Memento Mori

Warnings: Typos. Explicit yaoi (p0rn!) and some violence. Bad language.
Pairings: Kanda x Allen, Tyki x Allen
A/N: I know I should start writing in third person point of view, but gahh, I just love first person pov!

-

1. Respice Finem

It seems fate's fatal grip around my neck was tighter than I had ever thought.

"Your life starts now."

Before hearing those words, I had never really thought of life. I took it for granted and never even thought of stopping to think when or how exactly life happens. But as I stared down the barrel of forty-five caliber gun, I suppose it was only natural to look back at the eighteen long years I had lived.

Everyone always told me how I should think more of the God and the afterlife. But I had stopped believing in a god as they described it, since in their eyes I was an incurable sinner no matter how long I prayed for some sort of salvation.

The gun moved from my mouth and brushed a strand of white hair away from my eyes. I must have looked like a goldfish— opening and closing my mouth without being able to utter one word. Of course my brain was acting more than usual, recalling all stupid movie lines and famous last words, which all seemed too cliché to be used in such a situation.

"Are you mute or has this dump totally wrecked your brain?" The man put the gun away, which made me feel little relieved. But only little.

Right. The dump he meant was my college dorm room, which really did look more like a dump site than a student's room. Had I known someone was coming, I would have at least hidden the dirty laundry, but it was too late now. However, the reason of his arrival was still unclear to me, but I was sure that I wasn't supposed to ask any questions.

The man was older than me, but I wasn't sure how much. He had curly deep black hair, which was neatly pulled against his scalp and the curls of his hair elegantly cascaded behind his neck. He looked like an English gentleman, and spoke like one too. I also noticed how his skin was strange color of gray, almost like dark ash. On top of it all, he was wearing a black tuxedo, which oddly suited him and his overall appearance.

Finally the silence was starting to get awkward and his attention was drifting away from me, so I found the courage to speak up, "Erm… excuse me, but who are you?"

"It depends how you want to look at it. Right now I might be something completely different than what I will be in a week."

"Oh. Alright." When I was sure he had put his gun away I dared to offer him my hand, "Well, my name is Allen Walker. It's nice to mee—…"

"Yes, I know who you are. Allen Walker, eighteen years, two months and four days old. Your blood type is O and you come from Britain. Your blood relatives are unknown to you, but you were raised by a pierrot named Mana Walker, who passed away recently." The man spat out details of my life as if they had been written on my forehead. But he simply smiled and politely shook my outstretched hand, "I also know that you like to eat and you're great at playing cards, for you have marvelous cheating skills."

Is he a stalker? It was unlikely that such a handsome man would stalk a college student around. Maybe if I had been some sort of a celebrity or a cheerleader or a jock, who actually would be interesting.

I was simply Allen Walker. Uncategorized college student with zero motivation.

"Stop thinking. Talk— say something. There's a man with a gun in your room, I thing you ought to be begging for mercy." The dark-haired man said strictly, slowly pacing to my bed and sitting down. He folded his arms above his chest as he stared at me, waiting for me to say something.

"Uhh…" I scratched the back of my neck, wondering what I could have said. It was unusual to have visitors… or visitors, who would have actually wanted to talk with me. I sighed, "So, since you don't want to tell me who you are, can you simply tell me your name?"

"Tyki. Tyki Mikk." 'Tyki Mikk' smiled, or rather, grinned, "At your service."

He was inconsistent, barging in here with a gun and then telling me he's 'at my service'. Either he liked being that way or he had completely lost it.

As I kept thinking at his contradictious character, he had stood up once again and started to pace around my cramped room. I winced when he grabbed a pair of dirty boxers from the floor and examined them, "W-what are you doing?"

"Inspecting." He stated and threw the boxers over his shoulder and moved to my desk to check the unfinished essays I had never been able to turn in. He shook his head and let out a long breath, "Say, how long does one week sound to you?"

"Huh? How long…? Well…" I wondered if this was some kind of riddle, "If you think one week like that, it sounds short, but if you take in consideration that one week has seven days and one day consists of twenty-four hours… that way it sounds longer."

Tyki nodded his head and looked at me with a pleased expression, "Very good. Now, how much life do you think you could fit in those hours?"

I blinked my eyes. That didn't sound like a proper question— life couldn't be measured the same way as hours or days. Or was life equal to time? I couldn't tell and maybe that was what Tyki was only trying to confuse me. I sighed, my own thoughts puzzling me even further.

