Author's Note: After facing the reality that I probably won't be able to finish this in its entirety any time soon due to graduating college and moving to Japan, I've decided to accommodate those readers who've stuck around so long waiting patiently for this sequel and post what I've got (which admittedly is a substantial amount of writing). I'm going to be doing it in "chronological" order, which will give it some semblance of an actual complete fic, but will not actually BE complete. It will be, more or less, a smattering of scenes thrown together, with little or no segues from one to another, plus explanations from myself on the occasion that it's not obvious what's going on or why. This is also not to say that I will not, on some rainy day when I tire of using pidgin English to make my way around Tokyo, write more than what I have, or flesh out some scene further, this is simply an admission that I cannot PROMISE that.
So anyways, without further ado, on with the story
PROLOGUE
Somewhere, sometime, there was a boy named Hiwatari Satoshi. He led a sad life, and he succumbed to a sad death. He was happy, once, but mostly he was sad.
He was loved by few, and loved even fewer. But when he did, he did it with his whole being. Perhaps that is why it broke him so. No one dies of a broken heart, after all, but broken bodies are another matter entirely.
And so when he died, perhaps some god somewhere took pity on him. How ironic, that one who was never alone in life should be doomed so in death, they may have thought.
Perhaps they took pity, and gave him dreams. What love he could not embrace in life, he could do so now, far from the waking world, in what might pass for some Elysian Fields of the ancients…
Galatea: Remix
Track 01 – Welcome to Eternity
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start
from now and make a brand new ending."
Carl Bard
"Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always."
Author Unknown
"…You're projecting, right?"
"…I thought you were—wait, when did you turn into me?"
"I didn't! I've been me all this time!"
"Wha—then how are you projecting?"
"I'm not, I'm trying to tell you—you're the one projecting! Look, if you weren't projecting, then I could touch—"
"…"
"…MOOOOOOOM!"
Niwa Emiko had certainly seen a lot in her life. She'd heard tales of the great phantom thief Dark and his escapades since she was a little girl, had seen those escapades with her own two eyes, had watched Dark scale buildings in a borrowed body, flit through the night sky on raven wings, had bewitched and enchanted as best she knew how to help her child through the greatest challenges of his life.
And yet all that she'd been through as a matriarch in the Niwa family couldn't prepare her for the most recent occurrence, as her only son darted down the steps in a frenzy, followed by the boy's own curse.
The observation that Dark was remarkably composed for a supernatural being was her only thought before the seriousness of the situation suddenly hit home, and she slipped smoothly into mommy-mode.
"All right, now wait—wait one moment here…" She held out her hands to silence the throng that had gathered in her dining room, drawing all attentions to her. Kosuke and Daiki were solemn, sitting silently towards the back of the room. Towa was all aflutter over Dark, though, patting him down and checking him for injury, with Daisuke continually trying to bat her away and ensuring the woman that they were both fine. "Daisuke," she snapped authoritatively, and the redhead immediately calmed, attention fixed on his mother. "Just…tell me again…exactly what happened."
"I've told you three times already! I went to bed last night, perfectly normal—" Dark snickered, then quieted at a glare from Emiko, "—and when I woke up this morning, Dark was in bed with me. We were together last night, and now we're separate."
"I've already tried everything I know on him, honey," Kosuke reasoned, "But…there's just nothing. All the magic's gone—even from the artworks in the basement."
Emiko massaged her temples, sinking into a chair at the head of the table, "And we…have no idea how this happened?" All she was returned were averted eyes or outright head shakes. "Towa, what about you?"
"Mmm, it's hard to say, Madam…I don't really…feel different, but I know I am—I suppose I've been out of contact with my magic for so long, I didn't really notice when I had none left…"
"But you don't have, I don't know, some idea of why this might have happened?"
"No, ma'am…" Towa mumbled, "It's as if…" She paused, brows crinkling. "Madam, the artworks, too, you said?"
