Never Gone R
By: Jecir
Chapter Two: A Story to Tell
Whenever Unami Seiya had a hunch, it came true, thus it was no small thing for him to believe that his new friend, Mr. Chiba-san, would, indeed, tell him the secret behind the special tuxedo shirt. He just would never have guessed the circumstances surrounding the confession. It all started with another hunch, one he was not too happy to have.
The new hunch hit him the next day when he was getting his routine cup of coffee. No matter how hard Seiya tried, he could not shake his fatigue. He had been in Japan long enough to adjust to the time change, and the school year was well enough on its way for him to have established his morning routine, but none of that changed the fact that Seiya was a night owl. This fact forced him to add a mid-morning coffee run and a midday run and a later afternoon/early evening run, depending on how long he was at the university.
The day he met Mamoru, he was running a bit late. The day after he met Mamoru, he purposefully lingered on the off chance of running into his new friend. He and Mr. Chiba-san had watched two cheesy kung-fu movies and were about to start a third when, inexplicably, Mr. Chiba-san rushed off, damp shirt in tow. It had happened so fast that Seiya didn't realize until much later that he had never gotten Mr. Chiba-san's contacts. How were they going to hang out again? Seiya resolved to go back to the coffee shop at the same time the next day. Maybe Mr. Chiba-san had a routine as well.
It was that very thought that had him hovering around the spot where they collided the previous day, a cooling cup of forgotten coffee in his hands. It was a long shot, he thought with a sigh. Tossing the coffee into a nearby trash can, Seiya began the familiar trek to his apartment, all the while trying not to feel too disappointed. People didn't often want to spend more time than was necessary with him anyway. He should not have been surprised that Mr. Chiba-san would not be around again even if they had had a great time last night. Seiya shoved his hands in his pockets, sighed heavily, and moved forward in his solitary life.
A crowd of people were gathered nearby, blocking Seiya's path. The young scientist slowed his pace and began the tedious task of maneuvering around the gaggling gawkers when the gossip began to reach his ears.
"I can't believe it!" a woman was saying to her companion. "I knew he was out there, but I never thought he would hit here!"
"I know," her friend said. "The Ballroom Thief, here? It seems so unreal."
Ballroom Thief, Seiya scoffed. Sounded like a bad manga to him. He glanced through the crowd, his spectator's curiosity peaking enough for him to see what all the fuss was about. There, across the street, was a local jewelry store—one Seiya was familiar with as he passed it every day on his way home from work. Police tape blocked off the area; one of the windows was smashed; and Tokyo's finest were spread about. It seemed like a lot of fuss for a vigilante cat burglar with a flair for the dramatic. He shook his head and kept walking, allowing his mind to get lost as he went.
The Ballroom Thief had come onto the scene a few weeks ago. According to the rumors circulating among his students, Seiya had unwittingly gleaned enough information to know that the truth was much less spectacular than the fantasy. His students had very active imaginations. Stories abounded about the mysterious how's and why's of the Ballroom Thief. The only consistent facts in all the accounts was that the Ballroom Thief broke into jewelry stores without taking anything and that he wore a formal clothing, as if going to a ball, hence the name.
Formal clothing, Seiya mused. Local gossip was something he preferred to ignore, but he needed something to distract his otherwise melancholy thoughts, thus the Ballroom Thief stayed at the forefront of his mind for a little while. Why would someone run around in formal clothes? It did not make sense. Such clothes were expensive and inconvenient, difficult to keep clean or mend when damaged. The Ballroom Thief needed to reconsider his image.
Seiya stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as the hunch that would lock him onto the path to his destiny sank into his gut. A memory from last night had broken through his musings; a request regarding a certain expensive shirt belonging to a certain black-haired teen who also wore formal clothing at inconvenient times.
No, Seiya shook his head in denial. Mr. Chiba-san was not the Ballroom Thief. It simply was not true. There were a thousand other reasons why he could have been wearing that outfit yesterday. He was a runaway noble or an eccentric millionaire or he simply liked to cosplay. Seiya chided himself. He was beginning to sound like his students. He was a scientist. Speculation was only useful when there was a solid theory, and Seiya refused to think that Mr. Chiba-san wearing a tuxedo in broad daylight qualified as a solid theory connecting him to the Ballroom Thief.
