Thanks to the readers who've left both constructive and encouraging feedback. I really appreciate it very much, and I'll do my best to improve things.
Karadin has done a beautiful pencil sketch of Muraki and Tsuzuki from a scene in Chapter 22 - Muraki appears to be on the bottom, but he's still very much on top. Be sure to view it at my website.
Thanks to Gengkotsuya yet again for her help.
It was chaos inside the car.
"Tsuzuki-san, please remove your hand from the steering wheel. A Ferrari requires delicate handling, not a ham-fisted grip-"
"Muraki!" Tsuzuki was furious. "Stop the car, dammit!"
"Muraki!" Oriya wasn't happy either. "Are you trying to kill us all?"
"I'm just trying to extract an answer to your excellent question. For the past four nights, I've run myself ragged trying to keep Tsuzuki-san amused and entertained, yet received little in the way of appreciation-"
The car veered towards the outer guard rail, then swerved back to the centre barrier. The engine roared in protest.
Tsuzuki collided with Muraki's shoulder, hit his head on the dashboard, and tumbled against a furious Oriya.
"Of all the places to materialise," Muraki chided. "This vehicle is designed for one driver and one passenger with room for a set of golf clubs in the rear compartment. Oriya, would you mind giving up your seat-"
Tsuzuki rubbed his aching forehead. "Stop the car!"
"Move it, Shinigami! You're on top of the handbrake! If I can yank it up, we can end this farce!"
"No, wait." Tsuzuki clutched the rollbar behind Muraki's seat and pulled himself up. The black lever between the two seats crackled with Metal energy. "There's a barrier around it."
Oriya reached for it and recoiled, stung. "What the...it gave me an electric shock!"
"He placed it there," Tsuzuki's gaze went to Muraki's smirking profile, "so no one would spoil his fun."
"Gentlemen, please. All I'm after is an honest answer to a simple question. A little feedback, nothing more."
"I already told you I wanted you! I've come to you every night! What more do you want?"
"But am I merely a treat you eat to satisfy a craving? A drug you take when you need a fix?" Muraki jerked the wheel to one side.
The tyres screeched. With its engine let loose, the Ferrari roared towards the barrier rail again.
Tsuzuki grabbed the wheel to straighten the car. Thankfully the Ferrari was the only vehicle on the road. "What do you want from me? A marriage proposal?"
"Don't taunt me with false promises." Muraki jerked the steering wheel in Tsuzuki's direction. The car skidded sideways for several deafening seconds, tyres squealing.
"Dammit, Muraki! You can't be serious-"
"Shinigami, forget about reasoning with this stubborn ass! Nothing you can say will dissuade him from this madness! Give him an answer and be done with it!"
"If I do, I'll be playing into his hands. I won't give in to his manipulative tactics anymore!" Tsuzuki turned on Muraki. "You're not the only one who can play this game." From memory, he jabbed at a button on the center stack console. The car's soft-top roof folded down to expose them all to a cold, unforgiving wind.
"What a lovely idea! Driving in the moonlight - what could be more romantic?" Muraki raised his voice so Oriya could hear. "If displays of affection between two adult males offend anyone present, he is more than welcome to leave the vehicle."
Oriya glared at him over Tsuzuki's shoulder. "I was protecting the reputation of my establishment! Imagine the scandal if word got out about your antics: 'Guest overlooks Kokakurou women in favour of male companion.' I'd be the laughing stock of Gion! No matter what you think, my home is not a tawdry love hotel!"
"Yes, yes," Muraki sighed, already bored with the topic. "A brief moment of horseplay became a terrible blemish on your fine upstanding brothel." From the corner of his eye, he saw Tsuzuki bowing his head, eyes shut, hands pressed together on the dashboard. "Humbling yourself before me is unnecessary. All I require is an answer to the question."
"I beseech you to answer my plea." Tsuzuki's voice was low, intent. "Stop this car."
"Tch! This is our fifth night together, and you still think you can command me like some pet dog?"
Tsuzuki didn't bother to open his eyes. "What makes you think I'm talking to you?"
The Ferrari shuddered for an instant, as if it had gone over a pothole. A few seconds later, it happened again. And again.
"What's that foul smell?" Oriya asked. "Muraki, you better slow down. Something's burning in here."
Wisps of smoke were surrounding the car, obscuring the moonlight.
"It's not the car," Muraki murmured.
"Look! It's coming from up ahead!"
The silhouette of a jagged mountain came into view. The expressway entered the steep cliff face via a single tunnel. Smoke billowed from the entrance.
"Rotten egg gas." It burned Oriya's throat, making him cough. "Sulphur dioxide? But why-"
"Of course. A naturally occurring compound in volcanic gas." Muraki pushed down on the accelerator. "How fascinating. Let's take a closer look."
"Muraki! Turn around, you idiot! If you don't care about us, then think of the car! Sulphur dioxide is a corrosive-"
The ground shuddered. The tunnel entrance shrank to a narrow crack, then widened sideways into a semblance of a macabre grin.
"Metallic toy of Man," it growled in a gravelly voice, "you have rebelled against the one that has nurtured you long enough. Repent and return to the Earth from whence you came."
Tsuzuki lifted his head from prayer, his gaze steadfast and serene. "Are you ready for a second round with the Black Warrior?"
Muraki's lips curved into a devilish grin. "Bring it on." He downshifted gears in rapid succession. "Oriya, have you ever encountered a major shikigami?"
Cracks appeared around the entrance. The entire mountain face was fragmenting like an eggshell. A subsonic rumbling grew in volume, making the car shudder and shift sideways.
"What have you got us into, Muraki?"
