Part 3B of Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow~ (Gom/Kaga; Pg-15)
~Beyond The Light, Behind the Shadow
Part 3B~
Kagami heard someone's voice.
No… it wasn't just a voice.
It was a series of sobbing sounds.
Someone was crying.
Like the sound of rain….
Kagami opened his eyes and he saw that place again.
I know this place.
Kagami didn't get why he thought that way, but that place felt very familiar.
It was just a deserted land… with nothing but hard rocks and some old big stone pipes, things which were abandoned by the people in the neighborhood since a long time ago. There was neither tree nor grass growing in there, just inanimate objects… not even an insect lived there or even other small animals. It was a pretty boring place, but when Kagami was still a child no older than seven, he often played in there. Sometimes he would play hide and seek with his friends and other time he would come alone and hid inside the pipe to enjoy some snacks.
That day, he was inside the lowest stone pipe by himself to eat some cookies that he got from the granny next door, who had been kind enough to share her baking after he wandered inside her porch because he had smelled the delicious treats from his home yard. Kagami didn't particularly see the dark clouds which had been accumulated in the sky as he was happily munching the sweets. He didn't realize that it was raining until after he heard the sound of thunder rolling from the outside.
Kagami actually wanted to go home as soon as possible, but then it started raining very hard and he didn't bring his rain coat or umbrella, and the sound of thunder roaring was very close, as if it were just mere inches from the ground, and Kagami was afraid. It was dark and cold. He was alone and scared. He wanted to go home. He wanted his mommy. She must have been worried because he wasn't home yet in this rain storm.
"Hello."
Kagami shrieked when he suddenly heard the soft voice from behind. He actually jumped up, forgetting that he was inside a pipe that his head collided with its roof. "Ow, ow, ow~~~! Wh-who is that?!" He couldn't help shouting while nursing his painful top now, squatting and trembling, totally frightened.
"Hey now… are you alright? You hit your head pretty hard…"
Kagami squinted in the dark and slowly he could make out a shadow of a person. A kid… slightly taller than him, scrawny, and he had straight black hair which was grown rather long, until bellow his neck. His long bang covered part of his face, the right side, until Kagami could only make out one eye in the color of dark purple.
"W-wha…? Don't suddenly come up like that without announcing your presence first! You scared me to death!" Kagami complained at the boy then, almost crying.
"I'm sorry… I thought you already noticed me. I have been here since you entered this pipe, you know," the boy sounded and looked apologetic as he spoke, a small smile adorning his face. For some reason Kagami thought that he was such a gloomy kid. It might have been because of his look. He was rather pretty, though. His skin was very pale and he had beauty mark under her left eye.
"I didn't see you," Kagami scowled at him. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here." But, he was also kind of curious because he really hadn't noticed him earlier. Did he sit at the other end of the pipe entrance? Besides, his face was really unfamiliar.
"I'm Himuro Tatsuya. I recently moved here." the boy introduced himself with another smile. "What's your name?"
"Kagami Taiga," answered Kagami slowly, not releasing his gaze from Himuro's visible eye. "You recently moved here? Where did you come from?" Now he wanted to know more about Himuro.
"From a rather faraway place," Himuro said, but he didn't elaborate further and spoke again instead. "Kagami Taiga… can I call you Taiga?"
"Sure… and I'll call you Tatsuya." It was fair if he called the person that called his given name with his given name.
"Deal," Himu-…no, Tatsuya gave him a kind smile. "So… Taiga, why are you here alone in this rain?"
"I was just eating my cookies here and didn't realize that it was raining until it was too late," Kagami looked down, a bit miserable for being reminded of his predicament. "And I can't possibly go home on foot in this rain…"
"Oh, wait a moment," Tatsuya then moved back and rummaged through a small purple bag that he brought with him. "I bring an umbrella. Do you want to share mine?" Then he pulled out a small folded dark colored umbrella and offered it to Kagami.
"I can share it with you?" Kagami widened his eyes, his mood lifted and his heart moved that Tatsuya was very kind to him.
"Sure, I can accompany you home, Taiga." Tatsuya grinned and then took his hand. Together, they got out of the pipe into the rain and then went home hand in hand.
