Herro! I apologize once again for updating so late and for the relative shortness of this chapter! I'm really gonna try to turn em out a little faster!
Thank you as always for reading you gorgeous people you! ^_^
-Shuichi77
Night soon fell on the seven Moons Academy and Soubi and Riku had made a hasty retreat into Soubi's old dorm room, neither one of them wanting to deal with Ritsu any more than absolutely necessary. It wasn't very long at all before the two slipped away to sleep, completely exhausted from their long and frustrating day. The entire campus remained calm and quiet well into the late hours of the night. The calm was shattered however in the early hours of the morning when Ritsu suddenly burst into Soubi's dorm.
"Get up you two. We are beginning the exercise." Riku stirred slightly from his place on a small mat on the floor opposite the bed, which Soubi had insisted he slept on, to retort in an annoyed tone.
"Right now? It's the middle of the night."
"Yes, now. We run our drills at a moment's notice to keep the students on their toes. So if you wish to participate, then I suggest you get going." Riku then pulled a pillow over his head in defiance as he let out a long groan. It was then only a few seconds before the pillow was pulled off of him by Soubi, who was already fully awake and ready to go.
"Come on. You said you wanted to get out of here as soon as possible." Riku looked up at the tall blonde with a grimace before begrudgingly hauling himself up off the mat.
"Fine fine."
Ritsu then lead the way out of the small dorm and into the dark corridor just outside. All of the lights in the entire building had been shut off for the drill, save a few scattered dim emergency lights. The duo followed Ritsu down a few darkened hallways until they came to an intersection where a small blue haired woman was waiting for them.
"What took you so long Ritsu?"
"Calm down Nagisa." Ritsu then turned to address the duo that was close in toe. "Now, Nagisa has been filled in on your current situation on a need to know basis. I've informed her of Ritsuka's current problem with proper bonding in battle. So from here Ritsuka will go with Nagisa for this drill. She will perform the hypnosis and hide him somewhere in the facility like the other Sacrifices. Soubi will come with me to join the other Sentouki in the mess hall to await the start of the exercise."
Riku gave a quick glance over to the small blue haired scientist before looking back at Soubi with a suspicious glance. Soubi gave a suspicious look of his own before Ritsu ushered him off down the hallway. Nagisa then turned her attention to the small boy in front of her with her arms crossed and a sour expression.
"Well, come on then."
Riku very begrudgingly did as he was told and followed the small women in silence down a few hallways and around a couple of corners until she stopped suddenly in front of a large metal door. He watched on as she pulled a large key ring from her pocket and stuck a key into the door. He followed her along inside into a large open laboratory type room. He gave a quick look around but wasn't given very much time at all before a small arm suddenly wrapped tightly around his waist from behind.
"What the fuck?!" Riku quickly tried to free himself but he was stopped when a small wet rag was firmly pressed and held against his mouth and nose. He continued to struggle until his vision began to blur and his body grew weak, until he finally succumbed and fell unconscious.
Meanwhile…
Ritsu escorted Soubi to the mess hall in a tense silence. They soon arrived into a large open, very dark, cafeteria that was filled with students of all types and ages. Soubi gave a grimace at the scene, having not so fond memories of his own time as a student at the academy. Ritsu then turned to him with a small smile.
"You can go ahead and wait here with the other Sentouki until the announcement is made for them to begin." Soubi let out a small sigh at this before replying in an indifferent tone.
"Fine…"
Only moments after Ritsu took his leave, Soubi suddenly heard his name being called from somewhere within the crowd.
"Soubi! Hey, Soubi! Over here!" sHe looked around curiously before he finally set eyes on an all too familiar red headed boy. Once the boy had seen that the blonde had noticed him, he made a bee line for his position and greeted him in a warm, albeit slightly confused, manner.
"Hey there Soubi."
"What do you want Natsuo."
"Geez…you're awfully grumpy. I was just surprised to see you here."
"Well I'm not here for a friendly visit."
"Well then, why are you here anyway?"
"That's…a very long story."
Back in Nagisa's lab…
Riku's body was lying still on a cold hard exam table in the center of the laboratory when his eyes suddenly shot open, and he found himself lying on a seemingly invisible surface in a black void. He immediately recognized it as his usual prison inside Ritsuka's mind and he quickly shot up to a seated position to see Ritsuka sitting across from him with his knees pulled up to his head and his face buried in his arms. He then called out to him in a mixture of relief and panic.
