In Blood Drive's Outside World
"Today news. More and more spirits start appearing more and more throughout Tokyo. They seem to do nothing, but stay cautious."
"They usually centered the stations, apartments and offices. Mr. Mineya, are you getting this?"
"Yes. I can see the map with the locations marked. Be advised, there's current no accidents after this event, but keep your eyes open."
In past few days, every news channel has given out updates about reports of ghost sightings. Some witnesses claimed that they have seen bodies, however, they turned out to just normal objects being placed in the wrong orders at the wrong time.
"Madam, are you okay?" One of the Perfect Life Company employees asks their CEO as he sees the woman rubbing her temples with pain written on her face.
"I'm… fine. Thank you." Kuon Niwa, sister of Aiko Niwa, notices the worrying look on his face, so she straightens herself up. "The number of reports keep rising overtime... Have you found Ai's whereabouts?"
"That… Madam, you have a guest." Instead of answering directly, the employee quickly steps aside from the door of Kuon's office. "Sir, she's free."
"Thank you."
The CEO tenses up a bit as she sees the person walking into her room and heads to table she's currently sitting in. He wears a black jacket that reaches down to his knees, black trousers and black shoes, even with the fedora on his head. The age appearing on his face tells her that he's just somewhere around a university student, but the air around him suggests to her that he's NOT that young.
"Miss Kuon Niwa, I believe you have talked with your younger sister about Heavenly Host, haven't you?"
"…I'm sorry, I need to go, now." Instantly having what she needs to know after the person speaks up, she stands up. "My apology for not able to…"
"You would need more preparations to get there if you wish to keep your life."
Kuon, most of the time being ahead a few steps, is taken back at how the person before her can also predict what she's about to do. However, she doesn't show it on her face as she replies: "I won't rush there recklessly. And…"
"Do your preparations thoroughly. We will meet up with your students and find their friends there."
'…Shinozaki and Kishinuma are already in Heavenly Host?' That's what she thinks before noticing the man saying something to the employee then leaves the room.
"Madam, he said that he will wait on the front gate… And be careful, Madam."
"…Thank you."
Blood Drive's Heavenly Host
"…" Heading to a staircase that leads to the upper floor, Kuro suddenly stops right before he takes the first step.
"What's wrong?" Inumaru asks in worry. Normally the injured man doesn't make hesitation moves when he already forms out a plan.
Instead of answering, he just points the cane to a nearby wall and heads to it. The others watch him sitting down to the floor and leaning on the wall, with his free hand now placing on his stomach, where they assume the pillars are. Aiko guesses: "Those things are messing you up. I don't think you can continue at this point."
"…Maybe." Coughing once, Kuro pulls out the Argus Cube and gives it back to Ayumi. "I will… be fine. Find the pillars."
"There's no way we're leaving you here." The girl does not agree with the plan, but she still receives the cube. "You are not fine, not at all. And without all six pillars, separating…"
"Don't worry…" He rubs his eyes, seeing his visions are getting worse and no longer seeing anything in a clear figure even with pieces of glasses left. "He said I must not die yet, so I still have Lady Luck on my side."
"Don't even try. This 'Lady Luck' of yours must have a twisted sense of humor if she keeps dropping you through floors so frequently." After hearing stories from the previous groups, Aiko can tell that he's having a very bad time. "However… if you insist. Where are you planning to head to next?"
"The big bell… and a room I don't remember the name, sorry."
"If you can remember any rooms here after some hours then I would be impressed."
"Well… maybe your friend can." Kuro jokes back, and he can hear Kishinuma chuckle while Ayumi slightly grunting at him being not in the right moment. "…Make it quick."
"…Here's the talisman." Aiko pulls out three of them and places it on Kuro's legs. "Use them carefully."
"I will… now go."
"…We will be quick." Ayumi assures before the group starts making a run to find where the 'room' could be, considering that they already have one location locked-down already.
