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| semper memento |
this is how we end, this is how we die
our dreams fade into the distant horizon and it burns,
it burns red and aflame
then it breaks in two, dust to dust, ashes to ashes
broken prayers left between our never ending cries as
heaven falls hard onto our feet
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even if i die today or tomorrow, please don't forget to—
always remember to remember?
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author's babbling and a little bit warnings:
Well, halo minna-san! We meet again~ Sorry for the long wait, here's the third chap! This chapter would be a mix of angst-hurt/comfort-humor-romance-and… lots of other genres XD. But I warn you though, it's going to be a bit dark, so prepare yourself fufufu~. I don't think there's much to say, so I will save my comment at the bottom page, enjoy reading! Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you for the reviews minna-san, I really appreciate it!
disclaimer:
I do not own owari no seraph (if I do, there's going to be a lot of yuunoa moments to fangirl about.)
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"Nee~ Little Noa-chan, how are you?"
That creature's vile voice vibrated inside her ears, light and teasing, it was so loud and painfully clear to her but she blocked her ears and counted her measured breath instead. Then, after the numbing aches faded into nothing, she rose to stand on her toes; wobbly legs planted on the imaginary ground as her blank eyes wandering through the farfetched distance.
She couldn't see a thing. It was like she's blind.
And it made her a little bit afraid.
"Oi. Don't ignore me human."
It demanded, and she understood, she honestly did, but she didn't care. She just wanted to escape from this horrendous place. To wake up from this dream she called nightmare.
( to break free. )
"Oi! I said don't ignore me you ungrateful little—!"
She heard it shrieked, too loud for her liking. It was repeating the same thing all over again and she blocked its annoying voice from her head, desperately so. But she knew, deep down, that she wasn't going to win this petty war they were having.
Another shrill was hurled. Another wailing scratch. Another twinge beneath her throbbing chestbone. But she didn't care anymore because, because—
( enough. she has enough. )
"What do you want?" she spat the words like they were poison, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Why I'm here?" Her stagnated breath mingled with thin air, chest heaving up and down with her irregular rhythm as she took in another gulp of air to fill her empty lungs.
The creature paused for a moment, before it grinned from ear to ear, pleased with her obedience. "You finally answered me, Noa-chan." it said sweetly.
"Who are you…?" she whispered through ragged breath. "What do you want for me?" she paused, biting down her lower lip. "Why are you doing this to me?" she chocked back a sob as another wave of nausea hit her by. She was sick with all of this. So damned sick.
Why won't it stop, the pain?
"Who am I…?" The creature wondered, eyes widening in a twisted delight. Sick. It was sick. "What I want…? Why I'm doing this? Why, why, why—" it stopped to throw her another of its hideous grin. "—I'm doing this, you ask?"
The grin widened.
"Don't make me laugh!
Shinoa gulped down bile rising in her throat at the animalistic growl it was producing before she threw a glare, daring it to answer.
I dare you, I dare you, I dare—
"I exist because of you!" it hollered in some kind of sick resentment, throwing her a lopsided smile and twinkling eyes. "Don't you remember, dear princess?"
She didn't answer. Her head was hurting. Her throat burning.
The creature smiled.
"Nee, wanna hear a secret?" it cooed, cupped her wet cheeks tenderly, before it brushed its lips against her earlobe. Her head began to throb again, pain searing through her body, and she had to bite down a scream down her throat from the bitter feelings bottled inside her every cell.
"I was born within you." it hissed. "Remember?"
A shiver suddenly racked her body. Her mind was a mess, countless of images flashed inside her head and the pain, the pain was—
"Stop it…" she said softly whilst tears fell like a river down her face. Her head hurt so much. "Please stop it… I'm sick of everything… please just… just stop…" she whispered brokenly.
It snorted at her, a mocking sneer plastered on its face. "It's not my fault, my dear little Noa-chan. It's your fault for forgetting in the first place. Entirely your fault." Its voice was low and dangerous as it hovered over the lone chair.
And then, just like before, the stark white dome suddenly cracked open, its shells shattered into pieces as silvery white flakes rained over the barren place and Shinoa began to feel again.
( your fault, your fault, you fault, don't forget, don't forget, don't—it chanted. )
The dome was no more. She breathed in when everything vanished before her eyes.
"Don't you dare to put the blame on me, Noa-chan..."
It was the last thing she heard when the whitewash phantasy replaced with a blinding light.
—semper memento—
always remember
"Shinoa…? Heh, that girl."
"Believe it or not I have known her since she was eight.
And in those years I have known her, nothing has really changed.
Still the same cheeky brat, same grins, same attitudes and all."
"No, I'm not complaining. That's just how she is.
I know that better than anyone."
-
"You see, a long time ago I made a promise to keep.
She was the one who asked for it, and I couldn't refuse."
"But you know?"
"I wish I had never made that promise in the first place."
-Ichinose Guren-
the third memory
[i didn't ask for salvation]
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Nagoya, in all its glory, was the capital of Japan's Aichi Prefecture, a modern manufacturing and shipping hub in central Honshu. It was the largest city in the Chubu region of Japan, and also Japan's third largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous area. But after the fall, it was nothing but ruins. Its magnificent building flattened into the earth, hundreds of peoples died meaninglessly by the unnamed vicious virus and its greatness had disappeared into the dark period of vampire reign for almost eight years since that time.
And now, they were standing on its land, a place they had seen a long time ago.
It had been months since they saw this place. The last time they'd set their foot in Nagoya was two months ago, when they were tasked to exterminate eight of ten nobles resided in Nagoya. The mission, to put it bluntly, was easier said than done. Almost half of their units were wiped out, a quarter was gravely injured and the rest could barely stand on their own feet, waiting for the reinforcement to come. Thankfully, the elite battalion did come, but after such a disastrous mission they opted to lock the bitter memories away from their mind.
It was ironic to think that they were back to execute another horrendous mission in the exact same place. However, this time was not for the damned nobles, but for an entirely different reason.
They were going to raid Nagoya Castle and seize the entire stock of cursed weapons which hidden inside its magnificent building.
The plan was quite simple. Head to Nagoya, find the said building which located precisely at the central of the city, grab the cursed weapons stored inside, and finally stuffed them all inside that box they were guarding. Apparently that box was enchanted by an extremely strong anti-demon barrier despite its ordinary look upon eyes, as long as they executed it right, nothing could go wrong.
But the question is, why would they need this many people to do such a simple thing? They even needed a Major General rank to act as a supervisor for some unknown safety reasons.
Well, how hard it can be? He thought. Raiding an empty building is quite an easy task, isn't it?
"Can't you be more stupid?"
Yuichiro narrowed his eyebrows at the smirking violet-eyed man, a frown pasted on his lips. "Of course because it's dangerous, baka." Guren shook his head in mock exasperation. "Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro—" he paused for a moment to level his stare straight on the boy. "Outside of those human cities, lies a wasteland teeming with monsters—"
He growled. "Cut the crap! I know that already! What I'm asking is—"
"Don't interrupt me, gaki. You really don't have any manner whatsoever." The man scoffed standoffishly. "I'm going to say this once, so you better listen. All of you." he said sharply, eyeing the rest of the group with cold violet eyes. Seeing that he was serious, they focused their attention on the Lieutenant Colonel, waiting.
"As you know, our mission is to seize all cursed weapons stored inside Nagoya Castle. It seems like an easy task, but don't forget that Nagoya was, and still is, the most dangerous city in all Japan." he gave them a death stare. "Nobles or not, there are lots of things that you shouldn't mess with on this land."
His tone was hard and harsh, dripping with translucent venom as he walked closer their place. When they heard his deep voice they couldn't help the shiver that began to creep up their body. It was, they thought, literally felt like drowning in freezing water.
Lieutenant Ichinose Guren was famous for his coldness, after all.
"Before the fall, Nagoya was undoubtedly one of Japan most populated area, and more, it was also Japan's leading manufacturing city. That's why in the past it was often used as the most favored location for several top-secret class experiments." he directed his eyes solely to a certain lavender haired leader for a split of second before he shifted his eyes again, blatantly ignoring her questioning gaze.
