Woah, guys, THANK YOU for all the reviews and such, you took me by surprise! I didn't even expect that the previous chapter was going to make you jump on your seats. Guess I did my job nicely eh? (giggles evilly) Anyways, as promised, this is the new chapter following up to Saruhiko's and Misaki's fight, and Mogura planning Misaki's demise. I actually forgot to write the chapter down until Thursday, but the moment I started, I couldn't stop! So it's slightly longer than the previous chapters.
WARNING THOUGH! There's going to be some serious gory scene near the end. But I ease it up by putting fluffy scene at the end. Sit back, relax and enjoy this story, and don't eat or drink when reading this chapter, you might spit them back out. Teehee~
The morning starts off as usual, with Anna having to open the bar before Izumo arrives, but when she opens the double wooden door, she's surprised to see Saruhiko leaning against the wall casually, wearing a stylish black leather jacket with a white undershirt that's tight enough to show his well grown muscles. Even his jeans are quite stylish, black with chains like how Mikoto used to wear and black combat boots. His looks doesn't even show that he's a father-to-be in the next few upcoming weeks, in fact it made him look like he had reverted back to his early 20's.
"Saruhiko..." Anna breathes out in surprise. Saruhiko never visits the bar on his own, he's normally accompanied by Misaki, or even because Izumo invited him over for a drink. Neither reasons are present at the time. "Why are you here?"
Saruhiko shrugs indifferently and pushes himself off the wall to walk inside without another word to the young teenage girl. "And where is Misaki?" she asks again, looking around the bar premises in case the skateboarder is lounging around nearby to enjoy the cool morning air, but he's nowhere in sight. Saruhiko shrugs again and takes a seat on one of the stools before pulling his phone out. This makes Anna uneasy as she knows that Saruhiko is highly protective of Misaki, and would never let the skateboarder out of his sight or not anywhere safe.
"Probably at home minding his own business like what I told him to, it's time for him to know what personal and private space means," the blue clansman mumbles out as he types something into his phone. Those words somehow chill Anna to her core, since she knows that Mogura is making a move on Misaki.
"Go back to Misaki, Saruhiko," Anna pleads and strides up to the older man, but Saruhiko paid her no mind at all. "Go back, he needs you!"
"He can take care of himself, as he had said so, if he did said so anyway," Saruhiko continues to mumble without even looking at her, his gaze completely focused on the phone. Anna feels like screaming in rage, but her voice constricts and she can only make small surprised noises, her eyes widening and quivering in fear and surprise. "All I'm trying to do is protect him and our kid, but he's up to some weird delusions that I'm cheating on him or something crazy, so I couldn't be bothered anymore,"
The morning air that was supposed to be calm and refreshing now feels a little too hot and still for Anna. I can't believe it, he's giving up on Misaki just because Misaki had a little misunderstanding, she thought fiercely. It'll still take a while until Izumo arrives, but she needs to fix this mess up as best as she can before the bar owner chews Saruhiko off and she has to endure it without a choice. Eyes narrowing, she snatches the phone away from Saruhiko's grasp, the blue clansman clicks his tongue in annoyance.
"You need to go back, Saruhiko!" Anna shouts vehemently, every glass in the bar slowly starts to melt, including Saruhiko's glasses so he quickly took them off. "Misaki needs you right now, why are you giving up on him right now? You can't do this, Saruhiko. Mogura is on to him," she tries to convince him as best as she can but she can tell that he's just hearing her, not listening to her. Without his glasses, Saruhiko's eyes are more intimidating and sharper, sending shivers down the girl's spine when he glares at her.
