Chapter 12 A Question of Conscience

Touya barely opened his eyes as he heard the door to his cell open. The virus had hit him very hard and very fast with alternating fever and violent chills, worsening nausea, and terrible aches.

"Hey," a male voice said softly. "How are you feeling?"

It took a moment for Touya to realize why the voice sounded so familiar; it belonged to the blonde kid from the vehicle.

"Water," he croaked. "I need water."

"Sure," the boy said.

He vanished for a moment and returned carrying a plastic cup. He crouched in front of Touya and held the cup to his lips, tilting it so Touya could drink. Touya tried hard to not drink too fast, but still ended up choking on the water and nearly vomited it up. Water dribbled down his chin as he gasped for air. The boy fetched a towel and gently dried Touya's face.

"Thank you," Touya said softly.

"Sure," the boy said, looking a bit startled for some reason. He stood awkwardly in an embarrassed silence for a few moments before adding, "I'll be back later to check on you, okay?"

"All right," Touya said.

How interesting, Touya thought once the boy had gone. His resolve appears to be weaker than the others'. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage.

He closed his eyes again to help conserve his strength.

.o.O.o.

Touya did not know how long he had slept for when the sound of his cell door woke him up, but he was aware that he was much colder than before.

This isn't a good sign, he thought grimly as he watched the boy carry a bowl into his cell.

The boy helped Touya into a sitting position, leaning him against the wall, and then started spooning some sort of thin broth into Touya's mouth. Touya forced himself to swallow it even though he had no appetite. It warmed him a little, but he couldn't help shivering. The boy frowned and put a warm hand on Touya's forehead.

"That's strange," he murmured. "You're really warm, not cold." He thought for a moment. "I'll be right back."

While he was gone, Touya shifted back into a laying position. It was tricky to negotiate with his hands cuffed behind his back, but he managed it at last. The boy returned with a blanket that he draped over Touya's shoulders.

"Thank you," Touya said. He looked up at the boy. "Thank you for your kindness…" He paused, hoping the boy would fill in the blanks.

"Mitarai," the boy said, swallowing hard. "My name is Mitarai."

"Thank you Mitarai," Touya said, but the boy had already gone.

Mitarai returned several times and Touya took the opportunity to silently observe his companion. Mitarai seemed to be very shy; he barely made eye contact with Touya and spoke so softly that sometimes Touya had to strain to hear him. He probably suffered from low self esteem and didn't have many friends. In fact, Touya had the feeling he was bullied. And there was something in his eyes, a look that was at once sad and scared, like he was begging to be saved, though from what Touya could guess.

When Touya asked him even the simplest of questions, he would become flustered and stutter out a barely discernable answer. And no matter how hard Touya tried, he could not pry any useful information out of Mitarai. To his immense frustration, there remained a wall between him and the blonde boy.

.o.O.o.

"Are you awake?"

Touya could immediately sense something was different from the tone in Mitarai's voice. There was a sharp edge to it that he hadn't heard before.

"Yes, I am awake," he said hoarsely, opening his eyes.

"Bring him," Mitarai said to someone Touya couldn't see.

He heard heavy footsteps on the concrete floor followed by hands grabbing him by the arms and hauling him to his feet. He nearly passed out from being forced up so quickly and struggled to find his feet. It felt like it had been an eternity since he'd had to use his legs.

He was dragged out of his cell, blinking dazedly at the brightly lit hallway he was brought into. After spending so much time in his dark cell, the sudden appearance of light was overwhelming. His captors dragged him down the hallway and he stumbled along, helpless to do anything else. He was finally able to open his eyes and saw that his captors were a pair of massive demons. Mitarai walked with them as well, his posture tense.

Kurama and the others are here, Touya realized. Are they moving me to a more secure location?

As if on cue, they turned into a room that had a surprisingly comfortable atmosphere. It was set up like a lounge with couches and chairs arranged around a big screen TV, a pool table, and even a refrigerator in the corner. A man sat on one of the couches in front of the TV with his back to them and a handful of demons loitered around. Their presence bothered Touya for some reason, though he couldn't say why.

