Author's Note: This entire chapter is completely mine. I hope everyone enjoys! Happy Halloween. ^_^
Synopsis:
Shiki: Malpractice
Chapter 10 IntoThe Lion's Den
Tohru awoke in a cold sweat. "Wha...?" His eyes glanced around the room in a panic. "Oh God, what have I done?" He said, horrified by the thought. He put a hand to his mouth. "Was I dreaming? It can't really be true?" He felt the tears already rolling down his cheeks.
"Tohru?" Ritsuko called, worriedly running to him. "Tohru, what's wrong?"
"Ritsu- Chan... I... I've done something horribly wrong," Tohru sobbed.
"Tohru," she sighed, hugging him close, "I understand how you feel about what happened to Natsuno, but if you kee beating yourself up over it... You have to find a way to make peace with it and..."
"No," Tohru said, "I'll never be able to make peace with it. Not until I know for sure!" His voice was determined and firm.
"Kn...know for sure? He was taken by the city, right? They cremate their dead, what's there to be sure of?" Ritsuko asked confusidly.
"Tatsumi didn't remember us," Tohru pointed, "But he said something about a 'Kid Brother'. As far as I know, Tatsumi didn't have any family. There's also what Dr Ozaki said... I've sired a Jinrou... Oh God, I don't even want to think about it!" Tohru covered his face and trembled.
Ritsuko's eyes grew wide as she put two and two together. "You mean, you think Natsuno was!?" she gasped.
Tohru sank to his knees, his whole body wracked in grief ridden trembles. "He must hate me," he sobbed.
"Good evening, everyone," Toshio greeted them, as he opened the basement, blood packs in hand.
"Doctor...?" Ritsuko turned and greeted him.
Toshio smiled at her and cautiously made his way down the stairs. "Is it me, or are things much gloomier than usual down here?" he asked, taking note of Tohru's troubled state and Masao's somber silence.
Even Megumi was sitting silently in the corner. He handed the girls their blood rations first. "I don't want it," Megumi rejected, pushing it away, "I want an ice cream cone," she requested .
The others looked up at her curiously, "A what?" Masao asked.
"I want REAL food, Doctor! You said I could start having it now," the pink haired girl insisted.
The others gasped and Tohru was quick to his feet. "How is that possible?" Ritsuko asked, "Doctor, have you really found a way?"
"That shouldn't be possible, Doctor, what did you do?" Tohru asked.
"Well, I'm not quite sure how I intended the rest of you to find out, but it wasn't like this," Toshio chuckled, "I know it's not exactly the most scientific term, but Megumi here is what I call a Chi no Cho."
"Chi no ch..." Ritsuko started.
"A Blood Butterfly?" all three Shiki asked in unison.
"I'm uncertain how long the effects will be, but, yes, I injected her with blood from a Jinrou, she's been awake all afternoon. She's proven she can consume human food. She shows no signs of adversity to light or any other weaknesses the rest of you exhibit," the doctor explained , ending Masoa and Tohru their rations. "The results were almost instantaneous."
Tohru refused his rations as well. "I'm not hungry right now," he refuted.
"Tohru, I can't have a hungry Shiki lurking around down here this week," Toshio insisted, "I have several of the surviving villagers off and on through the next few days."
"Heavens forbid one of them find us down here and besmurge your reputation," Tohru snarked, "Who else knows we're here?"
"Just those guys I pulled you and Nurse Kunihiro from. I was alone when I found Megumi and Masao," Toshio admitted .
"Doctor, may I go back upstairs with , tonight?" Megumi asked, "I want to look at those pictures you showed me again!"
"Do you think you might have remembered something or someone?" the doctor asked, almost hopefully.
"I may have recognized someone while I was at the park earlier," Megumi said.
Masao spat the blood he'd been drinking in a classic spit-take moment. "You let her go to the park! In broad daylight!?" Ritsuko asked.
"So, if anyone else saw her and recognized her..." Tohru sighed. He shook his head and snatched the blood pack from the doctor, "Fine. Whatever." He pulled the pack to his lips, but stopped. "Who's blood was it, Doctor?"
"I beg your pardon?" Toshio returned.
"Which Jinrou? Tatsumi or Yoshie?" Tohru asked.
"Who is Yoshie?" Toshio replied. He took a step back as he noticed all the Shiki reacted as if a chill ran down their back.
