A/N: Another short chapter. I guess now that this should have been part of the previous one. If you ask, I'll add it and make just one long chapter. I didn't do it because then it wouldn't count as an update and some people would have missed it.
Sort of off topic, I was going through my old stories the other day, reading through reviews, and I felt really sad, because I used to have this tight bond with my reviewers. Both because of new rules and my disappearance last year, I lost that, and it's really sad. SAD I TELL YOU!
Anyway, ENJOY!
DEAD RECKONING
CHAPTER TEN
He probably would have run after the blue eyed man of his own accord, really. The situation certainly entitled that he followed him. But it was more of a chain reaction, of doing exactly what everyone else was doing, that had him rushing after Tatsumi, closely following the stranger that had prompted the run in the first place. They lost him before they even got a chance to leave the house. The shadows that had impeded his entrance were making it almost impossible to see anything beyond his own nose at that point.
In spite of his previous conclusions, in spite of this stranger calling Tatsumi by another name, the man he was trying to catch up to had to be Tatsumi, his Tatsumi. He knew very well Kagetsukai were rare and so much control of the shadows couldn't have been gained by anyone but an expert. He only had heard of Tatsumi having such ability, and the existence of a master had been hinted at in a few occasions, but that was it. He couldn't have been totally wrong in his assumption that they were dealing with someone else, though, given that the stranger had, indeed, used another name. The only option that made a bit of sense was a possession and, while it was a bit ludicrous, considering how they usually took place, he would have to run with that theory for now.
By the time the shadows cleared, there was no sign of Tatsumi anywhere. Tsuzuki would never have imagined Tatsumi could be so fast. He'd never really consciously associated Tatsumi with any physical activity. He was starting to realise how much of Tatsumi he didn't know. The stranger seemed to know what he was doing, because he rushed out the door without hesitation, and a definitive destination. Tsuzuki, tired of that little game, reached, seized the young man by the arm and stopped him after a few yards of indecision. The other struggled a bit, but Tsuzuki didn't give him a chance to escape.
"Let go!" the other cried angrily. Tsuzuki just tightened his grip, glaring. "I don't have time for this!"
"We're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." He hissed a bit more aggressively than what was customary for him. "So you better make the time!" The young man seemed to relent a bit, eyeing him with mistrust. Tsuzuki matched his gaze without hesitation. Why did you call him Katsuhiko?"
The other shook his head, frowning in frustration.
"Tatsumi, Katsuhiko… He's in danger and… I can't let him go yet!"
The amethyst eyed man let go of the other instinctively. He watched dumbly as he resumed his race, with more questions than before. He hadn't mentioned Tatsumi's name, had he? If this guy thought Tatsumi was someone else, why would he know his real name? What did he mean Tatsumi was in danger? From their little encounter, he'd have guessed Tatsumi was the danger himself! What was more, what did that guy mean by not being able to let him go, "yet"?
Tsuzuki started after him, a sinking feeling growing at the pit of his stomach. This was getting weirder by the second, and he had a hunch it was bad weird. Really, really bad weird.
Tatsumi stared down at the waves crashing against the very familiar cliff before him. The sight had cleared more than one doubt for him and he seemed to have come to an understanding with himself. The part of him that was Katsuhiko was so much his own that the conflict within him died down the moment he put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Katsuhiko knew how he felt, he knew what Katsuhiko was thinking.
He was going to hate himself for what he was about to do, but hey, he hated himself anyway. At least this way he'd stop hurting everyone he loved.
Kaede stopped behind him, panting, and Tatsumi turned his head slightly to look at him. There was an expression of pure fear and desperation on his face.
"Katsuhiko," he breathed, "Not yet, please… I…"
The part of him that was Katsuhiko wanted to throw up, seeing what Kaede had turned into because of him. He was begging for the crumbs he wouldn't get this time around, crumbs that were more like treacherous shards of glass, but he wanted them anyway. Katsuhiko knew it was because it was all he'd ever given him.
Tsuzuki reached them shortly after, worry and confusion etched deep in his features. The first time he'd stood there, when he had actually believed he would put an end to his madness, that raw guilt had been all he'd needed to push him off the edge. The following times, it had been a sort of reflex, it had been out of his control. Now, when his original intentions could actually be fulfilled, it was with calmed determination that he turned, ignoring Kaede, to meet his end.
He was frozen in his tracks at the sight of Tatsumi standing so close the edge. He could reason that there was no danger at all. Whether Tatsumi was aware of the fact or not, if the blue eyed man took the plunge and jumped, it would be painful, but nothing more. Yet Tsuzuki knew the feeling that drove people to do such things. He'd been there, and he wasn't sure what was more horrible to his eyes; the death of someone at their own hands, or the emotions that led them to it. There was something on Tatsumi's expression that convinced him that was exactly what he was feeling, and Tsuzuki found himself short of breath.
