"Holy water!

Cannot help you now...

A thousand armies...

Couldn't keep me out.

I don't want your money.

I don't want your crown.

See I've come to burn...

Your kingdom down.

Holy water!

Cannot help you now...

See I've come to burn...

Your kingdom down.

And no rivers...and no lakes can put the fire out.

I'm gonna raise the stakes...

I'm gonna smoke you out..."

-Florence & The Machine "Seven Devils"

"So have you had the ultrasound yet?" This cool, monotone statement came genteelly murmured as a lighthearted giggle manifested in response.

"I did!" The lithe, chimelike laughter continued. "Just the other day, actually."

"And...the baby?" This question came smooth with an undertow of interest.

"The baby's perfect and healthy!" The softer voice cooed with enthusiasm and a warmth so complete and whole that it filled the entirety of the space surrounding them.

"Do you know what you're having?" The voice came measured...calm and cool in it's inquiry.

"No." This response came laced in mild disappointment. "It's still too early."

"Pity." This sentiment of dissatisfaction came lowly whispered. "I was hoping that you might have found out."

"The doctor said it would be at least another three weeks before they can tell for certain. But..." This breathless whisper parted blushed, full lips as a small, delicate hand went instinctively over the growing abdomen. "I have a feeling it's going to be a boy." This statement came laced along a tender smile...soft and almost whimsical at first as it grew in confidence along this declaration. "He kicks so very strong...he just has to be a boy."

"Have you thought of any names yet?"

And the delicate, slender fingertips of Tohru's free hand gracefully swept along a chocolate brown wisp of hair, tucking it behind her ear before preoccupying themselves with the large wedding band that hung suspended from her neck like a pendulum. The movements coming so soft. So feminine and tender as her azure gaze drifted along the contents of her coffee cup in contemplation.

"No. Not yet." Her voice lilted thoughtfully over this question. "Maybe Yuuki." Tohru murmured lightly, twisting the ring along it's chain. "After his father."

"Courage..." The slightly deeper voice responded coolly to the significance of this name-sake. "I think Yuki would have liked that." And a tender smile lifted Tohru's lips as her azure gaze continued to linger along the cup on the table as she whispered.

"I think so, too."

"Tohru...?" The voice called to her, gaining her attention as her azure gaze met that of deep onyx orbs. "I have something that I've been meaning to ask you..." These words grew low upon themselves in a sobering tone that immediately drew Tohru in. "For a long time, now...actually."

"What is it, Akito?" Her delicate brows drew together in concern over the seriousness playing along the features of her husband's partner.

"Well..." Akito's voice drifted along the air, lowly, like a whisper of wind as he averted his gaze from the woman. "I've had a question that I've wanted to ask you...but..." His words wavered along his lips as he continued. "...the timing has never really seemed right..." He whispered, his dark, penetrating gaze finally lifting to meet hers once more. "Until now."

"What do you want to ask me, Akito?" Tohru murmured, her delicate lower lip coming between her teeth to quell the trembling.

"Tohru..." Her name came along his lips, causing her to shudder as he gazed upon her, his hand drifting across the table to claim fingers that had halted their contact with the ring along her neck.

"Yes...?" Tohru's voice almost caught in her throat as she became swept up in the sheer intensity of the man sitting across her dining room table.

"I need to know...if..." Akito's voice came but a whisper, his features smooth and calm in their pale beauty as they came contrast with the dark intensity of his gaze. "...if...you blame me for what happened to Yuki."

Azure eyes welled with strange emotion at the suddenness of this unexpected question as thick lashes fluttered in response to keep the sting of tears at bay.

"...what...?" Tohru's breath came fragile as her delicate brows came furrowed in bewilderment.

"Do you blame me?" Akito repeated, his voice as steady as his dark gaze. "I would understand if you did. I...just need to know."

"How could I possibly blame you?" She questioned, her tiny fingers curling tightly around the hand holding hers.

"I was there when he..." Akito murmured, unwilling to finish this as he continued, his eyes finally drifting away from Tohru's face. "I should have protected him. Brought him back home to you, like I always did."

"You couldn't have possibly known what was going to happen, Akito." Tohru murmured, her voice and heart so filled and moved with emotion. "My husband knew the risks each time he left our home." She whispered, her own gaze falling as she continued to hold onto Akito's hand. "And he accepted the danger just like you do. It's part of the calling...and he wouldn't have been happy doing anything else." The lightest shake of her head moved Tohru as she closed her eyes, her brows furrowed in thought to her words. "And he certainly wouldn't be happy knowing that you blame yourself."

