闇の光: アンラッキーラバア

Yami no Hikari: Anrakki Rabaa

Fragment XXII

Past, Present, and Future Collision

(Unraveling the very fabrics of time…

Please, don’t lose yourself when everything’s all said and done.)

“Agh, I’m sorry!” A young Kohaku yelped as he was dodging elemental spells from a certain mother of his, vainly trying to shield himself with a feather duster.

“I told you not to be lazy when it comes to cleaning! You’re a mage, right?! And one-fourth dragon as well! What’s your grandmother going to say about this when she finds out her own grandson is too slothful to help around the house, huh?!” Louise Cornwall snarled, summoning a light spell; emerald green eyes glaring angrily as her long, blonde hair seemed to be standing on end.

“It’s not like she’s going to know, anyway!” He dodged his mother’s attack yet again.

“Yes, she will! Have you forgotten that she’s your father’s mother?! Now, clean up because she’s coming to visit in a few hours! Or should I put you in the closet where all of the dust bunnies are? You wouldn’t like that, now, would you?”

“Urgh… I don’t like dust bunnies…” Kohaku made a face, clucking his tongue, as he remembered how he stayed in that particular closet for one whole hour. “All right, all right, I’ll clean. But really, Mother, you’re being a little too unreasonable to make this house be as neat as it can—”

This was interrupted as Louise casted another light spell, which had successfully hit its intended target.

“Ow!”

“I’m not being unreasonable; I don’t want your grandmother to see that you’ve developed into a disorganized person! Work! Work, I say!” She growled, sending a wind spell towards his way.

“Agh! I’m sorry!!!” Grabbing cleaning supplies, Kohaku ran away to his room to clean.

Man, Mom really is a slave driver when it comes to being orderly.

Chuckling, Erick Thomas shook his head of violet hair and his blue eyes looked gleeful, remarking with, “Louise, you’re being too violent again.”

“Well, it serves him right since he keeps lying on how he’s done cleaning when I can see how filthy his job is.” Louise grumbled, crossing her arms.

- - -

Kohaku was telling this story to both of the girls. Currently, the three of them were tied up in a lone warehouse that was isolated from the town nearby. Unless they wanted the spaz’s life to end, they had no choice but to surrender to Takehiko’s threat and become hostages for him. And there were people all around the entrance points, so there was no room or point for escape either for that was obviously futile.

It was sort of hard to believe (in Hotaru’s case) for Kohaku to be from the future (Hitomi, however, was not that surprised if at all). And if that was true; then, something would possibly happen in the far future timeline in terms of his existence.

“Oh Lord…” Hitomi snorted at this, shaking her head as she was grinning. “Louise is as violent as ever in the far future, eh?”

“Eh?! You know Mother and Father?!” Kohaku was shocked to know this.

“Of course I do! After all, I’m close friends with your grandmother, Keito. And Erick and Louise’s younger future selves have been residing in this timeline for a while just to check up on things. By the way… Why is your surname Wakahisa instead of Thomas?”

“Ah, I see. So, Grandmother is friends with you. Well, it’s to avoid from Grandmother Keito to find out about me and the fact that I’m in this timeline. Besides, I think she would have a heart attack if she were to hear now that her son and soon-to-be future daughter-in-law already have a child. Since you say my parents are their younger selves in here, referring for them with being in their teens, there’s a big chance that they don’t know about me either at this point because they haven’t gotten to the marriage part yet.”

“So, that’s why…”

“By the way, please don’t tell anyone else about this. Aside from Grandma, there’s obviously Grandpa Erk.”

At the mention of Erk, Hitomi was grinning widely.

“No wonder you look like the splitting image of both Erk and Erick, minus the fact you got Louise’s eyes. And now, I know how you became a mage and, also, about your snarky and sarcastic behavior. You got the personality from Erk, I see.”

“Shush…” Kohaku glared at her for this.

