Roses of Pain Chapter 6

Note: In real life, Mana can't put more than three words together in English to form a decent sentence. Magically, through my creative license, I'm giving him the full capabilities to speak English.

      The morning sun was rising in Japan, chasing away the clouds that had loomed over the small country. As the sun shone through the clouds, it peaked in through the open balcony doors of a hotel room in the heart of Tokyo.
      The light's gentle fingers fell on the sleeping face of a man, lips still hinting blue from the makeup he had been wearing the day previous. The thin eyes stirred, a hand raising to shield his eyes from the morning sun.
      The phone rang beside his bed, the man growling and burying his head in the pillow. "Go away…"
      Again it rang…
      "Go away!" he grumbled, reaching a hand over to the receiver. "Ohayo…"
      "Mana? You up yet?"
      "No."
      "Well, you better get yourself all prettied up and get down here to the restaurant. We need to talk.. and NOW!" a voice came through on the other end.
      Mana popped open an eye to his alarm clock. "Kozi.. it's 7:30 in the morning… decent people are still sleeping now."
      "Tough. Get your makeup on and get down here… or I drag you out in public as God meant you to look. Now get down here!"

      Mana yawned behind blue lipstick, heavy makeup and a delicate blue dress, bending down in the elevator to finish lacing the 3-inch platform boots he was wearing. He had barely finished the double knot when the doors opened, Mana rising to his feet to walk carefully and gracefully out into the lobby.
      A few faces turned to watch him out of curiosity, some of the others mainly ignoring his presence… many thinking he was just a woman in too much makeup. Slowly, he walked across the lobby and into the formal dining area. His painted eyes searched quickly for a head of brilliant red hair that he knew belonged to his best friend and co-founder of the band Malice Mizer: Kozi.
      He sighed and began across the dining room, gracefully floating between tables to seat himself beside Kozi and his other band mate Yu-Ki. "Ohayo gozaimasu," he spoke quietly and politely, regarding Kozi and Yu-Ki and the guest at the table.
      "Ohayo," Kozi nodded. "Mana… I'd like you to meet Deyama Toshimitsu-san, formerly of the band X-Japan."
      Mana frowned slightly but bowed his head in respect. "Yoroshiku."

