Clary: Nei hou ma? ;) I meant to finish this up before we flew to Hong Kong for summer, but somehow, I was delayed... –sheepish smile- See, it was all very busy and shopping and checking passports and Lia and I learning Cantonese phrases we could use there...
Lia: You mean I was learning, and you were hanging off of my shoulder complaining about how hard it was to remember everything.
Clary: -sticks out tongue- Don't mind her, everyone. Lia's just annoyed because even though she had learned enough to survive a basic conversation with a Chinese person, she has this funny little accent that sends everyone within a ten-mile radius laughing their asses off.
Lia: At least I learned something, like I was supposed to.
Clary: Hey, I learned something. Xie xie.
Lia: The only phrase you even bothered learning, and it's in the wrong dialect.
Clary: SO? IT'S CHINESE, ISN'T IT?
Lia: -sigh- It's Mandarin. The people in Hong Kong speak CANTONESE.
Clary: Fuck you, Lia. -sticks out tongue at Lia again- Anyway, everyone, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER (BUT THERE'S AN EPILOGUE, IF YOU GUYS WANT IT, do you guys want it?)~~~ I don't know whether to be happy or sad but I just want to THANK EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED AND ALERTED AND FAVORITE-D and you guys should know I love you so much, I never would have finished this story without you~~~ Kyaaaa~~~ -hearts hearts hearts-
Oh, and once again, the bells are not ours. (:
Enjoy :)
DEATH PLAY
Written by: Clary~
Acknowledgements to: Lia (and Lia's funny accent), Alatarielf (we're glad you're happy, ne? We love you, see, and Lia's healthy enough to have travelled for summer, so~ hope this wasn't too late for you~ :)), Knights of Cydonian Starlight (maa, you flatter us too much –blush- haha~ as for everything else, read and see, ne? As promised, the last chapter isn't broken in half ;)), lemon-and-chai (waii~ we're sorry~~ though we have to ask, are you psychic or something, because... just because ;) we'll not give anything away... if you want it, there's some of Atobe's prowess in the epilogue, though :)), phoenixfirekitsune (battle ends now, dun dun dun~~ wahaha~ and Yuuta's appearing here, too, you won't miss him :) we hope this counts as soon for you, ne?), Kagerou Zutsumi (HUGGLES HUGGLES HUGGLES~~~ maa, thanks so much for loving it~~~ cliffhangers are awesome~ wahaha~ hope you enjoy the last chapter ;))
XIX. AZRAEL, THE SORROWFUL
Yuuta died when he was still inside his mother's womb. He would have been born into the Fuji family had he lived, and he would have found peace and rest if he had truly died.
As it was, he had neither.
His mother and father and older sister had accepted their passage to Death easily, but, like many other Fujis, they had power strong enough to prevent true Death. And because his family worried about the remaining heir of the Fuji bloodline (since his mother worried so much about the son she had left behind, and since his father always patronized her, and since his sister was a sadistic, let's-tease-Yuuta-whenever-we-get-the-chance-so-he-becomes-embarrassed bitch), they didn't claim rest in true Death.
And so, Yuuta (and the rest of his family) grew along with his still-alive aniki, Syusuke.
Yuuta has been raised to love his aniki, really, he has. His mother practically worshipped his aniki, and he suspected she'd even build a shrine dedicated to him, if she was capable, and she, when Yuuta had sufficiently grown up, had spent most of her days by the end of Death's river, looking out towards life.
Besides, his aniki was beautiful, kind, gentle, and Yuuta could imagine, sometimes and God forbid Yumiko would know about this, how it would be like to be that gentle, kind, caring, accepting soul's little brother.
He even had dreams sometimes. ("Don't worry, ne, Yuuta? Aniki's here. Aniki will always protect you. Aniki loves you, ne?") And they were very nice dreams that left him smiling like an idiot all day long and Yumiko teasing him a full day afterwards.
So, really, Yuuta didn't hate his aniki, not in that sense, but sometimes, like the rest of his annoying family (that he loved with all his heart even if he didn't show it), his aniki was just, exasperatingly, a clueless, naive, goddamn...
"...Idiot! You fucking idiot!" he shook his brother again, for the third time, willing him awake. Death's waters swirled around him where he was kneeling over the collapsed form of his brother. He didn't understand the tears that were making their way to his eyes so he chalked it up to frustration. His mother was gripping his shoulder so tightly it hurt and her knuckles were white from the effort.
She was hyperventilating and hysterical, though she was keeping in most of her emotions. The only signs that betrayed her were the hand, the noisy breathing, and the fact that she left her husband's side from where he was fending off Morto and where Yumiko was fighting Ashikaga to hover over him and his brother.
