"The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame."
These words heard echoing through the hallowed halls of darkness
as a lone figure is seated in the darkness on an alter bench. “In nomen pater, filius, et sanctus umbra. Amen"
The figure says as they are joined by another
figure cloaked in a shroud of unilluminated white. "Come now, it is time
for you to suffer for your crimes," The figure in white said, as a supple pale
hand was outstretched from beneath the cloak. "Why must I go now? Cant I stay just a
little longer? We are so happy in this world" The figure on the alter says
to the figure in white. "You wish to stay in this world of darkness and terror?
Wish yee to be trapped forever here in your own misery?" The figure in white
answers as the figure reaches out, and grasps the figure on the alter.
"The laying of hands upon the not guilty shall not go unpunished!" The figure
on the alter exclaims as it breaks the contact between the two with
the unveiling of its true form, and two massive black feathered wings.
"Yee shall regret the day you have come to collect this soul for this is a soul with
wrath upon the ages to share! It shall be a thousand years of pain and suffering
upon this world of mine!" The demon exclaimed, as it began to float in air.
"Thanatos, brother, you fool, must you challenge your own flesh and blood? Do you so wish
to end your miserable existence I shall gladly oblige your choice!" The cloaked
figure exclaimed as it threw back its white shroud to reveal a delicate young
male with two great white wings, and a blinding white light. "So it is a battle you wish
to invoke in the very soul of my being brother? How long has it been since we last fought
like this? a decade? a century? a millennia? The sun yearns for the taste of your blood
once more, since it defeated you so long ago." Thanatos laughed as he drew from his wings
a blade of pure light, and fiery heat as if it were forged of the sun itself. "Shall we begin
Kaoshi? Draw fourth the blade of the moon, and we shall finish this game that was
started long ago." Thanatos said as his brother drew fourth a blade as cold as the dark side
of the moon, with a light blue glow. This dance began so long ago, when these two brothers
lived happily side by side part of this same game of life. So we venture backwards to unravel
the mystery behind this struggle between these two.

"Brother! Brother! Wake up! it's morning! we have to get to school! If you don’t get up
you're going to be late! Kaji is here to walk with us to school!" Hearing this Thanatos's eyes cracked
open, until he caught a glimpse of Kaji in her nice all black uniform standing over his bed
starring at him. "Wake up silly, or you're going to make me late, and then my teachers are going
to not let us into class!" Hearing this, Thanatos flung himself up out of his bed, kissed her, and
ran into the shower. A few minutes later he emerged fully dressed, and nice. "Come on, hurry up or I’m
going to make you late sweetie!" Thanatos said as he grabbed Kaji's arm, and ran out the door. "Hey, hold on
you're going the wrong way, it's this way!" Kaji said playfully as she pulled Thanatos along the way
towards the school.” We need to catch the train or else we're going to have to walk the whole way!" The
two began to run to the train, and finally got there in enough time to leap onto the train as it began
to roll down the tracks. As the train rolled down the tracks the tides of the world began to change
darkness began to creep into the lives of these two, time and place would soon become too much to bear
and little did these two know the movements of the clock shall soon decide things which it was not meant for.
"Honey, I really want to tell you something...." Kaji said to a teary eyed Thanatos. "What is it sweetie?"
He replied, trying to hold back the tears. "I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you"
As she said this, Kaji Burst into tears, as well as Thanatos. "Kaji, I know that more than anything, and know
that when I shall return I shall show you that I feel that way too, as long as you will wait, and be true, we
will be happy forever." Thanatos said this as he turned, and got into the car that was to drive him onto the
battlefield, and off into the world's fate.

"It's time to wake up man, don’t make me hit you, I really hate doing this." A voice said to a sleeping
Kaoshi, as an alarm clock came flying towards his head. "Ugh, Thanatos, stop it you idiot, if I don’t want to
wake up, then I won’t wake up," Kaoshi said as he caught the clock as it began to ring. "You've got mail!" The
familiar voice rang through the speakers of a computer which Kaoshi had set up in the corner of their small
apartment. Thanatos slowly crept up off the cot which he'd been sleeping on for the past year, while he was
stationed in Europe, and checked his e-mail which was now constantly pestering him to check it. What he found
was something which he'd never expected to find, an e-mail from Kaji saying that she loved him so much, but that
she could no longer handle him being away, and that she was now dating someone else, and ended the letter with
"I’m sorry, Kaji." This letter caused Kaoshi to become a mixture of very depressed, and extremely mad at the same
time. "She....She....Left me...I can’t believe this!" Thanatos said as he rested a hand on Kaoshi's shoulder. She
promised never to leave! She promised to always love me!" Thanatos was now beyond furry; he was in a blind rage.
"But Thanatos, there's nothing we can do for her, she's made her decision, and she wants to move on." Kaoshi said
in a calm voice, but was met by the opposition of Thanatos. "I refuse to believe that! I refuse to believe that she
doesn’t love us anymore! She hasn’t made a choice yet!" Thanatos exclaimed, as he threw himself away from Kaoshi.
"Tell me now, do you believe this enough that you are willing to stake your life on it!?!" Thanatos yelled, as he
brought about his hands, and formed them into fists. "Brother, I shall not fight you over this." Kaoshi said smoothly
Once again he was met by the resistance of Thanatos' words. "Fine! Then I shall simply kill you then, you don’t need
to defend yourself!" As he furiously yelled this, Thanatos' fists began to glow a brilliant orange yellow, as
he began to charge Kaoshi, the glow formed into a sword shape. "I am the blade of sun, embodiment of rage, and
power here to serve my new master, I shall make your enemies quake before your might!" The sword spoke in a voice that
only Thanatos could hear, as its blade sliced cleanly through Kaoshi, striking him dead on the spot. "Well done master
now who shall we eliminate next?" The sword inquired to Thanatos, as it shrank into its dagger form. "No one right now

