Kaito, The Blue Man Of Diamond(Acheron) Part 1:

The cards had been dealt. The creator of the cards spread them out on the hardwood surface of the table and stroked the white rabbit in his lap. His eyes lingered on the blue Ace of Diamond card, and in that instant, he knew who the little dream’s next target was.

“It’s him, huh?” he said with an amused gleam in his eyes as he tossed the card at the little grinning boy.

The boy nodded, his white hair fell in his face with this action, and giggled. “I think he will amuse me, Joker.”

The Joker stacked the cards in a pile and raised an eyebrow at the little dream. “Little Dream, the man you have chosen is nothing more than a petty singer. He can’t even afford a house for himself, and he has to dig around in dumpsters for his food. Are you quite sure this is who you want to remember you?”

The little boy stood and pocketed the blue card. “And what was the red Spade? She was a ruthless warrior who slew everything in her way. Now she is trapped in the forests in Wonderland as a sinner, remembering the little boy who led her every step of the way.”

“That is true, but at least she wasn’t street trash. Little Dream, this blue young man isn’t-”

The Little Dream bounded over to the Joker and pressed a finger to his lips. “Joker, just because you created me doesn’t mean you can boss me around. I can easily get rid of you, you know.”

The Joker cleared his throat and mumbled, “Yes, I apologize. But, Little Dream, I must say that this man you have chosen isn’t usually the kind you target.”

“I just thought I could mix things up a little. Oh, and by the way Joker, call me Usagi until this target gets boring,” the boy said and skipped out the door. “Wish me luck!”

The Joker watched Usagi until he disappeared from sight, and then he whispered, “Kaito, the blue man of Diamond. Beware of the dream that is soon to take over your life.”


Part 2:

Kaito sat alone in an alleyway with a black cat at his side. The cat rubbed against his side and meowed.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have enough money to feed myself,” he muttered and scratched the feline’s ears.

The cat jumped up and quickly ran out of the alley, leaving Kaito alone to dwell in the darkness. He stood and studied his reflection in a window. His blue hair was tangled and his clothes were torn and stained from sleeping on the rough sidewalk.

“I’d better count my money. Maybe I can finally afford a piece of bread or something,” Kaito slid his hand into his pocket and much to his surprise, it went right through. He looked down and saw that there was a hole at the bottom of his pocket. “No! It took me a whole month to save up!”

Kaito fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands, and started crying. He was only seventeen, not quite an adult yet, so why did this always happen to him? Maybe he just wasn’t a lucky person, or maybe this was a punishment of some kind. Well, that was what he figured anyways.

He wiped the tears away from his eyes and stood. He looked to the dumpster that sat just a few steps away and grimaced. I don’t want to go looking in there, but what choice do I have? he thought as he reluctantly approached it and plunged in his hand, desperately hoping he could find something decent to eat. His search was in vain, for he came up with nothing.

“At this rate, I’ll starve to death. I haven’t had a decent meal in at least a week…no a month,” Kaito said and then sighed. His stomach growled furiously and he couldn’t help but feel like he should just die. 'Maybe it would just be better if I let myself die. No, I can’t do that. I’m only seventeen; I have too much time left to live.'

Kaito stepped away from the dumpster and left the alleyway to begin his daily job. Singing. He always sang to the people of his town, and in return, they would pay him. The town itself was poor so they couldn’t offer him much, but he was still grateful for every cent they gave him.

“Good morning, Kaito,”

He whipped around and saw his friend Luka. He smiled at her and said, “Good morning, Luka.”

They both stood there for a minute, both silent and wondering what to say next. Finally, Luka broke the silence. “So, Kaito, are you going to sing today?”

Kaito nodded and wondered why she had asked such a stupid question. Of course he was going to sing. It was the only way he could make money to support himself in this town.

Luka scratched the back of her head and cleared her throat. “Well, I’ll be cheering for you.” She then smiled, turned, and walked away from him.

