Tatsuki trudged back home as if in a trance. She had just learned about an ultimate evil that's plotting world domination via the end of human life. Not a very good thing to hear about. What made things worse was that she was beginning to have doubts about herself. That woman, Lust… she had said that they were sisters. Could she be somehow related to that supreme evil? And if so, why was she living in Karakura, Japan instead of in the North American version of hell? Could her parents know about any of this?
And that's when a very frightening light bulb clicked on in her head: was she even related to her parents? Lust had pretty said that she wasn't. Could an incarnation of one of the Seven Deadly Sins really be trusted? In all honesty, she didn't know what to think anymore.
It was fairly dark when she finally got back home. She entered somberly, and headed for the dining room, where her parents were waiting for her to arrive for dinner.
"Welcome home, sweetie!" her mother greeted with a warm smile. "How was school?"
Tatsuki didn't answer. She simply took a seat, picked up some chopsticks, and just started poking her mother's homemade curry. She didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.
"Tatsuki?" her father asked. "Is something wrong?"
She was silent for several seconds before she asked her question. "Mom… Dad… are you really my parents?"
Dead silence followed. Her mother and father both shared shocked glances before her father sighed. "I guess it's time you knew the truth." Tatsuki looked up at him in surprise as he stood from his seat, motioning for her to follow.
He led her to the closet that was under the stares. He rummaged through the controlled chaos of the small space before he pulled out a relatively small box. It looked like the type of box that evidence from a crime would've been stored in. He removed the lid and skimmed through a variety of old-looking folders before pulling one out. "Here. It's better that you know sooner or later anyway."
Tatsuki took the folder and opened it. When she saw the contents, her eyes widened. The folder held an adoption certificate.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as her eyes slowly became wet.
"We didn't want you thinking that you were abandoned," her father replied. "We don't know who your real parents are. The people at the adoption center said that they found you on their doorstep one day." He went silent for several seconds afterward as Tatsuki's eyes started leaking. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" she said in an offended tone, glaring at him with tearful eyes. "You'd better damn well be!" Her father looked at her with shock evident in his features. "You've been lying to me my whole life! Would it have killed you to tell the truth? Well?"
He was at a loss for words. Tatsuki had shouted at him before, sure. But it had been out of anger. He desperately wanted to say something, even as his adopted daughter turned on heel and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Feeling dejected, he went back to the dining room, where his wife sat, her face dour. She had obviously heard everything. He sat down quietly.
Soon, they heard Tatsuki stomping down the stairs. When she passed the dining room, they saw that she had her backpack and travelling bag.
"Where are you going?" her mother asked.
"I'm going to Orihime's place," Tatsuki replied rather aggressively. "At least there I'll be with someone that I can trust." Before either of them could respond, she stormed out of the house.
-o-
Orihime had just finished fixing dinner when she heard someone knocking at the door. She was surprised to see Tatsuki at her doorstep carrying a bag that was obviously packed full.
"Hey, Tatsuki!" the redhead said with her usual exuberant smile. "What're doing here?"
"Hey," Tatsuki replied with a weak smile. "Do you think I could stay here for a while? I… I kind of need to be away from my parents."
"I don't mind at all! Come on in." The dark-haired girl obliged and set her belongings down on the nearest chair. "You're in luck, Tatsuki! I just finished a brand new recipe! Would you like to give it a try?"
"Uh…" She hesitated to answer. She really didn't want to upset her best friend, but she also really, really, REALLY didn't want to have to get her stomach pumped. "I… already ate dinner. Thanks anyway."
"Okay," Orihime said with a grin. "Well, just make yourself comfortable. I'll be back in a minute." And at that, she made for the kitchen. Tatsuki sighed in relief as she took a seat at the small table in the middle of the room. She was glad to have a friend like Orihime, but she couldn't ever say that the redhead was a five-star chef.
"Nice place, huh?"
Tatsuki yelped in surprise at the sudden voice. She turned, her hand over her chest in an attempt to stop her heart from blowing out of her chest, to see David Marshall the Grim Reaper lounging against the far wall. "What the hell are you doing her!?"
"Raven took a liking to Orihime's personality," he explained with a shrug. "So I figured we could stay here awhile. What about you?"
Tatsuki gave the Reaper a glare. "I had an argument with my parents, so I'm crashing here for the time being."
