Notes: Part four, slightly shorter than last chapter but still, existing~~

o0o

"You were not meant to endure this."

He was back in Tsukuyomi's temple in Suwa, standing beside his mother. His father's body was lying upon the altar, covered in a white shroud. A second body lay beside it but the features were strangely blurred, like a bad photograph. Three candles set in front of the altar cast strange shadows on the wall.

"What…?" The words felt thick in his mouth, like trying to talk through a mouthful of wool. The shadows beyond him were shifting, as if some great beast was hidden beneath them.

"He was only trying to protect you." His mother placed a hand on the altar beside where his father's body lay. "He did not know it would end up like this. You will forgive him, won't you?"

The thing in the shadows moved, a dusty rustling of wings and scales. Ginryuu was in his hands again.

"There was nothing I could do, either." His mother moved towards the second body. "I could only give her my protection, and offer her warning of what was to come. If she could have, she would have killed them all to spare you. But my warning came too late, and her body was already too weakened. If she could have, she wouldn't have left the final duty to you. So you will have to forgive me as well."

The features on the second body solidified and his mother lay there, as pale and unmoving as he last recalled her. Kurogane's gaze rose to meet that of the woman standing before him. As his eyes met hers her features changed to an image he had seen his mother lying before in prayer many times.

"Tsukuyomi…" He forced the words out and she smiled kindly at him.

"You are the last of Suwa. We have never been far from you." She reached out a hand to touch his forehead and Kurogane realized that he had fallen to his knees. "Listen. The darkness that destroyed the people of Suwa is not something that cannot be defeated. Those who died by your hand and his in that prison were saved. Those who died by your mother's hand in Suwa were saved. Do you understand?"

He didn't, but he nodded anyway. Tsukuyomi smiled again.

"You will, when the time comes." She reached down and kissed his forehead. "There is one last duty yet to be asked of you. When the time comes, please choose well." She looked away from him then and stared at the thing in the shadows. "And you as well, friend, fallen. These are debts we both owe. Pay them wisely."

Kurogane suddenly felt overcome by a heavy drowsiness. His eyelids slid shut and he fell forward into a gentle darkness.

He awoke lying flat on the hard black stone, blood drying on his clothes. Kurogane sat up stiffly, his stomach feeling sore but the skin unbroken. Memory returned and his head shot up as he looked about wildly for Fai.

Clever of you, boy. Kurogane whirled at the sound of the voice. The boatman stood opposite him, whole and unmarked, black sword at its waist. Fai lay at its feet.

"Get away from him," Kurogane growled, picking up his fallen sword.

We had a deal, the boatman said. This is not a place where one can go back on one's word lightly. I will take you both across. The boatman turned away from him and went back to its boat, rowing it up against the island. Kurogane stared blankly at it, not quite believing. Come on, boy. I will only offer this once.

Kurogane stumbled forward, still feeling weak and slightly dizzy. His hands closed over Fai's shoulders and he lifted the blond as he all but fell forward into the boat. Fai was shuddering lightly against him, black chain marks stained all over his arms and hands.

It will fade, when you reach the other side, the boatman said as it rowed them forward. But that won't change anything. That one will not be made whole by it.

"Shut up," Kurogane snapped.

I am only warning you, the boatman said, voice still even and untroubled. There are things humans can never save.

"Shut up," Kurogane said again, wearily.

He didn't even know why he cared. Fai was not his responsibility, had never been his responsibility. They were practically still strangers, even now. But the memory of the smile on the idiot's face as he'd stepped off the stair was still burned in his mind. It was the smile of a dead man, and it made Kurogane somehow feel angrier than anything the demon had ever done to him.

"Idiot," Kurogane muttered, pressing a hand against Fai's forehead. The blond's breathing seemed to be growing more even now and the fever had begun to fade. The chain marks on his skin were slowly draining away.

When land appeared it rose out of nowhere, a deep dark cavern opening up ahead of them as the boatman rowed closer. The boat ran ashore on rocky ground, the same smooth black rocks that had made up the small island Kurogane had found.

