Disclaimer: Soul Eater belongs to it's creator, Atsushi Okubo. I own nothing but the idea for this story.
Warning: Language (Giriko). This takes place near the end of the anime so there may be spoilers.
AN: I got this idea after reading a character study. Credit goes to the writer, legberjack on LIVEJOURNAL, for some of the opinions about the characters.
This fanfic incorporates Giriko's (maybe) claustrophobia (I did research to try and make it accurate). It takes place during the forest battle (Arachnophobia vs. DWMA) from Justin's point-of-view.
The reason I didn't post this sooner is because it seemed like a cliffhanger. When I had difficulty coming up with a continuation, I started thinking it was fine as is. Comments and opinions would be appreciated.
How long has Mr. Chainsaw and I been fighting now? With all these clouds it's impossible to tell. You'd think that, with this being our third battle, he would've said his name by now. Maybe the witch said it and I just couldn't hear it. It's impossible to read her lips with that fan of hers. Anyway, here we are, fighting to defeat each other in a war with the world's sanity at stake. I hope the others are doing well. Mr. Chainsaw's saw legs are making this a difficult battle to win; and I'd really prefer we not tie again.
A kick here, a slash there, some running and a tree. The battle isn't going my way. Not even my silver gun could do much damage. I got a cut on my cheek for trying. Now my plan is to get some distance between us. Maybe I can use my blade and chain as a ranged weapon.
Darn it. A cliff. Why'd I have to run to a cliff? No choice. I'll have to face him here. I turn to see that he's coming at me with those chain skates of his. He must not have known about the cliff side either.
"Wait! There's-"
He's coming too fast. He goes to kick my head. I instinctively bend backwards out of the way. That was a very bad move.
"Hoooolyyyyy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
I could've guessed that his lips would say that. Now we're both falling. I try to jam my blade into the rock. Turns out I'm falling too fast for the chain to stop me. He tries to use his chains to catch a rock that's sticking out. Turns out the cliff is too steep for that. With no other options, I look down to try and land safely. Turns out there's a crevice beneath us. Darn it all. Why does Lord Death hate me so?
We fall straight down. Maybe after a quarter of a mile we hit a small ledge and bounce off. I close my eyes, hoping we'll stop falling soon, but something catches me. I look up to see the chainsaw has his chains wrapped around the ledge and is holding on to them with one hand, while his other hand is holding onto where my chain meets my guillotine blade. Why would he save me? I don't get it. Ever since we met he's wanted to kill me. It's not that I'm ungrateful. Looking down I can see there's maybe a 30 foot drop beneath me. But why would the chainsaw want to stop my fall?
The angle is all wrong for reading lips. I don't like it, but I guess I'll have to take my earphones out for this. He notices the music when I take them out with my free hand.
"What? All I had to do to make you take out those damn earphones was knock you over a cliff? That's a bit ridiculous, even for you priest."
"Why would you stop my fall? I thought you wanted me dead."
"First of all, I want to be the one that kills you. Not some fucking fall. Second, if you hadn't noticed, there's no way I can get back up myself. I may hate your guts, but I do enjoy the perks of living."
"Are you saying you want us to work together?"
"I'm not an idiot; but I will kill you if you say that again."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"My hands are a bit tied. Maybe you could climb up here and pull us onto the ledge?"
I think that ledge is too small. Worth a try though. I've never climbed like this, so I didn't know that I'd have to be careful of rocking the chain.
"Hey, wait a minute. You're gonna-"
Darn. Too late. My movement made the chainsaw's chains lose their hold. This is just not my day.
"DAMN IT!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Bang. Ouch. I ended up being his air bag. At least he was smart enough to get my blade out of the way. I really don't need his blood gushing on me right now. Looking around it seems that we're in a cave of some sort. No rivers or passages; just an open space surrounded by rock walls. By measuring with my footsteps it's roughly 6 feet by 7 feet. If not for the 30 feet above us I'd think this was a room in a house. Albeit a small and empty house. Fortunately there's still daylight from above. Unfortunately I am now trapped with an enemy chainsaw in close quarters.
"Idiot! Now how will we get out!?" He swings his saw leg at me and I block it with my blade.
"We can figure this out. Please calm down for a minute."
"Why should I? It's your fault we fell off the ledge!"
"And it's your fault we fell off the cliff. So instead of playing the blame game, how about we come up with a plan?"
"...Tch. Fine."
He backed away and started looking around. Then he revved his skates and tried going up the wall. Before he fell flat on his back.
"I don't have saw skates, and even I knew that wouldn't work."
"Shut up. I plan on trying everything that's thought of. So, any ideas father?" Seeing him sprawled out on his back did give me one idea.