Muraki braked hard. The poor car shrieked to a halt. Oriya was slammed into his seat, his seatbelt squeezing the breath out of him. Tsuzuki found his face wedged up against the windscreen.
A single powerful snap rent the mountain peak in two. Genbu's enormous head erupted from the mountain in a billow of volcanic steam, the remnants of the tunnel entrance forming his lips and grisly teeth.
The car accelerated into reverse.
Genbu's long neck slithered onto the road. Captured in the Ferrari's headlights, his black scales shone an iridescent purple-green, and his slitted pupils became opaque.
"May I introduce you to Genbu, God of Earth." Impervious to the danger facing him, Muraki was looking in the rear-view mirror, one hand casually twitching the steering wheel back and forth. "One of your highest-ranked shikigami, correct?"
Tsuzuki cradled his aching jaw. This was one time he was grateful to be an immortal Shinigami. "Yeah."
"You're really out to kill us, aren't you?" Oriya's fury was verging on the apoplectic. "How fast do you think you can go in reverse gear? Turn the car around!"
"Oriya, insult me as much you wish, but please do not impugn the reputation of this vehicle."
Genbu lunged towards them, acid saliva dripping from his jaws. The Ferrari swerved away in the nick of time. Undeterred, Genbu swung his head from side to side, scales rattling against the bitumen. His unblinking gaze remained focused on his prey. Again he surged forward. Once more the Ferrari swerved away in the opposite direction.
Oriya glared at Muraki again. "You're slowing down on purpose."
"Because it wants to play." Muraki accelerated and turned the wheel, just as Genbu came forward once more. "If it really wanted to capture us, it could have done so in an instant."
Leaning with his forearms against the dashboard, Tsuzuki was entranced by the parry-and-retreat dance between machine and shikigami. It could have been choreographed in advance, so well-timed were their movements. "Look at him," he said to Oriya. "If you want him back, you must help me rid him of his power. How long has he been like this?"
Oriya turned away. "I don't need your 'help,' Shinigami."
"But don't you want to help him? You must have noticed his crimes, his dabblings in the occult! Those were the warning signs. Why didn't you try to stop him then?"
"He's always had an insatiable desire for knowledge. When science failed to give him the answers he sought, he investigated the supernatural for himself." Oriya's voice was heavy with resignation. "This is the path he's chosen for himself."
"So you knew, yet you did nothing? Didn't you wonder about his glowing false eye? Surely you must have noticed something was wrong-"
"Enough!" Muraki swerved the car hard with one hand, and yanked Tsuzuki against him with the other. "Your meddlesome questions pale in significance to the one you've failed to answer."
Tsuzuki squirmed against him. "You said you had no use for friendship! You treat the people who care about you like dirt! Give me one reason why I should love you!"
Still in reverse, the Ferrari accelerated hard along a straight stretch of expressway.
"A reason?" Muraki let Tsuzuki go. "Very well."
He slammed the brakes and turned the wheel hard. Tsuzuki clutched Muraki's seat. The Ferrari screeched, slid sideways, then spun around on its rear wheels. When it had turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction, Muraki quickly shifted gears. The car roared off in triumph, facing forwards at last. "How's that?"
"Showoff," Oriya muttered. His face was covered in flyaway black hair.
"Is...is that it?" Tsuzuki spluttered. "Is that what you expect? You drive like a maniac - I fall at your feet?"
"Tell me who else can thrill and exhilarate you the way I can. You have powerful shikigami who obey and protect you, friends who comfort and support you...but you return to me time and time again. Because there's something missing in your perfect world, ne? A certain excitement, a promise of danger...and voluptuous pleasure." Muraki swerved the car again. "I know how to fulfil the forbidden, untamed urges that lie within your heart. Why else are we so physically compatible? Open yourself up to me, and surrender to your true nature!"
Up close, his glowing false eye revealed the four characters Tsuzuki knew all too well - a mark of Muraki's fall from humanity, in return for embracing the demonic. No longer was he one of the weak humans he professed to despise. It was time to stop treating him like one.
"Surrender requires trust. Trust must be earned," Tsuzuki replied. "How can you expect me to reveal myself when you keep your own nature concealed?" He leaned closer to murmur in Muraki's ear. "Playing the weak, defenceless human is a poor disguise for one who has mastered Metal and Wind."
"I see." Muraki's hands turned the wheel as nimbly as ever, but his attention was elsewhere. He lifted his head closer to Tsuzuki's warm lips, his eyes slitted in momentary bliss. "Then tell me what guise would please you more."
"I want to see the real you. I've seen you stand up to a demon, but can you do the same before the God of Earth?" Tsuzuki summoned a conspiratorial smile as he moved back. Muraki could never resist a challenge to his ego. "Impress me, Muraki. Show me what you can really do against one of my shikigami. Prove yourself worthy of my devotion - and only then will you be deserving of my love."
"Don't listen to him!" Oriya barked. "What game are you playing, Shinigami?" He yanked Tsuzuki back.
"Watch! See his power for yourself!"
Genbu hissed and charged forward, mouth wide. The car roared to life and swerved again. Tsuzuki swore as he tumbled against Oriya. But Genbu wasn't finished yet - this time he kept advancing forward, his neck slithering quickly on the road.
"This is crazy! You're just encouraging him!" Oriya looked over Tsuzuki's shoulder to see Muraki calmly unbuckling his seatbelt. The steering wheel moved of its own accord, controlled by invisible hands. "Muraki! You idiot! Hold the wheel!"
"Calm yourself, Oriya. The car is still under my command." Muraki darted a hostile glance Oriya's way. "And take your hands off Tsuzuki-san. I claimed him first." He slid the seat back.
