Nino walked tiredly into the room where Matsu appeared to be relaxing in a chair. The white haired man looked back at his black haired counterpart and nodded quietly. “You look about as alive as the ghosts we hunt,” Matsu said in a calm but light voice. However, after another moment, his face drew into a serious manner as though he were unable to truly laugh at such a statement. Nino said nothing but moved to a desk and sat down on it. Placing his forehead complacently on the desk itself, the dark haired man said nothing but just breathed in. “I see,” Matsu answered back moving down to the floor and leaning up against the wall not far off. “Me too,” he answered after another moment. “How about we catch some sleep then?” However, there was no response to this last comment, and as yellow eyes met the top of the head of the sleeping Nino, Matsu let out a sigh and allowed a light smile to cares his lips before he relaxed and closed his eyes. In that moment, both men were asleep.
Nino’s dreams were racked with the sounds of something far off and unknown. He stood in the wasteland once more staring off into the nothingness around him as the screams of something dead continued to echo in the air. The wind was dead, and the land was in a damned nature all together. Trees cracked and appeared on the brink of falling apart, and the sky itself was a blood red reflection of sharp detesting format that one gives something he hates. However, nothing around him fazed the dark haired Nino. He had seen it all before in his dreams and waking dreams. Nothing was new in this scene.
“Nino,” a quiet voice said from behind the dark haired man. Nino’s eyes shot to the side, and he stepped to the side to turn and stare at the woman staring at him from behind. Seeing that he had heard her, the young woman, still in her teen years but carrying a look of frozen animation, forced a smile on her face. However, her dark hair seemed almost to clash with her light visage. “Hey there,” the woman said after another moment. “Been a while.”
Nino said nothing but turned around again and started to walk through his red wasteland. There was nothing for the dark haired man to say to the woman, and he knew it. However, just as he was taking a few steps away, a hand reached forwards and seized Nino’s arm. “Please listen… at least for a bit,” the girl said quietly almost to herself. “I… don’t blame you, Nino. You know that…”
Nino continued to say nothing but pulled his arm from the fingers that clasped it and continued walking. Yet once again, another hand seized his shoulder. “Listen to me!” the young woman’s voice was still light but had such a strong force in it that Nino sighed outwards and allowed himself to stop once more.
“I didn’t come here to seek your sorrow, Aoi,” Nino said darkly causing the hand that had held him to release again. “Leave me alone.” The young woman pulled her arms close to her and wrapped them around herself. Shaking her head after a moment, she let out a sigh that somehow echoed in the still air. Suddenly, a current of air seemed to move through the trees. The shaking caused several branches to fall, and yet they made no sound as they hit the ground.
“I didn’t come here to see you like this, Nin,” the brown haired girl said after another moment as she averted her eyes completely. “I came because….”
“I’ll continue forwards,” Nino answered back. “And I will never stop. I will not stop until the demons are dead, the ghosts have left this world, and I am dead.”
“You’ll only make yourself suffer……” Aoi said in a voice that almost reflected her own suffering on the manner. “Please…..”
“I chose this, and I’ll keep it,” Nino answered back as he started to walk again. “I will walk this earth for a million years until I finish what was started.”
“I…. know,” Aoi answered back quietly. “But… your… friends…Mat-”
“Matsujun knows what he is doing as well,” Nino reflected.
“What of Ryuu, Emiko, and Aisling? Are they not….” the brown haired woman broke off as if unable to say the words that finished the sentence.
“No,” Nino answered. “They have nothing to do with this. They are just kids.”
“You say that like…. You’re not one yourself…”
“I chose this path I will walk.”
“Good-bye then…Nino…..”
The air picked up once more behind the dark haired man, and yet he did not look back for a second and continued to walk into the abyss in front of him. There was no reason to look back, and Nino fought to keep his face straight and his eyes forwards. “Bye…” the dark haired man said quietly to himself as he walked down towards the oncoming darkness.
~*~
Matsujun slept lightly and he tensed in his own dreams before him for half a second before relaxing again. His dreams were nothing like his dark haired companion and were representative of green grass and a hill that he was staring upwards at. A light smile was on his face as the light haired looked up at it. “Jun! Jun!” a voice called causing the white haired man to turn his head and look to see a young girl wearing a strange mix of clothing between a dress and pants running up to him waving one arm and smiling lightly at him. As the girl got closer, she appeared to take on a taller look and was soon almost staring down at him.
