Chapter 3: Man of the Garden, Monster of the Ring
A man walked through the garden on the outskirts of the mansion. There were walls among walls of rose bushes full of both white and red roses, some even cross pollinated to be red and white. The walls seemed to lead to dead ends and new paths like a maze. His green kimono dragged along the ground as he walked. He stopped in front of a gate that had rose vines twirling up the metal bars. The mysterious man pulled out a bronze iron key and stuck it in the lock. With one counterclockwise twist, the gate went open for the human to enter. A fountain of an angel with large wings–almost like the one that sat in the lobby of the mansion rested in the core of the garden maze. Two benches sat on opposite sides of the fountain. Gorgeous blue flowers grew around the fountain. He walked over to it and stepped into the water. His hand reached up to the angel's shoulder blade and behind its wing.
As he drew back his hand, he had an object in it. It was hard to see but it was small and silver with a sparkling crimson dot on the top of it. It looked . . . like a ring! It was the ring that Kakei had told them about!
Kazahaya's eyes shot open. He was jerked from his dream of the man in the garden and back to reality. "I know where it is . . . " he whispered in the darkness. He quickly pushed away the covers and pulled himself from the bed.
The vibrations of the bed had upset Rikuo's sleep patterns and brought him back from sleep as well. One eye opened and he looked up at Kazahaya with a groan. "Go back to sleep." It was still extremely dark but that didn't seem to bother Kudo the least bit. His eyes followed his partner as he walked across the room and out the door. What's he doing? Kazahaya's leaving the room into the dark halls made him get up and follow him in curiosity. Maybe he's sleep walking . . .
Kudo had walked across the dark halls and down the stairs without a problem. He walked out the front door and back behind the house without knowing his partner was shortly behind him. Somehow, he knew his way through the garden like the back of his hand. He reached the now old and rusted gate that was open and lead to the center of the garden. His feet carried him onward to the weathered down statue of the angel he had seen in his sleep. They dipped into the cold and fogged up green water. His eyes seemed mesmerized at the sight of the angel, especially its wings. His hand possessively reached up behind the angel's wing on its back and searched for anything that felt like a ring. Surprisingly, he found it stuck between a crack in both the wing and the statue's back. "I found it . . . "
"You found it." Rikuo said as he stepped out behind his hiding spot behind the garden walls. He watched Kazahaya twirl the ring in his hand and looked at him.
"Something's wrong . . . " he whispered in one breath. He was staring out in front of him and started to swirl the ring faster in his palm like a person would do Chinese stress balls. "It just doesn't feel right . . . "
"What?" he asked. He turned around to look out into the space that Kazahaya was staring into. A small wave of heat came across his body and focused on his gut. He felt whatever Kazahaya was feeling. And it didn't fell right. It felt strong and unwelcoming.
Out of the darkness, a body formed and took the shape of a creature that was not of the living but not of the dead. This dark creature was a mer blur in the garden.
"It's the man of the garden . . . " Kazahaya stopped the ring in his hand and held it in his clenched fist. "The monster that lives in the ring . . . all in one . . . and it wants its ring back. It's desires . . . "
Rikuo looked at the slowly growing monster. He glowered at the transcendent blob in front of him and quickly grabbed Kazahaya's wrist. "Then we're leaving." He quickly jerked him from his trancy state as he broke out into a run that Kudo could hardly keep up with. But something quickly stopped Rikuo. It was a woman that was smiling sweetly to him with glowing red lipstick. She had her hands tucked neatly behind her back. Her hair fluttered in the wind and her beautiful eyes seemed to sparkle with the moon light. Her white night gown seemed to dance around her feet.
"Where are you going, Rikuo?" she asked in the sweetest voice. She walked up to him and touched his cheek lightly.
"Tsukiko . . . " was Rikuo's reply. His voice was shaky and almost frightened. "But it can't . . . you possibly can't be real."
"Oh but I am, Rikuo." The woman named Tsukiko touched his hand with her free one and took it. A red ruby ring was on her ring finger. "I am real. I'm real as the night and day."
"Rikuo!" Kudo nearly screamed in his ear. He looked back and saw that the black blur was slowly advancing toward them. "It's the ring! It's just like what it was doing when we first got here!" he started to jerk at his hand and wave in his face. He was doing everything to get him to snap out of it but all he did didn't seem to work. "Pull yourself together dammit!"
A small smile formed around Rikuo's lips. It was a sweet smile that Kudo had never seen before. "It's really you . . . "
"No! It's not her!" he swiftly moved to take the place of the fake woman. One hand moved to grip Rikuo's hand and the other cupped his cheek and dragged him down to meet him face to face and lips to lips once more. But this time, he was real and this was a real kiss. This was his real desire coming true. This was what he wanted. It was the most precious thing to him in the world. "It's me . . . "
"Kazahaya . . . ?" he asked as he felt himself snap back to normal. The kiss really seemed to do the trick. He smirked and looked down at him. "I knew you couldn't keep yourself from me for much longer . . . "
The boy felt the blush from last night return to his cheeks. "Whatever! Just go!" he shouted and started to push on his large body. Before he knew it, a cold hand wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down to the ground.
"Come back Kazahaya." It was the fake Kei returning to haunt him once more.
"Let go!" Kazahaya shouted and started to kick at her face. It didn't get him far and her grip didn't get any weaker.
"Throw the ring, you idiot!" Rikuo shouted to him. He tried tugging on his arm, but the monster's grip was much more powerful than his own.
"But the money!"
"Forget about it!"
Kazahaya bit his bottom lip. He wanted–needed the money badly but he wanted to keep his life more. He threw the ring into the blob and the darkness fully consumed it. After getting the ring back, the creature retreated back into the center of the garden.
"ARG.! You've got to be kidding me!" he tossed himself back against the ground. Kudo felt a little stupid for letting the ring go but he guessed it was for the best. "All that hard work and for what? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing!"
"Actually . . . " Rikuo grinned and held out his hand, showing the ring. "I took the fake Tsukiko's ring and switched it out with the one you had in your hand while you gripped mine."
"Yes!" Kazahaya shouted happily and stood back up to his feet in no time. He took the ring and examined it. It was really the ring that they were searching for. Right there! "Wait . . . " he looked at him with a serious glance. "If you took her ring, then that means that you weren't in a trance! And I kissed you for nothing!"
"I wouldn't say for nothing . . . " he chuckled and turned around, starting to walk off without him.
"What?" he quickly raced up behind him and started picking at him using words like he always would. "Look who's the perv now!"
"You're not a perv." He looked down at him with a teasing smirk. "You're a perv in the making."
"Are not!" he growled at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Let's just go so I can get my money." Kazahaya snorted and crossed his arm, mumbling, "Stupid pervert."
"Pervert in the making."
"Eavesdropper!"
"Pervert in the making."
"Just be quiet walk . . . " he kept his mouth shut after that. He didn't want to bring up another useless conversation that had no point at all and never had an ending. Nor did he want the taste of his deepest and most precious desire to escape his lips.