Memories teased.
A fight.
He had assisted Tsuzuki in a fight against a devil. They had won, and he had returned to GensouKai.
After that, things got blurry. He thought he remembered Touda and Sohryu, even Rikugo... but why? What had that to do with anything? And why was he so weak? Had the devil injured him? He couldn't remember getting wounded.
There was movement a the edge of his vision and Byakko turned his head. There was a soft glow of golden eyes.
"Touda?" he murmured.
Hands ripping into flesh.
A scream.
The serpent shikigami sat down on the mattress and a warm hand stroked over his face. "Hey," he murmured.
"What happened? Where am I?" Byakko wanted to know.
Kitten...
Don't fight it, kitten.
You're mine...
"You're in Sohryu's palace. There was an... accident. You were attacked by a devil."
Byakko with even more confusion. "Attacked? He injured me?"
A dark and lonely place.
Chains.
Tsuzuki? Why are you mad at me?
"In a way. How do you feel?"
"Tired. Confused. What happened, Touda?" Agitation raced through him. He couldn't remember! And what he did recall was fragmented at best. "Tsuzuki... he's mad at me? Why?"
His lover sighed softly. "Tsuzuki isn't mad at you, Byakko. It was a dream. A nightmare. It was what he devil did."
You killed... everyone... are you happy?
Tsuzuki!
Byakko shivered a little and Touda murmured soothingly.
"A nightmare. What you remember are nightmares. Nothing was real."
"Feels... like it happened."
It was so strange. He felt so much and then again remembered so little.
"Where's Tsuzuki?"
"He's sleeping."
Byakko twisted his head and tried to find a trace of his master.
"Byakko, calm down," Touda commanded.
"I remember him being mad," the younger shikigami whispered brokenly.
"He isn't mad. You dreamed. It was the devil's work."
"Devil?"
Kitten... mine... I'll make you scream...
The door opened and a rather sleepy Tsuzuki hurried in. His white shirt was untugged, the jacket of his habitual black suit missing, and he was bare-footed. His hair looked like he had slept on it and not been able to find a comb.
Byakko sat up, was drawn between needing to touch his master and drawing away in fear. Tsuzuki didn't give him a chance to decide. He flung his arms around the white tiger.
"I'm so glad you're awake!"
Rot in hell, Byakko. I hate you.
He mewled softly, not daring to touch the man his mind told him hated him.
"Everything's okay, Byakko," Tsuzuki whispered into the silver hair spilling over his shoulders. "I don't hate you. You dreamed. The devil hurt you. I love you. You know I love you. You were my first shikigami and you will always be special."
Tears tracked down his cheeks. "Tsuzuki..." There was a pressure on his chest, on his mind, and things were so confusing.
"I love you, Byakko."
He clung to his friend, let the soothing aura envelop him, and the memories washed slowly away, fading into a dream-like state.
"Tell me what happened," he begged weakly. "I don't understand..."
The aura strengthened. "After you have washed and eaten, Byakko," Tsuzuki told him. "You were in a coma and you need to regain some strength. Then we talk."
Byakko wanted to protest, but he relented to the gentle order of his master. Tsuzuki smiled at him, looking so happy and so relieved despite his exhaustion.
"Okay," he murmured.
° ° °
Suzaku sat on the long, heavy wooden table in the main dinner room, feet dangling in the air, eyes on the ornate floor. It was late and she knew she should be either in her own place or out patrolling her quarter of GensouKai, but she was reluctant to leave Sohryu's palace. Many of the Commanders had come by in the last hours, hearing about Byakko's waking, and they had wanted to know how he was.
She had stayed.
Byakko had been awake for a while, talking to Touda, Sohryu and Tsuzuki, and he had been told what had happened.
It was something Suzaku couldn't understand at all. How could this have happened? Why had it happened?
Her brief conversation with Sohryu hadn't shed any light on the matters, only confused her more. Her fellow God hadn't been able to sense the arrival of the devil either.
There was a strong aura all of a sudden and she looked up, meeting the unshielded, golden eyes of Touda. She hadn't felt him arrive until just now, which was more proof to his stealth techniques and her preoccupation.