He shook the body again. The injury Morto had caused had long since healed, taken care of by Yuuta's own abilities in Death. But using two, three, maybe four or five different necromancer bells, in close succession must have drained much of his aniki's energy. Really, he knew better than to do that. It was stupid and idiotic and how the hell had he been keeping himself alive for the past sixteen years if he was as clueless as that? He supposed he had Tezuka-san and Yukimura-san to thank for it, because really, his brother was nothing more than an idiot (but an idiot that Yuuta, and plenty of other handfuls of people, loved).
If they weren't in the middle of the battle, he'd be yelling his ass off, but given the situation, he contented himself with shaking the little sleeping beauty.
"If you don't wake up right now," he threatened, shaking the fragile body again (his aniki was small, far too small to be able to bear too much of Death's burden, and Yuuta had to wince). "If you don't wake up right now, and we lose, I'll hate you. I'll-"
"Yuuta," his mother began warningly, but Yuuta can't be distracted. His aniki had to wake up, he was the only one who could finish this battle, the rest of them were dead. And no matter how powerful they were, they could never touch the living, not anymore.
"I'm beginning to hate you right now," he said, drawing his hand back for a slap. He blinked his eyes quickly to get rid of the tears he really didn't need right now, but before he could bring his hand down, the delicate lashes fluttered and he was met by the arresting gaze of his aniki.
"Yuuta?" his aniki smiled, small hands going around his body, as his aniki moved to sit up and hug him. "You're okay."
Despite the threats and the frustration, Yuuta had to bite his lip so he could keep from smiling, and he turned his head away so his aniki couldn't see him blush. He could feel his mother's approving gaze, before her presence disappeared from his side. She was probably back at his father's side, now that Syusuke was awake and talking.
"Idiot," he said, because if he didn't, he knew he'd give up and hug his aniki anyway. Stupid idiot. "What the hell did you think you were doing, protecting me like that?"
Syusuke stared at him with those blue eyes of his, eyes that held infinite wisdom, and that suddenly, for a moment, made Yuuta feel like a child. And then that moment ended, and his aniki was struggling to stand up, smiling sheepishly. "Well, he was going to hit you, if I didn't."
"I'm dead," Yuuta replied, more fiercely that he thought would say it. "The worst that could happen to me is that I'd have a hole in my chest that would be ugly to look at but not uncomfortable in the least. You, on the other hand, are not dead and so, if I wasn't here, you could have died. That was a very stupid thing to do." And because he can't help it, he said, again. "Idiot."
Despite the obvious insult, Syusuke kept up his smile, his hands tightening on where they were gripping Yuuta's shirt. "Even so," Syusuke's voice was soft, wrapped with a gentleness that Yuuta had only ever dreamed of. ("Don't worry, ne, Yuuta? Aniki's here. Aniki will always protect you. Aniki loves you, ne?") "I'm glad I had the chance to be an older brother to you. Even just this once."
Yuuta turned his head away from his brother's face because damn it, he was blushing again, what was it with idiots and their idiot words that made his legs feel mushy like this?
He took a deep breath, fought away the blush, and held out a finger. "I saved you, but just this one time, okay?" He looked down on his brother (and hah! he was taller!) and met his eyes. "So you better make sure to get your damn act together because I'm not healing your sorry ass ever again."
Syusuke was frowning. "Yuuta, where did you learn that language?"
Yuuta gaped, rather ungracefully, at his brother. And damn it, even though he knew he was dead, and they were in the middle of the biggest battle of their lives (or, well, Syusuke's life and their existence), he threw his head back and laughed.
He chanced a glance back at Syusuke, who was now raising his eyebrows and smiling thinly, a spitting image of his mother when she was annoyed but didn't want to show it, and laughed even harder.
"I really don't see what's so funny, Yuuta," Syusuke was saying. "It's not unusual for older brothers to want to protect the ears, and mouth, of their precious, cute little-"
But before he could finish his sentence, and Yuuta could tell him off for calling him "cute," he was pulled under Death's waters so quickly, Yuuta didn't have the chance to react.
And it was only then that he noticed the tendrils, Morto's tendrils, that had drifted their way towards him and his brother.
./.
Well, this was getting on to be really boring.
Echizen Ryoma gave out a huge yawn he didn't even bother to cover, eyeing Persona from the corner of his eye. He honestly did not understand the guy. First he says he wanted Ryoma in the frontlines and fuck if Ryoma did not want that. But the old geezer, for some stupid godforsaken reason decided that no, Ryoma had to stay beside him.
