A/N: Okay, enough procrastination even though you guys are probably used to it by now. I've been trying to type up this chapter for the past two weeks, but alas, it finally got to me. But hey, maybe I'll finally finish it today? Probably not sinve this is a long chapter, but it's worth a shot. I'll be updating On the Other Side soon too with a special notice on another fic that might have been mentioned before. Yup, I've finally decided on it.
Anyways, I'm gonna stop disguising Hao, since you guys already know whats going on and stuff, unless it's from the POV of someone he doesn't know. He won't be changing the appearance of their body anymore though. This chapter we learn a little bit more about the seal and the connection between all the people that were attacked.
Unseal chapter 10: Confrontation
THe sounds of hammer striking metal rang through the empty warehouse. The shadowy figure grunted, tugging one last time on the chains before a satisfied smirk filled his face.
"This is a bit... new, isn't it?" Hiyoshi asked in their shared mind. "You must be having fun."
"It's not my fault. If i don't do this, we'll be in a lot of pain." Hao huffed, running a funger over the edge of the hand-axe. It was a bit incinvenient that Hiyoshi's body was right handed, with him being left himself, but he could make it work. His aim would be a little off, but... "I doubt you'd want that, especially since I heard that Choutaoru's been covering for us an' all."
"No, I wouldn't. Just please hurry up."
xXxXxXx
"So how do we find them?"
Choutar bit his lip, fingers twitching. He wasn't sure exactly, but they had to try something.
"Well, there is a way, but..." He paused, watching his teammates reactions. Atobe nodded, a sign for him to move on. "I'm a bit reluctant to use it. It might have some... unwanted side-effects." He said.
" 'Side-effects'?" Shishido echoed. "What do you mean?" Choutarou sighed.
"Well, for one thing it might give us both major headaches, which I don't think will be good in this situation. Another thing that might happen is that it could backfire and I won't be able to move for about three weeks because of the stress it puts on the body." He averted his eyes. "I can put up with it, but if it fails and alerts Hao-kun of our attempts to find him, there's no telling what he'll do."
"So we could die." Oshitari said. Choutarou watched his fingers twitch.
"It's not likely. Hao-kun knows he can't touch you guys." He laughed. "If he did, Wakashi might just break."
"Break?" Gakuto asked.
"His soul." Choutarou said, placing a hand on his chest. "You guys are all really dear to him, despite him denying it quite often." He let his hand drop back down, and Atobe raised an eyebrow.
"You make it sound like he doesn't care about you." He said. Indeed, in the entire explanation, Choutarou had never once mentioned himself. Choutarou shook his head.
"While I'm sure Wakashi cares about me the same way he does for you guys, I'm a different case." He smiled sadly. "Hao-kun can't hurt me, because he might just kill both of them trying to."
xXxXxXx
A pair of eyes opened sleepily, trying to adjust to the darkness. The sounds of metal striking something solid could be heard, but he had no time to think about it before a pair of eyes met his.
"Oh, your awake now?" The boy in front of him asked. "You were sleeping for a while."
"Wh-where am I?" The man asked in a shaky voice. The boy hummed, turning around and picking up an item from the ground. The man's eyes widened. A hand-axe.
"Uh, you don't need to know." He smiled. "Just know that here, no one can here anything." He walked closer, face hidden by the shadows.
"What are you going to do with that?" He asked, eyeing the small axe warily. The boy chuckled.
"Well let's see; dark warehouse, myserious person, kidnapping, and and axe. What do you think I'm going to do with it?" He asked sweetly. The man's eyes widened, shaking his head wildly. "Good-bye, Yamata-san."
xXxXxXx
Choutarou inhaled deeply, the fresh forest air clearing his mind. The team had stopped questioning him after the comment. He wrapped up the meeting stating that, if they were willing, they could meet up with him in an area of his choice and they could help him locate thei friend. He didn't add in that he was plannning on performing the ritual anyways, despite the after effects.
The sound of rustling bushes woke him from his slight trance, and he turned to see Shishido stumbling through the foliage.
"Hey." He waved, dropping a backpack on the ground by a tree. "Choutarou, I know you wanted to do this in a place away from Tokyo, but do you really think Wakashi will be so far away?"
Choutarou hummed, watching the clouds in the sky. He thought it over the night before, and he knew Hao had taken a liking to the forests around Hikawa. "Yes, Hao would have brought him to a place like this." Shishido dropped onto the ground, leaning against the tree.
"I'm not going to question your judgement, but I hope your right about this." Another voice said from the trees. Both boys looked to see Atobe walking up to them, his own bag slung over his shoulder. "How do you plan on searching this place?"
