Ack! Me and my laziness . . . Anyway, thanks for the reviews. There's possibly one chapter left till the end.
Chapter 4 - I Was Once Human
He stood deep in the abstract silence. The stones before him urged him to move forward and end the wait. He knelt down beside the stones, confused about his mind and heart. They had separated, but were still close that at times he didn't know which one of them was speaking. He didn't know whether his heart was pure and his mind knew only lies or whether his heart was tainted and his mind spoke the truth. Had fear and anxiety from the sudden turning point of what was left his life caused them both to separate? He did not know. But he had only one question. He used his hand to move the rocks; the scraps and scratches piercing through the silence. Afterwards, he crouched with his arms around his knees, his heart frozen and his mind blank.
"Am I alone?" the rocks read back at him.
He waited for an answer and through the ever-growing silence, a hand reached down and rested on his back.
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Ayane pressed her hands against her ears in an effort to drown out the cries. Or maybe it was an effort to drown out the guilt.
"I wish that every decision you made depended upon me!"
The words came out of her mouth whether she truly wanted them to or not. He had become hers to command just like everyone and everything else around her, her own personal robot. When she said walk, he walked; when she said speak, he spoke; when she said sleep, he slept, and when she said wake up, he woke. She had taken his identity despite his plea. It had been the only thing he had left. Branded with her name, he followed her till he became a pest. He had to senselessly stay put outside in the rain. Stay put near the shrine so that you can die from a falling stone and have your blood spilled into the puddles on the ground.
Ayane didn't dare go near him to see if there was life within his still form. The rain seemed to pour harder at the sight of his blood, freezing her till she felt her insides were cold. She stepped back away as the blood spread across the ground towards her feet. Was she ashamed? Did she believe it was her fault?
"Owe! Ayane! What're you doing?!" young Ryu's scream echoed through the forest.
His gawked in disbelieve at the fresh gash on his arm. He scowled at her when the red started to run. Younger Ayane smirked.
"I'm sparring with you!" she exclaimed, positioning herself to attack once more with her tanto, "That's what I'm doing!"
They stood around her in shock. Ayane hadn't noticed them until one asked if her victim was dead. She stepped back out of sight, their shoulders concealing her from the body. Her robot was dead.
Hayate had knelt down in his blood, he had cuddled his head in his arms, and his blood covered the front of his gi. Hayate was there beside his friend to cry; the same friend that had tried to painfully and unmercifully take his life. Only humans shed tears, blood, and have the ability to mourn. And as she sat outside his door, the unbearable reality of knowing one was a murder and an identity thief all went away, dissolved into thin air just like the many memories she had stolen. What was done was done. Bear it then forget.
Ayane placed herself beside his bed. Hayate remained lying upon the bed, streams of endless tears running down his cheeks. His sobs quieted as he felt the heat of her body on his damp skin. He slowly picked himself up to face her as if the pain of the death was a heavy weight on his back. The red on his gi and the pale color of his skin were conspicuous now. Ayane had her hand upon his head. She rubbed his brown hair back from the front of his face to see his red eyes and nose. Hayate didn't pay any mind to her stoic expression, but threw himself onto her, wrapping his arms around her waist; a gesture that had become common for over a month.
"You have to stop crying someday," she told him, speaking more to herself than him.
A few seconds past as the rain pattered against the window. Hayate buried his head farther into her chest.
"Maybe I won't," his voice spoke, quiet and hoarse, "I loved him, Ayane!"
The guilt returned to her at the mention of 'him.' She forcefully picked Hayate's head up to face hers, not caring whether she was hurting him or not.
"I know you loved him," Ayane scowled, "You loved him, you loved Kasumi, you loved Mother, you loved anyone who wasn't me!"
"-But I love you, Ayane!" Hayate quickly squeezed her hands in his and pulled her close, afraid that she would walk away from him; another common gesture for over a month.
"-I know you love me! Stop telling me this!" Ayane ripped her hands from his grasp.
Hayate fell off the bed in a desperate attempt to reach out for his younger sister. His body met the wooden floor in a thud. He remained at Ayane's feet. A new set of tears were now wetting the floor. He finally sat up, feeling Ayane's glare on him. He hung his head low in an attempt to hide himself from her eyes. He was ashamed that she didn't love him back. All the days he said those words, they annoyed her. He knew now.
"Since when did you become such a sissy, Hayate?" Ayane questioned him.
He stood on his feet, towering over Ayane. And as he passed her towards the doorway, she believed he had spoken.
"Ever since you made me this way."
Maybe it was the back of her mind.
She turned her head to watch him leave; she knew that he still loved her despite her callous remark and gestures. That would never change. Everything she wished never changed. Her white furred companion in the doorway made sure she understood that. Her desires would have to have their swift wings snipped if she wanted to live in the world she had created. She could smell her mistake. Its red hue stained the sheets. She grabbed a handful and ripped them off the bed.