K Fanfic: SoulBound
Characters: It's supposed to be Mikoto and HOMRA centric, with side doses of Munakata and Fushimi, and guest appearances by a variety of others. I will force it back on that path soon, but somehow, the beginning chapters got hijacked by Shiro and the Gold King, of all people. You have been warned!
Pairings: Lots of bromance between Mikoto and just about everyone else. If I do add in an actual pairing, it will probably be YataxMikoto, with a helping of KusanagixMikoto and MunakataxMikoto, but I don't know yet.
Summary: "I won't let anyone else die." Shiro was going to stand by those words come hell or high water, even if he had to resort to a risky, complicated, time-consuming, and near-impossible plan to do it. There would be a happy ending to this story. (A "for the sake of my continued sanity, let's try bringing back Shiro and Mikoto!" fanfic)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not K, not its characters, and not any of the other animes I might have drawn from for character inspiration.
Beware: The first few chapters are a bit slow and information dense. They're completely necessary in order to build the framework for the rest of the story, but I wouldn't call them indicative of the tone of the later chapters, as they'll be much more character and relationship based. If you can brave your way through these first few chapters, I promise it gets better! ^.^
Chapter 1:
December 17th
Kokujoji Daikaku, the Gold King, had not become the most powerful man in Japan by being lacking in intelligence. He was by no means the kind of scientific genius that his old friend Weismann was, but he was certainly not a stupid man either. He sensed it the moment the souls of the Silver and Red Kings arrived at the Dresden Slate, housing themselves within it. Upon further observation of this most unlikely of situations, he felt he had an inkling as to what Weismann was planning this time, and he found himself glad once again for his impeccable organization and logistical skills, as well as his penchant for following proper procedure. If what he suspected where true, then he had already taken the necessary preliminary steps needed to aid the two… refugees.
He had dispatched a team of his clansmen over a day ago to observe the situation at Ashinaka Gakuen from a safe distance, with the instructions to report back any relative information and to retrieve the bodies of any Kings who might die during the conflict. It was standard procedure for the bodies of all Kings to be placed in the custody of himself whenever possible, if for no other reason than to confirm the cause of death and prevent any chance at tampering by interfering individuals (before this was put into effect, there had been various organizations in the past who had attempted to use the dead bodies of Kings to further scientific or religious agendas. The results had been… unpleasant for those involved.) His clansmen had contacted him not long before sunset to confirm that they had retrieved the body of the Red King, Suoh Mikoto, via the use of one of their member's teleportation ability, and where returning to the Tower post-haste.
The Gold King glanced at the body of the Silver King, looking peaceful within the glass covered capsule. "You enjoy causing others trouble, don't you, Weismann?" The following sigh was the long suffering one of the perpetually beleaguered.
The Gold King allowed some of his power to travel down past the glass floor and into the Slate below his feet, reaching out to the two souls contained within it. He could sense Weismann clearly, wrapped protectively around the weak red light of Suoh. He appeared to be trying to communicate with the Red King, and Kokujoji took a moment to try and decipher the message, receiving a flurry of images and sensations instead of actual words, much to his surprise. Weismann seemed to be trying to pass on impressions of rest, safety, and the need to remain within the Slate. The closest the communication came to words revolved around pictures of various Red Clan members and, surprisingly, the Blue King, and the strong sense of Suoh needing to fight to stay where he was or they would be the ones to bear the consequences.
The Gold King was forced to withdraw his mind from the Slate upon the opening of the room's sliding doors. A group of his clansmen entered, each wearing their customary black and gold robes and usagi-shaped masks, and bearing a capsule similar to the one containing Weismann between them.
"Your Majesty, we have successfully retrieved the body of the Red King, Suoh Mikoto-sama." The apparent leader of the squad spoke up solemnly, bowing to his King.
