A/N: Ice-Phoenix; thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the lemon. I enjoyed
typing it myself. . . (hentai!)You are so right; poor Kyo! Of course, I
haven't even BEGIN torturing him properly yet. . .
Hcbenitez: Hmm, I'm not sure myself if anyone else can pet Kyo. . . I'll see if I can try it out! Oh my, when you say you want Kyo to be the husband next, do you mean you want Kyo to be. . . er, on top for once? *cackles* if that's what you meant, I'll be happy to do it! ( ^ o ^ )
M.s Author: Thank you *bows deeply* You're too kind. Yes, with enough torture, perhaps your friends will learn to tolerate it and thus, learn the true joys of reading lemon! Wahahahahaha!
Ruby-Tears & Rinny: Thank you! And the reason for the dreams will be explained soon! (I think). Heh. Believe me when I say there'll be LOADS of Kyo-Torture coming up!
Miss Misery: Hehe, I'm afraid you'll have to provide me with a suitable scene setting for a Soka x Tsu lemon. I'm so focused on Kyo & Taka that I can't get any ideas for the others! I'm still bashing around some ideas for some hints of lemon between Tats x Watari. . . .
Asasoka: yes, I totally agree with you. Lemon makes a very good diet diet supplement. In fact, I noticed that when I put the word "Lemon" in my summary, I'm suddenly getting tons of new readers for my fic. . . . I wonder why. . . .
Warning: Muraki in Da House! (but not in the way you'd imagine!)
Pairings: As usual
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. The song is still The Calling's "Could It Be Any Harder".
CHAPTER 12: An Eye For An Eye
________________________________________________________________________
Taka was having the most lovely dream. He and Kyo were having a picnic in Josui Park, under their favourite tree. The day was one of those with a sky so perfectly blue, it was like the sea, flowing on and on with no end in sight. There were kids running around, throwing Frisbees and flying various colored kites, floating in the clear air like giant, majestic eagles.
Kyo was dozing, his head in Taka's lap and he was just leaning back against the tree, enjoying the feeling of having his love near and the joy of a wonderfully perfect day. Until suddenly, he found himself on the ground and he realized that a huge cat, the size of a tiger, was sitting on his stomach and saying to him that he should really wake up now, or would he like to have ice-cold water thrown in his face?
He really wanted Kyo back and what the hell was a giant cat doing sitting on his stomach? He tried to move and the realization that something heavy WAS straddling him, brought him back to awareness. He blinked his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light, when he noticed that a pair of the palest blue eyes was just inches from his face.
"O-Ha-Yo!"
He groaned. "Kyo. What the hell are you doing?"
"Waking you up, that's what," the boy announced, eyes rolling. "C'mon, I got breakfast on the table already!"
His hand fumbled out for the alarm clock on the bedside table and he brought it close to his face, squinting as his sleep-fuzzy vision tried to read the glowing red numbers. "Kyo, it's only 7.30. And why are you all dressed anyway?"
True enough, Kyo already had on his work clothes, a beige colored shirt and black slacks. From the fragrance he could smell, the boy had even washed his hair that morning.
Kyo shrugged carelessly. "It's called waking up early. You should try it sometimes. It's therapeutic."
Taka frowned. Kyo usually woke up when he did, and that was around 8.00. Now it was only 7.30 and he was dressed and had breakfast on the table already? "Why? Couldn't you sleep last night?"
"What on earth is so wrong about waking up early?" Kyo raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, I even got pancakes. They're gonna get cold if you don't get up soon," he threatened.
Taka was about to drill him again when Kyo gave an impish grin and swooped down, giving him a rather serious kiss. Of course, after that, he completely forgot that Kyo never did answer his question.
________________________________________________________________________
The week passed by uneventfully enough. There were four cases already so far, but all of them were of the usual earthbound spirit type with no hint at all of Akuma. That made Kyo perfectly happy. He and Taka were on Chijou that day, finishing up a case and were now walking along, hand in hand, just wandering aimlessly for a while, enjoying the crisp autumn air. They cheerfully ignored the looks they were receiving from passerbyes and the odd catcalls.
Their latest case had been fairly easy. Though it had required banishing a particularly nasty yuurei*, he and Taka didn't have to resort to using their own magic for any of the cases so far. Simple spells requiring the use of their ofudas had been enough. Kyo had found out earlier that Taka's own power was like Tsuzuki's. He didn't really specialize in a certain type of ability, like Hisoka or Kyo but he had another source of power to tap into when performing magic besides using ofudas.
Maybe Taka could help him blast Akuma to smithereens then, if they ever met, Kyo mused. Not that he was hoping for it. If, should Akuma repeat what he did to Kyo, like he did at that time at the alley, he was 100% sure that regardless of difference in firepower, Taka would literally strangle Akuma with his barehands.
Speaking of the alley, Kyo realized that they were coming up to it. Somehow, their aimless walk had taken them directly to it. He was about to point it out to Taka when a faint sound reached his ears.
"Did you hear that?" Kyo asked Taka, frowning. He stopped and stared intently into the darkness shrouding the alleyway. He couldn't see a thing.
"Hear what?" The older man also stopped and stared into the alley.
"There! It sounds like a kid crying. Can you hear it?"
Taka nodded, his face showing his concern. "Do you think somebody's hurt?" He was about to step into the alley to check when Kyo held him back, shaking his head. He raised his eyebrows questioningly when Kyo took out his ofudas.
"This was the same alley where we were attacked by Akuma," he explained.
Nodding his head in understanding, Taka took out his ofudas too and they both advanced into the dark alley cautiously, ears and eyes straining to make out what lay beyond. They were just beyond the mouth of the alley when they heard the crying again, from their right.
