The Beginning
Focus: Hikaru/Kaoru/May
One-shot
“Are... are you sure I look good? I don't want to, y'know, have something out of place and end up embarrassing father.”
“You look fine, quit worrying, Kitty!”
Hikaru ran a hand through his hair and let it linger on the very end of his long braid. “You know, this really isn't like him.”
“Who?” May asked, running a hand up the boy's back.
“You know who,” Hikaru replied, “Kaoru, it wouldn't be like him to miss this. The most important part of my life. It makes me wonder what they'll have planned for him.”
“If they have anything planned for him.”
“Hey, he's my brother, of course they'll do something for him too... wouldn't they?”
“They're your parents, Kitty, don't ask me. I'm kind of worried about Kaoru though.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I know he keeps to himself a lot, but it's like he's been doing even more of that recently,” May looked uncertain, “In fact, I haven't really seen him in a few days.”
Hikaru shrugged, but there was a flash of worry in his eyes, “Maybe... hey! Maybe he got started on another project!”
“Project?”
“Yeah... oh, right. You weren't here when he used to go off and do his projects. He'd spend weeks in the library, trying to root through old books and stuff. He was always secretive about it, but you could tell whenever he found what he was looking for, his eyes would smile. Heh, I'm surprised I didn't think of that before now. He hasn't gone off on any projects for a few years, maybe getting back on one who bring him out of that funk he was in.”
“I hope that's what it is,” May replied uncertainly.
“I'm certain of it. I bet he'll show back up sometime soon with something that's really big, something to amaze us all,” Hikaru gave a winning smile, “How do I look?”
May wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning in close, “Would you like me to tell you, or would you rather I show you just how good you look?”
The shrine was sparsely lit. From without the only sounds were the gentle sprinkle of tastefully placed fountains. To any casual observer, it looked as if absolutely nothing special were happening tonight. The only thing that would give any hint otherwise were a pair of guards outside the main doors of the family shrine. The smart Armani suits they were attired in, and the barely concealed pistols they were armed with, made them look like they'd be more at home guarding some abandoned warehouse than a traditional Japanese shrine.
They both watched as a shadow detached itself from the many other shadows that littered the courtyard and walked slowly and deliberately towards them. Moonlight reflected off a streak of pale hair. "Young master Hikaru?" one of the guards said hesitantly, "...aren't you supposed to be inside?"
The other guard squinted his eyes, "Nnnno... that's the other one, Kaoru."
The shadow stopped in front of them, "I'm here to join in the ceremony."
"Err..." said one guard uncertainly.
The other one gave a slight bow, also looking bashful, "I'm... I'm not certain, er, Master Kaoru, about the ceremony, if you're... er..."
The man with a streak in his hair gave the guard a long, expressionless stare, "...if I'm allowed in to take part in the ceremony? A ceremony centered around my only brother and twin? A ceremony commemorating family and its importance?"
The guard bit his lip nervously, "Er... right, of course Master Kaoru. It's just... Master Shibara ordered that no one was supposed to be let in, and... well..."
"That applies even to members of his family? The family that employs you and gives you what little honour you have in your lives?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
The other guard spoke up helpfully, "Don't worry, Master Kaoru, I'll see if Master Shibara will let you in-"
The guard had turned to open the door when Kaoru moved. Within a second he had pulled out a silenced pistol of his own and planted it firmly in the back of the turned guard. There was a muffled thumping noise and the guard staggered against the door. He slowly slid down the door, leaving a smear of blood behind him. The second guard reacted instinctively, reaching for his own pistol. He looked down in confusion at the now-empty holster. "Looking for something?" Kaoru asked, slipping the guard's pistol into his own pants. He wasn't smiling.
Before the guard had a chance to speak, Kaoru's hand was on his face, pinning him against the door. The guard was shocked at how cold the boy's skin was. He was even more shocked as Kaoru's fingers began to twist and darken, turning into tendrils of black shadow. The guard began beating ineffectually against the boy's arm as the tendrils wormed their way into his mouth and nostrils. The beatings turning into a spasmodic thrashing is the shadow solidified inside his throat, cutting off all air. Kaoru held the guard against the door, watching impassively as the figure's erratic thrashings turned into weakened twitchings, and eventually gave out completely as the guard went limp, suffocated.
