After The Eyes ~ A Leopika Story

Chapter 12

Kurapika was finally returning home. After months of trying to find the doctor that could heal Pairo's vision, he was finally on to something. He was coming back home so he could take Pairo with him to the doctor, and Pairo could see Kurapika for the first time. He missed him so much, but it was finally worth it. As soon as he set foot in the forest, he felt something was off. No not off, horribly wrong. His walk turned into a jog, which soon turned into a sprint. He panted as he sprinted miles inwards, upon entering his village. He stopped, as he looked at his blood stained village in horror. "They... Pairo has to be alive." he whispered to himself, running into the village. Bodies, multiple bodies were sprawled out through the village. He refused to look at them, and he sobbed as he raced to Pairo's house. He threw the door open, and brought his head down to the floor. Pairo lied there, his eyes carved out of his head. Dead. "Pairo!" Kurapika screamed through his sobs, as he dove down beside the corpse. He closed his eyes and weeped, holding onto Pairo's cold hand. "Kurapika." Kurapika jolted his head up, to see Pairo hovering over him. His eyes were bottomless pit, hollow and cold. Kurapika looked up in horror, unable to move or speak. "How could you forget about this Kurapika?" Pairo asked, but the voice that spoke down at Kurapika was no longer Pairo. "Why are you no longer angry? Why are you no longer in pain?" the cold voice asked. Kurapika wanted to scream, he wanted to say something, but there was no longer air in his lungs. "Your selfish Kurapika. You followed your own selfish desires, and now you no longer ache for our deaths. You're a disgrace to our clan." he hissed, his voice flooding Kurapika's ears. "Why Kurapika... Why did you have to be the one to survive?"

Kurapika's eyes shot open, as he woke up in a sweat. He immediately sat up, his breathing growing faster and heavier. 

His eyes drifted over to Leorio sleeping next to him. He quickly covered his mouth to muffle his hyperventilating. 

Tears streamed down his cheeks, as he quietly attempted to reassure himself it was a dream. But he couldn't, because the words that infested his head were true. His pain and misery had been weakened, to the point where he even regained the ability to smile. 

After several minutes of spiraling thoughts, he came to the conclusion. His sole purpose in life was to avenge his clan and recover their eyes, that was all. He couldn't possibly live with himself if he felt happiness, which meant he had to cut off the few things that made him happy completely. 

He looked back down, to see Leorio sleeping beside him. He looked so peaceful. The way his chest rose and fell, the way his feet dangled off the bed because of how tall he was, the comforting warmth that radiated off of his body, they were all things that Kurapika loved about him. But that was the problem, he loved him. 

Leorio had seen Kurapika in his most vulnerable moments, he's seen him laugh, he's seen him cry, he's even seen him on the brink of death. He was the only person that had ever laid their lips on Kurapika's skin, the only person that would die for him, creating an unbreakable bond. An unbreakable bond that needed to be broken. 

He looked across the room to Leorio's empty bed, bloodstained because of the incident from earlier. They had both fallen asleep in Kurapika's bed that night so neither of them had to sleep in dirty sheets, but Kurapika couldn't lay back down now. 

He stood up, and crept over to Leorio's bed as quietly as he could. He removed the bloodstained comforter from the mattress, and crawled under the only thin clean sheet remaining. 

When he laid his head onto Leorio's pillow, a whiff of his scent caught Kurapika's nose. But he couldn't allow himself to enjoy it, he needed to regain focus. 

The eyes.