The cat scrambled from behind to sit in his lap. It began singing in a high-pitched voice: "Those who wait on the Light shall renew their strength-"
"You...you haven't claimed anything of importance." Tsuzuki turned back to Oriya, cheeks flushed. "Now do you believe me? He's got the power to manipulate all metallic objects. If you're the friend you claim to be, you've got to help me!"
"They shall mount up with wings like eagles," the cat sang.
"Don't you think I would've whacked some sense into him if I thought it could make a difference? I've tried for years to change his mind, but he never listened!" Oriya paused, visibly composing himself. "As long as he's enslaved by his hatred, there's nothing you or I or anyone in the entire world can do to make a difference. It's useless."
Genbu feinted to one side. The car swerved to the other side. Genbu darted the same way, forcing the car to screech and swerve yet again.
The cat remained seated in Muraki's lap, its finely-turned balance keeping it upright. "They shall run and not be weary-"
"Metallic toy of man," Genbu growled, "my patience grows thin with this game." He loomed over the car, his glittering stare focused on Muraki.
Muraki returned the gaze without fear. "You were no threat to me earlier. I have nothing to fear from you now."
The cat's thin voice was rising and falling in an oscillating vibrato. "They shall walk and not faint!"
Genbu snorted and fell back. "Prayers of hubris. I will end this assault against the Earth. Turning a Metal child against its Earth mother is a heinous crime that will not go unpunished. What the Earth gives, so the Earth can take away."
The ground shook. Concrete cracked around them.
"Glory be to the Light!" the cat shrieked.
Muraki's false eye began to glow. Tsuzuki winced - he could feel the burning ache between his shoulder blades.
"Muraki!" Oriya shouted. "Up ahead!"
The Ferrari braked, just as a huge worm erupted from the ground. Covered in gleaming black scales, lacking eyes or a mouth, it curled forwards with its sharp tip pointing at a 45-degree-angle towards the car. Yanked by an invisible towing chain, the Ferrari jerked towards it.
Muraki pressed his hands together. The steering wheel spun to one side. The car skidded sideways and spun around once again. But the car couldn't accelerate away. Slowly it inched backwards, tyres squealing on the bitumen.
Genbu faced them head-on, neck arched and flattened to form a menacing cobra-like hood that partially shielded the sight of his ugly horns. With jaws wide enough to swallow the vehicle whole, there was no escape. "Surrender," he hissed. "Metal must respect the Earth from which it was born. As one familiar with the generation cycle of the elements, surely you know this."
"Genbu's tail is rich in magnetite, the strongest magnetic ore found in nature," Tsuzuki said. "It gives him the ability to control the movements of objects containing iron, cobalt or nickel." Lifting himself up, Tsuzuki seated himself between the twin rollbars framing the headrests for a better view. "Your car's almost come to a complete stop, Muraki. Is that the best you can do?"
Oriya's gaze darted from the blind worm, to Muraki and his cat, Tsuzuki watching him, then on to Genbu's ugly head. He unbuckled his seatbelt and gripped his katana. Every single one of them was mad - the problem was deciding whom to behead first.
The Ferrari's engine roared again. Seated in his seat, Muraki's steely gaze did not waver through the fumes of burning rubber. "I no longer know fear! I've already survived my passage through the valley of the shadow of death!"
The cat clawed up on the dashboard and yowled: "The Light will not forsake us! Glory be to the Light!"
The Ferrari jerked once more. The tyres squealed in protest.
"Who would answer a prayer spoken with such arrogance?" Genbu leaned close, his jagged teeth hovering above the Ferrari's gleaming engine bay.
"I'd sooner wreck this car myself than turn it over to you."
"We shall see." Sulfurous vapour curled from Genbu's nostrils. Red-hot charcoal glowed within the recesses of his mouth.
Oriya leapt into action. In one mighty lunge he unsheathed his katana and swung it before Genbu's snout in a single fluid movement. "Stop! I don't care what god you are! You can't have him!"
Tsuzuki pulled him back. "Keep out of this!"
"Are you offering up your steel trinket?" Genbu's gold eyes gleamed with interest. "Very well. I accept."
The tip of the worm-like tail swept over the vehicle. Oriya's human strength was no match for the attractive pull of magnetite. The katana flew up and was caught, blade and all.
"Of all the..." Oriya turned his furious gaze on Tsuzuki, then Muraki. "Get it back!"
Peeved at being upstaged, Muraki was unsympathetic. "You're as hot-headed now as you were back in school. What made you throw away your precious sword?"
Tsuzuki observed them keenly from his raised position above the car's interior. Genbu did the same, his slitted eyes darting from one man to the other. The car's engine eased its mechanical growl to a rumbling purr.
"Because I wasn't aware you had some cunning plan up your sleeve to get out of this mess!"
"You brought this upon yourself when you abducted me at gunpoint. Did I not vow to release you of my troublesome presence? I never asked you to come back for me."
"I'm not doing this for you, you stubborn pig-headed fool! I'm doing it for Ukyou-chan!"
"And yourself, because you're still his friend." Tsuzuki's voice held a gentle but firm rebuke. "You put yourself in danger and risked the wrath of the Black Warrior to protect him. You care for him despite everything he's done. Isn't that the real reason you want to take him back?"
"You think I still care after all he's put us through?" Oriya retorted. "Hah! Hatred is the only emotion he understands, the one genuine feeling he's carried with him all his life. It's the reason he's cut himself off from everyone and cast them aside without blinking an eye. It's the reason he's able to operate on patients one night and callously murder a complete stranger the next. Everyone is beneath him. No one can ever live up to his impossible standards." Oriya turned away. "Whatever friendship we once shared has been exhausted by his supercilious attitude towards the entire universe."
