Author's Notes: The conversations between Seishirou and the Tree in this part are written proof that I should never, never, ever attempt to write something serious at night after having worked an eight-hour day.

Part Four

Subaru's head ached, and he was aware that something was slowly dripping down the back of his neck. Puzzled, he pried his eyelids open and peered around. Slowly, his hands trembling, he lifted his hand to his neck. It came away covered with blood.

Subaru drew in a shaking breath.

He forced himself to stop, think, and relax. There had been men in his house -- three of them, or somewhere thereabouts. One of them had been carrying Mitsuki; another had been struggling with the children.

Mitsuki was no faint-hearted flower. Subaru cringed at the thought of what they might have done to her. Then again, they had disabled him pretty effectively, too.

He sat up. This, naturally, was a mistake. The world lurched to one side. Subaru shut his eyes tightly and concentrated very hard on not being sick.

After a minute, his stomach settled back into place and he looked around the room. It was empty except for himself.

All right. This was a kidnapping, not a murder or a theft.

He wobbled his way to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall, staring at the blood splashed liberally across the room and wondering how much of it was his own.

There was a note sitting in the middle of the table.

Subaru picked it up and read it carefully. Then he dropped it, wilting back against the wall and nearly blacking out from panic alone.

Without even thinking, he reached for the phone.

****

Hokuto spent most of lunch talking about her honeymoon and the married life. It wasn't until she and Seishirou had settled down with their after-lunch tea that she gave Seishirou a sly smile and said, "So how're things with my brother, hm?"

"Fine," Seishirou answered, trying to sound noncommittal.

"Just fine? I'll have to work on that . . ."

"Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said severely, "whatever you're planning, please don't do it. You'll only make things worse."

She giggled, which made Seishirou very, very nervous.

Then she frowned as there was a shrill ring from her purse. "Gomen, Sei-chan," she said, pulling out her cell phone. "D'you mind?"

"No, go ahead," Seishirou said, sipping his tea.

"Moshi moshi," Hokuto said, putting the phone to her ear. "Oh, Subaru-chan . . . what?! . . . okay, wait a second. Subaru. Take deep breaths. You're not making any sense."

Seishirou inched forward, giving Hokuto a questioning look.

"Hysterics over? . . . Okay. Now tell me what happened."

Long pause. Hokuto's eyes were growing wider by the second.

"Oh no . . ." she breathed after a minute. Then, "Subaru, stay where you are. Don't go anywhere. I'll be over in five minutes. Okay? . . . Yeah. Just hold on." She jabbed at the button on the phone and dug in her purse, throwing a few bills on the table.

"What's going on?" Seishirou asked, trying not to sound as anxious as he was.

She paused, then said quickly, "Come with me; I'll explain on the way."

****

Hokuto stopped short at the sight of all the blood and her brother sitting dazedly on the floor in the middle of the room. Seishirou, far more used to such sights, strode past her and knelt next to Subaru. "Subaru-kun?"

Subaru's eyes flickered to him. "Why . . . why are you here?"

"I was having lunch with your sister and I came with her." Seishirou put his hand on the side of Subaru's face and turned it to see where the blood on Subaru's neck had come from.

"How bad is it?" Subaru's voice trembled a little.

Seishirou pushed the hair aside. "Not too bad," he reported. "It's bleeding a lot, but it's shallow. Hokuto-chan, could you get some hot water and a washcloth?"

Hokuto nodded and hurried out of the room. She was looking a little green.

Seishirou scanned the room. It looked like it was the kids' bedroom, if the two beds and identical toychests were any indication. He picked up a blanket and wrapped it around Subaru's shoulders.

"I'll get blood on it," Subaru protested faintly.

"You're freezing, Subaru-kun. You're going into shock. You can buy new blankets."

Subaru paused, then nodded a tiny bit.

"Can I see the note?" Seishirou asked.

"It's on the table," Subaru replied.

Seishirou picked it up and scanned it, then winced. This was not good.

Hokuto bustled back in with hot water, a dishtowel, and some antiseptic. Seishirou took it from her and cleaned the wound on the back of Subaru's head.

"Wonder what they hit me with," Subaru said vaguely.

Seishirou's guess, offhand, was a wrench or crowbar, but he didn't see any reason to actually say that. He pressed the dishtowel against the back of Subaru's head. "Hold that there, okay? The bleeding should stop fairly soon."

Subaru nodded again.

Hokuto picked up the note and read through it. "No police," she said flatly when she got to that part. "I think we should probably call them anyway."

"No!" Subaru's eyes widened with panic. "No, if we do, they'll k-ki . . . they'll . . . no . . ."

Hokuto's face fell and she wrapped her arms around her brother. "Okay, no police," she said. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Subaru whispered. "I want my family back . . ."

Seishirou read the note again. Three hostages. That wasn't good; they could easily kill one to prove a point and still hold the other two over Subaru's head.

"I'll pay it," Subaru said. "I'll just pay it."

"Subaru-chan, you don't have this much money," Hokuto said gently.

"I don't care, I'll get it somehow." Subaru's voice was flat. "I'll ask Obaasan and maybe Kakyou's family can help, or . . . I don't know, but . . ."

