黒より暗い

スターライトストリームの凍結

Darker Than Black

A Frozen Stream of Stars

0章
黒シャドウ

Chapter 0

Black Shadow

Kirihara Misaki burst through the rooftop door with her gun in hand, amber brown eyes searching the cement landscape for any sign of her mark. Her rapid sprint up countless flights of stairs had left her breathing rugged and uneven, her heart beating wildly as she swept a bleary gaze over the scene spread before her.

A thick white fog hovered heavily across the flat expanse of graveled surface. Like an ethereal stream flowing steadily by, standing starkly against a diamond-studded sky. In the distance, Hell's Gate rose as a spindly demon, its perimeter outlined by a seamless blue rim. The only human-made light that shone throughout a blackened city.

In the distance thunder pealed; a final farewell from a storm that had so completely ravaged Tokyo, rivers of rainwater still traveled the tarmac. It was a wonder she was not ankle deep in it, even at this height. Rather, with every step she took, the ground crunched with a layer of ice, the stones beneath shifting reluctantly beneath her heels.

As she cleared the doorway, she felt the first brushes of a breeze ghosting across her person. Calmly at first, gently pulling at every frosted breath that blew past blue tinted lips. But as she moved away from the door, it picked up with a mighty gust that snagged at her ponytail and swung shut her only point of entry. Vaguely she was aware of a lock clicking, and a nervous shiver needled her fingers at the implications of being locked so far aboveground, but instead of attempting to open what she knew would not, she backpedaled until her shoulders pressed against it.

For a brief moment the cold slab of hinged metal supported her weight, its cool temperature leaching through her clothing to her core. The shock of it jolted through her sprint-heated body and worked quickly in clearing her head. The momentary rest also aiding in the calming of the blood that dulled her thoughts.

Rapidly she blinked away the glassy sheen of exhaustion filming her eyes, hoping against reason that the appearance of the one she chased would be delayed a little longer while she recovered. Though whether the threats that had followed her so close behind would also obligingly postpone themselves was not something she was willing to risk. Sooner than she was ready, the one-time Chief of Section 4 Foreign Affairs, began the next step of her pursuit.

Straightening her posture and her glasses, and moving cautiously forward. Further out onto the roof, and away from the solid edifice that had provided her a certain amount of comfort.

Silence pervaded while she moved, rhythmically interrupted by the crunch of gravel underfoot, the now hushed whisper of air rustling around her blue suit and brown hair, and the quietly loud inhales and exhales that chilled her teeth. Every sound she made was an agony. A clamor in her ears she was afraid would block any clue given of her target's location.

When she finally stopped behind the monstrous gray block of an air-conditioner three and a half meters from her former cover, it was with a deep seated relief. Marred only by the knowledge she still had not found who she was looking for.

Licking her lips, Misaki turned her bespectacled gaze skyward.

On finding the pinprick of starlight for which she searched still protruding from its shadowy backdrop, the silver glow of it surrounded by a quivering, azure halo, she felt as though a small portion of the burden dragging down her posture had been brushed away. BK201 had not yet fallen, though the dose of respite it invoked was minute, and almost blocked entirely by a thorough wave of guilty conscience.

The instant she saw she was not yet too late to play her part, reality crashed back down and nearly drove her to her knees. Her throat burned and grew tight, and she covered her mouth in a feeble, last ditch effort to keep the wave of negative emotion from taking physical form. Only sheer stubbornness alone allowing her to succeed, and she pointedly ignored the fluffy ache that grew behind her right eye as if in retribution.

Hands slick with sweat, Misaki readjusted her grip on her gun and made to move forward, and stopped. A slight sound from behind the air conditioner had cut into the oppressive silence, catching her attention. Her heart thudded heavily and anxiety boiled in her throat. Silent, she waited for the sound to repeat itself, her muscles vibrating with anticipation.

It took everything she had not to shriek at the small black blur that darted from around the corner. Midnight wings flapped against the fog as what turned out to merely be a bird alighted hardly three steps away, but Misaki hardly relaxed at the appearance. She still directing the barrel of her Glock at the feathered intruder, still aimed at it with practiced and anxious precision.

As she did so beady blue eyes studied her dubiously from a head that constantly twitched every which way, its entire posture brimming with utter disregard for the weapon that could burst it into a raining cloud of feathers. Then with a sharp click of its beak, the bird said in a familiar, if dry voice, "don't shoot me, Kirihara; your target is much bigger than I, if I recall correctly."

Sagging slightly, Misaki only lowered her aim to the stones at its feet. "What are you doing here, Mao?" her voice was raw and hoarse, and the indignation backing her words barely peeked past a wheeze.

Tipping his head to the side, the bird that was Mao clacked his maw once again then flapped his wings briefly to clear the fog that attempted to obscure him. "I'm not here to interfere, Kirihara. Your target is heading your direction, and thanks to the scuffle below, he has only one way out. There's a maintenance crane located on the far edge of the building, straight ahead of you, and I suggest you head that way or plan to intercept him when he passes your position. You have a chance to fix things, Kirihara, or ruin everything you have gained by letting him slip away again."

With a surprised blink, Misaki made to reply, but before she could emit a word he spread his wings and flew rapidly upward, disappearing into the night sky. Fleetingly she stared into the space he had occupied, contemplating what had been said. And like a knife, the guilt she had earlier experienced stabbed into her chest, nearly cutting off her air. This time, however, she was more prepared, and shoved it back.

