"I'll kill him!" Ruki claimed, "No I take that back. I'll kill them both! I really will." It looked like he would follow the threat too at least from where Kai was sitting. Ruki stood in front of a vanity table, glaring into the mirror as he wiped the makeup from his face. It was a bit of a creepy sight.
"And I'll help you." Aoi piped in. He didn't look as wrathful as Ruki though. Cigarette sticking out of from between his lips, Aoi strummed the guitar cradled on his lap.
"I would love to help you too Ruki, but unfortunately we need to find them first." Kai said with a sigh.
He was exhausted not from playing an awesome live show but from all the anxiety his two missing band mates had given him. First Uruha had gone missing. He was sure he saw him go into his room at the hotel. They waited for him to show up but when he didn't Kai had tried to call him only for Uruha to babble drunken nonsense to him. He must have been drunk, that irresponsible ass. There was no other explanation for the weirdness he sprouted out.
Then Reita had hijacked his phone and started calling Uruha Kiki...was it another nickname? Or was he talking to a bird? He wouldn't be surprised if Reita got himself another bird. Right after that he casually walked out the door and disappeared without a word. It fell upon poor Kai as the leader to explain and apologize to the staff and their manager their disappearances.
"Where could they have gone?" Ruki questioned loudly, disturbing Kai's thoughts.
"I don't have a clue. You don't think...ya know...they've been kidnapped by fan girls, do you?" Kai asked fearfully.
Aoi shuddered at his words, "Dear God, I hope not."
"They'd have deserved it, the bastards." Ruki said viciously, although he seemed a bit fearful himself. Rabid fan girls were no laughing matter.
"I think I'll go look for them." said Aoi, carefully placing his guitar back on its stand. Kai glanced at the still fuming Ruki, mumbling curses and every now and then making angry faces into the mirror. He didn't want to be left alone with the little monster. He might end up being the focus of Ruki's wrath. Kai like to think of himself as a peace lover, he didn't want to have to beat Ruki with his drumsticks.
"I'll go with you." He announced.
"What's the point? We already looked everywhere!" Ruki argued.
"Then we'll look again." Aoi said calmly.
"Why the hell are you being so bloody calm?"
"Because you took the 'pissed off' position! And also I'm a cool person." Kai snorted at that but didn't voice out his disagreement. Instead, he began taking off his stage outfit in exchange for his normal clothes. Ruki seemed to have decided it was hopeless to argue as well.
"I'll check back at the hotel." Aoi informed him.
"Alright. Then I'll look around here." Aoi nodded, leaving the dressing room.
"Wait Aoi! I'm coming with you! I want to sleep." Ruki ran out yelling after him.
Kai heaved another sigh as he wondered around the arena. The bustle before the show was meant to begin had dwindled. The audience had long left the building in disappointment. He tried to recall what Reita had been saying on the phone. Something about taking care of his friend then the whole Kiki thing.
He came to a halt outside the men's room. He contemplated whether to check in there or not, although he highly doubted Reita would be in there. You can never know though, it could be that the toilet door got stuck or he didn't check before doing his business and later find out there're no tissues or water to clean up. If Kai actually found Reita in there for that last reason he swore he'd kill him with his bare hands. Imagine they had to cancel the show because Reita couldn't wash up after doing his business. With that thought in mind, he went in.
It was deserted and unexpectedly clean. He meant to turn back the way he came but stopped short. There was something strange, he just couldn't point out what. He walked towards the sinks. His reflection peered back at him from the mirrors behind the sinks. There really was nothing suspicious in there but he could not dispel that sensation that something wasn't quite right. The atmosphere almost felt oppressive like something tangible. As he frowned into the mirror, it seemed as if the air moved behind him. He whipped around, heart thudding painfully. Nothing.
Don't be stupid Kai, he scolded himself, Air can't move...well it can but you can't see it. He closed his eyes calming his heart. A slight whisper of rustling tree branches made him open his eyes. It had not come from outside, there were no windows from where the sound could have come from. Besides, it had felt as if he was standing in the middle of a forest. It was then that something caught his eye.
A pink hair clip lay on the floor. He had last seen the thing dangling in Reita's hair keeping it in place during sound check. His head was about to go into panic mode then realized it was the men's room. Reita could have come in at anytime to take a leak. It wasn't that strange to find the hair clip there. You've been watching too many horror movies Kai, he told himself. He leaned back against the sink counter and closed his eyes again forcing himself to relax. He wished he hadn't.
Kai heard the rustling again. This time it didn't stop. He almost whimpered when he did open his eyes. He found himself starring into an unfamiliar landscape. The sink counter behind him had apparently turned into a tree trunk easily 5 times his size. In fact there lay a dense forest behind him. He swallowed his rising panic seeing that he was now atop what appeared to be a hillside. If he took a few steps forward, he would probably fall into a ditch.