"Ahh, well, that's your assignment for the following week." Tyki moved gradually closer to me, as if a hunting predator, "And of course, I'll be here with you, observing your each move. Today… no, tomorrow, will be the first day of the rest of your life. From tomorrow on, you'll learn what it means to live, you'll learn to love it so dearly that when a week has passed, you'll be sad to leave it behind."

I had been sitting on a pile of clothes, but as he came closer, I stood up and pushed my back against the wall, finding myself unable to escape. His eyes were pitch black, but I could see something minister in them. I wanted to look away, yet I was thrilled by the sight and could only gasp, "Who are you? What do you mean… one week?"

He was in front of me now and he seemed even taller than before. His shadow cast over me, as he pinned me against the wall and his long fingers wrapped around my neck. My pulse was throbbing against his digits and I could almost feel as the blood poured in and out of my rapidly beating heart.

"You poor, feeble thing. I am the last gift from Fate and I shall give you everything you ever wanted, so that your death would not be meaningless." Tyki's voice was gentle, but the minister glow in his eyes remained. He took out his gun again and this time he pressed it against my chin, the cold metal felt soothing against my flushed skin.

"For in one week, you will die."

Die? Die? I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. A man with a gun told me I will die in a week, even though he could have killed me right there and then.

"How… how would you know?" I asked.

"Because I'm the inevitable." His smirking face came closer, his shadow obscuring my vision, "You may look away if you wish, but the time won't stop flowing. You can't jump off the train just yet, so perhaps it'd be clever to make the most of the time you've got. You'll know the time is up when this tiny little bullet in this gun pierces your skull. Until then, I'll be looking after you."

That moment I imagined he was my conscience, telling me to grasp a hold of the life before it was too late. Perhaps 'Tyki' was merely my imagination, created by my mind to remind me that I was still young.

I let out a laugh. At least physically I was young, but mentally I felt like a hundred-year-old elder, who had seen enough of the life already.

"So you'll be following me around then?" I sighed but kept smiling bitterly.

"Yes. And I shall fulfill all of your spoken wishes. If you desire something, all you need to do is say it and I shall make it happen…" He ran the gun down my jaw and throat, as if toying with my body, "Whether it's washing your laundry, getting a revenge or even making someone fall in love with you— with my help nothing is impossible. And you don't even need to lift a finger."

"F-fall in love…?" My eyes widened momentarily and my mind strayed to the subject I'd tried to forget. Kanda Yu… But if I could wish for anything at all, it'd be to go back in time. I averted my gaze from the dark-haired man and looked at a picture on the wall.

Mana…

"Oh, I see you're already tempted to wish something." He grew amused, or I wasn't sure if he was simply proud of himself, "Just remember, you have one week, no more, no less. One and only thing you can't wish for, is for your life. Well, to be honest, you can't ask me to bring anyone else back to life either— even I have my limits."

Was it due to my mental fatigue that I was now faced by a grim reaper, who was yielding a gun instead of a scythe? It really must be something I'm merely making up in my head.

"So you want me to live the week to the fullest…" I summed up, "… so that you could kill me when the time's up. It's very… uhh… twisted."

Tyki's smirk grew even wider and he leaned in even further as he whispered into my ear, "Oh, believe me, I'll be enjoying every waking moment of this."

-

I hadn't slept well in such a long time, so as I woke up the following morning, I figured it all had been a dream. A very vivid and odd dream, which Freud would categorize as a symptom of a suppressed childhood trauma.

But then I felt someone breathe against my ear and gently touch my hip.

"Good morning, Allen."

"Sweet Jesus…!" I shrieked uncontrollably and I struggled away from the hand resting on my waist. The bed sheets were tangled around my legs and soon I found myself falling head first on the cold floor. The stranger in my bed laughed softly and I could hear him move when the springs inside the mattress creaked.

I hissed as I felt sharp pain spread along my spine. For a moment, I swear I was literally seeing stars until Tyki's smirking face came to view. So since he was still in my room, it must have meant that what happened last night wasn't a dream. Or I was still dreaming, whichever.

"My, you're full of enthusiasm, aren't you? Still you lead such a boring life… it's tragic." He said and easily pulled me back on the mattress. This time he wrapped his long arm around me, probably to prevent me from falling off my bed again, "Say, Allen, what do you think about fervent sex in the morning?"

"Wha— what?!" I started to thrash about and fortunately he loosened his grip. I stood up and gaped dumbly at him, unable to find a clever and coherent answer at first. Seriously what was this guy smoking? "No. I don't want to have sex with a stranger six o'clock in the morning."

