Cutting out most warnings and disclaimers as this is a continuation, and
same warnings and disclaimers apply.
HOWEVER, there is very, VERY much in the way of violent, bloody, and containing some hintings to adult situations. This part of the chapter falls almost on a R rating, however since I won't draw too much detail into it, I think most of these things will be okay as PG-13, but if you would feel offend at such content... Well, just don't read it.
I've promised a sum up at the end of this chapter, and yes I will deliver.... On that note, PLEASE don't skip down to the author's notes unless you want to spoil the ending of this case!
Again, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Rina and Maria's story draws to an end. Will it be a happy ending, a sad ending? Or maybe even...
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The Eternal Whisper in the Shadow of Surging Tears
(Part B)
Farewell to You, My One, My Love
"No..." the whispered fear comes unbidden from my lips. The smell attacks my nose shortly after I come upon the scene. Pressing my hand to my mouth I choke down the bile that has risen in my throat. The smell, the smell is far too familiar. Just as much so is the sight of the decapitated bodies of the nurses that are lying strewn across the floor. I feeling the wall pressing against my back, but I can't remember back stepping from the massacre before me, or when I first started to shake so badly. The room, the heavy air that hung within; red that splattered the walls, and the smell. Familiar, it's all far too familiar. Backing out of the room, I shove my body against the wall outside the door, using the surface for support. I keep the hand pressed to my mouth, taking in determined, deep breaths. Steadying my body, I turn back to the room, looking at all the scattered bodies that have littered the floor before me. Carefully I enter the room, making sure not to step on any of the corpses. As I proceed, taking in note to make sure Hisoka is not one of them, and being slightly relieved when I don't see him. I start to move toward his bed, but stop as I step over a name tag that had been ripped from one of the uniforms.
"I'm sorry, Michiko-san." It's all I can muster up for the girl I had argued with not but a few hours before. Remembering the cause of the argument, I continue further into the room.
My eyes fall over to the vacant bed that should have held Hisoka's body. There's some blood on the wall and on the sheets, but the boy is no where to be found. I cast my eyes away; I can't stand to keep looking at that empty bed; an empty bed stained with blood. My vision changes from one bed to another as I am now looking at the other hospital bed that's positioned next to the window. A flash of memory; a warm smile, a dark eyed girl... That's right! Rushing over to the bed I turn over the covers that are laying in a mass there. Yes, this bed too was vacant, cords that were once running through her body, were cut lying uselessly from the machines around the bed. There's no blood on the bed though, and I had not seen her small body mingled among the other corpses that had lined the floor.
"What... What am I going to do?" Really, I don't know! My thoughts keep wandering back to that dark void, to that crying, pained face. I had seen him when my heart had stopped, when I had, for lack of a better term, died. I don't really understand it all, but that can only mean Hisoka's de-... No, no yet. He can't be dead yet, he has too much of a stubborn spirit to just die...right??
I need to find him.
"Down this way!"
"When did it happen?"
"We don't know! It was after the heart monitor on one of the patients flat lined. All the nurses, they... They're...!"
The multiple clicking of hard soled shoes drew closer to the blood steeped room. One of the men was issuing orders to lock down the hospital. 'The police...' Quickly I shift over to the side of Rina's vacant bed, and open the one window that adorned the room. Using my arms for leverage I throw myself out the window. Chanting faster then my mind can think to cast the spell that allows me flight back into the storming night's air.
The rain beats down harshly on me, but I use the spell just as skillfully as I have a million times before, soaring quietly up the wall of the hospital to the roof. Letting the spells energies slowly leave me, my shoes gently touch down onto white top of the roof. The rain continues to tap around me and over my body. However, I can't feel the rain around me. There is something else that has me in its grip, as my body has become ridged, each muscle, each cell, awakening under a foreign, familiar, power.
'There's a demon near here,' it's not a matter that I question, I know it. I know for a fact that this familiar feeling. This evil power emanating so close near by was that of the energy of the hell spawn. Closing my eyes, I let my body focus on the power the demon is sending out, letting it pulse within me, slowly connecting with it. I feel it pulsing inside me now, as it keeps growing, stronger and stronger.
I didn't expect for the second pulse, the soft, weak one, to beat in turn with it. Gasping for breath I force myself out of synch with that dark energy.
"Tha- That's too much...!!" Gasping with my hands on my knees, I struggle to steady my now weak body. Calming my breaths with all my will, I finally to regain my composure and righten myself again.
"I almost...," More images of a past I never wanted flood quickly to the front of my mind, so fast, I could see everything and nothing all at once. Breath becomes labored again as I fight off the memories that seem so desperate to free themselves from the recesses of my mind. 'I can't do it; if I concentrate on that demon's power, then...then I might...'
Thought's of before, of the void, of green tear filled eyes, and white strained knuckles return to me. The idea that he could be in so much pain... I don't know why that idea makes me do what I do.
I don't know why this boy I've barely met, makes me risk remembering my past, as I again synch with the demon's energy. There is only this feeling, this feeling that I know that it's not an option for me to let him suffer. Just as I was willing to reach out to him in that abyss before, not caring if I destroyed the one thing that made me not feel alone, I reach out to the evil that flows in the air, and for some reason, again, all of my fears and all of my pain leave my mind. There is nothing more important in right now, in this world filled with fake smiles, false promises, and the cruelty of reality, then to make sure that he is alright. A need to make sure that this dread I've been carrying with me is nothing but an over active imagination, my own illusion, one that has no premise on reality.
Letting myself slip easily into the flow of the power that is pulsing in the air, I relax, and feel it fill my body, guiding me to its source, to the cause of everything. I can feel myself being pulled to the west end of the hospital, to the wing that's under renovation. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I have one reoccurring thought that pushes just as a light, yet firm, whisper into my concentration.
'This will be the end of it.'
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// A window hung suspended in the air, no wall surrounding it. The sky was the type of blue that only existed in perfect paintings. Dark eyes watched as the ideal, small, white puffs of clouds lazily rolled over head in that bright, faultless blue ceiling. The warmth of the sun shown from all angles, yet that bright yellow orb was the only thing missing from that beautiful sky. The sounds of animals, birds, quietly sung out tunes, ones that only their hearts could echo into natural's lullaby.
"Hey, Ri~na!"
The dark eyed girl turned to look at the source of the call. Rina noticed she herself was sitting in her white hospital robes, on her hospital bed, in a wall-less room that had a small set of stares that lead down to a huge flowering garden. So many different flowers grew so brightly in that sunless warmth. As far as her eyes could see, the garden expanded all around. Shifting as best she could she moved on her bed, and pressed her self against that window, wanting to be in that garden before her; to touch those petals, and lay in the bright colors they held. Her eyes finally caught sight of a small white gloved hand that waved to her, in the midst of the rainbow that swayed lightly in the gentle wind. Maria sat there, a happy smile on her lips, a white, long brimmed hat upon her head. She wore a dress Rina recognized as one she wore when working in her garden. Her own hand pressed to the glass as a small smile crept to her lips.
The wind picked slightly, and Maria returned to what she had been doing; trying to cut a small, bright yellow tulip with her gardening shears. The wind kept moving the petite stem, swaying it in and out of the girl's reach. Maria tried again and again to grab that elusive flower, yet another deep purple tulip's stem kept getting in her way. Finally, Maria reached out and held the yellow flower's stem firmly in her grasp, descending in quickly with the sheers, she cut the flower. The yellow tulip fell to the ground, shortly followed by the purple one that had slipped in at that last moment, and it too had been cut with the same stroke. Leaving the purple tulip where it had fallen, Maria picked up the yellow flower she had sought, and hurriedly ran up the steps that lead to Rina's bed.
"Rina! This is it. The one and only flower that can heal you, and I found it!"
"Maria?" Rina couldn't keep the slight confusion from her voice. Just now, what she had seen, what was that? It was sad, but it wasn't a horrid thing, to cut down a flower. Yet, somehow, she couldn't help but feel a great pain in her heart as she held that small yellow flower in her hand. It was as though she knew, it was wrong; they had done a horrible thing, killing this young flower. Maria didn't seem to see, or care about Rina's hurt expression. Quickly taking Rina by her hand, Maria pulled the younger girl off her bed and to her feet. Rina stood there for a few seconds, confused at the blissful air her friend held, that is, until she realized she was standing. Her body, freed of pain, her legs working, and the person she loved guiding her down the steps, leaving behind her that white bed, and that sole window, full in it's reflection of colors.
Standing in the middle of the garden, Rina watched in fascination as she felt the flowers brush against her legs. Maria twirled in that rainbow of soft fragrant color, arms spread wide, as though she could capture the whole world with this act.
"You see?" Maria laughed in her musical voice as she danced, "I searched through all these flowers, because I knew that there was one that would make you well. I found it!" Bright, gleaming eyes tuned to the girl who stood dazed in the mix of life around her. She stared out at the world, picturesque as it was; as beautiful as heaven must be.
Dark eyes shadowed slightly as they caught sight of the fallen purple tulip, the one that had fallen with the small one she held. The flower's once bright colors faded way, and the flower started to curl, browning on its tips. A strange panic filled Rina, as her eyes shifted to find the small yellow tulip she held was also giving up what bright light it held, and it too gave in to a brown death.