Emiko nodded, and at Towa's quick glance to Dark, the thief finally caught on. "If the Hikari works are powerless now…"
"—Then maybe Hiwatari-kun had something to do with it!" Daisuke finished, pushing his chair back. "Dark—come on! We'll head over to his apartment right now!"
"Wait, Daisuke!" Emiko called, frustrated, but her son was already down the hall with Dark trailing close behind. "…This just doesn't seem right…"
"Okay, so I get that we need to go see Hiwatari-kun, but…I really don't know what he could have done to make this happen…"
"Neither do I—but your mother's right. I don't have a good feeling about this." Dark ducked his head discreetly, sliding as far into the corner of the far-from-crowded train car as he could. The clothes he'd borrowed from Kosuke did something to help his appearance, but years of dodging the police had the thief more than a little wary about being out in broad daylight. Wrinkling his nose, uncomfortable in the sunglasses he'd snatched on his way out, he frowned. "Course there's not a lot I could be happy about that involves that guy's family."
"You don't—" Daisuke waxed worried, "You don't…think something happened to him, do you?"
Dark paused, giving the suggestion some thought, and when a small smile crept on his face, Daisuke punched him sharply on the arm. "Wha—hey, quit it, I'm kidding. And no, I don't think anything happened to him. I mean, I'm still here, aren't I? If a host kicks the bucket, both curses go away. One doesn't get his own body…"
"Still…" Daisuke hemmed, standing as the car pulled to a stop at the station nearest Satoshi's apartment, "…I am worried."
"Then I guess that means you're not as stupid as you come off."
An unlikely pair if any onlooker paused to give them a once-over, Satoshi and Krad wandered along with seemingly no purpose or ultimate goal for some time—though it seemed none passed. The sun was by now high in the sky, and a light breeze flushed through the streets keeping all the pedestrians comfortable on what would otherwise be an absurdly warm spring day. Others bustled past them in a hurry as they ambled along the sidewalk, with a park bordering them on the left and a downtown street—quiet, save for the occasional salaryman off to a business meeting in a taxi—on their right. Satoshi was the one who took the initiative to slow down dragging Krad over to an alcove in the park away from prying eyes, and suggesting that they sit.
"I think…we need to talk…"
Krad nodded down at him, and complied easily, sliding down beside the boy onto the stone bench, finding it cold beneath the thin material of the pants he was clad in. His robe had fallen away—lost, or faded into so much astral dust—and while he still stuck out among the Azumano residents, as he always would with his foreign features, he at least didn't look like some runaway from a cosplay convention.
Satoshi scooted back onto the bench beside the blond, leaning forward slightly as he rested his palms on the edge of the seat between his legs, adopting a posture that likened him to a child waiting impatiently for a friend on a park date.
To his side, Krad—well accustomed to adopting an elegant stance—now abandoned it to relax into a more casual pose, leaning forward to distribute his weight down his arms which rested on his knees, hunched forward and staring at the ground in his immediate line of vision.
"…Why…did you…try to Seal yourself?" Krad didn't immediately respond, and the boy turned confused blue eyes onto him and pursued his questioning with a more desperate tone than he'd meant to use, "You said you'd do anything I asked—and I asked you to stay with me!"
He had known this would be the first thing Satoshi would ask him, yet this didn't make it a question that was any easier to answer. There was so much that had to be gathered from their time together that couldn't be easily shaped into human words—feelings, emotions that were more easily expressed with thought and will than with the tongue.
"I didn't want…to hurt you anymore…" Though Satoshi said nothing in reply to this, Krad knew this would not be accepted as a good enough answer, and reluctantly elaborated.
"Every moment I spent with you…was spent with the goal of earning some form of requited sentiment from you—tolerance, friendship, and a far-off faint hope of…of love…There was never a second that I looked at you that I did not pursue this objective…And yet I tried so hard without truly understanding why. Was it because you were my Tamer, my host? Because you were the last Hikari? Or because…you were my Satoshi-sama…?