Mitarai loudly cleared his throat and said, "Doctor? I brought the prisoner like you asked."

The man on the couch turned around and Doctor gave Touya a wolfish smile.

"Ah, excellent," he said. "Bring him over here. We want our guest to be comfortable, after all."

Touya's captors led him around the couch and shoved him down.

"Thank you," Doctor said. "You two may go. Seaman, come join us."

Touya was confused for a moment as to who Seaman was, but then realized that Seaman was Mitarai's nickname when the blonde boy came and sat on the couch next to him.

His attention turned to the big screen TV and he realized with a jolt that he was watching Kurama and the others fighting demons.

"That's right," Doctor said, seeing what had caught Touya's attention. "Your friends are downstairs right now fighting their way towards you." He laughed.

"Why are you doing this?" Touya burst out angrily.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Doctor made a soft tsking sound. "I had heard you were smart." He rose and stretched. "I suppose it's time for me to go say hello to your friends and see how they're faring in my Territory."

"Territory," Touya repeated softly.

That word rang a bell. He closed his eyes trying to place its context. Then it suddenly clicked.

"Territory!" he gasped, opening his eyes. He looked at Mitarai. "He's a Psychic. You all are Psychics!"

"That's right," Mitarai said with a cold smile. "It sure took you long enough to figure it out."

His timid behavior was gone, replaced by a cool, calm demeanor. Had it all been an act? No, Touya could see the sad, vulnerable boy was still there. Perhaps this was an act then.

"You're the ones digging a tunnel to Demon World," Touya whispered in horror. Mitarai confirmed his suspicion with a nod. "Why? Don't you know what will happen? Demons will overrun Living World and the human race will be extinguished!"

"I know," Mitarai smiled brokenly. "That's what I want. Because it's what we deserve."

Touya stared at him. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do!" Mitarai's voice became more impassioned. "You don't know…you can't know…we're worse than demons."

Mitarai's words made Touya's skin prickle.

"Why would you say that?" he asked in a gentle voice. "What have you seen?"

"I…" Mitarai shook his head and stared at the TV where Kurama and Kuwabara were fighting their way through a horde of demons while on another screen Genkai and Urameshi were confronting Doctor.

"Mitarai please," Touya said in the same gentle voice.

He wished he could reach out and touch Mitarai. He could sense that the blonde boy was in pain and his first instinct was to try and comfort him.

"Please," he repeated softly.

"They call it Chapter Black," Mitarai finally said, refusing to meet Touya's eyes.

"Chapter Black?" Touya repeated, horror growing within him. "You've seen it?"

"That's right," Mitarai said. "Every single minute of it."

Chapter Black. An infamous tape that chronicled humanity's darkest deeds. It was said to run for thousands and hours and could turn a person against their own kind within minutes of viewing it.

Touya had no idea how to respond to this disturbing revelation. Chapter Black was one of Spirit World's most forbidden items of contraband. How a group of Human Psychics had gotten possession of it was very troubling.

He turned his attention back to the screen just in time to watch Kurama slice through several demons with ease. Touya felt a surge of pride at seeing how well Kurama handled himself against the demons. He and Kuwabara cleared the rest of the demons in their way and sprinted down the hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, Touya saw Mitarai shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"They're coming for me," he said with a note of satisfaction. He saw Mitarai shift uncomfortably again. "You and I both know they will succeed, that they're far too strong for Doctor and his demon army. There is only one possible outcome and it will not end well for you." He chose his words carefully. "But if you free me, they will be lenient, I promise you."

Mitarai finally turned to him. "How do you know that?"

"Because…" Touya hesitated for a moment. "Because they were lenient with me." Mitarai stared at him. "It's too long a story to tell in such a short period of time, but I will tell you that they forgave me and accepted me without question and they will do the same to you. I promise. They're good people."