"Good work. Place it on the Slate, then you may leave. You are all receiving a week's time off. Use it wisely. " The Gold King responded, equally grave, and the men hurried to comply, carrying the capsule across the room until it was positioned over the Slate, and then moving to take their leave, pausing only long enough to give their thanks to their King before exiting the room, leaving the Gold King alone in the cavernous space once more.
"Well, Weismann? Now what will you do?" Kokujoji muttered, looking down once more at the stone Slate below him. He had the feeling that this was what his old friend had been waiting for, and he was proven correct as the Slate began to glow with a silver light, which traveled up the capsule containing the Silver King's body, surrounding it and increasing in strength until it shone with the brightness of a small star. The Gold King watched as the light slowly died away, and the monitors attached to the capsule began to register signs of life. He quickly moved to open it, and then leaned in to observe his old friend. Weismann certainly looked worse for wear, coughing as he attempted to drag air into lungs that had gone quite some time without it, shaking and pale faced with fatigue.
"Weismann? Can you hear me? Do you need medical assistance?" Kokujoji spoke quickly to the one in the capsule, unsure as to how to aid him, as he was quite obviously not in the best of health.
"Lieutenant?" The response was said in a barely audible rasp between coughing fits, eyes prying themselves open to look at the speaker. Weismann gave a forced grin, trying to reassure Kokujoji without having to attempt to talk again. The Gold King found himself sighing for the umpteenth time since the start of this situation, moving to retrieve a glass of water from the dinner tray that had been brought to him earlier, before contenting himself with simply observing his friend for the time being, prepared to call for aid should his condition seem to worsen. Minutes passed, Weismann's coughs slowly easing into strained breaths, and while his trembling and apparent weakness didn't subside, he seemed to recover his bearings more and more with each passing moment. Finally, he turned his head towards the Gold King, issuing a much stronger grin this time.
"Hey there, Lieutenant. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Sorry for the unconventional entrance, but the situation was kind of an emergency!" Weismann said cheerfully.
"An emergency? Yes, I imagine that being turned into a bodiless soul, who in turn was carting about a second bodiless soul, would indeed count as an emergency situation, wouldn't it?" Kokujoji sighed in exasperation, before giving a small smirk. "So? What are you planning to do now? There is still the rather pressing matter of said second soul, and its corresponding body which is currently sitting less than two meters from our present location."
Weismann released a chuckle, which set him off into another minor coughing fit, and started to push himself up on trembling arms. "Wow, I wasn't expecting the bonds between my soul and this body to have deteriorated this much. And the lost muscle mass from just laying here sure isn't helping me, either."
"Bonds?" Kokujoji asked even as he moved to help his companion sit up. He then brought the glass of water to his friend's lips, helping him take small sips. Hopefully it would lessen the coughing.
"Yeah, the bonds between a body and soul are important, you know? You're aware that the brain is primarily responsible for allowing us to move our bodies, right? Well, the soul is also involved in that. The soul sends commands to the brain, which in turn directs the body. That's why a soulless body is a vegetable, as it were. The longer a soul is separated from the body, the more the connections between the two weaken, which in turn affects things like motor control." Weismann leaned against Kokujoji tiredly, pushing his long silver hair out of his eyes impatiently so that he could peer over at the second capsule in the room. He ignored the effort that he had to put into speaking in favor of one of his favorite pursuits, the sharing of knowledge.
"That does explain your current lack of coordination and strength. What do you intend to do with the Red King, then? He doesn't have your inviobility, you know. He's been dead more than long enough to sustain irreparable damage to his body, which would make it impossible to revive him." Kokujoji pointed out logically.
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Lieutenant! I made sure to leave some of my power inside of his body when I was retrieving his soul. It's more than enough to have preserved him in the exact state in which he died, with no additional damage~. It will last for at least another few hours! Not that I want to risk putting this off for that long, though." Weismann responded cheerfully, still observing the other capsule with a critical eye.
"And 'this' would be what, exactly? Returning Suoh's soul to a body suffering a fatal injury would be counterproductive, I would imagine. He would only die again instantly." The Gold King replied dryly. It was always best to point out holes in any of Weismann's plans before he
had a chance to put them into practice.
