Disclaimer: I don't own Rin-ne/Kyokai No Rinne. It belongs to Viz Media and Rumiko Takahashi.

Note: Possible spoilers up to chapter 86

Warning: Character Death

Realization

Part 10

You are alone.

Her heart was being eaten alive by a swarm of gluttonous, relentless insects called despair, madness and self-loathing. At least, that was how it felt to her as she fell to her knees and screamed aloud in some language only fear could understand.

(Heleftyou. Hedoesn'tcare. Noonecares. YouareAlone.)

It was everywhere, the maddening lurch and presence of despair, like an enveloping ocean that she had been cast into the bottom of. Her lungs and heart had no choice but to breathe it in and then suffer the poison from the inside.

(Yourmotherisgone. Youshouldjoinher. Yourfatherdiedbecauseofyou.)

The pain was beyond any mortal language or description of Hell. All she wanted to do was writhe on the ground and rip out her tongue, anything to stop the pain and incoherent sounds that seemed to come from her.

(Youareworthless. Youcandonothing. Youshoulddespair.)

Every dark memory, every disheartened moment echoed in Sakura's ears. She saw flashes of her worst experiences and fears—children taunting her for her 'lies' about spirits—her father's death—the car accident which took her mother—Rinne telling her to trust him and then realizing, upon the moment she opened her eyes, that he was no longer there—

(Agehaisdead. Tsubasaisdead. Theyarealldead.)

Oh God, please make it stop!

She fell, knowing nothing but the intense pain and agony which permeated her being. She didn't know who she was anymore, only that it hurt to be alive, everything hurt. There was nothing to do but writhe against the cold ground which kissed her body with tundra's iciness. So numb, so cold, she could only forget everything... forget everything and surrender...

(Yourfault. Allyourfault. Becauseofyou.)

She screamed.

Give up. Something seemed to speak to her. Fall as you should. Let me feast on you, and it will all be over. You will have true peace you never achieved in life...

Yes. It was so tempting—to close your eyes and never wake up. It was so tempting to give in and acknowledge the pain as the only constant in her life.

(...Giveup—)

Something beat faintly in the palm of Sakura's hand... something warm and comforting, something she couldn't live without.

She tore open her eyes when she realized what it was.

It was losing warmth, the subtle pulse weakening and becoming scarcer by the second. It felt the same as it had so many years ago, when she had taken for granted how safe it had always made her feel.

Rinne's hand clutched hers so tightly that blood was being drawn out from his nails... and... Her hand was holding his just as tightly.

Yes. I still remember. Sakura slowly got up, feeling as if she were Atlas, raising the planet on her shoulders, struggling with the added weight of the ever expanding universe. Her knees wobbled beneath her while her shoulders trembled violently, yet Sakura managed to straighten her back. Her eyes fluttered against the insistent pressure to cry, against the urge to rip out her own sight.

(Giveup. Diealone. Giveup.—)

"S-st…op… It…,."

She stared straight ahead, at the myriad of violence and despair, hopelessness and human fear. The human fear of being alone, abandoned... Forsaken…

(Give up. Diealone—)

Yet when she felt that beat beneath his skin, the feel of his hand in hers, the knowledge that she was here with him, Sakura emptied her mind of doubts and then… she let it be.

(Give…)

The Forsaken, with its shifting body of moaning images of faces that were at the same time, not faces, shifted forward. It opened one of its salivating and screaming mouths reached out with one of its many arms and moved towards Rinne's unconscious form, to shift him into the drowning abyss of its oesophagus. There, he would join the soulless masses within the infinite stomach and join the faces of despair painted on the Forsaken's blubbery body.

(…)

Hundreds of dangling hands—severed from their bodies, now a part of the ever-consuming Forsaken—reached out to take their prey. They were like the sinners of Hell, reaching out to heaven in despair, asking for mercy, for redemption. A line of hands, a line of grasping fingers, all searching for even faintest breath of life.

It was hard not to close your eyes. It was hard just to keep standing. Only the constant reminder of his faint pulse kept her sane—as sane as she could be—and set her priorities straight.

She had to save Rinne. She couldn't lose him to the physical manifestation of fear.

(Give up. No I won't. Give up. Die alone. No. I. Won't.)

Sakura blotted out as many of her darkest memories as she could, bit down hard on her tongue to remember and hold on to the reason—all of it slipping away so slowly—she was here. She moved in front of Rinne, shielding him from the predatory hands.

