YAMI NO MATSUEI - DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS
THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP…OR NOT?
Chapter Sixteen – Continuation
"Are you sure that this is a good idea, Seii?"
Tatsumi glanced sideways, smiling softly at Watari, "I will be all right, Yutaka. We need to roam around, find out more about our surroundings, gather up clues, and find our way back home. We can not possibly do anything along those lines if we stay at home."
Watari let out a grumbled sigh. "You're sick – again. I can't let that happen to –"
Tatsumi blinked for a minute, a frown creasing his forehead. "Not let what happen?"
It took a while before Watari replied, "Have you lose your memory and lose you to this imaginary world."
"I do not understand what you are trying to say," said Tatsumi, his azure eyes keenly focused on Watari.
Watari stopped walking, prompting Tatsumi to stop walking as well. He was about to open up his mouth until an elderly man greeted Tatsumi, "Good morning, Lord Reiley, Doctor Wilkins…."
"Good morning to you, too, Sir," said Tatsumi with a polite smile while Watari's response was a genial nod.
Once the pleasantries were done, Tatsumi asked Watari, "I beg your pardon, but where were we?"
Without hesitation, Watari said, "You're sick, Seii. Because you don't have the resistance, I'm slowly but surely losing you here."
When Tatsumi was shaking his head, looking as if he still could not get what Watari was telling him, Watari asked point-blank, "Where are your eyeglasses?"
"I am wearing them, just as I always do," said Tatsumi with an amused yet nonchalant tone. "I would not be able to see or focus on anything without them, and my eyesight has never been better. So, I am wearing my glasses right now."
"This entire morning, this whole conversation, is exactly my point," said a grim-looking Watari. "Take off your glasses right now."
Tatsumi, having other things in his mind which pertained to the case, replied in a tone laced with impatience, "Yutaka, we do not have time for –"
Watari's eyes narrowed, reiterating to Tatsumi, "I said take off your glasses."
Before Tatsumi opened up his mouth to protest, Watari deadpanned, "Damn it, Seii! Just humor me and take off your fucking glasses - now!"
Tatsumi's eyes narrowed as well, looking at Watari with such dangerous distaste as he lifted his left hand to take off his eyeglasses. "You have been such a disgruntled chap lately! Why are you so bloody fixated over a pair of glass-"
Watari purposefully gave a moment of pause to allow Tatsumi to realize a very important fact. He watched the great secretary of the Shokan Division pat over his temple in search for something that was normally there. He then told Tatsumi, "Can't find it, can you?"
When Tatsumi was lost for words because he could not understand what Watari was trying to tell him, Watari explained, "You haven't been wearing your glasses, pince-nez, monocles, or anything to help you with your vision since late last night."
"I just forgot it. Simple as that," was Tatsumi's reply, his voice sounding dismissive to hide his shock.
Watari's eyes flashed dangerously as he drove the point home by blurting out, "Read my lips, Tatsumi Seiichiro – you don't need glasses because you're physically, mentally, and emotionally changing into this Lord Reiley character!"
"That is preposterous!" spat out Tatsumi, who then added, "This ridiculous notion of yours needs to stop now!"
"No – I'm not allowing you one bit to 'lord' over me like this!" said a frustrated Watari as he flung a hand before Tatsumi here and there. "You're even talking differently right now! You're stuffy-sounding as usual, but never with that infernal Victorian England flair until now! Get your head out of your ass and realize what the hell's going on with you!"
"What did you just say to me? Did you just call me stuffy-sounding?" asked Tatsumi through gritted teeth, his transfixed gaze at Watari looking feral while his shadows began to lap around his feet as if they were flames being fanned by his anger towards Watari.
An equally-livid Watari spat, "What part did you miss, Seii? Did you just miss the part where I told you to get your head out of your ass? What about the part that you need to realize what the hell's going on with you? Would you like for me to say 'bloody ass' or 'bloody hell' with the English flair so that you get my fucking point, Seii – or should I call you the great Lord Reiley? If you don't keep a firm grip of who you really are, we'll be trapped here forever!"
When Tatsumi stopped, his eyes remained focused on Watari yet the latter could see that Tatsumi began to calm down. The shadows also did the same, dispelling back into the street cracks while the rest allowed the daylight to quietly overcome them. He was still angry towards Watari but there was a part of him that acknowledged the truth behind Watari's words.
"Seii, we've been playing this detective-and-doctor mystery game for two entire days now and we're not getting anywhere," said Watari, the scientist's voice sounding much calmer than earlier now that he had Tatsumi's undivided attention. "I'm doing my best to stave off your fever through medication but you're still slipping away from me here and there. Your lapses in memory are still there. You're still having these weird moments that you're forgetting that we're shinigami and not these two glorified, overdressed characters. We have to beat this demon. It's our only way out of here. If we don't, he either traps us here forever or destroys us."
Tatsumi let out a burdened sigh and then proposed, "Let us just continue our stroll back to the manor, Yutaka. We will continue talking. Once we get there, we need to see what we have gathered so far and then go from there."
A much-calmer Watari closed his eyes and then nodded, with him leading the way back to the house. "We might as well do that because you look awfully sick right now."