Tohru bit into the blood pack, draining it dry within seconds, then turned on the doctor, grabbing the older male by the collar and pushing him against the wall. "Stop playing games with us, old man!" the blonde hissed, "I heard what you said the first night you took me upstairs! I know you said were had two Jinrou somewhere else that you're using as a 'control group'. The only Jinrou any of us know are Tatsumi and Yoshie. If you don't know who she is, who else is there?"
"Tohru?" Ritsuko caught his shoulder, "Tohru, calm down!" she pleaded.
"Did it finally occur to you?" Toshio asked. He tried not to smile or act smug, wanting the blonde to think the thought had come to him naturally.
Tohru froze. His eyes widening. "N...no?" He said in a horrified whisper, letting go of Ozaki's shirt. He backed away, covering his mouth once more. "No!"
Toshio looked confused. "I don't understand, I thought you wanted your friend to come back?" He asked.
"No, not like this," Tohru sobbed, "I knew Natsuno would never be happy to know he had become one of us," Tohru sniffled, wrapping his arms around himself. "I would give anything to go back and undo what I've done to him. I loved him like he was another brother. But for him to come back, as one of THEM? God he must hate me!"
Toshio sighed and put one of his cigarettes. "Hate to break it to you, kid," he said.
"No!?" Tohru blinked, "Not his memory, too?"
"Doctor, what happened?" Ritsuko asked, placing a comforting hand on Tohru's shoulder.
"Natsuno Yuuki did indeed come back as a Jinrou, and straight to me looking to become allies," Toshio admitted.
"He's been back that long?" Tohru whimpered, rubbing at his eyes.
"He wanted me to help rid Sotoba of all Okiagari," Toshio exposited, "Claiming he was going to rid the world of every last one, including himself. This whole thing started because of his actions. For all I know, this Yoshie..." Toshio raised an eyebrow as he recalled the girl that had been visiting Tatsumi when he came back to the apartment earlier in the week. "DAMN IT!" he thought. "I don't know what happened to her. But, the last any of the villagers saw of them; Kaori said Natsuno had dynamite strapped to himself and he planned to lead Tatsumi down to the pit where all the bodies were being thrown."
In spite of himself, Tohru let out a wall of pain and anguish at this revelation. "No, no! Natsuno," the blonde whimpered, folding in on himself.
"So, Natsuno's really dead, right?" Masao asked, curiously, yet somberly.
Everyone flashed an irritated look at the lanky teenager. "Masao, must you rub salt into the wound?" Ritsuko scolded. She looked back to the doctor, "And you, you know he's been suffering, why give him more to grieve over?"
"He asked," Toshio shrugged. "Alright, Megumi," he put out his hand, come with me. We'll take a look at those photos again." Megumi quietly nodded and took Dr Ozaki's hand, letting him lead her up the stairs.
"Tohru," Ritsuko hugged him, tight, trying to comfort him.
"If it's true," Masao ventured, "It could be worse."
Ritsuko flashed the lanky dark haired teen another scolding look. "HOW could it be worse?" She asked .
"Who knows what kind of experiments Dr Ozaki's performing on the Jinrou," Masao said, "They are tougher than us, after all."
Tohru winced at the mere thought of this. The idea that Natsuno may still be among the ranks of the undead and undergoing ANY of the tortures that had befallen the Shiki only forced the blonde to convulce and son even more violently than before. Toshio had not confirmed Tohru's suspicion that Natsuno was indeed the other Jinrou, but neither had he denied it.
Meanwhile
"Here you are, Megumi," Toshio offered, passing the stack of photos to her. "You look through these, I'll go see if I can find you an ice cream or something."
Megumi smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Doctor." She began flipping through the pictures, slowly taking her time to look at them. "Why was big brother Tohru so upset?" she inquired, "Will he be ok?"
"I hope so," Toshio said, heading to the clinic's employees fridge. "Thank God the back up generators work," he muttered as he found not only ice cream in the freezer, but a couple packs of meat that would have otherwise gone rancid by this point. "I honestly didn't expect Tohru to take the need so hard. I thought knowing his best friend had come back would have cheered him up," he continued talking at a normal level, knowing Megumi could still hear him in the other room. "Though, I'm sure that bit about loving him like a brother was a blow to Masao's ego."
He returned with a bowl full of strawberry ice cream and sat it in front of her. "Here you go. Find anything yet?"
"Thank you. No, nothing yet," Megumi said, shaking her head. "Doctor, when will you give the others the cure you gave me? I'm sure they're not enjoying being down in that basement all the time."
