http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/essen12.txt </head><body><pre> "Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of Earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be." -The Necronomicon, H. P. Lovecraft edition Chapter Twelve They found no bodies in the morning. In spite of the sleep I lacked, I rode over to the site of the killings. Leaving, though temporarily, the three people in my charge. Richmond... Rio... The Big Marine was in a nearby hospital, bedridden. Doctors said that his backbone was shattered... He would never walk again. Richmond was more fortunate; he was unharmed but still in shock. Kenichi... The boy had not stirred since last night... Doctors wondered how he had acquired the injury... It would have been easy to explain, but... In spite of this, we could not prove anything. There was no proof of the happenings the night before. As far as I was concerned, we were all fortunate to still be alive. Unlike everyone else. No bodies... Not a single drop of blood on the ground... Just petals. Sakura petals... Somehow, I could feel the contentment of the trees as they rustled in the wind, happy to have eaten their fill. I couldn't see, yet I knew... It was as if the rustling branches were the mocking silenced whispers of the trees as the ate their victims... I looked to the ground. Julie-San... Betrayed again... I held the evil book tightly in my jacket. Necronomicon. Did I dare read it...? Or am I too frightened to risk it...? I looked to the blue sky. Seishirou's dare... His new "Game"... A bet... A bet that I couldn't find the strength, no the hatred in my soul to kill him... I turned away and walked back... Back to the hospital where Ken was interned. In the weeks that followed, I took the time to read some parts of the book. As I could see, it was a heavily ritualistic Grimoir of sorts, calling forth sacrifices to be able to call out spirits, pagan gods, and the like. As I waited at Ken's bedside, the sleeping form stirred not. Except to mutter sentences incomplete and cryptic. I had learnt my lesson and refrained from delving into the boy's mind once more, though it intruiged me... It took me awhile to muster enough courage to open the book. When I did, I immediately searched for a name I heard. It found me just as I began to read. As if it were waiting for me all the time. Nyarlahotep. The name by which Julie called Seishirou. The name of an obscure Egyptian deity whose presence signaled the end of the world... A tall, dark man with incredible charm... Also known as a great assassin and illusionist... I shut the book then, with violent force. A more accurate description of Sakurazukamori I had yet to encounter. Somehow, I found it myself to continue... Cthulu. That was the name of the beast the cultists worshipped. Terrifying, it. An evil deity that comes from beneath the waves to destroy mankind. On any other occasion, I would have found it entirely laughable. But the strange fish-man that was once Rio's friend, and the crazed members of the sect Julie had formed... Even had the beast not existed, the following of the cult was more than enough to justify a fear of what this book can do. After all, what beast could rival the evil of man...? Suddenly, I wondered if humanity really was worth saving... I had trouble sleeping that night, with the book in my presence. Three days after the incident, I found Richmond to be up and about. Though he tried to be his usual annoying self, I felt a sense of empty fear within him. Rio, though bedridden, seemed the least changed. I left Ken to his own devices and visited the pair, who by a stroke of poor humor, were interned in the same hospital ward. I couldn't help but grin as I entered the room, the two of them arguing amongst themselves over something as insignificant as a poker game. Even denied the use of his legs, Rio still appeared threatening as he sat up in bed, cursing as always... "Carter, you cheating sonofabitch! I just KNOW you marked these cards, you little shit!!!" Rio's yelling did little to erase Richmond's glee. "Admit it, Maxwell... You're just a lousy poker player..." I let the pair rib each other jokingly. I'm glad at least SOME good came out of this entire mess... "Hey, Sumeragi... You play...?" I looked to Richmond. Though his face was unnaturally cheerful, I saw his eyes... as deep and shaken as Rio's... He and Rio were trying to forget, and kidding around seemed to be the best solution for them... For them, maybe, but not me. On the fourth day, Ken was well enough to walk about. In fact, I was surprised that he once again avoided detection by the nurses, slipping out of his ward. I feared it not, because I