Part 1B of Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow~
~Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow (Part1B)~
Kuroko stood in the middle of the living room while Midorima was seated calmly on the sofa in front of the television. The bluenet closed his eyes and seemed to be merging with his surrounding while Midorima was putting out a set of Tarot Card, Minor Arcana, on the coffee table.
Midorima concentrated on his cards, shuffled it three times and then divided it into five sets, one in the middle and the other four surrounding it in diamond form. He opened the first card at the top and promptly widened his eyes slightly at the revelation.
A sudden 'Suit of Sword'… not a good premonition-Midorima stared at the 'Three of Swords' card in his hand, furrowing. 'Swords' related card represented something 'severe' and 'aggressive'. It wasn't always bad, but… keywords for 'Three of Swords' meaning were 'painful separation', 'sorrow', 'heartbreak', 'grief' and 'rejection' in upright position, so it must have something to do with human 'relationship', yet Midorima wasn't sure if its context. Can be romance or friendship, even family, but unless there's more information, I won't know.
Midorima sighed and put down the card beside the top pile and moved on to the right pile and took the first card as well. Five of Wands, one of the 'Suit of Wands'-he contemplated silently. The meaning of 'Five of Wands' were: 'disagreement', 'competition', 'strife', 'tension' and conflict, in upright position. How was it connected to Kagami exactly? There might be someone else included in this divination.
Midorima set the card beside its original pile and moved to the pile at the bottom of the diamond. He opened the first card and narrowed his eyes at the 'Six of Cups' card in reversed position. "Stuck in the past, naivety and unrealistic…" Midorima mumbled thoughtfully.
Is it telling me about Kagami's personality? But, he doesn't seem like someone who is stuck in the past. Maybe it's about his 'clueless' tendency, although he's sure a rational one because he tried every reasons that make sense first before resorting to our help-Midorima reasoned, but he had a strong feeling about the 'stuck in the past' keyword. He didn't know why because it made little sense, but…
Midorima filed that thought and set the card beside its pile before he moved to the pile on the left side of the diamond. He opened the first card and exhaled. 'Six of Pentacles' in reversed position?-Midorima couldn't believe this. Debt, selfishness and one-sided charity… did someone owe Kagami or did Kagami owe someone? Selfishness… I yet to know Kagami that well, but he doesn't look selfish at all. I mean, he's willing to stay in Japan alone when his parents go abroad for their work, and he isn't complaining, so that has to mean something but selfishness. As for one-sided charity… I have to ask him first about that.
Midorima set down the card and moved his gaze on the last pile in the middle of the diamond form. This should show him something about how those four Minor Arcana cards related to each other. However, when Midorima flipped the card open, he gasped and dropped it back on the pile, totally knocked for six.
That seemed to distract Kuroko from his concentration and the blue haired boy peered at Midorima with raised eyebrows. Midorima covered his mouth, his hand shaking, and he was perspiring slightly as he stared at the ominous last card on the middle pile.
"Midorima-kun?"
Kuroko's voice brought Midorima back from his internal debate. He looked upward at Kuroko who tilted his head aside a bit. "Is everything alright? You look rather pale."
"I-…" Midorima cleared his throat and put his hand down, reaching and hovering beyond the last card. "I'm fine, but… something is very wrong with my card."
"What about your card reading?" Kuroko abandoned his spot to approach Midorima on the couch. He looked over the opened cards with blank face, evidently not understanding the meaning of each card or as a whole. However, when he seemed to catch a sight on the last card, his eyes were a fraction wider than before. "Is that-?"
"Yes," Midorima nodded, tapping the card with his index-finger. "There's a Major Arcana card mixed up in my Minor Arcana," he continued.
"Is this coincidence?" Kuroko sat beside Midorima, looking at the card intently. Midorima gave him a 'please' look and Kuroko amended. "Right, there's no such thing as coincidence for Midorima-kun's card reading… and the probability of misplaced card…" Midorima narrowed his eyes sharply at Kuroko and he nodded. "Impossible, of course… Midorima-kun is a neat-freak," he deadpanned and Midorima scowled at him.
"Something slipped this card in my Minor Arcana Tarot card," Midorima insisted. Or else there would never be a Major Arcana card in them since he kept his Major Arcana card in separate box.
"And that Major Arcana Tarot card… it's 'Death', right? Are we in emergency situation?" Kuroko looked at Midorima seriously.
"I'm not certain what its exact mean is. 'Death' can be 'endings', but can also mean 'beginnings', 'change', 'transformation' and 'transition' in Tarot reading. It isn't necessarily bad. I'm more surprised at the fact that this card is here at all because Major Arcana represents something in a long term, a warning too, sometimes. But somehow, it is here as the conclusion that relates to the other four Minor Arcana cards that deal with 'this moment'. 'Death' in upright position in relation to 'Three of Swords', 'Five of Wands', 'Six of Cups' and 'Six of Pentacles'… I can't conclude anything unless I ask Kagami a few things about this reading meaning first." Midorima sighed, putting his card back together, except the 'Death' card. He set it aside to be kept in his other box that stored the rest of his Major Arcana cards.
Kuroko was silent at that and Midorima looked upward at him after he finished storing all his cards back to their respective places. "What about you? Do you find something about the house?" he asked and Kuroko nodded.
