"Yomi!" a voice shouted. I blinked, my senses overwhelmed in an instance. There was life all around. Bugs chirped. An owl called out. Bright lights came from a thriving city beyond the trees along with the sounds of humans all around. "Yomi-" the voice cut short and I looked up. The face before me was none other than Black Rock Shooter's, but it was also very different.
"Mato…" I mumbled, recalling the name of the girl who had been Black's human counterpart until just recently. They truly did look remarkably alike. If this girl was given time to age and grow her hair out, they would look identical except for the difference in skin tone.
As I thought this, I recalled the warm hand that had gripped mine before everything went black and quickly I sat up. "Mato, there you-" another voice called. This time when I turned, I was confronted with my own face. The only difference was the horror clearly written on the girl's face where as I was only concerned with one thing.
Found her.
At first I had mistaken it to be a rock or something, but a second look revealed the mass huddled under a tree to be fabric, not stone. Mato must have seen it too, for she quickly ran and knelt down next to Black's side. From what I could see from a distance, the girl was in an even worse condition prior to our encounter with that strange girl. She was covered in blood and her coat was in shambles.
My eyes widened as I recalled the strange events of just moments ago. Though I had been unconscious, I had felt warmth all around me. Had Black Rock Shooter actually protected me?
"We should get her home." Mato said. "My mom knows, so she'll be welcomed there."
I stood to move to Black's side only to have my ex-counterpart step between us. She looked at me with that stubborn look of determination. "I won't let you hurt Mato or Black Rock Shooter!" she all but shouted. It was possibly the last break in our connection, for I felt us completely severed now. In fact, the action was enough to make the very curls in my hair fall out. It was rather odd, having no connection to this world and still being in it, but at the moment I could not be bothered by it.
Sighing, I jumped over the girl and knelt down next to Mato, but slowly to look as little of a threat as possible. As I scooped up the heap of black her arms hooked around my neck, for what reason I did not care to ponder. Glancing back at the girl called Yomi, I smirked at her look of shock. "What fun is hurting an already broken toy before it has had time to repair?" I inquired with a deeply sarcastic tone. Mato smiled for some reason and I felt I had unknowingly gained her trust, something I didn't care about. My thoughts at the moment were all on the unconscious form curled up in my arms.
Surprisingly, Mato's mother took the news of her sudden guests quite well. She gave me a warm smile, waving me into a small bedroom where I left Mato to help a very groggy Black Rock Shooter change out of her bloody clothes and bandage her wounds. However, I was not cold-hearted enough not to feel a flash of anger as I caught a glimpse at the ugly, stitched up scar on the left side of her stomach.
Walking into the next room, I overheard Mato's mother and Yomi talking. "I understand your reluctance to tell your parents about this, especially after just trusting you enough to stay with us instead of moving again. We'll keep it a secret for now."
Strolling into the room as if I had just arrived, I looked up at the woman. If I recalled correctly, Black mentioned Mato's last name… "Kuroi-san, isn't it?" I asked.
The woman smiled. "You must be Death Master, correct? It is very nice to meet you."
"Sendo is fine." I mumbled, finding it oddly uncomfortable to have such a seemingly sweet woman call me by my given name.
"Well, Sendo-chan, you are welcome to stay here. I'm sorry, though. We only have one guest bedroom." she said, worriedly.
I was about to speak when I felt a silent presence behind me. Glancing back, I saw a very child-like Black Rock Shooter pad into the room while rubbing her eyes. She looked up at me, but remained silent and soon turned her attention to the very warm smile of Kuroi-san. I had been about to offer to leave, but suddenly seeing the blue-eyed fighter acknowledge me with such a calm demeanor made all hints of my normally sadistic and cruel behavior disappear.
"Kaa-san, Black can sleep in my room." Mato called also walking into the room.
Kuroi-san shook her head. "You an Yomi share that room now. You can't possibly fit that girl in there as well." I sat down, listening to their exchange. Black sat down next to me, our usual hostility towards one another forgotten.
"Then I can stay in the guest bedroom with… Sendo and Black can stay with Yomi." Mato decided.
