Chapter 3: The Pain of the Past and Present

A/N: Hey guys! I'm really sorry for not updating… our quarterly exams just finished and there are still a LOT of things to do… thanks so much for those that reviewed, followed or added the story in their favorites. I really appreciated it.

Akira Hidaka: thanks for reminding me about the non-cannon part. I forgot to place that as a disclaimer. As for the pairings… well I haven't completely chosen who but I may put up a poll later…

I'll be referring to Saruhiko as 'Saruhiko'.

'Thoughts'

"Dialogue/Saruhiko talking"

"Histsumire Talking"

Anyway, enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own K project. Grammar and spelling errors may be found inside. Beware of the cursings. My writing is still not that good so bear with me...

Weeks have passed and Saruhiko was finally released. Hitsumire has yet to say anything to him but, the warmth of his flames gave him a bit of reassurance. His power seemed to have increased as well though, whether he will be able to summon Hitsumire's Sword of Damocles, he has yet to try. The pain of his body is still present and it's taking him every ounce of his self-restraint to not flinch from the sensations.

He walked around the training grounds of Scepter 4's headquarters while recalling the so-called (as he believed) stupid warnings of the Gold King.

"Hidden agendas my ass. That was completely stupid and unneccessary. Are they honestly that naïve? I mean… If something as simple as an Alpha Strain Attack shook them what more if it's another battle of kings? One that includes ALL clans." Saruhiko muttered under his breath while he tried to organize his chaotic thoughts.

Sighing, he shifted his attention instead towards the scenes (memories as he believed) that suddenly surged through his mind before he blacked out.

"Those memories though… Were they Hitsumire-san's Memories? And who was that boy that was lying in a pool of blood? Hitsumire-san was crying a lot at that time too. And why the hell was he bounded to a pillar? That boy looked as if he was used as a sacrifice in those creepy ritual stuff. What the hell were they doing there in the first place? Argh… this is all so damn confusing." Saruhiko said as he ruffled his hair in frustration. It seemed as though today was the day his confusion and irritation piled up.

"This is getting me nowhere. I might as well get out of this stuffy place. It's too suffocating."

Saruhiko walked out of the headquarters, his face scrunched up in tension.

Saruhiko walked around aimlessly, trying to get the weight of chest out. But, every step he took felt heavier than the first one. His chest felt as if it was going to collapse and he still did not know the cause of it. He had a terrible time breathing and was constantly gasping for air, though he did it subtly so as not to alert anyone of his current condition.

He kept walking, trying to find a more secluded area until he looked around and realized that he was already deep in the red clan's territory. He centainly wished that he would not encounter any red clansmen. He is in no mood or condition to fight and is most certainly not willing to put up much time or effort for whatever shit their up to... Again.

Unfortunately for him, fate just loves to make him suffer.

He felt red aura seep through several feet away from him which, by the way, is just around the corner of his location.

'How wonderful. My luck just seems to run out in the worst possible moment.'

Cursing his luck, he immediately went through an alleyway and climbed up to the roof of a four storey building. From there he suppressed his presence and allow himself to freely gasp for air. For what seemed like hours,(it was just a few seconds, really) he finally managed to calm his eratic heartbeat and breathing, though there is still some difficulty concerning the latter. Noticing the sudden spike of aura, he observed the red clan from above as they reached his previous location.

"The whole clan's here... Must be celebrating their king's recovery." Saruhiko murmured then proceeded to jump across the other roof to hear their conversation.

He hid in an extremely dark alley and eavesdropped on their chat.

"Ne Kusunagi-san... Where are we going?" Kamamoto Rikio asked as he tried to keep up with the second-in-command.

"Just a place where we could eat. I heard of a new shop that just opened so I thought that we might as well try it." Kusunagi answered with a shrug. The others merely nodded in acceptance and proceeded to chat with each other.

"Waaaaaah... I can't believe I'm actually here." Totsuka said as he stretched his arms high in the air.

"...I know what you mean. It is actually quite a miracle, don't you think? I never honestly expected you to be revived all of a sudden..." Kusunagi responded in a somewhat relieved but somewhat thankful tone.

"Of course it would happen! The Red clan has always been a tight-nit group! It's only natural that we stick together no matter what!" Yata Misaki said in his loud boisterous voice.

"Ehhh? But didn't that Fushimi guy from Scepter 4 bring back Totsuka-san?" Eric asked himself in a soft voice. But, Yata still heard him. Everything seemed to go in a slow motion until out of nowhere, in his sudden rage, he grabbed Eric by the front of the collar and screamed at him.

"Bullshit! You honestly expect that traitor to be the one to bring Totsuka-san back to us?!"

The whole clan stopped walking and chatting and the whole empty street was in a deafening silence. Saruhiko could clearly see and hear their conversation since they conveniently stopped at the entrance of the alley though could not be seen by the others since the whole alley was pitch black.

Yata continued to scream at Eric, throwing him on the ground then grabbing his neck and yanked him in a kneeling position suffocating him in the process.

