Disclaimer: K anime is only mine in my dreams. I hope so…
Note: Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows! Special thanks for the readers who have faithfully reviewed and kept cheering for me to write more all this time. Here goes the next chapter~ For this chapter, it will full of MikoRei. Sorry, I have two branching plots in my head, and I just can't decide which is better so it takes me a while to update. Well…long story short, I decide to go with this one. Hope you like it~
Oh right, I decide to change my penname because that's my artist name, and it's such a bother to have multiple avatar. And I finally have intuos 5! Let me tell you, don't buy bamboo fun if you have extra money. Go for intuos. *_* I regret the moment when I bought bamboo, but back then I was still a child, without job or money, I can't afford intuos. Sob…
"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else." ― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The Red King stood before the tall building, and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Just several hours after the incident of crashing Himmelreich, the rabbit guardians visited HOMRA and sent him an official invitation directly from the Gold King. How that old man could find out right away that it was all Red Clan's crime, he could not- would not even bother to guess. Kusanagi took a deep inhale of his cigarette, filling his lungs with nicotine to help with his nervousness. After all, it was never a good sign to be called upon by the general who was the sole supporting pillar of this country for almost a decade. "Mikoto, be careful."
The red-haired king gave a short wave and started to climb up the stairs in front of the building, leaving his friends behind. "Don't wait up," he notified them. He did not feel much anxiety, since he had been a regular guest in here for visiting a certain blue-haired king, in contrary to his people. The invitation by Gold King was like killing two birds with a stone for him. After the meeting, he should have his daily visit to the medical ward. The instant his foot stepped on the marble floor of the second king's residence, a pair of his clansmen wearing rabbit masks painted in gold and black robes stood in front of him in silence, as if waiting for him to follow them to the appointed chamber.
The moment he entered the elevator and it went up, he could feel a strain's power of manipulation surging inside the whole building. To his amazement, the Gold King never ceased to overlook to manipulate his sensory thus he could never figure out the real layout of this residence. Every time he went to visit, the structure inside constantly changed, therefore he never bothered to remember. There was always a rabbit guard led his way to the medical wing, so he did not attempt to provoke the Gold King by erasing the manipulation influence.
The whole trip was spent in suffocating silence, but Mikoto only yawned in boredom. As the consequence of this sensory manipulation, they had to go in circles to reach their destination. But as a guest, he would obey the rules of the residence landlord. After fifteen minutes wasted on walking on endless maze of hallway, they finally reached the familiar sliding paper door. As if the man inside could sense their presence, he invited them in without any necessities for them to knock to notice him of their arrival, "come in."
The rabbit guards knelt before the paper door and opened it for the Red King to make his entrance and slide it shut behind him as he had entered the chamber. Inside the wide room, there was only the Gold King and the Red King, as well as a coffin made by glass. From distant, Mikoto could guess what or who was exactly inside the casket. The Gold King's Aura was obviously not friendly, or to be honest, he could sense slight resentment inside his eyes. Mikoto pocketed his hands in his jeans and sighed. Guess the rumor was true that the Silver King and Gold King were once acquainted and they had lived such long years. If the old man was being petty, this meeting would not be as peaceful as he had wished. The Gold King was not his opponent, and he had no intention of forcing himself to the critical brink of his Weissman level on this man. He still needed this man standing to protect the unconscious Blue King under his wing, as he went on his retribution.
He stood on the platform across the white-haired king calmly and their surrounding abruptly shifted into celestial setting. There were planets and stars surrounding them, or circling around Mikoto menacingly in their fleeting beauty. With a low voice like a suppressed growl, the Gold King asked him, "I ask thee, hath thou come to fight or to talk?"
Mikoto stared at him with a bored look and shrugged with his hands still in his pockets and answered nonchalantly, "As you can see, I don't even lift a hand against you."
Daikoku narrowed his eyes and summoned his celestial power before him. The planets formed in front of his eyes and without wasting any second, those planets rushed to Mikoto with pure intention to harm. Without moving his hands, Mikoto took a step forward and a tall fire wall blazed before him, burning the planets into ashes and the burst of grayish dust passed through him. From ashes, the planets reformed themselves and surrounded him all around again. Mikoto glanced on those planets and threw a look on the Gold King before he extinguished his flame. After watching Mikoto in his defenseless state and his intention not to fight, Daikoku finally lowered his defense and erased his celestial power. The background had reverted back to the usual chamber, colored in gold and furnished by tatami.
Mikoto hated to waste anymore of his time and he cut the chase quickly while trying to mind his manner. "I'll not beat around the bush. Yes, Red Clan was responsible for the incident last night."
The man holding highest authority of the country glowered at him with growing loathing. "For what reason, did you attack the first King?"
"Before we get to there, I find it baffling. Isn't he the rumored Silver and Immortal King, which never ages? Don't you think that something went amiss that he is dead, right now, right here?"
Daikaku made no comment on his point, but his posture was indeed slightly at ease. With the brilliant mind as his, he had considered that point that he even wondered how his friend could be deceased before him though his power as a Silver King would not let any external factors to harm him. That would only mean one thing: this body that he had collected did not belong to the Silver King. There was no mistake that the body was real, so it would mean it was the soul that did not match up. Nevertheless, he did not intend to reveal anything to Mikoto. The latter did not look like he was asking for an answer either, but simply affirming his suspicion.
The elder tried to pry on further on Mikoto's thought. "What are you suggesting?"
The latter was silent, pondering whether he would gain something from providing information. But it seemed that Daikaku would not let him leave in peace if he did not speak his mind. "There is an informant, telling me that that man in the coffin is responsible for previous attempting murder on Blue King."
Daikaku's hands flinched at the statement. The Silver King he had known for years was such a sad, lonely man that could not even hurt a laboratory rat and that went on for years. Or else, he would have hated the world already for the terrible loss of his beloved sister and brought the catastrophe upon this country by his own hands since he had all the capability of doing so. And now Mikoto informed him that the possibly same man tried to murder Munakata Reishi? It did not make any sense to him. Nevertheless, if the recent Silver King was actually not the one who had been his friend, it would explain the whole thing.
