Rating: T+ (so far, apparently)

Warnings: OOCness, OCs, inconsistent updates, death, pain, some yaoi elements courtesy of sassy gay Shion (I watch too many No. 6 crack videos, you guys), grammatical errors and no beta.

Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own No. 6 or the Vocaloids Kagamine Rin and Len or the song Trick and Treat, only the plot and the OCs. They belong to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.

Dedication: To spooky-time. Because October is perfect for horror stuff. And to whoever waited a whole year for me to update this horror story. Thank you.

Anime: Trick and Treat updates at long last! This chapter is the second to last one so the next chapter, coming out on Halloween like this one, will be the last one. How fun is that? Halloween 2018 will be rather interesting without T&T but something else will fill the void. Hehe. To the chapter!

~~~TAT~~~

4: Hide and Seek (Keep Running)

Nezumi paused for breath once more, panting heavily. He wished to stop for a break that didn't last three minutes - a thirty minute break seemed perfect to him at the moment - but he knew that if stopped for a long time, the twins would be upon him.

He knew that he could never stop if he wanted to survive.

Nezumi heard rustling and began to run again. He hoped he was getting farther and farther away from the twins and closer to the exit. He tripped on a tree root and sprawled over the floor, making sure not to make a sound as he fell. He hissed when his face hit the dirt, falling near some brushes and getting scratched by some of the branches. He heard the rustling get closer and he froze.

Had he lost the game already?

What he saw instead was a tiny white rabbit, bouncing happily in the forest as if it wasn't a hellish forest. He almost let out a sigh of relief as it began to hop away excitedly. He really needed to get up and hurry-.

"Wah, Usagi-san, I was hoping that you were a rat~."

Nezumi felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the rabbit he had just seen in the arms of one of the twins. His eyes were closed, making him look so innocent and childlike, while he caressed the rabbit that was soaking up the attention. He opened his eyes - a familiar emerald gaze - and his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"He's really deep inside the forest, huh, Usagi-san?" Aster said, the rabbit sniffing him and burrowing its head on Aster's chest. The white-haired boy's smile dropped while his eyes suddenly glowed orange, "I don't like how he's evaded us for an hour already. Where could he be?"

An hour? Nezumi was so glad to hear that, just not the part that he was deep inside the forest. Aster muttered something else while Nezumi wondered where he should go. He decided to go in the opposite direction that Aster took. The grey-eyed boy was so distracted that he jumped at the sound of a loud snapping noise. Silence followed after until the body of the broken, bloody rabbit landed in front of him.

Nezumi suppressed the urge to scream as the rabbit's blood splattered on his face - the smell of blood was too strong - while Aster left, humming an eerie tune. He swung his arms as he walked, looking like he was an ordinary kid out for a stroll. If he didn't know who he was, Nezumi would've mistaken him for a normal human being.

"Nezumi, Nezumi~. Wherever can you be, Nezumi~?" Aster laughed as he made his way deeper into the forest.

As soon as Aster was out of earshot, singing the eerie tune before interrupting by wondering aloud where Nezumi was, Nezumi continued on his way.

~~~TAT~~~

Safu woke up in the hospital bed feeling anxious and confused. Her monitored heart rate was picking up and she worried why she was feeling so panicked and uneasy despite not having a nightmare induced by either of the twins. What was the reason for it? Why did she feel this way?

She sat up as best she could with her aching body and broken arm. When Aster had attacked her and left her alone in front of the woods, she had been worried no one would find her. Luck came when Inukashi and Eve, Nezumi's sisters, found her and called an ambulance.

The doctors knew who had done the damage so they said nothing as they treated her. Since Lucifenia was a close-knit town, everyone immediately knew that she was hospitalized thirty minutes after she was hospitalized, including her parents. As such, they both rushed to her side as soon as they could.

"Never get near those woods again, please, Safu. Promise me you'll stay away from those demons." Her mother had weeped as soon as she had arrived. She was the one who feared the twins the most out of the whole town, the first to have known over the dangerous souls that had inhabited Safu's dolls. Safu, however, hadn't been able to promise to her mother what she had asked for.

Remembering all the events of the past few hours ago, Safu remembered why she had been trying to speak to the twins for.

Nezumi Hosoya.

She looked out the window to see the room she was in had a good view of the forest. She knew that, somewhere in that place, Nezumi was being hostage by the twins. She wondered if there was any way to help the young man where she was now.

Nezumi Hosoya was special to the twins. They had him for eight months yet hadn't taunted his family with an organ or a limb of his. He could even be more special than the four children whose complete bodies were never recovered from the forest. But why was Nezumi so special?

Could there be a connection with Nezumi Hosoya and Prince Nezumi, the man that rejected Prince Shion of No. 6 and had helped with his execution? If that was the case, did that mean Shion was the reason why Nezumi was alive?

