AN: And so we continue, thanks for the new followers and favorites, much appreciated folks! This chapter is dedicated to Pegasette901 who asked if I would be continuing this fic. To answer you, yes, this fic is far from over and this chapter is dedicated to you! (:
~Powerlessness~
The air swirled and spun around them, all warmth and humidity, making the breeze heavy and all consuming. At least that's how Ren feels, as he watches the intense nearly silent, conversation pass from mistress to heartbroken mother.
Ai is offering her the doll, a deep crimson tint to the straw, and the distressed woman is taking it eagerly. Ai's hand, Ren notices, keeps hold of the other woman's, for a few seconds too long, he wonders if the mother, so lost in grief, noticed the prolonged touch.
He doubts.
Looking to his right, where Wanyuudou stands stoically beside him, Ren realizes with a start, that he's noticed, that they all have, and it worries them greatly.
Looking away quickly, he returns his gaze to the exchange taking place, returns his gaze to her mostly. He knows it's bad, what's happening with Ai, he knows that what she's doing is dangerous – but even so, Ren can't help but keep his eyes on the moment.
It's… well beautiful to see… in a way, just how kind she could be. Maybe Ren is bias, being in love with Ai, maybe warping his perception of her, but he doesn't think so. He's watched her for a long time and he knows her very well.
She's smart, very smart and knows what she's doing. She cares for this woman, feels empathy and sympathy for her daughter's unfair death. If she can show this woman that empathy, she will, even if it's just through a brief touch of her hand.
"Please…" The woman begs, as she sinks to the ground, her face wet with tears, "avenge my girl."
Serious faced, Ai leans down slightly, her hand lifting to pat the woman's shoulder lightly, trying to comfort. Pulling away, she seems, to him at least; to have aged in a way he cannot quite place.
"I can do as you request, but…" then she pauses a moment, her next words coming out as a mournful sigh.
"There always has to be a price."
Then a few moments more and the woman stairs, horrified, as the russets and golds of the eternal world are replaced with red hot fire and demons, which look ready to eat her whole. Her screams of anguish are cut off as the creatures swiftly consume her limb by limb.
A taste, if only for a few moments, of what was to come.
Ai waits and watches; she feels as if she's in a constant state of panic.
Six days, six long days she's waited and still no thread had been pulled.
She doesn't understand why the mother hesitates so….
"Why?" Ren repeats her question, his gaze flicking down to meet hers. Its 4:00 maybe closer to 5:00 in the morning in Osaka, they'd just finished up a night full of requests. They're both exhausted, but neither one wanted to return home, Ren feels almost as anxious as she looks.
Ai's resting against him, her face and hair gleaming slightly from the sun, which was only just beginning to wake up.
"Why hasn't she done it?" Ai repeats, she sounds frustrated, exasperated and just plan tiered.
It's the seventh day now and Ai feels as though she's close to bursting with stress. Her face feels as if it's now permanently stuck in a scowl, her brow forever creased.
Ren considers her question some more, trying to think of an answer that would appease her.
He can't come up with one.
"Who knows?"
Ai looks indignant.
"Sometimes in life, we just don't get answers."
They stay silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts, and then suddenly, Ai is sitting up, turning to face him, her words coming out in a gasp, bells only she can hear ringing as loud as any answer.
"And sometimes we do."
They leave quickly, both preparing for what was to come next.
Ren grins at her; it's the only thing he can think of to do in that critical moment, as they fall behind the others, giving the both of them a few seconds of privacy.
The Kimono feels like a suit of armor, a shield that holds back any fear she may feel.
"Give that fucker hell."
Glancing up at him, Ai merely smiles back, a small, barely there upturning of lips.
"Don't let me go too far."
Blood, so much blood, it rained and nearly drowned the man, so intense was the amount and flow of the discussing pool he had been thrown into.
He is necked and shivering, reduced to a pathetic shell of a person.
Ai watches from the shadows, as the others go about tormenting the man, giving him what he deserves. She doesn't usually involve herself in this part, her job is to banish, Ren and the others almost always did the more gruesome and gory work on her behalf.
Her involvement in such actions could provoke emotion and she wasn't supposed to have any, her roll was of the emotionless reaper, not the punisher, well not in that way.
This time however, as she watches with fascination, as Hone Anna sends the man falling to his knees, the agony clear on his face, Ai decides in that same moment, that she's going to break that unspoken rule.
Stepping out of her hiding place quietly, her demeanor shifting into something almost feral as she stalks towards the male, Ai feels as she does, the others drift away, confusion evident as they do so.
Ai walks a slow deliberate circle around him, her hair a curtain to hide her face. Once more around and then she disappears suddenly, the man is shaking, Ai knows he feels her presence, knows something dangerous surrounds him, though he cannot see her.
