Title: Below the Crimson Sky
Author: That Dastard Cerberus
Characters (central focus): Yukimura Chizuru, Kazama Chikage
Pairings: Kazama Chikage/Yukimura Chizuru (I dub it Oni Ship)
Rating: T
Warnings for the reader: blood, cursing, violence, implied sexual content
Setting: Kazama's route (with some aspects of the movies)
Summary: Chizuru has lost it all. Her family, her friends. Now nothing remains of her old life, just as before. Yet she does have something from the past. A single man who she once regarded as an enemy. And her adventure is far from over. In fact, it has only just begun. For both of them.
Length: I dunno
Genre: romance, historical, friendship, adventure, fantasy, lotsa shit
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Idea Factory/Otomate does. But if I did . . . well, let's just say some people would lose their sanity, while others would . . . erm . . . yeah.
-::Below the Crimson Sky::-
-:Chapter 0 – The Flag:-
She had cradled it close to her bosom, choking back a sob. She wanted to cry, she desperately wanted to let the tears flow, but it seemed all she could manage was a strangled sob, the tears having already been shed long ago.
He had prepared her for the worst. He had told her this would be the result, what the most likely result would be. She had been a fool to doubt him, yet she was an even bigger fool for denying her own feelings, her own fears of what will become of her dear friends.
Her only family. The man she had once called Father was dead and gone. The people she called friends, who protected her with their very lives, were nothing but ash now. She had no one now. She was all alone.
She couldn't think, she couldn't feel. Everything was numb, pointless. Why was she even here, cradling a burnt, torn, and bloody flag to her chest? Why must these things happen?
Pain. Not on her body, but an overpowering ache in her heart. Nothing mattered. Everything had crumbled to ash. Everything was gone. Nothing will be the same again, and there was no going back
It seemed that thought had finally broken the dam that held the tears back, and she had cried, trembling, her body so very numb.
"Why… why did this have to happen? What was this even for?" These questions were directed at no one, just a pathetic cry to the universe over the circumstances this cruel world operated under.
This war served no real purpose, he had responded, after a moment of silence. He continued on, his voice once again lacking all emotion, simply explaining something she was becoming more and more aware of, day by day.
Weakly, after hearing his droll, she had countered something, she didn't remember much, about how not everyone had just been in the war for money or fame. He had agreed quickly, still using that same tone, as if it were completely rational.
How did he make everything sound so rational?
She remembered briefly arguing with him, something over the validity of their deaths, wanting to find meaning desperately in the carnage. But he only spoke the cold, hard truth, with his last point being;
"Still… I can't seem to hate them for such a thing."
Even if he found their actions foolish, even if he called them idiots, he saw something beyond all that. Something to admire. She could tell that's how he felt, too, as he was no longer using that same droll.
His tone was soft, his ruby eyes strangely gentle. For once, she had forgotten that this man was not a monster that had tried to kidnap her. He seemed almost—
Human.
Eventually, the conversation turned to the future. He had told her, his voice returning to the simple droll she was so used to hearing, that he was going back into hiding, never to be seen by man's eyes again. It made sense, after all. This strange new world was not suited for the oni. They were too powerful, too independent, too prideful to be tamed. That was something to be feared by the government, and so it was the best strategy to flee now and never return.
He didn't sound upset about this state of affairs. She knew it too well. He had little love for humans, so no tears will shed during this separation. He might even jovially laugh, for all she knew.
When he posed the same question to her, she hesitated. She didn't know. They had brought her here, yet now that they were gone.
She will stay, was the response. She didn't know why she had responded that way, but it was her answer, and she will stick to it.
One day, she will learn to feel again. Whatever the future held for her, she didn't know, and that was fine. She had stopped caring about the little things, anyways.
They parted that day, and she watched him leave, the setting sun casting a crimson light over the devastated land before her.