Grimoire (Private)

Finding a grimoire? This seemed like an odd mission considering ninja don't exactly need spell books. Why would this woman have a grimoire when she could simply perform jutsu instead? Either way, it wasn't his job to ask. For some reason this mission was an A ranked. There was something they weren't telling us and it seemed awfully suspicious. What's worse was the person of which Oboro had been assigned the mission with. His new "team mate" Akira... This was going to be a drag considering what he'd done to her only yesterday and I found it somewhat amusing. The awkward feeling was sure to present itself early, there was little we could do to avoid it. "Perhaps the scream she let out yesterday was one of relief. You know?" Oboro said to me, but out loud. No one was around so there was no harm in it. I chuckled from within his mind as if to reassure him, but we both knew that wasn't the case.

Either way, it was a nice day. Against the gate was where he stood, playing with the dirt with his bare toes. A gate guard stood staring at him. To his unawareness, Oboro was fully competent that he was staring at him, however simply chose not to make eye contact until the right moment. Now was a time of relaxation, the calm before the storm. The birds chirp and the wind caused the tree branches to make a soft swaying sound as if to create a sound of a breeze. And I was happy. Every tense muscle within the body of Oboro was finally at rest and lacked strain. Until that moment arrived.

When we saw her show up...

[287]

She was pissed. That was the only word to explain the absolute anger she was feeling that very morning. Why? Why him? Out of all the shinobi she could possibly go on a mission with it was him. Her one thought was, "I hope he dies today. If he doesn't, I'll kill him myself." Blue eyes were not blue today, today they were gray. Their very color reflected the darkness she was feeling in her.

The blonde haired girl made her way towards the gate and there he would be standing. As she looked at him, her anger only grew. So, she wouldn't look at him. She wouldn't speak to him. She wouldn't even stand near him. The thoughts that circled through her mind only kept her anger boiling.

It almost seemed as if she was avoiding making eye contact with him. The thought made him chuckle as it was clear that the actions he progressed the day before had taken their toll on her. It mattered little to him however as he was only interested in getting this damned notebook and getting back to this Selena Umbra lady. He would collect his reward and be on his way. There would be little need for the two who had met twice to meet a third time unless of course he was once again forced to partake in missions with her. It would be nice to become a jounin and be able to choose his own team however. As of now he was in a team with two people that he only moderately enjoyed the presence of. And as for her, I suppose you could say that Oboro did enjoy having her here just a tad in his heart. Particularly because he felt as if he was the one in control now. Like he'd been awakened from her spell and had control over his own feelings. That must have been why she was so upset. She could no longer harm him!

Either way, he led the way to the cave without saying a word to her during the journey. His lips were delayed, though he spoke to me occasionally mentally, simply trying to make small talk. Most of which I ignored because I was focusing on the girl behind us. What was it that made her so upset before? Was it that the touch on the cheek was a power move, or something else? "What exactly was the touch on the cheek meant to do anyways?" I would graciously ask my host and wait a few moments for him to respond. It seemed as if he too had been considering this question. "I think it was for something that I couldn't control. It was more of an impulse than a planned movement. Something in my body just made me want to touch her cheek is all." He was as confused as me. At some point as the two were walking, probably around the two mile span, he turned around to stare at her for a moment while walking backwards. Surely she wouldn't look back it him based on her previous actions but he was still intrigued by her. There was a clear attraction he felt towards her physical appearance that couldn't be ignored. He stopped and would allow her to pass and lead the rest of the way west to the cave.

[433]

Gray eyes stared at the back of his head as he walked ahead of her. She would do anything to bash his head in at the moment or maybe even slice his throat and watch him bleed out. It wasn't like she hadn't done it before. Her mind ran through the events of that night. Blood poured out into the night only a sliver of light ran through the middle showing the very crimson color that blended so well with the darkness. Her blue eyes had pierced through that very same darkness. It was a time of joy. She had never seen someone's blood spill out before her eyes. What made it even better was the fact that it was her own disgusting father. She was lad to take his soul from the world. He dint deserve to live in it much like herself. However this one in front of her now, she needed him...Only for this mission of course. She wasn't very skilled.

Eventually, gray eyes would notice that this monstrosity had decided to turn around. Quickly she would lower her eyes and stare intently at the ground. How dare he even think about looking at her. Did he think this was some sick game? Perhaps, all that talk of her playing a game had made him decide to "turn the tides." Well, he was obviously to stupid to realize that she hadn't been playing a game. There was no game and this ridiculous idea angered her quite a bit. This idiotic boy... She hated him. She hated him. She hated him.

As the blonde passed the boy who had stopped, she would let out a disgusted, "ugh", and continue on. Wether he followed her or left her to do this herself she didn't care. Grey eyes wouldn't look back once to check if he was still there, until they had reached the very cave that was described. At this point, she would stop and turn to glare at him, if he still followed her. However, she still wouldn't speak and she still wouldn't stand directly near him.

