"Mineki!"

Sage looked up from his place next to the unconscious body of his friend, seeing Yoru and Thyme running toward him through tear-filled eyes. "Yoru-kun..." Sage started sniffling as the older brother dropped to his knees by the younger and shook him slightly. "Ki-kun won't get up...I tried that already..."

The hand not on Mineki's side clenched dirt as it formed a shaking fist. "Who did this?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

Sage stood and went to Thyme, leaning against him as he continued to cry. Thyme, in return, put his arm around the slightly shorter boy. "Three boys came and attacked him for no reason..."

"Where did they go?" the protective older brother growled.

"He needs help," Thyme pointed out, indicating that now was not the time to think about revenge.

"There they are!" An older voice called as the older student it belonged to rushed over, Izumi and Kyosuke right behind him. A senior passing by had caught them leaving, and insisted on going with them after they explained the situation.

With a quick assessment of the damages, the senior frowned deeply. "Damn, he's hurt." He whipped a cell phone out of his pocket, looking annoyed. "Should get him to the hospital, huh?"

"No!" Yoru shouted forcefully, causing the larger student to nearly drop his phone. "Don't call an ambulance!" He reached down and slid his arms under the prone body before him He winced at the pressure on his injured wrist. "I just...need to get him to Yuuko..."

"What the hell are you doing!" the other yelled back, obviously angry. "Don't move him, dumb ass, he's hurt! I'm telling you, the brat needs a hospital!"

"I can't afford a hospital!" Yoru snapped in return, looking and sounding completely frustrated.

Silently Kyosuke stepped in and took the child from his schoolmate's arms. "Sempai," he said quietly, so as not to irritate their helper more as he turned to face him. "You have a car here, right? Could you please take us to Yuuko-san's clinic?"

After a few moments the senior nodded once, though the look on his face clearly showed his annoyance for having gotten involved. The clinic wasn't far from the school...the sooner he got back, the better. He'd missed most of class already.

Thanks to a call from Izumi, Yuuko was waiting outside when they arrived, the usual amusement completely gone from her expression. When she approached the car her expression didn't change, but her eyes did, making Yoru's heart sink. "Bring him in," she said curtly as she went back to the building.

The three in the back seat exchanged looks before Yoru slid off the seat, carefully trying to pull Mineki out without jostling him too much.

Kyosuke quickly jumped out of the other side to help. "Why's he so heavy?" he grumbled, managing to pull the boy out enough to slide his hands underneath and pick him up. Meanwhile the two younger children in the front seat piled out of the car, and Izumi scrambled out from the opposite side just as the car sped off a bit too quickly.

"Jeez, what's his problem?" she snapped as she glared at the disappearing car, then crossed the street to safety.

"That punk? I'm sure he wants to get back to campus before he's caught," Kyosuke responded. "We're lucky he even agreed to take us here."

They walked to the door of the clinic, which looked more like a house than a medical center. Two boys, who looked about their age, were waiting there with a stretcher. The moment Kyosuke laid the patient onto it they rushed off to another room.

The remainder of the group stood in the doorway, at a loss for what to do.

After a few minutes had passed, Sage gently tugged on the sleeve of Yoru's uniform. The older boy turned to look down on his brother's friend, who appeared to be on the verge of tears again. "Ne...is Ki-kun gonna be okay?"

When he received no assurance, he hung his head low as the built up tears fell, and he began to sob.

Kyosuke let out a small sigh, casting pity on the crying child. "Come on, let's go sit down," he said gently, using a hand on his back to guide him in the right direction. The others followed suit.

Thyme silently pulled himself into the chair next to Sage, his face showing concern without actually expressing it. When the other reached for him, however, he willingly offered his comfort.

Izumi glanced at her platinum-haired classmate and opened her mouth to speak, but the look on his face dissuaded her. She wouldn't get anywhere by talking to him now, that much was certain. Instead she faced the other boy next to her. "So you think class has started by now?"

Kyosuke blinked several times, as if tiny got clear his mind of something before her words could register. "Hey...did you tell Ichihara-sensei where we are?" he asked suddenly.

She shook her head with a thoughtful frown. "That's why I'm asking..." She then rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "If I called her now, she'd probably just rush over here now," she said, but still took out her cell phone.