They spun around quickly, bringing their ofudas up. But there was nothing there waiting to attack them. Instead, there was a man huddling on the ground, pressed against the damp alley wall, hugging himself. It was that man that was crying. Squinting closer, they could make out that he was wearing a very dirty, stained yukata, which was once white in color it seemed, but was now stained with dirt, mud and something red. . .
Taka took a step closer and let out a soft exclamation when he realized that the red stains were blood. The smell in the air proved it. He hurried closer but the man quickly scuttled away from his outstretched hand, still huddling and crying. The man was obviously terrified. The sobs were bad enough, heartbroken and tearing, but it was even more terrible to hear coming from a grown man.
Taka crouched down on the ground and held out his hands, trying to show that he meant no harm and crooned, "It's okay, we won't hurt you. Are you hurt? I can help you if you want. It's okay, shh, it's okay."
Taka continued to croon softly to the man and waited patiently, trying to gain the frightened man's trust. Kyo kept back however. Judging from his actions, Kyo was sure that should another person came close, it would only scare the poor guy away. Looking at him, Kyo was sure that he was seriously hurt. The blood stains were all over his yukata.
Hesitant at first, but with more confidence as Taka continued his gentle crooning, the man sidled closer, step by step. He flinched back though, when Taka tried to get closer. He was still hiding himself in the shadows, refusing to come out. He spoke up then, his voice as wretched as his crying. He sounded as if he had screamed himself raw.
"Are you going to kill me?" the man asked, a pathetic whimper in his voice.
Taka reared back slightly in shock. "No!" he exclaimed and repeated it again softly as the man flinched again at his raised voice, "No, I won't kill you. I won't even hurt you. I just want to help you. Will you let me? Please?"
The man seemed to consider that, his body twitching and his breath coming in hitches as his crying subsided. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he crept closer, into the light. "You promise you won't kill me?"
"I promise," Taka said gently. "C'mon, it's okay. You must be cold, wearing that. I'll take you where you can be warm. You'd like that right?"
The man nodded eagerly and finally went into the light, coming closer to Taka. At his appearance, Taka drew in a breath sharply in shock. He looked even more terrible than he first thought. The man had a wild, haunted look in his eyes and there were bruises and scabs all over his arms which the sleeve of the yukata exposed. He dreaded at the thought of how the rest of the man's body would look like underneath the robe.
But if Taka was surprised at the man's appearance, Kyo was simply bowled over in stunned amazement. His mouth gaped open as he finally saw the man's face and he let out a gasp.
"Muraki!"
________________________________________________________________________
Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, Hisoka and Kyo were sitting in Oriya's private sitting room. Cups of hot tea, left there by the serving girl was largely ignored as they quietly discussed what happened. The minute Kyo realized it was Muraki, they had brought the man to Oriya's place, Kyo having been shown where it was by Hisoka when they had been in Kyoto together for a case.
After Oriya had gotten over the shock of seeing his friend hurt and broken, he and Taka gently brought the still crying man to a private room, Muraki refusing to let go of Taka. Any ideas of bringing him to the hospital earlier had been quickly dismissed as the frightened man tended to go into hysterics when they encountered large crowds. In the end, Taka and Kyo had been forced to teleport him to the KoKakuRou instead. Muraki seemed to still recognize Oriya though and had let the man approach him. As Taka and Oriya tended to Muraki, Kyo had called up the office and a minute later, the other three Shinigamis had joined him.
To say that the three were shocked at this latest turn of event was an understatement. Kyo had shown them the room where Muraki was being looked after and at the sight of the three Shinigamis, Muraki had started wailing and screaming, trying to escape and it had required Oriya and Taka both to subdue him and Taka was finally forced to give him a sedative from Muraki's own medical bag.
After that, Kyo, Tatsumi, Tsuzuki and Hisoka had retired to the sitting room, to wait for Taka and Oriya to finish. Tsuzuki and Hisoka were the hardest hit with what happened and Kyo couldn't blame them. The man that was responsible for cursing and finally killing Hisoka, on top of torturing him again even when the boy was a Shinigami, and had kidnapped and done God knows what to Tsuzuki, was now also a victim of a cruel fate it had seemed. The two sat a little ways apart, lost in their own contemplations, Tsuzuki hugging Hisoka close.
"So you just found him like that, Kyo? There was no sign of Akuma anywhere?" Tatsumi asked. Though the secretary was his usual taciturn self, his face was pale and his hands shook slightly. It was a little over a year ago that he last saw Muraki and the sensei then had been a charismatic man, full of confidence and sure of his power. Now, the sensei was like a broken toy. A toy that had been abused and now thrown away, useless to its owner.
"No, there was no residual magic, no sign of Akuma at all. It was almost by accident that we found him. . ." Kyo's voice trailed off, eyes looking into the distance.
"You don't believe that, do you?" the way Tatsumi said it, it was more of a statement than a question.
Kyo nodded. "Aa. It's too much of a coincidence that we 'just' found him. It was more like he was put there. So that we *would* find him."
"So you don't think he somehow managed to escape from Akuma?"
"You wouldn't think that if you were there when we found him. He was too terrified to do much of anything, let alone try an escape. In fact," Kyo winced, "he made Taka promise that he wasn't going to kill him."
After that, they had sat in silence. They didn't know what to say. It was an hour later before Taka joined them in the sitting room. His shirt was spotted with blood and dirt and he looked worn and tired. He sat down beside Kyo and hugged the boy, burying his face in the fragrance of Kyo's hair. After a while, he let go and gave a shaky smile to the rest.
"Sorry. I needed that."
