A/N: Oh my gosh you guys! One more chapter to go! :D I'm so excited! I want to say thank you for all of the reviews~ (Yet again. XD) And well... That's about it for me. XD

Ja ne!

-Misty


Misfortunes

Summary:

Thirteen years ago, the Shinrabansou was ripped away from its owner. Forcefully. Without its consent. By an unknown force. Now, the new age has begun. The world has fallen to the new ruler of the Nabari world. Humans have been forced upon each other like savage beasts. In this world, the previous owner, struggling for life like everybody else, meets another who has had his own share of misfortunes.

Chapter 11: Death is the Final Unknown


It's dark, but my eyes are open. I want to move to look around at my surroundings, but I'm so nauseous. My head feels heavy and so does the rest of my body. I haven't felt this bad since I was with Yoite at his place.

"Yoite," I call out. I don't get a response from Yoite. My voice sounds scratchy and terrible again. I distantly wonder if all that happened was just a dream, if I had gone completely insane and I imagined the whole thing, but no. I feel a cold ground under me. I can smell that lemon cleaner scent and a small sample of blood, probably mine.

Where am I?

I finally begin to push myself up, slowly at first so I don't make myself sick. I get onto my arms and knees and take long, deep breaths. Even though I can't see and it's dark, I can still feel the world spinning around me and the floor sliding out from under me.

"Yoite," I say a little louder, trying to get a response. Still I get nothing.

I force myself into a sitting position even though I feel like I'm about to see the slop they gave me earlier. I push myself up to sit on my knees and sigh, letting nausea run over me rapidly. Slowly, it dies, but it's still threatening me.

I squint my eyes and look around; I can see shapes forming, though they're only shadows and are blurred profusely.

"Yoite!" I yell as loud as my voice can get. In my state, it isn't much. I start to turn slowly, hoping to see him. He isn't here, but now that I look around, this place is starting to look familiar.

"You aren't going to find him, Miharu." Lights are turned on, suddenly blinding me. I cover my eyes with my arm and to my pleasure my eyes are quick to adjust to the light

I look past my arm to see Kotaro at his throne, his greedy eyes on me, watching as I back up a few paces.

"You won't find him here, at least, not yet anyway." He says, his hand carelessly brushing his bangs.

"Monster..." I hiss. "Where is he? Where is Yoite?" I demand.

"Relax Miharu. I have someone taking care of him right now." He says. I don't like how he says that. It's like he's implying something.

"Answer me god damn it!" I bark.

"You're so hasty to act. If you tried to make a list of the hasty things you did in your life, Miharu, it'd be a long list. Trying to hang yourself would be on there..." He muses and stands. He walks over to me with a soft footfall, his gown flowing at his feet. "Or when you tried breaking free of the wire in the truck..." He begins to walk around me, a hand leisurely touching my hair and brushing it back.

I smack his hand away as he leans down to my ear.

"Or when you began to kiss that boy for the first time..." He whispers, his lips against the shell of my ear. I freeze.

He saw that. He saw us.

"... You've... You've been watching us..." I murmur. My voice wavers in fear and horror.

He's been watching us all this time...

"I've been watching you for a long time now, my Miharu... You and that boy..." He lifts me up by the arm and I let him do it. My legs are shaking terribly and I feel as if my whole body has gone completely numb. I can't stand on my own anymore.

He pulls me back so I am resting against him and he brushes my bangs from my face gently, almost like a loving relative or friend would.

"That boy… What a lost soul he is... His family rejected him-"

No... He didn't want me to know.

"Stop-"

"They hated his meaningless existence and tried to be rid of him themselves... Even his own brother hated him."

I want to struggle. I want to run. I want to scream, but I can't. I open my mouth repeatedly, but nothing wants to come out. Tears begin to pool together in my eyes, blinding and burning them. My throat swells up and it's hard to swallow let alone breathe.

"I watched when you met..." He whispers. "I watched as you got caught in his trap. I watched as he dragged you to the retched hut he calls home and took care of you. I watched as he stole from the caravan and used the medicine to save your life."

"Stop..." I feel the tears spill down my cheeks.

This torture. This pain. It's all familiar. I can almost hear her voice in my ears.

"I watched..." He pushes hair from my ear and presses his lips to the shell of my ear again. "As you thanked him with your body..."

"Stop it..."

Why am I so scared? Is it the reality that even hidden from the city I was always watched? Was it the reality that Yoite and I were never safe?

"Please stop it..." I try to fall to my knees, but he keeps me up. The tears are still falling down my face and I can't cover my eyes because he has my hands together between his larger hands.

"Stop what, Miharu? All I am doing is speaking the truth." He says. "And I've never lied a day in my life."

He's just like her.

"No... No it's not..." I don't know what I'm trying to say myself. "J-Just stop... Please..." I whimper.

"What...? I cannot hear you." He says. I swallow down a painful dry lump. I'm breaking.

"I-I said stop... Please..." I sob. "I'm begging you..." I cry.

"Oh Miharu..." He turns me back around and pulls me back to his chest. He cradles my head to his shoulder and rocks me like a child. "It's alright my boy. Everything will be alright." He coos.

I break. I suddenly give in. I wrap my arms around him and sob.

