*~* Hidden Fires *~*
Chapter 5: In the Ashes of Humanity . . .
"As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be
driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot
escape."
-John Lancaster Spalding
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kunikida pushed aside the cup of coffee one of
the hospital guards had proffered, instead gesturing
towards the tightly locked morgue doors. "So you saw
the corpse attacking Matsudaira?" he asked again.
He had been awakened from a rather sound sleep, a
sleep helped along by Matsudaira's creative addition
of a medication in his coffee. Still trying to rouse
himself from that chemical-induced sleepiness, he
looked pointedly at Sugishita, waiting for his
response. "I had just come down to bring her some new
data on the corpses when-" He shrugged and spread his
hands. "The bastard was dead- at least, we thought so.
His head had practically been chopped off; I don't
know how in the hell it could have-"
"It's rather simple, Boss." The two men turned to
see a very weary Matsudaira standing in the door of
the hallway. Kunikida half-raised from his seat to
help her; she waved him off and slowly sank into a
chair near him. "Its mitama resurrected it."
"*Mitama*?!" the two men exclaimed at the same
time. Sugishita thumped his paper cup down onto the
table, splashing cold coffee everywhere. "The damn
things are everywhere! Everywhere you look nowadays,
you've got a damn blue seed staring you in the face!"
Kunikida rolled his eyes at his colleague's
histrionics. "There was no evidence of a mitama
reported in the initial autopsy," he said uneasily.
"Where did you find it?"
"I didn't find it- it found me." She scowled at
the floor. "Besides, it's not a blue mitama it
possessed; it was red."
"Red? Like the ones in the hellhounds that
attacked a few months ago?"
She nodded. "The mitama itself wasn't there; it
had been removed- almost surgically. I found the
extensions of where the mitama had rooted itself in
the man's skull. Apparently whoever removed the mitama
overlooked removing the roots, at least in that
particular corpse. The other four show signs of having
had a mitama, but theirs were more completely
removed."
"So the roots of the mitama started to reanimate
the corpse then? When you started to remove them, I
mean."
She nodded slowly, avoiding looking at the men
around her. "So what was it trying to do, anyway?"
Sugishita asked, folding his arms over his chest. "If
it had wanted to kill you, it could have done it a lot
more quickly that what it was doing in the morgue."
Matsudaira took a deep breath and looked up at
Kunikida with frightened, almost tearful eyes. "It . .
. They were the ones who committed the rapes in
Shinjuku," she said quietly.
Kunikida closed his eyes and put a firm, gentle
hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Matsu."
Sugishita was a little slower at getting the
point. "How do you know that they did it, unless . . .
it . . . oh. Holy-" He shook his head and leaned back
against the wall. "This is like some sort of living
nightmare," he grumbled under his breath.
"You're just now noticing that?" Matsudaira shook
her head slowly. "I'm sorry, Sugishita. That was
uncalled for. I just- I'm just a little shaken right
now, that's all."
The older man leaned back in his chair and
steepled his fingers in front of him. "So have you
heard any news on Kusanagi?" he asked, trying to
change the subject.
She let out a sigh, rubbing her temples with one
hand. "I heard from Takeuchi just a few minutes before
I began the autopsy. His fever's risen almost two
degrees in the past few hours." Suddenly she looked
very, very old and weary, as if under a burden too
much to bear. "I don't know what else to do for him.
I've tried everything I could think of; I've asked
colleagues at Tokyo University to help analyze the
data, but they've come up with the same conclusions I
have. Barring the chance of a miracle . . . he
probably won't live out the week."
Kunikida sighed heavily. "How the hell am I going
to break this to Momiji? She's been so determined that
he would pull through, but-"
A sudden blast shook the entire building. Tiles
began to fall from the ceiling; Matsudaira tumbled
from her chair onto the floor. The entire room began
rumbling and rocking almost rhythmically, tossing
pictures and mirrors on the walls to shatter on the
ground. "It's an earthquake!" Sugishita shouted as he
ducked into the doorframe.
Kunikida's cell phone began beeping urgently.
"*Boss!*" Koume's urgent voice crackled over the
phone. "That damn snake Aragami's back! It just
reappeared near Yokohama!"
Yaegashi's quavering voice chimed in. "Apparently
the Aragami is emitting some sort of subsonic waves
that are causing this earthquake! The Self-Defense
Force is out now, but the van that was carrying the
vector weapons just-"
"Gimme the damn phone, Yaegashi, you're taking
too long. Matsu's miracle weapon just got blown up;
we're sitting ducks out here! And it may be starting
to head out towards Tokyo! We've got to-"
The phone suddenly went dead in his hands. He
slapped at the casing angrily, ignoring the fact that
the earthquake has suddenly stopped. "Koume! Yaegashi!