And because the fucking old man apparantly had more interest on the state of his nails than on the battle, Ryoma found himself standing on top of the Academy gates fucking watching the battle while Persona preened beside him and pretended not see the yawns Ryoma was giving out so he got the fucking point and sent him down to battle already.
About half of his students had died and he didn't fucking care!
Not that Ryoma cared, he hardly cared about the battle right now because he so obviously was not in it, and he hardly cared about the dying so-called Dangerous Ability Types, too. Don't get him wrong, he went to this school for the competition, but if they were as weak as that, then they didn't deserve to be his competition in the first place. There were some he'd have wanted to take apart on his own, but they died and good riddance.
He looked at Persona again, and tried to think of another tactic to show off his boredom. He'd tried yawning, and see where that got him (fucking nowhere!). Still, he couldn't help it. He'd never, never, never, never, never been on just the sidelines of a battle before. He was too good to be just the benchwarmer, everyone instinctively acknowledged that, and those who didn't, he made wish they had never even opened their mouths (who fucking cares how tall he was, it so did not affect the power of his alice).
He watched as more blood was drawn and turned to glare at Persona once again, only to have the force of the glare cut off when he had to stifle yet another yawn.
Damn, this was boring.
Persona looked as unaffected as ever, watching the bloodshed dispassionately, like he had been doing ever since the start of the fight. Ryoma guessed this will carry on until some side wins and he looked down and glared at the dying students who got into the worst of the fight because Persona hadn't chosen them to be his personal lapdog.
Lucky them.
And then suddenly, Persona stiffened. It wasn't much of a change, and if one wasn't as good as Ryoma, one would not have noticed, but Ryoma had been doing things like this ever since he learned what the word eyes meant.
"Echizen-kun," Persona snapped, his lips turned down into a frown. Persona jerked his head into the fight. "Now."
Well, finally. For a split second, Ryoma glaced at the catalyst for Persona's approval. It was the guy with the glasses Ryoma had singled out at the beginning of the fight. He was good, and Ryoma had wanted to get in down there and challenge him to a fight. Apparently, he was in a sort of sticky situation with the zombies.
Huh. Guess he was indispensible to Persona.
All the more fun for Ryoma, then.
He hurtled through the air, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he barely made it in time to block the sword from reaching its intended target. His right arm caught the brunt of it, leaving the sword deeply imbedded, his arm starting to bleed.
He grinned up at the guy-who-will-be-his-greatest-competitor-yet. His face was impassive as he stared at Ryoma and Ryoma's arm and the sword, as if a few moments ago, he hadn't been close to dying. He was great! He was perfect! And because Ryoma's entrance had been so splendid, there was no way, absolutely no way, he could ignore Ryoma now. Ha!
The guy raised a hand and the zombie behind him exploded with a screech.
And so did the zombie making its way behind the guy. And then, he adjusted his eyeglasses as if nothing happened, still with the same stoic countenance. (Oh, what wonderful competition he will be!)
"Don't let your guard down," he said, killing off more of the zombies behind Ryoma. Ryoma knew because he could feel the shifting of the air currents, and hear their screeches of pain. He wondered briefly what the guy's alice was, but that didn't matter.
It was his turn to show off.
He pressed the sword in his arm tighter, so that he drew more blood, before he tore it away with so much force he suspected he worsened the injury even more. He grinned. Well, the more, the better. He flung his arm to the side letting his blood splatter to the ground. And, at his command, the earth rumbled, and exploded into a thousand different pieces.
The explosion was brilliant (see that? see how easy it was for me?) and great cracks marked the land, rubble and small bits of boulders expelled out into the air. Ryoma could see through the dust that was caused by the explosion, but even if he didn't, he knew that the zombies had been the most affected by it.
He turned his head to smirk at his now biggest rival. And with all the satisfaction of someone who knew just how strong he was, he said, "Mada mada dane."
./.
Ashikaga was screeching, his eyes alight with spark that Syusuke guessed was more than a little mad.
The explosion back in life had rocked Death, as well, and even through the tendrils that where strangling him, holding him spread-eagled in the air, displayed to his family, he gave a small smile of satisfaction. He knew they were winning. Somewhere back in life, Kunimitsu and the others were fighting and they were winning.
The thought gave him an invigorating burst of energy, and he started to struggle against his binds once again. The river was in chaos, as if it had been thrown into the middle of a hurricane. Great waves crashed against Morto's form but he stayed strong, and so did Ashikaga, grinning insanely.
