A/N: And an update! Remi, I still has to finish reading your reviews but yes, you may need to beat my stories into submission so they listen to me. At least they'd better be heading towards the right ending, or we will have a problem. This chapter is for prompt 11 (haha) medical. That was unintentional, I swear. Anyway, please drop a review at the bottom of the page if you feel so inclined and thanks for reading!


11. Some Scars Are Permanent

He wanted to go forward.

No, not wanted, the desire was an impulse, running down his chest to the rest of his body and before he could stop himself, he was following the trail. The Clockmaker was not forgotten; he made sure to let Tagiru and Yuu know where he was, but he couldn't wait there. Ryouma wasn't sure if he was doing this because he was concerned or because it was like the Hunt all over again. The Hunt he never really participated in as himself but for his own reasons.

Yuu was right. He was way too much like Tagiru for his own good.

That thought in mind, he hung up on the two of them (they'd find him eventually, they knew his habits by now, he hoped) and continued on. There were no mad police cars rushing around (thank god, there would be no way to find Taiki-san in all that chaos) and there were no pedestrians, which struck him as both absurd and disturbing because the glass breaking had to have made some noise. But no one was here.

Did something scare them off?

Taiki-san scared them off...

Okay, that was ridiculous. Their senior was barely taller than them and had been in a hospital for months. How could he do something like that?

The same way he attacked the Clockmaker, obviously...

He didn't want to think about that, not now, not when Taiki-san was bleeding and hurt and possibly...

"Ryouma?"

Ryouma stopped walking, seeing Taiki just standing there, leaned against a fence. His arms were crossed, one hand covering a bloody upper arm. He stared at Ryouma and the feel of it was like being under a microscope, down to the nausea.

Taiki smiled and Ryouma tried to not cringe because of the unnaturalness of it, like they had met on the school rooftop instead of him chasing his senior down. "Ta-Taiki-san...?"

"Yeah?" Still calm, no urgency, no fear, nothing like that day in February, or the days before that.

"Wh-What are you doing here? You need to be at the hospital." He had to buy time, pray that if Yuu and Tagiru caught up to them soon enough so they could stop him from running off again.

"I needed to leave." Taiki's voice was calm. "There's still time to stop him. I have to. Before he gets everyone."

Before he gets Yuu. A pang of emotion broke through the nausea and he stifled it, shaking his head. "You're hurt."

"So's the Clockmaker." Taiki uncrossed his arms and let them hang at his sides, blood trickling slowly. "Don't worry, everything will be all right. You don't have to get involved."

"We can, though. All of us." He had almost stopped at the word "I" (1) but couldn't say it. There was a loaded sense in saying he could do something when that might not be true. But together, everyone could do something.

"You can," Taiki agreed, stepping towards him. His voice had gone quiet. "But you shouldn't."

"We-We aren't afraid of getting hurt." He almost cursed himself for stuttering but Taiki didn't seem to notice. He kept moving forward and Ryouma found he couldn't step away, rooted to the spot with a hissing noise by his ear.

"I know." Taiki's smile seemed to be different, wavering on his face. Ryouma rubbed his eyes. "You're all as reckless as I am. But for now, trust me. Let me end it."

Taiki reached out with his uninjured arm and mussed Ryouma's hair. Ryouma felt his face burn for a moment, then cursed himself for being embarrassed. He opened his mouth to speak, but his vision wavered again, cloaked in darkness.


Taiki moved Ryouma to the side of the sidewalk. Shademon whined its irritation.

-Let me eat him.-

"Quiet. You've hurt enough people." Not that he was sure the Clock Maker could be considered a person.

A hiss and Taiki clutched his stomach, feeling sick. He coughed but swallowed bile, giving the creature the best glare he could muster. "No time for you," he muttered. "Have to play the game."

If they became involved right now, there would be more scars, so many. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let DarkKnightmon get what he wanted.

-The humans will follow you. Silly neophytes.-

He knew that, but the least he could do was make the job easier on them.

Taiki saw the red bag dangling from Ryouma's wrist then, and knelt, picking it up and peering inside. His Xros Loader chimed, sending a warm tingle from his hands. He took it slowly and pocketed the device, feeling it hum joyfully against his leg.

A sad smile crossed his face. "Thanks and... sorry."

He turned on his heel, and ran.


A/N: Forgot this footnote. Sorry!

(1) "I" In Japanese, Ryouma uses the pronoun "watashi" or "I" when referring to himself, which was what he was originally going to say, as in "I can". But he said "we", or watashitachi, to cover himself. I hope that makes sense.