A/N: As my stories progress, I keep on finding better formats for my chapters; thus necessitating in a lot of re-do and re uploads. . . .me and my artistic sensibilities. XD
Cong-san: Ah, finally! A friend of Nabbie's! She told me that some friends of her are reading my stories but I thought I would never hear from any one of them. I'm so happy you like my fics! And don't worry, there'll be a lemon soon. In the next chapter actually. It'll be a Kyo x Taka and. . .Tats x Tari! Yay! Though I'm still unsure as to how far I will go with Tats x Tari. It is a "virgin" territory with me, hahahahaha!
Psystar1: You read all three chronologically even??? And you love Kyo??? Arigato! Sniff, I'm so happy you love him! I love him too! Hey, thanks for the link you gave me. It helped a lot! And I'm looking forward to hearing from ya!
Literary Eagle: You helped a lot, especially with the Onokoro bit. Though I'm still unsure if I'm working it in this story. . .oops! Nearly gave my plot bunny away! *cackles*
Poison Ivy: Hai! Yessir! I've never seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. How would you describe the kind of anime it is? Do you REALLY recommend it? Is it better than Gundam? If I want to watch Gundam, which comes first? I'm so confused!!
Shaynie: Ooooo. . .comparative religion? Man, I wanted to take it up but since I had to pay $50 for it and I was broke. . .well, you get the picture! XD
Sakusha: No no! Bad Sakusha! Only Taka gets Kyo-Flavoured Milkshakes! Bad Bad Sakusha!
A note to all: I have this irritating habit of dropping REALLY SMALL HINTS as to where my story goes. In fact, I've dropped a MINISCULE, ATOMICALLY small hint in this chapter about the demons. Nyahahaha! Will continue to do so even!
Note 2: I GOT "TWIN SIGNAL"!!!! YAY!!!
Warning: Death, Blood, PiggingOut-Kyo!
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
Chapter 11
My Demon, My Child
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
Kyo slept like the dead (pun very much intended) throughout the whole night, not even stirring once. Takashi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki spent the time discussing the best way to go about the thing. From what Kyo had managed to slur out before passing out completely, they were pretty confident that Saori was possessed instead of just a demon in disguise. The problem they had now was how to exorcise it.
Before they sat down for the discussion though, Tsuzuki and Takashi had put up wards around their rooms, to prevent the demon from tracking them down as from what they could gather, it was pretty determined to have a Kyo Happy Meal. After calling up Watari, asking for his opinion and with the experience Tsuzuki and Hisoka had on demons, they decided that their best choice was to do a classic 'jitsu exorcism, complete with mystical lights and pentagrams.
They decided to leave the problem of how to go about it exactly till Kyo woke up. As it was, he only did the next morning.
Having you power sucked, Kyo decided upon waking, definitely. . .sucked. He really wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
"Ohayo," Takashi smiled from his perch by his side.
Kyo blinked and wondered if he remembered how to talk. "Ohayo." Ah, he did remember.
"How are you feeling?"
Kyo pondered. "A bit fuzzy," he decided.
"You'll probably feel better after eating something. What would you like to eat?"
"How about a good morning kiss first?" Kyo countered.
"Of course."
A little later.
"So what would you like for breakfast?"
It was agreed that Hisoka and Tsuzuki would both go to school as usual that day to allay any suspicion on Saori's part. Hisoka would give the excuse that Kyo wasn't feeling so well. Besides, they needed to keep an eye on the demon. They were pretty confident that it would not be willing to give up on Kyo. That was the thing about spiritual power. Those that live on it, for a lack of better description, were addicted to it. And the spiritual energy of someone as powerful as Kyo, who was a Shinigami to boot, would be too tempting to be given up.
The two of them had stopped by to check on Kyo before leaving. He was already up and awake, eating his breakfast in bed with Takashi by his side. Actually, they only planned on staying a while. Hisoka and Tsuzuki had wanted to go early to discuss the case. As it was, seeing Kyo eat his breakfast, they could only sit, and stare in dumbfounded silence.
Kyo's breakfast consisted of at least six pieces of pancakes dripping with honey and butter, several pieces of toast with jam, a plate of scrambled eggs, three pieces of blueberry muffins, and a big bowl of cereal. Which he replenished twice.
Now, for Tsuzuki, this was somewhat normal. But that was Tsuzuki. This was Kyo. Hisoka had to pick his jaws up from the floor.