I'm so tired. I can't take this anymore. I want it all to end like he says. In the back of my mind, I'm being told that this is all a trap. It's his way of gaining control over me so I will bend to his will... But I can't stop myself.

I'm so tired.

"I can make it all go away, Miharu." He whispers. I shake my head. I want to kill him, but I'm sobbing too violently to do it. "Miharu... Would you like this pain to go away?" He asks.

I nod my head. I desperately want it. I desire it. I crave it with a passion stronger than anything I've felt.

"Do you want to know how to get rid of it?" He asks. I nod again.

He lets go of me and bends down on his knees. He's a little lower than my eye level, but none the less he brushes the tears from my cheeks. He looks at me with a warming yet creepy smile and places his hands on my shoulders.

"My boy... I have been around for a long time now... Longer than people realize. My body, despite how I look, is old and broken. I'm falling apart." He says weakly.

Here it comes...

"But there is a solution. A solution you can take into your own hands."

Any second now...

"I will die... It is inevitable. But when I die, you can take my place."

There it is.

That wall that crumbled is being reinforced again. I remember what it was he was doing in the first place. He's trying to break me.

"No..." I mumble.

"Yes, Miharu... I have heard her speak. She says only one person can be her next barer. You. You can become the Nabari No Ou." He says. I shake my head and try to pull away, but he still has a firm grip on my shoulders.

I can feel it though. That hate. I feel it again. It's making my muscles wake up.

"I-I can't... I was told it was wrong!" I say bitterly. Kotaro frowns, not happy with my answer.

"All this pain will be gone, Miharu. You can control the world! Use your hatred to do whatever your heart deems fit!" His voice has become a dull roar.

"No!" I yell.

"You will!" His voice rises.

"No! You can't make me!" I yell and pull on my arms for freedom.

He suddenly grips them so hard that I feel like he could break my arms. He spins me around until I face a door where a guard is standing. To be more correct, it's the guard from before. It's Yukimi.

"Bring him in." Kotaro says from behind me. Yukimi nods his head and the large doors open. I watch in horror as Yoite is pulled along the floor by an arm. His body is completely limp and he isn't making a sound.

"Yoite!" I cry. I try to break free, but Kotaro's vice grip won't relax. "No, don't bring him into this!" I beg. I know he's alive because I can see him breathing, but he's not moving and is out cold. His face is battered and bruised and there is blood seeping down his right eye.

"You know what you must do." Kotaro says.

Yoite is lifted in Yukimi's arms, but he doesn't move. Yukimi holds him up with one arm while the other goes to pull a gun from his holster.

"No..." I whimper. I watch as Yukimi brings the gun to Yoite's head.

"No, no!" I cry. "Stop it please! Please don't do this!"

"You will become the Shinrabansou." Kotaro says. "But you must agree."

"No, no I can't!"

Yukimi flips the hammer of the gun.

"Stop! Shoot me! Shoot me instead but don't hurt him!" I beg.

"You can't die Miharu. I would never allow it." I try to claw my way from Kotaro, but he's stronger than I am. Yukimi begins to pull the trigger.

"No, no, no! Alright, I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want just don't kill him!" I cry.

The whole room goes silent. I can hear Kotaro smile from behind me and I can see Yukimi's face grimace.

"Good boy..." He says. Yoite is dropped to the floor. I wince when I hear the thud of his head against the concrete.

"You can't... Can't hurt him..." I whimper, dropping my head. Kotaro lets go of me and as soon as he does I bolt to Yoite's side.

I drop to the floor and roll him onto his back. I shake him and call his name, but he won't wake up.

"I don't tell a lie, Miharu." Kotaro says. "Do you see? Your decision will change humanity." He says, his arms rising up as if praying. I fall to Yoite and cling to his shoulders as I cry.

"Yoite... Yoite..." I repeat over and over. I feel the already weak pulse through the blood covered shirt they gave him.

Suddenly, things get quiet, quieter than they were a few seconds ago. I look up, seeing Kotaro still standing there.

Something isn't right.

There is blood coming out if his mouth. His neck is bleeding. My eyes widen as he tries to turn his head, but only manages an inch.

"Ah..." He groans. "You've finally done it..." He says with a dry and dead voice.

He then drops to the ground.

He's dead.

Behind him stands Thobari, a bloody dagger is in his left hand and his hands are soaked in blood. He is staring down at Kotaro's unmoving body with utter hatred.

"I am tired of your rules." He says. "I cannot allow that to happen to my Miharu."

Yoite stirs in my arms and I look down. I can see the tears fall from my eyes and drop to his face. The salty water clears a path through the blood on his face.

"Yoite..." I whimper, shaking his shoulders. I sob in borderline hysteria as I press my lips against his. I wait unnaturally still, but he doesn't move.

I look up to see Thobari and Yukimi standing over us. I look at them and want to speak, but I'm tired.

So... So tired.

There is a popping sound and a bright light, and for a moment I assume Yukimi has shot me.

Is this death?


A/N: You know, I had my heart pounding when I was writing this. I felt I did really well with the scenes in this. Again it's a short chapter but the next is longer, I promise. ^_^ Until next week! :D