Shuuri lead the way as the older blond and the spirit followed closely behind. As soon as they reached the point where the light spilling from the front lobby stopped and the darkness pooling out from the hallway began, Shuuri froze.
Hakuren had to stop on a dime to prevent himself from toppling onto his cousin. Shuuri turned around violently and shushed him. Hakuren glared at him for a split second, but soon turned his attention back to the ominous hallway.
It had an eerie aura. Not that Hakuren was surprised. He didn't expect this journey to be all sunshine and rainbows. When he was sure that Shuuri wasn't going to make the first move, he went ahead and took the initiative. Shuuri flinched when he noticed his cousin slither by him silently.
"What are you doing?" Shuuri hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. Hakuren stopped and craned his neck back to look at his cousin. He was confused; isn't this what Shuuri had wanted? For him to make the first move and the rest would follow suite?
Hakuren's eyes darted over to Mikage for a brief second. The blond spirit seemed to have calmed down a bit, but Hakuren could still sense how tense the boy was. He glanced back over to Shuuri. His cousin looked frightened.
Hakuren turned his whole body around. "Are we going to find Teito? Or are we just going to stand here and do nothing?" He whispered angrily. Shuuri visibly tensed at the sound of his cousin's harsh tone. He could tell Hakuren was adament on retreiving Teito. No matter what the cost.
Shuuri sighed and lowered his gaze defeatedly, "I'm sorry." He said. Hakuren walked over to his cousin and took his hands in his. "We can do this. But in order for this to succeed, I need your help. Can you promise me? Can you promise that you'll do everything you can in your power to help rescue Teito?"
Shuuri raised his head. He looked at Hakuren; he simply stared back expectantly. Shuuri glanced away quickly and felt his face start to heat up, "I promise." He said. His voice was so quiet that Hakuren had to strain to hear, but that proved to be all the answer he needed.
Hakuren smiled at his cousin and let go of his hands, "Well alright then, let's go." As soon as Hakuren turned around to head back into the hallway, something ran past them fast enough that all they could make out was a blurry blob. Without thinking, Shuuri yelled out "Hey!"
The blob stopped abruptly. As soon as it did, its form started to take shape. And Hakuren recognized the shape immediately. His face lit up as he ran toward the person. "Frau!" He yelled, not caring who heard anymore. He felt that as long as Frau was there, they were safe.
Frau eyed Hakuren suspiciously before relaxing his shoulders a little and waving at the small bishop. "Hey." He said blankly before his gaze drifted towards the abandoned Oak at the back of the pack. "Who's the kid?" Frau asked, pointing back at Shuuri.
Hakuren's smile broadened, "That's my cousin, Shuuri. He's agreed to help us find Teito." Frau stared at Shuuri like a person judging a piece of meat. He looked him over one last time before returning his gaze to Hakuren. "Alright, well let's get going. We don't have any time to waste."
Frau didn't bother waiting around for the siblings to follow. He took off down the hallway at a lightning fast pace. Hakuren barely had enough time to register what was happening. He ran back and quickly grabbed his cousin's hand. He tore off down the hallway, dragging his cousin forcefully behind him while praying that Mikage followed suite.
The hallway seemed to have no end. Doors upon doors upon doors greeted the blonds. But none seemed to hold Teito. Mikage explained that he would be able to feel Teito's aura once they were nearing him. Hakuren understood, but didn't reley the message to either Shuuri or Frau.
After what seemed like hours, they finally came to the end of the hallway. It was a dead end. Two sets of double doors were found on both sides of the group. "Teito's in one of these two rooms." Mikage said. "But I'm not sure which one."
As Hakuren was the only one who could hear Mikage, he hesitated in telling Shuuri and Frau. They would no doubtedly question his source. He couldn't very well tell them that he was talking to a ghost. He went with his gut instinct and slowly stalked over to the door on their right.
"I...I think Teito's in here." He said, his voice cracking a little out of nervousness. Frau stared at the door quizzically. He wasn't about to question Hakuren's judgement. He had a keener sense of direction, for one thing. And Frau knew that Hakuren loved Teito very dearly. So Frau kept his mouth shut and crept closer to the door. Shuuri stood back patiently and watched as Frau and Hakuren listened for any source of life coming from the other side of the doors.
Hakuren stood up straight and came to a conclusion, "I don't hear anything." Frau stood up and scratched the back of his neck, "Well then, there's only one way to go about this." He took a step back and, without warning anyone, kicked in the door with enough force to send it flying a good five feet inwards.
Hakuren nearly blew a gasket, "What the hell are you doing!" He yelled, totally forgetting where they were. Shuuri slapped his forehead. "Idiot." He mumbled under his breath. "We don't have time to be nice!" Frau yelled as he ran into the room blindly. Hakuren ran after him, followed closely by Shuuri and Mikage.
The room was dimly lit. Only a sole lamp in the center of the room lit the dusty floor. There was no furniture of any kind. No shelves, no desks, nothing of the sort. However, something did catch Frau's eye. It was a pile of something, from what he could make out in the dim light. It was laid out directly underneath the lamp.
The lamp started to flicker. It was eerie, to say the least. But then again, what wasn't in this hell hole? Frau pondered this as he slowly stalked over to the pile. The closer he got to the pile, however, the more familiar it became.
Frau began to make out the all too familiar locks of chocolate hair falling over the delicate, almost childlike, face. His eyes were closed; he seemed to be in a deep slumber. Hakuren crept up behind Frau without his noticing. Once Hakuren had recognized the same features, he started to feel the sting of fresh tears poking at the corners of his eyes.
"Teito..." Hakuren managed between choked sobs. Teito's eyes fluttered open at the soft mention of his name. He groaned and tried to prop himself up on his elbows. However, he soon found that he had absolutely no strength and his elbows buckled underneath him. The sound of Teito's body thudding against the floor snapped Hakuren back to reality. He ran over to his friend and knelt down beside him.
He cradled the young boy in his arms as if he were made of precious porcelain. Teito groaned at the contact, but was relieved to feel it all the same. After checking Teito over for any injuries, which thankfully he had none, Hakuren glanced back over at the rest of his party.
Frau and Shuuri looked just as pleased and relieved as he did. However, Mikage simply stood in the background. Curious as to why the boy wouldn't step forward, he addressed him, by name, for the first time since he had joined up with his friends. "Mikage! Don't you want to see Teito?"
Frau and Shuuri exchanged confused glances, but decided it best not to question the boy. At the sound of his friend's name, Teito perked up immediately. "What? W-Where? Where's Mikage?" He asked frantically. Hakuren looked sadly at Teito, recalling that only he could see the spirit. Hakuren opened his mouth to start explaining the situation, but was curtly interrupted by a dark voice.
"You're finally here."
Huzzah! I'm finally moved into my dorm and classes have started!
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who favorited/reviewed this story! So far, all of the reviews for this story have been positive!
You don't know how happy that makes me. ;3;
It means a lot to know that people actually read the crap that comes out of my head!
Honestly though, I think I have a permanent case of word diarrhea. Srsly.
On another note, I recently decided to re-watch the series and found out that the setting for my story is nothing but moot.
I had no idea that the military academy was actually a floating building and not somewhere with a forest surrounding it!
Oh well, just pretend this is an AU. ;D
So, now that my computer is up and running with the university's network, I should be able to juggle finishing this story with all my homework and a possible job!
We'll see~
Reviews are loved! :3