Hi! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Sorry for the wait on this . . .

Standard disclaimers apply, blah blah blah . . .

Warnings: It's an M rated fic, people. Do the math.

Um, you might wanna read the last paragraph of the last chapter before you read this. This chapter pretty much picks up where the last chapter left off.

Most of the chapters after this are gonna kinda be fillers . . . But they will need to be in here to push the story to the rest of the main plotline. Don't worry, though, because they shouldn't be too boring. Maybe only mildly boring, but kinda funny . . . This story is gonna need something kinda funny before I get to the rest of the plot . . . (It's a tragedy people. Somebody is gonna die. And most likely not in a pleasent way, either.)

Okie dokie, here's Chapter 3 of Mute!

Mute

Chapter 3

Shuuichi awoke several hours later to Youko shaking his shoulder and telling him he had to drink some more. Uhg. Why couldn't the fox just leave him alone and let him sleep?

He almost choked on the sweet liquid be was being given, bad memories flooding back to him . . . Until he remembered what Youko had said. It was only fruit juice . . . Only fruit juice . . . It wouldn't hurt him . . . And it was actually very good . . . Now he started to realize just how thirsty he really was.

Youko smiled when Shuuichi started gulping down the cold juice. His body needed the nutrients as much as it needed the fluid itself. At least the boy seemed to have gotten over his fear of sweet liquids . . . But if he kept up like this, he'd make himself sick.

"Shuuichi." He pulled the cup away. "Shuuichi, slow down."

Shuuichi grabbed for the glass. Why was Youko taking his drink away? Had he done something wrong?

Youko held the cup away from him. "You need to slow down. You're stomach isn't used to having anything in it. You'll make yourself sick if you drink too much too fast."

/B-U-T-/

"Just sip it. Youko can always have more if you're still thirsty afterwards."

/I * C-A-N?/

He nodded. "Mm-hm."

Shuuichi reached for glass again, and this time Youko let the boy have it. Shuuichi happily sipped the sweet juice, thankful to finally have something to drink after so long.

After the boy had finished his juice, Youko asked, "Shuuichi, would it be all right if I cleaned you up a little bit?"

Shuuichi frowned. /S-T-I-L-L * T-I-R-E-D./

"I know you are, but you'll rest better if you're clean."

Now Shuuichi was looking at him suspiciously. /W-H-A-T * A-R-E * Y-O-U * G-O-I-N-G * T-O D-O?/

"Just use some warm water and a cloth to wipe off some of the dirt. It's nothing that will hurt, I promise."

Shuuichi bit his lip for a moment. He was still very afraid of the old fox . . . Youko could easily overpower him if he wanted to . . . He'd never be able to stop the fox from doing whatever he wanted.

"Shuuichi? What's wrong?"

/Y-O-U-/ He paused for a moment. /Y-O-U * W-O-N-T * H-U-R-T * M-E, W-I-L-L * Y-O-U?/

Youko pushed Shuuichi's hair back off his face. The boy looked like he was scared half to death. He smiled reassuringly at the human. "Of course not, kiddo."

/O-K-A-Y * T-H-E-N./ He held up the glass and cocked his head, giving Youko a questioning look? /M-O-R-E?/

Youko smiled again. "Sure thing." He took the glass and stood up. "Would you take some medicine if I bring it to you?"

M-E-D-/ He paused, looking totally bewildered. /W-H-A-T?/

"Don't you know what medicine is?"

He shook his head.

Sweet Inari, Youko thought. Hasn't anyone even bothered to TRY to treat this boy nicely? Oh, duh, Youko. That's a stupid question. (AN: Um, has Youko missed everything that's been said about Shuuichi's past so far?)

"Well, medicine is something you take when you're sick that will help you get better faster."

/O-H. * A-L-L * R-I-G-H-T./

Shuuichi coughed and spat out the foul-tasting liquid in his mouth. /T-H-I-S * T-A-S-T-E-S * T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E./

Youko scratched at his temple nervously. "Well . . . Medicine isn't supposed to taste good."

/A-N-D * Y-O-U * C-O-U-L-D-N-T * H-A-V-E * S-A-I-D * T-H-A-T * B-E-F-O-R-E?/

"Sorry. But they say that the worse medicine tastes, the better it works."

/W-H-O * I-S * T-H-I-S * "T-H-E-Y"? * I * W-A-N-T * T-O * M-E-E-T * T-H-E-M./ (AN: He's doing little air quotes around "they". Just thought you should know.)

Youko smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Please just drink your medicine."

/B-U-T-/

"No, buts, Shuuichi. Either drink your medicine of your own free will, or I'll get a funnel and you'll drink it anyway." He tapped the boy on the end of his nose. "Now which is it going to be, kiddo?"

Shuuichi looked at him pleadingly. /B-U-T * I-T * T-A-S-T-E-S * H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E./

"I know. Just hold your nose and gulp it down. That'll make it easier."

Shuuichi frowned down at the cup again before pinching his nose and downing the entire thing.

Youko had to smile at the face the boy made. (An: I'll leave that look on his face up to your imagination.) ""Here." He handed the boy another cup of juice.