"Subaru-kun." Seishirou interrupted him quietly. "It won't work. People who are kidnapped for ransom are very rarely returned on the first ransom. More likely, they will ask for more money, and still more, until you're in debt to everyone you know. And they still won't return your wife and children."

Subaru's eyes widened. "But . . . what should I do?"

Seishirou paused. "Have you tried looking for them? You and your children, at least, all have Sumeragi magic. You should be able to trace them that way."

"I didn't even think of that," Subaru confessed, looking at the floor.

"You were panicked, it's okay," Hokuto said, giving him another hug.

"Try sending your Shikigami rather than looking yourself," Seishirou advised. "It'll be easier for you."

Subaru nodded and did so.

"This might take a bit," Seishirou said to Hokuto, seeing that her brother was concentrating on seeing what his Shikigami saw. "Could you make some tea? I think Subaru could use it."

Hokuto nodded slightly and left the room.

Subaru sat with his eyes closed for a long time; long enough for Seishirou to do some magical checking of his own and come to a few unwanted conclusions. The only magic he sensed having happened in the near past had a very familiar aura to it. Like Subaru, but not . . .

He could only guess it was Mitsuki, and that just didn't make any sense.

He wasn't surprised when Subaru finally opened his eyes and said, near frantically, "I can't find her. I just can't; she's not there."

Hokuto handed him a mug of tea, which he looked at blankly.

"She's somewhere," Seishirou said, not commenting on the fact that Subaru was supposed to be looking for his children, not his wife. "But she's being hidden." He frowned. "No, that's not quite right. She's hiding."

Subaru blinked at him.

Seishirou tried to explain. "You can't sense her or your children at all, right?"

He nodded.

"But can you sense whether or not Mitsuki has done any magic today?"

Subaru paused, closing his eyes for a second. "H-Hai," he finally answered. "But that was probably just trying to stop the kidnappers -- "

"No," Seishirou said. "Or else we'd feel the residue here. Wherever she did it, it wasn't here. When I tried to trace it back to its source, I couldn't. There's no residue here at all, which means the kidnappers probably don't know any onmyoujitsu. The only explanation is that she is hiding herself and your two children, and tried to cover her tracks but didn't do an exceptionally good job."

Subaru stared at him. "But . . . why?"

Seishirou frowned, wondering if there was any way he could phrase this delicately. "Most likely," he finally said, "the kidnappers are forcing her to." Two hostages are just as good as three. Threaten to kill one of the children if she doesn't comply . . . and Mitsuki will do it, hoping that Subaru will get around it somehow. Sneaky little bastards.

"B-but . . ." Subaru's voice trailed off. "How do we find her, then?"

Seishirou paused again. "Exactly how talented an onmyouji is Mitsuki?"

"She's . . . okay, I guess," Subaru said vaguely.

Hokuto sighed. "Mitsuki-chan is about the same level as I am," she said to Seishirou.

Seishirou nodded. Lots of raw power, but not much actual experience or learning. Good. He could work with that. "Then hold on and let me try something."

Tracing spells worked by sensing a person's aura or magic. If Mitsuki wasn't trained in the complexities of onmyoujitsu, the most she could do to hide her presence was to mask the magic in the area entirely. Seishirou closed his eyes and reached out to the Tree.

::Yes?::

::I need your help with something.::

::Hm.:: The Tree sounded lackadaisical at best. ::Will I get dinner later? Or are you too busy flirting with your nemesis?::

::Yeah, yeah, shut up,:: Seishirou replied. ::You'll get your dinner. It just may be tomorrow. In case you hadn't noticed, I have a small crisis on my hands here.::

::Rescuing your would-be-boyfriend's wife. I call that a crisis, all right.::

Seishirou sighed and explained the magical problem he was dealing with.

::All right, I'll help. But you owe me.::

Seishirou rolled his eyes and reached to the Tree's magic, using the lines it had tied to every corner of the city to search for blank spots. ::Eight,:: he finally said. ::Could be better, but could also be a lot worse.::

::Too bad they didn't take the Sumeragi too,:: the Tree replied. For some reason beyond Seishirou's understanding, the Tree always referred to Subaru as either 'the Sumeragi' or with a sarcastic comment. ::Or you could use your link to trace him. Have you tried searching for her yourself? She may only be blocking Sumeragi magic, counting on you to help her.::

::I did try looking, but as I've never worked with her magically, it's hard,:: Seishirou replied. ::Besides, it wouldn't form a blank spot if she did that.::

::Exactly.::

Seishirou groaned inwardly. ::So we're back to square one.::

::Well, there's two options. Either she's blocking only Sumeragi magic, in which case she could be anywhere in the city and you simply can't find her. Or she's blocking all magic and she could be in one of the eight magical blank spots. I suggest you go with the second first, and if it proves false, widen your search.::

Seishirou nodded a little. ::Thanks for your help.::

He opened his eyes to see that Hokuto and Subaru were re-reading the note.

"What'd you do?" Hokuto asked.