I must attempt to contact her, and try to get her back! She can’t be truly gone from me! I can still reach her." Thanatos
said to himself as he began to type an e-mail to Kaji Begging to have her back. As he began to type the lights began to dim
and the world was plunged deeper into it's darkest hell. Dismally Kaoshi sits back, and watches as the world around him
begins to fly by, days seem like seconds, weeks like minutes, trapped from within he cannot break free and once again
roam the world. So he waits for the day that he may be released, and allowed to continue life as it was.

"Hey man, wake up you idiot you don’t need to sleep this long, she left you, and now she's fxking with your mind
and trying to tell you she loves you, but that isn’t the case. Now get up off your bed, and start living again." A half
conscious Thanatos raised his head, and spoke. "Shut up Rainze, I don’t want your advice, if I'd wanted it, I would have
asked for it, now let me sleep." Thanatos then shoved his head back into his pillows, and pulled his sheets up over
his head. Rainze shrugged, and turned to walk out the door, "Whatever man, just don’t do anything stupid because of her."
He continued out the door. Who does he think he is? Does he think he's the almighty, and that he knows everything? That jerk
I’m not going to get out of this bed until she comes back to me! Thanatos thought to himself as he russeled around in his sheet.
"You know, there are other fish in the sea, some very delicious fish even." a voice said from above him. "Rainze, what kind of
tricks are you playing? you're just going to make me madder and more depressed than I already am. So just get out now." Thanatos
said half heartedly annoyed. "If you don’t get out of that bed, I am going to peck you to death." A voice crowed from above his head
"Oh? I'd like to see you try..." He was cut off by a sharp pain in his head that felt like something poking him very rapidly, and
very hard. "'Ouch!" Thanatos exclaimed as he jumped out of bed flailing his arms to try to rid himself of the thing that was now
pecking at his head. "Alright! Alright! I’m up! I’m going to kill you Rainze! You little bastard!" He yelled, as Rainze came walking
back into the room eating an apple. "What? I didn’t do anything; I was just out getting a little breakfast." He tossed a piece of bread to
Thanatos. "Then what on earth was that voice, and who the hell was pecking me in the head?" He inquired forcefully. I don’t know, there was
no one in here when I came in, but, maybe you were just imagining things again. Now eat up, and let's get going, Sora's waiting for us at
the pier." Rainze remarked casually as he took the last bite of his apple and grabbed his jacket off of the back of a chair that they'd found
whilst dumpster diving one day. Thanatos finished his bread quickly, and tossed a jacket on opting to skip the shower. The two left the apartment
and headed out to the pier to meet Sora for a day out. As they walked, Thanatos stopped abruptly and sat down on a park bench, and began to speak
in a very depressed tone "Man, how am I supposed to start living again, knowing that she loves me, and that she wants to be with me, but that
she's screwing him? I mean things are so complicated, and I just don’t know what to do. I want her back, but I don’t want her to be fxking with my

mind like this anymore. It's just becoming too much and I can’t hold on..." Rainze sat down next to him, and put an arm around Thanatos
"Man, I know this is hard to do, but it's something that needs to be done... You just need to move on, and try to find someone else who
loves you as much as you love them." As they sat there, and began to talk Rainze noticed something deep purple sitting in front of them.
"Do you see that, man?" Rainze inquired curiously. "I think I do, but what on earth is it?" Thanatos responded. "It looks like a fox
of some sort, but I've never seen one that looked like that in my life." Rainze remarked, as he slowly moved his arm off of Thanatos.
"So, what should we do?" Rainze inquired. "I think we should catch it, I think we can get a lot of money for it if it's alive, or a lot
for it's pelt if it's dead." Thanatos responded as he began to develop an evil smirk. The fox began to seem a little nervous as it
got up on all fours, and seemed about to run. "Quick! Grab it before it runs!" Thanatos yelled as he, and Rainze lunged toward the fox.
"You're going to have to do better than that boys if you want to catch me, hihi" The fox laughed as the two boys hit the ground face first,
and the fox began to run. "What the hell? Did you hear that?" Rainze asked Thanatos. "Did that fox just talk?" Thanatos replied. "Yes boys
I did. Now if you don’t hurry, I’m going to escape, and you'll never be able to catch me then." spouted the fox as it turned, and began to run
once again. "Catch it! Quickly! before it gets away." Thanatos exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet, and began to chase after the fox in
a feeble attempt to capture it. As he rounded a blind corner Thanatos ran smack into a brick wall, and fell flat on his back. "Wha...what just happenened?
where am I?" Thanatos dizzily asked himself as he was starring up at the sky when he noticed a small red crow flying above. "That... is interesting..."
Thanatos said as his eyes closed, and he fell into the depths of unconsciousness once again.