Morto tightened his bonds, and focused on choking Syusuke once again. Syusuke tried to struggle away, his mouth open in a scream without noise, because he couldn't draw enough air for it, and for a moment, the shouts and the noise faded.
And then they were back, and Morto was leering at him from behind as he gasped for breath. The form was shifting and he suddenly found himself choking on filthy air. Morto's laugh hurt his ears and his head, and he heard the soft whisper, like a soft carress, "Don't struggle, little Fuji. You're only shortening your life."
He glared and tossed his head away. In response, Morto twisted his arms until he screamed in pain.
Ashikaga was laughing. "What now, Fuji Soushu?"
He paused, and without warning, Morto twisted his body again. Ashikaga laughed again, sounding even more unhinged this time around. "Bad idea, Yuuta-kun," Ashikaga crooned. "You're only making things worse for your precious brother."
"Why aren't you killing him, then?" Yuuta's voice was hard, laced through with anger.
"Because, I want you to watch carefully," Ashikaga replied, and the water roared in response. "Watch carefully, Fuji Soushu, as the light dies out from your son's eyes." He laughed yet again. "Watch!"
Syusuke screamed. It was that same feeling in the water again. The squeezing and pulling, and it hurt twice more than it did before, and it wasn't stopping, and he could feel himself slipping away.
So close.
He could just die, and all this would be over. He wouldn't have to feel pain. He wouldn't have to feel anything.
All he had to do was let go...
Another explosion from life rocked Death and Kunimitsu's face flashed into his consciousness.
No! He couldn't die, not in here, not in Death, not like this. He was the only one who could end it. The only one who could stop Ashikaga and Morto, the only one who could keep them safe. They might be winning now, but if he died... If he died...
It wouldn't take long for them to die, too.
He shook his head to clear his mind of the pain. What could he do? What can he do?
Ashikaga was screaming again. "Watch, Fuji Soushu! Hear his screams! See his spirit slipping away!"
Syusuke paid him no mind. He took his mind off of the pain, and focused. What can he do? What can he do?
"The last of your kind!"
His vision was darkening again. No! For Kunimitsu. For everyone, what can he do? The realization struck him like a physical blow.
"Watch, Fuji Soushu!"
The bells. He was a Fuji, he could summon the bells. He was weak, but he might be able to gather the energy to summon one more, and he knew exactly what bell he wanted.
"My revenge!"
He knew that all those he could summon was weak against Morto. It had been more than sufficiently proven to him in their previous battle. But... if it was that bell... The bell no Fuji has ever been allowed to summon...
"My victory!"
The most powerful bell that had been sealed by the first of those who could walk in Death. The only bell that had a name. If he could break that seal...
"Feel what it's like to lose what's left of what mattered in your life!"
The bell came in sharp focus in his mind. He could do it. He would do it. For Kunimitsu and everyone. Just a little more...
"And know, Fuji Soushu..."
The squeezing-pulling feeling came again, snapping him out of his concentration. He let out a ragged breath, tears gathering in his eyes. No! He'd been so close, and now, the bell was slipping away from his mind. Everything was slipping away. No! No!
"Know that, as your son dies, and your miserable bloodline ends, and you're, all of you, sent back to Death, wiped out of the face of this earth, know that I am the one who did this to you."
Almost at the same time, Morto shifted again, and whispered to Syusuke's ear, "What say you, I have a bit of fun with those you left behind after you died, little Fuji?" Syusuke's eyes widened. "The scions of the Tezuka and Yukimura clans, correct? And the rest of the Academy, while I'm at it."
He did not just... He... Did he... Syusuke could feel his breathing coming on in gasps. A strange sort of ringing was filling his head, but it did not matter. It did not matter, he did not mind it, because here was Morto, threatening all the people that Syusuke had ever loved. No one, no one, threatened them like that.
No one.
Syusuke saw red, and suddenly... Suddenly, it was all too easy to break the seal of the most powerful bell, the most powerful voice in Death that anyone could ever have.
He gripped the bell in his hand, and for a moment, time stood still.
And then, Morto recoiled from him, the tendrils holding Syusuke loosening. Morto was roaring and Syusuke was falling, keeping a tight hold on the bell so it would not ring. His body protested even as Death's waters raised up to cushion his fall, but his grip on the bell centered him. He had to focus on what he should do. Save Kunimitsu and the others. Protect everyone.
Kill Morto.
His family caught sight of the bell, and his father stepped forward. "Syusuke," he said, with an odd tone Syusuke could not place. But Syusuke shook his head fiercely, his blood still boiling in anger.