"I've never once blamed you, Akito." The call of his name drew dark onyx orbs to her delicate face, their gaze colliding as azure eyes held a level of fierce strength. "And I think that if Yuki were still here, he would tell you the same thing."

"...thank you..." This low murmur of gratitude came wrapped in a moment of comfortable silence that they shared and embraced together before the soft vibration of Akito's phone came to disturb the quite.

"Sohma." Akito's greeting came low and monotone towards the person on the other end of the phone as his features shaped themselves into cold professionalism. "Yes...?" This question came lowly murmured as he continued to listen to the disembodied voice on the other end of the phone. "Are you sure about this?" His tone gained an edge of authority as he gently released Tohru's hand, standing himself from the intimate dining table and his unfinished coffee. "I see..." His gaze landed to the floor in contemplation as his attention waned from the woman at the table observing his one-sided conversation. "I'll need some time." A moment of silence fell upon him as he listened before he gave the lightest nod of the head. "Meet me over on Gojo Street and Yamato-oji. In the Gion district. I'll be there in an hour. It's best if you come alone." This almost chilling statement ended the one-sided conversation as Akito closed his phone, placing it in the pocket of his uniform pants before that dark gaze drifted towards Tohru once more.

"I'm really sorry, Tohru..." He murmured, offering her the small ghosting of a smile along his lips as she gazed up at him from her seat at the table.

"Work?" She asked, returning his kindness with a bright, happy smile...a smile hiding a level of worry and concern for his safety as he gave a small, stiff nod.

"But..." Akito spoke lowly, his gaze intently meeting her face. "There's something I'd like to give you before I go."

With these words, Akito's lean fingertips slipped into the pocket of his uniform pants before retrieving a small trinket held concealed in the palm of his hand. Tohru waited in breathless anticipation, having no idea what to expect from the man who had already surprised her once this day. As he approached her, Akito quietly drifted himself down to one knee in order to make himself eye-level with the woman held captivated by his movements. And Tohru's button nose unintentionally wrinkled itself in and automatic response to the scent of putrid cinnamon that suddenly flooded and ravaged her senses. Overcome by a abrupt wave of nausea, a tiny hand came to cup over her mouth. But her gaze...it was still so entranced by what Akito held in his hand as fingers slowly spread to reveal the small, token treasure.

A ring.

And it was so strangely magnetic in it's hypnotic beauty. So completely mesmerizing that Tohru couldn't help but reach for it as her tiny, slender fingers carefully grasped the trinket from Akito's open palm. Raising it closer to her gaze to examine all of the many little details of the elaborate ring, she twisted it and turned it with her fingers. Though the medal was aged and worn, the intricate markings engraved in the band came clear and almost magnetically attractive and alluring as her gaze roamed and explored every inch of it's surface.

"Do you like it...?" This question came coolly whispered to disperse Tohru's attention as she met dark orbs, her eyes alight with innocent jubilation. "It's been in my family for a very long time. An heirloom that's passed down through the family name."

"I can't accept this!" Tohru gave a small squeak of protest at learning of the ring's importance.

"Think of it as a gift to my God Child." Akito murmured lowly, his gaze intensely penetrating as he spoke. "Please." This request came in the breath of a whisper. "Yuki was the closest thing to family that I had." Akito spoke, his words smooth and measured in their delivery. "You and this child..." That penetrating gaze not having missed the automatic response to these words as Tohru's free hand once again drifted towards her growing abdomen. "You're the only real family that I have left." A small sigh pushed through his nose in contemplation of his next words. "The truth is..." Akito murmured, his voice slow and paced as he spoke. "I really don't have anyone else to pass this along to. And...it would mean a great deal to me if my family tradition lived on through you and your child."

Silence enveloped and tenderly wrapped itself around this moment as Tohru gave consideration to this request. This gift. As her azure gaze floated to the ring in her hand once more, she felt that same strange magnetic pull. A yearning, almost. And it was then...at her table kitchen...that she suddenly noticed just how closely the two of them had been drawn together. How much she had come to rely on his constant, yet somehow unobtrusive company. It had happened so quietly, that she hadn't really given it much thought.

...until today...

Her tentative gaze drifted back to the man stooped in front of her. Noticing her...finally noticing him. And Tohru wondered to herself when exactly that had happened.

Had he always been there? Waiting. For her to notice him?

And the strangest thing...was that this didn't feel strange at all.

