Disclaimer: Hakuouki is a visual novel game by Idea Factory. (They make a bunch of cute guys! Drools. So I always look up new series just so I can stare at them~) Hakuouki then was adapted into an Anime by Studio DEEN. And today, the Anime series is licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America. (I got this information from Wikipedia and I believe the information is accurate. I wouldn't know though!)
To Wings Of Silver Wishes: When you reach to this chapter at your own pace, I just wanted to thank you for taking your time to read all of this. Your reviews are very adorable!
To Aen Silver Fire: I can't believe you're still here reading this. XD Thank you so much for taking your time to leave a review!
To Everyone: And thanks to those who have favorite and followed this fanfic!
"Forever" will not keep us connected
Chapter 18
Jumping from the air and into an alleyway, Kyou landed on his feet and stood up straight as he looked over his right shoulder. "Amagiri," he called, narrowing his eyes to the shadowy figure. The tall man walked out of the dark and his blue eyes met the magenta eyes of Kyou's. They kept their distances and no one spoke. "Tsk," Kyou moved to face him. "Aren't you supposed to be back in your clan? What are you doing here? And why were you with Ren?"
"So, you had seen me together with that human?" Kyuuju closed his eyes, moving his arms to his chest to cross them. "Then I do not have to explain everything."
Kyou smirked, his fingers slightly touched his gun on the side. "You're… not in Haru's control, are you?" he inquired. When Kyuuju slowly opened his eyes, Kyou's smile became wider. There was a sudden feeling that told Kyou he should have never chased after this Oni. "Who is Haru? How did she end up controlling you?"
Footsteps echoed behind Kyou. He felt the wind running up the back of his neck and his eyes now glared to Kyuuju. "Forgive me for this, Shiranui," Kyuuju moved into a fighting stance, bringing his arms up in front of him.
With a rapid turn, Kyou felt the bigger threat was behind him. Not Amagiri Kyuuju. So he took out his gun and quickly pulled the trigger into the darkness.
[…^…]
Kanon was pacing through the halls on the third floor and eventually calmed herself because she got lost. She twirled around and blinked a few times. Just as she went to a corner, she caught sight of the two same young women. "Oh, there you are," the young woman in the pink kimono waved with a big smile.
"Your companion was worried about you," the young woman in the yellow kimono notified as all of the girls walked up to each other.
"What companion?" Kanon blinked.
"Okita-san, we think that was his name," they both said at the same time.
Kanon flattened her eyes and frowned. They had to remind her. "Well, I'm tired. Can the two of you take me to my bedroom?" she inquired, glancing around.
Both young women nodded and gestured, "Right down this hall."
Smiling, Kanon walked ahead and spotted a door up ahead. That was convenient. She could not wait to sleep in a cozy place. While the two young women followed behind her, Kanon smell something pleasant in the air. It was not similar to the scent of a flower. Maybe it was incense? Looking back, she inquired, "What's that smell?"
The yellow-eyed girl replied rather sweetly, "It our Sleeping Dragon. It is rare incense we only use for special guest."
"Oh?" Kanon turned her eyes back to the front. The room was within reach and she slid the door open. It was quite the spacious room. The walls were dark brown, with black art of large trees. The lanterns in the room made the room very dim, but Kanon easily spotted a round low table, four black and white seat cushions, and a large futon to the right. In the center of the table, there was small covered golden-brown cauldron and wisps were softly rising into the air through the holes of the cauldron. There was a black tea set next to it too.
The young woman in the pink kimono giggled when Kanon rushed to the cauldron on the low table. "Is there anything you need?" she inquired.
Sniffing the wisps, Kanon smiled as she sat on seat cushion. "Nah, I'm good," she waved. Before they moved though, Kanon looked over to them. "Oh, wait… this room is mine? What about the other men?"
"You're a woman," the two of them obviously told her.
"Oh, right," Kanon cracked a smile. How thoughtful of them to have arranged everything. It was almost perfect. Kanon beamed and said, "Alright. That is all. Thank you so much for tonight!" The young women both bowed and left the room, sliding the door close. Kanon sniffed the incense again and giggled softly. "Wow, smells so unique… I wonder how people make these kinds of stuff?"
Kanon rested her head on her arms and stared at the wisps that danced in the air and disappearing as they expanded. It was beautiful. The wisps were gray and looked so comforting. And she stared at them a while longer. Blinking, she felt her eyes were getting tired. She must be very sleepy now, but the wisps were so beautiful. And warm. Kanon chuckled and played with the wisps quietly with her left fingers, wanting to stay up just a little longer.
[…^…]
Still in the bath room, Souji finally was able to dress himself and left out the door. "Kanon…" he mumbled, shaking his aching head.
"Oh, she's already tucked in."
