Another Hishigi fic. Because he's awesome. And angst-monster though he may be, I enjoy writing him.

Summary: A flawed creation does not deserve to endure when its usefulness has come to an end. And there is only one person who can keep Hishigi alive once he has reached that point. Minor HishigixFubuki. One-shot.

Warning: Shounen-ai implications, Hishigi-angst.

Disclaimer: Alu does not own SDK or her beloved angst-monster :(

Flawed

Hishigi turned away from the mirror in disgust, shamefully securing his mask over the left side of his face.

He hated the Eyes. Hated them in a way he had never hated anything before.

Hated them more than anything but the True Mibu who had trapped him in this rotting shell of a body. They, in their ignorance, had left this flaw that every day grew more evident, every day tore at his form, and that had taken one of his dearest friends and would one day take the other. This hatred, like a burning coal within him, was strange. Hishigi was not one for such intense displays of anger. He was a reasoned person, a logical person. But when he thought about Hitoki and the reconstruction project, and felt the Devil Eyes writhing within his body, he could not help but hate the True Mibu with all his heart.

Because Hishigi had found no cure, and was finally beginning to see that he never would. Finally seeing that a grave was all he had left to achieve.

So he focused his hatred. He despised the Aka no Ou, hated him, wished him nothing but death, but Fubuki wished to protect both king and clan, and Fubuki was the only reason Hishigi had not succumbed years ago to the disease ravaging his body.

So he would fight Onime no Kyo, thinking only of the fact that the Demon Child was True Mibu as well, and trying to forget whom he was saving.

Hishigi was dying, and he would die without killing the Aka no Ou. He was not strong enough even to try.

But perhaps he could kill Onime no Kyo and save Fubuki, because Fubuki was all that mattered anymore. Protecting him would be Hishigi's grave; he had already decided. There was no way he could save them both, not against Kyo and Yuan and Julian and the rest of the Mibu traitors.

Yes, Hishigi was still strong, still a merciless, efficient killing machine; but he was falling apart, breaking down as the Devil Eyes ate away at his body. The pain grew worse every day as his left side continued to deteriorate, and the Devil Eyes kept him alive even as they fed on his life, tearing his body apart. Hishigi knew he didn't have long. Even if he did not waste the Eyes' power, or fall in this battle, he had well under a year left; probably less than six months.

Because the moment the Eyes began to gnaw at his mind, Hishigi would end them. He would never let the Eyes take him. He would remain himself until the moment his death caught up with him; he had run from it so long…but now he was tired of running, tired of denying Death any longer. Truly now, he welcomed its embrace.

For Fubuki, he had lived far past his time. And now, for Fubuki, he would die.

---

As his crimson eye faded into darkness and he collapsed into Fubuki's arms, he sighed, lamenting that he could not fulfill the promise he had made to Muramasa so many years ago. He could not save the friend he had lived for and loved.

End

Need I even mention how angsty Hishigi fics are…? On another subject, I love this pairing. I love it lots. I also love HishigixAkari friendship. Which is what I'm writing next.