That's right… That was my first meeting with Tatsuya…
Older Kagami witnessed the scene like a movie instead of experiencing his memories. It was really surreal, but for some reason, he had forgotten this memory before he started to watch it like this.
Why do I suddenly see this? Tatsuya… it's been so long since I saw him… The last time was ten years ago, the evening before I went abroad. Tatsuya and I had been best friends since the first time we met. We pulled pranks on the neighborhood and got yelled at by the elders. We had fun climbing monkey bars and played swings in the park. We were always together. We were inseparable, like actual brothers. The majority of our good time together was always filled with many adventures…
At least until Kagami's family had to move to Los Angeles because of his father's business. Kagami had refused at first because he didn't want to leave all his friends, especially Himuro, but then what a barely seven year old could do to stop his parents? None. In the end he still moved away, but the day before that…
Huh?-Kagami couldn't remember. There was no memory of the day before he went. But…I'm sure that there was something important which happened that day…
That day…
A flash of Tatsuya's sad face entered his mind. Huh?
"I'm waiting for you."
Kagami froze and all his body hair stood on end as he heard the croaky whisper and felt an icy breath on his right ear. He slowly, oh so very slowly turned his head around to see-
"You're finally here…"
A rotten, peeled off face of Himuro Tatsuya grinned sinisterly at Kagami, both his skeletal arms around his side and shoulder.
#
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
"Kagami-kun!" Kuroko slapped Kagami's face hard, but for some reason the larger teen didn't seem to feel it at all. His eyes were wide open, his pupil constricted so hard it was almost gone completely and he continued screaming in total horror.
Kagami had collapsed like a marionette with cut off strings after that dark smoky thing went through his body. After that, he started to convulse and now he was screaming like he had seen hell. He might have, judging from his very shocked and terrified expression at the moment. Whatever that thing showed Kagami must have attacked his central nervous system. If the convulsion didn't stop, Kagami might hurt himself and the others.
"Kise-kun, hold him down tighter!" Kuroko instructed. Kise had been holding Kagami's shoulders down on the ground for almost five minutes after he started convulsing. "Midorima-kun, how is the charm to get rid of that spirit residue from Kagami's body?" Then he turned to his other friend who had been busy writing down some letters on some papers since they realized that Kagami was affected very badly by the spirit's touch and was having some kind of allergic reaction to it. Though, it was more psychological than physical, but it actually affected his body too much to be a normal reaction.
"I'm writing as fast as I can!" Midorima shouted, probably a bit panicked because it was the first time they dealt with this kind of crisis. They should have left Kagami outside after all. He most likely blamed himself right now.
Kuroko bit his lower lip and looked upward at the black smoke that was still hovering above Kagami. A pair of blood-crimson eyes was staring at the boy writhing on the ground frostily and Kuroko immediately addressed him. "Hey you, let go of him." His voice was composed but grave and the eyes shifted their focus on Kuroko.
Kuroko could almost make out a sinister smirk on the black smoky thing.
"He is not yours to torment. I do not know what has caused this… this anger of yours towards him. But Kagami-kun is a nice boy. He does not deserve to be treated like this." Kuroko was pretty angry with that spirit. It didn't have right to do such thing to Kagami.
"Oh, but you're wrong… Taiga is mine."
Midorima and Kise jerked upward in shock and Kuroko looked at them with wide disbelieving eyes. "You guys heard that?"
"We did," Midorima and Kise looked at each other, their faces pale and looking baffled. "But how could we…?"
"This is bad…!" Instantaneously, Kuroko had an epiphany.
"Kuroko-chi, how come we also heard its voice? We shouldn't be able to… we don't have your gift." Kise sounded awfully nervous now.
"Kuroko… this thing… is not just a spirit, is it?" Midorima's hand had stopped working, heavy perspiration trickling down from his temples to his cheeks and neck. Couldn't blame him. If they were dealing with something else, Midorima's charm wouldn't work. He wrote it on assumption that they dealt with an evil spirit after all.
"This… this is…!" Kuroko took a sharp breath.
"Don't get in my way!" Massive kamaitachi blew around Kagami's body so suddenly.
