Disclaimer:I do not own the anime, manga, novels, and most importantly the characters of K. K is officially owned by GoRa/GoHands.

A/N: Oh god, I just reread my chapters through preview and… I'm embarrassed with my first few chapters. For chapter 3 (The Enchanting Nightmare) I don't understand what I was thinking as I was typing… And how the heck did I write the Prologue?! Well, I was only 15 yrs old when I started this (I'm now 17) but GOD I am embarrassed with how I wrote the first few chapters. I don't understand how I even got any followers/readers when the first thing they read is the Prologue. I'm sorry updates have been agonizingly slow and I keep torturing you with cliffhangers—actually I like doing that to you guys—but as I've said, I'm busy doing college applications and balancing AP classes, prepping to be a camp leader for Walden West, and practicing Battle. SORRY, if my writing sucks. I'm trying to get back into the writing tempo.

K: Preserving the Blaze of Your Red

BY: TCOOKIES777

Chapter 11: Living Off Your Memories

Heart beats, slowly

Leeching off your memories

Gun wounds in my chest

Heart beats, at arm's length

Japanese Wallpaper - Breathe In

Red is the color of the power that embodies her essence.

Red is the color of the rage swallowing her King's enemies and foes as they cower against his might. The red string of fate—tangled in the flaming grip of her King as he tugs their threads like a pupeteer. It is the strands of his wild mane fanning against the sizzling heat. Red is his burning gaze, piercing your soul to the core and leaving you caught like prey.

It is an ember. A birth of pure destruction and desecration burning scars against the night sky.

It is the flash of a gun, banging a bullet to the victim before it.

The color of a bartender's favored tomato curry, the pain her men bandage after every battle, the crystal marbles rolling across a surface.

Red is the dawn, the symbol of a new beginning and a remembrance of every tomorrow.

Hope.

She sees it in the symbol marked on their skins, feels it surging through her veins.

It is the wilting petals on a rose being laid atop of the coffin, putting a fallen comrade to rest. It is the cloud of embers and ashes brushing the black sky as they light their lost friend aflame.

It is the fire.

The spark.

Red is the color of their memory and honor.

It is their color.

The color of their legacy.

The same color that stained the little girl's feet as she slowly stepped through the pooling blood to crouch beside the young man on the frozen cement.

She was too late.

Anna's lips trembled and she struggled to get the words out of her mouth. Words? What words? She didn't know what to say. Her tongue immediately felt thick and rubbery once the scent of copper pervaded the frozen air. She swallowed once. Hard. "Ta… Tatara?"

Seconds that felt like years passed before the man slowly turned his head to the side and Anna's heart practically leapt to her throat in response. Breathing heavily—almost as if it was painful to do so—his eyelids fluttered and his eyes were so glossy that it was impossible for her to read him. "Ah… Anna..?"

"Here." She whispered so quietly even her own ears could barely pick up on her voice. The mist produced out of her lips was the only sign she had said something.

He breathed once. Twice. Then three times. A cloud of fog puffing up each time. It took almost half a minute. "Shouldn't… be here… Surprise… g-gift for you."

Anna fell down to her knees, ignoring the stab of pain that followed when the sensitive skin broke from the friction. She grasped him and gently laid his head upon her lap. Her mind felt so numb, making her movements feel mechanic. It was as if she was there, but not exactly present. With shaky fingers, she brushed the light brown bangs away from his dull eyes. "Why, Tatara…why did you go out?"

He tried to smile but it became more of a grimace. "Wanted to… show… you something… pretty…"

For a moment, Anna couldn't breathe right. There was a stinging pain in her eyes but she refused to blink. She could not afford to blink. She wanted to get a good look of his face for as long as possible. But that didn't stop her from clenching her hands so hard she could feel the nails break the skin. "You—you're hurt."

"It's f-fine… it's fine…." He muttered, his lips twitching between a wry smile and painful stretch. "But don't… don't know if I… c-can still… give you my—my rose… congratulate… you for t-turning eleven."

"Yes, you will." She couldn't stop her voice from shaking—from trembling, so she lowered it to a whisper as soft as the caresses she touched to his face. "Didn't you say you had something pretty to show me?"

