Unlocked Chaos
Title: Unlocked Chaos
Author: sen_nen_no_yuki
Pairing: Hikaru x OC
Rating: R
Summary: A little box contains a world full of darkness where even the light will never prevail.
Keira Kurayami stared at the little 3x3x3 black, suspicious box sitting on her desk. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to open the little piece that captured her attention. With a hand propping her cheek, she tapped her pencil on the table as she read the little note attached to the box for the nth time that day. “This box is a little something for your worries and although seemingly harmless, I feel the need to warn you this. Put aside all temptation and curiosity, for the lid of this box must never be opened.” That was it. There was no return address on the letter, or even a name and yet somehow, she found it in front of her apartment door that morning.
She was at home getting ready for work when she heard a loud knock at the door. She ran to the entrance of her home and looked through the peephole to try to identify the person on the other side of the wooden barrier but saw no one. Having a hunch that it had been one of those pranksters playing ding-dong-ditch, she opened the door ready to scold whoever had the audacity to play pranks on her at 7AM in the morning. She was shocked when she opened the door and was greeted by absolute silence. There were no sounds of fleeting footsteps, no stifled giggles, no sounds of doors slamming and no one in either direction of the long hallway. She was about to close the door when she realized that there was a small black box sitting on the carpet in front of her. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes, the small box intriguing her so much that she was almost late for work. She quickly shoved it into her purse before making her way to her car and driving to the same pale, robin egg blue building that was smack dab in the middle of the busy city.
Keira was supposed to be working on a business plan that was due the later that day. It was a proposal to merge with another successful business. It was supposed to be a revolutionary plan especially because the two companies merging were the most well-known in the country. Yes, she was running a business and proudly, it all started from an idea of her own. Despite the fact that she sit in an office all day on the computer, she loved it. She loved being able to make her own decisions and being the person of highest authority…or at least she used to… Sitting at a computer desk all day made her wish that she wasn’t so lonely.
It wasn’t like she was unsociable or anything, she just didn’t have friends at work. After all, it’s quite difficult to become friends with someone when, with the exception of passing an idea for work, no one talked to you. Whenever she walked the halls of the office, she was met with whispers of what cruel thing she had done that day, or who she had yelled at and threatened to fire. Those were all lies. She wasn’t like that at all. Her personality, the one that everyone knew of anyway, was completely made from rumors. It was all because of that time she was being harassed by one of her subordinates.
He was a sick minded freak who blackmailed her into doing what he wanted after obtaining a photo of her walking into a night club. There was some truth behind his story. Yes, she had walked into a night club but only to drag a former close friend out of the bar because of her crazy idea to become an entertainer. Keira was absolutely powerless against him and for the few months that he had the upper hand, she felt like she was living in her own personal hell. He seemed like he enjoyed the mental torture he was putting her through because she could see his victorious smirk every time he came to collect his share of her pay. Yes, she had to pay him a fraction of her own hard earned cash just so he wouldn’t release the photo. Back then, she thought long and hard about her options. She could have just ignored him, let the photo leak into the public and hope for the best, but she knew it never worked out as nicely as that. Keira saw what the smallest bit of scandalous information could do to successful business owners, celebrities and high class people such as herself. In the end, she had no choice but to agree to his each and every order. Paying him money wasn’t the end of it either. Another worker heard her threatening to fire him. It was then that the rumors of her being an abusive boss became true in the eyes of the whole office. In the end, her evil subordinate who started to create more targets, was caught and punished for his actions. Even though the major threat was gone, the silent verbal abuse did not disappear along with him.
She sat there staring at the box when one of the janitors in the company walked into her office to change the garbage bag in the little blue bin that decorated the corner of the room. His name was Arata Kobayashi, a name she always liked. He was like a breath of fresh air in her extremely boring life.
She smiled at him slightly when he nodded his head in her direction trying not to be overly happy about his presence. He was the only one who didn’t fear her like everyone else did but to be cautious, he only ever spoke to her once the coast was clear. Their friendship was considered forbidden in the office. Even though she was the president of the company, therefore the one to create the rules, this was just one of the things she couldn’t control. Relationships in the office were forbidden, especially between people of different status. She was close to the top of the social ladder and he wasn’t even on it to begin with. They were practically worlds apart.
After looking down both ends of the hallway twice, he closed the door and spoke quietly while looking like he was cleaning up the office. She told him about the box and he seemed just as intrigued as she was. He wanted to open the box even though she showed him the letter. He brushed it off saying that it was just a stupid superstition. Just as he was about to open the lid, there was a knock at the door. They jumped in shock and quickly tried to arrange themselves in a way that didn’t seem suspicious. It was another of her subordinates behind the door. Matsumoto was it? Keira couldn’t remember her name. It’s not like it mattered much anyway.
Matsumoto walked in, her hips swaying back and forth as much as her short bobbed hair was. She was handing in another part of the report that was due later that afternoon. The inconspicuous president thanked her for her hard work and the subordinate quickly left the room the way she came. She was disgusted by the idol wannabes in her office. They were all obsessed with making their waists tiny and their backsides huge. She honestly wondered how the hell any man would find them attractive.
Keira’s thoughts were interrupted when she looked over at Arata causing an immediate burst into a fit of giggles. He was standing awkwardly with the box in one hand, and a rag in the other. He was scrubbing at one particular spot on the desk as if he were trying to bore a hole into the wooden surface, acting as if he were cleaning the part of the table where the box sat.
He mentioned that she looked pretty that day before bidding a goodbye and failed to notice the slight blush that decorated her cheeks as she smiled widely. She couldn’t help but feel a little sad that the intruding employee cut their meeting short. When the door closed behind him, she let out an exasperated sigh. She thought back to the times where all she wanted was to be successful. She was once like almost every person on the planet who said, “Success is about liking what you do,” but who was she, and not to mention everyone else on the earth, kidding? Society never has, and never will run on good feelings alone. It was all about wealth; the hard earned cash and the things you could invest your riches into.
At first she was proud of herself. She worked hard and long and finally she managed to succeed. She lived everyday with a triumphant smile on her face. Slowly but surely, the smile that used to shine so brightly, started to become much more dull. Soon enough, she had a deep set frown on her face and only put on a fake smile because it was so important for her job to look like she was happy. It was important that the millions of people who saw her face on television, on advertisements, even in her own work place, no one knew that deep down she was far from happy with herself.
She let out one more sigh before attempting to get back to work. Before she could type a single word on her laptop, she heard the voice of a child.
“You really like him don’t you?” the voice asked. Keira looked around her office for the source of the voice. No one was at the door. No one was under her desk. There was nobody but her in the room. “You seem sad…do you wish to be happier?” the voice chimed. She finally realized that after searching practically everything in the small office, the voice was coming from the box on her desk. She almost screamed in shock when she saw a little angel sitting on the top of the box, dangling her legs over the side of it. She retreated to the door of her office, her hand firmly on the handle making sure to secure her escape in case necessary. “I’m not going to hurt you,” the little angel smiled as she swung her legs back and forth and fluttered her wings happily. “I was just wondering if you wanted to be happier…. I can make you happier.” The angel stood up, slowly fluttering her tiny wings and flying towards her. Keira cowered in fear not knowing the plans of the little being.
“Who are you?” she asked her cautiously because it wasn’t everyday that one would see a person who was only two inches tall.
“I’m an angel sent by God~ Isn’t it obvious?” she gestured to both the halo above her head and the pair of wings attached to her back. “But that’s not the point. I asked if you wanted to be happy. God told me that you were unhappy with your life so he sent me with the box. It’s supposed to be magical. Open it.” She used all of her physical strength to lift the little black box from the desktop, bringing it over to the cowering business woman who caught it with both hands.
