A/N: Miss Misery; it wasn't Kyo's fault. . sniff. .
Rinny: Thank you for the reply! As you twitchingly requested; here's more Kyo-Torture! Minna, you should check out Rinny-chan's Hidama.com website! Very kakkoi! (did I get that right?)
Ruby-Tears: A hero is always required to go through at least one guilt trip per arc, don't you agree? Heheh.
Lil Yaoi Kitten: . . . . hentai. . . ( ^ o ^ )
Warning: Angsty-Kyo! Kittenish-Kyo! Sickly-Kyo!
Pairings: Per usual
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies (you can tell I'm getting bored in thinking up creative ways of saying YnM doesn't belong to me).
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CHAPTER 15: He Tastes Like Blood
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He came to and found himself in Taka's arms, carried down the halls of the Shokan Division and into the too-familiar hospital room. They didn't seem to notice that he was awake though and he kept quiet. The things that had happened since that afternoon kept on playing over and over again in his mind; he had hurt Hisoka, Taka, and nearly every one else. When will it stop?
Taka laid him down gently on a bed and realizing that Kyo was awake, he smiled, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Hey, welcome back."
"Hisoka?"
Taka stepped back and gestured to the bed beside his. "He's okay, see?"
Hisoka was in fact, awake, and was sitting up in his bed, smiling over at Kyo. "Hey." Tsuzuki was sitting by his side and holding on to his hand, also smiling.
Kyo didn't feel like smiling though, in fact, he felt like killing himself. He slid off the bed, waving off Taka's protests and came to stand beside Hisoka and Tsuzuki. "Are you alright?" he asked, softly.
"Fine, I've been through worse, believe me," Hisoka assured him.
Kyo bowed low though, his hair falling into his eyes, "Gomen, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
He would have repeated himself over and over again if he didn't feel strong hands pulling him up by the shoulders and found himself staring in surprise into bright green eyes that were simply burning with anger. Kyo flinched.
"Stop that!" Hisoka admonished him. "And stop saying you're sorry. You had nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame Akuma. He's the one putting you through this."
"You're sure?" Kyo asked timidly.
If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Hisoka's sword hand was twitching as though he longed to get hold of a bokken or katana at that moment. "Are you going to make me beat you into believing me?" Hisoka demanded. "'Cause if you are, I'll be happy to go to the dojo and pound some sense into you!"
In spite of himself, Kyo grinned, albeit somewhat shakily. "Thanks." He allowed himself then to be ushered behind a screen where Taka helped him change into a clean yukata and he climbed into bed, though refusing to go to sleep first. Instead, he asked Watari, "How did he do it?"
"I have no idea," Watari gave a helpless shrug. "Why don't you tell us first what happened when you passed out in the office? Maybe that'll give us a clue," he added thoughtfully.
Kyo frowned. "I was dreaming again. . . about . . .about stuff. ." Taka squeezed his hand, "and suddenly, I was sitting at a sidewalk café, and the dream was still going on, but it was all around me instead of me being in it. Then, Akuma came. . ." his voice trailed off and his hands clenched the blankets in remembrance.
"What then?" Tatsumi asked gently. Every one was here, in the room with them, a serious look on all of their faces; it seemed odd somehow, to Kyo, seeing Saya and Yuma so grim like that. They looked older.
"It was weird because I didn't recognize him. I didn't know who he was and I didn't remember anything about you guys, even Taka, and then. . he. . .he. . .I mean, I was happy to be with him. It felt good and then he said that you guys were coming for me and that you'll try to stop us from being together.
It made me angry. Really angry and then Hisoka showed up and. . .well, you know the rest," Kyo finished miserably. It felt even worse with the retelling and he wondered how he was going to explain to Taka about the parts he didn't mention.
He knew that the others knew that he wasn't telling everything but they didn't press him for details. He was glad. He's going to have a hard enough time as it is telling Taka.
"Bon? Did you get anything when you were synched with Kyo?" Watari asked.
Hisoka frowned. "I'm not sure. The dreamscape, when I went in, was weird. It was like Kyo said, that the dreams were playing around you instead of you being in it, like a movie projection. It felt. . .manipulated somehow."
Watari nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. It would explain why Akuma was in the dream with Kyo and why he could influence Kyo like that. But the thing is, how? How did he do it? We're in Meifu. How could he reach across and do that in the first place?"
"When I was inside," Hisoka started, "I was getting a general feeling of. . .wrongness. Could it be the curse or spell working?"
"That could be it!" Watari exclaimed. "Could you pinpoint the source?"
Hisoka shook his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't. There *wasn't* a source. It was all around me."
Taka sighed. "So we're back to square one."
Kyo remembered something then and he spoke up. "When I, uh, when I attacked you guys," here, he cast a guilty look at Taka, who glared back muttering, "If you dare say it was your fault again I'll make you sleep on the couch for a week."
Kyo blushed and cleared his throat, "Uh, when I did it, I felt something breaking inside me. I don't know what it was though," he finished, giving Watari a hopeful look. "Watari?"
"Well," Watari started, drawling, "It COULD mean that the curse was broken when you used your powers but. . . I'm sorry Kyo. I don't know. We just have to wait and see."
"But," Kyo threw up his hands in helplessness, "I can't risk going crazy on you guys again! What if I start dreaming?"
Tatsumi spoke up then, somehow, in between the trip back to Meifu and the gathering at the hospital wing, the secretary had managed to brush off most of the dirt off and his hair was now looking as perfect as ever, though his suit was still a bit rumpled. "We can put up barrier wards in the room, to prevent you from teleporting down to Chijou," he offered.
