From Sailor Moon Flash!
| Featuring: | Binshou, Teaki |
| IC Date: | May 2002 |
| Status: | Completed |
| Summary: | Chaos has just begun to stir, and the starseed Binshou doesn't even realize he has begins reacting in a most unpleasant way. |
Binshou shut the book with a fast *clop* and shuddered.
"Studying English outside of school?" noted Teaki. "Yeah, that'd make me shudder, too."
"It's not that," said Binshou. "It's just that the story was, uh... sort of creepy."
"Cool. Creepy like how?"
"Well, it's about a group of monks that order a super computer to calculate and write out all the names of God, and, uh, it does. And then the world ends."
Teaki gave him a blank stare, the sort that usually meant his brain had frozen in an attempt to comprehend his friend. "Well... okay. That doesn't sound creepy, that just sounds weird."
"But it IS creepy!" Binshou insisted. "Why would anyone want to bring about the end of the world? It's just... mean. And why would it end just because someone solved a riddle? And then the stars started to disappear and, well, that's it."
Looking as somber and thoughtful as he could, Teaki rose from his seat on the bench and pondered him for a moment. "I think..." he began. Binshou should've known better. "Clearly it's a deep metaphor for- YOINK!" Teaki snatched the book from his friend's hands and dashed off.
"HEY!" Binshou allowed himself a long-suffering sigh before he leapt off the bench after Teaki.
The night was like a dome over his head as his footsteps sounded on the pavement of the empty road. Harsh orange street lights obscured the details of the houses and buildings around him, but he knew that he was in Chuo-ku, near Teaki's apartment.
Binshou didn't dare look up. If he so much as glanced at the sky, the stars would begin to fade and the world would end. No one had to tell him this. He knew it the same way he knew how to breathe. There was no why or how -- just a simple fact. He shaded his eyes and watched his feet as he stumbled forward through the shadows. Maybe if he got inside, he'd be safe. A worrying thought, though: what if the building had no roof?
What if the building had no roof? The fences and signs around him wavered and melted before the creeping presence of reality, and slowly, Binshou woke up. There was a dull ache in the pit of his stomach. Did he just have a nightmare?
Binshou didn't have nightmares. Nightmares were horrible dreams that made one wake up screaming, the sort that made a person afraid to go back to sleep. He turned his pillow over and pondered the dream. What if he really could destroy the world just by turning his head the wrong way? What a stressful life that would be. He could slip up at any moment, look at the sky without thinking and then BOOM. No more Earth. How horrible.
It was really unfair to all those people, having to die simply because he had a most bizarre eye defect. He supposed that he'd have no choice but to kill himself before he could accidentally gaze skyward. That would be the honorable thing to do, really. Binshou felt rather guilty that his subconscious had not come to this conclusion. How selfish to put his Dream Self before the Dream Population of Earth.
His guilt, sincere as it was, was no match for the heavy draw of sleep on his eyelids, and he was soon having much more peaceful visions.
Night had fallen once again, and he was wandering through Ueno Park, though he should probably have been at home. The trees moved and danced as if in a light wind, but he heard no breeze. He heard nothing. There was only the dark and the sky he couldn't look at. Binshou didn't dare look up. If he so much as glanced at the sky, the stars would begin to fade and... yes, he already knew that. He knew what had to be done, but how? A knife would probably be easiest. To be honest, he didn't really know how else to do it.
It occurred to Binshou that there were no knives in Ueno park. Eyes shielded, head down, he began moving forward. Wherever he was, he'd reach the edge of the park eventually. Hopefully. The cement sidewalk didn't twist or turn, and the trees that flanked either side seemed to be moving down the path with him. Walking faster, watching the ground below, he somehow failed to notice the strange stone underfoot until he slipped on it and fell forward.
The path was sharp and cold and no longer cement. He was kneeling on a long road of sharp black crystals that cut his hands and crunched as he shifted his weight. Somehow the sight of them made his stomach grow even more bloated with dread. As Binshou's eyes raked the road in front of him, he realized with sudden horror that the crystals were reflecting the sky. He shut his eyes as tightly as he could, afraid to relax them for even a second. Now what?
Now what? He listened for footsteps, hoping that someone would come along and lead him out of the park, but no one came. No footsteps, no breeze, no dogs barking in the distance, no cars, no sound. Shakily, he pushed himself to his feet and moved off to the side. If he could just get off this road, find a tree, keep his eyes closed...
He waved his arms before him, willing a tree to move itself to his hands, but he felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. In time, sensation returned, and he felt the soft warmth of his bed below him.
Binshou felt nauseous, almost dizzy as he pulled himself out of bed and went to the kitchen for tea. His mother was sitting at the table eating a chocolate parfait, a rather extravagant midnight snack. "What's the matter, dear? Can't sleep?"
"No," he smiled at her. "Just thirsty."
He was in the kitchen, alone this time. His parents were already in bed, so he stepped lightly as he moved towards the counter. The knives clinked together as he pulled the drawer open. Which one to use? Best to take a few, just in case. He couldn't do it here, though. What an awful mess that would be for his parents to clean up. Sighing, he stood up straight -- chest out, shoulders back, but head down -- and left the house, locking the door behind him. There was a cemetery only a few blocks away. It seemed the appropriate place.
Somehow he made it through the spotty orange light on the streets without incident: no waving roads, no crystals, no people. The graveyard was dark and pristine, free of street lamps, telephone poles, mailboxes, or anything aside from the grave markers and trees. There was enough light to read the headstones, but the kanji twisted as he looked at them. No matter. He moved deeper into the blue shadows and silver moonlight until he found the only one he could read: Susuki. Binshou dropped to his knees in front of it and set the knives at his right. Selecting the longest, sharpest one, he unzipped his hooded jacket, pulled the knife back, and... and what was he doing?
What on Earth was he doing? He was suddenly very afraid. What would happen if he died? Would he return to haunt this grave? Would he just... stop? Stop thinking and being? He didn't want to do this alone. He wanted someone to hold his hand. Who would? Where was everybody? Who was he trying to save? "HELLO?"
Binshou shouted, as loudly as he could shout, but the air died in his lungs and the sound was carried nowhere. He couldn't yell. Was there anyone there to hear him yell? The dread and the fear were too much for him to carry. He felt like he was going to vomit; he had to do something. Without thinking, he plunged the knife into his chest as hard as he could, and...
He bled, and kept bleeding, but he felt no pain, no change in his body to suggest that he'd punctured his heart. Minute after minute he sat there, and nothing happened. He didn't die, no one came, nothing moved. Nothing was happening. Binshou was suddenly more afraid than he'd ever been in his life. He fell on his back and looked to the heavens for comfort.
Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.
He woke up gasping for air, a cold chill in his neck as terror shot through his brain, and sat there.
Without looking out the window above his bed, he closed the blinds, and sat beneath it with his back against the wall. Binshou pulled his pillow under his chin and hugged it tight, preparing for the first sleepless night he'd ever truly known.