“But if you’re really from the future, Kohaku, wouldn’t it cause problems in the long run if you were to stay long?” Hotaru frowned a little at this, curious but a little uneasy at the same time.

“Nah, I was sent by certain people to go into this timeline to make sure nothing goes wrong. Besides, both of my parents—in their teens—are already here and, yet, there were no reports of future disruption when they made their appearances. As long as I don’t show myself to Grandmother and my parents’ younger selves; then, nothing bad will happen. Besides, it was already confirmed my grandmother will give birth to my father, regardless of his future self having made his presence here, when she’s a little older from now.”

“Yeah, Erick and Louise are definitely around.” Hitomi nodded at this. “And Keito and Erk know about it as well as Lucius. But yes, nothing has gone wrong since.”

“That’s a relief, then. Whew!” Kohaku breathed a little easier when hearing this.

And Hotaru had a sharp gaze in her eyes, spacing out to look at the ceiling as the two talked.

“What’s wrong?” Both her butler and her best friend asked, noticing that she was acting like this.

“I’m just remembering about Nobu-kun, that’s all.” She confirmed with a sad smile.

“Do you… Want to talk about it?” Hitomi asked tentatively. “I do want to hear about Nobu-kun again, you know.”

“Hotaru…” Kohaku had nothing to say.

“All right, then.” The blue-haired beauty was smiling nostalgically again. “I was just remembering when…”

- - -

“Nobu-kun… I’ve a confession to make.” Fifteen-year-old Hotaru mumbled, fidgeting a little in her chair, unable to look at him in the eye. They were both at Nobu’s residence, which was a cozy apartment. They were watching a movie on TV. But when they were done doing that, she brought this up as she was reading a novel in his kitchen.

“What is it?” The seventeen-year-old Nobu asked softly in concern as he lifted his head up to look at her since he was lying down on his couch. He had becoming gentler with Hotaru as they grew very close over the years. And almost a year ago, on Hotaru’s birthday, they became lovers.

“Well, um… This is hard to explain… I didn’t tell you this at the beginning when I first met you, so, my apologies if I decided to say it out loud now.”

“It’s all right, Hotaru. Better late than never, so take your time. What is it that you want to say? It sounds important. And whatever it is… I’ll still be here for you.”

“…When you put it that way… I’m put at ease. Even though there’s still doubt in me, that there’s a chance that you’ll never look at me the same way again… Please, don’t hate me for it.”

Now at full attention, Nobu-kun sat up on the couch now, turning his face fully at her.

Closing her eyes, Hotaru got up from the table and laid the book down on the table. Approaching him slowly, she still kept her eyes closed, feeling magic flowing through her veins. And as Nobu-kun watched her intently, he was concealing the emotion of shock with a calm face.

Before him, Hotaru had transformed before his eyes. Long, carmine red hair fell up to the girl’s mid thighs as pointy fox ears and bushy tail of the same color appeared on her ears and lower back. When she opened her eyes, they still maintained her light, jade green color.

Nobu was speechless, unable to find any words about this.

“I’m a fox demon… Nobu-kun. At least, half fox demon and half human. My father’s face, I never knew. My mother told me that he had died protecting us because his pure blooded ex-lover tried to kill us both. His ex-lover didn’t like the fact he had fallen for a human like my mother, so she was going to murder us. I’m glad that he saved our lives, though… I’ve been keeping this as a secret from a lot of people for a long time, save for very few. So I… I hope you don’t hate me for it.”

He was immobilized, though still masking the shock from his face. Nobu approached her quietly, his glance cool. And Hotaru winced; then, closed her eyes, unsure of what would happen, but was feeling fear somewhere deep down. There was a negative thought that flashed in her mind and that was the fact that Nobu didn’t accept the news so well.

Her eyes fluttered open, turning into an astonished expression after, as she found his hands had grabbed her face and he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Were you afraid to tell me this?” He asked calmly, but tenderly, pulling her into a hug. “You… You don’t have to be afraid of me because of this. You don’t have to be afraid anymore, I’m here. So, rest easy. I still love you.”

