Ghostbusters! Except not really [Aiko/T. Soul]

Another night in the dense forest of Karakura. She was pretty content with how she was living, able to comfortably walk through the woods. She was quite upset she couldn't see Sumika all the time, but the amount of time she managed to spend with the girl had her content. Aiko was trying something new this time with sleeping at night... What was it? Sleeping in a tree of course! Though... It wasn't much better than a rock. She tried finding a good place with a decent amount of leaves and branches.

Obviously, it wasn't very comfortable... The branches were far too narrow and there weren't many leaves! Aiko sighed in utter defeat, safely dropping out of the arboreal formation. She gave the tree a few pats and a 'sorry' for disturbing it, walking off into the night to figure where to sleep. The girl momentarily reflected back to that room... The image of the colorful cloth walls and flooring had her reminisce of how comfortable it was... Even if she couldn't make it to the bed, it was easy to just fall asleep on the floor. In some way she missed it, but it wasn't quite like she knew the way back.

Aiko had absolutely no idea where she was, or how to even get back there. All she ever knew was that room, then all of a sudden she was all by herself... Did her family bring her far off and leave her? No... That was impossible. At the back of her mind, she vaguely recalled something about "the world below... dangerous place and do... not... leave the..." The last detail was completely lost to her mind which only frustrated her. If she at least knew what kind of place it was...

The girl fussed a bit to herself as she walked to find a better place to sleep, anxiety floating around her thoughts as she remembered back to her "family", at least thats how her mind described them.

…Peace… Peace is impossible to this world… That is one of it's few… realities…

Silence dominated the woods as the moon hung low. There were few words to be spoken in such a place, and to be honest… that was what the blank spirit preferred. It did not desire words or actions of any kind. It did not desire to hear arguments. It did not wish to talk with people. In fact, the only thing it desired was silence. The only way that peace could truly exist was within that silence. IN some manner, that was the exact reason why the Traitorous Soul lurked in this place.

There was nothing here, nothing which could harm it. It got to be alone. Ever since that horrid day when it was created, ever since its hope was ripped out and it was laid bare to the gaze of this world. That was the truth of the Soul; that it was a failure. It had failed in everything it had ever attempted, but the world would not allow for it to die. That was the one thing it would never permit. The Traitorous Soul had to continue to live, continue to exist. It had to continue to have this… mind, this thinking mind. Once upon a time, the soul had thought its mind a mixture; it was its blessing, it was its curse. To have a mind, man's life to bind… To have a soul, man's… And just as the thoughts began to almost form into rhymes, as if out of habit… they dispersed back to the dust from which they had emerged. The Soul's black stained eyes closed, before opening once more as it observed its surroundings.

Something had managed to disturb its area. A living creature. The thing had dropped out of a nearby tree, landing noisily upon the ground. The Soul did not like noise. It craved the return of its blessed silence. For a moment, it debated upon dispatching this small creature… around the area, trees began to shake, leaves quivered in place… but then he heard her mutter something. An… apology. …An apology… The act of saying… sorry… The Soul stopped, allowing for its building rage to subside.

….Stay…. The Soul's essence shifted, moving away from the creature as it began to approach. Time had passed since the Soul's formation in this world. Bits and pieces continued to stream into it as the reishi around it sought to construct… something. A few days ago the rational part of his mind, the part that would indicate a thinking human brain with the gift of foresight, had returned. But despite that foresight, the Soul still lacked most human emotion… it was empty within, hollow.

The girl walked right past the Soul, and as she did so she would be suddenly buffeted by a strong wind. The wind was caused by the soul turning and doing an about-face… hovering away from her. Whether she could see him or not, he could see her… And he could see that she was a demon. …Not that it matters… The Soul thought, its eyes open and staring at her. He had no idea if she could see him, or how much she could see of him… either just the bright lights of the spiritually aware… or if she was more keen… She could see the golden package he carried… as well as the black expression of shattered horror that cracked from the edges of his eyes onto the rest of his face. A golden splendorous creature with a monstrous deformity…

A Traitorous Soul.