knew, somehow, where he would be going. My feet carried me off to the nearest Cherry Tree. As expected, Kenichi was there, sitting under the tree, looking at the ground as if some strange object caught his fancy... The left side of his face was still swathed in bandages. It was indeed possible for plastic surgeons to repair the damage to his face. And if it needed money, I could always ask Obachan's help... The trouble was that Ken himself refused it. Said something about the scar being a reminder. I took slow steps as I approached Ken. I was about three steps away when his head turned up to look at me. Stop. I have been hit by Ken more times int these few weeks than I have ever been struck by anyone in my entire life. Better use caution. He and I stared at each other for what seemed milennia before he stood. "Ken... Please don't try to hit me again, I WON'T bug you if that's what you want..." A slight scoff from the boy. Ken folded his arms and looked upward. "Actually, I was wondering how long it'd take for you to get here." I felt unnerved as his gaze lowered to meet mine. "Why didn't you kill the bastard...?" My eyes felt dry as he said this. Seishirou... Why didn't I...? Ken moved closer to me. "Was there something between you and him that keeps you from just reaching out and tearing his head off, Subaru...?" Change the subject. Any subject. "I'm sorry about what happened to your mother, Ken..." "SORRY?!?!" I reflexively stepped back at the boy's outburst. "Sorry dosen't cut it, Sumeragi!!! My mom's dead. And you know why I'm so blasted ticked off at mister tall dark and homicidal? You really want to know...?!?!?" A deep swallow caught in my throat, causing me to choke. "Ken... You can't possibly imagine what it's like to..." "ME?!?!?" Hands grabbed my collar, but I made no move. "Subaru Sumeragi, you prick! Don't tell me you could look inside my head and think that I can't imagine what it's like to lose everything...!!!" My fist connected with Ken's injured cheek. I don't know why I did it... Possibly because I had had enough of people yelling, screaming at me... People who had no idea what it was like to be betrayed once too often... People who thought they and they alone were suffering and that nobody else mattered... Ken fell on the ground, hissing as he grabbed his pained face. "What the HELL was that for, Subaru...?!?!?" My knuckles cried agony, but I ignored them. "THAT..." I was surprised by the sudden cool harshness in my voice. Inwardly, I cursed myself. Kenichi isn't the enemy. Yet my anger rose to the surface. "That was because I'm sick and tired of being pushed around by people who CLAIM that I don't know what it's like to suffer and feel pain..." I stopped, cradling my hand in the crook of my other arm. Damn, am I some sort of coward? I can strike Ken, but not Seishirou...? Shame. I toned down greatly as I queried him. "What did he do to you...?" Ken stood, eyes flaring. "That bastard watched my Father die... and did nothing about it. He was there... THERE, when that fish-thing came to my house, and did nothing... That bastard deserves to die, and I think Iv'e got a RIGHT..." I lost all control of my temper. "A RIGHT TO WHAT?!?!?!" I stopped myself... And let my voice take a calmer tone. A pause... "Seishirou... The Sakurazukamori... He stood by indifferently at your parents' deaths... I understand that was painful..." I paused once more, expecting another outburst. Thankfully, Ken did not react, though he eyed me with skepticism. I had to tell him. Even though admitting it hurt. Ken must understand that he isn't the only person in the world who has been hurt. "But he... HIS hand, I tell you... killed my sister." Hokuto. The memories hurt. Greatly. "I cared for Hokuto more than anyone else in the world... She was my twin, my other half..." I let my shoulders sag as I felt the weight bear on my shoulders. "She sacrificed herself to save me." Kenichi's face winced, as if he himself pictured it... No... No, I think he knows sacrifice more than anyone else... Assuming all I learned in his mind were true. It gave me courage to say the next words. "If anyone here has a right to kill him... Don't you think it should be me...?" Ken pondered the statement a moment, then answered. "Then why didn't you kill him...?" It was a question I had no means of answering. Not yet, anyway... The two of us strode a few feet away from the tree, silent. I wondered just what power Julie saw within this boy... And why he used only against Seishirou... Curiosity... "Kenichi..." He looked at me. "Yeah, what is it...?" Though he spoke without spite, the words still seemed rude. Somehow, I felt that Ken had little time to waste on intricate words. "You had the ability to stop the cult last night... Why didn't you use it...?" "Because..." He paused a moment, and turned to the tree. "...See that Sakura Tree, Subaru...?" I nodded. The tone of Ken's voice took on a dark undercurrent. "It's going DOWN." Ken's wrists cracked as he looked at the tree. I felt a small tremor from beneath the earth. I hopped a few steps back as small chunks of stone, long buried in the soil below, rose, defying gravity... Nothing large; the largest stones were but the size of ping-pong balls... Floating... I could see the stress on Ken's face as he concentrated. Magic... or Psionics...? <STONE RAIN!!!