A/N: GAH!!! I was totally scared when I wrote this! This one ended at nearly 30 minutes until midnight and I was alone… man, I'm still alone. I'm SO freaked out. I'm lazy to re-read this, I'm sorry. I wrote this because I was SO inspired because I finally went through some of the important things in this story. This ends the stream of flashbacks until next time. I hope no one will be confused after this! Enjoy! Read this at night, if you will. And I only used a day to finish this… well, without stopping, I mean.
Disclaimer: SDK is not mine, some are from Tecmo's ideas but mostly, it's MY story. That's important because I've kinda fucked off with my head thinking about an original story that no one can guess the next part. Did I do a good job?
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Hour Ten – Sacrificing a Dream
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"Hey! Why the face people? Yukimura's here!" Yukimura announced gleefully. Sasuke and Kyoshiro followed suit. Sasuke just shook his head.
Bon stared at him. "We told you on the phone."
"Oh yeah…"
Kyoshiro chuckled. "Well, how are they now? Are they awake by any chance?" he asked out of curiosity.
Akira answered with a 'no'. "They're still unconscious."
"Let me see them! Darlin' Yuki's gonna find out why those two are like this!" Yukimura said in a sing-song voice.
"Like you're a qualified doctor…"
…
Green eyes opened lazily as the weak sunlight penetrated through the curtains into the room. Everything was blurry to her sight. She sighed heavily before she sat up to scan her surroundings. She saw that her body was pale and darn it, she was still naked! To her right was the immobile body of Kyo who looked as if he was dead save for the heavy breathing and massive amount of sweat. Yuya covered her body with the separate blanket prepared for her. She observed the unconscious Kyo and smiled weakly. "You're okay…"
Loud voices were heard outside the room. The door opened and enter Yukimura and friends, chattering loudly, "…everyone knows Yukimura is the ma- Yuya!" Yukimura exclaimed. He hurried to her side and gave her a hug. "Yuya-san! Are you okay now?"
Yuya gave him a moan of pain. "Oops, sorry dear!"
Akari hurried to Yuya's side and then examined her pulses. He counted it for a minute and then sighed with relief. "You're fine now, although you'll need a LOT of iron tabbies!"
"Thank you."
Kyoshiro approached the relieved people and was relieved himself, seeing Yuya okay. "Yuya-san… it's not because of Kyo right?" he questioned, worried.
"No, it's not his fault, although I vaguely remember what happened…" Yuya trailed off. She tried to recall what happened before the blackout. All she could remember were a pair of sad jade eyes and if she wasn't mistaken, tears of blood fell like a waterfall from the eyes. She wasn't sure though but was worried. "Sad jade eyes, tears of blood."
"What?"
"Before I fainted, I remember seeing sad jade eyes in the mirror of Kyo's room. After that, I felt heavy, and it pained me to open my eyes… as if I was crying for years without stopping… my eyes hurt SO badly… as if something struck it with a sharp object…" Yuya told them. "And then… I felt like all of my blood came pouring out of my body… slowly extracted… my wrists felt like there's a hole in them…"
All the present party exchanged looks. "We didn't see no blood… that we know of… or holes… or cuts… on your body…" Bon told her.
She looked very confused. "Well, I felt it."
"We should ask Kyo once he's awake."
-
"Why did you do it? WHY?" Kyo bellowed at the Elders. Kyoshiro struggled hard to keep Kyo at bay. "Let me go, Kyoshiro!" he demanded harshly.
Kyoshiro shook his head. "No! Kyo, no!"
"Kyoshiro!" Kyo ordered.
"It's our fault, Kyo! Understand-" Kyoshiro was cut off.
"Let him be, Kyoshiro. Kyo deserves to know…" the Master Elder ordered. Kyoshiro released Kyo and Kyo lunged at the Master Elder but was stopped by the other Elders. "Kyo, listen to us, open an ear to hear our reason. It might strike your senses."
Kyo stopped struggling and calmed down. "Talk!"
"…we were failed by all the ceremonies… The Sea of Souls is not pleased. Not at all. A great deal of pain must be inflicted to complete the ceremonies, all were complete, 'The Ceremony of Birth' succeeded. Sadly, Shinrei regretted the killing of his brother, so he failed us, he had to be sacrificed… the third ceremony, which was supposed to be done by you… YOU who is the Bringer of Grief, the ONLY good thing that bitch of a mother of yours gave us, YOU failed us. 'The Ceremony of Blood', you failed to do that…" he said sternly. He coughed before continuing. "Your mother must be rotting in Hell by now…" he laughed cruelly.