The bitterness and pain in Oriya's voice spoke louder than his words. It was impossible for Tsuzuki not to feel for his predicament. The master of Kokakurou had done the best he could under trying circumstances. He didn't deserve to be criticised for being a poor friend - not when Muraki himself denigrated the concept of friendship in the first place.
Under different circumstances, Muraki and Oriya could have been very close friends...maybe something even more. They shared a comfortable rapport, and the kind of easy self-confidence Tsuzuki secretly envied.
"Why do you talk to him?" Muraki suddenly hauled Tsuzuki into his lap. "Is this your way of avoiding my question? The only feelings I care about are your feelings for me!" The Ferrari's engine increased its roar. The car inched away from the magnetic tail...and closer towards Genbu's waiting mouth.
The cat dived onto the dashboard in the nick of time.
"How selfish can you be? Must everything revolve around you? Your friend has come to save you...your car's going to be scrap metal...this isn't the time..."
Muraki's silencing kiss was rough and brutal. Tsuzuki writhed against him and pushed at his face. Feverish heat radiated from Muraki's flesh. His forehead was damp with sweat. Something was wrong.
Muraki lifted his head to draw breath. "Tonight I will make you confess all!" He glared across at a disgusted Oriya. "What?"
"Emotional blackmail. This is a new low, even for you."
"Be silent!"
"Feeding from me hasn't helped you, has it?" Tsuzuki asked. "You're still weak." He reached up to touch Muraki's face.
Muraki flinched from his hand. "And whose fault is that?" He turned away to address Genbu. "God of Earth! Do you mock me by withholding your destructive power? Why have you failed to crush me as you promised?"
"I was commanded to stop the car." Genbu swayed his tail from side to side. The car rocked as well, leaving the human passengers clinging for support. "I am carrying out my master's command."
Oriya sat hunched in his seat, coughing from the combination of sulfurous gas and burning rubber. "Turn off the engine. All you're doing is wearing out your fancy tyres." He tried to reach for the ignition, but was scratched by the grey cat for his trouble. "Shit! What was that for?"
"Humble yourself before the Light!" it yowled.
"Muraki, back down!" Tsuzuki pulled at the lapels of his jacket. "You're not up to challenging Genbu, and you know it! You're becoming too hot!"
"Of course I'm hot!" Muraki snapped impatiently. "Your body's responsiveness to my potent sexual aura is proof enough!"
"I meant temperature, dammit! You're burning up! Listen to me! I know you're overreaching yourself again!"
But Muraki was deaf to his words. "How the mighty have fallen!" he bellowed at Genbu. He stood up in the car, holding onto the windscreen for support. "You keep your powers leashed, exactly like your master! He's denied you the freedom to use your powers in the same way he has withheld his own!"
Genbu stopped rocking the car and lowered his head. "You dare to question the judgement to one who has given courage to soldiers before battle and insight to generals under siege?"
"I dare. Why did you consent to be neutered by the terms of such a contract?"
Too stunned to defend himself, Tsuzuki was lost for words.
Was it true? Had he really held them back against their will? But he had to do it. If his shikigami ran riot, many people would surely die. For the sake of fragile human lives, he had to limit the scope of their powers - or risk repeating the destruction in EnmaCho and Shion University all over again. This was the compromise each of them accepted when they agreed to serve him under contract...not that they had much of a choice. Tsuzuki bowed his head, suddenly ashamed.
"Absolute power has no need of overblown spectacle to prove its greatness," Genbu rasped. "No clever games or deceitful trickery are necessary to draw attention to its importance. There is no act too humble nor deed too trivial for such power to manifest itself, for it leaves an indelible impression on all who are privileged enough to be near it."
Gratitude and relief gave Tsuzuki the courage to look up at his shikigami.
"Most importantly, it leaves a mark on the bearer too: the responsibility to use one's gift wisely and well. This is not a burden one can learn to shoulder in a day." Genbu's gaze flicked to Tsuzuki. "Or in a lifetime. This is the cross an ageless god must bear throughout eternity."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Oriya muttered. "He's a fire-breathing serpent one minute, an old-fashioned agony aunt the next."
"Absolute power?" Muraki sneered. "Shackled power is no power at all! Remain unmoved as stone, your true face hidden, and you merely leave yourself vulnerable to others to seize the opportunity!" Muraki lifted his chin, and the Ferrari roared again. Thick black smoke poured from its exhaust. "I defy you by despoiling the Earth - so what will you do with me?"
Tsuzuki found his voice. "Stop it, Muraki! Your power is limited! You know you can't win!"
"I promised to prove myself worthy of you, ne? Those of us with nothing have nothing to lose!" He eyed Genbu once more. "Will you punish me for my heresy? Or will you stay your hand as your master desires? Answer me, Guardian of Wisdom!"
"Do not put a god to the test," Genbu replied. His head swayed from side to side, ready to strike.
The letters in Muraki's false eye coalesced to become a beam of pure white light. "Why not? You won't harm me: not now, not ever. Your master's timidity has infected you too!"
The Ferrari inched away from the tail, moving closer and closer to Genbu's hovering head.
Genbu was not intimidated by the white light. If anything, it made him appear even more sinister. His iridescent pupils shone with quicksilver violet-green flame. The glaring beam transformed the wrinkles beneath his throat into deep cracks, and gave the horns adorning his head an oily sheen. With his craggy profile shadowed from above, he looked like a primitive totem statue hewn out of volcanic basalt. This was a cruel God of Earth, merciless and unyielding - a deity who seemed far too remote to concern himself with the prayer of any summoner.