The link between them had developed so naturally. A bond that had forged from the fires of such an unimaginable tragedy that constantly left her in the the rubble of her grief and sorrow. Sorrow...that seemed to lessen whenever she was with him. The gaping whole in her heart made just a little smaller each time he came around to see her. And Tohru found it just a bit easier to smile...breath...and move forward with her life when he was near.

When had that happened?

"Tohru?" Dark onyx orbs held her gaze, her name coming whispered along his lips as Akito patiently waited for her answer.

"Are you sure?" Tohru whispered back, their bodies having drifted so close together despite the stiflingly putrid smell. "I mean... You might have a wife...and a child of your own to give this to one day." And a faint smile lifted the man's lips at this statement.

"Honestly? I kind of like being a bachelor." Akito murmured. "It seems to suit me." And a light, airy giggle softly manifested from Tohru before it faded into quiet. "So...?" He questioned once more. "What do you say?"

"Of course I'll keep it." Tohru smiled through this concession. "Thank you." With this acceptance Akito gently worked her fingers around the ring with his own, encroaching the small space between them to place a quick, courteously unimposing kiss along her cheek before standing himself from his crouched position.

"I have to get going." This statement fell almost apologetic from his lips as he gathered up his officer's hat from the dining table, slender fingers running themselves through his raven hair to push it from his eyes as the cap was placed on his head.

And in that very moment, as Tohru gazed upon him from her seat, her heart ached and her breath was stolen away in unbearable anguish. Because...in that moment...he looked so much like her husband.

"Akito?" His name came soft along her lips, drawing his gaze to her.

"Hm?"

"I invited an old friend of mine over for dinner tonight. Saki Hanajima." Tohru murmured, lifting herself up from her seat at the table to see Akito to the door. "I was wondering if you would like to come over when you're off and meet her?"

"Playing matchmaker, are we?" Akito asked coolly as the makings of a sheepish smile played along Tohru's lips at having been found out.

"I'm not willing to give up on you just yet, Akito." Tohru giggled tenderly, a warm, happy smile spreading along her lips.

"Well... I would never say no to your cooking." Akito confessed as he moved himself through the threshold of the front door.

"Great!" Tohru chirped in joyful victory as Akito stepped from the front porch toward his vehicle. "See you tonight, then!" She called with the wave of her hand that was returned with the simple, silent raise of a salute in farewell. "...be safe..." This whispered prayer trailed along the wind that tousled her auburn hair as she watched him finally pull away.

As the car drifted to a slow crawl, and finally stopped, a long...arduous...sigh pushed itself through Akito's nose. Parked along one of the many abandoned buildings of this decrepit, rundown industrial neighborhood, he took a silent moment before finally turning off the engine. Removing his cap to place it in the empty passenger's seat, Akito ran his fingers through his hair once more, tousling it into a tantalizingly attractive mess before finally exiting the vehicle.

The resounding tap of his shoes along the pavement echoed unnervingly along the walls of the surrounding, empty warehouse buildings. The only sound in this place of silence, death, and decay. And a small, twisted grin played along his lips as his approach drew the attention of the man waiting for him.

"You're early..." He murmured. "I must have left quite an impression at our last meeting." And at these words the man scowled at him in contempt, causing a light string of laughter to pull itself from his lips.

"I'm in no mood for your games today." The man rumbled out through his thick throat, his tone angry and laced in frustration.

"What's the matter?" Akito's words came playfully patronizing towards the man's irritation. "Still don't trust me, Sota?"

"No." The man conceded, pursing his paunchy lips grotesquely towards this question.

"Good."

"If you don't mind, I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." And a stiff, silent nod of agreement met this statement in response.

"Did you come alone?" Akito asked, his tone cool and lacking in any amount of warmth or amusement.

"Of course." The man rumbled through his girth.

"And you have it with you?" Akito's voice drew low, his dark gaze penetrating as he stared the mob boss down.

"In the car." He answered with the nod of his head, and the two began to make their way towards Sota's vehicle in silence.

Their wordless approach to the black Mercedes-Benz S-Class was filled with tension and the sound of their tandem steps. The man trudged forward as they came upon the vehicle, opening the trunk of the car as his pudgy, sausage like fingers grasped an object covered and obscured by cloth. Handing it to Akito, Sota watched as slender fingertips went about their graceful dance of delicately undressing the object. Dark onyx orbs danced with an even darker delight, those thin fingers slowly tracing themselves across the ancient artifact, gently exploring the metallic surface as they ran themselves along the engraved inscriptions of the fractured tablet piece. Pale lips drew in an almost erotic breath in response to the tactile sensation, thick lashes fluttering before that dark gaze drifted towards the heavy-set man holding vigil to this display.