"Maria?" The flower fell from the girl's hands, disintegrating before it even hit the ground. Maria stared on at Rina, through eyes that now no longer reflected the garden around them.
"It had to be this way,"
Rina turned her face up to the woman before her. Maria stood, her head tilting ever slightly, and a sad look pulling on her face. The wind picked up again, and the white hat that was keeping long auburn hair under its brim flew away with the breeze.
"I know this was the price I agreed to pay, I just wish," Maria moved lightly forward, lifting her white glove to reach for the pale girl's disorientated face, a petal falling from that out stretched hand. "I wanted to be with you a little longer was all..." her words croaked out, with a quiver and tears that threatened to break her voice. Fear quick rose inside Rina, as more and more petals formed and fell away from Maria's body.
"Maria?!!" Rushing toward Maria on her new working legs, Rina reached out with both her arms, throwing her self toward the sadly smiling visage as the body before her quickly melted, blowing away in streams of pink sakura in front of Rina's own terrified eyes. Arms quickly wrapped around Maria, but just as she gripped around her love, Maria fell way into a cloud of soft fragrant petals.
"MARIA!!!~~~"//
"No...!" a harsh voice quietly whispered. The sickly, and now bleeding, girl didn't even realize it was her own hoarse whispered plea that pulled on the edge of her hearing. Her weak body, slowly coming out of the sleeping spell that had been cast on it.
'Yes,' Rina mussed to herself, as her eyes refocused out of the disturbing vision of her dream, to the horrid reality of the present. 'I can see, and I understand this. It was another one of my premonitions, wasn't it? Even still it happens; bits and pieces, in dreams, or when I'm wide awake, scattered as though someone has dumped a huge puzzle before my eyes. Small things, irrelevant things, even the life altering things. It's a constantly changing puzzle, the future, one that bends and shapes anew when someone goes against the prescript plot...Even for me,' Rina remembered it clearly, the day she had went against the foreordained, when she had saved Maria, even thought Maria was suppose to die.
The pain of losing Maria would be too much to bear, and yet now... Was she any better off now? The devastation caused by a new script being thrown in to fill the one that had been destroyed; Maria, who was supposed to die under that car, living on. If that had happened like it was suppose to, if she had just kept on walking, leaving fate unchanged, then Maria would have died that night and Rina herself was to follow shortly after. Rina was supposed to commit suicide out of grief a year after Maria's death. This was the plot as she had seen it. This was the way it was suppose to be.
Rina was going to die no matter what.
Now, however, both she and her love lived on, or not quite so, if these sad lives they lead could be called that. Maria, possessed by a monstrous demon who killed others, and Rina, a hospital bed ridden girl who only could sit in pain day and night. Fate had a way it seemed, of punishing those who went against its set plans.
Rina's eyes fell on the sight of the young blond haired boy, and the demon, which had his hand pressed firmly to the young boy's face. Dark red and purple shadows flowed from the monster to it's pray, causing the boy to twist and jerk in the most painful ways possible.
The power the demon was trying to attack Hisoka with, was one that dug deeply into its victim, pulling up the person's greatest fear, one that they would rather die then go against. It causes people to die of fright, or at least, it allows their souls to pass on, ripped and broken from their bodies. Someone under its influence would rather die then go on facing with the horrid demons of their own mind's creation. It was what the beast had used on all those other people, before finally taking their hearts. It had failed each time, however. Their blood had been the same type as Rina's, but it takes more then just that to make the spell work correctly. It was almost as if they needed to share the same essence for the casting of the spell to work properly.
'Even still...' Dark eyes stared hard at that now demonic face, 'I will still try, for a better ending then what is scripted. I still have something I can do.' Her gaze faltered, becoming unfocused, settling on something not in the past, but an event that lied on the horizon, one that was quickly approaching.
//"I thank you...Rina, can I ask a favor of you?"
"What?"
"I have some... 'Things' I need to take care of. If I'm not back, when he wakes up..."//
'And I still, I still have a promise left to keep!'
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Pressing my Arms firmly around my head, I hear the splintering of glass as it gives way to the force of my body. The chiming shards flow with me through the air, and I can feel them fall around me as I land hard on the floor of the dark room. Very little light filters into the shadows that fill the room from the shattered window of my entrance. It's dark, true, but that has never been something that I have ever been concerned with. My vision is that of one which improves under such conditions, and right now, I can see everything.
A writhing small body, gut wrenching screams that make my heart skip a beat and send chilling waves down my spine. Long, bony arms, pinning their pray, and a wide ruthless smile that showed long gleaming fangs where those red lips parted. The room wreaked a stench of fear and blood.
I know this scene.
I don't remember rushing on the creature that had my partner pinned to the ground. I don't know when I gathered those dark, purple energies around me, or when I used my fist to drive them into the demon that had quickly became all I could see. Anger was all I knew, blinding and white, burning any thoughts from by mind. My body moved without me telling it to, ducking the clawed hand that sliced past my face.
\'Kill, kill him.'/
Another clawed hand shot out for my stomach, but it cut through empty air as I ducked and rolled under its reach, twisting, then using my momentum to land another strong plow into the side of the fiend. The creature twisted and flew to the side, falling hard to the ground.
\'Kill him.'/
\'Kill him!'/
I could hear the loud echoing of my soles and they approached the fallen demon. Long, brown hair flipping out of its face, as it struggled to its hands and knees, blood bursting from its mouth at the exertion of inner tissues and vessels that had burst under the trauma I had caused. My hand shoots forward, as it buries it's self in the deeply into brunette hair of the abyssal creature. Using a quick jerk, I yank its head around, forcing its face toward me. Black storming eyes smile at me, red, crimson lips part, letting way for the humming sound that bubbles up from that long throat.
"Hahaha!" The struggling form before me laughs, smiling at me with arrogance burning deeply into every feature.
"What's so funny?" The tone of my voice is foreign to my ears, not mine at all. I don't know who is speaking these words, or who is controlling me, making me raise my other hand as more dark, violet energies gather around my fist, coming to me, as though to answer a call, one that I can't remember giving. They are surging in me, wrapping around every fiber in my body, feeding and growing on the hate that is welling like a spring inside my body.
"I laugh," The demon's true voice hums behind a female one, "because, you can't even see, can you? You dumb, bastard of a hell hound." My fist drives toward that smirking face, letting all my strength release into the blow.
A sudden shift in his position and the demon drops just below my fist. All my strength is still driving me forward, and I can't stop, even as I see the long outstretched talons that are being thrust toward me; I didn't even feel the blow at first.
"You can't see," the duel layered voice is humming softly into my ear. The gentle voice is a great opposite to the strong, violent claws that have buried them selves into my stomach. Pain splinters and drives through me, cutting deeply through my muscles as the demon thrusts the blades even farther into my gut. I can feel a hot, sticky liquid flowing out of my body from the wounds. The hot fluid runs in red rivers down my stomach and legs, pooling quickly on the ground before me. I can't stop the shutter that enwraps my being as the claws are removed. Pressing all my strength and my will into my legs proves to fail and I fall, dropping face first to the ground. There's a slight tingling and numbing sensation that quickly starts spreading through me from the wounds. More then just blood loss, I know this feeling, it has to be poison, a very strong one. I can already feel it as it moves through my body.
"I've already won." The demon declares in a mocking tone before he moves just out of my line of sight, which, as of current, includes the floor and area before me. There's a movement I can't see, but I know what has been done, and even though I can't see it, my eyes grow wide with horror. I can feel the power that had led me to the room, which before, while strong, was scatter. Now it has shifted to join and connect; the demon has finished his spell. Quickly, I press my arm around my abdomen, desperate to lessen the flow, as I use pure will to lift my body to its feet once again. Following the energies to the point of their focus, I know what I'll find; Hisoka. Purple energies have now moved to fill in the cuts that flow as incantations carved into his small body. The power of the spell is enough to illuminate the room, and the horrid circle glowed in turn with the writing on the boy's body. He's green eyes while open, are blank, and no scream leaves his lips, not even when his body wrenched, as his chest gave way to the spell.
I can only watch in horror as blood burst from his mouth, as the spell takes effect.
I can only watch as I see him die before my eyes.
'What was it again?'
The strength I had felt before, the anger, that blinding rage, flow out of me in that same instant. My legs suddenly buckle and give way, becoming useless beneath me. My arms too, lose their strength and drop limply away from my stomach.
'What was the point?'
It's not real; not at all.
Yes, all of it, it's all a dream or maybe even a performance, a staged play? Not real, and I am just a part of this fictional act too; not real, not alive. It must have always been this way. Oh, maybe that was the point? That's right, there's nothing in here; it's all fake anyways. Then, that means, there's no reason to stay in a pointless act right? It's alright then, if I just let it all fad away, right? There's no one here to say any differently.
I'm tired of acting in this play where I am always alone. I don't want to play this part anymore. I can't think of a reason to.
