[Yami no Matsuei] "The Veil Grows Thin (Wraith Remix)" (PG-13)
fic_promptly's Any, Any, All Hallow's Eve, when the walls between worlds are thinnest. Muraki/Oriya. Implied violence and general weirdness. Remixed version of This Fic
A full moon hung over the rooftops of Kyoto, full and red, its face hidden in fear of that which walked abroad beneath it. Muraki sat alone in the moonlight, and the light of the paper lanterns on the back verandah of Kou Kaku Rou, gazing up at the sky, letting the night breeze cool his face and dry his hands, now clean of his victim's blood, the stains on his clothes hidden by a glamour.
Tonight, the day and the night were as equals for a moment. Tonight, night's triumph over day felt more evident, as on each successive day the light would dwindled even further, losing yet more ground to the incursions of the night, giving strength to those who, like himself, chose to walk the night.
Tonight, he had set the plan in motion, to lure the one that he loved into the open, where he could claim his beloved and the power that he possessed. A file clerk from a law office, a girl with only two cats waiting for her at home, would serve as the first of however many lives he had to sacrifice before his actions garnered the attention of the Ministry of Hades. They would go looking for her soul, but they would find no trace of it, since by then he would have consumed it, using its energies to build up his strength for the final strike.
Tonight, the fallen angel had sent out a challenge to the one with the blood of a demon in his veins: find me and let me take you as my own. Over the next several days and weeks, he would find more victims, more sacrifices, more lives to be consumed and add to his strength. Then, on the night when the veil was at its thinnest, on the night of All Hallow's Eve, he could pierce that veil between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead and step across to claim his prize.
He heard a soft footstep behind him. "Care to join me in the moonlight, Oriya?" Muraki asked without looking up.
"You have good ears," his friend and the manager of the establishment replied, coming to his side and kneeling beside him.
"You're also the only one in the house with the courage to join me when I'm meditating out here," Muraki replies. "What brought you out into the moonlight?"
"A little matter of the rent for your room: How long do you plan on staying?" Oriya asked.
"As long as it takes for this round of tests that Sataomi has planned," Muraki replied.
"And as long as it takes for me to be reunited with the one that I love. Perhaps on the night when the veil is the thinnest."
Oriya darted a look at Muraki, his smooth brow furrowed in suspicion. "You still following that western magic?" he asked.
"I use whatever means I have at my disposal," Muraki replied.
"So, translation being, you're here till the end of October. Wonderful. Which means I have to put up with your eating habits till then. Please try not to drain any of the girls." He paused, as if rethinking that thought. "There is one who might be perfect for you. She's been giving me trouble: she's been refusing her regular clients, says she only wants you; she won't serve anyone else. She's even threatened to go to the authorities about what goes on here, if I send her to anyone but you. Been hiding her from you so she wouldn't jump your bones when you first arrived.
"Do what you like with her. Long as she doesn't exit the room on her own power."
Muraki smirked at Oriya. "Hold her off for a while: I have a few things that I need to put in order before my tryst with her."
"Might be hard to keep her on a short leash, but I'll do what I can," Oriya said.
"Tell her that I have important work to be done before I can spend a night with her and I cannot be disturbed," Muraki replied.
"Like that'll hold Hatsumomo: she's been impossible since you got here," Oriya said.
"That will only store up her energy, which will make her more worth my time," Muraki said, with a vicious smirk.