NEAR REVELATIONS

Smell of disinfectants and chlorine. Squeaky sounds of wheels from a wheelchair. The place had a dark and bleak atmosphere. Mikan related all of this to death. Death related to hospitals. She sat on a wooden cushioned bench in an isolated hallway. The radiators made the place warm; almost too warm that she felt suffocated in here. Her arms crossed across her chest and head bent down, she examined the gleaming polished floors. The shuffling of feet made her head snap up. She saw a nurse with blood spots on her uniform and black circles under her eyes stroll past. Mikan shot up and ran towards her.

"Excuse me, how's Ruka. Is he better? Any improvements?" asked Mikan swallowing a lump in her throat.

"How long are you going to wait here? I think I already told you he's in critical condition. If he wakes up within the next twenty-four hours he's out of danger" said the nurse trying hard to sound empathetic.

"I understand. What if…." Mikan started asking but the nurse was already walking away.

It still was a mystery to Mikan as to how these people were so inhumane. The surgeon who had been in the operating room with Ruka had such a business like expression when he had spoken to Ruka's dad. She wondered if witnessing so much pain and death drained away any real emotions in them. Mikan stood in the middle of the hallway deciding what to do next. No one was allowed to see Ruka except the doctors. Yuka and Yoichi had left her there after a vain attempt in persuading her to come home. She hadn't eaten since yesterday evening. Her mouth felt dry and sticky. She licked her lips and was reminded of the time before the accident. Ruka had sounded so happy and excited for the party. The party she was to go with him but had stood him up. This was all her fault and guilt hit her heart in a gnawing pain. An image of a smiling Ruka came to her head and she bit her lip hard enough to taste blood.

A sudden want of being anywhere near he sent Mikan towards the door of Ruka's room. She stood there silently when she heard voices. She wondered if it was the doctors but that wasn't possible. Only a few doctors remained in the hospital and most of them were on the opposite side of the building where Mikan had got lost earlier trying to find Yuka. It could be the nurses, she thought. She turned to walk back but a sudden feeling of uneasiness took over her. No one was allowed in to Ruka's room especially since this was a police case. Where was the police man who was stationed outside Ruka's room earlier? Something wasn't right. Sure the police man could just have left. He had only been waiting for Ruka to get up to ask a few questions not guarding him. Even so, these voices were familiar. Mikan put her ear against the door and listened hard. She knew she wasn't allowed in but she just wanted to make sure it was a nurse or someone from the hospital. She carefully turned the knob to the door not wanting to disturb the people inside. She opened the door slightly but all she could see was green curtains encased in a white stand that created a partition between the patient and her. She wondered if she should just go in and peek behind the curtains and when she saw the nurse she would go back. But deciding against it incase she disturbed Ruka she turned to walk back when a familiar voice she couldn't place startled her. She halted on her tracks convincing herself that it was some kind of a mistake.

"Ruka, Ruka can you hear me?"

"He's not responding. His inner conscience is shut down."

"Damn it. Can't we get him out of here? We can offer him so much better a treatment from the Raven witches."

"Not now. Getting him out of here right now would be suspicious in the human eyes. Also there is that girl."

"It's entirely that girl's fault anyway. Can't we just erase their memories?"

"Ruka wouldn't be happy. Let's wait till we can connect to him through telepathy and ask him what he wants us to do?"

"It's really a surprise he made it out alive after that many Vampires attacked him."

"He is a damn good hunter. He's my son after all."

Mikan was confused. Suddenly she wondered if all this was some kind of dream. Can she have watched too much of Twilight and The Vampire Diaries? Maybe this accident didn't happen at all. She could wake up any time now. Only she knew far too well this wasn't a dream. These people could be maniacs who had escaped from the mental ward of the hospital and got in here or just Mochi and Ruka's dad who were talking. Mikan was hiding behind the green curtains when the door opened and a nurse entered. Mikan was at loss of words looking at the woman's shocked expression. The nurse dropped the tray of medicines and ran away.

Hotaru sat in the bath with Tsubasa. He seemed to be examining her as she examined the rose petals. Tsubasa smirked as he propped his knee up and ran his hands through her wet hair. She turned towards him and rested her head against his chest.

"I wonder if he's dead, that boy" she said tracing Tsubasa's star shaped tattoo with her forefinger.

"Probably not. Knowing him he would have escaped"

"Who organized this attack against him?"

"Our boss, who else?"

"He used to be such a cry baby. Always running behind you and me"

"Who Ruka or our boss"

"Ruka. To think he would become a hunter just for revenge for his brother…I don't get it" she said closing her eyes.