> The small stones twisted in the air, and charged en masse at the tree as if shot from a cannon. The tree never stood a chance as it was shredded down to the roots. Ken dropped to his knees, exhausted from the strain. I fought the urge to comfort him, as I knew he would have only taken it as a sign of pity. And I think I know Kenichi Kaeda well enough to know that he hated anyone pitying him. The figure of a young, yet hardened man stood, with great difficulty, to his feet. "...It's because..." He grit his teeth, as if it had been done once too often. "...I'm saving all of this for that Bastard Sei..." He looked to me. "...What you called him... Sakurazukamori. He deserves all of this attention and then some..." Ken looked at me, as if knowing... "You were a friend of his, I assume...?" I nodded. "I... I thought I could trust him..." My arms reflexively hugged my sides. "I was too trusting." Ken scoffed as he surveyed the damage he wrought. There wasn't a single piece large enough for firewood. "I know... That's why my Dad and Mom ended up dead. They trust too much. Sei.... Sakurazukamori... He's been doing this killing bit for a long time, hasn't he...?" My eyes looked to the soil as I suddenly felt the Necronomicon under my jacket. I took the book out, eyeing it with disgust. This book... Ken looked at it, and hissed. "So because of this book, my mother had to die." I nodded. Hate. That was the power behind this. I took a heave and threw the book away as far as I could. And, hoping against hope... That It would never see human eyes again. I wondered... There still remained so many questions... Why did Julie have her husband killed...? How long has the cult operated here...? Was it really Seishirou, or was it shock that made Ken think that Seishirou was there while his home was ransacked...? What was it that the fish-creature was searching for in Linda Wang's house...? Could it be...? I looked to the sky. Seishirou. Whatever it was, whatever the reasons... Seishirou alone knew what this was all really about. I did not solve a mystery, for I am left with more questions than I could possibly hope to answer... And I wondered if I really wanted to answer them, anyway. And so I walked back to the hospital with one whom I hoped would be a friend. Someone... Someone I hoped I could trust... For now, there was no one else left... And now, I looked askew at the boy as he stared at the gold-encrusted locket he kept close to his heart... And I then knew... Love, Trust, Pain, Betrayal, Death... All part of the great circle that binds us all. And Hatred... Much as I did not want to admit it... Hate was the only thing that could give me strength now... I realized then... How much I hated Sakurazukamori... Epilogue: Seishirou Sakurazuka The trains moved swiftly, as a deer in the wind. I allowed myself a smile as the young attendant led me to my seat. In my private cab, I allowed my body to relax. The package. I locked the door as I slid the trenchcoat off of my shoulders. The little object, had it been acquired by the Americajin cultists, would most certainly have interfered in what I... We... planned to do. Subaru... You're probably wondering what this was about. You have, as of yet, no idea of what is to happen two years hence. Something... I pulled the long box out of my coat's large inner pocket. Sealed and dry. Good. The professor from the first Miskatonic Expedition sought to keep it out of the hands of cult members in his own group. And Linda Wang... She was the sole person he trusted with this... This... I still recall the days when Keiji Kaeda, Linda's husband, used to hang around. He and I knew each other since high school... Long before I chose my destiny. I felt a small kind of favor to him, as he died protecting my secret. Which is why I felt pleased that I had not needed to kill his wife in order to obtain the package. Kanoe will be pleased that the foray was successful. I opened the box and allowed my eyes to caress the object within.</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>