Chapter 25
Marionette
Continued from the previous chapter…
Kiriyuu pushed through the thick bushels and low branches, a few leaves catching into her brown hair in progress. With each step forward she took, the more she wanted to turn back and never look that way again. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but a gut feeling told her she was heading towards the right direction. She couldn't back down now, but the pain that was spreading throughout her chest was a reason for her to go back, with her breathing was reduced to short gasps and pants, and her seemingly remaining strength slowly being drained away from her body. But she really didn't want to stop and go back now. She was also limping, but that was the least of her worries; the bullet wound hadn't actually stopped bleeding yet, but was slowly seeping into the fabric, creating a darker stain on her Black Spell uniform. Eventually, she broke through a thick nest of crowded shrubs and stumbled into the clearing. A temperate, yellowish-orange hue glowed above, casting a warm light into the clearing.
The small basin of the woodland was empty; that was strange, she assumed that Hibari may be at least here since she was sure that she saw Hibird fly through this precinct. She didn't have to wait for long though, as her hypothesis proved correct as soon as two familiar figures entered the glade from Kiriyuu's left.
It was Hibari, followed by Kusakabe Tetsuya, carrying a briefcase. His eyes almost bulged at the sight of her, while Hibari merely narrowed his eyes. At first, there was a split moment of silence, then -
"You." Hibari began sourly, which surprised her greatly since she hadn't really been expecting to Hibari to speak first. She turned round to face them directly. "Why are you here?" He certainly did not look entirely pleased to see her.
They watched each other for a few moments. She took note of his super-neat, crease-proof black suit and his mop of refined yet rugged dark hair. Careful and orderly as always. His expression was gentle, and passive, yet his eyes were terrifying and foreboding. The most insignificant and irrelevant thoughts to be thinking at this particular confrontation of a lifetime swarmed her mind. One, her hair was otherwise an entire mess with split ends and loose curls, and she wasn't wearing any make-up. She was also covered in blood. She swallowed down slightly; she hadn't exactly seen Hibari in person for some time now. There wasn't much to be described about him; Hibari still looked the same when she left him roughly 10 years ago. His hairstyle had slightly changed, and he was taller. That was all. Nothing much. Kiriyuu thought she had changed dramatically on the other hand.
Hibird flew off from his shoulder and disappeared back into the trees. Somehow, watching Hibari from the opposite end somehow felt like looking into a mirror and watching things re-play over the years that had happened in the past. A desolate feeling suddenly went through her and she began to regret; she really did wonder the way how they would meet if their circumstances had been different. It would be different. Much different. The staring match went prolonged further than she expected, so she tilted her head upwards to the side, looking down at him.
She then crossed her arms carelessly and twisted her head back round, glancing towards the darkening sky. A blur of black smoke from the destroyed Vongola base hung ominously in the atmosphere.
Kusakabe was giving Kiriyuu a very wary look. "Kyou-san, the base. She must've – "
"Go." Hibari commanded smoothly, without glancing over to his subordinate at all. "I will handle this."
"Hai, Kyou-san." Kusakabe shot another warning glare to Kiriyuu and quickly hurried off back towards the direction of the demolished Vongola base.
Surprisingly, Kiriyuu let the assistant rush past her without even batting an eyelid. Her eyes flicked back to Hibari, and she un-crossed her arms. "I wouldn't go there if I were you."
Hibari looked relatively unfazed in return. "I take it you are behind this."
By 'this', he meant the obvious destruction of the Underground base. She didn't think that Hibari would care about the raid; he was six hours late, because of the great care and plan that was considered to annihilate the base inconspicuously from others until now. Maybe he didn't care, although he was part of the Vongola and even a Guardian, but still held little regard for the welfare of allies. Kiriyuu stepped back, looked to the side and sighed, held her arms with a mocking shrug of her shoulders, "What? You mean the raid? Surely you must realise that you and your allies are being attacked by my people."
"And what would that reason be? Or do you not need a reason at all to disturb Namimori with your sudden appearance? You know you are unwelcome here." Hibari replied in a monotone, subdued manner, "I did not expect to see your face again at all."