"Hungry much, Kyo?" Tsuzuki asked with a note of amusement.
Draining his orange juice in three gulps, Kyo smacked his lips with gusto and attacked the muffins. Two of it disappeared in lightning speed.
"Hey," Kyo shrugged in between bites. "I need to replace all the energy I lost." Takashi thoughtfully refilled his glass.
They told Kyo then of what they came up with the night before and Kyo nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah, she is possessed. Before you guys came in, she changed back and. . ." Kyo hesitated.
"What is it?" Takashi asked, concerned.
"She was crying."
For a while, they sat in silence, Kyo fiddling with the scrambled eggs. The only sort of demon possession he had ran into before were the normal ones where a simple ofuda and spell was enough to banish the demon. The victim usually would have no recollection whatsoever afterwards. Obviously, it wasn't so this time. Did her tears mean she was aware the whole time?
Kyo shuddered slightly at the thought of being made a helpless participant, locked in your own mind as your body was controlled by a being you could hardly comprehend. To just watch in dumb silence while the people you know are killed slowly in front of you. . .
"Hey," Takashi leaned over and gave him a brief peck on the cheek. "We'll help her, don't worry. Okay?"
Kyo smiled. "Aa." With a shade of his former exuberance, he attacked the eggs and listened quietly while the three of them discussed the best way to lure the demon into a trap. From what they had seen, it was too fast to be chased. They needed the element of surprise on their side.
"So just get Hisoka to lure her to a secluded place and we'll just jump her there," Kyo offered.
"Where though?" Tsuzuki frowned. "We can't risk getting innocents caught during the exorcism. It'll give the demon an advantage."
"The park near the school?" Hisoka said, after a few minutes of silence. "Tsuzuki and I have been there once. It's pretty quiet after nightfall. Not a lot of people go there."
Nobody objected to the idea so it was quickly decided that the park it is. Takashi and Kyo would go there first, to prepare the place and they would contact the two later to specify a spot. Glad that they were finally doing something positive about the case, Hisoka and Tsuzuki left the room to go to school, their steps a bit lighter though the new worry of tonight's confrontation gnawed at them.
As they closed the door behind them, they distinctly heard Kyo say, "Hey Taka? Can we order some pizza? I'm still hungry."
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
It's hunger burned like a mindless thing that gnawed at it intestines and its mind. It made it shift restlessly in the body it stole and the restlessness translated to fidgeting and agitation of its human host.
"Saori-san? Are you okay?"
It was that human called Akiko, a. . .friend of its host. It bared its fangs at the unfamiliar concept of 'friend'. What is a friend'? What is the worth of that intangible thing called 'friendship'? It knew of no such thing. It knew only of Power, Food and Beauty. The three things it needed to survive. Anything else is worthless and inconsequential. Still, appearances must be kept. This place it had stumbled into was. . heaven.
It giggled insanely at its little joke. Heaven. Heaven for a demon of Hell. The spiritual power collected in this school was enough to provide a feast for a whole regiment of the Army of Hell. And it had found it first. What would its 'friends' say if they found out about it and the fact that it had gotten there first? Probably they'd be burning with jealousy.
The giggles came again, more of a deep rumbling and wet squelching like something loathsome that had crawled out of a dank sewer than true laughter.
"Saori-san?"
"Ah, I'm alright, Akiko-chan," the smile came easily as did the empty words of comfort. It marveled the demon; how effortless it was to placate these dumb animals. Just mutter a few words of the appropriate meaning and intonation, and it had the whole flock of them eating out of its hands. Its host had given up fighting a long time ago. Useless it was anyway to put up a fight. Its specialty was human possession after all. It had no other way to survive than that. Human bodies were its shell. Deprive it of it, and it would die.
But its main weakness was that it needed the soul of its host intact for possession. It could not merely destroy the soul and occupy the body. It did not have the skill or power to make the host body function without the soul. So it was forced to share. But it counted it as a minor inconvenience.
Turning away from its contemplation, it focused its hearing, and that of its host, to the chatter that filled the classroom. The seat next to it was empty. Listening, it found out that 'Kurosaki-san' was sick, could not make it to school. Probably a fever, his brother explained with a worried frown.
