Final Reaction
A Blue Seed Fic by Tobu Ishi
Of course I don't own Blue Seed, you foolish copyright enforcer.
-part 5-
"What time is it?"
Koume scowled in exasperation, glancing at her watch. "Eleven forty-nine, Yagashi. Four whole minutes later than the last time you asked. Now would you please stop it? You're giving me a headache."
The tech sighed, squirming on the uncomfortable plastic hospital chair he'd been left with, since all the good seats in the room had been taken by people with more muscles than him, like Koume and Sakura...
"Sorry, Koume...I just can't help wondering what's taking so long. It's been nearly four hours..."
Although they weren't as vocal about it, everyone else in the room agreed with Yagashi. None of the TAC wanted to go home without seeing if the transfusion was going to work or not, but it had been a long day and they were practically falling asleep.
Well, in Takeuchi and Sakura's cases, they actually had fallen asleep; none of the others had the heart to wake them up, despite the fact that Takeuchi had slumped sideways and was now, without realizing it, using Kunikida's shoulder as a pillow. Koume raised an eyebrow at her boss, who shrugged his free shoulder, as if to say, 'what do you expect me to do?'
Another long, silent pause stretched through the room.
"I hate to say it," Kunikida said quietly, breaking the silence, "but if something hasn't happened by midnight, I think we should all head home. We're not doing anyone any good by staying up all night, and if another Aragami shows up, we'll be-"
He was cut off as the door flew open, admitting an exhausted-looking but obviously excited Matsudera, followed by Kusanagi and a young nurse.
"It's ready!" the lady scientist crowed, nodding toward an IV bag full of pale green fluid, carried by the nurse. Kusanagi looked a bit pale himself, and had one sleeve still rolled up with a bandaid on his inner elbow, but seemed otherwise fine. A general sigh of relief went around the room as the nurse began hooking up the bag to a pole by Momiji's bed.
Matsudera and Kusanagi took seats on the foot of the bed, being careful not to disturb its occupant. Across the room, Takeuchi had begun to stir, sitting up blearily.
"Hmm? What's going on now?"
The scientist smiled, obviously pleased. "Well, the hospital staff wanted to test Kusanagi's blood—turns out it is blood, more or less anyway, just very altered from its original genotype—to check for anything potentially poisonous or otherwise dangerous to Momiji, so that's why we took so long. But everything checks out, so they agreed to go ahead with the transfusion."
"Good," Koume said firmly, shooting a glance at Momiji, who had been looking progressively worse over the course of the evening. "About time, too...she needs that stuff quick."
Next to her, Yagashi was shaking the still-sleeping Sakura awake. "Hey! Sakura, wake up, it's happening!"
"Mmmleggomee," Sakura slurred, blinking her eyes open reluctantly. She shoved Yagashi away, sitting up and pushing her long hair out of her face. "What now?"
"Matsudera finished her tests," Kusanagi said. "What are you anyway, Rip Van Winkle?"
"More like Sleeping Beauty," Sakura corrected him, shifting into a cross-legged position to give the Aragami lad a curious look. "Looks like you're still in one piece, more or less. Wasn't Matsudera gonna dissect you or something?"
"Nah, they just needed to draw some blood," Kusanagi responded with a shrug and a faint grin. "Turns out Matsudera wasn't planning to pin me to cardboard or debone me like a chicken after all. I guess I shouldn't have been so worried."
"Oh, don't worry, we'll get around to that next time," Matsudera said with a smile. Kusanagi snorted.
"What next time?" he said, giving her a dark look. "This was for Momiji, that's all. I told you, I'm not a specimen up for study."
Luckily, before that thread of conversation could go too far, the nurse got everyone's attention with a quick wave. "I've finished assembling the IV," she said, trotting over to hand Mr. Kunikida a sheaf of paper and a pencil. "Seeing as this procedure has never been tried before, as Miss Fujimiya's legal guardian we'd like you to sign here just in case."
Kunikida signed without more than a cursory glance at the form. "I trust Mrs. Matsudera," he said firmly, handing the paper back. "Go ahead."
"Right," the nurse said, and smiled. "Your organization saved my little sister from a spider Aragami once, you know. I'm rooting for your Momiji as much as anyone."
Takeuchi smiled back. "Wonderful. We can use all the prayers we can get."
It was the work of a minute to insert the IV needle into Momiji's arm and get the drip running. The young nurse left the room not long after, along with most of the TAC, who felt good enough about the procedure's chances of success to risk going home for some much-needed sleep.