"I would never have stepped one foot in this dump if it weren't for orders." She growled irritably, and she began to circle him, watching him beadily. She took one gentle swing of her legs into a step onto the path at a time leisurely. "So, Hibari, how have you been? I was worried about you. Are you well?" She asked, in a mocking tone, "Were you doing research just a few miles away from here and realised that something was terribly wrong within this area so you came to check it out?"
He watched her, and she stopped back front of him again. "That is of no concern to you. And I know what you and your people are doing; you will not succeed."
" - In finding the other Guardians? …But I've already found you." She then began darkly. "It wouldn't be a hard procedure to hunt down the rest."
Hibari was smirking back at her all of a sudden. "You don't have that capability."
"I'd do anything for the price they put on your head."
"Hmph. And you think you can go against me with that injury?" He was gesturing to her arm.
"So you noticed." She said with a diminutive smirk, and she grabbed the shoulder with the bullet wound, and yanked down. Hard. She bit on her lip as a loud, excruciating 'POP' of her shoulder joint echoed through the lonely woodland. She opened her eyes again and quickly dabbed at her watering eyes. "That was nothing." Though she sounded rather shaky as she tried to hide the growing pain.
Then, Kiriyuu unstrapped the gas mask from her belt, and tossed it to the side. She took out her gun, and threw that to the side as well. She lifted her arm up, and then clenched her fist, as a dark red flame suddenly encased her ring finger.
"Well?" She held her arm out, the crossbow materialised but she removed it off her instead, and tampering around with a few switches and hidden levers, the wings of the crossbow slammed back down against the length of the bow. She cocked the gun, and turned to back to him, "What the hell are you waiting for?"
The voice in her mind came again. What are you doing? He won't go easy on you. You're going to lose this fight.
She rolled her eyes. I know that, but it doesn't mean that I won't give it all I got. I need to buy time for the helicopter to leave.
His expression hardly changed, but she knew he understood it as well. However, he let out a short, inaudible sigh, and he protruded out his collapsible tonfas. He immediately went into an offensive stance. "Fine. I highly doubt that you will survive through this."
Hibari hadn't changed at all.
She let out a soft snicker, her lips pulled further back into a widening smirk, and his eyebrows furrowed tightly in response. She left no second to spare because she knew it would be over in an instant if she didn't act now; and she came at him with her crossbow gun. She didn't know what she was doing, but right now, it seemed that this was the only way. Hibari avoided the predictable attack and returned back a full assault of his own, but Kiriyuu dodged somewhat, despite a throbbing pain that stung in her shoulder, with her crossbow raised above her head, she slammed it down as Hibari raised another tonfa to block the attack.
The inevitable clash of steel was the only sound that rang through her ears.
At their uncommon, scarce close proximity within one another, she smirked at him again. "You really missed out on the raid we commenced at dawn. A war is starting and a lot of your Vongola companions will perish; but you don't care about that, do you? Since you hate mingling so much. In fact, I have one more question - Where were you really when it happened?"
"I don't have to answer to you." Hibari's eyes further narrowed as they struggled with their weapons clanging against each other.
"You left them to die, didn't you?" She growled at him, with another broadening sneer. "They were all crushed like bugs when we invaded, the poor things; hadn't been expecting us at all so their defence was thoroughly weaker than usual. I made sure that no-one survived. I will make sure that no-one of the Vongola survives and I will hunt you down. One. By. One."
Hibari was starting to look positively murderous now.
"So what are you going to do now, Hibari Kyouya?" She taunted purposefully, "Bite me to death?"
Ten Years Before…
The night-time regime in the Hibari House didn't change; with Hibari taking hour long baths, Kiriyuu standing outside the door thumping on it continuously, telling him to hurry up, before heating water in a pot of water and running back up and down the stairs to fill the tub after he was finished (since Hibari didn't integrate a shower) - was really getting tiresome. The night-time weather was different, however. Usually, the nights would be peaceful with owls and cicadas chirping through the hours of darkness. This time, it was another monsoon. Stupid Namimori weather, she thought. It was unpredictable as always. The monsoon started at soon as Hibari and Kiriyuu left Tsuna's house, so they had to make their way home as fast as possible before it could hit town. Once they returned home from Tsuna's house, Hibari dumped Kiriyuu's suitcase and bags on the lawn, marched inside the house without another word. Kiriyuu was left to heave and unpack her stuff back upstairs.
