[Multi-Chapter] Hell Can Wait - Chapter 9, Confusion
Title: Hell Can Wait - Chapter 9, Confusion.
Author:
rainbowdots888
Pairings: Ryo x Ohkura
Rating: PG15
Length: Multi-Chapter
Words: 2366
Genre: AU, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Disclaimer: Too bad for me, I don't own these men... just these stories.
Summary: "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
Notes : In this chapter, Shota is talking about "Haikyo" that is the Japanese term for "ruin" but is also used to talk about the hobby of exploring abandoned places (Urbex). It's a particularly popular hobby and there are many abandoned places in Japan that are visited by Japanese youth / young adults but also tourists.
****************
The walls were shaking so hard that the hut could collapse anytime. The wind howled once again like a wounded wolf as Ryo was feeling life swell in his chest. He was raging mad, looking at Eiji through the steam that the melting ice was giving out, weirdly conscious of every tiny detail around him. The fluttering of a panicky moth's wings on the other side of the room, the tiny droplets of water dripping one by one, the ragged breaths coming out Ohkura's mouth, and the cracking of every wooden beam in the wobbly structure. It was a chaos of sounds and movements but despite his wrath he stayed motionless, gathering all the rage he could in one powerful feeling that could end everything.
Eiji moved ever so slightly, letting the edge of his blade caress Ohkura's nape without haste, cutting some of his thick hair in the process. Once a few black curls had fallen at his feet he stepped on them and smiled. The sword went up in the air in one swift movement, knocked a stalactite and fell again towards Ohkura's neck.
No!
Ryo thought, and everything slowed down around him. He took a step, then two and walked to Eiji's blade that he hit with a forceful kick. The sword went swirling in the thick air and fell to the ground with a chiming sound. Time caught up with him again and he jumped on Eiji, grabbing his neck with two hands, not really sure anymore how to stop the other. They fell to the floor and rolled together until they hit the nearest wall with such force that it cracked and let the wind come in, in whistling and strong gusts.
“Let me go, Ryo! You can't kill me! I'm your ancestor!” Yelled Eiji from where he was, trapped against the broken wall.
“If I can't kill you, I'll make sure you will never see the light of the sun again.” He whispered, certain that in spite of all the commotion, Eiji had understood every single word. And the face the other made confirmed his feeling. He could see the rage but also the fear moving the immortal features like waves of electricity, gradually destroying any faith Eiji could have had in himself. Ryo was obviously stronger and that was a surprise to both of them. He tightened his grasp on his enemy's neck until he felt his trachea bend like a plastic pipe under pressure. But despite the blue tinge of his lips and his panicked eyes, Eiji kept living throughout the torture without even fainting. Ryo felt the neck cracking under the tip of his fingers and it was suddenly too much, too violent, definitely not him at all, this fury and thirst for murder. He released his grip and rolled away from Eiji who coughed hard, taking in large gulps of air.
“See...” He boasted with a dangerous smile, “You can't do it! You can't!” His piercing laugh was cut by an astounding blow to his head and he fell, knocked unconscious. Ohkura was standing next to him, holding a heavy beam as easily as he would swing a baseball bat, his breath short but a determined look in his dark eyes.
“We could, together.” He blurted out before turning to Ryo and Shota who was still watching everything in dismay. “We have to do something now. Find a solution. He'll wake up soon, and our chances will be over.”
Ryo stood and ran to him, brushing Ohkura's bangs off his eyes and forehead.
“Are you okay, Tadayoshi? I... I couldn't let him... He almost killed you!”
“Stay focused, Ryo. Please. We have to lock Eiji up somewhere no one will ever find him.”
“I.... don't know... I....”
In Ryo's head the confusion was still reigning and he threw a helpless look at Eiji's limp body at his feet.
“There's an abandoned mine a few miles from here, on the road to Tokyo. It's really deep, and no one ever visits it. Too dangerous.” Shota's voice had sounded strangely assured all of a sudden, contrasting with the shock still visible on his face. “I've been there when I was younger and did Haikyo. Don't look at me like this, you two...”
“Alright so... I guess we have no other choice for now.” Ohkura added, as he started searching for anything he could use to fasten Eiji's limbs together, something strong enough to resist his Immortal strength. The small recess was full of ropes and tools but none of them were actually useful. Ryo helped him in his search for lack of something else to do: at least he'd stop thinking too much about what he had almost done, kill someone. Even if Eiji was the bad guy, even if Ryo had been a detective for years, he still couldn't take someone's life.
Ohkura has killed people.
He shook his head to get rid of the bloody images from Ohkura's memory that popped into his mind.
Yumi ?
