Chapter 2.
27 February, 1998
11: 35 PM
Crayola blue splashes lit up the dark walls of the alleyway. Figures dressed in lumpy raincoats muttered to each other as they shook their heads. Beyond them, a rolling cot was raised to its upright position, shaking its burden, hidden by a crimson-stained sheet.
Aya ran the events though his mind as he followed Ken's motorcycle. Had that man really been there? Had he really offered to save his sister? Was that even possible? No. You can't change the past. All there was now was revenge.
He parked in a daze, and sighed at the soaked interior of the car. Ken waited for him with a flashlight in his hand. The street was dark but for the dim light from the windows of the house.
"It's a crazy night, Aya." Ken shrugged. Aya didn't answer him, just following him to the door. They stepped in, dripping water.
"We're back!" Ken called, taking off his raincoat.
"You found him?" Omi hopped off the couch, dragging a small blanket with him, wrapped around his shoulders.
"I did. Unconscious in the street." Ken nodded.
"Drinking, Aya?" Youji teased, leaning over the back of the couch. Aya glared at him.
"What happened, Aya-kun?" Omi asked, looking at his sopping wet clothes.
"I'm not sure." Aya stepped past him.
"Not sure?" Youji stood up, folding his arms and tilting his head. "Not sure how you ended up unconscious in the street? This I gotta hear."
Aya glared at him again. "I don't want to talk about it."
"But, Aya-kun," Omi said worriedly. "We were really worried. Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Aya stepped down the hallway to his room.
"And there he goes." Youji sighed.
"Something funky must have happened." Ken folded his arms. "He had his katana out, and he asked about a body laying on the hood of his car."
"There was a body?" Omi stared at him.
"No, there wasn't." Ken looked to him seriously.
"Hmm." Youji tapped his lips with a finger. "I know what I need here."
"What, Youji-kun?" Omi asked.
"I need a smoke, and badly." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Omi glowered at him.
"I'm going to put on some dry clothes." Ken slicked water out of his hair at the younger boy.
"Hey!" Omi protested with a smile.
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Ken stepped into the shower, dropping his wet clothes in the hamper, grateful that at least the water worked. He let the hot water flow down his head as he leaned his hands and forehead against the wall. Aya unconscious in the street, looking like he'd lost a fight.
Omi being attacked by a mini-monster in his bedroom. The power out with the mother of all storms outside. It was like a nightmare, or a horror movie.
He let the water splash on his face, squeezing his eyes shut. It's not Friday the 13th. It's not Halloween. This isn't some cheap horror flick. And if it is, I wonder if I'm getting paid for my part.
He shampooed his hair, grumbling. He finished washing and stepped into the light of the candle on the sink. Lightning flashed through the window, and he sighed. He redressed, feeling much better and refreshed. Toweling his hair dry, he grabbed his CD player and stepped back out.
"Hey," he called. "Let's play some music. I don't think anyone is going to be sleeping."
No one answered him.
Blinking, he stepped down the hallway. "Youji? Omi?"
From where he was, he could see the front door was open, rain trailing in with the wind.
"You just had to have a smoke." Ken sighed, placing the CD Player on the table, and went to close the door.
"Youji..." He stopped to find no one standing outside. Frowning, he closed the door.
"Now why was the door open?" he muttered to himself, turning to the living room. What greeted his eyes sent him staggering back against the door. Youji was in front of the couch, two feet off the ground, hanging in midair, upright. He had his hands to his throat, kicking, as he slowly rotated.
"Holy shit!" Ken rushed forward and grabbed his legs, holding him up.
"Ken!" Youji choked, rasping for breath with a panicked look on his face.
"What the hell?" Ken demanded. Eyes widening, he looked around the room. They were alone. How had this happened?
"Aya!" he screamed. "AYA!!"
Youji was straining for air, and Ken kept trying to hold him up, to alleviate the weight of Youji's own body.
"AYA! God dammit!"
He could only listen to Youji wheeze as he waited for a response.
"AYA!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He heard a door slam open and Aya ran out in a towel, dripping water. His katana was in his hand, and he took in the scene quickly, eyes wide.
"Hurry! Get a chair! Something!" Ken yelled. Aya grabbed a table chair and shoved it under Youji's feet, who stepped onto it quickly, feet scrabbling for purchase. Ken shoved the couch over and climbed up onto the back, balancing carefully. He finally saw what he suspected. Youji's wire was wrapped around the light fixture for the room, and then around the tall blonde's neck.
"Aya, your katana!" he called, and Aya handed it to him. Ken drew his arm back and cut the wire in two. Youji crumpled so fast he would have fallen off the chair and hit the floor if Aya hadn't caught him. Aya quickly unwound the wire from Youji's throat and Youji started coughing and gasping wildly.
"Youji, what happened?" Ken demanded, hopping off the couch, leaning the katana against the back of it.
"Knock at the door," Youji rasped, coughing. "Man in cloak."