"R-Ritsuka?!" The sudden noise startled Ritsuka and he quickly jerked his head up in surprise to look at Riku with wide tear filled eyes.
"Riku?! Is that really you?!"
"Y-yeah!" Ritsuka then crawled over to Riku and propped himself up on his knees before throwing his arms around him in a tight and desperate hug.
"I never thought I would be this happy to see you…" Riku tentatively returned his hug, still incredibly confused.
"Where have you been Ritsuka?!" Ritsuka then released him and quickly stood up with a gasp.
"Never mind that! Where are we?! Where is Soubi?! Is he ok?!" Riku then brought his focus back to their current situation and got up to be standing just in front of Ritsuka as he replied in a cool tone.
"We are at the Seven Moons Academy and Soubi is here somewhere." Ritsuka then began to completely panic.
"The Academy?! Riku! Why would you come here! We have to get out here right now! The man that runs this place is insane!"
"Yeah you aren't kidding about that…but I don't know if there is anything we can do about it now."
"W-what do you mean?! What happened?!" Riku then let out a long frustrated sigh.
"Well… we came here to try and figure out what happened to you and that Ritsu guy said we should run a bonding drill with the other students. They said they would hypnotize me, like the good doctor did, in hopes of that allowing Soubi to find you somewhere within your own psyche, or whatever. Anyway, they separated us and some crazy bitch drugged me and knocked me out. So I'm guessing we are still there." Ritsuka then slumped to the ground as tears began to stream down his face.
"N-no…how could you let this happen…."
"Me?! You are the one who went and disappeared!"
"Well it's not like I did it on purpose!" Riku then let out a growl of frustration as he began to pace back and forth.
"I know I know! We just need to figure a way out of this now."
"I know…and soon…I've got a really bad feeling."
Back in the large cafeteria, the exercise was just getting under way and the students had just been released from the area to go find their partners. As the students scattered in all directions, Natsuo decided to stick close by Soubi, and the two took a leisurely exit from the room, well after all the others. Soubi began to walk down a dark hallway in silence until he finally looked over his shoulder with a scowl at the short red headed boy.
"Why are you following me? Shouldn't you be looking for Youji?"
"Nah, we hate these lame things so he always just waits for me in the library. We don't need these stupid drills, they are for losers."
"I agree…"
"So what exactly are you doing here Soubi?"
"I already told you, it's a long story and I don't really feel like talking about it. All you need to know is that I'm looking for Ritsuka." Natsuo gave a curious expression at this has he took a few extra steps to be right beside Soubi as they walked.
"Ritsuka? Is he here too? You sure it was a good idea to bring him here?" This finally caused Soubi's true level of concern to show on his face as he looked down at the red head.
"How do you mean?"
"Well I don't really know, but ever since you caused us to fail our last assignment, Ritsu and Nagisa have been talking about Ritsuka a lot. They've even sent a few other units to spy on you guys." Soubi then stopped dead in his tracks to turn to Natsuo with an angry expression.
"What?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Hey! We are busy people ya know! Besides…we were still kind of pissed at you for the whole substitution thing, Youji was in recovery for a week!" Soubi then let out a low growl before taking off down the dark hallway without a word as Natsuo stayed behind and simply called after him.
"What the hell Soubi?! Where are you going?!"
Natsuo's words sent Soubi into a full panic and in that moment all he could focus was finding Riku and getting out of there, figuring they could deal with everything else once they were safe. In his flustered state, Soubi could barely make his way through the dark halls that he had once known all too well and it was no time at all before he was hopelessly lost. He stopped in an empty corridor for a moment to catch his breath and try to figure out where he was. He decided that he would try to focus on the invisible thread that bonded him to Ritsuka. He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing as he focused, but his eyes quickly shot open upon feeling his body being suddenly and violently yanked from behind. He soon found himself being pulled into a dark room by an unknown figure before he was suddenly blindfolded and a wet rag was pressed to his face. It was then only a few short seconds before he fell unconscious.
Meanwhile, back within the depths Ritsuka's mind…
Amidst the quiet darkness, Ritsuka suddenly leapt up from his sullen state on the floor with wide eyes.
"Riku! We have to get out of here! Now!" Riku was startled by the sudden outburst but replied in a sour tone.
