I own not the song referrence nor the characters or anything DGM. I wish I did though...
There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home… a funeral, to really make you appreciate life.
I never could understand people, though. Not before then. People live, people die, end of story. Just part of the cycle of life. I didn't really care. I had a mother and a father, a brother, a cousin, a dog and a home. Whether the neighbor's dog or child died, it wasn't my problem. I still had two parents, a brother and a cousin, and a dog. I never stopped to think maybe I could someday lose everything I took for granted, that maybe I could become a part of that group of people that constantly mourned what they lost, or became lost because they had lost. Not once did it cross my mind.
But then, coming back from another boring day at school, everything changed, my indifferent view of life went to hell faster than I could blink, and before I knew what I was doing, I'd followed the trail of blood leading from the road into my home, only to wish I'd never gone in. Inside was somebody's bloody masterpiece, waiting to be appreciated. My mother, her uterus ripped open, hung from the fan upside-down, her jaw open to an unnatural level, arms tied to a pole in a twisted version of St. Peter's crucifixion, cuts everywhere on her pale, naked body. My brother I noticed had become a part of our television, or vice versa, his torso having been replaced with the not so big apparatus, his jaw also unnaturally open. My cousin I found in the kitchen, throat bulging with what I guessed were either apples or oranges that had been shoved down his throat, strings keeping one foot seemingly holding knifes while the other foot was tied with a string to a branch of some sort, his arms cut open and stabbed onto the wall so it looked like they were wings spread out behind him, his head turned so it looked like he was staring at the branches. It was a sick version of the eagle shown in American dollars, except his expression was frozen in terror, his jaw hanging open, probably dislocated from having something so large shoved down his throat. I followed the bloody footprints leading up the stairs into my parent's bedroom, and vomited as soon as I walked in. My father's innards lay spread about on the bed and all over the floor, showing a smiling clown's face. My father himself was all over the room, his body having been dismembered and nailed to the walls. Walking further into the room, I looked around, not finding my father's head. Finally coming upon the door, I looked up, and nearly fainted. My father's head had been nailed up above the doorframe, his mouth having been pulled to an unnaturally large grin, his face covered in make-up that made him look like a clown. I'd seen enough. Turning my eyes away from the rather disturbing image, I ran out of the house like a bat out of hell, not remembering our dog until I found myself in the next city. How I got there I'll never remember. All I do remember is constantly calling my dog's name, maybe in vain hope that he'd run out somehow and he'd find me. He never came.
Now you might be wondering why I'm recalling such a dark part of my youth. Naturally, I've never been able to forget this; I was only four when this happened, so it's seared into my memory. It doesn't take much to remember exactly how everything looked. Now, suppose for a second I got sent on a mission to investigate rumors of a haunted house in hopes we'll find some innocence, and that this haunted house just so happened to be the house where my family was killed. I think the last thing anyone should worry about would be my recalling my past.
"Moyashi, will you move out of the doorway? It's a skeleton, it's not that shocking." I heard Kanda say behind me, but I couldn't move. Her body had been left there? For the past twelve years? How? Why?
It seemed Lavi finally noticed my state. "Oi, Allen, buddy, you alright?" he asked, but I ignored him. I'd realized, if her body had been left there, then…
Finally moving away from the doorway, I walked forward, staring at the area where my brother's skeleton still was a part of the television, easily recalling his face. Tearing up, I moved to the kitchen area, where my cousin was still a fucked-up eagle. I looked at the stairs, following the bloody footprints with my eyes before reluctantly physically following them to where my father's remains had been used to paint a creepy clown across the floor and bed, then to where his skull was still hanging above the doorway. I turned away, not daring to walk any further into the room, only to notice what I'd missed so many years before in my hurry to get out of the house. More bloody footprints, now dried and flaked, leading to my room. I followed them, failing to notice Lavi and Kanda behind me, both with a worried and disturbed expression on their faces. Opening the door, I examined the room carefully, noting the small amount of dried blood that was smeared across the walls, at least compared to the rest of the house. The living room had been my mother and brother, the kitchen my cousin, the master bedroom my father's, so whose blood was this? I looked up at last, and finally found out where my dog had gone. I finally snapped, though Lavi and Kanda didn't notice. They couldn't see my face after all.
"So, I guess I wasn't supposed to be out so late that day, huh?" I said to myself, voice calm in spite of how I was feeling.
"What do you mean?" Lavi asked, his voice betraying how nervous he felt.
I looked at the ceiling and studied carefully the positioning of each of my dog's limbs. "If I hadn't been gone, he would've left my dog alone…" I whispered, the tears finally falling.
"Your dog?" Kanda asked, his voice sounding more confused than anything.