The young fox was quite tired. Night life wasn't quite her forte, but she tried to bear with not having a comfortable place to sleep. As she had popped out of the tree, her ears flicked about as a whip of wind whistled, a scent dangling around her nostrils. She immediately stopped, taking a rather short series of sniffs and gentle snorts, ears perked much like an animal to signal interest to any witnesses. She slowly approached the scent, exercising caution due to it's unfamiliarity. The girl felt no fear, no resistance... She wished to learn the source of the scent.

It wasn't too much of a backtrack, the girl turning her head to peer through the shrubbery. Aiko approached a figure, which had her slightly confused for a second as at first she only saw a bit of shimmering light, but she got closer and closer... Suddenly a man was there. Of course, taller than her.

A small gasp was uttered from her, her autumn eyes wide in the gentle moonlight. The gasp wasn't from fear, or disgust... It was from concern. As she had approached, she was suddenly pelted with a weighted feeling, a deep seated sense of melancholy... The girl continued to approach as she looked directly at this man's face. She was somewhat aware of the object in his arms, though she was far more focused on his eyes...

The emotion clung so heavy to her, the girl had even begun crying from the empathy. She grit her teeth, taking in a few labored breaths. She stood just in front of him, looking at his empty eyes.

"S-sir...?" She said in a difficult breath, sounding as if she were choked from the sadness. She felt the pain and hurt rolling off of him, even if his present self appeared calm, "Who.... Did this? What... Did this?"

Aiko's questions didn't appear to make too much sense, but if the spirit had managed to catch onto her sadness, it would likely be understood.

Day or night, the passage of time meant nothing to the Soul. In light or dark, it could see the same. The same world, covered in darkness and light. The same reality, fraught with pain and suffering. In fact, the Soul did not react at all to her inspecting the area around her… until she began to step towards the Soul.

As slowly as she approached, the Soul gently slid back. It was no trouble to move backwards while holding the parcel. Dark eyes beheld the girl as she continued to approach, the feeling of melancholy that passed over her increasing dramatically. The leaves and shrubbery began to gently move back and forth, as if a chill wind was passing through the clearing. Then, he could see the tears going down her face.

…Sadness… The Soul reflected on this emotion. Sad, pitiable, downtrodden, morose, waylaid… There were a variety of words that the Soul could think of. However… the Soul was not stirred by any of them. He was equally nonplussed by the reaction she was having to his presence. Once, the Soul had cried. Bitter tears had been created within its eyes, pouring down its face. But now… that sensation, that need had passed. The Soul did not feel a single thing towards her crying. How easily her tears flowed. How easily mine could once be coaxed…

Then, she spoke words to him. Words, he did not want to deal with. He had no desire to work with words. … Without pausing, the Soul placed the parcel along his shoulder, as if it were a child. The parcel rested easily against his form, as he began to draw close to the girl. She was obviously young, obviously an innocent. Innocence is a lie. The Soul's expression remained neutral as he continued to approach, before placing both of his hands on her head…

* * *

When the girl awoke, she would find herself within a destroyed building. The ceiling was… gone. There was rubble all over the floor. Spread out all over one corner were pieces of parchment, crisped and burned away. A king sized mattress had been rent asunder, wood chips sticking out and the mattress stuffing strewn about. In front of the pile of burned scraps and destroyed dreams sat a man on a chair.

The man stared blankly at the ground in front of him, breathing slowly in and out. "…I did this. My own actions." A choked voice told her, a voice that was hoarse from lack of use. The man sitting before her was a strange being, covered in a blue kimono. Around his neck, a shattered length of string rested against his torso. "Sadness comes from only one place: The self." He continued, lifting his chin up to observe the creature before him.