There was nothing she could do to right the wrongs she'd done; her only option now was to survive the consequences. And hope she was eligible for the second chance everyone else had been awarded. But she had to earn it, first.

Closing her eyes to focus more on the sounds of her surroundings, she placed both hands back on the black weight of weaponry clutched to her chest. Quietly settling in to wait.

It did not take long.

The sound of hushed footsteps crunching almost inaudibly over the graveled ground reached her long before he passed. Her eyes snapped opened in time to catch his familiar black coat trailing behind him, like a final reminder. For the next three meters he seemed to float along the misty surface. His figure a darker patch of black against a slowly purpling sky.

In one hand she saw the gleaming edge of a duel-bladed knife, the last of many, and in the other a smiling white mask. Or at least what remained of one. Only the top half endured partially intact, and what was left had been freckled by a thick red liquid.

Steeling herself against the shame that returned with a vengeance, Misaki took one firm step to solidify her posture and resolve. Her arms seemed to move in slow motion as she raised the deadly end of her gun his direction, and when she spoke it was with a raspy authority that surprised her.

"Stop H – BK201 – or I swear to God I'll pull the trigger!" she exclaimed, and half expected him to ignore her.

His coat snapped like a whip as he whirled, baring his knife her way hardly five meters away. His dark eyes were wide with exhaustion, and a long bloody slash on his forehead had since reddened one side of his face. Black bangs stuck to the spot, further straining his attempt to see her as crimson trickled into the eye below. A dark bruise was spread around his neck, and while she couldn't see any other injuries past his long coat and black clothes, she highly doubted that was the extent of his wounds.

Angrily she tore herself from the concern she wanted to feel and instead focused entirely on her task. All she needed was to have him caught, and caught now, or risk everything she had ever done up to this point falling apart. As Mao had so clearly pointed out.

"Don't be a fool, Misaki," he said, straightening his posture and relaxing his defensive position, navy blue eyes boring into her own amber gaze.

"I can't let you leave," she maintained, her call slowly deteriorating in her throat when it came more as a plea than demand.

Eyes narrowing slightly, the Black Reaper turned the knife in his hand, etching a meaningless sketch into the fog.

"Why?" he strained in an accusatory volume, "You know what will happen, you know what she wants. If I leave she will follow; you aren't her target anymore. Misaki, what are you doing?"

Jaw clenching and fingers twitching around the heavy metal in her hands, the woman was silent a moment. Quietly mulling over their haphazard, ever-evolving relationship. From one point to the next things were always changing, adapting, advancing, regressing, but through it all they always seemed to end up at the same point. Always on the same side, but never at the same time. Except for what seemed like scattered milliseconds. When the outside forces had drawn back enough not to matter.

She should have known better than to extend those moments.

"Don't," she responded in a shaky voice, taking a step forward.

"What?" he demanded, standing his ground.

"Don't assume you know what's going on here. There are plenty of things you don't know," she grated, her voice starting strong but waning when she realized what she had been about to confess.

Time stopped then, and the only sound was that of a far off peal of thunder. Then the building shook with what felt like a monstrous explosion some levels down, and the sound of shattering cement and crumbling glass reached them only distantly. A detached echo that reminded them of reality, but did nothing to interrupt their play.

Feeling the pressure of the situation return, Misaki battled with herself, her hands shaking as she tried to decide whether to tell him now, or never. If she did there was no gauging how he would react, but if she didn't, he could die without ever knowing the one thing he had a right to. Forced to think about it, in the end, it really wasn't her choice.

Opening her mouth to speak what she knew she had to, she was ultimately silenced when he moved. A short, humorless laugh turned his head to the side as he contemplated something briefly, then looked back at her. His gaze was steel determination and resolve. He shook his head ever so slightly as he spoke, laying his judgment at her feet.

"You still had a choice, Misaki, and from what I can see, you've made it,"

Her sight dropping from his burning anger to the gun aimed his direction, then back up at him again, her stomach churned when she realized she agreed with that statement. He was right. Her actions had and always would speak louder than anything she could ever say, and right now she was, once again, wrong. Pointing her gun at the one man she wanted to trust, and to have trust her.

As he made a motion to continue in his escape, Misaki took an involuntary step forward and applied careful pressure to the trigger, not squeezing it entirely, but close enough that even a fraction of added force would set the mechanics in the weapon working.

"Don't make me do it, Hei," she finally appealed, her voice resilient, "just come with me,"

Pausing, BK201 heaved a frosted sigh, facing her with a posture of rigid, forced indifference.

"I'm not making you do anything, Misaki. You do whatever you have to, and I'll do what I have to, because this time, there is no third option."

As he turned away, Misaki stood in shocked quietude. With her situation staring her blankly in the eye, she knew she was being faced with another, single, obvious choice. Shoot and do her duty, or not and wait for everything she had accomplished to dwindle into nothing. He would disappear once again, no doubt indefinitely, never knowing the knowledge that burned Misaki's throat. Or, the changes she had helped to bring about would die, and Japan – along with the rest of the world – would sharply relapse.

Suddenly a breeze picked up and threw the tail of his bullet-proof coat high into the air, exposing his back. Everything stopped as the choice seemed to make itself for her, and just as she squeezed the trigger a loud crash sounded behind her, echoing the gunshot.

Her hands absorbed the gun's recoil, jerking her arms, and she closed her eyes against the consequences, tears dripping from between her lashes as the cacophony to her back grew louder.

End Chapter 0

Darker than black amv remix two steps from hell

-by: facotex