      Hide woke slowly the next morning to find himself wrapped in long, slender arms, thin rays of the morning sun warming his face. He blinked the sleep from his eyes a moment, mentally checking himself over. Apparently, even though he and Yoshiki had slept in the same bed that night, it seemed that nothing had happened between the two of them. And Hide wasn't sure weather to be relieved or disappointed.
      The room he found himself in was unfamiliar. It was plain and relatively unadorned. And it was then that he remembered that he was in Marilyn Manson's home.
      Slowly he yawned, carefully inching his way out from the embrace of the long, thin arms. He turned his head slightly to watch the gentle face of Yoshiki beside him, watching for any signs that his movements might have awakened the man.
      Once free, Hide smiled slightly and pulled a sheet up over Yoshiki's shoulders, bending down to lightly kiss the sleeping man's forehead before he turned to leave the room.
      On his trek downstairs to the main level, Hide found Marilyn in the kitchen, quietly eating a bowl of Lucky Charms, staring blankly at the cartoon image of Lucky the Leprechaun on the cereal box. "Mornin'…" Marilyn spoke, saluting Hide with his spoon, taking another mouthful, eyes never leaving the cereal box.
      "Good morning," Hide yawned, stretching his shoulders. "What's for breakfast?"
      Marilyn paused long enough to look aside to Hide before returning his orange and brown gaze back to the cereal box. "What ever you want. Twiggy'll be up in a couple minutes."
      Hide stretched again and opened up the refrigerator, pulling out a half-eaten cherry pie. He frowned and looked over his shoulder at Marilyn who was still staring intently at the cereal box. He shrugged and set the pie on the kitchen counter, taking out a knife and cutting himself out a rather generous helping. For as long as he had known Marilyn Manson, he had seen the man as odd… and not necessarily a good type of odd either.
      Hide fetched a plate and fork and sat down at the table beside Marilyn.
      But still, the other man stared intently at the cereal box.
      "Hn... nice morning. No rain," Hide tried to spark a conversation, raising an eyebrow to Marilyn.
      The other nodded their head quickly. "Yeah. 'Bout damn time…"
      "Whatcha looking at?"
      Marilyn turned his head enough to see Hide out of the corner of his brown eye. "Dunno really."
      Hide frowned and scooted his chair over, all but crawling over Marilyn's shoulder to take a look at the cereal box.
      Lucky the Leprechaun stood in a cartoon glade holding a box of his cereal, three kids in the background obviously plotting to get the fabled breakfast food. "I don't get it…"
      "Just watch for a minute or so."
      So Hide watched.
      But nothing happened.
      He looked over at Marilyn through the corner of his eye and then back at the box. And then he saw it.
      The sky in the cereal box was moving, a small fluffy white cloud meandered gently across the painted sky to cast its path in a momentary shadow. A bough on one of the cartoon trees swayed in an imaginary wind….
      And then the box fell silent again.
      Marilyn and Hide looked at each other… then looked back at the cereal box.
      One of the kids broke loose from the other two, beginning to sneak up on Lucky the Leprechaun who was still happily showing off his cereal with a big grin. The kid fished around in its pocket as it continued to creep, pulling out a long, rigid knife.
      Hide reached forward suddenly and knocked the box over on it's face, his hand resting on top of it as if he thought the box would grow legs and run away on him.
      The two looked at each other…
      "Mornin' you two!" The two startled up to see Twiggy enter into the kitchen in a baggy shirt and pants. "What's up."
      "Nothing!" the two rang insistently in unison.
      Twiggy frowned and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, nabbing up the cereal box before either Marilyn or Hide could react. As Twiggy poured himself a bowl, he watched Marilyn and Hide closely, watched them as they watched him. "You two are acting very strange this morning," he said, setting the box upright on the table.
      Marilyn reached forward quickly and retrieved the box, Hide leaning over the other's shoulder to help him inspect.
      … and Lucky the Leprechaun was nowhere to be seen.
      "AW FUCK!!"
      The two looked up to see Twiggy throw his cereal bowl quickly in the sink, the tall bassist nearly falling over himself to get up from the chair.
      "What! What is it!?" Marilyn yelled, getting up quickly from the table, shadowed by Hide, to go inspect the sink. He leaned over the stainless steal rim.
      A mixture of blood, cereal and milk slowly drained down the sink, the steady rhythmic sound of drops of milk and blood dropping down the sink drain. An arm reached around him, owned by Hide, and picked up the over-turned cereal bowl as Twiggy joined them.
      A small arm and part of what looked like a foot sat amongst the soggy cereal, blood caking the bottom of the cereal bowl. "What in the…" the three whispered in unison.
      "We know what happened to Lucky now…" Marilyn whispered, turning around to grab the cereal box. He brought it around and dumped the contents into the sink. The rest of the little cartoon character's body parts spilled out into the sink along with blood-coated cereal. "This is sick."
      Behind them, a set of footfalls drew all three pairs of eyes around to see Yoshiki lazily walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Good morning."
      Hide jumped in place, quickly scampering forward to throw his arms around Yoshiki's stomach in a bear hug. "Good morning! Uh… how'd ya sleep?"
      Yoshiki frowned and ruffled the pink hair. "Just fine. What's for breakfast?"
      Hide flailed as Yoshiki tried to step around him, scurrying to place himself between Yoshiki and the rest of the kitchen.
      "Actually… we were all gonna go out for breakfast…" Twiggy lied, pretending to wipe his hands on a towel and then strategically throw it over the mess in the sink.
      "Oh nonsense. I just need coffee and a piece of toast."
      "Then let's go for coffee!" Marilyn, Twiggy and Hide suggested as a whole.
      Yoshiki frowned at the three inclusive, pushing past Hide into the kitchen. "What's going on with you three?"
      "Nothing!" the trio declared in unison, all three creating a blockade in front of the sink.
      Yoshiki frowned and pushed Marilyn aside, reaching into the sink to pull away the towel.
      Hide winced expecting Yoshiki to scream or throw some sort of fit of horrors, but instead, the man just stared at the mess in the sink a while, gently laying the towel on the counter.
      His thin eyes turned over to Hide. "What happened here? What is that?"
      "Lucky the Leprechaun," Twiggy pointed out as if making a comment on the weather, throwing a thumb over his shoulder to the cereal box.
      "I guess one of the kids was tired of always having to catch his Frosted Lucky Charms." All eyes turned to Hide, Twiggy shaking his head and walking out of the kitchen. Hide watched after Twiggy a moment and turned back to Yoshiki tugging on his sleeve. "Yo-chan…"
      "Hn?"
      "I want to go back to Japan… back to Yokosuka."
      "Why?"
      "I think I should visit my grave."
      Yoshiki watched the pink-haired man a moment before reaching out long arms to wrap them around the shorter man, hugging him tightly. "Why?"
      "Maybe… maybe it will help explain things. I just feel I need to go back to Japan."