“Matsujun!” she finally said lightly as she stopped and stood in front of him. Bending over and almost appearing to catch her breath, the young girl stood up once more and put her hands behind her head beaming at him lightly. “Have you seen Nin today?” the young girl asked the light haired boy who was staring back at her and was about her age.
“He went with Aiba to the temple earlier,” Matsu answered lightly hearing his own voice reflect the words that he had thought about many times before. The girl seemed to puff up at this statement almost in agitation. “Why?” she almost demanded as she crossed her arms. “I wanted to play the best prank on him….”
“Aoi, you and Nino are both terrible,” Matsu sighed to himself shaking his head.
“It’ not my fault he gets angry and cries so much,” Aoi laughed back. “It’s so much fun to tease him!”
Matsu shook his eleven year old head lightly. “You just like making people cry in general…” he answered, but as he said this, the light haired boy noticed that the girl he had been talking to had disappeared from in front of him. Suddenly two fingers were in his mouth and being pulled on either side. The white haired boy flinched.
Aoi, who now stood behind the light haired boy, laughed lightly and continued to stretch the sides of Matsu’s face. “Who says I like making people cry?” she asked sharply. “I make you smile! See?” She pulled harder on the sides of Matsu’s face to the point the boy starting making large facial expressions of unassured pain. After a moment, the young girl released Matsu’s face and returned to stand in front of him. “You need to smile more,” she said sharply putting her hands on her hips and taking a determined look. “You’re Hiawai aren’t you?” she demanded as the brown haired girl turned her head to one side. “Light should smile more. Especially around Nino… he needs it ya know,” she said sharply again.
“One, I am not Hiawai, I’m Matsujun,” Matsu answered back shaking his head at the girl in front of him. However, after another moment, he sighed. “But ya I know, I know. I’m trying.”
“Good,” Aoi answered as though she had settled something of great importance. “Now where is Sho? Don’t tell me he went off to the temple too!”
~*~
The dark haired man’s eyes shot open as someone entered the room. Everyone was still asleep, and yet Nino could hear someone moving down the hallway. He made no motion to get up, but his eyes moved down to see Matsu still sleeping against the wall near his desk. However, the white haired man appeared to be clinging a white rabbit stuffed animal as he slept. Raising an eyebrow, Nino was about to question this but decided against it. The dark haired man let out a sigh to himself before starting to hear the steps come closer once more and closing. As a woman opened the door and started inwards, Nino forced himself up and stared for a moment quietly at her.
“I’m Ryuu’s sister,” the woman said after a moment making a motion towards a sleeping Ryuu. “I’m guessing you’re one of his friends?”
Nino said nothing for a moment but closed his eyes and nodded to himself. Appearing to understand this motion or interpreting it to some effect that it was still early in the morning and Nino was just tired, the woman went over to wake Ryuu. Nino moved around the desk and then moved down shaking Matsu lightly by the shoulder. The white haired man’s eyes flickered open, and he looked around as if stunned for a full second.
Nino stood again and started walking out the door. “Hey, if you’re one of Ryuu’s friends, get him to find you later and you can eat dinner with us,” the woman whose name Nino still did not know answered back. “ My name is Takara by the way.”
Nino nodded again and looked back for a moment. “Nino,” he answered before starting out of the room.
Matsu shook his head sleepily as though not quite sure of what to expect, but after another moment, he forced himself to stand and looked as complacently as he could at Takara. “Sorry, it’s still early, and I’m sure Nino is just tired,” he said lightly. “We’d better be heading out, my name is Matsujun by the way. Most people just call me Matsu though.”
After another moment, Matsu made a quick bow and started out of the room and off towards Nino who was walking down the hall quietly. Matsu caught up easily enough and started walking alongside Nino. “I had a dream last night,” Matsu began.
“Aoi,” Nino answered back. The one word between them was enough, and both men as though psychic of their own accord knew what the other was thinking.