He crossed his arms and watched her leave. “That was an awkward conversation. I wonder what’s up with her today.” He didn’t think too much about what was bothering his friend at the moment. What he was really thinking about was what song he should sing to the people today.

Kaito thought for a moment, and then it hit him. He bounded over to the middle of his town and got the attention of everyone. He took a deep breath and then sang: “In order to get used to staying in the town of dreams, how many more seconds should I stay sleeping? In just a moment, someone will come and take my hand and lead me to a place I do not know. Look, you can see in the sand pit the group with the happy voices…”

While he was singing, he couldn’t help but notice the little boy with white hair who laid a playing card among the change that he was collecting. 'Why is that boy putting a card with my money? Is it some scheme to get my earnings or something? Now that I think about it…I haven’t seen this boy anywhere before. I wonder who he is', Kaito thought as the boy backed away and smiled up at him.

When he ended the song, Luka approached him and said, “Good job. I’ve never heard you sing that song before. Where did you get the idea for it?”

Kaito shrugged and replied, “To tell you the truth, it just came to me. Thanks, by the way.”

Luka smiled at him and then remembered something. She dug ten dollars out of her pocket. Kaito’s mouth dropped open when she handed it to him. “Here. I’ve been meaning to give this to you for awhile now.”

Kaito shook his head. “I can’t take your money, Luka.”

“Don’t be silly. You’ve earned it, Kaito,” she said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Before he could say anything, he felt someone tug on his sleeve. He looked down and saw the little white haired boy, who was still smiling at him. “Hello, are you lost little boy?”

The boy giggled and handed him a container that held his earnings for the day. “No.”

Kaito was surprised that the kid had given him something to hold his money in. “Um, thanks. What’s your name?”

“Usagi, and you’re Kaito,” he said with a wide grin on his face. “I think we are going to be good friends!”

Kaito couldn’t help but smile at the little boy’s enthusiasm. “Sure, Usagi, if you say so.”

Usagi held onto his arm and looked at Luka. “Your girlfriend is really pretty.”

Kaito was at a loss for words. He didn’t want to say that she wasn’t his girlfriend, just in case Luka had feelings for him. But, at the same, he wanted to be able to call Luka his girlfriend. He stayed silent and Luka blushed.

“Little boy, you’re mistaken. Kaito is just a good friend of mine,” Luka patted Usagi on the head.

Usagi laughed. “But, you kissed him. Don’t boyfriend and girlfriend kiss each other?”

Kaito felt his face get hot. “Um, well I’ll see you later Kaito!” she said hurriedly and ran off.

He sighed and added the ten dollars Luka gave him to the rest of his change. When he glanced at the little boy hanging onto his arm, he was still smiling. 'This kid is creepy', he thought and then told the kid, “I have to go home now.”

Usagi nodded, but showed no signs of leaving. Kaito waited for a moment, to see if he would at least let go of him, but the grinning child didn’t move at all. “Don’t you have a home to go to?” he asked the boy with an annoyed look on his face.

“No,” Usagi replied simply. “But you don’t either.”

Kaito’s eyes widened in shock. How could this kid, who was obviously not from this town, know that he was homeless; a street kid. He jerked his arm away from the boy and said, “Okay, how do you know that?!”

Usagi started laughing and as he skipped away from Kaito, he yelled, “I know a lot about you Kaito! A lot more than you think!”


Part 3:

When Kaito arrived “home”, which was nothing more than a barren alleyway, he dumped out his earnings and counted them. To his amazement, he had earned twelve dollars, which was a lot more than he usually made in a day. On average, it would normally take him six days to earn this much.

He was about to put his money back into the container that the creepy Usagi boy had given him when he noticed something. That blue playing card was sitting at the bottom of the bucket.

Kaito picked up the card and asked no one in particular, ”What’s up with this?”

It was blue, of course, but he found that quite peculiar about the card. All of the playing cards he had seen came in black and red, but never in his entire life had Kaito come across a blue one. As he studied the card more closely, he could see that it was an Ace of Diamonds card and that it was hand made.