"But the note said that I shouldn't," she replied as she reread the note that was taped to the box's lid.
"Forget what the note says! God just put that there so other people wouldn't meddle." The little angel snapped her fingers and the note on the box caught fire and burned away. Keira was amazed to find that even though the flames had licked her fingers, she wasn't burned. The box still remained unscathed. "You want to be happy right? Open it!" the angel encouraged. "I can make you happy. I can change your life around and all you have to do is open the lid of that box."
Keira was suspicious. Why would God send this angel to her of all people? There were so many other people who deserved the chance she was being given. "It's written in the Bible that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." It was as if the angel read her mind and it became obvious that she could when she heard the little person's chime like giggle. "So are you going to open it or not?" she asked innocently, fluttering back over to the table where she sat on the ledge crossing her legs.
“I don’t know…” she said still trying to absorb all of the information being thrown at her.
“Fine. Just hold onto the box then until you feel like using it. I’m sure the time will come,” she said in a musical tone before going to rest on top of the computer monitor sitting on the desk. She let out a tiny yawn as she stretched and curled up into a ball. It appeared to be that she was trying to sleep.
The rich woman looked between the box and the angel wondering if she was going crazy. Maybe it was all a dream.
“Ouch…” she pinched the flesh of her wrist. It hurt so she wasn’t dreaming.
“It’s not a dream you know…” the angel was still awake, her blue innocent eyes looking up at the human being. “I’m just as real as you are…and so is that box. Anyway I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up with you make up your mind,” and with that, the business woman could hear the quiet snores of the golden haired angel.
There was a knock at the door before it opened. She rushed to hide the box behind her back and stepped in front of her computer monitor to try to block the angel from view. It was him again. He gave her a looking wondering why on earth she had such a guilty expression on her face. She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding before setting the box down on the desk again. As she turned around, she noticed that the angel was nowhere to be seen.
"I know we just met this morning, but I just got a phone call with the most amazing news," he said excitedly. She smiled at how giddy he was for a grown man. "I just got accepted for a higher position!" he exclaimed. Despite being the boss of the company, it wasn't her job to accept employees and do the interviews. She had people for that. It was why she this was the first time she was hearing such news.
"Congrats!" she told him happily. Keira tried to hide most of her excitement knowing the promotion would allow them to speak with more ease.
"Thank you! With this better salary, I can finally buy a ring to propose to my girlfriend!"
And that was when her smile faltered for a moment but it was not long enough for the rejoicing man to see. She didn't allow him to catch her disappointment and once again, her usual fake smile traced itself in the place where her mouth was.
This time when there was a knock on the door and Matsumoto, from earlier that morning, poked her head through an open crack in the door, she was grateful. It meant that the celebration could end and he had to leave. They could go back to pretending that they had no relation whatsoever. It meant that once he left, she could let go of her forced expression, which was exactly what happened after the door closed behind the two workers that left.
Keira let out what felt like the millionth sigh that day. So Arata had a girlfriend already. She wondered to herself whether she should be angry at him for leading her on, making her think as if he had feelings for her, or if she should be angry with herself for getting mixed up in a romance she knew would fail from the start. She tried to push back the thoughts knowing it was unprofessional to cry in the office.
"Are you feeling sad? You know if you opened the box it'd make you feel better," the angel appeared again with a chime-like giggle. She wondered why on earth this little person was so obsessed with the black cube.
"Fine! I'll open it!" she shrieked at the angel in annoyance. She picked up the box from the table top and opened it carefully. There was nothing else she could lose at the moment. When the seal of the box was opened, she could see her little angel acquaintance waving her fingers as if she were controlling a marionette. She was pulling a dark cloud from the box; it following the little creature’s every instruction. The cloud wrapped around the woman who was standing there holding the little box in fear. She felt a feel of deep sorrow come over her and her mind was flooded with thoughts of despair.
“He doesn’t love you. He’ll never love you. You’re nothing to him. You’re stupid. So stupid. How could you even think something like that? You were thinking it weren’t you? Imbecile,” a mysterious voice started to whisper into her ears. She felt herself suffocating, a familiar lump in her throat as her eyes watered. A single tear escaped and fell from her eye. She could feel a wind against her cheek as the cloud swept up her tear. The tear sparkled and shone bright before the dark shadow wound dark fingers around it, its light fading until it disappeared. She could see the angel pulling the cloud back into the box before sitting on its lid smiling her childlike smile as she did so.
“Feel better?” the angel asked and for some strange reason, no matter how much she tried to think back to the feeling that caused her heart to wrench, there was no pain. Keira felt strangely elated.
“Just WHO are you?” she asked the angel, not believing what just happened.
“I told you I’m an angel. If you want the details my name is Lolita. I’m in charge of getting rid of all of the despair that the newbies have before they walk through the shiny golden gates of heaven. What you saw was my partner,” she smiled innocently. What a strange name for an angel but what would she know? Keira didn’t work with God. “So you’re feeling better now right? I told you I could make you happy,” she said happily. Lolita was so bubbly even for an angel but she was right. She did feel happier.
“Just hold onto the box until you need it again okay? I’ll be wherever the box is,” Lolita whispered into her ear.
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The next time she used the box was more than two months later. The merger plan she was working on for months failed when the other company withdrew their offer. The CEO told her she was unsuitable and decided to merge with another, more successful company. It was all because of a relationship gone wrong between the CEO and a young employee of hers. It was as if destroying the business plan was a way of getting even with his ex.
The news was plastered all over the streets. The headlines simply said “Revolutionary Merger Now a Bust”, the articles going on to talk about how incompetent Keira’s former business partner thought she was. He said that she couldn’t control the people in her company and didn’t deserve such an offer. But who was he kidding? Everyone in her business knew that it wasn’t her job to control the lives of her employees. It didn’t matter anymore because the plan was terminated and she knew they were all going to suffer because of it.
She had her head practically in her lap as she covered her ears, trying to block out all of the noise on the other side of her office door. As soon as the news was released, reporters and cameras were at her door bombarding her with questions, all wanting to know what happened. She locked the door earlier that morning and just sat there in isolation.
“You’re sad again.” She knew that voice. She lifted her head to see Lolita floating at eye level. “I heard what happened,” she said as she pushed the dusty black box across the table. It had just been a paperweight on Keira’s table for the last few months and had taken up desk space on her busy days. "You haven't used this in a while, so why not use it now?" Lolita nudged it closer and closer to her.
"What's the point? You’ll only make me feel happier but that won't change the fact that the people outside want my head. Why me of all people?" she cried to the little angel.
"I can help you with that too!" Lolita exclaimed a little too happily. She flew to the woman's ear and whispered into it, "I'm really not supposed to tell you this, but God also gave me the power to change your life. I can make your problems disappear and all you have to do is open the box."
"I guess I have no choice." Keira knew that if she didn't get rid of the reporters outside, her only other escape route was the window and she wasn't exactly ecstatic about the eight story drop below. She took the box into her hands using her slim fingers to wipe away the dust collected on its surface. She opened the lid and the same cloud forced its way into the open area. Lolita's fingers again moved to control the darkness as it wrapped around her. The same whispers were heard but this time the carried a new message.
"You worthless woman. Why did God put you on this earth if you are just going to take up space? There’s nothing special about you at all. You're just trash that no one wants. Your family doesn't want you, the janitor didn't want you and now this big corporation doesn't want you. Think of everyone downstairs. They all hate you because this plan failed. They depended on you. They depended on this plan and because of your incompetence, you've failed." The same feeling of despair was enveloping her but this time, as much as she tried to stop the tears from flowing she just couldn’t. One tear slipped from each of her eyes and ran down her face leaving a wet trail on her cheeks. Before the tears could drip onto the ground, the cloud took shape of a hand and caught both in its dark palm. Again, their brilliance became dimmer and dimmer until there was no more light.
