AN: Hello, dear reader. As anyone can tell, I am a sucker for songs that evoke specific emotions. One of songs that will be used in this chapter is called 'One Last Cry', written by Brian McKnight. In a different twist, I have found it was sung by a powerful and very beautiful woman named Marina Elali, a Latin vocalist. Please, if you will, refer to this song when you hear it in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own this song but it is a blast to listen to.
xxx
Take What Is Yours
Ch 25 They Killed Him
Kurumu didn't think she could feel so foolish or utterly devoid of hope than how she felt right now.
In the distance, the bus drove off, creating small puffs of dirt of hover in the air as its departure. Her friends and family were glaring at Kuyou and his menacing henchwomen, each in turn waiting to see what is to become of the next moments that would lead to her very possible and inevitable demise.
Dear Kami, she was stupid.
She not only put her life, but that of her mommy, her auntie, that too good of a mother Tsurara and that stupid stalking, ice queen Mizore...
…but, she didn't know how to feel about that.
A deep, soul felt hole was filling to the brim, replacing the void that she had created for Tsukune that she held in hopes to give to him, just him…
…just him…
Now, swallowing hard, showing her hands to comply to Kuyou's silent, but very deadly, demand, she took her first steps to face the justice of Youkai.
Xxx
Tsukune broke into a rushed sprint, pushing himself to get to his friends as fast as his human body could get him.
Feeling the rosario at his wrist weigh heavily and awkwardly, he decided against hurrying over in his vampire form. While it might grant some trepidation to Kuyou and his team of enforcers, it would not do for him to still be so far away and with him being able to do nothing to protect them at this distance. Kuyou had a nose for power and with the amount a vampire released, it wouldn't surprise him for Kuyou to take advantage of his leverage to use it against Tsukune…
Damn Mikogami! Tsukune thought.
He knew everywhere he looked, he visited, he was aware at every place that could or could not be seen through whatever means was at the Headmaster's disposal.
Another thought came to mind, what Moka had said earlier before the trial, "You shouldn't have come here, Tsukune."
While he had agreed for the immediate reasons before, now it was becoming more and more apparent that she was right…
…which scared him…
…what else was she right about?
Shaking his head, Tsukune tried to tell himself this wasn't the right time to think about Moka…
…yet, when was a good time?
There was still so much unfinished business, so many promises he needed to keep, so many people he needed to tell that he was alive, that he missed them, loved them…
A picture of his mom sprouted behind his eyes and he almost lost his step when he realized how much he had sacrificed not only for her, but for his dad and his cousin. Then there was his other family, Moka's aristocratic father Issa and her sisters…
Kokoa…while he was sure she would be blaringly thankful to hear of his demise, he had found a weak bond with her that came from doing the one thing Kokoa was the most unsuccessful at and Tsukune had all but beaten her senseless: he was able to receive Moka's love. As much as the fiery red head hated him, she and him had created a small bond in knowing that he had loved her sister as much as she did. While not a complete success, it was something.
For that, she had decided to not kill him because, as much as it simmered her most jealous emotions, it would also hurt the austere onee-sama Kokoa adored should she do anything to Moka's beloved mate.
Kahlua…the tan, lithe blonde goddess who held the grace and poise of a dancer. With a child's playfulness, she always had a smile and tender word for him when he was sure she wasn't going to rip his arms off if he said something to upset her. While obviously older and stronger, she had taken to him like a little girl would to an older brother. Over all, she loved him simply because Moka loved him. He found the thought of telling her he was okay heart lifting. She wouldn't cry if she saw him again, would she?
He hoped not…
Ria…
Tsukune almost growled when the dark haired, dark eyed, dark souled vampiress sister came to mind. That woman could turn everything and anything he wanted into a debacle while wearing the most seductive of smiles. The things she did to him, to Moka, to them as a pair just to keep them apart…god, how he hated her and, yet…
Looking at how much he had endured recently…
…did the black hearted woman, who even Moka feared, know something like this was in his future?
Was she trying to protect her family with the no nonsense way she did things?
Oh, she loved to throw her beauty, her power, even her domineering authority over him like a lion would play with it food, but did she really do all this just for the sake of pride?
Or did she really care?
He really, REALLY, had to get his mind away from her…
...but he found himself thinking back to the woman who soothed his every bond back then…who was his balm, his nectar of joy, and his peace he didn't know existed in this world of false hopes and daydream realities…
Did he still miss Moka?
What was she doing now?
From his peripheral vision, six black ravens wings circled away followed by a long streamer of glossy black hair and a worn, dark long skirt. Ruby waved at him as she glided around Kuyou's group to try and circumvent their path to blind side him should the need arise.
No! This was not the time to think of Moka! Kurumu needed him! Moka had her time, broke her promises and broke his heart!
Kurumu was always there, begging, pleading for him to just give her the barest scrap of attention and he didn't…couldn't…because he only had eyes for her…
…only her…
Now, even after all that had happened at the Snow Village, with Mizore potentially carrying his child, with Tsurara and who knew how many other Yukki-Onna now held soiled names because of his aggressive actions, he was bringing himself back to her?
To Moka?
Sighing as he found himself behind a tree within sight of Kuyou and everyone, he had to wonder what his own human logic and his own perceptions have gotten him into by falling in love with her and neglecting those who loved him.
There…
Just within ear shot but up wind so as not to garner Kuyou's attention, Tsukune could see her and…
Mizore-chan? Tsurara, Ageha, and Shade? What were they doing there? And why were the rest of the enforcers surrounding them like some kind of guard to a lynching?
