A/N: Have you guys noticed that I tend to start my "Author's Notes" with
insane, maniacal laughter first? Hmm, interesting. Says much about my
psyche doesn't it?
@ . @
Ruby-Tears: Yep, Kyo makes a great 'Save-the-Day' type of hero doesn't he? Just wait till you read THIS chapter. . . . if what he does won't impress you. . . *sniff*. Thanks for your vote on the lemon (my kind of girl!). Hehehehe!
Rinny: Wan! *Kelly blushes fiercely & shuffles her feet in embarrassment* Thank you! I take it as a major compliment coz I just love your "Coming Out" fic! ^ . ^
Minna-san, to those who haven't, remember please, to vote on the lemony bits thing I mentioned in Chapter 5 *looks over shoulder carefully and whispers* I kind of like lemons *blushes guiltily* Hell, would we be reading yaoi if we didn't? ^-^
Warning: More Traps! (Damn that mysterious psychopath/killer!) More Kyo- Torture! And Hisoka-Torture!
Pairings: Tsu x Soka, Tats x Watari, Kyo x Taka (Obviously. I mean, can you blame the poor boy for not wanting to forget him? He did after all, gave up Heaven for Taka . . . *sniff*)
Question: Would anyone be interested in reading a side fic telling the whole story of how Kyo & Taka met & *woohoo!* fell in love? Vote in your reviews! (*can I get more obvious in my begging for praises?*
Disclaimer: *glares at the computer screen* No, she hisses resentfully, YnM does not belong to me. . . . she pouts and turns away from the computer. Baaaaaka.
CHAPTER 6: PAIN
It was a trap. It had to be. In fact, the whole thing was simply screaming "TRAP!" with bells on and a hula skirt to boot.
But of course, they were going anyway.
The fact that Tatsumi was nearly incapacitated with weariness was brushed aside. He was fine, he insisted, give him a few more minutes and he'll recover. What was unspoken was the fact that Tatsumi would rather die again than let any of his co-workers come to harm from the machinations of this madman they're chasing. Tatsumi might not show it, but everyone knew he cared deeply for each one of them.
So out of respect for his feelings, they kept their silence. Kyo had recovered from his bout with his phobia and was only prone to a few muttered swear words every few minutes as they rested for a bit, to allow Tatsumi to catch his breath. Other than that, the other three Shinigamis were fine. And dreading to go.
But, Watari had sighed, it's their job and somebody had to do it. Might as well be them.
And so it was, with barely a breeze stirred up, the five of them disappeared from the shop. And a ghostly chuckle stirred the air.
________________________________________________________________________
Guided by Watari, they re-appeared later around a hundred feet away from the place marked on the map. Tatsumi was leaning against Watari as they surveyed their surroundings. Given the fact that Tsuzuki and Kyo had more firepower than Watari and Hisoka was too small for it, Watari elected himself to help shoulder Tatsumi up. Though he still kept on insisting he was fine, they all saw how his legs trembled with fatigue.
Watari was fervently glad that it was too dark for anyone to see his face. He knew he was blushing and he'd be hard put as to explain *why* he was blushing. But Kyo seemed to notice though, else why would he have that small, infuriating smirk on his face every time he looked their way?
Watari seriously considered slipping in a dose of his age-reducing potion into Kyo's coffee next time but immediately rejected the idea. Knowing Kyo, he'd probably find it funny instead, Watari thought glumly.
It was. . . . creepy out here in the woods, far from civilization. The dry leaves crunched underneath their steps and the snapping of twigs underfoot caused them to jump. They had not forgotten how the first trap in the store was sprung without any warning whatsoever, and they did not want to repeat the experience.
They made their way slowly to the spot marked on the map. Tsuzuki did not light any more ofudas as it would only serve a beacon as to where their location is in these dark woods. So guided only by the faint moonlight filtering in through the trees, they walked on for what seemed hours but Watari knew it was only around 15 minutes and they reached their destination.
The 'X' spot was a medium-sized clearing in the middle of the woods. The moon shone down brightly here as they stopped by the edge of the clearing and took in their surroundings.
The clearing was roughly circle in shape, maybe fifteen paces in diameter, Watari noted. There was another circle within the clearing, this one of stones, but only a few meters wide. The stones were irregular in shape and sizes, some as small as a child's fist and one nearly as tall as Tsuzuki. The way the stones were spaced, they seemed to be standing in front of the entrance into the stone circle with the exit a direct line before them. It looked as though it was a prehistoric formation, like the Stonehenge in England. At a much smaller scale.
"Watari, you stay here with Tatsumi. Hisoka, Kyo and I will check it out," Tsuzuki said.
Tatsumi was about to open his mouth in protest when Watari nudged him gently. "You'll be of no use to us if you passed out from exertion. Besides, they can take care of themselves," Watari said softly.
Tatsumi kept silent for a few moments and finally nodded. By this time, the three of them were exploring the clearing, ofudas in hand. After circling the area, they came to stand before the stone circle, opposite Tatsumi and Watari. There were puzzled looks on their faces. They had found nothing.
Hesitantly though, Tsuzuki first entered the circle, cautiously placing one foot in front of the other. Nothing happened. Confused, he walked on through to join Tatsumi and Watari, Kyo a few paces behind him and Hisoka bringing up the rear.
Kyo had just stepped out of the circle when without warning, he felt and heard the buzz and heat that warned of a ward suddenly springing to life and he was thrown to his feet by the force of the ward snapping into place. Dazed, he shook his head to clear it and heard Hisoka screaming in pain.
He quickly got to his feet but Tsuzuki had beaten him to it, flinging himself onto the kekkai without thought, but just like Kyo, was flung backwards by the force of the barrier.
"Hisoka! Hisoka!" Tsuzuki kept on screaming his name even as he got to his feet again. Hisoka was still screaming himself raw, his back arched as he clutched his head in apparent agony.