Toshio chuckled. "That depends, Megumi," he answered, "I don't know if this is a temporary cure or a permanent one, and if it's the former, I don't know how many doses you need in order to make it permanent." He noticed the girl's hand start to tremble as she stopped and stared at the photo in her hand. "What's wrong, Megumi?"
Megumi turned the picture to show it to Toshio. "Her! This is the girl I saw at the park," she said. "I knew I thought I had seen her somewhere."
"Kaori?" Ozaki asked in surprise, "I thought Natsuno had told them both to head to the city!?"
"Well, they're here, and they were really rude," Megumi huffed, slapping the picture on the table, "She seemed so scared of me, and he... He was threatening to kill me. I... I thought you said she was my friend. What did I ever do to them!?" Her blue eyes looked up at him, almost full of tears, but their natural color had fully and clearly returned.
"The illness scares them, Megumi," Toshio told her, unaware she was the one who had bitten both the Tanaka parents, "It's not your fault, but it is something you're going to get a lot of. All the more reason I'm keeping all of you here, this way, you're safe. I'm sorry that happened to you, but I didn't think anyone who could recognize you would be around the park at that time of the day."
Megumi sighed and nodded, "I understand. I shouldn't ask to go out by myself anymore, then."
Toshio opened his mouth to tell her just to be more careful, but flinched, grabbing his head with a groan. "Doctor!? Doctor are you alright?" Megumi rushed to his side.
Toshio smiled. "I'll be ok, Megumi. It's just a headache. The caffeine must be wearing off."
"Maybe you should go lay down?" she suggested, "You've been awake for hours."
Toshio laughed, "We probably both need rest," he acknowledged, "Go on back down stairs. I'll be back to check your progress tomorrow."
Megumi nodded, bade him goodnight and returned to the basement. Toshio started for the door, but stopped. "I'm a sitting duck, either way. If I go back to the apartment to sleep, Natsuno and Tatsumi could retaliate against me, depending on what that girl has been filling their heads with. If I try to head back to my place, I'll be heading deeper into Sotoba and will be leaving myself an open target for any stragglers. If I stay here, at least they can't come up without an invitation ." He sighed and went back to the breakroom, poured himself another cup of coffee and lit another cigarette, and settled down in the breakroom. He considered letting himself sleep, but thought better of it. He was expecting humans tomorrow, survivors who were either injured or needed guidance. With the Muroi family completely wiped out or MIA, it was all on him now. He sighed, "Guess I'd better start cleaning."
He polished off his coffee, jabbed himself with another epipen, and set to work cleaning the lobby and the examination rooms. He considered asking Ritsuko to do it, while he used the breakroom couch to rest, but on of his 'live-in-patients' needed his nurse a bit more than he did at the moment. "I guess we'll never find out if they can reproduce naturally as long as I leave all four of them down there," Toshio laughed, "Tohru doesn't exactly strike me as the voyeuristic type."
Finally, in the wee hours of twighlight, his nose assaulted by medical cleansers, his head fogged with caffeen and adrenaline, and his body wracked with lack of sleep, he made his way back to the breakroom, set an alarm for three hours, turned out the light, and spread himself across the couch in attempt to sleep.
The doctor groaned as his alarm went off, he could still smell the cleaners. It made his headache worse and had some him up periodically throughout the past few hours. He poured another cup of coffee, popped two aspirin, and reached into his pocket. "Damn!" he scoffed, as he felt his empty cigarette pack crunch in his pocket. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes before he opened to the public. He dialed the apartment.
"Moshi, moshi? Jinrou -Ozaki residence," Natsuno answered.
"Natsuno? What are you doing up this early?" Toshio asked , "Did I wake you?"
"No, couldn't sleep," Natsuno replied, "Headaches and nightmares again."
"You want to meet me at the clinic and let me give you a check up?" Toshio offered.
"Unless you have a sleep aid that'll help me, I don't know what good that would do," Natsuno replied, "But, I have the feeling that's not why you called."
"It's not. I was hoping I had a few spare packs of cigarettes lying around over there, or if maybe I didn't, I could talk Tatsumi into buying me a pack and bring it over. I'm opening the clinic to the public in about 10 minutes and won't be able to leave until well after dark ," Toshio explained.
"You spend too much time at that clinic," Natsuno scolded as he looked around.
"It's a living," Toshio laughed.