They had dinner, watched TV and the late-night scary movie (which had Kiriyuu hiding behind Hibari), did more Summer Weather reports that were due for school once summer vacation was over and… Nothing else, much, really.
While she tried to get to sleep, flashes of the scary movie kept swimming back into her mind. She remembered other scary movies as well along with the one she had just watched; like The Grudge, when the woman finds the ghost in her bed, with her, under the covers. Kiriyuu began to sweat, and it wasn't because of the heat. She shakily lifted up her covers; nothing there except the rest of her body, obviously. But she still whimpered.
Ghosts don't exist… ghosts don't exist!
A lone howl from Kiriyuu's rickety window due to the wind outside forced out a small squeal of fright from the back of her throat.
What the hell are you waiting for? Get out of there, now!
She quickly got out of bed and grabbed her pillow, hugging it to herself, and left her room hurriedly. She trekked down the cold, empty hallway, and stopped outside Hibari's door. His light was closed. He was probably asleep. She hesitated to knock on it with her clenched hand in mid-air; what would she say if Hibari opened the door? Heck, what would he say? He'd probably guess that she was too creeped out by the scary movie and accuse her of cowardice. He would probably also beat her up for waking him up at this hour. She bit her lip and sniffled, then brought her fist back down to her side.
She slid down against Hibari's walls and sat, huddling to herself. She stared off to the landing, listening to the torrential downpour outside, eyes adjusting to the bleak darkness. She waited.
And waited.
And waited.
… And waited.
She slowly felt herself drifting off to sleep and her head plopped over the pillow stuffed in her arms. Then the door opened. Hibari watched her, rolled his eyes, kicked at her roughly with his foot. She landed on her front, waking up instantly.
"E-Eh…? Oh, Hibari…" She mumbled blearily as she stood back up, gathering her pillow in her arms.
"What are you doing?" He demanded tiredly. He didn't like it when people disrupted his sleep.
Kiriyuu's lip wobbled; she couldn't exactly see him in the darkness of the house, but she could make out his silhouette. She fumbled slightly, hopping from one foot to another. "… It was the movie. I-I don't want to be alone."
"It's just a movie."
Now her reason for staying outside Hibari's room seemed really ridiculous. "I know, it's just… Oh, I dunno… I just don't feel right. Something doesn't feel right today."
"There's paracetamol in the cupboard."
"No! I'm not ill. Not that. I really don't know. I just feel… Well, I-I can't get to sleep. I'm… I'm … scared. Kinda."
There was a brief silence. She braced herself for the worst. Instead, Hibari disappeared back into his room. "Get inside." He added, and Kiriyuu looked back up, slightly stunned. He glanced over his shoulder, as she stood limply in the landing. "The spare futon is in the closet."
Still, Kiriyuu did not move. A few minutes passed, and then she finally waddled in, walked to the closet, and pulled out the same, spare, dusty futon she had the last time she had slept in Hibari's room during the ant infestation. She shut the door and laid the futon down, then curled up under the covers. Hibari was back on his bed, his back turned to her.
"Goodnight, Hibari."
No response.
Kiriyuu sighed inwardly and just tried to get to sleep. At least Hibari had allowed her to stay with him this night. She thought that she had bothered Hibari himself. But she did appreciate Hibari letting her stay in his room during her time of…. Uh… fear. That wasn't really all to it, to be honest. She had felt all isolated of a sudden, shut up in her cold, little, box room. She wanted someone's company. She wanted Hibari. She wanted to be with Hibari. She snivelled again and squeezed her eyes further shut.
"Hibari?" Kiriyuu squeaked out meekly.
"… What?"
"I'm sorry for trying to run away. I'll never do it again."
"Whatever. Go to sleep."
She complied anyway, and soon, she did manage to fall asleep without thinking too much about ghosts under her covers or fleshy things kept in sacks with no tongues. When she woke up again, however, she felt exceptionally warm. Rubbing her eyes, she rummaged under the duvet, yawned somewhat, and turned around. Kiriyuu's eyes widened slightly.
Hibari was lying beside her, sound asleep.