Choutarou stayed quiet. He didn't want to tell them that he planned on separate from the group halfway through the search to find their friend in his own way, he'd get too many protests. Atobe watched him, before sighing.
"I see, so that's how it is." Before he could ask his captain what he meant, they were interrupted by two voices arguing in the distance.
"I'm telling you, the meeting place is this way!"
"No Gakuto, I'm very sure it's this way. Ootori said to go east from the large tree by the lake."
"We did go east, and look where that got us!"
Choutaoru chuckled. True, the directions he gave were vague and he could hardly understand them himself, but he was glad some of the team had the sense to look at a map the night before. Unfortunately, it seemed neither Gakuto nor Oshitari had that idea cross their minds.
"Sempai, we're over here!" He called, and they waited a while before the two fell through the bushes.
"HA! See? I was right!" Gakuto cheered. His superiority was interrupted by rather loud snoring, and Atobe sighed.
"We picked up Jirou before we came here." He said, gesturing to the sleeping blonde lying over Kabaji's shoulder. "You can guess why."
"Cuz he'd fall asleep on the bus and miss his stop?" Oshitari said dully. Everyone turned to Choutarou, who stood in the center of the clearing.
"We'll split up into groups, it'll be easier and safer if we're in pairs of two." He said. "I'm going by myself though."
"Wait, what?" Shishido said, jumping to his feet. "Why aren't we going together?"
"I'm sorry, Shishido-sempai, but it'll be easier for me to search by myself." He said with a sad smile. "I know the area better, so I can get around by myself. Did everyone bring the supplies I listed?"
"Two small towels, bottle of water, flashlight, and our cell phones right?" Oshitari listed. "And a snack." Choutarou nodded, picking up his own bag and walking through the trees.
"We'll meet back here in three hours, so let's go."
xXxXxXx
A scream rang out through the dark building, the sound of bone crunching accompanied by metal meeting stone.
"Your loud." Hap said, frowning. "The others weren't nearly as difficult as you." He lifted the weapon above his head once more, despite the man shaking his head. "Now, if you keep doing that, I might just hit something." He swung the axe down, watching as it made contact with the man's left shoulder. "Shoot, I missed." He huffed. "You'll have to excuse my aim, this bodt isn't left-handed."
"Wh-Who are you?" The man said in short breaths. Hao crossed his arms, humming.
"I suppose you wouldn't remember me. After all, I'm just some kid that helped out a lost old man." He smirked at the look of realization that crossed the man's face.
"Y-You..."
"Yup." He said cheerfully. "Now, as I said before, bye-bye~" And the axe, aimed for the man's skull and held backwards, went down.
Crack
xXxXxXx
Choutarou looked around, clutching the stick in his hand. No one. Good. he bent down, trace a circle onto the ground. He tried to remember every symbol, every pattern there was to the spell. Once the circle was done, he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket along with a small brush. He began writing the characters of the spell onto it, before moving onto his hand. If he got this right, the others wouldn't have to go through the pain of having to confront Hao.
"What are you doing?"
Choutarou's head shot up, right when he was pressing the symbols on the paper and his hand together.
"J-Jirou-san? Aren't you supposed to be searching with Kabaji-kun?" He asked shakily. No no no, I can't let them know. If I do, they'll only get hurt.
"I saw you walking over here and followed you." Jirou said sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "Kabaji went to get Atobe and the others." His eyes moved to the ground. "What's that?"
Choutarou looked to the circle by his feet, then to Jirou, then back. "It's nothing, you should go back and search with the others." Jirou's eyes widened a little.
"Your doing that thing you told us about, aren't you?" He asked, his voice taking on a higher pitch. Choutarou nearly dropped the paper.
"N-No! why would I-"
"Choutarou!"
He turned around to see the rest of the team run through the bushes. Shishido stopped at the sight of the circle, giving him a look of disbelief.
"What do you think your doing?" Atobe asked, his voice low. Choutarou swallowed, crumpling the paper in his hands. There was no use for it anymore, now that they found him. "Didn't we tell you not to do it?" He sighed.
"I'm sorry, but this is all I can to with my abilities." Choutarou said, closing his eyes. "Right now I'm the only one that can find Wakashi." He said softly.
"What do you mean?" Oshitari said, stepping up. Choutarou looked at him.
"I mean, I already know where he is." At the look of shock on his teammates faces, he sighed. "I don't think I explained this in detail, but I'd know where he is in a second if I wanted to. After all, without our bond, he'd be dead." He chuckled. "Lately though, there's been some trouble and I can't get his exact location. The ritual was to make it easer." Atobe sighed.
"I'd ask you to explain more, but I'd rather find Hiyoshi as soon as possible first." He said. "You may have had your reasons for not telling us, not wanting to get us involved, but you forgot one important detail." Choutarou raised an eyebrow.