Almost, Kyo found himself wincing from the pain evident in the boy's screams but he managed to grab hold of Tsuzuki before he could fling himself against the barrier again.
"No! Tsuzuki stop! You're not helping him acting like this!" Kyo shouted, trying to shake some sense into the hysterical man. He gestured to Watari and Tatsumi to stay back and gauging the distance, gave Tsuzuki a hard slap around the mouth.
Miraculously, it got his attention. He stared at Kyo with wide eyes, eyes that were filled with as much pain as Hisoka seemed to be suffering from, trapped inside the circle.
"Listen to me," Kyo said, his voice low and urgent. "I'm going to find out first what this trap is actually about, and *then* we'll get Hisoka out. Just rushing into it blindly could probably harm Hisoka more. Do you understand me?" Kyo's pale eyes burned into Tsuzuki's amethyst ones and the older man nodded. He took out several attacking ofudas and stood a little way from Kyo, his feet set apart and braced for whatever might happen.
"I'm ready," he said grimly, his eyes fixed on Hisoka, who was now on the ground, sobbing and whimpering with pain. Tsuzuki's hands clenched and unclenched rhythmically.
Kyo didn't want to waste anymore time. With the ease of practice, he quickly folded his hands into the complicated prayer ritual to summon air. It was a little known fact that spells actually discharge a high frequency that could not be detected by human ears. But those high frequencies emitted by a spell acts as a paintbrush, charging the air with their power and vibrancy. Anyone with the ability as same as Kyo's could actually read the vibrations and thus, recognize the spell. With his prayer completed, Kyo sent forth his summoned wind into the spelled circle.
What he read nearly made him retch. Quickly, he dispelled his wind and took a deep breath.
"What is it?" Tsuzuki still had not move from his position but Kyo could tell he was near his breaking point, judging from the tension in his voice. Quickly, Kyo told them what he found.
"The bastard had done a retention spell. He took the memories and emotions of those seven people he killed at their moment of death and set it into those stones. The moment Hisoka walked through it, the spell was activated," Kyo explained quickly. There was no time to lose. Hisoka had gone quiet now, his body racked by shuddering sobs. Kyo didn't know how long he'd last and didn't want to find out.
"Tsuzuki, I need you to break the kekkai for me. When it's broken, do NOT," Kyo said sternly, "enter the circle. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in the spell too and that will not help Hisoka."
Tsuzuki looked like he wanted to protest but nodded finally. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to break the spell. The minute you see the stones flash, run in, grab Hisoka and get the hell out of here. You both too, understand?" He glanced at Watari and Tatsumi and was glad they didn't make a fuss about his preemptory demands.
"Now Tsuzuki!"
Tsuzuki quickly threw several ofudas at the glowing blue kekkai and the ofudas glowed in response. Folding his hands in prayer, Tsuzuki said the words of destruction, ending with a shout. The kekkai glowed even brighter and a second later, it burst into glowing shards.
The minute the kekkai burst, Kyo threw himself on his knees and pressed his hands, palms down, onto the ground before him. He closed his eyes and his gift answered him. His ties with earth showed him the loathsome red lines of the spell zigzagging through the matrix of the rocks. Each line was like a fire burning his mind and body but he ignored the pain. He threw all he had into his spell and chanted the words to release the stones from their burden and to discharge the spell into the earth beneath them, to ground the spell.
But the very nature of the stones, tough and stubborn, which made them the perfect storage for magic, was also making it hard for Kyo to destroy those jagged lines of power. Grimacing, he could feel dry heaves threatening to upset him as the spell tried to lock his consciousness in the stone, trapping him within. This time, Kyo *screamed* the spell of unbinding, the last "Reki!*" torn bleeding from his throat.
The spell finally collapsed, sucked into the earth and the stones groaned a deep subterranean sound as their burden was given up. Even from beneath his closed eyelids, Kyo could see the stones flash a bright light that nearly blinded him. Opening his eyes he saw Tsuzuki run in, sweeping Hisoka into his arms and he ran back out.
"Kyo!" he shouted. "Move! Hurry!"
Kyo could understand his panic. The deep moaning of the stones had grown in pitch and he knew they were close to exploding from the stress of the suddenly released spell. He somehow managed to make it to his feet and took a few stumbling steps away from the circle.
He wasn't going to make it, he realized. His consciousness was fading and his eyesight had gone blurry with pain. Before he could fall flat on his face however, strong arms grabbed him from the side to support him. From the light locks of hair falling in his face, he knew it was Watari.
The scientist turned out to be stronger than he looked. He practically flew away from the site (was in fact flying, Kyo noticed dimly) and a few seconds later, the stones exploded, sending shards of obsidian black through the night and waves of pain rolled through Kyo. His link with the earth which was still humming inside him, let him feel full force the pain of the stones as they detonated.
He was aware that he was screaming again, bleeding his throat fresh but thankfully, oblivion soon claimed him and he knew no more.
________________________________________________________________________
Hands were touching him, grasping, needing, plucking at his clothes.
He couldn't run. No matter where he turned, those hands were everywhere.
Help me, he screamed soundlessly within the confines of his mind.
Help me, somebody! Please!
Taka!
________________________________________________________________________
He was drifting in and out of consciousness. The moments of lucidity that came to him were few and far in between. In those moments, he could hear voices. Voices that he knew but for some reason, could not put a name to.
". . . . his fever is getting higher. . . ."
"Isn't there anything. . . . ."
". . . . . .wait. . . . . ."
And darkness would claim him again.
________________________________________________________________________
When Kyo opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of a snoring Watari, sprawled in a hard plastic chair by the side of his bed. His coat looked rumpled, as though he forgot to change it, and his hair was coming loose from his ribbon.
Blinking bemusedly, Kyo could hear a chorus of other snores and he turned his head slowly on the pillow, even that slight movement caused lancing, bright pain through his head.
