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Shades and Shadow	By : Macx Category: Descendents of Darkness/Yami No Matsuei > General Views: 3515 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Shades and Shadow
- 2-part 2
- 3-part 3
- 4-part 4
- 5-part 5
- 6-part 6
- 7-part 7
- 8-part 8
- 9-part 9
- 10-part 10
- 11-part 11
- 12-part 12
- 13-part 13
- 14-part 14
- 15-part 15
- 16-part 16
- 17-part 17
- 18-part 18
- 5
- 6
- 7
Byakko was confused and worried. The call he had just received spoke
of the duty to hold a trial against a fellow shikigami, and he had no idea
what was going on, who the culprit was and what had been done to give reasons
for an immediate trial. Stepping into the large court he took his place.

As one of the four Gods, as one of the Protectors of GensouKai it was
his responsibility to judge over criminals as well, but since the trial
against Touda so many years ago � of which he had been no part of since
he had been just a child -- nothing that sounded this serious had happened.
Usually the shikigami were used to solve problems on their own, or sometimes
Sohryu solved them for them. For the dragon to see the need to hold a trial
it must be something really bad. The moment Byakko realized who the defendant
was he knew it had to be more than that.

Touda.

In chains.

Holy�?

Half of GensouKai was afraid of Touda, that had been the reason to
imprison him inside Tenkuu�s depth for the rest of his life in the first
place � but a gentle soul had saved him, had spoken for him, had earned
his loyalty; Tsuzuki. What could Touda possibly have done that would probably
send him back?

Sohryu entered the courtroom and took his place among the four Gods.

�Fire serpent Touda,� he started, his rich voice filling the room and
silencing the murmurs immediately. �Heavy accusations were raised against
you. The duty of this trial is to reveal the truth of said accusations
and if necessary choose a punishment that is appropriate to your crime.�

Something inside Byakko clenched at this words � he couldn�t say he
exactly liked the other shikigami, but still� this was frightening.

�Fire serpent Touda, you are accused of abusing the unique balance
bond you share with your master Tsuzuki, invading his mind while he wasn�t
aware and helpless and forcing yourself on him in a way that resulted in
your master suffering great pain. In summary, you are accused of going
against your master to whom you have sworn eternal devotion and loyalty.
With your actions you have betrayed that oath which had been the sole reason
you were permitted freedom after your last horrible crimes against the
population of GensouKai. Should this trial find you guilty you will be
exterminated as was decided at your pardon hearing. You will die at the
hands of this jury. Do you understand these charges, Touda?�

The courtroom exploded with barely suppressed murmurs of anger and
disbelief.

Byakko could have been knocked over with a feather when he had listened
to the words, and the world slightly blurred when he heard Touda agree.
The *serpent* had gone against Tsuzuki? Touda, the one who would do anything
the shinigami would ask? Touda, who had spoken of his love to Tsuzuki,
the love every single one of the twelve shikigami held for their master?
*Touda* had betrayed that love?

Impossible�

On the other hand � the shikigami looked utterly miserable, hadn�t
obviously fought his arrest� what the hell was going on here?

And how was Tsuzuki? How did they know about this?

Just at this precise moment the doors flew open and a very pissed off
shinigami entered the court room, closely followed by Rikugo. Byakko could
see traces of puffy red in his master�s eyes, though, indicating that he
had cried.

But the man stepping in front of the trial didn�t hold a trace of the
puppy-eyed young man that had won his love so easily. The man confronting
Sohryu now, eyes flaring with amethyst fire, this man was their master.

�I want this to stop now!� Tsuzuki demanded harshly.

�This can�t stop, Tsuzuki. This is a trial to disclose the truth about
Touda�s crime against you.�

�Me? So this is about me, right?�

�Correct.�

�Then I have the right to ask questions.�

�Well� �

�Is this or isn�t this about me?�

�It is.�

�Well then.� Tsuzuki whirled around, facing Touda with an unreadable
expression. �Touda, is it true?�

�It is true.�

Tsuzuki looked at the chained shikigami, surrounded by heavily armed
guards.

"It is true," he murmured, but his voice was far from amazed, betrayed
or angry.

Confusion touched the visible part of Touda's stony face when Tsuzuki
stepped in front of him � and then he gasped, along with the entire court,
as Tsuzuki removed the visor with almost practiced ease. Only a few individuals
could remove the control mechanism, among them Sohryu and Tsuzuki. Their
master had never even tried, though he hated the visor, but now he had
demonstrated his power, even with such a small gesture.