"Top-secret… experiments?" Yoichi muttered. "What kind of experiments….?"
"Human experimentation." The black haired man smiled wryly when he heard their shocked gaps. "Nagoya was famous for its human experimentation."
"What are you implying exactly?" Squad leader Narumi frowned. "Are you saying that there's also—"
"—experimented beings left inside that building?" Guren supplied with a crooked grin. "Who knows? For all we know that place is haunted by a dozen of mutant humans, demons or even vampires. That's why we need enough people to execute this mission, to counter any necessary battles if we do cross path with one of those monsters. It's not an easy task, you understand that, don't you?" he dropped the bomb with one of his trademark grin before he trotted out from the circle of people leisurely.
There was silence for a moment as they were trying to comprehend the whole information inside their mind. Honestly, out of sixteen of them, only five understood the real horror of the said human experimentation. It was not a common talk between soldiers, sure, but it didn't mean that they didn't know either.
It was scarce, but it was known.
( in this broken world, everyone was broken as they could be. a little dose of sin wouldn't have changed that. )
Then, after a few sighs and nervous smiles, they began to walk silently into the direction of their leader, trying their best to ignore the bad, bad feeling inside their hearts.
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It was raining.
Shinoa pressed her fingers against the freezing window glass, watching as the monochrome sky crying hard into the earth. The blanket and pillows which thrown carelessly around her body formed a makeshift bed, as if they were trying to protect her from the merciless cold.
If only the weather has been kind with us, it would be quite a beautiful night for sure, she mused, staring as the rain poured even harder.
Instead of sleeping, she was watching the rain—it was the only thing she could think at the moment; a desperate kind of solution to ignore this weird feeling nested inside her chest. She knew that the order was to sleep and rest, and she should have followed it but she couldn't even close her eyes without seeing pictures across her mind. She couldn't; not when that peculiar stare aimed at her back then was still haunting her mind.
Nagoya castle, sacred land, and human experimentation, huh?
Shinoa wrapped her blanket closer, a grim smile drawn on her pale lips.
She had a bad feeling about this.
"Hm.. Shinoa…?"
She blinked her tired eyes when a sleepy voice brought her back into reality. She looked around and found him a few feet from her place, propping his feeble arms on his makeshift bed to sustain his weight. "Why you haven't slept yet…?" he mumbled incoherently, slightly ruffling his hair into a mess.
"I'm not tired, Yuu-san." she smiled gently at the older boy, noting his cute bed hair and half-lidded eyes. "Just go back to sleep, okay?" she whispered softly, trying not to wake the rest up.
"Like hell I will…" The boy muttered quietly as he crawled to her place. "You are obviously not going to sleep, aren't you..?" his words slurred a little, it was clear that he's still half-awake.
"I can't sleep." she said sheepishly.
"Obviously." he nodded his head absentmindedly, raven colored hair fell across his face like waterfall. He squinted his bleary eyes and moved his face closer, as if he was trying to read her face or something before a lazy grin was drawn on his lips. "Nah, I'd slept enough, so I'm going to accompany you. Be grateful, Shinoa."
She raised an eyebrow at him, hiding a smile when she saw him blew yet another yawn. What a stubborn boy, he was. "I'm not blind Yuu-san, I know you're tired. Just go back to sleep, okay?"
"Nope." he pouted, blinking furiously to clear his vision. "Not tired… not… in the slightest…" he mumbled childishly, fighting hard to keep his beautiful viridian eyes open. "Scoot over." he grunted as he made his way into her makeshift bed.
"E-Eh.. w-what are you—Yuu-san!" she squeaked when she felt his warm body patched right on her side, his much larger built leaning against her smaller one. "Uhm.. Yuu-san?" she murmured nervously as heat began to paint her cheeks crimson.
His warmth was almost burning and she hated herself for liking the way his skin brushed against hers.
"Hmm…?" he hummed, eyes fluttered open and close.
"I'm.." she paused for a moment, searching for words to convey. But sadly, she found nothing to describe this feeling inside her right now. "No… I—Just… forget it. It's nothing important." she said then, resting her head between the valley of her knees. After that silence fell among them, but it was not uncomfortable. No, it was calming, and reassuring and also… strangely pleasant.
"Hey, Shinoa." The girl stiffened when she felt his hot breath against her skin. "Why did Guren give you that..." Yuichiro paused to lick his bottom lip. "That… weird stare back then?" he said slowly, a frown etched on his face.
He noticed it too? "I don't know." she said honestly, "Maybe it's just a coincidence. You never know when it came to him." The chocolate eyed girl giggled a little when she saw his scrunched up face.
"No way." he snorted. "Nothing with that idiot is a coincidence… I, for an instance, had learnt it the hard way." Yuichiro flashed her a pained smile.
"Really?" she humored him with one of her trademark grins. "How cute. Both of you sure are pretty close, aren't you?" Shinoa poked his cheek in a playful manner.
"W-Wha—Hey! We don't! No way!" he whispered urgently, now fully awake as he furiously battled her hand away. "We don't, I tell you! He is annoying, infuriating, aggravating, bothers—"
"You do realize that it has the same meaning, don't you?" she cut him over, quite amused by his stubbornness to admit the truth.
"Ugh, um… " he fidgeted, face heating up into a shade of maroon. "Well... it's just—we don't—s-shut up!" he sputtered in embarrassment.
"Ahaha~ Isn't that good? He's just like a father to you." she said teasingly. Her smile, it was sincere enough for him, and yet there was also a noticeable hint of bitterness between her flaccid words. Unfortunately, he didn't notice it as he was busy thinking about the said man with an almost religious persistence.
"Guren…huh?" he whispered, his gaze far into the distance. "Well, I guess he's not really that bad…."
( does living hurt? )
"He… Guren took me in when I have no place to live. He fed me, clothed me, paid for my needs, and even went as far as putting up with my childish whims."
( there's so much stuff you gotta do to live. but if you stick around, the day may come when someone needs you. )
"He was the one who saved me from that hell… He taught me a lot of things. And even just a little, he gave me hope." his voice was barely a whisper, eyes staring off into a distance as an image from a distant past crossed inside his head.
( live. live until you find a new reason for life. )
"He is brash, cocky and reckless. Has a potty mouth and no common sense whatsoever when it came to kindness. Totally not a parental figure." he chuckled a little when he remembered their stupid fights and occasional bickers. He didn't know why but he missed those halcyon days with him the most.
( if you do then someday— )
"But… but his hands are… warm…"
( someday, you will certainly find people who will need you. )
"He may be annoying, still… if not for him, I wouldn't be here right now." he raised his head to give her a soft smile.
( I wouldn't have met you. )
"H-Hey!" he stopped for a moment when he realized the embarrassing things he had said. "H-He is decent b-but that doesn't mean that I like him or what!" he turned his head from her, desperately trying to hide his crimson cheeks.
"Hee~ Is that so? I'm so jealous Yuu-san~" Yuichiro saw her smiling from the corner of his eyes, but somehow, he didn't like that smile. He stared at her face, wondering what made him so uneasy when he saw her smile. This smile she was wearing was void and hollow, just like an empty shell; vacant, without meaning, lifeless, almost.
It made her looked like a plastic doll. An empty casket of her old self.
He didn't like it.
"Shinoa…?" he murmured her name, his hand tugging her hand inside a tight grip. "Hey, you okay?"
She hummed softly in acknowledgment, but the smile stitched upon her lips didn't wear off. "I'm fine, I'm fine~ No need to worry~" she waved him off. "I'm just… for a moment there, I… remembered my sister… and well, my memories regarding her are not exactly… pleasant…" she whispered reluctantly, eyes staring off into a distance.
"Your sister?" he frowned, "The one who—?"
"Died?" she interrupted him, "Yes, she's dead."
"I'm sorry." he cringed when he realized what he had done, "I didn't mean to—"
"It's okay." she shrugged her shoulders off nonchalantly, "It's true you know. She has been gone for a long time now."
"Why… why are you being so cold? Don't—" he licked his bottom lip. "Don't say that… she's your family, right? So you have to, I don't know?" his mind was telling him to stopstopstop but he couldn't as the words kept on coming out like an endless river. "Treasure your memories with her? Or maybe—"
"Yuu-san."
