Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei belongs to Yoko Matsushita and that's it.
Huge HUGE thanks to all who have reviewed!! ^.^ Also thanks for voting.^^ No big ramblings, on with the story now!
+ ~ Kurikara´s POV ~ +
Fuck!!
Why me?!
Why did it have to be him of all people?!
There had already been more than enough people who had sought to capture me, and I've always known how to prevent it. –And now I got caught by a kid?! How pathetic! And I couldn't even blame anyone because it was my own blasted fault!!
I picked up a small stone and hurled it as far as I could. (And that's not a short distance, believe me.) Stupid idiot!! Whatever had made me bite him must have also switched my brain off. Bite him! Out of all things! I'm such an idiotic fool!! Once again I wondered just what had caused me to do this fateful error. All I could come up with, though, was that I had been somehow impressed with his stubbornness, even though it was plain stupid. Hn. What a great reason to mess up your entire life.
I sighed angrily and kicked another pebble. It had already been quite a while since I left my soon-to-be partner and the rest of them back at Tenkuu, but I really didn't want any company right now. Except Futsu no Mitama and Ame no Murakumo of course. The two swords were currently strapped on my back as I kept wandering deeper and deeper into the depths of Gensoukai´s flora. They both knew me well enough to keep silent when I was in such a mood.
The expression on their faces had been quite amusing when they heard that I was a parasitic type. Well, if I had to be honest, I myself didn't know that little fact until recently. You surprised? Hey, it's not as if I'd ever been anybody's shikigami before! So how was I supposed to know?!
Damn!! I just HAD to get some of his blood into my mouth, didn't I?! When I came to the Jyo-ni Sinsyou´s palace, I already had had a bad feeling about this, and it promptly had turned out to be the worst of my imaginations. Yeah, I've already considered something like that before, when I had that strange dream for the second time. Switching dreams never meant something good.
But to consider sharing the kid's body… (An actually shudder ran over my body) No thanks, I like this one quite well. One could even go as far as to say that I'm somehow attached to it. Really.
And all this 'master'-shit… I have better to do than to play lapdog for some spoiled human brat! #Kurikara-sama…#
Ame´s 'voice' tore me out of my mental ranting. Stopping shortly, I snapped "What!?!"
Feeling my annoyance, the blade decided that it was better to keep silent rather than risking my wrath.
"Hmp!"
With this, I continued going.
Just to find myself face-to-face with a wormhole.
+ ~ + ~ + ~ +
You know, there are bad things to do. And stupid things. There are also crazy, absolutely brain-whacked things one could do.
Really.
But I swear there has never before been something as absolutely crazy, brain-whacked, stupidly foolish and embarrassing as this!!
Ok. So I fell through one of those stupid wormholes again. In the middle of Tenkuu. On my way to the bathroom. (Hey, don't laugh!) So I was now here again, somewhere in the middle of Gensoukai, hugging Kurikara.-.-; Yeah, I know, but what would you do when you're falling face first through a wormhole?! Somebody who's flailing helplessly doesn't exactly look what he's holding onto!
Right now I was laying pretty much draped over the smaller shiki, nearly squishing him in the process. Hey, I told you that it wasn't on purpose! He just happened to be in the way when I finished my surprise trip. Kurikara growled under me. Ouch! I flinched. Being that close, I could literally feel his anger rising.
"Would you eventually care to get OFF of me?!"
I quickly scrambled away, knowing that my cheeks were tinted red once again. Damn blush reflex! Well, I _tried_ to scramble away. But with two floating edges touching your throat, it wasn't that easy. Not that I'd have to fear being killed, but that still doesn't mean that I have to like it. So I froze. Kurikara cursed once more.
Wow. Shikigami´s could get pretty imaginative when pissed, did you know that? I didn't even know half of the curses he used.
"- for the last time! GET OFF!!!"
"… Your swords."
"Huh? What's with them?"
He blinked at me, seemingly noting my predicament for the first time. "I though you shinigami's were already dead."
"We are. … but that doesn't mean that I'm keen on experiencing it again."
"Oh. Makes sense."