Leaning down towards Anna, Saruhiko looks at her dead in the eyes. "I'm not going back, and Mogura won't go anywhere near Misaki because our housing area is a fucking maze. Nearly all the houses look the same if you don't know where you're going, and let's say if Mogura did go anywhere near Misaki, that brainless idiot can take care of himself, he can smack that motherfucker with his huge ego,"
Anna swallows thickly and backs off a bit, her powers slowly leaking out but she still manages to keep a tight reign over it, Izumo won't be pleased if he finds out most of his wineglasses have been melted from her anger. "You're making a mistake, Mogura's been tracking you and Izumo's family ever since he broke out," she continues again to make him change his mind, but Saruhiko doesn't even pay her a single attention. "Why won't you care anymore? Misaki is carrying your baby! Doesn't matter if his ego is big or small,"
Saruhiko clicks his tongue again. Ever since Suoh Mikoto died, she sure opened up and talks more, but man this is so annoying, can't she just go away? Saruhiko thought darkly whilst twirling his melted glasses between his fingers, his cold icy eyes staring at a blank spot on the wall behind the counter.
"No, I can't go away," Anna answers defiantly, clearly indicating that she had heard his thoughts. "I can't let you run away from your problems again, Saruhiko. This attitude of yours has to stop," the girl presses again but is shocked silenced when the blue aura shrouds over Saruhiko and envelops his body. Those piercing blue eyes are now staring at her like how a snake would when targeting its prey, and it's forcing her brain to shut down thanks to the primal fear she's feeling.
Taking a couple of baby steps back, Anna drops the phone and Saruhiko slowly stalks towards her, his eyes cold and unforgiving before grabbing his phone back. "No matter what you say," the blue clansman starts and looms over the petrified young teenager. "Or what you do, you're not changing my mind at all whatsoever. I'm not going back to Misaki if he doesn't appreciate the help that I've been giving him all these years, and not just when Mogura decided to show his sorry little ass,"
With that, Saruhiko walks over back to his bar stool and plops himself down, the blue aura slowly dissipating along with his anger, but Anna can still sense traces of annoyance within the blue clansman's subconscious, and she doesn't want to make him mad anymore. She never knew that Saruhiko can be downright scary when he's mad, since she was never on his bad side before. Even so, she's not giving up on changing Saruhiko's mind about going back to Misaki, even if it isn't her that's giving the advice.
Slowly calming herself down, Anna swallows thickly again and quietly sits on the sofa adjacent of the bar counter. Izumo is arriving soon, and she'll have to tell him everything while she pays a visit to the Fushimi household, just to keep Misaki safe from harm. If Saruhiko doesn't want to protect Misaki, then it's only fair that I do, the new life must be brought to this world, she thought with determination. No child should suffer because they're unable to be born...
Quietly, the minutes passed without neither of them talking until Izumo arrives at the doorstep. The bartender is just as surprised to see Saruhiko there, and even more surprised when he sees most of his wineglasses half melted like they've been burned at a high temperature. Anna had to apologize for that, and even to Saruhiko for melting his glasses. "But really Anna," Izumo sighs exasperatedly as he takes down his ruined wineglasses. "What got you so upset that you had to melt half of these beauties?"
Anna seems embarrassed to tell, and actually quite furious with Saruhiko for not even saying anything regarding Misaki. It's as if the blue clansman had lost all his care and love to Misaki. "I'm sorry Izumo, but I'd rather not say," the young teen replies, her head bowed down low. Not now and in front of Saruhiko at least, she thought angrily. She excuses herself from the bar and walks out in a stride to show that she's quite cross with something, and Izumo notices that. Normally he'd understand Anna's mood swings and hormonal anger, but this one is different. This one shows that she's upset with something, upset with someone.
Turning to Saruhiko, Izumo can also make out the tell-tale expression that something had happened between him and both Anna and Misaki. The bartender knows he's walking on fire, but then again he's a red clansman, or used to be, so he's pretty much used to hot-headed guys all his life. And then there's Seri. "Saruhiko," Izumo voices out, his tone hard and indifference, knowing how hard-headed Saruhiko can be. "What's going on here? You don't seem pleased with your life right now,"
"Because I'm not happy with my life right now. But with all due respect Kusanagi-san, I'm not here to tell you a story about how fucked up it is now, I just want a strong drink so I can go back out there and catch whatever Strain is in the way," Saruhiko replies flatly whilst giving a pointed look to the bartender. His glasses, now ruined, are abandoned on the counter where the blue clansman doesn't even pay attention to it anymore. Izumo isn't happy with the answer, but hopefully he'll coax some answers out of Saruhiko soon before his customers arrive.