Hearing this washed relief on her as she returned his hug with a tight one of her own, unable to hold back the unshed tears that pooled into her eyes.

- - -

“Hotaru…” Kohaku mumbled, really unsure on what to say, feeling astounded by this piece of information having been out into the open.

Having been her butler for so long, there were many things that he knew about her such as the reason why she’s a rich mistress: this is because her late father ran a business corporation and her mother works into the fashion business as a designer. Hotaru herself was, and still is, famous because of her singing career (though, it was under the stage name she made up, Ayaka Kouga) and because of being a motocross racer.

And there were other things he knew about her. For example, she is very good in cooking and would like to pursue in a cooking career when she graduates, her least favorite subject is history, her favorite colors are green and purple, and she’s always up for a good scare when Halloween comes around.

But to hear that she was a fox demon, which is one of the elements of the supernatural, was not computing in his mind.

Then again, what was he so surprised about? After all, he was someone from the future, not from this present timeline. And there was a reason why he refused to go back.

“Yes.” Hotaru confirmed calmly, smiling a little. “Do you think it’s a bad thing?”

“Ah, I didn’t mean to make sound like it was a bad thing because it isn’t. My apologies, ojous—”

“Don’t worry. I guess it’s because you’re just finding it hard to believe, right? But you came from the future, though you couldn’t tell me because you were afraid to disrupt the timeline. It’s okay, Kohaku, trust me… Furthermore, there’s a lot paranormal around you, you just don’t realize it.” Saying this, she gave a wink to Hitomi.

Just as the black haired girl was going to respond to her older sister figure, Takehiko stepped in with a smirk on his face.

“Well, Hiyoru no Youkai,” He referred to Hitomi by this name, which she responded with a scowl. “I called your brother up to let him know that I’m holding you here. And he’s furious, which I’m not surprised about. After all, he and I are rivals. And, as always, he’s been overprotective of you these days. Why, was it because of that day when you had earned this nickname?”

“Damn you…” She growled, wishing she could break the ropes and beat him to a bloody pulp. “Unlike my brother, you’re not as your name says you are. Taichi-oniisama told me that you had caused trouble as a soldier and, thus, you were expelled from PRO—”

He had silenced her by holding her neck and squeezing it, choking her.

“Hito—” Both Kohaku and Hotaru watched this scene unfold, appalled.

“Don’t you dare talk about my past, you bitch.” He snarled in a low voice, still clutching her neck in a deadly grip. “But I will tell you that when I had been banished from PRODIGY, I’ve gotten a lot stronger since. Those bastards wouldn’t let me out in the frontlines all because they felt that I was still a rookie (never mind the fact I had been promoted to sergeant so quickly) who wanted to cause trouble and risk lives. No matter how much I showed my strength, that damn brother of yours wouldn’t let me go at the front, telling me that I was a big shot, arrogant, and all that shit. He told me that no matter how physically strong I was, I needed to learn who the boss was and do the job I was assigned to do.

“Which is why I’ve showed him who the boss is now by taking his little sister hostage. But I won’t stop from there…”

“What other schemes are you planning, pea-brained idiot?” Kohaku spat, holding himself together while trying to think of a plan on how to protect both Hotaru and Hitomi.

Letting go of the little girl’s neck, Takehiko stepped backwards and looked at the three with an evil smile, his hazel eyes with sinister intentions.

“I would do physical torture, but… Using mental and emotional pain is much more fulfilling; then, I’ll kill you when you’re at your most vulnerable.”

“Oh my, you probably got that strategy from going through it yourself.” Hotaru said with a smile. “Tell me, was it nice to get what you deserved after you and your henchmen had been ganging up on Nobu-kun countless times?”

“Don’t change the subject!” Takehiko barked to her, going dark red in mortification. “Just wait, ‘Smiling Demon…’ You’ll remember what happened in your past. You and the Hiyoru no Youkai over there will succumb to the memories that you’ve been burying inside for so long.