He held out the bell with both hands, his body trembling with barely-supressed rage and something else he refused to acknowledge. And raised his eyes to meet the enemy's.
Morto was seething, too, though for a completely different reason than Syusuke. Ashikaga was wild-eyed, but fear was slowly making its way towards his posture.
Syusuke had to smile, the cruel, sadistic blood that ran in his veins making itself known. "Know this bell, do you?"
Of course they did. No one has ever successfully broken the seal until now, but the bell was famous and desired enough.
His family knew about it. Ashikaga knew about it. Morto knew about it. But the angry monster that had reared up inside Syusuke when Morto threatened his loved ones was not satisfied.
Morto roared again. "This is why I detest you!" he screamed.
Syusuke kept his thin smile. The bell was trembling in his hands, obviously eager to be rung, its power potent in his hands.
"You and your pitiful clan! You are mere humans! You have no right playing at Death as if it belongs to you! Weak mortals, creating those toys, playing-" Morto cut off abrubtly before his form darkened and he roared once again.
"Playing what?" Fuji taunted, his voice steely, his eyes narrow. "Say it."
Morto only roared back.
"Finish your sentence. Say it."
Morto roared again.
"Playing God, isn't that what you wanted to say?" Syusuke's fingers tightened on the large handle. "You despise my family because we are mere humans, and yet we are more powerful than you, isn't that right? You think you're so powerful, yet you can't even say one measly word." He paused, tightening his hold until his own hands were trembling on the handle. "Well, say it," Syusuke caught his gaze, challenging. It served him right for threatening them. It served him right. "Say it, and I might consider letting you live."
Morto opened the pit that was his mouth, but he and Syusuke both knew he couldn't say it. He was a Greater Dead, and if ever there was a limit placed upon those of his kind, it was that. He couldn't say it, and he and Ashikaga would die.
For a moment, all was silent and still, and Syusuke used that last moment to give out words he wished would reach the hearts of the people that he loved.
And then, Morto opened his mouth and roared, rocking Death, his entire being rushing towards Syusuke.
Syusuke moved to cock his wrist, preparing to ring the bell. His family was moving towards him, distressed looks on their faces, and even in the middle of the last battle he would ever have to fight, Syusuke had to shake his head and smile.
Because the image that was etched at the back of his eyelids was Kunimitsu's face.
With both his hands clutching the large handle, he let the bell ring. It should have a sound that was commanding, a sound that would fill Death and those Dead beyond the reach of the rivers, urging and ordering them all to die. And yet, its ring would also be low and mournful, for as it carries out its command, it weeps for it knows what it costs to ring it.
The most powerful weapon in Death.
The only bell with a name.
The bell named after the Angel of Death.
Azrael, the Sorrowful.
The double-edged, most powerful command of death.
For the bell was powerful, was omnicient in Death in the way that it sent everyone who heard its ring towards true death, in the way that it caused everyone who heard its ring to truly, irrevocably die.
Everyone.
Including its ringer.
./.
As suddenly as they came, they were gone.
They vanished completely, and for a moment, all the students left in the front gates of the Academy tensed, poised and ready for some sort of a trap. But after many heartbeats, when nothing happened, a student Tezuka did not know released a happy shout, which seemed to unfreeze the others.
That was it. It was over.
Everyone burst into celebration, girls were throwing their arms around each other, boys were patting each other in their backs. Even Tezuka managed a small smile, because even though he did not know how he knew, he knew it was completely over.
The last few hours had been hell, but they survived it. The impossible undead army was gone, and they were still alive and living, and safe.
Tezuka let his gaze wander.
He saw Shiraishi, looking as if he was scolding Chitose. They were on the outer part of the invisible defensive circle of the students, but they were still pretty much visible to Tezuka. Blood had completely soaked through his bandages, and there was a cut in his right cheek, but he was otherwise unharmed. Chitose, unsurprisingly, was spotless.
He saw Atobe a bit closer to him this time. There was blood in the upper part of his uniform, and there was probably a cut there, but he looked fine. He was purple in the face, though, but that had probably something to do with his argument with the cocky kid who showed up a few moments ago. Whoever the kid was, Tezuka had to hand it to him. Atobe looked completely outraged.
Yukimura, standing the closest to him, was the only wallflower in the party.
Where everyone else was celebrating, Yukimura's posture was stiff. His face was white, and his lips were pressed thinly.
Tezuka suddenly didn't feel like celebrating anymore.
Yukimura turned to him, eyes full of fear, and the dread returned to the pit of Tezuka's stomach.