Kusanagi stayed behind; he didn't really have a home anyway, and there was no way he was leaving Momiji alone. Since this was something of a special case, the hospital had no problems with his presence after hours, although they continued to send in someone every hour or so to check on the patient's progress. However, even Kusanagi's impressive stamina had trouble coping with such late hours, and between that and the faint tired dizziness that the loss of blood had left him with, he finally dozed off in his chair...
It was already the gray hours of very early morning when a soft sound woke him. Kusanagi was used to catnapping in unfamiliar places, so his current location didn't disorient him. Sitting up, he winced, feeling the soreness in his neck and shoulders from sleeping sitting up. Halfway through a stretch, he'd almost forgotten why he'd woken up when he heard the sound again, from his left. He turned toward the bed...
He was just in time to see Momiji shift slightly, letting out a faint moan. It was the first sign of life he'd seen in her since she'd passed out the day before, and for a moment his heart leaped with relief-
And then he realized the other thing that had disturbed his sleep; the steady beeping of the life-support monitor measuring Momiji's heartbeat was going wild, hammering out erratic rhythms that sped up and slowed down as unpredictably as a car with a bad transmission. Kusanagi leapt to his feet, grabbing Momiji's hand, but once more a bright flash of light leapt from their mitamas, and he let go again, blinking spots from his eyes, and ran to the door, throwing it open.
"Hey! Something's wrong! Get some help in here quick!" he shouted into the hallway, not caring who might be sleeping. Somewhere he heard the beginnings of a commotion sparked by his words, but by then he had already dashed back to Momiji's side, looking helplessly around for something, anything to do. The girl's breathing was controlled by the tube in her throat, so it remained eerily steady despite her distress.
She stirred again, her face twisting in an expression of such obvious pain that it caught Kusanagi's own breath in his throat. "Momiji..." he whispered, feeling frantic, useless; what was the point of his stupid mitamas, if they couldn't help him save her? What was the-
His thoughts froze, as the whole thing came suddenly clear in his mind...and then without a moment's hesitation, he reached for Momiji's hand again. This time when the flash of light hit, he kept his grip on her fingers; he could just hear the fading sounds of the doctors rushing into the room, as the light filled his vision, then blotted it out entirely...
When Kusanagi's mind coalesced back into something resembling himself, he was floating in a blank, bright white expanse. Then again, perhaps floating wasn't the best word, since he didn't seem to have a body. It was more like just...existing, without any particular physical tether to attach him to the solid half of the world. For some strange reason, he wasn't frightened. Maybe it was the utter peace of the place, so different from the tension back in Momiji's hospital room...
Oh, that was right. He was trying to find Momiji. Glad to have remembered what he was doing here, Kusanagi started to...hmm. To what? How did you 'find' someone in a place like this? he wondered. If he'd had a face at the moment, he would have frowned. This was harder than he'd expected; but, frankly, he wasn't really sure what he'd expected anyway. Only that somehow his link with Momiji might help him to help her...
(Kusanagi? Is that...you?)
Well, that took care of that problem. The sense of Momiji's presence was instant, accompanying something more or less like a voice, although it echoed more in his soul than his ears. Of course, that was to be expected, considering that his ears were back with the rest of him in the hospital. What there was of him here leaped with joy.
(Momiji!) he cried, wishing he could grab her hands...but then again, come to think of it, he was already doing that. (Oh, man, this is weird. Yes, it's me. Do you know what's going on? Where are we?)
(Um...) She 'sounded' almost sheepish, but there was fear there too, just under the surface. (I'm not exactly sure...I've been here for a while, though. Ever since—)
Suddenly her presence seemed to shatter, pieces flying everywhere for a moment in a sort of tactile scream before rushing back together into a coherent whole again.
(What was that?!) Kusanagi yelped, shocked.
(I...I'm not sure...) Momiji's mind-voice gasped, sounding shaky and pained, like an instrument with a broken string. (That's the third time it's happened, though. I don't get it! What's happening back there?)
Kusanagi didn't have to ask what 'back there' meant. (Your mitama is messing with your body,) he replied quickly. (You're dying.)
(I what?!) Momiji yelped, her presence flickering with alarm. (Mamoru Kusanagi, you've got to be joking with me!)
(Sorry, kid,) he said. (No joke. We thought we'd figured out a way to cure you, but something isn't-)
Before he could finish the thought, Momiji's presence trembled again, then blew apart. This time it seemed more violent and took much longer to reassemble, and Kusanagi was beginning to panic by the time Momiji's shaky 'voice' spoke up again.
(My body,) she whispered. (It hurts...)
(Hang on, Momiji!) Kusanagi pleaded, willing her to hold it together...literally. If she died now, after everything they'd been through...no, she couldn't! Without quite knowing what he was doing, he willed every ounce of his consciousness into keeping her in one piece. Momiji shivered uncontrollably, her presence wavering... (Please, don't let go!)