"Pretty…." He spoke in a slur, prompting Anna to bite her lip hard. Feeling pain was better than feeling helpless.

"Let's go back, Tatara, please." She begged to him. "Back home. And you can give me your rose." A memory of her placing a lone rose on top of a coffin at the beach flashed in Anna's mind and for a second it felt like she was reliving the moment all over again.

He coughed out a red bubble that popped at the corner of his pale lips. "Rose…."

Nodding, she swallowed back the hard lump in her throat. "I want you to tuck me in bed tonight."

"Y-yeah."

"I want you to read me the book Izumo and Mikoto got me."

"Wh-what b-b-book is… is it?"

"Alice in Wonderland." Her voice came out hoarsely.

It took Tatara some precious time to give a reply given that each breath he took became more and more shallow. "Ah… the one wh-when she f-f-fell down the… rabbit hole… and lost her… herself in Won-Wonderland…."

Anna could barely feel herself nodding as she croaked out a "yes" for him.

Tatara's face twisted into one of amusement for a brief second before his shoulders jerked violently. Anna pressed her slim hands against his trembling shoulders to keep him down. He stared up at her but it was like he was just looking right through her. "Think… think I got… lost too…. Losing myself…. D-don't… don't know… if I c-c-can find my… way b-back…."

"Yes, you can." Anna forced herself to say as she brushed the salty droplets pooling in the corner of his dazed eyes. "Alice found her way back. Her friends helped her home."

"Don't… don't you need to… to get home too?" Tatara eyes focused on her slightly and she knew that was as good as they could get.

"Not without you." She tried for a small smile. For him. He always lit up like a Christmas tree whenever he caught her smiling, even if it was only by a fraction.

"Can't…."

"Tatara," She pleaded with him. Time was running out and every second ticking by was lost just like the blood draining from him by the droplets. "Tatara, what happened? Who shot you?"

He reached up, his arm trembling with the effort, and stroked her cheek lovingly. "But you… you already know… don't you?"

She couldn't think straight. Her brains were scrambled like the eggs Tatara often cooked for her in the morning. Blinking several times did nothing to help recover her from shock. "What..?" Her own voice sounded strange to her. It was as if someone had stuffed cotton in her ears.

Tatara's mask of pain broke to express understanding. "I know… I know you're not… not from around here… are you?"

His comment stunned Anna and it was only for that split second that she actually felt alive and not dead like she had been feeling the moment her eyes had laid upon his fallen form. "That day… Before Misaki interrupted us…. You did hear me!"

"You're… from the f-future… aren't you?" The corner of his lips tilted as far as he could with what little strength he had left. "You're different…. Now… now I remember…. You once… pr-predicted my…d-d-death…. Why am I… remembering th-this… now?"

"Sorry…." All the emotions raging within her broke lose right then and there. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain in them to go away. He could not see her. Not like this. But the falter in her voice as she spoke betrayed her as she squeaked out tightly, "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, Tatara! I am… so sorry!"

Don't die. Don't die. Don't die. Please, you can't leave us! You can't leave me. How could you do that to me? How could you leave me alone? Leave Mikoto alone? If you die again, everyone will leave and then I… won't have a home to go back to.

"Anna." Tatara's chest fell up and down rapidly as his ragged breathing suddenly came faster. "Anna, listen to me…. Promise me… Promise me you won't… th-that you won't save me…. Please, don't save me."

She briefly had to process what he had just said because she couldn't believe it. Don't save him? What? Then… what did I come here for? Why did I leap back in time? Why did I abandon Izumo in my timeline? For what reason did I come back?

"I just don't want…" He began coughing, choking on his own blood and saliva as his body was evidently shutting down on him. Anna held back the sobs building up in her throat and instead chose to grab at his spasming hand and squeeze like she was hanging on to dear life—his life."Don't want you to… get hurt… for my sake…."

Don't let go of him, she told herself. Whatever you do, do not let go of his hand. I won't, she promised herself. I won't let him go!

"If I am to die… then let it be…. Let me be… It's just the way… the way life is." He brushed his thumb lightly across her knuckle. "Please, Anna…. Don't save me."