Ten Years into the Future…
She was on the ground, her hand clamped over the new wound that was gushing out more blood than she could handle. A crossbow was lying a few feet from her, snapped in half. She let her throbbing head rest on the cold, dirty ground, unable to seemingly move anymore. She was thoroughly exhausted. A dark shadow cast over her, stood beside her silently. Her assailant watched her curled form; she wiped away the blood that leaked from her mouth and looked up at him, her outstretched hand over the ground clenching, fingers gathering up mud and stones under the grip. The red flame on her finger was slowly dying out.
"Do it." She muttered out helplessly, as a tiny bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. She closed her eyes. "… Just do it already." She glared up at him through the strands of her splayed, matted hair. "What the hell are you waiting for?"
Hibari had little sympathy for those who had no more will to live. But this time, it was different. Watching what she had become now, in front of him, reduced to a bleeding, almost crippled heap, was really pathetic. He honestly had thought better of her in some parts. But he was wrong. He was wrong about her. He had always been wrong about her. She really did disappoint him in so many ways that she didn't realise it herself. She hadn't learnt her lesson after all those years. That was because she had always been so ignorant, selfish and inconsiderate towards others. Like now. She was still selfish.
And that was why what she wanted from him now; he would not bestow it upon her so courteously.
"No," He replied apathetically, stowing away his tonfas as his flame from the ring withered away, "You are a selfish person. Killing you will be what you've wanted all along."
Kiriyuu's eyes widened, and she whipped her head back up at him in astonishment. Hibari was walking away, without looking back. Kiriyuu had lost the fight, but now she felt exceptionally worse. She already thought she had lost many she could've had, but now she felt that she had lost everything; her self-respect, her dignity, her status, her sense of wellbeing, her identity - everything. Kiriyuu had now given up altogether.
Suddenly, Kusakabe stumbled back into the clearing. He gave one look to Kiriyuu on the ground, surprised. Kusakabe turned back to Hibari. "I checked thoroughly. There are a total of four helicopters just a few miles from here but they're all deserted; they might come back – "
Kiriyuu paused for a moment. Elia didn't leave…? But…We only came in two helicopters. Who does the other two belong to?
Kusakabe continued. " - The Millefiore have completely destroyed the base, Kyou-san. They spared no-one."
Hibari and Kusakabe then averted their eyes to Kiriyuu on the floor.
"Hahaha…ahaha…They're dead…Everyone's…dead." She let out a mirthless, weak laugh at them from the back of her throat, glancing back up at Hibari again, still laughing. "I know. I made sure."
There were a few moments of silence.
But Hibari turned back round, walked away from them. Kusakabe, thoroughly confused and stunned, gave one more fleeting, momentary look to Kiriyuu, and back to Hibari, then hastily followed suit.
Kiriyuu stared at him with equal surprise as Kusakabe did. "What do you think you're doing? Get back here, you coward!" She yelled at Hibari's back weakly, still coughing up more blood. She tried to sit up, it didn't work, and she collapsed back over the ground. "Why won't you kill me? I ruined your life and you ruined mine! Get back here!"
He was walking away further; she honestly didn't know if he had heard her or not. He probably hadn't.
"Kill me and everything happening between us would be over. Whatever it is that you still have, I know that you don't want it anymore. That's what you've wanted all along, isn't it?" She cried out feebly, a little desperately. She couldn't believe it. He still didn't turn back round. "…Isn't it…?"
Hibari, along with Kusakabe, disappeared into the woods. Never to be seen for some time again, probably. And if they did see each other again; it'd just be like what happened today.
The colour drained away from Kiriyuu's face as she watched on, completely confounded yet devastated at the same time. "No, Hibari. D-Don't go…" She then stammered to an extent, and she placed her head back on the ground, squeezing her eyes shut as the corners of her eyes began to well up. "Don't-Don't leave me again… Please don't."
She lay there for several minutes. He wasn't coming back. She dropped her hand. She was starting to feel sleepy, as her eyes dropped. Kiriyuu sniffled slightly, as she lay on the ground. She moved to lie on her back, watching the darkening sky, the stars coming out, and the moon hanging above her, shining on the clearing. Her vision smudged; the full moon split into two moons, then three, and four. She coughed again, as her eyes began to close. She lifted her hand up away from her new, perhaps life-threatening wound and gazed, wriggling her fingers around slightly; it was completely amassed in blood.
