Author's Notes

And that's the final bit of this episode (of which there are 27 in total excluding prologue and epilogue).

Enjoy.

Nakushita Mono o Torimodosu Toki (When you recover something lost)

AU x-over with Darker than Black. By day, he's the 'lone-wolf', transfer student. By night, he's one of the most feared assassins in Tokyo in search for the brother he lost long ago. But what happens when he finds him, on the other side...

Kouji M & Kouichi K

Chapter 3 – The Fire that Burns Bright (Part 3)

''kaa-san?' he asked softly. 'Can you and 'tou-san come to my performance tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow?' his mother repeated, frowning softly. 'I'm afraid not. I'm taking your brother to his soccer tournament, and you're father's working. But I promise I'll come to the next one, kay?'

She ruffled his hair, and he assented. After all, he normally got his precedence anyway. There had to be one time where his brother did.

But he couldn't help but feel a little jealous, especially afterwards when he heard about the great victory.

'Why, hello there,' someone whispered close to his ear, once he was making his lonely way home. Normally, Takuya walked with him, but just like lunch time, he was no-where to be found.

And his discomfort was fading away into a slight anger. So, he wasn't good enough for his brother, was he?

'You shouldn't be wandering around in your lonesome,' the voice continued, and he spun around to face the cheery teenage boy smiling gently at him. 'No-one came to pick you up from school?'

Shinya debated the question. He was still getting a bad feeling from the man, but he looked genuine enough, and harmless. And his anger at his brother was mounting-

'My brother normally walks me home, but he's gone already,' he muttered bitterly.

'Ah..,' the boy sounded genuinely concerned for a moment. 'Well, I can't have you walking alone. Tell me your address, I'll walk with you.'

And he offered a gloved hand. And after a moment's deliberation, the younger Kanbara took it.

It only occurred to him afterwards that that was the wrong move.

'Oh no!' Takuya suddenly exclaimed, jumping up. 'Shinya's going to kill me!'

His mother laughed. 'I'm sure he won't. Though he'll be a little mad you didn't spend lunch with him, and didn't walk him home. Until we explain things in any case. He knows the way home though.'

Takuya wasn't convinced. 'I'll go meet him halfway,' he said, grabbing his jacket and ignoring the protests of his parents. 'What harm can happen?'

Kouji's communicator rang on cue.

'What is it?' he snapped into the earpiece.

'Activity in the abandoned warehouse sector,' Ao's voice came through the communicator. 'Several Contractor signals are detected.'

'And you want me to get rid of them before they cause damage,' Kouji muttered.

'That would be preferable. And see what they know first.'

He sighed through his teeth. 'Fine,' he muttered, standing and disconnecting the communicator.

'You're coming?' the brunette asked, surprised.

'No,' the other said flatly. 'The world doesn't revolve around you.'

He found himself standing in front of a familiar, but empty, house, with a picket driven into the soft soil, and a sign nailed onto it, signifying that the house was for sale.

'kaa-san? 'tou-san?' he cried, searching frantically through the windows for signs of life. But the house had been stripped bare, as if no-one had ever lived in it.

'They're not here?' the boy asked, sounding surprised. 'Are your parents usually home at this time?'

'Yeah,' he muttered, staring at the empty house, before rushing up to the door and trying the handle. 'Locked. Not even Ni-san's home.' He said the last bit bitterly, and his blonde companion noticed.

He looked over the empty house again, before turning back to the young brunette, who was still staring at the empty house.

As it was, he didn't see the brown eyes glow red, nor the fog that thickened over his own brown irises.

And there was no way he would have known that another pair of eyes, far away, were glowing red as well. An empty, blue pair.

'They didn't care,' he muttered, still staring at the house in a sense of shock. 'And now they're gone and left me.'

Then he growled in anger and punched the wall with all the strength he could muster. 'I hate them.'

'Then they don't deserve someone special like you,' the other said softly. 'Why don't you come with me? I've got a few people who would really like to meet you.'

He looked back at the empty house, then nodded sadly. They really had left him, so what else was there for him to do.

'All right.'

And he allowed himself to be lead away.

'Shinya!' he called, racing back along the path for home after not finding his brother. 'Where are you? Come on buddy, I know you're mad, but that's no reason to scare the hell out of me!'

His shouting had attracted a few people, and thankfully, some he knew.

'If you're looking for your brother,' Himi Tomoki said, a good friend of the said brother. 'We went off with some blonde guy. He didn't look too happy that you didn't walk him home either.'

He gave a sheepish, apologetic look. 'That was the science lab burning down's fault,' he explained. 'Could you tell me the direction please?'

The boy pointed, and Takuya raced off, just as Tomoki's elder brother caught up to him.

'What did I tell you about wandering off by yourself?' Yutaka asked sternly.

'He was just looking for his brother, Onii-san,' Tomoki explained.

'Well...try not to go out of my sight next time.'

He grinned cheekily. 'I'm a big boy,' he said.

'And I'm in charge of you,' the other shot back, causing the younger to pout.

'All right,' he sighed in defeat, before perking up. 'Can we get some ice-cream?'