A fever. . . it had the urge to rub its hands in glee and chortle. The appetizer it had yesterday was the best in a long time. It was an unexpected bonus, that the one they call Kyo had so much power stored in that attractive package. Just a mere taste of it had sent its mind reeling with power and giddiness. Draining that one would be pure pleasure.
Tapping its fingers on the desk, it wondered though, whether it was time to change bodies. After all, that Kyo had more than enough power to satisfy its hunger. Surely he would have enough to sustain its essence as well.
A little flare of hope came from the corner of its mind where it had brutally locked the soul of its host. The soul had sensed its plan, thinking of escape. With another giggle, the demon quashed the bright ray with little effort. As much as it would like to, it really couldn't leave the body now. It had too much at stake.
School ended and it followed the brother from the shadows, easily keeping itself concealed. After all, the brother lacked any talent and would not be able to sense him. A part of its mind warned it that it was rushing into things; that it had better be wary. It knew well from experience that everything good had a price to pay.
But it was so very hungry. . .
And Kyo is so very delicious. . .
The brother had turned off the main road and was heading towards the park. Soft twilight shaded the park with indigo shadows and black shapes that writhed in the night air. It felt distinctively at home here.
The brother had stopped, pulling out his ringing handphone.
"Kyo? Aa. . .in the park? Where? . . . .near the lake? . . .no. . .yeah. . .alright, ja ne."
Looks like dinner would be coming to it instead.
As it followed the boy deeper into the park, past groves of silent trees, its hunger flared anew, reminding it that time was running out. It stopped suddenly, as the boy himself stopped and cocked its head to the side, as though listening to something. Maybe the boy did have some talent.
Maybe it can have the brother as desert.
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
"Hey, Takashi?"
"Hmm?" Takashi turned and gave Tsuzuki an absent smile. "You said something?"
Tsuzuki nodded, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets. The night was getting a bit chilly. "I've been wanting to ask you this since yesterday actually."
"Oh? What is it?"
"How did you know Kyo was in trouble? Even Hisoka didn't pick it up."
Takashi shrugged, still keeping an eye out from their hiding place in the shadow of a stand of trees. The moon was a thin sliver this night, throwing faint light to the clearing before them. "It's no surprise. He was shielding himself."
"Well, yeah. . .but what about you? How did you sense it?" Tsuzuki was one persistent puppy. Takashi gave him a slight grin.
"I have no idea. Really," he added at the look of skepticism on Tsuzuki's face. "It's just this. . .thing I have with Kyo. I can tell when he's in trouble. And vice versa."
Tsuzuki frowned as he processed that in. "You two have a psychic connection?"
"No. . .not really. . actually I'm n—"
"Taka-chan!" came the exaggerated whisper.
Looking up, the both of them saw a dark outline among the branches of the tree they sheltered under. Said outline giggled and leaped, landing on the ground before them lightly.
"Kyo—what on earth are you wearing?" Tsuzuki gaped.
Though the night was dark, their eyes had long adjusted to it and they could make out what Kyo was wearing. The total opposite of last night's extreme stupor, Kyo was simply brimming over with excessive energy and shifted restlessly from foot to foot. What had Tsuzuki gaping and Takashi shaking his head in resignation was his outfit.
He was dressed in a long, ankle-length deep red coat; split at the back to allow easy movement and making the material flare out at every move. Complete with tight, red leather pants, boots and a black leather vest with a high collar, Kyo gave them grin and struck a pose.
"Well? How do I look?"
At Tsuzuki's dumbfounded look, Takashi explained. "He's cosplaying. He's dressed as Dante, that guy from the Playstation game Devil May Cry?" Since the dumbfoundedness didn't lessen, Takashi figured that Tsuzuki is not a Playstation gamer. Kyo seemed rather hurt that he wasn't getting the proper reaction from his audience though.
"I love it, Kyo-kun," Takashi offered. "especially the pants. Very tight, very nice," he added with an exaggerated leer.
"Why thank you, my lecherous husband you," Kyo gave a mock bow. "Your heightened libido is what I strive to achieve after all."
Takashi was curious about one thing though. From what he could make out, the outfit was really tight (except for the coat and that's because it was split front and back). There didn't seem to be any pockets.
"Where did you keep your ofudas?" he asked, concern eclipsing his pleasure at seeing his Kyo in tight red leather. "You did bring your ofuda right?"