Watari even became more tightlipped and worried as Tatsumi admitted, "I hate to agree with you, but you are right. I am sorry that this is so hard on you right now. I did tell you not to worry about me."
"I can't just stop worrying about you, Seii," was Watari's reply, a frown momentarily creasing his forehead and his tone laced with some form of chastisement.
Tatsumi tried to soothe Watari's wounded ego and feelings. He told the scientist as best and as gently as he could, "I do not mean anything by it, Yutaka. But you and I need to focus on the task at hand if we want to solve this mystery, most especially you since your faculties are not affected. I hate being in this predicament."
"I know," said Watari after letting out a sigh and burying his gloved hands deeper into his coat pockets. He could not help but be reminded of what was going on with Tatsumi as he watched the secretary unknowingly adopt more of what it seemed to be Count Radcliff Reiley's mannerisms.
The two lovers were quiet for a while as they took time in their stroll towards Reiley Manor.
After a while, though, Tatsumi broke the silence by thinking out loud, "How I wish that we have JuOhCho's resources available at our disposal. We would have a better time identifying the demon responsible for all this havoc if that is the case."
"Well, we have to think as to which demons bear a grudge against the Shokan Division."
"That could be anyone, then," was Tatsumi's reply.
Tatsumi stopped for a little while, trying to catch his breath but doing it as inconspicuously as he could so that Watari would not worry so much about him. He did so by pretending to see something that was interesting at a jeweler's storefront display window. He specifically focused on a pair of gold bands with a diamond in the middle of each band as well as another pair of matching white gold Claddagh rings.
Watari stood beside Tatsumi, asking Tatsumi in a semi-joking tone, "You must be that feverish, if you're even entertaining thoughts of buying that or owning one of those rings let alone both of them. What would be outrageous is if you buy all four rings."
Tatsumi glanced at Watari and chuckled. He had a soft smile in his face as his eyes scanned the rest of the store display. "My curiosity got piqued, that is all. Come on…."
Watari said to Tatsumi with a smile, his honey-colored eyes having this inviting look. "Not that fast, Seii. I saw that smile on your face when you were looking through the rings. What's in your mind right now?"
With a coy, pursed-lipped smile, Tatsumi's innocent-sounding reply was, "Nothing."
"That smile of yours doesn't say the same thing," said Watari with a chuckle. "What gives?"
Tatsumi maintained the warm smile when he replied, "As I said earlier, it is nothing. Believe me."
"Yeah, right," said Watari after he let out a quiet sigh. "Now why don't we grab a quick bite to eat? I'm getting hungry."
Tatsumi gazed at Watari, all while he fixed his left glove. "All right…. We will talk about the case while we –"
Watari and Tatsumi stopped as the frantic sounds of a bobby's whistle filled the busy street and caught everyone's attention.
The two lovers exchanged glances and as a reaffirmation of their mutual decision, Tatsumi said to Watari, "Lunch can wait. Let us go see what help we could offer, shall we?"
Watari nodded, noticing that they stood at a street corner which served as a distinct separation between the affluent parts of the neighborhood from its seedy counterpart. To their right were establishments which catered to society's upper class. To the left was a trickle of establishments which tried to keep up with the more affluent stores but to no avail.
As one walked farther down, one would notice that there was more foot traffic there – the ambiance much more chaotic as peddlers catering to the lower class tried to sell their respective merchandise. Prostitutes walked down the street, eyeing at any man that they think would be a good client for the hour.
The wide cobble-paved street which Tatsumi and Watari now stood separated the good part of the neighborhood from the bad.
"Yutaka, are you ready?" asked Tatsumi with a soft smile.
"Yes, yes… Sorry. I got distracted," was Watari's apologetic reply.
Tatsumi motioned Watari to walk across the street, which would have them trespassing to a more unfriendly part of town. "I know what you are thinking. Such a huge discrepancy between the rich and the poor…"
Watari dug his hands deep in his pocket. "It's like this in Chijou. Some things never change. But we're not the only ones who dare trespass into these areas."
"If you are talking about the scandals, you are right. But as you know, the upper crust has its own mechanism in hiding its ills. For now, we are part of that group yet also separate."
Watari and Tatsumi greeted the bobby once they finished crossing the street.
Minutes later after being briefed, the bobby escorted Tatsumi and Watari at a secluded and dead-end alleyway. Before the three men was a face-down, bloodied body of a middle-aged man who lay in a pool of his own blood.
The bobby, sounding as respectful as he could, told Tatsumi, "Lord Reiley, Sir…try to leave as much of the scene untouched at least until Chief Inspector Crowder and the blokes from the Yard arrive."
"All right," said Tatsumi with a genial smile. "I do not wish to get you in trouble."
"Thank you kindly, Sir," said the bobby with a nervous look on his face along with a polite and genuine smile to match. "You know how Crowder could be sometimes."
"I thank you, too," was Tatsumi's reply as he removed his sight from the body that he was inspecting and focused it on the bobby. "Welch is your name, is it not? Constable Welch?"
Watari's eyes narrowed a bit, caught off-guard with Tatsumi's question to the bobby.
