A/N: Wow, it's been so long since I've updated. . .well, long for me that is. *giggle* Don't worry, I'm not neglecting this fic per se, it's more like I was suddenly caught in a whirlwind rush of inspiration, prompting me to produce 2 (count em! 2!) new fics! Yay! It's:
Tokyo Babylon/X: Not Your Ordinary Life
Yami no Matsuei: Why you should never kick Muraki in the balls
Of course, I expect you people to go and read it! You will NEVER guess the twist in my TB fic! Hehe! And there is a valid reason for the title of my yami fic. Oh, there's no major OC in it.
Poison Ivy, BrisaT, DK-Adeena, Yasha Misaki, Shaynie, Inami, Daemonchan, Kaz, moo_moo, Twylise: Thank you! Though I'm not telling anyone what are the results of the vote. It'll just spoil the surprise!
miZu-chan: haha! Thanks for your vote. But guess what? I'm not telling anyone the results! Wahahaha! *cough* Sorry. And yes, I think I can understand when you say a genki Sakusha is scarier than an insane Sakusha. Would you believe that she inspired the new fic I'm doing? The "Why you should never kick Muraki in the balls" fic. Go figure. And no, much to my eternal dismay, I do not have a PS2. Why? Are you giving me one? Heheh!
Sakusha-san: No lemon here! Hahahahaha!
Warning: Eh. . .nothing really. Just a cliffie. *smirks*
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Chapter 21
Alas, we part again
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"Kyo-san!" Watari was pleased to note that Kyo looked better than he had last night. And he had to admit, it was good seeing Kyo as he was before he had disappeared. It had unnerved them all how he appeared to 'age' since disappearing. Years and years of 'immortality' had not prepared them for the shock of seeing how a fellow Shinigami would look like if he hadn't. . .died.
This morning, most of them had waited in the staffroom, tense with apprehension to how Kyo would be the morning after his breakdown the night before. It was with great relief when Takashi and Kyo had walked in, the former smiling a genuine smile and the latter smiling as well, albeit a little shyly.
The others had wisely chosen not to crowd them, letting Watari and Hisoka approach instead. Chatting about nothing, he gently steered the three of them to his lab. But Kyo and Takashi, perceptive as usual, exchanged glances.
"Watari-san," Kyo started. "Why are we going to your lab?"
Watari dropped the genki façade, the smile replaced with a serious mien. Gesturing to Kyo, he said, "The fact that you've reverted to your real appearance means that whatever spell Ayame. . ." he hesitated briefly at the look of pain that flashed across Kyo's face at the mention of that name, "placed on you is wearing off. We need to determine whether it's the same spell that's holding back your memories as well and how the spell or spells were cast."
"What do you mean, how it was cast?" Kyo asked curiously. "Can you tell?"
Watari nodded. "Actually, it would be more accurate to say that she placed a curse, not a spell as curses are used for more malignant purposes. And all curses need to have a permanent focus for it to last long. Usually the victim's body."
Kyo winced and Takashi squeezed his hand briefly. Despite the fact that Kyo had yet to regain any memories as to his time here, Watari was happy to see how close the two of them were to each other. If anything, at least Kyo still seemed to feel some affection for the sensei.
Shooing Kyo to a chair that was vacant of papers or stacks of books, he had the boy take off his shirt. As it turned out, he had not needed to look further for proof of a curse. On his chest, right above his heart, was a white scar shaped crosswise.
Takashi and Hisoka sucked in their breath sharply.
Kyo, noting their reaction and the fact that Watari had frozen before him, fingers hovering above his bare skin asked, "What? What is it?"
"Your scar," Watari pointed out in a soft voice.
"What's with my scar?" Kyo frowned and he looked down. "What the-?"
He lifted tentative fingers, running it over the vertical line of the scar. "How did I get that?"
Watari jerked his head up. "You mean you've never seen this scar before?"
Kyo shook his head, bewildered. "Never. It's always just been this one only."
Watari exchanged significant looks with Takashi and Hisoka and turned back to Kyo. Feeling sorry for the all-too familiar look of puzzlement on the boy's face, he explained. "I think we found the focus point already."