"Don't talk about my mother like that!" Kyo warned him.
"You don't even know her…" one of the Elders mocked. Kyo glared at him. "Ah, that was the look she gave us when we took you away…"
"Kyo… your mother is not dead…" Kyoshiro whispered as he pulled Kyo to safety before he decapitated the Elder.
"SILENCE, KYOSHIRO!" a dagger was thrown at his right shoulder by an Elder. Kyoshiro fell on the tatami floor with a loud THUD!
"Kyoshiro!" Kyo kneeled near him and grabbed the dagger. "I'll pull this out."
"Don't."
Kyo turned to face the Taishirou leader, Fubuki who was accompanied by Hishigi and Yuan. "Where's Tokito?"
"She's asleep."
"On a meeting like this?" the Elder reasoned with a hint of mocking. Kyo knew something wasn't right with this.
"Where is she?" Kyo pushed further.
"She's asleep." Fubuki stated clearly. Yuan only looked at his feet and Hishigi closed his visible side of the face.
"How could you do that to your own flesh and blood?" Kyo shouted at him. Fubuki just stared at him. Kyo saw the emotional pain he's going through. "Fubuki…"
"Fubuki! Escort him outside; he needs to do his share of sacrifices for The Sea of Souls, since we've sacrificed one out of the five Shrine Maidens, the sea would be calm for a while."
"Yes, Master Elder."
…
"I can't believe they used the 'Five Shrine Maiden Ritual'… I feel sorry for them…" Kyoshiro murmured as Kyo bandaged his shoulder. "They're going to use Sakuya too…"
"If we could find some info on who to sacrifice… before they use Sakuya… she might be able to be saved," Kyo devised. "I feel very responsible for Tokito's death."
"Kyo, remember, no regrets. The Sea of Souls is already mad with us."
"Why were we born to this weird clan?" he continued.
Kyo shrugged. "Just our luck, I guess… and Kyoshiro…"
"Yes?"
"What do you mean about my mother not being dead?"
…
"Yuya… he didn't take your innocence, did he?" Sakuya asked her. Yuya answered her with a 'no'. "Did he kiss you?"
Yuya nodded. "You're lucky I managed to convince Kyoshiro to release you… he told me he found you half-naked under Kyo…" Sakuya murmured. Yuya began to cry. "Yuya… did he hurt you?"
"No… it's just that… I feel that he won the bet. In just a day…" Yuya told her, wiping her tears. "What he did… what he whispered to me… he was full of sadness… just like me."
"We were incomplete before we met each other… that's what he told me." Yuya frowned. "He cried just a droplet of tear… he told me his mother was taken away, no, he was taken away from his mother when he was still a day old."
Sakuya closed her eyes sadly. "I know that."
"He never cried, that's what he was told."
"Yes…"
"I feel sorry for him. We both know the pain of Emptiness. That is why we were made into what we are now," Yuya stopped and cried more. "I am blessed with tears and he was blessed with blood on his path… we are just dolls."
Sakuya laid a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Yuya… I just received a letter from the Mibu to report myself at the clan. I have to leave in a couple of days."
"Oh, but why? I thought you're already able to leave…" Yuya said in a sulked tone.
"…I got some unfinished business."
"Okay."
…
"Fubuki…"
Fubuki looked up from his book. "Yes, Hishigi?"
"I'm sorry for Tokito."
Fubuki looked back at the book. "It's fine. She did what she had to do."
"She never consented…" Hishigi said quietly.
"Neither did you…" Yuan laughed out. "Where's the regret, Fubuki?"
"I don't need your words, Yuan."
"Chill… well; we have to do more sacrifices before that freakin' sea will be calm. What are you doing?" Yuan inquired when he saw Fubuki with a hell lot of tomes.
"I'm researching for another way to end all of this without sacrificing too much… as a precaution for the next to come…" Fubuki explained as he continued to read.
"Found anything?"
"Not yet."
-
"It's weird… I was sure I was bleeding all over…" Yuya told herself as she busied herself to apply make-up to cover the paleness in her room.
"Dear, let it be… do you WANT to be bleeding all over?" Akari reminded her.
