“Two….hundred years?”

The woman sounded just as shocked. Tsukimi stared up at her brother, lips parted in shock. The once angered look on her face faded to that of…something else. An expression that was hard to read.

“That’s right… he was human, Tsukimi. That can’t be him. He may look similar, but he’s not the one who put you here.” Hisoka put his hand on his sisters shoulder, squeezing it tightly. “They’re the ones who took the seal off. If it was him, why would he ever come near this place?” Without waiting for a response, though he knew his sister would give him none, Hisoka turn on his heel.

Then, he bowed.

“Thank you for releasing my sister.”

Two hundred years... It was impossible. It had to be impossible! No one could live that long and look as young as they did. No one could live that long regardless of how they looked. 

He was human, Tsukimi.

The words echoed in the Kurasaki’s heads. What could Hisoka mean by that? Surely they were human, too.... Weren’t they?

“Oh!” Luka’s eyes widened when Hisoka bowed to them, and she held up her hands in front of her. “There’s no need to thank me...! I... I didn’t even know what I was doing, so there’s certainly no reason to bow, t-that is, I’m sure I would have done the same if I had known, but, ah...” She felt her cheeks flush, and she looked down. “I-I’m sorry, I’m rambling now...” 

“I’m sorry,” Yukito spoke up, glancing between Hisoka and Tsuki. “You mentioned that it’s been ‘two hundred years’, and that the one who trapped your sister in there was ‘a human’, what...” 

WHAT are you? 

Her blood boiled. There was no doubt in her mind that this was him – that bastard .

“What the hell are you doing here?” She hissed, her clawed fingers wrapping around the hilt of the katana at her side– or she would have, had it been there. All there was was an empty sheath at her side, no blade inside. “Wh…what the hell!? Where is my…”

“Tsukimi!” Hisoka grabbed his sisters shoulder, turning her to face him. “Calm down, let me explain before you go lobbing off some poor humans head!”

“Poor human!?” She shouted back. “You know what he did to me!”

“And you don’t!” Hisoka retorted, which was met with his sisters reluctant silence. It was true, Tsukimi had no idea what was going on. Hisoka didn’t know much more than she did, but it was enough. Tsuki swallowed her anger, fingernails digging into the palms of her hands, her blood red eyes turning toward the stranger…could she call him that? It was his face after all…

“First of all,” Hisoka continued in a calm tone. “I have your katana. No one took that from you. I made sure that I took it before they…”

“Before they what? Spit it out.”

“Tsukimi it’s been two hundred years.” 

Luka gasped, pulling Yukito back and making an attempt to get in front of him, though Yukito was quick to keep her behind himself. “Stay behind me, Luka.” 

“No way! I don’t know whats going on, but I know you didn’t do anything wrong!” She turned to look at the other two, intending to tell the woman that she must be mistaken, that she must be mistaking him for someone else. She opened her mouth intending to call out to her, but what Hisoka said made both her and Yukito stop dead in their tracks.

Two hundred years?

She had been sealed away in the shrine for whatever reason, and Hisoka had said it had been a long time since he had seen the woman... How could it have been two hundred years? Both looked like they had to be in their mid to late twenties...

“Tsuki,” Hisoka took another step forward, directing the woman’s attention to himself. All the fear and confusion he felt before melted away upon seeing her face, as scary as it was. How long had it been since he had seen her?

“Hisoka?” She called out to him, her angry expression turning into that of confusion. “Hisoka, whats with that fa—“ The woman didnt get the chance to finished her sentence before Hisoka three himself at her, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace.

“Tsuki, oh Tsuki! I never thought I’d see you again…” Hisoka gushed, staring into his sisters dark red eyes. Eyes that struck fear into the hearts of many only brought him a feeling of comfort and love.

“Huh? Hisoka what are you… what do you mean? Hey, just how long has it been? How long was I….” The woman, Tsuki, looked down. Her vision was hazy as she tried to remember— what happened?

I was sleeping…

For how long?

Why was I…?

Where am I…..

“Hisoka…. Hisoka, where am I?” She asked, grabbing the front of his yukata. Her heart began to race. Panic began to set in. She remembered. She remembered fire, angry and biting at everything it touched, her fire, and their screams. She remembered a face through the flames, a familiar face that made her heart hurt. “Hisoka!”

Her brother remained silent as his sister pleaded him to explain. How could he? How could he tell her he’d been sleeping for two centuries. How could he tell her she’d been locked away, by people who were long dead, and her name was nothing more than a legend whispered on the wind?

How could he tell her how far they had fallen.

“Hisoka, why won’t you answer me—!?” Her shouts died as she finally saw past her brother at what, or rather who, stood behind him. The grip on her brothers clothes loosened as she took a slow step around him, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something, but the words failed her.

Those blood red eyes locked on Yukito.

The face in the fire.

The face that made her heart ache.

“You.”

Watching the two strangers, Luka and Yukito’s defenses lowered a bit. The way Hisoka hugged her, it seemed so clear that they had a close bond. Hisoka, who had seemed so cold when he first approached them had such a soft expression now. Looking closer, they looked similar... Almost identical. 

