Hey guys, how's it going? Sorry for the big delay with the next SN32 chapter but University has kept me very busy. I was going to do some writing during the two week break I had between semesters, but gaming got in the way, as well as watching HunterXHunter again which has been giving me story ideas so I've been having fun with that.

But anyway, I just remembered about this when I was looking through my old fan fics and thought I might as well put it in this little collection. This one was actually inspired during a time I was re-watching Soul Eater, and when I got to the part with Asura's madness affecting everyone, it gave me some ideas.

So, enjoy another "What Could Have Been" with Madness of Isolation.

"No. No. NO!" A young man backpedalled on his hands, pushing himself away from the monster before him with his feet. Desperately he scrambled, but his head hit a surface; the side of the building that he called home. With nowhere further to flee, he merely huddled against the wall, whimpering as it took another step towards him. "No, please stay away!" Fat tears leaked from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, pupils trembling with pure, undiluted fear as it came ever closer. "What are you?!" The monster in question tilted its head, large vacant eyes boring into his panicked gaze. Its lips slowly formed the words that had signalled the end of many men, women and children, the man's family included.

"Can you…understand…?" He clasped his hands over his ear, loudly humming to block out the end of the sentence.

"Shut up!" He begged, rocking forwards and backwards in small motions, slowly shaking his head from side to side; more tears fell. "Just shut up!"

"Honey?" His closed eyes snapped open, his rocking ceasing as he slowly looked up. Standing before him was not the monster, but a beautiful woman with flowing, luscious locks of auburn hair, and enrapturing hazelnut eyes, hidden beneath thick lashes. "Honey, what's wrong?" Another tear welled, but did not fall.

"A-Azumi?" He stammered, his eyes staring in disbelief. His pupils shook as he tried with all his might to understand what he saw before him. "Bu-But you- I saw you cu- HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!" She smiled, and he noted with anguish that it was as beautiful as it had ever been.

"What are you talking about, sweety? I'm right here, aren't I?" His shaking began to slow, before stopping altogether. He raised his hand to touch her- to know that she was indeed alive. But, his hand dropped when a red line spread across her throat.

"No…No not again!" The woman smiled, before her throat began to gush blood. "NOOOOO!" The man gripped his head as he screamed, trying to deny everything that he had seen. Neck still gushing, the woman's arm rose high above her head, bloody knife glowing in the moonlight and casting a shadow over the man's defeated form. The knife fell, and the man screamed once more.

"You did not…understand…" The monster toned, watching dully as the man's fingernails began tearing into his arms and gouging his own face, rivers of blood running and dripping onto the ground. "No one…understands…" The creatures eyes bugged, blood vessels popped and strained; a strange and foul substance began to bubble from its skin, rising and moulding in the air. The viscous substance bulged and twisted until it shaped itself into a hand, connected to a long arm that hovered before the monster. The hand shot forwards, grabbing the man's face and lifting him off the ground. His screams began anew, his face steaming and burning in the hands grasp. The fingers clenched and flexed, before coming together in a fist, crushing the man's head like a rotten peach. His headless form slumped onto its knees before falling to the monsters feet.

The monster turned and walked away in slow, deliberate movements. Slowly it stumbled, swaying from side to side, as a large, twisted and malicious grin spread across its face, pushing its cheeks to impossible levels. Dark gums were on full view, and yellowed teeth made the image all the more terrifying.

"I'll… make them all…understand…"

"So what do you know about this assignment then, Takamichi-san?" Takahata T. Takamichi grimaced, removing the cigarette in his mouth and expelling smoke with a sigh. His companion, a woman in her early thirties with red hair gagged, covering her mouth as she coughed. "Must you smoke in here? We'll be thrown off the train!" Takamichi chuckled, before complying with the unspoken request and crushing the cig in his palm. The woman cringed at this action.

"My apologies, Hotaru-san." He crossed his left leg over his other, resting the ankle on his knee. Leaning back and crossing his arms, he gave Hotaru a serious look. "How much do you know?" She shrugged, subconsciously copying his position; Takamichi was glad she was wearing trousers.

"Only that there's been a few murders in small villages across the Gunma Prefecture." Takamichi sighed deeply, adjusting his glasses a little.

"It's more than that, Hotaru-san; there haven't just been a few deaths in small villages. It would be more apt to call them massacres." Hotaru's eyes widened.

"Seriously?!" Her arms fell to her side when he nodded in affirmation. "Shit." She ran a hand through her short hair, scrunching it up at the scalp. She dropped her hand, leaving her hair a little dishevelled. "But, why has the AAA sent us to deal with it? Was magic involved?"

