. The coasts of major countries were submerged.
It was a miracle that Japan was still alive. The only reason that he was still above the water was because of his country's volcanoes. As soon as the waters began to rise, the volcanoes started erupting. The lava saved the island, piling up to make a new island of Japan.
The same couldn't be said for the harbor country of Singapore. The tail end of Malaysia had dipped into the Indian Ocean. Ling had gone missing, lost to the sea.
Kiku had spent countless days out with his boat over where Singapore had been, searching for survivors. His hopes constantly rose and fell as he found someone, thinking that Ling must be nearby.
But he never found her. Now, he was nothing more than a haggard old man, crippled with age. The stress of trying to find his long lost love Ling and supporting and entire country had taken it's toll. His hair had began to lighten; now white at the roots of his black hair. His eyes were still the same dull brown, but they held a more regretful light and he wore dark circles beneath them.
"Honda-san!" A childish voice called. The voice belonged to Miko; one of the survivors that he had rescued. His hair was dark brown, nearly black as Kiku's and his eyes were similar to his in his younger days; emotionless and surveying.
"Hai?" Kiku responded, looking up through tired eyes. They were dulling by the day, his will to live fading.
"Is there anything else that I can help you with?" Miko asked, showing off his dirty hands. He had been working in Kiku's garden, tending to the dry plants. The rice was left to others as Miko wasn't trained to take care of the rice fields.
"Yes, actually." Kiku shifted; an activity that required a great deal of effort from him, pinching at his tired muscles and threatening his weak bones. "I need to write a letter to the major, but my ink stone ran out. In my shed, there is an ink stone. It's just behind the back shelf."
"Hai, Honda-san!" Miko smiled enthusiastically, running off toward the shed.
The entire house moaned in the wind, the paper screens rattling. Kiku sighed. At this rate, he would have to repaper the frames again before winter. The wind was horrible.
Kiku smiled a little bit, thinking of Miko. He really did love the boy. However, it wasn't for the reasons he should. He should love Miko as a son, but the little boy always seemed so familiar. It was like he was looking in a family album ever time he looked at him. His dark brown hair reminded him so much of Ling's hair. It was like Miko was Ling.
There was a shriek that ripped through the house. The thin walls rattled with the sudden break in the peace, shaking Kiku from his thoughts.
"Honda-san!" Miko cried, barreling toward the paper screens.
"What is it Miko?" Kiku wondered as his heart throbbed with the sudden excitement.
"There is a woman inside the shed!" The boy screamed. His face was ghostly pale and his eyes were wide with terror.
"A woman?" Kiku's eyes widened also. It couldn't be Ling, could it?
"H-hai!" Miko panicked, "C-come on! You'll see!" Weakly, Kiku pushed himself to his feet. He hobbled away from his warm seat and over to the paper screen. Miko grabbed his arm, attempting to tow him to the shed, pushing for a faster pace. Kiku's mind was so swallowed by the thoughts that he hadn't noticed when his hand had fallen on the handle to the shed.
The second that he opened the door, Miko pushed him inside.
"She's inside there Honda-san!" He hollered, shutting the door part way. He turned, looking back at the boy before venturing deeper into the shack.
It was cold- not at all how he remembered it- and it smelled sort of rank. Not a horrible reek strong enough to push him out, but enough to make him not want to be in. There was a small clattering sound as if a million marbles fell on the cement.
"Kiku.." Came a raspy voice, followed by the sound of dog's nails hitting a hard tile floor. But the sound was of many dogs' nails and the voice came out as a harsh hiss.
Kiku whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Kiku..." The voice came again.
"Show yourself!" He screamed, following the voice. His shaking fingers grabbed for anything that he could feel.
"You still have to find me." The voice whispered near his ear. Only now, it wasn't a single voice, but many. It was as if a chorus of insects whispered the words and tried to replace the real words. They were slurred and inhuman, synthetic and mocked.
His hand lashed back behind him, grabbing at the keeper of that voice. His fingers gripped onto silky wet hair. He finally had it.
He spun around, pulling it in front of him. He was met, however, with exactly what he was hoping for: Ling. But she wasn't her. Her skin was pale- not that it usually wasn't, but this was an awful pale. A pale like she hadn't seen the sun in ten years.
Her hair was muddy black, darker than it's usual shade of brown. It was wet and tangled, like she had been wipped through a current. Her face held a look of innocence. Almost a childlike misunderstanding. Her eyes still glowed bright with excitement, like they had on their wedding day or when she delivered their first child.
But there was a hidden dread. As if she wasn't sure. No, that wasn't right. She wasn't comfortable. She was scared. Maybe she was scared of something that happened to her. Perhaps she was afraid of what Kiku would do to her now.
"Ling!" Kiku's hand shot out toward her. To this, she smiled sweetly, almost eager for his touch. His fingers brushed of her cheek and it felt cold, but it also did something unusual. It moved. Literally, her skin was crawling.
"I've missed you Kiku.." She trailed off, smiling uneasily. "Why didn't you come back?"
"I did come back, Ling.." Kiku whispered, still simply holding her face in his hands, ignoring the crawling. "For five years I searched."
"Kiss me, Kiku." She ordered, almost hungrily. It was as if she needed it. He was almost too eager to comply.
He pressed his lips against her's, trying to make up for the five years of yearning and missing in the one kiss. He could feel her pull him closer to him, their kiss deepening. Her tongue prodded at his lips and he was happy to open them for her. The appendage that slipped inside was nothing he could have ever expected. It was hard and cold, not like any tongue he had known. He was about to pull back when he felt another enter his mouth and another, slowly pulling in and beginning to walk around.
Kiku pulled back and screamed as he saw Ling's mouth gone, falling apart into pieces that had fallen into his mouth. It wasn't that, but what made up those pieces that scared Kiku the most.
The love of his life; Ling, was made of millions of cockroaches.
Kiku flailed, trying to get away from the ugly insects, trying to spit them up, but they were persistent and it seemed that they more he tried, the more of them there were. And the ones in his mouth were no different. He tried biting them, chewing them, spitting them out, but it eventually became too much for him.
The old man simply fell to the floor, his heart done, the cockroaches marching past his lips in hoards.
The shed was silent. What was taking Honda-san so long? Miko was getting impatient as all little boys do. It shouldn't be taking an old man this long to get an ink stone.
There was a sudden scream and Miko flinched. His hand flew out to the door handle, yanking it open only to see one thing.
Honda-san was laying on the floor; sprawled out, his eyes and mouth wide open and a cold exterior. Miko screamed.