The Sound of Silence

by crystal tiara

Disclaimer: I don't own Darker than Black or any of its characters; BONES and Tensai Okamura do.

Warnings: spoilers for Ryuusei no Gemini and Hazuki's backstory, which I expanded on based on what little hints were dropped in the series.

i.

Mina Hazuki grew up in a house filled with silence.

This is how she remembers her childhood days:

Father's departing figure and the subtly audible shuffling sound of his footsteps when he was off to another meeting;

Mother running her fingers through her long, thick, silky hair, because Mina was always Mother's one and only, and therefore her favorite, little doll;

Grandfather, who, despite hardly ever raising his voice, had men who bowed to him and a presence that dominated the house whenever he was around;

and Father and Grandfather's blades, which always fascinated her so, because of how elegant and sharp they were, and how even the clanging sound made when sword clashed against sword was elegant. (Father and Grandfather promised to teach her to use them one day. They said she would grow up strong, although Mother said that she would grow up to be a lady.)

Her family, she thinks, was no different from the typical Japanese family. Her parents and grandfather weren't cold, even if they were often busy – she could tell because they would pat her on the head as a non-verbal "I love you" – and the house reverberated with silence.

And this is why, she surmises, she learned to listen rather than to speak, to do rather than to say.

ii.

Looking back, she thinks, school was always noisy. But Mina was never a part of it all.

There were whispers about her family business, about her being Yakuza princess. Of course, she wasn't deaf to the whispers – she did know how to listen.

Of course, she was unfazed by all the rumors. Not only were they true anyway, but they also made her untouchable. The class bullies kept their distance and even had an air of deference when she was around. Like Grandfather, she hardly had to do anything or even so much as raise her voice to command respect.

But the rumors also meant that everyone else kept their distance as well, except perhaps for a few girls – mostly the bookish ones who were also quiet like she was – who breached that invisible boundary with some shy, nervous giggles, small talk and, in some cases, "thank yous" for the occasional display of altruism: telling the bullies to leave so-and-so alone. Mina supposes that she might have discovered her preference for the same sex at this point.

Mina doubts that anyone was able to totally break that invisible boundary, though. After all, it wasn't only her background that caused that wall to exist, but her silence also helped built it against all that noise. And so, even the few friends she had hardly invited her to do whatever after class. "She doesn't look like she enjoys amusement parks…" Mina recalls one classmate trailing off nervously.

Not that she minded the alienation her silence brought her. She was used to it. It wasn't something pitiable; it was just her way of life.

iii.

It is years later when Mina realizes that her house wasn't that silent. If she had listened closely enough, if she hadn't been left to her own devices and given a more active role in the family "business," she would've understood more what life as an underworld boss was like.

Maybe she would've understood that for all that she was worth as a skilled swordsperson, the ultimate fate for a woman in such a family was to become some boss's wife.

Mina decides that she doesn't want any of that. Silent she may be, but a puppet she is not, and never will be. Besides, she has long since discovered that she couldn't care less about men. She fears ending up like Mother, whom she decides is a weak woman with nothing better to do than to tell Mina what a beautiful daughter she is, and treat her like a sheltered porcelain doll. She wonders if Mother's life might have been forced to take a backseat to be a part of this underground world of hushed whispers and rules, both spoken and unspoken.

Mina could be like those feisty young girls or women in those dramas and movies who raise their voices in defiance and threaten to run away (but, she notes with disdain, even if they do, they almost always return home anyway). Yes, she could bargain with her parents.

But she's a Contractor now. She has no idea how or why it happened, but one day, she awakened to see and hear the world differently. Whatever happened, she is now a rational being, and for rational beings, arguing would be pointless.

So she makes herself heard in the only way that she knows: she packs what little possessions she has and leaves her family, her house and her real name without a word, without even looking back.

She could've sworn that she heard Mother cry for her, because Mother would never want her precious daughter disowned, but she reminds herself that Mother was a weak woman. If she were strong enough, she would've done something – maybe raised her voice at Grandfather or blocked Mina's way.

She also could've sworn that she heard Grandfather threatening to forget she ever was a part of their family, but she couldn't care less.

Perhaps those sounds were the wind playing tricks on her.

iv.

Mina Hazuki has learned many things ever since she became a Contractor, and now she has learned something new, this time with certitude: she has no place in a karaoke joint.

How she ended up here in the first place is all thanks – or no thanks – to her co-worker Youko, who invited her and their other co-worker, Shizume something-or-other to karaoke after work, because, in Youko's words, if they were to work as a team, they might as well get to know one another and learn to get along well.

It amused Mina that the girl could be so naïve (despite the girl having knowledge about Contractors), but she supposed that it was part of the girl's charm. Mina wanted to tell her that she and Shizume were Contractors, and therefore did not need to enjoy some getting-to-know-you activity, but Shizume went along with the idea, saying that it'd be fun to get wasted and sing pop songs at maximum volumes.