"Maybe if we were back-to-back we could walk up the walls."
"That is a stupid-ass idea and there is no way I'm doing it with you."
"What happened to trying everything that's thought of?"
He looked like he wanted to protest, but after looking at the walls he agreed to it. I honestly thought he'd complain more. Regardless, we tried and managed a couple steps up the wall, but we couldn't get good footing and fell on our behinds.
"I told you it was a stupid-ass idea."
We tried climbing, standing on shoulders, attempting to get our chains back around the ledge, nothing worked. We even tried dirt golems, but those were either too big for this space or too weak to hold us. I half expected him to refuse every idea I had, and he would start to, but then he'd just glance at the walls and do what I asked. I didn't understand it at all. He wasn't the kind of person to act so compliant; at least not towards me.
"Well, I'm out of ideas. You got any more?"
He didn't answer. Kept glancing at the walls. I went to sit down when I heard banging combined with "Shit,shit,shit,shit,shit,shit,shit!" I looked to see that he was beating on a wall with his saw leg. I'd have let him continue if not for the dirt coming down on us.
"Stop it. You're making things worse."
"So what!? I need to get out of here fucking NOW!"
"I don't think we'll be able to until someone finds us. Lots of people from the DWMA have soul perception. They'll be able to sense that we're here. Then they can figure a way out for us."
He smirked. "That's assuming Arachnophobia doesn't kick their asses first."
I smiled. "I'm sure they'll be fine."
He stopped beating the rock and sat against the wall farthest from me.
"Fine. I'll wait. I don't care who does it. But they better get here friggin' soon."
I sat with my back against the wall and watched him. His eyes were shifting back and forth while he continually wrung his hands. I didn't know why he would be nervous. I didn't much care either. This was the heretic chainsaw and an enemy of the DWMA; and now that I think about it, I still don't know his name.
"You always call me father or priest, but you know my name is Justin Law, correct?"
"Yeah, Arachne told me when we first met. You had the damn earphones in and couldn't hear her. Which reminds me. Why don't you have them in now?" He said it all without looking at me.
"I thought I might be able to hear somebody from above if I didn't. Hated the silence, but there's necessity and all that. The reason I asked is because I still don't know you're name."
"Ha. I figured as much, what with you being practically deaf when Arachne speaks. But why should I tell a lapdog like you?"
"If we're going to be stuck down here, I'd like to know the name of who I'm stuck with."
He took a while to consider this before he answered. "My name is Giriko."
"Nice to meet you Giriko."
"Like hell it is."
Ignoring that, I put the earphones back in. "I want to take a nap. Can I trust that you won't kill me while I sleep?"
"Fuck. Who takes a nap in a cave while their enemy is 5 feet away? While there's a friggin' war going on above their heads?"
"Someone who is tired, stuck in a cave, and facing an enemy that can't help but buzz when they attack. I'd wake up and defend myself as soon as your engine started." I swear he turned red at that. If it was embarrassment or anger I couldn't tell.
"...Fine. I'll let you sleep. I want to see your expression when I kill you."
"Thank you, Giriko."
"Pfft. Annoying twerp."
I'm not sure how long I slept, there's still light coming down from above, but looking at Giriko makes me feel that I slept longer than I should have. If he looked nervous before, he looks absolutely panicked now. Sweating, trembling, still shifting his eyes and wringing his hands. He can't really be as out of breath as he looks, can he? I take my earphones out to check. Yeah, it sounds like he can. Darn it. Why didn't I realize earlier. His unchecked nervousness became a full-blown anxiety attack. I may be his enemy, but I'm not so cold as to leave him like this. First things first, I have to figure out why this is happening. I get closer and try to get his attention.
"Giriko? It's Justin. The guy you like calling priest. Now listen, I want to help you, but you'll have to tell me what's wrong."
It doesn't seem like he heard me. He's still not focusing on anything. I wave my hand in his face. That's when he looks up. His eyes are dilated. Not good.
"Giriko? Tell me what's wrong."
He swallows and speaks around the heavy breathing. "I just...don't like...small spaces."
That surprised me, but it made sense. That was why he kept glancing at the walls and trying to get out. This cave was simply not big enough for him to feel comfortable.
"I didn't know you were claustrophobic."
"I am not!...I just...not enough air...not in here." I sat down next to him and tried to remember everything I could about panic attacks.
"It's okay, Giriko. We're just fine. There's enough air in here for the both of us. Now I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath with me, okay?"
"No...I can't breath...I can't..."
"You can. Just try it. Close your eyes. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Do it with me."
He did as told and was soon breathing normally. He then opened his eyes and looked at me. I almost laughed at how much surprise and confusion I saw there.