Seiya refused to believe it the next day when the news continued to swirl about the Ballroom Thief. He refused to believe it when his students gossiped about why the Thief had vandalized this particular jewelry store—as he had never caused unnecessary damage to any of the other stores. He refused to believe it the next week or the next or even the next as he began to hear reports about the Ballroom Thief's sudden and inexplicable change in behavior.
The news was reporting new stories weekly and sometimes bi-weekly about the Ballroom Thief's newest targets. There was barely time to let the fanatical hysteria calm before the boy was at it again. He hit the home of a recently very popular fortune teller; he broke into a radio station; he caused a new gym in town to close before its grand opening! A pet store, a music studio, and now, nearly a full month after his meeting with Mr. Chiba-san, the news was filled with talk about how the Ballroom Thief had crashed a local talent competition; and, with each new story, Seiya's gut twisted under the intensity of his hunch and the apprehension it brought. Was Mr. Chiba-san the Ballroom Thief?
Seiya's active intelligence was so engrossed in the mystery that Seiya did not realize he was about to agree to an opportunity that would lead him farther and farther down the path to his destiny.
Professor Shigure, another teacher who was new to the University, asked Seiya for a favor. One afternoon, after most of the students had left, the middle-aged man poked his head into Seiya's office and began to tell him about a young girl named Mizuno Ami. Seiya listened with half and ear—a trick he had perfected while growing up listening to his father's many lectures on the benefits of business and how he, as the heir to it all, needed to act less like himself and more like the status quo. Seiya did not offer his full attention to his colleague until the man said, "And who better to tell her about the benefits of early college education than our resident genius?"
Seiya looked down at the file that was in front of him. He knew it had not been there before; Shigure must have put it there. He opened it and scanned its contents. Mizuno Ami, Junior High Student, Second Year. She had the highest marks in her classes—in all her classes, he saw, for many years back. In addition to that, it seemed she frequented several cram schools; the most recent being a place called the Crystal Seminar. Seiya was vaguely familiar with the place; it was a recent addition to their community but it was already very popular. He quickly pieced together the particulars of their conversation and concluded that Professor Shigure had asked him to go meet with Miss Mizuno-chan (San? Chan or San, he was not sure how it worked with the girls). Seiya did not really feel up to playing the ambassador today, but he needed a distraction from his continuous musing regarding a certain encounter with a certain potential thief. Seiya shut the folder, smiled at his fellow Professor, and readily agreed.
Little did he know that that decision and the actions that would follow as a result would solidify his destiny.
The Crystal Seminar was, for all points and purposes, a normal looking building. It was tall, tan, and had a lot of windows. A small staircase led to glass doors at the entrance. Students of all ages walked in and out. There was nothing that would spark suspicion, but, the longer he stood outside the building, the more Seiya felt uneasy about it. There was just something about this place that he didn't like.
Seiya watched the students coming out of the building. They all had the same posture; heads were bowed, walks were slow, and shoulders were slumped. It was the long walk of the overworked. Seiya was familiar with the stance. He had worn it often enough after a long day of studying. It seemed odd to him that all of them were this way. Crystal Seminar was supposed to help students get smarter. How hard were these tutors pushing these students?
"Excuse me," called a chipper voice to his right.
Seiya turned at the sound. A few feet away, a girl with blond hair and a bright smile was blocking the path of one of the students. She was dressed in a familiar school uniform—many of the female students coming out of the building were wearing a similar one, Seiya had noted—and had the most distinctive hair style Seiya had ever seen. Her hair was twisted into two buns, one on each side of her head, and the excess hair fluttered behind her in two long ponytails. Her large blue eyes sparkled and she bounced on her toes as she spoke. "Is Mizuno-chan inside? She left her disk thingy at the arcade, and I want to return it to her." She held up a computer CD and smiled.
The student glanced up at the bubbly blond. His expression was strange. His face was pale, the skin sunken, but his eyes were hard, angry even. He shouldered his way past the blond without answering.
"How rude!" the girl exclaimed, stamping her foot in indignation. She turned toward the Seminar. Her bright eyes firmed up with determination. She nodded once, squared her shoulders, and marched up the stairs into the building.
