Hey all!

After an extraordinary long break from writing (I suppose... a year and a 
half is long) I've finally got the courage to start again.

Anyways, this is a Post-Series Blue Seed and Season 3 Angel (after the birth 
of Conner). Please be warned of *spoilers* and *foul language*, because I'm 
just that kind of person.

If this does not format correctly, you can see the story at:

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1344526

C&C and other commentary always welcome :)

/ / = italics





�Doctor Hideyoshi!�

The fat man�s scream reverberated throughout the windowed office. Its 
occupant had been listening to it for some time, relishing the pain of the 
laboratory�s senior scientist. Accentuating the experience were well-formed 
background noises; a woman�s scream, the shorting of computers and other 
electrical circuitry, the occasional, futile firing of a gun.

�Doctor Hideyoshi! For God�s sake, Ken, answer the fucking phone!�

Lazily �Ken� pressed the respond button on phone, his finger trembling in 
anticipation. It threatened to explode from him, this euphoria, but so much 
richer the climax if he could make this pointedly hated maggot understand 
his exultation. Oh, but only to hold it out as far as possible, and hope 
that the man could not hear the giddiness lacing his voice. �Yes, Mister 
Shultz?�

�It-It got out! I don�t know how, but it �� Schultz�s explanation cut off 
suddenly, the silence punctuated quite melodiously by someone�s 
ear-splitting shriek. Curious, Hideyoshi flipped a switch upon his desk. 
Upon the wall a television connected to one of the still-intact security 
cameras spilled the tale of the upset laboratory several floors below. 
Windows that once held an unobstructed view of the Los Angeles skyline had 
been automatically sealed by steel doors to prevent possible chemical 
contamination on the outside world, and through the smoke he could see the 
bodies of those too foolish or too frightened to get out of the way of the 
escapee. The only human movement was that of the corpulent man quivering in 
a heap beside the emergency phone, his oh-so-treasured, normally pristine 
white lab coat forever ruined by red and black stains.

�The doors are sealed, the emergency codes aren�t working!� shrieked 
Schultz. �Everyone�s dying, everyone�s dead! For fuck�s sake, you have to 
help me!�

�No, I do not think so.�

�/What/?!�

Hideyoshi spared himself a short chuckle and Schultz twitched at the noise, 
nearly losing the grip upon the phone. �No,� he whispered, as if the denial 
itself could undo the terror before him, �not you, not you Ken. Oh God, oh 
God, oh God...�

�I have enjoyed your company, Mister Schultz, you and the rest of your 
distinguished colleagues, despite the sushi and samurai jokes and the 
apparent lack of humility that you show to someone who was, from the outset, 
your superior in every way.�

�No no no, please God no Idon�twanna/die/��

�Rest assured that a generous monetary compensation will be sent to the 
families of those unfortunate enough to have suffered tonight. Alas, 
somehow, your wife and children�s names were mistakenly omitted. A clerical 
error, and I apologize profusely.�

�Anything! Anything! I�ll give you anything! More money, more facilities, 
for God�s sake you /can�t just leave me here to die!!/�

�God�? Why, Mister Schultz, the only god you need fear is the one that 
stands behind you.�

Behind the pudgy man the shadows loomed, and a lone man, swathed in nothing 
but chemical and electrical smoke strode steadily forward. �What-? Oh� Oh 
no! Stay away! STAY AWAY!�

Mad with joy, at last the man called Ken Hideyoshi let lose his passion in a 
torrent of mirth. Perfectly his laughter blended with the wretched man�s 
dying screams, and when the latter stopped, brought to an abrupt end by a 
watery gurgle, the former continued. Only when the floor began to thrum did 
he calm. Brutal explosions, each coming quicker and louder than the last, 
punctuated each reverberation. He fell upon his knees in obeisance as the 
last ripped through the plaster and concrete before him and a man, no, /he 
who was more than a man/, stepped lightly onto the plush carpet. Heedless of 
the rubble Hideyoshi touched his forehead to the floor, and felt, rather 
than saw, the revered escapee step towards him. Droplets of blood fell 
slowly upon his hair, and he knew that there was a blade poised above him. 
Yet unlike the others he knew he would not be slaughtered.

The blade glowed, and a sympathetic glow resonated from Hideyoshi�s chest. 
Prodded by the tip of the blade he lifted his upper body and tore open his 
shirt. Imbedded into his skin was a smooth, blue jewel, no larger than his 
palm, and shaped like the number �9�.

�Okaeri nasai,� he whispered, �Murakumo-sama.�



//�three years ago�//

She still slept, her soft brown hair arrayed around the white, cotton pillow 
and her limbs haphazardly tangled in sheets that were still slightly damp 
from their exertion. Being quiet and unheard was second nature, yet he found 
it difficult to rise without disturbing her and to dress without a sound. 
>From the shadowed side of his dresser he picked up a long, black coat and a 
filled backpack.

He hesitated as he approached the window, left intentionally open under the 
fascade of the summer heat. One leg rested in and the other out and not for 
the first time he doubted his decision. Unwillingly his gaze left the clear, 
night sky and rested upon her face, so innocent in sleep. Let those green 
eyes open and he would stop. Let her whisper fill his ears and he would 
return to the bed, happily filling his arms with her warmth.

But she continued to sleep.

�Baka,� he hissed to himself and flew out the window without another glance.

And her eyes opened.

And they filled with tears.


------
Kus Kus
http://www.kuskus.org/

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