Shuuichi gulped down the juice, thankful it was washing the awful taste out of his mouth, while Youko started pulling the scraps of cloth off the boy's body. There was no way they could salvage the boy's clothes, but he was fairly certain that he could find something for the child to wear. (AN: Um, Youko keeps EVERYTHING he steals, and he only steals things that are, well, pretty or shiny. Inari help Shuuichi if Youko is the one picking out his clothes . . .)

Shuuichi grabbed one of the fox's wrists, fear shining bright in his green eyes. /W-H-A-T * A-R-E * Y-O-U * D-O-I-N-G?/

"There's no point in you wearing these rags. I've got clothes you can wear. And I have to undress you to clean you up anyway."

Shuuichi looked down at the "clothes" he was wearing, or at least what was left of them, which, as Youko had said, wasn't much more than rags. He wasn't even sure which of his masters had given him these, it had been such a long time ago. Hell, he was lucky they'd lasted this long . . .

But . . . How could he be sure that the fox would give him something to wear? A few of his previous masters had pulled the same trick, and then left him shivering and naked until they're decided what to do with him . . . And what's they'd decided on hadn't been pleasent any of the times it had happened. But would Youko really . . . ? Youko was very well known for his sexual appetite as well as his thieving skills . . . What if he-?

N-no . . . He can't . . .

Shuuichi struck the fox's hands away from him, dumping the cup of juice in his hands over both of them in the process. He couldn't let the fox do this!

Inari, what the hell was wrong with the boy now? Youko grabbed the boy's arms in an attempt to hold him still, and earned quite a vicious slap across his face in return. Okay, now THAT pissed him off.

"Shuuichi!" he snapped, giving the boy one sharp shake. "Enough!"

Shuuichi's entire body went rigid, terrified of just what Youko would do to him. He'd struck the once already. There was no way it would be allowed a second time . . . Youko lowered him back onto the bed. Shuuichi squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for whatever Youko would do to him . . .

Several minutes passed, though they seemed like an eternity to Shuuichi. When nothing happened, he dared to open one eye to find . . .

That Youko was gone.

Shuuichi jolted upright, looking around frantically for any sign of the fox. Had Youko simply . . . left? Was the demon just going to abandon him? Was that his punishment for striking the fox? Being left all alone, possibly to starve (again) and die? He looked around again. There didn't seem to be anyone or anything that would stop him from leaving . . . other than his bandaged ankles. Would he be able to bear standing on them long enough to get away from this place?

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and eased his weight down onto his feet. Everything seemed to be going all right so far . . .

Until he tried to stand and take a step.

Somehow, he tripped, hitting the ground with enough force to stun him out of any pain he might have felt. Actually, he felt kinda funny right now . . . like his head was full of cotton or something. He was supposed to be running away . . . But he just felt like lying there. He was really too tired and dizzy to do anything else . . .

When Youko reappeared only a moment later from one of the other rooms and saw that Shuuichi was missing, he immediately went into red alert mode.

Okay, somebody couldn't possibly have gotten in without him sensing him or her, so the boy couldn't have been kidnapped. Could he? Bu the boy couldn't possibly have run away either. Not only would his injured ankles have prevented him from walking, but the medicine he'd been given would have made him so drowsy that he wouldn't even be able to hold his head up. So where could he possible-?

Well, the fact that half the blankets had been pulled to the floor on the other side of the bed might explain things . . .

He hurried across the room and around to the other side of the bed, depositing the bundle of cloth in his arms on the bed as he went. He discovered Shuuichi sprawled on the floor with the blankets tangled around is legs (AN: He tripped over something, remember?), blinking slowly, almost drunkenly, as he tried to focus on something that didn't seem to be there . . .

"Shuuichi?"

The boy's head rolled to the side until the now-hazy green eyes stared up at him. After a moment, recognition seemed to set in, a lop-sided smile spread across the child's face, and he started giggling through his nose.

"Um, Shuuichi? Are you okay?"

The teen made a move to raise up on his elbows, and ended up falling in the process. Youko caught him before his head hit the ground, but he was beginning to wonder if maybe the human hadn't already hit his head on something. The boy was acting very strangely . . .

Youko lifted him back onto the bed and tucked the blankets in tightly around his chest and legs, hoping to keep the boy from trying to run off again. Shuuichi continued to smile at and occasionally point and do his giggling/snorting laugh at something that Youko still couldn't see. All the while, the old fox continued to wonder just what the hell was going on. There didn't seem to be any signs that the boy had hit his head, no scrapes or bruises. But his eyes were dilated, so maybe he had . . . (AN: Peoples' eyes dilate when they have a concussion.)

Maybe the boy's medicine had something to do with his strange actions. It was supposed to make him drowsy . . . But he wasn't acting drowsy, he was acting . . .

Youko stood up quickly, running to his bookshelf to find his book on Makai's medicinal herbs. He hadn't even thought about the thing in years. He wasn't even sure if he still had it. But if he did, it would be mixed in with all the junk he had piled on his bookshelf. Oddly enough, the one thing that should have been easy for him to keep organized was the only thing of his that was a mess.