Blinking a bit yet still giving Tatsumi a friendly smile, the bobby said, "Yes, Lord Reiley. That is my name. You see me every now and then on crime scenes such as this."
Tatsumi gave the man a respectful nod and then refocused his gaze on the body before him. His tone was friendly when he told the bobby, "I remember, Constable. Since we have been acquainted much earlier than today, would you kindly drop the formality?"
Glancing at the bobby, Watari saw the bobby get embarrassed a bit as the latter replied to Tatsumi, "Yes, Sir. I remember your previous requests. I just could not help it at times. I mean no offense."
"None taken, old chap. I just feel that formalities should be dropped when we are surrounded by familiar company. You do remember my friend, Doctor John Wilkins?" said Tatsumi, his voice taking an even more amicable tone as his eyes scanned the body. As he did so, he complied with the constable's request in not touching the body.
Constable Welch smiled and nodded as he glanced at Watari. He respectfully held the tip of his bobby helmet for a minute as a gesture of acknowledgement towards Watari. "I most certainly do, Sir. You two gentlemen are mostly inseparable."
Watari genially smiled at the constable, his current feelings mixed at this time. On a good note, he felt that Tatsumi and he were blending well with their surroundings which would probably bring them a step closer towards identifying the demon who trapped them in this imaginary world, solving the mystery, and returning to the normal world. His worry for Tatsumi, however, grew as he felt that Tatsumi was unknowingly getting too immersed in his role. To him, Tatsumi still looked weak and feverish. He noticed that the Shokan Division secretary slipped into this imaginary role far too intimately during closer bouts with the flu that he still had. He chose to keep his silence for now as he watched Tatsumi at work, part of him unable to figure out as to how much could be found out by examining a body without touching anything on the body or around it.
Tatsumi then rose from his crouched position, his eyes scanning the cobblestone pavement. He took small steps as he continued scanning the ground, moving towards the 15-foot wall which sealed the alleyway from other traffic.
Something on the 15-foot wall had caught Tatsumi's attention, and so he made a mental note to examine it more closely once he got there.
Watari followed Tatsumi's cautious and deliberate small steps, trying to follow Tatsumi's tracks and train of thought to no avail. He quietly asked Tatsumi in a near-whisper, "Seii, what are you looking for?"
"I am not there yet, Yutaka," said Tatsumi, his voice low and soft as well so that only Watari could hear his reply. He momentarily stopped moving as he quickly scanned the 15-foot wall before him, telling Watari once the latter stood beside him. "After the crime scene has been examined by the constabulary and Scotland Yard, we will pay a visit here later on tonight. We will bring some tools."
"All right," was all that Watari could manage as a response. He was still trying to figure out as to what on that 15-foot wall had caught Tatsumi's attention. There was nothing special about the wall, which had been studded with graffiti, dirt, and other trappings which were so familiar to seedy neighborhoods such as this one. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, finally giving up from wracking his mind. He instead concentrated on observing Tatsumi and keeping his mind open for his own set of observations.
After letting out a sigh, Tatsumi's sight focused on the ten-foot walls to their right and left. He gave it the same amount of time and level of attention as the rest of the things before him.
Constable Welch, who stood and watched Tatsumi and Watari work, glanced behind him as more of his colleagues joined him. He excused himself from Tatsumi and Watari, turned around, walked towards his fellow constables, and was told by the other constables that Chief Inspector Crowder would join them very soon.
As Tatsumi and Watari continued their examination of the scene, they could overhear Constable Welch brief his fellow officers about how he discovered the victim.
Tatsumi's careful small steps led him back to the body. He crouched again nearby the victim's head, taking advantage of the fact that the constables were too preoccupied to notice them as well as the fact that Watari was innocently standing beside him and providing him with some cover.
Watari blinked, his curiosity rising as he watched Tatsumi remove the glove from his left hand, take out a silk handkerchief from his coat pocket, scooped something with his handkerchief, fold it neatly to secure whatever was in it, and placed the handkerchief back in his pocket.
"I'm assuming that we're keeping that gooey thing in your pocket a secret?" Watari casually asked.
"Of course…" Tatsumi then rose and said as he noticed the additional commotion at the alleyway's entrance, "Chief Inspector Crowder is here. Let us see how we can assist, shall we?"
A handful of hours had passed with Tatsumi and Watari assisting Crowder and his men in gathering evidence.
Watari, however, wondered on why Tatsumi did not lead the others to examine the wall and instead kept his silence as he watched Tatsumi focus on other things. From time to time, he glanced at the Shokan Division secretary and observed on how the other worked. He took note that the person before him – Tatsumi Seiichiro to him and Count Radcliff Reiley to the rest – had a set of mannerisms that were a fusion of the old Tatsumi and the person that he was portraying. Watching his companion at work made his heart unexplainably race and his curiosity piqued as the minutes passed.
After a while, Watari let out a sigh. Producing a pocket watch, he looked at the time. He secured the evidence that he gathered, turned it in with the constable who held a log for evidence, and then waited for Tatsumi to finish his conversation with Crowder.
Finally, Tatsumi joined Watari and said, "So shall we go to a late lunch…early dinner, perhaps?"