"…Just… a nap is… probably fine…" His world immediately turns dark as he closes his eyes, and his body collapses, forcing himself to take a rest after multiple shocked events.
…
…
…
*Rustle* *Rustle*
Paranoia can make many people do the impossible things. In this case, with the cane in his hand, Kuro instantly swings up, throwing off away whatever is hovering over him. Even with a blurred vision, he can still see three figures before him, but the color doesn't do much for him to identify who they are.
"…What happened to you?" An unknown voice from a woman of the trio asks up, her voice filled with concern. "We just met a while ago. Did you get attacked?"
"…Introduction." Kuro asks back, not wanting to risk any answers.
"We're sorry! I thought that you are already…"
"Naomi?" Now that's a voice he instantly recognizes. However… if she's here… "…Satoshi?" He turns his head to who he guesses is the only male in this group, then to the first woman. "…Aiko's sister?"
"! Did you see her?" The woman instantly asks, extremely worried.
"…With Inumaru, Ayumi and Yoshiki." Not wanting to think much, he just answers whatever comes up in his mind first.
"Shinozaki and Kishinuma are safe as well?!" It's now Naomi's turn.
"…For now. Finding the pillars…" HOWEVER, before he says anything else, a certain scene of a certain kid falling down the stairs crosses his mind. "…Yuka?"
"Yuka? How did you know my sister?"
"…Where?" Not letting his question stop, Kuro pushes on.
"…She's not here. Why…"
"DAMN IT!" Instant rage causes the Darkening to spread out, causing the others to gasp in surprise. Now with new surge of adrenaline and Darkening support him, Kuro starts looking around the whole area before walking as fast as possible without caring that the black mist now is over all of his body due to the interference of the pillars in him.
Even when he knows that the trio is following him out of fear (and hope that he could lead them to their friends), he doesn't care. Currently Aiko and her group won't meet anything that could knock them dead, and he's also the big target so he isn't scared that the group that he met might die. What concerns him is the certain punk who caused the whole thing and might mess up his plans up if he doesn't act accordingly to counter him.
It doesn't help with his rage as he accidentally makes a wrong step right at the last step of the stair and falls flat to the floor. There are very few spots on his clothes and his left face that's spared from the black mist. That doesn't even cross his mind once when he stands up and continues his run…
Until his body's electrocuted for some reasons as he shouts in pain and falls down, again. Taking a moment to adjust the pain, he pants heavily and stands up, then turns back to see Kuon with a few talisman in her right hand, with Satoshi and Naomi staying behind her. Hissing through his teeth, Kuro tries to retort: "Kuon… that… not nice…"
Seeing that the talisman works BUT the injured man doesn't make an attempt to instantly attack them, the assistant teacher tries to ask: "…Mister… What is going on here?"
"No time." With that flat answer, Kuro turns back and plans to continue, but Kuon throws one talisman right before his face, stopping him. "…Don't stop me."
"Please… hear us out." Satoshi steps forward and asks. "…We don't want to harm you… but you are…"
"The Darkening… I know." Kuro hisses again, the tinkling feeling from the talisman is still there. "I'm abusing it to move on."
"…How did this happen? You looked just fine when we met you." Naomi says, remembering the man leaving before they teleported to Heavenly Host.
"I was in here the whole… of course he did that." Kuro sighs out loud. "…Don't care about that now. Be my guest if you want to follow…" He then leans on the cane and coughs, then continues: "But don't stop me…" He looks up and glares towards the spirits before him which quickly retreats away when they notice his eyes. "That includes you all."
"…You are dying…" Kuon walks closer to Kuro, but keeps her distance so the man won't make sudden movements. "You need to take a rest…"
"That goes to you too." Turning his head back, he glares back at a surprised Kuon. "Your body has reached its limits… You still have your sister to look after… Don't die." With the last words out, for now, Kuro heads out to find Misuto…
And mUrDer HiM On SPot….