"Are you ok? Sir, are you alive?" The voices echoed back into Kaoshi's ears as he lay on the pavement, his vision blurred the image of the person
who was standing over him. "Hello? Do you need some help?" The voice of an angel spoke to Kaoshi, as the outline of a woman bathed in a heavenly glow
came into his vision. All he could manage was a groan and "Ugh...my head hurts so bad..." then the lights went out once again. As Kaoshi woke he could
see lights moving past him quickly, and he could tell that he was lying on his back, and that the place he was in was very sterile environment. Kaoshi
attempted to speak, but found that he could not. Kaoshi could hear people around him talking, but with his still impaired hearing he could not understand
quite what they were saying, but he could make out the voices of two males, and one female. It was at this point he noticed that he seemed to be on a cart
of some sort, moving down a hallway. Ugh...Why did they take me to a hospital? Kaoshi thought to himself as the cart quickly turned a corner. "Because you
moron, you tried to kill me!" The familiar voice of Thanatos ripped into his consciousness, but he could not figure out where he was. "Brother, you have
inside of you a demon, a demon that waits to kill once more, and this demon is getting impatient." The voice rang once again through his mind, as his hearing
failed, and his vision faded to black. Kaoshi opened his eyes, and was surrounded by black, a quiet cell of darkness. All that was visible were a chair and his
brother whom was standing next to it. "Brother, come, take this seat, and I shall show you something which you have never seen before." Thanatos said calmly as
he motioned his hand toward the chair. As Kaoshi took a seat, the room was suddenly filled with bright lights, and images, images of his past, of her, of
the places he'd been, and of the people he'd left behind.

"Do you recognize these people? Dear brother, do you remember all of these faces, all of these
moments, and all of these times long past!?!" Thanatos Laughed manically as the images continued to flow across the endless expanses of this darkened room
as if they were but pebbles in the river of his life. "W...Why...are you showing me all of this? Why? I just want to understand what this has to do with
anything..." Kaoshi said as he began to sob into his hands trying to stop the images from invading his mind, but what he found was that these visions continued
whether or not he was looking at them. "Brother, you are going to have to face this, you know deep inside that you wish to return to those days more
than anything in the world. So you should do so, go out there, and get her back, no matter what the cost. It will all be for the better, and the sooner
you do, the sooner you will be purely happy once again." Thanatos said as he rested a hand on his brother's shoulder to comfort him. "Get your hand off of me!
I am not going to return to those days! It was horrible!" Kaoshi exclaimed as he knocked Thanatos' hand off of his shoulder, and sprung out of the chair he'd
been seated in. "You are the reason I am here! You bast..a..r.." Kaoshi fell to the ground clenching his chest, "My...heart...it hurts...so much...I can’t...
breath..." Kaoshi said as he gasped for air, and as his eyes faded to black, he saw Thanatos standing in front of him just watching him die.

"Doctor! Doctor! He's awake!" These words rang into Kaoshi's ears as his mind began to fully comprehend his surroundings, "wh...where...am I?" was all that
he could manage to utter as a man in a white lab coat entered the room. "Son, you are in Shinora general hospital, you were brought here about a week ago by
that young lady over there," The doctor motioned his hand towards the young lady sleeping on the other side of the bed in a chair, and then continued. "You
had a some severe head trauma and you kept just fading in and out all the time. You know, you're really lucky that she found you when she did, and that she
brought you here. If she haddent, you would be currently occupying one of our deluxe beds in the morgue." The doctor joked as he walked out of the room.Kaoshi
rolled over onto his side to face the girl, weakly he spoke, "Hey, are you awake?" he poked at her with his words. The girl russeled around in the chair trying
to shrug off Kaoshi's words. "I know you're awake, so just answer me. Why did you bring me here? and who are you?" Kaoshi inquired curiously. "Awww...you're
no fun," the girl said as she rolled over in her chair to look at Kaoshi, and then continued to speak. "My name is Amariese, and well I don’t really know why I brought
you here, I guess I just thought it was the right thing to do?" Amariese said in a semi-questioned tone of voice. "Now tell me, why did I save you?" Amariese
asked Kaoshi, as she got up out of her chair, and stretched like a cat. "Maybe you have a thing for me little Amariese," Kaoshi casually remarked with a smirk.
Amariese responded with a death glare in mid stretch, "You'd like to think that, wouldn’t you?" She said as Amariese finished her stretches and sat on the corner
of Kaoshi's bed, waiting for his reply. Kaoshi sat up in his bead, and replied with a smirk "Actually, I would, now can we get out of here, before they come
looking for someone to pay for this little visit?" Amariese let out a groan, and hoped off of the bed, and grabbed Kaoshi's clothes from the back of the chair
which she'd been sleeping on. "Meh, hurry up, and let's go, I know a way out." Amariese smirked, and said as she tossed Kaoshi his clothes, and turned around.
Kaoshi grasped the clothes, and before you could bat an eye he was dressed, and ready to go, the only evidence left of his stay was a messy hospital bed, and
a sterile plasta-cotton gown. In a flash the were outside of the hospital, and calling a cab. "So now I guess I owe you," Kaoshi casually remarked to Amariese
as a cab pulled up to the curb, and he opened the door. "I guess you do," Amariese giggled as she stepped down into the car. "Where to, Mac?" The cab driver asked
Kaoshi, as he entered the cab, and closed the door. "Anywhere but here, and don’t skimp on the speed," Kaoshi responded, as he gave a quick flirting glance
towards Amariese. "Actually, take us to the park,” As Amariese spoke the car jerked from park into drive, and sped off towards the large park near the edge of
town.