"I do feel 'presences' in this house."
"Multiple." Midorima noted and Kuroko nodded again.
"I have not pinpointed their exact place since I feel them all-over the mansion, but there is only one place that is positively untouched by those 'presences'."
"Kagami's bedroom." Midorima concluded and Kuroko looked around with solemn look, as if he could see something. "Maybe this mansion is like a playground for them because it's mostly empty sans Kagami's room."
"Or they are just stranded here because something or someone pulls them here," Kuroko closed his eyes, apparently feeling something. "I will check the history of this mansion. Midorima-kun, do you want to dig Kagami-kun's background more deeply?"
"I will just ask the person himself," Midorima stood and walked off to find Kagami and Kuroko just smiled when they parted and walked out of the mansion.
~Gom x Kagami~
Kise was still on Kagami's side even after the house-tour ended. Frankly, Kagami didn't know what to say to that. Of course, he was grateful that Kise was watching his back, but being followed to the bathroom was a little over protective even for Kagami's standard.
"I'm fine, you know. You don't have to follow me all the time." Kagami huffed, standing in front of the bathroom door awkwardly while Kise was behind him, still smiling innocently.
"But, isn't the bathroom one of the places where you saw the person-like shadow?" Kise tilted his head aside.
"It is, but not this bathroom. It's the bathroom at the second floor near my bedroom," Kagami explained. "And I need to use it. You don't really want to go into the bathroom with me, do you?"
"Why not?" Kise looked puzzled.
"Are you serious?!" Kagami was rather scandalized. "It's violating privacy!"
"Yah, but…" Kise laughed sheepishly. "I need to be with Kagami-kun a couple of more hours, see…"
Kagami scrunched his nose at him, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Uh… it has something to do with the limit of my gift. Anyway, I will get worried if you leave my sight, Kagami-kun. After all, you hire me to keep you safe from whatever it is that endangers your life." Kise gave him a brilliant, sincere smile and Kagami was admittedly a bit touched by it, but it didn't mean he would agree to let Kise see him doing his private business no matter what.
Besides, Kagami felt that this bathroom was alright. Nothing would happen to him in that bathroom. Kagami was sure of that. "Thanks, but I will be okay," he smiled back at Kise. It had been awhile since he felt safe. It might have something to do with Kise and the others being there and trying to help him solve this ridiculous problem.
Kise looked momentarily stunned and he seemed about to say something, but Kagami already went inside the bathroom and closed the door at his face. "Ah, at least keep talking to me, Kagami-kun! Let me know if something happens!"
Kise's voice came through behind the wooden door and Kagami chuckled slightly. "Okay, alright," he answered dutifully. It was kind of nice actually, having someone to talk to constantly.
When Kagami got out of the bathroom, Kise was humming, his back leaning against the wall. His expression brightened as he noticed Kagami. "Kagami-kun!" and he immediately flocked himself at Kagami's side again, smiling 'eheh'.
"What's that 'eheh'? Are you seriously waiting for me in front of the bathroom?" Kagami didn't know if he felt exasperated or embarrassed, probably both.
Kise laughed again sheepishly, but before he could say anything to excuse his strange behavior, the ground began to shake so suddenly.
"Ah! W-what?!" Kise squeaked in surprise as he lost balance and Kagami immediately grabbed Kise before he steadied his equilibrium by leaning on the wall, holding on Kise as well to prevent him falling over.
"Earthquake?!" Kagami was about to squat down, fully intending to pull Kise down with him, but then there was a bang and suddenly repetitive pounding sound was heard all over the place, especially from the ceiling. "What the-?!"
"Rapping?!" Kise sounded baffled and the tremble was so bad that the mansion started to shudder with it.
"Kise! Kagami!" Midorima's voice was heard somewhere between the pounding. "Hurry! Come over here!"
Kagami caught a sight of him near the door that led them to the living room and he clenched his teeth, gripped Kise's hand more tightly, before he pulled the blond to run with him to where Midorima was.
When they reached the living room, the pounding stopped right away. Kagami was panting heavily, eyes wide, cold sweating, slightly panicked. "What the hell was that?!"
"Rapping… that's one of Poltergeist nine criteria," Midorima answered, sounding perplexed. "Though… this is the first time I experienced it, so I'm not sure."
"Poltergeist?" Kagami was befuddled.
"Poltergeist, or in other name, 'noisy ghost'," Kise supplied informatively.
"GHOST?!" Well, wasn't it getting better and better? Kagami could feel the cold shiver attack his body and suddenly, his vision blurred.
Huh?-Now his body lost its strength as well as he collapsed, and despite the surprise shout from both Kise and Midorima calling his name, his consciousness was fading away.
Before his sight went completely dark, he saw that black shadowy thing again and now… he caught a glimpse of a pair of dark eyes staring straight into his own.
Who-?
End of Part 1
Tbc…
A/N: Um… I don't know what came to me, but I got an urge to write something like this so suddenly (even though I should have been updating other on-going stories first, sheesh). Anyway, I love supernatural stuff and the horror that came from it, so I'd like to try my ability to write one. Well, this is actually a tryout, so there might be only two or three chapters for this. If I can finish it safely, let me know if you want me to expand it. So, any feed-back? Question, critique, suggestion, anything at all?
Part 2
Part 1A