What If
By: Hitokiri Musei
Rated: K+
Summary: Drabble/one-shot. What if Nisei had been able to convince Misaki to kill Ritsuka? What if she had strangled him? What if…
"Soon Ritsuka will come through the door. You can grab him by the neck… and strangle him."
"Ritsuka's…neck?"
"Until he stops breathing. You have to be sure to crush his windpipe."
"…and then you'll come home?"
"Yes."
Ritsuka walked through the door silently, looking around for his mother. He was slightly wary of her, though he didn't sense the animosity that he usually felt upon entering his home.
Soubi did not follow him in; he waited outside for his charge to go up to his room. No doubt the Fighter would be waiting there once Ritsuka got upstairs. The boy moved slowly, cautiously, into the house, his violet eyes scanning the room looking for his mother.
"Mother?" he called quietly.
There was no response from the seemingly deserted house. Ritsuka's ears raised just a bit, the caution starting to make him nervous. His tail whipped back and forth, anxious.
"Mother, where are you?"
Ritsuka cried out as he found his mother lying on the floor not far from him, breathing a little heavily and sweating. She seemed to have pulled herself here, from where Ritsuka couldn't tell. He went to his knees beside her, placing a hand against her back. "Mother, what happened? Are you okay? Mother!"
She didn't answer him, only turned slightly to look at him. Ritsuka felt a stab of fear at the look in her eyes, and his ears lowered reflexively as he drew back slightly. "M-Mother?"
"Seimei… Seimei said…"
Ritsuka sighed. "Mother, Seimei isn't coming home…"
The boy blinked as she turned, her hands rising towards him. It was obvious that she was delirious, her eyes unfocused and her body shaking slightly, but she still seemed to be slightly aware, her hands moving slowly upwards. Rituska didn't move, his ears lowering more, almost pressed flat against his head as his mother's hands settled against the back of his neck.
"Seimei said… Ritsuka's…neck…"
Ritsuka's violet eyes widened as his mother's hands closed around his throat, squeezing. Her thumbs fitted on either side of his windpipe, squeezing tight and effectively sealing it off. Now without air, Ritsuka choked, attempting to pull her off by gripping her wrists.
The woman pushed upwards, shifting their positions until Ritsuka was pressed with his back against the floor, his hands wrapped around his mother's wrists, his body shaking as he tried to push her off.
Soft chokes and gurgles came from Ritsuka's throat, his eyes starting to dim as his mother pressed harder and harder upon his windpipe. His eyes were wide, focused towards the stairs where he knew Soubi was waiting up in his room, waiting for him to come up to him. He reached with one hand, as though he could call the Fighter to him by that outstretched hand.
But that was not meant to be.
Ritsuka turned his lifeless eyes to Misaki's face, and then his body grew still, his heart failing. He moved no more.
It took several moments for Misaki to realize that Ritsuka was no longer breathing. She was panting heavily, her hands still clenched around the boy's throat. She shuddered slightly, and then her hands loosened, pulling away from Ritsuka's neck. The boy did not move, his blank eyes locked on his mother's face.
Misaki pushed herself backwards, her hands flying to her face. She shook her head, tears pouring down her face. "W-What have I done?"
She moved forward, her hands flying to Ritsuka's shoulders, shaking the limp body frantically. "Ritsuka! Ritsuka, wake up! Come back to me! RITSUKA!"
Her screams alerted Soubi, who was instantly down the stairs standing above them. His wide eyes were locked on Ritsuka's body, the boy's lifeless violet eyes staring up at his Fighter, the last expression in them, surprisingly, was love.
Even as his mother strangled him, Ritsuka loved her.
And yet all Soubi could see were the boy's beautiful violet eyes, blank in death, staring up at him.
That night, the Aoyagi house burned to the ground. Investigators say that there was no sign of an attack; the fire had been from inside the house. The only thing they found were the bodies of two people, a young boy, and draped over his body, and woman. It looked as though she had been trying to protect the boy, but they were both burned.
As for Soubi, he was never seen again.
I um... I honestly don't know how to explain this one.