Still, he didn’t want it. The presence of the diamond card itself made him feel uneasy. Not only because Usagi had given it to him, but the sinister aura that surrounded it also made him think twice about keeping it.

Kaito deposited his earnings for the day back into the bucket and made sure that it was hidden, just in case anyone got any bright ideas about coming into his alley for his hard-earned cash.

He was about to rip the card when a chilling voice rang out,” I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Kaito!”

Kaito recognized the frightening voice immediately. “Usagi? Where are you?”

The little boy stepped out of the shadows and instead of grinning, like he usually was, he had a cold, warning look on his face. “Kaito, don’t you dare rip that card.”

In any other situation, if the child he was facing were a normal child, he would have done the opposite of what Usagi said and ripped it in his face. But, he knew better than to believe that Usagi was a normal kid.

“What’s so important about this card?” Kaito asked the child and held the diamond card between his index and middle fingers. “It’s not like it will get me a house, or a decent meal.”

Usagi grinned and said, “Oh, but it will. If I name you the Alice of this card, you will get everything you desire…and more.”

He was confused, and mostly freaked out by the little white haired boy. 'How can a weird playing card make my life better?' he thought and shivered as a sudden blast of cold air swept through him. “But, Usagi, isn’t 'Alice' a title for a woman?” Kaito asked and looked up from the card, only to find that Usagi had disappeared.

Kaito shrugged and turned around…and let out a girlish scream. There, standing right in front of him, was Usagi. “H-how did you do that?”

The little boy laughed and vanished again. “This is the power of the cards, Kaito!” He reappeared in front of Kaito, holding his bucket of earnings.

“I had that hid!” Kaito exclaimed, disbelief apparent in his expression.

Usagi winked at him. “The cards make it possible to find hidden treasures. Tell me Kaito, have you ever read Alice in Wonderland?”

The blue haired boy nodded and tried to get his money back from the grinning child, but Usagi easily thwarted his attempts. “Of course I’ve read it. Who hasn’t?”

The boy sighed. “Well, Wonderland is real, and so is 'Alice'. 'Alice' is just a title given to the creator of their own Wonderland. And guess who gets to pick the Alices. That’s right, me!”

“Wait a minute, so what you’re telling me is that you’ve chosen me to be this 'Alice'?” Kaito said and glanced at the blue card in his hand.

“Exactly! When I officially name you as the Alice of the Diamond, you can make whatever you wish out of this world. With a little help from me, of course,” Usagi added, “By the way, this twelve dollars that you made today will be multiplied by twenty. So you would earn exactly two-hundred forty dollars a day.”

Kaito’s mouth dropped open and his blue eyes widened with shock. Two-hundred forty dollars a day! Had he heard him right? If that was really what he would be earning, then that was way more than he normally made in a month.

He laughed and said, “Ok, Usagi, I’m bought. Make me 'Alice'!”

Usagi’s grin was completely evil now, but Kaito couldn’t see that; he was too absorbed in thinking about how much money he would soon have. “I’m glad to hear that. Joker, you can come out now.”

Kaito was surprised to see a tall man dressed in all black step out of the shadows and stand next to Usagi. “Who is this guy?”

The Joker of the Cards bowed to Kaito and introduced himself. “Kaito, Alice of the Diamond, I am the Joker of the Cards. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Kaito smiled at the Joker. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

Usagi giggled and said, “I, Usagi, the dream of all Wonderlands, name Kaito the Alice of the Diamond.”

With those words, the blue diamond vanished from the card and appeared on Kaito’s right hand. He stared at it in awe and then looked at the Joker and Usagi.

The Joker was the first to speak of all of them. “Kaito, you are now the 'Alice' of this world. Use your power however you wish, and enjoy molding your Wonderland to fit your tastes.”

With that, the two were gone, or so Kaito thought. In reality, they were watching him very closely, deciding what the blue boy’s fate would be.

Usagi held the Joker’s hand and thought with a wide smile spread across his face, 'As long as there’s money involved, Kaito won’t be able to resist the power that will soon destroy him.'