After he allowed her to pass, Akira would lead the way for the rest of the walk which was roughly a mile. And admittedly, the entire time that she was walking in front of him, about eighty percent of it was spent staring at her... Butt. "My my," I would say to Oboro from within the confines of his mind. "Aren't we a bit perverted?" his cheeks would turn slightly red but the grin on his face told his true motive. In reality that was the whole reason he allowed her to pass. The plan had worked. This game was turning out to be much more fun than he had imagined in the beginning. Now that he was actually a player instead of a piece, he was starting to have much more fun that he'd thought able. Perhaps she no longer considered it a game. Maybe that made him the Victor, but it was no fun playing a game alone.

They'd finally made it to the cave and there was something wrong with it. The entrance was a perfect triangle. Like literally perfect. It was a bit spooky honestly. However the thought of it being ominous kinda excited Oboro. He led. This way this time in fear of Akira being ambushed by something inside. Heavy breathing was coming from within the cave and Oboro knew something was going to happen soon. He just didn't know what.

After making their way at least fifty meters into the cave system, the path was becoming more and more illuminated. From a distance it wasn't clear by what, but after traveling closet to the light source it became clear that I was a lit campfire within a clearing in the cave. "Someone is here." Oboro whispered to himself, loud enough just for Akira to hear him. From two directions in front of him, they rushed him.

They were bears... Sort of. They had snow white fur and glowing green eyes. And it almost seemed as if... He could see through them? The one from the right rushed him at top speeds, slow to him but you know, fast for a bear. As it ran, he kept eye contact with it as it lifted one paw into the air as if to swat at him. He'd throw a shuriken into its belly just as the paw was coming down. The blade went through his gut, but his paw also went through Oboro. "THE GHOST BEAR!" he shouted with excitement and glee. He'd heard if these before. They turn transparent and crush enemies by turning solid once again. "Don't let them near you!" he would say, back to Akira. "If you have some sort of projectile, use it." the bear would rear up on his hind legs and drop his full weight, attempting to crush Oboro but the boy swiftly jumped out of the way.

[482]

Akira hadn't really thought much about the look of the cave, although the entrance was a wonderfully perfect triangle. The girl simply followed Oboro through it. At first, Akira thought about taking him out quickly in the darkness but would soon lose the thought as the cave began to light up the further they went. As the cave began to ight up, Akira began to realize how cool this cave was. It was all mysterious and she could never tell what was in there. It almost made her upset that Oboro had entered first. Akira would have loved to hopefully unexpectedly meet with something or someone.

They had finally found the light source. It seemed like a campfire but nobody was around. Of course, Oboro just had to say something ridiculously stupid. It was quite obvious that someone had been here. A fired didnt just light itself. However, she kept her smart comments to herself. She wouldn't allow herself to speak to him, even when she saw creatures moving towards him.

Akira would blink as she stared at the white creatures with green eyes. After a moment of watching, she noticed they almost seemed transparent. Bears? Transparent? How was that even a possibility? Then again, this world was quite an unusual place. Akira had been standing a few feet behind Oboro, so she had watched the whole ordeal with him almost being slammed by a paw happen. When he yelled, she would shake her head. However, it wasn't out of any sort of hate or frustration. She found his excitement rather amusing. Soon after though, she would return to her angered state.

Of course, Akira was learning about these creatures through watching Oboro. However, she hadn't felt the need to help him fight them. So, she would simply stand back behind him. Would she ever help him if he needed it? She highly doubted that she would. Her soul wish at the moment was to see him dead. If these bears killed him, she might be so happy that she'd sing. If she were to die, it wouldn't matter to her.

It became clear soon to Oboro that the weakness of the bear was it's need to become corporal before attacking. Another weakness the three bears had, and this one was more due to the terrain than due to the powers of the bear, was the narrow enclosing that the lot of them all were in. Only one bear could attack at a time. This gave Oboro a heavy advantage over them as he was able to analyze their movements one by one and they kind of just had to deal with it. Even though they were ethereal, it seemed that they were unable to pass through one another. A grin appeared on Oboro's face as he quickly rubbed his hands together in order to create a small strand of bungee gomu. As the massive mammal lifted itself into the air, Oboro swiftly placed the gum on the floor of where he was just before the giant crushing paws of the bear came down on top of him. The beasts knives for fingers slashed through his shirt, leaving a massive tear in the fabric as well as his skin. The cut wasn't too deep, though blood was quickly oozing from the orifice created within the last moment. It stung like hell. The masochistic thought turned him on a bit. It wasn't deep enough for him to bleed out, though it was just enough to get his heart pumping a bit harder. The throb of his arteries was audible now, to him at least.

The plus side was, the bear was no stuck to the ground and because it was connected to the tangible world, was now unable to move into the intangible world. Oboro removed the shirt from his body, revealing his pale skin. The other bear was also unable to pass this one and would be unable to reach the pair of shinobi. "Smart thinking." I would say to Oboro as he smirked. "Now how are you going to get past them?" The solution to this question he was still unaware of. However he knew it would have to be something along the lines of going over them. For now, the hind bears were still very much movable and wouldn't go down without a fight, so there was only one solution. "Akira. Focus your Chakra to climb the walls and walk along the ceiling."