The only question left would be, who in the world had such ability to take over a King's body?
Mikoto himself was troubled. There were so much pieces of hint in his hands, but he could not connect the dots. He might be slothful but his brain was not, even though his judgment was often clouded by his own emotion. That young student, who was supposed to be the assassin that went after Totsuka and Reishi might attempt to mislead him by giving false information, but he persistently declared that he was innocent. The Silver King that Yashiro Isana had mentioned was apparently suspicious as well, since the first King on the plane seemed to be not the real Silver King. That man was even taking such a radical move just so they could not capture or question him. Where could be the real Silver King then? Or is he really just a legendary existence made by certain cult that had been long dead?
But if the man inside the coffin was not the Silver King, the Gold King would not even be enraged when he entered this chamber before. The Gold King's reaction confirmed his doubt that the Silver King was real and immortal, and so was the body they had collected from Himmelreich. However, it seemed that someone else took over his body for certain goal that the perpetrator had possibly fled away by now, leaving behind an empty shell. Thus, who was the one who had the power to take over the Silver King's original body? Mikoto was considering the possibility that the young student was the perpetrator for hijacking Silver King's body and attempting murder to his important people. Yashiro Isana might attempt to buy him some time for something he could not figure out yet by leading him to the fake Silver King and he might have been played after all.
The Gold King could feel the growing irritation from inside Mikoto and he cleared his throat quickly. "Now that I have understood the situation, you may return."
Mikoto snapped out of his deep thought and was in daze for a minute before he nodded quietly. "I'm visiting him today." Daikoku watched him for a while and nodded to show his approval before he turned his back and returned to his private resting chamber. The red-haired man nodded slightly in gratitude and stepped outside the meeting room, finding the usual rabbit guard waiting for him outside the room to lead him to the medical wing.
The pathway he had crossed to the meeting chamber had shifted again into a new layout and Mikoto could not resist the urge to sigh. He was drowned again in his own thought, analyzing the possible reason why the perpetrator needed extra time and misled him while his body automatically followed the gold clansmen. He finally was slapped back to reality when a familiar, sharp scent of disinfectant filled his nostrils, telling him that he had reached his destination. As usual, the rabbit guards bowed before him and stayed behind.
The medical wing was now quite vacant compared to the first time he had come here, considering the lack of medical staffs and equipments. The doctors previously told him that Reishi's condition more or less had stabilized that he only required minimal daily care, if nothing new worsened his condition. They were taking high precaution against acquired infection and putting him in sterile room that Mikoto himself was obligated to follow the aseptic procedures. A pair of golden eyes gave a quick scan on the sterile chamber as he strolled into the isolated glass door and hummed approvingly for Daikaku's method to keep Blue King safe. As expected of the second king and top leader of the Japan, he missed no blank point in his arrangement. Apparently they kept Reishi like a solitary prince confined inside thorn castle. The room was empty with the irritating white walls, and only the beeping sound of machine broke the silence in the room. The Gold King kept monitoring him with CCTVs in every corner of the room to lower the risk of unwanted assassination by the medical personnel. Probably only trusted several ones remained for managing the daily care and emergency cases.
The Red King was nevertheless quite grateful for his chance to be able to visit his rival, his current distant lover, that he would follow such wearisome regulations in order to meet him, including constant greeting to the Gold King. The external factors that the Gold King had considered in as possible harm to Reishi included even his own family, friends, and his Clansmen. Thus, none of the Scepter 4 members were allowed to visit their Kings, not even Reishi's family. He had once seen his family standing outside the building and a middle-aged woman cried painfully with two men hugging her in solace. They were all look like a normal, happy family you could find anywhere. He could easily guess that those men were Reishi's father and his older brother, though he would say that Reishi took after his mother very much. The Gold Clansmen forbid them from visiting. Not even Mikoto could sway Daikaku's decision to lift the visitor restriction for Reishi's family. He understood very well that Daikaku simply put the safety of Blue King as his highest priority, that he even enforced such a bitter decree. There were plenty enemies out there, waiting for such favorable situation like this to assassinate the Blue King and the leader of Scepter 4. Therefore, Mikoto never spoke of it anymore. Almighty they might be, they were not immortals.
Probably the only reason that the Gold King only allowed him to visit the fourth king was to avoid further friction between them that might hurt their Weissman level if they went into serious clash. Moreover, Mikoto had the immense Red Aura that no one would be able to use him against Gold or Blue King. Or maybe because that elder simply could see what had been going on secretly between the young kings, but Mikoto would not be concerned as long as he could meet the one he had wanted to see.
As he entered the confined prison made by glasses, his eyes never left the sole sleeping figure on the bed. Reishi wore a simple, light blue kimono that was usually worn by a patient; ironically, the color fitted him quite well. His eyelids never opened since the day he had his accident and Mikoto had missed to see his glittering, unwavering violet orbs already. He noticed how Reishi had growing thinner, smaller and paler, despite all the efforts given to him and his navy blue colored bangs had grown longer, draping his eyes. Being such a pristine man, Reishi would never let his hair to grow this long and such irregular sight actually amused Mikoto.
He slowly sat on the edge of the white-covered bed and spent several minutes watching the sleeping face, to see if there was any small reaction, small hint of him waking up. Mikoto pulled out his hands from his pockets and cupped Reishi's face and closed their distance until their forehead met each other. He whispered solemnly, as if he was talking to a ghost inside the room, "Hey, when are you going to wake up?"
As he expected, there was no response to answer him, and he ignored the bitter feeling tugging in the corner of his heart. "You know that everything is a mess. There is a criminal to capture and there are tons of your enemies wanting to kill you; how can you slack off here and make me do your job? You are obviously not a damsel in distress; you're freaking too sly to be one."
The silence soon filled the room again, and the red king pulled back to put some distance between them to get a better look on the blue-haired man. "Your family was here, worried to death. You kept telling me that I was putting my family in harm; that I put them in misery later on, but look at yourself now. It's all because you are too nosy. Told you not to meddle with HOMRA, didn't I? But being a prick you are, you never listen." But deep inside he understood it quite well that that trait was part of Munakata, and he would not think twice of the man in front of him being submissive. The current Blue King was too poised to change for anybody. Hell, he loved being authoritarian even when he was bottoming.