Yuya laughed. "No…"
"Well, seems that Kyo'll wake up in a while. Keikoku told me although I doubt his words…" Akari folded the cloth he was holding. "I can't believe Kyo forgot about Keikoku… he was his childhood friend, along with me and the others…"
"It must've been because of his arrogant-ness…" Yuya decided. "His big brain sure forgets a lot of inconvenient things it seems."
"He sure looks successful as a researcher on folklore… I'm still sorry that Nozomu is dead while they're still in the middle of researching this house… you know about it?" Akari asked Yuya who was busy combing her hair.
"Yeah… I kinda know a bit."
"Well, Akira told me Kyo promised to meet him at his antique shop but didn't show up… he said Kyo asked him to find out more about the Camera Obese…"
"Obscura."
"What?"
"It's called Camera Obscura…" Yuya corrected.
"O-kay! Whatever!"
Yuya thought for a while before she decided to ask for the research notes that Akira might have. Akari shrugged but he left to ask it from Akira. Yuya was left alone in her room. She looked around for the box Nozomu gave her. It was on the end table, closed tightly. Yuya walked to it and lifted it up and examined the box carefully. No one tempered with it. "Thank goodness!"
She sat on her bed and placed the box on her lap. She unlatched the lock and stared at the insides. She took out the camera and checked it out. It was really an antique… Yuya was sure it was out of film until it automatically snapped a picture at a corner of her room. A Polaroid came out of it but it was still blurry. Yuya waved it around to dry and was surprised at what she saw in the picture.
…It was Nozomu!
Yuya's eyes widened in shock as she brought the camera to the picture to look if there was any zooming in. Nothing changed. It was just a picture of Nozomu pointing to the sliding closet at the corner. Yuya shivered, scared a hell lot. 'Not now… Nii-sama…' she thought.
The camera snapped again continuously until there were five Polaroid pictures on the bed, each atop of each other. Yuya just stared at them and decided to leave it alone to dry.
She was freaked out. Seriously.
"Why are you showing me this?" she asked the invisible Nozomu. "Nii-sama…"
"Yuya?"
Yuya looked up from the pictures to stare at a Kyo clothed in a bloody kimono. "Kyo?" she said disbelieving.
Kyo approached her slowly, reaching out a bloody hand. "Yuya…"
Yuya just sat still on the bed, still in shock. "Kyo, you should be resting… I'll call for-" before she could finish her sentence, Kyo embraced her tightly. Yuya's eyes widened as Kyo held her tight. "Kyo…"
"Yuya…" Kyo whispered to her ear.
"Kyo… get off of me! What if someone sees us?" She reasoned, trying to push him away.
"Let them be… I don't care about kissing you in front of Shrine Maidens… I don't care… We're complete like this…" he said slowly. "Completion… is what we long for in life…"
"What?" Yuya murmured confused.
"I love you…"
"What?" she asked again.
"Do you love me?"
"I… Kyo… no… I…" she was out of words. 'Declaration of love after a short coma? Is he insane?' Yuya's mind screamed.
"I do…" Yuya's lips moved by itself and it left a Yuya full with questions hanging around. "I do… my Kyo… I'm sure they'll let me go… I won't live forever… right?" Yuya couldn't stop her lips from shaping those foreign words.
"…yes, I'm sure…" and Kyo disappeared, leaving a too shocked Yuya on the bed with her mouth gaping open.
"…Kyo?"
"YUYA! Kyo's awake!" a voice called out from outside her room.
Yuya stared at the Polaroid pictures on the bed and spread them out according to its timeline. She was shaken even more when she observed them. All the pictures slowly moved to a Nozomu opening the closet to reveal the jade-eyed woman staring at her.
"Found you…"
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A/N: the story towards the end seriously scared me. I hope all of you are scared too. That's the purpose of this story anyway… since I think this gives a better depth to the story, I HOPE, no I really, REALLY hope those who read will review. Pity me, a 15 year old who will have an exam soon, in less than three days, who have not read ANYTHING that suffices just to update. I'm gonna use Zachura's way of 'begging' (sorry Zachura!) by clarifying that only a few out of a few review. It hurts, you know? I used to do it before joining but it wasn't because I was lazy, it was because of I don't have time reading and reviewing. I was supposed to put this story on HOLD or just end it straightaway but didn't because I know… well, sorry about that. Please, please, just give me at least a word like 'update' on the review. It'll mean a lot to me.