He blinked his eyes several times to clear them and saw most, if not all of the staff of the Shokan division sprawled in sound sleep at every available surface. Saya and Yuma were there, leaning against each other, on a couch, crammed together with Wakaba. Terazuma was by her side naturally, but in one of those plastic chairs like Watari was using. He let his eyes travel slowly around the room and it fell on the bed next to him.
Hisoka was asleep on it, lying on his side and facing Kyo, and behind him, hugging Hisoka close, was Tsuzuki.
He's okay then, Kyo thought gratefully, judging by the peaceful expression on the younger boy's face. He'd better be, Kyo added to himself drowsily. He'd hate to go through all of that for nothing.
He was considering sleep again when the door opened softly and Tatsumi stepped in, a worried look on his face. A few steps into the hospital room however (Kyo realized that it was the hospital wing, judging from the all- white decor), revealed to him Kyo, finally awake. Tatsumi broke into a wide smile.
"Ohayo, Kyo-san," he said softly, coming to his bedside. "You gave us quite a scare."
"Ohayo," Kyo answered, only to find his 'ohayo' rather weak and scratchy. Tatsumi explained.
"You've been out for a week now with a high fever. Watari finally managed to get your temperature down yesterday and we've been waiting for you to wake up," Tatsumi said, his voice still soft. Kyo was glad for that. He was sure that if someone so much as coughed, he'd be getting migraines.
"Hisoka?" he asked weakly.
Tatsumi glanced over at the next bed and smiled down at Kyo. "You saved him. He was released from the hospital wing a few days ago but he didn't want to leave you. I'm guessing he's pretty grateful for what you did."
"Mmm," was all Kyo could say. His body felt heavy with weariness and a deep, lingering ache in his bones. He wanted to ask what happened afterwards but his head felt like killing him. Besides, a few seconds later, he could hear Watari stirring in his chair.
"Is he awake?" came his partner's sleep-fogged voice. Through his steadily dimming vision, he could see Tatsumi nod and placed a finger to his lips, indicating quiet. However, Watari waking up seemed to pass a signal throughout the room and he sensed, rather than saw, the rest of them coming awake.
He forced his eyes open again and he saw them crowded around his bed, worried expressions on their faces. He smiled. "Ohayo."
The relief on their faces touched his heart and he could almost ignore the blinding pain in his head. Until Saya and Yuma squealed in excitement.
"Yokatta, Kyo-chan!"
The two-part chorus, though he really appreciated it, sent more of those flashing pains through his temples and started a war drum banging somewhere at the crown of his head. He groaned.
"Out! Out!" Watari flapped his hands at the crowd, shooing them away. "He needs his rest!" he whispered fiercely at them. "You can see him later!"
They allowed themselves to be shooed out reluctantly, Saya and Yuma whispering their apologies. Hisoka stayed behind however and leaned over Kyo.
"Thank you," he murmured, his breath ruffling Kyo's cheek and he felt Hisoka place a warm kiss on his forehead. As he drifted into sleep again, Kyo could feel his migraine lessening at the kiss. He smiled.
* * *
It was only three days later that Kyo could finally sit up without wishing he could die again. The first thing he did was to demand Watari to let him get out of the bed so that he could take a shower.
"Mou," Watari pouted. "Don't you like the sponge baths I gave you? I did," he grinned evilly.
His answer was a pillow smacking into his face.
A few minutes later, Kyo found himself in the bathroom, sitting on a little plastic stool with a small towel draped over his more. . . . salient parts. Much as he would have like to bathe himself, the fact that he nearly fell flat on his face when he tried to get out of bed proved what a bad idea that was.
And so, there he was, his golden-haired partner happily washing him up, ignoring the fact that his patient was rapidly turning the vibrant color of a tomato. It felt good though, Kyo had to admit, having his hair washed and his scalped massaged by Watari's competent fingers. He was surprisingly good at it.
"Taka would kill me if he knew that I let another man bathe me," Kyo murmured in the direction of his privates.
"I'm sure he'd understand the situation," Watari said cheerfully. "You *are* sick after all." He took a dollop of conditioner and began lathering Kyo's hair. Not that he really needed it, as Watari complained earlier. His hair was silky enough to make any girl want to kill him for it.
Sigh. "I hope Tatsumi feels the same way," Kyo replied, a sly smile crossing his face. "Imagine if he came in now. . . I'll bet he'd get pretty upset seeing *you* seeing me naked.. . ."
"Do you really think so?" Watari leaned over him anxiously, his glasses fogging up with steam. "I mean he *would* underst-"
Comprehension dawned on Watari's face. "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT??!!"
* * *
Kyo was now back in bed, a fresh yukata on. He pulled up his legs and rested his chin on his knees, a dreamy smile on his face as Watari combed his damp hair. This was the life, he sighed to himself. A clean body, freshly-washed hair, and I haven't thrown up my breakfast today! A definite improvement, Kyo thought to himself.
Sometime later, as Watari plumped up a few pillows for him to lean back on, the door flew open and Tsuzuki bounded in, Hisoka trailing behind him at a more respectful pace.
"Hello!" The smile on the older man's face would have powered the lights of a whole city with its wattage. He carefully sat down at the end of the bed, beaming at Kyo. Hisoka rolled his eyes and settled himself on a chair by Tsuzuki. "Hey."
"Kon-ni-chi-wa!"
"You seem pretty cheerful today," Hisoka noted with a smile.
"A shower does that to me," Kyo smiled back.
"Ne, ne! You're feeling better right?" Tsuzuki bounced a little on the bed. The man was positively radiating energy, was in fact, nearly twitching with it. Kyo raised an eyebrow questioningly at Hisoka.
"He had ten chocolate doughnuts this morning," the green-eyed boy explained.
Ah.
"Yeah, headaches gone, appetite's back. Waaay better now," Kyo assured them. Watari, who had settled himself by Kyo's side, nodded in agreement.