"Tsu...zuki-san," a soft voice lifts the air around me as a small, cold hand slides up my back, stopping in the center. My eyes shift open and to the source of the voice. I find a young, and very pale dark haired girl sitting next to me, one hand on my back and one hand pressed firmly to the ground, bearing all her upper body weight. I know her, I'm sure. That's right; she was that girl I talked with, before, her name... What was it? I can't seem to draw the strength to search my mind for that piece of information, so I let it slide away from me. I really don't care too much at this point.
With the look I'm receiving, I must have scared her somehow, as dark eyes fidget on my face, and the small pale body shakes ever so slightly next to me. Her eyes blink twice and her face become firm as a secret inner strength is tapped.
"Tsuzuki-san," the hand presses firmly into my back, as though the contact could grant me whatever strength she held in doing so. "It is not as you think!" Her eyes look on past me and I can only stare at her, my mind muddled. There's a loud shriek of shock that jerks my head to follow Rina's gaze as cries issue forth from the target our eyes have become fixed on. The demons long brown hair shifts from side to side, following the shaking of its head.
"What is it?! WHY??!!" The demons enraged and confused voice fills the air. I stare past the trembling body of the demon, down to the focus of the demanding questions. He's there, sitting up with his arm wrapped across his chest, green livid eyes burning into the demon's own gaze defiantly. The purple energies that had enwrapped him before, where pushed away from his body, swirling pressing as they tried to get closer to him, yet laying just out of reach.
"Hisoka?" He's body is still glowing, intricate ancient demon writing still covering his form. However, now it's red and not the violet hue as it was before. The writing itself has taken on a different pattern. No, more then different, this is a completely different incantation then the one that had been carved onto him before! Blood still ran from the previous spells marking, yet this new, burning red glow, did not follow them, these glowing marks that were etched just under the surface of his skin.
"Now you must do as I say, Tsuzuki," The young girl besides me speaks in a way that commands attention to every detail of her voice. I try to turn to face her, only to have my body dip slightly under the attempt. If I hadn't been what I am, there's no doubt my body would have succumb to the numbing feeling the poison is spreading through my veins. The poison, instead of rendering my limbs useless, only slows their speed, making each movement an effort. Those dark eyes look on me with empathy of understanding running through their gaze. Leaning in closer, she spoke quickly in a hushed voice, yet every word she spoke rang clearly into my ear. I pulled away form whisper of those lips, my eyes widen with the new horrid understanding of what she had said. I press them shut, and shake me head rapidly.
'There's no way, no way I can do that!' Just before those thoughts settle into resolution, I feel two small cold hands gently pressing onto my face. Those hands are so very gentle, and yet so very cold. I open my eyes slightly, and she is all I can see now, as she holds my face, so very gently, yet leaving me no room to pull away.
"Tsuzuki, it is what I want." Dark pleading eyes are searching deep within my own, "You are one, who would understand that, and I am the one who also understands; there is no other way."
"But...!" A small finger presses to my lips, cutting off the words that are ragging inside me, yelling at how wrong it is. 'This isn't right! There is another way, there's always another way!' Yet she hushes me ever so quietly, a small smile brimming to her lips. Leaning in, her face is just inches from mine as she whispers and places a gentle kiss on my cheek,
"Thank you..."
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"What is it?! WHY??!!" The demon's enraged and confused voice fills the air. The breath he drew into his body was labored, yet he couldn't stop the small chuckle that found its way out with the outraged cry of his enemy. The frustration and confusion mounted, building onto of its self with every second that past, and it rolled off in waves from the demon. Hisoka let his gaze lock with the demon's own. Shifting again slightly, despite his wounds, Hisoka moved so he was on his knees and heels, letting his legs support his upper body which bobbed ever so slightly out of sheer exhaustion.
"What is this?!" The demon screamed, eyes following the red markings that pulled over the boy's body. The demon had cast the spell, and just as it was to rip the heart from the boy, these new writings sprang to life over his skin, instantly dispelling the demons own energies from the youth's body.
"I tried to tell you," Hisoka's own face twisted into a mocking scowl, much like the one the demon had worn before, "you couldn't. My heart, my heart is not one that would work in your stupid spell." A long brunette brow furled, and he didn't have to be an empath to know the confusion that was written over the creature's face. Hisoka let his hand trace over one of the glowing crimson marks that burned just underneath his skin.
"That spell is..." the demon's eyes narrowed then grew large with understanding, revulsion and even a small hint of fear. All of these emotions were emanating from the being that stood now rigidly in it's place as small beads of sweat formed over its brow.
"Yeah, that's right," Green eyes bore down on the creature before him, "I'm already dead."
"What trickery! It's a lie! That sort of spell none can cast anymore." Fear brimmed and over flowed from the demon, fear which feed into the rage that was quickly consuming the creature's entire being. The demon lifted it's razor talons, preparing to attack the boy, the one who had all the he needed to be free; to have what he had longed to have for centuries so close and yet to have it still impossibly out of reach.
"Go ahead and try, but not even something like that," the blond indicated with a nodded to the offending claws, "will be able to kill me."
An animal growl burst from behind clenched teeth, the female voice drowned out by the rumbling monster that she held inside. The demon descended down on Hisoka, who, for all his audacious talk, was still too weak to doge the assault. Raising his arms, he braced for the blow that was to follow, squeezing eyes shut tightly against the attacking visage. The slicing of flesh and bone, and the pain that was promised to follow, never did reach his body.
A scream of agony, one that had not come from his own lips, snapped his eyes open. Emerald gaze fell upon a clawed hand that extended centimeters from his face, frozen still in the air. Staring up at his assailant, Hisoka gapped just as he saw a tear roll down from wide hazel eyes. The demonic features, that had possessed the woman, dissolve as foam on water. The cruel and sinister nature that had been so strong just a short while ago, weakened, and dissipated, leaving to where, Hisoka could not say. However, what he did know, was that the woman in front of him, the beautiful and tall woman with chestnut hair; the woman who silent cried in front of him had no trace of the demon in her anymore.
"...Maria?" Hisoka questioned, hesitantly knowing now this girl as the one who was in that shadowed vision of the past. Maria did not answer him with words, yet she broke down even further into sobs. Hisoka reached out with his empathy once more for any sign of the evil that had tried to claim his, well, sort of, life. The volatile emotions he had felt before, now were no longer, the dark purple energies that the demon had born too had dissipated with his presence, a testament to his strange vanishing act. The only emotion he could feel right now, was the aching sadness coming from the woman who collapsed in front of him. She sat, her legs useless beneath her, with her hands pressing hard into the floor in front of her. Her eyes, while still streaming with tears, were focused not on Hisoka, but on the scene behind him. Turning his head he could feel the heat lick his face, and emerald eyes could see the orange and red flames that burned on the other side of the room.
"A fire?" Hisoka was couldn't believed he hadn't noticed when it started, though, in all fairness, he had been a bit distracted he supposed. A shadow in the midst of the flames caught his attention, though he could not see what it was, he couldn't miss the extra warmth and peace that emitted from the blaze. It was more then just the physical warmth emitting from that blaze, a strong sense of peace welled deeply in his heart, unconsciously making him sigh as the contented feeling filled him, overriding that sorrow that was born by the crying woman so closely beside him.
"...Rina," the woman began to quake violently, as the words left her lips.
Hisoka knew it then, that calm, that peace; dark eyes that looked on from an inferno that surrounded them. A memory of a face, times and things that didn't belong to him. Rain, an umbrella on a muddied ground, bits of times and places, all imbued with the same feeling, the same persona having touched each and every memory.
Maria still had the tears on her face, yet she wasn't crying anymore. Her deep hazel eyes looked on, as a child would, unable to understand the how or why things happen. She just stared on, her sorrow melting into confusion. 'Why, why, why?' This single thought projected from the woman onto Hisoka over and over again.
A dark form stiffly lifted itself to its feet before them, it's back to the two who sat, looking on confused at what had happened. Turning to face them was Tsuzuki, his deep violet eyes cast to the side. Tsuzuki did not give off any emotion of shame though, as what Hisoka had come to expect from such an action. Instead, what Hisoka received unnerved him more then any other reaction could have, he received nothing. It was as though he was straining to see a chalkboard that was black, void of all writing. Even as Tsuzuki stepped closer to the boy, he still couldn't feel any emotion from him. Mechanically, Tsuzuki bent down on one knee in front of Maria, placing a small tattered book into the woman's hands, whispering some words to her, he tuned himself then so he was facing his partner. Eyes, just as empty of emotion, stared blankly at Hisoka. The blond couldn't help but to fidgeted slightly under that stare.
What was it? What had changed so quickly about this man? Last he had seen him wasn't he skipping with joy like a fool? He was not so naive to believe that was the only emotion the man had, in fact, his power had laid that bit out for him long ago. Hurt, fear, and a deep loneliness lurked under that happy face that smiled endlessly. He had felt all these from the man, who's mood shifted and turned as a rainbow of feelings. Where had they all gone? Even the most boring person feels at least something. Why had he been erased of all that was in him?
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki moved in closer to the youth, eyes never changing from that scary blank stare. "You'll have to forgive me," Hisoka skirted back as the taller man continued to advance on him.