"Yes; at least, it's the only explanation for what was found at the crime scenes."

"And just what was found there then?" Hotaru narrowed her eyes, preparing herself for what was coming. Takamichi looked grave, and the shadows crossing his face as the train passed under trees only amplified the expression.

"According to the reports the crime scenes are complete bloodbaths. Body parts torn and crushed, corpses littering the street and buildings set ablaze. Most of the bodies have trace amounts of magic on them, only it's apparently 'twisted' and 'just feels wrong'."

"Could it be Dark Magic?" Takamichi shook his head.

"No, the on-scene team reported that it felt twisted in a different way." Hotaru shivered, wrapping her arms around her abdomen.

"That's almost as scary as if it was Dark Magic; I can understand Dark Magic giving off a vile aura, but if it isn't Dark Magic then I don't even want to imagine what it could be." She frowned as she recalled his wording earlier. "Wait, what do you mean 'most of the bodies' had trace amounts of magic? Was the rest done by hand?" Takamichi shook his head.

"No, though I almost wish that were the case."

"What do you mean?" She looked affronted, and Takamichi was quick to defend himself.

"What I mean is that some of the corpses, well…they took their own lives; in very brutal manners." Hotaru's eyes slowly grew in horror.

"Suicide? Kami." Takamichi grimaced, reaching into his suits inside pocket, and Hotaru didn't comment as he lit a cigarette.

"When the response team arrived at the second village, they watched a man claw his own throat out while screaming about bees crawling under his skin. He apparently chanted 'the buzzing' as he slowly bled to death." She covered her mouth with her hand, eyes shaking in horror.

"Just what the hell have I gotten myself into?" She snatched the cigarette from his hand and shakily brought it to her own lips and inhaling deeply. She choked out the smoke, before taking another puff. "This is the last time I take a mission before reading the brief!" Takamichi said nothing, merely lighting another and copying her actions. Despite his vast amount of experience on missions, never had he seen or heard of anything like this. Although he too was worried about this assignment, at least he knew what he was signing up for going in.

"Kami, I-I know you said the scenes were bloody but…but this is…" Hotaru's visage had taken on a green tinge, and Takamichi couldn't fault her for it. The two stood on the edge of a rural village that time had apparently yet to catch up with; the houses looked like they hadn't been altered since the 19th century. The entrance to the village was a small bridge that arced over a river, leading onto a dirt path that seemed to run throughout the town. What lay before them looked like a scene straight out of the Tokugawa era; bodies lay scattered along the road and parts were dotted everywhere. Hotaru's eyes noticed a tiny arm, which was all she needed for her dinner to make an unwelcome return.

Takamichi stepped forward as his partner stopped retching and quickly joined him. "We need to be careful; hopefully the perpetrator is still near." Hotaru mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'hopefully not', but he ignored it. Slowly the two walked, eyes scanning alleys and building interiors searching both for the one responsible and any possible survivors. The latter was starting to seem very unlikely to the pair though. They turned at a corner, where the road hit a 90 degree angle, and what they saw made them halt. "A survivor!" Takamichi breathed, taking in the sight before him.

In the middle of the path was a young girl, seemingly seven years old with blonde hair that fell down to her knees. She was splattered with blood, and her hair was tangled and filthy. "Are you ok sweetie?" Hotaru asked calmly so she didn't startle her, moving to approach the girl. She stopped, however, when she looked into her eyes. They were a striking cerulean blue, yet their splendour was dashed by the lifeless quality they took. Such eyes did not belong on a young girl, Hotaru thought. "Are you're parents alright?" Hotaru ventured; no response. "A-Are you hurt?" Again, no response; Hotaru was sweating now. The girl just continued to stare, not moving in the slightest. She just continued to gaze at them with those unnatural eyes. "Grk!" Hotaru grunted, holding her temple with her hand and Takamichi turned to her.

"Hotaru-san, are you alright?" Normally one would be more worried about the child before them rather than a headache, but something about this whole situation seemed off to Takamichi; other than the bodies and blood surrounding them, that is. Hotaru shook her head, continuing to look into the girl's eyes.

"I-I'm fi-" She stopped, and her eyes widened with horror as a horrible feeling rushed over her. She clutched her chest as she suddenly felt hollow; like she could be in a room full of people yet still feel all alone. Her chest ached, her breathing quickened, and her eyes quivered as she kept her gaze locked onto the girl. "YOU!" She screamed, pointing at the child with a shaky finger. "What are you doing to me?!" Silence. The girl just kept on staring. "S-Stop it!" Nothing. Hotaru fell onto her knees, clutching her head as the feeling grew worse and worse. "STOP IT!" Takamichi flinched from her scream, and he stared at Hotaru completely baffled.