His grip slackened to nothing but his dark eyes continued staring up listlessly at the night sky and into oblivion. For several seconds, Anna could do not do anything, say anything, or think of anything. She could not even feel anything and she faintly wondered if the frigid air had something to do with the numbing of her senses. She felt raw. She felt detached. She felt—how did he say it?—lost.

Why…. Why did you have to go, Tatara? Didn't you say that we would make many more happy memories together with everyone in the future?

You promised me.

She didn't know how long she had sat there, squeezing his hand as if in hope she could somehow squeeze life back into him, but it was the pounding of heavy footsteps on the stairs leading to the rooftop and the loud voices following after that snapped Anna back to reality. When she moved, it felt like she was in the body of another person; she didn't know what she was doing or why. She just did it.

Tatara's cold hand dropped as she stood up on her legs, vaguely feeling the ache in them. Her new dress was tinged with something of a darker color at the hem. Splotches of his blood stained both the backside and front but she only blinked at the sight of them. She felt her arms moving up to remove the tiara on her head but only so she could rest it on top of Tatara's chest. She then leaned over to bring her hands over his eyes. When she pulled away, it looked like he was sleeping. If she wanted to… Just if she tried really hard enough… she could maybe fool herself into believing he was only having a nightmare….

I have to wake him up, she thought faintly. I need… need to save him from his nightmares. But her mind was still so hazy and she could barely feel her hand moved on its own again to reach into the folds of her dress.

Anna withdrew her seven marbles and, before she could even question what she herself was doing, she threw one of the marbles onto the ground. The sound of one of her blood marbles shattering woke her up from her stupor and she blinked in time to see the fire burst from the marble the moment it made impact with the ground. She didn't know what was happening and, deep down, she honestly no longer cared. She stepped into the embrace of the fire.

The men stumbled onto the scene finally but it seemed they could not see her. Or maybe they were too focused on processing the sight of Tatara Totsuka's dead body lying before them.

"To-Totsuka-san?" Yata said almost hesitantly. The denial was as plain as the tears piling in the corner of his eyes. Gone was the aggressive look and now it was replaced with an expression breaking by every thought that flitted in his mind.

"My god…." Chitose muttered from behind him, his eyes, along with every other clan member, were wide with the shock and grief.

"Totsuka-san… wh-what are you doing out here?" Dropping the bat from his limp fingers, Yata stumbled over to their fallen comrade. "I know you like taking naps but—but you should only do that at home."

"Some—someone…." Izumo mumbled at first but then he started shouting. "Someone call for help! We need help!"

"Shit..." Fushimi cursed from the side. His PDA was being held limply in one hand, the screen light flashing as someone seemed to be trying to contact him. "Damn it all..."

"Totsuka-san!" Beginning to yell, Yata fisted and pulled at Tatara's bloodied sweater. "Come on! Wake up! We… we gotta go home…. WAKE UP! WAKE UP, DAMN IT!"

Kamamoto ran forward and pulled Yata away with the help of Dewa. Somewhere to the corner, Eric had begun to puke. Then Mikoto stepped forth and Anna could sense a heavy pressure bearing down upon them.

Anger.

Rage.

And sadness.

The grief was set in the heavy lines marring the King's face. He was not yet even in his thirties but right at this moment, he appeared to Anna as frail and old; something that seemed to happen inevitably as a result of being a King.

"He was murdered." Mikoto said quietly as he knelt down beside his friend. The pool soaked the knees of his pants red. Slowly, he shrugged off his jacket with a deadly calmness that clashed with the overwhelming features playing on his face, and draped the article over Tatara's face.

It came out softly from his lips.

But a harsh wind picked it up and carried it around and it seemed like it had echoed into the merciless grip of the night.

Burn them.

We'll burn them all.

Between the licks of the blaze, the last she saw was Tatara's pale face—a face that would no longer smile warmly at her—a face she refused to forget.

In the background, someone called out her name but it was like they were several stories down. They were looking for her. They were looking for the girl who had run off in the dark of night to save someone who was destined to die.