(But...it hurts...) she repeated, her voice a whimper. Kusanagi wished he had teeth to grit.
(I don't care!) he snapped, struggling to hold on to her somehow. (You're a tough kid, Momiji! You can't let this get to you!)
Momiji's presence shuddered again, and he felt it start to splinter...
And then, with a titanic effort, Kusanagi reached out with his own soul and wrapped it around hers, keeping her alive with sheer force of will. The last few days had left her so weak; she felt as fragile as crystal, and he somehow knew for a fact that if he let her go, this time she wouldn't be able to pull herself back together.
(Kusanagi, don't!) Momiji cried in alarm, as the rifts in her fading soul began to force their way into his. (You'll kill us both! Stop it!)
(No way,) he gasped, feeling himself starting to fade with her but not caring. (I'm not gonna keep living knowing I let you die!)
Her voice was a whisper. (Kusanagi...)
The cracks widened, and his strength wavered, breaking-
And then, suddenly, strength surged up from the fragile soul in his embrace, shoring up the fractures in his power. This was something new, not as raw as the sheer strength he'd been using, but somehow stronger. Love, he realized, amazed. This incredible power that she was pouring out on him...was love.
(It's one thing...if I...die,) Momiji gritted out, throwing her last reserves into their bond, (but you are not...going down...if I can...help it!)
It was just enough; Kusanagi felt his soul recharging with Momiji's sudden gift of strength, opening hidden reserves in him that he'd never known he had. For a second, he blazed with power like a newly charged electric light, and then the charge spilled over, running swiftly down invisible channels, healing broken tissue, searing the damp from tired lungs. In that overwhelming moment they clung to each other, light swirling all around them, nearly swept away in the tide of healing they'd inadvertently unleashed.
And then, it was done; there was a final crash of thunder, and the world fell silent.
________________________________________________
AN- Well, it took me four months, but I'm finally going to be posting the conclusion to Final Reaction. I do have an excuse, though...this fic was stored on a floppy, and I kinda lost the floppy...but I found it again yesterday! (Actually my dad did.) So if you want to send him your happy thanks, please review and tell me so...I'll pass them on! ^_~ Yatta! -Tobu Ishi T_T
A Blue Seed Fic by Tobu Ishi
Of course I don't own Blue Seed, you foolish copyright enforcer.
-part 5-
"What time is it?"
Koume scowled in exasperation, glancing at her watch. "Eleven forty-nine, Yagashi. Four whole minutes later than the last time you asked. Now would you please stop it? You're giving me a headache."
The tech sighed, squirming on the uncomfortable plastic hospital chair he'd been left with, since all the good seats in the room had been taken by people with more muscles than him, like Koume and Sakura...
"Sorry, Koume...I just can't help wondering what's taking so long. It's been nearly four hours..."
Although they weren't as vocal about it, everyone else in the room agreed with Yagashi. None of the TAC wanted to go home without seeing if the transfusion was going to work or not, but it had been a long day and they were practically falling asleep.
Well, in Takeuchi and Sakura's cases, they actually had fallen asleep; none of the others had the heart to wake them up, despite the fact that Takeuchi had slumped sideways and was now, without realizing it, using Kunikida's shoulder as a pillow. Koume raised an eyebrow at her boss, who shrugged his free shoulder, as if to say, 'what do you expect me to do?'
Another long, silent pause stretched through the room.
"I hate to say it," Kunikida said quietly, breaking the silence, "but if something hasn't happened by midnight, I think we should all head home. We're not doing anyone any good by staying up all night, and if another Aragami shows up, we'll be-"
He was cut off as the door flew open, admitting an exhausted-looking but obviously excited Matsudera, followed by Kusanagi and a young nurse.
"It's ready!" the lady scientist crowed, nodding toward an IV bag full of pale green fluid, carried by the nurse. Kusanagi looked a bit pale himself, and had one sleeve still rolled up with a bandaid on his inner elbow, but seemed otherwise fine. A general sigh of relief went around the room as the nurse began hooking up the bag to a pole by Momiji's bed.
Matsudera and Kusanagi took seats on the foot of the bed, being careful not to disturb its occupant. Across the room, Takeuchi had begun to stir, sitting up blearily.
"Hmm? What's going on now?"
The scientist smiled, obviously pleased. "Well, the hospital staff wanted to test Kusanagi's blood—turns out it is blood, more or less anyway, just very altered from its original genotype—to check for anything potentially poisonous or otherwise dangerous to Momiji, so that's why we took so long. But everything checks out, so they agreed to go ahead with the transfusion."