Kaoru let the body crumple to the ground as his hand reformed. He gave it an experimental shake. His other hand, almost subconsciously, went to his mouth, idly running along the length of the sharpened canines that had grown inside it. For a second Kaoru wondered about what he was doing, why he was doing it. He had just killed two people without even thinking about it. He had stained the doors of the Shibara family shrine with their impure blood. What was happening to him? He was going to essentially turn his back on the family, something he would never have even conceived of considering the mere possibility of doing less than a month ago.
Kaoru looked down at the two crumpled bodies. Of course, this was the same family that hired these incompetent fucks, that disgraced themselves by letting a foreigner infiltrate their ranks. It wasn't even a Chinaman, it was an American of all people! And now they were running a ceremony for his brother without even letting him know about it? A ceremony that Kaoru's investigations had revealed to be something of a dark, blasphemous secret, hidden from all by father himself?
No, he wasn't turning his back on the family. The family had turned their back on honour and dignity. They let themselves get corrupted from within and enacted profane rites, allowing further influence and manipulation by outsiders. The 'family' had become nothing more than a hollow mockery of itself.
Kaoru bent and grabbed the hands of the corpses, dragging them around the side of the building where they joined the corpses of two more guards. He then walked easily back to his car, waiting out front. He opened the trunk and began rooting around inside. If he was to maintain any sense of purity and have any hope of regaining face for his family, he would have to burn away the parts infected by the outside influence.
Kaoru removed a can of gasoline from the back of the car.
The cold blade pressed against his exposed flesh, "The eyes of the moon have settled upon you. Do you feel yourself worthy to stand under her full gaze?"
Hikaru's head was down before the altar, his eyes firmly on the floor. "Yes."
The sword moved towards his neck, "The earth mother has seen fit to craft you from her own blood. Do you believe yourself worthy to do her work justice?"
There was no hesitation before the reply, "Yes."
The sword was removed. For a few minutes there was silence within the shrine as the perfume of various rare incenses continued to weave through the air. Hikaru wondered for a moment if something had gone wrong with the ceremony. Even though he had been told his whole life that he was being prepared for this position, something that was both a great secret and the greatest honour to take part of. Not just for the Shibara family, but for a far greater society beyond, he was still nervous as hell. Years of preparation mean little when you're told that you would be receiving greater responsibility than any normal human, and that gods and spirits alike would soon become your consorts.
The voice spoke again, "Your bloodline has been watched by the spirits, blessed by the gods, chosen by the moon and the earth alike, for generations. Your ancestors have given their lives to help maintain the honour of the family and its survival against those it fights against. Are you willing to give your life in defense of this honour? Are you willing to die for your family?"
Hikaru hadn't been allowed to see the person who was running this ceremony. All he knew for sure was that it was someone who was very closely allied with the family, a mysterious benefactor that he had never met, yet had watched over the family's interests for longer than he had been alive. This benefactor, apparently, represented the interests of the world beyond, and that Hikaru had been selected to learn the secrets of this world and use them for the continued defense of the family. The man's voice was deep and resonant, powerful yet comforting. Even so, there was still a barely perceptible growl at the edges of his speech.
Hikaru maintained his position, "Yes."
May hadn't been allowed in this chamber. No matter how close the two may have been, this part of the ceremony was for family only and no one else. Yet this was also to remain as secret as possible. Thus, unlike so much else that went on within the Shibara family, there was no public announcement, no notice given to anyone. Father had only had a minimal guard posted outside, enough to deter any possibly visitors, but not enough to draw undue attention with their presence.
"Inhale this, inhale deeply," the voice intoned as a bowl of smoking herbs was placed under Hikaru's nose.
Hikaru followed the order. The smoke was sweet smelling and tasting. For a second, nothing happened. Even as he inhaled the vapour, the herbs were rapidly quenched in cold water. It was then that Hikaru noticed his arms had gone numb. He flicked his eyes over to his unresponsive hands, beginning to breathe faster. For some reason he couldn't seem to catch his breath. His lungs began to ache slightly for oxygen, even though he was now beginning to pant. Something was wrong here, Hikaru tried to raise his head to let them know.
