YnM Fanfiction

" Shiroi Hane"

Disclaimer: YnM belongs to Yoko Matsushita-sensei

Author's notes: "Shiroi Hane" means White Feathers in English and is based on an original character especially created for the Yami no Matsuei world. Why? Simply because there are too few female characters.

"Shiroi Hane"

Written by Calis

Chapter One: Beginning in Death

She was waiting for Death.

Like a broken doll, she lay on the wide hospital bed with her pale fragile frame almost lost amidst the white sheets. She had been confined in the same bed for so long that she no longer felt the passage of time. When everything stood still, time no longer held any meaning.

Bit by bit, she was slowly dying, each of her senses failing. Her sense of smell had been the first to go and swiftly following that had been her sense of taste. Subsequently, she lost her hearing, the sense of feel and finally her sight. Imprisoned in a body that had failed her, only her mind was alive.

The shell of flesh that shackled her to the living world had reached its last limit. Unknown to her, medical personnel worked furiously with the equipment that kept her on this earth as her body went into series of seizures.

" Inform Muraki-sensei immediately! The patient's in a bad way! "

" She's not responding! We're losing her! "

" Muraki-sensei! She's gone flat! No heartbeats registered. "

With almost an audible snap, the cord that bound her soul was severed.

" Pronounced time of death - 11:59pm. Please prepare a death certificate. "

" Yes, Sensei. "

She was free.

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

If Death was the ending of life then why did the memories remained?

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

The demon roared in pain and fury as a silver blue arc of lightning sliced deep into its serpentine body almost severing it into two. The black viscous fluid that was demon's blood splattered liberally as it thrashed in agony.

The high acidity of the fiend's blood would have burned through anything that it came into contact with if not for the barely visible field of energy that contained the monstrous beast and a slender female figure engaged in mortal combat.

" Impossible! I cannot be defeated by a mere shinigami! I am the mighty Xantanas, second only to Brigade Commander Surgatanus! "

Massive gaping jaws lunged for the shinigami who evaded the clumsy attack with ease. Calling forth bolts of lightning between her hands, she send them streaking towards Xantanas, returning the attack with interest.

" Be gone, demon! "

" No~! "

The denial was cut short as the lightning streaks hammered home, shearing deep into the beast. The shinigami hastily shielded herself as the fiend imploded, black acidic blood and pieces of carcass raining within the kekkai. As the ghastly remains of Xantanas gradually dissolved into smoke, the kekkai collapsed into tiny sparks of light that dissipated into the gathering twilight. The shinigami released a sigh of relief, grateful that the kekkai had lasted. Had the fight dragged longer, she would not have been able to contain the damage.

She was exhausted and her body ached with the myriad injuries that Xantanas had scored on her. While the wounds were not major enough to incapacitate her, she was bleeding and she could still feel pain. Almost limping, she moved slowly over to check on the small huddled figure of a child still protected within a smaller kekkai.

With a wave of her hand, the shinigami dismissed the barrier. An almost overwhelmingly sweet scent of roses engulfed her as she bend towards the small little boy suspended in an unconscious state similar to sleep. Her fight with the demon had hardly disturbed the neatly maintained rose bushes that filled the opulent garden.

The flowers glimmered with an eerie beauty beneath the light of a full moon, myriad shades ranging from the dark crimson of blood to the virginal whiteness of first snow. No one would have suspected the source of the flowers' sustenance stemmed from the tiny bodies buried nine feet deep. Little children sacrificed in the bloody quest for power and wealth. The shinigami sighed and shook her head, the long silvery strands of her hair falling about her face as she touched the little boy's face. Belatedly, she remembered the blood on her hand and it left a vivid stain on the small cheek, marring the child's look of innocence.

Taking a corner of her torn coat, the shinigami gently wiped away the red stain. The young boy stirred a little against her action but settled down as she stopped. Thankfully, she had managed to reach him in time before Xantanas appeared so she was sure he would have no memories of this night. Life was already cruel enough and when the day dawn tomorrow in a few short hours, the child would once again be an orphan. His foster father was dead, killed the very moment she destroyed the demon because of the diabolical blood pact that bounded man and fiend.

In farewell, she muttered a soft prayer over the child. Getting to her feet, the shinigami winced slightly as her battered body protested. As she turned to leave, a dove fluttered overhead. Silver gray eyes looked up to see a single white feather drifting down to land on her open palm. The fragile shaft looked almost crystalline as she held it beneath the moonlight. A sudden thought came to her and she tucked the white feather beneath one chubby hand. Perhaps, the child would dream of angels.

Smiling a smile that never touched her eyes, the shinigami vanished into the predawn darkness.

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

Watari yawned mightily and blinked owlish eyes still heavy with not enough sleep. He had a sudden flash of inspiration last night on the reversal potion and had worked doggedly into the small hours of the morning. His constant companion 003 was curled up in a glass beaker, sound asleep with a tiny wing thrown over its eyes to block off the light. Watari picked up the beaker and "poured" the little bird gently into one of the cavernous pockets of his white lab coat.

Another yawn escaped him as he switched off the lights and let himself out of the laboratory. As he debated between seeking his bed or eating breakfast, Watari walked pass the infirmary when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Walking backwards, he stopped to stare intently at the consultation room window.

" Didn't I off all the infirmary lights before I went to the lab? I couldn't have forgotten especially after Tatsumi gave me that lecture... " Watari scratched his head, a little puzzled. He was further surprised to find the door swinging open when he pushed against it.

" I even forgot to lock the door? "

His sleepiness gone, Watari entered the infirmary warily and his hand grasped the fire extinguisher from along the corridor to use as a weapon as he stepped quietly towards the consultation room. His eyes scanned his surroundings carefully as he stopped outside the partially closed door. Taking a deep breath, Watari stormed into the room, kicking the door open with the fire extinguisher held at the ready.

" Ahhhh! Huh? "

Watari froze in surprise to face a young woman crouched defensively with two talismans held between her long slender fingers. Amber brown eyes met silver gray ones and a second look told Watari that she was in no condition to stand much less fight. Her clothes were tattered and bloody from the many still bleeding gashes that marked her and the hands that held the talismans were shaking.

" Hane-san!? "

" Wa- ta...."

Watari dropped the fire extinguisher just in time to catch her as she keeled over in a dead faint.