Author's Note: Welcome to the 2022 Christmas Special. It's not as big as the Halloween Special, but there are some important plot points here. It was a bit of a struggle to write this but I managed to get it to work. There are a couple of characters from the Tea Leaves series here. Plus, another horseman appears. There is going to be one more halo before 2022 is over. I already started on it. For now, merry Christmas and enjoy the Christmas special.
Halo Twenty-Two: Jigoku:
-Johann-
Everyone wears a mask. We all have our reasons. There is always something to hide. But sometimes, these secrets just have to come out. I just had to have a front-row seat to see it happen.
I made it to Japan around ten in the morning. The airport looked like they were just waking up. Even there I could tell that something was off. I had a hard time trying to hide the smile on my face. Qi stood by me with a stoic look on her face. My eyes shifted over to her.
"You're not tired or anything, are you?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Good, good," I said. "Shall we get started?" Qi nodded once.
"Right," I said. Qi and I disappeared from the airport.
I can smell the vice swimming around us. For example, we have these two young ladies dancing down a dark path. One of whom is leading down her own destructive path of vice. I'm tempted to stick around and see what happens next.
Chiyomi sat alone in the underground dive bar. Kururi and Hayato weren't here yet. Ever since she ran away from home, she had been living with her boyfriend. The girl couldn't bring herself to go back there. Not to the monster her father had become. Her mother had been trying to call her to come home but Chiyomi ignored her. She wouldn't understand. No one at school had noticed at first.
The girl looked at her phone. Her mother's called again. Chiyomi put her phone back into her pocket.
Meanwhile, two men in their twenties had their eyes on the girl. She did look rather cute. Hayato sure knew how to pick them. One of them whispered to the other one. He pointed down at Chiyomi. The girl happened to look up at them. The men pretended not to see her. Chiyomi shivered.
"Your friends kind of creep me out," she complained on the first night they started living together. Hayato patted her on the head.
"They're good people," he said. "You'll get used to them." Chiyomi forced herself to smile. She never could get used to those men staring at her.
Suddenly, one of the men stood up. Chiyomi didn't like where this was going.
"Hey!" someone spoke up. The three of them looked up to see Kururi standing in the doorway. Chiyomi's heart leaped in her chest with relief. Her friend cocked her head to the side.
"Aw, don't tell me you're starting the party without me!" the queen bee said. She held up two bags.
"And I came with things to make the night more interesting too," she said. Chiyomi ran over and hugged her.
"Whoa!" Kururi shouted. She looked at the owner and the manager.
"Uh… what did you guys do to her?" she asked. The men quickly shook their heads.
"Nothing!" they were quick to say.
"We didn't do anything!" the manager said. Kururi stared at them with eyes narrowed. She looked down at her friend who was trembling now.
"Is Hayato coming soon?" Chiyomi asked. Her friend patted her on the head.
"He'll be here in a few minutes," Kururi whispered. She leaned down and kissed the other girl on the lips. Chiyomi looked confused that this action happened again. They weren't that close. So… why?
Meanwhile, Kururi glanced up at the men staring at them. They caught that certain look in her eyes. They couldn't help but snicker to themselves. The queen bee broke away and led Chiyomi back over to the bar. Her friend still tried to piece together what just happened.
"Aka-chan, slow down!" Kine yelled as he ran to keep up. The little girl paid him no mind. She kept running down the sideway. How fast could a little girl run? Where was she even going?
"Come back here!" Kine yelled. He managed to catch up with the child and grab her by the arm. Aka-chan whipped around and tried to pull out of his grasp. The private detective wouldn't let up.
"Calm down. Calm down. Calm down," he said. The child stared up at him.
"Where are you trying to go?" Kine asked. The child pointed behind her.
"Where?" he asked. She got out of his grasp and kept running, Kine groaned to himself.
"Come back here!" he shouted. The detective kept running after the child.
Masaomi doesn't learn. He went out to another karaoke bar. His friends are starting to get worried about his habits. The boy brushed them off when they tried to talk to him. How many girls was he sleeping with now? It didn't matter to him anymore.