He stilled like a stone at her sharp tone, a knot formed at the back of his throat.
I have done it, haven't I?
"Shinoa I—"
"Go to sleep, okay?" she interjected before he could even apologize, her pale lips pursed into a tight line. "It's late and we have mission tomorrow." she pulled her blanket off of him, wordlessly telling him to return to his own bed. But the boy didn't move, adamant on his place even when Shinoa had forcefully tore the cloth away from him.
"And leave you alone?" Yuichiro asked incredulously, "You seriously think I can do that?" he gripped her hand tight, stopping her from shoving him even farther.
She didn't answer, and out of sudden he felt like a total jerk for bringing her past like it was nothing to her face. It was certainly his fault. He should have known better than doing something so unthinkable. Out of all people inside this forsaken world, he should have understood the hurt of losing an important person, the bitter feeling of being left alone, and the pain of remembrance.
"Hey, Shinoa?" he called her again, but this time it was more desperate, more hopeful. There's no doubt that he was a total jerk, and he knew that, but no matter what he refused to left her alone like this. Not like this. "What… what she was like?"
She blinked at him, dull tangerine orbs devoid of any emotions.
"….why do you ask?" her voice was painfully small and his grip on her hand tightened, now he began to doubt that he could even help her at all. The look in her eyes made something within him break, there was a numbing ache near his heart and his chest hurt like hell.
He was afraid of hurting her, but he needed to do this. He needed to help her.
"I'm just… curious." he said softly. "After all, I know absolutely nothing about you." Nothing at all. "But… but you know a lot about me, right? It wouldn't be fair, for me at least, so... so you have to answer my question, then we're even."
Then, all that's left was silence.
He frowned when she cocked her head at him.
"….what?"
"….is that a blackmail?"
"….what?"
Shinoa giggled after a few seconds of staring at his confusion; the sour atmosphere had long been thrown out the window because of his ridiculous attempt to reveal her secrets. Seriously, the little leader couldn't keep up with his unpredictable quirks at all.
"You don't really think you can blackmail me with that, do you?"
"I do not blackmail."
"But you pout."
"I do not pout."
"You do. You pout." she insisted, her smile widening even further.
"I do not pou—wait a minute." he paused for a moment, thinking. "Hey! You are trying to change the topic!" he shouted loudly, loud enough that Shinoa had to put her palm over his rowdy mouth, giving him a warning stare to keep his voice down. The green eyed boy shuddered away from her homicidal glare, grudgingly toning his voice down into an acceptable volume.
"Yah~ He noticed." now it was her turn to pout cutely at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "I thought you would never realize it~" she sang.
"Are you picking a fight with me?" Yuichiro twitched his eyes as he tugged her hand off, he truly couldn't understand how a girl's mind worked. "Just answer my question. It's easy right? I mean you just have to ta—lk…."
He faltered when he saw her pained expression, cringing in guilt. Dammit, brain.
"….or maybe not." he muttered quietly, now he felt even worse than before. "Uh, you don't have to answer that …"
"You are really kind, aren't you Yuu-san?" she said morosely, smiling gratefully at his not-so-subtle plan. Shinoa knew that he was trying to help her, to console her. He was coaxing her to confess her heart out, to lift the heavy weight off of her shoulders. It was such a kind gesture, one she had never experienced. So at least, at least she could give him the answer he desired.
He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry for bri—"
"Ne Yuu-san, will you listen to my story?" she cut him over, eyes glinted with something he couldn't name.
Yuichiro clamped his mouth as he stared at her, astonished that she was willing to tell him her past. "Are you… sure about this?" he asked her again, lest she changed her mind, but Shinoa only gave him a positive nod, obviously certain with her choice. He gulped down bile rising in his throat, preparing to hear her out. "I guess that's… alright."
"Then, let's begin." she exhaled slowly, bringing her knees closer to her chest. "My sister's name was Mahiru. She was… nine years older than me." she started with trivial facts, titling her head a little to meet his eyes. "There's a little to nothing that I can remember about her, my memories are… a little bit foggy, but she was… she was beautiful, so beautiful that she almost looked like an angel to me." she smiled bitterly when her sister face flashed inside her mind.
( Shinoa, will you smile for me? )
"I remember… her touch. It was not overly gentle like Shinya-niisan, or rough like Guren-chūsa. Her touch was soft, and delicate, just like…" the image suddenly flashed before her eyes, that night she held her little body close, stroking her head so tenderly and her smile fell for a moment as she turned her gaze into the sky outside. "Just like a mother." she whispered faintly, voice childlike.
( I'm going to protect you alright? so don't be afraid. )
"I… remember the little things…" she paused. "Like our weekly dinner, her visits on every Saturday night, her weird obsession with ice cream and also..." she trailed off as her gaze turned distant. "She... she loved to play with my hair…" she reminisced, a faint smile upon her face as she curled her small fingers around her bangs.
Please don't make such a face…
He wanted to scream the words at her, he truly did. He wanted to do it so badly; to snap her out from her painful memories but he couldn't, and he shouldn't be so selfish when she was trying her best to smile. He had to bear it, because she kept going, she kept on going even though he knew that it must be hard and painful for her to recall her sister all over again.
He had to be strong for her.
"Your sister…" he said, "She sounds like a good person…" he said carefully, hoping that his words wouldn't aggravate her more than he already did.
"Yes…" she smiled at him, soft and hearty. "I guess you right…"
"Then why…?" he moved even closer, their shoulders touching, "Why you talked as if—"
"As if I hate her?" her smile suddenly became bitter, bitter enough to make his heart crumpled beneath his rib cage and for a moment there he wanted to lock her out from the outside world, from the pain, because he hated that—that broken look upon her face.
"Perhaps, I don't really hate her…" she dropped her head low, onto her knees, "I'm just—just… bitter and—well, I always felt like she didn't care… I mean, she certainly didn't even think about me in the slightest when she decided to throw her life away." she laughed hoarsely, like something had clawed on her throat, shearing its skin raw. "She just… she just loved him so much. She sacrificed everything for him, whose fate wouldn't let them to be together, that she became obsessed with demons and met her demise."
Him? Could it be—?
"Is that person… Guren?" he asked then, half-trying to distract her from the painful feeling, half-curious with her past.
"Yes. It's him." Shinoa nodded her head, "Isn't that pathetic? To think that I have been working under his command for years. After all, he was the one who killed my sister." she refused to meet his eyes when she said this.
"He was the one who kille—he what?!" his eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean that he kil—"
"He did." she buried her head deeper into the fold of her arms, hiding her face. "I don't know about the whole story but he did." she mumbled though the fabric of her clothes.
Yuichiro paused for a moment, still processing all the information he had received with much difficulty. He honestly didn't know what to say as he stared at her hunched form, eyeing her melancholy eyes and smile. He hated that heartbroken look on her face, or that somber smile painted on her lips. He just, he just wanted to see his Shinoa, not this empty shell of her former self.
"You know, Yuu-san." he stiffened when she daintily switched her head's position to catch his face. "Maybe I do hate the two of them, even only a little. Guren-chūsa, for killing the only family I ever had… and my sister, for… for leaving me all alone inside this twisted, despicable world." Shinoa had to bit her lower lip hard to keep her tears from flooding out. "You see?" she chocked back a sob, "Humans are such ugly creatures that it's so laughable. And I'm no different." she said while chuckling sardonically at the irony of it all.
Don't, he thought desperately, please don't make that face. He couldn't take it anymore. Her bittersweet smile and quivering voice had hurt him deeper than he thought. Yuichiro didn't want to watch her like this. He couldn't, because watching her grieving was like being stabbed in the heart numerous times. Watching her struggling to not cry was like burning on a stake, it hurt him to see her in pain.
( no, please don't cry. )
"Shinoa, come here." he tugged her into his larger built, gently settling her down between his legs. He could hear her shocked gasp in response of his bold action, but he ignored her and kept on dragging her body even closer. "Stop moving." he grunted when he felt her struggled with this position.