"But-" Kyo was about to protest when he suddenly found a chibi Tsuzuki face to face with him on the bed. He gave a started yelp and nearly fell off the bed in surprise if Taka hadn't quickly caught him around the waist. "Tsuzuki!"
Tail furiously wagging and ears simply twitching in excitement, Tsuzuki grinned. "We'll have a slumber party! All of us! It'll be fun!"
Perfect silence lay on the room until, in a prefect chorus;
"EH??"
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Naturally, Tsuzuki got his way. A few well-placed and cunningly timed round, big, watery eyes of purple amethyst had ensured that he got his way. Tatsumi had agreed with a sigh, Watari was enthusiastic about it from the start and the rest had joined in, Terazuma had to be dragged into it by Wakaba though. . .
Kyo was playing poker with Taka, Tsuzuki, Terazuma and Watari and was losing badly. Terazuma, much to Tsuzuki's eternal frustration, was winning. Only the barrier wards put up earlier had stopped Tsuzuki from calling up Suzaku to beat the crap out of the Shinigami. Thank god they were only playing with chocolates, otherwise, Kyo would owe Taka big time.
The rest was just hanging out around the room, the girls chatting together while Tatsumi was talking quietly with Hisoka. They were going through their ninth round of poker though when Kyo suddenly found himself slumped over in Taka's lap, his cards scattered all over the bed. He didn't even realize he was falling asleep.
"Alright," Taka announced firmly. "Play time's over. To bed, everyone. And that includes you too, Tsusuki-san. No, you can't have anymore chocolates. You ate too much already."
Damn, and he had gotten a good hand too this time, Kyo grumbled silently, but he allowed Taka to pull back the covers for him and he slid in between the cool sheets gratefully, yawning widely.
"Aren't you coming in?" He asked Taka sleepily, yawning again.
"I got to clear up the things first. Go on, I'll join you in a bit," Taka promised, giving him a peck on the cheek.
After all the remnants of their impromptu slumber part was taken care of, the first shift was taken by Watari and Tatsumi, sitting together on the couch with Tsuzuki and Hisoka occupying one bed and Kyo and Taka in the other.
The light was dimmed and the soft voices of Watari and Tatsumi talking together was like leaves rustling in the wind. It was a soothing sound and Kyo snuggled closer to Taka, sighing in contentment.
After a while, "Taka?" Kyo asked, so very softly. They lay on their sides, face to face, Taka glasses safely folded on the table beside, those beautiful eyes gazing unhindered into Kyo's.
"What is it?" his voice just as soft.
"I. . ."
How was he going to say it? "I. . there was something else I didn't tell about the dream. . the one with Akuma," he started slowly, almost afraid.
He felt Taka's hand, the one cradling his waist protectively tighten at the name of Akuma but it relaxed a moment later. "What is it?"
Kyo closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "I . . .I let him kiss me," he said hoarsely, his chest tight with guilt and loathing, loathing directed at himself and of Akuma.
Kyo thought that Taka was never going to say a word, he was silent for a long time and Kyo was truly afraid that Taka would despise him for it, would hate him. But instead, he felt the soft pressure of lips on his. His eyes fluttered open in surprise.
"It wasn't your fault," Taka whispered, his lips brushing just as soft over Kyo's mouth. "Honestly, if he was here with you now, in this bed, do you want to kiss him again?"
Kyo's eyes narrowed in anger. "Personally I'd prefer ripping out his tongue by the roots instead," he replied, careful to keep his voice low. "I still feel like throwing up every time I remember it," he added.
Taka grinned then, his breath tickling Kyo's face as he chuckled, low in his throat. "That makes me feel MUCH better."
"I'm still sorry though," Kyo replied, his eyes shadowed with pain.
"Shh, go to sleep," Taka placed another kiss on his lips and cuddled the boy closer. "Don't worry, I'll be here."
"Mmm," was his reply, and his eyes drifted close and soon, he fell asleep.
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Watari yawned for what seemed the hundredth time that morning. After his first shift with Tatsumi, watching over Kyo, they had been relieved by Wakaba and Terazuma and he had taken the chance to get a little nap. After that, he had been up since 4.00 a.m., doing more research on Akuma. Naturally, he didn't find anything. He was starting to think that Akuma was just a figment of their imagination. How could anyone be that hard to find?
Blinking back tears from his yawn, he opened the door to Kyo's and Hisoka's room softly, wanting to check up on the two. As far as his shift had been in concern, Kyo didn't have any nightmares and he hadn't heard anything from the rest. Hopefully it meant that the curse had been broken.
Soft, golden sunlight filled the room with a hazy glow, the windows open to let in a freshening spring breeze scented with the perfume of sakuras. White doves had alighted on the window sill and cooed inquiringly. Tsuzuki and Hisoka were still sleeping, tangled in each other's arms while Taka was also still under the covers, arm out flung over the empty space by his side.
The blond's eyes roved over the room, searching for his elusive patient. A shower of white feathers suddenly erupted from the corner of the room, where the couch was and Watari frowned, walking up to the couch. Was Kyo having another fit?
Ah.
Kyo had turn chibi again, tail furiously wagging as he ravaged a cushion to pieces in silent, gleeful enjoyment. He was making a positive blizzard, white feathers floating every which way and settling on the blond like itinerant snowflakes. He sneezed.
