Chapter 11

Saki

There was no word to describe what Muraki felt as he beheld Oriya, soaked in his own blood, the demon triumphantly looming over him.

"You…you killed him. You…" Muraki stammered.

His voice quavered with fear and hysteria as he slowly moved in Oriya's direction. With every step he hoped that Oriya would get up suddenly and insult his credulity at believing he was dead.

But Oriya didn't move and there was too much blood.

"I killed him? Well, I think it was Oriya's fault for coming after you…and your fault for shooting at him…" hissed the demon, its large head low on the floor, sniffing at Oriya's body.

"No…" Muraki sighed heavily, shaking his head. "You did this. It's not my fault! I wouldn't kill Oriya. I have never wanted to kill Oriya!"

"Then why didn't you save him? You just watched as he died. He saw you standing there and now he probably hates you for doing nothing." it said, its eyes fixed on Oriya.

Muraki remembered Oriya's last moments. Oriya had been crying for him and he'd stood there. It was his fault for not helping Oriya.

"I couldn't do anything." he muttered in defense.

"What do you mean? You didn't want to do anything. Oriya never meant much to you anyhow. He was just a means for your frustration and madness. Although…now we both see that he was no aid to you. Here you are, alone, insane, and on the brink of suicide."

The demon smiled as its tongue lolled freely from its large jaws, rows of teeth glistening with thick saliva. Its sinewy forearms brought its head close to Oriya's arm and its tongue slowly coursed down Oriya's bloody arm, savoring the metallic taste as well as Muraki's horrified expression.

"Get away from Oriya." Muraki murmured.

The demon continued to taste Oriya's arm, the blood now dripping from the corners of its mouth. Its attention was now completely on its prey. Muraki realized this and found his gun.

"Move or die." he threatened.

Without waiting for an answer he fired. A loud bang echoed through the air and the demon suddenly let go of Oriya's arm. It turned quickly, growling in pain. One of its tails had been reduced to a bleeding stump; the remainder of the whip was now on the ground.

"What! How could a human bullet do this to me!" it bellowed, more in shock than in pain.

For once it was Muraki's turn to smile. "Do you think I would bring any weapon with me to kill my Tsuzuki? Of course not. I designed these bullets myself. They're powerful enough to kill shinigami; therefore, thick demon hide becomes nothing more than glorified paper." he said with a smirk.

The demon nodded and licked its lips. "You have no idea what you've done, Kazutaka Muraki."

Muraki shook his head slightly and the demon slowly moved towards him.

"Fine." it said, hobbling awkwardly, trying not to touch its bleeding tail as it walked. "Let's try something new. I think you'll like this game." it smirked, its tails once again spiraling around its head in excitement.

Once again, Muraki held his gun out in defense. "I wouldn't try that again. You're such a large target; I doubt I'd miss you."

"That is true. So what if I became…a smaller target…" it thought aloud.

Suddenly a dark mist enveloped the demon's entire body, hiding it completely from Muraki's view. He cautiously wielded his gun, ready to fire at whatever came out of the cloud.

"Kazu-chan…" A soft and familiar voice could be heard, almost singing from inside the darkness.

Why is he doing this now? Why…

Muraki shook his head, his eye glowing with insanity. "No. Not now. Not now…"

"Let's play a game Kazu. You know this one. You like this game very much, don't you Kazu?" asked the voice, as Muraki saw someone step out from the mist.

Even though it was only an illusion, even if it was only his demon, to Muraki in his current state of mind, it was his brother. It looked and sounded exactly as Saki had the last time he was alive. "No…"

"Let's play our game. Our favorite game. Do you remember it?" 'Saki' asked.

"No." he insisted, shaking his head furiously.

"Come on!" Saki shouted at him.

"No!" Muraki brought his hands to his face and fell to his knees, his eyes filled with fear.

He looked down at the floor as Saki slowly approached him, every step echoing throughout the laboratory. Suddenly, Muraki felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck. Frantically, he turned to face Saki and saw that he held a syringe in his hand- one of his own that he'd been keeping in his laboratory. It was a sedative. Within seconds, he'd lost consciousness.