"Flashing eye of lightning fire," Genbu rumbled, "your arrogance will be your downfall. You have forgotten the origin of your power. Your ignorance dooms you to darkness. You will spend eternity crawling amid the chaos of your own making!"
Muraki tightened his grip around Tsuzuki's shoulders. "If I am condemned to be in ignorant darkness, then at least I won't be alone!"
Tsuzuki could feel Muraki leaning against him for support. His entire body was quivering with effort. "Enough. You've shown you can stand up to Genbu. Now stop before you use up your energy! You know your body can only handle so much!"
"Not until you tell me the words I want to hear! Do you love me?"
All Tsuzuki could see of him was the burning false eye. The rest of his features were shrouded in gloom. Now that the human guise was gone, Muraki's appearance horrified him beyond imagination. This creature holding him was a stranger. There was nothing he could recognise of the Muraki he knew...nothing except his indomitable will, daring to defy natural and supernatural law alike. The same will that enabled him to rape and kill without remorse. The same will that drove Tsuzuki to stab and leave him for dead once before.
And Muraki had learned nothing. Unbowed and selfish, callous to the core, he was doomed to a life of sin and suffering.
Monster! You're a monster!
No human has eyes like that! You're not human!
Tsuzuki's hands crept up to Muraki's long throat. The pulse at the base of his neck thudded wildly beneath his fingertips. Maybe it was best to let him destroy himself in this hopelessly unequal battle. Surely it was better to rest in peace than live at war against the entire universe?
We are the same, you and I. One blood, one spirit.
Even if you kill me, your deep sadness...will never be healed.
"I..." Tsuzuki squeezed his eyes shut and seized Muraki in a suffocating hug. "No! Stop it, please! I can't love you, not when you're like this!"
Muraki staggered back, and the light in his eye winked out. Tsuzuki clutched him and lowered him down.
"I can't love you, not when you're so cold and ruthless and you use kagetsu magic to block out the love in your heart!" Tears threatened to choke his trembling voice. "Not when you remind me of everything I hate about myself!"
Genbu bowed his head and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. His tail changed into a pillar of rock, from which Oriya's sword clattered to the ground. Free of Genbu's magnetic pull, the car jolted forward then spluttered to a halt.
Muraki lay sprawled in his seat, nostrils flared with each exhalation, jaw clenched. Curled awkwardly in his lap, Tsuzuki wept against his shoulder.
"You want me to love you? Then don't be like me!" With one fist he struck Muraki's heaving chest. "Go back to Tokyo! Become a doctor again! Devote yourself to extending the lives of your patients, and compensate for the lives I cut short. Redeem yourself for me, and I will love you for it. You can give them time, the most precious gift of all."
A strangled sound left Muraki's lips. He eyed Tsuzuki's bent head with an expression close to hatred. "Time! Time for what?"
"To put their affairs in order, fulfil a long-held wish...or just say goodbye. To do whatever it is they have to do to set their soul at rest. No shikigami has the power to salvage time from the jaws of death. That's one thing only you can do for me." Tsuzuki seized one of Muraki's hands and brought it to his lips. "I know your skilled hands can cleanse my stained ones. Your selfless good work can strike out my crimes. I just know it!"
"Do you mock me? Why do you glorify my profession when you can undo it all with a wave of your hand? It's all useless! Useless! Haven't you realised that you have the potential to unlock unlimited power and create new life-"
"I don't want it!" Tsuzuki's voice became high-pitched, hysterical. "I don't want Wood or Water energy from you! I don't want things coming to life when I touch them or feathers growing out of my back!" Sobs shook his body. "All I want is to be human..."
The animosity in Muraki's features fell away, leaving him weary and old. "Fool."
Still hunched in the adjacent passenger seat, Oriya slowly raised his head. He blinked at the sight of them together, then froze when he noticed the expression on Muraki's face.
"A normal human...not a misfit...human like you..." Tsuzuki's muffled words were almost inaudible. "That's why...I wanted to be with you...in the land of the living..."
Muraki sighed heavily. The movement of air brushed Tsuzuki's hair. "This 'normal' human you aspire to be is only an illusion - a non-existent beast."
His words held no comfort. His lax arms provided no reassurance. Nevertheless, Tsuzuki found some respite from his grief in Muraki's physical presence. The cooling of Muraki's body temperature, the slowing tempo of his erratic breaths, and the familiar scent of his cologne - these simple sensations gradually worked their soothing spell over him.
Oriya sat up in his seat. His shoulders began to shake, followed by his head. A stifled chuckle grew into a full-throated laugh. Cowering on the dashboard, the cat turned to look at him.
Muraki cast a hostile glance his way. "What's so funny?"
"The two of you! He's a Shinigami who wants to save lives, and you're a surgeon who goes around killing people. Why don't you both swap jobs for a while? See for yourselves how green the grass is on the other side. I bet that would straighten the two of you out."
Muraki snorted. "Of course. The perfect solution. All I have to do is work out how to pass on a decade's worth of surgical training, and we can get started."
Tsuzuki let out a half-laugh, half-sob. "You'd make a terrible Shinigami." He lifted his head and wiped the tears from reddened eyes. "You'd never be able to make a contract with a shikigami. Your attitude would bring down their wrath. They'd punish you for your arrogance."
Muraki straightened his shoulders. His shield of haughty defiance was sliding back into place.
Tsuzuki managed a glimmer of a smile. Despite Muraki's obvious tiredness, he looked a little more like the Muraki he knew. "See? You shouldn't put a god to the test, Muraki. It's just not worth the trouble."
The cat stood up, ears pricked, and walked over to the driver's door. A tremor shook the ground.