(Give up. Give up. Just let him go. How many times do I have to tell you 'no'? I won't give up on him. Never again.)

And in a final desperate move, she embraced the sort-of shinigami, as if her arms could be enough to save him from the dark side of his heart, just as the Forsaken's limbs dug into her shoulders, about to tear her apart.

They were standing on the water. There was a darkening blue sky, shaded with hues of magenta and violet as at sunset, yet there was no sun. The light did not come from any nuclear source in outer space, nor did it reflect off of the surface of the moon. Instead, the light came from a spinning red wheel in the sky and it seemed as though the fields of endless pink blossoms, strangely similar to the cherry blossoms that grew on trees, were glowing like fireflies against the backdrop.

The wind was warm and comforting like a parent's embrace, a lover's caress. It gently blew the scattered petals into the sky and in the middle of the field, there was a Venetian wishing fountain. It was strange to find such craftsmanship in this dreamlike landscape. Images of western grim reapers, the river of Styx, the demons of hell, angels of heaven, shinigami seemed perpetually etched against the marble of the fountain. The water was supposed to flow through the spout of the marble skeleton holding a jug.

But there was no water. There was only untouched water in the fountain, an undisturbed pool that could be mistaken for poor glass. Coins of different currency lay dormant beneath it. The red-haired figure sat by the fountain, one leg resting against the curve while the other steadied him on the ground.

He looked as if he wanted to reach into the fountain and fish out all of the coins, count them up and save them for better means. At the same time, he looked at the coins as if they were not there, as if there wasn't even water in the fountain at all, as if it was empty and he could only stare.

She couldn't comprehend how she had gotten to this place. The last she remembered was pulling Rinne into her arms and hoping that, against all odds, they would somehow survive and make it through, that she'd be able to reach Rinne with her heart and tell him wholeheartedly that he—

She finally noticed the figure at the fountain—that was him. Sakura's heart sped up as she rushed urgently towards him. The light blue sundress that she didn't remember putting on (what had happened to the evening gown?) fluttered behind her. The flowers seemed to part like the red sea, petals flying around her as if to welcome a long lost friend.

Her hand grasped the edge of Rinne's shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something, turned to see his face and then—

—she froze to see that there was no warmth from this body, no life in its eyes and no colour in its skin. It was like a corpse, a doll that was impersonating her Rinne. In revulsion, she wanted to push it away, but instead she held it close, for it was the only companion she had in this strange place.

All of the flowers seemed to die right then. It was like someone had drained the entire colour, the life away. The sky darkened to night and Sakura shivered, wishing that the dress had appeared with sleeves and less of an exposed back. The sunhat she had mysteriously required did nothing to cover her eyes from the cold.

She had to move, find Rinne, get away from the Forsaken, get away from here—wherever this was—of course—

Someone was crying.

It was distant and faint, but someone was crying. For a minute, Sakura thought her ears were playing a trick on her, that she had mistaken the sound for the wind. But the cry continued, and with it, the anguish seemed to resonate deep within Sakura's heart.

Shifting the doll of the sort-of shinigami in her lap, she looked around and squinted in the dark. There was nothing she could spot in the dead fields. No… the crying seemed closer than that. Curiously, she stared into the water of the fountain itself… and saw the image of a little boy…

Her hand reached out to touch the image—red hair, red eyes, a familiar detached expression—before Sakura fell over with the Rinne doll, like Alice and the entrance to wonderland, and she fell into the wishing fountain.

"There has to be something we can do."

"There's nothing," the devil responded dejectedly. "No one can survive against Forsaken. They are made of everything negative in the universe. They are reflections of our fears."

The slap echoed throughout the wrecked lair over and over again. Ageha panted heavily, her hand trembling after all the force she had put into that blow. The shinigami glared into the devil's eyes, hoping the strength of her loathing would burn him at the spot. Then again, if you read western literature, perhaps he would enjoy the flames instead.

"How dare you? You can't tell us that there's nothing. There can't be nothing. There's always something we can do! We found Rinne, didn't we? We reunited Rinne and Sakura, we were going to be together again, all of us, but you, you took it all away!"

"Ageha!"

Tsubasa held her back before she could permanently disfigure Masato for eternity (not that it mattered to the exorcist, Masato's wellbeing, that is.) Ageha was too hurt to be up and about again. He hated to see her push herself like this, looking deranged and broken. The exorcist held her tightly until she relented and stayed still.