Watari let out a tired sigh. "I thought that you'd never ask. I'm hungry. You need to take the next round of medication to help stave off that flu of yours. The last thing that we need is a full relapse."
Tatsumi was quiet as the two crossed the street and returned to the affluent, more peaceful part of town. Leading the way, he went inside a high-end restaurant and told the maître d' – a well-dressed handsome elderly English gentleman with salt and pepper hair, "Table for two, please."
"Certainly, Lord Reiley…Doctor Wilkins… Your favorite table is available. Let me secure your coats and then escort you to your seats," said the maître d' with a warm smile, eventually leading Tatsumi and Watari towards one of the corners of the restaurant after hanging the coats.
A young and handsome waiter dressed in a tuxedo greeted the two men, gave the maître d' a nod as the latter left, handed Tatsumi and Watari a menu after he helped the two into their seats, mentioned the restaurant specials for the day, and then gave the two time to decide on their orders as he went about in filling drink orders.
Watari looked around and said, "This is a good spot. Pretty expensive place, too…. Look at the entrees, although the prices are reflective of the times."
"Things were not that expensive during the Victorian era," mumbled Tatsumi, taking a sigh and relaxing at the place where they now sat. He figured that anyone would like this corner spot, which afforded patrons with a great view as well as privacy for conversations.
Watari asked in a near-whisper, "What's in that handkerchief of yours, Seii? And what were you seeing out there?"
Tatsumi did not respond, his eyes scanning the surroundings and taking a mental note of his observations.
Watari sighed and asked again, "Seii…? Are you all right?"
After blinking, Tatsumi replied while absentmindedly rubbing his forehead, "Yes, I am all right. Just tired…."
"Once you're halfway done with your meal, take some medicine. It would help," said Watari after he presented two pills and transferred it to Tatsumi's hand. The blonde scientist still felt weird as Tatsumi offered his left hand – not his customary right hand – in accepting the pills.
The waiter then arrived with their drinks and once he left, Watari asked again, "What's in the handkerchief, Seii?"
"Specimen that we could look at under the microscope…hair and other unmentionable things that do not belong to the victim…." Tatsumi then glanced at Watari, telling the other, "We have to go back there tonight. We are not done yet in collecting evidence."
"Why didn't we collect it while we were there?"
"I need a solution to bring out the clue."
Watari frowned. "A solution…?"
"Chemical solution," was Tatsumi's offered clarification. "Something is written in that wall, and it'll take some strong base to bring it out since it was rubbed off with acid. The effect will be temporary, but it'll give us enough time to bring out what was hidden."
Watari began feeling weird again as he sensed that Tatsumi was slipping deeper again into Count Radcliff Reiley's persona. "Seii, why don't you take your medicine? You're looking flushed again."
Tatsumi stared at Watari, stunned as he heard Watari tell him, "Seii, you're scaring me. If you don't keep well enough and you get gravely sick again, I'll lose you. I don't want that to happen."
As Tatsumi felt the fever creeping back more strongly into his system as his fatigue-ridden body realized its limits, he told Watari, "Maybe we are going about this the wrong way, Yutaka. Maybe you should let it go."
Watari rubbed his fingers over his forehead. His exhaustion was evident in his voice when he asked, "What do you mean?"
"I think that we will have a better chance in solving this case if you let things happen…stop fighting it…."
It took a while before Watari fully understood what Tatsumi was trying to tell him. He emphatically said, "No, that's out of the question. Bad enough that you have episodes where I don't know who I'm with anymore and you're proposing to completely turn into this person."
Tatsumi explained to Watari in a soothing voice, "It is our only chance, Yutaka. I feel that it is inevitability. We might as well use that to our advantages. Who knows? This Count Reiley character might have more gifts that we would not realize and benefit from until I fully become him?"
Watari's eyes reflected the hurt and uncertainty inside him. "What if we can't reverse it?"
"We will reverse it once we solve the case."
"What if we can't, Seii?"
"You are not going to lose me, Yutaka," said Tatsumi with a comforting smile. He reached out to Yutaka's hand and clasped it affectionately. "We are running out of time. This is the only solution that I could think of. I feel that the more that I am walking in Count Reiley's shoes, the more that I have a clearer understanding of everything. You need to stay focused for both of us, Yutaka."
"You're not going to be you anymore once you turn into this Count Reiley, Seii," said Watari in a sad voice.
"I will still be Tatsumi Seiichiro, Yutaka. This is only temporary." Tatsumi took Watari's hand, brought it up to his lips, and kissed it. "I trust you completely. I know that no matter how deep this goes, you will be there to bring me back…to lead me back home. But I need your trust and guidance here. "
Watari stared at Tatsumi for a while. Still said, he said, "What specifically do you have in mind?"
Tatsumi let out a sigh and said, "I will stop taking the medication. You need to let the fever ravage on. Once I completely turn into this character and lose all recollection of Tatsumi Seiichiro then we could truly start uncovering this mystery. I need you to be there to do all the remembering for us. There is something in you that keep you protected from that demon's power. We have to use that to our advantage. You will have to carry on as if you are immersed as Doctor John Wilkins, keep an eye on me and guide me so that we stay on course, and serve as the other half of the solution to this puzzle. If you and I do not keep focused, we will never find our way back home."