Tsuzuki turned to open the car door, then quickly clambered out. Genbu was standing on the road in his human form, a little old man with a long beard and a granite staff.
"The car moves no more. This is as it should be: Metal obedient to Mother Earth." He stamped the staff once. A tremor shook the ground.
"Thanks for your help." Tsuzuki looked around at the cracked bitumen, buckled railing, and the divided mountain without its tunnel: a scene of apocalyptic-like destruction. "But did you have to turn this place into a war zone?"
"I did what was necessary to fulfil your request," Genbu made the ground shake with a stamp of his granite staff, "and nourish the Earth."
"But you're nourishing the Earth a bit too much." Tsuzuki almost tripped over a jagged fragment of bitumen sticking out of the ground.
"The Earth has become weak in my absence," Genbu reminded him.
"Look, there's even blades of grass growing here! It's unnatural, Genbu. People are going to be suspicious."
"Good. Let them witness the Earth's resilient proliferation for themselves."
Inside the car, Oriya was incredulous. "Is that dwarf the same creature that attacked us before?"
"Yes." Muraki took out a cigarette and lit it with the car lighter. "That dwarf is the human avatar of the snake-tortoise Genbu, shikigami governing Earth. One of the twelve under Tsuzuki-san's command." Belatedly he offered Oriya the cigarette pack.
Oriya shook his head. "You sure? Why's he allowing the dwarf to talk back? He acts more like a keeper than a master."
"He does. He remains in stubborn denial about the extent of his powers." Muraki treated himself to a satisfying puff of nicotine.
"I can't believe you've entered into an alliance with someone from the world of the dead." Oriya looked closely at him. "I thought his kind were the enemy. What do you get out of it? Wasn't summoning demons good enough?"
"Demons are rich in knowledge, but their power is weak. In contrast, Tsuzuki-san has much power within him and little awareness of how to wield it. That is why I've been sent here." Muraki slowly removed his glasses and turned to face Oriya.
A mass of glowing hieroglyphic lines danced around the slit-like pupil of his false eye.
"What the hell is that?"
"The name of the one who spared my life in the laboratory inferno. His clemency is the reason I was able to return from barren purgatory to the land of the living. Now I perform deeds to bring praise and glory to his name."
"His name? I can't read anything."
"Only those with the knowledge may decipher it." Muraki put on his glasses. "Imbued with the glory of heaven, forged in the annihilation of hell, it is too sacred a word to be uttered aloud. Such is its power that even those who bestowed it keep the pronunciation a closely guarded secret."
"Is...is there any way to remove it?"
"Only the one who placed it there may erase it." Muraki looked outside to where Tsuzuki and Genbu were arguing loudly about how to clear the crushed bitumen. "He need only say the word, and his will is done."
"I see." Oriya was silent for a moment as he digested this. "But the Shinigami said he wanted to help rid you of your power. He's got no idea what's written there, huh? Why haven't you warned him about what he's up against?"
"He will know soon enough. Tsuzuki-san only sees what he wants to see because he's become so accustomed to repressing his innate ability. When his power is unlocked, his acuity will become keener than mine or yours."
In the distance, Genbu banged his staff on the ground in protest. The ground began shaking. Tsuzuki fell on his knees, begging him to stop.
"He doesn't look that convincing to me."
"He hides his power well, but not for long. I shall awaken all that lies within him."
The cat leapt into his lap, and began rubbing its face against his chest. Muraki rubbed its jaw and smiled down at it.
"And make it your own, naturally. You were never a team player." Oriya's tone was ironic. "Well, bizarre markings and strange powers aside, it's reassuring to see that you've held on to your megalomaniac ambitions. If you can't beat them, join them, hmm?"
"Indeed. You always were one of the few who could accept me for what I am, warts and all." Muraki's sidelong look held wry amusement.
"Only because I gave up trying to change your mind years ago."
"Then don't start now. My purpose is to awaken this dreaming fool. I must go before him and prepare the way. This is my penance. This is my fate."
Resized in his entire snake-tortoise form, Genbu was crushing the bitumen rubble with his feet. Seated on the black carapace, Tsuzuki directed his movements.
Oriya looked down at his empty scabbard. "Hmph. So he can turn a shikigami into his personal steamroller. He can't be that much of a pushover." He got out of the car to retrieve his katana. Its surface was scratched and pitted with small dents.
Muraki joined him, the cat prowling at his feet. "He is their master in name only. His shikigami are loyal to him because he lavishes them with the praise and worship they crave. In return, he can call on them to intercede on his behalf. A typical example of a mutually advantageous relationship."
"Mutually advantageous relationship." Oriya snorted. "Trust you to use such impersonal words to describe friendship."
"But it's true. Your blade is damaged, ne? Give it to me." Muraki studied the flat face of the blade and tsked to himself. Holding the handgrip with one hand, he placed thumb and forefinger over the flat of the blade.
"Muraki, what-"
With a quick movement, Muraki slid his fingers along the entire length of the blade. He swung it around to hand it to Oriya, handgrip first, blade tip pointing down.
In the glare of the headlights, the steel shone with a brilliant gleam. The hand-forged grain was enhanced, and there wasn't the slightest smear of a fingerprint along the rippled temper line. Oriya brushed his thumb across the cutting edge, then looked up, his manner subdued.
"The Shinigami was right about your power over metal. The finest blade polishers in Kyoto would take weeks to make it this sharp, and longer to make it look good."
Muraki bowed in acknowledgement of the praise. "Take your weapon and return to Kokakurou. You have fulfilled your promise to Ukyou-chan, and discharged your duty as a good friend. I'm not the Muraki she remembers anymore. That boy died a long time ago."
