Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Rainy Night Pub ( Chapter 82 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: MellyN

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Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 82: Rainy Night Pub

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The rain beat down the on the group's forms as the group ran as quickly as they could in order to find some sort of shelter. It was an ice cold rain that verged on the edge of being sleet and the raindrops stung their skin as they neared the edge of what looked like a big, industrious cityscape. Ko hugged herself tightly, in order to retain any warmth she had left. Hiroshima had still been unconscious and was draped over Tsurugi's shoulder. Zangetsu had draped his cape over the weakened angel to keep him from getting sick. Since the angel's body temperature was already ten degrees below that of a normal human, there was a greater risk from the elements.

"How is he doing?" The blue-eyed girl glanced to the two angels with a worried expression.

"You certainly have been caring a lot about him lately," Fife noted, more in a teasing way then anything.

"We kind of made up. I told you. I don't hate him. We've just had our fights," Ko responded in irritation. What was the big deal about it anyway? At first, they were preaching to her about how she should try to get along with him, and now that she's a tiny bit closer to him then she was before, everyone makes fun of her? What kind of crap was that?

"He looks like he has a fever," Tsurugi informed the group of Hiroshima's condition as he glanced to his lover's face. A slight pink tainted his ivory cheeks.

"Can't he heal himself?" Zangetsu asked.

"His body is restoring magic and energy. Without his wings, it's harder, plus he has a lot of injuries and he's probably a little anemic. His body has a lot to fight off. He will heal but it will take longer than four days," the blonde angel looked to his team mates with the grim news.

"Things aren't looking good, are they?" Chichiri asked.

"Come on, try to be optimistic," Fife tried to comfort the blonde.

"That's getting a little hard to do, guys," Ko sighed. Things didn't look good and if they didn't find some shelter soon, then they would all be sick.

"I know what you mean," Tsurugi agreed. "It's difficult at times."

"Hey, there's a building over there," Zangetsu pointed to a mid-sized, flat topped black building with an electric sign on top of the roof with the words 'Toxic Ivy' in neon pink letters. Even though the windows were tinted, there seemed to be a lot of bright lights in the building and a faint bass sound could be heard from some type of music being played.

"It looks like a Pub," Chichiri noted. During his band days, he had seen a vast number of places like that. Seeing one now made him miss the bright lights and loud music. A part of him longed to be on stage, performing for the large audiences of people that would one day recognize him as a rock icon. Ever since he had met Hiroshima, he had taken a completely different path and his motives changed from music to gathering magic items and traveling to worlds that were full of wonder and sorrow. Worlds that seems to be more like bizarre dreams then world themselves.

"Let's go and see if they can help us," Keiji said as everyone ran up to the door and pounded as loudly as they could. It was a door on the side of the building, so they weren't sure that they could just walk in like they could with the entrance. If no one answered, then they would simply walk in the entrance.

After ten minutes, the door opened to reveal a Japanese girl with long, thick, straight hair with a white streak on either side of her head, near her face. She was tall and of an athletic build, and she dressed in a gothic manner, wearing black eye shadow and dark red lipstick. This woman wore a spiked collar with a small, gold chain that went from the collar to a piercing on the corner of her mouth that looked like a flower of sorts and she wore a dark red school jacket with a navy blue fuku that also had chains that hung from it.

"Hello, I'm Kaidiri Iva and welcome to Toxic Ivy. I'm the owner of this pub," she greeted in a mature voice.

"Please help us! Our friend is injured and we need a place to stay," Keiji's voice nearly begged the woman for help.

"Place to stay?" Iva arched an eyebrow, "This is a pub, not a hotel."

"Is there a hotel near here?" Ko asked. If Iva would not help them, then they would try to get to a place that could.

"Afraid not," her pub was on the outskirts of town and the next available hotel was many miles away from her establishment.

"But our friend is hurt very badly. We need to do something for him fast," Zangetsu looked at the woman with concern. Hiroshima was in bad shape and if nothing could be done, then things would look even more bleak for the group of travelers.

"I think I can do something," Iva replied after careful consideration as she stared at the angel beneath the black cloak. They were right, if something was not done quickly, then the angel's condition would worsen. "Come on, there's a room in the back you can stay in for a while now. I feel bad leaving you all out in the rain."

"Thank you," Fife bowed respectfully to the woman before he walked inside.

"Yes, it means a lot to us," Keiji nodded.

