DISCLAIMER: OK, I'm too busy in the theatre to worry about the fact that I don't OWN this thing ~helplessly picks at the ugly yellow paint that's embedded in what nails she still has~
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I know the last one was severely behind schedule, but I promise it wasn't my fault! Well, not much. We were out of town, and then I couldn't seem to find a good time to proof it. But this one's here! Yay!
You know, there was a good point brought up. Goddess of Healer pointed out that for most of the FY characters to ever have a love life they'd NEED to be paired with original characters. Good point, but still... I just have thing thing against the idea. yes, this has a point. There're a couple of lines in this chapter that could be slightly suggestive in that manner, but give the situation the benefit of the doubt.
Waku-chan, you still rule ^_^
Bashou, KEEP THAT DICTIONARY AWAY FROM ME! I'm already getting whacked with the lead pipe! And I didn't, did I?
Goddess of Healer, good point. I give you thumbs up ^_^ And yes, I bet that IS why! No one else!
Someone bring me a straightjacket for Gohanzgirl, NOW! And an oxygen tank! Calm down! Calm down!
Stormlight, it's good to see you back! I hope the move went well and you weren't ripped off by anyone again ^_^ I'll be willing to whack 'em for you! And yes, another cliffie ^_^ Remember, I'm addicted to them.
"Reijirou?"
He heard the voice faintly. He didn't think he wanted to hear it. He was in a nice, calm place. There was an open field under the starry night sky. The stars were clearer than he remembered. A laugh drew his attention, and he looked down to see a boy and girl, almost identical – no, but for the haircuts they were identical – run by, chasing the fireflies that buzzed lazily around the field like sleepy lights. He smiled at them. They waved happily, then chased each other into the trees on the other side of the field.
"Reijirou, please, wake up. Please…"
It was a different voice this time. His mind told him he still didn't want to hear it. Near the edge of the field was a large, flat rock. He walked over to it, climbed up, and lay down. It was just the right size for him. The incline was perfect for stargazing. He pillowed his head on his arms and started to pick out familiar constellations, old friends. One set of constellations in the southern sky seemed to stand out especially well. He searched his brain, trying to remember their names. Only one would come to him, the one that seemed to be brighter than the rest – Nuriko. Nuriko…
"Nuriko?" He seemed to be levitating, rising up to that shining constellation which was growing brighter and brighter every moment. He rose to the light, and he could still see. He looked down again, saw the two children waving to him. He waved back. He'd see them later, he knew.
The light flashed its brightest, then the world grew suddenly dark again. With an effort so immense it tired him beyond belief, he opened his eyes, but saw only darkness. "Nuriko?"
"REIJIROU!" A shadowy form threw itself on him and its arms around him, making him grit his teeth with pain in a tremendous effort not to scream. "Reijirou! You're awake!" The figure was shaking with sobbing. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear them, and most of the dimness left. He could see her clearly now. "Ri… sako?" he whispered.
"Hai, hai, hai! You're here! I thought you'd died!" She was still crying. Reijirou tried to bring his arms up, but let out a small cry of pain as the right one pulled agonizingly against the wound. Risako immediately stood up, glaring at him through tear-filled eyes. "Don't move! The doctors say you need rest, and immobility. We didn't get you in here just to have you die on us right when you woke up!"
"Baka," he whispered. Talking louder than that was too much of a task for him in his current state. He reached up with his uninjured left arm and pulled her down again, hugging her tightly. "Risako no baka. I'm too stubborn to die."
"Reijirou."
He looked up for that voice, seeing for the first time the pristine cleanliness of a hospital room. Nuriko's ghostly form leaned against one pale-blue wall, taking it all in, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Nuriko….. arigato, you saved my life." Reijirou smiled at the seishi.
"I nearly didn't," Nuriko said bluntly. "You were worse off than even I could tell. You fainted just one street down from the hospital." He slowly grinned. "See? I know what that means now."
Reijirou laughed weakly. "You're improving."
"Thanks." Nuriko grew serious again. "You were losing too much blood, so I did the only thing I could and tried to bandage you." He looked sheepish. "Gomen, your shirt's in shreds, and your jacket isn't much better."
Reijirou glanced over Risako's head, still on his shoulder, to his injuries, slowly trying to flex his right arm. He winced as fire ran through him again. "Better them than me."