"Don't complain to me afterward if I destroy the city." Mikoto shook his grip a little on both porcelain cheeks, emphasizing every word that escaped his lips. His emotion leaked out, and his face was apparent with a hint of anger and slight frustration. "Because protecting city is your job, not mine." A flashback of memories came to him, the ones when he saw the grand, sapphire Sword of Damocles hanging in the sky with the fourth king under it. Reishi would always frown at his lack of self-control from damaging public facilities and involving nearby citizens when he went on a fight. Then the Blue King would reprimand him to behave and Mikoto would intentionally pick up a fight, more than pleased for the attention and challenge he got from a certain king. Reishi would always tell him off the same thing, "Your power will someday destroy you. What do you intend to protect with that vicious power anyway?"
The Red King never answered beyond a smirk, because he was always 'action-speaks-louder' kind of guy. So maybe that was why Munakata never knew, that he was also in the list of persons Mikoto had to- wished to protect. That man was pretty much too self-sufficient though, therefore the red-haired man put the blue Captain on the bottom of his priority list since even if he told the man, Reishi would reject the offer with a flat face anyway. The Blue King would be able to protect himself, more than Mikoto could do, with the Blue Aura bestowed upon him. Or at least that was what he had thought; until he witnessed the one he loved lying in front of him right now. Now he regretted his own ignorance and learned in harsh way that conceit was the reason for a man's downfall.
Prussian blue strands fell on Reishi's face when he shook him and noticed that he was being reckless. Then the golden-eyed man loosened his grip carefully while his eyes never left from the pale face beneath him. One of the things he liked about his rival would be the feeling of his soft hair in his hands, especially when it was damped by sweat after their night exertions. He tried his best to gently put Reishi's hair back properly with his fingers. It was not as neat as the Scepter 4's Captain would do his hair every single day, but Mikoto could be careless. Reishi had to live with the result if he would not wake up to complain and fix it himself.
Taking advantage of Reishi when he was unconscious was not his hobby. But if he really had to wait until the latter woke up to kiss him, only Heaven knew when that would ever happen. Therefore, he placed his finger under the sapphire-headed man's chin and lifted his face to meet his while the other hand was entangled in navy blue's strands. In a slow motion, the Red King planted his lips on the forehead lovingly, and then to his lower lip. Feeling unsatisfied, he planted butterfly kisses on those rosy lips before he moved to the porcelain neck and sucked it playfully to leave red marks where anyone could see. His fingers traced the line of his collar bone tenderly. He could be careless if Gold King witnessed their intimate moment through his monitors. To hell with conscience.
Then he pulled back and stood up almost abruptly, causing the hospital bed to spring up at sudden loss of a person's weight. He gave a last, long look on the sole patient on the wing and turned around to leave the place. He got a prey to hunt and the game was on.
The aquamarine-head strain leaned on the wall of dark, small alley, not far from the Gold King's residence, keeping a watch out on the entrance. The clock was ticking down and it was almost his time to finish his roles. Akizuki flipped open the locket dangling in his neck and smiled sourly at the tiny picture inside, as he talked to himself, "I wonder if I have enough time now."
From the corner of his eyes, he could see a man, with obvious charisma unintentionally screaming from his body, getting out of the entrance door. His blazing crimson hair was quite a feat too; everything about him attracted attention and awe. Without doubt, he must be the third King, Suoh Mikoto, even if Akizuki never met the man personally. The strain could feel his heart thumping like mad and his palms started to feel slick with sweat. After all, the Red King was well-known for his lack of patience and being hot-headed.
He could hear footsteps getting closer and the faint smell of tobacco in the air told him that the man he was trying to talk with was near. Taking a deep breath, Akizuki braced himself for the worse and abruptly went out of his hiding alley to encounter Mikoto. The Red King did not even faze with a man nearly bumped into him and now stood before him, but he watched him closely like a predator, sizing the strain up.
Giving his best, failing smile, Akizuki began talking in a rush and completely forgot to take a breath in between of his lines. "H-hello, you must be the Red King. I'm truly sorry, I know you are in a hurry, but could you spare me a minute to talk, Suoh Mikoto?"
Mikoto only raised an eyebrow at the young man in front of him. This aquamarine-head man did not give much impression, let alone an intimidating presence. Based on years of his experience, these kinds of people would be under the category of 'herbivore' and it was not necessary for him to raise his arm. This man was probably just another weakling that attempted to join HOMRA and gained power without giving much effort. Without sparing him some attention, Mikoto moved aside and started to walk passed him.
Akizuki felt sudden panic and grabbed the crimson-head man's arm without thinking twice and blurted out, "I need to tell you what has happened to Blue King and all the consequences we have to bear before my time runs out!"
To his relief, Mikoto was stunned for a moment and finally his focus was completely on him. The bad news was, now the Red King was growling at him menacingly, like a hungry lion trying to pin him down and devour him to small pieces. He was a man of wisdom, not one with fist. He would not stand even a single chance of defending himself against the leader of HOMRA. Mikoto grabbed the front of his white shirt in his fist and dragged him back into the dark alley. Without much consideration, the red head slammed the smaller man against the wall excruciatingly and one of his hands grabbed his azure hair rather ruthlessly. His sharp golden eyes glared brighter in the shade and though Akizuki found them quite beautiful, he was quite afraid of his life ending before he could relay the truth.
"What did you say?" Mikoto questioned, seething. All this time, he had been trying to find out what had happened during last incident, and none of Scepter 4 or HOMRA could understand what Munakata Reishi had been thinking on that night. Now there was a stranger he did not recognize, stepped up under the spotlight and told him that he held all the information regarding that night? Logically, for Mikoto, it did not make sense. But everything so far never made sense to him, thus he would listen. But he had to threaten him so no lies sprouted from his lips.