The fire roared louder and still, it did not burn her. Something warm trickled down Anna's cheek and when she touched it, her hand came away wet. It's not supposed to snow yet at this time, Anna thought faintly as the blood red flames swallowed her. But, she told herself, definitely… yes, it was definitely snowing right now….

I KNOW. I KNOW. WHAT THE HELL, TCOOKIES777, WHY DID YOU KILL OFF TATARA—AGAIN, YOU SADISTIC AUTHOR? HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE (insert troll face). You didn't actually think I'd have Anna save Tatara, did you? Nah, it's too early. I repeat: "it's too early." Yeah, you know what I mean by that right? ;) Anyways, Anna can't save Tatara right now or else this fanfic would be about to end for good! And I did say back in Chapter 9: The Hunt that there would be about 15 more chapters, give/take. Next chapter will explain why.

Sorry this one was kind of short, I know you guys were expecting more, so I'm really sorry but I have to end chapters appropriately in accordance to the storyline's segments/events I have planned.

SO STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!

Replies to Reviews:

TinaFOTZE: Hehehe, sorry for teasing you all with so many cliffhangers. And thank you so much for answering my question earlier! You have no idea how relieved I felt when I read your review! Also, it feels nice to know that people actually read the Author's Note stuff. I thought most people don't because they'd think it's a waste of time and would rather just jump straight into the story. So yeah, I feel happy to know that you and other readers actually take the time to look at what I have to say! Again, thank you so much for everything! I look forward to conversing more with each other, even if it's only through reviews/replies ahahaah! Also, I made an edited reply-to-review for you in the previous chapter but it was only after I saw your review so you probably haven't seen my reply for you in the previous chapter yet. So you don't have to go back, here's what I had said: "It's been 11 hrs since I posted this chapter and this is an edit so I'm not sure if you'll see this but thanks for being such a patient follower and thanks for welcoming me back (your review for ch 10) that's so sweet of you. Hope your Christmas was awesome and warm! I'm glad you liked how I wrote Fushimi, he's areallydifficult character to write. Actually, most of the clansmen except Yata are hard for me to write because their personalities aren't very extreme and they don't have much lines in the anime and like only a chapter of background in the main manga. I feel more relieved though to hear you and other readers telling me I'm writing the characters pretty well so thank you so much! "

KisaragiMarru: Yep, I've read Stray Dog but it was a long time ago so the only thing I remember about it was that Kuroh got a fever and Totsuka cared for him. So *sniffles* so sweet… AHH OH GOD. Reading your review so I could type out a reply to you as I wrote up this chapter made me even more teary eyed :'( I'm trying to update as much as I can so I can finally get this story off of my chest so don't worry, I promise you will be able to read this fanfic's ending at some point!

funni neko: Aww, funni neko, you've been such a long follower of this story and I'm always smiling whenever I'm about to read your review. It's been a long journey, writing up this fanfic, and I feel like you've been my companion this whole time. Also, the wings are inspired by the movie. Now, I promised I wouldn't include any scenes from the movie so it wouldn't be spoiled for ya'll but I've decided to use some of its elements in order to build Anna's character for when…. Um, for future chapters. Thanks for your reviews! I always look forward to them!

Winged Lady Colette: Oh my god, I feel you girl! When I first saw the PV for the anime back in 2012 I was like "I MUST WATCH THIS." And I just fell in love with it. I remember rewatching the final episode like 3-5 times in one day because I couldn't believe what had just happened. I can't wait for season 2 this year *squeals*! And you're so sweet for thanking me for these chapters but, really, I should be thanking readers and fans like YOU! Because it's people like you who inspire me to work on this and I don't think I'd be able to continue this fanfic if it weren't for all of you beautiful readers out there supporting me! So thank YOU, Winged Lady Colette. Also, I'm updating as much as I can because I really wanna finish this story before graduation.

Neo Rulez: When I read your review, I felt guilty because I'd already long since planned for Anna to fail in saving Tatara. You also made me giggle when you called Yata a jerk, hahaha! Anyways, sorry Tatara still died in this chapter but don't give up hope! Thanks so much for taking the time to review! I look forward to hearing more from you! ;)