Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei
Shout-outs:
AnimeAngelRin: Yes, they are. And thank you.
ShinigamixGirl: What will be Yoshiro's fate? Keep reading…and yes, I know I'm evil.
jennamarie: Answer me this: Is this cliffhanger better or worse than the one in Eden (between chapter nine and ten, when Hisoka is raped and Tsuzuki goes with Kushinada and Izanami)? No, you're not crazy…just a little obsessed. But then, I am, too. As for the Shikome looking like Akuko…just keep in mind those long black nails of his.
laustic: Thank you, love. (Snuggles) As for Rui…keep reading.
Off-Topic Rambling: Hearkening back to Eden here, but I found mythological justification for Muraki to be a demon. Looks like I (totally unwittingly) made him the demon Belial. Belial is a prince of Hell, has very respectful manners, and is a demon of lust, lies, and guilt.
Author's Notice: Sorry this took so long! Battle scenes are inspiration killers. Please forgive its shortness and the cliffhanger.
End of Innocence
"Tsu-baachan?"
"Yeah?" Tsubaki looked up from where she was curled up on the couch, reading. "What's the matter?" she continued, putting down her book, concern growing as she saw him pale and trembling. She had last seen him taking a nap on the recliner.
"Something bad is coming here," Yoshiro said, accepting the open-armed invitation to crawl into her lap.
"Like what?" Tsubaki asked, concern instantly changing to fear. Hisoka had warned her of the boy's cognitive dreams. She stood up, clutching Yoshiro tightly to her chest.
"Like…like a monster," Yoshiro said, sensing her fright and clinging to her as she quickly walked down the hall and into her bedroom.
"Yoshiro, you stay right in this room and do not come out, no matter what happens, until me or Eileen-baachan or Maria-san come and get you," Tsubaki said, setting Yoshiro on her bed. "You hear me?"
He nodded, looking up at her with fearful green eyes.
"Good," Tsubaki said, managing to smile at him and kiss the top of his head. "I mean it, Yoshiro, you stay right here," she warned, walking backwards towards her bedroom door. She shut it behind her, knowing full well that it wouldn't do any good if the attacker proved stronger than they.
"Eileen-dono? Maria?" She half-ran down the hall.
"I'm the only one here, Tsubaki," Maria called from the kitchen. "Eileen's filing a report at the Ministry, remember? Why?" She queried, seeing the look on Tsubaki's face. "What's wrong?"
"We're in serious trouble," Tsubaki said, face paling as she spoke. "Yoshiro saw something coming after us."
"A demon?" Maria asked, color draining from her own face, as well.
"No, probably a Shikome," Tsubaki answered, nervously running her fingers through her hair and pulling on a split end. The demons aren't strong enough to come after us."
"Where's Yoshiro?"
"My room. I don't want to leave him someplace where he could run off and I wouldn't know it."
"I'll go get Eileen," Maria said hurriedly, standing up. "How long do we have until that Shikome gets here?"
"I don't know," Tsubaki said, bordering on frantic. "I don't think Yoshiro can tell."
"I'll be right back," Maria said, disappearing as soon as the words left her mouth.
Tsubaki inhaled deeply, trying to still her nerves. With a twitch of her right hand four fuda slips appeared between her fingers. She was not especially fantastic at offense or even defense, another reason why she had desperately wanted to get out of working with Terazuma. The recent stint with Nagare was fresh on her mind.
"And he wasn't even using magic," Tsubaki muttered to herself, swaying back and forth on her feet in a mock attempt at pacing.
"Tsu-baachan?" a small voice called timorously from down the hall.
"You stay in there, Yoshiro!" Tsubaki commanded, bordering on shrill. The door to her bedroom creaked and then clicked obediently shut.
"I don't really see the point of that."
Tsubaki whipped around, fuda slips materializing between the fingers of her left hand. Crouching on the windowsill, long black nails scraping the paint off the wall, the Shikome grinned toothily at her before kicking his legs out and landing on the kitchen table.
"I mean, we're just gonna take him anyway. Doesn't matter where he is when we find him."
Tsubaki's mind was blank when she threw the fuda in her right hand; all she registered was that the four slips landed on his face and exploded on impact. With a screech the Shikome fell backward into the yard, shattering the upper pane of glass with his head. As his bloody, burnt head appeared in the empty box of the window, glass crunching under his hand as he tried to pull himself up, Tsubaki released the arsenal in her left hand, blowing out part of the wall around the window as well as part of the Shikome's face.
She stumbled backward, startled, at the pained shriek courtesy of the monster. There was a faint cracking sound. Tsubaki blinked and then a hole was blasted through the wall underneath the window. She threw herself back, but not quick enough for a splinter of wood to avoid slicing through her right calf. She was knocked off balance and slumped up against the couch, hand pressed to her wound to stop up the bleeding.
Through the jagged, uneven hole, the Shikome, bloody, pink patches of dermis adorning his head and neck, stepped through. Part of his lip was ripped off, leaving his mouth in a permanent sneer.
Seeing him flick his hand Tsubaki ducked. A few strands of hair were singed off her head as stream of fire shot over her, instead hitting the wall around an electric socket. The socket crackled and then exploded; Tsubaki dropped to the floor and rolled away, her face shielded. The fire caught up to her as her back became perpendicular with the wall, and she screamed as she felt the fire slide down her neck and shoulders.
She heard running footsteps and clambered to her feet only to be knocked back down with a swipe of his long, pointed black nails across her cheek. He dropped down next to her. With a shriek she kicked out, her foot catching him in the face and forcing him back from her, but not before another swipe of his nails caught her injured leg and ripped the wound open even further.
There was a sliding sound as air was suddenly filled with physical matter, and then a soft thud. The Shikome lurched forward and then stumbled backwards, allowing Tsubaki to see the brick that had collided with the back of her attacker's head.
"Camille, look out!"
Tsubaki ducked as a blur of brown hurtled towards her. Sixteen fuda scrolls exploded against the Shikome's chest, ripping off fur and layers of skin, exposing muscle. His body slammed against Tsubaki and Eileen's bedroom door; from within Yoshiro screamed.
"Yoshiro!"
Tsubaki clambered to her feet, limping on her injured leg that seemed to refuse to heal properly. She reached out for the doorjamb to support herself, leaning into the doorway, fuda scrolls forming in her hand.
"Camille!"
For a moment Tsubaki could not breathe; a loud, harsh gasp was the returning of oxygen to her lungs. Her gaze traveled downwards, beyond a squalling Yoshiro under the Shikome's arm, to the monster's free hand. Five long black nails were only half-visible against her chest. Five thin trails of blood were steaming out from underneath the imbedded nails.
The Shikome ripped his hand away from her. Dimly Tsubaki heard running footsteps and felt Eileen catch her before she hit the floor as Maria ran past her after the retreating Shikome. Through increasingly darkening vision she saw the Shikome blast out another window and Maria grab his arm; the Shikome dug his nails into Maria's hand and ripped four slices between her knuckles, forcing her to let go of him. Maria's uninjured hand flailed to catch hold of Yoshiro and missed by a hair's breadth; Yoshiro's screaming faded as the Shikome's battered wings took to the air.
"Maria, go tell Tsuzuki and Hisoka what happened!" Tsubaki heard Eileen screech, even though it felt like a whisper to her. "I'm taking Camille to the hospital; I'll meet you there!"
The last thing Tsubaki saw was Maria disappearing and Eileen's tearful face leaning over her, saying something that Tsubaki couldn't hear.