Turning to his swords, he ordered "Futsu. Ame. Release him." The blades seemed to have their doubts, but finally released their hold on me. I quickly scrambled away. No need to piss him off even more. I already knew from experience that the shiki tended to get nasty when annoyed.
Brushing the dirt of his clothes off, Kurikara gave me a suspicious look. "What are you doing here anyway? Already bored with your babysitters?"
I tried to look as unfazed as possible. The KouRyu didn't have to know that I nearly died of shock. They really had to do something about those annoying wormholes. This was getting dangerous.
"There I have to agree with ya. They're really going to become a problem."
Huh? I gave him a surprised look. "… How did you know what I was thinking?"
Kurikara gave me a pointed look. "Because you were thinking it loud, maybe?" I frowned. "I didn't say it loud." "Of course you said it loud, I could clearly hear you. They really have to do something about those annoying wormholes. This is getting dangerous. –Right?"
I was still suspicious. I was absolutely sure that I didn't say that out loud. But that was exactly what I was thinking. So how…? #Kurikara – sama…# I nearly jumped at the swords voice. Damn, I forgot that his two swords had both spirits endowed within them. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a quick smirk pass on the petite shiki´s lips. Obviously RyuOh had noticed my uneasiness. The sword (I couldn't figure out which one it was – the longer or the shorter one) continued.
# …he really didn't say anything.#
Now it was Kurikara's turn to be surprised. "He didn't-? But I could clearly hear-! Hey, wait a minute!" He abruptly turned to me again. "What type of shinigami are you?"
I blinked, surprised by his demeanour. "We have no types-" He broke me off, waving his hand in an unnerved manner. "I know, I know. What I meant was what kind of special ability do you have? I know that all of you have one…"
Oh. I blinked again, finally understanding. "Empathy. I'm an empath… and I have strong healing abilities…" I got cut off again. "That's enough! An empath is someone who's able to feel other peoples emotions, right?" I nod weakly. "And sometimes I can also read their thou…" I trail off, suddenly realizing what has happened. Thoughts! Kurikara had read my thoughts! I couldn't believe it! Was the bounding already that far progressed?
Kurikara had gotten the same result. The red-eyed shiki seemed to be a lot more disturbed by it, though. I wondered why. Wasn't it me who'd have to panic? After all I had absolutely no desire to end up like Terazuma. I automatically shuddered at that thought.
To tell the truth, I _HAD_ panicked. Greatly. Right after Kurikara had left and I'd realized that it was _not_ some sort of ill-fated joke but the harsh, bitter truth. It took Tsuzuki quite a lot of effort to calm me enough so that I would listen to his explanations. (After I'd beaten him up for congratulating me for getting into this mess.) A parasitic type! I still could just shake my head about this development. The only type I immediately excluded from my list of what shiki I wanted. Well, how's it said? Those who stick their nose too high up are going to fall over it in the end. Considering this, I'd say that I've quite a fall after me. I've never even considered the possibility that the most powerful shikigami of all could be a parasite.
According to his reaction, Kurikara as well. The shiki had given the idea of fierce reaction a whole new meaning when Genbu mentioned that he and I had become partners. Sheesh. That guy definitely knew how to let everybody within hearing range know what he was thinking about something. Totally different to me. The others were surely freaking out about my renewed vanishing. Tsuzuki-
"What are you thinking about? You're making a face…"
I blinked, taken by surprise. "Nothing." Kurikara grimaced. "Sure, nothing. Because of that you also look like you just got the message that your best friend died." I frowned. "I said it was nothing." "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Strangely that made me angrier than continual questioning.
"About Tsuzuki..."
"How he and the others reaction of you vanishing again?"
"Yes."
Kurikara looked straight into my eyes (actually he had to look up to do so). "That's nonsense. You can worry later about their reactions." I raised an eyebrow. "Say, what are you going to do now? You're quite a bit away from the palace, and many of the resident shikigamis don't like humans…"
He didn't have to finish the sentence. I already understood what he meant. I started getting hectic. What _was_ I supposed to do now? Just waiting wouldn't be clever if there were really other shikis around…
"So?"
I realized that Kurikara was about to go and leave me. "Matte!" Turning, he raised an eyebrow, seemingly not caring at all. "What?" I noticed that I didn't know what to say. The shikigami sighed. "Fine, move your ass! You can stay with me until they come and pick you up."
