TA DA! The second instalment is here! That you to'D C JoKeR H S', who was the only reviewer for the last chapter. JoKeR, this one is for you. I'm supposed to be revising for Chemistry (Organic, bleh), but I decided to post this. Enjoy!
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Koujo was pissed.
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No, he was beyond pissed. He was exceptionally livid. Not only had the third person he trusted most in the world (she had been fourth, after Tori, Tajo and Madoka, but he had to revise a few years ago) lost his niece, she'd failed to tell him about it immediately, and now Cho was missing, as well as Rose.
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'Tendency to lose students' doesn't look good on the recommendations for Outcasts.
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After Koujo had ended the call, he leaned against the wall, before sliding down, legs feeling weak.
'I've failed her. I've failed them. I've failed. Failed. Failed. FAILED!'
The words circled through his mind viciously, and reminded him of what he'd lost.
'Mother, Mei, Ai, Toru, Ji, Tao, Grandfather, Mamoru, Jia, Lucy, Rosaline, Amaya, Tori, Cho, Rose, Tori, Cho, Ai, Toru, Kenji, Tori, Cho, Grandfather, Kenji, Mamoru, Rose, Cho, Tori, Mother, Mei, Ai, Toru, Ji, Tao, Grandfather, Mamoru, Jia, Lucy, Rosaline, Amaya, Tori, Cho, Rose, Mother, Mei, Ai, Toru, Ji, Tao, Grandfather, Mamoru, Jia, Lucy, Rosaline, Amaya, Tori, Cho, Rose, Mother, Mei, Ai, Toru, Ji, Tao, Grandfather, Mamoru, Jia, Lucy, Rosaline, Amaya, Tori, Cho, Rose, Tori, Cho, Cho, Cho, CHO, CHO…'
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Panic was settling in, and Koujo felt himself losing it; on the way to a massive, Lin-sized breakdown. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, before his ribcage constricted, and he found it hard to breathe.
'No, no, no, not Cho, please not her, please, haven't I lost enough?'
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A wet nose nudged against his arm, and Koujo reached out his hand, tangling his fingers into the coarse hair.
{Master?}
Koujo tightened his grip on Láng's fur, but didn't say anything.
{Master, rid yourself of these thoughts. You haven't failed us.}
Láng's tail wrapped around Koujo's arm, and Láng pressed himself closer to him. Koujo remained silent, thoughts still swirling around in his head. He just felt so…tired. From Gene, to Japan, to ghost hunting, back to England, supervising, back to Japan, demons, more ghost hunting, Cho going missing, being safe, missing again… it was far too much to handle within the space of a few months.
Koujo heard voices, before someone called his name.
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Panic turned to anger once more; burning like hell-fire, and tearing through his control over his energy. Gathering the power up, he held it, trying to bring it back under control.
"Koujo? Ko, can you hear me?"
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There was a feather-light touch to his knee, and Koujo released the energy in a magnified pulse.
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'Whoever you are, bastard, if you've injured my niece; be it emotional, physical or psychological, there will be no rock, crevice, abyss or labyrinth that will keep you safe from my wrath.'
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Houshou Takigawa was confused. He was so confused at that moment, that he could've been dressed in a wedding dress and thought it normal. So…Lin had done some freaky light show thing that did not make him feel all warm and happy inside, and the woman, Ruka, had fallen over, and scrambled backwards on her hands in order to put distance between herself and Lin.
Not to mention that the wolf was still standing next to Lin.
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Yasu and Ayako had disappeared to the north end of the house, muttering something about chords and cameras, while Mai had dragged her sister and Ren off, telling them that she would show them how to pack up the microphones and then pack the van. That left Monk, Ruka and Naru in base with Lin.
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Monk was wishing that he was anywhere but base.
'Should've gone with Ayako and Yasu to pack up the cameras. I have no idea why I'm still here.'
The wolf whined once more, and Lin lifted his head, eyes blazing. Ruka took an involuntary step backwards, hands held up in front of her defensively. Monk fingered his knife, and Naru stood there, eyes narrowed.
"Koujo…" Ruka started, but Koujo held up a hand, stalling her.
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Monk jumped when six people materialized out of thin air before Lin, all staring at him.
"Master,' the tallest one began; the one with white hair,' what do you need us for?"
Lin paused, his eyes raking over each of the assembled people in front of him. Monk frowned, as he re-evaluated his first impression.