"That's a shame, though I'm not a stranger." He sounded disappointed as he slowly moved to a sitting position, before he began to leave the bed. When the bed sheets fell down to his ankles, I realized that he wasn't wearing anything, except for ragged wool socks.

"Hey, would you please mind it?! Were you… naked the whole time?!"

"It's ten."

"Ugh, g-go back under th— what?"

"It's ten o'clock right now, not six."

I dropped the pair of jeans I was about to put on as I turned to look at my alarm clock, which was partly buried under pizza boxes. It really was one minute past ten, which meant I was unfashionably late for school. Not that I really cared about attending classes, but if I wanted to graduate someday soon, I shouldn't ditch any more lessons.

Even though, I could probably graduate without even stepping to the school campus… when it came to me, they seemed to always make exceptions.

I cursed under my breath as I picked my jeans again and pulled them on. I almost tripped on my toothbrush when I hurried around my small dorm room, picking up my books and clothes. It had been a while since I had slept so long, but I still felt slightly drowsy.

As I rubbed my weary eyes, I accidentally almost stepped on my toothbrush, which was, for some unknown reason, lying in the middle of the floor. I swayed a little and suddenly lost my balance. I knew the fall wouldn't hurt much, but just before my back would have hit the floor, something stopped me in midair.

"Careful now." I heard Tyki's low voice right next to my ear.

I looked up at him, my back stretched in an awkward position. I forced a smile and nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright."

He helped me up on my feet and even brushed some dirt off the back of my pants. I really needed some time to get used to his behavior, in case he was here to stay.

I was still uncertain about the whole one week deal, but I didn't feel like asking any questions. It's not like it would have made much difference at this point of life whether I had a week or a year to live, especially when taking in consideration my fairly unsuccessful life. Perhaps it was merely nice to know when you die, so that you wouldn't need to live with uncertainty each day.

"I thought you were in hurry, but if you can spare some time, how about we get back in the bed and—…"

"No! I mean— I really must hurry!" I choked and shook my head.

I really can never get used to this guy.

-

I decided to attend the health education class, which had started only five minutes before I arrived to the school. The teacher merely shrugged his shoulders as I mouthed my apology to him, before heading to an empty seat in the far end of the room. Had it been anyone else, they might have been yelled at.

I didn't bother to look any of my classmates in the eyes, but I knew they were all staring at me. I didn't need to look to confirm the mix of pity and detest in their eyes. Of course it was understandable and if I'd been one of them, I would have done exactly the same. But being in my position, it was rather awkward.

But it wasn't like they were being like that without a reason. Frankly, it was something I'd rather not reminiscence.

"How are you doing, Allen?"

The red-haired teen in front of me turned around and leaned against my desk. His other eye was covered by an eye-patch— I heard he had lost his eye in a bike accident. Lavi was his name.

"I'm fine. You?" I tried not to sound impolite.

"Yeah, fine too." He nodded his head. He almost looked like he would have wanted to continue the conversation, but then he simply turned back around with a sigh. I couldn't blame him though— had anyone known he had even tried to befriend with me, he would get a bad name as well.

I heaved a sigh. It was always awkward when people tried to come to me and talk, for it always ended the same way. Nobody ever went farther than asking 'how are you?'.

I took out my school books, which were almost unused. I knew I should start to study again and be like a good student I've always been.

Suddenly I felt a brush of warm air against my neck. I slowly turned my head and saw a familiar smirk right in front of my face.

"T-Tyki…?!" I jumped a little, but somehow managed to keep my voice down. Only one of the on the second row students gave me a brief glance, before returning their focus back at the lecture. It was odd that he wasn't surprised to see a man with a tuxedo.

"Don't worry." Tyki seemed to notice my concern and patted my head, "I'm invisible to them."

"I-Invisible…? That's crazy…" I arched my eyebrow, "And how the heck did you get here?"

"I teleported."

"Oh… teleported?" Well, that was an answer straight out of a supernatural anime. Come to think of it, the whole grim reaper thing was suitable for a comic book, not real life. I let out a small chuckle and jokingly asked, "Then how come you didn't teleport me?"

"You didn't ask me to." He replied frankly.

I looked at him skeptically. First he claims to be invisible and then being able to teleport him and others? Well, this was getting interesting at best, "…So, if I had asked, you would've teleported me?"

"Yes, of course." Tyki sat down on the floor next to me and crossed his legs, "During the following week, I'll be at your service. Don't tell me you already forgot what I told you last night?"