"It's not only that. You know it also involves Natsume and her"

"It would have been better for him to be a vampire. Tsubasa, the curse of hunters, you know right, how painful it is"

"It was his choice to be more damned than we are"

"That's right. Being a vampire than a hunter is so much easier. Of course Natsume is a different case"

Mikan walked back home slowly. She knew she should call Yuka and ask her to come pick her up. But Yoichi was spending time with his dad and mum together and this happened rarely so she didn't want to disturb them. Besides Mikan wanted to be alone and needed some fresh air. She had just got scolded by the doctor for entering Ruka's room without permission and Mikan had by then discovered that Mochi and Ruka's dad had left. How they had left, this she didn't know. She stretched her arms and sighed loudly. She was about to continue walking when she felt weak. She fell to the cold snow covered ground on her knees. Light from the lamp posts illuminated the road but Mikan wished it was dark. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, in such a pathetic condition. Sometimes she wondered why she was still alive. 'It's entirely that girl's fault anyway'- though Mikan hadn't understood the conversation from earlier she had a vague idea that the girl was her. She bent her head down and made a circle on the snow with her forefinger when someone crouched down in front of her.

Mikan slowly lifted her head knowing who it was without seeing the person first. The minute her eyes settled on his face all the tears she had been fighting back poured out. She threw her arms around him making him lose his balance as he fell back in a sitting position on the ground. He enveloped his arms around her body as she cried. Mikan could hear a loud wailing. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was her own. She let it all out. She didn't think she had any tears left to shed for her mom and sister but she had been wrong. The images of the blood covered, bruised bodies of her mother and sister in the hospital, the image of the pale Ruka fighting for his life, all came to her head.

He didn't say a word as he held her body close to his but just the fact he was there, right with her when she needed him so much was so much more reassuring to her than Yuka's or Yoichi's comforting had been. Once Mikan's sobs died down he carried her on her back. She wondered where they were going but she didn't care. She closed her eyes feeling light hearted and comfortable on his back. She suddenly felt herself cutting through sharp wind as their pace increased. She felt like she was traveling fast, way too fast. But since it felt good she didn't open her eyes just clutched his jacket tighter.

Natsume sat on the big leather chair facing his bed where the girl slept. He got up and pulled the covers over her. He was about to leave when she held his finger and sat up.

"Natsume, I feel responsible for what happened to Ruka" she said sleepily, her voice and face etched with pain and guilt.

"Don't. You didn't do anything to him"

"Even my family's death, is it right for me to be living my life happily when…" she said as she pulled him to sit next to her. As though if she let go he too would be in a place she couldn't reach.

He sat back down next to her. He didn't speak a word almost like he didn't know what to say but Mikan had never felt this comfortable before. All the pain she had in her she felt she could tell him. She looked at his flawless, expressionless face though his eyes looked uneasy. As she searched his eyes not knowing what she was looking for she felt convinced. Her emotions were all mixed up and she didn't know what to do or what she wanted but one thing she felt sure of was being next to this boy at this moment felt right. She let her eyes drop back down when she thought she had noticed something. Her eyes traveled back up and she noticed a black phoenix with blazing red eyes tattooed on his top left shoulder. She tilted her head to one side as she traced it slightly with her fingers. She thought she saw him flinch but a cold, electric like feeling in every nerve of her body made her draw her hand back. Suddenly he looked angry and got up but she held on to his hand. He ran his hands through his hair as though wondering how to deal with the stubborn girl. He looked at her pleading eyes and pale face and sat back down.

They sat in silence for a long time before what Mikan asked an unexpected question "Natsume, do you believe in vampires? I'm not joking. Do you seriously think these creatures could exist?"

The sky was dark. The black clouds slowly parted to reveal a reddish, deathly looking full moon. Finally there was the sign they had been waiting for so long. Tonight the ritual began. This was the beginning of a long awaited, bloody war between every non human. The witches, vampires, hunters and werewolves- today it was the werewolf's day. They got their powers back today. The powers every werewolf had lost centuries ago in battle with the vampires. But first the weapon was needed. The weapon the hunters had in possession.

Yoichi lay on his bed thinking about the weird girl he had seen on the way back from the hospital. He couldn't get those golden-yellow eyes out of his head. He closed his eyes when he though he heard a howl. His eyes shot open. Their house was near the woods but there was no way a wolf could be nearby. But that was not it. He would bet a hundred dollars that he had heard the same howl on his way back home just after his encounter with that girl.