~A Fool's Paradise~

Author: Danaeyl Panthernopaeus.

Ginji stared at my cheek. I needed to talk to Kazuki. There had to be a reason why it looked the way it did. It should have been a single line across my skin. What the hell was happening here? Since when did a simple cut have the ability to change?

"That looks painful," Ginji stated.

I wiped the blood away with the back of my hand. It didn't hurt when it was touched. Most of the time I forgot it was there, until someone was staring it. Or something went wrong with Kazuki's eye. Or I felt the blood running down my cheek. You know how it is.

I glanced up the street. There was a commotion happening up there. Ginji was getting ready to run towards it. I didn't want him to run into a trap, which was likely what it would be. Everyone knew that Ginji would run towards the sound of someone in trouble.

I finished wiping my cheek, and walked beside Ginji. I could feel his curiosity, and he was barely able to stay at a walk. He wanted to run, but I knew he would likely get lost. My eyes widened.

I broke out into a run and Ginji followed. There were the screams of children, and the strong scent of blood. We wound our way through the streets. We were being followed, but that wasn't something we could worry about at the moment. The scream had sounded like a child.

My cheek throbbed. It was impossible for Kazuki to have gotten there before us. And I highly doubted that computer boy and Kakei could have said something to anger him. Not unless my cheek was somehow connected with this damn place.

We came to a halt. Kazuki was in the centre of a congregation, kneeling and holding the lifeless body of a little girl. He got to his feet, head lowered. Ginji's breathing became ragged. Seeing a dead child did that to all of us. But I knew it affected Ginji more. He knew they did not have a good place to live, and like the rest of us, didn't understand why they had to die.

Kazuki raised his head. His eyes flashed with rage. The crowd took a step back, as Kazuki glared at anyone that would make eye contact with him. "Who did this?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

The sound of glass shattering rang through the streets. Ginji took off running towards it. I went to follow him, but the murderous aura Kazuki was emitting was scary at best. I stepped into the circle. I couldn't leave Kazuki alone. There was no telling what he might do, if someone gave him an answer he didn't like.

"Which insolent bastard did this?"

I placed a hand on Kazuki's shoulder. He jerked back from my touch, and his eye flashed white; my cheek throbbed with it. It wasn't like him to get this angry over a dead child. Upon further examination of the child, I could see that there were stab wounds. Judging by the shape, and depth I would say it was likely a kunai. And that left only a small group.

Ginji stepped forward. The people began murmuring. The Thunder Emperor was there, and I was hoping he would be able to calm Kazuki down before he did something stupid. Although, I had to ask when he got back. He went running towards the sound of glass breaking.

"Kazuki, calm down. We will find who did this and punish them," Ginji said.

The girl from earlier showed up. She had an older male with her, who appeared to be her big brother. She stopped, and looked at me with a grin. I raised an eyebrow. Who was she? Did she think we were friends or something?

"Yukiko," the man said. "Open it."

Yukiko nodded. She opened a coffin, and tenderly picked up the dead child. She laid it inside, and sighed sadly. "I hate this part of the job."

I could understand that. Burying a child would never an easy thing to do, especially not on a day-to-day basis. Kazuki brushed past me, and disappeared into the crowd. Yukiko and her brother picked up the coffin. I gathered the body would be incinerated, just to make sure there wouldn't be any diseases that might escape.

Ginji stared after Yukiko and her brother. He tilted his head to the side. "I thought the Cleaners had disbanded. I guess someone put them back together."

I frowned. Kazuki had said nothing about them disbanding. I had to wonder if they were put back together when the strange deaths began. It would make a lot of sense. I pushed my glasses up my nose.

"Who are they?" I asked.

Ginji stared at me blankly. "The Cleaners are a small group of people that clean up the dead bodies. Some say they originated from the Beltline, but no-one really knows where they're from."

"Do you know them personally?"

Ginji shook his head. "I never met them. I only heard the rumours, and that was because Kazu-chan told me about them. From what I know, he doesn't know much about them either."

