Dlbn: Here we are at last! Happy Halloween, folks! And you know what Halloween means!
Nbld: The final chapter! And later tonight when we're at work cuz god forbid we ask for a day off, the epilogue!
Dlbn: Technically the epilogue could wait until tomorrow but nah, it feels more right to end it on Halloween.
Nbld: Probably should have posted this last night and the epilogue now but whatever. No reviews so no Review Corner
Dlbn: So without further ado, here's the pic conclusion!
Nbld: Well a bit further ado, cause of author notes and stuff, but you get the point. We'll reveal the song in the Epilogue or it will give away the ending.
Dlbn: Onward ho!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Loveless or anyone in it. It all belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NO money off of writing this story.
Disclaimer 2: I do NOT own the song *** by ***, which this fic is based off of. I make NO money out of referencing it.
000
That night, Ritsuka lay in bed, staring at the ceiling again. Mimuro had told him to not tell Soubi or Seimei or Nisei he was leaving and just up and run. But now Soubi was in on it. It was his idea. Was it a trap? No, it couldn't be. Soubi was offering him refuge. He was the only one Seimei couldn't hurt, and Seimei wouldn't bother to try to go near or after Ritsuka if he was with Soubi all the time. The idea of living with the blonde was very tempting, he had to admit. Ritsuka sighed and uncovered himself, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. Thinking like this all the time couldn't have been good for his already fragile mind. He was exhausted and annoyed by Seimei and the others to the point where he almost just didn't care anymore. But he couldn't just stop thinking and let Seimei do what he wanted. He promised Soubi he'd think about running away with him.
He stretched. All this thinking was really weighing heavily on his brain and making it impossible for him to sleep yet again. Maybe a nice cup of hot tea would do. That normally put him out when he lived in his last foster home and couldn't sleep. He made his way downstairs and wasn't too surprised when he spotted Seimei sitting at the table, delicate hands folded neatly on his lap.
"Good evening, Ritsuka." He grinned. "Can't sleep?"
"Can it, you little demon." Ritsuka snapped. "I know everything."
"Oh, do you?" Seimei cocked an eyebrow. "He interfered didn't he…Agatsuma…I heard him knocking earlier…"
"Then you should know I ignored him until he went away." Ritsuka huffed, turning on the tea kettle. "He has nothing to do with it."
"You're to…planning to leave me, are you, Ritsuka?" Seimei's lip quivered. "I thought we were friends? You wouldn't abandon a friend…would you…?"
"I'm not leaving."
Seimei perked.
"But I'm not your friend. I'm your next intended victim. Friends don't plot to kill their friends or drive them insane."
Seimei's head turned on his shoulders to face the house's owner. "Who says I want to do that?"
"You told me you killed the last owners."
"Self-defense, Ritsuka. Like you said, friends don't try to kill their friends. And they tried to kill me." Seimei sniffled. "How cruel. I just want friends. I'm so lonely here…"
"If you wanted friends, then why did you drive off everyone else who lived here before me? Except for Soubi, of course. You just dragged him into your madness."
"Mimuro…" Seimei growled. "He told you, didn't he? If Agatsuma didn't do it, then someone else involved did. That leaves Nisei, and he wouldn't give himself up like that. So…" He snarled, good eye ablaze. "I always hated Mimuro…"
"Because he defied you and made Akame do the same thing?" Ritsuka wondered, pouring some honey into the cup where his tea bag rested.
"He just didn't sit right with me." Seimei stated.
"Stop lying."
"I'm not. Like you said, he turned Nisei against me. My only friend turned against me by some blonde stranger who wanted to get into his pants…" Seimei's grin faded. "How cruel…don't you think?"
"You enslaved Akame's family and made them bring you sacrifices." Ritsuka argued. "You deserved whatever happened to you on his behalf."
Seimei cocked an eyebrow. "So now you know…the legend isn't a legend at all."
"It's the story of your birth." Ritsuka stated. "The Akame family is descended from the mayor, you're the dead child that came back to life, and the Agatsuma family is descended from the Shaman. That's why Soubi could resist you while Nisei was weak against you."
Seimei nodded slowly. "That could most definitely explain things." He stated. "I'm not saying you're wrong, though."
"I know I'm not. I understand everything now. Soubi's family cursed you to get revenge on the Akame family for not listening to him. So you've used his descendants to capture and kill unsuspecting people to fuel yourself in some heinous act of revenge, and tossed him aside because he was the one person who defied you. Then once you realize Soubi is descended from the man that cursed you in the first place and wasn't affected by you, you tossed Nisei into the Inn to a less rewarding job and had Soubi take his place; once again letting the Agatsuma family put the Akame family in its place." Ritsuka argued with the doll. "My mother and father were unfortunate victims of your delirium."