"And that would be?" Atobe smiled.
"Hiyoshi is our friend too, and like it or not, you can't get rid of us."
Choutarou looked at the smiles on all his teammates, before smiling himself.
"Of course, how could I forget." He shook his head, throwing the piece of paper aside. "Let's go get our teammate."
Shishido threw his arms into the air. "It's about time! Do you know how hard it is to search the entire forest?" Choutarou chuckled.
"I'm sorry, but we can go now." He said, heading towards the north. "It's this way."
xXxXxXx
"This ugly building is where he's hiding?"
Gakuto squeaked when Shishido dug his elbow into the red-head's side. The two glared at each other before looking back at the building.
It was an old, seemingly abandoned warehouse. The white paint was faded and peeling off, along with some holes in the roof. The windows were cracked, some broken completely. The door was slightly opened, just begging them to open it and walk in.
"So do we go in, or do we stare at it for another three days?" Shishido aked sarcastically. Choutarou slowly approached the door, touching the side. When nothing happened, he pushed it a little before it was completely open.
They were met with complete darkness, aside from the fading sunlight from behind. Choutarou held his breath. There, in the middle of the large room, was the vague outline of a figure. The group walked in slowly, jumping as the the heavy steel doors slammed shut behind them.
"Wakashi..." Choutarou said softly, but the figure didn't move. Shishido raised an eyebrow, shoulders tense.
"That can't be him." He said, earning strange looks from his companions. "Wakashi isn't left-handed."
"No," A voice, similar to their friend's but in a lighter tone. "But I am."
Atobe watched as his teammate turned slowly to look at them, before his eyes widened. Those eyes, usually dull grey in color as he remembered them, that glowed brightly in the dark, were-
"Red..." Gakuto said, shrinking behind Oshitari. Said boy was frozen in place, unable to move under the gaze of the boy's crimson eyes. Choutarou stepped forward.
"Hao-kun, it's good to see you again I suppose." He said. Shishido's eyes widened. How could he be so calm? "Mind telling me exactly what's going on here?" Hao hummed.
"I don't know really. I just got this sudden impulse to kill, ya know? Like I'd die if I didn't get someone real soon." While his vocabulary and tone of voice may have been different, Atobe couldn't help but see him as the younger teammate he had teased so much.
"Then why didn't you tell us? You don't like killing, do you?" Choutaoru asked, and Hao tilted his head.
"I don't like it."
"Theb come back." Choutarou said, stepping closer and holding a hand out. He cried out in pain and withdrew his hand, the sudden shockwave, surprising him. He watched the bright red liquid run down his hand. He looked up to see his friend's hand bleeding as well, and Hao frowning.
"No!" He yelled. "I'm not going back there! They're just going to do more of those painful rituals again!" Choutarou stood up.
"That's not true! They've learned their lesson, they're not going to hurt yo-"
"Liar!"
Another shockwave, and this time the taller boy had to grip his arm to keep the blood from flowing. He heard his friends call out to him, and he turned around.
"Stay back!" He called, turning back to the crying demon.
"Liar, liar, liar! You always say that! You always tell us it won't happen aagain! But you always lie!" He was screaming now, eyes wide with tears running down his face. Choutarou gasped. He heard two voices then. His eyes widened when he saw a faint outline appear at his friend's back. "You may say there's nothing wrong with me, but they all say the same things! Always telling me I don't belong, always saying I should just be killed, before I do any harm, but what have I done? I didn't do anything, yet they hurt me!"
There was a silence as the boy tried to catch his breath, wiping away the tears. he looked up, and much to everyone's surprise, his eyes were grey.
"They call me a monster, Choutarou, they always say it. Whenever you, aniki, mom or dad aren't around, they say horrible things. They say I belong in Hell."
Atobe clenched his fists. People were saying that about his favorite kohai? Why didn't he notice anything? Why didn't he say anything all those times he saw the boy crying.
"I don't belong there, I'm just causing problems for everyone. I don't want that."
Atobe snapped. Ignoring the calls from his teammates and Choutarou's pleas to stay back, he stomped forward until he was a foot away from the shorter boy.
"You say you don't want that," He started as calmly as he could. "But your causing problems right now." Hiyoshi's eyes widened.
"Atobe..." But he stopped, biting his lip. Atobe sighed.
"My god boy, do you know how worried we've been? Practice hasn't been the same, your parents are desperately trying to find you, and we've been questioning Ootori for days now about what's happened to you. You say you don't want to cause problems for anyone, but what do you think your doing right now? If you want to stop causing people trouble, then let them help you."