"Y-Yuu-san, what are you doing—" she gasped again when his arms suddenly circled around her small frame, enveloping her with endless warmth. "Yuu-san…?" she whispered quietly into his chest, didn't dare to meet his eyes. His embrace tightened and the heat began to explode inside her cheeks like a small firework, eyes widening in surprise and slight embarrassment at their current position.
"Sleep." he mumbled on her head, wrapping the blanket snugly around their tangled body. "I'm going to wait until you fall asleep, I promise."
She was silent for a long time, and he began to think that she didn't like it, to be cradled like a baby, by him no less. But then he felt her lips curved against his skin and Yuichiro sighed in relief because at least, she didn't hate his touch.
"Yuu-san?" she brought her arms into his chest, clenching the fabric of his clothes with an iron grip.
"Hm?" he hummed as he put his head on top of hers, closing his eyes in bliss. Her smell was intoxicating; a hint of vanilla and lavender bloomed inside his nostrils. Her skin was feverish against his, and he couldn't help but wonder about her small frame. How could someone so short and dainty wield a scythe twice her size? But then again, she's Shinoa.
She was his Shinoa, after all.
"Thank you…" Yuichiro froze when he heard her quiet murmur near his right ear, her beautiful pair of bronze eyes fluttered shut as her consciousness began to fade away. "…for listening."
A pause. A smile.
"Your welcome."
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"—IOT AND SHI—H—TH…. —NOT APPRO—… SHE'S A GIRL! HOW—"
Yuichiro twitched his eyes madly, quite—no, scratch that, totally disturbed by the high-pitched, shrilly voice which echoed inside his ears.
Just whose bright idea to scream that loud in this time of day? It's too early for this shit, dammit, he thought as he began to sleep again.
"—suba-san if you could— …to –ne do…. –ur voice a little… I'm tryi— …cute right?!"
Goddammit, he cursed inside his mind, eyes still stubbornly closed tight. No matter how much he tried to block it away the voices kept on ringing within his bleeding ears. It was so frustrating and his hands unconsciously tightened around—around… huh? Wait a minute. Now that he thought about it, why did he felt something soft leaning against him?
"—inya I swear— don't… –you d-are… –do—came…. don't—!"
FLASH!
"—DON—THE FLAS— …TU-RN ….FF—you're mak— …ke up!"
FLASH! FLASH!
The black haired boy jolted up from his relaxed posture when a bright light suddenly blinded his eyes.
"YOU IDIOT! THE FLASH!—THE FUCKING FLASH!"
Yuichiro groaned from the sudden (horrible) wake-up call, blinking his tired eyes lazily. Just what happened? The only thing he could remember was his talk with—with…. shit. He grimaced when the event from last night finally dawned on him. Shinoa, her sister, Guren, and him, everything poured down endlessly into his mind, his sleep was forgotten as he frantically searched for any sign of a certain lilac haired girl.
He stopped when a speck of violet was caught within his peripheral vision.
Lavender head. Shinoa.
Yuichiro sighed in relief when he saw the girl curled under him like a kitten, her small hands gripping his clothes as she slept, exhaustion clearly apparent on her face. Maybe she's tired because of last night conversation? he thought as he moved her head from its painful-looking position. After making sure that she was comfortable, he shifted his gaze into his surrounding, and the scene which greeted him made the emerald eyed boy stopped on his track.
Dammit.
Red-faced Mitsuba. Smirking Kimizuki. Blushing Yoichi. Palm-faced Guren. And—you must be kidding—NO. NO. NO. PLEASE GOD NO—
Is that Shinya-san with a freaking camera that I see?!
His thought was confirmed when the silver haired man grinned widely, a finger ready to push the suspicious-looking button down.
God just kill him right now.
He was just about to flee from this place, from his life, from his job, far, far away from everyone he knew, especially from Guren and his squad mates and maybe killed himself with the most painful method that he could think about when he was at it.
"Morning Yuu-chan!" FLASH! "Look in my direction please?" FLASH! FLASH! "Say cheese!" FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
FLASH!
He officially hated his life now.
.
.
.
"Hm?" Shinoa glanced around, seeking a certain green eyed boy among their group. "Where is Yuu-san?"
Pregnant pause.
Almost all the male occupants of this room (except our cinnamon roll of course) suddenly stilled like a stone, mouths clamped shut as their shoulders began to shake uncontrollably. If there were members of the group who didn't know about the 'incident' this morning, they definitely knew it by the next hour. Especially if there was an overly enthusiastic goofball which happened to own a dozen of said incident's embarrassing photos and flaunting them about with burning passion.
"Eh?" she titled her head. "What happened?" she asked when they were nearly choking themselves from holding back laughs. It seemed like something had happened without her knowing. Shinoa raised her eyebrow when the dam broke and out of sudden they roared in laughter.
"What?" she pursed her lips in confusion.
Now, that was weird.
No, they were acting weird.
Guren shot her an exasperated gaze, lips quirked into a slight smile. Shinya flashed her one of his sugar sweet grin and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Kimizuki smirked as he gave her a thumb up, and the rest showed no different as they doubled back in laughter, a smile/smirk/grin painted across their flushed face.
Just what happened when she was sleeping?
BLAM!
The door behind them blasted open. Then came in the missing boy.
"Oi Kimizuki bastard where did you hide my—" he paused in mid-sentence.
STARE~
"No. Forget it. I'm going to kill you later."
Door slammed shut.
3
2
1
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DID YOU SEE THAT? Those cheeks!"
"They're just too cute~ Just look at him~"
"HE'S BLUSHING, ISN'T HE? GODDAMN HE'S BLUSHING!"
"Oh god. If you put a tomato beside his face you can't even tell the difference!"
.
.
After several attempts of felony and murder (by Shinoa, who was extremely pissed off at her cheerful older brother who, by all means, had used her and Yuichiro awkward situation to collect some blackmail materials), the group finally got back in track, marching to Nagoya with full speed. But sadly, because of the slight problem earlier, their original plan was rendered useless as they had arrived approximately two hours later than the appointed time.
"Heh, so this is Nagoya Castle huh?" Yuichiro wondered out loud, "Not bad." he whistled, admiring the enormous building in front of him.
A massive castle stood straight like a sore thumb between the vast landscapes of lush green environmental. The ancient giant was especially striking under the current clear summer sky, its darkening walls which coated with dense vines proved all the passing centuries it had endured.
Unfortunately, most of additional castle buildings were destroyed to the ground, flattened into the earth, including the castle keep and the little palace buildings. But the main building was still standing magnificently among the ruins. The park surrounding it was barren and void except for two circles of moats and impressive gate-like walls with corner turrets.
"Stop staring like an idiot and walk, Baka-Yuu." The black haired craned his head to find Kimizuki standing behind him, his face looked absolutely peeved as he shoved the poor boy briskly into the front gate.
"Oi! Are you asking for a fight?!" he glared at the rude boy.
"No you imbecile! Just walk!" Kimizuki crammed the scowling boy into the inner garden, slightly pushing the said boy with force. "The other teams are inside, checking the perimeter around its land, whether it's safe or not for us to trespass. Our job is to guard the box, which is already situated at the front door when you were busy gaping like a fool, you nitwit."
"Gezz, I know okay, chill." he rolled his eyes lazily, off the distance he could make out three silhouettes of his comrades. Two of them were hovering above the gigantic mahogany box, checking for any apparent damages on its surface and also its inside, and just a few feet from his place, their squad leader was staring intensively at the main door, her cocoa eyes squinted in concentration.
"Oi Shinoa." he called her over, watching as the girl traced pattern above the printed crest on the wooden surface. "What are you doing?" he stopped right beside her, eyeing the same crest with raised eyebrow. What's so interesting about this emblem?
"You don't know this crest?" she asked incredulously when she saw his questioning gaze. "Well, Yuu-san. Don't bother your head with it. It's just some lame, old fa—"
"OI BRATS. GET YOUR ASSES INSIDE NOW!"
They paused at the deafening roar (courtesy of their brash commander) from the inner hall. "I guess we need to get going." she shook her head, an amused smile stretched on her face. "The devil spawn has called upon his darling minions to deliver his ultimate weapon of mass murder~" she sighed dramatically.
"—AND DON'T FORGET TO BRING THE BOX!"
