Author's Notes: This is the last official chapter! Next one would be an epilogue to give a proper and more romantic ending (for those who were looking for more closure). Thanks for those who review. ~Enjoy!
"Life is not measured by the amount of breaths you take… but by the moments that take your breath away."
-Unknown-
"Serpent's Curse"
By: FenixPhoenix (Giselle González)
Chapter 10: "Gasps"
Onime no Kyo stood up, unsheathing masamune. He could hear them outside, laughing mindlessly, oblivious to the painful deaths that awaited them. Armatures, that's what they sounded like.
"It has begun," Yukimura said, standing behind Kyo, armed and ready. Sasuke and Benitora joined them at the door.
Loud cries of war and curses amidst the sound of moving feet and slashing swords met the group as Kyo slid open the door.
"Welcome to hell," he greeted sadistically, slitting the throat of the man who'd been about to burst inside. There was a minute of stillness after the action. When the rest of Kyo's group stepped out the door, the men seemed to regain their wit and, without wasting another second, continued the avalanche towards them.
A lean and athletic man stepped up to challenge Kyo, a double headed lance resting on one hand. Kyo rolled his eyes. He didn't have the liberty to waste time in child's play when Koga was still at large. If Kenji's plan failed, it would be up to Kyo to save Yuya. The contingency plan was to dispatch Koga quickly, before the clock stroke nine o'clock on the morrow.
"Step aside," he warned. "I have no time to play with you."
Instead of doing as told, the man launched a reckless assault. Kyo was impressed by the man's skill with his lance. His weapon met muramasa three consecutive times before he missed the blade by a millisecond. A small river of blood came out of the superficial cut Kyo landed on his arm. The man seemed not to feel the wound as he quickly closed in on Kyo, this time maintaining his distance, which allowed him to use the advantage his long weapon provided.
Kyo knew this would take time because, though the man was not that hard to get rid of, he did not wish to use much energy in doing so. After all, he still had to deal with Koga and fighting him while tired was not an option! As if Kyo had confided his worries out loud, Benitora was suddenly beside him. He used his own lance to stop the warrior's approach.
"I saw Koga somewhere near the pond," Benitora said, pushing his opponent back with ease. "Go. I'll cover you!"
Kyo nodded curtly in acknowledgement, and, in a way, also in thanks before going in search of his target.
-o0o-
Shinna Yuya cried out sharply when the snake slid around her. The attack had happened so quickly, she hadn't had the time to prepare, not that she could have done anything to begin with. The snake was thrice her size and much too quick for her to escape. The snake slid around her body twice before it began tightening its grip, making her extremities tingle. Already her arms were starting to grow numb as the snake cut her circulation.
She tried to wiggle, but that worked against her. The snake tightened its hold much faster whenever she tried to move, so Yuya stopped all pretenses of not being afraid and was now crying freely.
Suddenly, just when she thought the pain could not become any worst, she heard the unmistakable sound of her bones being unmercifully crushed underneath the pressure. She shut her eyes and screamed, leaving her throat sore and dry. She opened one eye and wished she hadn't. The snake's head was inches away from her, inspecting her with those blood red eyes. It opened its mouth, showing her his slimy, poisonous fangs.
Her sight blur and she closed her eye. A swooshing sound followed by a loud grunt of pain, made her eyes fluttered open. Emerald eyes widened with relief when the snake loosened its hold and slid down her body. She followed it as it slid across the darkness, towards the one who'd interfered.
Yuya fell on the floor almost boneless, still panting and trying to assess her wounds. She shook her head, trying to push the pain aside in order to focus on what was happening. She brushed the tears away and saw Kenji some ways away, wielding a golden but translucent bow. The snake was closer to him now, its lust for her forgotten.
Kenji fell onto one knee and clutched at his chest, as if he was having a heart attack. He was panting and, before long, his skin was coated in perspiration.
"What did you do?" she asked him, as fear pushed pain aside. Her words echoed around them, becoming louder instead of softer.
Kenji smiled at her, ignoring altogether the serpent that was eyeing him with caution, but said nothing.
"The bow and the arrow were made with pieces of his soul," a strange voice interrupted. Yuya found a woman dressed in a white yukata standing close by, looking beautiful and ethereal. She tilted her head, looking at Yuya with open curiosity while Yuya tried to make sense of what was happening. Who was she and what did her presence here meant?
