A/N: Hello, meowmeow814 again! Viewer discretion is again advised as there are some graphic violent scenes here.
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"Wha, wait, but Kagura-san, what hap-"
"What do you think." The eyes stared at him coldly, mockingly, speaking all that was needed about her opinion of him with just one look.
Okita's throat dried. "But the cloak and hat-"
She stared him down into silence. Nausea unsteadily swelled up in his stomach in realization.
"Mhm yeah, it was real difficult to take off the cloak of a dead person, not to mention out in the rain for a month! without getting ourselves covered in that filth," Kamui piped in cheerfully. "Now that was some father-daughter bonding wasn't it-"
An explosion blasted through the snack shop and his last words were cut off. Screams rang as customers fled. Debris billowed in the air.
"... I am arresting you. You're insane."
"Eeeh, but the night's still so young; we can't let it end so soon can we?"
Kamui sprang from behind the counter, claws and fangs outstretched like a tiger. Okita spun around but it was already too late; they slammed onto the ground.
"Now if you can't listen to me Okita-san, I am going to have to hurt you physically while hurting you mentally, and I'm sure you don't want that," Kamui said pleasantly, one hand clenching Okita's neck and a knee on firmly on his back. "Are we clear? Nod for yes, or shake your head for no," he continued patronizingly.
Okita clenched his jaw furiously, but slowly nodded.
"Good good! But I think I'll stay this way for now, yes." The hand around his neck loosened slightly, but his fingers were still a collar.
"So, hasn't a detail been bothering you Okita-san? You know, like why the girl and I tracked you down in the first place?" Kamui waited for a response but went on full steam at the silence. "So uncooperative are you? So not fun. But anyway, I have a secret to tell you, Okita-san." Okita shivered as Kamui's breath caressed his sensitive ear. It reeked of meat and blood. It was disgusting.
"There's one thing wrong with the girl's story. One, rather important, thing I must say." Gleeful, why is he so gleeful when he talks? "I wonder, I simply cannot wait to watch your heart drop at this." I don't want this, no, I don't want this… "Guilt tear you apart, pain and agony everyday." For the first time in his life, he wanted to run, to hide, because he knew that this enemy was one he couldn't kill. Kamui paused dramatically before finally saying, "When sister came down to the ship, it wasn't anyone's death anniversary. There is no cemetery on the Yato planet. We're a race of carnage and death; there wouldn't be enough graves in the first place. But do you know what day it was, that day?"
Kamui jeered at him. Dread. Dread and cowardice. Only dread and cowardice filled his heart and Kamui knew it.
"It was your birthday, Okita-san. I killed her on your birthday. She came to the ship because it was the closest thing from Earth."
Colors withered into only monochrome, lights and shadows. Sounds became muted as though he was plunged into deep waters, voices bouncing dully around him incoherently.
Kamui was speaking once again, his voice muffled as though only a mouth was moving. "Oh, no need to be so distraught Okita-san! I'm sure she wanted to die anyway, to forget your existence. After all, isn't that what you did?" Okita mutely watched, glassy-eyed, rusty red only reflecting a devil that escaped the depths of hell. There was no stopping the unraveling.
"Poor, poor, Okita-san, wanting to appear like such a pitiful little amnesiac when you were secretly avoiding it weren't you?" Kamui chuckled, shaking his head and wagging a finger. "You only remembered her pretty name because that's all you had to; you would never really remember her and would stupidly wonder, as years went by, what she was to you. What a sad, sad dog." Kamui threw back his head and laughed, a laugh of solid insanity. "This is the funniest thing thing I've heard my entire life! Running in circles quite literally, aren't you, the dog trying to catch his tail. A tragic hero who drags himself around pathetically, a deer shot in the leg."
The blunt ache in Okita's heart verified the ugly truth, even as his mind protested weakly, not true, not true, I don't know her, I've never seen her!, even as his head turned from side to side, even as his mouth worded a silent denial.
Kamui watched him in amusement, cruelty lighting his cerulean eyes. "So much disbelief, so much disbelief. And you know what? You knew that she loved you but she never knew about you. And you had the audacity to forget her? You ruined her life with regret but you didn't suffer a thing."
"It's not true, it's not true-"
"What's with people and denying the truth? Why do humans love denial so much?" Kamui gazed down boredly and begun to sharply poke Okita's back with a claw. "I would've thought a swordsman like you would've been more accepting since you've killed as many as me. But here I am. Fine as daylight, no depression for me! All ya gotta do is just bother with the non-important stuff and do away with the rest. Forget it. Wait, you do realize that I'm using all this "forgetting" crap with you to hurt you right?"
He looked down in concern now. "I am hoping that you'll fight me like a rabid dog? And you're not going to let this ruin our future fight? I mean, I forget anything and everything that's "important" and only remember stupid things. That's why I remember the girl. I remember, therefore she must be stupid and unworthy. Boom. Simple. Right, gir-"
Kamui couldn't finish his sentence as Okita rolled and flipped back to his feet. Kamui somersaulted and landed on a table, a wild excitement flashing in his predatory eyes.
