Warning: Attention ladies and gentlemen.    We are descending into R Level.  I repeat: We are descending into R Level.  Hold onto your hats, grab your favorite plushie, and enjoy the ride. =P  

 

Ragnarok

The End is only The Beginning

 

 

            It stood silent.  The light gleamed off of its smooth surface, unable to uncover the horrors beyond.  Hisoka stood a few feet away, giving his opponent a wary look.

 

            “ ‘Cmon, Soka-chan!” Hotaru called out.  “We’ll be late!”

 

            It was, in truth, the girls’ locker room door.  This, Hisoka decided, was the end of the charade.  There was no possible way to change into the female uniform – which was far too revealing in his opinion – without blowing his cover.  The only problem was, he didn’t have a valid excuse to not dress out.

 

            “Kurosaki-san!” A voice called out

 

            “That’s Hikari-sensei,” Kageko stated, noticing the empath’s blank look.  “She’s our gym teacher.”

 

            “Ah.”  He watched the petite woman screech to a halt before them, mildly winded from her impromptu jog.

 

            “I am sooooooooooo sorry, Kurosaki-san!” She exclaimed, bowing slightly before raising her gray eyes to meet his.  “I completely forgot!”

 

            “ ‘Forgot’?” Hisoka echoed, completely confused.

 

            Hikaru nodded, blushing slightly from embarrassment.  “Your guardian called and explained your…situation.  Here.”  She shoved a boy’s uniform into his arms.  “I wrapped the key to the nearby bathroom in there – you should be able to change in privacy.”

 

            An embarrassing and effective solution to his problem.  Hisoka could feel the stares from multiple eyes on his back.  The air was alive with speculation and suspicion, the emotions sliding around his skin like warm water.  Voices buzzed behind him, but he was already too far away to understand them.

 

            The gym teacher said she knew his ‘situation’.  Did that mean his real situation, or was she told something else?  If it had been something else, Hisoka fervently hoped Tatsumi had played his guardian – he couldn’t even begin to imagine what weird excuses his coworkers could have come up with.

 

            There was something else, however, that bugged Hisoka even more.  How did an all girls school happen to have a boy’s uniform lying around?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

            This book, Watari decided, promised to be one of the most entertaining and fascinating non-fiction books he had obtained.  The tale hinted by the book was almost surreal, and the wording archaic.  Ragnarok was older than he had first presumed, and exceedingly hard to translate.  He glanced down at the paper in his hand.  It had been three days – three days had been necessary to translate the few pages of the beginning.

 

According to official documents, the angel commander to the Griffin Division, Hiketsu, is a traitor.  He has been accused with treason and other such crimes, cast out of all heavenly realms, and hunted by those who once knew him.  He is now known as a Fallen Angel.  There are even rumors, at the time this was written, that Hiketsu has been killed on Earth.

 

The story within these pages is very different.  While Hiketsu is indeed a Fallen Angel, he is not a traitor.  On the contrary, he is one of those that sacrificed the most during the latest Ragnarok.  I was privileged to work with him personally, and thus I feel obligated to defend him from the slander mistaken as fact.

 

This is the true story of the last Ragnarok.  This is Hiketsu’s story.

                                      - Kigaru

 

         Only one important question remained.  How was this related to Tsuzuki and Bon?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

       Birds called to each other from different trees in the park.  A cool, gentle breeze soared through the grass and trees alike, gently tugging on Tsuzuki’s black trench coat before starting its invisible dance again.

 

         The Shinigami took long, unhurried strides as he walked down the dirt path – files in one hand, a bag of pastries in the other.  He passed benches filled with kindergarten children and mother, lawns littered with both sakura petals and relaxed salary men.

 

         It took some time before he found an empty bench.  A gaggle of preschoolers ran around nearby, laughing and screaming.  Tsuzuki smiled as he set the brown bag beside him – unlike his partner, who liked solitude, he was most comfortable in populated areas, the places that fairly thrummed with life.

 

         His smile faded as he opened the case file, slowly slipping into what Hisoka had once silently dubbed “mission mode”.  The first page was simply a plain, white paper bearing the victim’s statistics.

                    

Name: Mitsuu Sumeragi

Sex: Female

Age: 19

Time of Death: 11:32 AM

Cause of Death: Demon Attack; Strangulation

Status: Soul Missing

 

 

         Tsuzuki ate as he read through the brief overview and the medical report.  He skillfully avoided the pictures clipped to the other side of the folder.  After all, he didn’t want to waste the food he bought in case the photos were gruesome enough to make him ill.

 

         Ninety minutes passed, Tsuzuki only vaguely aware of the children departing, leaving him in solitude.  The food long since devoured and the files finally finished, he flipped back to the beginning to look at the photos.