When the cloud was locked in its box again, the room was deafly silent. The people who were attacking her door had all disappeared and she was left in the room with only Lolita. Keira looked down at the little angel and could swear that there was an angry red glow in her eyes. Taking a second look, Lolita’s eyes were absolutely normal.
Suddenly the phone on the desk rang. For the past few days Keira had completely ignored her phone since the callers were usually nosy reporters who wanted stories to share with the public. She was about to pick up the receiver and hang up on whoever was calling when Lolita flew in front of her.
“Wait no! Answer it this time!” she crashed face first into the little angel sending her flying onto the desk. “Ouch that hurt…” Lolita rubbed her head in pain but quickly jumped to her feet. “Hurry up and answer it before they hang up!”
Keira nodded before nervously picking up the receiver. “Hello?” The voice that came back was unrecognizable. He sounded ecstatic as he threw a ton of information at her all at once. He spoke so quickly that if she hadn’t rushed to take notes, she probably would have forgotten everything he said after hanging up. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” she said before hanging up the receiver.
“So, something good happened didn’t it?” Lolita sat with a knowing smile on the desk as she twirled a stray strand of hair around a finger.
“Yes, that was a phone call from… well I guess you wouldn’t really know who I’m talking about… but he’s CEO of the third largest company here. He offered a plan to merge our companies together. He mentioned that he was so happy he got the opportunity to call me after hearing that our other plan didn’t go through…but…you planned all this didn’t you?” The only reply she received from Lolita was a giggle and she assumed that she could definitely use the box to help her.
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Unfortunately for Keira, the happiness of the box didn’t last long because shortly after, the partnering company went bankrupt and hers was dragged down along with it. Her high class life suddenly ended and she was forced out of her large home and into a tiny apartment. It was the only thing she could afford with the money she had left. The only thing left of her belongings was a few articles of clothing and the black box. She hated herself. She hated that she couldn’t have prevented the bankruptcy. She hated herself for being so venerable. She hated that every one of her flaws was the reason why she was booted from her comfortable life. It was a whole new definition of “hitting rock bottom” for her.
Every night she spent curled up on the floor with that tiny box and yet, she never once used it. She still clung onto the small glimmer of hope that things could turn around for her. Lolita rarely showed her face and so Keira spent day after day alone. She looked for work, but for the few months she searched, she couldn’t find anything. She had enough of her personal savings to pay for the one room apartment but she knew that whatever she had wouldn’t last for long.
Going to the loan sharks was temping. It was so temping that on multiple occasions she wandered over to one of their nearby businesses. Three feet from the door, Keira always realized her stupidity and turned around, shuffling her feet as she walked home to the tiny apartment. One day, she finally had enough of her depression.
Taking a deep breath while holding the small black box in her hands, she opened the latch and out came both Lolita along with her partner, the cloud. She didn't even need to explain her situation because Lolita immediately went to work stealing tear after tear from her. All of the frustration she managed to hold back was being taken away through each of the shining droplets of water.
After the box was sealed again, she swore that this time she saw that Lolita had a difficult time closing the box and had to forcefully sit on its lid. She pouted, giving the box a strong kick with her heel before speaking as she avoided eye contact with Keira.
"This time, I don't think I have enough power to really change all that much… but you definitely feel better right?" Keira nodded slowly realizing that her mood improved once again. The feeling of distain had disappeared. She didn’t hate herself as much anymore.
Of course her money problems still remained unsolved. Granted by Lolita's power, she did manage to find a job at a convenience store but there was no way that a minimum wage paying job could measure up to her former CEO position.
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Keira was walking home one day in a daze when she faintly heard shouts and the sounds of footsteps becoming louder and louder. Before she could react, she was knocked backwards onto the sidewalk. She tried to get up from her sprawled position on the street but she was suddenly dragged into a nearby ally. Obviously her first instinct would be to scream and fight back but yelling was difficult with the hand over her mouth and her oppressor was doing a very good job of keeping her from moving. She was about to bite whoever was holding onto her when there was a whisper in her ear.
"I'm not going to hurt you, but if you want to live, you need to be quiet," from the voice, she could tell that the person restraining her was a man. She didn't have much of a chance to think about whether to trust the man or not because the people chasing him stopped right in front of their hiding spot. She could feel the man behind become tense and her own heartbeat increased tenfold.
"Damn that bastard for cheating us of our money," what seemed to be the leader of the group growled as he slammed his fist against the wall angrily. "Let's go!" he lead the rest of his group back to their office when they heard a thud in the ally beside them.
"Shit," she heard the man curse under his breath before hurriedly picking up the cell phone that gave his position away. He grabbed her by the wrist before running as fast as he could, pulling her in tow.
"Who are you?" she questioned as they ran with the group of chasers not far behind them.
"I'll explain later. Tell me where you live. We'll lose them and hide there." He let go of her hand and knocked over a nearby stack of garbage cans, blocking the exit to the ally. She jumped in surprise when she heard an angry yell and the loud clang of metal pipes being smashed against something. "Let's go before they find a way out!" he grabbed her again and off they ran.
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He had hours to kill before he could safely escape from the small apartment and used that time to talk to the one he kidnapped.
So his name was Hikaru Yaotome, a former loan shark. His business partners were after him for being like Robin Hood. He explained to her that he felt sorry for those who had no other choice but to beg for the money they needed to survive. Hikaru secretly changed a few numbers here and there in the clients' documents. They just caught him and threatened to kill him for the embezzlement that caused their company to lose so much profit. When he collided with her, he was literally running for his life.
They spent so long talking that somehow, she didn't feel so lonely anymore. What she didn't manage to realize was that Lolita was smiling to herself knowingly under the bed of the former business woman.
When it was safe enough to leave that night, her 'kidnapper' apologized for using her and promised he'd make it up to her somehow.
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It was exactly what he did. She honestly didn't know why he kept showing up at her door the second, third, fourth, all the other times he appeared, sometimes even at her window, but whenever he came, they would spend hours just talking, laughing and just spending time together in the little one roomed apartment. Hikaru was a strange person. You could never tell he was a former loan shark. He was too nice to be one. When Keira told him that, he laughed and said that he was forced into the business when he was younger. She felt sorry for him when he mentioned that he had to go around town for years practically stealing from those who were already suffering.
Of course she missed her old high class life. She missed all the perks of being rich and famous. She missed not worrying about how much she spent or having to ration food. She missed her comfy bed compared to the small mat she now had. She missed practically everything about her old life. Occasionally she would turn to Lolita and her companion to take her despair away. She knew that being depressed would cause him to worry and so during the day, she would call upon the little angel. Whenever she used the power of the small box, she would feel so much better about herself. She didn’t hate herself for failing. She didn’t despise the life she had then. Happiness was such an addicting feeling that soon, using Lolita's power had become part of her everyday ritual.
Unfortunately for her, the one thing that she didn't notice was the latch of the box was becoming more and more difficult for Lolita to close and the little angel’s pure, innocent eyes started to momentarily glow an even angrier red.
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Her relationship with the man she met more than a year ago grew so quickly that she honestly wasn't so surprised when he eventually proposed to her. Her engagement ring was three bands looped together. Two were silver and the third was black. When Hikaru proposed, he told her that the light would always prevail over the dark. It was why there were two light bands and only one dark.
They had their share of happy times and because she had her box, he had his times of distress but they managed to survive it all. He was like her light; someone who truly made her truly happy. Within a few years time, they had a small wedding, moved to another part of the country, got well paying jobs there and had a baby girl, who by then was already an adventurous toddler. It was almost like her life had started over and this time, it was so much more enjoyable. For those few years of her life, the little black box remained packed away in storage.
