Eiri sat on the couch of the living room, staring blankly at the crimson
roses in a vase on the glass table. In her hand, she clutched a
calligraphic card that had been with the flowers. In messy writing, the
words "watashi no koibito ni natte kudasai" were spelled out using
absolutely no kanji. Hanging from the vase was a diamond ring, a gift to
her from her beloved. As she looked around, she noticed that there were
many other roses in the room, and although they were beautiful, they did
not fill the gap that her Adam should be filling on that day of love. She
completely disregarded the fact that he shouldn't be sending gifts to her
on Valentine's Day, and that his day was a month later on White Day; it was
just the principle that he didn't know this and he should be with her on
the day that he considered their love's day.
Depressed, Eiri dropped the card onto the table and stood. She had already changed into casual clothes, consisting of a short leather dress, a bell- sleeved veil-material top, and tights with high boots. Her hair was down, fanning down her back. After a silence moment of standing, she walked to the door and grabbed her long black trenchcoat and flung it on. If Adam wasn't here for Valentine's Day, surely someone would spend it with her...
_______
Eiri eventually found her way to the Mansion, now familiar with the trail from her house to there. The air was a bit brisk, but with her trench coat wrapped around her, she only felt it slightly. Awkwardly, she walked up the steps to the front door. She hadn't called or messaged Kojirou to let him know that she was coming, but she was sure that he wouldn't mind. She knocked lightly.
On the inside, Kojirou was in the verge of sleep, alone as Hime had gone out with Nakita. Being in the verge of sleep was never good when working with fire and metal... his keen senses took care of getting him awake as someone had knocked. As nobody knocked at those doors without a reason, maybe outside there was a cure for his boredom.
He opened the door quickly to find Eiri waiting outside. Without a word, he hugged her right after recognizing her.
Eiri smiled softly at him. "Mind if I come in?"
"Not at all." He nodded towards the inside.
She stepped in the warmth of the building, slipping off her coat and exposing the outfit beneath as she moved further into the entry. She held out the coat to Kojirou, not knowing where she was to put it. She explained herself.
"Adam's not at home, and I didn't want to be alone on Valentine's Day."
"Hm, I see. Glad to know you chose me for the honor."
"Wouldn't give it to anyone else." she murmured, looking around the entry. This was her first time in the Mansion, and what she was seeing amazed her. She looked back into Kojirou's eyes. "Care to show me around?"
"Be my guest. Please leave your shoes and sanity at the door." he answered with a wink. After setting Eiri's coat on a couch, Kojirou took her hand, leading her to the lower levels. She followed blindly.
"Well... the dungeon first, I suppose... then we get to the not so much fun part." he opened large metal doors in his path, walking through dark corridors, until they stopped inside a large, plain room. No chains visible, or spikes, or anything one would expect from a part of the dungeon.
"This is what we call the absolute dark room. There's just light when the doors are open, and mostly groups come here for reasons we never bother to question. We lock the doors and they do whatever they like... though... we had a dead body here... once..." he winced as he remembered it.
"Lovely..." Eiri winced, her voice sarcastic. For a room that appeared so normal, she wondered what could possibly be done besides normal sex... but then she remembered stories that Adam had told her of friends he hand that enjoyed being choked during sex. She failed to ask what the cause of death was before continuing following Kojirou.
"From here on it gets lighter... a bit..." he went upstairs, leaving behind that cursed room. The second level was by no means lighter... at least visually. Chains and blades hung from the corridor ceiling, and blood stained the doors. He stopped to check Eiri's reactions.
Upon seeing the blood and blades, Eiri brushed her wrists lightly with her fingertips then crossed her arms and looked down. She clutched her arms closer and stepped a bit closer to Kojirou before looking up again to look into his eyes.
Kojirou wrapped his arms around her, pulling her face to his left shoulder. "You want us to stop?" he whispered in her ear.
"No, I'm fine, just some... bad memories..." she murmured to him.
He smiled softly. "I have some of my own... guess the trick is turning them into good memories..." he let go of her and took her hands in his own, staring painfully at her wrists.
