Rating: T+
Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.
Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.
Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. You guys are great.
Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin
Anime: Guess who is back to ruin your lives with the sequel of MIAB? I am! Welcome to Enter the Darkness In Hearts or EDIH! This also marks my return to the Beyblade fandom in 2017.
Rin: Being in more than two fanfics about this subject wasn't in my contract.
Anime: Hush, little one. Now, guys, warning that this bad guy won't be lovable. You'll probably want to murder him. I know I don't like him. Now, enjoy the prologue of EDIH!
~~~EDIH~~~
Prologue: The Lost Memory
Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Earth (20 years ago)
In the beautiful and calm city of Uji, in the outskirts of one of its local parks, three young men that appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years of age were resting on the roots of an old cherry blossom tree. The three were from the same school, judging by the uniform they were wearing.
The tallest of the three was a young man with slate-colored hair and crimson-red eyes. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching the pink petals of the cherry blossoms fall down to the ground.
The second tallest was a young man with light gray hair that almost seemed white and light gray eyes that were hiding behind his black-rimmed glasses. He was busy sketching on a journal to notice the cherry blossoms that fell and sometimes landed on his paper.
The shortest of the trio was a young man with black hair and red eyes that were a shade darker than the other boy he was with. He wasn't only just the shortest, he was also the smallest in size. He had removed his blazer and was using it as a pillow. He hummed the tune to a song before he sat up, "I'm bored."
"What do you want us to do about it, Haru?" The gray haired male asked, looking up from his sketch to raise an eyebrow at the male now known as Haru.
Haru shrugged, "I don't know. Anything. We're wasting our youth here!" He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "It might not look like it now but life is quickly going by. We can't sit idly by. We need to act!"
"You're insane, Haru. Sit down and stop moving before Eren hits you." The slate-haired teenager laughed, smirking at the raven-haired male when he pouted. He rolled his eyes, "You're exaggerating, Haru. We're not 'wasting our youth', as you've so aptly put it."
"That's what you think, Susumu, because you don't have a good youth and have a good plan of the future." Haru said with a pout.
Eren snorted at Haru's reply while Susumu glared at him, ignoring the grin Haru sent his way, "I don't have a good youth? We've been best friends since elementary. I've lived through what you have."
"You're already tied down to Kana Takano, though." Haru said, sitting down in front of Eren and looking at the sketch, ignoring the blush Eren now sported. Susumu, though, didn't miss it.
"Come on, is the great Susumu Hiwatari intimidated by timid Kana Takano?" He laughed, swatting Haru's finger away from his sketch, "Don't touch; I'm not done."
"Let me see, Eren." Haru said in a whining tone, pouting at the gray-haired teenager, "I like seeing your sketches. They're great! So please let me see them!" He clung to Eren's arm, ignoring how flustered the action caused his friend. Eren fixed his glasses to avoid Haru's gaze before relenting, much to the upbeat male's happiness.
"I'm not scared of Kana," Susumu muttered, "I did ask her out to the festival and she agreed to go with me. Then, at the festival, I asked her out. I think I did better than Haru. He freaked out and ran as soon as he saw Natasha getting near." The snide remark made Haru hiss at Susumu while Eren looked away, looking downcast.
"Natasha is nothing like Kana!" Haru replied, groaning, thinking about the fifteen year old red-head. He scratched his head, staring up at the sky, "For one, she's Russian."
"What does that have anything to do with it?" Susumu, a fellow Russian, asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It makes her . . . exotic?"
"Now you're making her sound like an animal or something," Eren said, stifling his laugh. Haru shoved him, making Eren give out a cry of indignation.
"You guys know what I mean! She's nothing like your stereotypical Japanese woman. She's tough and has a fiery attitude. She can probably kick my ass." Haru said, looking at Eren's sketch as if that was the most important thing in the world.
"Anyone can do that." Susumu replied, ignoring the glare Haru sent in his direction. It hurt the smallest one of the group to be reminded how wimpy he was.
"Whatever. The point being that getting Natasha to be with me is harder than what you did, Susumu." Haru said with a sigh before leaning on Eren, closing his eyes. Eren rolled his eyes at the teen and tried to shove him off but to no avail.
Susumu closed his eyes, trying to listen to the soothing sounds of nature around him, before he suddenly asked, "Where do you guys see yourselves in twenty years?" This got the attention of Eren and Haru, who opened one eye to glance at Susumu.