"Man in a cloak?!" Aya demanded, grabbing Youji by the front of his shirt.
"Let go of him, Aya!" Ken shoved Aya away with his shoulder, and Aya glared at him, eyes icy cold. Youji sat up, holding his bleeding throat with one hand and taking deep breaths as he recovered his ability to breathe.
"Youji, where's Omi?" Ken demanded.
Youji looked at him in shock, then pointed toward the hallway. "Told him...to get you..."
Ken and Aya looked at the hallway, then to each other. "Oh shit."
Aya pulled Youji to his feet and they stepped back toward the hallway. Ken grabbed the flashlight, and opened the hallway closet first. He spotted a baseball bat in it and grabbed it for an extra weapon. Since his own door was next, he pushed it open slowly with the bat. He flashed the light around, seeing nothing unusual. Besides the growing pile of laundry. He looked back to the others and shook his head, closing the door.
Next was Youji's room across the hall. Ken pushed open the door again, shining the light around. The light stopped on a figure sitting on Youji's bed.
"Freeze! Right there, buddy!" Ken yelled. The figure didn't move. The flashlight lit up copper hair and Omi's white T-shirt.
"Omi?" Ken asked. The boy was facing away from them, facing the head of Youji's bed, and the wall.
"Omi?" Aya asked quietly. "Answer me."
The boy still didn't move and Ken slowly stepped forward. He stepped around the side of the bed, looking at Omi's face. The boy's eyes were wide open, staring at the wall. Ken followed his gaze. Written in small streaks of something dark over the headboard were letters in no language Ken understood. He stared at the letters, feeling his breathing quicken.
"Omi, I'm going to touch your shoulder," Ken said carefully. He reached out and slowly gripped Omi's shoulder. When Omi didn't react, Ken pulled him toward himself, and Omi fell toward his direction. He pulled Omi off the bed and gathered him up in his arms, then backed out of the room. They moved back into the kitchen, and put the boy down on the table. Omi kept staring straight up at the light.
"Omi, wake up," Ken said worriedly. "Blink, do something."
Youji took one of the boy's hands and held it up, looking at the others. Blood smeared Omi's fingertips.
"What happened to him?" Ken asked in a whisper.
"Ken, get the first aid kit. Youji, the man in the cloak," Aya started giving orders. "What did he do? Where did he go?"
Youji put down Omi's hand and clenched his fists. "There was a knock at the door, and I answered it. There was a man in a cloak. He said he wanted to see the One. Who the hell is the One? Anyway, I told him he was at the wrong house, and he said he wasn't, and pushed the door open. That's when I sent Omi after you guys. I told the guy to get out, and he...he..."
They waited for Youji to collect himself.
"He said he could bring Asuka back to me." Youji buried his face in his hands. "God, Asuka...Asuka, she was right there, I could touch her, feel her...."
Aya's hand trembled. "He asked you what you were willing to pay?"
Youji stared at him, but Aya's gaze revealed nothing.
"What did he offer you, Aya?" Youji's expression hardened. "What took you so long to come home and to come out of your room when Ken was calling?"
Aya rose to his feet, and looked away from Youji, turning his back on the irate assassin.
"You want to know why I was laying in the street? Because a man in a hooded cloak dropped the body of a dead child onto the hood of my car, and he offered to make my life the way it was. Before Takatori killed my parents and put my sister into a coma."
Youji and Ken stared at his back. It was the longest speech they'd ever heard out of the brooding redhead.
"But you can't change the past." Aya turned to face them, face cold as ever. "You can only mold the future."
"You turned him down." Youji stared at him. Aya moved his gaze away from Youji's face to his shoulder, unwilling to meet his gaze.
"I...I said no, too." Youji wrung his hands, turning his own gaze down at the table.
"Why?" Ken asked, opening the first aid kit next to Omi on the table.
"It's it obvious, Kenken?" Youji asked. "Can't you figure out who this man is? Offering all you could ever want, in exchange for something?"
Ken just blinked at him. Youji stood up and lit a cigarette, hands shaking. "Temptation, Ken."
Aya looked up. "You're not serious."
Youji took a deep drag and looked at Aya, blowing a long stream of smoke out. "Am I the only one who paid attention in Sunday School?"
"You're saying this guy is the devil?" Ken gasped. Youji took another puff.
"I think I understand temptation, Ken," he said lowly. "I often can't resist it. And a stranger on a stormy night with eyes like coals is not your average visitor."
"But that's impossible!" Ken snapped, tearing open a package of gauze. "The devil is running around Tokyo, picking on us?"
"Who do you think deserves his attention as much, Ken?" Youji slammed his hand down on the table. "Do you think we're going to go to heaven? Remember the commandments? Thou shalt not kill, Ken! How many times have we broken that commandment?"
Ken stared at him in horror, crushing the square piece of gauze into a small ball.
"And now it's our turn," Aya said lowly. "He's come to collect his due."