He placed one hand on the walls and then a foot before putting his full weight into it, Chakra kneaded into the flesh that was touching the smooth yet damp stone. He climbed vertically until he met the roof of the ceiling. The beasts of course would attempt to bite him as he passed over them with a narrow margin, standing on their hind legs. The larger of the two that was still able to move managed to rip the rest of his shirt off, revealing his pale body. Eventually he'd managed to climb out of reach of the Bears, atop a few rocks too slippery for them to climb before the final pathway was revealed to him.

At the end of this stone hallway rested a rock pillar which on top nested a blue-black book, a single light pouring from a small hole in the ceiling directly onto the book. This had to be it right?

[554]

Akira could tell the most weakness of the creatures by simoly watching them. So, this mission had already become a bore for the girl that liked to analyze and research new things. These bears were no more unique than other bears as she thought they would be. The only thing really keeping her from wandering off was the fact that she could still watch their interactions and also possibly watch this boy die. So when Oboro seemed to think up a plan, Akira would watch with half her attention. However, what came next she wasn't fully prepared for.

Akira watched as the paw came down but Oboro didn't move. Her eyes widened and her heart began to beat faster. Why? Why did she feel this way? Out of all the thoughts she had before, none of them popped up. Instead it was, 'Is he ok?!' The girl couldn't help but feel a little worried about him but she didnt get why. She was so pissed at him. She hoped for his death and when he was hurt She was worried. Why? Grey eyes could see the red. The red. The red was on her mind. It intrigued her so. But she couldn't get lost. Not this time. Not in his presence. To keep from thinking about it, She would Bite down hard on her own hand. It was painful enough for her to get her mind off the red but it wasn't enough to make her own hand red.

Soon, Akira would hear Oboro speak to her and without thinking she would do as he said. She would simply walk towards the wall and straight up it. It wasn't even something she had to think about. It was like child's play. Akira would then turn to Oboro, once she reached the ceiling. At this point, she would notice he was shirtless. This would make her blush and turn away from him. She would only look in his direction, when she had to follow him. Even then, she was trying to fight back the blush and keep eyes away from the red.

Akira couldn't help but think two thoughts about this day. Those bears didn't even realize she existed! Not once had the bears even looked towards her. They were too focused on him! What was that about? Was she not threatening enough? She was dressed in black for heaven's sake! Second, she hated this day. She couldn't tell what her true emotions were and this boy ticked her off. Then again, he didnt really. She didnt know. If anything good came from this day, it would be the fact that she had indeed gained new research material.

A few steps and he'd finally been within touching range of the black book. "Do not..." I would whisper in the back of his mind. But he already knew better. Generally when something is handed out on a silver platter, it's booby trapped. However, to our surprise after further inspection of the book, there didn't seem to be any rigs around it. No strings, no pressure plates. Nothing. So Oboro simply reached out and grabbed the book. Simple. He would stroke the hard cover of the book for a moment, tracing the symbols that he found on it. The symbols were in silver while the book itself was dark black with slight traces of blue. How odd... Upon opening the pages, to my dismay, each of them was blank. Surely the curiosity in my heart grew stronger and I was forced to rush back through the passage the way in which I came. Oboro quickly ran across the ceiling past Akira without speaking a word, hoping she knew to follow.

There were many things on my mind as Oboro controlled the vessel that would also count as my body. What was this book? Why was it so important to Selena? What secrets did it hold? Was Akira looking at us? Why was that last question of priority? However Oboro did not look back and so I could not tell if she was indeed looking at us. By the time we'd made it halfway back to the village the wounds on his chest had already begun to scab and he was no longer bleeding, though the blood stains still were sunken into his flesh. He felt nothing at this point.

They made it to the house of Umbra with great haste as Oboro did not stop for a moment, as if his life depended on it. The determination in his eyes told me that he knew something about this book, something that he wasn't telling me. Something that even I didn't know yet. At her door he hesitated a moment. Something was wrong. On his toes... Warmth touched them and caused them to wiggle just a bit. And that's when it all started to make sense. Blood was leaking out from under the door, onto the ground. At a touch of the handle it became clear that it wasn't locked and we were able to enter rather effortlessly. There she was, dead on the ground. Eyes gone. Blood pooling from them rather quickly. Aside from the eyes and nose, there didn't seem to be any other openings in her flesh. Pity.

^[432]

She stood on the ceiling of the cave. She waited and waited for him. What was he doing? Did he fall and die? She might like that idea now. It honestly shouldn't take that long for him to go and grab a book. Then again, Akira was sort of fearless but only when it came to certain topics. Creepy Dark Caves? Whatever. Drowning? Embrace it. Burning to Death? Painful but ok. The blonde was getting rather restless when the boy she had been waiting for rushed past her. This would make her swiftly turn. It was as if he didn't even care she was there. Good. Now she knew she didnt have to feel bad for any horrible thoughts she may think. He didn't came for her so why should she care for him?

Of course, Akira knew to follow Oboro. She was highly interested in why he was in such a hurry, so she simply tried to keep up. The two had hurried all the way back to the village and to the front door of the client's home. Oboro, of course, would arrive before Akira but not by much. The girl would notice the boy was hesitant but why? That's when she saw it... more red.