"Well," sparkles had lighted up the air around Tsuzuki and he grinned even wider. "I got you a present!" With that announcement and a little 'poof'! chibi-inu Tsuzuki appeared.
"Chocolates!" Chibi-inu Tsuzuki held out a large paper bag triumphantly.
"Wow!" Those selfsame sparkles burst around Kyo and he reached out his hands eagerly. "Thank you!"
Watari clamped down on his arms firmly. "You just got your appetite back and you only stopped throwing up yesterday and NOW you want to eat chocolates??"
With another 'poof'!, chibi-inu Kyo appeared. (I wonder who does the special effects for these two, Watari wondered idly). "Please! Pretty please??? I haven't had any chocolates for ages!" Chibi-inu Kyo looked beseechingly at his partner, eyes extra large and brimming with fake tears. He sniffed for added effect.
Few could stand that look. If even Taka didn't have a chance when Kyo pulled that stunt, it went pretty much the same with Watari.
Sweatdrop. "Ai, alright. But not too much, you'll spoil your appetite."
"Yay!" The two inus cheered. Tails wagging at the speed of light, the two puppies fell on the chocolates with savage puppy energy, Tsuzuki joining in after Kyo invited him to.
Watari and Hisoka watched their respective partners in wonder. It's amazing how much chocolates the two of them could consume in the space of ten seconds. . . .
5 minutes later. . . .
"Okay, that's enough!" Watari declared firmly. "You'll get sick. The both of you."
With that, he and Hisoka picked up their partners by their respective collars (it's the proper and safest method when picking up chibis who've had their chocolates taken away from them) and proceeded to wipe the wriggling puppies down.
"Don't you dare bite!" Hisoka scolded chibi-inu Tsuzuki.
"Mou. . . ."
* * *
They were just chatting idly, Kyo eating his lunch, when Tatsumi came in. The secretary was his usual taciturn self but he graced them with a small smile and a nod to Watari. He pulled up a chair next to Watari and asked Kyo, "How are you feeling?"
Kyo nodded and swallowed his mouthful before answering, "Much better, thanks for asking."
Tatsumi regarded him silently as Kyo finished the last of his lunch. He and Tsuzuki then proceeded to try and beg some chocolates from Hisoka and Watari but the both of them were firm in their denial. Tatsumi smiled again.
"Ah, Kyo-san?"
Kyo looked up from his tug-of war for the bag of chocolates with Watari and said, "Hai?"
Tatsumi looked pointedly at the chocolates.
"Oh. Okay," Kyo pouted and finally relented, letting the bag go. Ignoring Tsuzuki's howl of protest, Watari smiled his thanks to Tatsumi and slid the bag inside his coat pocket.
He waited until all of them had settled down, Tsuzuki and Hisoka on the bed with Kyo and Watari was back in his chair beside him before continuing. "Can you tell us what happened? You nearly gave us a heart attack when you collapsed like that. . ."
Kyo shrugged. "Backlash, from the unbinding."
Watari looked intrigued. "What do you mean exactly? I mean, I figured out that that had to be the reason for your fever but the way you collapsed. . . and the severity of it, I almost thought you were getting possessed or something."
"It's like this, when you perform a spell, you usually need an anchor right? Like our ofudas or the typical circle and pentagram."
They nodded in agreement.
"Well, sometimes, instead of that, we use other stuff to contain magic. Some use crystals, gems, or like our mutual psycho, he used those rocks."
"But how does it explain those stones exploding like that and you lying in bed for nearly two weeks?" Tsuzuki spoke up.
"I'm getting to that. See, stones are some of the best receptors for magic because of its structure and nature. Stones are tough and patient. Because of that, they can store a lot of power and that's what makes it so difficult to release the stored energy.
Usually, you have to channel it through a grounding substance, usually earth. But it's a long, complicated process. And we didn't have time for that then. That's why the stones exploded. Too much, too fast." Kyo finished.
They were silent for a moment, pondering over it, until Watari said, "But because you didn't have time," he said slowly, "that means you had to have somewhere to store all those energy released at once. . ." his voice trailed off and a second later, his eyes widened in amazement. "You didn't!"
"I did." Kyo smiled ruefully. He noticed the puzzled looks on the other three faces and clarified. "I had to use my body to store the backlash. That's why I, er. . . . collapsed." He waved his hand around vaguely.
"How could you do that for me?" Hisoka asked quietly.
Kyo laughed and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I couldn't very well leave you in there," he said brightly. "Besides, it was either that, or I released it into the ground anyway and we would have probably buried Kyoto under a massive earthquake.
And I'd hate to help destroy that stall with that great ramen," he added thoughtfully.
Sweatdrop.
"You're nearly as bad as Tsuzuki," Hisoka murmured.
They continued to chat on about other stuff then, content to just enjoy the moment. There would be time later to go back to the case. For now, each was content to enjoy each other's company and the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.
That is, until Terazuma opened the door quietly and poked his head in.
"Ano, Tatsumi-san?" He called out.
"Yes?" Tatsumi turned in his chair and gave him a quizzical look.
"There's been another murder."
~to be continued~
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A/N: Ah. Wow, that was quite tiring. I was getting so excited about the next chapter that I was rushing through the end of this chapter quite a bit. The parts on when they were discussing about the magic thing, I took the liberty of mixing up stuff I gathered from reading other books so let's all just pretend that what I said about the whole backlash thing was accurate, ne? ^ 0 ^
*Reki= "broken stone" or something like that. I thought it sounded quite cool as a closing to the spell Kyo did.
A/N 2: I wish I was the one bathing Kyo. . . . .
A/N 3: Don't forget to vote for the kind of lemon you want and about the side fic I mentioned above, whether you guys think it's cool to do.
A/N 4: I'm really grateful to you guys who faithfully review every chapter (Ice-Phoenix, Rinny, Ruby-Tears). Hontoni! But. . . . does this mean that it's only you guys that are reading it???? Yes, yes, I'm getting greedy, I know, but. . . . hehe, I'm addicted to praise.
