Chapter 29

"Ouch? Interesting choice of words." Jean commented and Narumi gave her a weak smile in response.

"Well I hurt all over, Dollface so what did you expect me to say?' He answered.

"I dunno. How about 'nice to see'?" Jean suggested and Narumi raised an eyebrow in response. He went to sit up and instantly regretted it, lying back and putting a hand to his forehead.

"You should probably lie still. You did get beaten up pretty bad." Jean said, placing her palm on his forehead. "Hmm you have a fever." She commented and Narumi laughed weakly.

"That explains why my head feels like it's on fire. What exactly happened to me? I remember getting attacked by some guy in black then bits and pieces. Did I get beaten up again?" Narumi asked and Jean looked surprised.

"Several times in fact. You probably have a concussion, maybe several actually. Courtesy of Cerberus and Lobo. Plus his master. All in all I guess that explains why you don't remember much. "Jean explained and noticed Narumi close his eyes. "You okay?" She asked worried.

"Not really but now I get why. Not that it helps." He muttered.

"Need anything?" Jean asked him. Without opening his eyes he asked for a glass of water. Jean stood up and hurried into the kitchen. After a few tries she located a clean glass and managed to fill it with tap water, noticing her hands were shaking slightly. She reentered the room and found Narumi attempting to sit up. Jean walked over and, setting the glass down on the table, put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Once he was sitting up, Narumi looked around.

"So what I have missed?" He asked and Jean smiled, offering him the glass of water. As he took a few sips, Jean filled him in on everything that had happened so far. Well the abridged version anyway, leaving out the part where she slammed his head into the armrest. That part didn't seem necessary anyway. By the time she had finished her story, almost an hour had passed.

"When we got inside the door, you just sort of keeled over. After we got you settled, Raidou and Gouto left for Shinoda. Something about the Herald but I kind of forgot what he said. Guess I was a little preoccupied at the time." Jean told him. "Not very helpful today am I?" She sighed and looked away. To her surprise she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back and noticed Narumi was actually smiling.

"Why the long face?" He asked her and she sighed.

"Every time I try to help you guys it never ends well. I mean come on; I choose to leave my friends so you won't be killed. And I wind up almost killing you myself. If Raidou hadn't yelled at me and snapped me back to myself…." Jean swallowed, and couldn't continue.

"Maybe. Though I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't have really hurt me. You're not the same as that dark summoner. "Narumi told her.

"But what if…" Jean started and Narumi suddenly interrupted her, his smile instantly disappearing

"I know you. Even if he could control you, he couldn't force you to kill anyone. That's not you." He said and Jean just stared at him, on the verge of tears.

Gently she removed his hand and stood up. "Before you wouldn't even stand anywhere near me. I thought you hated me."

"That was because…well, I don't know." Narumi responded and Jean frowned.

"I was right then. You do hate me." Jean responded and turned to leave. Narumi climbed to his feet and moved to stop her. Still unsteady, he only succeeded in almost ending up on the floor again. Jean wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him back to the couch. Once there, Jean just shook her head.

"You should just stay there." Jean suggested. "You are still injured remember?" As she spoke Narumi scratched the back of his head. When he removed his hand he was surprised to find it stained with fresh blood.

"You're bleeding again." Jean said and left him for moment, reappearing moments later with a clean rag. "Hold still okay? This might hurt." She leaned over and gently pressed it against the wound on the back of Narumi's head. Even though Jean was only just touching the wound, Narumi still let out a gasp.

"Sorry, sorry." Jean apologized and tried to be more careful. Eventually Jean realized that it would be better if she sat next to him. From where she was now, she couldn't see where the entry wound was.

"Move over." She said and Narumi moved to his right, not quite sure what she was going to do. Jean sat down beside him and asked him to move his head slightly to the right. Narumi did this as well, now a little curious. From this vantage point Jean could see the injury on his head a lot clearer.

"Okay I think this should work." She muttered to herself. "Keep your head still okay."

"What are you doing?" Narumi asked her since he wasn't able to turn his head.

"Trying to figure out where the blood's coming from." Jean told him and soon found the possible cause. There was a small puncture mark on the back of his head, right between his ears. Lightly she pressed the rag onto the mark. Narumi winched but held as still as he could, despite the pain. As soon as the wound stopped bleeding, Jean removed the rag and sat back.

"Okay. You can move again." She told him and Narumi slowly turned back around. "Any better?"

"Yeah thanks." Narumi replied and went to touch his injury. Jean took his hand and moved it away.

"You might not want to do that. I think it'll scab over soon and you might start it bleeding again." She told him. A little sheepishly he thanked her and removed his hand from hers. Jean stood up, intending to wash the rag when Narumi spoke up.

