Gallery
Character Art
Story Illustrations
Art Trades
Gifts

Writing
Main Timeline
Collaborations

Extras
Other Projects
Banners
Links

Contact
E-mail
Livejournal

Last Revised: Never

    The sound of distant footsteps echoed through the halls and down the twisting stairwell. The darkness followed, pressing ever closer if you strayed from the flickering light.  Something ancient and wholly evil lurked just beyond within your reach. Something that seemed to go against every moral and fibre of your being. With every step taken, every corner turned, every breath, the darkness drew closer and closer.

    Silently, Amefuri glanced over the ominous statues and halls that seemed to stretch out into the darkness and beyond. Intricate tapestries that wove deeper into themselves hung upon non-existent walls. The walls and floor blended seamlessly into the void stretching into nothingness.  Everything had unnatural glow, looking almost like something was alive and trying to escape from within. The closer you looked, the more frightening everything became.

    Her guide walked a few paces before her, moving through the thickening darkness without a sound.  The constantly moving shadows and lightless torches that lined the halls didn't even qualify for a passing thought with him. His liquid silver eyes seemed to glow a pale blue in the darkness. The same colour, the woman noted, as the substance that illuminated the passage. Even in the daytime, he appeared to be formed from shadows. Now, one could barely tell him apart from darkness that ebbed and flowed around them.

    Amefuri kept her eyes fixed upon the back of her guide's head. Somehow, she knew that if she didn't keep up, he wouldn't come back for her. Unconsciously, she moved closer to the dark man. The only thing keeping the shadows at bay was his presence. Strange creatures occasionally darted up to attack the pair, only to draw back as the man turned his gaze their way. Her fear grew stronger the longer they traveled down the endless hallways.

    Then, one of the creatures slid out of the shadows and sunk it's long, jagged teeth into her leg. Amefuri bit back the urge to scream and frantically tried to pry the creature off. Blood oozed out of the wound, drawing more and more creatures to her. The man spun on his heel, his eyes flaring with anger, as he stared down the shadow creatures. The creatures hissed with displeasure at being denied their prey and slunk back into nothingness. Sighing softly, he knelt down next to her.

    "K... Kouhei." She squeezed her eyes shut as he pressed a hand against her wound. "I will be.. do not worry about me. I can deal with it myself."

    "No, you can't. It has been a long time since you've had to."

    "I can handle it, Kouhei." She flinched from the concerned look he gave her, and its implications. "Really."

    "Things have changed Ame." Kouhei carefully wrapped a strip of material around her leg. "You are no longer one of them...you are different now. It's not safe for you to wander around without a thought about your safety anymore."

    "I...I know." She lowered her gaze to the ground. "I keep on forgetting that I am not her anymore.... and that I'm not what I was."

    "It's alright...." Kouhei gently touched her face as if he was afraid she would disappear like the creatures.  "It wasn't your fault."

    "How could it NOT be?" She pulled away from him and laughed bitterly. "I was the one that messed up."

    "Ame," Kouhei whispered sadly, reaching out to her again. "Please don't blame yourself."

    "You had every right to banish me." Amefuri continued, shaking her head angrily.  Kouhei wordlessly pulled her his arms.  "I had failed. I failed more miserably than usual."

    "Shhh....It's in the past...." Kouhei held her shaking body closer as if he could shield her from her memories with his presence.

    "Then," Amefuri continued, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Then I was punished. I lost my status, my home, my br.......it.... It still wasn't enough."

    "Ame, please...."  Kouhei pleaded softly. "Please stop."

    "I was punished....." Amefuri rest her head against Kouhei's chest, her anger slowly draining away.  "I was made what I am now." Amefuri closed her eyes, fighting back the painful memories. "A.....a Senshi." 

    She drifted silent, listening to his pleas and reassurances.  "But maybe....it was all for the best." Amefuri sighed, a small part of her wondered why she felt so safe when she was near him, despite what had happened. "I never was 'cut out' to be one of them....."

    "Ame........" Kouhei gently stroked her back. "What happened is in the past....there's no more need to worry about it."

    Amefuri jerked away from him, shaking her head angrily. "No. You are wrong. It is not over. Not yet."

    Kouhei reached out to try and grab her wrist but she would have nothing to do with that.  She grabbed her cloak and ran away from him.  He watched her disappear from sight, the echo of her footsteps swallowed up by shadows. Sadly, he got to his feet and continued on his way without her.

* * *

    In the distance, Yorukai could hear the 'good natured' teasing between his roommates in the background.  Normally, he'd be right in the middle of it, but something was keeping him from being his normal, carefree self.  Yorukai sighed and stared blankly out of the window of his room.  The door to his room opened, briefly, letting laughter and rock music pour in before it was killed by the closing door.

    "Hey! Why did you leave the party?"

 "I wasn't in the mood to duct tape somebody to the ceiling...sorry." Yorukai turned to look over his shoulder at the person that came into his room.  It was his self absorbed antagonistic roommate, Akuma. Sometimes, Yorukai wondered how they managed to stay best friends over the years.  