Akizuki put his hands in front of his chest in defense and strained himself from yelling in panic. He had considered in that the Red King would behave like this, but he was still frightened by Mikoto in reality. What the Blue King had seen in this man was something he could not comprehend. Red King's charisma easily overwhelmed the strain, almost chokingly painful. He cringed as he listened to himself stammering but he went on, "C-could you please let me go first and move to a place so no one could hear? It's rather sensitive issue…"
Mikoto pondered the offer for a moment and released his fists from the strain. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and made a gesture for him to follow. "Fine. Don't even try to run away."
Without looking at those golden eyes, Akizuki spitefully mumbled under his breath and patted his crumpled shirt. "Why would I when I'm the one who try to find you?"
The HOMRA's king did not comment, but push the lithe man to start walking to further depth of the alley. Akizuki stumbled a little by sudden push and bit his tongue, trying to stop himself from swearing. Seriously, both Red and Blue Kings were quite merciless from his point of view. Munakata Reishi was most likely better out of two since he still laced his tyranny with a smile and courtesy. But in the end, a King was nevertheless an existence that to be feared.
When the light could no longer reach the inner part of alley and only the sound of croaking crows could be heard from nearby, Akizuki stopped walking and turned around to face the red-headed King. "Here should be fine, right?"
Mikoto was quiet for a moment, observing the place and listening to the smallest sound. When he considered it safe, he sighed and leaned back against the wall on the opposite of Akizuki, watching him closely. "Talk now."
Akizuki straightened his shirt and breathed out. Deep down, he doubted if the Red King would believe him. He stared straight at the golden eyes and spoke without giving in to his fear. "I am Akizuki, a strain with time-travel ability."
As he expected, Mikoto gave him the same look that Reishi had given him before in the strain facility. These two kings were quite different, yet apparently similar in some ways. So he continued on, "yeah, I know, you don't believe me. Blue King also gave me that same look when I told him."
Mikoto was shaken a bit when Akizuki pointed out his obvious reaction and reached out for his cigarette in his pocket and lit it up with a flick of his finger to calm himself. "So you have met him?"
Akizuki replied him with a sad smile and leaned on the wall as well in front of Mikoto. "Yeah, about one year from today."
Mikoto was bewildered and rubbed his forehead. He could feel the headache like a dull pain. Even talking with this man did not make anything clearer than before. So this strain admitted that he went to the past after meeting Munakata in the future? He was not even sure anymore if he could understand what Akizuki had attempted to tell him.
"Just listen, since it won't make sense until you hear the full story." Akizuki chuckled at Mikoto's baffled expression but when the latter replied him with a shot of glare, the strain clamped up. "In the future, Blue King makes a pact with me. I will help him to get back to the past and he will try to fix this mess with Colorless King. And yeah, the rumor is true. The one that tried to hurt your friend is Colorless King. His ability to hack into someone's body makes him difficult to get captured."
"In order to change the past, we turned back the time. He told me after we arrived in this year, that he had to stop Colorless King from killing your people on that rooftop on that day to prevent all the tragedies in the future."
Mikoto could not help but feeling intrigued. "What tragedy?"
A pair of aquamarine eyes stared back at him, feeling torn whether he should tell the man or not. But Mikoto glared at him harder and the strain winced in fear. "Originally, Totsuka Tatara would be dead on that night on the hands of Colorless King. And weeks afterward, you…also died after taking your revenge with your Sword of Damocles crumbling apart. Since no Kagutsu crater occurred that time, I could safely assume that your blood was spilled on Blue King's hands."
Mikoto's fingers which were holding the cigarette to his lips flinched. Somehow the image of his dreams flooded back; the burned city, the smell of burning smoke rising high in the sky, the gray ashes and more red. He could see himself standing in the middle of ruins, committing further self-destruction in the blinding rage. He could imagine that somewhere in the other world, other time, he would make Munakata to risk his Sword of Damocles and put Mikoto out of his misery. He must be quite desperate then, so to have the last moment with his favorite blue king.
"Then you are saying that actually Blue King is the only one alive and safe from that tragedy?" Mikoto inhaled a deep breath of his cigarette, letting the nicotine help with his nerves.
The azure-headed strain gave a little nod. "Totsuka Tatara, you, Silver King and Colorless King are supposedly dead in that future, leaving behind only Blue King. Only he knows what happens when you, him, Colorless King and Silver King fight each other."
"Silver king?" Mikoto raised an eyebrow. Why were there lots of unknown parties joining in this revenge-plotted story? But the strain nodded once again. "At least that was what I heard from Blue King. I saw a Sword of Damocles emitting silver light from distance too on that last battle."
Akizuki continued with his storytelling without wasting another minute, "So I met him, offering a chance to change the past, to accomplish what I can't do. After a while, he agreed. And so here we are, back to this year. With the knowledge what sins Colorless King will do, what kind of power he has, he tries to stop what causes your misery."
Mikoto threw his cigarette to the road and stubbed it out almost vehemently with his right foot, "so that's why he was there on that night, knowing that this Colorless King would make his appearance there, isn't that right?" If all of these were true, then nothing could ease the stabbing pain in his heart now. The man that should be the one alive, as it should be, now ended up in such pathetic state because he tried to fix other people's life, including Mikoto's? Just how meddlesome would Reishi get until he had enough? "Then, why don't you return back the time and tell him how stupid he is?"
Akizuki lowered his head, and the shadow of his bangs was casted on his eyes. "There is price I have to pay, every time I turn back the time. I just don't have it anymore." He glanced up and looked straight into Mikoto's eyes. "His pact with me was the final time for me to use my ability. Now I only have enough probably to return several minutes in the past. And since he gets back to the past as well, he also has to pay the price."
The strain was in shock when suddenly Mikoto grabbed him on his shoulders with intention to hurt and slammed him against the wall quite hard. Mikoto nearly barked in pure fury, "You tricked him into this, didn't you?!" The light blue-haired man surrendered to his fate and simply watched the wounded lion; nothing he could do to ease that pain. After all, he did have a responsibility for what had happened to Munakata. If only he never offered this chance to return to the past, that young king would still be alive and physically healthy, even though with a broken heart. But back then, he wanted to believe that the Blue King could achieve beyond his expectation. Now he ended up with another tragedy and he was out of option to revert it.