Follow the cavern to its end and you will be free of this place, the boatman said as Kurogane rose, still holding Fai tightly. If you aren't killed by anything. Good luck to you, boy. You may need it. The boatman laughed dryly again before pushing off and slowly rowing the boat away. Kurogane watched until it had disappeared and then turned back towards the cavern. Darkness yawned back at him, lit sparingly by small blue lights lodged in the cavern walls, but there was no other choice. He stepped forward and let himself be swallowed by the dark.

He had been walking for some time when Fai finally began to stir in his arms. He laid Fai down onto the ground and stepped back as the other man sat up dizzily.

"Kuro…?" Fai's voice was soft and far away. "What…? Where are we?"

"How the hell should I know?" Kurogane said, trying not to let himself feel relieved. Why should he be relieved? The idiot was awake, which meant nothing but annoyance and stupid nicknames.

"This is….one of the caverns that leads up from the Drowning Sea…" Fai pressed a hand against the wall. "How did we…?"

"I got us out of there." Kurogane glared down at him. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"I thought you already asked me that." The smile was back in place already, thin and stretched like a scar.

"And you didn't answer that time, either," Kurogane said.

"But if I answer you, you'll hit me," Fai said with an exaggerated whimper.

"I already want to hit you," Kurogane snorted. "You don't get out of this that easy. It wasn't just the Stair. Before, back in the prison, when I almost cut you in half you just stood there."

"Does it matter?" There was a clear forced lightness to Fai's voice and he wouldn't meet Kurogane's eyes. "Haven't you wanted to let it all end every once in a while, Kuro-sama?"

"No," Kurogane said darkly. "Maybe when I was a stupid kid, when I first got possessed…but not now. I've died too many times already. It's not worth it."

"But you let the thing with the boat stab you," Fai pointed out.

"I thought you were unconscious." Kurogane raised an eyebrow at him and Fai shrugged.

"I was…drifting, mostly. But sometimes I woke up and you were there, you just didn't notice because you were too busy being all romantic and broody."

"I don't brood!" Kurogane snapped. "And that was different. I can't die, remember?"

"Down here you can," Fai said, eyes hooded. "The possession works differently down here. For all you know, you could have died by that sword."

"If I'd believed that, I wouldn't have done it," Kurogane said. "And I had to get us out of there somehow."

"That doesn't sound like the Kuro-pon I remember," Fai said ruefully. "I thought you didn't do protecting, Kuro-rin."

"I wasn't-" Kurogane stopped and Fai regarded him with thoughtful eyes.

"Weren't you?" Fai asked. "You shouldn't lie, Kuro-sama. And you shouldn't protect me. You're better off worrying about yourself."

"You don't get to talk to me about lying," Kurogane stated.

"But it's true, right?" Fai stared up into the darkness. "Even if you tell yourself you won't do something, you still can't stop yourself in the end. You still break that vow, every time."

There was a heavy silence between them.

"I was given a task, once," Kurogane said at last. "When my village was overrun by the plague. My mother asked me to save the rest of the villagers, even if I had to kill them. But after my father put the demon in me it overcame me. When I woke up, everyone in the village was dead."

"That might have been better." Fai was facing at him but his gaze was elsewhere. "That wasn't your fault, Kuro-sama. It was the plague and the demon. There was nothing you could have done. It's not the same as failing with your own hands."

"No," Kurogane said flatly. "It was my fault. I wasn't strong enough." He paused for a moment before speaking again. Ginryuu felt like a heavy weight at his side. "This time, I will be."

Fai started in surprise and his gaze seemed to find Kurogane at last, mismatched eyes wide and haunted. A sickly smile spread across his face.

"That's silly, Kuro-rin," Fai chided. "I told you, I'm not worth that. You shouldn't bother too much about me. If you do, something bad might happen."

"I'm not afraid of crap like that," Kurogane said. "In case you haven't noticed, bad things have happened, and none of it has anything to do with you."

"Does it?" Fai's tone was like a chill wind through dead branches.

"Other than you being the idiot who dragged me down here," Kurogane said. "And it was coming with you or being overrun by plague-infected…zombies, or whatever the fuck the damn plague turns them into."