Watari was silent for a while, his heart heavy from what he just heard.
"I trust you, Yutaka," said Tatsumi with a reassuring smile, his azure eyes looking glassy from the fatigue and another onset of the flu that his body had been fighting off all this time. "I lay all that I am because I trust you completely. You need to trust me completely, too. It is a dangerous game, but we need to give it our all if we want to survive in the end. I am asking for your forgiveness in advance for any inappropriate action that I do once I become Count Radcliff Reiley."
The blonde scientist gazed into Tatsumi's eyes, giving the Shokan Division secretary a smile. "All right…."
"Then I do not need these now," said Tatsumi as he picked up the two pills that Watari had given him earlier and returned them to Watari. "For good measure, we will bring Ran – or Anthony – with us just in case something happens to me and you need help."
Watari secured the pills back into the original container. He then quietly slipped the container back in his pocket as the waiter arrived with their order. After the waiter had left, he told Tatsumi, "I don't like this plan one bit, Seii. I'm seeing the practicality of it, yet I'm not thrilled with the idea."
"Neither am I, but it is the only way that we can beat this demon in his or her own game," said Tatsumi as he watched Watari take the first bite of food. "It is definitely a leap of faith. We both have to trust each other that everything will turn out fine in the end. No matter how bad it would seem, just do not lose faith in me."
Watari looked grim and let out a sigh. Once he took Tatsumi's words to heart and pushed aside some of his doubts, he replied, "I won't. I promise."
Hours later, Ran – known as Anthony Crowder in the imaginary world that Tatsumi and Watari were now trapped in – stood by the doorway of Doctor John Wilkin's home office inside Reiley Manor. He waited for Tatsumi and Watari prompt to leave the house.
It was strange for Watari to watch an already-feverish Tatsumi work on chemicals just as he would normally do at the Shokan Division. He felt as if their roles had been reversed. He observed the secretary as the latter played with one chemical after another to form certain mixtures inside a beaker. At times, he could not help but sadly smile as he saw how much Tatsumi was so engrossed over the experiment. He could relate the other's feelings, but at the same time he felt as if Tatsumi Seiichiro was slowly disintegrating into Count Radcliff Reiley – just as if the Shokan Division secretary, his lover, was now a breathing experiment that he had to monitor.
Watari's concentration was broken as he heard Tatsumi triumphantly say, "We are done here. Let us go. Anthony, did you bring a lamp with you?"
"Yes, Sir," said Anthony with an enthusiastic smile.
"Good, then off we go," said Tatsumi, who now glanced at Watari. He took off his goggles and leather gloves. "Anything wrong, John?"
"No… Nothing, Lord Reiley," said Watari, doing his best to smile back at his lover who was now turning into a total stranger before him.
Tatsumi chuckled, "John, would you quit with the formality?"
Watari let a pursed-lipped smile escape from his lips, trying to contain his misgivings over Tatsumi's change. "Then how would you like me to address you as, Lord Reiley?"
After letting out a frustrated sigh, Tatsumi said, "Never mind. Let us leave, Doctor Wilkins." His voice then took on a gentler tone as he addressed Ran by asking, "Anthony, are you ready?"
Ran nodded. "Yes, Sir…."
Watari did not say anything as he walked out of Reiley manor with an evidently-peeved Tatsumi and an excited Ran. He watched as Anthony waved at a nearby cab-man.
Soon, the three entered the hansom cab after Tatsumi gave the cab-man instructions on where to go. Watari, on the other hand, kept his silence as he tried to gauge exactly what was going on in Tatsumi's…or rather Lord Radcliff Reiley's…heart and mind to have such a negative reaction. He thought as his glance continued to rest on Tatsumi, "I wonder if this Lord Reiley actually hates Doctor John Wilkins. He looked really angry back there, but I didn't say anything hurtful or offensive. I called him Lord Reiley because that's what everyone calls him…although he did seem to hate formalities, depending on who he talked to, like that bobby we encountered earlier today."
Watari let out a quiet sigh and added to his troubled thoughts the words, "I don't want to lose him. At this stage and forward, I can't relate to him…touch him…just as I did when he was still Tatsumi Seiichiro.
The blonde scientist was too immersed in his thoughts to the point that he got startled once an excited Ran told him, "Doctor Wilkins, we are here! Let us go!"
Watari let out a sigh then smiled. "Right…."
"Let us hurry, Doctor," said Ran as he got off, paid the cab-man, and waited for Watari to get out of the hansom. Once Watari was out, Ran then instructed the cab-man, "Lord Reiley wants to give you this crown, in exchange of waiting for us here until we are done."
After receiving the crown, the happy cab-man said with a smile, "Aye, I will wait."
"That, Sir, does not include our fare to and from here," Ran clarified.
"Well, I will be sure to wait, then," said the cab-man, being more enthused over the prospect of making a good night's wage in one sitting.
