Chapter Twelve
Ruining the woods,
Tree wrecker
The angry old forest god
Turned your poor beak into a poison knife
-Sorae Igarashi
Ganta
Ganta didn't want to believe it. He was going to have to fight that scary man, and this time to the death…He couldn't help it, he began to cry. He didn't ask for any of this, yet he knew an order to avenge his friends this was what he had to endure. But he was still a child, and so fragile. He knows he isn't strong, there's nothing more he'd ever want than to be strong. But he certainly would not allow his fragileness to get in the way of his revenge. There's nothing that makes his blood boil more than the thought of the Red Man. There was nothing left for Ganta to lose. As he lye on his bed, in his new cell, he drew in a deep breath and tried to exhale all of his negative emotions. He couldn't stay alive thinking so horribly all the time; he had to try to think of the good things. He had made friends, even though they're really weird, especially Shiro.
Shiro
The old man was sitting in his rocking chair, rocking back and forth, making that awfully creaking sound that annoyed Shiro's ears.
"Are you awake Shiro? I bought more pudding for you to share with Ganta," the old man said cheerfully. She sat up in an overly large cushion and stared the old man dead in the eyes.
"I do not like sweets, you're confusing us again," she said so bitterly. The old man's ancient grey eyes hardened, Shiro looked at the picture placed next to her. That picture of her younger self with Sorae and younger Ganta, she picked it up and threw it across the room; there was nothing more revolting to her than seeing that woman's face. She could hear the lullaby's tune gradually getting louder. The mother goose system was back on.
"I can hear the lullaby" Shiro said, her piercing red eyes were becoming softer.
"When will it finally end?"
Minatsuki Takami
Minatsuki couldn't believe it. At first she thought she was in some otherworldly universe; she was pretty sure she was dead. But her heart was beating, and she could still sense the restless wickedness in the air. She was alive. She wished she wasn't. She never wanted to face that monster again.
"Oh, look who woke up so soon" it was the doctor's voice that gave Minatsuki cold chills. She never visited the doctor, and whenever she had to, it was to play in the penalty game.
"For the most part, your all set to go except that you have to attend the loser's game first" Minatsuki did not bother to stare bitterly at the doctor, there was no point in being bitter. This was just the way it was, it always has been since this place was built-or on a deeper level it was the way the world worked. Deadman Wonderland was just another embodiment of survival of the fittest.
Habibah
She was pretty surprised when Senji kissed her, yet even more startled that she reacted so calmly. She knew no harm would come to her whenever he was around; he was indeed her warrior. And she gradually was warming up to him, but her heart was still too filled with darkness. As usual she watched Senji lift impossible weights, run till she felt out of breath from watching him run, and practice using his branch of sin.
"Now that I think about it, I've never seen you use it, your –uh-branch of sin" Senji said, Habibah was sitting on a bench sipping on a small carton of apple juice. She stared at him and shrugged her shoulders-she'd never seen it either. She knew it involved using blood, but the sight of her own blood made her pass out.
"Well…can I see it?" she could tell he was eager, but she shook her head no. Senji looked at her, as if calculating, and then a light bulb turned on in his eyes.
"Do you have a twin?" she shook her head.
"No? But I swear, there's this girl here that looks exactly like you" well its not impossible that she may have a twin. This person could coincidentally just look like her; there are tons of people in the world that look alike without being closely related.
"Hm…" Now he gave her an extremely puzzled look, she burrowed her brows in confusion. Whether this person was her twin or not, why was he so worked up about it?
"When was your last Carnival Corpse?" she mouthed 'yesterday'.
"…" Senji became oddly quiet for the rest of the workout. And as they walked through the hallways, heading to that same ramen place for breakfast, he kept silent and his eyes had darkened immensely. Habibah would glance at him constantly her nerves becoming extremely anxious. Why was he being so quiet? Had she upset him? But how? Did it have to do with this 'twin'?
"Habibah" Senji suddenly stopped, glaring dangerously at her. She stopped as well; backing away from him-when did he become so terrifying? His features hardened and he emitted this dark aura that made her shiver.
"What's your stage name?" her stage name? Why was he asking for that? She mouthed the words 'Mute Swan'-the exact words the announcer in the Carnival Corpse had called her before. Senji chuckled bitterly,
"What kind of game are you playing?" the atmosphere was heavy, as if those weights from the gym were lying on Habibah's shoulders. She gave him am utterly confused looked.
"Don't play dumb with me!" he shouted, and on cue she ran. She didn't know why Senji became so horrible-and she didn't want to hang around to see the rest of such a dark side.
"Get back here!" Senji was right behind grabbing her wrist and violently shoving her against the wall. He bound her wrists together with one large hand, and his raging glare kept her in place.
"Don't act like you can't speak, stop this fucking game" his hold tightened. Habibah's eyes were trapped into his gaze-her lips trembled.
"Who the fuck do you think I am? Huh" His face was so close, she could feel his hot breath rushing against her lips-out of anxiety she licked lightly. Roughly Senji clasped his lips onto hers, growling angrily. He let go of her wrists, only to grasp her waist and hoist her up the wall as he closed the distance between them. She beat at his shoulders until her hands were numb and just as she got the idea to pull his hair; he broke the kiss and glared at her saying with his eyes that read keep-going-or-else. And as he attacked the nape of her neck-awfully aggressively-she heard those soft words again, much louder than before.
One mischievous little woodpecker
Another day, pecking your holes
Ruining the woods,
Tree wrecker
The angry old forest god
Turned your poor beak into a poison knife
She lost herself in the heat of the moment, as her memories of the past resurfaced abruptly. The sadist's breath was humid, his tongue wet, his eyes stared savagely at her. Habibah felt disgusted with herself, how could she feel so good when she's supposed to hate this man. Blood, he showed her the blood on his fingertips. And that was the first time her eyes began to haze. The demon broke from her chains and took over, accepting all of the suffering willingly and in return wanted only a simple gift.
"Habibah!" her memory shattered, blinking, she looked at Senji, who was staring at her with pure despair. He had grasped her forearms and she could feel him trembling. Why was her warrior despairing? Is he still considered her warrior now? He let go of her; teeth clenched, and with a deadly roar punched the wall across from the other-creating a large crater. He continued to punch the wall over and over, crater after crater, and Habibah slumped to the floor. His tantrum was truly ravishing, agonizing, like of a wild beast. And when he finally came to his senses, his knuckles were bloodied, he was panting deeply, why did he seem like the one ready to fall apart?
"What did you do to me?" he muttered,
"I wasn't like this before. I was a monster, now you've turned me into a fucking pansy. Is that what you wanted to happen, fucking make me into a fucking softy" he walked over to her, staring down at her with the darkest eyes.
"Who are you?" Habibah began to cry, in all honesty she wasn't sure. She shook her head over and over, grasping her hair tightly.
"Stop" her breaths became short and quick, her chest felt too tight, her heart beat faster, everything was spinning, and she felt nauseous.
"Hey…fucking breathe!" Senji was on his knees. He grabbed Habibah and held her to him; he inhaled slowly and gradually exhaled.
"Copy me, okay. Calm down" she tried to obey, but the world was getting more and more blurry. She inhaled and exhaled, clutching onto his arm. She inhaled and exhaled, inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled.
"Good, calm down. Its my fault, I shouldn't be acting this way. I was being a fucking dick head, so please forgive me. Whoever you are, I'll admit it, you've become important to me. So don't go dying on me, okay"