Chapter 2 As I Lay Dying

Jin woke with a groan; his entire body was sore. He stared blankly at a strange ceiling for a few moments before the memory of being on the receiving end of Urameshi's Spirit Wave and being blasted into the seats came back to him.

Ah, right, he thought. Must've lost. Ah well, it was a damn good fight.

"Oh, you're awake," a strange woman's voice said.

Jin turned his head to the side and saw a rather pretty demon in a nurse's uniform.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Not bad," Jin said. "A bit sore."

"You were very lucky," the nurse commented. "You weren't hurt aside from some bruising. The doctor said you're free to go when you feel up to it, but he wants it to take it easy for a while, okay?"

"Okay," Jin agreed.

He didn't have a problem taking it easy while his body recovered from his ordeal. The only reason he hadn't been injured worse than a few bruises was that he had managed to cushion his fall with a gust of wind, though it still hurt like hell to crash into the seats. He was a bit surprised at how lax the infirmary was being run, but they didn't really appear to have a choice, he supposed, as he sat up and looked around the overcrowded space. They were clearly doing the best they could with the resources they had. He wondered whether his teammates had been brought here. He gasped as he remembered Touya, who was really the only one he actually cared about.

"Excuse me miss," he said to a passing nurse.

"Yes?" the nurse seemed uneasy for some reason.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine," Jin said. "He's a little guy with blue hair. I dunno if he was brought here, but he had been hurt pretty bad. He had a…a stab wound in his chest."

The nurse's face brightened. "I think I know who you're talking about. Come with me."

She led him across the room, past beds and beds of moaning demons, to a darker and quieter corner. Jin's instincts screamed a warning as they approached a bed. He swore he stopped breathing for a moment as he caught a glimpse of the figure laying there. Surely the nurse was mistaken. This pitiful demon couldn't be Touya.

And yet Jin knew it was him.

He had known Touya for so long that he would recognize him anywhere. Touya had always been pale, but now his skin looked nearly transparent. Sweat beaded his forehead, which Jin knew should never happen given what he was. His shirt had been removed and his chest wrapped in thick bandages. His breathing was labored, every gasp sounding like it took a monumental effort. Seeing Touya like this made Jin want to cry.

"W…what's wrong with him?" he said, somehow managing to swallow back his grief.

"Um…hold on," the nurse said nervously. "Let me get the doctor."

She hurried off before Jin could protest. The doctor came a couple minutes later. Jin stared at him; he was a human.

"Do you know this demon?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah," Jin said hoarsely. "He's my…"

He honestly had no idea how to finish that sentence, how to explain the complex relationship he shared with Touya. There was no one word that adequately explained what he had Touya had and as far as Jin understood, the humans didn't have an equivalent.

"He's my friend," he finally said. "My best friend." He hesitated for a moment before asking the question he didn't want to ask, "Is he…dying?"

The doctor nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so."

Jin felt like the world had suddenly tilted sideways. He heard the doctor's voice low and anxious in his ear and felt a firm hand on his arm, guiding him to sit in a chair.

"Put your head between your knees and take deep breaths," the doctor said.

Jin obeyed. A few moments passed and then his vision cleared.

"Better?" the doctor asked.

Jin nodded and straightened up. "Thanks." It took several minutes before he was able to ask, "What…what happened to him?"

"He suffered multiple injuries to the chest, both a stab wound and blunt force trauma. We were able to heal those injuries for the most part, but it appears that he has been poisoned."

"Ya can't do anythin' about that?" Jin asked desperately.

The doctor shook his head. "Unfortunately, it's not a poison we are familiar with. All we can do for him now is make him as comfortable as possible."

"Right." Jin swallowed hard. "How much longer do ya think he has left?"

The doctor sighed and ran his fingers through his short dark hair. "It's hard to say for certain because we know nothing about this poison except that it seems to be some sort of organic poison. However, based on the rate at which his health is deteriorating, I'd estimate that he has, at most, a couple hours left." The doctor put his hand on Jin's shoulder. "I'm very sorry. We did everything we could to try and save him."

"Thank you, doctor." The words stuck in Jin's throat.