"Kyo? What are you doing?"
Chibi Kyo happily ignored him and went on to toss the cushion into the air, catching it as it fell back down and went back to ravaging it, romping in delight as the feathers tickled his face.
"I take it you had a good sleep?"
A fluffy tail wagged even more furiously and the little head nodded enthusiastically, cushion in mouth and sending feathers flying every which way again.
"No dreams at all?"
Chibi shook his head so furiously from side to side that he nearly fell from the couch, only to quickly catch himself by the edge and went back to shaking his head, albeit, slightly less enthusiastically.
Oh dear. He could understand the boy's happiness at not having been chased by a psycho in his own mind, nor having been brainwashed again by the same psycho. He could also understand the pure ecstasy of having a perfect sleep after so many weeks of going by without one. He could also understand and appreciate the boy's consideration for the others who were sleeping by showing his elation at the above silently.
He did not think though, that Tatsumi would appreciate hospital furniture, even though it was only a cushion, being ravaged by an overenthusiastic chibi. As he bent down, trying to calm it down, he wondered whether he had actually considered the risks involved in what he was about to do and whether or not chibis can bite people's hands off.
With slow, careful movements, he petted the chibi's head rather awkwardly, ready to snatch his hand back at the first sign of teeth snapping. Amazingly though, the chibi stilled its frenetic movements at the petting, quivering slightly under his wary hand.
Eyes wide in amazement, Watari slowly, but surely, stroked chibi's hair softly. Kyo purred, the sound a deep thrum in his throat and without warning, he leapt up, jumping into Watari's startled grasp and nestled against the scientist's chest, still purring. Watari was so stunned, he forgot to stroke and Kittenish-Kyo nipped his hand playfully.
He quickly resumed his stroking and Kittenish-Kyo purred even louder, sounding for all the world like a little motor engine. A thought crossed his mind then.
"Ne, Kyo? Want to have some cupcakes?"
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He must have forgotten to close the window blinds last night, was Taka's first fuzzy thought of the day. A warm heat and light shining through behind his closed eyes cheerfully told him that morning had come and he'd better move his ass out of the bed. He groaned. He could even hear cooing by the window and he groaned again.
I wonder if I should sleep in today. . . a sudden warm weight landing on his chest dissolved any such notion and his eyes flew open, only to fix upon a pair of pale blue ones, large and watery, belonging to a Kyo which seemed to have sprouted tail and furry ears.
Said kitten snuffled and whimpered.
"What's wrong Kyo?" A resigned note in his tone. While he was more than happy that a Kittenish-Kyo was sitting on his chest (it meant that he didn't have any nightmares last night so that was good), a Kittenish-Kyo also meant that mischief was brewing somewhere.
"Watari gave Kyo cupcakes," Kyo whined.
"I thought you liked cupcakes?"
"Watari wants Kyo to turn female again. Kyo don't wanna!"
Sigh. "Don't worry," he petted the kitten's head comfortingly and the kitten purred in response. "I'll have a little talk with Watari about it."
He got out of bed then, careful to not disturb the still sleeping Hisoka and Tsuzuki, cuddling the kitten and went to find Watari.
He was not, under any circumstances, about to let anyone ogle his Kyo in female form. If there was going to be any ogling done, it was going to be coming from him!
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Kyo: "Why can't I go back home???"
Watari: "Coz we have to make sure you're really alright!"
Kyo: "But I'm sick of this room! It's so boring!"
Taka: "No excuses, you're staying here and you're going to like it!"
Kyo: "Shan't!"
Watari: "We are not going to take any chances with this Akuma. Who knows what else he might come up with?"
Kyo: ". . . . .but I want to spend some. . .quality time with Taka. . . ."
Taka: *eyes rolling* "We'll have plenty of time for that later, Kyo. Look, if you promise to be good and listen to me and Watari, I'll let you tie me up next time!"
Kyo & Watari : ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
Kyo: "Baka! Did you have to say it out loud????"
Watari: "Ano. . . . . .just what is it that you guys do in bed??"
Kyo: *blushing*
Taka: *grinning* "Who ever said that it has to be in bed?"
Watari: ". . . .Hentai. . . . .hey, I'll even bake a cake, how about that?"
Kyo & Taka: "IYE!!!"
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Kyo had given in, as it was only natural, and was sitting on the couch, eating lunch with Taka and nearly everyone else in the office. It was turning out to be one regular party what with the amount of food people brought and the general horsing around, mainly by Tsuzuki.
Kyo was chatting with Taka and Hisoka, with Taka feeding him bits and pieces of his own lunch when the door banged open and the Gushoushin flew in excitedly. Their feathers were simply sticking up in delight as they zoomed towards Watari and Tatsumi, the elder holding a thick file and waving it excitedly in the secretary's face.
"Tatsumi-san! We've found him!"
Tatsumi pushed up his glasses thoughtfully, and carefully set aside his own lunch. "Good work. Now, why don't you try settling down and telling us what is it that you found?"
The elder Gushoushin flipped the file open, the other side held up by his younger brother and they began reading out from it in a two-part harmony.
"See, we couldn't find him anywhere in our databases because we were searching the wrong way. . ."
". . .we were searching for murders of the exact same style, the cut off head, the missing souls. . ."
". . .so of course, there was nothing, but then, it occurred to us that maybe he didn't always killed this way so. . ."
". . .we widened our search by looking up for cases where the same style of magic was used. . .."
". . .and we found him!" the two brothers chorused.