I nodded. I decided it was time to find Kazuki, and find out who was pulling the strings with this new threat. But mostly I wanted to know why that little cut he gave me was morphing into something else.

Ginji walked beside me, chattering about something. I stopped listening to him the moment I decided I wanted to know about the cut. I glanced up at one of MakubeX's cameras. I had no doubt that he was watching us. I wondered why none of the others had noticed the cut. Not even Kakei seemed to sense anything wrong with me.

Had Kazuki marked me, in some way? Is that what this was all about? Did he decide that I was his? I gritted my teeth. Where in the blue blazes had that come from? Why would I even think of something like that? I decided that I had been spending a little too much time around Emishi. He was the only person I could think of to blame. Because I knew for a fact that it wasn't my fault.

As we walked, we heard a sound that reminded us of something, someone clearing their throat. For a moment we didn't pay any attention to it, until it finally dawned on us. It might be someone who was about to be killed. And we couldn't have that on our heads. Ginji wouldn't know how to cope.

We ran in the direction of the noise, and came to find that it was only a false alarm. It would seem that the old man had spent the better part of his life smoking. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and stared at me and Ginji, almost as though he was surprised to have an audience for his emphysema attack.

"Thunder Emperor," the old man gasped out. "It is good to see you walking around these parts again."

Ginji smiled, and that was all he did. He didn't want to tell the old man that he wasn't going to be returning, and neither were the original Volts. The old man didn't seem to care, one way or the other. He seemed as though his lifelong dream had come true; just to meet the former ruler of Lower Town.

"And I see you have a new friend." The old man turned his watery blue eyes to me. He frowned slightly, staring at my left cheek. "I haven't seen that mark around here for quite some time."

Ginji stared at me, too. His eyes widened when it finally dawned on him. "I didn't recognise it. It has been a while. Wow. You must have really annoyed Kazu-chan for him to place the ––"

The old man went into another coughing fit, and I cursed. He couldn't have waited another five seconds? Did that old geezer not know how long I had been waiting to hear about this cut? I tried to keep my temper down. After all, it wasn't the old man's fault. I probably should have asked someone about it.

Anyone that knew me knew I wouldn't ask about a cut I received from itomaki. There was no way I was going to admit that he managed to mark me. That was just plain embarrassing. I was the great Midou Ban. No-one had the ability to hit me, unless I wanted them to.

The man finished coughing, some two minutes later. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "That mark you wear is called the orokana rakuen," the man said.

I frowned. "'Foolish paradise'?" I repeated. "Why would itomaki have a mark with a name like that?"

Ginji lowered his eyes. "No-one really knows why, Ban-chan. I think it was from his time when he was the leader of Fuuga. You could ask Juubei about it. If anyone would know about his time back then, it would be him."

I shook my head. "I would rather cut my own tongue out than talk to Kakei about anything. And not only that, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't tell me anything after Emishi told him about the position you and he found us in." I glared at the street.

"Yeah, what was that about?" Ginji asked.

Without another word, I turned from the old man and headed up the street. I didn't want to explain it to Ginji. If he hadn't noticed, then I wasn't going to tell him. I heard him wish the old man a good life – what little he had left of it – and run to catch up to me.

We walked along in silence, and that frightened me a little. I wasn't used to Ginji when he wasn't ranting about something. He had his eyes nailed to the street, and was gnawing on his lower lip as though he was a starving man.

With a sigh, he looked at me. "What is going on between you and Kazu-chan?"

"Nothing," I answered. I tested the cigarette in my mouth, and found that it had finally dried enough to be smoked.

Ginji stared at me, as though he was trying to see into my soul. "That's not true. You and Kazu-chan have been acting weird around each other. He seems to be a lot more hostile towards you, as well."

"The truth of the matter is…" I lit the cigarette and inhaled deeply. How I had missed the toxins. "… I don't know what's wrong with him. He suddenly started to hate me, and I can't say that I don't feel the same." Ginji continued to stare at me, and eventually I sighed. "When we find him, we'll ask him, okay?"

