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quirkypeanutblu
Character/Fandom: Hei/Darker than BLACK
Prompt: 04. binary system
Word Count: 2140
Summary: Bai, from beginning to end.
Author Notes/Warnings: Angst and violence. It’s Hei, what were you expecting?
Binary: a whole composed of two.
The whole thing could be characterized by its slowness. China was slow to inform the rural villages; the village was slow to distribute the news among its residents. The world was slow to fully understand what had happened. People were slow to notice that the stars had somehow changed. The Contractors were slow to appear. Xin was slow to transform into Bai.
He noticed the stars before he noticed anything odd about his sister. The stars were all in their proper places, but they no longer moved. Occasionally, one would fall. He knew enough, even at twelve, to know that stars weren’t supposed to literally fall; that shooting stars were just meteorites. He could no longer find nebulae, galaxies, Messier objects with his telescope. Even the Milky Way had disappeared. It was as if someone had tacked some stretched black fabric to the sky and painted stars on it.
A week afterward people were starting to realize that the Gates didn’t intend to go anywhere. Xin had been bored, almost lethargic lately. The family attributed it to sickness.
“Xin, let’s go set up the scope by the lake. There’s a binary star I want to show you.” It was almost midnight, and Xin had been even quieter that day than usual. He was hoping to cheer her up.
She was sitting at the table, chin propped on her hand, staring blankly out the window. When he spoke she turned toward him, slowly. She fixed a blank gaze on him and stared for a moment or so.
“Why?”
It was such a simple question; an answer should have come easily to him. But he could think of nothing. Something cold and dark settled inside him then, some understanding: his little sister had changed, was changing. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He had never felt so helpless in his life.
A week or so later, Xin electrocuted one of the stray cats that frequented the neighborhood. He watched in horror as she crouched over the small, stiff body and stared at it with curious, red eyes.
A week or so later, their parents disappeared from the face of the Earth. Xin stared impassively at their empty bedroom and he reached out to take her hand.
-------
Men had come for them. They had answers, and they had the same feel about them that Xin now had. They spoke of Contractors and the Gates and the fake stars. They said Xin was special. He hated the way they smiled.
“There are people who can help you,” they said. “They know how to make use of Contractors like us. There’s going to be a lot of confusion soon, a lot of people fighting; they’re going to need us, as tools, you see. They’ll take care of you; they pay good money. You’ll never be hungry again.”
It had been months since he had taken Xin and left the village for the nearby city, where they would be able to blend in more, where people wouldn’t know them. He took odd-jobs from people willing to pay, but there was never enough money, never enough food. Xin was looking so thin lately, even though he gave her his share. This new offer was tempting, but something about these men was unsettling. They scared him, but he was learning to hide his fear. He would kill them if they tried to hurt Xin or take her away. He knew he could do it, too. If it was for her, he would do anything.
She squeezed his hand, forcing him to look at her.
“We should go with them. It is the logical thing to do.”
“So what? I don’t trust them.”
“That doesn’t matter. Trust is pointless.” She looked back at the men. “Brother, I’m going to go with them. You don’t have to come with me.”
She might as well have slapped him in the face. He snorted and grinned, though there was no warmth in it.
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not leaving you, not ever.”
She wasn’t looking at him, so he couldn’t be sure, but he thought she smiled then.
But the men shook their heads. “Not him. We have no use for him.”
“I’m going with her. You’re not going to separate us.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just a human.”
“I can be a Contractor, too! I’ll be the best Contractor you’ve ever seen!”
They looked at each other and laughed.
In the van on the way to wherever the men were taking them, one turned around and fixed the pair with an amused gaze and an unkind smile.
“It’s best if you forget your past lives. Even your names. You’ll go by code names from now on. Let’s see.” He considered Xin for a few long moments. “Bai. From now on you will be Bai.”
She nodded.
“And you…hm. You can be—”
“Hei. I’ll be Hei.” He glared at the man, threatening him to contradict. But the man just grinned.