"Yeah, I found a pack of cigarettes here on the kitchen counter. I'll bring them to you," Natsuno offered.
"Thanks, just come on in and find me when you get here," Toshio invited.
"Alright, see you soon," Natsuno replied. The both bade their farewells and hung up. Natsuno left a note letting Tatsumi know where he was going and headed out.
"Oh, Natsuno, I didn't expect you to be up so early," Yoshie said, meeting him in the hall, "Where are you off to?"
Natsuno held up the pack of cigarettes and shookit. "Special delivery for the doc."
"By yourself? That could be dangerous. I was just about to go for my morning jog, mind if I join you?"
"That could be dangerous, too," Natsuno snarked. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure how much of what Yoshii had told him yesterday was truth, and how much was crazy talk. Nor was he certain how much of what Toshio had told him and Tatsumi was true, either.
"Awe, c'mon, big guy," she giggled, "I promise I won't bite. Well, not unless you ask me to," she winked.
Natsuno sighed, "Alright, I suppose I could use the company."
Meanwhile
"Doctor Ozaki, is it true? " Kaori asked meekly.
Toshio sighed, "Is what true, Kaori?"
"We saw Megumi in the park yesterday, we're certain of it!" Akira blurted out.
"We waited all night in the park, but never saw anyone else we recognized as one of those monsters," Kaori admitted, "But... It was still daylight when we saw Megumi. How is that possible? Natsuno told us you were working with him to get rid of them! But there's a rumour that you have some of them here in the clinic?"
"Is it true, did you really save some of those monsters?" Akira insisted, "What about Natsuno-Nii-San!? Is he still alive!?"
"And why did we see Megumi!?" Kaori persisted, "I heard she was killed!"
Toshio sighed and rubbed his forehead. These kids were making his headache worse. "If I tell you two the truth, can you keep a secret?" he asked.
"That depends on the secret," they both answered.
Toshio smirked. He wondered, how would the Shiki react to humans entering their domain? Ritsuko had proven she wouldn't attack anyone, but Tohru and Masao, would they attack on instincts, or would Toshio's well-timed controlled feed is have curbed that desire, taking the farel beasts and turning them into timid house cats?
The scientific curiosity was enough to push back the headache, for the time being. "Alright, if you guys REALLY want to know what the rumour's about, come back here tonight, after dark. Meet me in the basement." Toshio pointed in the direction of the stairs. "Just through that door. But remember, it's a secret, no one else needs to know you're here. Got it?" The Tanaka siblings exchanged quiet, curious looks for a moment, looked back Dr Ozaki, and have him a quiet nod. Toshio smiled, "Good, see you tonight then."
The Tanaka siblings started for the door and Toshio heaved a sigh, thinking he might at least get a few minutes peace before his next appointment, when suddenly.
"Natsuno!? Is that really you!?" Kaori exclaimed as the violet haired teenager entered the building.
"Hey, Doc, I got those cigarettes you asked for. Whoa!?" Natsuno staggered, covering his nose, "Still haven't gotten rid of that day problem?"
"My nose is too full of cleaning agents to notice," Toshio replied holding out his hand for Natsuno to toss him the pack of cigarettes. He lit one up almost immediately and took a long, hard drag off it. "Oh, THAT hit the spot," he sighed as his headache slowly dissipated. "Thank you, Nat..." The doctor blinked and tried to choke back the laugh that wanted to escape him.
"It really is you! We thought we'd never see you again!" Kaori exclaimed , she and Akira both pouncing Natsuno and hugging his neck.
"What the...?" Natsuno asked, confusidly.
"Do you not recognize either of them?" Toshio asked, failing to hold back his chuckle any longer.
"Should I?" Natsuno asked, trying to wiggle free.
"What!?" Kaori gasped, taking a step back, her face sweeping a light shade of red.
"Natsuno-Nii-San, do you really not remember us?" Akira whimpered, slowly letting himself fall from his hero's neck.
Natsuno looked at both of them, quietly for a moment. Just as he was about to apologize and tell them no, he didn't recognize either of them, another headache hit him. "Ahg..." He grabbed his head and staggered.
"Natsuno!?" Toshio and Kaori both exclaimed, rushing to his side.
"Nii-San!?" Akira whimpered, "Doctor, what's wrong with Nii-San?"
Toshio checked Natsuno's pulse, looked closely at his eyes, looking for any dilation of the pupils. "Natsuno? Your blood pressure and pulse rate seem normal. Are you feeling discomfort anywhere else? "
"No," Natsuno grunted.
