-----------------------------------
Loss
Chapter 1 The Search
By Mokora
-----------------------------------
Mio, shaken from too close of an encounter with a violent spirit earlier, knew where to run. She knew who to run to. He was always there. Even though he didn't know who she really was, she felt a feeling with him that she hadn't felt in a long time. Safety.
She dashed down the path, sobbing hysterically. She was so lost! They were everywhere! She stumbled, recovered, and carried on. Where was Mayu? What did they all want from her? She passed the reddish lantern and headed for the small door concealed by the house corner that jutted out and brush. Closing it slowly, she collapsed in front of the snow-haired boy's cell. "Yae!" He called, rushing to the barred window from the depths of his cell, hearing her cries. Her sobs racked her body violently. "Calm down, Yae! Please!" His voice was gentle but persistent. A moment later, her crying lessened to mere tears sliding silently down her cheeks in never-ending streams.
There was a long silence as Itsuki gazed at her. It hurt him to see her, for it brought back extremely painful memories of his brother's ceremony. A very fleeting image of his hands grasping his beloved brother's neck flashed before the backs of his eyelids and he winced, gasping quietly.
"Itsuki?" Came her voice, like a songbird's. She brought him pain, she brought him happiness. She stood, her tear-stained cheeks shining in the moon's eerie light. She peered in his cell as he brought his face close to hers. "Yae…" He said, looking away, another disturbing image of his brother's ceremony surfacing in his mind. She turned and rested her back against the wall beneath his barred window.
She debated whether or not to finally tell him who she really was. He thought she was Yae. She had grown to love his snowy hair and his phantom-like face, his sad little smile. He was the only good thing about that godforsaken village. The only thing worth fighting for.
"My name's Mio." She said finally, after thinking for a long moment, a very distant expression overcoming her. He turned, his eyes wide. "What… are you talking about?" He asked quietly. She gave a difficult sigh. "I'm not Yae… I wandered into this village because my sister, Mayu, ran off… I don't know who this Yae is, but…" She was overwhelmed with sadness. She wanted to be Yae at that moment, so that maybe he could look at the real her with that same love he looked at the so-called 'Yae' she resembled. He remained contemplating rapidly.
"But… You are…" He murmured. She turned around to face him. "I'm not!" She said more forcefully now, regretting it immediately after. He showed no offense though. His pale hand crept out through one of the bars and brushed her fluttering bangs aside softly. "Sae…" He breathed, seeing for a moment in all of his exhaustion, a vision of the innocent Sae he'd known before any of the killing had happened. Mio furrowed her brow and stood back. "Sae? Who's Sae?" She asked, confused. He gave a startled look. "You… You really don't know?" He asked, shocked. She looked even more confused now.
"It's true then…" He muttered, slumping against the wall of his cell and sighing heavily. Mio kicked the old dirt path with the tips of her mud-stained shoes. "I… I don't want to be alone anymore…" He rasped, tears welling in his eyes, causing a fleeting sting. Mio turned. He rested his hands on the bars loosely. She placed hers atop them, giving him a stern, reassuring look. "You're not alone. I'm here, Itsuki." He looked at her, a feeble sense of intendancy obvious in his ghostlike face.
"No giving up, Itsuki. No giving up." She whispered just loud enough for his ears, gazing into his eyes which lit up like mirrors of ice. She sighed and closed hers, slowly resting her head on her hands, which were still placed atop his. He swallowed hard. This girl was making him feel a feeling he'd felt before, but not for a long time. An eternity, it seemed. He felt a warmness rise inside him. The memories of his hands tightening around his brother's neck, the priests chanting, the many candles spanning across the golden room. He felt the air thicken, the sickening smell of raw blood and flesh reaching his nose. He was dragged back into that night, reliving it willingly in his mind. He tightened his grip, refusing to look into Mutsuki's eyes. His heart beat rapidly, the blood pounding in his ears. He felt his brother grow icy, falling slowly. He winced as his heart throbbed. He felt the pulsing of the chants, the persistence of the kill. No, he shouted in his mind. His brother! How could he?! How could he kill him?!
Mio was startled as Itsuki pulled away from her frantically, vanishing into the darkness of his cell. "Itsuki?" She called from the bars, seeing his huddled figure a ways away, shaking. "Itsuki…" She turned away, placing her hand over her mouth, suppressing the need to weep. She felt a pressure in her throat, a knot forming, which urged her to cry even more. She couldn't take the pressure anymore. She fell.
Itsuki rose. He gazed down at her feeble figure below. She hugged her knees tightly, asking the same question over and over again in her mind. 'Why?' 'Why twins?' 'Why?'
Itsuki reached down for her, partly apprehensive, partly fearless. His soft fingertips stroked the top of her soft ebony hair. She looked up seeing his beautiful white face. Suddenly, she wished they were the only two people that existed. Just her and this beautiful boy. She clutched his hand tightly, feeling better instantly. "I'm so lost, Itsuki…" She said, standing slowly and still grasping his hand. "No," He responded. "You're exactly where you're meant to be." With that, he reached out with both arms and pulled her gently toward him and the bars. Her breath quickened, her cheeks flushing.
"I don't know why…" He said after a moment of this difficult, yet meaningful embrace. "I don't know why I'm doing this…" He admitted. "Maybe it's because you resemble Sae… I don't know… But I need your help… I need to escape." He let her go. Mio, deeply hurt at the fact that he only held her because she reminded him of this 'Sae' now, nodded. "I know." She responded. He sighed. "The key…" He motioned to the dimly silhouetted door back in his cell. "You'd have to find it. I'm sorry, I don't know where it is…" She motioned with her index finger his silence and was off into the night without another word. He sighed, feeling his heart beats quicken. "Be careful." He whispered, imagining a dainty little Sae dashing off to rescue him.