Kyo quietly poured him a cup of hot tea and Taka nodded his thanks, drinking the soothing liquid gratefully. Finished, he put down his cup and sighed.
"What can you tell us Taka? How's Muraki?" Tatsumi asked, hands clenched together on the table.
Taka covered his face with his hands and sighed noisily. "Sometimes I hate being a doctor," he muttered to himself and raised his head to look at them. "This Akuma, is a bastard."
"Tell us something we don't know," Kyo murmured.
"To put it simply, Muraki had been tortured until he was nearly mad," Taka said, his voice flat. "Whoever this Akuma is, he's a master at it. He never went so far as to risk killing Muraki but I'm pretty sure that Muraki must have wished that he would die dozens of time."
"He deserves it," Hisoka said quietly, fists clenched, face pale and staring down at the floor hard. "He deserved it. After all that he's done, all the people he killed and tortured, after what he did to us, he deserved it!"
They were quiet for a moment after his outburst and Hisoka continued to stare down, not looking at them, until Taka broke the silence, saying, "Do you really believe that?" his voice mild.
"Yes!" his face snapped up and with eyes blazing, he glared at Taka. "You don't know what I've been through, what Tsuzuki has been through, all thanks to that man that you so tirelessly helped! He doesn't deserve your help and care!"
Taka's mouth was a pinched line and his eyes hardened. Kyo knew without a doubt that he was angry now.
"No, I don't know what you and Tsuzuki have been through, with Muraki, nor am I going to pretend that I understand," he said quietly but his eyes were hard with anger. "But that doesn't mean that he does not deserve my help or my caring. I was, I *am* a doctor and I'm bound by my oath to help those who need it. And," he held out a hand to forestall Hisoka who looked ready to interrupt, "I am fully aware that the same oath held no compulsion to Muraki but as a human being, I feel pity for the man. After what he's been put through, you can't help BUT pity the man. I'm not even sure if he'll fully recover his mind after this."
"I don't WANT to pity the man!" the boy burst out, his face furious.
"Then you're no better than Muraki was."
Hisoka looked as though he had been given a slap. His eyes were wide with shock and his lips trembled. Beside him, Tsuzuki was pale, with anger or with sadness, Kyo didn't know, but there was a haunted look in his eyes as Hisoka started crying and he held the boy close, murmuring gently into his ear.
They let the boy cry, giving him the chance to let his feelings run their course. Whether or not the others agree with Taka, they did not say. Each kept their silence.
"There's something you should know though," Taka spoke up, when Hisoka had stopped crying. He gave a glance at Kyo, his face unreadable. Kyo didn't know why, but he felt the cold fist of fear around his heart.
"What is it?" Hisoka asked, his voice slightly hoarse from crying, but his face was set and determined though, as he looked at Taka.
Taka smiled gently back but it was lost a moment later as he withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket. "I found this on Muraki when I was cleaning his wounds," he said and he passed the paper to Tatsumi.
Tatsumi took the proffered paper and opened it, reading quietly to himself first. His face, if it was possible, turned even paler. Kyo knew then without a doubt what was written on it. Judging from the worried looks on Tsuzuki and Hisoka's face, they seemed to realize what it meant too. Taka was refusing to look at Kyo. He sat stiffly and was staring outside the window, a hard look on his face.
"It's another letter from Akuma," Tatsumi announced into the too-quiet room. "It's for Kyo."
Surprise, surprise, Kyo thought wryly to himself. He had tensed though and he found his hand being gently squeezed by Taka. He squeezed back reassuringly.
"It says;
My dear Kyo, do you like my gift? You had shown some concern for Kazutaka and I felt impelled to put your mind at rest concerning him. I told you that I didn't kill him, remember? I'm not usually this generous but you have made quite an impact on me, it seems. In fact, I'm simply anxious to see you again. More anxious than you could possibly know.
By the way, are you enjoying the game so far? I know I am."
Another one of those heavy silences lay across the room when Tatsumi finished reading the letter. Even the air outside didn't seem to move. It was as if the whole world was waiting. Waiting for something.
"So it's another game then," Kyo said. He was afraid and he clung to Taka's hand as if it was his anchor, keeping him from becoming lost, lost in the chaos of his fear.
"So it seems," Tatsumi answered. "But this time, what's the game?"
________________________________________________________________________
It was late in the evening before they finally left the restaurant. Tatsumi had gone back to JuuOhCho earlier, to report what happened to Kacho, but Taka, Kyo, Hisoka and Tsuzuki had opted to walk for a bit, wanting to clear their heads. When they left, Muraki was still asleep, carefully watched over by Oriya. The man had thanked them then, for bringing back his friend. He looked as though he had been crying.
They walked slowly, quietly, enjoying the cool evening air. Kyo huddled closer in his jacket and Taka slung an arm across his shoulder, pulling him in close. It felt nice to just walk like this; not saying anything, just letting the wind carry their cares away, even if only momentarily.
They were in the older section of Kyoto, passing by an ancient cemetery, when they were attacked.
The attack came without warning. It had been quiet first, the wind having dropped down, but all of a sudden, a mad howling and screeching that sounded like no wind on earth suddenly rose up from the ground and looking up in surprise, they saw a veritable wall of yuurei bearing down on them.
In a heartbeat, a glowing kekkai closed over them as the four released their spells simultaneously.
"What's going on?" Tsuzuki shouted. "I thought there were no stray yuurei in this part!"
The scene outside the kekkai was like something from hell. The ghosts were beating on the barrier, empty sockets burning with hunger as a multitude of wailing issued from their gaping maws. They were completely surrounded. Each facet of the kekkai had dozens of the spirits clinging to it, trying to break through. Teleporting was not an option, they couldn't do that from inside a barrier and even if they could, they wouldn't. Left without a target, the restless spirits would hunt down the people living nearby. It would become a disaster.
