Firecacodemon: Welcome to Sakura Petals, a Darker Than Black one-shot

Sakura Petals

A Darker Than Black Fan-Fiction

Written by FireCacodemon

One-Shot

Pairing: Misaki x Li

Disclaimer: Darker Than Black belongs to Tensai Okamura

The gentle wind picked up some fallen sakura* petals off the ground and carried them off towards the nearby city. Fate was already in motion as the sakura petals were carried by the wind. The wind decided to split the sakura petals and drifted them to two different locations; the midnight sky twinkled as the fake stars twinkled in the form of a heart beat of the corresponding contractor they were linked to. The more active the contractor was, the more the star twinkled or just stopped twinkling and shone in the night sky. The stars seemed to move through the space they were given as many contractors who worked together, their stars seemed to be closer to each other and enemy stars moved away as if they were being repelled from each other. The real stars and the real sky were hidden above the force-field type cloud which prevented the humans which lived below from leaving. With Hell's Gate dominating a huge area of land in Tokyo, it looked clear that there was something lurking in Hell's Gate which had power over the strange phenomenon which was occurring in the present day. With all the artefacts taken from the gate and a contractor's wish or desire to steal it or to return it back to where it belongs, hidden away in the void known as Hell's Gate. Contractors grew to fear the gate and to stay away, regressors* fear the gate too if they've managed to pick up a normal life again or if they wanted to they could regain their abilities and become monsters again. Fate played everything. It played all the cards. The cards came in many shaped and forms, living or inanimate or even psychological, fate can play it. This time, fate played the card in the form of sakura petals. After all, winter had finished and spring was now in play.

Three sakura petals were carried away to an apartment building. Seven individuals rented different rooms while the building was owned by an old married couple named Misuza Oyama and her husband, Toshiro Oyama. The two had a strange relationship when a tenant had stayed for a while or even knew of the couple. Questions were raised on how the two had remained together to this age seeing how Misuzu treated Toshiro but everyone could tell that it was just how they ticked together, how they worked together to bring the people living nearby a home. Other tenants didn't mind the relationship the landlords had with each other, as long as they had a place to stay, which was all they cared about. The building itself was well looked after with rooms which mirrored other rooms but the space was perfect for anyone. The only negative point of the building was that the walls were designed to be thin; thin enough that sound can travel through. With majority of the tenants being loud, out-going or quick to bring a party home, the building was a good place. The first couple of nights might be a struggle to adapt to a new surrounding but over time, one got used to the tenants weren't a bother. Apartment 2-0-1 had an open window.

The petals were blown into the apartment, one petal landed just inside the apartment, settling down on the wooden floor as another petal landed further ahead, closer towards the sleeping tenant. The third and final petal in the small group of petals landed on the cheek of the tenant. The soft touch of the petal disturbed the sleeping male as he sluggishly brushed his cheek, wiping the petal off from his face. Fate had left its mark.

A distance away, the wind played with the other petals from a sakura tree, taking the petals towards another apartment building. The lights were on from the apartment the wind wanted to deliver Fate's card but the wind needed to wait a little longer before the tenant in the apartment would open up the window. The wind waited outside as it watched the tenant through the glass, juggling the sakura petals outside. A female police officer with her nose in the file of a contractor known as BK-201, the Black Reaper, the mystery that walked the Earth, Hell's Gate's ultimate monster. The contractor which slipped out and away from the police each time they collided. The police officer scribbled down more notes in the file after another encounter with the untouchable contractor. The bullets bounced off his trench coat but even when aimed at the head, he moved out the way so fluidly, like electricity. It wasn't much of a surprise if his body held the constant current through his body and when active, cut the current and re-directed it to his hand when he took a life or threw the wire which conducted the deadly electricity. The police officer placed the folder down and pushed herself up from the soft cushion of the seat she was sitting on and moved towards the window, the wind waited as she unlocked the window and lifted up the wooden frame to create the space for the wind to deliver the sakura petals to the target of Fate. After depositing the falling sakura petals, the wind turned to leave, it has finished the job Fate had given it and there was nothing left it could do. Fate had made another mark and now Fate's game began. Life started once more, hibernation was ending and life started to awaken from the winter slumber. Plants could start growing, no longer threatened by the harsh cold environments or the sudden downfall of snow or hail. With the temperatures rising, trees were starting to bloom, the sakura trees already blooming as pretty pink petals covered the flowers.