He softly answered, feeling guilty, "I didn't. He knew all the consequence and he gives me his consent, regardless the price he had to pay, as long as it won't involve his important people. But the price would be burdened on that individual, anyway, and he was fully prepared of what was coming. "
Mikoto still looked like he wanted to hit the latter hard in the face, and the young strain was preparing himself for a painful bruise, but the hit never came. Half-agitated, Mikoto released the man and clenched his fists on his sides. "So what is his price?"
Akizuki gave him a sympathetically look, but he replied anyway. "Why he is still unconscious right now is because of the years he is indebted for this time-travel. And in exchange for changing thread of fate and averting the inevitable death of two persons, more years are deducted from his lifespan."
The Red King shuddered at the words. He could not understand fully the implication of it, but he could feel the heavy burden in his shoulders already. "What do you mean?"
Akizuki grabbed back the strong arms that put him still in his place with new determination in his eyes. "It means, if you continue walking on suicidal path as you are now, you are wasting his precious gift. And what had been given could not be taken back or returned. His lifespan has already been exchanged for you. How many years precisely he lost for you, I cannot foretell."
Mikoto looked torn, like he wanted to destroy everything but conflict was apparent in his eyes. If that was true, it meant now he had to live with not only the world, but also Reishi's life on his shoulders. How could Reishi do that to him? He was already exhausted with the burden as a King, and now the Blue King bestowed him with another weight to carry, much heavier compared to the world for Mikoto. Reishi was like chaining his feet to the ground, anchoring him with all the gravity without escape from this burden.
His grip on Akizuki loosened quite a bit and his voice quivered slightly like a plea, "If you are telling the truth, bring me back to the past. I'll save them myself."
The latter shook his head apologetically and reasoned with him in small voice. "I can't. I told you, I no longer have enough lifespan to pay the price for using my ability to that extent. Even if I do, you don't. The years you gain are not fully yours, because the one who pays for it is the Blue King. If he does not desire so, you cannot use your life as collateral. You only have enough time to return several minutes from this instant since initially you only have several days until your death."
Denial of the sudden fact on his face, Mikoto placed his hand on the young strain's neck ominously. "How can I know that these are all not lies!?"
Akizuki did not waver but grabbed his hand with all his might and stared him with a challenge. "So if I bring you back fifteen minutes from now on, you would believe me, right? Mind the consequence though."
Mikoto gave a twisted smile and growled at him. "Yeah, I dare you."
In that instant, the surrounding suddenly blurred, like he was riding on a lightning-fast rollercoaster within a second. The next second he blinked, Mikoto felt extreme dizziness like a ringing bell inside his head and found himself just several meters behind the Gold Clansmen and the entrance door of Gold King's residence. Still grabbing his aching head, the red king knelt on the floor as he lost his balance, utterly confused. "W-what?" The rabbit guards who were in the middle of escorting him, were immediately alarmed and hurriedly knelt by his side to assist Mikoto to keep him steady. "What's wrong, Red King?"
He spent a whole minute, struggling to swallow his urge to vomit and waiting for the surge of headache to pass. The Gold Clansmen wearing the rabbit masks did not touch him; instead they let him to relax for a bit. After he felt slightly better, Mikoto pushed himself up from the floor with little help from rabbit guard and allowed them to guide him out of the entrance door. He swayed a little as he walked, but the prideful king pushed the Gold Clansmen away to stop them fussing over him. After giving him a curt bow, they returned into the building and Mikoto hastily supported his body by leaning against one of the cold, marble pillars. When he looked at the direction at the mouth of dark alley he supposed to meet the strain for the first time, Akizuki stood there quietly and stared at him with a knowing look and put a finger on his lips. The headache gave him a hard time to figure out what the strain had whispered to him by reading his lips movement, but Mikoto understood more or less.
With a solemn, last smile on Red King, Akizuki hoped his message would reach Suoh Mikoto. "This time, take care of that life." Then he turned his back on the Red King and vanished into the shadow.
With a weak, exhausted smile, the strain felt his energy seemed to sap out of his body. If this was how it felt when imminent death loomed over him, it seemed not to be a terrible way to die. He was sitting on the nearly empty train by the window at the most backseat, watching at the beautiful view of the city outside in blurring speed. He had missed his town, where his special person and him growing up together, before they decided to leave out the small town to find a better place for them to live. Apparently he could not make it back to that town with the time he had, so he guessed he should be pleased with the enchanting view of the crowded city with skyscraper towers, which reflecting the light of the sun. Everything seemed to be bright in a blinding pure white, tainted by blue sky color and white clouds. Though he found the view beautiful, it was such lonely scenery from his point of view. Where he came from, the village was vibrant with multicolor in the landscape. The blue color of the sky, the green of the trees and mountain, various yellow, oranges and purples of flowers, tint of gray of the smoke from chimney houses, red of house rooftop and many more. He could imagine them already behind his closed eyes.
He flipped open the locket that he kept as a necklace. Inside, there was a small photo of him and a young student with lopsided smile and beautiful white hairs, arms in arms, capturing his happiest moments of his short life. Akizuki could feel a teardrop formed in his eyes, but he could be careless. There were not much people around in the train to notice such insignificant him.
Only the Blue King had known all along the reason for him doing this, to the point of pushing himself to the entrance door of Death. He spilled everything to that blue-haired king, as he sympathized with him, considering all he had to go through. They both lost someone precious. He knew that their special persons would never wish that they will follow their steps to death, but he could not let things to go as it is. He only wished that Munakata Reishi would be able to attain better ending than him. Akizuki rubbed gently the cheery face in the photo and chuckled.
"I'm sorry, but I just can't let him to use your body for evil. I know that you must have wanted someone to stop him, Isana." A tear rolled down to his cheek, falling to the locket. "After the day he took over your body, I kept returning to the past, hoping to change the precedent. But it seems I can't change your fate. No matter what I do, it always leads to same conclusion, I lost you." It had been a long, repetitive year since he was chasing after the Colorless King. By now, he had lost all the hope that the one he loved had not been devoured completely by the Colorless King. Even if the Colorless King spared the body, it was probably nothing more than a hollow shell by now.