    'I guess it's just 'cause we understand each other,' Yorukai paused and shook his head.  'No, it's more like we like teasing each other too much to become enemies.'

    "Well, Yoru-san...." Akuma had managed to drop gracefully into the chair next to him. Akuma then proceeded to hook one long leg over the arm and drape an arm over the back.  "You don't know what you're missing. He's putting up a surprisingly good fight!"

    Yorukai had to struggle to keep the smile from creeping onto his face.  Slightly muffled screams of protest could be heard faintly as well as the thud of thrown objects.  The laughter from his other room mates and the loud *skrrrrrtt* of duct tape could be heard over the music and through the door. 

    "Well, maybe if I show him some mercy...." Yorukai grinned over his shoulder at Akuma. "He'll return the favour when it's my turn to get taped." 

    "I don't know about that......" Akuma grinned back at him. "He might sell you out to save himself from more humiliation."

    "True....but it can't hurt to try."

    "Unless you're volunteering to be their..." Akuma gestured lazily in the general direction of the main room. "Newest 'friend'."

    "That my friend, is why I'm in here and not in there." Yorukai pointed out. "To save my own skin."

    "Ahh.....good to see you are making some intelligent choices!" Akuma smirked at Yorukai's scowl. "This almost makes up for your decision to become a student teacher."  

    "Well, it's not THAT bad of a job..." Yorukai said sourly. "I get to make a lot of good connections for the future." 

    "Perhaps...but you also have to waste your days marking papers and dealing the slackers like...well, like you!" 

    "If I'm also a slacker, then I know what to do the make them pay attention!" Yorukai retorted.

    Akuma waved a hand dismissively. "I hear you've got one of those students in your class."

    "Those students?" Yorukai turned to look at him, confused. 

    "You know, like her." Akuma insisted.

    "Her?" Yorukai blinked in confusion. "Who's 'her'?"

    "Who's her?" Akuma shook his head with a bemused smile. "Man, I knew you were dense but this must be a new record."

    Yorukai scowled. "Hey...... watch it....."

    Akuma reached onto the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a photograph.  "This is who I'm talking about."

    He tossed the photo over towards Yorukai. He snatched the picture out of mid air and glanced at it suspiciously. He blinked again in confusion and looked back at his friend. 

    "Ame-chan? What about her?"

    "That Mokutou girl is famous for her temper, and people that hang around her are known to disappear without a trace.  She's self absorbed, extremely violent, always in a bad mood, uses her influence recklessly, terrorizes the general public for no reason," Akuma took a deep breath. "She attacks anybody that offends her "pride as a warrior" without any form of mercy.... and this includes anybody remotely resembling a teacher, fellow students, police officers-"

    "I already know that, Aku-san." Yorukai interrupted, "What's your point?"

    "The point, oh most impatient one, is that Mokutou is Trouble with a capital T."

    "I know that too, but Ame-san has never given me much trouble..." Yorukai coughed uncomfortably under Akuma's cold stare.  "Well, aside from the two near-fatal attempts on my life and multiple death threats in the span of a three days."

    "You want to know why she can get away with so much stuff?" Akuma paused just long enough for Yorukai to begin to answer before cutting him off. "Well, I'm going to tell you." Akuma didn't attempt to conceal his smug smile. "Every single person that's crossed Mokutou has met an...unfortunate end."

    "If you mean the threats, I've got them under control. Ame and I get along grea..." Yorukai found himself at the receiving end of Akuma's terrifying gaze. Again. "Ehhh......... sorta?"

    "You have to get this idea into that waste of space you call a brain," Akuma sighed. Sometimes he really wanted to pound some common sense into Yorukai. Unfortunately, his reputation as a gentleman absolutely forbid him to do anything of the sort. Otherwise, Yorukai would be nothing more than a walking mass of bruises and concussions. 

    "Don't worry about me!" Yorukai exclaimed with a triumphant grin. "I know how to handle a girl like Ame-san! After all, she's only a teenager, how hard can controlling a teenage girl be? I can convince Ame-san to do her work and listen to the teachers. After all, I'm older than her!"

    "You braided IDIOT!"

    Yorukai stopped in mid ramble and noticed that Akuma was wearing a very familiar look.  It was the look he wore during meetings with the school faculty. Akuma can (and has) intimidated the staff into doing whatever he wanted with the look. It was as if Akuma knew about every humiliating detail of your past and wouldn't hesitate to announce it to the world. Knowing Akuma, this assumption wasn't too far away from the truth. Yorukai, however, just called it the 'I'm-in-BIG-trouble' look. 

    "Yes?" Yorukai replied in a meek, little voice.

    "Mokutou is NOT a girl that you can control! It's hard enough to control such a girl under the best of circumstances!" Akuma forced himself to unclench his fists and take a deep breath. He closed his eyes and took a few moments to regain his composure before speaking again. "Mokutou makes sure that you'll never have the chance to force her to do something against her will.  Trust me on this. So I suggest that you leave her be."

    "I......I know....." Yorukai turned to gaze out of the window again. A brief flicker of concern crossed Akuma's face before disappearing behind the mask of indifference.  Yorukai absently noted that the storm was almost there.