"See?" she said again, choking back a laugh. "Come on Yuu-san, before he gets mad at us again." The lilac haired girl circled her arm around his before pulling him along with her.
"Yeah. Yeah." he muttered idly, why he had joined this mission again? "Hey! Stop dragging me!"
.
.
"So brats, we are going to execute our plan now. But first I'm going to explain some important things before we began so you better listen attentively because there's no way I will repeat it for a second time." he cleared his throat when the rest of the unit nodded in unison.
"First, for obvious safety reasons, we are going to work in two groups, which consisted of my squad plus Shinya, then a joined fraction between Narumi's squad and Shinoa's squad, in which the former will act as the executioner, and the latter protect the box." he sighed tiredly, tired lines marring his flawless face. "Well, at least it was the plan. As you can see, this freaking box has a size of a fucking gargantuan, we can't exactly brought it everywhere we move, can we? Not only it will hinder our job, it will slow us down too." he clicked his tongue in annoyance, eyeing the black mahogany container with distaste.
"Are you implying that we have to leave it here? Isn't that dangerous?" Rika Inoue raised her eyebrows.
"Y-Yeah, Rika-san is right." Yayoi Endo chimed from behind, agreeing wholeheartedly with her fellow squad mate. "It's not safe…"
"Yes, if it's alone." The black haired man nodded his head, "That's why we're going to put some people over here, to watch the box. Even though we have a few barriers and protection spells around this place, we still need people who will act as the vanguards in case there's a surprise visit from our dearest friend." he muttered sarcastically. "The rest would proceed as planned, I'm going to give you a map which will show your assigned place later." he turned on his heels, gesturing to a pile of papers on the floor.
"Who will watch the box then?" Kimizuki asked. "And how many people will stay?"
"That's not for me to decide." he shrugged his shoulders. "But it would be better if they have a good detection skill, or long-range battle gear, which one doesn't matter. Approximately five people will stay to guard the box. Well four, if you count Shigure over here." Guren jabbed his thumb at his female retainer. "She will be the supervisor of the group."
"Well, it would be fair if there are two people picked out from each squad." Narumi put a finger under his chin, thinking. "But the question is, who?"
"I-I will stay!" Yoichi suddenly exclaimed from his position at the back. "I have my bow, it's useful for long-range battle and Gekkouin—my demon—also can detect enemy from a distance."
Well, he had a point and seeing that their timid friend had made up his mind, the rest of Shinoa's squad could only smile encouragingly at his braveness. Then, who would stay behind with him? Yuichiro and Kimizuki were their squad strongest fighters, so they were out of the question. It left their squad leader and Mitsuba, but it was already obvious who would get picked.
"I'll stay with Yoichi then." Mitsuba said leisurely as she walked to Yoichi's direction, beside the enormous box. "You guys be safe, would you?" she said softly, a small smile painted on her lips.
In respond of that request, they nodded their heads in unison, determined to live on their promise. There's no way that they would die in a place like this. No, especially not in a place like this.
"Yoichi and Mitsuba, eh?" Guren cocked his head, smirking. "Not bad, you brats actually used your brain this time." he said teasingly, "What about your squad, Narumi?" he shot the maroon haired boy a look.
"Taro Kagiyama and Rika Inoue will stay as the vanguards." Narumi spoke evenly, directing his gaze solely onto the picked ones.
"Fine then." Guren nodded his head in appreciation, noting their good choices upon this matter. "Now I'm going to repeat about the team placement. There will be three groups. Two groups will execute the plan, when the other will protect the enchanted box." he paused to catch his breath. "The first would be me, Shinya, Sayuri, Mito and Goshi. The second would be Yuu, Shinoa, Kimizuki, Narumi, Endou and Iwazaki. The third group, the vanguards, will consist of Shigure, Yoichi, Mitsuba, Inoue and Kagiyama. You got it?"
"Yes."
"Understood."
"You bet."
"Yes, Chūsa."
"Just tell us the plan already."
Guren twitched his eyes at the particular rude reply, he just knew that it must be him. That brat.
"Damn it. I really hate brats…." he grumbled under his breath, "Now you lot, this is the plan…."
.
.
"I can't open the door." Yuichiro released his hand from the handle, a frown etched on his face. They were standing in front of a giant polished door inside the inner castle. The place was devoid of any live, barren an empty, except for some chairs and tables thrown around, dusted with time. Its wall was coated with vines and grime, a dozen of old portraits hanging on its smudgy surface.
They had long separated from the vanguards team, roaming around the building in accordance with the route they'd made before. And after a few minutes of walking around, they had arrived on this place, the said entrance of its isolated underground.
"What do you mean that you can't open them?" Guren walked into his direction, grabbed the silver handle before pulling it down. But just like the green eyed boy had said, it won't budge from its place. "Damn. It's locked."
"Just blast it open then." Goshi suggested nonchalantly. "We can't exactly find the key now, can we?"
"Yeah, just break it down, Chūsa." Narumi agreed. "It will save us the trouble."
"Fine." The Lieutenant Colonel nodded, sheathing his cursed sword from its leather case. "You lot, get back!" he warned, sword already drawn in front of his chest, ready to strike down the damned door open at any moment. But before he could even swing his gear, a hand suddenly came from nowhere, stopping his movement with an iron grip.
"No. You can't break it." Shinya warned. "I have seen this door before. There must be at least two or three traps prepared behind that door if you open it by force."
Guren paused, his sword clinked against the floor. "Traps? Damn. This place is troublesome…" he muttered under his breath, "So how do you reckon we should open this stupid door?" he asked, sheathing back his sword.
"See this button?" The white haired man pointed at a magenta switch situated beside the door's frame. "You pushed it down…" he did as he said and suddenly a glass plate slid from under it. "Then pull the plate out!" he said with a bright smile.
They stared at the door, waiting.
Nothing happened.
"Uhm, S-Shinya-sama…" Endou fidgeted with her fingers. "The door is…" she said sheepishly, pointing at the tight closed door.
"Can't you please save the joke for later?" Guren face palmed. "We're on a mission you idiot." he sighed tiredly.
"I'm not finished gezz…" Shinya pouted cutely, a bit scandalized with Guren's lack of faith in him. "We need another requirement to open this door." he gave them a deadpanned look.
"Another requirement?" Sayuri titled her head. "Ano… Shinya-sama, what might it be?"
"We need blood!" The gun user said cheerfully, "Descendant's blood, to be specific."
"Hah? Blood?" Kimizuki raised his eyebrows. "How can we even find a direct descendant of this freaking castle? It's been years, hasn't it? They had either died or turned into their plaything by now."
"Actually we have a rig—"
"He's right Shinya. How the hell we supposed to search for a freaking descendant of this damned building?"
"But Guren—"
"And we don't have the time for shouting out loud!"
"But I kn—"
"Save it for later okay? We will handle whatever trap behind that thing. I'm going to destroy this shit." the violet eyed man unsheathed his sword again, ready to blast the door into pieces.
"SHINOA-CHAN!" he stopped on his track when Shinya suddenly shouted, "Guren, Shinoa-chan is the descendant!"
"Eh?" The girl in question could only stare at the man for a moment, wondering if he had gone insane all of sudden. How could she be a descendant of this freaky cas—
Wait a minute.
"Ah!" Shinoa clapped her hands, finally caught on her older brother's train of thought. "That's right. So you need my blood?" she pulled out a small knife from her pocked and pressed the pointy steel against her hand, ready to slit her skin.
"W-WAIT. W-Wait a moment!" Yuichiro quickly snatched the knife before he broke into cold sweats. "What the hell are you doing?!" he almost screamed at her face, concerned with her mental state. It was not only him, but almost all the occupant of this room (except Shinya, who was smiling like a dork) were staring at her in disbelief. What kind of sane people want to rip her own skin open?
"Well," Shinoa began, amused by their gobsmacked faces. "You see this sign?" she tapped at the golden crest which carved on its smooth surface.
"That is—" Mito gasped, along with the others except Yuichiro when they finally recognized the emblem.
"Huh? What are you guys talking about—"
"The Hiiragi Family crest. It's mean I'm a direct descendant of this castle." she cut him over, dropping her blood from a small wound on her thumb to the glass plate before she pushed it back into the wall. Not long after that, the door suddenly opened with a loud crack, shocking them all.