Part 4:

Luka ran the whole length home, and by the time she walked through the front door, her face was flushed and she was breathing hard.

“Luka? What’s wrong?” her mother asked with a look of concern on her face.

Luka shook her head and mumbled, “Nothing, Mother.”

“Is it something to do with Kaito?” Simitra pressed on. She refused to believe that there was nothing bothering her precious girl.

Luka sat at the kitchen table and sighed. “Yes, I find myself falling more and more in love with him as each day passes on. There’s not a minute that I don’t think about him.”

Her mother smiled and said, “Luka, sweetheart, has he finally admitted that he loves you?”

“No, don’t be silly, Mother,” she turned bright red and looked away from her mother. “He doesn’t feel that way about me.”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s obvious that he’s in love with you,” Simitra sat across from her lovesick daughter and rested her chin on the back of her hands. When she saw the disbelieving expression on her child’s face, she giggled. “You are so stubborn. You won’t believe it ‘till he tells you himself, huh?”

Luka stood, without speaking, and went to her room. She closed the door behind her and jumped when she saw Usagi and a very tall man with black hair standing right in front of her.

“How did you get in here?” Luka asked, she tried to sound tough, but her voice wavered as she spoke.

The tall man closed the distance between them, grabbed her wrist, and kissed it. Luka’s face flushed as she raised her free hand to slap the man. With lightning speed, Usagi was between them and ended up taking the slap.

“I apologize for his rash actions, Luka. That is the way my friend greets women,” Usagi said, suddenly looking much older than the five years of age that he seemed to be. Not to mention taller. “In his country, it’s the polite thing to do.”

Luka glanced at the man, and then back at Usagi. “It’s fine, I guess. Why are you two here anyway?”

“Be careful of your friend Kaito. He may cause you harm,” the black-haired said quietly.

“Cause me harm? Kaito? He wouldn’t hurt me,” she backed against her door as they came even closer to her.

“Maybe you will see what we mean soon enough,” Usagi grinned and then in the blink of an eye, he and the man were out of sight.


Part 5:

A few weeks had passed since Kaito had been named “Alice”, and in that time he had earned enough to buy a house, food, and new clothes. He had also gained a little weight, which was good because Kaito used to weigh around eighty pounds and at his age that meant that he was terribly underweight.

“Four-hundred ninety, four-hundred ninety-one…” Kaito sat at his kitchen table and counted his earnings for the week excitedly.

Lately, when it came time to sing to the public, Usagi would provide him with the songs to sing. The songs were demented and twisted, which had made Kaito uncomfortable singing them. But as time went on (and not to mention when he started collecting large sums of money from the town’s people) he became less and less bothered by the death-filled songs.

“Hello, Kaito,”

Kaito turned away from his earnings reluctantly and smiled at Luka, who happened to be his neighbor. “Hey, Luka. What’s up?”

Luka shrugged. “Nothing really. I just thought I’d stop by.” She looked at his pile of money and raised an eyebrow at him. “Business is booming, I see.”

He nodded and went back to counting his cash. “It sure is! I never thought I’d live to see the day that I, Kaito, would own my own house.”

His friend laughed lightly and said, “I always believed you would.” She frowned and added, “Kaito, why do you sing those crazy songs? You might not have noticed, but since you’ve been singing those songs, the town’s people have been acting quite strange. Just the other day, Mrs. Janet claimed that there was a burglar robbing her store, but when the sheriff arrived, there was no one there.”

“You know how old Mrs. Janet is. Some people go crazy with old age,” Kaito muttered, not really listening to Luka.

A worried look passed over Luka’s face. She knew that it wasn’t just Mrs. Janet who was acting odd. She herself had been seeing things and she wondered whether or not she should tell the boy she loved. “Um…Kaito…”

The blue boy rested his gaze on her for a brief moment and saw the worry on her face. “What is it, Luka?” he asked, instantly alert.

