CHAPTER 5: TWICE IN ONE NIGHT?

Hayate pushed Mannan back and touched Hajime's chest. Using a little leafe, he forced the water still in the boy's lungs out.

Hajime choked, water gurgling from his mouth, aqua eyes flying open wide. He coughed and spluttered, looking around for a second before he started to cry. "I thought I was gonna die," he wailed, clinging to Hayate who held him and let him cry.

Mannan's shoulders stooped and Goh rubbed his back soothingly.

Kei winced and pushed himself off the floor, bending over a little funny. "Well, looks like I'm stopping by the chiropracter's tomorrow. If this keeps up, I want hazard pay!"

"First Shin, now Hajime. What the hell is going on?" Takako demanded, helping Sasame to his feet. He was beginning to look more, well, solid now, but he still had the expression of a man dragged through hell and back.

Hayate and Kei exchanged quick glances but didn't answer.

Himeno went over to where Hayate and Hajime still sat and hugged the younger knight when he held his arms out. "I knew you'd save me, Himeno," he said. Himeno hugged him tighter, but her eyes went to Hayate. He looked so...worried.

"Hey, Goh, help me get Hajime to his room, okay?" she asked. Hayate's hand brushed over hers as she picked Hajime up, straining a little to stand.

Goh rushed forward and took him from her. "Here, I'll carry him. Come on, Mannan, you should go to bed, too."

"I don't wanna! Hey, Goh! OW!" Goh managed a one-handed backslap to the back of Mannan's head.

"Come on, Mannan, I don't wanna be alone," Hajime begged, head laying on Goh's shoulder.

Scowling, Mannan grumbled, "Oh, okay."

Himeno ruffled his hair and smiled. "You're so nice, Mannan."

Mannan gave her a half-hearted smile before taking her hand and pulling her to the room he shared with Hajime.

Once they had all left, Takako glanced once more at the bathroom, a little frown on her face. "Something's not right about this," she said. "That's Hajime's leafe. How come he couldn't control it?"

"Maybe he's growing up and his powers are stretching a bit," Kei answered noncommitally. The other two knights were silent.

Takako sighed. "Well, in either case, Sasame and I are going to bed. Let me know if you learn anything." The last held a bit of a threat to it.

Kei glared at her back as she and Sasame hobbled away. Sighing, he arched a brow at Hayate and smiled. "So, Cafe Bellisimo? How was it?"

Hayate stood up, a tiny twitch of a smile on his lips. "We didn't go," he answered, heading for the kitchen.

Kei followed him. "You didn't go? Why not?"

"We did something different."

"And? How was it? Did you tell her?"

"You came," he answered. Damn it, every single time he tried...

Once they were in the kitchen, the conversation switched abruptly to the one they needed to discuss.

"Okay, that's Hajime," Kei said earnestly. "It's spreading up, from youngest to oldest. That means you, Sasame and myself will be the last effected, but it's coming."

"Kei, there's still not enough proof," Hayate tried to argue, opening the fridge and pulling out some chilled wine. Sasame usually kept at least one bottle of white there. He poured himself a glass and left the bottle on the table.

Kei ignored it and got his coffee. "Not enough proof? What more do you need? I mentioned this before. Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

"It's not that I'm not listening, it's just the ramifications behind this-,"

"Are severe, yes, I know. Hayate, it makes SENSE!"

Hayate sighed, twirling the wine glass between two fingers. It did make sense. It made perfect sense. Still..."We shouldn't jump to conclusions based off of two incidents-,"

"Damn it, how far does it have to spread before you'll admit that I'm right?" Kei railed. "This is the same basic principle as alchemy; equal exchange, keeping it balanced! We upset the balance by stopping the Princess of Disaster completely! If we had only-,"

"Enough! We had no choice! The Pretear wouldn't have left-,"

"Always about the Pretear! Admit it, Hayate, you wouldn't have let us lock her away again because of YOU! It would have killed you to know she was beyond redemption and that it dragged Sasame down, too!" Kei's hands were planted on the table, eyes narrowed angrily.

Hayate met his eyes with a cold glare. "If Takako couldn't be saved, I would have been the first to imprison her again," he said, voice dripping with ice. "She's proven she's not inherently evil. And I don't think she can revert back."

Kei backed away, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's strong because she's loved," he mused. "There are two ways that can change."

"Kei, don't even say it!"

"And why not? He turned on us before! It would only serve him right if we-,"

"KEI!"

Kei shut his mouth, but he was far from done. "Look, Hayate, the balance between good and evil is uneven. Without the Tree of Fenril using the leafe to imprison the Princess of Disaster, we're making too much. And that leafe is starting to take on a form of it's own and attack it's creator. It's only going to get worse. How much do you think you can stand of your own leafe being used against you? Each time it's happened, Himeno's had to pret with one of the older, more powerful knights. What happens when it comes to you and Sasame? Who is she going to pret with then?"

Hayate remained silent.

Kei sat down, cupping his coffee in both hands. "I don't like saying this, Hayate. But we NEED a Princess of Disaster in that tree to restore the balance of good and evil, of the leafe created and destroyed. And we have two Pretears who are capable of becoming the Princess of Disaster. If not Takako, then-,"

"That's not a possibility," he cut in sharply, fists clenched. How dare Kei even suggest it!

"I agree that it's not. Himeno isn't capable of the complete and utter despair needed for becoming the Princess of Disaster. But Takako is. She MUST be the Princess of Disaster!"

Hayate sighed and flattened his hands against the table to calm himself. "What about the time before the Princess of Disaster?"

Kei shook his head. "There's always been an evil drawing the leafe from our two worlds. Before the Princess of Disaster, there was the Tree of Fenril. And before that it was Aoko the Destroyer. It's the way of it. There are always two sides to the coin. Light and Dark, Day and Night. Good and Evil. Right now, and I feel stupid saying it, there's too much good in the world. And it's starting to try and twist itself and correct the imbalance."

Hayate sighed again and sipped his wine. "You're right, Kei. I hate admitting it, but you are. There's no way of avoiding it now. And with Shin and Hajime out of the picture for now-"

They both sat up straighter when there was a loud thud and a muffled shout. Both knights jumped up and ran back down the hall, skidding to a halt when Hajime was flung from his room, wincing as he slammed into the wall.

"It's Mannan! He's freezing the room and Goh and Himeno are trapped in there," Hajime said quickly, standing and preparing to let out a water whip.

"No, don't attack, Hajime," Hayate warned. "Just get to Shin's room and stay there until someone comes for you!"

Once he was gone, Kei sighed and said, "Twice in one night? It's spreading faster than I thought.