"Right. I knew I had to get help, it would look kind of odd if you suddenly came in the door – floating six feet off the ground and unconscious. So I went to Risa-chan."
"Hai." Risako straightened up again, wiping her eyes. "I was sound asleep, then I heard this screaming. It scared me." She tried to grin. "I literally fell out of bed." Reijirou laughed weakly again. "There was Nuriko, shining with this incredibly strong light and picking me up off the floor, yelling to get dressed fast 'cause you were in trouble." She swiped at her eyes again. "I got dressed and ran out of the apartment to my dad's car, and Nuriko directed me to you. He told me what happened. I brought you in here. They think I was with you when you were attacked by muggers with knives."
"Nani?"
"It was the only thing I could think of."
"Iya, it's fine." He settled against the pillows, closing his eyes again. He was so tired...
"You got a blood transfusion while they stitched you up. You're still getting it now." Reijirou opened his eyes again and for the first time noticed the pole next to his bed. A bag of red liquid was swinging from the top, feeding into a small plastic tube that ended in a needle in his right arm. "They said I got you here just in time." A quiver in her voice drew his eyes to her. Tears were spilling down her cheeks again. "I'm so glad you're all right."
"Risako, I already said it, I'm too stubborn to die, ne?"
"But still…"
Nuriko yawned and pushed off of the wall, walking over to the bed. "Is the love story over yet?"
Risako jumped back, bright red. Reijirou suspected he was as well. "If I could, I'd hit you now, you know."
Nuriko grinned. "Hai, I know. I'd do the same thing, but you can't and I won't!" He smiled cheerfully. "Your family should be here soon. It actually hasn't been that long since the fight. Taka and Miaka will probably show up too. Gesshin might, I don't know if he knows about it."
"What time is it?"
"About eleven-thirty," answered Risako. "I got here about half an hour ago."
"Risako…"
"What?"
"What in the hell were you doing asleep that early?"
"REIJIROU-KUN!" The door to his room burst open a few minutes later, spilling his family inside. His mother ran to the bed and swept him up into a hug, which, fortunately, excluded his bandaged areas. "I was so worried!!!"
"I'm okay Mom, it's all right." Reijirou awkwardly patted his mother on the back with his good arm. "I'll be fine in a couple days."
Chiaki and Hajime, meanwhile, had noticed Risako, who had retreated to a corner. Chiaki walked up to her, studying her with her head tilted. "I know you from somewhere, ne?"
Risako swallowed nervously and nodded. "I went to your high school."
"What are you doing in aniki's room?" Hajime demanded, almost glaring at her.
"Calm down Hajime, she's a friend. She brought me here after it happened." Reijirou's voice was still very weak, but he was able to make himself be heard.
"She did? Dear girl, thank you!" Reijirou's mother swooped over to Risako, hugging her even tighter than she had Reijirou.
"You're welcome, Enomoto-san," Risako managed to gasp out.
"Mom, where's Dad?" Reijirou asked.
His little trick worked. His mother let go of Risako, who gratefully slumped against the wall to catch her breath, and went back to Reijirou. "He's looking for your doctor. He should be here soon."
"Do they know when I can go home?"
"You'll have to ask- ah, this has to be him now," she said as the door swung open. Two men entered: Reijirou's father, and behind him a man almost as tall as Ashitare, but with short dark hair, glasses, and a kind face. His white lab coat identified him easily as the doctor.
Reijirou's father pulled his wife over to the man. "Dear, this is Seo Murai, Reijirou-kun's doctor."
Nuriko groaned loudly from his corner of the room. "We're getting overrun with them! That makes-" he tallied on his fingers "-six tonight! Give me a break already!" he shouted at the ceiling, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation. Reijirou felt it too. He had to exercise every ounce of his self-control to not look at Nuriko, though he noticed Risako's eyes darting there and back. But she wasn't the center of attention. All his family members' eyes were trained on him and Dr. Seo by his bed.
Dr. Seo flipped through the papers on his clipboard, holding a pen in his teeth. "Iie… iie… ah, here." He took the pen in his hand again and flipped the papers he didn't want to the back of the clipboard, then turned it around to the Enomotos, using the pen as a pointer. "Aside from the cuts, which have already been treated, and the loss of blood, which we're remedying now-" he gestured to the IV "-all he has are some scrapes and bruises. No major internal injuries or bleeding, no breaks, sprains, or fractures, no head trauma."