Ginji seemed happy with that. He nodded, and we didn't say anything more until we found Kazuki. The threadspinner wasn't too far from where the kid had been killed. I had expected him to be on the Beltline for some reason. I knew he had spent time up there, so I had no idea why I assumed that was where he would be.

"Kazu-chan!" Ginji called out, running over to the brunette.

I hung back, dropping the finished cigarette to the floor and crushing it under the toe of my shoe. I glanced up at the Beltline, curious on exactly what lurked up there. Kazuki had been very vague about those details, and about how long he had lasted.

Was that where he got the nickname Prince of Terror?

I could only guess that the answer was yes. It wasn't as though he would get a title like that in Lower Town, or even in Babylon City. With that thought, I glanced around. Kagami's words rang through my mind. Was that why the officials were curious about Kazuki? Did they want to see how far he could go? How far would Kazuki go, when it came to the Beltline?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Ginji jumped onto my back. "Kazu-chan said that he's found the cause of the strange deaths."

I looked at the threadspinner. He wasn't even looking at me. "That's good. The sooner we get this over and done with, the sooner we can get paid and get the hell out of here." And the sooner I can question itomaki about this stupid cut.

"I was wrong about the Wire Doll theory," Kazuki stated. If I could have been bothered, I would have really enjoyed tormenting him about that. "They weren't using the wires to control the person; they were using them to check on their vitals. It would appear that Kuroshi wants to make sure their experiments are stable after the fact."

I raised an eyebrow. If it wasn't for the fact that Kuroshi were doing human experiments, they would almost seem compassionate. On the other hand, that was a lot of information. And I was curious on how Kazuki was able to get all of that. We weren't separated for the long.

"How the hell did you find all of that out?" I demanded, shaking Ginji off my back. "Or should I ask: How long were you sitting on that information?"

Kazuki finally looked at me. "I only just found out," he lied.

"You're full of shit, itomaki. We weren't gone for that long. So you obviously knew about it, but wanted to make sure you had all the facts right before telling us. I was pretty sure that computer boy would have known if his Wire Doll system was in play." I glared at Kazuki, who blinked back at me.

"If you are so certain about that, why didn't you say something before?"

My eyes widened. I came to realise that I didn't actually have an answer for that. It never crossed my mind that Kazuki would know something, and not tell us about it. And if I really thought about it, why did it matter so much if he knew previously? At least he knew for certain about what was going on. I couldn't argue with that.

"So…" Ginji said nervously, glancing between me and Kazuki. "Where do we have to go?"

"The Beltline," Kazuki and I replied.

Kazuki glanced at me. He bit his lower lip. For some reason, I felt the need to pull his lip from between his teeth. When that thought crossed my mind, Kazuki glared at me. I had to frown. Was my mind linked with Kazuki's? If that was the case, it was going to make alone time very awkward.

Disgust flashed through Kazuki's eyes. Well, at least I knew for certain that my mind was linked to his. It might have something to do with the mark he had left on me. Actually, that wasn't a 'might'. I knew that that the damn mark Kazuki left on me was responsible for him being able to read my mind. I didn't know why it kicked in now.

My eyes widened. "Ginji!" I yelled as smoke exploded around the three of us.

"Ginji-san!"

I gritted my teeth when a cut appeared across my right cheek. The symbol on my left cheek throbbed. I grabbed hold of one of the people that had attacked us. I slammed the back of their skull against a wall, hoping that would be enough to keep them out until I could interrogate them.

I looked around when the smoke died off. The person I had knocked out was gone, and I assumed that one of their buddies had carried them off. I saw Kazuki laying in the street, and that Ginji was gone. I guessed that had been the entire plan. They wanted to take Ginji, for whatever reason. They probably thought that Ginji would be perfect for an experiment.

Kazuki coughed, getting to a knee. "I knew they would try that," he muttered.

I watched as he staggered to his feet, and noticed the small puddle of blood. My eyes went to Kazuki. He moved as though he wasn't injured, but something was telling me otherwise. There had to be a reason why there was blood on the floor. Kazuki just glared at me, as though he was telling me to not worry about it.

"Ginji-san is the one we need to worry about. He has never been on the Beltline, as far as I can remember. He has no idea what to expect up there."