What the happy family didn't know was that their pursuers from so many years prior had no ideas of giving up their chase. Money was money
It all happened so suddenly that she couldn't remember the details, or more importantly, she didn't want to.
There was a loud knock on the door before it was broken open. She was playing with blocks on the floor with her daughter and immediately scooped her up into her arms when she saw the intruders. Her husband quickly rushed to the door holding onto a baseball bat, his eyes widening when he realized who it was.
"I'm going to step out for a second okay?" he called to his wife and cautiously placed the bat against the doorframe. She nodded slowly before he closed the front door. That was the last time both she and her daughter saw him alive.
According to the autopsy, his death was caused by blunt trauma to the head but she didn't have to listen to the doctors to know that. There were bruises and blood all over his body. There was no more life in him. That was it. The light in her life was gone and he was never coming back.
She couldn't help but think about how stupid he was. They could have called the police. If they had just called he would still be alive. They had been found yes, but they could just run away again. There was a chance that maybe they would be pursued and found but she didn't care as long as he had the chance of living. It was too late. All the ifs and maybes would forever remain just imaginary scenarios that would play over and over again in her mind.
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“Mommy? Why are you crying?” Keira’s daughter, Airi, found her mother in the kitchen when she woke up from her nap. Keira jumped in surprise and quickly wiped away her tears.
“It’s nothing Airi. Go get ready for dinner,” she sniffled and hurried her daughter away.
“Is it Daddy? Mommy, don’t cry…” she disobeyed and stayed to give her mom a hug around the legs. Airi was smarter than the normal two year old.
“I’m fine Airi. Mommy just misses Daddy,” Keira bent down to eye level.
“I miss him too…But Mommy has me right?”
“Yes, yes I do Airi.”
“I love you Mommy”
“I love you too…”
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"You said you could make me happy! You said you could make my life so much better! Then why do I still mourn for him? Tell me why!" she screamed at Lolita who was quivering in the corner. Her daughter was in the room next door soundly asleep. Ever since that day, she used the box twice a day; three times a day; but no matter how much she tried, even though she would momentarily feel happy, her depression just never truly went away. The power of the box had become a drug to her.
She had to put on that false happiness for her daughter. She had to pretend that everything was alright when it really wasn't. Her daughter was the last precious thing she had left and she wanted to raise her to be so much happier than she was.
"You stupid angel," she cursed Lolita angrily.
"Don't you dare call me stupid!" the little being growled back. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as they started to glow a fiery red. Lolita walked angrily to the box before flicking the latch open with a single finger and letting the powerful cloud out from box.
The cloud engulfed her and dragged her into the tiny box. She looked at Lolita for help only to be met with a malicious smile and for that time only, Lolita actually loomed over her.
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When she regained consciousness, she was in a dark room sitting in a wooden chair. She tried to stand to further inspect where she was, but she couldn't move. She looked to her ankles and wrists that were chained to the chair. She struggled against her restraints when she heard a voice.
"It's no use. Unless you want to severe your wrists and ankles, I suggest you don't move." Out from the darkness appeared a woman that she vaguely recognized.
She was in a tight, short red dress and her eyes were a fiery red. She had a pair of red horns on her head and a matching red tail. She wore a pair of red stilettos that clicked as she walked closer and closer to the prisoner in the chair. She let out a giggle and that was when it hit her. She knew who giggled like that.
"Lolita…? Where am I? What's going on?"
"It's not Lolita,” she snapped. “That was just a little scheme to get you to fall into my trap. Guess what? I'm not an angel. Oh, I’m far from being an angel. My real name is Rue and I'm the devil," she said in a seductive voice, completely opposite to the bubbly angel she used to be.
"I don't understand! You said that you were going to help me become happy! You said that you were God's angel!" she shouted accusingly.
"Well I’m sorry, sweetie. Sometimes, people lie to get what they want." Rue said as she looked into a pocket mirror, applying a ruby red lip stain.
"What do you want from me then?"
"It's not what I want honey. It's what I already have. You see all the despair you've been giving me has been making me stronger and stronger. And the lies I told you about things getting better for you? That was all my control. Every little happy thing that happened to you was my plan to get you to keep using the box so when I crushed your spirit, you would give me so much more power. You were like putty in my hands. Soon I'll take over your world and fill absolutely every single corner with darkness. There'll be no more light and then I'll finally win against your stupid God!" she laughed. "But actually, there's one last thing I need from you."
"What can you take from me that you haven't already taken? You have my dream job, my money, my family, my husband. What else do you want?" and then it hit her. "No! No please! Please I beg you! Don't hurt her! I don't want your help anymore! Just please leave us alone!" She pleaded and begged. All the devil did was stand there with her evil grin.
"Oh no, you can't back out now. You've already made your contract with me. See the chains around your ankles? Those don't come off; ever." she looked down at her feet and there were chains around them. She couldn't feel them, but they were there. "You are mine and I will forever feed from you despair. I will take the very last thing that makes you happy."
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She suddenly woke up from what she thought was a trance. She went to rub her eyes, thinking the whole thing was just a dream when she felt something warm on her fingers. Blood. She looked down at her hands. They were stained crimson and grasped in her left was a knife.
She looked around the room. It was her daughter's room but it was much different than she remembered. The walls were stained red, clear hand prints on the walls that streaked downwards. They were too small to be hers. The carpet was around her was soaked with blood and all she could do was sit there. In the silence of the house, she could hear a faint drip. Drip. Drip. She looked over to the source and almost fainted in shock. There was blood splatter all over her daughter's crib and through the bars, the red liquid seeped onto the floor. She got up slowly, dropping the bloody knife onto the floor in the process. She walked over to the crib before stumbling backwards at the sight.
There was a severed body in the crib the facial features of the small corpse unrecognizable from all the blood. Then it hit her as her eyes widened.
She ran out of the room desperately calling her daughter’s name over and over. It couldn't be her. That corpse wasn't her daughter. She was just hiding. Yeah, just playing a game of hide-and -seek. She called that she gave up and that her daughter could come out of her hiding spot. She expected her daughter to come running at her from behind but no one came.
And then, granted by Rue, the images flashed before her eyes.
She saw her daughter running from someone holding a knife. She wanted to save her daughter from the unknown attacker until she heard her daughter cry. "No mommy it's not funny anymore! Why do you keep chasing me?" Keira couldn’t see the person tormenting Airi. Then she realized something on the chaser’s hand. She saw her ring. She realized that Airi was murdered…by her own hand. “Mommy, why do you have a knife? You’re scaring me!” Keira covered her ears trying to block out the voice of her child but she couldn’t. Airi’s high pitched shriek rang in her ears.
Writing appeared on the wall in blood. "You. Are. Mine. Forever."
She let out a scream.
Then the devil's ruby red lips curled into a malicious smile knowing this time, darkness had won over the light.
A/N - Okay, so there’s a few meanings to names I chose for characters…
Keira Kurayami (ケイラ暗闇) - In Gaelic, Keira means dark. Kurayami means girl of darkness… or just plainly “darkness”
Arata Kobayashi (新小林)- Arata means “new” or “fresh”. Kobayashi… I really didn’t have any reason to why I chose his last name like this… it was just generic… if you’re wondering Kobayashi means “small forest”
Hikaru Yaotome （光）- Hikaru means light
Airi (愛莉) - Just a name I like XD In this story her name means “love jasmine”
This story was written quite a while ago...and struck me when i was thinking about Pandora's box...which is why this is somewhat of a spinoff XD I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Author: sen_nen_no_yuki
Pairing: Hikaru x OC
Rating: R
Summary: A little box contains a world full of darkness where even the light will never prevail.