Cuts?! How can he think these are just CUTS?! Reijirou thought angrily as his family thanked the doctor profusely. He'd passed out from those so-called cuts! Damnit, he'd almost DIED! Those weren't just cuts! Even now he could feel the ice-hot pain as Ashitare's claws gashed through him.
Dr. Seo's voice brought him back to the present. "Gomen, but I'm going to have to ask everyone except Daishi-san to step out of the room for a minute. The police have been waiting for a few minutes to take their statements." Dr. Seo proved to be a very effective shepherd, gently yet firmly steering the rest of the Enomoto family out of the room. His mother called back that she would come back tomorrow, and Hajime yelled something he couldn't quite make out before Dr. Seo let in two uniformed officers.
"Well kids, how nice to see you again." The policewoman grinned.
"Sargent Owake! Officer Fujimara!" Risako cried. "It's you!"
"Hai, we seem to keep running into each other, ne?" It was Fujimara's turn to grin.
"Remember, you only have five minutes, he needs his rest." Dr. Seo left the room and closed the door behind him.
"Will five minutes be enough?" Reijirou asked softly.
"Hai. We brought this." With a flourish Fujimara displayed a hand-held tape recorder. "With an extra-sensitive mic."
"That's good." Reijirou sighed and leaned back against his pillows. "Where do you want me to start?"
"How about at the beginning." Fujimara turned on the recorder while Owake pulled up the eating tray. The officer placed the recorder on the tray, motioning for Reijirou to start talking.
"Hai… My friend Gesshin had knocked himself out at my home, and I said I'd take him back to his place. I was planning on driving, but apparently Chiaki – that's my aneki, you just saw her – had taken our car, so we walked. We made it to his place fine, nothing happened."
"Where does Gesshin live?"
"In the Booze District," he said flatly. Everyone knew the not-nice nickname. "It's all he can afford. I left him at his building, then turned to go back." Reijirou mentally crossed his fingers and hoped his facsimile fit Risako's. "On the way back I ran into Risako. We walked together since we were going the same way. A couple minutes later a bunch of toughs jumped out of the alleyway. They wanted money. Mine was at home. They pulled knives. I tried to fight them off, but there were too many to either fight or run away from. Then they did this. Risako helped me here. She says I passed out not far from the hospital. I guess I lost too much blood. When I woke up, I was here."
"Arigato, Enomoto-san. Daishi-san, your turn." Owake nodded at Risako.
"I was going home from the university. It's shorter to go through that place, although I don't do it often cause of the troublemakers there. But tonight I was late, and it saved time. I ran into Reijirou there, and we walked together. Everything happened like he said – the alley, the mugging. I didn't have any money either, but Reijirou tried to fight them off, so it was him they hurt." She looked down, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Gomen nasai, I wasn't much help Reijirou."
"You got me here, I might be dead if you hadn't."
"Hai." She looked up again. "A car passing by scared them off. By that time they'd done all that to Reijirou. He wasn't doing good. I tried to bandage the wounds. I helped him up and we came down here. He fainted about a block away. After that I dragged him here and into the front lobby. They put him in surgery almost immediately. And he's still alive."
Fujimara rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm… do either of you think you could identify any of those attackers?"
Reijirou and Risako glanced at each other. "We can try," Risako said. Reijirou nodded his agreement.
"All right, we'll bring the books down here tomorrow, say, eleven-ish?" Both of them nodded. "All right, that's all set, thanks. You kids helped us a lot yesterday, we'll do our best to find these guys, and fast." Owake picked up the tape recorder and turned it off. "We'll be in touch." They tipped their hats and exited through the door, standing aside to let Dr. Seo enter again before closing it behind them.
"All right kids, enough playing around." Dr. Seo was suddenly very serious. He took off his glasses and studied them with intense eyes. Normally Reijirou would've been upset over being studied like a specimen, but he was tired, and he'd been scrutinized enough in the past two days to get him used to it. Besides, he was amused by the equally serious scrutiny Nuriko was giving Dr. Seo from his corner, without the doctor knowing.
"What, doctor?" Risako asked.