Luka wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I’ve found myself doing weird things. Like, I’ll be in the kitchen cooking, and all of the sudden, I’ll sling the food on my mother. Sometimes, I even go into a psychotic rage. I’ve been seeing things too. Kaito, I’m worried; I think it has something to do with those new songs you’ve been singing.”

Kaito scoffed and practically blew off everything that Luka had said. “You’re just being paranoid, Luka.”

She grabbed him up by his shirt and snapped, “I am not being paranoid! You need to-” she suddenly released him and looked completely horrified. “You don’t care. As long as you get your money, you’ll overlook what’s happening right in front of you!”

“What are you talking about, Luka? Nothing’s happening, at least nothing I know of.” he narrowed his eyes at her. “Is something going on that I should know about?”

Luka’s face turned red as she said in a voice barely above a whisper,
“Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. I’m in-” She abruptly started laughing like a total maniac and ran out of the room.

With a look of question on his face, Kaito followed her and spotted her sitting in the corner of his living room, eyes darting around the room frantically. He went and sat by her, even though he really wanted to go back to his money.

“Luka, what’s wrong?” he asked.

She wouldn’t look at him, she just kept glancing around the room, fear apparent in her eyes. “They won’t leave me alone.”

Kaito was confused. He searched the room with his eyes, but couldn’t see anything that his friend could possibly be referring to as 'them'. “Who?”

Luka shivered and then replied, “The white rabbits. If I turn my back on them, they attack my mind. I haven’t been able to sleep because they enter my dreams and torture me.”

He tried to bite back laughter, but he couldn’t stop a small giggle from escaping. “Rabbits? Are you serious? Luka, that’s ridiculous.”

She glared at him and stood up. “Since you don’t believe me, I’ll go find someone who does!” Her eyes widened as she covered her ears and ran out of Kaito’s house screaming, “Quit laughing at me!”

Kaito sighed and shook his head. He walked back into the kitchen so he could resume counting his earnings. As he was counting, he thought, Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should stop singing these songs.

“No, Kaito! You must continue singing them! The people love them!” Usagi exclaimed and suddenly appeared beside him.

The Alice jumped. Even though he knew that the little boy had a habit of appearing out of nowhere and could read his thoughts, he still wasn’t used to it. He wasn’t sure he would be either. “I don’t know. I’m sure you saw the way Luka was acting. Maybe she’s right.”

Usagi frowned. “Kaito, she was just acting so you’d stop singing those songs I gave you. She’s jealous that you’re making so much money,” he lied.

“What? But why?” Kaito said, obviously buying into Usagi’s lie.

The little boy shrugged and lied yet again, “I have no idea, Kaito. You know what she thought? She was thinking, ‘Why does that street trash make so much money?’”

Kaito felt like he had just had the breath knocked out of him. All this time when she’d came to his house, that was what she had been thinking? He couldn’t believe it. He thought that Luka was his friend, but he supposed he was wrong.

“I’m not street trash,” he whispered as tears stung his eyes. 'Grow up, Kaito. This is the real world. Men don’t cry', he scolded himself mentally.

“Actually, I’ve seen many men cry,” Usagi said matter-of-factly. The damned kid had read his thoughts again.

Kaito rubbed the tears out of his blue eyes and with a flick of his wrist, he hid his earnings.

Usagi was looking up at the Alice of the Diamond with an amused expression on his face. “Come on, Kaito, singing will make you feel better.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I doubt anything will make me feel better at the moment.”

Kaito trudged into his study and sat at his desk. Usagi was beside him in seconds. “You know, Kaito, you didn’t have to walk. You could’ve just used your new power to teleport yourself here.”

The blue Alice ignored him and opened one of his desk drawers, revealing a picture of him and Luka. He smiled at the memory of when that photo was taken. They had been eating blueberries in the woods when Luka’s mom had snapped that picture of them.

“Kaito, are you listening to me?” Usagi asked and scowled when he saw the picture Kaito was holding.

Kaito closed the drawer and focused his attention on the white-haired boy. “I’m sorry, Usagi. I’m afraid I was taking a trip down memory lane, but you have my full attention now.”