"That fucking piece of trash is not worth a single fucking glance or acknowledgement. He probably even had crawled in-"

"Yata. That's enough." Kusunagi said in a stern voice. But, Yata continued to rant, ignoring the warning.

"- his king's ass while we grieved and mourned for our loss. That fucking traitor is nothing but a fucked up son of a bitch whose hungry for attention. If you honestly believed that that pathetic,-"

"Yata, damn it! I said that's enough!" Kusunagi said in an angered voice while coming towards him trying to stop him but was still ignored and pushed away by the red head.

"-worthless, fucking piece of shit actually saved Totsuka-san then you have got to be the most idiotic fuck shitty dog in the whole universe. For all I know, you must have been such a wuss in the past that you yourself allowed your fucking captors to fucking rape you. And you enjoyed it didn't you? Besides, that bullshit traitor couldn't even stand up to his king then what more now?" Yata was suddenly yanked back in a rough pull while his wrist was locked in Mikoto's grasp in a painful manner that he could not help but cry out in pain.

"Yatagarasu. You better keep that mouth of yours shut before I burn you into a fucking crisp." Mikoto's low voice was heard along the empty street, the tone was deathly serious.

Yata kept crying out in pain, begging his king to release his wrist but Mikoto wasn't done yet. He pulled his wrist up, dragging Yata into a standing position.

"You listen here, Yatagarasu. You have no damn idea what suffering Saruhiko had to go through. You have no damn idea what he had to sacrifice just to even be alive right now. So before you open that damn fucking mouth of yours, make sure that your not blinded by your fuckin' jelousy, you fuckin' little shit. I've had enough of your damn ranting as if you know everything about the world." Mikoto released his wrist none to gently then started walking away, the rest of the clan soon followed albeit in a more sedate pace to avoid the king's wrath until there was no one left.

But, no one seemed to notice the black mark on Yata's neck or the sudden change of color in his eyes.

Saruhiko stood frigid, his eyes blank and glassy. Every word Yata uttered stabbed his heart in more ways than one. It felt as if though each word pierced deeper than any knife or sword could do. His whole being was numb but his chest was squeezing so painfully that he couldn't breathe at all. He couldn't even feel Hitsumire's warmth anymore. He felt light headed with the lack of air and was starting to get delirious. He wanted to lose consciousness and die but, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what viewpoints, his body just doesn't seem to listen to his (suicidal) thoughts.

Everything seemed to slow down around him until he felt a sudden burst of warmth, the familiar reassuring warmth that he has started to love and filled him with relief.

"Don't let his words get to you, Saruhiko." Hitsumire's melodic voice echoed through his blank mind though it was filled with worry and guilt. Saruhiko did not like his voice filled with such emotions at all but, he pushed the thought at the back of his mind for now.

"Hit...su...mi..re...san? I'm not...dreaming now, am I?" Saruhiko asked in a resigned voice as if he has already given in to the pain.

"Saruhiko... I'm sorry I took so long. It's gonna be ok. Just hang in there alright? I'll help you go back to the Blue king. He'll be able to help you for now. Is that ok?"

Saruhiko muttered a soft affirmative response and allowed Hitsumire to control his body. He felt his body move in great speed while the landscape of the city seemed to blur as he moved towards Scepter 4's building. His breathing, thankfully, has returned to normal with the intervention of Hitsumire.

He desperately wanted to return to his mindscape and bask in the loving warmth of Hitsumire as well as his gentle caresses and soothing words. He badly wished to escape reality and stay with Hitsumire, the only person that has been there for him, as he believed, until death takes him away. He wanted to succumb to the pain and let fate take his life away. It was far too much for him to bear.

His thoughts kept wandering around until it finally blanked out again. He merely looked at the horizon without even realizing what was infront of him. He was brought back when Hitsumire's voice echoed through his mind.

"We're almost there. Just a bit more, alright? I can already see the Blue king outside. He looked like he's taking a break though. Can you hold on a bit more?"

"... Maybe..."

"It's gonna be alright. I'm right here for you, m'kay? Just a bit more then you can rest."

"... I'll try, then..."

Once he reached the gates, Hitsumire returned the control of his body to Saruhiko. He caught the attention of Munakata and tried to run towards him but his vision started to blur. He felt his king move infront of him and wrap his arms around him before he could collapse. He felt himself lean on his king's shoulders while he panted and gasped for air again and faintly heard Munakata's voice frantically calling him before the darkness engulfed him.

A/N:

I was planning on making this a bit longer but I decided to place the rest on the next chapter... So it might quite boring for you and a bit confusing but I'll try to clear it up for you and post the next chapters of the story...

Hopefully... Sorry for the short chapter... T^T

I just created the poll for the pairings so please feel free to visit my profile and vote.

If you have any suggestions for the pairings, please pm me for your ideas.

Anyway... Please leave a review, constructive critisism if possible...

Thanks for reading!

See ya next time ^^