"Can you banish them Tsuzuki?" Kyo shouted back. It was like being in the middle of a cyclone. The screeching and howling of the spirits filled every corner and it grated in their ears. Even if they can't break through, the sound alone was enough to drive them mad. The madness and hunger evident in it was enough to make Hisoka buckle, but he held on, his face pale.
Tsuzuki shook his head. "Not inside the barrier, I can't. I need to do it from the outside and I need you guys to help me! There's too many of them!"
"You can't do that! They'll eat you alive!" Taka was holding on to his part of the kekkai and the strain was showing on him, on all of them.
"But we can't keep this up any longer!"
A thought crossed Kyo's mind then. It would be hard, but it might save them. "If I could trap the spirits, can the three of you banish them?"
Tsuzuki thought about it and nodded, reluctantly. "But how can you do it? They're too many for us to bind them separately!"
"I got an idea! But one of you has to hold up my part of the barrier for me while I do it!"
Tsuzuki nodded again and when he had firm hold on Kyo's part, Kyo let go of his ofuda and sank to the ground, eyes closed and palms pressed into the ground. But earth alone would not be enough to bind such a large group of spirits. For this, he needed to use all of the elements combined.
He concentrated, trying to ignore the wailing and he let his mind drift, feeling his consciousness melt and fade into the surroundings. Soon, the wailing and screeching disappeared and he saw and heard nothing but his own power, thrumming in and around him.
Centered, he chanted the spell of containment.
"By flesh and by earth, I call you back!"
Outside the kekkai, the other three could see the spirits suddenly torn apart as a wall of earth shot out from the ground and like a wave, raced and flowed into the shape of a pentagram, boiling and churning as if it was alive.
"By blood and by water, I call you back!"
Rain suddenly fell, only to coalesce into a roaring wall as it joined the spell, forming a circle around the earth-formed pentagram.
"By breath and by air, I call you back!"
A howling wind, louder even, than the howling of the spirits, shrieked across the barrier, forming a second circle around the circle of water.
"By life and by fire, I call you back!"
From out of nowhere, fire sprung up, forming a twisting cyclone of inferno and as if an invisible hand directed it, it split into smaller strands and formed words of power within the circles.
It was an awesome sight as the spell blazed into completion. The whole construct glowed with power and with a flash of light, the spirits were sucked into the vortex created by the joined elements. They writhed and twisted to no avail. They were trapped within the confines of the spell and wailed louder in anger and thwarted hunger.
It was all over in a matter of minutes. Dropping down the barrier, the other three Shinigami quickly chanted the spell needed to banish the spirits and with a last wail, they disappeared in wisps of smoke.
Blessed silence filled the air then and with a final burst of light, the construct collapsed. Kyo gave a sigh of relief. It was not often that he had to use all four of the elements together and it showed. He tried to stand but found that his legs were trembling too much with fatigue to do so. Before he could collapse though, Taka was by his side, holding him up. Kyo gave a grateful smile.
"Are you okay?" Taka asked, concern and worry written all over his face.
"I'm okay," Kyo smiled reassuringly. "Just a bit tired." Sure enough, the trembling had subsided and he only needed to lean slightly on the sensei for support.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka joined them, frowns marring their faces. "Three guesses from where that attack came from," Tsuzuki asked sourly.
"Akuma," the three Shinigami chorused.
"I'm getting really sick of his games. What's the purpose this time?" Hisoka demanded.
Kyo, Taka and Tsuzuki looked at each other and shrugged. They had no clue as to what purpose the attack served, other than the obvious one of giving them hell, for a start. Knowing what little they know of the madman called Akuma though, they could expect something else from him, now that his latest attack failed.
"Well, crazy magician or no, it's not doing us any good standing around here like this," Taka said finally. "We're just inviting another attack if we stay here. As your doctor, I command everyone to go back to the office now and drink plenty of hot tea."
And a heartbeat later, they disappeared.
________________________________________________________________________
The dreams were becoming more frequent now. Ever since the attack on them in Kyoto with the yuurei, the dreams were coming every night.
Like the first dream he had, he was taken through a ride of his life, the scenes flashing past him. Sometimes the dream would linger over a certain memory, other times, completely ignored.
But always, always, without fail, he was taken to that night when he was 10. And always, he would see again, running side by side, the scene of his death played over and over.
/Taka! Taka where are you?/
/Mommy, I'm scared/
/Get out of here Kyo! Leave me!/
/Shh, honey, it's okay. Everything will be alright. Don't worry/
/I hate you/
And always, always, he would wake up with a gasp, sweat running down his body and eyes staring wide into the dark. Afterwards, he could never fall asleep again so he would just lie there in bed, listening to Taka's steady breathing, waiting for dawn to come.
At least, when he was awake, he could escape the dreams.
________________________________________________________________________
{I lie down and blind myself with laughter
A quick fix of hope is what I'm needing
And now I wish that I could turn back the hours
But I know I just don't have the power. . . }
________________________________________________________________________
~to be continued~
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: So how was it? For those who previously enjoyed Muraki being evil, gomen! But it's a nice change, don't you think, that for once, it's not Muraki giving them hell? You have to wonder just what kind of man could do such a thing to Muraki in the first place. . . I'm wondering about it myself! This Akuma guy is turning out to be quite a villain. . . . Anyway, enjoy the Kyo-Torture coming up soon! As always, Review please! It makes the ideas flow faster! Honestly! Ja ne!