Grey eyes froze on the color. 'Red. Red. Red.' was the only word passing through her mind. Then, Oboro opened the door and she lost it. Akira stepped closer to the blood and kneeled down next to it. She would slowly lower her hands into the puddle of red and allow her blonde tips to sweep across the color. "It's not as warm as his was. It's not as thick either. I didn't spill this. Who did? I don't like this. The eyes are such a horrible place to watch someone bleed out. The throat is definitely more fun. Eyes pour like tears but the throat squirts it out if you do it correctly. What silly little fools. Red is a bad color. Red is not to be spilled. They told me so. But I did it anyway. But not this one. I didnt do this one. So, is it a good thing? Can I do it now? No... no.. no.. you have to be good. Don't let the red get to you. It's ok. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet." Akira would whisper all these words aloud to herself. She didn't quite know or care if Oboro heard her. At least he'd know what a freak she was. If he killed her then, he'd be saving her and many others eventually.

Oboro looked around him to see a source of the girls death, however there was none there. "Wait... Do you hear that?" I asked my host from within the confined space in his thoughts. Akira was speaking. Rambling on about death and blood and how red isn't meant to be spilled. Was she perhaps... Mental? Mad as hatter even? With back turned to her, Oboro paused for a second and no longer looked around, thought that would be unclear to her. Instead the voice made its way into his head as he genuinely heard every single word she said to the point where each breath in between speaking that she took filled his body with jolts.

After she was done, he quickly turned around and walked towards her, no more than a couple of steps away. Ignoring a need for personal space, he got as close as possible, practically right in front of her really as he looked down at her face below his. He leaned forward just a bit more, allowing his bare chest to touch against her. And just as he did so, he leaned in really close to beside her face, until his lips practically touched her ear. "Crazy girls turn me on." the words came out as a whisper, with the 'S' in girls as soft as any other letter in the sentence. He would grin and take a step back as something had caught his eye.

There was a knock on the inside of the open door, a pale hand almost as bright as his own body. The hard - knock knock knock- registered to him only after he'd taken a step back from Akira, though he was ready for the man who was about to enter. He'd heard stories. "Detective Lynch." he would say aloud. "I suppose you knew something like this was going to happen." The aroused tone which he'd taken with Akira was now one of a complete and utter seriousness. All the perverted thoughts in the world wouldn't distract him from the eye contact he was keeping from the man in the brown trench coat. Lynch was dressed for rain and it almost felt cool as if the water was already pouring down. He had silver hair, bangs that fell to his eyebrows and the rest covered with a brown bowl hat. He had the look of pure evil that Oboro shared.

"I'm sorry. I'm yet to hear of you." Lynch would say with a pretty damn cocky smile on his face. A likely lie considering he knew of everyone within the village. I'd be surprised if he didn't know more about us than we did. "What might your names be?" before Akira would be able to speak up, Oboro would interject and inform the man of both of their names. He'd then reveal an equal amount of information. "Well, I was aware that two shinobi would be here. Which is why I've come to assign you of a new mission. Open that book." he pointed at the book with his right forefinger as well as nodded head in the direction. Oboro did as the man said as he'd already opened the book once before with no effect.

"I've tried. Nothing happened." Lynch smiled and pointed at the dead girl on the ground. "Touch her blood and then the pages." As if a switch went off in his head, Oboro had his eyes shoot open and nearly off his face as he dipped his palm in a pool of her blood before lifting it back up to press his fingertip to the page. The blood started to move as if being absorbed by the book. Something was happening.

[624]

She hadn't been ready for it. She hadn't been paying attention to him. She had almost forgotten he was there and that she was there and that they were even on this "mission". It could have been hours upon hours of her sitting with her hands in this pool of blood, however it was only a few minutes this time. This time something else would distract her from her slightly mental thoughts. It was him. He had angered her so much yesterday but now he had caused her to feel something else.

It wasn't until he had physically touched her that she realized he was still there. Her face quickly turned red once she realized his chest had been touching her. What the hell was he doing? Why did it make her so nervous? As he spoke, her heart began to beat quickly. He had to be simply playing with her again. There was no way he had been serious since they first met. He was trying to fool her. She knew he was but.. she couldn't help but feel different about it. It was the one thing she had been searching for and he was teasing her with it. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but think it could be something.

Soon, the blonde would realize he had stepped away from her. She would realize there was someone else in the area. She hadn't caught their name or what they were doing. However, it seemed Oboro knew so she decided to trust him for once. Her head wasn't completely back onto the right track and everything seemed somewhat hazy. Blue eyes simoly stared blankly at the two as they spoke. Her hands still lay in the blood, which she hadn't notice had become the slightest bit cooler. Honestly, she hadn't noticed she was still touching the substance at all. Her full attention was on trying to focus on the conversation of these two men.

Blue eyes stayed glued to them. She was registering their words but not quite putting them together. So when their names were asked, Akira would be quite glad that Oboro had answered for the both of them. She couldn't have answered that simple question but it may not have come out quite right. She seemed to speak in an odd manner when she was in such a state. Eventually, the girl would look back down to her hands and attempt to stand but fail. The girl hadn't even been able to push herself up off the ground yet. So, she would sigh and then make a pouting face as she turned back to the man and Oboro. Akira wanted to see what was happening too. She wanted to be involved in something too even if she wasn't one hundred percent at the moment.