He gazed outside through the glass, admiring the blue high sky. "So when I know that I have used most of my lifespan trying to prevent that abominable King from possessing you and fail, I can only wish that someone will stop him, before he can bring further, greater tragedy. I pray that the Blue King will be able to stop this chain of misery, because I know how much it will hurt you if you know that someone uses your body to hurt someone else. After all, you are too soft-hearted."
His eyelids felt quite heavy, but his heart was in peace as it slowly thumped inside his chest in lazy beats. His visions went blurry and he could feel the ending was near. "May you find your happiness, Kings…" The strain whispered as he surrendered to the darkness which slowly consumed him, and finally relaxed to get his rest. He leaned his head against the cool window train and breathed his last under the basking sun light with a soft smile in his face.
"You must have loved me very much." The red-haired man asked in a teasing tone as he lied on his back and glanced on the man beside him. The blue head only replied him with a cynical look and a snort before he averted his eyes again to his PDA monitor with a slight rosy blush rising to his ears. If Reishi thought the darkness in the room was enough to hide his embarrassment from Mikoto, he was totally mistaken. But Reishi being Reishi, the flame wielder could easily guess that being cold was his typical response to conceal his shyness. Mikoto started to wonder if he was a masochistic man to love such a complicated man like Reishi, and to find the latter's reaction as endearing.
He spent several minutes, watching the naked body beside him lying on his stomach with the blanket covering his half-bottom appreciatively. The light was turned off way long before they got too busy with touching each other and now the soft gleam of moonlight through the window was the only source of light inside the room. However, the silver light casted on Reishi's fair skin and his sapphire locks made him look like he was a fallen god and Mikoto resisted his urge to shower kisses on that skin. The young Captain never let him do that. He would always scold him with 'As barbaric as you are, you will leave marks and it will be problematic for me to cover them tomorrow.'
Reishi finished sending his message to his Clansman. When they were making out, Enomoto finally finished his report and submitted it to him in the middle of the night via e-mail. While he would not spend his time reading the report right away, he should at least leave a message of appreciation. So after they were done getting off each other and cleaning up, the Blue King swiftly grabbed his PDA and typed his message, much to Mikoto's chagrin.
The Blue King could not comprehend why Mikoto suddenly uttered such profanity, but he never understood what had been going inside Mikoto's head after all these years, so he would not start now. If Mikoto wanted to play, he could follow his lead for now, no problem. Supporting his head with his left hand, he turned around and faced Mikoto with an enticing smile, "yeah, I love you so much that I want to kill you."
The Red King gave a soft chuckle at his answer and placed a finger under his partner's chin, lifting it up as their faces got closer. Reishi could feel the red head's breath on his face, giving tingling sensation on his skin. The man in front of him was too beautiful, too alluring like a slow deadly poison. How was he supposed to hate this man, who should be his enemy? His crimson mane felt silky between his fingers, and its ruby color was so vigorous like a blazing sun. He trailed his finger to trace Mikoto's bodyline, down to his tone stomach, admiring its glistening skin by sweat. The image was too strong to him; he could feel his desire piling up again. Without a second thought, he moved and sat on Mikoto's stomach mercilessly, pinning the crimson king down on the bed with a soft whisper to his right ear, "We still have few hours before dawn."
Mikoto perked up with swelling interest as he looked up into those twinkling mauve orbs, but he could not resist not teasing the latter. "I wonder, I'm sleepy."
The Blue King raised an eyebrow at that and replied spitefully, "Yeah sure, I often forget that you are such a lazy, hopeless man." But before he could return to the side of his bed and covered himself with blanket to get some sleep as Mikoto had suggested before, a pair of arms embraced his waist tightly all of sudden and tackled him down. When he realized what had happened, Mikoto was already on top of him with a winning smile and his arms were on both sides of Reishi's head. Feeling irritated at prior dismissal, Reishi growled at him, "and now you want to play? Go entertain yourse-." Before he could finish his line, Mikoto had captured his lips and took his breath away so he would shut up.
After a while, he broke the kiss, trying to catch up with his need of air while staring down at Reishi and he was convinced that he was infatuated by the sight. Quite. His navy blue hairs sprawled on the white pillow and his lips were swollen red by their heated kisses. His amethyst eyes glazed with lust and his face were tainted with pink rose color. The latter was gasping for air; his chest rose and fell in steadily fast rhythm. Mikoto could not help but think that this man was absolutely the most beautiful lover ever alive.
"But I guess this is the end, Suoh Mikoto?"
Suddenly the whole thing seemed so wrong and the Red King liberated his grip on his love, as if the touch had burnt his skin. He bent backward to give some space between him and Reishi, and his golden eyes widened in surprise as he watched the Blue King's hands and chest were covered in blood with a dismayed smile plastered on his face. "Are you going to make me kill you again? Or will you finally bring me down with you this time?"
"No!" Mikoto tried to reach out with his right hand, but when he realized, he had been thrusting his arm into the empty air. He was panting hard, but he tried to look around, to see if it was all a dream. He recognized the ceiling as his own room in HOMRA's bar and the suffocating tobacco smell lingering inside. As he turned his head to his side, there was no one else but him inside the room. As he had confirmed that it was all a dream, he relaxed and spread his arms on the bed with a deep sigh. The dream was too vivid, since it was part of his memories, except for the last part. It was horrible and sickening to see Reishi painted in crimson color. Blue suited him much better, in his book. He put his right arm in front of his eyes to cover them from sunlight.
"Damn you…I guess this is your revenge, huh? Haunting me even in my dream," Mikoto let out a bitter chuckle and sighed exhaustedly.
Suddenly a loud ringing phone echoed inside his room. After the second ring, Mikoto sat up on his bed and stared at the phone impassively which was never there in his room. Nevertheless, no matter how long it had rung, Mikoto did not move an inch. It seemed that his prey finally got bored of this chasing game and decided to put it on another level.
The handle of the phone suddenly floated on the air, and the voice of young male could be heard from the other side in a singsong manner. "Hello? Hello there! Do you have a minute?"