Ja ne!
Ruby-Tears: Yep, Kyo makes a great 'Save-the-Day' type of hero doesn't he? Just wait till you read THIS chapter. . . . if what he does won't impress you. . . *sniff*. Thanks for your vote on the lemon (my kind of girl!). Hehehehe!
Rinny: Wan! *Kelly blushes fiercely & shuffles her feet in embarrassment* Thank you! I take it as a major compliment coz I just love your "Coming Out" fic! ^ . ^
Minna-san, to those who haven't, remember please, to vote on the lemony bits thing I mentioned in Chapter 5 *looks over shoulder carefully and whispers* I kind of like lemons *blushes guiltily* Hell, would we be reading yaoi if we didn't? ^-^
Warning: More Traps! (Damn that mysterious psychopath/killer!) More Kyo- Torture! And Hisoka-Torture!
Pairings: Tsu x Soka, Tats x Watari, Kyo x Taka (Obviously. I mean, can you blame the poor boy for not wanting to forget him? He did after all, gave up Heaven for Taka . . . *sniff*)
Question: Would anyone be interested in reading a side fic telling the whole story of how Kyo & Taka met & *woohoo!* fell in love? Vote in your reviews! (*can I get more obvious in my begging for praises?*
Disclaimer: *glares at the computer screen* No, she hisses resentfully, YnM does not belong to me. . . . she pouts and turns away from the computer. Baaaaaka.
CHAPTER 6: PAIN
It was a trap. It had to be. In fact, the whole thing was simply screaming "TRAP!" with bells on and a hula skirt to boot.
But of course, they were going anyway.
The fact that Tatsumi was nearly incapacitated with weariness was brushed aside. He was fine, he insisted, give him a few more minutes and he'll recover. What was unspoken was the fact that Tatsumi would rather die again than let any of his co-workers come to harm from the machinations of this madman they're chasing. Tatsumi might not show it, but everyone knew he cared deeply for each one of them.
So out of respect for his feelings, they kept their silence. Kyo had recovered from his bout with his phobia and was only prone to a few muttered swear words every few minutes as they rested for a bit, to allow Tatsumi to catch his breath. Other than that, the other three Shinigamis were fine. And dreading to go.
But, Watari had sighed, it's their job and somebody had to do it. Might as well be them.
And so it was, with barely a breeze stirred up, the five of them disappeared from the shop. And a ghostly chuckle stirred the air.
________________________________________________________________________
Guided by Watari, they re-appeared later around a hundred feet away from the place marked on the map. Tatsumi was leaning against Watari as they surveyed their surroundings. Given the fact that Tsuzuki and Kyo had more firepower than Watari and Hisoka was too small for it, Watari elected himself to help shoulder Tatsumi up. Though he still kept on insisting he was fine, they all saw how his legs trembled with fatigue.
Watari was fervently glad that it was too dark for anyone to see his face. He knew he was blushing and he'd be hard put as to explain *why* he was blushing. But Kyo seemed to notice though, else why would he have that small, infuriating smirk on his face every time he looked their way?
Watari seriously considered slipping in a dose of his age-reducing potion into Kyo's coffee next time but immediately rejected the idea. Knowing Kyo, he'd probably find it funny instead, Watari thought glumly.
It was. . . . creepy out here in the woods, far from civilization. The dry leaves crunched underneath their steps and the snapping of twigs underfoot caused them to jump. They had not forgotten how the first trap in the store was sprung without any warning whatsoever, and they did not want to repeat the experience.
They made their way slowly to the spot marked on the map. Tsuzuki did not light any more ofudas as it would only serve a beacon as to where their location is in these dark woods. So guided only by the faint moonlight filtering in through the trees, they walked on for what seemed hours but Watari knew it was only around 15 minutes and they reached their destination.
The 'X' spot was a medium-sized clearing in the middle of the woods. The moon shone down brightly here as they stopped by the edge of the clearing and took in their surroundings.
The clearing was roughly circle in shape, maybe fifteen paces in diameter, Watari noted. There was another circle within the clearing, this one of stones, but only a few meters wide. The stones were irregular in shape and sizes, some as small as a child's fist and one nearly as tall as Tsuzuki. The way the stones were spaced, they seemed to be standing in front of the entrance into the stone circle with the exit a direct line before them. It looked as though it was a prehistoric formation, like the Stonehenge in England. At a much smaller scale.
"Watari, you stay here with Tatsumi. Hisoka, Kyo and I will check it out," Tsuzuki said.
Tatsumi was about to open his mouth in protest when Watari nudged him gently. "You'll be of no use to us if you passed out from exertion. Besides, they can take care of themselves," Watari said softly.
Tatsumi kept silent for a few moments and finally nodded. By this time, the three of them were exploring the clearing, ofudas in hand. After circling the area, they came to stand before the stone circle, opposite Tatsumi and Watari. There were puzzled looks on their faces. They had found nothing.
Hesitantly though, Tsuzuki first entered the circle, cautiously placing one foot in front of the other. Nothing happened. Confused, he walked on through to join Tatsumi and Watari, Kyo a few paces behind him and Hisoka bringing up the rear.
Kyo had just stepped out of the circle when without warning, he felt and heard the buzz and heat that warned of a ward suddenly springing to life and he was thrown to his feet by the force of the ward snapping into place. Dazed, he shook his head to clear it and heard Hisoka screaming in pain.
He quickly got to his feet but Tsuzuki had beaten him to it, flinging himself onto the kekkai without thought, but just like Kyo, was flung backwards by the force of the barrier.
"Hisoka! Hisoka!" Tsuzuki kept on screaming his name even as he got to his feet again. Hisoka was still screaming himself raw, his back arched as he clutched his head in apparent agony.
Almost, Kyo found himself wincing from the pain evident in the boy's screams but he managed to grab hold of Tsuzuki before he could fling himself against the barrier again.