Blink.
"Where did you find him?" Watari asked, excited.
"China!" the elder announced.
"In the province of Guangzhou!" the younger added. "Why it never came up in our search was that in his old killings, the souls did turn up, with some help from the China division of the Shinigamis. . ."
The elder continued ". . .but they weren't destroyed in the first place and the heads weren't cut off. . .we had to get Kacho to ask special permission from Enma to search China's database for it. . ."
". . .but he was still crucifying them."
Taka spoke up, a comforting hand over Kyo's shoulder, asking them, "How many murders did he committed then since I'm guessing they never caught him in the first place?"
"The official count was 31 people, mainly those between 15-25 years old."
Hisoka spluttered in amazement, nearly spraying out his tea that he was drinking. "31?? Why didn't we hear anything about it? It would have made front pages all over China and into Japan at least!" he demanded.
The Gushoushin exchanged uneasy glances, as though reluctant to say anything but with a sigh, they said;
"It's because it happened a long time ago. . ."
". . .back during Japan's occupation of China during World War II, around 1941."
The Shinigamis gaped in astonishment.
"But we've seen him and he looks to be around Tsuzuki or Tatsumi's age!" Watari protested. "How could he be so old and look so young? Are you sure it's him? Maybe it's a predecessor, somebody who passed down their magic to him."
The elder shook his head in the negative. "One of the souls they retrieved could recall his murderer. It was an exact description of Akuma. The Chinese Shinigamis had in fact tried to chase him down but he escaped every time and their description also tallies up with ours. After the war ended, they lost all trace of him."
The Gushoushin didn't have much to add on to that and soon after, they left, promising to meet up with Watari later to help him search for more clues. The rest of them continued their lunch, though the party mood had evaporated somewhat.
Kyo ignored his half-eaten lunch, staring at the opposite wall. What the Gushoushin had said disturbed him in some way, as though there was something that he should know or realized. . .but what was it?
"He tasted like blood," his words were barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to make Taka and Hisoka look at him, faces concerned and lunch also lying forgotten on the table.
"Kyo? What do you mean?" Taka asked gently.
Kyo knew that Hisoka could hear him too, but he didn't care now whether the rest found out about how he had kissed Akuma. All he could see and feel was the memory of Akuma leaning close and the taste of his mouth burning on his tongue. "When I kissed him," Kyo said dully, "his mouth tasted like blood."
He could taste it again in fact, the saltiness with the hint of sour flooding his mouth, the feel of tongue against tongue, their breath mingling together, breath that had also smelled like blood. . .
With a gasp and a hand covering his mouth, Kyo bolted up from the couch and ran to the bathroom, his co-workers looking startled, with Taka following closely behind. The door to the bathroom slammed shut after Taka but even through the closed door, they could hear Kyo vomiting violently.
Accusing eyes swiveled around to fix on the blond scientist who threw his hands up in protest. "I didn't slip in anything in his food! Honest! I have my limits you know!"
From the sound of it, Kyo was throwing up all of his lunch and perhaps his breakfast as well and they winced in shared pain. A few minutes later, they could hear the toilet being flushed and the door opened, revealing a wan looking Kyo, propped up by the sensei. They watched in silence also as Taka helped Kyo back to bed, covering the now shivering boy with blankets.
A finger to his lips, he gestured for the others to follow him and they trooped out of the hospital room, and waited in the hallway as Taka closed the door behind him. He stared intently at them, as though weighing something in his mind, and finally, he sighed. "Promise me that all of you won't mention what I'm going to tell you in front of Kyo. He's upset enough as it is."
They nodded in agreement and Taka sighed again. "When he was in the dream with Akuma, the bastard took advantage of him. . .he kissed Kyo and Kyo said that his mouth tasted like blood. . and his breath smelled like it too."
"Watari?" Tatsumi asked, a questioning glance at the blond after an age of silence.
"It could be that Akuma was trying to throw Kyo off-balance or something but it could mean something else. . ." he trailed off. "I'll look into it," he promised.
Any further discussion was cut off as they heard the sound of feet slapping on the floor in Kyo's room and the bathroom door slamming open. Without a word, Taka opened the door and ran inside, followed by Watari. The others stayed outside, concern and worry mingling in their faces as they waited.
The three of them seemed to be taking a long time in the bathroom, with the last few minutes spent in utter silence. Finally though, the bathroom door opened again and Taka came out, carrying Kyo in his arms, back to the bed, the sensei's face pale.
Watari stepped outside, closing back the door and regarded them with a serious, almost grim expression on his face.
"What is it, Watari?" Tsuzuki asked, purple eyes large with worry and fear. He had unconsciously hugged Hisoka close, the boy moving in unresistingly.
"Kyo. . .he's vomiting up blood."
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~to be continued~
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A/N: Not much Kyo-Torture in here I'm afraid but I'll make him suffer beautifully in the next chapter! Promise! Hey, the one who can correctly guess how Akuma cursed Kyo will get a prize! The prize is (trumpets blowing) . . . a choice of either (a) an unrelated lemon-based sidefic with the characters of your choice or (b) you get to suggest ways for Akuma to "play" around with Kyo (yes, more Kyo x Akuma coming up!) and I'll try my best to fit it in the relevant chapter! Ne? Ne? How about it? Are you up to the challenge, my lemon-crazed reviewers?? Hehe, ja ne!
P.S.: I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to upload. I was having trouble with how I was going to start torturing Kyo again. Once more, thank you, Rinny-chan!
