Pinky Promise

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” They promised each other with pinkies linking and smiles on their faces as they laughed and joked amongst one another, sitting by the river and letting the water run. Every day, by the river, whenever they wanted to get away from the orphanage for a bit. Every day, by the river, children that grew yet did not truly grow. They sat by the water and let it run on their bare feet, recounting the days with each other and each adventure they had. Sakuramimis, Sakustellamimi, it mattered not what they were, they were together and that was all.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” They promised each other with touching hands and shivering bodies as the winds blew and the doors creaked with ominous air, the people not knowing what to do. They said they were coming, whoever they were, but was it an adoption day? If it were, then why were people terrified? No one knew and they just held each others’ hands in the same bed as they recounted the time spent together. “Will we be separated?” “Let’s not think that, come on, let’s think of what is to come!” The future did not know anything and she stilled her tongue as she waited for the winds to stop blowing.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” They promised each other as the twins were taken away, screaming, crying, utterly terrified as she fought and bit and kicked. “Give them back! Give my halves back!” she screamed as she bit harder and harder and- Reishiki was tossed to the ground, hitting his head hard on a table holding a vase, the vase falling with a sickening crack. She screamed, she cried, she tried to run to him, yet her arm-! Her screams rang loud as she felt something wrong wrong wrong enter her system and the laughter all around god make it stop make it stop MAKE IT STOP-! She was kicked to the side and something thrown at her head as she heard Saki cry and sob for everything to stop like her mind did as she blacked out.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She promised that as she searched and searched, her blackened limbs weighing her down as the thought of death and corruption swirled in her mind. She had embraced it to a degree, corrupting, hating, only to herself and yet she wanted to carry it out on others. She embraced it, hated it, felt it, wanting it to make her keep going until she found her other halves and god did she just want to see them again one more time and hold them like the old days. The older sister, the older half. She loved them with her everything and yet… “Is my love turning twisted?” she lamented as she wandered and wandered the four corners of the world.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She heard her say as she watched from the shadows and they pinky promised once more. Her heart ached and yet she was happy. She found them, she found them at last, priests? That was amazing, they could heal and cure her insanity one day, right? …She wasn’t too far gone, right…? Her smile would die away the more she watched and the more rituals they were subjected to. What are you doing why are you hurting them like this what is this this is not what a priest should do stop stop stop stop STOP! She screamed in rage as she took a scythe from her soul and began to slash away. Her mind was already filling with dark thoughts as she promised herself to set them free.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She kept mumbling over and over the more she corrupted others and the more she took their hearts and made them like her. Not fully, not really, or they’ll never be cured, she knew this and she knew that her other half would enjoy curing them and saving them. A purpose, he needed a purpose, he needed one otherwise he will die. Sakiyarumei herself had fallen and she was no longer the person she knew. “Saki, what happened?” she lamented as she saw her smile and giggle with dead eyes while accepting fate yet not accepting at the same time. “I’ve fallen, I’ve fallen, is this really all I am?” she heard her cry and it broke her heart to hear that. Sweet Saki, fallen? Yet she knew that it was true, no longer being the person she once was. A bit more coldhearted, a bit more cruel in methods, hiding, wary, not accepting much yet only clinging to her other half. Freedom, yes, surely, if they were free, then they’d be able to rise again, right? Give them a purpose, give them hope, and then one day they’d be together again.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She promised in a dream where they were all together again. By the river, next to the orphanage, she dreamt it so much and yet she knew it cannot be again, not yet, not when she needed to plan and plot and save them with her own methods. Her own methods, how cruel and cold, yet Saki thought she had fallen? No, no, the fallen one was her and it hurt her heart but she just wanted to be with them again one more time before she could decide to make herself disappear. Watch over their happiness, make sure they were happy, and then disappear so they could be happy. The older sibling, the older half, how she had fallen! She woke up in tears every time as she sobbed and held onto the plush she received from a strange girl.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She murmured as she held out a hand to a dull eyed man, red eyes and white hair as he sat on the ground, curled into a ball and just staring blankly at her hand. She was smiling, he reminded her of them, her other halves, the one they once were, when they were so down at times that she had to be the older sibling and picked them back up. He stared, kept staring, but she kept holding out until he took it with bony fingers and shakily stood up. She took him, guided him, and nursed him back to health in the little abode she created for just herself. Only now she had it filled.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” He said with a grin as he held out a pinky. With an eyebrow cocked she wondered where that came from. “You were saying that in your sleep, I had to check. I know more than you think, come on.” She blinked back tears as she smiled as well and held out her pinky. Yes, let’s never be apart, never again. And she will protect with all she had for sure.

“Let’s swear to never be apart!” She murmured as she watched from the shadows, knowing that the other man, Zweie, was nearby. Both were watching, from the shadows, the ceremony to cure the Korosakus as Reishiki performed his duty while Sakiyarumei murmured chants and prayers from a nearby area, incense clouding the air. Their eyes were dull, they could tell, and she watched with hands gripped on her scythe as she stared with dull eyes as well. Another pair of dull eyes approached and she glanced back at the man as he held out his hand. One hand reached out and they both clasped as they inwardly wept for the priests and priestesses trapped there. She’d save them, all of them, but definitely she would save Reishiki and Sakiyarumei. Her other half, her other halves… Yes, Soumanomiya would definitely save them, she was sure of it.