Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Laura Marling's "Alas, I Cannot Swim", her song "Tap At My Window" from said album, nor Eyeshield 21.
It was driving him mad, the constant distractions.
Tap, tap, tap.
Then again, it was designed to.
Juumonji wasn't stupid, he knew that the deal he had made with the voice was risky, but he just couldn't let Sena slip though his fingers, not with the glimmer of hope that had been granted to him.
He focused on the block of clay in front of him. How the hell do art students do this for fun? Juumonji couldn't even figure out where to start.
Tap, tap, tap.
It was that book he found, really. He didn't know where it had come from, but one day, one of the days that had been a blur of apathy and sharp, cutting grief, he found the book in his hand.
It was a stupid idea to begin with, and he hadn't really thought that it would work, but when the voice—somewhere between kind and cruel, that echoed in Juumonji's mind and chilled his bones with a frost of fear—offered the deal, Juumonji just couldn't say no.
Tap, tap, tap.
The deal? Simple enough: Sena's soul was still intact, and the kind/cruel summoning would bring him back, if Sena had a corporal body to inhabit.
Of course it wouldn't be that simple—if sculpting for the first time in his life with nothing less that absolute perfection was simple—there would be the kind/cruel's minions—demons distracting Juumonji. If he gave up before Sena was created, or if he failed to complete Sena before the forty days were over, the voice would take Juumonji too, and would never let him see Sena again.
Tap, tap, tap.
Gently, Juumonji ran his hand over the clay, and just for a brief moment, felt Sena's baby-soft cheek under his fingers, and saw that soft curve under the block.
Juumonji picked up the scalpel-like knife and made the first cut into the terra-cotta to form the cheek. Madness could tap at his window, and maybe before he finished, he might let him in. Juumonji didn't think he would, though, his heart was taken.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A/N: Another really short chapter with background info and some more sads. Hey, at least we're within a couple weeks of plot? Actually, you know, fuck this. Two chapters this week. If you want someone to thank, go love up on Bragi151 some.