Chapter Fifteen
It was the scariest sensation Kazahaya had ever experienced; the feeling of being compressed. When the Daidarabotchi clenched his hand into a fist around Rikuou and him, he couldn't even scream. His body was squished on all sides and his breath was pushed out of his body. When Kazahaya tried to inhale, chest couldn't expand and he quickly found himself suffocating, in addition to being crushed. Bright patches filled his vision and panicked settled in as a frantic mantra filled his mind. Help me, help me, help me, HELP ME—
The Daidarabotchi suddenly roared, and unclenched his fist. Kazahaya suddenly met the open air and nearly started free-falling, but something snagged his right wrist and he stopped falling. He realized that he could breathe again and he began coughing and gagging. His whole body was sore.
"KAZAHAYA-KUN! RIKUOU!"
Kazahaya looked down when he heard Hisui scream their names. He blanched and nearly screamed when he saw that he was dangling and swaying slightly 30 meters above the ground!
"HANG ON, KAZAHAYA!"
Kazahaya looked up and cried out in shock. Rikuou was gripping his wrist with his left hand, but his right hand...his right hand was hanging onto the Daidarabotchi's hand, the curve between the thumb and index finger. The hand was at a 30 degree angle with the palm facing down, and Kazahaya could see that Rikuou's arm was trembling violently. He was going to lose his grip.
"DAIDARABOTCHI!" Kokuyo screamed below them. "Those children are under our protection, as commanded by GOD! If you do anything to them, you will face His wrath!"
From Kazahaya's angle he couldn't see the Daidarabotchi's face, and he didn't want to risk moving his body too much. Suddenly thought he felt himself being lifted higher and he looked up. Rikuou hadn't moved, but the Daidarabotchi himself was moving. He was turning his giant hand so that the palm was facing the sky. In doing so, Rikuou and Kazahaya were being lifted into his massive palm, and Kazahaya suddenly found himself facedown against hot, rough skin. It was surreal.
"Kazahaya!" Rikuou seized him from behind and pulled him into a sitting position. Kazahaya was turned to face him and Rikuou looked him over. "Are you okay?! Is anything broken?!"
Kazahaya shook his head. He tried to speak, but the cold horror started creeping up his throat and tears stung his eyes. The black…emptiness inside of him was starting to expand again. He couldn't form the words with his mouth or his mind.
But he met Rikuou's gaze, and he was the worry and—and sorrow in his eyes, mirroring Kazahaya's sorrow, and Kazahaya was stunned to feel the cold and the pain inside of him start to subside. He reached for Rikuou—
Hot air blasted the two young men. Kazahaya cried out as the force slammed him into Rikuou. The boys tumbled over inside the Daidarabotchi's palm. He looked up and saw those giant glassy eyes hovering over them; the large face scrutinizing them frighteningly closely. Kazahaya reached out instinctively as if to ward off a blow, and his touched the tip of that giant nose.
Kazahaya gasped and threw his head back as images flooded his mind. Voices overlapping in his ears. He blinked rapidly, but he only saw bright white. W-What's happening?!
His vision came into focus. He was looking down on a gathering of people, who prostrated themselves before him and were chanting. The style of clothing looking odd to Kazahaya. Old. But when the people below him raised their heads to look up at him, their faces held expressions of reverence. Love. It was the people of Ibaraki.
They worship me. They love me. Kazahaya gasped harshly in shock. I-I…I'm seeing the Daidarabotchi's past!
The reverence did not last. Kazahaya blinked and the vision changed. He saw two dark giant hands waving at fires upon his massive body. Kazahaya saw people with torches and screaming, chanting prayers and firing flaming arrows at the large body. Kazahaya looked at his surroundings. The Daidarabotchi was laying down. The Daidarabotchi was not attacking. The Daidarabotchi had been ambushed.
"DEMON!"
"FOUL CREATURE!"
"RETURN TO HELL!"
Kazahaya was sinking further into the Daidarabotchi's mind, and knew that this was dangerous. He could get lost and never return to his own subconscious. But…he couldn't pull himself away. Not yet, at least.
"You belong to us now."
Kazahaya stiffened with horror at the familiar voice. He blinked, and he realized that he couldn't move. He—as in the Daidarabotchi—tried to move, but were unable to. The Daidarabotchi was left on his side, facing several people standing before him. All of them were dressed in black. All of them wore Noh masks.
"Daidarabotchi-dono," the man in the front said, bowing respectfully. "We are Ship of the Moon. We are here to bring about the new age, for the sake of the children of Kaguya-hime. But…we cannot do this without you. We need your assistance."
Kazahaya felt the Daidarabotchi's anger, because it was bound. They were being "respectful" but they had captured him. They intended to use him against his will.