Kyo rolled his eyes and poked his chest. "Of course I did. Look!" Saying so, he flipped aside his coat. Strapped midway on his thighs, where the original Dante had holsters for his revolvers, Kyo had improvised, adding a pouch on both legs to hold his ofudas. All he had to do was slip his hand in the pouch to get it. Takashi had to admit; it was very convenient.
"Wow," he murmured, slipping an arm around Kyo's waist and drawing him in close, "you thought of everything."
"So you like?"
"I love. Tell me, do the pants come off easy?"
Before he had the chance to find out though, a dry cough came from behind, startling the amorous pair and a blushing Tsuzuki.
"You three were supposed to keep a lookout, not make-out."
"Ah! Tatsumi! You're here already!" Tsuzuki flapped his hands, welcoming the secretary who stepped in to their little hideout with a wry smile. They had called in Tatsumi to help with the upcoming exorcism as they were going about it the more conventional way. Hisoka had suggested a method; a spiritual unbinding used when Tsuzuki himself had been possessed by a demon who was a general of Makai no less. But the method was too extreme. From their description, the demon had been torn out rather than pushed out. They doubt Saori could survive such an exorcism.
"To be fair, Tatsumi-san," Kyo said with a completely serious mien, "It was only I and Takashi that attempted to make-out in the middle of the woods on a dark and lonely night, waiting to jump a demon with a colleague of ours looking on." He said all this with a straight face even as one of the doctor's hand was wandering in places no decent doctor would dream of wandering to when you have people watching.
"Alright you two," Tatsumi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Get into positions. Kurosaki-kun will be here in less than 5 minutes."
Though it was technically their mission, the three of them obeyed the note of authority in the secretary's voice instantly, more from respect actually than from force of habit. But then, they do say that habits are hard to break. . . As it was, the four of them positioned themselves at spots pre-arranged before and waited, ofudas in hand and auras dampened.
The night, despite the sliver of moonlight that filled the clearing, was deathly still. Not a breeze stirred and even the crickets were quiet. The owl that usually hunted was gone, aware enough that this particular spot was going to be an unhealthy place tonight.
Screened by a thicket of dense bushes, Kyo crouched, breathing slowed and steadied as he extended his senses slowly, his surroundings filtering in and becoming a part of him, instead of him being the intruder. He was so still, that near his booted feet, a wood mouse poked an inquisitive head out, whiskers trembling slightly. Just as it decided it was safe to come out, a rustle of leaves from the far end of the clearing convinced it that its burrow was a safer place to be that night.
Hisoka walked calmly to the middle of the lighted clearing, the demon following a few paces behind and cloaked in a veil of shadows. Relying on sight only would have shown them that perhaps, something shifted slightly in the dark behind the boy and nothing more. But they knew better than that. If the night was still before, it was now silent as a tomb.
He walked on a few paces more, leading the demon till it reached the center of the clearing when he stopped, turned and flashed the demon a smile. "Glad you could make it," Hisoka said politely before vanishing into thin air.
Its surprise was such that its cloak of invisibility disappeared, its concentration wavering. What had previously been shadows and shifting shapes revealed Saori herself, crouched low and eyes wide.
"Wha-?" a soft word uttered in the voice of a young, innocent schoolgirl.
They wasted no time. The minute Hisoka had gotten into position, each of them muttered the beginnings of the spell.
Long lines of crimson red flared out on the surface of the leaf-strewn ground, crisscrossing each other till it formed a pentagram, the points originating from where each of them stood. The demon, or Saori, was right in the middle of it. The minute the pentagram flared to life, Saori howled and tried to jump free but she was too late. The spell had taken hold of her and would not release her until it reached completion.
Beads of sweat sprang up on Kyo's forehead; concentrating hard, the Sanskrit words of the onmyoujitsu spell fell from his mouth in rapid succession, echoed in near-perfect chorus by the other four. He held the ofudas in his hand, spread out in a fan with the gesture mimicked by the rest and at a certain point, the chanting stopped.
Far from being relieved, Saori now looked positively terrified. Her eyes darted this way and that but the pentagram was perfect. No flaws existed for her to break through and fear twisted her beautiful face to something ugly.
Two fingers held together and pressed against the other arm, they released their ofudas and the paper talismans flew with uncanny accuracy to the middle of the pentagram, straight towards Saori.
She wailed.
Like steel to magnet, the talismans covered her, sticking tight to her skin until every inch of flesh was covered.