Answer me! Koume!" Kunikida rammed the gadget back in
his pocket and helped Matsudaira to her feet. "Damn.
Sugishita, go try to contact the Takeuchi at the TAC
main office and tell her to get the newest vector
weapons ready! We'll drive by and pick them up on our
way to Yokohama!"
Sugishita looked up at him and motioned with his
cell phone. "I'm not getting an answer on either the
main phones or on Ryouko's cell phone! Nobody's
answering!"
"Boss . . .?" Matsudaira's voice wavered in the
darkness. "We've got another problem here." She tugged
at the main door leading out of the morgue; rubble and
sparking wires tumbled out of the crack to spill into
the room. Beyond the door, metal beams and various
bits of rubble completely blocked the group's only
exit. "We're stuck."
*~*
Lord Susa-no-O was crying, and she didn't know
what to do.
Kaede paced the floor of the cavern, the toddler
god cradled in her arms. He was bawling angrily, his
face red from exertion. The giant mitama on his
forehead had been pulsing with light ever since she
had found Murakumo out in the woods with the same
symptoms the day before. Tears continuously leaked
from his bloodshot eyes; his small hands were balled
up into angry fists. The fact that he also had a good
grip on her hair didn't escape her notice either.
"Lord Susa-no-O, what's wrong?" she asked desperately,
rocking him in her arms. She had tried everything she
could possibly think of, from offering him food to
toys to trying to get him to sleep, but nothing seemed
to work. "Are you in pain? What is it? I don't know
what to do!" She began pacing again, wincing as the
young god began kicking and yanking at her hair.
"Murakumo," she muttered under her breath, "where are
you when I need you?"
The infant god answered her with another angry
cry.
*~*
Murakumo watched bemusedly as his creation
smashed another tank flat with its tail. The cobra he
has transfigured was performing better than his
wildest expectations. Half the TAC team was trapped in
the hospital from the earthquake he had engineered;
the other half was here trying to fight. And with his
minions out collecting the other Kushinada, he had
nothing to bar his way from complete success.
"Soon," he smirked to himself as the snake
incinerated a truck full of soldiers, "soon you'll be
dead, Kusanagi, and with your death comes my triumph."
He ignored both the faint flickering of light from his
mitamas and the tiny pang of regret at the thought of
his opponent's demise. "Farewell, imperfect soul."
With a small laugh of triumph, he flew away from
the scene to await his minions' return.
*~*
November in the rain.
He sat within the boughs of a giant oak tree,
letting the natural canopy shield him from the steady
downpour. His eyes, the only part of him visible in
the darkness, were fixed upon a window of the
sprawling house beneath him. Inside, the silhouette of
a young girl just entering her teens sat at a desk and
flipped through the pages of a well-worn book. As he
watched, she dropped the book and began tapping her
pencil against the desk.
Satisfied that Kaede was doing fine, Kusanagi
settled back into the fork of the tree and wrapped his
arms around his knees. The long-sleeved shirt and
slacks he had taken to wearing helped bar the cold,
but it wasn't quite enough in this type of weather. He
sighed and gingerly touched the ring of fading bruises
that encircled his throat. In the four years that he
had been in contact with him, Akuyou had been using
him to fulfill some sick, perverse need;
lately, now that he was going through the stages of
puberty, Akuyou had been adding in more
sadomasochistic practices to their "games." Just that
morning, when Orochi had sent him to pick up some data
on the Kushinada Project, the man he both loved and
hated with a passion had accosted him-
"There you are, Mamo-kun," the older man breathed
as the young man climbed through the office window.
"Orochi told me you would be coming by to collect the
latest files on the Kushinada."
Kusanagi grunted in reply. "Is something wrong,
Mamoru?" Akuyou asked, stepping closer towards him.
"You're usually quiet, but not *this* quiet. Come on;
tell your old friend what's going on."
He shrugged and leaned against the wall, avoiding
the older man's eyes. "It's nothing," he finally said.
"You can't lie to *me*, Mamoru; I know you too
well. Does this have to do with the latest news from
the Self-Defense Force? I know the SDF has put out a
'shoot to kill' warning for a certain young man who
runs the streets at night." He put a fatherly hand on
his shoulder. "How many did you have to kill this
time? Three? Four?"
The teen sighed and nodded. "Something like
that."
Akuyou motioned him to sit in a nearby chair.
"Don't torture yourself over it, Mamoru. They're just
foolish humans; it's not like they mean anything." He
leaned against the desk next to him, studying him with
hungry eyes. "It's not your fault they had to die.
They shouldn't have attacked you."