The car sped past cars, trucks, busses, houses, apartments, slums, soon leaving the calm central city in favor of a musty outer rim. As the speed of the
car became noticeably outrageous, even this is a bit insane for a cabby, Kaoshi thought to himself, as he gave a worried glance towards Amariese, as he grasped
her hand. "Excuse me sir, could you please slow down?" Amariese inquired, feeling Kaoshi's hand tense. There was no reply from the driver, this was quite unusual
, in my experience cab drivers usually speak when spoken to, Amariese thought to herself curiously, as she grasped Kaoshi's hand, she looked deeply into his eyes
and wordlessly spoke three magical words, "I love you." These two silently looked up, and as they turned their eyes on the front of the cab, the image of an
eighteen wheeler bearing down upon them, and the small cab was lost in a sea of concrete. "Never let go, and never forget..." Kaoshi silently replied to Amariese
as the small taxi cab burst into pieces, all that he could hear was the sound of grinding metal on asphalt, and then nothing. All went black, and all was silent.

"I remember brother, but this still changes not the fact that your simple life shall be ended here, and now, with one fell swoop of my mighty steel."
These words echoed through the hallowed halls of infinity, and into Kaoshi's mind, forcing him out of his reveries. "Must this end in the fashion which it was
begun? Can we not exist together peacefully like so long ago?" Kaoshi beckoned to his brother, as he opened his guard to expose his body to Thanatos. "Can we
not find that one song which we can leave behind? A song that we can both sing side by side, both attaining the glory of the one song, before time shall pass
us once again by, before we wake. One song, one glory, for us all, an eternal flame, a song that shall redeem us for an empty life." Kaoshi beckoned to his
brother once more as he opened up, and offered an embrace to his brother. "Reason says I should have died three years ago, but there is only this, only us no
other world, no other day but today. Brother, it matters not the verdict of this trial, but of the one whom carries it out, and for this I am truly sorry."
Thanatos said, as he lashed out with his blade, sending a wave of flame towards Kaoshi, who quickly parried it with his own steel. "You do not have to fight
me brother, you can choose to fight what's inside, I can help you." Kaoshi said sorrowfully, as he readied himself for Thanatos' next attack. "We've past the
point of no return, no backward glances, our game is at an end! Past the point of 'if's' and 'when' no use resisting, abandon thought, and let thought despair
this is pointlessly inevitable!" Thanatos exclaimed as he lunged toward Kaoshi who elegantly parried the thrust, unfortunately for him Thanatos had thought
ahead and slashed again, clipping one of Kaoshi's wings causing him to cry out in pain. "Argh! Thanatos, brother, why? why must we fight like this?" Kaoshi
inquired feverishly, as he broke from his brother, holding his wound. "Because we must end this game!" Thanatos exclaimed as he flew towards Kaoshi, enveloping
his body in an orange glow, as he charged Kaoshi. "Then this shall end now!" Kaoshi exclaimed as he flew towards his brother, emitting a light blue glow. As
the two collided a great blinding light enveloped the area, once it had cleared two figures could be seen laying on the ground, as one began to rise, a third
character came into view. Without saying a word, something metallic flashed, and the figure that had begun to rise fell. The new figure walked over towards the
other body, and helped it up onto her shoulder, "It's going to be ok, we're going to get you out of here, and get you all fixed up, you'll be better than ever
in just a little while. Just hang in there, and don’t let us lose you." the figure said, as it helped one of the bodies away. As they began to walk, a fait sound
much like that of a pin being dropped could be heard, what followed this could barely be heard..."I'll never let go..." As the figure fell the body gained a
sudden boost of strength, and kept the figure from falling to the ground, “and I will never forget..." Said Kaoshi as he placed the body of Amariese on the
ground, and covered her with one of his broken wings. "Brother, No one has truly won this contest; I know that in time you will come to terms with this fact
and that perhaps one day we may coexist peacefully with one another as it was in days long past, but until that day, we shall be locked forever in this endless
battle of immortal souls," Kaoshi said this as a single tear flowed forth from his eye, and fell upon his fallen love, "farewell."