Souji looked up at the two same young women who had provided them the service for tonight. He blinked and managed to stand up by himself. He looked to the left and then to the right before staring at them. "She went to sleep already?" he inquired. They nodded to him with a smile. "…Did she say anything?"
The pink-eyed girl had to giggle a bit. "No, but when we mentioned you, she didn't look so happy," she told him.
While he sighed, the yellow-eyed girl nodded politely, "Yes. So it's best for you to sleep as well. Shall we take you to your friends?"
"Ah… yeah," Souji closed his tired eyes, nodding. Maybe Kanon was still upset. It was strange though, because it was just a peck on the cheek. Just how offended could a girl get from that? Opening his eyes again, he waved his hand, "Okay. Take me to Hajime and Saburo-kun." Which reminded him, where did Kyou go again? That bastard just ran off without telling any of them.
[…^…]
When doors slide opened to a bedroom, Hajime was sitting on his ankles. He looked up and saw Souji walking in lazily. The young women slide the doors back closed and Souji grabbed the futon by Saburo's sleeping body. "…Souji, where's Shiranui and Kanon-san?" Hajime questioned.
"Hmm… Kanon's sleeping in another room," Souji mumbled, putting his face into the pillow.
Hajime slightly turned his head, hoping to see Kyou just pop out of nowhere. "And Shiranui?" he queried.
Taking a moment to register his words, Souji moved his mouth away from the pillow. "He ran off somewhere," Souji replied, closing his eyes.
"…Souji," Hajime called. But then the snores of the two sleeping men were the only respond. Hajime softly sighed and moved to stand up. 'We can't leave her alone like this,' he told himself, reaching for the door. Hajime walked out quietly and closed it shut. Taking a few steps, he made his way around to find those two young women. 'Where did they leave Kanon at? This place is filled too many men.'
Around the corners he went. Everything appeared the same and the place seemed like a maze. The moment he got around another corner, his eyes widened a bit at Kyuu and Kyuuju. The two Onis were walking over to him casually and Hajime narrowed his eyes. "Oh, Saito," Kyou smirked. "What's up?"
"…I'm looking for Kanon-san," Hajime said, standing still. He sensed no danger from them, but he was surprised to see Amagiri Kyuuju. Hajime's eyes fixed on Kyuuju's gaze and he asked, "Why are you here?"
Kyou answered instead, "I saw him and I thought maybe he could help us as a backup. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Hajime let out a grunt and Kyou scoffed. "Well, leave Kanon to me. You and Amagiri should keep an eye on the drunken guys. They're pretty defenseless themselves."
Hajime slowly stared at him. "True," he quietly agreed. And Kanon was not drunk. She carried her own weapons as well. And if Kyou was going to stick with Kanon, at least his gunshots could instantly wear off any offenders.
"Well, I'll go and find Kanon right away," Kyou waved, walking off.
As he left them, Hajime gave Amagiri Kyuuju a quiet look. "Good to see you again," Kyuuju nodded to regard him. "Shiranui mentioned little about the situation. Would you explain the details?"
"Of course," Hajime answered courteously. He moved his upper body and glanced to him. "First, we will head back to the others. Then we may speak of this in private."
[…^…]
Guarding the room where Kanon was, the young women heard footsteps and smiled to where it came from. In front of them, the light of the lanterns revealed Yuma's face when he approached them. His eyes moved down to the woman in the yellow kimono. She was holding a tray with a cup of hot water. As for the woman in the pink kimono, she was also holding a tray and only a wrapped paper was on it.
"What's this?" Yuma inquired, gradually gazing to the two of them.
The young woman in the yellow kimono smiled innocently, "Lady Haru believe you will not be arouse enough."
"Which is why she told us to prepare this for you, Yuma," the young woman in the pink kimono snickered with a smirk.
Yuma stared at the trays once again and looked almost angry. He could not believe this was what Haru had in mind. He did not know until now. "Haru… wants me to…?" he murmured in disgust.
The two women smiled at the time. "Yes," they nodded, speaking in unison. "She wants you to sleep with that girl with the cursed Oni blood." A hint of rage radiated through his silver eyes and the two girls both stepped back with the same smiles. "Yuma, please drink it."
He gritted his teeth, but then Haru's voice laughed. 'Hurry up. Or do you want me to actually make you do it?' Haru sneered. Yuma right hand turned into a fist and his nails dug into his skin. 'This is actually for the best. You'll be fulfilling your great-great-great grandfather's younger brother's wish. To marry her and have kids, don't you think?'
"Haru, why are you doing this?" Yuma asked loudly, his body frozen with anger.
'That's none of your business, Yuma,' she playfully replied.
He glared at the two young women in front of him, who continued to wear innocent smiles on their faces. He did not move an inch. His thoughts formed a train because he was confused about something. Why could Haru just not use her mind-control over Kanon? Why stoop this low? Or was it just because Haru enjoyed harming others physically and mentally? Had Haru reached to her mind-controlling limit? What was the use for him to even commit such a sickening act?