Rinny: Thank you for the reply! As you twitchingly requested; here's more Kyo-Torture! Minna, you should check out Rinny-chan's Hidama.com website! Very kakkoi! (did I get that right?)
Ruby-Tears: A hero is always required to go through at least one guilt trip per arc, don't you agree? Heheh.
Lil Yaoi Kitten: . . . . hentai. . . ( ^ o ^ )
Warning: Angsty-Kyo! Kittenish-Kyo! Sickly-Kyo!
Pairings: Per usual
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies (you can tell I'm getting bored in thinking up creative ways of saying YnM doesn't belong to me).
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CHAPTER 15: He Tastes Like Blood
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He came to and found himself in Taka's arms, carried down the halls of the Shokan Division and into the too-familiar hospital room. They didn't seem to notice that he was awake though and he kept quiet. The things that had happened since that afternoon kept on playing over and over again in his mind; he had hurt Hisoka, Taka, and nearly every one else. When will it stop?
Taka laid him down gently on a bed and realizing that Kyo was awake, he smiled, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Hey, welcome back."
"Hisoka?"
Taka stepped back and gestured to the bed beside his. "He's okay, see?"
Hisoka was in fact, awake, and was sitting up in his bed, smiling over at Kyo. "Hey." Tsuzuki was sitting by his side and holding on to his hand, also smiling.
Kyo didn't feel like smiling though, in fact, he felt like killing himself. He slid off the bed, waving off Taka's protests and came to stand beside Hisoka and Tsuzuki. "Are you alright?" he asked, softly.
"Fine, I've been through worse, believe me," Hisoka assured him.
Kyo bowed low though, his hair falling into his eyes, "Gomen, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
He would have repeated himself over and over again if he didn't feel strong hands pulling him up by the shoulders and found himself staring in surprise into bright green eyes that were simply burning with anger. Kyo flinched.
"Stop that!" Hisoka admonished him. "And stop saying you're sorry. You had nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame Akuma. He's the one putting you through this."
"You're sure?" Kyo asked timidly.
If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Hisoka's sword hand was twitching as though he longed to get hold of a bokken or katana at that moment. "Are you going to make me beat you into believing me?" Hisoka demanded. "'Cause if you are, I'll be happy to go to the dojo and pound some sense into you!"
In spite of himself, Kyo grinned, albeit somewhat shakily. "Thanks." He allowed himself then to be ushered behind a screen where Taka helped him change into a clean yukata and he climbed into bed, though refusing to go to sleep first. Instead, he asked Watari, "How did he do it?"
"I have no idea," Watari gave a helpless shrug. "Why don't you tell us first what happened when you passed out in the office? Maybe that'll give us a clue," he added thoughtfully.
Kyo frowned. "I was dreaming again. . . about . . .about stuff. ." Taka squeezed his hand, "and suddenly, I was sitting at a sidewalk café, and the dream was still going on, but it was all around me instead of me being in it. Then, Akuma came. . ." his voice trailed off and his hands clenched the blankets in remembrance.
"What then?" Tatsumi asked gently. Every one was here, in the room with them, a serious look on all of their faces; it seemed odd somehow, to Kyo, seeing Saya and Yuma so grim like that. They looked older.
"It was weird because I didn't recognize him. I didn't know who he was and I didn't remember anything about you guys, even Taka, and then. . he. . .he. . .I mean, I was happy to be with him. It felt good and then he said that you guys were coming for me and that you'll try to stop us from being together.
It made me angry. Really angry and then Hisoka showed up and. . .well, you know the rest," Kyo finished miserably. It felt even worse with the retelling and he wondered how he was going to explain to Taka about the parts he didn't mention.
He knew that the others knew that he wasn't telling everything but they didn't press him for details. He was glad. He's going to have a hard enough time as it is telling Taka.
"Bon? Did you get anything when you were synched with Kyo?" Watari asked.
Hisoka frowned. "I'm not sure. The dreamscape, when I went in, was weird. It was like Kyo said, that the dreams were playing around you instead of you being in it, like a movie projection. It felt. . .manipulated somehow."
Watari nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. It would explain why Akuma was in the dream with Kyo and why he could influence Kyo like that. But the thing is, how? How did he do it? We're in Meifu. How could he reach across and do that in the first place?"
"When I was inside," Hisoka started, "I was getting a general feeling of. . .wrongness. Could it be the curse or spell working?"
"That could be it!" Watari exclaimed. "Could you pinpoint the source?"
Hisoka shook his head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't. There *wasn't* a source. It was all around me."
Taka sighed. "So we're back to square one."
Kyo remembered something then and he spoke up. "When I, uh, when I attacked you guys," here, he cast a guilty look at Taka, who glared back muttering, "If you dare say it was your fault again I'll make you sleep on the couch for a week."
Kyo blushed and cleared his throat, "Uh, when I did it, I felt something breaking inside me. I don't know what it was though," he finished, giving Watari a hopeful look. "Watari?"
"Well," Watari started, drawling, "It COULD mean that the curse was broken when you used your powers but. . . I'm sorry Kyo. I don't know. We just have to wait and see."
"But," Kyo threw up his hands in helplessness, "I can't risk going crazy on you guys again! What if I start dreaming?"
Tatsumi spoke up then, somehow, in between the trip back to Meifu and the gathering at the hospital wing, the secretary had managed to brush off most of the dirt off and his hair was now looking as perfect as ever, though his suit was still a bit rumpled. "We can put up barrier wards in the room, to prevent you from teleporting down to Chijou," he offered.