There's the first chapter-ish thing. When I get up/when I get home tomorrow I shall post the others ^.~

The Black and White

So soft the sounds of life, the beating heart of one such as the. As we take from this story unto the world's last refrain from the powers that be.
The lives that have been taken from us in exchange for a continuation of our own outweigh those whom we have left behind in wake. So tired of living an infinite
lie we collapse upon the shoulders of those who are no longer there. Desperate for the attention of the long ago past. When days past in black and white,
when we felt ourselves and those we love in monochrome. Passing through the oceans of those we love, and those whom wished to be loved. Nothing stays the same.
Perhaps one day life shall return to those days of old, but for now we are left to this rejected world of black, white, and grey. So sad the tides of man must
change and become more complex at the sacrifice of so many.

"Sadness, and depression, class, Sadness and depression. These are two of the strongest emotions a human can have, and these are two of the most
recognizable that can lead to the expression of many more emotions. Sadness may lead many into a false world of despair which has a shell that once it has
you in it's net you shant escape without the help of another on the outside. Where as depression on the other hand may lead to the strongest expression known
to man, passion. Millions on this earth are effected by this emotion, be it in the bedroom, in public, or in the rarer, but much more sinister sense, utilizing
this emotion to justify the killing, or maiming of another person. Harness the power of this emotion and you harness the power of the world, lose touch with
these, and lose touch with yourself, and the world in which you exist. Now I pose to you a simple question: Is humankind capable of harnessing their emotions
and using them for their own goals? Or is it just a hopeless wisp in the wind of life?" The teacher said as he closed a large tome-esque book which was atop
a podium-like desk. "Alright class, I expect a two page answer to this question when we meet again on Friday. Good day." the man said as a bell sounded,
signaling the end of the class, and day. The students hurried out of the classroom, thankful that it was the end of the day, as the teacher sat at his desk, and
began reading from the first paper atop a large stack. What I believe... the professor began to read, as one of his students approached his desk, and posed to him
a question, "Why must one define him or herself in emotions? Why not define one's self with actions?" Hearing this question the professor halted his reading, and raised
his head to the person, it was one of the quiet students in his "Theory of Life" class, Kaji Otomo. "My dear, why on earth would one not define one's own being upon
the base of all of one's actions? Basing simply off of the products, not off of the reactants which produced the afore mentioned actions is simply asinine. You must
understand first the base of a structure before you can fully grasp the entire structure." The professor replied in a quite annoyed tone to Kaji. "But why? Why must
we start at the base and work up, why can we not grasp the entire structure and comprehend the entirety at the same time?" She prodded further at him with these
seemingly pointless questions. "Because, to put it simply, it's just too much information to fully comprehend at the same time, and if you were to attempt you

would lose small details which may seem pointless, but are in fact the corners of the puzzle, causing you to lose all rational thought in this attempt. The human
mind is just far too complex." The professor stated sharply, as he began to read the papers in front of him again. "Fine then, be that way, but don’t think you've
convinced me that it's impossible." Kaji retorted as she briskly walked out of the room somewhat annoyed. Ok, now where was I? The professor thought to himself as
he scanned the page in front of him. Ah, here it is... The professor continued his reading absorbing himself more and more in his work. This is the way the professor's
life had been for the year or so, ever since that fateful day, in which the lives of many people were altered by that semi truck.

"Every day he comes in at three, and stays here till midnight, sometimes I even wonder if he doesn’t just stay here." Parry causally remarked to one of the
students as they peered into the room. Parry was the university's other Theory of Life professor, students referred to him as "the normal one," Parry, and Kuro had often
joked about these teasing nicknames. The students had dubbed Kuro as "The insane one" after one of his classes on the insanity of man, in which Kuro gave an usually
passionate speech on the difference between insanity and madness. Kuro was busily preparing the lecture for this next class, as Parry casually waltzed into the classroom
carrying two cups of coffee. "So what's today's lecture on, Doc?" Parry inquired, as he took a sip of coffee. "Nothing," Kuro replied without so much as turning around. "Nothing?"
Parry repeated in a questioned tone of voice, "What do you mean nothing?" Parry questioned further. "I mean I am teaching a class on absolutely nothing," Kuro repeated as
he turned, and grabbed one of the cups of coffee from Parry's hand. "How about yourself? What brings you to my humble classroom on this, the day of my daughters' wedding?" Kuro
joked, as he took a long sip of coffee. "Ah, I’m just here a little early today, and thought I'd bring an old friend a nice cup of coffee, because I can see he needs it, and perhaps I could
persuade him to join me for a walk around the courtyard for a couple." Parry replied with a somewhat laugh behind his speech. "You know yourself this coffee is shit," Kuro remarked
as he took another long drink from his cup, and then smirked. "Alright then, let us waltz among the common student body." Kuro said as he grabbed his coat off the hook by the door.
The pair walked out of the classroom, being that it was around five in the morning there were a few students around campus, but not many. As they exited the philosophy and history
building and entered the campus courtyard they were met with the dawn of a beautiful snowy day. "So, what's the real reason you're here so early today, Kuro?" Parry inquired as they
entered a snowy garden. "The truth is, I never left. One of my students posed for me what seemed like a stupid egotistical question after my class yesterday. 'Why must one define him or herself