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

Midnight eyes opened as the sunlight stirred him from his sleep, a few birds flew by the window and chirped to each other, engaging in a casual conversation with each other while the humans didn't understand, the male slowly looked over to the window, expecting to see the black cat with a red collar and a bell waiting for him on the small balcony. The balcony was empty. He waited for a few minutes before he gently ran his fingers over his cheek where the sakura petal had fallen. His eyes shifted as he noticed the three sakura petals lying motionless on the floor with one on the pillow. His mind rewound what happened during the night before sleeping, the usual contractor life he lead in the dark, taking down another rival contractor with his 'gift' from his sister. The curse which meant that he no longer had his beloved sister with him; he wondered what his power would be. Over eating of food, lack of sleep, the constant feeling of isolation? He had his team and even with his silver haired doll, he still felt lonely. Was that his payment? Or was his payment the loss of his sister? The younger sister he swore to his parents to protect and to deem himself as her human shield. The loss of his sister made him realise how much he altered his life to protect her, and to now protect Yin with his life. Very irrational but that was just who he was. The human shield, the soldier bound to the Syndicate to serve them until he died. Such a pathetic life to lead but he didn't care, he stopped caring long ago. Removing the covers off him, the male slipped out from the covers of the futon and walked over towards the window. Something strange was felt under his toes, looking down he saw one of the sakura petals. The window was open and spring was just getting started.

"I must have been so tired that I forgot to close the window..." he muttered to himself as he felt the cool breeze of the wind brush up against him. The black tank top covered provided a good first form of warmth for him, already absorbing the sunlight heat for the wearer to enjoy; short black boxers were left on. Hei moved to shut the window, feeling the cool breeze from the early morning hours, he slid the window back towards the other window and locked it. He'll have to open it when his feline companion decided to turn up but until then, he was left to his own devices. He needed to shower, dressed, fed and then get his next order. First off, having a shower, his hair was getting greasy and it irritated him quickly. Appearance for Li was a key element for his charm. Li was a natural player of women if he needed to get something off them. Hei moved away from the window and moved to take a shower, if Mao did turn up then he would have to wait for Hei to finish sorting himself out. Hei never took long but Mao would be chased off if he was seen in the surrounding area, much to Hei's amusement.

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

Misaki Kirihara awoke the following morning, the window was left open since last night and it had let in a gentle breeze, creating a cool atmosphere in the apartment. Misaki moved the covers off her as she swung her legs over and off the bed, pushing herself off the mattress she felt how cold the apartment had gotten because of the open window. She left the bedroom and walked over to the window and closed it, a few sakura petals lay perfectly on the floor before Misaki noticed them. Bending down, she picked up the pink petals and examined them. 'The wind must have blown them in' she thought to herself and gently picked them up, they felt soft and smooth in her fingers but the quickly opened the window and put the petals outside, only to have the wind blow them back inside before she could close the window. After a couple more attempts, she ended up giving up on trying to get the petals out of her apartment because the wind kept blowing them back in. She left the petals and carried on with her work on BK-201. She painfully had a day off so she couldn't exactly go to the station and crack down to work.

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

"Hei," Mao spoke as he reached Hei's balcony, it wasn't much of a surprise when he saw Hei already devouring his breakfast, his hair still a little damp and very untidy as Hei had used a towel to try and dry his hair, it was short enough to dry quickly anyway. Hei looked up from his food and saw the black cat waiting for him to open the window so he could get in. Hei took another huge mouthful of food before he placed the bowl back on the table and moved to open the window for his feline companion. Most of the other tenants in the building were flat out from their lively party last night so Mao was allowed in for a short while. "You sure took your time, eating more healthy foods?" Mao asked as he hopped in through the window. Hei didn't reply. Mao's purple eyes scanned the room quickly to see if there were any sources of water available for Yin to observe. When he didn't find any, Mao turned his attention to the younger contractor who had returned to eat his breakfast. "Hey, are you even listening to me!" Mao yelled at Hei.