 

         The first thing he saw was Hisoka.  His purple eyes widened and his breath caught as he tightened his grip on the file, his knuckles turning white.  No, not Hisoka.  The figure in the pictures was supposed to have been female, and her long hair was ebony black.  Her eyes, though, wide and blank and unseeing, brought a twinge of pain in his chest – they were the exact same hue as his partner’s.

 

         He crushed down an irrational urge to check on Hisoka, to simply make sure.  The boy was still in school and already annoyed – Tsuzuki was not eager to get a particularly vindictive lashing from the rough side of the teenager’s tongue.  He focused his attention back on the photos, turning slightly ill.

 

         The figure in the picture had not died easy. 

 

         There were thin, red lines around her neck where the claws of the demon had torn through.  Her blouse had been shredded into thin strips, an activity which had to take time.  Tsuzuki winced; he could almost feel the terror of this woman as she had been stripped by a figure from nightmares.

 

         A gapping hole stood present just above her left breast – her heart had been torn out.  The scientists on the case concluded that it had been eaten.  There was very little blood around the wound; the presence of saliva indicated that the demon had most likely drunk as much as he could hold.

 

         The wounds below were even more horrifying.  The skin over the abdomen had been completely devoured, and a large portion of the major organs missing.  The leftovers were unidentifiable, completely shredded into a pulpy, glistening mash.

 

         Her skirt was pushed up, bunching into cramped folds around her hips.  She had not been allowed dignity, even in death.  Her inner thighs had been eaten away to the bone.  Tsuzuki’s knuckles whitened.  The last wound had been something completely unnecessary – it was nothing more than a derogatory gesture.

 

         Sad, purple eyes gazed into the sky as he gently put the photo away.  The entire thing had been unnecessary, really, especially the torture she was reported to have gone through both before and after death.

 

         Tsuzuki stood, stretching the kinks out of his muscles from sitting too long.  It was time to pick Hisoka up from school.  His lips twitched as he tried to imagine the day his partner had to go through.

 

         If it had been anyone else the brunet would have brought sweets along to cheer them up – but the empath pretended to hate them.  Not that he minded of course – it simply meant more for him.

 

         Tsuzuki grinned as he retraced his footsteps along the path.  Perhaps he would buy some sweets after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

            If it weren’t considered such an undignified gesture, Hisoka would have bolted out of the classroom door as soon as the bell rang.  Instead, he stood up and calmly gathered his books.

 

            The young empath could hear the buzz of whispers start up as soon as he entered the hallway.  By the end of the day, multiple theories about his conversation with the gym teacher had sprung up among his fellow students.  Fortunately, none of the rumors he overheard were even close to the truth.

 

            “ ‘Soka-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan~!”  Hotaru’s gleeful cry rebounded through the front courtyard of the school.  The voice was quickly followed by the hyper girl herself.  She stopped a few, mere inches in front of him, a small dust cloud forming behind her.  “Is it true? Is it true?  Is it really really true, ‘Soka-chan?”

 

            “Is what true?” He snapped, irritable.

 

            “Is it really true that you have an abusive boyfriend?”

 

            His eyes widened as Hisoka was caught off guard.  That was one rumor he hadn’t heard.  Hotaru started sniffling, taking his silence as confirmation.  She leapt forward, hugging him.  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  Poor ‘Soka-chan!”

 

            The physical contact broke the empath out of his shock.  “Whaaaaaaaaaat?  I do not have a boyfriend!”  He started to pry her off, blushing furiously.  At the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’, Tsuzuki had come to mind.  He viciously crushed that train of thought before it got any further – now was not the time to think of things like that.

 

            A hand flashed out, grabbing Hotaru by the collar and prying her off of her victim.  She pouted, looking up.  “Awww, Kageko!  I was simply trying to give ‘Soka-chan a hug!”

 

            “And choking the poor girl to death while you were at it,” Kageko commented dryly, pointing to Hisoka’s red face.  He opened his mouth to protest and then closed it – telling them the truth would bring many unwanted consequences.

 

            “Hisoka, you okay?  You look all red.”  The blond in question stiffened – Tsuzuki always had the worst timing.

 

            “Hmmmmmmmmm…”  Hotaru circled around the brunet, inspecting him from all sides.  Tsuzuki kept a politely curious eye on her, but otherwise did nothing.  She wasn’t threatening him, and while her stares made him nervous they didn’t creep him out like Muraki’s did.

 

            The inspection finished, she frowned, looking over at Hisoka.  “ ‘Soka-chan, your boyfriend doesn’t seem abusive at all!  He reminds me more of a huggable teddy bear!”

 

            Kageko let out a snort of laughter and Tsuzuki raised an eyebrow, his eyes twinkling.  Hisoka spluttered, his jaw working frantically with silent denials.  It took him a full minute to find his voice.  “He is not my boyfriend!”