"Ow!" Kise's body was thrown back almost three feet with numerous cuts on his arms, cheeks and his clothes. Some stray kamaitachi blasted towards Midorima, shredding his paper charms and wounding his fingers that he had to move back stridently. He yelped in shock at that and the rest went to Kuroko who had to cover his face with the inside of his crossed arms to block some of the attack. But he was still pushed back until his feet skidded, creating some scratching marks on the marble floor and he only stopped as his back connected to the window sill with a hard slam.
"Ugh…!" Kuroko fell on his knees in the aftershock, both hands on the largest wounds on his upper arms. He had to hug himself to cover them and give some pressure because if the bleeding didn't stop, he would feel faint and wouldn't be able to proceed with the ritual. They had to save Kagami!
"Kuroko!"
"Kuroko-chi!"
Both Midorima and Kise shouted at him agitatedly before they gasped in total dread as Kagami's still convulsing body was unexpectedly lifted from the ground by some invisible force, floating near the black smoky thing which without more ado cloaked him like a swarm of black bugs.
"Oh, crap! Kagami-kun!" Kise screeched.
"Damn it!" Midorima took some of his O-Fuda, probably intending to throw them at Kagami to get him down, but Kuroko knew it would be futile if the O-Fuda wasn't specifically made to ward off that thing.
It couldn't be helped. Kuroko had to 'borrow' his friends' gift.
"Let Kagami-kun go!" Kuroko yelled ominously at the thing while he opened the curtain on the window, letting some sunlight in and darkening some parts of the room which weren't exposed by it in contrast. He could feel the shift of power within him. His blood droplets on the floor swirled and it was absorbed by the marble and something dark rose from the shadowy ground and it instantly slashed the black smoky thing away from Kagami's body.
"Kuroko-chi!" Kise's face brightened slightly and Midorima's expression shifted from total worry to slight concern.
The shadows were peeling the swarm off of Kagami's body and by the time it warped him up completely, separating it from the black smoky thing, Kagami's body had stopped convulsing. He was still unconscious, but at least they wouldn't have to worry about self harm this way.
"How dare you…! You pesky little brat…!" Black smoky thing sounded furious as it couldn't get its swarm-like paws on Kagami anymore and shifted his attack on Kuroko as a pulse of energy blasted in the air, almost throwing Kuroko off the ground if the shadows were a bit late in moving to block it. "What…!?"
"It is of no use… Whoever you are, just give up." Kuroko slowly stood, blocking some sunlight and creating more shadows on the ground which immediately came alive as well, swirling and dancing inside the room. "I am Kuroko Tetsuya, a Shadow Master. All the shadows are my friends. As long as the shadows are around, you cannot touch me or my companions." Kuroko lifted his right hand and in time with his hand movement, the shadows in the room moved as well. Some went to Kise and Midorima to cover them. Now they were completely bulletproof.
There was hissing sound in the room coupled with growling and snarling. "How could a human like you possess such power…?!"
"I was born with it," Kuroko replied a little bit difficultly with all the injuries and pain he was bearing. "Now tell me… O Great One. Why… why has a Lord of this Land such as you turned into something like this?" He couldn't comprehend it.
"A Lord of this land?!" Kise stared at Kuroko, gaping in astonishment.
"So that's his true identity… No wonder my charms couldn't ward him off…" Midorima stood slowly following Kuroko's example and held his bleeding fingers in a grimace. "He's the Lord of this land. He's in completely different league with evil spirit."
"Wait a-! The Lord of this Land?! You mean it's a God?!" Kise looked even more shaken if it was possible, hanging his jaw open mouthed like that.
"Well… he is on par with a deity, I guess. He has the power to 'speak' normally to ordinary human. If it was just an ordinary evil spirit, he would not be able to do that." Kuroko coughed and didn't let his gaze stray from the black smoky thing. "Now, please hear me out, O Great One. We did not mean to disturb this land. No one does and it is not Kagami-kun's fault as well. Why would you bore such animosity toward Kagami-kun? Why would you care that he came here? You never did with the other occupants of this house… land before. You are the Lord of this Land. You were already here even before those spirits from Heian period came. Why would a deity like you bother with a mere human boy such as Kagami-kun?" He asked slowly.
"It's the kid's fault that I turned this way!" The Lord shouted, his black smoky form grew darker if it was possible.