She didn't cry. Tsubasa wouldn't have blamed her for it. But no, she didn't cry.

Masato stared hopelessly at the gaping hole in the floor, thinking of the two souls that would soon be devoured.

"…Hey."

Masato looked up. It was surprising to see that that the exorcist hadn't tried to rip his heart out yet. Maybe it was delayed grief.

However, the exorcist showed no murderous intent—yet. His eyes were angry and clearly blamed him, but his voice gave no thoughts to these emotions.

"You said that the Forsaken are reflections of our fears… but wouldn't it be possible to overcome fear, if you somehow remained sane enough? Wouldn't it be possible to remain sane enough to escape the Forsaken and live to see another day?"

"No. Impossible. You can't. When you're alone, you're the most vulnerable."

"But they have each other. They could get through this."

The devil let out a cynical laugh. "You don't know the darkness of the human mind like I do. Our own darkness is the hardest to ignore… some people would rather go on, pretending that they're alone, instead of taking the hand that is so clearly there."

"You're such foolish creatures."

She was being engulfed by a sea of memories, memories which passed through her body in the image of coins. They entered her, filling her with images of his darkest moments. Image within image flickered through her mind at different points. They sped so fast, bits and pieces of a distorted film. Sakura felt as if she would choke spontaneously if she was subjected to anymore.

There was a boy sitting on the floor counting the money to see his mother, his piggy bank sitting by him—then it changed. It was an older boy, yelling at his father—no—now it was a boy, watching his grandmother cry. A boy, seeing the last rise of his grandfather's chest. A boy, trying to earn money but being turned away from every store. A boy, making due as he lived in a box. A boy, finally landing employment making fake flowers. A boy, meeting a strange school girl. That same boy, beginning to feel something for that girl. Then, the boy, taking away what means the most to him, even if it means he can never see her again—one stolen kiss—and then disappearance. But the boy, years later, still watches over her, still protects her, still sees her yet it hurts so much because she can never see him, not like she can see the exorcist, her friends, her future partner—it hurts, it hurts but he must not break because—

She couldn't breathe. It was just like back then, when she was drowning in the River of Styx, only this time there was no hand to pull her out—

Sakura wrenched away from the coins, attempting to swim away. Her hands darted out while she searched the strange aqueous environment for any light, any sign of surface. But Sakura only noticed the glittering quality of yen coins, all floating towards her, attracted to her like leeches. They swarmed towards her again, blocking her line of sight while Sakura kicked away. She felt as if she had fallen into the Amazon, and that these were piranhas, come to eat her up.

"Stop it!" Sakura cried out, surprised she could speak underwater (that is, if this was water in the first place).

It did little good. The coins continued to pass through her body—giving her more insights into Rinne's past. More images flashed before her, threatening to cancel all further thought. Sakura feared that if she continued to bear witness to the shattered pieces of Rinne's mind, she would go insane. So many trials... so much suffering...

Another image... voices now, accompanying them. Thoughts, coherent with them.

(It's the day of the car accident. He is watching her, even though he had promised himself that he wouldn't do this anymore, that he wouldn't interfere with her life. But when he sees the car swerve, he has to act—

There is chaos as he reaches into the car and instinctively, his arms, as if they had never left, wrap around her. The car is swerving. He sees the blur of traffic lights, feels the glass shatter and cut into his haori, into his skin, but he holds on to her unconscious form. He is determined never to let go, never to betray her again. He almost blacks out by the time the paramedics come.

It is too late for her mother.

He watches, invisible, as she cries for, yet, another lost parent.

It is the second hardest thing he has ever had to do in his life, besides the day he gave her the potion, when he has to leave without giving her comfort, without letting her know that he's there, always there to watch her. Even when she speaks out loud to him, when she thinks she's alone. Even when she cries sometimes, when she thinks there's no one there.

But he's there. He's always there, and he can never, ever, touch her.)

"You're not supposed to be here!" A strangled voice calls out to her.

Sakura snapped out of the memory, a hot burning sensation in her eyes. It was hard to see through the murky depths of this sea of memories. She was still being barraged with coins and memories, so sequentially, she felt as if she were seeing two things at once—the memories, and what was before her.

"Get out of my mind, Sakura Mamiya."