"I don't even know when I stopped trying to gain your affection…when I stopped even caring about myself, how you felt about me, and I simply settled for…for loving you on my own, without hope for recompense. But whenever that happened, I realized…that if I ever succeeded in my forgotten goal…should you ever feel anything for me…how selfish it would have been!
"For me, to ask you to deign to notice me, to care for me in any way—how selfish! We could not even touch let alone hold one another… I could have borne it, but I would die before I subjected you to that. So I made a decision on my own to cut off my consciousness from yours before I delved any deeper—intentionally or not. Sealing is a host/curse pact—not something that can be attempted without consent of both parties…so I threw together the excuse about the Wing Master to make you hate me again…like before—to grant me permission to carry out the task, so that…I couldn't hurt the one I loved so much anymore…" He raised his palms up and cradled his head in them, massaging his temples in weary thought.
There was utter silence between them when Krad's voice fell away—no birds singing here, or cars cruising by, not even a faint whistling of the wind through the trees, and Satoshi shifted a bit uncomfortably beside him, before whispering, "…You failed…because you didn't do it in time…"
He pushed himself up off the bench and turned to face Krad fully, who had stopped rubbing his temples to stare curiously at the Hikari child. The blond let his hands drop back down to his lap and searched the pale face for a clue to his intentions, but none came, until he saw him raise a single palm and lay it on his cheek, cool flesh against cool flesh.
It might have been interpreted as some romantic gesture had the boy been wearing a more content expression on his face, rather than one of mixed curiosity and worry. Krad didn't dare move, instead opting to let the fingers roam down his high cheekbones, tracing over his jaw, before being joined by another set of fingers which explored his forehead, as if memorizing every square inch of his skin, committing it to memory.
Golden eyes closed slowly, surrendering to the darkness and letting the fingers continue over his flesh undeterred. They skittered like spiders down his temples, drawing goosebumps and banishing the tension that had accumulated, then after running parallel down his cheeks again, they met on his mouth, running lightly over his lips, and then fell away.
Only to be replaced by Satoshi's own lips.
As if he'd been jolted by an electric current at the contact, Krad's eyes automatically snapped open, almost desperate to prove the validity (or invalidity) of the brash action that would have been unthinkable of his Satoshi-sama before this. Instead he found that they were, in fact, joined at the lips, with that pale face barely an inch from his own, blue eyes fluttering closed—which prompted the blond to slide his shut again as well.
It was obvious, a moment into the kiss, that the boy hadn't probably planned it—because he didn't seem to know what to do next, so Krad had to resort to yielding ground and leading him through the "basics", deepening the contact only slightly before pulling back, implying that Satoshi should try the same—which he did without fail. It was a give-and-take experience between them for another few moments before Krad took the initiative to release his host, sensing that the boy who was still a child in so many aspects couldn't help himself.
Their foreheads came to rest against each other, and they took a moment to calm their now racing hearts, before Satoshi spoke, "I think…I've wanted…to do that for a while…" Somewhere in the exchange, his arms had loosely draped themselves over the blond's shoulders, entangling them in his still-let-down hair, and he idly ran his fingers through the locks as he contemplated his next statement.
"…Really now?" Krad stopped his train of thought, sending it on a new course, "And why is that?"
Satoshi untwined his fingers and pulled back, "I…wondered…what it would be like…if—if it would be cold, sharp, burning…like being a Hikari, like kissing ice…or…or warm, soft, enjoyable, like kissing…Niwa…"
Krad's eyes noticeably widened, and the expected objection came out in a flood of words, "But—you never—you never kissed the Wing Master! You—"
"I know, I know…" He waved a hand weakly at his stammering counterpart, smiling feebly as he stared at the ground. "But it…I always imagined it would feel…like that. Just being around him was warm and enjoyable, so being with him could…only feel that much better…"
Relaxing with the assurance, Krad backed down, voicing his next comment in a more reasonable tone, genuinely curious, "So…which was it?" Satoshi looked up, confused, and Krad couldn't help his usual teasingly seductive tone that crept back into his questioning, "Was it like ice…or like your Niwa?"