Miss Mizuno-chan is popular today, Seiya thought, reasoning that Chan was the right suffix seeing as the blond girl had used it earlier. He decided to give them a few minutes before he interrupted. Time with friends was so crucial at their age; he did not want to intervene with boring college business. Seiya looked around for a place to sit. The Crystal Seminar was surrounded by other official-looking buildings with nigh a bench to be found. He frowned, disappointed, and opted to sit on the steps leading to the front door. It was as good a place as any to wait.
The sun was beginning to set. The city was quiet, a little too quiet for Seiya's liking. Tokyo was such a vast and vibrant city. Its energy took him by surprise when he first arrived and its people even more so, but now, he could not live without the consistent hum of humanity. Finding a quiet spot was rare and a little eerie; especially this spot, right here, where he sat, where the silence was progressing beyond eerie to downright unnatural. Seiya sat up and looked around. There was absolutely no sound; no birds, no cars, no human traffic; the world around him was at a deafening standstill.
Seiya looked back at the building behind him. The blond girl had been gone for a while now. The sun was fully set, and the shadows of the night were taking hold. Seiya had a hunch he would not like it here if he stayed past dark. Standing, the young man dusted off his trousers and jaunted up the stairs, pushing down his concern. He was being paranoid. It was just a building; a large, dark, ominously empty building. He decided to make this a quick visit.
The glass doors welcomed him with the hospitality of a haunted house. The foyer beyond was not any better. The energy in the air was vile. He had never experienced vile air before, but this air was definitely that. His scientific mentality battled against his instincts, closing off the warning of his emotions with the bravado of his logic as he looked over the building directory for the most likely place to find Miss Mizuno-chan. The grades were divided up over the multiple floors; the older students being on the upper floors. Junior High students were somewhere in the middle. Seiya jogged up the stairs; not because he was nervous, he assured himself, but because it was late and Miss Mizuno-chan and her friend would most likely wish to leave.
The vileness of the air thickened with each floor he passed. It took more and more logical reasoning to convince Seiya to keep moving. By the time he reached his desired level, he was convinced that the eeby-jeebies he was feeling was not in his head. There was something wrong with this place. The entire floor was abandoned; it was dark; there weren't even any emergency lights. That fact alone was a bad sign. He needed to find Miss Mizuno-chan and her friend and get them out as soon as possible.
A faint blue light pierced the darkness up ahead. It was coming from a classroom three doors down. Seiya sighed in relief. His logic was reengaging. See, he told himself. Nothing weird or strange; just Miss Mizuno-chan staying late studying. He stood a little straighter and walked a little faster, happy that the end was in sight. He entered the glowing room confidently.
It was a classroom; a standard classroom filled with computers set up in orderly rows, ready to be used by the eager minds ready to learn, and that setting was the only normal thing within the scene. Seiya's confidence drained away at what he saw next. Miss Mizuno-chan and her friend were both slumped over the desks upon which the computers sat. The computers themselves had ethereal green tendrils growing out of the screens. These tendrils were wrapped around the unconscious girls' heads, pulling something white and airy out of them.
And then there was the monster. Seiya's logic was working in earnest to explain away what it was he was seeing. A demon dressed as a teacher? Whatever it was, it leered at him with large red eyes, and bulky muscles moved under thick, leathery skin as it smiled at him. Long claws and sharp fangs completed the frightening ensemble, creating before Seiya a truly grotesque thing that brought Seiya to one resounding conclusion: the Crystal Seminar was definitely not right.
The demon-teacher-thing straightened to its full height—at least a full head over Seiya—and pulled its dripping lips back in a mockery of a smile. "Well, well," it hissed. "The hero arrives at last. My master warned me about you. A little late, hm? I've already collected more energy than you can imagine."
Seiya gaped at the creature. It was female? Its gravelly voice had a feminine lilt beneath the intimidating rumble. He blinked a few times, his mind processing what it had said. "Um...no, sorry, I'm not a hero; or, well, not the one you are expecting I guess. Just a scientist passing by." He finished with a nervous giggle. He was babbling, but what was one supposed to do when faced with an evil creature posing as a teacher?
The demon crossed her arms. "Hero. Scientist." Her grin grew into a hungry smirk. "Sacrifice."