"I warned him not to leave a trail. People can follow." A voice laced with irritation spoke near him. He jumped involuntarily at the unexpected voice. With a frantically beating heart, he turned to find the owner of the voice. The man wore a white cloth, kind of a dress really, tied at the waist by a golden belt. He didn't have the time to ask who the man was.
"I've been waiting for some random thing to come through. Even with his stupidity and arrogance, people are still all over him going all 'Lord Rei Lord Rei'" the man raged on, "I should be ripping his head off instead I'm being ever so nice and trying to fix his mess. And just who exactly are you?"
Kai wanted cry. He was well aware that he is a grown man and a famous rockstar at that but at the moment he just wanted to sit on the grass and bawl like a baby. He was tired and confused and this man wasn't making things any easier. Perhaps some of his emotions showed on his face, the other man's irritation seem to disappear as he took in Kai's appearance.
"I suppose you're a friend of his," said the man in a much calmer tone, "He went that way, to the Castle of Chrysalistia."
Kai found himself remembering something Uruha had been babbling about earlier, it sounded an awful lot like what the man just mentioned.
"Who are you?" Kai asked timidly.
The man's face broke into a smile, "Hermes, God of cunning, literature and patron of all travellers." Kai gawked dumbly. That's it, he had officially gone mad. It must've been the anxiety and stress from the day. He would lay the blame on his band mates.
"Now, I am also messenger of Zeus among other things. I don't have extensive time for idleness. Your friends are down there but I highly recommend you not follow their path. Your head would most likely end up as a decoration piece on the Marshal's wall. She's had a very eventful day. If you go straight through the forest, you'll find someone who can help. Fare well for now."
With that he evaporated into thin air. If it was possible Kai's eyes would have popped out of his head. This day could not get any worse. He crawled over to the edge of the hill. The hill overlooked a magnificent castle surrounded by a large moat. Nestled in the safety of it's walls laid a city. He mourned for the loss of his sanity as he crawled back towards the forest. Even if all this was just in this head, he would still like his head attached to his body so he thought he would follow this Hermes's advice. Besides he didn't even know who this Lord Rei was that Hermes apparently thought was his friend. Who in their right mind would call Reita Lord Rei anyway? It was simply ridiculous.
The cold wind blew through the forest, making the leaves sing in a tranquil rustle. The light of the moon shone through the cracks in the dense canopy, illuminating the forest floor in sparse spots of glow.
The demon perched on top of the boulder heaved a sigh. Bored... so bored, he thought to himself. He disliked peace. This kind of serenity was disturbing for him. He wished something would interrupt it. As if his wish has taken effect, he sensed someone near. The person was walking towards him, on purpose or not, he didn't know. Either way, this ought to be interesting. Humans don't visit him, plus he doesn't feel like someone of this world.
He jumped down noiselessly from the large rock, the leaves around him flying off at his speed. He breathed excitedly, wondering who's coming and how he should welcome him. He could feel the person's emotions. It was all jumbled up and scared. Perfect.
Kai wondered in the forest, in as straight a line as he could predict. He felt kind of proud that he could actually navigate through the dense forest, he was a city person. It had never occurred to him that he might one day have to travel in a forest. After what felt like hours, although the darkness of the night did not seem to lighten any, he came upon a small clearing.
Boulders that were easily 3 times his height littered around the clearing along with a tiny pond serenely reflecting the sparse moonlight.
He applauded his mind for its vivid imagination of the place. It looked like a perfect setting for a spooky movie. He approached one of the boulders, thinking to lean on it for a while. He was exhausted. Something seemed to move at the edge of his vision. He caught a flash of colors. His heart thumped painfully in a panic.
"No, no, no, no, no" he found himself chanting. "Please don't be anything weird. Please." He pleaded pitifully.
The poor human was scared out of his mind. How fun. The demon snickered in the dark, happy to have found a game to entertain him. With a swish of his hand, he made the wind howl. It slips through the cracks in the boulders, letting out an eerie moan that echoed through the silent forest.
The human looks terrified, his eyes showed genuine fear for his life. The demon darted behind the boulders, making sure to produce as much spooky noises as possible as the human whirled his head around trying to follow his movements.
But soon, the demon stopped. This guy, for someone who seemed to be incredibly afraid, wasn't running away. At this point, most humans would have been in tears and dashing off bawling like babies. The demon was one to get bored with things easily.
"You," he decided to talk to the man, still trying to scare him some more, "You're trespassing." The demon jumped high, landing on one of the stone pillars. He stood, tall and slender, the moonlight casting his unearthly shadow onto the forest floor as the human is enveloped in long his silhouette.