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"Since you've reverted to your old appearance, it stands to reason that whatever spell she used to change it had faded," Watari was now in full lecture mode. "Probably due to the fact that she could not maintain it with you gone. You saw the way your palm healed from that gash yesterday? Well, as a Shinigami, any wound inflicted would have healed and not leave a trace. That means this new scar of yours is unnatural in itself. Something is prohibiting it from disappearing. In fact, it might be due to the spell fading that this scar is showing."
Kyo frowned and fingered the scar again. "But what about this other scar? The one I've always had? If I'm a Shinigami, shouldn't it have healed also?"
This time, he had caught the exchange of looks between the three other Shinigami. "What?"
"That scar was the result of a case we handled some 18 years back. We think that scar never faded because it was made by a blood-knife," Takashi said neutrally. "That and the fact that you used a pretty powerful curse when you were stabbed with it."
Watari's eyes widened. "We never did found the blood-knife afterwards, didn't we?"
Takashi started, throwing Watari a surprised look. "No, we didn't."
Watari gestured to Kyo. "And we know that the first time it was used on him, the scar never faded. What are the odds that this new scar is caused by a blood-knife as well? The same one or maybe a different one?"
"We know that Kyo could use the blood-knife to cast that curse on Akuma because it was stained with his blood," Hisoka offered thoughtfully, "Maybe Ayame did as well. . ."
"You mean this scar might be the cause for my memory modification?" Kyo clarified.
All three nodded.
"Great," he sighed. "Now how do you propose we do it, since I'm assuming that we can't break the cruse without the knife or whatever?"
Watari smiled wryly. "I think we need to go on a little treasure hunt."
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"You know that what he's suggested is preposterous in the extreme?"
Takashi seemed relieved that he had brought it up instead of himself. Indeed, the idea is preposterous. Not just because Watari had suggested that they ransack his own house, it was also the fact that he suggested they do it when all this time, the Shinigami had been adamant that Kyo had been wronged and the villainess behind it all was Ayame. So naturally, it was preposterous in the extreme that they were practically going to offer themselves up to her in the first place.
"It is a bit. . .risky," Takashi offered. The two of them were sitting together in a corner of the staffroom, on the couch reserved for break times. The other Shinigamis were clustered together at the other end, furiously discussing various strategies and counter-attacks for what now seemed to be the only logical choice of action. Takashi had quietly drawn himself and Kyo away from the debate, mainly to distract Kyo who was looking troubled over the fact that they were discussing the best way to 'kick Ayame's ass'.
Kyo sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair and started to pace back and forth, a frown on his face. Takashi, still sitting down, asked him quietly. "What are you thinking about? Is it about. . .Aki?"
Kyo threw him a startled look. "You really scare me sometimes the way you know exactly what I'm thinking about," he said mildly and was rewarded with a slight blush from the older man. He smiled softly and nodded. "Aa. . .I'm just wondering. . .where Aki fits in all of this," he gestured, indicating the clustered office. "From everything you've told me about the Shinigami, I didn't think that children were possible for a Shinigami to have."
"They're not."
The quiet admission, given without a trace of doubt, somehow shook him in no way that the other life-shaking facts he had heard these past two days did. He stopped abruptly, hugging himself tightly and screwing his eyes shut. It is not possible for Shinigami to have children. So what of Aki? No matter what, she was his flesh and blood. He had held her in his arms when she was barely an hour old, he had watched her taken her first step, had been a proud father when she had given him her first drawing in pre-school, had fretted constantly when boys started paying attention to his beautiful daughter.
He was barely aware of the gentle hands resting on his shoulders, but he took comfort in them anyway. Opening his eyes, he stared deep into Takashi's, whispering, "Then how. . .?"
Takashi didn't let go but instead, traced circles with his thumbs, the motion sending little shivers through him but Kyo focused his attention on Takashi's words. "I had talked it over with Watari. He thinks that Aki. . .may very well be a spell-child."
"A. . .spell-child?" He stumbled over the unfamiliar term.
"Aa. A spell-child seems to be the only possible way for Shinigami to have children. It rarely works however, because to imbue the spell with a soul is difficult in the extreme. The fact that Ayame is a mortal and that Aki exists in the first place. . .we don't really know what this means."