"Why do you keep doing this?" Kadota asked one night. Masaomi didn't have an answer. He used to have one but now he didn't. It's going to take something or someone to snap him out of it.
The former shogun took his phone out. He was supposed to be meeting a "date" here. (Ha, date.) He was still on that app. Masaomi promised that he would delete it. He started to but then the boy thought about it. One more hookup couldn't hurt, right? One more and he was going to quit.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his hand. Masaomi looked at his phone. A new text from his "date".
"I'm across the street. Where are you?"
Masaomi stared at his screen. He shoved his phone into his pocket and stood up from the couch. Time to go then. This was going to be the last time. And then he would change.
The streets were crowded tonight. Still, Masaomi felt alone. He should be used to it by now, but he wasn't. It was just going to be another empty night. Masaomi pushed that thought out of his head before he paid for the room.
"Thank you, come again," the receptionist said. Masaomi didn't even make eye contact with them. The boy just walked out of the karaoke place.
Masaomi found himself standing in front of a nightclub. He looked at the entrance. Would they allow him inside? The boy's phone buzzed again.
"Where are you? Are you getting cold feet? ;)"
Masaomi started to type as if on autopilot.
"I'm outside."
He didn't blink when he hit send. His phone buzzed again.
"I'm coming out."
Masaomi was staring at his screen when someone tapped him on the shoulder. The boy before he slowly turned around.
She had to be about twenty years old. Her cleavage was on display through her black lace top. The woman had a curious look on her face. She held up her phone.
"Are you Bakura?" she asked. Masaomi narrowed his eyes.
"Are you Wild Cherry Bomb?" he asked. The woman smiled at him.
"Hello there," she said. She smiled and winked at him. Masaomi just stared at her blankly.
It's getting worse for Anri. The sickness started to give way to vomiting. It started once in the morning. Soon, they were increasing in volume.
"Are you alright?" Mika asked.
"No!" Anri wailed. She sat on the floor, panting. It didn't help that Saika wouldn't shut up in her head.
Baby! Baby! Baby! Baby!
The girl grabbed her head. Anri trembled as she shut her eyes.
"I don't understand. What do you want from me?" she asked.
"Anri!" Mika said, knocking on the bathroom door. "Are you okay? I'm coming in." Saika's mother looked up when she heard the door open. Mika poked her head inside. Anri looked like she was about to cry.
"I can't make her stop," she said. Mika reached into her bag.
"Here," she said. The girl handed her friend a small box. Anri gave her a confused look.
"Why are you giving me this?" she asked.
Three days later, Anri stared at the unopened pregnancy test sitting on her bathroom counter. This morning was really bad. Anri awoke feeling really sick. She could feel the sick coming up in her jaw. She ran to her bathroom as fast as she could. The poor girl didn't even make it to the toilet. Anri ended up throwing up in the sink. She collapsed onto the floor, panting. Once she got her breath back, Anri noticed how quiet it was. Maybe too quiet. Did the children and grandchildren finally stop? No. There had to be something else.
Anri's attention turned back to the unopened pregnancy test on the counter. Mika insisted that she use it.
"I got the most accurate one the drugstore had," she said. The way she spoke sounded like she knew something that Anri didn't.
"I wouldn't need something like that, could I?" Anri asked herself. Her hand reached down toward the box but then paused. Wait, maybe she should clean up first. Yeah, that's right. Cleaning up should help.
Anri did her best to get her sick down the sink. She took a breath and rubbed her forehead. The girl turned to the box. It screamed at her to use the test. Looks like she was going to try and get this over with. Anri reached over and opened the box. Five tests were waiting inside. Was she really going to do this?
Pee on the strip and wait for three minutes.
The girl sat down on the toilet and peed on the strip. Now she just had to wait. No one tells you that waiting alone for three minutes to pass can be so long. It led Anri's mind to uncomfortable places. When was her last cycle? There had been so much going on. Anri hadn't even had the chance to notice changes in her body. Also, how did Mika know that she might be pregnant? She seemed to be rather vague on why she should use this test. Come to think of it, Mika seemed to know many things that she wasn't telling anyone.