"No! Tsuzuki stop! You're not helping him acting like this!" Kyo shouted, trying to shake some sense into the hysterical man. He gestured to Watari and Tatsumi to stay back and gauging the distance, gave Tsuzuki a hard slap around the mouth.
Miraculously, it got his attention. He stared at Kyo with wide eyes, eyes that were filled with as much pain as Hisoka seemed to be suffering from, trapped inside the circle.
"Listen to me," Kyo said, his voice low and urgent. "I'm going to find out first what this trap is actually about, and *then* we'll get Hisoka out. Just rushing into it blindly could probably harm Hisoka more. Do you understand me?" Kyo's pale eyes burned into Tsuzuki's amethyst ones and the older man nodded. He took out several attacking ofudas and stood a little way from Kyo, his feet set apart and braced for whatever might happen.
"I'm ready," he said grimly, his eyes fixed on Hisoka, who was now on the ground, sobbing and whimpering with pain. Tsuzuki's hands clenched and unclenched rhythmically.
Kyo didn't want to waste anymore time. With the ease of practice, he quickly folded his hands into the complicated prayer ritual to summon air. It was a little known fact that spells actually discharge a high frequency that could not be detected by human ears. But those high frequencies emitted by a spell acts as a paintbrush, charging the air with their power and vibrancy. Anyone with the ability as same as Kyo's could actually read the vibrations and thus, recognize the spell. With his prayer completed, Kyo sent forth his summoned wind into the spelled circle.
What he read nearly made him retch. Quickly, he dispelled his wind and took a deep breath.
"What is it?" Tsuzuki still had not move from his position but Kyo could tell he was near his breaking point, judging from the tension in his voice. Quickly, Kyo told them what he found.
"The bastard had done a retention spell. He took the memories and emotions of those seven people he killed at their moment of death and set it into those stones. The moment Hisoka walked through it, the spell was activated," Kyo explained quickly. There was no time to lose. Hisoka had gone quiet now, his body racked by shuddering sobs. Kyo didn't know how long he'd last and didn't want to find out.
"Tsuzuki, I need you to break the kekkai for me. When it's broken, do NOT," Kyo said sternly, "enter the circle. Otherwise, you'll be trapped in the spell too and that will not help Hisoka."
Tsuzuki looked like he wanted to protest but nodded finally. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to break the spell. The minute you see the stones flash, run in, grab Hisoka and get the hell out of here. You both too, understand?" He glanced at Watari and Tatsumi and was glad they didn't make a fuss about his preemptory demands.
"Now Tsuzuki!"
Tsuzuki quickly threw several ofudas at the glowing blue kekkai and the ofudas glowed in response. Folding his hands in prayer, Tsuzuki said the words of destruction, ending with a shout. The kekkai glowed even brighter and a second later, it burst into glowing shards.
The minute the kekkai burst, Kyo threw himself on his knees and pressed his hands, palms down, onto the ground before him. He closed his eyes and his gift answered him. His ties with earth showed him the loathsome red lines of the spell zigzagging through the matrix of the rocks. Each line was like a fire burning his mind and body but he ignored the pain. He threw all he had into his spell and chanted the words to release the stones from their burden and to discharge the spell into the earth beneath them, to ground the spell.
But the very nature of the stones, tough and stubborn, which made them the perfect storage for magic, was also making it hard for Kyo to destroy those jagged lines of power. Grimacing, he could feel dry heaves threatening to upset him as the spell tried to lock his consciousness in the stone, trapping him within. This time, Kyo *screamed* the spell of unbinding, the last "Reki!*" torn bleeding from his throat.
The spell finally collapsed, sucked into the earth and the stones groaned a deep subterranean sound as their burden was given up. Even from beneath his closed eyelids, Kyo could see the stones flash a bright light that nearly blinded him. Opening his eyes he saw Tsuzuki run in, sweeping Hisoka into his arms and he ran back out.
"Kyo!" he shouted. "Move! Hurry!"
Kyo could understand his panic. The deep moaning of the stones had grown in pitch and he knew they were close to exploding from the stress of the suddenly released spell. He somehow managed to make it to his feet and took a few stumbling steps away from the circle.
He wasn't going to make it, he realized. His consciousness was fading and his eyesight had gone blurry with pain. Before he could fall flat on his face however, strong arms grabbed him from the side to support him. From the light locks of hair falling in his face, he knew it was Watari.
The scientist turned out to be stronger than he looked. He practically flew away from the site (was in fact flying, Kyo noticed dimly) and a few seconds later, the stones exploded, sending shards of obsidian black through the night and waves of pain rolled through Kyo. His link with the earth which was still humming inside him, let him feel full force the pain of the stones as they detonated.
He was aware that he was screaming again, bleeding his throat fresh but thankfully, oblivion soon claimed him and he knew no more.
________________________________________________________________________
Hands were touching him, grasping, needing, plucking at his clothes.
He couldn't run. No matter where he turned, those hands were everywhere.
Help me, he screamed soundlessly within the confines of his mind.
Help me, somebody! Please!
Taka!
________________________________________________________________________
He was drifting in and out of consciousness. The moments of lucidity that came to him were few and far in between. In those moments, he could hear voices. Voices that he knew but for some reason, could not put a name to.
". . . . his fever is getting higher. . . ."
"Isn't there anything. . . . ."
". . . . . .wait. . . . . ."
And darkness would claim him again.
________________________________________________________________________
When Kyo opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of a snoring Watari, sprawled in a hard plastic chair by the side of his bed. His coat looked rumpled, as though he forgot to change it, and his hair was coming loose from his ribbon.
Blinking bemusedly, Kyo could hear a chorus of other snores and he turned his head slowly on the pillow, even that slight movement caused lancing, bright pain through his head.