"Where did Oriya go to! It won't let us through; he still has that lock on it." Tsuzuki yelled at reaching the door of the laboratory.

Tatsumi sighed. "Maybe Oriya had a key. We don't, so we have to improvise. He left seals all along the doorway so we can't transport through."

"Then we'll break through." Tsuzuki said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a kanji-inscribed paper.

A sudden burst of laughter was heard from within the laboratory.

"You fools! All of you will die now! I brought all of you here. My power is greater than any of yours combined!" cried a deep voice as a loud banging noise echoed throughout the lab.

Suddenly, the door burst off its hinges, nearly hitting Tsuzuki and the others.

"Where is Muraki and what have you done to him!" Tsuzuki yelled back at the voice.

Watari and Tatsumi stepped back as they saw a large creature step forward from the large opening left where the door had been. "Muraki's playing a game right now and I don't want you to interrupt him." it said with a sinister smirk.

"What! I won't let you hurt him anymore!" Tsuzuki threatened.

"I don't think you can do that. Right now, we're having too much fun. Well at least, he and Saki are." it sneered.

"What do you mean with Saki? Where is he?"

"That's not your responsibility. I want him dead. And I want you all dead. It's a good situation for me." it laughed.

Tsuzuki threw the paper at the demon…and watched it disintegrate before touching the creature.

"You have no power over me!" it cried, rearing up on its hind legs.

Tsuzuki begged to differ. "You will be punished according to what you have done!" he yelled.

Within the laboratory, Muraki could hear nothing of the struggle. He had other things to deal with. The demon had put him to sleep and cast a dream spell on him to make him believe that he was once more in his old mansion. It was so realistic that everything that happened in his dream would happen to his body. This meant that if he died in his dream…

But now, death would be mercy. Saki had begun his 'Game'- the game he'd made up when they were both very young. It had simple enough rules to understand, but very difficult ones to follow. Saki was always the one in charge of The Game and his poor brother would have to play by Saki's rules. There were different variations of it with different punishments for Muraki if he lost. And now in his dream…

"Kazu…yes. Let's begin." Saki whispered, eyeing his brother's bare chest and marveling at his smooth skin.

Muraki was sobbing desperately, his head in his hands and Saki didn't like it at all. He approached his little brother and tore his hands from his eyes. Muraki looked up at him fearfully, trying to pull his hands free. Saki took both wrists in one hand and slapped Kazu across the face. He started to cry again so Saki did it again but harder. Blood was on his lip and his sobs had grown more intense.

"Stop crying." SLAP!

"SAKI! PLEASE!"

"I said that you need to stop crying." SLAP!

"NO! I…" Kazu added quietly, looking down at the floor.

Saki stopped hitting him for a moment. "You…what?" he asked as gently as he could.

"I…" He longed to say 'I love you.' to end this game, which would usually either speed the torture or in some instances end it. But either option was far from his grasp as Kazu slowly realized.

"Is there something that you would like to say to me? If not…" Saki said with a grin, reaching a hand out to his brother.

Kazu shook his head frantically, pursing his lips tightly.

"That doesn't work. Open your mouth."

The younger boy's response was a mixture of a scream and a sob, falling into hysterics.

"Damn it! Open your mouth!" At this Saki threw a hand over the younger boy's nose, forcing his mouth open.

He gasped for air, trying to control his frantic sobbing. Before he could protest, Saki thrust his hand forward and pressed his forefinger onto Kazu's tongue, forcing it on the hard edge of his bottom teeth.

Stop, Saki! I don't love you! Mother, help me! Please, please…

Tears blurred his vision just as he felt the metallic tinge of blood in his mouth.

He's going to kill me. I'll bleed to death! Please…someone…

Kazu closed his eyes tightly, shivering with the effort. He imagined that in a moment, Saki would tire of his weeping and kill him. Then suddenly, Saki's fingers left his mouth. He opened his eyes in shock and saw a tall brunette standing before him. Saki's threatening eyes and grin was replaced by the kind face of this new figure in front of him. He was not smiling, but he still appeared friendly. There were tears gleaming in his amethyst eyes and he shook his head solemnly.