She looked down below her, the coins glittering around her dress in the water. She felt as if she was staring into a never ending blue abyss. She also felt, as if that hollow emptiness was staring back at her, like the Forsaken and its eerie faces...

(Another memory. He is looking at her and Jumonji at the fair... they're about to touch hands. His own hand is gripped in a fist as he feels the disgusting feeling of jealousy eat up his mind...)

Her body betrayed her shock, as she saw something thrashing in the water's darkness. There were hands. They were the Forsaken's many hands, moving together like one unit. They were like worms, wiggling around in the mud, in a can of bait for fish. Only this was more repulsive, because it was a sea of body parts, all thrashing and reaching out to one prey...

(Another memory. There is a damashigami secretary, the one who used to be his father's. She follows him everywhere, reminding him of another unwanted admirer, her younger sister. He spends every day silently loathing his job as the president, trying to bottle his indignation, trying to bury the desire to run out of his office and see her, ask for forgiveness...)

"Rinne!" She tried to swim closer, but the coins seemed to hold her back, a glittering net which tied her to the light shining through the water.

"Don't come any closer! Go back!"

He looked ragged and weary. Claw marks and bruises made their way down his chest and arms. The Forsaken's limbs were pulling him down. It seemed that he had resisted at first, but now he had lost the resolve to do so. He looked like a poor soul who had dropped into Hell and was being eaten alive by sinners. Sakura's heart nearly stopped as she saw the blood running down his face. Yet he still had the strength—the audacity—to look at her so fiercely...

(Another memory. Ageha has returned, and he goes blank. He tells her that he will never love her. He tells her this because it is true and he feels like his heart has dried up like winter and he will never see her again. He gives Ageha the pendant, because he can't bear to look at it anymore and because, deep down, he wants Sakura to know... he wants to know if Sakura remembers him, he saw her laughing at the university the other day, and wonders how long it will be before he is replaced...)

"This is no place for you. Ask Jumonji to send in some rope. There may still be a chance for you, if you use me as bait. Leave my mind and escape from the Forsaken. It's too late for me. My soul isn't strong enough; I collapsed as soon as I felt the Forsaken's aura. But you..." his eyes seemed to fill with a strange hope, "you still have enough strength to stand, to move. You have a chance to survive, Sakura."

(Another memory. He is sitting outside of Sakura's house. She can't see him. He can see her. His hand ghosts the knob of her door. The other wants to reach the doorbell. He doesn't move for a long time. And then he leaves, the hollow feeling increasing all the more, while voices whisper that he is being a coward. She will never forgive him and he is alone...)

"You're such an idiot, Rinne," Sakura whispered so softly, so tenderly, that the insult could only serve as endearment. "I'm not leaving here without you."

Before any more coins could show Sakura their memories, before Rinne could protest, Sakura smiled.

Then, somehow or another, she fell towards him.

"NO!" Rinne tore himself out of the murky pool and grasp of the Forsaken's limbs. He swam towards her frantically, determined that she would not fallen into the Forsaken's clutches.

They met halfway, freed from the memories and free from the Forsaken. Automatically, Rinne wrapped his arms around her waist, watching as the water played with her hair, making her seem ethereal as the light fell on her face. She smiled at him, thinking the same thing. Only for her, Rinne would always look beautiful, under the water or not. She wound her arms around his neck, and pulled him close.

"Sakura Mamiya! Are you crazy?" The arms tightened, "Do you want to be consumed by the Forsaken? It's bad enough that it's entered my mind, I don't want it to come into yours!"

"No," she answered cheerfully. She liked the way the water seemed to soften his red bangs. It made him look more otherworldly, like a true shinigami. "Are you crazy?"

"This is no time to be joking! You could have died!"

"You could have too," she responded sadly. "I wish you'd think of yourself sometimes. Didn't I say I wouldn't leave without you?"

"Sakura..."

He hardened his features, but she moved her hands up to thread her fingers through his hair. The water swished around them and for a moment, they didn't notice that they were in Rinne's metaphorical mind, or that Forsaken seemed to have entered it as well. There was just the water, and there was something very relaxing about it.

"Rinne, come back with me."

There was hesitation in his eyes.

"I can't, I don't—"

"I can't face the Forsaken without you. I could only stand up and think clearly when I saw that I was holding your hand. All I could think about was protecting you," she confessed. "I can only escape if you come with me too."