“Do you think.. They’re related...?” Luka whispered, smiling as she watched the two reunite. 

“If I had to guess, I would say so.” Yukito whispered back, a soft smile on his face. However, their smiles quickly vanished when he heard the desperation in Tsuki’s voice, and when her eyes locked on Yukito, it was as if the air around them dropped. Something in her expression changed, and neither could possibly have guessed why. 

Hisoka reached out, taking the seal from Yukito’s hands, looking it over. It was indeed the ward that had been keeping the shrine door tightly sealed. He’d been trying for decades, centuries, to try to remove it and yet… Hisoka felt… he didn’t know how to feel. Excited? Afraid? Happy? He wasn’t sure, all he knew is that the impossible had just happened.

“Did you remove this?” He asked, looking at the two strangely dressed strangers that stood before him. They looked completely dumbfounded- it was obvious that had no idea what was happening. He sighed. “You don’t even know what this is, yet you removed it? I don’t know whether I should thank you or not…”

Pat…..

Pat…..

Pat…….

Hisoka turned toward the open door, hearing the echoing padding of footsteps echoing through the dark. His brow furrowed as he watched, waiting—

She wasn’t going to be pleased.

“Stay back,” he stepped in front of the two strangers. “It’s very likely she’s going to be in a bad mood.”

Not a moment after the words left Hisoka’s mouth, a loud growl erupted from the open door. Eyes pierced through the darkness, red and angry.

“Who…” A voice came from inside the shrine, then a foot stepped from the darkness, a leg, then an arm. Slowly, a woman emerged, teeth barred in a wide, tragically uninviting grin.

“Who the FUCK woke me up?”

“I-I didn’t mean to, I just... I mean...” Luka had technically meant to pull the seal off, but she had no idea doing so would be a bad thing. She looked up at the man. “She...? Who’s she?” She meant to ask more, but the growl they heard was enough to shut her up, and she held tightly onto Yukito’s sleeve.  

Yukito put an arm around Luka protectively when they heard the woman’s voice. When she stepped out, Yukito was a bit shocked. With all the fuss, he had expected a terrifying monster, but this woman... 

She was beautiful

Even with the angry snarl on her face., Yukito was taken aback. He might have gotten a bit flustered if the feeling of dread wasn’t still in the air. 

Something was different.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something wasn’t right. The trees rustled in the wind like normal - it was dead silent, but here, it always was. Not a bird chirped, never this close to her. And yet, Hisoka couldn’t help but feel something unpleasant in the pit of his stomach. Somethings changed, he thought as he continued forward, down the same path he took nearly every day. Every day, and nothing had seemed amiss. Every day for nearly two centuries Hisoka walked this path to the shrine deep in the woods…

Today, something changed.

A large gust of wind stopped Hisoka in his tracks, throwing his arm up to shield his eyes. The cold air bit through his skin like sharp, knawing teeth and that dreadful feeling only grew. It grew so much that it went from his stomach up to his throat and he felt it hard to breathe for a moment. Then, as soon as it hit, it was gone, and the air was still once more. Quiet settled over the forest again, and Hisoka was alone, with that dreadful, dreadful feeling.

It can’t be.

His mind raced, almost as fast as his feet as he ran, the trees passed him nothing more than a blur. After all this time, it can’t be. His brow furrowed. Who would have opened it? No one in their right mind would have even gone near this place. Two centuries of walking the same path and Hisoka had never come across another person within miles of the shrine. No human or demon who wished to keep their head would touch it… If they did, he thought, may whatever divine being have mercy on the poor fools soul.

Hisoka’s gait slowed as he reached the tree line. Had someone really been there he wasn’t about to dart out unannounced and scare them off. He wanted to see the fool who decided to disturb this shrine….

This tomb.

His eyes narrowed as his gaze rested upon the backs of two figures. He didn’t recognize their clothes- in fact, he’d never seen such a fashion in the first place. It confused him. Perhaps, however, that would explain their foolishness to step upon this land. They may have been from a region where the stories of this place hadn’t yet reached. He doubted it, though. However, all thoughts of them were tossed aside when he saw it- the dark, gaping maw of the shrine wide open. Hisoka stepped forward, eyes wide as he gazed into the void, that dreadful feeling taking hold all over his body.

“What have you done!?”

The two nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard the voice and turned quickly to see who it was. Their confusion only grew when they saw the man. He was handsome, but his clothes were so odd, Luka wondered if maybe it was cosplay.

“I... I don’t know....” Luka confessed, looking down at the paper in her hands. It had come off the door so easily, Luka was sure that the wind would have taken it off the door if she hadn’t done so first. Something like that couldnt have been keeping the door shut. Ever since they had entered that cave, things had felt very off. A chill ran down her spine as she glanced back to the shrine.  “Can you please tell us whats going on? Something doesn’t feel right...”

Yukito glanced at the paper in Luka's hand. "Let me see that." He took the paper, turning it over to read it. "It's... A prayer?" As he read the words, a feeling of dread settled over the two. "What the hell is going on here?" A chill ran down Luka's spine, and she glanced back towards the shrine.