Three minutes were up. Anri took a breath. Time to learn the moment of truth.
Anri looked down at the stick. Her stomach dropped.
One pink plus sign.
Saika's Mother thought that she was going to faint. More memories came back to her head. The test hit the floor. Anri knew what she needed to do next.
She pushed herself to her feet and ran to her bedroom.
-Johann-
I took in the air around me. So much vice. It's leaking out everywhere. But alas, someone is holding the lid down as firmly as they can. This will not do.
I turned to Qi standing next to me. She seemed to be looking up at the sky.
"What is it?" I asked. Qi slowly pointed above us.
"Huh?" I asked as I looked up. A golden dragon floated through the sky. I smiled to myself a little.
"Heh," I said. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I reached into my coat and pulled it out.
"Oh," I said. "We're just about in time for our appointment." I turned to Qi.
"Shall we get going?" I asked. She nodded once. I held her by the hand. We vanished into thin air.
Aka-chan ran up to the front door of the Awakusu house. Kine finally managed to catch up to her. He froze when he realized where they were.
"What the hell?" he asked. The Awakusu house had been on high alert since the death of Dougen. Mikiya wasn't taking any chances. He was determined to catch the Dante Killer and kill them himself. So far, no one was having any luck. Both the Awakusu and the police could only follow the pattern in the Divine Comedy. The girl squeezed through the gate and ran down the path.
"Hey, come back here!" Kine shouted. He clicked his tongue and buzzed the gate.
"Yes?" a voice asked over the intercom.
"It's me," Kine said. "I'm sorry for this in advance." He saw the little girl running up to the door. Nothing was going to stop her. The private detective groaned and threw his hand up in the air. Meanwhile, Aka-chan made it to the door and rang the bell. Kine watched as the door opened. Mikiya looked down at the little girl. The mob boss had a confused look on his face. Kine had a guess of where this was heading.
Aka-chan stared up at the Yakuza leader. He stared down at her. Kine watched as he waited. Suddenly, Akane ran to the front door. Aka-chan seemed to perk up and hugged her wildly. Kine now looked confused.
"What the hell?" he asked. Suddenly, the gates opened in front of him. Kine didn't give himself time to think about it. He walked up the path with the intent of taking Aka-chan back with him. He was going to have a long chat with her when this was over.
Junko sat at her desk in the basement of Rampo Biotech. She counted up the vials in her case. The nurse already used up one. That experiment was coming along nicely, but that was just an appetizer for her. F was starting to get more of her human characteristics back. But she wanted more in her branch. Junko had just the target in mind.
Just in time for Taro to get his horse back.
That still left the issue of him trying to go to that room in the hospital. Had he figured out the truth? Taro seemed to suspect that he wasn't completely here. That boy always talked about a piece of him missing. He doesn't even think that he was supposed to be a boy. Aya and Etsuko kept trying to chase him away from the room.
"Control your brat," Aya complained the other day. The nurse smiled and shrugged at her.
"You know that we can't really control them," Junko said. "They just do as they please." The therapist glared at her.
"But she isn't ready," she said.
"What do you want me to tell you?" Junko asked. "He does want he wants. You would know that if you had a horseman." Aya just shot her a cold glare. The nurse grinned at her like a hungry cat about to cause mischief.
She leaned back in her chair and smirked.
"This should be an interesting winter," the nurse said to herself. Junko threw back her head and laughed.
Around three in the afternoon, Azazeal waited near a graveyard. He looked at his pocket watch. There was so much to do before all of the horsemen got their horses back. A certain tadpole needed her mind to be healed. But first, he had to meet up with an old friend.
Kai was busy doing his part to advance this game. Kaori was busy with her siblings. It was up to Azazeal to do his part.
Suddenly, the demon paused when he heard the footsteps getting closer. Azazeal smirked to himself when he turned his head.
"Right on time," he said. Johann and Qi walked up to the demon in black. The doctor held out his arms.