The sight makes her smile.
Then in a quick flash, Ai allows herself to appear right in front of him, her form shifted to that of the child he'd murdered. The illusion bleeds; is broken and bruised.
"How could you?" It speaks, voice ghostly and accusatory, "How could you kill me?"
The question hangs there a moment, the sudden silence around them, speaks volumes as the man continues to stare, now transfixed, he looks confused for a moment, and then horrified.
"No… no….no…" The man starts to murmur to himself, over and over again, his eyes wide and petrified. "I didn't know…. I didn't know…. It was you… I didn't…"
She merely glares at him, gaze hard and unforgiving. "You think your drunkenness gives you an excuse?'
The man doesn't answer, his eyes say it all though, he looks desperate and afraid, Ai see's the regret there too, the guilt that had been hidden beneath, coming into full bloom.
[大変申し訳ございません...] He looks ready to beg at her feet, the apology there in his gaze.
Forgiveness, that's what his gaze asked of her.
Enough of this madness!
[謝罪は十分ではありません！] Ai realizes she's shouted it at him, something she hasn't done in decades, she's always been soft spoken, never one to raise her voice.
The air turns frigid then; Ai feels her control slipping and something raw and hurt emerging. She doesn't even care that her child's façade has faded, her real form now visible to him.
The tears that gleam in his gaze are what finally push her over the edge.
He had the nerve to cry?! Even when at this very moment, the body of the child he had raped and killed decomposes in the ground.
Shrieking widely, anger overwhelming, Ai finds herself inflicting some of what she'd been longing to do, ever since she witnessed the death of the little girl. She rips at skin, claws at sensitive flesh and allows her hands to make dents against easily breakable bone.
She wants him to hurt as he'd made the girl hurt and he surely must.
It was odd though, as her hands became blood soaked and sore, Ai suddenly doesn't know who she's taking revenge for; at this point it felt as though she wasn't doing it on the child's behalf, but her own. His face swirls and morphs into others; her own long dead violators.
It always came back to that in the end.
Her hands slacken on his screeching form; he lies below her, him resembling something that was so bloody and broken, as to not look quite human anymore.
He doesn't deserve her pity, but as Ai watches him, the guilt starts to pool in her gut, rising to a gleam of tears in her eyes. Why does she feel like crying? Why does she feel suddenly cold all over?
She speaks the words she's said a trillion times, in a voice which can't help, but sound broken and full of powerlessness.
[いっぺん, しん で みる？]
Ren sits behind her, the boat gliding ever closer, to the Tori gate. His arms hold the man down; keeping him pined to the boats floor. Even beaten to a fucking pulp, he's strong and isn't easy to contain.
The man curses and spits, any sorrow or regret lost now that he's realized none of it matters anyway, he hurls words at Ai that make Ren's blood boil. He quickly silences the beast with a hand placed just so, on a particularly mangled appendage. Leaning forward, so close as if he were going to kiss the other man, Ren merely says, voice soft.
"You know, in Hell you get back what you gave to others." Ren does lean in then to kiss his cheek. "Just about a thousand times more so, you rape and kill, you get that back, for eternity. And that's a promise."
He squeezes hard, for emphasis.
Ren then moves his gaze up to meet Ai's, who looks sadly back at him, her gaze looking wet and glossy.
"Right, Ai?"
Her nod is his only reply, as they pass through the gate, a gentle chime echoing around them, as they do so.
AN: Shorter then usual I know and I have no excuse except that this feels like a good place to end this chapter. I was planning on making it longer, but I felt the emotional impact was stronger, if I just let it lie as it is. I hope to have another one out soon, I promise!
Just as a side note, and I know a weird time to mention, but the scene with Ren and the man made me want to bring it up, I do see Ren and Ai as both Bisexual characters. Evidence I feel can be seen throughout the series for both of them. S3 for Ai I feel demonstrates that, in some ways at least. We could debate I'm sure about the Ai/Yuzuki relationship, but I do feel it represents something about Ai as a character. Ren basically shows that throughout the whole show, he's had lots of moments I'd consider as at least queer suggesting, in some aspect.
Might be something I touch on more fully within this fic, especially when it comes to the Ai/Yuzuki dynamic, in contrast to the Ai/Ren relationship.
Okay, queer rant over, sorry weird time to insert that kind of conversation, but it's been something I've wanted to speak of for some time now.
More to come, hopefully soon! I'm currently finishing up my last semester of college and am on job hunting duty, so can't promise on an update schedule, as you can guess I bet.
Thanks all and remember to leave feedback if you can, it keeps me motivated!
Mia ~-~