"Running Mizushima Enterprises with Natasha as my wife, duh." Haru replied with a yawn, "I've been groomed as its heir all my life. As soon as I get married with Nat, my father said he'll give me the company. Although, if they do disown me for marrying a 'Russian wench', I'll go with plan B."
"What's plan B?" Eren asked.
Haru smirked, staring into the distance before pointing somewhere, "I'll make Natasha and me a nice cabin in the woods in Japan or Russia where we'll live until we're old, raising our children, one of them named Rin."
"Rin?" Susumu raised an eyebrow at the name choice. The name wasn't bad but he wouldn't have pegged Haru as the type of person to name his child 'Rin'. He shrugged, "A girl Rin or a boy Rin?"
"Well, I would love having a boy Rin," Haru smiled, his eyes looking gentle, "But, in the end, I wouldn't care if I got a boy or a girl. As long as my child is alive, I'll be happy."
"You sure do love kids, Haru." Eren noted, "So, would you adopt or have more kids with Natasha?"
"Hmm," Haru put a hand under his chin before answering, "I think I'd have another child with Nat before adopting. Having two kids is perfect, don't you think? And we'd totally adopt five kids."
"You want seven kids?" Susumu asked, raising an eyebrow, "You know what they say about ghost number seven, Haru."
"I don't believe in those superstitions." The raven-haired teenager stated before nudging Eren, "That's where I see myself in twenty years from now. What about you, Leonardo da Vinci?"
Eren shrugged, "I'm not going to be as detailed as you. I'll probably move back home to France for a while before moving to live in Canada. I'll settle down there and become a painter. Maybe I'll get married and have at least five kids or maybe I'll stay single. I've never actually thought about it."
"You should." Susumu told the gray-haired male, "And I'd bet you'd be a world-class painter. You'd get in the history text books and your paintings will be hanging next to the Mona Lisa or something."
"You flatter me too much, Susumu." Eren waved of the Russian, blushing despite himself because of his praise, "I think I'll work as either your secretary at Hiwatari Enterprises or as Haru's secretary."
"I'd make you part of the board of directors in my company." Haru announced, hugging Eren from behind and laughing. Eren turned redder at the contact, mumbling his appreciation of Haru's offer.
Susumu frowned, "Stop bribing my future secretary."
"Suck it, Hiwatari."
"What about you, Susumu?" Eren interrupted the two childhood friends before the argument escalated, "Where do you see yourself in twenty years?"
Susumu cleared his throat before announcing, "I see myself as the CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises while working under the BBA. Kana will be my wife and we'll have only two children: a son named Kai and a daughter named Raisa."
"What about plan B?" Haru questioned.
Susumu shrugged, "I don't have a plan B. Unlike your parents, my mother and father will approve of Kana as my wife. Hell, they support us being a couple now. So, no plan B for me."
"You're lucky Voltaire approves of Kana." Haru pouted.
Eren smiled, "Well, I think your plan is more feasible than the rest of ours, Susumu. So I know your plan will work out." He nudged Haru, as if waiting for him to agree, which he did after Eren wouldn't stop trying to nudge him in the stomach.
"If we do go our separate ways after high school," Haru stood up, looking up at the branches of the sakura tree, "let's meet up here in twenty years. We'll see if everything went according to plan."
"You're on, Mizushima." Susumu smirked, both he and Eren getting up to join Haru. They all stared up, witnessing the petals from the cherry blossoms fall to the ground.
"That's a promise, then." Eren laughed.
The trio stayed watching the petals fall, as if they held the future that they so carefully desired. They wouldn't know if their plans would come true until twenty years later. Today, though, they decided that they needed to continue living in the present.
~~~EDIH~~~
Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, Earth (Present day)
Susumu Hiwatari, now a thirty-six year old man, stood in front of the old cherry blossom tree where he, Haru and Eren used to hang out after school or whenever they felt like being here. He was no longer the socially awkward sixteen year old (soon to be seventeen year old) from the day they had decided to meet again after twenty years if their lives led them down different roads.
It was two in the morning, too early for anyone to be out and about, making it the perfect time for Susumu to come here, after avoiding the old tree for so long. He sat down, leaning his back on the bark.
"So, how did your plans go?" He asked, his voice hollow and filled with pain. He was met with silence. He closed his eyes, laughing with no mirth as he remembered the fate of his two best friends that had made the promise to be here twenty years ago.