It would only frustrate her when Oboro touched the book with blood. She couldn't quite see very well from where she was and she wanted to know if it was working. This was research worthy and she was missing it. Then again, the girl still hadn't realized her hands were still in a puddle of blood. So, she simply sat and stared with her pouting face. Akira wanted to do stuff. She wanted to watch what the blood could do. Akira would then blink and look down at her hands. She wondered what it tasted like. It looked good.

Something was wrong. Definitely, undoubtedly wrong. The droplets of blood swirled until they had become nothing more than a red vortex spiraling into the center of the book. The Grimoire was reacting to her blood and Oboro hadn't the slightest clue why. Lynch likely knew, I could tell by the look on his face. Yet he was going to have us swallow our pride and ask him for the solution instead of outright giving it to Oboro. And this infuriated him. Not because he was holding out, not because Lynch was a douche. But because he didn't have the answer. It reacted to her blood. It produced a swirl, yet nothing happened. It felt as if something of importance around have occurred then. Quickly, Oboro noticed that Akira wasn't saying much but instead was observing the things around her. This time she didn't seem to have her notebook out so I assumed she was simply taking mental notes.

It was time to make some notes of his own. "I think it's about time for a little trial and error." Oboro would say out loud, but to no one in particular. He looked around in the room for something sharp but nothing came into sight immediately. After a few moments, he would walk to a wall, book in hand, and pull down a picture frame holding an image of Selena Umbra. He would smash this against the wall and have large shards of glass fall to the ground. One of which he would pick up and hold to his hand before yanking it swiftly into his skin, splitting it open for the second time today. "Lots of blood today." he thought to himself. Luckily this wasn't his body. This one was only temporary.

The blood trickled from the side of his hand when he closed it and he held it over the book on a blank page. Soon the blood soaked into the pages just as it had before, but this time it... "disappeared?" Oboro would say out loud. The goofy smile on Lynch's face grew longer.

Suddenly, red writing began to appear in the book. It read:

"XXX KURAMA, SON OF XXX KURAMA, DAUGHTER OF XXX KURAMA. XXX YEARS OLD. BLOOD TYPE O+. WELCOME."with wide eyes Oboro would mutter to himself. "This... This is my handwriting." Immediately afterwards a pale hand emerged from the book and grabbed the arm of its holder. It held his wrist firm while using him as an anchor to remove itself from the text. Soon, another hand came and then whole arms. A head was beginning to poke up and it looked a lot like... Oboro.

[445]

Blue eyes stared at the liquid on her hands. It looked like melted candy, since it had cooled and was looking quite thick. The blonde never exactly liked candy much. As a child, She had been too busy learning about other things to care about play time or sweets. Maybe, blood tasted like candy? Or at least a candy coating. She was quite tempted to lick it. Then Akira remembered something, she already knew the taste. What was she doing? Why was she sitting in the floor like this? Why was she feeling so lost? The girl would quickly begin to wipe the thick blood on her black T-shirt. She sure did like that color. It was good for so many things, such as hiding the color of blood.

After her hands had been wiped to the point where only stains of red were left, Akira would look around. That's right. She had been on a mission. However, she could hardly remember the past few moments but she did. They were a bit hazy though. She remembered the reaction blood and the dark thoughts. She remembered Oboro's reaction to her reaction, which once again made her blush. Then, she remembered the new man.

Akira's head would snap to the man and then away from him when she heard something shatter. The woman would then watch as Oboro sliced through his skin. 'Why? Why so much blood? I don't think.. NO. NO. NO. Don't think about it. You're worthless. You've already shown him yet another weakness. How pathetic of you. Despicable. How could you possibly become so mentally unstable over the red? Medical Ninja.. Not if you can't handle something so trivial. Worthless. Pathetic. Worthless. Pathetic.' Akira would think these thoughts as she stared at the ground. Her fists were clenched in her lap. She was angry only at herself.

However, soon enough Akira's head would jerk towards Oboro. Something was happening to the book. It looked as if a person was coming out but how? This wasn't anything Akira had seen before. As she continued to watch, She noticed it looked like.. him. What had he done? The girl would slowly stand to her feet as she continued to stare. This was.. new research.

"Oh fuck!" the host would exclaim as his own hand reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. Only the upper body of his doppelganger would come from out of the book, however it grabbed Oboro by the back of the heads and began submerging itself back into the pages within the hard backed book. It felt... Strange falling into the book. It was almost as if he felt nothing at all while his flesh was being turned into nothing but mere paper. No, this couldn't be the feeling of lack of existence because I didn't exist on anything more than a spiritual level. Something else was happening to alleviate me from this corporal world. "What's happening?" Oboro would ask frantically, confusion clear on his face. He said it aloud but he was speaking to me as now both arms were completely sunken into the book. Soon his shoulders were forced in as well as the head, and as a result the mind. We could see nothing. Everything... Black. The rushing of blood to his face made things pulsate around him. But nothing was there to change. Everything dark.