"Of course I am," he said. "Why would I be late for this?" Azazeal smiled and nodded.
"Fair enough," he said. The demon turned and bowed to Qi.
"Good afternoon, madam," he said. The Chinese woman said nothing as she bowed her head.
"Shall we get started?" Johann asked.
"Why yes," Azazeal said. "Follow me." He turned and walked into the graveyard. Johann turned to Qi.
"After you," he said with a bow. The Chinese woman walked ahead of him. Johann followed behind without saying a word.
-Taro-
And this is where I come in.
I looked down at my arms. The Kanji for pestilence shouted at me on my skin. This isn't mine. Not really anyway. This will be mine for now. I have more important things on my mind right now.
"I'm heading out now!" I said.
"Okay," Junko said without turning around. She waved me off before I walked out the door. I could hear my horse getting closer. I have to get on the move. There is just one person who I have to see. I grinned to myself.
I can't wait to see the look on his face.
-Aoba-
"I'm home," I said to myself as I opened the door to my apartment. I froze before I took off my shoes. Why was it so dark in here? Did mom go to bed early? I shook my head. No, she would've sent me a text if she had. So why was it so dark in here?
Suddenly, I noticed a figure sitting in the dark.
"Mom?" I asked. I took off my shoes and reached over to turn on the light. My jaw dropped when I saw Mairu sitting on the coffee table, glaring at me. I about stumbled backward.
"M-M-Mairu!" I said.
"You forgot about me," she said in a cold voice.
"I didn't! I swear!" I said.
"Liar," she said. She had no life in her voice. Her eyes looked so dead. I wanted to run. No, that can't be right. Mairu was always full of energy and talkative. She looked like a former shell of herself.
Suddenly, she looked angry.
"Traitor! Why didn't you choose me?!"
I woke up with a gasp. Why does that dream keep happening? I haven't forgotten about Mairu. I have been looking for ways to get her back. However, things have been going to shit for me. I cursed myself in bed.
I'm going to need more help with this, aren't I? I gritted my teeth. There's no way in hell that I'm going to ask that bastard for any more help. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Looked like I had no other choice.
I pulled out my phone and went to the Dollars chatroom. This seemed stupid to do but I didn't have a choice. To be honest, I don't know why I haven't left. I guess because I need something to through this hell that my life has become. I haven't been to the chatroom in… months? Maybe? I wondered if could I still log in.
To my surprise, I was still able to log in. Not many people in the chatroom tonight. I started typing on my people.
"Is there a way to bring back someone who was erased from existence?"
Boy, that sounded stupid, but I am desperate here. Things were that bad in my life. Get off me. I had not expected to get a reply back so quickly.
"You're going to want to check this out."
It came from a user named [Redacted]. (That was literally the name.) It looked like a link to a supernatural section on the Dollars website. I felt like I was going to be tricked, but I didn't have a choice. Might as well go down this rabbit hole.
I pressed the button to go to the link.
The woman made it back to Masaomi's place. He wasn't too sure about her taking the lead. She clearly wasn't looking for a relationship. His "date" insisted on going back to his. She leaned on his body.
"Take me to your room," she said.
"Sure," Masaomi said. He reeled back at the smell of booze on her breath. Maybe this wasn't a good idea? Too late to turn back again. She couldn't keep her hands off of him in the cab. Masaomi could already predict where this was going. He was used to it by now. How many times has he done this now? It all started to blur together by now.
But something felt different about this. This "date" seemed like the time to push things.
Still, Masaomi led her back to his apartment. At least he wasn't going to be lonely tonight. The woman waited as he pulled out his key to unlock the door. She walked up and held him by the waist. Masaomi froze and looked behind him.
"Oh," he said. She looked up at him with a smile on her face. The boy pushed down his discomfort as he opened his door. He had to drag her inside a bit. The woman reached over and flipped on the light.
"Don't!" Masaomi said quickly. His "date" turned her head.
"Why?" she asked. The boy froze.
"I… I…" the shogun started to say. His eyes shifted away from her.
