Kei stood over the desk where Sho had kept all his documents. Sho had been gone for a long while, and today was the tenth anniversary of Sho's death. Kei had come here to appease his sorrow by merely touching what had belonged to Sho (it did not matter what it was, as long as it had belonged to him). Kei's hand wavered over the abandoned landscape of the desk, not knowing where to begin. He could see the faint imprints of Sho's fingers all over the desk with his uncanny ability to see details. On an impulse, he pulled a drawer open. The first thing that caught his eye was a simple piece of sheet music with a few words of writing upon it:

Sayonara...aishita taisetsu na hito
Koboreta namida ga yuki ni kawaru

Under the writing were several notes that led to a full-fledged melody. Kei smiled faintly, brushing his fingers against the paper with a shudder as he lifted it out of the dark drawer where it had been hiding from him.

As he hummed the melody slowly, then with more assurance as the flow of it overcame him, a voice grew from the darkness in the room...

Sayonara... naiteta kinou made no boku
Shizuka ni me o tojite

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Kei hummed appreciatively as he finished composing a verse. It reminded him about Sho's initial fear when he had realized that the man that he had saved was a "monster," in his brother's words. But most of all, it reminded him of that small smile that spread across his tender face as he realized that they were two parts of the same soul.

Sarigenaku kata o yosete
Madobe ni motareta
Sukoshi tereta shigusa de
Boku wa waratteita
Karuku hoho ni kisu o shite
Aruiteyuku kimi o zutto miteta

"Kei..." a voice said lovingly from behind him. "I'm back."

"Done so fast, Hana?" he asked. She had been working on a picture that was in her father and mother's memory. Actually, it was a parody based on her mother's painting that had been placed in the exact same place where her's was now being displayed. It was a symbol of hope to Kei, which had waned over the years; an angel holding her unstained arms to the world below.

"What was that tune you were humming, Kei? You've hummed it so much ever since I was little, but you never told me what it was."

"I didn't hum it to you when you were little. You never saw me when you were small," Kei said, evading the question.

"Well, someone did," Hana said. "Whatever, Kei," she shrugged, walking off to her bedroom. "I'm going to go sleep, Kei."

"Good night, Hana," Kei called after her.

"'Night, Kei. Love you," she responded, the "love you" an automatic response programmed into her from childhood. Kei knew because he had made sure that he said it to her every night ever since Sho had disappeared from their lives. He didn't want her growing up wondering why fate was so cruel in taking love away from her, as Kei often wondered. He wanted her to live a happy, albeit short, life. He wanted her to be loved and to love, even if the price was a short life. Kei had been "blessed" in a way with an eternal life, but it was cursed because of the short lifespan love had. The seed of love had been planted in him so many times, but its blooming time dwindled away as fast as a flower does when spring and summer are over and winter arrives to lay its cold hand upon the world. That cold hand for him had been death. But then again, Kei thought, it is for everyone, in the end.

- - - - - - -

Sayonara...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Kei smiled as he watched Hana sleep. She's such an innocent, Kei thought, his eyes filling up with tears that had never been shed. But soon, she would find out the harsh reality of the world. He didn't want her to see the corruption of the world, much less his deformed life. She was too pure. She was so pure, she was like a distant dream of this world's people, just like the painting she was painting and her mother had painted years ago.

"Kei," Hana mumbled in her sleep. "Dad."

"Bye, Hana," Kei's voice echoed within her mind. "I'll be back soon," he promised as he closed the door to the apartment they shared together.

"Time to hunt," he murmured to himself as he scattered his darkness as a warning to the foggy night air.

Time to hunt for substance of the present and of the flesh. Time to hunt dreams, time to catch lost hopes. Time.

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AN: Argh, having kinda a hard time with QuickEdit....I hope that the original format of the chapters didn't change much....