"See?" Shinya smiled smugly at them, failing to hide his mirth. "It worked!"
.
.
.
You brats go follow your route, find the freaking weapons while you're at it, grab all the shit, and come back into this place unscratched. Got it?
Those were Guren's words before his group disappeared into their own route. It was only his group now, walking inside this insanely long corridor with careful steps. The air around them was heavy, dust and ashes prickled their nostrils with its sharp sensation. But they had to endure it, for it was their mission.
"Oi. Narumi." Yuichiro called from his place. "How many rooms we're going to check again?"
"Six room, Hyakuya-san" It was not Narumi, but instead his squad mates, Iwazaki who had answered him. "If our prediction is correct, then we need to walk a little further to reach our assigned place. It's described as a big, round, empty hall with doors around its wall."
"Oh, okay. Thanks Iwazaki-san." Yuichiro grinned widely at him and the man could only smile in response before he continued his long strides.
"Yuu-san." he shifted his head at the sound of his name. "Um, do you feel anything strange?" she whispered into his ear quietly.
"What do you mean?" he whispered back, minding his volume. "An enemy?"
"I'm not sure…" she trailed off, looking at their surrounding with cautious eyes. "But Shii-chan became restless since we went past that door. I thought it was nothing but now it's worse than before." she bit her lower lip in worry.
"Should we tell the others?" he suggested, eyeing her pale face and frown. He didn't like the expression she was wearing one bit.
"Yes." she gripped his coat tightly, she didn't know why but she had a bad feeling about this. "Let's—"
Crack.
"Wha—"
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The wall beside them exploded into pieces.
.
.
"Oi, did you hear that?" Guren narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat distressed by the loud sounds he was hearing.
"Hear what?" his blue eyed friend frowned, eyeing his friend's perturbed expression. "I didn't hear a thing. Are you okay, Guren?"
The black haired man was silent for a minute, before he waved his hands carelessly, dismissing his previous question. "Yeah, yeah. Forget it. Maybe it's just my imagination. And Shinya?"
"What?" he tilted his head. "Is something wrong?"
"No—Not really." Guren sighed harshly, not believing that of all place that he had to step upon, it had to be this goddamn building. "I totally forgot about this shitty place. Nagoya Castle, huh? More like Hiiragi freaking Castle." he snorted humorlessly.
"Well…" Shinya trailed off, not sure what to say. Even he, one of the notorious Hiiragi Family was a little bit distraught about walking inside this forgotten district. This place was dangerous. "Before the fall, Nagoya Castle was used as the central base of that Research Faculty, and more than once used as experimentation laboratory for…. their guinea pigs." he cringed a little, remembering those bloodcurdling screams and cries. "And also, my trial was held inside this building too, therefore I'm pretty much in tune with its routes."
"Hence why that fucking Hiiragi Kureto sent you with us." he scoffed in annoyance. "Supervising my ass…"
"No. You're wrong." he said blankly, "Kureto didn't send me here. I volunteered myself."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" now Guren had stopped walking altogether, staring at his longtime friend with an unbearable expression.
"When I said that this was an experimentation laboratory, I meant it." he said sharply, blue eyes darkening into deep sea. "This place was Hiiragi's secret vicinity for that experimentation."
"You mean—"
"Yes."
"Shit."
.
.
.
"Nee~ Wakey, Wakey, Noa-chan~ Wake up, wake up~"
Who is it?
"Noa-chan~ You have to wake up."
I know that voice, it's familiar. who is this person?
"Ne! You need to wake up now!"
Shinoa jolted up from her lying position, her breath deteriorated as she stared at the creature before her.
In front of her eyes was a boy – a child – with the most beautiful pair of cerulean blue eyes she had ever seen. A mop of lavender hair, almost like her own, framed his youthful face in soft tendrils. He was short, even shorter than her as he crouched over her breathless form. Long, sea blue scarf which matched his eyes wrapped around his neck loosely. He was wearing a sand-brown colored cape over his body, with a pair of knee-high boots to compliment his looks.
And he was smiling at her.
Who?
"I'm hurt Noa-chan. We just talked this morning, and you already forgot about me?" he sneered at her, little fangs protruding from his lips. "Honestly, you never change. Same old Noa-chan, the only thing you good at is for—"
This person is—
"You!" she suddenly rose from her place on the ground, eyes widening in terror. "You're—you're the one who—"
"—gave you those memories? No, what you called it again—" he paused, grinning from ear to ear. "Ah, yes. Nightmares, am I right?"
"What do you want from me?" she snarled viciously, trying her best to ignore his malicious intent. "Why I am here?"
"You're unconscious obviously." he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "And this is your mindscape, so don't ask me." he smiled mockingly.
"Are you a demon?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Are you?"
"Why curious?" he titled his head. "And if I am?"
Shinoa paused for a moment, staring at the creature blankly before she shook her head. He looked like a human, but his eyes—his eyes were not human. Even though they weren't blood red, and even though there was no horns protruding from his head, he couldn't be human.
Not a demon, but something much more terrifying than that.
"I take that back." she laughed hollowly, withdrawing her earlier statement. Her head began to throb again, just like before. "No, you must be something else. What are you then?"
"Ehhh~ Why?" he pouted cutely. "I could be a demon for all yo—"
"Please stop this rubbish. I'm not aware that demons love it to play with their human happy memories." she bit her lower lip until it bled, "What do you want? Why me?"
"I can't answer that." the stare he gave her was blank and void, "You have to remember."
"Remember what!" she screamed in frustration. "I don't understand! Why you keep on sending me all of this? Why you—"
"I can't." he said sharply, cerulean blue eyes melted into vicious red. Shinoa stood frozen when he zeroed his gaze on her. "I CAN'T! YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, and as if his mere voice had hammered it beyond repair, the white surrounding around them began to shatter.
"No…" she whispered as everything began to fade away into nothing. He was fading into nothing. "NO! ANSWER ME!"
Shinoa ran.
The dome and the little boy vanished before her eyes.
.
.
.
"H-Hiiragi-san…. p-please wake up… Hiiragi-san…"
A faint voice vibrated inside her ears, soft and lulling. Who? And where? The last thing she could remember was that cursed dome inside her head. If she was to be honest, Shinoa felt like breaking all over the place. She was pretty sure that bruises would surely paint her skin blue by now. And more, her head was throbbing painfully. She didn't know for sure whether it was because of that—that creature doings or their unkind fall had finally taken its effect on her.
"Ugh… E-Endou-san…?" she groaned softly, trying to stand with much effort. "Where are we now? Just what... what happened?"
"I don't… I don't really know…" The short haired girl whimpered, tears already formed at the corner of her eyes. "I… there was… there was an explosion and—and then it was all black… I—I don't know what to do but now we are alone… I've tried but I—I can't find the others…" she bit her lips, trying to keep the tears at bay.
So we are separated…, Shinoa thought grimly. Not good.
"Don't cry Endou-san…" she said softly, patting the older girl's shoulder in comfort. "We will find the others, for now let's walk, okay?"
Touched by the girl kind words, the chocolate haired girl could only nod in acceptance. "Y-Yes… Thank you very much…"
"Don't mind it." Shinoa smiled a little before she made her way forward, pulling the bespectacled girl with her. No matter how much she wanted to find her comrades, they needed to move from this place. She was certain that those two would be okay, she believed in their strength after all. That's why, for now, she would endure.
Yuu-san… Kimizuki-san… everyone… I hope you're alright…
.
.
.
"Damn it!" Yuichiro kicked the wall beside him in fury. "Where the hell is this place!" he shouted angrily, glaring at its surface with so much hatred.
Kimizuki yanked him by his collar, stopping him from hurting himself further. "Quit it you idiot! We need to find the freaking exit from this place! You're not helping with this—this childish attitude of yours!" he screamed at his face.
"What is your problem?!" he screamed back, manic greens orbs gaping wide. "Don't you see? They're gone! She's gone!" he trashed around, trembling with rage at his inability to keep his important person safe. "SHINOA IS GONE!"