'I'll only give you an hour,' Haru firmly warned. The pink-eyed woman held the tray with one hand and begun unfolding the paper on it, revealing the red powders. She took it and poured them into the cup of hot water, which the yellow-eyed woman was holding up. 'If you do not do this on your own will, I'll make you do it until she breaks.' She made it sound like she was compassionate enough.
Lowering his eyes to the ground, Yuma bit his tongue. 'I… can't,' he thought bitterly. His eyes turned golden and the back of his hair grew long. His two horns emerged from his forehead and the two young women took sidesteps away to avoid getting harm by him. "I won't do it," his demonic voice growled. "I'll do anything, but nothing like this!" He hoped using any strength he had as an Oni could break free from Haru somehow.
His mind was soon constricted, bringing a sharp pain in his head and he fell on his knees with a loud thud. He touched his head with both hands and groaned, holding back his cry. 'You can't escape from my mind-control, Yuma,' she chuckled. Her voice was free of worry and only confidence. 'This is your final warning.'
Yuma glared and shut his eyes closed. The pain was still caused by her power and continued to accelerate until he said he would give in to her. No matter how much he tried to get a grip, she would only make the pain worse. Not only that, her threat caused a great concern for him. People would hate him if he did something to Kanon. No one would ever forgive him for this very night. Yuma cursed himself for meeting Haru and his fist hit the ground as hard as possible.
"I'll do it," Ren called. The ache in Yuma's head stopped and he panted with his eyes at the ground, his saliva dripping at the corner of his lips. Ren walked to them and gave the two young women a serious look. "I'll do that damn dirty job, Haru."
She let out a burst of laughter. 'I wish, but I'm sorry, Ren,' her voice rung in their minds. 'But Yuma's special. I want him to do it.'
Ren glared and could not utter a word. There was silence and Yuma was catching his breath. "But I…"
"It's fine, Ren…" Yuma told him, wiping his mouth. Ren widened his eyes as Yuma moved up to his feet. He breathed heavily and felt very faint. Yuma walked forward to the room slowly. The young woman in the yellow kimono walked to him to offer the drink, but Yuma ignored her and slide the door open.
"Yuma!" Ren walked forward.
"Ren, you're a decent man," Yuma glanced to him, his eyes glaring. "Just be quiet."
The two women blinked, "Um…" Yuma slid the door closed and never took the cup from them. "Lady Haru," the two young women looked at each other.
'Haha, let him do what he wants,' Haru laughed amusingly. 'I'll give him privacy and leave everything to him.'
"Yes, Lady Haru," the young women smiled with a nod.
Ren grunted and turned around to walk away. 'Damn you, Haru,' Ren cursed at her. 'Damn you to hell.' She laughed again and Ren clenched his teeth, walking faster. Being under her strict command was too suffocating. So he ran faster as if she was behind him.
He ran pass Kyou, who was in another hall. Kyou's eyes were staring furiously at the ground and he said nothing as Ren just ran off. 'Everything was planned from the start,' Kyou shut his eyes closed.
From the moment Ayumu was being chased to his own death and to the point Kanon received the winning paper draw. It was all a set up. Who was this Haru? How did she know when to strike? How did she know Sanosuke was unable use his power tonight to sense Ren and Yuma in the city? Did she actually have eyes and ears everywhere?
Slowly, Kyou opened his eyes. He was unable to find the answer as Haru forced him to think otherwise.
In the room, Yuma was leaning back against the door. He heard all of them leaving and his eyes gazed down to Kanon. She was sleeping with her arms and head on the round table. She looked too peaceful and unaware what was going to happen to her. The wisps cauldron was gone and the room felt so heavy. While he was still in his Oni form, he walked to the table and his arms moved to pick her up into his arms. As he walked to the futon on the right side of the room, she appeared to be in a deep sleep and did not respond. He lay down her down gently on the futon and bit on his tongue.
Not being able to look at her sleeping face, Yuma sat next to her for a while, facing the other way. He could sense Haru was not prying, but she warned she gave him an hour to prepare himself. It would happen sooner or later. There was no way of getting out of it. He never had hated someone so much as well as hating himself either.
Yuma slowly stared to Kanon and tried to relax himself. He did not want to feel his hatred of Haru if he was going to do this. But still, he could not believe that sick woman. Erasing his rage over again, he gradually turned his body and put his right hand next to Kanon's head and hovered over her. "…I'm sorry," he whispered, gritting his teeth again. "Children of the Time Healer… I'm so sorry…"
Author's note: Sorry for the disturbing scene. The next chapter should be a bit more pleasant. I promise.
Thanks for reading!