His face crumpled. "But you saw my memories. You saw my weakness, my fears... You should know that I don't have any more power to go on...," his voice threatened to break with untold emotion. "I failed you."

All of his efforts to prevent Sakura from meeting the Forsaken had proved ineffective. In the end, she was here about to be devoured by one anyways.

"No you didn't."

She leaned in closer, so that he could see every eyelash...

"Didn't you listen? Alone, I would have been devoured instantly. But I'm not alone. You're here with me, you're keeping me sane. We can keep each other sane, sane enough to block out the Forsaken's aura, sane enough to get out of here.

"You're always sacrificing yourself. You never tell anyone how much you suffer. You never show it, always having an expressionless face. You're always distant, and you won't hesitate to be cold if it's to protect the ones you love. You're always protecting me, even at the cost of your own happiness... and God knows that you have suffered so much...

"But let me in, Rinne... you're not alone. I want to share the burden with you. Let me help you, like you've always helped me."

And before Rinne could say anything more, Sakura closed the gap between and brought their lips together. It was strange; she couldn't taste a thing, seeing as they were in a dreamlike state, Rinne's mind. But she could feel a sweetness flutter through her heart, and by the way Rinne was clutching her, she knew he could feel it too.

When she stepped back, she stared at Rinne's befuddled expression with amusement and whispered, "You did steal the first kiss, I hope you remember. Time to wake up."

They were back, awake, whatever it was called.

The Forsaken's sluggish body was surrounding them. It resembled a giant sack of pumped nutrients, plastered with groaning human faces, with mouths wide open. Their breaths mingled, smelling of rotting teeth and maggots. One of the Forsaken's faces was close to swallowing Sakura's head, while its clammy hands grabbed at Sakura's dress.

She squeezed Rinne's body tighter, wondering if her encounter with Rinne had all been a dream and if she was about to die under the stench and disgusting lair of the Forsaken. Sakura decided that it was better if she was to die first, she would not let the Forsaken lay its limbs on Rinne, even if she had to be killed trying. The Forsaken's numb aura was having less of an effect on Sakura now that she had a goal to focus on.

She shuffled her bruised arms around Rinne and grabbed his fallen scythe. It would be her first experience holding one, but it was better than being defenceless. There had been one time when Sabato had stolen Rinne's scythe and Sakura had had to get it back, but other than that, she had never really used one. She didn't know if the blade would cut the Forsaken, but she could try.

The scythe's handle felt both unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. Its weight was heavy in her hands; she barely had the strength to lift it up with one arm, the blade a heavy burden. Her other arm had to be used to support Rinne, for she was not going to let go of him any time soon. Yet Sakura felt herself stagger, trying to swing the scythe. Rinne and Ageha made the task look easy.

The faces on the Forsaken's body began to moan at her, whisper to her with those despicable words again, words of 'give up' and 'die alone.' No, she refused to listen to them.

"Get away!" Sakura shouted, swinging the scythe awkwardly at a rather pudgy and swollen face.

It was a lucky strike when Sakura felt the blade cut roughly across the face, making it bleed out blood which smelled like pus. She wanted to vomit at the sight and felt disgusted at herself. But Sakura shook her head. This wasn't a human, this was a physical manifestation of human suffering, human fear. Letting fear of fear rule over her would only succeed to getting her devoured sooner.

She sliced again, her wrist burning under the pressure, when she felt another face ghost its breath behind her neck. Again, the putrid blood bubbled out, much like yellow waste from a blister. Some of it landed on her dress and her cheek. Sakura felt its sting painfully, yet kept slicing at whatever part of the Forsaken came closer, trying to shut out the whispers...

Watching another face shriek and bleed, retreating into the body, Sakura knew this couldn't go on. She couldn't fly like other shinigami. She was surrounded, the space closing in as moments went by. At this rate, she would be swallowed... she was beginning to lose her grip on her sanity again, hearing the voices whisper in her ear, telling her that this was her fault, that she was going to die alone here...

The hand in hers tightened around her wrist.

Sakura snapped out of her desolation to meet a red gaze. She had never felt so happy to see those eyes.

"Rinne...!"

For the first time since she had seen him in the last two years, Rinne's lips quirked up into a small smile.

"Sakura... I'm sorry for not waking up sooner. It was hard to figure out how after you kissed me."