'What's going on?' He glanced at the girl, who had yet to move. 'All she did was look at the girl; there wasn't even a build-up of magic or anything!' His attention returned to Hotaru when she let out a bone chilling shriek.

"LEAAVE MEE ALOONE!" Tears were pouring down her face, and her bottom lip was being ravaged by her own teeth, tearing through the flesh and causing blood to pour down her front. Takamichi could only watch, horrified, unable to either move or take his eyes off the sight before him. With a sob, Hotaru fell to her side and rocked in place. "Make it stop! Make it go away!" Her cries were heart wrenching, and it was what kicked Takamichi into gear at last.

"Hotaru-san!" He knelt down next to her, trying to turn her over, but the woman struggled against him. "Oof!" He pulled away when he was elbowed in the stomach, winding him. The action had rolled her over, and he watched as her pupils rolled around her eyes, looking at nothing yet still seeing; what she saw, he wasn't positive he wanted to know. Finally, she let out a gurgle and her eyes rolled into the back of her skull. "Hotaru-san!" He felt her pulse, and sighed when he felt a beat, as erratic as it was.

"She didn't understand." A hollow voice spoke, and Takamichi turned a narrow gaze to the girl. She was now staring into his eyes, the only movement he had seen from her. "They never understand." Her voice was flat, unsurprised.

"What did you do to her?" Takamichi demanded softly, yet with authority that even she took notice of. Her head tilted to the side in a show of something that Takamichi saw every day working in a school- an innocent curiosity. It made the whole scene just that much more disturbing, especially as her expression had yet to change.

"I only tried to make her understand. But she couldn't understand; none of them could."

"And by them, do you mean the villagers?" Takamichi frowned when the girl nodded. "What were you trying to make them understand?" He wasn't sure why he was even bothering to ask instead of just attacking her; maybe it was because she reminded him of Asuna in some way; the empty expression, most likely. Besides, he wasn't all too fond of fighting children, they usually didn't know better. He hoped that was the case here too. The girls' eyelids twitched.

"Can you understand…my loneliness?" Takamichi was hit with a rush of emotions, and the intensity of it had him closing an eye with a grunt. It was agonising, soul rending, pain that he hadn't felt since his teacher died, only this was amped up to eleven when compared to that. The feelings were encompassing, stifling, he could feel blackness in the edge of his consciousness. Gradually, he opened his eye and looked into the girls', and suddenly they didn't seem so empty.

Instead, he saw sorrow, anguish, despair, anger, hatred, and buried beneath it all was the faintest glimmer of…hope and longing. Instead of the unsettling child that he saw earlier, he saw a little girl who felt completely and wretchedly alone. "Can you understand it?" She repeated, and Takamichi let out another grunt as the oppressive aura hanging over him increased.

"You're all alone, aren't you?" He asked, as kindly as he could considering the mental strain he was currently under. Her eyes widened and she looked at him with a small amount of shock, the first emotion he had seen from her. However, as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by rage.

"NO! You don't understand!" She cried, glaring into his eyes with spite. "You couldn't possibly understand!" Once more the pressure intensified and Takamichi finally cried out. He clutched his head, feeling his mind beginning to unwind. "You could never understand!" He watched as slowly, a strange substance began to rise from the girl, gradually taking shape. It bubbled from her skin and into the air. It was a dark red, with streaks of black scattered within it, and Takamichi finally felt a magical signature and it was incredible in its volume. He now understood what the response team meant when they called it 'twisted'; it felt wrong in every way. Even Dark Magic felt like it was meant to exist, but this, this was an abomination of the very nature of magic. The magic- unfiltered magic, Takamichi noted with amazement- formed several appendages, twisting and floundering around the girl. They took various shapes; arms, tentacles and tails to name a few. "NO ONE UNDERSTANDS!" She screamed, and as if that were a signal the appendages flew towards him.

"Shit!" Acting swiftly, he picked up Hotaru and jumped out of the way. It was a good thing he did, as the ground where he last was shattered, a large crater in its place.

And that's about all I could muster up. This idea kind of ran out out steam quickly in terms of motivation, but I had some cool ideas for it. I liked the idea of Naruko battling with madness, but I was too lazy to continue it.

Sometimes it sucks being such an unmotivated prick