[S-O-Y]

It was early morning in Neo-Tokyo. Did it look like it. No... Did it feel like it. Yes...

Sliding his usual purple jacket around his torso, his bandages rustling in the process,  Yugure began to head out of the hotel to take on the day. Closing the double doors to the Dark Horse Hotel behind him slowly, Yugure sighed as he turned the ancient key in his hand. A hard click sounded as he leaned his head against the door frame. Today was going to be a long day. He knew it and expected it mostly. His two creations were off in their own worlds having their own fun. He had ordered it for his own personal matters were more important than the two he already knew. Today would bring some form of change to the world.

Yugure turned around as he slid the key into his pocket smoothly. Leaving the carport quickly that stood over the entrance to the hotel, he flipped his bangs to the side of his head to take them out of his view of the city. Looking around slowly as he crossed the street he noticed that a few people were out. A lady walking her dog in a robe with rollers on, the stench of smoke came from her as she walked by him on the opposite side of the street. Wrinkling his nose at the smell, Yugure walked a little quicker and turned the with the corner at the end of the street.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

Sighing, Tou left the shop with his purchases, glad to have the hardest part of the journey over. All he had to do now was deliver the requested items. The sooner he got out of the eyes of the public, the better he would feel. For now, though, he had to deal with the itchy, hot feeling of unseen eyes staring at him.

The shadows led him along, directing him back to the place he might as well call 'home'. Lately, Kamikuro had been really busy and most of the time that meant that he wasn't at 'home' or in the rest of the building. That meant that Tou was left to the mercies of SweetCheeks and SugarPlum.

Of course, neither of them had any mercy to speak of, so he ended up fetching them snacks and magazines while not cleaning up after them.

He sighed again.

[Q_Q]

Walking slowly, one foot infront of the other.

"one... two..."

A soft broken voice whispered, hands in the black coat. Of course the coat was not black to begin with, sadly however everything that touched the soft silk like hands would begin to corrupt, and rot anything that was even slightly carbon made.

"I wonder... if... I am... going.. the right.. way..."

The soft voice whispered once again, eyes glancing at the surroundings.

[S-O-Y]

It had come to Yugure's attention early that morning that he would need to start making plans on where his new base would be. Still undecided on building another one all together or simply just buying a new one to add on too, He juggled towns and cities in his head and had been for the last few weeks. He wanted a change that was for sure, but wasn't that what he was always looking for and had been looking for all these months, hell even years. He felt as though with ever action he made and ever effort he put forth all turned into either failure or worse...curses. He suddenly gritted his teeth at the ugly thought of just the word curse.

As he continued to walk through the now desolate streets of Neo-Tokyo, Yugure took his hands out of his jacket's pockets and let the cold sweat air dry from his clammy hands. It was his latest pet peeve. His sweaty hands. Not sure why they had started to clam up in the past few months periodically, Yugure found that he had to deal with his hands and their bipolar temperature swings and did the best he could do to not show stress caused by them. If it wasn't one thing it was always another no matter how petty or small it was. There was always something wrong with either him, or what was involving him. Sometimes he wondered if the black-cat curse had rubbed off on him in the ritual. A small chuckle escaped his cold lips at the thought.

Coming to a slow stop at a street corner and it's light, Yugure looked to the left of himself and then the right. No cars, no people, just him. Inhaling as he started to cross the street, he started to slip his hands back into his jacket and then caught himself. He was doing it again. Shaking his hands dry if they weren't already he stepped up the curve of the opposite side of the street and proceeded straight forward along the streets of Neo-Tokyo.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

The creepy feel of someone following was weighing heavily upon him, but he wasn't brave enough to turn around. The Shadow within him mocked him for his fear, but did nothing to alter his state. When a soft voice started counting, however, he lost it.

Dashing off, he didn't hear the rest of it, but what he didn't know couldn't calm him down. Tou was afraid of too many things in that moment - the voice, the two waiting at home for him, running into something worse down these dark streets.