"See? I told you it's okay." I smiled, but he still looked confused.
"Why would you do that for me?"
"You needed help. Enemy or not, I felt the need to give it to you."
"Usually you just want to kill me."
"Yeah, but for now you and I are stuck with each other. Let's just say that we're even from when you saved me from falling."
"Whatever, asshole." With that he got up and moved to the other side.
"That's a fine way to thank somebody."
"I don't give a fuck."
"Anyways, now that I know about it, can I ask about your claustrophobia?"
"I am not claustrophobic!"
"You're right. I'm sorry. I meant you're dislike of small spaces."
He looked away like he was thinking about it. Then he looked back with something of a haunted expression. "I s'pose it would pass the time. I'd rather not sit in silence and stare at the damn walls again." I felt somewhat guilty at that remark.
"How long was I asleep?"
"2 hours, give or take." Then he got comfortable and began.
"Over 800 years ago Arachne made the first demon weapons. I was among the first. The fact that she used human and witch souls made her the enemy of both Death and the other witches. In order for her to escape she hid her soul in the oldest golem, my golem, and separated her body into the spiders of the world. That wasn't the end of the hunt, though. Back then that shinigami wasn't fond of us demon weapons, so we had to hide as well. Because the golem with Arachne' s soul was the protector of Loew Village she couldn't leave that village. That meant I couldn't leave either. But the damn shinigami knew that she'd disappeared somewhere around there, so he'd come by often. Whenever he did I had to hide like a rat lest he recognize me. After so many times of hiding between a rock and imminent destruction I started getting anxious about the next time it would happen. Now I can't stand spaces that are around the size of a limo."
That's when he started laughing. "I friggin' hate limos. I always have to slice the tops off. At least then it's not so stuffy. But whenever I do, Mosquito gives me a hard time about it. The face he makes is priceless, ha-ha-ha!" His laughing went on for maybe 10 more seconds before it dropped.
"Why did you stay in Loew Village? Couldn't you have run away from there?"
"I had to protect Arachne from pissants like you."
"Why? Why her?"
He looked away, with almost a sad expression on his face. "Because, back then, she was the only one that cared. Still is."
That caught me off guard. This guy, who never seems to care about anything, actually stayed and protected a village for 800 years, just to keep one person safe. I suppose that really says something about his loyalty.
"Damn. That sounds embarrassing out loud. This place is seriously messing with me. Any new ideas on how to get out of here?"
"I've got nothing. But I was wondering why it's only Arachne that you seem to care for. At the Battle for Brew I saw you let all those subordinates get swept away by the avalanche. You didn't do anything to help them."
"Why should I? I didn't owe them anything."
"Don't you think it would have been right to at least try to help them?"
"Since you're a stupid kid, I don't expect you to understand, so I'll spell it out for you. Every person who smiles, acts nice, never raises a fuss, they're the ones with the pitch black hearts. Nobody acts nice unless they want something in return."
"That's not true. I know lots of kind people. The DWMA is filled with them."
"It also has a shitty shinigami that wants to dictate how people live. I'm not going to let my life be run by someone else."
Why was he saying all this to me? He has called me both his enemy and the shinigami's lapdog. What was the point?
"Why are you telling me so much about what you think?"
He considered this and answered, "One, it keeps my mind off the walls. Two, you're my rival and, unlike those subordinates, actually interesting to talk to. When we're not trying to kill each other, of course."
"Of course. But I don't believe you. There are people with good hearts. People who act kind with no hidden agendas. They're the ones that Lord Death and the DWMA work to protect."
"I figured you'd say something like that. But hey, whatever floats your boat, priest."
That was when my stomach decided to make itself known.
"You wouldn't happen to have any food in that jacket, would you?"
"Only if you have beer bottles in your robe."
We both sighed at that.
"Really, how long does it take to win one damn war?"
For hours we talked about anything, almost everything. I never knew Giriko to be so open about who he is. He says it's because he takes pride in himself; and because he'd be bored otherwise. It wasn't as bad as I'd expected. On the one hand he is as psychotic as I'd always known him to be, while on the other he is more broken than I ever would have guessed. Giriko's understanding of human emotion is worse than that of a child. The fact that Arachne spoils him and Lord Death always forced him to hide didn't help much. Perhaps if I talked to Lord Death we could maybe help him. I know I'm supposed to kill this man, but the other cities I've seen have therapists for criminals, so why can't we? Surely Lord Death believes in redemption.
Or perhaps I'm just fooling myself.
The light got brighter before it got darker. If Asura was the one causing the clouds then could that mean that the DWMA won? If so then they'll probably come looking for whoever got left behind. I tried to stay awake and sense anyone near by; so far, nothing.