"And how exactly are we meant to find him up there?"

Kazuki looked over his shoulder, staring at me. "Do you honestly believe that I would walk into a trap like that, without a way of tracking them?"

"You're extremely sneaky with those threads of yours," I grumbled.

Kazuki shrugged, and started to walk off. I followed after him, after I glanced at the blood puddle again. I didn't see a blood trail anywhere, which meant that it had to belong to Kazuki. I heard him sigh, and knew that he was listening to my thoughts. Was it my fault that I wanted to know who had been injured? Was it possible that Kazuki had protected Ginji with his body, only to have the dumbass blond taken from under him?

We continued walking until we came to a solid wall. I rapped my knuckles against the wall, coming to find that there was no secret door. There were no loose bricks. It was completely solid. I heard running feet, and watched as Kazuki ran at the wall. I also happened to notice the blood stain on the front of his shirt.

Kazuki leapt up the wall, grabbed a ledge and hauled himself up. His head poked over, and he waved me up. I sighed and followed his actions. I stared at the baron wasteland that was before us. Trash littered every inch, as though this was the dumping ground for the Beltline and Babylon City. Large chunks of rock were scattered around, as though they were marking sections.

Kazuki went to step to the right, but paused. He went to walk left, and again stopped. I figured he had lost track of his thread. And that was not something that I wanted to know. If threadspinner couldn't find that, then there were wandering around blind. And I didn't want to leave Ginji alone with those people for too long.

Kazuki and I spun around. We knew what was coming towards us. It was not surprising in the slightest. After seeing him on the streets of the city, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone hired the Jackal.

The only problem was that I didn't have the time to play with that monster. I had to get to Ginji, and try to find the damn data file. I looked at Kazuki, and he nodded. He knew what I was thinking, and he gave me permission to try and find Ginji while he played with Akabane.

"Well, well," Jackal said, landing in front of us. "I was not expecting to see you alone, Midou-kun."

Kazuki narrowed his eyes. "Go right, Midou. You should be able to follow the string on your own. I will play with Akabane-san."

Akabane smiled. "I do apologise, Kazuki-kun but I do not wish to play with you," I heard Akabane say as I ran to the right.

"Too bad," Kazuki snapped, and I froze. Was Kazuki going to attack Jackal while he was angry? That would be insane. He would have to remain calm. "Do you think I want to play with you?"

Akabane lowered his hand, staring at Kazuki. "Something has changed in you, Kazuki-kun. I must say that it is a little intriguing. But you are no Amano Ginji or Midou Ban."

Kazuki removed a bell from his hair, drawing a string. "I know. Do not underestimate me."

"My dear Kazuki-kun, I do not underestimate you," Jackal said. "However, I do not feel like cutting through strings all day."

"Should I just string you up, and leave you to rot now?"

Jackal chuckled, which stopped abruptly. The mark on my cheek throbbed, but it didn't stop after the first throb like it usually did. It stayed, and I knew that Kazuki's left eye hadn't jus flashed, but that it was white.

Akabane stared at Kazuki. I knew he probably wasn't fully used to Kazuki switching between moods. But with the aura I felt from him, I got the feeling that even if I went up against Kazuki as he was now, I would have a hard time getting away without being cut by his threads. But it wasn't like Kazuki to get upset about the fact that someone was underestimating him.

I watched with wide eyes as Jackal lunged at Kazuki, who didn't move. He didn't seem bothered by the sudden aggressive attempt. He moved his head to the right, avoiding one of the scalpels. Instead, he returned his bell to his hair, took hold of Akabane's wrist and threw him over the side of the wall.

Kazuki jumped back when Akabane bounced back like a ball. The Jackal smiled, seemingly not phased by the fact that Kazuki had just thrown him off the side of a building. Kazuki's strange eyes landed on me. They were blank but still felt cold.

"I thought I told you to find Ginji-san!" he barked at me, deflecting one of Jackal's scalpels. He looked at the transporter. "I will deal with you in a minute."

Akabane smiled. "Well, this is something unusual. I can see why I was hired now."