Suddenly, there was a whisper in his ear. "Hello." it said. As he turned, a white figure seemed to blur from his vision. Each time he motioned his body in this manner, the same thing happened. Trapped in the dark. How ironic. "Akira!" he would shout from inside the book. "Lynch!" he tried once more. Looks of doubt came over his face and I knew he felt defeated. From outside of the book, Akira and Lynch would surely be able to hear echoes of his voice shouting for them. Lynch however chose not to respond but instead just looked at the book which was now on the ground. Should this have not occurred he would have been observing Akira, this giant distraction kept him from doing so. Despite her peculiarities all he could focus on was the fact that a leaf chunin was just swallowed up by a book which was now shouting for him. With a baffled look on his face, he just left the building leaving Akira to fair for herself.

From within the book, Oboro would wait and sit completely still. Surely the white figure would show up eventually and this guess was right. Soft breaths came from his chest, lungs slowly pushing out oxygen as they did so. The figure was exactly what he'd feared it would be. It was me. Well not me, it was us I suppose but it looked just like him. He had the same body, same face, but blue eyes. It wore no clothes but instead stood without modesty, absolutely naked. It looked as if it had anger in its eyes. A look that Oboro never wore on his own face. I wore the look for him but this doppelganger didn't seem to have the same me inside of it. This one Boar all the rage of humanity. This one felt all the effects of abandonment. This was Oboro without me.

[510]

Eyes widened and she began to feel a slight bit panicked. It was taking him! What was she to do?! Would it harm him to stop the process? What did it matter he deserved to die anyway. No. No She couldn't let that happen. Her head was full of conflicting thoughts. She didn't want him to be pulled in but what was she to do? She was weak. She couldn't do anything. Akira would jerk her head towards the other man who simply stood
near her and did nothing. When she turned back, he was gone. Akira looked to the floor and all there was was a simple book.

The girl quickly made her way to the book and kneeled down next to it. Blue eyes scanned the pages. What happened? Where was he? Then, she would hear his voice yell names. The first being hers and the second most likely this other man's. Her eyes stared in fear at the book. What was she to do? Could she touch it? She couldn't leave him in there? What if he was gone? How would she handle that? The girl began to breathe deeper and deeper. How could she help him? She was worthless. She couldn't do anything. Could she?... Could she?

Akira would think and think. What possible ways could she help him? She didn't know! This was so new to her. What was this?! She couldn't think of any way to get him out... but maybe she didn't have to. What if.. she went in too? She could experience this first hand! Oh the thought excited her! Maybe, a little too much.

Akira would crawl around the floor and grab a piece of glass. She would take a deep breath and quickly run the sharp edge over the skin of her palm. The girl would wince in pain for a second and then hold her hand over the book. Eyes watched intently as the blood droplet slowly formed and dripped from her palm. Then, the writing came. The girl would role her eyes. She didn't care for any of this information. She knew who her disgusting father was and who her mother was. Any person would know what their blood type was. Akira's just so happened to be AB. She was quite happy about her blood type. This meant nobody would be asking her to do any types of blood transfusions, unless of course the other was AB as well. If she needed blood, She could take it from anyone. So, this was a win win situation for her. Take all give little to none.

Akira's left hand was now covered in blood once again, while her right hand stayed stained from blood that was not hers. However, she didnt care. She waited. She waited. Then, it grabbed her. A hand came from the book with skin as fair as her own. Then, another. It grabbed her wrists and held them tighter and tighter. However, she grinned from ear to eat about it. As Akira began to see the face of the woman who looked just as she did, the girl began to giggle. "Wonderful. Absolutely Wonderful," the girl would say. Then, she would be dragged in.

Akira never struggled to break free and she never once lost that grin. Soon, she found herself lying on the floor of a dark room. Where was she now? The girl would sit up and look around to see Oboro standing near her. Was it really him? Either way, the girl was amused. She would laugh louder this time. "This is great! I can't believe this! Do you know how amazing this is for my research?! What is this place?!" Blue eyes darted around the dark room, until she felt a chill on her back. It felt as if a hand had just run across it. However when she turned around, there was nothing there. When she faced forward, She stared right at herself. Well, not really herself. Just her look alike. "Fascinating. Just fascinating... but do I really look like that. Wow, I look so depressing and... ew." The girl couldn't help but notice all the scars and cuts her little look alike had and the darkness under her eyes. What confused her the most, was the fact that this look alike had no feeling reflecting from her eyes. Why was this? Akira would stare at the girl as she sat on the ground, knees up, elbows on her knees, and hands on her cheeks. She never lost the grin though.

As if from out of nowhere, Oboro was joined by his darling Akira. At first one would be unable to notice but the sounds each human made seemed to echo infinitely in this void. They filled his ears as nothing else made sound. There was not light in the room yet the four of them were clearly visible. They stood (well he stood while Akira was on the floor) parallel to the doppelganger that only seemed to be looking in the direction of the original pair. "I can't help but notice that she's..." I would start mentally to my host. Oboro would chuckled back to me. "Naked...yea." I took a moment to mentally imprint this memory into myself to make sure that I never forgot it even if I forgot my own name once again. I traced her body with my eyes, as lusty and wrong as I knew it was, I couldn't help myself. Oboro grew hormonally excited as well. It made me wonder if this was the first time he'd ever seen a naked girl. "Sadly..." he would say to me silently in his mind as if all were right. "Now is not the time."