"I usually don't turn the lights on for this," Masaomi said. His "date" gave him a strange look.
"Why is that?" she asked. Masaomi couldn't speak. This wasn't turning out how he pictured it. The other girls just went with what he said. There wasn't much room for talking anyway. His attention came to reality when the lights came on his living room came on. His "date" stood across the room.
She was quite attractive with how tall and curvy she was. Black looked amazing on her. She gave him a hungry little smirk. Masaomi lifted his chin and gulped. She looked like she was going to kill him and eat him.
The woman walked over and sat down on the couch. She patted the spot next to him. Masaomi hesitated before walking over and taking a seat. They didn't speak at first. Masaomi couldn't even look at her. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? They matched on Eros Hook-Up to ninety-eight percent. Masaomi had done this so many times before.
So why was he so nervous?
The woman turned to her "date".
"Kiss me," she said. Masaomi leaned in for a kiss on the lips. She kissed him back. The woman pinned him down on the couch. She forced her tongue into his mouth. Masaomi thought that he was going to choke. She did pull back and let him relax into the kiss. The boy started to try attempt to feel something. They were actually going to do this. He's done this before. It's always with another girl. This woman would be no different.
"What is your name?" she asked in between kisses.
"No names," Masaomi said.
"Tell me your name!" she said.
"No names!" he shouted. Her kisses felt smothering now. The boy pushed her off and ran to his room. The woman sat on the floor with a puzzled look on her face.
"Babe?" she asked. Masaomi shut the door and locked it. He stood, panting. What was that just now? This had never happened before. He couldn't understand why he freaked out like he did. The boy closed his eyes and cursed himself.
"What is wrong with me?" he asked under his breath. He drew his knees to his chest as his "date" knocked on the door.
-Taro-
There are people that I have to see before I can get my horse back. I stood in front of the hospital. Asato-sensei and Otomo-sensei won't let me see her. They keep turning me away. I already know that she's in there. She's calling to me.
I walked up to the doors. They're on the night shift now. Or at least they are starting it. I looked in through the class. The cameras can't pick me up. I smiled to myself as I teleported into the lobby. Nobody saw me. Good.
Now, I wasn't going to stay for a long visit. Just long enough to see her face again. I was going to be in and out. I began my little strut down the hall. I hummed to myself the whole way.
Down the hall, turn left, turn left, go straight, and all the way to Room 19.
I smiled and hummed to myself as I kept walking. Security didn't look up at me. I didn't see Etsuko and Aya in sight. They are probably busy with their own projects. I chuckled like I was getting away from something. (I actually was in a way.) Just a little bit closer…
"Hey!" I heard behind me. I froze in my tracks. Wait… How could anybody see me?
I looked over my shoulder.
That foreign nurse stood, grinning at me. She had her eyebrow raised. It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on.
"Hello, my lord," I said, turning around and bowing. Joe, I think that's what her name is, said nothing as she eyed me.
"And I suppose you're here to stop me from going into that room, yes?" I asked. Joe shook her head.
"Okay… so what are you doing here?" I asked. The nurse giggled at me.
"Just to get give you a little message," she said. I cocked my head to the side.
"From whom?" I asked.
"Your sister," she said.
"Which sister?" I asked. Joe pointed at the door behind me. I turned and something stirred in my chest.
"What did she say?" I asked. I turned my head when that nurse told me what I needed to hear. I lowered my gaze.
"Take me where I need to go," I said. Joe held out her hand. I walked forward and took it. I only got one more glance at the door to Room 19 before we vanished into thin air. I'm so sorry, my dear sister. I didn't get to see your face again this time. But we will be back together soon.
Wait for me.
Aoba didn't like not having control. He was so used to being the one pulling the strings. Now, he's turned into a little bitch. But what he doesn't know is that it is about to get worse.
It all started with a text.
Aoba was about to log into the Dollars chatroom when his phone buzzed. The boy didn't recognize the number. In fact, the number was blocked. Under normal circumstances, he would've deleted the text and moved on. However, something compelled him to look.