    "It's really raining hard out there." It was more of a statement than a question, as usual. That was the strange thing about Akuma, he never seemed to ask questions.  He states them as facts and waits for somebody to 'correct' him. The problem was that correcting Akuma was a very...unhealthy thing to do. Unless you are one of his personal friends, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a question and a statement.  

    "Aah...." Yorukai sighed, allowing a long uncomfortable silence to stretch out between them.  Not even the light hearted jokes coming from the next room could drag Yorukai's attention away. Akuma watched him stare out of the window, it was obvious that something was bothering him. 

    "Yorukai." He waited a few moments, unsure if Yorukai was listening to him. 

    "Hmm?" 

    "You should rest.  We will handle it for you." 

    "Mm." Yorukai replied absently, watching Akuma's reflection in the glass. Another painfully long silence filled the room.  Sighing, Yorukai turned his attention back to the dismal surroundings outside. It seemed as if they were waiting for the other to make the first move. 

    For the longest time, the two stubborn men sat in a pitch black room staring out at the darkness. The empty, droning rhythm of the rain splattering against the glass echoed into the room. Even the sounds of laughter had died in the next room.  

    'Perhaps, it's too isolated here for their voices to reach me.'

    The storm had finally reached Tokyo. An ominous darkness swallowed up the last of the light and prepared to lay siege to Tokyo. An eerie light raced through the clouds, heralding the first wave of the attack. Thunder followed closely on the heels of the light, pounding frantically against the windows and door and rattling the city like gunshots. Then, the skies released their first wave, The rain ceased being a gentle murmuring and morphed into violent battle against anything in it's way. It exploded against any opposition in it's way down, mercilessly. 

    Somehow, the violence of the storm was comforting.  

    "You know what I like about storms?"  Yorukai brushed his hair out of his eyes. Another roar tore through the city as Yorukai watched the activity below with detached amusement. "It's never choosy when it came to it's victims. If the people fail to heed the warnings it gives, they have to deal with the consequences." 

    Akuma remained silent. Yorukai noticed that Akuma seemed at home in the flickering night and pale starlight. Oddly enough, it didn't surprise Yorukai one bit. There was something inhuman about Akuma. His eyes, Akuma had the eyes of a predator that was waiting for a chance to tear you to shreds. Yorukai stared into his own reflection in the rippled glass.  All he could see was a very tired looking man who was only good at deceiving himself. 

    "I bet I'm a real disappointment...." Yorukai smiled at his distorted reflection. 

    "Oh?" Akuma waited a few moments until it became clear that Yorukai was not planning on replying. 

    "I doubt...... that they'd recognize me if they saw me now." Yorukai sighed heavily and turned away from the window. "They thought I was nothing but a lazy, good-for-nothing, slob...and now..." 

    They looked around at the mess that he called a room. A mountain of textbooks and half-finished projects decorated the top of every semi-flat surface, a mountain of clothing sat in the spot where Yorukai vaguely remembered a dresser being, his extensive video and LD collection occupied the floor space around the TV and empty packets of instant noodles and half-empty mugs of stale coffee lived in the area once known as the kitchen. 

    "........................." 

    "You're still a slob." Akuma ran his fingers through his hair and gave a long suffering sigh . "And a slacker that refuses to do his work properly. Not to mention that girly hair of yours."

    Yorukai narrowed his eyes and turned to retort when the sudden rumble of thunder silenced the pair. They stood and watched the rain beat against the windowpane, trying to get inside. The wind howled furiously as it screeched around the old dormitory. The two men watched as the skies began it's siege upon the city. Somewhere deep within the storm, an almost human wail of pain and despair was heard.

    A few people rushed out of sight, trying to avoid the fury of the storm. A golden flicker of lightening raced across the clouds and struck the city, plunging it into darkness. The only illumination that existed was the occasional flash of lightening as it struck down again and again. 

    Yorukai brushed his fingers against the startlingly cold glass, feeling the raw power of the storm push through, against his hand. Cold, metallic blue eyes followed a strange flicker of lightening as it rose from the ground to return the skies. Then, he saw a dark, bloody figure limping down the walkway, a crimson trail of blood clung to the person. 

    He watched it with fascination as the figure struggled to pull it's tattered cloak around it's shoulders to ward off the rain. A peal of thunder sounded in the distance as the erratic bolt of lightening returned to the earth, striking the ground beside the figure. The force of the blast threw the figure against a rain-slicked pole. The robed figure grasped at the pole's slippery surface, desperately trying the balance itself. Then, a rumble of thunder rolled through the ground, shaking the building to it's foundations and throwing the figure to the ground. 

    Yorukai watched on in morbid fascination as the figure tried unsuccessfully to stand. Then the wind came. It shrieked around the figure, tearing and ripping at it's clothing and face until it managed to pry the tattered cloak away from cold, numb hands. 

    Long, blood-stained hair whipped around the girl's torn, and bloody figure as she turned tear-filled amethyst eyes upwards. Yorukai's stared on in mute horror at the girl underneath the cloak, met his eyes before she collapsed to ground, her blood slowly being washed away by the storm.

    "A...Amefuri!"