"No problem, the weather is pretty bad out there and you are soaking wet. Wouldn't want you to get sick and I couldn't imagine you walking two miles to a hospital," the Toxic Ivy may not have been a hotel, but Iva wasn't heartless. She couldn't just turn them away.

"Man, it feels good to be in a pub again. This is my kinda atmosphere," Chichiri smiled at the familiar sounds of the blaring music that came from the dance floor and the flashing lights.

"Oh, you go to many pubs?" Iva asked with interest as everyone walked down a small hallway to an isolated room in the back.

"Are you kidding me? I've played in a lot of gigs in clubs," the blonde got excited over the subject. Anything that would bring up the name of the band was definitely of interest to him.

"Gigs? What do you do?" Iva asked.

"Well, Keiji, Ko and I are in a band. We're a band called Sub-72!" He told her proudly.

"Hey, maybe we can play for you for letting us stay here," the idea had just hit Ko and since they had no money, it would be perfect instead of having to come up with rent. "If you have instruments, then we can do the job, right guys?" The white-haired girl glanced to her team mates in question.

"Sure, it's been a while since I've played though," Keiji commented on the fact that he might be a little rusty. Before he had met Hiroshima, he used to practice nonstop on the drums and dedicated his life to being the best drummer that he could but he had been side tracked from his original goal by his quest for the magic items.

"If you can play a good show and get a good audience then you have a deal," Iva was interested in hearing what they had to offer her. "I won't have a booking for you until three days from now, so you will have time to practice after hours." The woman then opened the door to the small room in the back and turned on the light.

It looked to be a designer's room of sorts and had a lot of fabric strewn about with a few sewing machines, posters and sketches of outfits on the walls. It was a small room that was a dull blue and had a large window on the wall that stretched from nearly the ceiling to the floor and was adorned with white, sheer curtains. The sound of the cold rain could be heard as it beat against the glass.

"Here's the room. It's small but it's all I've got. Sorry about all of the fabrics. I'm also a fashion designer and I used this room in my spare time. You call can clean up and I'll be up front if you want to ask questions or tell me something," the gothic female instructed.

The group managed to clean up the room within a few minutes and made Hiroshima a bed on a bunch of junk fabric that Iva had discarded. They also managed to find a pillow and used some of the fabric to cover him up with.

The room was so quiet that the only sound that could be heard was the patter of the rain as everyone sat around the angel, their forms bathed in the dim night lighting. They had managed to find themselves blankets and wrapped themselves up as they watched the rain fall.

"It looks very cold in here," Fife finally broke the silence as he noticed that there didn't seem to be a thermostat or heater in the room.

"The rain was freezing. My skin still stings," Keiji felt the prang of rain and the dull ache of his bones from running through the cold weather.

"I'm glad that I'm in here. I don't know if we could have walked all of that way without being sick," Ko looked out of the window in thought.

"I think being dry is the most important thing," Zangetsu replied.

"I don't think there's any heat back here," Chichiri told the others as he took his hand from beneath the blanket and commented on how cold their air was in the small room.

Hiroshima fluttered his eyes open as he felt the droplets of cold rain still clinging to his skin. "W-Where am I?" He asked in a faint and confused voice. The inside of a building was definitely not the last place he remembered being.

"You're at the Toxic Ivy Pub," Zangetsu informed the angel of his whereabouts.

"Are we still in Shaffon?" The spiky-haired angel questioned.

"Nope, we're in Particle Proxy. It's a small city outside of Shaffon," Chichiri informed.

"How do you know that, Chichiri-kun?" Fife glanced at the blonde. He didn't even know where they were, and usually the vampire was the first to figure things out aside from the angels, but who were they telling?

"Iva told me,” Chichiri replied.

"How do you feel?" Zangetsu was worried for his condition.

"I can't even begin to describe it to you, kid," Hiroshima ran a hand through his hair, only to feel that it was damp. "Why is my hair wet?"

"We washed you while you were out," Fife teased as he earned a freaked out look from the angel.

"No we didn't. Don't listen to him," Keiji sighed.

"Why? Do you have something to hide?" The vampire continued to tease as he asked the angel in a playful tone.

"Yes, my privacy!"

"We did put you in a dry robe so that your other clothes could dry," Keiji informed the angel, then looked to him with kind eyes. "I'm glad that you're alright."

"I'm glad nothing happened to any of you either," Hiroshima looked around the room in question. "So are we staying here or what?"