"You've suffered enough, Kazutaka Muraki." he said gently, holding his arms out to the bewildered child.

Something about him was comforting and Kazu ran to him. "Did…did you save me?" Kazu asked, burying his face in the man's shirt.

Tsuzuki nodded slightly and hugged him tightly. "I helped. I'm so sorry…" he said softly with tears in his eyes.

"What? Why are you crying? Did I do something…?"

Tsuzuki shook his head. "Never. Never would I be upset with you."

It was at this moment that the demon's spell wore off from Muraki. Every shinigami that had accompanied Tsuzuki here was standing around the doctor, lying on the ground. Tsuzuki had his arms around his neck, holding Muraki tightly. Tsuzuki opened his eyes and smiled at seeing his beloved partner lying beside him.

"Mr. Tsuzuki…"

Muraki's eyes were not yet open, and his voice was soft, full of sadness.

"Mr. Tsuzuki, why did you follow me here? The demon could have killed you. I…I was planning to ki-…" Muraki was cut short by a gentle kiss to the lips, his eyes at once opening in surprise.

"I know. I know what you wanted to do. But…I…I love you. I realized that after we stayed together and at learning you were in trouble I was terrified for your sake."

Muraki closed his eyes again, sighing deeply at hearing the long-awaited confession. A smile spread across his bleeding lips and he nodded at Tsuzuki.

"You do love me? Oh Mr. Tsuzuki, how I regret that you told me this only now! Regrettably I have chosen the outcome of my life." In this final sentence, his eyes shot open and he rolled to his side, quickly pulling his gun once more from his coat.

He was still insane.

"What…what are you doing!" Tsuzuki exclaimed as Muraki aimed the gun at him.

"Please, my beloved. Do not interfere with me any longer. I gave myself to my brother, allowing him to manipulate my body and he took from me all humanity. I longed to once again be able to trust another. Not only once, but twice have my intentions been destroyed by Saki. I loved you Tsuzuki, and I will remember that. But death is my one mercy, the one thing left to me."

He slowly turned his gun towards himself…

Tsuzuki ran at him, not caring whether he could be shot. He threw his arms around Muraki and held him tightly.

"No. I'm not going to let you. You can't." he insisted.

Muraki's eyes widened and he slowly let his arms reach around Tsuzuki's back. "Why…why are you doing this to me?" he questioned, his voice cracking.

The gun fell to the ground and in that moment, Muraki hugged Tsuzuki tightly, finally allowing himself to cry. Tsuzuki nodded towards Tatsumi and the others and they nodded back. Tatsumi walked over to Oriya's fallen form and picked him up, the others preparing for their transport spell.

"Muraki…we're going back to JuOhCho, alright?" Tsuzuki whispered softly into his ear.

He said nothing in response and closed his eyes.

"Listen, I want to make sure that you're ok, so I think you should come with us. Besides, with Oriya…" Tsuzuki regretted adding the last part just as Muraki's eyes opened again, rife with fear.

"Oriya…" he murmured, the very word hurting him.

"It's alright." Tatsumi said suddenly. "Even if you feel responsible, you will not be charged with his murder."

Muraki glared up at him, still clinging to Tsuzuki possessively. "As if that much mattered. I suppose I'll be charged for other things first." he growled.

"We'll discuss it later. From what I understand, you need rest. Your fate will be decided afterwards."

With this warning, they disappeared, instantly finding themselves in the stark white meeting room.

"Muraki, there are several rooms here so I suggest you go find one to rest in." Tatsumi commanded coldly.

Tsuzuki nodded and looked towards Muraki, willing him to comply.

"He's right, you do need some sleep and…" Tsuzuki started.

Muraki smiled warmly. "I know." He moved so that their lips were inches apart. "And for one final time, I would like for you to stay with me." he said, leaning in close to kiss Tsuzuki.

"Well to be honest, I wouldn't want it any other way."

Eeesh…I must say I didn't like the way this chapter ended at all. It's worse than a cliffhanger for me…seeing as how I'm kind of stuck on what to do afterwards. I'm still going with it though! Thanks everyone for waiting for me to update!