The doctor gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'll leave you alone with him now. Please let me know if you need anything."

Jin could only nod. The doctor let go of his shoulder and walked away. Jin stayed in his chair for a while, trying to reel in the emotions swirling around inside him.

He approached Touya's bed slowly and took Touya's hand. "I'm here," he whispered, giving the too-pale hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm here and I'm not goin' anywhere, okay? I'm gonna stay with you until the very end."

He fought back tears and glanced around the dark, dank, crowded room.

Touya doesn't deserve to die in a hellhole like this, he thought. He deserves better than this. He's done so much for me over the years, the least I can do is let him die with dignity.

He carefully picked Touya up, marveling at how little effort it took and how easily he fit in Jin's arms.

No one tried to stop him and he exited the infirmary with Touya in his arms. He kept his pace brisk, anxious to get back in the fresh air. As soon as he was outside, he breathed deeply, a sense of calm washing over him. This was where he was happiest, under the open sky. He immediately started walking away from the stadium and hotel. His path took him into the forest, where no one would bother them. Only when his legs could carry him no farther did he stop. The air was very still here, an occasional breeze rustling the leaves providing the only sound.

Jin made himself comfortable underneath a large oak tree on the edge of a clearing and gently cradled Touya in his lap. He could feel Touya's fragility, hear his labored gasps, and he could no longer contain the grief welling up inside him. He let out a wail that ended in a sob. He let the tears come now, all the grief spilling out in a torrent of sobs. He closed his eyes, letting the grief carry him away.

Chu stopped and anguished cry tore through the forest's silence.

"Did you hear that?" Rinku murmured in his ear.

Chu bit back a snarky and instead nodded. "Let's go see what's goin' on."

They set off through the forest in the direction the sound had come from, Chu in the lead. Then he stopped. And stared. He could barely believe what he was seeing. Beside him, Rinku inhaled sharply. He knew the pair of demons sitting under a tree at the edge of a clearing only by reputation; word had traveled fast about the two demons who had objected to their team's dirty fighting tactics and had earned the scorn of their fellow demons for sticking up for Urameshi's team. Personally, Chu thought they were brave; it took a lot of guts to refuse to participate in the corruption that ran rampant in the Dark Tournament.

"Hey," Chu said softly.

The redhead looked up and tears streamed down his cheeks. "You're…" he frowned for a moment, trying to place a name with the face. "Chu? From Team Rokuyakai?"

"Yeah, that's right," Chu said.

What's left of it, anyway, he added silently.

"That was a good fight ya had against Urameshi," the redhead said and Chu knew by his accent that this had to be the wind master, Jin.

He tried to smile, but Chu could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"What happened?" Chu asked, nodding at the unconscious demon in Jin's lap.

"Touya, he's…dying." Jin's voice cracked on the last word. Chu sucked in his breath, but let Jin continue, "Durin' the fight with Kurama, he got stabbed with some of Kurama's plants and the poison got into his bloodstream. The doctors couldn't do anything for him, so I took him. I decided that if he was gonna die, he might as well die out here in the fresh air rather than cramped in the infirmary with all those demons."

His last words ended in a sob and Chu felt an overwhelming amount of pity for him. He could see how much Touya meant to Jin and how hard he was taking Touya's impending death.

"You know," Chu said slowly, an idea forming in his head. "That Kurama bloke seems to be a fairly decent fellow. I'm sure he'd be happy to help if you asked. He knows all about plants and I'm sure he knows how to cure the poison."

Jin wrinkled his forehead. "Demons don't really help each other unless it benefits them."

Chu knew that as a Shinobi, Jin spoke from personal experience, but he couldn't help pointing out, "You're helping Touya without any thought of reward."

Jin refused to meet his gaze. "That's different."

"Still," Chu persisted. "Kurama's not like that. You know he has more honor than that." Jin still did not look convinced, so Chu added in a gentle tone, "We should at least try. No harm in that, right? It's the only chance he has."

At last, Jin nodded. Chu glanced at Rinku, who understood, and ran off. Chu only hoped he could find Kurama in time.