Meanwhile back at the Fushimi household, Misaki stays curled up on his bed, thinking of his current predicament. With Saruhiko gone, he'd have to do everything on his own, and that's when he realizes that it isn't as easy as he had thought. Due to his large belly and swollen ankles, Misaki couldn't stand for long as it tires him out easily, so cooking is definitely out of the question unless he's making toast or boiling water. And then there's the thought of climbing up the small chair to reach the higher cabinets, it's something that definitely scares Misaki to death.
All actions of making even the simplest of breakfast escapes Misaki, so he only ate a couple slices of plain bread and a glass of plain water, something that nearly made him puke back out. The vanguard had been in bed the whole time after his extremely simple breakfast. "Saruhiko..." he whines out pitifully. Misaki wanted to apologize, he wanted Saruhiko back by his side but the blue clansman turned off his phone and didn't even stayed home the whole night, leaving Misaki alone and vulnerable.
Right at that moment, his doorbell rang.
Anna races towards the Fushimi household as fast as her legs can carry her. She's by no means tall nor does she have long legs, but her strides are fast and to Anna, that's an asset that can get her to Misaki as soon as possible. She had sensed it, Mogura knew that Misaki would be left alone, powerless and defenceless, completely open for an attack, so she has to protect Misaki and his child as best as she can. Turning around a corner and dodging people left and right, Anna continues on the path that leads to the couple's housing area.
Due to it being the morning rush hour, Anna can't use the train, taxi or any other transport lest she wants to be caught in the flow, hence the reason she opted to run. Fishing out one of her marbles from her pocket, she peers through it while keeping her other senses attuned to the world surrounding her so she wouldn't have to bump into anything while still running. Her eyes widen when she sees Misaki getting off his bed to go down and answer the door. No Misaki, please don't, she thought frantically. Anna would've used her powers to send the skateboarder to his knees but if she does that, she'd also end up hurting the child.
Feeling useless, she pushes her body and legs to go faster. Her legs ache and her heart is beating wildly in her ribcage, oxygen couldn't get into her lungs fast enough and she quickly feels out of breath. In a last, desperate attempt, she slows down to a jog and pulls out her phone, she can't do this alone.
Back at bar Homra, Saruhiko is still keeping his situation in the dark while Izumo continuously yet subtly pester him into talking it out. At that moment, Izumo's phone rang and he quickly answers it, Saruhiko looking sceptical at the bartender as if he knows who had called. Pushing himself out from his seat, Saruhiko paid Izumo for his drink and was about to step out when the bartender suddenly slams his hand against the rosewood counter. The blue clansman froze in surprise, knowing he's in for it deep. Izumo would never damage his counter, especially on purpose. He loves the bar as much as he loves his family and life.
"What's this about you leaving Misaki's side for the whole night?" Izumo questions slowly. His tone icy and deadly, showing that the bartender is in no mood for games and whatever it is that Saruhiko plans to dish out. Brown eyes meet blue in a staring contest, one demand answers, and the other shows defiance. "Anna told me that Mogura is already at your doorstep, with a hatchet behind his back ready to cut Misaki open like a watermelon," the bartender continues in a hiss and narrows his eyes dangerously at the blue clansman.