Memories of when Tsukune was put up on a large steak to be burned in front of the other monsters, the way he was lured into a mock trial and ripped apart speared his thoughts. Yes, the court was a sham and he wasn't so much ripped but exploded upon by his own blood and soul fighting each other, but how did any of this involve Kurumu?
A low growl rumbled in his chest. The voice was whispering to him, enticingly, seductively…
He would protect her…he NEEDED to protect Kurumu…but, he asked himself, what had she done to be brought here and with the two people who knew of his death?
Why would they do that? Don't they know that this was a death trap?
Just when the whispers started to get louder, he thought he could hear Kurumu saying something…
…it was almost like she was singing…
Leaning as close as he could, he tried to listen when he knew, without a doubt, that not only was she singing, but she was singing to him…
…about her.
xxx
A little memory found its way to her forethoughts, distracting her as she took one step after the other. It was after she had heard that Tsukune and Moka were going to get back together, she decided to she needed to do something different, to give let a part of herself be free and announce to the world that she was hurting.
She sang a song.
While that wasn't unusual at Devil's Little Angel's, it was the kind of song meant for a slow dancing, heart felt regrets, and disappointment through words. Yes, it was a song to just let those who would empathize with her and, for a selfish moment, let her grieve so she could, if it was possible, move on.
Could she move on? No, she couldn't, but, nevertheless, it was still a pretty song and it seemed just so appropriate for how she felt.
How had it gone?
Humming to herself, she was able to distract herself enough to hum the gentle ballads as each syllable escaped her lips and sung to the wind as the waves crashed along the cliff to her right…
Like a sighing angel, her voice pushed through, her eyes closed, and her music entered the ears of everyone around her…
***Upload this in youtube: w9MuQ0LYPwA ***
~~"My shattered dreams and broken heart…
…are mending on the shelf…~~
~~I saw you, holding hands…
…standing close to someone else…~~
The enforcers, Kuyou, and everyone turned to Kurumu as her words trembled with ache. To her side, Mizore slipped her cool hand into Kurumu's, listening with heart felt understanding and empathy to the spirit broken succubus. Shade and Ageha were also there, keeping themselves next to their beloved sprite of a young woman whose trials have been unfair since the day she let her eyes fall prey to Aono Tsukune.
Tsurara took up the rear, personally staying between her daughter and her friend's family from Kuyou. The kitsune enforcer said nothing, letting Kurumu pursue her own self interests just so long as it didn't stop her from doing what was expected of her.
Xxx
Just a ways off, Tsukune heard her, listened to her, felt her pain as each word reverberated in a way he didn't know he had hurt her.
She sang some more…
xxx
~~"Now I sit, all alone…
Wishing all my feelings were gone."~~
Tears feel down her cheeks, raising her voice, echoing her burning pain…
~~"I gave my best to you…
Nothing for me to do,
But I've one last cry..
One last cry…~~"
Xxx
Tsukune whispered into his hand, trying to keep the emotion from choking him. In all their time together, she did her best, her very, very best for him and for everyone…
"Kurumu…chan…"
xxx
~~"Before I leave it all behind.
I've got to put you out of my mind
This time…
Stop living a lie…
I guess I'm down to my last cry…"~~
Friend, Mother, Aunt, and everyone witness Kurumu's thick, womanly voice reach a memorizing octave that reflected the wounded heart inside a girl who lost a boy she cared so, so much for…
…if she could forget him and move on, they would help her.
~~"Oh-oh-o…
I was here, you were there.
I guess we never could agree…
Why the sun shines on you.
I need some love to rain on me…"~~
Xxx
Tsukune thought back to all the times Moka and him just let the world bleed away, seeing only each other when there were so many others who needed him, loved him, desperate to get any fraction of attention the could. What did he do? Where had this all lead to?
Chewing his lip, he pressed himself closer to the tree, ready to walk out just to hold her…
…but he waited because…
…because…
…he wanted to hear her song and listen to her uninterrupted.
xxx
~~"Still I sit, all alone, wishing all my feelings were gone…
Got'a get over you…
Nothing for me to do…
But I've one last cry! One last cry!
Before I leave it all behind…
I've got to put you out of my mind…
This time…
Stop living a lie…
I know I've got to be strong, because around me life goes on and on….
…and on…
But I've one last cry…one last cry…
Before I leave it all behind…
I've got to put you out of my mind…
For the very last time…
Been living a lie…
I guess I'm down…
I guess I'm down…
I guess I'm down…
…to my last cry…"~~
Like a breath, the enforcers along with Kuyou recognized the beauty of her sound, her soul exposed so vulnerably.
That was when, like any one who felt the young succubus's pain screamed at the top of her lungs, a voice broke the serenity of the moment.
"They killed him, Kurumu!"
Kuyou, Keito, and the other enforces turned to Ageha's tear streaked and livid scream as she reached inside her purse and pulled out two bottles of perfume. Shade was quick to followed suit, with wings sprouting and fingers reaching for the bottles of perfume in her purse.
Kurumu blinked at the elder bluenette in confusion.
Kuyou's hands were already glowing with fire and seemed all the more ecstatic to what was unraveling before him.
"Killed him? Him who?" Mizore asked quietly, narrowing her eyes.
Tsurara read Ageha's and Shade's quick movements and the situation. Throwing up her hands, she froze the air around them, calling upon the waves far from the edge of the cliff to raise high. A wall, blood red reached twenty feet high with faces fracturing the small glacier.
Kurumu didn't need to know 'who' the 'him' was that her mother talked about. There was just too much pain, regret, and, lastly, a sadness in her voice that reminded her too much of the time her mother talked about her papa…
Him could only mean one person…
…Tsukune…
Kuyou's grin was blood thirsty when two words escaped his lips…
"Take them."
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