"Who am I, you're wondering?" The Colorless King asked rhetorically. Mikoto nearly snorted at the stupid question. There would be no one else who would dare to call him with such laid-back attitude but he spoke nothing to reply. "I'm the man you're looking for."
"It's about your man…Was it Totsuka?" From his bed, Mikoto could see a white smoke came out from the phone, and it took a form like a fox spirit. Finally the pieces came together and he understood. So it was not a mistake when Tatara talked to him about that night when he saw a fox before he lost his consciousness. "I'm the one who hurt him!" the fox spirit confessed with such sickeningly happy tone that the Red King felt the sudden urge to grab it and strangle it if possible.
Ignoring his provocation, Mikoto calmed his mind and closed his eyes. The aquamarine-head strain had revealed it to him, and if that man spoke of truth, this Colorless King was probably hijacking another body to make this phone call and attempted to claim his Aura at a small opening. He would not get anything if this fox made his run again once he frightened the latter. He needed to lure the fox to find out his location, so he remained silent like a corpse.
The Colorless King kept talking airily, "You know, I kinda feel bad for him…He's probably lonely and bored being sick. I want to give Blue King to accompany him, but I guess it can't be helped!"
Mikoto could not stop himself a small flinch on his finger at the provocation. Barely perceptible, but the red-headed hated himself for giving away a hint of his weakness. How dare this infant king?
"But I'm sure he will be happier with his friends! So should I start with Kusanagi, and hurt everyone all the way down to Yata? Should I? Right?"
Mikoto was silent. Even though he could not wait for another minute to burn and torture this man slowly to death, but if he wanted to lure him, he had to pretend as if his provocation had gradually infuriated him. Such a wicked man would try everything to get something out of him.
"Man, are you even breathing? Maybe next time, I'll have that young lady entertain me. You know, the one you always drag around with you. Anna, was it? She must be fun, I like them young!"
Fed up with all this nonsense, he slowly opened his ruby eyes, as if challenging the spirit to get him instead. As he expected, on the next second, he could sense a fox spirit sprinted in the air, making way to his inner soul and shrieked gleefully, "I have you now!" Inside his conscience, the Red King finally met the Colorless King for the first time. However, before that fox could even taste a little bit part of his Red Aura, he summoned his soul spirit in the form of blazing lion and assaulted it with fire storm directly to its soul. The young king did not hear in time of terror as the surrounding lava rumbled with a low growl, "How foolish, I've been waiting for this moment to rip you up." Instantly, the spirit scrammed out in terrible fear and returned to his host, leaving trail to his location hastily.
When Mikoto had finally pinned down his location, he felt aggravating rage and could not stop himself not to blow the whole room down along with his prey. From quite distance, he could hear the loud sound of explosion like a prelude in his ears, to his pleasure. But he still could not relax down yet until he had confirmed with his own eyes that his enemy was no longer in this world. His ability to possess people could be quite convenient after all. Colorless King's attempt to provoke him must be a trap too, nevertheless he could not know what kind of evil plan it was, and Mikoto had no choice but to do what he could do for a moment. In a sudden rush, he grabbed for his black fur jacket and walked down the stairs in a rush. As he was about to make it to the front door of HOMRA bar, Kusanagi hastily called for him and effectively stopped him in the track. He turned to face his friends, who were relaxing on the stools by bar table, with a solemn look.
Kusanagi frowned on the instant he witnessed the stormy, troubled look on Mikoto's eyes while he was in the middle of polishing his precious antique table bar. "What's wrong?"
Mikoto averted his eyes; he did not intend to drag his family into this matter. An all-out war between Kings was not to be spectacled by normal people, including the Clansmen. However, before he could decide anything on his own, a small, soft hand grabbed his sleeve, and a pair of crimson eyes stared back at him perceptively. "Mikoto…"
"It's time." Mikoto sighed and somberly announced with slightly short of breath. Without delay, Yata jumped from his chair and shouted while walking to get his skateboard with a grin, "Finally!" The blond bartender hurriedly glanced at worried Tatara and grabbed his shoulders. They could not bring him into battle field, since it was dangerous, but it would be much worse to leave him alone without protection. "Come with us, but stay out of trouble, okay?"
Tatara nodded briefly and smiled at the young strain girl who also watched him anxiously, but her little, ivory hand never left Mikoto's. "I will protect Tatara too." She was so adorable that Tatara could not resist a smile in his face and kneeled down before her to embrace her in awkward way with his casted arm. "And so do I for you, Anna." He could feel a tear behind his amber eyes when he felt a tap on his shoulder and found Yata with his childlike, encouraging grin. "This time, I got your back, Totsuka!" HOMRA was everything to him; he could not ask for better.
Kusanagi rapidly wiped dry his hands with a cloth and tossed it behind on the mahogany table. He circled around the table and grabbed for his cell phone on the nearby sofa to gather the whole HOMRA members. "So, you finally found the target? I'll gather everyone."
The blond nearly dropped his cell phone if not for his better reflex. "Gold King's building." All heads snapped around and hint of horror were apparent on Yata's and Bandou's face, "No way…"
Without wasting a minute, Mikoto walked out the door with his hands in his pocket. "Let's go."
"You can't be serious…?" Kusanagi asked, horrified with his own possible conjecture and typed quickly to send his messages, while Tatara grabbed the car keys on the table and threw it into the bartender's grasp with his healthy hand. It seemed that time was not their privilege now.
Yata snapped out of his trance and went after his king, "He is going to face Gold King? He is stupid or what?"
Totsuka was the last to leave the bar, and closed the door behind him with small click of lock. "It's not that, Yata. We might have never told you, but Blue King is currently being confined there to recover. Our best guess, his target now is the Blue King."
The young vanguard was already on his skateboard, pondering for a while after hearing that. His head was suddenly occupied with Saruhiko. He might still hate that traitor, but this was about his boss and his King. Misaki wondered if he should at least tell the man and worked with HOMRA for once. And maybe for once after their break-up, they could finally get a chance to gather what was once between them and fixed it. However, before he could even reach for his cell phone in his pocket, Mikoto and his friends had gotten themselves inside Kusanagi's rented car and the bartender had started the engine.