Her mouth dropped wide open. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, if he was hurting anywhere, if he had had a strange dream as well. But all these questions were inappropriate for the situation they were in right now. Her gaze darted to the blur of dead faces and limbs, the anxiety which had risen over time...

Sakura was so distracted by her new fears that she did not notice Rinne shifting in her hold.

When she focused back towards Rinne, he had moved his arms around her, so that both his hands were on hers. She was now holding the scythe with both hands, Rinne's over hers, his body over hers. This was no time to be flustered, but Sakura's heart sped up nonetheless.

"I'll guide your movements," he whispered to her ear. "But you'll be in full control of the scythe. Make an opening big enough so that I can fly us out of here. I'll need you to slash any part of the Forsaken which tries to follow us out."

Her hands were sweaty against the handle of the scythe. She swallowed, trying to calm down her frantic heartbeat and nodded once. Rinne couldn't see it, because he was behind her, but he felt it and squeezed her hand in response.

They had to stay in skin contact if they wanted to remain sane after all. If they didn't, the Forsaken would invade both their minds and swallow them whole.

She cleared her mind, and thought only of the task.

His fingers moved hers upwards, and Sakura discovered that she did have the ability to cut an opening through the Forsaken's body when she willed enough strength, when she had a guide. The scythe wasn't so heavy anymore; it felt as if it were moving on its own.

"Yes, that's it, Sakura." His soft encouragement was a fuel to her perseverance.

The opening wasn't big enough. Sakura tightened her hold on the scythe and cut again, tearing open that sack-like body and exposing the light of Masato's chandeliers above. She didn't even have to tell Rinne to move, he did so.

They were flying through the air, Rinne holding on to her tightly so she wouldn't fall. She trusted him unconditionally, and kept focused on her task. They weren't far enough from the Forsaken to be neglected from its effects. She could still hear the faint whispers and deceptions in her head, could still feel her fears trying to take over.

In fact, the Forsaken wasn't about to let them get away so easily. It rose up like a tidal wave, rows of faces swarmed towards them, reaching out with rotting hands.

Sakura swung the scythe as hard as she could to bash the moaning images away. Yet the injured limbs of the Forsaken merely stumbled in their paths slightly before speeding up just as quickly again. Fear bubbled up in Sakura's chest, a fear which told her that they might not escape.

"We're going to get out of here," she whispered to herself and to Rinne, who she felt had faltered in his flight. He still hadn't recovered from the effect the Forsaken had on him. It still affected him more than it did her, emotionally, that is. "We can survive."

The only response she received in turn was another tightening of his hands on hers. She nodded to herself again and repeated the effort to slash away at the Forsaken, which seemed to grow more resilient to the scythe's blade.

She had some progress when she stabbed the scythe directly into one of the Forsaken's faces. The description was so disturbing that Sakura had to force herself not to vomit, not to think of real human beings, as she plunged the blade in several more times. This helped pick off some of the Forsaken's... faces, but not the arms.

No, because one of the bodiless arms managed to grab Sakura's ankle.

She felt it only when it was too late, and when the arm tried to rip her from Rinne's hold.

"No!" Sakura screamed out, trying to hack off the Forsaken's arm. When she did, the other arms had swarmed over and grabbed at her ankle, then her knees, then her other leg.

"Sakura!"

The sort-of shinigami held her by the waist, and was trying desperately to fly away. They were only a few meters away from the edge of the hole. It wasn't fair that the Forsaken's grip was getting stronger.

A sudden thought occurred to her. Rinne was free, he could escape. Sakura looked up at him frantically and said, "Leave me!"

The most wounded look appeared on Rinne's face, his eyes filled with absolute horror. It was a look Sakura hoped never to see again on her shinigami.

"You told me that you weren't leaving without me," his eyes grew dangerously intense. "I'm not leaving without you either."

Then he looked upwards and shouted, "Jumonji! Ageha! Can you hear me?"

Tsubasa froze when he heard Rinne's voice.

"He's alive. They're both alive," he said without thinking.

Ageha pulled herself out of Tsubasa's arms in shock, while Masato looked as if he would either faint from overwhelming shock or dance on a table.

"Yes!" Tsubasa ran over to the edge of the hole to yell downwards. The fearful aura of the Forsaken made him a bit dizzy and sick, but he stomached it enough to get word to his friends.

A few seconds later, Rinne shouted, "Get us some rope or something, anything! I can't hold on for much longer, it's got Sakura!"