P.S: *Yuurei=ghost
P.S. 2: I took the liberty of using plain language in Kyo's incantation as in the anime, Tsuzuki does it too when summoning his Shikigamis.
Hcbenitez: Hmm, I'm not sure myself if anyone else can pet Kyo. . . I'll see if I can try it out! Oh my, when you say you want Kyo to be the husband next, do you mean you want Kyo to be. . . er, on top for once? *cackles* if that's what you meant, I'll be happy to do it! ( ^ o ^ )
M.s Author: Thank you *bows deeply* You're too kind. Yes, with enough torture, perhaps your friends will learn to tolerate it and thus, learn the true joys of reading lemon! Wahahahahaha!
Ruby-Tears & Rinny: Thank you! And the reason for the dreams will be explained soon! (I think). Heh. Believe me when I say there'll be LOADS of Kyo-Torture coming up!
Miss Misery: Hehe, I'm afraid you'll have to provide me with a suitable scene setting for a Soka x Tsu lemon. I'm so focused on Kyo & Taka that I can't get any ideas for the others! I'm still bashing around some ideas for some hints of lemon between Tats x Watari. . . .
Asasoka: yes, I totally agree with you. Lemon makes a very good diet diet supplement. In fact, I noticed that when I put the word "Lemon" in my summary, I'm suddenly getting tons of new readers for my fic. . . . I wonder why. . . .
Warning: Muraki in Da House! (but not in the way you'd imagine!)
Pairings: As usual
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. The song is still The Calling's "Could It Be Any Harder".
CHAPTER 12: An Eye For An Eye
________________________________________________________________________
Taka was having the most lovely dream. He and Kyo were having a picnic in Josui Park, under their favourite tree. The day was one of those with a sky so perfectly blue, it was like the sea, flowing on and on with no end in sight. There were kids running around, throwing Frisbees and flying various colored kites, floating in the clear air like giant, majestic eagles.
Kyo was dozing, his head in Taka's lap and he was just leaning back against the tree, enjoying the feeling of having his love near and the joy of a wonderfully perfect day. Until suddenly, he found himself on the ground and he realized that a huge cat, the size of a tiger, was sitting on his stomach and saying to him that he should really wake up now, or would he like to have ice-cold water thrown in his face?
He really wanted Kyo back and what the hell was a giant cat doing sitting on his stomach? He tried to move and the realization that something heavy WAS straddling him, brought him back to awareness. He blinked his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light, when he noticed that a pair of the palest blue eyes was just inches from his face.
"O-Ha-Yo!"
He groaned. "Kyo. What the hell are you doing?"
"Waking you up, that's what," the boy announced, eyes rolling. "C'mon, I got breakfast on the table already!"
His hand fumbled out for the alarm clock on the bedside table and he brought it close to his face, squinting as his sleep-fuzzy vision tried to read the glowing red numbers. "Kyo, it's only 7.30. And why are you all dressed anyway?"
True enough, Kyo already had on his work clothes, a beige colored shirt and black slacks. From the fragrance he could smell, the boy had even washed his hair that morning.
Kyo shrugged carelessly. "It's called waking up early. You should try it sometimes. It's therapeutic."
Taka frowned. Kyo usually woke up when he did, and that was around 8.00. Now it was only 7.30 and he was dressed and had breakfast on the table already? "Why? Couldn't you sleep last night?"
"What on earth is so wrong about waking up early?" Kyo raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, I even got pancakes. They're gonna get cold if you don't get up soon," he threatened.
Taka was about to drill him again when Kyo gave an impish grin and swooped down, giving him a rather serious kiss. Of course, after that, he completely forgot that Kyo never did answer his question.
________________________________________________________________________
The week passed by uneventfully enough. There were four cases already so far, but all of them were of the usual earthbound spirit type with no hint at all of Akuma. That made Kyo perfectly happy. He and Taka were on Chijou that day, finishing up a case and were now walking along, hand in hand, just wandering aimlessly for a while, enjoying the crisp autumn air. They cheerfully ignored the looks they were receiving from passerbyes and the odd catcalls.
Their latest case had been fairly easy. Though it had required banishing a particularly nasty yuurei*, he and Taka didn't have to resort to using their own magic for any of the cases so far. Simple spells requiring the use of their ofudas had been enough. Kyo had found out earlier that Taka's own power was like Tsuzuki's. He didn't really specialize in a certain type of ability, like Hisoka or Kyo but he had another source of power to tap into when performing magic besides using ofudas.
Maybe Taka could help him blast Akuma to smithereens then, if they ever met, Kyo mused. Not that he was hoping for it. If, should Akuma repeat what he did to Kyo, like he did at that time at the alley, he was 100% sure that regardless of difference in firepower, Taka would literally strangle Akuma with his barehands.
Speaking of the alley, Kyo realized that they were coming up to it. Somehow, their aimless walk had taken them directly to it. He was about to point it out to Taka when a faint sound reached his ears.
"Did you hear that?" Kyo asked Taka, frowning. He stopped and stared intently into the darkness shrouding the alleyway. He couldn't see a thing.
"Hear what?" The older man also stopped and stared into the alley.
"There! It sounds like a kid crying. Can you hear it?"
Taka nodded, his face showing his concern. "Do you think somebody's hurt?" He was about to step into the alley to check when Kyo held him back, shaking his head. He raised his eyebrows questioningly when Kyo took out his ofudas.
"This was the same alley where we were attacked by Akuma," he explained.
Nodding his head in understanding, Taka took out his ofudas too and they both advanced into the dark alley cautiously, ears and eyes straining to make out what lay beyond. They were just beyond the mouth of the alley when they heard the crying again, from their right.
