The scene was not dark, but pitch black as far as a human's eye could see. To Takashi Kimura, it reminded him of the first time he had fallen into the Void of his mind. It was after the death of his closest friend.
The Void was a 'black dimension' within his mind, lying in its deepest spaces. He had entered it when he was going through the worst after his closest friend, Akio Katsuki had died. That was also the last time he had entered the Void.
Entering that place again would mean something was going to happen. It was also the perfect time for something to happen.
Takashi would have been surprised to see sudden red-orange flames appear right in front of him out of nowhere; he should have been surprised. But surprisingly, he wasn't; as if he was expecting it to appear.
At that moment, Takashi wasn't thinking. He could never think when he was in the Void. He probably wasn't surprised because he couldn't think. His body moved, and he slowly walked into those flames.
___________________________________
"So, this is the diary? Tsukasa Miura, a woman in her mid-twenties, asked, picking up a locked diary from a table.
"Yes it is," another woman, in her mid-forties, told Tsukasa. "When Shin suddenly started writing diaries, he would always write in there. I don't know what he wrote about; he'd never let anyone see this."
Tsukasa nodded her head after hearing the information. "When did he start writing?"
"After he began behaving strangely, I think," the woman said, not very sure of her words. Tsukasa again nodded.
"Then I'll be taking this diary. Is that okay?" She asked.
"Ah, yes yes," the woman said quite humbly.
"Then," Tsukasa bowed to the woman, who returned the bow. After everything was done, Tsukasa stepped out of the appartment. Once out, she looked up at the sky.
'It's dark again,' she thought, staring at the cloudy sky. Though it wasn't cloudy enough to rain heavily, there was hardly any sunshine. With a sigh, Tsukasa thought of all the events that led her there.
Tsukasa was a well-known detective at her agency. She had managed to solve many difficult cases without much casuality, even though she was only twenty-six. But the case this time was different than any other cases that Tsukasa had solved.
A few days ago she was hired by the Tanaka family to search for Shin Tanaka, their son who had suddenly gone missing. After investigating about Shin Tanaka, Tsukasa found out that he had suddenly started behaving strangely and had even begun to write diaries, something which he had never done before. Then one night, he came home after two in the morning, which led his parents, especially his father to try to scold him.
"We couldn't bring ourselves to scold him. It was as if our anger had turned into fear and uncertainity when we saw him. He had a dangerous aura, and his eyes; they never looked so threatening." That was what his father had explained.
The day after that very night, the Tanaka family couldn't find Shin anywhere in the house or neighbourhood early in the morning. Since then, Shin had been missing.
And Tsukasa was entrusted with the case.
In the taxi, she opened the diary which she had taken from Mrs. Tanaka, with a key and flipped through the pages in the diary.
"That's the key that'll open this diary. Neither I nor my husband could find it anywhere. And since Shin didn't like anyone even touching his diary, we kept it as it was," Mrs. Tanaka had said after Tsukasa had found it in Shin's room.
'Just as I thought,' Tsukasa thought, looking at what Shin had written. They weren't accounts of each day, they were accounts of his thoughts. Sometimes, he would write about his thoughts and feelings in one day in more than three pages. And what Shin had written definitely didn't seem 'normal'. Tsukasa started reading them from the beginning.
"I saw something strange in my dreams. There was a red-orange flame in a black space, and I don't know why, but I walked into it. In the flames, I saw someone, and he was definitely not human. A purple light was coming out of his eyes. Then he told me something, even though I couldn't see his mouth. I don't remember how the voice sounded, but he told me that I didn't belong to this world anymore. I don't exactly remember, but he said something about the dark world, or void..."
After reading the first one, Tsukasa closed the diary shut; her eyes bloodshot. She knew about this case, and she didn't like where it was going.
She knew of the legend. The target would meet a man in their dreams, and the man would tell them that they didn't belong to the mundane world anymore. The targets would go to the world of darkness; they would be lured, go there by choice, or be even taken by force. If they didn't go to the world of darkness after meeting the man, then they would be driven crazy to the point of commiting suicide. The whole thing would take a few weeks, or even months, and if the target didn't go to that world straight away, then they would suddenly start behaving strangely.
But it was just a legend, and too clinché to be real. No one ever believed it. But Tsukasa had faced such cases in her high school, and not as a detective. But these occurances had stopped by the time she had graduated.
Years ago, when she was in high school, these occurances had started after the one she loved had died. His death had shocked everyone. How he died was unknown. He didn't seem like he was going to commit suicide. But Tsukasa couldn't help but get the feeling that he had died deliberately, not because he was frustrated of anything, but because he had to do something.
After his death, students from their high school as well as other high schools had begun seeing a strange person in their dreams. All those who did had disappeared without a trace, and all of them did act strangely before disappearing.
At first, they would tell others about the strange dream which they could remember very clearly. Then their behaviour would get stranger by day, until they had disappeared without a trace, or just committed suicide after being driven mad.
In other words, everything that had happened in Shin's case, had happened in all other targets' cases as well.
Though this occurrance had stopped by the time Tsukasa had graduated, she got the feeling that the legend was back in action.
"Ma'am, we're here," the taxi driver said, snapping Tsukasa out of her thoughts. She paid the driver and got out of the taxi, then shut the door close.
She turned and started walking. In the city, she saw him.