"W-What--?!" Before another word of protest could leave his mouth, the shocked empath was swept up in one quick swooping motion into strong arms that easily lifted him off the ground. Hisoka didn't hesitate to yelled and struggle, fighting back against any sort of contact. Touching people was always an open invitation for their minds to flow into his own, and sometimes he didn't even know who he was anymore. Despite how much he squirmed and pushed against the hold, Tsuzuki's arms kept him securely in place. It took several seconds for Hisoka to stop and realize that he was still in complete control of his faculties; the other man's mind and thoughts weren't swarming into his own. In truth, he could only feel a slight murmur that lay deeply hidden from him, only enough to show that Tsuzuki really was alive, not a soulless zombie like he was currently portraying. Weighting his options, aka, knocking out the man who held him, no doubt falling to the floor himself, or letting himself be carried; knocking out the man who held him was starting to look pretty good right about now. The not so distant sounds of sirens and horns stopped his fist from flying straight into the older man's face.
"We're leaving," Tsuzuki announce, receiving a deep blushing scowl in reply. Two ofuda slipped out of his jacket sleeve into his hand. The paper folded in on itself, as though it was being pressed into origami. The ofuda formed two birds that flew once around the two, and then burst into a flash of blinding light. When the light cleared, Tsuzuki and Hisoka were gone.
A room which was quickly being consumed in red and yellow, where a girl sat, cradling a book closely to her chest, only these remained.
((((~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*(( ))* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~))))
"I still can't believe it. How did you live through that?!" Watari exclaimed as he finished re-dressing the last wound on Hisoka's body. He sat on a small infirmary bed, white bandages wrapped across him. Hisoka decided that the blond haired scientist must be good for something after all, as he had treated his wounds with a knowledge and expertise one would only expect to find in a hospital. He had also applied a salve to the wounds that removed the pain the cuts had caused, and in short time he had promised that it would heal the wounds with no residual scars. Hisoka decided to ignore the last part where he slipped in something about having tested it and not having had another raccoon incident.
Better off not knowing, right?
It had been three days since his first mission. The odd killings had stopped, so, in that way, their mission was a success... right? Pulling his black tee-shirt over his head, he still couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't. They closed the case in just under twenty-four hours, yet it seemed like more luck then real work had brought about its end. He had his physical wounds still to deal with, though, with Watari's care, he was healing nicely, and he had no doubt as to his own recovery.
The girl, who had been possessed by the demon, was apparently a singer who was just hitting it big. She had disappeared after that night, and the news of her vanishing, though at first was all over the news, had already starting to dwindle in the public eye.
Rina, the sick young girl who's body would never age, and would never truly heal, died in the blaze. Tsuzuki had told of how he had 'canceled' the contract the demon had over Maria by killing Rina. The deal with Maria was for Rina to live, and with the death of Rina, the demon's power over the singer fell away instantly.
And then there was Tsuzuki...
Yes, that was the last thing that bothered Hisoka, his 'partner'. It was like looking at a two sided coin, on one side was that confident and powerful man who took on an ancient demon head on, even if he was wounded in the act. Tsuzuki had shown real power then, though Hisoka didn't see all of it, he saw enough to know that his partner was indeed very powerful. However, even still, Tsuzuki walked around smiling, whining about paper work, and acting like a spoiled brat sometimes. He was like two separate people. Also, more then that...
"His~oka-chan!"
He was really annoying as hell sometimes too!
"Shut up, BAKA! I told you not to call me 'chan' didn't I?!" Green eyes shot daggers into the happily waving fool who had peeked his head through the infirmary door. At the boy's words though, the happy face dropped only to be replaced with sniffling and huge watering eyes.
"But, I can't just call you Hisoka-kun," Tsuzuki's nose scrunched up a bit as though he had tasted something very bitter. "That doesn't fit at all."
"And just how does 'kun' not fit??"
"Now, now Hisoka, if you scowl like that too much you'll get wrinkles in no time."
"Shut up! Stop saying such stupid things." Green eyes closed as a hand went to rub that one spot on his temple that Hisoka was silently dubbing the 'Tsuzuki's an Idiot' spot as it always started to pain right there when he got on the boy's nerves, which was every time he saw the man.
"Well, come on in Tsuzuki!" The scientist greeted his friend placing the last of the bandages in a drawer. "I just finished changing the bandages, and Hisoka looks to be healing rather fast, too!" Watari beamed behind his glasses, his ever pleasant mood a constant and unwavering thing. Really, Hisoka was starting to wonder if this man had any other feelings. Not that an ever pleasant happiness was something that bugged or hurt him empathy wise, but what kind of person smiles all the time? Turning to Hisoka, Watari gave a gentle pat to the empath's shoulder, one of the few places he wasn't injured.
"Bon will be healed in no time," The blond exclaimed, using his new nickname for Hisoka, who, in turn, scowled back at the use of such a name.
"Ano... Uh, Watari-san?" Tsuzuki timidly placed up his hands trying to calm the air in the room, or more like the furiously red boy who looked like he was going to kill the scientist; Watari of course remaining oblivious. "Tatsumi said he needed to see you, something about the 'pigeons you were keeping'?" The diversionary tactic worked wonderfully as Watari's mouth dropped, as a realization dawned on him, and he ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the infirmary.
"...."
"...."
The silence that filled the room was very unnerving and for the life of him, Hisoka didn't know why. It wasn't that Tsuzuki made him uncomfortable, so why did he feel this way? Turning his eyes to the man who stood quietly before him he saw the nervous fidgeting of thumbs and fingers, eyes that averted his own, and a tiny shuffling of feet. Hisoka tried to concentrate, to increase his own mental shields against stray emotions, and that when he noticed that nervous feeling he had felt wasn't his own, but Tsuzuki's. The emotion was extremely powerful, and even as he tried to keep up his shields he felt it pressing down on him.
"Dumb ass..." Hisoka murmured, pressing a hand to that 'spot' again. Tsuzuki looked up at the remark, and upon seeing the pained expression on the boy's face, the anxiety quickly succumbed to guilt before it lessened behind Tsuzuki's own mental shield he walled around them.
"Sorry."
"..."
"...."
"Well?" The silent game was really starting to ware on Hisoka's nerves, even if the Tsuzuki's emotions were not pressing into him anymore, his own anxiety was starting to grow. He didn't want Tsuzuki to see him like that. He didn't want anyone to see him weak in anyway, especially not this guy.
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki cut into the empath's train of thought before he had a chance to analyze that last notion.
"What?"
"Well..." Violet eyes were looking more at the floor then at Hisoka's own face. He hadn't really seen the other man since the end of their first mission together, and it occurred to Hisoka, that this was the first time the two of them had been alone since that incident...
//"Yeah, that's right, I'm already dead."\\
"Just what is it?!" Hisoka turned his head down, bursting out in anger at the purple eyed man who jumped at the harshly toned words directed at him. Hisoka didn't look up, his face was hot, and he knew the blush that stained it. Embarrassment and anger welled up inside the youth as he remembered what he had said in front of the other man. He had let out his secret, he was indeed already dead. No doubt this was why the man was nervous around him. What a monstrous thing he must seem to the man that was his partner. A weak child, one who wasn't even suppose to be among the living. Of course he would be consumed with anxieties. He was talking to a corpse! No doubt he was going to question this; no way was he going to over look it. The 'how' and 'why' quickly making Hisoka's stomach turn, memories of his death floating to the surface of his mind. Anger ragged inside him as he unconsciously balled up the sheets into clenched fists. So consumed within his own world, he almost missed the words that Tsuzuki spoke next.
"I don't want to be your partner."
.................................................TBC
Lil' notes and commentary from me;
YAY! The end of the first ark of the NSF story! (Dogging stones from angry readers) Ouch! Sorry, sorry, sorry!! Really sorry this took so long. Actually I wanted to continue the story for awhile now, but it had been some time and I thought no one would care to pick it up again, *Thank you 'fan' who mailed me! You know who you are ^_~!
More of a cliffy then I wanted to do, a lot is still left open, a lot is presented, but this case is closed. Might do an omaki but that's not necessary as most things will be clarified better a little later on.
As on that note, yes, I will continue this story *through all 4 archs... well there are 3 left so... ^_^* And as to anyone wondering where the heck is all the Tsu-soka stuff? Welcome much more to come in the second arch. They had to meet, get a feel for one another. Romance isn't always at first sight, well, any who, their romance will pick up, fluff and angst is on the way~!!
Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it, and the kinda' open-endedness of it. I will work hard and try my best to make the next chapter and post it as soon as possible, no more long breaks I promise! ~_~; (sorry) so ahh, please let me know what you thought off the end of this arch, C&C, even flames if you like. If I've really messed up let me know so I can try harder! Thank you #^_^#
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As promised the quickie-sum-up for those not liking blood and violence,
Hisoka is captured- spell is cast on him- Tsuzuki busts in and is unable to stop the finishing of the spell- the spell fails because there is another spell already over Hisoka, Hisoka is already dead (??) Rina is burned by Tsuzuki which breaks contract with demon who has possessed Maria- Tsuzuki teleports himself and Hisoka away- 3 days pass- Tsuzuki tells Hisoka he doesn't want to be his partner.