"KYAAAAA!" Kai let out a very unmanly scream at the sudden voice. He almost felt ashamed for it a few seconds later, but he had no time to be feeling self conscious about his masculinity just yet. The thing, whatever it was, now stood on the pillar directly across from him. Kai didn't want to look closely. In movies it was always the curious ones that got killed. But he really was curious...
He shuddered involuntarily, then raised his eyes to the thing. Silhouetted against the moonlight, the thing carved a thin tall frame. His first thought was "ITS A GHOST!" but seeing as how the thing's shadow was on the grass, he dispelled that thought. He squinted trying to see its' face, cursing his mind for forgetting to put in his contact lens. The hair on the creature's head was oddly familiar though. Who wouldn't recognize that rainbow colored hair.
"Um...sorry for er...trespassing...But I have no idea where I'm going." He said timidly.
The demon was taken aback by the man's sudden girlish scream. One second ago he was thinking highly of this human for not screaming like a child. And he's just been proven wrong. The demon simply stared at the man for a few minutes before bursting out in laughter.
"Y-you s-scream like a five year old," he guffawed, falling on his back on the boulder as he clutched his stomach. The man didn't reply, probably embarrassed at his outburst.
The demon wiped away a tear he'd squeezed out in his mirth. He decided he wants a closer look at this interesting subject of a human. He leapt down from the boulder once more, landing right in front of the man in a strange crouch. Standing straight up again, he flipped the polychromatic hair out of his eyes and squinted at the human in curiosity, whose face had an expression the demon didn't expect. Recognition.
"MIYAVI!" Kai yelled all trace of fear gone from his system. Somehow he was so glad to see his friend, he was willing to forgive him for calling him a five year old. Kai was a very forgiving person. In a fit of sudden happiness and relief, he threw his arms around Miyavi's neck, thumping his back in what Reita always claimed was a manly hug.
The demon's eyes widened as his body stiffened from the human's touch. Nobody dared touch him, much less actually hold him in such a strange embrace. On top of that, this man was patting his back for some reason. Miyavi? Who is that? The demon wasn't even sure if it was a name. Or is it a form of greeting from where the human's from? Either way, the man didn't seem to have bad intentions. Why not humor him?
"Miyavi!" the demon replied merrily, returning his hug and making sure that it's ridiculously fierce. He thought he heard a slight yelp as the man was startled by his sudden embrace.
"Dude! You're smothering me here!" Kai struggled out of his overly enthusiastic embrace. To think he would have gotten used to Miyavi's over enthusiasm and his games by now. He was still glad to see him though.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he began then remembering the reason he was in this weird situation, added "Did you happen to see Reita and Uruha? The idiots went missing and we couldn't find them so we had to cancel our show." He blinked up at the taller man's face. Maybe it was just his imagination but somehow his friend looked a little different. He couldn't tell what it was though.
The demon tried to keep up his facade. It seems like the human believes he knows him. He furrowed his brows, wondering if this really was human. He wasn't talking like any human he knows, using strange words like 'dude'. But one name in his babble piqued the demon's interest. Reita huh... Is he talking about Lord Rei? The other name, however, was unfamiliar.
"I... too am here to search for Reika and Ubu... ka..." the demon said, realizing that he'd already forgotten the names the human had said. He was known for having an incredibly short attention span, but really, he needs to train himself to be more focused!
That gave him pause. Kai knew Miyavi was a less than reliable source of information but he was being stranger than usual. Where did he get 'Reika' and 'Ubuka' from anyway. Come to think of it, Kai hadn't really noticed until now that he had one heck of a weird outfit. He seem to be wearing some dark material cloth that meld to his skin and complete with a dark cloak held together by a small brooch in the shape of a skull distorted in a scream.
"Erm...are you alright? You didn't...like hit your head somewhere did you? Because if you did please tell me now I wouldn't abandon you for being insane. I'll still be your friend. I promise."
Friends? The demon's face lit up in a devilish leer. The human was genuinely concerned about him. Now is probably the time to rattle his brain a bit. The demon backed away from the man, moving his cloak in a loud swoosh followed by a powerful gush of wind cascading between them. Ah, he loved how the wind listens to his every movement.
"I'm perfectly fine," the demon replied to the man's question, making sure he can see that sinister grin plastered across his face. He was so enthusiastic to see how this human would react next. His eyes darkened slowly in a malicious shade of crimson, reflecting his excitement. Now you've seen a little bit of who I am, the demon mused, would he still insist I'm his friend?