"You really think you know it all, don't you?" Seimei wondered.
"I do know it all." Ritsuka stated. "I did the research, I asked the questions. If you'd just be honest, I'd stop trying to get to the bottom of this and instead try to help you."
"Help me?" Seimei laughed. "Don't make me laugh. There's no way you can help me. I'm a cursed child. Doomed to walk this earth for all eternity, zapping up souls to keep up my strength…all because one little mayor didn't listen to one little Shaman oh so many years ago. Before my death, mind you."
"Huh?"
"You think this started because he didn't listen about how deep to bury me? How do you think I woke up when I was hanging from a tree, dead?" He cocked an eyebrow, good eye twitching in anger as he showed off his teeth with a wide, crooked grin. "Stupid old Mayor Agatsuma stopped following the Shaman's advice before I was even born. In fact, most of the town stopped going to him for advice and assistance anymore. Modern medicine was beginning to become available to us, and no one wanted a Shaman's remedy anymore. His family was practically the town's outcast before the day that stranger came to our town. The Shaman used his attack on my poor, unsuspecting family to enact his revenge. When they found me, he brought me to life. The fools didn't notice him doing so until I was awake and laughing. I wasn't in control of my body." Seimei snarled. "Thank god when I woke up, I was connected enough to that damn Akame family to get help and get back into my own home. Then those fools began spreading the stories."
He knew it!
"And I was afraid they'd find out and bury me again, or…or kill me!" His one good eye got wide. "Lucky for me, people thought they were just fairy tales and started telling them to just scare children and newcomers. I was safe. Akame felt so sorry for me, he started helping me attract people to my home so I could consume their souls when they were at their frailest for sustenance." He sighed in happiness. "It was wonderful." His rather handsome features twisted into something dark and hideous. "Then Mimuro came along and ruined everything! I knew Nisei would be hard to break, but to have him go out and flat out betray me the way that he did? A curse on the Akame family did nothing to teach those louts their places."
"You side with the Agatsuma family?"
"If they hadn't stopped listening, if those wretched villagers hadn't stopped listening to Shaman Agatsuma, he wouldn't have snapped and cursed me!" Seimei looked ready to cry. "But they did, and Mayor Akame set the example for them to do so by continuing to disobey him. I could have been spared! I could have lived a peaceful afterlife! But no! They thought they knew better, and now I'm cursed to walk this world forever with no rest! They only thought of themselves! They all did! No one thought of me! Ever! No one! I hate them…I hate them so much…that's why I turn them. That's why I drive them crazy and kill them. I take their souls in penance for what they did to me! This whole world can just go to hell for all I care!"
"What about the stranger? The guy who killed you and your family? If he hadn't killed you, none of this would have happened. You would have lived a nice, no curse life with your family."
A strange look touched Seimei's eyes. "I'm glad you agree, Aoyagi Ritsuka."
"Seimei…who killed you…?"
"A mysterious stranger that came into town. He befriended my mother. Poor old woman fell for his nice guy shtick. That's what killed us…her compassion."
"Seimei." Ritsuka tried to get his attention. "Who killed your family?"
"A young fellow…by the name of Aoyagi Ritsuka…"
"W-What…?"
"Your name…your first name is an old family name. It was my voice that gave your mother the idea to drudge up family records and find an old name. Irony at its finest when she chose Ritsuka!"
He laughed, the evil sound practically shattering Ritsuka's defenseless eardrums. As soon as the sound had started, it stopped, and all was quiet.
"Ahem." Seimei cleared his throat. "My apologies."
"You're insane…"
"I am offended by the insinuation." Seimei snorted.
"Not my problem." Ritsuka replied, putting more honey into his tea without thinking of it.
Seimei cocked his head to the side. "Do you really need that much honey?" His disapproving tone made Ritsuka want to slap him off of the table. "It can't be good for you."
"Why do you care? Will it taint my soul if I put in too much?"
"No, your soul has a unique, unchangeable taste." Seimei replied. "But if you put in too much honey, it might kill you too soon, and that just won't do."
Ritsuka put in more honey. "Maybe I should just drink a cup of honey, then."
Seimei glared. "Ritsuka, do not do that to your body!" He scolded. "What's wrong with you?"
"It's my body and I will put inside it what I want to put inside it."
"I thought putting things inside of you might be Soubi's job." The doll smirked.
"That's it!" Ritsuka dropped the bear-shaped honey container onto the counter. "I'm sick of your shit!"
"What? It's true. From what you were saying that night, I can only assume you're on the receiving end." Seimei shuddered. "But enough of that. Your honey is spilling on the floor, Ritsuka. you wouldn't' want to waste it like that, would you?"
"Why do you care?" He folded his arms over his chest. "You're the one who wants me to cut back on it."