-o0o-
Onime no Kyo found Koga just in time to stop him from reaching the place where the ritual was taking place. He moved into action, intercepting the bastard. Koga seemed surprised, but managed to avoid muramasa by throwing himself to the side. He gained his feet and regarded Kyo with a scowl.
"Onime no Kyo," he spat the greeting, freeing twin swords from where they'd been strapped to his back. "What an unpleasant surprise."
"It is time for you to die," Kyo threatened, sprinting with muramasa low on his side.
No matter what happened, Kyo would end him here and now! Koga smiled and, undaunted, met him halfway. What followed was a symphony of war; one that had started a long time ago, but which Kyo would bring to a last and final note.
-o0o-
Shinna Yuya stared at the figure guardedly, trying to determine if she was a hostile presence or not.
"Hello," the woman knelt beside her, her voice warm and friendly. "Yuya-san… you need to fight your own battle now…"
"Who are you?" Yuya asked, but was distracted when she heard Kenji's loud wail as the serpent trapped him like it had, not even a minute ago, trapped her. "Kenji-san!"
"He is beyond your help," the woman said. Yuya turned to her, intent of retorting, when she saw her expression. It was lined with worry and in her golden eyes glinted a heartbreaking amount of love, not for her, but for Kenji. Yuya knew who she was then, immediately and without a doubt.
"Ma-"
"Do not let his sacrifice go to waste, Yuya-san," the woman interrupted gently, her voice like a lullaby. "Remember what makes you feel alive and return to the plane of the living. Do it quickly or everything will be for nothing…"
Yuya closed her eyes willing the sound of Kenji's cries to disappear as she focused on someone else; the person who made her life worth living.
She remembered Kyo following her and hugging her from behind as he confessed his love for her.
And then there was complete silence.
She remembered as he followed her into the hot spring, savoring her with his red eyes.
And she felt the solidness around her dissipating.
She remembered him kissing her neck, wishing to wipe away the marks that were left there.
And she felt her entire body… her entire soul flying upwards.
She remembered his look of utter relief as she opened her eyes after being attacked.
And she heard a chant that still seemed far away.
She remembered him hugging her tightly under a sakura tree and promising her that he would save her.
And she felt solid ground again and heard Akira's voice calling to her. Yuya opened her eyes, gasping for breath. She realized that she was no longer strapped to Kenji, but that instead she was lying down.
"Kenji-san!" Akira's urgent voice made her jerked up in panic. It was only then that she registered Kenji's cries of pain.
-o0o-
Onime no Kyo had had enough! The sun was peering out of the horizon and was slowly ascending, draping everything in gold. He knew he was running out of time. Though he heard someone crying with pain inside the room he was protecting -and was well aware that they were not coming from Yuya- he decided to still kill Koga fast!
His crimson orbs moved from one shadow to the next. Again, Koga had used the Kage bunchin attack and had made seven copies of himself. To kill the man, Kyo would have to use an attack even stronger than the one he'd tried before. Thus, committing to a course of action, Kyo got ready to deliver the final blow.
"Mumyo Jinpu Ryu Ougni."
The eight Kogas tilted their head in wonderment when a red aura surrounded Kyo, getting longer and brighter by the second. Then, the aura changed color and became white as it doubled in strength. In a blink, Kyo had sprung towards the first shadow, transforming into a spiritual white tiger.
The tiger shredded shadow after shadow with an ease to behold. Claws and teeth gnawed and slashed mercilessly until Koga, the real one, was the only left. Kyo moved towards him and brought his sword in a downward arch. Koga tried to parry but was unsuccessful; five long nails digging into the skin of his chest again and again until he was on the ground. Kyo stopped only after the scent of Koga's blood assailed his nostrils. Koga's chest was coated in a layer of blood that poured down to create a pool of crimson beneath him.
"Did you feel the claw of the white tiger?" Kyo asked, towering the dying man.
Takeshi Koga was having trouble breathing. Every time his chest rose, his wounds bled more profusely, as if his cavity was opened with each mouthful of air that filled his lungs. He noticed the shadow being cast on his face and looked up to see Kyo, towering him. He squinted, but couldn't make out what kind of expression the devil wore; the shadows contrasting drastically with the glowing light behind him.
Despite that, Koga notice his posture, the way he didn't raise his sword, how his arms hung limply by his sides, how his knees were slightly bended. The attack had also taken a toll on Kyo's strength, sufficient to make him fight to stay on his feet.