It was understandable that one of his fears would come true.

To him, it was like running into a wall, though he was quite sure that he hadn't. The bag in his arms was crushed, but he didn't hear anything break except maybe the chips. They would hassle him for being clumsy and might even send him back out to get another bag. Just the thought of it had him shaking and the only reason tears didn't come to his eyes was, well, they were sealed shut. That didn't mean that his nose didn't run, however, which it did at that moment.

Tou sniffled as he tried to find his feet again. The shadows weren't helping as they were too busy dancing in glee at finding a certain someone.

[S-O-Y]

Letting his head bow down a little at the boredom of the grey city around him, he started to stare at his feet as he walked the streets ahead. Yugure hummed to himself after a few minutes of foot watching and whipped his head up just in time to collide with a stranger. Staggering back a few feet, he reached out to catch the other but was too far to catch. The sound of paper crushing and a bag exploding could be heard as he hurried back over to the person on the ground.

His vision blurred for a few moments as he felt darkness seep into him front first. Stumbling to the side and catching himself on the wall of the building next to him, he shook his head and blinked a few times again to recapture clear vision. Having one eye never really helped in these matters. Brushing a hand through his hair, he stood up straight and inhaled. Looking over at the male still on the ground he quickly noticed the bag that he heard crush was the one in his tangled hands. Frowning at the thought of cracked eggs and bruised vegetables and fruits, he crouched down and lent out a hand towards the boy.

"Looks like you forgot where you were going. You do know you have a blindfold on dont you?", he asked  in almost a fascinated way.

Hand still outstretched, he wondered if the male he was talking to could even see. It would be kinda hard to reach for a hand if you couldn't see it. Smiling at his own illogical thinking, Yugure stood up and kept his hand out just in case.

"Im right in front of you just in case...", he said softly letting the wind carry it to the man's ear.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

Upon hearing a man's voice, Tou froze and nearly stopped breathing. Not that it would help, but that was his first reaction. The shadows were making him feel giddy and his brain was having a hard time focusing. His Shadow took partial control, using his arm to take the man's hand that he offered to help him up. The shoes he wore were difficult to maneuver in, but his Master insisted and so the man's kindness was quite a boon.

'Er... ah... yes, thank you,' Tou projected mentally, hoping the shadows would continue to do their job and they could converse at least until they parted ways. There was something strange about the man, though. It was almost as if he felt familiar, but the blue-haired male was sure they had never met prior to this. If he didn't know any better, then Tou would think that he felt very much like a slightly weaker Kamikuro. 'I apologize for running into you, sir.'

[S-O-Y]

Yugure helped the male up from the sidewalk and smiled.

"No problem. It happens all the time. Living in such a empty city tends to make the mind loopy here and there. We all end up running into something sooner or later...", rubbing his head, Yugure began to feel quivers in his chest.

He squinted his eyes in expression of something odd taking place. Not sure what he was feeling, he tensed up and waited for it to pass. Tendrils of shadows frayed out in random places along his body like smoke attaching to a host. Shaking his head, hand still rubbing, Yugure felt something familiar. He exhaled slowly. The tendrils faded and he opened his eyes.

"Do I know you somehow...", he asked with his head tilted and a curious tone with his words.

He felt a boost oddly just now. Like more power was delivered with this abrupt wreck. He straightened up as a smile took onto his face. It was amazing what things you could run into now a days.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

'Per-perhaps,' Tou responded, wondering how long it would take for this one to figure out that he wasn't even opening his mouth to speak. At least his scars were well-hidden. The blindfold always drew attention, though it was more for the protection of their imagination than for him. They gawked whether he wore it or not.

The Shadow reached out with his hand toward the man with bandages. Focusing on the familiar stranger, Tou sighed thoughtfully. With the way his Shadow was purring at the sight of the man, it was obvious that he was shadow-blessed, hence the similarities to his Master. The only name that came to mind, however, was Yugure. Could it be?