Seishirou explained as best he could without bringing the Tree into it; he didn't think Subaru would want to know the search for his wife was resulting in dinner for the Tree. "So there are eight places which might possibly be it, and I suggest we start looking."

"Now?" Hokuto looked outside. "It's getting dark, and Subaru-chan shouldn't be going anywhere with that head injury."

Seishirou frowned thoughtfully. "True. When is the ransom due?"

"Day after tomorrow," Hokuto replied. "That night, precisely."

Seishirou's frown grew deeper. "Why so long, I wonder . . ."

"Probably because they know Subaru doesn't have this kind of money," Hokuto replied.

Seishirou nodded a little. Then he glanced at Subaru, who was leaning heavily on his sister. "Can you take him home with you? I'd be nervous leaving him here by himself, and someone should keep an eye on that head injury."

Hokuto grimaced. "Oh, Sei-chan, we haven't even unpacked yet. The house is a disaster; all we did when we moved in was stack boxes everywhere and then leave for our honeymoon. There isn't even a couch for him to sleep on."

"I . . . I'll be fine, really," Subaru said faintly.

"Not a chance," Seishirou said. "You're coming home with me and that's the last I want to hear about it."

Surprisingly, Subaru agreed, letting his sister lean him on Seishirou, who helped him down the stairs.

::No dinner tonight, I assume.::

::You be quiet.::

"I'll call you tomorrow, first thing in the morning," Hokuto promised as she dropped them off at Seishirou's apartment complex. "Take care of Subaru for me, 'kay, Sei-chan?"

Even in times of crisis, she never gives up, Seishirou reflected. "Of course." He half-helped, half-lifted Subaru out of the backseat and half-supported, half-carried him up to the apartment. "You should change clothes, Subaru-kun," he said, not mentioning that the reason was because there was blood all over them. Only Subaru's trenchcoat had kept it hidden while they'd be in transit.

Subaru just nodded, apparently too tired to question, and changed into the old clothes Seishirou brought him. Seishirou gave him some tea to drink and checked to see how well his eyes were focusing. "Get some sleep," Seishirou said, gently propelling him towards the bedroom. "I can take the couch tonight; I don't mind. But I'll be waking you up every hour or so, okay?"

"Why?" Subaru asked wearily.

Seishirou hesitated. "Because of the head injury," he finally said, not going into the specifics of concussions, slow-wave sleep, and possible comas. "Once your eyes are focusing properly, I'll let you get some real sleep."

"I need to be up early tomorrow," Subaru said, leaning against the wall. "Have to look for Mitsuki-chan and the kids."

"I'll get you up tomorrow," Seishirou said. He paused, then reached out and brushed Subaru's hair out of his face. "We'll find her, Subaru-kun. I'll do whatever I can to help. I promise."

Subaru stared at him for a minute, then nodded. "Arigatou . . ."

"Now get some rest." Seishirou waited until Subaru had wobbled over to the bed and collapsed onto it, curling into a ball.

Then he went back out into the living room, lighting up a cigarette and pondering. He noticed, with some startlement, that there was a fax waiting for him. He walked over and picked it up.

::What is it?::

::New orders,:: Seishirou replied absently, reading over it. ::How interesting.::

::Something to do with the Sumeragi?::

::The government has eyes and ears everywhere,:: Seishirou confirmed. ::I'm to assist Subaru in recovering his family, then -- this is a direct quote -- 'deal with the perpetrators accordingly.' Which is their nice way of saying you get a big dinner.::

::Mm, kidnapper.:: The Tree sounded disgusted. ::Why do they want you to work with the Sumeragi? They know that, in theory, you two are supposed to be mortal enemies.::

::If they can find out about a kidnapping that took place twelve hours ago that nobody saw except Subaru, and he didn't tell anybody but Hokuto and myself, they can figure out that I keep going over to his house for dinner,:: Seishirou replied. He had figured out and accepted a long time ago that, as part of his job, the government was going to know a lot more about him than he really wanted. His relationship with Subaru was part of this, apparently.

::Good point, I suppose.::

::Thank you. I rather thought so myself.::

::Where are you going to start tomorrow?:: the Tree asked, ignoring Seishirou's smug tone of 'voice.'

::Not sure. Checking the magical blank spots, I suppose.::

::Your Shiki didn't find anything?::

::No. I tried while Subaru was.::

::Hm.:: The Tree sounded thoughtful. ::This looks bad.::

::I know.::

::If you need any help, let me know.:: The Tree vanished from the conversation before Seishirou could express his surprise. Though the Tree would help when asked, it rarely offered.

Seishirou composed a quick reply to the fax, which consisted only of that he'd gotten his orders, understood them, and would do his best to carry them out. Then he made a pot of tea so there would be some ready in the morning.

At that point, it had been over an hour, so he went to check on Subaru. The Sumeragi woke readily enough, let Seishirou check his eyes, and drifted back off to sleep. He still wasn't focusing properly, but the speed at which he'd awoken heartened Seishirou.

But still, the pillow was damp, as if Subaru had been crying in his sleep.

****

Yeah, okay, that isn't a great place to leave off either. So sue me. And I'm sorry the Tree has an attitude... I did *not* mean for that to happen.