Kai wished he was safely in bed, maybe cuddling into his numerous pillows. Miyavi seem to have really lost his mind. Kai thought he had lost his as well only awhile ago. Miyavi swished his cloak around as if it was meant to be an evil action. Judging by the creepy grin on his face, it was probably the intent. Coincidently the wind picked up as he moved. Kai didn't want to admit it but he was a tiny bit afraid of his friend by then. Insane people were dangerous. He thought he saw a glint of red in his eyes. He chalked it up to his tired mind. Its been over worked for the day.
"Come on Miyavi, I'm kinda really tired and beyond confused. I seriously don't know where the hell I am. Can you just take me back to the hotel? I saw this Hermes dude. He thinks hes the Greek god. Anyway he said something about meeting someone who can help me if I go this way. Any ideas?"
Right, I'm bored with him now; the demon thought to himself, his mood swings kicking in once again. So Miyavi is supposed to be his name it seems, and not a greeting. This human was beyond hopeless. Why does he keep thinking they're friends? He has never met him before.
"You bore me now," the demon voiced his thoughts exasperatedly, "You stopped being entertaining and you're beginning to aggravate me."
He circled the man slowly in a peculiar romp, scrutinizing him tediously. "First and foremost... I take pride in honesty. Yes, earlier I was lying to you. But that's all the more reason to be proud when I'm genuinely honest. So, I'll explain this to you, human. My name is not Miyavi. It is Ishitaka. Remember that because I dislike repeating myself," the demon said fluidly as he moved around the man, not giving him time to respond, "Secondly, I do not know this... Reiva and Ushuba or whatever persons. Finally! Hermes does not think he is the Greek God. He IS the Greek God."
The demon Ishitaka had ended up face to face with the confused human again. He crouched forward, bending slightly down to the human's height, so that their faces were merely inches apart. His dark red eyes gleaming in the moonlight, Ishitaka asked conclusively in a slight sneer, "Do you understand?"
Once again Kai was overwhelmed by the feeling of wanting to cry. Only this time, tears sprung to his eyes. This was his friend, who not only thought Kai was boring but was calling himself 'Ishitaka'. Even worse, the eyes peering at back at him were red, as if blood has spilled on his pupils. He desperately wished Ruki or Aoi had come with him. Maybe they could deal with this better than he could. He was completely at a loss as to how respond.
"I just want to go home." He said sadly, sagging to the soft grassy ground. He was trying his hardest not to let his tears fall.
The demon could do nothing but blink at the human in front of him whose eyes were now watery with tears. He was on the verge of crying. It was very adorable and was making him guilty. Being able to bring guilt into a demon's mind is a formidable feat indeed.
"You're like a 5 year old!" Ishitaka repeated heartily, laughing at the depressed man's face, the only way he knows how to deal with difficult situations.
"Very well!" the demon continued rapidly, earnestly putting his hand on the man's head and patting it, "From now on I shall dub you my younger brother! Your sadness amuses me. You shall follow me wherever I go and cry when I'm bored. How does that sound?"
When the man made no reply and just stared back at him strangely, Ishitaka added, "I may sound like I'm asking you politely, but in truth this is an order you have no right to refuse."
"Ok." Kai mumbled miserably. He didn't exactly want to be Miyavi's...no Ishitaka's younger brother and cry to amuse him but at least it was a familiar face. The thought of being his little brother was a little disturbing to say the least. The hand continued to pat his hair as if he was some kind of a pet, then again...Kai was kneeling in front of the man so who can blame him for treating him like one.
"Could you find Reita as well?" he asked, he couldn't help pouting.
The demon was very pleased with the man's consent to his order. It seems like he has been able to cheer him up.
"Reita?" Ishitaka asked perplexedly, letting go of the man's hair now to put his hand on his chin in deep thought, "Like I said, I do not know this man. Do you perhaps mean Lord Rei?"
This was the second time he had heard 'Lord Rei'. Kai just refused to believe that its Reita. But seeing as how similar the names were it couldn't hurt to find out who this Lord Rei was. Or Maybe it really was Reita who thought it'd be fun to makeup names...like Miyavi.
Kai got up from his kneeling position, dusting off dead leaves from his pants. "Maybe it is Lord...Rei. So can you...find him?"
Ishitaka grinned at the human. "I am Ishitaka, the demon who calls the fearful Cursed-Stone Sanctum home! One wave of my hand can make thousands cower in terror before me! One look from my eyes of vermillion can instill madness beyond madness into the most brilliant minds of the universe! So can I find Lord Rei? Or can't I? What do you reckon?"
The man just stared at him, a slightly awed look in his eyes. It didn't seem like he was admiring Ishitaka's conquests, but more like he's concerned of his mental health. It irritated the demon. Looks like he needs to explain and get straight to the point with this human.
"The answer is yes," the demon says monotonously in defeat, "Yes I can find Lord Rei."