'The shadows like you an awful lot, mister,' Tou started but then chickened out. Instead, he licked dry lips as he considered another way to address his suspicions.

[S-O-Y]

"So there is a chance that we know each other?!", he exclaimed with satisfaction and wide eyes, one still hidden by purple hair and bandages.

"I'm curious tho as to how we know each other. Do we have a mutual friend perhaps?", he asked inquisitively.

Wondering to himself how he would know a fellow like the one in front of him, Yugure overlooked the shadow reaching out to him. Lost in his own thoughts for a moment, he was soon brought back to reality when the person still in front of him said something quite interesting...

"The shadows...", he repeated softly.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

Withdrawing his hand sharply, Tou scowled at his Shadow, wondering why in the hell it was so insistent about touching this man.

'Do you... like the darkness?' Tou asked before wincing. What a stupid question for one who was obviously shadow-blessed. 'I-I mean, even mine is particularly interested in you.' His memory of Kamikuro forcing the Shadow upon him, giggling something about Kokoro that hadn't made much sense at the time. This had been an Id inhabiting the body of a piece of Trowa and, while the very thought made him blush, the reality of having such a thing was usually more of a curse than a blessing.

How had Kokoro managed with it constantly tugging at his control, pushing him to do degrading and horrendous things constantly? He must have been incredibly strong, as suited a piece of the Great God, to fight the Shadow and win so often.

'Th-that is to say... this Id of mine, gift of my master, keeps - ah!' Tou practically squeaked when the Id took over his limbs in one swoop and plastered him to the bandaged man. 'I-I'm sorry!' Why did the Shadow have to be so embarrassing?!

If one looked close enough, there was a slight blush peeking out beneath Tou's blindfold.

[Q_Q]

Plague looked around, was she going to right way? she wasn't sure she kept on her way, it was not long before her steps began to slow even more. Her blood vessels began to show more through her pale forehead, dark contaminated blood flowing through, her eyes were becoming wider, she took in a breath.

"now..."

she whispered forcefully. Yes she needed someone to touch her something to eat on her, her eyes looked around her dark hair covering most of her face now.

[S-O-Y]

Nodding his head as he was asked if he liked the darkness, Yugure suddenly realized that the male in front of him was not moving his lip to the voice that was sounding in his ears....wait. There were talking mentally.  Yugure stepped back a little bit when he looked over to see a mirage shadow reaching out towards him in the shape of the blindfolded male. What was going on here? Was the darkness coming after its user?

He felt a squeeze around his torso abruptly and inhaled sharply. Looking down at the man, he hoped to be able to see eyes but forgot about the shield the man had upon them. Shaking his head, he tried to move his arms from his sides in hopes of breaking free of the man. What the hell was going on right now?

"Of course darkness likes me. I control it!", he said sharply.

Trying once more to move his arms and get free from the hold the man had on him, he sighed in failure. Remembering the term the man brought up when talking about the shadows, he smirked with surprise.

"Did you say 'Id'?", he asked softly with a velvety voice.

Darkness began to ooze out from the alleys and cracks between the buildings around the two of them as Yugure's hair began to lift up on its own. A soft violet glow emitted from the ends of his hair soon matching the glow that was coming from his eye.

"Dont be sorry. Its not you who is to blame...", he spoke softly into the ear of the male.

Yugure's body pulled downwards into the shadows that had gathered at the pair's feet leaving the man clutching air.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

Falling to the ground for the second time in too short a time, Tou hissed in pain and belatedly wondered where the grocery bags had gotten off to in this mess. The shadows pointed them out on the ground behind them, where they had dropped when the Shadow had dropped them before tackling the man with vanishing powers.

What would he do for such a skill? Just about anything, but then he thought about it further and realized that the man - it had to be Yugure - must have used the shadows to travel, rather than just vanishing into thin air.