in emotions? Why not define one's self with actions?' she said, in a rather serious curiousness. While I was reading through my classes last paper on what they believe." Kuro stated with a half smile.
"What I didn’t realize then, was that I would still be thinking about that question. Even to this moment, it's eaten into my mind," Kuro said seriously. "Argh! Damn brat!" Kuro exclaimed as he furiously
rubbed his head trying to rid himself of the question, and not burn himself with hot coffee at the same time, it failed. A torrent of now tepid coffee, which encompassed all of maybe ten drops rained
down upon his head with scalding ferocity. "Ouch, that was mildly annoying," Kuro stated plainly, "Might I bother you for a napkin?" he questioned. "Umm...sure here." Parry said as he reached
into his left coat pocket and pulled fourth a few napkins, and handed them to Kuro, who promptly wiped the now cold coffee from his head. "Kuro, are you ok? You know the other
professors, the administrators, and I are beginning to worry about you. You've been sleeping at the school again, haven’t you?" Parry inquired with a serious tone. "I’m fine, don’t worry about
me, it's just that I’m going through some things right now, it's the one year anniversary of that accident, and I’m just trying to deal with that. Don’t be so worried, I'll be ok."
Kuro said with a serious, but stern tone, as if he wanted to drop the subject. "Alright man, but just know that if you need anything, I’m always there. We've been friends through the good times, and bad
, and I'll always be there for you." Parry said with a calming tone as he reached out and put a hand on Kuro's back, "Now let's get back inside, it's almost time for the students to be getting here."

"Class, I've read through all of your papers, and to say the least, they were very fun to peruse." Kuro began as he walked back and fourth in front of his desk, "But tell me this, by a show
of hands, how many of you can define reality?" Kuro continued, as a handful of students raised their hands, including Kaji. "Alright, Kaji, give it a shot, what is reality?" He posed the question to her in an almost pompous fashion. "Reality is what you can see, and can be mathematically proved." Kaji replied with a jab. "Ah, very good, but what about heaven, and hell? are you telling me that they are not part of reality?" He volleyed the question back at her. "I am not saying that they are not part of reality, I am simply saying that they are not a part of our reality." She teased back at him, as she added an extra question in "Do you have a more satisfactory answer to the question I posed to you?" Kuro stopped his pacing immediately, and glared at her. "That has no business in this classroom. If you wish a private conversation with me, then pose it after we adjourn." His words came fourth like tiny shards of glass flying towards Kaji's ears. Kuro went on with his lecture and refused himself access to his own thoughts of this matter. Eventually the bell rang, and it was the weekend again, and for once Kuro actually left the school to return home. On his way to the subway station, which had become so unfamiliar in these past weeks, he encountered her again, but this time she was quite different, darker, much less innocent than the Kaji he knew from his class. "Professor, are you prepared to

answer my question? Or shall I have to continue to stalk you for another week?" She inquired devilishly. "I am not required to answer any question that I do not wish to." Kuro stated obviously, as he attempted to continue onto his train, which had just pulled into the station. "So I'll be seeing you next week then? And every week from now on?" Her words echoed through his mind as he boarded the train. He looked back and she was gone. God, is this question going to drive me further into the realms of insanity than I already am? he thought to himself as the train blasted off through the tunnels. Arriving finally at his apartment, he found it the same as he'd left it. "Ah, good ole' apartment number 24601" Kuro remarked to himself as he put in his key, and walked in the door into a darkened room. It was not a fancy place, nor a shanty hole in the wall, but it was home none the less. Kuro tossed off his coat, landing it on his bed. "Ah, what shall I have for dinner?" he asked himself, walking into his small kitchen, and noticing that most of the food in his fridge was rotten, or expired. Well, I guess it's coffee pot ramen for me tonight Kuro thought to himself as he reached into one of his cabinets, and pulled out a small cup labeled "Beef flavored instant noodles." He placed the cup on the ground, and grabbed the pot out of his coffee maker, and filled it with water. Pouring the water into the coffee maker, and turning it on, just as the power in his apartment shuts off. "Oh this is just fxcking perfect," Kuro said to himself as he stumbled around his kitchen searching for something to light his way. "Now where on earth did I put that flashlight?" Kuro mumbled to himself as he search around, finally finding a drawer which he believed to contain a flashlight. "Ah! here it is." He said to himself pulling out the flashlight, and clicking it on, but the strange thing about this flashlight was well...it didn’t really light. The room was silent, "just my luck, I find a flashlight, and guess what? no batteries. Augh." Kuro muttered to himself as he shrugged silently in the quiet darkness. Eventually after wasting time in the darkness Kuro gave up, and found himself amongst the sheets on his bed. Maybe I'll at least be able to fall asleep, and tomorrow everything will be better than it is today. He thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep, little did he know that this sleep would quite possibly be both the best, and worst points in his life. The things this would set into motion were unfathomable, but sweet silence's embrace shall topple even the mightiest mountain once given enough time to work.

