sakurablossomskxk: Thanks for the wonderful review. Eh. The prequel is by freezingsaphire. The title is Spirited Away: Saving the Spirit World.
Chapter 8
Shinji made a shuddering gasp and started breathing again. He pried open his eyes to see Chihiro, no, Izumi, with her hair dripping wet, looking down at him. What happened?
Hurried footsteps sounded on the floor and he vaguely heard Chihiro's, Izumi's and Zenibaa's voices. Everything seemed to be muffled, and the world around him seemed to be spinning. He couldn't be dead. Unless Izumi, Chihiro and Zenibaa were dead. Did dead people feel so much pain?
"Shinji? Shinji?" Someone calling his name. Chihiro. "Shinji, can you hear me?"
He tried to answer, but nothing came out of his throat when he opened his mouth. He settled for nodding weakly. He felt warmth spreading through him, warmth that felt like magic.
"You're going to be alright."
Zenibaa's voice. Zenibaa's magic.
He passed out.
Izumi hovered nervously near Shinji's bed. Zenibaa had taken care of most of the injuries Shinji had sustained, and his life wasn't in any danger. Still, Zenibaa's magic was limited, and Shinji still had to wait for some of his wounds to heal.
The bleeding from the cuts on his arms and legs had stopped, and were bandaged up, but they hadn't healed fully yet. Zenibaa had said something about scars. The old sorceress had also fixed the Shinji's three broken ribs, but the two that were cracked were left to heal naturally. Shinji's wrists were also bandaged; the sprain on his right wrist had been partially healed by Zenibaa, but he still couldn't move it around much. His neck had also been carefully bandaged. Zenibaa had said that if the cut there was just a hair's breath deeper, it would have cut Shinji's jugular and killed him instantly. He was lucky he didn't have any concussions.
Shinji had slept like the dead for the past two days, not stirring even when people entered and exited the room. The three women had taken turns to watch Shinji; they didn't want him waking up alone and panicking. Izumi had reluctantly agreed to help.
Izumi watched Shinji's sleeping face and thought back to the events of the night two days ago, and fought back a blush. Even though it was to save Shinji's life, in a way, Izumi had kissed him. He looks so peaceful, she thought. Like a sleeping angel. Of course, the bandages that covered him from head to toe kind of spoiled the effect.
Shinji's long hair had been untied and Chihiro had washed the blood and dirt out of it. It was now unbelievably silky, and looked very tempting indeed. Unable to resist, Izumi picked up a few strands and started twirling them around one of her fingers. She could see why Chihiro thought Haku was jealous of Shinji's hair. Hell, she was jealous of Shinji's hair. Izumi knew of a few girls who would kill for hair that looked and felt like Shinji's.
She jumped a little when Shinji stirred, moaning softly. He was awake! She began to sit up to leave the room, but Shinji weakly grabbed hold of the hem of her shirt.
"Don't go," he rasped. "Please, don't leave me alone."
She sat back down, and put her hands on Shinji's. "I'm just going to get Zenibaa and 'Hiro-neesan," She said soothingly. "Give me a minute. Count to sixty. I'll be back before then. Anything I can give you before that?"
He nodded, "Water." His voice sounded terrible, and his throat felt really dry. Izumi got a glass of water from Shinji's bedside.
"Can you sit up?" she asked.
Shinji tried, and grimaced as the pain in his ribs came back in full-force.
"Never mind, I'm sorry I asked," Izumi said hastily, seeing the look on Shinji's face. She helped to get Shinji into a sitting position and made sure he was comfortable. Not sure if he had the strength to hold the glass of water by himself, she held the glass to his lips for him, and put the glass down after Shinji had finished drinking it.
Shinji felt like an invalid. He nearly protested when Izumi held up the glass for him, but he felt terrible enough without exerting any of his strength. Reluctantly, he let her hold the glass for him.
"I'll be right back," she said, "you can start counting now."
She bustled out of the room to find Chihiro and Zenibaa, while Shinji counted almost silently under his breath.
"One, two, three…"
By the time he had reached fifty-six, Izumi was back, with Chihiro and Zenibaa behind her.
"I need to check his wounds," Zenibaa said, "there shouldn't be more than one person with him at a time." She started shooing Izumi and Chihiro out of the room. "You can come and see him after I'm done."
Chihiro looked like she was about to argue, but Izumi tugged her out of the room before she could say anything.
Izumi paced outside Shinji's room. Was he going to be alright? Zenibaa said his life was out of danger. But what if she was wrong? What if something horrible happened? What if…
"Izumi," Chihiro said, "stop pacing. You're giving me a headache."
Izumi stopped, and sat down on the sofa next to Chihiro, fiddling with the hem of her shirt nervously. Chihiro raised an eyebrow at this.
"He's going to be fine, Izumi," she said, somewhat amused.
"Sorry," Izumi mumbled, and took a sip of the glass of water Zenibaa had left for her on the table. "I can't help but worry."
Chihiro, in an attempt to lighten the mood, and just for the hell of it, grinned. "I think you like him."
Izumi, who had taken another mouthful of water, took an extra-large swallow and choked. Chihiro patted her on the back, while Izumi hacked and coughed.
"Well," Izumi said when she recovered, red-faced, "I did save his life."
