Disclaimer: I do not own Tsukihime or any of the characters.

Author's note: Chapter 2! I know it is shorter than the previous one but there are some new developments! Hope that makes up for the lack of length xD


The boy smirked as he took slow steps towards Ciel and I.

I unsheathed my knife and got ready for a skirmish, but Ciel held up her hand and shook her head, saying, "He's an ally."

"He's a vampire!" I argued, refusing to let down my guard.

Ciel replied, "Yeah, I know. He's a vampire of the Church. Ironic, yes, but even Sir Zelretch has stood up for him, so I expect you to do the same. By the way, Zelretch is an Ancestor too, you know."

Mollified by this knowledge, I hesitantly sheathed my blade and hid it in my pocket. The boy uninterestedly walked up to Ciel and said, "Finally. I thought I'd wait forever, sempai. Keep your blade properly, you. Not that you'd be able to do anything to me anyway."

Ciel replied, "I thought I told you to stop calling me sempai, Merem. You make me feel so old, being an ancient yourself."

Merem stared me out and said, "So, this here's the famous Nanaya Shiki? With the Eyes and all?"

I extended a hand and said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Tohno Shiki."

He laughed and said, "Denying your family name, huh? What a pity, too, seeing as your real father Kiri was such a wonderful assassin."

I withdrew my offered handshake and said coldly, "Unfortunately, I am not a murderer."

His expression became serious. "Shiki, you must know this: your father was not a murderer. He was a savior to some of us. Acknowledge that fact, and never be ashamed of your lineage."

I felt a chill. I was seriously affected by this boy with a young visage but an aged heart.

Ciel interrupted, "Okay, enough of the friendly chat. I haven't even introduced you yet." She gestured to Merem and said, "Merem Solomon, fifth Executioner of the Burial Agency. So that makes him my colleague."

I nodded in recognition while Merem reverted back to his smiley self.

Ciel continued, "He will be assisting us in the search for Einnashe, so get along, you guys."

Meren smiled and said, "But of course, sempai."

Ciel said, "Then I assume you already know Tohno-kun?"

Meren nodded.

"Then you two can share a room!" Ciel finished happily.

"What?" I exclaimed.

Meren's smile melted into nothingness.

"Here's your room key card. See you guys later!"

She escaped.


In our room, we proceeded about unpacking without a single word to each other.

"Nanaya-kun, why didn't you follow Ciel-sempai?" Merem asked suddenly.

I replied, "Don't call me that. And she was heading to her room, so why should I follow her?"

To my surprise, Merem laughed. His voice was clear, like an innocent child's. It sent shivers down my spine. "Couldn't you tell that she was going on surveillance? Honestly, and to think that you two have known each other for what, four years?"

Realization hit me. It's true that Ciel-sempai never did show her true feelings openly. I stood up from my assigned bed. "Well then, I'll be going. Are you coming?"

He replied while jumping onto his own bed, "Nah, I'm tired. See you guys tomorrow then, Nanaya-kun."

I ignored the last part and left the room.

Outside Ciel's room, I heard some rustling noises inside and so decided to wait outside instead. After awhile, the door opened and Ciel emerged in her Church uniform. She seemed surprised to see me. "Ah, Tohno-kun. What's the matter?"

I replied, "You're going on surveillance, right? I did come with you for this mission, after all. Let me go with you."

Ciel smiled. "You know, I was going to call you regardless of whether you came. But thanks for the thought, all the same. Now, shall we go?"


The night air blew relentlessly against my face. We stood atop a electrical wire pole, gazing at the streets below. This was apparently Ciel's favourite type of surveillance location, I realized. My glasses were in my hand, and I stared intently at the city.

"Er, Ciel-sempai? Not to be rude or anything, but my Eyes do not have a zoom function, you know."

Ciel replied quietly, "What I need you to watch out for isn't very small either, remember?"

She had told me about it before. The distortion caused by Einnashe's hypnosis was apparently so powerful it would cause a disturbance of roughly a kilometer in radius. But staring intently in the air, I could not detect any sort of anomaly. The night air was normal, people were busying around, as per normal.

Ciel sighed and said, "Well, that's it for tonight, then."

I was taken aback. "Wh- That's it?"

Ciel replied, "Yes, unfortunately. It appears that Einnashe isn't even close to here. Either that or we have already fallen under his hypnosis."

That's impossible, I thought. If that was the case, I would be able to see lines on the sky. No illusion could escape the Eyes.

"Let's observe a little longer," I offered.

Ciel asked, "You have something up your sleeve, don't you?"

I nodded. I closed my eyes and relaxed as much as I could. The silence enveloped me beyond the darkness. I could hear Ciel-sempai's breathing. My heartbeat was gradually becoming audible. I let my primal instincts take over. I let 'Nanaya' take over.

Throb.

My headache was starting to return, but my vision became clearer.

Throb.

A discrepancy. An anomaly. I've found you.

Throb.

I found this situation exceedingly hilarious. Despite myself, I smiled. Ciel slapped me in the back. "That's fine and all, but you shouldn't be giving in that easily," she frowned.

I snapped out of the trance and clutched my head in pain. I chuckled, "Yeah, I'm still learning how to tame the other side of me."

I stood up. "On the other hand, I got a lead. Let's go."

Ciel grabbed me in response like a human would a rag doll, and leapt off the pole.

We rushed towards the source. It appeared to be resonating within me. Or something within me, I realized. Turning the corner towards an alley ("Why is it always an alley..."), we spotted a seed hanging in the air.