He started ripping things off the shelves, cringing internally at the mess he was making all across the floor.

Shuuichi, in the mean time, was giggling at the strange, multicolored creatures dancing around before his eyes . . . (AN: Okay, who wants to take a stab at what's wrong with Shuuichi? Anyone?)

Youko glanced over his shoulder at the giggling boy. Well, at least the boy seemed to be having fun, whatever was wrong with him, and he certainly didn't seem to be feeling any pain . . . He turned back around and frowned at the half-empty bookcase. Where the hell was that damned book?! He punched his fist into the wood in frustration.

A large, and rather heavy, leather-bound book fell off the top shelf, bouncing off the top of Youko's head before landing on his foot, making him yelp, and clutch his aching foot.

The old fox started swearing in a way that would make any member of his gang blush, and he was so glad that Shuuichi had no idea what was going on at the moment.

"Inari, what-?" He picked up the heavy book and blew the thick layer of dust off the cover, reading over the faded lettering of the title. "Oh . . ."

Of course, the book that had tried to attack him just had to be the one he was looking for, didn't it?

He started flipping through the pages, absently plotting the death of whoever had had the right idea to make books so heavy. He knew that one of the herbs he'd used in the boy's medicine could have some side effects if it was given to a human, but what were they . . . ?

He finally found the herb's picture and name, letting his gaze scroll down the yellowing page until he got to the fine print at the bottom.

"'Warning: If given to humans, may cause dizziness, hallucinations, and/or a sense of euphoria.' . . . Oops." His eyebrow twitched and he scowled down at the page. "You know, they really ought to put something like that in bold print!" He snapped the book shut and tossed it over his shoulder, not really caring where it landed or what it broke at this point.

Well, that certainly explained why Shuuichi was acting so strangely. He'd made the poor little human high!

Youko looked up at Shuuichi's next round of odd giggling/snorting sounds. His laugh just didn't sound right, the sound coming from the boy's nose instead of his throat. Youko supposed that it probably had something to do with the fact that the boy couldn't speak.

But, moving on from that, now what was he supposed to do? He was going to wash the boy off a bit, but right now that didn't seem like such a good idea. There was no telling how the boy would react in his current state . . .

And of course Kuronue picked that moment to stumble in, half-drunk.

"Hey, Youko . . ." He waved groggily at his friend, a bottle of some unidentified alcohol in his hand.

Youko's ears laid back. "Kuronue, what did you do now?"

"You know that big guy Gin?" (AN: I couldn't think of any other name. Sue me.)

"The fat one that's always drinking?"

"Uh-huh." He stumbled and had to pause to catch himself. "He challenged me to a drinking contest."

Youko frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "And how did that go?"

"I lost." He glanced over at the loopy human who was currently giggling his head off while staring at nothing. "So what's going on with him?"

"I accidentally put an herb in his medicine that made him, well . . . high."

Kuronue frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you do that?"

Youko glared at him. "Does the term 'accidentally' mean nothing to you?"

"Oh, right . . ." He put a hand to his head. "Oh, I feel dizzy . . ."

Youko sighed. "So get a chair and sit down."

Kuronue pulled two chairs closer to the bookcase and the two demons sat down, Kuronue leaning his head back and stretching his legs out in front of him, Youko sitting backwards with his legs on either side of the chair back. The fox closed his eyes, just enjoying the feeling of being able to stop worrying about Shuuichi for a moment and rest.

"Drink?" He held up the bottle of liquor he'd carried in with him.

Youko opened one eye and stared at him for a moment, thinking it over. He never was much for drinking, and what if he was drunk and Shuuichi needed something? . . . He glanced over at the giggling human. With how much of that herb he'd put in the boy's medicine, he'd be like that for at least the next several hours . . .

He grabbed the bottle from the bat and took a long drink, feeling the liquid burn in his throat. Inari, how could Kuronue stand to drink this stuff? Well, at least he didn't need to worry about getting drunk on it . . . He handed the bottle back and Kuronue did the same, only he actually enjoyed the taste of the drink.

Youko let his eyes drift shut once again, stacking his hands on the chair back and letting his chin rest on top them, sighing contentedly as he felt the tension ease from his body. Well, if nothing else the slight buzz of the alcohol in his body was helping him relax.

After a few moments, Kuronue spoke. "You know something Youko?"

The fox was half-asleep. "Hmn?"

"I think we've both learned something today."

He opened one eye a slit, bringing his arms up to rest under his head. "Oh? Wha's 'at?"

"Well, I learned never to accept a drinking challenge from a man with a beer gut."

"Yeah, and I learned to *yawn* always know all of an herb's side effects before giving it to humans." He closed his eyes again, burrowing his head further into his arms.

The last thing Youko heard before he drifted off to sleep was Shuuichi's cheery giggling, almost as though the boy was trying to emphasize his point.

Well, there's the next chapter! PLEASE don't ask for a quick update. As of now, I haven't even started the next chapter yet.

I'm sorry, I have no idea where this came from. It was thought of at one in the morning, though, I can tell you that much.

Please review. Thank you.

It's almost my birthday! Yay!

Laterz!