"What do you mean?" Kuroko frowned. What did Kagami do? How come a human boy like Kagami could turn something so powerful into something so malicious like this?
"This… this form… I wasn't always like this…!" The smoky hands covered the Lord's smoky face. He sounded distraught and irate. "I was… My form was better than this ugly, repulsive thing. I was the Lord of this deserted Land. People worshipped me for my ability to calm the spirits that died in this land in the civil war. For hundreds of years I stayed behind and purified this place… always… always… I was content with my duty. I was…!" The expression on his smoky face changed. "But then, ten years ago… I met him."
Kuroko risked a glance at Kise and Midorima who looked at each other in mystification as well. "So, you met Kagami-kun ten years ago." He moved his gaze back at the Lord.
"Yes… such small pure soul… He was alone inside the pipe just above my shrine. He looked scared, so I called out to him. Surprisingly, he could see me."
Kise and Midorima looked startled and Kuroko softened his expression. "Children are more in tune with supernatural being after all. It is possible for him to be able to see you."
But if Kagami didn't want to see him, he wouldn't be able to. So at some point, Kagami must have wanted some company at that time.
"I was… happy that he could see me,"The Lord didn't seem to hear Kuroko's words as he continued. "I had never spoken to a living human before then… and I was glad that I could ease his fear and worry for not being able to return home in the middle of the rain storm. I even accompanied him home. Since then, Taiga often came to my shrine and he talked to me, he convinced me to play together with him, sometimes just him and me, other times he brought his friends to meet me. It was easy for me to disguise myself as a human child to be together with him. We were always together… like real brothers… I was very happy, so happy… I had never felt that way before in my entire existence."
I see… so that's what happened-Kuroko felt saddened upon realizing what this was about.
"We promised to stay together… always together, but that child…! He lied to me! He was going to go away! He said he didn't want to go. He was crying and begged me to make him stay, so I-!"
"You 'killed' him, did you not?" Kuroko closed his eyes, biting his lip.
"WHAT?!" Midorima and Kise's collective shocked gasp was heard and Kuroko could hear the agonized cry from the 'Lord' before he opened his eyes again to stare at the black smoky thing bravely.
"You are the Lord of this Land. You could not possibly 'end' his life. So you robbed his memory of you and this place away from his soul. You 'killed' part of him so you could have 'that part' for yourself. It must have drained almost all of your power to do such thing. To maintain his physical form only using his memory… you are already… at your limit."
"I had to let go of him… He was gone… But I didn't want to let him go…! I can't… I can't…" Another excruciating scream shook the house. The ground quaked and the furniture was toppled down.
"You had a taste of happiness living as human… a taste of 'feeling' called 'love' and the loss of your beloved was too great of a burden, coupled by negative feelings which started to grow inside of you… loneliness, pain, suffering… you could not bear it all." Kuroko couldn't help sympathizing.
"My form started to deteriorate three years ago… If this went on, all the spirits that I have been guarding would be contaminated. They would all turn into evil spirits… I had to do something… anything to stop this, and when I was in dilemma of what to do, two years ago, Taiga came back here." The Lord sounded like he got a ray of hope when he spoke about Kagami. "He came back… and I realized when I saw him that all this time, I had been waiting for him to come back."
"But Kagami-kun could no longer see you." Kuroko got even sadder at the thought.
"I tried to gain his attention the whole time. I tried and tried but he didn't realize my presence. I was so disappointed and sad. Why wouldn't he see me?"
"So you started to prank him," Kuroko concluded.
"I didn't mean to… I just wanted him to notice me. But he… even after he realized that something strange was going on, he still didn't know it was me and worse, he started to fear me, ME! I am his best friend! I am Himuro Tatsuya, his brother!"
Kuroko made a note to himself to check out that name. Even though it was just an alter ego made by the Lord to befriend Kagami, it was rather strange that he referred himself in that name, as if he were completely attached to that character.
"I've been waiting for him all this time… I'm not going to let him go that easily. He's mine…"
"That is right. You just could not let it go, and because of Kagami-kun's obliviousness you began to get angry." Kuroko hardened his gaze once more as he looked at the Lord. "You started to escalate the supernatural activity around him and even started using the spirits that should have been asleep in this land to torment him. You wanted to hurt Kagami-kun, did you not?" He accused and another angry pulse of energy blasted around the Lord.