"But-" Kyo was about to protest when he suddenly found a chibi Tsuzuki face to face with him on the bed. He gave a started yelp and nearly fell off the bed in surprise if Taka hadn't quickly caught him around the waist. "Tsuzuki!"
Tail furiously wagging and ears simply twitching in excitement, Tsuzuki grinned. "We'll have a slumber party! All of us! It'll be fun!"
Perfect silence lay on the room until, in a prefect chorus;
"EH??"
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Naturally, Tsuzuki got his way. A few well-placed and cunningly timed round, big, watery eyes of purple amethyst had ensured that he got his way. Tatsumi had agreed with a sigh, Watari was enthusiastic about it from the start and the rest had joined in, Terazuma had to be dragged into it by Wakaba though. . .
Kyo was playing poker with Taka, Tsuzuki, Terazuma and Watari and was losing badly. Terazuma, much to Tsuzuki's eternal frustration, was winning. Only the barrier wards put up earlier had stopped Tsuzuki from calling up Suzaku to beat the crap out of the Shinigami. Thank god they were only playing with chocolates, otherwise, Kyo would owe Taka big time.
The rest was just hanging out around the room, the girls chatting together while Tatsumi was talking quietly with Hisoka. They were going through their ninth round of poker though when Kyo suddenly found himself slumped over in Taka's lap, his cards scattered all over the bed. He didn't even realize he was falling asleep.
"Alright," Taka announced firmly. "Play time's over. To bed, everyone. And that includes you too, Tsusuki-san. No, you can't have anymore chocolates. You ate too much already."
Damn, and he had gotten a good hand too this time, Kyo grumbled silently, but he allowed Taka to pull back the covers for him and he slid in between the cool sheets gratefully, yawning widely.
"Aren't you coming in?" He asked Taka sleepily, yawning again.
"I got to clear up the things first. Go on, I'll join you in a bit," Taka promised, giving him a peck on the cheek.
After all the remnants of their impromptu slumber part was taken care of, the first shift was taken by Watari and Tatsumi, sitting together on the couch with Tsuzuki and Hisoka occupying one bed and Kyo and Taka in the other.
The light was dimmed and the soft voices of Watari and Tatsumi talking together was like leaves rustling in the wind. It was a soothing sound and Kyo snuggled closer to Taka, sighing in contentment.
After a while, "Taka?" Kyo asked, so very softly. They lay on their sides, face to face, Taka glasses safely folded on the table beside, those beautiful eyes gazing unhindered into Kyo's.
"What is it?" his voice just as soft.
"I. . ."
How was he going to say it? "I. . there was something else I didn't tell about the dream. . the one with Akuma," he started slowly, almost afraid.
He felt Taka's hand, the one cradling his waist protectively tighten at the name of Akuma but it relaxed a moment later. "What is it?"
Kyo closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "I . . .I let him kiss me," he said hoarsely, his chest tight with guilt and loathing, loathing directed at himself and of Akuma.
Kyo thought that Taka was never going to say a word, he was silent for a long time and Kyo was truly afraid that Taka would despise him for it, would hate him. But instead, he felt the soft pressure of lips on his. His eyes fluttered open in surprise.
"It wasn't your fault," Taka whispered, his lips brushing just as soft over Kyo's mouth. "Honestly, if he was here with you now, in this bed, do you want to kiss him again?"
Kyo's eyes narrowed in anger. "Personally I'd prefer ripping out his tongue by the roots instead," he replied, careful to keep his voice low. "I still feel like throwing up every time I remember it," he added.
Taka grinned then, his breath tickling Kyo's face as he chuckled, low in his throat. "That makes me feel MUCH better."
"I'm still sorry though," Kyo replied, his eyes shadowed with pain.
"Shh, go to sleep," Taka placed another kiss on his lips and cuddled the boy closer. "Don't worry, I'll be here."
"Mmm," was his reply, and his eyes drifted close and soon, he fell asleep.
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Watari yawned for what seemed the hundredth time that morning. After his first shift with Tatsumi, watching over Kyo, they had been relieved by Wakaba and Terazuma and he had taken the chance to get a little nap. After that, he had been up since 4.00 a.m., doing more research on Akuma. Naturally, he didn't find anything. He was starting to think that Akuma was just a figment of their imagination. How could anyone be that hard to find?
Blinking back tears from his yawn, he opened the door to Kyo's and Hisoka's room softly, wanting to check up on the two. As far as his shift had been in concern, Kyo didn't have any nightmares and he hadn't heard anything from the rest. Hopefully it meant that the curse had been broken.
Soft, golden sunlight filled the room with a hazy glow, the windows open to let in a freshening spring breeze scented with the perfume of sakuras. White doves had alighted on the window sill and cooed inquiringly. Tsuzuki and Hisoka were still sleeping, tangled in each other's arms while Taka was also still under the covers, arm out flung over the empty space by his side.
The blond's eyes roved over the room, searching for his elusive patient. A shower of white feathers suddenly erupted from the corner of the room, where the couch was and Watari frowned, walking up to the couch. Was Kyo having another fit?
Ah.
Kyo had turn chibi again, tail furiously wagging as he ravaged a cushion to pieces in silent, gleeful enjoyment. He was making a positive blizzard, white feathers floating every which way and settling on the blond like itinerant snowflakes. He sneezed.
"Kyo? What are you doing?"