They spun around quickly, bringing their ofudas up. But there was nothing there waiting to attack them. Instead, there was a man huddling on the ground, pressed against the damp alley wall, hugging himself. It was that man that was crying. Squinting closer, they could make out that he was wearing a very dirty, stained yukata, which was once white in color it seemed, but was now stained with dirt, mud and something red. . .
Taka took a step closer and let out a soft exclamation when he realized that the red stains were blood. The smell in the air proved it. He hurried closer but the man quickly scuttled away from his outstretched hand, still huddling and crying. The man was obviously terrified. The sobs were bad enough, heartbroken and tearing, but it was even more terrible to hear coming from a grown man.
Taka crouched down on the ground and held out his hands, trying to show that he meant no harm and crooned, "It's okay, we won't hurt you. Are you hurt? I can help you if you want. It's okay, shh, it's okay."
Taka continued to croon softly to the man and waited patiently, trying to gain the frightened man's trust. Kyo kept back however. Judging from his actions, Kyo was sure that should another person came close, it would only scare the poor guy away. Looking at him, Kyo was sure that he was seriously hurt. The blood stains were all over his yukata.
Hesitant at first, but with more confidence as Taka continued his gentle crooning, the man sidled closer, step by step. He flinched back though, when Taka tried to get closer. He was still hiding himself in the shadows, refusing to come out. He spoke up then, his voice as wretched as his crying. He sounded as if he had screamed himself raw.
"Are you going to kill me?" the man asked, a pathetic whimper in his voice.
Taka reared back slightly in shock. "No!" he exclaimed and repeated it again softly as the man flinched again at his raised voice, "No, I won't kill you. I won't even hurt you. I just want to help you. Will you let me? Please?"
The man seemed to consider that, his body twitching and his breath coming in hitches as his crying subsided. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he crept closer, into the light. "You promise you won't kill me?"
"I promise," Taka said gently. "C'mon, it's okay. You must be cold, wearing that. I'll take you where you can be warm. You'd like that right?"
The man nodded eagerly and finally went into the light, coming closer to Taka. At his appearance, Taka drew in a breath sharply in shock. He looked even more terrible than he first thought. The man had a wild, haunted look in his eyes and there were bruises and scabs all over his arms which the sleeve of the yukata exposed. He dreaded at the thought of how the rest of the man's body would look like underneath the robe.
But if Taka was surprised at the man's appearance, Kyo was simply bowled over in stunned amazement. His mouth gaped open as he finally saw the man's face and he let out a gasp.
"Muraki!"
________________________________________________________________________
Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, Hisoka and Kyo were sitting in Oriya's private sitting room. Cups of hot tea, left there by the serving girl was largely ignored as they quietly discussed what happened. The minute Kyo realized it was Muraki, they had brought the man to Oriya's place, Kyo having been shown where it was by Hisoka when they had been in Kyoto together for a case.
After Oriya had gotten over the shock of seeing his friend hurt and broken, he and Taka gently brought the still crying man to a private room, Muraki refusing to let go of Taka. Any ideas of bringing him to the hospital earlier had been quickly dismissed as the frightened man tended to go into hysterics when they encountered large crowds. In the end, Taka and Kyo had been forced to teleport him to the KoKakuRou instead. Muraki seemed to still recognize Oriya though and had let the man approach him. As Taka and Oriya tended to Muraki, Kyo had called up the office and a minute later, the other three Shinigamis had joined him.
To say that the three were shocked at this latest turn of event was an understatement. Kyo had shown them the room where Muraki was being looked after and at the sight of the three Shinigamis, Muraki had started wailing and screaming, trying to escape and it had required Oriya and Taka both to subdue him and Taka was finally forced to give him a sedative from Muraki's own medical bag.
After that, Kyo, Tatsumi, Tsuzuki and Hisoka had retired to the sitting room, to wait for Taka and Oriya to finish. Tsuzuki and Hisoka were the hardest hit with what happened and Kyo couldn't blame them. The man that was responsible for cursing and finally killing Hisoka, on top of torturing him again even when the boy was a Shinigami, and had kidnapped and done God knows what to Tsuzuki, was now also a victim of a cruel fate it had seemed. The two sat a little ways apart, lost in their own contemplations, Tsuzuki hugging Hisoka close.
"So you just found him like that, Kyo? There was no sign of Akuma anywhere?" Tatsumi asked. Though the secretary was his usual taciturn self, his face was pale and his hands shook slightly. It was a little over a year ago that he last saw Muraki and the sensei then had been a charismatic man, full of confidence and sure of his power. Now, the sensei was like a broken toy. A toy that had been abused and now thrown away, useless to its owner.
"No, there was no residual magic, no sign of Akuma at all. It was almost by accident that we found him. . ." Kyo's voice trailed off, eyes looking into the distance.
"You don't believe that, do you?" the way Tatsumi said it, it was more of a statement than a question.
Kyo nodded. "Aa. It's too much of a coincidence that we 'just' found him. It was more like he was put there. So that we *would* find him."
"So you don't think he somehow managed to escape from Akuma?"
"You wouldn't think that if you were there when we found him. He was too terrified to do much of anything, let alone try an escape. In fact," Kyo winced, "he made Taka promise that he wasn't going to kill him."
After that, they had sat in silence. They didn't know what to say. It was an hour later before Taka joined them in the sitting room. His shirt was spotted with blood and dirt and he looked worn and tired. He sat down beside Kyo and hugged the boy, burying his face in the fragrance of Kyo's hair. After a while, he let go and gave a shaky smile to the rest.
"Sorry. I needed that."
Kyo quietly poured him a cup of hot tea and Taka nodded his thanks, drinking the soothing liquid gratefully. Finished, he put down his cup and sighed.