"Ah, the old 'parental control' scenario, eh?" He suddenly put on the smirk of a typical smartass. He took off his glasses and took small rag out from a hidden pocket, and began wiping the lenses. "Let me guess: they tried to set you up with a guy you didn't like?" Tatsuki shook her head to say no. "Ah, I like a challenge. All right… they don't like the way you act, so they hired a behavioral therapist?" She just gave him a weird look. "No? Hmm… found out that your old man isn't your real father?"
"Something like that," Tatsuki said somberly. "I found out that I was adopted."
"Ouch," David said with pained look. "That's rough." Tatsuki just nodded. There were several seconds of silence after that. Finally, he said, "Can I tell you a secret?" The dark-haired girl looked at him in surprise. "My sister and I are only half-siblings."
"Really?" Tatsuki asked with a caught-off-guard look on her face.
"Yeah," he replied. "My real father abandoned my mother and me before I turned a year old. Raven has no idea, and I don't usually tell anyone about it. In a way, I kind of know how you're feeling right now." He was quiet for a few more seconds. "When you think about it, it may not be coincidence that people like us run into each other."
"What do you mean?"
"Most of my friends have some kind of family issues. Orphaned, abused, alone. You name it."
Strangely, his words brought some relief to her. It felt like the weight that discovering the truth had created had been lessened somewhat. "It still hurts inside though," she said with an almost depressed look.
"Yeah," David replied. "It never really goes away. You just have to learn to live with it." Tatsuki nodded, understanding his meaning. Soon after the conversation, Orihime returned, accompanied by Raven, carrying a good-sized platter of bizarre foods in all shapes and sizes. Tatsuki could've sworn that one pile of spaghetti covered in bright green sauce actually moved.
She chuckled at the outrageous assortment. It's not all bad though.
-o-
Later that night, Tatsuki got a quick shower and got dressed for bed. When she got to Orihime's guest room, Raven had already passed out on the bed, snoring softly. She resisted the urge to just laugh at the American girl. She was bubbly and excitable, but apparently not inexhaustible. She went the futon that she set up next to the bed.
David would be sleeping out in the living room so that he wouldn't bother her and the other girls. She couldn't help but admit that she kind of liked the guy. He was nice, and seemed like he knew a thing or two. It didn't hurt that he had a sort of mystique about him, as if no matter how much you learned about him, there would always be more to find.
As she rested on the futon, her mind began to wander to the events earlier in the day: her school was attacked by a pair of psycho demons, one of whom said that she was their sister, learned that the entire world is being threatened by Satan, and discovered that she was adopted. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst possible thing that could happen, today had been an easy one hundred and two. She tried to shrug the memories away and get some sleep.
She later wished she hadn't.
-o-
She was surrounded by darkness. The emptiness extended as far as the eye could see, and possibly even farther. She looked around, trying find where she was. There was nothing. She was all alone.
"Tatsuki Arisawa," said a smooth, calm voice from behind. Tatsuki turned to see something completely unnatural. It was a man, easily nine feet tall, with an inhumanly thin frame. His skin was totally white, which was accented by the black business suit that he wore. He had no face.
"W-who or what are you?" Tatsuki asked as she resisted a sudden urge to run for her life.
"I believe the better question that you should ask is 'what am I'?" the man asked in a mysterious tone. She looked at him with a questioning look. "You should know by now who and what you are. You are the youngest sister to the Seven Deadly Sins. You are to be the one to open the Gates of Hell, and free the Dark Prince. Very soon, you will be faced with a choice: a fork in the road if you will. Regardless of the path you choose, there will be dire consequences."
"What are you talking about?" she asked in a confused voice. "What choice? What are you?"
"You still insist on asking the wrong questions I see. Very well. I shall answer. In the countless millennia that I have lived, I have gone by as many names. In this modern age, I am most known by the title 'the Slender Man.'"
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at him. She had heard about the Slender Man before. "Yeah, right. Next you'll want me believing in the Tooth Fairy."
"I can understand why you would think that," the so-called Slender Man said. "But I assure you, I am quite real. My actual name in Tenebris Pavor. The Dark Dread." Suddenly, flames exploded out of nowhere. Tatsuki screamed in shock at the fire's sudden appearance. It was everywhere. And the sweltering flames weren't even the worst part.
She could see her friends. All of them. They were screaming in agony as the inferno ate at their flesh. Even Ichigo looked ready to beg for mercy.
-o-
She shot up from her sleep, panting and drenched in a cold sweat. It was just a bad dream, she told herself. It was something she desperately wanted to believe. Something she needed to believe. But she knew it wasn't true.
Before attempting to go to sleep again, she thought about what that Pavor guy had told her. So she asked the question that he had recommended: What am I?