"So... are there any... non-kinky rooms? Places that Adam and I would feel safe in?" she said, half-grinning at him, and not making a move to take her hands from him.
"Hmmmmmm..." he looked up as if in deep thought process. "...unless you count the kitchen, living room and such, I'm afraid not..." Kojirou answered laughing.
"Ah, and I am quite familiar with the use of the kitchen in such instances..." she said, letting her voice trail off slightly at the end of the phrase, then smiling and laughing a bit.
"I know, I know..." he grinned widely. "But I wouldn't allow you to come here with Adam and not use at least one room of the dungeon."
A third voice joined them, seemingly very angry at something. "I don't think she'll be coming back, Ken. This has gone as far as I can stand it."
"Ken?" whispered Eiri to Kojirou before looking over to the source of the voice.
"You heard that too?" Kojirou looked around, his head starting to ache. He looked around until his eyes met her. She who was supposed to be dead. "Yumi..." he whispered in complete disbelief. "Why are you here? I thought you... no, wait. Eiri, that's Yumi... she lived with me in the orphanage... now you tell me, how can you be here?"
Yumi simply floated towards the pair, passing through them and leaving a slight jolt of electricity in their bodies. Kojirou held Eiri tight, as he was unsure she'd stand that much longer.
"I'm not the Yumi you knew, Ken..."
Kojirou hissed in response. "Well, I'm not the Kenji you knew..."
Eiri leaned closely into Kojirou's grasp and closed her eyes, questions racing through her head.
"Alright... let's go up... then you explain."
"As you say..." Yumi answered in a sibillating voice.
They went up to the living room, Kojirou always keeping Eiri in his arms.
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Start telling me what that ghosting through me and Eiri was."
"Too long a story... Kojirou..." she retorted sarcastically. "Suffice to say I'm deprived of my physical body..."
"How is that possible? ...are you really dead?"
"Am I? I don't know... you could say I am... in short, I realized I had no need for that maculated body. And so I abandoned it."
"Like you abandoned me?" was Kojirou's response between hissing.
Eiri stared blankly at the 'girl,' then looked back at Kojirou. His past was seeming murkier to her than ever, and she was dying to ask him questions. She suddenly broke in. "Kojirou-kun, I'm feeling a bit sick... do you mind making me some tea?" she said to him softly, hoping to get him alone.
"Sure!" he turned to Yumi "You wait here?" his answer was a shrug. He went for the kitchen with Eiri after him.
When they reached the kitchen, Eiri stared at Kojirou. "I have a feeling that you haven't told me something extremely odd about your past..." she said, sitting down.
He looked down to the ground, a mix of guilt and anger in his eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just that it didn't seem important... and I never thought it'd come to haunt me. You want tea, or I just keep talking?"
"I need tea..." she moaned, laying her head on the table and looking up at him. "So... your name's not Kojirou like my name's not Eiri."
"Quite..." he answered as he started getting water to boil. "I was born with the name Aoki Kenji... and stuck with it for a while. As my parent's didn't want me, I was sent into an orphanage... then to some sort of mental institution... when I ran away, I adopted the name Sasaki Kojirou."
"Why adopt a new name? Out of hate for your parents, or just so you are not identified as their child?"
"Mostly the latter... it's not like I hated my parents... I just didn't care."
"What is the story behind Yumi?"
"As for Yumi... I met her in the orphanage. At the time I thought she loved me like I loved her... and I was the child that was abused most often, but she was always there to give me hope and will to survive..." Eiri could see his eyes welling up with tears. "It went on until I fought back... I can't explain... one moment I was about to be raped... the other I had blood covering my whole body, and thrashed meat all around me. That's when they started examining me... I don't know what thy were searching for, but it hurt as if they wanted to rip my soul out of my body."
Eiri stood up and walked over to him, then wrapped her arms around him to comfort him. He hugged Eiri close, gathering the strength to continue the story.
"Well... turns out that I didn't react as they wanted me to... whatever that was. I was sent to some sort of school for gifted kids... it would have been good... but... I was away from her..."