It's better in the long version *I hope _* but please this is really no substitute for reading the last, albeit VERY LONG, chapter.
HOWEVER, there is very, VERY much in the way of violent, bloody, and containing some hintings to adult situations. This part of the chapter falls almost on a R rating, however since I won't draw too much detail into it, I think most of these things will be okay as PG-13, but if you would feel offend at such content... Well, just don't read it.
I've promised a sum up at the end of this chapter, and yes I will deliver.... On that note, PLEASE don't skip down to the author's notes unless you want to spoil the ending of this case!
Again, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Rina and Maria's story draws to an end. Will it be a happy ending, a sad ending? Or maybe even...
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The Eternal Whisper in the Shadow of Surging Tears
(Part B)
Farewell to You, My One, My Love
"No..." the whispered fear comes unbidden from my lips. The smell attacks my nose shortly after I come upon the scene. Pressing my hand to my mouth I choke down the bile that has risen in my throat. The smell, the smell is far too familiar. Just as much so is the sight of the decapitated bodies of the nurses that are lying strewn across the floor. I feeling the wall pressing against my back, but I can't remember back stepping from the massacre before me, or when I first started to shake so badly. The room, the heavy air that hung within; red that splattered the walls, and the smell. Familiar, it's all far too familiar. Backing out of the room, I shove my body against the wall outside the door, using the surface for support. I keep the hand pressed to my mouth, taking in determined, deep breaths. Steadying my body, I turn back to the room, looking at all the scattered bodies that have littered the floor before me. Carefully I enter the room, making sure not to step on any of the corpses. As I proceed, taking in note to make sure Hisoka is not one of them, and being slightly relieved when I don't see him. I start to move toward his bed, but stop as I step over a name tag that had been ripped from one of the uniforms.
"I'm sorry, Michiko-san." It's all I can muster up for the girl I had argued with not but a few hours before. Remembering the cause of the argument, I continue further into the room.
My eyes fall over to the vacant bed that should have held Hisoka's body. There's some blood on the wall and on the sheets, but the boy is no where to be found. I cast my eyes away; I can't stand to keep looking at that empty bed; an empty bed stained with blood. My vision changes from one bed to another as I am now looking at the other hospital bed that's positioned next to the window. A flash of memory; a warm smile, a dark eyed girl... That's right! Rushing over to the bed I turn over the covers that are laying in a mass there. Yes, this bed too was vacant, cords that were once running through her body, were cut lying uselessly from the machines around the bed. There's no blood on the bed though, and I had not seen her small body mingled among the other corpses that had lined the floor.
"What... What am I going to do?" Really, I don't know! My thoughts keep wandering back to that dark void, to that crying, pained face. I had seen him when my heart had stopped, when I had, for lack of a better term, died. I don't really understand it all, but that can only mean Hisoka's de-... No, no yet. He can't be dead yet, he has too much of a stubborn spirit to just die...right??
I need to find him.
"Down this way!"
"When did it happen?"
"We don't know! It was after the heart monitor on one of the patients flat lined. All the nurses, they... They're...!"
The multiple clicking of hard soled shoes drew closer to the blood steeped room. One of the men was issuing orders to lock down the hospital. 'The police...' Quickly I shift over to the side of Rina's vacant bed, and open the one window that adorned the room. Using my arms for leverage I throw myself out the window. Chanting faster then my mind can think to cast the spell that allows me flight back into the storming night's air.
The rain beats down harshly on me, but I use the spell just as skillfully as I have a million times before, soaring quietly up the wall of the hospital to the roof. Letting the spells energies slowly leave me, my shoes gently touch down onto white top of the roof. The rain continues to tap around me and over my body. However, I can't feel the rain around me. There is something else that has me in its grip, as my body has become ridged, each muscle, each cell, awakening under a foreign, familiar, power.
'There's a demon near here,' it's not a matter that I question, I know it. I know for a fact that this familiar feeling. This evil power emanating so close near by was that of the energy of the hell spawn. Closing my eyes, I let my body focus on the power the demon is sending out, letting it pulse within me, slowly connecting with it. I feel it pulsing inside me now, as it keeps growing, stronger and stronger.
I didn't expect for the second pulse, the soft, weak one, to beat in turn with it. Gasping for breath I force myself out of synch with that dark energy.
"Tha- That's too much...!!" Gasping with my hands on my knees, I struggle to steady my now weak body. Calming my breaths with all my will, I finally to regain my composure and righten myself again.
"I almost...," More images of a past I never wanted flood quickly to the front of my mind, so fast, I could see everything and nothing all at once. Breath becomes labored again as I fight off the memories that seem so desperate to free themselves from the recesses of my mind. 'I can't do it; if I concentrate on that demon's power, then...then I might...'
Thought's of before, of the void, of green tear filled eyes, and white strained knuckles return to me. The idea that he could be in so much pain... I don't know why that idea makes me do what I do.
I don't know why this boy I've barely met, makes me risk remembering my past, as I again synch with the demon's energy. There is only this feeling, this feeling that I know that it's not an option for me to let him suffer. Just as I was willing to reach out to him in that abyss before, not caring if I destroyed the one thing that made me not feel alone, I reach out to the evil that flows in the air, and for some reason, again, all of my fears and all of my pain leave my mind. There is nothing more important in right now, in this world filled with fake smiles, false promises, and the cruelty of reality, then to make sure that he is alright. A need to make sure that this dread I've been carrying with me is nothing but an over active imagination, my own illusion, one that has no premise on reality.
Letting myself slip easily into the flow of the power that is pulsing in the air, I relax, and feel it fill my body, guiding me to its source, to the cause of everything. I can feel myself being pulled to the west end of the hospital, to the wing that's under renovation. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I have one reoccurring thought that pushes just as a light, yet firm, whisper into my concentration.
'This will be the end of it.'
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// A window hung suspended in the air, no wall surrounding it. The sky was the type of blue that only existed in perfect paintings. Dark eyes watched as the ideal, small, white puffs of clouds lazily rolled over head in that bright, faultless blue ceiling. The warmth of the sun shown from all angles, yet that bright yellow orb was the only thing missing from that beautiful sky. The sounds of animals, birds, quietly sung out tunes, ones that only their hearts could echo into natural's lullaby.
"Hey, Ri~na!"
The dark eyed girl turned to look at the source of the call. Rina noticed she herself was sitting in her white hospital robes, on her hospital bed, in a wall-less room that had a small set of stares that lead down to a huge flowering garden. So many different flowers grew so brightly in that sunless warmth. As far as her eyes could see, the garden expanded all around. Shifting as best she could she moved on her bed, and pressed her self against that window, wanting to be in that garden before her; to touch those petals, and lay in the bright colors they held. Her eyes finally caught sight of a small white gloved hand that waved to her, in the midst of the rainbow that swayed lightly in the gentle wind. Maria sat there, a happy smile on her lips, a white, long brimmed hat upon her head. She wore a dress Rina recognized as one she wore when working in her garden. Her own hand pressed to the glass as a small smile crept to her lips.
The wind picked slightly, and Maria returned to what she had been doing; trying to cut a small, bright yellow tulip with her gardening shears. The wind kept moving the petite stem, swaying it in and out of the girl's reach. Maria tried again and again to grab that elusive flower, yet another deep purple tulip's stem kept getting in her way. Finally, Maria reached out and held the yellow flower's stem firmly in her grasp, descending in quickly with the sheers, she cut the flower. The yellow tulip fell to the ground, shortly followed by the purple one that had slipped in at that last moment, and it too had been cut with the same stroke. Leaving the purple tulip where it had fallen, Maria picked up the yellow flower she had sought, and hurriedly ran up the steps that lead to Rina's bed.
"Rina! This is it. The one and only flower that can heal you, and I found it!"
"Maria?" Rina couldn't keep the slight confusion from her voice. Just now, what she had seen, what was that? It was sad, but it wasn't a horrid thing, to cut down a flower. Yet, somehow, she couldn't help but feel a great pain in her heart as she held that small yellow flower in her hand. It was as though she knew, it was wrong; they had done a horrible thing, killing this young flower. Maria didn't seem to see, or care about Rina's hurt expression. Quickly taking Rina by her hand, Maria pulled the younger girl off her bed and to her feet. Rina stood there for a few seconds, confused at the blissful air her friend held, that is, until she realized she was standing. Her body, freed of pain, her legs working, and the person she loved guiding her down the steps, leaving behind her that white bed, and that sole window, full in it's reflection of colors.
Standing in the middle of the garden, Rina watched in fascination as she felt the flowers brush against her legs. Maria twirled in that rainbow of soft fragrant color, arms spread wide, as though she could capture the whole world with this act.
"You see?" Maria laughed in her musical voice as she danced, "I searched through all these flowers, because I knew that there was one that would make you well. I found it!" Bright, gleaming eyes tuned to the girl who stood dazed in the mix of life around her. She stared out at the world, picturesque as it was; as beautiful as heaven must be.
Dark eyes shadowed slightly as they caught sight of the fallen purple tulip, the one that had fallen with the small one she held. The flower's once bright colors faded way, and the flower started to curl, browning on its tips. A strange panic filled Rina, as her eyes shifted to find the small yellow tulip she held was also giving up what bright light it held, and it too gave in to a brown death.