Soon there was no light, and I tried not to fall asleep, if only because I worried that Giriko would get another panic attack. When he fell asleep I felt it would be okay to do the same. If I had had an alarm clock then I could have woken up before Giriko did. Since I didn't, however, I slept in. Big mistake.
I woke up to see Giriko holding his chest with his head down, taking too quick breaths. Without conversation to distract him it seems he's developed another panic attack. I'm ready this time, so I go over and kneel down in front of him.
"Giriko, it's Justin. You need to take a deep breath, okay? I promise there'll be enough air."
He didn't seem to hear me again. I went to wave my hand in his face. This time he caught my wrist and looked up.
"What the hell's going on?"
He's sweaty and trembling like last time, but this time his hands and dilated eyes are still. It's like he's not looking at my face but through it.
"What do you mean?"
"I woke up in this space, this too small space, and I have no idea how to leave it."
Does he not remember what happened? "You and I fell down a crevice yesterday. We've been waiting for someone to find us ever since."
He let go of my wrist and gripped the wall behind him. It seems he didn't need my help calming his breathing this time; but the disorientation is something I'm not sure how to fix. Perhaps just reminding him is what's required?
"Do you know you're name? What your weapon form is?"
He answered without looking at me. "My name is Giriko. I'm a chainsaw."
"And do you know my name and weapon form?"
He looked at me without recognition in his eyes. "You're the person that's taking up space." Darn it. Not what I wanted.
"Hey, if I chop you into pieces, would you stop taking up space?"
...I have to be careful with my answers. "No Giriko. If you did that then my carcass would still take up space."
"Yeah. I guess you're right." At least he can be reasoned with.
"My name is Justin Law. I'm a guillotine. Remember how we talked yesterday?"
"...Yeah."
"I know you want to get out of here, but we have to wait until somebody finds us."
"They're taking too long. We'll suffocate before then." His breathing is starting to speed up. I need to snap him out of this. Somehow. I reach up to touch my earphones when I think of it.
"Giriko, let's listen to music until they get here."
"Music?"
"Yeah. Just sit back and I'll give you one of my earphones."
When he does I follow suit and pull my mp3 player out for him to see. Then I wipe off an earphone and give it to him while I put my own in. We listen to songs for what I'd guess is an hour before he looks at me.
"Priest?"
"Good to see you're awake now."
"You did it again. You helped me."
"I prefer it when you can fully understand me."
"I'm not thanking you. I'm not putting myself in your debt."
"I think I can live with that." When I smiled he just looked uneasy about it. He may be psychotic and broken, but perhaps he really can be redeemed. It was then that I sensed another soul wavelength near us.
"Someone's coming this way. You yell, I'll amplify my wavelength. They're sure to catch wind of one of us."
While Giriko yelled profanities among other things I prayed as long as I could. When my soul wavelength could go no larger I thought of something that I should have tried a lot earlier. I aimed towards the sky and yelled.
"Law Abiding Silver Gun!" That flash of light should have gotten their attention.
"Why the fuck did you not try that earlier?"
Didn't matter. I could hear voices now. The real question is: Who's side is at the top of this cliff? "Justin? You down there?" It was Sid's voice. I smiled so wide when I heard him.
"Yeah! It's me! Someone else, too! We can't climb back up!" I thought it would be better to not tell them about Giriko until we were out of here. They'll forgive me for that later.
"One of yours?" Giriko looked annoyed at the thought.
"Yeah, but don't worry. Sid's a reasonable zombie."
"That's not the problem, father. If it's your side looking for stragglers that means Arachnophobia had to retreat. You're side will take me prisoner, if not kill me. Can't say I'm looking forward to that."
"Would you prefer to stay in this hole?"
"No way in hell!"
"Justin, who's down there with you?" I saw a rope drop down.
To Sid: "I'll explain it all when we get out!"
To Giriko: "I'll go first so I can keep Sid from dropping and/or attacking you."
"What would be the point? Once we're up there we'll just be trying to kill each other again."
"Maybe not. We don't know what the situation on the war is. Perhaps there's been a ceasefire, or a treaty."
"Pfft. I doubt it."
"Just give me a chance, okay?"
"...Fine. Just hurry up. I want to get out of here."
With the rope around me I started the slow process of going up. I gave Giriko a thumb's up before I passed the ledge. I laughed when he flipped me off. From above the ledge I could see Sid and some other DWMA subordinates pulling me up. If Sid had Naigus on his belt then getting Giriko up top could be a lot more difficult. Yeah, he and I are rivals, but after 12 plus hours of quality time you can't help but hate your rival less.