"For the time being," Tsurugi lay on his stomach on the floor.

"We seriously need to talk." After a good amount of thought, the boy spoke up as he looked Hiroshima dead in the eyes with the most serious expression he could muster. He knew that if he wanted any information from either of the angels, then he would have to pry it out of them. By nature, they were creatures of secrecy and would not willingly give him information.

"I know. I'll tell you what you want to know if I can," Hiroshima agreed. It was time that they knew something.

"Okay," the green haired boy sat in front of him Indian style and placed his hands on his knees, ready to talk, "if you don't like Saesugawa and you hate humans, then why are you protecting us?" It was something that he ceased to even try and make sense of. Hiroshima acted like he straight out detested them at first, and now he loyally stuck by them and acted as their protector. What was up with that?

"You're different," the angel admitted. "Even if you tolerate me, you accept me at least. That and I was assigned to be your guardian angel."

"What?" Ko snapped out of her haze of sleep. "Our guardian angel? I think I'm going to hell."

"I'm trying to prevent something very bad from happening and in turn, you are helping me with a decision."

"About what you really want to become?" Keiji asked and the green-haired angel said nothing, simply looked down.

"What do you mean what he wants to be?" Ko looked from Keiji to Hiroshima.

"I think he knows."

"It's probably about time I told you my situation."

"You're going to tell then, Hiro-kun?" Tsurugi lifted his head up from his position on the floor as his mate closed his eyes and the room became silent for a moment.

"Is it that bad?" Chichiri noted the grim look on his companion's face.

"What if I told you that I'm no different then Serenande?" Hiroshima mentally prepared himself for the worst possible outcome. He knew the remarks and judgment that he would get from admitting the results of his curse.

"What?" Zangetsu looked to him in question. What did he mean by that? Serenande was his princess, and from what he saw, they had very few similarities, unless the angel was hiding something from him, which was a possibility.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Ko spoke the untold question that remained locked in Zangetsu's mind.

"I've been consuming souls ever since I started traveling with you," Hiroshima tilted his head downward as his frown deepened. He didn't deserve to look at any of them, now that they knew an element of his true monstrosity. He had brought it on himself, this fact was true but now he regretted ever agreeing to be cursed by the dragon.

"Consuming? You mean like, you absorb them so they can't exist or be reincarnated?" Fife wasn't really sure on how to take the angel's confession.

"Yes, even now I am permanently ending lives around me. All of the spirits in the realm of the dead hate me."

"Is it you or your curse?" Keiji asked. If it were the curse, then the matter was different but it if were Hiroshima himself doing it on purpose, then things would take a turn for the worst.

"It's the curse," the angel admitted, still his sights didn't raise. "I don't want to do it, nor do I like it. I'd get away from it if I could."

"You've helped us all of this time, so let's help you," Keiji offered. "Is there any way that we can break this curse?"

"You'd have to defeat the spirit within my body and that's not an easy task, considering the fact that it's composed of many individual spirits. It's quite powerful and with it, I'm ten times stronger than I was originally," the angel informed.

"That's why you're so strong," Fife noted. Hiroshima had always been insanely strong, even for the limitations of an angel. No doubt without his power, he would be strong enough on his own but with it, he was even stronger then an ancient archangel such as Tsurugi or Zadkiel.

It explained a lot.

"Well, I'm still strong; I'm just weaker without it." After all, it wasn't the source of his power, simply something that amplified it by ten.

"Did you destroy Saesugawa with that thing?" Ko asked. It would make since that he could demolish a town easily with the help of something like that.

"No, I did that before I acquired it."

"Well, Serenande meant to and you didn't, so we can't really hate you for that," Chichiri deduced. Even though it wasn't a forgivable act by any means, they could really hate him for it if he didn't want to do it and was forced to by the curse.

"You can."

"What?" Chichiri asked.

"I wanted this curse when I was younger, but now I regret it," Hiroshima replied. In a way, he almost wanted them to hate him for it, because he was unable to forgive himself for his stupid decision when he was twelve.

"Are there other things about this curse that we should know?" Keiji didn't want any surprises.

"Well, being your guardian angel allows me to only take your burdens but I take on the burdens for everyone. It makes you irritable and crazy. It's very emotionally hard on angels and they feel immense, overpowering feelings of pressure and tension," the injured angel informed the group of the immense physical and emotional pain that he had endured over the years. "I've done it for so many years that I'm used to it."

