***********************************************
3x3 Eyes Fanfiction - "What If ... TOMIE"
Written by: Mr. Kaiyanwang
Email: Mr_Kaiyanwang@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/mr_kaiyanwang
***********************************************

Copyright info: The cast of "3x3 Eyes" belongs to Yuzo Takada, Pioneer, and other copyright 
holders. The character "Tomie" belongs to Junji Ito and other assorted copyright holders.


"Rebirth" - Chapter 2


About half an hour later, Yougekisha's dark blue van pulled up in the driveway of Black 
House. Yakumo had another uneasy feeling a few minutes ago when he drove into the dark, 
abandoned neighborhood. The entire place had a haunted feeling in it, probably the result of 
no one having came here for quite sometime. But it was normal though, since everybody has 
said that they felt something when they spoke about this neighborhood. Layers of snow 
covered the ground and almost all of the houses... except for Black House itself. 

As Yakumo climbed out of the van, he noticed something very unusual on the ground... foot 
prints! He looked at the prints, and found them to be coming from the house - it was as if 
someone had walked out in left. But how could that be? Fujii was sure that he was the only 
person to step into this neighborhood in months, perhaps even years. Pranksters? No way, even 
punks were intimidated by the eerie feeling that one gets just from looking at the 
neighborhood. This... was very weird. 

Slamming the door to the van, Yakumo began his way towards Black House. At that precious 
moment, his heart began to race, and even sweat slowly poured from his head. It was that 
feeling again! It felt as if someone was stabbing at him, telling him to step back. He shook 
his head, trying to clear up whatever the hell that was. Fujii continued his way, and a few 
seconds later, he was inside the mansion. 

Even in broad daylight, the house was eeriely dark and frightening. The smell of death - a 
smell which Yakumo was all too familiar with, was ever so present. As was the smell of blood. 
Yakumo felt around the wall next to him for a light switch... nope, nothing. Well, looks like 
he'll have to get his flashlight in the van. 

Walking out of the house, Fujii gasped in shock as he saw someone standing in front of him -- 
it was that girl from earlier!! But how? Yakumo was obviously confused; how did she get here? 
Did she follow him? She must have, but how did she know where he was going? And how did she 
manage to catch up with his van?! Even more odd was that she already had a flashlight ready 
in her hand?!?! 

"We never did introduce each other properly, Fujii-kun." she spoke in an eerie tone. "My 
name is Tomie Kawakami. I've got the flashlight you needed." 

Yakumo felt uneasy again at the sound of her name. Tomie Kawakami? He could've sworn that he 
had heard that name from somewhere before... but where? In any case, he shook his head to 
clear it again, then took the flashlight from her. "Thanks for the flashlight, I guess. How'd 
you know I needed it?" 

Tomie smirked in response. It was the same strange smirk from earlier; full of eerie and.. 
evil? "Anybody would need a light if they were to go into Black House," she said matter-of
-factly, in a tone as if she had been therre before. 

"Makes sense, I guess." Yakumo said as he scratched his head - he was obviously still a bit 
confused, but never mind that. Tomie really shouldn't be in this cold neighborhood - it 
wasn't safe for someone like her. "Listen, I don't know how you got here, but you should 
really get home, Tomie. It's very dangerous here." 

Tomie only smirked strangely again. Her eyes had a weird glow in it; it was as if she knew 
something but wouldn't say what. "Oh, but are you willing to drive me home?" she asked, 
almost in a mocking tone as she stared deep into Yakumo's eyes. "It would be really dangerous 
for a young girl like myself to walk home alone. But I'm sure you know all about that." 

Yakumo could only look at her curiously in reply. True, she did have a point, but he was not 
about to take her with him inside Black House. No way. He sighed and smiled. "Yeah, you're 
right. But I've got a job to do, so I can't drive you home just yet. Why don't you stay out 
here while I'll go inside and take some pictures? I'll be back in a few minutes." 

"So you want me to be a target by staying here?" Tomie asked sarcasticly, taking Yakumo off 
by surprise. Her new attitude made her seem really different from the indifferent, quiet Tomie 
from this morning. It was almost as if she was schizophrenic or something. 

"Well, I can't risk you going inside with me. Who knows what's in there?" 

"But you're going, aren't you?" she insisted in a stubborn tone. "If anything happens, I'll 
have you to protect me." 

Yakumo scratched his head, trying to figure out and decide which course of action was better; 
her staying out, or her going into the house with him? Unfortunately, he never did get the 
chance to choose. While Fujii wasn't paying attention, Tomie ran inside the house before he 
could notice.

"Hey!" he called as she ran inside and disappeared into the darkness. Having no choice, he 
quickly ran after her and into the mansion. Inside, he turned on the flashlight and looked 
around. He saw chipping black paint on the walls, with red stain all over them. The same red 
stains were on the steps on the staircase, and a big smudge of it in the center of the first 
floor, right under a black leather chair. Yakumo flashed his flashlight at the chair, and it 
was then that he noticed there were a few visible strands of hair on it. 