Keira Kurayami stared at the little 3x3x3 black, suspicious box sitting on her desk. She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to open the little piece that captured her attention. With a hand propping her cheek, she tapped her pencil on the table as she read the little note attached to the box for the nth time that day. “This box is a little something for your worries and although seemingly harmless, I feel the need to warn you this. Put aside all temptation and curiosity, for the lid of this box must never be opened.” That was it. There was no return address on the letter, or even a name and yet somehow, she found it in front of her apartment door that morning.
She was at home getting ready for work when she heard a loud knock at the door. She ran to the entrance of her home and looked through the peephole to try to identify the person on the other side of the wooden barrier but saw no one. Having a hunch that it had been one of those pranksters playing ding-dong-ditch, she opened the door ready to scold whoever had the audacity to play pranks on her at 7AM in the morning. She was shocked when she opened the door and was greeted by absolute silence. There were no sounds of fleeting footsteps, no stifled giggles, no sounds of doors slamming and no one in either direction of the long hallway. She was about to close the door when she realized that there was a small black box sitting on the carpet in front of her. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes, the small box intriguing her so much that she was almost late for work. She quickly shoved it into her purse before making her way to her car and driving to the same pale, robin egg blue building that was smack dab in the middle of the busy city.
Keira was supposed to be working on a business plan that was due the later that day. It was a proposal to merge with another successful business. It was supposed to be a revolutionary plan especially because the two companies merging were the most well-known in the country. Yes, she was running a business and proudly, it all started from an idea of her own. Despite the fact that she sit in an office all day on the computer, she loved it. She loved being able to make her own decisions and being the person of highest authority…or at least she used to… Sitting at a computer desk all day made her wish that she wasn’t so lonely.
It wasn’t like she was unsociable or anything, she just didn’t have friends at work. After all, it’s quite difficult to become friends with someone when, with the exception of passing an idea for work, no one talked to you. Whenever she walked the halls of the office, she was met with whispers of what cruel thing she had done that day, or who she had yelled at and threatened to fire. Those were all lies. She wasn’t like that at all. Her personality, the one that everyone knew of anyway, was completely made from rumors. It was all because of that time she was being harassed by one of her subordinates.
He was a sick minded freak who blackmailed her into doing what he wanted after obtaining a photo of her walking into a night club. There was some truth behind his story. Yes, she had walked into a night club but only to drag a former close friend out of the bar because of her crazy idea to become an entertainer. Keira was absolutely powerless against him and for the few months that he had the upper hand, she felt like she was living in her own personal hell. He seemed like he enjoyed the mental torture he was putting her through because she could see his victorious smirk every time he came to collect his share of her pay. Yes, she had to pay him a fraction of her own hard earned cash just so he wouldn’t release the photo. Back then, she thought long and hard about her options. She could have just ignored him, let the photo leak into the public and hope for the best, but she knew it never worked out as nicely as that. Keira saw what the smallest bit of scandalous information could do to successful business owners, celebrities and high class people such as herself. In the end, she had no choice but to agree to his each and every order. Paying him money wasn’t the end of it either. Another worker heard her threatening to fire him. It was then that the rumors of her being an abusive boss became true in the eyes of the whole office. In the end, her evil subordinate who started to create more targets, was caught and punished for his actions. Even though the major threat was gone, the silent verbal abuse did not disappear along with him.
She sat there staring at the box when one of the janitors in the company walked into her office to change the garbage bag in the little blue bin that decorated the corner of the room. His name was Arata Kobayashi, a name she always liked. He was like a breath of fresh air in her extremely boring life.
She smiled at him slightly when he nodded his head in her direction trying not to be overly happy about his presence. He was the only one who didn’t fear her like everyone else did but to be cautious, he only ever spoke to her once the coast was clear. Their friendship was considered forbidden in the office. Even though she was the president of the company, therefore the one to create the rules, this was just one of the things she couldn’t control. Relationships in the office were forbidden, especially between people of different status. She was close to the top of the social ladder and he wasn’t even on it to begin with. They were practically worlds apart.
After looking down both ends of the hallway twice, he closed the door and spoke quietly while looking like he was cleaning up the office. She told him about the box and he seemed just as intrigued as she was. He wanted to open the box even though she showed him the letter. He brushed it off saying that it was just a stupid superstition. Just as he was about to open the lid, there was a knock at the door. They jumped in shock and quickly tried to arrange themselves in a way that didn’t seem suspicious. It was another of her subordinates behind the door. Matsumoto was it? Keira couldn’t remember her name. It’s not like it mattered much anyway.
Matsumoto walked in, her hips swaying back and forth as much as her short bobbed hair was. She was handing in another part of the report that was due later that afternoon. The inconspicuous president thanked her for her hard work and the subordinate quickly left the room the way she came. She was disgusted by the idol wannabes in her office. They were all obsessed with making their waists tiny and their backsides huge. She honestly wondered how the hell any man would find them attractive.
Keira’s thoughts were interrupted when she looked over at Arata causing an immediate burst into a fit of giggles. He was standing awkwardly with the box in one hand, and a rag in the other. He was scrubbing at one particular spot on the desk as if he were trying to bore a hole into the wooden surface, acting as if he were cleaning the part of the table where the box sat.
He mentioned that she looked pretty that day before bidding a goodbye and failed to notice the slight blush that decorated her cheeks as she smiled widely. She couldn’t help but feel a little sad that the intruding employee cut their meeting short. When the door closed behind him, she let out an exasperated sigh. She thought back to the times where all she wanted was to be successful. She was once like almost every person on the planet who said, “Success is about liking what you do,” but who was she, and not to mention everyone else on the earth, kidding? Society never has, and never will run on good feelings alone. It was all about wealth; the hard earned cash and the things you could invest your riches into.
At first she was proud of herself. She worked hard and long and finally she managed to succeed. She lived everyday with a triumphant smile on her face. Slowly but surely, the smile that used to shine so brightly, started to become much more dull. Soon enough, she had a deep set frown on her face and only put on a fake smile because it was so important for her job to look like she was happy. It was important that the millions of people who saw her face on television, on advertisements, even in her own work place, no one knew that deep down she was far from happy with herself.
She let out one more sigh before attempting to get back to work. Before she could type a single word on her laptop, she heard the voice of a child.
“You really like him don’t you?” the voice asked. Keira looked around her office for the source of the voice. No one was at the door. No one was under her desk. There was nobody but her in the room. “You seem sad…do you wish to be happier?” the voice chimed. She finally realized that after searching practically everything in the small office, the voice was coming from the box on her desk. She almost screamed in shock when she saw a little angel sitting on the top of the box, dangling her legs over the side of it. She retreated to the door of her office, her hand firmly on the handle making sure to secure her escape in case necessary. “I’m not going to hurt you,” the little angel smiled as she swung her legs back and forth and fluttered her wings happily. “I was just wondering if you wanted to be happier…. I can make you happier.” The angel stood up, slowly fluttering her tiny wings and flying towards her. Keira cowered in fear not knowing the plans of the little being.
“Who are you?” she asked her cautiously because it wasn’t everyday that one would see a person who was only two inches tall.
“I’m an angel sent by God~ Isn’t it obvious?” she gestured to both the halo above her head and the pair of wings attached to her back. “But that’s not the point. I asked if you wanted to be happy. God told me that you were unhappy with your life so he sent me with the box. It’s supposed to be magical. Open it.” She used all of her physical strength to lift the little black box from the desktop, bringing it over to the cowering business woman who caught it with both hands.