"That's harsh," Chichiri replied. In many ways mental torture was the worst kind. No wonder Hiroshima was so messed up. It was moments like this where the blonde was reminded of how crazy the angel really was.

"No one should have to put up with that, Hiroshima." Even if he was a killer and a horrible legend, no one deserved that kind of psychological torture. Hiroshima had held in things like that this entire time. It made her wonder how he could keep composure at all. She'd be a sniveling pile of guts on the floor if she were in that position.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Keiji tipped the angel's chin up and stared straight into those reflective, ice blue eyes.

"What?" Hiroshima asked in a softer tone, slightly caught off guard by a question like that.

"Don't lie!" Fife teased. "He can tell."

Hiroshima begrudgingly closed his eyes. "Because of the curse, yes."

"Not just that…You're dying, Hiroshima," the drummer narrowed his eyes. He knew that Hiroshima was keeping part of the truth in. Maybe he thought that if he kept it in then he would lessen the pain for everyone else, but the grim truth still shown through.

"Don't go treating me like I have cancer," Hiroshima turned away from his with those sarcastic words.

"How can you joke about that?" Keiji was shocked that he'd crack a joke about something this serious. Maybe it was the angel's morbid way of making lightly of something like this, but it made him want to his him again. His life wasn't meaningless just because he thought he deserved what he had gotten.

"It's been a hard like, kid. I'm not the suicidal type but I can't say that I don't think about it," the spiky-haired angel allowed himself to admit that one small factor. As simple of a sentence as it was, when looked into, it said a lot about his true pain. Hiroshima didn't want to go into detail, it would defy his point of existence. He was supposed to take burdens, not give them.

"No more suicides!" Chichiri didn't want to deal with another case like Azmy's. He couldn't deal with something like that again.

"We're going to get rid of that curse. If we do that, then you'll live and you'll be free of the punishment, the life loss and taking other's burdens that aren't yours to take," Keiji vowed.

"If you die, I- " Hiroshima started to say but was cut off.

"We won't die," Fife's words gentle and genuine as he offered the angel comfort. "We know it's important that we all live through this. Besides, you've protected us all of this time, so we owe you one."

"When you said that you weren't good but you weren't evil either, is that what you meant?" Keiji had remembered his words when they first met. Even then it was a premise of things to come. In many ways, Hiroshima had stated his mission but it fell upon deaf ears at that moment in time.

"You mean by the light and dark sides?" The green-haired angel asked.

"That would make sense," Ko placed a finger to her chin in thought.

"Ultimately, you must choose one side, so I have to ask, which side would you chose?" Zangetsu asked. If Hiroshima had an idea, then they would be getting somewhere at least.

"While I'm like this, I am both good and bad. If I give up the white side, then I would turn completely evil and assume a position in hell when I leave but if I chose the white side, I become completely good. I don't like that idea much…" Hiroshima then sighed and closed his eyes. "Okay, I don't like it at all. I'm not the white-winged type."

"So you'd chose to be dark?" Ko asked. The darkness seemed to fit him more, but at the same time, she wondered why he was so against becoming a white-winged angel.

"Ultimately, I'd be lying to myself if I chose to be good. Only one of the sides is the real me."

"All people have both good and evil qualities," Fife educated. "As you are now, you are the most human of the angels."

"But it's unnatural for an angel to stay that way," Tsurugi replied, “angels must ultimately be one side or the other. An angel like Hiroshima is unheard of."

"Because I have dark and light angel blood, I can turn either way but right now, I'm very confused. I have to choose one or the other. I don't even know what I want. It's kind of funny considering how confident I try to be," Hiroshima smirked at his own irony.

"Hey, things are hard on everyone, not just you," Fife didn't help the situation either, no matter how much he was trying to take the worry from him.

"You don't have to pretend to be strong when you aren't," Ko tried her best to comfort him, though she didn't know how comforting what she had to say would be. "Hey, we're all humans and we all suffer."

"As do angels," Tsurugi agreed.

"I cannot show my weakness. If I do that, I won't be dependable and no one will want to count on me when the time comes up," the green-haired angel had his reason for hiding his feelings. He needed the complete faith in everyone when the time of judgment came, if they failed to believe in him, then his whole mission would be pointless.

"Just because you have pain, doesn't mean that we think any less of you. It's okay to hurt, Hiroshima," Fife chided the angel's worries.