Chihiro looked amused at Izumi's flustered state. She hadn't expected such a strong reaction, and she hadn't actually seriously considered Izumi and Shinji being together. I was more of something that she could bring up to get on her younger cousin's nerves. She grinned. My, my, her little cousin did have a crush on Shinji after all. She couldn't resist adding, "I don't think you like him. I think you like him."
"I don't. Not in the way you're implying okay?" Izumi turned even redder, and lifted the glass to her mouth again.
"I'm sure," Chihiro said dryly. Teasing her cousin was so much fun. She asked lightly and innocently, "How was the kiss?"
This time, Izumi sprayed the water all over the table. She wiped her mouth and glared at her cousin. "It was not a kiss!" she yelled, "It was CPR! He wasn't breathing for god's sake!"
"Deny it all you want," Chihiro had an almost evil grin on her face, if possible, looking even more amused, "A kiss is a kiss. I'm sure Shinji's heard what you just shouted, he's only in the next room."
Izumi sputtered indignantly. Chihiro continued mercilessly, "I'm sure he'll ask what that was about. And I'm sure he'll want to know how you saved him. And I'm even more sure I'll have fun telling him exactly how you did it."
Izumi opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say. Just at this moment, Zenibaa stepped out of Shinji's room.
"He's doing fine. He just has to wait for his injuries to heal. He's still awake. You can go in and see him now Chihiro," Zenibaa said. She looked at the water on the table. "What happened here?"
"Oh, 'Zumi-chan just got a little flustered. It's nothing to worry about," Chihiro smiled, before glancing at Izumi, "I'll pay dear Shin-chan a visit now."
Izumi slapped her hand to her forehead and groaned inwardly. She was going to kill Chihiro one day.
"Wait, before you go in, there's something you should know," Zenibaa said. Her expression had turned grave. "The marks on his arms and legs, they aren't ordinary marks."
Chihiro looked at her quizzically. Zenibaa continued, "They're curse marks; powerful ones. I'm not sure how exactly the curse works, what it's for, and how he got them, but from what I've seen, Shinji cannot know about this. The curse is designed to kill him if he finds out."
She waited a few seconds for this piece of information to sink in. Chihiro and Izumi had identically stunned looks on their faces. "So until we find a cure, do not mention this to him. Deaths by curses are often grotesque, and painful. Try not to ask how he got hurt. I think that can wait till after his injuries are fully healed."
Chihiro nodded, before entering the room. I have to act normal. I can't let Shinji know how afraid I am for him. He's sharp; he'll know something's wrong if I do anything out of the ordinary.
Shinji smiled at her when she walked in, and she grinned back.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to him.
"Like shit," Shinji remarked. "How do I look? Do I dare ask you for a mirror?"
Chihiro shrugged, and went to her room to fetch a mirror. She handed it to Shinji, and he let out a low whistle as he looked at his reflection.
"Other than the bruises and bandages, I still look pretty good," he said. Chihiro rolled her eyes. Shinji's vanity was simply amazing, and apparently, it had stayed that way even after his near-death experience.
"Yes, Shinji, you're just as pretty as ever," Chihiro said, just to pacify him. Shinji made an indignant sound at the word 'pretty' being applied to him, when Chihiro grinned to show she was kidding. They chatted for awhile, Chihiro asking him how he felt and making him promise that he would inform any one of the girls immediately if he felt any pain. She also told him he was free to ask for anything.
Shinji nodded at whatever he said, occasionally mumbling a "yes" here or there."Women," he thought, "always fussing. Although I have to admit being waited on like this should be kind of fun."
"Ah yes," Chihiro said, smiling overly-sweetly. "You do know that 'Zumi-chan saved your life right?"
"Er, yeah," Shinji looked uncomfortable, and fidgeted. He winced, and reminded himself that unnecessary movement should be avoided at all costs. "Erm. I heard her yelling outside. What was that about a kiss? Was is like, Sleeping Beauty?" Chihiro had told him of some fairy-tales that she had heard in her childhood when she had been bored, and was surprised to find that he actually remembered some of them. "Did I really stop breathing?"
Chihiro bit her lip to keep herself from laughing when she heard the words 'Sleeping Beauty'. The idea of Izumi as a prince and Shinji as a princess was hilarious. "Not exactly Sleeping Beauty," she managed, when she calmed herself down, "You were, well. Dying. Yes, you did stop breathing for a while. You were lucky Izumi knew CPR."
"Ah," Shinji said, frowning and looking like he didn't really understand. "What's CPR?"
Chihiro couldn't contain her laughter anymore, and stifled her giggles under a hand. Shinji looked at her quizzically, and said, "I still don't see how saving someone's life can be related to kissing."
Just as he said that, Shinji's stomach grumbled, he was ravenous. It was no wonder, really, after having been asleep for two days straight.
"Oh! Food! How could I forget? I'll get Izumi to bring some for you, you can thank her and get her to explain CPR to you," Chihiro stood up, and grinned wickedly, "Maybe she'll even give you a little demonstration. You'll be okay by yourself for a few moments?"
Shinji nodded. With that, she left the room with an extremely confused Shinji staring at her retreating back and wondering what the hell was going on. As soon as she left the room, she began laughing her ass off.