"Pets aren't allowed here, I can easily report you and you'll be chased out by a broom once more," Hei's voice was cold and harsh towards Mao.

"Don't get mad at me because I'm cutting into your precious morning, we both know you didn't exactly sleep, just laying down while your body recovered."

"Do we have our next mission?"

"Not yet, Huang hasn't told me anything yet."

"So, Huang's keeping us in the dark?"

"He might be sleeping. Even he needs a rest once in a while." His attention returned back to Hei as the contractor put the now empty bowl back down on the wooden table. A small scent took the air as he picked up the scent of the sakura petals in a neat little pile on the table. "Leave your window open last night?"

"Yes." Short and straight to the point, something Hei was good at if he didn't want to talk. Mao sighed.

"You know, you could at least have a decent conversation with me."

"You came during breakfast, if you haven't got any news, why come?"

"Can't a contractor see his team members?"

"Not during breakfast." Mao didn't say anything else; he did kind of bring it on himself for disturbing Hei without any good to tell him. Yin might be asleep which was good; Mao often took naps during the day while Hei took naps thought the day to recover his energy levels.

"I'll go ask Huang," Mao said and Hei nodded. Letting Hei eat, Mao established communication to Huang. Hei waited as Mao did his own little task, the food wasn't going to eat itself. Hei watched Mao out of the corner of his eye to make sure he knew where he was. The apartment was recently cleaned so didn't exactly want Mao to make a mess in the room. It wouldn't take long to clean but he would prefer to have no mess at all. Mao's ears twitched.

"Huang say anything?"

"We've all got a day off. The syndicate don't seem to have anything for us to do," Mao said as he stretched. "That gives me a lot of time taking a long rest. I'll go and tell Yin." And with that Mao left Hei alone. Hei watched as Mao left...only to get caught by Misuza. Hei could hear her screeching at Mao from outside even with the window shut. Hei smiled to himself nervously, wondering what is going to happen to Mao...he continued to eat a few minutes after.

"If the sakura trees are in full bloom...I've never been to one before but I might as well experience what a hanami* is like. I'll see if Misaki's free."

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

Misaki couldn't believe that she didn't know what to do with her spare time. It was something that she didn't think would have a major factor in her life. It was more painful being off work because she knew that Li was probably working and everyone else was working too. She gave up trying to uncover more secrets about BK-201 and felt like trying to find something to do to pass the time. She moved to put the files away before her phone buzzed on the living room table. Growing confused, she picked up the phone and saw it was an unknown caller. Cautiously, she flipped the lid of the phone and went to receive the call and moved the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Misaki asked cautiously.

"Miss Kirihara? It's me, Li Shengshun," Misaki nearly dropped the phone to hear Li's voice on the other end.

"Li? Don't you have work?"

"No, I've got the day off, some sakura petals drifted into my apartment..." Li sounded really nervous. Her mind immediately jumped to Li being held hostage by BK-201. "...I was wondering...if you..." He paused again. Was asking her something really so hard? "Would you like to come to a hanami tonight?" That was when Misaki dropped her phone. It bounced off the table and landed on the floor face down. Misaki scrambled to pick up the phone to answer her friend. She never had been to a hanami before but she knew what she was going to be watching (after her team talked about it after they went to one) but she had the chance to spend it with Li, something she wanted to do for a while, ever since she first met him and hang out with him. From what Saito had talking about it, it did seem like fun. Just a pain that she was so worked up about BK-201's activity she passed the opportunity. She had a chance now. Picking up the phone once more she gave off a small nervous laugh.

"Sure Li, I would love that. Where do you want to meet up?"

"You wouldn't mind if I brought a friend of mine too? She's never been to one before so I said I'd take her." Misaki felt her mood dampen, she would have preferred it to be just the two of them but if he's already made the commitment, then trying to change that wouldn't work out for her.

"Yeah sure, I was kinda under the impression that it was just going to be us two..." Misaki cursed herself for saying that to Li.

