One: Pink Petals
He was clad in a black overcoat as the same color surrounded him everywhere.
From the darkened skies, to the shades that conceal his mismatched eyes down to the very black shoes he wears everyday of his life.
Those very shoes accented every step he makes.
The twinkling stars up in the sky winked at him as he strolled away the shadowy alleyways and into the bright lights of the city.
All the flashes of signs and billboards were beckoning him into their vicinity which he readily ignored.
Mismatched orbs see nothing but the shady version of this defiled city with the help of his tinted glasses. A smile caressed his face with no mirth to back up the twist of his lips.
If one is observant enough, or if one cares at all, one could smell the scent of cherry blossom clinging to the hem of his garments. It lingers around him as long as he is bounded to 'it'.
No matter where he goes, the darkened red spots on the sleeves of his coat will never disappear. The array of cigarettes or the reek of booze can never overwrite the stench of death clinging to his sleeves. Same goes for the darkened red spots on his shirt.
He carries these reminders as he walked through life. The happy, kind-hearted veterinarian in the lights of day but a murderer in the darkness of the evening.
The steady rhythm of his steps never changes as he moves on to the tarnished metropolis known throughout the world as Tokyo.
White noise fills his ears, sounding off around him in various forms but they were left for deaf ears.
His head flew somewhere else and no one could tell because his shades blocked the windows to his soul.
He was musing again; this wasn't the first, nor will it be the last.
His muses were only limited to a few topics; the sakura tree, the many people he killed, the kekkai stationed in Tokyo. But only one thing flooded his mind most of the time.
His Subaru-kun.
He pondered on his white long overcoat, similar to his opposite in color alone.
He pondered on his metamorphosis from that shy naïve boy to a more understanding man.
He pondered on why his little prey hasn't been taking care of himself recently- he looked more like a stick than anything else, honestly.
What does he get by starving himself and smoking cancer sticks for nourishment?
It'd be nice to know what goes on in that boy's head. Even if they were connected, in an almost literal sense, because of the pentacles that would sometimes shimmer on the boy's hand, he on no account was provided access to the boy's thoughts.
This will lead him into another set of musings…
Are his dreams still plagued by a certain dead girl in a white ceremonial dress with violet beads hanging around her neck? Can he still see her gracefully fall, her back in a perfect arc, ever so slowly as the beads began to break and fly to different places? Does he see the bloody hole of where his hand took away her heart?
Or maybe…
His dreams were concerned about other things than the weight of the past.
Did he trade all those haunting memories with the apocalypse at hand? Was his mind consumed on the heavy thoughts of the barriers deteriorating silently while the people around, obviously, doesn't seem to notice?
He didn't know when he stopped, but when he did he was staring at the park's sign. The very same park where a bet happened, was that a few years ago? Funny, it was already long overdue, but they were still under the rules of the game of cat and mouse. Of course, he being the cat and his precious one… a precious mouse.
The edge of his lips curled up into what the whole world understands as a smile.
A very adorable mouse to say the least; he strides into the ever familiar setting of the park and was greeted by sakura branches waving their arms at him under the commands of the gentle wind.
From a distance away he could he see Tokyo Tower, ever vigilant standing out from the rest. The corner of his eyes caught the lights but they all faded away in the backdrop which was Tokyo city.
Mismatched eyes perked up in small surprise as a figure loomed over the tree that which he protects and serves under by default.
A figure of a boy, to be exact, was there. Whether he was amused by the tree or the tree pulled him, he wasn't really interested in knowing.
He didn't move away from his place, interested to see what the person was doing there.
He could've been sixteen or fifteen; his hair a shiny mane of mellow yellow, a side of his face was curtained slightly by the longer strands. It was a funny style for hair, but it really suited him. It almost reminded him of someone.
Eyes were transfixed on the ugly twist and knots the tree bears. It maybe a sakura tree but comparing it to the other trees in the park, this was by far the most hideous tree one has lied their sights upon.
However, this boy thought otherwise.
His fingers caressed the tree's ugly bearing with dazed green eyes.
His name was Kudou Kazahaya.
At first glance, he looks more like a pretty but sickly boy. Thin as a stick and was mistaken more than once as girl.
He was different from other boys, setting aside his androgynous charms, of course.
He was different from other boys because he simply had something they don't have. He has powers.
Human, thing or animal; just as long as it's touchable with magical properties beneath its surface, his powers let him see or feel them.
He has the power of empathy.
It was that same power that drew him to this repulsive tree.
He was going back to Green Drugstore- the place where he works and lives- when he passed by this thing.
Kazahaya stood for a moment.
Then he stared.
Something pulled him to the tree, maybe it was his powers that pulled him. Other than that, he felt as if someone guided him there. An invisible hand of some kind must've leaded him to this certain place. It wasn't a mere coincidence that he was here.
Even if he wanted to speculate aspects like that with fate or kismet thrown in his net of theories; his powers wouldn't allow him to.
He closed his eyes and one memory flooded his mind. Just one.
There was the darkness; all of Tokyo seemed to have vanished into that setting of nothingness.
There was the falling of the sakura petals.
Then, of course, there was the boy.
He could've been eight-years-old. He was just an innocent little boy, with raven hair and small bangs that claimed the side of his face. Surprised emerald eyes gazed at him.
He saw this boy through the eyes of someone older.
"Why are you here?" Kazahaya heard a voice coming from him but knew it wasn't his voice.
"I… I … was trying… to find… Hokoto-chan…" the boy stuttered.