Kusanagi called out to him quickly, "Are you coming, Yata?"
The red vanguard was hesitant for moment before nodded resolutely, "yeah, I just need a moment! I'll catch up with you."
When he was finally alone, he took out his phone and started to get on his skateboard carefully. The phone rang almost unbearable long, probably because he used private number and Saruhiko hated anonymous call more than anything. He would not be surprised if his nemesis decided not to pick it up. Miraculously, a familiar voice finally answered him formally, instead of the constant phone rings. "Fushimi speaking, who is this?"
Yata felt a tugging pain in his heart at hearing the familiar voice he had missed for years. To think again, back then they were still immature and he actually wondered what the cause of their break-up was. They were too hot-headed when they had their discussion, leading to a fight and fractured relationship. If he was about to talk now with Saruhiko, would they still be not friends? He held back his impending tears and swallowed, "Oi, monkey. I need to tell you something."
The vanguard swerved at the road turn and rushed to follow his friends. The chilling wind slapped his face, helping him a bit with his nerves to talk to an old friend in civil manner. The other side sounded hesitant and a long pause fell between them. "…what?"
Misaki breathed out and said, "We're going to Gold King's place. Mikoto finds out that the culprit is coming to get your boss."
He nearly yelled angrily for Fushimi for not taking him seriously as the latter simply snorted and sneered at him, "If he does that, there is the second king for him to face on. He will not stand a chance."
The red-head nearly slammed his phone in frustration; Saruhiko never listened to him, even in such grave situation. "Aren't you worried about your king at all!? Fine, I don't care about you!" Misaki pushed the dial-off button with too much force and pocketed his phone angrily. Too occupied with his emotion, he nearly hit a little girl who walked across the road carelessly, chasing after her ball, with his skateboard, but he escaped her by a hair line and shouted an apology and kept running.
"Damn that monkey…As heartless as ever!" Misaki swore under his breath and focused on his way to their target.
The Commander's office felt quite spacious and empty without his regal presence. Seri was in daze as she looked into the details of every corner in his office. She can put her mind at ease by being in here, recalling the moments she sat by his side, giving him strategic proposals as they were to tackle a mission with the familiar scent of green tea and her favorite red bean paste. She started to muse over all the confident and courage she possessed beside the Blue King as her Captain.
She was sitting on the pillow reserved for tea ceremony in Blue King's chamber, as if she was meditating when Fushimi made his entrance with a PDA in his hand in haste. The blonde lieutenant turned her head to his direction and put down her tea cup. "How can I help you, Fushimi?"
He made a rush salute to her and quickly dismissed his courtesy, "HOMRA had just made their move." His lieutenant instantly looked exhausted more than ever with the imminent headache. "They are heading to the second king's home. There has been a report of explosion from same location. I assumed they are chasing the Colorless King."
Abruptly Seri gathered herself and stood up in front of her man and queried, "Are you certain of this?"
Reluctantly Fushimi answered her back, "HOMRA had just informed us personally. I find their movement in the city monitors as well and as we are speaking, they are already at Gold King's courtyard."
Seri fought a deep sigh and walked out her Captain's chamber and walked in the hallway in fast pace. "Then we have an emergency. Gather people to dispatch and I will contact personally to the second king to provide assistance."
"Yes, Ma'am," Fushimi quickly replied and walked to different direction to hers. She feared the final stage had just lifted its curtain.
A raven-coated man with a long black ponytail jumped from the rooftop of a one-floor building into a small alley, landing gracefully like a cat. "The Red Clan has just gone to the Imperial Building. There is even explosion; I think it's dangerous for us to be involved. What will you do now?"
The strain cat abruptly entangled her arms on the white-haired student's and whined anxiously, "Shiro, let's just leave them. They are scary, let's run while they get busy?"
The young student stared at her sympathetically and patted her head gently; he knew that she really loved his hands when he did so. "Sorry, Neko. You must be tired. But if HOMRA makes their move in such hurry to that place, I can only imagine that the one who knows me and is related to that incident is there too. If I want to make sure that I am not the killer, I should go there."
"I'll go with you." His black guardian hastily volunteered and his eyes stared straight into amber orbs challengingly, as if he would not accept refusal for his offer, "You still have to prove it to me that you are not guilty or else." Isana could only tilt his head and smiled appreciatively, "Thanks, Kuroh."
Neko watched them sulkily and tightened her embrace on Isana's arm, "I will go with Shiro…"
The latter placed his hands on Neko's cherry cheeks and tilted her face to meet his. "Thank you, Neko." The waist-length haired strain blushed deeply and nearly mewling, but she stopped herself by covering her mouth. Isana gave a soft laugh at her response and let go of her. He whirled around and started to step out of the dark alley, "Let's go."
So all the actors have been gathered in one place! Next chapter will be another climax, hohoho. Ehh…I just notice I never leave warning for character death. But that is not necessary for OC right?
YaoiLord: only a few chapter left, so I hope this one also interests you~
viviane1993: Ahahah, thanks the awesome grading! ^_^ Whoa…if only I can get it for my study, lol. Huh? The trailer is out already!? I wonder when they finally release the movie, since it should around this month, I think? Well, too much ppl loves Shiro, so…
AkiFushi: Aki-chan! (can I call you that way?) I'm so happy with your review. Let me shower you with tons of candies and plushies for keep motivating me with your awesome reviews. TvT Heheh, sorry for that, I didn't even notice that I didn't give much credit for Scepter 4. This must be fixed! D Next chapter will be the glory of Scepter 4! …Maybe…Oh yeah, I can't wait the moment when I can kill him too. But the story can't fast forward itself. Sob.
Guest: LOL! Isn't it so easy to guess? Maybe they are copying China, banning Facebook for example. It doesn't help…google dns still won't work for me. I've tried vpn (Private Tunnel), but it gives me bandwidth limitation. Not sure how I should update next chapter if this ban continues on. Umm…please help me?
Aang: Heheh…even though I love reading comedy, somehow I can only write angst. Sorry hun, tragedies go on, but it will get better.