I hadn't forgotten, but I hadn't expected teleportation to be part of the menu. Maybe I should try it sometime, just for the fun of it. Or I should try to wish something, even though I knew it was highly unlikely that Tyki would be able to work miracles. It's not like these kinds of supernatural phenomena happened anywhere but in TV.

I stared at Tyki and noticed how beautiful he actually was. Not exactly feminine kind of beauty, but I couldn't quite categorize him as being overly masculine. He looked just as mysterious as he was.

Eventually he caught me staring at him and turned to look at me straight in the eyes, "Shouldn't you pay attention to the class?" he asked, puzzled.

"Ah…" I scratched the back of my head, "Of course."

-

I leaned my head against my knees, as I heard my stomach grumbling, echoing loudly in the empty gym hall. I hadn't remembered to eat anything this morning, much less bring money or lunch with me. I groaned in desperation, "Oh god, I wish I had brought lunch…"

"Here you go."

I looked up and saw Tyki standing in front of me, smirking and holding a boxed lunch. Could he have heard my wish and fulfilled it…? I shook my head— it must have been merely a coincidence, "T-thanks."

"You forgot to say what kind of food you wished for, but if you're not satisfied with that, I can always make you a new one."

I arched my eyebrow and quietly opened the lunch box. There were at least four different kind of triangle breads, cookies, salad and god-knows-what. I shamelessly dug in, since my angry stomach had already punished me enough for skipping the breakfast.

"So, why did you come here of all the places?" Tyki asked and looked around the school gym, "I thought you hated sports?"

"H-how'd you know that?!" I asked after swallowing a little too large bite of the triangle bread. I just liked to come here, because no one came here. Well, no one except for him.

Suddenly the doors opened and a dark-haired boy walked in. My heart leaped to my throat and I forgot to swallow the piece of salad in my mouth. Luckily I was sitting in a shadowy corner of the auditorium, like always, so he didn't notice me.

His footsteps echoed in the gym, as he walked across it to the other side. His long dark hair was fixed on a high ponytail, which waved behind him as he took determined steps forward. The stoic look on his face was unwavering and he seriously looked like some sort of celebrity with his endless confidence. I wasn't only mesmerized by his physical appearance, but also the silent endeavor and confidence.

"Ahh, I see. You hate the game but love the player. Whatever is the name of this lucky bloke?" Tyki smirked from ear to ear, "You know, you just need to say the word and I can make miracles happen."

"That's Kanda Yu." I answered as quietly as I could, my eyes keenly following the boy's each move.

Kanda Yu. The name that was stuck in my mind— the name I despised to the point I was ready to puke whenever I heard someone talk about him. I would have loved to punch his face in, to make him suffer like he'd never suffered before.

But as I saw him, I remembered why I was unable to do so. He paralyzed me.

He grabbed a basketball from a chest and shrugged off his jacket. The ball bounced professionally by his side, as he began walking forward with ease. His tall and slim body looked perfect on the court. He was going to get far, I was certain of it.

"Allen. What do you wish for?" Suddenly Tyki had latched his arm around my waist. His lips were moving against my ear and almost seductively he caressed my thigh. My breath was caught in my throat and I could only see Kanda, while Tyki's words pierced straight to the subconscious part of my mind.

"I…" Even if I could wish for anything at all, I couldn't possibly form this wish into words. And even if I could… I don't know if I could do it.

But then again… Kanda never played fair either, so maybe this could be a payback.

"Tyki." I felt an awkward smirk creep to my features. What could be worse for Kanda Yu than losing the thing he cherished the most? They said that you can sympathize with others if you have first-hand experience.

Maybe I could make him feel the same way he made me feel. I could tear him down from the top of the highest mountain and pull him back to the unforgiving reality. If Tyki could make wishes come true, I could show him just how I felt when he smirked at me that time.

"You are a fool." There was a horrendous smirk on that handsome face, "Don't tell me actually thought that something serious was going on between us? Do I have to spell it out for you— it was a prank.

"They paid me a lot for that video."

This wouldn't be revenge. This would be his wake-up call.

"Tyki… I wish… that Kanda Yu would never be able to play basketball again."

-

Author's notes: It's been a while since I wrote anything. I started writing this story spontaneously and surprisingly I was struck with an inspiration. The plot came to my mind as I kept writing and I'm sure I'll enjoy writing this one. And damn, I love the first person point of view.

Please, if you have time, do leave a review and share your thoughts. I really appreciate any kind of feedback.

Stay tuned!