"This was my house… twelve years ago. The skeletons you saw are what remains of my family." I finally explained, staring at the skull peeking from above the fan.
Silence followed. It seemed neither Lavi nor Kanda knew what to do or say. An hour passed, or maybe it was a minute, and finally it seemed Kanda had made up his mind. Grabbing Lavi's arm, he dragged him out of my room and the house, leaving much in the same way I had the first time, in spite of Lavi's protests. I didn't care. I made myself comfortable on the floor, continuing to stare at my dog's skull, not once feeling tired. Nighttime came quickly for me, as did the screams and howls of pain that constantly echoed off the walls of the house, screams and howls of my family as they were murdered, then later yowls of a dog as it too was slain. Silence lasted a short while after the dog was silenced, starting up again soon. It didn't bother me. I continued to stare at my dog's skull, unknowingly crying the whole time.
...(TT^TT)...
"But Yuu, we can't just leave him there! It's nighttime already, I can hear the screams coming from that house still, and I can bet you all the money of the world that Allen's still in there staring at that dog's skull!" Lavi said, once again trying to convince Kanda out of leaving Allen.
"Yes, he probably still is. I'd be damn surprised if he hadn't become another skeleton himself." Was all Kanda responded.
Lavi made a shocked noise, staring at his partner, unable to believe his ears. Kanda noticed, and groaned. "Look, he's lost it already. You saw the way he was staring at that skull; he'd rather die than leave that house. Besides, we were ordered to leave him." He said.
"But still…" Lavi muttered, unable to feel at ease.
Seeing Lavi's indecision, Kanda gave in. "Look, fine, we'll go and check on him, alright? If he doesn't agree to come along, we get the hell outa there, got it?" he said, and Lavi perked up immediately.
"Of course! Let's go!" He said, grabbing Kanda's arm and dragging him to the house.
The howls were a lot louder inside the house than they had been outside of it, however, and somehow Kanda found himself re-experiencing his much more paranoid side once again. "Oi, hurry the hell up! The stairs aren't rigged or anything!" he hissed at Lavi, whose hair was standing on end.
"Right! No problem!" Lavi said, flying up the stairs, Kanda right behind him. Following the footprints on the floor again, they came upon that same room, finding Allen sitting on the floor, still staring at that skull, crying.
"Oi… Al, buddy, come on, you gotta get out of here eventually ya know?" Lavi said, getting no response out of Allen.
Kanda groaned again. "Let's go, idiot. I'm not gonna wait here forever." He said, kicking Allen's side, who finally noticed them.
"Why'd you come back?" he said, honestly perplexed.
Kanda rolled his eyes. "Because Lavi wouldn't have shut up if we hadn't, now let's go, this place is giving me the creeps." He said, and Allen smiled.
"But it'll never leave…" he started, but Kanda cut him off.
"Yeah yeah, save it, will ya? When you've lost everything, that's when you realize what you had and what was really lost. When somebody dies, that's when you realize how beautiful life really is. But until then, you remain a cold-hearted bastard. Mourning it won't do anything. You have to have known death to really feel alive, lies to tell the truth; you have to have at least tried once to be able to quit. But you haven't. So get up and let's go, the world won't wait on you." Kanda said, shocking both Lavi and Allen, who laughed, finally getting up off the floor.
"Ashes to ashes, then. It's only fair, after all." He said.
Ten minutes later, the three of them found themselves standing out on the road, watching as the haunted house burnt to the ground, taking with it its horrible memories.
"Why didn't you ever say anything, though?" Lavi asked, staring at the fire.
"Would you say anything?" he responded, and Lavi understood.
"… Doesn't mean we won't understand. You're not alone, moyashi. Not anymore." Kanda whispered, and Lavi smiled, nodding.
"Yeah. If you need someone to talk to, someone that'll listen, you can trust us. We're here for you when you need us." He said.
Allen smiled softly, feeling wanted for once. He decided it was a nice feeling. But of course Lavi had to go and ruin the tender moment.
"And if you ever need a good fuck, you can count on Yuu!" Lavi cried out happily, dodging Kanda's blade immediately.
"BAKA USAGI! PREPARE TO DIE!" A blushing Kanda yelled, chasing Lavi all the way back to the hotel, Allen running after them, laughing the entire way at Kanda's and Lavi's comments.
_O(^.^)O_
"So… there was no innocence, just a haunted house?" Komui asked the three before him, who nodded simultaneously.
"Mmmmmh… well, okay then. You're dismissed, I guess." He said, waving them away. 'Kanda and Allen were sitting a bit too close though… Maybe… Nah, I'm probably just tired…' he thought, missing the light moan that echoed off the walls near his office, a moan that sounded a lot like it came from Allen, followed by a chuckle that only Lavi, and rather recently Allen, could testify belonged to Kanda.