"Thank you, Sir!" Ran yelled as he waved at the cab-man with lamp and a leather sack in tow. He ran across the street, trying to get to the end of the alleyway and join Tatsumi as fast as he could.
Watari kept up, running a few feet behind Ran. He stopped once he heard Ran slow down, watching the young man place the leather sack down and light a match for the lamp.
Tatsumi took off his leather glove and wiped his sweat with his handkerchief. "Thank you, Ran. Now I need you to come join me at the end of this alleyway here and hold the lamp a few feet behind me. I need to work on this wall while you provide light from behind."
Ran nodded, happy to help. He then told Watari, "Come on, Doctor! We have to see this."
The blonde scientist followed then stood beside Ran, telling the latter, "Why don't you help the Count with things that he would need and I'll hold up the lamp?"
"No, John," interjected Tatsumi. "Anthony is holding the lamp right now at a perfect angle. I need you to quickly write down what you see once I am done with what I am doing."
"All right," said Watari, still feeling uncomfortably guilty for irking Tatsumi earlier although he still did not have a clue as to what triggered the latter's annoyance. He did as he was told while he watched Tatsumi at work, a small medical prescription pad and a pen ready in his hand.
Tatsumi carefully removed the beaker's seal, dipped the painter's brush that he brought with him, brushed the wet instrument against the wall, watched in satisfaction as he saw the wet wall surface bubble while he continued working. He did not stop until he felt that he covered as much wall as he needed, which was a five-by-five square foot area.
Watari and Ran were at awe as they saw a message appear before them once the chemical reaction was complete, the message looking as if it was written in chalk:
ut lux folia
fenestras animae factus est animatum
tenebrae distorquet lux Veritatis
quod adversaries, abscondit, et post fenestras animae
rapidis eos in aeterna flamma usque in anima est, non magis
Before Watari could finish writing the last words of the cryptic message, the message began to disappear again.
Watari told Tatsumi, his voice hinting disappointment and panic, "Could you do that again? I didn't get the last four words."
Tatsumi sighed, looking calmer than before. "Here, let me write it down. I remember them."
Watari handed the pen and pad to Tatsumi, watching the secretary take the items with a shaky hand. The light from the lamp and the sweat that Tatsumi now had on his forehead made Tatsumi look gaunt, which made the scientist worry about his lover.
Tatsumi murmured, "You missed the words 'aeterna flamma usque in anima est, non magis,' which is more than four words."
Once the message was completely written out, Tatsumi handed back the pen and pad to a still-at-awe Watari. Watari still could not believe as to how Tatsumi had uttered the foreign-tongued message in perfect accent. "It's in Latin..."
"Yes, I know," replied Tatsumi.
"Well, I guess you had exposure to Latin before because of our line of work," commented Watari, who was referring to the fact that shinigami have arsenals in their craft which included spell-casting.
An absent-minded Tatsumi answered, "Grammar school, John. And yes, I guess in our sleuthing we get to brush up on our Latin skills."
"Seii...?"
Tatsumi stared back at Watari. He took a deep breath, as if he was mustering the last ounce of strength that he could afford when he told Watari while he had a couple of seconds of lucidity, "Take me home, Yutaka. It is already taking a stronger hold. Can not…."
Ran helped Watari in keeping Tatsumi steady after Tatsumi nearly lost his balance. He nodded when Watari instructed him, "Keep him steady. I'll clean up, and then we'll go home."
"Now don't you move, all right? Just rest and don't be stubborn," said Watari to a pale-looking Tatsumi.
Tatsumi absentmindedly nodded, watching Watari secure the beaker, turn off the lamp, and secure the rest of their belonging through tear-filled glassy eyes. All that he did was nod and let Watari and Ran take the lead.
Watari instructed Ran, "We'll all go back to the cab and go home. We're done here. Help me with him."
Ran nodded, the two lifting Tatsumi and supporting him until they reached the hansom cab.
Watari told the cab-man, "Please hurry, Sir. Lord Reiley needs rest and medical attention immediately."
"Aye, Sir," said the cab-man, who nodded vigorously as Watari had given the man two crowns for their fare plus incentive to safely rush them home.
"Thank you, Sir. May I ask for your name?" asked Watari with a grateful smile.
The cab-man, supporting a good amount of Tatsumi's weight as the three worked together in getting Tatsumi in the cab, "Paul, Sir. My name is Paul MacAllister."
Watari gave the cabman a nod. "Mr. MacAllister...Paul... Thank you for your help. I'm Wata - I mean Wilkins…Doctor John Wilkins. My young friend here is Anthony Crowder."
"It is a pleasure, Doctor Wilkins…young Sir Crowder," said the cab-man as he continued to focus on working with Watari and Ran get Tatsumi situated inside the cab first.
Once all of his passengers were inside, the cab-man did everything that he could so that his horses hurried them back safely to Reiley Manor.
While they were in the cab, Watari checked on Tatsumi's pulse and noted that it was rapid. He could hear Tatsumi mumble here and there, some words and phrases very familiar to him since they embodied things akin to the world of EnmaCho and the Shokan Division.
Tatsumi's other words, however, had escaped Watari's understanding. Although Watari knew what some of the more coherent words had generally meant, he felt helpless since he did not know the underlying personal significance behind those words.