Reptilian eyes, slit and with a golden iris, blinked into the unfiltered
light. The narrow face was no longer hidden behind the tinted screen that
both protected and restricted him. Looking at the smaller man who held
such power, who wielded it so gently when dealing with his shikigami, he
was unable to turn away.

�Touda, what � did � you � do? Exactly?� Tsuzuki asked levelly.

�I� I knew you were sad, and worried, and� I just wanted to help you.
I sent a� something like a signal to your subconsciousness.�

Those unnaturally colored human eyes didn't release him, seemed to
dig deeper, and Touda wanted nothing more than to tear his gaze away. He
felt horribly exposed, his soul bare to these hard eyes that normally held
the innocence of a child.

�What would that do to me, Touda?�

�It would allow you to dream. Something nice,� he answered weakly.

�Did you have any influence to the contents of my dream?�

�No!�

Byakko watched them closely - he couldn�t remember having seen Touda
without the control mechanism in a long time. He looked so strange, so�
normal. The menace weren't his reptilian eyes � serpent shikigami had them
� but the lack of eyes when looking at him with the visor on. He could
hide behind that black tinted shield, and he was severely hindered by it
in every confrontation he had with Suzaku. Now� now those eyes had been
revealed and they held�

� fear.

From what Byakko could see Touda didn�t even so much as blink. And
one thing was crystal clear, at least to him � Touda wasn�t lying.

�Touda, would you intentionally do something that would harm me?� Tsuzuki
demanded.

�Never!�

�Would you kill me if I asked you to?�

There was a brief second of silence � Byakko knew that Touda had done
so in the past, and he wasn�t happy about it � and from the expression
in Touda�s face so was the serpent.

�If you asked me to � yes. But only then.�

�Thank you, Touda.� Tsuzuki gently replaced the visor before addressing
the court again. �Sohryu � there was no harm done. What Touda did
he did to help me, out of the love he � like everyone of you � feels for
me. He didn�t mean to do anything to me, and the result is only because
of my incapability to deal with your feelings for me. True, he made an
error in judgment, but this,� Tsuzuki held Sohryu's eyes, nailing him down,
�happened before, and I don�t hold it against you either. Besides, how
come you know about this in the first place?�

�Rikugo told me,� Sohryu answered levelly.

Tsuzuki turned to face the astrologer and his face was blank. Byakko
felt himself shiver at the look.

�How did youvknow about it? I didn�t tell you, that�s for sure.�

�I Saw.�

�So you scanned me?� Tsuzuki asked coldly.

�Yes.�

�When?�

�When you were� � Rikugo�s voice trailed off and the astrologer went
white as a sheet.

�When I was asleep, right?�

You could have cut steel with Tsuzuki's voice. Eyes even harder, face
a mask, fingers slightly curled, he looked like he was about to strike
out. The power around him spiked, fizzed, wanted to lash out.

Rikugo nodded, looking miserable all of a sudden.

�So you probed my mind. Did I give you permission?�

Rikugo lowered his eyes.

"Did � I � Give � You � Permission?" Tsuzuki repeated, louder.

�No, master,� the astrologer answered in a very small voice.

�But you did it anyway?�

�Yes, master.�

�Why?�

Dark eyes filled with misery and the proud shikigami seemed to sink
in on himself. �You were upset and sad and I�� He stopped, eyes closing,
a tremor running through the tall frame.

�You wanted to help me,� Tsuzuki finished the sentence.

�Yes, master.�

�And you doubt his loyalty?! You think he betrayed me? Because he sent
a dream? You of all people? You run to Sohryu and want Touda arrested �
after you fucking scanned me?!�

Tsuzuki's voice echoed sharply in the room, making the assembled shikigami
wince. Many had moved back as far away as possible from their master, afraid
of the slender man they had only known as gentle and forgiving. Now they
were facing what lurked underneath, and this darkness was ready to strike,
protecting the one they had been so quick to judge.

Byakko couldn�t really believe what he was witnessing. Rikugo had gone
even more pale and was staring at the floor and Sohryu was very quiet himself.
Tsuzuki looked at each of his shikigami, violet eyes hard and unrelenting,
and when their eyes met there was something like a little flicker, making
Tsuzuki avoid his gaze all of a sudden.

Byakko felt a stab of pain that wasn't physical in origin. It was deep
within him, his soul.

His master had looked away.

Byakko felt his heart sink and confusion spread.

His master was angry � and obviously he was angry with him for whatever
reasons.