Eren Karbowski had a good future ahead of him in the artistic world. He had been offered a scholarship to a very prestigious art academy and his first painting had been sold to a wealthy man named Gozaburo Kaiba. Eren was already making his big splash on the art industry and Susumu had even seen him start dating another artist named Penelope. He sniffed, trying to keep back the tears as he remembered what had made Eren's future disappear.
Eren died at the age of eighteen in a car accident on November 2, a week after his birthday. He had been driving home from his art lessons when a truck driver hit his car head on. He had been rushed to the emergency room as fast as the paramedics could but he was pronounced dead by the time he reached the extensive care unit. That was a day that still haunted Susumu, having reached the hospital as soon as Haru had contacted him about the accident.
Haru. Susumu cringed at the name, feeling the familiar pang when he remembered his childhood best friend.
Haru Mizushima, after Eren's death, moved on to work in an archeologic dig with Natasha Borkov that was led by Bruce Granger and his wife Yoshie but was being sponsored by Roberto Fernandez. Something in that dig eventually caused Haru to propose to Natasha and the two got married after Natasha's eighteenth birthday and moved to Russia, to the main Mizushima estate.
The two suffered a lot after their parents got in a freak accident when Natasha was five months pregnant. This caused the fragile mind of the powerful red head to spiral into a depression that worried Haru almost to death. Their baby came out prematurely on Natasha's seventh month of pregnancy and both she and their son – Rin, Haru had named their child – nearly died. After months of Natasha suffering from postpartum depression and Haru working himself to death to keep her and Rin alive, she began to recover.
They had their ups and downs, mainly due to Rin's fragile health, but they had achieved a good life, Haru now running Mizushima Enterprises. Both of them should have lived to grow old and happy, watching Rin grow up to become a great person like they had wanted.
Then, came the dreaded night of February 16.
Susumu never knew what really happened that day but he had been called by his father, Voltaire, who told him that the Mizushima estate was on fire. He, Voltaire and Kana had gone to the hospital where only two people – a maid named Akasuki and a butler named Alexander – from the fire had survived.
Susumu let the tears fall down as he remembered that he had to identify Haru's remains. He had seen the wounds on his best friend's corpse, both on his back and on his neck. He had hated the world so much, then. Haru had died too early. He had only been twenty-five. He knew that Kana had felt the same thing when she had identified Natasha's corpse. Natasha had only been twenty-four, after all. Both he and Kana hated the funeral day, crying while they both held their son Kai, who was too innocent to understand why Natasha and Haru had been put in boxes and buried.
Six-year old Rin had not been found among the burned remains of the house and Susumu decided to take that as a blessing rather than a curse. It stopped looking like that after months of searching for his godchild and people believed that the delicate child had been burned to the point where he had become ashes.
Then, miraculously, on July 17, Rin was found. By then, though, the happy child Haru and Natasha had raised so lovingly was gone. He only saw Rin twice before he moved to back to Japan, Voltaire going with him. In those two times, in the hospital and in the graves of Natasha and Haru, Rin was as serious as a man that had lived through hell.
As for his life . . .
Susumu looked down, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. He had achieved his plan of the future, marrying Kana a couple of months before Haru and Natasha had tied the knot. On August 2, their lives changed when Kana gave birth to their firstborn, Kai. His bright and adorable son had grown up wonderfully, being a good 'big brother' to his best friend Rin. He always wondered what had broken their friendship, the two never seeing each other after Kai visited Rin when he was in the hospital. Still, he and Kana made sure their child was as happy as possible. He taught his son how to blade and Kai had fallen in love with the sport. His life had been working out well, despite the deaths of two of his best friends.
Of course, that was almost eight years ago.
When Kai was ten years old, Voltaire made him choose between the company – BioVolt, he thought with disgust – or his love for beyblading. He chose his love for beyblading and he lost Kana and Kai. His father didn't allow him to see either of them and he had to learn through a television set that his beautiful wife had died, leaving Kai alone with Voltaire and that horrible man he employed named Boris, much to his horror.
He lost sight of Kai after a couple of years thanks to Voltaire and he decided to try to bring BioVolt down to help Kai. He was thwarted and thrown into a cell where his only link to the outside world was a television set. That's where he had been for some time, watching his son in Beyblade tournaments and wishing that he had chosen his family instead of beyblading or the company.
He had to watch Kai grow up without him, becoming a powerful blader and a wonderful young man. To him, there was no justice in the world. What man had to see his son through a television?