The young man said something he couldn't hear but Tatsumi did not reply. He turned around and gazed at Tsuzuki with a small smile that sent shivers down his spine.
"What now?" he said, way too calmly for Tsuzuki's comfort. "What are you going to do, Tsuzuki-san?"
Was he supposed to do anything? Was he, of all people, supposed to talk Tatsumi out of jumping? Not that he wouldn't, but he doubted he had much credibility in the subject. Maybe he could just repeat, like a parrot, what had been directed at him countless times, but he doubted anyone would buy it. He could, however, distract the blue eyed man. He figured it was the best he could do, anyway. That, and hope the man would come back to his senses, which was well overdue.
"About what, Tatsumi?" he said cautiously, suppressing any hint of apprehension or residual anger.
Tatsumi snorted humourlessly, reminding Tsuzuki of the beginnings of their ill-fated conversation, just a while back..
"Well, you do have a Shinigami out of control on your hands, don't you?"
Tsuzuki saw the young man blanch visibly at the words. He couldn't care. Tatsumi had a strong point there, but Tsuzuki was not ready to deal with that bit of information, nor accept it.
"That's not true. Tatsumi, you…" He threw his hands helplessly in the air. "You're angry, and confused but… I think there's more to this. I think someone, or something is controlling you. This is not your…"
"Fault?" he finished sardonically. "Confused, I might be; angry, for sure, but I'm not being controlled. Don't you see? This is me!" He gestured at himself and, though his grin only grew, with a tint of malice, his tone was slightly desperate.
Tsuzuki shook his head, shutting his eyes tight.
"Then calm down. Lets talk about this, lets…"
"No!" Tatsumi bellowed, deeper than Tsuzuki could remember his voice ever being. "Enough with the fucking talks! If you won't do anything, fine! Stand there and watch. I couldn't care less!"
In one swift motion, Tatsumi grabbed the young man by the neck with one hand and lifted him almost a whole feet from the ground. The young man gasped, and kicked, but his struggle was half-hearted. The shadows were back, more evident under the sunlight, crawling up Tatsumi's legs, threatening to devour him. Tsuzuki could just stare in horror as Tatsumi squeezed the life out of him without any show of hesitation. He had seen Tatsumi like that before, but it had always been reserved for those who dared hurting anyone he cared about. He used to feel slightly uncomfortable by the blue eyed man's cool-headed violence. Now he was scared shitless.
It hurt, so much, that Kaede wouldn't even fight. There was a point in his madness when he would think that removing him from his life would end his torment, there was a time when he would have undoubtedly killed Kaede without hesitation. It was not this time. His eyes gazed deep into his victim's, as if trying to explain what he could not, as if trying to apologize when he knew there was no way he'd find forgiveness. He just squeezed, and the other took it, his kicks a mere reflex from a body that hadn't caught on his owner's will to be killed by the one he loved. And though he couldn't tear his eyes away from the man he had destroyed, his attention was focused on Tsuzuki's every breath, in his stance, adjusting his pressure to his timing, hoping he'd react soon, lest his plan fail or Kaede die out of sheer willingness.
Tsuzuki took a step closer to him then, careful, shaking slightly, but with an expression that told Tatsumi his feelings were not enough to let him kill an innocent man. Good.
"Tatsumi, put him down."
The command in his voice was unmistakable. Tatsumi couldn't keep the smile from his face, albeit a sad one.
"Or what?"
"You'll kill him!"
"Then stop me." Please, stop me.
Tsuzuki was good, really good. Tatsumi didn't even see him take the ofuda out, and he noticed curiously how the blow actually drove both of them away from the edge, rather that push them from it. Kaede slipped from his fingers and, in a second, Tsuzuki was teleporting to catch him and then back away from him. Tatsumi laughed deep in his throat, conjuring his shadows closer.
"You are so predictable, so reliable. You cannot save him, you know?" he taunted, his shadows inching closer to the pair. Tsuzuki drew back a bit. "You cannot save yourself. Don't you get it? It's not your eyes that make you a monster." Tsuzuki's sharp intake of breath let him know he'd hit home. He really was predictable. His next words were delivered in a carefully calculated, cold tone. "No matter how hard we try to pretend, or delude ourselves in thinking we're good, we're still people who refuse to die, and don't care what we have to do to stay alive."
"Tatsumi," the other started weakly, shaking his head. The blue eyed man knew he was punching below the belt, throwing Tsuzuki's own words back at him, knowing he would not be able to refute them truthfully. He also knew he wouldn't get anywhere if he reserved his attacks to Tsuzuki. The man was too much of a masochist.