"So some of Monkey's stories were true after all," he said to himself as he noted the red on 
the leather chair. He recalled that one particular chilling story his friend told him about 
how one resident went insane and killed his guest by decapitation, and how he stabbed the rest 
of her body over and over again. It was gory at its best. Thinking of the story caused Yakumo 
to shiver - even if he had experienced the same thing himself to some degree. 

Yakumo moved his flashlight around the lobby, looking for any signs of Tomie. How did she run 
so fast that even HE couldn't catch her? There was something seriously wrong with that girl, 
and Yakumo began to wonder if he did the right thing this morning. He continued his search, 
but he could not find anything. Perhaps she was on the second floor? Only one way to find out, 
and he did so by climbing the staircase. 

The steps creeked as he put weight on it - would they be stable enough to hold him? Fujii 
took another step, the it creeked again. With one hand holding the flashlight, he placed the 
other on the handrail... and felt something cold and wet. He flashed the palm of his hand with 
a light and found it covered in red liquid. 

"I think I'm gonna throw up." he commented as he wiped the blood off his hand on the handrail. 
However, this action only caused his hand to get even more dirty. He sighed and continued his 
way up. It was then that he noticed his shoes were starting to feel squishy and slippery - 
almost as if he was walking on a mopped floor. Shining his flashlight onto the ground, he 
gasped at what he saw -- a wet trail of blood, flowing down in a small stream as if somebody 
had just slaughtered a cattle right there and then. 

By the time Yakumo got to the second floor, he noticed that the stream was getting deeper and 
deeper within every step... and that it came from the second room down the hall. Now that was 
odd - why would there be a trail of apparent fresh blood flowing from that room?? Now he was 
curious, and he decided tocheck out the room. With each step, the sound of 'splash! splash!'
can be heard. And then suddenly... 

CLING! 

What was that?! Yakumo was startled by that sound he just heard. It was the sound of a metal 
object being dropped to the floor... perhaps it was a knife? The sound came from the same 
place that the trail of blood did-- the second room down the hall. By now, he was sure that 
something must be happening in there, and didn't wait around to find out. 

"Come out, Shou-Rin!" Yakumo said as he summoned the strange skateboard-like creature that 
immortal magic users like himself uses for transport. It appeared out of nowhere and were 
right under his feet. And just like the prototype the creature was probably modeled after, 
Yakumo used it and sped down the hall. Within seconds, he was standing in front of the 
entrance to the second room. And he could not believe his eyes. 

Hovering in the air and screeching was a disgusting monster. Its entire body was covered in 
gray short fur, with a long tail that was unlike a rat's. Sticking out and flapping furiously 
from its back were two giant bat-like wings. But it was not these features that startled 
Yakumo; he had already seen much worse. What was eerie and downright chilling was the fact 
that the creature had a head and face... a human being's head and face. And not just any face, 
either - it was that of Tomie's. 

Or a parody of Tomie's face, anyway. The face had strands of Tomie's delicate black hair 
flowing on top of its head; it had a nose and mouth identical to that of the real Tomie, and 
its eyes... there were eye sockets, yes, but no eyeballs. The entire face was also rotting, 
as pieces of skin and flesh fell to the floor as it struggled to fly in the air. 

Standing a few feet away from the monster was the real Tomie herself. She had a scorn on her 
face, glaring at and only at the monster above. Yakumo noticed that the left sleeve on her 
shirt had a scratch mark on it - probably the result of her fighting the monster. He also saw 
a box cutter on the floor next to her, and presumed that was the cause of the sound he heard 
earlier. 

The monster screeched again as it noticed the presense of a third. Tomie herself turned 
around and saw Yakumo standing there in awe. Just then, the monster flapped its wings and 
dolted for Yakumo with its claws extended. It was determined to get a piece of him. 

"Fujii-kun, don't just stand there! Fight!" Tomie screamed to Yakumo as he remained still. At 
that point, he snapped out of it and quickly dodged into the room. He looked around to see 
that the monster had only missed by a feet or so. 

"Tomie! What the hell is this thing?!" 

However, Tomie didn't bother answering him. She bent down and picked up the box cutter and 
made a quick swipe at the monster. She made contact and slashed the left side of its face. 
The monster screeched in pain as blood flowed from the cut. Tomie immediately attempted 
another hit, but this time the monster saw it coming. It smacked her with its right wing, 
knocking her onto Yakumo. 

Yakumo caught her, and that made him the monster's next target. It screeched loudly again, 
and did another attempt to scratch his flesh with its claws. This time, Yakumo was ready. 
Extending his hand into the air, he pointed his palm at the monster and made another 
summoning of his beast. "By the name of Yakumo Fujii! Come out, Kuan-Yaa!" 

