Visual Kei

“How in the hell are you still alive?” I asked, tracing the marks along his arms which wound all the way up and ended at his shoulder blades as far as I knew. They looked like small bullet holes all the way up his arms. Umi shot me a look of annoyance. “This much of anything would kill things twice or three times your size.” Chino rubbed his head in agony.

“We don’t have time to sit here and speculate about how much of what has been pumped into his body. We have to find the others.” Umi shook Chino, ignoring the pain that shot across his face at being jostled in such a way. “Are they here?”

He leaned generously on Shinji, looking feverish and confused. “I—I don’t remember.”

“Where are they, if they are not here?” Umi demanded, gripping his forearm roughly. “Think!”

“I don’t… I don’t know. I’m sorry.” She gritted her teeth and stood away from him, fury radiating from her. After a long moment, she turned to me and sighed, the anger draining away from her little by little. Her eyes drifted toward Chino, but they snapped back toward me soon enough.

“I can’t help you from here.”

“What? Why?”

“The only one I could track was Chino. The others…” She looked away. “Their location is as clear to me as it must be to you. “

“So, not very.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You helped us find Chino, at least. That’s a start. Maybe once we get him back home, he can rest. After he’s recovered, maybe he can tell us something.”

“I think that is your only option, unfortunately,” she said grimly, rubbing her face with a long, boyish hand. “Let me know when he’s coherent. I’ll help you home.”

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Laying Chino in his bed was the easiest part of the night. When he was finally set in bed with the blankets up to his neck, Shinji rolled his shoulders, rubbing them gently. We sat in Kiiro’s room, in silence. Not long after having gone to sleep, I woke to a loud thudding noise. I bolted out of the room immediately, worried and shocked. What I saw only surprised me more.

Kiiro was slumped against the wall, his back to the early morning rays leaking through the blinds. He was breathing heavily and struggling to pull on his leather jacket. The back of his head and most of his clothing looked caked with blood. When he weakly covered his blood-soaked clothing, he leaned against the wall and didn’t move.

“Kiiro?” He didn’t move. I tried his name again, but he still didn’t respond. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Shinji appeared beside me, having come from the bathroom.

“Kiiro!” he gasped, kneeling to be at his side. A strange expression crossed his face as he stared at him. He tilted his face up to examine his eyes.

“Let go… of me,” he growled in his deep voice, feebly pushing Shinji away. Shinji dropped his head and it fell slowly to his chest. “Where is… Alice?”

“Right here.” I moved to be beside him, but he turned away as quickly as he could.

“Don’t look at me right now,” he said, his voice muffled by the wall. “Leave me with Shinji for the moment. I will be fine.” I didn’t move, torn between wanting to know what was wrong and knowing that he wouldn’t order me around unless it was important to him. “Go!”

At his tone, feigned to be angry when it held a hint of hidden desperation, I left to check on Chino. Closing the door behind me, I caught a bit of their conversation.

“Was it the Shinigami?”

“No… the Aku were just a distraction… I do not know…. She is dead.”

It felt like I got Hulk Hogan leg dropped. Were they talking about Miko? Was Miko dead? She couldn’t be dead…. if she were… I slid on the floor beside Chino’s bed, holding my head in my hands as I tried to calm down. Shit, shit, shit. What have you gotten yourself into now, you fucktard?

“You look as bad as I feel,” Chino said in a soft murmur. “But… I guess I shouldn’t complain. I’m safe, you’re safe, Shinji is safe…”

“How are you feeling?”

“Terrible, but I’ll manage.” He shut his eyes tightly. “I don’t know what it was that they gave to me, but every time I think the pain has reached its peak, it gets worse. This is why I never do drugs. Alcohol is bad enough.”

“Can you use your powers yet?”

“No. I can’t focus on anything past the pain. It’s a shield, blocking out any thoughts or feelings around me. It’s almost like going deaf, after hearing all those thoughts constantly.”