"What can you tell us Taka? How's Muraki?" Tatsumi asked, hands clenched together on the table.
Taka covered his face with his hands and sighed noisily. "Sometimes I hate being a doctor," he muttered to himself and raised his head to look at them. "This Akuma, is a bastard."
"Tell us something we don't know," Kyo murmured.
"To put it simply, Muraki had been tortured until he was nearly mad," Taka said, his voice flat. "Whoever this Akuma is, he's a master at it. He never went so far as to risk killing Muraki but I'm pretty sure that Muraki must have wished that he would die dozens of time."
"He deserves it," Hisoka said quietly, fists clenched, face pale and staring down at the floor hard. "He deserved it. After all that he's done, all the people he killed and tortured, after what he did to us, he deserved it!"
They were quiet for a moment after his outburst and Hisoka continued to stare down, not looking at them, until Taka broke the silence, saying, "Do you really believe that?" his voice mild.
"Yes!" his face snapped up and with eyes blazing, he glared at Taka. "You don't know what I've been through, what Tsuzuki has been through, all thanks to that man that you so tirelessly helped! He doesn't deserve your help and care!"
Taka's mouth was a pinched line and his eyes hardened. Kyo knew without a doubt that he was angry now.
"No, I don't know what you and Tsuzuki have been through, with Muraki, nor am I going to pretend that I understand," he said quietly but his eyes were hard with anger. "But that doesn't mean that he does not deserve my help or my caring. I was, I *am* a doctor and I'm bound by my oath to help those who need it. And," he held out a hand to forestall Hisoka who looked ready to interrupt, "I am fully aware that the same oath held no compulsion to Muraki but as a human being, I feel pity for the man. After what he's been put through, you can't help BUT pity the man. I'm not even sure if he'll fully recover his mind after this."
"I don't WANT to pity the man!" the boy burst out, his face furious.
"Then you're no better than Muraki was."
Hisoka looked as though he had been given a slap. His eyes were wide with shock and his lips trembled. Beside him, Tsuzuki was pale, with anger or with sadness, Kyo didn't know, but there was a haunted look in his eyes as Hisoka started crying and he held the boy close, murmuring gently into his ear.
They let the boy cry, giving him the chance to let his feelings run their course. Whether or not the others agree with Taka, they did not say. Each kept their silence.
"There's something you should know though," Taka spoke up, when Hisoka had stopped crying. He gave a glance at Kyo, his face unreadable. Kyo didn't know why, but he felt the cold fist of fear around his heart.
"What is it?" Hisoka asked, his voice slightly hoarse from crying, but his face was set and determined though, as he looked at Taka.
Taka smiled gently back but it was lost a moment later as he withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket. "I found this on Muraki when I was cleaning his wounds," he said and he passed the paper to Tatsumi.
Tatsumi took the proffered paper and opened it, reading quietly to himself first. His face, if it was possible, turned even paler. Kyo knew then without a doubt what was written on it. Judging from the worried looks on Tsuzuki and Hisoka's face, they seemed to realize what it meant too. Taka was refusing to look at Kyo. He sat stiffly and was staring outside the window, a hard look on his face.
"It's another letter from Akuma," Tatsumi announced into the too-quiet room. "It's for Kyo."
Surprise, surprise, Kyo thought wryly to himself. He had tensed though and he found his hand being gently squeezed by Taka. He squeezed back reassuringly.
"It says;
My dear Kyo, do you like my gift? You had shown some concern for Kazutaka and I felt impelled to put your mind at rest concerning him. I told you that I didn't kill him, remember? I'm not usually this generous but you have made quite an impact on me, it seems. In fact, I'm simply anxious to see you again. More anxious than you could possibly know.
By the way, are you enjoying the game so far? I know I am."
Another one of those heavy silences lay across the room when Tatsumi finished reading the letter. Even the air outside didn't seem to move. It was as if the whole world was waiting. Waiting for something.
"So it's another game then," Kyo said. He was afraid and he clung to Taka's hand as if it was his anchor, keeping him from becoming lost, lost in the chaos of his fear.
"So it seems," Tatsumi answered. "But this time, what's the game?"
________________________________________________________________________
It was late in the evening before they finally left the restaurant. Tatsumi had gone back to JuuOhCho earlier, to report what happened to Kacho, but Taka, Kyo, Hisoka and Tsuzuki had opted to walk for a bit, wanting to clear their heads. When they left, Muraki was still asleep, carefully watched over by Oriya. The man had thanked them then, for bringing back his friend. He looked as though he had been crying.
They walked slowly, quietly, enjoying the cool evening air. Kyo huddled closer in his jacket and Taka slung an arm across his shoulder, pulling him in close. It felt nice to just walk like this; not saying anything, just letting the wind carry their cares away, even if only momentarily.
They were in the older section of Kyoto, passing by an ancient cemetery, when they were attacked.
The attack came without warning. It had been quiet first, the wind having dropped down, but all of a sudden, a mad howling and screeching that sounded like no wind on earth suddenly rose up from the ground and looking up in surprise, they saw a veritable wall of yuurei bearing down on them.
In a heartbeat, a glowing kekkai closed over them as the four released their spells simultaneously.
"What's going on?" Tsuzuki shouted. "I thought there were no stray yuurei in this part!"
The scene outside the kekkai was like something from hell. The ghosts were beating on the barrier, empty sockets burning with hunger as a multitude of wailing issued from their gaping maws. They were completely surrounded. Each facet of the kekkai had dozens of the spirits clinging to it, trying to break through. Teleporting was not an option, they couldn't do that from inside a barrier and even if they could, they wouldn't. Left without a target, the restless spirits would hunt down the people living nearby. It would become a disaster.
