-Chapter Two -- Our Real Purpose-
His face pointed towards the ground, standing still in the school's courtyard, almost on the verge of tears, was Onake. This was the first time in his whole time in highschool that Keitaro had been absent without informing Onake, of all people, first. Not only that, but the secretary said that there had been no answer when she had called his house; assuring him that something was seriously wrong. However, that wasn't the reason that he was almost sobbing. The reason was that his brother, Watara, had decided to take a little break from his College student schedule to visit that same day. Onake had seen his brother about three months prior, yet only briefly, where he had reminded him of his threat to kill him. Still not crying, Onake began to shake, as the other students passed by curious, yet too busy with their friends to care. The worst thing was that, without Keitaro there that day with him, Onake had no one to confess his troubles to...making it all the worse.
Across the street to the school, was an unused parking lot. It had parking meters with bent poles, half-pieces of curb blocks, and almost all of the white lines had peeled off. Around the perimeter of the lot were a few benches--that's where Kei was sitting. It was at a far enough distance that students leaving the school couldn't see him clearly, but close enough that he knew exactly who Onake was. Besides, Kei looked nothing like what he had to the students; instead of his navy blue uniform he would always be seen wearing, he had a black variation, with a red t-shirt showing under the open jacket. Along with that, his dark green eyes, noticeable from a considerable distance despite their dark color, were now a blood red. Adding even more to his anonymousity was his hair and skin color. His skin color had been a light tan, where now it was a creamy white, and where his hair, normally being brown, was a now, still untidy, greyish white. This was Kei's first contract proposal in around a year, so he was excited; he wondered what the boy Onake would do when presented with the opportunity. The only thing he disliked about waiting for a decision was being solitary--Ren would have to assume that doll form until the person had definately made up their mind to not use it, or once they had pulled the string.
Onake gathered himself and walked out of the school's gates, noticing a man in black across the street briefly, then taking his route to the right of the school, as usual. He began walking with an unusually slow pace; it was clear that he didn't want to get home too quick. However, he wasn't completely sure whether his brother had arrived home or not yet. If his brother was already there, it would be impossible to get to his room before getting taunted or reminded of his threat. If his brother wasn't there yet, he would be able to get to his room and lock himself inside, securing his solitude until dinner, saving him a couple of beatings. With that chance, Onake put a spring in his step, slowly mimiced by Kei, who was closely following Onake on the other side of the street.
In a few minutes, they had arrived at Onake's house. It was a small, humble white house, complete with a small, elevated drive-way and a garage that was the same white as the house. Onake took a large breath and held it for a few seconds, putting his key in the lock and then exhaling. He turned the key, and entered the house, only to see that face smiling that sinister smile he smiled.
"Welcome home, brother," Watara sneered, "how was school?" Onake's eyes widened, and he was sure that he could feel his heart skip a beat. He had hurried home, only to see his brother already there. Watara had the same green eyes as Onake did, as well as the same color blonde hair, though his was short and combed downwards. Speechless, Onake made a break for the staircase, only to be easily cut-off by his older brother. "Where do you think you are going? It's only you and me here, Mom and Dad are out shopping for tonight's dinner. So, how about we have a little fun instead of you shutting yourself away in your little room?" Watara proposed.
"N-No.." Onake replied, sure of what his opinion was, but unsure of how to respond.
"What did you say to me?" Watara palmed Onake's head in his hand; he easily dwarfed his little brother by at least half a foot, and his hand was big enough to grasp his hand. "Maybe you think we shouldn't have fun? Maybe we should just do this!" Watara formed his opposite hand into a firm fist, and thrusted it into Onake's gut. Onake doubled over on himself, making Watara let go of his head with the sudden lurch, Onake's two arms coming to hold his stomach. He hunched over and coughed a mixture of both blood and saliva onto the hardwood floor.
"You've made a mess, fool. Clean it up or I just might have to punish you." Watara commanded, putting his foot on Onake's head and pushing downwards, slamming his face into the blood, against the the hard floor. "You heard me! Now hurry up!!"
"I-I'm not a little k-kid anymore.." Onake struggled, sitting up on the floor after Watara took his foot off of his head.
"Oh? Because I can still beat you up like you are one!"
"I'm not a kid..and I'm going to make sure that you don't treat me like you did anymore!!" Onake shouted. He was finally decided, finally focused on his goal. He was sure. It would be years before he acatually died. Those years would be alot better without his brother. Onake reached into his left pocket, and pulled out the black doll.
"What is that? Some kind of superstitious doll you're gonna use to hurt me?" Watara laughed.
"Please...just leave!!" Onake tugged on the red string, the knot releasing. The black doll rose from his hands and flew up through the cieling, flying out into the sky and disappearing.
"I hear and deliver this vengeance." Ichimaku Ren's voice reigned over the scene. Where the doll had disappeared, a large olive green eye appeared, staring down at the house.
"Whatever, hurry up and clean!" Watara commanded again, stomping up the stairs and closing the door to his old room. He was startled when he noticed a man sitting on his bed, staring out the window. "Who are you?! Get the hell out of my room!" Watara screamed.
"Hell? It's amazing how lightly you humans use that word nowadays." Ichimaku Ren replied, turning to Watara. In place of Ichimaku Ren's normal face was a large olive green eye, which highly resembled his own, normal eye. Watara yelped, reaching for the doorknob. When he turned to run out the door, the knob was replaced with the same large eye.
"What the--" Watara began, but suddenly, the door was no longer there, and instead, standing in the open doorway, was Kei, dressed in a black suit along with a black tie and black hat.
"Oh, pitiful shadow cloaked in darkness. Thy actions cause men pain and suffering. Thy hollow soul drowns in thy sins." Kei began, showing no emotion in his face as he spoke. Watara began to shake violently, as he had no idea what was going on at all. All of a sudden, Kei changed from his emotionless face to a wide, ear to ear, smile. "How would you like to see what death is like?" Watara opened his mouth to scream as Kei finished, but nothing came out. Suddenly, Watara was lying facedown in a boat, being punched reapeatedly in numerous places by disembodied arms. In the back of the boat was Kei, turning a paddle and ferrying the boat down a river of dark water, small lights on either side of the boat.
"What is this?!" Watara yelled, beginning to bleed from his nose, eyes, and mouth from the punches. Kei did not respond to his question; he was focused on passing under a shrine arch in the middle of the river.
"I shall carry this vengeance to Hell." Kei muttered, the boat fading into the darkness behind the arch. The only thing that could be heard afterwards were the fading screams of Watara's pain.
---
It had been a whole month since the 'disappearance' of Onake's brother, and he hadn't seen Keitaro at school since the day he was absent. Despite that, Onake was extremely happy now; he had made more friends because he had no more fear in his life, and he wasn't afraid of being himself anymore.
Midnight at Onake's public school. Across the street were a pair of two easily noticeable eyes, even in the darkness. Sitting on the same bench was Kei, his blood red eyes easily seeming like they were glowing in the darkness. Beside him sat Ichimaku Ren, smiling. "So, where to next? We can't just sit here month after month; he's not going to die." Ichimaku Ren scratched his head.
"We'll find another person with vengeance in their heart. It won't take long," Kei replied, turning to Ichimaku Ren, "besides, that's our purpose in this world."