"Ahh, hell no!" Ken stood up in anger. "I'm not going to just accept the devil coming for our souls! He can't have mine without a fight!"
They all turned to hear Omi mumble and blink.
"Omi?" Ken asked as Omi blinked again and looked around himself, then sat up slowly.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around dazed.
"You tell us." Ken frowned. "I came out of the shower to find Youji hung, and then you were sitting on Youji's bed, staring at letters on the wall."
"Youji hung?" Omi stared at Youji. Youji looked at the boy and lifted his chin, showing the blood-filled lines marking his neck. Then the lights flickered back on and everyone looked around the room.
"Well, that's a relief, I guess," Ken sighed.
"Let's clean everyone up." Aya reached for the first aid kit.
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Wounds were dressed and the TV was turned back on for background noise.
"Sixteen inches of rain over Tokyo," the anchor bravely continued to report the news. "We can expect this storm to stay with us for the next two days."
"Great," Ken sighed, glancing out the window.
"Flood warnings are in effect for all of Tokyo, and citizens are advised to stay in their homes."
"No sane man would be out there." Youji rubbed his arms as if he were cold. "Only Aya."
Aya frowned from bandaging Omi's fingers. He had redressed, taking Youji with him, having decided no one would be left alone at any time.
"I guess that means no school tomorrow," Omi sighed.
"Heh, vacation." Ken snickered. "We won't be opening the shop either."
"If Manx or Birman show up with a mission in all of this..." Youji trailed off.
"I don't think even the bad guys would be operating in this." Omi looked at the window.
"This whole night is freaky." Ken folded his arms. "I mean, the devil, monsters, an' the other stuff. I should think we would be high-tailing it for a hotel somewhere."
"We're perfectly fine here, Ken," Aya said boredly. "Hotels cost, and what makes you think he wouldn't follow?"
"Well, hell, we got a fight on our hands, and we're not even preparing for it!" Ken snapped, flinging his arms down at his sides.
"Tell us how to prepare for it." Aya looked to him. Ken opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, realizing he had no idea. Aya nodded at him, and went to put the first aid kit away.
"Crap." Ken pouted. "I can't take just sitting here and waiting for something to happen."
Omi looked up at him from his chair. "Ken-kun, I have to go to the bathroom."
Ken sighed. "Okay. Use mine."
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Youji stared at the TV as he heard Aya move around in the kitchen.
"You know, Ken's right," he said.
Aya stepped out of the kitchen with a knife and an apple, peeling it. "You have suggestions?"
"I want to get something from my room, come with me."
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Youji turned on the lights to his room, looking briefly at the obscure writing on the wall.
"Do you think Omi actually wrote that?" Aya asked, looking at it as Youji opened his dresser.
"I'd say no, but his fingers were bleeding," Youji sighed, pulling a book from a drawer.
"What does it mean?" Aya asked quietly.
"How should I know?" Youji asked. "It's gibberish."
He stepped over, tucking the book tightly under his arm.
"And what's that?"
Youji paused next to Aya, and turned to look down at his face. "It's the Bible, Aya. What's better to fight the devil?"
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"What does it say?" Youji asked the confused, copper-haired boy who once again stared at the symbols on the wall.
Omi blinked at it. "I don't know."
"But you wrote it," Aya said quietly.
"I didn't write that." Omi shook his head, still staring at the lettering.
"Then who did?"
Omi turned to look at them, blue eyes luminous. "I don't know."
"But you were staring at it."
Omi looked back at the letters. "All I remember was running back to get Ken-kun. When I got to his door, the next thing I knew I was lying on the table."
Everyone gave each other glances, wondering if the others had an explanation. The same confused look was returned. Omi set his lip, looking back from the letters to the others. "I didn't write that."
"It wasn't the man in the hood," Youji said quietly. "He was busy hanging me."
"Then there's something else as well?" Ken asked. "Great!"
Omi looked to him, a touch of fear in his face. Noticing the look, Aya spoke up.
"Ken, getting angry won't help."
Ken raised an eyebrow, unused to Aya trying to calm him down. It was usually Omi's job. But looking at the boy indicated he was not thinking about calming anyone down at the moment.
"It's Latin or something," Youji said suddenly. "The language priests use in prayer. It must be."
"Anyone happen to have a priest handy?" Ken asked dourly, then bit his lip, knowing it wasn't helping.
"Omi, can you translate it on your computer?" Aya asked.
"I'll try," Omi said quietly, lowering his gaze to the floor.
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Omi scribbled the words down on paper and they moved into his room. He scanned the paper in, and set about to have it analyzed.
"Hmm." Omi slowly looked back over his shoulder after a bit of work. "I got news."
"What?" the other three asked eagerly.
"It's not Latin."
"Then what is it?"
"The computer doesn't recognize it. It's not any known language in any country."
"Did you try it backwards?" Youji asked.
"Of course, Youji!"
The others blinked at the sudden show of temper, and Omi turned his gaze away guiltily.
"Gomen nasai," he said quietly.