"Well I think we've already established that Ritsuka…"
"No you don't understand! Soubi is in trouble!" Riku gave a small scoff at this.
"How would you know? I'm sure he is fine." Riku was then completely taken aback as he watched Ritsuka lower his head as he let out a small growl and began to shake slightly in anger. "H-hey….Ritsuka, just calm down ok."
Ritsuka then took a small step forward with balled fists, before roughly shoving Riku down to the ground with all his might and standing over him with a scowl. Riku could then only look up at him with a slightly scared expression.
"No! I won't calm down damn it! I've been putting up with you this whole time and I'm tired of it! You always say that you just want to help me and that you are my stronger honest side….well where is all that bravado now?! You keep saying that I need to stand up for what I want and be strong but when it counts, you're the one that turns into a coward?! What's the point of you if you can't even feel that Soubi is in trouble and that I have to do something?! Just what is the point of you?!" There was then a short silence as Ritsuka continued to shake in anger over his copy with his eyes shut tight in an attempt to contain his tears. Ritsuka then heard a small chuckle and his eyes shot open to see Riku was now grinning up at him.
"Now that's more like it…that's what I've been waiting for." Riku then extended a hand up to Ritsuka who looked back at him curiously. "Now…let's get out of here."
"T-thank you Riku…but how are we going to get out of here?"
"I've got an idea."
Ritsuka finally gave a small smile to his counterpart as he took his hand in his own and pulled him up from the ground. The two then stood face to face and Riku gave a big grin before taking Ritsuka's head in his hands.
"Sorry, but this might hurt a little." Before Ritsuka was even given a chance to respond, Riku roughly head-butted him in the forehead, sending him reeling back in pain as he clutched his head.
"R-Riku! What the h-" Before Ritsuka could lay into his other half, his vision blurred and he fell to the ground unconscious.
Ritsuka's body then suddenly jolted up to a seated position as he gasped and his eyes flew open. He whipped his head in all directions and found himself laying on a cold metal exam table with a bright light shining down on him. He then felt a sharp pain in his arm and he quickly looked down to see that there was an IV taped down to his arm. He quickly ripped out the needle before stumbling down off the table. He didn't make it very far however, before he was confronted by a surprised Nagisa.
"What the hell?! You should still be totally knocked out!"
"Nagisa! What were you trying to do?!" Nagisa then quickly reverted back to her normal nonchalant and morbid attitude.
"Well I was just getting what I was promised."
"What you were promised?! And what was that?!"
"Well… Sensei said that once he had Soubi, I could keep you and dissect you."
"Dissect me?!"
"Yeah of course. What else would I want you for?"
"Gah! She really is bat shit!" Nagisa then watched on in a confused curiosity as Ritsuka turned away from her and began to carry on a conversation, seemingly with himself.
"Yeah see, I told you. This whole place is insane."
"What the fuck would she wanna dissect us for anyway?"
"Who knows, and I don't really care. We have to find Soubi."
"Right…well I don't think she is just going to let us walk out of here." Ritsuka then paused for a moment to shoot a glance over at Nagisa before turning away again to continue his internal conversation.
"You're probably right…but what should we do?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Y-yeah…"
"Ok then. Switch with me and I'll handle it. I'll switch back with you as soon as we get away from her so you can go find Soubi."
"All right. Don't do anything reckless…we have to get Soubi."
Nagisa then watched on as Ritsuka's knees buckled and he began to falter. He held his head and swayed in place before stopping suddenly to stand up straight with a wicked grin. She then began to worry slightly as the boy slowly crept closer to her, never dropping his sinister grin. Once she was within reach the boy suddenly grabbed her by the white collar of her frilled shirt and pulled her face close to his.
"So…you like to dissect things?" Nagisa then gave a grin of her own, never having been too extremely terrified of the small sweet boy that she had encountered in the past.
"Well I am a scientist after all."
"Well let's see what makes you tick then." The boy then began to drag Nagisa by her collar over towards her own exam table as she clawed at his hands and tried to struggle free.
"Oh come on Ritsuka! You wouldn't hurt me! You are such a sweet boy!" He then stopped suddenly before turning to pull Nagisa's face once again to be only inches from his own. He then looked at her dead in the eyes with a wicked smile.
"You're right….but Ritsuka isn't here."
TBC