“Hei, then. That’ll do.”
He liked it. Hei and Bai; Black and White. They were opposites, human and Contractor, but they needed each other; like yin and yang. It was an unspoken promise to himself and to his sister that wherever she went, he would follow.
-------
Killing was remarkably easy. You simply put a knife into a person; they would bleed, perhaps scream, and then they would fall over. They would either die quickly or slowly, depending on how much blood there was. It was all so simple. Every time he killed someone he expected it to be much more difficult.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked back at her, expressionless. Barely a year now, and he was quickly becoming an expert at looking like them, thinking like them, talking and acting like them. He couldn’t fool a Contractor for long, of course. The emotions were always there, no matter how deeply he buried them, and Contractors, somehow, could see that. But they didn’t care. So long as he killed like them, they didn’t care.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Liar.”
“It’s not a lie, dammit!”
“Then why are you crying, Brother?”
His eyes widened and he reached up to wipe the tears away. He hadn’t even noticed.
“I’m not,” he said, though he knew it was pointless. “I’m not.”
She was still staring at him, impassive, blank. Sometimes he wondered whether she actually cared about him anymore. It should have been a sad thing to think about, but he considered the question as if it were a question about the weather. Contractors betrayed each other so easily, even family members, even long time friends. They didn’t seem to truly care about anyone other than themselves. Bai had to be the same way. It was only logical, after all.
So why did he stay with her?
“You could leave,” she said. “You could leave this place.”
“Shut up. Just shut up.”
Bai hadn’t killed a single person tonight. Hei had gotten to them before she could. It was stupid; she wouldn’t be affected by it the way he was, and with her abilities she could kill dozens of people all at once. And it wasn’t like he wanted to kill, either. He could easily just remain her shadow, watching her back, letting her do most of the dirty work. It would be easier, and more logical.
But he couldn’t. She might not care that she killed, but he did. She was his sister. He could still remember her as she had been before the Gates appeared—compassionate, full of energy, always eager to learn. Sensitive; a crybaby, even. She had cried over silly things, like the leaves falling in autumn and finding out that beef came from cows.
He did not want her to kill. So at every turn, at every opportunity, Hei would kill for her.
“We should regroup,” he said, and he walked forward to take her hand. “The captain will want a report.”
He only vaguely noticed the almost undetectable tremor that ran through her.
-------
No one could remember who had first started calling him the Black Reaper, but the name had stuck. Most of them had found it amusing at first. But it had been years now, and the Black Reaper’s reputation had spread all across the globe. These days it was a term of respect. They believed in him now; some of them were even scared of him, though of course it was almost impossible to tell. He had killed just as many Contractors as he had humans. He was deadly; he was terrifying.
Only one person was more terrifying.
“They’d be much less scared of you if they knew how much you sleep,” Amber said to Bai. She looked over at Hei and smiled. “Or how much you eat.”
She was different from other Contractors. She smiled more. She had a thoughtful air about her, as if she was contemplating something far away. There was a secrecy to her; all Contractors were secretive, but with Amber it was if she knew the answers to all the questions in the world, and simply wasn’t telling.
She was the first Contractor to make him feel like he was worth anything.
“Why aren’t you scared of us?”
Still that smile. “I have no reason to be. I trust you both.”
“Trust? Why?”
“Look at you two; you’re always together. Like you’re joined at the hip. I never had any siblings, not even before the Gate appeared. But you two are devoted to each other, despite everything. How could I not trust that?”
He tried to hide his smile and failed.
-------
He thought about killing her.
It would be easy. Bai was asleep, paying off her obeisance. He could strangle her now, and she would simply never wake up. No one would be any the wiser, not with the dozens and dozens of dead bodies in the pond around them. The stars were still falling, so many of them. No one would notice one extra star. No more worrying about her. No more watching as she slaughtered people without a second thought. No more of that blank stare, that uncaring expression. No more killing to protect her.
His hand was at her throat. His eyes were hot and his insides felt as though he had swallowed stones.