"We will build a village to protect the children of Kaguya-hime until the time is right for them to seize the world," the man continued. "We will need you to move the mountains to surround our village, make it difficult for people to find us. When the time is right, the children of Kaguya-hime will ascend to a higher plane of existence…and we will command the world. With you by our side, of course."
Kazahaya felt sick. He watched Ship of the Moon control the Daidarabotchi, reforming the landscape to give them their safe haven. He heard Ship of the Moon plot to use Kazahaya and Kei to take over the Japanese government, and use the Daidarabotchi to try and reform Earth in the image they wanted. It sounded—the memories were fragmented and so many voices overlapped again—but it sounded like Ship of the Moon had intended to use the Daidarabotchi to reunite the seven continents into a single land mass again. Kazahaya remembered that it was called Pangea. They had anticipated that this would result in the death of millions of people, but Ship of the Moon didn't care. Kazahaya felt ill as he further realized what the cult had had planned.
Total world domination. Kei and I would have been figureheads until they could shove us into a rocket and blast us to the Moon. Where we would have died, while THEY ruled the Earth.
The Daidarabotchi didn't care about the plans of Ship of the Moon. He didn't want to be involved. He wanted to go back to the happy times he had with the people of Ibaraki and live in peace with them. But he couldn't. He was bound to Ship of the Moon. He couldn't leave.
"Daidarabotchi."
Kei. Hearing her voice after witnessing…tears stung his eyes as he saw his sister standing before the earth demon, wearing off her blithely cold smiles.
"Hello, Daidarabotchi," Kei greeted them. "You hate those people, don't you?"
Kazahaya knew who she meant. "You would like to hurt them, wouldn't you?" Kei asked. "You would like to hurt a lot of people, wouldn't you? All those awful, evil people who hurt you?"
The Daidarabotchi stirred in response. "I want evil people to hurt too," Kei said. "My Kazahaya is gone. You tried to stop him from leaving, I know. He evaded you. But I don't blame you. Evil people took him away. You don't have to listen to those bad people. The bad people who would hurt you. The bad people who take away everything we love."
Kei stepped closer, her eyes shining. "But…if you listen to me, then I'll give you what you want. If you help me get my Kazahaya back…and help me kill the people who keep him from me…then I will send you back to Ibaraki, and the people you love."
Kazahaya could see now why the Daidarabotchi attacked them so fiercely. He had been used and abused by humanity for so long, and he had been desperate to go home. He had been angry, and full of sorrow. Kei had promised him what he truly wanted, but in the end she was just using him, too.
I'm sorry, Daidarabotchi-dono. I'm so sorry.
"Kazahaya."
Kazahaya gasped, but the world was full of darkness. But…But he felt a warmth in his chest. It felt golden and comforting, wrapping around him like an embrace. He sighed, and a familiar pleasant scent filled his senses. Rikuou.
"Kazahaya. Stay with me." Rikuou's voice was so calm and soothing. Kazahaya didn't know how Rikuou could be there with him, when Rikuou's psychic powers didn't include this sort of telekinesis. But Kazahaya remembered that they weren't just partners, roommates, or friends. They were soulmates, and they were bound together.
Even after everything...all the pain I caused him...he's still with me.
"Daidarabotchi-dono," Kazahaya said quietly, bowing his head. "Daidarabotchi-dono... I beg of you. Please let them go. I offer my life in retribution."
"Kazahaya!" Rikuou protested.
"I am a Kudo. I am what Ship of the Moon called "a child of Kaguya-hime", so I'm responsible for what has happened to you."
"Kazahaya, you are NOT responsible for this!"
"Daidarabotchi-dono, please don't hurt Rikuou. Please don't hurt Hisui-san. Please don't hurt Kokuyo-san. If you want to put your anger on anyone, put it on me—"
"OI!" Rikuou snapped. "You have done EVERYTHING you can to surgive! You escaped this mountain, ate our of garbage bins, and have worked yourself to the bone so you don't be homeless again, freezing to death in the damn snow! Are you saying that you survived all of that to just throw away your life now?!"
"This is different! The things that have happened are MY fault! People are dead because of me! I—"
"After everything I've been through today, I am NOT losing you too! You're not sacrificing yourself and that's final! Get it through your head, stupid!"
"'Stupid'?!" Kazahaya snapped. "Who are you calling stupid, you bastard!"
"You, because you ARE stupid! Only stupid people would sacrifice themselves for something that isn't their fault!"
"Rikuou—"
"I am not losing the last person I love! That is final! Do you hear me, Kazahaya?!"
Kazahaya gasped throatily in shock. He…He said he loved me!
A low groan rumbled in the air, rattling in Kazahaya's ears. He opened he eyes, and found himself face to face with the Daidarabotchi again. The Daidarabotchi was staring down at them both, his expression still blank. But his eyes…his eyes looked like they were shining.