"Doctor, what's wrong with him?" Kaori pressed again, her voice riddled with worry, her eyes stinging with the threat of tears. "Why doesn't he recognize us? Why is he in pain?"
"If I knew that, I would have cured him by now!" Toshio snipped. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, Kaori. I don't mean to snap, I've been having headaches of my own, due to lack of sleep." He made his way toward the medical cabinet and pulled out an instant cold pack. Activating the cold pack, he placed it on Natsuno's forehead. "Natsuno was way too close to the explosion," Toshio explained.
"Too close?" Akira asked, "Of course he was! The dynamite was strapped to his chest!"
"As you can see, he survived," Toshio said, staring down the boy, "But every time he tried to remember anything, he suffers crippling headaches. Apparently, he's been having nightmares again, too."
"Agian!?" the Tanaka siblings worried.
"I don't know how well he slept before he started hunting the Okiagari," Kaori exposited, "But he did tell me he had been having trouble ale for a while. I think after he was bitten... Those last four nights were the best sleep he'd had."
Toshio turned his eyes to Kaori. He didn't exactly feel comfortable with these things being discussed in front of Natsuno in such a manner.
"Ugh...? Kaori? ... Akira?" Natsuno groaned, as his headache began to subside.
"Natsuno?" Kaori called.
"Nii-San? Do you remember us now?" Akira asked, hopefully.
"Tch! What the Hell are you two still doing here?" Natsuno scolded, "Didn't I tell you two to book it back to the city!?"
"Natsuno! Nii-Chan!" they both exclaimed, simultaneously throwing their arms around him.
"We actually did try, this time," Akira said.
"But all exits to the city are blocked, so we're staying here with some relatives," Kaori explained.
"Well, at least you guys are safe," Natsuno sighed.
"Well, it seems your unexpected timing has made some headway," Toshio chuckled. "Natsuno, if you think you're well enough, I'll take some more blood samples for testing while you're here, and you can go spend some time in town with your friends for a while," the doctor offered.
"Yeah, sure," Natsuno agreed.
Toshio lead Natsuno into one of the examination rooms, took some blood samples, and let the kids go for the afternoon.
"Hey, where'd she go?" Natsuno asked, as he and the Tanaka siblings walked out of the clinic.
"Huh? Who?" Akira asked .
"A friend of yours?" Kaori asked.
"I'm not really sure," Natsuno admitted, "She lives down the hall from where we're staying. She says she knows me. But, she doesn't trust the doctor, so she said she'd wait outside."
"Maybe she got tired of waiting and went home, " Akira suggested.
"Maybe," Natsuno shrugged, "I was hoping to introduced you to her, maybe you guys would have known her."
"What's her name?" Kaori asked, cautiously curious.
"Yoshii," Natsuno answered.
"I don't know the name," Akira said , "Ne, Kaori, was she one of your classmates?"
Kaori shook her head, "The name doesn't ring a bell," she admitted. "But, any friend of Natsuno's... As rare as that is," she giggled, "I'd love to meet her."
Toshio finished with his last patients for the day and started clean up. If the Tanaka siblings we're truly curious about Megumi and the Shiki, they would be along shortly. He left both the entrance door and the door to the basement unlocked, he had, after all, told the kids to meet him there. Meanwhile, however, he returned to employees lounge for another cup of coffee, and any shut eye he could get before they arrived.
"Wow, this place is apply after dark," Kaori acknowledged as she and her brother approached the building.
"I wonder what Doctor Ozaki wants to show us in the basement?" Akira pondered aloud.
"Only one way to find out," Kaori ventured. "Do you think we should have told Natsuno we were coming, tonight?"
"Nah, Doctor Ozaki said not to let anyone know we were coming," Akira said.
"That's what worries me," Kaori said, reaching into her pocket and pushing something into her brother's hand, "That's why I brought these. Keep it hidden unless we need it, though. We don't want Doctor Ozaki to know we're suspicious." Akira nodded and tucked the silver cross into his pocket.
The siblings steeled themselves for what may come and entered the clinic. "Hello?" Akira called.
"Doctor? We're here," Kaori announced.
"You think he's already down stairs?" Akira asked, " That is where he said to meet him.
The siblings opened the basement door. "Doctor Ozaki?" Kaori called, as she and her brother made their way down the stairs, "Are you down her... Kyah!"