Grey eyes filled with tears, the small axe falling from his hands. Atobe sighed, who knew he could be such a crybaby? He patted the shorter boy's head, ruffling his hair.
"I'll tell you something right now," He said with a smile, "Your not someone who belongs in Hell, your someone who belongs here with people who care about and love you."
Eyes darkening once more, Atobe prepared himself to step back from whatever attack may come. But none did.
"Your not lying, are you?" Both voices asked, one eyes filled with doubt while the other with hope. Atobe sighed.
"No, I wouldn't have said those things if i didn't mean them." He watched as the dull grey he was so familiar with returned, along with more tears.
"I'm sorry..." Hiyoshi said, before his eyes closed and his body went limp. Atobe gasped and held his arms out, the unconcious boy falling into his chest. He nearly went into a panic, before his eyes locked onto red ones stading in front of him.
"I don't know if this is a good idea, but I leave him to you then." Hao said with a sigh. "You better make him happy, or else your gonna lose an arm or two." Atobe nodded.
"Hao-kun, don't scare him." Choutarou said, walking up to the boys and wrapping a towel around his friend's arm. "And please don't do that again, it really hurt." Hao glared at him.
"You provoked me." He looked at the group approaching them. "You just gonna stare all day, or did your voice boxs break?"
"So, your not gonna hurt us?" Shishido asked suspiciously. Hao scoffed.
"As if I could, the kids our cold, I can't do anything with out his body." He sighed. "Can we go or something, thise place really doesn't sit well with me." Gakuto raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you pick it?" He stepped a little closer to Oshitari when Hao looked at him.
"Last minute choice, now let's go, before the body rots." He said. Oshitari raised an eyebrow.
"What body-"
"Okay people, let's get moving. It's kinda cold here and I'm pretty sure that amout of blood loss it not healthy."
xXxXxXx
"Ootori, can you tell Hiyoshi's parent's he'll be with me for a while?"
Choutaoru looked at hims with wide eyes.
"Eh? Why?" He asked. Atobe shifted the boy on his back, making sure to not move his arm too much.
"I said I'd help him didn't I?" He said, as if it was obvious. "I meant what I said. He wants reassurance, he'll get it. He's not leaving my side until we fix this."
Choutarou watched him carefully before sighing. "If it's what you want, buchou."
xXxXxXx
Atobe sighed, straightening out his back. His arms were sore after carrying his kohai all the way to his room. He looked over to the sleeping boy, crisp white bandages wrapped tightly around his arm. He sat down on the edge of the bed, running a hand through the short brown hair.
"Oi."
He jumped, pulling his hand back. He looked to his left, where Hao sat in an unoccupied chair.
"Either your not as smart as he says you are or you really like his face." He smirked. Atobe glared at him.
"I see your sarcastic, something Ootori left out when he told us about you. I never expected you to be so small though." The smirk turned into a frown.
"The only other person I know that has managed to comment on my height and live, Atobe, you are a lucky man." He said. "That is, until I get my own body back."
There was an awkward silence between the two. Or rather, awkward on Atobe's side. What were you supposed to say to a demon who managed to kill off so many people?
"I don't really want to ask, but why exactly did you kill those people?" Hao gave him a look.
"If you don't want to ask, then don't..." He mumbled. "I didn't really want to, but it's just..."
Onii-chan, can you help me get my ball?
"All of them were poison to me."
"Poison?"
"Yes."
Excuse me, can you tell me which ticket to buy to get to Aomori?
"They emmited a type of air that's poisonous for my type. It didn't matter who they were. If they had it, they died.
I'm sorry to ask, but I'm a bit lost. Which way it the police station?
Atobe paused. "I see. So you had no choice then." Hao shook his head.
"It would have been fine if it wasn't so much, but in this case, there really was not other option. it's worse since I'm sealed."
There was another silence before Hao looked him in the eyes, red meeting blue.
"Can you really unseal me?"
Atobe blinked, a bit taken back by the comment. He reached forward, placing a hand on the head of white hair.
"I don't make promises I can't keep."
xXxXxXx
A/N: Oh god finally this chapter is done. Jus took me about 5 hours to type. My hands hurt. I know it might have been a bit OOC in the middle, but this is tough to write. I had to go with the atmosphere. That being said, we're gonna see a lot more of crybaby!Hiyoshi in the next chapter.
Hey look, the main plot is almost done! Just three more chapters, which are pretty short, and we get to move onto the fun part. As I said in the first note, the next extra chapter of On the Other Side will have a special announcement about an upcoming fic. As such, I will not add it to my future fics list yet.
Tell me what you thought about this chapter and if you think it was a bit too anticlimatic, since I forgot the original script and kinda liked this one. I might change it if I remember.