It was dark.

What he had told Neku was the absolute truth. His eyes saw all even though they looked dead. It was blurry depending on how far he was stretching his willpower, but the fact still remained that he saw everything.

So why was he seeing pitch blackness when his eyes were open?

The room never got pitch black, no matter the time of day. He'd woken up in the dark before, but his eyes always adjusted and he eventually could make out the room's layout. But not now. Now he was just seeing blackness.

He squirmed, willing his body to obey his command and hoping the numbness was not a factor. A pain shot through his rib area, making him involuntarily yelp. He scowled and thrashed, but received another round of pain, this time he was sure the source was a shoe.

"Stop squirming, you monster! Go back to being dead weight!"

That voice….

He cursed the fact his voice wasn't working. He sighed and drew once again from the Composer Plane, in order to demand of the culprit their reasoning for whatever it was they did to him. At least...that was the plan. But this time his plan would be hindered, clearly.

"Shiki!"

"EEK!"

He grunted as his body hit the floor, the darkness finally giving way to blinding artificial lights. He was unfortunate enough to flip on his back, staring right into the painful source of illumination...a ceiling fan light. He frowned. He'd been moved from the living room to one of the spare bedrooms...for some reason. He turned his head slightly to observe his surroundings and smirked as his eyes fell on two pairs of shoes, one instantly recognizable with their indigo accents.

"What are you doing?!" Neku was furious. His Proxy had become very protective throughout all this mess. He snickered internally and continued to observe. His proxy had his arms folded, a glare in his blue eyes that were currently hidden by his head carriage, having his bangs covering them really made him look pissed off.

"I...Neku I…"

"What the hell is he doing in that sack?!"

Ah...so that's what that was...he was hardly surprised. In life, he had tons of experience being shoved in plastic trashbags, potato sacks, even his own bed sheets. This sack though...it wasn't any material he was familiar with, at least not from memory. Actually...he thought about it a bit more, and his eyes widened in realization. He did have exp[erience with this cloth...before his last Summoning to the HP, a group of Angels decided to kidnap him for Seraph instead of asking him nicely to show up. His ears tuned back into the heated conversation, curiosity now very high.

"I just...thought he'd want to get out of that stuffy living room for a while. I didn't want to risk accidentally dropping him, so I used the sack, that's all! Plus, there's an actual bed in here. He'll be more comfortable."

Neku cocked his head and crouched down to check his patient, freeing him from the rest of the sack. He flopped out like a dead fish, silently cursing that weakness as Neku checked him over. "He seems ok. A little bruised from you dumping him on the ground just now...why was he up to begin with, Shiki? You could've dragged him."

"I tried getting him on the bed…"

"Right...help me get him up there."

TWEWYTWEWYTWEWYTWEWY

It was dark. He opened his eyes and focused. He was still in the guestroom. He sighed and was about to close his eyes again when movement caught his attention. His vision was blurry, a side effect of his will fighting to stay conscious, so he couldn't quite make out who it was through sight. The music, however, did not lie.

Shiki Misaki. What have you been up to?

The girl seemed to hang her head as she lifted something to his nose. Instinctively, he turned from the sickeningly pungent, sweet odor, forcing his body to flip over. He knew that scent all too well. Any heir to a vast empire would become familiar with it in time. Although...he was curious. If the girl knew about his condition, he pondered as she once again tried to administer the vile agent again, why bother knocking him unconscious? It wasn't as if he'd be able to run anyway. It was hassle enough moving his body currently, and that was with the added adrenaline pumping through it at the moment.

What is your goal?

"This is for Neku." The soft voice said in a whisper "Only for Neku."

I doubt he will thank you. He snarked in his head, burying his face in the pillow so as not to breathe in the chemical of certain doom.

"ARG! Stop being difficult! Look, if you let me do this, Neku goes free! Don't you want that?! Or are you really the bastard I think you are, Joshua?"

Neku goes free? What have you done….

Shiki seemed to pause in her attempts to sedate him, and her music changed to a more sad, subtle tune. It was good he could hear the Music still, for even without the drug, his body was beginning to slow on him. His vision blackened out again, and he was forced to rely on his hearing and senses, and Shibuya itself, to know what was going on.

The bed sank as Shiki sat on it. He felt her hand rest on his back, right between his shoulder blades. His instincts flared, though he had no need to actually worry about a mortal placing hands so near his sensitive weakspots. A metalic sound graced his ears, and his fears rekindled. On the other hand…

With a push on the right spot, his secrets were revealed in all their featthery glory, shooting out his back and into the RG, fanning out, tips nearly touching the ceiling.

No….

He tried and failed to hide them again, desperation giving him new levels of control. He folded them up, but she pressed again forcing them to fan out once more.

"I tried making this painless...but you wouldn't let me."

No, please...No!

Adrenaline and terror caused him to thrash wildly, clawing like a wild animal, his voice finally breaking through the veil of silence in desperate squeals and a strangled scream as his legs kicked out, his arms franticly trying to find something to hit, as he once again folded in his wings, flipping himself on his back in the process.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Shiki was waiting for that moment, and dove on him, rag with the drug primed and wide as she shoved it over both his mouth and nose. The scent forced itself into his being, paralyzing his entire body with a tiredness so intense that his movements stopped upbruptly. His mind, frantic and terrified, slowed to a crawl, and started going blank. He screamed mentally all of his anguish, his throat no doubt being ripped to shreds by the physical cry of frustration and desperation as his eyes slowly closed, he was sure for the last time.

The last thing he heard before the dartkness swallowed him, was Shiki's voice...and the metalic sharp 'shink' of the sheers she carried.

"I wish I could say I regret this...but I don't. Not when it's for Neku."