"Awaken, one whom calls himself Takai!" A voice boomed into Kuro's mind, as he could feel his spirit lifting from his body, separating by more than distance. "Ummmm...I am one whom calls himself Takai, I am Kuro Takai." Kuro said cautiously, still weary from lack to sleep, and not knowing to whom he was speaking. "I know very well who you are!" The voice boomed once again, fading out as soon as it was heard. "You have a question to which you do not have an answer, but yet you are aware of the answer." The words boomed again, into Kuro's ears. "Who are you?" Kuro asked nervously, feeling a minute amount of stupidity asking a question to a deep black nothingness. "The question is not who I am, but where." The voice stated, but this time it echoed opposed to disappearing immediately. "Alright, then where are you?" Kuro inquired curiously. "I am inside you, I am the you, that you are not aware of. I am your inner knowledge." The voice echoed, and then continued speaking. "Now you have a question before you for which you say you have no answer, but in reality, you are just denying the answer." The voice said as something began to manifest near Kuro. "I do have a question, but I am not denying an answer, I truly have no an..." he was cut off by

the voice. "You are denying it again! I know you better than anyone else knows you! You cannot lie to me!" it boomed horribly in a voice that seemed as though it could cause a thousand worlds to be born, and simultaiously extinguish every life upon them. "I...m...sorry!" Kuro stuttered as he covered his ears in a futile attempt to block out the gut wrenching voice. From this point on the voice, and Kuro talked, and discussed, reminisced, and Kuro learned things that in a thousand years he couldn’t have learned. The truths of the ancients he'd studied became his forte. "I never knew I knew so much!" Kuro exclaimed. "I always thought that all of the times I thought I wasn’t learning anything, I truly wasn’t." He continued with amazement. "Now you truly understand the extent of your own knowledge, my work is complete." The voice stated, as a deafening noise blared into Kuro's ears. It faded, and blared once again, as Kuro fell to his knees clenching his stomach, his vision went black. "Hello, this is the residence of Professor Kuro Takai, I am not here now, but please leave you name and number and I shall get back to you as soon as possible." This was followed by another loud beep, as Kuro began to regain consciousness. "Kuro, this is Parry, if you're there please answer, I’m headed over to your place now..." Parry was cut off as Kuro reach over, and grabbed the phone. "Hello? What's the matter?" Kuro inquired still in a semi-asleep state. "What do you mean what's wrong? You haven’t been here for a week; you tell me what's wrong." Parry said annoyingly. "Wh..What!?!" Kuro was now wide awake, "What do you mean I haven’t been there in a week!?! But I was only asleep for one night!" Kuro exclaimed, as he leapt from his bed, and began to dress himself. "When I say that you haven’t been here in a week, I mean you haven’t been here in a week, and the administration is getting quite irritated. They forced your class upon me, and unfortunately I wasted their time." At this point Kuro stopped, and dropped the phone. Standing in front of him was Kaji, in her school uniform standing in his doorway. "So will you answer my question?" she asked in that ever so cute tone of voice. "Yes, but not now, I must get to the university!" Kuro exclaimed as he pushed past her, and out of the room rushing towards the train station.

As Kuro finally reached the university, rushing into the building he was met by Parry. "Where the hell have you been!" He exclaimed as he reached out and grabbed Kuro by the collar of his overcoat, pulling him to him. "Explain yourself!" Parry shouted at Kuro, who was still in a mild daze. "I really don’t know where I've been since I fell asleep last Friday. All I remember is that I fell asleep in my room after all of the power in my apartment went off. Then I had a dream, and communicated with someone who called himself "my inner knowledge." Then the phone started ringing, and I heard you leaving a message, and I rushed out of the house." he said nervously, struggling to remember everything. "You immediately rushed out of your apartment to come here? That's all?” Parry angrily inquired. "Y..yes..Th..." Kuro stuttered and was cut off by Parry. "It doesn’t matter, the Dean has been waiting for you to get here, so it's best that you not keep him waiting any longer than is necessary." Parry said as he released Kuro's collar with distain. Kuro stumbled for a moment like a drunk who'd just woken up from a night of partying trying to regain his composure before he attempted to see his boss, whom was probably waiting for him with a letter demanding his resignation, it wasn’t every day that you could pull off a week of unexcused absence from your classes with no consequences. He finally regained his footing, both mentally, and physically, and walked to the Dean's office. As soon as he reached the door it flew open, and there he was, all 6' 5" of him,