…
"Did this bell tower even exist before?" Yoshiki asks out loud as the group walks on the stairs that leads them to the last pillar. The previous pillar was hidden behind a mirror, and when Ayumi tried to retrieve it, some spirit tried to strangle her. Luckily Aiko used one of the talisman and sued her away… or Ayumi managed to get the pillar in time.
"I didn't remember… but we did hear the school bell the last time we escaped, right?" Ayumi replies. And just in time, the bell rings up, sending echoes through the area around them, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. Thankfully it's only for a few seconds. "Ouch…"
"Is… is this what happened to Kuro in the gym?" Inumaru recovers and asks. "Thinking back, it might be worse if he couldn't even react to our shouts."
"I think his hearing only recovered AFTER that song's completely out of reach to us." Aiko says. "Anyway, let's finish this."
However, when they're about to move on, they hear screaming from the above area, followed by a bloody roar. Alarmed, all of them quickly rush to where the last pillar is…
The scene before them is something they didn't expect: A bruised Misuto is holding an umbrella in his hands to defend himself against a Darkened figure. Said figure… is holding a cane…
"No…" Aiko says in despair, seeing no way that the figure can be reverted back to normal. "What… the talisman can't even save him at this point…"
"But then… the pillars are useless now…" Inumaru doesn't believe it. Having been with the man enough, he knows that the man won't just go down that easily. "No, Kuro must still be there. We need to…"
"OI!" Yoshiki decides to act first and runs up to the last steps and shouts to the fighters. "KURO! Can you hear us!?" That stops the figure mid-swing, though he doesn't drop his focus on the person before him. Though that gives Misuto a chance to counterattack, so he jabs the end of the umbrella into the figure's left side much to the others' horror. That snaps the figure back and swings the cane down full force, hitting Misuto in the head and knocking him down. The hit's strong enough to make a small crack on the boy's head, leaking the blood out.
The Darkened figure pulls the umbrella out, and blood spurts out instantly. Weakened, the figure staggers and loses his footing, falling on his back to one of the tower's pillars. The others quickly surrounds the figure and see the wound being too big for a simple patch-up to fix. That doesn't stop Inumaru and Yoshiki to try to use their hands to cover the wound.
"Goddamnit! We should have just brought you with us!" Yoshiki grunts as he sees the blood still spilling out. "How the hell can we hold this?"
Ayumi then remembers the pillars and quickly unseals the last one, then pulls out the previous pillar stone and tries shoving the two into the figure's mouth. However, other than the bright red eyes staring at her, the mouth refuses to open. Eventually Inumaru and Aiko use their free hands and force-open the mouth, allowing the stones to enter the figure's body.
The moment the stones go through the throat, the Six Pillars synchronize with each other, causing the black mist to outburst that slightly knocks the group out of the figure. The figure then starts floating up in the air, causing Aiko to pull out some protection charms in case if things get hairy. The figure then lets out another roar, this time shaking up the whole school. Then, the figure returns back to the floor… and starts heading towards Ayumi with his hand reaching out…
"If this is your plan, then you executed it poorly." A scythe blade's pressed on the figure's neck, causing him to stop and turn his head to see Migari holding said scythe while glaring at him with disdain. "Maybe I can kill you right now. With all the pillars in you, you can't adapt that quickly…"
"…All? Forgot the Seventh?" The figure suddenly speaks, and everyone sees that the black mist starts getting thinner, but the figure starts staggering again, and nearly falls on the scythe-user if she doesn't get out of the way instantly. "…Would be great if you block it…"
"…Hey… hey man." Yoshiki stands up and gets closer to the downed figure, along with the others. Migari meanwhile pulls out a rope and ties up the unconscious Masuto. "Hey, Kuro… you in there?"
"…Screw with the jokes. Yeah, I'm still here." It takes a few seconds for him to decide to not say anything stupid and just answer normally. "Man, this Darkening can even seal the wound. Neat."
"What happened? How did you get here before us?" Inumaru asks next, and he's relieved that the one who saved him is still alive.
