I stand in the shadows, alone. Always alone. The busy streets of Tokyo are filled with people, rushing to their destination, and not giving me a second glance or thought. I smile; it is a gift to be invisible when I do my job. I am waiting for my next victim…

The Sakurazukamori will strike tonight. Soon.

Then I see him, walking into Ueno Park, a solitary pale figure against the dark drape of the night. It has been three months since we last met, although it feels much longer than that. I remember him crying, begging for my love, and for me to stay. It's quite pathetic, really…

I follow him, without making a sound. I am as invisible and silent as ever. I scan the spacious park with my one good eye, and I spot him. He's standing under the sakura tree. Our sakura tree, with its blood red petals. He seems oblivious to this world: probably taking a walk down memory lane. He smiles, but there is not happiness in that smile. Only bitterness. He does not even notice when I move to stand right behind him in order to better observe him. Touched by pain but not corrupted by it. Beautiful, but the beauty does not bring joy. Innocent, yet too mature for his age. Powerful, but powerless against the tides of fate. Hopeless, yet still wishing for what will never be. He really is a wondrous sight.

I take one last drag of my cigarette as I step forward into the light to reveal myself, then I let it drop on to the ground.

"Are the sakura petals not beautiful?"

He jumps in surprise, and flinches when he recognizes my voice. He turned slowly- almost hesitantly- to me, with too many emotions to name on his pale face. Still transparent as ever, I observe absently.

"S- S- Sakurazukamori."

Oh, titles instead of actual names now. I should think he's trying to prove he doesn't care. How cute… and he still stutters whenever I'm involved. Maybe he hasn't changed much.

"Do you still remember the story I told you a long time ago? The tale of this sakura tree?"

"Yes. Of course. I remember everything you ever told me."

I smiled again, and he cringed again. I suppose my one good eye made everything I do seem creepy and unnatural.

He is looking at me with that haunted and empty expression in those beautiful eyes of his. Those innocent eyes that were once so transparent and clear. Now they are clouded, shielded rather, by too much hurt: pain, anger, hopelessness, and most of all the love unrequited.

For he wants something that I cannot – and will not even if I can – give. I am the Sakurazukamori, whose heart is not his to give to whom he wishes.

"Why must you leave us? Leave me? I would rather die by your hands a million times than live without you in my life! You know that all too well. I would do anything, anything at all, for you to come back and kill me. I'm marked, to be yours- "

"No."

I almost laugh. Instead, I satisfy myself with the Sakurazukamori smirk.

"Marked? You dare talk to me about markings? I never marked you, I merely chose you. You are not marked as mine, but merely chosen as a victim of the Sakurazukamori- for the future, right now, it doesn't matter. You are only another innocent soul to be lost someday at my hands. Do you understand? You. Mean. NOTHING."

I can pinpoint exactly the moment when the realization set in. his face contorts in pain, as he struggles to not burst into tears. Young, naïve, and tainted.

"I am… nothing?" I can hear the strain in his voice as he attempts to keep it steady, "I am nothing to you. Someone of no value, not even good enough to be your toy…"

Toy. Yes, the Sakurazukamori has many "toys".

"That's right. You are nothing to me. Go back to your friends; I do not wish to kill you tonight. Soon, though. Soon, I might come looking for you… Best be on your guard, no? Although not as if that will matter. I will strike when I mean to, and none ever has or ever will escape.

Until then, goodbye. Do not come and look for me."

He has stood frozen (as if in a daze) for a few seconds, giving me time to walk away with a rewarding smile to myself. I am a good actor. A feat I genuinely prize myself on.

But then he cried out.

"I do not care if you are the Sakurazukamori! You are still the kind Sumeragi-san I once knew! I still love you!"

He shocked me. Not with the intensity of his words nor the desperation in his voice, but with the absolute sense of déjà vu it brought to me. Had I not screamed out those exact same empty words once? Empty words for an empty shell, where no senses exist, and no will to live still burns. Empty words that are a desperate grasp to try and save the sugar- coated dreams from tumbling down to my feet. Empty words that mean nothing; nothing to my Seishirou-san, and nothing to me.

Just as he means nothing to me. Because the only meaning in life that still exists for me is Seishirou-san.

I stand still for exactly three seconds, to let him think that his words had the effect he hoped to achieve. Then I move into the shadows of the night, swiftly and silently. He must be heartbroken right now. I am sorry, Kamui.

That is the price to pay for falling in love with the Sakurazukamori.

I swiftly make my way to another part of Tokyo. The slums: dirty, deserted, and dangerous, with the highest crime rates. It really would be the perfect place to find my victims, if not for the disgusting conditions it is in. I do not go there unless I want to finish a job quickly.

I work quickly. I do not like taunting and teasing my victims before killing them, because I suppose I still do maintain a thread of the morality I once had. The only feat that Seishirou-san possessed which I had not yet perfected. I must get rid of it sometime; this is becoming a drawback.

I spot a lone young man, wandering the alleys aimlessly. He must think he is really tough, with the leather jacket and the black clothes. He has that sneer on his face, the sneer that clearly states: "I'm above this all. Nothing and no one can touch me."

We will soon see about that.

I tap him on the shoulder, and he spins around. Rather off-balance. I glance swiftly into his eyes. Clouded and unfocused. He must be either drunk or high on drugs. This is too easy. Fate seems to want to be good to me tonight. He grumbles something incoherent, and swings his fist at my face. But in the second before it actually connected with my face, my hand had plunged into his chest and ripped out his heart. Not fast enough for the Sakurazukamori.

A pool of blood is already gathering underneath the corpse. I lift him and begin walking back to Ueno Park. The Tree is waiting for me. The park is empty. Well, of course it would be. It is past midnight already. I drop the body with a thud, and watch as the tree greedily prepares to begin its feast.

I want to see him tonight. My hands are still dripping blood, but I am beyond caring about that. There are more important matters at hand. I take out the pocket knife that I always carry with me. Always with me, no matter what. It is like the drug I take to endure life.

I roll up my sleeves. Layer after layer of clothing. Seishirou-san's black trench coat which I adopted, my sweater, shirt… underneath it all is my pale flesh. Pale, smooth, glistening under the cold moon like porcelain. I raise the blade and hold it under the light. It too shines with an unearthly glow. I run the sharp blade against my arm in one swift motion.

I suddenly feel as if I am falling, deeper and deeper into a pair of warm and waiting arms. I look up, and as expected, Seishirou-san is smiling down at me. My Seishirou-san, as handsome and perfect as ever, even in death.

"I came back, to find you. I need to be with you."

He smiles at me again, and he speaks in a soft voice. "I know, Subaru-kun. I know. I will be waiting for you."

He leans down and kisses me, deep and passionate. I want to hold on and never let go, to just kiss him, to fall into him, to be with him, to fall…

And suddenly it is all over. My moment of consolation and happiness has ended. Dazed, I look down at my arm, and I can see a perfect cut: smooth and thin. The cleansing pain it brings is a rush of adrenaline, a dangerous addiction. I can see the blood flowing out now, deep wine red against my deathly white skin. Someday I might die from doing this, but it does not matter. Nothing matters except for the fact that by doing this I can be with my Seishirou-san, even for a few moments, even if it costs my life. Because my life is not mine anymore.

Sumeragi Subaru has died. In his place there is only the Sakurazukamori, killing for a desperate cause.

That's Part Two: Revelation, from Subaru-kun's point of view. Part Three (Kamui's chapter) will be up next, so be patient!