"Fife…" Hiroshima said in a touched tone. The vampire's words had impacted him, and made him feel closer to the group of misfits that he called team mates. It was at a time like this, that he experienced true human kindness.

"You know what?" Ko asked after a moment of unsaid words passed between Hiroshima and Fife.

"What?" Zangetsu was the first to ask.

"We all get along for the most part now," Ko noted.

"Minus a couple of infractions, but I say that we know each other very well," Tsurugi laid his head in his arms with a small smile as Hiroshima laid back down in his makeshift bed with a sigh. "Nice to see you join in, Hiro-kun."

"Huh? Join what?" Hiroshima asked in a tired tone.

"To join the group, silly. You shouldn't be so modest," Fife smiled.

"Yeah, whatever."

"You know that you secretly like us," Chichiri poked fun at him and as the angel raised up once more, he was bear hugged by the blonde. The pain from the torture instantly ripped through the angel's senses as his face twisted into one of anguish. "We like you too!"

"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Hiroshima shoved the blonde off and hunched over, clenching the covers and trembling in pain.

"Chichiri!" Keiji scolded.

"He just got finished being tortured. What? Are you trying to kill him?" Ko continued the scolding as Fife sat behind the angel and gently massaged his back.

"Does this feel better?" He asked.

"Damn…That hurt…" Hiroshima's strained voice was the only answer he got.

"Sorry Hiroshima…I completely forgot," Chichiri tried to apologize, only to be punched on the top of the head.

"Ow!" The blonde held his head.

"Sorry, I forgot," the spiky-haired angel retorted.

The vampire felt something warm and wet as he massaged the angel's wingless back. As his navy blue eyes trailed to the source of the blood, he noticed that Hiroshima had been bleeding and the blood leaked through the pastel blue robe that he wore. "Do you need fresh bandages, Hiro-sama? You're bleeding through."

"It will stop soon," Hiroshima informed him not to worry but Keiji seemed insistent upon it. The green-haired drummer trudged over and grabber either side of the angel's robe as he tried to pull it down. The forward action caused the spiky-haired angel to produce a look of shock as he reached out and grabbed his wrists.

"Hey!" The tone was half shock and half stutter as it came out. It was the first time Hiroshima had something quite like that happen to him. It was awkward beyond measure, and not to mention embarrassing. Part of him was glad that his top half was mostly covered in bandages.

"Shut up," Keiji knew that if he wanted Hiroshima to listen to him, then he needed to have a firm hand. It was like taming a wild beast in many ways. "You're going to have to trust us at least a little."

"You don't have to strip me in public! At least take me somewhere else!" The angel didn't feel like having the entire room see his nude body.

"Well, we can always turn around and cover our eyes," Fife noted innocently.

"You're not helping!" Hiroshima snapped. "Besides, you're gay and you'd look!"

"Keiji is the one who came over there being forward and trying to strip you and you patronize me?" The vampire acted as if he were victimized in some way, trying to make a joke out of the situation and pick on Keiji.

His plan succeeded as it earned a blush from the boy as green eyes blinked and he glanced down at his hands, which held the angel's robes open. "Uh…"

"Feeling awkward?" Hiroshima asked in a disgruntled tone.

"Yes," Keiji nodded slightly.

"Why are you blushing?" The angel's tone was even more irritated, but Keiji knew that he felt awkward too.

"Well…Um…" The boy stuttered before he quickly looked away. 'Why am I blushing?' He thought to himself. The angels were beautiful individuals and Hiroshima was no exception to the rule, perhaps that was why he blushed…

He didn't want to think about it too long. Keiji simply took Hiroshima's hand and pulled him up. "Come on. I'll take you to the bathroom," he told the angel, who shakily and uncertainly hobbled after him.

"Hee hee, they are going to the bathroom together," Fife placed a hand to his mouth as he snickered, making fun of the odd pair once more.

"Sh-Shut up!" Keiji's face lit up in red as they both walked out of the room.

XxXxXx

The two stood in the largest stall at the end of the bathroom and locked the door. Keiji had already grabbed the first aid kid from the cabinet. Hiroshima, who was covered in a thin layer of sweat from the mere walk, leaned against the wall for support. The angel was panting lightly and half-lidded, as if he were about to pass out. He winced at the pain every now and then involuntarily.

"You sure are tough," Keiji pulled out the bandages from the first aid kit.

"I suppose you want me to take it off now."

"Yeah…" Keiji couldn't help but blush in response.