Upon hearing that, Saruhiko's eyes widened and he dashes out of the bar doors as quickly as he could. Despite his earlier behaviour, Saruhiko still loves Misaki and his child deeply, wanting nothing to happen to them at all. All I wanted was just to teach Misaki a lesson, he thought guiltily. I never knew that son of a gun would actually show up at our doorstep with a fucking hatchet with him, I need to get back to Misaki as fast I can before it's too late. Fierce determination in his eyes and blue aura shrouding his body, the blue clansman leaps up onto the light poles and starts jumping from one pole to the other so he wouldn't have to deal with the morning rush beneath him.
"What do you want from me, Mogura?" Misaki screams out whilst hiding behind the large living room sofa. After getting downstairs, the hair at the back of his neck stood up and he knew something was wrong. He could sense the evil aura being channelled through the door so he had gone back to take a large cleaver for protection. Never would he realize that it was Mogura trying to take his life and Ryuu's.
Mogura let loose a psychotic laugh, his brown eyes wild, wide and completely deranged. "Isn't it obvious?" the Strain grins out as he pulls back on his hatchet that had sunken to the tiled floor. Misaki braces himself behind the couch, he had been lucky to dodge back even with his condition, but the cleaver had been knocked away right out of his hands. "You took everything precious to me, now I'm going to take what's precious to you, fag! I claim the soul of your kid!" Mogura shouts with a hysterical laugh before charging towards Misaki at full speed. Narrowing his eyes, Misaki sidesteps and delivers a well-placed punch straight towards Mogura's jaw, effectively dislocating it just as the Strain swung down with his hatchet.
The force knocked Mogura away and Misaki struggles to get to his feet before making his way to the nearest room to hide in; the toilet. Toilet is toilet, he thought ruefully. At least I got some bleach and soap to blind him with. With Mogura groaning in pain thanks to his dislocated jaw, Misaki saw his chance and ran off to the toilet before locking it from the inside. He so badly needs Saruhiko right now but the neighbours would help if they hear all the banging and crashing, as they know Misaki is alone at home and that at this time Saruhiko would be at work.
By the time the crow reached the toilet and locked it, Mogura came barrelling down and manages to strike the hatchet straight down the door. Misaki's heartbeat skyrocketed when the deadly edges nearly rip his skull open, and he can already feel the dizziness pounding in his head. Fuck, if I go on like this, neither of us makes it, the crow thought frantically as he tries to find something to protect himself against the psychotic Mogura. Luckily for him, the hatchet got stuck in the door, so Mogura had to pry it out again thus giving Misaki time to gather up every bleach and dissolving material he could find in the small bathroom.
There was a sudden crack and when Misaki turns around, Mogura had managed to rip apart the hatchet and made a small hole, just big enough for one of his eyes and nose to be pushed through. Somehow the Strain managed to fix his jaw along the way. "You can run, but you can't hide from me, I'll get you, chop you to pieces and sell all your organs to the black market! Human foetus makes great and rare knick-knacks you know!" the deranged Strain laughs about, spit flying everywhere as he tries to push his hand through the tiny hole and unlock the door.
"Hey bastard," Misaki calls up calmly. Mogura stops his maniacal struggling for a while and peeks at Misaki through the hole. Big mistake for him. Misaki had dumped every dissolving and cleaning agent into a small spray bottle, making the contents somehow highly corrosive in a way before spraying it straight to the unsuspected Strain's eye. Pain erupted from Mogura's eye and he doubled back, screeching and screaming in pain, allowing Misaki to burst out of the room, grip the Strain's hand tightly from covering his face and squirts the liquid in his other eye. Mogura continues to struggle as his vision slowly diminishes into darkness.
"Not so tough now huh? For a guy who can see in the dark, getting blind is your best hit," Misaki grins out victoriously. Unknown to Misaki, the Strain doesn't know the word 'give up'. His hand somehow managed to grab the hilt of the hatchet and he starts to swing around despite his blind vision. The crow only had milliseconds to dodge before the edge splits his stomach apart. Adrenalin rushing through his veins, Misaki scrambled to his feet, hoping to make space as far away from Mogura as possible.
