Despite the fact that it was summer, the path to Shinji's home was layered in ice. The sun had been blocked out by a fluffy layer of clouds, clouds that threatened to let loose a torrent of snow. Other than the occasional warning Yukihime had been silent on the trek up the mountains. Her silence betrayed her feelings of fear, though of what Shinji did not know. Even if he were to die, Yukihime would live.
Shinji did not remove his eyes from the ground in front of him as he came upon his house. He knew, from many years of walking that path, that he was coming to his destination, but he was too afraid to see it. The house would not be standing, he told himself, it would be as it was left; a pile of ash.
"Well, well, well," a voice, familiar in the most painful of ways, broke through the haze in Shinji's head, "it took you long enough. And I left so many clues too, one in every attack. Though I guess I can't really blame you for that, I don't know how long it took that oaf Mephisto to connect the dots himself."
Shinji raised his head, afraid to see the face of the person talking to him. He knew, in his heart, who it would be, who the voice belonged to. His eyes haltingly landed on the face of his older brother, Haraku.
"Miss me?" Haraku grinned and broke into a peal of guttural laughter.
It was unmistakably, undeniably Shinji's brother. Yet, something about the way he spoke made him seem different, as though there was someone else speaking for him. Shinji braced himself for an attack.
"Aw, come on," Haraku's face broke into a sneer, "I'm your brother after all."
Shinji faltered, lowering his guard for a fraction of a moment. Haraku was his brother.
Whatever is speaking to you is not Haraku, Yukihime finally spoke. She was restless, her voice quavering. Shinji flinched at the sound of it. Somehow the familiar voice felt foreign in the still silence of his old home.
Haraku stared listlessly at the forest around him, giving Shinji a moment, it seemed, to converse with Yukihime. Shinji dismissed that thought on account of its look at his home, the pile of broken rubble and ash that it had turned into. For some reason, the sight calmed him. There was a sense of finality to it, everything ends up here in the end.
"Listen, brother, you and I need to have a little talk," Haraku narrowed his eyes, "about that sword of yours."
Shinji took up a fighting stance again, something about the way that Haraku said the word brother made it clear that whatever was going to happen was beginning, there was to be no more small talk.
Haraku was not advancing. Rather, he was gazing at Yukianesa with a longing that delved almost into hunger.
"That sword belongs to the ice demon Yukihime," Haraku growled, "it is not yours."
Haraku moved his mouth silently, counting down. When he got to the desired number he nodded and looked back at Shinji,
"Alright. Are you ready boy? Are you ready for the big truth?"
Yukihime was panicking, stuttering, but there was no time for her to speak. Haraku opened his mouth, "You were never possessed by Yukihime."
Shinji froze, waiting for something from Yukihime, some sort of reaction or explaination. He was met instead with silence, silence that confirmed what Haraku said.
"That thing speaking to you," Haraku continued to explain, "is a low-level demon known as a Nisemono, an imposter. They hide near powerful objects, cursed objects, and convince the unlucky people who find said objects that they are the real source of power. In your case, the Nisemono simply had to convince you that it was Yukihime, which it did an excellent job of." Haraku took a menacing step forward, his eyes took on a crazed look, "That sword you carry, the real source of your ice, is powerful. The real Yukihime, however, is much, much moreso. She boasts so many more abilities and strengths. You know, like driving people insane."
Shinji was taken aback, wondering what ice had to do with driving people insane, and more so what that had to do with him.
Haraku chuckled at his confusion, "Just think about it for a minute, maybe that brain of yours can come in useful for once. No? Well, it's more of a symbolic thing, but it works well. Ice is cold, heartless, isolated, and isolation breeds insanity. It's as simple as that. I used it on the demons who were hiding on the True Cross campus. Familiars, possessors, I never differentiated. Those Okumura brothers were difficult, though, they resisted for too long."
Shinji, however, had stopped listening. He had gotten caught on something, something Haraku had said. I... I used it… I never…
Haraku noticed the look of horror and disgust rising on Shinji's face and broke into a peal of gleeful laughter, "Did they never tell you? Oh you poor kid!" he bent over, holding his stomach, "I am Yukihime! I've been in your family for generations, jumping from person to person to preserve my life." Haraku stood up, and though the laughter had subsided, a look of furious happiness still adorned his face, "Your brother, Haraku, he was weak, broken. He spent his days staring into the woods. I absolutely hated him. But your fucking parents wanted to, what did they say, 'Stick to tradition' and place me in the eldest of their children. I, of course, protested," Haraku stepped forward, and Shinji suddenly realized how close they were, "I would have much rather had you."
Shinji gripped Yukianesa and swung it at Haraku, who sidestepped and placed his hand on the blade. He instantly took it back and stared at a black line running across his palm.
"Tsh," he growled, "Yukianesa seems to have taken a liking to you," he rolled his eyes tiredly, "that means I have to kill you to get it back."
He finalized his statement with a backhand that sent Shinji flying into one of the standing support beams of his house. Shinji stood up quickly, trying to steady himself after having hit his head. Yukihime- thing he'd called Yukihime- was stirring. Shinji ran at Haraku again, waving Yukihime. Haraku sidestepped and grabbed Shinji's arm, swinging him into the ground.