'Sorry, but I did,' Tou sent towards the man, knowing that the shadows would deliver his message no matter whether he knew where the man was or not. Slowly, the blue-haired man climbed to his feet once more, wobbling because of his shoes and brushing off where he could feel dirt and pebbles clinging to him. 'If I could only be a little bit stronger, maybe I could be more in control.'

Leaning over, he scooped up the bags and winced as they made a loud crunching noise.

[S-O-Y]

Yugure hovered in his darkness as the voice of the man spread through his mind. Something was too ironic for this random bump in the street to take place. Scratching his head as he walked through the emptiness thought free, he contemplated going back out to the surface to see what else he could learn from the blindfolded man. Nodding to himself, He closed his glowing eye and rose up from the shadows. Standing at an alleyway entrance a few feet away from the man, Yugure leaned against a building and watched him pick up the things that he had dropped from earlier.

The mirage shadow was flickering here and there in search of its master. A chuckle escaped his lips as memories from the Id's uses came fluttering back up in his mind. It truly was a great creation that Kamikuro had made, but like everything in the nature it had a flaws. It abrupt nature was one of them.

"Shadows have a mind of their own yaknow. Its not your fault you have been possessed by this one.", he mentally spoke out towards the man now clutching distraught groceries.

He stayed where he was at keeping distance to see as if the shadow would make another bold move and fly at its master again. If it did this time, he would be ready. If not, he would continue to watch and possibly get closer to the man once more.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

Shrugging, Tou turned back to where he was headed originally, hoping he hadn't gotten too far off-course. The sudden mental response was delivered quietly, but it still made him jump slightly and look around. No, the man hadn't shown up again.

'Master gave him to me so that I may see through him,' Tou sent back, frowning slightly. No matter how many times he considered the situation, the Shadow did protect him from all the random and horrible memories the buildings in Neo-Tokyo held. When touching Yugure, there was too much between them - shadows, clothes - for him to pick up on much, which he was thankful for many times over. 'He is my... seeing eye dog in a way.'

If he lingered much longer, the two waiting on him would be in an even worse mood, so he bowed his head slightly, sighed, and then started walking again. The idle thought that perhaps he should ask the man's name rather than assuming that he was Yugure, even though Tou was almost positive he was.

'You are named Yugure, are you not? I have heard of you from my Master.'

[S-O-Y]

Yugure let his head fall back with a heavy chuckle. That poor mirage shadow being degraded to a seeing dog. Of the workings of his God Kami. It was a shame that such a magical being was being used for a such a humanly manner. All was done with good intentions he was sure of tho. Obviously it was helping this man some how and that was all that mattered.

Seeing as the man was walking away, Yugure faded back into the shadows and followed behind the man within them keeping a safe distance just in case. Sensing the blindfolded man through the shadows, he did his best to keep in time with him step by step.

"Its amazing what a shadow can do is it not. Your master must know a good deal or two about the properties of darkness. Does he happen to have a name. I would love to know who it is that found this 'ID' of yours", Yugure spoke to the man telepathically almost over looking the fact that the boy had just called him out by his own name.

"Your master must know me personally to have given out my name so freely. What position do you play for the master by chance?", he stated with a request towards the end.

The shadows were clouding up as the distance between him and the blindfolded man began to stretch wider. They must have been coming up to a turn in the road, Yugure thought to himself as he quickly glided through the shadows in attempt to keep up with the man. Where he was headed he honestly didn't know, and what was strange about that was that he had traveled the shadow realm often the past few months and this path was totally new to him. Strange and ever so peculiar, Yugure began to grow excited at the the new happenings taking place. Still waiting to see what the boy would say to his question, he stayed quiet until the male spoke next.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

While walking away, Tou was interested to note that the shadows did not show the man, Yugure, moving any further away than he was. This meant that he was following and keeping up quite well at that. Tou supposed that anyone who had once been the Darkness Element that couldn't do this much wasn't worth his salt.