Seiya didn't like the sound of that.
The creature dropped her arms and stalked forward. "I will drain every ounce of energy from your body!"
Yep, he definitely didn't like the sound of that.
Clawed hands came up, smirking leer became an insane lust, and the creature lunged for him, bellowing, "Give yourself over to our Great Leader!"
Seiya dove out of the way. The creature flew past him and crashed into the hallway wall behind him. The darkened corridor rumbled with the shock of the attack. Seiya cursed and jumped to his feet. He ran for the classroom door, hoping to get there and shut the door (how that would have protected him, he did not know, but it was the first thought that came to mind after nearly getting skewered) but the creature appeared out of the rubble, blocking his path. She swung out with her deadly claws. Seiya ducked, dodged, and back peddled. Each attack drove him further and further away from the classroom—where Miss Mizuno-chan and her friend were still trapped.
This is ridiculous! he thought. Utter madness! There is no way this is really happening!
The monster's claws struck the ground at his feet. A wave of energy exploded from the impact, throwing Seiya backward. His back hit the tile floor, and he slid, finally rolling to a stop at a crossway. He shook his head, trying to clear it. His ears were ringing and his head was pounding. He looked up as the creature bellowed a battle cry and charged once more.
Seiya made a quick decision. He got to his feet and ran for it.
Think! Seiya coached himself. Think, Seiya, think! You are a certified genius! You can figure this out! Figuring out how to battle a monster in a dark and abandoned school building was number one on his list of difficult problems; his mind worked in overdrive while his body moved to survive. He would need to think of something soon because he was a scholar, not an athlete, and it was getting harder for him to breath.
The hallway crossed another, and Seiya saw a sign that read "Laboratories". His eyes lit up; those were something he could use. He made a sharp left, chose a door at random, and dove inside. It was a science lab fully stocked with everything a scientist needed—including an array of chemicals. Seiya made a beeline for the beakers. He would only have a few seconds. If he could mix the right concoction...
A few precious moments later, the monster kicked open the classroom door and stalked in with a snarl. Her eyes were ablaze with excitement; her chest heaved from the exertion; and her claws clicked together, impatient for the kill. She sniffed the air. "Where are you, Scientist," she cooed. "I know you're in here. I can smell your fear!"
Seiya crouched behind the teacher's desk, waiting. Three small beakers were clutched protectively to his chest. He slowly pulled his goggles down over his eyes as he listened to the creature's steps. He would only have one shot at this. The creature's shadow appeared on the wall overhead. Seiya jumped to his feet and, with a triumphant yell, threw the beakers at the monster.
The creature turned in surprise. The three glass tubes smashed against the monster's leathery hide, releasing the chemicals inside.
"Take that, demon!" Seiya declared. "Feel the wrath of science! Those chemicals will—"
The creature wiped the chemicals off with an irritated grunt.
"—do absolutely nothing at all," Seiya finished with palpable disappointment.
The demon teacher laughed at his pathetic excuse for an attack. Before Seiya could move, she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall. Seiya grunted when his body hit the plaster and stone, an intense wave of pain breaking his concentration and sending his mind into a whirl. "Did you really think your puny human technology could hurt me?" the creature mocked. Her hand began to glow green; just like the computers holding the two girls hostage.
Seiya gasped; the sensation rolling over him made him feel violated. It was like this monster was somehow reaching into his soul and pulling everything he was out of him. He struggled against her hold, grabbed at her hands, and beat against her arm, but it was useless. She pushed him deeper into the wall and pulled!
Seiya felt weak and cold. The darkness around him was getting deeper, and it was becoming harder to concentrate. He fought to stay conscious, his head lulling back until it rested against the broken wall. "St..st..stop..." he pleaded.
The creature ignored him. Her eyes were closed in an expression of pleasure. "Oh, this energy," she moaned. "So pure!" Her eyes flew open. "I want more!" The glow increased and the pulling got stronger.
Seiya began to tremble and his mind fell into a thick haze that often preceded losing consciousness. With the haze came the euphoric feeling of floating in a dream. He felt detached from the traumatic experience, allowing him an odd clarity. He was going into shock. This monster was killing him, and he did not even understand how.