. . . Safu, be the light.

Safu blinked, looking around to find the source of the voice she had heard. Oddly, the voice had sounded a whole lot like Shion. Why would his voice sound in her head now? She knew the twins were capable of doing such a thing, had been able to since she had been a child, but why now? Why was Shion calling out to her on his own?

Safu, be the light that guides Nezumi.

What did he mean? Safu was unsure but it sounded like Shion wanted to help Nezumi rather than to doom him. That was strange, she thought. Why did Shion care? Shion and Aster had killed many children and teenagers in their long reign in Lucifenia. What made Nezumi so special that Shion wanted to save his life? Unless, of course, he saw the prince he had courted in Nezumi.

Could that be the reason?

Please, Safu. I cannot break the promise I made for Aster.

She didn't know what Shion was talking about with that statement. She hissed as she got up from bed and got close enough to the window to see a small flickering light inside the forest. Was that Shion?

"I'll be the light to guide Nezumi. I'll help." Safu answered. If she could save at least one person from the twins, she would feel better.

Thank you, Safu.

~~~TAT~~~

Nezumi paused when he saw a shining white light in the distance. He thought briefly if it was the sun but it wasn't possible, was it? Aster hadn't said it was close to sunrise the last time he had seen the white albino. Then again, his perception of time was a bit off inside here. Nezumi felt the need to follow the light, though.

He walked towards the light, walking in the forest where the dense foliage was in case he needed to hide quickly from the twins. He kept silent in order to hear any of the twins approaching. Nezumi paused in confusion as he reached a clearing. Horrified when he finally was able to see what he was seeing, he closed his mouth and screamed softly into his mouth.

The clearing was littered with small human hands like some demented garden, blood pooling around them from their base. The hands were all reaching out to the visible moon, the way a zombie would when getting out of their grave.

In the middle of the garden was a dragon blood tree with the upper body of a young boy in it. The blond boy who could have been at least seven years old had his eyes closed while his arms were placed in a praying stance. To Nezumi, he seemed to be like some sort of figurehead for the tree.

Blood was pouring slightly from the side of his mouth and it fell to the ground, feeding the tree that kept him prisoner. The tree glowed bright red and it caused the boy to twitch and release more blood from his mouth. The sight was so disgusting that Nezumi dry heaved, coughing violently as the bile passed his throat.

He hadn't known how the other children and teenagers who entered the forest were treated but he hadn't expected the twins to rip out hands to parody a garden where hands sprouted rather than flowers and a demonic tree that used his figurehead - a child - to gain nutrition.

It was like Nezumi was in another world where everything was created to try to kill him or traumatize him. He wanted to just curl up and scream at this point, tired of everything. This place was horrifying.

"How can I get out of here?"

As if in response to his almost silent question, the boy's eyes snapped open, revealing blue eyes that had cat-shaped irises. The little boy muttered a few words that were lost to the wind and then the hands all pointed in the direction where the light was shining. Nezumi felt like dry heaving again and wondered if this was a clever trick the twins had devised. He coughed and decided to follow the hands and the light. As he turned to leave, the boy closed his eyes, continuing his cycle.

Nezumi walked for some time, getting closer to the light that the hands had pointed towards until pausing for breath once more, leaning on a tree. How long had it been since he decided to rest? Unless he counted his dry heaving incident with the hands or the time he tripped, he hadn't rested well since he began to game.

Nezumi was about to start walking when he heard a twig snap, followed by a hummed song. It was a different song from the one Aster had done but that meant this was another demon.

"Hello, Nezumi."

Nezumi had never been the fastest kid in his physical education class but he supposed adrenaline changed that.