His neck refused to obey. Hikaru felt the numbness spread down his spine even as the fire in his lungs increased. He tried to get up, tried to give some sign that things had gone seriously wrong, when his back gave out and he crumpled nervelessly to the floor. A strong hand was on his shoulder, gently pushing him onto his back. Hikaru's chest arched as he gasped for breath. The fumes from the herbs had somehow sealed his lungs shut! Hikaru's eyes shifted back and forth in panic. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak or scream, and the entire time, the agony in his chest increased.
The figure above him was hooded, its face hidden in deep shadows. Slowly, calmly, it wrapped a hand around Hikaru's throat. Hikaru wanted to struggle, but could only lay helplessly as the already useless breath was cut off completely. Sensations became confused and vision began fading as his brain screamed for air. Soon there was nothing but darkness. No... not quite complete darkness. There was a single shard of light. A glowing beam of purest silver. Hikaru reactively grabbed for it, feeling that if he didn't, he would lose everything.
As his consciousness seized upon the shaft of silver, it seeped into him, slowly filling his body. The essence of another, gifted by the gods. Hikaru could feel life, the life of another, helping refuel his own, spreading through his body. The mutability of Luna, mother of illusion and change, and the stability of Gaea, the earth-mother, settling inside his body. Hikaru's mouth open and he gasped, taking in a deep lungful of air as it were his first living breath.
It was his first living breath, he realized.
Those fumes had killed him, yet here he was, back at the altar, quite definitely alive. In fact, he felt more alive than he ever had before. It was like several dozen energy drinks at once... yet far more, this was something that came from within himself. For a few moments Hikaru was completely incapacitated by a dual sensory overload, both from without and within himself. He could feel every inch of his body, the warm air on his skin, the strong, steady beating of his heart, the steady expansion and contraction of his lungs. At the same time he could feel both how much stronger it had become, and how strangely mutable it was at the same time. As if, through sheer awareness of his own physical form, he could change it at whim.
At the same time, he could perceive everything happening around him with a clarity he had never experienced before. His eyes showed everything with crystal clearness, his ears picked up every sound, loud and silent, his nose gave him information on the scent of everyone and everything in the room. It was far too much to take in at one time. So while the boy's senses gave everything with ungodly clarity, Hikaru's brain decided just to filter almost all of it out for a while.
Yet, even as Hikaru shook his head, wincing in pain from a headache caused by the sensory overload, he could immediately tell something was very wrong. What little he had managed to process from the massive input of sensory impressions told him that there was a fire somewhere around him, and people shouting and running, and the scent of blood, a lot of blood. Hikaru allowed his eyes to open just slightly, mere slits, and kept his ears mostly covered. This kept the cacophony to a tolerable minimum.
The shrine was on fire! Not only that, but there were people running all over. Hikaru saw his mother, slumped in a corner, blood dribbling slowly down her face. He saw the fallen form of one of the live-in gardeners, his neck bent at an impossible angle. Through all the chaos, there were only three figures that weren't running in blind panic. One was the hooded man who had been running the ceremony. Hikaru glanced at him and felt a shiver run up his spine. How did he not notice that before? The man radiated an aura of subtly repressed power. Hikaru didn't know how he knew, but he could tell simply by the smell the man gave off, the way he carried himself, he wasn't human.
The second figure was his father, standing stock still and staring with incredible intensity at the third figure. The third figure was Kaoru, backlit by the burning remains of the inner doorway to the central shrine. In one hand was a silenced pistol. In the other was the crumpled body of May, held by the neck. Hikaru's eyes widened, and he was nearly knocked back by the increased sensory input. A babble of voices came to his ears.
"You betrayed the family!"
"I am the family."
"Run, you cannot defeat him."
"He's my son, he will answer to me."
"I've grown beyond that, fool."
"Silence!"
"No."
Hikaru saw his father's face set, accepting the situation, even if Hikaru still couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"Give him the sword, get him out of here."
"As you wish."
"You'll do no such thing."
"Go!"