"You should run away. Nothing good will come of you interfering in my mess. The only one who could have fixed it ignored me… and the one who could have saved me from this fate abandoned me. You can't do anything by yourself, unless you make the choice to leave it all behind."

His words were empty, hollow. As if he did not believe in them himself, and yet he was forced to say them. She was a guest here; as soon as she desired to leave, she would instantly return to her own body.

At this moment, she was in an empty Inner World. An Inner World that was inverted and hollow, where the soul and broken cries of a man who fought for what he believed in now resided. The Inner World of a Traitorous Soul.

Aiko's ears were pointed up straight as her autumn eyes, darkened by the night sky, lied on this man. Her eyes were much like large pools, constantly filling with and leaking water, the salted liquid drops skating down her lovely even cheeks. Her mouth was slightly agape, her rather sharp, predatory white incisors slightly revealed. She continued to be met with worry as he did not seem to answer her, causing her to grit her teeth. Her eyes were suddenly caught on an object he had moved to his shoulder. The shape instantly caught her attention, her mind instantly going through the process of association:

Is that... A child?

Though it was too late to dwell on that thought for too long. Next thing she knew the man had come closer to her, having resting his hands on her head, causing her to gently take in a breath of surprise, just to be thrust into momentary darkness...

---

Aiko took in a short breath, her eyes being hit with a whole new scene. She had a momentary dose of sensory overload as her mind tried to process everything present. The room was utterly destroyed, the ceiling being gone, exposing a sky which brought Aiko to think it had cried, but instead of rain, thick, crimson blood swirled in the space above.

Her gaze was brought back down to "earth" as a husky, underused voice had spoken. Her gaze pulled down to a corner, processing that it was a person sitting in the chair. Not any person... It was the man from before. The feeling of melancholy hung heavy in the room, might as well have created the room out of tears and lack of endorphins.

She faced the man properly, listening to the tired words he spoke. She instantly detected something... Off. Her ear flicked to indicate this observation, though in a rather subtle way. Aiko's previous surprise was soon turned into mild concern and even sympathy.

The girl didn't say anything, simply walking forth to the man, until she was directly in front of his chair. She looked directly at his face with a calm look in her eyes, a gentle smile on her face. An air of compassion emanated from her, no hostile or fearful intent behind her.

"You were ignored... And abandoned?" The girl asked, tilting her head, "They don't sound like they were very nice to begin with..." Her ears drooped, her smile dropping into a frown momentarily, "But... You look like you're all alone." She had absolutely no idea where the more drawn out speech had come from, but it was happening and she wasn't quite going to stop, "Everyone's left you... To sit in your own pain..." Tears began forming in her eyes, "That isn't fair, no one should be alone, no one should be abandoned..."

If attention was given to slightly behind her, a very faint figure was behind her, but it didn't appear to do anything much.

"Even... I-if... I don't know what happened... You're all alone..." She stuttered, doing a hard swallow, "So please... Even if I just met you, your heart cries out to me... Let me help you... Let me be there for you!" The girl's words were obviously genuine, and not out of some silly fantasy. She could feel the man's pain, she knew to stick to realism despite seeming to have never experienced something like this before.

Still, the creature before her did not seem to react to her tears. They were noted, and their cause was understood. And yet, they evoked no reaction in the creature before her. It was good that she did not resist him, after all… that could have made what he was attempting to show her more difficult. Do I… still have some desire to teach…? The soul wondered silently, gazing about at the now silent forest…

In this room, the male sat before her. The scene remained unchanged, as if the male did not have the will to change it. His own appearance occasionally distorted, as if he had static on a television. As if holding onto his own form was becoming more difficult. He noticed the flicking of her ears, but it only caused his eyes to lower further. Her close proximity to his body did not seem to put the male off, his eyes merely staring back at her.

He no longer had the energy to go on any longer. This was his Inner World; and its reflection was a demonstration of that. He barely had the will to maintain his own form, his own voice. If he sank down, allowing for his conscious to return to the endless drift that was contained within a soul, who knew if he would ever be able to rise back up again?