“Do you remember anything about the hospital where we found you?”

“The Aku led us there. Someone grabbed me in the darkness and that’s the last thing I remember before waking up here.”

“How could someone sneak up on you? Do they have the ability to resist your telepathy?”

“Maybe. I was only focused on finding the Aku, so perhaps I wasn’t at my most alert.”

“It obviously wasn’t the Shinigami. If it were, I think he would have made an effort to make a second appearance.”

“I think so, too, but I don’t know of anyone else who would be hunting you.” His face contorted in pain and I reached out toward him, knowing there was nothing I could do. He gasped in a breath and closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. “I’m sorry, Alice. I wish I could do something more, but right now, I’m useless.”

“Useless? Doubtful. Shut up and start getting better; we need you right now. Speaking of that, Kiiro’s here, but I don’t think he’s well.”

“That makes two of us, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” I said, forcing a smile. “It does.”

***********************************************************************************

Call me a stone-cold mega-bitch, but next I saw Kiiro, shit went down. I didn’t get to see him for another day or so after “checking on” Chino, but when I did, my frustration, bitterness, and all those other wonderful emotions just flowed out of me as if I never had any control to begin with. He was sitting with Shinji against a futon in newer and possibly flashier clothing. His hair was poofy, but untouched by product and straighteners. His silver eyes looked dull and venomous as I sat down in front of him.

“So this was your big idea, huh? Getting us kidnapped and possibly killed? Brilliant.”

“Alice, don’t,” Shinji said in a velvety purr.

Kiiro didn’t respond, only gave me that cold stare of his.

“You should have been more careful.”

“And what would you have done? Would you have left them to escape with the only chance you had at finding out who is behind the attack and the murders?”

“We already know who is responsible for the attack, and we can assume that the same creature is behind the murders too. Regardless, if her loss meant not getting two of our best friends stolen, I’d do it in a heartbeat. As it is, we’ve lost both. So why don’t you tell me if it was a worthwhile move?”

Shinji looked uncomfortable and on edge, as if expecting us to duke it out. “Enough, you two! There is no need for this!”

Kiiro gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with fury. “I could never have known this would happen! Do not blame this on me!” He stood quickly, not making any indication of being hurt by the suddenness of his action. “I did not see you do anything to offer a new solution; I did not see you do anything to help us!

“You sit here and partake of what security we can offer at the expense of our lives, you sit here and contribute nothing to our efforts!” His hands clench into fists as he grits his teeth furiously. As he spoke, blood bloomed in spots at first on his clothing, growing in size and wetness as he continued to let out his pent-up anger. “You are weak in spirit and body, unable to even fathom the power that could be yours if you could only look inside yourself and draw it forward. You do nothing but take up space!”

When he was finished, his breathing was heavy and erratic, his eyes narrow with ire. I stared at him in silence, guilt wracking my frame. He was right, in all of it, even if the words were born of his frustration. I stood, staring at him for a time, my lips pushed together so that they could not tremble with the tears that I knew were going to come.

“Alice…” Shinji began, unsure of what to say.

“No, Shinji,” I said, shaking my head in resignation. I looked back at Kiiro, for whom my heart ached with both guilt and love. “You’re right. I don’t do anything for you except waste your time and hurt you. I cannot control the development of my divine power, but could you control the onset of your vampirism? Wherever I go, I will be hunted by the Aku. You knew that when you took me in. That was your idea, wasn’t it, Kiiro?” My eyes stung as I looked into his eyes. He was frozen, his expression of anger still on his face despite the emotion having been gone from his eyes. “I was wrong in blaming you for how this turned out. I’m sorry.”

I turned away from him, the tears finally spilling over and running down my cheeks. “I will find my own way, somehow. I have taken enough from you.” Without looking back, I dropped the cell phone on the floor and opened the front door. I could feel Kiiro’s heart aching in response to mine, but it gave me no consolation. I shut the door behind me, running down the stairs before anyone could stop me.