He also did not understand why a man in a tuxedo was running through the shadows, but there he was, cape billowing out behind him as he swung his cane up over his head and yelled...something. Seiya closed his eyes and rolled his head back. His dying thoughts were about the Ballroom Thief. Great.
The creature's cackles changed into a howl of outrage, and suddenly, Seiya was falling. He hit the ground, and the cold shock of pain brought reality crashing back in around him. He gasped, the haze shattering and his mind reengaging. Raw pain was all he knew. His body was shaking; his thoughts were in a panic; he needed to regain control of himself, but he just couldn't!
"Seiya!"
Seiya jerked up and stared in disbelief at the person who had been invading his thoughts for weeks.
The Ballroom Thief grabbed Seiya's shoulders and searched out his eyes. "Seiya?" he said again in a harsh whispered. "Seiya! Hey!"
Seiya took a shaky breath. He did not trust what he was seeing. A top hat and a silk white mask could not hide those eyes—eyes that had laughed and not scorned, had accepted and not rejected. "Mamoru?" he gasped.
The Ballroom Thief tightened his grip on the struggling teen's arm. "You need to get out of here!" he said.
"You're the Ballroom Thief," Seiya muttered. "Oh God, I was right."
"Seiya!" Mamoru shook Seiya, a short jolt to force the young man to focus. "Focus! You need to go!"
Behind them, the demon teacher was back. Her earlier triumph had turned to rage. Three roses were sticking out of her body, leaving rivers of green blood in their wake. She snarled, threw the debris that had once been part of the lab counters out of her way, and charged.
Chiba Mamoru, the Ballroom Thief, leapt up to meet the attack. Claws slammed into his cane, the force of the hit pushing Mamoru back. He pressed a foot into the wall behind him to brace and pushed back against his foe. Through it, he forced out, "Run!"
Seiya did not need to be told twice. He ran or tried to, but his body was still rebelling. He stumbled out of the classroom and down the hallway, and as he stumbled along, he rambled. He rambled in Japanese and in English; out loud and in his mind. Everything was in chaos. His mind was racing, his body was aching, he had almost been killed by a demon teacher, and he was running for his life all because he had agreed to visit Miss Mizuno-chan!
Seiya stumbled to a halt. Miss Mizuno-chan! She and her friend were still trapped. That creature had held him for mere seconds, and he felt like death warmed over. He dreaded to think what those two were experiencing. He needed to get them out.
He hurried back down the halls to the classroom where his nightmare had begun. Miss Mizuno-chan and her friend were still being drained by the green tendrils stretching out from the computers. Seiya looked around, frantic, for anything that could help him. In a desperate move, he grabbed a chair and smashed it over the computer killing Miss Mizuno-chan. The monitor cracked, sparks jumping and smoke hissing out. The green tendrils disappeared as the computer died. Seiya barked a laugh. He'd done it! He grabbed another chair and did the same thing to the computer attacking the blond.
The room went dark. Seiya swayed; he steadied himself against one of the desks and took a deep breath. By all that was good and holy, he was tired. Everything hurt. It hurt to breath; it hurt to think. He had never in his entire life felt as terrible as he felt now. He looked at the two girls draped over the desks. They were deathly pale. Seiya pressed his finger under the blond girl's nose. She was barely breathing. He cursed; he needed to get them out of the building.
The young man took another deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to find that mental place that had helped him survive his life as an outcast. He needed to regain some semblance of mental control, for his physical strength was waning but he could not leave the girls here. He braced himself, pushed off the desk, and got to work.
What felt like an eternity later, Seiya slumped down on the stairs outside the Crystal Seminar. He was spent. His body was done. He ran a hand though his hair, pulling his goggles and bandana off as he did, and then looked down at the two girls lying unconscious on the sidewalk. At least he had gotten them out. He reached into his lab coat pocket for his phone. What was the Japanese equivalent to 911? He lethargically pulled up a search app and dedicated what was left of his brainpower to finding a number for the police.
His phone rang. He did not remember dialing. He pressed the device to his ear and waited.
A window burst free from its pane. Seiya glanced to the side in time to see Mamoru fall from the broken window onto the unfeeling concrete below. Overhead, the demon teacher leaned out the broken window and chuckled wickedly.