"Don't you dare patronize me, child! I am the Lord of this Land. This territory belongs to me and I control every spirit that resided in this area! I can use them however I want and if I want Taiga to stay here forever, I can make it happen!"
Along with his angry shout, the ground started to shake harder and there were cracks on the wall now.
"Kuroko-chi! It's too dangerous to stay inside the house! The building is collapsing!" Kise yelled apprehensively as he seemed to notice some rubble that fell down from the roof.
"I know, if only Murasakibara-kun were here…!" Kuroko muttered in annoyance as he also saw the debris.
"Anyway, we have to get out of here first!" Midorima also shouted while he moved to get closer to Kagami's body on the ground. "Kagami and especially you need medical attention. We will come back here later to deal with the Lord!"
"This is not over, Lord of this Land. I will have you release the bond you have with Kagami-kun." Kuroko warped his shadows around himself and his friends more thickly before he and the others quickly moved.
"I will have Taiga no matter what! You can't take him away from me!"
Another energy blast almost toppled all of them, but Kuroko's shadows protected them. "Try me. I will be back to settle our score."
Then they were out of the house as it collapsed entirely to the ground. Both Kise and Midorima were panting heavily after they lugged Kagami's body outside. Kuroko was staggering; his vision blurred because he lost too much blood and his energy was almost entirely spent on the ritual and his shadow-manipulating.
"We… have to retreat… and regroup… away from here…" Kuroko sat down heavily on the ground before laying down to rest his mind and body. "I need some… sustenance…"
"Hospital first. I'm calling an ambulance." Midorima fished out his cell phone and started dialing.
"Haah… what should we do? This is way worse than the last training case we had with Akashi-chi last year. If he knew that we put our client in risk, do you think he would maim us?"
"Not if we don't tell him," Midorima replied curtly before he spoke to whoever it was on the phone line.
"Yeah, but it is Akashi-chi we're talking about. Some way or another he will know about this." Kise looked completely crestfallen as he sighed deeply.
"We still have… a deity to confront… after this. We should rest… while we can…" Kuroko almost tuned out all the conversation around him as he closed his eyes. He really needed to sleep and that sustenance. He was afraid he wouldn't wake up if he didn't consume something first before blacking out.
"Here's a chocolate bar, Kuroko-chi. Eat this."
Kuroko felt the chocolate on his lips and he opened his mouth to accept the food without opening his eyes. He kept the block of chocolate inside his mouth and suck on it absentmindedly. A few minutes later, he heard the sound of siren from outside the gate.
"The ambulance's here. Let's go," Midorima informed.
"Kuroko-chi, can you move?" Kise tentatively asked.
"Yes… just give me a minute." Kuroko exhaled slightly before he could move his muscle again and started to rise up with the others while the paramedics came inside to check on them.
Next time it will not be that easy…
End of Part 3
Tbc…
Additional Notes:
1)Kyonshi: vampire, Chinese zombie, a dead body that is controlled by a technique user as his shiki.
2)Kamaitachi: a natural occurrence caused by the strong wind that creates blank space which then causes a cut wound on skin. Usually doesn't cause deep cut that is enough to make it bleed. In ancient time, kamaitachi is believed to be a product of mischief caused by a youkai called 'Kamai' which loves to prank humans by surprising them with sharp wind that can cut like a scythe.
A/N: Urg, I'm such a dork. You won't believe how many times I redo some sentences in one scene because I just can't be satisfied with them. I need to re-check just in case I leave so many spelling mistakes and grammar errors in this chapter. Anyway, what do you think of this part? Adventurous enough? Scary enough? I need to work on my describing skill in the horror part more… T_T. And I actually can't finish it in three parts. I need one more chapter to wrap this story up. Besides, we need some more explanation about 'the Lord of this Land' and the Himuro alter ego after all. So… Aomine, Murasakibara and Akashi's screen time can't happen yet *sheepish*.
Now, please excuse me, I need to catch up on Ben 10 Ultimate Alien because I've been crazy about Bevin pair lately (but for some reason I still can't find any muse to write fanfic about them *confused*)…
Jaa, see you guys in next chapter
Part 4
Part 3A