“If Aoi’s essence has come into our dreams,” Matsu began.
“Enough,” Nino said darkly back. “She hasn’t come back.”
“Are you denying the shamistic linkages?” Matsu said as his voice suddenly dropped an octave from its light kindness.
“No,” Nino answered back. “But we both know the limits of ghosts that have passed on.”
Suddenly both men froze. Nino’s eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed again. Standing directly at the end of the hall, Aiba stood with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.
“Well if this doesn’t make things interesting,” Matsu smirked to himself. “Hello Aiba, been a while.”
“Little brother,” Nino glared.
~*~
“I thought you would be happier to see me,” Aiba commented as he looked back at Nino and Matsu. “It took me months to track you guys down. You don’t stay in one place too long do you?”
Nino said nothing but leered back at Aiba. Aiba just smirked back defiantly as if daring his older brother to do something on the matter. Matsu kept his face complacent and happy. Bridging his fingers, the white haired man turned his head to one side and continued to smile at Aiba. “We were just about to get breakfast,” he said lightly. “I was thinking of cooking some sweet rice and eggs. Won’t you join us?”
“Nice to see ya, but no thanks, I already ate breakfast,” Aiba answered. “We have to talk.” Aiba’s eyes were directly aimed at Nino, but the dark haired man said noting. Instead of doing or saying anything, Nino started walking down the hall again as if nothing had disturbed his pace before and continued walking right past Aiba. The younger brother tried to make a sudden motion to inhibit his older brother’s passing, yet it was to no avail. “Get back here Nino!” Aiba shouted, yet it didn’t seem to faze the dark haired man in the least. Matsu let out a sigh seeing Nino walk off once more down the hallway but quickly forced a smile and stared at Aiba.
“Nino’s not really in the mood to talk…” Matsu half laughed rubbing the back of his head lightly. “But you can come back with us if you want.”
“Why are you guys staying in one place for so long?” Aiba asked. “What’s so special about this place?”
“Demons, spirits, other ghost hunters,” Matsu said lightly raising a finger for each one he named off. “You name it, we have it.”
“Demons?” Aiba said suddenly taking a step back but then forcing himself forward again. “Are they around now?”
“No,” Matsu answered back. “Ryoen was around earlier though.”
Aiba’s eyes seemed to take on a fearful look for a moment, but he forced them into a determined look that then reflected into a defeated look. “Sorry I wasn’t there,” he answered averting his eyes.
“It’s not your fault,” Matsu smiled lightly. “We fought him and the young air mistress off last night. We have a special Moratorium walking around as well.”
“A Moratorium?” Aiba answered back. “But they’re bad.”
“Oh now, now,” Matsu sighed to himself. “You’ll see if you ever meet him. Anyways, here’s the apartment number if you want to find us at a better time.”
“Ya… thanks,” Aiba answered back with somewhat of a defeated look on his face. Suddenly, the dark haired boy jumped as if startled. Matsu turned his head to one side, and Aiba laughed somewhat nervously. “It’s nothing….” Aiba laughed rubbing the back of his head. “I’ll catch you guys later.”
“Alright, farewell then,” Matsu answered turning down the hall and following after the dark hared Nino.
~*~
Aiba let out a quick breath catching his startled heart. The dark haired boy reached into his pocket and produced his older brother’s cell phone. Aiba had managed to steal it as he brushed up against and tried to stop Nino from passing him. Looking at the new message on the phone, Aiba read the text carefully. It read as follows: There is a haunting ghost at the hospital. Please look into it. Aiba raised one eyebrow as if debating whether or not to go after it or not. Suddenly appearing to take on a sense of strange determination, Aiba pumped himself up and all but waves his arms in the air sharply. “I’ll show him!” Aiba said aloud suddenly putting his hands over his mouth and looking up and down the hall to make sure that no one had noticed this sudden jump in him. Thankfully there appeared to be no one in the halls. Starting down the hall, Aiba walked out of the school and looked around.Now where the heck is the hospital? Aiba wondered to himself.
__________________________________________________________________
Who is Aoi? What does she want? Where are Nino and Matsu going? What will happen to Aiba as he looks for the hospital? Why am I asking all these questions? I have no idea. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.