Seconds later, Watari's train of thought was interrupted as he heard a very weak, sweaty, shaking, and fever-ridden Tatsumi repeatedly mumble a few syllables before clearly hearing the words, "Just go away, John…"
The words coming out of Tatsumi's mouth greatly hurt Watari, although he kept reminding himself that Tatsumi had already apologized in advance for any offenses – this one included.
Ran sat across from Tatsumi and Watari, worried about the two men. He tried to give Watari a consoling smile when the blonde scientist and he made eye contact, although the worry on the young man's handsome face was evident to Watari.
Watari sensed that there was something that Ran knew…a glint of sad recognition reflected in the young man's eyes…that maybe Ran – or Anthony Crowder – understood what Tatsumi – or Lord Reiley – had been mumbling in his delirium.
Soon, the hansom cab stopped and the cab-man hurried down. Once he opened the door, he helped Watari and Ran with Tatsumi. He even helped the two get Tatsumi inside the manor, up the stairs, and into the master's bedroom.
As soon as Tatsumi was on the bed, the cab-man told Watari, "I best be going, Doctor Wilkins. The wife might be worried if I am not home soon."
"Thank you again, Paul…and please, call me John," was Watari's response.
"Aye, John. Thank you, too. A pleasure to meet you fine folk," was Paul the cab-man's reply. He gave Ran a polite nod and then hurried down the stairs.
"Anthony," said Watari to Ran, "Please get the household situated for the evening. I'll take care of Lord Reiley here."
"Yes, Doctor," Ran replied. He then hurried downstairs to ensure that the doors would be locked after Paul's departure.
A tightlipped and worried Watari entered the bathroom and returned to Tatsumi's bedside with a basinful of water and a washcloth and a clean sleeping gown draped in his arm. He let out a burdened sigh as he heard the secretary continue to mumble, catching the last of Tatsumi's garbled words and just understanding the part where the latter said, "...Go away, John…."
The words felt as if they were heavy bricks that weighed down Watari's heart. He, however, worked on changing Tatsumi's clothes. He heard Tatsumi mumble the repeated sentence, but soon he realized that there was more to what he had been hearing from Tatsumi all along. His worried and exhausted mind finally made a connection and changed his entire feelings on the matter because what he heard Tatsumi say after the first handful of too-garbled words was….
"Say something. Do not just go away, John."
Watari's forehead creased, his eyes focused on Tatsumi as he loosened the buttons on the latter's shirt, gave the other a sponge bath to help with the fever, and helped his patient into a change of more comfortable clothing.
Meanwhile, Tatsumi continued to mumble as if he were uttering a mantra. His condition continued to deteriorate as the fever ravaged his body, his mind having clashes of thoughts and memories. Each passing second meant a greater edge in favor of his mind and heart making more room for Lord Reiley's knowledge, emotions, and memories. In turn, this meant that another recollection which belonged to Tatsumi Seiichiro was being erased.
Watari thought as he tried everything that he could keep Tatsumi's condition under control without any medicine, "Why in the world is he telling me not to go away?" Seconds after that thought, he shook his head and added, "Seii's delirious and I'm tired. I need to focus here."
Once Watari was done with making Tatsumi as comfortable as possible, the last deed done was that he tucked in Tatsumi with blankets to keep the secretary warm. He then pulled up a chair, propped it as close to Tatsumi so that he could hear the secretary, and then plunked on the chair as he unbuttoned his vest, loosened his tie, removed his cuff-links, and rolled up his sleeves.
When Tatsumi's mumbling change, giving the impression of urgency, Watari straightened up and leaned forward near Tatsumi's ear and asked, "Yes…?"
Tatsumi, mustering all the strength that he could to do what he felt he needed to do and say what he felt was needed to be said, told Watari, "Love you… Say something…. Do not just go away…"
Watari looked grim, taking a deep breath to remain composed and present. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Seii."
Before closing his eyes and passing out, Tatsumi managed to tell Watari in a tone which carried a plea, "I love you… Do not go away, John…please…"
The stunned blonde scientist stared at an unconscious Tatsumi for a long while, wracking his brain and repeating the sequence of today's events – especially the events leading to this very moment.
When a huge revelation presented before him, Watari's shock grew as he repeated Tatsumi – no, Lord Reiley's words….
"I love you… Say something…. Do not just go away, John…please…"
Watari stirred, his blurry eyes seeing a glimpse of Ran and feeling that something light was over him. He sat upright, straightened his glasses, and stretched a bit. Sounding exhausted, he said, "Anthony?"
"I am sorry, Doctor," was Ran's whispered reply. "I was just checking to see how you and Lord Reiley are, so I put a blanket on you. It is rather cold tonight."
"I'm fine," said Watari, his eyes glancing towards Tatsumi. He felt a little relieved seeing that Tatsumi was still settled in and sleeping comfortably.
Ran's sad comment was, "His fever is still high. Will Lord Reiley be all right, Doctor?"
"We have to wait and see how he would fare out in the morning. All we could do is wait and hope for the best." Watari then looked at Ran and asked, "How proficient are you in Latin, Anthony?"
