[FANFIC] [NnO] 100 Days (016 - 020)
Fandom: Nabari no Ou
Title: 100 Days
Author: nyanja14 (aka: Miss Fish, the_myrah)
Summary: VIOLET, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, EYE, VISION, IN SIGHT
Word Count: 1970
Rating: Teen, to be safe.
Warnings: character death, abuse, general angst, and boys having crushes on other boys
016: VIOLET (6/6)
Yoite dreamed again, though he did not remember what of upon waking. The only things leftover from the dream was a feeling of deep stillness and an image of Miharu, head bent under the weight of a heavy crown.
Miharu. He needed to see Miharu.
Yoite peeked out from under the covers, squinting at the clock on Yukimi’s dresser until the numbers sharpened. It was early, but the bus lines would be starting soon. If he caught the first bus, he could be in Banten by nine.
Yoite pushed himself upright. His arms trembled a little, but all in all he felt much improved compared to yesterday.
He stepped over Yukimi, snoring in a futon, and crept out of the bedroom. Gau was asleep on the couch, so Yoite pushed the creaky closet door open slowly. He fumbled in the darkness until he found a fresh set of clothes, then changed quickly in the bathroom.
He stepped into his shoes and was almost out the door when it occurred to him that he didn’t have any bus fare. Yukimi kept some bills and change inside a jar in the kitchen labeled FOR EMERGENCIES. This wasn’t exactly an emergency, but Yukimi had never said anything to Yoite about the money he’d lifted from it before, so Yoite figured he didn’t mind.
Yoite entered the kitchen, then stopped. Raikou was seated at the table, face buried in his hands. Yoite couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not. He hesitated, then edged carefully around the table and dipped his fingers into the jar. He stuffed the money into his coat pocket. He turned around and found Raikou watching him.
Yoite met his stare, body stiff. Raikou unnerved Yoite a little because he found the samurai extremely unpredictable. There was something… unstable about him, and Yoite had learned early in life to steer clear of those types of people.
Finally, Raikou broke the silence.
“Do you have your cellphone?”
Yoite nodded slowly.
“Be careful then.”
Yoite nodded again, then brushed the older man. He swept out of the kitchen, out of the apartment, and down the stairwell. He was tempted to run, but his lungs still hitched on every other breath. No matter. Yoite knew Miharu would be there, waiting.
017: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
He stretched his arm out, reaching as far as he could, but his fingers still just barely touched the shelf. He gave up and frowned. He already had a nice stack of books, but he really wanted to read this one. It was just his luck that it was tucked away on the top shelf. Maybe if he found another step stool and stuck it on top of this stool...
"Do you need help, sweetheart?"
He jumped and spun around at the interruption, nearly falling off of his perch. An older woman with a line-etched face smiled down at him. Sweetheart? He stared at her for a moment before blinking and remembering her question. "Yes, please."
She moved close and he couldn't help but stiffen. But the woman didn't touch him-- she just reached up and brushed her fingers against the book's spine.
"This one?"
He nodded and she tugged the book out and handed it to him.
"Thank you," he said, clamoring off of the stool and stacking the book with his other selections.
"Is you family new to town?" the woman asked suddenly.
He froze, still bent over the books. "...No," he answered cautiously.
The woman noticed his discomfort. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just that I work at the school, but I don't recognize your face."
He relaxed, but only a little. It was a small town with only two schools, so her explanation made sense. Still, he couldn't help but be nervous towards any stranger that loomed over him. "I'm sick," he explained, providing the answer that his father had drilled into him ever since he turned six. "So I study at home."
The woman glanced down at his library books skeptically. "You study trigonometry?"
He flushed. He had hardly grown at all in the last few years, so he knew he didn't look his age. Tsukasa was a head taller than him now. He'd never stood close enough to any of his other step-siblings to measure himself against him, but he knew that there were all older and taller than Tsukasa.
"I like math." He hefted the books off the floor, clenching them to his chest. "Thank you," he murmured again before walking towards the checkout counter.
"Have a nice day, sweetheart."
That word again. He paused and turned to look at the woman. She smiled and waved a little at him. He dipped his head in an awkward nod and then forced himself to continue forward.
No one had ever called him that before.
018: EYE (1/3)
The Shinrabanshou was here. There was no mistaking the wild aura twisting and pulsing around the boy. Yukimi and the others hadn’t noticed, but the ki dripping from Yoite’s body made him hypersensitive to people’s presences.
Yoite regarded the Shinrabanshou bearer carefully, trying to still his rapid thoughts. He could probably take the bearer now-from what little Yoite had observed of his battle skills it was obvious that the boy was largely untrained. But the man he’d engaged earlier was a different story. His unsealing technique was troublesome and he certainly wouldn’t let Yoite kidnap the Shinrabanshou without a fierce fight.