Yutaka considered, then agreed.

Kouji surveyed the sector he had been directed too. There were about four grown men inside, one lounging against the door frame and smoking a cigarette with little caution, while two more played checkers with an old board and the last one read.

An easy assassination scene, but not so much when one was after information.

So all he could do was dangle a carrot in front of them and hope to take the bait.

But a Contractor's first instinct is survival, so the bait was easily taken.

Takuya ran in the direction he had been directed towards, taking note of the empty streets that met him.

Where in the world is everyone? He wondered. It was far too empty for a Monday afternoon.

Then he raced around a corner and crashed right into his brother.

'Shinya,' he gasped out, stopping for breath. 'You had me scared to death buddy.'

'Don't pretend you care now,' the other spat coldly.

'Shinya...?'

A low chuckle interrupted them. 'Your brother's not to happy with you,' the blonde, leaning against a wall and partially consumed in shadow, commented. 'But I'll leave the two of you to it. I wouldn't want to interfere with a 'brotherly' affair.'

He growled. 'What did you do to my brother?'

The other shrugged nonchalantly. 'Nothing but tell him the truth. But as it is, I'm glad you took the bait.'

'Bait?'

The other pointed beside him, and Takuya followed his gaze, staring up at the dirty-skinned man that moved and came to stand behind his brother.

He turned back to the boy. 'So?'

'So,' the addressed shrugged. 'I wonder how long you can hold against a skilled contractor. Especially when your own powers are beyond your control. And especially with the only ace that matters.'

He stepped back into the shadows as the man laid a strong hand on his Shinya's shoulders, the brown eyes staring blankly, and a little icily, at his brother.

'You could surrender you know,' he said softly. 'Just surrender to the Association, and your brother goes free. Or you fight...and he dies.'

And as Takuya struggled to grasp the situation, he stepped back further. 'I'd love to stay, but I have an old friend that needs visiting.'

And then he vanished into the shadows from hence he was made.

'Pathetic,' Kouji groaned, staring at the three bodies on the ground, and the last backed into a wall. 'Four adult Contractors, and you can't handle a teenager.'

The only standing male growled, but could do little else as his body was shaking too hard to obey his commands, courtesy of the Light Wolf of course.

'Now listen,' he said, scowl deepening as he made sure no one else could move voluntarily, but at the same time taking care not to over-do it. 'You're going to tell me everything you know about the Association, or you're going to suffer a very slow death.'

'And if I tell you?' the Contractor looked up, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.

'If I were you, I'd be more concerned about what will happen if you don't.'

His eyes flashed in warning, and the other frowned.

'We were sent as back-up in case the plan didn't work,' he explained, hands carefully moving to avoid the metallic surface. 'Our orders were to bring Kanbara back alive.'

Kouji's eyes narrowed, carefully watching the movement of the hand.

If the orders were for him to come back alive, what was with the lot at the house?

'Why?' he asked aloud. 'And what's the plan?'

'I don't know,' the other replied, and he looked like he really didn't. 'That information wasn't disclosed to us. The plan was to use his brother as bait.'

By then, Kouji's full focus was on the standing Contractor, which meant that the one at the back had enough a free-space to activate his own powers, slashing a hand through the air and catching the teenager on the shoulder as he noticed at the last second and ducked.

Identical slashes appeared over the other's body, similar to the claw marks of a very angry wolf though far deeper, before the said man slumped over, heart ripped into three pieces.

Realising that Takuya would be in trouble if he had fallen for their bait, and from what he had seen of him, he likely would, he turned as the claw-contractor made to attack again, rolling out of the way as the marks embedded themselves into the metallic wall, before kicking a third Contractor, who's own eyes were glowing as a prequel to activated power, into the path of the third strike.

The two associates clashed, claws striking combustion, before they both fell, one with his liver torn out and lung impaled, while the other's head smoking from overheat.

'Anything you'd like to add?' Kouji asked emotionlessly, turning to the fourth and final Contractor, who was backing up slowly.

Their eyes glowed simultaneously, each one reaching for their hidden power. But the Light Wolf was faster, grasping a hold on the other's neuron terminal and twisting what he found there.

Less than a minute later, he was back on his Communicator, leaving four fallen stars behind him.

'Akane, get Haiiro to tell me where Kanbara is.'

A slight pause, then...

'Six blocks down, due East,' came the calm, female reply.

He took off running in that direction.

His mind was burning with anger, but he struggled to maintain it. One false move, and he'd sign his brother's death warrant...and no matter how much they argued, how many times they said they hated each other, how many times someone came between them, they were still brothers. And they loved each other.

'Shinya,' he tried again.

The blank brown eyes travelled up. 'What are you waiting for?' he asked, without emotion. 'You left me. You might as well kill me too.'

'What are you talking about?' he yelled desperately, trying to control his anger while at the same time trying to keep his mind focused.

Of all the times for my mind to try wandering off!

'Shinya,' he continued. 'Something came up at lunch time, that's all. I was coming to get you after school, to meet you halfway, but you weren't there.'