"YUU!" he held the boy down with an iron grip, it was the first time he had ever seen him so—so furious and scared at the same time. And all because of their currently missing leader. Kimizuki was also worried about her, but it didn't mean that he was permitted to throw a tantrum like this, dammit. "What's wrong with you! Calm yourself down!"
"BUT SHE'S—!" Yuichiro stopped moving altogether, chest heaving up and down with his irregular breath. "….Shinoa is… she is… gone…." he whispered quietly, eyes brimming with unshed tears. No, not like this. Everything was an exact copy paste of that day, and he was sick—he was sick repeating the same thing all over again.
He couldn't lose her for a second time, no, he refused to. He loathed this stupid feeling, the helplessness and despair, he hated it with his every core.
( no, not again. not like this. )
What should I say? Kimizuk wasn't sure, everything seemed like a hazy pictures inside his mind. He honestly didn't know what to do because the person in front of him was clearly not in his right mind. There was something—something was wrong with him.
Just what happened with them back then? After that cursed mission, they had been acting so strange.
"She'g gone…" he heard him mutter again. "Shinoa…. I'm sorry… I couldn't save….."
"Oi, Baka-Yuu." Kimiuki called him quietly, releasing his trembling hand from his iron grip. The black haired boy gazed at him with empty eyes, unseeing, and in that brief moment he finally made up his mind.
( it's now or never, they said. )
"We will find her." he vowed then, raising his head to stare at his troubled friend. "I promise."
.
.
.
"Hiiragi-san…?" Endou called softly from her right. "Where are we going?"
"I don't… I honestly don't know." Shinoa shook her head slowly. "I have never been here before, despite my history."
( are you really? )
The lavender haired girl stilled on her place, her face paling into translucence.
What was that? Who was talking just now?
"Hiiragi-san?" Endou stared at the girl worriedly, "Are you okay? Why did you stop?"
"No… it's nothing." she gulped down a lump inside her throat before she moved again. "Come on, we have to keep walking."
They had been walking for twenty minutes now, or maybe more, she didn't know. The corridor was long and narrow, and she couldn't make out its end, only darkness reflected on her eyes. At least they could see their surroundings well. It was a relief that Endou had brought a flashlight with her, if she hadn't, Shinoa didn't sure if they could even walk around this underground passage at all.
"Hiiragi-san!" Endou suddenly exclaimed, eyes shining with happiness. "I see a door!" she pointed into the distance.
"A door?" without thinking Shinoa marched past the older girl, then stopped short when she found a dead end.
On its surface, was a wooden door.
"I think it must be the exit." Endou smiled brightly, snapping her out from her daze. "Let's check it then."
"Yes. Let's." The scythe wielder nodded her head, a hand firm on the handle. She was just about to pull it down, if not for a sudden pain on her head.
( don't go inside. )
"Hiiragi-san? Hey, are you really sure that you're okay?" Endou asked, eyebrows furrowed in worry. Now she was really worried about her condition, especially when she saw the girl's pained face. "Do you want to stop for a while?"
"No. No I'm okay." Shinoa gritted her teeth, just what the hell was wrong with her? It felt like she was being hammered continuously by unseen force. "I'm okay, Endou-san. I'm going to open it now." she rasped out, pushing the door open with trembling hand.
( DON'T GO! )
It was—
"….a room?" the hazel eyed girl said softly, voice whisper-like.
Behind that door was a barren chamber filled with rugs. It was windowless and on its bricks wall hanged a few damaged chandeliers. Now that she noticed it, the walls were recessed and protruded in such a complementary fashion to the walls on the opposite side, as if to reflect the sounds, ensuring that nothing would be carried to the outside world.
It's just like a tort—
No, it couldn't be.
Just what was this place? There was nothing except darkness and—
Metal chair.
Leather straps.
Glass syringes.
Razor blades.
( What are you doing to me? It hurts—no! Let me—! )
Shinoa felt like drowning, barely breathing as her heart hammered against her rib cage.
( ...don't— le-t... go— it... urts.. )
A voice was ringing inside her head and it hurt. It hurt so much.
( NO. NO STOP IT. IT HURTS. STOPSTOPSTOP— )
What flashed in her head was a crying little girl strapped on a chair. A very familiar girl, with long lilac hair and a pair of chestnut eyes.
( NO STOPSTOPSTOP IT HURTS PLEASE )
Then, she was there.
( DON'T DO THIS TO ME NOSTOPSTOP ONEE-SAMA HELP ME )
She was sitting on a metal chair, wrists and ankles were bound with leather straps. Barely breathing as she tried desperately to rip her wrist free but it won't open, it won't—whywhywhywhy—and bit her lower lip until it drew blood when she felt the narrow edges cut and craved into her bare skin. It hurt—it hurt so much and she screamed out in pain as she kept struggling at the straps, but they only tore her flesh and painted out red.
It was horrible—the pain which crawled inside her every cell, yet she was powerless to wrench herself away from the leash which bound her deep in pain. The violent hum of screeching iron assaulted her bleeding ears, and the cursed sound began to echo—andechoandechoandecho—inside her mind like a broken record, and it was agony, that she felt.
( IT HURTS PLEASE STOP MAHIRU-ONEESAMA HELP— )
They were inserting something—a red liquid? it's blood? stopstopstop—inside her veins. And her body suddenly felt like burning, like she was being boiled alive. The pain—the pain was endless as those people, those masked people began to inject her with more—andmoreandmore—red liquids and she didn't—she couldn't feel her arms and feet beneath her skin. She was numb, she was numb and her body was burning and boiling and scorching into heat and it hurt, it hurt so much.
( STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT I BEG YOU )
Then, all that's left was a deafening silence.
"No…." Shinoa staggered back, her breath ragged into a mere gasp as the gruesome picture kept repeating inside her mind. It was her, she knew that it was her. "What…. Just what—" she choked back a sob hysterically, trying to erase those horrid images from her mind.
( I told you not to go— )
"Hiiragi-san…." Endou whispered when she saw her stark white face, the girl was trembling all over the place, sweating bullets as she kept on mumbling about something she couldn't understand. What's wrong with her? She looked… awful. "Hey, are you okay…?"
( —but you didn't listen. )
"I'm…. I'm—" she bit her lower lip, drawing blood. "E-Endou –s-san.. I- w-we—"
Screeeeeeech!
She froze.
There was something—Shinoa didn't know what it was but it was moving towards them. No, she couldn't see its form but it slithered and crawled into them and it, no, they were fast—fast enough to reach them in a matter of minute and she—
Sreeeeeeeech!
( they're coming— )
Who?! Who is coming?! She wanted to scream at the voice inside her head, those creatures were getting faster and faster and she didn't know what to do the because pain was pounding her into mess and her—she was—
( the monsters, get out, GET OUT! )
"E-Endou-san…." the young Hiiragi managed to voice her mind, eyes dilated as she pushed the girl out from the room. They didn't have much time. They needed to— "Run…" she whispered between her quivering lips.
"What are you—" Endou stopped on her track when she saw a mons—no, they were monsters, hideous monsters crawling behind the whimpering girl. "HIIRAGI-SAN BEHIND YOU—"
"RUN!" the girl hollered, shoving her even harder until she fell on her knees.
"HIIRAGI-SAN!" she shouted in horror when she saw those monster began to gnaw on the girl's feet. She couldn't leave her alone, no, she couldn't they needed to—
"RUN!" Shinoa screamed at the top of her lungs, holding back the door with all she had. The ugly creatures were clawing and biting at her feet, it was horrible and she had to bit her lower lip from the searing pain. At least, she thought, at least one of us has to escape.
"BUT—"
"ENDOU-SAN RUN! SEARCH FOR THE OTHERS!"
"I—Hiiragi-san—" she chocked back a sob before she turned her back, running with all her might.
I'm sorry…
The door behind her closed with a loud thump.
.
.
.
"Yuu!" he snapped his head back, watching as the Lieutenant Colonel marching his way into them. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"I'm searching for Shinoa—and the rest! We—we're separated!" he shot back, but didn't stop running.
The violet eyed man pursued the strangely compulsive boy, feet clinked noisily against the tiled floor. "What do you mean you're separated?!" he screamed through the slapping winds. "I told you to stick together!"