He sensed Amber even before she spoke.
“Hei, it’s over.”
He released Bai’s throat and looked back at Amber, in time to see her look of surprise. He was crying. He had told himself once that he would not cry in front of anyone except for Bai.
It was alright, though. Amber was different. She understood.
She stared at him across the water for awhile. Then she inclined her head, looking up at the rain of stars.
“She used her power a lot tonight, huh?”
Hei pulled Bai closer to him.
“Hei, do you think…?”
He stood up with Bai in his arms and looked over at Amber, waiting for her to finish the sentence. Her gaze returned to his face and she tucked her hands behind her back. She smiled at him.
“Sorry. Never mind.”
-------
He had hated the Meteor Shard from the moment he had laid eyes on it. But now it was in Bai’s hand, and she and Amber were watching him expectantly. They were glowing blue, along with everything around them. Hei looked down at his hands; they were glowing as well. Impossible.
“Do it, Bai. Do it now.”
“Bai! Bai, no!” He didn’t know what Amber was planning, but the air was humming and there was a terrible feeling in Hei’s gut. He needed to save Bai; needed to take her away from Amber, away from the Gate and the Meteor Shard.
She was too far away.
Bai’s eyes met Hei’s and she smiled. There was a bright light, and then nothing.
A week or so later, Hei woke up in a small village in Vietnam. South America was gone. Amber was gone. Bai was gone.
He couldn’t help but be somewhat relieved, and that was almost as unbearable as the pain of losing her.
But if he had survived Heaven’s Gate, then maybe she had as well. Maybe Amber had used her ability at the last minute and taken Bai to safety. Maybe she was lost somewhere, waiting for him to come find her. Maybe, maybe, maybe. It was all he had left, but it didn’t matter. He would find her. They were like white and black, yin and yang. Like two stars in orbit, never losing sight of each other. One day they would meet again. It didn’t matter if he had to tear the world apart to find her. She was his sister.
If it was for her, he would do anything.
quirkypeanutbluCharacter/Fandom: Hei/Darker than BLACK
Prompt: 04. binary system
Word Count: 2140
Summary: Bai, from beginning to end.
Author Notes/Warnings: Angst and violence. It’s Hei, what were you expecting?
Binary: a whole composed of two.
The whole thing could be characterized by its slowness. China was slow to inform the rural villages; the village was slow to distribute the news among its residents. The world was slow to fully understand what had happened. People were slow to notice that the stars had somehow changed. The Contractors were slow to appear. Xin was slow to transform into Bai.
He noticed the stars before he noticed anything odd about his sister. The stars were all in their proper places, but they no longer moved. Occasionally, one would fall. He knew enough, even at twelve, to know that stars weren’t supposed to literally fall; that shooting stars were just meteorites. He could no longer find nebulae, galaxies, Messier objects with his telescope. Even the Milky Way had disappeared. It was as if someone had tacked some stretched black fabric to the sky and painted stars on it.
A week afterward people were starting to realize that the Gates didn’t intend to go anywhere. Xin had been bored, almost lethargic lately. The family attributed it to sickness.
“Xin, let’s go set up the scope by the lake. There’s a binary star I want to show you.” It was almost midnight, and Xin had been even quieter that day than usual. He was hoping to cheer her up.
She was sitting at the table, chin propped on her hand, staring blankly out the window. When he spoke she turned toward him, slowly. She fixed a blank gaze on him and stared for a moment or so.
“Why?”
It was such a simple question; an answer should have come easily to him. But he could think of nothing. Something cold and dark settled inside him then, some understanding: his little sister had changed, was changing. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He had never felt so helpless in his life.
A week or so later, Xin electrocuted one of the stray cats that frequented the neighborhood. He watched in horror as she crouched over the small, stiff body and stared at it with curious, red eyes.
A week or so later, their parents disappeared from the face of the Earth. Xin stared impassively at their empty bedroom and he reached out to take her hand.