"And you're absolutely certain that this is the last piece?" Akito questioned, causing another scowl to fold and wrinkle the girth of Sota's bloated face.

"I doubt it would be in my best interest to lie to you." Sota responded sourly.

"No." Akito murmured this concession with a small smile. "It wouldn't. But I find your kind to be naturally prone to dishonesty, Sota."

"Well, I'm telling the truth." Sota retorted haughtily. "This is the last piece that you've been looking for." And the small smile lingering along Akito's lips grew infinitesimally.

"Is it, now..." Akito mused to himself, his gaze drifting back to the artifact in his hand as the man gave a silent nod. "Good." He practically purred, still so absorbed with the ancient fragment in his hand.

"One more thing, Sota." Akito murmured lowly, dispersing the oppressive silence. "And believe me...I'll know if you're not telling the truth because I can smell your stinking sweat when you lie to me." And the man bit his tongue against this insult as Akito continued. "Are you armed?"

"What...?" Sota stammered, completely befuddled and taken aback by the question.

"Are you armed?" This came slower, more deliberate as the man considered how he should respond before a sigh of misgiving pushed itself through his flared nostrils.

"Yes." He murmured honestly as that lingering smile along Akito's lips twisted diabolically.

"Excellent." And a single gunshot rent the air with such violent force that was immediately consumed and swallowed up by the deafening silence that followed.

Without even looking at the man, his attention still so completely absorbed by the artifact, Akito had swiftly grasped for his sidearm with a single movement so unnaturally fluid and fast as his arm was thrown extended, gun pointed at the head of Sota Kishimoto as the overweight mob boss fell to the ground.

"You saved me the terrible inconvenience of having to plant a gun on you..." Akito murmured to the corpse.

Finally turning his gaze to the bloated corpse splayed on the ground, Akito's smile became completely twisted and malicious as he spoke.

"Sota...you fool." He almost chuckled with gleeful amusement. "I warned you that you would never see this coming..." The smile along Akito's lips widened towards his treachery before the very real manifestation of laughter shook the air.

Akito's lithe, slender figure stiffened with the sound alerting him that he was not alone as dark onyx eyes lifted themselves from the dead body. The malicious smile that had lingered along his lips was now swept away and replaced by a taught line of discontent towards the equally dark smile reflected back to him by his unexpected audience. The man's body was thin and decrepit, a receding hairline with sunken cheeks and dark lifeless eyes. A long, dark trench coat loosely draped itself over him as if it were hung on a clothing rack.

But that smile...

A sigh of discontent pushed itself from Akito's delicate nose in consideration of how best to neutralize this unexpected turn of events before his lips formed dark words of warning.

"We seem to have ourselves a bit of a problem." Akito murmured seriously to the stranger.

"Do we?" He cackled out, displaying teeth in various states of decay.

"Depending on how much you know..." Akito quipped coolly, his fingers twitching along the trigger of his resting sidearm.

"Know about the situation...?" The man laughed through his decrepit smile, those sunken eyes flitting from the corpse on the ground to Akito's unamused expression. "Or...about you?" And the briefest flicker of bemusement clouded Akito's eyes as he considered this for a moment. "Because the situation looks pretty clear to me." The stranger offered with a toothy grin. "But you on the other hand..." His grin widened as he continued. "You aren't exactly who you seem to be...are you."

"Tell me what you know..." Akito murmured lowly to the man as he casually sidestepped the dead body in a slow, graceful stride towards his next victim. "...and I might let you live."

"As a witness to a homicide?" The man barked a throaty laugh. "I seriously doubt that." With this Akito extended the gun in his hand with graceful, fluid movements, pointing it menacingly at the dark stranger as his expression remained placid and void of emotion.

"You make a valid point." Akito murmured coolly, his weapon trained on the man before him. "So...I guess there's really no point in postponing the inevitable." This cold threat left the man completely unperturbed as it fell from Akito's lips.

"That would be such a shame." The stranger exclaimed with a small snicker of amusement in the face of his certain demise. "Because I've been waiting such a very...very...long time for you."

"Have you, now..." Akito deadpanned, his expression one of cold indifference...his gun aimed directly at the man's head.

"From the moment I saw you...I knew." The man murmured, his sunken features coming strangely placid. "I knew exactly who you are." His tone came calm in the face of Akito's stealthy...armed approach. "Who you really are."

"Is. That. So." Akito muttered darkly, finally pressing the point of his weapon to the man's forehead. "And who exactly is it that you think I am, hm?" The two stared each other down in a moment of weighted silence.