'My master goes by Kamikuro most days, the god of darkness himself,' Tou responded, inclining his head towards where the shadows carried the man. Since the Shadow could not enter the In-Betweens without dragging him along, Yugure was safe - for now. 'He speaks of you rather frequently and checks up on you just like Trowa - no, the dark half of Trowa asked him to before all those things happened to him. Master says he is so busy all the time now that it is really sad, but then Master has been gone a lot recently, so maybe things have changed.'

Pausing for a moment, Tou frowned to himself, taking a deep breath and pulling tighter on the Shadow's "leash".

'You are still doing well, are you not?'

[S-O-Y]

As the name 'Kamikuro" was pronounced in Yugure' s mind, a shiver ran down his back at the thought of what his plans for the day had been all along. Slowing his pace down a little bit causing the telepath to gain distance from him, Yugure contemplated leaving this moment to proceed with his own plans he had almost forgot about. Everything had been happening for a reason lately though, and right about now Yugure was almost tempted to let fate handle its own business.

"Thats almost humorous to know that Kamikuro is your master, but Im glad you have a good one taking care of you. I would assume he would peep on me from time to time, but I did not know he was doing the same to strangers. Who ever this Trowa figure is, he must be important to somebody. You say he asked to be watched over? What ever would he do that for? Intriguing....", Yugure's voice echoed through the shadows as the distance grew wider between the two of them.

As he walked through the shadows, Yugure slowly began to hear another question from the male. This time the voice was a little harder to make out due to distance between them, but he was still able to smirk at the what he heard.

"It seems you and Kamikuro have talked about me too often. What would cause me to not to be well? Thats the real question."

Yugure stayed quiet for an extended minute and then continued.

"I am doing well though. I'm just trying to get things ready for the move that I'm making in my life. Does Kamikuro know anything about this by chance insider?"

[Smoke + Mirrors]

'Well, wait, I know he goes by something else,' Tou mentioned hesitantly, still standing where he'd paused to inquire about Yugure's health. Considering what the Great God had done for him back then, it was surprisingly hard to recall the names he went by now. His Master was always griping about the white one, Seishin, hut Tue one he liked and who asked to watch over Yugure was he black one. 'Kokoro! Or something, right? Kokoro asked Master to watch over you while he took care of the girl and the wrathful, mini demi-god.'

Why was this ex-element asking him for "insider information"? Was it not supposed to be the other way around? Something was not right.

'Are you not supposed to ask before you make such a big change? I mean, Master seems very laid back about most things, but,' Tou trailed off weakly, shifting so that both bags rested on one of his arms while his free hand touched his blindfold. The memory of that punishment rippled through him, drawing out a strong shudder. Tou had to grasp reflexively with both hands at the grocery bags so that they did not fall again.

[S-O-Y]

Yugure fell further behind as the name of his lover bled through the shadows. The In-Between grew humid with despression as he clung to its walls for support. Why was it that just the sound of the name from another's mouth made him tremble with grief. He was desperate to change this and had been for the past two years. He let something get in between him and his life's duties. And that was love. Unfortunately now it was heartbreak and he almost wished to not know what that was either even though now it was easier to cope.

"Kokoro? He was the one that asked for supervision over me?", he spoke out loud to himself in the shadows.

Yugure was lost in his own thoughts as to why it would occur that Kokoro would ask for his own God to watch over his own lover. Was it because he was afraid that he would kill himself again? Or maybe it was the fact that half of Kokoro's family hated him or worse wanted him dead. Over the past few weeks, Yugure had come to understand that a small group of kids wanted him gone, and that if he didn't take this seriously he would soon find out the price he would have to pay. For a while he had laughed at the irony of being brought down by the little people but then after much thought was put into it, Yugure realized that things were getting rather serious in the city of Neo-Tokyo as well as some of the outer cities as well.