There seemed to be no malevolence from the aura it exuded. I saw, to my surprise, that there was only a single line running from the top of the oval shaped seed to the bottom, dividing it perfectly in two. On one side, it was green, on the other, red. I felt a tinge of discomfort in my eyes.

"But how? The lines aren't supposed to mean anything to anyone without the Eyes."

I explained the situation to Ciel. She pondered for a moment. "We don't know for sure what will happen if we do anything to it, so let's just leave it alone and come back tomorrow night, alright? We can only hope that no one comes by."

I observed, "Rather, it seems that no one can come by."

People walked past outside, but appeared as though they couldn't even see the alley.

Ciel concurred. We turned to leave, but I couldn't help but think that the seed was calling out to me, somehow.


A man in a black coat appeared from the darkness. He stared at me with depthless eyes and I felt myself being swallowed up.

"Murderer. You are now a true murderer," he spoke.

I found myself standing in a busy street. I found myself drawing my knife. I found myself wearing a huge grin on my face.

The people turned to look at me as I cut someone down the midsection. Amidst the spraying blood, I danced a macabre waltz of death as I slashed wildly but with an odd perfection through the horde of people. Limbs torn, digits severed, beheaded, cut, disemboweled.

At the end of it all, I laughed. I laughed among what now was a horde of corpses.

"Murderer..." a whisper passed through my ears.


I woke up with a start. I remember this dream vividly. It wasn't about the hospital any longer. The blood on my hands felt real. Too real, in fact, for a dream. I breathed deeply. I was getting sick of dreams.

Wearing my glasses, I rubbed my eyes sleepily. Merem was nowhere to be found. I got up.

Throb.

What... is this?

Why can I see the lines?

I touched my face. The glasses were on. But so were the lines. What is going on?

I picked up a mug and tried poking the dot on it. It shattered into tiny fragments. The lines were real.

So my glasses did not work any longer? Did the magic run out or something?

I suppose I just had to live with it, although it supposedly shortens my lifespan or something.

The room door slammed open.

Merem stepped in and shouted, "Oi! How long are you going to laze around in bed? Get up, we have work to do."

I replied, "Yeah, sorry about that. I'll get ready in a minute."

In the lobby, Ciel and Merem were discussing about the findings we had last night. They were engaged in such a serious conversation that even when I went ahead and sat down beside them they did not falter from talking.

Merem was saying, "In that case, you should have called me and we could've done something last night. It is a great risk you are taking to allow something this strange to even exist. Doesn't that boy have the Eyes? He could erase its existence completely."

Ciel argued, "The main mission of the Church is to get rid of it without harming any innocents. What if it detonates or something? We have absolutely zero information about that thing. We cannot just attack it recklessly."

Merem sighed, "And leaving it there to grow is not a reckless move?"

I interrupted, "Grow? What do you mean by grow?"

He answered, "It's a seed. Seeds grow. Our target is a Forest. Do the rest yourself."

I said, "So the seed is the base of the hypnosis?"

"Or it could be the thing itself," Merem replied. "Which is the main cause of worry right now."

Ciel said, "We should go see if it has changed or anything."

With that, we proceeded to where we found the seed last night. As we entered the alley, we caught the unmistakeable stench of blood.

Alarmed, we hurried over and turned the corner...

To find a pile of corpses under the floating seed. I was stunned with horror. This man... this woman... I recognize them.

"I... I did this?" I muttered.

Ciel replied sharply, "Did what?"

I explained the dream to them.

Ciel said, "It was just a dream right? I thought you had experiences like this before."

I answered, "That was when Roa was possessing me. Who could be possessing me this time?"

Merem said, "Whoever it was, it wasn't you. I have a witness to prove that."

He raised his left arm and a old priest appeared in a flash of light. He spoke, "It is true. I had been observing the hotel room all night and you hadn't moved from your bed."

Ciel explained, "That is Merem's ability. He can solidify any imaginary object. This man here is, well, his left arm."

"That I am, Ciel-san."

Merem cut in, "Therefore, the most likely suspect is Einnashe. Take a look at the seed."

We directed our attention to it. It was hovering like always, but the red portion of the seed had increased significantly, and I saw that its line of death had shifted accordingly.

"I have this feeling that the Forest will be materialized as soon as it fully turns red, and judging by its condition now, it won't be too far away," Merem said seriously.

Ciel thought hard for a long while. "Tohno-kun. Try to destroy it."

I nodded and drew my knife. I traced the line with my knife, and the seed was cut where I sliced it. But as soon as the knife passed through, the cut section regenerated.

Ciel said, "Like I thought. This thing's time of death is ever-changing. That would explain its line's ability to shift."

She pulled out a Black Key from somewhere. Merem didn't seem to be surprised. Stabbing it, she began to chant. She stopped after awhile and said, "Nope, didn't work."

Merem said, "I doubt even my Left Leg could do any damage to it." He paced around. "Well that settles it. We only can destroy it after the Forest materializes."

I suggested, "Or we could find Einnashe first."

Don't you get it, Tohno-kun? That is Einnashe.

I turned to the source of the voice. A ring of a cat's bell could be heard. Len stood right behind me.


End note: Well, that's it for Chapter 2! Hope it gave you guys some things to consider about. The glasses failing to work, Merem's abilities, the truth behind Einnashe and Len's part in all of this. Chapter 3 should come pretty soon.