"There was an explosion!" Kimizuki shouted from afar, trying to keep up with his unbelievably fast comrade. "We didn't know but—but it was so sudden that we—"
"What explosion?!" Guren bellowed again, his voice grinding painfully against his vocal chords. Speaking with two hysterical brats was certainly not an easy task. "Can't you stop for a fucking moment you twit! I can't talk to you properly like this!" he yanked Yuichiro's collar hard, prompting the boy to stagger back from the sudden impact.
"What are you doing?!" he snarled, teeth clamped tight as he twisted around to break free from the man's tight grip. "Let go! I need to find her!"
"Oi, calm down—"
"LET ME GO!" he hollered, body seething from the anger. "I NEED TO F—"
"SHUT THE HELL UP AND CALM YOURSELF!" as if he was being slapped in the face, Yuichiro stilled on his feet like stone, letting the furious man dug his fingers down his shoulders. "Tell me what happened." he said sharply.
All of them now had stopped running altogether, watching as the boy began to open his mouth. "She—we—there was an explosion and we—"
Tap.
"Wait." Guren shushed the boy up with a look. "Listen, all of you. Keep silent."
Tap. Tap. Taptaptaptapataptap—
"What is it?"
TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP—
"Something is coming, you guys shut the hell up."
Tap.
Tap.
TAP.
No. He was wrong. It was not something, but someone.
"ENDOU!" Guren exclaimed out loud when he saw the girl's petite form emerged from the shadows. Her body was full of wounds; darkening bruises and cuts had literally covered her skin with red and blue dots. And her face—it was stark white, she looked as if she had seen a ghost. "What happ—"
"C-Chūsa! Hiiragi-san… HIIRAGI-SAN!" And yet, before he could even finish his question, the bespectacled girl had barreled to his chest, gripping the fabric of his uniform until her knuckles turned pale. "HIIRAGI-SAN IS—"
His blood ran cold.
SNAP!
"YUU—That stupid—WAIT YOU BAKA!" Guren barked when he saw the black haired boy immediately flee from his place the moment he heard her name, and when Kimizuki saw it, he also took his leave and ran after the boy. Those two, he swore inside his mind, they needed to plan first dammit, not fucking parading into the enemy's lair just like that!
"Guren!" Shinya shouted from his side, panic and worry laced his voice. "Guren what is the plan? We need to act fast—come on!"
"Fuck." he cursed under his breath, "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."
"Guren!"
"Goddammit!" he cursed again, but this time it was louder. "Sayuri, Mito, Goshi, you three search for Narumi and Iwazaki! When you find them quickly regroup with the rest and follow our trail!" he turned his head back to the shaking girl, "Endou! Show us the way!"
You better be alive, brat. I'm not going to lose you too.
.
.
.
"T-That! That is the door!" Endou pointed at the familiar door with shaking hand. "She—Hiiragi-san is inside!"
BAM!
Without hesitating Yuichiro blasted the door open with his boot-clad foot, splinters of wood flying in every direction. They barged into the barren room, frantically seeking the girl among the darkness, but their surrounding was pitch-black and the little flashlight they had was not helping—
"Yuu-san…?"
He froze. That voice. He knew that voice.
Using his ears as guide, Yuichiro followed the direction in which her voice was coming from. Even though it was dark, he could make out a human-sized shadow from the corner of his eyes, and when it moved he instantly knew that it must be her. Thanks god she's alive, he sighed in relief.
"Shinoa you—" he walked to her, eyes shone with clear happiness, but then he stopped almost abruptly when he finally got an eyeful of her current state. He was too absorbed with the fact that she's alive that he didn't notice his surrounding at all. But when he did, Yuichiro had to bit down the urge to scream in terror.
He was seeing red.
Blood, everywhere he looked he saw red and red and crimson and blood.
"Shinoa…. is that… you…?"
He couldn't exactly see her face, because everything inside that forsaken room was painted into a disgusting color of red. Her hair, her face, her arms—her everything, every bit of Shinoa was dyed into a nauseating burgundy and he didn't know what to ask because—
Whose blood was it?
"Yuu-san…" he could hear her voice, barely a whisper. "Is that you…?"
"Shi—Shinoa… just w-what…?" he reeled a step when the foul smell of decaying corpse pricked his nostril with its sharp flavor. His eyes widening as he captured the gruesome picture in front of him, face paling into a translucence.
She was—she was drenched in blood, fresh blood.
He couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe as the scent of blood began to assault his every sense. And in that moment of silence, Guren had wrenched his way near them, gasping for breath as the scene finally reflected on his eyes.
"Shinoa…" The man whispered faintly, eyeing the girl's horrid form with disbelief. "What h-happ—"
"Don't. Stay right there." she warned them sharply, her voice crawled over their skin like freezing snow. "Don't come closer."
"But—"
"I SAID STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, and for a split of second there her eyes gleamed scarlet inside the darkness. "Stay.. away from me…" she said softly, gripping her hand near her chest.
"Shinoa…." Yuichiro began to walk again, finally slipped from his nightmarish daze and he knew that the black haired man behind him was following his lead.
What happened to you?
"Ne… Guren-chūsa…" they halted on their steps, especially the said man as they watched the girl bowed her head low. "You… promised me, remember….?" she whispered brokenly.
"What…?" he muttered softly, just what promise did he ma—
No.
"Guren…?" Yuichiro stared as Guren tripped on his feet, every drop of blood drained from his face.
Not again.
( just like you did to onee-sama— )
"Oi, Guren!"
( I… I want you to be the one to send me away… )
She smiled at him.
Her eyes were blood red.
"Kill me."
.
.
author's note:
I'm SO sorry for the cliffhanger! *cry a river* This chapter is actually too long for my liking, but yeah so be it. I was planning to split it over but I don't have the time to check it all over again so please have this super-ultra-long chapter XD. OKAYYY everything is a mess. I don't know what to say but god writing this chapter was like playing football nonstop. I MEAN I TOTALLY ABUSED MY SFXS XD! And sorry about the slight horror, though I don't think it's scary at all… did I scare you guys? XD. In this chapter I used some references from the LN though only a little, and yeah still no kiss my dear readers. They still have a long way to go before it happen (^w^).
Eto, the next chapter will focus at Shinoa (why her eyes turn bright red and all that shit) and her not-really-demon thing-y. And also included Yuu-chan and Guren's angst too. And for you guys who's pretty curious about that little boy appearance (because I know that I suck at description TvT) inside Shinoa's mind, just check this fanfic cover image. That's my original drawing alright, so I'm sorry if it's such a mess! (TwT) It's been a long time since I touched my digital tabs after all~
Oh, I almost forgot, but here's the answer for Sayuri Tachibana-san! I'm going to include some spoilers from the LN, though only the ones which connected with my story. Please enjoy this one minna-san!
Warning: LN spoilers, beware!
what I used from the LN regarding this chapter :
No.1 It's implied that Shinoa got experimented as a child (Well, she was born from an experiment after all, both her and Mahiru), but the research regarding the said experiment was abandoned by the Hiiragi's. Don't know why though, maybe because of some internal problems? It's either she'd got experimented or it stopped with Mahiru's obvious talent.
No.2 Shinoa's flashback—the one about her strapped on a chair—came from the LN (Vol.3). You can google the picture. It was not really a torture, per say. Our darling Kureto just loved it to play around with Guren, it seemed XD.
No.3 I don't know about what the others think, but no matter how much manga/grown up Shinoa seems to hate (or at least bitter about) her sister so much, in the LN chibi Shinoa was pretty close with her, and also held some affections to her at a degree. I mean, Mahiru wasn't really a yandere little bitch like some love to call her. She was pretty decent in my eyes, and the things she did for her sister… (TwT)
No.4 Shinoa was pretty much abandoned as a child, even though there were Mahiru and Guren and Shinya. Still, what kind of hooligan have the heart to leave a freaking child, underline that, a freaking seven years old child alone in an apartment? I can't believe them at all… (T^T)
I think that's all, thank you again for reading this story of mine! Please don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts about this chapter okay? Your comments always motivate me to write after all! (^v^) Till we meet again~
-Hinoiri Lwin-