"But the note said that I shouldn't," she replied as she reread the note that was taped to the box's lid.
"Forget what the note says! God just put that there so other people wouldn't meddle." The little angel snapped her fingers and the note on the box caught fire and burned away. Keira was amazed to find that even though the flames had licked her fingers, she wasn't burned. The box still remained unscathed. "You want to be happy right? Open it!" the angel encouraged. "I can make you happy. I can change your life around and all you have to do is open the lid of that box."
Keira was suspicious. Why would God send this angel to her of all people? There were so many other people who deserved the chance she was being given. "It's written in the Bible that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." It was as if the angel read her mind and it became obvious that she could when she heard the little person's chime like giggle. "So are you going to open it or not?" she asked innocently, fluttering back over to the table where she sat on the ledge crossing her legs.
“I don’t know…” she said still trying to absorb all of the information being thrown at her.
“Fine. Just hold onto the box then until you feel like using it. I’m sure the time will come,” she said in a musical tone before going to rest on top of the computer monitor sitting on the desk. She let out a tiny yawn as she stretched and curled up into a ball. It appeared to be that she was trying to sleep.
The rich woman looked between the box and the angel wondering if she was going crazy. Maybe it was all a dream.
“Ouch…” she pinched the flesh of her wrist. It hurt so she wasn’t dreaming.
“It’s not a dream you know…” the angel was still awake, her blue innocent eyes looking up at the human being. “I’m just as real as you are…and so is that box. Anyway I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up with you make up your mind,” and with that, the business woman could hear the quiet snores of the golden haired angel.
There was a knock at the door before it opened. She rushed to hide the box behind her back and stepped in front of her computer monitor to try to block the angel from view. It was him again. He gave her a looking wondering why on earth she had such a guilty expression on her face. She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding before setting the box down on the desk again. As she turned around, she noticed that the angel was nowhere to be seen.
"I know we just met this morning, but I just got a phone call with the most amazing news," he said excitedly. She smiled at how giddy he was for a grown man. "I just got accepted for a higher position!" he exclaimed. Despite being the boss of the company, it wasn't her job to accept employees and do the interviews. She had people for that. It was why she this was the first time she was hearing such news.
"Congrats!" she told him happily. Keira tried to hide most of her excitement knowing the promotion would allow them to speak with more ease.
"Thank you! With this better salary, I can finally buy a ring to propose to my girlfriend!"
And that was when her smile faltered for a moment but it was not long enough for the rejoicing man to see. She didn't allow him to catch her disappointment and once again, her usual fake smile traced itself in the place where her mouth was.
This time when there was a knock on the door and Matsumoto, from earlier that morning, poked her head through an open crack in the door, she was grateful. It meant that the celebration could end and he had to leave. They could go back to pretending that they had no relation whatsoever. It meant that once he left, she could let go of her forced expression, which was exactly what happened after the door closed behind the two workers that left.
Keira let out what felt like the millionth sigh that day. So Arata had a girlfriend already. She wondered to herself whether she should be angry at him for leading her on, making her think as if he had feelings for her, or if she should be angry with herself for getting mixed up in a romance she knew would fail from the start. She tried to push back the thoughts knowing it was unprofessional to cry in the office.
"Are you feeling sad? You know if you opened the box it'd make you feel better," the angel appeared again with a chime-like giggle. She wondered why on earth this little person was so obsessed with the black cube.
"Fine! I'll open it!" she shrieked at the angel in annoyance. She picked up the box from the table top and opened it carefully. There was nothing else she could lose at the moment. When the seal of the box was opened, she could see her little angel acquaintance waving her fingers as if she were controlling a marionette. She was pulling a dark cloud from the box; it following the little creature’s every instruction. The cloud wrapped around the woman who was standing there holding the little box in fear. She felt a feel of deep sorrow come over her and her mind was flooded with thoughts of despair.
“He doesn’t love you. He’ll never love you. You’re nothing to him. You’re stupid. So stupid. How could you even think something like that? You were thinking it weren’t you? Imbecile,” a mysterious voice started to whisper into her ears. She felt herself suffocating, a familiar lump in her throat as her eyes watered. A single tear escaped and fell from her eye. She could feel a wind against her cheek as the cloud swept up her tear. The tear sparkled and shone bright before the dark shadow wound dark fingers around it, its light fading until it disappeared. She could see the angel pulling the cloud back into the box before sitting on its lid smiling her childlike smile as she did so.
“Feel better?” the angel asked and for some strange reason, no matter how much she tried to think back to the feeling that caused her heart to wrench, there was no pain. Keira felt strangely elated.
“Just WHO are you?” she asked the angel, not believing what just happened.
“I told you I’m an angel. If you want the details my name is Lolita. I’m in charge of getting rid of all of the despair that the newbies have before they walk through the shiny golden gates of heaven. What you saw was my partner,” she smiled innocently. What a strange name for an angel but what would she know? Keira didn’t work with God. “So you’re feeling better now right? I told you I could make you happy,” she said happily. Lolita was so bubbly even for an angel but she was right. She did feel happier.
“Just hold onto the box until you need it again okay? I’ll be wherever the box is,” Lolita whispered into her ear.
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The next time she used the box was more than two months later. The merger plan she was working on for months failed when the other company withdrew their offer. The CEO told her she was unsuitable and decided to merge with another, more successful company. It was all because of a relationship gone wrong between the CEO and a young employee of hers. It was as if destroying the business plan was a way of getting even with his ex.
The news was plastered all over the streets. The headlines simply said “Revolutionary Merger Now a Bust”, the articles going on to talk about how incompetent Keira’s former business partner thought she was. He said that she couldn’t control the people in her company and didn’t deserve such an offer. But who was he kidding? Everyone in her business knew that it wasn’t her job to control the lives of her employees. It didn’t matter anymore because the plan was terminated and she knew they were all going to suffer because of it.
She had her head practically in her lap as she covered her ears, trying to block out all of the noise on the other side of her office door. As soon as the news was released, reporters and cameras were at her door bombarding her with questions, all wanting to know what happened. She locked the door earlier that morning and just sat there in isolation.
“You’re sad again.” She knew that voice. She lifted her head to see Lolita floating at eye level. “I heard what happened,” she said as she pushed the dusty black box across the table. It had just been a paperweight on Keira’s table for the last few months and had taken up desk space on her busy days. "You haven't used this in a while, so why not use it now?" Lolita nudged it closer and closer to her.
"What's the point? You’ll only make me feel happier but that won't change the fact that the people outside want my head. Why me of all people?" she cried to the little angel.
"I can help you with that too!" Lolita exclaimed a little too happily. She flew to the woman's ear and whispered into it, "I'm really not supposed to tell you this, but God also gave me the power to change your life. I can make your problems disappear and all you have to do is open the box."
"I guess I have no choice." Keira knew that if she didn't get rid of the reporters outside, her only other escape route was the window and she wasn't exactly ecstatic about the eight story drop below. She took the box into her hands using her slim fingers to wipe away the dust collected on its surface. She opened the lid and the same cloud forced its way into the open area. Lolita's fingers again moved to control the darkness as it wrapped around her. The same whispers were heard but this time the carried a new message.
"You worthless woman. Why did God put you on this earth if you are just going to take up space? There’s nothing special about you at all. You're just trash that no one wants. Your family doesn't want you, the janitor didn't want you and now this big corporation doesn't want you. Think of everyone downstairs. They all hate you because this plan failed. They depended on you. They depended on this plan and because of your incompetence, you've failed." The same feeling of despair was enveloping her but this time, as much as she tried to stop the tears from flowing she just couldn’t. One tear slipped from each of her eyes and ran down her face leaving a wet trail on her cheeks. Before the tears could drip onto the ground, the cloud took shape of a hand and caught both in its dark palm. Again, their brilliance became dimmer and dimmer until there was no more light.