"Good," Koume said firmly, shooting a glance at Momiji, who had been looking progressively worse over the course of the evening. "About time, too...she needs that stuff quick."
Next to her, Yagashi was shaking the still-sleeping Sakura awake. "Hey! Sakura, wake up, it's happening!"
"Mmmleggomee," Sakura slurred, blinking her eyes open reluctantly. She shoved Yagashi away, sitting up and pushing her long hair out of her face. "What now?"
"Matsudera finished her tests," Kusanagi said. "What are you anyway, Rip Van Winkle?"
"More like Sleeping Beauty," Sakura corrected him, shifting into a cross-legged position to give the Aragami lad a curious look. "Looks like you're still in one piece, more or less. Wasn't Matsudera gonna dissect you or something?"
"Nah, they just needed to draw some blood," Kusanagi responded with a shrug and a faint grin. "Turns out Matsudera wasn't planning to pin me to cardboard or debone me like a chicken after all. I guess I shouldn't have been so worried."
"Oh, don't worry, we'll get around to that next time," Matsudera said with a smile. Kusanagi snorted.
"What next time?" he said, giving her a dark look. "This was for Momiji, that's all. I told you, I'm not a specimen up for study."
Luckily, before that thread of conversation could go too far, the nurse got everyone's attention with a quick wave. "I've finished assembling the IV," she said, trotting over to hand Mr. Kunikida a sheaf of paper and a pencil. "Seeing as this procedure has never been tried before, as Miss Fujimiya's legal guardian we'd like you to sign here just in case."
Kunikida signed without more than a cursory glance at the form. "I trust Mrs. Matsudera," he said firmly, handing the paper back. "Go ahead."
"Right," the nurse said, and smiled. "Your organization saved my little sister from a spider Aragami once, you know. I'm rooting for your Momiji as much as anyone."
Takeuchi smiled back. "Wonderful. We can use all the prayers we can get."
It was the work of a minute to insert the IV needle into Momiji's arm and get the drip running. The young nurse left the room not long after, along with most of the TAC, who felt good enough about the procedure's chances of success to risk going home for some much-needed sleep.
Kusanagi stayed behind; he didn't really have a home anyway, and there was no way he was leaving Momiji alone. Since this was something of a special case, the hospital had no problems with his presence after hours, although they continued to send in someone every hour or so to check on the patient's progress. However, even Kusanagi's impressive stamina had trouble coping with such late hours, and between that and the faint tired dizziness that the loss of blood had left him with, he finally dozed off in his chair...
It was already the gray hours of very early morning when a soft sound woke him. Kusanagi was used to catnapping in unfamiliar places, so his current location didn't disorient him. Sitting up, he winced, feeling the soreness in his neck and shoulders from sleeping sitting up. Halfway through a stretch, he'd almost forgotten why he'd woken up when he heard the sound again, from his left. He turned toward the bed...
He was just in time to see Momiji shift slightly, letting out a faint moan. It was the first sign of life he'd seen in her since she'd passed out the day before, and for a moment his heart leaped with relief-
And then he realized the other thing that had disturbed his sleep; the steady beeping of the life-support monitor measuring Momiji's heartbeat was going wild, hammering out erratic rhythms that sped up and slowed down as unpredictably as a car with a bad transmission. Kusanagi leapt to his feet, grabbing Momiji's hand, but once more a bright flash of light leapt from their mitamas, and he let go again, blinking spots from his eyes, and ran to the door, throwing it open.
"Hey! Something's wrong! Get some help in here quick!" he shouted into the hallway, not caring who might be sleeping. Somewhere he heard the beginnings of a commotion sparked by his words, but by then he had already dashed back to Momiji's side, looking helplessly around for something, anything to do. The girl's breathing was controlled by the tube in her throat, so it remained eerily steady despite her distress.
She stirred again, her face twisting in an expression of such obvious pain that it caught Kusanagi's own breath in his throat. "Momiji..." he whispered, feeling frantic, useless; what was the point of his stupid mitamas, if they couldn't help him save her? What was the-
His thoughts froze, as the whole thing came suddenly clear in his mind...and then without a moment's hesitation, he reached for Momiji's hand again. This time when the flash of light hit, he kept his grip on her fingers; he could just hear the fading sounds of the doctors rushing into the room, as the light filled his vision, then blotted it out entirely...
When Kusanagi's mind coalesced back into something resembling himself, he was floating in a blank, bright white expanse. Then again, perhaps floating wasn't the best word, since he didn't seem to have a body. It was more like just...existing, without any particular physical tether to attach him to the solid half of the world. For some strange reason, he wasn't frightened. Maybe it was the utter peace of the place, so different from the tension back in Momiji's hospital room...