"Maria?" The flower fell from the girl's hands, disintegrating before it even hit the ground. Maria stared on at Rina, through eyes that now no longer reflected the garden around them.
"It had to be this way,"
Rina turned her face up to the woman before her. Maria stood, her head tilting ever slightly, and a sad look pulling on her face. The wind picked up again, and the white hat that was keeping long auburn hair under its brim flew away with the breeze.
"I know this was the price I agreed to pay, I just wish," Maria moved lightly forward, lifting her white glove to reach for the pale girl's disorientated face, a petal falling from that out stretched hand. "I wanted to be with you a little longer was all..." her words croaked out, with a quiver and tears that threatened to break her voice. Fear quick rose inside Rina, as more and more petals formed and fell away from Maria's body.
"Maria?!!" Rushing toward Maria on her new working legs, Rina reached out with both her arms, throwing her self toward the sadly smiling visage as the body before her quickly melted, blowing away in streams of pink sakura in front of Rina's own terrified eyes. Arms quickly wrapped around Maria, but just as she gripped around her love, Maria fell way into a cloud of soft fragrant petals.
"MARIA!!!~~~"//
"No...!" a harsh voice quietly whispered. The sickly, and now bleeding, girl didn't even realize it was her own hoarse whispered plea that pulled on the edge of her hearing. Her weak body, slowly coming out of the sleeping spell that had been cast on it.
'Yes,' Rina mussed to herself, as her eyes refocused out of the disturbing vision of her dream, to the horrid reality of the present. 'I can see, and I understand this. It was another one of my premonitions, wasn't it? Even still it happens; bits and pieces, in dreams, or when I'm wide awake, scattered as though someone has dumped a huge puzzle before my eyes. Small things, irrelevant things, even the life altering things. It's a constantly changing puzzle, the future, one that bends and shapes anew when someone goes against the prescript plot...Even for me,' Rina remembered it clearly, the day she had went against the foreordained, when she had saved Maria, even thought Maria was suppose to die.
The pain of losing Maria would be too much to bear, and yet now... Was she any better off now? The devastation caused by a new script being thrown in to fill the one that had been destroyed; Maria, who was supposed to die under that car, living on. If that had happened like it was suppose to, if she had just kept on walking, leaving fate unchanged, then Maria would have died that night and Rina herself was to follow shortly after. Rina was supposed to commit suicide out of grief a year after Maria's death. This was the plot as she had seen it. This was the way it was suppose to be.
Rina was going to die no matter what.
Now, however, both she and her love lived on, or not quite so, if these sad lives they lead could be called that. Maria, possessed by a monstrous demon who killed others, and Rina, a hospital bed ridden girl who only could sit in pain day and night. Fate had a way it seemed, of punishing those who went against its set plans.
Rina's eyes fell on the sight of the young blond haired boy, and the demon, which had his hand pressed firmly to the young boy's face. Dark red and purple shadows flowed from the monster to it's pray, causing the boy to twist and jerk in the most painful ways possible.
The power the demon was trying to attack Hisoka with, was one that dug deeply into its victim, pulling up the person's greatest fear, one that they would rather die then go against. It causes people to die of fright, or at least, it allows their souls to pass on, ripped and broken from their bodies. Someone under its influence would rather die then go on facing with the horrid demons of their own mind's creation. It was what the beast had used on all those other people, before finally taking their hearts. It had failed each time, however. Their blood had been the same type as Rina's, but it takes more then just that to make the spell work correctly. It was almost as if they needed to share the same essence for the casting of the spell to work properly.
'Even still...' Dark eyes stared hard at that now demonic face, 'I will still try, for a better ending then what is scripted. I still have something I can do.' Her gaze faltered, becoming unfocused, settling on something not in the past, but an event that lied on the horizon, one that was quickly approaching.
//"I thank you...Rina, can I ask a favor of you?"
"What?"
"I have some... 'Things' I need to take care of. If I'm not back, when he wakes up..."//
'And I still, I still have a promise left to keep!'
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Pressing my Arms firmly around my head, I hear the splintering of glass as it gives way to the force of my body. The chiming shards flow with me through the air, and I can feel them fall around me as I land hard on the floor of the dark room. Very little light filters into the shadows that fill the room from the shattered window of my entrance. It's dark, true, but that has never been something that I have ever been concerned with. My vision is that of one which improves under such conditions, and right now, I can see everything.
A writhing small body, gut wrenching screams that make my heart skip a beat and send chilling waves down my spine. Long, bony arms, pinning their pray, and a wide ruthless smile that showed long gleaming fangs where those red lips parted. The room wreaked a stench of fear and blood.
I know this scene.
I don't remember rushing on the creature that had my partner pinned to the ground. I don't know when I gathered those dark, purple energies around me, or when I used my fist to drive them into the demon that had quickly became all I could see. Anger was all I knew, blinding and white, burning any thoughts from by mind. My body moved without me telling it to, ducking the clawed hand that sliced past my face.
\'Kill, kill him.'/
Another clawed hand shot out for my stomach, but it cut through empty air as I ducked and rolled under its reach, twisting, then using my momentum to land another strong plow into the side of the fiend. The creature twisted and flew to the side, falling hard to the ground.
\'Kill him.'/
\'Kill him!'/
I could hear the loud echoing of my soles and they approached the fallen demon. Long, brown hair flipping out of its face, as it struggled to its hands and knees, blood bursting from its mouth at the exertion of inner tissues and vessels that had burst under the trauma I had caused. My hand shoots forward, as it buries it's self in the deeply into brunette hair of the abyssal creature. Using a quick jerk, I yank its head around, forcing its face toward me. Black storming eyes smile at me, red, crimson lips part, letting way for the humming sound that bubbles up from that long throat.
"Hahaha!" The struggling form before me laughs, smiling at me with arrogance burning deeply into every feature.
"What's so funny?" The tone of my voice is foreign to my ears, not mine at all. I don't know who is speaking these words, or who is controlling me, making me raise my other hand as more dark, violet energies gather around my fist, coming to me, as though to answer a call, one that I can't remember giving. They are surging in me, wrapping around every fiber in my body, feeding and growing on the hate that is welling like a spring inside my body.
"I laugh," The demon's true voice hums behind a female one, "because, you can't even see, can you? You dumb, bastard of a hell hound." My fist drives toward that smirking face, letting all my strength release into the blow.
A sudden shift in his position and the demon drops just below my fist. All my strength is still driving me forward, and I can't stop, even as I see the long outstretched talons that are being thrust toward me; I didn't even feel the blow at first.
"You can't see," the duel layered voice is humming softly into my ear. The gentle voice is a great opposite to the strong, violent claws that have buried them selves into my stomach. Pain splinters and drives through me, cutting deeply through my muscles as the demon thrusts the blades even farther into my gut. I can feel a hot, sticky liquid flowing out of my body from the wounds. The hot fluid runs in red rivers down my stomach and legs, pooling quickly on the ground before me. I can't stop the shutter that enwraps my being as the claws are removed. Pressing all my strength and my will into my legs proves to fail and I fall, dropping face first to the ground. There's a slight tingling and numbing sensation that quickly starts spreading through me from the wounds. More then just blood loss, I know this feeling, it has to be poison, a very strong one. I can already feel it as it moves through my body.
"I've already won." The demon declares in a mocking tone before he moves just out of my line of sight, which, as of current, includes the floor and area before me. There's a movement I can't see, but I know what has been done, and even though I can't see it, my eyes grow wide with horror. I can feel the power that had led me to the room, which before, while strong, was scatter. Now it has shifted to join and connect; the demon has finished his spell. Quickly, I press my arm around my abdomen, desperate to lessen the flow, as I use pure will to lift my body to its feet once again. Following the energies to the point of their focus, I know what I'll find; Hisoka. Purple energies have now moved to fill in the cuts that flow as incantations carved into his small body. The power of the spell is enough to illuminate the room, and the horrid circle glowed in turn with the writing on the boy's body. He's green eyes while open, are blank, and no scream leaves his lips, not even when his body wrenched, as his chest gave way to the spell.
I can only watch in horror as blood burst from his mouth, as the spell takes effect.
I can only watch as I see him die before my eyes.
'What was it again?'
The strength I had felt before, the anger, that blinding rage, flow out of me in that same instant. My legs suddenly buckle and give way, becoming useless beneath me. My arms too, lose their strength and drop limply away from my stomach.
'What was the point?'
It's not real; not at all.
Yes, all of it, it's all a dream or maybe even a performance, a staged play? Not real, and I am just a part of this fictional act too; not real, not alive. It must have always been this way. Oh, maybe that was the point? That's right, there's nothing in here; it's all fake anyways. Then, that means, there's no reason to stay in a pointless act right? It's alright then, if I just let it all fad away, right? There's no one here to say any differently.
I'm tired of acting in this play where I am always alone. I don't want to play this part anymore. I can't think of a reason to.