They looked at each other, Touda's face giving nothing away. Expressionless, eyes cold, the hell serpent met her eyes, but she detected a faint note of exhaustion. This had to be very hard on him. Byakko was his lover and partner, and she knew how much the tiger loved Touda. Touda's feelings for the younger shikigami were never quite so exuberantly open as Byakko's were for him, but she had realized a long time ago how tightly those two were interwoven.
"How is he?" she finally broke the silence.
"Resting."
She nodded. "Good."
"It makes no sense for you to be here," Touda stated matter-of-factly.
"He is my friend."
Touda tilted his head a little. "You cannot change what happened."
"Neither can you." There was a little flare of temper, then she pushed it back down.
"No one can."
"How's he dealing with the truth?"
"Badly."
Suzaku gazed at the floor again. "How could this happen, Touda? How could this go by undetected?"
He approached, a silent shadow, dressed in black, which was his usual color, and Suzaku saw the same questions written into his face.
"No one knows."
"You plan to find out?"
There was an almost evil smile. "I will."
"I'll help."
Touda chuckled. "Why?"
"Byakko is my friend. He's like a little brother to me. I love him. Do you need any more reasons?"
Again she was submitted to a rather oddly emotionless look. "You think you can do it without trying to take my head off every step of the way?"
They hadn't sparred in months. Ever since she had hurt the serpent close to almost killing him, their relationship had been on a purely professional level. Suzaku had seen Touda in meetings, on official business, but she had tried not to run into him outside those occasions. It wasn't that she couldn't control her temper; it was more.
It was something inside of her that was still dealing with so many changes, with Touda's freedom, his pardon, his new position, and him being Byakko's lover, though the latter was paling in the light of the other problems she had.
"I'm not some retarded barbarian," she snapped.
"I never said so, Suzaku. I'm just pointing out that out relationship is rather at odds, and until lately all you ever did was go after me in a fight." Touda smirked a little.
"Hope that didn't go to your head," she muttered angrily and slid off the table.
She stalked toward the exit, her pony-tailed hair swaying, her gait sure and filled with suppressed emotions.
"Suzaku."
She stopped and glanced at the black shikigami over her shoulder. Touda's eyes were a dark golden, his face suddenly so much more tired than before.
"I would appreciate your help," he only said.
There was a moment of silence as the two warriors looked at one another, then she nodded once.
And left.
° ° °
He woke with a gasp, heart hammering in his chest. Red eyes scanned the interior of the bedroom, semi-lit by an almost full moon. A cool breeze moved the curtains gently. There was no threat. There was nothing to fear. The tiger settled back in his pillows, his heart rate slowly returning to normal. It had been nothing but a dream.
Nightmare.
A warm arm snaked around his waist as Touda pulled him close and Byakko snuggled immediately against the warm body.
"You okay?" Touda rumbled softly.
Byakko nodded. "I'm fine. Let's go back to sleep."
"Hm."
A pair of lips brushed against his bare neck and Byakko closed his eyes, sighing softly.
It had been a bad dream and he couldn't even remember what had happened. It was already fading, only the emotions remained, the nameless terror.
When Touda woke the following morning he was alone in bed. Maybe that was what had him wake before his usual time. The spot where Byakko normally lay curled up and dozing was cold and empty. His lover rarely got up before him; almost never. Only when Touda worked long into the night.
Golden eyes gazed at the spot and he sighed softly.
Nightmares had been expected. He had also expected Byakko to push him away, claim he was fine. His lover was a strong and independent person and he hated to be weak. The devil had used him, abused him, had twisted his reality, and while Touda knew only fragments, mostly concerning him, he suspected there was a lot more.
He got out of bed and dressed.
While he wanted to go and look for his wayward partner, he knew that Byakko didn't appreciate of being babied. The tiger would come to him if he needed someone to hold him, be with him, listen to him, even if his words mostly made no sense, except to him.
Touda would be there when Byakko needed him,
Until then he had a few other things to take care of, research to do, and he would hopefully find out how the devil had entered GensouKai.
tbc...