She put the hand over her face, covering herself in her own blood. "I hate you so much… I hate you for not stopping me. I hate you for not telling me that I made the wrong decision… I hate you for turning me against you." She murmured out, dazedly.
But then she gritted her teeth. "… I hate you because you weren't there for me. And you still aren't." She then growled out, her tone gaining foundation again as her anger, hatred and all the resentment she held for him began to grow once more. "I hate you because I still have feelings for you and I still can't get rid of them. Why can't you see that?!" Then she turned back round, facing the same way he had left.
"YOU TURNED ME INTO WHAT I AM NOW, HIBARI KYOUYA, AND THAT IS WHY I WILL ALWAYS HATE YOU!!"
She dropped back down over the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut. Her body loosened and she lay there, exhausted. Kiriyuu didn't know how long she had been lying in her little spot; but it felt like an eternity, and she had perhaps fallen asleep, if it wasn't for the recurring voice in her mind that just had to wake her up before she could slip away into the darkness. Hibari hadn't come back; she didn't think he would anyway. She groaned somewhat, as the voice rang through her mind thoroughly.
Go back to the helicopter. I'm sure your poor, little apprentice is worried sick about her precious mentor. This time, the voice's tone sounded sardonic and scornful, mocking her in a way.
She fumbled slightly, as she complied - she tried to sit up, but her whole body ached, and she flopped back down over the dirt, exhausted. Hibari had perhaps broken every bone in her body. She remained lying on the ground, and she reached a hand up to her face, rubbing at the scar on her cheek, watching the night sky."… Urgh… W-What happened…?"
You fell unconscious for at least twenty minutes.
"And you're still here?" She said out loud. "…What about Chrome?"
I'm surprised that you're displaying concern about a member of the Vongola.
"I'm not concerned. I just don't understand why you are still with me."
Kufufu…. You are still useful to me. For now.
She could almost hear his lips forming upwards into a small smirk, and let out a frail, bemused laugh. "… Whatever. You know, I really don't remember how and why I went against the Vongola; it feels like such a long time ago."
How can you not remember? She knew that he was smirking at her again.
"I just can't. It's like a blur…" She tried to recall again with a squeeze of her eyes as she tried to concentrate; but nothing came up. At all. She had been with the Millefiore all the time; she had been mentoring Elia all her time there. She was a Commander. She served under Uni-sama. Like the most of the pre-Giglio Nero members, she resented Byakuran-sama despite the loyalty she needed to display. But…
But what?
She then mumbled out. "… But… I was… gone… somewhere. Missing. It was dark. Then… you started talking to me. You told me that I hated the Vongola. I remember Hibari and when I lived with him, but… that's all I remember… and you told me he hated me, so I should hate him too."
Quite right.
"… And you're always making me think of the Vongola. Just leave me alone from now on." She spoke, inhaling sharply with each breath she took. She huddled up further into a ball and closed her eyes shut. She let out a tormented sigh and flopped back again as soon as she tried to get up. "What's going on…? I-I can't get up, Mukuro. I'm… I'm cold, I'm tired, and sleepy. I can't move… It hurts, and I'm bleeding so much… it won't stop."
You're dying. Don't you know…that this is how it feels like to go through death?
"…I'm…dying…?"
Hibari injured you thoroughly and you didn't get help immediately afterwards, that's why you're stuck like this now.
Kiriyuu tried to move again; she could hear someone's thundering footsteps gaining towards her, and she glanced up and over as Elia's silhouette eventually burst through the trees. Her breathing was laboured, and she had red, puffy cheeks, looking extremely tousled and anxious as usual. Didn't the girl ever learn to calm down in her life? She sighed gently; the sound of Mukuro's voice had left for the time being. Surprisingly, Kiriyuu felt alone all over again.
"Kiriyuu!!" She screamed, and she ran over. In response, Kiriyuu winced at the alarming volume of her voice as Elia practically fell down to her knees beside her.