“Found something!” Said the other, digging a heavy chain up from a corner of the room. The links were as big as his wrists and he winced under the weight of the metal but still pulled it with Shota's help until they could roll Eiji into it. It looked like the unconscious man was being strangled by a huge snake keeping him in its moving coils, breaking his bones at each turns it took around his chest and arms.
“Ryo... Help us, it's too heavy for two mortals like us.”
Did he kill Yumi to get to me?
“Ryo!” His shoulder was shaken and he came out of his daze again, before the concerned eyes of his companions.
“I... Yes. I'm sorry.”
The storm was still raging outside and the hut was bound to be destroyed shortly so they left the place without looking back, carrying their burden with pain. Ryo didn't really feel the weight but the two others, holding each one of Eiji's shoulders were struggling behind him.
The stars around were so bright they looked like thousands of lightning bugs close enough for him to touch. Antares was still shining high above his head and it somehow appeased him for a moment, relying on its warmth that reminded him of Ohkura's burning lips on him.
When they finally reached their vehicles, they threw the still unconscious Eiji in the trunk. Shota climbed behind the steering wheel and started the car.
“Tadayoshi... just a minute, please.” Ryo said grabbing the other's sleeve just before he climbed into the car in turn.
“Ryo...”
“I know, we don't have time, it's important and so on. But... I feel so bad. I don't know anymore. Tell me the truth.”
“The truth is... Oh Ryo...” Ohkura put a hand on the car, trying to support himself as his trembling legs started giving way under him. “The truth is that I desperately needed you for this task. You were happily married and oblivious of everything... The truth is that when she fell sick I rejoiced. Because I knew it was good for me and because I'd fallen for you. But I never did anything to her, I swear. I waited, yes, for you to mourn her properly but when you started behaving weirdly and Eiji approached, I did what I had to do. I started passing you the Gift. You were so eager, so strong... You are my miracle. I've been loving you for years, I've wanted you for years, I've waited for you. The only truth is that when Yumi died, I smiled.”
Ryo's heart burst in pain hearing that confession. His hand flew without his control and he slapped Ohkura who fell on his knees, shocked.
“Let's get rid of that scum. I'll decide about you later, Ohkura.” He concluded drily, climbing into the car and slamming its door.
*****************
The entrance of the mine was a gloomy construction, a sort of temple to the gods of stones, throwing its reinforced concrete built columns towards the sky like teeth ready to bite the starry night. Those fangs made of stone were stained with long smears of rusty water, giving Ryo the impression that the mine-beast had the blood of its last victim still dripping fresh out of its mouth.
Shota parked the car very close to it and killed the engine in silence. Ohkura left the compartment without a word, acting automatically as if he were a simple robot. His eyes had lost their light somewhere on the way to the mine, as he was mulling over Ryo's words. The latter could feel in his flesh all the pain coming from his lover, all the desperation and questions he didn't dare asking, but he was way too angry to speak. Way too afraid to stop sulking, to accept Ohkura as who he was for real.
They opened the trunk and found Eiji awake and afraid, trying to get rid of his chains.
“What are you going to do with me? Don't lock me up please, don't...” His voice sounded like a little boy's imploring the school's bullies and Ryo doubted. Again. Seeing Ohkura and Shota taking Eiji out of the car and pulling his constrained body like a trash bag was giving him the chills. Who were they to treat someone like this, to even plan on immuring a living being?
A hand landed on his shoulder and soft fingers caressed his nape, warming up his body and killing the headache growing in him.
“Ryo... If you want me to disappear or to die after this, I'll go. But... He's manipulating you. You're sharing the same blood, he knows the way to your heart and talks to it directly. It's not pity that you're feeling, it's just him playing with you. Please listen to me one last time... We have to do it. And we won't succeed without you.”
Ryo let himself fall backwards, just a little, enough to find contact with Ohkura's chest, vibrating with his deep voice. It felt once more perfect and his head followed the movement, falling softly on the other's shoulder.
“I'm sorry.” He whispered only for them, searching among the stars that were shining above them the luminous and burning eyes he'd fallen for. But he met only human orbs, of a brown so deep he could make out the remains of the roaring flames that had roamed them before.
Ohkura gave him a soft kiss in his hair, and doubt vanished completely, giving way to certainty.
“Alright. Let's do it.” Ryo said as he grabbed Eiji's feet, dragging him by himself and without much effort through the teeth of the mine-beast, despite all the struggle of his prisoner. Very soon the desperate screams of the tied up Immortal died swallowed in the stomach of the monster, after having gloomily echoed along its ruined walls.
