Supernatural Investigation 101: Chronicles Of Nakashima Wakana

The scent of blood is addictive.

Wakana rubs her nose against his adam apple. His body becomes tense. The searing pain spreads from his heart as if a hundred knives are growing in his c.h.e.s.t, ready to pierce through his flesh and cut his body into countless pieces. He's going to explode into pieces. Is this what Choi Minho was talking about? 

He utters through clenched teeth. "Wakana, stop..."

"I can't," She murmurs against his skin with an intoxicating voice. Her hot breath tickles his flesh like a cool breeze. His body jerks. Minami Sei lets out a muffled scream. She gives him a weak smile, feeling a stabbing pain in her c.h.e.s.t. Her voice is melancholic with a hint of loss. "I don't know how to stop."

She's pulled away from him. Minami Sei drops on his knees, placing his palms on the floor to support his body. He wipes his nose with his sleeves and looks up at Wakana, finding her gone. A pair of emotionless turquoise eyes meet his gaze before his visions turn dark. His lips quiver to tell him to not hurt her as he collapses on the floor. 

After five minutes, Nishimura Soichiro opens the door to the rooftop with men in black uniform trailing behind him. He glances at unconscious Minami Sei and sighs. Her gifts must be awake. "I told him not to get close to her."

A handler rushes to Minami Sei's side and checks his vitals. "Critical."

"Imprint unrecognized." Another handler with a detector yells, "Estimated grade is B."

"Do you know who did this to him?" The man with dark brown hair and hooded eyes turn his head toward Nishimura Soichiro. 

"I have an inkling who it could be." Nishimura Soichiro puts his hands inside his pocket and slumps his shoulders. "However, I can't tell you."

Will it begin from this moment? Maybe it has already started. 

***

Far away from T City, Choi Minho appears on the mountain cliff with Wakana. He releases her arm, taking a few steps away from her. The skin and the flesh of his palm are gone, revealing his bones. He stares at her, trying to push into her mind to take a hold of her. 

"Guilt." She takes a step toward him. "Sadness, and what else is there?"

"Love?" She covers her mouth and sniggers. "Don't you know that I am already married?"

"Wakana, this is not you." He implores, "I can help you. Let me enter your mind."

"Is this how it feels?" She smirks at him. "You have been reading my mind for more than seven years. Now, I can read your emotions." 

He purses his lips, watching her every movement. He must hide his feelings. 

"You are afraid of me." She says to him softly, "I have become a monster like your brother, haven't I?"

"You aren't like my brother." He walks to her and grabs her shoulders, ignoring the pain that she's inflicting on him. All those years ago, he didn't try to stop his brother once. If he had been brave... "You will never become like him. I will stop you."

Her sleeves are soaked with his blood. Immortal or not, his blood feels the same. The scent of his blood is mixed with his raw emotions. His begging eyes well up. Though he loves her, that love can't overcome the guilt that he feels for her. She's wrong. He's not afraid of her. He's afraid for her. 

He's doing this for his brother. 

"Will you go as far as killing me to stop me?" She questions him solemnly.

His heart jumps when he hears those words. He releases her arms and blinks his eyes. 

"Your brother… Why did I see the day his gifts were awakened?" She watches his face turn pale. He's afraid again. "If it was your memory, I should have seen it through your eyes."

"I had something that belonged to my brother." He tells her, pulling her in an embrace. The familiar soothing energy flows through her veins, clearing away the nauseating shadows from her heart. He's in her mind again and she's too tired to fight it. She hears him say, "This is not about him. I won't ever harm you, Wakana. If you can't stop, I am here. Do it to me. Hurt me, if it is the only way for you to feel how you used to be."

He doesn't understand. It's impossible to go back to the way she was. She killed a person; and then, she tried to kill Sei. 

Hearing her thoughts, he tightens his arms around her. "You did what you had to do to save yourself. Minami Sei won't die. You can still go back and live the life that you wanted." 

He will always be standing behind her to support her. 

Choi Minho widens his eyes when she hugs him back. Her hand trails upward on his back as she brushes her lips against his jaw. He pushes her away, fl.u.s.tered. He asks her loudly, "Wakana, what are you doing? You don't love me."

"I thought that you were offering yourself to me." She clasps her hands behind her back, tilting her head. "You don't love me enough to get over that guilt and take me away from someone else."

He curls his fingers, uneasy under her piercing gaze that seems to be able to see everything that he's trying so hard to hide. How dare he try to take her away from someone she loves? 

"At least, I know that you aren't guilty enough to become my slave." She takes a glance at his hand that was wounded by her. It's completely healed now. However, her clothes still have blood that belongs to her, Sei, Matsuda Yuji, and him. "You should stop loving me."

Why? He looks at her. He has given up on her the moment he saw her seven years ago. Does he have to give up loving her too?  

She doesn't have to feel his emotions. His questioning gaze is enough. "I have a feeling that I am going to hate you after I find out why you are being like this to me."

Isn't he a hypocrite? He wanted her to hate him, but he isn't brave enough to tell her the truth. It seems that he can't keep his promise to his brother either. He couldn't stop the awakening. He smiles at her. "Are you feeling better now?"

Is she? There's a clarity in her mind and a pang of familiar guilt in her c.h.e.s.t. She wants to cry, but she doesn't want to do it in front of this person. No, she's not fine. She's feeling worse. Sei could have died if this person didn't stop her back then. She doesn't want to hurt anyone again including Choi Minho. "Will you really stop me every time I try to hurt someone?"

"Yes," He promises her. "Though it's difficult to suppress the abilities that are already awakened, I will find some way. The world has changed in the last twenty years. I am sure that you can live a normal life." 

It sounds like he's trying to assure himself. He's sure that she's going to hurt other people again. For the last seven years, he's been too prepared. Nakashima Wakana raises her hand toward him. Yes, she's going to hate him after she finds out why. "Can I kiss you once?"