"I believe the technical term is 'walking dead' Kuro-rin," Fai said helpfully. His teasing smile was very nearly real, and Kurogane took him by the arm and dragged him forward.

"Come on, idiot," Kurogane said. "You know the way from here, right?"

"Somewhat," Fai said. "I think we need to just follow this tunnel. There's really no other route anyway, right?"

"Then come on." Kurogane started walking. "Keep close to me. You haven't got a weapon anymore."

"Of course." Fai's voice was as cheerful as ever, but there was a heaviness to his steps as he followed Kurogane down the dark tunnel into the unknown.

o0o

"How much further does this damn tunnel go?" Kurogane muttered irritably. They had been walking for what seemed like hours. He and Fai had already split the remaining contents of his pack and he didn't even want to think about how they were supposed to get back to the above world after they met the Lord of the Underworld.

Assuming the Lord of the Underworld agreed to remove their demons at all, and Kurogane was beginning to wonder about the likelihood of that.

"It can't be far now." Fai was trotting along behind him seemingly without a care in the world, not even so much as breathing hard. Hitting him was sounding like a good idea again. "I'm not really sure. The book I found that explained everything was vague, and we came by the longer route."

"What kind of book was this, anyway?" It occurred to Kurogane that he had not even bothered to ask before. "What the hell kind of book gives a damn map to the Underworld?"

"Oh, that." Fai shrugged, utterly unconcerned. "It was a very old book, Kuro-sama. It was hiding with the old legends and fairy tales." Kurogane stopped walking abruptly. "Kuro-sama?"

"You're telling me," Kurogane said through clenched teeth, "that you dragged me all this way through gods-know-what using a map you found in a damn storybook?"

"No," Fai said with aggressive cheer. "I'm telling you I dragged you all this way using a map-like description I found in a nice dusty book of old legends. There's a very fine difference, Kuro-rin." Off Kurogane's look, he added, "It's been right so far, hasn't it? Don't worry so much! We'll be there in no time." Something in the words seemed to dull his mood slightly and the smile was just a little more fake than before. He skipped quickly past Kurogane without looking back.

The small blue lights that brightened the tunnel were growing fewer and farther between the deeper they went until they finally disappeared entirely. They were replaced by strange metal lamps in the form of birdcages which hung from somewhere above them, each a different shape. Fluttering lights like butterflies were enclosed inside them, casting strange shadows along the cavern walls. The combination of light and shadow made Kurogane's head swim and when Fai stopped suddenly ahead of him Kurogane was so distracted he nearly walked straight into the other man's back.

"Ah, careful." Fai grabbed his shoulder to hold him back. They were standing just at the point where the tunnel began to curve and Kurogane couldn't see anything ahead of them. "There. That's where we want to be." Fai kept close to the wall as he inched around the curve, pointing.

Along the wall ahead of them there was an arched double door made of black metal. There was a red circle emblazoned in the center, encircling a strange black symbol that looked similar to a bat. Torches flamed on either side of the door and two statues stood on either side of them like a guard, each one dressed in black armor and holding a spear.

"Then let's go." Kurogane started to walk and Fai grabbed him by the arm.

"I don't think it's quite that easy, Kuro-tan," Fai told him. "See the statues? They don't like trespassers."

"So?" Kurogane shrugged him off. "I'm not worried about weak things like that." He began to unsheathe his sword, then paused and glanced down at Fai. "You stay back here. You're no help without a weapon. I'll take care of them."

He began to step forward again and was once again stopped by Fai's hand on his arm.

"What now?"

"I…" Fai chewed on his lip nervously. "Are you sure about this, Kuro-rin? We can still go back from here."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kurogane said irritably. "This entire damn ordeal was your stupid idea to begin with."

"I know." Fai stared up at him, his mismatched eyes suddenly a strange and unnerving sight in the dancing shadows. "But can you really trust in that? Maybe I just brought you down here to be some innocent sacrifice to some Underworld Lord, just to free myself. Then what would you do?"

"Did you?" Kurogane said calmly. Fai only looked at him and Kurogane snorted. "Don't be an idiot. I'm not afraid of those things out there or any Underworld Lords…or you, either. Wait here."