"Can you banish them Tsuzuki?" Kyo shouted back. It was like being in the middle of a cyclone. The screeching and howling of the spirits filled every corner and it grated in their ears. Even if they can't break through, the sound alone was enough to drive them mad. The madness and hunger evident in it was enough to make Hisoka buckle, but he held on, his face pale.
Tsuzuki shook his head. "Not inside the barrier, I can't. I need to do it from the outside and I need you guys to help me! There's too many of them!"
"You can't do that! They'll eat you alive!" Taka was holding on to his part of the kekkai and the strain was showing on him, on all of them.
"But we can't keep this up any longer!"
A thought crossed Kyo's mind then. It would be hard, but it might save them. "If I could trap the spirits, can the three of you banish them?"
Tsuzuki thought about it and nodded, reluctantly. "But how can you do it? They're too many for us to bind them separately!"
"I got an idea! But one of you has to hold up my part of the barrier for me while I do it!"
Tsuzuki nodded again and when he had firm hold on Kyo's part, Kyo let go of his ofuda and sank to the ground, eyes closed and palms pressed into the ground. But earth alone would not be enough to bind such a large group of spirits. For this, he needed to use all of the elements combined.
He concentrated, trying to ignore the wailing and he let his mind drift, feeling his consciousness melt and fade into the surroundings. Soon, the wailing and screeching disappeared and he saw and heard nothing but his own power, thrumming in and around him.
Centered, he chanted the spell of containment.
"By flesh and by earth, I call you back!"
Outside the kekkai, the other three could see the spirits suddenly torn apart as a wall of earth shot out from the ground and like a wave, raced and flowed into the shape of a pentagram, boiling and churning as if it was alive.
"By blood and by water, I call you back!"
Rain suddenly fell, only to coalesce into a roaring wall as it joined the spell, forming a circle around the earth-formed pentagram.
"By breath and by air, I call you back!"
A howling wind, louder even, than the howling of the spirits, shrieked across the barrier, forming a second circle around the circle of water.
"By life and by fire, I call you back!"
From out of nowhere, fire sprung up, forming a twisting cyclone of inferno and as if an invisible hand directed it, it split into smaller strands and formed words of power within the circles.
It was an awesome sight as the spell blazed into completion. The whole construct glowed with power and with a flash of light, the spirits were sucked into the vortex created by the joined elements. They writhed and twisted to no avail. They were trapped within the confines of the spell and wailed louder in anger and thwarted hunger.
It was all over in a matter of minutes. Dropping down the barrier, the other three Shinigami quickly chanted the spell needed to banish the spirits and with a last wail, they disappeared in wisps of smoke.
Blessed silence filled the air then and with a final burst of light, the construct collapsed. Kyo gave a sigh of relief. It was not often that he had to use all four of the elements together and it showed. He tried to stand but found that his legs were trembling too much with fatigue to do so. Before he could collapse though, Taka was by his side, holding him up. Kyo gave a grateful smile.
"Are you okay?" Taka asked, concern and worry written all over his face.
"I'm okay," Kyo smiled reassuringly. "Just a bit tired." Sure enough, the trembling had subsided and he only needed to lean slightly on the sensei for support.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka joined them, frowns marring their faces. "Three guesses from where that attack came from," Tsuzuki asked sourly.
"Akuma," the three Shinigami chorused.
"I'm getting really sick of his games. What's the purpose this time?" Hisoka demanded.
Kyo, Taka and Tsuzuki looked at each other and shrugged. They had no clue as to what purpose the attack served, other than the obvious one of giving them hell, for a start. Knowing what little they know of the madman called Akuma though, they could expect something else from him, now that his latest attack failed.
"Well, crazy magician or no, it's not doing us any good standing around here like this," Taka said finally. "We're just inviting another attack if we stay here. As your doctor, I command everyone to go back to the office now and drink plenty of hot tea."
And a heartbeat later, they disappeared.
________________________________________________________________________
The dreams were becoming more frequent now. Ever since the attack on them in Kyoto with the yuurei, the dreams were coming every night.
Like the first dream he had, he was taken through a ride of his life, the scenes flashing past him. Sometimes the dream would linger over a certain memory, other times, completely ignored.
But always, always, without fail, he was taken to that night when he was 10. And always, he would see again, running side by side, the scene of his death played over and over.
/Taka! Taka where are you?/
/Mommy, I'm scared/
/Get out of here Kyo! Leave me!/
/Shh, honey, it's okay. Everything will be alright. Don't worry/
/I hate you/
And always, always, he would wake up with a gasp, sweat running down his body and eyes staring wide into the dark. Afterwards, he could never fall asleep again so he would just lie there in bed, listening to Taka's steady breathing, waiting for dawn to come.
At least, when he was awake, he could escape the dreams.
________________________________________________________________________
{I lie down and blind myself with laughter
A quick fix of hope is what I'm needing
And now I wish that I could turn back the hours
But I know I just don't have the power. . . }
________________________________________________________________________
~to be continued~
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A/N: So how was it? For those who previously enjoyed Muraki being evil, gomen! But it's a nice change, don't you think, that for once, it's not Muraki giving them hell? You have to wonder just what kind of man could do such a thing to Muraki in the first place. . . I'm wondering about it myself! This Akuma guy is turning out to be quite a villain. . . . Anyway, enjoy the Kyo-Torture coming up soon! As always, Review please! It makes the ideas flow faster! Honestly! Ja ne!
P.S: *Yuurei=ghost
P.S. 2: I took the liberty of using plain language in Kyo's incantation as in the anime, Tsuzuki does it too when summoning his Shikigamis.