__________
"Single child, lived here all my life. Uh, Japan I mean, not Tokyo." said Yousuke. " I go to college here at Tokyo University, majoring in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. It's interesting sometimes, but it can get kinda tedious." as they walked, he began peering for Eiri or Kojirou up ahead.
"Well... I'm still in school... my brother has done a few papers on... what did he call it.... ah... yeah... cyberpsychology."
Depressed, Eiri dropped the card onto the table and stood. She had already changed into casual clothes, consisting of a short leather dress, a bell- sleeved veil-material top, and tights with high boots. Her hair was down, fanning down her back. After a silence moment of standing, she walked to the door and grabbed her long black trenchcoat and flung it on. If Adam wasn't here for Valentine's Day, surely someone would spend it with her...
_______
Eiri eventually found her way to the Mansion, now familiar with the trail from her house to there. The air was a bit brisk, but with her trench coat wrapped around her, she only felt it slightly. Awkwardly, she walked up the steps to the front door. She hadn't called or messaged Kojirou to let him know that she was coming, but she was sure that he wouldn't mind. She knocked lightly.
On the inside, Kojirou was in the verge of sleep, alone as Hime had gone out with Nakita. Being in the verge of sleep was never good when working with fire and metal... his keen senses took care of getting him awake as someone had knocked. As nobody knocked at those doors without a reason, maybe outside there was a cure for his boredom.
He opened the door quickly to find Eiri waiting outside. Without a word, he hugged her right after recognizing her.
Eiri smiled softly at him. "Mind if I come in?"
"Not at all." He nodded towards the inside.
She stepped in the warmth of the building, slipping off her coat and exposing the outfit beneath as she moved further into the entry. She held out the coat to Kojirou, not knowing where she was to put it. She explained herself.
"Adam's not at home, and I didn't want to be alone on Valentine's Day."
"Hm, I see. Glad to know you chose me for the honor."
"Wouldn't give it to anyone else." she murmured, looking around the entry. This was her first time in the Mansion, and what she was seeing amazed her. She looked back into Kojirou's eyes. "Care to show me around?"
"Be my guest. Please leave your shoes and sanity at the door." he answered with a wink. After setting Eiri's coat on a couch, Kojirou took her hand, leading her to the lower levels. She followed blindly.
"Well... the dungeon first, I suppose... then we get to the not so much fun part." he opened large metal doors in his path, walking through dark corridors, until they stopped inside a large, plain room. No chains visible, or spikes, or anything one would expect from a part of the dungeon.
"This is what we call the absolute dark room. There's just light when the doors are open, and mostly groups come here for reasons we never bother to question. We lock the doors and they do whatever they like... though... we had a dead body here... once..." he winced as he remembered it.
"Lovely..." Eiri winced, her voice sarcastic. For a room that appeared so normal, she wondered what could possibly be done besides normal sex... but then she remembered stories that Adam had told her of friends he hand that enjoyed being choked during sex. She failed to ask what the cause of death was before continuing following Kojirou.
"From here on it gets lighter... a bit..." he went upstairs, leaving behind that cursed room. The second level was by no means lighter... at least visually. Chains and blades hung from the corridor ceiling, and blood stained the doors. He stopped to check Eiri's reactions.
Upon seeing the blood and blades, Eiri brushed her wrists lightly with her fingertips then crossed her arms and looked down. She clutched her arms closer and stepped a bit closer to Kojirou before looking up again to look into his eyes.
Kojirou wrapped his arms around her, pulling her face to his left shoulder. "You want us to stop?" he whispered in her ear.
"No, I'm fine, just some... bad memories..." she murmured to him.
He smiled softly. "I have some of my own... guess the trick is turning them into good memories..." he let go of her and took her hands in his own, staring painfully at her wrists.
"So... are there any... non-kinky rooms? Places that Adam and I would feel safe in?" she said, half-grinning at him, and not making a move to take her hands from him.
"Hmmmmmm..." he looked up as if in deep thought process. "...unless you count the kitchen, living room and such, I'm afraid not..." Kojirou answered laughing.