'Takashi Kimura!' She thought when she saw the man across the road, all in his formal getup. She remembered him; of course she did. He was the closest friend of her lover, Akio Katsuki. He had gone through a lot after Akio had died.
"Ah, Tsukasa!" Takashi called out before Tsukasa could and walked up to her. "Been long. How're you doing?"
"Fine for now," Tsukasa replied. "And what about you?"
"Same here," Takashi said with a tired smile. "By the way, I heard that you're in charge of finding a missing person? And that the legend's back?"
"Well, it sure seems so," Tsukasa said and shrugged.
"Woah, that's surprising," Takashi said, then glanced at his watch. "I'd love to talk, but I gotta go. See you."
With that, he walked past Tsukasa with a small wave. Tsukasa couldn't help but get the feeling that something was wrong with Takashi. He was usually a bit more energetic. But he did say that he was in a hurry. Tsukasa just shrugged off all her uneasiness, thinking that she was thinking too much.
How could she be aware of the smirk that appeared on Takashi's face after he had passed her?
_________________________________________
It was when Tsukasa got ready for a good night's rest, she sat on her bed with the diary and began reading it. That was the first time Tsukasa had got the chance to study a target of the legend; she didn't want to waste it. The next few parts seemed just like the legend. But the last part was kind of intriguing.
"This will be the last time I'll write. I'm not going to stay here anymore, I'm going there. I really don't belong here, and I'm needed there. I'll follow his words and go there. That, is where I belong."
'There?' Tsukasa thought. Shin had written 'here' and 'there' a lot. 'Here' probably referred to the 'reality', and 'there' probably referred to the 'world of darkness'. Though Tsukasa wanted to investigate it more, she was about to be overwhelmed by sleep.
_____________________________________________
It was just after dawn. Takashi stood at the edge of the terrace of the huge skyscraper building which was also his office's building. He was still in his formal getup from the last day. As his hair danced when the wind hit his face, he smirked, remembering his little encounter with Tsukasa the last day. The legend was back. It was definitely back. And that was, a good thing.
His smirk grew even wider as he leaned towards the edge even more. Then, he finally made the freefall.
Falling, falling, and
diving deeper into the darkness. Into the Void.
That was the only thing that Takashi had remembered before the darkness of the Void engulfed him.
_____________________________________________
When he came to, Takashi found himself in a white room. In a room within the hospital.
"Takashi? You're awake already?"
Takashi turned to his left to find the source of the voice. Of the sweet,
intoxicating voice, but somehow, being called 'Takashi' by her annoyed him a bit. It was odd, he had never felt for her in that way.
"Tsukasa...?" He said, looking at the woman. Tsukasa smiled with relief.
"Thank goodness. You fell from really a high place," she said in a relieved tone, and Takashi felt relieved himself that it was Tsukasa. Weird again, since he had never felt like that in her case.
"Oh right," he said and slowly sat up. Tsukasa helped him sit up straight, supporting him with her hands. That made him feel
turned on.
"Careful," she said. Once Takashi was sitting, she moved her hands away. Takashi slowly looked at her from the corner of his eyes. A small smirk crept up to his mouth.
"You were out for a whole day, Takashi," Tsukasa added, and Takashi bit the inside of his mouth. He really didn't like being called 'Takashi' by her.
"And, you stayed here? For me?" He asked, that small smirk still visible. Tsukasa blushed a bit at the tone, and Takashi liked it: the red hue on her pale cheeks.
"I did," Tsukasa said, but her voice trailed off a bit. "Never mind that, who pushed you?"
That, was something Takashi wasn't expecting. "Pushed?" He asked, surprise visible in his eyes.
"Yeah, I saw it on the CCTV. Someone pushed you. Do you know who was it?" Tsukasa asked, concerned. Takashi slowly raised his hand and ran it through his hair.
"I don't remember," he said, and Tsukasa looked a bit disappointed. Takashi reached the conclusion that she wanted the 'pusher' to get a piece of her mind. He liked that as well.
But surprisingly, everything was going smooth. Takashi wondered how everyone would look if they found out that the 'pusher' never existed. No, Takashi didn't care about everyone, he only cared about Tsukasa.
Another smirk made its way to his mouth. "What? Do you want to make that person regret this?" He asked Tsukasa, referring to the non-existent person who was supposed to have 'pushed' him.
Tsukasa blushed even more heavily, which she wouldn't. Just, something about Takashi made her feel like she was with Akio.
Takashi put his left hand on her head, then trailed it down to her cheeks. "It makes me really happy," he said genuinely. He was sure that Tsukasa had also begun to notice the changes.
What he did only made the woman blush even more. Tsukasa found everything in Takashi to be different: his smirk, his eyes, his tone of speaking, his everything, except the looks. She didn't break the eye-contact with Takashi and her mouth remained slightly opened in surprise.
Soon she broke the eye-contact.
"I-I gotta go now," she said and stood up abruptly. Then she turned around and left, leaving the man all alone. Takashi noticed that Tsukasa had already begun to notice the changes. Well, of course.
Outside the room, Tsukasa stood, leaning on the wall and trying to calm herself down. She had actually noticed everything. What made her so excited wasn't just her romantic feelings; she also felt the fear. She was feeling both romantic towards him, and afraid of him.
'No way that's Takashi!' She thought, taking deep breaths.
'That's...!'
Just as Tsukasa had left, Takashi smirked again, but it was a dark one.
Everything was going just in the right way.
