Afterlife, a ronin warriors fanfic

I was informed that this story bears an uncanny resemblance to a story in the Yugioh section. Said story was not identified, and I have never read it. I don't go read Yugioh much. This story is the product of a dream that I had, with a few changes (I skipped the segues involving the multicolored Stormtroopers, polka-dotted animals, dancing vegetation, and a few things that I'm not saure that I want to identify. Oh, and the singing). I extend my sincere apologies to whoever the author of the story is, and I have made a few changes to the story in an effort to differentiate between the two.

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It had been three days.

Neither of them had moved.

The doctors were becoming worried about the both of them, but neither cared.

The man on the bed did not care because he was asleep, and had been for the past four days, one spent in the ER, the others in this small, cold room, waiting.

The boy in the chair did not care because he was waiting. For what, he did not know.

The boy had moved sometimes, slightly. Occasionally, he shifted ever-so-slightly to one side or the other, crossed or uncrossed his arms. Sometimes he slept, and he moved a little then, too. But at the slightest movement, his eyes flew open, and they were always disappointed at what they saw.

A small room, painted a pale, sickly green, a bed in the center, a man lying on it, machines hooked up to him. An unmoving man.

There was never any sign of anything, even brain activity. Only the steady beeping of the machine showed that the man had not, indeed, died.

They were both waiting for something. Movement, awareness, death, they didn't know.

And so the boy sat in the hard plastic chair, day after silent day, waiting.

"We're sorry, Date-san, but your brother is in a vegetative coma. The brain damage is very serious. We'll give him a room here and keep him on life support, but you must understand that he will probably never wake again."

Beep...

The boy sighed and put down his book. The beeping was driving him crazy, he couldn't concentrate. He would have thought that after so long, he would have gotten used to it.

"Aniki, you don't have to do this now. We don't have to go today. We could go tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it, Seiji, it's fine. If we go today, we won't have to worry about it later. Let's go."

Beep...

Footsteps, soft, purposeful but patient.

Seiji shut his book, but didn't turn around. He knew who it was.

The young doctor entered the room easily, no apprehension or sympathetic distances. His hair was black, long and loose, and he carried no clipboard. Only the uniform long white lab coat marked him as a doctor.

"Go away. You have no power over him."

The doctor did not react, or even look at him. He merely shook his head slowly, brilliantly blue eyes fixed on the man on the bed.

"You cannot take him with you. I won't let you." Seiji drew in a shaky breath, and buried his face in his hands. "Death is darkness; I won't let you take him into the darkness. Aniki's all I have left, and he doesn't like the dark."

And for the first time, the boy answered, in a voice both beautiful and terrible; it made Seiji feel like he was floating underwater, like he was being swallowed by the void.

"Everything is darkness that is not yet understood. That is the view that you humans take. But you recognize me. I am flattered."

Seiji snorted. "How could I not? You have visited my family so many times that I should call you an old friend. But it was always brief. Not this time."

A soft, swift smile. "No, not this time."

"But you will take him eventually."

"Yes."

"Why? Why does he have to die? He's got a good job, he has dreams, he wants to be a doctor. He's never done anything wrong, why do you want him?"

"Why do the most beautiful flowers bloom for the shortest time? Why do volcanoes erupt, and stars explode into novas? Why do humans destroy the world that they live in? Why do roses have thorns? Why does fire burn to touch? Why is there evil in this world? Humans are not meant to know some things; I cannot answer."

"Cannot, or will not?"

Another smile. "Does it matter? Death is above human reason. Why do you try to apply logic to something so inherently illogical as life and death?"

Beep...

"Don't you believe in god?" A head tilted to one side, blue eyes curious. "I thought that mortals were convinced that gods wanted only the best for their people."

"What about those left behind? Don't the gods want the best for them? Are they not their people?"

"If they believe in god, they should be celebrating. Don't the gods deliver the good into paradise?"

Seiji whirled on the phantom. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated."

"Who said that I was being sarcastic?"

Beep...

"Why do you keep coming back? Are you enjoying my misery? Are you mocking me?"

The figure did not answer, merely gazed speculatively at the man on the bed.

"How can they stand it? How can they bear a loss so great?"

The reaper turned away, going to the window. "Some still have something to live for. Some find a distraction. Some never can cope, and they follow their lost ones before their time. Some just have faith."

Seiji snorted. "Faith in what? A god that seems to take pleasure in causing suffering?"

"I don't know. Maybe faith in a god that rewards suffering."

"But why is there suffering? Why does it hurt so much?"

"Who knows? But the rose does have thorns, and the sakura blossoms fall after only a few hours. Does this question really have an answer? None of your others did."

"I didn't give the rose thorns." A long, silent pause. He wondered why Death's hair was longer every time he visited.