"Very well." Oriya sheathed the blade in a single stroke. "I'll leave you with your 'dreaming fool,' but only because he's managed to do something I thought impossible."
"You can sense it, too, ne? Even when dormant, Tsuzuki-san's power is formidable."
"His power's got nothing to do with it. He managed to crack that smug facade of yours. Seeing that made the trip here worthwhile." He brushed past Muraki, ignoring his withering glare. "Take care of yourself. Don't make the mistake of underestimating him a second time. He's tried incinerating you before. As I recall, Fire melts Metal."
Muraki watched him take the driver's seat, his expression brooding. "Did I give you permission to take my car?"
"Hey, you want me to get out of your hair or what? I promise I won't drive as recklessly as you."
"Let him leave it in the airport carpark." Tsuzuki came up behind Muraki, hands in the pockets of his coat. He'd left Genbu in the background to trudge around in slow circles. "I can easily return it back to your apartment."
They watched Oriya start the engine, do a careful U-turn over the rubble, then roar off.
Genbu stomped in displeasure at the noisy exit. "Vandalism again!" he rasped. "The Earth will not forget this sacrilege."
"Keep breaking down those pieces!" Tsuzuki crushed a smaller fragment with his heel, his gaze focused on the ground. "It hurt to push him away, didn't it? Kagetsu magic can dull the pain of being apart from the ones you love, but it only provides temporary relief." He ignored the cat rubbing itself against his leg. "Their voices live on in the hidden corners of your mind, crying out for you to return home. That's your conscience in action, Muraki - a power no shadow magic can ever eclipse for good."
Muraki's gaze, obscured by his fringe of silver hair, was fixed on the Ferrari's receding lights. He was uncharacteristically silent.
Tsuzuki turned away. "If you really gave a damn about my feelings for you, you would've left with him. I meant every word I said. I'm not in love with you."
"That's not what you said earlier." Muraki's voice was deadly quiet. "Say it to my face."
"You heard me the first time." Tsuzuki kept walking. A treacherous weakness was seeping into his limbs - anticipation and dread in equal measure.
Muraki's footsteps crunched behind him. Tsuzuki's heart pounded double time. Mentally he braced himself for the physical onslaught.
But Muraki strode past him without a glance. He went to Genbu and stood directly in his path.
Genbu came to a stop. Towering over Muraki, he peered down at him along the length of his leathery snout.
"God of Earth!" Muraki bowed before him. "I am tormented by a most troubling matter of the heart. Could you grant me the gift of your invaluable advice?"
Genbu dipped his head to Muraki's level and eyed him for a long moment. Then he swung his head up, teeth bared in a fearsome grin. "Ask and I will advise!"
"Genbu!" Tsuzuki ran between them. "Hold on a minute! What are you helping him for?"
"He seeks my counsel on a personal matter." Genbu lashed his tail from side to side, pleased at being consulted. "It is my responsibility as Guardian of Wisdom to provide guidance to those who seek it, and this one needs my wisdom more than most. Speak," he commanded Muraki. "I am listening."
"Please explain to me why you failed to punish me for assaulting the Earth. You have shown a degree of mercy unprecedented for one once feted as the God of War."
"Your metal toy was halted. Punishment is unnecessary in the face of surrender."
Tsuzuki grimaced. Genbu's bluntness was the last thing he needed. "Okay, Genbu, that's enough." He pushed at the shikigami's tree-trunk-sized leg. "Get back to cleaning up."
"I see." Muraki straightened the lapels of his jacket, his movements betraying his annoyance. "But even if I refused to surrender, you wouldn't have crushed me, ne? You were acting under you master's commands, ne? Your empty threats were nothing more than the bombastic ravings of an impotent geriatric fool, because Tsuzuki-san instructed you to keep me safe from harm all this time!"
Tsuzuki was horrified, then furious. "Muraki! How...how dare you insult Genbu!" He stormed towards him. "Apologise! Apologise at once!"
Genbu observed them curiously. He appeared neither hurt nor offended by the outburst. Fearing more violence, the cat sought shelter behind a large piece of bitumen.
Muraki pulled Tsuzuki into his arms. "The evidence is irrefutable. If you won't admit it, I'll get your shikigami to do it for you!" He turned to Genbu. "Answer me this, Guardian of Wisdom: does your master love me?"
"Muraki, how dare you-!" Tsuzuki swung back to Genbu. "He doesn't deserve an answer! Not after the way he's insulted you!"
Genbu's head hovered above both men. His golden reptilian eyes were fixed and unblinking - as if he was looking through them to focus on something else beyond the range of normal vision. "He loves you."
A grin of pure triumph spread across Muraki's face.
Tsuzuki wanted to curl into a ball and die of shame. Manipulating his own shikigami to reveal his weakness - Muraki's gall was staggering.
"He loves you," Genbu repeated, "in the same way he loves all things great and small, friend and foe, material and immaterial. His capacity to give love is great indeed." His slitted gaze focused on Muraki. "Follow his example. Therein lies the path to the true Light." With that, he reared his neck into a regal arch and trudged around them, crushing the bitumen pieces with his ponderous footsteps.
It took several stunned seconds for Tsuzuki to realise he was safe. Genbu had given Muraki the benefit of his wisdom - and kept the truth to himself.
"Is that true?" Muraki was frozen, visibly shell-shocked. His trembling fingers curled into Tsuzuki's shoulders. "Am I...no different?"
Tsuzuki's heart twisted at the sight. But this wasn't the time to show mercy.
"It's not true! It can't be true!" Muraki gave Tsuzuki a violent shake. "No one can please you the way I do! No one!"
Tsuzuki held out his arms – the one comfort he could safely offer. "Come here. You've depleted your energy again, haven't you?"