"Tsu...zuki-san," a soft voice lifts the air around me as a small, cold hand slides up my back, stopping in the center. My eyes shift open and to the source of the voice. I find a young, and very pale dark haired girl sitting next to me, one hand on my back and one hand pressed firmly to the ground, bearing all her upper body weight. I know her, I'm sure. That's right; she was that girl I talked with, before, her name... What was it? I can't seem to draw the strength to search my mind for that piece of information, so I let it slide away from me. I really don't care too much at this point.
With the look I'm receiving, I must have scared her somehow, as dark eyes fidget on my face, and the small pale body shakes ever so slightly next to me. Her eyes blink twice and her face become firm as a secret inner strength is tapped.
"Tsuzuki-san," the hand presses firmly into my back, as though the contact could grant me whatever strength she held in doing so. "It is not as you think!" Her eyes look on past me and I can only stare at her, my mind muddled. There's a loud shriek of shock that jerks my head to follow Rina's gaze as cries issue forth from the target our eyes have become fixed on. The demons long brown hair shifts from side to side, following the shaking of its head.
"What is it?! WHY??!!" The demons enraged and confused voice fills the air. I stare past the trembling body of the demon, down to the focus of the demanding questions. He's there, sitting up with his arm wrapped across his chest, green livid eyes burning into the demon's own gaze defiantly. The purple energies that had enwrapped him before, where pushed away from his body, swirling pressing as they tried to get closer to him, yet laying just out of reach.
"Hisoka?" He's body is still glowing, intricate ancient demon writing still covering his form. However, now it's red and not the violet hue as it was before. The writing itself has taken on a different pattern. No, more then different, this is a completely different incantation then the one that had been carved onto him before! Blood still ran from the previous spells marking, yet this new, burning red glow, did not follow them, these glowing marks that were etched just under the surface of his skin.
"Now you must do as I say, Tsuzuki," The young girl besides me speaks in a way that commands attention to every detail of her voice. I try to turn to face her, only to have my body dip slightly under the attempt. If I hadn't been what I am, there's no doubt my body would have succumb to the numbing feeling the poison is spreading through my veins. The poison, instead of rendering my limbs useless, only slows their speed, making each movement an effort. Those dark eyes look on me with empathy of understanding running through their gaze. Leaning in closer, she spoke quickly in a hushed voice, yet every word she spoke rang clearly into my ear. I pulled away form whisper of those lips, my eyes widen with the new horrid understanding of what she had said. I press them shut, and shake me head rapidly.
'There's no way, no way I can do that!' Just before those thoughts settle into resolution, I feel two small cold hands gently pressing onto my face. Those hands are so very gentle, and yet so very cold. I open my eyes slightly, and she is all I can see now, as she holds my face, so very gently, yet leaving me no room to pull away.
"Tsuzuki, it is what I want." Dark pleading eyes are searching deep within my own, "You are one, who would understand that, and I am the one who also understands; there is no other way."
"But...!" A small finger presses to my lips, cutting off the words that are ragging inside me, yelling at how wrong it is. 'This isn't right! There is another way, there's always another way!' Yet she hushes me ever so quietly, a small smile brimming to her lips. Leaning in, her face is just inches from mine as she whispers and places a gentle kiss on my cheek,
"Thank you..."
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"What is it?! WHY??!!" The demon's enraged and confused voice fills the air. The breath he drew into his body was labored, yet he couldn't stop the small chuckle that found its way out with the outraged cry of his enemy. The frustration and confusion mounted, building onto of its self with every second that past, and it rolled off in waves from the demon. Hisoka let his gaze lock with the demon's own. Shifting again slightly, despite his wounds, Hisoka moved so he was on his knees and heels, letting his legs support his upper body which bobbed ever so slightly out of sheer exhaustion.
"What is this?!" The demon screamed, eyes following the red markings that pulled over the boy's body. The demon had cast the spell, and just as it was to rip the heart from the boy, these new writings sprang to life over his skin, instantly dispelling the demons own energies from the youth's body.
"I tried to tell you," Hisoka's own face twisted into a mocking scowl, much like the one the demon had worn before, "you couldn't. My heart, my heart is not one that would work in your stupid spell." A long brunette brow furled, and he didn't have to be an empath to know the confusion that was written over the creature's face. Hisoka let his hand trace over one of the glowing crimson marks that burned just underneath his skin.
"That spell is..." the demon's eyes narrowed then grew large with understanding, revulsion and even a small hint of fear. All of these emotions were emanating from the being that stood now rigidly in it's place as small beads of sweat formed over its brow.
"Yeah, that's right," Green eyes bore down on the creature before him, "I'm already dead."
"What trickery! It's a lie! That sort of spell none can cast anymore." Fear brimmed and over flowed from the demon, fear which feed into the rage that was quickly consuming the creature's entire being. The demon lifted it's razor talons, preparing to attack the boy, the one who had all the he needed to be free; to have what he had longed to have for centuries so close and yet to have it still impossibly out of reach.
"Go ahead and try, but not even something like that," the blond indicated with a nodded to the offending claws, "will be able to kill me."
An animal growl burst from behind clenched teeth, the female voice drowned out by the rumbling monster that she held inside. The demon descended down on Hisoka, who, for all his audacious talk, was still too weak to doge the assault. Raising his arms, he braced for the blow that was to follow, squeezing eyes shut tightly against the attacking visage. The slicing of flesh and bone, and the pain that was promised to follow, never did reach his body.
A scream of agony, one that had not come from his own lips, snapped his eyes open. Emerald gaze fell upon a clawed hand that extended centimeters from his face, frozen still in the air. Staring up at his assailant, Hisoka gapped just as he saw a tear roll down from wide hazel eyes. The demonic features, that had possessed the woman, dissolve as foam on water. The cruel and sinister nature that had been so strong just a short while ago, weakened, and dissipated, leaving to where, Hisoka could not say. However, what he did know, was that the woman in front of him, the beautiful and tall woman with chestnut hair; the woman who silent cried in front of him had no trace of the demon in her anymore.
"...Maria?" Hisoka questioned, hesitantly knowing now this girl as the one who was in that shadowed vision of the past. Maria did not answer him with words, yet she broke down even further into sobs. Hisoka reached out with his empathy once more for any sign of the evil that had tried to claim his, well, sort of, life. The volatile emotions he had felt before, now were no longer, the dark purple energies that the demon had born too had dissipated with his presence, a testament to his strange vanishing act. The only emotion he could feel right now, was the aching sadness coming from the woman who collapsed in front of him. She sat, her legs useless beneath her, with her hands pressing hard into the floor in front of her. Her eyes, while still streaming with tears, were focused not on Hisoka, but on the scene behind him. Turning his head he could feel the heat lick his face, and emerald eyes could see the orange and red flames that burned on the other side of the room.
"A fire?" Hisoka was couldn't believed he hadn't noticed when it started, though, in all fairness, he had been a bit distracted he supposed. A shadow in the midst of the flames caught his attention, though he could not see what it was, he couldn't miss the extra warmth and peace that emitted from the blaze. It was more then just the physical warmth emitting from that blaze, a strong sense of peace welled deeply in his heart, unconsciously making him sigh as the contented feeling filled him, overriding that sorrow that was born by the crying woman so closely beside him.
"...Rina," the woman began to quake violently, as the words left her lips.
Hisoka knew it then, that calm, that peace; dark eyes that looked on from an inferno that surrounded them. A memory of a face, times and things that didn't belong to him. Rain, an umbrella on a muddied ground, bits of times and places, all imbued with the same feeling, the same persona having touched each and every memory.
Maria still had the tears on her face, yet she wasn't crying anymore. Her deep hazel eyes looked on, as a child would, unable to understand the how or why things happen. She just stared on, her sorrow melting into confusion. 'Why, why, why?' This single thought projected from the woman onto Hisoka over and over again.
A dark form stiffly lifted itself to its feet before them, it's back to the two who sat, looking on confused at what had happened. Turning to face them was Tsuzuki, his deep violet eyes cast to the side. Tsuzuki did not give off any emotion of shame though, as what Hisoka had come to expect from such an action. Instead, what Hisoka received unnerved him more then any other reaction could have, he received nothing. It was as though he was straining to see a chalkboard that was black, void of all writing. Even as Tsuzuki stepped closer to the boy, he still couldn't feel any emotion from him. Mechanically, Tsuzuki bent down on one knee in front of Maria, placing a small tattered book into the woman's hands, whispering some words to her, he tuned himself then so he was facing his partner. Eyes, just as empty of emotion, stared blankly at Hisoka. The blond couldn't help but to fidgeted slightly under that stare.
What was it? What had changed so quickly about this man? Last he had seen him wasn't he skipping with joy like a fool? He was not so naive to believe that was the only emotion the man had, in fact, his power had laid that bit out for him long ago. Hurt, fear, and a deep loneliness lurked under that happy face that smiled endlessly. He had felt all these from the man, who's mood shifted and turned as a rainbow of feelings. Where had they all gone? Even the most boring person feels at least something. Why had he been erased of all that was in him?
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki moved in closer to the youth, eyes never changing from that scary blank stare. "You'll have to forgive me," Hisoka skirted back as the taller man continued to advance on him.