"I don't believe in God."

Another sly smile. "Well, I am certainly not one to make you believe in God."

Beep...

"Date-san...you have to eat..."

He didn't look up at the awkward young nurse with the large tray and the helpless, nervous face.

"Date-san, it's been days. You're not helping your brother by starving yourself...I brought you some food...there's soup and a sandwich...and coffee...I'll go now."

And she was gone.

He hadn't moved.

Now his eyes traveled to the piled-up trays, but not to the food. A small plastic knife lay beside a plate containing a greasy, rubbery omelet. It was nowhere near sharp, but it could still cut. It would hurt less if it was sharper. What would they do if he asked for a razor? He could say that he wanted to shave... Maybe if he asked for a metal knife? The plastic ones couldn't really cut anything...

There he was again.

"It doesn't take much, does it? One look at a knife, thinking about a razor, and there you are, ready and waiting to do your job."

"No. It doesn't take much in your situation. When something like this happens, mortals become strangely fascinated with death. I think that you will follow your brother to me far too soon."

"Why did you come now? My suicidal thoughts?"

"Among other things. Your brother's condition has gotten worse. It won't be long now."

Seiji looked away, afraid that Death would see the tears in his eyes. "It's not fair."

"Life is never fair. All mortals know this. And what is death but the last phase of life?"

"Is it fair afterwards, once the breath stops? Can you tell me that, at least?"

"No. No mortal could know that. What happens after death is not knowledge for the living. It would be deadly for your kind."

"So it is horrible."

"Did I say that?"

"It's wonderful, then. Or just like life."

A chuckle. "I never said that, either."

Beep...

A sigh. "You are the most infuriating being that I have ever met, you know that?"

"Of course, I hear that all the time. Infuriating, confusing, unfair. Why should I care, I've heard it all before."

"What more is there?"

"Everything and nothing. Every civilization has different ideas on what comes after death. Surely it is easy to choose a belief?"

"Too easy. They all sound like empty platitudes, meant to give comfort."

"So what do you believe—that there is nothing after death?"

"I don't know."

Beep...

"I once heard that you are not dead until you are forgotten. I think that it's true. Far too many things are coming back to haunt me now."

"So you think that the worst part of death is being forgotten?"

"How should I know?"

"You don't."

"Why does he have to die so soon? He has so much to live for."

"Everyone has much to live for. Even the old, who die every day of age, have much still to do. Logic does not matter. Sometimes a young tree must wither and die with its first winter, sometimes it lives for centuries. I cannot answer you."

"So nothing is eternal."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. A circle is eternal; there is no beginning or end. Nature is full of circles."

Beep...

"Date-san, you have to eat. Why haven't you eaten what the nurses have brought you? You aren't helping your brother by starving yourself."

"Leave me alone."

"Date-san..."

"Leave."

Beep...

He never moved his eyes from his brother's face. The doctor sighed in frustration and left.

Seiji fought the temptation to cry. Satoru, I can feel him, he's getting closer. Don't worry though, I won't let him take you away. Forgive me, I love you, aniki.

Beep...

Then he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He stood before his brother's bed, arms outstretched, blocking the way.

Death halted before him, head cocked to one side. His hair brushed he backs of his knees. The lab coat was gone. There was no emotion in the fathomless blue eyes.

Beep...

"I won't let you take him. I can't bear that. I love him too much. He'll be missed, I won't."

Death watched him silently. He wasn't in any kind of hurry.

"One life comes at the price of another. That is the circle, the only eternal thing. You told me that."

"You are correct. I will take a life today. The balance must be maintained, the circle unbroken."

"I know. I offer you my life in exchange for his."

Death looked vaguely amused. "If you think that I will try to talk you out of this, you are mistaken. I don't care if your brother dies now or one hundred years in the future, it doesn't matter to me. Death feels no pity."

Seiji took a deep breath. He took one step, then another, and embraced Death. He shivered. This was his last chance to back away, to take it all back. To live. He stayed where he was.

Beep...

Death looked up at him, confusion in his eyes. "I will never understand mortals. They live so briefly, but they are always willing to give up their own lives if they love something enough. So be it." His arms encircled the taller boy, and he smiled.

Seiji looked over Death's shoulder, out the window, and saw the stars one last time. No one knows what went through his mind in those last moments, memories, regrets, wishes. Did he only see the stars, or did he see the faces of all those that he had lost before? Did he see a nova in the calm still night, or an endless void?

Beep...

Once again, the room was silent, only the sounds of the machines breaking the stillness.

In the chair, the boy was totally still, unmoving, unblinking, unbreathing.

On the bed there was movement, and a raspy voice. "Otouto, I...I had...the strangest dream..."