Koga wanted to hate him. He thought he would. He thought he would hate the man until the moment Koga died. Yet, much to his surprise, as he hung onto the thin thread of life, Koga couldn't hate the man who had taken so much from him. On the contrary, Koga envied the fact that Kyo, at least, had been able to save the woman he loved and, in a level, respected him for that. If Koga had been given the chance to save Nozomi… he would have done it. He would have thrown his revenge aside if it meant he could see her again, hold her one more second, kiss her one more time…
Koga understood that what he'd felt all this time, it wasn't hate. It was regret. Regret that he'd been blinded by so much hate and, in the process, had really lost it all to that sentiment; the same sentiment that the Anemona Clan –that Nozomi herself!—had been trying to eradicate from his heart.
His sight blurred. Koga didn't know if it did because of the tears that were burning in his eyes, willing to be let go, or because death loomed nearby. But whatever it was, it didn't last. A single thing came into focus… no, not a thing, but rather a person.
Koga's tears flew freely, rolling down his cheeks, moistening his scar. She came! She came to him the image of health and beauty, untouched by weapon or time. Koga was afraid to blink, in fear that she would disappear, like the mirage of Kyo's tiger. Yet, she looked so real, so solid, so stunning. She was wearing her white kimono, tidy and without a single wrinkle. He followed her path with his eyes, smiling when she knelt by his side. He tried to raise a hand to touch her, but his muscles screamed with pain. She smiled that tender smile that had always flashed behind his lids whenever he had dared sleep.
"Come with me… Takeshi," she said, caressing his cheek with so much love he felt his heart would burst, his pain long forgotten.
Onime no Kyo watched Koga's eyes glaze with tears that quickly followed. He seemed to be looking at something behind him, but when Kyo turned to look, there was no one apart from them.
"What are you looking at?" he whispered, so softly that he doubted the man could hear.
"Nozo…Nozomi," Koga called, blood running down the corner of his lips. He choked on it for a moment and fought to move. Eventually, his hand rose to touch someone only he could see.
In that instance, as the name registered in his brain, Kyo remembered. He remembered the woman who had fought him so bravely and whom he had killed so mercilessly. He remembered her looking at him and wishing him never to lose a love one as she was losing one that day. And as she lay dying with his sword impaled on her stomach, he remembered the last word she'd uttered with so much love, it had shaken something inside Kyo.
"Takeshi…"
Kyo could count with the fingers of one hands, the occasions where he'd felt guilt for killing. There weren't many, but killing that woman was definitely in the list. Now that he had Yuya, Kyo understood what he'd done, the crime he'd committed and accepted the hate it had produced. He realized he empathized with Koga and his wish for vengeance. After all, when he'd threatened Yuya, hadn't Kyo thought first and foremost of revenge?
Kyo had almost lost Yuya twice, once to Kenji and then to him. Had she been taken away from him, he would not have been as merciful as Kenji was. He would not have left Koga walk away. Kyo would not have rested until Koga was suffering or dead, and that was unquestionable. So how could he blame Koga?
Kyo knelt down beside the dying, muttering man. He regarded Koga carefully. Poor bastard. He'd lost that which Kyo now fought to protect and he was paying the price. Koga was dying, perhaps in a way to atone for his inability to keep his woman safe.
Kyo found himself, to his increasing surprise and agitation, unable to hate the man, despite all he'd done. He pitied him, yes, but there was also something else. He felt respect in an awkward sense. Even if Koga's revenge was cowardly, he would have still achieved the desire effect: the total and devastating destructing of Onime no Kyo. Perhaps with much more success than if he had tried to fight Kyo head on, like he'd ended up doing.
So, kneeling beside the man who had threatened to take the most important thing he had, he did something he had never done before with an enemy. He took the hand that still tried to reach for something and, leaning over him, he whispered in the dying man's ear.
"The last thing she did was call your name," Kyo did not whispered with the taunting tone of one that makes fun of the tragedy of another. Nor with the pride that comes out of a deed well done. He said it almost with affection, with a tone that wished for the dying man to finally rest. He said it with the hurting tone of one who for the first time felt regret.
"My work is done," Takeshi Koga gave a last gasp of air after that, then he let go. Whatever had been holding him to this life, he severed. When Koga's eyes dimmed and glazed, the traces of a smile, gentle and peaceful, were left behind. It was the first time Kyo had seen someone die on a battlefield with a smile of joy, but he did not begrudge Koga the fact.
