"Chimi, I missed you." A voice said suddenly.
Chiyumi looked up from where she lay nearly asleep face down on the bed. There was no one near.
"I truly have missed you, even after what you did to me." The voice was closer, yet Chiyumi still couldn't see anyone. She sat upright, placing her back to the wall, one arm turning into a blade.
"Really, Chimi?" The voice was right in her ear now. "You would draw a weapon against me of all people? I thought you loved me… sister…" Chiyumi whipped her head to the side, but the voice was already coming from her other side.
"Shiyu, you're dead!" Chiyumi finally shouted out, her eyes closed as she did. When she reopened them, standing in front of her was her sister. "It's another trick." Chiyumi whispered.
"Oh, Chimi. It's no trick. I've missed you, even after what you did. And I love you still. I've come to take you away from this terrible, terrible place. I've come to rescue you so we can be a family again." Shiyumi smiled sweetly, holding her hand out to Chiyumi. "I've come to make the pain stop, I can show you how."
Chiyumi looked up as something washed over her and she giggled. "No more pain, sis? Just like before?"
"No more pain, Chimi. I promise you." Shiyumi's eye glinted black in the dull light of morning. "You'll never feel that pain again. I'll take it away."
Chiyumi gigged, reaching out to take her sister's hand. Somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, she knew this was wrong, that it wasn't right. She mentally screamed for help even as she went willing to her sister's embrace.
*knock*
Silence.
*knock, knock*
"Chiyumi?"
Silence.
*knock, knock, knock*
"This isn't the time for games, Chiyumi." *The rattle of keys*
Silence.
The door creaked open slowly as Sid pulled the keys from the lock. "You shouldn't be playing games right now, Chiyumi, this is a serious matter."
The room was empty.
"Stein!" Sid's voice broke through the scientists concentration and he dropped the vial he was holding, cursing at the sudden intrusion.
"What is it, Sid?" He asked, looking down at the shards of glass and spilled liquid.
"Chiyumi's gone. She disappeared last night. Lord Death has every able meister in the city looking for her. Seems he's actually angry over her disappearance, and wants her found immediately." Sid was breathing hard; it was obvious that he'd ran the entire way here.
Stein stood without a word and grabbed his lab coat. Leaving Sid behind him he went to leave and join the search when an arm snaked out in front of him.
"Wouldn't want you to go without a weapon at your side, Stein." Came the familiar voice.
"Then let's go, Senpai." Stein said, walking through the door.
"She won't be in the city." Was all that Stein said as they walked, heading away from the lab and the city proper. "She'll have ran somewhere else."
"Why would she have ran, Stein?" Spirit asked, hands in his pockets, matching the taller man's stride.
"She may not have. We faced a witch, remember? It's possible that Chiyumi was taken against her will." The light reflected off of his glasses and Stein sighed.
"I'm sure that you're right, Stein. After all, they hadn't sentenced her or anything and Lord Death himself seemed to want to give her another chance. She was obviously not herself when she killed those three men."
Stein stopped. "Senpai, Lord Death said he wasn't going to tell anyone the details of why she was being held captive. Including you." Spirit stepped back from Stein. "How could you know that? Only Lord Death and myself knew what happened."
"It's all over the news, Stein." Spirit hesitated. "Three men killed in a hospital, the only suspects a silver haired man with a screw and the patient? How could you have missed that?"
"I must be getting paranoid, Spirit." Stein said lazily, lighting a cigarette, then holding the pack out to Spirit.
Spirit took one, pulling a lighter from his own pocket and lit the cigarette. "You always have been, Stein."
"That's why I have you, Senpai. To make sure that the madness doesn't get any worse."
"I sure hope it doesn't." Spirit joked. "It becomes pretty painful to be your weapon partner when it does."
Stein's was a mirthless chuckle. The two men walked out into the deserts surrounding Death City, and on a whim from Stein, headed southwest.
The next few days took a toll. Neither man was a stranger to this kind of travel, and they had stopped to get supplies necessary for survival, but Stein wasn't one to make any type of conversation, especially now. And each night, Stein had a new nightmare.
The first one was a generic one; walking down an endless hall, intense heat searing the soles of his bare feet. The rush of cool air that he almost couldn't bear to feel the only promise of escape, seeming to come from a door that never got any closer.
The second one woke Stein in a cold sweat.
Chiyumi sat in a small cell, smaller even than the one that she had had at the DWMA. The sky was black outside with storm clouds, and the rain was pouring down, filling the small room. As Stein watched, the water buoyed her small body up and dashed it against the walls until she was high enough to reach the barred window and hold herself in place.
Through it all he could see each of the scars he had given her highlighted briefly, with her crying out in pain each time one was illuminated. As the last scar was illuminated she turned to look in the direction that he was watching from, tears flowing down her cheeks, almost invisible against the splash of water.
"She promised you wouldn't hurt me again. Why are you chasing us?" She asked as the water rushed up and over her head, filling her mouth even as she finished speaking and let go of the bars, sinking down in the dark, swirling water.
Stein dove for her, but couldn't find the bottom of the cell now, or see where she could have gone. Before he awoke he could feel the burning in his lungs, certain that he was going to drown before he reached air.
He sat up, covered in a cold sweat that chilled him even in the heat of the night. Spirit looked over from where he was on watch and just arched his eyebrow. "Bad dream?"
"You could say that, Senpai. How long til sunrise?"
Spirit looked down at his watch. "About 45 minutes."
Stein rose to his feet, staggering a bit. Spirit reached out a hand to steady him, "You alright, Stein?"
"I'm fine. Let's get started early." Spirit looked across the dark landscape and just sighed.
Chiyumi looked around the room that she sat in, recognizing it and then forgetting how she did. "Shiyu says this is my room." She thought, looking around. "But something looks off…" Try as hard as she could, she couldn't figure out why it was wrong.
"Chimi, supper!" Her mother's voice echoed up the stairs, and Chiyumi hopped to her feet, a happy smile on her face as she rushed down to her waiting family.
"Stitches." She stopped in mid hop, landing on one of the stairs, a memory clicking. "The stitches are missing…" The memory lasted but a moment, and Chiyumi giggled as she raced down to have some of her mother's meatloaf.
A/N: I hope that you all enjoyed the latest installment for Tsukana Chiyumi. I'll try to update it asap. Thank Revengest for the inspiration that pushed for this.
I don't own Soul Eater.