Author's Notes: This is sorta strange. I wrote it when I was home from school with a cold. ^_^;; That might explain it's oddness. Anyway, I can't really explain this well - so just read it already! ~_^
Warning: Slight shounen ai at the end, and depressing themes.
Darkened Expiration
As long as I have lived, if I have even lived at all, I don't recall ever encountering anyone quite like him. He is like me; in more ways than one. I can tell just by looking at him. That tall, lithe form, dark hair that shadows his face which holds no expression. His eyes are emotionless, staring straight ahead as if looking into the beyond. Every day I see him now, walking in slim black jeans and white T-shirt, stretched at the collar. I noted that as a sign of stress, that's been haunting him for some time now. Although I know I will still regret it when I take that pure soul.
He doesn't notice me, although I am in clear sight. Or rather he pretends not to. Anyhow, I will find out soon enough. Today was not the day, however, and I have decided to use it to observe the boy, maybe discover something that no one else has bothered to try looking for. I notice he is carrying something in his left hand. He grasps it tight, as if it will fall away at any moment. He looks at the ground in front of him as he walks, assuming he will not encounter anything. And he won't, for there is nothing in his path.
As I follow him, I notice there is something different about today. There is something not quite familiar about his walk today. He should have turned back by now. I can tell by looking at the sun that it is past his regular walking time. He keeps going, and doesn't show any signs of abnormality. I keep thinking that he will turn back any moment, but he doesn't. I wonder if he hears the crunching of my boots upon the leaves. If he does then he is not acknowledging it.
I hold back for a moment, and a deadly silence passes over both of us, but he continues walking, as if nothing has changed. He does not even look up. I resume my pace, slightly frustrated and bewildered by the boy's behavior. It wasn't normal. Something wasn't right.
As we walk I sense that we are nearing the ocean, for I can slightly hear the waves as they break against the rocks, and I can feel the air moisten around me. There is a slight breeze, and it tousles the boy's hair, revealing his eyes. I almost gasp when I see them. There was an extreme intensity in them that disturbed me, yet they were beautiful in their own way. From what I can see they are blue, with somewhat of a Prussian tint. With such dark hair I would have never guessed.
Time concerns me as we near the shore. The leaves that were once crunching under our feet are no longer, and now it is only the nearly untouched sand. He has been walking for nearly an hour longer than normally. It is cold now, but that does not phase either one of us as we walk. There are no longer any trees for me to blend myself into, now it is all endless open space, but I shall take the risk to walk behind him. I have not seen him look back once the entire time, so I figure it's worth it. It will be difficult to hear my footsteps over the wind and the sounds of the ocean.
Finally he brings his arms up and they wrap around his shivering frame. I almost smile, and at the same time feel the urge to walk up and take the boy into an embrace, warm him, confront him, from whatever his troubles may be. An unusual feeling passes over me, and I frown, trying to erase these thoughts from my mind. Yet I cannot help but notice how his shirt rides up ever so slightly as he holds himself, exposing that tiny bit on pale skin on his slim back.
Minutes later the waters of the ocean finally come into view. I have forgotten how beautiful they are, and I long to touch those waves, and let then glide over and under my body, consuming me in a somewhat majestic way. However, the boy is not heading directly towards the waves, he his heading for a mountainous path of rocks that runs along one side of the coast. It was a moment of rare serenity that came over me as I looked at them, the waves splashing against them, as if trying to leap over the wall that if blocking them from their freedom. I pity them in a way, for it is too high for the waters to leap.
A tremendous amount of suspense and fear washes over me as I realize where the boy is going. I stop dead in my tracks as I watch him approach the cliffs. He stops for a moment as well, looking up at them, then drops his arms back to his sides, one fist still clenched, as I remember that he holds something within it. I bite into my lower lip as it begins to tremble. He is planning to ascend the cliff. With a moments hesitation, I continue walking; I will catch him if he falls.
My tension rises as he escalates, and all I can do is watch, because I am not permitted to interior if the boy decides to commit suicide. In a way, I guess that makes my job easier, but there is definitely something different about this one. Something that makes me wish he won't do it.
Despite my worrying, I cannot tear my eyes away from him as he continues to scale the cliff. He does so with unbelievable grace and stability. It's almost like he is not afraid to fall to the slightest extent. This worries me as well, and I take a step closer to the cliffs, although I am still very far away from him. His eyes are no longer peering down at his feet, but at his destination; the peak of the cliffs. They are squinted slightly from the strong gusts of wind that come occasionally, and I am certain they are stronger up there with him. I see something that I either I hadn't seen or wasn't there before in his eyes; determination.
I am trembling now, as he nears the peak, in fear and anticipation, but also in curiosity. I wonder that if he is going to jump at all, why is going to jump? Has he no one to live for, no one that will stop him? He seems so confident that there is not a soul who would. I sudden realization occurs to me. Is this how he is supposed to die? I feel my knees weakening below me. He is going to die for his own selfish purposes? I do not want to sit back and allow this to happen, yet I am not supposed to feel this way. He is my victim! Why am I caring so much?