"Misaki!" two sets of voices call out from the front door and never before Misaki had Misaki feel so relieved to hear them. Saruhiko and Anna stood by the door, watching the carnage of the house with wide eyes. Seeing Misaki from around the corner looking battered and shaken, Saruhiko quickly instructed Anna to watch over Misaki whilst he makes his way to the back toilet where Mogura is still making lots of ruckus trying to find Misaki.
"Are you alright, are you injured?" she asks as the crow sits down shakily on the floor and leaning against the wall. She could sense his fear and relief, and she can also sense the child's fear from not knowing what's going on with his carrier. Checking over Misaki's physique, Anna can only see light scratches, small bruises and sprained muscles. The worst he'd gotten was just a shallow but long cut at the side of his abdomen. "This will sting," she warns him a little and pulls the flowing blood out and forms it into a ball while covering the wound at the same time. Misaki thanked her and breathes heavily, the adrenalin slowly clearing from his system.
Anna tried her very best to calm Misaki and the child while Saruhiko battles the blinded Mogura at the back. Misaki knows that the blue clansman keeps another set of sword in the house in case of emergencies, good thing the sword can be retrieved from whichever part of the house via an ingenious linking system Saruhiko had cleverly set up when they moved in. There were noises, grunts and angry yelling from the back and Misaki could see clouds of blue aura leaking out before there was a sickeningly wet, gurgling noise.
Saruhiko trudges down the hallways slowly, his blue aura still shrouding over his body and pulsing around wildly, eyes cold, emotionless and yet still held a fair amount of sick satisfaction. In his hand holds Mogura, his throat slit open. There was blood all over the floor and on Saruhiko's clothes, but the blue clansman doesn't even care as he drops the body to the floor and licks up the dripping life fluid from his fingers. Anna turns away from the horrifying view and Misaki makes a face.
"He won't be bothering us anymore," Saruhiko deems out and stabs the blood-soaked sword right down on Mogura's lifeless body.
Some moments later, Scepter 4 finally arrives to take Mogura's dead body away. Some of the clansman whispered among each other of the utter brutality Saruhiko had dished out, but the senior members reminded them how Mogura had targeted Saruhiko and Misaki for a long time now, making their lives hell in these past few months, especially Saruhiko's. Reisi had promised to send people over to help clean their home as Misaki looks sick whenever he sees the vampiric pools of blood on the floor. The Blue King even offered a new house, but Misaki refuses to move as Ryuu's room had been done for a long time now.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Misaki apologizes after the whole ordeal is over. "You could've told me that Mogura was after me, what would happen if I didn't have the cleaver with me?" he continues in a scolding manner to which Saruhiko merely holds him tighter.
"I didn't want you to go on with your days knowing a killer is after you, I don't want to cause you that unnecessary stress," Saruhiko answers gently whilst rubbing Misaki on his back soothingly. "But I promise you that from now on, I'll be here by your side should you ever need me. I won't leave you anymore Misaki, last night was a stupid mistake, it'll never happen again."
Much to Saruhiko's surprise, Misaki gave him a full, wet and undeniably hot kiss right on the lips. "You'd better not, stupid monkey," the crow growls before snuggling in Saruhiko's hold. The blue clansman smiling to himself in satisfaction. Now to just wait for their child to be born into this world.
ZOMG! I had way too much fun writing this chapter and was listening to Miku's Alice in Black Market song, hence the reason it was kinda pumped. At first I wanted to end it here, but then I guessed you guys fell in love with baby Ryuu, so I decided to continue on until Misaki's due. That, and also you'd be crawling down my neck and haunt my sleep, ri~ght? (nudgenudge pokepoke)
Well, do leave me reviews regarding this chapter and the next one will be up as usual next week! Stay tuned and please do not feed me sugar, but I do love me some latte. (hurrdurr) Now I'm going to watch Corpse Party: Tortured Soul OVA!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!