Muraki half-slumped against Tsuzuki, exhausted. With his arrogance punctured, his adrenaline drained, he was a shadow of himself. "But I...need you more. More than anyone..." His voice was little more than a feeble whimper. "I must feed." His teeth nibbled the side of Tsuzuki's neck.
"It's all right. Open yourself up to me, and you'll never go hungry again."
Muraki nipped him hard, but didn't pull away. His tongue licked at the drops of blood oozing from the wound. "Feed me," he whispered. "I must feed."
Unseen to Muraki, Tsuzuki closed his eyes in fervent relief. "Of course. I'll feed you as much as you want - my way."
Back in Meifu, Hisoka was cleaning up the test tubes and flasks. Watari carried a stack of printouts over to the bench.
"Come look, Bon! I've got your results right here."
Hisoka dried his hands on a paper towel. "Is that my mineral analysis?" He peered at the bar graph and the many symbols printed along its axes. "So am I normal? I've got readings for most of the minerals."
"Yes, you're within the normal range for all of them. And so am I." Watari showed him a similar graph with his name on it. "003's results are a bit different, but since she's a different species that's not so unexpected. I'm sure she's in good health anyway."
Seated on Watari's shoulder, 003 took great care to preen her remaining feathers.
"I ran the analysis on our samples a second time, and the outcomes were the same. That means that the method I'm using gives reliable and reproducible results." He sighed and pulled out two more graphs. "So that means these results must be valid."
The bars in one graph were mere stubs sitting on the horizontal axis. In the other graph, bars were completely absent.
"There's widespread deficiency in all essential minerals," Watari explained. "This subject must be severely malnourished. I'm not even sure such a result is compatible with life!" He chuckled sheepishly. "Mind you, mineral analysis using hair isn't widely used in medicine. It doesn't have the same reliability as serum readings. So we shouldn't take these results too seriously on their own. If the owner of the hair has no symptoms, then it's probably the test that contains the anomaly, not him."
Hisoka noticed that no name was listed at the top of these graphs - only the names 'SUBJECT A1' and 'SUBJECT A2.' "Whose hair is it?" he asked.
"I wish I knew. Tsuzuki didn't tell me anything-"
"Don't treat me like a child. It's him, isn't it?" Hisoka took a deep breath in, then out. He couldn't even bring himself to say the man's name, so deep was his revulsion. "You and Tsuzuki were investigating him behind my back!"
"Now you're jumping to conclusions, Bon! Tsuzuki only asked me to carry out this test this morning...well, yesterday morning now. He never told me the subject's name-"
"Long fine hair, like platinum thread! How many people do we know with hair like that?" Hisoka scrunched one of the hair sample printouts with his fist. "What the hell are you testing his hair for? Who cares if he's starving for food? I only wish those results were real, and he's as dead as all the poor people he's killed!" He ripped the sheets of paper apart.
"Take it easy, Bon! Get a grip on yourself!" Watari stood up. "Lose control of your emotions, and you'll only be justifying Tsuzuki's decision to keep you in the dark! The last thing he'd want is for you to be upset like this! He's always wanted to protect you!"
"Protect me?" Hisoka began pacing the floor, visibly agitated. "Is that all I am - a helpless babe who needs to be protected? Why won't he ever ask me for help? Doesn't he trust me? Does he think I'm useless?"
"Hush, Bon. That's not true."
"Then tell me what he's thinking, Watari-san! Tell me, because he never tells me anything! He just goes around wearing his big goofy smile, all cheerful and happy, and it's so obvious he's covering up his true face!" He lowered his head, shoulders hunched. "I know I'm younger, and spiritually a lot weaker...but I really believed things would be different after the Kyoto case..."
Watari placed a hand on his shoulder. Hisoka flinched, but Watari ignored it.
"Sit down, Bon. I'll try to explain what I know about the way Tsuzuki's mind works. When you understand, you won't have to keep blaming yourself for being a bad partner. You're not the only one he's driven to distraction, you know."
Hisoka allowed himself to be led to Watari's desk chair. 003 landed on his shoulder and hooted gently, trying to offer what comfort she could. Watari returned with a mug of hot water and a teabag for them both.
"I know it's not the best, but it's all I have."
"It's fine." Hisoka took a sip. "It's a bit sweet, isn't it?"
"Ahh, that must be the licorice." Watari grinned sheepishly. "I like sweet things."
"Just like Tsuzuki," Hisoka murmured. He took another sip. "You're alike in a lot of ways. I guess if anyone's going to understand him, it'll be you."
Watari's joviality changed into a thoughtful wariness.
Hisoka put down the mug. "Well, start explaining. Tell me what makes Tsuzuki tick."
Watari began talking, and Hisoka listened. But it became difficult to focus on what Watari was saying. He took another sip of tea to keep awake. It didn't help. It had been a long day, and he was more of a morning person. His head began to nod, and his eyelids drooped. Within minutes he was dozing head down on the desk.
"It's all right, Bon." Watari's voice was soothing as he took the mug away. "It's way past your bedtime, and mine as well. I'll take you home and tuck you in, okay?" He lifted Hisoka in his arms.
003 fluttered down onto Watari's shoulders and pecked at his ear.
"Hey! This is for his own good! There's not much he can do about it at this hour. Let him sleep it off, and he can wake up refreshed and ready to berate Tsuzuki all he wants tomorrow."
003 hooted and flapped her wings.
"I don't like deceiving him either, but I had no other choice. They're willing to look the other way for Tsuzuki, but I doubt they'd extend the same leniency to Bon." He sighed. "Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki. For this you owe me a year's supply of sweets."