A strong gust of wind snaps me out of my thoughts, and I look up, as the wind is threatening to take the boy's life as well. My eyes narrow as I notice that he is at the peak. I do not remember how long he has been standing there, but he is standing still. He is looking out into the endless sea, and I notice he is no longer determined. He has reached his destination. I watch with wonder as he brings his fist up, and slowly releases his grip on whatever if concealed inside. He stares down at it, unblinking, then brings his other hand up and touching the object. It seems as if he is pushing buttons on a small device. I cannot make it out at all from such a distance, so I patiently wait for him to be through.
He presses the object just a couple more times, then slowly kneels down so that he is at his knees. I squint my eyes in effort to see what he is doing more clearly, and I see him set the object down at the peak of the cliff. I blink in pure disbelief, and the overwhelming curiosity is killing me. Yes, I knew I sensed something strange about this boy. His mysterious charm was not the only thing unique about him.
Much to my relief, the boy slowly backs away from the peak of the cliff. Once he is far enough away from the edge, he turns around and begins jogging down the cliff. I wince as he stumbles on rocks, but he never once trips, and he is down in much less time than it took him to get up. Although I am relieved that he did not kill himself, I am concerned that he has spotted me. He has not looked at me, however he would have to be blind to not notice my presence now. He is walking closer to me, eyes down at the ground in front of him again. My instincts tell me to get out of the way, but I cannot bring myself to move. He walks closer, and finally turns, as if avoiding me, his shoulder and arm barley brushing up against mine. The feathery touch tantalizes my entire body, and I do not move until the sound of his footsteps has faded away into the background.
Once I recover from the effect of his skin against mine, I am up the cliff in a flash, and I kneel down just as he had done, and peer down at the object he set down. I pick it up in my hand and observe it, immediately assuming that it is some sort of stopwatch. As a further investigate, I realize that it is, and that the timer is still going. It has been 11 minutes and 42 seconds since the timer had been set. I estimated that as the time it took for the boy to get back down the mountain and leave the area. I am still, however, utterly confused. Suddenly, I feel loose paper on the back of the timer where my fingers are gripping. Raising my eyebrows, I turn it over, and am shocked to find a piece of paper with writing on it taped to the back of the timer. I immediately scan the writing with my curious eyes.
"By the time the timer reaches an hour, you will have missed your chance to claim my soul."
I gasp out loud, which is something that happens rarely. I am usually not overwhelmed with surprise such as this. However, it is very rare that a victim would know what was happening to them. I wouldn't know, but I suppose they can feel when it is there time to go. Realizing that he would had to have seen me to have written this note, I was shocked by how calm he seemed ti be when I was around. It was almost as if he welcomed my presence. I am surprised at the way the thought of that soothes me.
When I glance back at the timer which is still in my hand, I see that five more minutes have passed. I do not have much time. He must have set it up that way. I had taken us at least an hour and a half to get to this point, and I have even less than an hour. I make a promise to myself that I will not let that boy take his life.
I run as fast as my legs can carry me back to where the boy calls his home. For once I am thankful that I am not human, or else I would not have the ability to go as fast as I am. I am sure now I am just a blur of darkness, a shade of gray, a whisper in the wind. And all I can think of is that the boy whom which I followed and saw something rare in would soon be with me; forever and always.
My will to be with him carries me forth, and even though I do not have much time left, I am confident that he will wait for me until the final second. As an approach the small home that I have been stalking around for just a couple of days now, I do not bother to knock on the weak wooden door. I push it open with the very least of my strength, and I see him standing there, blade at his wrist. He sees me, and a smile teases his lips.
"Why must you test me?" I asked, gliding over to him. I wrap a strong arm around his waist and hold him firmly in place, then carefully remove the blade from his hands. His fingers uncoil rather easily, and I place the blade on the counter that conveniently was right beside us. I wave us relief washes over me. He is no longer in danger, and he is finally in my arms, and I will shortly possess his soul.
"Just wanted to see what Shinigami was made of." He said softly. He had such a low, mysterious voice. It suits him quite well, I like it. I brought my other arm around him, pulling him closer to me, so I could smell that scent that was purely him, mixed in with damp scent of the ocean.
"Just call me Duo." I told him, brushing my lips against his. He melted into my embrace, eagerly returning the kiss, making extremely difficult for me to concentrate of my objective. I broke the kiss off reluctantly, leaning over so that my lips were brushing up against his ear.
"Close your eyes." I whispered. Even though I didn't see it, I knew he would obey me. I closed my eyes as well, and in an instant we were both consumed by darkness. He did not cry although I knew he was experiencing severe pain. All I could do was hold on to him, and wait; wait for end to come.
...Wait as he entered darkened expiration.
~PrussianCrystal
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