      Kozi was frowning, Mana was quaintly sipping his noon tea as Toshi finished his story, sitting back in his seat beside Raven. Silence seemed to fill the gaps between them for almost eternity before Mana set his cup down carefully, adjusting the lace glove on his hand. "How did you know? About me, I mean."
      "Old Japanese legends, folk stories, wives tales. They all explain seven beings that can control certain aspects of reality. They're known as the Seven Lucky Gods in China, the Muses in Greece, the Gods of the Dead in Egypt… the seven dragons of heaven and earth here in Japan" Raven spoke up, eyeing Mana. "The truth is, we need your help to defeat one of them before his powers destroy the earth and every living thing on it. We need your help to lure him out away from the crowded cities and destroy him and the black angel that guards him."
      "And what do I get out of this?"
      Raven frowned a moment and thought. "Revenge. Together, we can help you seek revenge on the man who betrayed you and broke you."
      Mana frowned and went back to sipping his tea. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, casting a small glance to Kozi beside him, who sat dressed in blood-red leather pants and an ugly flannel shirt.
      "We all know," said Raven. "We all know you want revenge on a certain man for leaving you and breaking up the Malice family. We all know the hatred you hold for him."
      "Well, if you're so smart," Kozi piped up, leaning back in his chair, "then you tell us. Since you seem to know what 'we all' are thinking," he made quote marks with his fingers.
      Raven frowned and sat back in his chair. "Will you help us or not?"
      Mana sipped his tea and set the cup down. "One condition."
      "Name it."
      "Get me Gackt Camui."

      "Last-minute trip to Japan…" Twiggy was whispering to himself as he watched the limo pull them up to the Los Angeles International Airport. "I'm still not going," he declared out loud.
      "Fine, then stay here," Marilyn responded as the chauffeur rounded and opened the limo door.
      "I draw the line at cartoon characters on cereal boxes turning up murdered in my morning breakfast, okay!" he yelled after them, leaning out the car window.
      Yoshiki and Hide exited silently behind Marilyn and waited wordlessly for their luggage to be unloaded. Yoshiki sighed and gently draped an arm around Hide's shoulders. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
      The other nodded and broke to tug along a suitcase behind him, heading off silently into the airport.

      Mana, Kozi Toshi and Raven walked quietly as a group to the pick-up platform of the hotel where a limo sat waiting for them. Raven took Toshi aside a moment. "You're on your own from here on out, Toshi. The limo driver will take you to find Sugizo. But I can't help you anymore."
      "Where are you going, then?"
      "Back to LA. And that's all you need to know."
      With that, Raven turned and stepped into an awaiting black car, the car quickly pulling away from the curb.
      Toshi felt lonely as he stood and watched Kozi and Mana step into the limo, the chauffeur directing him to do the same.
      The drive from the hotel to their destination took almost 2 hours before the limo pulled up to a large house out in the countryside of Japan. The house was large and noble-looking as Toshi stepped out, making way for Mana and Kozi. "Is this where we'll find Sugizo?"
      "Sure is," came a voice from across the limo from them.
      Toshi spun around to see a man in a black suit walking across the front lawn, wild red and black hair sprouting from his head. "Irasshaimase."

      Twiggy growled to himself as he sat in the limo, twirling a bass pick through his fingers. "This is stupid," he had told himself for the past five minutes. "Just completely nuts."
      The limo chauffeur rounded around and opened the door. "Where to?"
      Again, Twiggy growled to himself. "Fuck it all anyway…" he pulled his wallet out of his pants and stepped out of the limo. "Looks like I'm going to Japan. Get in there and get me a ticket on the next flight out."

© 1999 HTMS Interlink.

On to part 7