"He can use teleport spells. That's all I can say for now."
"But, how? I mean, how did you find him?"
"…I think waiting for your sister and the others to come up here first, Aiko. I don't like explaining many times while being in this state. And… Magari, Satsuki and Yuka are still with each other…"
"Well that's good… so you know why?"
"Yeah… kinda."
"Man… just how many things you know?" Inumaru questions. "Like, you know ALL corners of this school!"
"Nope. Just make some logics…"
"How are you talking perfectly now?" Ayumi notices something strange. "You're not opening your mouth."
"Well… thanks to the Pillars, I guess?"
…
After a few minutes later, Satoshi's group plus his younger sister and her friend reach the bell tower, and both sides slightly cheer up seeing that they're all okay. Though they quickly settle down since one of them isn't in a very good condition.
Then, to Ayumi's surprise, Kuro raises his right hand to her again, and this time the Book of Shadow shines up under her clothes then fazes through it and floats into his hand. "The last piece of the problem…"
"Can you control that thing, though?" Magari questions the possibility. "It was passed down through the Shinozakis for a reason."
"Well… it lives on despair, right? I'm pretty in the worst shape here comparing to you all."
"That… doesn't directly answer the question." Aiko shakes her head. "But, if this is all over… then we can return back to the real world, right? Even when you didn't perform the charm…"
"Wait a second. He didn't perform it?" Satoshi asks in surprise.
"He's a unique case, unfortunately." Inumaru replies. "But, that's as far as we know. He didn't really tell us much."
"But, it's all over, right?" Naomi asks. "He now can return back with us. Back to the…"
"That's impossible."
"…WHAT?" All shout, Aiko and Inumaru being the loudest. The latter quickly follows the question: "No no no no no! You do NOT just say that! You risked EVERYTHING to get your hand on the stone so you can…"
"No. Remember the time when I said I never considered the stone as an option. I chose to die here, so you all can live."
"That… you can't be serious!" Aiko can't think of any reasons why. "What kind of future have you seen that gave you that idea?"
"You want me to list them out?"
That causes everyone to tense up…
"…Did you know what happened to their… previous teacher?" Kuon is the one to ask first, now understanding why the survivors seemed to react strangely towards her.
"Give me a moment to remember…"
"She died… saving me…" Ayumi replies, clearly feel despair reminding about it…
"Falling board decapitation. Yoshikazu's hammer to the head. Staying behind so the rest can escape. Pick your poison." However, Kuro decides to give out the worse ending so they can see the problems.
"…What… you mean…"
"You honestly think this school has only one way to murder you each, Yoshiki? Mind you, yours are worse." That makes the boy's face to turn green. "Also, the chase after the Book of Shadow? It's to prevent Ayumi from sacrificing herself to this place."
"What… could be worse than…"
"Oh it gets MUCH WORSE, Satoshi. Based on what I know, I have to say you picked the shortest straw."
"He's… still with us, right?"
"Remember the talk about 'meeting your own death', Inumaru?"
"What are you going to do now? Sacrifice yourself?" The scythe-user asks, as she makes sure that Masuto won't be able to escape.
"Isn't it obvious at this point?" To everybody's surprise, the Kuro-split-image appears next to them. "Any last words to them?"
"Do you even have to ask? Freaking heal Kuon already."
"Eh? She's hurt?" Satsuki looks around the silver-haired teacher before continuing: "I see nothing…"
"…I see." Kuon now knows how the two seem to know a lot…
"I would like you to keep it to yourself until you get out of here." The person immediately places a spell on her. "To avoid any risks, it would be a slow regeneration spell instead of an instant heal."
Once the doppelganger is done with his work, Kuro slowly stands up and turns himself towards the forest surrounding the school. The Book of Shadow starts making some sounds, and the Pillars are absorbed into the book…
Then, before everyone's surprised eyes, a seventh Pillar appears before them, with indescribable words written on it. Kuro raises the book up, which shines up in the same color as the pillar…
"Are you ready?"