Fai let go of him at last and nodded. A shaky smile wound its way onto his face.

"I'm counting on you, Kuro-sama," Fai said with a soft laugh, giving him a small push forward. "I'll cheer you on from here, all right?"

"That's better," Kurogane said. He stopped and looked back at Fai again. "I'll get this over with and then we'll go and talk to this Lord of the Underworld or whoever the hell he is. Together."

"Right." In the dark Kurogane couldn't quite make out Fai's expression. "Together."

As soon as Kurogane stepped out into the torchlight the statues began to move stiffly, hands clenching on their weapons as they turned to meet his approach.

"It's about time I had something else to fight," Kurogane said, smirking. "I was getting bored of all that walking." He moved into a defensive stance. "Come on, then."

The statues began to move towards him. Kurogane smirked, raising his sword to land the first blow —

—and something hit him hard in the back of the head, sending him reeling to the ground.

"Wha…?" He tried to turn to look when he was struck again. Ginryuu fell from nerveless fingers as he collapsed onto the ground.

The last thing he saw before darkness closed over him was Fai stepping past him, holding a blood-flecked lamp in one shaking hand.

o0o

Kurogane slept, and did not dream.

o0o

He awoke with a pounding headache. Kurogane slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head. His hand came back flecked with dried blood.

"That bastard…" Kurogane muttered drowsily, shaking his head to clear it. His eyes blinked groggily as he took stock of his surroundings. He seemed to be still in the caves of the Underworld, but this area was wide and well-lit. There was a single tunnel in front of him and another behind. The tunnel behind him led downward into pitch darkness, but the one in front sloped gently upwards and was made all of white, smooth stone. "Where the hell am I now?"

This is a crossing of ways. The voice was female-sounding and cheerful, and came from somewhere by his feet. Kurogane looked down to see a small white…thing standing in front of him. It looked like some kind of mutant rabbit, covered in white fur and with a red jewel set in its forehead. Like with the boatman, Kurogane heard the words clearly though its mouth never moved.

"What kind of thing are you?" Kurogane muttered darkly, unimpressed. It ignored him.

You should make your choice quick, it said. You can't turn back once you've started.

"What does that mean?"

The tunnel behind leads back into the Underworld, the white thing told him. The tunnel up ahead leads to the surface world. Which one will you choose?

"I-" Kurogane stopped. "Wait. So that white tunnel takes me home?"

That's right! The white thing said proudly. You just go straight up and you'll be out!

"And this one leads back down." Kurogane stood, staring at the dark tunnel. His hand idly touched the hilt of his sword and he realized that Ginryuu was back in its sheath. Erebus stirred momentarily in the back of his mind and then settled back into drowsy silence.

You won't get a second chance, the white thing warned him again. This way is only open to you once. Whichever way you choose, you can't ever come back this way again.

"So if I go back down, I can't get back up?"

Not by this way, the white thing replied. It paused, and when it spoke again its voice sounded deeper and more mature, like a different voice entirely. But that does not mean that there aren't other ways, Kurogane.

"How do you know my name?" Kurogane's eyes narrowed suspiciously and the white thing just stared up at him in silence, inscrutable. Kurogane sighed and looked back at the dark tunnel.

It had definitely been that idiot who had knocked him out, he was certain of that, though who knew what kind of stupid logic had made the moron do something like that. Kurogane wasn't even going to try to understand that. And there was no way to ask him unless Kurogane went after him and beat it out of him.

Fai had not simply knocked him out and left him there. Fai had taken him here, to the way out of the Underworld, and had stayed behind himself.

"Other ways out, huh?" Kurogane smiled to himself. "That's fine then." He glanced back at the rabbit creature. "White thing! You said this way leads back to the Underworld, right?"

That's right. Its voice had gone back to the old bright tone. If you follow the tunnel straight down you'll end up right back where you were before.

"Then that's the way I'm going." Kurogane began to walk towards the darker tunnel.

Are you certain, Kurogane? It was the deeper, older voice again. Kurogane stopped but did not turn around. Is that what you choose?

"Yeah," Kurogane said with finality. "It is."

With that, he walked calmly into unknown darkness.