"From what you've told me, you and Sendo-chan do not particularly get along." Kuroi-san argued. With that I recalled that it must have seemed like I had kidnapped Yomi and stolen her from Mato, when in fact she had willingly come to the Other World to escape her own despair.
"But Sendo and Black don't get along either." Mato countered.
The elder woman glanced down at where I sat and smiled. "That doesn't seem to be the case anymore." she observed. With a quick glance, I noticed that Black had drifted back off to sleep and was leaning against my shoulder.
Sighing for what seems like the hundredth time in such a short amount of time, I stood and again picked the girl up. At Yomi's worried expression, I grinned. "Do not worry. Your beloved hero will remain undisturbed this evening." I assured her, closing the door to the guest bedroom.
Gently, I set Black down on the bed and moved to leave when she caught my wrist. Under the large shirt she wore, she seemed oddly fragile. Those familiar blue eyes slowly and tiredly opened, silently looking up at me.
I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay just one night.
Days and weeks went by and there was still no hope of us returning to our home. Mainly we spent our days lounging about the house. Black often helped Kuroi-san with chores, carrying huge boxes about the house and doing other things a normal teenager should not have been able to do. However, I soon noticed the blue-eyed girl was becoming more and more withdrawn, especially towards me.
It was irritating.
But one day, Black Rock Shooter was nowhere to be found. Noticing my casual search, Kuroi-san smiled. "Black-chan went for a walk before Mato and Yomi return home. I believe she mentioned something about the museum."
As I went outside, I turned in the opposite direction of the thriving museum on the south side of town and made my way towards the darkened building looming on the north side of the city. I knew she would be there in that ancient museum that resembled the Other World so greatly. That place was the only sanctuary for creatures like us that did not belong in this world, at least not yet. In that place where everything was already in shambles, we did not have to hold back and act like normal humans. There, we could be the strange creatures that we were, powerful and worthy of any human's fear.
She sat among the rubble, staring up through a massive window with shattered glass all around. The pain in that gaze was there once more and it unsettled me. I wondered what kind of life Black had led before we met. What had forced her to become so cold?
Black glanced in my direction before sighing and moving from her perch. She turned to leave, dismissing my presence altogether. With that one little action my anger flared, but another emotion came with it. It was something that filled my chest and clouded my judgment, entirely.
Grabbing her by the wrist, I punched Black in the face. She looked back at me in surprise, rubbing her cheek and silently wondering why I didn't send her flying across the room since it was obvious that I could. I didn't reply, averting my gaze from the girl who had somehow managed to grow as tall as I was and burying my face in her shirt.
"Baka…" I mumbled through the fabric. "Aren't you supposed to trust the people who care about you?"
Black Rock Shooter remained silent for a long time and I was about to pull away when her hand fell heavily upon my head. "I forgot. I'm sorry, Sendo."
For some reason, tears blurred my vision. My chest constricted with this strange emotion, threatening to consume me. "That's Death to you!" I choked out.
She laughed. "I'm sorry, Death."
Author's Note:
Okay so I was really surprised to find the number of hits this story has gotten in such a short amount of time. So… THANK YOU! I'm really glad that so many people like it. I'm hoping it will turn out as good as everyone likes, but I'm not really sure where this story is going. It's sort of a "go with the flow" kind of thing. Therefore, this is your first and maybe only warning:
The rating of this story may change depending on further content. For those of you who do not like terribly depressing stories, stop reading, immediately. This also may end up as a pairing of BRS and DM so there shall be no judgment. Comments would be much appreciated, but only constructive critiques or compliments. I would prefer NOT having meaningless hate comments, which has happened before. If you hate it, don't read it. Don't make everyone who likes it suffer (cause you will make me self-conscious and I'll stop writing)
Translations for the Japanese Illiterate:
-san – respectful title for elders or people of higher standing
Baka – Japanese word for stupid, ignorant, dumb (an insult)
Seeing that I have writers block for my actual book, I may or may not post the next chapter very soon. It just depends on my mood.
Again, thank you for reading.