“As for the idiot over there,” He jerked his thumb to Kohaku.

“Don’t call me an idiot, you imbecile!” This was his retort for that remark.

“Since he’s with you guys, that means he probably has a notorious reputation too, and this probably had cost him something important as well. Well, the more, the merrier. I might as well have a lot of fun while I’m at it.”

Takehiko’s henchmen forced all three of them to get up with ropes and all. Tapping their bodies with a sub machine gun to make them move along, as if threatening them, the minions transported the three hostages to another room in the warehouse.

Whatever it is that’s going to happen, I better do something. Hitomi thought, her head bowed down low as if to make sure nobody would suspect what she was about to do. I’ve no choice but to use that, then.

Closing her eyes, she felt magic filling inside of her body, commanding inside her mind only one word: Disconnection.

Feeling herself weaken as she felt something escape from her body, she began to sense a familiar taste in her mouth.

As her hands were tied up, she couldn’t do anything. So, the only thing she could do, deciding not to have any suspicion among the enemies, was swallow the blood that had formed in her mouth when casting that spell.

- - -

“I understand.” Hideki said in a quiet voice, on the cellphone with Taichi, as the three soldiers had landed into the town the warehouse was near. They decided to go there by foot since going in by helicopter would alarm the guards in the warehouse. “So, are you certain that’s where they’re located?”

“Yeah, that bastard told me himself.” The trio could hear their boss’s voice on speaker phone, detecting that he was trying to hold back his anger. “Shit, who would’ve thought that it was him that would do this? I would’ve expected scum like him to die a long time ago.”

“I know, I also had the same feeling. But now that Hitomi-chan and the others are in Takehiko’s hands, this can only mean a lot of trouble. You know how dangerous he is.”

“I’m aware of that, which is why I’m assigning all three of you to do this. If necessary, Lieutenant Commander Ren will be your back up.”

“Roger that.”

Hanging up, Hideki held a serious face.

“So, who is Takehiko, anyway?” Keiya frowned at this, polishing his sansekkon.

“Before you and Rai came to Asia’s PRODIGY, Takehiko was with us. He was one of the sergeants there.”

“What happened?” Rai questioned, sharpening his katana at the moment.

“Takehiko was commended to be one of the strongest soldiers in our mercenary group. Unfortunately, his bad side was arrogance and not wanting to do teamwork. He was a big shot, a man that wanted to get power, no matter what the cost. Because of this, Taichi wouldn’t promote him to a higher rank nor would he be positioned to the frontlines whenever we had a crisis. Both Taichi and I have known Takehiko from childhood because Tai and him have been rivals. That was what I discovered, being Taichi’s friend for so long.

“When some of our comrades were killed because of him, because he wouldn’t follow the operation, so he could steal the glory for himself… He was banished, stripped of his rank. Afterwards, they were supposed to execute him in case he would cause any trouble, but… From what the situation is right now, I suppose he had managed to escape from death by killing the executioners.”

“So, he decided to have his revenge by holding the commander’s sister hostage… Damn prick, such cowardice.” Rai spat on the ground, sheathing his katana. “I wonder how Chibi Hime-chan and the others are holding up right now.”

“Yeah…” Keiya agreed, trying not to surrender to fear, trying not to think of the fact that his client was in real danger.

“Now, we have to find the place they’re all in. Taichi had sent me a map of their location via satellite on my cellphone, but I can’t make sense of it.” Hideki groaned, still examining the map on his cellphone. “Any ideas?”

“…Do you need my help?” A soft voice called.

The three jolted, immediately taking out their weapons and turning around.

“Show yourself.” Rai mumbled, his metallic gold eyes flashing dangerously. “Unless you want to die right here, right now.”

“I’m up here, boys.” The voice stated, causing all three to look up.