Usagi grinned. “I was saying that you should sing today, and I’m not providing you with anymore songs.”

“What? Why not?” the Alice asked. “What am I supposed to do without your songs?”

The little child sat in his lap and said, “You make up your own songs, like you used to.”

Kaito blinked. “Oh, right. That’s what I’ll do.” He should’ve known that Usagi would eventually have him write his own songs. He hadn’t done so in a while, so he wasn’t even sure he still had the ability.

Usagi hopped down and yawned. “Well, I’ll leave you to write your song. See ya, Kaito!”

As soon as the kid left, Kaito sighed and pulled out some blank music sheets. He frowned when instead of happy, cheerful lyrics, words morbid and steeped in death filled his mind. That’s odd, he thought. I usually don’t think up songs about death. Is this a result of singing Usagi’s melodies?

“Don’t be silly. You heard what Usagi said; Luka was just acting,” Kaito said, the pain of what his friend had thought about him rushing back.

The blue boy started writing in a quick and wild manner. He didn’t care that the words he wrote were morbid; he was doing this to get back at Luka. “I’ll show her!” Kaito yelled and laughed evilly. “I’ll keep singing these demented songs about death! I know the people will love me no matter what! I’ll be rich and famous!”

While the Alice of the Diamond continued to write, his hand moving in a jerking motion, he smiled cruelly and laughed like a psycho.

“It’s finished,” Kaito whispered and pushed his blue hair behind his ears.

With the song lyrics in hand, he skipped out of his house and headed to the middle of town. He didn’t even have to call the people, like he usually did. When he passed by, they would all immediately stop what they were doing and follow him.

Kaito stood at the center of the town’s folk and smiled kindly at them. His gaze lingered on Luka for no more than a couple of seconds. He still believed Usagi’s lie, so he was angry at her. The Alice had no idea how she really felt about him.

He sighed and began singing. He instantly relaxed as the words left his lips. It always calmed him when he sang; it gave him the opportunity to express his feelings. The dark song he was singing reflected the pain that Luka’s thoughts had caused him. He didn’t directly use her name, but by the look on her face, he could tell that she knew it was about her.

“…In the end, I have been betrayed,” was how Kaito ended the song. Everyone in the crowd clapped except Luka, who was looking at him with a hurt expression on her face. Usagi on the other hand, was smirking at her.

The crowd went silent as Kaito approached Luka and crossed his arms.

“Kaito, I know that song was about me. Why did you write such a terrible thing? I’ve never done a bad thing to you,” she said quietly.

“Liar. You think I’m street trash!” he accused and glared at her.

Everyone gasped, except Usagi. The freaky child was enjoying this. Luka was surprised. “What? No, I don’t. Why would I think something awful like that?”

Kaito continued to glare at her. Being thought of as street trash was the worst thing in his book, and he wasn’t one who easily forgave others. “You tell me. Admit it, Luka, you’re jealous that I’m making so much money.”

Luka shook her head and took a step toward him. “Yeah, I’m so jealous, Kaito,” she said sarcastically. “Actually, if you want to know the truth, I envy that you can just sing a few songs and earn hundreds a day, while I have to work my ass off just to make fifty dollars for a day’s labor!”

The blue boy scowled. “You think it’s easy? I’d like to see you write a song!”

“I don’t have time for your childish games, Kaito. I have work to do,” Luka turned away from him and started to walk away.

Kaito scoffed. “Doing what? Pole dancing for old men?”

His friend stopped dead in her tracks, walked back toward him, and punched him in the face. The impact sent him to the ground. “You know good and well that’s not what I do. But hey, if you’re interested, I was sexually harassed at work. Not that you care,” she mumbled and ran away.

His eyes widened in shock. She had never told him that. If he’d known, then he wouldn’t have been so hard on her. Kaito felt everyone’s eyes on him as he wiped the blood away from his face.

'I can’t believe I said that', he thought and ran after Luka.