For a heartbeat, it looked like a perfect papier-mâché replica of the human body.
Then the writhing and shrieking started. Hands folded in prayer position still, they waited, breathless with apprehension. Saori sounded as though she was being skinned alive. The demon, because it had no corporeal form of its own, had to share its essence with a host. To exorcise it, they had no other choice but to draw that essence out and when released, then could they finally exorcise it.
Kyo winced as her wails grew higher in pitch. Such was the force of the pentagram that she could not even stand. Her body remained crouched on the ground like a beast and her paper covered fingers were clawed, scratching the hard ground in mindless agony as the demon tried to hold on.
Please, please, please let her be alright, Kyo chanted the litany in his mind even as his fingers held their position firmly. Almost as if his prayer was heard and answered, the wails suddenly stopped. Still crouching, encased in that magical shell, the ofudas started to burn with a red light that grew in intensity. When it reached a near-blinding glow, the ofudas burst apart and hovered in mid-air.
Underneath, Saori still crouched, her body racked through with shudders but above her, a nebulous mist hung, writhing with the suggestion of shape. Before it could dissipate, once again the ofudas flew but instead of Saori, it targeted that haze and as the talismans enveloped it, they could finally see the demon's true form.
A long, flat head with rows of dagger-sharp teeth, a sinuous lizard-like body and a trashing tail was revealed as the demon was chained in its paper cage. The thing was huge, bigger than Saori by half at least and for a moment, Kyo wondered how such a thing could be hidden inside such a slender body. His musings were cut short though when it screamed.
"No! Mine! Mine! Give her back!" With another wail, it tried to dive down into Saori but the instant its ofuda sheathed claws touched the shivering girl, it snatched back its claws and shrieked again with pain. "Nooooo!!!" Its wail was like a thousand souls condemned and they flinched.
"Everyone!" Tatsumi barked suddenly. "Begin!"
With the reminder, once again they chanted the incantation and again, the ofudas burned; this time an icy blue that filled the clearing with a cold that pierced the bone. With it, came a low, roaring wind that swirled in agitated eddies around them.
"Om amuga nobowi hamu bata sapoho!"
The blue burned brighter and the demon finally deemed to realize that escape was not possible. Its red eyed were rolling in its sockets with agony but it stopped suddenly and with a jolt of ice-cold fear, Kyo realized that those burning gaze was fixed on him.
Looking down, he saw that the lines that comprised of his point of the pentagram had cracked due to the strain.
He said, distinctively and quite clearly, his feelings on that.
"Shit!"
He quickly withdrew a barrier ofuda from his pouch even as the demon lunged with undisguised eagerness towards him, trailing tatters of its dissipating essence. His friends were shouting in alarm, their incantation faltering even as he threw the talisman to the ground before him-
-the demon was breaking through his temporary kekkai, cracks running crazily all around it-
-Takashi was yelling something, taking out his own ofuda but unable to leave his place-
-the ofuda was burning too fast and the demon had managed to get a paper claw in through a widening crack-
-and something surged through the ground beneath his booted feet; too fast and too strong for him to grasp it or realize what it was exactly and just as suddenly, there was a green flash and the demon froze.
That paper claw was drawn back just as quickly and the demon howled, thrown back as it was sent tumbling through the air by that unknown force. It was held fast once again by the center of the pentagram. Shocked red eyes met his, confusion plain in both when an instant later, the demon's confusion was replaced by understanding and growing horror.
It pointed its muzzle to the skies and howled. "Forgive me! I didn't know! Please! Aljunnu! Baal! Syaitan! Forgive me!"
Taking no chances, they repeated again the chants and at the final "sapoho", the ofudas burned anew and with a last shriek, the demon glowed. . . .and was gone. For a blessed minute, silence once again fell on the little clearing; silence that was free of malevolence or danger and they each reveled in it, letting the pentagram fade and harsh breathing lessen.
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
"Saori-san?"
By unanimous decision, they had decided that Takashi would be better suited to deal with the traumatized girl. Despite the demon's banishment, she still lay on the hard ground, curled in a little ball and shivering terribly. She had started to cry not long after, little sobs that sounded more painful that it was healing.
"Saori?" he tried again and laid a gentle hand on a trembling shoulder. The sobbing stopped suddenly as though a faucet was turned off and she lifted her head slowly. Red-rimmed brown eyes peered up at him from beneath a curtain of tangled brown hair. Gone was the image of the self-assured, most popular girl in school. Instead, the girl that stared back at him was a broken, pitiful, terrified doll that had seen and been through too much too young.