When the cloud was locked in its box again, the room was deafly silent. The people who were attacking her door had all disappeared and she was left in the room with only Lolita. Keira looked down at the little angel and could swear that there was an angry red glow in her eyes. Taking a second look, Lolita’s eyes were absolutely normal.
Suddenly the phone on the desk rang. For the past few days Keira had completely ignored her phone since the callers were usually nosy reporters who wanted stories to share with the public. She was about to pick up the receiver and hang up on whoever was calling when Lolita flew in front of her.
“Wait no! Answer it this time!” she crashed face first into the little angel sending her flying onto the desk. “Ouch that hurt…” Lolita rubbed her head in pain but quickly jumped to her feet. “Hurry up and answer it before they hang up!”
Keira nodded before nervously picking up the receiver. “Hello?” The voice that came back was unrecognizable. He sounded ecstatic as he threw a ton of information at her all at once. He spoke so quickly that if she hadn’t rushed to take notes, she probably would have forgotten everything he said after hanging up. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” she said before hanging up the receiver.
“So, something good happened didn’t it?” Lolita sat with a knowing smile on the desk as she twirled a stray strand of hair around a finger.
“Yes, that was a phone call from… well I guess you wouldn’t really know who I’m talking about… but he’s CEO of the third largest company here. He offered a plan to merge our companies together. He mentioned that he was so happy he got the opportunity to call me after hearing that our other plan didn’t go through…but…you planned all this didn’t you?” The only reply she received from Lolita was a giggle and she assumed that she could definitely use the box to help her.
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Unfortunately for Keira, the happiness of the box didn’t last long because shortly after, the partnering company went bankrupt and hers was dragged down along with it. Her high class life suddenly ended and she was forced out of her large home and into a tiny apartment. It was the only thing she could afford with the money she had left. The only thing left of her belongings was a few articles of clothing and the black box. She hated herself. She hated that she couldn’t have prevented the bankruptcy. She hated herself for being so venerable. She hated that every one of her flaws was the reason why she was booted from her comfortable life. It was a whole new definition of “hitting rock bottom” for her.
Every night she spent curled up on the floor with that tiny box and yet, she never once used it. She still clung onto the small glimmer of hope that things could turn around for her. Lolita rarely showed her face and so Keira spent day after day alone. She looked for work, but for the few months she searched, she couldn’t find anything. She had enough of her personal savings to pay for the one room apartment but she knew that whatever she had wouldn’t last for long.
Going to the loan sharks was temping. It was so temping that on multiple occasions she wandered over to one of their nearby businesses. Three feet from the door, Keira always realized her stupidity and turned around, shuffling her feet as she walked home to the tiny apartment. One day, she finally had enough of her depression.
Taking a deep breath while holding the small black box in her hands, she opened the latch and out came both Lolita along with her partner, the cloud. She didn't even need to explain her situation because Lolita immediately went to work stealing tear after tear from her. All of the frustration she managed to hold back was being taken away through each of the shining droplets of water.
After the box was sealed again, she swore that this time she saw that Lolita had a difficult time closing the box and had to forcefully sit on its lid. She pouted, giving the box a strong kick with her heel before speaking as she avoided eye contact with Keira.
"This time, I don't think I have enough power to really change all that much… but you definitely feel better right?" Keira nodded slowly realizing that her mood improved once again. The feeling of distain had disappeared. She didn’t hate herself as much anymore.
Of course her money problems still remained unsolved. Granted by Lolita's power, she did manage to find a job at a convenience store but there was no way that a minimum wage paying job could measure up to her former CEO position.
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Keira was walking home one day in a daze when she faintly heard shouts and the sounds of footsteps becoming louder and louder. Before she could react, she was knocked backwards onto the sidewalk. She tried to get up from her sprawled position on the street but she was suddenly dragged into a nearby ally. Obviously her first instinct would be to scream and fight back but yelling was difficult with the hand over her mouth and her oppressor was doing a very good job of keeping her from moving. She was about to bite whoever was holding onto her when there was a whisper in her ear.
"I'm not going to hurt you, but if you want to live, you need to be quiet," from the voice, she could tell that the person restraining her was a man. She didn't have much of a chance to think about whether to trust the man or not because the people chasing him stopped right in front of their hiding spot. She could feel the man behind become tense and her own heartbeat increased tenfold.
"Damn that bastard for cheating us of our money," what seemed to be the leader of the group growled as he slammed his fist against the wall angrily. "Let's go!" he lead the rest of his group back to their office when they heard a thud in the ally beside them.
"Shit," she heard the man curse under his breath before hurriedly picking up the cell phone that gave his position away. He grabbed her by the wrist before running as fast as he could, pulling her in tow.
"Who are you?" she questioned as they ran with the group of chasers not far behind them.
"I'll explain later. Tell me where you live. We'll lose them and hide there." He let go of her hand and knocked over a nearby stack of garbage cans, blocking the exit to the ally. She jumped in surprise when she heard an angry yell and the loud clang of metal pipes being smashed against something. "Let's go before they find a way out!" he grabbed her again and off they ran.
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He had hours to kill before he could safely escape from the small apartment and used that time to talk to the one he kidnapped.
So his name was Hikaru Yaotome, a former loan shark. His business partners were after him for being like Robin Hood. He explained to her that he felt sorry for those who had no other choice but to beg for the money they needed to survive. Hikaru secretly changed a few numbers here and there in the clients' documents. They just caught him and threatened to kill him for the embezzlement that caused their company to lose so much profit. When he collided with her, he was literally running for his life.
They spent so long talking that somehow, she didn't feel so lonely anymore. What she didn't manage to realize was that Lolita was smiling to herself knowingly under the bed of the former business woman.
When it was safe enough to leave that night, her 'kidnapper' apologized for using her and promised he'd make it up to her somehow.
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It was exactly what he did. She honestly didn't know why he kept showing up at her door the second, third, fourth, all the other times he appeared, sometimes even at her window, but whenever he came, they would spend hours just talking, laughing and just spending time together in the little one roomed apartment. Hikaru was a strange person. You could never tell he was a former loan shark. He was too nice to be one. When Keira told him that, he laughed and said that he was forced into the business when he was younger. She felt sorry for him when he mentioned that he had to go around town for years practically stealing from those who were already suffering.
Of course she missed her old high class life. She missed all the perks of being rich and famous. She missed not worrying about how much she spent or having to ration food. She missed her comfy bed compared to the small mat she now had. She missed practically everything about her old life. Occasionally she would turn to Lolita and her companion to take her despair away. She knew that being depressed would cause him to worry and so during the day, she would call upon the little angel. Whenever she used the power of the small box, she would feel so much better about herself. She didn’t hate herself for failing. She didn’t despise the life she had then. Happiness was such an addicting feeling that soon, using Lolita's power had become part of her everyday ritual.
Unfortunately for her, the one thing that she didn't notice was the latch of the box was becoming more and more difficult for Lolita to close and the little angel’s pure, innocent eyes started to momentarily glow an even angrier red.
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Her relationship with the man she met more than a year ago grew so quickly that she honestly wasn't so surprised when he eventually proposed to her. Her engagement ring was three bands looped together. Two were silver and the third was black. When Hikaru proposed, he told her that the light would always prevail over the dark. It was why there were two light bands and only one dark.
They had their share of happy times and because she had her box, he had his times of distress but they managed to survive it all. He was like her light; someone who truly made her truly happy. Within a few years time, they had a small wedding, moved to another part of the country, got well paying jobs there and had a baby girl, who by then was already an adventurous toddler. It was almost like her life had started over and this time, it was so much more enjoyable. For those few years of her life, the little black box remained packed away in storage.