The exorcist scrambled to grab his sacred wire. It was sturdy and it would do the trick. As he dashed back to the hole, Ageha swiped it from him. He glared accusingly at her but Ageha beat him to an explanation.

"I'll fly down there and give it to Rinne. It's better this way. You hold the other end of the rope so that if I get affected by the aura, I don't fall in."

Hell no, are you crazy?

Well, that was what Tsubasa would have said if it weren't for that intimidating look Ageha was giving him. He didn't want her to get close to the Forsaken, to danger... but these were his friends.

Risks had to be taken.

"Fine. Whatever, just—promise me you'll be careful," Tsubasa ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

Ageha gave him the other end of the wire, "Aw, I'm touched that you're worried—"

He wanted to protest that he wasn't worried about her, thank you very much.

"—but if you're holding on to the other end, there's no way I'll fall."

A warm feeling seemed to glow within Tsubasa's body. He felt his face heat up a little, at the sight of absolute trust Ageha was giving him. Tsubasa settled for nodding with a neutral expression, and holding the other end of the wire as tightly as he could.

Beside him, Masato had gotten up. The devil also put a hand on the wire. Tsubasa was about to berate him, thinking that the devil might cut the wire on purpose, but when he saw the resolution in the devil's face, he said nothing. There wasn't much to know about devils and hell, but when Tsubasa knew a man who was trying to repair his mistakes from a man who only wanted to be cruel.

In front of them, Ageha stood poised to dive into the abyss. She stood there, almost fragilely, the wire tied around her waist, while she held some skull grenades just in case. For a minute, Tsubasa thought she might not jump, might be afraid to go into the deeper parts of Hell.

But that moment pasted when Ageha locked eyes with him. She rolled her eyes, "I'll come back. Stop worrying."

She jumped in.

Tsubasa could only hope—no, that wasn't the right word, trust would be a better choice—that she would return, with both Rinne and Sakura, while he held on to this rope.

And that... was the hardest part.

She had never fallen face first into the depths of despair before. Humans and shinigami alike, hid from their inner doubts and fears, refused to face them. They placed such power on the things they abhor and fell so easily against the face of fear—even her, especially her.

Ageha had always wanted to be brave. She had always wanted to be the heroine, just like her parents, just like her sister. Yet when she had fought damashigami, she had made mistakes. Her sister had also betrayed her. It had only been in meeting people like Rinne, like Sakura and Tsubasa, that Ageha had truly understood what it meant to be a shinigami.

It meant she needed to preserve and value the soul and its relationships. There was no shame in falling in love and never having the feelings returned. There was no shame in making friends with those you thought were your rivals. There was no shame in setting aside your differences and realizing that there may be more to saving a soul than holding a scythe.

There was no shame in looking at yourself and realizing that you weren't perfect... and that it was ok.

Sakura had taught her that.

Ageha fell forward even faster, slowing down her descent to look for any sign of Rinne or Sakura. She caught something in the corner of her eyes and saw the most repulsive being pulling Sakura down into the abyss by the legs. Rinne was struggling to stay aloft. His arms refused to move from around Sakura's waist. The stench and the feel of hopelessness increased with the presence of the Forsaken.

Angrily, Ageha pushed away the fears which began to rise in her and threw several skull grenades at the limbs which were seizing Sakura.

Upon impact they exploded, making enough hands release their hold for Rinne to pull Sakura away from the Forsaken and into his arms. He held the mortal girl tenderly, so much so that Ageha felt (insanely enough) as if she were intruding.

There was no time for that. She threw several more bombs towards the Forsaken and shouted Rinne and Sakura's names.

Rinne noticed her and flew over tiredly. They both looked worse for wear, with countless bruises and cuts, worse than what Ageha had gotten from Masato. She bristled with righteous indignation at the sight of the wounds, before she swallowed the need to invoke justice and wrapped the wire around all three of them.

"Wait... it's still coming after us...," Sakura was conscious enough to say.

Ageha smile gently at her, "Don't think about it. I'll handle it."

The female shinigami tugged on the wire twice to signal to Masato and Tsubasa that it was safe to reel the wire in. Then she tossed more bombs below, hoping it would be enough to paralyse the creature, even for a few precious moments.

There wasn't anything to say before Tsubasa and Masato responded and pulled them back out.

Tsubasa threw his arms around all three of them as soon as they stepped on the checked floor. He burst out in faux tears, crying out, "Thank god, you're all ok!"