'They have no energy. Or rather, they don't have enough. Too much for a spirit, too less for a human, so…'
"Demon." He muttered lowly, his Vajra within easy reach. Lin had obviously heard him, shooting him a surprised look and raising his eyebrow, before eyeing the two red-haired women, and a grey haired man.
"Nomi, Iyaka and Láng. I need you to start at Panther's, and then follow Cho's trail. You may need to split up."
One of the red-haired women raised her own eyebrow at Koujo.
"Please." He added belatedly, biting his lip.
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She nodded, and the three disappeared, leaving behind a wisp of smoke. The other demons disappeared as well, although the one who had spoken seemed to linger a bit longer, until Lin had given him a slight nod. Lin then took a deep breath, his usual stone mask descending over his face.
"Naru? We've finished packing up the microphones and cameras."
Mai's voice came from the doorway, where she stood with Ren and Maya. Naru raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment, and turned to Mai, who handed him her clipboard.
"Case closed?" she asked hopefully. Naru scanned the clipboard, before nodding, and handing it back to her.
"Is the van packed?"
Mai nodded, and Naru sighed.
"Case closed. Take your stuff to the van, we'll be there in a few minutes."
Mai hugged Naru, kissing him on the cheek, and shot off out the door, dragging Maya and Ren with her. Maya simply looked amused, while Ren seemed to be infected with the same energy Mai had. Yasu and Ayako came in after, grabbing some of their things, before they left to go to the vans, while Lin and Monk started to pack up base.
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Monk paused when Lin did, and followed the older man's gaze to stare at Naru, who was still standing in the same spot where Mai had hugged him, his fingers lightly touching his cheek. Monk turned his gaze back to Lin, who was barely hiding a grin.
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"Noll, snap out of it." Lin called, rolling up some monitor cords.
Naru continued to stand there.
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"Oliver." Lin called, a little sharper this time.
Naru flinched, and spun to face Lin.
"What?"
His tone was irritated, and Monk winced, but Lin merely rolled his eyes.
"Forget it. You're obviously off in la-la land with Mai."
Naru clenched his jaw.
"Shut. Up."
Monk stifled a smile, and continued to pack up the monitors, even as Naru stalked over to the shelves and started to deconstruct them with clinical detachment.
'Yes,' he decided,' definitely irritated.'
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Panther was so incredibly pissed off at the moment, she could have given Wildcat a run for his money.
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Her nemesis from her ring-fighting days had finally tracked them down (the six people that Wildcat killed by himself may have had something to do with it), and had kidnapped Wildcat's niece, and had her hidden somewhere where Panther couldn't find him.
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It was so damn frustrating.
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And Wildcat was so incredibly annoyed at her.
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Hawk, otherwise known as Professor Ying, stood beside her. Or rather, above her, perched in a tree. She liked high places.
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"Beating yourself up over it isn't going to find them faster."
"Shut up, Hawk."
"You could call in the rest of the team, see if they've seen anything?"
"Shut up, Hawk."
"Take a few deep breaths, and focus on Cho's signature. Or you could scent track her."
Panther sent her glare upwards.
"Don't make me come up there." She threatened.
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Hawk grinned at her, and leapt up higher into the tree, trying to find a better vantage point to see things. Panther slumped to the ground, and rested her head in her hands.
"I'm surrounded by idiots."
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Masako sat in the chair next to John's bed, reading a book. The young medium glanced at the priest frequently, noting down his pale features, and…the scar.
A long, angry looking cut stretched from above his left eye, to his chin, cutting through his eyebrow, and leaving a gap. His eyelid had been split in half, and he was lucky to have not lost his sight. The doctors were optimistic about his recovery, but Masako knew better.
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It was her fault that he had gotten hurt.
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She'd looked too similar to the first girl, and John, who had accompanied her on her walkthrough, took the brunt of the attack.
He hadn't even had time to raise his hands, or grab his holy water.
Just a knife flying out of nowhere, and catching him in the leg and causing him to slump to the ground, before something sliced down his face. And the blood.
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Far too much blood.
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"I'm sorry, John." Masako whispered, running her fingers over the back of his hand.
He had a lot of scars on the backs of his hands for someone who was supposed to be peaceful. Some of them were silvery; old, and possibly careless in nature. Others were raised, and slightly pinkish. He had calluses on his fingers and knuckles as well.
Come to think of it, Naru had calluses like these, as did Lin and Monk.