And much as Yoite hated to acknowledge it, he was tiring fast. The hijutsu was his only chance of fulfilling his goal. He couldn’t afford to be hasty.
Yoite raised his hand, mind made up. He fired a fragment of his ki, sinking it deep into the boy’s right eye. The best thing to do for now was to wait… and observe.
019: VISION (2/3)
Yoite had never tried to look through another’s eyes with kira before, but it had been mentioned in the technique’s scroll by a previous user. There was no reason to believe it wouldn’t work. Still he was a bit startled when he closed his eyes, reached for the thread tying him to the Shinrabanshou bearer, and suddenly found himself staring through the fingers of a small hand.
My hands used to be that small, he thought. And then, This is the hand that will free me.
But only if he was careful. So Yoite watched.
The connection was too draining to maintain continuously, so he let the vision fade in and out. Even those flashes were enough to determine that the boy was not safe. When the bearer was not staring at his textbook or out the window, he was catching quick glances of a weathered-looking man with hungry face.
Yoite couldn’t allow the Shinrabanshou to fall into some stranger’s hands.
As the bearer climbed stairs towards a family restaurant, Yoite climbed aboard the last bus running to Banten. By the time the boy was packing his backpack for another day of school, Yoite was lurking in an alley, ready to tail him. His body was tired, but his mind was so, so awake.
Who was that man? He had to be a ninja if he had an interest in the Shinrabanshou, but from what tribe? Some traitor in Banten? Iga, Fuuma? Or had the other tribes also learned the identity of the Shinrabanshou bearer?
Yoite didn’t know. He didn’t like not knowing; going into battle was never a good idea when you had zero information.
Then the hungry man made his move and Yoite’s anxiety transformed into anger.
He was seconds away from bursting into the gym when the girl with the katana crashed down from the ceiling. The strange, white-haired boy emeraged just after with a pair of kunai to the man's neck and Yoite knew the immediate danger had passed. But the rage that had rushed through him at the sight of the bearer's blood refused to be still.
He was almost glad when the ninja escaped.
Yoite followed the man. He was a panting, stammering mess, but just moments ago he had threathened Yoite's only wish. Maybe he would be a threat again. Maybe he would not. It did not matter to Yoite or his angry, pounding heart.
He approached the man from behind, then raised a finger to the back of his skull.
"The Shinrabanshou is mine."
020: IN SIGHT (3/3)
Yoite waited for the older woman to go to bed. He had no idea if she was a ninja or not, but there was no need for her to be involved. She tidied up the restaurant, flicked the lights, and headed up the stairs. She hadn’t even locked the door. Probably not a ninja then, Yoite decided. If she was aware of the world of Nabari, would she have left the Shinrabanshou so unprotected?
Not that a locked door would’ve done much to stop Yoite.
The two ninja that had protected the bearer at his school were much more cautious. They were upstairs with him now, he was pretty sure. The last time Yoite had looked through the bearer’s eye he was just doing his homework, but Yoite had seen them go into the restaurant and he hadn’t seen them leave.
Just two wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Yoite slipped into the restaurant and padded up the stairs quietly. The Shinrabanshou’s contorting presence was softer than it had been at the Fuuma’s village, but Yoite could still sense it around the bearer easily as he ascended. Next, the girl’s. A bit wild, but unremarkable in comparison to the bearer’s. Finally, Yoite felt the aura of that odd, pale boy. He’d noticed the strange stillness of his ki at the village, but he hadn’t had time to focus upon it then.
He stopped now at the top of the stairs. The boy's ki did flow, but sluggishly and almost resistant. Yoite had never felt anything like it before and he didn't know what to make of it.
Yoite did know that he could disrupt and manipulate the boy's ki and that was all that really mattered.
He was pressed up against the door of the bedroom, the girl's panicked voice clearly audible. Yoite needed a line of sight before he could fire. He touched the door knob, body tense and ready, but then he paused.
Was that... a fourth presence in the room?
It was so muted and dull that Yoite didn't think it could be human. But he'd never come into contact with an animal's aura that made an impression like this against his own leaking ki.
Yoite hesitated. He really hated going into a fight with an unknown variable like this. It was risky, and Yoite didn't have much life left to be taking lots of risks. However, that man with the formidable unsealing technique might be back before Yoite could get another shot at stealing the Shinrabanshou bearer away.
And the longer he stood out here, the more likely it would be that one of the ninja inside would feel him.
Yoite readied himself, then opened the door. He shot at the girl and the boy before they could even turn around and they slumped the floor listlessly. He searched for the fourth presence but only saw a white cat sitting beside the bearer at the desk. The cat hissed at him, ears flat against its head, but Yoite ignored it.
There was no one else. The Shinrabanshou bearer was his.
Yoite closed the remaining distance between himself and his prize. The boy started and looked up from his homework. His eyes met Yoite's, wide and scared for all his passive playacting.
Finally, Yoite's goal was in sight.
"Good evening."
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