"You're weird, kid. We're both men here so why are you so edgy?" Hiroshima asked as his robe hit the floor. The boy turned around as his eyes widened.

"You're not wearing any-" He cut himself off. This was one surprise he wasn't ready for. The boy was there when they put the robe on him. Tsurugi was the one who had taken his clothes off, cleaned and bandaged him and the fact that Hiroshima had nothing on under the robe was more than shocking.

"The only clothes I have are dirty and destroyed of course I'm naked," Hiroshima replied uncomfortably. "Hey, it's not like I like standing here like this, so hurry up and get to it."

The boy said nothing and simply stared, which made Hiroshima feel all the more uncomfortable. The angel turned his head to the side and blushed slightly with a frown. "Would you stop staring?"

"Why are you blushing?"

"You're staring at my naked body. You look like you're checking me out," the spiky-haired angel really wished that Keiji would concentrate on the work and not on his body.

"No!" The green-haired boy replied as the blush returned to his face. "I mean, you're not ugly or anything. I just don't like staring at you…I mean, because I'm not gay!" Keiji's answered were flustered and he wasn't really sure if they offended Hiroshima or not so when he came to the last one, he just yelled it out, which caused several men in the bathroom to glance towards the end stall, which had doors that closed it off from the urinals and other stalls.

Hiroshima sighed in defeat. "Just do it." If he didn't initiate something, then no one would. The angel took off his bandages, completely exposing himself as they fell to the ground, along with his robes.

When Keiji saw the extent of the angel's injuries, a saddened look crossed his face. No wonder it was hard for Hiroshima to even stand with injuries like those. Burns, lacerations, bruises, cuts of all depths and sizes and other markings of unknown sources littered the battered angel's body.

"You went through all of this to help us…Did you foresee this?" Keiji walked behind Hiroshima, where the small tufts of bloodied black and white feathers and busted off wing bones stuck from his back.

"I knew three weeks before the event, when we were still in Sumeria," the angel felt the crisp bandages being wrapped around his chest and over one shoulder. "But I have no regrets. The truth is, this is what I am designed to do. Like Ten Sao Tami and Zagzag, you are all my master and any orders you give, I have to pull through with or I'll be punished."

"We won't force you, Hiroshima. I won't tell you an order unless I think you are really being stubborn and threatening your life," Keiji told the battered man. He didn't know what kind of people that the bi-winged angel had trouble with in the past, but he wasn't a slave master and he hardly saw Hiroshima as such. To him, Hiroshima was an independent and stubborn man who had many cruel-to-be-kind methods to him. Even though the angel was rough around the edges, there was a heart of good intentions and self-sacrifice that spoke multitudes.

"I would never needlessly waste my life," the spiky-haired angel replied. It was a promise more than anything.

As the bandages were carefully placed over his wings, the boy glanced up to see the pentagram on the angel's back as flashes of instances from the past reeled through his head. 'I can only choose one.' He heard the angel says as a flash of the hell child legend, faceless and consumed by shadow ripped through his mind like a knife tearing flesh.

"Ugh!" Keiji instinctively held his face, which had a terrified expression as the bandages tumbled out of his hands and several tools from the first aid kit clattered on the floor behind Hiroshima, who flinched at the noise.

"Kid, are you okay back there?" The angel asked as Keiji blinked the thoughts away.

"Sorry, I just had another flashback. I have them every now and then," the green-haired boy knelt down and began to pick up the instruments and bandages that he had dropped.

"I know what you mean. Those memories never fade, do they?" Hiroshima's words were soft and at a time like that, Keiji could tell that they shared the same pain. Green eyes looked up at the angel and widened as he realized that the two of them shared a lot of the same pains. With Hiroshima's visions of both the past and impending present and Keiji's haunting memories filled with pain. Even though the two of them walked different paths, their understanding was on a similar plain.

XxXxXx

The rain poured down as it beat against Ceres' dark red umbrella as she made her way through the sparsely populated streets of Particle Proxy. A saddened look was etched on her face as she made her way through the people and glanced up at the neon pink sign of the Toxic Ivy Pub. This caused the black-haired sorceress to stop dead in her tracks as her slightly widened, saddened and fearful eyes fell upon the building and painful memories surfaced in her head.

'I can't believe this…Why? Why Particle Proxy? I never imagined that I'd be back in this place…Toxic Ivy's Pub…I remember when this was a strip club…This place…Is too full of memories for me…'

…To Be Continued…