She looked away. "…. Don't touch me." Elia tried to turn her over, which ended up with Kiriyuu numb all over with pain. "Ow. It hurts."
Elia immediately pulled her hands away. "I'm s-sorry… Kiriyuu-sama, what happened? You're still bleeding – what's that wound?"
"It's not serious. I'm… I'm okay."
There was a slight hesitation. Elia bit her lip. "You were gone for about forty five minutes, the rest of us split up to look for you…"
Kiriyuu shivered in response, "Ellie… I'm cold."
Elia quickly removed her blazer, leaving her shirt on and quickly draped it over Kiriyuu. "You're hurt. Hibari Kyouya did this to you, didn't he?!" She wondered what could've happened between Hibari Kyouya and her Commander – if she did find him, that is. She took note of her broken crossbow and the fact that Kiriyuu was looking extremely pale, and enervated. Elia spoke up again. "Kiriyuu-sama, I-I'll go and get help – " And she moved back up to leave.
Immediately, Kiriyuu intervened before she could leave. "No." She put a hand on Elia's arm. "Ellie, just stay here with me, please. I…I don't want to be alone."
She could tell there was something wrong with Kiriyuu, and she smiled reassuringly at her Commander. "It'll be fine. I'll come back soon."
Kiriyuu didn't say anything. Elia stood back up and pulled out her radio, tampering around with the antennae – but all that came was non-stop, continuous feedback. The sound of rustling footsteps could be heard in the distance. Elia stopped, and looked around cautiously.
"You hear that? I think they've found us."
"… Go on then. Go check it out."
She glanced towards the direction the footsteps were heard. "O-Okay, I-I'll be right back, Kiriyuu. Stay there and don't move."
"Hurry up, Ellie."
Without another word, Elia complied with her Commander and promptly rushed over. She delved further into the woods as quickly as she could, trying to find the source; she knew that Commander was a rather impatient person, but to her dismay, and confusion, there was no-one there.
………….
Elia must've returned with the back-up, Kiriyuu thought, as more footsteps could be heard. Mukuro's voice had completely vanished for the time being. They gained towards her, and she watched them crowd round, though she was slightly puzzled at their appearance for plenty of reasons; Elia was not with them, and they were all wearing the White Spell uniforms. They were not her squad. She took note of the flower emblem sewn on their uniforms; she recognised it as Byakuran's 'special' team. Why were they here? Uh-oh. Kiriyuu had a feeling that this would happen one day. She remembered Kusakabe mentioning about two extra helicopters along with her squadron's helicopters. It must've been them.
One spoke slowly first, and she looked up. "… Tell us where the Guardian of the Mist is."
She froze for a split second.
"We know you have contact with him. Looks like you aren't so careful covering up your tracks as you thought, traitor."
Kiriyuu was now shaking again, as the breath hitched in her throat. But then she slid her eyes to the side, and back to the group. She closed her eyes dryly and let out a small sigh, brushing a bloody hand through her hair. Then she turned back to them expectantly. "…First of all, I don't know where he is. Secondly, he is the one who talks to me. Third, I may be against the Vongola, but that doesn't mean I'm one of you, let along being entitled a traitor within your coalition."
A cold, rough hand was clamped around her neck tightly and she struggled to breathe instantly, but she made no attempt to pry the hand off her windpipe. It was so dark she could not see exactly who he was, but she knew his lips were moving. He was talking to her. He was yelling at her. He was threatening her. "Tell us where Rokudo Mukuro is." She read his lips. He was spewing more threatening warnings or else something would happen to her safety and well-being. Something about a hanging cage, then a head crusher... more ominous subjects about Millefiore torture devices.
She frowned at him. "Screw you, you Millefiore bastards."
More abuse was being thrown at her. She still couldn't hear. She wasn't listening; Mukuro had returned; he hadn't left her at all. I'm going to shut you down. I can't allow you free will anymore, Kiriyuu. I suppose you could call it that we are... simply parting ways. The end of our little conversations from now on.
There was no hint of sadness in Mukuro's voice despite the words he spoke. It was just as sly and smooth as ever, even though his tone still possessed that deep lilt that seemed so frightening to Kiriyuu. No, you can't do that. You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, and I'm just mad, crazy, psychotic.