****************
After one or two hours of uncertain walk deep inside the deserted tunnels of the mine, they found a small round vault that had to have been used as a break room when the site was buzzing with life. Its door was a solid twenty inches thick iron panel that grated on its hinges when they opened it. It looked strong enough to contain Eiji's fury, at least for a few days, the time needed to find some better solution.
“Are you going to leave me here??” He squeaked again, weakened by the blows he had received earlier and the panic that was invading him.
“That's the plan. Don't even try to escape, I'll be keeping an eye on you.”
Ryo had sounded a lot more assured than he was for real but Ohkura's encouraging look gave him enough strength to dare to tie the loose end of the chain to a stone pillar.
“That's so weak of you Ryo... When you could get rid of that liar and reign over the world with me as your mentor?! It's not too late, you can...”
“Enough!! Shut. Up!!” The slap that shut Eiji up was so powerful that his head hit the pillar behind him with a thud and he passed out again, weaker than he had ever been.
“We have to go guys. I suggest we find some breeze blocks, concrete or dynamite, I don't know, but something that will help to keep him here forever.” Shota said, fully back to his practical self.
“I'll take care of that. You two, go home. I'll … contact you.”
Ohkura's frown showed Ryo how fake he had just sounded. He couldn't act for the sake of his life, he knew it, but he had hoped that in the confusion, the other would have bought his lie.
“But, Ryo... Let's...”
“No. Tadayoshi, you need to rest. Look at you... You look so worn out. I'll come back. One day. You can stay at my place.”
“No... I'm not leaving you here...” Ryo had never heard Ohkura's voice so sad, so pleading and it broke his heart but he had made a decision. He needed to grow up as an Immortal, he had to take on his mission and his own feelings, his own pleasure were not important anymore.
So he walked to the other and threw his arms around him, holding Ohkura's trembling chest the tightest he could, against his heart.
“If we don't cry it will be easier, my love. Please don't cry...”
But it was too late. Ohkura's eyes were already full of tears and himself felt sobs climbing up his chest.
“Go! Please, Shota, take care of him, I beg you.”
The next thing he knew, his best friend was dragging Ohkura far from him by the hand, their silhouettes slowly disappearing in the darkness of the corridors. It was cold in there, so cold. He shivered suddenly and noticed that a little frost was forming on his shirt. Ryo turned and his eyes met Eiji, awake and smiling cunningly.
“It's about time. We're finally alone, Ryo.”
Author:
rainbowdots888
Pairings: Ryo x Ohkura
Rating: PG15
Length: Multi-Chapter
Words: 2366
Genre: AU, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Disclaimer: Too bad for me, I don't own these men... just these stories.
Summary: "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
Notes : In this chapter, Shota is talking about "Haikyo" that is the Japanese term for "ruin" but is also used to talk about the hobby of exploring abandoned places (Urbex). It's a particularly popular hobby and there are many abandoned places in Japan that are visited by Japanese youth / young adults but also tourists.
****************
The walls were shaking so hard that the hut could collapse anytime. The wind howled once again like a wounded wolf as Ryo was feeling life swell in his chest. He was raging mad, looking at Eiji through the steam that the melting ice was giving out, weirdly conscious of every tiny detail around him. The fluttering of a panicky moth's wings on the other side of the room, the tiny droplets of water dripping one by one, the ragged breaths coming out Ohkura's mouth, and the cracking of every wooden beam in the wobbly structure. It was a chaos of sounds and movements but despite his wrath he stayed motionless, gathering all the rage he could in one powerful feeling that could end everything.
Eiji moved ever so slightly, letting the edge of his blade caress Ohkura's nape without haste, cutting some of his thick hair in the process. Once a few black curls had fallen at his feet he stepped on them and smiled. The sword went up in the air in one swift movement, knocked a stalactite and fell again towards Ohkura's neck.
No!
Ryo thought, and everything slowed down around him. He took a step, then two and walked to Eiji's blade that he hit with a forceful kick. The sword went swirling in the thick air and fell to the ground with a chiming sound. Time caught up with him again and he jumped on Eiji, grabbing his neck with two hands, not really sure anymore how to stop the other. They fell to the floor and rolled together until they hit the nearest wall with such force that it cracked and let the wind come in, in whistling and strong gusts.
“Let me go, Ryo! You can't kill me! I'm your ancestor!” Yelled Eiji from where he was, trapped against the broken wall.