Almost as if with that realization (though it was completely coincidental) the clones of them would fade away. It was almost as if a mist took them away so quickly that it was near unnoticeable. Now was where the real chaos began. Inside the black room something completely unimaginable happened. Everything changed and now the room was completely white as if it had taken a full one eighty degree turn. And instead of the two doppelgangers standing in front of us it was... Me. The physical Manifestation of myself that I chose when incorporating the body of Oboro. It was pitch black with absolutely no facial features. Nothing. Just a shadow of a man. However after a few moments it smiled, revealing it's bright set of white teeth. Suddenly, blurred visions of my past began filling the white places on the walls all around the room. There was a fence and S child sitting on the sidewalk. It looked almost as if it was just as the villages were being formed. Honestly, I had to admit that I didn't remember any of this. There was a balloon. It looked like it was filled with water. The images kept flashing onto the wall. They seemed random and I couldn't quite tell what the purpose was. It was as if the book we were inside had a dick twisted mind of its own. Oboro stared at the walls as if they were a screen revealing all of his deepest darkest secrets to those he had been lying to. Was he remembering something that I hadn't been aware of? Suddenly, his eyes shot into the back of his head and body went limp. My host fell to the floor as if he was just struck by lightning falling from the sky. Was he... Dead? No he couldn't be, because I was still here. He couldn't be dead. But somehow I felt as if I was just... Fading away.

The next thing I knew, we awoke in the room, outside of the book. I looked at the clock. Despite the amount of time it seemed like it had been in.... Wherever we were, here it had been an hour exactly. I looked around the room to see if Akira had made it out yet. I wondered it she too would experience what we had. Surely the only way for her to escape was to fall unconscious as well. But was it the book that caused it or was it Oboro himself?

[619]

Akira played no attention to Oboro nor his look alike. However, she had noticed he was paying more than enough attention to hers but she didn't mind. It would simply be something to tease him with later. It would make her grin a slight bit more. Oh the fun she was going to have. At least, that's what she thought until the scars began to form white words. 'Father. Mother. Lonlieness. Death. Father. Death. Death. Mother. Love. Hatred. Death.' The words. They were all.. scars that she held within her heart. She hid them from the world. She tried to keep her outer layer calm and simply not caring. However, this.. look alike was showing it all. Why? Could Oboro see them? She hoped not.

That's when the look aliens vanished and Akira turned to look at Oboro. However, everything turned white causing her to yell, "Ow! Hey! What the hell!" It would take so long for her eyes to adjust. Akira hated white. It was a despicable color. So pure. She couldn't stand purity. It wasn't real. There was no way something like that could exist. No. No. No.

Soon, Akira would be able to see and go back to looking in the direction of Oboro. However, he wasn't there. The girl would jump to her feet. "No. No. No no no!" Grey eyes looked around in a panicked. He wasn't here. She was inside this book alone. Would she be here alone forever? What happened to him? Would she ever see him again? Her breaths became deeper and deeper as she began to panick more. Then, she would stop all together when she felt it. Something dripped onto her head, then next to her foot, and then on her shoulder. Akira looked down as the drops became more frequent. Red drop. Red drop. Red drop. Then, it would pour red. It smelled.. it smelled.. like.. blood. "No! No!" Akira would scream as she covered her head. Her blonde hair getting dyed by the color. "Please!" That's when she felt it around her ankles. It was warm and of course, liquid. As the girl looked down, all she could see was red. Her heart beat fast and her grey eyes stared widely at the ground. What she saw next was the worst. Piles of dead bodies. They bled. They bled and didn't stop. "Why?! What happened?!" Her mind began to go numb. Her chest began to hurt. Her nose.. it felt like something was coming out. When Akira touched a finger to it.. it was red. Then, her mouth. Then, her ears. Then, her eyes. Akira screamed in pain as her eyes burned from the liquid escaping them. As she screamed, she couldn't help but choke and gag on blood. She couldn't hear anything. She couldn't feel anything. Eventually, everything went black.

Akira would wake up half gasping and half screaming. She sat straight up and frantically pulled her knees up near her body. At the same time, she would cover her head. After a moment, the screaming simply turned into heavy breathing and tears. What kind of horrible nightmare was this? She hadn't looked to see where she was yet out of fear. Thankfully, she wasn't in the book anymore.

After a few moments Akira reappeared inside the room. It was exactly how their doubles had disappeared. A cloud of mist caused her to form as if it was some sort of Illusion bribing her back into the overworld of the hell from which they had only just escaped. By the time she had arrived, Oboro was already reading from the book. Instead of blank pages it now had legible text, red and moving as if his blood was still going through it. It had deep dark secrets such as his real name inside but he chose not to look. However I caught a glance and to my surprise it wasn't a bad as I'd imagined. It said nothing of my real name or my purpose however. To my disappointment it only talked about the boy and had small bits of the girl. Only memories of which were still fresh in the mind of the brown haired boy who was holding onto the book. "Secrets... Galore." he would say as he closed the book and looked up at the girl who had manifested into the room.