"Well, yes, I want you to cut back on so much at once. Can you even drink tea with that much honey in it? I don't think honey dissolves. It's not like sugar. Well, it's sweet like sugar, but it doesn't have the consistency of sugar. Know what I mean?"
"You're rambling.
"Sorry." Seimei shrugged.
Ritsuka picked the honey container up and squeezed some more into his cup.
"Ritsuka, please, stop!" The doll begged, standing up and placing his hands on the box of sugar on the table. "You're going to rot your teeth and clot your arteries!"
"I'll be fine."
"You're not going to destroy your body! Not under my watch!"
"You're not the boss of me, Seimei. I don't eat a ton of sweets. I'll be fine. Push that sugar closer to me, would you? So I can put a scoop in?"
Seimei stood in front of the sugar, blocking it with his tiny body as if Ritsuka couldn't reach over the top of him and grab it himself if he wanted to.
"No way." Seimei shook his head. "All that honey is just the amount of sweet you need. What if it's too sweet and you have to toss it out because you can't take the taste? You said you don't eat a lot of sweets, so you're not used to a lot of sugary items in one go. You could go into some kind of sugar-induced coma or diabetic shock or something!"
Ritsuka was pretty sure that Seimei was talking out of his backside, but he didn't call him out on it.
"Come on, Seimei. Let me have the sugar."
Seimei sat on it this time. "No way! You won't destroy your body, Ritsuka. I won't allow it. I care too much."
"You don't care. You just want my body for yourself."
"Hentai." Seimei accused. "I swear, I'm just trying to protect you!"
"I'm descended from the guy that killed you. If you kill me, it might reverse your curse, since it's clear you won't be able to kill Soubi or control him, since his ancestor cursed you." Ritsuka stated. "That's why you want me healthy. Taking my soul will save your ass."
"I told you! Souls never change flavor!"
"But that doesn't mean they can't be tainted and destroyed."
"Of course they can. But a good soul or a tainted one, your soul is still of use to me!"
"Aha! So you do want my soul for your own purposes!"
"I do not! A soulless person doesn't make for a good conversationalist, does it? And I need someone of an intellectual mind to talk to. Mimuro had one but he turned against me the first chance he got, then split town the second chance he got. Leaving poor little Nisei alone to mourn for the loss of his friend who hadn't even died, just chose a better life without him. How tragic. Soubi has a brain, but he's just a puppet. I haven't had anyone come in here with such a strong, intelligent, well-educated mind like yours before. It's something I've been craving."
"You could have ended this curse by taking my mother's soul, but her parents took her away before that could happen, didn't they? I bet that pissed you off something fierce." Ritsuka commented. "So now you're stuck waiting to get my soul to reverse it. Isn't that right? Don't go on about that intelligent conversation stuff. I don't buy that bull for a minute."
"Well it's true!" Seimei huffed. "Stop being so rude and careless, Ritsuka! You won't win against me! No one else has! Sure, Soubi got out of here, but he's still my servant! And Nisei? He's stuck serving me as well! No one has ever escaped, just changed the role they play. And if you think you're going to be the first to break me, you're mistaken. I will win in the end, Ritsuka! It's my destiny! To die and live in the afterlife with my family once again, like I should have done so long ago!" He pointed up.
"You can't believe that you'll be going where they are, can you? You're a killer, Seimei. You're going the other direction." Ritsuka bent his finger a few times to point to the ground. "Getting my soul and ending your curse won't change that."
"I'm an unfortunate victim in all of this, Ritsuka." Seimei sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I was cursed and forced to do those things."
"You know. Had you not done all this and caused all this hell and pain, I might have sympathized with you. Maybe even helped you find a different way to reverse the curse that was put on you. But you know what? I feel no sympathy for you. You deserve whatever punishment and hell you get, Seimei. Whether you want to believe it or not, you're evil. Evil never knows when it's evil because they're doing what they think is good for them. But if anyone else looks on your actions, they'll know you're evil!"
There was a spark in Seimei's eyes that Ritsuka didn't really like. It was if the child's sanity was finally cracking apart and slipping away. He was about to lash out.
Seimei grabbed a fork off the table, which looked rather large in his tiny hand.
"I am not evil!" He argued. "Take it back!"
"I won't, Seimei. I'm entitled to my opinion."
"Please!"
"What are you going to do if I don't take it back, hm? Fork me?"
"Once again, that's Agatsuma's job!"
Seimei tossed the fork like a javelin. It sailed past Ritsuka's head as the young man moved to the side to get out of the way. It clinked against the wall before falling into the sink. The tea kettle began whistling as Seimei picked up another fork.
"Hold still, damn it!"
He tossed it, missing again. He kept throwing forks until he was out of them. Ritsuka dashed to the table and scooped him up in one hand.