"W-What--?!" Before another word of protest could leave his mouth, the shocked empath was swept up in one quick swooping motion into strong arms that easily lifted him off the ground. Hisoka didn't hesitate to yelled and struggle, fighting back against any sort of contact. Touching people was always an open invitation for their minds to flow into his own, and sometimes he didn't even know who he was anymore. Despite how much he squirmed and pushed against the hold, Tsuzuki's arms kept him securely in place. It took several seconds for Hisoka to stop and realize that he was still in complete control of his faculties; the other man's mind and thoughts weren't swarming into his own. In truth, he could only feel a slight murmur that lay deeply hidden from him, only enough to show that Tsuzuki really was alive, not a soulless zombie like he was currently portraying. Weighting his options, aka, knocking out the man who held him, no doubt falling to the floor himself, or letting himself be carried; knocking out the man who held him was starting to look pretty good right about now. The not so distant sounds of sirens and horns stopped his fist from flying straight into the older man's face.
"We're leaving," Tsuzuki announce, receiving a deep blushing scowl in reply. Two ofuda slipped out of his jacket sleeve into his hand. The paper folded in on itself, as though it was being pressed into origami. The ofuda formed two birds that flew once around the two, and then burst into a flash of blinding light. When the light cleared, Tsuzuki and Hisoka were gone.
A room which was quickly being consumed in red and yellow, where a girl sat, cradling a book closely to her chest, only these remained.
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"I still can't believe it. How did you live through that?!" Watari exclaimed as he finished re-dressing the last wound on Hisoka's body. He sat on a small infirmary bed, white bandages wrapped across him. Hisoka decided that the blond haired scientist must be good for something after all, as he had treated his wounds with a knowledge and expertise one would only expect to find in a hospital. He had also applied a salve to the wounds that removed the pain the cuts had caused, and in short time he had promised that it would heal the wounds with no residual scars. Hisoka decided to ignore the last part where he slipped in something about having tested it and not having had another raccoon incident.
Better off not knowing, right?
It had been three days since his first mission. The odd killings had stopped, so, in that way, their mission was a success... right? Pulling his black tee-shirt over his head, he still couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't. They closed the case in just under twenty-four hours, yet it seemed like more luck then real work had brought about its end. He had his physical wounds still to deal with, though, with Watari's care, he was healing nicely, and he had no doubt as to his own recovery.
The girl, who had been possessed by the demon, was apparently a singer who was just hitting it big. She had disappeared after that night, and the news of her vanishing, though at first was all over the news, had already starting to dwindle in the public eye.
Rina, the sick young girl who's body would never age, and would never truly heal, died in the blaze. Tsuzuki had told of how he had 'canceled' the contract the demon had over Maria by killing Rina. The deal with Maria was for Rina to live, and with the death of Rina, the demon's power over the singer fell away instantly.
And then there was Tsuzuki...
Yes, that was the last thing that bothered Hisoka, his 'partner'. It was like looking at a two sided coin, on one side was that confident and powerful man who took on an ancient demon head on, even if he was wounded in the act. Tsuzuki had shown real power then, though Hisoka didn't see all of it, he saw enough to know that his partner was indeed very powerful. However, even still, Tsuzuki walked around smiling, whining about paper work, and acting like a spoiled brat sometimes. He was like two separate people. Also, more then that...
"His~oka-chan!"
He was really annoying as hell sometimes too!
"Shut up, BAKA! I told you not to call me 'chan' didn't I?!" Green eyes shot daggers into the happily waving fool who had peeked his head through the infirmary door. At the boy's words though, the happy face dropped only to be replaced with sniffling and huge watering eyes.
"But, I can't just call you Hisoka-kun," Tsuzuki's nose scrunched up a bit as though he had tasted something very bitter. "That doesn't fit at all."
"And just how does 'kun' not fit??"
"Now, now Hisoka, if you scowl like that too much you'll get wrinkles in no time."
"Shut up! Stop saying such stupid things." Green eyes closed as a hand went to rub that one spot on his temple that Hisoka was silently dubbing the 'Tsuzuki's an Idiot' spot as it always started to pain right there when he got on the boy's nerves, which was every time he saw the man.
"Well, come on in Tsuzuki!" The scientist greeted his friend placing the last of the bandages in a drawer. "I just finished changing the bandages, and Hisoka looks to be healing rather fast, too!" Watari beamed behind his glasses, his ever pleasant mood a constant and unwavering thing. Really, Hisoka was starting to wonder if this man had any other feelings. Not that an ever pleasant happiness was something that bugged or hurt him empathy wise, but what kind of person smiles all the time? Turning to Hisoka, Watari gave a gentle pat to the empath's shoulder, one of the few places he wasn't injured.
"Bon will be healed in no time," The blond exclaimed, using his new nickname for Hisoka, who, in turn, scowled back at the use of such a name.
"Ano... Uh, Watari-san?" Tsuzuki timidly placed up his hands trying to calm the air in the room, or more like the furiously red boy who looked like he was going to kill the scientist; Watari of course remaining oblivious. "Tatsumi said he needed to see you, something about the 'pigeons you were keeping'?" The diversionary tactic worked wonderfully as Watari's mouth dropped, as a realization dawned on him, and he ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the infirmary.
"...."
"...."
The silence that filled the room was very unnerving and for the life of him, Hisoka didn't know why. It wasn't that Tsuzuki made him uncomfortable, so why did he feel this way? Turning his eyes to the man who stood quietly before him he saw the nervous fidgeting of thumbs and fingers, eyes that averted his own, and a tiny shuffling of feet. Hisoka tried to concentrate, to increase his own mental shields against stray emotions, and that when he noticed that nervous feeling he had felt wasn't his own, but Tsuzuki's. The emotion was extremely powerful, and even as he tried to keep up his shields he felt it pressing down on him.
"Dumb ass..." Hisoka murmured, pressing a hand to that 'spot' again. Tsuzuki looked up at the remark, and upon seeing the pained expression on the boy's face, the anxiety quickly succumbed to guilt before it lessened behind Tsuzuki's own mental shield he walled around them.
"Sorry."
"..."
"...."
"Well?" The silent game was really starting to ware on Hisoka's nerves, even if the Tsuzuki's emotions were not pressing into him anymore, his own anxiety was starting to grow. He didn't want Tsuzuki to see him like that. He didn't want anyone to see him weak in anyway, especially not this guy.
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki cut into the empath's train of thought before he had a chance to analyze that last notion.
"What?"
"Well..." Violet eyes were looking more at the floor then at Hisoka's own face. He hadn't really seen the other man since the end of their first mission together, and it occurred to Hisoka, that this was the first time the two of them had been alone since that incident...
//"Yeah, that's right, I'm already dead."\\
"Just what is it?!" Hisoka turned his head down, bursting out in anger at the purple eyed man who jumped at the harshly toned words directed at him. Hisoka didn't look up, his face was hot, and he knew the blush that stained it. Embarrassment and anger welled up inside the youth as he remembered what he had said in front of the other man. He had let out his secret, he was indeed already dead. No doubt this was why the man was nervous around him. What a monstrous thing he must seem to the man that was his partner. A weak child, one who wasn't even suppose to be among the living. Of course he would be consumed with anxieties. He was talking to a corpse! No doubt he was going to question this; no way was he going to over look it. The 'how' and 'why' quickly making Hisoka's stomach turn, memories of his death floating to the surface of his mind. Anger ragged inside him as he unconsciously balled up the sheets into clenched fists. So consumed within his own world, he almost missed the words that Tsuzuki spoke next.
"I don't want to be your partner."
.................................................TBC
Lil' notes and commentary from me;
YAY! The end of the first ark of the NSF story! (Dogging stones from angry readers) Ouch! Sorry, sorry, sorry!! Really sorry this took so long. Actually I wanted to continue the story for awhile now, but it had been some time and I thought no one would care to pick it up again, *Thank you 'fan' who mailed me! You know who you are ^_~!
More of a cliffy then I wanted to do, a lot is still left open, a lot is presented, but this case is closed. Might do an omaki but that's not necessary as most things will be clarified better a little later on.
As on that note, yes, I will continue this story *through all 4 archs... well there are 3 left so... ^_^* And as to anyone wondering where the heck is all the Tsu-soka stuff? Welcome much more to come in the second arch. They had to meet, get a feel for one another. Romance isn't always at first sight, well, any who, their romance will pick up, fluff and angst is on the way~!!
Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it, and the kinda' open-endedness of it. I will work hard and try my best to make the next chapter and post it as soon as possible, no more long breaks I promise! ~_~; (sorry) so ahh, please let me know what you thought off the end of this arch, C&C, even flames if you like. If I've really messed up let me know so I can try harder! Thank you #^_^#
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As promised the quickie-sum-up for those not liking blood and violence,
Hisoka is captured- spell is cast on him- Tsuzuki busts in and is unable to stop the finishing of the spell- the spell fails because there is another spell already over Hisoka, Hisoka is already dead (??) Rina is burned by Tsuzuki which breaks contract with demon who has possessed Maria- Tsuzuki teleports himself and Hisoka away- 3 days pass- Tsuzuki tells Hisoka he doesn't want to be his partner.
It's better in the long version *I hope _* but please this is really no substitute for reading the last, albeit VERY LONG, chapter.