Nihilus Mortem

The two officers stood next to each other and watched as the two young boys finally got reunited after a night full of nightmares. Despite the weather being slightly cold and unfriendly, the boys' happy reunion seemed to seep some warmth into the unpleasant atmosphere.

Fujimura was slightly unsure of what to do. Sure, the boys were back together again, but what now? His unasked questions were soon answered when both of the boys now turned their attentions to the two officials. It was the older scarred boy, who began to talk,

"Thanks for everything." He tugged White behind him, ignoring the pain in his injured hand, "But my buddy and I have to go now." He grinned at White, "We've got a promise to keep."

Fujimura however was not agreeing with him and hesitantly took a step towards the boys, "But Black, what about your inju-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as both of the boys waved and took off into the sky, leaping from roof to roof. In a couple of moments, both of the youngsters disappeared out of their view.

Sawada only let out a chuckle,

"Well, everything's back to normal, I guess."

Fujimura was not so calm about this. With a worried and exhausted sigh, he replied tiredly,

"No. Nothing is the same anymore."

The old officer was staring off into the distance. He never prayed in his life, but in that moment his thoughts were filled with small prayers of good fortune for the two young lives.

The wind crashing and ruffling their hair up as they leaped from roof to roof felt thrilling. The draft they created by slashing through invisible walls, springing from the concrete ground and reaching for the sky… Neither of them enjoyed parkouring this much, even though they used to do it every single day. But today was different – they were back together again and never to be separated ever again. Both of them had huge grins on their faces as they closed on to their former home.

Neither of them spoke but words were not necessary – they knew they headed home only to pack up and leave finally. They had enough money to escape now, and they are going to use it for their salvation.

Paradise awaited them, and they were eager to go.

"Why are we going after them? We never did tail them or anything." Sawada asked as to Fujimura's command they were sitting in the car and driving towards the home of the two orphans. The older officer kept looking out of the window as he spoke,

"Black is injured, tired and White is incapable of taking care of himself. Black can't take care of White in the state he is in, plus homeless street folk are disappearing. I don't want them to fall into the same tragic destiny."

The younger officer raised an eyebrow, "I must ask, why are you so soft on them? They are just stray cats, as you had put a few months ago."

The experienced officer was silent for a short time. For some reason, he felt like he should finally pour his sin out to someone, someone who is less human and would frigidly digest the sin he couldn't wash off from himself. He also felt the cold and sinister feeling in the air, which was heading towards the two young, innocent, but tainted souls. His answer came in a whisper, the chilling truth that was constricting his heart,

"It is my fault that they are orphans."

Still slightly wobbly from his injuries, Black landed next to White at their messy home. Without exchanging a word, they in a calm synchronized movement, began to pack the remaining belongings of theirs. White noticed the small photo attached to the rear mirror. With a smile, he took it and put it into his shirt pocket which was located just above his heart.

When Black was done, he looked at his younger sibling, who nodded in approval. They took off once again, this time heading for the magnet train that was heading out of the city.

The young officer's eyes widened but before he could say anything, his superior ordered him to take the next turn and head to the magnet train instead. He had a feeling the siblings won't waste a minute in escaping.

This was it! They both were now springing house to house, roof to roof and noticed the magnet train that was now starting towards the airport. With renewed strength, they now headed for the train. They reached the last roof and it was White who jumped first and landed gracefully on the running train. Black was only a moment behind him, but since his leg was not fully healed, it could not handle the amount of stress it received, so he crash-landed on the train, and began to roll from the vehicle much to White's horror who immediately leapt after him and caught him before he fell from the train's roof.

They were waiting at one of the crossroads for the lamp to turn green. It was then when they noticed the two figures leaping roof to roof and sped towards the magnet train. Fujimura yelled in frustration and urged the younger colleague of his to speed up before it is too late.

White was holding onto his older brother desperately as he was hanging from the moving train. It took all of his little muscle's strength to not let go of his only family. Black was still shocked from the fall, but the adrenaline pumping in his veins kept his muscles tense and he could still hold White's hand.

He felt the rhythm of the train, the sweat wetting their intertwined hands, the steady but fast beating of his heart, the smell of concrete and metal… All of his senses were now extra sharp as he literally was hanging onto his life.

He can't die now. He has a promise to keep.

He clenched his teeth and with unthinkable, unbearable pain, he began to pull himself up, but not with ease. As he ordered his muscles to work, the wounds on his body began to throb and his muscles began to shake and loosen up.

He then felt White pulling him up and this gave him plus advantage and began to put his weight onto White who kept pulling him back onto the roof. Within minutes, that felt hours, Black was finally up, and they were holding onto each other, both of them panting from the shock they got through.

This was their last test, they thought. They were finally free.

Both of them grinned and began to let out howls of happiness.

They were finally free.

Still imprisoned in the car, the two officers watched as the red magnet train zoomed past several lightposts with two figures on one of the train car's roof. They were still far away from the station but to reach their destination was now pointless. The elder of the two sighed bitterly and put his face into his hands.

He was consumed by guilt.

With one last flap of his arms, he finally broke to the surface, bursting out from the salty water and threw his head back in joy. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm sun's gentle touch on his slightly sunburned skin.

"HEY! I FINALLY FOUND YOU, BLACK!" yelled a very familiar high-pitched voice. Still with his eyes closed he grinned and dove back underwater, hearing White's distorted and disappointed yell.