Oh, that was right. He was trying to find Momiji. Glad to have remembered what he was doing here, Kusanagi started to...hmm. To what? How did you 'find' someone in a place like this? he wondered. If he'd had a face at the moment, he would have frowned. This was harder than he'd expected; but, frankly, he wasn't really sure what he'd expected anyway. Only that somehow his link with Momiji might help him to help her...
(Kusanagi? Is that...you?)
Well, that took care of that problem. The sense of Momiji's presence was instant, accompanying something more or less like a voice, although it echoed more in his soul than his ears. Of course, that was to be expected, considering that his ears were back with the rest of him in the hospital. What there was of him here leaped with joy.
(Momiji!) he cried, wishing he could grab her hands...but then again, come to think of it, he was already doing that. (Oh, man, this is weird. Yes, it's me. Do you know what's going on? Where are we?)
(Um...) She 'sounded' almost sheepish, but there was fear there too, just under the surface. (I'm not exactly sure...I've been here for a while, though. Ever since—)
Suddenly her presence seemed to shatter, pieces flying everywhere for a moment in a sort of tactile scream before rushing back together into a coherent whole again.
(What was that?!) Kusanagi yelped, shocked.
(I...I'm not sure...) Momiji's mind-voice gasped, sounding shaky and pained, like an instrument with a broken string. (That's the third time it's happened, though. I don't get it! What's happening back there?)
Kusanagi didn't have to ask what 'back there' meant. (Your mitama is messing with your body,) he replied quickly. (You're dying.)
(I what?!) Momiji yelped, her presence flickering with alarm. (Mamoru Kusanagi, you've got to be joking with me!)
(Sorry, kid,) he said. (No joke. We thought we'd figured out a way to cure you, but something isn't-)
Before he could finish the thought, Momiji's presence trembled again, then blew apart. This time it seemed more violent and took much longer to reassemble, and Kusanagi was beginning to panic by the time Momiji's shaky 'voice' spoke up again.
(My body,) she whispered. (It hurts...)
(Hang on, Momiji!) Kusanagi pleaded, willing her to hold it together...literally. If she died now, after everything they'd been through...no, she couldn't! Without quite knowing what he was doing, he willed every ounce of his consciousness into keeping her in one piece. Momiji shivered uncontrollably, her presence wavering... (Please, don't let go!)
(But...it hurts...) she repeated, her voice a whimper. Kusanagi wished he had teeth to grit.
(I don't care!) he snapped, struggling to hold on to her somehow. (You're a tough kid, Momiji! You can't let this get to you!)
Momiji's presence shuddered again, and he felt it start to splinter...
And then, with a titanic effort, Kusanagi reached out with his own soul and wrapped it around hers, keeping her alive with sheer force of will. The last few days had left her so weak; she felt as fragile as crystal, and he somehow knew for a fact that if he let her go, this time she wouldn't be able to pull herself back together.
(Kusanagi, don't!) Momiji cried in alarm, as the rifts in her fading soul began to force their way into his. (You'll kill us both! Stop it!)
(No way,) he gasped, feeling himself starting to fade with her but not caring. (I'm not gonna keep living knowing I let you die!)
Her voice was a whisper. (Kusanagi...)
The cracks widened, and his strength wavered, breaking-
And then, suddenly, strength surged up from the fragile soul in his embrace, shoring up the fractures in his power. This was something new, not as raw as the sheer strength he'd been using, but somehow stronger. Love, he realized, amazed. This incredible power that she was pouring out on him...was love.
(It's one thing...if I...die,) Momiji gritted out, throwing her last reserves into their bond, (but you are not...going down...if I can...help it!)
It was just enough; Kusanagi felt his soul recharging with Momiji's sudden gift of strength, opening hidden reserves in him that he'd never known he had. For a second, he blazed with power like a newly charged electric light, and then the charge spilled over, running swiftly down invisible channels, healing broken tissue, searing the damp from tired lungs. In that overwhelming moment they clung to each other, light swirling all around them, nearly swept away in the tide of healing they'd inadvertently unleashed.
And then, it was done; there was a final crash of thunder, and the world fell silent.
________________________________________________
AN- Well, it took me four months, but I'm finally going to be posting the conclusion to Final Reaction. I do have an excuse, though...this fic was stored on a floppy, and I kinda lost the floppy...but I found it again yesterday! (Actually my dad did.) So if you want to send him your happy thanks, please review and tell me so...I'll pass them on! ^_~ Yatta! -Tobu Ishi T_T