He was wearing some weird white robes with violet beads hanging around his neck. His clothes reminded Kazahaya of old Japanese movies where they would show court people or ceremonial gatherings requiring them certain kind of clothing.
Was this a memory of that kind of past? Kazahaya thought.
If it was then why is his character wearing the standard school uniform worn by boys in his age?
"Hokoto-chan… is she your sister?"
"Y… yes, 'Ni-chan" the little boy replied.
Kazahaya's head lifted up and he saw the falling of sakura petals from the branches of the tree.
Whose memory is this? It obviously doesn't belong to the tree, Kazahaya mused.
"Do you know why the sakura has pink petals?" his gaze was still on the branches above his head. He felt his lips- though not his own- curve up in a smile, but something about the real owner made Kazahaya think that it was more of a sinister purpose than just a twist of lips.
"Why, 'Ni-chan?" the little boy asked.
"You see…" he was standing and going to the boy, this time his gaze shifted on the boy who looked up to him with curiosity and fear. "Sakura trees usually have white petals growing from their branches…" he came to him and knelt in front of him until their faces were leveled. He could see the fear that took the boy's face as he held his small hands with his own.
"… But underneath each sakura tree there's always a corpse" he could feel the trembling digits in his own. "Their blood is offered to the tree. When the blood of the victim with the white of the petals comes together and they form the color that you see now"
"T… That's terrible, 'Ni-chan!" he didn't hold back the scared expression forming in his face.
"It's the truth" Kazahaya felt something inside him, something close to hunger that somehow didn't belong to him. Of course it didn't belong to Kazahaya, but it doesn't seem to belong to the boy he resided in either.
"Then I don't want the petals to be pink then" his green eyes were close to tears, but the expression that claimed his face seemed to be something like determined "I don't want people to get hurt because of a silly thing"
There was a moment of silence while the petals of the tree flew around them, landing everywhere and anywhere they could.
"What's your name?"
"My name is…" the boy hesitated; he remembered his grandmother strictly telling him not to give away his name to strangers.
"Don't worry" he said to the boy with a kind smile on his face, "If it'll make you better, my name is Seishirou"
"My name…My name is Subaru" the boy replied after a while.
"Subaru-kun…" he said, "Do you want to play a game with me?"
The boy now named Subaru quickly regretted ever telling the older boy his name. The smile he received from Seishirou doesn't seem to be like the one he received earlier. It was scary in a way, though his naïve mind could never comprehend how a simple smile can be scary.
"Do you like games Subaru-kun?"
"Uh, uh" the boy nodded his head slowly.
"I have a game I'd like to play with you, Subaru-kun" Kazahaya felt the grin that crept up his face all the while never taking off his face off the already terrified boy's features.
"I want you to make me feel something"
Like love, a voice in the back of his head mused.
The child's face looked at him with such beautiful confusion that he couldn't help but drop away his grin for an actual smile instead. The small digits tried to escape his larger hands but then he hastily held on to the younger one.
"I'll give you a year to do that"
"But… But how can I do that?" the raven-haired child inquired.
"If I tell you…then that'll be coaching" he gripped the boy's hand firmly.
"But… but… what if I-"
The wicked smile on his face gave Subaru a hint.
"This tree is a sakura tree, Subaru-kun… It needs to have pink petals"
Subaru's eyes widened, he tried to pull away his hand "I don't want to play that game!"
But Seishirou didn't seem to be interested in his pleas. He pulled the smaller boy close to him, "Too bad, Subaru-kun…"
As the little body struggled against his strong hold, he smirked.
"To make sure you wouldn't get away easily…" he lifted one of the boy's hands and kissed the back. A pentacle glowed lightly before disappearing beneath his skin. The little child's tears ran down the side of his face as he desperately tried to get away. The older boy did the same thing with the back of his other hand and it hurt. It hurt with his other hand too.
"Don't worry…" Seishirou forced the small head on his chest as he cooed the boy, "It won't hurt that much"
The little boy tried to free himself but slowly felt weakening though with the fact, he still struggled.
Amidst his tears, he felt the drowsiness flooding through his system.
His eyes closed softly with tears still staining his beautiful features as he fell into the arms of the older boy.
"Kawai desu ne…" he kissed the top of his head.
Kazahaya felt being pulled away. The petals of the sakura tree swarmed around him, wrapping around him and the little boy.
There was the darkness; all of Tokyo seemed to have returned, slowly piece by piece as the building rose, the lights from the distance turning back on.
There was the falling of the sakura petals.
Then there was Kazahaya, who slowly opened his eyes.
"This tree is a sakura tree, Subaru-kun… It needs to have pink petals"
The words lingered in his head as he felt the seriousness in each statement.
That was very wrong of him, of that boy. He could still see the frightened face of that naïve little kid, how could anyone do that to a small child? Especially as young as the one he saw?
It was just wrong.
He turned away from the tree, unaware of the gloom that veiled his own face as well, his head heavy with his recent discovery as he walked to the direction opposite the tree.
Then, suddenly, he snapped out of his reverie and looked around him with suspicious glint in his eyes.
Something told him that he was watched.
Even though the park seemed to be deserted, he knew it isn't always doesn't have to be like that.
With his guard still on, he ran out of the park in a hurry.
The sakura petals fell the same way Subaru's tears fell.
There was a black overcoat catching the wind as he lifted a lit cigarette to his smiling lips.
"My… my… what was that?"
But behind his smirking lips, he could hear a name being announced.
He decided he didn't want to pay heed.