Unsure of what to do, he decided he would still live his day to day life according to plan and continue with the move he had put into action. Whether Kami would like it or not, Yugure was determined to leave the dark city and call home to another.

Snapping back to the present Yugure felt the presence of the man still but could still feel it to be far away. Wading through the darkness, he soon found the link between him and the blindfolded man and continued to follow him till he came across a barrier that showed a path right beside the man. Looking at the man fumble with his blindfold and bags of groceries cause him to smile. Clumsiness was something he found amusing, but then again didn't everybody? He took a deep breathe.

"Lets just say that the bond I used to have with Kamikuro isn't as strong as it used to be but I hope to change that soon...", he spoke out towards the man mentally his voice being heard quickly due to the proximity they were at now.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

'Are you... looking for Master Kamikuro?' Tou asked carefully, biting his bottom lip as he wondered about what would happen if Yugure followed him all the way home. SweetCheeks and SugarPlum were probably starving by now, or at least that is what they would say, and bully him more because Master was still out.

Kamikuro had been gone for almost two weeks to the day, having left with only a brief explanation that there was something interesting that he needed to find and bring home. The Master was still alive since the shadows seemed untroubled, but the two other living with them were becoming more vicious. They called some people in to feed them, but then threw tantrums and didn't feed fully. The place was becoming more tense by the day.

'I-I can show you where we live if-if you are interested since you are, well, you,' Tou offered, biting a little harder on his lip. Even though he was mostly sure that Kamikuro wouldn't mind, he was not sure at all how the two definitely waiting there would react to Yugure. Would they want to eat or crucify him? With those two, it was hard to tell.

[S-O-Y]

"I guess you could say I am yes,", he answered the boy's question.

Contemplating whether he wanted to reemerge from the shadows or not, he waited to see what the male would do. So far they were at another stand still.

"I wouldn't mind that at all honestly. Its been a long while since I visited Kami's house honestly and now that you mention it, thats exactly where I was headed today. How ironic we both ran into eachother dont you think?"

Yugure leaned against the shadow's wall of the building next to the male while he watched him. It became apparent to him that he was not the only one that liked to be surrounded with collections. Even one of his God's had the same habit or hobby you could say. A smile broke the surface allowing Yugure to show pearly whites in the blackness of the shadows.

[Smoke + Mirrors]

The sight of white amongst the shadows was not surprising at all, really, since everything to him was shades of gray. Tou just sighed and continued walking since they were quite close. Only a little bit further that was, thankfully, conducted in silence since he did not want to explain the possibility of Kamikuro not being there at all.

"There you are, you stupid servant," one of them snarled before slamming the door open, nearly hitting Tou. SweetCheeks immediately snatched a bag from him and dug through it for her hot chips. "What took you so long and what is that heavenly scent?"

She looked up and noticed the other presence.

"What feels like Master, but doesn't smell like him?" SugarPlum arrived just after its sibling asked, looking around before focusing on Tou. From what the shadow-blessed male could tell, SugarPlum was currently masquerading as a boy while SweetCheeks was in its girl form.

Worst possible arrival time, in other words.

'Th-thi-this is Y-Y-Y-Yugure,' Tou managed to say to them before SugarPlum got a hold of his neck and he started to panic too much to continue.

[Q_Q]

Plague took in a shaky breath, she was close to losing it. Stumbling next to a building she sighted, her fingers moved like spiders up the buildings side.

"I cannot leave my baby by herself..."

forced words came through quivering teeth, she was forbidden do to what she was a bout to do, however if it meant the ability to still see her daughter she didn't care. Her eyes closed she became a sack of bones her eyes glazed. from her fingers came a black liquid. she was now the virus without a body sipping through the buildings around her like vaines the dark liquid made it's way out eating anything that was on it's way.

the small child walking by had no idea what was to come it's shoe touched the darkness and just as it touched it it was eaten alive, the black death was making Neo-Tokyo it's feeding ground. sipping through every building.