Deferring an immediate response, the boy slid back down into his seat beside Krad, leaning to the side so that some of his weight was pressed against the blond, head resting wearily on his shoulder.
"It was…neither…" He raised a tentative hand to touch his own lips, as if testing them for some trace element left behind which might help him describe it, "Not Hikari…not Niwa…but…not bad…I think I felt…right…kissing you…" He paused again, and the hand fell away. "It wasn't a need, like with Niwa… I needed his warmth, needed him… It was more…I just wanted to…no pressure, just felt right…just…"
His words died away, and he suddenly felt very tired—falling asleep here on this bench leaning into Krad didn't seem like that bad an idea at the moment. As if still connected to him mentally, the blond turned an eye down to the body leaning against him and lifted an arm to make him more comfortable—hesitating only a moment before asking, "If I…put my arm around you…would you push me away?"
He couldn't see the boy's face, but felt him shake his head and reply softly, "No…" And so he did, reaching around to draw the slender frame closer, with Satoshi unconsciously (or perhaps not unconsciously) burrowing in further, one hand clutching the front fabric of Krad's shirt, the other the back.
After a few moments passed, Krad was almost certain that the form huddled against him was asleep, until it spoke up, voice slightly firmer, not so sleep-laden as he would have expected it to be.
"Ne…If I…told you that…I loved you…would you forgive me?"
Krad stiffened and turned his upper body slightly to look down at Satoshi, but the boy clung on even more fiercely and refused to look up, as if frightened that the blond was pulling away in repulsion. He immediately relaxed and soothed the tension, bringing one hand over to run the long fingers through the thin pale-blue hair, smiling wryly. "Forgive you for what, Satoshi-sama?"
"Don't call me that anymore…" the voice returned, slightly annoyed, "I don't…I don't like it when you elevate me like that…"
Blinking a few times and hesitating while he weighed whether or not he could permit himself to do such a thing, Krad eventually conceded, "As you wish…Satoshi…"
The Hikari boy's body relaxed slightly, and he could have sworn he felt a tremor echo into his very bones, but Satoshi finally continued his confession, "I said…horrible things to you…so many times…"
"I deserved them—" Krad interrupted, only to have himself interrupted.
"That's what I told myself," Satoshi continued firmly, tightening his grip on the fabric, "That I hated you, that your pain was nothing, that you'd earned everything…and for a while it worked, because I needed something to hate…and you were always there with me, always endured me…put up with me…And you never fought back—so it frustrated me! I could—I could fight Dark, throw a punch, and he'd punch back. Yell at Niwa and he'd get mad at me for taking my own problems out on him. But I could never get rid of you—even when I wanted to…even when I didn't…or at least I thought so…
"You lied to me again…told me you'd just been pretending to get close to me all this time, trying to make me kill Niwa…and I was so mad…you don't even understand how hurt I was!" He looked up now, a sheen of tears making his eyes appear even more like bottomless pools of water, "Because—because the last person I had who hadn't used me or betrayed me in some way…the last one who'd always been with me, comforting me, helping me even when I didn't want help…And all I wanted was for you to leave me alone…forever…
"But…how much it hurt to be betrayed…by you…couldn't compare to what it felt like…when I thought I was going to be alone again…knowing that the first cut was fake. That none of the time we spent together was a ploy to use me to carry out family duty, that you were just as I'd hoped you were…that…we would always be together…And I realized how much worse it would have been if you'd really disappeared…
"So I'm…sorry…for hurting you…and for asking you this…but—please don't leave! I—I want…it to stay like it was…I want you to be with me always! It hurts me too much to let you go…even though it will hurt you just as much to stay…but…" He pulled himself closer, curling into a ball, "Please…"
Krad regarded the boy silently for a moment, then slowly untwined their bodies and pulled away, earning a panicky look from his Tamer. Standing before Satoshi, he stared down, a pitiable expression painted on his features.