"Syusuke."
./.
In Death, all was silent.
Fuji Yoshiko drew out a shuddering breath, her eyes filled with fresh tears. She turned to her husband, who was standing so still and whose face was so blank, she suddenly felt as if he was out of her reach.
Death's waters were calm, and snow had begun to fall steadily once again.
Everything was back to normal.
But Yoshiko's tears were still flowing. "Anata..." she whispered raggedly.
"Forgive me, Yoshiko," her husband whispered, but his voice in Death was loud. "Forgive me."
She swallowed her sadness and shook her head. "No, I..." She paused and gave out another breath. "I'm sorry." She smiled wistfully, looking down to where her son was nestled in her arms. "I'm just being selfish, I suppose."
She gazed at his sleeping form once again, and smoothed his hair back. It was wet, and not as unruly as she had pictured it to be, but it was smooth on her fingers, and she loved it all the same. His skin carried the traditional Fuji pallor, pale almost to the point of being deathly. His lashes were long, and made to stick together in star-like points because of the water, a dark contrast against the white canvas of his skin. He was every bit the baby she had dreamed of, every bit the baby she loved. Brave and strong, dauntless and loving.
And, for the first time in sixteen years, she was his mother.
She snuggled him up closer to her, feeling the weight she had not felt for such a very long time. She missed this, missed it with such force that rivalled everything else she had ever felt in her existence.
She knew exactly what her husband did, what he had power to do. Fuji heirs always had the most potent of powers in Death, her husband had been no different. She knew he prevented Syusuke from hearing Azrael's ring so that his soul would not be compelled to die. She knew he knew that she wanted Syusuke with them, with her so she could finally spend the rest of her existence making up for the sixteen years she had lost because of her own selfishness.
She knew he considered it.
But Syusuke had a life out there, had formed a family for himself, and whatever else Yoshiko felt for him, and however much she wanted to be with him, it wasn't worth impeding his own happiness.
She loved her son, so she could let him be happy, even if she wasn't part of that happiness.
She loosened her hold with a small sigh. Nobody ever said motherhood was easy.
Yuuta reached over and touched his brother's chest. At Yoshiko's questioning eyebrow, he looked away and flushed, as was his wont when it came to the question of his affection for his older brother.
"He has an injury, back in life," Yuuta said stiffly, still trying to pretend he was indifferent. "I'm fixing it."
"But I thought you said you wouldn't heal him again?" Yumiko teased.
"How did you-?" Yuuta sighed and shook his head, knowing better than to ask. "Yeah, well, since I won't be seeing him in a while, might as well." He shrugged and turned to glare at Yumiko.
Yoshiko smiled, and for the first time in sixteen years, she smoothed her son's hair back and kissed his forehead, wishing him sweet dreams, feeling like a mother once more.
And she let him go, as what she was meant to do. Her husband's power would ensure his soul would get to life.
And that was that.
She stood up and Yumiko, at her side, smiled assuringly. "He'll be fine."
Yoshiko knew that. She knew he'd be fine and happy with the family he had at the Academy. He'd live his life, fall in love, maybe even head off to some country she hadn't gone to. And then, when his time comes, when that time finally comes...
He'd come back into her embrace, and they could be a family once again.
./.
Tezuka was tired, but he ran, his heart pounding eerily loud on his chest. He could feel each beat reverberating throughout his entire body, one for every second he did not know whether or not Syusuke was still alive.
He should have known those dead would not disappear on their own, should have known Syusuke wouldn't stay still and do nothing while he knew everyone else was fighting.
It was just like Syusuke to not care about himself and blindly forge ahead to save those he loved.
Yukimura was running alongside him, too tired to travel through the shadows. He was trying to be calm, and act calm, but he loved Syusuke too much for it to work. His face was pinched with fear, and his eyes filmed by a layer of wetness that Tezuka suspected were his held-back tears.
For a moment, Tezuka tried to imagine the worst, tried to imagine a world where Syusuke did not exist.
The pain of just the thought of it sent Tezuka's head reeling, and knocked the breath out of his very being. Tezuka did not know how, but he could not exist without Syusuke, he simply couldn't. He had been strong before, but that was because there was Syusuke to be strong for, but if Syusuke wasn't there... He knew, he just knew he couldn't find the strength to live. Perhaps if Syusuke really was lost, then maybe he could just lie down beside him and wait, even for eternity, for death to claim him so he could be with Syusuke once again.
"In through here!" Yukimura's wavering voice cut into his morbid thoughts, and he pushed himself even harder.