Kyo left him shortly afterwards, moving slowly and tiredly to the room he had protected. He wondered, now that all he heard was silence, if Yuya was still alive. For his sanity's sake, he seriously hoped she was.
-o0o-
Sakaki Kenji could not care less about the snake wrapped around his body, squeezing out his life. The head of the snake hovered just before him, yet Kenji's full attention rested on the ghost that stood nearby, watching him intently. She had not changed one bit. She was beautiful, perhaps more so than he remembered. Or was it perhaps that he'd forgotten the details of her face? Was it maybe because he'd yearned for her for so long, that now that she was so close, he couldn't believe his very eyes?
The snake bit him savagely yet he made not a sound. It hurt, that was for sure. He had felt every single teeth plunge deep into his neck. Yet all he could do was smile. With a last choke he allowed a tear of happiness to escape and a smile –a beautiful and honest smile of utter and heavenly relief, grace his features.
"I'm coming," he told the ghost as he felt the snake disappearing, its job done. "I'm finally coming home to you… Masaki."
-o0o-
Onime no Kyo stepped inside and realized that he was the last one to arrive. Kenji's ninja, Natsuki, was crying beside her master. To his relief, Yuya looked relatively unharmed, though he wasn't sure if her tears meant she was suffering from a wound.
"Kenji-Sama," Natsuki called as a pool of blood began to cover the spot where he laid, the tattoo on his back finished.
When Kyo approached he noticed something peculiar –something he had seen not long ago. He saw his blue eyes glowing with unbound happiness. Then he saw his lips parting into a smile like the one Koga had, pure joy. It coated Kyo's skin in goose bumps and, by the sniffs, he didn't think he was the only one affected.
Sakaki Kenji was aware that he was back on the real world, yet her ghost was still with him, sitting beside Yuya, looking down at him tenderly… lovingly.
"Ma…sa…ki" he enunciated softly, his eyes devouring every detail of her face.
"You've finally understood, my love," she smiled at him and leaned forward, caressing his moist cheek face. He would have closed his eyes at the touch if he wasn't so afraid that he would lose her if he did. "Now we shall be together again… I have waited for so long… "
"Yes," he responded, "I… too have… waited… Masaki…"
She dipped her head and pressed her lips to his. Kenji gasped at the beauty that seemed to have only increased by the absence of her in his life. And that gasp of beauty and of love was the last breath he gave before his eyes became hollow and he followed his lover into what lay ahead.
Shinna Yuya leaned towards the man who'd saved her and whispered, "Thank you, Kenji-sama… Now you are free."
It was over. Finally, it was over. She cried, sobbing with happiness and sadness in equal amounts. Kyo moved towards her and pulled her to her feet. He drew her into the circle of his arms protectively. She was relieved to see him relatively unharmed.
Yuya mumbled against his chest, "I finally understand."
"What's that?" he asked somewhat gruffly.
"What it all means," she said. When Kyo frowned, she stood on the tip of her toes and simply kissed him, not caring about everyone else in the room. "I love you."
Kyo smiled so tenderly that she noticed almost everyone looking away. Yuya blushed but she didn't look away, she couldn't.
"I love you too," he answered, surprising even her.
Then, placing a hand protectively on her waist -after nodding curtly at all for their assistance- he guided her out the door. Yuya knew that they were leaving to live the life that had been given to them. To bask in the love that had born out of sacrifice and suffering and yes… out of patience and time.
Sanada Yukimura, for his part, took Kenji's body and left. He knew where the samurai would want to be buried.
"You can come with me if you want," he said to Natsuki who with a nod, followed him as his new master thereafter.
…::FIN::…
Story Written by: Giselle González
© Kenji Sakaki, Masaki Inoue and Takeshi Koga are property of Giselle González and were created for the purpose of telling this story.
:…:Other Samurai Deeper Kyo Stories:…:
+-+Third Desire+-+
"If she is only your servant… then why don't you sell her to me?" Will Kyo finally let Yuya know his feelings for her...or not? A Yuya x Kyo. Prequel to "Serpent's Curse".
+-+Teaching the Art+-+
When Yuya asks Kyo to teach her his specialty will he, in turn, learn hers? YuyaxKyo . One-shot.
+-+Weeping Sky+-+
Sometimes comfort can come in the strangest of ways given by the most unusual person. When Yuya cries, Kyo realizes he doesn't really like it. ::Yuya x Kyo:: One-shot. Kyo's POV.