Part 6:

The Joker watched Luka run from the crowd with tears pouring out of her eyes. His normally stoic expression softened and he found himself following her. The Joker was just about to try and comfort her when someone grabbed his arm, holding him back.

“No, Joker. She’s going to die no matter what you do. You know that, right?”

He sighed. The speaker didn’t identify himself, but he didn’t have to. The Joker of the Cards already knew that it was Usagi. “Yes, I am aware of that.”

Usagi glared at him and asked, “What’s so special about her anyway, J-Card? Kaito’s in love with her, and now you care about her. What is it about her that you like?”

The Joker cringed at that awful nickname. Usagi knew that he hated being called that. So why did he do it? He did it because he fed off of other people’s anger, fears, and he most of all loved seeing others die. “Luka is a nice girl.”

The little boy rolled his eyes. “You do realize that there are millions of 'nice girls' in the world, right?”

The Joker’s face turned red with embarrassment. “Yes…Luka is different from the millions of other girls though.”

“How so? You know what? Forget it. By the way, I saw what you did for her when she was being harassed. You really are too nice, J-Card,” Usagi said, looking mildly irritated.

The man’s eye twitched as the Little Dream again used the nickname he so hated. He dipped his head in respect and mumbled an apology to him.

The white-haired boy waved away his apology. “You made a major mistake. You shouldn’t have let yourself care for Luka.”

“I-I know. I’m sorry,” he said, sadness filled his eyes.

Usagi scoffed. “Would you quit apologizing already? No harm done. She’ll be dead soon, and you’ll be back to your old self. A cold-blooded, emotionless murderer who created a ruthless, death-loving dream.”

The Joker of the Cards looked away from the child and suddenly wished that he had never dreamt that soul sucking dream. But, on the bright side, he did keep him entertained. “Come, Usagi, we have business to attend to.”


Part 7:

Kaito was gasping for air by the time he reached Luka’s home. He allowed himself to catch his breath before he entered his friend’s house.

“Luka? Are you here?” he called as he searched the house for her. Maybe she’s in her room, he thought and without knocking, he pushed open her bedroom door.

What he saw completely shocked him. Luka was holding a kitchen knife in each hand and laughing maniacally. She rapidly slashed at her wall until Kaito could make out an image of him singing to everyone in town. The Alice gasped when he realized that all the citizens looked psychotic, even Luka.

When she saw him, she threw the knives at him and shouted, “Die! Die and rot in Hell, you white rabbit!”

Kaito held his breath and waited for the blades to impale him, but thankfully, they flew right past him. “Luka! It’s me, Kaito!” he said and cautiously walked toward her.

Her eyes widened as she backed against the wall. “You don’t fool me! You are not Kaito!” She suddenly jumped on the blue boy and wrapped her hands around his throat. “What have you done with him? What did you do to him, rabbit?”

Kaito pushed her off of him and then managed to keep her pinned down. “Luka, it really is me! I’m not a white rabbit!”

His friend wasn’t convinced. The insanity of Kaito’s songs had taken over her and the people in town. All she saw when she looked at him was a white rabbit. “No! You cannot possibly be Kaito! You are not the blue-haired boy I love!”

The Alice of the Diamond was surprised by her statement. “You love me?”

“No, I love Kaito! Now get off me, white rabbit!” Luka screamed and pushed him away from her.

Before Kaito could say anything more to her, she ran out the door singing one of the deranged songs Usagi had given him.

The blue boy walked out of Luka’s house and saw people yelling at things he couldn’t see. Others laughed, and some even spoke like toddlers. The children were running from the 'monsters' that were chasing them.

“What have I done? Everyone’s gone crazy. I never wanted my Wonderland to turn out this way!” Kaito cried as he ran through the crowd of insane people.

He finally stopped running when he reached the place where he sang everyday. It was there where he fell to his knees and started crying. “Everyone has gone insane, even Luka.” Kaito picked himself up off the ground and started laughing. “Well, if everyone’s insane, then I am insane also! I’m insane!”

He continued to laugh until Usagi appeared beside him. The child grinned as he studied the state that the town’s people were in. “Well, Kaito, I see everybody has lost their minds.”