With a grin, he began to swim towards the shore, when he noticed his brother has entered the water too. His grin widening, he flapped his arms and legs more rocketing towards White, followed by the small bubbles and distortion he made underwater. When he was close enough, he wrapped his hands around his thin ankle and pulled him hard towards him, making him squeal and swallow a handful of water in surprise. Black once again burst out of the water and he was soon joined by his little brother still chocking on the water he swallowed.

He only chuckled and waited till he could talk which happened soon,

"I'm gunna get you for that!"

"Oh yeah?" he raised an eyebrow, knowing his little brother was weaker than he was, "Try me then."

Quickly taking up on his offer, he frontally – already failing, thought Black – attacked his sibling. He put his hands on his shoulders and tried to dunk him, but instead of dunking him, he lifted himself into the air, surprising even himself.

Black let out another roar of laughter, and embraced his brothers' knees and threw him over his shoulder, making White scream and land face-first into the water.

His brother quickly came back to the surface and jumped onto his back, giving him a headlock. After wrestling a while, they ended up on the wet seashore, resting peacefully, sometimes blanketed by the gentle touch of the ocean.

"Hey, Black!" White began as he watched his brother resting, a smile on his face, eyes closed.

"Hm?"

"Are we gunna be like dis forever?"

"Till the end of time. You have any regrets?"

"Nope."

"Good."

"Do you?"

"Nah." He grinned and stretched his limbs.

They were finally home. Where the wind was welcoming and the ocean was protectively embracing them.

The city was cold as always. The wind spread it's invisible wings and leapt towards the premises of Treasure Town and zigzagged between the concrete colossuses, ruffling the citizen's hair in the process.

One particular citizen was Fujimura but he ignored the wind and continued his walk towards the station. This was his last day at the police, he resigned a few days ago when he lost sight of the two boys. Despite Sawada's bickering he didn't say anything about the statement ha said a few days ago the day they disappeared. He became silent and reserved. He walked towards the train station to take one last glance where he spotted the young ones last.

When he finally reached his destination, he looked up to the sky, in time to see a small flock of pigeons taking off to the sky, much like the kids did days ago. Just as he was to leave, his phone began to ring. With an annoyed sigh, he answered it. It was Sawada,

"Hey, chief, I know you wanted to be alone, but Boss is asking for you. He said there is one last small autopsy examination you have to visit."

Fujimura didn't even bother to answer. He cut the line and started walking to the morgue with a slow pace. The person was dead anyways, why the hurry?

In the distance, a crow let out a pitiful cry and took off.

Fujimura's footsteps echoed as he entered the morgue. An old woman was sitting at the reception desk, reading a book and she didn't even look up or greet the new-coming officer. The people here were no longer in a hurry. Everything was slow, dark, and lifeless here.

It's not like it bothered the old officer. He didn't even care anymore.

As he was closing on the two-winged doors he always did whenever a new murder happened, the doors were open from the other side by the familiar face of his so-called-colleague. He was not a direct partner of his, but a distant, as he was the person who examined the dead bodies and sent the results for the Station. His name was Takamori, and he and Fujimura went back for years.

Instead of the official stoic expression he always wore when a new body was discovered, his face was distant and cold when he addressed his partner,

"Fujimura. I've been expecting your come, but hoping it not." His scowl turned bitter, "Though… I don't know why you were sent this time."

The old officer shrugged, "I'm not really bothered by anything, really. This is my last day here."

Takamori had a sorrowful glint in his eye, "You won't like this." He stood aside and let the elderly officer enter the familiar corridor which let to the examination room.

"I didn't touch any of the… corpses." The doctor hesitated.

"Oh? So there are more?" asked Fujimura nonchalantly. The corridor they walked through was dark, but not sinister – it had the feeling of lifeless peace, which was accompanied by the footsteps which echoed in the atmosphere.

"Yeah. You'll see." His hands were on the doorknob as he looked at the retiring police officer, "The bodies were not moved. They are still in the same position as they found them…"

Fujimura knew about this. Several dead bodies were grown frigid after they were left to rot at the scene and it was hard to move the limbs after a certain amount of time. Seems like this was the case again.

The door opened, Fujimura entered the humble examination room and hastily looked at the examination desk. All he could see was two piles of clothes, and two blades pointing out from either end of the bodies. He blinked and his vision was clear – the pile of clothes were revealed to be two small children, clutching onto each other. Both of them wore a blue jacket, and one of them had a green frog hat on and-

The blood in his veins froze as he slowly realized whom is he looking at.

There, right at the autopsy examination desk lay the two orphans whom he desperately wanted to save from this tragic fate.

With shaking legs, he approached the two broken bodies. He didn't even feel the small tears which were gathered in his eyes.

Black was holding White protectively, with a small smile on his lips. His skin was now dead white, and trails of tears were still visible on his face. White, on the other hand was holding onto Black as if he was shielding him from an upcoming attack. They were both trying to protect each other however death has struck from behind them. Both of the swords protruded out of their hearts, which meant their death was instant, alas not painful.

"People say, they were thrown off from the roof of the train." The doctor said quietly, "And an old man found them not so far from the rail tracks. They… they were in this position when they landed on the ground."

Fujimura listened, but didn't really care as he noticed something that was in White's chest-pocket. With trembling hands, he gently took out what was now smeared in blood and slightly torn – it was the photo the boys cherished the most. Their first picture ever created when they were still toddlers and at the Zoo.

Tears were now flowing from his eyes as he one last time looked at them and then turned away to exit the morgue. It was clear that they were murdered; there was no need for his assistance now to the police. One thing he knew for sure.

Their death was meaningless.