Chapter 6.
28 February, 1998
5:30 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.
"Youji-kun!"
Aya paused to hear Omi's gentle scolding tone as the boy walked ahead of him. Ken had handed over guardian duties to the redhead, then gone off to rewrap his wrists. Aya's head wounds were seeping blood again, and Omi had insisted they be wrapped. Aya had also finally gotten him to change back into his regular clothes and out of the priest's outfit.
Youji looked back boredly over the back of the couch, cigarette in hand. "Omi-kun!" he mimicked in response.
Omi put his fists on his hips and stomped forward toward the couch.
"Nuh-uh." Youji lifted his free hand in the international sign for 'stop'. "Even you aren't stopping me this time, Omittchi. Ne, you don't want me to go outside."
Omi frowned at him, still holding his scolding posture. Youji stood up, and came around the couch to face him. Looking down at the boy, he put his hands on his own hips.
"I'm gonna smoke, and I'm gonna smoke the whole pack after this one."
As if to prove his statement, he stood up straight and took a long drag.
"I'm going to be smoking when the devil shows his ugly face, and I'm going to be smoking when it's over," he 'hmphed', blowing out smoke. "I dare you to stop me."
Aya let out his breath in an exasperated sigh and walked over toward the kitchen, pausing to see Youji's bible still on the table. His hand reached out slowly toward it, as if afraid he would be burned.
"Really?" Omi arched an eyebrow, assuming the look of a skeptic, stepping forward nearly chest to chest with the man.
"What are you gonna do, squirt?" Youji asked in challenge, and sucked on the cigarette to show his lack of concern.
Having known Youji long enough, Omi knew where to reach into Youji's outer coat. He found the inner pocket, seizing and withdrawing the pack of cigarettes before Youji knew how to react to the grab.
"Hey!" Youji grabbed for the pack, but Omi was already running through Ken's door, holding the cigarettes aloft.
"Come back here with those!" Youji took after him in a huff, making Aya pause before his fingers touched the book on the table. Glad no one had seen his actions, he crossed his arms and turned away from the book on the table. He listened to Ken's cry of surprise, Omi's squeal of triumph, the sound of the toilet flushing, and Youji shrieking in denial.
He almost smiled to hear everyone sounding almost normal again. For how much longer?
Aya glanced at his watch. How much longer do we have? If we keep Omi safe until the devil's time is up, then it's all over
He blinked to feel something roll down between his eyes and wiped at it to find blood on his fingers.
And what is this about? He rubbed his fingers together, smearing the blood across them. What good does this do? All we do is bleed. It doesn't feel like God at all
He closed his eyes, again seeing that plaster face looking up at the light. Please. Please, if you're listening to me at all, help us
It was the closest to a prayer that had even crossed his mind since the bombing that took his parents. He turned to hear Youji stepping back into the living room, muttering and clutching the lit cigarette.
"He flushed them!" Youji groaned. "The whole pack!"
"Good." Aya looked at him indifferently. Green eyes icing over, Youji stepped forward and grabbed Aya by the front of his shirt.
"Aya, if I can't smoke, I'm going to go crazy," he said through clenched teeth. "This is my outlet, Aya. Ken has his soccer, Omi has his computer, and you..."
Youji stared at empty, icy, lavender eyes, then let go of his teammate with a sigh.
"And you, you just don't feel anything." He turned away, trying to draw out the last of his cigarette. "You just don't give a damn, do you, Aya?"
~ What a miracle is life
the fields are high
and the fruit is ripe ~
Aya blinked at Youji's back, then looked around, trying to figure out where the echoing singing was coming from.
~ So hold out your hands, yeah
hold out your hands ~
Youji was still looking away from him, waiting for a response, while Aya's eyes darted around, head turning, seeking the singer.
~ You're the same as me
you breathe the air I breathe ~
Aya grabbed Youji's shoulder, whirling him around, trying to catch the man's lips moving. Youji simply stared back at him in shock.