�So, as you can see,� Tsuzuki continued, �there is no further reason
to continue this trial. If you find Touda guilty, fine, then so is Rikugo.�

Byakko saw the astrologer wince. Damn, but this was so not good�

�But I know why they did what they did -- out of love and concern for
me. I appreciate these feelings, if not the actions themselves. But that
is a matter between them and me, so I want this farce to end - now!�

There wasn�t any doubt � their master had spoken. Sohryu cleared his
throat, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

�Since Tsuzuki claims there is no harm done and no crime occurred �
fire serpent Touda, you are free to go. This trial is over. Dismissed.�

Byakko still felt the shock, still waited for the nightmare to end,
but as the others filed out, almost fleeing the court room, he knew there
was no end. This was real. Something terrible had happened, something he
had yet to grasp what it really was, and somehow he was involved.

He didn't know why.

And it hurt so badly.
* * *
Byakko went looking for Tsuzuki and found him sitting on a bench under
one of the large trees in front of Tenkuu.

The shinigami looked everything but happy, and Byakko wanted nothing
more than to step over, hug his friend and wash away whatever was bothering
him. But this wasn�t his friend Asato, this was his master Tsuzuki and
judging from the look he had received earlier, the man didn�t want to be
disturbed by him.

Something clenched inside Byakko at the thought of Tsuzuki being angry
with him, mad at him for whatever reason. Byakko had no idea what he might
have done to upset his master. The usually happy-go-lucky wind shikigami
suddenly felt insecure and very, very small.

Gathering his courage � hell, when had he ever needed any courage to
approach his friend? � he wanted to step out into the open, when he noticed
somebody had already joined Tsuzuki. Byakko watched the dark figure of
a certain fire serpent approach carefully � and then his jaw hit the floor
when he saw the oh so proud and confident fire shikigami Touda bend his
knee - and knelt before his master.

Tsuzuki didn�t need to look up to know who was nearing him.

�What do you want?� His voice was devoid of emotions while his insides
were in uproar.

There was a second of silence before Touda answered. �Master. I want
to apologize. I know that what I did upset you immensely��

�You have no idea, have you? What you really did?� Still no inflections.

�Master?�

Tsuzuki closed his eyes at the voice � gods, even when he had freed
Touda from his incarceration the shikigami had never sounded this confused,
this � small? And he had never called him master, nor had he knelt or bowed
before him. Touda gave him respect in another way, by serving him, by being
singularly loyal to him.

But Tsuzuki had felt his world shift in places that were supposed to
be a safe haven when he had dreamt of his friends that way. He felt completely
at a loss, wanted desperately to be held and comforted himself, but when
he had allowed himself to fall into Rikugo�s arms, dead drunk � he shuddered
at the image � the astrologer had scanned him in his sleep.

Yes, he understood why both Touda and Rikugo had done that � but what
they had done made him feel betrayed, made him feel as if something really
really important had been taken from him, and that made him angry. He wasn�t
even able to seek comfort with Byakko, couldn�t stand to see those worried
red eyes on him� It felt as if he had lost his friends, and he didn�t want
to lose his friends�

�You wanted to help me and I appreciate that. What did you want me
to dream in the first place?�

Touda didn't answer right away, nor did he raise his head. His eyes
were still on the ground. �Something� nice. When I felt the� rush I thought
maybe it had been about Hisoka��

Oh great!

�I didn�t dream of Hisoka!� Tsuzuki said flatly, �I dreamt of you,
idiot! What you did in my dream � and Byakko� hell, I wasn�t even able
to look into his eyes earlier, because every time I see him, or you, I
see��

Tsuzuki trailed off, glancing at Touda for the first time in this conversation
and found his shikigami still on his knee. An anger he had never felt before
raged through him, exploding out of him in biting words and a hatred that
had nothing to do with Touda or anyone else. It was the accumulated frustration
and confusion of weeks.

�And how many times do I have to tell you not to kneel in front of
me!� he yelled.

Byakko�s eyes grew wide when he saw Tsuzuki jump to his feet and yell
at Touda, though he wasn�t able to understand the words. All he could see
was Tsuzuki storming away, Touda stretching out a hand as if to hold him
back� and then the serpent slumped, fingers digging into the ground and�

Byakko swallowed hard. Touda�s shoulder�s were shaking conspicuously.

The tiger stood rooted to the spot and tried to rein in his horror
about what he had seen.

Tsuzuki had abandoned Touda.
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Shades and Shadow