"Sensei," her whisper was soft yet hoarse. She blinked slowly and let her eyes roam slowly over the assembled group. "Kyo-san? Hisoka-san? Tsuzuki sensei?" her voice trailed off as the events of the last few minutes finally sank in and registered. Once again, the trembling shook her body and tears streamed down her pale cheeks.
"I-I was. . sensei. . it tried to. . ." her words were stuck as the sobs grew too hard to contain.
"Shh, it's okay," he murmured and with a practiced gesture, swept her into a comforting embrace. He turned her head towards him, burying her sobs against his chest and stroked her hair softly as he would have done for Kyo or any other in need. "It's alright. The demon's gone. You're safe."
It was a mindless litany that he chanted, as he had chanted earlier the spells of banishment. This time, he tried to banish her fear and agony, letting her tears soak the fabric of his shirt and rocking her slowly back and forth. It took her a long and painful time before the tears stopped and the trembling to subside.
After she grew quiet for some time, he whispered in her ear. "Saori? Feeling better? It's alright you know. The demon's gone. It won't come back."
For some reason, she stiffened suddenly in his arms, maybe a memory had resurfaced? But an instant later, she broke free of the embrace and with a helping hand from Kyo, she stood on slightly shaky legs.
Saori brushed off the clinging leaf mould sticking to her skirt and gave them a tremulous smile. Kyo's rather eccentric choice of outfit or the fact that a stranger stood silently to the side didn't seem to faze her as she inclined her head.
"Thank you," she said, still smiling shakily and a hand brushing away the rest of the dirt almost absently, "for your help. Everyone. Really, I don't know what I would have done. You're not really students or teacher are you?"
Hisoka spoke up hesitantly, confusion marking his face. "No, Saori-san we're—" before he could finish, she cut him off.
"Where are we?"
Hisoka blinked. "We're at the park. The one near the school. The lake's just some distance back. We can send you home if y—" again, he was cut off.
"No, it's okay," she shook her head and took a small step back. "I'll be fine. Really. I don't know how to thank you for all that you've done."
Something wasn't right. That message was passed clearly from Hisoka's wide eyes to the rest and instinctively, they crowded closer.
"Saori?" Takashi said cautiously. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She opened her mouth as though wanting to assure them once again that she was grateful for their help, but as her eyes met the sensei's, something inside those hurt, brown eyes broke. Saori swayed briefly on her feet but when Takashi leapt to her side with a small cry, she spun around and ran off through the woods. Away from the rest of them. Away from the path leading out of the park.
For a shocked second, they could only stare in silence.
"She's heading for the cliff!" Kyo shouted and it broke their sudden paralysis. Takashi and Kyo both took off running after her, crashing through the underbrush and dodging invisible black branches that threatened to sweep them off their feet. Hisoka, Tsuzuki and Tatsumi had followed them, but fanning out, in case she veered off.
His heart pounding in his throat, Takashi fought his way past thorny bushes and braches and twigs that stung his cheek and played havoc with his balance. This part of the park they were running in was nearly a jungle; unexplored except for a few of the local kids and teenagers that frequented the park. Judging from her flight, Takashi guessed that she was one of them. The only reason they had found out about the cliff themselves was thanks to the scouting they did earlier.
"Please," Takashi gasped out as he dodged a low-lying branch. "Please don't do anything stupid!"
Behind him, he could hear Kyo coming in close, cursing as he fought his way through. Saori ran fast. He could barely see her blurred outline through the trees and despite the danger, he put on an extra burst of speed.
"Saori!"
He could definitely see the way ahead getting clearer. They must be too near the cliff already. Saori was running flat out now, unhindered by any obstacles as he himself burst through the last stand of trees and saw the ground stretching away and ending in a sharp drop just a few feet from the still running girl.
"Saori! No! Stop!"
She didn't. She kept on running until her feet left the ground and met thin air. For one moment, she hung there, grace and beauty captured perfectly like a final farewell and then, without even a scream, she plunged.
"Saori!" Takashi screamed and he jumped off, following her.
The cliff was high; at least a few hundred feet and the wind whistled sharply in his ears as he tried to outfly gravity and the law of physics.
"Taka!"