Alexander Markov, founder of this university. "Enter Mr. Takai, I've been waiting for you!" He said in that typical deep Russian voice which always appeared mad, even when happy. "Yes Dean Markov?" Kuro said as he stepped into Alexander's office, the door promptly slammed after his entering. "Have a seat." Alexander offered in a rhetorical bargain then continued. "Now Mr. Takai, I don’t know what you were thinking, but missing a week of your classes, and your responsibilities as a teacher is not something we look kindly upon here at the Markovian institute. On the other hand, we teach not to judge until your enemy has had the opportunity to defend himself. So I give you this one chance to explain your actions in full." Kuro knew that this was just merely a formality, as he could see the letter he most feared on Markov's desk. Whatever the case may have been he recanted his story unto this new audience in full. "Ha Ha Ha," Dean Markov laughed sarcastically, "Now you're going to tell me that this "inner knowledge" bestowed the meaning of life to you also?" Now it was blatantly obvious what was about to happen, he was going to be fired for negligence, and there was nothing he could do about it except wait. Dean Markov stepped over to his desk, and picked up the letter laying in the center. "Do you know what this is?" He inquired in a calm-esque tone of voice. "I assume it is a letter asking for my resignation." Kuro answered coldly, but with a hint of worry as his foot began to tap the ground over, and over, faster and faster as he did when he was a student. "You'd think that, wouldn’t you?" Dean Markov asked rhetorically, and then continued "If I had it my way, that's exactly what it would be, but your students filed a petition to stop me from going through it. Ordinarily I would have ignored them, but it turns out several of them have very powerful parents." Dean Markov sighed. "No, this is a letter demanding that you take some time off. For Christ’s sake, you haven’t taken a vacation in all the time you've been here. Now take this, and go take a break for a couple weeks, Professor Krono has agreed to take over your classes in your absence, you really should thank him." Dean Markov let out a large Russian laugh and said "Now don’t be so tense, you have taught a good bunch of students." These words rung in Kuro's ears and past that point his mind blanked.

The door swung open and in walked Parry with a smug look on his face, "So did he give you the bad news?" Kuro sighed, and looked down, "Yes...unfortunately he did." Parry looked a Dean Markov with a questioning look wordlessly asking 'what did you tell him?' Dean Markov met his glance with words "I told him exactly what is to be done." At this point Kuro stood up from his chair, and began to walk out the door, bypassing Parry all together. "What's with him? You'd think a guy would be happy to be given paid vacation time in the middle of the year." Parry said half to himself, and half to Dean Markov. "I thought he would have at least said 'Thank You' or shown some gratitude. Don’t you have a class to be teaching?" Dean Markov inquired with a raised eyebrow as Kuro now fully exited the office. "Erm...about that... Bye!" Parry said boy-ishly as he turned, and headed out the door. "Ah to be young again..." Dean Markov sighed to himself with a laugh, by young of course he meant to be in your late twenties, as he himself was nearing seventy. Parry soon found himself caught up with Kuro as he was leaving the building heading back towards his classroom, the administration building was set in front of the campus, and the philosophy building was near the back. "So, what are you going to do with your time off?" Parry inquired briskly, he received no reply. "Are you ok?" Parry inquired again, and again he received no reply. "Hey man, this is not

funny in the least. After work I’m going to call, and we're going to set something up." Parry said as he continued his classic power walk-run, he was already late, but he could still make it in time. Kuro continued his almost glassy-eyed zombie walk towards the exit of the university. So, it's later, are you going to answer me now? A mysterious, but familiar voice came into his head. Where are you? and how are you talking to me? Kuro thought to himself as he continued to walk. "I’m right here," The voice now spoke out loud, and he knew who it was immediately. He turned around, and standing there before him was Kaji in the outfit he'd seen her in that one time in the subway station. "So, what is your answer?" She inquired playfully. "My answer is that a man ay be judged by intent only after he has been judged by the black and white. He whom is judged by intent before action is to be judged unfairly, as it the human condition to change it's mind." Kuro said in a darkened philosophical tone. "Then he's visited you?" She inquired in a sort of miscevious way. "He? He who?" Kuro ask with a puzzled look on his face. "He, he who is all and yet, none." She replied seriously. "I was visited by someone whom I do not know, thus is the reason for my absence from my post for so long." Kuro replied as he seemed lost in his own thoughts, and stared off into space. "Then it's too late...I’m sorry." Kaji sounded mournful as she said these words. A loud thud, and Kuro heard nor saw anything. The next following Monday a letter arrived on the desk of Dean Markov which announced that Kuro Takai had while on vacation in the Swiss Alps been offered a job, and was not to return to the institute. As time past he would be long forgotten for once this generation of students was gone he would eventually fade into the backs of everyone's mind. At least, this was the hope of one person.

And there we have chapter two ^.~ or as I prefer to call it, the intelligent chapter. I may post the begning of chapter three, but I'm not sure if I will or not atm.