You think you're insane?
I must be. I hope I am. I'm probably in a straitjacket in some mental asylum hung up by hooks in a padded room with a blindfold over my eyes. And all this time I've been hallucinating your voice talking to me in my mind ever since and I was the one who gave the voice a name - 'Mukuro' - but that doesn't mean anything, and I've been in control all this time. You're not real, and you can't do anything to me of any sort.
Oh, really? Will this convince you that everything, including me, is very much real and in control over you?
She felt the innards of her mind constrict tightly all of a sudden and she winced. Ow, okay, I felt that… and that's never happened before.
The closing pain died down gradually, and his voice could be heard again. It's time, Kiriyuu. I don't want you to submit yourself to insanity. It has to be now, or it'll be too late.
So you're going to shut me down? I'm not a machine. I'm human. I'm bleeding, I'm half-dead; I practically have a hole in my chest thanks to Hibari... And you never held that 'power' over me. I'm not like Chrome. I don't need your illusions to survive. And... you don't need me to survive... Kiriyuu finally understood one thing.
No, Kiriyuu, you don't. The situation between you and Chrome is entirely different. I don't need you to survive, but it is not the same for you unfortunately. I have an indirect control over your entire system. Communicating to you through your mind is just the same as my power to possess one's body, but on an extreme level for your case.
Kiriyuu slumped … Okay. I-I get it…and why are you doing this?
Because. I don't trust you anymore.
She paused again. Mukuro was serious. She couldn't detect a lift of his lips or anything. You never trusted anyone anyway. Fine. Go ahead. Just get it over with. I'm a toy, right? A marionette. I'm not a valued acquaintance of yours unlike the others. You always called people 'toys'. I guess I was one of them all along. And once one of them is broken, you throw it away like garbage. Fine. I'm ready. I want to die.
I'm glad you see it my way.
Even though she still didn't completely comprehend what Mukuro had just explained to her - such as the fact that she did not realise that Mukuro was 'possessing' her in some way. She blinked dully as her vision blurred, defeated once more. Her captor was temporary halted when Kiriyuu coughed out a larger volume of blood all down his fist. She flinched, as blood also began to leak out from her nose, and she looked back at him with a small, triumphant grin as she prepared herself.
"Well? Are you going to tell us or not? What the hell are you waiting for?"
"This." She merely replied. And then her head dropped, her body went completely limp under his grip.
She was gone.
…………...
Elia returned back to the clearing. She actually got lost after she took off running towards the direction where back-up was originally supposed to be, and had to spend at least ten more minutes finding her way back carefully. She was glad to see that Kiriyuu was still lying there on her lonesome, and she plopped back down beside her, slightly weary from her unsuccessful endeavour. She sighed, looked up at the starry sky and smothered at her sweaty forehead.
"Kiriyuu, there was no-one there, we should go back ourselves – " Elia stopped, blinked, then abruptly scrambled back onto her knees beside Kiriyuu. Something was definitely wrong. Something was wrong with Kiriyuu; her eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping, but that was not it. Her mouth was closed, nevertheless there was no gentle heave and lull of her chest as one would have if they were breathing. There was blood on her chin, and a trail streaming down her nose, too. That wasn't there before. Oh no, had she had some kind of fierce, catalytic convulsion just after she had left? She didn't check how stable Kiriyuu's condition was.
"Kiriyuu, what's wrong?" She croaked out unsteadily, her voice barely above a whisper. "Kiriyuu, wake up."
There was no response.
A long pause followed, and Elia sat on her spot with a vacant expression for a few seconds, then let out a quivering hand, as she began to fear the worse, and shook her limp form gently.
"…Kiriyuu…?"
I may have officially ruined this story, so, uh, before you complain/flame/review or whatnot, please kindly read this:
- There was just a tiny bit of TYB to show some contrast of what things were like in the past compared to the future (but there wasn't much point to it, really)
- Okay, I admit it. Having Mukuro show up was probably a cliché/predictable/lame/LMFAO thing. Well, this is an AU story, so I tried to make it interesting (yeah, by complicating things).
- I had to insert some fluff at some point.
- TYL Kiriyuu probably was a bit insane. I hope that answers one question :O