Chibi Kyo happily ignored him and went on to toss the cushion into the air, catching it as it fell back down and went back to ravaging it, romping in delight as the feathers tickled his face.
"I take it you had a good sleep?"
A fluffy tail wagged even more furiously and the little head nodded enthusiastically, cushion in mouth and sending feathers flying every which way again.
"No dreams at all?"
Chibi shook his head so furiously from side to side that he nearly fell from the couch, only to quickly catch himself by the edge and went back to shaking his head, albeit, slightly less enthusiastically.
Oh dear. He could understand the boy's happiness at not having been chased by a psycho in his own mind, nor having been brainwashed again by the same psycho. He could also understand the pure ecstasy of having a perfect sleep after so many weeks of going by without one. He could also understand and appreciate the boy's consideration for the others who were sleeping by showing his elation at the above silently.
He did not think though, that Tatsumi would appreciate hospital furniture, even though it was only a cushion, being ravaged by an overenthusiastic chibi. As he bent down, trying to calm it down, he wondered whether he had actually considered the risks involved in what he was about to do and whether or not chibis can bite people's hands off.
With slow, careful movements, he petted the chibi's head rather awkwardly, ready to snatch his hand back at the first sign of teeth snapping. Amazingly though, the chibi stilled its frenetic movements at the petting, quivering slightly under his wary hand.
Eyes wide in amazement, Watari slowly, but surely, stroked chibi's hair softly. Kyo purred, the sound a deep thrum in his throat and without warning, he leapt up, jumping into Watari's startled grasp and nestled against the scientist's chest, still purring. Watari was so stunned, he forgot to stroke and Kittenish-Kyo nipped his hand playfully.
He quickly resumed his stroking and Kittenish-Kyo purred even louder, sounding for all the world like a little motor engine. A thought crossed his mind then.
"Ne, Kyo? Want to have some cupcakes?"
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He must have forgotten to close the window blinds last night, was Taka's first fuzzy thought of the day. A warm heat and light shining through behind his closed eyes cheerfully told him that morning had come and he'd better move his ass out of the bed. He groaned. He could even hear cooing by the window and he groaned again.
I wonder if I should sleep in today. . . a sudden warm weight landing on his chest dissolved any such notion and his eyes flew open, only to fix upon a pair of pale blue ones, large and watery, belonging to a Kyo which seemed to have sprouted tail and furry ears.
Said kitten snuffled and whimpered.
"What's wrong Kyo?" A resigned note in his tone. While he was more than happy that a Kittenish-Kyo was sitting on his chest (it meant that he didn't have any nightmares last night so that was good), a Kittenish-Kyo also meant that mischief was brewing somewhere.
"Watari gave Kyo cupcakes," Kyo whined.
"I thought you liked cupcakes?"
"Watari wants Kyo to turn female again. Kyo don't wanna!"
Sigh. "Don't worry," he petted the kitten's head comfortingly and the kitten purred in response. "I'll have a little talk with Watari about it."
He got out of bed then, careful to not disturb the still sleeping Hisoka and Tsuzuki, cuddling the kitten and went to find Watari.
He was not, under any circumstances, about to let anyone ogle his Kyo in female form. If there was going to be any ogling done, it was going to be coming from him!
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Kyo: "Why can't I go back home???"
Watari: "Coz we have to make sure you're really alright!"
Kyo: "But I'm sick of this room! It's so boring!"
Taka: "No excuses, you're staying here and you're going to like it!"
Kyo: "Shan't!"
Watari: "We are not going to take any chances with this Akuma. Who knows what else he might come up with?"
Kyo: ". . . . .but I want to spend some. . .quality time with Taka. . . ."
Taka: *eyes rolling* "We'll have plenty of time for that later, Kyo. Look, if you promise to be good and listen to me and Watari, I'll let you tie me up next time!"
Kyo & Watari : ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
Kyo: "Baka! Did you have to say it out loud????"
Watari: "Ano. . . . . .just what is it that you guys do in bed??"
Kyo: *blushing*
Taka: *grinning* "Who ever said that it has to be in bed?"
Watari: ". . . .Hentai. . . . .hey, I'll even bake a cake, how about that?"
Kyo & Taka: "IYE!!!"
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Kyo had given in, as it was only natural, and was sitting on the couch, eating lunch with Taka and nearly everyone else in the office. It was turning out to be one regular party what with the amount of food people brought and the general horsing around, mainly by Tsuzuki.
Kyo was chatting with Taka and Hisoka, with Taka feeding him bits and pieces of his own lunch when the door banged open and the Gushoushin flew in excitedly. Their feathers were simply sticking up in delight as they zoomed towards Watari and Tatsumi, the elder holding a thick file and waving it excitedly in the secretary's face.
"Tatsumi-san! We've found him!"
Tatsumi pushed up his glasses thoughtfully, and carefully set aside his own lunch. "Good work. Now, why don't you try settling down and telling us what is it that you found?"
The elder Gushoushin flipped the file open, the other side held up by his younger brother and they began reading out from it in a two-part harmony.
"See, we couldn't find him anywhere in our databases because we were searching the wrong way. . ."
". . .we were searching for murders of the exact same style, the cut off head, the missing souls. . ."
". . .so of course, there was nothing, but then, it occurred to us that maybe he didn't always killed this way so. . ."
". . .we widened our search by looking up for cases where the same style of magic was used. . .."
". . .and we found him!" the two brothers chorused.
Blink.