One day, about a year ago, a hooded young man had released him from his cell and he was now a free man. A free man with no courage, he thought bitterly, as he had yet to contact Kai after so long. He probably hated him. He had tried to contact Rin but had immediately hung up as soon as he heard the raven-haired teen cuss at him in rapid Russian (well, Rin probably mistook his number as someone else). He didn't want to imagine Kai's reaction.
"I'm such a coward." He said with a sigh, standing up and giving the old tree a once over. At least it hadn't changed.
"Don't sell yourself out, Susumu."
The slate-haired Russian turned around so quickly that he got whiplash. His eyes grew larger than possible as he saw the young man that stood in front of him, "Eren?!"
Eren chuckled, not looking a day over eighteen, the age he had been when he had died. His gray hair was now completely white and his green eyes were charcoal-black, glasses no longer in his face.
"It can't be. . ." Susumu pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming because that was probably the only thing that could explain why his dead friend was standing right before him.
"Oh, it can." Eren replied, smirking wickedly, "Sorry that I didn't see you sooner but you haven't aged much. You still look twenty-something. Haru would be so jealous. As for why I'm alive . . . well, I couldn't stand being around so many mortals that my 'sponsor' decided to get me out of here. Faking my death is so easy when you're basically immortal."
"Eren-."
"Since you were one of the only humans I ever cared for, Susumu, I'll allow you to use my true name." Eren – no, this couldn't be Eren – bowed, almost mockingly, "My name is Erebus, holy beast of total darkness."
"You're a holy beast?!" That wasn't right. Holy beasts took animal shapes, like how Dranzer appeared as a phoenix. But they couldn't assume human appearance, could they? Susumu looked around and he gasped when he saw he was surrounded by several people he didn't recognize.
"Yes, my dear Susumu." Eren – Erebus – replied with a smile, "We're all holy beasts joined together to form Eden's Rapture. We've hidden from sight for so long, trying to mingle with the humans. It's time for us to rise from the shadows."
"And what do you plan to do?" Susumu asked, sending calculated looks at the other members of Eden's Rapture. They were all smiling at him but their eyes glowed menacingly.
"Destroy the boundaries of the universe to ensure chaos, find the descendants of the cursed family that ensnared my Chaos and of that human mortal that ruined everything, kill the human race, enslave the Elders and rule the universes and dimensions." Erebus listed off emotionlessly while Susumu stared at him in horror. Erebus snapped his fingers, "Also, find a way to revive the fallen. We would both want our dear Haru back among us, right?"
"You're insane." Susumu needed to get out of here but he was one defenseless human against all these psychotic holy beasts.
Erebus sighed, "You did hold onto meaningless morals when you were younger, too. Oh well," His eyes glowed and the shadows around Susumu shifted and wrapped themselves around him. He gave out a yell of surprise as he was lifted into the air.
"Sorry, Susumu, but I don't want to kill you." Erebus stated, "I don't want to cradle the corpse of another human friend like I did with Haru. So, you'll come with us to the dimension our sponsor has kindly given us. It'll also help because we'll need to kill Kai to achieve our plans and I know you won't want that."
"Don't you dare lay a finger on Kai!" Susumu yelled, thrashing against the bonds that had him floating, "I swear, if you hurt him or Rin, I will do everything in my power to end you!"
Erebus motioned at another holy beast, "Please make Susumu relax, Hypnos, before he wakes up the whole neighborhood." Hypnos nodded and raised a hand in the air where Susumu floated and muttered a few words.
The slate-haired man gasped, feeling his body go numb while his vision darkened. He reached for the sky, trying to keep awake. He croaked out incomprehensible sounds before muttering a weak 'Kai' and falling unconscious.
"Glad that's over." Erebus smiled before he clapped his hands together, "Now, time for our plans to begin! I'm afraid that we've made them wait for too long." He chuckled, looking up at the sky, "I'll be seeing you soon, Chaos."
In a faraway dimension where no one but a certain few could enter, three people felt a major disturbance coming from Earth. And those three people were the Seventeenth Elder and the two holy beasts known as Night and Chaos.
~~~EDIH~~~
Anime: Hopefully, this story has started off on a good foot and I apologize to Susumu Hiwatari for the suffering he will have to put up with. Well, I apologize to everyone because of that same reason. Oops.
Night: Do not be afraid of leaving a comment. We would like to ask what you thought and if you dislike Erebus already.
Chaos: What was that last part?
Night: Nothing.
Anime: See ya in chapter 1! It's good to be back!
~~~EDIH~~~
Next chapter: ECHO
Song: ECHO by Gumi