Warnings: AU, Shounen Ai
Pairings: Touma+Seiji, Shuu+Shin, Ryo+Nasuti
Summary: Touma and his friends make up a secret group dedicated to the protection of Japan. While out one night, Touma stumbles across something that will change both his and his friends' lives...
A/N: Other people get to show up now!
(3/9/03 - Not much of a change, just added a sentence at the very end you might wanna read.)
Half-breed
by Amyeyl
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Chapter 6
Ryo stood above the two of them, the stake Touma had been searching for earlier held tightly in his hand. Behind him, Shin and Shuu, the other members of their team, as well as pseudo-member and Ryo's girlfriend, Nasuti, stood huddled in the doorway. Shuu stood a little in front of the other two, as if to protect them from whatever might lie in the room beyond.
"Well?" Seiji looked away, hands rising to cover his ears. In the silence, Ryo grew steadily angrier, his hand clenching and unclenching around the stake. Taking a deep breath, Touma prepared to answer his question.
"Arago bit Seiji, Ryo," his voice had started off strong, but had trickled to barely a whisper in the space of a few words.
"Seiji? Who, him?" he gestured towards the blonde incredulously. Touma nodded. Ryo grabbed the blonde boy in his arms, the towel slipping free to fall to the floor, and drew his arm back to strike. Touma leapt out of his seat and latched onto Ryo's free arm, stopping him from hurting Seiji. Ryo pushed him away, but lost the stake in the process.
"What the hell are you doing? Touma!" Seiji whimpered, pressing harder against his ears. Ryo shook him and growled. "Give it back."
"No! Ryo, he's not a vampire!"
"How the hell would you know?"
"I did the fucking tests, Ryo! The cross! The holy water! He's human dammit, now let him go!" Ryo shoved the blonde to the floor and stormed across the room to Touma. He grabbed the blue haired boy and slammed him against the wall. By this time, Nasuti and Shuu had come into the room and were trying to calm him down.
"Ryo!" Nasuti screamed.
"Come on, buddy, calm down. This is Touma!" Ryo ignored them both, his gaze shifting back and forth from Touma who he still held pinned against the wall and this Seiji, who Shin was hovering nervously over.
"Get away from him, Shin! We don't know what he is! And you, Touma! To bring something that belongs to Arago here! Vampire or not, I should kill you!"
"That's enough, Ryo!" Shuu grabbed a hold of their leader and hauled him off their teammate. He held him tightly, arms pinned against his sides as he continued to struggle.
"Let me go! That thing needs to be destroyed. How can you let it live?!" Nasuti moved to stand in front of him, and all argument ceased when she drew back her hand and slapped him. The sound of it seemed to echo in the stillness of the room.
"He should die because Arago bit him?" Nasuti stared at her boyfriend, shaking with rage. Her fists too, were now clenched. "That thing, as you call him, should be destroyed? Why, Ryo? Because his blood's been tainted, because Arago could use that to control him?" she scoffed and tugged open her robe, bearing her flesh. "Then go ahead! Strike down this tainted thing!" she spat the words at him.
His face drained of color and he went limp in Shuu's arms, forcing the other boy to hold him up.
"Nasuti..." he whispered.
"Go ahead, Ryo," she said, bending over to retrieve the stake and hold it out to him. "Strike me down."
"Nasuti.." he stumbled over to her and knocked the stake out of her hand. Pulling her into his arms, he pressed his face against her skin and began to cry. Nasuti stroked his hair and whispered soft calming noises. Shuu picked up the stake and replaced it on the mantle.
On the other side of the room, Shin helped Seiji to sit up. The blonde slowly lowered his hands from his ears, and stared curiously at Nasuti.
"Are you alright?" he looked up at the auburn haired boy and nodded shakily.
Touma still sat on the floor where Ryo had dropped him, and Seiji cautiously crawled towards him. He knelt beside him and placed a hand lightly on his arm.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. Touma shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." He pushed himself up into a standing position, then helped the blonde stand as well. Shuu coughed purposefully, Shin blushed, and both looked away. Looking down at himself, Seiji blushed as well, and turned so that Touma's body hid the majority of his own. Touma looked between them in confusion.
"Hashiba-san," Seiji tugged gently on his sleeve, and leaned up to whisper in his ear. Touma pulled away so that there was a gap between them and looked down. He stared for a moment before lifting his head to look at Seiji's face. Both were red in embarrassment, and he stammered something about clothes before backing away and running into the hallway. Seiji bit his lip and lowered his arms in an effort to cover himself.
Touma came back seconds later, holding the clothes he'd dropped in the hallway. By this time, Ryo had calmed down enough to stop crying. He hadn't let go of Nasuti though. They all turned around to allow Seiji to pull on the clothes Touma had gotten for him. When he was dressed, Ryo moved towards him, Nausti in tow. He paused in front of the blonde, his head bowed.
"I'm sorry too," When he looked up, tears threatened to fall again. He held out his hand, which Seiji accepted. Ryo sniffed and wiped his eyes, a slight grin coming back to his face. "I promise I'll listen to the rest of your story before trying to kill you again."
Outside of the large house, crouched below a window, a white haired man waited impatiently.