~ And we don't understand, yeah
we don't understand ~
"Do you hear that?" Aya demanded, looking up and around. Youji's eyes followed, body going tense.
"Hear what?" he breathed quietly.
~ If you don't ask questions
then you won't know why ~
"That!" Aya hissed, voice dropping into a whisper, following Youji's whisper.
"I didn't hear anything."
"You can't hear the singing?"
Youji blinked at him, stepping back. "You're hearing singing?"
~ So say a prayer for the dying
while there's still time ~
Aya's eyes widened, and he pushed past Youji, running for Ken's room. He burst in to see Ken and Omi look up from Ken's radio clock. Aya stepped forward, ignoring their surprised looks and grabbed the radio from Ken's hand.
"And so Osaka walked away with this one," the voice on the radio announced.
"That's really got to be a blow to the hometeam," answered another voice on the radio.
"Blow is right." Ken sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "How could they lose?"
Omi stared at Aya, who was blinking at the radio. "We were just listening to the soccer scores, Aya-kun."
Aya looked to him finally, and slowly handed the radio back over to Ken.
"Is something wrong, Aya-kun?" Omi asked worriedly. Aya swallowed and looked away from the concerned stares.
"Aya-kun is hearing voices," Youji said from the doorway, trying to smoke the very filter of the cigarette. Aya glared at him, and Youji shrugged off the look.
"What do they say?"
Aya didn't look back, shaking his head. "I must have just heard the radio."
"Ahh, but there's no singing on the radio right now, Aya-kun." Youji winked at Omi.
"They were singing?"
Aya closed his eyes, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. He entertained the thought of sitting on Youji's chest while throttling him.
"It must have been nothing." Aya unclenched his fists and walked to the door, stopping to look at Youji, who stepped aside to let him pass. Youji gave him a look that said 'what?' and Aya shook his head, stepping past him.
"Youji-kun, when did Manx say she was coming?" Omi asked as Ken glared at his soccer cleats.
"She said the streets are flooded, so it might take about half an hour." Youji hissed as the filter burned his fingers and he dropped it on the floor, stomping on it.
"Good, I better go bandage up Aya-kun's head like I planned to." Omi flushed in embarrassment at having forgotten.
"You do that, and pull the bandages tight." Youji nodded.
"Youji-kun, you really need to start thinking of his feelings too," Omi scolded gently.
"I would, if he had any," Youji snorted. Omi frowned at him, and hurried past, after Aya. Youji looked back at Ken, who looked very downtrodden.
"You look like someone ran over your cat, Ken."
"More like my soccer ball." Ken sighed and fell backwards onto his bed. "If I'd been there, I'm sure they would have won."
"No modesty here." Youji grinned and ducked the pillow Ken threw at him.
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Omi bandaged Aya's head as the redhead sat quietly, waiting patiently.
He's really taking this hard Omi thought as he tucked the bandage into itself. But then again, he spends more time in thought than all of us.
"Done." He grinned and stepped back from the redhead, who merely nodded in assent. He watched Aya's eyes fall on the bible on the table, and looked at it himself for a moment.
I'm sorry if I'm the cause of all this, Omi thought as he watched Aya's face, expressionless in thought. I'd stop it if I knew how.
"Aya-kun." He sat down in the chair across from the redhead. "In about six hours, it will be technically my birthday. So when tomorrow is over, then his time should be over, right? Just thirty more hours?"
Aya's eyes lifted to look at him. Omi tried to smile at him to lift his spirits.
"We can hope."
"Ne, the priest said he had a time limit, and if he's killing the leap year babies, then the right time has to revolve around the leap year day, right?"
Aya watched him, waiting for him to go on.
"And if he killed three today, then he's getting more desperate to find the right one in time," Omi tried to explain. "I mean, there can't be that many people born on February twenty-ninth."
Aya just looked at him with deep lilac eyes.