"Today is the only day I know I've got no work. Sorry Misaki..." Li apologised down the phone, just hearing his apologetic voice made her feel slightly guilty. She should have just kept quiet.

"What's your friend's name?"

"Her name is Yin, she's a good friend of mine."

"Yin huh, sounds like a nice name."

"I'll see you at the park tonight."

"Yeah, see you then. Take care of yourself Li."

"You too Misaki," and with that the phone was hung up. Misaki smiled to herself. Using a payphone wasn't the best but she knew that Li didn't have a mobile phone like everyone else did. It just made him different from everyone else, a nice change from modern people like herself. So she wasn't spending the time with Li alone, it was with Li none the less.

"Just wish that time moved quickly now..." Misaki smiled as she looked at the three sakura petals.

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

Time passed slowly since the call between Misaki and Li, but darkness had fallen and many people were coming out to come and have their own little hanami parties themselves. With the sakura trees shedding off their petals, it was a memorable sight to watch. Without the Black Reaper around for the night, Misaki would be on edge as she might suspect that the Black Reaper would come and attack somewhere while Li would be there to calm the nerves down. They just needed to meet up at the park where they could finally be together as normal people...as normal as they could get anyway.

Misaki looked around to see many people had already picked their spots and were already setting up for the night, happily talking to each other as they continued their lives, unaware by the nightly battle against contractors the police were used to. She looked around to try and find Li, she could see some spaces which she would have preferred to sit down and 'camp' at but she was sure that Li would have something planned for them already. Her excitement was starting to build up at the thought of being by her crush. Sure they were going to have Li's friend there too but it was something that her and Li was going to be doing together. That was the highlight that she could see. She spent the whole day just thinking about this one event. She wasn't even sure how much Li was thinking about the event. She had come out in casual clothing, the same clothing she had when she bumped into Li while at the shopping centre, something warm but not revealing, perfect.

"Misaki, we're over here!" She turned to see the smiling face of Li with his arm in the air to draw her attention. She smiled and walked over to him, standing behind Li was Yin, her silver hair was down and her lilac eyes were empty as usual. She wore the same gothic-styled dress she wore normally but she was holding onto Li's free hand. A small spark of jealousy shot through Misaki's body but she didn't show it. That was Li's friend? She didn't looked exactly the way she had imagined Li's friends would be like but if he was happy, she shouldn't complain. "Glad you could make it."

"Thanks for inviting me, is this Yin?" She asked.

"Yeah, Misaki, this is Yin, a dear friend of mine," he introduced the two of them. Yin simply nodded.

"Pleasure to meet you," Yin said in a monotone voice as she slowly looked up at Misaki and gently pushed up one side of her mouth into a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too," Misaki smiled. 'She's a doll...?' Her mind flashed that question up in her mind, why would Li have a friend who's a doll? More specifically, she had seen Yin before with BK-201, was there some connection between BK-201 and Li? "So how did you two meet?" She needed to know.

"We met near the pond; Yin had her feet dangling down into the water and I copied her, we got talking and became friends," Li lied to Misaki, Li and Yin met in the Syndicate and gave Yin to Li and ordered him to take care of her since she'll be helping him on his missions. He didn't argue and took Yin under his wing. Yin didn't mind about the lie, it was a nice cover up and Misaki believed it, that was all that mattered.

"That's nice to hear." Misaki wondered if water was how her spectre got to places, she couldn't exactly ask in front of Li. "Are you blind?"

"Yes." Yin answered.

"How long have you been blind?"

"All of my life."

"Come on, let's just sit down, I brought us some drinks and snacks," Li spoke cheerfully; Li was always in a good mood, no matter what was going on. It was a special gift that only Li seemed to have, the ability to stay positive and slowly infect everyone around him with his happiness. Misaki and Yin slowly sat down on the large blanket that Li had brought out, they were stationed under a beautiful sakura tree. Li was in the middle of Misaki and Yin, Yin was on Li's left while Misaki was on his right. Misaki couldn't help but smile, this was turning out already to be a good night. "So, how was your day off?"

"It could have gone quicker; I was really excited to come here tonight."