"It's over, Seimei. You've met your match with me."
Seimei glared. "No, I haven't!" He leaned over and chomped down on Ritsuka's arm.
"Ow!" The ravenette complained.
He dropped Seimei, who ran off like a madman.
"Get back here!"
Ritsuka chased after the doll, ignoring the stinging and throbbing in his arm from the bite. He spotted Seimei trying to hide behind a cushion on the downstairs chair. He crept over and tossed the pillow aside, grabbing the surprised doll by the leg and holding him upside down. Hanging from Ritsuka's hand by the foot, Seimei's deep frown looked like a sadistic grin.
"Want to try that again?" Ritsuka wondered.
Seimei just glared.
"I didn't want to have to do this, Seimei. I really wanted to try and help you. Poor creature." He pet Seimei on the head, rubbing his hair down to soothe the angered doll. "But this bite was the last straw."
"So what are you going to do with me?" Seimei wondered, folding his arms over his chest and attempting to throw himself into a sitting position.
Ritsuka shook him back down each time he tried to sit up.
"You'll see. I'm ending this here and now."
"How?" Seimei's eyes lit up, the good one opening as wide as the busted one was frozen.
Ritsuka said nothing. He made his way over to the fireplace and picked up the box Nisei had given him. He sat Seimei inside and propped him against the side as if he were sitting in a boat. Seimei cocked his head to the side, curious as to what Ritsuka was doing.
"Are you going to lock me in here? How will that help me?"
"You'll see."
Ritsuka let the child lay down before shutting the lid and locking it. He peeked in through the keyhole at the child, who was still grinning as his good eye blinked and bad eye stared, unseeing, at the young man holding him in his new prison.
"I guess this box has a purpose after all." Ritsuka said, sitting the box on the mantle.
He struck a match from his matchbook against the brick fireplace. It lit up and he sighed. He took the box and set it down inside the fireplace.
"I'm sorry, Seimei. I wish there was another way poor cursed child. I'm sorry for what my mysterious ancestor who shares my namesake did to you. I guess it's fitting that someone who shares the name with your killer would end up being the one who finally breaks your curse." Ritsuka stated.
"Thank you, Ritsuka." Seimei spoke from inside the box. "I can be at peace now."
Ritsuka felt a lump grow in his throat. "You're welcome."
He tossed the match into the fire place with the box. As flames consumed it, frightened, demonic screams began rising out of Seimei.
"Ritsuka! Ritsuka why? Help me!" He cried, sobbing. "Don't do it this way! I don't want to die again! Help me!"
Ritsuka sighed, leaning back in the chair as he tried not to listen to the doll or think about what was happening to him why did he feel so week all of a sudden? He closed his eyes to try and relax and get some strength back. It was only a few minutes before he began coughing. Covering his mouth with his fist, he coughed into it as he opened one eye to see what was becoming of the box and the child in it. But what he saw frightened him to the core. There was smoke filling the air around him, and through the smoke and burning flames, he could see the box. He put his hand up and his fingers grazed against the lid of a box. He noticed the bite mark on his arm was no longer an angry red, but a rather calm darker cream color that made it stand out on his skin. No, how could this be? The box…he was in the box! Flames licked at his toes as he desperately tried to kick away from it.
"No!" He cried out. "No Seimei!"
The sound of his voice startled him. He sounded more like Seimei then himself. Maybe it was from the smoke? He heard a deep chuckle from outside the box and realized the sound was coming from himself.
"Seimei? What did you do? Seimei! Seimei!"
He couldn't breathe. The air around him was too thick. He should have listened to Mimuro and Soubi. He should have just said yes and run away with Soubi that night. But no. once again, stubborn pride led to the downfall of good and the rise of evil. He coughed, the sound getting lighter and lighter without much force behind it. He took a couple deep raspy, gasping breaths. This was it. He was going to die in this box. Soubi…Nisei…Mimuro…they'd all be free…but at what cost? What would Soubi do without him? He'd probably move on; find some other young man to fill the empty space in his bed that was meant for Ritsuka. Whoever his ancestor Ritsuka was, he hoped the man was burning in the fiery pits of hell like Ritsuka was doing now. He looked towards the keyhole but was greeted by darkness. No one was looking back at him.
"Seimei?" He called again, voice weak.
No response. He felt consciousness slipping away from him slowly. He took a deep, gasping, raspy breath, one good eye opening wide like the one he could no longer close. He felt his limbs growing stiff and he couldn't move. His head turned back to the top of the box. The words 'do not burn' were carved into the wood, slowly melting away like the rest of the box and Ritsuka himself. With one more cough and gasping breath that arched his back against the pine and the flames, he was gone; eyes forever open in a look of pure horror.
In the kitchen, the tea kettle stopped whistling.