"That is The Truth." He replied to her, before an emotion weakly passed by his expression. It was one of annoyance, annoyance at the last phrase he had used. The Truth… nothing could be further… not with that thing… As these thoughts passed through the man's head, they were reflected in his inner world… Reflected as a black garmented figure faded in and out of existence around the male's body… as if shimmering, an illusion. Finally, it dispersed, as the male shook his head.

"Niceness does not come into it. One could not tolerate my blood; the other could not tolerate my mind. That lack of tolerance is why I am alone… and why I prefer this darkness." He informed her, the lights from the burning, bleeding sky beginning to dim. It became harder for the two of them to see one another, but did it that truly matter?

"…I am free of pain. That is the one and only blessing of my path… no longer can I feel that pain, that suffering." He told her, his voice almost… haunted. "Better to be abandoned than endlessly gripping something that refuses to grip you back." With those words, the building they were in shook lightly, the pages scattered along the floor whipping themselves up into a frenzy, the shattered part of the home drifting back and forth.

"Your offer has one flaw, child." He told her, his eyes looking directly at hers. Dark as night, and yet with glints of gold… almost like the night sky filled with stars. "It concerns only my 'heart'. The heart of a sacrificed creature, a creature unable to feel pain. A creature which would like only to be left alone, to finally have a fate which is not forced to change." The man informed Aiko, his head shaking from side to side…

Aiko's ears appeared to droop as the man before her hardly reacted to her plea. It was less fear of rejection, or even being upset he didn't appear to wish to reach out to her. It was more... A sudden feeling of understanding. It was like something gave her mind a rather rough flick. It wasn't necessarily pain she was tuning into... What was it? It was a feeling Aiko's present state of mind had barely a grasp on, at the level of a loose touch... The girl's ears dipped as she watched the male's appearance flicker, as if maintaining his present shape wasn't a thing he wished for.

Aiko was beginning to understand... She took a look around the utterly destroyed room, the gears in her rather premature head turning. Though this was a rather brief interaction, things were starting to stick out to her...

When she heard the man speak once again, her attention was drawn back up to look at his face. She peered into his broken black eyes, having listened closely and intently to his woven words, words of... She couldn't quite place a finger on it, but her thoughts came together.

This man didn't wish for help, she had been deeply mistaken in what she had thought. She knew naught of what brought him to this point, but things clicked together... This man had no will to live life, at least this one. He was dead, he was broken, and had no interest in bringing himself together. He was but a soul wishing to flow along the current of fate, instead of swim against it. He had already been torn and wounded by it's flow, and it was his time to loosen and swim along...

She was barely shaken when the lights had previously dimmed, for her eyes had long turned a glowing, eerie yellow, staring into this man's very being. Eyes that could not be clouded by even darkness... Even when the floor shook, she maintained composure, and kept a semblance of understanding.

"I... I understand." The girl did not avert her eyes, she did not dare as she spoke, "I misunderstood. I'm so sorry." Aiko had a rather solemn, controlled expression, weaving her fingers together after wiping tears from her eyes, "You... You've been worn and torn. It would be cruel to force you to go through any more, wouldn't it?" Her tone was soft, "I... I don't know much, I haven't lived all that long, but you deserve to be free from the weight that had been thrown onto you..." She did a gentle smile, a look of soft concern crossing her face.

"You deserve happiness, but I won't bring it upon you, I promise. I won't forget about you, though. That is one thing I would never do to anyone." She nodded, "I just hope... Where ever you end up, you don't have to be broken again... I hope to meet you again, though, maybe some new day, when i'm not ignorant and you've gone elsewhere."

The reaction that she had was a touch… puzzling to the individual before her. Before he became… this, it was possible that he would have taken that reaction of hers and tried to digest. He would have tried to understand it, to comprehend why a creature as obviously young as her could have such a sudden shift in heart. He was perceptive enough to notice that her reaction was caused by some insight gleaned about his own state.