Things came only in flashes after that. Hikaru felt himself grabbed and dragged bodily out of the back door of the shrine by the hooded figure. His last visual image of the interior was that of his father rushing towards his younger brother, murder in his eyes. Before he could even process that, a long, dark package was pressed into his arms and a voice stated, "You are to save this family, if that is at all possible anymore. Go now, run and do not look back until you have the strength to stand with your ancestors!"
"But I-" Hikaru started, a thousand thoughts, concerns, and confusions battling for supremacy.
"Go!" the figure shouted!
Hikaru turned and ran, looking back only once as he heard something collapse in the grass behind him. He saw the hooded figure, sprawled face down in the lawn with a small hole in his back. Standing in the doorway of the shrine, his home, face splattered in blood, smoking gun in hand, was Kaoru.
Kaoru lowered the pistol as Hikaru disappeared into the small forest beyond the estate. As much as the impure asshole deserved it, Kaoru would not shoot him in the back as the cowardly dog ran away. Even if he disgraced his family name with his actions, consorting with that outsider laying on the lawn, he was still a Shibara, he still deserved an honourable death, face to face with the family's saviour.
Kaoru walked easily across the lawn. The same couldn't be said about this one, though. With a disdainful snort, Kaoru kicked the body over, onto its back. The thing was still alive, barely. Kaoru reached down and ripped the concealing hood off, "Too afraid to reveal your face, demon?"
His suspicions had been correct. This man wasn't an American, like that other infiltrator, but he was definitely not Japanese, or Korean, Chinese or Taiwanese, for that matter. His skin was dusky, his hair a series of black, tightly done braids. He had the swarthy features of someone from the Middle East, yet they were strong, firm and noble, almost like the bust of a pharaoh. It didn't matter either way, he was a foreigner, interfering in family interests. Kaoru looked at the man's eyes, taking note of the slitted pupils. He nodded, suspicions confirmed, "I figured as much. I'd almost be ashamed of my own family name if it weren't up to me to restore it to dignity. To think, my own father, consorting with the Nekomata. And my own dear brother, stupid and blind, snared into your clutches."
The figure's breath was rapid. It was alive, barely. Kaoru nudged the creature's head with his foot, "Stings, doesn't it? I read that the touch of silver would burn your kind, I'm glad that bit of folklore proved to be true. It's just one more weapon I can use to help cleanse the family's name."
"F...famil..." a weak voice said.
"What?"
"Y...you don't know... what your family... is...you... undead..."
Kaoru's eye twitched. No emotion crossed his features, yet a second later he delivered a vicious kick to the demon's face. He delivered a second kick, this one to the thing's side. A third and fourth found their mark in the same location, the sound of cracking ribs accompanying them. Kaoru cracked his neck, trying to shake the numbness out of his foot.
"You are in no position to judge, outsider!"
With a snarl he flipped the thing back onto its belly.
"You took honour from my family, thus you shall die without honour."
He pressed the pistol against the back of the creature's head, "Die like the animal you are, blind to your killer, eating the dirt."
He pulled the trigger. The first shot ripped through the man's skull. He pulled the trigger again and again, continuing to pull long after the weapon did nothing but produce a series of empty clicks. Crouching, Kaoru wiped his bloodied hand off on the thing's robe, a look of mild distaste marring his face.
The fires had mostly died down. They were very small things, actually. Kaoru didn't wish to burn the entire shrine down... not yet at least. He walked by his mother. She was moaning slightly, beginning to wake up from the blow to her skull. She probably had a concussion, at the very least. She had lost no small amount of blood as well, her remaining life could probably be counted in minutes. It didn't matter, it was long enough for Kaoru's purposes. She looked up at him with blank, pain-clouded eyes. He looked back down at her, expressionless. For a second the slightest bit of a sneer pulled at one side of his mouth. He spat a mixture of blood and saliva on his mother's face and continued walking.
May was in pretty bad shape. Her breath was shallow, her heart rate erratic. She had lost far more blood than his mother, there was not enough left behind to survive for any length of time on. Kaoru bent down and almost carefully dragged her until she was a few feet away from his mother. Kneeling beside her, Kaoru delicately buried his fangs in her neck. She was so weak by this point all she could offer in resistance was a barely audible sigh. Kaoru continued drinking until there was nothing left to drink. He stared down at her corpse, her open and lifeless eyes.