"Yes, there is that." Weismann let out a sheepish chuckle, before continuing. "Unlike me, Mikoto won't be able to return to his body right away. I created a permanent clan bond between us that I can use to both help heal him as well as transfer his soul from the Slate back to his body. My first priority is to repair the internal damage caused by Munakata's sword strike. That will take a bit of time, though."
"And why is that?"
"You remember the soul bonds we were discussing earlier, right? Well, they have an impact on the bonds shared between Kings and their clansmen, as well as where a King gets their power from. A King's power isn't something which comes from their bodies, but instead comes from their soul and the astral plane. This is actually why both myself, and the corrupt Colorless King we just finished dealing with, could change bodies the way we did and yet still retain our abilities! As for Kings and their clans, the bonds actually exist primarily between the souls of the two individuals. A King sparks power in the soul of his clansman. The power is then continuously transferred from the soul to the body of the person, which is usually an almost instantaneous process. However, since Mikoto's soul is within the Slate right now, this is slowed down considerably." Weismann finished wearily.
"How much time are we speaking of, here? You said your power would only preserve Suoh's body for a few more hours. And are there any other requirements?" Kokujoji responded calmly. He had long ago gained the ability to wade through Weismann's babble and extract only the most significant and pressing aspects.
"Haha, that's where I will definitely need your help, Lieutenant. You see, as long as I am in close proximity to the Dresden Slate, say about 250 meters maximum, and Mikoto's body remains stationed here over the Slate, and thus close to his soul, I can send my power to Mikoto and both heal his internal injuries as well as keep him in relatively good condition, all things considered. The end result will be as if he was in a coma, with his muscle mass deteriorating and such, but no permanent damage will happen. The deterioration will be much more severe than a patient who was in a coma for a similar amount of time would suffer, however, as his body isn't actually alive, but rather being sustained by an outside source. I'll only be able to send him a certain amount of power, you see, so I'll need to focus it on the most vital aspects. I won't waste it on preserving muscle mass that he can eventually gain back on his own when I can be using it to heal his heart faster or maintain his organs and brain. Not only that, but the weakness of the bonds between his body and soul caused by such a long term separation will result in things like extreme exhaustion, physical weakness and dizziness, a weakening of the immune system, and severe long-term pain." Weismann chuckled sadly, gazing towards the other capsule. "This won't be an easy solution. This isn't fiction, and in real life, there is always a price to be paid for things like this. It's a type of equivalent exchange, as it were. It could take him years to make a full recovery. The only reason I'm not in the same boat as him is because of my role and abilities as the Silver King. A silver clansman just doesn't have the same level of absolute inviobility that I do, no matter how much of my power I push at them."
"Why would he bother? Or you, for that matter? There is no need for him to shoulder such a burden when he has already died. It would be easier for him to simply continue on to the afterlife. He fulfilled his duty as a King; there is no pressing reason to follow this path." Kokujoji pointed out skeptically.
"There is a reason. His precious family needs him." Weismann responded firmly. "The bonds that he shares with others aren't something that they can ever replace, nor are they likely to heal properly given time. And Suoh Mikoto isn't the type of person that would willingly abandon those close to him when they needed him, even if he had to pay a price to do so." He sighed, before continuing, "I want to let them have a happy ending, Lieutenant. I don't want them to experience the pain of losing another precious person." Weismann gained a far-away, sad expression on his face, as though remembering past pain. Kokujoji recognized the look as one Weismann wore when thinking about the death of his older sister, Claudia. He hummed thoughtfully, willing to accept Weismann's reasoning for the time being.