What the happy family didn't know was that their pursuers from so many years prior had no ideas of giving up their chase. Money was money
It all happened so suddenly that she couldn't remember the details, or more importantly, she didn't want to.
There was a loud knock on the door before it was broken open. She was playing with blocks on the floor with her daughter and immediately scooped her up into her arms when she saw the intruders. Her husband quickly rushed to the door holding onto a baseball bat, his eyes widening when he realized who it was.
"I'm going to step out for a second okay?" he called to his wife and cautiously placed the bat against the doorframe. She nodded slowly before he closed the front door. That was the last time both she and her daughter saw him alive.
According to the autopsy, his death was caused by blunt trauma to the head but she didn't have to listen to the doctors to know that. There were bruises and blood all over his body. There was no more life in him. That was it. The light in her life was gone and he was never coming back.
She couldn't help but think about how stupid he was. They could have called the police. If they had just called he would still be alive. They had been found yes, but they could just run away again. There was a chance that maybe they would be pursued and found but she didn't care as long as he had the chance of living. It was too late. All the ifs and maybes would forever remain just imaginary scenarios that would play over and over again in her mind.
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“Mommy? Why are you crying?” Keira’s daughter, Airi, found her mother in the kitchen when she woke up from her nap. Keira jumped in surprise and quickly wiped away her tears.
“It’s nothing Airi. Go get ready for dinner,” she sniffled and hurried her daughter away.
“Is it Daddy? Mommy, don’t cry…” she disobeyed and stayed to give her mom a hug around the legs. Airi was smarter than the normal two year old.
“I’m fine Airi. Mommy just misses Daddy,” Keira bent down to eye level.
“I miss him too…But Mommy has me right?”
“Yes, yes I do Airi.”
“I love you Mommy”
“I love you too…”
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"You said you could make me happy! You said you could make my life so much better! Then why do I still mourn for him? Tell me why!" she screamed at Lolita who was quivering in the corner. Her daughter was in the room next door soundly asleep. Ever since that day, she used the box twice a day; three times a day; but no matter how much she tried, even though she would momentarily feel happy, her depression just never truly went away. The power of the box had become a drug to her.
She had to put on that false happiness for her daughter. She had to pretend that everything was alright when it really wasn't. Her daughter was the last precious thing she had left and she wanted to raise her to be so much happier than she was.
"You stupid angel," she cursed Lolita angrily.
"Don't you dare call me stupid!" the little being growled back. There was a dangerous look in her eyes as they started to glow a fiery red. Lolita walked angrily to the box before flicking the latch open with a single finger and letting the powerful cloud out from box.
The cloud engulfed her and dragged her into the tiny box. She looked at Lolita for help only to be met with a malicious smile and for that time only, Lolita actually loomed over her.
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When she regained consciousness, she was in a dark room sitting in a wooden chair. She tried to stand to further inspect where she was, but she couldn't move. She looked to her ankles and wrists that were chained to the chair. She struggled against her restraints when she heard a voice.
"It's no use. Unless you want to severe your wrists and ankles, I suggest you don't move." Out from the darkness appeared a woman that she vaguely recognized.
She was in a tight, short red dress and her eyes were a fiery red. She had a pair of red horns on her head and a matching red tail. She wore a pair of red stilettos that clicked as she walked closer and closer to the prisoner in the chair. She let out a giggle and that was when it hit her. She knew who giggled like that.
"Lolita…? Where am I? What's going on?"
"It's not Lolita,” she snapped. “That was just a little scheme to get you to fall into my trap. Guess what? I'm not an angel. Oh, I’m far from being an angel. My real name is Rue and I'm the devil," she said in a seductive voice, completely opposite to the bubbly angel she used to be.
"I don't understand! You said that you were going to help me become happy! You said that you were God's angel!" she shouted accusingly.
"Well I’m sorry, sweetie. Sometimes, people lie to get what they want." Rue said as she looked into a pocket mirror, applying a ruby red lip stain.
"What do you want from me then?"
"It's not what I want honey. It's what I already have. You see all the despair you've been giving me has been making me stronger and stronger. And the lies I told you about things getting better for you? That was all my control. Every little happy thing that happened to you was my plan to get you to keep using the box so when I crushed your spirit, you would give me so much more power. You were like putty in my hands. Soon I'll take over your world and fill absolutely every single corner with darkness. There'll be no more light and then I'll finally win against your stupid God!" she laughed. "But actually, there's one last thing I need from you."
"What can you take from me that you haven't already taken? You have my dream job, my money, my family, my husband. What else do you want?" and then it hit her. "No! No please! Please I beg you! Don't hurt her! I don't want your help anymore! Just please leave us alone!" She pleaded and begged. All the devil did was stand there with her evil grin.
"Oh no, you can't back out now. You've already made your contract with me. See the chains around your ankles? Those don't come off; ever." she looked down at her feet and there were chains around them. She couldn't feel them, but they were there. "You are mine and I will forever feed from you despair. I will take the very last thing that makes you happy."
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She suddenly woke up from what she thought was a trance. She went to rub her eyes, thinking the whole thing was just a dream when she felt something warm on her fingers. Blood. She looked down at her hands. They were stained crimson and grasped in her left was a knife.
She looked around the room. It was her daughter's room but it was much different than she remembered. The walls were stained red, clear hand prints on the walls that streaked downwards. They were too small to be hers. The carpet was around her was soaked with blood and all she could do was sit there. In the silence of the house, she could hear a faint drip. Drip. Drip. She looked over to the source and almost fainted in shock. There was blood splatter all over her daughter's crib and through the bars, the red liquid seeped onto the floor. She got up slowly, dropping the bloody knife onto the floor in the process. She walked over to the crib before stumbling backwards at the sight.
There was a severed body in the crib the facial features of the small corpse unrecognizable from all the blood. Then it hit her as her eyes widened.
She ran out of the room desperately calling her daughter’s name over and over. It couldn't be her. That corpse wasn't her daughter. She was just hiding. Yeah, just playing a game of hide-and -seek. She called that she gave up and that her daughter could come out of her hiding spot. She expected her daughter to come running at her from behind but no one came.
And then, granted by Rue, the images flashed before her eyes.
She saw her daughter running from someone holding a knife. She wanted to save her daughter from the unknown attacker until she heard her daughter cry. "No mommy it's not funny anymore! Why do you keep chasing me?" Keira couldn’t see the person tormenting Airi. Then she realized something on the chaser’s hand. She saw her ring. She realized that Airi was murdered…by her own hand. “Mommy, why do you have a knife? You’re scaring me!” Keira covered her ears trying to block out the voice of her child but she couldn’t. Airi’s high pitched shriek rang in her ears.
Writing appeared on the wall in blood. "You. Are. Mine. Forever."
She let out a scream.
Then the devil's ruby red lips curled into a malicious smile knowing this time, darkness had won over the light.
A/N - Okay, so there’s a few meanings to names I chose for characters…
Keira Kurayami (ケイラ暗闇) - In Gaelic, Keira means dark. Kurayami means girl of darkness… or just plainly “darkness”
Arata Kobayashi (新小林)- Arata means “new” or “fresh”. Kobayashi… I really didn’t have any reason to why I chose his last name like this… it was just generic… if you’re wondering Kobayashi means “small forest”
Hikaru Yaotome （光）- Hikaru means light
Airi (愛莉) - Just a name I like XD In this story her name means “love jasmine”
This story was written quite a while ago...and struck me when i was thinking about Pandora's box...which is why this is somewhat of a spinoff XD I hope you enjoyed reading it!