To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

Epilogue

The deafening sound of sirens wailing through the air mixed itself with the bouncing of footsteps, rushed and heavy against the asphalt. The winds blew at strange speeds, first a simple whisk that could not bother the lightest of leaves, replaced seconds later by a heavy gust that blew hats into the skies and made floral skirts dance along the air, until it finally settled into a still nothingness that exalted the blaring sounds of police cars. Orders were screamed, groups of uniformed people rushed into the building, all actions seemingly coordinated into a same system that Emi couldn't quite comprehend, nor did she want to.

The murky ambience added to her desperately increasing heartbeat. Demons thrashed inside her stomach, making her feel sick as she clutched tightly at the blanket that had been draped around her shoulders by an unknown figure. Her voice had gone hoarse, too sore from screaming out the blond's name as what was left of his body was carried away in random colored blankets.

As if Jiro was worth no respect. As if the color white was too pure for a ghoul.

There she remained, tucked into a little corner between walls, knees huddled against her chest as she could only remain motionless, because in the lack of motion she felt a strange sort of torture. It was her way of punishing herself for allowing the death of her family, the only way she could manage to push herself into a state of still-filled ignorance, and replay Jiro's words, that everything was going to be okay.

And she almost believed it. She almost let herself be seduced by the deranged idea that there could be light born from the darkness that swallowed her.

But it all went to hell once she caught sight of a familiar figure pushing his way past the sea of guards that alarmingly tried to calm him down. Immediately her body froze, and the feeling of relief to see the boy alive was drowned by a cold shiver running down her bones as she began to choke on the knot forming in her throat.

The male desperately made his way from group to group, rushing incomprehensible words from his mouth as his body language exploded all over the place. Emi was too far away to understand what he was saying, but she knew from the start what he was looking for.

So, swallowing half of the fear that built up inside her, she managed to hoist herself up against the wall. A stab in her stomach made her double over, covering her mouth as she felt her gastric fluids shifting inside her. Slowly, she finally stumbled over to the male. Her breathing was so slow that she didn't even know how she hadn't fainted yet, and it took every ounce of fight she had left to reach the male's back.

With hesitant movements she reached out to him, her shaky fingers tangling themselves on the back of his clothes. He seemed to not notice her weight, only managing to scream out more desperate words at people who didn't know what to answer. Emi took a deep breath, tugging once more at his ragged clothing, and thankfully this time he did turn around, but Emi was suddenly rendered useless when she caught sight of his chaos-filled, electric blue eyes.

"Emi!"

Her name left his lips in a breath of relief and suddenly the ground left her feet. She was immediately thrown into a tight embrace, Shin's arms wrapped around her small, shaking frame. She could do nothing but tangle her legs around his back and close her grip around his neck. He held her close, burying his head against her neck as he breathed her in, both their hearts racing like they had not seen each other in years.

"Emi, you're okay."

She could feel his chest rising and falling against her own. He was with her.

Shin was alive.

When her feet met the ground once again, she found herself longing for the stability Shin's arms provided. Her knees wobbled under her weight, her swollen eyes looked anywhere but at the older male's gaze as he scanned her blood-drenched body.

If Ryuu were with them, he wouldn't have missed the chance to jokingly point out how horrible she looked.

She could only beg to hear his voice insulting her once more.

"You look rough." Shin whispered, pushing Emi's hair out of her eyes as he brought a finger under her chin, making her stare up at him.

"Are you hurt?"

A slow shake of the head was all she managed to utter. Shin's shoulders slightly relaxed with the new information, and if it weren't for her hand being clutched tightly inside his, Emi would've thought his presence was just a mirage created by her grieving mind.

"That's good." He breathed once again, the ghost of a smile twitching against his lips as she felt his fingers running across her cheeks.

"Where are the others?"

Her breathing stopped. Her heart dove into the deepest pits of her being. The question she had most dreaded finally surfaced, and suddenly her mind shut down and she found herself unable to talk. No, it was more like each word she attempted to pronounce suddenly lit a raging fire against her throat, rendering her completely useless. Emi could only stare down at her dirty hands as she attempted to control her stomach which was thrashing it's contents as if they were in flames.

How could she tell him? How could she admit that she had let their family die?

"Emi?"

Her reaction was enough for Shin to furrow his eyebrows, red flags immediately rising in his judgement as he took notice of the girl's hesitation. Emi's gaze was fixed on her feet, her shoulders tense and jaw clenched. Shin held his breath, taking her chin between his hands once more, making her stare at him.

"What happened?"

She hadn't noticed tears spilling from her averted gaze until she felt Shin's fingers brushing against her cheeks, whisking the salty drops away only for new ones to surface.

Millions of thoughts raced through her spinning head, none of them which could be used as a valid answer for Shin's question. A piercing pain ripped through Emi's skull, making her vision blur and spot around the edges. Her mouth opened, but before she could manage to utter a single word her stomach churned, and she had to double over to spill her guts against the asphalt. Her knees finally gave in, sending her tumbling down into the pile of stomach fluids as she continued spilling all her contents over the floor.

Her tears burned as they were released, almost wanting to hurt her for what she had done. Her throat also writhed in agony as the fluids were mercilessly hurled until she could only cough out bits of blood.

Shin's arms wrapped around her weak body once again, lifting her up from the puddle of tears and vomit, into his arms as she couldn't hide the sobs that pushed through her chest.

Her chest was heaving up and down, attempting to gather whatever remaining oxygen she could as her blurry gaze flew around the disorienting scene. In the midst of her inner battle Emi had failed to notice the wave of paramedics that rushed into the building. Her mind was too far gone to warn Shin not to look behind him.

Before she could open her mouth, Shin's electric blue eyes landed on the blood-splattered stretcher that carried the destroyed body of what had once been Ryuu, as the bedlam of medics zoomed with him towards the ambulance.

__________

TIS THE END OF A STORY.

Ouch :(

Well, To Be a Scapper has officially come to an end. It's been a hell of a ride. Thank you to all you readers who stuck until the end. You made all this happen <3

I'll be posting two more parts of a Q&A. The first one will be you guys leaving questions, and the second one will be me answering them.

Thank you again for all the support <3