"I loved you, and you spurned me, used me."
He brought his wrist up to his mouth, slicing it open with one razor-sharp fang. He brought May's mouth to his now bleeding wrist, "And yet I still love you."
The blood moved slowly, dribbling languidly down her unmoving throat. "The sun was born, and so it will die. I've found now that only darkness comforts me. Thus, in darkness, I will find you, and you will join me in the darkness."
May's eyes widened. She gasped, a sudden, rude intake of breath. At the same time, Kaoru's eyes closed. He shuddered slightly, feeling weaker for his effort. It was far more than mere blood he had poured down her throat, it was a portion of himself, that which kept his body suspended between life and death. It would now keep her the same. Not dead, yet not truly alive. Undead, forced to consume the life of others to prolong her existence. May's lips wrapped around his wrist, draining more blood. Kaoru could feel it, feel his blood going into her, forming a bond, linking her to him. Good.
He ripped his wrist away from her mouth, standing back up. May gasped again, weakly grabbing his leg and looking up at him, eyes hungry for more. Kaoru sneered down at her, "Look at you, like a dog, pathetically begging for more scraps."
May continued staring up at him, uncomprehending, only knowing she needed more, the burning hunger inside of her demanded it. Kaoru cupped her chin in his hand, staring at her, "You could have been spared the pain. Even if you were born an outsider, you were adopted. You could have had everything, yet you turned your back on it."
A tear went down his cheek, "You used me and left me. You left me for him. So where is he now? Why isn't he here to save you?"
May shivered, "Hi... Hika..."
Kaoru's hand moved, slapping May across the face, sending her sprawling on the floor. "Hikaru's gone! Ran away like the cowardly, stupid swine that he is! You left me for him?!" He grabbed her by the hair, wrenching her up and then slapping her a second time, eliciting a shriek from her.
"You took my love for you and you threw it away, like a toy you got tired of playing with! Like a child who wanted something new! Is that what you are, a child?!" Kaoru's leg lashed out, his boot catching her under the chin and sending her flying backwards.
May was sobbing by this point. She didn't understand what was happening to her, couldn't understand what that hunger burning inside of her was, nearly overshadowing the pain now burning outside of her. She looked up at Kaoru with desperate eyes. Even though she wanted to back away from him, run away from the monster he'd become, part of her railed against it. Part of her wanted to stay with him, to do nothing but surrender to a foggy bliss of what may have been love. In the end, she merely sat there and continued to stare at him with fear, continuing to cry.
Kaoru sighed, "And despite all that, I am kind enough to offer you something that no mere human could ever have. Despite what you've done to me, I still love you enough to give you the gift of eternal life. Isn't that generous of me?"
May didn't reply, not knowing what to say. Kaoru sucked on his tooth for a second, staring down at her. He dove on top of her, grabbing a handful of her hair and wrenching her head back, "Aren't I fucking generous?!!"
May screamed, "Yes! Yes!"
Kaoru snorted, standing and brushing his jacket off. May tried to huddle into a ball, crying. She didn't get the chance. Kaoru once again grabbed her by the hair and began dragging her, "In fact, I'm so generous I will also give you something you now desperately hunger for."
May felt herself thrown into something warm. Her tear-stained eyes opened to see that she was in someone's lap. Confused, she tried to push herself up and see who Kaoru had thrown her into. The half-conscious eyes of his mother stared into her own, blood and spit trickled down her face. Yet May was only focused on the blood. So red, so full of life. Before she could stop herself, she had licked it off the woman's face. She gasped at what she had just done. Kaoru smiled, "Tastes good, doesn't it? Why not take more? You're probably very hungry."
May gritted her teeth, determined to resist it. He was right, it had tasted fucking ecstatic. And now May could see more of it. Pumping weakly through the woman's veins, its warmth calling out to her. As May's teeth ground together, she realized her canines had grown into long fangs. May gulped, did he really expect her to...
"Feed," Kaoru ordered.
Not knowing what she was doing any more, May bent over the helpless form of Kaoru's mother and began to feed.
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