http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/hearts5-.txt </head><body><pre> Hearts: Joker Ever since long ago... I have felt indifference about both people and objects. Whether it be breaking a glass cup or killing someone... It's all the same to me. Corpses, broken items, they're all the same. Almost all the same... But those are other things, not myself... The sound of my own ribs as they moan their injury... Maybe not all is the same... yet.... Pain I felt when I chose to. And now, as I wade into the thoughts of my own making, I savored the agony my ribs felt in silence. I thought of Mother. Did she feel this way, a mixture of pain and joy, when she desired me to take her place...? Was that why she smiled when she told me I was to kill her...? My, my... I let a rare moment of mirth take me. I hadn't thought of it quite that way. The Cherry Tree I lay against seemed to rustle it's discontent in the wind. Like the sighs of a spurned mistress. Yes... I know... In spite of my looks, I was hardly getting younger. Eventually, the Sakura will want my blood to feed upon. Shiroi, my student. I taught you well... And you disappointed me. Had I known that you would be fickle, I would never have allowed you to live. A failed experiment, that one. White Wolf. Shiroi Ogami. He who I first chose to be my successor. I mistakenly thought that training a boy to be heartless would effect an efficient Sakurazukamori... But I was wrong. Ruined, that idea. His feelings... Feelings. I laughed... and my ribs punished me for my mirth. Subaru-Kun... Tell me, Subaru... Do you think you would make a good Sakurazukamori? You who wish to kill me... You know the price. It cannot be helped, anyway... Had it not been for that little encounter we had in Okinawa, years ago... You might not have ever found the hatred in you to kill... But... If you cannot find it in your soul to kill me, I shall kill you without the slightest thought. A man with no soul is never bothered by his conscience. A lonely Sakura petal floated to my shoulder. The tree... she hungers once more. I will have to find another mark to satisfy her hunger. And will I not wonder when it will be my turn to be the meal rather than the chef...? The pains desired to remind me of humanity... what was left of mine... I stood, ignoring the pain, and strode over to an adjoining stump. Stump. Once itself a Cherry Tree. Now... I caressed the mortally wounded base of the stump. Torn. Lots of stones surrounding. Humph. Very messy. Very typical. The officials of the park declared it to be vandalism. Maybe, in a way it was. Stones. Earth Magic. This was intentionally blatant; a message. A message from one whose hatred was boundless. Shiroi will not kill me... His heart holds too much affection and honor for his former master. Subaru... I am unsure... Maybe he will, maybe not... Can he or can he not...? But this one... I licked my lips. The sweetness of my own blood greeted my taste buds as I did so. This one, he would kill me given the slightest chance. An angry child with a loaded shotgun, very dangerous. An American term comes to mind; "A loose cannon"... Hmph... Not a promising start for one who might replace me. The Cherry Trees... they forget not the past wrongs... And I could taste the disapproval from the trees as they shook with the wind... I wonder... I replaced my mother as Sakurazukamori... Who, then, will replace me...? Shiroi Ogami, Subaru Sumeragi... Or Kenichi Kaeda...? The only three people who might be able to kill me. One of which will, and he shall take my mantle. This must have been what mother felt. I am not unhappy nor am I sad. The Sakurazukamori cannot feel thus. Yet I do weary. Weary of the eternal demands I must take from the Sakura. Mother... This was why you were happy when I killed you... You wished to be free. One way...or another... One alone will have the power to kill me. I surprised myself as I suddenly hoped Subaru would be the one to do so... I would have felt honored... A sumeragi becoming a Sakurazukamori... How delightfully quaint. And I then thought the unthinkable. I wished Subaru would not lay me beneath the Sakuras... </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>