A/N: I'm trying to write the next chapter for The Ballad of Reading Gaol, I really am! It's driving me insane, though. BTW, I don't know if Rui really is dying, but Nagare would probably think (maybe even wish) so.
Disclaimer: Don't own Yami.
Cherry blossoms represent life and death, gaining their color from the blood of corpses and their vitality from the earth. They bloom so brightly and beautifully, but their lives are brief. Beginning as corpses and earth, they return to it. Such is human life as well.
He had cherry blossoms in his hair when he wandered, bloody and feverish, back to the estate. Hisoka. My son. Torn apart in his youth, wasting away over three long years. They never discovered the cure for his illness, or even the cause. But I never asked. I already knew.
This is the price I pay for being the descendant of one who killed a god.
They share one headstone, just as they share one name. My daughter, who died only minutes after birth. My son, who died in the hospital at sixteen. Both named Hisoka Kurosaki. Both victims of a cursed family.
My wife, Rui, lays dying and insane, alone in her dark room. My older brother plots to overthrow me, and become the head of the Kurosaki family. Iwao is a fool. He has no idea what torture I have suffered since I inherited this position.
I fully understand that this is the end of the Kurosaki line. With my death, Yatonogami will be released. After that, I can only imagine what chaos he will unleash.
Watching the curtain fall, I see my son's face before me, vibrant emerald eyes gazing past the mask I spent my whole life creating. The boy I hardly spoke to, for his own protection. He died hating me, believing his hatred to be reciprocated in full. I did nothing to make amends. Truthfully, I believe it was better this way.
"Kurosaki-sama?" A calm voice behind him pulled Nagare from his reverie. He turned to see Tatsumi-san, the new doctor's assistant. "Kurosaki-sama, you shouldn't stay up late. It's damaging to your health." Nagare looked to the sky before replying.
"Yes, of course." Not even glancing at the man before him, he strode into the house. He closed the door behind him quietly, shutting out the assistant, the light, and the world itself.