Kyo had followed him down and a desperate idea came to him.
"Kyo! Help me!"
There was no hesitation on the boy's part. A light flared behind him and instantly, he felt a stinging pain hit his back. Kyo too had realized that he would not get to Saori in time. So they chose the only option they had left; Kyo blasted him with just enough pure power to give him added momentum.
He was definitely falling faster than before and almost, his fingers brushed her shirt, the edges tantalizingly within reach. . .
But it wasn't enough. She hit the ground first with a sickening crack. Crying out, Takashi jerked his flight to a violent stop and threw himself sideways. He hit the ground hard enough to bruise, rolling to a stop and coughing up dust. Kyo had done the same and was lying dazed on the ground a few feet away.
"Takashi! Kyo!" It was Tatsumi. The three of them had a gentler flight down. "Are you two okay?"
Ignoring Tatsumi, ignoring his own stinging bruises and even ignoring Kyo, Takashi crawled over to the still body lying like a broken doll. Blood was pooling slowly around her; arms and legs twisted at odd angles and her last dying breath coming in wheezing, bubbling gasps. Already her warm brown eyes were dimming, growing colder by the second.
"Saori," he said numbly. "Why?"
Mute eyes filled with the agony of her last moment, Saori worked her throat, her mouth opening and closing but her last testament was unheard as with a final gasp, her death rattle became the last sound she ever made in the living world. Hands that had tried to clench the dirt stiffened and a moment later, relaxed and an expression of profound peace settled over her face.
Takashi was dimly aware of the fact that he was crying. Tears were rolling down his face to splash softly in the dirt, mixing with the still spreading pool of blood. He was a doctor wasn't he? He should have been able to save her. That's what he does. Save people. He spent his life learning how to so why shouldn't he be able to do so now? Why, when he tried his best, it still wasn't enough?
"Taka," it was Kyo, who had come up behind him and the boy circled his shaking body with his arms, lying his head on his back. "It's not your fault," he said softly. "She chose to die. It's what she wanted."
"But why?" he asked numbly. "Why? I could have helped her. We could have helped her. We could have made her forget. Why?" The last word a torn plea that no one could answer.
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
Kyo wasn't sure how long they stayed there, at the bottom of that cliff. Saori's body had long gone cold and her blood congealing in the dirt and leaves. Takashi still refused to leave as yet and no one had the heart to make him to. Tatsumi stood off to one side, lost in his own thoughts. Even his shadow seemed bleak. Tsuzuki and Hisoka sat on a large boulder, Hisoka sitting in his lap and burying his face in the man's shoulder.
They all took her death hard.
The moon had dropped low on the horizon and the sky to the east was growing lighter. Already birds were giving tentative, sleepy chirps and the night insects had long fallen silent.
"Tatsumi?"
They jumped as a new voice intruded their silent grieving.
"Watari?" Tatsumi frowned. "What are you doing here?"
The blond had appeared just a few steps away from him and he hurried over to the secretary, an anxious look on his face. His ribbon had come off and his glasses were hanging crooked; sure sign that he had been up all night.
He said hurriedly, "I found out something about the demon we're dealing with, something im—" he trailed off as he finally saw the macabre scene in the dawning light. "Oh my god," he breathed softly.
"We were too late," Tatsumi answered him wearily. "It happened just after we exorcised the demon. She seemed okay but then she just took off and. . ." he waved a helpless hand in her direction.
"She killed herself?"
Tatsumi nodded heavily. "Aa. Takashi-san and Kyo-kun tried their best but. . ."
"I knew this would happen," Watari said miserably.
"What?" Five voices chorused.
"You knew she would try to kill herself?" Takashi had finally shaken off his stupor and was staring at the scientist, a mixture of horror and grief in his look. "Why? Why didn't you tell us earlier!"
"I couldn't," Watari sighed. "I only found out just now. And it's not that I knew she would try to kill herself. It's just that I figured she would. . . ."
"What did you find out, Watari?" Hisoka asked calmly.
The blond ran a hand through his gold locks, a frustrated gesture and said, "I did some more research on this demon and I finally managed to pin down its exact species. It's called an Arit demon. They specialize it human possession, needing it to stay alive."
"We already know that," Tsuzuki said, puzzled.
"I'm getting to it. See, the Arit, when it possesses a human, has the ability to create a new body for itself, enabling it to leave its host and exist in its own form indefinitely."