"I'm just done pretending, don't you see? And you're not going to get in the way. He's going to die." His shadows launched forward, wrapping around a barely conscious Kaede. Within seconds, another ofuda was pushing him back, forcing his shadows to retreat. Tatsumi laughed again. "You're gonna have to do better than that!"
Whatever had gotten into Tatsumi, literally or figuratively, Tsuzuki could not care about right now. He didn't have the time to brood about his words or even feel hurt by them. There was a part of him that suggested maybe there was nothing technically wrong with the Kagetsukai, that he was speaking the truth, but this was not the time to consider it. Whether voluntarily or not, Tatsumi was completely out of control and he had to stop him from doing something he might or might not regret later. This wasn't about Tatsumi and him anymore.
It was obvious, though, that he wouldn't get anywhere with just ofuda. Tatsumi had to be one of the most powerful Shinigami out there, and ofuda could barely take care of third class demons. As soon as Tatsumi's words reflected his thoughts, the Kagetsukai's shadows sprung towards the young man again, only this time, they split in two just in time to hit him as well. Tsuzuki had never felt the power of the shadows before. It wasn't so much pressure they brought on their grip, as an unbearable void. It was like going numb after staying on the same position for hours, feeling the pins and needles as the blood started flowing again, only multiplied by infinity. It was like being emptied, drained of all life force. He had to think, fast. If he was feeling like that, he dared not imagine what it was like for a mere mortal. Breathless, with his vision starting to blur, he weighed his options. He couldn't keep the tears from his eyes as he made his decision, but saw no other way.
"Suzaku," he breathed. "Come forward."
The flames obliterated the shadows even before the bird had manifested completely, but their effect did not go away immediately. Suzaku posed herself between them and Tatsumi, but otherwise remained still, and Tsuzuki could see the confusion on his Shikigami's face. He could also see, through the flames, Tatsumi standing impassively, with a self-satisfied smile that took him back a few months, to the night when everything had gone to hell. It was the second time that day that Tatsumi reminded him of the psycho, and he shuddered at what it meant. Suzaku's confusion was replaced with disbelief when Tatsumi's shadows attacked her this time. She turned her head to him, and he nodded grimly.
Tatsumi had never enjoyed fighting. He was not necessarily a peaceful person. It was more that he was annoyed by the dynamics of it. Battles drawing endlessly, while the contenders sized each other up and made a show of their abilities. Tatsumi would either win or lose a battle the moment it started. He would give it his all on the first strike. If he was powerful enough, his opponent would be out for the count, if he wasn't, then he wasn't, and it was nice to know that beforehand. He was yet to lose a battle.
But this was different. He needed to draw it out, to draw Tsuzuki out. He was almost certain he could never beat Tsuzuki, but the amethyst eyed man wasn't going to just kill him, as Tatsumi would have had they really been fighting as enemies. Suzaku was too much Tsuzuki's Shikigami, though. The thin layer of sweat covering his brow, both due to the heat and exhaustion, was testimony of his disadvantage. His skin was starting to hurt from the flames, but they never got close enough to do any real damage. At least, he thought, he didn't have to worry about restraining his own attacks. The shadows had nothing against the fire bird.
It would require perfect calculation. Just the right amount of pressure. He needed to push the right buttons, had to make Tsuzuki snap the right way. How far would he need to take it? He was not Tsuzuki, surely Touda would not be required. But he didn't really know his limits. He figured he'd push until he couldn't anymore. There was no other way. The last thing he wanted was Tsuzuki blaming himself, but that would be unavoidable. At least he'd have people who cared to catch him, people who wouldn't be too afraid to be there for him. Just like before. And if Tsuzuki didn't do it, he'd have to make sure Enma did, which would probably be better.
Tsuzuki was staring at him intently through the flames, accusingly, angry, pained. Tatsumi wanted, needed to see hate there. So his eyes sought Kaede once more. Kaede needed to hate him, too, and attacking him seem to make Tsuzuki react, so it was his only option. He wasn't lying next to Tsuzuki, Tatsumi noted with alarm, just as he'd been a moment ago. The distraction was enough for Suzaku's blast to catch him off guard. The bird herself was obviously not pleased when a ball of fire caught him right in his middle, piercing him with a searing pain. She backed away slightly, mortified, and Tsuzuki gasped. Tatsumi fell to his knees, gripping his stomach tight, but his eyes still darted around in search of Kaede.
His heart stopped when they found him, staring at the edge of the cliff just as he had a moment before, gazing at him with a peaceful, resigned smile, and closing his eyes before letting himself fall.
Tsuzuku