-------
Men had come for them. They had answers, and they had the same feel about them that Xin now had. They spoke of Contractors and the Gates and the fake stars. They said Xin was special. He hated the way they smiled.
“There are people who can help you,” they said. “They know how to make use of Contractors like us. There’s going to be a lot of confusion soon, a lot of people fighting; they’re going to need us, as tools, you see. They’ll take care of you; they pay good money. You’ll never be hungry again.”
It had been months since he had taken Xin and left the village for the nearby city, where they would be able to blend in more, where people wouldn’t know them. He took odd-jobs from people willing to pay, but there was never enough money, never enough food. Xin was looking so thin lately, even though he gave her his share. This new offer was tempting, but something about these men was unsettling. They scared him, but he was learning to hide his fear. He would kill them if they tried to hurt Xin or take her away. He knew he could do it, too. If it was for her, he would do anything.
She squeezed his hand, forcing him to look at her.
“We should go with them. It is the logical thing to do.”
“So what? I don’t trust them.”
“That doesn’t matter. Trust is pointless.” She looked back at the men. “Brother, I’m going to go with them. You don’t have to come with me.”
She might as well have slapped him in the face. He snorted and grinned, though there was no warmth in it.
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not leaving you, not ever.”
She wasn’t looking at him, so he couldn’t be sure, but he thought she smiled then.
But the men shook their heads. “Not him. We have no use for him.”
“I’m going with her. You’re not going to separate us.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just a human.”
“I can be a Contractor, too! I’ll be the best Contractor you’ve ever seen!”
They looked at each other and laughed.
In the van on the way to wherever the men were taking them, one turned around and fixed the pair with an amused gaze and an unkind smile.
“It’s best if you forget your past lives. Even your names. You’ll go by code names from now on. Let’s see.” He considered Xin for a few long moments. “Bai. From now on you will be Bai.”
She nodded.
“And you…hm. You can be—”
“Hei. I’ll be Hei.” He glared at the man, threatening him to contradict. But the man just grinned.
“Hei, then. That’ll do.”
He liked it. Hei and Bai; Black and White. They were opposites, human and Contractor, but they needed each other; like yin and yang. It was an unspoken promise to himself and to his sister that wherever she went, he would follow.
-------
Killing was remarkably easy. You simply put a knife into a person; they would bleed, perhaps scream, and then they would fall over. They would either die quickly or slowly, depending on how much blood there was. It was all so simple. Every time he killed someone he expected it to be much more difficult.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked back at her, expressionless. Barely a year now, and he was quickly becoming an expert at looking like them, thinking like them, talking and acting like them. He couldn’t fool a Contractor for long, of course. The emotions were always there, no matter how deeply he buried them, and Contractors, somehow, could see that. But they didn’t care. So long as he killed like them, they didn’t care.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Liar.”
“It’s not a lie, dammit!”
“Then why are you crying, Brother?”
His eyes widened and he reached up to wipe the tears away. He hadn’t even noticed.
“I’m not,” he said, though he knew it was pointless. “I’m not.”
She was still staring at him, impassive, blank. Sometimes he wondered whether she actually cared about him anymore. It should have been a sad thing to think about, but he considered the question as if it were a question about the weather. Contractors betrayed each other so easily, even family members, even long time friends. They didn’t seem to truly care about anyone other than themselves. Bai had to be the same way. It was only logical, after all.
So why did he stay with her?
“You could leave,” she said. “You could leave this place.”
“Shut up. Just shut up.”
Bai hadn’t killed a single person tonight. Hei had gotten to them before she could. It was stupid; she wouldn’t be affected by it the way he was, and with her abilities she could kill dozens of people all at once. And it wasn’t like he wanted to kill, either. He could easily just remain her shadow, watching her back, letting her do most of the dirty work. It would be easier, and more logical.
But he couldn’t. She might not care that she killed, but he did. She was his sister. He could still remember her as she had been before the Gates appeared—compassionate, full of energy, always eager to learn. Sensitive; a crybaby, even. She had cried over silly things, like the leaves falling in autumn and finding out that beef came from cows.