"I stumble through it." Ran then added, "Is this about the cryptic message on that wall?"
Watari nodded and then handed Ran the note pad. He watched as Ran took the pad, brought it closer to the oil lamp, and then read the message aloud in a tongue which was not as fluid or natural-sounding as Tatsumi had done earlier:
ut lux folia
fenestras animae factus est animatum
tenebrae distorquet lux Veritatis
quod adversaries, abscondit, et post fenestras animae
rapidis eos in aeterna flamma usque in anima est, non magis
Inwardly, Watari wished that he had the tools normally in his disposal at the Shokan Division. But right now, he had to rely on more antiquated means. And so, his eyes focused on Ran, he asked, "So what does that mean?"
Ran gave Watari a humbled smile. "You are much better at this than I am, Doctor."
"Anthony, please. Just try and humor me here," was all that an exhausted Watari could say.
Anthony blinked, quietly reading the message again. "I could not make much of the entire message, but I could probably do it in pieces."
Watari sighed and nodded. "All right…so what do you see?"
"Something about light… Soul... Truth... Darkness... That is all that I could make out from these lines," mumbled Ran while he kept his eyes on the message written on the pad, "This is far too confusing for me, Doctor. Lord Reiley and you began teaching me Latin just a few months ago, but my Latin is not that good yet. I am sorry."
"It's all right. You've done your best," said Watari with an understanding smile. He then glanced at Tatsumi and said, "Maybe Lord Reiley would give us a clue on what it says on that pad, that is if he's well enough in the morning."
Ran sighed, telling Watari, "You know, Doctor, the good Sir will be upset if he hears you calling him that."
Shaking his head a bit and frowning, Watari stared back at Ran. "Calling him what?"
"Calling him 'Lord Reiley' when it is just the two of you, Doctor," said Ran with a sad chuckle. "I do not know what you two were arguing about before you left the house that day. I do not know what happened while you two were out there. I do not know why you two returned in such a bad shape – you with a nasty lump and the good Sir sick and delirious. What I do know is that I have never seen or heard him so upset, most especially at you."
Looking grim, Watari asked Ran, "I'm not remembering anything right now. What do you remember?"
"I guess your memory is not fully back yet," said a pursed-lipped Ran as he tried to assess where best to start his story. "You two were discussing something behind closed doors, then when you two stepped out both of you looked upset…oddly quiet. Before you two walked out for the evening, you called him 'Lord Reiley' and he got upset."
"But I don't understand…. Why would Lord Reiley be that upset over a proper formality?"
"You normally call him Cliff, Doctor. It is a nickname that only a privileged few ever called him. From what I understand, only the former Count Reiley and his dear wife – Lord Reiley's mother – called him Cliff. He bestowed that privilege to you, and rightfully so because you two have done almost everything together. But for some reason, whatever was said behind closed doors, things changed between the two of you."
Watari continued to shake his head, still not fully comprehending what happened between Doctor John Wilkins and Lord Radcliff Reiley.
Ran looked at Watari with offered empathy. "All that I ask is for you to think about it, Doctor. I ask not just for you, but for the sake of Lord Reiley too. You two have never been the same since that evening. You say that you call him 'Lord Reiley' out of proper formality, even after you have been calling him Cliff all these years. But that night, I honestly think that there was something more than just that going on between you two."
"Why do you say that?"
"It is not what was said but how it was said, Doctor," said Ran with all candor, although he made sure that his tone was gentle. "I do not mean to be disrespectful, but the way that you called him 'Lord Reiley' that day was just…"
"Just what, Anthony…?"
"The way that you said it to Lord Reiley…it was cold, detached…distant. Maybe he felt that the way that you said it was a personal affront, a slap on his face," was Ran's sad reply. "I do hope that you two fix your differences. I hate to see a good friendship disappear. You two have been through so much together…how much good you two have offered to the city…the Crown…all that good gone just because of a spat."
Watari and Ran were silent for a while, the two of them respectively focusing on Tatsumi.
Ran then let out a burdened sigh. He touched Watari's shoulder in such a consoling fashion. "I will stop disturbing you and let you rest now, Doctor. I am sorry for my candor. It is really none of my business, but I worry about the two of you."
"No, Anthony," said a tired and confused Watari with a soft smile. "Thanks for your honesty and your care. I really appreciate it. Now go to bed. Lord Reiley…Cliff…and I…will be fine here. I'll keep an eye on him."
Ran gave Watari a tightlipped smile and then quietly left the room.
Watari then stared at the sleeping Tatsumi, taking in a deep breath as he thought, "I can't believe this. Lord Radcliff Reiley said 'I love you' to Doctor John Wilkins that night…the moment before Tatsumi and I took their places. Seii and I were arguing before we got trapped in this stupid world by that stupid demon. Now he and I are here, still arguing while wearing these stupid clothes. Just our dumb luck…. What the hell are we going to do now?"
End of Chapter Sixteen
Normal Disclaimer
Yami No Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness) and its characters are copyrighted properties of Matsushita Yoko. This fan fiction and the original characters that appear within this fan fiction belong to PJ Zatken.