"Daidarabotchi," Rikuou said, kneeling in kowtow. "Please forgive me for breaking your hand. I did it in defense of the person I love, but it was still a heinous act. If this idiot insists on dying for atonement to you, then take my life too."
"Rikuou!" Kazahaya scrambled into a sitting position beside him. "W-What did you just say about stupid sacrifices?!"
"I have lost everything," Rikuou said quietly. "I have nothing. Nothing but this idiot beside me. Fate has bound our souls together, so wherever he goes I go. Please, don't listen to him when he offers you his life. But if you must…then kill me."
"Rikuou." Kazahaya grabbed his shoulders from behind and shook him. "Rikuou, please—"
The Daidarabotchi suddenly swooped his arm down. Kazahaya and Rikuou clung to each other, nearly losing their balance, as suddenly they found Kokuyo and Hisui by their sides. Kazahaya realized that they were brought back down to the ground.
Kokuyo grabbed them by their arms and dragged them out of the palm of the Daidarabotchi. Hisui bowed to the giant earth demon. "Thank you, Daidarabotchi, for sparing these children."
The Daidarabotchi was silent, but he withdrew his hand. He sat there staring at the four. Kazahaya swallowed thickly before he spoke. "Daidarabotchi-dono…go home. Go home to Ibaraki."
The Daidarabotchi stared at him for a long moment. His mouth suddenly formed a grin, and his giant emerged and licked his lips. Then…he turned away. On all four he crawled across the ground, but unlike before the earth was not disrupted. He came to the wall of mountains he had created, and used his hands to flatten them until the mountains were gone and there was only flat earth. He continued to crawl away, flattening the rocks as he went and creating a fresh path for the four. The further he moved away, the harder it was to see him in the night's darkness. Soon, they could no longer hear his movements. The Daidarabotchi was gone.
Kazahaya and Rikuou simultaneously exhaled in relief. Hisui grabbed them both with his uninjured arm and examined them closely. "Are you hurt?! Did he crush any of your bones?!"
"N-No," Kazahaya said shakily. "Daidarabotchi-dono, he…he was forced to do the bidding of Ship of the Moon."
"I thought as much," Kokuyo said grimly. "The cultists must have had a powerful binding spell to make the Daidarabotchi act against his nature like that. Those binds however are released when the one who created the bind dies."
"It must have been a cult member who was crushed by the rising rocks," Rikuou said.
"No," Kazahaya said. "It was Kei."
The other three gaped at him in shock. Kazahaya shrugged stiffly. "Kei…commanded him, didn't she? S-She wasn't the one who originally bound Daidarabotchi-dono but she…she must have killed the person who did have the bind and took the bind herself."
"H-How could she have done that?!" Rikuou demanded.
"She gave in to her Karasu-Tengu blood," Kokuyo said. "That enhanced the powers she already had."
"And the Daidarabotchi…just left of his own volition," Rikuou said.
Nothing further was needed to be said. The bind had been broken. Kazahaya walked over to the chasm Kei had fallen into. He stared down into the darkness forlornly. There was no sounds that came from the abyss.
"L-Let me try to—" Kokuyo said.
"There's no need, Kokuyo-san," Kazahaya said, glancing towards him. "You cannot fly in your condition. And…And I don't need to see her body." He pressed his hand to his bare chest over his heart. "I always know…Kei is dead."
They buried Tsukiko beside the lake where they had parked the helicopter. The landscape had thankfully been undisturbed by the chaos. "When I am healed, I will be back for Tsukiko-san," Kokuyo told Rikuou. "I swear to you I will."
"Get cleaned up in the lake," Hisui told them. A glow surrounded him, and he suddenly he had the form of Kakei again. "Make sure to change with the clothes you brought."
"You told us ahead of time to bring overnight bags," Rikuou pointed out. His eyes narrowed. "Did you know that our sisters were going to die tonight?"
"Easy, kid," Kokuyo said, having taken on the form of Saiga again. He inserted himself between Rikuou and Kakei.
"I did not know that Tsukiko-san and Kei-kun were going to die," Kakei said sadly, ducking his head. "Those women…their premonition powers were stronger than mine, so I could not see their futures. But I saw you both, and…and I saw," he said painfully. "I saw you both covered in dirt and…blood. I-I could not see further, but I knew that something awful was going to happen, and…" he shook his head and looked at them. Tears were brimming in his eyes. "I didn't know the extent. I am so sorry."
"I believe you, Kakei-san," Kazahaya said quietly. "I believe you."
Kazahaya and Rikuou washed up, dressed, and they flew out of that accursed mountain. The trip back to Tokyo was in cold silence. By the time they reached Tokyo and the Green Drugstore, the sun had risen and it was morning.
"The store will be closed today," Kakei said as the four stood in front of the main door's shutters. "None of us are in any shape to work. Both of you, go to your apartment and rest. I will send food up later for you."