The Alice nodded as tears rolled down his face. “They’re all insane, Usagi. Even Luka. What’s happened?”

“It was the songs. The words caused them to be this way,” Usagi said, the joy he was feeling was obvious in his tone and facial expression.

Kaito looked at the white-haired boy with shock. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He giggled and pulled a pistol out of his too big black hoodie. “Of course I am. I planned this all along actually. I didn’t expect it to come to an end so quickly though.”

The blue boy tried to back away from Usagi, but he found that he couldn’t move. “What? You planned this?”

Usagi sighed dramatically and said in the same dramatic tone, “Yes. Hard to believe a young boy of five could plan the death of a whole town, isn’t it?” With a snap of his fingers, the little boy was at least a foot taller than Kaito.

Kaito was in shock. He had always thought that the child was a creep, but he had trusted him. “Why? Why would you do something like this?”

Usagi put a single bullet into the gun and answered, “Because, Kaito, the death of others amuses me.”

“You’re sick,” the blue Alice spat. “I can’t believe I actually trusted you, you creep!”

The Dream ignored him and waved the Joker over. “What is it, Little Dream?”

“I would like you to film Kaito’s death for me,” Usagi grinned evilly and then held the gun out to Kaito. “Take the gun, Kaito.”

Kaito glowered at the boy and snapped, “No! I’m not killing myself!”
The boy smirked at the blue-haired and snapped his fingers. Against his will, Kaito’s arm shot forward and his hand closed around the pistol. 'I’m going to die!' he thought as Usagi made him press the barrel of the gun against his temple. 'I don’t want to die!'

“It’s been fun, Kaito,”

Kaito didn’t bother holding back the tears that filled his blue eyes. Usagi materialized behind the Alice of the Diamond and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Sshh, don’t cry, Kaito. It’s for the best. With this shot to the head, all of your worries will be gone and you will never cry again,” the white-haired Dream lied and caressed Kaito’s cheek.

“I hate you,” Kaito said in a choked voice. 'Luka, I love you. Please forgive me', was Kaito’s last thought as he pulled the trigger.

Usagi laughed when the Alice’s lifeless body hit the rough pavement. The Joker stopped recording and looked around at the citizen’s, who seemed to have regained their sanity.

“Come, we must leave,” The Joker of the Cards muttered.

“Yes, I must rest, then I’ll choose my next victim,” Usagi sighed and then added, “You know, Luka always thought of Kaito as a rose; I think she was right.” As he said this, a red rose bloomed from the blue boy’s chest.

The Joker nodded in agreement and they both disappeared from sight.

Luka scratched the back of her head and was glad that the white rabbits had finally gone. She looked to the center of town and noticed a boy with blue hair laying motionless on the ground.

“Kaito!” she exclaimed as she ran to him.

When she saw the gun in his hand, she gasped and started crying. The boy that she loved had killed himself. The look in his eyes was full of fear and sadness.

“Oh!” Luka placed a hand on her heart as she read the message that appeared next to Kaito’s dead body. It read: “I love you, Luka.” She smiled. Her mother was right; he did love her and she had been too stubborn to realize it.

Simitra and the rest of the community gathered around Kaito and admired him. Luka looked to her mother and even more tears spilled onto her face. She didn’t know what to say. There was Kaito, the boy she had always loved, dead, and here she was, alive and well.

“He always was such a beautiful boy,” Luka’s mother commented and read the note beside Kaito. “Well, Luka, what did I tell you? I always knew he was in love with you.”

Luka looked up as it slowly started to rain. 'At least Kaito is in a better place', she thought, but she had no idea that he would be eternally tortured by Usagi in the afterlife.

When she glanced back at her mother, she saw that everyone was dropping dead. “What the hell is-” she suddenly clutched her chest and fell into Kaito’s arms.

'So this is what it feels like to die? Kaito…I love you and I’ll be with you soon', Luka thought, and with that thought in her mind, she took her last breath.

The End.

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