A voice came over the line, but Seiya was not paying attention. "Help," he whispered.
Across the street, on the other side of Mamoru, in the shadows cast by the neighboring buildings, a man appeared in a ripple of dark energy. He wore a dark grey, military-style uniform with blood red lining. His hair was a tasseled blond, and his blue eye burned like the heart of a fire. Seiya's blood ran cold at the sight of him. "Help," he whispered again.
Everything happened at once.
Mamoru was struggling to stand.
The demon teacher roared as she jumped from the window, her claws stretched out and aimed at Mamoru.
The dark man raised a gloved hand. Dark energy crackled over his splayed fingers.
An unfamiliar voice was ringing in Seiya's ear, and a deep impulse shot through him. "Oh God, he's going to die!"
Seiya leapt to his feet, his phone clutched in his hand, and forced himself to run. The demon was getting closer; the Dark Man's attack was growing stronger; and Mamoru had only just begun to rise from the concrete.
Seiya's world narrowed until all he saw was Mamoru. He knew that no matter what—no matter how shaky his limbs or how painful it was to breath or how difficult it was for him to think—he needed to reach Mamoru first.
He looked up at the creature. Its claws were glinting in the light of the street lamps. Seiya knew the power in those hands. He would not let them strike Mamoru.
He looked passed Mamoru to the Dark Man. The man's raised hand was now covered in crackling black lightening. Seiya could feel the pulses of power coming from the attack. It was an assault that would mean certain death.
The Dark Man smirked.
Their eyes met.
And then, everything went dark.
Mamoru shook his head, but the action only made his skull pound even more. His ears rang, and his vision swam. That last attack had caught him off guard. No one wanted to be thrown out a window.
Mamoru pushed himself up from the concrete. The creature would press its advantage. He had learned that fact quickly in his short time fighting them. These monsters—whatever they were and wherever they came from—did not show mercy.
He had not intended to become a monster hunter. It was just sort of happening. The last several times he had gone in search of the Crystal, he had ended up running into these creatures. It was getting annoying. He could not afford to waste any more time on this, so why were his instincts leading him into these traps?
Mamoru needed to end this battle. He gritted his teeth, forced himself to focus past the pain, and climbed unsteadily to his feet.
That was the moment when things took a strange turn.
As Mamoru stood, he saw the demon teacher coming for him. He raised his cane to counter, but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Seiya running toward him. The young man had a panicked look on his face; he was reaching out to Mamoru.
Mamoru opened his mouth to warn him off when, suddenly and inexplicably, Seiya froze. His pupils dilated and then completely disappeared! His body went rigid; his back arched, his head fell back, and his arms swung out to his sides, and, with a wordless cry, Seiya released something! It was an invisible wave that rushed passed Mamoru, causing the young man to duck. A moment later, Mamoru and the demon teacher were both thrown to the ground by a shockwave. Mamoru looked up in time to see the last remnants of an explosion. Whatever Seiya had released had collided with an attack Mamoru had not seen coming from his left.
Mamoru looked back at Seiya. The young man fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The monster snarled and snapped in an indignant manner. The shockwave had sent her through the outer wall of the Crystal Seminar. Rubble had her pinned. Mamoru took his chance. His body was already healing, allowing him to move with a speed no one else should have after that shock. He pulled a rose from his jacket, maneuvered the rubble, and slammed the sharp end of the stem into the monster's throat before she could counter him. Mamoru stumbled back. He knew what would happen next. The monster clawed at the flower, cursing in her dark language as her body began to dissolve. The dust left behind was blown away by the evening wind.
Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. He had survived another battle.
Sirens echoed in the distance. They were Mamoru's cue to leave. He hurried across the battlefield. He needed to do one thing before he left. The caped hero knelt next to the limp scientist and checked his pulse. Seiya's blood was pumping strong. Mamoru released another relieved sigh. He squeezed Seiya's shoulder. "I told you to run, you idiot," he said to himself.
Mamoru made to stand, but his body jerked to a stop when a persistent hand tightened around his wrist. "Do not even think about it," came the muffled threat beneath him. Mamoru pulled his hand, but Seiya would not let go. The brunette was looking up at the masked teen, his brown eyes narrowed and half hidden under loose locks. "You have got some explaining to do," Seiya grumbled.
