Chapter Two:

Tpptiptiptiptip…

Gods, what was that sound?

There was a faint humming noise, strangely suggestive of the sound made by old model computers. Akabane wondered what hell he was headed to that could possibly have a computer in it. Probably it would turn out to have a reception desk of some sort, too, complete with sword-winged demons grinning with weathered-tombstone teeth.

Akabane's fuzzy mind tried to work out the details of this grotesquely fanciful image, but after a while it got funny, and so naturally he decided to find out for himself what it was, exactly, that was waiting for him on the other side. Not a cadre of angels, to be sure.

Akabane opened his eyes wide.

Shadows. Blurs. He blinked, narrowed his eyes and waited for them to adjust. Finally the shapes settled to recognizable patterns, and he sat up. He was in a spotless white bed that reminded him of hospitals, covered with equally white sheets smelling of soap detergent. The curtains were drawn back and sunlight was streaming through the window, looking solid enough to touch. Akabane sighed.

He was alive then. That was it.

"Oh, you're awake, aren't you!" a genki voice chirped in unexpectedly, causing Akabane to start and to shift slightly beneath the covers. He looked up and met the eyes of a girl with too many freckles and a boyish face, who in turn blinked at him, as if she were a little taken aback.

"Y-You…you're a…" the girl began, growing slightly red.

"Yes, Ren," another voice, which sounded old, said. Akabane twisted his head to one side to see a man, whom he hadn't noticed earlier, sitting in front of a laptop. The man stopped typing and turned in his seat a little, enough so he could peer over at Akabane with kind, twinkling eyes. The look he gave him was almost paternal.

"I believe our patient is not strong enough for any more of your theatrics, Ren." The girl nodded mutely. She turned to go out of the room, giving Akabane a clear view of the back of her jacket with its printed Volts insignia. He realized what this meant, but he felt he had to ask anyway.

He faced the old man. "Where am I?"

The man licked his lips. "Infinite Castle. If you want to know, this is my house. My name is Gen."

Akabane realized that he was expected to give his name in return, but avoided having to go there. "How long?"

"How long have you been here?" Gen asked gently. Akabane had of course noticed that the weather had considerably changed. It was all sun out there, not even a single storm cloud that might threaten rain in sight. But there was a dusty, artificial quality to it, which more than anything made him think that he was still in Mugenjou.

Akabane nodded, and the old man spoke. "Five days. You were asleep the rest of the time. My granddaughter stumbled across you, apparently unconscious, in one of the abandoned buildings. She seems to have the habit of finding wounded people she claims are women who turn out to be otherwise." And Gen actually smiled.

However, Akabane found nothing amusing in that at all, and had stopped listening to finger the cuts and bruises that were all over him. His upper arm was swathed in bandages, as was the case with several other parts of his body. Akabane maintained an almost clinical detachment to his situation despite being in an awkward spot. He actually resembled a stiff, half-formed mummy, though no mummy would have looked quite as good.

There was a deep wound mere centimeters from his heart which would likely leave a scar for him to remember his Kyouji-kun by. He sighed, irritated that he was very weak by any standards at the moment. The old man actually did a good job of patching him up. As good as he was ever likely to get in all his strange years of meaningless existence. But that did not make it any better. In fact, it made it worse.

Would he still have done that for him if he knew who Akabane really was?

Akabane lay back on the bed. He felt the hurt of something he could not comprehend from the very start, and the pain of introspection cut a wound much terrible than those he suffered from now.

"Do you want me to leave?" Gen asked, and Akabane closed his violet eyes, not wanting to meet those of his savior.

"Yes," he whispered. His head whirled with visions of night and blood. Kagami was there, a sanguinary image of an angel in a mirror of illusion, hatred and love.

-

Kagami twisted his dangling earring between his slim fingers, looking out at the poisoned city. He watched dispassionately as several thugs knifed a respectable-looking man who made the stupid mistake of wandering through the streets of Mugenjou. They hacked at him, took the bills from his wallet and then scampered away. It was broad daylight.

The murder and theft did not affect Kagami as it would have another person. He didn't throw up or anything, just took in the bloody spectacle with his usual glare, death having become so familiar for him to retain a feeling of dread at the sight of it. In a way it even reassured him.

Kagami lighted a cigarette. Below him, the man finally gave up twitching. Crows settled on the body like nightmares given substance, but Kagami had already finished looking.

Right then he was thinking about Doctor Jackal, whose appearance seemed to stir him from his apathy. Doctor Jackal, who he had failed to kill. He blew smoke out the window, then shut his eyes and wondered what the hell was happening to him that could make him that weak.

-

"I truly appreciate the gesture, but I do not want to abuse your hospitality any more."

"Oh, come on! You're only staying for the night. There are muggers out there, and you still need to rest…"

Akabane tried to disentangle himself from Ren's bear hug, which had suddenly turned to a tight hold and only served to further aggravate his wounds. His cool, out-and-out-murderous-and-happy exterior was already showing signs of cracking, but the girl did not seem to notice this. Or she did notice and unwisely reacted to this by squeezing him harder, making Akabane wince.

"See! You're not strong enough to leave. You'll just die out there."

Akabane toyed with the idea of making her lose her grip on him by cutting her offending limbs off, but perhaps that would be a very bad way of repaying their earlier kindness. He sighed and stopped struggling. He was simply not in the mood to kill that day, or so he would tell himself later, when he looked back on that incident.

"I have to go," Akabane reasoned feebly, not wanting to use up his strength in an argument with the strange, most unladylike girl he had ever met.

"You…!"

"Ren," the girl's grandfather said.

Ren knew she had lost, and did not bother to hide her growing irritation. She looked like a pissed-off cat, and she sounded like one too.

"Just remember I told you so when you're bleeding to death in some alley," she sulked.

"That may not come to pass. I have ways to protect myself," Akabane said. Ren suddenly glared up at him.

"You didn't have any when I found you there!" she hissed fiercely.

"Ren, don't be such a child. Mr. Akabane may have other pressing matters in his hands. And I'm sure he can handle himself well."

It took a moment for Akabane to realize that the old man had said his name. When it finally did sink in, he looked over at Gen, surprise flickering in his eyes. The old man seemed to understand and nodded at him.

"MakubeX," Gen said dismissively, and Akabane looked away again.

"You understand why I must go."

"No, I don't. But I'm willing to play along with what you have in mind. You don't seem to be such an evil young man…"

It was hard to tell, what with his hat on the way, but Ren could have sworn she saw a genuine smile tug at the corner of Akabane's pale mouth. But the moment was gone, and then she wasn't so sure at all.

Akabane nodded once and left Ren standing by the door feeling very confused, not knowing what to make out of the stranger at all. And why did her grandfather let him bleed himself to death out there? With a sigh she flung her hands up and stomped loudly to her room.