 

            Hotaru tilted her head to the side.  “Oh?  But he’s not related to you – the two of you look nothing alike.”  She nodded solemnly, as if reaching a sudden, important decision.  Patting his shoulders a few times – oblivious to his flinch – she gave him a conspiratorial wink.  “It’s okay, ‘Soka-chan, your secret is safe with me!”

 

            Hisoka eyed her warily.  “What secret?”

 

            “That you’re dating without parental permission!”  Tsuzuki’s lips twitched and Hisoka gaped, caught off guard.  Hotaru continued on, oblivious.  “This is just like a shoujo manga – a regular Romeo and Juliet!  Two people, desperately in love but denied eachother by societal rules and unfeeling relatives!”  She clasped her hands together, stars glowing in her eyes as she squealed.  “It makes my heart race simply thinking about it!”

 

            Hisoka blushed, ducking his head in embarrassment.  Hotaru’s ranting had drawn a huge crowd, the spectators forming a semi-circle around the group of four.  The faint, muted amusement he could feel from Tsuzuki and Kageko wasn’t helping, either.  He opened his mouth to – once again – deny everything, but a sudden arm draping itself leisurely around his shoulders cut him off.

 

            Tsuzuki sighed dramatically, bringing his partner closer.  “It seems she’s found us out, Hisoka.  I guess we’re to obvious.”

 

            Hisoka froze, completely forgetting to squirm out of his partner’s embrace.  What?

 

            By the heightened murmurs in the crowd and the incredulous look on Kageko’s face, he wasn’t the only one asking the same question.  The raven-haired girl eyed Tsuzuki.  “You can’t be serious.”  Her tone was neutral, but he could feel a twinge of bitterness – a twinge so subtle, he had almost missed it in his shocked state.

 

            Tsuzuki nodded, looking remorseful.  “Though it’s not Hisoka’s parents that are the problem,” he continued, ignoring his partner’s pain-promising glare.  “You see, Hisoka’s ashamed of dating an older man.”

 

            Hotaru gasped, then gave the empath a reprimanding glare.  “ ‘Soka-chan!  How can you be so insensitive?”

 

            Kageko snorted again then grabbed Hotaru by the arm, dragging her off.  “Hey!  I’m not done lecturing ‘Soka-chan!”

 

            She gave the hyper schoolgirl a significant look.  “We have work, remember?”

 

            What came next was one of the strangest things Hisoka had ever sensed.  It was almost as though someone had flipped a switch.  Hotaru’s exuberance and cheerfulness dimmed as they were tainted with the shadows of darker emotions.  Her tense shoulders loosened as her entire body relaxed.  “Oh, I nearly forgot!”  But even the energy in her voice seemed subdued.  “Bye, Hi-chan!”

 

            Hisoka frowned, staring at the duo’s departing backs as he allowed Tsuzuki to draw him away.  The change over Hotaru had been fast – way too fast.  It was impossible for a human’s emotions to switch that fast.  In fact, his empathy was telling him that the schoolgirl had transformed into a completely different person.

 

            The blond snorted, ignoring Tsuzuki’s curious glance.  Another person?  His brain must have fried due to overexposure with his partner – the idea was completely idiotic!

 

            And speaking of his partner…

 

            As they rounded the corner Hisoka shrugged off Tsuzuki’s arm, spinning around to pin the older man with a glare.  The brunet started to sweat.  “Now, Hisoka…”

 

            Hisoka twitched, indulging himself with a luxury he rarely allowed himself to have: he acted on impulse.

 

            Tsuzuki yelped, clutching his leg as the blond walked off, feeling completely satisfied.  Seeing his partner’s retreating back, the brunet hobbled after him as best he could.

 

            “Hisoka!” He wailed.  “I was only joking!  You didn’t have to kick me!”

 

 

 

Author’s Notes ~ I think I should tell all of you this: I am not happy with this chapter.  When I was writing it I thought it was just fine, but by the time I finished typing I just felt some sort of wrongness from it.

 

            Besides the daemon. ^_-

 

            My beta reader concurs – she, too, feels there is something lacking.  *Scratches head*  Maybe I was just having an off time, what with college acceptances and scholarships and stuff.  *Shrugs*  I looked this over, both before and after Ryou, but I really can’t think of a way to fix this.  But chapter 6 will be better – I promise!  I’m very happy with the way its coming out right now.

 

            And I would like your opinion – what do you think about sidestories?  Because I might write some from time to time for Ragnarok – stories that occur in that “universe”, but can’t really fit with the main plot.  I actually already have one in mind – a sidestory that fits inbetween chapters 6 & 7.  The question, then, is this (for those reading at FF.net and Mediaminer.Org): Should I have the sidestory uploaded with the rest of Ragnarok?  Or, should I have it uploaded as a separate story, indicating that it’s a sidestory in the description?  Because it’s going to be a lot longer than my chapters – and purely about Watari and Tatsumi. 

 

            You decide.