"There, there," Ageha patted his back, letting Sakura and Rinne have some space.

Nonetheless, Tsubasa and Ageha quieted down to listen in on what their companions would discuss. They hadn't come all the way to The Red Wheel, to the other world and then to Hell to battle a selfish devil and the Forsaken for nothing after all.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Rinne put her gently on the ground.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I'm fine."

The pair stared at each other for a while. It made Ageha slightly irritated. They were screaming-out-loud in love with each other and that was all they could say? When she whispered this to Tsubasa he told her to shut it and learn some tact.

It would take time.

Unfortunately, the Forsaken was not going to lie forgotten.

"Everyone back away from the abyss now!" Masato shouted, flying in front of them with his big black wings. Rinne pulled Sakura against him, while Ageha and Tsubasa seemed to shove each other to the side (how that was possible was debateable).

The chandeliers started to shake, and along with them, the entire suite. The vibrations increased in intensity before the tiles broke apart and the entire body of the Forsaken burst from the ground like a hungry alien, bent on world domination.

At the sight of the grotesque creature, Tsubasa had an urge to bang his head against the floor, "Oh dear Lord, can't we catch a break here?"

Apparently not.

"Enough talking, let's banish this thing," Ageha bristled, holding yet more grenades. It seemed she had an endless arsenal, though Tsubasa knew for a fact that she was running low on them now... He also pulled out his sacred ashes, hoping they'd have some affect on this presumable invincible monster.

Rinne and Sakura warily held his scythe together. It looked as if they were trying to prevent each other from falling down, relying on each other's will.

The four of them didn't look like much, but this would have to do.

Masato stood in front of the Forsaken, quivering. Even devils were not adverse to the aura of the Forsaken, even if they did keep Forsaken in their cellars and what not.

"We need to seal it down below again!" Masato shouted, "If it gets loose, a lot of property in Hell will be damaged and it will be murder trying to pay those debts, even in the afterlife!"

That comment certainly held Rinne's rapt attention. Time didn't change that part of him.

"Alright, how do we do that?" Rinne asked, begrudgingly listening to the devil's advice. He seemed to be the only one with any knowledge of Forsaken.

"We kill someone as a sacrifice, of course. It's the only way to appease the creature and let it be sealed up again," Masato said. He tossed a book in Tsubasa's direction. "Oh, and don't forget to chant the words on page 62. Just the top paragraph. It should be efficient if an exorcist says it."

"Wait just a second here, there is no way we're going to kill off any of our comrades—"

"I'm not talking about any humans or shinigami," said Masato quietly as he seemed to fly closer to the Forsaken's body.

No one knew what Masato was talking about, perhaps because of some well-earned prejudice and dislike. It was only Sakura who finally came to the right conclusion, only then it was too late.

"Masato... no, you can't mean—"

The devil smiled wickedly at her, at least, it was meant to be a wicked smile. It was rather ironic considering what he was about to do next.

"Of course I do, little mortal."

The Forsaken reached up and grabbed Masato's wings, pulling him down into its many mouths, and many jaws of sharp and rotting teeth. The whole time, Masato merely stared at them, refusing to scream or shout, even when he was being eaten slowly.

"The death of a devil," Sakura whispered quietly, while Masato gave one last smile and closed his eyes, appearing more human than any of them had ever seen the devil look.

Several frozen moments later, Tsubasa read out the incantation with a shaken whisper.

The Forsaken was sealed.

You are alone.

Alone in your personal fears, personal doubts and personal sins.

And yet, when you open your eyes, and you look around at the other people around you, those who are also alone, you realize...

Everyone has their burden...

But if you carry them together, they're much lighter.

And you can keep walking, even if they are still heavy.

-end Part 10-

Edit: Thanks Miyori999 for pointing out one of my major mistakes with the scythe in this story :)

I apologize for the long wait... several months of a wait, I know. University had kept me extremely busy. I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that there are only 1 – 2 more chapters left, depending on how I space my writing.

A Shinigami Ballad chapter 4 and a oneshot To Smile are next on my list to update this week. After that, the next update will probably be in May (school ends in April).

How in the world Sakura ended up in Rinne's mind... will be hopefully explained next chapter. Darn it, I can't believe I killed off Masato... it just... happened. (sobs)

Thanks for reading my chapter! Please review if you have time