"Unami-san, let go." Mamoru tried again to free himself, and again Seiya held tight. Mamoru glimpsed the blue and red lights coming nearer. "Please! The police are coming!"
"I know," Seiya said. He used his free hand to push himself to his knees. He swayed and had to press said hand back into the concrete to keep himself upright. "I called them."
"What?" Mamoru asked, feeling strangely betrayed.
"Monster, Thief, needed help," Seiya rambled. He tugged Mamoru's arm; though he was waning, the force of his pull dragged Mamoru back to his knees and forced the black-haired thief to meet Seiya's eyes. "Does this have to do with your shirt?"
Mamoru could not help himself. He was tired, sore, and on the brink of being arrested, and still, he laughed at the absurdity of the question. "Yes," he said. "It does. Are you going to let me go or am I going to jail?"
"Ballroom Thief," Seiya mumbled.
"I prefer Tuxedo Kamen," Mamoru countered.
"Shut up, both are stupid." Seiya released Mamoru's hand. "Help me up." Mamoru hesitated, his gaze drifting back to the street where, at any moment, the police would be arriving. Seiya scowled. "Help me up or so help me, I will tell them your secret."
"That's not very fair," Mamoru said as he pulled Seiya's arm up over his shoulder and hoisted the young man to his feet.
Seiya leaned on Mamoru. "It's as fair as lying about your clothes."
"I didn't lie," Mamoru said. He led Seiya toward the alley across the street. If they could make it there, they would be in the clear. The police would be distracted by the two unconscious girls on the sidewalk. It would buy him time to get away.
"You didn't correct me," Seiya said. "Same thing."
"I did say I would tell you," Mamoru offered. Seiya regained some of his strength. He got his feet under him and helped their trek. They made it to the alley and into the safety of the shadows just as the first police car pulled in front of the building.
"Best get to talking," Seiya said after they came out the other side of the alleyway. "We have a bit to go."
"Where are we going?"
"Home," Seiya said. "I can't walk. You need to take me home."
"I can put you in a cab," Mamoru said.
"And I can call the police and let them know the Ballroom Thief is really High School Student Chiba Mamoru."
"Ok, ok," Mamoru conceded. "You are not letting this one go, are you?"
"No," Seiya confirmed. "I invited you into my home, fed you, and saved your shirt. You owe me."
"I did just save your life."
"And I'm pretty certain I saved yours," Seiya said.
"Yeah, what was that, anyway?" Mamoru asked. "You sort of went stiff and then whoosh! Then an explosion."
"Is that what happened?" Seiya chuckled lethargically against Mamoru's shoulder. "Good to know."
"How could you not have known?" Mamoru asked in disbelief. "It was pretty obvious."
Seiya chuckled again. "You've got me. When I was running for you, I just sort of...blanked. Everything went black, I whooshed as you put it, and then I woke up on the ground. It all happened really fast."
"You blank and I wear a tuxedo while breaking into stores." Mamoru smiled to himself. "We make quite the pair."
"Speaking of breaking in," Seiya led.
"Right," Mamoru said. "The tale of the magical shirt. How much do you want to know?"
Seiya stayed silent for a minute. "The day we met, were you staking out your next hit?"
"Yes," Mamoru confessed.
"You really are a thief, then?"
"No," Mamoru countered. "It's not like that. I'm looking for something."
"What, pray tell?"
"I..." Mamoru hesitated. "I don't think you'll understand."
"I just got sucked dry by a demon teacher in a cram school," Seiya said. "I think I can handle your 'I'm not a thief' explanation."
"True," Mamoru consented. "Ok, how do I explain this?"
"I find the truth is always best even if it doesn't make sense," Seiya encouraged. He was slowly beginning to hold himself up, leaning less on Mamoru the longer they walked.
"This one is pretty crazy," Mamoru said. "I'm looking for a magical crystal that may or may not exist outside of my own dreams."
Seiya hummed in thought. "That is pretty crazy," he said. "And the monster hunting? Where does that come into play?"
"How do you know about that?" Mamoru asked.
"It's been all over the news," Seiya said. "Your M.O. changed recently. I can't image that crystal you are looking for was in the radio studio you attacked or that new gym."