"Death." The man murmured lightly, still so unfettered by his situation as the smallest twitch of a smirk graced Akito's lips. "Chaos." He continued. "Wrath." This litany poured forth from his lips as Akito listened, poised to deliver a swift execution. "The rider of the pale green horse. The Fallen One." The stranger's words pushed through the silence, coming unchallenged. "You've been given so many names..." He whispered, his gaze undaunted as he spoke. "...isn't that right, Sathanus?"

In movements so breathtakingly fast the man was left completely stunned as Akito truck him along the head with his gun before the slender fingers of his free hand came wrapped aggressively around the man's neck. Lifted suspended from the ground by several inches in a show of inhuman strength, the man began to laugh before the fingers tightened their hold around his airway.

"Filthy dog of Providence..." Akito hissed out this insult through lips twisted in anger as his onyx gaze burned in fury towards the dark stranger in his grasp. "Where is your partner?!" He snarled out. "I know you wretched beasts work in pairs! Where are they?!" This accusation came almost shouted in the man's face.

"I came alone." The man croaked out feebly.

"You lie!" Akito screamed, tightening his vice-like grip around the man's throat.

"I came..." The man wheezed in his breathlessness as lashes fluttered against the threat of unconsciousness. "...because I wanted to help you." And with this the stranger's body was sent flailing into movement as Akito hurled him to the ground several paces away.

"If you truly know who I am..." Akito hissed darkly as he stalked towards the motionless body. "...then you know that I don't require your help." He crouched to the man splayed on the ground as their gaze met once more. "And I assume you also know that it would be exceptionally easy for me to deliver your stinking soul to the world of the damned."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The stranger murmured from his place on the ground, a playfully wry smile playing along his lips as he spoke.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you." Akito's words came lowly whispered as he stared the man down with that dark, penetrating gaze.

"Because..." The man pushed himself from his back to a sitting position as he met this challenge head on. "I know something that you don't."

"And what would that be?" This question came slow along Akito's lips as the man offered him another toothy grin.

"That fragment you have there isn't the last piece you've been looking for." The man spoke confidently as he watched Akito absorb this information. "There's one more...and I know where it is."

"Then you'll tell me where to find it before I send you to Hell." Akito whispered this threat, and the dark stranger began to laugh.

"I'll do better." The man countered. "I'll take you right to it." And he reveled in the brief moment of confusion that played along Akito's face.

"Why would you do that?" Akito questioned in disbelief towards this man's offer.

"I already told you..." The man responded through another playful smile. "I've waited a long time for you. And I came here to help. Trust me, you'll need it." The man's stare came intense on the heels of these words. "If I was able to find you...it will only be a matter of time before the others come looking for you too."

"How exactly did you find me, anyway...?" Akito asked with a growing level of curiosity at this man's statement as he remained stooped on his haunches.

"Well...you've been causing a bit of a scene lately, haven't you...?" The man murmured thoughtfully before that playful smile grew just a bit sinister. "That..." He leaned himself in, encroaching Akito's personal space as he whispered in his ear. "...and your smell gives you away." And he let out another string of laughter as Akito pulled away to glare at him. "How long have you been squatting in this rotting corpse, anyway?" The man barked a laugh as he wrinkled his nose towards the stench of putrid cinnamon. "Too long, if you ask me."

Akito finally stood himself from his stance along the ground, watching as the dark stranger slowly did the same. As the man brushed himself off the two exchanged glances in a fleeting moment of silence before Akito parted his lips and spoke in cool monotone.

"That's about to change."


A/N: There...are just so many things to apologize for. Like...this chapter. And how it took over two months to turn out. And I know that I have sworn to stop apologizing, and have recently resorted to blaming others for the lateness of my chapters. But...wow. I'm so sorry. SORRY FANDOM ANGST! For being such a turtle with this story, as it is your birthday gift. Who knows. At this rate it may take all year and will be done by the time you celebrate your next birthday. And...I'm REALLY sorry about blaming you last time. Sort of.

And now a special thank you to those of you still reading and reviewing this story! It means the world to me! And a Happy and most blessedly prosperous New Year to you all!

Interesting side note...I did NOT make Sathanus up. True story. Look him up.

Finally...one of my good friends, SweetLiars, recently told me that I reminded them of "Cleo" from "Monster High." So...with that randomness in mind, in the immortal words of "Cleo" from "Monster High"...I present you this chapter...because... "I'm Lady Angst, and I've got to give the people what they want."