“If I can't kill you, I'll make sure you will never see the light of the sun again.” He whispered, certain that in spite of all the commotion, Eiji had understood every single word. And the face the other made confirmed his feeling. He could see the rage but also the fear moving the immortal features like waves of electricity, gradually destroying any faith Eiji could have had in himself. Ryo was obviously stronger and that was a surprise to both of them. He tightened his grasp on his enemy's neck until he felt his trachea bend like a plastic pipe under pressure. But despite the blue tinge of his lips and his panicked eyes, Eiji kept living throughout the torture without even fainting. Ryo felt the neck cracking under the tip of his fingers and it was suddenly too much, too violent, definitely not him at all, this fury and thirst for murder. He released his grip and rolled away from Eiji who coughed hard, taking in large gulps of air.
“See...” He boasted with a dangerous smile, “You can't do it! You can't!” His piercing laugh was cut by an astounding blow to his head and he fell, knocked unconscious. Ohkura was standing next to him, holding a heavy beam as easily as he would swing a baseball bat, his breath short but a determined look in his dark eyes.
“We could, together.” He blurted out before turning to Ryo and Shota who was still watching everything in dismay. “We have to do something now. Find a solution. He'll wake up soon, and our chances will be over.”
Ryo stood and ran to him, brushing Ohkura's bangs off his eyes and forehead.
“Are you okay, Tadayoshi? I... I couldn't let him... He almost killed you!”
“Stay focused, Ryo. Please. We have to lock Eiji up somewhere no one will ever find him.”
“I.... don't know... I....”
In Ryo's head the confusion was still reigning and he threw a helpless look at Eiji's limp body at his feet.
“There's an abandoned mine a few miles from here, on the road to Tokyo. It's really deep, and no one ever visits it. Too dangerous.” Shota's voice had sounded strangely assured all of a sudden, contrasting with the shock still visible on his face. “I've been there when I was younger and did Haikyo. Don't look at me like this, you two...”
“Alright so... I guess we have no other choice for now.” Ohkura added, as he started searching for anything he could use to fasten Eiji's limbs together, something strong enough to resist his Immortal strength. The small recess was full of ropes and tools but none of them were actually useful. Ryo helped him in his search for lack of something else to do: at least he'd stop thinking too much about what he had almost done, kill someone. Even if Eiji was the bad guy, even if Ryo had been a detective for years, he still couldn't take someone's life.
Ohkura has killed people.
He shook his head to get rid of the bloody images from Ohkura's memory that popped into his mind.
Yumi ?
“Found something!” Said the other, digging a heavy chain up from a corner of the room. The links were as big as his wrists and he winced under the weight of the metal but still pulled it with Shota's help until they could roll Eiji into it. It looked like the unconscious man was being strangled by a huge snake keeping him in its moving coils, breaking his bones at each turns it took around his chest and arms.
“Ryo... Help us, it's too heavy for two mortals like us.”
Did he kill Yumi to get to me?
“Ryo!” His shoulder was shaken and he came out of his daze again, before the concerned eyes of his companions.
“I... Yes. I'm sorry.”
The storm was still raging outside and the hut was bound to be destroyed shortly so they left the place without looking back, carrying their burden with pain. Ryo didn't really feel the weight but the two others, holding each one of Eiji's shoulders were struggling behind him.
The stars around were so bright they looked like thousands of lightning bugs close enough for him to touch. Antares was still shining high above his head and it somehow appeased him for a moment, relying on its warmth that reminded him of Ohkura's burning lips on him.
When they finally reached their vehicles, they threw the still unconscious Eiji in the trunk. Shota climbed behind the steering wheel and started the car.
“Tadayoshi... just a minute, please.” Ryo said grabbing the other's sleeve just before he climbed into the car in turn.
“Ryo...”
“I know, we don't have time, it's important and so on. But... I feel so bad. I don't know anymore. Tell me the truth.”
“The truth is... Oh Ryo...” Ohkura put a hand on the car, trying to support himself as his trembling legs started giving way under him. “The truth is that I desperately needed you for this task. You were happily married and oblivious of everything... The truth is that when she fell sick I rejoiced. Because I knew it was good for me and because I'd fallen for you. But I never did anything to her, I swear. I waited, yes, for you to mourn her properly but when you started behaving weirdly and Eiji approached, I did what I had to do. I started passing you the Gift. You were so eager, so strong... You are my miracle. I've been loving you for years, I've wanted you for years, I've waited for you. The only truth is that when Yumi died, I smiled.”
Ryo's heart burst in pain hearing that confession. His hand flew without his control and he slapped Ohkura who fell on his knees, shocked.
“Let's get rid of that scum. I'll decide about you later, Ohkura.” He concluded drily, climbing into the car and slamming its door.