"Ah, and I am quite familiar with the use of the kitchen in such instances..." she said, letting her voice trail off slightly at the end of the phrase, then smiling and laughing a bit.
"I know, I know..." he grinned widely. "But I wouldn't allow you to come here with Adam and not use at least one room of the dungeon."
A third voice joined them, seemingly very angry at something. "I don't think she'll be coming back, Ken. This has gone as far as I can stand it."
"Ken?" whispered Eiri to Kojirou before looking over to the source of the voice.
"You heard that too?" Kojirou looked around, his head starting to ache. He looked around until his eyes met her. She who was supposed to be dead. "Yumi..." he whispered in complete disbelief. "Why are you here? I thought you... no, wait. Eiri, that's Yumi... she lived with me in the orphanage... now you tell me, how can you be here?"
Yumi simply floated towards the pair, passing through them and leaving a slight jolt of electricity in their bodies. Kojirou held Eiri tight, as he was unsure she'd stand that much longer.
"I'm not the Yumi you knew, Ken..."
Kojirou hissed in response. "Well, I'm not the Kenji you knew..."
Eiri leaned closely into Kojirou's grasp and closed her eyes, questions racing through her head.
"Alright... let's go up... then you explain."
"As you say..." Yumi answered in a sibillating voice.
They went up to the living room, Kojirou always keeping Eiri in his arms.
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Start telling me what that ghosting through me and Eiri was."
"Too long a story... Kojirou..." she retorted sarcastically. "Suffice to say I'm deprived of my physical body..."
"How is that possible? ...are you really dead?"
"Am I? I don't know... you could say I am... in short, I realized I had no need for that maculated body. And so I abandoned it."
"Like you abandoned me?" was Kojirou's response between hissing.
Eiri stared blankly at the 'girl,' then looked back at Kojirou. His past was seeming murkier to her than ever, and she was dying to ask him questions. She suddenly broke in. "Kojirou-kun, I'm feeling a bit sick... do you mind making me some tea?" she said to him softly, hoping to get him alone.
"Sure!" he turned to Yumi "You wait here?" his answer was a shrug. He went for the kitchen with Eiri after him.
When they reached the kitchen, Eiri stared at Kojirou. "I have a feeling that you haven't told me something extremely odd about your past..." she said, sitting down.
He looked down to the ground, a mix of guilt and anger in his eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just that it didn't seem important... and I never thought it'd come to haunt me. You want tea, or I just keep talking?"
"I need tea..." she moaned, laying her head on the table and looking up at him. "So... your name's not Kojirou like my name's not Eiri."
"Quite..." he answered as he started getting water to boil. "I was born with the name Aoki Kenji... and stuck with it for a while. As my parent's didn't want me, I was sent into an orphanage... then to some sort of mental institution... when I ran away, I adopted the name Sasaki Kojirou."
"Why adopt a new name? Out of hate for your parents, or just so you are not identified as their child?"
"Mostly the latter... it's not like I hated my parents... I just didn't care."
"What is the story behind Yumi?"
"As for Yumi... I met her in the orphanage. At the time I thought she loved me like I loved her... and I was the child that was abused most often, but she was always there to give me hope and will to survive..." Eiri could see his eyes welling up with tears. "It went on until I fought back... I can't explain... one moment I was about to be raped... the other I had blood covering my whole body, and thrashed meat all around me. That's when they started examining me... I don't know what thy were searching for, but it hurt as if they wanted to rip my soul out of my body."
Eiri stood up and walked over to him, then wrapped her arms around him to comfort him. He hugged Eiri close, gathering the strength to continue the story.
"Well... turns out that I didn't react as they wanted me to... whatever that was. I was sent to some sort of school for gifted kids... it would have been good... but... I was away from her..."
__________
"Single child, lived here all my life. Uh, Japan I mean, not Tokyo." said Yousuke. " I go to college here at Tokyo University, majoring in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. It's interesting sometimes, but it can get kinda tedious." as they walked, he began peering for Eiri or Kojirou up ahead.
"Well... I'm still in school... my brother has done a few papers on... what did he call it.... ah... yeah... cyberpsychology."