He blinked his eyes several times to clear them and saw most, if not all of the staff of the Shokan division sprawled in sound sleep at every available surface. Saya and Yuma were there, leaning against each other, on a couch, crammed together with Wakaba. Terazuma was by her side naturally, but in one of those plastic chairs like Watari was using. He let his eyes travel slowly around the room and it fell on the bed next to him.
Hisoka was asleep on it, lying on his side and facing Kyo, and behind him, hugging Hisoka close, was Tsuzuki.
He's okay then, Kyo thought gratefully, judging by the peaceful expression on the younger boy's face. He'd better be, Kyo added to himself drowsily. He'd hate to go through all of that for nothing.
He was considering sleep again when the door opened softly and Tatsumi stepped in, a worried look on his face. A few steps into the hospital room however (Kyo realized that it was the hospital wing, judging from the all- white decor), revealed to him Kyo, finally awake. Tatsumi broke into a wide smile.
"Ohayo, Kyo-san," he said softly, coming to his bedside. "You gave us quite a scare."
"Ohayo," Kyo answered, only to find his 'ohayo' rather weak and scratchy. Tatsumi explained.
"You've been out for a week now with a high fever. Watari finally managed to get your temperature down yesterday and we've been waiting for you to wake up," Tatsumi said, his voice still soft. Kyo was glad for that. He was sure that if someone so much as coughed, he'd be getting migraines.
"Hisoka?" he asked weakly.
Tatsumi glanced over at the next bed and smiled down at Kyo. "You saved him. He was released from the hospital wing a few days ago but he didn't want to leave you. I'm guessing he's pretty grateful for what you did."
"Mmm," was all Kyo could say. His body felt heavy with weariness and a deep, lingering ache in his bones. He wanted to ask what happened afterwards but his head felt like killing him. Besides, a few seconds later, he could hear Watari stirring in his chair.
"Is he awake?" came his partner's sleep-fogged voice. Through his steadily dimming vision, he could see Tatsumi nod and placed a finger to his lips, indicating quiet. However, Watari waking up seemed to pass a signal throughout the room and he sensed, rather than saw, the rest of them coming awake.
He forced his eyes open again and he saw them crowded around his bed, worried expressions on their faces. He smiled. "Ohayo."
The relief on their faces touched his heart and he could almost ignore the blinding pain in his head. Until Saya and Yuma squealed in excitement.
"Yokatta, Kyo-chan!"
The two-part chorus, though he really appreciated it, sent more of those flashing pains through his temples and started a war drum banging somewhere at the crown of his head. He groaned.
"Out! Out!" Watari flapped his hands at the crowd, shooing them away. "He needs his rest!" he whispered fiercely at them. "You can see him later!"
They allowed themselves to be shooed out reluctantly, Saya and Yuma whispering their apologies. Hisoka stayed behind however and leaned over Kyo.
"Thank you," he murmured, his breath ruffling Kyo's cheek and he felt Hisoka place a warm kiss on his forehead. As he drifted into sleep again, Kyo could feel his migraine lessening at the kiss. He smiled.
* * *
It was only three days later that Kyo could finally sit up without wishing he could die again. The first thing he did was to demand Watari to let him get out of the bed so that he could take a shower.
"Mou," Watari pouted. "Don't you like the sponge baths I gave you? I did," he grinned evilly.
His answer was a pillow smacking into his face.
A few minutes later, Kyo found himself in the bathroom, sitting on a little plastic stool with a small towel draped over his more. . . . salient parts. Much as he would have like to bathe himself, the fact that he nearly fell flat on his face when he tried to get out of bed proved what a bad idea that was.
And so, there he was, his golden-haired partner happily washing him up, ignoring the fact that his patient was rapidly turning the vibrant color of a tomato. It felt good though, Kyo had to admit, having his hair washed and his scalped massaged by Watari's competent fingers. He was surprisingly good at it.
"Taka would kill me if he knew that I let another man bathe me," Kyo murmured in the direction of his privates.
"I'm sure he'd understand the situation," Watari said cheerfully. "You *are* sick after all." He took a dollop of conditioner and began lathering Kyo's hair. Not that he really needed it, as Watari complained earlier. His hair was silky enough to make any girl want to kill him for it.
Sigh. "I hope Tatsumi feels the same way," Kyo replied, a sly smile crossing his face. "Imagine if he came in now. . . I'll bet he'd get pretty upset seeing *you* seeing me naked.. . ."
"Do you really think so?" Watari leaned over him anxiously, his glasses fogging up with steam. "I mean he *would* underst-"
Comprehension dawned on Watari's face. "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT??!!"
* * *
Kyo was now back in bed, a fresh yukata on. He pulled up his legs and rested his chin on his knees, a dreamy smile on his face as Watari combed his damp hair. This was the life, he sighed to himself. A clean body, freshly-washed hair, and I haven't thrown up my breakfast today! A definite improvement, Kyo thought to himself.
Sometime later, as Watari plumped up a few pillows for him to lean back on, the door flew open and Tsuzuki bounded in, Hisoka trailing behind him at a more respectful pace.
"Hello!" The smile on the older man's face would have powered the lights of a whole city with its wattage. He carefully sat down at the end of the bed, beaming at Kyo. Hisoka rolled his eyes and settled himself on a chair by Tsuzuki. "Hey."
"Kon-ni-chi-wa!"
"You seem pretty cheerful today," Hisoka noted with a smile.
"A shower does that to me," Kyo smiled back.
"Ne, ne! You're feeling better right?" Tsuzuki bounced a little on the bed. The man was positively radiating energy, was in fact, nearly twitching with it. Kyo raised an eyebrow questioningly at Hisoka.
"He had ten chocolate doughnuts this morning," the green-eyed boy explained.
Ah.
"Yeah, headaches gone, appetite's back. Waaay better now," Kyo assured them. Watari, who had settled himself by Kyo's side, nodded in agreement.
"Well," sparkles had lighted up the air around Tsuzuki and he grinned even wider. "I got you a present!" With that announcement and a little 'poof'! chibi-inu Tsuzuki appeared.