This time, there was a bright yellow glow emitting from his palm. This was too bright for 
the monster, of whom had grew accustomed to the darkness. It shield itself with its wings, 
trying to block off the light. It was then that Yakumo's beast fully emerged from the palm 
of his hand - a bright, long energy beam with the head of a dragon at the end. 

Kuan-Yaa smashed itself onto the monster's wings, exploding upon contact. The explosion 
caused bloody pieces of debris to fly in the room everywhere. Quickly, Yakumo shield Tomie 
with his body and blew a breath of relief... until he felt the pain of his back being 
slashed open by three sharp claws. 

"Uuuggggghhhh!" Yakumo cried as the monster's claws pierced his back. It grabbed a hold of 
him, lifted him into the air, and threw him across the room. While in the air, Yakumo took a 
glance at the monster. Half of its wings and body had been completely destoryed by Kuan-Yaa. 
Its bloody inner organs could be seen in the air. 'So Kuan-Yaa wasn't enough.' Yakumo thought 
as he landed on a dusty cabinet. Red smoke began to emit from the cuts on his back as his 
injuries healed. 

With half a wing flapping, the monster screeched and placed its aim back to Tomie. It 
extended its claws and prepared to take a swipe at her. Tomie pulled herself off the floor 
and had the box cutter in her hand. The monster flew at her directions with its claws out for 
the kill. The second it came close enough, Tomie took a swipe...... and missed. 

The monster's claws stabbed and pierced Tomie's body, impaling her as Yakumo watched in 
horror. "TOMIE!!" he cried as his eyes widen and he got off the ground. Tomie's face was 
captured with a look of shock. Blood flowed from her wounds. With one set of claws still 
impaled into her, the monster used its other set and neatly chopped her body into three 
pieces...... 

Tomie's face was still captured in that horrific expression of shock as bloody pieces of 
herself landed on the cold floor. The monster screeched once again as it used its two sets 
of claws to cut what was left of Tomie's mutilated body into even smaller pieces. Yakumo 
continued watching in shock; he felt helpless as his mind was paralyzed into watching the 
events before him. When the monster was done, its claws were dripping in blood. 

With Tomie dead and gone, it was now Yakumo's turn to go. The monster screeched as it turned 
to face Yakumo. Its one wing flapped in the air as it struggled to stay up. Yakumo knew that 
he had better do something soon, but his mind still could not believe what he had just 
seen... not to mention that for some strange reason, his body refused to move. The monster 
took this opportunity and flew straight for Yakumo's head with its claws... 

...until suddenly, there was the exploding of glass as somebody jumped into the house from 
the outside. Pieces of glass went flying and went straight for the monster, cutting and 
sticking into its flesh. The new intruder rammed its entire body at the monster, knocking it 
a into the nearest wall. Yakumo took a look and recognized who it was immediately -- 
Sanjiyan, riding on Fei-Oh!! 

The monster screeched loudly, flying back into the air and shrugging off the bits of glass 
sticking in its body. Its wing flapped and it sped towards Sanjiyan with its claws extended. 
Sanjiyan glared at the disgusting creature and expelled a powerful spell with her hand. The 
monster exploded into pieces. 

"Disgusting creature," Sanjiyan commented as she watched --and made sure-- that every piece 
of that monster was completely obliterated. She knew full well what would happen if even one 
of them remained intact. After that, Sanjiyan gave her immortal Wu a hand onto her demon pet, 
Fei-Oh. Yakumo, discovering that he could move again, climbed on and placed a hand on his 
face. "Are you alright?" 

"I... guess." he muttered as he grasped his temples. "Actually, I feel a little dizzy..." 

Sanjiyan took one look at her Wu and knew what was going on. It became even more obvious 
from his slow regenerating. He had been poisoned... and if that was the case, then that 
monster really was what she had feared it to be. 

"Arghh..." Yakumo groaned as sweat began to pour from his face. 

"Lie still on Fei-Oh for now," Sanjiyan instructed, showing a rare hint of care in her 
normally arrogant voice. "You're poisoned, but you'll be fine." 

"H-how did you find me, anyway?" Yakumo asked as he lie down while Fei-Oh carried them 
safely out of the house. Using its long and huge spikey tail, it smashed the remaining 
window frames apart. With big enough space to slid out without harming its passengers, Fei
-Oh flew out of the house. 

"You and I are linked, aren't we?" Sanjiyan responded, taking a good look at the outside 
view of Black House. It was a eerie sight, and even someone like her felt uneasy. "What you 
felt, I felt. And you should've known better than to fight Tomie by yourself. Didn't you know 
what you were dealing with?" 

However, Yakumo didn't reply. He had fallen fast asleep just as Sanjiyan was in the middle 
of talking. She sighed and then decided to focus on the scene below. She took a closer look 
in the bedroom that they had just escaped from, and suddenly noticed something particularly 
disturbing. Was one of those mutilated pieces of body... wiggling? Yes, it was. Sanjiyan's 
eyes widen as she realized what was happening. "No... it's starting again..." 


* * *