"Never." Kuro retorts back, but he keeps his gesture for a whole minute. The pillar then sends out a focused light, which is only a meter long, into an unclear direction. Though, with the Darkening consuming him, he can still feel of where it leads to. "Time to find you…"
"You really did it." Another surprise which is in the form of a certain red-dress ghost appears with a smile. "Despite all odds, you were able to reach to the conclusion you want it to be…" Though, the smile falters a bit when she says the next words: "But, are you aware that… you are already dead?"
"…" The living ones dare not to say a word. Some naïve thinks it's impossible, but some already have some suspicions… in the end, they will leave the place alive, and he will stay there. Forever.
"…Maybe." To ease the atmosphere, Kuro laughs at his own demise. "To be honest, I'm surprised that I can even feel anything."
"But you know why."
"Oh I do. I'm VERY AWARE on how I'm still moving on." Kuro glances towards his split-image, then back to the pillar. "…Aiko, Inumaru… everyone. I have one request before we say our goodbye."
"Hey man. You saved us, twice even!" Yoshiki replies, hearing stories from the informant and her friend. "I don't think one request can even pay you back enough."
"Well… just want to ask you to think carefully before doing anything. Seriously, your strings of actions are what caused these to happen. And I do mean you too Sachiko."
"I have learnt now, okay?" Now the ghost lets out a cute pout, which causes the others to snicker. "The others, too."
"That's good… and one separate request to Satoshi and Yoshiki."
"Separate requests?" The two ask back in confusion.
"Give me an invitation when you engage with the girls, okay?" The right red eye winks at them, and the two instantly know what he's implying and they turn away with their faces redden up. Aiko, Inumaru and Kuon understands as they giggle. Kuro then gives the cane back to his doppelganger and says: "Look after them until they return back to the real world, would ya?"
"Should we just follow you to… wherever you are heading?" Naomi offers. "It's better in group, as you said, right?"
"…Good suggestion. But, I would have to decline. It's better for you to leave as soon as possible."
"We can look after him." Sachiko speaks up. "Besides, I think this one…" She points to Kuro's counterpart. "Would keep an eye on him every time already."
"Then… this is our farewell." Aiko reaches her hand towards Kuro for a handshake, and he's about to do the same but stops midway when he notices the mist in his hand. "Ah… right. Thank you for saving us."
"It's my pleasure." With the black mist now fully covering him leaving only the red eyes. However, his mind is clear, and he says his last words to the group: "Stay safe… and live happily ever after."
"What's in this book, anyway?" During the walk to the core of Nirvana, Kuro decides to start reading the heavily-cryptic book to see if he can find anything to use. "Like, Dark Magic, obviously. But why would anyone think there's a way to revive people?"
'There… is…'
"Oh… hey Queen. Long time no hear. I'm currently on the right direction, right?"
'…Certainty?'
"For… what?" No answer. "…You mean to consume Nirvana? Well, I do that, or Ayumi. And I'm not letting her do that."
'…Sachiko? Or… sister…'
"Like I said, curse my greed for happy endings. And…" Looking at the hand not holding the Book of Shadow, he ends: "…It's the adults' faults, not the youngsters'. And an adult should end this, not the students, and definitely not the kids."
Since WHEN are you an adult?
"HEY! Technically I'm an adult, okay?"
You just finished your first year of university.
"Still counts!"
'…Wait… you.' The Queen's present in Kuro's mind disappears, signaling that she cuts the connection with him.
She's older than you, by the way. So…
"Does that even count? I mean, technically she stopped growing after… well, The Hunt?"
Don't try finding logic in the mind of an immortal or an undead.
"You're talking about me?"
…There are exceptions.
Well, it's time to conclude this story, huh...
That doesn't mean I will end in this chapter. I would put a few more oneshots about what happened after Heavenly Host is under Kuro's control. For now, bye bye!