He ran through the forest before Shion could get closer to him. He strayed a little from the path of the light but it didn't matter. He had to get away from Shion. Besides, he could go back to the light whenever he needed to. All he had to do was-.

Nezumi gave out a sound of surprise as the ground below him caved in and he fell inside a hole. He hit the side of his head when he landed and he groaned softly. As he heard Shion's humming, he reached out to cover his mouth, trying to be as silent as he could be. His heart was hammering loudly on his chest and he wondered if his beating heart would give away his location.

Eventually, Shion's humming sounded farther and farther away. He let out a sigh of relief before he tried to get up. He grabbed the edge of something that felt like a desk and that's when Nezumi felt something was unnatural about the place he had fallen in. For one, caves didn't have desks.

Nezumi looked at the desk and saw jars filled with what looked to be eyes. Hundreds of eyes, all of them gazing at him, were filled in six jars and they ranged in color. It made Nezumi sick because he could almost imagine his own eyes being part of that horrible collection.

". . . Nez. . . u. . . mi. . ."

Nezumi looked up to see a small, bloodied hand reaching down from the surface. He jumped back, causing the jars to clink as they hit each other. The hand waved almost violently, "Hurry, hurry."

Another trap? Maybe.

Nezumi was already tired of all the horrors anyways. After seeing the dead rabbit, the tree boy and the garden of hands, there couldn't be something else to scare him.

He grabbed the hand and began to climb up as the small hand lifted him up with a surprising amount of strength. He grunted before he finally made it up. Nezumi looked up and almost jumped in horror.

The small hand belonged to a one-eyed child.

The boy was around ten years old with a black blindfold covering one of his blue eyes. Well, where one of his eyes used to be considering the blood oozing out of his covered left eye. He had long black hair that made it up to his shoulders and was dressed in light blue pajamas. There was a bloody hole on his chest where his heart was located. The heart was ripped out from the boy's chest and had been replaced by a wilting red rose that was held in place by thorns instead of arteries.

The kid looked more like a demon than the actual demons.

"Light . . ."

"Huh?"

The child pointed to the bright white light that Nezumi had been following. He made a sound of contentment and helped Nezumi to his feet. He nudged Nezumi excitedly, "Go. Run. I help."

Nezumi could hear humming throughout the whole forest as the child declared his allegiance to Nezumi and stopped when he took his hand. The little boy smiled and began to lead Nezumi quietly through the forest. He occasionally paused and told Nezumi to hide in the bushes or in the trees whenever the twins passed by. He seemed like an expert in avoiding the twins so Nezumi felt respect for the one-eyed heartless child he had met.

"Hey," Nezumi asked as the little boy paused for a short break, stating in broken sentences that the sun was close to rising, "What's your name?"

"RM, Guardian of the Cave of Eyes." RM replied, voice almost monotone and tired. He clutched Nezumi's hand, the small pale hand trembling slightly, "I no continue. Not my area."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"Different areas for different places." RM answered, looking ahead sadly at the bright light, "We no leave our areas. I stay in Cave of Area. Other three in Blood Springs, Hand Garden and Tree of Heads."

So it seemed that this crazy, hellish forest was divided into different territories, each of them having some sort of guardian. So, RM belonged in the Cave of Eyes and the other boy he had seen had belonged to the Hand Garden. Nezumi wondered briefly how the other two looked like. He hoped they didn't look like RM and the other boy.

"So, do I just follow this path and I'm good to go?"

RM nodded with a bright smile, "Live, live." He turned around and ran back to the Cave of Eyes where he belonged. From behind, RM looked like an ordinary happy child, a child that should not have died so early. Nezumi wanted to know his name - not his initials - to thank him but he needed to go. He was so close to the end now. He couldn't stop now.

He ran to the light, panting slightly. Nothing could stop him now. He wouldn't trip like a horror movie protagonist and he wouldn't stop to catch his breath. There would be plenty of time for that later.

He was going to live.