"Same, time just seemed to slow down so much that I didn't know what to do with myself," a chuckle escaped from Li as he looked up at the night sky, the contractor stars twinkled slightly in the dark sky. Misaki looked up at the stars too, she noted that star BK-201 was away from the other stars, preferring the isolation it had. Misaki laughed on the inside, she was starting to think that the contractor stars were like children sometimes, they grouped together, preferred isolation sometimes it was amazing how she thought about the stars. Her vision was obstructed for a split second as a sakura petal fell off from the sakura tree and landed on her glasses.

"What did you do with yourself?" Misaki asked as she slowly took off her glasses to remove the petal.

"I emptied out my fridge," he said nervously which made Misaki giggle; she should have suspected that Li would do something like that. That was something only Li would be able to do and it amused her to no end how much he could eat. She could eat a lot but it was like Li's digestion system wasn't what everyone else has, it seemed to be able to digest a large quantity of food when Li didn't do much and all the extra food never showed up on his body, he was always thin, not dangerous thin but thin enough to make everyone jealous.

"You never put on weight though."

"I think it's a gift but I just look very weak so I can easily get picked on by tougher looking people."

"What happens then?" She asked, not believing what she was hearing. How could anyone bully Li?

"Nothing bad happens as such, just more annoying."

"Ah, well as long as you're okay."

"I always am."

The three of them sat back, Li poured out a glass of water for Yin, and she gently put her finger into the glass and sent out her spectre so she could watch the sakura petals fall. Misaki and Li looked up at the sky as the wind plucked their little toys off the sakura tree blooms. Misaki felt her face warming up as Li brushed his shoulder against hers. It was something about the atmosphere which just made things easier.

"Li, thanks for inviting me out," Misaki said in a gentle voice as she felt herself become more comfortable, from being nervous about being with Li, she now felt calm. There was something about Li which made things perfect.

A stronger wind blew as more petals were blown off the sakura tree, the petals drifted down to Li and Misaki as Li brought out snacks from a small woven basket. The strong scent of Li's cooking started to fill the surrounding air, making Li's stomach and her own stomach to growl. Both of them started to laugh, one thing they both had in common was their love for food and consuming larger than normal quantities of food.

"Guess we should eat then?" Li laughed.

"Yes, what did you pack?"

"A lot..." Yin spoke softly.

"That's not much of a surprise," Misaki laughed.

"I've just got to go shopping tomorrow for my breakfast." A sakura petal landed in Li's hair, Misaki smiled and gently reached for the stray sakura petal. It felt soft and smooth in her fingers, much like the sakura petals that blew in through her window this morning. To think that this spawned off from three sakura petals drifting in through their windows was something she couldn't explain. Li lay the food on the mat, everything looked delicious and it got her body ready for food. Li's cooking was one of the best things she had ever tasted, not even taste from a professional chief matched Li's natural talent for cooking. "You're free to tuck in."

Sakura Petals - Darker Than Black

The food was amazing as usual and it was starting to become clear that Li and Yin were both tired; Yin had already fallen asleep, lying down peacefully under the sakura tree. Her silver hair covered part of her face before Li gently moved the hair off her face, the sleeping doll was vulnerable on her own, with Li and Misaki around, and she was safer. Of course, Li couldn't go all Black Reaper because Misaki was there and she would just strike him down and hand him over to PANDORA. Misaki watched as the petals fell before she felt Li gently resting on her; she looked at him to see his peaceful sleeping face. Whatever had kept him up during the night, sleeping was starting to claim him. His breathing was silent as a few sakura petals landed on both her, Li and Yin. Misaki gently moved her arm and placed her arm around Li, pulling him closer.

"Thank you Li, for doing this for me," Misaki whispered to her lover. Li shuffled closer to Misaki, snuggling up to her warm embrace.

"Love you...Misaki..." A quiet, tired voice spoke.

*
Sakura - Is another name for the Cherry Blossom trees.
Regressors - Contractors who have lost their contractor abilities for whatever reason.
Hanami - 'Flower watching' parties.

FireCacodemon: Took me a while to write this but I'm proud of it. I've been meaning to write this for a while so I feel better now that I've written it.

Li: Leave a review or a favourite. Thank you.

FireCacodemon: Bye everyone.