"I'm sorry…Satoshi…but…I cannot stay in your mind any longer…"
Head shaking back and forth in disbelief, Satoshi reached his hands out feebly, voice cracking, "N—no! No! I don't—why?! Why can't you—?!"
"Because—because, Satoshi…" He leaned forward and closed his golden eyes, a content smile rising to his lips as he pressed them against the boy's forehead, "Because…I do believe that I have been granted a body of my own."
"You…what?" His eyes could not widen enough at the revelation. "Wh—but—how?!"
Krad smiled down at the boy, pulling back and sinking down until the two were at eye level, taking one of the now-shaking hands in his own to act as a source of reassurance. He diverted his gaze for only a moment, admitting, "I don't…really know…truthfully I should be in whatever limbo accompanies my sealing, as I am whenever my host dies or when my use has faded—the ritual was perfect…"
He flicked his eyes back to Satoshi's attentive face, catching a bit of sun in the golden glint, "But not that any of that matters…When I awoke in the chamber, I was perfectly aware of my physical self—which meant you should have been in my mind then, but you weren't." He raised one hand and cupped a cheek in it, "The only conclusion I can draw is that by some grand stroke of luck I miscarried out the ritual—whatever energy should have been used to seal me inside Koku Yoku was instead diverted into fashioning a physical body of my own." He sighed low and cracked a grateful smile, "But, however it happened…who am I to question it?"
Satoshi drank in every detail Krad revealed with a kind of awe that was rarely seen on his features, bright eyed and excited, ecstatic beyond measure. When the blond finished and pushed himself back up to stand erect, the boy burst forth, "Then—you're…you're really staying?" A curt nod. "You'll stay with me—really?"
Krad had to suppress a light laugh—the boy seemed to almost be regressing from his normally cool, calm state into one of childish excitement, and it suited him quite well. On second thought, when he gave it further attention, Satoshi's normal emotional state was actually abnormal for a fourteen-year-old boy—not that he'd ever cared in the slightest, mind you. It seemed for the first time in his life the Hikari child was finally enjoying himself, glad to be alive, glad to be…with Krad.
Reverting back to his own usual teasing, the blond adopted a posture reflecting deep thought, "Actually I'd thought I'd go and see if the Wing Master would have me…I haven't had a simple proper chat with Dark in so long, you kn—"
WHAPHe blinked once, twice, three times before he properly registered what had happened—and by this time Satoshi, who had risen from his seat, had pulled back, looking abashed at the playful smack. Krad looked down at his shoulder—which didn't hurt at all really, it was a light punch meant to bring the blond back to his senses after his joke—but, well, he'd never been touched by anyone but Dark before, and those times were anything but enjoyable.
"Ah—I…sorry, I just…" Satoshi was under the impression that he'd gone too far, mentally chiding himself for the action, "I didn't mean—"
"No—no!" Krad rushed to alleviate any fears that he'd been offended that might have risen inside his precious former-host's mind, "I only…was surprised…" An embarrassed smile managed to break across his features, "I suppose I shall have to get accustomed to being able to touch you."
Relief spreading over his face, Satoshi relaxed into a smile again as well, lunging forward, "As long as you want…take as long as you want…and…" The relieved smile twisted into an almost devious grin, "I'm glad to finally be able to exact some form of payback for whenever you bother me!"
"A bother am I?" Krad repeated, face twisting into one of mock horror, and he elicited the desired laugh he'd been aiming to draw from the boy as the two turned and began walking up the sidewalk again, bound for the empty apartment—which was about to welcome a new occupant.
The two continued to chat animatedly (well, mostly animated on Krad's part, where Satoshi was content to listen attentively and drink in every moment they were together) as the city skyline rose into view once they topped a hill.
"N—Niwa?!" the Hikari boy breathed, shocked, drawing Krad's attentions to follow his gaze to the foot of the hill they'd just crested, where a familiar pair were waving wildly at them. Well, Daisuke at least was waving for their attention—Dark seemed to be waving his hand for an altogether different reason, and Krad rolled his eyes at the display. Really, kaitous.