"Up for a fight now? Are you angry yet? Do you want to kill someone yet?"
"...No. I just remembered something." The memories were still running before his eyes as they rushed back, no, as they revived back within him. The memories that he had stifled and tried to suffocate under dust. The memories of their lazy afternoons on the bench, their cutthroat dancing in the streets, or maybe that was just every place, every time they ever met. But out of all else, he remembered that cold, offbeat day of rain. Their cold, offbeat day of rain. And the unfinished vow.
"Oh, that's exciting! Tell me more about her; I hadn't seen her in ages before I killed her-"
Okita lunged forward, the sword singing in the silent air. Kamui chuckled as he leapt back, energy bouncing in each step. They danced to the raging overture, to the spinning serenade of violence wooing gore, to the waltz of blood. Nails and swords slashed through everything. Rip. There goes a chair. Slice. And the table. Crash. And the counter. And all the furniture.
Eventually, they paused. Blood was cascading from both bodies by then, making the polished floor even slicker with each step. The air stank with the reek of absolute filth, and the metallic odor of blood was a fog. Okita held his sword arm with the other. It held a long gash, lividly pulsing. Kamui looked down at his hands and counted six torn out nails. There was, of course, no one left in the store except for them and Kana, who observed blankly. She absentmindedly began to pick her own nails.
"Heh, seems I wasn't... wrong about you Okita-san… I'm glad I came to Earth... to find you." Ragged pants fragmented his sentence, but he grinned. "I hope... you're not done yet Okita-san. Because I certainly am not."
Okita smiled grimly. He swung his sword and a spray of blood arced in the air. "But of course not. Neither am I." He surged up and sliced through the wine bottles, the whole wall crashing down. Shards of glass impaled his arms and grazed his cheeks. Debris swelled up, enshrouding the entire shop.
"Ha, if you think that something like that would hurt-" Kamui's laugh cut off as a sword submerged from the dust and jumped back as it shot towards him, seeking his neck.
Thud. "Kamui, I should be the one laughing at you for taking me lightly."
Okita's chuckle caught in his mouth as a chilling snicker replied. The dust cleared. His blood froze. He did succeed in driving Kamui back but…
"You really are hilarious." Blood trickled down the sword as black hair swirled. Kana stared at Okita expressionlessly, a mirror reflecting everything but her. Kamui laughed from behind her.
"So what will you do now, Okita-san? You've trapped me; now you just need to stick the sword a little farther down to kill me."
"You monster," Okita whispered in horror."How could you use your daughter like that."
"The longer you wait, the less time the girl has to live if you want to save her, Okita-san. Or you could just end all suffering by killing us both." Kamui smiled as pleasantly as a psychopath could. His voice dropped to a whisper."As a reward for such good work dog, I will tell you something. The only way I can atone is to do worse and worse to destroy myself more and more and to smile wider and wider. If you wanted an explanation for my monstrousness." His sunny smile bobbed before Okita.
Kana choked and blood spilled, but not before she gasped, "Kill me, this is all I've lived for, I've lived only to kill him. I've sworn... as a daughter to end his insanity… put him to rest."
Hate and guilt and blasting rage crashed with the horror of hurting, or frankly killing, his lover's niece. Okita's hand trembled with anger and fear, Kana wincing with every jerk. The blood was now a constant stream as Kamui laughed and laughed and laughed in the nightmare. He knew. He knew everything about him.
"I… I,I can't…" Okita ripped off a piece of his clothes and slowly pulled back the sword, stepping forward to staunch Kana's blood.
"Oh, good job, very good job, that was so much fun wasn't it-"
Slash.
As Kana fell, her arm splattered with hot blood as it swung forward limply. Like father, like daughter. She smiled grimly in satisfaction as the switch knife fell and Okita caught her. Kamui slumped against the wall, triumph at last shining in his eyes before the sky clouded.
"Kana?! Wha- no, this isn't the time, here, I'll take you to the hospital-"
"Okita-san."
He stopped his frantic movements and stared at her. She almost laughed at his expression, for some reason. She felt herself lifting up, a feather in a warm updraft.
"Okita-san, Ka-, no, Mami, she always talked about you. Not everything was good but she looked happy, I think. Thank you... for making Mami's life bright." For the first time in ages, she felt herself warmly smile and she brushed his cheek. "I'll be sure to send her your love when I reach her… So bury me... with...umbrella. Need to return... " You can't, no, no, no. Her eyes closed, a crystal rolling down her cheek. Wait, stop, open your eyes. "I can finally see the light above the sea…" You can't, you've smiled for the first time for me, this can't be the las- Her breathing stopped.
"Kana…" he choked. The world lurched as he slumped forward into a puddle of mixed blood.