~~~TAT~~~

Thank you, Safu

I didn't do anything.

You did enough. . . . Thank you.

What exactly did I do?

You brought light to someone in darkness.

~~~TAT~~~

The light was so blinding that it made Nezumi happy. He was going to survive. He had so much to still do. He had to see his sisters and parents again. He had to eat some food - his grumbling stomach kept reminding him that the twins never bothered to feed himin the time period that they had him kidnapped - again and see the sun. He wanted to find out RM's real name and he just wanted to live.

He slowed down slightly as his beating heart felt like he had just run a marathon. He coughed as he felt that his heart was ready to crawl up his throat and leaned on some trees. Just a couple of more steps and he was out of the forest for good.

I win.

"Caught you~."

No.

Aster giggled, his arms around his neck, "Too easy, Nezumi. You should have seen how excited you were upon having hope dangled in front of your face. Sorry but this is too fun."

Shion appeared in front of Nezumi and Aster pushed Nezumi to him, "How about having a go at him, Shion? I did it last time so it's only fair that you kill our target this time."

Shion looked up at Nezumi and frowned. He kicked Nezumi harshly on his legs, causing the slate haired male to fall to his already weakened knees. Before he could do anything else, Shion pulled his hair so he was looking up at his red-eyed soon-to-be killer.

"So, rip his eyes out!" Aster said happily, walking around slightly before stopping behind Shion. Shion glanced at him and his eyes betrayed his brother's intentions.

Shion . . . did he want to kill me?

Nezumi knew that Shion never had plans to kill him.

The twins could easily outrun him if they wanted to yet, when Shion appeared some distance behind him, he didn't try to catch up to him. He knew Nezumi was in the vicinity of the Cave of Eyes yet didn't bother to check the cave, passing by without even taking a peek. Without a doubt, Shion had also been the reason why tree boy and RM decided to help him in the first place.

But why?

"Shion, what are you doing?! You have to get him!" Aster yelled, the hesitation clear in Shion's eyes while his brother encouraged him to kill Nezumi. Those eyes were so familiar to Nezumi - had they seen each other before? - and they seemed to be telling him to survive.

"I . . ."

Nezumi gave out a battle cry before pushing Shion back, forcing the twin to crash into his brother. Adrenaline pumping, Nezumi stood up immediately and ran ahead to the edge of the forest, where he could see houses ahead. He felt a hand grab his arm but he shook it off, running faster.

Nezumi could see daylight approaching and, in a mad gamble, threw himself out of the forest. He landed on the ground outside of the the forest, gasping for breath and feeling so tired and winded. He looked up, grinning wildly at the twins that were still stuck in their forest, "I win."

"Impressive," Aster whispered, the duo standing only a couple of steps away from Nezumi, "You're the first human to escape our grasp, Nezumi. Count your lucky stars you won the game." The boy's eyes glowed orange before turning around, leaving Shion and Nezumi by themselves.

Shion and Nezumi were silent, staring at each other when they could be asking each other a million questions. Shion sighed at last and made to leave but Nezumi refused to let him go without some of his questions being answered.

"Why did you hesitate?" Nezumi asked the red-eyed twin, "You two had me. I would've lost the game but you hesitated in killing me, in taking my eyes. Why?"

Why were you always so nice to me? Why did you try not to catch me no matter how it easy it was to do so? You could outrun me yet you didn't try to catch me if I ran. You probably told RM and the tree boy to help me too and you were probably behind the white light that saved my life. Why? Why didn't you kill me when you killed so many children like it was nothing?

What made me so special?

Shion looked down, almost sullen, "You don't remember yet but, long ago, we promised to reunite. It's a promise I wish to keep, Nezumi. That's why I didn't want you to die. I did whatever I could do indirectly to do it."

"What does that mean?"

Shion laughed softly, nothing like the demonic laugh he had before in the house. This laugh was almost cute and endearing, in an odd sort of way. Should he really be thinking like this over a demon? He turned around, "We'll see you around, Nezumi."

"Shion-."

The white haired boy vanished inside the demonic forest and Nezumi felt a gust of wind come out from the forest, blowing him to the direction of the village. It died down and he distinctly heard whispers of four children in the dying wind.

"Live."

Now what am I supposed to do?

"Hey, what are you doing there?"

Nezumi looked up to see an old man making his way towards him. By what he was wearing, Nezumi knew he was priest. The man paused when he saw his ragged, bloodied and exhausted self, "You are . . ."

"Hello," Nezumi smiled weakly, "do you mind taking me to my parents? I've been away for a very long time."

~~~TAT~~~

Anime: Hey, thanks for surviving up to this point, just like Nezumi did! Hurray! The next chapter is the last and will wrap up (?) the story. Now, see you in a couple of hours for the last chapter of T&T!

**The tune Aster hums to is Come Out and Play, a nice song I found in YouTube while the tune Shion hums to is Lilium from Elfen Lied. Check them out because they're great.

**Safu's conversation with Shion is possible because the twins have a connection to Safu. Before the twins could speak properly, they communicated with Safu the way we see Shion speaking to her from the hospital room.

**The light that guides Nezumi out of the forest was Safu thanks to Shion's supernatural powers so Safu and Shion are heroes! Kinda . . .

**When Shion says, I cannot break the promise I made for Aster., it is a reference to the resolve he made during Regret Message (SOE-verse). In Regret Message, he decided to do whatever it takes to make Aster live again. By actively helping Nezumi, he'd be betraying his brother so he did it indirectly.

**The Hand Garden - inspired by Fear Garden by Kagamine Rin, one of the singers of Trick and Treat.

**Tree Boy - the first male victim the twins had after being imprisoned in the forest. In fact, he was the first victim since the duo were sealed in the forest. A 7 year old boy, he's another OC seen in DINIS. Guess?

**dragon blood tree - I believe that is what they are called. They're these really cool looking trees in Socotra, Yemen. Check them out!

**Eye Cave - inspired by the cave thing in Jeepers Creepers where all the dead bodies were kept. Aster and Shion like collecting eyes.

**Heartless One-Eyed Child - the first victim of the twins after they regained humanoid form. A 10 year old boy that died six days after his birthday, he's based off another OC I already have. Wonder if Nezumi will find out who.

**Four Guardians - RM (King of Eyes), EM (Queen of Heads), AM (Queen of Blood) and DG (King of Hands) - are the most important kills of the twins. EM was the first female, and AM was the first to challenge the twins to a game, leading to the twins playing Kagome, Kagome to get their victims.