He had a serious tone. The game would have to wait for now as he explained to her exactly what happened to the two of them. "She died because she could not escape from the boom." he pointed to Umbra who was still dead on the ground. "Should we have been so unlucky that our greatest fears consumed us, we would have ended up just like her. Dead. In her darkest moment she was alone. The book says it all. And if you hadn't been there when I fell into it." he paused for a moment and lowered his head before walking over to where she was sitting and kneeling to keep eye level with her. "I would have died." slowly, he leaned forward and would turn his head to kiss her cheek before retreating to look her in the eye once more. "Thank you." I chuckled a bit and teased him from within his mind. "Going soft are we?"

Looking at her like that made him feel vulnerable, but it also made him happy. Since she'd saved his life, maybe it was okay to trust her with it. Slowly, he moved his neck to lean his head forward and would press his lips against hers should she not resist. He thought to himself. 'Maybe it was... Alright...'

[410]

The tears were only a few and soon disappeared. Eventually. Akira would hear Oboro's voice and quickly turn in his direction. Then, she would slowly look around. She was safe? Was she still in the book? Was this a trick? She didn't believe it was but it could have been. Akira would look to her hands noticing they were still blood stained and one had a rather large gash in it. Then, she looked to the dead woman as Oboro had mentioned her. The.. r- color.. had turned black, which was the only factor that convinced her this world was real.

However, soon Oboro began to speak in a way he hadn't spoken to her before. It sounded sincere and honestly real. Why? Why now? What was hapening? He came closer and her blue eyes stared at him unblinking. As he kneeled down, she could feel her face grow warm. More than likely, she was blushing. The blonde would blush even more so when he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Was he playing with her again? Was he going to break her heart as he did only the day before? Why did she keep falling for his tricks? Maybe, it wasn't. Maybe, this was real.

Then, it happened. It was unexpected. H-He actually kissed her. Blue eyes shot wide as he leaned in close to her face. Then, they would slowly close as his lips touched hers. Her heart beat fast. She hoped he couldn't hear or feel it. Her face felt warm. She hoped he wouldn't be able to tell. Why did he make her feel this way? Was she naive? Or was this ok? He had genuinely thanked her or so she believed. Maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to actually trust her. Then again, there was always the fact that he could trick her. She'd just have to see where it went.

Almost in disbelief as to what just happened, he slowly moved his head away and openes his eyes to find hers wide open. Akira seemed to be red in the face which implied that she was feeling a bit shy about the moment, but she hadn't stopped him and that him happy. "Is this one a trick?" I would ask him from deep inside his darkened, twister heart. Of course it was a trick. Oboro, the King of Moths, the God of Many faces couldn't feel compassion. Or happiness. It was all just remembering what happiness felt like at another time. He and I knew it just as well as each other. "No." he replied like a Crack of the whip, Stern as never before. "This ones not a trick."

And he gazed into her eyes. Slowly again he would lean in and press his lips against hers. They were soft. And again he'd pull away before his cheeks began to turn red as well. He'd finally had the courage to look away now and he stood from his kneel and made his way to the door, still looking to her and never turning his back while he walked away. After glancing at it, perhaps this wasn't the most romantic location as he had no clothes, his chest matted in blood. The floor was soaked in the stuff and there was a corpse in the room. But he still felt warm. He had to leave. Back to the bamboo Grove. Back to where he could decide what's happening.

[exit]
[261]
[TWC: 4609]
2825 exp gained
600 Ryo gained
3625 from three A ranked missions
(1 for 600 EXP, 2 for 750 exp each x 1.25 for team bonus)
200 for going 1k words over WC

Blue eyes stared at him as he pulled away. She knew her face was red and she felt quite nervous with him looking at her. What should she do? Should she simply stare back? Should she hide her face? The girl's heart continued to beat fast. What would he do next? How long would this staring last? Although she asked so many questions to herself, she couldn't help but sit still and stare back at him. Over all, she couldn't believe what had just happened. She couldn't believe he had actually done it. Her stomach.. had an odd feeling inside of it. Akira highly doubted t could be any sort of problems caused by her stomach or anything within it. Perhaps, it was her nerves. A feeling within her that she had never felt before. Then again, He was the first person to ever even notice her existence. Maybe now these feelings were something only he could make her feel.

She would stare into his eyes as he had stared into hers. This time when he leaned in, she closed her eyes. She felt his lips touch hers once more. It seemed that the second time she felt something else. Something more. However, soon he would stand up and make his way towards the door. Not once did he look away from her. Not once did she look away from him.

When he had finally left, Akira would look down at the floor and bite her bottom lip. What was that? What feeling? She had been so angry with him for just yesterday. Why? Why did she feel so different now? Was this that feeling that she had always been searching for? It had to be something else, if not that.

After a while, the girl would pull herself to herd feet wincing as she accidentally caused her hand to bleed once more. Akira would more than likely need to put some sort of antibiotic on it or else it could get infected and infections were no fun. Unless they're someone else's infection, then they're plenty of fun. The girl would shake her head and find herself thinking about him once more. She would leave the house stepping over the dead woman. Then, she would head home. Akira really needed to clean off all this color. Black was all she needed to wear. Red just.. wasn't for her.

TWC: 4,664
EXP Gained: 2,825