"As to your question about time, it will take me about 3 months to heal the internal damage, with the situation being what it is." Weismann concluded after a moment of thought. "I'll leave any other injuries to your medical staff, as it would increase the amount of time needed if I healed them, and we are pushing it as it is. Afterwards, he will need to remain within that 250 meter radius I mentioned earlier, this time in regards to the Slate, for 3 weeks. The close proximity of the Slate will help to maintain and improve his weakened bonds, although only time can completely repair them. Even after the three weeks are up, he should still spend at least an hour a day with the Slate, and shouldn't go too far from it for a while; I'd say we're looking at somewhere between 2 and 6 more months for that, depending on his condition." Weismann finished his explanation, his voice barely a rasp by the end of it.
"You need food, drink, and rest. What needs to be done here before you can stop long enough to get them?" The Gold King asked. While they had been talking the trembling in Weismann had lessened to a manageable level, but Kokujoji was convinced that moving would cause it to start up again. He wanted to finish up here, get Weismann settled safely for the night, and then begin the necessary preparations for the long term stay of the Silver and Red Kings, one of whom would be an invalid. It would take time and much thought to plan for all of the contingencies that were likely to occur from the plan that his friend had just outlined.
"Right now, I need to re-open the links between Mikoto and his body, and begin to send power to him in order to start the healing and preservation process. I also need to confirm that he understands enough of what's going on that he knows he needs to remain in the Slate."
"Ah yes, I 'overheard' you attempting to communicate with him earlier. You appeared to be utilizing primarily images and emotions. Why was that?" The Gold King questioned.
Weismann laughed sheepishly. "Well you see, the process of dying is apparently similar to reaching unconsciousness via the application of blunt-force trauma to the head. It knocks you out, and even after you begin to wake up, things can be more than a bit muddled thanks to the resulting concussion. It seems to be the same here. Mikoto isn't really 'awake' right now, and he's only able to process the most direct and basic communication. Even then, it isn't like he's consciously listening, but rather things are filtering in through the haze. I'm trying to lock in the concepts I'm attempting to convey by 'phrasing' them in such a way that they resonate with him. That's why in order to make sure he knew that he needed to remain within the Slate, I emphasized that he would be hurting the people he cares about if he didn't. That's a concept that he can understand no matter how fuzzy his head is, apparently! Now, first things first…." Weismann began to make his way out of the capsule and to a standing position. Kokujoji moved to support him, and ended up acting as a leaning post for his friend, whose legs wouldn't hold his weight. "I need to get to Mikoto's body."
The two made their way across the few feet between the two capsules, and Weismann immediately placed his hand on the glass, smiling down at the one inside sadly. "I won't let anyone else die. That statement includes you, Suoh Mikoto." So saying, his body began to glow with a silver light, flowing into the Slate beneath them and encompassing the capsule below his hand. A few moments later, the light began to die down as Weismann dismissed his power, until only a faint silver glow was left on both the capsule and the center of the Slate. "The connection between body and soul is re opened, and he's receiving my power properly. It also seems like his soul knows to remain where it is, so that's all settled." He attempted to stretch his arms above his head, and would have fallen had it not been for the timely intervention of the Gold King. He chuckled and tiredly turned his attention to his old friend. "So, keeping in mind that 250 meter radius I mentioned, you said something about food and rest?"
The Gold King sighed in exasperation, and began maneuvering the two of them towards the exit. "You're as troublesome as always. There are a few empty suites of rooms on the 2 floors above this one. They should fall within the required distance. I'll put you there tonight, and see about redecorating another for Suoh's use in 3 months time. First and foremost, let us see about meeting immediate needs. Everything else can be dealt with at a later point in time."
"I have a lot of things I need to tell you about too, later. A ton of things happened recently! I even gained two clansmen of my very own! One of them is a cat-girl named Neko who hates wearing clothes, and the other is Kuroh, a samurai who… "
Weismann's excited babble faded as the doors slid shut behind the pair, leaving behind a dark, silent room, the only light the silver gleam emanating from the capsule containing the body of the much loved Red King, and the Slate positioned below it.
A.N.: And that wraps up chapter 1. Please review! I need all the helpful encouragement I can get, here. T-T