'Liar,' the other said flatly, for the moment both ignoring the overseeing Contractor. 'The house was empty. You all left.'

'Of course it isn't!' he exclaimed in surprise, before shaking his head as he practically felt haze creeping into his eyes. 'kaa-san and 'tou-san are waiting at home for you. And kaa-san made Strawberry Daifuku too.'

Shinya remained silent.

'Come on,' he tried again. 'That's your favourite. And she didn't make it for me and 'tou-san. You know we hate the strawberries. She made it for you.'

'For me?' he whispered, and it seemed the haze was disappearing. 'But the house..?'

'Honestly,' Takuya shook his head again. 'I don't know what you saw, but I just left them both at home.'

'So...you don't...' It sounded like he was trying to come to grips with it all. 'You didn't leave me?'

'Of course not 'touto-chan.'

A brown spark came into his eyes as they widened childishly. 'Really?'

He grinned, realising the familiar conversation. 'Really really.'

He blinked, and his eyes returned to normal, before he squeezed them shut again as long fingernails dug into his skin.

'Enough with your little brotherly chat,' the older man hissed. 'Which one's it going to be? Him or you?'

Takuya's eyes flashed between their blank, Moratorium state and their usual brown, but he didn't answer.

The man grinned, showing his yellowing teeth. 'Time's up,' he smirked, opening his mouth to show something emerald dripping from his jaws. 'Say goodbye.'

And he lost all restraint.

Shinya screamed as the nails dug into his skin, his mind still reeling from the uplifting of...whatever had just occurred. His brother, the only he always fought with and said he hated, but never truly did, was standing there, eyes changing while fear remained a constant emotion...fear for him.

His brother was afraid for him.

Then something green dripped onto his blazer, burning through like acid, and he looked up to find the disgusting substance dripping from the jaws of the man who held him, threatening to burn through his skin and bones as well.

He tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong, and the sudden fear too much.

He had been right the first time. That boy was not to be trusted.

But he had gotten angry at his brother, without allowing him the chance to explain, and now both brothers were about to pay the price.

Or so he thought, until the man suddenly turned alight, and the grip slackened, allowing him to throw it up and crawl away.

But in the haze that stung at his eyes, his brother had disappeared.

'Ni-san!' he yelled. 'Where are you?'

No reply came.

In his own mind, he was drifting without aim. There was nothing save blankness readily forgotten, shaded orange and red like the fire's flame.

Nothing mattered here, nothing...

'Ni-san!'

Older brother? I'm somebody's brother.

Somehow, he didn't remember that. He was nothing. How could nothing have a brother?

Then something sparked, and he remembered.

Shinya...

His hands were hot, as was the rest of him.

'Where are you?'

The voice sounded desperate, panicked...apologetic.

He's...sorry?

'Well, duh. He's your little brother idiot,' said the voice at the back of his head.'

My...brother?

"Onii-san! You still have to take me home! Remember, 'kaa-san and 'tou-san are waiting for us!'

My mother...and father?

For some reason, he felt those emotions that came were foreign.

As if...he wasn't meant to feel.

Except the warmth that came from the outside fire.

But something was still nagging him.

And it took a precious few seconds to realise what.

'I'll hurt the people I love? My friends and family?'

'No. You're stronger than that. Would you ever think to harm us, or Shinya?'

'Hell no!'

The murky brown suddenly focused, before glowing red and focusing on a certain Contractor, before there was nothing left to burn and only the ashes and bones remained.

Kouji arrived to find the younger brother in his elder's arms, sobbing his head off as he apologized again and again while the other tried to placate him.

Funny...it reminded him of another set of two brothers, though closer in age. For a moment, the mask of indifference slipped as he watched the two brothers, before he replaced it and stepped forward to interrupt their cosy conversation, taking in the ashes and scorched walls.

'I take it you dispatched that Contractor.'

Takuya turned around. 'Says the one who didn't tag along.'

He shrugged. 'I had a few others to deal with. And they informed me they dangled a carrot in front of your face and you took the bait.'

He scowled. 'What would you have done?'

'Exactly the same thing.' And for once, the answer sounded genuine.

Then they both turned to look at the ashes again. 'I killed him.'

'This is war. People will be killed. And others will be saved.'

The brunette still stared at the ashes, before allowing a small smile to play on his face, looking down at the mop of brown that was his younger brother. 'Yeah. People will be saved.'

He supposed he could live with that.

In the shadows, the blonde doll smirked. Things hadn't gone entirely to plan, but it didn't matter. Because there was always more than one road to the end.

Unseen, he moved to slip away, but the black-haired boy looked up before the shadows fully clouded him.

He let a smile, a genuine one, slip over his face, before disappearing from sight.

After all, he could only feel what had been programmed into him, and do as he was commanded.

So he couldn't help but be happy at the sight of the other.

Translations:

Ao – blue, codename for Seraphimon's character

Akane – red, codename for Ophanimon's character

Haiiro – grey, name of doll medium used in Kouji's sect.

If you're wondering why Yin was used last time, Hairro wasn't available and Hei told Yin to help him.

Next episode: The Doll in the Shadows