"Maybe." He shifted uncomfortably as the older
man patted his thigh. "I just wonder sometimes. What
if we're wrong, Akuyou? What if that jerk Orochi is
wrong about humans? What will happen to us if we're
wrong?"
Akuyou leaned closer and brushed the hair back
from his face. "Such serious thoughts for a boy so
young! We're in the right, Mamoru; you can see that
humanity's destroying everything. It's not just our
homeland here in Japan. The whole world's going to
pot, and it's all the fault of humanity. Don't worry
so much about things," and he tilted the boy's head up
to look at him, "and learn to enjoy life. Soon we'll
be in control and all the troubles of this world will
be gone." He considered the young man in front of him,
then brushed his lips against his. "Enjoy life now,
Mamo-kun. You never know when it will end."
He pulled away and stood up, grimacing. "I- I
need to get those files to that bastard Orochi soon.
If you'll just give them to me, I'll-"
He grabbed his wrist and pulled him back around
to look at him. "You don't have to go just yet,"
Akuyou whispered in his ear, his hands slipping into
the waistband of his slacks. "Stay just a little
longer, Mamo-kun. Just a little longer . . . . I have
something special for you."
Kusanagi jerked away, his eyes wild with a
growing fear as Akuyou began to unbuckle the belt of
his trousers. "I- I have to go now, I-"
"You can stay," the older man said, gently but
firmly pushing him to his knees. "You can stay for me,
now, can't you?"
Trapped by his love for the man he considered a
father figure, he could do nothing but shake his head
miserably. Kusanagi had learned early on to shield his
mind, to drift away when Akuyou would use him. His
mind would wander far away, to a better place, where
he could watch Kaede dance and enjoy her life without
care. He could deal with being fondled, could deal
with being forced to masturbate the older man. He had
even learned to shield himself from the agony of being
raped. During those times, his mind would desperately
cling to the quiet meadows and shimmering oceans,
where the Kushinada would laugh and dance under his
watchful eyes. . . . But this was the one thing he
had never built up a resistance to. "Akuyou, please," he begged
in a trembling voice, "please don't make me do this."
His perversely gentle hands guided his head
downwards. "For me, Mamo-kun. You can do it. Come on
now; it will be all right. Just-"
And he complied with the inevitable. His eyes
stung with tears; he shut his eyes and grimly tried to
ignore the gagging sensation, to forget what he was
being forced to do, but it was of no use. He was
hideously aware of every movement, of Akuyou stroking
his hair and murmuring to him. There was no defense
from it; all he could do was sit and pray for
something, *anything*, to come and save him from the nightmare he
was living.
What seemed like an eternity later, Akuyou
reached his climax; he squeezed the boy's shoulders so
tight that bruises formed. Kusanagi slumped between
the older man's knees, gagging and retching, fighting
to catch his breath. Akuyou held his head tenderly as
he began vomiting into a wastebasket. "My sweet
Mamo-kun," he whispered hoarsely, patting his back as
he coughed and choked. "My sweet boy. . . . "
Kusanagi violently jerked his mind away from the
memory, trembling. He curled up into the fork of the
tree's branches, fighting to stay calm. "Akuyou. . .
."
"Father?"
It was Kaede. He leapt forward to see what was
going on, stretching himself out on the bough with the
precision of a cat. Kunikida, the Kushinada's human
guardian, was slumped against the doorframe, his hat
held loosely in his hands. "Father, what's wrong?"
He sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing his
temples with one hand. "There's been an Aragami
infiltration into the government," he finally said.
"What?" She stared at him, terrified. "Father,
who was it? Is everything all right?"
Kunikida hugged his adopted daughter, his eyes
hard and angry. "It was Akuyou Fushi. The assistant
head of the Ministry of Defense. We caught him
stealing some of Matsudaira's lab samples this
evening."
He grimaced and rested his head against his clasped
hands. "He admitted to being an Aragami sympathizer .
. . then committed suicide."
The young man drew back in horror. "It was
poison. Apparently he had been prepared in case his
activities were discovered. Matsudaira didn't know of
any antidote to it; he died before we could get any
information-"
Kusanagi fell back into the tree's branches,
ignoring the rest of the conversation Akuyou was
dead? His mind reeled from the thought. Akuyou, the
man who had always been there for him? Akuyou, the man
who would comfort him and bandage his wounds after
Orochi would beat him? The man he had considered a father,
who he had trusted with
every small secret his young mind could hold? The man
who had held him, comforted him, patiently talked with
him, explained things that Orochi could never
understand? The man who had raped and molested him for
over four years? Akuyou, the man he hated?
Akuyou, the man that he loved?
He sat among the branches, trying to comprehend
what he had just heard. Akuyou was dead? How could he
be? He had always seemed so strong, like a rock he
could cling to in troubled waters. He stared blankly
into the stormy night, wanting to break down and cry . . .
