Sakura Winds: Protector
Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei belongs to Matsushita Yoko; I only borrow her characters to play with them
Author's Note on Sakura Winds: Sakura Winds is a series of one-shots, like cherry blossom petals on the wind. Each "chapter" will be its own story. If a one-shot is well liked and I am told about it, Imight change it into a story. That would require reviews asking me to or e-mails.
As all of my stories, please review and say what you did AND what you didn't like.
Author's Note on Protector: Words that are underlined are supposed to be emphasized. This story is rated T since I would rather rate higher than lower.
Protector
Tatsumi made his way out the side door, watching over his shoulder so that no one would see him. Earlier, after three straight hours of staring at the inventories and spreadsheets on his computer, he had come to the realization that he needed to escape the office. Immediately. Leaving his co-workers a note on his door saying "Do Not Disturb, Work In Progress", he had slipped out, heaving a deep sigh as his wandering walk took him into the center of a park, the wind making the cherry trees seem to exhale as well.
"Why does it always fall to me?" He wondered aloud, idly catching a falling petal in his palm. "Muraki shows up, I protect Tsuzuki and Hisoka. Tsuzuki wants to die; I protect him, Hisoka in the process. A difficult case assigned to Watari? I take care of it alone, making sure that he doesn't hear a whisper of what needed to be done. Why though? Why do I feel the need to protect them from everything?"
He stopped walking and sat down between the roots of a tree, his view of the department closed and the horizon now filled with pink and blue hues.
"Tsuzuki." he whispered, a smiling face popping up in his mind, violet eyes twinkling, sparkling. "It's so hard to watch the pain that ripples across your face. So many things get you joyous, make you smile. But so many other things can rip that away in an instant. You wallow in misery or jump in happiness, and when you're happy, it's infectious to the rest of us. When you're depressed however, it spreads faster than the plague, and I would do anything to desperately try to fix that."
Another face appeared in his memory, letting amethyst eyes fade into emerald, and short brown hair blend into short dirty blond hair.
"Hisoka, you look so young, I think that everybody here wants to protect you, in any way that they can. You appear as if you can't protect yourself, and when your empathy strikes you down, that feeling increases heavily. It's sad to see you and Tsuzuki trying to protect each other . . . almost like seeing the blind leading the blind. Neither of you can do it, but you think that you can, and it's up to me to see that you don't fall . . . or fail."
Long blonde locks replaced the short hair, and golden eyes smiled at him, sparking; the sour green disappearing.
"Watari. You're harder than the others. You've been here longer than Hisoka and you still smile, like Tsuzuki does at the height of one of his sugar rushes. The problem with you is that your power is . . . no, not weak, that's not the right word."
Here Tatsumi stopped talking, a frantic search for a proper word going on in his mind.
"Fine. Random. It's random as an attack power and it's random as a defense. You would have to pictures with you, ones that you could draw over or trace and then pull to life. And as we all know, the bad guys won't stop in battle to graciously allow you to whip out a pencil and sketchbook. Emotionally, you're one of the strongest here. Mentally, you know how to deal with what buttons will set you off, and you know how to deal with the buttons that set off your friends, to see past what they want now to what they really need. Physically . . . you need to be protected. And by the time that Tsuzuki is emotionally out of it and running wild, Hisoka will be mentally damaged and worlds away, and you. . . will be left alone to face the darkness if I'm not there, smiling all the way to a second death."
"Why?" Tatsumi cried out, eyes searching the white clouds above him. "Why does it always fall to me?" His hand clenched, fingernails drawing blood from the half-crescent wounds they created.
"Damn it! Why am I always the protector?" Tatsumi screamed, letting the fury that had been building in his heart fly. Jumping up, he blindly began punching the tree trunk in front of him, inadvertently causing cherry blossoms to collect in his hair, to rest on his shoulders. Sinking to his knees, harsh breaths issued forth, half choked by sobs, his head resting on the rough bark.
"Why can I never be the one that's protected? Yes, I know I'm stronger . . . physically, mentally and emotionally. But even strong things break if the hammer is hard enough! Rock is eaten away by raindrops, metal by water . . . my soul, each time I fail in protecting them. Every time I see one of them bleeding, broken, screaming in agony or helpless. I'll need to be protected, someday."
Tatsumi stopped, wiping blood on the tree.
"Right now, I am still protecting you, protecting your faith in me as your protector. I'm shielding all of you from my breaking dam. Even now, I am still doing my duty. How long can I continue this?!" He started to scream, "How long does my soul wither and scream by itself?! HOW LONG CAN I PROTECT THEM, AND SACRIFICE MYSELF?!?! WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ALL OF YOU?!?!?!"
Tatsumi's voice dropped.
"Even the hard things break, shatter. And in the end . . . who would protect me, if I fall? Who could protect me?"
"Tatsumi?"
He turned, half-rising and clutching the abused tree beside him for support. Three figures in his eyes swam toward him slowly; one wearing white, another gray, and the smallest one a blue blur.
His grasp on the trunk slipped and he fell, closing his eyes and bracing for the impact, his bones ready to slam into the ground.
Who would protect me? Who can?