"Must be a guy thing." She muttered.
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She felt so useless on violent cases. Mai had a few new abilities that were defensive in nature, and Naru had his PK. Lin had his shiki, Monk his mantra's and even Ayako could use the Nine Cuts. John had Holy Water, and Nollene, frankly, could glare down any spirit. All she could do was see the stupid spirits.
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There was an accelerated beeping noise coming from the heart monitor, and John's hand twitched, his fingers curling over hers. Masako blushed, and focused her attention on John's face, watching his eyelids flutter, before they opened.
A sky blue gaze fixed on her, with a surprising amount of steel in them for someone who just woke up. Masako shuddered at the flint-like look, before he blinked, and it was replaced with a slightly confused look.
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"Ms. Hara?"
His voice was hoarse, and Masako handed him a glass of water from the table, which he took gratefully.
"Arigato." He muttered, sipping slowly from the glass.
The sleeve of the hospital gown slipped, and Masako's eyes were drawn to the black mark that stood out in stark contrast to the normal white. It was a cross, but the ends were drawn to look sharp, so that it had more resemblance to a stake than a cross. There were silvery lines that were littered around the mark, and some of them were too straight to be accidents.
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John noticed her gaze, and flushed, pulling the sleeve back up over his wrist, and placing the glass on the side table. Masako swallowed, as the full ramifications of what was on his wrist hit her.
"I…" she began.
"It doesn't matter." John said, waving his hand dismissively, although his voice held something that sounded like nervousness, and a small bit of tension.
Masako frowned.
"Does Yasu…?"
"No." John shook his head. "I always wear long sleeves. I…didn't want him to pity me."
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Masako bit her lip.
"Why?"
John shook his head, and he gazed out the window, eyes fixed on something that couldn't be seen.
"It doesn't matter." He repeated softly, fingers tracing over the tattoo absentmindedly.
Masako nodded, a little frustrated at his lack of response, and stood.
"I'll call the nurse."
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If John had heard her, he didn't show it. His fingers continued to trace the tattoo, and sometimes the marks around it, as he stared out of the window, sky blue eyes distant and far away.
Before she shut the door behind her, she heard him quietly murmur,
"It's never mattered."
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Nollene sat on the couch in her and Noll's flat, curled up with a pillow and chocolate, watching one of her favourite TV series.
She had felt the pulse from Lin, and soon after, Madoka had dropped by to check on her. She had also just met Madoka's boyfriend of Lord-know-how-long. He was a pretty decent guy, and put up with Madoka's…eccentric nature with surprisingly good humour.
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Her head was still throbbing, and her body felt out of sorts, so she was confined to bed rest for a week. The good news was that Noll was coming back, after they had finished the case, so she could annoy him and pester him for details about the case. And Mai.
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Especially Mai.
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It was really funny to see her usually emotionally stunted brother dance around the subtle language that made up social interaction, but at the same time, it was quite sad. It did, in some way, remind her of the times Gene would drag Noll out with his friends, when Noll would sit in the corner and hide in the shadows that were cast by his twin.
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Yet Noll never resented Gene for that.
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"You look tired."
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The words came out of nowhere, and Nollene jumped, before she groaned and grabbed her head as the world spun. Then there were cool hands pressing on her forehead, and Nollene was being made to lie back down on the couch.
"Baka."
The word was spoken with fondness, and Nollene knew instantly who it was.
"Gaki."
She replied, hearing a small chuckle at the insult. She opened her eyes, and her gaze met midnight blue. Oliver looked at her, a disapproving look on his face. Nollene searched her mind for what she could have done wrong (apart from being targeted on a case) and came up blank.
"What?"
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Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"You've done three things wrong. First, you've stolen one of my t-shirts. Second, you stole my chocolate and third…"
Noll helped Nollene sit up, before he occupied the space where her head had been, and pushed her down again, his hand stroking through her hair. Nollene sighed, and then yawned, as the warmth from another human being started to make her feel better.
"Third?" she asked drowsily, eyes starting to shut, even as she heard Noll whisper a reply.
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"You started the Doctor Who marathon without me. That's unforgivable."
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TA DA! Again, thanks to my only reviewer, out of over twenty viewers. I sincerely hope the wait was worth it.
Please, for the love of everything that it Fanfiction, review! Tell me what you want to see in the next chapter! Monk/Ayako fluff?! New Case!? REVIEW, MINIONS! I'm on study leave in four days!