Kazahaya and Rikuou said nothing, but headed for the stairs that led to their apartment. Kakei and Saiga watched them leave and waited for the door to close behind. Saiga reached out and grabbed Kakei's uninjured arm. "We need to heal each other," he said. "Let's open the shop and get the—"
Kakei threw himself into Saiga's arms and began sobbing. Kokuyo quickly swept him up into his arms and lifted the shutter. He spared one last glance towards the apartment before entering the shop and pulling the shutter closed behind them.
It wasn't under late afternoon when silence filled the apartment once more.
They had collapsed in the middle of their room, sitting while clinging for dear life to each other. Faces buried into each other's necks as their mutual raw and painful grief ruptured from their bodies. Crying, wailing, screaming their grief. Kazahaya and Rikuou had their arms locked around each other. Unable to say words or do anything but cry. Unable to let each other go, out of fear that the other would disappear the moment contact broke. Sometimes the sobs were soft whimpers, but other times they were screaming sobbing. It didn't seem like either would ever be able to stop crying. For the horrors they had experienced, and everything they had both lost.
It was gone, all gone. Everything that they had wanted to protect was gone. Everything…was for nothing.
But by the late afternoon they were exhausted, voice thrown out, faces red and drenched with tears, and eyes nearly swollen from crying. If Kakei or Saiga had stopped by, they were unaware. If anyone had stopped by they were unaware. They weren't hungry or thirsty. They barely thought about moving from their spot, sitting together and clinging to each other. Silence but ragged breathing and heavy sniffling.
It was Kazahaya who broke the silence. He turned his face towards Rikuou's throat. "…Rikuou?" his voice was hoarse and rasping from his sobbing.
"Yeah?" Rikuou's voice was just as quiet, just as raspy and hoarse.
Kazahaya closed his eyes, digging his fingers into Rikuou's shirt. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"
Rikuou started very slightly. "…Is that a good idea?" he asked after a moment. "Y-You can absorb memories in your sleep, right?"
"I-I don't want to invade your privacy, but—"
"I don't care about that. I care about not heaping any more shit on you right now."
Kazahaya leaned back to look at his face, but didn't let him go. "Y-You…Even after—"
Rikuou pressed a finger to his mouth to silence him. "Do you remember my warning if you keep blaming yourself?"
Kazahaya blinked slowly. After a moment he nodded. Rikuou looked over his shoulder between their two beds. "Our beds are too small to fit the both of us together."
Kazahaya sighed. "Yeah—"
"Go and grab your bed," Rikuou said, standing up. He helped Kazahaya up. "I'll grab mine. We'll push them together in the middle of the room."
Kazahaya nodded again. They let each other go, though it was with great reluctance on both of their parts. They both hurried to their bed on the opposite sides of the room, pushing the curtains back as far as they would go. "Hang on, I need to move my stand," Rikuou said.
"Okay," Kazahaya murmured. Once the path was clear, both young men dragged their beds to the center of the room. They were identical beds of the same size and shape, and when Kazahaya and Rikuou pushed the frames together, they were both surprised to see the two twin beds fit together perfectly like puzzle pieces. They both straightened on opposite sides of the bed, and looked at each other. "I-Is," Kazahaya stammered, gesturing to the beds. "Has…Were these two beds just one bed all along?"
Rikuou frowned. "This was intentional by them."
Kazahaya rubbed at his nape awkwardly. "W-What time is it?"
Rikuou checked his wrist but he wasn't wearing a watch. "I can check real quick."
Kazahaya shook his head and turned away. "It's okay. I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed now."
"Me too," Rikuou said. "I…don't really want to do anything else."
Kazahaya drew the curtain back to give himself privacy, and he was surprised to see how large the space was without the bed. He pulled his shirt over his head, but held it in his arms. "Rikuou?" he called out softly.
"What is it?"
"I-I know…you told me not to apologize again but…" Kazahaya shook his head. "I-I…I don't know what I was thinking when I…offered my life to Daidarabotchi-dono. Y-You were right, it wasn't something that I…" he let his voice trail off.
"Don't worry about it," Rikuou said. "Just don't make such thinking a habit, Kazahaya."
Kazahaya closed his eyes. Tears were starting to burn behind the lids once more and he nodded stiffly. "I promise."
They were curled together on the bed underneath the covers while they slept. They laying facing each other, clutching at each other tight but…but their faces. There were no stress lines or distress in their expressions in their faces. They looked…peaceful. They were undisturbed in their slumber. It was a miracle after the horrific trauma they had suffered.
Kakei smiled. The first smile he had managed to form all day. He stood at the foot of the bed and watched the two young men sleeping in silence.
Saiga, however, smirked and pointed out the obvious. "They figured out the beds."