I frowned at those words. Did Jackal know something I didn't? If truth were told, it wouldn't be all that surprising. Jackal always seemed to know what was going on, even if he did come in half way through. And the fact that he knew something about Kazuki didn't sit right with me. It was unbeknownst to myself, as well.

But the strange thing was Kazuki's words. He never, for as long as I had known him, dismissed someone in such a way. He seemed bored with Akabane, despite having basically begged for him to fight him. It might have been so that I could search for Ginji, but Kazuki never told someone he would 'deal with them in a minute'. The boy was raised on proper etiquette.

Kazuki slapped away another scalpel, as though he was swatting a fly. "You need to find him. Go find him!"

I wanted to do as he said, but I couldn't bring myself to move. Kazuki was just glaring at me, slapping away Jackal's scalpels. It was such a fascinating scene. My cheek continued to throb as I stared at the white eye of Kazuki. What was that? Kazuki ordered me to find Ginji again, but my eyes strayed over to Doctor Jackal. He had stopped throwing scalpels, since Kazuki wasn't interested in them.

"Ban," Kazuki said. I blinked at looked at him, cocking my head to the side. "Why are you ignoring me, you insolent prick?"

I raised an eyebrow. Doctor Jackal chuckled. "He is as curious as I am, Kazuki-kun. None of us have ever seen you in Prince of Terror mode."

Kazuki turned his attention back to him, laughing mockingly. "The Prince of Terror isn't out, yet. You aren't worthy enough to deal with him."

I noticed how Doctor Jackal lost all mirth in his face. That had to be a hell of an insult to the man. I knew I would be insulted if someone said I wasn't worthy enough for anything. Still, I hung back and watched the staring contest between Kazuki and Doctor Jackal. I had to try and figure out who would win, based on aura. Kazuki's was more over-powering, for the moment. But Jackal hadn't released all of his, either. Yet, the same could be said about Kazuki.

Knowing that Ginji was somewhere, I decided it would be best if I left them alone. The moment I turned my back, something happened. It was a quick flash of movement and the throbbing in my cheek finally stopped. Kazuki joined me and was reattaching a bell. He looked over my shoulder, eyes widening. Jackal was on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. I knew he was still alive, but it was enough to slow him down and give us a chance to complete our task.

We rounded a corner, but we came to a sudden stop. A group of teenagers were waiting for us, each brandishing a kunai. I heard an animal growl and looked around for it. I was surprised to know that the sound came from Kazuki. His eye didn't flash, but I could sense his rage at being stopped.

Another cloud of black smoke surrounded us, but this time we were expecting it. While I easily knocked the kids unconscious, I could hear Kazuki's string whistling through the air and the smell of blood. When the cloud settled, I saw that I had only saved half of the kids. Kazuki showed no mercy on the others.

Kazuki turned to me, a smirk on his usually beautiful face. For the first time in my life, I was frozen with fear. I was so scared of saying something stupid and ending up like the teens. I took a step back and Kazuki's smirk changed into a psychotic grin. I had to wonder if I was dealing with the Prince of Terror, or if Kazuki was actually like this normally.

My thoughts were answered when Kazuki stretched his arms above his head, looking up at the sky and laughing. Something told me that this mission was going to be the strangest one I ever lived through. Providing I actually lived through it.

The chilling part was that Kazuki had actually taken someone's life. My eyes dropped back to the dead bodies and a shiver ran down my spine. He had so easily dispatched them, as though they were nothing. Suddenly, he had forgotten that they were still human. Granted, they were stupid for kidnapping Ginji and trying to stop us, but that was part of being human. It came with making mistakes. I desperately wanted to say something, but I still feared for my life.

"Oh, you will survive, Midou. Kazuki made sure of that. But I can still torture you."

End Chapter IV.

I sincerely apologise for how short this chapter and how long it took me to get it out. The next chapter will hopefully be out in the new few days, as I have gotten my muse back for this story. Thank you, everyone, for your patience.

Also, due to this chapter being so short, the next chapter is double the length of this one.

See you in the next chapter!