*****************
The entrance of the mine was a gloomy construction, a sort of temple to the gods of stones, throwing its reinforced concrete built columns towards the sky like teeth ready to bite the starry night. Those fangs made of stone were stained with long smears of rusty water, giving Ryo the impression that the mine-beast had the blood of its last victim still dripping fresh out of its mouth.
Shota parked the car very close to it and killed the engine in silence. Ohkura left the compartment without a word, acting automatically as if he were a simple robot. His eyes had lost their light somewhere on the way to the mine, as he was mulling over Ryo's words. The latter could feel in his flesh all the pain coming from his lover, all the desperation and questions he didn't dare asking, but he was way too angry to speak. Way too afraid to stop sulking, to accept Ohkura as who he was for real.
They opened the trunk and found Eiji awake and afraid, trying to get rid of his chains.
“What are you going to do with me? Don't lock me up please, don't...” His voice sounded like a little boy's imploring the school's bullies and Ryo doubted. Again. Seeing Ohkura and Shota taking Eiji out of the car and pulling his constrained body like a trash bag was giving him the chills. Who were they to treat someone like this, to even plan on immuring a living being?
A hand landed on his shoulder and soft fingers caressed his nape, warming up his body and killing the headache growing in him.
“Ryo... If you want me to disappear or to die after this, I'll go. But... He's manipulating you. You're sharing the same blood, he knows the way to your heart and talks to it directly. It's not pity that you're feeling, it's just him playing with you. Please listen to me one last time... We have to do it. And we won't succeed without you.”
Ryo let himself fall backwards, just a little, enough to find contact with Ohkura's chest, vibrating with his deep voice. It felt once more perfect and his head followed the movement, falling softly on the other's shoulder.
“I'm sorry.” He whispered only for them, searching among the stars that were shining above them the luminous and burning eyes he'd fallen for. But he met only human orbs, of a brown so deep he could make out the remains of the roaring flames that had roamed them before.
Ohkura gave him a soft kiss in his hair, and doubt vanished completely, giving way to certainty.
“Alright. Let's do it.” Ryo said as he grabbed Eiji's feet, dragging him by himself and without much effort through the teeth of the mine-beast, despite all the struggle of his prisoner. Very soon the desperate screams of the tied up Immortal died swallowed in the stomach of the monster, after having gloomily echoed along its ruined walls.
****************
After one or two hours of uncertain walk deep inside the deserted tunnels of the mine, they found a small round vault that had to have been used as a break room when the site was buzzing with life. Its door was a solid twenty inches thick iron panel that grated on its hinges when they opened it. It looked strong enough to contain Eiji's fury, at least for a few days, the time needed to find some better solution.
“Are you going to leave me here??” He squeaked again, weakened by the blows he had received earlier and the panic that was invading him.
“That's the plan. Don't even try to escape, I'll be keeping an eye on you.”
Ryo had sounded a lot more assured than he was for real but Ohkura's encouraging look gave him enough strength to dare to tie the loose end of the chain to a stone pillar.
“That's so weak of you Ryo... When you could get rid of that liar and reign over the world with me as your mentor?! It's not too late, you can...”
“Enough!! Shut. Up!!” The slap that shut Eiji up was so powerful that his head hit the pillar behind him with a thud and he passed out again, weaker than he had ever been.
“We have to go guys. I suggest we find some breeze blocks, concrete or dynamite, I don't know, but something that will help to keep him here forever.” Shota said, fully back to his practical self.
“I'll take care of that. You two, go home. I'll … contact you.”
Ohkura's frown showed Ryo how fake he had just sounded. He couldn't act for the sake of his life, he knew it, but he had hoped that in the confusion, the other would have bought his lie.
“But, Ryo... Let's...”
“No. Tadayoshi, you need to rest. Look at you... You look so worn out. I'll come back. One day. You can stay at my place.”
“No... I'm not leaving you here...” Ryo had never heard Ohkura's voice so sad, so pleading and it broke his heart but he had made a decision. He needed to grow up as an Immortal, he had to take on his mission and his own feelings, his own pleasure were not important anymore.
So he walked to the other and threw his arms around him, holding Ohkura's trembling chest the tightest he could, against his heart.
“If we don't cry it will be easier, my love. Please don't cry...”
But it was too late. Ohkura's eyes were already full of tears and himself felt sobs climbing up his chest.
“Go! Please, Shota, take care of him, I beg you.”
The next thing he knew, his best friend was dragging Ohkura far from him by the hand, their silhouettes slowly disappearing in the darkness of the corridors. It was cold in there, so cold. He shivered suddenly and noticed that a little frost was forming on his shirt. Ryo turned and his eyes met Eiji, awake and smiling cunningly.
“It's about time. We're finally alone, Ryo.”