He did not want her to kill. So at every turn, at every opportunity, Hei would kill for her.
“We should regroup,” he said, and he walked forward to take her hand. “The captain will want a report.”
He only vaguely noticed the almost undetectable tremor that ran through her.
-------
No one could remember who had first started calling him the Black Reaper, but the name had stuck. Most of them had found it amusing at first. But it had been years now, and the Black Reaper’s reputation had spread all across the globe. These days it was a term of respect. They believed in him now; some of them were even scared of him, though of course it was almost impossible to tell. He had killed just as many Contractors as he had humans. He was deadly; he was terrifying.
Only one person was more terrifying.
“They’d be much less scared of you if they knew how much you sleep,” Amber said to Bai. She looked over at Hei and smiled. “Or how much you eat.”
She was different from other Contractors. She smiled more. She had a thoughtful air about her, as if she was contemplating something far away. There was a secrecy to her; all Contractors were secretive, but with Amber it was if she knew the answers to all the questions in the world, and simply wasn’t telling.
She was the first Contractor to make him feel like he was worth anything.
“Why aren’t you scared of us?”
Still that smile. “I have no reason to be. I trust you both.”
“Trust? Why?”
“Look at you two; you’re always together. Like you’re joined at the hip. I never had any siblings, not even before the Gate appeared. But you two are devoted to each other, despite everything. How could I not trust that?”
He tried to hide his smile and failed.
-------
He thought about killing her.
It would be easy. Bai was asleep, paying off her obeisance. He could strangle her now, and she would simply never wake up. No one would be any the wiser, not with the dozens and dozens of dead bodies in the pond around them. The stars were still falling, so many of them. No one would notice one extra star. No more worrying about her. No more watching as she slaughtered people without a second thought. No more of that blank stare, that uncaring expression. No more killing to protect her.
His hand was at her throat. His eyes were hot and his insides felt as though he had swallowed stones.
He sensed Amber even before she spoke.
“Hei, it’s over.”
He released Bai’s throat and looked back at Amber, in time to see her look of surprise. He was crying. He had told himself once that he would not cry in front of anyone except for Bai.
It was alright, though. Amber was different. She understood.
She stared at him across the water for awhile. Then she inclined her head, looking up at the rain of stars.
“She used her power a lot tonight, huh?”
Hei pulled Bai closer to him.
“Hei, do you think…?”
He stood up with Bai in his arms and looked over at Amber, waiting for her to finish the sentence. Her gaze returned to his face and she tucked her hands behind her back. She smiled at him.
“Sorry. Never mind.”
-------
He had hated the Meteor Shard from the moment he had laid eyes on it. But now it was in Bai’s hand, and she and Amber were watching him expectantly. They were glowing blue, along with everything around them. Hei looked down at his hands; they were glowing as well. Impossible.
“Do it, Bai. Do it now.”
“Bai! Bai, no!” He didn’t know what Amber was planning, but the air was humming and there was a terrible feeling in Hei’s gut. He needed to save Bai; needed to take her away from Amber, away from the Gate and the Meteor Shard.
She was too far away.
Bai’s eyes met Hei’s and she smiled. There was a bright light, and then nothing.
A week or so later, Hei woke up in a small village in Vietnam. South America was gone. Amber was gone. Bai was gone.
He couldn’t help but be somewhat relieved, and that was almost as unbearable as the pain of losing her.
But if he had survived Heaven’s Gate, then maybe she had as well. Maybe Amber had used her ability at the last minute and taken Bai to safety. Maybe she was lost somewhere, waiting for him to come find her. Maybe, maybe, maybe. It was all he had left, but it didn’t matter. He would find her. They were like white and black, yin and yang. Like two stars in orbit, never losing sight of each other. One day they would meet again. It didn’t matter if he had to tear the world apart to find her. She was his sister.
If it was for her, he would do anything.