And before he knew it, Yukimura was flinging open the door to the infirmary, and Syusuke's bed was there, horribly scarlet with Syusuke's blood, but glinting against the light in the way ice would. In fact, ice had covered the entire expanse of the room, lending it a cold air, greatly increasing their sense of dread.
Syusuke was nowhere to be found.
Yukimura, beside him, sucked in a sharp breath.
Tezuka's eyes zeroed in on a trail of bloody bandages on the floor, and they followed it mutely, trepidation growing in their veins.
The trail ended abruptly before a smaller door. Tezuka did not know where it led to, and he didn't have the time to search his memory for it, before Yukimura flung it open, and stood frozen.
Tezuka moved towards the doorway, scared of what he would find. In the corner of his mind's eye, he saw that world again, that world where Syusuke wasn't there, where Syusuke did not live because Tezuka had been too weak to protect him. Tezuka's heart clenched.
He pushed the door in a little bit further...
And came face to face with wide, startled blue eyes.
Syusuke was inside, clad in a messily arranged yukata that looked hastily put on, and he was pale and shaking, and Tezuka suspected he had come so close to dying, but he was alive, and he was standing there, looking at Tezuka, living and breathing and whole.
And despite the fact that Yukimura was there, and Yukimura would disapprove, Tezuka strode the few steps it would take him to get to Syusuke, pulled him against his own body, bent down his head and kissed him.
It was a desperate kiss, messy and fierce, but Tezuka didn't care. Syusuke was here, Syusuke's lips were against his, and Syusuke was kissing back, clutching his shoulders with equal fervor, bringing himself up, pushing his body against Tezuka's own. Tezuka's eyes were open, watching Syusuke's face intently, watching his lashes flutter against his cheeks, watching the beautiful rose flush slowly spread across his face, and he could see the color returning to his world.
His grip in Syusuke's head only tightened, his hand tangled on the honey locks that he was too busy to admire, because Syusuke moving against him and Syusuke sighing with pleasure was too much for even Tezuka to handle.
When they broke off gasping for air, leaning against each other, Tezuka supported Syusuke's weight as his body fell against his own.
Tezuka suddenly remembered Yukimura, standing in the doorway, and when he lifted his head and turned to look at his love's cousin, Yukimura's mouth was once again back to its usual smile but his eyes were steely and his eyebrows were raised.
"You have about ten seconds to get yourself off of Syusuke and step aside so I can warn him away from the sex maniac you apparently are," Yukimura said pleasantly.
...Tezuka wasn't a sex maniac, he was just happy Syusuke was alive, and... he sighed. Surely Yukimura, who had run alongside him carrying the same fear, would understand. "Yukimura-"
"That's five seconds Tezuku-kun," Yukimura cut him off, still with the same deadly smile. "Do you really want to wait until you've been torn to shreds?"
Syusuke was shoving at his body, indirectly telling him to get away.
Tezuka sighed and stepped away. Syusuke smiled at him, shyly, before he bounded towards his cousin and threw his arms around him, laughing.
Yukimura hugged him just as fiercely, and for a moment, his mask of protective-cousin slipped away and was replaced with a gentleness Tezuka had only ever seen him display to Syusuke. He was murmuring something to Syusuke's ear, and Syusuke answered just as softly, with a small sheepish smile.
"Promise me," Tezuka heard Yukimura say as a reply to Syusuke's answer. His tone was firm and fierce. "Promise me that you are not going to put me through that again. No death scares, okay?"
"I'll try," Syusuke said, leaning against Yukimura's chest. "But you know I love you and Kunimitsu, right? And I'd do anything for you. Even dying."
The room fell silent, and Tezuka found Yukimura's hard gaze on him. He might be glaring, Tezuka was not sure, and for a moment, Tezuka thought Yukimura would chastise Syusuke for that.
But he only said, "Let's get you to your room."
./.
Seiichi, for some reason Syusuke did not know, was keeping him as far as humanly possible away from Kunimitsu.
He was still running on the happiness of being alive, of knowing he was with them and they were alive, too. Syusuke did not know exactly what his father did, but he knew his father was the one who did it, and he was alive because of it. He was grateful for it, and to Yuuta, too, even though he said he would heal Syusuke only once.
He spent a moment thinking about his family. He would always miss them, always feel the sadness brought about by their absence, but what he told Maihara Chizuru was true. He knew he would be with them someday, he knew it was only a matter of time, but until then, he'd live a life they would be proud of, and be happy for them, because he knew that was what they wanted.
He smiled as they reached his door and Seiichi kissed his forehead, before, almost unwillingly, moving away for Kunimitsu.