They kept silent as they thought it over and Kyo hesitantly spoke up. "How does this. . .Arit creates a new body?" He sounded as though he didn't want to know the answer.
Watari gave it anyway.
"It creates a new body by impregnating its host," he said softly. "By this time, Saori should have been at least a month pregnant. That's why it needed so much energy. It was feeding its baby. . .in a way."
They stared first at him, then at the cold body lying before them.
"God," Takashi said brokenly and buried his face in his hands. He took a deep, shuddering breath and braced himself to ask the question. "Could we have saved her?"
"No," Watari said flatly. "When the host is impregnated, the fetus and the host is bound together spiritually and physically. That means, even if she carried it through its full term, it would have killed her anyway as it was born. The mother feeds the baby. Literally. She must have known this," Watari added, a pained note in his voice. "That's why I figured. . ."
Amber gold light touched the top of the cliff and traveled inch by inch down the craggy face. Morning had broken.
"We should contact the local authorities," Tatsumi was the first to stir himself, the practicalities of the moment asserting itself. "Somebody should call the police and her parents-"
"We can't." Again, Watari was forced to be the bearer of bad news but the Shinigamis were learning to expect it. This whole case had been nothing but.
"We have to burn the body, incinerate it completely."
"Why?" Takashi asked dully.
"Because the fetus can still live in the dead body."
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
"Taka? Aren't you tired yet?" Kyo asked softly. The man had been standing by the huge windows that fronted their living room for the past hour ever since they came back. His eyes were fixed on something that only he could see. Whether it was the blooming sakura trees that lined the park in an endless ocean or something that was beyond that, Kyo didn't know.
In the end, it had been Kyo that was forced to perform the burning. Tsuzuki had offered to call up Suzaku but since it was already light, they couldn't risk the whole town panicking, wondering why a bird of legend had suddenly appeared. Kyo, with his skill over the element, had naturally offered to do it instead.
They had to stand there till the very end, the stink of burning flesh curling in their nostrils as Kyo urged the Fire to burn hotter than possible. In a matter of minutes, cloth, skin and bones were reduced to mere ash and even that was disintegrated till only a faint dust was left. Grey, minuscule sprinkles were all that was left of the girl called Saori.
He was worried about Takashi. The doctor had stood by silently throughout the burning and on their way back to their apartment. He had figured that the older man needed some silence to work it all out but as the silence dragged and stretched, he fretted.
"Taka?" he touched a drooping shoulder hesitantly.
At that brief touch, Takashi turned around and enfolded him in a tight hug, burying his face in the boy's hair. Kyo had taken off his long coat and vest earlier and was wearing only a t-shirt over the leather pants. He roamed his hands all over Kyo's back, trying desperately to drown his feeling of helplessness in the familiar, warm presence that was Kyo.
"There was nothing else you could do," Kyo said softly.
"I know," Takashi closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Kyo's shoulder. "I know but I can't stop wishing."
Kyo let the desperate embrace go on for a few moments longer before he broke it. "C'mon," saying so, he lifted a hand and Takashi took it, obediently following the boy. Kyo led him to their bedroom and pushed the door open. As they stepped in, Kyo threw him a small grin.
"How about if I let you find out how easy it is to take off these pants?"
Takashi gave a tired laugh. "I would love to find out."
As he closed the door behind them, throwing the room into a cozy dimness, he drew the unresisting Kyo close again and kissed him, putting all of his grief, helplessness, sadness and fears into that touch and Kyo took it gladly, deepening the kiss and embracing him tight. After an eternity or a second, they broke apart and Takashi stared deep into light blue eyes.
"You'll help me forget?" he whispered.
Kyo smiled and placed a kiss on his brow. "I'll make you forget."
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
~ to be continued ~
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
A/N: The incantation and the Arit demon I actually took from a Korean manga called "Devil's Island" by Kyung Il-Yang. The manga is really good; a great plot, a great anti-hero and the drawing. . .exquisite. I don't know what's the real Korean name for the demon so I took the translated one. Sakusha should know this, ne? XD Other details of the demon I modified to suit my needs.
The names the demon mentioned? Aljunnu is a djinn I think, Baal is a fallen angel (right?) and Syaitan is the malay term for demon. Hell, they're all demons and whatnots. Still, it sounded kinda cool. Poor Saori though.
Review, ne?