"Where did you find him?" Watari asked, excited.
"China!" the elder announced.
"In the province of Guangzhou!" the younger added. "Why it never came up in our search was that in his old killings, the souls did turn up, with some help from the China division of the Shinigamis. . ."
The elder continued ". . .but they weren't destroyed in the first place and the heads weren't cut off. . .we had to get Kacho to ask special permission from Enma to search China's database for it. . ."
". . .but he was still crucifying them."
Taka spoke up, a comforting hand over Kyo's shoulder, asking them, "How many murders did he committed then since I'm guessing they never caught him in the first place?"
"The official count was 31 people, mainly those between 15-25 years old."
Hisoka spluttered in amazement, nearly spraying out his tea that he was drinking. "31?? Why didn't we hear anything about it? It would have made front pages all over China and into Japan at least!" he demanded.
The Gushoushin exchanged uneasy glances, as though reluctant to say anything but with a sigh, they said;
"It's because it happened a long time ago. . ."
". . .back during Japan's occupation of China during World War II, around 1941."
The Shinigamis gaped in astonishment.
"But we've seen him and he looks to be around Tsuzuki or Tatsumi's age!" Watari protested. "How could he be so old and look so young? Are you sure it's him? Maybe it's a predecessor, somebody who passed down their magic to him."
The elder shook his head in the negative. "One of the souls they retrieved could recall his murderer. It was an exact description of Akuma. The Chinese Shinigamis had in fact tried to chase him down but he escaped every time and their description also tallies up with ours. After the war ended, they lost all trace of him."
The Gushoushin didn't have much to add on to that and soon after, they left, promising to meet up with Watari later to help him search for more clues. The rest of them continued their lunch, though the party mood had evaporated somewhat.
Kyo ignored his half-eaten lunch, staring at the opposite wall. What the Gushoushin had said disturbed him in some way, as though there was something that he should know or realized. . .but what was it?
"He tasted like blood," his words were barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to make Taka and Hisoka look at him, faces concerned and lunch also lying forgotten on the table.
"Kyo? What do you mean?" Taka asked gently.
Kyo knew that Hisoka could hear him too, but he didn't care now whether the rest found out about how he had kissed Akuma. All he could see and feel was the memory of Akuma leaning close and the taste of his mouth burning on his tongue. "When I kissed him," Kyo said dully, "his mouth tasted like blood."
He could taste it again in fact, the saltiness with the hint of sour flooding his mouth, the feel of tongue against tongue, their breath mingling together, breath that had also smelled like blood. . .
With a gasp and a hand covering his mouth, Kyo bolted up from the couch and ran to the bathroom, his co-workers looking startled, with Taka following closely behind. The door to the bathroom slammed shut after Taka but even through the closed door, they could hear Kyo vomiting violently.
Accusing eyes swiveled around to fix on the blond scientist who threw his hands up in protest. "I didn't slip in anything in his food! Honest! I have my limits you know!"
From the sound of it, Kyo was throwing up all of his lunch and perhaps his breakfast as well and they winced in shared pain. A few minutes later, they could hear the toilet being flushed and the door opened, revealing a wan looking Kyo, propped up by the sensei. They watched in silence also as Taka helped Kyo back to bed, covering the now shivering boy with blankets.
A finger to his lips, he gestured for the others to follow him and they trooped out of the hospital room, and waited in the hallway as Taka closed the door behind him. He stared intently at them, as though weighing something in his mind, and finally, he sighed. "Promise me that all of you won't mention what I'm going to tell you in front of Kyo. He's upset enough as it is."
They nodded in agreement and Taka sighed again. "When he was in the dream with Akuma, the bastard took advantage of him. . .he kissed Kyo and Kyo said that his mouth tasted like blood. . and his breath smelled like it too."
"Watari?" Tatsumi asked, a questioning glance at the blond after an age of silence.
"It could be that Akuma was trying to throw Kyo off-balance or something but it could mean something else. . ." he trailed off. "I'll look into it," he promised.
Any further discussion was cut off as they heard the sound of feet slapping on the floor in Kyo's room and the bathroom door slamming open. Without a word, Taka opened the door and ran inside, followed by Watari. The others stayed outside, concern and worry mingling in their faces as they waited.
The three of them seemed to be taking a long time in the bathroom, with the last few minutes spent in utter silence. Finally though, the bathroom door opened again and Taka came out, carrying Kyo in his arms, back to the bed, the sensei's face pale.
Watari stepped outside, closing back the door and regarded them with a serious, almost grim expression on his face.
"What is it, Watari?" Tsuzuki asked, purple eyes large with worry and fear. He had unconsciously hugged Hisoka close, the boy moving in unresistingly.
"Kyo. . .he's vomiting up blood."
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~to be continued~
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A/N: Not much Kyo-Torture in here I'm afraid but I'll make him suffer beautifully in the next chapter! Promise! Hey, the one who can correctly guess how Akuma cursed Kyo will get a prize! The prize is (trumpets blowing) . . . a choice of either (a) an unrelated lemon-based sidefic with the characters of your choice or (b) you get to suggest ways for Akuma to "play" around with Kyo (yes, more Kyo x Akuma coming up!) and I'll try my best to fit it in the relevant chapter! Ne? Ne? How about it? Are you up to the challenge, my lemon-crazed reviewers?? Hehe, ja ne!
P.S.: I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to upload. I was having trouble with how I was going to start torturing Kyo again. Once more, thank you, Rinny-chan!