The former gang leader opened the text.
"Look out your window."
Huh? Aoba turned and looked out his window. A confused look came over his face when he saw a feminine-looking boy waving up at him with a foreign-looking nurse standing next to him. Suddenly, Aoba's phone rang.
"Hello?" he whispered. He had a good guess of who this was. One look out the window told him as much. The feminine-looking boy held his phone to his ear as he looked up, grinning.
"Yo!" he said.
"Who the fuck are you? And how did you get this number?" Aoba asked. The boy giggled on the other line.
"Come down here and see," he said. Aoba frowned as he looked out the window. This was clearly a trap. There was no way he was going to go down there and fall for it.
"Aw, come on," the feminine-looking boy said. "I just want to talk." Aoba sighed as he rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said. Not like he had anything else to lose with this. The boy got dressed and walked out of his room.
Moments later, the feminine-looking boy and the nurse looked up. Aoba stood with his phone in hand.
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked. The feminine-looking boy stared at him for a moment.
"What?" Aoba asked. His visitor smirked at him.
"Oh nothing," he said. "Just wanted to see the shiny new toy." The former gang leader looked even more confused.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked. "Who are you?" The nurse held back her laughter. The feminine-looking boy chuckled to himself.
"Who am I?" he asked. He held out his hand and whistled aloud. Aoba looked around when he felt the ground shaking. The nurse threw her hands up in the air.
"Here it comes!" she shouted. The rumbling grew louder. Aoba tried to stay on his two feet. The feminine-looking boy smirked to himself with his hand out. The sounds of horse hooves galloped through the early morning. The feminine-looking boy snickered. A giant black portal ripped open in thin air. A small green horse leaped out. The flesh looked like it had rotten over several times. The ribs could be seen through the flesh. There was no hair on the body. The tail looked too short. Even the blood-covered teeth looked like they had rotted. The red eyes glowed in the dark. Aoba covered his mouth to keep from vomiting. The feminine-looking boy smirked at him.
"My name is Taro and I am the Horseman of Pestilence," he said. Aoba stood with a confused look on his face.
"Pestilence?" he asked. "Where are war and famine?" Taro smiled.
"You'll meet them soon," he said. The horseman started walking away with his rotting horse. The nurse followed behind. Aoba stood there for a moment as it started to sink in.
"Wait!" he shouted. "What about death?" Taro stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"You've already met my sister," he said.
"What do you mean?" Aoba asked as he turned around. But Taro and the nurse were already gone. The boy couldn't explain it at the time, but he had a sinking feeling about Taro and his siblings. Somehow, he remembered all of this happening before. Aoba just couldn't figure out why.
Little did he know that it was only going to get worse for him.
-December 15th, 2015-
Aozaki, Shiki, and Kazamoto sat in Mikiya's office. (It still felt weird to call it his.) DK had been a busy little bee this month. They only had the circles of hell to rely on to predict their next move. Shiki was the one keeping them up to speed in that department. It was all a matter of predicting who was going to be next. Shiki pulled out his phone. The blue oni groaned as he rubbed his forehead.
"I will never understand these kids having crushes on serial killers," Aozaki said. "The forums and sites to that Dante Killer make me want to vomit." DK had developed quite a fanbase over the months that she started killing. They talked about how cool the mask was. Some were planning on cosplaying as DK. There were sites betting on who was going to be their next victim. They cheered on the serial killer, hoping that they wouldn't get caught. DK even had followers who had a crush on them.
"That's just how people are," Mikiya said. "There are some people that are fans of the yakuza. They even go as far as to make fanfiction about them."
"Sometimes homoerotic," Kazamoto added. Aozaki's right eye started to twitch upon hearing that.
"Come look at this," Shiki said. The three men looked up as the executive held up his phone. They all came around for a long when Shiki took his phone over to Mikiya. The yakuza men read the article the executive had come across. Slight shock washed over their faces.
"So he really is dead?" Aozaki asked.
"It would seem that way," Shiki said. "It would seem that way." They all read through the article for the gruesome details.