"Chocolates!" Chibi-inu Tsuzuki held out a large paper bag triumphantly.
"Wow!" Those selfsame sparkles burst around Kyo and he reached out his hands eagerly. "Thank you!"
Watari clamped down on his arms firmly. "You just got your appetite back and you only stopped throwing up yesterday and NOW you want to eat chocolates??"
With another 'poof'!, chibi-inu Kyo appeared. (I wonder who does the special effects for these two, Watari wondered idly). "Please! Pretty please??? I haven't had any chocolates for ages!" Chibi-inu Kyo looked beseechingly at his partner, eyes extra large and brimming with fake tears. He sniffed for added effect.
Few could stand that look. If even Taka didn't have a chance when Kyo pulled that stunt, it went pretty much the same with Watari.
Sweatdrop. "Ai, alright. But not too much, you'll spoil your appetite."
"Yay!" The two inus cheered. Tails wagging at the speed of light, the two puppies fell on the chocolates with savage puppy energy, Tsuzuki joining in after Kyo invited him to.
Watari and Hisoka watched their respective partners in wonder. It's amazing how much chocolates the two of them could consume in the space of ten seconds. . . .
5 minutes later. . . .
"Okay, that's enough!" Watari declared firmly. "You'll get sick. The both of you."
With that, he and Hisoka picked up their partners by their respective collars (it's the proper and safest method when picking up chibis who've had their chocolates taken away from them) and proceeded to wipe the wriggling puppies down.
"Don't you dare bite!" Hisoka scolded chibi-inu Tsuzuki.
"Mou. . . ."
* * *
They were just chatting idly, Kyo eating his lunch, when Tatsumi came in. The secretary was his usual taciturn self but he graced them with a small smile and a nod to Watari. He pulled up a chair next to Watari and asked Kyo, "How are you feeling?"
Kyo nodded and swallowed his mouthful before answering, "Much better, thanks for asking."
Tatsumi regarded him silently as Kyo finished the last of his lunch. He and Tsuzuki then proceeded to try and beg some chocolates from Hisoka and Watari but the both of them were firm in their denial. Tatsumi smiled again.
"Ah, Kyo-san?"
Kyo looked up from his tug-of war for the bag of chocolates with Watari and said, "Hai?"
Tatsumi looked pointedly at the chocolates.
"Oh. Okay," Kyo pouted and finally relented, letting the bag go. Ignoring Tsuzuki's howl of protest, Watari smiled his thanks to Tatsumi and slid the bag inside his coat pocket.
He waited until all of them had settled down, Tsuzuki and Hisoka on the bed with Kyo and Watari was back in his chair beside him before continuing. "Can you tell us what happened? You nearly gave us a heart attack when you collapsed like that. . ."
Kyo shrugged. "Backlash, from the unbinding."
Watari looked intrigued. "What do you mean exactly? I mean, I figured out that that had to be the reason for your fever but the way you collapsed. . . and the severity of it, I almost thought you were getting possessed or something."
"It's like this, when you perform a spell, you usually need an anchor right? Like our ofudas or the typical circle and pentagram."
They nodded in agreement.
"Well, sometimes, instead of that, we use other stuff to contain magic. Some use crystals, gems, or like our mutual psycho, he used those rocks."
"But how does it explain those stones exploding like that and you lying in bed for nearly two weeks?" Tsuzuki spoke up.
"I'm getting to that. See, stones are some of the best receptors for magic because of its structure and nature. Stones are tough and patient. Because of that, they can store a lot of power and that's what makes it so difficult to release the stored energy.
Usually, you have to channel it through a grounding substance, usually earth. But it's a long, complicated process. And we didn't have time for that then. That's why the stones exploded. Too much, too fast." Kyo finished.
They were silent for a moment, pondering over it, until Watari said, "But because you didn't have time," he said slowly, "that means you had to have somewhere to store all those energy released at once. . ." his voice trailed off and a second later, his eyes widened in amazement. "You didn't!"
"I did." Kyo smiled ruefully. He noticed the puzzled looks on the other three faces and clarified. "I had to use my body to store the backlash. That's why I, er. . . . collapsed." He waved his hand around vaguely.
"How could you do that for me?" Hisoka asked quietly.
Kyo laughed and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I couldn't very well leave you in there," he said brightly. "Besides, it was either that, or I released it into the ground anyway and we would have probably buried Kyoto under a massive earthquake.
And I'd hate to help destroy that stall with that great ramen," he added thoughtfully.
Sweatdrop.
"You're nearly as bad as Tsuzuki," Hisoka murmured.
They continued to chat on about other stuff then, content to just enjoy the moment. There would be time later to go back to the case. For now, each was content to enjoy each other's company and the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.
That is, until Terazuma opened the door quietly and poked his head in.
"Ano, Tatsumi-san?" He called out.
"Yes?" Tatsumi turned in his chair and gave him a quizzical look.
"There's been another murder."
~to be continued~
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A/N: Ah. Wow, that was quite tiring. I was getting so excited about the next chapter that I was rushing through the end of this chapter quite a bit. The parts on when they were discussing about the magic thing, I took the liberty of mixing up stuff I gathered from reading other books so let's all just pretend that what I said about the whole backlash thing was accurate, ne? ^ 0 ^
*Reki= "broken stone" or something like that. I thought it sounded quite cool as a closing to the spell Kyo did.
A/N 2: I wish I was the one bathing Kyo. . . . .
A/N 3: Don't forget to vote for the kind of lemon you want and about the side fic I mentioned above, whether you guys think it's cool to do.
A/N 4: I'm really grateful to you guys who faithfully review every chapter (Ice-Phoenix, Rinny, Ruby-Tears). Hontoni! But. . . . does this mean that it's only you guys that are reading it???? Yes, yes, I'm getting greedy, I know, but. . . . hehe, I'm addicted to praise.
Ja ne!