Kyo hung his head, breaking the eye contact and swallowed hard. Inside, deep in his guts, he knew their reasoning had more than a grain of truth to it. Something inside clamored for his attention, demanding that he acknowledged it.
"She's not human, isn't she?"
"The fact that she's a spell-child in the first place," Takashi started cautiously, "does mean that she—"
"You know what I mean," Kyo interrupted him. There was no heat in his words, merely resignation and more than a certain amount of weariness.
The silence stretched wide between them like a gaping chasm.
"When she summoned the demon," Takashi said softly, "we had a good feel on her aura. It wasn't human."
Kyo snorted, feeling a slightly hysterical laughter bubbling up inside him. The chuckle he let loose was more of a cry of frustration than any show of humour and abruptly, he was pulled into a crushing embrace. He let his head fall on to Takashi's shoulder, burying his face in the shirt that smelled of the soap Takashi used.
He let himself soak in the wordless comfort Takashi offered, feeling the threatening hysteria receded until he was again standing on an island of desperate calm. The quite murmurs of the other Shinigami were a lulling counterpoint to the feel of the sensei's heartbeat, steady and sure under his hand.
He turned his head slightly so that his mouth was near Takashi's ear and asked, "Did we want to have children?"
If he hadn't been in such close contact with Takashi, he would have missed the slight stiffening in the man's posture. As it was, he waited patiently for the answer.
Takashi drew back slowly, tilting his chin with two fingers so that Kyo looked at him straight in the eyes. "We talked about it," he smiled wistfully.
"But?"
"We both knew it wasn't possible."
It felt almost instinctive then, his next move. With just the slightest hesitation, Kyo leaned forward, mouth parted. There was a look of wonderment and delight, mixed with a little apprehension on Takashi's face but he too leaned in until their lips were barely centimeters apart.
Kyo hiccupped.
Takashi couldn't stop the bark of laughter. He had imagined all sorts of scene where he got to kiss Kyo again and while they had been interrupted, he would not have guessed that it would be due to a hiccup.
"K-kyo?" he chortled.
Kyo stared at him, wide-eyed but with no trace of amusement on his face at all. He hiccupped again, a palm suddenly pressing down on his chest.
"Takashi?"
He felt it again. A tug inside of him. Like someone had gotten hold of a rope and jerked hard on it. When the next tug came again, he was nearly bowled over. This time, streaks of pain had shot through him and he heard Takashi gasp.
"Kyo? What's wrong?"
Bent over, gasping, Kyo looked up, his expression frightened.
"I think she's calling me," he whispered.
This time, the tug was a gut-twisting yank that prompted a scream of pain from him. His surroundings blurred and he felt the sensation of flying backwards through the air. It was like the few times Takashi had teleported him between Meifu and Chijou except this time, it felt prolonged and definitely screwed up. Everything was too painful; he felt as though his flesh was being burnt off and his bones sliced with a dull knife.
His last coherent thought was of Takashi screaming and reaching out for him.
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to be continued
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A/N: And so I got hit with the cliffie bug. Evil me. Oh hey, I've been going through a HP-fic craze and found same damn fine authors. Go check them out if you haven't!
A Bittersweet Potion by Alchemia Dent and bugland
Magnetic Attraction by frizzy (Draco's a Veela and he wants Harry! Woohoo!)
Harry Potter and the Fall of Childhood by Shayla (it's a massive trilogy, unfinished, but so damn good. Worth the long read)
Harry Potter & the Spirits Within by maven cree formerly known as gates (Great fic. Please help me bug her to finish it!)
My Dad by Sever Us (Snape is Harry's dad! By adoption that is. You get to see a whole new side of Harry, of how he could have been if he had a parent growing up)
Narry a Sound by Morien Alexander (It's slash, D/H but soooooo cute! You'll love Draco and the end-of-school speeches they were giving at the end!)
There's tons more, just check out my fav authors section. I keep on having to delete others to make way for new authors! Of course, that doesn't mean you can neglect my fic and the new ones I've put up! Go read it! Oh, and review, naturally.