Mina rolled her eyes at those words, thinking that he was very much a typical, foolish man and wondering if he really was a Contractor.

And now, here they are, three glasses of drinks on the table, the song booklet laid out before them, and Youko gamely egging on Shizume to pick another song. Mina thinks that his voice is pure assault on her ears.

Shizume shrugs and says, "Why don't you ask Miss Hazuki what she wants to sing?"

Youko thrusts the microphone towards her, but Mina says flatly, "I don't sing."

"That's no fun," both Youko and Shizume say. Mina notices that Youko has an adorable pout.

"I really don't sing," Mina insists.

"What's the matter?" Shizume asks. "A karaoke virgin, aren't we?"

"…I've never been to karaoke before." Mina recalls her days as a student, when rumors about her being a Yakuza princess were afloat and her classmates were too intimidated to invite her to after-school hang-outs.

"Well, I'll be! I don't think I've ever met anyone who hasn't been to karaoke before. You must've led a very lonely life, Princess." He emphasizes the last word for good measure.

Mina folds her arms. "I'm a Contractor, and so are you. We shouldn't be enjoying things like this."

"Ah, screw that! Contractors typically act like this or that; therefore all Contractors should act like this or that. Why believe all that bullshit non-Contractors say about us when you should be doing things as yourself, not as a Contractor should?"

Mina is stunned into silence. She didn't know that this man could be so profound. She could chalk it up to the influence of alcohol, but she isn't sure.

"Such insight, Shizume-san~!" Youko says delightedly. "Certainly, it's true that not all Contractors are as rational as people think them to be. For instance, I read reports about BK-201, and-"

Shizume swats his hand in the air. "Ah, cut that crap, Youko! We're not supposed to be discussing business tonight." He winks at her. "We're not leaving until we get Miss Hazuki to sing at least one song, are we?"

Youko brightens up. "No, we're not!"

Mina says, "You two go first."

"But you have to promise that you'll sing something later, okay?" Youko says. Mina thinks that if it'll make the cute, bespectacled young scientist happy, then perhaps she could acquiesce, though she isn't sure how she'll sound when singing. She always felt that her voice was too deep, too husky, and she can almost hear Shizume making some inappropriate quip about how her voice ended up that way due to years of not using it, which could be half-true.

The night is still young and all three of them are in for a few more hours of off-key singing and horrible music. But, she thinks to herself, perhaps this noise is not unwelcome. It's not like she's about to go deaf anyway.

v.

Months later, Mina realizes that she's finally learned that not all sounds are noise. There's a fine line between chatter and cacophony, and Youko, she thinks, is chatter, with all her warmth and vivaciousness. But perhaps this realization might have come a bit too late, because just a few days ago, Youko was lying silent and limp in her arms, the warmth from her eyes and those lips – those delectable lips – gone.

She realizes that he, on the other hand is pure cacophony. Noise, in other words.

Mina hates noise, and so she must shut him up.

vi.

Mina wonders if she might have appreciated his idle chatter before, but she decides that she likes him best with her broken sword sticking out from where his eye socket used to be, with cracks in his concrete-covered body and blood splattered all around. She wishes that she could've stabbed that filthy mouth of his for good measure, but she reminds herself that she is a rational being, and stabbing his mouth would not deliver the killing blow. She's finally shut him up, though she wishes that she could've done so both literally and figuratively.

Everything is quiet again, for better or for worse.

And Mina Hazuki leaves, retreating back into her world of silence.

Author's Notes: The theme – silence – was obviously inspired by Hazuki's stoicism. Out of all the new characters introduced in Ryuusei no Gemini, Hazuki was the one I liked best because, for some reason, I was just drawn to her. I think it started with her character design; up until episode 3, I couldn't figure out whether she was a man or a woman. Then, with all the hints about her background, I became even more interested in her. Genma was interesting, too, and I wasn't sure whether he and Hazuki genuinely hated each other or whether Hazuki's disdain for him was her way of expressing teasing "dislike" (in the usual stoic Contractor way, of course). I was hoping that they'd be allies until the end, because I thought that Genma, for all his perverted, idiotic comments, was a nice guy, but that turned out not to be the case, so too bad for me. Parts of this fic came to me as plot bunnies as early as last year, and if I had actually taken the time to develop those ideas last year, I probably would've ended with the karaoke scene. Also, I've you've noticed, sections three and four of this fic are longer, while the first two and last two sections are quite short. This was my attempt at showing how Hazuki "finds her voice," i.e. how being a Contractor has empowered Hazuki and made her open up to more things. She did mention at one point in the series that (non-verbatim) she didn't want to be someone else's puppet anymore. Anyway, my pointless explanations aside, I hope that you liked this fic!