Mitarai turned away again and Touya clenched his teeth in frustration. Once again, his attempt to reach Mitarai had failed, but he needed to keep trying. Right now, it was the only thing he could do. The only problem was he was quickly running out of time. He could feel the ill effects of Doctor's disease was having on him coupled with the strain of trying to protect his unborn baby with his life energy. He was trying to stay strong, but it was hard. He didn't know how much longer he could last.

To distract himself, he turned his attention back to the screen where Urameshi was fighting Doctor. There was no sound so Touya couldn't hear the words they exchanged but Doctor said something that must have seriously pissed Urameshi off because he started punching Doctor with a ferocity Touya had never seen before.

"Come on, Urameshi," he murmured, clenching his fists so tightly his nails drew blood.

Urameshi's fist glowed blue as he swung it around one last time. His punch connected hard with Doctor's face and he went flying through a window.

"Shit," Mitarai muttered as Doctor did not emerge.

Touya breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Doctor's disease wore off. He closed his eyes as he was overcome with a wave of dizziness, but somehow he didn't pass out from the sheer exhaustion he felt. He opened his eyes as he heard movement. A pair of demons walked toward him and hauled him to his feet by his arms.

"Let's go," Mitarai ordered.

They're trying to move me before Urameshi and the others can get to me, Touya realized. I have to do something!

The problem was, he barely had any energy left. He could barely stand right now, let alone mount any sort of assault. If he could access his demon energy, he could at least stall the group long enough for Urameshi and the others to reach him. He closed his eyes and focused. He couldn't help smiling a bit as he heard the familiar sound of ice crackling. He probably had just enough energy left to freeze the handcuffs so they would break. He didn't have a lot of confidence that he'd be able to run very far, but at least he could try. He needed to stall for as long as he could.

"Mitarai," he said as they walked down the hallway. Mitarai refused to look at him now. "Mitarai, please."

Mitarai stopped and turned to the guards. "Leave us."

Touya felt a surge of hope as the demon guards left. Maybe, just maybe he could convince Mitarai to change sides.

He cleared his throat. "I know you must be feeling conflicted right now. You've seen things that are almost too horrible to comprehend. But what you must remember is that humans are more than what you've seen of them. They are capable of great evil, yes, but they are also capable of great good.

"You have only seen the worst parts of humanity and that is not enough to judge them by. You also need to see the good they are capable of before you can say for sure whether humans deserve to live or die."

"I…oh God." Mitarai sounded on the verge of tears.

"You know in your heart this isn't right," Touya said softly. "I know there is a lot of pain in your heart, but this is not the answer. Come with me and we can set things right. Urameshi and his friends will forgive you. They will help you."

"You promise?" Mitarai said in a small voice.

"I promise," Touya said.

The handcuffs snapped as Mitarai stepped in close. Touya screamed as he felt the cold steel blade slide between his ribs. He stared up in Mitarai in shock, barely comprehending what the human had done.

"I'm so sorry," Mitarai said.

Touya could see he had tears in his eyes. He tried to say something, anything as Mitarai walked away, but no words came out. He collapsed as the last of his strength left him, his hand pressed to his chest to try and staunch the bleeding.

He did not know how long he lay there when he heard running footsteps.

"Touya!" an alarmed voice cried.

Someone grabbed him and rolled him onto his back. He saw the blurry faces of Urameshi and Genkai staring down at him in concern. He tried to tell them what had happened, but his tongue felt thick in his mouth and all that came out was a moan.

"Hey there Touya, stay with us, okay?" Urameshi said anxiously. "Kurama's gonna be very, very pissed if you die."

Touya managed a weak chuckle and then he was overcome by darkness.

.o.O.o.

Author's Note: I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of fun writing the Sensui Seven arc. I really like Sensui as a bad guy. He was an interesting contrast to Urameshi. And I totally enjoyed writing Mitarai.