Dr. Seo looked straight at her for a moment. "I couldn't be a doctor here and not know what a knife wound looks like. And those-" he gently touched Reijirou's bandages. Amazingly the wounds suddenly seemed a lot… cooler. But that would fit, if it's true, he reminded himself as the doctor kept speaking "-are not knife wounds. They're too rough. You only get that type of gouging from specially barbed knives. And they're parallel to each other, five in a set. Five wounds. Five claws of a wild animal." His impermeable gaze rested on both of them. Reijirou suddenly got very nervous. He didn't want to think of what would happen if the doctor figured it out.
"Wild animal, doctor?" he said quietly. For once the immense fatigue was helping. It made him sound more convincing. "There's no wild animals this big in the city." Nuriko winked at him. He was doing fine.
Dr. Seo looked at the two of them for a moment, then left the room quietly.
"PHEW! I thought he'd never leave!" Nuriko exclaimed loudly, wiping his forehead.
"He seems nice. But observant." Risako muttered that last part rather darkly. "What will we do if he figures it out?"
"By that time he'll probably be awake," Reijirou mumbled, settling into his pillows.
"Awake?" Risako asked in confusion.
Nuriko and Reijirou looked at each other. "Mitsukake," they said at the same time.
"That sounded like some weird echo effect. Great," Risako groaned. "Another summoning, Miaka'll probably pass out again."
"Oh, it gets better. Amiboshi and Suboshi were waiting for me when I got home."
"NANI?!"
"The Seiryu twins are his little brother's friends in… What was that again?" the seishi asked, no less confused than Risako but for very different reasons.
"Band," Reijirou supplied.
"Grrraaaahh, this is even worse." Risako sat down in a chair and looked at her hands, thinking.
"Reijirou," Nuriko said softly.
"Mm?"
"I think I'm going to have to break my promise to you."
"Nani?" Reijirou sat up slightly, looking at Nuriko, but was immediately pushed back down again by Risako, who was also watching the seishi.
Nuriko looked gravely at both of them. "Reijirou, this might be asking too much, but do you remember what Ashitare said when he was trying to kill you? About why he was doing this?"
"All I could think of was whether I was gonna live or die." He had had a brush with death. Somehow he knew he would never be the same. "I got that he wants me because I'm you and you killed him."
"Listen carefully you two, this is what he said." Nuriko floated over to look out the rain-soaked window at the ground several stories below. "I'll never forget it. This was right after he asked you why you thought he was doing that. 'And I won't do it just to you. Your family, your friends, all the Suzaku… you'll get there first, but you won't be alone long. And Nakago. He killed me too, even after I'd done his bidding, because he had no use for an animal like me. Him, and all the Seiryu… you can continue your little war… in hell!'"
Risako and Reijirou were speechless. Nuriko nodded slowly, not looking at them but knowing full well what they were thinking. "Hai. I think he'll go after everyone. Suzaku or Seiryu. He'll kill until all traces of the seishi have been wiped out. You and whoever Nakago is right now are his obvious targets, but through you he'll trace every seishi, every family member, and every friend he can, until all that's left is a blood bath." Nuriko tried to breathe on the window and fog it, sadly watching the glass stay clear. "He needs to be stopped. And the easiest way to stop one seishi is with another – or several." He turned and looked at Reijirou and Risako, completely, totally serious. "As soon as we can let Miaka and Taka know, we have to start planning for a mass awakening. We need to find as many reincarnates as we can, before they're murdered for things they've never even heard of without a chance to fight back."
"Which means you'll have to start appearing to people."
Nuriko nodded. "Hai. I must. But I won't until they've read the book, or at least have it explained to them." He smiled humorlessly. "Less confusion that way."
Risako stood up. "I'd better get home… I'll see you two tomorrow. Oyasumi Nuriko, Reijirou."
"Oyasumi, Risako." They replied in chorus.
She went over to the window and waited while Nuriko's bracelets changed, then hugged him. She stopped by the bed, a little hesitant, then bent down and quickly kissed a surprised Reijirou on the cheek. Then she fled out the door.
Reijirou and Nuriko both watched the door for a minute. "Well."
"Nani, Nuriko?"
Nuriko looked at him sideways. "You've stopped using san and kun with each other."
"If someone helps save your life, I think they're entitled."
AUTHOR'S NOTES II: Take note that in my hands no character is safe. Not even my main character. So don't count too much on anyone's safety, it's gonna get really weird soon. Now I'm going to go walk and nurse this toe that got a wall dropped on it in rehearsal today ~rubs the poor abused toe~ Ja mata!