"Kunimit-" But they were kissing again, and even though he suspected Kunimitsu was doing this just to spite Seiichi, he kissed back, because not a few moments ago, he had thought he could never have this again.
They broke off panting once again, and he could blearily see Seiichi glaring. "I..." But Kunimitsu was spreading butterfly kisses all over his face and neck and he forgot what he was about to say altogether. And where he was. And who was with them. And he was about to press closer when shadows formed a sturdy wall against them, flinging Kunimitsu back fiercely.
Seiichi was smiling. "Get some rest. I'll make sure you won't get disturbed tonight." His gaze slid to Kunimitsu as he said it, and Syusuke had to wonder what that meant.
But Syusuke did not want to be alone. Not after everything. He did not want to go back to sleep and dream those nightmares, and wake up, half-convinced that Seiichi and Kunimitsu and everyone else were gone and he was alone again and he couldn't do anything about it.
His hand shot out before he even realized what he was doing. "Stay," he said, pleadingly tightening his grip on Kunimitsu's wrist. "Please."
Kunimitsu's gaze slid to Seiichi's, and they were quiet for a very long while, but eventually, Seiichi sighed.
"Fine," he said, nodding at Syusuke. "But I don't want anything funny going on, is that clear?"
Seiichi turned to Kunimitsu and glared. "Do you hear me? No sex."
Syusuke blushed bright red and ducked his head. "Seiichi..." He felt like he was whining, but he didn't really care. It's not as if he was thinking about... well... that.
"Syusuke," Seiichi said firmly. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be holding hands with anyone until you're eighty."
Okay, that was pushing it. He raised his head and attempted a weak glare, that Seiichi returned with a smile.
"Good night, Syusuke," he said, before he stalked off and was gone.
Syusuke looked up to Kunimitsu. "He didn't really mean that, did he?"
Kunimitsu gave him an assessing stare. "I kind of agree with him, actually," he said dryly, looking, for all the world, as if he was serious.
Syusuke scowled, and punched him on the side. "Fine," he said, flinging the door to his room open. "Sleep in your room tonight." Some smartass bastards. What did they think, that he was some weak girl? No holding hands until he was eighty, huh? Well, they could just-
But his train of thought was cut off when Kunimitsu followed him inside before he could shut the door, closed the door himself and pushed him towards it, claiming his lips for a fervent kiss again.
He smiled when they broke off. "I thought I was supposed to wait until I'm eighty?"
Kunimitsu leaned his forehead against his and smiled. "This is different," he breathed. "I love you."
Syusuke's heart suddenly felt very full, and his eyes filled with tears he would not shed. He raised up a hand and ran it through Kunimitsu's locks, to his cheeks down to his neck until it settled on his chest. He could feel Kunimitsu's beating hert through his clothes, and though he smelled of battle and death, he was the Kunimitsu that Syusuke loved. He moved his hand away and pressed a kiss to Kunimitsu's chest, over his heart. "I love you, too."
And they were kissing again, their bodies pressed against each other, melded together as if there was nothing between them both.
They have been through so much these past few days. It had felt like forever, and Syusuke had been sure he was going to die. But he didn't, and neither did Kunimitsu, and they were here, now, together they way they had wanted to be together for a long time. There was no holding back. There was only him, Kunimitsu and the promise of the future they had together.
And piece by piece, little by little, Syusuke felt his entire world fall into place.
"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou growest
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."
-Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare
Fin
~17-04-12~
Clary: DO YOU GUYS WANT THE EPILOGUE PUT UP, COZ I'LL PUT IT UP ONLY IF YOU GUYS WANT IT PUT UP (I think.. If I'm on the mood, I'll just put it up anyway.. Wahahaha~).
Lia: Though I think it's only fair to warn you that Clary was on crack when she was writing the epilogue, so... Well, you know where to go from there.
Clary: But Yuki and Sanada are practically BEGGING for a fanservice! They NEED a fanservice! They're right up there in the POT-must-be-canon pairings with Tefu... And I've been ignoring them for most of my story!
Lia: You've ignored them for all of the story, actually.
Clary: SEE?
Lia: I don't get your point in this. Their 'fanservice' as you so blandly put it was even only a small part of the-
Clary: A fanservice is a fanservice! Sheesh, Lia.
Lia: Sure, if you say so.
Clary: This is the last time I'll be doing this for this story (or second to the last, depending on whether or not I'm posting the epilogue) so please, with puppy dog eyes and a cherry on top, review? Imma give hugs I learned from that panda in Ocean Park to those who do. Wahaha~