. . . and realizing that he couldn't. The ache in his
heart was overwhelming; he could feel the sobs trying
to burst from his chest. But the tears that he so
desperately wanted to shed were not there. Orochi had
robbed him of his humanity; Akuyou had taken his
innocence. And now the one thing that tied him to the
human race was gone. They had stolen his tears, his
cries, the last things he held dear, and left him with
nothing but ashes. He wanted to weep, to mourn the
loss of the only person in the world who had ever
cared about him ... and he couldn't do it.
And so Kusanagi sat out in the rain, letting the
water roll over his face, letting the rain do for him
that which he could no longer do.
*~*
Takeuchi growled angrily as one of the Aragami
began to tie her hands and feet together. "You're not
going to get away with this," she snapped, a wicked
twinkle in her eyes.
"And who's going to stop us? You?" He leaned down
right into her face and gave her a grin full of
jagged, rotting teeth. "Lord Murakumo has taken care
of your friends already; now it's just the two of us.
And I might just have me a little fun before I slit
that pretty throat of yours."
Takeuchi grinned at him; the unexpected reaction
took him by surprise. "Dream on," she said as she
kicked out of the ropes. Her foot smashed painfully
into the Aragami's groin; he squealed like a pig as
she ground his testicles up into his stomach. Leaving
him behind to clutch his flattened genitals in agony,
she scooped up her gun from the floor and burst into
the infirmary-
Where two of the Aragami had Momiji pinned
between then, a heavy hand clamped over her mouth so
she couldn't scream. The other two were busily
wrecking the rest of the room; one had Kusanagi's limp
body caught up by the throat. As the women watched, he
threw the young man across the room where he crashed
into the wall with a sickening crunch of bone. Verdant
blood began to weep from his left arm, which was
twisted at an impossible angle.
Before Takeuchi's razor-sharp reflexes could kick
in, Momiji bit the hand that was covering her mouth
and began to scream. "Kusanagi! Leave him alone!
*Kusanagi!!!*"
The Aragami screamed as her mitama began blazing.
Kusanagi began to cry out as his mitamas reacted to
Momiji's light. The entire group stared at him,
transfixed, as the blinding corona raised from the
floor. He began screaming as the light enveloped him,
eerie screams of sheer terror that seemed to radiate
through the barriers of time. "Akuyou! Stop it!!" he
cried out; Momiji began to moan as the light enveloped
them both. One of the Aragami reached out to pull the
Kushinada away and was blasted across the room by the
field of light. "*AKUYOU*!!!!!"
At that moment, a brilliant flash of light
blinded the entire group; when it finally faded,
Momiji was slumped on the floor, deathly pale and
barely breathing. Takeuchi, spots still dancing about
her vision, pulled her gun and aimed it at the Aragami
across the room. "Stop right there!" she shouted, her
finger firmly on the trigger. "Stop or I'll-"
The Aragami she had left writhing on the floor
struck her from behind. "Get the Kushinada and let's
get out of here!" he screeched in a voice three
octaves higher than normal.
The remaining four Aragami quickly scooped up
Momiji's unconscious body and fled out the open
window, dashing away in the night. Takeuchi moaned as
the leader pulled her head up by the hair to look at
him. "I'm gonna go take care of the Kushinada for
good," he growled, "but first I'm gonna make you pay
for kicking me, bitch. I'm gonna make you-"
The Aragami suddenly screamed in pain as
something slashed across his throat. Behind him,
Kusanagi swayed unsteadily, a blood-covered scalpel in
one hand. "Where have they taken Momiji?" he growled
hoarsely.
He began gibbering in fear as Kusanagi slowly
stalked closer towards him, his eyes blazing with
fury. "You- you're supposed to be dead- I"
"Where the hell did they take Momiji?" he
repeated in a dangerously low tone. His mitamas glowed
threateningly. "Talk. Now."
"They- he-" He whimpered as Kusanagi picked up
Takeuchi's gun and held it against his head. "The old
Glico warehouse outside Yokohama. Lord Murakumo told
us to- the ceramic field-"
Kusanagi put the gun against the mitama in the
man's forehead and pulled the trigger. The silencer on
the gun muffled the worst of the noise; the lifeless
body collapsed to the floor in a pool of blood and
grey matter. Takeuchi, who had struggled to her feet,
was there to catch the young man before he collapsed
to his knees. "Kusanagi..?" she asked hesitantly.
The young man opened his pained eyes to glare out
the shattered window, ignoring the woman at his side.
"Murakumo," he hissed under his breath. "I'm not going
to let you have Momiji, you bastard. Even if it kills
me, I'll protect the Kushinada."