Shinji grimaced as he got back up, as he was allowed to get back up. Haraku stood by, watching with a bored impatience. Shinji looked down at his right hand, the one Haraku had grabbed, and his eyes went wide. There was a ring of ice wrapping around his wrist and, with the smallest movement of Haraku's fingers, the ice expanded inward, sending spikes throughout Shinji's hand and arm.
Run! The Nisemono/Yukihime screamed. Despite everything, Shinji listened to it and took off into the woods behind the house. He didn't get far, large stalagmites of ice were forming on the ground as he ran and one of the bigger ones impaled him in the side. Haraku was speaking as he walked, saying horrible things about the Fuyuyama family. Shinji, in trying to see his brother past the snow, realized that there was a blizzard going on. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, but that was short-lived. He could see Haraku's silhouette through the snow. Shinji pushed himself off of the ice spike and continued to run.
Shinji, the fake Yukihime said softly, I'm sorry. With that final statement she broke away from him. Shinji fell to the ground, clutching his chest. The toll of surviving solely on the power of a demon was beginning to take effect. His limbs were growing weak, and his stomach growled viciously. Shinji forced himself to stand up, to keep going. The ground was littered in small shards of ice that dug into his hands as he crawled, there was no more walking.
Shinji was going to die. He could feel himself wasting away, and if that didn't kill him, Haraku was growing closer. Moments before Shinji was going to fall over, to give into the peaceful embrace of death, he looked up and realized something, he was in a clearing. Behind him were the trees, the woods, and in front of him was the edge of a sheer cliff. In the middle of the clearing, as hard as it was to make out, was a well.
Shinji was five, the day he first found the clearing. It had just snowed, and the air was still clinging to the cold. The well was what initially drew him to the clearing, it was something that had stood out on the white background. He needed to find Haraku, and though his older brother had a fascination with the woods, he had never disappeared into them before. Shinji looked down at his feet and saw two sets of tracks, one belonging to a boy, and one belonging to a grown man.
Shinji, upon seeing the well, felt a sense of unexplainable peace. The stones surrounding it had been thrown violently away from the opening in the ground. A few feet away from it was a circle of wood that had been used to cover the well in its better days.
Shinji could hear weak crying coming from the well, and he knew that it belonged to Haraku. Still, he crept forward slowly, scared of coming face to face with the truth.
"Oof, that brings back old memories, doesn't it?" Haraku had found Shinji. Shinji dragged himself backwards with his good hand, looking the entire time at the thing that pretended to be his brother. Haraku walked forward slowly, sensing that he had won.
"I think," he said as he backed Shinji to the edge of the well, "that it's your turn to fall."
As Haraku raised his foot to push Shinji back into the well, something in his eyes changed, and he looked at Shinji with fear.
Haraku? Shinji realized.
Shinji crept to the well and bent over the edge, peering at the cold water below. He was instead met with the expected image of his brother. Haraku was lying on his back, trying to spread his weight out over the ice.
His timid voice rose from the darkness,"Shinji?"
"Shinji?" for the first time, the person speaking from Haraku's mouth sounded like him, "Help me."
"Help me Shinji," Haraku stared to cry from the bottom of the well.
Haraku did not wait for any response from his brother. He gracefully ran around Shinji and jumped into the well. Shinji reacted slowly, realizing his brother's intentions only after they'd been carried out. He dragged himself to the edge of the well and looked down at Haraku, who had not managed to break the ice completely.
"Cover it," Haraku demanded quietly, "this well is her, Yukihime's, only prison."
Shinji faltered, not wanting to subject his brother to that kind of isolation.
"Please," Haraku cried, "I won't be the one talking for much longer. Please do it Shinji, before she takes over again."
Shinji stared at the wood circle and, with a shaking hand, reached for it.
Shinji looked around desperately for someone to help him, knowing in his heart that there would be no one. He turned his eyes back to the well, back to Haraku.
"I'm going to go get help," his little voice, though it never carried far, reached his brother's ears heavily.
"No, Shinji please don't go, I'm scared."
Shinji looked again, knowing that he could not stay, Haraku needed real help. But he could not just leave his brother. The truth, what had to be done, was a painful thing to do. Haraku needed help.
"I'm here Haraku, I promise I won't leave you," Shinji said softly as he withdrew from his brother.
When the circle of wood had been placed over the well, Shinji collapsed on it. He was tired, his limbs had grown weak and heavy.
"Shinji," Haraku, the real Haraku, said from the bottom of the well, "You're bleeding."
Shinji placed his good hand on his side. It came away red. His vision began to blur as he brought that same shaking, blood covered hand to his face, grabbing onto his mask and pulling it away from his face. It came away easily, painlessly, without any resistance.
Shinji's voice was weak, rough, but it worked nonetheless, "I'm here Haraku, I promise I won't leave you." those were the final words to escape his mouth, as he withdrew from his brother one last time.
Hey guys, I hope that was good! If the last part was difficult to read, please let me know! I want this to be easy for future readers! Big thanks to RedBurningDragon for letting me write this, even though it took me forever!