"Ne, Aya-kun, you can speak your thoughts aloud."
"It's nothing." Aya looked away to the window.
Omi frowned at the side of Aya's face as the other intently watched the rain-soaked window.
He just refuses to open up Omi thought sadly. He has to do it on his own
"Ne." Omi stood up, stretching. "I'm going to check to see if water is flooding the flower shop."
Aya didn't turn away from the window.
"Okay," Omi sighed. "That's where I'll be."
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Youji frowned at Ken's confession as the brunette picked at the bandages on his wrists.
"Why would Aya insist you not tell him?"
Ken turned to look at him, lifting his hand to his forehead, scratching. "He said Omi has enough to worry about. But Omi needs to know that he's the one in danger here. Or he'd do a fool thing like step forward to protect us. You know he would."
"Oh God," Youji sighed, rubbing his lower lip with the side of a finger. "Aya got his logic out of a crackerjack box."
"So we tell him?" Ken asked hopefully, leaning forward with his hands on the bed to look at Youji's face.
"We need to." Youji stood up and Ken followed, glad to finally get the secret out.
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Stepping into the living room, they saw Aya at the table, looking intently through the pages of the bible.
"Aya?" Ken asked, and Aya slammed the book shut, looking quickly over his shoulder.
Hmmm, Youji thought in amusement.
"Where's Omi?" Ken ignored the book, looking around.
"He went to check if the flower shop flooded."
"You let him go alone?!" Ken demanded, and ran for the door to the flower shop downstairs, slamming it open, calling Omi's name.
"You're brilliant, you know," Youji said quietly. "Omi's the one in danger, so let's hide that fact from him, so he doesn't know that being foolhardy could cost us all."
"Don't patronize me, Youji." Aya's voice dripped ice. "All we have to do is keep him safe. He doesn't have to know."
"Safe, yes," Youji continued. "So let's send him down into a flower shop that faces the street alone."
Aya was up out of the chair faster than Youji could comprehend, and he lost the ability to breathe as all the air was forced out of his lungs from the fist to his stomach. He clutched at his stomach, gasping and backing away from the deadly stare on Aya's face.
"You are not my conscience." Each word was so cold it seemed to crackle like ice. Youji dropped to his knees, trying to regain his breath as Aya stepped toward the door to the flower shop.
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"Omi?" Ken looked around the dim flower shop. Only the fluorescent lights in the refrigerated units keeping flowers fresh cast a small glow. Water splashed around his feet as he walked further into the shop. He heard a small whimpering noise and water sloshed as he turned for the source. A thin layer of water coated the floor, having seeped in under the outer door on the front of the shop.
"Omi?" Ken fumbled for the light switch. He heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Aya coming slowly down the stairs, looking around.
"Where is he?" Aya asked quietly. Ken's fingers found the light switch, bathing the shop in light. Ken waited for his eyes to readjust.
"Omi?" he glanced around, not seeing the boy anywhere.
"Omi." Aya's feet splashed across the floor as he joined the search. They heard the small whimper again and looked toward the back of the shop, near the utilities closet.
"Omi, is that you?" Ken asked in concern as he stepped over.
"Ken." Aya grabbed his arm, looking down, and Ken followed his gaze, one foot still lifted, to see the red stains in the water creeping toward them.
Ken jerked out of Aya's hold, hurrying toward the back of the shop, splashing reddish water on the bottoms of his jeans. Near a rack of young plants lay a small body in a black jacket with red sneakers, curled up on its side in a ball. Red colored the water around the body like a leaking aura. Ken dropped to one knee in the water, reaching out toward a shuddering shoulder. The body flinched under the touch.
"Omi, it's just me," he said gently. A golden head appeared from its tucked state and tear-filled blue eyes lifted to look at him, pink-stained water dripping from the side of his head that had rested in the water.
"What happened?" Aya knelt down next to Ken, hand coming to rest on Omi's ribs.
"It was my turn," Omi whispered.