Her glancing about would glean many facts. Walls of a home destroyed, all constants left behind. The concept flooded over her as she looked at the splintered and shattered holes in the wall. Dreams consigned to flame, abandoned and stampeded upon, leaving nothing. The strewn about papers in the room, the cries of a soul that once held nothing but joy… until the object of his happiness spurned him.

As her gaze came back to him once again, the final piece of this strange… state became clear. And for this destruction… I caused it. I reacted into it; it was my doing. My outer world became my inner one. His eyes were steady, as if he was unaffected by anything that she was undergoing as a result of her presence with him.

The way she looked at him. There it is. Innocence lost that quickly… The being closed his eyes, nodding softly. Her expression reflected the pity that any individual should feel upon understanding where the Traitorous Soul belonged in this life. Her glowing eyes did not stir him, but they did attract the attention of… something else. Something that slipped in that darkness, unseen to either of them, pooling into Aiko's shadow.

"I hope not." He replied, that cracking voice of his tearing and grasping to be coherent. "Don't understand this. Keep your… hopes. Be assured… nothing will take you… to this." He told her, his hollow eyes opened once again as she continued to speak. His eyes drifted lightly down at her question, before closing as he nodded. It would be cruel to drag such a wounded creature through any more.

"…Not that long, hmm…? Well…" Each word cracked harder, the man's form drifting in and out of existence once again, as if he was now attempting to say something more. "You may… be older than you think… To understand this thing I could not, in so many years…" He told her without emotion, the hollowest echo of a cynical man who had once been.

"For freedom… I would fall in completely. You'll know if you.. See me again. But if you do… and if there's nothing left of this voice of mine, please…" He told her, his eyes closing, small golden beads of liquid forming around the edges of his eyes. His eyes opened, the golden lines of liquid going down his face as he looked back at her. "Let it stay dead. Don't remind it. Let it fade, let it go…"

"Let it die."

With those words, the connection between the two began to collapse, the world distorting and changing, shifting and shuddering… The change was not violent, but the light and sensory abilities of the two were slowly drained away, leaving nothing but the darkness until she awoke once again…

Aiko stood solemnly as she had listened to the man speak, having not noticed the unseen entity who had come into her, unknown to her it had crept into her consciousness, settling naturally as if it had been there for a long time already. For the remainder of the time she resided within the lost soul's world, which had already appeared to be falling apart even more than it initially had been when she first arrived. Not once was she fearful, or wishing to leave. This was a being deserving of a merciful release, one that had been ripped down so far the girl silently wondered, deep within the confines of her mind, if he could even be agonized any more than he seemed to be.

She heeded the wishes of this spirit, taking them into mind. Somehow she understood that even if she were to meet him once again in a new life, he didn't wish to be reminded of this one. She watched the golden streaks trail down his face, almost giving the girl the impression his star speckled, voided eyes were forming tears. She held onto this wish, knowing he was deserving of a final, permanent rest.

Her senses slowly trailed away as her consciousness faded from that reality. It was like falling asleep... Peaceful and calm.

----

The girl's eyes opened, seeing the man once more before her, within the waking world. She felt her face wet with tears, having her a little puzzled. Did... Did she cry? She wiped her face clean, walking some distance away from the male, though her eyes momentarily drifted to the parcel draped on his shoulder. It was so natural... Like a child lying on their father's shoulder, tired from a day of enjoyment. For a moment she had vanished into the woods, though within minutes she had come back with two flower garlands, white flowers woven together with grass. She rested the two on the ground a few paces before the male's spot, doing a slight bow before her yellow hair, greyed by the darkness of night, ran off into the night.

White Angel...

The title floated through her mind, her paying no heed to where it had come from, it just felt natural to think and feel about.

...Khala?