"If you don't call her, she'll probably rush over here anyway," Kyosuke pointed out, but before he could say anything more she motioned for his silence, and frowned slighty as she pushed a button without saying a word. "She's not answering," the girl muttered.

"Excuse me..." The group looked up to see one of the boys from before standing in front of them.

Kyosuke suddenly snapped his fingers as he recognized the one addressing them. "Wait, aren't you in our class?"

The boy appeared startled, then embarrassed as he laughed nervously. "Ah, yes...Watanuki Kimihiro desu. I work here part time along with THAT guy," he explained, gesturing over his shoulder to the room he'd come form with a look of disdain. "Yuuko-san told us yesterday she'd need us during school; she even called Ichihara-sensei to get us excused. Now I understand why..."

Yoru's right hand clenched tightly into a fist by his side, but he still maintained his silence. Yuuko had a strange way of knowing things before they actually happened, and this was no exception. He'd asked about it once, and was told there was nothing she could do to intervene, unless asked. Since no one else knew, no one could ask. And even if they could, there was always a price. Knowing Yuuko, it was probably a price no one wanted to pay.

"Oh!" the black-haired student stood straight abruptly as he remembered something. "Yuuko-san sent me out here to ask what happened."

The eyes of the older students all turned to the younger ones. Sage peeked up shyly, his face still half-buried against Thyme's shoulder.

Watanuki knelt in front of the children to meet dark red eyes, and smiled kindly as though countering Sage's sniffles. "Were you the one who saw? Can you tell me what happened?"

After a moment's hesitation Sage nodded once, slowly. "I bought lunch for everyone, and we were eating in the courtyard, and...and then three boys came and pushed Ki-kun..." Sage seemed to get more upset with every word he spoke. "A-And they wouldn't leave Ki-kun alone, so I tried to stop them...and then they pushed me and Ki-kun got mad a-and then they..." At that point, Sage's words were completely lost amongst his sobs.

Pulling Sage back to him, Thyme shifted blank, purplish red eyes to Watanuki. "I left to find help...but sensei wouldn't listen to me..when I told her Mineki-san was in trouble she ignored me."

Everyone looked stunned for a moment. "What do you mean, she ignored you?" Watanuki asked once he recovered a bit.

"She went back to her work when I told her what happened," Thyme elaborated almly.

A low growl sounded like it was coming from Yoru's direction, but the noise ceased when Izumi set a hand on his shoulder.

Watanuki's eyes were shadowed beneath his glasses as he stood upright. "Even teachers are in on this..." he murmured to himself, the words barely audible.

"Watanuki!" Yuuko called from the back, the slightest touch of panic in her tone. "What are you doing?"

He moment he heard her voice, the assistant bowed to his classmates and quickly rushed back to what he had previously been doing.

Left to their own devices once more the group was quiet again. Noticing movement out of the corner of his eye Kyosuke glanced over to watch Yoru seemingly withdraw into himself, wrapping his arms over themselves and sinking deeper into his seat. He shut his eyes and hung his head. It was barely noticeable...but Yoru was definitely shaking.

The redhead's gaze was momentarily shifted to Izumi, who was looking anywhere but at the depressed boy to the left of her. At first he found it a little upsetting, but with further thought he realized sher might have the right idea. What comfort could any of them really be right now? No one knew what to say...what could they say? That everything would be alright? That was hardly true, and they all knew it. They couldn't be sure of anything at this point. The only thing he was sure of was that the parents should be the ones shouldering this emotional burden, not the older brother. If they had been the ones in Yoru's position, they would have left the kid for dead. But, that was hardly an appropriate thing to say. Maybe letting him be was the best option...

Five minutes later, though it felt like hours, another figure emerged to speak to them. This time, it was Yuuko herself. Her red eyes met each of their stares levelly, until they met Yoru's. She then offered a smile, hidden in a smirk. "He'll be fine," she stated casually.

As Yoru exhaled the air he'd been subconsciously been holding in, one could almost see the tension melt from his demeanor.

Izumi rubbed her temple in annoyance. "You like messing with people, don't you Auntie?"

"Hmm?" The woman's gaze shifted to Izumi, amusement clear in her expression. "What gave you that idea?"