On the rooftop of a house was a girl of an unknown age; but judging from the looks, she had to be, at least, fifteen. Her attire was a black tanktop (which was made of sweater knit fabric), black cargo shorts with a belt around it, and combat boots. On her arms were bandages that wrapped from the forearms to her middles of her fingers, both hands equipped with black, fingerless gloves while her legs had fishnet stockings under the shorts. There was also a leather pad on her right shoulder.

With long, scarlet red bangs but with short, spiky hair, pale gold eyes looked at the boys. And as she smirked at them in greeting, you could’ve sworn you saw fangs…

“Y-You are—!” Hideki stammered, immediately concealing his gun.

“Hideki, what the Hell are you doing?!” Keiya looked at him alarmingly, still arming his sansekkon. “Are you crazy?! She’ll kill you right on the spot!”

“Yeah, really!” Rai agreed, katana still out. “Have you lost your mind?!”

“Relax, guys… I know her, so she won’t do you any harm.”

“Say what?!” Both exclaimed simultaneously.

Jumping down the roof, batlike wings grew out of the girl’s back. And if one would look closely, the leathery hide had scars all over them.

“Like before…” Keiya mumbled to himself, remember Aoi. “But Aoi-san is an angel… This girl, however…”

“What is this girl, Hideki?” Rai asked cautiously, having a keen interest once he noticed the wings.

“A… Vampire.” He replied carefully.

“Are you… Serious? No way…”

The familiar ache was starting to make itself known inside Keiya’s head the moment he laid eyes on her—

Distortion in both image and sound in the memory—

Lines in the image as if experiencing static on TV—

- - -

“Oh, Keeiiiyaaa!” She called with a grin on her face as she wagged a finger in front of him. “I want that!”

They were in a sweets shop and she had pointed to one of the expensive desserts in the shop. Apparently, she wanted the Royal Sundae.

“Ah, but it’s expensive, isn’t it?” Keiya laughed, pointing to another dessert. “Why don’t you try that instead?”

“B-But I want that dessert…” She pouted, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

“…Fine.” He sighed, defeated as he grinned and shook his head. “My, my, you can be such a glutton…”

“I am not!”

- - -

Snapping out of it, Keiya focused his eyes onto the girl, listening.

“May we ask what your name is?” Rai asked, no longer feeling any threat towards her. And Hideki gave the girl a look, as if telling her that she needed to think of something fast.

“Arashii.” She stated with a grin, one gloved hand on her hip as she winked. “My name’s Arashii and I know what you’re looking for.”

- - -

On the long bridge that connected the realms of Heaven, Limbo, Earth, Hell, and the Underworld, there were two people who were meeting up. Though the realm was shrouded in darkness, as it was nighttime in Asia, Europe, and Australia, you could see their silhouettes. It was a dark, quiet night; mist creeping through, hanging in the air as if concealing their identities.

“So, Kami-sama had told you about what we have to do.” The one from the Underworld assumed, the voice masculine.

“As did Shinigami-sama, huh?” The other who came from Heaven, female, replied with a laugh.

“Of course.”

“Well, since nobody else would take the assignment because of her, we’re the special ones who can do this job. Look out, PRODIGY! You’re not the only ones with specialists who can protect! Man, would Taichi be surprised to see us.”

“Hah, it would be nice to speak with Taichi again. And considering that we’ve been given this assignment, there’s a big chance we will cross paths with him. However…”

“Hm? What’s up?” Judging from her body language, the female was perplexed.

Don’t forget that we have to make sure that he doesn’t come near her. And if that bastard does, there’s no telling on what he would do to her.”

“Well, this is the Prince of Sin we’re talking about, after all. He’s been missing from Hell because he just wants to cause havoc.”

“Yeah… Are you ready?” He asked seriously, looking like he was checking on his own equipment and concealing them. “We should get down to Earth as soon as possible. I heard that that girl’s having her life on the line at this moment.”

“I just hope we arrive before it’s too late.”