I hurriedly caught up to him. For a while we went in silence. "… Thank you." "Hm?" "That you're letting me come along… I know that you don't like humans." Kurikara snorted. "It's not about you…" "What?" "Forget it!! I said that it's about that fucking partner idea, not you!" I gave him a questioning look. The KouRyu continued despite himself.
"It's sheer stupidity if they really believe that such a thing works. Being equally ranked partners… That doesn't work! No matter what, they're lying to themselves!" I frowned. "With Tsuzuki, it seems to work." Kurikara made a scornful noise. "And why are they calling him 'master' then? Or are they able to act against his direct orders? That whole thing's just stupid. You loose all your independence…"
"Is it that why you don't want to become partners with me?" The fire type grinned humourlessly. "Don't take it personally, but if I'd have to choose a master, I'd prefer someone a bit more mature. I'm actually surprised that my name was on their list at all… I know about the sorting process, you know."
I evaded his eye. (He had his other one closed again.) "You weren't on the list. Your name was crossed out." "Oh?" "I just went through the list of all possible ones, and it attracted my attention…"
Raising an eyebrow, he looked mildly amused. "And what sort of combination do you have anyway? Preferred ones, I mean." I looked away. "Water and ground types. Maybe even wind, if it's supporting or defence. But not any fire type at all." Kurikara broke into a laugh. "No fire types? Well, then I congratulate! I'm an offensive fire type." He laughed again. "That means that we're fitting together just perfectly." I nodded silently.
"Riko was perfectly qualified."
"Yeah, but just being qualified obviously isn't enough…"
I had nothing to retort to that. Was it as he'd said? I and Riko really hadn't been getting along that well with each other. Or, better said, I hadn't come along that well with the optimistic little shiki. I just hadn't known how to deal with his cheerfulness. I felt bad again. Just because of my foolish lusting for power the little fellow had died. Just because of me.
For a time we continued our walk in silence, each one lost in his own thoughts. Kurikara was leading the way as if he'd have a certain destination in his mind. I wondered what it was.
In a clearing with rocks big enough to sit comfortably on, we finally stopped. Sitting down, Kurikara seized me with a thoughtful look. "You still don't understand, do you?" "Huh?" I didn't know what he meant. The shiki´s lips formed into a strange grin. He didn't really look amused. "Mmm, nothing."
I was irritated. I don't like being irritated. "So… Do you already know what to do to cancel that damn bounding process?" This time my irritation must have been displayed clearly on my face. Kurikara grinned half-heartedly. "How I'd know that you wanted to cancel it? I didn't. But I saw your face when Genbu trumpeted forth that I'm a parasitic type." He paused shortly, looking away. "Also because the whole thing's mainly my fault. You didn't pass the test. Nothing like that was supposed to happen; I just messed up. We have to cancel it. Somehow."
I jumped up. "But- !" Kurikara glared at me. "No. No but. It shouldn't have happened. You don't want a parasite, and I don't want a master. That's it! There's no reason to let it happen like that!!" He stared for a minute at my dumbfounded face and turned then abruptly away. "Do you know? Do you actually know what it means for a shikigami to team up with one of you?"
His voice was barely a whisper. I didn't understand him. Wasn't it me who should be worried about the effects? Why was he acting like that? He was even crazier than Tsuzuki – and that meant something.
"You shinigami don't understand at all. Just to be of a little use we give up our freedom, our free will, our life as it was like now… Hell! Even our bodies and souls up. A partnership might be based on equality, but that's just a little pretty white lie. In the end, shikigami is just another word for a tool.
…
…I have no intention to end like that."
He directed his sword at me. I could feel my eyes widen as I felt that he was serious this time, not like before where he'd just been surprised. This time it was for real.
"There is just one way to cancel the process."
______________
CONTINUE . . . ?
Waaaahhh! This fic got abandoned! T.T *sniffles* Means, that I'm now alone writing on it. Ryuke´s still doing the beta-ing, though. Because of this it also took so long to get the new chapter up (and not maybe because I've re-done it three times ^^;). Anyways, pretty pretty please review, ne?^^