"You made it sound like he was gonna die!" she snapped, her own golden eyes narrowing.

Yuuko simply lifted both arms and shrugged. "When did I say that? People don't die from a few broken bones and cracked ribs."

"Yes they do!" Watanuki shouted as he angrily peered around the corner. Doumeki walked out from behind him, looking very tired.

Sage hopped from his chair and approached the doctor with anxious eyes. "Ne...can I go see him?"

Yuuko bent halfway to look at the child, her smile still in place but the look in her eyes more serious. "Sage-chan, ne?"

Sage seemed a bit taken aback by the fact that she knew his name, but he reluctantly nodded.

"What happened to the boys that attacked Mineki-kun?" she asked, a little more quietly than before.

Brief but obvious surprise flew across the child's face. He glanced back at the others, but apparently none of them were listening. "They went away," he said after a moment, returning his gaze to her.

The raven-haired woman's smile grew into a somewhat mischievous grin. "Oh? They just stopped and ran away? It looked to me like they meant to kill him..."

It was then that Sage's face changed significantly. At first glance the look it now wore seemed foreign on the normally friendly boy, but at the same time it seemed to belong there, and had been there many times before, schooled to perfection. Cold and angered red eyes regarded the woman while the rest of his face remained eerily calm. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt Ki-kun," he said just as calmly, though there was an air of defiance in his tone. "It's okay to protect Ki-kun, isn't it?"

Leaning a little closer, Yuuko placed a hand on the child's head and ruffled his hair lightly. The action alone seemed to diffuse his attitude and revert him back into his usual, wide-eyed self. "Be careful," she commented at an almost whisper before straightening.

The boy offered her a warm smile. "I will," he replied cheerfully before running off to the room where Mineki had been taken.

Yuuko's attention returned to the rest of the room's occupants, who were now looking at her with slightly odd expressions. She shrugged in response. "As I already said, he'll be fine. But he hasn't woken up yet, and when he does he'll need to rest a few days."

"That's it, huh?" Kyosuke looked truly amazed.

Yoru, meanwhile, wore a frown across his features. Slowly he lifted his eyes to the doctor. He hesitated a while longer before speaking. "Can I leave him with you?"

The way Yuuko's eyebrows shot up indicated her obvious surprise. She hadn't expected the question..it was one she never thought he'd ask. "He won't like that," she replied.

"I can pay you extra," he stated after another short pause, taking a stab at why she was bringing it up.

"That's not what she's getting at," Izumi mumbled under her breath.

But Yuuko's look had already returned to normal, as though she accepted the answer. "I suppose I can take on an extra tenant for a few days..."

What sounded like a child's voice let out a whining cry from the back room, but it quickly became muffled. Before anyone could question it two girls, one with pink hair and one with blue, poked their heads out as everyone turned to stare. "Gomen, gomen!" they chimed in unison before disappearing behind the separator doors once more.

Yoru rolled his eyes, used to these kinds of oddities in this place, but he stopped as he noticed the clock on the wall. He quickly stood and rushed to the door. "Damn, I'm late for work!"

"Wha--?" Kyosuke's eyes snapped to Yoru and he abruptly stood as well, with Izumi following his lead. "You mean you're leaving now? He hasn't even woken up yet!"

"How can you think of work at a time like this!" Izumi added, a lot less kindly.

"Just shut up!" Yoru nearly screamed at the two of them, causing them to subconsciously take a step back. He didn't care what they thought of him at the moment; he was fed up with everyone second guessing him. "What the hell do you want me do to! You think I want to leave him here? How am I supposed to pay for this is if I don't make any money?

No one said a word, which only served to fuel his anger. He stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Once Yoru was gone Kyosuke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Think we're being too hard on him?"

Izumi didn't respond.

The door toward the back opened slightly as something small moved through it. Then a tiny black creature hopped in front of Yuuko, looking very upset. "Mokona," it fumed, "is not a 'tenant'!"

Disclaimers: Yuuko, Watanuki, Doumeki, Mokona – xxxHolic; propery of CLAMP.
Yoru, Mineki, Sage, Thyme, Izumi, Kyosuke – Property of the Bishounen Hunters Group.