"Umm I've been meaning to ask you something." He said and Jean noticed his face start to go red.

"What's that?" She asked now looking a little worried and realizing that Narumi wasn't actually looking at her, his eyes almost trained on the far wall.

"Do I even want to know what the question is?" Jean asked him, and Narumi stared at him, confused.

"It's nothing bad or anything. It's about that letter you left for me…well me and Raidou." He explained and Jean gave a sigh of relief.

"Is that all? I was worried it was something else. I wrote that letter to you guys to tell you to be careful. I didn't know if I'd be okay so I wanted to make sure that no one did something stupid. For lack of a better word." Jean told him and was surprised to see Narumi shake his head, his eyes focused on her now.

"It's not about that letter. It's actually about the letter you wrote to me." He told her. Jean felt her face growing hot.

Narumi grinned up at her. "Heh. Why are you blushing? It's true, isn't it?" To his surprise Jean looked angry. The rag slipped from her fingers onto the floor but she made no attempt to pick it up. He scratched his head, confused as she began to pace the length of the floor.

"I was terrified at the time. For heaven's sake Shouhei I had a lot on my mind! You were putting yourself and Raidou in danger each and every time I left the agency. So I wrote that letter to you hoping you would let Raidou handle the case. He is the devil summoner isn't he?" Jean responded and Narumi felt himself get angry. He rose to his feet and stood in Jean's path, weaving a little unsteadily.

"What the hell? In case you've forgotten I'm part of this too. Just because I'm not a summoner, as you put it, doesn't mean I can't fight too. So you're a summoner now too? Big bloody deal! The only training you've had so far was by a psycho and you used that training to try and murder your friends. I put my life on the line constantly trying to protect you and now suddenly you think you can say I'm useless to you? Go home." Narumi shouted at Jean. Jean just stood there, an unreadable expression on her face. In the silence that followed, Narumi took a deep breath and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. Jean continued to watch him and as Narumi watched in alarm he saw tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh geeze. I'm sorry dollface." He said and stepped towards her. To his surprise Jean backed away from him, her eyes wide and unblinking.

"Stay the hell away from me!" She shouted and turning on her heel, hurried out the door. As she left, Jean used the sleeve of her outfit to wipe at her eyes. She was out the door and a few feet down the road when Narumi finally realized that he should go after her. Of course the fact he still had a fever and a concussion didn't help. He managed to retrieve his hat and tried to leave the building but stopped just a foot or so away from the door, suddenly unsure as to why he was there. When Raidou and Gouto opened the door less than an half an hour later they found him still standing there, a somewhat confused look on his face. Once he led Narumi back to the couch Raidou asked him why he had been standing in front of the door. To Raidou's surprise he didn't know. Gouto jumped up onto the armrest and, looking at Narumi's eyes, pointed out that they were unfocused.

"It's probably the concussion he received earlier. Looks like it hasn't worn off yet." Raidou said and Narumi muttered something about feeling dizzy. Lightly pressing a hand to Narumi's forehead, he could feel heat radiating from his friend's forehead.

"He's burning up. I'll get a cold compress. "He pointed out and went to find a cloth. Just as he turned around something on the floor caught his eye. Raidou bent down to pick it up and when he straightened, he realized that it was a bloodstained cloth. He held it in front of Narumi and watched the detective stare at it curiously.

"This yours Shouhei?" He asked as Narumi continued to stare at the cloth. Finally he spoke up.

"No. I don't think so anyway." He answered and Raidou sighed in frustration. Clearly Narumi wasn't going to be any help so he turned to Gouto.

"Do you think this has anything to do with Jean?" Raidou asked. To both their surprise Narumi spoke up.

"Jean? What about Jean?" He tried to stand up, felt light headed and had to sit down again.

"Do you know where she is?" Raidou asked him, watching him closely. Narumi tried to remember what had happened earlier but his fever made that near to impossible. Holding his head in his hands, he groaned and closed his eyes in frustration. Narumi was about to give up when he saw something flash into his head. An argument from earlier that day. He got to his feet and Raidou placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"Where are you going? What happened?" Raidou asked and Narumi glared at him, surprising Raidou.

"I have to go after Jean. I was angry at myself and I took it out on her. Now she's run away because of me and I need to find her." He explained and Raidou nodded. He let go of Narumi and stood to one side. With a grateful smile Narumi stepped forward. Without warning Raidou stepped behind him and, before he could work out why, Narumi felt a sharp blow land on the back of his neck. Instantly losing consciousness he never felt a pair of hands reach out and catch him.

End of chapter 29