"It wasn't," Mamoru confirmed. "But they were."
"They being..." Seiya probed.
"Whoever is sending these monsters," Mamoru said. "After I left your place, I went to the jewelry store, and they were there. They attacked, I fought back, and next thing I know, I've gone from thief to ransacker. I did not mean to attack those other locations. You see, after I have the dream, I go out into the city to search for the crystal."
"Dream?" Seiya asked.
"Oh, sorry," Mamoru said. "Every night for as long as I can remember I've had a dream about a princess asking me to find the Imperial Silver Crystal, the gem I've been searching for this last month or so. I was hoping I would have found it by now."
"But all you are finding is monsters?"
"Yeah," Mamoru said. "Like I said, I wake up and I search. I can't sleep again until I at least try. Usually, my instincts lead me to certain places like that jewelry store, but lately, it's been taking me to the most random places."
"Like the radio station, the recording studio, and the home of that fortune teller?" Seiya asked.
"Yes!" Mamoru said, his frustration evident in his voice. "I've tried to ignore the impulses. I know the crystal won't be in those places, but I can't risk not going just in case it is there, and there are always monsters waiting for me! It's ridiculous!"
The pair fell silent; Seiya taking in all that Mamoru had said and Mamoru trying to come down from his rant. It felt strangely freeing to share his secret with Seiya. The lad had been exposed to the secret evil rising within Tokyo. What would the scientist think?
"These monsters," Seiya began after a long while. "Do they do to others what they did to me?"
"Yes," Mamoru said gravely.
"Ok," Seiya said. He pulled away, causing Mamoru to stop and turn. Seiya leaned up against a streetlamp, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful. "Then we need to stop them."
"What?" Mamoru said. He had not expected that to be Seiya's response.
"You have been fighting these monsters for what...three, four weeks now?" Mamoru nodded. "It's obvious that they are not going away, and, if what you claim is true and your instincts are leading you to them, then it stands to reason that you will face them again." Mamoru nodded again, though he did not like where this conversation was heading. Seiya looked Mamoru in the eye and said the words that would lock in their fate. "So, let's stop them. Together, you and I."
Mamoru gaped at the older brunette, not believing what he was hearing. "Seiya," Mamoru began before quickly correcting himself, "Unami-san, you almost died tonight."
"Yes," Seiya said as if it were not an important detail. "How many times have they almost killed you?" Mamoru wanted to say almost never, but he knew that was not true, and, from the looks of Seiya's grin, Mamoru knew that his companion knew the answer already. Seiya continued, "You face those monsters alone at least once if not twice a week. I'm not going to let you do that anymore. Not if I can help."
Mamoru shook his head. "This isn't a hero's quest," he said, hoping to make his point very clear. "I'm not fighting them on purpose. I just keep running into them."
"And yet,"Seiya argued. "Instead of running away, you stop them. Don't lie, Mamoru, you could have left me to die but you didn't." Seiya crossed his arms and grinned. "You are the hero even if you don't want to be, and now, I'm here to help." His expression turned grave. "I can't in good conscious let these monsters do to anyone else what they did to me, and," He looked back up at Mamoru. "I will not let my friend fight alone."
"Friend?" Mamoru asked.
Seiya extended his hand to Mamoru and said, "Friend."
Mamoru looked at the offered hand. He knew that, if he took it, he would not simply be acknowledging Seiya's friendship; he would be agreeing to go into battle against this strange threat. Fighting monsters was easier when he thought he had no choice; they were just there, he needed to stop them or else they may get the crystal. Seiya was asking him to take the plunge into the unknown; to seek out and uproot the enemy as they were found. It would change everything.
The choice was much easier than he anticipated.
Squaring his shoulders, Mamoru took Seiya's hand. "Alright," he said. "Let's do this. Let's save the city."
"Great!" Seiya said. "Now," He tried to stand, but fatigue and a wave of dizziness forced him to lean back on the pole once more. He leaned his head back against the cold metal and groaned, "Please get me home. I feel like hell."
Mamoru laughed helped Seiya back up, all the while thinking that whatever this new path had in store for them, it would at least be interesting with Unami Seiya by his side.