The Forbidden One

It wasn't a very easy week for the Dark Magician. It seemed like someone was following him at all times, to be certain he was not suffering any trauma or depression caused by what he had supposedly suffered at Shiroi's hands. The truth was, Hansha was depressed, though not for that reason. His Blue Eyes lover had been locked up for days, and Hansha had not yet been allowed to see him. He wanted to be with Shiroi so much it almost made him ache.

Watching Hansha walk around the manor in this despairing state, and knowing that her brother was locked up for a crime he had not committed, Midori couldn't help but feel a little depressed as well. It didn't much help either that her own love's visit had been delayed either. It seemed like nothing could go right anymore.

Even worse, Ruby, the Red Eyes Black Dragon her brother had once been fond of in passing, had taken to hanging around the manor as well. Some days she would just show up uninvited, once even pleading with Shiroi's mother to let her see him one last time, for she cared for Shiroi so much. Ruby had been allowed into the lower rooms, but she hadn't stayed long.

Midori didn't know what happened in those few minutes Ruby visited Shiroi, but whatever it was, the Red Eyes had left furious, the side of her face tinted red from apparently being hit with something. Seeing that, Midori had smiled for the first time in days.

Shiroi's own family hadn't been allowed to visit him yet in his imprisonment, however, and finally Midori grew sick of it. She found Hansha sitting in Shiroi's room, surrounded by the sad withered blossoms of dozens of white roses, holding a handful of the crisp wrinkled petals in his hand while he breathed in the faintly lingering scent.

"Hey," she murmured to the Dark Magician gently. "How are you feeling?"

Hansha looked up at her with such distraught eyes, she regretted asking. Sighing softly, Hansha scattered the petals across the bedspread, the blankets still rumpled, unchanged from the last moment he had shared the warmth of this bed with his beloved Blue Eyes.

"I've talked to Gin and Kin," Midori told him. "They said they'd let you in to see Shiroi for a little while today, if you'd like. They don't understand why you'd want to, after 'all he's done to you' and all, but…"

The Dark Magician didn't even give her a chance to finish, already up and out the door, running downstairs toward the lower rooms. Midori watched him go, smiling faintly. If Hansha was so depressed over being separated from his lover, she could only imagine how Shiroi felt…

Just as Midori has said, Kin and Gin, who were guarding Shiroi's room, looked at each other uneasily before they let Hansha into the room their brother was locked in. Hansha paused just inside, waiting for the door to close behind him so he and his love could have some privacy.

Shiroi looked awful. He was leaning with his back to the wall, shoulders stooped slightly, his once lovely silvery white hair hanging limply in a greasy tangled mess. His torso was bare, all he wore was a pair of dust colored, ill-fitted pants that had to be tied with a cord around his hips to keep them up. The dragon's eyes were dull as he looked up to meet Hansha's sorrowful gaze, but Shiroi's happy, though tired, smile was not forced.

"Hansha…" Shiroi tried to move forward toward the Dark Magician, but heavy manacles clamped about his wrists and ankles didn't let him get far from the wall. He must have been standing for days; the chains didn't much allow for him to sit comfortably.

Choking back a slight sob, Hansha ran to his Blue Eyes, throwing his arms around the dragon and clinging tightly to him as if they'd be dragged apart at any moment. Shiroi returned the embrace as best he could, and it was then that Hansha noticed how Shiroi's bones had started to stick out more prominently than usual.

"You're so thin," Hansha murmured, pulling back only enough to look at Shiroi's face. "Haven't you been eating?"

Shiroi shook his head slightly, his eyes taking in all of Hansha's features, as if this would be the last time he'd get to see him. "They haven't been feeding me."

"But they're your family!" Hansha was horrified.

"Only for a little while longer. When mother gets up her courage, I'll be disowned." Despite how pitifully weak he was, Shiroi looked happy. "I'm glad you came. I wasn't sure I'd get to see you before the sentencing."

"How do you think you'll be punished?" Hansha murmured, trying to keep the terrible dread out of his voice.  

Shiroi had to struggle to maintain his reassuring smile. "After I've been starved for a month, I'll be set free in the forest, then hunted down and killed. If I'm not dead by that point already."

Hansha gaped at him. "You're kidding!"

The Blue Eyes laughed weakly. "Yeah, I am. Not a very funny joke, was it?"

The Dark Magician glared at him. "No, it wasn't." He ran his hand over where Shiroi's ribs were starting to protrude. "Why did you lie to your mother and everyone? We both know it wasn't even close to rape… I was as willing as you. I should have been the one down here, not you."

Shiroi shrugged slightly. "I didn't like the thought of having the rest of my life spent without you." He smiled affectionately at the Dark Magician. "I'd never thought I could spend a lifetime with only one person. I still don't think I can. Unless that one person was you." Shiroi laughed at how stupidly romantic he sounded. "I think this starvation stuff is emptying out my head."

Hansha smiled back, kissing Shiroi softly. Only after several moments, he finally drew away, gently touching Shiroi's face. "Somehow I'll make sure everything is made right again," he promised. "I'll get you out."

"I know you will," Shiroi replied, smirking faintly. "I never doubted that you would. Don't let Ruby come down here anymore in the meantime, alright? How did her bruise turn out, by the way?"

"I don't know what you hit her with, but the whole side of her face was purple for a week." Hansha grinned and kissed Shiroi quickly. "I should go now."

He left without either of them say goodbye. In times like this, goodbye was not a word either wanted to hear.

Hansha was halfway back upstairs when the first lurch rocked the manor. It was as if someone was dropping boulders from the sky outside. Startled, Hansha took a firm grip on his magic staff that he carried everywhere and ran up the remaining flight of stairs.

Midori was running down from her room when Hansha finally made it to the main floor. But instead of looking worried or scared, Midori looked delighted.

"He's here!" she called to Hansha as she ran toward the front door. "He's here, he's here!" She was so beside herself with joy, she could barely contain herself in human form, and her dragon tail lashed out eagerly behind her.

"Who's here, Midori?" Hansha called back as he ran with her toward the door.

Not answering, Midori pulled open the door, practically tackling the man who stood outside in her excitement to see him. Not that this had much affect on him, as he happened to be huge. Hansha could do nothing but stand in the door and stare up at the visitor.

For none other than Exodia was standing outside, waiting to be invited in.